A Musician's Guide To: "Whatever this is"

Chapters

Chapter 2: Off To A Sarcastically Great Start
Chapter 3: The Tailed Tailor's Tale Of Tailor...ing
Chapter 4: Big Kicks And Crazy Chicks
Chapter 5: Anatomies And Secret Cheese
Chapter 6: Even More Anatomy
Chapter 7: Wires And Dire Situations
Chapter 8: Singing Songs And Righting Wrongs
Chapter 9: A Lance's Lost Chances
Chapter 10: Final Straws And Startin' Wars
Chapter 11.5: The Message
Chapter 12: Homecoming And Wings Humming
Chapter 13: A Match-Maker's Meeting
Chapter 14: A Feather In The Sand
Chapter 15: Meals and Shields
Chapter 16: The Double Date Defender
Chapter 17: Recovery
Chapter 18: Secret Plan(s?)
Chapter 19: Revealed Intentions And Old Inventions
Chapter 20: A Snowy Day In Canterlot
Chapter 21: The Beginning Of Something Big?
Chapter 22: Give And Receive
Chapter 24: Ebony Keys
Chapter 25: Dream-land Duel
Chapter 26: The Victor And His Spoils
Chapter 27: Loops
Chapter 28: A New Dawn
Chapter 29: Infirm
Chapter 30: Passing Burdens
Chapter 31: A Changeling's Guide To: "Journals"
Chapter 32: Every Rose Has Its Dawn
Chapter 33: What Pawns Receive
Chapter 34: Skin And Chrome
Chapter 35: A Door-Step's Gift
Chapter 36: Back In The Reins...
Chapter 37: ...Of The Horse Of War (Part 1 of 2)
Chapter 38: ...Of The Horse Of War (Part 2 of 2)
Chapter 39: Ashes To A Pyre
Chapter 40: Remind Me To Hide The Cook-Books
Chapter 41: Welcome To The Jungle (Part 1 of 4)
Chapter 1: Introductions
Chapter 11: 'What Happens In The Cave, Stays In The Cave.'
Chapter 22.5: Prospectives
Chapter 23: Trying To Understand (Emphasis On 'Trying')
Chapter 42: Welcome To The Jungle (Part 2 of 4)

Chapter 2: Off To A Sarcastically Great Start

***

I stood by the door and waited. After a couple minutes, it hissed, shifted slightly then... legit just fazed out of existence. I was expecting more of a fanfare. Something awesome like; opening slowly, grinding against the floor and steam pouring from the other side and I would emerge from the mist, light a cigarette and walk away, but no. Those didn't exist here. But magic did. So it was just kind of... I don't know... it was less than I would have liked.

'Day one of Equestria: disappointed by door's lack of fanfare'. What is wrong with me.

Once it opened... well, dissipated, I saw the first light (that was not sickly orange) I had seen in over like... a day.

Look, orange gets boring after a while okay?

My two 'captives' were standing to the left of the door when I stepped out, surrounded by guards. We looked to be in an underground facility, doors like mine lined the walls with stairs leading to each room's 'observing room'. The walls were made out of some kind of smooth metal or rock, not dissimilar to marble... or a couple good bands I know. White lights lined the walls and cast reflections off of the guards golden armor.

That stuff is more for show that for actual protection I bet, its too pretty to be practical, surely.

This was also the first time I got to see a pony without a thick glass pane in between us, allowing me to get a good look at Chrome and Feather.

Chrome Star was a metallic colored pony, light grey with a very small amount of blue mixed in there. His mane was a darker grey than his coat. His unkempt hair hanging only slightly over his eyes and, at the back, almost reaching his shoulders. Not to different to my hair really. His eyes were a cool cobalt blue and his cutie-mark was a silver star, orbiting around a dark grey sphere and leaving a luminescent trail in a half-circle around it. Probably something to do with science or something.

He was the protective type, but really bad at protecting since his composure seems to be so weakly built it phases in and out of reality sometimes. He was generally a fun guy and a somewhat half-arsed scientist. My kind of guy, I guess. Even after knowing him for only a day or so, I would have gladly called him my friend.

Feather Flame was a orange-y red unicorn (I could tell she was a unicorn judging from her temper, but the horn also helped.) Her mane was a bright orange and her eyes were a deep purple, a stunning contrast from the rest of her fiery-colored body. And her cutie mark, guess what, was a burning feather. Truly inspired. The feather was completely unfazed by the fire. I assumed from this that she was some sort of battle-mage; appearing to be a pretty nice chick but able to run through the fire and flames of war and carry on, unscathed.

Or at least that's what I thought. Something about 'looking weak as a feather, but being strong' or something inspiring like that. I know this world and its ways, or at least I like to think that I do. So it's likely she has a side she does not show. And I don't like not seeing things.

The guards surrounded us in a formation that suggested they had to both protect me and protect themselves from me. It was awkward, for them at least. I thought it was hilarious, since a couple of the were walking sideways, I swear a couple were rotating constantly as they walked. I laughed every time they stumbled, which was often. But they didn't seem so happy about it.

Realizing that I was literally mocking the ponies most likely to help me, I stopped and decided to talk to Feather and Chrome, they were a nice crowd, better than pissing off the guards at least. Plus I also needed to know where we were going. I walked slightly faster for a second to get in between them as we walked through the empty halls. They were both slightly startled by my height, understandable, since (as I later found out) I was around the same height as Celestia, and height probably means something in Equestria that I don't realize. Well, if all the Princesses are tall, then is probably a good thing.

"So, where are we going?" I asked, turning to Chrome. "Your place? Or somewhere else?" Chrome craned his head up to look at me. It was that moment I realized just how cute they really were. I twitched as something inside me exploded a little.

"As much as I would like to get you all nice and settled in at my place. And teach you about Equestria..." I snorted at that, like I would need him to do that. "...Celestia needs to personally 'assess' you." At the mention of Celestia; I froze, causing a couple slowing spinning guards to hit me and mumble nasty things I pretended not to hear. I got moving again as soon as they touched me, don't want to annoy them any more then I already have. Feather turned her head back to look at me as I re-composed myself.

"Your not worried are you?" She asked. I said nothing. "If you know as much about Equestria as you seem to let on, you should know that Celestia is one of the most beloved and trusted ponies to ever exist, she would never do anything unjust, especially to a guest." I was thinking about mentioning something about 'human corruption' and stuff like that. But I decided against it.

Pretending to be just like the innocent ponies would let me fit in better. And allow for some hilarious moments later, once they think they know me. I. Had. Plans.

"Sorry, I just..." I paused slightly. "Well, she scares me." The guards around me all snorted at that and joked to each other. "Okay, guys, imagine this. You get stolen from your world." Chrome flinched in what I assume was guilt. "And you are then surrounded by a species you've never seen before. Then you find out that they have telekinesis and can crush your whole body like a grape if they so wanted." I think I got a few stares from both the guards and passing maids - we were on the palace grounds by then. "And then they take you to the most powerful being in their world, probably capable of destroying you with a wave a... hoof. And you know for a fact, that leader has the justification for doing that, they just don't know that justification exists, yet. And you have to tell her, yourself. Completely at her mercy. Don't you think you would be at least a little worried?" The guards had stopped spinning to listen to me, and when my tale ended they all looked at least a little ashamed. Chrome and Feather were just staring at me. Score. I just smiled, this was going to be fun.

But what I said was true, I really was worried about meeting her.

The two just continued staring at me until we reached a pair of very large, ornate doors. I recognized them as the throne room doors. When I pointed out the fact I knew that; the guards seemed shocked. I just tapped the side of my head and smiled at them. They all rolled their eyes.

"From what I know, I'm probably going in alone, right?" I directed this at the door's guards.

"Yes, you are. They told me that you would not be told, though." One responded, looking slightly annoyed. Clearly cared a lot about his job, to get angry over that.

"Oh, no-one told me" I responded. Trying to sound nonchalant. He waited for more but after a couple seconds he shrugged and gestured me inside. I signaled a 'bye' with my hands to Chrome and Feather, who returned the gesture with their hooves.

I opened the doors with relative ease. Considering their size, those must be the best hinges money can buy. And they probably were, judging by the quality of the doors themselves. I shut the doors behind me and looked forward. Nothing. The throne room was empty. I shrugged and took a quick look around the room.

Two large thrones decorated the furthest wall of the room, one golden, emblazoned with a sun. The other, dark blue, embossed with a white moon. the rest of the room was bare, aside from the stain-glass windows that cast colorful shadows over the expensive-looking carpet-rug leading to and from the thrones.

I waited there for about 10 minutes, before getting bored of looking at that side of the room. I turned to look at the inside of the doors, they had a nice design from what I could remember. On my way round though, I noticed a small chair in the corner of the room, I had not noticed it since it looked so... generic. So well-placed.

TOO well placed...

I thought back to a piece of... 'literature' I had read a while ago as I approached it. Then it clicked. I put a knowing face on and walked to the chair. I crossed my arms and stared at the chair.

"Celestia?" I asked, putting on a winning smile.

"Yes?" She answered from the doorway. I whipped my body around and stared at her. She smiled innocently at me. Her head and hair...thing where poking into the room from the ajar door.

I looked at her. I looked back to the chair. I looked back to her. "Wha.. w- R- Really?"

"Really what?" she asked as she closed the door behind her. I was not about to explain this to her.

"Er... never mind." I said, regaining some composure and straightening myself.

"Were you... talking to a... chair?" She asked. I could not tell if she was being serious or if she was just messing with me. Celestia is one of three people -ponies- in Equestria, that I knew of, that I have trouble reading. I knew that just by watching the show.

"N- no! You wanted to see me?" I said in a slightly rushed tone, changing the subject. She gave me a strange look, then continued towards a stained-glass window. I began walking to join her there.

She said while walking, "Yes, I did. Sorry I was late, I had things to deal with." She looked at the window, or out of it. It was stained glass, so there was no real way to tell. I was still making my way to her.

I was quick to respond. "I completely understand, ruling a country cannot be easy, even if you DO share the job." She turned to me, stopping me in my tracks.

"So it's true." She said. I continued walking, slower though. "You know of Equestria, through 'visions' you had, yes?"

"Er, yes. That's a thing we humans do!" I put half-hearted enthusiasm into the last part and swung my arm. She gave me a look that honestly scared me. It was a look that just spoke the words 'I know you are lying, but I will play this game of yours'. I think she noticed me blanch slightly at that, since her poise grew more confident.

"Yes, as I have heard. You indeed have a... talent." She paused, I finally got next to her at the window and waited for her to continue, luckily she did. I would not have a response to that. "But I am sure you will understand that I must scan your mind-" exactly what I didn't want to hear "-just in case you know something that could harm my ponies or if you know somethings that perhaps... you shouldn't." She stared at me with an almost emotionless face, her usual small smile was gone. I was freaking out, and she could see it. Before she could do anything, though, I spoke.

"Okay, okay. Just hear me out okay?" she nodded, I continued "Yes, I probably know some things that could be used to harm some ponies, I also know of some things that may be state secrets for all I know. And if you are willing to wait, I could probably list them all for you. Because, no offence-" her body stiffened slightly "-but I can't let you scan my mind. And trust me when I say that it's for your own mental safety as well as my physical safety. Please Celestia, I want to stay here, I really do. And I will do anything for you, just don't scan me, please. I don't think you guys could handle knowing what I know."

"Go on then," she said "Try me. Give me a taste. Maybe I will change my mind." I only have a couple chances at this...

"Well, I know of that place you have. With all the screens." She tilted her head slightly. "Where you and Twilight went just before she got wings." She didn't seem that impressed.

"I would have told Twilight not to tell anypony about it, if it were meant to be a secret. Though that does show how much you COULD know..." This is not going well.

"Errm" I was trying to think of the most dangerous piece of information I had "I know that almost everything the element holders have done that caused them to learn some lesson or some other big reveal has been planned by you, like the tickets to the first gala they attended for example." She was unfazed and said nothing. An eyebrow raised slowly. "ERRMMM..." I was running out of ideas "I know you like cake?"

I am an idiot. If it was even possible, her eyebrow raised even higher.

"Is that it?" she said. Oh God please. I said nothing. "Well then" Her horn glowed. This was it, I was about to be kicked out of or killed in Equestria, and Celestia would know her existence was futile. Then an idea hit me. An idea that was so stupid it may just work. I put all my faith into one word, one word that would hopefully change everything for the better...

"FAUST!!" I yelled. Celestia's eyes snapped open, not looking at me, no, they were unfocused, looking past me and into the distance. Her mouth hung open. The walls and ground reverberated with the word and I heard whispers and moans all around me. Then as quickly as the word left my lips, they stopped. Celestia was just staring, her gaze slowly turning to me. Her shocked expression grew sorrowful.

She nodded to me and hung her head so low it was almost at the floor, then used a very limp wing to point me out the door. I left without a word. The room I left was so quiet that I heard the sound of tears hitting marble as I left. Once outside the door I quickly and quietly closed it.

"How'd it go?" Chrome asked, with a chipper-ness that startled me. I turned and found that Chrome and Feather were waiting for me. I looked at them, their expressions changed as they read mine.

"Lets just get out of here." I said. They knew better than to ask.

***

We were at Chrome's place. A small 4-room apartment-like place. One room that tripled as a dining room, kitchen and sitting room; the kitchen was segmented from the rest of the room by a marble surface area that extended from the wall. The rest of the room contained a large dining table and a couch. The 3 other rooms that led off from the first room were a bathroom, a bedroom, and a spare bedroom. Not a very big place, but it was cozy I guess. This was where I had to stay before I could either afford a house, or found a better friend or something. I don't really know what they were planning.

No-one had said a word the whole trip until we had all got inside; when Feather turned and said "So, what happened?" I sat on the couch and stared out the window at the sun setting over the houses and mountains in the distance. "You don't have to tell me" She continued "But we are your friends, aren't we? You can trust us." With my heart slightly warmer than before; I turned to her with a small smile, she returned it by beaming at me, Chrome took a little longer, but did so as well.

"Thanks guys" I said "Means a lot." My smile dropped "You know that 'justification to hurt me' I was talking about earlier?" They both nodded. "Yeah, THAT happened. She wanted to scan my mind, but I had to stop her from doing that, and to do that, I had to show her that she did NOT want to know what was in here." I said tapping my head. "I did so, and I think it upset her a bit."

Feather tried to comfort me, "She's VERY old and VERY wise Dan, anything you know couldn't do anything to her that she couldn't handle, you should trust her."

I retorted with "I said ONE WORD and she stared at me, pointed me out of the room and started crying." THAT shocked them both. I don't think they had ever heard of their leader doing anything close to that before, from what I know anyway. They both stopped trying to talk about it, and instead Feather went on her way, back to her house. We said our goodbyes before she left.

As much as I would like her to, she didn't decide to stay with us. She has her own house and her own responsibilities to deal with, so it's understandable. Me and Chrome mutually agreed through a couple tired-looking glances at each other that it was time to catch some rest, the sun had set by then and only its ambient glow was visible. He slept in the bedroom and I slept in the spare. It was okay, a lot better than the sheet I had in that facility. But it was a little small. It took me a while to get to sleep due to a mixture of overwhelming thoughts and the fact I usually fall asleep to music, and here, I had none. I was hoping I could save up enough bits or convince Chrome to buy a record player of sorts. I would love to hear the music they make here.

Author's Note

Update: 05/11/15
-Fixed grammar
-Spelling/word correction
-Formatting fixed

Again, not my favorite chapter. I think my writing got a little better as the story went on, but recently I have looked back over stuff I just wrote a couple times and gone "Uhg." IF I GO "UHG" YOU KNOW IT'S BAD. Cus at the moment, this chapter is a "Meh" on the groan-scale, a good way's above "Uhg".

Oh my god, what am I talking about... Yep, its 3am... what did I say about 3am in the description?

Things get crazy at 3am I tell you. Real crazy. I feel that shows in the next couple chapters... those are the ones I wrote during my late-night boredoms.

Hi Lexi :)

Chapter 3: The Tailed Tailor's Tale Of Tailor...ing

I woke up the next day to a knock at the door.

I ignored it, it had not sunk in that I was in Equestria. I sluggishly peaked open my eyes and freaked out a little, but I managed to stay quiet. As I collected myself, the knocking stopped and Chrome called from the other side, "If your awake, breakfast's on the table for you, as well as a list of things for you to do today... If nothing major comes up. I gotta get to work, see you in the evening."

While he was saying all of that; I was rushing to put my only set of clothes on. As he walked away from the door, I opened it. Walking to the table, I waved at him, he waved back, before closing the front door behind him and leaving me alone with a breakfast and a list.

The breakfast was pancakes. Pan. Cakes. Loving this place already.

The list was about what I was expecting:

'Go walk round town' psh naah

'go get a new set of clothes with the bits in the bag' He had left a small purse of around 50 bits there next to the note. Well, I cant wear this set forever, they already smell pretty bad.

'Make a new friend' Ew no.

'Go visit Feather' Yeah sure, she's pretty nice I guess.

So I put the purse in my pocket, ate the incredibly fluffy pancakes, freshened up in the sink then set out to find a tailor. I could visit Feather later. Maybe I could check in on Celestia or Luna. Maybe Luna's a better idea, since Celestia was not in the... best of moods when I left her.

Finding a tailor was pretty easy, just found the fancy-est place (that wasn't obviously a restaurant) I could see and walked in. I got some really weird looks while walking around, but no one confronted me, so the trip there went pretty well in my opinion.

The Tailor's shop was very organised and a pony was already being served. It was a small company by the looks of it, since the worker was also the owner of the shop. She was a light beige unicorn with a long brown mane and tail, her eyes a deep green. And a cutie mark of a wheel of thread. I waited for a while and the ponies eventually parted ways. When I saw this; I stood from the chair I had found and walked over to the owner of the shop. Seeing movement, she went into typical shop-keeper auto-pilot.

"Hello there miss, may I-" she stopped when she lifted her head to typical pony eye-level but didn't find a face. She slowly looked up to my eyes. I blinked. She shook her head and looked at me again. "Terribly sorry..." She waited for a name. It took me a while to pick up on but I eventually answered.

"Dan"

"Oh, terribly sorry Dan, I have just... never seen anything like you!" At least she's not scared or anything.

"Nah, don't be. I get that a lot." Technically a lie, since this was only the 4th pony I had spoken to. "You recon you can replicate these clothes?" I said, pulling on my t-shirt with one hand, and trousers with the other.

"Of course I can! Anything for such a unique guest! Anything else you need?" She said sweetly, leaning over the counter, leaning on her front hooves and looking up at me with emerald eyes that were actually scaring me with their intensity.

"I also have some clothes under these ones that need replicating too." Smooth. She took down everything I had said on a small pad.

"Anything else? And when do you want them done by?" She was really into it, her eyes were practically buzzing with excitement. Maybe she liked the challenge.

"Nothing else, thanks. But these are my only clothes you see, and I cannot be seen without them on, so I can't leave them with you. And I would like them done by this time tomorrow, though I have no idea how long any of this stuff takes, so just do it as fast as possible I guess, I can't use these clothes too many more times before they'll start getting really dirty." They were already dirty, they just weren't that bad. Plus, she didn't know what these looked like before, so it's fine.

"I understand completely, that deadline is okay with me. Let me just have a good look at them, then you can have them back. Should be no more that a couple minutes." She was getting all manner of different tools out.

After some awkward preparations, she got me to wait in a closet naked while she studied my clothes, because there were no other rooms in the building. The door to the closet slowly opened a tiny bit and some folded, and cleaner clothes were pushed through. "I washed them while I was at it, since they are your only clothes. I couldn't send a client away with dirty clothes! Hope that's okay."

"Nah, that's awesome, thanks." I quickly slipped them on and opened the door fully and walked out. "How much is this costing me anyway?" I had completely forgot to ask before-hand. Hopefully bits are worth a lot.

"Oh, it'll be 47 bits. You can pay now, or you can pay tomorrow when you pick the new ones up if you like." I poured the bits onto the counter in-front of her. She spent a moment counting then said. "Sir, this is 51 bits, you needn't pay extra!" She slid the extra 4 towards me, but I stopped her by pushing her hoof back towards her.

"No, I am not paying extra. Its a little custom from my land, when you get good service at an establishment you leave extra money, specifically for the person who served you. It's usually an extra 20% or so, but this is all I have. So take it, as my thanks." I let go of her hoof. She looked like she was about to cry. She leaped of the counter and hugged me so tightly that if she was not a pony, I would have assumed she was attacking me. All the while spewing 'thank-you's' over my shoulder. I returned the hug and she eventually let go, her eyes wet in the corners. We both started to head to the door.

"I won't forget this Dan. I have never seen such charity here, this place needs more ponies like you." Its moments like that that really warm my heart, it also puts a cinder-block onto my train-of-thought's tracks. I was so overwhelmed by this; I had no responses canned and ready, so I just changed the subject without sounding too rude.

"Hm, that is unfortunate to hear. I don't think I ever got you name?"

"Oh, dreadfully sorry. I always was forgetful." I doubt that, you run a business that's based on a structure of deadlines. "My name is Hazel Thread."

"Well, it was nice meeting you Hazel, but unfortunately I have ponies I need to go visit. See you tomorrow?" I had the door half open and I turned for her response.

"Of course, see you tomorrow Dan!" She said cheerfully. I nodded in response as I headed over to Feather's address. Well, I guess the task 'make a new friend' was not as bad as I thought. She seemed like a pretty nice girl: mature, sophisticated, but does not expect sophistication in others just because she is. Hm. Maybe Canterlot is not as bad as I thought.

The ponies on the street seemed to hear the last of our conversation, since I got a couple extra-weird looks on the street as soon as I stepped out. Perhaps they didn't expect me to be smart or something? I don't know. Ponies are just weird sometimes.

Once I got to Feather's address; I was greeted with a note on her door. That read "Dan, Celestia needs to meet you again, says it's about yesterday. No one knows where you are, so if you read this head to the throne room, the guards have been told to let you in. See you back at Chrome Star's tonight if you can make it. - Feather Flame"

Well great. I began heading towards the large palace. Judging by the sun it was just past noon or so. I eventually found the large gates leading inside. The guards either side of the door looked me over and nodded as I passed. Hm, those guys are okay, at least they didn't hold grudges. I didn't remember the way to the throne room, so I wondered around, looking for a servant or something. I saw a guard patrolling down a nearby hall and I sped up slightly to catch up to him.

"Excuse me sir," he turned to me, he looked just like every other guard, never figured out how they did that. "Which way is the throne room, I have a meeting to attend." I could see his mind working away behind his eyes. He narrowed them.

"Dan, right?" I nodded, his face returned to the usual neutral expression guards have. He gave me some helpful directions and I thanked him and continued walking. I could tell he was dying to talk to someone, he tried to make conversation but stopped when I said that the meeting was urgent. I do not envy those guys, they have barely anyone to talk to. I would ask Celestia to make some kind of break room or something for them, if they don't already have one; but I'm in no place to ask her to build a whole new room.

Sure enough, his instructions lead me to the throne room doors, the guards saw me coming and opened the door for me. I nodded to them and walked in, ready to face... something. I walked in and noticed that the throne room had a lot more occupants than last time I was there; ponies were lined up in front of Celestia's throne, and Celestia was talking to each of them, one by one, before dismissing each one. She noticed me and gestured me to the small chair in the corner with a less than obvious eye movement. I sat and waited for what must have been a couple hours. During that time, a pony brought me some food. Nothing good, just typical greens, but it was a good enough lunch, I guess Celestia must have ordered me some food or something while I wasn't paying attention.

The pony at the front of the line would tell Celesita about a problem or ask a question and Celestia would do her best to answer it for them. All of the ponies that left had a beaming grin on their face. Celestia was very good indeed. But it was slightly worrying to see that the ponies were so depended on her.

As the light streaming through the windows began to darken there was a flash in the room, I turned from my zoned-out state to see that Luna had teleported onto her throne. All of the ponies, except the one being talked to, moved to the right and formed a line in front of Luna, and she began doing the same as Celestia, with the same results. Once the pony with Celestia was dealt with and walked away with a skip in his step, Celestia looked to me and gestured me forward. I stood in front of her at the same distance that the ponies had. She looked at me, waiting for something.

Nope, I ain't gunna. I will be a friend, not a subject. After a couple seconds there was some murmuring and gasps from the line to my right.

Then a pony spoke up "That is royalty you are looking at, you know!" I could tell just from her voice that she had been fed by a silver spoon all her life. "Bow! Creature!" Needless to say I was surprised, and very offended. But I had prepared for this, though I expected it to happen sooner. Celestia gave me a look of 'go on' and I gave her a very hidden nod. I turned to the line and found the entire line looking at me with a range of shocked expressions, one particularly tall mare was staring daggers at me.

"My land does not have royalty." I said "We give respect to those who deserve it." If I had stopped talking there; I think half the line, including Luna, who was now listening, would have pounced on me. "And I have yet to meet Celestia properly, so I have had no chance to judge her character. Until then, to me, she is just another pony." They seemed to understand my reasoning, but I was still being stared at with some very malicious glares. Luna got back to talking to ponies, but didn't look overly amused. I turned back to Celestia to see her composure had never dropped, but I am sure she was shocked on the inside, maybe. I'll get her eventually, I thought to myself. "So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked in a deliberately sweet voice, the ponies in the line huffed.

I was right, this IS fun.

A yellow bubble formed around me and Celestia. "This thing sound-proof?" I asked.

"Yes. Tell me, you know of the Creator-" She said, in reference to Faust "-, we know very little, but what little we know is bad. How much do YOU know about Her?" She said with a scary expression.

"I know what she is, who she is, where she is and how she created THIS." I said gesturing to everything. Celestia looked at me with apologetic eyes.

"You were right, I do NOT want to know all that. Thank you for stopping me. But, please, tell me..." she paused, I looked at the floor, preparing answers in my head. "...What of our existence?" I looked up at her, she looked like she was preparing for an executioner's axe, her hair was not flowing and instead was floating - still - in the air. I drained all emotion from my face, and slowly shook my head.

Her horn glowed brighter as she hung her head slightly and we appeared in a completely bare room with no windows or doors. The walls were black and the only light in the room was a tiny solar system, hovering in the center of the room. She dropped the bubble, looked at the ground and let out a shake-y sigh. Then collapsed.

I was frozen. What was I supposed to do? After a couple seconds I sighed as well, and sat next to her. Her head was buried in her hooves and her hair was hanging limp on the floor. Upon sitting I automatically went to put my hand on her back, but then I stopped myself. I knew nothing of pony anatomy or rituals, that could be a very intimate move, and I wanted no part of that, so I just sat there in silence. I did however, lean on her, very slightly, just so she knew I was there and didn't snap her head back up and stab me in the face with her horn or something.

I sat there until I almost fell asleep, I decided falling asleep on a princess on day two was a bit too enthusiastic, so I stood and walked over to the solar system. A small blue and green planet, span around a stationary orb of light and a small moon orbited around it. Seeing this reminded me of a sad song from back home, I whispered it under my breath.

Celestia lifted her head slightly in my peripheral vision, as I stared at the floating orbs.

I paused, the end of a verse, and the pianos filled the silence, I assumed this was my imagination. Celestia was slowly getting up. I continued louder.

I continued for a couple minutes, it was nice. But I didn't have that much control over myself, I would never have sung that loud. Or that well, either.

Celestia tapped me on the shoulder with a hoof, she was one of the only ones who could reach that high. The pianos stopped abruptly and I realized what had just happened. I turned and stared at her. She stared right back, a sad smile slowly creeping onto her face. Her eyes were warm with emotion, and I could not help but smile back. "Did that just happen?" I said quietly. Her smile deeped and her horn glowed.

"Yes, it did. We will talk tomorrow, for now, go get some sleep." She said, before I appeared in Chrome's house and in front of a very surprised pair of ponies that had just closed the front door behind them. I could not resist. I clicked both my fingers and pointed at them.

"Ayyy, sup guys. I'm back. What'I miss?" They both just stared at me.

Feather recovered first. "Where WERE you today??"

I explained my trip to the tailor's and getting her note, I didn't mention what happened with Celestia.

"Wow Dan," Chrome said after I summed up my day. "Here for 2 days and you've already bagged yourself a mare!" He nudged me where a shoulder would be a on a pony as he walked past me and into the kitchen area. Well, that's a side of Chrome I have never seen before. I mean, Hazel was nice, but I wasn't looking for anything, like, at all.

Feather rolled her eyes, and walked over to greet me in the form of a hug. "Don't mind him, Dan." She said in a slightly hushed voice. "He's had a couple drinks." I was very suprised, and not just at the fact that Chrome of all people liked to drink.

"Alcohol exists here?" I asked, shocked and slightly exited.

"Yeah, why? Did it also in your world?" I nodded, she just shrugged. "Hm, maybe us three should go out for a drink some time." I liked the sound of that.

"I like the sound of that." I said. "But I think I will be busy tomorrow, I have got to pick up some clothes from Hazel, then I have another meeting with Celestia."

Chrome put a hoof over my shoulder and leaned on me, his chin resting on my other shoulder, "Oh, look at you Dan! Not one, but TWO mares!" He raised his free hoof to enphasise the 'two'. Feather rolled her eyes. I ignored what he said and looked at his uncomfortably close face.

"Um... Chrome?" I asked, he looked at me, almost smacking me in the face with his nose. "How are you up here?" I looked down to see that he was on his back legs, swaying slightly, and using my shoulder to support his weight. "Oh. You can do that?" His eyes went unfocused and his hoof lost its grip on my shoulder.

"Nope." He rasped, just before he fell to the floor, completely passed out. I flinched at the sound his body made as it impacted the harsh, kitchen floor. Feather just giggled and pulled him onto the couch by his tail. Not using her magic for some reason.

"He'll be fine." she said to my worried expression. If a human took that fall they would have at least broken a tooth or something, he landed on this chin. Guess cartoon logic was in effect, and it was funny-looking enough for no harm to be done.

A couple hours later, after Feather had left, I went to bed. After putting a lamp-shade over Chrome's head of course, for ironys sake. That night, I could not stop thinking about what had happened with Celestia. Was that song magic or something? That would explain why the ponies all burst into song sometimes, but thats only when something is happening, when they are very emotional. I wasn't. I just willingly... DID it. Celestia said she'd explain, so am sure she has an answer. I've got stuff to do tomorrow, got to get some sleep.

Author's Note

Updated: 06/11/15
-Fixed grammar
-Fixed formatting in some places
-Added italics in appropriate places
-Hated self for chapter's name

Uhg, I always hated the ending of this chapter, don't know why. Maybe I rushed it? I don't know, I just get this feeling whenever I read it that just conveys the word 'UHHGGG' over and over again.

I just realized how many chapters I will be able to get out of what I have already written. It's going to take ages to get it all up on here, its all un-formatted. Its like re-writing it, so I guess it'll do it good. At least I am actually reading it through before sending somewhere.

Chapter 4: Big Kicks And Crazy Chicks

I woke up the next day to some less than pleasant noises in the next room.

When Feather said Chrome had 'had a couple drinks' I didn't think she meant he'd drank the bar dry! Because it certainly sounded like he had, that morning.

I slipped into my clothes and quietly left the house. Making sure to stay out of Chrome's way. Breakfast could wait, that guy needed his space for now. And I had things to do. It was a fairly early morning, seven or eight o'clock I think. I went straight to Hazel's place, hoping the clothes would be done by now, I wanted to get back to Celestia to find out more about the music that happened the day before. Hazel's head lifted to the sound of the bell above the door chiming as I walked in. She was making some kind of dress or something in the back of the room.

She beamed at me. "Oh, Good morning Dan! Here for your clothes? They are over there on the counter ready for you. I could not figure out what your's were made out of, so I improvised. I hope that's okay." I walked up to the clothes and felt them, they were all very soft. Perfect, I hate rough clothes.

"No, these are great! Perfect even. Thanks Hazel." She opened her mouth to respond but I cut her off. As much as I hated to do that. "I would love to stay and catch up-" She deflated slightly "-But I have got to get back to Celestia." She immediately perked up again.

"You know the Princess?" She asked in wonder.

"I wouldn't say KNOW." I said. "But I have talked to her every day since I got here." Granted that was only the third day I had been there, that was not a long time, but she didn't have to know that. "Thanks again for the clothes!" I said as I began my walk to the door.

"Oh, its quite alright. Have fun with the Princess!" She said as I left. I waved at here through one of the large windows as I walked away, she returned it.

I put the new clothes in one of the empty drawers in my room at Chrome's place. He was still groaning on the sofa as I walked past, so I let him get his rest. I swiftly began walking towards the palace gates, I had remembered the route I took the day before. It took me about 20 minutes of walking to get there last time, I think I halved that time in my rush to get there.

As I walked through the gates I was stopped my the guards extending their weapons in front of me, I legit almost walked into them. But I caught myself. "I am here to see Celestia, she wanted to see me."

"Civilian visiting hours begin tomorrow at nine." The guards said in unison, I expect they have to say this often, judging by how bored they sounded.

"Celestia told me to meet her today. I can't do that with you in my way. So technically you are forcing me to dis-obey her orders. Isn't that, like, the opposite of your job?" I was hoping those guys were idiots.

"Don't use your games on us." Damn it "No-one gets in without a per-" He was cut off my a voice behind me.

"Don't worry boys." The familiar voice said. "He's with me." They both stood aside and started to salute but hesitated then began lowering their hooves, I turned to see Feather. She stood there with clenched teeth and small irises, doing a bunch of silent 'stop it' hoof-motions. She froze when I looked at her and snapped back into normal position. I was right, see was a military SOMETHING. But she didn't want me to know for some reason. I pretended not to see her obvious slip-up. She quickly ushered me inside with a hoof. And closed the doors behind us.

I had to say something. "I noticed, you know." I said as I began the walk to the throne room again. It was a pretty lengthy walk, so I had time to talk.

"Noticed what?" She said, pulling her best 'who? innocent little me?' face she could.

"Look, I know you're in the military." She stared at me.

"How did you know? The visions?"

"What? Oh, those. No. I didn't know, it WAS just a suspicion. But that... episode at the door and you asking me how I knew kind of just proved to me that you were. You would only ask me how I knew if it were true." She hung her head and sighed. "And your cutie mark gave it away a bit as well." She stopped walking and stamped a hoof on the ground. I stopped slightly ahead of her and turned to her.

"Nopony's supposed to know." She said in frustration. "Please don't tell anypony, please!" She wrapped her hoofs around my waist. "If they knew what I have done in my past they would never look at me the same way! Please!".

"Woah, woah, hey now." I put my hands around where her front legs meet her body and lifted her to my eye level. And ponies are heavy, so this took a lot of effort. "I wasn't going to tell anypony. Besides, no matter what you did 'in your past' it can't be as bad as some of the things my species has done!".

"I doubt that. I'm a monster, Dan." She tried to free herself from my grasp, but only succeeded in looking slightly more cute. I stared at her as coldly as I could.

"Bombs exist here right?" She stopped squirming.

"...Yeah...why?" she asked, dreading the answer.

"You think your a monster?" She slowly nodded. "My species has designed a type bomb that is specifically made to destroy entire countries and render the land it hit uninhabitable for years afterwards." Please, take the bait.

She snorted. "Designing is one thing-" I cut her off. SHE TOOK IT.

"And multiple have been used." Her eyes widened. "On countries, cities full of people." Her mouth dropped. "I don't know the population count is here, but its probably nowhere near seven billion. Imagine how many ponies there would be per city if there were seven billion of them in total." She just stared past me.

"Excuse me, sir?" A voice said behind me. I looked around to see myself surrounded by palace staff, servants and cleaners. All staring at me in horror. I turn to see a group of around ten guards. The one in the front continued, "Come with us please, sir. We would like to have... a chat, with you." Oh god, screw that. I slowly put Feather down, who at some point had turned completely catatonic. And turned to face them.

"Okay, I submi-" I said before turning, leaping over a servant's head and booking it to the throne room. The noise behind me was a terrible mixture of metallic clangs, yelling and hoofs. It took me about 30 seconds to get the rest of the way there, since we were already pretty close when she stopped.

I remembered the throne-room doors being both push and pull, so I legit drop kicked them open with both legs. Celestia leaped from her throne and paperwork went flying everywhere. "LOCK THEM! LOCK THEM! LOCK THEM! LOCK THEM!" I yelled as I practically flew into the room. Once I hit the ground I did a 180 and found both doors closed and glowing in Celestia's magic. Wow, she actually locked them.

"What's out there Dan?" Celestia asked in a serious tone as she set me in front of her with her magic.

"Guards." I said non-shalontly. Celestia paused.

"...Why were you running from the guards?" She asked, concerned.

"I may or may not have accidentally traumatized a couple ponies while proving something to a friend." Celestia lifted a hoof off of the ground. "And that friend may or may not have fainted from what I said." Her hoof rose to her eye level and stopped. "And I may or may not have broken a couple bones in my legs by drop-kicking your door." It was very painful, I think the only reason I was still able to talk was the adrenaline rush running gave me, mixed with the fact she was levitating me still, so there was no weight on my legs.

Her hoof smacked into her nose. Oh she didn't just...

"Dan, you're an idiot." I was speechless. After a pause, she asked "What did you say to them?"

"I described the effects of the most powerful weapon humans have ever made." Her hoof lifted off the ground again. I pointed at her. "Don't you da..." My hand slowly fell, my vision began to narrow. She smiled. That smile quickly turned to worry as she realized I was passing out. The doors bursting open was the last thing I heard before I lost consciousness.

***

I was unconscious for the next couple hours. I faded in and out of consciousness, but never moved. I can only recall snippets of conversations.

..."-him back, Sister! He is nothing but a burden."

"No, he may be unpleasant at times, but he has shown some promise. And he gives an opportunity we rarely get."

"And what is that?"

"A chance to make-"...

..."-ou sure you can handle this? We could get a trai-"...

..."No, its quite alright, I have him stable. Though he is unli-"...

***

"...an..." Uhg...

"...Dan..." Hm... wha...

"Dan, wake up." Celestia?

My eyes were to heavy to open. So just moaned. "Hm?" The sound reverberated around inside my head. Uhg, my head. What happened? I lifted a hand up to my head, but a blunt object stopped it half way.

"Dan, it's okay." Celestia pushed my hand back down. "You just fractured a leg and hit your head on the floor as you landed." That's why my head hurts, I hit the ground pretty hard, I probably have a concussion or something.

"Just?" I asked, I had never broken a bone, or passed out before. So this was big for me.

"Well, that wasn't that big of a fall." Maybe for you. "And you seem a little more... fragile... than us ponies." I squinted my eyes open just to see her face. Exactly what I expected; her usual small smile, but with a bit more cheek than usual.

"What are you saying?" I said, as I crossed my arms. I will admit that moving my arms took a lot of effort, but it was worth it.

Her smile dissapeared "Oh, nothing like that." Then it came back, stronger. "Just that a pony would have probably..." I tried my best to glare at her, while keeping the harsh light out of my eyes. "Coped... better than you did." I just closed my eyes and huffed.

"You're just lucky that it's hard for me to move right now, or I may have pretended to be offended by that." I wouldn't have done anything, that just sounded cool. "But it's true, I have seen ponies do things that would kill humans instantly... Don't get any ideas." I did not want to test to see if it were true. She chuckled. That's not a good sign.Damn I'm thirsty, who knows how long I was out for.

"Don't worry, I won't. There is water beside your bed if you need it," Oh great, she can read minds now. "and you were unconscious for around 5 hours." Sometimes I really do think she can read my mind. I thought some really nasty things at her to see if she would react, she just looked at me weirdly, since I was just staring at her with narrowed eyes for 30 seconds or so, before I gave it up. I think she realized what she had done, since her smug grin returned.

Then it smoothed. "You should keep off your feet for at least the rest of today, while the magic works it's ma- I mean, fixes your leg. I guess our discussion can wait until another time. This time I will come to YOU, since you did such a good job at the alternative today."

"Meh, I'm okay with that. I get some really weird looks on the street anyway."

"Yes, I have noticed that." Great, she's been watching me too. "But I have a solution of sorts for you, but that can wait until our discussion later. For now I need you to talk to my sister." Blood status: frozen.

"A-are you sure? She's only ever seen me once and I don't think I made a very good impression."

"That's exactly why I need you to meet her, prove to her that you are not as bad as you seem."

"But... I am. I tone myself down when I am around ponies, which is all the time nowadays."

"You didn't do much 'toning down' in the throne room the other day." That god-damn grin.

"God-dammit Celestia, you know what I meant." Her eyes widened slightly and her grin disappeared. I then realized I had slipped up. God-dammit. I flinched and shielded my eyes when her wings spread, feather-tips lit like candles. Towering over me she stared down at me with blank, white glowing eyes. I lowered my arms and stared at her, terrified.

"THAT'S CELESTIA-DAMMIT TO YOU! I AM YOUR 'GOD' NOW!"

I won't write exactly what I said, because I can't remember what I said in the rush I was in and I am pretty sure it was so pathetic I would never right it here anyway. Basically I begged for my life. That's when her horn glowed and she returned to normal. Then said "You know I was joking right?" I was pissed, and that's an understatement.

I looked at her, twisted my face into the coldest stare I could muster with blurry, reddened eyes. And said "No, I didn't." I said, in a tone that was much colder than my teary-stare. She looked down, hummed, then teleported out of the room. Oh god what is she doing now.

I looked around the room I was in, since it seemed i would be in there for a while, leg fractured and all. I don't know why Celestia wouldn't have her 'discussion' right then and there. It was private and quiet. oh well. I was sitting upright in a bed with my back to a propped up pillow, placed between me and the wall. The whole room was decorated in either green, white or gold. The greens being all of the fabrics, including the curtains, drawn across the small window. The whites and golds covered the rest of the furniture, which was; the base of my bed, the drawers either side and their respective lampshades. Only one of the lamps were turned on, so I turned on the other, since it was getting rather dark in that room. Seeing that, I opened the curtains with a very stretched reach, that's when I remembered I had passed out, it was pitch black outside and rain was hammering the glass, as soon as i peeled back the second curtain a flash of lightning rumbled across the sky. Scaring me for a second, before I remembered that storms were awesome. The ponies didn't think so, though.

I sat and appreciated the storm for a while, just sitting, looking out of the small window and watching the skies twist and contort. I could not help but think about what Celestia could be doing, she left without saying goodbye, and with a thoughtful look on her face. I was worried. I was also feeling guilty about how i treated Feather, she didn't know any better, she probably hates me now, since i proved to her that I AM a monster. Even if it was to prove that SHE wasn't. Hopefully she doesn't tell anypony, well, hopefully all those guards and palace staff don't tell anypony. But they will, I bet. What else do they have to do? I imagine those jobs are incredibly boring, me doing that might just have made some of their days. I was hoping news of my injuries would reach Feather soon, I couldn't move, apparently, so I needed her to come to me, so I could apologize. Seeing me defeated by a door would likely make her less scared of me, which she probably is now. How will Chrome react when he finds out what happened?

I was completely lost in thought, when my door slowly creaked open about an inch, then shut again. I whipped my head in that direction. A LOT of things were wrong with that. A. LOT.

One: Someone/thing was messing with my door.

Two: They could be on either side, with magic here, anything is possible.

Three: Doors, in a well-maintained palace with hundreds of workers and staff, DO. NOT. CREEK.

I stared at the door. It felt like the room had got darker somehow, not an overly noticeable amount, just enough to throw me off slightly. I turned my attention to the lights either side of me, they were on, and as bright as ever. I looked back to the door, to try and figure out what was going on. I froze. That side of the room was completely dark. Void of color. I could not even see the light coming in from around door. It was as if all the light was just being absorbed once it reached a certain distance from my bed. Then that distance began to close in on me. Swirling shadows became more dense as the walls around me darkened, the lights dimmed. I look to the window, hoping for some lightning to illuminate my room, even for a second. I had no idea what was going on. I wonder what floor i am on... Maybe I could just jump through the window and run away... oh, yeah, my leg...

I sat in silence as my room slowly turned a pitch black. I tried my best to keep composure, whatever was causing this was likely sentiant, knowing Equestria. I mean, the door would only creek if this was MEANT to be scary, this is a cartoon world after all, so if I wasn't scared, it would leave. Right? Wrong, the darkness lingered.

10 minutes later I had relaxed considerably, if it wanted me dead it would have done so by then. Welp, got to put all those lessons I learnt from Equestria in action, and try to talk to it. If anyone was watching I must have looked like a lunatic.

"So." I said out loud, in my best 'confident voice'. "What do you want from me? One who hides in the darkness." The blackness seemed to recoil around me when I first spoke, then flow back in slowly. Like the ocean's waves on a flat beach. I looked around the room, hopelessly, I still could not see. My eyes should have adapted by now, this darkness is not natural.

Turns out, someone WAS watching. The darkness ceased it's grasp on the room and relieved what I had feared, and expected. Princess Luna. The lightning chose the moment of her reveal to strike three times in rapid succession, casting ghastly shadows across the room, and causing Luna's eyes appear to glow a bright white. Badass. I didn't flinch at the lightning. If I wanted this to go well I had to show her that I am neutral ground, un-bias. Being afraid of her would put me into the same category as some of the ponies, I needed to remain un-categorized if I wanted this to work out.

I pulled a very small smile at her when I figured out it was her, though I doubt it even showed on my face. She looked at me with a neutral expression. And I don't mean Celestia's version of neutral, which is a small, knowing, smile that never ceases to annoy me; this look was completely void of all feeling. Just looking. Not staring. I found myself becoming uncomfortable under her gaze, but I did my best to hide it. I attempted to wait her out, but got bored and very uncomfortable. So I decided to speak up first, it passed her almost complete control over the conversation, but I was okay with playing her games for now.

"Princess Luna," I only used the title because I doubt she would accept as much dis-respect as Celestia did. "It is nice to properly meet you." I said, emphasizing on my small smile, making sure it was visible in the, once again, lit room. Her exterior barely changed.

"Yes, it must be. Considering the last time we met, you were hardly 'proper'." Ouch. This was going to be harder than I thought. At least it seemed she was a lot better at suppressing her more archaic style of speech than I expected. "My sister insisted that I talk to you. For a reason she withheld from me." I wasn't about to play Celestia's game.

"She" - Luna scowled slightly at my choice of wording. - "told me that I should talk to you too. Something about 'making up for a bad first impression' or something like that." She didn't react. I continued. "So I'm... I'm sorry for that scene I made in the throne room."

"Which one? The one where you fled from the law, interrupted my Sister's crucial work and damaged a pair of unique, antique doors? The one where you publicly disrespected both me, and my Sister then proceeded to upset my Sister for a second time. Or the one where you upset my Sister for the first time?" God. Damn.

"..." I realized how I must look through her eyes, and attempted to work with that. "...All three?" I asked, shrugging nervously.

"And what makes you think that I would accept those apologies?" AND. If she had left that word out, I would have considered myself screwed. I decided attempting to induce a form of pity was my best bet here.

"Nothing." Her composure shuffled slightly. "I don't expect you to ever forgive me, since I have..." I used her words, I recognized her voice from when I was passed out. "...been nothing but a burden to you, and your sister." She seemed satisfied with that at least. "I do not deserve to be in this land, as it is much better that the one of which I came. But not deserving something, does not mean I can't appreciate it. This place is a lot more peaceful and quite different, society-wise, from my world." I hit a chord with that last sentence. Just as planned. "I really should thank whoever decided to bring me here." For some reason, she had a guilty look on her face about that. But it cleared.

"We- I understand having to change with the world around us. And I know it can be difficult at times. Maybe if we knew more about the place of which you came, we could help you adapt, you say it's a bad place, but how bad could it be? We are old, my sister and I. And could likely handle anything you have experienced in your short lifetime."

"I'm sorry, but I will hold that information to myself for now. I don't want to do to you what I have done to Celestia twice now."

"Our mind is more hardened than our Sister's." Our? What's causing that? Defending herself? Or putting her sister down?

I decided to test something. "Tell me, what do you think of death?" She was caught off guard with the question. She thought for a second.

"Is a terrible thing, death. Though, it is inevitable. Mostly." She said solemnly.

"Wrong answer. I can't tell you anything." She almost looked angry for a second, before a curious look replaced it.

"What answer would have granted me access to your world's history?"

"Death is good." She was taken aback, but I continued. "Clearing out the old, weak and dim. And making way for the young, strong and smart. A necessity. Something that should not be taken lightly, but often is." She didn't respond after a couple seconds, so I kept talking to avoid a weird silence. "We humans think of death so lightly in fact, we have made jokes and sayings about it. For example, imagine a cart's wheel falls of during a cargo-run. Where a pony might say 'gosh darn it'," - Luna gasped at my apparently explicit language. - "a human will likely say something more along the lines of 'Just kill me now' or, one of my personal favorites due to many factors, 'I wish I had died at birth'."

Luna was completely silent. She just stared at me, in what was probably dis-belief. This time I waited. She eventually responded.

"I have never heard such grotesque terms... and to use them in such a petty situation. And you say your species uses these terms frequently?"

"Not just those exact ones, there are many more, I just can't remember any more at the moment. But yeah, with a lot of variation." I said, shrugging.

"What about... foals? Are they exposed to such harsh words?"

"Well, a good parent would try and shield their children from language like that, among other explicit things. But such terms, along with some words I won't say here, were becoming more popular with the younger generations when I left. It is possible one day it will be a lot more common-place."

"Why can't you say the words you mentioned?"

"You gasped at the words 'GOSH DARN IT'! A child of any age where I come from could say that and no-one would even question it, it is so tame. It's actually a censored version of another term used by us to express frustration. I actually used it earlier today, with your sister. She didn't seem that shocked, though I know she is very good at hiding things like that. Ask her if you want to know about it, she will tell you if she thinks you should know."

"Why do you tell her but not me?"

"I was not as aware as I am now about how explicit it might be. Considering words that are literal child's-play to me are used as expletives, even if the term I used with your sister was still very tame in comparison to most of the others I know, it's still a MUCH worse version of 'gosh-darn'."

"I understand. You said Celestia was good at hiding her feelings? What do you mean?" Are you serious?.

"Just that. I mean, she hides her emotions sometimes, keeps things to herself, usually for the benefit of others. I can usually tell when she is doing it, but I can't tell what she is hiding when she does. And I think she knows. I mean, there is a reason she is the third-hardest Equestrian to read that I know of."

"I have noticed something silimar happening from time to time more recently. But third? Who are the top two?"

"The next one up is you."

"Really? Why? I know I can be seen as cold sometimes, but it is something I am working on."

"No, it's not that. But in the... visions, I got very little information on you. Very little... 'footage', if you will. So I do not know many of your characteristics and mannerisms, like I do with the other ponies. So I find it hard to figure out what you are feeling or thinking sometimes."

"How far back did the visions go?" I don't like where this is going.

"Well, I saw you and your sister turn discord to stone. And I saw you and your sister..." HOW. HOW do I put this?

"It's okay, continue." Few.

"Thanks, well, after that there is a long gap. I saw basically everything Twilight did ever since she declined Moon-dancer's party and went to Ponyville to oversee the summer-sun-celebration's proceedings up until now. I know quite a lot about the element holders, and have heard almost all of their 'friendship reports' or whatever they are called." She gave me a mock-sympathetic look on that one. "Yeah, it was as bad as it sounds. But yeah, I know quite a lot about those six, but not much about Celestia, and even less about you."

"Hm, okay, fair enough. I am sure if you wanted I could organize a meeting between me, you and my sister. We could discuss what you do and don't know, and fill any gaps." Smooth, Luna, smooth.

"I would be pretty down for that, though I don't really think I need a meeting to get to know you two, I have learned a lot over the last 3 days alone. Plus the only things I don't know about ponies are of an anatomical nature." Why did I say that... pleasedontaskpleasedontaskpleasedontask...

"Anatomical?" DAMMIT. Oh god, now I have to...oh god...

"Err, you know... skeletal structure... muscles... ORGANS..." One of her ears flicked, I WISH I KNEW WHAT THAT MEANT DAMMIT.

"Oh..." She said in an awkward tone. "That is... unfortunate." She paused. "Perhaps some schooling is in order" . . .

"That offer better be literal." I said within a second of the line leaving her mouth. Dammit, I am such an idiot.

"Of course it is, what else could it mea-" She stopped. She stared at me. "Di-.. d-did-" This boat has sprung a leak, better try to cover it up!

"Well, getting back on topic." I said quickly. "The number one on the list of Discord. Can't read that guy for love-nor-money! You know?" I laughed nervously.

"Did y- y- you jus-" This boats going down! Abandon ship!

"Welp, Princess, it was nice seeing you." I rushed to the edge of my bed. And put all my weight on my good leg. "But it's getting pretty late I thi-" I held up my invisible wrist watch. "Oh my! Look at the time, you really must be on your way, I am sure you have a LOOOT of Princess work to do!" I hopped over to her and pushed her statue-like form towards the door with my shoulder against the front of her chest.

Once I got her just outside the door I stepped back. She was just staring at me in complete shock and the guards were giving me some less than pleasant looks, partly due to the massive scratches now on the polished floor from Luna's hooves, plus the noises they made while they scraped the ground. "Okay, byyyyyeee" I said, waving my hand as I quickly shut the door. I then took a step, gave up and just fell onto my bed.

What had I done? If some of what I had read was to be trusted, this was going to be one hell of a ride if I don't get off it soon. Otherwise I would likely end up a madman. I mean seriously, these mannerisms man... What must I do to get rid of them?

Author's Note

Updated 06/11/15
-Fixed grammar/Tenses
-Fixed some spelling errors
-General formatting fix

God Damn this chapter.
I don't know why, but this one took forever to format. And I'm not even doing it that well!
This part of the book, and the next couple chapters are the golden age in my opinion. I was writing off of instinct and because it was fun. Not because I felt like I needed too, like I do now.

But writing can wait, there is still like... 10 or so chapters worth left of pre-written stuff. If only i had written it straigt onto here the formatting would be so much easier, at the moment i have to go over it 2 or 3 times, fixing paragraphs and stuff, then going back through and adding/deleting gaps.

It sounds like hell on earth, and it is. But i love it. Not much else to do at... 3:44am is there?

Chapter 5: Anatomies And Secret Cheese

I woke up the next morning to Chrome. Lovingly yelling "The Tartarus did you do Dan?!" from inside my room.

"What?" I groaned as I rolled and sat up to find him standing at the end on my bed. Rather mad. Oh yeah, sure, just let yourself in.

"Yesterday." He simply said.

"Wow, you know already? News travels fast round here huh?" I said, giving him a tired look.

"Dan, news tends to travel fast between friends you know." He looked quite offended.

I rubbed the sleepy feeling from my face. "Look, I didn't mean to flirt with her, it's just a human mannerism I need to grow out of. Also, I didn't know you were friends with Luna. You two dating or something?" Did I mention that I was an idiot?

His face completely blanched. "D- Dan..."

"Yeah?"

"I was talking about what you did to Feather." My eyes widened.

I blinked. "Oh... Well, forget what I just said. Yes I know, I over-reacted, I'm sorry. Can you get out for a second so I can get dressed?" I was covering my body with the bed sheets, but I had slept in my underwear, so it could have been worse.

"Dan, you know I was both joking and drunk the other night right? I don't actually want you getting all of the mares just yet. Calm down, you need to settle in more first! Don't just go flirting with whoever you please! I was kidding!"

"I know! I already said it was an accident. Now, get out so I can dress or I will just have to do it with you in the room."

"Okay! Okay! I'm moving!" He left the room, I got back into my original clothes, which seemed to have been washed, somehow. The palace staff are basically ninjas sometimes. When I called him back in he was still pretty mad with me, but also very interested. "So, you flirted with Luna?"

"Yes, on accident!" I said as I sat on the corner of my bed. "Please tell me that flirting is as common here as it is in my world... and that she is just over-reacting since she hasn't been flirted with for ages."

Chrome grit his teeth awkwardly. "Dan... Bad news dude." NOOO "Flirting is kind of an... advanced thing here. Only couples are meant to use it, otherwise it's considered weird... and creepy."

"Well, that explains her reaction at least. Better go explain this to her before she does... something. Just gotta find her first." I said as I began to stand from the bed.

"Oh, thats easy. She's just outside of the door, staring at it." He pointed to the door with wing. I froze half-way up. "Shes waiting for you or something."

"What kind of stare?" I asked, looking to him, but keeping my body still.

"Err, kinda like... this..." He pulled a face. I studied him for a second.

"Yep, she's been there all night." I sat back down onto the bed limply, bouncing slightly as a result.

"What?" He asked, tilting his head. "All night?"

"You heard me. She froze after I did it, so I pushed her outside my door and went to sleep." I pointed to the scrapes left by her hooves on the floor. His mouth was gaping.

He looked to he with a sympathetic frown. "You want me to go get Celestia?"

"Please do." I practically pleaded.

He nodded, "I will see if she is free. She'll know how to deal with this."

I thought of something. "Hey, actually, could you take me with you? Me and her are meant to be having a meeting today, for whatever reason. Plus..." I leaned in closer and lowered my voice. "I don't want to be alone with Luna again."

He nodded and we set off to find Celestia, carefully skirting around Luna, still gawking in the doorway. I knew alicorns were meant to be resilient but god-damn, had she been staring all night?

I realized, a couple corners later, that moving around with a only recently healed leg was not the best of ideas, it still hurt to put weight on it. And the stairs sucked. And as it turns out, the place we were going to just so happened to be one of the highest places in the palace, so there were a LOT of stairs. Chrome had to slow down for me, and eventually settled for using a wing to help push me along.

After a couple flights-worth of spiral stairs, we made it to a very well decorated wooden door, with four guards either side all looking ahead as if we were not there. There was orange sunlight coming in from a small rectangular window that was slightly ajar, letting in a small breeze of cold air and casting a silhouette of the guards on the floor with its radiant light. I took a moment and looked out of the window, there was a balcony coming out of the room behind the guarded door, and almost all of Canterlot was visible, cast in the dawn's orange glow. A pretty damn good view. I turned to Chrome, who was waiting by the door, after having talked to the guards.

"Look, before we go in there, what happened with Feather was-"

He cut me off "You already apologized. It's fine, and you need to sit down. Let's get this over with." Meh, okay. That's a little direct for him, but I ain't complaining.

He nodded to the guard to the right of the door, he nodded back and he knocked on the door in a strange rhythm. "You are free to enter." He said, in a voice that was so manly it surprised me.

Chrome thanked him and slowly opened the door and walked in, I followed him. Once I was a suitable distance from the door he closed it behind me. I could get used to this, maybe I should break my legs more often. Chrome remained behind me as I inspected the room.

As I had saw, there was a large balcony connected to this room, it's size was about the same as the room itself, with rounded edges. So this is where Celestia spy's on them from. The room was well decorated, yet simple. There were filing cabinets and bookshelves lining two of the three available walls, since one was occupied by the balcony and the other; a wooden desk, covered in neatly piled papers and a white alicorn who was hunched over them. She quickly turned her chair around with her usual smile on when we came in.

"Please," She said, remaining seated. "Sit, let us speak. We have much to cover."

She pointed with one hoof to the two very conveniently placed chairs in the center of the room, forming a triangle of chairs pointing away from the door. Celestia's being the furthest from the door. Chrome quickly took his seat, the one to my right. I paused slightly and more hesitantly took the one on my left. I trusted Celestia, but I wasn't throwing myself around at her order just yet. For some reason a wider smile replaced her natural one when I did that. I gave her a suspicious look, her face didn't change.

"Dan, Chrome," She said with respective nods "I trust you know what we are here to discuss?" She said, glancing between us for an answer. I did so.

"One of three things." With each reason, I lifted a finger. "One: Feather. Two: Luna. Three: Music." Celestia was confused by the first two, and Chrome was confused by the last one.

"Well," Celestia started, putting a hoof to her chin, "I DO have quite a bit of time today, so let's discuss these extra topics first. Those being numbers one and two. Three can wait."

Chrome turned to me, still confused. "What about music?" I gave him a 'nevermind, later' hand gesture. I don't think he understood, but I carried on anyway.

I looked back to Celestia. "Well, the first topic then, is Feather." Chrome recoiled slightly. "She is the friend that-" Celestia cut me off.

"-You 'may or may not have'" Her hoofs made quotation marks, somehow. "Made faint in the hallway before you ran from the guards?" I nodded. "Well, I will be sure to give her a visit, where is she likely to be?"

"I don't know, actually. Chrome?" I asked the grey pony.

"She is still in her bed, in the palace Infirmary." Giving me a fixed glare.

I recoiled in guilt. "Dude, the Infirmary?! Is she okay? I over reacted and said some things I should not have said, but God- I mean... er something else." I stuttered.

Chrome seemed confused. "Dan, it's not what you said that caused her to be hospitalized, it's what you DID."

"What? All I did to her was... hold her up."

"Yes, you did. But you did so in such a way you constricted a blood-vessel with each... hand." He said pointing at them. "Dan, do you know what a 'pressure point' is?"

Oh no. "Yes, I think I do."

"Well, you found one. You cut off her blood flow almost entirely. You are lucky there was no lasting damage Dan!" He half yelled, trying to rein in his clear anger. He didn't want to be mad at me, he knew he was basically all I had. I sighed and buried my head in my hands for a second, then looked to Celestia, she was looking in on our conversation with slight dis-taste. Clearly she never heard the specifics from her guards.

"Add another topic to the list, " I said, raising a hand as I looked at the floor, "Pony Anatomy lesson." Then a thought struck me. "Wait, no. Nevermind, that is basically included in topic number two." Celestia's eyebrows lifted.

"Chrome." She said, the pegasus nodded briefly. "Could you go and check on Feather for us? Me and Dan have some... things... to discuss." Her eyes narrowed at me with that last sentence.

"Yes Princess!" Chrome practically ran out the door. Thanks for the help Chrome.

Once we were alone I straightened myself up. She gave me a strange glare. "Would you care to explain to me what you meant by needing an 'anatomy' lesson, and how that included my sister."

"Look," I said, nervous. "You are not going to be very happy with me." Her eyebrows lifted, then her eyes narrowed harshly. "I need a couple lessons, one on what parts of a pony I can and cannot touch." She nodded, seeing reason in this. "And one concerning the... courting and rituals of ponies." Her eyes were like shards of glass cutting into me.

"And, how, again, does this involve my sister? I did notice that she did not retire to her room this morning..." Oh... Yeah... that looks bad doesn't it?

I gulped. "Well... I accidentally... kinda..." I paused. Celestia continued her painful stare. "Flirted to her." ... "Accidentally!" I quickly added, as I flinched, ready for something to strike me, instead of magic or a hoof to 'smite thee', only words came.

"And that's all?" Celestia said, her stare lessening slightly. "And how does one 'accidentally' flirt?"

"Yes, that is all that happened. And..." I pulled my journals out of my back pocket, and turned to the respective page.

"You've kept a diary?"

"It's a journal, Celestia. I kept ajournal. Is that a problem?"

"Not at all, just odd."

"Whatever." I paused and found my 'encounter' with Luna. I turned the book to her and pointed her where to start reading. "Start reading here, and keep going until the next day. This is basically the exact dialog too."

"When did you get time to do this? You wake up early?"

"No... I... made time."

She huffed and read through the pages, until she reached the next day. Her emotions were fun to watch, though also conserning at times. She levitated the book back to me and I placed it back in my pocket.

"Well?" I said.

"This is indeed a problem I didn't think would need to be dealt with so soon after your arrival, but your a bit more... popular than I thought you would be." I rolled my eyes hard enough that there was no chance she could miss them. "Why, a fashion designer came in earlier asking about the courting and rituals of humans!" If I was drinking, I would have spat it out all over Celestia at that.

"...Hazel Thread by any chance?" She seemed surprised.

"Oh? Know her?" There was a pause. "Don't worry Dan, I know you don't want anything to do with us at the moment, and by the sounds of her question, she was trying to find out if something you had done was a proposal of some kind. You do anything nice for her?"

"I gave her a tip." Celestia blinked. Oh yeah, that's not a thing here. "It's something we do where I come from, when we receive good service we leave extra payment meant specifically for the person that served us. Its a sign of thanks. Nothing more."

"Hm, and you make humans out to be so bad sometimes."

I 'psshed', "You've heard nothing yet."

She blanched slightly. "After hearing what you have already told me and what the guards have heard... I would like to keep it that way, for both of our sake's. But enough of this, go get some breakfast, then meet me back here. I will have a 'lesson' ready for you." Her eyes half-lidded on the word lesson, and the word was extended in a way that I was not comfortable with.

My eyes widened and I just stared at her, shocked. She giggled. "Just messing with you Dan, you are so easy to get sometimes. Now go get some food." I am pretty sure I would have just stood there and gawked for a couple minutes if she had not teleported me to the palace cafeteria. All the ponies in the room, which was many since most of the many seats were full, snapped there necks around to stare at the source of the flash of light and sound.

I just sighed and got in the existing line, picking up a tray at the beginning and filling it with anything I could eat without throwing up. The room reminded me of the typical school-cafeteria, large long tables full of ponies buzzing with chatter, most of it being about the biped that just teleported into the room.

I found myself without an empty table to sit at, I scanned the room for a pony I knew and found no such luxury. But I had to sit somewhere. Then I saw a lone stallion in day-guard armor, on a smaller table towards the back of the room. An introvert! perfect! I bee-lined for him, his back was to me, so he didn't see me coming till I walked past him and sat opposite him on the small, square table.

I set my tray down, sat and inspected the pony in front of me. I froze. He was just staring at an empty plate on an empty tray on a previously empty table. But that's not what got my attention: his eyes had pricks of green in the center of each iris, the color seemed to flicker like a flame in his skull. But I saw no green lights in his reflection on the plate. And I knew this place's 'thing' with the color green. This guy must be trouble, somehow.

I warily started eating my tomato and lettuce-based salad, since leaving the table after sitting might be rude enough to trigger whatever this pony was capable of. As I ate, I felt a strange presence come from the pony in front of me, he was not looking at me, still staring down at the plate, but I felt as if he was... inspecting me, searching me. The feeling suddenly stopped, then he slumped down ever so slightly. I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to get a better look at him. He looked up at the wrong time, his eyes met mine then filled with panic for a split second, before returning to the plate and squeezing his eyes shut, his body tensed as if expecting me to strike him. I had an idea of what was going on now, well, some of it at least.

"Excuse me sir," I said in my most polite tone, "May I have your name?"

He flinched at my words but looked at me in what I assumed was relief. "I am..." He started in a voice that seemed to crackle, he cleared his throat and continued in a timid voice, slightly higher than the average stallions I believe. "I'm... Ebony Towers."

"And I am Dan, I'm a human, by the way." I tried my hardest to make myself sound oblivious to his obvious ruse. It worked, since his confidence increased dramatically.

"Yes, Cele- Princess Celestia told the guar- us, us about you." Oh my god, you have ONE job. "She said to treat you as a civilian, despite being... different. But she didn't specify what the... difference was." I gave him a knowing look, trying to convey the words 'wouldn't YOU know about being different' and I think it worked, since he flinched slightly, I rolled my eyes at this and he stared at me, not sure what to do. He couldn't tell if I knew or not yet. I chuckled slightly at his expression. After an awkward pause, I decided to test something, I thought about something, I looked to him, no difference, I thought something different, I looked at him, his eyes were full of life and he was staring at me, unbelieving. Then... Then I KNEW.

I was thinking about love.

"Hey," I said. "Ebony?"

"Y-yes?" His eyes hopeful.

I leaned over the table, to his ear. "Would you mind escorting me to a more private location? So we may talk more... private matters." I said, in a slightly hushed tone. Smiling at him as I pulled away from his ear.

"O-of course!" He said, thinking he knew what I meant.

"Lead the way." I said, pointing to the cafeteria door. I had nearly finished my food and was feeling full anyway.

He stood slowly and lead me out of the room, down a couple halls and into a guards-only sector, he allowed me access. He lead me into a hallway with doors along each side of it and ending in a dead end, he entered a room labeled "231 - E.T." ET - Ebony Towers. Hm, personal quarters by the looks of it. . It was a personal living quarters of sorts, it only had one room, with the bare minimum in it: sheets, wardrobe, a couple drawers and a desk. He locked the door behind me. I was in the middle of the room, and he was in between me and the door. There were no windows. Welp, no way out now.

"Tell me, what did you want to... discuss?" He asked confidently. Raising one eyebrow. A playful smile on his lips.

"Drop it." I said.

"What??" He said, his eyes widening.

"I refuse to talk to a facade, show me your true self." I crossed my arms.

He lowered his head and with a flash of green, a pony no longer stood before me, but a changeling. He had both of his eyes closed and had his head to the floor.

"You caught me." He said, in a tone so saddening I really wanted to just reach out and hug him. "Do what you wish with me, I have failed and deserve no mercy." I stared at him, shocked. So the other ponies didn't know? That means they can't see the green specs in his eyes when he is disguised... but then... why could I?

"I do not wish to harm you, once we are done talking I will likely allow you to return to your... mission, whatever it may be." He snapped his head up, and stared at me with giant blue orbs. I had to fight to keep my composure, I always thought changelings were cute, in a way. But in person? They were just plain cute, but in a dangerous kind of way. Like some dragons are. Or the night guards.

"May I ask you something?" He said in a quiet voice. I nodded "How did you... do that?" He asked. "Does your kind have the ability to fabricate feelings?" I was confused for a second, before I realized what he meant.

"In the few awkward seconds back in the cafeteria, after you recited the guard's orders, I had decided to test something, Since I already had some suspicions. I had used the first couple seconds to think about the saddest thing I could, I had heard that changelings could taste every emotion, not just love. But when I looked for it's effects, nothing had happened so I dismissed that theory." He shuffled slightly as I was about to continue. "What?"

"We- We can."

"Oh... okay, I guess the sadness didn't really effect you to much then?" He shook his head. "Interesting. The couple seconds after that I thought about love as hard as I could, when I looked to you; your eyes looked lively, healthy and surprised. I knew then that you could feel my love. I then used that love as a way of luring you away, into a more private place. Sorry to have disappointed you, I am sure you expected something a bit... different from someone who was asking for a discussion of 'more private matters' while emitting love." He was just staring at me, completely shocked.

"Why are you still doing it then?" He asked, tilting his head.

I blinked. Then shrugged. "I always thought you guys were cute, must just be that."

His mouth hung open. "R-really?" I just nodded. He continued gaping.

"So," I said, he shook himself and looked more attentive. "Now that that's covered, why are you here? Give me the truth and maybe I will reward you." I thought about love again for a second before stopping, he got the hint and perked up slightly.

"I am one of the last changelings in Equestria, as far as I'm aware. I have been here since years before the Canterlot invasion, and luckily, the wards the guard captain put on us happened to protect my disguise from the love-blast that ended the attack. I am not part of that Queen's hive. I am part of another's, or rather, was. You see, I was sent out as a scout, I assumed the identity of a pony civilian and scanned the area, I was very young at the time and it was my first real mission. I was about to send back my information to the hive, via a mental link all changelings have to their Queen, when a burst of magic exploded from one of the buildings, it knocked me to the ground and when I got up my young, curious mind wanted to know what it was that caused that magic burst. Luckily I was disguised as a pegasis at the time so I just flew up to the window of the building I thought it came from.

"I looked through and saw the pony's only ruler at the time and a small filly staring up at her. I landed back on the street and tried again to contact the hive, but I could not send anything, only receive. And I could not go back manually either, since changelings will be killed on sight if they do not alert the hive that they are approaching, and I no longer had that ability. I heard my Queen asking me where I was, if I was still there, if the area was safe... if I was safe and... I could not answer. Eventually they declared me dead. A couple years later I heard on the link that they were being attacked by something, then the link was suddenly broken, completely, signifying the Queen had been killed. I gave up all hope on every getting back to the hive, then. During the years I had been in Canterlot I had solidly implanted myself in society, about a year after the queen's death I joined the junior guard, genuinely hoping I would be sent out to a report of changeling activity, so I could join my own species again, but I was assigned palace guard instead. And here I am, 7 years later." I took in the story. It seemed true.

He must have been just bigger than a foal when he first got to Canterlot.

And it was most definitely Twilight's cutie mark that caused that magic blast, but I wasn't about to say that.

"Thank you for being truthful, I can only prove parts of your story, but I trust you either way." The changeling smiled at that. "Hey, you got like, a changeling-name or something?" His smile faltered.

"No, changelings identify each other with their telepathic links, so there is little need for names in a hive. Though some do like to be called by their 'pony-name'. So I guess you can call me by that, still."

"Okay, well, thanks Ebony. This must be hard for you, or at least it looks like it is." Ebony nodded slowly. "Now come-'ere" I said as I went down onto my knees and extended my arms outwards. Ebony rushed into my embrace, putting his hoofs over my shoulders. He felt weird. But that didn't stop me from tightly squeezing the cute little guy. I pulled away slightly and he reluctantly left my arms. I smiled at him and he returned it ten-fold. "This does not have any side effects right?" I asked. Actually now thinking about what I was doing.

"Not if it's willingly given, like your's, no." He said as I stood back up.

"Ah, okay. Sorry, but I need to get to Celestia before she starts to worry. Go back to doing your guarding thing." Ebony nodded and with a flash of green, became the pristine-white day-guard he was known to be. The green specs in his eyes returned, still visible to me, and glowing brighter than before. Must be all that extra love.

He left first and I waited for 5 or 6 minutes before leaving, to dispel any rumors that might arise from this 'private meeting'.

I set off to find Celestia, she was likely still in that room from before, so I headed there.

Author's Note

Update: 06-07/11/15 (It's only 1am)
-Fixed grammar
-Spellings/wrong words fixed
-Set story a little straighter

I guess now is a good time to say I have a soft-spot for changelings, if you could not already tell.

Sorry these chapters end so abruptly, they were written as one big text file, so I am having to select a portion of it and try to make it fade in and out nicely. And as I said, I am no word-smith.

I genuinely love anyone who actually got this far in. Either your taste in fics is bad or my writing is not as bad as I think it is.

A LOT MORE TO COME

Chapter 6: Even More Anatomy

When I got back to Celestia's... office? I guess? meh, its 'Celestias office' now.

When I got back to Celestia's office I was met with a slightly surprising scene. The triangle of chairs now created a triangle that pointed to the door, not away from it. The two chairs not facing away from door were occupied by Celestia and, to my surprise, Luna. Though she still looked slightly bewildered, Celestia had somehow brought her back from her hundred-yard stare.

"So, whats first?" I asked.

Celestia answered "I have sorted everything out with Luna, so we can go straight to anatomy. Please, sit." I walked over, my leg was perfectly okay now, and sat on the available chair. That sure healed fast, chalk it down to magic I guess.

"Okay, how's this going to work?" I asked, unsure where this was going.

Luna answered this time, "We have a set of male and female pony dolls and a male human doll, so we may learn as well. You will show us areas on the pony dolls that you think are appropriate to touch given the relationship example we will give you."

"Fair enough, let's get started then." I said, clapping my hands together.

"Okay," Celestia started. "You have never met this pony before. Where is it appropriate to touch them? If at all." She asked as she placed the three dolls in front of me. Though left the poorly made human one a little further away from me.

After a moment of thinking I pointed to the top of the head and the back of both the ponies, the sisters nodded approvingly.

"You are good friends with this pony." Celestia continued.

I responded with words because it was easier than the gesture would be. "Basically anywhere, except the two obvious places-" Luna cut me off.

"And those are?"

"Please don't make me do this." I pleaded.

Luna groaned, "So immature. Fine. Go on. Continue." Celestia was containing giggles.

I continued, "As I was saying: Basically anywhere except the two obvious places, Luna," She rolled her eyes "But not for an overly long time."

They shook their heads. "The ear tips and hoofs Dan." Celestia said. "They are sensitive, and should not be touched by any who are not in a serious relationship with this pony. Unless it is a dire situation in which you need to, for whatever reason."

"Point taken." I said. "So like... just the bottom of the hooves right?" The nodded. "Okay, good, I've only touched the sides."

Celestia proposed another situation, "You are in a relationship with this pony, perhaps married."

"Everywhere. But only the more... sensual places when the time calls for it." I said.

"Wow." Luna said sarcastically. "So romantic."

"Okay," Celestia said, laughing at Luna slightly, "Your turn." She magic'd the human figure over to me.

"A human? A human can be touched anywhere by anyone of any relation to them, except for this area." I pointed, you all know where I pointed. "This area is restricted to relationships only."

"That's it?" Luna commented

"Yep. Also, what about horns and wings?" I asked; both of the dolls were earth ponies.

They looked at each other, then looked back to me. Celestia spoke. "Don't ever touch a pegasi wing unless they ask you too."

"And a Unicorn's horn" Luna continued, "is seen as being sacred, so the same applies for those as well. Though they are not sensitive like wings are."

"Hm," That wasn't so bad. "That was not as hard as I thought it would be."

"Anything you want to test out on a pony in controlled circumstances?" Asked Celestia.

I couldn't help myself. "Is that an offer? Cele-" She cut me off.

"Dan." She said, with a smug smile. "Remember what happened last time." She said with a turn to Luna, who hid her face by looking away. "What I meant; was that we have two pony volunteers. They-"

"Are they-"

"No they are not us."

"Awwww." I pulled my saddest face, neither were impressed.

Celestia continued, "We have two pony volunteers that will allow you to test anything we deem appropriate."

"Yeah sure," I said "I have had two things I wanted to try."

Celestia clopped her front hooves together and a panel in the wall opened and a female pegasis and a male unicorn stepped out, they both had a very creepy smile on their faces. Both of them where a very unnatural white color, and their cutie-marks where covered by cloth taped to their sides. They stood side by side, facing the princesses. They were trying to hide their identities. What could be so bad that they would want to do that?

"Test whatever you wish, we will stop you if you do anything... rash." Oh. Celestia said as I walked over to the pair. They stood, completely still, but followed me with their creepy grins as I walked around them, then stopped in the space between them.

"Well the first thing I wanted to test was..." I reached over to the top of the mare's head, as I did I noticed her smile intensified and her eyes widened, while the stallion, who I now had my back to, seemed to slump in disappointment. Yep, these guys are freaks.

I used both of my hands to turn the mares head so she was facing straight ahead again, she had turned to look at me as I reached for her. I put my hand to the back of one of her ears, I kept it still, I turned to Celestia. She was giving me a curious look, but didn't tell me to stop, so I turned back to the mare, she was completely frozen in what I was guessing was sick anticipation. I slowly began to rub the back of the base of her ear with my knuckles. Nothing was happening so I kept going for a couple seconds, before turning my attention to her face, her eyes had rolled back and her tongue was lolling out of her mouth.

Terrified, I backed away from her so fast I bumped into the stallion slightly. She looked at me with disappointment in her eyes, so I looked to the Princesses with fear in my eyes, and they looked at me with shock in theirs.

"That is not a sensitive zone." Luna started. "How could it have elicited such reactions?" She asked, directed more at her sister. Who said nothing.

The mare spoke up. "It- it was like I was having an inch I didn't even know I had; cured." She said, timidly.

"So... not sexual in any way?" I asked, they all recoiled at my choice of language.

"No, not really." She paused. "But it did feel really good though." Creepy. There was silence in the room for quite a while.

"Welp, that's the first of my two tests. Thoughts?" I said, turning to Celestia.

She hesitated. "You can use this," Sweet "but," Dammit "you must be very familiar with the pony first and have their consent." Aw, no surprise ear-scratching then.

"Proceed to the second of your tests." Luna said, slightly uncomfortable.

I turned to the stallion, he beamed at me, not as creepily as the mare did, but still pretty creepily. "On your back." His eyes widened and the mare behind me gasped. I think the Princesses had similar reactions, but I wasn't watching. He complied very quickly though. Luckily, there was nothing of particular notice under there at the moment. Thank Christ.

I knelt at his side and put a hand on his stomach. His face was a mixture of confusion and excitement. After a second I began in scrub his belly like you would to a pet. He had a similar reaction to this as the mare did to her test. His legs were twitching the whole time, but his facial features were a lot more controlled than the mare's were, he closed his eyes, laid back and smiled in contentment. Much to his disappointment, I stopped after a while.

"Well? How was that?" I asked him. He took a second to compose himself, but didn't get up.

"It was like what she said," He indicated to the mare behind me "It's like an itch has been scratched, but didn't even know it was there." A smug smile came to my face, I looked to the Princesses, they both blinked several times.

"Neither of those places you used were sensitive Dan." Celestia started. "Either you have a way with ponies, or these two are... 'bias'." The two test subjects blushed. Oh god, something tells me its a bit of both.

"Well," I said, taking a half step towards the princesses. "Why don't we see which one it is?" I continued in what I hoped was a mock-seductive tone. Luna reared her head back and glared at me with wide eyes. Celestia didn't slip, and a smile formed on her face, worrying me until she started talking.

"We could, but I will have to pass, I have work to do right now." Her smile turned smug, and she looked to her sister, who was still staring at me. "What about you sister? You are usually asleep by now, so I doubt you have any work to do..." Luna's eyes glared at Celestia, then returned to their previous state and began to flicker around the room. She opened and closed her mouth but no answer came out. Celestia was suppressing giggles and so was I, but I think the two white ponies behind us were traumatized.

Luna shook herself. "I have- I am very tired." Is all she could work out, before she froze again.

Celestia tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to the door. Then said in straight into my ear "271, today, 5pm. Be there." Then pushed me towards the door slightly, I nodded to her and walked out. Once I was to the door I realized I had no idea what '271' was, but it would have been awkward to turn around at the door, so I just kept going, figuring I could ask a guard or something. As I close the door behind me, I heard Celestia continue to tease her sibling. "He could have helped you get to sleep-" is all I heard before the door closed, I assumed it was sound-proof somehow, probably just magic.

Upon hearing that, all the guards looked to me for a split second then continued to look into the distance like they were supposed to, but they all looked a little more uncomfortable than before.

I quickly made my way back to the room I had woke up in, collected my spare clothes then set out to Chrome's place. After seeing a sign labeled 'Infirmary' however, I made a quick detour to go and visit Feather. I needed to apologize in person. I followed the apropriate signs and found myself in a waiting room.

The mare behind the desk asked "How can I help you sir?" as soon as I walked in, I made my way to the desk.

"Yeah, I'm here to see Feather?" She nodded.

"We were notified that you would be here soon, come with me." She led me through the double-doors and down a couple hallways. She stopped at a door. "This is her room, do you want me to accompany you?" She asked very sweetly. My heart was warmed. Genuine care right there, she really cares about her job.

"No thanks, it's fine. But before I forget, what time is it?"

"About noon."

"Okay, thanks, I've got somewhere to be at 5." Somewhere indeed. She smiled, happy to be a help. I gave her a short wave as I entered the room, she returned the gesture and waited till I was completely inside before beginning to walk away.

I shut the door behind me, and surveyed my surroundings. A small room, with a window on the furthest wall, lying across the room was a bed, not dissimilar to the one I had woke up in that day. On it was Feather, asleep. She had many 'get well' letters covering the bed-side tables either side of the bed, upon further inspection they were all from family, except a few that were from Chrome and members of the guard. But one in particular was labeled 'From an old friend'. This card was attached to a small, plush manticore, that was being squeezed tightly by Feather in her sleep.

I could see her eyes moving under their lids, rapidly moving from side to side, her body would spasm and titch slightly every so often, and her face would sometimes tense and relax, seemingly at random. I could tell from that, she was probably having a nightmare, or at least a dream. Perhaps Luna being awake for longer than she usually is had disrupted things more than I thought.

I sat on her bed near the foot on one of the longer sides. I hung my head, knowing I was responsible for this, I was also trying to figure out how to wake her up without scaring her. After a couple minutes, I gave up and settled for putting my hand on her shoulder and shaking her slowly. She stirred but didn't rise. Her face then twisted into a frown, no, more than a frown, complete and utter sorrow, regret. Warm tears began falling from her closed eyes, she sobbed quietly and pulled her plush toy closer to her, covering her face. Her tears saturating in the stuffing.

That was it for me, I had felt terrible for what I had done, and seeing her in the room brought me to the brink of tears on its own, but seeing her like that? The usually aggressive and hidden unicorn, curled up on a bed, crying her eyes out as she sleeps? That's to much. I moved my hand away from her and cupped my face, placing my elbows on my knees and crying into my hands, shaking slightly with each suppressed sob. I didn't want to wake her, but yet I did, she was having a nightmare.

Was it better to wake her from it and risk scaring her? Or just letting it play out but let it scare her more? Fate decided for me, then. I felt a furry blob press against me. I looked past my hands and saw that feather had laid next to me, her body pressing against my leg. She lent back and nuzzled my forearm, which was still extending from my knee.

"It's okay." She said, choking on the last syllable. "It's okay..." She repeated, barely a whisper. I moved one of my arms away from my face and put it over her shoulder. She rolled to her left, her head resting on my knee. My arm fell from it's original position over her shoulder and landed just above her shoulder, my hand touching the front of her neck. I quickly felt my leg become wet with her tears, she probably felt the same way about my hand.

We sat there for a while, both of us crying, for different reasons, but offering comfort none the less. My hand was absent-mindedly running my fingers through the fur on her neck, and she would occasionally move her head to nuzzle deeper into my leg. Once I felt things beginning to die down in the 'emotion' department I sat up, used both hands to rub my face, cleaned away tears and sighed. She looked back at me, a sad smile on her face, though I could still see fear in her eyes.

"I am... so sorry, Feather I-" She politely cut me off as I choked on my words.

"And I said it was okay." She put a hoof over my knee, where her head had been. "You didn't know. You couldn't have. And you were right about what you said, I shouldn't beat myself up over the past. But..." I lifted a hand to stop her but she continued. "But the regret I feel, the things I've done, they haunt me constantly." Her voice reduced to a whimper. "Their faces, Dan... They didn't know! They were innocents! But we slaughtered them along with their..." She choked. I barely heard the next word, it was so restrained. "...families... Just because we didn't understand..." She had once again buried her head in the fabric covering my knee, and was sobbing loudly.

I didn't know what to do, so I just leaned forward and put my arm back over her. Offering what comfort I could. After carefully constructing my words, I vocalized them. "Look at me Feather." She lifted her head. Her eyes bloodshot and heavy, her fur matted against her skin. "If you ever need anyone to talk to, just come find me, okay?"

She hung her head, and remained silent. "Feather," Her head lifted again, even more void of any hope. "You can tell me anything, and I mean anything." She didn't seem convinced. "I don't judge peop- ponies on their past, Feather. And besides, I already know things that even Celestia herself had refused to hear." She looked at me, eyes wider than before, but still solemn. "I doubt anything you could have done would change my opinion of you, or affect me in any way. Look, just promise me..." I lifted her gaze up by her chin. "Promise me, that you will come to me if you need anything. Anything at all. And I mean ANYTHING. Do you understand?" She was military, the best way to get through to her would be a stern gaze and a coldly-honest voice. I provided this. And she gave in. She slowly nodded, another sad smile forming on her face, I returned it as she looked up at me.

"Thank you Dan. But I won't hold you here any longer, knowing you, you probably have something to do." She let out a choked giggle. I nodded with a smile and looked to the clock on the wall beside the door. 5:02 SHIT.

"Oh shi- Fu- I mean.. AAgghh." She looked at me confused. "Quick! What is 271?!"

"What?"

"Celestia told me to be at '271 at 5'!" Her eyes widened.

"Room 271... That's her personal sitting room!"

"Where is it?!"

"I don't know!"

"Great, Welp, I've got to get there, now, so I'll see you later I guess!"

"Good luck!" She yelled at me as I ran through the door, after quickly gathering my bundle of clothes, I never did get to chrome's place like I had meant to, so I had to carry those goddamn clothes across the entire palace again. I ran out of the infirmary and sprinted up to the first guard I saw. He was staring at me the whole time, he probably felt threatened or something.

"Guard right?" I pointed at him.

"Yes. Civilian, what is the problem?" He said, glancing behind me, in case I was running from something.

"Where is room 271? I believe it to be Celestia's personal sitting room. I need to be there." He flinched as I said Celestia's name without her title. Then became suspicious.

"Why would YOU need to be there? Visiting hours are over, and not even guards are allowed in that room."

"Dude, I don't have time for this, she said to meet her there at 5! Its past 5! I'm late as it is, help me or I will find a guard who will!" I'm sure Ebony would be glad to break a few rules considering I have some pretty good dirt on him right now. He rolled his eyes.

"Fine, but you better keep up, if you are telling the truth; you don't want to be late." At that, he ran off. I quickly followed, genuinely struggling to keep up. But I managed. We both skidded to a halt in front of a large door. "This is it." He said. I was gasping for breath.

"Thanks dude." I wretched as I walked in. I closed the door behind me and was picked up by golden magic and was violently thrown into a very cushion-y seat. The room was a mixture of coffee-brown and red colors, giving a warm feeling to the whole room. There were two seats in the center of the room, facing each other. One of which I now occupied. There was a very large window covering most of the entire back wall. Celestia was looking out of it.

"You are late." She said, not looking away from the window.

"Well, yeah, I am." I said-matter-of-fact-ly. "What did you need? I had some things to do first." She turned to look at me, but was taken aback by something.

"Yes, I can see that." Her magic produced a vanity mirror with her magic and I looked into it. My whole body was disheveled by the run there, my clothes hung loose and twisted from being exerted and my hair was not fairing much better. I was still out of breath, my eyes were bloodshot and had red rings around them from my meeting with Feather. One side of my leg still had the outline of the crying unicorn, emblazoned in tears.

I had an entire extra set of clothes that had been dropped many times during the run there, so they were more of a ball now, not like the folded pile I had picked up this morning. I sighed and fixed what I could about myself. Then looked to her.

"What happened?" She asked, casting concerned looks to the tear marks on my face and leg.

"I visited Feather, we got a little emotional." Celestia acquired a sad smile as she sat in the seat opposite me.

"Its nice to hear everything has been cleared up." She said, expecting something. I knew what she was waiting for: 'how did you know everything was cleared up?' But it must have been pretty easy to deduce that, from the fact that Feather had been crying on my leg, she wouldn't have done that to anyone she held responsible for anything. So I didn't respond to her, I just gave her a look. A look which I tried to imbue with the words - 'I ain't one of your ponies'.

She recoiled slightly. Score. She looked at least a little apologetic. "I'm sorry, I am just so used to making the ponies think that I-" She stopped herself. Oh! You screwed up now!

"Make the ponies what?" I said with a smug grin. "Make then think your omnipotent by deducing facts that they haven't told you yet?" She stared at me, I gave my best evil grin.

"You know, if this room was not sound-proofed, I would probably have to kill you and the guards standing outside." I did my best to remain unfazed, I was a little surprised at the wording, but other than that, it was nothing I couldn't handle, I thought she was going to kill me a couple days ago anyway.

"That's nice Celestia. Really shows how much the so called 'Benevolent' rulers of Equestria care for their subjects." Before she could respond, I continued. "What did you want to talk about? The music I hope. I have been curious about that." Seeing the path I had made for her that allowed her to avoid my previous statement she responded quickly, shuffling in her chair slightly.

"Yes, we will finally be able to discuss your abilities concerning music magic."

The following conversation was long, contrived and quite exciting, to be honest.

It basically ended up with me learning about a couple key facts:

Music in Equestria is made by very emotional ponies who channel that emotion and use the ambient magic in the air to create a song that represents their deepest feelings, who just so happen to have their primitive recording equipment nearby. Otherwise the music basically sucks because they don't have any instruments other than pianos, harps and very few more. Plus they have barely any sense of rhythm by the looks of it.

I, for some reason, have a different 'magical signature' than ponies do. That means, my magical abilities differ from that of a pony. I guess that the magical abilities of a pony include their 'cartoon-mode' as I have come to call it. Apparently, my magical abilities include a advanced version of music-magic control, similar to a pony's, but I can use it by simply thinking of a song. Singing it helps too.

Celestia said that I could have more 'abilities' that are yet to be discovered, because she 'sensed' magic coming off of me that she could not identify as music-related. So maybe I have like, a superpower I don't know about yet. So that's cool. But she did say that they might not all be necessarily good things.

"So, it's like... midnight now. Can I go and sleep? I don't know about you but I don't have Alicorn magic to fall back to if I get tired." She rolled her eyes.

"Fine, but one last thing before you go." She said as I began to stand.

"Yeah? Please don't try to explain how magic works again, because I won't even try to listen like I did the first time."

"This skill you have, your musical talent, you could take music from your world, and release it here, commercially, you could even have concerts."

"Why would I want to do that? Many of the songs I remember are very... mature. Or sad. Or have many other implications. I don't think the ponies would be able to handle some of them."

"Then use the ones that are not that bad, change the lyrics, or just do all of them, but put warnings before the song starts."

"Again, why would I want to do this at all?"

"You could become famous Dan! Then you wouldn't get all of the weird looks on the street. And assuming you don't blow up too much, which I won't let happen by the way, you won't be swarmed by fans everywhere you go either. You've got nothing to lose Dan. At least try it."

"Okay, fine. I will try it, once. If I don't like it or they don't like it, I will never do it again. Deal?"

"This effects me in no way, and is your decision. There is no need for a deal with me. Just go and sleep, I need to go and adjust the sun, guess I will have to go without sleep today."

"Meh, okay." I said as I walked out, clothes still in hand.

I walked out of the palace, into the residential area, into Chrome's house, threw the clothes onto the bed, then fall asleep on the couch on my way to get a drink. Yeah that could have gone better.

Author's Note

Updated: 07/11/15
-Fixed many formatting issues
-Fixed spelling and grammar
-Probably some other stuff

Oh god, emotions.
How do they work?
I have no idea. If you could not already tell.

Chapter 7: Wires And Dire Situations

Author's Note

Just adding this here, welcome to the worst chapter. I really don't like this one, I tried something and it really didn't work good. Just a warning.

Chapter 7: Wires And Dire Situations

I woke up the next day, after rolling over and smacking my head off the floor. I looked around rapidly trying to figure out what happened until I remembered that I had fell asleep on the couch while 'resting for a sec'. I put my hand to my head. Blood. I wiped it off my hand and went to the sink to clean myself up, must have hit the ground hard, it was relatively soft. I remember wondering why I could smell the blood, when there was so little of it.

I walked through the dark room and into the kitchen, picked up a glass out of the cupboard and began filling it with tap water. I took this moment to take a look behind me, and around the room, maybe Chrome was up? I might be able find a used cup or other evidence to show he's about.

My blood froze. Nothing had prepared me for the sight behind me.

The glass dropped into the sink, and shattered, sending waves of intense sound throughout the room.

The blood I had found on my head... was NOT mine.

Blood was pooling in the center of the room, just outside the kitchen area, past the table and behind the couch. Hanging limply from the ceiling was a pony, who I gauged to be just older than Feather. She was hung, upright, by her front hooves and throat. They were entangled in a sharp wire that was tied to the light fixture on the ceiling. The wire had cut into her flesh through her own weight, and send crimson streams down her body, which was now barely recognizable as a cyan blue. Her dark mane was matted with the dried liquid and stuck to her face. Her eyes here rolled back and wide open, gazing at me with wide whites, a look of terror plastered on her face.

Once I tore myself from her eyes, I noticed many small incisions in her stomach, as I looked closer I found they were not random, and were in fact words. "NEVER" They read.

Where I had fell from the couch, I had landed in a pool of blood that had spread from behind the couch all the way underneath and out the other side. I looked down at myself, I was coated in blood. I quickly rid myself of the t-shirt, before emptying my already empty stomach into the sink, along with the broken glass. I washed my hands of the blood and bile, then noticed that there was still some blood on my chest, from where the t-shirt had been. Disregarding my trousers or the floor, I scooped some water over to my chest, allowing it to wash it away. I looked to check for any remnants, there was no blood, but what there WAS chilled me. "FORGIVE". Written. In scars.

That's when my mind snapped out of its early-morning trance.

If the guy who did this got here after I fell asleep... then what about...

"CHROME!!" I yelled, sprinting from the kitchen and skirting around the corpse and rammed into his bedroom door. It held.

I hit it again with my shoulder. It buckled slightly. "CHROME!!" I repeated.

I stepped back and used one leg to kick at the door, the handle gave way before the hinges so the door flew open, hit the wall and stopped, the handle area bent and splintered. I rushed into the room. Chrome was asleep, in his dark sheets. I was relieved, before something occurred to me a second later.

How could he sleep through all of that?

Wait, Chrome's sheets are a light blue... why are they... oh shit. No. Nononononnonono!

"Chrome? Dude?" I said, I walked up to his bed and felt the sheet. Wet.

I squeezed it, releasing a thick, red liquid. I ripped the blood-soaked cloth off of him, it hit the wall with a sickening sound.

Chrome remained motionless, coated in blood from his head down. Along his side was another inscription. "NEVER" Again, in scars, but these ones were bloodied, still leaking.

Still bleeding.

Blood moving.

Heart beating.

HE'S ALIVE.

And only just, too. I Flipped him over and checked his body for more cuts, while also checking his pulse by putting my fingers where I thought that vein would be on his neck. His underside was cut in a grid-like pattern, the bed directly beneath him was over-saturated in blood, creating a small puddle. I almost threw up again, but there was nothing left.

His pulse, which I was lucky to find, was very slow, compared to mine at least. And his breathing was barely even rising his chest.

I picked him up in a cradle position, I had to use my entire body to lift him, I almost buckled under his weight. But I was not about to let him die.

"Come on Chrome. Come on." I whispered as I walked.

I carried him to the front door, and kicked it. The frame clicked and creaked. I kicked again. And again. Until in gave in and fell off its hinges and bathed us in morning light. I held a stern face. Gasps and screams frequently sounded as I ran through the street. I say ran, I was really walking, the weight of Chrome slowing me down immensely. I didn't know where the hospital was, so I set for the palace, hoping Celestia wouldn't mind if I brought a guest.

The guards at the door froze when they saw me. Unsure what to do. I walked straight past them. They didn't even try to stop me. My face was still covered in some of the mystery ponies blood, my blood, and Chrome's blood. And I probably had an expression on my face that was less than pleasant. They probably lost their jobs, now that I think about it.

I made my way to the Throne room, leaving a thin trail of blood behind me. Most of it was from Chrome, who's wings were hanging limply open with a small trickle of blood dripping from each feather. I bypassed the stunned guards and ignored the ones that spoke up. Until one of the two in front of the door stopped me.

"What are you doing, Monster! Put that pony down and give yourself in, or face me!" I glared at him, he didn't even flinch. I ran out of ideas pretty quick. So I lifted a a bloody-soled foot and kicked him, right on his nose. He fell, a mixture of his and someone else's blood covering his face. The other guard ran away. These guys are terrible.

I kicked in the throne room doors. I'm getting good at this.

Celestia and Luna where both in their respective thrones, Luna looking rather tired. They were both looking over paperwork.

Upon hearing the door crash in, they looked up with determined glares, which immediately fell into horrified stares. The paper fell to the ground and was strewn around the room. Luna recovered first, and began rushing across the long room. A couple steps in I set Chrome down on the floor gently. Ruining a carpet-rug that was probably older than he was.

"Some help would be nice." I said, trying to appear calm.

Celestia snapped over to me with her magic as Luna stopped in front of me. Glancing between the words written on me and Chrome, they were both frozen.

Now, before I write this (it's a very clear memory) I want you to know that this barely ever happens, never even. I SNAPPED.

"FUCKING HEAL HIM GOD DAMMIT". They blinked at me.

"Dan..." Celestia said. "This pony is... dead."

I looked down, he wasn't breathing.

"NO!" I fell to my knees in front of him. "NO NO NO NO NO NO GOD DAMMIT NO!" I punched the marble floor, hard enough to cause the blood on my arm to flick off of me and onto the floor. "HE'S NOT! HE CAN'T BE!"

Luna walked up behind me, she put a hoof on my hunched shoulder. "He's gone Dan."

I slapped her hoof away, it was more of a punch than anything. My probably already broken knuckles crackling on her shoes. "NO HE'S FUCKING NOT! YOU TWO ARE THE PRINCESSES OR FUCK'S SAKE, JUST REVIVE HIM OR SOMETHING! ANYTHING! KILL ME AND PUT MY LIFE-FORCE IN HIS BODY FOR ALL I CARE! ... Just ...bring him back to me."

Celestia, who had been the most taken back by my outbursts finally spoke up. "Dan, there is nothing we can do. You have to let him go."

This was not a fun day for her, or me. "FUCK YOU, YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING! YOU MOVED THE MOTHERFUCKING SUN AND MOON YOU BITCH! HOW CAN YOU TELL ME THAT YOU CAN'T 'MAGIC HIM BACK' WITH 'THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP' OR SOME CRAP?!" She slowly shook her head. I exhaled. "GOD. FUCKING. DAAMNIIT!" I used my entire body to throw as much power into the punch as I could, when it connected with the floor, I felt a sickening crack in my wrist. That's when I gave up, on everything. My rage subsided and turned to sadness.

I fell to my back. "Just... " I looked over at Chrome. His lifeless eyes were staring into the distance. I placed my head on his shoulder and hugged his front leg. "Buddy... please man... not like this... please!" He didn't stir. "Dude, buddy... please man... just... come back... please..." My voice; a high pitched whisper. After a couple seconds of silence, Luna broke it.

"How did this happen Dan?" My sadness turned back to anger.

"IS NOW REALLY THE FUCKING TIME? CAN'T YOU SEE I'M HAVING A FUCKING MOMENT HERE?? I UNDERSTAND YOU HAVE NO FRIENDS, BUT AT LEAST BE A LITTLE FUCKING CONSIDERATE!"

That cut her deep. Her eyes welled up and she ran out of the room, completely knocking one of the doors of it's hinge. Celestia was glaring daggers at me. I hate myself for this day. "OOHH, AND I GUESS YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY TOO?! SURE, GO AHEAD AND INTERROGATE ME WHILE MY ONLY FRIEND LAYS FUCKING DEAD ON THE FLOOR AFTER I CARRIED HIM HERE!!" I cracked again, anger turning back to sadness again. I fell onto Chrome's side.

"Du-hu-ude, just come back man... just fucking come back... please..." My neck gave way and I sobbed into his blood-soaked fur.

Celestia sighed. "If it will make you feel better I can perform some healing magic on him, it will heal his injuries but it wont br-"

"JUST FUCKING DO IT, NOW!" My hands balled up into fists, well, one of them did, the other hung limp from my wrist down.

Celestia lowered her head to us and a gold dust began to settle on us. My wrist snapped back into place, my cuts healed, the blood turned water-like and fell to the floor and vanished. But the scars remained. Same story for Chrome, except blood began pouring from his mouth, then disappearing.

Wait... what if he suffocated on his blood? People that die of asphyxiation can be... I gasped.

"CELESTIA, 300 VOLTS TO HIS CHEST, NOW!" I flipped him onto his back and turned his head so the blood kept coming out.

"What? Dan, that would kill a po-"

"Just, do it." I said, in a calm confident voice I had to pull all of my will power to perform, I wanted to scream, but now was not the time. I had a pony to save.

Celestia hung her head. "Stand clear." I did so and a bolt of lightning fell from the ceiling and hit Chrome, he convulsed for a second, then fell limp. What I did next surprised Celestia to a degree that I wish I had caught on camera, if the circumstances were not so dire I would have laughed. I attempted CPR and mouth-to-mouth. I didn't know anything medical, I just tried my best to make his lungs work. I did a couple breaths for him then backed away. Nothing.

"Celestia, 400 volts."

"Da-"

"DO IT" She did so, with hopeless eyes. Chrome convulsed again and I repeated my improvised CPR. Another couple forced breaths later, I looked at his face and waited. For even the slightest movement. Nothing. I continued breathing for him. I looked and waited again. Nothing.

"Dammit, again. 500 volts!" Celestia did so with no argument, but had her head hung to the floor. I continued the CPR for another minute or so, and stared at his face. Nothing. NO HE MUST BE ALIVE, NOT LIKE THIS. Still nothing. I waited for what seemed like a year, I closed my eyes, tears falling from them as I knelt over him.

Chrome. Not like this...

"Dan, I don't know what you were trying to do but it clearly didn't wor-" She stopped so suddenly in made me jump. I snapped my eyes open and stared at Chrome. An ear twitched. I froze as emotion filled my body. Relief, he was alive. Joy, my friend was back. Anger, they were going to let him die. Rage, someone did this to him.

"Dan..." Celestia said "Did you just..." She was trembling slightly.

"Oh my god! YES!" I yelled. I continued the CPR for a couple seconds and looked to him again. His eyes slowly closed. Celestia gasped, I just stared in pure amazement. Then his eyes opened again, centered on me, no longer distant.

"D- Da..." He rasped.

"CHRO-O-OME!" I hugged him as hard as I could, then looked to Celestia. She was completely struck with... something. "Get this guy to the infirmary." She blinked at me. "THE INFIRMARY GOD DAMMIT." She shook herself and nodded, determined. Chrome was placed on a medical stretcher that appeared in a blast of magic, Celestia ran out of the room, pushing it with her magic. I ran beside Chrome. I was not leaving his side ever again.

"Look at me." I said to him. His head sluggishly turned to me.

"Da- -an."

"Nonono" I shushed him. "Relax, your fine, we're getting you help. Just relax, everything's fine." A small wholesome smile grew on his face as he turned his head back up to look at the ceiling rushing by. He extended a hoof and placed it on the hand I had resting on the side of the stretcher.

Once we got to the infirmary and he was all set up, Celestia asked me what happened, I explained everything I had seen at the house and asked her to check on Feather. She immediately dispatched a CSI group and left to check on Feather personally, since she was still in the infirmary.

She came back couple minutes later and said that Feather was fine, and was due to leave that day. She said that she explained to Feather what had happened, but kept in vague and told her not to leave her room for a while. And Celestia appointed guards to me, Chrome and Feather for the next week or so. Two each. That night I slept (what little I could get) in a seat next to Chrome's bed, idly stroking a fluffy fore-hoof.

I was happy to have him back. And for once, I was proud.

***

A hoof poked my hand, I retracted it and curled into my chair, cold. Very cold.

Why am I in a chair? Oh right, Chrome basically died... OH SHIT, CHROME..

My eyes snapped open as I remembered what happened the day before, my mind still raw from emotion. I looked around the room seaching for Chrome. All 4 of our guards were by the door. Once my eyes met his I stopped. He was sitting up, smiling at me, his hoof placed on my arm. My face burst into a teary smile and I hugged him, being sure to be gentle, and to avoid his wings. "Good to have you back man." I whispered to him, too happy to project my voice any louder. He responded by hugging tighter.

"Good to be back, Dan." I somewhat reluctantly pulled away from him, he looked me in the eyes, his eyes slightly wet and buzzing with emotion. "Celestia came by earlier, she explained to me what happened." I went back in for a hug but he stopped me by putting a hoof to each of my shoulders. "How did you know?"

"Know what Chrome?" I asked, choking slightly at his name. He smiled at that.

"That that... thing you did would... 'bring me back'." Oh yeah, didn't think they might not have CPR or defib-units here.

"Well... I've seen it work on humans..." I rubbed the back of my neck. "People have been dead for hours before being 'revived' by using that technique. Though, I probably did it wrong, I was never taught. I just kind of... did what I thought was correct..."

"Well, I for one think you did a good job." He said, indicating to himself. I chuckled slightly at that. Even just hours after practically dying, he still has a sense of humor. "How does it work?"

"Errr... hm. Well the electricity thing is... well, it's shocks your heart, and since muscles use weak electronic pulses to move, the electricity can 'shock' your heart back into action." He nodded understanding at least part of what I said. "And the breathing thing..." God this is awkward, I practically kissed him. He just smiled at my pause. "Well it puts air into your lungs, allowing some oxygen to be absorbed by the blood. And then pressing your chest empty's your lungs of air, allowing new air to fill it. It simulates breathing and allows some oxygen into the blood when the heart starts to pump again. I think that's how it works, but I might be wrong, as I said, I never learned how to do it, I just guessed really." He smiled and continued to nod.

"Dan, you have no idea how thankful I am." His eyes hardened "Thanks Dan, truly." BE HUMBLE. BE HUMBLE. DONT BRAG DAMNIT.

"Hey, don't sweat it. I was just looking out for my bro." He rolled his eyes. "Dude, you have no idea how angry I was at the princesses when they said they couldn't do anything. I mean, you should have heard some of the things I said to Celestia and Lu- Oh shit!"

He, and the guards stared at me, wide-eyed.

"Oh... yeah, that's a lot worse here than it is back at home... welp, speaking of which i just remembered that I need to go and apologize to Luna." The guards flinched at my lack of titling. They'll get used to it.

I walked towards the door, my two guards rotated to flank me as I left, but I stopped in the doorway. "Sorry about this Chrome, but it's rather important."

"I understand, it's fine. Also..." He leaned closer to me with a smug grin. He whispered. "THREE mares." I was confused for a second.

Three mares? what could that mean? Then a memory triggered.

"I like the sound of that." I said. "But I think I will be busy tomorrow, I have got to pick up some clothes from Hazel, then I have another meeting with Celestia."

Chrome put a hoof over my shoulder and leaned on me, his chin resting on my other shoulder "Oh, look at you Dan! Not one, but TWO mares!"

"Shutup Chrome." He beamed at me as I closed the door behind my guards.

On the way to the throne room, which was quite a ways when your not running beside a recently revived friend, I decided to try and become chummy with my guards.

"So, guys." I said, matching their pace, walking between them. "What are your names?"

"Steel Spring, sir." One said. He had a slightly nasally voice.

"Well, nice to meet you, Steel. I don't think we've met."

"Oh we have..." he said, rather darkly.

"Um... remind me?" Please don't tell me he's...

"The one you kicked." Well, that explains the voice. "Don't worry, no hard feelings. I was... over-reacting."

"Thanks dude, it's fine. I would probably react the same way if someone came up to me carrying a dead body covered in blood." He just 'Hmmed' and turned back to look forward. "What about you?" I ask the other guard.

"Don't you reconise me sir?" I blinked and looked at him closely. I noticed the green specs in his eyes. Welp, better play along, or he might think I can detect changelings or something, which I can, I guess.

"No? I guess? All you guards look that same to me, I don't know how you do it." The other guard looked a little offended but stayed quiet. "And what's with this 'sir' stuff?"

"I'm Ebony Towers, Sir." He said nervously.

"Oh yeah, you! Now I... remember." If someone asks how I know this guy I will be screwed.

"And this 'Sir' stuff is because you have been placed in a higher position than us, as we are hired under you." He continued.

"Hmm, makes sense I guess. But you can call me Dan, you too Steel." He snorted. Fine, be that way. "What's happening with you Ebony?"

"You know, not much. This is the most exciting thing that has happened since you saw me last. But this doesn't beat chasing you around in the hallways."

"What?" I asked, turning to him.

"You know, that one time when you were yelling at that orange pony?" Oh yeah, Feather.

"Yeah, that was... bad." I said, hanging my head slightly.

"I don't know, it made my job a lot more fun for a couple seconds." He got a glare from the other guard. I laughed as he flinched.

We were approaching the throne-room doors, well... door. The other one was still missing, maybe it's out being repaired after Luna practically blew it up. "Okay guys," I say to my guards. "Just, stay quiet during this okay?" They both nodded.

I felt like being polite so I knocked on the one remaining door, even though I could see that Celestia and Luna were doing paper work again, or still. The carpet was also gone. Guess the blood looked kinda bad huh. They both looked up when I knocked, Luna was staring at me with a rage that made me want to turn and run. But Celestia was there, she wouldn't let anything happen right? Celestia seemed to play along with my door-charade.

"Who is it?" She asked. Clearly able to see me. Luna relinquished me from her glare for a second by rolling her eyes. But it returned.

I pushed open the door slightly and ducked round it as if the other door were still there. "Just me, again." Celestia smiled at our ridiculousness. "No dying ponies this time I promise."

"Come on in," Celestia said. "What do you need? I see your guards are doing their job still, you don't mind them?" she said, eyeing the two.

"Oh, no. I don't mind. I actually know Ebony, here, from before."

"Nice to see you making friends Dan." I 'pshhed' at her. "Now, what did you need."

I took a deep breath and composed myself. "I am here..." I said, I turned to Luna. "...to apologize." Luna was taken-aback, while Celestia just smiled like she always does. "To both of you, but mostly to you, Luna."

There was a long pause. Luna looked around the room awkwardly. "Well?" she eventually said. "Lets hear it then."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry."

"Is that it?"

"No, that was me apologizing for that awkward pause."

"Oh."

Another pause. I put on my best smug grin, Celestia joined me.

"Well, get on with it!" Luna said, slightly annoyed. I decided against apologizing for that second pause.

"Luna, I was being insensitive, mindless even. I feel incredible sorrow for using such language in your presence and for personally and intentionally insulting you. I wanted to apologize for this in hopes that we could never speak of this again, or at least be back on equal ground. Well, as equal a princess can be to a... well... a civilian."

"I accept this apology." Luna said. "But I doubt we will never talk of what happened ever again, Celestia wanted to talk to you about it anyway, nothing bad though, by the sounds of it." She and I both looked to Celestia, who was wearing a legit smile, not her usual idle one.

"Yes, I wish to personally congratulate you, for you have earned multiple rewards."

"What?" I asked, confused. The guards either side of me were stammering for some reason.

She elaborated. "You have earned the title of 'Defender' for saving the life of a pony even I had given up all hope of saving. The title of 'Insubordinate Hero' for ignoring my protests and doing what turned out to be the right thing. The title of 'Medical specialist' for creating the reviving method now known as DCPR. And the title 'Sir' as you have gained both mine and Luna's personal blessings. When you leave this room, you will no longer be Dan Micheals. You will be 'Sir Dan Micheals, Insubordinate Hero, Defender and Medical Specialist'." Damn, that's a nice title. "If you accept, of course."

Heh... DCPR... Bet that stands for 'Dan's... CPR...' ...I never figured out what that stood for.

The guards either side of me were giving looks of pure wonder and jealousy. "I accept." I looked around the room. "So, what do these titles do for me?" The guards looked at me like I was an idiot, Celestia just smiled.

"The title of Insubordinate Hero allows you to ignore almost all authority."

"Well, I kinda already do that anyway."

"Indeed. The title of Defender allows you to have around the same amount of authority as a middle-ranking guard, and allows you to form your own squad if you so wished."

"So I can enter and exit the palace without having to talk to the guards at the main gates?"

"I guess so, though that's hardly the biggest thing you could be using that title for."

"Hey, I won't be leading anyone into battle for at least another couple days."

"Yeah, sure you won't. And the title Medial Specialist allows you free reign over any hospital in Equestria and the ability to over-rule any

doctors or healers in the medicinal field."

"Not that useful, but meh, I'll take it. Plus it makes me sound smart."

"And our personal blessings gives you another little boost of authority. On the scale, I would say you are just below that of Guard Captain." The guards gawked at me, I just stood there and took it all in. "Anything else you needed to ask?"

"Nope, I'm outta here. See ya guys!"

"If giving you the ability to ignore authority makes you talk like that I might just remove the title."

"Jeez, I was just joking about. But anyway, I need to go and brag about these cool new words on my name before anyone removes them."

Celestia rolled her eyes, Luna just looked at me strangely. She had been for a while, it was scary.

I spent the next couple hours messing with guards since they no longer had power over me.

Chapter 8: Singing Songs And Righting Wrongs

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

Chapter 9: A Lance's Lost Chances

"It was one of the most hideous military misconducts in history... 15 years ago, in the land far south from here..."

--Lance Corporal Flame Journal entire #41--

Day 87/0400 hours/Monday/23rd of March.

Celestia forgive me. I have failed you this day.

The day began, like every other day did. To the sweltering heat and the sounds of early birds and night owls alike; groaning at the hour. I prepared myself and lined up my squad, 4 ponies. All dirty and unkempt due to the desert-like conditions.

The first was Forge Glow, a dark colored stallion with broad shoulders. He lacked respect, but made up for it in brute strength. A strength he barely used due to the ridiculous amount of unjust morals his socialite parents had drilled into him, he often refused to do missions because they were 'wrong'. A real waist of talent really, but he still pulled his weight, he wielded a hammer the size of an anvil, able to crush any bone unfortunate enough to be placed under it. That bone was usually the cranium. Lets just say, when his morals didn't get in his way, he was nothing short of brutal.

The second was Dawn Skies, a stunning contrast from Forge, she was a light-looking pegasis, a light pink coloration and a spark of hatred in her eye that I have yet to see in anypony else. She was a sweetheart, she was. We used to talk from time to time, outside of our uniforms. But when she hit her switch, her 'on duty' switch, she changed into a monster I could only describe as primal, terrifying, animalistic... and beautifully graceful in conduct. Only to turn straight back, once the job was done. She would weave from troop to troop, knocking heads and slicing throats as she went, then offer to meet up later for a glass of iced tea. She reminded me of a better version of myself, she never let her military side show outside of her time on duty, I did. She used a strange weapon, she called it 'Ellie'. It was a short blade on a long handle, on the other end was a small hammer-like ballast. She would wield it in her teeth or in her wings or balanced on her hooves... sometimes it almost looked like the thing simply glided around her, she was incredibly practiced with it. Even going so far as to throw it into the air, beat her wings, catch it on its way down and use the power of gravity to skewer any target below her. I had seen her do that. A very talented fighter.

The third was a Unicorn. Eyeglass. She was a newbie, a mage that could likely take down any grade of Ursa there was out there and she knew it. We knew that she knew it because she reminded us of it every day with one of her snarky, back-hoofed, half-compliments. She was a valuable member of the team, yes, very powerful, but she lacked the control to fire magic with any accuracy. She spent her time learning more powerful spells, not practicing or perfecting the ones she already knew. She could take down an army, I'm sure. But she couldn't hit a lone pony from 5ft. So she tended to go for tight groups the others could not get at.

The last was another earth pony. He was a dark tan color and honestly scared me a bit. He had no feeling. No emotion. Other than utter joy. And that feeling only exposed itself when he was tearing through his enemies. After every mission, we have to force him to wash. Since whenever we didn't, he would go back home, wearing his enemy's blood like a prize. He used what he called a 'double sword'. He had basically taken two swords and attached them at the handle, the blades facing in opposite directions. He became a propeller-like blur when using it. But he had a preferred weapon, which he only got to use on quiet missions, his daggers. He once said something once about 'how much he loves using his little babies'. I don't know what he does with them, because I refuse to watch... or hear the famous stories. He was not an honorable fighter, exploiting any and all weaknesses of his enemies, and even faking death.

I repeated the orders we all had already heard ten thousand times over.

"Section! Listen up! I've told you these orders before, but I'm sure one of your thick-skulled idiots will screw it up somehow if I don't beat you fillies up-side the head with it! So I will say it again! We, as in, You, My Section, will be advancing on a small changeling outpost due south of here. We have reason to believe these changeling will be heavily armed and dangerous. Some of their best mages, I hear. For that reason, Corporal Tornado will be joining us for this mission."

The mare straightened at her mention, then took my place in front of my troops. Corporal Tornado, Tornado Spin, was a childhood friend of mine, practically a sister. She always seemed to be better than me though, advancing through the ranks as I tagged behind. I enjoyed working with her, she was a good leader, much... well... BETTER than I was.

"Lance Corporal Flame." She nodded to me. Her short mane, sticking in clumps of grease and muck, smacked against her neck. I responded with a nod of my own, my mane, a lot longer than hers, did the same. But we had grown used to it. She turned to address the troops. "And that mission- LISTEN UP FORGE, OR I WILL REMOVE YOUR FUR WITH A VEGETABLE SKINNER!" The stallion in question turned back towards her, ignoring the attractive mare he had been staring at as she walked by the entrance of the tent. He straightened up and looked in Corporal's eyes. She gave him a glare. "And that mission will be to approach the outpost and eliminate any and all targets. We do not have any other information other than its location, it could be anything, so EXPECT anything. Remember, these are changelings, deceivers, liars. Do not be fooled by anything you see there, our sources are solid. MUST I REPEAT MYSELF?"

"NO, MA'AM" The four said in unison.

"Good, now. Let's get moving."

We moved into the sandy waists. Walking for hours. Even Tornado herself seemed exhausted by the time we got there. What we saw didn't surprise most of us, a small pony village. We sat behind a sand dune and Skies flew off to get a better look. We waited, quickly she came back. Reporting nothing out of the ordinary in the town. Tornado readied her signature spear, held in her magic. "Their disguise is good then. That means they must be expecting us. The best plan as of right now is to simply attack head-on. Give no mercy and expect none in return." We all raised our weapons, or rather, four of the six did, me and the newbie just lit our horns and prepared a variety of spells. Forge's hammer was slow to rise, not due to its size but due to hesitation. Eventually he steeled himself and nodded, hefting the handle up out of its holder-brackets located along his side.

We charged, we braced for resistance. We got none. The changelings kept their disguises and ran. "DON'T BE FOOLED! OUR SOURCES. ARE. SOLID."

The others seemed to slow, so I backed her up. "Continue the mission, that is an ORDER!" The others seemed more motivated, except Forge.

We... we killed them, all of them. Stallions, mares, foals.

We met in the center of the town. All of us exhausted by the heat and exertion. Forge's weapon was clean.

Tornado broke our silence. "They are holding their disguises, there must be one left, changing all the others or something. Search the houses again! Check for hidden doors!" She was right, the corpses remained in their disguises, something that changelings can't do. Her theory was... rushed, but plausible. We all left the center in different directions. Except the newbie, eyeglass.

"EYEGLASS. THAT WAS AN ORDER!" Tornado yelled at her, causing the rest of us to stop and look at Eyeglass, she was still in the center, staring at the floor, with a malicious smile on her face.

"Idiots..." she whispered.

Tornado basically ignited. "WHAT WAS THAT? EYEGLASS?"

Eyeglass LITERALLY ignited, bursting into green flame. Revealing dark carapace and blue, soulless eyes. We all charged towards her... but just before contact...

"HAIL TO THE QUEEN!" she yelled. Her horn glowing brighter than the sun, before she exploded.

We were all thrown backwards and I lost vision and feeling for a very long time.

I woke up on a stallion's back, being carried away. I panicked, We had been captured. I tried to move, but the pain stopped me. I fell back down, whimpering. I looked down at my body, all I saw were bandages. A pony rushed over to me.

"Feather, Feather, it's okay, your going to be fine!" She was clearly a nurse of some kind.

"What... what happened?"

"We don't know, we were hoping you could answer that question. We found you and Tornado on either side of a crater."

"Where are the others?!" I set up and instantly recoiled as the pain, that I didn't notice I had, flared up. The nurse forced me back down with a tender hoof.

"We don't know! There were tracks, but they could not have been theirs, they just led out into the desert."

I paused in thought, they wouldn't do that... "Burns?" I asked poking my covered-yet-tender skin.

"Not burns... cuts." She said. She had a disturbed look on her face.

"What do you mean... CUTS?" I asked.

"They were just... skin-deep cuts, not even entering flesh..."

"Explosions don't do that..."

"No, they don't. Plus... They were words..."

There was a long pause. "What did they say?"

She looked at me, clearly repulsed despite her years of training. "Never forgive never forget. Repeated, over and over and over..."

"Will... they scar?"

"Oh, no! Thank Celestia they were only skin-deep, as I said. They will be gone in a couple weeks. But... there is one... that will stick."

"Where is it?" I asked, painfully looking about my body. She pointed to my hoof.

I lifted it and looked to the hard underside, etched deeply into the hard material was the word 'FORGET'.

Once we got back to Canterlot, we were informed that a search party was looking for my lost squad. But I was also told something else...

"Thank you! You need to find them! They won't survive long out there!" I practically yelled from my infirmary bed, up at the pony.

"Yes..." He said, taking a dark turn. "But they noticed something strange when they were there..."

"What was it?"

"The 'changelings'..." My eyes widened, predicting his words perfectly. "Were not... Changelings..." I let my head sink back into my pillow, my eyes pooling with tears. "The information pointing to that town being Changeling-run seems to be a fake, planted by a changeling in our ranks."

"Eyeglass... she was a changeling." What had I done, what had WE done...

"Oh, well, that sorts that out." He said in a all-too-chipper voice, and simply left the room. Leaving me, alone with my guilt.

Tornado was told about what happened there...

We never spoke again...

I have not seen her since... I hope the others are okay...

End of journal entry

--Lance Corporal signing out--

Author's Note

Updated: 07/11/15
-Spelling corrected/Word replacements
-Little fixes here and there, little things

A very long time ago, when I was writing this: I was planning on keeping this bit a secret and slowly give evidence, then have Dan figure it out while reading about it or something. But as I was writing the last chapter this just kind of... happened.

I can't be bothered to go back on myself, since I would have to change everything I have written beyond this point, which is quite a lot.

Chapter 10: Final Straws And Startin' Wars

We all stared at Feather, shocked as she recalled her entire journal entry in a monotone voice. Like a class of children reciting their good-morning class-ritual after a year of saying that at the beginning of every day. I remember having to do that.

She had clearly read through it many times. The only one to directly react, other than staring in disbelief was, understandably, Ebony. As soon as the story ended I made the effort to think some happy thoughts at him, he gave me a disturbed look, but upon seeing my sorrowful gaze, he realized I was trying to cheer him up, I wasn't just idly thinking happy thoughts at a time like this...

"I haven't seen any of my group from that day ever since...Other than a gift I got... earlier. It was from Corporal Tornado." Feather said, once she was done. Oh she's the one who sent the manticore plush. She looked up at me, and kicked my journal, still on the floor, over to me. "...But you have, Dan."

"What do you-" I realized what she meant.

"The description fits, Dan. That mare... was my Corporal" She said. 'MY' corporal, not 'OUR'. She really does have issues locked away in there, but right now... the locks are open...

Luna eventually spoke up, after a pause. "We... remember that, it was not the Equestrian military's... finest hour, so to speak." A pause. "My condolences, for your loss."

Feather gave her a pained look. "The Tornado I knew died in that explosion Luna, she would have visited, or sent a letter, or something! We were like sisters, she would not just leave me..."

Luna sighed. "Feather, Corporal Tornado... went undercover a day after you both got back. She hid herself, she told the military it was... for YOUR safety. She said 'revealing her position would put her in great danger' and left it at that. She took a great risk if she indeed sent you a gift."

Feather's eyes grew understanding. "He... He's been hunting us, all this time...hasn't he?" As if answering my thoughts she continued. "Forge, must hate us for what we all did. That pony was all 'right and wrong' about everything, and even I think what... I did... was wrong. He's most likely the one who cut the words into me and Tornado that day... He probably took the other two out into the desert to die... He's the one who killed Corporal... He's the one who killed Chrome!" Chrome, who was now awake, and a lot more sober, shifted awkwardly. "He knows where I am... he knows who my friends are..."

Her irises were two black spots, pin-pricks really. There was a pause as she panicked on the spot, not moving her body, but I could see her mind rushing.

"Dan!" She screamed suddenly, flinging herself at my legs, she hugged them and I almost fell over. "You've got to help me!" I looked around the room awkwardly.

"Why me? Out of everyone in this room? There are guards, one of your best friends, a probably immortal-" Luna nodded "Wait really?" She gave a look of 'Is now really the time', "Meh, okay, But we'll talk later." She rolled her eyes, "An immortal Princess and aaaaa..." I was pointing at Ebony who was staring at me in fear. I was seriously about to say changeling. Dammit, this is why I should not be told secrets! "...aaaa -nother guard!" They all looked at Ebony, then to me, then back to him.

We both stood there, hoping they would brush it off. I was doing my best to think 'oh my god I'm so sorry' thoughts at him, but that's a little to specific and I didn't have any thoughts to think of besides the current situation.

Luckily we were saved when Celestia burst through the door. "Thanks Luna, for broadcasting that to me." Broadcasting? Why is that even a word here? "Dan... Ebony..." She eye'd us, "...we'll talk later." She turned to feather. "Feather, we are talking, now." She left the room.

Feather stood confused for a second. "Wha-" is all she got out before Celestia reappeared in the doorway.

"NOW." She said, Feather ran towards her, somehow.

In her position I would be doing the same, but in the opposite direction. They both left and their respective guards followed. Leaving me, Luna, Chrome and my guards in a very awkward room. I decided to distract them from Ebony.

"So, Luna, don't you need to talk to Chrome about something?" She didn't get what I meant.

"No?"

"Er, Chrome, could you look over at that cupboard for a second?" I pointed to an empty wall, he turned. I made use of the little time I had. I leaned in close to Luna. "You know... You and him..." I said, placing my hands together and integrating my fingers. She blushed. "You know for a fact that's not what I meant!... Wait did you...?"

She seemed offended. It was funny. "No, of course not. It was our first meeting after all."

"Dan?" Chrome called. "Wheres this cupboard?" I looked at him.

"What? You can't see it? It's right there!" I called to him. I leaned back into Luna. "You need to ask him, or he will probably just keep passing out every time you mention it." Chrome looked back at us. "Chrome, its right... THERE!" I said, pointing at the corner of the room, he promptly stared into the corner. I love ponies sometimes. Seems cartoon-mode is engaged right now.

"Dan, I said I was going to do it tomorrow." Luna said, sounding quite annoyed.

"No, you said you going to think about it, you need to do it. Now, give him the night to think about it, and..." I looked at him, still staring into the corner, analysing the walls. "... go easy on him. Maybe spend the night." She recoiled. "What?" I started to whisper-yell "He just got told that there is a crazy guy going around with a vendetta against his best friend, having someone powerful close to him will comfort him." Now, I will be honest here, I was trying to get him laid, but what I said turned out to actually make sense, so I stuck to it.

She could not argue with my accidentally good reasoning. "Fine..." She looked to him and smiled sadly. "He... needs to feel protected."

Chrome chose that moment to turn back around. "Dan, there's no cupboard here!"

"No," I said. "There isn't. Now go to bed... you need it." I mean he did just stare at a wall for two minutes straight, trying to find a cupboard.

"Yeah..." He yawned. "I think I do..." He walked into his room without even saying bye. Damn, that's unlike him, he must be tired, or desperate to be somewhere safe...

Luna looked to me, I nodded, she smiled and followed him in a couple seconds later, the door closed behind them. I stared hearing them talking. I fist-pumped again. "YES" I whispered.

I turned around awkwardly as I remembered my two guards. They were staring at me in dis-belief.

"We heard everything." Steel said. Unmoving.

"And?" I asked.

"I'm just surprised. I mean, I heard about your past interactions with Luna, she was showing all the signs of a pony tha-" NOPE

"NOPE." I said simply as I walked into the spare bedroom.

They followed me in. "Dan, you could have had a Pri-"

"NOPE."

"Dan, what I'm trying to say is that-" I said nope, but he talked through me. "I'm surprised your just giving her away."

"You know why I am doing that?" I asked the two guards as I sat on the foot of my bed.

"Why?" Steel asked, both guards now standing opposite me.

"Two reasons. Care to guess?"

They both thought, then both answered at the same time.

"Your scared of her." Steel said.

"Your to shy to ask." Ebony answered.

"No. Well, Steel's, yes, she is pretty spooky sometimes." I said jokingly. "But I'm doing this because- wait, three reasons! Because One: I need her off of MY case. Two: She needs more friends. Three: Chrome is my bro, bro's before hoes, you kno- Oh shit."

They both gasped at my first use of bad language, then basically exploded their lungs at my second use. The reason I swore the second time was because I noticed Celestia had her head creepily peeking into the room through the door. By the look on her face, I could tell she heard everything. I just kind of stared at her disapproving look. The guards slowly turned around to the doorway. Then looked back to me, confused.

Ah, she's invisible again. Then Celestia very slowly and smoothly pulled her head back into the other room, staring at me the whole time with narrowed eyes. Oh my god that's creepy.

Then Celestia walked in like nothing happened, the guards turned around seeing her this time. They looked at me, still confused.

I waved at them dismissively. "Don't worry kids, Celestia was just being creepy. For some reason." They looked even more confused. "Kids also means children where I come from." They looked less confused, but much less amused. Celestia just stood there, looking very serious. I tried my hardest not to laugh at her just kind of... standing there. I failed. And she wasn't very happy.

"I'm guessing..." I said, still collecting breath. "...That it's... 'later' now?"

"Yes, it is."

"Wow, that was fast, gotta give credit where it's due. Welp, come on Ebony. Steel, stay here and..." I spotted my only possessions. "'guard' my clothes." He rolled his eyes but was forced to comply. Ebony slowly made his way to the door, I followed him.

As we entered the main room, I noticed he really did look scared, he was shaking even. I put a arm over the back of his neck reassuringly. He pressed against my leg, fighting for a way to hide himself and failing to do anything but look adorable. Celestia didn't seem to notice or care about what was happening down there and just looked at me.

"So, what is you two's secret then? Hm?" She asked.

"Wow, informal much?"

"Just trying to lighten the mood, Dan." She said accusingly.

"Hey, your the one looking all serious. Anyway, if you knew the secret, which may or may not even exist, it may or may not in fact DARKEN the mood."

"Dan, you should know by now I know what you mean by 'may or may not'."

"Yeah, but he doesn't" I said pointing to the guard, practically hugging my leg for some form of protection. Celestia blinked upon seeing this.

"Wow... is it really that bad? I was expecting this just to be a joke about me or something else like that. I didn't know it was actually..."

"Yeah, well done. Now, I would like to help this situation, but I can't until either something goes horribly wrong or this guy says I can let it out." He whimpered into my leg. "Well? Ebony? I'm sure CELESTIA-" I shot a glare at her. "-will understand. But you don't have to if you don't want to."

"Must you really antagonize me so much Dan?" Celestia asked, not sounding overly amused.

"Yes, it's fun. Now, Ebony? Can I tell the BIG BAD Celestia or not?" He mumbled tearfully into my leg. "What was that?" He did it again. "Take your face off of my leg. THEN speak." He did so, but with his eyes shut tight. It was barely a whisper.

"Yes... but only if she promises not to hurt me."

"You heard him Celestia." She looked at me confused. "Oh, you didn't." I repeated what he said to her. "So, do you promise not to hurt anything within a 10 meter radius of me?"

"That's not what he said."

"That's what I'm saying, yes or no?"

"...yes."

"I want to hear it, Celestia."

"Uuhg, only for you Dan. 'I promise not to hurt anything in a 10 meter radius of you, or your guard.' There, I spiced it up a little."

"Yeah, that's good enough for me. So, Ebony, you want to tell her or do you want me to?" He was balling into my leg at this point. He poked me with his hoof. "Hm, okay."

"Well, what is it?" Celestia asked.

"Celestia. You are all for peace right?"

"Of course, its what's best for Equestria."

"Yes, of course. Now, a hypothetical situation for you. I am a warrior from another realm, I am part of an army, this army has killed and attacked your ponies, but I have never done anything bad to the ponies personally, and have given up all hope in returning to the army as they have been disbanded. I request to live in your country, what do you do with me?"

She looked at me strangely. "I would allow you to live in my country just like everypony else, YOU never did anything wrong."

"Well there you go Ebony, Celestia says she'll let you live here. That's a start." Ebony burst into a new batch of tears, Celestia gave me a mean look.

"Why must you torment my ponies yet be so useful?" ...Useful? ...I've got to ask her what she meant by that some time.

"Cause it's fun. Now, Celestia. What do you think of other races, you know... minotaurs , zebras... maybe some of the more sentient monsters... what are your thoughts on those?"

"If they are not harming my ponies and do not wish to harm my ponies; any and all are welcome here. I really don't see what could be so bad."

"Look, Ebony. I'm trying as hard as I can, and look, so is Celestia! She even repressed the racism that all ponies hold in their hearts, just for you!" Once again, that didn't help quell the torrent of tears.

Celestia rolled her eyes. "I really don't see what could be so bad, it's not like he's a monster or anything, he's a Royal Guard! I guess he could be a changeling, but those things would not serve any pony for more than a year or so before giving in to their primal desires and killing another one just to take its place and Ebony has been a guard for years!" Ebony literally slid down my leg, onto the floor and basically began begging for me to help him in tearful gurgles, while hugging my ankles.

"Wow Celestia, you do SUUCH a good job at calming down your subjects, I see." She stared at the pony around my ankles.

Celestia peiced his reaction and what she said together. "Wait... no... no that's impossible!"

"Think about that hypothetical situation I suggested Celestia..." There was a very long pause.

"Dan, why didn't you tell me as soon as you found out?"

"At first I thought everyone knew." She looked at me strangely. Changelings and ponies living together PERPOSTEROUS. "Turns out its just my ability to see through shape-shifting magic, like you said in the infirmary, when I caught you... doing that thing you do."

"Yes... okay... well, how did you two... meet?" Her stance had shifted into one akin to someone about to attempt to stop a bus with their bare hands; hooves steadily pressed against the ground, head lowered ever so slightly and shoulders ready for impact.

"I sat with him that one time you sent me for breakfast or something at the cafeteria. I noticed that he was a changeling-"

"How?"

"I won't say how I detect changelings, but I had a hunch he was one just by the way he looked, let's just say."

"...Okay."

"Then I thought about emotional stuff really hard, I tried two emotions, I believe the first was sadness, to which he did not react, but when I tried love, he perked right up." Celestia grimaced. "So I then kept thinking about that love-y stuff and used that fake love to 'lure him away' to the guards only section of the palace." Celestia put a hoof to her mouth. "Hey! He had to feed himself somehow! Anyway, once in his private room, I told him I knew, he told me his story-"

"And you believed him?!"

"Celestia. Look at my left shoe." She looked at it. "What is it covered in?"

"Fake tears."

"..." I slowly exhaled, relaxing my hands from their now balled-position. "Celestia... if there is one thing I cannot stand. It's this." I gestured to all of her. "You said anything is welcome in Equestria, as long as it does not desire to harm ponies. Does THAT look like something that wants to harm a pony?"

"Yes."

"Your killing me here Celestia."

"Dan, he's a-"

"No, I meant it. Either let him continue his life as normal, or kill me. That's your choice. At the moment, it seems you have no choice but to kill me, given your current attitude."

"Dan-"

"Oh you choose me? Okay fine." I put out my arms in a 'come at me bro' position. "Give me your best shot." I said in a pleasant voice as I smiled at her.

She sighed. Magic surrounded her horn. I didn't plan to die today, but oh well. At least it will prove a point. I stood there and took whatever she was doing. Her magic surrounded me. Ebony backed away, but not too far. Then the magic surrounded me turned red, with a 'bing' sound. Then it disappeared. Celestia stared at me.

"What?" I asked, "Was that supposed to kill me or something?" I looked down at myself. "Woah, maybe one of my powers is invincibility!" I said, holding my arms in a heroic pose.

"Dan, that was a changeling magic detection spell."

"Oh. Well? Whadit' say?"

"It came back negative. That wasn't his mind control talking?" I stared at her.

"Of course not, as I said, he's not a fucking threat!" I said, waving my arms about. "He's been separated from his hive for years, plus, it's fucking DEAD now. And he's been in YOUR guard for years, if that does not make him trustworthy I don't know what will. I mean LOOK AT HIM!" She did, there was no sympathy in her eyes. She stared blankly back at me, like I was insane.

"You heard what the changelings did to Feather."

"Wha- what? WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING?! THAT PROBABLY WAS NOT EVEN HIS HIVE! EVEN IF IT WAS, WHO ARE YOU TO JUDGE AN ENTIRE RACE BY ONE ACTION THEY DID YEARS AGO?!"

"...Who am I...?" She asked, her expression taking a very dark turn.

"Oh, I know the answer to that question. And I bet you would not like it." My expression mirrored her own.

"Go on then. Tell me."

"Put up a sound-proof spell, he doesn't need to hear this." She did so, I walked into it. I stood only a couple feet from her now.

"So. Go on. Who am I?"

"You? You are a byproduct. A byproduct created to serve as entertainment for a higher power."

"What are you talking abou-"

"Do you know who I am? I AM THAT HIGHER POWER."

"...What?" She recoiled slightly, backing up and lifting a hoof slightly.

"Oh yeah, you heard me right. This place? This entire world was created to entertain my species. We watch over events, victorys, defeats, all the while we are sitting back, eating our popcorn. Enjoying the show. The visions I talked about? Lies, as you noticed. Really I just thought it was entertaining to watch the ponies figure there way through problem after problem. Like mice in a maze."

"...You..."

"Yep, there you go. That's who you are. A fictional character created to act as the role model, the 'perfect one'. And you ain't looking so perfect right now."

"You... monsters..."

"Oh, is that what I am? You know what my world has that your world does not?"

"..."

"MY world has equal rights and same-sex marriage. What does this place have? A racist leader that pretends to be omnipotent by pointing out simple facts at the correct times."

"..." Her eye twitched. So close...

"You see, the difference between us, is that... I admit when I am not perfect; when I am wrong... YOU don't."

"..." She exhaled. Come on...

"Plus, don't think I have not noticed your love for control. How you planted those two tickets to the gala a couple years back to create conflict between twilight and her friends? Then conveniently having 7 ready and waiting. I saw your face when I mentioned Chrome and Luna being together, you don't want even your own sister to make her own decisions, YOU want to decide. YOU want control. OH, and every dictator must have a scapegoat right? For you? It's the changelings isn't it?"

"..." she grimaced.

"You know, there are people on my planet who loved control. They used scapegoats just as you have. They killed millions of those scapegoats, just as you probably have. They've tried to take control of the entire planet, something you've already tried. And their leaders, historically, are listed as some of the most hated people of all time. In MY world, where bombs have been dropped that killed millions in an instant and wars roll on constantly, it's the 'seemingly benevolent' tyrant that everyone hates. What does that tell you Celestia?"

"...That you were a fool for staying here." She said in a hushed, volatile voice.

"Oh you know why I stayed here? I was all giddy, I thought this place was BETTER than where I came from. When really, it's not. It's not even the SAME. ITS WORSE. Not only does it have the same problems, they are all covered up. WE realized we were monsters and have come to accept that. Meanwhile, you refuse. I wonder why that is..."

That was when the egg broke and the spoils spewed forth.

"I REFUSE BECAUSE I WANT TO PROTECT MY PONIES! IF THEY KNEW THE BAD OF THIS WORLD, THEY WOULD LOSE THEIR INNOCENCE, THEIR CHILD-LIKE WONDER! THE CHANGELINGS THREATEN THAT, I CANNOT RISK EVERYTHING JUST TO ALLOW ANOTHER DREADED SPECIES INTO THIS BLASTED COUNTRY! THEY NEEDED SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN WHEN NIGHTMARE MOON WAS BANISHED! I COULD NOT JUST LET HOPE DIE, DAN!"

"And yet... mine has." I turned and walked out of the bubble, hefted the scared changeling-in-disguise over my shoulder and I left the room.

I left the palace.

I left Canterlot entirely.

Celestia didn't stop me.

Author's Note

Updated: 07/11/15
-Fixed some stuff, I can't remember what, but I fixed it that's for sure.

Aww yeah. I love this one. I don't know why.

For some reason 'stickin' it to Celestia always entertained me. Maybe it's because my father worked with a lot of rock bands back in the day, and they are all about 'stickin' it to 'The Man'.

I am not even half-way through what I have already written, so expect another 10 or so in the next couple days.

Also: CLIFFHANGER!!

Chapter 11.5: The Message

Celestia's log - entry #5542

Second of September, 3 R.L

A guard burst into the Throne-room, sending the same piece of paperwork to the floor for the 3rd time in the last month. I try not to think of the first two times anymore.

"What is the meaning of this intrusion?" I asked, in a neutral tone, not accusing, but harsh. I was not in a good mood.

"Your Majesty." He bowed, sweat dripping onto the still carpet-less floor. The last one had become stained with blood from when- Well, I've got to get a new carpet. "The Insubordinate Hero has sent a message." He said, not raising his head from the floor. "It appeared in the guard barracks last night, it's an audio-playback device. We have not touched it."

"Thank you..."

"Steel Spring, Your highness."

"Steel Spring. Go rest in your quarters."

"Of course, thank you your Majesty." He bowed lower somehow and left the room. I left a moment later, anything concerning Dan would be best dealt with personally.

I arrived at the barracks, the guards forming a protective ring between me and the speaker. I waved them away and they distanced themselves slightly, not completely leaving my sides. I walked up to the box that was in the center of the room, on top of a small bed-side table that had been pushed into the middle of the room. There was a note on top.

"Dear Celestia,

This is a message, from me to you. Feel free to let anyone listen to this, but only after you have heard it, or if you are among those ponies to first hear it.
You know the group of ponies I would like you to gather to listen to this, but feel free to listen to this personally first, but I want them to hear it eventually as well.

Thank you for your time.

- 'Sir' Dan Micheals (Insert my titles, I can't be bothered to write them.)" No, really, that's what he wrote.

"Ps: best wishes from Ebony"

I could practically smell the sarcasm saturating from a couple of the things written on that note.

I wasted no time, the day was still young, so I knew where all the ponies I needed to gather were, as they were likely still in their rooms. I seized the box in my magic and left the room.

Once they were all gathered, about 15 minutes later in Chrome's personal guest room; we all sat around the box. Feather, Chrome, Luna and Me. Plus the two smaller-pony's 4 guards. Luna and Chrome sat next to each other, much to close for my liking... maybe what Dan said was true...

"Ready?" I asked. They all nodded. I flipped a couple switches and the record span.

Nothing for a couple deafening seconds.

Then it started.

--According to Dan, who later told me, it was a song by a somepony called 'Snip Lots' or something like that, it has been a while and I did not commit it to memory--

It had been edited to fit the... circumstances we were in.

As the song went on, and the lyrics filled the room...

My wings dropped to the floor, my already hanging head lowered.

The song ended, but the record kept spinning.

"Ha, I didn't even have to change some of those lines." He laughed. A quiet sniff in the background. "Come on dude. It's just a song."

The somepony responded. "I'm sorry, it's just... songs seem to affect us more than they effect you, plus... I could taste your emotion." I gasped. He still has that changeling with him?!

"Oh.. aw, man, dude. Come here.-" Shuffling could be heard. "-I'm sorry dude, I should have warned you or something." The voice was very muffled.

"Dan, it's okay, really. You needed to record that anyway. Plus... It WAS beautiful... even if it didn't taste that nice..."

He laughed. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure if this does not work, nothing will... You up for an undercover mission?" A small gasp from the changeling. Then a quick shuffle.

"Oh hey, guys." He addressed us directly. I flinched. "Sorry, left it rolling for a little too long there didn't I? Oh well, you guys go and enjoy doing whatever you guys do when I'm not there. I'm fine, by the way, not that one of the ponies listening would care, but I'm sure the other three do." They all looked at me, a little pained. "Okay, well, bye guys, I've got to talk to my friend here, so, I hope you enjoyed the song. Goodbye, my friends." A small pause. "Oh, AND Celestia." The record stopped spinning.

We just sat in silence.

"Celestia...?" Chrome asked.

Author's Note

Updated: 08/11/15
-Fixed grammar
-Other general stuff

Just a little extra something. Another perspective on things.

Probably one more chapter coming tonight. Since this was more of an extra.

Chapter 12: Homecoming And Wings Humming

My changeling friend returned the next morning. With a massive grin on his face.

"It worked Dan!"

I hugged him as he leaped to me. "Awesome. To bad they can't respond..."

"Yeah..." That's when a letter appeared in front of me in a burst of light. Ebony jumped back, surprised. As did I.

I jumped back even further when a short green laser flew by my head and hit where the letter had first appeared, luckily, gravity had taken care of that and pulled it down out of the way. The laser hit the wall and sent small shards of rock tumbling down the side of the cave. Thankfully, the side hit was not the side our house was implanted in. I looked back at him, his horn was smoking and he was looking at me guiltily.

"One," I said. "That was awesome. Two, That's a pretty good reaction time you have there. Three, why was A LASER your reaction?!"

"I... panicked." He said, smiling nervously.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever. No harm done I guess." I looked over to the wall of the cave. There was a very small crater and dark burn marks around it, a small pile of rock-shards had been created on the floor in front of the wall hit. "Well, almost no harm done. Let's check this letter."

"No harm done?! Dan, I could have hit y-"

"Yeah! You COULD have hit one of my AMAZING drawings!!" I said sarcastically. He cast an eye to the etchings on the walls I had made, still slightly disturbed by their contents. "Dude, it's fine. I don't care if you do it again, just as long as it doesn't hit anyone. It looks pretty cool." He rolled his eyes.

I picked up the letter, unrolled it and sat down, allowing the changeling to rest his head on my shoulder so he could see too. The page was completely blank, except for a square, black void covering the most part of the scroll. We both blinked, looked at each other, then looked back at the letter.

"Is... is this like... supposed to mean something?" I asked. He shrugged. "Like... what could a black box even mean? A war declaration?"

"No idea" He answered, his voice vibrating my shoulder.

Then Celestia appeared in the black void. "Hello, Da-" She was cut off as Me and Ebony both screamed.

I dropped the scroll and it rolled up on the floor. I stood and backed away from it, it was like I had found a spider on my hand or something. Ebony did the same.

"Would you mind picking that scroll up? It took me a long time to make." Celestia said, her voice was muffled. I looked to Ebony, he nodded cautiously.

"Err, sure." I picked it up, backed against the wall, so Celestia could not see much of the cave and opened the scroll. Ebony didn't join me. Celestia was giving me a worried look. "What do you need this time?" I asked, trying to sound as busy as possible. She looked me up and down.

"Dan... your so... thin! What happened?"

"Er, you know. The usual. Near starvation, living out in the wilds, gathering what food we can. You know, that kind of thing." She flinched at the word 'we'.

"You can... come back, if you want. You know..." She looked a little ashamed.

"Only if Ebony can come with me, and he can continue his life as a guard, or he can just live with me. I don't care. But I am NOT leaving him here." She looked pained. Ebony gave me a look, though I was focused on Celestia, so I didn't see the feeling behind it.

"Dan, he's a-" I slowly began to close the scroll. "Dan wait! Please, we can talk about this!" I opened the scroll up again. "Please come back, Dan."

"As I said, I'm bringing Ebony with me if I'm coming back." I looked around the cave. I looked at our little house. I looked at Ebony, sorting through some of our more useless possessions. "But... I don't really want to come back anyway."

"...What? Why? You can bring the ch- er, Ebony with you if you want! Why would you want to stay out there?!"

"I like it here, Ebony likes it here. We built this house ourselves, you know." I shrugged, "I feel a commitment." I said, slightly jokingly.

"...You BUILT a HOUSE?"

"Well, it's only one room, but it's served its purpose. I mean YEAH we had to share body-heat just so I didn't freeze to death for the first week or so, but we've got sheets now. It's all homey now. I mean..." I turned the scroll round and pointed it at the house, making sure 'The equality hole' was visible. Ebony was also in the frame, he looked up rather scared from the supplies he was sorting through just outside the door. "...Look at it, isn't it cute?" Celestia remained silent, I couldn't see her face unfortunately, but I imagine it was priceless. "...Oh and the house looks nice too!" Ebony rolled his eyes. I turned the paper back around, I caught Celestia mid-eye-roll.

"Hm, if it wasn't 'no gurls allowed' I might have come for a visit." She said, in a half-serious tone.

I paused for a second. "You know where we are?"

"No, I was joking."

"Good, we are not accepting visitors. Well, I wouldn't mind seeing Chrome or Feather again. Say, how's Chrome doing? With Luna that is?" Celestia grimaced.

"They... are happy, I'll give you that. Cadence is coming to Canterlot in a couple days, I told her about what you did to those two, she's rather happy with you. She'll be disappointed if your not here when she get's here. Please just come back. I'll give you AND your friend a guest room, just please, come back."

"No, this guy is staying with me no matter what. We'll take the same room, thank-you-very-much."

She sounded hopeful, "So you'll come back?"

"Maybe, what do you think Ebony? Should we go back down to Canterlot?" I said 'down to' to throw Celestia off our location.

"Erm, I don't think I'd be comfortable in a place where..." He looked at the back of the scroll. I completely understood

"Okay," I looked back to Celestia. "Your going to apologize for practically traumatizing him, mmk?"

She paused. "...Okay, I can do that."

"And mean it."

She didn't respond as I walked over to the door of our house and sat next to Ebony, pointing the screen at us with one arm, and using the other to hold him. She sighed.

"Ebony," He flinched. "I'm sorry for scaring you earlier. I will admit to being skeptical about your story, but if it's true, you have been a very loyal guard. I sincerely apologize, and hope that we can perhaps one day act as if that day never happened." Ebony smiled. Warily.

"A-apology accepted, Your highne-" I hit him, stopping him mid-sentence.

"Nope, your not her's anymore. We are our own. Address her as a pony, not as a god." I said to him. Celestia growled.

Ebony looked at the scroll with fear, Celestia looked at him with at least some sympathy. "I- I accept your apology... C-Celestia." He flinched as if he had been stabbed. Celestia also looked hurt. But it was shared hurt. Exactly what I wanted. I need them to bond over what little they could, even if it's pity.

"Okay, you two." I said. "Ebony, you want to ditch this place and head on back? I guess we can leave everything here, in case we need it again."

"S-sure." Ebony said. Celestia nodded happily.

"I await your return." She said as she faded out of the void. I rolled up the page, then folded it a could times and shoved it into the journal in my pocket.

"We are staying here tonight, we leave tomorrow." I announced.

"Why?"

"If we return today, Celestia will be able to work out where this place is based on how long we take to get there. We leave tomorrow, at dawn. Leave everything here, make sure its inside though."

"Okay, makes sense." He said, nodding.

"Good, also, once we get there, if anything goes wrong, like, 'I need to get out of here' wrong; come here. Don't go back to get me, for anything. Just come here, okay? Wait here for a week at most. If I don't show up in that time, assume that I am dead or imprisoned, don't try and save me, just go undercover in Ponyville. Okay? "

He nodded grimly.

***

That night, once everything was inside the house... we realized something.

I looked into the house, and saw very little space. "Erm... maybe we didn't think this one through. Where are we going to sleep?"

"Hmmm" Ebony thought, it was getting cold out. From what I could tell it was early Autumn at least. "We could just squeeze in? Or we could... well, YOU could brave the cold for the last night."

I smiled. "You know... I wouldn't mind sleeping outside for the last night."

He smiled awkwardly. "...with me right?"

"Of course, I wouldn't survive without your body heat, man. Why are you so..."

He straightened himself, (not exactly the best term, considering what I was thinking at the time.) "N- nothing. Just, you know... I don't want you to... I-"

That was going nowhere. "Dude, it's fine. We can have our little 'self discovery' talk when we get back to the city."

"Oh... okay?" He was thrown off by my wording for whatever reason.

That night he gripped me rather tightly, more than usual. Granted it was during his sleep, but still. He was acting strange. Maybe he's just scared of going back to Celestia.

***

And thus began our 25th, and last, day in the cave.

I didn't mention what he did during the night.

We both said our goodbyes to the house we had both grown to love in a strange way, and set off down the tracks. He hovered beside me as I walked.

"Dude, thats really cool." I said, gesturing to his wings.

"What? I'm just flying. You've seen me do it before haven't you?"

"Not for this long before, no. Their all buzz-y and... awesome."

"Well, errr..." He paused awkwardly. "Thanks?" It was then I remembered something about wings.

"Oh! Sorry, I forgot about Equestria's thing with wings being 'all private' and stuff."

"Nah, man." He's really sounding like me. "It's fine, you're from a whole 'nother world, I understand it'll take a while to change." His flying seemed a little scew-iff after that.

"Yeah, it'll take me a while to change. You're lucky, you can change much quicker than me, I mean, that's why they call you a ch-"

"Don't. Even." I blinked, it was like I was looking into a mirror.

"Dude... you've really picked up like... so many of my mannerisms over the last 30 days or so. You know that right?"

"...I guess I have." Something caught his attention. "Oh! There's Canterlot. Should I... you know..."

"Yeah, yeah, just not the guard. Like a err, I don't know. Imagen yourself as a pony and turn into that."

He thought for a second and turned into a blue stallion with dark-grey hair and tail.

"Meh, good enough." He looked to me with pride-filled eyes. "Generic color scheme though." His smile faltered. "And your cutie-mark is the same as the guard's." Two black lines like the number 11. He looked at his flanks then looked up at me, his gaze turning determined.

"No." He shed his facade. "I'm not doing this, they asked for me, it's me they'll get."

"Damn dude. You sure?" I asked, slightly taken a-back by his change of tone.

He didn't look very confident, but steeled himself by saying, "Yes." Staring straight ahead.

We walked up to the main gates of the city.

The guards sitting either side absolutely freaked when they saw Ebony. All readying spears and making a formation infront of the entrance.

I sighed. "Ebony." I said, holding out my arms, he took the hint and hovered above them, then landed in them. I turned him over so I was holding him the way you would a human, or a newborn child. The guards seemed slightly disarmed, but didn't leave their positions. I walked towards them until walking another step would skewer me on one of their weapons.

"I am Dan," I said in my most regal voice. Time to test if this works. "Insubordinate hero, Defender and Medical specialist. I request entry to this city." The guard in front of me stared at me.

"You. You are Dan?" I nodded. "THE Dan." I nodded. 'The Dan'... never thought I would hear that. His eyes widened. "R- Really?" They all lowered their weapons.

"Yeah? What do you want? A name tag? I am literally the only of my kind here, how did you not recognize me?"

He shifted slightly, along with the rest of the guards. "They never told us you weren't a pony, just... 'different'."

"Well, now you know. And spread that information throughout the guard please. I don't want to have this problem again." They all nodded and the one I was looking at ran into a booth of some kind on one side of the gates, then came out with a red ticket in his mouth.

"Shish 'ill eh' oo' ashess shor teday." I blinked at him, he rolled his eyes and spat it out into the floor. "This will get you access for today. It'll let you in anywhere, by tomorrow the information will be around the guard, so you won't need it."

"Aw, thanks man." I crouched and awkwardly picked it up with Ebony still in my arms. As I leaned forward to pick it up, Ebony and the guard had there faces put very close to each other's. They both just stared. I stood up, noticed what had happened and laughed. "Dude, it's fine. This is a friend of mine." I said, juggling Ebony in my arms slightly. I knew I would not get a response from him other than 'but he's a-' so I walked past them all, letting their confused and shocked stares burn the back of my skull.

We were walking through the streets of Canterlot, I was still carrying Ebony, enduring the many very scared and worried looks when a little filly walked up to me, I looked down at the filly, peeking over Ebony to even see her. If being approached by a child wasn't weird enough...

"Did you kill it?" The unicorn filly asked.

I was shocked to say the least. "N- no, I didn't kill him! This is just a friend of mine. Ebony say hi!" Ebony stirred from his half-sleep.

Ebony looked down at the filly, with an expression that matched her's. Completely terrified. "Err... Hi?" He waved a hoof awkwardly.

The fillies jaw dropped. She stared at him for a couple seconds, before calmly turning around. Then bolting in the other direction. Ebony sighed.

"Hey, it could have gone worse." I reassured. I was true, but it could have been much better.

The guards at the palace gates reacted in a similar fashion to the first batch of guards, but backed away when I flashed the card. When we got to the throne-room doors and disarmed the guards, an idea occurred to me.

"Hey, can you cast shape-shifting magic on other things?" I asked.

"No. why?"

"Aw, shame. I wanted you to disguise as me, and disguise me as you."

"...Why?"

"To show Celestia that... never mind." The guards were giving me looks and I didn't want any trouble.

I looked at the now repaired doors, I could tell they have been carefully crafted back into their original shape, after being kicked down a couple times and bust of the hinges by Luna. There really was some talented modeling on those doors. Someone out there probably spent hours of concentrated work to restore them to their former glory. So ornate. So delicate.

I kicked them in.

Or at least I tried to. My foot hit it and the doors did nothing, they didn't even budge. My ankle stang in response. The guard walked over to me, a smug grin on his face.

"Their leg-proof now." He said. What.

"Leg... proof?"

"Yeah, there's wards on the doors now. They block strong impacts from all things considered legs by the user."

"Wow, that's pretty specific." I said, slightly impressed.

He nodded. "Took the Princesses all day to make it." His smugness intensified. "Looks like your going to have to enter like a normal pony for once."

"Nah, I don't do pony." The guard shrugged and walked back to his post.

"Well," He said. "You're not going to get in without opening it in a civilized manner anymore."

I gave him a determined look. "Ebony," I said, not breaking eye contact with the guard. "Could you step down for a second." The guard became very wary.

Ebony stepped off of me and I backed against the wall opposite the door. "Dan, what are you-" Ebony squeaked as I ran past him and straight up punched the doors. It hurt, a lot. I was now bleeding, but it was worth it. The doors flew open and stopped on the inside wall. I turned to the guard.

"Yeah, yeah..." He mumbled, I just smiled and sucked the blood collecting on my knuckles.

I looked into the room and found Luna and Chrome, both sitting on Luna's throne, Chrome was sitting across Luna's lap, they both looked like deer that were surrounded by 10 different sets of headlights. I walked in slightly and Ebony followed me, the door slowly swung shut behind me and him.

"Is now a bad time to come back from a month-long holiday? I mean, I could come back some other time..." I said jokingly as I approached them. Both their faces lit up. Chrome leaped off of Luna and pounced me into a hug.

With his eyes squeezed shut, "Dan, missed you so much dude, where were you?!" He cried happily into my very dirty clothes.

"You know, living in a cave. With a friend." He looked up to ask me a question but froze as his eyes set on Ebony. He slowly back off of me.

He was shaking slightly. "Wh- wh- who is that?" He said pointing at Ebony. I opened my mouth to answer, but Ebony somehow mustered his courage for once.

"I'm Ebony Towers. I was one of Dan's guards." Chrome looked completely broken.

He eventually managed to speak. "So your the pony we heard in the background of the recording..."

"Yeah," I said. "Celestia didn't tell you WHY I left?"

"No, she just said you and her had a 'disagreement' and you left."

I snorted. "Disagreement is one word for it."

Luna stood from her throne. "Celestia told me. Sorry for not telling you Chrome, I didn't want to burden you, it's quite a serious matter." Chrome nodded understandably.

"But really," He said. "What happened?"

"Let's get everyone together for that, I would hate to repeat this story more than once." I said, Luna agreed with me, so she sent off some magical thing that apparently 'told Celestia and Feather about where we were and why.' It worked, but I was suspicious. If that kind of magic exists, why couldn't they find me in a cave a couple kilometers away.

Celestia and Feather came in at the same time. Their little conversation was cut short when they saw Ebony, who quickly hid behind me. Celestia froze. While Feather did the opposite. She turned into a wall of hooves and yells as she lunged at the changeling, but inevitably hit me. I was trying to restrain her, but I was failing, my worn shoes sliding backwards on the marble flooring. The only thing stopping her from getting straight through me was Chrome, who had latched onto her as well, holding her back legs. Ebony fled to the very back of the room, hiding behind Luna's throne.

I yelled Feathers name multiple times, but the fire in her eyes never faded. We struggled against each other for about 30 seconds before Chrome seemingly had enough. "FEATHER! SNAP OUT OF IT YOU MANIAC!" He yelled as he reared up and jabbed her with both of his front hooves at once, hitting the 'pressure point' as Chrome called it, on both sides of her chest. Feather let out a short scream and fell to the ground. She rolled onto her back and looked up at Chrome, gasping for air for a couple seconds.

Chrome's expression shifted as he slowly approached her, instantly sympathetic. He helped her up with a hoof. "Relax. The changeling's with Dan. He's been living with him for the last month or so, I think you can trust him." The princesses just watched, shifting as if they wanted to say or do something, but they stopped themselves.

Feather sighed and turned to me. "Dan I-"

"It's fine." I cut her off. "You okay now?" She nodded, looking at the floor, exhausted. "Okay. Ebony?" I looked back, he peaked round the large dark chair. "Come over here, we've all gotta talk." He slowly made his way over, still staying behind me, whatever courage he had earlier was now shattered.

Me and Luna explained the basics of what happened. Celestia stayed quiet. Luna corrected me sometimes and I corrected her on some points. I also explained what we did in the cave all that time, and how we survived. Feather barely tore her eyes off Ebony for the most part, excluding the surprised glances she gave me, at a couple facts I listed.

"So..." Chrome said, once we finished our story. "You two are..." he looked between me and Ebony. "...together?"

I looked to Ebony. He looked at me. "I don't... think so." Ebony gave me an equally uncertain look. I looked back to the group, who were now staring at us. "It was more of a survival thing. You know? 'What happens in the Cave; stays in the Cave'." I chuckled slightly. They all looked rather pained.

"You slept together. For a month. Even after you got sheets." Luna said.

"Yeah. And you snuck into my room while I was alone, then refused to leave. To the point where I had to physically push you out of the room." Everyone stared at Luna.

"You just... surprised me is all." She blushed slightly. Chrome didn't look particularly happy.

Ebony gasped slightly. Everyone snapped their neck towards him. He flinched. "What was that, Ebony?" I asked.

"N-nothing just... are you and..." He pointed between Chrome and Luna. They both nodded happily. "Oh, that explains it."

"Explains what?" Chrome and Luna said at the same time.

"I could.... there was... I could taste it..." He practically shriveled into a ball on the floor while saying that, due to the strange looks he was getting from everyone but me.

"Leave the poor guy alone." I said, diverting their attention and allowing him to recover slowly. "He can't help it, and anyway..." I nudged him in the side. "You get used to it after a while."

"You get used to him tasting love? Did you do that during the 25 days you were away?" Chrome asked with a shit-eating grin.

"Yes." They all froze. "How do you THINK I fed him?" Chrome's mouth dropped.

There was a long awkward silence. But I stood my ground, I would not give them the satisfaction of looking even a little ashamed. Keeping someone alive the only way you can isn't something to be ashamed of anyway. I decided now was a good time to bring up something I had been meaning to mention.

"Celestia?" She looked at me with a seriousness that didn't match my tone. "Do you mind if me, Chrome, Feather, Luna and Ebony go out for something?"

"What do you mean?" First words she had said in that room so far. "'Go out for something?'" The rest looked confused as well.

"Well, I thought, as Ebony WILL be staying here. You guys should get to know him. Going out together will do that. And seeing the Princess with him will make the ponies feel more comfortable around him, so maybe he could go out without me carrying him. Figuratively. And literally." They all looked at each other awkwardly. None of them wanted to do it, but they knew turning me down was not a good idea.

"Question." Celestia said, drawing everyone's attention. Amazingly, she waited for me.

"...Yes?"

"Why was I not on the list?"

I gave her a deadpan stare. "I didn't think you would like to sit at the same table as a CHANGELING." I said, sort of harshly.

"And yet you invite Feather?" Feather looked to Celestia, shocked. Not all you thought she was huh?

I was going to say something when Ebony spoke up. Just what I wanted. "It's okay... C-Celestia. You can come if you... want to." Everyone looked at him surprised, even me.

Celestia and Ebony shared a look. One side, frightened yet determined. The other, shocked and paralyzed.

"Welp." I said, clapping my hands together. "Now that that's all sorted out, I say it's time we all get some shut-eye and prepare for tomorrow."

"Dan..." Chrome started, confused. "It's not even noon yet. And you didn't even ask us if we even wanted to go. Or tell us where we were going."

"Oh, yeah... the cave probably messed up my body's internal clock or something... how about The Shadey? Like... now?" Upon hearing the bar's name, Celestia shot a narrowed eye at Luna, who looked away, innocently.

"No." Celestia said. "I have nothing against leaving now. But I will not go to that-"

Luna cut her off. "It'll be perfect." She grinned at Celestia, who snarled while her sister's eyes were closed.

Chrome shuffled slightly. "You still didn't ask us if we wanted to come, or if we even could."

"You're here, right now, right?" I said.

"Yeah?"

"Then you can be somewhere else, right now. Let's go." I picked up Ebony and left the room, trusting that they would follow. They did.

Once we got to the bar... well. To be honest, I don't remember much of that night...

Author's Note

Updated: 08/11/15
-Fixed grammar/spellings
-Made conversations easier to follow

Haha, aw man. Making these chapter names is getting harder and harder.

And so is the formatting. But it's worth it... wait... wait, yeah I guess it is?

Well at least this keeps me busy with something. Even though I DO have assignments to finish... Meh, education can wait.

Chapter 13: A Match-Maker's Meeting

We arrived at The Shadey.

"Well, here we are." I said, leaning on the door of the bar, ready to push it in. "Anyone got any last-minute whatevers?"

Ebony raised his hoof. "Is there any alcohol?"

We all looked at each other. "Yes... it IS a bar." I said.

"Oh... okay..." There was a strange pause.

"Anything else?" I asked. None responded. "Good. Now, who is paying? Cause I have literally no-"

"I will, it's on me." Luna said.

"No, I have the money right now," Chrome rebutted, probably just to seem polite. "It's on me."

Luna jabbed him in the side slightly. "I insist." She said, they both smiled. And so did I. Jeez man, to think I made that happen.

I began pushing the door open slowly, as not to make a scene, now was not the time to kick-in any doors, despite my new-found love for it. "Okay, no-one make any indication that Ebony is not normal, ponies go with the majority, so try and be that majority before another one is formed." The ponies agreed, reluctantly.

We all walked in and sat, got some drinks ordered and made small talk. It was a small square table, near the middle of the room. Celestia and Feather had sides to themselves, while Luna and Chrome shared a side and Me and Ebony did the same. Our drinks arrived a couple minutes later.

Feather seemed to be going down her 'veteran' route again and got a bottle of what looked like whiskey. Chrome and Luna shared a very large bottle of red wine, though Chrome often took sips from everyone else's drinks, cause he's that kind of guy. I got some apple cider, cause I was a rather inexperienced drinker besides cheap beer, plus, apples were okay.

Ebony had what looked like the most expensive bottle of... something I had ever seen. I smelt the liquid as soon as the top was pulled of the bottle, it must have been like, 97% pure or something, it even came with its own glass, a very small martini-looking glass. Ebony didn't bother using it and terrified us all by chugging half the bottle at once. Afterwards he explained that alcohol does not effect changelings as much as it does to ponies (and humans).

Celestia just got ice-water. Everyone, and I mean everyone, we were being watched by quite a few ponies at the point, gave her a glare for being the only pony in the entire bar to not have any alcohol. We tried to get her to order something else, but she refused. She is no fun sometimes.

That is where things get fuzzy. I remember we eventually decided, or more 'Celestia guided us', to go back to Chrome's room in the palace to crash. I also remember talking to some of the other ponies in the bar, I can't remember what was said though, hopefully I didn't make any enemies. It seemed everything had gone fine. Until the next day...

THUD

uhg...

THUD

whyyyy....

THUD

I scrambled my arms around with my eyes tightly shut, trying to find out where I was. All I knew was that I had the worst headache, my head was pounding and the sun was in my eyes. All I felt was the plush carpet of Chrome's room. Until I realized a particularly 'plush' part of the carpet was actually Luna. She was hopefully passed out, laying perpendicular to me, my stomach on her side. I got up, reluctantly, but I would hate to have her wake up like that. I opened my eyes after standing, braving the light streaming through the white curtains. I squinted and covered the bright-patch with a hand as I quietly inspected the room.

Celestia was nowhere to be seen. Luna was sleeping in the middle of the floor. Chrome and Ebony were both sitting upright in the corner, back's to the wall and supported by each other's leaning. Good to see they get along, even if it's only when they're drunk, it's something. There was a note on the outside of the bathroom, which was locked. I stumbled over to it to read it. It was scrawled in pencil, but I recognized Feather's handwriting... hoofwriting? mouthwriting?... hornwriting? I dunno. I recognized her writing. It read "Do not enter. Seriously, use the other bathroom or something, just not this one." I put my ear against the door and heard steady, deliberate breaths. So that's where Feather is. Sounds like she had a bit too much. Hopefully she got at least some sleep..

I dare not make a sound, if these guys are any worse than me, they won't appreciate it at all. I walked into the kitchen and carefully ran myself a glass of water, making sure the tap was on the weakest setting, and all the water ran down the inside of the glass, not smashing against the bottom, the sink made enough noise as it was. And I needed to be quiet. Once the glass was a decent amount full, I steadily drank it, attempting and failing to clear the horrible taste in my mouth. It was then I realized something. I quickly wobbled my way to the on-suite bathroom.

And my pure muscle memory; my arm went to hit the flush. Luckily, the toilets here are weird and it was placed somewhere else, so I didn't torture myself with that racket. I breathed a sigh of relief as I walked back into the main room. Everyone in the room was snoring softly, it was quite a beautiful sight, if only the sun was not tainting it with its blinding lights. As a side thought I put a paper towel from the kitchen over the three pony's eyes, so at least some of the light would be shielded from them when they first wake.

I went over to the couch, a much better one than the one that was in Chrome's house, and laid down and went back to sleep. Hoping the rest of them would be awake by the time I woke. I was woken not an hour later. But by only one pony.

Something nudged my shoulder. I turned over onto my back to show I was at least awake.

"Oh, did I wake you? I thought you were just resting." Luna said, in a very hushed tone, didn't stop it from hurting, but from the sound of her voice, it hurt her too.

"No," I flinched at my own voice. "I woke up a while ago, I figured you wouldn't want to wake up with me on top of you, so I moved."

She breathed a weak laugh. "Yes... thank you for that. How much... do you remember?"

I rubbed my eyes and opened them, she looked a wreck. "Not much... last thing I remember is... getting the second batch of drinks... then talking to somepony..." Uhg... damn horse language... working it's way into my head...

"Hm, seems I'm not as bad as you, in that regard. I remember everything, I think, everything except getting... here." She said, gesturing to the room with a raised hoof.

"Well... did it go well?"

"Did what go well?"

"Ebony..." I said, pointing at him. She turned and saw the two in the corner, leaning on eachother. Luna giggled, seeing Chrome like that.

"Yes... nothing went wrong at least, so it could not have been that bad..." We both slipped into a reminisant and releived silence. She glanced back from the two in the corner. "Dan?"

I lifted my head, looking away from the ceiling and back to her. "Yeah?"

"Can we... talk? For a second?" Gesturing to the other room. That happened to be a bedroom. At my strange look she added "No funny buisness."

"Yeah, sure, whatever." I painfully lifted myself from the warm confines of the couch and followed her into the other room, she closed the door behind us. "So, what's this about?"

"Me and Chrome." At my worried look she waved a dismissive hoof. "Nothing like that, I just wanted to thank you for... what you did, for us."

"Er- er- sure. I mean... sorry, I'm really bad at this kind of thing."

"What do you mean?"

"Accepting thanks, compliments, that kind of thing. I just never know what to say..."

"Oh... It's okay, I have had similar trouble. Being in a new world must be hard..."

"But it happened back in the other world too..."

"...Ah... well, this is practice then. Go on."

"Er..." I thought. "No problem?"

She nodded. "That's all you have to say."

I sighed. "Sorry, I'm just... really bad with social cues sometimes... you know?"

"Yes... yes I do..." She nodded again. "Dan." She regained my attention with a serious tone. "Cadence is coming today."

"Ooohh... that's not good."

"No no, it's fine, if anyone likes a drink, it's her. So she'll understand."

"Your kidding. Cadence? Drinking?"

She 'pssh'ed "Yeah! She can't help herself sometimes. But that's beside the point. I suggest you keep Ebony away from her though, she has had some... experiences."

"Oh, yeah, I know. I was practically there. It's a shame you guys could not come to a peaceful ending like you usually do..."

She blinked. "Oh yes... your... visions..." I nodded. Huh, Celestia hasn't told her anything?

"Wait, where were you during that invasion?" I asked. She flinched, as if dreading the question.

"I- er -was... recovering... from a night with Cadence." She looked at the floor. "I might have had a bit to much that night..." She changed the subject. "What do you plan on doing about Ebony today?"

"I was planning to tell Cadence about everything Ebony has done for me, and explain what kind of pers- er- pony he is. Without telling her he is a changeling. Then introducing them, as if it was nothing."

She hummed. "Well... it could work. But I will put some wards on Ebony before she gets here, just in case. She uses magic for almost everything, so if she reacts badly, the first thing she will do is shoot a spell at him. Hopefully she doesn't, but I will place my wards anyway."

I smiled at her. "Thanks Luna, if only your sister cared about Ebony as much as you seem to. Everything would be a lot less tense right now."

"Tense?" She asked. "Dan, nothing is 'tense' right now. My sister is just warey."

I sighed "Yeah..."

There was a knock on the door that rang through both of our ears, causing us both to recoil in pain. It seemed the pony performing the sound also suffered, considering the knocking paused, then returned as a quiet tapping. Instead of yelling 'come in'. I just walked over to the door. I opened it to reveal a very scruffy-looking Feather. The other two were still asleep.

She stared in shock at us. "Am I... interrupting anything?"

I looked around, before getting what she was saying. "No, just a private conversation that was finished anyway. What do you need?"

She walked into the room, and sharply nodded to Luna and instantly regretted the sudden head-movement. She sat on the side of the bed.

She sighed. "I just wanted to apologize for acting the way I did yesterday. I never even told you how relieved I am to see that you're okay!"

"It's okay, Feather." I moved in and hugged her.

"But it's not! I just... went. No thought whatsoever. I thought I had got rid of that years ago... worse still, Ebony's actually a pretty cool guy, yeah he's awkward and practically immune to alcohol, but he has a good heart Dan, and I likely would have tried to kill him..."

I sighed, Luna put a hoof on Feather's shoulder, Feather looked up at her with teary eyes. "This is a discussion you should be having with Ebony. Not us." Luna said. Feather nodded slowly.

There was a silence, I decided to lighten the mood.

"You won't get a conversation out of him for a while yet, I mean, have you seen what him and Chrome are doing out there?"

Feather snorted a laugh. "Yeah, it's... pretty cute."

"I was talking about what they were doing, not just Ebony."

She rolled her eyes. "You sure you two are not together?"

I sighed. "I pretty sure we'd both be okay with it. But I'm not sure if he 'goes that way'. Hell, I'm not sure if I even 'go that way'."

Both Feather and Luna looked at me with sympathy. "Dan," Feather said. "Have you ever had a relationship?"

"...no."

They both looked surprised. "And your seventeen?" Luna gasped. hm, Seventeen's probably pretty old to not have had a relationship here or something, cause it certainly wasn't this surprising to anyone I told on earth.

I sighed. "Hey, I just never found anyone who seemed like they would stick around you know?" They both frowned sympathetically. "I'm afraid of emotional investment, okay? Like, what I get all dependent and they leave me or something? Or what if I have to leave them?" They both hugged me. In hindsight, that was an amazing hug. But I was to busy repressing my embarrassment, considering what I had just said. Complete honesty is not in my nature.

"You won't ever find a pony like that here Dan." Feather said.

"That and I don't understand pony body language at all. I mean, what if I miss something important? For all I know someone could be flirting with me or something and I would not even know. I mean, You-" I pointed at Luna. "-According to my guard, not Ebony, the other one; during our first meetings you were acting in a..." She shifted slightly. "...Receptive manner." She blushed and Feather Squawked, I swear, she made a bird noise as her jaw dropped.

Luna cleared her throat. "... You surprised me is all..." Deja-vu

"I'll believe that lie for Chrome's sake." I said, smirking slightly.

Luna snorted. "You know, there are very few that are willing to refuse the wishes of a Princess." It was my turn to make the bird noise.

"Woah! Hey now! I mean it's not like I would say no, just... jeez, your with Chrome now! You can't say things like that!"

She blinked, she probably didn't mean to say it like that. "...You wouldn't say no?"

Feather was in a trance at this point, the look on her face was priceless. "Luna." I said. "You do realize, if anypony I know. ANY. PONY. Or not pony, whatever. If any of them came up to me and said 'Hi Dan, I really like you, and would like to have a lasting and meaningful relationship with you' I would say yes. I don't think I have met anyone who I would actually say no to yet. Yes I would likely have to think about some more than others, but I have not met anyone particularly unbearable yet, maybe Steel, he seems a little douche-y sometimes. I mean, he complained at me for 'giving you away' to Chrome."

"Oh... anypony?" She asked. Out of everything I said... THAT...

"Yeah."

"Even my sister?"

I gave her a jokingly suspicious look. "...She IS someone I have met, I think she goes on that list, yes.... why?"

She blinked. "No reason."

I sighed. "Do you actually want to be with Chrome?"

She was taken aback, seemingly offended, it was as funny as last time. "Of course! Why else would I declare feelings?"

"Just making sure. If it turned out you didn't; it would probably completely break Chrome's heart. You know that right?"

She sighed. "Yeah... he is rather proud of himself."

I snorted. "Of course he would be. Anyone would be."

She looked at the floor. "But what if that's it? What if he just wanted to be with 'The Princess'. Not with 'Luna'." She sighed.

"Dude, Ebony tasted your love from across the room remember? There has to be something there. You should ask Chrome, maybe even HE doesn't know for sure, get him thinking. It'll help." I laughed slightly. "You realize what I'm doing right? You're lucky I care about Chrome so much, or I might have taken you for myself back then." She gasped, probably offended. Yep, that's her offended face. "What? You gave me plenty of opportunities and you know it!"

She sighed. "...I will ask Chrome." She looked to Feather, who looked even more broken. "Are you... okay?" She looked legitimately concerned for Feather's health.

Feather was staring between us, pinprick irises and a slack jaw. I could not help but laugh slightly. Luna hit me in the chest a little harder than I think she meant to, considering it caused me to fall over backwards.

"Wow..." Luna looked at her hoof. "What are you made of?"

"What kind of question is that?! Flesh and bone, like everything else!" I said as I stood back up, cradling my pounding skull.

"Hm, your underweight?"

"Er, yeah? I just spent a month in a cave living off of 1 meal a day at best, and they were not good meals."

Luna blinked. "Oh, yeah." She looked back to Feather, still broken. "Feather?" Nothing. She reached out a hoof and shook her shoulder. "Feather? Are you okay?"

"Dude, she's broken. Just leave her, she'll be fine. I think we have some stallions to wake." I said, indicating to the other room.

Luna gained a smugness I had never seen from her before. "Yes, we do..."

We both walked out of the room, me first, then Luna. Amazingly, they two corner-dwellers were still asleep and leaning harder than ever. Me and Luna stood next to each other, looking for potential.

"You got a slow-wake up spell?"

"Yes, I can do that, why?"

I move over to them and turned their heads to face eachother, pressing their muzzles together. Luna stifled laughter.

"Do it." I whispered. Luna's horn lit momentarily and we waited for a couple seconds.

Eventually they both started to come to. They both lifted a hoof to feel what they were pressed up against. They both felt around in the air for a couple seconds, before their hooves met in the air, connecting perfectly. Both their eyes started to open slowly, then shot open, realising what they were doing, and who they were doing it to. They didn't move for a good 10 seconds, just staring into each other's eyes. Until Luna loudly cleared her throat. Chrome looked like a deer in the headlights as his neck snapped to luna, whacking Ebony 'round the face with his nose in the process.

Luna raised an eyebrow. "Please, Luna. This isn't what it looks like!" He pleaded, slowly getting up. Ebony barely managed to catch himself as the pony he was leaning on moved. Acting along, I protectively rushed in and picked up Ebony, which had become a usual thing by this point.

"Luna..." Chrome said, in a voice that actually pained me, and Luna too, due to the pure lack of hope.

Ebony was staring at Chrome, cyan eyes wide. "By the hive..." He muttered. This got everyone's attention, but he was so entranced by something he didn't even flinch in his usual manner. "That is some of the most pure love I have ever even witnessed..." Luna looked back to Chrome, who was still staring back at Ebony.

Luna teared up and tackle-hugged Chrome. While I let that play out, I turned Ebony around to face me and set him down, standing, on the floor. "You feeling okay?" I asked.

"I am now! Love is a great wake-up call, man. Even if I didn't get to eat any of it... speaking of which..."

"Uhg fiiine." I picked him up and took him over to where Chrome and Luna's hug had ended up, on one side of the couch, Chrome on Luna's lap, both embracing each other. "Hey, mind if we join?" They both looked up at us, and both nodded. "Sweet." I sat on the other side of the couch and did the same with Ebony. After about 10 seconds of this, Feather walked in, considerably fixed.

"Errrrr..." She had froze in the door-way.

I sighed. "Luna and Chrome just found out they love each other for sure and I had to feed Ebony. Welcome to the Hug-con."

She stared, confused for a few seconds. "Oookay then. Well... I have things that need doing today, so I've got to go. So err, bye guys." I blinked. That's the second time she has used a buffer in her speech. 'Er'. She never did that. Hm, maybe I should ask her when she gets back, she probably has something on her mind.

A quartet of "Bye"s followed her out the door.

Once we had all got our emotions in check, Luna explained what all the hugging was about to Chrome and we had all had breakfast of some sort in the cafeteria downstairs. Some two hours later we all met in the throne room, where Celestia was waiting for us.

"You four all recovered from last night okay?" She asked as we all walked in.

"Yes, sister, We have all been awake for a while now, long enough to recover just fine." Luna replied.

Celestia walked down from her glorified chair and met us half way.

"That is good to hear, you three all doing well this morning?" She directed at Me, Chrome and Ebony.

I shrugged. "Meh, I've had better and worse mornings."

Chrome bumped into Luna playfully. "Yeah, it was good."

Ebony shrugged. "Meh, I've had better and w- er- I mean... I'm fine, thanks." Dammit Ebony, stop being me, that's MY job.

Celestia smiled at the four of us. "As you probably know, Cadence is arriving here in a couple of hours. Dan, Chrome and Luna will greet her and take her to room 070, it's a sitting room, and it's already set up for her. It is up to you, Dan, to introduce Ebony to her. Luna tells me you have a plan?"

"Yeah, I do. I am guessing Luna sent that information to you via magic?" She nodded. "Psshh, magic. But I have a plan, yes. And it's pretty solid, all I need from you two is some protection magic stuff on Ebony, please."

"We can put protective WARDS on him, not to sure about 'magic stuff'." Luna half-mocked.

"You know what I meant."

A couple hours after the wards had been placed, and my plan explained to Ebony; Cadence arrived. She had what amounted to an army of guards around her as she entered the city through the main gates, waving to ponies all the way to the palace, where all the guards left her and we met her.

Me and Chrome stood either side of Luna in the palace's main entrance. There were ponies with cameras lining the door. Cadence walked up to us.

"Luna." She bowed slightly.

"Cadence." Luna returned the gesture. It was clear they were putting on a show for the cameras.

Cadence turn to look at Chrome. He fully bowed. "Chrome Star, Princess." He said.

"Glad to meet you Chrome Star, you are Luna's other half?" She asked, with a blinding smile.

"Not officially, but yes." Chrome said, trying not to sound as awkward as he felt. Cadence practically danced in joy.

She then turned to me, with expectant eyes. I did nothing but stand there. The ponies mumbled. Her eyes widened. "The insubordinate Hero I presume?"

"You assume correct." I said with a smug grin.

"So, you are Dan? The one responsible for Luna and Chrome's... involvement?"

"Yes, I am." I said proudly. Cadence practically squee'd.

Luna had had enough of the cameras. "Let us move to more comfortable conditions, shall we?" Cadence nodded and we all set off into the palace. Cadence walked between me and Luna, probably trying to not get in the way of 'the couple'.

Once out of the public eyes, they all seemed to relax.

"So, how long have you two been together for now?" Cadence asked.

"About... a month now, I think." Chrome responded.

"And? How's it going?" She continued.

Luna put a hoof over Chrome. "We are very happy together." bleh.

Cadence literally danced on her hooves this time. "It's so good to see you finally found somepony Luna!" She turned to me. "You have no idea how grateful I am."

"What can I say? I saw the two of them and thought they would be good together, so I made it happen." Basically a lie. We stopped outside of room 070. Cadence put a hoof on my shoulder and smiled at me.

"Unfortunately," Luna said. "This is where we will have to leave you, Cadence, Dan, I have duties to attend to and Chrome must get down to the labs." Oh yeah, sometimes I forget Chrome is a scientist.

"Oh very well, have fun you two. Come on Dan, I want to here all about how you did it." Cadence said, I got a 'glad I'm not you' look from the other two as they walked off.

"Well..." I started as I entered the room, it was a bare room, with two large sofas in the center facing each other, with one corner touching creating an upside-down V shape. I explained my 'works' as I sat on one of the Sofas, near the corner of the V, Cadence mirrored my sitting arrangement as she listened intently.

"And that's basically how I did it." I said, summing up my actions.

"Hm, strange technique. But it worked, I've been trying to get Luna to find a special-some pony for years now. Then you come along and do it within your first couple days of even seeing this world at all!"

"Did Celestia not tell you about the visions?"

"Oh, yes, I forgot about those. Yes, she mentioned those. She also mentioned how you brought a pony back from the dead in the throne room! That must be quite the story."

"It is, here have read of this, this is exactly how it went down." I handed her my journal after turning it to the correct page.

"Oh! You kept a diary!"

"It's a journal. I have recorded everything I have done so far in Equestria in there."

She read through the section I pointed out then magic'd it back to me.

"I didn't realise that the pony you saved was Luna's partner! I also didn't realise how deserving you are of the title of 'insubordinate'." She giggled.

I chuckled along. "Yeah, I wasn't very happy right then. Say, did Celestia tell you about my 25 day 'holiday'?"

"No? I have not heard anything like this! Do go on."

"Well, me and Celestia had a little row, that's all settled now though. But this row included one of my good friends. It was so bad, that I left Canterlot."

"Where did you go? Somewhere nice?"

"I can't tell you where I went, all I can tell you is that it I lived in a cave for 25 days, living on what my friend could bring from the nearby town."

"Oh dear, that doesn't sound nice at all! How did you fair?"

"Celestia eventually asked me to come back after 25 days, but during that time, me and my friend bonded quite heavily, and our trust in each other grew immense, as, to survive, we had to share body-heat at night. Well, my friend could survive the night on their own, but I could not. I am a lot less 'hardy' than the ponies are."

Cadence smiled "Its nice to see that even a being from another world can make such good friends so quickly here."

"Yes, this place is amazing in that respect, but I do have a problem I think you are qualified to handle."

She shuffled onto the edge of her seat, getting slightly closer to me. "Yes?"

"I became rather attached to the pony that I spent all that time with and they became attached to me." Her smile broadened, seeing where this was going. "I'm thinking about starting my first ever relationship, with this pony, could you help me?" This was not part of the plan... But I felt that then was the right time.

She beamed so hard I thought she had dis-located her jaw or something. "Of course! But in what regard?"

"I know what I'm doing in terms of asking them, we trust each other with everything at this point, that would be no different. But what I don't know is whether or not I actually love them."

"Hmm, tricky. Tell me, what do you think of them?"

"Oh, there quite shy, they often hide behind me during more heated discussions. They care about me, and I care about them. Without them I would have died in those caves. They are a little strange sometimes, but in a cute kind of way, you know?" She nodded. "I trust them, and they trust me, they even took what I said over what Celestia said once." She smiled at the concept. "And I've have already put myself between them and Celestia and said 'give me your best shot'." Cadence gasped.

"Why would you need to do such a thing?"

I sighed. "I am not at liberty to say, you will have to ask Celestia, I don't want to say anything I'm not meant to. But I will say that that happened during that 'row' we had."

She covered her mouth with a hoof. "Oh my... Who is this lucky mare? To have somepony so dedicated and trusting..."

"...Thats another problem..."

"What is?"

"They are... not a mare." Her eyes widened. I thought she was about to smack me up-side the head or something, but then her smile only grew.

"Oh this is wonderful! The romance! The danger! I love it, please, tell me more about this stallion."

"I could get him in here but..." I sighed. "I don't think you'd like it..."

"Why not? I have nothing against same-sex couples! You should know that."

"No, it's just... he's not techically a pony."

"...oh... Zebra?"

"No."

"...Minotour?"

"No."

"Dragon?"

"Heh, I wish, that'd be awesome."

"Errr, hmm... What else is there?... Dog?"

"No."

She turned deadly serious. "Is it Discord?"

"No! Why? You had to deal with him before? Or does Celestia have a crush on him or something."

Cadence burst into a fit of coughs. "N-No, N-nothing like t-that at all!"

"If you say so." I said, shrugging.

"Oh! Donkey!"

"No."

"Aagh... sheep?"

"No."

She sighed, I could see her counting to ten in her head. "...Griffin?"

"No."

She burried her head in her hoofs. after a couple seconds "Pheonix?!"

"No."

"Okay, okay, I don't know. Please just me so I can help you!"

"Cadence. You do know. You, better than anypony knows."

"What do you mean?"

"This speices affected the biggest day of your life, there is no way you cannot remember them."

"The biggest da-?" She snapped to look at me. "No... no no, there all gone Dan! There's none left!"

"No, this guy was left behind. By another group, years ago."

"So he... never... attacked?"

"No, actually, he fought them. He's been in the royal guard for years now."

"Hm... I wasn't aware Canterlot had a changeling guard."

"No one else knew either, until I found out."

"Wait he was..."

"Disguised as a guard, yes."

She sighed "Usually, I would never do this Dan. But... for this relationship, I have to be prepared to do anything... Bring him in."

"Thanks Cadence." I said as I got out of my chair and walked out of the room, then went into the janitor closet round the corner.

I peaked 'round the door. "She wants to see you."

"Really? What for?"

I sighed. "Dude I... look just come with me."

"Yeah, yeah okay."

I walked back to the door labeled 070. I peeked my head in, Cadence was still in her chair, and had her head in her hooves. "Ready?" I asked. She nodded, not lifting her head.

I walked in and Ebony followed, I sat back in my original position on the Sofa, while Ebony sat next to me. Cadence slowly lifted her head, easing the changeling into her view, flinching at every feature, hole and wing. Until she reached his face, then her expression softened.

"I'm sorry. Whats your name?" She asked in a sweet voice.

"E-Ebony Towers, you are Cadence?"

"Yes, Ebony." She sighed. "Look, I'm sorry I- I-" She exhaled. "I have seen your kind in a bad light, a very bad light. But I can tell, just from what I've heard and seeing you here, that you mean no harm."

"It's okay Cadence, at least you are making the effort. That's more than most ponies do..." Ebony said. I resisted the urge to attempt to comfort him, as cute as it would be.

Cadence looked to me. "Dan, could you wait outside for a minute or two?"

"Sure. You okay with this Ebony?" I asked him.

"Y-yeah it's fine." He didn't seem sure, but he sure was trying to be.

I nodded to him, then nodded thanks to Cadence as I left the room and let them talk. I was outside the door for about 5 minutes, before Cadence opened the door and led me back inside.

Hm, to open the door she had to get up and walk over to it, that means Ebony is still on the sofa otherwise he would have got the door, that means Cadence turned her back on him trustingly. That's a good sign that things went well in there.

I sat back down in my previous spot again. Ebony hadn't moved. "So, what did talk about?"

"Oh, just some questions." Cadence answered, sitting back down on the other sofa. "Sorry Ebony, but could you go sit in this bubble? I need to talk to Dan for a while." Cadence created a bubble on the end of my sofa, just next to Ebony. He shuffled along the sofa and into the bubble without a word.

"Well? What do you think?" I asked.

"Dan, I don't know how you did it, but he's perfect. For you, that is."

"Like, how?"

"He feels the exact same way you do Dan, he trusts you with his life, just as you do yours. All you would have to do is ask and he'd take the next step, he's waiting for you to do it. I reckon you should go for it.

She beamed at me as I nodded. "Thanks Cadence."

"No problem, now, go take him somewhere he feels safe and ask him."

"I will, really, thanks for this." I said just before the bubble dropped.

"No problem Dan, come back to me if you need anything else."

"Hopefully I won't need to, but thanks." Ebony gave me a strange look. "Come on we should get back to Chrome's roo- Wait, we have our own room don't we? Meh, I'll go ask."

"Bye Cadence" Ebony waved as he left the sofa.

We all exchanged goodbyes and went on our way, we alerted Celestia that Cadence was introduced and dealt with. Then I asked where my room is, turns out it's right next to Chrome's room. So we headed there.

I closed the door behind us and prepared for bed using the stock room-equipment as best I could. Once I was ready I sat on the sofa.

"Hey, Ebony, come here."

"What is it Dan?" He walked over and stood in front of me.

I sighed. This is harder than I thought it would be. "Ebony, you know how we've gotten very close as of late?" He nodded, I could tell he knew exactly where this was going. "How would you feel about taking it that extra step?" His eyes widened and mouth dropped. Okay, never mind, he had no idea.

"Dan, that would be a- That would be amazing!" He goddamn jumped on me, lucky changelings are lighter than ponies. He hugged around my chest. "Thank you so much!"

"You don't need to thank me dude. I should be thanking you."

"Why?" He looked up from the shirt he had buried his face in.

"Cause now I have a spare bedroom." He hugged back into me. "You're goddamn adorable, you know that?"

Author's Note

Updated: 08/11/15
-Fixed Grammar
-Fixed some spellings I think
-Conversations easier to follow

Yep, this is a thing that happened.

Not my initial intentions at all. At one point I planned for Dan to end up with Feather. But things change I guess.
Well, that's bound to happen, I wrote this; making it up as I went, so yeah. It's bound to take some turns even I can't see coming.
I don't know why I did this one NOW. It's like... 2am. I swear this thing has made me lose more sleep than... well, anything else. Last chapter for today.

Chapter 14: A Feather In The Sand

I got out of bed the next day pretty early. I'm pretty sure that's because sleeping next to Ebony again sent my body back into 'Cave Mode'.

I woke up before Ebony did, so I used the basic cooking supplies in the kitchen to make some pancakes, I had made the mix before, so that was easy. I had the recipe known off by heart. "8oz of flour, 1/2 pints of milk, 1 medium egg" Not that impressive, but it works. This recipe plus the old, used pan my father had and you got the best pancakes I've ever had. Unfortunately all of the pans here were brand new, so they were not very weathered. I managed to cook a small pile of about 6 or 8 pancakes from the mix I made. Only a couple of them got screwed up in the pan went a flip went wrong. I piled them all up and poured a couple spoons of sugar over them. It was pretty nice. Some berries of some kind would have been nice though. Oh well, I've got time to be healthy later. Right now is pancake time.

And what a time it was.

I was washing the plate I had used when Ebony came out of the bedroom.

"Morning Dan." He said, rubbing an eye with his hoof.

"Morning Ebony, did I wake you?"

"Nah, I'm a heavy sleeper."

"Ha, yeah, I learnt that in the cave." We both sighed.

"So..." He said. "What do we do now? Should we tell them?"

I thought for a second. Then turned away from the clean plate, leaving it to dry. "I guess we should. Tell them, that is. I have nothing planned for today, so I'm all out of ideas."

"Yeah... it would be unfair not to tell them... want to go see if Chrome is up? We could start with him." He suggested.

"Good idea, he is unlikely to react at all. He's probably expecting something like this."

So that was that. I put on a cleaner set of clothes and left the others in a laundry basket. Palace staff is great. We both set off for Chrome's room. It was only a couple meters from our door, so it didn't take long for us to get there. But we were in no hurry. Ebony was walking a lot more confidently now, I think that trip to the bar really made him feel more welcome, but he was still getting scared looks.

I knocked on Chrome's door. "Oi Chrome? You up yet?"

I heard some very panicked sounding shuffling. There was a pause. "Er, come in!" Chrome said.

I opened the door to see Luna and Chrome sitting on opposite couches, in very generic sitting poses that were being too well-maintained to be legitimate. Me and Ebony walked in and I sat on an armchair, Ebony joined me, laying across my lap like a large cat.

"Did I... interrupt something?" They glanced at each other. I took note of the very warm air, but I couldn't smell anything, so it was probably fine. They were probably just cuddling or something.

"N-no, it's fine." Chrome said. He did have an air of disappointment about him, maybe he was about to get lucky.

"No, it's not. I can leave if you want to continue... whatever you were doing. But you have to realize not all of your shows of affection have to be private right? You two barely even touch each other when you're with anyone else."

"Well," Luna said. "You're here now. What do you need?"

I sighed and put a hand on Ebony's head, between his ears. "Me and Ebony..." They both leaned in expectant as I paused.

"We're together." Ebony finished for me. Not exactly the best way to put it, but it's the easiest way of saying it. Luna smiled and Chrome just stared.

Luna clopped her hoof together. "It's nice to see you two finally together. Not at it is not unexpected. I wish you two the best." She waited for a second, then turned to Chrome, confused. "Chromey?" Oh. My. God. CHROMEY.

Chrome shook his head violently. Before collecting himself. "Sorry, I j- I- I just wasn't expecting this."

There was a silence, I felt Ebony become tense. I asked the question he was dreading the answer to. "You guys aren't mad or anything right?"

"Of course not." They both said, Luna continued. "Who one chooses to spend their life with is up to them. No one else." Ebony relaxed and sank back down into me.

I sighed in shared relief. But Ebony answered before I could. "Thanks guys, I-" He nuzzled my side. "-We, appreciate it." They both just smiled humbly. I felt myself tearing up, Ebony said exactly what I was going to say. I pulled him up and hugged him, since he was facing the same way I was, the best he could do to return the gesture was put his hoofs over the arms that were round his chest. After a couple seconds I let him go. He craned his head upwards a full 120 degrees to look at me without turning around. I smiled at his large, upside-down, blue eyes. I poked his nose. His nose scrunched up and he shook his head slightly. I snorted a short laugh.

The other two in the room looked like they were about to cry. They were just watching us, smiling.

"Dan I've-" Chrome sniffed. "I've never seen you so... emotional."

He was right. I usually kept most emotions dulled down, due to embarrassment. Every so often when they are powerful enough the break through. But I tended to keep the little things a little hidden away, being the angst-y, edgy teenager I am. Meh, I'm not that bad.

I smiled. "Yeah... there is no point in hiding them now... Ebony can taste them whether I show them or not." The other two flinched slightly. They still find that really creepy.

I recomposed myself slightly. Regaining some seriousness. "So, what WERE you two doing when I knocked?" They both looked away from me and blushed simultaneously. My eyes widened. "Seriously? Guys, all you had to do was say! I would have left!" They didn't respond. "Or you could have put a little 'do not disturb' thing on the door." They both intensified their blushing. "Or you could have just not answered the door-"

"Okay, okay, we get Dan." Chrome said, clearly annoyed. It was cute. "Now, please just... go tell Celestia or Feather or something."

"About what?" I asked. "That me and Ebony are together? Or that you two were about to-"

"Get out, Get out, Get out, Get out!" He leaped from his seat and pushed both of us out the door and slammed it.

"Love ya' Chrome!" I yelled through the door. I heard an annoyed groan on the other side. I laughed and began walking to the throne room. Ebony was frozen for a couple seconds, but caught up.

"Never says that to me..." He mumbled a little to loudly.

I nudged him with a leg. Then picked him up into a quick hug. I whispered into his ear. "Love ya' Ebony." I put Ebony back down. He seriously looked like he was about to explode. You know how your body can convulse when you have some really nice food? Or your really exited? That's what he did. But when all of your limbs are holding you up, it looks a little weird. He managed to keep up though.

We got to the throne room doors, none of the guards either side of them even tried to stop me from getting to them, they knew the drill by now.

"Hey, You want a go Ebony? It's really satisfying." I said, gesturing to the doors.

"Dan, those are leg-proof."

"Yeah, and?"

He looked down at himself. "Dan, I have nothing but legs."

"...Use your head?" He gave me the blankest stare. "Fiiine, I'll do it." I backed up and shoulder-tackled the doors open. That was a lot less painful than PUNCHING them. Yeah... punching them wasn't my best idea. Ebony quickly sped into the room, as the doors bounced off the inside walls an began to close again. He made it in, but just barely. Celestia was at her throne, doing paperwork as usual. She managed not to drop them this time. She just sighed when the door closed.

Without looking up from the page. "What do you need Dan?"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, your in one of THOSE moods. I'll make it as quick as possible then." She didn't seem even the slightest bit interested. She was focused on the page, reading through it and making pen-marks every so often. "Me and Ebony are together now." She froze. "Well, that's all I wanted to say. So I'll just be on my waaay." I turned around and began walking back to the doors until Celestia popped into existence in front of me. I heard paper falling to the ground behind me.

"What do you mean 'together'?" She seemed worried by this for whatever reason.

"Er... you know? 'Partners'? 'Dating'?... 'Special someponies'?..."

Her eyes widened, then snapped her neck look over at Ebony, at my side. He leaped backwards slightly at her sudden movement.

"Celestia, if you have a problem with this-" I began, but she cut me off.

"I don't have a problem with this!" She said, all to quickly.

"Then what's all this?" I said, gesturing to her. She looked at herself. Her wings were flared and her horn was glowing. She quickly corrected herself, returned her composure and sighed. Then her horn glowed again, and she repeated the test for changeling magic. It enveloped me, then turned red again.

She sighed again. "Dan, I just want whats best for you, and..." She looked to Ebony. I stepped in front of him.

"Celestia what would you know about what's best for me?" She opened her mouth to answer, but I kept speaking. "You have known me for little over a month now, and for the majority of that time, 25 days in fact, we had no contact. So really, I have only been with you for a couple days. And now you claim to know what's best for me? Luna said it herself just now; 'Who one chooses to spend their life with is up to them. No one else'."

"But she does not know that you two are-"

"She said that after we told her, and Chrome."

"...She's with Chrome again?" She asked, narrowing her eyes ever so slightly.

"Yeah, and you are not going to get involved in that, or this. You can't control who people choose to be with, Celestia."

She sighed. Shes got some good lungs. "I just want what's best for my-"

"Celestia, they know- we know -whats best for us. I know you like to be protective. I know you like to see things go perfectly and relationships are almost never perfect. But sometimes you have to let people make their own decisions. Even if it leads to a mistake, they will learn from that mistake; more than they could learn from any victory. Just let them go Celestia, they are happy together, we are happy together..."

"Okay, okay... I'll try to tone it down a little..." She looked to us, but focused more on Ebony. "And Ebony..." He flinched but became more attentive. "...I'm happy for you. I am sorry. I wish you both the best."

Ebony just blinked. I could see he had no reply to that, so I had to make one. "Thank you Celestia." Changing the subject... "Hey, you wouldn't happen to know where Feather is would you?"

"Feather Flame?" She asked. I nodded. "No idea. I last saw her leaving the palace yesterday morning."

"Yeah... She said she had 'stuff to get done' and left."

Celestia's eyes narrowed in thought. "I can't help but feel something... wrong... about this."

Ebony put his hoof to his chin. "She is usually really careful, I thought it was strange for her to leave on such short notice, but I didn't make a scene about it because..."

"We were all hungover." I finished for him. Celestia hmm'd. "She's ex-military, she wouldn't just leave without somehow telling us where she was going. Maybe we should look for a note or something?"

Celestia looked to me. "Dan, this isn't a mystery novel. She may be ex-military, but that means she'd be even less likely to leave evidence. She wants to keep us safe and would never let us follow her anywhere dangerous. I know this because I have seen her work before Dan. She is very paranoid."

I groaned. "But we can't just let her... Well I don't know what she's doing, but she could be doing something really stupid. That maniac Forge is still out there, too." An idea occurred to me. "Maybe she's hunting him?"

"Unlikely, Luna told me about how she begged you for help. She is terrified of him."

"But what else could she be doing?"

We all thought for a couple seconds.

"We need more ponies on this." I said. "I'll go get Chrome and Luna. Luna's pretty smart-" Celestia snorted "-and Chrome knows Feather better than anyone. Anyway, Luna's a down-to-earth thinker. Unlike you, and most ponies."

She recoiled in mock-offence. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"You figure it out, cause I have no idea." I got to the door and opened it, I noticed Ebony following me. "No, Ebony, stay here. Help try and figure stuff out."

"Oh... okay." He said, walking back to his original position.

I close the door behind me, then opened it again and peeked my head through. "Oh yeah, and keep an eye on Sunbutt for me. She likes to wonder off sometimes." I could not see Celestia's face, but Ebony flinched at it. Celestia's entire body seemed to freeze. I laughed as I closed the door and walked to Chrome's room.

This walk was the first time I had been alone in a long time. It didn't last long, but it was nice. Peaceful.

I got to his door. Then made sure to scour the outside of it for 'do not disturb' signs. I don't want to walk in on anything. Now that I knew that they are inclined to do that kind of thing. I didn't see anything, so I knocked. I heard movement so I waited. I heard someone go to the other side of the door, a lock unlatched, That was not there before, and the door opened.

The smell of expensive shampoos assaulted almost every one of my senses. And there was Luna, a large pink towel draped over her whole body except for he neck upwards. Here hair... stuff... was contained in a towel wrap on her head. Her fur was soaking wet, but not enough to be dripping.

"Oh, hi." I said, not sure what to do. "We kinda need you two right now. Feather's kinda gone missing."

She gasped. "Let me get dry and I'll be right there." She backed into the room again, leaving the door open. So I followed her in. The bedroom door was shut, and Chrome was nowhere to be seen. Oh they didn't...

"What about Chrome? He knows Feather better than anyone."

Luna turned and looked at me. "Er... he's..." She glanced at the bedroom door nervously. "...Recovering..." Oh my god they did. In hindsight, she could have meant he was re-covering the bed, as in; replacing the covers. But I could tell by the look on her face she meant something different, plus they would likely have to replace the covers anyway in either scenario.

I blinked. "Jesus Christ what did you do?" She opened her mouth. "DON'T, TELL ME... please, don't tell me. I'll wait outside, come out when your dry." Without waiting for a reply I left the room and leaned by the door.

A couple minutes later Luna came out and shut the door behind her. Still no Chrome. She nodded to me and we started walking to the throne room. Having just washed herself, she looked slightly more fuzzy than usual.

"I guess you wouldn't want me to ask as to why you are having a shower at Lunch time? Hm?" I said, with a smug grin. As long as she does not tell me anything specific, I am fine with teasing her a little.

"Well I kind of had to because he-" OH FUCK, STOP, I DON'T WANT TO KNOW

"STOP right there. No more..." I sighed. "Luna, you don't tell people that kind of thing, okay?"

She blinked. Then seemed to come to a realization. "Oh... yes, sorry. I forgot ponies are a lot more... sensitive nowadays, to that kind of thing."

I turned back to the hallway ahead of us. "Yeah I bet Chrome was sensitive alright." I mumbled.

"What?"

"You said something."

"No I didn't. Your hearing things."

"I'm fairly certain you said something-"

"OH LOOK! We're here, gotta check that Celestia and Ebony haven't killed each other or something while I was gone." I said. We were a couple meters from the door.

"You left them alone with each other!?" She practically yelled as she started to run to the doors, grabbing me in her magic as she went.

We burst in through the doors, to find Celestia giggling at another Luna, who was doing rude gestures with her hooves. As soon as they noticed us they both froze. And so did the real Luna. I was dropped from her magical grasp probably due to shock.

"Oh, your back." Celestia said as she foolishly turned her back on the changeling, he immediately turned into Celestia. "I see you brought Luna, but where is Chrome?" Ebony mouthed Celestia's words as she said them, but with a tongue hanging out of his mouth and his eyes crossed.

Luna could barely contain herself, and I was similar. Celestia noticed this and turned around. Ebony turned back into Luna and looked away, pretending to be distracted by something. Celestia gave him a half-playful glare and he sighed, turning back into his normal changeling self. Celestia looked back to us and closed the doors behind us with her magic.

"Really, where is Chrome? Don't tell me he is missing too." Celestia said, slightly worried, but suspicious. Oh yeah, he's missing alright, missing his vir- I decided to stop that thought before it branched into images I didn't want to see.

"He is fine, sister, just... tired." Did I mention Luna was a really bad actor?

"...Why would he be tired? Its practically lunch time." Celestia said. Her look and tone only slightly incriminating.

Luna looked around the room nervously. "He's errrrrr..."

"He's ill." I said. Luna's eyes filled with new hope. She turned back to Celestia.

"Yes, He is ill and cannot get out of bed!" She said, extending a hoof to the sky in victory.

Celestia was not even close to buying it. But played along. "Oh? Should I send a team down there to treat him?"

"Nah," I said. "He's had enough treats for one da-" Luna punched my shoulder. I fell over and slid for a couple seconds on the marble floor before hitting the wall and stopping. Grasping my shoulder, I looked up. They were all staring at me. "What?"

"I didn't hit you THAT hard..." Luna said as I slowly got up.

"I think you di-" I listed my arm to point at her, but it stopped half way and a spike of pain hit on side of my body, I collapsed back to the floor.

***

A couple hours and a cast later, we all once stood in the throne room again. Chrome had arrived at some point too. I just stood there, with the most 'god dammit' face I could pull. Luna laughed nervously. "Sorry, Dan, guess I don't know my own strength."

"Or his weakness." Chrome said, smirking at me.

"Oh, yeah. You trying living in a cave for 25 days and not lose a bunch of weight and muscle." I said. He rolled his eyes. "Also, aren't you supposed to be ill?" I said. Luna nudged him and gave him a look.

"Er, er yes. I am ill, what are you talking about?" He then burst into a fit of completely fake coughs. He then turned to Luna and tried his best to reach her ear to whisper into is, but he was far to short, so had to whisper rather loudly "Why am I ill?"

I buried my head in my hand. "Guys, we don't have time for this. Feather is missing and could be in danger."

"What?!" Chrome jumped and turned mid air to face me.

I nodded. "You know her better than anyone here does, where do you reckon she would go? The last words she said before she left were..." I pulled out my journal, flipping through pages for a couple second. "Ah, here, they were 'Well... I have things that need doing today, so I've got to go. So err, bye guys.' Any ideas Chrome?"

"Are you sure she 'er'd." He said, deadly serious.

"Yeah, I would not have written it if I didn't think so at the time."

"Then she is doing something she does not want us to know about. That probably means is dangerous. And if I know her, which I do, whenever she leaves to do something she might not return from, she always leaves a note, in case she... doesn't come back."

"See! I told you!" I said, turning to Celestia and pointing at her.

She rolled her eyes. "I guess we should search wherever she stayed the night before she left."

"Wait..." Chrome said. "That was my room!"

"Well then," Luna headed for the door, "Let us search the room!" She walked out.

Chrome looked very worried, then ran after her. Everyone else stayed put. Leaving me, Ebony and Celestia in the throne room.

"...I'm guessing you two know exactly what went down in that room right?" I asked the two remaining ponies.

Celestia nodded while Ebony said "No?"

"Yeah, let's keep it that way. I think we should let those two search on their own." Ebony seemed disappointed, Celestia still looked rather serious. Probably mad at her sister for whatever she did to Chrome this morning. We still didn't know for sure. But I was planning on asking Chrome when he had a minute.

We made awkward small-talk for a while until they came back. Luna was carrying an envelope with her magic and Chrome was carrying a piece of paper that looked similar to the paper Celestia had made to contact me while I was in the cave.

Luna explained the contents of the envelope.

"Inside here, is a letter-" She announed.

"No really?" I said sarcastically.

"Shut it Dan."

"Woah, okay jeez."

"Inside here is a letter. It details the route she is taking. From the route, I can deduce she is going into the wastes. It also says she may be gone for a day or two, though it does say to contact her through the com-scroll."

"Com-scroll?" I asked.

"One of those." She said, pointing at the letter in Chrome's mouth. "I believe you still have the one that Celestia gave you?"

"Yep, still tucked in my journal somewhere."

"The letter says to activate the com-scroll as soon as we find it. But I do not know the spell. Sister, if you would be so kind." She magic'd the 'comscroll' over to Celestia, who took it in her own magic.

Celestia seemed to concentrate for a second then the black void began to flicker. "It will take a couple seconds, gather 'round." We all huddled around the scroll, trying to look at the screen, it reminded me of when we had to watch a VHS during a class in secondary school. The sounds of wind and sand filled the area as the black slowly faded away, revealing a shot of the sky. It was completely clear, no clouds whatsoever. A wisp of sand would blow over every so often. There was no ground visible on the screen.

"Feather? Feather Flame?" Celestia asked after about a minute of no movement or distinguishable sound. There was no response.

Celestia's magic faded and the black void returned. I caught the letter as it fell with my one good arm.

"So..." Chrome said. "She made it to the wastes... but lost the letter?"

"Yes." Luna replied. "Or worse. We must dispatch a team at once." She said, looking to her sister. Celestia nodded and her horn lit, she closed her eyes and remained still for almost a full minute.

"A team has been briefed and are on their way there. They will be there by tomorrow night. They will be taking a com-scroll with them, so we can talk to Feather Flame if and when they find her. It will also allow us to give some form of guidance, in case they come across evidence they do not understand, which maybe would make sense to us but not them." She turned and saw I had the letter in my hand from where I had caught it. "Keep an eye on that for me Dan, I have told them to keep an eye out for abandoned com-scrolls."

"No problem." I rolled up the paper, then folded it and shoved it in my journal. "I will look at it whenever I am bored, which is often here."

There was a strange silence. "We have done all we can." Ebony said. "Now what?" Everyone looked around.

"Now is when we wait, and pray that she is unharmed." Luna said, leaving the room, we all followed, but headed our separate ways once we got through the doors, of course Ebony followed me. We both got some food from the cafeteria downstairs. And by that, I mean I ate some food down there, then hugged him for a while as I walked back to our room.

"You don't need to do that anymore, you know?" He said as I put him down inside the room.

"Do what? carry you?"

"No, 'feed' me. I can just take it when I need it. Because it's always there."

"Oh, how cute." I said sarcastically.

"It... is actually. Though I have to admit, it's a bit better when it's given willingly."

"Hm, maybe I will only treat you to that when you are behaving well."

He snorted. "You heading to bed yet? Cause I am." He stood, half way through the bedroom door. It was a little early, but I was actually a little tired myself.

"Yeah, soon." I responded. "I'm just going to watch this 'com-scroll' for a while. The wind is nice and relaxing."

"Doesn't it need a spell to work, though?"

"...Oh yeah... Wait she wouldn't give it to me if it didn't work on it's own. Maybe that spell was just an activation thing."

He yawned. "I don't know, you figure it out, I'm to tired to be thinking about this stuff. 'night."

"'Night" I said as he closed the bedroom door.

Okay, lets see if this thing works. I took it out of the journal and laid in down flat on the table. Just a black box. I stared at it for a bit and nothing happened. I sat there and thought thoughts at it. Ones like 'activate letter' 'open screen' 'screen work' 'open letter' 'show recipient'. None of them worked. I had spend about 10 minutes just staring at a blank page. God dammit Celestia, giving me a thing that doesn't even work. I thudded the table slightly with my good arm. The screen lit up. I blinked, and looked down to where my hand had hit. I had touched the screen. That's all it took? Meh, okay.

I pulled out a chair and sat, tilting up the page slightly to get a better look. The sky was an amazing amber, the sun was setting. There were large clouds on one side of the screen. A storm? In the desert? That can't be good. I watched the clouds slowly cover more of the sky. Then the wind picked up. Wait, if the wind gets hard enough, it'll move the paper. That was both bad and good, but there was nothing I could do about the storm, so I just watched.

After the corners of the paper flicked up a little, the paper eventually took off in the wind, spinning so fast I could barely make out anything other than the blurred sun rushing past every couple rotations. The page only landed on the ground and stayed there after about 20 minutes, during that time all the paper had done was rapidly spin and hit the ground every so often before taking off again. Unfortunately it was face-down when it finally settled, so all I could see was some very shadow-y sand. Another 5 minutes like that and the storm had passed, silence reined apart from the distant lightning.

I heard sand shifting. In steady intervals. Footsteps. I intently watched the screen for any movement. The steps got louder, then began fading again, I slumped in my chair.

"Dammit, so close." I said, quietly, as not to wake anyone.

The footsteps stopped and I froze. I had forgotten that sound goes through those things. The footsteps slowly approached again. So close in fact that the sand I could see moved with the last step.

"Hey, hey is anyone there?" I asked.

The female gasped. I didn't recognize her voice. "That's it, I've finally gone insane." She mumbled.

I blinked. "Dude, this is a com-scroll. Turn over the page."

"Okay, I guess. Talking paper." The page flipped over. Revealing a pegasus mare, her hair and fur were matted with sand and dirt, her eyes and mouth were dry. She gasped when she saw me, then let out a couple dry coughs. "What- what are you?!"

I sighed. "I'm a human. I'm in Canterlot, you heard of that place?"

"Yes! Of course I have! I was trained there! Can you guide me back?" She said with hopeful eyes.

"Sorry, I can't. But... You were trained? What for?"

"That's confidential." Her gaze hardened slightly.

"Hm, let me check something... Wait, what is your name?"

"...Dawn Skies."

I rapidly pulled out and flicked though my journal and found Feather's story. 'Dawn Skies, a stunning contrast from Forge, she was a light-looking pegasus, a light pink coloration'

"Okay, Dawn, I need you to wash off some of that sand." I had no idea what color she was, she was so dirty.

"Why? Anyway, what's the point? I'll just get dirty again." She said, shrugging.

"Please, I need you to do this."

She sighed. "Fine." She rubbed a hoof against her chest for a couple seconds, revealing a dirty shade of pink.

I stood up, shocked. "You're Dawn Skies."

"...Yes, I just told you. That's my name."

"You were with... errr" I flipped through the journal. "Lance Corporal Feather Flame-"

"Feather?! You know her?! Is she okay?! Where is she?!" She practically yelled.

"Woah, woah. I need you to keep calm, okay?" She nodded. "Yes, I do know her. She is doing fine, she was recovered from the site of the explosion 15 years ago and recovered here in Canterlot. As to where she is... We don't know."

"What do you mean?"

"She set out for the wastes yesterday morning and has not returned. This com-scroll is one she took with her, when we attempted to contact her with it we found it in the middle of the desert with no one nearby. A storm moved the scroll, and here it landed."

"She's here?! In the wastes?!"

I nodded. "As far as we know. Don't worry, we have a team on it's way as we speak. Just stay somewhere safe, I can talk to Celestia, she can alert the team to your position, if you are near a landmark."

"I have been living next to an oasis I found a couple months after the explosion... Damn bug... Who else got out?"

"Tornado was also recovered from the scene. But she was... killed a couple weeks ago. We reckon it was Forge, so he made it out somehow too."

"Forge... He is the one who saved us, he said he dragged us away from the explosion."

"That would explain why the medical team never found the rest of you..."

"Then he left without a word. I have not seen him in years... or at least I think its been years... 15 years you says it's been?" I nodded. "Hm... then... Psycho died about... 5 years ago."

"Psycho? Who's that?"

"Is that the Lance's diary there you have?"

"Basically."

"He was an earth pony, brown, completely insane. Anything like that mentioned?"

"Let me check..." I looked back to the story again. "Hows 'a dark tan color and honestly scared me a bit. He had no feeling. No emotion. Other than utter joy. And that feeling only exposed itself when he was tearing through his enemies'. That him?"

"Yep. That's him."

"Okay, Dawn. Just hang tight okay?"

"Nothing else I can do." She said, shrugging.

"Okay, just don't lose this scroll, okay? I'm going to get Celestia."

She nodded at me. "Thank you."

And with that, I picked up the scroll from the table and bolted for the throne room.

Now, I'm not very athletic, and having an arm in a cast doesn't help mobility much; I was breaking a sweat not half way there, and it's not that far. Note to self - regain muscle lost in cave. The halls were all rather dim. A strange sight, this had been my first time around the palace at night. The usual joyous atmosphere faded with the light. The large stained glass panels cast in a alien light, casting blue-ish hues about the halls. But with night comes the cool, still air. This is probably the only thing that kept me from collapsing from my sudden burst of movement.

I got to the throne room doors, the usual day-guards were replaced by the slightly more menacing, and slightly cuter night-guards. I always thought their armor was cool, it's even better in person. I tackled the doors with my good shoulder.

Empty. The throne room was completely vacant. I stood there for a second, catching my breath and wondering where they could be.

"Looking for something? If you want a glass of milk before bed, the kitchens that way." The larger of the two guards said. He was not happy. At all. His armor was different to that of the other guard, probably because of his barrel-like figure. A huge mass of muscle where his chest should have been, but I was still taller than him, so he was not to intimidating. But compared to the other ponies...

"Yes, I'm looking for the two big ones?" He blinked. "About yey-high, ones a white racist that spies on people and the other is blue and turns to stone when you flirt with her." The hulking figure in front of me was completely frozen.

"You must be the insubordinate hero?" I turned and saw the smaller of the two guards indicating to me with a hoof. I nodded. "Ah, well, that explains your... wording." He shot an annoyed look at the large one. "It's okay Brute, put down that spear. He's allowed." I turned to look and found a spear inches from my face.

'Brute' just huffed and the spear dropped.

"Sorry about him. He's new." He said as Brute re-assumed guarding position.

"Nah, it's fine. Now, could you show me where to find them?"

"Yes, I can." He began walking. I followed. "But I must warn you, they are both sleeping. Princess Luna's sleep pattern has been rather... sporadic as of late."

"Yes, it has... Probably due to a mix of me and Chrome."

"Chrome, Sir?"

"Her boyf- Special somepony." He stopped suddenly, causing me to walk into him, he had to throw out a hoof to catch himself. "He's a friend of mine." I said, as if nothing had happened. "Now, could you please get going? This is rather urgent."

He shook himself. "Y-yes sir!" He began to walk at a more brisk pace. I easily, but a little breathlessly, kept up.

After a couple seconds he turned around to look at me, he continued waking despite not looking where he was going. "What is the situation?"

I took a deep breath... "Oh, just that a war-veteran has gone missing and she is now in the wastes somewhere and we don't know where, so we searched her room and found a com-scroll that showed us nothing but the sky, but after a storm swept up the page it blew into the hoofs of a pony that has been surviving in the wastes for fifteen years and just so happens to have worked with the missing war vet fifteen years ago. She is in need of rescue and there is a team heading to the wastes right now, they need to know she's there." I gasped in the cool air, my chest was now stinging slightly. Damn I AM unfit. The cave probably filled my lungs with dust or something...

The guard took a second to take all the infomation in. He turned back to where he was going, narrowly missing another guard doing the same thing. But this particular guard however had a much more interesting guest. As we passed in the hall I shot a small hand gesture his way, the kind you use to say 'hi' to people you've known for a long time. You know, the subtle hand-lift thing that can't decide if it's a salute or a wave? Well, I used that one, k?

"Sup Discord."

"Sup."

"You doing okay?"

"Yeah."

And that was it. He was behind me by the time he answered me. Neither of us bothered to slow down and extend the conversation. Seemed we both had places to go tonight.

Me and the guard turned a corner in the halls. "You know him?" The guard said, not looking back at me, but still sounding rather shocked.

"No." I said matter-of-factly.

"Oh." There was a gloriously one-sided awkwardness that filled the long silence that followed.

We eventually reached a split in the hallway, one direction was decorated with suns, and the other; moons. At the end of each of the branching hallways was a doorless archway, both led to spiral stair cases.

"These lead to their personal quarters, where they are resting. I'm sure you can figure out who's is who's. I will let you decide which you want to go to first. After you've chosen, I will return to my post."

I looked both ways mutilple times. "Uhg, I never was good at RPG's... I'll just go to Celestia, Luna's sleep schedule is screwed as it is. Plus, Celestia's composure is fun to break, and I'm sure now is when it'll be at its weakest." The guard just stared at me as I walked down the slightly brighter hallway and up the stairs.

God, these stairs seem to go on forever. They stopped. So I guess... nothing is what it seems, sometimes. Stair philosophy, metaphor... foreshadowing?! I hope not, if there is anything this world needs less of, it's tropes and cliches.

At the top of the stairs there was a door. A very nice door. A very decorated, expensive door. Too bad it was guarded by something that distracted me, or I would have kicked it in. Just to see Celestia's reaction.

"Halt." The large, griffin guard squawked deeply. He was covered in day-guard armor re-fashioned to fit the griffin, but his feathers were a deep brown, with dark-purple tips on his wings. A stunning contrast to his reflective armor. He wore a hat that practically radiated 'High ranking' vibes at me. "What is your business here?"

"I'm here to see Celestia. It is urgent." He showed no sign of movement. "You look awesome by the way. First griffin I've ever seen." His stoic features remained unmoved. "Come on dude, I really need to see her."

"State your business. So far you have done nothing but tell me what I already know."

"Nice to see you know you look awesome. I'm here because I have information the squad heading to the wastes needs to know, lest a pony goes un-rescued. Potentially." His face shifted slightly, so I knew I had bagged my way in. Due to this, I asked "What's your name? I bet it's something awesome like... Steel-beak Steve."

He gave me a flat stare. "Rosewood."

I returned the stare. "...I prefer Steve."

"You call me that and I will deny you access."

I had to. "Look, Steve. I told you want you want to know, can I go in now?"

He huffed. "No."

I put my hands in a submissive pose, "Sorry mate, Insubordinate Hero. Can't touch me."

His eyes narrowed. "You take a step in this direction and I'll snap you in half."

"Dude, I have like... the same authority as a guard captain."

"I don't work off of authority." His claws scraped against the marble flooring.

"Then what DO you work off of?" I asked, slightly annoyed but still plenty amused. His predatory eyes just narrowed.

I am not waiting till morning to tell Celestia about this. I need to get through this guy. "I am talking to Celestia. Now." I said, in the sternest voice I could muster. I might have been one and a half times his height, but those talons looked like they could slice me open with one swish. "Whether you 'allow' me to or not." I fell into what I thought was a defensive fighting stance.

His wings flared slightly and his feathers raised. His beak grind-ed. "You cannot enter. Try; and face the consequences." His claws spread out across the flooring, leaving a spider-web of scratches.

"Fine." I said. I had no chance against this guy, but I had to try something. He would not just out-right kill me right?

I approached him slowly. I feigned an upper-cut at his chin, he deftly dodged the cancelled attack by moving his head back and down slightly. I took that moment to lift my right leg, My knee connecting with his jaw and my foot hitting the base of his chest. All that seemed to do was shock him for a split second and knock him back a little bit. I instantly backed up once I had made my hit. Since it left me in a vulnerable position.

He didn't move. Looked down at the floor and rubbed his beak. Then looked up at me, somehow smiling with his beak. His smile was scary but warm, his eyes were narrowed. He had the air of a proud father. "You may enter." He said, standing aside and waving a hand to the door.

"What?"

"I don't work off of authority. I work off of courage and determination. You have shown your worth, enter." He seemed to become a little impatient.

"Aw, thanks Steve." I said as I walked past him. I was about to open the door when a thought occurred to me. "Wait, you eat meat right?"

He sighed, clearly not wanting to talk for much longer. "Yes. Why." It was not a question, just a statement to make me spill the beans quicker.

"I need some, like, soon." His eyes widened in surprise. "I have not had any protein in over a month. I am getting dangerously thin and my muscles are practically dissolving."

A smile spread across his face. "I can have something arranged. Dan right?"

"Yep, that's me. Thanks dude, I really need it."

He nodded understandingly and gestured me inside. "I'll have a meal sent to your room by morning, now get going."

"Thanks." I said as I pushed the door half open. Then stopped, and slowly shut it again. "Wait. This is Celestia's room right?"

"...Yes."

"I really should knock first..."

"You should." He said.

I smirked at him. His eyes widened slightly. I pushed open the door half way and slipped in, not taking my eyes off of him. He moved to stop me, but I shut the door on him.

I turned silently and looked into the moon-lit room. There was a slightly ajar window, allowing thin curtains to blow in a slight breeze. The window created a spot-light of moon-light. Falling perfectly on Celestia. I stood there and took in the scene for a split second, before a realized something:

This was really creepy.

I was being really goddamn creepy.

It was strange, seeing her like that. Vulnerable. But she probably had enchanted sheets or something. I'm sure she would have a guard inside her room if she didn't have some way of defending herself while asleep.

That in mind, I carefully made my way over to her. Making sure my feet rolled my weight onto the floor gently, as not to make to much noise. Eventually, I was practically standing over her, I made sure not to block the moonlight hitting her face though, that could wake her up.

I reached out and poked her nose. I quickly retracted my hand. She didn't even stir. This is going to be harder than I thought. How do you wake someone up without them freaking out?

I opened the com-scroll. I heard the sound of waking water and steady breathing.

I whispered, practically pressing my face up against the page. "Dawn? Dawn? You there?"

The page shifted and she came into view, I could see a very lush tree behind her, she have been at that oasis she said about. "Ye-"

"Shh!" I said, silencing her. "Celestia's asleep and I don't know how to wake her."

She whispered back. "Just... make a loud noise or something."

"What if she freaks out though? Magic is scary dude."

"Well... you have to do it somehow..." She said in a slightly desperate tone.

"Hmmm, you're right. This is a rare opportunity. Gotta make the most of it. Wait there." I said as I placed the com-scroll on the top of a chest of drawers.

I stepped back from the bed slightly. Took a deep breath, and prepared myself for the court-room.

I clapped my hand together loudly. "WAKEY-WAKEY SUNBUTT! I DID THAT THING YOU WANTED ME TO DO!" Celestia's head shot up and the room burst into light. Celestia stared around the room until she found me. Her face instantly turned to 'I'm not dealing with this right now' and she fell back into her pillow.

"What. Do you want. Dan."

"You know how Feather left with four others on the day of the expolsion?" I said in a deliberately chipper voice. Just to annoy her.

She groaned. "Yes. Dan, I know that. What about it."

"A storm whipped up Feather's com-scroll, and guess who found it!" Celestia sat up lazily. To see me presenting the pony on the scroll to her.

"Hi Princess." Dawn said. "Been a while huh?" Celestia's mouth hung open and her wings went limp at her sides.

Her eyes turned wet. "Dawn skies?! That isn't you?!" She ripped the page from my hands and pulled it up to her using her magic.

"The one and only, Princess. Still going strong." Dawn's voice choked the last couple words.

"Dawn, I thought you were... Dawn, I went to your funeral!" Celestia was practically bawling. I decided to stay away from those two. I quietly made my exit as they emotionally backfired at each other. Steve greeted me on the other side. I closed the door before he could hear anything.

"It not go so well, 'ey?" He asked.

"Actually it went better than expected. I just... need to give her some space."

He tilted his head. "Why does she need space? What did you do?"

"I think I just re-united a couple of friends."

"Pheh, ponies." He said, returning to his 'guarding' pose.

"I'd be with you on that one dude, if it weren't for the fact that one of the ponies in question had been presumed dead for over 15 years. Celestia mentioned going to her 'funeral'."

Steve's eyes widened. "What is this pony's name? Where is she? Is she okay?" He let out rapidly, moving in my direction.

I backed away from the advancing griffin. "Dawn sk-"

"DAWN SKIES!?!?" His wings lifted and he burst through the doors, leaving a couple feathers behind.

I decided to let those two/three have their moment. So I waited outside the door. I was out there for a pretty long time, I eventually sat myself, propped-up by the wall, next to the door. I was idly playing with one of Steve's lost feathers when they both came through the door. I stood up. Celestia had the com-scroll rolled up and in her magic.

I raised my eyebrows at the two. "You guys fini-" I was pulled into the strangest, tightest hug I think I've every had.

They both spewed hundreds of different 'thank you' terms over my shoulders. Steve had to be on his hind-legs just to reach. And seeing him rear up like that was actually rather terrifying before I realized what he was doing. Eventually Celestia relented, but Steve didn't.

"Thank you Dan! So much!" He continued.

"Er... your welcome?" I patted him on the back awkwardly. Or in his case HAWKwa- okay, no, even I won't stoop that low.

"It'ud been fifteen years since I last saw my little sugar-plumb." He said, finally pulling out of the hug. "If there is anything I can ever do for you just call okay?"

I blinked. "... Sugar-plumb?"

The griffin blanched and looked to Celestia, who sighed. "They were engaged Dan. That was supposed to be her last mission."

I stayed silent for a couple seconds. Steve took a step back from me, he looked rather uneasy. When I noticed this I snapped out of my thoughts.

"Dude, it's okay. If anyone is accepting of cross-species relationships; it's the guy who's in one." I said gesturing to myself. He sighed in relief.

"Thank you Dan, you have done us both a great service... who's the lucky mare then?" He asked, very interested.

"Mare?"

"...It's a griffin?" He asked, his eyes filling with excitement.

"No dude, as I said, you're the first one I've ever met."

"...Oh yeah..." he drooped slightly in disappointment. "What is she then?"

"A changeling" I said shrugging.

"Wait... I thought female changelings were called mares?"

"Yeah, I think they are."

"Then why did you..." It clicked in his head. His eyes widened.

I rolled my eyes. "Come on dude, don't tell me you have a-"

"No, no. It's fine. really. Just... surprising. I will admit to have dabbled in that field myself once or twice, but it never stuck." He said, shrugging.

"Aahh Steve." I put an arm over the back of his neck as we started walking down the stairs. "You and me pal, you and me, we're gonna get along juuust fine."

Celestia caught up to us. "You think we should tell Luna?"

I furrowed my brow. "Why are you asking me?"

She paused. "I... I'll go tell Luna." Without waiting for a response, she teleported out of the stair-well. Probably terrifying either Luna's guards or Luna herself.

We continued walking down the spiraling stairs.

"What was that about?" Steve asked. Doing a very avian head-tilt. "I've never seen her act like that."

I sighed. "She's finally giving control. And she doesn't like it." I turned to him. "Hey, you want to meet him?"

"The changeling?" He asked with hopeful eyes.

"Yeah."

"Of course!" His face turned confused and thoughtful "But I thought they were wiped out at that wedding."

"Nah, that was just one hive dude. There is probably plenty more. But this guys's hive was killed-off by something years ago, so he's been here ever since."

"Wait, so... he's been here for years?"

"Yeah, right under your... beak, too." I flicked the end of his beak, it made an amusing hollow sound. "I'll let him explain."

"Hm, okay. What's his name, they do have names right?"

"No, they don't. But he goes by the name of the pony he had been disguised as. A pony that never really existed, Ebony Towers."

"...That name sounds familiar..." He said, his gaze turning thoughtful.

"You'll find out why once he explains his story."

"If you say so..."

Author's Note

Updated: 08/11/15
-Put a hat on Steve (totally super important)
-Fixed grammar
-Fixed a formatting issue
-Corrected other little mistakes I missed

These chapters just keep getting longer. I am not okay with this. I want to keep them nearer to 4000.

Also, my favorite character got introduced! Steve!
This was one of the most improvised chapters I have written. It was a while ago when I wrote this, but I remember it being quite fun.
One or two more chapters coming later today, hopefully.

Chapter 15: Meals and Shields

"You were a guard?!" Steve exclaimed.

We were sitting on the couch in me and Ebony's room. Me and Eb sat together, while Steve sat on my other side, slightly less close. But still very close. He was a rather touchy guy, considering he's a griffin. He says it's because he's spent too much time 'round ponies.

"Yep, and it was going so well. Wasn't it?" I asked sarcastically.

"...In a way, yes. But now..." He nuzzled my side. "Now it's better."

I noticed something about Steve just then, it was very subtle, but it was there. Ebony was also staring at Steve, as if he had grown another head.

"Erm, Guys? What're you staring at?" Steve asked, pulling his head back slightly.

"You tried to hide it." I said. "But that little pang of your eye and mouth muscles let it out." He had twitched in a very tell-tale way.

"What?" He asked. Confused.

"You think he's cute, don't you Steve?"

He lifted a talon and raised a digit. "One, stop calling me that."

"No."

He raised another. "Two, yes. I think he's cute."

I think Ebony exploded on the inside a little, it was probably the first compliment he had gotten from someone other than me.

Steve continued, "Why were YOU staring at me?" Indicating to Ebony with a finger.

Ebony leaned over me and put his mouth to where I guess Steve's ear is. "I could taste it." He whispered. Purposely making it creepy.

Ha, he's dealing with things the way I do; embrace it. Obviously there are some scenarios where this does not work, but it really helps deal with stress I find; To act as if nothing is happening when the world is collapsing, so to speak. It helps keep a calm mind, though stops you from being very productive. Maybe I should talk to Ebony later, about this stress, if this is what he was doing. He doesn't have anything to stress about other than Celestia, and they were having fun with each other not that long ago, when I left them in the throne room with her.

Maybe Ebony was just tired then. I mean I had woken him up in the middle of the night to introduce Steve to him.

The rest of the meeting went well, but we all decided to head to bed eventually. Steve left, to either head to bed himself, or to get back to his guard duty. Everyone has to sleep, even the guy who just got told his long dead fiance is still alive and living in one of the most dangerous places in the country.

He seemed to draw confidence from me and Ebony, he was constantly pointing out similarities between Me and Eb, and him and Dawn, when they were together. Can't wait to re-unite those two, I have not seen them together yet, but I could tell just by how much Steve cared, that their relationship was something big.

"Welp, I'm going back to sleep. See you Dan." Ebony said as he trudged back into the bedroom.

"Nah, I'll join you." I said as I looked to the clock. "It's way too late for me to do anything fun." Except you - I almost added, but I didn't want to have that conversation yet. Perhaps even ever. I found him cute, not attractive. Nothing here was 'attractive' really. But I'm sure my mind will adapt, hopefully I don't end up regretting my relationship choices when it does...

We both got into bed, but remained on our sides of it.

After a couple minutes Ebony spoke up, making me jump slightly. "What did you mean the other day?"

"What? Your going to have to be more specific there, buddy. There are a lot of 'other days'."

Ebony looked to me. His eyes glowing slightly in the darkness. "You said we could not search Chrome's room, and to leave it to Chrome and Luna. Why?"

"Oh... er..." I stuttered. Ebony cocked his head slightly. "I'm pretty sure they er..." I bumped my hands together in a half-suggestive fashion. The lights were off and the room was pitch-black aside from the dull blue light coming from his eyes. But changelings probably have some form of night-vision, so I'm rather sure he saw the gesture.

His eyes widened, then his features became contemplative. "I DID taste something odd while passing their door... but it was so subtle I payed it no mind..." He looked back up to me. "You really think... they did?"

"Well... I think we interrupted a rather intimate moment earlier that day, they both refused to say what they were doing, or more likely, about to do. When I came by later, Luna was washing herself and Chrome was out-of-action for a rather long time. I'm not sure exactly what they did, but from the evidence I have, I'm pretty sure at least Chrome had a good time, but I don't know for sure if Luna was on the receiving end of anything... but she WAS having a shower in the middle of the day; so SOMETHING happened, but I can't know for sure, I don't know any of the 'rituals' or whatever the ponies might have, so you probably know better than I do. I'm planning on asking Chrome at some point, though."

Ebony stared at me strangely. "Is that... envy I taste?"

"Yeah..." He pulled his head back and stared at me. "Not because he has Luna! He can keep her." Ebony relaxed slightly. "It's because he got..." Ebony blinked. "Never mind." I rolled over and tried my best to get to sleep.

I'm fairly certain that Ebony stared at me for a while, but he didn't pry. He eventually did the same as I.

***

There was a knocking at our bedroom door. I turned to Ebony, to find him gone. I groaned, got up and put on the cleaner of the two sets of clothes, though I had worn both for a couple days each now. There was a familiar smell in the air, I could not recognize it, but it was very welcome.

I got to the door and opened it. I blinked heavily and rubbed my eyes. When I lifted my head, I found Chrome. Steve was in the kitchen, Luna was on the couch and Ebony was sitting next to her. The other couch was vacant. They were making small-talk. Good to see he's getting more comfortable... but... it's like... 9am. Das too early.

"Ebony! I said no parties." He rolled his eyes and Luna giggled. I turned to look back down to Chrome. "Why are you here."

He seemed put off by the directness of the question. "We heard what you did last night, me and Luna wanted to congratulate you."

I blinked. Oh yeah, Dawn. "Oh, okay." I turned to Steve. "OI, Steve!" His head poked up from behind the counter, he wasn't in his armor anymore, but his official-looking hat was still perched upon his head, slightly askew. "What are you doing here?"

He turned back to whatever he was doing in the kitchen, but responded "I told you that I could get a meal ready for you today. But I decided to make it a double."

"Oh, that's what that smell is. No wonder I woke up so fast." The ponies gave each other strange glances. I looked around the room, at their confused looks.

Steve chuckled, "They can't smell it, Dan."

"Oh cool, I thought that was going to be a problem." I looked down to Chrome, who was still standing in the doorway.

He looked up at me, confused. "Why did you call Rosewood 'st-ee-v'?"

"Why are YOU still in my way?" I said, crossing my arms.

He quickly moved out of my way. I walked over and sat on the empty couch opposite the one being used by Eb and Luna.

"How long till your done Steve?" I asked across the room. Chrome sat on the other side of Luna from Ebony.

"Is about done now actually. You got good timin'." I heard the oven open and he placed a tray on the side of the kitchen. It was full of meat, some of which I recognized the look of. Some, I didn't. The ponies all blanched. Steve pulled out a pair of plates, then stopped half way. "Any o' you ponies want some?"

Chrome and Luna both shook there head violently. Ebony shrugged, "Sure, why not." They all stared at him. I was not that surprised.

Steve pointed at him. "Good man." He picked up a third plate and added it to the pile. He filled the three plates with the assorted meats, each kind falling into a neat pile on its own part of the plate. He walked out from the kitchen with a plate balanced on each wing, and one in his beak. He used his wings to deftly slide the plates to me and Ebony, mine was a lot more loaded than Ebony's. Steve sat next to me and pulled the plate out of his mouth and set in one hand, using the other to lightly pick at the food. The ponies were still staring at us, Ebony was getting the brunt of it. I inspected my meal.

"I was not aware that changelings could eat meat." Luna said. Hiding her slight disgust very well.

Ebony shrugged. "We can, it's just not as-good-a source of energy for us when compared to love. So it's more of an emergency thing." He leaned down and delicately picked up a sliver of dark meat in his teeth. The ponies watched in interest and morbid curiosity as he ate.

"Give the guy a break." I said, using my good arm to pick up a slice of what I thought was beef, or something. "Ya'll just wimps for not trying." Luna rolled her eyes while Chrome's eyes narrowed. He took it as a challenge.

I took a bite from the meat in my hand. It was pretty dry, and not too tender. So it was a pretty clean meal considering I was using my hands. My first reaction when I chewed was 'this is not beef'. But then I realized it was pork. So it was fine. I never was good with food. I decided, after that, I would ask Steve.

"Hey, Steve. What are these?" I gestured to the plate. He looked a little offended. "No, the- What animal did they come from." He gave an understanding nod.

He pointed around my plate. Listing the meats. "Cow, chicken, pig, rabbit, turkey, duck..." His sharp finger lingered over a certain pile of meat. "Pony." He said, staring that the two across from us, and I thought they looked terrified BEFORE he said that. Their mouths dropped open. "What? They allow it." He said, returning to his own plate and taking a bite of the meat in question.

Chrome looked a lot less confident now, but still looked challenged. Luna looked between Chrome and the pile of meat.

I was happily digging in now that I knew what they were. But I avoided the middle pile, I was saving that meat for last, in case it was terrible and I threw up or something, that would ruin the rest of the meal for me. I had never had rabbit or duck, but I had heard they were pretty good. They were alright I guess, nothing to write home about. Not that I could do that anymore.

Chrome lifted a hoof tentatively. "Can I- I would like some." Luna rolled her eyes at him in a typical woman kind of way, and Steve looked up from his meal with a legitimately scary smile.

"Which kind?" Steve asked holding out his plate.

"W-which is best?"

Steve picked up a slice of pony and held it towards Chrome. He blinked, recoiled and looked to Luna for support.

Luna used her magic to snag the slice of meat, splitting it on two in mid-air. "If you're having some, I am too." The look of fear on Chrome's face was priceless, he saw me smiling at him and sighed, nodding. Luna placed one half of the meat in front of her, and the other in front of Chrome, who flinched slightly.

The look of pure joy on Steve's face was really quite scary. "On the count of three." He said.

"One. Two." Chrome gulped. "Three!" Luna and Chrome both took bites simultaneously, Chrome chewed once. Then he froze. His eyes widened. He sat there for a second, then ran to the bathroom, locking the door behind him.

Luna just shrugged, chewing almost happily. "It's not good, but I've had much worse."

Steve laughed. "'Least you stomached it better than 'im!" He said, pointing to the bathroom door. It had opened and Chrome was wiping his tongue with a hoof. He looked at Luna, just in time to see her finish her mouthful. He stared in disbelief. He sighed after a couple seconds and resumed his place next to Luna, defeated. Everyone but Chrome laughed at his antics.

Ebony stood and put his only half-finished plate in front of Steve. "Full already Ebs?" He flinched at the nickname Steve had given him.

"Yeah, small stomachs, we changelings." He said sluggishly as he practically collapsed on the couch next to Luna.

"Well, more for me." Steve said, happily finishing off Ebony's plate. He looked to mine. "You eating that? I see you left the best for last." I had eaten all of the meat, except for the pony.

"Yeah, it'll be my first time, so I left it, as not to ruin the rest of the meal in case I really don't like it."

"Well? Ya' finished everything else. Go ahead!" Everyone around me watched in anticipation.

I picked up the cleanest-looking slice of pony and smelt it. It was an unfamiliar smell, but slightly pleasant in that way meats are. I shrugged and took a bite.

There was a flash of light. Everyone let out startled yells as Celestia appeared between the two couches. A look of rage, shock and confusion on her face.

She looked to the meat in my hand. Then to the plate. Then the Steve. Then back to the plate. Then looked to me. And sighed.

"So, you okay there?" I asked, the meat had fell out of my mouth when I jumped at Celestia's entrance. Luckily it landed back on the plate.

"...I had spells on you had summon me if you ever harm a pony directly." She looked to the meat. "Guess they were a little too sensitive." We all just sat in silence. "So, why are you eating pony Dan?"

"Steve fixed some meat for me. I really needed the protein. It wasn't ALL pony though, I just saved the pony till last."

She sighed. "Okay, well, I'll remove the spell so you can eat. I'm trusting you Dan. I need to get back to the conversation I was having." And with that; she disappeared.

We all just looked at each other.

"Well, let's try that again shall we?" I said, picking up the meat that I had dropped. I took a bite. No Celestia this time, cool. It was completely different to any meat I had ever had. Not that bad, but nothing particularly special. "Hm, this is alright. Which is saying something; I've never been that big of a meat fan." I finished the small pile in a couple bites.

"Yes, I always liked that one the best, to bad its such a rarity." He said, taking mine and Eb's plates on his wings again. And began walking them back to the kitchen.

"Oh, please don't tell me that that was Rarity." They all gave me strange looks, only Luna knew who I was talking about. She giggled slightly and waved off the others strange looks.

Luna's eyes widened for a second. "Celestia has called for me, she requests you too, Rosewood." Steve responded to his fake name by placing the dirty plate on the side and shrugging. Following Luna to the door.

"Bye Luna, Steve." I called. He rolled his eyes.

"Farewell Ebony, Dan. Chromey." Chrome rolled his eyes. Steve and him shared a look of empathy, before the door was closed.

Leaving just me, Chrome and Ebony.

"Well, I guess I'll be on my way too." Chrome said, starting to the door. But I stopped him with a raised arm.

"Ebony, could you wait outside for a second?" He looked uncertain, but did so without a word. Chrome actually looked rather scared, I probably still had pony in my teeth.

Once Ebony was out the door I gestured for Chrome to sit opposite me. He sat slowly, giving me a suspicious look. Him sitting directly across from me gave me a very good and unwelcome look at his scars. The fur had grown back somewhat, but I could tell there were some parts that would scar for life.

I sighed. "Chrome, you want to talk about that morning."

He looked around nervously. "Which one?"

"You know the one." I gave him a blank stare.

He exhaled. "Fine. Ask away." He slumped slightly.

"Dude, it's nothing to be ashamed of. But what exactly did you do?" He opened his mouth to answer, but I realized my error. "Wait. Wait, not EXACTLY. Make it brief, and leave out all the dirty details."

"Dan... they're ALL dirty details."

"Okay, leave out the really bad ones."

"Okay fine."

I won't say what they did, specifically, in here. But I will say; I was impressed.

"And that's it." He finished.

"Dude." I stood up and walked over to him, sitting next to him, putting my arm over his shoulder. "I'm proud of you dude."

He looked to me surprised. "Really?"

"Yeah, if Luna had done THAT when I walked into the room, I would have ran screaming. Even if we WERE in a relationship."

"Erm... thanks... I guess? I won't tell Luna you said that."

"Feel free to tell her, just be ready to explain to her why you told me what you did."

He sighed. I patted him on the back as I stood. I walked to the door and retrieved Ebony, who froze a couple steps in.

"Dan, what did you do in here?" I gave him a confused look. He waved me closer and I took a couple steps towards him, he covered his mouth from one side as to hide it from Chrome. He mouthed the word "Lust." With slightly wide eyes.

"Nah, it's fine. Chrome's just all hot-and-bothered cause I made him think back to a couple days ago." Ebony seemed to understand. I turned to Chrome. "Isn't that right 'Chromey'." He shifted awkwardly. I snorted slightly.

There was a silence again. Gotta work on that.

"Hey, actually, I've got some things to take care of. You two have fun now." I said as I walked out of the door.

Ebony caught the door half way. "Bye Dan!"

I 180'd and waved shortly. He slipped back into the door.

I made my way out of the palace, and into the streets. I walked for a couple minutes, just taking in the sights and the fresh air. The ponies were more used to me now, I even got some waves, which I happily returned. Those ones must have seen me at The Shadey at some point, to be that friendly with me. I didn't recognize any of them though. A couple even asked if I was the one who sung 'My Feather'. Seems word has spread.

I eventually passed by Hazel's shop, I decided to stop by. Plus I needed more clothes.

I was met with a hug as I entered.

"Your back!" She squeaked. She pulled back but kept her hoofs over my shoulders, one hurting slightly with the added weight. "What do you need? How have you been?"

I laughed at her enthusiasm. I put my hands on her hoofs. "What do I need? I'm not allowed to come visit a friend?"

She rolled her eyes. "We might have met only briefly, but I know you, Dan. You need something. What is it?" She kept her amazingly chipper tone.

"Okay, you got me." I pulled her hoofs off of me and she stood normally. "I need a warm jacket, an extra set of clothes and your musical taste." She pulled a notepad from thin air and wrote down the first two, but stopped half-way through the third.

"Excuse me?" She asked.

"I want to know what kind of music you like." I said, shrugging.

"Oh? Why's this?"

I stretched my arms. "Ahh, you heard of 'My Feather'?"

She nodded eagerly. "Of course! I only wish it had been performed in a more... social place. But I have heard it's recordings. It is sad though..." She looked at the floor. "That pony must have been so sad, to produce something like that..."

I snorted. "It wasn't a pony, you know."

"Really? I was not aware any other species had music-magic."

"Turns out, one does." I said, smirking at her.

She blinked rapidly. "R-really? It was you?"

"Yep, turns out I have some magic ability or something. It basically allows me to perform any song practically perfectly, without having to feel the emotions the song conveys." I looked at her teary eyes. "That means I wasn't sad when I performed it." She smiled and hugged me. I returned it.

"You've come so far Dan, and in such a short time too! You really should make more songs!" She pulled away. "What have you been doing? Over the last month?"

"Heh, I spent a magority of that time living in a cave. In an undisclosed location."

"Wuh? What?" She asked, her face turning confused.

"You heard me right, I lived in a cave for 25 days. With a changling."

Her eyes widened. "How did you survive?!"

"He brought me food and I gave him his equivilant of food."

She blinked. "Wait... the CHANGLING brought you food?"

"Yep."

"And you gave it..."

"Yep, love."

"Dan... your insane sometimes, it could have killed you!"

"Nah, he's harmless. He's living with me, in the palace." She blinked. "Yeah we had a couple problems with Celestia... but those are sorted out now."

"So you found a changling in a cave, brought it back, and now you live with it?"

"Not quite, he's been a guard in the palace for years. I found him there, disguised. I saw through it. Me and him became pretty friendly and Celestia asked why. I said he was a changeling and she freaked out. I stood between them, gave Celestia a few choice words, picked him up, walked to the cave and lived there until Celestia asked for us to come back."

"Well... he sounds... nice..."

"He is! He's practically friends now with both Princesses and Luna's somepony."

"Luna has a special somepony?!"

"...Oops, if you don't know about it, it's probably meant to be a secret or something. Do me a favor and keep that to yourself." She nodded. "Thanks. But yeah, aside from almost starving-dash-freezing to death in a cave, I've been fine."

She smiled. "Dan... You really get around." I snorted. "Now, about this 'jacket'?"

I explained what I meant by a jacket. Basically a hoodie, but I left out the hood, since I never used them. She understood what I meant after a little explaining and a quick sketch.

"So yeah, that and a couple extra sets of clothes, feel free to mix the colors up a bit. But try to keep them dulled down you know?"

She nodded, taking notes. "Yes, I know you stallions and bright colors. I can do that." She looked over the list and flinched.

"What? something wrong?"

"No... yeah, this is a lot of work... when do you want it by?"

"Oh don't rush yourself, get it done whenever, I have a lot of time. But the jacket would be nice to have before the brunt of winter. Take your time though." She smiled. I realized then, I had no money what-so-ever. "Oh shi-" I covered my mouth. She dropped her notes and stared at me. "Sorry, sorry. That's a common thing where I come from, it slips out sometimes." I explained quickly. She seemed to understand, but still looked a little shaken. She picked up her notes. "It's just that... I don't have any money."

She blinked. "Oh, that's fine!"

"No, I refuse to have you work for free, I'll see what I can d-"

"Nonono, Celestia donated a hefty sum to my establishment. That's payment enough."

"...But I had nothing to do with that."

"Yes you did, The Princess said she gave it because I was so accepting of you. A kind of 'Thank you' gesture."

An idea. "Hey, I ain't complaining about getting free stuff, but I'll pay you back somehow." I had a plan now.

"Don't feel the need Dan. You're more than covered." She smiled brightly.

"Thanks-" I said, cut off by the sound of the door opening behind me. A familiar pony walked in. Oh my god, it's him. I looked away from the pony and back to Hazel. "I'll let you get to business." I nodded to her as I walked to the door. She returned the gesture in a more chipper manner. I walked past the pony, making sure to check the cutie-mark. Yep that's him.

I waited outside the shop for him. It took a while and I got some weird looks from passing ponies. During my time waiting a shy-looking stallion came up to me with a record in one of his bags. He just kind of stood there, so I had to make the effort to speak first.

"Sir?" I asked. He flinched as I spoke. "What do you need?"

He mumbled something.

"What was that?" I said, leaning in slightly to hear him better.

"I want you to s-s-s-s-..." he slowly stepped back.

"Dude, it's okay. Come on."

"I want you to... sign... this." He slowly picked the record out of the back. 'My Feather - Live at The Shadey, Canterlot' it read, it was hand/hoof written, so that explained the lack of a artist-name.

I took the record and he handed me a black marker pen. Why do they use quills if these exist? I took it. But stopped.

"Anything you want written?"

"Er... 'To Emerald' then your signature... if that's okay..."

"Nah, that's fine." I started writing in a blank spot on it's case. "Emerald a friend of yours?"

"You know her?" He asked slightly worried... hell, everything he said sounded 'slightly worried'.

"No, just asking." I shrugged.

"Oh, er.. yeah... she is." He said, as I handed the record back to him. "Thanks... W-what's your... name? If you dont mind me asking."

"Dan, my name is Dan." He wrote 'performed by Dan' On the case along-side the other infomation. "They selling those?" I asked, pointing at the disc.

"N-no sir, I... I made this."

I blinked. "You recorded me?"

He backed up. "Ye- yeah, I can destroy it if you want!" He quickly added.

"No, no dude. It's fine, really. Keep it. But what's your name? I might need someone like you to produce disc-copies of my future songs."

His eyes widened. "I would be honered sir! M-my name's Veiled Alloy."

"You got a buisness?" He nodded. "Is it selling people's music?"

"Ponies music, yes."

"...Veiled Alloy right?"

"Yes sir!"

"Feel free to spread these around. Just make sure to tell them 'Dan made the song', okay?"

"Of course!" He said, beaming with pride.

"Now," I said, clapping slightly. "I've been thinking about making more music. You get this song big enough and I will make more. You can sell these for money if you want, you can keep 100% of it too. But if I make more music, which you will be recording if I do, you will get 40% of the profit. Deal?" I held out a hand.

He backed from my hand, but slowly extended a hoof into it. I firmly shook it.

"It would be a pleasure to work with you... Sir." He said as he retracted his hoof.

"I'll be sure to contact you if I decide to make more." I heard the door to Hazel's shop open and swing shut. "Sorry, but I have somewhere I need to be. I hope Emerald likes her record."

"Thank you sir." He bowed slightly and gave him a short wave and turned around.

Sure enough, the stallion from Hazel's shop was walking away. I followed cautiously. Knowing him, he would notice. I had to act natural, look at the buildings, admire plants, head at angles that change every-so-often, no robotic movement. I walked briskly to catch up to him, trying to blend as much as possible. He never even turned around so my efforts were useless, but caution had to be taken with this one...

I walked up beside him, he turned and looked at me, then craned his neck to look me over.

"Shining Armor right?" I said, pointing at him.

"Yes. And you are?" His tone was not unpleasant, but didn't make me comfortable.

"Er, I'm Dan. You might have heard about me from Celestia?"

He nodded slightly. "Ah, yes, the Insubordinate Hero... What do you need?"

"Just wanted to meet you dude. And since our authority's are almost equal, we were going to meet eventually."

He maintained a flat expression and snorted. "Well, you managed to catch me off-duty. Your the one who created DCPR right? That's already saved the lives of a couple troops."

"Yep, that was me. Used it in the throne room... his blood ruined the carpet though. If he hadn't survived I would probably feel bad about that. It was a nice carpet."

He sighed. "Yeah, I heard what happened to that guy, and his house. The fact such a thing to happened here... disturbs me."

"Yeah, I haven't heard anything about the investigation so far, how's it going?"

"It was slow at first, but they say they have a new lead to his location. Hopefully they find that psycho before he does anything else."

"Yeah... Hey, do you know if your sister or any of her friends are coming to Canterlot at any point?" He gave me a strange look. "Don't worry, I'm taken."

He rolled his eyes. "The next time they are coming, where you would be able to catch them, would likely be this spring, at the Gala."

"Aw, that sucks. Really want to meet those guys. You doing anything today?"

He shrugged while walking, quite a feat for a pony. "Nothing really, until tonight where I have a outing with Cadence."

"Oh yeah, you two are a thing, I forgot. You know, it was your wife that got me and Ebony together, she's really got a knack for that kind of thing."

"Yeah, that's kind of 'her thing'." He said, smiling. "Wait... Ebony? Ebony Towers?"

"Yeah, used to be a guard? I thought you'd recognize the name."

"But didn't Ebony turn out to be..."

"Yep."

There was a short silence. "Hm, okay, fair enough. You know, me and Cadence are going to a nice little place just down the road from the palace for a meal tonight. You want to join us? With Ebony, I mean. I am interested in seeing him and I'm sure Cadence will be all-over you two."

I laughed shortly. "Yeah she sure will. Sure dude, when and where is it going to be?"

"We'll just wait for you at the Palace gates, it's at eight, sharp, you don't show up we'll leave."

"Understandable, I would not want to delay anything. Thanks dude." I held out a hand we shook.

"Welcome. Eight, be there." He said as we parted ways.

Author's Note

Updated: 08/11/15
-Fixed some story-related stuff
-Fixed some tenses
-Other general fixing stuff

With the available cut-off points getting further and further apart, the chapters are getting longer. That means I am burning through my material VERY fast now. I think, if it keeps going at this speed I might have to continue writing soon.

So expect a sudden drop in productivity in a couple chapters.

Chapter 16: The Double Date Defender

"Welcome. Eight, be there." He said as we parted ways.

Shining continued walking and I turned around and walked in the other direction. My eyes locked onto the shops either side of the street.

Now's for the harder part of today.

I headed about the city, looking into every shop I passed. Until, about half an hour later, I found what I was looking for. A crafts shop, luckily it doubled as a smithy, so I didn't have to go searching for one of those too. I headed in. The old-looking pony behind the desk gave me a bored look.

"This ain't a fashion shop." He said, as if he had said it hundreds of time already.

"I know, how good are you at metal and magnets? Like shaping and stuff?" I asked as I walked in and stood on the other side of the desk.

He blinked, perking up slightly. "Only the best son, what do you need?"

"An odd request." He nodded and pulled out a note-pad, pencil held in his mouth. "I need a solid iron block, 10cm by 4cm by 4cm. About 4 meters of copper thinned into a strong yet malleable wire. Around 10 small cylindrical magnets, diameter of 1cm, height of 1.5cm. A larger magnet, 5cm by 5cm by 7cm. 10 separate 2 meter long wires that have a steel cores and are wound with nickel plated steel wraps. A small pile of iron screws and a couple small rectangular sheets of Iron, 0.3 cm's thick, I can cut those myself. Can you do all that?" He finished writing everything. Looked over the list then looked up at me and blinked.

"What in Celestia's name do you need these for? Nickel plated steel wraps? That's incredibly specific and... obscure." He said, looking at the list, slightly worried.

"Just a project of mine, if it works, you'll be sure to hear about it. Eventually." He looked at me in suspicion. "Plus, if it works I will also be coming back here with a very similar order."

"Son, you are going to make me a very rich stallion if you keep this up. I can get this done by the beginning of next year. You can pay then, or now, either way that'll be 432 bits."

"Oof, that's hefty. I'll pay you when it's done." He gave me a suspicious look. "Don't worry dude, I'm a friend of the princesses. If I can't pay it by then, they can."

He beamed. "Well, thank you for the business son. It's rather slow-going here. Every pony comes in here thinking I make 'accessories' or 'jewelry'. Feh, your order; that's a REAL job."

"Heh, your welcome. Say, you wouldn't have happened to hear about a song called 'My Feather' would you?"

He hummed for a second. "Yeah, I think that's the one my wife keeps going on about. Why?"

"Just know that the sooner you get this order done, the sooner more of that will be made."

He blinked in confusion. "Okay? I don't see how magnets and wires can make anything similar to that, but..." He shrugged. "Business is business."

"Sure is, thanks man." I waved as I walked out. He nodded to me as I left.

Where the hell am I going to get 432 bits?!

I continued walking about the outside world, with that thought plaguing the back of my mind.

I caught sight of Chrome's old place. It was still wound in police tape. Nice to know they're still working on that.

I turned away from it, don't want to go back there really. I saw a glint of light which alerted the side of my mind I was very thankful to have. Free money! I walked over to the area I saw the flash from and sure enough, there was a bit. Just sitting there, on the ground. Maybe I WILL have those bits ready.

I crouched down the pick it up, but my hand bumped into a hoof. I looked up to find a filly attempting the same thing I was. She flinched back when I saw her. I recognized her as the one me and Eb had bumped into as we came back from the cave.

"Sorry, is that yours?" I asked her, pointing at the coin.

"No... is it yours?" She asked in response. She didn't sound overly confident.

"No..." We both just looked at the coin.

"...You can take it, it's fine." She said, turning around and beginning to walk away.

"Wait!" She stopped and turned around. "Look, I'm friends with some very rich pe- ponies. You probably need this more than I do, take it." I picked it up and held it to her.

She looked at it for a second, then her eyes squinted, her tongue stuck out the side of her mouth and the coin floated half way to her in her magic. She looked at it and gasped in joy, it dropped, and so did her happy expression. She sighed and tried again, but the coin never left the ground. She eventually started picking at it with her hoof, unable to pick it up.

"Let me get that." I said, being the good Samaritan I am, I wiped the coin clean and placed it on her head. "There." She beamed at me and walked off, the coin somehow staying put as she skipped away.

I was about to walk away, before a voice behind me stopped me. "That was nice of you, Dan." I whipped my body around, only to find Celestia, very close. Inches from my face. I legit screamed and fell over backwards. Landing on my bad-arm's elbow. The impact traveled up my arm and pushed my shoulder upwards painfully.

I rolled onto my side to take any weight off of it and held it with my good arm.

"Celestia... the hell were you doing there?!" I groaned through the rather unpleasant pain.

"I came to tell you that Feather has been found."

"Oh, great. Could you, I don't know, Help me?!" I was pretty sure I aggravated the fracture I sustained from Luna's punch.

"Uhg fine. But only because you asked so nicely." She said sarcastically. My arm lit with magic and the pain dissipated somewhat. "There, pain's suppressed and the bone's back into it's proper position if it was disturbed at all."

"So," I said as I stood. "What about Feather? She okay?"

"Oh thanks for fixing my arm Celestia." She said, mockingly.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever. What about Feather? Is. She. Okay?"

She sighed. "She's fine. Turns out she camped up and a wind blew the com-scroll away, that's why when we tried to contact her nothing happened. The team are sending her back, then they are going to be working on finding Dawn."

"They better find her. I have plans, and I need her."

"...Plans? Hm?" She asked with a slightly concerned yet curious face.

I waved a hand and smirked. "Nothing you should worry about."

"Dan, I worry about everything."

"Yeah, I know. And it's really annoying sometimes. Anyway, you got 500 bits on you that I can borrow?"

She blinked. "Dan, why would you possibly need that much money?" She saw the look on my face. "What did you buy?" She said in a disapproving tone.

"Oh, just some things from the smithy. Again, it's nothing for you to worry about. I just need the money before the end of the year."

She gave me a stern look. "Dan, if you want money, you have to do what everypony else does, work."

"I can't get a job here! Look at me, I'm so flimsy!" I swayed my arms to emphasize the point.

She rolled her eyes. "Dan, you kicked my personal guard."

"...And?"

"He has been trained his entire life. You were the first thing to every lay a hit on him. He usually just feigns an attack and sees the pony's reaction and judges their worth that way."

I blinked "...Oh. So your saying I would make a good guard?"

"Of course not, anypony could just pick you up and throw you out of the way." I rolled my eyes. "I'm saying that you could fit in rather well in the military."

"ERR, NO."

"Why not?"

"I have only ever met four ponies that are in the military. Two of them almost died in a desert and one of them turn up dead, hung from the ceiling."

"...That's only three."

"Oh yeah, and Twilight's brother. Just met him. Also what's the time?"

"You met The Captain? You two get along?"

"Yeah, sure. Whats the time?" I said impatiently.

"Uhg, it's..." She looked at the sun. "Seven thirty-six."

"I'm not even going to ask how you did that, cause I need to go."

"Where?" She asked as I walked away.

"Out." Is all I said, I didn't even turn around. I had to find and pick up Ebony.

I got to our room without any trouble. That changed when I opened the door.

A pillow hit my face. Then fell limply to the floor.

I looked about the room, the whole place was covered in pillows, cushions and other soft objects, including Steve, Chrome, Luna and Ebony. They were all wielding pillows and gasped when they saw me. Steve attempted to hide the pillow, which he was childishly whacking ponies with, behind his back as soon as he noticed me.

I sighed. "Ebony. Play-times over, we gotta go."

They all 'aww'd like children being kicked out of a toy store at closing time. "Go? Where?" Ebony asked, putting down the pillow.

"You wouldn't want to miss our double-date now would you?" They all gawked in complete silence. Ebony blinked. "Come on then!" Ebony buzzed over to the door and stepped out. "You guys keep going if you want, but if you break anything I will find out, personally, what wings look like without feathers on them." They all flinched at the thought, I tried not to think of the human equivalent to what I just said. And with that, I closed the door and started walking back to the gates.

"So... double date?" Ebony asked as we walked.

"Yep, and be on your best behavior. These two are probably the worst when it comes to changelings. If we can make it through tonight, we can make it through anything."

"...Who are they?"

"You'll find out." I said, grinning smugly and shrugging.

We got to the gates slightly early, so we talked for a while, before the other two appeared, exiting from the palace.

Cadence rushed towards us when she noticed us waiting. "It's so nice to see you again, Ebony!" She said as she picked him up in her magic, brought him to her and hugged him, then placed him back down. He was completely frozen.

"So this is... Ebony." Shining observed.

Ebony's right hoof was rapidly tapping the ground and he was staring at Shining.

"...Is he okay? Or is that normal?" He asked me.

I laughed. "I told him that if he saluted, I would assault him with bug-spray for the rest of the evening."

The couple could not withhold their small smirks. "That stuff actually work?" He inquired, only have-joking.

"I don't think so, but I don't think he want to find out for sure." I said, with my own smirk.

Ebony shook his whole body, closed his eyes and breathed slowly. Then opened his eyes, trying to maintain calm. "Hello Cadence, S-..." He had to force his mouth to speak "S- Shining Armor." His hoof got half way up before he gasped and put it back down.

Ebony's fear was no longer at a comical level, and I think Shining noticed. Shining walked over to Ebony and put a hoof on his shoulder. "Ebony," He blinked. "I'm not your Captain anymore, relax."

Ebony sighed. "Thank you Sir- er- Sh- Shining."

"Wow, training must be rather ruthless if it left this much of an impression." I said as Shining returned to his spot beside Cadence.

"Yes... It is rather... vigorous..."

"Uhg, You three!" Cadence groaned in half-mock frustration. "We're going to be late if you don't hurry up."

Eventually we started walking to where ever we were going. Me and Ebony walked next to each other, behind the other two, who were doing the same. But about half way there they both split slightly and slowed down, surrounding us. Leaving the arrangement from my left to my right being: Shining, Me, Ebony then Cadence.

I could tell Ebony was thankful to have Cadence instead of Shining.

We all made small-talk as they guided us to what turned out to be a very fancy restaurant. An equally fancy pony greeted us at the door.

"What can I do for you... four." He hesitated when he saw me and Ebony. We were a rather strange crowd. We were getting quite a few looks from ponies mid-meal, but most of those were reserved for Cadence.

"Table for four, plus the usual." Shining answered. The fancy pony led us to our table, it was semi-circular, the curved area was inside an alcove in the wall and the straight edge of the table was flush with the wall itself. We all sat and shuffled along, allowing each other room to sit. The order was now Shining, Cadence, Me then Ebony. Shining and Ebony being on the edges of the curve. I could tell Ebony didn't like being on the outside, but I figured it would do him good to get used to the ponies looking at him, not like that was ever going to stop being an issue. Plus, most of them were to busy analyzing Cadence.

Another worker came by and placed a large bottle of red wine in the center on the table, to which we all helped ourselves too. Guess that was what 'the usual' was.

"So." Cadence said once we where all sat and comfy. "Why don't you two tell Shiny how you two met? I will warn you though," She said, turning to Shining. "It might be a bit too romantic for you." Shining and I rolled our eyes and shared silent conversation that consisted of faces. It basically translated to:

"Is it really?"

"Nah it's not, your wife is just crazy."

"Oh okay, and yeah, I know. She's insane."

Me and Ebony explained how I basically pretended to offered him sex to lure him out of the public eye. The fact that he accepted earned him a look from Shining, to which Ebony smiled sheepishly. Then we explained how Celestia found out. I didn't tell them what I told Celestia that day, I told them it would probably traumatize them.

"Oh come on. I've seen some stuff Dan, I'm sure I can handle it." Shining said.

"Oh yeah?" I said. He nodded confidently. "Make Celestia cry with one word, then we'll talk." All three of them gasped. A couple eaves-droppers also covered their mouths in shock, they got back to their meals after I glared at them though.

"You really did that?" Ebony asked me.

"Yeah." I said shrugging. "So, as I was saying..."

I continued the story without interruption until I got the message we recorded.

I was explaining the contents of the message and how we got it there when I heard something. It was a drum-beat.

"Arg, Slipknot, get out of my head!" I said, thudding the side of my skull trying to concentrate.

"Err, what just happened?" Shining asked. Confused, maybe even scared.

I sighed. "It happens sometimes when I think about songs, and the message contained a song, that I sung. Turns out I am super-conductive to music-magic, so I could just perform any song at any time without even having to feel the emotion like you ponies have to."

"Hm, pretty cool. Continue." I did so, luckily I managed to focus enough to keep the rest of the song from playing, I might have got in trouble if anything made by anyone like Slipknot or Five-finger-death-punch came out of me in a place like this. But it would be funny.

Near the end of my tale the waiter came by and took our orders.

Shining and Cadence both ordered some kind of salad I can't remember the name of because I didn't care.

"Er, do you serve meat here?" I asked. Two of the table's inhabitants blanched.

"No sir, we don't." The waiter responded

"Hm... anything then, just something without flowers or hay in it. Can't eat that stuff. Plus, can I get a beer? Wine really ain't my thing."

"Certanly sir." He turned to Ebony. "And you."

Oh shit, didn't think this one through did we. "I... I can't..." Ebony stuttered, but Shining saved him.

"He'll have the same as me." Shining said from across the table.

The waiter nodded and left.

Ebony looked to Shining, who shugged innocently. Cadence glared at Shining. "What? I just wanted a little extra." He said.

Ebony looked a lot less confused. "Oh, so YOU are going to eat that. Okay, I thought for a second I was going to have to..." He trailed off.

I hit his side. "Don't worry, I'll give you something when we get home." He smiled at me. Cadence knew what I meant, as I had explained it to her. However, Shining didn't know how it worked yet, so got the complete wrong idea. His face reddened slightly and Ebony gave him a strange look. Cadence noticed Ebony's face and followed his gaze to Shining.

She thudded him on the shoulder. "He means love you idiot."

Shining blinked. "Oh... so that's how... oh okay."

Ebony looked even more confused. "What did you think he meant?" He asked shining, who blinked.

"Don't mind him." I said to the couple across from us. "He's innocent."

They smiled, Ebony just shrugged and downed an entire glass of wine, then refilled it with practiced ease.

"Woah there. You want to remember this night right?" Shining laughed.

Ebony snorted. "Alcohol has barely any effect on us, it would take an entire bottle of this stuff to get me even tipsy."

Shining responded as a waiter handed me the beer I ordered, it was still sealed with the cap and it came with its own opener, but I had other ideas. "Huh, impressive. Anything else you guys can do?" He asked, only somewhat warily.

I took that moment to lift up one of Ebony's hooves and use one of the holes to pop the top of my beer and take a sip. "Thanks Eb." I said as he glared in only somewhat legit annoyance. The other two laughed.

"Aw, if only I could do that. It'd be so useful..." Shining said.

Cadence gave him an annoyed look. "But you never drink anything with that kind of cap."

"Yeah, only because it's so much work to open them, if I could do that..." He looked into the distance in fake aspiration "...Oh it'd be amazing."

There was a moment of silence as the waiter came by, suspending four plates and a new bottle of wine in his magic. They were all set in front of the correct pony, changeling and human. Then he left, without a word. During that moment I accidentally locked eyes with a pony standing outside, across the street. I looked away to make it look like an accident, when I looked back he was gone. Weird. I put a slightly larger number into the 'protect the changeling-o-meter' in my brain.

"Your kidding." I said as I looked at the thing on my plate.

The others noticed what was on my plate. "What IS that?" Shining said.

I blinked. "It's... it's a pizza... I gave the facility I woke up in the recipe. Guess it spread." I said, shrugging and taking a slice. "Don't know why it's in a fancy place like this though, this is slob-food where I from."

Shining leaned in "I wouldn't say that if you want it to stay on the menu."

I looked around the room and got a couple distasteful looks. "Ah, yeah. Meh, I can make these at home anyway." I dug into my unexpected pizza, the two across from me had some from of salad, just green stuff. While I had glorious reds and yellows. Ebony just looked at his plate of leaves until Shining swapped his quickly emptied plate with Ebony's full one.

I snorted. "I don't know how you guys can survive on that stuff."

The two looked at each other slightly uneasy. "Yes, we didn't realize you ate meat. We would have gone somewhere where they serve that." Cadence said.

"Nah, it's okay guys. It would have made you uncomfortable. Plus, this place has pizza! And pizza is probably the greatest thing to ever come from my species." I said, slightly louder so that the waiters could hear it.

"So you eat meat, what meats?" Shining asked.

"Oh, just this morning I had a plate of... ah what was it?" I asked Ebony.

"Hm... I think it was 'Cow, chicken, pig, rabbit, turkey and duck'." He listed, with his seemingly superior memory.

"Yeah, all of those." They both flinched. "Oh yeah, and pony." It looked like they had just been shot. "Guys, it's okay. It wasn't THAT good." I snorted. "But it was still pretty good" I mumbled just loud enough for them to hear.

"That's... nice." Shining said, in a voice uncharacteristically quiet.

"If anything, it's a good thing. So if I ever get thrown out of Equestria for whatever reason; I can just live in the woods and hunt pony travelers." They both gave me terrified stares. "Guys, I'm joking." They both exhaled. "I don't even know how to skin a pony let alone cook one." They both looked like they were about to faint. "Jesus guys, you're so easy to play with."

And with that I had finished my pizza. It was actually pretty damn good, considering things. Shining had finished both plates of green stuff. While Cadence simply pushed what remained of her meal away from her. I think I put her off her meal.

As we were waiting for the waiter I caught another glimpse of that pony from before, inside the restaurant. PROTECT THE BLOODY CHANGELING LEVEL AT 999. I leaned over to Shining. "Be ready." I said. I leaned back into my chair. Preparing myself for... something. They all looked at me like I was insane, they had no context.

Shining collapsed, dropping his wine glass out of his magic. It smashed against the table as he fell into his chair, Cadence rushed closer to his side. I was about ask what happened when I saw a flash of light behind Ebony, in my peripheral vision.

No, not a flash, a reflection.

I slammed Ebony's face onto the table with a sickening crunch, revealing a dark grey pony behind him, with a large blade in some contraption that let it sit on the end of his hoof. The light from one of the lamps nearby had reflected off of one of its large, well-cleaned sides. He froze when he saw me. I balled my legs up under me on the seat and extended them, launching myself at him. I tackled him head on. He attempted to slash as me with his scarily large blade, but I caught it in my hand, and I mean literally IN.

It was going in through my palm and out the other side, the sharp edge facing upwards towards my fingers. He flipped onto his back due to the impact of me hitting him. His head narrowly missed the table behind him as he fell. He began shaking his knife violently, trying to break it free from the bones. Lucky he hit my bad arm's hand, Celestia's pain-killing spell was still in effect. That didn't mean it was not still agonizing, though.

I landed on top of him, knees on his stomach. I used my free hand to wail at his nose. But seemed to have no effect on him, he was like rock. Adrenaline in my veins and blood down my arm I pushed my impaled hand forward, towards the ground by his neck causing the blade to hover over his throat, he pushed my shoulder back with his other hoof. He almost pushed me off of him, but I shifted my weight onto my good hand and grabbed his free hoof, pinning it to the ground above his head.

The blunt end of the blade ripped further into my hand, until it reached the bone in my wrist, then it stopped, allowing it to inch closer to his throat. His back legs flailed violently, but with my weight on his stomach he could not reach me with them. I got his blade about an inch from his throat. He head his head sideways, trying to distance himself from his own weapon's edge.

He suddenly rolled, bringing me with him, dragged by the knife tangled in the bones of my hand. Instantly the roles were reversed, he was on top of me and pushing the blunt edge of the knife towards me, trying to do a hook-ing action to catch my throat with the end and rip it out. I pushed back with my impaled hand, he had almost his full weight on it. I could feel every grind and movement of the metal against my bone. I put all of my energy into pushing the knife back up towards him; I had to use both hands to hold it up. And even then; it was getting closer.

Then. A realization. ...Dark colors...Access to weapons...Hates changelings...I knew who this was now.

"This is for what you did to Chrome, mother-fucker." I said in a quite voice.

I stopped pushing against him for a split second, the knife hurtled towards me. His entire body falling as he had most of his weight on the knife. I took this moment of free-fall to use my good palm to push at the blunt edge of the knife and rotate my skewered hand, pointing it away from me, and aiming it straight up, the handle of the knife impacted with the ground beside my neck, along with his hoof. His eyes widened as he fell onto the knife. It slid all the way in, a sharp bump appeared on the skin on the back of his neck where the knife had gone almost all the way through.

He fell limp on top of me, pinning my still stabbed hand between the hilt of the blade and his bleeding throat. I breathed deeply, realizing that in my concentration I had held my breath. I took a second to re-coordinate myself then put my free hand on his chin and pushed, rolling him over. I pulled the knife out of his throat with the hand that was still connected to it. I stood, knife still fully inserted into my right palm. I hope he didn't have any blood infections...

Everyone in the restaurant was gone and I was completely covered in blood. He had leaked all over me when I cut the veins in his throat. Not to mention my blood, pouring from my hand in rapid drips, more like a stream really. I turned. Our table was still occupied. Ebony was face-down on the table, where I had left him. Clear-green fluid leaking from his face. Shining was slumped in his chair completely passed out. And Cadence was staring at the body, the knife, me then back to the body every split-second, she was hyperventilating slightly.

I sighed. Tapped her on the shoulder. She gained some lucidity. "Go... get... help." I said, before laying down on my back across our table. I removed my belt and tied it tightly around the base of my shoulder, to slow the blood-loss that was slowly setting in. I raised my arm, pointing at the ceiling so that gravity would also help slow it down. The blood flowed down my arm and soaked that side of my shirt in seconds. It didn't seem anything I did slowed it down at all. I looked at Cadence to see she was already gone. I let my neck relax and turn my head towards the body. The cutie mark was a black box, with a red fire inside.

"Forge..." I said to myself.

The pain began to lash at my mind as my adrenaline wore off, though still repressed by the spell, it was enough to practically immobilize me. I retracted my arm from the air, as keeping it up their was now too painful. I put my wrist to my stomach so the knife missed my body, and I constricted my arm with my good hand. I could not bandage the hand at all, it had a knife obstructing the wounds, and I've always heard removing the knife was a bad idea.

I tried, I figured if it came out easily it would not do any damage and allow me to wrap it in something. I slowly sat up and reached for the hilt. As soon as my hand touched the handle pain shot up my arm.

I sighed. "Nope... that's... too much..."

I laid back down and resumed my previous position, with my arm across my stomach.

The door slammed open. I had no energy anymore, so I didn't look up. I just hoped it was help. Nothing else.

Luckily, it was. I heard a familiar gasp. My body was lit in magic and I felt the pain fade slightly, my energy coming back to me. I sat up to find Celestia standing there, with Shining and Ebony both hovering in her magic next to her, and Cadence standing behind her, still staring in horror.

I smiled at her. She gave me a serious look, more like a glare than anything. Now what not a time for words.

She picked me up in her magic and we where teleported to what I recognized as a room in the infirmary, she placed all three of us on beds next to each other. There were medical teams by each bed. They rushed to me and positioned me in the bed and put a mask over my nose and mouth. My vision was already fading as it was, the mask only sped up the process I looked to Ebony, he was still out. His face was practically crushed. I reached a hand to him, but I could not reach him. My arm fell limp as I lost consciousness.

Author's Note

Updated: 08/11/15
-Fixed grammar
-Fixed contingency problems
-Fixed some dialog problems
-General fixes

Yep, this is a thing that happened.

Might put another one up tonight, not sure. This is pretty tiring and I just got a bunch'a new games to complete.

I didn't like just having Forge being 'out there' or being 'captured'. So this just kind of... happened. As I said before (i think) Most of this story is complete improvisation so far. The only planned event was Feather leaving and Dan being able to do that music thing he does. I made up the rest as I went along.

Only one or two chapters left before I have to start making new stuff. Hopefully I can write them at a decent pace, would not want to keep those 10-or-so, who have this thing tracked, waiting for too long.

Chapter 17: Recovery

I woke to a soft bleeping, I turned my head and saw a heart monitor. Kind of freaky to see the line that represents your whole life-force.

I looked over to the beds either side of he, my head span as I turned it.

Shining had some kind of drip going into one of his legs. What happened to him?

Ebony's face was slightly swollen and there were some stitches along his nose. I hope that doesn't scar...

There was no one else in the room, just three beds, three patients, their respective bed-side tables and in my case- a machine. Other than that there was just a door and a couple small windows behind me, near the ceiling.

I was sitting their half-conscious for a while before I thought about my hand. I lifted it up and looked at it. My shoulder didn't hurt as I lifted it, so I was either still under the effects of some drug or spell, or my shoulder had finally healed. My hand was still all there thankfully, I feared for a second that they might have cut it off, unable to save it. It was wrapped in bandages, but I could see that there were stitches on both sides of my hand. Damn, if that scars, that's going to be one helluva story to tell. And one helluva scar to show off too.

I put my hand down and laid my head back. Listening to the sounds of distant birds through one of the small over-head windows. I had been out for a long time, it was at least the next morning. I sat there peacefully 'thinking thoughts', as I like to put it, when I heard Shining groan.

"You okay?" I asked.

He rolled onto his side to look at me. "Wh... what happened?" He looked down at my hand. "Your hand!"

I sighed. "Yeah, stabbed right through." He gasped. My words were slightly slurred, according to Shining's recount of this. "Don't worry, I returned the favor. To his throat."

"Dan... you scare me sometimes." He rolled back over and looked to the ceiling.

"Hey, Shining." He looked back to me. "I did your job." This is what I remember saying, I am very sure now, in hindsight, that I had some kind of drug in my system.

He blinked. "What do you mean?"

"I killed Forge, man!" I said, throwing my good arm up in triumph. One... Heavy... Drug...

"Dan, that's not a good thing."

"Yeah... yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm high on something right now..."

He gave me a very dead-pan stare. "Looks like it."

"...I also broke Ebby's face." I said, shrugging.

"...Ebby's? ...Face?" He lifted his neck and saw Ebony's nose. "Dude, why'd you do that?"

"To get him out... of the way of the guy..."

"Hm... I would have liked to see this little fight of your's. Forge was a trained professional when he left..."

"Bitch I kicked Celestia's personal guard in the face! Nothing can defeat me!"

He sighed. "Yep, they gave you something. Shows how serious your hand was."

"It was pretty bad... I got his blood in it... reckon I will have magical pony-powers now? Cause I have his blood?"

"Erm... sure Dan, Sure." He said in the same tone a mother would use when their child just asked 'when is daddy coming home?'

"Awesome..." I slurred as I slumped into my bed slightly.

And with that I fell asleep. God I was out of it. Whatever they gave me, it was good stuff. Since I'm a 'medical specialist' maybe I can... 'Prescribe' myself some later... If I can find out what it was...

***

A little of nap later I was woken, now a lot more sober, by a nurse.

"Dan? You feeling okay now?" She asked in a diabetes-sweet voice.

"Yep... no, not really. I still feel kinda weird. But I don't feel like I've been stabbed, so I'm probably fine."

"Trust me, you are far from fine. Your body went into shock, after we got you here. We almost lost you."

"Oh, well that sucks."

"...Yes it did. But you seem to be making progress now. You should stay in here for a couple weeks and let that heal." She said, indicating to my hand.

"Nah, I'm leaving in maybe a couple days, max."

"Dan, you need to let it heal."

"What do you think I do in my spare time? Warfare? It'll be fine, I barely do anything active, never have."

She sighed. "If you say so." She started for the door she came from. "You have visitors waiting, you want to see them?"

"Send 'em in one by one. Let them decide the order." She nodded and walked out.

I looked to the other beds to find them empty. I then looked at the window it looked... earlier. Oh shit, when she said I went into shock, she meant AFTER I woke up the first time. Damn, I bet Shining had a great time watching my life hang in the balance.

I wonder what Ebony remembers... maybe he just thinks I hit his head against the table for no reason, I hope someone explained what happened... actually... only Cadence saw the whole thing. But she probably has PTSD now, judging by the face she had on her.

My thoughts were cut off as Celestia walked into the room.

"You doing okay, Dan?" She asked, sounding almost sincere. I could tell there was something more pressing on her mind.

"Considering I just killed someone... I'm..." I sighed. "I'm okay." It was starting to settle in; the fact I had killed someone.

"You didn't JUST kill somepony Dan. It's been 3 days."

I blinked. "Damn, I was out for a while huh?" She nodded. "Hey, do you know what happened? Or do I have to explain it to you?"

"Cadence was basically traumitised and nopony has been able to give a full report without breaking down. But I have a better, and quicker idea than you just explaining it yourself."

"Hm? And what's this brilliant idea?" I asked, somewhat suspicious.

"If you let me, I know a spell that lets me extract memories-"

"Nah, I want to keep this one. It's... sobering."

"Dan, let me finish. This spell can extract a pony's memory, without removing it. I have already designed in to only work for the last couple hours-worth of memory. I can then take that memory and bind it to a com-scroll. And it-"

"It makes a video?"

She huffed. "It makes a video, yes."

"Sure, sounds pretty cool to be honest, too bad it's for this though, I'm not sure if I want to see that again."

"You will probably have to, so you can answer questions better later." She put her horn to my head. "Are you ready?"

"What should I expect to feel?" I asked, a little nervous.

"Nothing. Are you ready?"

"Sure."

Her horn glowed and a blue whisp of light began circling her horn. She retracted her horn and put it to a scroll. Her eyes were closed the entire time. The scroll lit up, a screen appearing on the blank page. It was a still image of me and Ebony waiting at the Palace gates.

"Hm, that IS pretty cool." I approved,pointing at the scroll.

"I thought you'd like it, I had to abandon my duties for a few days to design it though. You touch the scroll and it starts, it will not stop till it reaches the end. Then it returns to like it is right now."

"Hm, cool. Who can I show?"

"Only ponies you think either should know, or can handle it's contents. Speaking of which, care to watch over it with me? I can tell you don't want to but..."

"It had to be done, it's fine. Lets just get this over and done with."

"It's okay Dan, I'm sure it was you or him, or at least from the little information they have been able to collect..." She tapped her hoof on the scroll's image and it started moving.

-"It's so nice to see you again, Ebony!" Cadence ran into the frame and hugged Ebony within the first couple second of the video.-

Celestia raised her eye brows, surprised.

"Hm, that's pretty good timing. It's still quite a ways from the fight though."

"There is no way to skip unfortunately. I hope you didn't do anything you don't want me to see during this."

"I hope not either. I can't remember... wait isn't this a memor-"

"Not how it works." She quickly retorted.

"Then how-"

"Magic."

"Fine."

Eventually we got to the bit where I saw Forge from across the street. The screen seemed to move with the focus of my eyes, zooming in on the pony.

"That's him." Celestia gasped. "And... he's not looking at you during that Dan, he was looking at Ebony. That means this was a what a pre-meditated attack."

"Why does that matter? He's dead."

"Unless you want to be arrested for murder, I suggest SUPPORTING the evidence that's in your favor." She quickly added.

"Oh yeah..."

We watched on.

"Here he comes." I said, pointing to him in the crowd.

-"Be ready" I said. Shining passed out.-

"Hm... perhaps Ebony's meal was tampered with?" Celestia said to herself.

"I don't know, ask the doctors what they reckon it was. Just watch, it's about to happen."

Then the flash in my periferal happened. Celestia flinched as Ebony's head impacted with the table. "Was that really nessisary Dan?"

"Well... It suprised him and got Ebony out of the way. So I think it was worth it."

Celestia flinched again as I jumped at him and my hand was impaled. "Dan, that was insane."

"It wasn't THAT impressive, jumping is easier for me than it is for you ponies, less legs."

"No... I meant you, you're insane."

"I don't see your guards anywhere in this picture, do you? Nobody helped. If I had not have done that then he would have just slit Ebony's throat and ran off. I might be insane but at least I did the right thing." She nodded slowly. I did the right thing...

It was rather strange so see the knife slide down my hand, tearing the flesh, without feeling it. It made me realize just how much damage had been done. Celestia gave my scarred hand a sorrowful look.

-"This is for what you did to Chrome mother-fucker." I dropped Forge onto the knife.-

This time, I could hear all the noises he made as he suffered, it was reasonably quick, but still, there was a moment of agony in his eyes and a silenced, bubbly scream.

"Dan... that was actually very well maneuvered."

"Yeah, thanks. Cause I had time to think about maneuvering." I said sarcastically. I looked at the blood leaking from his throat, unlike when I was actually doing it, this time I saw his eyes drain of life slowly, I saw the exact moment he died. "Dude... I feel horrible..." I rubbed my face, as if to try and clean myself of this. I found my eyes slightly wet, I discreetly wiped them.

"As you should. But as I was saying... where did you learn that?"

"I didn't. I made it up as I went along."

"...you impaled your hand... on a whim?"

"...yes."

"I was right you are insane."

"Just keep watching..."

-I was now in the hospital bed. "Bitch I kicked Celestia's personal guard in the face! Nothing can defeat me!"-

"Okay, maybe not." I said, rolling up the scroll. I could hear it keep playing, but the sound was very muted.

She rolled her eyes. "Dan, you would do well in the military. Plus, if you did join, you could potentially avoid the charges you will be facing."

"I'm not risking my life for any country, not even my own. Though if it comes down to it... I guess I would have no choice. I'll think it over."

"Good... And remind me to never let you into power."

"Oh I will, I would hate it." I hate responsibility.

She rolled her eyes. "Who'd you want to see next?"

"Who's out there?"

"Chrome, Feather, Ebony, Luna, Your other guard and the fashion designer."

"Hazel thread?" She nodded. "What's she doing here?"

"Turns out she came into the restaurant just as Forge did. She noticed the knife and froze in the doorway. She fled when he pinned you. According to her."

I sighed angrily. "She didn't help?"

"She feels terrible Dan. Be easy on her. If you decide to see her."

"Okay, I'll try. Just..." I exhaled. "Send in Ebony. He deserves to know first, I probably permanently ruined his face."

She nodded. "It's not permanent, by the way. According to the doctors the re-creation went perfectly and the stitches should leave minimal scars if any."

"Good, I'd hate to have done something like that to him..."

She gave me a pained smile and left.

A couple seconds later the door exploded open. Slamming into the inside wall and bouncing shut. I turned to see very pissed looking Ebony.

He took a very long breath, trying to cool himself. "Dan... why'd you do this?" Great, no one explained it to him. He saw my hand. But didn't make a comment.

"Ebony. Just watch this okay? This is my prospective of things." I started the video. And he reluctatly sat next to me. He shrugged off any attempt I made of comforting him.

-I slammed Ebony's head into the table-

"SEE! WHY'D YOU DO THAT?! THAT EXPLAINED NO-" He saw the knife.

-I pounced on Forge, my hand, impaled.-

He gave a pained look to my hand then looked back to the video. Tears already forming in his eyes.

-"This is for what you did to Chrome mother-fucker" I skewered him on his own knife.-

He flinched at my use of language, then completely froze up as I stabbed Forge. He watched, completely un-moving as I removed myself from the corpse.

I closed the scroll, that's all he needed to see.

"D...Dan?" I looked to him. His eyes were wet and his face was covered in streams. "You saved me?"

I nodded. Clearly showing I regretted actually having to kill him though.

He was about to say something but choked on his emotions. He smiled and hugged me instead. I returned it, with a much less enthusiastic face.

"Dan?" He could probably taste it.

"Ebony. I am so very grateful. So very, very grateful that 'whatever's up there' gave me the will to save you. But... I killed a pony, Ebony. Another... living, breathing being..." I sighed. "Even if killing someone meant saving millions of people, and I did it, I would still feel bad about killing that one person. Because I know, somewhere in that broken mess, was a pony that truly cared. He was just miss-guided, blinded. Why fate had to do this to me; I don't know. Just forgive me for not showing how happy I am for seeing you safe again, it's being overshadowed by something bigger right now."

Ebony nodded. "Well... thank you anyway... I know it doesn't change what happened, even if it was for the best. Sorry about earlier I... I didn't know." He began backing towards the door.

"It's fine, Ebony, really. I'll come around, don't you worry. Just get Chrome, Feather and... Steel on your way out, okay?"

"Sure thing Dan. I owe you big-time." He said sadly, as he closed the door.

Again, a couple seconds later, the door opened. A lot more slowly this time.

Chrome came in with his head lowered. Feather looked sympathetic, she probably knew exactly what I was going through. If anything, she had it worse that I did. Steel didn't look like he wanted to be there. Celestia probably dragged him there.

They all came in silently. Feather probably told them too, she likely had a lot of experience with that kind of thing.

They all stood a respectful distance from me. I looked down at the scroll.

"So, you guys want to see what happened? Or are you just here to talk?" I looked up at them. "Oh, and welcome back Feather, sorry I'm not really in the mood for any joyous reunions at the moment."

Feather spoke first, in the quiet, calming voice she does so well. "We are here to do both, though we could do neither. If you want us too, we will leave. And... thanks."

"Okay, well gather 'round then. I'm only playing this once." They all sat around me on the bed, but left a nice distance. I played the video which had reset at some point.

None of them made any comments through the entire thing, except for some sympathetic and shocked mouth noises.

"Any questions?" I asked.

"Dan," Chrome said, rather hesitantly. "How are you doing?"

I sighed. "Physically, I'm fine, hand's a little battered though. But I still feel horrible. Dirty. What I did; needed to be done, but just because something is the right thing to do does not mean it's right... You know?"

"...and thanks for... you know." Chrome continued. He felt safer now that Forge was gone.

"It's fine, it's fine. I'm fine. I just need time now, really. To let it sink in and fade away."

Feather indicated them all to the door. The rest of them left without a word, leaving me and Feather.

She hugged me and I returned it. "Dan, if you ever need me, just say? Okay?" Funny, I said the same thing to her not to long ago.

I sighed happily. Putting my good hand on her head, ruffling her hair slightly. "Feather. It's good to have you back."

"You too. And as much as I hate to say it, and as much as you hate to hear it; I'm proud of you. You handled yourself very well back there. Rosewood is proud too, though he is a lot more... eager to show it."

"It's fine Feather, there's a side of me that's proud too." A side I wish I didn't have.

"And... I had a little talk with the CSI team, and managed to get you a present." She opened on of her bags and pulled out a familiar knife. The blade was almost the length of my fore-arm. Admittedly, it was a nice-looking knife, very sharp too. I knew that all too well.

I picked it up and waved in around in my hand slowly. Looking at it. "Thanks Feather. It's a nice knife, always... kinda wanted one of these. If I have to go into the military like Celestia suggested, I'll be sure to use it."

"Celestia told you to go into the military?" He eyes turning hard. But her tone didn't shift.

"Well, if the charges get pressed-"

"Excuse me." She walked away from me and out the door without a word. I put the knife on the inside of my belt, so it hung around my waste. The doctors had, at some point, put my belt back in the right place. I had tied it around my arm back in the restaurant.

A couple minutes later Hazel and Luna came in.

Hazel ran up to me and hugged me as soon as she laid eyes on me.

"I'm sorry, so sorry. I wanted to help I really did I jus-" I put a finger to her lips.

"It's fine. I've had a similar experience. My dog was attacked by another dog a couple years ago, I just stood and watched. My dog died. In the restaurant; I didn't. So it's fine. All harm done to me that night had already been done by the time you left, so you couldn't have done anything but endanger yourself." All 'physical' harm maybe...

Hazel dug her face into my clothes as Luna walked up and eye'd the scroll. "My sister says you have your memories on a scroll. Can we see them? I am interested in 'how it went down' so to say." I snorted. I remember saying that here only once, guess someone picked it up.

I pointed at Hazel, who pulled back. "I'm not sure if-"

"I can take it." She said, putting on a brave face.

"Are you sure? It's... graphic."

"Dan, I saw most of it happen. I'll be fine."

I sighed. "If you say so. You good?" I asked Luna, She nodded. I shugged and played the video.

Again, very little was said throughout the video.

Hazel was frozen. Luna seemed impressed. "You maintained control of a weapon even after it impaled you. Have you thought about taking classes?"

"At the moment, I'm trying to keep my mind off of any confict at all really." I said in responce.

She nodded understandably. "The first is always the hardest..."

I sighed. "Hazel, you okay?"

"...yes, just...I never expected anything like this from you Dan..." She looked up at me. "Who's Chrome? What did he do to them?"

"Chrome is a very good friend of mine. Forge, that pony, almost killed Chrome. Luckily I had time to save Chrome using a human revival technique. It was that that gave me my titles."

"Oh..."

"Yeah... 'Oh'..." The fact it was an act of revenge would probably bend the charges closer to me being punished in some way... I didn't know the laws of this place... Or what their 'sentences' were...

We all just sat in silence for a while.

They eventually left and I rolled over and went to sleep. I just need rest, this'll ware off eventually. I just need rest, I just need time.

Author's Note

Updated: ???/11/15 (Doing this at college, can't see the date right now)
-fixed some stuff regarding the story
-fixed grammar and a formatting error
-fixed some tenses

Probably the second-to-last chapter I have in stock before I have to start making new stuff. Oh god.

Its been so long I can't even remember what happens next. It's an adventure, even for me!

Chapter 18: Secret Plan(s?)

I stayed in that hospital for about a week, they insisted that I at least stay that long. I still didn't feel great, but I was doing better.

The only thing I had trouble with were nightmares, but after a meeting with Luna, they seemed to happen less often. She's proven to be quite nice, better than her sister in fact. Despite the fact she's a little spooky sometimes. Cadence and Shining came by later to say bye, they had to go back to that place they rule. While they were there I stopped Shining just before he left so that I could show him the com-scroll. Basically he just sighed, patted me on the back and left. Once I was finally allowed to leave it was like stepping into a new world. All the pony's either flocked towards, or away from me. The ones who ran had heard that I killed a pony. The ones rushing towards me were all asking for more music. It was nice to see that at least some people were enjoying it.

To their many questions I simply responded with:

"I'll have more by next year. Then there will be a little surprise for you all." They all seemed excited. Luckily most of them were actual fans, not people who just wanted something from me, all those were likely the type of ponies that frequent the restaurant I killed somepony in, so they were probably avoiding me.

I eventually got back to my room. I made a cup of coffee. And sat on the couch.

Now, the coffee sucked. Because I hated coffee. I still do. I just felt like I needed something, and I will admit, the scorching liquid, foul taste and caffeine all helped me to feel a little more 'human'. At least for a while.

After I finished my drink, I looked out of the window, over the city. It was cold. Very cold, now. Autumn was in full-swing, and soon, winter would have its grasp on the land. I was looking forward to it, it was my favorite season after all. The long, silent nights. Not having to go outside too much because of the 'it's too cold' excuse. And then going outside and not seeing too many people. It was nice.

My momentary retrieve was broken by a very polite, rhythmic knock on my door.

Alarms set off in my head. Who could that be? Anyone I know would just either let themselves in, or at least use a boring knock, as did all of the palace staff.

Again, the rhythm played out, a little faster this time. They must be getting impatient.

Warily, I walked to the door. I leaned against it. "Who is it?" I rang through the door.

"Open the door and you'll find out!" They said, in a slightly familiar voice. But it was in a very sing-song tone, so I couldn't put my finger on who it was, or if I even knew them at all.

I groaned and slowly opened the door. I was met with a pink blur. It hit me in the chest and I fell over backwards, it landing on top of me and constricted my ribs.

Both unfortunately and fortunately, it was not the 'Pink blur' I was thinking of.

"Thank you so much Dan, they finally got me out of there!"

I pushed her off of me and she allowed me to stand. "Oh, it's you Dawn. Good to see you're okay. You seen Steve yet?"

She cocked her head. "Steve?"

"That's what he calls me, Sweet." Steve said from the doorway. "Don't know why." He fully entered the room and closed the door behind him.

Dawn giggled. "Ha, and you let him get away with it? Damn, you two really are as close as you said, STEVE." She said, teasingly.

I could see why Steve chose this one. She was small, yes, but she was light on her hoofs, I could tell just by the way she held herself. Not to mention, she just said 'Damn'. I could get used to this.

Steve rolled his eyes. "Anyway, we were wondering Dan, if you would like to join us on a date tonight? I know you only recently recovered from... something, but you seem fine."

I held up my hand. It no longer had bandages on it, the scars were clearly visible. I held it so that they could only see the palm. "Ebony likely won't want to go on any dates any time soon, not after this happened." They both stared at my hand, neither were that impressed, they were both basically military after all, but they still looked worried.

"My goodness Dan!" Steve said, purely out of politeness, not actual shock. "You cut yourself pretty bad on something huh? Mis-handle some cutlery or something?"

"I guess you could say that..." I said, turning the hand around to show the exit wound.

They both blinked. "Dan," Steve said. "I was gone for... just over a week. And this. What happened while I was gone?"

Dawn also looked to me, curiously.

"Wow, no one told you guys anything?" I asked, they both shook their heads.

"All we knew was that you were in hospital for some injuries and that you were out 'tomorrow'. How long were you in there for before we got back?" Dawn asked in response.

"About a week." I said shrugging.

"What happened?" The both asked in comic unison.

I simply picked up the scroll and handed it to them. Steve, being the only one with something even close to a thumb took it from me and held it for them both to see. They looked at it, confused, for a couple seconds. I sighed, leaned over the sheet now facing away from me and pressed the screen, prompting the video to play. They both gasped and watched in both wonder, and dread. Guess that thing is a revolution in technology or something to them.

A couple minutes in.

"That little sh- shoot!..." Dawn said. Oh my god I love her. "Dan you DO realise that pony across the road was Fo-" I cut her off by raising my hand. And told her to keep watching.

Dawn said to Steve a couple moments later "Look, there! There he is!" She pointed at the page.

"Oh! And there again!" Steve said, pointing to the page.

"Where?" Dawn asked.

"There! Right behind Eb-"

-Thud-

"OH MY GOO-"

-Voosh Shing-

"W- WHA-"

-Thud-ud-ud-

"DAN?!?!" Steve screamed.

I didn't answer. Dawn just narrowed her eyes at the screen. Speaking under her breath.

Steve just stared at the screen, wings drooping by his sides. Dawn's were tight against her sides, she looked like a sports fanatic staring at a screen in which their rival team has their ball of choice mere inches away from both her favorable scoring point and her not-so favorable one.

They watched through the entire thing. All the way up to when Celestia put her horn to my head.

-Bitch I kicked Celestia's personal guard in the face! Nothing can defeat me!-

Steve gave me a very long, strange look for that.

Dawn rolled up the scroll when it was done and rolled it across the floor towards me. It hit my foot.

She sighed, walked to me, put a hoof on my shoulder. "Good job." I just slowly blinked at her. "That also explains why you have THAT." She pointed to the knife still on my belt, Forges knife.

"Oh yeah... Forgot it was there." I said, slightly shocked to think I could misplace such a dangerous object.

She snorted. "You don't forget its there when you need it, I know that from experience." She turned around. "Rose... You okay over there?"

Steve just gave out a high pitched avian groan, completely un-moving. He looked like he had stared into the eyes of time itself.

I blinked. That was a pretty weird sound. "Oookay. I'll ask Ebony if he wants to go with you guys. I would love to, but don't be surprised if he doesn't want to. 'Still has a scar on his face." Steve flinched.

Dawn grimaced slightly. "Yeah, I'd imagine so..."

Another damn awkward pause. I needed to change the subject. I thought back to my plan, I had the two of the people I needed in the room with me, so I decided that would be a good topic, though I would keep it vague. Don't want them to figure out what I am doing now do I?

"Okay, guys." They both looked at me, now focused again. "Wait here, I need to do something." They both looked confused but agreed awkwardly.

I walked to the kitchen and got a couple metal pots and lids. And placed them on the floor in front of Dawn. Then I got some random objects to raise some of them off of the floor. After that, I got some spoons and held them to Dawn.

"Dawn. Hold these with your wings." I said, presenting the handles of the two spoons to her.

She blinked. "Dan, what is this?" Dawn asked, gesturing to the mess in front of her.

I sighed. "Just listen to me okay? Hold these."

She gave me a harsh look, then shrugged and took them in her wings. The feathers folding around them firmly. I was taken a-back by the show of strangely-located strength, but it was exactly what I needed.

"Now," I continued, "Hold the handles out towards the pans." The spoons rotated. "Okay, now, hit one."

"Dan. If this is some kind of combat test-" She began to protest, but I cut her off.

"No, it's not. Just trust me, I need you to do this."

She sighed and sluggishly hit one. It let out a low-pitched metallic clank. She looked back to me with bored eyes.

"Okay, good." I said. I took the spoons from her. I walked round the pans and she backed away to let me get to the other side of them, where she had been.

Steve snapped to his senses. "Dan... What are you doing?"

I put my finger to my lips. He rolled his eyes.

"Okay, Dawn," I continued, not looking away from the pans. "Repeat this." I tapped a basic rhythm into one of the pans with a single spoon.

She blinked. "Dan... You're not-" I held up a hand to her. Then handed her the spoons.

She cautiously walked over to the pans and replicated what I did. Very passively, yes. But she did it.

She looked to me. I nodded approvingly. "Now," I said, taking the spoons back. "This." I tapped a very fast rhythm, using both spoons and multiple pots. I looked back to her and held out the spoons. She was slightly shocked at something, but took them rather quickly.

She slipped a couple times and lost rhythm even more times. But after a couple minutes, and a lot of 'slow down's and 'try again's, she was repeating a fairly complicated rhythm at a steady pace.

"Now tap your hoof to the rhythm as you do it." I said, pointing to the joint in question. She looked to me, uncertain. I shrugged to her and she continued the rhythm and this time began hitting the ground lightly with her front hoof timidly, along with the rhythm. She was spot on. I held up a hand after a couple rounds and she stopped.

"Good! Good! Now, do it again, but no tapping." I said, then turned to a very confused Steve. Dawn began the rhythm again. "Now, you tap along to the rhythm."

Steve blinked and looked at the pots. "What... rhythm?"

"Dawn, keep going." I said, she didn't stop. She almost looked entertained. "Steve, you've gotta feel the beats. Follow my lead, K?" He blinked a couple times and nodded as I walked over to the kitchen counter. He followed me, reared up and placed his elbows on the counter as I had. "Like this." I began tapping every half-beat with one hand and adding a harder tap with the other hand, along with Dawn's pots.

He looked at my hands and copied them. A little out of sync. "Steve, don't copy my hands. Copy the beat." I nodded my head in time to emphasize what I meant. His face turned determined. Then closed his eyes. His talons paused slightly, then began again, perfectly on beat. He realized what he was doing, opened his eyes and beamed at me. His whole body moving in time.

"Yes, Steve! You're feeling it buddy!" I patted him on the back. I looked over to Dawn, about to tell her to stop. But then I saw her face.

She was having the time of her life, like Steve, she was putting her whole body into it, swaying and pulsing in perfect sync with the impromptu beat.

Seeing them both like that was probably one of the happiest moments in my life, just due to the pure joy they were emanating. I'm pretty sure Ebony was at the door, lapping it up from around the door-frame or something, because even I felt like there was something in the air.

I laughed slightly and reluctantly tapped Dawn on the shoulder, she stopped and turned to me with a disappointed smile, still beaming. She looked over to Steve and put a hoof over my mouth to stop me from speaking, as I was about to. I looked over to Steve, he was still in the zone, tapping the rhythm onto the counter in an almost perfect replication.

It was this moment, I knew. I knew my plan would go perfectly. Or at least these two's parts will.

Eventually Steve noticed something was missing from his little performance and looked over to us. We were both looking at with with slightly slack jaws. His rhythm petered out and he chuckled awkwardly. We simply smirked at him.

I pushed Dawn's hoof away from my mouth and stood. "You two keep working on that, but don't teach anyone else ya' hear?" The both nodded profusely, massive grins on their faces. "Now get out of here! I've got to go and find Ebony, ask him about this date." They both began to leave.

"Dan, before we go..." Dawn said, they both paused just short of the door. "What was that?" Dawn asked. Steve nodded, also wanting the answer.

I laughed slightly. "That my friends, that is how REAL music is made." They both looked confused, but also excited. "My world doe's not have magic, that's how music is made back there."

They both looked rather happy at this. But Steve had a more curious look on his face. "Then why... why are you teaching us this?" He asked.

I snorted. "You'll understand, just wait." They both blinked, looked at each other and shrugged.

We all said our goodbyes and left. They headed somewhere together, while I set out to find Ebony. I didn't know where else he would be aside from our room, so I headed to the throne room, to ask whichever benevolent being happened to be there at that time.

My luck being what it was, I was met with Celestia. Sitting alone in the room.

She sighed as I walked in. Not in annoyance... but... something else. "What do you need? I'm... working on something right now..." She said. There was nothing in the room for her to 'work on'. Clearly something was bothering her, but I didn't have time for that, I had to ask Ebony whether or not he wanted to go on another date. And that decision could take all night knowing him, and what happened at the last date he attended.

"Yeah, you know where Ebony is? He's not in our room." I asked.

She hung her head. "At a questioning."

"A...questioning?"

"Yes, about... Forge." Her voice was strained and forced.

"Ah, how long will it take?"

She breathed deeply. "Another hour or so. Depending on... how he responds."

"Celestia, ponies hate changelings, granted not as much as you do, but they are still irrational, they will do anything to blame this all on him!"

She sighed again. "Dan, I assure you. I am listening in on the whole thing as we speak, they will not make any harsh decisions."

"They better not, or will will take his punishment on top of my own, if I have one."

She looked up from the floor and into my eyes. "Dan, I am trying my hardest, but you will be punished for you actions, even if I deem the actions you took necessary. It's sad, but it's the law." Her body twitched slightly, she was holding back so much emotion right then, even she could not hold it all in without some little hiccups. She saw that I had noticed, so continued, "I'm trying to cover it up as much as possible, but the media is all over it... at this point, the smallest charge I could bargain for looks to be at least a couple months in..." She breathed slowly. Her head hanging once again. "The dungeons."

I blinked. "So... prison right?"

"You could... call it that, yes. There is little I can do that I have not already done Dan. I'm sorry but... depending on how your questioning goes your punishment could range from a month in 'prison' or D- De-" He voice tapered out and she shuddered, letting out a shake-y breath.

I walked up to her in complete silence. The room was incredibly eerie. "Celestia, I'm okay with spending a little while behind bars, and I doubt they would give me a death-sentence or something." The look she gave me did nothing for my confidence. "Come on, there has to be something you can do... I hate seeing you like this."

She looked down at the floor. Then her ears perked up. "Yes... there is something I can do... But you won't like it..."

"Well?" I said hopefully. "What is it?"

She hardened her whole body, as if preparing for something to strike her. Then whispered, "Hold the doors. Now." At her tone, I ran over and pressed myself against them. Where the doors had been replaced, looked like they only opened one way now; inwardly.

"Now what?" I asked, pressing myself against the door.

Celestia lifted herself from her chair and stood in front of it, her body still hardened. "GUARDS! GUARDS! ARMED INTRUDER!" I had to cover my ears, she was so loud.

The door was hit from the other side, I held it shut, only just. "Celestia, what ar- I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" I blinked. That's not what I said... what just... what? I looked up and saw Celestia's horn glowing. "Celestia, did you do tha- GET BACK HERE!" What the hell is happening?! I looked down, my neck seemed to be glowing for a second.

Celestia raised her head again. "GUARDS!" She screamed. I felt a tugging on my belt and looked down, my knife had free'd itself from my belt and was hovering in Celestia's magic. As soon as I saw it, it flew off. "GUAR-" Celestia gurgled and sputtered as the knife flew across the room and slashed her throat. She stood for a couple seconds, the blood tainting her perfect-white fur. She stared at me, before her eyes rolled back and she fell limp. Collapsing and landing on her side, completely still.

I had no words. I opened my mouth, but so many things tried to be said, nothing came out.

Something drowned out my thoughts from behind the door. "sssssiiiiIIIIIIISSSSSTTTTTEEERRRRR" A scream came, approaching fast. I froze. Do I really want to be on the other side of this door when SHE tries to open it? I heard her galloping hooves, then the crackling of magic, still approaching. I felt the guards on the other side of the door stop pushing.

Nope. I leaped from the door, and ran towards one of the windows. I felt a shock-wave behind me, only making my advance towards the nearest window faster. The blast was soon followed by a scream. I dived for the window. Please be thin, please be thin, please be thin. The glass shattered as my shoulder made contact and I fell through. Now I another problem. Please don't be high up, please don't be...awoh...

I looked down seeing distant hedges, statues and grass. Some kind of garden. About 100 meters down.

I covered my face and closed my eyes as I sped towards the ground. My teeth cracked and groaned as they were pressed together by my tense jaw. This was it. This was the end... I thought as the floor approached.

I felt the wind around me slowly fade. "Not quite yet, I'm afraid." I uncurled myself slowly, finding myself in amber magic. I looked at the being in front of me. "Oh, don't worry about the window. I already took care of that." I turned around and looked up. I window was intact. I turned back around to greet my savoir.

"Thanks Discord." I said, still very shaken; but attempting to pass it off as a casual thing.

"The 'thanks' is all mine... to give to you, that is. This walk was rather boring till you showed up. Looks like you've stirred up the hive!" He said placing me on the ground. "Now run along, or they'll find you." He said, with a smile that made me question... well... everything.

"Er... okay, thanks." I said, and began to run out of the gardens. He rolled his eyes and kept walking in the other direction.

I made it into the residential area. When a thought struck me. The Cave! I made a change in my course and began booking my way to the train station. If I followed the tracks, I would reach the cave eventually.

As I was running, a group of guards turned the corner ahead of me. "HALT! FIEND!" They bolted for me. "YOU ARE UNDER ARREST FOR THE ACT OF TREASON!" Needless to say, I ran. And I ran hard.

What the actual fuck Celestia? It was all I could think as I ran through the streets, dodging ponies, carts and buildings, among other things.

After about a minute of running and being yelled at, the train station was in my sights. But it was swamped in guards. I stopped in my tracks when they all turned towards me, all wielding weapons. The spears, I didn't mind. The crossbows however...

I have a fear of ranged weapons, let's just say.

I froze and put up both hands.

All the guards flinched and an array of weapons flew at me. "THAT MEANS I GIVE UP YOU IDIOTS!" I yelled as I dived out of the way of the arrows and javelins.

I continued running in the direction I dived, finding the back of my leg slightly cold. I looked and my trousers had ripped. I guess one of those javelins was rather close to the mark there...

After a couple seconds of running I heard heavy wing-beats in the sky. God dammit. I leaped through the first window I saw and landed on a coffee table. Two stunned ponies sat at it, their meals now spread across the finely decorated room.

"Can't stay to talk guys, I think I just made Celestia kill herself!" I said as I ran out through the back door of the house. I heard the front door collapse as I left.

I rushed into the next house, trying to avoid the aerial threats. Only to find it full of guards. I froze.

They didn't move either, they just continued to aim their weapons at me.

I breathed heavily. "I... give up... guys..." I put up both hands again. Luckily they didn't shoot this time.

One of the guards snorted and all the unicorns in the crowd lit their horns. Their magic enveloped me and I found myself falling unconscious.

***

A blinding light and a sudden cold.

"WAKE UP YOU SCUM." He said, putting his now empty bucket back down, beside the table my wrists were tied to.

I looked around the room. Concrete in all directions. I was tied, by my wrists, to a large table that was bolted to the floor. A very armored door decorated the wall across the table from me.

"Wha-" I began.

"SHUT IT." He snapped.

I did so. I was not about to mess with this guy. He was very large.

He walked over to the door. "Now that you are awake. You will be questioned. Our chief interrogator will join you here once I have left." He left without even looking at me or waiting for a response.

The door closed, then began to open again. And an orange unicorn walked in. Her head buried in some paper work.

I blinked. She sat without even looking at me, still reading text in front of her.

"Name?" She said, in a monotone voice.

"...Dan Micheals." I said. Her head shot up.

She whispered. Looking up at me surprised. "Dan?! The heck have you done now?"

"I don't know Feather, why don't you tell me?" I responded, indicating to the papers.

She read through the rest of them. Her eyes widened. "You... you..."

"No, I didn't. She took my knife and killed herself."

"Dan, She would never do that." She said to me, with a glare that burned me to the core. "Now, the questions. What did you do?"

"Bit of a broad que-" My voice was cut off as a arc of lightning-like electricity leaped from Feather's horn and into my chest.

"What. Did you do."

"I went to the throne room. I saw that Celestia was looking rather down. I did not know where Ebony was so I asked her where he was. She said he was in a questioning. Then she told me she was doing her best to stop the charges from being pressed against me. But she then said I would likely face jail-time. I asked if there was any more she could do. She then said yes and told me to hold the doors shut. I did so, trusting her. She then screamed for the guards, took my knife in her magic and slit her own throat and fell to the ground dead."

She took it all down on a note-pad. "And after that?"

"I smashed through one of the throne-room windows and Discord caught me before I hit the ground and repaired the window. I then ran through Canterlot until I was caught."

She finished her notes and looked over them. "You know how fake this all looks right?"

"Yep."

She sighed angrily. "Now that my job is done," She put the pad down. "Why the heck did you kill her Dan?!" She asked slamming her hooves on the table.

"I didn't! She killed hersel-"

"IMPOSSIBLE! She would never do that! She has been ruling for... however long, she would not just 'off herself' because of a little thing like this!"

I sighed. "If that's what you believe, there is nothing I can do but say; 'It wasn't me.' And it didn't work the first time, so what's the point in saying it again?"

She blinked. "Dan. I trusted you. We ALL trusted you."

I didn't answer. I just hung my head in defeat. There was nothing I could tell them that they would believe.

She left and a small team of ponies came in and gave me some new, albeit a little loose, cuffs. They lead me to a door and tossed me in. I didn't resist, there was no point now. If my friends didn't believe me, who would?

I gathered myself from the floor and took a look around my new house. A cold, concrete room. Reminiscent of the one I found myself in a month-and-a-half ago. I laid on the small, rough sheet and closed my eyes.

Only to open them a couple hours later, screaming. Seems like Luna has let-off the nightmare-protection.

I propped myself up on one of the walls, and prepared for the longest night of my life.

Author's Note

Updated: 10/11/15
-Fixed tenses
-Fixed grammar
-Other tweaks

Yep, I ran out of old 'already written' stuff half way through this chapter.

Sorry it's a bit short, got stuff to do and whatnot, you know?

More coming late tomorrow. Probably. Depends when I can get home by. And how much college work I have to do.
This chapter was... well... unexpected.

Chapter 19: Revealed Intentions And Old Inventions

Every day was the same.

Sit in the corner and get as much sleep as possible.

Get food through the door.

Eat the food.

Repeat.

This went on for probably a month.

Until, one day. I seriously thought I had finally cracked and lost it.

There was a knock at the door.

A Knock. Not the usual sound of scraping metal that signified food being passed though. An actual knock.

I waited for a couple seconds. Another, single, knock.

I sighed. Expecting yet another 'questioning session' as they like to call it. "Yes?" I asked, my voice dry. At least they seemed to be in a polite mood for once, they actually bothered to knock.

There was a long pause. Before the door clicked, and slowly opened.

I stared in wonder. Her pristine, white coat. Her perfectly folded wings. Her golden accessories. Could it really be?

"You." I said, pointing at the pony in the doorway. "You have a LOT of explaining to do." My voice was quivering slightly. The complete absurdity of the whole situation hitting me like a freight train.

She smiled at me and stepped into the room, the door closing gently behind her. She trod softly towards me, then sat in front of me. I was still sat in my corner.

"Dan. First off..." She said, "I'm sorry."

I looked to the floor and nodded. Tears falling from my eyes. My face; torn between a beaming smile and a terrified glare.

"Second..." She continued. "I believe this is yours." A large knife landed in my lap.

I looked up to her. She looked... happy. I took that moment to channel my inner self, to listen to that tiny voice in the back of my head, to speak my mind, to voice my deepest and darkest feelings. I stared at her. "Celestia, what the actual fu-"

She put a hoof to my mouth. "Come, sit with me." She stood and walked out of the room.

I blinked and stood up, placing the knife in my belt. I stared at the door as it slowly swung shut again. Did... that just...

I pushed all thoughts out of my mind and walked through the door. I looked around. There were no guards. I walked down the hallway and into the open door at the end of it. There was a table. Celestia was sitting at it, an empty seat across from her. She smiled at me as I entered the cold, concrete room.

I shook myself slightly and sat. I was the first to speak. "So... I'm asleep right now... right?"

Celestia laughed slightly. "No Dan, I assure you. This is quite real."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "I watched you die."

"Oh Dan, you really think I would die from that? I think you forget just who I am sometimes." She said, putting a proud hoof to her chest.

"So... if this is real..."

She sighed. "I guess an explanation is in order."

I glared at her, and nodded. She took a deep breath and began.

"You see, when I saw the charges that were being pressed against you, I knew you would be sent to some form of punishment, and as we rightfully discovered, you are not exactly... 'hardy' as you put it. You would likely die in a prison, either to the conditions or the... other prisoners. I had to find a way of guarantying your safety. I could not simply 'get-rid' of your past actions. But... I could over-shadow them. By framing you, for my... attempted... assassination, I made the charges being pressed against you seem minuscule in comparison."

I just stared at her. "How does that help me?"

"Let me finish. I framed you, so that you would be classed as a danger to everything you are near. That is why they gave you an isolated cell, with little-to-no contact. And ponies who commit treason, or attempt it, are allowed to be punished personally by whoever is in power at the time."

I realized then why she did it. "So... you framed me... so that you could let me off of my potential punishments?"

She smiled. "Exactly. All I have to do is say that I've punished you and all the charges will be dropped. Even the ones from before."

I blinked. "So... wait, I'm confused."

She groaned. "Do you want me to tell you the loop-holes and politics behind it?"

"No!" I quickly answered. "God no! I hate that stuff... So... I'm free to go?"

"Almost." She said with a mischievous grin. "Stand." I stood, and so did she. She walked over to me. She lifted a hoof and gave me a light smack around the jaw. "There, I punished you. You are free to go." She said. Beaming.

I rubbed my face. "...Er... thanks... I guess... Do the others know?"

She nodded. "Oh yes, they are aware of the circumstances. I'm sure they completely understand now. Plus, I told all of the media companies this morning that you will be being released 'later today' so... just don't tell anypony what the punishment was. Okay? And don't tell anypony this was a set-up, enough know as it is."

I laughed slightly. "You're enough to make a man go mad, you know that?" I said, patting her on the back. She flinched at the contact. "Welp, I've got to go check on my guys. Oh, and do you have those 500 bits?"

She gave me a dead-pan stare. "Dan, you just got released from solitary confinement, are you sure you're... okay to be walking around in public? Also, I already paid that pony for you, as a little... apology for not informing you about my... secret plan."

The hell'd she say it like that for? I laughed slightly. "I'll be fine. Anyway, I have got a secret plan of my own to get to." I said, as I strolled out of the room.

I happily waved to every guard and pony I saw on my aimless walks around the concrete hallways. I may have looked confident and giddy on the outside. But I was completely lost. I beamed to the guard passing me, he looked at me with a concerned glare. Ha, no idea where I'm going... Eventually though, I found a staircase which lead upwards. It took me into a part of the Palace I recognized, so I continued to my room.

I walked to my eerily silent door and pushed the handle down. I knew something was up. It was too quiet. I slowly push the door open, it was pitch black inside, the thick curtains blocking almost all of the sunlight. I groaned, subduing to my inevitable fate, flipped the light-switch beside the door and braced myself.

Have you ever been tackle-hugged by a griffin, an changeling, three ponies and an alicorn? All at once? Let me tell you, it sounds nice, and it is. But god is it painful.

I pushed the teary sods off of me and closed the door behind me. They were all making some kind of "It's good to have you back Dan" Or "I'm sorry I didn't trust you Dan." Speech. All talking over each other.

I silenced them by lifting a hand. "Everyone. Lift a hoof and repeat after me."

They all looked at each other, shrugged and raised a hoof, or talon, in Steve's case.

"I will never speak of this again."

Luna, Steve, Chrome, Feather, Dawn and Ebony all repeated it.

"There. Now that that's all cleared up... How's about a drink?"

Basically we all went down to the Shadey and got completely wasted. And I mean ALL of us. Even Hazel came along after some convincing. They all told me their little speeches, and I immediately lost them in a haze of blurred memories.

I was off the hook. It was a time for celebration. And then forgetting... everything.

The next day, after some very necessary recovery sessions with the gang, I left Chrome's room. We all woke up there, so I assume Celestia came along at some point and put a stop to our escapades.

I walked out into the streets. Just to walk, really. It's only a coincidence that I passed the smithy on my way around the city. Really I was just looking around to see how much things had changed. The only real change was the temperature. It was cold cold now. Late November or something.

I walked into the smithy and the poor guy behind the counter sighed. "This ain't a- Oh! Dan! There you are!" He perked up when he saw me, a smile on his aged face.

I gave a slight wave. "Yeah, hey. I was wondering around outside and thought I would check on how my stuff is coming along. And also check that Celestia really did pay you."

He nodded. "She sure did! A little extra too!" His head ducked under the desk and pulled out a bag about twice the size of his head. "I got your stuff done early, as a 'thank you'!"

I blinked and took the bag. I just got a thank-you gift... for a thank-you gift... I'm okay with this..."Aw, thanks dude."I said as I peaked into the bag. Everything I need... wait... "Hey, I'd hate to be a burden..."

"Anything for you Dan. Well, not anything, but you get what I'm saying. What do you need?"

"I just need a couple planks of woo-" My words stopped as a batch of about 10 or so rather large planks hit my chest. "T-thanks." I said, struggling to keep them up.

"You're welcome!" He called to me as I walked sideways out of the door.

I hauled that stuff all the way back to my room. And got to work. Using my new knife to shape the wood and create the cavities necessary.

A couple hours later, I had finished. My creation was almost complete. Just one more thing...

I took myself, and my new toy, to the throne room. A still very hung-over Luna greeted me.

"Okay, this is going to sound weird," I started, "But I need you to cast a spell on the end of this wire which changes electrical current into sound."

She blinked sluggishly and sighed. Her horn lit for a split second. "There, done." I could tell, she really wanted to be alone.

I looked down at it and tested it. Luna recoiled at the sound, but I made sure nothing too loud came out just yet. It sounded right, a little off-key though.

I laughed. "Yes, it's done! It's finally done!" I ran out of the room laughing, just to spite Luna. And also scare her, just a little bit.

I got back to my room and set it down on my table. In front of me was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen.

With a knife-molded wooden frame... screw-tightened strings... A hollow underside with wires precariously taped into place... Magnets under each string... Wires leading off of the magnets and into a blue, glowing sphere of magic... I had made... from scratch... An electric guitar.

There are no words for the amount of pride that coursed through my body when I attached the final piece of wood onto the back, concealing and containing the mess of wires and magic beneath the wood. I quickly began to tune it by tightening/loosing the screws at the end of each string. Eventually, it let out a magnificent sound that made everyone in the other room, Chrome's room, groan in pain.

As much as I would like to torture them some more, it hurt me too. So I just settled for some quite practice-strums. To get back into the feel of things. I mean, how could I teach Steve how to play without knowing myself?

Luckily, I still remembered a lot of old riffs from back home. So I had a blast just sitting there and browsing through my inner library of songs. I tried using the guitar while channeling music magic, but it never really worked, unfortunately. It looked like I could only play things I knew how to play, so I was not able to cheat, like I did with singing.

Eventually, the others next door seemed to recover, as Ebony and Steve walked into the room while I was playing.

As soon as I noticed them ,frozen in the doorway and staring at me, I ushered them inside and quickly shut the door.

"Dan?" Ebony asked, "What is that?" Pointing at the impromptu instrument in my hands. Steve looked even more confused that Ebony. Ebony was probably resistant to confusion and shock at this point, he had spent way to much time with me.

"This? Oh, just a little toy I made." I said, strumming the strings to demonstrate. I held it by the handle and thrust it towards Steve. "This is for you, Steve. Learn it and it's ways. You learn how to do this and I will love you. Give up and I will be disappointed." He took the handle from me and looked it over in confusion. "Break it, I will kill you." he flinched and continued inspecting it a lot more timidly.

"So... I hold it like... this?" He sat on his hind legs and held the guitar like I had been seconds ago.

"Yep, it's basically a very manly harp. That's the best way to describe it, considering that's like the only instrument that exists here." I said.

He reached out and plucked a string. Then plucked a couple more, slowly. "Dan, I can only make like... 6 noises with this..."

I laughed slightly, at his complete innocence to how strings work. "Try using your other hand... claw... whatever... to press on the wires as you strum them. Experiment a bit." He did so and was taken back by the difference applying pressure to points on the strings made to the sound they produced.

Ebony seemed jealous. "Dan, how come Rose gets all the cool stuff?" He said, having to raise his voice over Steve's practicing.

I rolled my eyes. "Ebony, you said it yourself a while ago, you have nothing but legs. You can't play something like that."

He turned into a very familiar griffin after a flash of green. Steve jumped back and dropped the guitar. It made a horrible sound as it hit the ground.

"Remember what I said Steve. Break it and I'll..." I didn't have to finish my sentence, he quickly picked it up and smile sheepishly, glancing at the new Steve in the room, who was glaring at me.

"And yes Ebony." I said to the griffin. "I forgot you could do that, but I doubt you want to be like that when my plan executes." He gave me a scared look, Steve did too. "But don't worry, I'll find you something." Steve got a suspicious look on his face. Oh no... he might be figuring out what I am doing. Steve didn't make any further comments. At least he is keeping it to himself, if he's figured me out.

Later in the night I asked Steve how Dawn was. He said that she was really enjoying that 'pot' thing I taught her. I laughed at his wording, he didn't get it. But yeah, turns out she's turned out to be quite the drummer from what I have heard. If everything goes to my plan... aw man, it would be glorious.

Author's Note

Updated: 10/11/15
-There were a LOT of spelling/grammar mistakes in this one for some reason, maybe I was EXTRA tired when I made this one. I mean... "Oh no... Me night be figuring out what I am doing" ... seriously, it's like someone's gone and vandalised it. Damn tired-past-me.
-Also "Reveiled" ... god damn it past meeeeeee
-Fixed stuff
-Blah blah usual stuff fixed

Sorry about the short chapter, only so much I can do right now. Kind of got a lot of college stuff going on right now. You know, as it does.

See, I told you guys everything was fine. And guess what? Everything IS fine. For now at least.

Chapter 20: A Snowy Day In Canterlot

"I still don't see why you're buying all this stuff..." The old man huffed as I took the kinda heavy bag. "It's making me a fortune though. So I know better than to question it." He smiled at me as I handed over the hefty sack of coins over to him. I had managed to blag even more money from Celestia. Seems to be a talent of mine. My parents used to get so mad at me when I did it to them, somehow I always ended up spending more of their money than my own.

It had been a couple weeks since I first made Steve his guitar. I was just picking up the parts I ordered shortly afterwards, parts for an acoustic this time. I was always better with those, since I prefer the little, simple riffs. I thanked the smithy-owner and pushed open the door. A blast of cold hit me, carrying with it razor-sharp, shrapnel-like flakes of frozen liquid.

It was mere days away from this world's version of Christmas, so it only made sense for it to be snowing. It couldn't be a holiday episode if it didn't snow. I doubt this world is literally the one from back on the TV, I would look rather out of place, but the same rules apply here. Every season was a plethora of cliche activities and gags.

Even as I write this, I can here some foal outside yelling about his 'fwozen tou-ge'. Poor guy must'a licked something. Anyway, back on topic...

I quickly made my way back to the palace, where the snow could no longer pester me with it's suppressing field of miniature, icy torpedoes. I silently thanked the heavens that I had eventually picked up that jacket I ordered from Hazel. And since she gave me a scarf as an 'early present', getting through the weather was a lot easier than it would have been without it. The jacket was not water-proof, but it deflected enough of the cold for me to remain comfortable for a reasonable amount of time, out in the falling snow.

Visibility was low, but I had a pretty good mental-map of Canterlot at this point, so I made it back to the palace after a couple minutes of fighting the oncoming winds. It truly was winter now. Short days, long nights, cold everything. And I was loving every moment of it.

Some people weren't though...

"Sup Chrome?" I said as I entered his room. He was headed for the door as I walked in, but turned back when I came in.

He was covered head to... hoof in thick waterproof coats, boots and scarves. He looked rather ridiculous, but he had spend the last two or three days like that, so it had lost its effect on me over time.

"Dan, you took forever!" Chrome said, once he was sat back down in his spot by the 'safe' magical (talk about an oxymoron) fire in the center of the room, lovingly cast by one of our resident alicorns. Steve, Dawn and Ebony encompassed the rest of the way around the fire. Dawn and Steve were snuggled into each other in a very feathery show of affection, Chrome just sat, staring at the fire as if it were his life-line. Ebony, not fazed by the cold at all, just kind of sat there, looking as huggable as ever.

The other three in the room gave agreeing statements to what Chrome had said, I snapped to my senses and placed the guitar parts down against the wall. No way those are going near the fire that's for damn sure. I- Celestia paid good bits for those!

"Sorry guys," I said as I sat by Ebony, he hugged into my side as I did so, already warming my cold jacket. "The snow's really falling out there now, it slowed me somewhat." They all gave sympathetic looks at my still slightly snow covered clothes. And by all, I mean all but Steve, with his feather/fur combo he was almost as resistant to the cold as Ebony was.

"Ah, stop being a wimp, this is nothing compared to what I have been through. Have you ever heard of Gr-"

Dawn stuffed a hoof into his beak. "Yes! We all have! Twelve times! Shut up about your damn country." She released him. "We all know: 'it's cold'." She said, imitating his slight accent. Steve chuckled while Chrome flinched at her use of language. Ebony was completely habituated to basically any bad language at this point, having spent so much time with me.

It was nice seeing those two back together, they had a strange relationship, but it was tender all the same. Their wedding had been delayed until next spring, to let them both settle back down, after such an emotional time.

"So, Dan." Ebony said, turning to me and also getting everyone's attention. "What's in the bag?" He nodded his head towards the bag of parts sitting by the door.

"Oh that? That's just some supplies for something I am working on, nothing for you to worry about." They all gave me suspicious glances. "Now, who's for some snow stuff?"

They all looked to each other. Dawn, being by-far the most forward of the group, responded first.

"Snow... stuff?" She said, tilting her head. A very serious look on her face.

"Erm, you know... fun snow stuff..." She blinked. "Your going to make me say it aren't you?" None of them responded. I groaned "Uhg, fine." I took in a breath and stood. "Let's go..." I exhaled. "...play... in the snow." I said, through gritted teeth.

Steve smirked. "Was that so hard?"

I got up and walked to the door. "I am leaving. Now. Anyone who wants in on fun snow stuff, come with. Boring people, stay here." And with that I left, taking the bag and closing the door behind me. I put the bag into my room and turned around. Finding everyone who wasn't boring.

Meaning everyone was there. Except for Chrome, who was presumably still huddling beside the fire.

They all beamed at me. I laughed slightly at the unusual crowd. A griffin, a retired military specialist and a changeling-turned-guard-turned-changeling.

"Come on then you lot." I said as I walked to the palace's front gates. They followed close behind me and we made conversation on the way there. I could feel the temperature drop immensely upon the last turn of our trip, exposing us to the bitter wind.

We all walked outside with some trouble, the snow was half-way up my shins, meaning it was almost up to the knees of the ponies. Steve however simply powered through it. The snow was still falling but a lot slower, same with the wind, it was a lot more tame. Foals and adults alike trotted outside, taking in the sights. The foals were being a lot more playful than the full grown ponies, but I could see some of them playing, when they thought no one was looking.

We walked until we found our battle-ground. A intersection leading in four different directions. We all looked at each other. We all knew what was about to happen. Dawn's determined look actually scared me. I see what Feather meant now...

Without warning we all took a street and hunkered down. I shifted snow as last as I could, digging out a trench while using the moved snow to make a protective wall in front of me, the other's had similar ideas.

I finished my wall and prepared my first batch of weapons. Five very well-packed snowballs. I stacked them ornately on the floor of my trench and peaked over my wall. A war was already raging, Dawn and Steve had finished first and had began their cross-fire. Ebony was peaking over his wall, just like I was. I narrowed my eyes, looking for a weak spot on his wall. There was none, it was immaculate. Unlike mine, that bulged slightly at certain points.

I decided to take a pot-shot. I threw one of my pre-made balls over towards Ebony, attempting to arc it over his wall and hit him.

It hit the top of his wall and skimmed over him. He raised his head from his shelter, glared at me and raised a hoof. I saw something I was not expecting. He had a snow-ball lodged in one of his leg-holes. He smirked and flicked his hoof towards me, sending the ball straight for me. I ducked and it whizzed by overhead.

His damn entire body is made out of catapults!

I heard an avian squawk. Steve's been hit! Knowing that Dawn would be distracted by her victory, I picked up a ball and hurled it towards her base, using the action of standing up to add more momentum to my shot. After the ball left my hand I looked at Dawn's wall, it was very battered, but was still holding strong. Dawn peaked over the wall at just the wrong moment and caught my projectile in her ear. She yelped and fell over backwards. As soon as it made contact I looked to the other two bases.

Only to see two snowballs, already in flight, flying towards me. I did not have time to duck. But, to my amazement (and luck) the two pieces of snow hit each other mid-flight, deflecting off of each other and showing me in a spray of tiny ice-crystals. Still better than the alternative. The two throwers glared at each other.

I ducked down and covered the top of my head as the sounds of war played out from behind my wall.

***

About an hour later, we where heading back to Chrome's room. We were all soaked, freezing and exhausted. Ebony still didn't care about the cold. But even Steve was cold. He would never admit it, but I could see it in his face and the way his beak was held shut tight, that he was secretly yearning for the fire's warmth.

Steve and Dawn were leading our pack as we approached the door. When Steve put his claws over the handle, a thought occurred to me.

"Steve wait!" It was too late, the door was open.

"Oh, care to join us?" Luna said from inside. Oh god Luna was in there and we jus- wait what did she just say?

I peaked past the two in the doorway and into the room. Luna and Chrome were by the fire, each with a steaming cup in the hoofs.

"We are making chocolate beverages!" Luna shouted triumphantly while extending a hoof.

I stifled laughter as I walked in, bringing the other three with me.

We all sat around the fire, dried off a bit and enjoyed some hot chocolate. A marshmallow almost the width of the cup itself in every drink. We all just sat in silence for a bit, it was nice, just three pairs sitting together, appreciating the fire, the drinks, each other...

It was a little awkward for Ebony, since he couldn't exactly have any of the drinks, that right was reserved for alcohol for whatever reason. But after snuggling into me a little harder, he felt comfortable.

Comfortable enough to fall asleep on me.

The two other pairs smiled at us. I could not help but smile too. Dawn chuckled slightly, "If you told me, fifteen years ago, that I would ever see that... I'd call you crazy..." She quietly said.

I looked down at the sleeping changeling. "Ha... yeah...I should get this guy to the bed. And..." I yawned, "I think I'll join him too."

They all silently waved, as not to wake him. I picked him up gently. Due to all those times I picked him up before, it was an easy task. He did stir slightly as I walked, but he curled up tighter and remained asleep. I genuinely would have fell to my knees if I was not carrying him, it was so cute. Right then, just like when Chrome looked back at me, on that first day... something inside me exploded a little.

I quietly pushed the door open with my back. Walked him over to the bed and laid him down, placing the sheet over him. I closed the front door then joined him. Today, though it had reasonably uneventful, had been exhausting. I quickly fell asleep that night, unlike most nights where I actually have trouble getting to sleep. I must have been completely drained. And Ebony must have as well, as much as he is more comfortable around ponies than before, he would never let his guard down like that on purpose.

Or maybe her turned a new leaf. Maybe the games we played with the others taught him something, or maybe I am just tired and looking too deep into things, yet again. I failed to mention this before, but that is something I do. Over-analyse. It has caused me many issues in the past, but here? In Equestria? Everything is unpredictable, there is no point even trying to understand this place. So I kinda left that behind on Earth. Most of it at least.

I chuckled quietly. "Crazy horses..."

Author's Note

Updated: 10/11/15
-Fixed tenses
-Fixed spelling and grammar

Aaaand clocking in at 3:42 we have a new chapter!!

Again, it's a short one, I know. College is really restricting the amount of time I get on each of these. Since I like to start and finish a chapter in as few sittings as possible.

This is a more relaxed one, no real conflict. Just updates on how things are going and what those guys are doing.

Chapter 21: The Beginning Of Something Big?

I woke up the next morning, a little too hot. The night before-hand had been very cold, so I was rather tightly wrapped in the sheets. The temperature had risen since then so I felt a little ill due to the heat, but it was manageable.

I sat on the edge of the bed and turned around to look at Ebony, see if he was awake. Just as I did so, his eyes flickered open. He gave me a long glance, before looking down at the bed, then around the room. He looked back to me, slightly concerned.

"How did I... get here?" He asked, sitting up and rubbing one of his eyes.

I laughed slightly, remembering the events of the day before. "You fell asleep on me. So I carried you here." I said, shrugging.

I cast a look out of the slightly a-jar curtains. The snow had melted somewhat, and dark clouds loomed in the distance, casting the mountains that lined the horizon in an ominous shadow.

Ebony didn't answer me, and instead gave me a pained look, before collapsing back down into his pillow. He groaned into it and pulled the sheets back over himself.

I rolled my eyes. "You're almost as bad as me, Eb." I said. Then, defying my own statement almost immediately, I stood up and walked to the door. "I'm going to go work on that thing, okay Eb?" I looked back from the doorway.

He just lifted a hoof and waved it in a 'Go on I don't care' motion. I understood, sometimes a man needs his sleep, even if he had been asleep for longer than I had by a small margin.

I snorted as I closed the door behind me, picked up the bag and emptied it across the table. This one's going to be a bit harder. I thought. Mentally preparing my brain to actually 'do work' for once.

I had to not only make all of the strings work correctly, I also had to piece together the wood very carefully. If I got the interior wrong, or left a gap, it would never sound right. And I needed this to be perfect, or at least a good representation of a generic acoustic would be like.

I started on the guitar. By placing the wooden shapes together and sticking them down. I was about to attach the final piece of the frame when there was a knock at the door. I didn't let it distract me. I slowly and carefully put the last piece in place. After making sure it was secure, I left it on the table, the strings still laying beside it.

I got a quick glass of water from the sink on my way to the door. I held onto the glass firmly as I opened the door, in case I was tackled again. You can never be too careful when a pony like Dawn's about the building somewhere.

But instead of an attacking blur of fur, I was met with the record salesman. Veiled Alloy.

He stood awkwardly in the doorway. In complete silence, not making complete eye contact with me. I realized that was going nowhere so I decided to speak up, before he walked away or apologized or something.

I put on my most pleasant exterior. "Oh, hi Alloy. What a nice surprise. What do you need?" I asked. He smiled sheepishly and shuffled slightly.

"I..." He looked to the glass in my hand. "Oh, am I interrupting something? I can leave!" He stuttered, taking a step backwards.

"No no, I just woke up is all." I had to stop him from trying to leave every time I said something, seriously. "Please, come inside." I said, backing up against the door frame, allowing him space to pass.

He blinked. "Sir, Dan... I am honored... but I don't want to impose..."

I rolled my eyes. "Just get in the room." I said, in a very slightly stern voice. That was enough to send him rocketing into the room and onto the sofa. I sighed and closed the door, sitting on the sofa adjacent to his, the half-finished guitar sitting on the table between us. I looked at him and he met my eyes for once. "Now, what do you need?" I said, beginning to tinker with the guitar again.

He tapped his hooves together nervously. "I... wanted to ask you... if you had made any- any more... m-music." He took a couple glances around my room, getting used to his surroundings.

"No Alloy. I haven't. But it's coming. As I said, I will find you when I have new music." I said, while screwing the strings to my new guitar into place.

"Oh... sorry..." He said, looking at the floor.

I attached the last couple strings. "Don't be, I should have told you it would take a while, I've got some things in the works right now." I gave an experimental strum of the strings. Completely out of tune. I used the screwdriver to tighten a couple of the screws, guessing at how much pressure would be needed. I strummed again, a little better. "Like this." I said, gesturing to the guitar.

Alloy blinked at the device in my arms. "What... what is it?"

I laughed slightly, continuing to slowly tune each string. "Human instrument. Back where I come from, music is made by stuff like this, not magic." I played a little riff for him. "See? Obviously this is still out of tune, it needs a lot of tweaking before it will sound like it should. But it's getting there."

He seemed mesmerized by the sound for a couple seconds. "Such an ingenious design..." He whispered, with wide-eyes. I, slightly creeped out, didn't respond and instead kept working on the strings. After a couple second of watching me, he spoke again, in a louder voice. "Are you... going to use that in your music?" He pointed to the guitar with a hoof.

"Well, I was hoping to, but my music-magic does not work properly while I am using things like this. Or at least it didn't while I was using the electric guitar I made." His ears perked at the mention of something else 'I made'.

"Eletic what?" He asked in a normal voice. Then he flinched and returned to his usual, shy-ass voice. "Oh, sorry, I mean... if you don't mind me asking."

I gave him a confused look. His awkwardness was completely gone for a second there... maybe he just really likes music or something.

I noticed I had not answered, so I corrected myself. "Oh, er, Electric guitar. This here is an acoustic guitar. It uses purely the sound of the strings vibrating to create it's sound. Whereas the electric guitar uses magnets. As the strings vibrate, it causes the magnets to create a small electrical charge in the wires that are wrapped around them. Those charges flow down the wires and are then changed into sounds by... well... here it's changed into sound by magic. Back on Earth we had different ways of doing that."

He blinked, amazed. "Pure genius." He whispered. He looked up at me and continued in his usual voice again. "Tell me, what does this... elect...ric?" I nodded. "...electric guitar sound like?"

I laughed slightly at his new-found enthusiasm, he didn't show it in his voice, but I could see the anticipation in his eyes. I strummed through the strings on the un-tuned guitar. "Hm, it's pretty close, but still a little off." I mumbled to myself as I put it down. "I'll do that later." I looked back up from the table. "You want me to go get the electric one?"

He nodded very quickly. "Yes! I-I mean... if it's not too much trouble."

I snorted a laugh as I walked to the door. He really reminds me of someone. I wonder who? Ha, maybe they share a relative or something. He followed me to the door. I turned as I opened the door. "You can wait here, if you want. I don't mind." I said, he would be to scared to break anything while I was gone.

"No thanks... No offence but I feel an... evil presence in these rooms." He said with a scared glace back into the room.

"...Really?"

"...Yes it's... rather scary."

I chuckled slightly. "That's probably just my partner."

He did not make any further comments and soon we reached Chrome's room. I didn't know where Steve lived, so I figured Chrome might know. I decided to put on a show for Alloy, to show him how my relationships work.

I knocked heavily on the door. "OI Chrome! You up yet?" I called through the door. Alloy flinched at my volume.

After a couple seconds, the door opened. Alloy froze.

"Sup Luna." I said, clicking my fingers at her. "Chrome available right now?"

Luna had possibly the worst case of 'bed-hair' I had ever seen. She did not even try to look even a little regale. She sighed slightly. "Yes, he's free. Just very tired. What do you need, maybe I can help instead."

I laughed at Alloy's stunned expression before turning back to Luna. "Yeah, I need to know where Steve and Dawn are staying?"

She rolled her eyes. "Rosewood and Dawn are just down the hall." She pointed further down the hall. "Second door on the left."

I reached over and patted Luna on the nose. Alloy gasped under his breath as I smiled in amusement. "Thanks Luna."

She gave me a blank stare. "...Never do that again."

"You got it." I said as I walked away. I realized Alloy was not following a couple steps later.

I turn around and sighed. "Look's like I will have to give him the 'Luna treatment'." I said as I walked around him and to his other side.

Luna blinked in confusion and I smirked as I began pushing him along the ground. Luna finally got what I said, rolled her eyes and closed the door.

I continued pushing Alloy, but he came to his senses about half way there. Once we got to the door I hammered on it in a similar fashion to how I did Chrome's.

"Steve! I need to borrow the thing!" I called through the door.

The door opened very quickly, revealing Steve. Alloy reeled back at the sight on the griffin, hiding behind me slightly.

"What thing?" The griffin asked, not looking very amused. Must have woken him or something.

"The thing I gave you, to learn?"

"Oh yeah, that. Wait a second." He turned back into the room for a second, and returned with the glorious piece of craftsmanship. "Why'd you need this?"

"Just showing someone." I said, shrugging. Steve eye'd the stallion's cutie-mark. A record. Yeah he's probably figuring out what I am doing. I decided to distract him slightly. "You been learning this thing?"

He beamed and nodded. "Oh yeah! That thing can make noises I didn't even know were possible!"

I took the instrument from him and cradled it in my arms. "Yep, it sure can..." Then an idea. "Hey, how about we kill two birds with one stone. Steve, you show me what you have learned, and Alloy here can see what kind of noise it makes." They both flinched at something I said. "What?"

Steve gave me a strange look. "You humans have some weird phrases you know that?" Oh yeah, two birds with one stone. Gotta remember to not use that again.

"You know what I meant." I said as he lead us both inside. Alloy skirted around the griffin in the doorway.

The room was set up exactly like mine, but mirrored. Me and Alloy sat on on of the sofas, facing the rest of the room.

I handed Steve the guitar as he sat on the sofa across the small table from us. "Who's this then?" He asked, pointing at Alloy, who flinched.

"He's a friend of mine. He's the one who's been selling the 'My feather' records." I said. Steve nodded understandingly. "Alloy, this is Steve." I said gesturing to him. Steve growled slightly at his real name. "And Steve, this is Alloy." I said, gesturing back.

They shared a slightly awkward greeting.

"Now, the guitar?" I asked, once they were done.

"Ah, yes. Let me go and get Dawn, it's better with the pots." He left his seat and began walking to the bedroom door.

"Wait, you two have been playing together? I asked.

He turned back while walking. "We tried it and it sounded good, so we do it together, yes. Were we not supposed to?" He looked slightly worried.

"No no, if anything it's good." I said. It's also an entire step skipped in my plan.

Steve walked into their bedroom and retrieved a very tired looking Dawn. Steve went into the kitchen and, with practiced ease, built an impromptu drum-set just as I had, except this one was changed slightly. Steve sat on the sofa and readied his tool. Dawn slowly walked over to the pots, shook herself, becoming more awake, and wielded the two spoons in her wings.

Alloy watched in confusion. I watched in amazement as Steve lifted a finger and Dawn started a single tapping motion. Steve then lifted another, Dawn added another couple hits to each beat, he lifted a third and Dawn had a full-blown beat going. It was simple sounding, but still very impressive. Steve lowered his hand back down to the strings. Waited for a couple seconds, then began once one of Dawn's rounds on the drums was done.

Needless to say I was amazed by what I heard in the next couple minutes.

It was Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, covered by a home-made electric guitar and a couple pots. Basically, what I'm saying is that it was bloody beautiful.

Steve handled the strings like a pro. Granted the song was not very fast, but he had somehow figured out how to do pitch-harmonics. And Dawn... well Dawn broke one of the pots half way through, but substituted it for one of the other ones. If that doesn't show versatility, I don't know what does, there was not even a pause in the song, they both continued as if nothing had happened. And that is how you do it.

Considering that Alloy was completely and utterly silent for about a minute after they had finished, I decided I should speak first. "What's that songs name?" I asked. They two looked at each other and shrugged.

Steve looked back to me. Putting the guitar down. "It's a song I have heard many times while in my homeland... I am not sure what it's called though..."

I thought for a second. Beethoven...Beethoven...Ah-Ha! "Beethoofen?" I asked. God I hate myself.

Steve beamed. "Yeah! That's it!" Of course it is. "How did you know that?"

I just smirked and tapped the side of my nose. Steve and Dawn rolled their eyes. I looked over to Alloy, who was still frozen.

"Well? What did you think?" We all turned to the nervous stallion.

He blinked. "It was... amazing... You two should make a ban-" I shoved my hand over his mouth.

The other two stared at me. I quickly pushed Alloy towards the door. I got him outside the door with no resistance. "Alloy, visit me in a week or so if I don't visit you first, got it?" He nodded slowly. I slammed the door and sat on the sofa, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Dan, what was that all about?" Steve asked from the other sofa. I caught my breath in my mouth.

"He... really needed to go somewhere today...?" There clearly were not buying it. "Uhg, who am I kidding. I was teaching you how to play music the human way so that we could make a band. It was meant to be a surprise but..."

They gave each other pained looks. "Dan, it's okay. We were actually thinking about doing it ourselves anyway." Dawn said. "You can join us if you want. We do need more members."

"...Of course I will join you guys! I even have a new instrument in my room!" I said, my eyes blurring slightly due to the moisture collecting in them.

Steve tilted his head. "We were thinking more... singer..."

"Oh no," I said, "I can only sing what I use music magic, I really can NOT sing at all."

Dawn thought for a second, her eyes drifted to my hands and she hummed slightly. "I think I have an idea for what you can do. What is that instrument you mentioned?"

"It's similar to Steve's, why?" I responded.

"I think I have an instrument better suited for you." She said, smirking.

I blinked. "YOU. YOU have an instrument?"

"Well, it was actually my mother's. But she never used it, so I am sure she'd be fine with me giving it to you."

I thought for a second. "What is it?"

She smirked again. "You'll find out when you see it, for now, go teach Ebony how to play that 'new instrument' you have. He has wings and magic, so I am sure he can manage somehow. And remember to keep your hand's limbered up, you want to be prepared when this instrument arrives."

I stared for a second. "Well... thanks, really. I'm always down for learning new things."

Dawn laughed slightly at this for some reason. "Now get going you. Ebony's been waiting on the other side of the door for about... 15 minutes now."

I looked to the door, which slowly opened. Ebony poked his head in horizontally. "How'd you know?!"

Dawn shrugged. "Paranoia teaches you things sometimes."

"Ebony," I said, "How much of that did you hear?"

"All of it." He responded, "Though I had to leave for a couple seconds when you threw that pony out of the room."

"All of it?" He nodded. "Great, he pulled a Celestia on us." I said, sighing.

"Big Cely still doing that huh?" Dawn asked. Wow, she really IS close with the Princess. No wonder Celestia reacted the way she did when Dawn was found.

"Yeah, she's listened to I think two of my conversations now. I can see through her invisibility though, so she's even more creepy for me. She's even got Luna doing it too!"

Dawn gasped. "No. Way."

Steve looked between us, confused. "What are you two even talking about?"

Dawn waved a hoof. "Don't worry about it. Now, Dan, Eb'ster, get going. You've got an instrument to learn." Eb'ster... that's new.

I shrugged and waved as I left the room, pushing Ebony out of the room in the process.

We began walking back to our room.

I laughed as we walked. Ebony gave me a confused look. "Sorry, Dawn just makes the best nicknames." He rolled his eyes. "Gotta use 'Big Cely' at some point." I mumbled to myself.

Neither of us had had breakfast. (Well, Ebony probably just helped himself to love throughout the day) And it was past noon, so we decided to head to cafeteria. I picked up some stuff. Boring green stuff of course, they don't serve anything else there. I sat down on a very special table, Ebony sat across from me.

It was the table where I had first seen him.

We made casual conversation as we ate. The other ponies in the palace seemed used to Ebony now, actually. The ponies outside still freaked out slightly, but the guards and workers of the palace had all seen Ebony by this point. So it was nice to see him sitting in a room full of ponies and NOT be the center of attention.

Once I had finished my 'brunch'-like meal we headed back to our room. Once I had finished tuning the guitar one last time I handed it over to Ebony, who took it in his magic with some effort. He barely used his magic for anything, as side from panic-lasers apparently, so he was struggling to hold it.

I used a small shaving of wood as a pick for him to use, so he would not have to use his magic to control the strings.

I had him playing basic stuff by the end of the night. But he was struggling to say the least, it got to the point where I had to hold the thing up for him, because it kept dropping to the floor whenever he lost complete focus.

For the second night in a row, he fell asleep somewhere other than the bed. He went to get a drink and never came back, and when I peaked around the kitchen counter I found Ebony passed out on the tile flooring. Once again I had to carry him to the bed.

Perhaps I should make him take... unicorn lessons or something... Do those exist? I don't know.

Author's Note

Updated: 10/11/15
-Fixed stuff (too tired to remember(I fixed it K?))

Actually getting around to do the thing I wanted to do since day 1 of writing. Only took me a couple thousand words to get there.

Just realized... I forgot to have lunch because I was writing all afternoon... oh well.

Oh, and please leave a comment, saying what you think. Try to keep it constructive, I'm new to this whole thing and I know writing is not my shtick. I just want to know you guys's opinions.

Chapter 22: Give And Receive

"HAPPY HEARTH'S WARMING!" We all called.

The throne room was covered in festive decorations. Colorful materials hung from the ceiling and the whole place smelt like pine needles and those spices people put in foods so that they can market them as 'festive'. Though these pleasant smells were being over-shadowed by the excitement building in everyone's stomachs. There was a large, decorated and very familiar type of tree sitting between the two thrones, casting colorful warped halos onto the nearby wall as it's lights pulsed and flashed in a seemingly random display.

We all, (Celestia, Luna, Chrome, Feather, Dawn, Steve, Ebony and Me), sat in a circle (in that order) just in front of the large tree. We had a small pile of six boxes in front of each of us, one from each pony, griffin, changeling and/or human. Each box was unique to it's sender. Each of us looked rather tired, but the smile plastered on each of our faces threatened to completely cover up that fact.

There were no guards in the room. The two 'big ones' dismissed them once we were all present. Allowing us to have some more private and honest interactions.

Since i was unfamiliar with this event's customs, I did some research beforehand and found out what the most common things to give in these colorful boxes were. Turns out, food and decorations are the most popular and accepted things ponies put in them, so, being the lazy thoughtful man I am, I just baked everyone a pizza each, except for Ebony. He can't really eat real food so I just used some left-over supplies from the guitars I made to make him something more... special.

After our call, we all began pulling the bows off of the boxes set before us.

I looked down to my boxes and took a second to appreciate the design each box held.

Every box from a pony had his/her cutie-mark on the side.

Chrome's: A grey-blue box with a black bow. Clearly mirroring his coat and mane colors respectively.

Feather's: A fire-red box that slowly faded to a vibrant yellow towards the top, causing a cool-looking effect. The bow was purple, the same shade as her eyes.

Dawn's: A bright pink box with a similarly colored bow. There was a pink feather placed in each knot. How she got those... I don't know.

Steve's: A mat-brown box with a dark-purple bow, reflecting the color of the tips of his wings. Seems purple bows are in season or something.

Luna's: A dark box decorated to look like the night sky, the bow seemed to flow and weave in the same way her mane... thing... did.

Celestia's: A sky-blue box with a bright yellow bow that seemed to radiate energy as I untied it.

And Ebony's: Oh Ebony's was awesome. It was a black box with a green bow. But each box had indentations in it, just like his hooves. I think we all appreciated his craftsmanship. I actually ended up keeping his box, it was too awesome to throw away.

I opened all of my boxes rather quickly. Just as everyone else had. There were 'thanks's and 'welcome's being passed around the room. So I waited for all of that settle before speaking. I noticed while I was waiting, that Ebony had not opened my gift to him. For some reason.

Once everyone had finally quieted down. "Thanks guys, for these. All of you." I said. They all beamed at me. ~~I deftly dodged their laser attacks - get it, cus they beamed? Nevermind.~~ Most of my gifts were food. But I had four gifts that peaked my interest. From Celestia, Luna, Dawn and Feather. "But first." I lifted the royal sister's gifts. "Really?" They both smiled sheepishly.

Celestia's gift was a model of the sun. Luna's was a model of the moon. They were clearly made by the same person, and were both supported by very intricately carved clouds. Each model was just small enough to sit in the palm of my hand and were made out of a cold, fragile-feeling material.

"We both thought they were appropriate." Celestia said, "Only a couple dozen of those still exist, be careful with them. But knowing your reputation with expensive, unique relics..." She pointed at where the carpet used to be, then to the throne-room doors, then a very quick point to Luna. Luna noticed and rolled her eyes.

I laughed, "I'll try to keep these safe. They would go well on a window-sill or something." I slowly put them back into their boxes and shifted them out of the way, for safe-keeping. I then picked up Dawn and Feather's gifts. Chrome, Celestia and Luna gasped as I held up the items. "Really guys?" I asked the two mares.

They looked at each other for a second, then looked back. "I swear we didn't plan this." Dawn said.

"It's just a coincidence, and a lucky one at that." Feather continued.

Dawn had got me a rather large knife, a rather scary one at that, while Feather had gotten me a blade-maintenance kit.

"You do weird things with that knife you have," Feather said, "So I thought you could at least keep it sharp and clean." She didn't like the fact I used it to sculpt things, like the first guitar I made. My eyes turned to Dawn, waiting for her explanation.

"I thought of you when I saw it." Dawn said happily, "I thought you'd want to complete your set."

I looked at the knife in my hand, thinking. Complete my set...? Oh!

I pulled Forge's knife out of its, now usual, place on the side of my belt, at my hip. I placed the two knifes side-by-side, they were perfect mirror-images of each other.

"Oh, awesome!" I said, making an uneducated attempt at a fighting stance with one in each hand. "Thanks, this is so cool." I said as I sat back down and placed my new knife into the other side of my belt, while putting the old one back in its spot.

Feather laughed slightly. "Dawn, I think you are going to have to teach him how to use them properly." My stance must have been horribly wrong or something.

Dawn snorted. "I wouldn't doubt him, Feather." She said, turning a little more serious, "You saw what he did with one of those right? Imagine what he could do with two! Let alone training!" Her wings flared and she had a very strangely exited look on her face. Damn, this chick really likes her blades, huh? I don't think anyone in the room was comfortable with her just casually referencing the fact I literally murdered someone.

The knifes felt a little heavier on my sides.

There was a lull in the conversation. I panicked and quickly found an alternate route.

I looked over to Ebony. "Hey, you going to open that? Or just look at it?" I asked, pointing at the box I gave him. He still had not touched it.

Ebony snorted. "Dan, I can feel the pride coming from that box. What did you do? Rig a pie to fly out of it or something?"

"Just open the damn box." I said, smirking at his suspicions.

Ebony rolled his eyes and strained his magic, lifting the box over to him and placing it in front of him. He had started to practice his magic, since he needed it to properly play the guitar I gave him, or at least allowed him to use. He unwrapped the bow and magic'd off the lid.

The lid fell as soon as he looked inside. Luckily the lid fell onto the floor. Allowing the peering ponies (and griffin) to look in as well.

Celestia gasped. Ebony was frozen. The rest seemed confused.

I had worked for hours on that chunk of wood, and that's not counting the many failed attempts. Luckily I had a lot of spare wood.

It was a very scaled down version of The Equality Hole. I had created the model by whittling at a piece of spare wood left over from the guitars. For reference, the whole thing was the size of a large paper-weight. The door/hatch to the hole being about the size of a small shirt-button and the carefully constructed human standing outside it stood at about the same height as a pin on its end.

I had included every detail I could remember. I wrote 'The Equality Hole' above the door, just like the real thing. I tried to do the lantern sitting outside the door, but I ended up cutting it off. I mean, the tiny changeling with trailer in tow even had nooks in his legs! No wonder Ebony could taste the pride, it had taken me forever and I was really quite happy with the way it turned out. Yes it took a lot of failed attempts and a lot of throwing wood in anger every time my knife slipped and I cut someone's leg off or something. But all that just made me more happy with myself, I had overcome it all and finished the model.

"So, you like it?" I asked. Ebony remained motionless. His eyes looked... strange. After a couple seconds he slowly nodded, not taking his eyes off of it.

Celestia looked to me as my expression became concerned. "I believe you have overwhelmed him with emotion."

I blinked. "How would you know that? And what do you mean?"

Celestia sighed slightly. "I looked through the archives a couple days ago, looking for anything on changelings, to see what I could get." At my surprised look she continued. "Since one was going to living here, it only made sense that I should try and accommodate them." She paused before getting back on topic, "I read something in one of those books that emotions can be bound to objects. Emotions that changelings can... taste and also drain from the object. If the emotion is strong enough, it forces its way into the changeling, regardless if it is feeding or not. As the book stated, shared by a anonymous source, that changelings avoided the crystal empire for a while after it appeared, since the statues of King Sombra were imbued with so much fear, it drove any changeling who got too close completely insane, or worse."

I thought for a second. But of course, Chrome interrupted my thoughts. "So Dan made Ebony go insane?"

Celestia waved a hoof. "No no no. That model is probably filled with more... positive emotions." She turned to me. "As I believe you have pleasant memories of that place? Yes?"

I laughed. "As much as I nearly starved, it was pretty nice up there." Again, I used the term 'up there' to through Celestia off its location. "Plus, I try to keep a modest exterior, but I am like... super-proud of that model, took me ages."

Feather walked a little closer to the model. "So... this is the..."

"The cave I spent 25 day in, yes." I finished for her. Celestia flinched slightly, me leaving was not a fond memory of her's.

Feather hummed. Dawn seemed interested. "Do I smell a survival story?" She asked in a tone way to happy for the topic.

Steve also had his interests peaked. "This, I must hear. Dan does some weird stuff sometimes. I don't want to miss an opportunity to extend that list!" He said, as they both sat attentively.

I explained what happened with Ebony, the cave and Celestia. Celestia stayed quiet.

Dawn chuckled. "Heh, that's Cel for you." She said, elbowing Celestia. "Leave for longer than she expected and she'll beg you to come back..."

Celestia, catching Dawn's self-reference, put a hoof over the pegasi's back. "I'm just glad you're safe... I'd lost al-"

"Hate to interrupt-" Chrome was cut off as everyone, but Ebony, turned and stared at him in shock.

I blinked. "Dude... You just interrupted Celestia!" I walked over to him in the silence that followed, everyone else still staring. I patted him on the shoulder. "Good job."

Luna, who had been very quiet so far today, spoke. "Chrome. Continue." That's probably why she wasn't talking. She looked, SO tired. She had clearly had enough of this.

Chrome shook himself slightly. "S-sorry. I just wanted to inform everypony that Ebony..." He trailed off and pointed at the changeling.

I looked over to Ebony, he was being very creepy. His mouth moved as if he was speaking, but nothing was coming out, his eyes were both unfocused and distant. He then nodded, as if bowing. Then took a couple steps back and lit his horn.

I found one of my hands resting on the hilt of my older knife. I quickly moved it away from there. But everyone, even the princesses backed up a bit. They knew very little about changelings and I knew even less, in some ways, so we had no idea what he was doing.

He seemed to strain for a couple seconds, lowering his horn. There was a flash of light in front of him.

I shielded my eyes. As did the rest of the them. After the light had cleared I looked up. Ebony had collapsed. The ponies around me gasped and all took a step back, seemingly readying spells and taking... defensive stances? I looked around confused.

I came to my senses within seconds. "Ebony!" I yelled as I ran for him. I heard Celestia say something, but I was too busying running to pay attention. A couple steps in, I hit something and fell over backwards. I looked up to find... nothing. I tilted my head in confusion as I stood up. "Erm... Celestia? Did you just hit me with magic or something?" I said, turning around.

They all looked at me like I was insane. "Dan! Get back here." Celestia said, sternly, her eyes shifted past me for some reason. "We apologize, state your intentions."

I blinked at her. "I... wanted to help Ebony."

They all gasped with shocked and horrified expressions. "Dan!" Celestia said, again, "You are not helping matters at all, get back here!" Her eyes shifted again. "I am so sorry, please repeat."

What is even going on right now? Eh Celestia's probably being weird again. I turned around, Ebony was a couple feet from me, still out cold. I walked towards him, only to hit something again. This time I didn't fall. "The hell..." I mumbled as I extended a hand, it impacted with something that was not there. It collided with thin air. I noticed it was slightly warm and... not a wall, like I first thought. As I felt around it became clear to me it was more of a cylindrical shape.

I turned back to Celestia, who was staring at me, completely slack-jaw'ed. "What is thi-... what?" None of them responded. "What?! What are you staring at?!" Still no response. "Guys, I don't think you realize this, but there is an invisible warm thing here. It's kind of freaking me out. And so are you, with the staring."

Celestia blinked. "Dan, look. Behind. You." I turned around. Ebony was out cold a couple feet away.

I turned back to Celestia. "Ebony's just passed out. Why are you guys freaking out about that and not this!" I said, poking the invisible object.

They all looked at me like I was insane again.

Celestia's eyes shifted. "I am so sorry about this. I don't know what's gotten into him." She looked at me directly again. "Now please, come. Back. Here. So we can discuss in peace."

"...what do we need to discuss about?"

Celestia paused. Looking at me as if I just implied the sky was red. "Dan, look behind you. Tell me everything you see." Her eyes moved. "So sorry, just bare with us here."

I looked over my shoulder and back again. "There is just Ebony passed out on the floor. That's it."

"...Dan..."

"...yes..." I said, mocking her tone.

"I think we have found yet another one of your 'powers'."

I smiled. "Really? What did I do?" I looked back at Ebony. "Is Ebony not really there or something? Can I see into the past? Is that it?"

Celestia blinked. "N-no. Not quite. Please Dan just... wait outside the door please."

I sighed "Fine." I knew better than to ask.

I walked over to the door and closed it after me. I sat against the wall as soon as I got out there. I had the feeling this was going to take a long time.

***

A nudge on my shoulder caused me to slide down the wall and hit the floor. Waking me up instantly.

"Aw fu- Aw..." I didn't bother looking up. "What?"

"You can come back in, everything's sorted out." Celestia said from the doorway.

I slowly stood. The halls were in darkness once again. The moonlight streaming in through the windows. I followed Celestia into the throne room.

Celestia stopped half way into the room and stood there for a while, then looked back at me expectantly.

I blinked. "What?"

Celestia seemed taken a-back. "You really can't see her can you?"

I looked around the room. "See who? Okay this is getting to much now. Please... just tell me what is happening."

She looked straight ahead. "Do you mind if I... Okay, thank you." She turned back to me, turning the rest of her body as well. "You want me to explain everything?"

"Yes! God yes! I have no idea what he-" She lifted a hoof, cutting me off.

She sighed. "This really is a shame. Well... you see, Dan...

Author's Note

Updated: 11/11/15
-Fixed grammar
-Fixed tenses
-Fixed some spellings

ALL WILL BE EXPLAINED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER! ITS CELESTIA POV TIME AGAIN!!

Look, it's like... 5am... I deleted this chapter using that stupid marco-key like 3 times this chapter. Look in my blog for a little more detail on that. But yeah, I had to re-write this. Just be glad I care more about putting this stuff out than I do about having a sleep schedule. I don't have college for a while too, so maybe I will get more done over the next week or so.

Chapter 24: Ebony Keys

After a batch of pancakes (which were amazing if I say so myself) I decided it was time to check in on Steve and Dawn. It had been a while since I last spoke to them properly, plus, I believe Dawn said she was getting me something.

But as I turned to leave, after saying my goodbyes to Chrome and Luna, who had once again simply let themselves in, I noticed something over on the far side of the room.

"Oh hey, you put those figures on the windowsill." I said, pointing. The two small statues that Celestia and Luna had given me the day before sat on the windowsill, next to the carving I made for Ebony.

Luna smiled. "Yes, we took your suggestion on their placement. The edibles are in the cooler." She said, pointing to the fridge.

I continued my walk to the door. "Aw thanks guys, thought I would have to sort out all that stuff myself. Anyway, I've got to go and check on Steve and Dawn, got some stuff we need to talk about."

We shared a second batch of goodbyes before I left. I could tell they were both interested in what I had to talk to the others about, but they took the polite option and decided not to pry.

I walked down the halls, noticing a lot more guards than usual. Not too many more, they just seemed to be more alert than usual. Instead of casually walking their way around, they seemed to be tense and robotic with their movements. Perhaps it was something to do with the appearance of the changeling Queen. Celestia had probably made the rules and schedules the guards followed stricter, as a way of showing her nation's power to the Queen, without directly threatening her. Yeah that sounds like something Celestia would do, she's a crafty one.

I eventually got to the couple's door, after a very paranoid walk. There was an invisible, giant and silent changeling Queen going about the place; I was constantly thinking that I was going to walk straight into her or something, since I had almost no way of telling where she was. But luckily, I met no Queens on the way there, or at least I didn't think I did, I could have narrowly missed her for all I knew.

I knocked on the door in a slightly polite manner and waited. It didn't take long before Steve answered the door. As soon as he saw me, he gestured me inside.

"Mornin' Dan." He nodded to me as I made my way inside.

I nodded back to him. "Morning. You too Dawn." I said to the mare sat on one of the sofas.

"Good morning Dan!" Should have figured she was a morning person. "How's Ebony doing? He didn't look so good yesterday." She said as me and Steve sat on the sofas, Steve was sat next to Dawn, and I sat opposite them.

I smiled at her concern, "Ebony's fine. He's still out cold, but apparently he just needs his rest."

They both smiled, Steve spoke up, "That's good to hear, 'worry about the little guy sometimes." His expression turned more smug. "But, on another note, Dawn has something for you. Don't you?" He said, turning to the pink pegasus.

She gave him a dead-pan stare. "That was terrible, Rose." She turned back to me. "I got you your instrument, it's in the bedroom." Ooh, NOTE. Wow, that really WAS terrible.

I leaned forward in my seat. "What is it?"

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Go and find out." She said pointing to the door. "There's no way I'm dragging that thing out here. We had to get a unicorn to teleport it in. They ended up putting it in the wrong room too." From her wording, I now had an idea of what this instrument could be.

I stood and walked to the door, with other two just followed me with their heads. "You sure you're okay with me going in your bedroom? Nothing in there I shouldn't see or anything right?" I asked, only half jokingly.

Steve chuckled, "Not anymo-" He was slapped up-side the back of his head by his fiance.

"Just go in, it's fine." Dawn said, in an all-to-innocent voice as Steve laughed. Wow, those two 'getting it on' is something I really didn't want to picture today.

I opened the door somewhat cautiously, attempting to stem the onslaught of unwanted mental-images. I froze.

The bed had been pushed up against the wall to make space for the large, baby grand piano sitting beside it. It was made of varnished, dark colored wood. The whole thing was completely spotless, Dawn was right, it had clearly never been used more then once. What confused me was why the keys were what I would call 'regular sized' if it was made for ponies.

I turned around and faced the couple that were still peaking over the back of the sofa they were sitting on. "Where did you get this?" I asked.

Dawn shrugged. "As I said, it's my mother's. Or should I say, was my mother's; it's yours now. It's been passed down our family for a very long time, but..." She put a hoof over Steve's shoulder. "...I doubt there will be any family to pass it on to." She said with a sad smile.

So ponies and griffins can't have children. What a relief. Also, something else I could have gone without picturing today.

"Thanks guys." I said, glancing back at the piano. "I didn't even know these existed here. Possibly my favorite instrument of all time, right there." They both looked rather shocked for some reason. "Also, why are the keys so small? Surely a hoof wouldn't be able to play a note without spilling over to the notes either side of it?"

"Dan," Steve said, "Pianos have not been made in hundreds of years. The only ones that are left are ancient. And you say your world had these?"

I blinked. "Yeah, they were pretty common. I had one in my house. I used to play from time-to-time. Now, the notes?"

Steve blinked. "Ah, yes." He shrugged. "This model was designed for unicorns. They can just magic the keys. Though some of the best players are griffins, cus..." He showed off his talons. Dawn rolled her eyes. "But I was never really any good at it. I much prefer that thing you made me."

I laughed. "Yeah... Thanks guys, really, this is incredibly generous of you."

Dawn waved a hoof dismissively, "Think of it as a 'thank you'. For everything you've done for us."

I smiled and looked back to the piano. "...How are we going to get it out?"

There was dead silence for what felt like minutes.

I thought of something. "You said you got a unicorn to teleport it in? Why not just get Feather to do that? She's a unicorn."

Dawn shook her head. "You'd be hard-pressed to get her to use that magic ever again, not after some of the things she's done with it." She shrugged. "She refuses to forgive herself."

I put my hand to my chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, Celestia?"

Steve shrugged. "Yeah, that could work, she always seems to make time for you, for some reason. But she might ask questions."

I nodded. "Yeah, I should- oh, yeah, Luna's in my room right now, I'll just go get her!"

They both beamed as I walked, at a rather brisk pace, out of the door, down the hall and into my room.

I found Luna and Chrome sitting on the sofa together. Chrome had a plate of my food on his lap. His head whipped up from the plate when I walked in. He gave me a guilty look. "I couldn't help myself." He said, his mouth still half-full.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't care." I looked to Luna. "Luna, I need you for something." I said, pointing down the hall.

Luna smiled and nodded. "Lead on." She said, standing. Chrome remained sitting slightly awkwardly as we both left.

While we were in the hallways, Luna turned to me. "What do you need Us for?"

I smiled smugly, "Us?"

She blinked and shook herself slightly. "Oh, sorry. Me."

I laughed slightly. "It's fine." She smiled sheepishly. "I just need you to teleport and/or lift a piano from Steve's room to mine."

She looked slightly confused. "You are using me for physical labor?" I happily nodded, she just rolled her eyes. "You keep mentioning this 'Steve'. Who is that?"

I sighed slightly. "His name is Rosewood. I just call him Steve, but don't tell him that. One day, if I do it for long enough, he will start to identify as Steve, not Rosewood."

She blinked. "Ah, that explains things... Dan, you are very strange. Have I told you that?"

"You've told me that I'm insane, 'strange' is usually included in that package." I said, "How are things going? Like, with you? And Chrome too?"

She sighed. "My sleep schedule is ruined because of Chrome. I have to be awake during the day to see him, but I have to be awake at night to move the moon. Yes some days he goes to work for the day, that lets me sleep through the day, but then I have to flip it back around to see him the day after, and that means staying awake for 24 hours. At first it didn't bother me much, I am resilient. But, it's slowly taking it's toll on me..."

I shook my head slightly. "I can't see a resolution to this. You should just take a while off."

She lifted her head back up, from where it had fallen during her speech and looked at me. "'Off' what? Take time 'Off' Chrome? Or Take time 'Off' my duties?"

I shrugged, "Whichever suits you, I guess. Now, ready that magic of your's. We're here." I said as I let myself into Steve's room.

Dawn was still sitting on the sofa and Steve was whipping something up in the kitchen by the looks of it.

Luna nodded to the two. "Dawn, Rosewood. I am here to help with the piano's movement from here to Dan's room."

They both greeted the princess as I led her the piano.

We both stood before the large hunk of wood and metal. "Here it is. Try not to break it." I said.

Luna's horn lit. "I will be most careful."

The piano lit in her dark blue aura, before disappearing. Luna looked slightly worn out, but quickly left the room. I followed. We found that the piano was now sitting just outside the door, a very startled guard slowly skirted around the piano as we stood in the doorway.

I laughed slightly. "I think you almost hit that guy with the piano. So much for being careful, hey?"

Luna rolled her eyes. "There was no harm done." She said, as she lit her horn yet again and lifted the piano about a foot of the ground and began to walk back towards my room. "Where did you get this? I have not seen a piano in this good of a condition in years."

I shrugged. "Dawn gave it to me, as a thanks."

Luna nodded, almost sending the piano into the floor. She acted as if nothing had happened, though she panicked for a second. "I expected as much, you have done a lot for those two."

I didn't have a response so we walked in relative silence till we reached my door. Where Luna teleported the piano inside without even opening the door. I gave her a concerned look as I opened the door, to find the piano in the back corner of the room. Fitting snugly between one of the sofa's backs and the wall. Chrome still had the plate on his lap, but the food was everywhere but the plate.

He gave us a shocked glare. "That scared me half to death you guys!" He looked down at himself, he was covered in crumbs and scraps, luckily it was a dry meal, otherwise he would be in a lot more trouble.

"You're cleaning that." I said as I walked over to the piano and pulled out the small stool. "Thanks Luna!" I called.

She smiled, "No problem. Chrome, clean that up."

Chrome groaned and walked into kitchen, picking up a small dust-pan in his mouth. Me and Luna both chuckled at his suffering.

I turned back, swiveling on the stool, to face the piano. I looked down at the keys. Placing my hands on what I remembered being a pretty nice sounding combination. But Luna tapped my shoulder before I could press the keys.

"You play?" She asked.

I shrugged. "On and off. I know a couple melodies and chords, but no complete songs. I just like to mess with the keys until I find something that sounds good. Why?"

"Just interested..."

I turned to face her. "Do... you play?"

She looked slightly nervous. "I... used to but... the last time I did was before..."

"Aah, okay." I said, slightly uneasy about the topic. "Do you want to try?" I said, offering her the seat.

She tentatively sat down and lit all the keys with her magic. Her breathing smoothed out in what I guessed was near-complete focus.

She then bombarded the piano with probably the most rapid-fire song I had every heard. It was a slow melody, but somehow managed to use basically every key. After a couple minutes the song concluded and she stood. Shrugging, "I've gotten a little rusty it seems..." She said.

Me and Chrome shared a look of collective shock. I looked back to Luna. "Luna, that was amazing. No questioning that. Buuuut magic is kinda cheating in my opinion." Chrome gave me an annoyed look. Luna hid herself slightly at my previous compliment. "See, all I can do is..."

I sat on the stool and placed my hands on the keys again. I played my favorite little tune, it was the introduction to a sad song from back home. But since I knew it so well, I played it much faster than it was supposed to be, changing the whole tone of the song to one that was a lot more up-beat than the original. The whole thing was only a couple seconds long and repeated seamlessly.

I stood, feeling rather inferior. "That's like, the best I know."

Luna looked between my hands and the keys. "Considering your limitations, the speed at which you performed was admirable. Even if the song was..."

"Not as good as yours?" I finished, crossing my arms in mock frustration.

Luna smiled. "That's not what I was going to say..."

"Yeees it was." Chrome said from behind the sofa, still sweeping up his mess.

Luna kicked the sofa discreetly with one of her back legs, causing it to lurch forward and hit Chrome's backside before falling back into position. I shook my head at their antics as Chrome removed his face from the dust-pan.

"Ebony been okay while I was gone?" I asked. They looked at each other.

Chrome looked to me first. "We haven't seen him all day."

I hummed and opened the bedroom door, he was still passed out on the bed. "How long did Celestia say it should take? Was it a couple days or a couple hours?" There was a silence. Clearly no one remembered. Great. "I hope he's okay..."

Author's Note

Updated: 11/11/15
-Fixed spelling
-Fixed grammar

Finally got around to that piano. I'm trying to make the couples seem more realistic in this, by throwing in more casual banter between them.

As per usual, but slightly more so at the moment, I have no idea where this is going. This is a crazy train and I don't know where its going.

I am leaving most song names out of this, so that people will imagine the song themselves. As to not isolate or push away anyone who may have differing musical tastes. That's why, in case any of you were wondering.

Chapter 25: Dream-land Duel

Me, Chrome and Luna hung about a bit, but soon it was time for us to turn in.

We all exchanged our goodbyes and the couple began to leave. A thought hit me and I stopped Luna on her way out by poking her back.

"Yes Dan? What do you need?" Luna said, stopping in the door-way. Chrome noticed she was not following and looked at her longingly. "I'll be with you soon," She said to him. "Go to our room, please."

Chrome huffed and continued walking down the hallway. Luna stepped back into the room, closed the door behind her and looked at me expectantly. "Well? What do you need?"

I smirked. "How 'bout's, you give me one of those dreams again tonight? I promise I won't kill you this time."

She shook her head. "I cannot, no. It takes energy to maintain that kind of dream, if I just gave them out to all who asked for them..."

"But Luna," I whined, "I've never had a dream like that before!"

She rolled her eyes. "Fine, but just this once. Those dreams are usually reserved for emergencies and blocking nightmares." She thought for a second. "Oh, and I'll give you a little surprise as well!"

I smiled and began making my way to the bedroom. "Thanks Luna. What's the surprise?" It wouldn't be a surprise if she told you, you idiot -- Shut up rational brain, now's not the time.

She just laughed somewhat scarily and left the room. I attempted to shrug that off as much as possible, but I still found myself slightly unsettled. But she probably only did that since I did the same thing to her when I first made the electric-guitar.

I walked into the bedroom and got ready for bed in the quickest way I knew how: Strip of at least two pieces of clothing then jump into bed and hope the last thing you ate wasn't sugary because otherwise you'll wake up with fuzzy teeth. I put this practice into motion with practiced ease.

I made sure that the sheets around me were relatively tight, since I will likely be doing some insane stuff tonight. I didn't want to fall off the bed again. Upon thinking about what I was doing, I pulled an arm out of the sheet-burrito and reached to Ebony, he was still in that magic coma or whatever. I put my hand to the back of his ear and scratched, just the way they liked it. "Hope you get well soon buddy." I said as I retracted my hand and began trying desperately to fall asleep, so I could get started.

Obviously, it took a while, but it eventually happened.

I appeared back on the street corner again, the sky was completely clear and the air was that perfect mix of dry warmth and cool breeze. I called out, "Yo Luna? You here?" There was no response. I shrugged. "Time to put all those years of video-games to use..." I said to myself.

I dramatically extended an arm, pointing at the road. "Sports car!" A car popped into existence. It was a typical rally car. Two seats, roll cage, bulky shape, (That's just what I thought of. I don't think I even needed to say any of the stuff out loud, it just made me feel cool). I pointed to the top of the car. "AA cannon!" A large two-barreled cannon appeared on top of the car, seemingly fusing with the metal. There was a large metal box that contained the base of the barrels, allowing the gun to pivot around, and made the whole thing look like a miniature, sporty tank.

I stood back and admired my work for a second. Thinking of something, I threw out my hand again, "Sick paint job!" The whole thing turned mat-black, then flames painted themselves onto the front of the car, as well as the ends of the gun's barrels. I shrugged. "Cliche, but cool." I walked up to the door and placed my hand on the handle. I was about to pull, but a small piece of paper fell in front of me, landing perfectly on the car.

On it, was written, "Surprise!"

I turned around. Nothing. I looked up. Nothing. Huh. "Luna?" I called. Only to hear a giggle. The wrong giggle.

"It sure was nice of Luna to link our dreams like this, don't you think?" Celestia said smugly, peaking her head over the hood of the car. She stood up and tapped the metal with a hoof. "What is this?"

I think I screamed, but ~~I refuse to remember~~ I can't remember. "That," I said, once I had composed myself. "Is a car... With a Anti-Aircraft cannon on top."

She looked at me confused. "Car?"

"Locomotion."

She looked up at the barrels of the gun. "Anti... aircraft cannon?"

I shrugged. "It's used to shoot down planes." She blinked. "Planes are flying machines."

She shook herself. "This is not why I am here. I am here, at Luna's request; to duel you."

My face lit up, Celestia flinched. "Really?"

Celestia looked a lot less confident after seeing my reaction. "...Yes. The duel will begin at..." A clock appeared next to her head, which she inspected. "10 o'clock."

"How does time work here?" I asked.

"It's completely fictional. This clock will ring very loudly when it reaches 10. Which is in twenty minutes. Rules are - No weapons of mass destruction. So no 'mukes'."

"Nukes." I corrected her.

She waved a hoof. "None of those. No teleportation. And nothing indestructible."

I shrugged. "Sounds fair enough."

She smiled smugly. "See you at ten." She said, before an army of ponies rose out of the ground and carried her off. She laughed into the distance.

Oh god what did I just agree to.

I quickly got into the car and pretended to know how to drive. Luckily, anything goes in dreams apparently, since I did a perfect 180-handbrake turn right off the bat and began speeding towards the ocean. My house was near the coast, and I recognized the street I was on. So in about five minutes, I had made it to the sea. Upon seeing it, an idea hit me. Before, I was just going to fly to Spain or something and hide, but I got a better idea just then. I stopped the car on the rocky shore-line and stepped out.

I held both my hands towards the sea in a show of power. I said, slowly and dramatically... "Air-craft carrier!" The boat appeared in the water, barely even creating wave. It spawned quite a ways into the water, so I had to get to it. I held out a hand, "Impossibly light plank of wood, just long enough the reach the boat." A plank of wood extended into the sky. I poked it and it toppled over, the end touching down on the boat. "Aw yeah." I ran across the thin plank flawlessly. Once I got to the boat, I pushed the plank off and into the water.

I took a look around my boat. It was large, very large. There were multiple guns and cannons aboard, but I had something else in mind. I ran to the end of the runway and pointed at the ground in front of me. "Fighter jet. Errrr... F16?" Sure enough, there it was. The F16, a forth generation fighter jet. "Those model-sets I got for Christmas last year came in handy for once!" I cheered as I sped towards the machine, climbing up onto one of the wings and pulling the glass dome open. I sat down, strapped myself in and closed the glass back down.

I smirked, as I sat there and waited. Looking for any sign of movement on the horizon.

"I know where you are, Dan." Celestia said from somewhere.

I span my head around, trying to find her. "Where are you?! Get out!"

"Calm down, I am nowhere near you. But I can see your... thing." She didn't sound that confident.

"Oh really? What do you think of my human engineering?"

"...It's...good, I'll give you that. But I don't know what half of those things do." I guess she was looking at the guns or the radars.

I laughed. "So, you know where I am. Where are you then?" I asked, looking about in the sky and on the beach beside the boat.

She giggled. "I won't tell. You will have to find me."

I shrugged. "K."

I pushed a couple buttons and switches, again, pretending to know how to drive this thing. Beep, beep boop, click, click, clear for take-off! I grabbed the joystick and pushed a sliding lever that I figured was an accelerator all the way up. The jet ran down the runway, I barely felt like I was moving. Once the end of the runway was nearing, I pulled up on the joystick, I left the boat and went a couple hundred meters into the air, before leveling myself off by pushing the joystick back down.

"What is that!?" Celestia yelled.

I laughed. "This, my little pony, is a Forth Generation F16 Fighter Jet!" I said, as I turned the jet to face back towards my boat. I flipped a switch, thinking to myself since Celestia could hear me, 'Heat vision'. The glass dome turned into a digital display, showing my surroundings in black and white. There was a large white blotch in the center of a field a couple streets away from the coast. I flipped the switch back off, my view returned to normal and I turned the jet towards the field, seeing that was full of tall crops, perfect for hiding in. I figure she's got an army hiding in there or something.

I said nothing as I approached the field. Celestia stayed silent too. Once I was pretty close, I slowed my jet and pointed the nose down towards the crops. I pressed every button on the joystick, sending a barrage of rockets and missiles towards the crops. Before they made contact however, the crops erupted from the ground, revealing a very large crater, with a very large white Dragon inside. Straddled on the back of it's neck, was Celestia. The Dragon took off with one beat of it's massive wings, dodging the explosives that then impacted with the crop-covered crater.

I screamed and turned my jet side-ways, skirting around the dragon that was swiftly approaching me. "You didn't think it would be that easy did you?" Celestia asked. I pushed the throttle to the max and sped away from the dragon. It had since turned to face me and was continuing its pursuit.

"Actually, yes." I said. Pulling out of the way of a ball of fire sent speeding towards me from the dragon behind me. "I wasn't expecting a dragon!"

She laughed. "And I wasn't expecting a... er... whatever you said." Real princess-like.

I took a sharp 180 turn. I sped towards the dragon, its course didn't change. Once again, I unloaded the jet's arsenal of explosives at the creature. It's neck reeled back as it rapidly attempted to gain altitude. I saw this and angled the jet up towards it's head, and pressed the joystick's buttons again, sending a second barrage of projectiles towards it's head. Oh my god, this is ridiculous.

It beat it's wings furiously, the first batch of rockets missed, passing underneath it. But since it had gained altitude, the batch I fired at it's face were now headed for it's chest. It's eye's widened at the quickly approaching explosives and it clamped it's wings by it's sides. Dropping like a stone and narrowly missing the second batch as well.

While it was low to the ground, I sped over it's head, gained altitude and looped over backwards, facing towards the ground. I placed myself above the dragon, who had since noticed I was directly above it and had started to speed towards me yet again. I set my jet's course very precisely, then pushed against the glass dome above me, the rushing air held it shut.

"Shotgun." I pumped it and shot at the glass, it shattered and I leaped through the whole it left. The tail of my jet almost hit me as it descended at a far greater speed. I looked down, at the now distant plane as it flew straight at the dragon. The dragon saw that it's trajectory was not changing, so fired a wall of flames towards the jet. The jet continued through the flames for a couple seconds, making it just meters from the dragon's mouth, before the fuel seemingly had enough.

The jet exploded, both its highly flammable fuel and its weaponry ignited just in front of the dragon's head. The dragon's head and neck were engulfed in flame, smoke and shrapnel as its speed only pushed it into the inferno even further. The dragon fell limp, falling from the sky, similarly to me. I was still in free-fall, with a shotgun in my hands. "Parachute!" I was no longer in free-fall, and instead, gently cascading down towards the fields. I watched as Celestia jumped from the downed dragon's back before the fire could reach her, her wings carrying her towards me.

"Dan?" She asked. She was still very far from me. I aimed my shotgun.

"Yes?" I answered.

"Nothing. Just making sure you're still in." She said as she approached me. Clearly she didn't know what a shotgun could do.

I pumped my weapon, took aim, and fired once I thought she was within an appropriate distance. She yelped as one of her wings fell limp, she began to spiral towards the ground violently. Seeing that almost made me feel bad, that looked painful.

"Knife." I cut at my parachute's cables and free'd myself of it. I dropped my shotgun and placed the knife in my teeth. I set my course for the flailing alicorn. I fell head first as to catch up with her, grabbing her by her shoulders as I flew by her. We both sped towards the ground, looking at each other.

I smiled. "You okay?" My knife fell from my mouth as I spoke. It sped past us, upwards.

She smiled back. "Yeah, just shock really. It didn't actually hurt." She said, flexing her limp wing.

"Ah okay. Parachute!" I said, I held onto her as he glided the last couple feet to the ground fairly slowly. Once we hit the ground I helped her stand and removed the parachute.

"You didn't have to do that, you know." She said. "I would have saved myself."

I rolled my eyes. "You think that's what I was doing?" She blinked. "Nah," I held out one of my hands, not breaking eye contact with her. I caught the shotgun I had dropped earlier by the pump, it's speed causing it to pump and replace the empty shell as soon as my hand grabbed the pump. I placed my other hand on the grip and trigger, pointing it at her. "I was just setting you up." I said as I pulled the trigger.

Now, have you ever seen a head explode? Because I sure as hell ain't describing it. Needless to say, it scared me, like, I wasn't expecting it to have that much power. What I was expecting as for it to almost kill her and she'd fall to the floor then give me a 'you and me are the same' speech or something. Not... horse-head-explosion.

I stood there in the field awkwardly for what must have been minutes. Just looking around me. A headless alicorn, a possibly headless dragon corpse, the scattered wreckage of a plane, two parachutes, a knife sticking out of the ground (which turned out to have barely missed us as we landed) and a shotgun, still in my hands.

Eventually though, Luna showed up, climbing through one of her portals.

"I just heard Celestia wake up, did y-" She froze. Staring around at ruined landscape, and Celestia's decapitated body. She blinked and collected herself. "It looks as if you gave her a... good fight."

I laughed. "Yeah you could say that." I put down the shotgun. While I was doing that, I found that I was covered in Celestia chunks. "Oh that's-." I choked, almost throwing up.

Luna rolled her eyes. "You get used to seeing the inside of her head after a couple hundred duels." She looked me up and down. "Though it seems the method you used was a lot more brutal than... say, a sword. Like I am used to."

I swallowed down the sickness rising in my stomach. "Yeah, maybe I should have beat her head in instead. I guess I can try that later?"

Luna nodded. "There is no doubt she will want a re-match. She is rather competitive."

I smiled. "Awesome." I held up a hand to the heavens. "New clothes! Sports car, the one from earlier!" My clothes were replaced with clean versions of the ones I already had on, and the car with the cannons on top appeared in the field. I gestured towards the car. "Care for a drive?" I asked.

Luna nodded somewhat nervously. "Yes, I would like to see this how this machine works." She gave a wary look to the guns on top.

I got inside the car, and she slowly sat in the passenger seat, very cramped due to her long neck and horn. She huffed in annoyance, before becoming slightly smaller, allowing her to easily fit in the seat. I didn't say it at the time, but slightly-smaller Luna is adorable.

"Don't worry about the guns on top. I put those there, they are not usually there." I said as I strapped myself in.

Luna gave an understanding nod and strapped herself in with her magic, following my example. "Let us... 'drive'!" She said, throwing out a hoof.

I stamped on the accelerator, in a matter of minutes we had cleared the fields and were on the regular roads. I had never driven before, but it was nice to look out at all the places I remembered from back home. Well, it was nice to drive car, I tried once back on earth and I sucked, so it was complete dream-power that stopped me from crashing. I pointed out landmarks and other places with importance to me and explained what they were. She looked somewhat interested, though focused more on the car itself.

I saw a very familiar building coming up, so I pulled up outside it. "You mind if I have a look outside for a second? There's something I have to do."

"This is your house." She said, knowingly. She continued in response to my shocked look. "This place is based off of your memory. This area has a lot more of the 'little details'. So you must have been here very often."

I looked out the window, she was right, everything looked normal, but down the road, some of the houses seemed to repeat, and some of the paths didn't have the wear-and-tear the ones here did, such as the pot-holes and small scraps of litter I was used to seeing.

I nodded to her. "Yeah, this is my house." I said as I stepped out of the car.

"May I come too? I wish to see your living conditions." She asked as she also exited the car.

"Yeah, sure. If you want... wait, do you hear that?" I asked, leaning my ear into the wind. It was another car somewhere nearby.

Luna smiled. "This place is very familiar to you. It allows your mind to create a much more vivid simulation of the real thing."

I smile and shook my head. "Heh, magic. Come on then." I led her past the cars outside and to the door. I put my hand on the handle, remembering it's texture. By pure muscle memory, I reached for my key-chain, to find it in my hand. I looked down, shrugged and placed it in the lock, twisting it and letting myself in.

"Home!" I said, mockingly. There was no response, as usual. My mother was usually out by the time I got home. And my sister stayed around her friend's house most days, so an empty house was no surprise. I sighed and Luna comforted me with a hoof to the shoulder, she was full-size again.

I continued walking into the house, Luna closed the door behind her. She was taking in the details of the rooms as we walked through the lounge and into the large kitchen. I sighed happily, hearing the familiar sound of the laminate floor crackle and creak slightly under my feet. I got to the fridge and opened it, fully stocked. Luna had at some point left me, so I pulled out a small selection of foods, mostly the ones I had missed while in Equestria. I sat on the sofa in the lounge for a couple minutes, eating my way through about half-a-meal's-worth of snack foods. I didn't feel any more alert or full afterwards, but the taste was there.

Once I had finished I placed the dish I used on the side, ready to be cleaned by... well, I put it on the side. I turned back around to find Luna walking into the kitchen. "Have fun looking around my house?" I asked

"Yes, it is very... well, it's different to how I imagined it. Also, there is a box upstairs making a lot of noise. Do you know of this?" She looked concerned.

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that's probably my computer. Stay away from that. Please." Can't risk her seeing a pony. If Celestia hadn't told her, she obviously did not need to know. She gave me a suspicious look, but I continued. "Lets get out of here, please. It's... making me depressed."

"Are you sure?" She asked. "You have not even been upstairs yet."

I shook my head. "No, it's better for me not to become attached to this place again, it'll just be torn away again. Now come on, lets go, I'll show you how we made flying machines." She gave me a concerned look, but respected my decision.

We spent a couple hours flying about in a passenger airliner I thought up, but I think we both woke up rather suddenly as the plane hit what I think was a cliff. Neither of us were watching where it was going, since I was walking her past the many seats in contained. All I heard was a massive crash, everything moved at once and then I was back in bed. I didn't fall off the side this time either, so that was good. Plus I had a some-what unexpected guest.

"Bad dream?" He asked from my side.

I turned to see Ebony looking at me with tired eyes. I smiled and pulled him into a hug. "I missed you dude." I said over his shoulder, choking on my voice slightly.

He pulled back slightly and gave me a confused look. "What? Why's that?"

I blinked at him. "Dude, you've been asleep for like, days."

He gave me a confused look, before his eyes widened. "Queen Vicissit!" He yelled, making to leave, but I stopped him.

"Dude, dude, Ebony. She's fine, she has her own room and everything." I said, pulling him back down into his spot on the bed.

He let out a relieved sigh. "Are the ponies okay with My Queen?"

I nodded. "Yeah, her and Celestia actually get along pretty well. But there is a problem you should know about."

"What's that?"

"I can't see or hear her. Don't ask why or how, if you want to know, ask Celestia. It's magical stuff that I've already forgotten."

He looked slightly disappointed. "So... you'll never see her?"

"Oh yeah, I will. Apparently it'll ware of in a week or so. Well, a couple days now, actually."

He smiled. "Just you wait, she's magnificent."

I laughed. "I've felt her, that's it so far. So all I know, aside from a vague description from Celestia's Log, is that she is like... super huge!"

He rolled his eyes. "How is everyone else doing?"

I shrugged. "Nothing of major-note has happened since you passed out. Luna and Steve 'n Dawn asked if you were okay. Also, I would stay a slight distance from Celestia today."

I shrank into himself slightly and blinked nervously. "Why?"

"I kinda killed her last night." He stared at me in fear. The I realized what I said. "In a dream."

He relaxed. "So it wasn't really her." It wasn't a question, it was a statement of what he assumed was fact.

"Nope, it was her alright. Luna set up a dream-duel thingy. Linked her dream to mine. Blew her head off with a shotgun."

He blinked. "So that's what a shotgun does."

I snorted. "Let's just say there's a reason I don't tell the ponies about these things much." I mean, it killed Celestia. Sometimes I wonder if there is anything a shotgun can't do! "Now come on, we've got to tell the others your finally awake!" I said, sitting up and throwing my legs out of the bed and onto the floor.

He beamed with excitement.

Author's Note

Updated: 11/11/15
-Fixed grammar
-Made stuff more clear
-"He beamed with excitement." (Pew Pew Pew)

(Yawn) It's only 2:45 Am, it's fine.

I kinda went crazy there, in the dream. Meh, can't blame me for anything stupid this time. I've got the "It's a dream, It does not need to make sense" Excuse. Which I WILL use. I mean, it's a dream. Anything you can think of is possible.

I was planning to have Dan meet his family, but I was like "Eh, I've got enough characters to remember as it is." Also, sorry about some of Luna's lines in this chapter and the one before it, kinda went a little over-board with the archaic's at some points.

Also: Dan Dreamwalker, Luna Wan Kenobi and Darth Velestia. I find that appropriate... I'm very tired...

Chapter 26: The Victor And His Spoils

Now that Ebony was finally awake, and more importantly; okay, my spirits had been substantially lifted. Or rather, returned to their previous state, before my quite depressing meeting with Luna. I'll give her something, she did try to cheer me up as we flew about, asking questions and reminding me of happy times... But I don't think I was ready to see the place I had been 'stolen' from just then.

I licked the inside of my teeth as I stood from the bed. I met a horrible taste and an unpleasant texture. Oh yeah, I didn't brush last night in my rush to get to sleep. I walked into the on-suite bathroom and gave them a quick scrub. No paste, just enough to keep them feeling nice until I could brush them properly after breakfast. After what must have only been a couple seconds, I left the small room and re-entered the bedroom.

"Who'd you want to tell first, hm?" I asked as I put the scattered clothing from yesterday back on. They were not that bad.

Ebony slowly sat up in the bed. Scrunching up his face and extending his hooves, he performed possibly the cutest possible yawn. He rolled his shoulders around and stretched himself about a bit. "As much as I want to see everyone, I really need to see Queen Vicissit." He said, in a slightly strained voice as he popped his back.

I nodded and laughed slightly. "Yeah, okay. I would come along, but that would be a rather awkward conversation; You, Me and a Queen I can't see." He grinned as he stiffly left the bed, shaking his head. "Plus, I think I have a Princess to brag to. Good luck with the Queen and stuff." He rolled his eyes as I left the bedroom. I felt really bad leaving him like that, just after he woke up, but I could tell he really didn't want the extra attention, he barely handles regular attention.

Instead of making pancakes, I decided to have something more healthy. I headed down to the cafeteria and got myself some typical pony food, though I topped it with some berries, I had been craving those for a while. Need to find a place that sells these, so I can put them on my pancakes...

Once that was done I walked back to our room, finding Ebony already gone. I finally brushed my teeth properly and washed my face. I left our room feeling a lot more awake and headed for the throne room. When the guards saw me coming they just rolled their eyes. Nah not this time. I pushed the door open like a normal person for once, I am pretty sure the guards either side of the door dropped their weapons and stared in shook.

There was a line of ponies in front of Celestia again. When dismissing a pony, Celestia caught sight of my bored expression at the end of the line. She smirked and raised a hoof slightly, stopping the pony who was next in line in her tracks.

"It seems the victor has returned." She called from across the room. I smiled proudly as the entire line of ponies turned around to look at me, with confused faces. "Luna tells me that your two had a victory lap of sorts after our little duel." The ponies gasped. Celestia chuckled and indicated to the ponies with a head-movement. "Tell me, what are your thought's?"

I smiled, getting the message. These ponies didn't have to know it was a dream duel. "You were a worthy opponent. But I would recommend a faster dragon next time. Maybe a tougher one too, considering it was like, the size of this room three-times-over; it was pretty easy to kill." The ponies all stared at me in dis-belief.

Celestia grinned at the shocked ponies. "I will be sure to mix-up my techniques next time. Also, my defeat was not entirely fair there, towards the end."

I shrugged. "Shouldn't have let your guard down. I had to replace my clothes afterwards, I was covered in chunks of alicorn."

The ponies all turned to Celestia, perhaps looking for a way out of the madness they were hearing. Celestia did not help them one bit. "Luna says she's gotten used to it, I am sure you will too, after a couple more duels." She said, smirking at the ponies sickened faces. "Now, what did you need? I have ponies to tend to."

"Just wanted to check you took your defeat well." I said, She smiled and rolled her eyes. "Also, Ebony's awake. Just thought you'd want to know."

She nodded. "Yes, it's about time he recovered. Get him to practice his magic, he's rather inexperienced considering his age."

"I already am." I said, shrugging.

"I expect he is still feeling rather stiff from being in-active for so long. Go easy on him for a while." She said, giving me a wink.

Oh god it's worse than having a mother. "Yeah, sure, whatever." I said as I walked back out of the doors. The guards gave me strange looks. "What are you two looking at?" I said, in mock aggression once the doors had closed.

They flinched, the one left of the door answered. "You dueled the Princess?"

I snorted. "Yeah. Blew her head off."

He blinked. "Then how does she still..."

"She's an alicorn. She does whatever she wants." I said, shrugging. "Remember, I killed her a while ago." Referencing the time Celestia framed me for her own assassination. I'm still not completely over that.

And neither was he apparently, as he gave me a rather angry look. "Yes... I think we would all of us like to... 'speak' to you about that."

I snorted. "But you can't. She punished me personally. Though... I've never fought a pony without one of us having an unfair advantage." I said, eyeing the spear over his shoulder. He eyed my knives.

He narrowed his eyes. "Is that a threat?"

I shook my head. "More of a challenge if anything. Just thinking out loud really. Like, I wonder, how many of you guys would it take to take me down? If you all came at me one by one, I recon I could take out at least... what... five or so?" My gaze had drifted upwards as I thought, when I brought it back down, I was greeted with a much closer face than before.

"You're lucky you rank higher than us, or I would have you in chains by now." I rolled my eyes. "Or the hospital." I returned his narrowed eyes.

"And you're lucky I have not looked into the specifics of what I can do to you guys, or I would do the worst, possible, thing to you I could. Right now." I said, pressing my nose closer to his, towering over him. A pony exited the throne room, looked at us, then quickly went back in, joining the back of the line again.

"That would be to dismiss me from the force entirely sir." He said, looking up at me. I smirked and raised my eyebrows, pulling myself back into a normal stance and crossing my arms. His eyes widened and he blinked at me. "No... nonono Sir! I have a wife! And two b-beautiful children!" He yelled as he flung himself at my feet. "If I lost my job I'd... they'd..."

I turned an unimpressed look to the other guard, to the right of the door. He looked at me in shock. "You think I should let him go?" I asked him.

He turned his expression into typical royal-guard-mode and said, "I agree with whatever you choose to do Sir."

I looked down to the pony sobbing into my feet, he looked up at me and I rolled my eyes. "You're lucky I'm a nice person." I said, pulling my legs out of his hooves. "Get back to your post." I pointed to his spot by the door. He rushed back to his previous position. I never would have fired him, I just liked making a scene. Got to keep my rep with the guards. You know, they've already chased me twice.

Wiping his nose with a hoof as he attempted to compose himself. "Yes, Sir. Thank you Sir."

I rolled my eyes as I left without a word. I heard the two guards talking in hushed voices once I was a decent distance away. I wanted to turn around, just to see their faces, but I think I had traumatized them enough as it was. Plus I genuinely felt kinda bad for doing that to him.

I was walking back up to my room when something hit the back of my shoulder. I turned around, only to see an empty hallway... and a floating notepad.

I laughed. "Oh, sorry, didn't see you there. What do you need?"

The note pad flipped a couple pages. Each page seemed to have a common response already written on it. She flicked through the small book, before stopping and turning it towards me. "My scout, Ebony, came to see me earlier and instructed me to tell you that 'everyone' was meeting at 'The Shadey' at eight, today. He wishes for you to be there."

I shook my head, smiling. "Typical Ebony, first time awake in days, and already drinking..." I looked back up to... oh... I looked in her general direction. "Sure, I'll be there. You going too Vicissit?" I asked.

The note flipped to the first page. "No."

"Why not?" I said, slightly disappointed.

The note flipped to the back and opened on a blank page. A pencil appeared and wrote for a second or two. It turned to me. "Both me and Celestia agree that I have not stayed here long enough to go outside without causing too much of a scene."

I snorted slightly. "If Celestia thinks that... Wow, you really must be something! I mean, all I know is that you're tall."

The pencil scribbled again. "Celestia has admitted, upon my questioning, that she and ponies in general find my appearance... unsettling. Though she says you are a lot more accepting in terms of appearance."

I smiled. "That's what they said about Ebony." I shrugged. "They just find changelings creepy. Personally, I think they're rather cute to be honest. I mean, yeah, Ebony has his creepy and odd moments, but I'm not doing much better myself. Look at me! I'm the only human these ponies will ever see. Probably."

She wrote out another response. "You 'pull it off' a lot better than I do. It is strange being in the capital of a nation that I once called my enemy."

I rolled my eyes. "These guys are harmless. I was talking to a guard just now, about how I've killed Celestia twice now."

"Celestia told me she framed you." She wrote.

"Oh, well, I've killed her once then." I said, shrugging. The note didn't move and I got rather nervous, since I could not see her expression. "In a dream-duel, of course. But they don't need to know that." I quickly added.

The pencil continued. "Ah, you had me worried there, I have not seen her today."

"She's tending to her ponies in the throne room. Or whatever she does in there. Thanks for letting me know about tonight." I said.

The note turned to a pre-written page. "No problem."

"I won't ware out you pencil any more, I've got to get some lunch or something."

The pages flipped a couple times. "Bye." There was a picture of a waving hoof.

I laughed slightly. "Hey, that's an idea. Why not get a pony to draw you? Then I could now what you look like." I shrugged. "But Celestia said whatever's causing this will ware off in a week or so, so... ah, just an idea. Seeya." Could have used better wording.

I continued walking back to my room, but knocked on Chrome's door while I was there. There was no response. Either he's out, or he took my advice on what to do when he and Luna don't want to be interrupted.

I got to my room and walked in. Ebony was still gone. I opened the fridge and selected a couple treats as my lunch. There was still a large amount of food left in there from Hearth's warming, and I had a feeling some of it was about to spoil. I was doing my best to eat through it as fast as possible. I sat on the sofa with a couple items of food and looked at the clock. 12:30-ish. Great.

I ended up spending most of the day practicing with the piano and the acoustic Ebony now kept under his side of the bed. As much as I like to think of it as 'his', I still made it. I had the right to use it if I wanted to. After I got bored of those two things, I decided to mess about with the music-magic a little. Humming tunes until the instruments came in, then changing songs. Most of the time the sounds stopped abruptly, but sometimes they would try their best to faze into the next song, some of their attempts were pretty funny. And some of the song-fusions I made were pretty cool too, by swapping out choruses and verses from other songs, I was able to create a Frankenstein's monster of sorts. A bunch of genres mixed together in one big, ever-changing mess.

I stopped when I heard a hoof on my door.

"Come in. It's open." I called.

To my surprise, it was Alloy. The earth pony quietly made his way into my room.

"I just... wanted to check on how things were going." He said in his usual timidness.

I smiled. "Me, Dawn, Steve and Ebony are making a band soon and I want you to make the records for it."

He beamed. "That's great news!" His expression faltered. "Not... me making the records... the band bit... not that I mind making the records!...I just..." He trailed off.

"It's fine. It's fine. Now, do you have any recommendations on what kind of music to make? With what we have, we could do all-sorts of stuff, but I don't know what ponies like in terms of music."

He waved a hoof. "Oh ponies like anything that conveys emotion, I recommend using that 'Electric guitar' as much as possible, maybe make another one. I think it's wonderful." He said. It seems that he can talk about music completely fine, but as soon as you change the subject, he becomes distant and shy again. Pfff, ponies sometimes.

"Yeah," I responded, "I like it too. Steve's getting rather good at it. I just need a real drum-set for Dawn and to figure out a way for Steve to use the guitar without having to sit down..."

He hummed. "Yeah... I can see that being a problem on a stage...I'll figure something out. I'll let you handle the drums..." His eyes widened. "Oh... I didn't mean... I mean... you can do the drums if you want..."

I sighed. "Alloy, you're hard to love. But you're harder to hate. Now, get going and keep doing what you're doing."

He nodded and stood. "Yes Sir." He began to leave.

"And stop with this 'Sir' stuff!" I called as he closed the door. I received no response.

I went back to messing with music. Sometimes, once it starts, it's just like listening to the song, just as I did back on earth. It was nice to just sit there and try to remember as many of my favorite songs as I could. Just listening to them play out. I kept an eye on the clock, still eagerly awaiting 8 o'clock. It had been a while since I had had a drink, so I was looking forward to it. I'm sure whoever 'everyone' included was too.

Author's Note

Updated: 12/11/15
-Fixed grammar
-Added some stuff where needed.
-These later chapters have a lot less errors than the early ones, since I actually had spellcheck by this point. Chapter 31 will be out in a couple days, probably.

...4am...This fic man, it's ruining my sleep schedule. And my brain apparently, I just tried to spell "ruining" with an F.

Welp, I kinda have nothing to say about this chapter... I can't even remember what happened in it... probably not a good sign, either it was a boring chapter or my brain is completely fried right now. Both of those are bad for the fic in general.

I swear I will try to start the writing process earlier in the day, so I don't end up writing till the early morning like I usually do. Sorry a couple of the last chapters have been so short, I just don't like leaving chapters half-finished over-night and stuff, so I try to wrap them up when I start feeling too tired. Like I am right now.

Chapter 27: Loops

That night, once I noticed it was almost 8pm, I began heading out of the palace, on course for Ebony's little get-together at The Shadey.

As I opened my room's door, I was met with Celestia, about to knock. She looked rather shocked, but shook herself.

"You know," She said, putting her extended hoof back to the floor. "Your timing is unreal sometimes." This was one of those times where I could tell she was hiding her feelings, I just didn't know what that feeling was.

I shrugged as I walked past her, she began walking by my side. Seems she's going too. "Just lucky I guess."

She smirked. "Yes, you are. Are you heading to Ebony's gathering too?"

"Yeah. Looking forward to having that guy back again." I said, nodding happily.

"Queen Vicissit is very happy with you, you know." She turned to me as we walked. "If you hadn't 'taken Ebony in' she wouldn't have ever managed to get here."

I snorted. "Yeah, and if I hadn't 'taken him in' I doubt he'd be alive right now, considering your reaction." I gave her a slightly sour look.

She sighed. "Dan, I was biased. Blind. If I knew what I know now back then; things would have been different." She slumped slightly at the topic of our conversation.

I put an arm over her neck. "You pulled through in the end. That's all that matters." She gave me a sad slime. "Even if I did have to drag you through." I added, jokingly. She rolled her eyes and pushed me away slightly, I removed my arm. She didn't stop smiling, so it was more of a playful gesture.

We continued walking in silence. Not an awkward silence, but a mutual agreement of 'I don't have anything interesting to say, stay quiet so I don't have to bore you with my words'. We walked through the halls, but Celestia had taken a different route to the one I used to leave/enter the palace, she knew the place better than I did, so this was probably a just a short-cut. As we passed a couple large stained windows that were slightly open, I took the opportunity to take a look at the weather; a couple clouds here and there, but not that bad. I looked to the ground for a second and noticed someone sitting outside I had to talk to.

I turned to Celestia. "Hey, I don't want to be late to Ebony's thing, but-"

She stopped walking and raised a hoof. "I will tell them that you'll be a little longer." She looked out of the window for a second, her eyes narrowed scanning the area suspiciously. "Go do what you need to do." She said, sounding rather forced, before she turned around and left me there. Erm... okay, she's acting weird.

I looked out of the window again, it was at least two stories up. At the bottom of the wall was a small garden, part of the larger garden that worked it's way around the entirety of the palace. It contained a half-occupied two-person bench and a small pool of water. Very peaceful.

I needed to find a way down there. I looked back into the halls around me. No guards, great. I walked along the row of windows, keeping an eye on where the garden was, while also looking for anyone that could give directions. Eventually, towards the end of the windows, I saw a guard turn a corner in front of me. I quickly flagged him down.

"Hey, guard guy. How'd I get to that garden down there?" I said, pointing to the windows.

He peeked out one of them and recoiled slightly. "Your... sure? Sir?"

I crossed my arms. "Yes. Make it quick, I have somewhere I need to be."

He nodded to me sharply. "Follow me Sir."

He led me into what seemed to be a utility stair-case of some kind. It was clear that only employees such as guards and those servant-like guys were supposed to use them as the walls were all unpainted and lacked the smooth finish the rest of them did. We went down a couple, very tight, flights of stairs before leaving though a door that seemed to blend into the wall on the other side. We surprised a couple guards with our sudden entrance, but they let us pass without a word.

He stopped just short of a set of double doors. "These lead to the garden you wanted, Sir." He said, pointing to the doors.

"Thanks, go do... whatever you do." I said, waving a hand to the distance.

He nodded and left.

Leaving me in front of two dark-wood doors, each with a large square of stained glass featuring diamond-shapes in a variety of colors. They looked very warm and welcoming. I turned the left door's knob and opened it. It lead into the garden I wanted alright. A thin, cobbled path lead to the small, brick-rimmed pond. Four benches circled the pond, all equally spaced. The light from the sun barely reached the area as the tall palace walls surrounding most of the garden's edges blocked it from view, despite this, the plants were very well maintained.

I took a step in and closed the door behind me. I walked as quietly as I could while maintaining a causal stance and pace, then sat on a bench, one that was near the one that was already half-taken up. I wanted a conversation, not an awkward encounter. Plus, it probably helped to keep my distance.

The draconequus sat in the bench just 'round the pond from me looked up from the still water and gazed at me as I sat. He had a rather solemn look about him.

I met his look with my own. "Just wanted to come by and say thanks... for catching me a while ago." I said, shrugging slightly.

His face lit up slightly, then eccentrically waved a paw. "Pshhh, I only did that to see that chase play out. And boy was it worth it! Thing's that interesting to watch don't happen very often now-a-days."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "Well, thanks anyway. I owe you my life, basically."

His eyes narrowed and a smile spread across his face. "Oh? And what if I wanted to cash-in on that little dept?" His voice slipping into a tone I was not comfortable with.

I blinked. "I would ask you what you wanted, hear you out, think about it for a couple days, then most definitely say no."

He slumped dramatically, letting out a large sigh. "And here I was, thinking you were going to be fun."

I shrugged, smirking slightly. "Sorry man, if you had came to me and asked me for something when I first got here, I would have jumped at the opportunity, but now... now I have a reputation to uphold. You know how that is."

He chuckled slightly. "You know I know. I know you know I know, because I know everything that you know." He shrugged. "Figuratively speaking."

"So... what you're saying is... you know this place is a..." I hesitated on the last word, in case he didn't know.

"Yep." He responded. "Always have, always will. It's a shame you had to spill the beans to Celly a couple months back. I was having such fun teasing her with it!"

I snorted. "Can't blame you there. Messing with the ponies is quite fun sometimes." He nodded in approval. "What do you do now? Like, now that your all..." I gestured to the palace walls around us. I really didn't want to say 'reformed' or something.

He rolled his eyes. "It's horrible! They tend to all of my wants and needs, except for the really important ones! Like, just yesterday I asked for them to re-locate that mountain!" He said, pointing to one of the many mountains in the distance. "But they said; 'noooo, it's the forth time this week, why do you need to move it again anyway?' Ugh, they can bring me useless things like chairs and food and inflatable duck-shaped floats but they don't do anything if it includes even a little effort!"

I shrugged. "That's ponies for ya'." I said, not exactly sure what to say. "Speaking of which, I really have somewhere I need to be." I continued as I stood from the bench.

He gave me a smirk as he held up a clock that simply materialized in his hand. "Oh really? I think you have at least another half an hour until Ebony's little meeting."

I blinked and looked at the clock. 7:30. I looked to him. "I have multiple questions." He rolled his eyes and slumped slightly. "But I know it's better to just not ask, I'll be on my way." I said as I made my way back to the doors.

"Say hi to The White One for me!" He called as I closed the door behind me.

Seriously, how'd me know about Ebony? Or when I was leaving? Ah well, this is Discord we're talking about, chances are he can hear me thinking this, and can probably also see me writing this in my journal later.

I walked up to the first clock I saw. 7:31. Oh my god, he really...

I shook myself, knowing that thinking was not what I needed to do right then. Right then was one of the many times that it was better to just accept that it happened, not ask why, or how.

I quickly began making my way to the Shadey, not wanting to bump into Celestia or... past-me... if there was one. I don't know how this kind of time travel works, so it's better to play it safe.

I walked swiftly through the halls, finding the quickest possible route to the exit. In my rush, I did exactly what I didn't want to happen. As I tightly turned a corner, I walked straight into Celestia. Stumbling slightly, I quickly backed away from her.

"Dan?" She asked, concerned. "Is everything okay? What's wrong?"

I sighed, seeing no other way out of this. "Go to my door. My room's door. And lift your hoof like you're about to knock. I will eventually come out of my room. Begin leading me though the palace, but take me past the garden that Discord is sitting in, the one with the pond. I will ask to leave, when I do, cut me off and tell me to go do what I need to do or something. Ask questions tomorrow. Do NOT ask me while I'm walking with you, okay? Just do it."

She stared at me. "Surely I would see you go back into your room..."

I buried my face in my hands and groaned. "Just go do it!"

She narrowed her eyes at me, but still looked slightly worried for my mental health. "Fine. But I will want answers."

"Tomorrow." I said. "I need to go. Remember, don't leave the outside of my room before I come out." I pointed at her as I walked past and out of the palace. She gave me a strange look, before walking off.

Well, that explains why she was acting weirdly earlier. Goddamn it Discord.

I quickly made my way to the Shadey. I don't know why I was rushing, I had no reason to get their any earlier. I guess the whole situation was just stressing me out a bit, it's not every day you have to tell someone to direct a past-you in the right direction. God knows what happens if I screw up the timeline.

I pressed my hand against the bar's door and took a deep breath. Trying to calm myself. I pushed inside and the door swung shut behind me. As my eyes adjusted to the dim interior I was met with a chorus of gravely cheers. Confused, I walked up to the first member of staff I could find:

A waitress who had just finished asking an older couple if they were having a good time.

I stopped her from politely walking past me by raising one of my hands and stepping in front of her. "So sorry, but erm... do you have any reserved tables?"

She smiled and pointed to a large table near one of the more secluded corners of the bar. "That one is reserved under the name 'Ebony Towers'. You know him?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it seems I'm a little early. A bunch of us are meeting here." She beamed at the prospect of more business. "Thanks." I began to walk to the table, but stopped myself. "Oh, and do you know why these guys all yelled when I walked in?"

She laughed and shook her head. "They like you. Well, perhaps not 'like'. But either way, your... unique appearance has made you... somewhat of a mascot for the ponies who common this place. Same with Luna and that changeling ponies see you with."

"That changeling is Ebony."

She grinned. "Well, I'll get the kitchens on high-alert. That bug knows how to drink."

I was kind of annoyed at the whole 'bug' thing, but she didn't seem to mean it in an intentionally offensive way. It's probably just what they call him here, considering she didn't know what his name was.

"He sure does. Thanks." I said as I walked past her. She smiled to me and continued of her way through the tables, asking ponies if they needed anything.

It's nice to see that kind of thing. Ponies were so demoted to their jobs, not because they wanted the pay, but because they loved doing it. You could see it in their eyes sometimes. The proud looks on the guards faces. The way she smiled after helping me out. Really warms my heart, those little moments.

I sat at the table with my back to the wall. I didn't like having a blind spot when it came to sitting in a public place. This was not completely because of the 'Forge incident', I had started sitting like that years ago. I don't know what started it, but I was a very paranoid thirteen year-old back in the day. I can't help but laugh at some of the things that being paranoid back then caused me to do, I was about fifteen before I realized I was just being stupid, but some of the habits continued.

I acknowledged a couple of the tipsy grins I was getting from some of the bar's inhabitants with a nod and a slight hand-raise. A pony came by every so often, asking if I wanted anything, but I turned them all away. I didn't want to start drinking without the rest of them. I want to remember at least SOME of tonight. Plus, it would be rude.

After about 15 minutes of waiting, a large group of familiar faces walked into the bar, beamed at me and advanced towards the table. In the group was Ebony, Chrome, Dawn, Steve and Luna. They all sat around the table, Ebony next to me, Luna and Chrome across from us and Steve/Dawn on the side to the left of me.

I looked through the group of ponies. "So... where's Feather? Or Celestia?"

They all looked to Chrome and Luna. Who both shrugged. "Feather is away for the holiday season. She's still with her family in Baltimare." Chrome said.

Luna continued. "Celestia said she was going to get you when I last saw her. Have you seen her?"

I blinked. Time for some acting. "I er... I've been here for like an hour, she probably missed me." They all gave me strange looks, ranging from 'meh okay' to 'I'm super suspicious but I'm not going to say anything'.

We all made slightly awkward conversation for couple minutes, waiting for someone to take our orders. But before that happened, a white alicorn unceremoniously bumbled her way into the bars front door. She gave me a slightly scared look before smiling at everyone and sitting on the unused side of the table. That took us to a total of 7 members present to this little reunion.

"You get here okay?" I asked as she shuffled into her chair.

She gave me a look. "We'll talk about 'you know what' later. But for now," She said, looking to everyone else at the table. "I suggest ordering some drinks, they're on me."

The ponies around the table all gave a small cheer and as if on cue, a waitress walked up.

"What can I get for all of you tonight?" She asked, levitating a small set of pen and paper, ready to take down our orders.

We all looked at each other and silently agreed that Ebony should begin. The waitress saw this and looked over to Ebony. Ebony barely even raised his eyebrows and the waitress took something down on the pad. "Heh, the usual." She mumbled before she looked to me.

I thought for a second. "Eeehhh... Apple cider." I said shrugging. The orders continued being taken, going around the table, continuing in the same direction.

"Your best white wine." Celestia said.

Chrome shrugged. "Pint a' stout."

"Your best red wine." Luna said, giving Celestia a playful glare.

"You got any griffin-made vodka?" Steve said. She nodded. "I'll have your strongest." Seems griffins are this world's equivalent to Russians.

Dawn hummed. "Whiskey. Surprise me, but nothing too strong."

The waitress nodded and silently went off to get them, presumably.

Slowly but surely, especially after the drinks arrived, the night approached and then gradually faded into blurred images and distant memories. Though, from what I could tell at the time, we were all having a blast.

But some things are easily misinterpreted by the mind of a drunk man.

Author's Note

Updated: 12/11/15
-Fixed grammar
-Fixed anything else I spotted

Okay, I made a diagram of the time-loop. It makes sense, I think. I mean, as much sense as time-travel can actually make, since its such a hard concept to grasp. But I think this one is pretty solid.

Also, Discord finally had a proper conversation! I apologize for my rather lack-luster Discord, I'm not about to write that guy in the way he acts in the show, I mean... how far is too far? You know? Cus I don't. My justification is that he only does those things to mess with the ponies. (Shrug)

Welp, it's 2am again. I will finish this chapter off and publish it in the morning. Hopefully I get a proper night's sleep tonight. Yesterday my college sent me an email at 11am saying that my assignment had failed to send, and that I had a limited amount of time to fix that. Not the best way to wake up. Don't worry, I fixed it. I think. Let's hope I did, or I will be 'in for it' next week.

Nevermind, it's barely 'in the morning' anymore. Stupid vid-ya games. Distanctin' me.

Chapter 28: A New Dawn

I open my eyes, slowly and lazily, expecting an onslaught of pain, but there was none.

I rubbed my eyes and sat up from my laying position, to find myself on the street corner again. I was dreaming again. I stood, wobbling slightly and made my way over to the nearest wall, so I could take some of the weight off of my stiff legs.

"Ah, you are finally awake." Luna said, seemingly from nowhere before a portal appeared and she stepped through it, taking a position in front of me.

I blinked, still not all there. "Awake?"

She looked about the dream-world. "Well... sober I guess."

I rubbed my face with a hand, attempting to scrape off the horrible early-morning feeling. I sighed. "What do you want... and why am I here?"

She began to walk around me, I could not be bothered to turn my head to follow her. "You are here because you are presumably still passed out, but have only recently become sober enough to create comprehensible thoughts. And I want you to wake up, no one knows where you are right now."

She stopped walking, ending up back in front of me. I lazily looked up at her. "And how do you intend on doing that?" She narrowed her eyes slightly and a crossbow appeared in between us. She held it in her magic and pointed it at me. I looked down at the arrow aimed at my face. "Seriously?"

She stayed silent for a couple seconds.

She shrugged. "Yeah."

It was like being smacked 'round the face. With a brick. Being held out of the side of a moving train.

I jolted upright, throwing the well-knitted blanket off of me and onto the floor. I immediately regretted the sudden movement and held my head in my hands, shielding my eyes and ears from the harshness of the dim, silent room. I sat and recuperated myself over the span of what felt like an hour.

Once I had had enough, and felt as if there was a chance I could move without giving up; I stood. I almost fell forwards into the door, but put caught myself by putting my hands on the door. I blinked when I saw my hands, they were red and bruised. Both feeling rather sensitive.

I leaned back onto my feet and stood upright. I began checking the rest of my body. A couple tender bits here and there, but nothing too bad. The worst spot was my stomach, it pained me to even touch it. Upon lifting my booze-stained t-shirt, I found a large, round bruise, just under my ribs. I hid it back behind my shirt and rubbed my burning hands together, taking a look around the room.

It seemed to be a spare bedroom of sorts. No extra luxuries, generic color schemes and the distinct smell of a room that was never used. Stale, cold air and settled dust. Despite that, the place was reasonably clean. There was the bed I had woke up on, a large cupboard and a small desk that housed a large mirror.

I walked over to the mirror and checked my face. No bruises or cuts... I looked down at the desk's surface, it had many multicolored and circular stains. Paint bottles? Dyes? Looks like these were left by cups, or bottles. Perhaps the person who owns this place used to be a painter...

...The person who owned this place...

The thought repeated in my head as the realization hit me, I had never been in this room before. I had no idea where I was. I quickly made my way over to the small, thick curtains concealing the window. I flinched at the light, but I had to know where I was.

I tentatively opened the curtains, revealing some very mottled glass. There was no way to open the window. I could barely see past the blinding light, or the distortion of the glass. But from what I could tell, I was in a City, most likely and hopefully Canterlot. From the color and direction of the light, it must have been early morning. Which would explain the heavy thudding in my head as I closed the curtains.

I looked over to the door, just a regular wooden door. I walked over and slowly put pressure on the handle. It went all the way down with little resistance or noise. When I pushed forward, the door remained still. I pulled, the door, again, remained motionless. I knelt down and looked into the gap between the handle and the door frame. I could see two pieces of metal, one that retracted when the handle was pressed down, the other remained. There was a keyhole under the handle, level with the second piece of metal.

Great, locked. I could always kick it down if I get desperate, the door doesn't look that hard.

I dreaded the thought though. Kicking something? In that state? With that headache? No way.

I took another look about the room. Nothing of interest. It all looked so unassuming. I had to find a key, if there was one. Or perhaps ...a weapon?

I looked for the all the common hiding places. Windowsill, nothing there. Under a plant pot, no plants in here. In cupboard, nothing but clothes, no false back-panel. On the back of the mirror, nothing. There were no rocks near the door either. I ran out of smart ideas and began searching literally every surface.

Eventually my search led me to the bed, it had drapes falling from the mattress, leading to the ground. I laid on the floor and lifted the fabric, peering under the bed. There was nothing there. I laid my head sideways against the wooden floor in defeat. I closed my eyes, relishing the cold wood's embrace. I nearly fell asleep, but I stopped myself. Got to keep going, I might find som-

I froze once I had opened my eyes. The new, lower perspective I had revealed something to me. One of the short, wooden floor-boards was slightly raised at one end. It cast a small shadow onto the floor due to the light scattering through the drapes on the other side of the bed, which were under the window.

"You've got to be kidding me..." I mumbled as I crawled into the tight space under the bed and pried the floorboard up, placing it next to the hole it created. Inside was a fairly small red, metal box. Similar to a tool box. It had a small handle on top and a clip on its longest side, hinges on the side opposite it.

I carefully retracted the box from the hole, then exited the space under the bed. With box in hand, I sat on the bed. The box was relatively heavy. I sat on the side of the bed and set the box on my lap. The box, now in the dim light of the room, was slightly rusty. I opened the latch on the front of the box after some difficultly and opened the top, revealing what looked like a small collection of letters, newspaper clippings and... medals.

I lifted a random piece of paper.

"Congratulations, your son/daughter has been accepted into the Royal Equestrian Military Force's 'Level One' Training Facility. Please fill out and return the slip on the bottom of this letter to authenticate and confirm their decision to join."

The bottom of the page looked as if it had been cut with a rushed pair of scissors. I set the small slip of paper down on the bed next to me and picked another one out of the box.

"Congratulations, your son/daughter has been accepted into the Royal Equestrian Military Force's 'Level Two' Training Facility. Please fill out and return the slip on the bottom of this letter to authenticate and confirm their decision to advance."

I placed the paper on top of the other one sitting on the bed. I picked up the next one down.

"Congratulations, your son/daughter has been accepted into the Royal Equestrian Military Force. They will begin their first year later this month (Your son/daughter has been informed of the exact date.) Please give your consent by filling out and returning the slip on the bottom of this letter. Please be aware that once the slip is returned, if you give your consent, your son/daughter's advances and choices within the Royal Equestrian Military Force will be their responsibility and your consent will no longer be required."

Under the last page was a letter in an unsealed envelope. I picked it up and carefully took the letter out.

"Dear Mom, Dad.

"I don't have much time, so I will keep it brief. I'm heading out later today, I will be sure to write to you when I get back. It will be my last mission after all! Can't wait to get back to you guys, it's been what? Two years since I was last home? It feels like it's been a lot longer than that.

"Missing you. See you soon!

"-Your little soldier."

I found myself becoming a little emotional as I picked another page.

"It is with great sorrow we would like to inform you that your son/daughter has been reported as MIA. For more information, please show this letter to the nearest Royal Equestrian Military Force official building."

I placed it onto the growing pile beside me as I picked up the next one down. This one seemed a lot more fresh, not hardened or yellowed with age as much as the others were. The logo's and writing on the new page seemed different too. There must be a couple year's difference between this one and the last.

"It is with great sorrow we would like to inform you that your son/daughter has been reported as KIA. The search patrols you requested have returned with nothing and will now cease. For more information, please show this letter to the nearest Royal Equestrian Military Force official building."

I put the page on top of the others. I looked back into the box. There were no papers left, only medals and a large object wrapped in black cloth, it covered the bottom of the box.

I removed the medals one by one, none of them had any words on them, but each had a unique and beautiful design. Eventually all that was left was the cloth. I carefully wrapped my hands under it and placed it on the bed. I lifted the box from my lap, placed it on the floor and stood. I turned and looked at the dark cloth, there was a thin string stopping the cloth from unwrapping.

In the base of the box seemed to be a deed or permit of ownership of some kind. It was covered in a very fine print and was stamped with the seal of the 'R.E.M.F.'.

I pulled on the string, and the knot fell undone. This caused the cloth to fall away from the object it hid.

Or should I say, objects.

There was a sword, and a hammer. Both looked as if the base of their handle had been snapped off, there were many shards left in the cloth. I thought about why this was, until I saw a couple inscriptions on the two handles.

The sword's handle read "E" before leading into the jagged remains of the handle.

The hammer's handle read "IE" leading away from the shattered end.

I realized then, what this was. This was not a 'sword and a hammer'. This was Ellie. Dawn's signature weapon from fifteen years ago. The one Feather had mentioned in her confession of her past. It was supposed to be - 'a short blade on a long handle' with 'a small hammer-like ballast' on the end. It seems, either during the explosion or since, it had broken in two.

If I had to guess, after seeing the two pieces, 'Ellie' must have been almost a full meter long back when it wasn't broken. Most of that meter was taken up by the handle, the thing was practically a spear with a large, kukiri-sized, knife on the end instead of a simple 'pointy bit' as I would put it.

I quickly wrapped the weapon back up and placed it back in the box, along with the papers, making sure to put them back in the right order, when I realized just what I had been reading through.

This must be Dawn's house... Or her parent's house... oh god I hope I don't get in trouble for this. If it wasn't already apparent enough; I felt like a scared child who had just found his father's secret magazine collection.

I started picking up medals, after picking up the first one and placing into the box, I went for another one. Little did I know, the colored ribbon was sitting underneath another medal. As I tore the medal from the bed, it whipped the ribbon from under the one resting on it. I watched helplessly as it tumbled off of the bed and clattered to the ground. I peered over the bed, it was unharmed but had made a tremendous noise.

I scuttled around the bed and retrieved it. I put it in the box, along with the remaining medals. I closed the box up and tried my hardest to close the latch, but where it had rusted, it didn't seem to want to close properly.

I shrugged and slid it under the bed, I soon followed it. I placed the box back into the hole and slid the small floorboard back over the top of it.

The tumblers in the lock on the door began to shift and click.

My body jolted in shock, slamming my head on the bottom of the bed. I quickly retracted myself from the bed and stood upright, ingoring the headache which just got a lot worse. As I stood the door swung open.

"You okay up here?" Dawn said from the doorway sweetly. Her long shadow cast into the room, caused by the large window behind her, revealing the still rising sun.

I blinked and squinted at the light. "Y-yeah. Everything's... could you close that door please?"

Her eyes widened and she quickly shut the door behind her. "So sorry, sometimes I forget some ponies have more trouble with 'a couple drinks' than I do. Though, you had a lot more than a couple. You doing okay? I heard something."

I slumped in relief as the light was blocked behind the door. I found myself looking at the bed and quickly corrected myself. "Er, yeah, everything's fine."

She raised a concerned yet suspicious eyebrow. "And the noise? I'm sure I heard something."

I blinked at her, trying to think something up. "Oh, I err..." Metal object! Metal object! Metal object! "I... dropped my knife." I said, pointing to one of my knifes. Both of which were luckily still there after my night of forgotten adventures. I smiled at my quick thinking.

Dawn looked suspicious, but smiled. "Oh, okay. Sorry the door was locked, I was planning to wake you up myself, to make it easier on you. I didn't plan for you to wake up this early."

I laughed slightly, sending a pain through my aching head. "It's okay. I wasn't planning on having Luna come into my dream and shoot me with a crossbow to wake me up either. Apparently, no one knows where I am. She was worried."

Dawn covered her mouth with a hoof. "I have not been out today... and I ignored all the knocks on the door. Oh they must be so worried!" She began making her way to the door.

"Wait," She stopped as I spoke. "Why'd you ignore the door?"

She turned to face me, but then looked at the floor. "I was busy." She looked up at me, when she met my inquisitive look she sighed. "This is my parent's old house. They owned it years ago, but they both... passed while I was missing. No one owned the house when I got back, so it was given to me. I was searching because... because the guard told me they had requested to keep a couple belongings of mine, after I was declared dead... So far all I have found is the usual parent stuff... Birth certificate... Baby photos... School reports... A couple letters I sent them from my early military years..." She chuckled slightly and shook her head. "I was so scared... I also found my own... Death certificate. That's... still kind of freaky. But I haven't found everything yet and some of the spots were very creative." She noticed me looking rather tense. She assumed it was because I was uncomfortable or something. "Oh, sorry. I shouldn't be mumbling on to you, I'm sure you have friends to talk to and stuff."

She turned and began to open the door. I blinked and rushed over to her, stopping her from opening the door with a hug, which I had to kneel to administer comfortably. She shut the door, turned slightly and returned the hug. "I'm already talking to a friend, Dawn." I said, feeling her shake slightly. I pulled back, but remained on one knee, making myself eye-to-eye with her. There was a warbled smile on her face. "Dawn, I wasn't going to tell you. But I don't think I could handle keeping this from you for very long." I stood and slid under the bed, and retrieved the box. "I found this under the floor, while looking for a key. It has your-"

I was cut off when Dawn jumped at me, tackling me into a hug. This was not the first time she had done this, so I remained standing. I had to settle for a one-handed hug, as the other held the box by my side. "I am so sorry Dan! You weren't scared were you?" She said as she pulled out of the hug.

I huffed. "Dawn, if I have learned anything from being whisked away into another world, it's that, for whatever reason, there is a piece of my brain that is always prepared to tackle the weirdest of situations. Anyway, this is like... the third time I've woken in a room that I didn't fall asleep in."

Her eyes drifted from me to the box. "Did you... look in it?"

I sighed. "I did. I was looking for a key, but got a bit distracted. I'm sorry for snooping around in your things, I didn't know where I was until I reached the bottom of the box."

She tilted her head. "Why's that? There a picture or something in there?"

I smiled and set the box on the bed. "How 'bout... you find out. And I'll go tell everyone I'm okay while you're rooting through this thing."

She nodded happily. "You sure you're okay to go out?"

I waved to her as I left. "I'm fine." I said as I walked out of the door.

I took a couple wrong turns, but I eventually found some stairs, and then a door that led to the outdoors. I quickly made my way to the palace, then to the throne room. It took me longer than usual, but once I got my bearings back I was well on my way.

As I approached the throne-room doors, I noticed the guards either side eyeing my intently as I walked towards the door. I gently kicked the doors open, allowing me to slip in.

One guard mumbled darkly as he threw a bit across the doorway, it was deftly caught by the other guard, who grinned evilly. "Called it." He whispered as he pocketed the coin.

The door fell shut behind me and I was met with Celestia, who had teleported to me. She was a little too close for my liking.

"I want answers." She said, simply.

I shrugged. "Discord sent me half an hour back in time. You can probably work out the rest."

She nodded. "Yes, I can. You okay this morning? Nopony has seen you."

I waved a dismissive hand. "I'm fine. Dawn took me home... I guess. I forgot to ask her what happened, we were caught up in something."

"I'm not surprised you don't know what happened. You had a LOT last night. Even Ebony was slightly concerned." She said, smirking.

I thought for a second. "Yeah, er, you probably know..." I lifted my shirt, revealing the large bruise. "How'd I get this?" I pivoted my hands slightly, showing the knuckles. "And these?"

She blinked in shock. "I have no idea... Though... you did leave for a while. You said you had a 'challenge to take care of'. We were all rather tipsy, so we let you go. You came back a couple hours later then left again rather quickly, we assumed you were fine and just came back to say goodbye or something. I was meaning to ask you what you meant by that."

I thought for a second.

"Is that a threat?"

"More of a challenge if anything."

I blinked. "How many guards were there attending the palace yesterday?"

She gave me a weird look. "784 on duty, 3 wrote in sick, 5 in the infirmary."

"And today?" I asked.

"754 on duty, 2 wrote in sick, 26 in the infirmary. Why?" She narrowed her eyes, realizing what might have happened.

My eyes widened. "Yeeaahh..." I looked down at my knuckles. "Yeah, I think I took on the guards."

She put a hoof to her face. "Dan, I swear... look, I'll go tell everyone you're okay. You go to the infirmary and apologize to those guards... and check they're okay, we don't need you being charged for any more murders. Two's enough, don't you think?"

I rolled my eyes. "Fiiiiine."

I turned around and began my trip to the infirmary. About a minute of walking later, a note pad slapped the back of my head.

"Sup Viss." I said without even turning around. I heard the note scribble a couple times, then it began to the float in front of me, matching my speed as I continued walking.

It read, "Celestia says you will be able to see me in the next couple days. Also, I saw what you did."

I smiled. "Can't wait to actually see you. Plus, 'what I did'? You mean the guards?"

The note flipped to the second page. "Yes."

I sighed. "I was drunk, I don't even remember it. Please tell me I was awesome, and not fumbling about."

The note was scribbled upon. "You did very well. Though you took a lot of hits, you shrugged them off completely until one hit you with their hind leg. Then the pink one took you in."

I nodded. "I suspected that's what that was." I said, rubbing my stomach and instantly regretting it. My hand moved back to my side very quickly, just touching the skin was like being stabbed. And I knew what they felt like now. "You mind if I call you Viss? It's a lot easier."

The note flipped to another pre-written page. "I don't mind."

"Heh, thanks. Welp, this is my stop." I said as I approached the infirmary's doors. "See ya' Viss." I said as I walked backwards through the doors.

The note-pad stayed still a couple meters from the door. It flipped to the back page. "Very funny."

I laughed as the door's closed in front of me.

Time to go find out what drunk-me's like in a fight.

Author's Note

Updated: 12/11/15 (this update is brought to you by bus wifi!! Bless the person who invented this)
-Fixed grammar
-Fixed some contingency issues

Added a little to Dawn in this one. I am so sorry for these titles, they're terrible.

Sorry about not getting this out faster, I've had stuff that needs doing lately. You know how college can be. I am trying to make these longer to make up for my slow-ness.

But anyway, its 3:30am about time I put up a new chapter. I won't have one up tomorrow, probably. Maybe the next day, so stay tuned. Also, a new blog post is going up soon-ish. It will detail some things concerning this fic. Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow, basically I'll be taking some time off once I hit Chapter 30. More will be explained there, if you feel the need to know. It's for the good of the fic, I assure you.

Chapter 29: Infirm

I turned to face the infirmary's front desk. The same mare as last time was behind it, she grinned when she noticed me. Her smile shifted into a softer one, "Back so soon?"

I chuckled as I made my way across the room, setting one of my elbows down on the desk as I leaned over it slightly. "I'm here to visit someone again, no stabbings this time. Or at least, not that I know of." She gave me a slightly worried look. "I'm here to visit all of the guards."

She blinked. "You mean all of the guards in the infirmary?" I nodded. "Oh, okay. I can get that sorted out, do they know you are visiting them? They have their own wing of the facility by the way, so the rooms will be quite close."

I removed my elbow from the table and rolled my shoulders, my whole body was aching slightly. "Nah, they don't know. Celestia told me to do this, so I kinda have to."

She nodded to me. "I'll go get you a list of room numbers." She waved a hoof at me accusingly. "Don't you go anywhere." She said, before turning and leaving though the door a couple feet behind the desk.

There seemed to be a storage room of some sort in there. From the little I could see through the small window, there were large file cabinets and small cardboard boxes full of small paper bags, presumably holding prescription drugs and other things of that sort. I heard a couple metal draws being moved, then the rustling of paper. She soon returned with a mouthful of files.

She placed them on the desk in front of me. Each one had a room number stamped on it, along with a name and a small picture of the guard in question. Or at least, I assumed it was a picture of each guard; they all had guard-like figures, but their colors were all off. Their usual white and blonde was replaced with a multitude of color combinations which I had come to call 'the usual' mix of over-saturated designs.

"Hey, you sure these are the guards?" I asked her as I picked up the files. "They look different."

She giggled slightly. "It's not often one sees them outside their enchantments, hm? Every morning, when they first report in, they receive a spell from a higher officer. This makes them all look the same, something to do about 'justice' and 'equality' or something. Only a very lucky few actually look the way they do while on duty. A prime example of that was a guard named 'Towers', though I haven't seen him in a while. All the better, really. Means he isn't getting himself hurt."

I smirked. "Towers, huh?" She nodded. "Stopped coming in about... a couple months ago?"

She blinked. "How'd you know?"

"Heh, I'm surprised you didn't recognize him, he came in with a busted face a while ago. I realize that table I hit him into was pretty solidly-built, but I didn't think it would mess him up beyond recognition!" I said jokingly.

She looked at me, confused as I pocketed the files. She looked down at the table and brought up a couple sheets of paper from a nearby pile. "But the only patient with a face injury in the last two months, aside from today, was a... Oh my..."

I shrugged, chuckling. "Have fun with your little realization, you should go give him a visit some time. Excuse me, I have like... 20 possibly angry guards to apologize to."

"Apologize to?" She asked as I walked through the double doors leading to the long infirmary halls. I didn't respond to her question and turned the corner, entering the 'Guard Recovery' sector of the building.

The mood seemed to shift as I entered the hallway, the more joyous and hopeful tones from the rest of the facility were replaced with a quiet, mutually reclusive tone. I knew that these halls had probably seen many honorable, good people come to an untimely end. Those who had put themselves in harms way for the good of others. Black and white pictures, of what I assumed were war-heroes or 'regular' heroes lined the walls, some were very clearly in guard uniform. One in particular was not in uniform, and was instead wearing a wide smile, with an arm over his wife's shoulder while their daughter frolicked in the puddles before them. Despite the image being colorless, I could tell it was taken during the Fall, as leaves littered the ground in the park they were standing in.

Despite nearly being reduced to tears by the plagues under each picture, that described their heroics and how, and why, they died, I pressed on further into the hall, approaching my first stop, the room of one 'Custard Rush'.

I knocked on his door, the sound echoed down the empty hallway.

"Come in!" A male called from inside. He sounded bored out of his mind.

I slowly opened the door, peaking around the frame. Inside the room was a single bed, it was very similar to Feather's room now that I think about it. He stared at me with pleading eyes as I closed the door behind me. The yellow pegasus had bandages wrapped around his head, barely concealing the teal-blue mane that protruded waywardly out of the sides of it's binds.

"No hard feelings, right?" He said in a rushed tone as he scrambled backwards on his bed, sitting up with his back to the wall. "I- I was just doing my job!"

I groaned, approaching him slowly. "Dude, I came here to apologize. I was wasted last night, don't even remember challenging you guys."

He paused. "Challenging?" At my confused expression he continued, "We were called in due to a disturbance in a residential area."

I blinked. "I have... basically no recollection of last night..." I said in a genuinely clueless tone.

He thought for a second. "We were called out to a 'situation' unfolding in the streets...

"From the little information we had, we figured it was an average fight. We didn't expect to see you there, tussling hoof-to-hoof with a pony twice my size. I was among the first to get there, and the two that got there before me laid unconscious on the ground beside you and your opponent as you grappled each other. It looked like they had been caught in a crossfire of sorts. I ran to you and attempted to put myself between you and the other pony... that's... all I remember..." He said, rubbing a sore patch on his skull. "From what I have heard, you beat the pony to tartarus and back before fleeing through the guards who were now on high alert, apparently you... injured quite a lot of them on your way out."

I let out a heavy sigh. Cradling my head in my hands. "Shit, Celestia's going to kill me..." I murmured. I looked back up to the pony. "Okay, well apologies can wait. I need more information."

I ignored his response as I walked back out into the hallway. I headed for the next guard on the list, I didn't bother reading his name or knocking on his door. He jumped as I somewhat-slammed the door open, his shock quickly turned to anger and he tried to advance towards me, only to be stopped by the large casts that covered two of his legs. He fell flat onto the bed, glaring at me. But stayed silent.

"Look," I said, raising a hand, "I was drunk and I don't remember anything, please enlighten me." I said, really not in the mood for a casual conversation.

By the look on his face, I could tell he wanted a lot more that a casual conversation. More like a boxing match. "If I could move right now..." He said, narrowing his eyes at me. "You're going away for a long time for this. You know that?"

I managed to control myself. "Yes, I know. Just tell me. What happened?"

He laughed darkly. "You only nearly murdered somepony, then proceeded to assault every and any officer that attempted to follow you with those blasted blades! Just when we thought we had you cornered... you simply vanished! Lucky bastard, if I got my hooves on you I'd..." He grumbled and shook in anger.

I quickly made my exit before he decided he could use his broken limbs, because he looked like he was considering it. I practically ran back to the front desk. The mare behind the counter looked up at me in surprise.

"Back already?" She asked as I dropped the files on the desk.

"No time. Pony. Came in last night. Beaten pretty badly. Civilian. Big frame. You got anything like that?" I said sternly, thudding the desk every couple words in impatience.

I could tell she could see I meant business. She quickly sifted through a couple files before looking up. "Yes, why?"

"Room."

"23" She said. I nodded and burst back into the halls, the mare quickly followed me for a couple feet. "What are you doing?" She called from the double doors. I didn't answer and quickly found the room. I walked in unannounced.

The sight was... unholy.

The pony lay on his back, completely limp. All but one of his limbs were encased in casts, his whole body seemed to be supported by a wire framework, which, if he were awake, would allow for very little movement. Many of his features were swollen and only one of his eyes remained un-bruised. A large machine sat on either side of his bed, hooked up to many parts of his body. A multitude of drips were also placed alongside his bed.

I was about to simply leave, when his one good eye flickered open, he didn't move his neck and only moved his eye to look at me.

"Ah, the bug-lover returns-" He coughed some wheezing laughs, "Come to finish what you started, hm?" His voice was the low, gravelly sort many incorporate with movie actors. Except this guy seemed to have had an extra portion of saw-dust shoved down his gullet this morning.

Instantly, I knew exactly what happened that night. This guy must have given me lip about Ebony. Sober me would have freaked out, drunk me... well... I think it had the same result... just times ten. I knew, if I stayed in that room, I would likely do it again. So I left. I left the room. I left the infirmary. Found the first janitor's closet I could find in the palace and shut myself in it.

I thought for a long time.

Okay... so I will be charged with assault... attacking guards... resisting arrest... drunk and disorderly... probably something else to do with the knives... oh god... Okay, okay... Look, Dan; the guards this morning clearly did not know about what happened last night, or at least the ones on duty didn't. Neither did Celestia so... I could run to the cave... Ebony would eventually come looking for me... and we could live there!

No... I couldn't do that to Ebony, he has friends here, I don't want him to abandon his life here... for me. Maybe Celestia can pull some strings and it will all just go away! ...No, lets be real here: I am screwed no matter what I do. I doubt Celestia wants to stage another assassination... So I can't run... for Ebony's sake... I can't hide, Celestia has probably ran out of curtains to shove me behind, that fake assassination was her last resort, what else is there for me to do...?

Wait... Viss said she saw 'what I did' and said I 'did well'. I thought she meant she saw me take on the guards, not... I still thought I had challenged the guards... but she... she knew I'd... she... I'm sure she... she probably just saw the chase that happened afterwards, yeah, that's it... she... must have... only seen the chase...

I pushed open the door, allowing the harsh light of day back into my vision. I slowly made my walk of defeat, up to Celestia's quarters. I was lucky enough to find Steve guarding the door. He greeted me with a warmness that threatened to break me down into tears. I simply pushed past him and walked into Celestia's bedroom. It was empty. Steve seemed to take the hint and didn't bother checking on me as I sat on the corner of the bed. Waiting.

I must have been there for hours. Eventually, the sun began to set and the door opened, then shut. I looked over and sure enough, there was Celestia. She didn't look very happy. At all.

"Dan, why are you in here?" She asked, I could tell by her tone by her tone that she already knew.

I sighed. "I screwed up." I flung my arms limply in defeat. "There is nothing I can do."

She rubbed her face with a hoof in frustration. "Dan... It's not your fault."

"Of course it is!" I yelled as I stood from the bed. She looked at me slightly strangely. "I mean, yeah, I was drunk, but that's hardly an excuse!"

She blinked. "Dan." She said, in a very level voice. "The pony who you attacked died of their injuries a couple hours ago."

I put a hand to my face as I hunched over and legitimately just gave up on everything. I slowly laid on the floor, curled up slightly, trying to pretend the whole day never happened.

Celestia knelt beside me. Placing a hoof on my shoulder. "Dan, I promise; I will do whatever I can to keep this from affecting you."

I shook my head and spoke into my hands. "Celestia, it already has. I not only have the blood of one pony on my hands, I have the blood of two. And it does not help that the most recent addition was a fucking civilian... He was just a regular guy... probably drunk, same as me... And I fucking killed him... for something he said. At least the last one was wielding a knife to my throat."

Celestia sighed. "Dan... in the end, you'll have to make a simple choice." I looked up at her. "Prison. Or the military."

I shook my head again. "Prison. Try to get me into solitary confinement if you can, I'll be safer that way. I doubt I would survive in a traditional prison. Celestia?"

She nodded along to what I said. "I will attempt to do that. Yes?"

"Can't you just... hide me? From... everything?" I asked. She looked down at me with a look that genuinely saddened me to the core. It was like she was looking down at a bird with a broken wing, a combination of helplessness and hopeful thoughts.

She shook her head.

Author's Note

Updated: 12/11/15 (still bus wifi, loving this stuff)
-Fixed... Stuff, can't remember.
-Typing is kinda hard on a bus, luck there's not much for me to fix in these newer chapters.

Man, did most of this one while at college, so forgive my lack of the word 'pony' in some parts. I was sure that guy on the bus was looking over my shoulder as I typed.

But yeah, this was a thing that happened. I like how this turned out. It's about time something interesting happened. It's been far to peaceful in the last couple chapters. I need to layer up this cake before it'll work properly.

Probably one of the most improvised chapters yet, in a way. I had planned for this to happen completely differently, but this works too. Adds a little bit of morbidity to Viss's character too, she was missing that so far. Glad things lined up so I could do that.

Sorry 'bout the short chapter. Kinda running low on free time right now. I'll see to it that this fic keeps going though, it sure keeps my hand busy.

Chapter 30: Passing Burdens

***

I spend new year's day in a holding facility.

Again I had been deemed as a threat to the public and my previous convictions were coming back to haunt me; the cases had been re-opened as Celestia's personal punishment had now been uncovered as just a way to get me out.

I was sleeping, well, resting on my cold bed, when Celestia came in through the metal door, the only other noteworthy object in the stone room.

"Dan, I personally spoke to the ponies pressing the charges. I did everything I could, short of threatening them... only one of them backed down." She said from the doorway as I sat up from the sheet.

I brushed my now slightly over-grown hair out of my eyes, I had yet to get it cut here, it was getting a little unruly. But that was the least of my problems. "Celestia." I attempted to lock eyes with her, but hers were focused on the floor. "Let's be real here. How long do you recon I'll be gone for?"

She closed her eyes and sighed at the ground. "Dan... with your status, your other-worldly origin and many other factors, I have been able to cut down the potential amount of time you'll have to spend... 'locked up'. But even then, I suspect I'll only be able to cut you down to around a couple months minimum, but you are likely to spend nearer to a year, with how things are going right now. I'm sorry."

I waved a hand, returning my gaze to the ceiling, laying on my rough sheets. "Don't be." There was a pause. "When am I... you know... starting?"

She slowly walked to the door and looked to me. "I'll take care of the court proceedings, don't worry about those. You'll be moved to... wherever I can get you to... within the next 48 hours. Just do what they say and you'll be fine."

I nodded. "Thanks, see you... in a while... I guess."

She smiled sadly. "The others are here to say goodbye, by the way. I'll send them in. And... goodbye."

I sat up slightly and waved as she left the doorway and faded into the darkness of the hallway outside. The door quickly, probably magically, slammed shut after her.

A couple minutes of silent contemplation later, the door opened. I looked over to see Luna and Chrome standing slightly inside the room. The door hung open behind them, taunting me with freedom.

"I just... wanted to say bye." Chrome said, choking slightly.

Luna nodded along with Chrome's words. "Yes, it is a shame this had to happen. We wish you a swift and happy return." She said, smiling.

I returned her smile. "I'll be fine, I'm sure. Don't worry about me. But, er, keep the dreams coming, eh? Luna?" She began walking towards me, leaving Chrome at the doorway. "I had nightmares after-"

She put a hoof on my shoulder, with a little difficulty. "Your dreams will be safe, I assure you." Due to the hoof on my shoulder, she was very close. Chrome gave me an envious look, peeking past Luna to look at me.

"Thanks." I said, taking Luna's hoof off of my shoulder gently. "You too Chrome." He rolled his eyes, but smiled. "Oh, yeah, and..." I wrapped my arms around Luna's neck, pulling her into a hug. She had no real way of returning it, so she simply leaned into it. I pulled away, then shuffled over to Chrome and knelt. He flinched backwards as I put out my arms. He figured out what I was doing and excepted his 'goodbye hug'.

I sent them away, telling them to get the next couple people, whoever was next.

I sat on the bed again, spirits lifted. I waited for the next person to come in. The metal door had sealed after Luna and Chrome left. But soon enough, it opened again. I looked up, preparing to greet whoever it may be. No one was there.

I blinked at the open doorway. I had been in that place for about a week by then, so I was pretty desperate to see anything other than those four walls. I couldn't will myself to run though, I would never make it, I was literally underneath the palace, so all of the guards had easy entry. I just kind of sat there and appreciated the slightly more fresh kind of air that poured in.

It's lucky I hadn't ran, because a couple seconds later, a note pad was thrown right at me. I swiftly moved to block it, failed, and received a blow to the shoulder. Gotta invest in some should-pads, those things keep getting pretty beat-up, I thought to myself as I picked the notepad up off of the ground.

It was Viss's notepad, obviously. It had been taped onto a specific page. "Don't freak out." It read. I then understood why the note had been tossed in from the darkness.

I slid the notepad along the floor towards the door, it glided along the only slightly rough flooring, through the door and into the darkness. "Come on in Viss. Just don't... jump out or anything." I said, peering into the darkness.

Two large, green eyes appeared just inches into the darkness. "Thank you Dan." She said. I recoiled slightly at her voice, it was like it had some kind of filter over it that dulled down some of the mid-tones. It's cool in theory, but it's rather creepy when it's coming from someone's mouth.

A single hoof stepped into the light, revealing row upon row of thick, armored plates that shifted as the joints bent under them. Each plate over-lapped the next one down from it. They were all a dark aged grey and many of the plates held white scars, scratches and scuffs. The hoof was easily 1.5 time the size of Celestia's. It bared no holes, like the regular changelings do.

Then entered her horn, as she ducked under the door frame. It was warped and twisted in ways that confused my eyes for a second upon first seeing it. It was the same dull grey color. Each hoof-step as like a metallic click against the floor.

Then came the front half of her body. Her face was perhaps the only part of her body that didn't seen to be coated in armor. Her eyes both glowed a bright almost neon green, with a pitch black slit of an iris in each. Both were focused on me. Her facial features were stoic in nature, but her mouth held a small unsure smile. Her neck was similar to her legs, in the way it was armored, except there, the plates got bigger towards the base of her neck, resulting in a mass of stone-hard extrusions around her chest and shoulders.

Her torso was similarly armored. Same for her back legs. Her tail was a light grey and hung just short of the floor. Her mane, which I didn't even notice at first, was very short, for a pony her size, it was the same light grey and was completely tucked back and to one side, causing it to flow down the left side of her neck, before stopping half-way to her shoulder.

One of her transparent wings was tucked flush against her side. The other hung limp by her side, torn in two down its length.

She stood in the center of the room for a couple seconds. Once I noticed what I was doing, I quickly shut my mouth and tried to return my eyes to their regular size. She was incredibly tall and very solidly built. She was practically a tank, but moved with practiced grace.

I blinked a couple times, trying to concentrate. "It's... It's nice to finally see you." I was trying my hardest to meet her eyes, but mine kept darting to her body.

She let out a relieved sigh and folded her legs underneath her. If I had been standing, we would have only then been able to meet at eye-level. She nodded as her smile widened. "It is nice to have to finally look at me, instead of past me. I am sorry our first real meeting had to be at such a time."

I waved a dismissive hand. "It's fine. ...Ebony was not joking when he said that you were impressive."

"Impressive hmm?" She said, smirking.

I shrugged. "Well, I think the word he used was 'magnificent'..."

She snorted. "The ponies don't seem to think so. But it is nice to see it being appreciated once in a while; it took me many years to get to this point." She shuffled slightly. "But back to the topic, I wanted to wish you luck and to thank you for defending my scout yet again."

I sighed. "Thanks Viss. When I get let out, I'm going to ask you for the story behind each of those scars." I said, gesturing to her. "I gave you the story behind mine."

"I'd like that." She said, smiling somewhat sadly.

I stood. "Do you mind if I..." I put out my arms. "I'm doing it to everyone who comes in, I'd never forgive myself if I left you out."

She blinked a couple times, before pulling a hoof out from under her and gesturing me towards her. It was a... strange hug. I could only just fit my arms around the base of her neck. She made the effort of returning the hug with one extended hoof. It was like hugging a rock. It only lasted a couple seconds.

"I can see why Ebony keeps you around." She said as she stood. "I guess this is farewell."

"I guess so. Be careful out there Viss." I said as she made her way to the door.

She stopped and turned her head half forwards me. "Same to you, Dan."

"See you when I see you." I said as she walked out into the darkness. I think the door closed before she could respond.

Again, I waited for my next guest.

I'm still not sure Viss likes me or not. She's thankful for what I've done for Ebony, but other than that she hasn't shown much of a likeing to me. Well... She is probably used to having to deceive people, maybe showing real emotions isn't too easy for her just yet... I'll have to ask her some time...

The door opened again, revealing someone I wasn't expecting.

"Feather? I thought you were away with your family in Baltimare!" I said, rather pleasantly surprised.

She didn't look so happy. "Yes, I was. Until someone decided to get themselves arrested... again! Seriously Dan, I swear, you can't decide whether you want to be a saint or a criminal." She seemed more concerned than angry, thankfully. Her years in the military really taught her how to tan someone's hide if she wanted to, so clearly she was going easy on me.

"Hey, I don't tell you how to live your life!" I sad in mock offence.

She rolled her eyes, smiling. "I just came to say goodbye, I'm sure you can handle yourself wherever you get send just... don't do anything stupid, okay?"

I groaned, "Fiiiiine." as I walked closer to her.

I put out my arms, still standing. She reared up and put a hoof over each of my shoulders. After a short time I pulled back and she clopped back down onto all fours. She chuckled, "Chrome said you were giving out 'goodbye hugs'."

I shrugged. "It seems appropriate."

"It certainly is. Say, while you're locked up, search for a guy named 'the peeler' and say you're a friend of Feather." She said, very slowly making her way to the door.

I shook my head. "I doubt I'll need to, but I'll try if I get sent to somewhere with a lot of other people in it. I hope that doesn't happen though."

She chuckled. "Bye Dan."

I waved as the door slammed. From what I could see, it either hit her face, or came very close.

Heh, Feather's always good fun. She ain't afraid to speak her mind, but she's nice to those she knows and trusts. I kinda feel bad for taking her from her family though...

Quickly, the door opened again. In walked Dawn and Steve. Dawn looked a little shifty, more shifty than usual. She was always light on her hooves, so she always looked a bit strange, but right then, she was really looking like a shoplifter with a washing machine shoved down her pants.

Steve walked up to me and patted me on the back. "Be careful in there Dan. I can't say I've done time... Cause I'd lose my job if they found out, but it isn't easy. Keep yourself to yourself and you'll be fine."

I gave him possibly the manliest 'hug' I could muster. We shared back-pats and a fist-bump. "Thanks Steve."

"Be careful bud." He looked over to Dawn, she was nervously glancing at the walls. "Oi Dawn! What're you doin'?"

"Wha- huh?" She flinched at stared at us for a couple seconds. Then ran over to me and hugged me a little too tight. "I'm so sorry Dan!"

I struggled under her vice-like grip. Steve noticed and helped me out by prying the mare off of me. "Thanks Steve." I turned back to Dawn as I regained my breath. "Don't be sorry, you've clearly got your own things to worry about right now."

Steve rolled his eyes. "She's probably just nervous about telling you we delayed our wedding so that you could be there."

I whipped my head around to Steve. "Really? You did that?"

He nodded proudly. "Yep, whenever you get back, we'll have it done within the following week!"

"Heh, let's hope I'm not gone for too long then ey?" I laughed, turning to Dawn.

She just smiled sheepishly. Clearly the wedding wasn't what was bothering her.

Steve seemed to pick up on the awkward silence very quickly. "...we should be going, Ebony's a little eager to see you."

"I can imagine" I said as Steve awkwardly lead Dawn to the door. It shut loudly behind them.

I mentally prepared myself for Ebony's possible reactions. But Dawn's strange behaviour was still plaguing my mind when the door ripped open.

I was tackled, to the floor, by a very emotional changeling. I quickly put my arms under him and sat up. He curled up on my lap like a large dog as I twirled one of his ears in my hand, the other rested on his side.

I assumed he didn't have to say anything because he could just taste my emotion to find out how I was doing. I don't think that helped him recover though. He just laid on me, sobbing, for what must have been 15 minutes or so. I got the feeling I was running out of time.

I put my arms under both of his front legs and lifted him, placing him in front of me, sitting. He looked at me, scared, confused and worried. "Ebony, I need you to do something for me. Before I go."

He nodded. Tears still falling down his face. "Anything Dan."

I pulled out my journal from my back pocket and held it to him. I looked him level in the eyes. "Ebony, there is a chance I might not make it out of here alive. I want you to continue this while I'm gone. And if I don't come back... It'll be something to remember me by. Take good care of it, everything I've ever done in Equestria is documented in there, along with some other things."

He timidly took the book from my hand, balancing it on a hoof. He looked down at the slightly worn book. "Are you sure Dan? What if I lose it? Or break it?"

I put a hand on his shoulder. "I trust you. Ebony, I promise, I'll get back as soon as I can."

He smiled sadly and tucked the book under one of his wings. He leant forward and hugged me, I instantly returned it. "Thanks Dan." He said, digging further into my shoulder. "Get back soon."

"I'll try Ebony, I'll try."

***

They told me I only had 5 more minutes before they would remove Ebony with force, so I quickly updated my journal, then gave it back to Ebony. The guards are waiting impatiently at the door as I write this.

Thanks for continuing my journal Ebony. See you soon.

Author's Note

Updated: 12/11/15
-not much to fix here
-but I remember having to correct a couple things, so it's different somehow.
-I can finally begin the production of chapter 31!

Okay guys, chapter 30. You know what that means. I'm taking a couple-day long break, to fix all the previous chapters. By 'fix' I mean 'read through and correct any mistakes'. I won't be changing any of the plot, I don't think. Unless I find a massive hole, hopefully I don't find any of those.

I feel so sophisticated, I wrote most of this in the library while at college. I'm sitting in the only empty spot I could find; the 'romance' and 'real life fiction' book section, a little ironic really. I am literally surrounded by 'Cathy Kelly' right now. For some reason, Steve Jobs' biography is in here too. Clearly it's fictional, Steve Jobs never existed according to this library.

Back to the chapter; sorry it's a short one again. I swear I'm trying to make these longer.

I was not sure what to do about writing Dan's Jail-time, since it would be just the same thing over and over if it was from his prospective, so I'm having Ebony take the wheel.

Let's hope Ebony knows how to write. Dan never asked.

Chapter 31: A Changeling's Guide To: "Journals"

Dan passed me the scruffy looking book, after he had finished writing in it. I held it in my magic, as to free up my hooves, so I could hug him for what I hoped wouldn't be the last time.

"Ten seconds!" The guards gathered in the hall yelled.

I reluctantly let him go, backing away by a couple steps, not taking my eyes off him. He looked up from the floor, meeting my eyes with his own. He put on a sad smile and gestured me away, not wanting either of us to be harmed by the incoming onslaught of guards. I continued backing my way towards the door.

I sniffed. "I'll miss you Dan." I said, as I passed the doorway's border.

He nodded, his eyes almost as tears as mine. "I'll miss you too bud, I'll miss you too."

I took one last step back, clearing the doorway. The magically locking door slammed between us as the guards began to pull me back to the visitor waiting room. They pushed me through the double-doors and into the pleasant-looking interior of the waiting room. The thick carpet greeted my face as they tossed me in.

The guards quickly retreated back into the dim halls, presumably to begin dragging Dan off to... wherever he was headed. A claw helped me to my up onto hooves.

"Thanks Rose." I said, choking slightly as I stood.

The griffin shook his head with a sad smile. "Please, call me Steve." He said, to many pony's surprise.

Dawn, who was next to the griffin, put a hoof on my shoulder. I flinched slightly at the contact. She was hunting changelings on her last mission, so who knows how many changelings have met their end as a result of those hooves? "You okay? Eb?" She said, in a admittedly tender voice.

I nodded, despite the tears still rolling down my face.

Luna shook her head slightly. "It is okay, Ebony. We are all feeling the effects of our loss. Though your loss is the greatest by far. Come, let us leave this depressive atmosphere and discuss our plans over a warm meal." She announced with a small smile. I recoiled at the thought of food. Depending on how far Dan is from me... I might need to find a new source of energy...

Luna seemed to regret her choice of words as soon as they left her lips. She gave me an apologetic look as the two royal sisters led our small group through the stone halls as back into the palace, seemingly towards a dining hall of sorts.

On our way, my queen walked up beside me, matching my speed. She spoke, gaining everypony's attention. "What do you plan on doing in terms of food? You need not worry about me, for I have developed far beyond the average queen and can consume pony-food with little-to-no side effects. You however, cannot."

The ponies all gave us a look of sympathy and hidden curiosity as we continued through the halls. I hung my head in thought and sighed. "According to Dan he could create love just by thinking about it, as well as feeling it. There was a difference in taste, but it acted the same way. That allowed his to feed me even before our... Relationship. To find another source of love would require me to find somepony else who loves me." I looked about the group of ponies. "And I doubt I'd be able to find anypony as accepting as Dan before I... starve." The ponies all gave me a worried look. Steve's eyes began to dart about slightly, for some reason.

"I guess meat will have to service, at least until he gets back." I said, giving Steve a pleading look. He was the only one I knew who could cook meat.

Everypony looked to Steve, who nodded. But stuttered. "I can- I can arrange that." He grinned, trying to cover up his uncharacteristic vocal-buffer. "Wouldn't want you to go hungry."

Dawn, me and Celestia all gave him a suspicious look, since we were the only ones to notice something was up. Steve had mentioned he found me 'cute' earlier. I bet all of that talk about me needing a new source of love set him off slightly. Once I worked that out, I ceased my glare.

"Thanks... Ro- Steve." I said, as we all passed through a rather large pair of doors, akin to those the throne room wields, but with less kick-marks.

The room was smaller than the throne room however, only about a quarter of the size. It held three large stone tables, all rather long. Each had a unique stone chair at it's head, similar to a small, very simple, throne. One was marked with a sun, one a moon, the other was marked with an equals sign. Each marking was engraved colourlessly into the stone. The 'equals' table looked much newer and a lot less worn than the other two.

The two princesses led us towards the third table, as we approached, I realised that the chair at the head of the table, the one with the equals sign embossed on it, did not actually have a seat, and was instead just a plate of stone sticking out of the ground, it looked just like the two other head-chairs, except without the hoof-rests or the bit you sit on.

This meant, as we sat at the table, that everypony sat on the sides of the table.

Celestia sighed once we were all sat. "We made this table for Dan, as a sign we were trying to make Equestria more accepting... But it was only finished a couple days ago."

Feather patted the table slightly, as if testing it's durability. "I'm sure Dan would have like this, it's very symbolic, there being no head-chair and all..."

Celestia nodded as her horn glowed. Almost instantly, a row of ponies carrying an array of foods entered the room, placing them along the middle of the table and giving us all a plate.

All but me and Steve began to dig in, but a couple minutes later, a large tray of meat came in, much to some of the pony's discomfort. I quickly ate what I could, I was already feeling slightly empty, a sign Dan's love was becoming too distant for me to feed properly... or maybe I was just still panicking...

Between bites, we all had a conversation concerning how Dan leaving will affect each of us and how we will deal with it.

Steve and Dawn kept the band quiet.

It was an emotional time I don't feel like writing out word-for-word. These were very private matters, discussed over that table.

Me, Dawn and Steve met up the next morning, in the room they shared. So that we could discuss what to do now that the only one of us who knew how human music worked was gone.

"I think we should all just keep practicing." I said in rebuttal to one of Steve's proclamations.

Steve huffed, "There is nothing left for me to practice! I know almost everything about that thing and everything it can do!" He said, pointing to the electric guitar propped up on the side of the sofa he was sitting on. "Learning music that was made here will do us no good and Dan is the only one who knows human music!"

Dawn interjected, "I for one think that we should simply wait for Dan to return. He is our teacher after all."

"Steve." I said, frustrated. "Dan is our teacher and we shouldn't release songs while he's gone, Dawn is correct in that regard." She nodded happily. "But he has faith in us and I think we should improve on what we already know, lord knows I have a long way to go, and learn other, new songs. Even if they were made here."

Steve narrowed his eyes at me, a legitimately scary sight. "We should learn new songs, yes. And we should release them! It would give the band a head-start and he'd have a nice pile of bits to come back to!"

Dawn shook her head. "You two! We should wait for Dan to return first! This is his band, so he should decide which direction it goes in!"

Steve turned to the pegasus and gave her a sour look. "No offence," he said, lifting a talon, "but can-it, sweets. All you do is hit some pans, Me and Ebony will continue this band with or without you."

I gave Steve a shocked look. Dawn practically growled as Steve stood from his seat confidently and began to walk over to Dawn, who was also standing. She had been leaning on the kitchen's counter. Their eyes were locked, and not in the good way. I quickly picked myself off of the sofa and placed myself between them.

I stopped Steve's advance with a hoof. I placed it on his shoulder, facing him. His body struck my extended hoof, causing me to buckle slightly, he stopped though, seeing he could easily power through me if me wanted to.

"Ebony, take your hoof off of me. This does not concern you." Steve said, staring down at me with his predatory eyes.

"He's right." Dawn said from behind me. She continued in a casual tone, "I don't want you in the way when I turn this bird into paste."

Steve, taking his offence out on me, shoved me backwards, towards Dawn, I had to extend my wings to keep balance. The griffin gave a confident huff. "Dawn you haven't been able to hurt even a fly since you lost that 'Annah' of yours."

Dawn simply lifted a hoof, her expression not moving from a look of controlled, finely tuned rage. She set her hoof on the side of the marble counter of the kitchen, and pushed. The marble slab shifted. Steve stared as she reached down, into the hidden compartment and pulled out a long pole, a large blade on one end, and a weight on the other.

After reading through Dan's journal, I can safely say this was 'Ellie'.

And she was back in one piece.

Dawn tossed the stick slightly, rolling it over her shoulder and catching it in her wings. Dawn glared at Steve, but her snarl angled into a slight smirk as Steve stared in what I assume was fear. Needless to say, I was joining him in this act, already backing away from the mare.

"Oh, you missed her Rose?" She said, innocently pointing the blade towards him. "She missed you."

I turned to Steve, his eyes widened as I did so. "Ebony. Get out, now." It was not an angry tone he used, it was deadly serious and begged not to be questioned. His eyes were still locked with the pegasi's. His claws were dug into the carpet and his wings were oh-so-slightly flared, ready to move.

I took his advice. I dived to the side, over the sofa. I stumbled my way back onto my hooves as I bolted to the door and closed it behind me. I left the sounds of war in that room. I was on my hind legs, back pressed against the door for a good minute or so. During that time I heard many a smash, cry and thud. I decided I had to do something, and began working my way through the hallways as fast as my hooves could carry me. On a course for the throne room.

I saw the door's approaching at the end of hall. The guards either side looked at me confused, not used to seeing me without Dan or in such a fast-moving state. I buzzed my wings as I ran, pushing me up to the mid-section of the doors as I took Dan's suggestion.

"Use your head."

I burst through the doors, landing in a slight heap mere meters from the thrones themselves.

As I righted myself, a piece of paper fluttered down onto my nose. I shook it off of my face and looked up to the thrones. There was Celestia, coated in paper, with a face that looked like she was done with just about everything.

She sighed to herself. "Why is it always this particular paperwork that gets interrupted by the door? This was meant to be done months ago." She looked down to me, her face regaining some of its usual caring nature. "What did you need, Ebony?"

I shook the stars orbiting my head away and blinked a couple times. "Steve and Dawn are fighting! I don't know what to do, I-" I stopped when I saw that her facial expression had shifted into a smirk.

She waved a dismissive hoof. "Oh, they do that."

I blinked again. Perhaps I hit that door a little to hard. "But... They have like... Dawn has a weapon!"

Celestia just chuckled, shaking in her chair slightly. "Yes, I heard Dawn finally found Ellie again. She was so excited when she finally got the forge-master to fix the handle for her..." She sighed happily. "Steve's really in for it this time." She mumbled to herself. Even she's calling him Steve now...

I was slightly relieved. "So... this is normal?"

Celestia snorted. "Normal for them at least. Fighting's how they first met after all. Back when Dawn first joined the military and Steve was a lot fluffier; they got in an argument in a bar, over which was better - vodka or whiskey. Both were surprisingly sober as the fight quickly escalated into a full bar-brawl. Except they were the only ones participating, the rest of the bar's inhabitants had backed into the corners of the room due to the ferocity of the fight. The fight is rumored to have gone on for hours, and somewhere in all of that, they fell for each other." She shook her head, smiling. "Even Cadence does not understand the nature of their relationship."

I tilted my head in interest. "Hm. So... do the things they fight about ever get resolved?"

She quickly nodded. "Oh yes! By the end of the fight, they both seem to know the right thing to do. All of their major arguments have been settled that way, and it's worked for all of them... all but their first one. They still squabble over drinks every now and again."

I heard a large yet muffled crash from the hallways. Despite the distance their room was from the throne room, I could tell by the pitch and estimated distance that it was probably them. Celestia's ears perked and she grinned. "Do either of them ever get hurt?" I asked.

She laughed. "Most definitely! They'll keep going until one gives up. Some say they've increased their fighting skills and pain tolerance with each other better than their military training did." There was another low pitched thud, followed by a clattering. Celestia giggled. "And that's their cutlery draw gone... again." She saw my worried look. "They'll be fine. By the sounds of it, it's just a little disagreement. Since they've managed to keep it within a single room thus far."

We listened to the crashes and bangs occasionally coming from the halls. Celestia turned to me, and answered a question I had yet to ask. "Just stay out of their way for now. You'll know when the fight's over. Go visit Chrome and Feather, I believe they are spending some time together in the palace cafeteria. I'm sure they'd like to see you."

I shrugged. "Sure, why not. Thanks for clearing that up for me, I was rather worried there for a second." She gave me the smile that Dan seemed to hate for some reason. Seriously, he would go oon and ooon about how annoying her smile was sometimes, I really don't see it.

I walked back through the doors after we made our goodbyes. I inadvertently hid my face from the guards, who were staring at me. Guess I kinda made an entrance huh? Luckily, neither of them said anything, so they probably didn't mind.

After a little while of somewhat-aimless bumbling; I found the cafeteria. It had been a rather long time since I had been there without being led. Dan tended to lead me everywhere actually. Just walking without him felt a little weird.

The cafeteria was relatively empty, since it was somewhere between breakfast and lunch. Steve had made me a plate of meat that morning, luckily before the fight broke out. Chrome and Feather were discussing something as I joined their table.

"...like she doesn't usually do that kind of thing," Chrome said, Feather was listening intently, "but for some reason, that time, she was super into it. I thought it was a little weird at first, but I warmed to the idea eventually. I must say, her tactic of persuasion was rather... well... persuading." He said as Feather giggled to herself. I approached from behind Chrome. Feather seemed to freeze when she saw me.

"Hi guys." I said, sitting on one of the free sides of the small, square table. I think I startled Chrome a little. "What were you talking about?"

"I wa-" Chrome began, sounding rather proud, but Feather cut him off.

"Nothing really. Chrome" She said, giving him a pointed glare. He shrank back in his chair slightly. "We were just discussing what we were planning to do this summer." She said, shrugging. A valiant attempt, but I could tell something was up. The taste didn't match the tone she was using.

But I didn't bring it up. I wouldn't want to seem rude or prying. "Well? What are you planning to do?"

Feather beamed. Chrome stayed quiet. "I was planning on going somewhere nice this year, since I have a little while off from the whole 'lead interrogator' thing. I hate that job, but it has its moments." She said, shrugging. She gave a little head movement to Chrome after a couple silent seconds.

He blinked and shook himself. "O- oh yeah. I was going to... actually... I have nothing planned for this summer. It is my favorite season, but I think I'll take a little while to relax this year." I think we all wanted at least a little rest, the last few months had been more eventful than most, to put it lightly. "What are you doing this summer? Ebony?" He asked me.

I thought for a couple seconds. "Well... with Dan gone..." I began, they both gave me sad looks. "...I guess I'll just... tag along with you guys, if that's okay. And if Dan does not get back by then."

"Sure thing Eb." Feather said, patting the hoof I had placed on the table absentmindedly. "Feel free to come along, with any of us for that matter, I'm sure no one will mind."

"Yeah," Chrome backed her, "I'd be happy to take you along if I went anywhere... you ever been on a holiday?" He asked, slightly solemnly.

I shook my head and Feather gasped.

"We simply must-" Feather was cut off my a loud thud, then some muffled shouting. Suddenly, Feather smirked at Chrome. "Dawn won. Pay up." She said, holding out a hoof. Chrome huffed and placed a small sack of bits in her hoof. She bounced the bag slightly, producing a satisfying clinking sound, before placing it beside her on the table.

Feather cleared her throat and began again. "We simply must take you somewhere, if you've never had a holiday... well, we'd better make it special." She said, smiling.

I shook my head. "I'd feel bad if I went anywhere too nice without Dan." They both nodded understandingly. I decided then was a good time to change the subject, it was leave a bad taste in my mouth. "So," I said, eyeing the bag of money. "You two heard Steve and Dawn too?"

They both nodded. "Yeah, those two are just weird." Chrome said, rolling his eyes.

Feather chuckled. "They've been doing it ever since they met, on and off. They are a near-equal match." She said as Chrome huffed and crossed his hooves. "You're just mad you lost the bet." She said, teasingly.

I stood from the table rather abruptly. "Sorry guys, but I've got to check on those two. I need to know what they decided on. You two can get back to whatever you were talking about when I walked in."

Chrome blushed briefly, before somehow forced it away.

"Okay, see you." Feather said as I left.

I heard Chrome continue whatever he was saying before as I left, or at least I assume so, since it was said in the same cocky voice.

The room I came back to... when I got to Steve and Dawn's door... I mean... I knew they both knew how to fight, but... wow.

Author's Note

Woah! A new chapter? does that mean what I think it means?! Yes it does! I'm finally finished 'fixing' the earlier chapters. That means this thing is back in business, back to the old schedule. A chapter every couple days. Every week at very least.

So, as it turns out, Ebony CAN write.

It's been a little while since I actually WROTE, so this one may be a little rusty when compared with the earlier ones. Plus the prospective change is messing me up a little.

Chapter 32: Every Rose Has Its Dawn

I tapped my hoof on the slightly ajar door of Steve and Dawn's room.

The wooded door creaked as it fell from its frame, and onto the floor in front of it. Giving me a full view of the aftermath of their tussle.

The two sofas, usually facing each other, were toppled and strewn into the corner. One of them was completely broken in two. The glass table that was before placed between the two seats lay on its side, the glass shattered and piled under the remaining framework of metal.

The fridge was on its front, liquids from the various toppled foods inside leaked out the seams and onto the kitchen floor. The area around the oven, including the oven itself, was blackened and charred. Every draw, cupboard and cabinet was open and had its contents spread across the kitchen floor, every breakable piece of crockery was in at least two pieces; even some of the metal tools and containers bared dents and gashes. And somehow, the kitchen sink was... well... it was gone. There was simply a square hole left in the marble worktop and a small pipe extruding from it, spewing a steady stream of water a couple inches into the air.

Some of the walls themselves had large holes and scratches on them. The window that over-looked the city was a fragile spider-web of cracks.

The couple, in the middle of the room, surrounded by that mess, looked across to me as the door loudly clattered to the floor inside the room.

Dawn had Steve held in a rather painful-looking position. He laid flat on the floor, she stood on her hind legs, pressing one into his back just between his wings, the other into the back of his skull, pressing his jaw into the carpet. She held her weapon threateningly above him, daring him to try and move.

As Dawn looked to me, smiling to herself, Steve attempted to do the same, but with a much more defeated face. He could not turn his neck however, due to Dawn's hoof. After another show of dominance from Dawn (in the form of a light kick to the back of the head) he stopped trying to turn to me, and instead simply faced an eye in my direction.

"You two...erm... done?" I asked from the doorway.

Dawn nodded happily. "Yep. As much as I'd love to continue I think I made my point." She said, stepping off of Steve. She made sure to make it as awkward for Steve as possible by shifting all of her weight onto one hoof as she stepped. She plopped back down onto all fours and Steve stood, looking slightly dazed. "We have decided that we should wait for Dan before releasing any music and we should practice whatever we want to, if we feel we need to." She said proudly, giving Steve a couple glares.

"Oh, okay, I'm okay with that." I said, taking a look about the room. "What are you going to do about... this?" I gestured to the wrecked room.

They both did a full 360, taking in the room. Steve groaned, "We've done it again, haven't we?"

Dawn nodded and sighed. "Mhm, we've done it again." She rolled her eyes and frustratedly walked out of the room, brushing past me. "I'll go get some towels. Rose, go tell the guards to send a clean-up crew. I did it last time." She called as she entered the halls.

Steve hung his head and exhaled in annoyance. He walked up next to me, putting a tired claw on my shoulder. "Sorry about this Eb, but I'd get out of here if I were you. Or you'll be dragged into the..." He sighed, "...cleanup."

He patted my shoulder and kept walking. Disappearing into the halls.

I turned and began heading back to our... well, my room. It was almost lunch time. I can probably get Steve to whip up another plate of stuff for lunch, he likely cooks his own lunch anyway. He's a good cook.

I turned a corner, my room's door was now visible, along-side Chromes. There was a mustard colored pony outside my door, knocking on it as if it were a deadly animal, very timidly.

I slowly and quietly approached the mystery pony. He had a cutie-mark of a shiny record-disc. Tapping him on the shoulder, "What do you need?" I asked as he turned his head to face me rather rapidly.

He froze.

"Erm, are you okay?" I asked his wide-eye'd look.

His hoof, which was still placed on the door began rapping on the door slightly louder. He never broke eye contact.

I focused for a second. Analyzing the air. Fear. Great.

"Are you here for Dan?" I asked, trying to sound as un-threatening as possible.

He stopped knocking on the door and turned his whole body to face me, backing up against the door. He nodded, "Y- yes. Please don't hurt me." His voice was barely even audible. He seemed to cower under me, despite the fact he was actually slightly taller than me.

I shook my head, "I assure you, I mean you no harm. I am Dan's partner, though Dan himself is... well, he's away at the moment. You can talk to me instead, since I assume you are here because of the whole 'band' thing we have going?" I said, pointing to his cutie-mark.

He remained silent for a couple seconds. Breathing heavily.

He closed his eyes, gathering himself, before exhaling and slowly opening his eyes. He instantly became paralyzed again. He settled for simply nodding slowly instead of forming words.

I sighed, seeing this guy was just legitimately scared of me.

I walked up to the door behind him, he rushed out of my way as soon as I advanced in his direction. I opened the door, took a couple steps and turned around. Luckily, he was still there, peering in. "You can come in, if you want. We can talk about this." I said, moving out of the way for him to pass.

He very slowly came in, skirting around me slightly. He bee-lined for a certain spot on the sofa, he had clearly been in there before. I sat across from him, as not to get too close, he clearly didn't like being near me.

"What did you need to discuss?" I asked, trying to sound pleasant.

He tapped his front hooves together, not making eye contact with me. "I... I wanted t-to ask D-Dan if he... if he had made more music yet."

I shook my head. "Sorry, mister..." I held out a hoof, waiting for a name.

He took a couple seconds, but eventually forced a whispered, "Veiled Alloy, sir." under his breath.

I smiled, but made sure to keep my teeth concealed. "Sorry, Alloy, but we have not made any music." He slumped slightly, but stopped himself, not wanting to let his guard down. "Also Dan is... he's in prison."

His eyes widened. "What?!" He quickly covered his mouth with his hooves. "Sorry. B-but... prison?" He mumbled through his hooves to me.

I nodded sadly. "Yeah he er... well, he got drunk and did some things he wouldn't usually do, let's just leave it that."

He nodded, not wanting to know the details. "So... what about the band? What about what he said? He told everypony he'd have music by now..." He was being a lot more open now that we were discussing music, better keep the topic stable.

"He's the leader of the band, so we're waiting for him to get back. He could be away for... well... to be completely honest, there is a chance he'll never return..."

He hung his head and mumbled into his chest. "Emerald was so happy with me... I finally made it big..."

I tilted my head. "Emerald?"

He looked up and me and blinked. "Oh... sorry, I didn't mean to... You kn- know her?" And now he's awkward again. Good job Ebony.

"No, I don't." I said, apologetically. "I didn't mean to pry."

He frowned. "No-no, it's... it's fine. She's... she's my special-somepony." He didn't sound very happy about it though. His eyes drifted to the small table between us. "You... you know if Dan still had that... guitar, was it?" He asked hopefully.

I nodded to him. "Yeah, he gave the acoustic one to me. I'm still learning." I said, shrugging slightly.

He stood up. "Oh, okay, I just wanted to know how things were going over here. I guess I'll be off."

I narrowed my eyes. Look at that, a complete sentence without a single stutter, and right after I talked about the guitar too. I guess this guy just really likes music. After noticing I had let my facial features show how intrigued I was about how his mind worked, I quickly righted the size of my eyes and leveled out my mouth. "Oh okay, bye I guess." I said, waving shortly.

He shot me a nervous grin as he left through the still open door. He seemed relieved to finally leave, even though it had been a rather short discussion.

I hit myself internally. I have an entire fridge-full of food. I could have gave him some, it's no use to me.

I entered my bedroom and retrieved my guitar from under the bed. I pulled in out as I slowly sat on the edge of the mattress, setting the instrument on my lap. I recited the songs Dan had attempted to teach me. I still had to really concentrate, since my magic was... not very strong, since I barely used it. Years of being disguised as a non-unicorn will do that to a pony.

I was trying to remember the next note of a song, when I heard something in the back of my head.

"Ebony."

I smiled. "Yes, my queen?"

"Luna requests your presence, she says she has news concerning Dan. She is waiting in the palace throne room. I will let you two have your time; I know you worry for Dan."

I stood from the bed, placing the guitar back under it with my magic. "Thank you, my queen."

I quickly made my to to the door of my room. I pulled it open and made my way through the halls. I had just passed Chrome's room when I heard the door open. I turned to look; Chrome and Feather both exited the room and started heading towards me. I slowed down to let them catch up.

They pulled up either side of me as we walked. "Where're you going Eb?" Chrome asked cheerfully, it wasn't often we met in the halls, since the palace was so expansive.

I turned to him and tried to lighten up my serious tone, to match his happy exterior. "Luna has news on Dan, Elder Queen Vicissit says she's waiting in the throne room for us."

Both of their eyes widened. "Well, we'd better get going then!" Feather said, gaining speed. Me and Chrome moved into a trot to keep up with her.

We practically ran to the throne room doors. We paused outside the doors.

Chrome eye'd the doors and their many human-foot shaped scuffs and scratches. They were covered up very well, but you could see them if you knew what to look for. A guard saw the looks we were all giving the doors.

"Those things are still leg-proof, you know?" He said. "Unless you want a headache or a broken spine, I suggest you use the door normally. As entertaining as it is to watch, it damages the doors and we're not supposed to let you do that." He pointed to me. "You got lucky today, changeling."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Don't pretend like you don't recognize me, Steel." I said, smirking slightly.

He blinked, tilting his head.

I slumped. "Ebony. Ebony Towers? I guarded Dan with you." I said, trying to get him to remember.

He just hummed uninterested before returning to his normal guarding pose. He never was very... nice.

I just sighed and pushed open the door. Feather and Chrome followed me in, either ignoring what happened with Steel or just not wanting to get involved. Getting information on Dan was number-one priority after all.

Sure enough, there was Luna. She was in the middle of the room, smiling at as. She looked rather tired. We all walked into the room and stopped a couple feet from her. She walked over to Chrome and leaned down. The nuzzled affectionately. I almost lost control of my knees. If I could get a hold of even a smidgen of that love...

"Good afternoon you three." Luna said, backing up and addressing us all. "I trust you are here to receive information about Dan?"

We all nodded.

She smiled, but her voice remained low and remorseful. "He has been sent to a high-security prison due north of here. They say the prisoners are kept separate at all opportunities, so Dan is unlikely to be harmed." We all smiled at that. "I waited all last night and this morning, and eventually Dan slept. Unfortunately, I could not completely enter his dream, only partially, due to the fields of protective magic encompassing the prison, but I was able to receive a rather scrambled message from him. It detailed, to put it simply, that he is fine. Though he was very adamant that I told everyone that everything was fine. I'm not to sure why-" she began to continue, but I raised a hoof, cutting her off.

"Are you sure that's all he said?" I asked, deadly serious.

She blinked a couple times, the ponies either side of me stared at my interruption. "Erm... yes, I talked to him for a good 20 minutes or so. And that was the only thing of particular note I got from him." Luna continued, sounding rather worried. "Is something wrong?"

I racked my brain.

"Something's up." I said. "He'd never say that."

Chrome stepped forward. "If everything were fine, he would have found something to complain about. Even in the most dire of situations. If he isn't complaining about anything, that means..."

"-it means he doesn't want us to worry." Feather interrupted. "He cares about us and probably does not want us to stress over his problems."

Chrome turned to Feather, a frantic look on his face. "But if he wants us not to worry, there must be something for us to worry about in the first place!"

I nodded in agreement. Luna looked about our small trio, unable to form a response.

Feather put a hoof on Chromes shoulder. "Chrome, he's in prison, of course there is something for us to worry about. I think he just wants us to be able to be happy while he's gone." She said with a sad smile.

Chrome huffed and hung his head. "I'm sorry... I just..." He choked on his words. "I already miss him Feather!" He wailed as he threw himself over Feather, who caught the limp pegasus. Feather gave Luna a pleading look. This shook Luna out of whatever thought she was in.

A blue light surrounded Chrome and he was lifted away from Feather and over to Luna. She placed the now crying pony over her shoulders and silently walked out of the room. The doors slowly swung shut behind her.

I blinked.

Me and Feather shared a look, now alone in the throne room.

She snorted. "It's strange... he's acting like that, and he's Dan's former roommate. But you..." She tilted her head. "You're fine. Why?"

I thought. The whole situation hadn't fazed me as much as maybe it should have. I shrugged to Feather's curious look. "Don't get me wrong, I am very worried. But I trust Dan. He's saved me, he's saved Chrome, he's saved Dawn... I'm sure he could save himself if he needed to."

I wanted nothing more than to find out the location of that prison, fly there myself and visit him myself.

She nodded. "I don't know how, but he handles himself pretty well. Considering he's never had any training."

"He told me a while back it's because no 'pony' knows how his body works well enough to fight it."

She shot a smirk at me for some reason. "If that's what's required for a pony to fight him and win, I bet you'd be a formidable opponent."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

She was very quiet after that...

I still don't know what that was about. I mean, Dan had never told me how any of his joints work or anything, he'd most definitely beat me in a fight.

Author's Note

I am so proud of that title. I mean, seriously. 'Every rose has its thorn' just so happened to start playing when I was writing the first couple words. It's perfect. But now I can't have Dan make a really bad pun about it cause I used it already... well, that's only if he comes back okay.

This one is meh. The writing was spread over the span of a couple days. 15 different sessions to be exact. So sorry if it seems to skip or jump at all.

Chapter 33: What Pawns Receive

The rest of that day went by with little-to-no interruption. Feather refused to explain what she meant in the throne room.

Getting to sleep was hard, the bed was completely level. It didn't have the crater created by Dan. It didn't have his love. It didn't have him. Though, after some effort and a lot of tossing and turning, I fell into unconsciousness's embrace.

***

I stretched open my eyes, my body was stiff and I felt... cold.

I rolled myself over, falling off of the bed and hitting the floor with a harsh 'thud'. I flipped myself onto my stomach and began to sluggishly drag myself to the bedroom door, pulling myself along with my front hooves. I felt the icy chills creeping their way up my bag legs, into my spine.

I eventually reached the base of the door.

I exerted a wavering hoof, in an attempt to reach for the door handle above me, no use. I looked to my hoof. It was no longer it's healthy dark color, it was a cloudy grey like a snake about to shed its skin. Unfortunately for me, changelings didn't shed their skin. In fact they keep the same skin throughout their life, barely even heals. Scars well though.

The fact that my whole body was an unnatural color was at the forefront of my mind however, as I attempted to use my wings.

I only managed to flap them once or twice over the span of a couple seconds, nowhere near fast enough for them to carry my weight.

I flopped limply onto my back, staring at the ceiling exhausted. As I laid there, I found myself becoming short of breath, soon I was gasping just to remain conscious. My field of vision was narrowed and the sharp chills had spread across most of my body when I heard a knocking at the front door.

There was a distant voice. "Hey, Eb'ster you up?"

I could not identify the voice as it seemed to echo around me.

I opened my mouth to answer, but no words came. I listed a hoof slightly, with much effort, then dropped it. It hit the carpet silently, there was no chance of them hearing that. I lifted my head slowly, peering around the room with clouded eyes.

I spotted the mirror.

I closed my eyes. "Huh, guess he's still asleep." I heard echo from the front door. The ambient noise around me seemed to increase in volume as I concentrated what little magic I could and took aim.

The deafening sound of shattering glass encased the room as the thin sliver of a laser hit its mark and sent reflective shards about the room. I laid back down, now completely unable to move. As I stared at the ceiling, I felt a pulling sensation and my vision began to narrow around me.

Some echo-ey crashing sounded from behind the door. After a couple seconds of incomprehensible yelling later, the door handle above my head turned and retracted out of my view.

My eyes slowly slid shut as Dawn stood over me, I could hear her shouting, but I couldn't make out what was being said. I fought to keep my eyes open but it didn't seem to slow their process at all. My eyes fell shut as she lifted me onto her back.

I felt myself slipping away as she ran.

I tried desperately to siphon any and all love I could form the air as it rushed past me. I did it more out of instinct than anything. There was a very small amount coming from Dawn, a tiny flicker of love that represented friendship more than anything. I had to stop myself from taking every last whisp of love she contained, but I probably still took too much.

My hearing returned slightly and so did my vision to some degree. But I didn't have the energy to keep my eyes open and I still couldn't move. The icy feeling had spread up to the base of my neck.

I heard the, now familiar, sound of the throne-room doors being charged open. There were dozens of gasps as she ran into the room, clearly visiting hours were active again. She tumbled me to the floor in front of her, I rolled onto my back, breathing heavily through my nose, I was still fighting to remain conscious. I could hear one of the royal sister's metal shoes clicking rapidly over to us, the sounds of the crowd either side of us seemed to become distanced. There was a little bit more love in that room, needless to say; I took every last bit I could without leaving noticeable damage.

"What happened?" Celestia asked very seriously, perhaps even protectively.

Dawns hooves rapped against the floor, trotting on the spot. "I don't know! I found him like this, he was in his room an-"

"Okay, okay." Celestia silenced her. "Dawn, thank you, but now is not the time for explanations."

There was a pause in the conversation I assume Dawn took that time to collect herself, probably giving a stern nod to the princess when she was done. Meanwhile, i could practically hear the wheels in Celestia's head turning. By the subtle twinkling sounds of her horn, she cast multiple spells during this silence.

After a couple seconds the spells stopped and her voice took a tone I had only heard rumors of during my years servicing as a guard. The 'I have a plan and you will follow it' voice.

"Dawn, go and get Steve. Now. My ponies, exit this room and remain against the walls unless you have training or skills that could help. Guards, make sure the ponies who leave this room do not crowd the halls, we will likely need them." She commanded. Everyone in the room complied in unquestioning obedience.

Celestia leaned down to me as the ponies all rushed to do their given tasks. "Ebony." She said in a soft voice. "Ebony, can you hear me?"

I cracked one of my eyes open, she smiled at me, but kept waiting for a response. I tried to nod but my neck wouldn't respond and I couldn't smile. I opened my mouth to speak, but not only did my lips barely part, no sound came. I reluctantly resorted to huffing in response. I could not turn my head, so she recoiled and blinked rapidly for a second as my breath hit her face.

She stared at me. "...Can you move?" She asked, clearly able to tell I would never simply blow into her face in any other situation. Her eyes widened as I remained motionless. "Oh dear... that's not good." She stood back up and paced slightly. "Come on Viss, where are you..." She mumbled.

Queen Vicissit! I had completely forgotten. As soon as the thought hit me I attempted to contact her.

"My Queen?" ...

...

Nothing.

I sighed. Then regretted it immediately, I had emptied my lungs... and I couldn't fill them.

I suffered in silence for a full minute. I know that because I counted. Each second was like an hour, silently pleading to Celestia, who continued pacing back and forth mere meters from me, completely ignorant to the oxygen-starved changeling on the floor.

The tightness in my chest quickly turned to pain. I kept trying, but my chest would not rise, the muscles would not respond. The chills had, by then, encompassed my whole body and had began descending into my flesh like icicles.

The ground rumbled under me.

My vision began to fade again.

Again, the ground shook, I heard screaming from behind the door.

Celestia gasped as the door's flew off their hinges and landed a couple feet into the room, dust erupted from the doorway and slowly began settling onto the floor.

A green bubble formed around me as a blurred figure towered over me. It knelt at my side, and placed a familiar glowing horn on the top of the bubble. I was cast in a green hue.

It was as if a fire had started in my body. The icy chills were quickly replaced with a burning pain that spread rapidly around my body. Despite the unholy amounts of pain, I began to feel... better. My vision returned. My hearing returned to normal. I began to re-gain control of my body. As soon as I could, I took in as many breaths as I could.

Celestia rushed over to my Queen's side as she poured more and more magic into the force-field which surrounded me. As she did so, the barrier disappeared. Queen Vicissit slumped, gasping for breath as I rose to my hooves, even when lying down, like she was, Vicissit was still taller than me and only eye-level with Celestia.

The pain faded and I felt... awake, for the first time that day.

I peered past my Queen, to the doorway. Through the doorway, I saw a very large hole in the wall behind it... and a hole in the one behind that one... and... well, basically, my Queen had seemingly added another hallway to the palace trying to get to me faster. Guards crowded the doorway, but didn't dare come any closer.

I embraced my Queen as soon as I got my bearings. "It's okay... Ebony, I've got you." She said, pressing her neck into me and placing a hoof across my back, she didn't place its weight on me though since it would likely crush me.

It was very rare for my Queen to show such tenderness, but... as the last of her hive, I guess I was everything to her, and by the looks of things, she almost lost me.

"I'd... hate to interrupt..." Celestia said from our side. I felt Vicissit shift her neck to look at the princess. "But... what did you just do?"

My Queen was still catching her breath. Her voice was lacking its impressive and honorable tones, such things are a sign of authority and class in the hives. But in her fatigued state, she spoke in only one tone, sounding a lot like Celestia. "I began making my way here as soon as I heard your message Celestia. But... as soon as I received my scou-.. Ebony's message, I realized what had happened and cut a corner, so to speak." She said, taking a glance at the carnage behind her. "I do apologize for any ponies I may have cost you."

Celestia blinked and shook her head slightly. "We'll talk about that later. What did you do? As in, right here a couple seconds ago?"

Vicissit pushed me out of our hug gently. She stood and regained her composure, towering over Celestia who only looked a little intimidated. My Queen dismissed Celestias worries with a sad smile. "Once I got here, I fed Ebony a large fraction of my love reserves. He was starving, and close to death."

I looked down at myself. My color was coming back, returning to my usual darkness.

Celestia tilted her head and gave me a questioning glance. "But... he's been eating meat every day!"

Vicissit shook her head. "As I said, it's not a very effective source of energy. Ebony will be okay for a few days now, living off of what I gave him. You are feeling okay now, right?" She asked, looking down to me with caring eyes I had missed incredibly.

I nodded. "I think I'm just a little... shaken."

They both smiled. "As anypony would be." Celestia said. She turned to my Queen. "So, what does this mean for Ebony? What happens now?"

Vicissit sighed, having finally caught her breath. "It means Ebony will need to find a source of love within the next couple of days. I could give him the last of my reserves, but even I can't live on pony-food alone. As it stands I will need to find a source of love within the next year or so, lest I begin to starve. If I gave him my reserves that time would be cut down to a couple months and to find a source in that amount of time..." She looked at herself, then to Celestia. "Well... I doubt that'll happen." She shook the frown she had acquired off of her face, and replaced it with a stern expression. "Anyway, there are bigger concerns right now. Much bigger."

Celestia mirrored her stern expression. "What is it? I would happy to help."

My Queen nodded. "I believe I will need it, we will discuss this in private. For now, Ebony..." She turned to me and leaned her head down, meeting my eyes. "Please, go find a source of love but... I know it must be hard, but don't use your disguises. We need to keep our reputation as high as possible. Just... find a pony, okay?"

I blinked. "But... what about Dan?"

"Oh... yes, Dan. Well, I'm sure since it's your life on the line, I'm sure he won't mind." She lifted her head back up to its lofty height. "Now, please, let us speak in private."

I smiled to her as I walked past. "Thank you, my Queen."

She returned the smile, but it was forced.

Celestia called for the guards to leave the room as I walked through the now doorless doorway.

I was on my way back to my room when I was tackled to the ground. Now on top of me was... "Steve?" I asked, honestly confused.

Steve looked rather flustered. His feathers quickly puffed out and his wings shot out. "I- I'm sorry!" He rushed as he scrambled off of me. "She pushed me!" He pointed to Dawn, who walked up beside him. "Why are you doing this?!"

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Celestia told me to go get you, you refused to wake up, I dragged you out of the room and half way to the throne room, but then Celestia used her freaky mind-talking magic and told me Eb needed love. So..." She put a hoof on the back of his neck. "Love him!" She shoved him forward, in a collision-course with me.

Steve sat, extended his wings and beat them several times, trying to stop. I stepped out of his way and he slid impotently along the floor, still in a sitting position, like a hockey puck. Eventually, he stopped, but only by hitting a wall. Steve seemed content to just stare at the wall for a bit, so I turned to Dawn.

"I don't think I'm okay with you tossing your fiance at me, Dawn." I said, slightly concerned for Steve's health.

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Eb, you need love, and he gives me plenty, I'm sure he has spare!"

"Dawn... that's... that's not it works." I said, giving Steve a worried glance. He was prying his beak from the wall.

She huffed and walked over to Steve. "Fine. Well, I hope you find... somepony." She grunted the last word as she heaved Steve's face out of the wall it was embedded in. Somehow, he didn't seem damaged.

Steve shook the fine dust from his beak, looked to me and sighed. "You okay? Dawn's being... Dawn."

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine now. I just need to find a love-source in the next couple days. It can't be... that hard."

***

I got back to my room without being tackled again, thankfully. I was equally thankful that my room was not one of the ones included in my Queens... shortcut.

I used my new-found energy to continue practicing with the guitar.

Half an hour or so later, there was a knock at my door. I leaned the guitar on the side of the couch I was using and walked over to answer it.

"Who's there?" I asked, leaning an ear to the door.

"Celestia."

"Oh." I opened the door, and sure enough, there she was. And She didn't look too happy. "Sorry." I said, walking back into the room, allowing her entrance. I sat on the couch I was sitting on prior.

"No no, it's not your fault I'm in a... bad mood. It's more the fact that the entire city just got sent what equates to a death-threat." She said, sitting the in the couch opposite me, which surprised me sightly.

I blinked. "What?!"

She nodded. "Yes, your Queen told me of a transmission she got this morning, just before I beckoned her with magic. She states it was from another hive, the one who imprisoned her. Basically, they demand that she exit the city immediately and hoof herself over to them, or they will attack." She waved a hoof at my shocked expression. "Don't worry too much, we'll protect your Queen, she refused and they are on their way. Now. But luckily, as you may remember, their hive is very far away, so it will take them a few days to get here. We have predicted they will get here at around ten in the morning in two days time."

I shifted nervously. "Can you... beat them?"

Celestia's shift in confidence didn't help mine from fading slightly. "Well... let's just say we'll be tested. From what information we have, they are sending everything at us. Everything. Even the non-military changelings." She pointed to me. "Like you."

I blinked. "What... What are we going to do?"

She narrowed her eyes and her voice took on a very menacing tone. "Return the favor. They send everything at us, we send everything at them. Or at least have everything we have waiting for them. All civilians without training in either military or medical fields are being evacuated to Ponyville."

I thought for a second. "Wait... does that mean..."

She nodded. "I'm sorry, but even you, Dawn, Rosewood and Feather are being caught in this mess. We need everything we get, we can't afford to leave any trained personal without a use. Even your Queen will be amongst the fighting. And so will... a friend of yours, if he agrees."

My eyes widened. "Wait... Dan? You're getting Dan back?"

She nodded. "He has shown a talent for combat, and serving in this battle will likely make the ponies placing charges think twice about his intentions. So he'd be let out, probably."

I grinned and pounced the alicorn into a hug, she was like a wall, but accepted my hug. "Thank you Princess!"

She patted my back. "...No problem Ebony... No problem..." ...She didn't sound that happy.

Author's Note

Update: 29/11/15
-I forgot to format it... whoops

Well, it's been a while since the last one huh?

That's cus I made half a chapter, then decided it was the next one, so yeah, that happened.

Have a chapter. There. Happy now? Next one will take a bit, cus thinking is hard.

Chapter 34: Skin And Chrome

That night, after I had cleared up the mess created by my now shattered mirror, I spent a while thinking. While idly fiddling with the guitar. I was thinking about the upcoming battle. I was thinking about the others, would they be okay? I was thinking about Dan, he was finally coming back.

At some point, I must have dozed off. Last I remember I was looking out of the window, peering down at the many guards roaming the streets, telling families the evacuation plan, sometimes even taking ponies from their homes, presumably they had training and were required to fight.

Some of the scenes I saw... were not pleasant.

I was stirred out of my sleep by a slight shaking feeling. This shaking soon escalated to almost earthquake levels of shaky-ness.

I opened my eyes and lifted my head from the windowsill and looked about the room. Everything looked fine but I could hear the strings of my guitar vibrating due to the earthquake. The rumbling ground shook more violently as I felt something pass through me, like a shock-wave, as a deafening roar of metal and magic came from under the castle.

I pinned my ears to the sides of my head, trying to block out the sound as I ran out of my room. I had to find my Queen, and make sure she was okay, whatever was going on clearly wasn't good. The shaking eventually stopped, but the yells and screams from the guards passing by hadn't.

Guards charged past me as I ran through the hallways towards my Queen's quarters. I debated going back and checking on everyone else first, but I had to be sure she was alright. She was weakened last I saw her.

I got to her door and stopped. I was gasping for breath and practically dripping with sweat as I knocked on the door and waited, taking that time to collect myself. Ever since I left the guard, I had let my fitness slip.

"Enter." She called from inside her room, sounding rather calm considering it sounded like the whole mountain just exploded.

I walked in and shut the large door behind me. She was living in one of the guest rooms that was more... accustomed to her height. The ceilings were high, the doorways were large and everything, even the sofas, were slightly up-scaled. Anyone could feel small in a room like that.

"My Queen, are you alright?" I asked as she turned to face me with a small smile. "I felt tremors."

She shook her head. "I am fine, s- Ebony. I to have felt these vibrations. I expect it to just be a magic mishap of some kind, the ponies are well known for 'messing up' even the simplest of spells." She continued after heightening her poise. "Leave me, I have many things to plan. Many... many things..." She said, frowning slightly.

I noticed a large pile of papers on one of the over-sized tables towards the back of the room. Many of which seemed to be maps and battered tomes.

"As you wish." I said as I began backing out through the door. "Thank you, my Queen."

The door shut between us.

I turned and ran back towards Chrome's room, all the way back next to mine. Though, perhaps even luckily, upon the second corner, I ran straight into an orange unicorn.

"Ebony!" She yelled as I picked myself up off of the floor, hitting her was like hitting a brick wall, she wasn't even fazed by my impact. She picked me up by my shoulders, staring into my eyes with pupils the size of pinpricks. "Did you hear it?!"

I nodded awkwardly. "Yeah, it was- Woah!" She, without warning, threw a hoof around my neck and tossed me onto her back. She began sprinting down the halls at an incredible speed.

I was laying across her back. I quickly rotated myself so I was facing backwards, so I could wrap my hooves around her barrel. Even then it was hard to keep from bouncing off of her, she was fast. I noticed a pony and a griffin following us.

"Steve? Dawn?" I asked, giving each of them a look respectively, they both nodded.

Dawn flew alongside me as I rode the unicorn, who was ducking and weaving around oncoming traffic. "You heard the explosion right?" She asked. I nodded to her. "That sound came from the facilities under the palace! Every guard is headed there now!"

I blinked. "The facilities? Isn't that where-"

"Yeah" Steve said, catching up slightly. "That's where Chrome works, last we heard, he was down there!"

I realized I had not seen Chrome the previous day.

"We have to make sure he's okay!" I yelled to the two tailing Feather.

"Wha'do you think we're doing?!" Steve yelled as we sped down the hall.

I thought for a second. "Wait, if we're going there now, why are all of the guards going in the other direction?"

I turned around to see where we were headed. An empty hallway greeted me, it ended in a open door and a balcony. Feather yelled from under me, "Those are the ones who are too scared to use the shortcut!"

My eyes widened as I realized what was about to happen. Feather reached the door before the balcony. I ducked down, gripping Feather as tightly as possible. Feather leaped from the edge of the balcony. I prayed to the ancients that she knew what she was doing. Our two feathered friends followed behind us in a nose-dive.

After a couple seconds of free-fall, our followers pulled up slightly. It was then, and only then, I realized all to late that I had wings too. I braced for whatever impact was set to greet me as I saw the tops of trees enter my upwards-facing gaze.

I was hit with a wall of water. It quickly consumed both Feather and me. I trusted that Feather was alright and continued gripping her. I could not swim. Luckily, she was fine, and dragged us both to the surface of the small, yet very deep, pond. By its placement, it was safe to assume that it was actually placed there as a form of emergency escape.

Sodden with water, Feather got to the brick lining of the small pool and tossed me up, back onto dry land. Steve helped me to my hooves as Feather pulled herself out of the water. I shook off what little water had stuck to me. Feather did the same, but with an effect similar to that of a slightly blocked hose-pipe.

We were in one of the palace gardens, we had dropped at least 8 stories in a matter of seconds.

"You two okay?" Dawn said, landing beside Steve, who was already on the ground.

"Yeah." I said, I imagine Feather simply nodded, since I never heard a response.

And just like that; we were off again. Feather used her head to scoop me back up onto her back as she rocketed past me. We all rushed towards the nearest wall, at its base was a staircase heading downwards that I hadn't noticed due to the hedges surrounding it. Feather jumped the entire flight of stairs and burst through the heavy-looking doors at the bottom.

We rushed through the underground halls. As we advanced, I noticed all manner of science equipment and tools being held in glass-walled rooms lining either side of the halls. All of the rooms were vacant. When we headed down another floor, the reason for this became as obvious. There was a thin layer of smoke lining the ceiling, luckily, the vents at the top of each of the doorways were stopping the gas from advancing up, and through the palace.

Feather took some rather sharp turns while we were running, one in particular would have sent me through a pane of glass if Dawn hadn't have been there to catch me in mid-air.

Eventually, we came to a standstill. There was a dead end. On the left wall there was a set of large metal doors hanging limply from their reinforced hinges, but they remained mostly closed, aside from a gap near the top of the doors since they were both slightly angled. Steel beams prodruded down from the ceiling inside the room. There were what looked like burn marks leading from the doors and the doors themselves seemed to arch out towards the hall, an impressive feat considering they looked to be a couple feet thick.

On the wall straight ahead there were a set of what looked like regular office doors, a pink stallion in a white lab coat was beating his hooves against the doors and yelling. "Star, you maniac! Open these doors or we'll both-" he burst into a fit of coughs.

Steve and Dawn froze when they saw the pony, for some reason.

"Oh crap." Dawn mumbled. I think I was the only one to hear her.

Feather stood in front of our group, but remained quite a distance from the pony. The pink stallion turned around to face us, perhaps somehow hearings our hoofsteps over the sound of flames and distant calls of alarm.

The air in the hall between Feather and the pony went cold.

"Chrome in there?" Feather asked. She clearly knew the answer, he had all heard him yell through the door. Her facial features were dead cold, frozen in a neutral glare that scared me, and she was not even looking at me.

The stallion narrowed his eyes at the unicorn. "Oh look who it is. The walking slaughter. Still avoiding punishment I see?" When written, that line looks sarcastic, but I assure you, the face and tone of this stallion... They were both deadly serious. "And yeah, your maniac coltfriend is in there. He's gone completely nuts!" His face shifted towards the end there. He was actually scared, but not of Feather, despite the chilling glare he was receiving. Whatever Chrome has done is really affecting this guy.

"How so?" Feather asked in a level tone.

The pony and griffin with me behind her didn't so much as breath. Not only due to the situation, but due to the large amount of smoke still pouring into the halls, it was slowly collecting at the ceiling, getting closer and closer to the ground, and in turn, us. Eventually we would have to hit the floor just to be able to take in a breath.

I could here the voices of guards approaching from the floor above.

"He just destroyed a couple centuries worth of research and tools by piling them into the reserve engine room, then overloading said engine to the point at which it exploded!" The pony yelled, enraged. "Then he went and locked himself in the break-room and won't let anypony in!"

Feather closed her eyes for a second, as if thinking over her words carefully. "Move out of the way, I'm talking to him."

The pink pony rolled his eyes and huffed dramatically. "Good luck with that. He's barricaded the door from the inside." He hit the door with a rear hoof to emphasize his point. The door remained unmoved.

"I will say it again." Feather said calmly. "Move out of the way, I am talking to him."

There was a dead silence in the halls, aside from the guards who had just reached the floor we were on by the sounds of it.

Feather sighed and mumbled under her breath, "May they forgive me."

The unicorn tilted her head down, aiming her horn at the stallion.

The scientist didn't move, and smiled smugly. "Hah, everypony knows you don't use your ma-"

He froze as a deep purple aura surrounded Feathers horn. Arks of light leaped from her horn, hitting seemingly random points on the floor in front of her. Feather strained slightly and these bolts of energy stopped and her horn glowed brighter, the light turning white.

There was a high-pitch crackle of energy as a beam of white light filled the hallway in front of us. It lasted a couple of seconds. In those seconds all three of us that were behind Feather had frozen.

The light faded and I peered through the hooves I had placed over my face, dreading the sight. Surprisingly the stallion was fine. He was standing there, completely unmoving with a look of fear on his face.

Feather flicked her hair back into its usual position as she raised her head back up. She didn't seem very fazed at all.

The pink pony fell limp, hitting the charred ground in front of him. Behind him was a perfect silhouette of his previous position, made out of what was left of the door. The entire door was gone, aside from the shape of the pony.

Steve shook himself slightly and ran to the pony and hefted him up onto his shoulders. "I've got this guy, you three get Chrome." He said as he rushed passed us with the unconscious pony.

Feather didn't show any signs of moving, so me and Dawn nodded to Steve and moved past the scarily neutral unicorn and into the newly opened room.

The wall opposite the door was charred and shattered, as if it could fall down at any time. The room opened up to our right, revealing a comfortable room that seemed to be missing a lot of chairs. They were probably used to barricade the doors. One chair remained.

Chrome was sat on the one chair that was left in the center of the room, cradling a rather large and rather empty bottle.

There was an open safe on one of the walls. There was a painting on the floor in front of it. The safe was empty, tall and narrow. In the back of the safe, there was a note tacked to the wall, "In case of emergency, drink - Star. Ps: don't touch unless you're me." It read.

Chrome didn't seem to take notice of us as he attempted to take a swig from the empty bottle, he realized it was empty and threw it against the wall. It didn't have the decency to smash, and instead simply bounced and clinked onto the ground.

"Chrome?" Dawn asked, approaching him slowly. "We've got to get you out of here."

Chrome's eyes lazily drifted over to her. He blinked slowly. "Dawn?" He slurred. "What... What are you doing here?"

Dawn shook her head and placed her hooves on Chrome's shoulders. "Chrome. What did you do?"

I turned while she spoke, facing the doors and peering past the pony-shaped piece of metal. Feather was now facing away from the door, and seemed to be holding a wall of guards at bay in the hallway. They seemed to be having a heated discussion. I turned back to the two in the room.

"Erm... Dawn? We gotta hurry this up." I said, worried for both our safety and Feather's. The smoke was getting a little too close for comfort.

Chrome spluttered slightly. "I just... Dan's going to die... and it's all my fault..."

Dawn huffed. "Chrome, this better not be a suicide attempt..." She said, in an accusing manner.

Chrome looked confused for a second, then spotted the black smoke pouring into the room. His eyes widened as he drunkenly stumbled backwards in his chair, resulting in a rather nasty fall. He righted himself, wavering like a flag in the breeze. "I didn't- wel- I- uh- bluh-..." The frantic sentence quickly turned into a slurred mumbling as his eyes lost focus and he fell to the floor yet again. This time it was clear; he was not getting up for quite some time.

Dawn rolled her eyes and put her head under his stomach and lifted him onto her back with some effort.

"Got Chrome! We need to get out of here, now!" Dawn called down the hall to Feather.

Me and Dawn ran down the hall, stopping either side of Feather.

Feather's horn flashed.

And just like that, we were back in the upper floors of the palace.

Feather turned to us. "The infirmary is down that hall." She said, pointing down an empty passage. "Left, second right, fourth right." Dawn nodded and began her way down the hall with Chrome in tow. I made to follow her, but Feather put a hoof to my chest.

"I want to make sure he's..." My sentence faded as I saw her gaze.

Her horn was smoldering slightly. Her eyes were dim in expression but burned with an unwelcoming fire that burned blood red. The air I tasted was saturated with the sickeningly bitter aroma of fear, trauma, regret, sorrow... and so many more. In the reflecting surface of her wettened eyes, I could see so much suffering, so much pain... I could now understand why she never used her magic... it reminded her of everything she had done. Clearly she was not as quick to forgive herself as Dawn seemed to be.

I backed away from her slightly. "I'm... sorry I..." Again, my words seemed to fall away as I stared at her.

She let out a long sigh, hung her head and turned. "Follow." She said quietly. It was an... unfamiliar voice. Her voice was usually so calming, but now all that was left was a coarse whisper.

She began heading down one of the dark hallways. I did as she said and followed, silently. Slightly dreading the possibilities of what was to come.

We passed many windows lit with the moons light. Foreboding shadows cast upon the walls as we trudged through the halls. We headed down a couple of flights of stairs. It was clear she was leaving the palace, but I didn't want to break the dense silent air that surrounded us.

I gave my deduction skills a pat on the back as we left through the main gates of the palace. The streets where dead, no ponies in sight aside from the odd guard making the rounds. They all held lanterns on their saddlebags, casting an eerie amber light about the streets. The security had clearly been put up a notch after my Queen was threatened. Plus there was whatever Chrome did, Dawn's probably got Celestia on the case, so I'm sure they're fine.

As we walked through the city, I could have sworn I felt myself becoming more... energetic, more... empowered... I brushed off this sensation, but didn't let it leave the back of my mind.

Eventually, we stopped outside of a house. Feather stopped for a couple of seconds, before pushing the seemingly unlocked door open. I followed as she walked in.

The lights were already on when we entered, the house was very warm, in both atmosphere and temperature. There was a short hallway that passed by a sitting-room of sorts and led to a kitchen. Past that kitchen was a conservatory by the looks of it. What was up the stairs attached to the hallway opposite the sitting-room's door I don't know. A bedroom and a bathroom I assume.

Feather turned to her left, midway down the hall and into the sitting-room. As the door opened, a blast of warm air came forth. I could hear a fire from inside. I stopped following for a second to admire the hallway. The wallpaper was a light blue, decorated with clouds that repeated in a uniform pattern. Just inside from the front door was a small table. On it were keys, a couple scraps of paper, a letter or two and a picture in an oaken frame.

It was of a small family. An orange filly stood between two adults who were a yellow mare and a red stallion. Their filly was an amusingly perfect blend of the two colors. The stallion stood upright and proud, while the mare was leant down slightly, placing a hoof on the small unicorn's back with a reassuring smile on her face. The filly seemed confused and looked only just old enough to bare the cutie-mark she wore on her flank.

Satisfied that the house I was in was indeed Feathers. I turned around and walked through the doorway she had disappeared into.

It was a small square room. The walls were a deep brown-ish red and the carpet was thick and plush. There were three large armchairs in the room, all facing the large open fire. I walked around the chairs, to see Feather sitting in the middle one, it was a lot more scuffed and unkempt when compared to the other two chairs, which looked like they had barely been used. Feather was looking impassively into the fire.

"Feather?" I asked, timidly.

Whatever revery Feather was in was shattered as I spoke. I flinched as her eyes shot to me and she leapt towards me slightly, freezing just in time to stop herself from catapulting at me. She turned her wide eyes to the floor, took a very slow breath and closed them. She slumped back into her seat.

"Sorry Ebony." She said after a while. She lifted her head, meeting my eyes. "I... forgot you were there... and I thought you were..." She paused and sighed, dropping her head back down again. "Do you know why I asked you here?" She said, half mumbling.

I swallowed audibly before I answered. "You... wanted to talk?" I guessed.

She nodded and exhaled. "Ebony, you are... in no way mature. At all." Her voice was her characteristic blend of harshness and care. "What are you going to do when the hive attacks?"

I blinked and thought for a second. "I guess I'll... I'll stand beside Dan and my Queen, and make sure they go unharmed."

Feather turned to me. She had a thoughtful look on her face as she asked me a question that sounded like she had recited it hundreds of time in her head. "Ebony. If your queen were to turn on us... whos side would you be on?"

I thought over the question multiple times.

Who would I choose? My Queen, my hive? Or Dan, the princesses... Equestria...

"...Dan... Dan, I'd side with Dan." I said after a couple seconds of consideration.

Feather raised an eyebrow. "And if Dan were... compromised?"

"I doubt I'd be willing to take sides if something happened to Dan."

She shook her head. "This is a dangerous game that you are playing, Ebony..."

I narrowed my eyes in curiosity, "Why are you asking these questions?"

"This will be my first battle in over fifteen years." She said, shrugging. "I don't want to be stabbed in the back. It's not that I don't trust you Ebony," She must have seen the look on my face. "It's more that every changeling I've ever 'met', other than you, were mindless, ruthless creatures that would stop at nothing to... 'Serve the queen'."

I nodded slowly. "Those were likely drones or warriors, they do not have freedom of thought. I am a scout, and a very important one at the time of my creation. I was given the intellectual capabilities of a pony, so that I could work my way into society better. But... they always said I was strange... somehow."

She hummed and stood from her chair, giving me an appraising look up and down. "What you got in terms of weaponry?"

I tapped my hooves together. "If used correctly, these holes and indentations can work like hooks against other changelings. I don't know that method of combat, so I'd probably just end up getting tangled with another changeling..."

"...Anything else? What about your magic?"

"Oh, yeah. I know a beam spell, it's not too strong though. I'm barely amateur at basic object manipulation. ...I guess I could stab stuff with it..." I said, trying to look at my horn. I failed to do anything but look stupid.

Feather snorted. "You'd be lucky to break the skin with that thing, I've seen changelings take the heaviest of blades with little to no effects."

"Yeah, sharp objects are not exactly the best way of... dealing with... us."

Feather shook her head grimly. "Oh, they are the best way of dealing with changelings, you just have to hit them in the right spot."

I noticed her eyeing me. "W- where?" I asked looking down at myself.

She walked up to me and tapped the side of my skull. "The bone's real thin on the sides here. Dawn tended to go for the eyes and stomach though." She said, smirking as I gulped slightly. "Don't worry, I'll get you a set of armour with the weak spots covered."

I blinked. "Oh thanks Feather... It won't be heavy? Will it?"

She rolled her eyes, maintaining her smirk. "Let me guess, you want the light armour, don't you."

I smiled sheepishly. "Yes please."

"Fine, I can get that sorted for you. Now go get some sleep, it's late." She began making her way to the sitting-rooms door.

I thought for a second. "Wait, Feather..." She stopped and turned her head towards me. "Are you okay? You didn't look well earlier."

She sighed through her nose. "It's because I used my magic." I gave her a curious look. "...Well, it's because of everything I've done in my pas-"

THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD

She was cut off by a thundering at the door. The empowering sensation from before had returned without me noticing it. hearing the door seemed to make it surge for some reason.

Feather gave the door a strange look.

"Wait here." She said as she turned around again and headed for the door. I waited in the room, trying to stay as quiet as possible.

I listened in on the conversation happening around the corner.

"What are you doing here?!" Feather yelled under her breath. "You're not supposed to have been released for another day or so!"

There was a silence.

I froze as the familiar voice echoed through the warm hallway. "...I was... going to be released?" He responded. I heard a hoof impact with a unicorns face. "Did... Did I just accidentally break myself out of a prison a day before I was going to be released?"

"Yeaahhhh..." Feather sighed.

"Just my fucking luck."

Author's Note

Guess who's back! It's that guy! You know the one!

This chapter was all-over-the-place.

Unfortunately, this is one of those chapters that asks a lot of questions, but answers very few of them. But at least it gives me something to write about in the next chapter. That's what chapters are meant to do after all... or at least... these ones are meant to do that...

Chapter 35: A Door-Step's Gift

I leapt through the sitting-room door, turning to the front door in mid-air and sliding slightly on the hardwood flooring of the hallway. My hooves clacked against the smooth surface as I fought for the friction needed to throw myself at doorway.

I ran on the spot for a couple seconds, skidding about slightly as each hoof seemed to glide over the smooth flooring with little-to-effect.

They had both noticed me and were both staring. Dan was staring in amusement, while Feather was more concerned about her well-polished floor.

I pushed out an extra burst of power as I saw Dan. In the pale light of the moon, I could see that his clothes were covered in small rips and stretches and I could tell he didn't look particularly healthy. But he looked happy either way. And I certainly was.

I began to slowly glide forward along the floor, hooves still skidding. The movement quickly picked up momentum however and I had picked up quite a lot of speed by the time I reached the door frame.

Dan's eyes widened as I leaped from the doorway. Dan, either through experience or luck, managed to catch me as I barreled into his chest. He stumbled backwards, but maintained his balance. I squeezed his chest tightly, my head under his chin.

My mind was arush with emotion. Both my own... and the ones I could sense coming from Dan.

"I missed you to buddy, I missed you to." He mumbled into my ear as he returned my embrace, blocking the cold night air from my recently warm skin.

Feather shuffled in the doorway. "You two, I know you're happy to see each other but... do you think you could at least come in? You're letting the cold in."

Dan snorted slightly. "Oh, yeah, sorry." Dan carried me inside, I was still latched to his chest.

Feather led us further into the house, Dan closed the front door behind us. This time, Feather passed the sitting room door and walked into the kitchen where there was a small wooden table sitting in the center of the room, surrounded by the kitchen counter that lined the walls. The table held three wooden chairs, two had cushions on them, the one Feather sat on, didn't. Dan sat on the cushioned chair opposite her.

I released Dan from my grip and sat beside him, only just fitting, it was a chair made for one. I leaned into Dan's side as he put an arm over my shoulder. I sat silently, still just appreciating Dan's presence.

Me and Dan shared a mutual smile before Dan looked about the room, looking slightly concerned. "Damn Feather, it feels like a desert in here." He said, and he was right. Compared to the chills of the night outside, this house was like a furnace.

Feather flinched slightly, perhaps at his wording, and looked about the room nervously for a split second before composing herself.

"I guess I... put too much wood on the fire." She said. I felt Dan's body tense as she paused, we both knew that if she was pausing or stalling her words; something was up.

I sensed an incoming silence, and gave Dan a slight nudge, he took the hint and changed the subject. "So, everything been okay since I've been gone?" He asked, smiling. Not exactly the best subject...

Feather looked down to the table. I figured she was going to stay quiet, so I looked up to Dan and answered for her. "You know the hive that captured my Queen? All those years ago?" Dan nodded, a slightly worried look on his face. "They're..."

Feather placed her hooves on the table and pushed herself up slightly. "-Attacking. They've threatened Canterlot and are arriving in a couple days, max. There is a lot of them from what we know, so we need everything we can get... that's why you were going to be released, Dan."

Dan recoiled slightly, a confused glare on his face. "Wait... why are they attacking?"

Feather huffed and slid back down into her seat. "They seem to have a vendetta of sorts against Ebony's Queen. The plan is to get everything we can and create a wall of defense that they cannot penetrate. Soon, the whole city's going to be on lock-down. No-pony in, no-pony out. Everypony who isn't trained in a medical or military field have been sent to a nearby town for their safety." Feather stopped and thought for a second. "Wait... What did you mean by... 'Accidentally escaped'."

Me and Feather both looked to Dan, who seemed to have an unreadable facial expression. The air filled with the taste of pride and fear. "It's... a long story. I'll explain when this is all cleared up, cause by the sounds of things... you guys can't run this country without me." He said, smirking. Feather rolled her eyes. "Sorry about the short visit Feather, but I think I should go and talk to Celestia."

Feather nodded. "Yes, that would probably be best." Dan stood from his chair, hefting me in his arms. "Oh, and Dan? There was a situation with Chrome earlier tonight, could you check up on everypony for me?" She asked, Dan nodded but looked slightly confused.

I looked up to Dan. "I'll explain what happened as you walk."

Feather gave me a thankful look as Dan unceremoniously waved to her and began walking for the door. She called as Dan reached for the door handle, "One last thing Dan." We turned to see Feather standing in the kitchen's doorway. "Welcome back."

Dan blinked. "I er... Thanks." He said awkwardly as he shot another quick wave at Feather and closed the door behind him. Dan shivered slightly at the massive temperature difference. "I never was good at responding to those..." He mumbled to himself.

Dan continued in a louder voice as he took the first couple steps into the streets. "So, what happened with Chrome this time?" He asked, smirking slightly.

I explained what had happened since I didn't have the journal on me. I didn't know much, but I mentioned everything I could remember. Dan's smirk was replaced by a contemplative look as we continued walking, now approaching the palace.

Dan shook his head as I finished my story. "Ugh, I thought something like this would happen."

"Something like what?" I asked.

Dan groaned, "Chrome is blaming himself for putting me in danger or something. I'm pretty sure he's the one who brought me here, so he's probably been carrying some heavy guilt for a while now." He nodded to the guards sheepishly as he entered the palaces main gates. They gave him narrowed eyes but didn't make a fuss. Perhaps they assumed he had been let out a day or two early.

Dan wasted no time in heading to the infirmary after hearing me out. He figured Chrome would be there, recovering from whatever he had drunk or inhaled in that room. He slowly pushed open the waiting room doors with his side as his arms were still occupied holding up a rather happy changeling.

There was no one at the desk when we walked in, so he set me down on one of the seats.

He leaned down to me, meeting my eye level. "Ebony, you might want to wait here. I'm 'a go and get all emotional with a hungover or drunk pegasus. And it ain't the kind of emotion you like." He scratched one of my ears as he stood. "I'll be back soon, okay?"

I smiled and nodded to him as he walked over to the desk, after a couple seconds, a mare came out of a small room behind the desk. They had a small conversation about room numbers and prisons, they seemed pretty familiar with each other.

Eventually, Dan thanked her, and entered thought the double doors leading to the infirmary hallways. The mare headed back into the small room, I presume she was sorting papers or something, as I could hear a lot of rustling.

I waited patiently on the small birch-wood bench.

I cleared my throat slightly and hoped I wasn't coming down with something. The cough didn't persist, so it was probably nothing. The noise seemed to alert the mare, however, as her head popped up from behind the desk. She let out a small gasp as we met eyes. She quickly dove into a small desktop shelf and pulled out a small note and studied it.

"...Tow-ers... Towers right? Ebony Towers?" She said, looking up from the note.

I nodded. "Yeah... That's... That's me." I said with halfhearted enthusiasm.

"Used to be part of the guard right?" She asked. "Dan told me to talk to you some time, since I didn't recognize you last time you came in because... you know..." She gave me a nervous look.

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Yeeaaah... Sorry about... this."

She shook her head, smiling. "You don't need to apologize for being who or what you are, Towers. I'm just surprised is all."

As Dan had taught me through example; I sensed an incoming silence, and changed the subject. "So how goes the infirmary? Last time I came in here as a guard was when I had tripped during a training exercise and landed in that bush."

She giggled slightly. "I remember that, they spend 3 hours removing those thorns. The infirmary is fine, we are just having to sort out all of the emergency supplies we just got delivered, in perpetration for the changelings." She flinched at her own wording. "The army, not you. ...Well the supplies are available to you, I mean. N-not that I'm implying that you'll need them! I... You know what I mean." She said, waving a hoof at her own ramblings.

After a while; Dan came back through the door. He didn't look right, something was off. He looked... scarred.

"How'd it go?" Me and the mare asked at the same time.

He simply shook his head and hefted my up into his arms. "I was right about what I had said, but there are a lot of things that I can't tell you about. Luna was in there too, she helped explain things." He looked down to me and read my face perfectly. "Chrome and Luna's relationship is fine, Ebony. Look, I don't want to talk about it." He said as he pushed through the infirmary's door, completely ignoring the happily waving mare behind the desk who sighed slightly as the door swung shut.

Dan continued walking, heading deeper into the palace. "As much as I hate to say it Ebony; it does not concern you and I really really don't want to talk about it."

I looked up at Dan, concerned. "Is it about the things he destroyed?"

Dan shook his head as we walked the candle-lit halls. "No, he did that because he blames that wing of the science department, plus himself, for everything bad that has happened to me. And now that I'm being sent to fight, he was convinced I was going to die or something. Me and Luna sorted that out, but he's still fragile right now, so be careful if you see him." Dan sighed. "Basically he just scrapped that entire section of the building just because it held the research and methods that were used to bring me here and he doesn't want it to happen again. And understandably... he's lost his job. What he'll do now... no one knows."

I nodded understandingly and took a look around the hall we were headed down. "To Celestia?"

Dan smirked. "To Celestia."

I pushed myself tightly against Dan's chest as he carried me through the empty halls, towards Celestia's quarters. I was so glad to have him back, yet no words needed to be shared. I could taste his love, and he trusted me enough to silently assume that I was returning it. Which I was.

We were ascending up the spiral stairs when Dan stirred me from slight doze I had fallen into. It was well into the night and probably into the morning hours.

"Hey, Eb." Dan said, shaking me in his arms slightly. I found I had slumped onto my side in his arms, facing his chest. I pushed myself back onto my back so I could face him. I looked up to him with sleepy eyes. "Hey there, wakey-wakey." He continued quietly.

I gave him an unamused look before rubbing at one of my eyes, trying to scrape the sluggish feeling from my face. "What..." I yawned, "...what is it?" I asked as I folded my limp wings back up onto my back.

"What do you want to do?" He asked as he reached the top of the stairs. "Come with me and talk to Celestia, or stay out here with Ste-" Dan held the 'ee' sound for a couple seconds before trailing off. "You're not Steve." He said, pointing, his eyes narrowing.

I turned my neck to look ahead of us. There was Celestia's door... and in front of it was a large pony covered in armor.

The pony gave us a bored look. "If you were expecting Rosewood, he's in the infirmary." He said matter-of-fact-ly.

"Why? What happened?" Dan asked, his body was like stone, cold and frozen. I didn't understand why.

The pony shrugged. "Attacked in the halls. Of course he won bu-"

Dan cut him off. "Attacked by what?" He growled through grit teeth.

"C-changeling, sir." The pony said, stuttering for... no real reason. I sensed no fear coming from him, in fact... I didn't taste much at all. This guy must have been trained using the old methods. I thought. They were very harsh on the mind.

Dan didn't sigh, he simply let out a very long breath, hissing through his nose. From what I had learned about Dan, this was a sign of stress and thought. His arms became slightly weaker under me. He never broke eye-contact with the pony.

The pony continued after a couple of seconds. "Rosewood only suffered minor injuries, and only received them because he was hesitant to fight for some reason, same for his fiance. She walked away unharmed though."

"Probably thought it was Ebony..." Dan mumbled under his breath. He continued in a louder voice as he walked towards the pony. "Thanks, I'm going to talk to Celestia." Dan said, stepping past the pony who didn't even try to stop him.

Dan pushed open the door, revealing a dark room. Dan quickly put me down, not bothering to put me right-side-up , and shut the door behind him, as if expecting an impact. The slam of the door awoke the sleeping princess I hadn't noticed. The room lit up.

She, at first, gave Dan a harsh glare. That glare turned to shock. "Dan?! What are you doing here?" She looked to the moon, ducking her head to look out of the window. "The guards I sent to pick you up are not scheduled to arrive at the prison for another few hours!" She glanced at me. I was staring in shock, never before had I seen the princess in such a... situation. She looked down at the sheets gripped in her hooves, looked back to me and rolled her eyes sightly before looking back to Dan, who had since placed a small chair under the door's handle.

Dan turned to Celestia. "I escaped, accidentally, but I'll explain that later, after the war." Dan said, slightly rushed. "Right now though, we have a situation."

Celestia blinked, her ears pointing to Dan attentively. "What? What happened?" She asked, glancing slightly at the now blocked door.

Dan rolled his shoulders slightly. I could tell his mind was rushing by the way he stood, constantly moving slightly. "That door is sound-proof I assume?"

Celestia nodded. "Yes, only recently, but yes."

Dan pointed to the door. "There is a changeling on the other side of that door," Celestia and I both froze slightly, "and I have reason to believe he is with the enemy hive." Dan said in a slightly hushed tone, not trusting the door completely.

I looked to Dan and tilted my head slightly. "Dan, are you saying that guard was a changeling?"

Celestia looked to Dan, awaiting his response.

He nodded. "He had the green-speck-eyes goin'."

Celestia rose from her bed and composed herself as best she could with a bewildered changeling staring at her from across the small room. "First Rosewood gets attacked... now this..." She sighed and her horn lit.

The door lit in her magical embrace for a second, before a small part in the center of the door turned transparent. I backed away from the door in fear of what Celestia was about to do. She stared at the back of the pony's head for a couple of seconds, then relinquished the door from the spell before lowering her horn, pointing it at the door.

There was a short hum of energy as a white beam launched from her horn, cutting a pin-prick hole in the door and presumably coming out the other side. The beam seemed to have broken any sound-blocking spells, as a metallic clatter could be heard from the other side of the door.

Dan looked to Celestia, who nodded in return. Dan removed the chair from the door and ran a hand over the tiny hole the beam had created, as if checking it was real. With his curiosity satisfied, Dan slowly opened the door. I took a couple more steps away from the door as I saw what was on the other side. There lie a limp changeling, in ill-fitting armor, white bolts of what looked like lightning shot about its metal armor momentarily, causing its body to twitch.

I put a hoof to my face and tore my gaze away from the dreadful sight. Celestia glided over to me and placed a comforting hoof on my shoulder, before quickly moving to the door and picking up the changeling in her magic. Dan rushed over to me, seeing my discomfort, and lifted me back into his arms. I turned my body to face his so I wouldn't have to look.

Dan walked over to Celestia's side. "So... er... is it dead? Or... what?" Dan asked slowly.

Celestia huffed and shot a quick glare at Dan. "No, of course not. It's merely immobilized." I heard a quick surge of magic, followed by the pop of teleportation. "And now it's in the dungeons." She sighed. "I had expected this, they probably sent scouts even before they got the message to Viss..."

Knowing that the changeling was gone, I lifted my head and turned away from Dan to face the princess. She was looking down to me with a motherly gaze I was not comfortable coming from anyone other than my Queen.

"Ebony?" She asked. "Are you sure you are going to be able to fight?"

I was about to answer when Dan rolled his eyes and said, "Of course he will, he's got a Queen to defend."

I nodded along with his answer, though not as confident. "I... I must protect my Queen, at all costs."

Celestia seemed saddened by my answer. "Okay... But know this: your Queen said the same about you, Ebony. You're all she has left."

There was a silence as I nodded slowly, the silence continued for a couple seconds afterwards as well. I could practically hear Dan groan inwardly as the silence went on, he hated that kind of thing.

Celestia smirked ever so slightly, probably picking up on Dan's attitude to the situation. "You two go get some sleep now." She said in a playful manner. Dan rolled his eyes and began walking past her, but Celestia caught his shoulder and whispered, "Don't have too much fun, you actually want to get some sleep."

Dan turned around and stared at her for a couple of seconds. I could not see Dan's face, but it was enough to force Celestia to hold in her laughter. Dan slowly lowered his arms, I took the hint and stepped down onto the floor. I turned around to watch the scene unfold.

Dan stood, staring at her for a couple more seconds, before throwing a only half-playful underarm punch at her shoulder. She immediately reacted, backing up a step and placing a small magical shield in his hand's path. It disappeared on impact, but slowed his fist to a complete stop.

"Ahhh, I'll get you one day, Celestia." He said jokingly, pointing at her and taking a couple steps away. "One day." He motioned for me to follow him as he walked to the doorway leading to the spiral staircase. I did so quickly, I was yearning for my bed.

As we descended down the stairs, their boring interior threatening to send me to sleep right there and then, Dan turned to me and held out his arms, creating a familiar and very welcome shelf for me to nuzzle into. I took his invitation almost immediately, jumping sluggishly into his arms for yet another time that night.

Dan carried me back to our room. Remaining silent. We were both idly smiling as he walked.

Dan was back with me and I was back with Dan.

"Hey, Ebony." Dan said, as he closed the door to our room behind us. "You still got my journal?"

I nodded and headed to the bedroom. "Yep, been writing in it every day... as best I could, I'm not a good writer." I said, passing it to him with my magic.

Dan looked about the room, as if searching for something, as he took the journal, he smiled and scruffed the top of my head. "Thanks bud." He flipped through the journal in his hand for a second, then handed it back towards me. "You wanna finish up? You're kind of in the middle of something there."

"Oh, yeah. Sure." I said, taking the journal back and setting it on the table in front of me as I sat on one of the sofas. "I'll get this done... then I'm heading to bed." I said, now concentrating on writing out the last day or two to the best of my recollection.

As soon as I said that, I heard Dan practically launch himself at the bed.

Now, about half an hour later, I can already hear Dan snoring slightly. I've got to be careful not to wake him, we'll need all the energy we can get if this attack is going to be as bad as I think it's going to be... I'll give him the journal when he wakes up.

I hope this will all just come to pass...

Author's Note

And thus concludes Ebony's rein of tyranny over the journal. Aye, for now, Dan will hold this tome.

As-per-usual, I have no idea what is going to happen. Well, I do. Just... well... nothing is certain before it's written, so I don't wanna say anything. In case I end up contradicting myself.

The formatting in this chapter is annoying me, but fixing it would take forever... so... nah.

Chapter 36: Back In The Reins...

There was a banging at the front door. I heard Ebony get up and drag himself through the bedroom, past the kitchen and up to the door.

I groaned, squeezed my eyes shut and turned over, pulling most of the sheets with me as I tried to get back to sleep.

"Yes?" Ebony yawned, sounding almost impatient. That guy was almost unrecognizable in the early hours, he was not a morning person.

"Delivery. From the princess." A stallion said in a skeptical voice, I guessed that he was either a guard or one of those servant-like guys.

Upon hearing what he said; I sat up in my bed and glared in his general direction, despite there being no one in the room to see it. "Which one?" I yelled through the closed bedroom door, irritated. "There's two, you know!" I hated it when they use the term 'the princess'.

There was a short silence, I assume Ebony and him shared an awkward glance.

"Celestia..." The guy said slowly. I heard a little shuffling and the door played on its hinges, swaying to and fro for a couple of seconds

After the door had closed, Ebony said "T- thank you!" through it. The stallion probably didn't even hear him. After another couple of seconds, Ebony opened the bedroom door a little and stuck his head through the crack horizontally... somehow. He would have had to distort and/or balance his body in a very strange way to do that. This immediately tipped me off that 'cartoon mode', as I had come to call it, was active right then.

And knowing that basically anything could happen made me a little nervous, since the laws of physics and logic were momentarily disabled.

"You want to come see what we got? It's a pretty big box." Ebony said excitedly.

I rolled my eyes and clambered out of bed. Now I know how my parents must have felt on Christmas. "Any idea what it is?" I asked as I upgraded myself from 'barely presentable' to 'kinda presentable' with the addition of a shirt, which was the only thing I had taken off before sleeping. I could put fresh clothes on later. The ones I had on were a little torn here and there, but they were reasonably clean.

Ebony's head retracted into the room as I got to the door.

On the floor in front of the front door was a box sealed with tape. It was just over the size of a regular shoe-box. Ebony was sat next to it, glancing between me and the box like a dog expecting a meal.

"Ebony..." I said, looking at the box. "I think your definition of 'pretty big' differs from mine." Well, it did make sense for him to think that way, since he was only a little over half my height.

Ebony shrugged slightly, finally looking at me for more than a second. "Well... It's free so..."

"Damn right. Free stuff is the best kind of stuff." I said, kneeling in front of the box. Ebony scooted up next to me, staring intently at the box. I pried at the tape with my fingers, but to no avail. Where's a key when you need one... I looked to Ebony and got an idea. "Hey, Eb, could I borrow your mouth for a second?"

He blinked a for a couple of seconds. I figured he wouldn't mind, so I grabbed his nose and pushed it down to the box. Ebony finally realized what I meant and put on the most unimpressed face I had seen in a very long time... as I used this fangs like a letter-opener, tearing the tape lining the box. They made easy work of the tape and some of the cardboard I accidentally hit.

Once the box was amply cut, I released his nose. He quickly sat back up and attempted to clean the, probably horrible, feeling from his teeth with a series of futile mouth movements. He looked like a horse with peanut butter on the roof of its mouth.

Ignoring his adorable convulsions, I opened the top of the box.

Ebony gave up trying to clean his teeth and peered into the box with me, his excited expression returning.

Inside the box was an ornate wooden box, similar to a jewelry box. It took up most of the space inside the cardboard box. There was also a very thick letter... a very drab, boring, off-white enveloped letter.

"I call the box!" I yelled as I pulled the wooden box out, setting it on my lap as I shifted into a sitting position. Ebony slowly turned to me. A stoic expression on his face. "What?" I asked in mock-concern. He glanced to the box, then to the floor in front of him. I rolled my eyes, "Fiiine, you can have box. I'll take this boring-ass letter." I said as I slid the smaller box to him and took the letter from the bottom of the cardboard box.

The letter was very heavy for its size.

I ignored whatever Ebony was doing with the box and opened the letter, hoping that whatever was in it was better than what Ebony had in the box. I gently poured the letter's contents onto the floor.

There was a lot of paper.

A lot.

Luckily, before I could groan about 'nonsensical paperwork' I noticed a small note that had placed itself all-to-perfectly on top of the pile of paper.

It read:

"Dear Dan (And Ebony)

"I write this as I cannot be with you right now, me and my sister are very busy sorting out the preparations for our defenses. (By the way, the changelings are now due to arrive in just over 24 hours, so be ready and rested by then).

"Included inside this envelope are two Armory Permits, one addressed to Dan, one to Ebony. Take those to the armory to exchange them for access to a small amount of armor and weapons, if you need them. Ebony, I have heard from Lance Corporal Flame about some armor that you two discussed last night, that set has already been made, and is waiting for you at the armory. Just show them the permit, they'll direct you to it.

"As for Dan, since you already have two weapons and we are short on supplies as it is, you will not be supplied with any additional weaponry. But, also included inside this letter is a document, representing a small portion of the country's wealth. Give it to any of the armory staff and they will be able to create you some custom-fit armor, since we do not have any that would fit your requirements." Something tells me there was a pause there. "I won't bother trying to suggest anything to you, since you'd likely go against my judgement just to spite me. But, seriously, get some armor that's functional. Don't just get the one that looks coo-"

My eyes began to drift shut in boredom due to the new topic. Shut up Celestia, you can't tell me what to do... I skipped down the page slightly.

"-was made! Now, as to the rest of this envelopes contents; other than the two permits and Dan's armor funding, there is a large amount of paperwork that, to put it simply, makes it legal for Dan to carry around those daggers of his. Keep those papers somewhere, they'll be useful if Dan gets in any more trouble. Which he won't. Right D-"

I sighed and moved my eyes down the page again.

"-skipping through my carefully written advice, I know you. Either way, be careful out there. - ~~Princess~~ ~~Your friend~~ Celestia. Ps; On second thought, don't bother with your Armory Permit Dan, they won't let you have weapons since you already have some, and none of the armor would fit you. Try giving it to Ebony, maybe he can get a little extra if he gives them both."

I sighed as I placed the letter into my journal and slid the two permits along the ground, towards Ebony. "These are both for you Ebony." I said, standing with the paperwork in hand, leaving Celestia's cheque on the floor. I quickly placed the paperwork on my pillow in the bedroom, so I wouldn't forget to put those somewhere.

When I walked back in, I noticed the permits were still where I had left them. I looked to Ebony to ask him something and found him frozen, a look of wonder on his face as he stared into the, now open, wooden box. Instead of making an inquiry, I slowly walked around behind him to take a look for myself.

Once I was peering down at the contents of the box, I completely understood his expression.

There were my knives, sitting in the box, on a blue velvet lining molded to fit them perfectly, small dents were placed on the box's interior allowing access to the handles. The blades were ornately placed, curves inter-locking, and facing in opposite directions. The blades themselves seemed to have a slightly different hue to them and must have been cleaned and sharpened to perfection, they were like mirrors.

Inside the roof of the box was a blank metal plaque with a small note taped to it. "(Whatever you want to call them here.)" It read.

Ebony shut his gaping mouth and composed himself. "You know what she did right?" He asked, turning around to look at me, his voice quiet and shocked.

I shook my head. "Not really. They look a little different... definitely cleaner."

Ebony turned back to the box and placed a hoof on one of its edges. He slowly applied and removed pressure, rocking the box back and forth. "Look." He said, nodding towards the blades. As the light danced over the polished metal it became highlighted with faint bands of color, mainly consisting of pink, blue and yellow hues. The effect was similar to that of spilled oil or a very complicated pearlescent paint-job. The effect was particularly intense around the sharp edge of each blade. "That's a crystal coating right there." He said with a hint of excitement.

I stared, somewhat mesmerized by the patterns and colors being projected. "What... what does that mean?" I asked.

Ebony turned to me, a slightly surprised look on his face. "A crystal coating?" He asked. I nodded. "It's a thin layer of crystal that protects the blade from damage. I heard about them while in the guard... looks like she crystal tipped them too..." He sighed enviously. "Those things are going to be..."

"Hella-sharp?" I asked, finishing off his sentence. He nodded. "Awesome." I said as I knelt next to him and tore the note from the roof of the wooden box, before closing it. "Dawn's gunna be all-over these..." I mumbled as I picked up the box and set it on the table between the sofas.

Ebony picked up the papers I had left on the ground with his magic. He mumbled to himself. "Huh... armor and weapon permit... armor and weapon permit... cheque for five-" Ebony's eyes widened as the amount of air in his lungs tripled. The papers began fluttering down towards the ground before he regained his concentration and caught them. He read over the cheque a couple of times, as if to make sure what he was reading was real. "Dan... this is... this is..."

I walked over and peered down at the page. It was formatted in a very strange way, a lot more convoluted than any of the cheques I had ever seen while on Earth. It took up an entire page. Eventually, my eyes landed on a number.

While I wasn't as surprised as he must have been, I certainly got a figurative nosebleed from seeing that many consecutive zeroes in one place.

"Fifty thousand... Fifty thousand bits..." I said under my breath before looking down to Ebony, who craned his head back to look up at me. "As far as I know, bits are pretty valuable... But... What's that worth? Fifty thousand?" I asked. We were both in a state of mild shock.

He looked to the ground in thought. "...With fifty thousand you could... You could buy a high-end house up here in Canterlot. And I mean buy. You'd be able to pay of the entire mortgage immediately."

I blinked, impressed, then slouched slightly. "Celestia'll probably force me to spend it all on the armor." I thought for a second as I leant down and took the cheque out of Ebony's magical grasp. "Actually, I'm spending it all on the armor even if she lets me keep it. There is no way in hell I'm getting some shabby armor."

Ebony nodded. "Yes... I've always heard that protection is key... And I don't want you to get hurt, Dan." He said as he stood, picking up and crushing the cardboard box with his magic. The cardboard floated next to him as he walked over to the front door, brushing against my leg as he walked. I could tell he did it on purpose. Probably some sort of body-language thing I don't know about... Still need to find out what ear-flicks are...

He leaned the bunch of cardboard against the wall nearest the front door. Before picking up the two armor and weapon permits from across the room with his magic. "You trying to use your magic more, huh?" I asked, noticing he'd been using it almost all morning.

He nodded as he placed some saddlebags over his back. He must have conjured them from wherever things come from during cartoon-mode. I didn't ask where they came from, I didn't want to tear the universe apart or anything. "Yeah, kinda. I don't want to mess up any spells when it really matters..." He placed the permits in one of the bags before looking to the door and pushing it open, he remained in the doorway for a second. "I'm going to give in these permits now, so I have time to practice with whatever I get." His voice was slightly pained, he didn't like leaving me. He never did.

We shared a wave as he walked out of the room.

I looked down to the cheque in my hand, sighed and tossed it over to the table the knife-box was on. It fluttered in the air and floated back towards me, landing at my feet. I rolled my eyes and walked away, into the kitchen area.

I made myself a quick breakfast, avoiding some of the food that was from Hearths Warming, I was fairly certain most of it was either stale or down-right rotten.

After a couple of minutes, and pancakes, I picked up the cheque and began making my way to the armory. Wherever that was.

Luckily, along my aimless wanderings, I saw a hurried-looking guard making his way down the halls.

"Hey! Hey guard dude!" I called as I caught up to him. He slowed his canter to a brisk trot so I could walk alongside him. "You know where the armory is?" I asked, making sure to check that his eyes were normal. Luckily, they were.

He gave me a glance and smiled. "As it turns out, I was just heading there now." He said in a voice as low and manly as his armor was polished. Which was to say; very. "I remember you, by the way. You had a little meeting with Luna and her sister a couple months back."

I nodded, finding it only slightly difficult to keep up with his pace. "Yep, that's me. But... 'her sister'? That's unbecoming of a royal guard, let alone one of the day ones." I said, in a slightly sarcastic manner.

He looked down to his armor and sighed, before looking back up to where he was going. "I used to be a night guard. But I got booted. So now I have the same job, but with the day guards. It's... not the same. But it's still what I love doing. And most of all; it pays."

I gave an understanding shrug to his logic. I remember searching for jobs, so I remember that, by the end of it, you don't care what job you get, you just need the money. "Wait, you were kicked out of the night guard? Why?" I asked after reviewing his words for a second.

He became a little uncomfortable. "I got caught making..." He cleared his throat, then said in a hushed tone. "...transactions. Substance transactions."

I blinked. "Wait... Are you talking about drugs?"

Oh man, if a glare could kill... "Keep yer voice down!" He hushed. "Don't need the whole palace knowing. And yes, of course I meant drugs. What else could I have been talking about?" He sighed. "I just wanted a little extra money is all."

I shrugged. "I didn't even know they existed here. So what are we talking? E? Coke? Heroine?" I tried to act like I had experience, mainly for sarcasm's sake. The key words being 'act' and 'tried'.

He stared at me for a good couple seconds before saying, "I have literally no idea what you're on about. All I sold was some 'erbs I found growin' in a forest. They're still there I think, but if I want to keep my job this time, I'd better not go back. What were those names you listed? I've never heard of those ones."

"Ach." I groaned dramatically. "This world's got none of the fun stuff. Well, at least it has good old-fashioned grass, by the sounds of it anyway."

As we approached a hallway teeming with guards, which I presumed was the armory since they were hauling everything from money to hunks of metal from room to room, I only had one question on my brain. How much weed could I get for fifty thousand bits?

Unfortunately, the responsible, no fun allowed, side of my brain suppressed these thoughts as I said my goodbyes to the guard, who headed into the bustle of other guards, where I lost sight of him immediately. I wonder how they tell each other apart.

I walked down the hallway, looking into each of the side rooms until I found a room with armor lining the walls. There was a short line of guards infront of a desk, which had another guard behind it. Having all these guards in one place was getting confusing. After only about a minute the line had diminished and I was next up.

The guard gave me a strange look. "Armour and/or weapon permit please." He said robotically.

I looked down at my cheque. "Oh, I've got a cheque for some custom armor?" I said, unsure as to what to say.

The guard groaned slightly. But his tone was caring. "Yeah, you're in the wrong place. You want the forgery, that's five doors down." He said, pointing to the door then to the right. "They'll get you your armor."

I gave him a swift nod. "Sweet. Thanks dude."

He gave a sluggish lift of a hoof. "No problem... dude." He said, unsure. I forget I completely out-rank these guys, I was probably terrifying them behind their tough exteriors.

I walked down the hallway a little further, and sure enough, there was a room with a cast-iron door. Luckily, it was slightly ajar, so I didn't have to break my hand trying to knock on that thing.

I pushed the heavy door open as a blast of dry, hot air greeted me on the other side. The room was large and filled with metal tools and objects I could not even recognize. The whole place danced with shadows in the orange glow of the fire in the center of the room. It was contained with a ring of stone, and had many metal rods half submerged in the glowing mixture of embers and ash. A pony wearing a thick apron and an iron mask stood behind an anvil, hammering a plate of glowing-hot metal into shape with what looked like a very thick, weighted horse-shoe. A good substitute to an actual hammer, since handles must be rather hard to use without... well, they're called handles for a reason.

He swung his hoof down onto the metal in time with a piece of music being played by the gramophone-looking device in the corner of the room. It sounded like poetry being read out over an orchestral backing, there were no drums in the song, so the fact he was able to keep a rhythm with his hoof was actually quite impressive.

He didn't seem to notice me come in, so I just watched him work for a bit, appreciating the fact that behind the spotless exterior of the palace and Canterlot itself, there are still places like this. Gritty. Functional.

After a couple of minutes, the pony lifted the partially cooled metal from the anvil with a pair of blacksmith tongs that he held in his mouth. He then used them to dunk the hunk of metal into a small pool of water that was hidden from my vision by the anvil. Steam rose and hissing chimed as he held it in place for a while. Once he was satisfied, he lifted the metal out and walked over to a large workbench, it was covered in many other pieces of metal that looked similar in design to the one he had just made. He placed the metal plate onto the desk and shuffled it next to another piece, only then did I realize what was being made. The two pieces of metal next to each other formed two halves of what looked like a guard helmet, only without the shine and glamour. Looks like they're finally making their armor more functional.

He walked back over to his anvil and rested his top half on it, his front hooves draping over the edge. He made a flicking motion with his neck and his mask snapped back to the top of his head, revealing...

...another guard.

He wiped a trail of sweat from his brow as he rested on the warm metal. he noticed me mid-wipe, but didn't falter. He just smiled, remaining on his anvil. "Weren't you just with me a minute ago? In the hallways?"

I blinked. Looking him over. He looked just like every day guard did. I didn't get a look at the stallion's cutie-mark in the hallway due to his armor, and I couldn't see his due to his apron. "Sorry man, you all look the same to me." I paused. "I talked to you about heroine and sequencing right?"

He bared his teeth in a grin. "I remember you saying hero... whatever. But sequencing? You're just making sure I don't just say yes to whatever you say aren't you?"

I snorted. "You got me." I said as I walked up closer to the anvil. "So... you work in blacksmithing?"

He nodded proudly. "Yep. 's-my talent." He said, lifting his apron from one of his flanks with a hoof. His cutie-mark was a silhouette of a crane lifting a grey block which I assumed was meant to represent iron. I already liked this guy, even his cutie-mark promoted practicality over looks. "My name's Midnight, by the way. Midnight Ember." He held out his hoof towards me. Wow, he really is meant to be a night-guard, judging by that name, guess fate screwed him.

"Mine's Dan." I said, grabbing his hoof and shaking it firmly. "I'd love to keep talking, but I have a thingy I need you to do for me."

He tilted his head curiously as I let go of his hoof. His hoof returned to the anvil. "What do you need?"

I handed the cheque to him. "Here, I need you to make me some armor."

He widened his eyes and whistled upon reading the cheque. "A cheque from Celestia herself... Darn, aren't you a lucky one. What kind of armor we talking here?" He asked in a buisness-like manner, tucking the cheque into one of his apron's pockets.

I clapped my hands together slightly. "I need armor. Light armor. Something that won't hinder my mobility, but will protect me from spells and all that crap. I don't much care for physical protection, I can take a few knocks. Focus on making it light, mobile and spell-resistant. Wait... spell resistance is a thing right?" I asked, looking back down to Midnight to find he had produced a small piece of fabric.

"This," He said, holding the tightly woven cloth up to me, "Is an example of a magically resistant material. It's magically charged to the brim of its capacity, meaning no other magic can get in. Which basically means it can deflect most spells, but if an area is struck repetitively, or for an extended period, the effects will slowly wear off. It's light and fairly comfortable, but it is just fabric, a butter knife could cut this into ribbons."

I took the small piece of cloth. It was very soft, very fine. "So, what do you plan to do?" I asked, not getting where he was headed with his point.

He grimaced slightly. "I'm... not sure. That material is very expensive. And I mean very expensive. To add any physical protection to that fabric would be near to impossible without building an armor that has multiple layers."

I shrugged. "I'm okay with it taking twelve hours to put on, as long as it keeps me alive."

He nodded. "Okay, say we coat you in the stuff, then put a traditional armor over the top. How's that sound?"

"Yeah, sounds pretty sweet." I said.

"But there is also a problem with that too. You want a light armor." He looked around the room full of cast iron. "What do you suggest I make it out of?"

The words leapt from my mouth before I could think about what I was saying. "Leather?"

His eyes widened slightly. "Well...it's...possible..." He said slowly, visibly uncomfortable. Tensing his body against his anvil.

I put up my hands in an apologetic motion. "Sorry, sorry!" I pointed to myself. "From a different world, you know? Things were a little...well, different there." I said awkwardly. He seemed slightly relieved, but remained a little shocked.

He waved a hoof slightly. "No, no... It's fine. I've worked with... leather before. Just not to this scale."

Just not to this scale...

this scale...

scale...

A thought struck me. "Hey, what about scales?"

He tilted his head slightly. "Scale what?"

"Scale armor. Like... dragon scales or something."

He gave me a look that gave Ebony's look of disappointment that morning a run for its money. "No."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. Leather it is."

"I draw the line at dragon-skin." He said. "I am sorry, but that stuff? No-pony's ever even touched the stuff, in terms of blacksmithing. That stuff's mad-powerful. Magic and all that, you know?"

I nodded. "Yeah, magic's scary as hell." I thought for a second. "So... will you need to know how my body works or anything to make this armor?"

"Nope." He said, shaking his head. "Luna sent me X-rays plus your measurements just before you came in."

"Well," I said, freezing slightly. "That's not creepy at all." I made my way to the door. "Look. Spend all of that money. I don't care how, as long as it's on the armor. Remember this has got to be done by tomorrow. So er... you know... go fast." I said, pointing at him.

He gave a mock-salute. Thought for a second. Then gave a real salute as I left the room.

I pushed my way through the mass of guards still bustling outside in the hallway and made my way to my room.

I was met with a very spiky hug as I entered the room.

I looked down and found that Ebony had gotten back before I did. And he had some new things. Namely, the incredibly painful armor being pressed into my stomach. "Ebony. Armor. Armor." I wheezed as I pried him off of me, he let go once he realized he was practically stabbing me.

His armor reminded me of Viss. It had many small metal plates that overlapped, allowing him to move underneath them with relative ease. What had annoyed me about them however, was the fact that at the front of each section, there was a small spike, making each metal plate into a 'V' shape, and not very nice to be hugged by. His helmet was cute though, it was terrifying, but placed on Ebony... it was like seeing a marshmallow wielding a battleaxe. All of the metal that was now covering most of his body, excluding the back of his legs, was a very specific hue of dark, low saturation green-blue, making each plate look like an actual part of his body from a distance. There were small red bands around each of his hooves, on the lowest part of the armor. I assumed this was to make sure no-one mistook him for an enemy.

"Look what I got!" He said in excitement, holding out a leg and bending it, showing how the metal simply shifted to fit his new shape.

I snorted. "You look like a miniature Viss."

He stared at me, then quickly looked to the floor. "T-thanks."

He's acting strange. First the rubbing up against me thing, now this embarrassment... I need Cadence.

"You get anything else?" I asked, attempting to change the subject.

He snapped to attention, a grin forming on his face. "Look." He said lifting a hoof, and showing me its base. It had a small metal plate covering the whole thing.

"Oookay?"

He rolled his eyes. "Throw something at me" He said, keeping his hoof in the air.

I shrugged and threw the first thing that was within reach, which was what remained of the cardboard box still leaning by the doorway I was standing in. As the cardboard made contact with his hoof, a very bass-y thud vibrated the room as the cardboard flew back at me, luckily missing and hitting the door behind me.

"What the hell?" I asked as he lowered his hoof back to the floor.

He smirked. "They increase any impacts force by hundreds of times. So I could probably kick my way through solid rock if I wanted to. They are standard issue, so every guard has at least one. But I have four." He said, shuffling about on his hooves.

"Don't forget about your magic." I said, pointing to his horn.

He shrugged. "Just the regular laser spell. Nothing special."

"Huh, nothing better you could learn?" I asked.

He shook his head sadly. "No... not in the available time-frame anyway." He looked back up to me and his eyes lit up, as if remembering something. "Oh, and Dan?"

"Yeah?"

"I saw Steve, Dawn, Chrome, Feath-"

I put up my hands, stopping him. "Okay, okay I get it, you saw everyone."

Ebony nodded happily. "Yeah, they are all ready too. You should have seen the Viss and the princesses."

"Celestia and Luna are in armor?!" He nodded. "Oh my god... I bet that was badass."

"Yeah, you should have seen the others, they wer-"

"Wait." I said, cutting him off again. "Did you say Chrome?"

He blinked, looking slightly concerned. "Yeah? I saw him with the others."

"Hm. He must be trained in medical stuff or something. All the civilians should be gone by now."

There was a small pause.

"So..." Ebony said. "What now? Now that we're basically ready?"

I smiled. "How about you get that armor off and you can show me how you've been doing on that guitar of yours?"

Ebony mirrored my expression. "I'd like that."

Author's Note

FYI: The next chapter is going to be a monster. Like, it's going to take a while.

I'm trying to be a little more bulky on the descriptive side of things, let me know if you like it.

Sorry about the long wait guys, I have a lot on my plate right now.

Chapter 37: ...Of The Horse Of War (Part 1 of 2)

The rest of that day consisted of re-tuning Ebony's guitar.

I forgot to tell him he would have to tune it every so often. I also never taught him how to tune it, so it's probably my fault it sounded like a crashing piano every time it was strummed.

We had a small meeting in Chrome's room that night, just before we were about to head to bed. Everyone was there. Well... not everyone. Just Chrome, the two princesses, our resident changeling and corresponding queen, Feather and...

"Fashionably late huh?" I asked as Dawn and Steve quickly shambled their way through the doorway.

Instead of using the room's furnishings, we stood in the largest empty spot in the room and formed a circle. Everyone shuffled closer to each other to make room for Steve and Dawn, who both seemed a little out of breath. By the way they both entered the room, I could tell they had ran.

Steve entered the rim of the circle, along side Dawn. "Ah, sorry guys," He said as the door fell shut behind him. "We were out having a meal." Dawn nodded confidently at his statement

Feather, who was next to me and Eb, snorted then smirked slightly at Steve. "By the looks of it, only one of you was 'having a meal'." She said in a very slightly hushed tone.

Dawn glanced to Feather with a casual demeanor, as if she had not heard what she said, while next to her, Steve burst into a fit of coughs, trying his hardest to flatten down the now puffed-up feathers around his neck. Dawn kept up her act of innocence, but the subtle shuffling of her back legs gave her away. To me at least.

Ebony gave me a confused look, he probably had no idea what was going on. I subtly waved a hand and shook my head in a 'nevermind' motion. I looked back up the the group, clapping my hands together to break the silence and get everyone's attention. "Okay guys, we're all ready for tomorrow?" I said. They all nodded. Steve's nod was stopped short by a flinch, he then rubbed at his neck, grimacing slightly. No one else seemed to notice. "Sweet. So..." I looked to the princesses. "...what's the plan?"

Celestia looked to Luna and nodded. Luna returned the gesture and took a step into the circle, leaving Chrome's side. Chrome moved to follow, but after glancing to Celestia, thought better of it. Luna's horn began to glow as a floating map appeared infront of her. Hovering just over the ground, the map was clearly constructed of magic since it was slightly transparent, three dimensional and cast the same blue hue as Luna's horn. It featured a mountain range, Canterlot perched on the side of one of the peaks. A soft smile came to my face as I spotted the small train-tracks leading into the caves that wound around the mountain.

Luna pointed with a hoof towards the map. She circled a small area, the flat-ish plain infront of the city that contained the train station and some of its tracks. The plain met a cliff-face where the mountain continued its climb. Clearly the city had originally been built upon a small outcropping, then extended outwards and down along the cliff below, making it look one with the mountain. The plain was all that remained of the outcropping, about the size of the average crop-field, maybe a little more.

"This is where we make our stand," Luna said. "Though our last line of defense, as well as the medical teams, will be waiting atop the outer walls of the city incase things do not go in our favor. There will be a spotter along-side every medical team, who will watch over the battle and point out any who 'down but not out' so to say. The medical team will then aid these individuals if possible." She paused. "Chrome... you will... you will be part of one of these teams."

Chrome looked to the floor, nodding knowingly.

Luna continued. "Our front lines will be constructed of two teams. One who will act as the main defensive force, while the other with sit behind the first, armed with ranged weaponry. This second team will file into the first team's position should the first team begin to fall." Luna turned to the couple. "Dawn Skies, Rosewood..."

"Steve." Steve corrected, lifting a claw.

Luna blinked and gave me a glance. I shrugged. Luna's gaze slowly drifted back to the griffin and pony. "...Steve... you two will be within the first of these two teams, the front lines. They both gave a determined grin and nodded sharply in unison.

Luna looked over to me, Feather and Ebony. "Dan, Feather, You will both be in the second of these teams." I gave her a confused look. "Don't worry Dan, you will be supplied with a crossbow, they are easy enough to operate. Use your daggers if you get caught up-close or are forced to take the first team's place."

I shook my head. She had answered a few questions I had not thought of, but the one I was concerned with remained unsolved. "Okay, I get that. But what about Eb? Where's he going?" I asked, pointing to him. Eb gave Luna a worried look.

Luna looked down to the changeling. "You will be alongside me, my sister and your Queen. We will have an elevated position, overlooking the operation." Ebony froze even more-so than he was already. "You know more about changelings and their culture than any of us, excluding maybe your Queen. Having both of you with us will help us make the right decision if we need to intervene in any way."

Ebony looked up to his Queen who was the other side of Celestia from Luna. She nodded to him. Ebony thought, then gave both Viss and Luna a confident nod.

Luna looked back across the group. "Me and my sister will be issuing orders and alerting the troops of any and all changes through magical means. Some ponies do not like having voices sound through their minds, but it is necessary. So prepare to hear either me or my sister speaking through your heads, do not let it alarm you, since you will need any concentration you can muster. The fate of Canterlot depends on us being victorious in this battle." She gave us all a determined glare.

Steve, Dawn and Feather all saluted, they all seemed to have been done out of instinct as Steve's stopped half way and Feather was expertly hiding embarrassment. Dawn was the only one to not look at all bothered, she looked proud.

Luna returned to Celestia and Chrome's sides. Celestia gave her a praising nod as she took her place. "Five AM tomorrow morning. Meet at the main gates, you will be directed to your positions. I will raise the sun early to provide you with ample light, so you may fight well." We all took this as a ticket to leave the room, the circle began to shuffle as everyone prepared to move. "Good luck. All of you." She said genuinely, as the three taller ponies left the room rather abruptly. Luna gave Chrome a rather longing look as she passed through the doorway, but she was quickly forced to move on by Viss who was ducking under the doorframe. I imagine having Viss bump into you, even a little, would be like being hit with a slightly spiky brick wall.

Me, Eb, Dawn, Steve and Feather headed our separate ways as we exited Chrome's room, leaving him there.

I walked alongside Ebony for a couple steps, before thinking of something. "Hang on Eb. I'll be right back." I said, stopping in the hallway.

"Where are you going?" He asked, looking surprisingly sad. I almost decided not to go after seeing his face.

"I need to speak to Steve and that. I won't take long. Meet you in our room."

He looked slightly understanding, but still seemed slightly torn. "Okay." He said quietly as he continued his way to our room, which was only a few meters away.

I turned and walked quickly to catch up with the couple. Eventually, I turned a corner and found them walking through the halls towards their room.

I interrupted a small conversation as I tapped Steve on the shoulder.

They both looked over to me but didn't stop walking, I matched their pace.

"Oh, hey there Dan." Steve said, slightly surprised.

"What do you need?" Dawn followed him up, giving me a caring look.

I smiled at the warm reception. "I was wonder what's happening with your uh... well... your wedding." I said, hoping it wasn't a touchy subject. They hadn't said much about it.

They both shook their heads solemnly. "Yeah..." Steve sighed. "It's been delayed again. Due to the battle happening and all..."

I nodded understandingly. "Ah... sorry to hear. Tell me when you're doing it though, I wanna be there."

"Of course Dan." Dawn said, bucking up a bit.

"Thanks you two." I said, glancing back in the direction of my room. "I'd better get going."

They both gave me a wave as I walked backwards away from them.

I hurried back to my room, determined to get a decent night's rest.

I stopped halfway to my door and turned around, looking at the door just before mine. Chrome's room. He'd been quiet recently. He had a good excuse though, he'd lost his job. That doesn't sound like much to someone like me, someone who comes from a world where jobs come and go all the time. But to someone who lives in a world of pre-assigned destiny... pre-assigned roles... failing at such a role is crushing, since it's literally all you are.

I decided to check on him, he was pretty torn up when I last spoke with him.

I approached his door, remembering the times I'd spent with Chrome... Our drunken escapades, or in his case, very drunken escapades... I shook those thoughts out of my head. I needed to have a serious conversation with the guy.

I used a fist to thud on his door a couple times.

No answer.

I hit a little harder, trying my hardest to make a loud noise without harming the door too much. I had a bad track-record with doors... As much as I'm proud of my reputation, I'd rather keep my hands as splinter-free as possible for tomorrow.

Still no answer.

I leant on the door, resting my head on the door slightly. "Chrome, it's me. Dan. I... want to talk to you." I said through the door.

After a couple seconds, the door slowly opened.

Chrome stood silently in the doorway, his eyes were heavy and his hair was greasier than normal. He looked up at me and gave a half-hearted smile. "Sorry I erm... I was busy." He said as he turned away from the door and headed into the kitchen area. I quickly followed him, allowing the door to fall closed behind me. His room was dark, the curtains were mostly drawn and the lights were off. "I was actually about to open a bottle or two if you'd like to join me." He said in a flat, unenthusiastic voice as he rummaged through a cupboard in the kitchen. He pulled out a long bottle full of clear liquid, neck held in his teeth. He froze when he locked eyes with me, but his stoic expression didn't shift.

I sighed, rubbing one side of my face. "What's happened to you Chrome? Is now really the time?" I asked. His eyes closed and his head lowered slightly, presumably looking to the floor through his eyelids. "What about tomorrow? You don't want to be hungover, or worse - drunk for that right?

He sighed, looking back up at me. His eyes shined slightly in the dim room. "I-" He said, sending the bottle in his jaw straight to the floor. It shattered on impact, sending a heavy-smelling fluid across the floor, along with what remained of the bottle.

I quickly reached for the roll of paper-towels, but Chrome lifted a hoof in my direction, signalling for me to stop. I stayed my hand. "It's fine!" He said, opening a draw next to him and pulling out a dishcloth with his mouth. He tossed it onto the floor and pressed his hooves ontop of it. "It's fine, I've got this covered."

I knelt down slightly. "I'll get the glass-"

"No!" Chrome cut me off. I flinched at his volume, and by the looks of it, he surprised himself as well. He sighed. "Look, just... just go sit on the couch or something. I... I'll clear this up."

I stood, seeing I couldn't win this battle. I slowly walked through his room, away from the kitchen area, and towards the couches. I had to hop slightly to get over the sheets, pillows and household objects strewn across the floor. One of which was a lamp... It was missing it's lampshade.

I fell into one of the couches, the one facing away from the bedroom. The table between the two couches was a-clutter with seemingly random items.

After a couple of minutes filled with the sounds of clinking glass and the wringing of towels, Chrome sat on the couch opposite me, sitting in the corner. He rested his head against the wall as I shuffled forward in my seat.

"Chrome, you've... You've really got to get this under control."

"Dan, I'm fi-"

"No. No, you're not." I said accusingly. "Look, I know we all like a good drink every now and again. But this? This isn't helping anything."

Chrome sighed. Reaching down to the table infront of him. "Well. My father had a saying."

"Oh yeah? And what was that?"

Chrome held up a small metal flask in a hoof. "Lift the spirits..." He said, raising the flask to his lips. "...to lift your spirits." He said, tipping his head back and beginning to drain the flask.

My hands balled into fists as I stood, leaning over the table. I hit the metal container off of it's careful placement upon his hoof. It tumbled through the air, spewing another rancid liquid as it fell. I watched the flask roll end-over end along the floor, before finally coming to a stop on a small pile of assorted clothes.

"The hell dude?" Chrome glared, one eyelid slipping slightly.

I stared at him. Returning his glare. Chrome slowly stood on the couch, almost meeting my eye-level.

I put a finger to his chest. "You." I glowered. "Will NOT be getting drunk the night before a war."

He narrowed his eyes and thudded my arm away with a hoof. "Too late..." He hesitated slightly. "...motherfucker." He hissed before wiping his mouth with an elbow. "I had 4 glasses before you even came in." He said in a cocky tone, as if he had just revealed a master-plan in which he had 'deceived me from the very beginning'.

I gave him an audible sneer, before turning away from him and putting a hand to my face. Taking a couple deep breaths to hold back my tears.

Chrome continued glaring at the back of my skull as I thought.

"Chrome." I said, in the calmest voice I could muster. "I'll give you one... last chance." I turned back towards him, "Stop."

He stared at me. Silence.

"Chrome," I continued, "This isn't like you. You're not thinking straight. Please, just stop."

Eventually his lips formed a scowl. "Make me." He growled.

I raised my head back, straightening myself. "Fine." I said. I calmly turned around and walked away from him. His glare continued to track me through his room. I walked into his kitchen, across the still sticky tile-flooring and opened the cupboard he pulled the previous bottle from.

Inside were at least a dozen identical bottles. Tall, thin, clear, unbranded bottles. That's never a good sign.

I grabbed one my the neck and walked over to the sink.

Chrome's narrowed eyes widened in rage. "Oh don't you dare..." He mumbled as I pulled a stack of used plates from the bottom of the sink. I stared at him, meeting his eyes as I unscrewed the top from the bottle and held it over the drain. He bared his teeth as I slowly began to turn the bottle over.

I tipped the bottle fully. The clear liquid flowing freely down into the sink.

Chrome's look of rage was polluted with fear as he rushed into the kitchen. I held up the bottle, wielding it over my head like a club, allowing the fluid to flow down my arm. Chrome stopped in the entrance to the kitchen. I warned, "Not a step closer. This is for your own good."

Chrome's eye twitched as he watched the puddle below me grow, more and more of the bottle's contents emptying down my arm.

Chrome set a hoof on a draws handle and pulled sharply, launching the draw out of its hole and onto the floor infront of him. He quickly ducked his head into it and returned with a rolling pin in his teeth. "Drop it." He mumbled through the wooden handle.

He immediately regretted his choice of words as I quickly followed his orders. Dropping the bottle to the floor. Again, the kitchen floor was covered in glass shards and the heavy scent of alcohol.

Chrome's eyes turned wild as he lunged at me, ignoring the glass crackling under his hooves. He swung the wooden tool violently as I hopped out of his way. I gave him a sharp kick to his right shoulder as he passed me, sending him careering into the fridge. The door bounced open due to the impact and the whole machine wobbled on its legs as Chrome collapsed infront of it. I looked up at the fridge as the rolling pin fell out of Chrome's now unconscious jaw. I thanked whatever gods there may be that the knife rack placed atop the fridge didn't fall.

I sighed, lowering myself to my knees. I placed a hand on Chrome's side and pulled him over onto his back, making sure not to roll him onto any pieces of glass. One cheek was already bruising from where it had collided with the fridge door, his side was not fairing much better. I looked down at the fur on his stomach, faint as it may have been, I could still make out the scars from that morning all those months ago. I sighed and shook my head as I ran my hand along his side, feeling his soft fur... and the word still inscribed on his side.

I pushed Chrome back onto his front, being mindful of his wings.

"Okay, come on." I mumbled to myself as I put both of my arms under him and hefted him up to my chest. I leant back and steadied my legs. He was a lot heavier than Ebony. I slowly walked through the kitchen with him draped over my arms. I was using a foot to open the still ajar door when I felt the muscles in his core shift violently. I froze as Chrome emptied his stomach onto the floor below me, narrowly missing my shoe.

I sighed. "Nice." I grimaced to myself as I gave up trying to open the door with my foot and threw Chrome over my shoulder momentarily so I could use a free hand to use the door's handle. Once I was through the door and had it closed behind me, I lowered Chrome back onto my chest.

I kicked at my door until Ebony opened it.

"I'm here! I'm her-" Ebony said before freezing upon seeing the pony in my arms. "...What." Was all he could muster. Bless him.

"Thanks for getting the door Ebony." I said as I walked into the room, he swiftly got out of my way and shut the door behind me. "Just head to bed, I'll be there soon, just gotta take care of Chrome first."

I set Chrome down on his stomach on one of our couches, making sure to hang his head off the side slightly, incase he decided he had something left in his likely vacant gut. I stared at the ceiling and rubbed my face, wishing I had just forced Chrome to sleep in my room. I looked over to Ebony. He was staring at me. "What?" I asked, still slightly heated from my tussle with Chrome.

He pointed to my face, then to his cheek. "You... uh... got a little something there." Circling an area on his face.

I lifted a hand up to feel my face, only to find a patch of blood already on my hand. Presumably, when I rubbed my face, I had touched a wound or something. Maybe a piece of glass bounced and cut my face or something.

"It's fine Ebony, just head to bed."

He gave Chrome a wary look. Then gave me a concerned glance as he silently walked into the bedroom and shut the door behind him.

I gave Chrome's back a pat with my clean hand as I stood from his side and walked into the bathroom. I looked into the mirror, I had a smudged hand-print of blood on my face. I ran some water over my hand. No cut there... After cleaning my hand, I lowered my face to the tap and rinsed the blood from my face, wiping the water away with a towel. I looked back to the mirror.

"Wow I need to cut my hair." I mumbled to myself. I had not cut it since arriving in Equestria, so it was looking pretty unruly. I lifted the hair from my forehead and checked my face for cuts. ...nothing.

Wait... If there's no cuts on my hand... and no cuts on my head... where'd the blood come from?

My eyes widened as I peered back through the bathroom door. Chrome...

I rushed back to his side.

I lifted his head up in my hands, checking both sides of his face. One side was slightly swollen, but no cuts. I felt along his neck, then looked to my hands, still nothing. I moved down to his side, and sheepishly held the end of one of his wings then pulled slowly. The feathers slowly unfolded as the confusing joints extended. No blood.

I reached over him, holding the end of his other wing. I pulled even slower, since that was the side that hit the fridge, I didn't want to break his wing any worse than it may already have been. The wing seemed slightly tense, but wasn't bleeding on either side.

I sat back on my heels, looking over Chrome's body. "Where the hell did it come from then?..." I mumbled. "It's definitely not mine... may-"

My words stopped as I heard a noise.

I waited in silence. It might have just been my imagination.

...

No, there it is again. I thought as I heard another dull tapping sound. A single tap, like a drop of water hitting... carpet.

Looked to the carpet under the couch and sure enough, under where one of Chrome's front hooves was hanging off of it, there was a tiny blood stain.

I grimaced as I lifted Chrome's hoof.

"Oh jesus..." I whispered as I saw the bottom of his hoof. The firm base of his limb had a piece of glass of indistinguishable length lodged in it, all the glass that remained outside of the hoof had clearly been snapped off. Probably as he ran at me.

I stared for a while, thinking back to Celestia's words... "The ear tips and hoofs Dan, they are sensitive."

"I am so sorry." I mumbled to the unconscious pony. "...Ebony?" I called. "Hey, Eb! I kinda need you!"

After a while he poked his head around the doorframe, his eyes were half-lidded, and not in the good way. "What do you need Dan? We..." He yawned. "We need our sleep."

I shook my head. "I need you to go and get the infirmary ponies or something."

Ebony blinked. His tiredness being overcome by his curiosity. "Why? Are you hurt that bad?"

I shook my head. "No, it's Chrome. His hoof... I think there's glass in it."

Ebony eyes widened. "Please tell me it's a chip, not a shard."

I looked back down to his hoof, I could not tell how big the piece of glass was or how far in it went, I could only see one side of it. "I don't know, I can't tell."

Ebony shuffled slightly, looking a little squeamish. "Try er... wiggling it."

I stared at him. "I don't want it to break inside him!"

Ebony shook his hooves wildly, the holes whistling slightly. "NONONO, the hoof, not the GLASS!"

"Oh." I said, looking back down to Chrome. I shook his hoof a little, then slightly more violently. "Yeah... this thing isn't even shifting."

Ebony nodded. "Yeah that's... that's probably a s-" He swallowed, as if keeping his whole stomach down. "...shard-"

"Hey, Eb, you okay there?"

He waved a hoof dismissively. "I just don't like... hoof stuff."

"Okay, whatever. Just please go get those ponies." I said, pointing to the front door.

Ebony gave me a sharp nod and practically flew out of the room. In fact, he did. Out of the window to be precise. He didn't break it or anything, but it still terrified me for a second, before I realized he had wings and magic, so he could probably handle himself.

Ebony came back in through the front door, tailed by two mares. They were both decorated in white attire.

After a couple of minutes, they had left. During that time they had taken any information I or Ebony had on what Chrome had drank. I told them everything I knew. They left with Chrome draped over their backs. Ebony entered the bedroom and I stayed behind, fixing myself a quick glass of water. God knows I needed one.

Ebony was sitting on the bed when I walked into the bedroom, he was hunched over and looked half asleep. I sighed as I set the box that contained the knives on my bedside table. I didn't take off any clothes as I got into bed, I just clambered in and laid down, trying to get some sleep. It was already far too late to get a good night's sleep, but some was better than none.

Ebony did the same after a minute or two.

"How're you feeling? About tomorrow?" He asked quietly in the silent room.

...

I didn't answer.

***

"Hey" Ebony said in a hushed tone, standing by my side of the bed and poking my shoulder gently. "Hey, Dan."

I groaned as I rolled over and sat up. I put my hands to my face, stretched out my back then slowly extended my arms outwards in a painful yet satisfying stretch.

"Hey, what's up." I said, rubbing my back slightly as I opened my eyes.

Pale light was coming in through the curtains, bouncing off of the armor Ebony was wearing slightly as he stood by my bedside, looking slightly flustered.

"Y- We need to get going." He said in a slightly rushed tone, 'magicing' the knife box into my lap and exiting the room.

I lifted the lid and peered down at my scattered reflections, the blades sitting innocently in their velvet beds. I grabbed one by the handle and held it up to my eyes, turning it slowly, allowing a spec of light from the morning sun to dance along its edge.

I sighed as I set it on the bed carefully, along with its twin a moment afterwards before removing the box from my lap and setting it back on the table beside my bed. I stood from the bed then placed the two knifes in their usual slots on my belt. Shit... I thought as I realized I never asked for the armor to have built-in sheaths. Aw well, looks like I better hold them in the open when I get the armor on...

I walked out of the bedroom, closing the door behind me. Ebony was standing by the door, looking ready to go. The main room was cast in a strange light. Looking at the clock, it was only 3 in the morning but the sun was already streaming in.

"Heh, looks like Celestia's been hard at work already this morning, you ready?" I asked him.

Ebony stepped out of the way, allowing me access to the door. "Yeah, yeah I'm ready. I think."

Her certainly looked ready. Covered in his armor and those strange contraptions on each of his hooves.

We both exited our room at the same time, but both froze in our tracks as we turned.

I had turned right.

He had turned left.

We both turned to eachother, realizing we wouldn't see much of eachother during the battle, since we were positioned in different places. I was about to, but he beat me to the punch, tackling me into another painful hug.

He sniffed. "You be careful out there Dan." He said as I tried my best to return the hug without puncturing a lung or something.

"I'll be careful Ebony. I promise." I said, looking down at him as he rubbed the side of his head against my chest, like an affectionate cat. God he's really draining the love today isn't he... god...

He looked up at me, hooves still wrapped around me. "You promise?"

I smiled at his pleading eyes. "I promise." I said as I dispersed the hug. "You keep that Queen of yours safe now." I said, half teasingly.

He nodded sternly. "With my life."

My smile faltered as he turned and began to walk away.

"Please don't, though." I called after him.

He froze in the hallway, mid step. The clanging of his armor stopping abruptly. "...What?" He asked, quietly.

I swallowed, becoming slightly emotional at the thought. "If it comes to that... please..." He slowly turned to face me as I spoke, "...please don't give your life for her. ...For anyone for that matter. You're much too important to me."

He stared at me, his eyes becoming slightly damp, though maintaining a fairly hardened expression. "I'll... I'll hesitate." He stammered before rather quickly making his way down the hallway.

I let out a long sigh as I turned away, continuing down the hallway. Heading towards the main gates.

While passing though a street, gates in sight, a pony stuck his head out of a nearby house. "Dan right? Hey! Dan! Over here!" He yelled in a deep voice, waving. It was a guard.

I walked over to the house, peering into one of the windows as I did so, the house seemed to have been stripped down and re-designed as some form of military storage area. Guards were pushing and pulling crates inside. The pony who called my name was leaning out of an opened window.

"Do I... know you?" I asked, genuinely. It's not my fault they make all the guards look the same.

The guard raised his eyebrows. "I made your armor? Come on."

I smiled. "Oh, it's you Midnight." I said, holding up a fist which he graciously bumped. "So, how'd it go?"

"The armor? It went great. Here I think I saw it not to long ago..." He said, ducking back into the room. He rummaged around for a little while amongst the crates and guard uniforms littering the floor. "Ah!" He sounded from inside before an assortment of loose, tanned leather pieces flew out of the window one by one followed by what looked like a man's jumpsuit made of thin white fabric.

I picked them all up, bundling them in my arms. He leaned out of the window again, resting an elbow on the sill. "That there's your armor. White thing goes on, then the leather. You can probably figure out how, it's all just straps."

I looked down at the collection of leather and fabric in my arms. They were very light, even being held like that. "Dude this is perfect." I said. "Say, you wouldn't have happened to have added anywhere to put my knives on these, would you?" I asked, turning to the side to allow him to see one of the blades held in my belt.

"Naw, sorry. You should have said-" His words ceased as his eyes landed on my knife. "Guys... Guys!" He called into the house. "This guy's got crystal tips!" The window soon filled with many identical guard faces, all staring in wonder and jealousy.

They bombarded me with praise and questions. 'Where did you get them?' and 'How?' were among the most common.

Trust the drug trafficker to get excited over crystal... "One I got from a friend. The other I got from... well, an enemy." I said, shrugging. "I've had them for a while but Celestia recently upgraded them a little."

They all fell more or less silent at the mention of Celestia.

"Celestia. She did that?" Midnight asked, breaking the awkward silence and pointing at the blade at my side. I nodded, slightly confused. The guards all looked at eachother momentarily, then back to my blade. Midnight shook his head in disbelief. "That's gotta be some pretty sick crystal dude."

I couldn't help but laugh slightly. "You have no idea what you just said." I said, turning back towards the gates. "Okay, thanks guys, but I gotta go."

They all returned back into the house, except Midnight, who stays for a second to give a sharp wave.

I continued my way towards the main gates, they were not that far from the house I had stopped at, so it didn't take long. As I was approaching, a guard spotted me and met me a few feet outside of a small doorway just beside the gate. From what I could see, the outer walls were actually hollow, there were guards rushing back and forth inside, probably preparing supplies or something.

"You're early." He said, stepping infront of me and stopping me in my tracks. "We don't have your armor yet. You'll have to get that from one of the storage buildings or wait here."

I bounced my armor in my arms slightly, drawing his attention to it. "What do you think all this is? I already got my armor. You got the crossbow I was promised, or do I have to go somewhere else for that too?" I said slightly sarcastically.

The guard scoffed. "Eager to go I see. I'll get you your crossbow, hang on."

He turned and headed back into the door, he stood mostly inside of the doorway, holding it open with a back hoof. He called some orders that echoed inside the narrow hallway, a few voices responded and soon he was reproaching me, a crossbow on his back and a quiver full of short arrows in his teeth.

He beckoned me with a head movement as he stopped infront of me. I leaned down and took the quiver from his mouth, placing it on the pile of leather and fabric I still held bundled in my arms.

"Thanks." He said, turning slightly, presenting the crossbow to me. "Here's your crossbow."

It was fairly primitive. Impressive, but it was no compound bow, that's for sure. The whole thing was constructed out of wood. Sanded smooth and polished slightly, the weapon gleamed faintly in the sunlight. It was small, only about as wide as my chest. But the thick string was incredibly taut, clearly it would take some strength to pull it back, but it would likely make up for that in firepower.

At the back of the crossbow, where a human-made one would have a shoulder-rest, had what looked more like a shovel handle. Since the non-unicorn guards had to use these too, the guards held this part of the handle in their mouths, the trigger was on the bottom of this handle. I took this to memory immediately, since setting the crossbow down would surely set off the trigger. Though the trigger was likely to be very firm, as they are made to be used by teeth afterall.

I nodded him thanks as I took the crossbow, setting it upside down ontop of the pile of stuff. It was fairly heavy, given its small size. Solid wood from what I could work out.

The guard called to me as I walked through the gate. "You need any help with that? I could teach you! I have time!"

I raised a hand as I walked, not turning around. "No, I'm sure I'll manage." I called back.

"Oh... Okay." He said, sounding slightly disappointed. "Well, I've got to get back to work... Say 'hi' to the early risers for me will you?"

I turned my head and nodded. "Sure thing."

He smiled slightly then headed back towards the door as he was obscured by the outer wall.

My shoes hit the soft grass of the plain outside of the palace walls. I walked towards the two lines of ponies, there were not many of them out yet, only the most eager were out since the invasion was not scheduled for another hour or so. They were putting a lot of faith in there predictions, but I'm sure they had some form of honor-rule or agreement, knowing Celestia.

The grass soon turned to a dry, rocky mud.

The two lines were very sparse, so as I walked, I decided I wouldn't go and tell each of them 'hi' from whoever that guard was. It would take me ages to walk to each one and back.

I was about a couple hundred feet from the outer wall when I neared the back-most row of ponies. I recognized a small group and headed over to them. It was Steve, Dawn and Feather. It looked like Steve and Dawn were hanging around in the back lines so they could talk to Feather. Dawn was shuffling in an excited manner and both her and Steve were glancing around every so often, watching the skies.

Feather looked like something out of an old 50's war-time flick. A metal helmet with a space for her horn and a thick military-green jacket that looked older than she was. At both of her sides were large bags that were full of god-knows-what. She was like a statue, planted in the ground, unmoving aside from her hair bustling in the wind slightly. Around her neck were what looked like dog-tags, but what was disturbing about them was the fact that the chain had already been broken at the back and was only being held in place by a small patch of tape. Despite her ominous appearance, she was managing to maintain a reasonably chipper conversation with the other two.

Dawn was... scary. She was covered in enough blades that it looked like she had taken the term "The best defense is a good offence" too literally and replaced her armor with weapons. On every available point on her body, she had a small band with at least two knifes tucked in-between the band and her bare fur. Her hair was tied back with what looked like the ripped remains of a shirt. Her eyes were decorated with some form of war-paint, or mud... I couldn't really tell, and I dare not ask, her pupils were the size of pinpricks. And of course, stood beside her, leaning on her neck, was Ellie. Dawn had her hoof wrapped over the handle like an old friend would a high-school reunion 60 years after-the-fact.

Steve was... well... Steve was Steve. He was just his normal Steve-y self.

The only noticeable feature about him was that his blue officer hat had been cleaned and perched delicately on top of his feathers.

I placed my bundle of stuff down next to the small group as the noticed me.

"Hey there Dan." Feather said, directing the other two's attention to me. "You're out here a little earlier than I thought you would be."

Steve sniffed audibly. "And why do you smell like a used shot-glass?" They all turned at me with curious looks

I slumped slightly as I picked up the full suit of white fabric, realizing I had never changed out of the clothes I had covered in Chrome's drink the night before. "Forgot to change, don't worry about it, I'm not drunk or anything." I said as I slipped into the white suit, it had small buttons lining the front which made it look a little like some very plain pajamas. But at least they were magical pajamas. I placed my knifes on the pile so I could put it on without trapping my weapons.

Once the last button was done, I looked back up the group. Steve was giving my outfit a strange glare, while Dawn and Feather were staring at the pile of things still beside me.

"Is that... leather ar-" Feather began, before she was interrupted by Dawn pushing past her to get at my pile.

Dawn's eyes only widened once she had barged through Feather. She loomed over my knifes, moving her hoofs to touch them, but then backing away repetitively. As if they were some kind of fragile child that could crumble to dust if touched. Her now large and motherly eyes looked up from the knifes, to me. "What have you done?" She asked, hooves shaking slightly, glancing between me and my blades.

I'm going to be honest, I was scared. "I- Celestia, she- I don't-" I stammered. Feather and Steve seemed to stiffen slightly.

"They're beautiful." She said, starring at me intensely.

I let out a silent sigh of relief, Feather and Steve did so too by the looks of it.

"Oh, thanks." I said as I timidly reached over her and grabbed a random piece of armor from the pile. I turned it about in my hand, it looked like it was meant to go on my forearm, so I strapped it on there. It fit fairly well so I assumed I had got it right. "And yes, Feather, this is leather."

We stood and discussed the ethics of leather as I suited up, it took a while since I had never actually seen or used armor before, cause you know, I'm a normal person.

Steve was rather proud of my choice of materials, so was Dawn, who said something along the lines of "Even before the bloodshed, you are surrounded by death." before turning to a slightly disturbed Steve and tell him to maybe one day get some.

Dawn was actually scaring me a little. Her smile was unwavering and she refused to stop idly stroking Ellie's handle. I would often have to look to Steve for reassurance when talking to her.

Feather didn't really care for my choice of armor and was only really interested because she hadn't seen any in a long time.

Over time, the two rows of armored ponies became more apparent as more and more troops slowly funneled their way through the front gates. Many heads poked up over the outer walls of the city, which presumably belonged to the medics and spotters. They were hard to make out, but on one of the lowest balconies of the palace (probably used for speeches and the like) Celestia, Luna stood side-by-side. Just behind them was Viss and Ebony.

Suddenly, mid-conversation, Dawn's ears straightened and her eyes widened. She ran off towards the front lines without a word, carrying Ellie under her wing.

Steve looked around for a second. "Looks like everyone's in place." He turned to watch Dawn. "I should probably also get going." He took a couple steps away, but then stopped and turned around. "Ah, almost forgot." He said as he sat on the floor and reached under his wing.

He pulled out a small orange pill bottle. He opened the top and emptied it's contents into his beak.

"Hey Steve." I called. "What's with the meds?"

"Oh these?" He asked as he screwed the top back onto the bottle and tossed to the side. "Anti-bacterials."

I blinked. "...Why?"

Steve grinned devilishly. "You can get infections... from raw meat." He said, before turning away and continuing his stroll to the front lines.

I was left completely speechless. All of my friends are phycos

"Feh, griffins." Feather mumbled as she walked over to my side. "Now, I've seen Dawn fight, and it's quite the show. And of that was any indication, I'd say Steve is equally... enthusiastic. So make sure to watch the front lines, this should be quite impressive."

I grunted in response as I leant down to pick up my crossbow and quiver full of arrows. I almost fell over due to the weight of my armor, leather is heavier than it looks. I slung the quiver over my shoulder and tightened the strap. Only after I had the strangely shaped crossbow in my hand did I notice that I had no way to carry my knives. They were still sitting on the ground.

I took inspiration from Dawn and tucked the two blades under the straps for the armor that covered my forearms. The cold metal layed flush with my skin with the handles facing my wrists.

I looked back to the crossbow in my hands. And attempted to bring the sights up to my eyes, but was stopped by the handles strange design. Had it been loaded, I would have just shot an arrow towards the front lines, since my shoulder pressed against the trigger and clicked it.

"Hey, Feather." I said, getting her attention and pointing to the crossbow. "Anything I should know about this?"

She nodded as she began to walk further into our second line of defense, she was heading for a large rock that sat in the middle of the jumbled line of ponies. "It's simple. Clip arrow onto the string. Pull back till it sticks. Shoot it at the bad guys." She said as she reached the side of the rock, it was just taller than I was and slightly rounded at the edges. She dug her hooves in and began clambering up its side.

"What about the 'bad guys' themselves?" I asked. "What are we up against?"

Feather took a couple breaths as she reached the flat top of the rock, she looked of into the distance, focusing on the ridge across from Canterlot. "There will be small ones, workers and drones. Fast little things. They're just smaller than Ebony. They usually have small blades held with a strong telekinetic spell with a long range. They're good at manual labor, not thinking. Easy to outsmart. Feigning attacks almost always works on those ones.

"Then there are the scouts and mages. Same size as Ebony, sometimes a little bigger. Mages specialize in magic, which means lasers. A whole lot of lasers. Scouts usually have medium-sized blades held with regular telekinetic magic, medium range. The scouts are by far the most intelligent. All the ones I've mentioned so far can fly very efficiently.

"And last there are the warriors. Much bigger than Ebony, more like Steve's size. The wield large weaponry with a very strong telekinetic spell with a short range, that means if you can get the weapon far enough away from it, it will lose the ability to control it. They have very thick armor and a great understanding of combat.

"All changelings have the same weak spots, the sides of the head, the eyes, the back and the belly. You land a decent hit in any of those places and you're bound to do some damage."

I took all the information in for a second. "Ah, thanks." I said, still standing awkwardly at the foot of the rock. I didn't want to leave her, she knew what she was doing. "What about... The queen?"

She scoffed, still checking the horizons. "You won't fight a queen, they don't fight their own battles unless they're really desperate."

I thought for a second, what she said reminded me of something. "Hey! Aren't the princesses supposed to be out here? I thought they had battle armor and all that stuff."

Feather rolled her eyes. "It's all just for show and keeping the troop's morale high. They won't actually intervein unless we start losing terribly." She looked down to me, still standing awkwardly at the foot of the rock. "Are you ever leaving?" She asked impatetiently.

"No!" I answered quickly. "I have no idea what I'm doing. Do I look like the kinda guy who's fought in a war before?"

She looked at my armor, my crossbow, my knifes, the scar on my hand. "...Yes."

I groaned. "Either way, I've never done this before and I can think of no better teacher than you."

"Dan, if you were a unicorn, I could teach you magic. If you were a pony I could teach you basic combat." She said, staring at me with raised eyebrows. "You are neither of those things."

I began fidgeting rapidly. "Well... like... Protect me or something. I'm-..." I sighed. "Feather I'm scared."

Her expression became stoic. Her eyes turning hardened. "We're all scared Dan." Her eyes drifted from me to the front lines. "Some just show it in different ways." I followed her eyes. Two guards seemed to be having a happy conversation with our favourite pony/griffin couple.

Everything fell quiet as the guards around us all stopped what they were doing all at once. If they were doing anything at all in the first place. A voice resonated through my head like a prominent thought. "To the south. The ridge opposite the gates. They are approaching, thirty seconds."

It took me a while but I eventually realized I hadn't been possessed by a vengeful demon, and that it was just Celestia contacting us all.

Feather's scanning eyes froze, fixated on the top of the steep cliff-face across from the city behind us. Her hooves cemented themselves to the top of the rock she perched on.

I quickly span around when I realized what was happening and dived behind the rock and sit up, pressing my back to the stone. I placed my crossbow on the floor and checked the position of both of my knives, they were both still firmly strapped to my wrists. Having things that sharp that close to a place with like... all of the veins was actually kind of worrying. I made sure not to twist my arms too quickly, or the blades could shift or something and I'd be screwed.

Small chunks of dirt and pebbles on the ground began to shake slightly as a a deep rumbling came from across the outcropping.

I reached behind me and pulled out one of the short arrows. It was a barbed broad-head arrow, nasty to remove. Heavy too. I placed it on the wire of the crossbow and pulled, making sure to point the crossbow at the ground, incase it didn't lock into place. It took a few attempts (and a lot of swearing) but I eventually got the thing to load. The crossbow's wooden frame groaned at the stress caused by the incredibly tight cord set in.

The rumbling slowly faded and a deathly silence returned.

The shuffling of my armor was all I could hear as I stood slowly, staying slightly hunched and peeked around the rock arrow-head first.

My tense shoulders fell limp by my sides as my eyes widened.

"Holy..."

I was speechless.

Author's Note

Sorry 'bout the break. Well, I never really took one. This chapter just kinda took a while, a lotta stuff that needs planning you know. I was gunna keep going with this one, but I thought I'd publish half of the chapter now, just to show you guys I'm still alive.

~~Expect a part 2 in like... 5-7 days I recon. Give or take.~~

Yeah, scratch that. More like 10 days. Time is just kind of passing me by at the moment.

Chapter 38: ...Of The Horse Of War (Part 2 of 2)

I stood there frozen.

Hundreds of cyan globes lined the top of the cliff. Each pair of eyes was surrounded by the silhouette of their owner. The dark figures stood defiant to the light pink sky, all of which were starring down at us with eyes that lacked any depth, feeling or empathy. Just empty gazes. Like they weren't even alive.

Every ten or so shadowy figures, was a larger one. They stood one and a half times taller than the figures around them. Thick-bodied with glowing red eyes, even from the bottom of a cliff they looked like power-houses.

"Feather?" I whispered through grit teeth, not taking my eyes off the cliff. "What's with the eye colors?"

She responded in a similar manner, "Red, warrior. Blue, scout or drone. Those are mostly scouts, drone-blue is slightly lighter. Mage, yellow-ish green, like dying grass. Be careful, mages have been known to disguise themselves as scouts so they are not considered a ranged threat. We could be looking at a hundred mages right now for all we know."

A thin line of smoke began emanating from Feather's horn. I had read, in Ebony's entry's in my journal, about something similar happening to her horn. As far as I'm aware, it's not normal. I should ask her about that some time now that I think about it.

At the time though, I didn't take any notice.

I had more pressing matters on my mind, as you could imagine.

The gentle breeze filled the long silence as they looked down upon us, no one dared to move a muscle. Well... except for Dawn. In the distance, I could see her bouncing side-to-side in some sick form of excitement. Steve had the decency to at least attempt to keep her still, but even with his hulking figure holding her down, she still managed to maintain her eager swaying.

Celestia's disembodied voice echoed through our heads once again. "Hold! ...Hold." She said quickly as a single changeling jumped from the ledge.

It fell, free falling, for 4 or 5 seconds, before extending it's wings and pulling up into a smooth yet bumbling glide, almost hitting the ground. It leant backwards and hovered still for a second, half way between the cliff and our front lines. It stopped its wings and dropped onto it's hooves then looked past our lines with it's yellow-green eyes and straight at the distant balcony that housed Celestia, Luna, Viss and Eb. It lowered its head in a quick yet sincere-looking bow while doing some strange movements with its front hooves.

"Lower your weapons, but be on guard." Celestia said after a small silence. "It is requesting entrance, a messenger." There was a short ruckus of wood and metal as most of the ponies on the field dropped their weapons, or at least stopped pointing them at it.

The changeling stood there, unmoving. It was probably slightly bigger than Ebony, had a slightly larger, more angular, horn and had lime-green saddlebags on either side of it's body. It's eyes were a shade of green that reminded me of those early morning woodland-walks I used to take, the pale sunlight piercing the leaves above. From Feather's description, I could tell this was a mage. And magic scared me in the hands of Celestia.

After another long silence, Celestia spoke up again. "I would like the troop with the most experience handling changelings to walk to them, alone, and introduce themselves then lead them to me." I crouched down and placed my crossbow on the floor upside down, as to not set off the trigger. I stood, looked to the changeling and crossed my arms. "You know who you are." Celestia added.

I sighed. Why do I have a feeling I'm being watched all of a sudden? I thought to myself sarcastically as I began my slow walk across the frozen battlefield. I trudged with a bored look on my face, but on the inside, I was terrified. Magic is not exactly something I'm confident around. Especially magic I can't see.

The ponies all turned to watch me walk past them as I proceeded though the first and second line of defense, weaving in and out of the bundles of armored troops. Some gave me encouraging smiles, some just stared in some indecipherable expression.

The dry stones and dirt crackled under my shoes as I exited the front line, leaving the protective barrier of ponies behind and entering the upcoming battle's equivalent of no-mans-land. I swallowed nervously as I approached the changeling, it had gone from a spec in my vision to a being not a couple feet from me in what felt like a blur.

I attempted to put on a formal and welcoming exterior as I stopped just in front of the changeling. It looked up at me with a neutral expression. I put my arms behind my back and cleared my throat. I noticed there was already sweat on the back on my hands. "Hello... there. I am Dan." I said awkwardly, extending my hand for a shake.

It looked to my hand impassively, then back to me. It didn't move an inch.

I slowly returned my hand to my side as I tried my best to not just run away out of sheer awkwardness. As if the magic this thing could wield wasn't reason enough to run already...

"Alrighty then... Erm..." I thought for a second, but rushed my words out, trying not to cause an awkward silence I couldn't recover from. "...I will guide-... Er... If- If you want I-... They tol-... Um... F-... Well if... Um... F- Follow me please." I said, turning slightly, relieved I eventually managed an actually coherent sentence. Looking back... god, magic screws me up. "You... probably know more about what's going on that I do..."

It nodded, it's expression remaining stoic. "Clearly. Lead." She said.

My brain stopped functioning for a second when I heard her voice. I was so very close to asking 'Wait, you're a chick?' But given the circumstances, I decided that wasn't the best of ideas and simply shut up and did what I was told. I began walking back towards the main gates, cutting through the two large groups of ponies. They created a path for us a we walked by them. The changeling behind me was getting some less-than-savory looks from some of the troops.

I ignored that fact that Dawn had to be pinned by at least 5 stallions including Steve to get her to remain still as we passed by her. I really see what Feather meant a while ago, she really does just have a 'switch' in the back of her mind... 'Normal, sweet (and only sometimes disturbing) mode' and 'All-out war mode'...

As I walked, I checked behind me every so often, just to make sure she was still following me.

I walked her through the front gates, through the city and into the palace. She followed me without question, she didn't say a word. And from what I could tell, she didn't even have a look around, despite being in a new place. She was rude, but the fact she was following me so willingly suggested some form of trust. I couldn't say that I trusted her, but that's probably because she likely specialized in magic.

As I entered the palace, Celestia's voice spoke yet again. She said that only I could hear her now, then gave me the directions to the room in which they wanted to meet the messenger in. I followed them as she gave them, then, sure enough, we arrived outside of some double doors.

I stopped outside of them and turned to the changeling. "They are expecting you." I said, gesturing to the door.

Without a word, not even a confirming nod, the changeling opened the door and walked in. I quickly followed her, crossing my arms as I walked so I could rest my hands on my knives.

The room we entered was fairly small. Desks lined the walls and had various maps, scrolls and tools set atop them. The only light in the room came from the open balcony across from the doors. Through the balcony's archway, I could see the distant cliff face and the changelings surrounding it's ridge. Celestia was staring out of the balcony's archway while Luna was hunched over a desk, pouring over what looked like paperwork in a panicked manner. Viss was in the corner, facing away from the room. She had her head hung in thought, her horn scratching at the wallpaper. Ebony was like a sentry, standing like a statue beside his queen, scanning the room with his eyes as if every object in the room was conspiring against him.

They all shot their heads towards the door was we entered.

Celestia's previously stern expression turned into a calm, kind smile as she laid eyes on the changeling and me. I could tell her expression was very forced.

Luna's eyes widened in shock but then, after taking a couple glances around the room, replaced her look of shock with one that was more stoic, attempting to restore her composure.

Viss looked over her shoulder at us, sighed quietly and turned her whole body to face us. There was a look of undecided emotion on her face. Ebony looked up at her, then copied her reaction, only hindered by the small smile he gained when he saw me.

I gave him a quick smile in return, but quickly returned my attention to the more dangerous parties in the room.

Now that I think about it... At least 3 magical powerhouses in one room... That was one dangerous room to be in, even from the start.

The changeling took a single glance around the room, before settling her eyes on Celestia's. She did however linger on Ebony for longer than I was happy with. Viss also didn't seem to like this, but became more curious than angry. Her thoughtful expression returned as she glanced between the two changelings. It was as if she was trying to make a connection.

Celestia grinned. "Welcome to-"

"My Queen has requested to speak with you." The changeling said, interrupting her.

Luna looked more offended than her sister did and looked to Celestia, searching for a response. Celestia glared for a second, but recovered with a forced smirk, "Straight to the point," She nodded. "I can understand that. I would be happy to-"

"All of you." The changeling interrupted a second time.

Luna looked like about ready to burst and Celestia's expression quickly flattened. "...Okay then." Celestia continued, "We would be happy to speak with your queen. How would your queen like to-"

"Comscroll." The changeling said, pulling a scroll out of one of her bags and holding it in the air with her magic. Her neutral expression filling with a barely detectable smirk as she cut her off for a third time.

Luna, who had seemingly had enough, rose from her desk and was practically nose-to-nose with the changeling in an instant. It looked like Luna had scared me more than she scared the changeling, since (as much as I hate to admit it) her sudden movement had caused me to flinch backwards and lose my balance. If the door were not closed behind me, I would have fallen over.

Luna glowered down at the changeling. "You think you can just freely disrespect my sist-"

"I'd watch your tongue, pony." The changeling said, completely unfazed by the princess infront of her that easily doubled her height. "All I have to do is give the signal, and this castle of yours is rubble."

There was silence. Everyone but Viss was glaring at the changeling. Either in anger, fear, or a mixture of the two.

I watched Viss closely, she had been thinking for a long time. Her eyes started to widen as a look of clarity covered her face. Clearly, she had figured something out.

Her face flattened as she cleared her throat, getting everyone's attention. She looked down to Ebony. "Ebony, dear, could you get your Queen a refreshment? Strawberry tea would be great."

Ebony nodded obediently. "Of course. I will be back as soon as I have made it." He said as he made his way across the room, passing by the changeling slowly and slipping through the door.

"Take your time." Viss called after him.

There was another silence. This time, everyone was looking at Viss, the changeling infront of me seemed to become uncomfortable and shuffled awkwardly, looking around the room at the three large ponies.

Viss waved a hoof to Luna, instructing her to back away from the changeling. Luna looked to Celestia, who nodded to her. Luna cautiously backed away from the changeling. I did the same, pressing myself against the door slightly in the process. If Luna had to get away from her, I sure did.

The changeling queen slowly approached the mage until the changeling had to look directly up just to meet Viss's gaze. Viss kept a confident expression. The smaller changeling couldn't help but step back slightly, even I was threatened by Viss's stature and I wasn't even the smallest one in the room, neither was I the one who she was at war with.

"Isn't it strange," Viss said, "how when a hive's population drops to zero and stays there for more than 5 years or so... the Queen's body shuts down the region responsible for telepathic communication between her and her subjects, since it believe's that, by that point, it will never have a hive again and wants to conserve energy."

Viss slowly began moving towards the changeling further, forcing the mage to back away. "And isn't it interesting that that particular region is also responsible for the detection of other telepathic communications and most changeling magic." The changeling had a very panicked expression, and was looking to Celestia and Luna, as if they would help her. The comscoll still hovered beside her, unopened.

Viss stopped advancing on the changeling and glared at her. I noticed Viss had just pushed the mage out of the view of the changelings on the cliff. "As you just saw. My hive still has a member, despite what your Queen believes. So I can detect other telepathic communications..." The mage looked close to tears. "So why would a Queen, who had perfectly good scouts and drones... very well suited for a message delivery, send a mage instead? Was it because the mage was bad at magic? Was it because they were expecting for the messenger to be attacked and they needed to defend themselves?..."

Viss leaned down to the changeling, snagging the scroll away from the changeling with her magic and tossing it to the other side of the room. "Or maybe... Just maybe... The mage was defective and wasn't able to send or receive telepathic orders, so was useless in a full-on assault... so they sent her... on a suicide mission disguised as a message delivery!"

The mages eyes widened. She whipped her neck, firing a short laser at the changeling queen infront of her. The laser only managed to travel about an inch or two before it was shot down by an opposing laser. The exchange only lasted a split second, that was the nature of the weapon I guess. Startled, I grasped my knifes, but Celestia, from the other side of the two changelings, shook her head at me. I kept my hands on the handles, just in case.

"My Queen would never-" The mage's voice tapered off when it realized it's projectile had been blocked. She sneered and lowered her horn, firing three more at the queen before her. Viss stood unfazed as each laser was blocked, I could not see what by, but from what I could tell, it must have been a similar spell to the one Celestia used to block my punch a while ago.

"Stop firing." Viss said calmly.

The mage looked up to find that Viss was still unharmed. Her eyes filled with panic as she shot more at her. I say 'more' because there were too many to count and each had it's own trajectory, making the whole room look like a scene straight from a Pink Floyd concert. All of the lasers met a similar fate as the first few. Viss looked slightly strained but somehow managed to block them all. She didn't block the ones that would have missed her anyway though, leaving them to hit the wall behind her. The small craters on the wall created a vaguely Viss-shaped outine in the middle of the wall.

While the barrage of lasers was unleashed, I had pressed myself up against the door behind me, trying to distance myself from the two. It was best if I didn't get involved. By the looks of it, Celestia and Luna were thinking the same thing.

The mage looked up in shock. "My... My Queen would never... She'd never do that to me!" She said, squeezing her tears away. "This isn't a mission! It's a message run! That's all!"

"Stop. Firing." Viss said. "Your Queen has lied to you. That scroll is a trap. Explosive."

The mage looked to the ground, shook her head and spread her hoofs on the floor, as if she was fighting for grip. She lifted her head back. Celestia and Luna both looked shocked at something, but then I realized that since I couldn't see changeling magic, this chick probably had a giant ball of magic charging or something. By the way she had her body positioned and how the pages on the desks were fluttering slightly due to a breeze I couldn't feel... It must have been something pretty big.

Viss's expression turned cold with concentration. She lifted the mage off the ground with her magic, the mage gasped and a large hole opened up in the wall behind her, presumably from the attack she had just charged and accidentally fired as she lost concentration. Viss ignored the rubble littering the room and lifted the mage above her head by her torso, almost touching the high ceiling, then brought her down in an arching motion, slamming her onto the cold stone.

The changeling limply bounced against the ground as she hit the hard floor. Viss approached the motionless changeling, rolled her onto her side and reared back, raising a hoof. Celestia and Luna both lurched forward, but stopped themselves halfway as Viss crushed the mage's horn against the ground with the bottom of her hoof. They both flinched at the sound. It was like someone had dropped an anvil on a walnut.

The door behind me attempted to open, but I jammed the handle. I took my first excuse to look away from the scene infront of me and faced the door. "Who is it?" I asked before coughing rather heavily, the room had filled with dust from the busted wall.

"Let me in! It's Ebony. I heard an explosion! Is my-"

"Everything's fine." Viss called from the middle of the room. "Go and get that tea, like your Queen asked. Please."

"O-of course!" He called, before quickly making his way back to... wherever he thought he could find strawberry tea. The kitchens maybe? I wouldn't know where to start.

I turned back to face the room and walked towards the changeling that was left in a shallow crater. "Is... is she okay?" I asked.

Celestia grimaced at the shattered remains of the mage's horn. "She's far from okay..." Celestia's horn lit and the mage disappeared. "But she'll live. Whether that's good or bad... we don't know." She sighed. "She will get medical attention in the high-security section of the dungeons."

"Oh... okay." I said as Viss huffed and turned, picking up the scroll left by the mage. "Can someone explain what just happened?" I asked.

Viss stared at the scroll, but didn't open it. She looked like she was doing magic or something, since she was very concentrated. In a strained voice, she said, "Their Queen, she still believes what I used to believe, that my whole hive is gone. So she figured she could send in an explosive scroll on a practically useless mage without me noticing, since as far as she knows, I can't detect changeling magic or their telepathic communication links. But I can. So I knew she was just trying to get rid of both me, and a disconnected mage at the same time." She shrugged. "There was no way for that mage to call for help and from what I can tell; her Queen didn't even tell her it was a suicide mission." She thought for a second. "Then again, she could have been acting."

"Hm." I said, slightly impressed. "Smart. So, if she really didn't know it was a suicide mission... the 'signal' was a bluff?"

Viss nodded as she continued to toil over the scroll.

Luna backed away from the scroll slightly. Celestia stood her ground. "You say that's explosive?" She asked.

"Ah!" Viss said as she looked away from the scroll, she seemed satisfied with something. "Yes, it is. Even more-so than before. I just over-charged the spell."

Celestia peered closely at the scroll. "So whoever opens it..."

Viss shook her head. "No, before it would have only affected a small area. But now, if I'm right, when opened, this thing will take out an area ten times the size of this room." The room wasn't really that big, but still, the prospect was rather scary. "Not enough to take out the whole army, but enough to take out the Queen." She said, baring her teeth with a wide grin that I was thankful wasn't directed at me.

Luna's eyes widened at the scroll. By the look on her face, I'm sure she could have kissed Viss, but chose to rush over to her piles of paperwork instead, unfortunately. "Yes!" She said. clearing the papers away to reveal a large map. "They probably think the explosion from the mage's last spell was the scroll, so we could send the scroll back in response and say-"

"Stop." Celestia said, raising a hoof. I looked over to her, she was looking out of the balcony again.

"What?" I asked, "What's-"

She shushed me, before turning back to the distant horizon.

Me and Luna approached the balcony as Celestia spoke. "She was bluffing... But wasn't lying."

Viss watched curiously as we all stared out, over the balcony. "What do you mean?" She asked from behind us, stepping towards the balcony.

"Luna was right, they think that the explosion of the changeling's magic was the scroll." Celestia said as Viss finally looked out over the horizon. "The scroll's explosion... The one she didn't even know existed... was the 'signal'."

We all stood in silence and watched. Our front lines hardened. Our last lines prepared and primed. From the balcony, I could see the outer wall of the city, and how the medical teams were all scrabbling into their teams and peering over their small battlements atop it.

The changelings, once standing like monoliths, were now pouring down the cliff, while some of them were flying over the battlefield.

Due to the cliff being so steep, I could not see where the changelings ended, so there could have been any number of them hiding behind the ridge.

They just kept coming.

But none had fired.

And none had reached the front lines.

Celestia and Luna stood at the edge of the balcony. I was stood behind them.

Viss walked up beside me and, due to her size, effortlessly peered over the alicorns to watch the stampede. Her face turned thoughtful again, scanning the oncoming troops.

Luna turned from the spectacle and looked to Viss, concerned. "What are they doing?"

Celestia narrowed her eyes at the cliff, as if she couldn't see clearly. "They're not attacking..." She mumbled.

"They're baiting us." Viss said. "If you let them get close, they will wait, standing just shy of the front lines until someone takes the first shot." She shrugged. "Changeling method."

Celestia sighed and turned to face Viss. "So what is there to do? Do we wait?"

Viss shook her head and began heading back into the room, we all followed. "No, I've been in this position before. And I'd say that attacking before they get settled is more... preferable. But the fighting would be sporadic."

Celestia looked to the floor, a hoof to her chin. "But letting them prepare themselves will lower our chances of winning..."

Viss nodded. "I'd also suggest that, due to their numbers, and the... affliction you both share..." She said, gesturing to the two alicorns, "You should don your armor and be down there when you give the order."

Neither of them seemed particularly happy with her suggestion

I glanced between the three of them, "...'Affliction'?" I asked.

Luna and Celestia shared a long glance. Making a silent conversation by the looks of it.

Celestia glanced to me and said, "There's no time for that now." Before looking back to Viss, "We'll do it, but what about you?"

Viss smiled and patted her chest with a hoof, it was like stone-on-stone. "I, of course, will be by your sides. This is my fight as much as it is yours." As she said this, a thought occurred to me. She gave me a quick glance, looks like she noticed. "You two go and prepare what you need, get to the front lines as quickly as you can. Me and Dan will meet you there momentarily, we have some things to discuss."

Celestia and Luna both gave me a superstitious look, to which I shrugged. They both slowly walked over to the door and left in silence. Which left me alone with Viss.

I watched the door close then turned to Viss, who was smiling idly. "Wow, Celestia and Luna being told what to do. I thought I'd never see the day."

She smirked. Scary. "As much as I find it amusing, now's not exactly the time." She sighed. "You had something to say?"

I took a second to remember. "Ah, yeah, actually. What about-"

The door slammed open.

I span to face the door, while Viss remained unfazed.

Ebony walked in, panting. He had a teapot placed ontop of his head and his hooves were slick with berry residue. "I made the tea, sorry it took so long, I had to..." His words tapered off as he saw the state of the room. "What... did I miss?"

Ebony looked to me for an explanation, I looked to Viss. She smiled. "Nothing Ebony." She so expertly explained. "Did you see the princesses on your way here?"

He looked slightly confused. "...Yeah? Why?" Judging from the steam coming from the teapot, his helmet was saving him from third degree burns, but he still looked slightly pained.

Viss waved a hoof, causing me to flinch slightly, those things were big, "Follow them, tell them I sent you. They'll tell you what's happening."

"Oh, er, okay." He said, awkwardly shuffling in the doorway. "Do you want your tea?"

The queen shook her head, "I'm... not thirsty anymore."

I shrugged. "Just go give it to Celestia, she could use the sugar... Oh wait..." I said jokingly. I'm fairly certain I felt a telepathic slap on the back of my head after saying that.

Ebony gave us both a concerned look before heading back down the hallway.

Viss turned back to me, "You were saying?" She said expectantly.

Again, I took a second to remember. "Oh, yeah. What about Ebony? What'll he be doing in all of this?" I asked.

"He will be defending me." She said, matter-of-fact-ly. I narrowed my eyes at her slightly. She huffed in response and leaned down slightly, almost matching my eye level. "I won't let anything happen to him, don't worry." She said in the most tender voice I had heard come from her thus far, it wasn't so comforting. "I want to keep him safe as much as he wants to keep me safe. And I'm sure you know how much that is."

I nodded. "He's more protective of you than he is of me. Said he'd give his life."

She sighed. "That's what happens when there are not many hive-members and another Queen's nearby. Hormones go crazy. Makes them go into overdrive in the 'protect the queen' department. It also makes them a little more 'needy' when it comes to love. I hope he hasn't given you much trouble." She said, looking genuinely concerned.

"No, the worst he's done is get a little 'touch-y'. But he seems fine now that he's been with you for a while."

She smiled. "That's good to hear, but as I was saying... I would give my life for that scout, just as he would for me. Trust me, he's going to be fine."

I sighed, "If you say so... Won't stop me from worrying though."

"Of course it won't." She said, stepping closer to me. "But enough of this, we have a war to fight."

She turned abruptly and walked onto the balcony, looking down at the soon-to-be-battlefield. I walked up beside her and found her tracking two alicorns being tailed by a changeling with a teapot on his head, they were making their way through our troops, towards the front lines. "We should get down there quickly." She looked to me, lowered herself to the floor then gestured to the two princesses, "Care for a ride?"

Frankly, I was speechless for a couple seconds, both due to the awesome mental image I got, and the sightly suggestive tone in her voice. Even though it was clearly sarcastic, it still shocked me slightly. I was about to respond when I realized something, "...But you have a broken wing." I said, pointing to the torn wing which was blowing limply in the breeze. "You can still fly?"

She smirked, "I can't, not like this..." She said as she enveloped in a green flame briefly. "But like... say... this, I can."

A wide smile slowly spread across my face.

Now, before me was Celestia. She gestured to her back, then gestured to the alicorns on the ground.

"I am more that okay with this." I said as I stepped over her neck and sat just infront of her wings.

She shook her head, laughing softly. Then spread her wings and, with one beat, launched us from the balcony. Panicking, I latched my arms around her neck to keep myself from losing balance or being bounced off.

She performed a short nose dive, then pulled up into a smooth glide, on course for the two alicorns still making their way to the front lines.

The changelings had slowed from their original speed, presumably because two princesses had just joined our battlements. They were still yet to meet the front lines.

As we glided over the heads of our troops, I thought to myself. I can't let a chance like this go to waste. So I threw out my arms and yelled "Equestria! I am your new leader now! Do you not see me upon my mighty steed?!"

The troops all looked to one another in confusion as we gracefully landed beside Celestia and Luna, who had since stopped a couple feet outside of the front lines. Ebony stood awkwardly behind them, looking and (by the looks of it) feeling rather out of place.

Both of the royal sisters looked at me and Viss with unimpressed glares, though Luna's was hiding a large grin.

They were both wearing some strange armor. It consisted of many layers of metal, all bunched up at their joints creating thick, heavy-looking rings of metal. It didn't look very protective, it left basically their entire bodies visible.

I beamed at Celestia as I dismounted my ride. I now stood between two Celestias. One looking rather happy, the other... not so much.

Viss chuckled slightly as she turned back into her normal form. "I can tell you've wanted to do that for a while, Dan."

I turned to her and smiled, "Yes, yes I have." I said before turning back to Celestia. She didn't look too happy. I did.

Celestia huffed and lowered her horn. Luna rolled her eyes and did the same, placing her horn across her sisters. Viss also did this, I had to back up to avoid being crushed between the two, this placed me next to Ebony behind the three. Their horns all glowed, their faces all neutral, as if they were asleep.

Ebony and I looked to eachother. "Any idea what they're doing?" I asked, taking a look behind us, it was a sea of day and night guards, speckled with the odd regular pony, though most were decked with the same armor.

One of Ebony's ears, while swiveling to focus on me, made contact with the side of the teapot still placed on his helmet. He flinched and rubbed it with a hoof. "I... ouch... I think they're having a private conversation."

I looked to the three larger ponies in offence. "Private enough that I can't listen in?" I said in a hushed tone. "That either means it's about me, their planning something I wouldn't like, or both."

Ebony shrugged, "Or maybe they just don't want the enemy hearing them."

I snorted. "Like they could hear them from- OH JESUS!" I exclaimed as I turned and saw that the changelings had stopped moving, and were now only 10 meters of so from our front lines, closer still to the three alicorns and us. I inched closer to Ebony and placed a hand on his chest, pushing him back slightly. He took the invitation and shuffled behind me slightly, lowering his head and peaking around my legs.

The wall of changelings parted slightly infront of us, creating a short path, and emerging from it, as if from nowhere, was another changeling queen. This one was... actually quite small, perhaps an entire head shorter than Celestia. A little shorter than me infact. Her dark and green colors were grossly saturated and the smile that bared her teeth was sickening, awash with what I assumed to be unpure intentions. Everything about her just seemed... unstable. Her facial muscles were jittering and her legs moved almost robotically.

But there was an elegance about her...

Ebony looked angrier than I had ever seen him, and by that, I mean his face was a little stern. Celestia, Luna and Viss separated their horns and nodded to eachother. They all jumped back slightly at the sudden appearance of the other queen, who was now standing a few feet from Celestia. Personally, I was wondering where my crossbow was. I left it by the rock with Feather... If this second queen makes any moves, I can't even attack from a range. I guess my best bet is to try and resolve what's...

Wait...

"Okay, guys..." I said, shuffling my way past Celestia and Viss as Ebony tracked my heels. I stood infront of Viss, making a placating hand gesture, "Before we start throwing words at eachother, do you mind explaining to us normal folk what the hell is actually going on? Like... what are we even fighting for?" I looked to Celestia for an answer.

Celestia saw my gaze and turned to Luna.

Luna raised an eyebrow at her sister, then gestured to Viss.

Viss looked around at the group, then pointed a hoof at the second queen.

The second queen glanced at Viss as she moved, but then her eyes moved back to their previous target, Ebony. Turned out, the two had been having an impromptu staring-contest. The queen didn't know Ebony existed until then, which justifies her staring.

Ebony looked up at me, peaking around my legs.

Now they were all looking at me.

I set a hand on my face and sighed. Okay, gotta start a conflict to stop a conflict. "You." I said, pointing at Celestia's face, "Why are there ponies out here?"

She glanced about slightly. "To... stop her from taking Vicissit? Why else?"

In an instant I was forced to the ground by a yellow aura. As I hit the ground I heard two distinct metal clangs then a fairly blunt impact from behind me. I checked my daggers, they were both still in place.

Eb helped me to my feet.

I turned around, looking back to Celestia. She was face-to-face with the other Queen.

Celestia and Luna were both covered head-to-hoof with metal that seemed to lay flush against their bodies, as if the metal I saw bunched up around their joints had spread evenly around their bodies, creating a thin exoskeleton.

Celestia and Luna both had a large magical shield floating above Celestia's head. Both shields were shifting back and forth slightly, as if they were resisting pressure. All four large ponies had strained expressions, so I assumed at Viss also had a shield up there and the other queen had some form of magically summoned weapon pressed against them which I unfortunately couldn't see.

The troops behind us and the changelings ahead of us both ground their hoofs into the dirt in anticipation, their bodies swaying as if building up momentum or waiting for the right moment. The changeling horde seemed... oddly in-sync.

The other queen's eyes were wild. "You cannot take her from me, it is for her own good." She hissed through grit teeth. She had a very... what I can only describe as a 'european' accent, but it was a little different since, you know, there being no 'Europe' here and all. Clearly she wasn't from anywhere near here. Wherever 'here' is... I need to find a world map.

"You imprisoned her!" Celestia responded in a similar tone.

The queen became more frustrated. "It was for her own safety, I would do anything for my sister!"

The shields both buckled slightly under the pressure of the invisible instrument for a second, before recovering slightly closer to Celestia's horn.

Celestia pushed the shield towards the queen, shoving her back slightly.

"Your sister?!" Both princesses asked at the same time.

The queen took a step back and glared at the two. "That's right. Now step away from her and release her from your invisible restraints!"

I sighed and put a hand on Ebony's head, he looked up at me, worried and shocked. "You stay here." I said. Before walking inbetween the queen and Celestia.

I looked at the four large ponies, all had wide-eyes except for Viss. "Okay, fight-time's over." I said, before turning to the other queen, "Name?"

She put a hoof to her chest, "I don't have t-"

"Don't make this harder than it has to be." I said, "Name."

She glared at me. "Mar-"

"Marmalade." I said. "Your name is Marmalade now." I pointed over my shoulder at Viss. "That's your sister?"

She looked at me in shock. "How did you know my name?"

Your fucking kidding me. Her name is fucking... Goddamnit. "I'm fucking Psychic." I said, completely done with the day already. "Is that your sister?"

She was looking at me with a mixture of curiosity, fear and anger. "...Yes, she is."

"Mmm, yeah she er... she kind of came here willingly." I said, shrugging. "She isn't a prisoner here. You can leave now."

She looked over at Viss in shock. "Wait, you're with them?"

Viss rolled her eyes, "Of course I am. And even if I was 'captured', I could easily escape from here." Celestia and Luna both gave Viss a concerned look.

Marmalade... seriously, Marmalade? She looked to the floor and scuffed a hoof along it, "I really screwed up, didn't I?" Marmalade said quietly.

"Not you biggest 'screw-up' mind, that would be the time you killed my entire hive, except Ebony here, then took me prisoner." Viss said, patting Ebony on the... well... the teapot.

Marmalade sighed exasperatedly, "They were conspiring against you! I could tell by the way they were acting when I visited."

"No, they were acting weirdly because I was conspiring against you when you visited!" Viss returned sharply.

Marmalade froze, as if she had been stabbed. Her face turned cold as she shook her head, "You don't deserve my help."

"Then leave." Viss said, the two were glaring at eachother ferociously.

Then, from behind our front lines, "OH COME, ON JUST FIGHT ALREADY!" The voice of a familiar pink pegasus sounded.

I turned around, looking in the general direction of the voice, "SHUT UP DAWN, YOU'RE NOT HELPING!" I turned back to the two queens, who were now both looking at me. "Sorry about that, continue."

They both looked back to eachother. "Fine." Marmalade huffed. "I'll leave." She raised a hoof, "On one condition."

"Name it." Viss said.

The smaller queen pointed in Ebony's direction. "I take that with me."

Viss turned to me, "Dan, give 'it' to her." She said with a very stern expression.

I nodded to her, then reluctantly walked over to Ebony, grasped the teapot's handle and walked back to Marmalade. "Here." I said, holding it out to her. My grip was shaky, my mind awash with unconfirmed suspicions and 'could be's.

She looked at me, as if I was an idiot. "I meant the scout." Suspicions confirmed.

I turned around, facing away from her and looked to Ebony, who slumped in acceptance. Viss placed a comforting hoof on Ebony's shoulder. "Oh, yeah, sure." I said, as I turned back around to face the queen behind me, this time however, I held out the pot. I struck her with the bottom of the teapot as I turned, the base meeting the side of her head.

The teapot didn't break, but it did spill it's contents onto the ground.

Marmalade's head froze in the turned position the teapot had forced it into, she stared blankly for a couple of seconds before blinking rapidly and putting a hoof to her head. Her eyes became more distant and her hoof slowly dropped to the floor, which was soon followed by the rest of her body as she fell completely unconscious.

I almost stopped breathing once I had realised what I had done. Turning towards the princesses and queen behind me, I prepared to be punished and gawked at. Luckily, I only got one of the two. Everyone, even the troops were all staring past me with wide eyes.

"Come on guys, it wasn't... that..." My words trailed off as I realised that they were not looking at me, but at the changelings.

Or should I say, the lack of.

The army was gone, save for four changelings watching from the cliff-top. I only got a glimpse before they turned tail and ran.

I turned back, looking at Celestia. We were both equally shocked.

There was a long silence.

... "SERIOUSLY?!" Dawn yelled from crowd. "THAT'S IT?!"

***

That night, I was sat in a small, warm meeting room with Celestia, who was explaining to me, after having a very long discussion with Viss, what exactly happened.

"So let me get this straight." I said, setting my 'victory hot coco' on the small table between us and reclining in my chair slightly. "Marmalade is Viss's over-protective sister, who killed her entire hive because she suspected they were planning a coup. Then imprisoned Viss to keep her safe. Viss escaped years later, then came here. Once Marmalade found out that Viss was here, she assumed she was being held prisoner, and came to save her. And Viss didn't tell us she was her sister, or that she was here to 'save' her because..."

Celestia nodded, "Because she was hoping we would kill her to 'get her sister off her back'."

I sighed, "Damn that's cold... And the army of changelings?"

Celestia shrugged, "I presume they were all fake, considering they vanished the second Marmalade fell unconscious. The few we saw atop the cliff were likely the ones producing the illusion, which disappeared when they panicked." She sighed. "We don't know much at the moment, we will probably get more information from Marmalade once she wakes up, she's still out cold."

After the 'battle', Marmalade was dragged off to the infirmary, despite Viss's complaints. All changeling prisoners were released and given a choice, 'go back to the hive and wait for their queen to return', 'stay with the queen then follow her back to the hive' or 'make a life for yourself in Equestria'.

"Well, I hope she get's better." I said, standing from the chair and grasping the hot coco, wrapping my hands around the mug, savoring the warmth. "This was all just a big misunderstanding."

"One that could have been avoided if Viss had told us the whole story." Celestia said, looking to the floor as I walked to the door.

I stood in the open doorway for a second, looking back at the solemn alicorn. "Tell her to stay away from Ebony." I said as I turned and walked out into the chilly hallways.

I walked through the palace hallways in relative silence. Through the windows passing by me, I saw the crowded streets full of ponies all returning after the battle was called off. Many impromptu family re-unions were taking place, worried partners returning to their spouses and foals hugging the parent or parents they feared to lose.

As much as it frustrated me that all that preparation for war was for nothing, it was better that way. Both sides were left with little-to-no damage done.

Plus, I got some magically-resistant cloth to wear under my regular clothes. Breathes pretty well for something that was designed to be armor.

I walked for at least a minute before I reached my destination, allowing me to finish my coco and give the empty mug to a passing guard (You'd be surprised at the things you can place on a unicorn's horn without it noticing). Once I was there, I hesitantly knocked on the door. Three steady knocks, soft yet powerful.

The door opened a crack, there was a chain-lock stopping the door from opening the whole way.

A blue eye peaked through the gap, "Oh, hello Dan." Luna said, before closing the door, unlatching the chain, then opening the door fully. "What brings you?"

I smiled. "Hey Luna, I wanted to see Chrome, to-"

She lifted a hoof, a soft smile on her face. "I was just leaving. You two talk." She said, before walking past me. The door limply closed as she left it.

I caught the door in preparation.

"Oh, and Dan." Luna said from behind me, I stopped in the doorway and turned around, finding her scarily close. She pulled me into a hug that was so sudden I yelped slightly. She had a hoof over one of my shoulders and her head over the other. This placement caused her hair to completely cover my field of view. I blindly placed my hands on her back, returning the surprising hug.

Her head shot up infront of me, her horn grazing me as she did so. She was staring at with widened eyes, her pupils twitched momentarily as if she was trying to look behind her but couldn't break eye-contact.

"What?" I asked, panicking slightly, "What's wrong?"

She blinked and opened her mouth to reply, but no sound came. She closed it again and gulped silently, then whispered something so quietly I couldn't even hear it. I had to read her lips. Even then I had some trouble deciphering what she had said.

...Wigs? ...She doesn't have a wig...

What else could it have been...W-gs ...W-gs ...W-gs ...oh ...that

"Shit, sorry." I said slightly too loudly as I quickly moved my hands from her wings and onto her shoulders. "Didn't realize."

She smiled weakly and cleared her throat quietly, trying to vanquish the small blush that had formed on her face. "...Thanks for setting him straight." She said quietly, "Even I couldn't get through to him, but now, after you knocked some sense into him... he's finally improving. And sober."

I took a second to gather myself, then shrugged slightly, smiling. "No problem, he's a good friend."

"You are too," She said, smiling, "Thank you." And with that she leant forward, gave me a quick peck on the cheek, then, with a flash, teleported away.

I stood there frozen.

Did she really just...

I shook myself awake when I heard a slight shuffle of movement from down the hall. I turned towards the noise, looking for a source. My eyes landed on a guard, who was staring at me in surprise from down the hall.

I blinked, figuring he must have seen the whole interaction, but, judging from the distance, didn't hear a word of it. I called, "It's not-"

He gasped and ran.

"...what it... looks like..." I sighed, "Damn."

I stood there in silence for a while. I hope nothing comes from this.

"Dan?" Chrome called from inside his room. "You still out there? If so, you can continue waiting creepily outside of my door. But, if you'd like, I'd rather if you-"

"Fine, fine I'm coming in." I called through the door as I opened the door and closed it behind me a little too hastily.

The room was well-lit. The carpet was clean, clear of any clutter. Shelves lines the walls, housing trinkets and odds and ends, all neatly lined up and dusted. Chrome was sat on one of the sofas, his back legs propped up on the table and a book in his lap. "You wanted to see me?" He said, smirking.

"Yeah," I said as I walked past the gleaming kitchen and sat on the seat opposite him, he took his legs off of the table, set down his book and leaned towards me politely. "Sorry I was out there for so long, Luna wanted to... talk."

He scoffed, "Yeah, I know how that is." He said, rolling his eyes. "So... what did you need?"

"I wanted to apologize." I began.

Chrome shook his head, "Dan, come on..."

I continued, "For yelling at you last night, and for... kicking you."

Chrome smiled, leant across the table and patted me on the shoulder. "It's exactly what I needed. I realize now that you can handle yourself and that your actions are in your hooves, not mine. What happened outside the city today just serves to prove that point." He smirked. "And might I add, you were awesome out there."

I snorted and shook my head.

"No, really." He said, "I hear their making a statue. Imagine it, you, dressed in armor, smiting the evil queen with an improvised weapon just when she least expects it! Set in stone!"

"Chrome, no."

"I hear their making a holiday for it too." He lifted his hoofs into the air dramatically, "Teapot day."

"Chrome." I said. "Stop."

He scoffed and pointed to himself. "I'm the special somepony of a princess, I could make it happen if I wanted to!" He said in mock authority. A wide grin spread across his face as he realized something, "I bet she'd agree too!"

"Chrome, please." I said, laughing. "I don't need a-"

"I'm totally asking her right now." He said, leaping form his chair and sprinting out of the room, giggling gleefully.

I laughed, shaking my head as I slumped back down into my chair. "There's the Chrome I know..." I sighed.

I took a look around the peaceful room. It was like it wasn't the same room I was in the night before. Kitchen utensils and decorations alike were placed with imaculate precision and care.

He had had new lights installed by the looks of it, six spotlights in the main room, four in the kitchen and one lighting the entrance. An old lamp stood by the bedroom door, it's shade equally distributing it's light around the room. It was like even the shadows were slightly lit.

I looked over to the book he was reading. Something written by one "A. Ein-Holsteiner". By the look of it, it was some sort of science-y book I would probably get a nosebleed from just trying to understand.

I sat in thought.

...

"...God I hope he doesn't call it 'teapot day'."

Author's Note

Well.

That certainly happened.

I planned deaths. I planned... a lot of things. Oh well. I kind of like how it turned out.

This chapter opens a lot of doors for me, even I don't know where this'll go.

Next chapter is going to be like... a long time, like, a long-ass time. Actually caring about quality and consistency kind of slows me to a halt sometimes.

Chapter 39: Ashes To A Pyre

The next day, Marmalade, the anticlimactically named changeling queen, woke up.

She refused to talk with anyone once she was told that we knew she didn't have an army. I went to talk to her, but I was quickly ushered out of the room by concerned nurses.

A couple hours later, while walking with Luna in one of the palace's more open hallways, joyfully discussing the ridiculousness of 'teapot day' and how it somewhat stuck, I spotted, though one of the large, slightly ajar lavender stained windows, that Marmalade was walking out of the main gates.

With her bandaged head to the ground and her tail between her legs, she slowly headed away. She leant on the few changelings by her side, unable to carry her own weight by herself. The changelings themselves bared similar wounds, one limped on a cast-encased leg, one had a bandage wrapped around their stomach and a smaller one wrapped around their horn, or what was left of it, and one shook and twitched involuntarily every couple seconds.

They were watched by many ponies, some hiding their children, some glaring and some staring in a look of almost-sympathy.

Luna tapped my shoulder, "Is everything okay? ...Dan?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." I said as I rushed to wipe the tear from my face. "Just tired."

She smiled and we kept walking, "I expect so. You had an early morning." She thought for a second. "Want to hear about the time my sister fell asleep during a traditional harvest ceremony?"

And so the conversation continued, as if nothing had happened.

I wanted nothing more than to run down there and help them, but even if I had ran, I would never have made it in time.

A couple weeks past, Spring had sprung and the cold weather began to fade into misty mornings and occasional downpours. The relief (and for some sick individuals; disappointment) of having a war called off at the last second had faded and life returned to normal. Well, as close to normal as it could get. Made me feel a little empty really, not having anything to work up to or think about.

Well, aside from Steve and Dawn's upcoming wedding.

The wedding was due in a couple of days when I called for a 'band meeting' of sorts. It was a late Saturday night when we all met in Steve's room.

Dawn, Steve, me and Eb were all sat in our respective pairs on the two sofa's either side of the small table. Alloy stood awkwardly at the end of the table next to a small pile of instruments. They were all happy to be there, though some were getting a little impatient. Even I was getting a little antsy, we had yet to execute the plan I had had in my head for a very long time.

"Okay guys." I said, once everyone was settled. "It's time to get serious."

Steve blinked and glanced to Dawn. "It wasn't serious before?" He asked, looking at me slightly confused.

"No! Of course not, you were just learning how to use it. Now its time to learn how to play it."

Him and Dawn shared a quick grin, "'Human song' time?"

I nodded. "Human song time."

The couple both gleefully hissed in silenced celebration, simultaneously hoof/claw pumping a little. I think we all smiled at their enthusiasm.

"Okay." I said, standing, "Who here can read sheet music?"

Dawn and Alloy raised their hooves.

"Who here can write sheet music?" The same two hooves stayed up. "Brilliant."

I leaned over the table and picked up Ebony's guitar from the pile. I plucked a string. "And who can tell me what note that was?"

Dawn lowered her hoof slowly, looking slightly disappointed, Steve wrapped an arm over her shoulder and swayed her gently in a comforting manner. Dawn smiled and responded by giving a sharp jab to the griffin's ribs. Flinching slightly, Steve chuckled to himself as he pulled his fiance closer to him. Dawn gave in and leaned into Steve's feathery pillow of a chest. They both giggled inwardly.

Though very distracted by the couple's strange transaction, Alloy kept his hoof raised.

Ebony seemed entranced by the act of affection across from him.

"...Go on." I said, acknowledging Alloy's hoof.

Alloy lowered his hoof and looked slightly guiltily to Dawn for a second. "A. The note was... A."

Dawn shrugged acceptingly, unsettling her living bed of neatly layered feathers. His slight annoyance upon noticing his plumage's disarray only proved to further disrupt his once pristine and delicate formation of feathers. The pegasus smiled in content as Steve let out a low, burbling avian growl, slowly sinking further into his chair, accepting his fate.

"Good." I said, placing the guitar down on the table. "Okay, agenda for the... lets say... next week or so, excluding the wedding day;" I pointed to Dawn, who springed into an alert sitting position, saluted and smirked at me as a few light brown feathers settled atop her head, "Dawn, teach Steve and Eb your ways of music reading." She nodded, then rushed out of the room, leaving everyone slightly wind-swept.

A couple seconds later, her head poked back into the room. "Come on slowpokes, weeks only last a few days!"

I smiled as Steve rolled his eyes, picked up his guitar and made his way to the door, trying helplessly to flatten his puffed-up feathers. Ebony looked up at me, seeming slightly worried. "You might need this." I said, handing him his guitar by its neck. He smiled weakly, took the guitar in his improving magical grasp and walked out of the room, following Steve who was muttering under his breath.

"Alloy." I said, getting his attention. His stare was a mixture of ambition and anxiety. "We still need a couple of vocalists, a bassist and maybe someone else to pair up with Steve."

Alloy awkwardly cleared his throat, "Bass... ist?"

"Bass guitar." He blinked. "Nevermind, just go and find me a couple singers and as many washed-up violin and cello players as you can. You have tabs in the music industry right? Shouldn't be too hard."

He didn't look so sure, but nodded sharply after taking a while to think. "S- sure. I can do that. I'll round up who I can."

"Great. Now, if you don't mind..." I said, turning and heading towards the door. "I have an old friend to speak to... Actually... I should talk to Celestia first."

I only wish that had been an intentional bash at the princess.

***

I approached the throne room doors, the guards either side of them eyed me suspiciously. I sighed inwardly as I used both hands to push open the two doors. I considered ramming them, for old times sake, but I wanted to be on Celestia's good side for what I was about to ask her.

Luna's throne was vacant and had a small note on it, folded so it could stand up. I squinted my eyes to read the small text from a distance.

"Dear sister" It read. "Me and Chrome are going out for the night, if you could cover for me while I am unavailable, I would be most appreciative. - Luna".

The room was lit with a 50/50 combination of moonlight, and candlelight. The ornately-stained windows spread the natural light into a multitude of tranquil colors that ricocheted off of the varnished stone floor and filled the large room with their peaceful hues, while the candles filled the dimmer, more light-deprived corners with a harsh orange flicker.

Celestia, who was luckily sitting alone on her throne, sighed as I entered the room. She set the seemingly ever-growing pile of paper down beside her throne and looked to me, her eyes were heavy and foreboding, but she was trying her hardest to look as attentive and caring as always. "Feather wanted to see you." She said, "Something about you owing her an explanation."

Nice of her to give Chrome and her sister a night out... but she looks incredibly tired.

"Yeah yeah, I'll deal with that later." I said, waving a hand dismissively. In reality, I had been purposely avoiding the orange unicorn, I wasn't looking forward to having to explain my time in prison to her. Over the last week or so, I had been trying to shorten the story as much as possible, so if she caught me in a weird situation, I could answer quickly and get it out of the way. I walked to the foot of her throne then threw myself at the ground, grovelling dramatically. "Oh great and powerful sun b-"

"How much?" Celestia sighed, summoning a small pad of paper and a small quill.

"Yeah, just take all the fun out of it why don't you." I mumbled as I stood. She looked to me expectantly as I stood in silence, watching her slowly raising eyebrows. "One thousand bits." I announced, attempting to sound confident. But I think, due to Celestia's very immediate reaction, the last couple syllables came out as a low-pitched mumble.

She sat up suddenly. "One thou-" Mid-sentance, her mouth fell slack, as if unhinged, then failed to make a tangible sentence for a couple of seconds. "Wha- Why?" She finally forced out.

I shrugged. "Need it."

She shook her head in disbelief, "Bu- You don't even pay tax! You don't have a job! You use palace rooms and services free of charge and you expect me to just give you that much?!"

"Yes?" I asked, looking up at her hopefully.

"No." She said, impassively.

"Please?" I pleaded, attempting my best 'pathetic' voice.

"No." She repeated, exhaling ten times more air than necessary for the word.

"You'd be best priiiinnceeesss."

"No, Dan." She moaned, rolling her eyes and dropping her shoulders.

"Come on..." I whined, "I promise, I'm not even spending any of it on myself."

She blinked, "...That just makes it worse!"

I frowned pathetically. "You gave me fifty for the armor. What's another measly 'one'?"

She rolled her eyes, "That was an investment."

"And you shined up my daggers with gem-y stuff for free!"

Her expression faltered slightly, "...That was also an investment."

I raised my eyebrows and crossed my arms. "I'm never using the daggers or armor ever again, if I can help it. Not exactly a smart investment."

She looked me up and down. "You have both daggers on you right now, plus some of the armor."

I looked down at myself, my daggers where in their usual place round my belt and I had the silken-portion of the armor under my normal clothes. Damn. "...So I do... Well, it's just a precaution." I thought for a second. "Wait... Are you... 'Investing' in my protection?"

"No." She said sternly. A little too quickly though.

I leaned towards her, "Kind of looks like you aarree." I teased.

She rubbed her face with a hoof, then thudded it down on the arm of her glorified chair. "Fine, take your money." She said, scribbling on the small piece of paper before tossing it at me.

It fluttered to the ground at my feet, I picked it up. '999 bits'. "Oh you cheap bitch." I said jokingly as I folded it up and placed it in a pocket.

She rolled her eyes and smirked. "Go have fun with it, it's the last one you're getting from me."

"Thanks anyway." I said as I turned and left.

I can always get money from Luna, I'm sure she'd be more than willing to surrender a little cash if I asked nicely enough.

***

I left the palace and was greeted with a strangely warm breeze, despite the moon being high in the sky. As I re-traced my steps to the small shop I was headed to, I noticed that there were a lot of ponies out on the street, out on late night walks with siblings and partners. Though they all donned scarfs and similar accessories, they were more for show, rather than warmth.

As I walked, looking from pony to pony, I noticed a metal clang behind me.

I turned abruptly, startling the young-looking guard behind me slightly. "Oh, sorry." I apologized as he composed himself again.

"Nah, it's my fault." He said in a fair, northern-sounding voice, adjusting the strap on his helmet, "Still getting used to the armor."

"So... you're new?"

"In the guard? Yeah." He nodded. "I'm not supposed to talk about it though."

I shrugged, "Hm, okay."

There was a small silence. I think we both felt rather out of place, being the only stationary beings in the bustling street.

He cleared his throat. "I know how it looks but I wasn't following you, I was just coming to check on you since you looked... kind of confused."

"Er, yeah." I said, pointing down the dim street at the ponies trotting about in small groups. "What's with all the ponies? They're not usually out this late."

He nodded, understanding my confusion. "Yeah, they're not, usually. But earlier in the month, the weather teams messed something up somewhere and needed to equalize it, leading to a rather warm night." He shrugged, "Couples and friends are taking advantage of the nice weather."

"Oh cool, thanks. I'm kind of out-of-the-loop when it comes to current events."

He grinned. "Just doing my job." He said, buffing out his chest proudly.

I shook my head, smiling, and turned away, heading back in the right direction.

"Always wanted to say that." I heard him mumble gleefully as we walked away from eachother.

I continued on my way through the streets. The ponies seemed to become sparser as I became further from the palace and into the less-fancy areas of the city. The cobblestones on the road also became more sparse and irregular, as well as the street lamps causing me to be shrouded in darkness for longer and longer intervals as I walked. I made an active effort to walk a little faster while in the dark patches.

Fate though, despite this, had other plans by the looks of it.

"Dan!" A mare's voice called out from a small shop as I passed it. I turned to see the door burst open and the tailor, Hazel Thread, pour out onto the street like a equine-shaped slinky before rushing towards me.

She jumped at me, throwing a hoof over each of my shoulders and hanging onto me like a necklace. It looked a little painful, so I knelt down, allowing her to get into a more natural position.

"Oh hey Hazel." I struggled as I attempted to pry the mare off of me. "Long time no see. How's it been? And... please let go, it's starting to hurt."

She gasped and took a step away from me, "Sorry, I..." Her gaze darted around, as if checking for onlookers, "I guess I let my excitement get the better of me." She straightened herself into a slightly more regal pose. "It has been a long time. How have you been? Need any more clothes? What about the-"

I extended my arm and put a finger to her lips. She fell silent, looking slightly embarrassed. "I asked you first." I said quietly.

Her eyes relaxed and a small smile spread across her face. She lifted a hoof and pushed my arm down, allowing her to speak. "Things have been going great, the business is really taking off."

Another mare poked her head out of the shop door Hazel had come from. "Excuse me miss, you haven't paid." She said in a surprisingly patient tone. In her position, which I have been while manning the till in the music shop, I would have ran after Hazel, in fear of her having stolen some picks or something.

"I'll let you deal with that," I said as Hazel turned in shock towards the shop, remembering she apparently hadn't paid for the small bundle of flowers perched on her back. "And I've been good."

Hazel, after staring for a couple of seconds, turned back to me, gave me another quick hug then ran back into the store, spewing apologies to both me, and the shop-keep. The flowers bounced off of her back as the door began to shut behind her. A few seconds later, as if in an Indiana Jones flick, a hoof shot out from the quickly closing door and snagged the bag and pulled it in just as the door clicked closed.

Again, after having been distracted yet again, I continued walking.

I made it to my destination without any further trouble. The blacksmith's door had a large wooden sign on it, burned into the wood in a bad attempt at ornate font were the words: "I do not make or repair clothes or jewellery!!!"

Looks like he finally got tired of all the higher-classes walking in expecting him to fix their dress's buckle or broach.

I quietly walked into the building and shut the door behind me. The shop was rather dark, though there were a couple of candles burning on the counter, getting still-warm wax stuck to both the counter and the floor.

The old pony who usually resided behind the counter was nowhere to be seen. Instinctively, I looked around the room for a summon's of sorts, a bell to ring, a button to press, anything. But I had no such luxury. So, before sitting down, I stuck my head back outside to check for any signs. A small "open" sign hung above the outside of the door.

Relieved I didn't just accidentally break into a store, I slumped myself down into one of the hard, underused waiting chairs.

While waiting, I noticed a muffled conversation coming from a heavy-looking metal-plated door in the back of the room. At first I wanted to investigate, but the cumbersome and somewhat threatening tools and workstations between me and the door worked as a great deterrent. Instead, I sat patiently. I had been having a good run in 'behaviour' at the time, and I wasn't about to break my streak.

Who knew? Maybe if I was good enough, Celestia would give me more money before I was forced to resort to Luna's wallet instead.

After what felt like an eternity, also known as, about five or ten minutes without anything to focus on, the sound of shifting metal sounded from the door.

After presumably unlocking, the door swung open, hitting the wall rather loudly. "You're doing this shift! I don't care if your 'friends' are waiting, your old man's in need of rest and the shop's staying open for another three hours!" An older pony yelled as he walked through the shop and out of the front door, not even noticing me. As the front door closed behind him, I recognised him as the blacksmith.

I quickly stood to follow the pony, but I was stopped in my tracks by another familiar voice which sounded from the room the blacksmith had come from.

"Dad! Come- Ugghh. ...by Luna's tail-end I swear if that party turns out good I'll..." The deep, yet whiney voice mumbled as it's source entered the room. I turned to see a dark-grey pony with light hair tied back in a... pony tail sigh as he slumped into the chair behind the desk. He placed his back hooves on the desk and leant back in his chair until only two legs were touching the ground and his sharply chiseled chin brushed against his chest. He stretched his front hooves then placed them behind his head to support his neck.

He had his eyes closed for most of his time in the room. That, combined with the dim lighting in the room, made it so that he, like his father, didn't see me. I still didn't know why I recognised his voice though.

I quietly walked up the the counter, he seemed to be dozing off slowly. "Er, hey." I said as I approached.

Now, I will admit, I may have raised my voice a little, just to freak him out, but I didn't expect his chair to break.

The only two legs still touching the floor both snapped as he flailed to get away from me. His chair collapsed backwards and, like any good captain, he went down with his ship. Leaning forwards to maintain eye contact with me saved the back of his head from smacking the floor, but the impact still looked painful.

He rolled off of the remains of the chair and stared up at me.

His fearful gaze turned to recollection, then to embarrassment. "Oh boy..." He sighed, looking down at the chair, "My dad's going to kill me."

"Sorry, I er... Didn't mean to..." I started, he silenced me with a raised hoof.

"No, no it's the wake up call I needed." He smiled, "I haven't seen you since the 'battle'! How have you been?"

I blinked, "Erm, not to seem rude but... Do I know you?"

He looked slightly offended for a split second, then looked down at himself, smiled and shook his head. "That's like, what? The third time you've done that to me? It's me, Midnight."

"O-oh! Midnight!" I said, finally realising where I recognised his voice from. "I didn't realise you were the blacksmiths son, but I guess the trade runs in the family?"

He nodded. "Yep. Small world we live in, huh?"

I nodded along with him. "Say, er... Do you take cheques?"

He was about to answer when the door behind me burst open so fast it nearly flew off its hinges. His eyes widened, then mellowed out. Confused, I turned around, to see what would cause such an odd reaction.

There in the doorway, positively fuming, was Feather. She was staring at me almost as intensely as Midnight was at her.

"DAN!!" She growled, stepping into the shop.

"Oh shit," I mumbled, "YEAH??"

Midnight looked to me, shocked. "You know her?" He whispered. "She's..."

"Shut up." I whispered back through grit teeth.

"You know why I'm here." Feather said ominously.

Midnight leaned on the counter infront of him with both of his... Elbows? "She's beautiful..." He mumbled.

"Shut UP." I whispered harshly. He didn't even seem to notice me as he stared at the unicorn just past the doorway. "Yes Feather, I know."

Midnight whispered her name under his breath like a priest would utter a sacred prayer.

Feather glared at me. "Well? Let's hear it then."

I grimaced, "It's kind of a long-"

"You're really pretty." Midnight said from behind me.

I couldn't help but smile inwardly at his unfortunate choice of mare. Feather just looked at him impassively, "Thanks." She said, clearly not actually appreciating the compliment.

I was stood in a stunned silence, just staring at the figurative love hearts in Midnight's eyes.

"Dan?" Feather asked impatiently, "Tell me."

I sighed as I was snapped back to the situation at hand. "The prison I was in was the open-ish kind, where we were all kept in barred off rooms. I... got bored in my cell and started to hum a tune..."

"...And?" She pried.

"It kind of escalated into song... Which escalated into a duet... Which escalated into a... well... Long story short, I kinda ...started a riot."

Feather smiled in a way I've only ever seen on the faces of proud mothers. "You started a prison riot?"

"Accidentally! I was bored, sung a song, next thing I know, some scarred-up cutthroat had the keys, unlocked everyone's cells then started throwing personal belongings down from the storage room. As soon as I got my stuff I just kinda... left."

Midnight, who had every right to stare at me in shock, was still mesmerised by Feather's mere existence.

Feather grinned, walked to me and leaped up placing a hoof on my chest to steady herself and used the other to pat me on the shoulder. "You did good." She shrugged, "Well, good enough."

I blinked, "Erm... Thanks?"

She rolled her eyes at my awkward response then dropped back down onto all-fours then headed back to the door, "Enjoy the night you two," she said as she left, "it's warm out."

As soon as she was out of earshot, Midnight somehow grabbed me, by my face, and pulled me down to his eye level where he had his face a little too close for comfort. "Dan, you've got to help me out! Me and her, we're made for eachother."

My face was covered with a pained smugness that only appears when you know something that you wish someone else did, but the results of such ignorance could be quite entertaining. "...Sure dude. I'll hook you up."

A smile spread across his face so large I almost felt bad about doing what I was about to do. "Thanks Dan, dearly, truly."

I grinned, pulling myself away from his grasp, "Me and Feather have known eachother for a while, so I know what really gets her interested."

His eyes lit up with hope. "Tell me, please tell me."

"Okay, first, she likes anonymous love letters with hidden messages which give clues to the sender's identity." I said, Midnight, bless him, immediately pulled a notepad out from under the counter and began taking notes. "Nothing obvious, I'm talking super super subtitle, she's the head of interrogation I think, so you've got to be smart."

Midnight took a couple of seconds to quickly scribble the words down. "Anything else?"

"Hmmm... If that does not seem to work... Try really, really tacky pick-up lines that are unique to her and you, she loves that. But if you do do that, you've got to seem confident and you've got to throw in a couple fake clues in the poetry, so she doesn't figure you out too fast." I said as his pencil began to smoke from the sheer enthusiasm of which he was writing with. "She's a 'thrill of the hunt' kind of gal."

"Anything else?"

I thought for a second, then a devilish smile spread across my face, "You know what? She really likes ponies who can play instruments, especially deep ones, singers too." He took it down with gusto. "You know... I hear a local band has some spaces opening up..."

"Really?!" He asked.

I nodded. "Yep, you should go and check it out, I was thinking of joining them myself."

"Is that it?"

I couldn't think of anything else particularly entertaining, aside from 'inappropriate gifts' but I think I had already taken it too far by that point. "Yep, now, back to my order... Cheques?"

***

I left that building with one missing cheque and a grin on my lips.

But as much as I was joking around, looking back and taking into account the way this world works... That was probably the best advice I could have given him, especially for Feather. She seems like the kind of chick who likes a puzzle, or a challenge. Plus, I have found that what tends to work in cartoons tends to work here aswell, whether or not I'm actually in a 'cartoon' or if I'm just in a world that happens to work like one is... something I don't like to think about.

My grin, however, was short lived. It was wiped from my face and replaced with terror as, while on my way back to the palace, the ground mere meters infront of me was showered in glass. Then a music stand. Then a couple loose pieces of paper. I looked up at the palace to see a broken window high up on the wall I was at the foot of. I over-heard a few distant voices.

"What even is that?!"

"That's a note, Steve. I've told you this. Mu- Look what you did!"

"Why does it have to be so frustrating?! Just tell me the damn note you damn book!"

I sighed as a copy of "Music: The Basics. A foal's guide." Landed at my feet.

Author's Note

I may have put a little too much description in this one, tell me what you think, is it too much? I dunno.

Also, to those who know me, Steve getting frustrated over the notes has nothing to do with the fact that I also happened to do the same thing when I first picked up my guitar, it was planned to happen weeks ago, but I only just now actually wrote it out.

By the way, I now have every instrument they have aside from drums, so expect the descriptions of playing said instruments to be more realistic, whether that will make them better or worse at playing really depends on how well I learn. Hopefully I learn well... Here's hoping!

Chapter 40: Remind Me To Hide The Cook-Books

Once I gathered myself, (having a fairly large metal object land mere feet infront of you, followed by a scattering of glass tends to be a little shocking) I quickly moved away from the scene of destruction, not only so I wouldn't be blamed, but another reason aswell.

That reason was quickly demonstrated as yet another music stand launched from the broken window above, landing on the cobbled street with a bounce and a loud clang. I could have sworn it landed right where I had been standing when the first one landed.

As I entered the palace, glad to have a protective roof over my head, I could not help but shiver at the thought of what other monstrous acts were being performed on the innocent musical equipment situated somewhere upstairs.

But, despite my discomfort, I decided to call it a night.

Since if I had learned anything about Steve and Dawn, it was; that when either (or both) of them are in a particularly 'berserk' mood it's best to keep a distance. While no actual harm would be handed out to innocent onlookers, too many times had they come just a little too close to doing so.

Ebony wasn't in when I entered our little section of the palace.

"Must still be with Dawn and Steve." I mumbled aloud as I walked into the room, the door closing behind me softly.

The moon was very low in the sky, in Equestria, this was a sign of the dawn being near since, unlike how it is on Earth, the sun and the moon acted like they were connected somehow, always perfectly adjacent to eachother aside from during cosmic events like eclipses. It doesn't make too much sense, but the key to understanding Equestria is to not take it too seriously.

To get to sleep, I had to close the curtains because the moon was bright enough to light the whole apartment somewhat. While the sight was relaxing, you don't do much 'seeing' while trying to get to sleep. I did feel a tinge of guilt however, as I whipped the curtains over the window, the night sky was Luna's canvas and I was ignoring it.

But I needed my sleep.

I remember hearing Ebony come in at some point during the night. He presumed me asleep, which I was, mostly, and made his way about the rooms in almost complete silence.

Treading lightly with hooves must be difficult, but he managed to, somehow.

If it's any constellation, I didn't regret getting a few extra hours of sleep that night by not waiting for Ebony. Those extra hours probably saved me from a mental break-down during the coming day.

***

I heard the distinct sound of a changeling in need of attention as I woke up.

I rose from my crater and winced at the now-open curtains, which were letting in a bright light. By it's direction, I could tell it was almost noon. Meaning I had slept for a rather long time, which explained the sluggish feeling planted in the front of my brain.

I rubbed my eyes and looked about the room, searching for the source of the noise. "Wha... What was what? What?" I mumbled as I found Ebony standing in the doorway to the bedroom. He had a rather unimpressed look on his face, but it wasn't cold.

He snorted at my attempt to speak. "You want to try that sentence again?" He said, a line that should have been delivered with sarcasm, but was instead stated as a serious question. I couldn't tell if that was his intention or if he just failed to sound sarcastic.

"Er, yeah," I stretched my arms and cleared my throat, still not completely awake, "What... did you say?" I yawned, actually managing to perform the correct words.

He smiled, showing some actually kind-of-scary teeth. They were too small to actually be threatening though. "I said get up! It's almost lunch time, for you at least."

I decided not to ask about what had happened the night before during his 'music practice' with Steve and Dawn. If the raining glass was any indication, I'd say it could have gone worse. It could have been raining griffins.

"I don't envy you, you know." I said, wiping the last of the crust from my eyes. "Not being able to eat food and all."

"Oh, we can," he said, nodding happily, "It's just not good for us. Like... you eating salt."

I made a face as I envisioned myself emptying a salt shaker into my mouth. "...Yeah, that's not a nice image. Wait, can you actually taste? You know, like, food?"

He hmm'ed, "Whenever I eat physical food, there IS a sensation. It's not unlike the taste of emotions, but it's a lot weaker." He glanced behind him, at the kitchen, then back to me. "Say, speaking of which, I've watched you make yourself breakfast enough times now, mind if I have a go?"

I blinked, astonished. "Do you really have to ask? By all means, make me food!"

He rolled his eyes, turned around and left the doorway.

I realized my mistake when a mass of clatters and clangs immediately echoed from the other side of the door. It sounded like he had lifted the whole kitchen a foot off the ground then dropped it.

Leaping to my feet, I ripped a fresh set of clothes out of their drawer and rushed to put them on as I scrambled towards the door, determined to save whatever was left of our kitchen.

I pushed open the door and peered out.

Silence.

I slowly shut the door behind me and walked up behind Ebony, who was staring, hoof-to-chin, out across the kitchen floor, examining each pot, and each pan which inhabited it's surface. Which was all of them, by the way. Every cooking utensil was on the floor.

Ebony tapped his chin lightly, then gasped, "Aha!" As he leaped across the kitchen, hovering a few feet off the ground with his wings. He whizzed around in small circles, each time he passed an item he needed, it was picked up and and set next to the stove. Once he had made a small pile, he hovered above the centre of the kitchen and inspected it.

After a few seconds, he gave himself a sharp nod and dropped to the ground.

Up until that point, I was impressed with his coordination. He was like a little... messy sorting machine. Unfortunately when he hit the ground my admiration was replaced with panic.

Three of his hooves hit the floor without a problem. His back-left however, the one nearest me, landed inside a large pot who'd had it's lid knocked off. Under his weight, it slid against the smooth tile flooring, pulling Ebony's weight out from under him. He flopped down onto his stomach, letting his hooves extend in different directions. Though he hit his chin pretty hard on the ground, I suspect this fall was a defense mechanism, since if he had kept trying to stay upright, he would have fell sideways or face-planted.

But by letting all of his hooves lose grip at once, he was somewhat safely lowered to the ground, even if it looked a little jarring.

Not satisfied by it's first victim, apparently, the pot continued to slide along the ground, launched by Ebony's successful attempt at saving himself from another broken face.

Why. Why did I take the time to put on socks? Socks and tiles... Not a good combination.

The pot collided with my ankles and swept my legs out from under me. I turned to the side as I fell, and extended my leading arm to catch myself.

I suffered the same fate as Ebony.

My hand landed right in the middle of a small pan, sliding my hand away from me causing me to land on my leading shoulder while simultaneously pulling the muscle through over-extension.

There was a yelp from Ebony as used my left arm to clutch my injured shoulder, I guessed that the pan I had launched with my hand had hit him.

I groaned and fell onto my front, my face pressing against the seem between two tiles and my left arm crushed between my chest and the floor. My right arm still laid extended upwards since I didn't have the courage to attempt to use the stretched and probably bruised joint yet.

I was in no spectacular amount of pain, but it definitely hurt, a lot. Plus, something didn't feel right with my shoulder, something was in the wrong place.

I heard Ebony's hooves begin to scrape against the floor as he slowly rose from his stomach, stumbling. I rolled onto my back, holding my shoulder still with my spare arm. I looked up at an upside-down Ebony, who was looking down at me worried and confused. "What happened to you?" he asked.

"Go and get Luna, I need a healing spell or something." I said, trying to hold myself still. Something was definitely amiss with my right shoulder.

"Are you sure?" He said, tilting his head and prodding the side of mine with a hoof. "You sound fine."

"Trust me, something is very, very wrong. Just go and get Luna."

"Why Luna? Celestia is known for having very good healing-"

"Celestia stayed up last night doing work for Luna, Luna's now likely doing Celestia's work as payment, just go to the throne room and get whoever's there." I said, my annoyance slowly rising, the look of panic on Ebony's face was also increasing.

"O-okay!" He said, before jumping over me and running out of the front door. "Sorry!" He yelled as he ran down the hall. The front door didn't close, and instead just swung weakly, leaving it open a crack.

My shoulder was slowly getting more and more painful. Luna could not arrive quick enough.

Part of me wanted to look up at my hand, to see if it was facing the right way, but I decided knowing would only make it difficult to keep calm.

"Damn... fucking possessed pans... Ruin everything..."

A pair of sparkling blue eyes peered down at me from the crack in the door.

I lifted my head to get a better look. "Lu-"

"Guess who landed a job in the science department!" Chrome sung as he threw open the door and made a heroic pose.

I let my head hit the floor, I sighed, staring at the ceiling, yet again. "...-na... Shit." I mumbled, "That's nice Chrome."

"It is!" He said proudly. "Say, we should all go out to celebrate, where'd you think we should go?" He asked excitedly, putting his front hooves on his face and staring into the distance in wonder.

"Chrome. I am in pain." I said, snapping him out of his revelry. "Do you mind?"

"You are?"

"Yes!"

"Where?"

I glanced at the shoulder I was still clutching with my free hand. "Where'd you think?!" He walked over to me curiously and reached down to my shoulder. I glared at him, "What are you-"

My words were cut short by a spike of pain caused by a curious hoof colliding with my shoulder. I grit my teeth to keep from crying out.

"Hmm... Interesting..." He mused, he leaned down close to my face, much closer than necessary. "You seem... to have hurt your shoulder."

"No shit!" I barked at him.

"Hey, just giving my medical opinion, I'm a doctor you know!" He said in a authority-demanding tone and put a hoof to his chest, there was a small smirk on the corner of his lips.

"You are not a doctor, Chrome."

"I have a degree! And a P.H.D!" He whined, like a teenager trying to come up with reason they should be allowed to hang out with the 'cool kids' again.

"In chemistry or something, probably! Not medicine!"

"Physics, actually." He corrected in mock-offence.

I blinked, "Exactly, not medicine! Having degrees and PHD's in physics does not make you a doctor Chrome! At least not a medical one!"

He stepped back slightly and began looking me up and down, "Doctor or not, I'm sure I know what I'm..." His words trailed off when his eyes met the hand I had still above my head. I had yet to see it. He then glanced to my other hand, then back again.

"What? What is it?" I asked, still refusing to look at it.

He seemed to come to a realization and his face cringed, he took another step back. "It's er..." He did a whirling motion with his hooves.

I swallowed, trying to stay focused and keep myself together, "The whole arm or just the hand?"

He squinted at my arm, I had long sleeves on, so he could not see anything but the general position. "I... would need to bend your elbow to find out, it could be snapped and twisted at the wrist or forearm... So just touching it would be risky..." His eyes widened, "Sorry about touching your shoulder! That's... probably dislocated." Chrome suddenly looked a little ill.

I sighed. "You know, for the magnificent 'Dr Chrome' you're doing a really crappy job keeping me calm." I tried to let go of my shoulder to make a rude hand gesture at him, but I found that releasing my hand from where it was grasped actually made it hurt more. "Ugh... I feel like I'm going to pass out."

Chrome blinked, "Ah... That's probably bad..." He began pacing on the spot, "Okay, okay, err... Why don't you tell me how this happened, then?"

I looked up at the ceiling and tried to focus on recalling the morning thus far. "I... I told Ebony he could cook me breakfast."

He pointed a hoof at me, "See, I think that's where you went wrong."

I rolled my eyes, "Yes, clearly I could have foresaw Ebony landing on a pot, which then knocked me over, only to land on a pan which would dislocate my whole fucking arm. Yes. Obviously, I should have seen this coming."

Chrome glared at my face inspecting it, then recoiled, "Ah... That's not calm..." He said, thinking for a second as I realized my breathing was becoming more rapid, "Why don't you try and imagine the breakfast you would have had if you didn't dislocate your arm."

I was literally about to scream for Luna when she burst in through the door, Ebony was hanging on her back like a rucksack. The door opening so suddenly startled me, causing me to sit up through instinct. The arm I was using to hold my shoulder also released and shot to the ground next to me to stop my sudden lurch from causing a face-plant.

My eyes widened, not only due to the unimaginable pain, but due to the odd feeling of my shoulder rotating backwards as my right arm limply fell to the ground behind me. Chrome looked about ready to throw up. Ebony, not fairing as well as the scientist, fainted on the spot, his chin dropping onto Luna's shoulder.

I fell back down onto the floor as Luna scrambled to my side, Ebony launching off of her back in the process. I continued to writhe about on the ground until I was lit in a blue aura which made everything feel warm and... tingly. The pain was suppressed but it was still there.

I remember wishing to pass out, but whatever spell Luna had cast on me had also neutralized the drifting feeling along with some of the pain. With her magic, she set me square on my back.

"What's wro-" Luna started, but she was cut off...

...by me and Chrome both simultaneously yelling "Arm! Arm! Arm! Arm! Arm!" and pointing and the injured limb.

Luna glared at the arm for a second and looked it up and down, using my other arm as reference. She looked to Chrome, who clearly didn't want anything to do with the situation, and pointed to my uninjured shoulder. "Hold him down. I need to concentrate."

"What?" I yelled. No one seemed to react to question.

Chrome's eyes darted around the room, "I-I-I don't..." He sighed and took a few deep breathes before flapping his wings and landing by my side. He looked at me apologetically as he placed his front hooves on my chest, hard. One of his eyes closed, shielding him from whatever Luna was doing to my arm. My arm was quickly becoming numb from the hand upwards, probably a spell.

From my position with the back of my head against the floor, all I could see was the ceiling and Chrome's squeamish face.

I fought my curiosity as I felt my arm moving and shifting in a magical grasp.

Unfortunately, a series of crackles from my arm got the better of me and I lifted my head, wondering just what she was doing. "What are..." I started.

My eyes widened as I witnessed my own wrist turn a full 270 degrees. Not only was the image unsettling, the faint feeling of twisting bones was the real kicker. Really not something you ever expect to ever feel.

My neck and shoulders fell limp and my head hit the ground as my vision faded into the top of my eye-sockets. Clearly, that was just too much for conscious mind to take, since it called it a day after that and figured my subconscious would do for the moment.

***

I rubbed my forehead as I sat up. I was back in my room, Chrome was leaning in the corner of the room, reading the book I had seen in his room. Luna looked on in interest and curiosity as Ebony seemed to be reenacting what had happened in the kitchen, but with a lot more spinning and jumping around while making 'whooshing' noises than actually explaining what happened.

Suddenly remembering what had happened, I looked to my right. My arm looked fine. I let out a sigh of relief that seemed to have got the attention of the room.

Luna and Ebony both looked to me in relieved surprise. Chrome however, still engrossed in his book, moved his nose down and used it to flick to the next page.

Ebony coiled his back legs, then launched himself at me, his mouth letting out a barrage of apologies. They ended abruptly when a magical aura encased his body, freezing him in mid-air. His eyes darted around for a second, clearly unable to move the rest of his body. When he realized that Luna was holding him in place, his eyes relaxed.

Luna walked around the frozen Ebony, and to my bed-side, "I need you to..." Her eyes drifted to the still-distracted pegasus in the corner to her left, "Chrome!" She snapped, startling him.

Chrome's book flew into the air due to the jolt of shock, he flailed and batted at it as it began to fall, eventually, after a brief improvised juggling session, he clamped it between to hooves and set it on his chair. He smiled sheepishly to Luna as she tilted her head, directing his attention towards me.

Chrome was by my side in a second. "Sorry I er... I was reading."

Ebony was looking a little bored. I can't imagine being suspended in midair would be very entertaining.

"It's fine." I said, shaking my head, "I feel good." I thought for a second and gave my body a look-over, "In fact, I feel great."

"That's the magic, it'll wear off." Luna said, pulling one of her rather signature serious faces, "I need you to try and move your arm." She said, pointing.

"Erm sure I..." My voice trailed off, and so did every other noise as we all stared at my hand.

It was lifting, slowly, not even an inch off the sheets. It shook, like you'd expect from an elderly person. I grit my teeth and lifted harder, it was like something was tying me down and my arm didn't make it any further off the bed, it just shook more rapidly.

Luna set a hoof on my hand and pushed it down without even a hint of trouble. "Don't strain yourself." She said, mimicking a tone only her sister can pull off perfectly, "Without the magic you have on you right now, that would have been agonizing." She sighed, looking at Chrome, then to the floor. "Keep it in a sling. Try to exercise it every day, if you can. The muscle needs to rebuild."

I barely heard what she said, I was still staring at my hand. "That's my right arm. My favorite arm!"

Chrome rolled his eyes, "You have another one."

I pouted at him, "That arm. That's my writing arm. My waving arm. Half of my hugging arms and my strumming arm!" I sighed and tried lifting it again, it barely left the bed's surface. "Luna," I said, looking to the alicorn, "You said I had magic cast on me that's keeping the pain away... You'll keep it on me, right? Keep me topped up? I don' think I'm ready to go through that again."

Luna shook her head solemnly. "No, it would be very taxing for me to do so, you will have to bare with the medication we have requested. It arrived an hour ago, your first dose is due to be taken in the next couple of minutes." Her horn flashed and an open-topped wooden box of small vials filled with a florescent pink liquid appeared beside me on the bed. Each vial was about the size of one of my fingers and looked a little like test-tubes, which was a little unsettling. Each of them had a small label tied around it's cork and there was at least thirty of them in the box.

I used my good arm to point at the box, "What are they? Like, what do they do?"

Chrome peered around the box, then lifted one of the labels up to his eye with a hoof. "Cadamene." He said, looking rather astonished, "...'A painkilling and calming medication'." He looked to me in wonder. "I heard about this stuff back in college. I've heard it's..." He nodded and winked at me.

Ebony seemed to have completely given up on following the conversation from his position, floating behind Luna. By the looks of it, Luna had forgotten he was there.

A thought struck me. "Say, Luna, is this stuff given to... say... stab victims?"

She glanced to the box, then back to me, a slightly concerned look on her face. "...Probably? wh-"

"Okay, that's nice." I said, smiling innocently. "One per hour?"

She blinked. "Every three hours."

I shrugged lopsidedly, "Close enough. Now, I think I can handle myself..." I said, beginning to stand up. Luna backed away to make room for me to stand.

Chrome smirked at me, "Dan, you're not going to tak-"

"Don't you worry about me, now." I said, ushering them both out of the room, surprisingly, they both backed up with confused looks on their faces. "You continue with your days now!" I called as I shut the front door with them behind it. I heard a changeling hit the ground in the other room as I quickly locked the door from the inside.

I quickly made my way into the bedroom, leaped over the still dazed changeling and sat on the bed. I reached over to the box and carefully extracted a single vial and unplugged the cork with my thumb, it gave a satisfying 'pop'. I quickly downed the solution, awkwardly re-corked it and placed it back into the box.

I wiped my mouth with a sleeve as Ebony's head poked up from the foot of the bed. I presumed an innocent pose as he collected himself. "What did you just do?" He asked, suspiciously.

I gave another one-sided shrug, "Nothing, say, could you get one of my shirts and fold or rip it into a sling while I take one of these?" I said, pointing at the box.

Ebony looked over the collection of vials and their corks, seeing nothing amiss, he shrugged. "Sure, I can try. Don't take too much, though, remember what she said." He advised as he walked to one of my drawers and pulled out an orange shirt. It was probably the most vibrant one I had, which means it didn't get used often. So he knew he could make a sling out of it without upsetting my wardrobe.

As he walked towards me, shirt held in his magic, I said "One every three hours, I remember." as I swigged down another vial. I left the empty container on the bedside-table so he wouldn't think to check the box for empty vials.

I was already noticing a familiar and very welcome feeling spreading about my body. A dumb smile spread across my face.

Ebony tore the shirt on one side and used it to bind my arm in a make-shift sling. He looked up at my face, after making sure the fabric was secure. "Are you... okay?"

I nodded slowly, "Yeess... Wait... No! I am amazing!" I said, pointing my good arm at the ceiling. Ebony stared at me as I held the position for a full twenty seconds, lost in thought. I blinked slowly, then lowered my arm, pointing it at Ebony, "We are going to make pancakes."

Ebony bit his lip, "I don't think that's a good idea..."

"Naahh... You're right." I said, waving an arm, lightly clipping Ebony's nose in the process, "It's a greeaat idea!"

Ebony trailed me as I stumbled into the kitchen, where I held up a hand and stopped. Ebony walked around me to face me, "...Dan?"

I lowered my hand. "Suggestion."

He tilted his head to one side, "Yes?"

"Yoouu do the cakes, I will... outsiding."

"Erm..." Ebony said as I continued to stare blankly forwards, "What?"

"You do cakes, I am outsiding!" I slurred as I unlocked the door and shut it behind me. Ebony was, as far as I know, frozen in confusion, standing in the kitchen.

I shambled through the halls smiling at every pony I saw, most just gave me weird looks or returned the gesture. I wandered aimlessly until I found a sign with a guard next to it.

"Royal guard only beyond this point." It read.

The guard stepped infront of me as I attempted to pass, I bumped into him and he pushed me back. I barely kept my balance.

"What is your business here?" He asked in an official tone.

"I out-rank you! Stand aside horse!"

"You may outrank me, but you're not a guard. Rules are rules." He said, having clearly already had enough of me.

"...In that case... I am here to see a guard!" I proclaimed.

"Who?"

"Mid... day... No! Night... something... N-Night...wi.. Nightwish, yes!" I pushed out my chest and put my good arm to my hip. "Nightwish. I am here to see Nightwish."

He blinked, a bored look on his face. "Do you mean Midnight? The day guard?"

"Yes! That is... what I said!" I said. At this point, my voice was probably quite a lot more than a few decibels louder than necessary.

The stallion sighed, "Right this way." and began walking down the hall. I followed, dragging behind slightly.

That was the last thing I remember happening, everything after that is a blur, I'm guessing that's when the second vial kicked in. Looking back and really thinking about what I had done, I had taken pony medicine.

Pony medicine, also known as, basically horse tranquilizers. Not my best moment, I will admit. But I have to say, that stuff... Dude, it was great.

But er... Don't do drugs kids. They're bad and stuff.

***

I woke up to a sharp pain in my shoulder. I lifted my head from the desk, finding myself in a blank, small stone room with a desk, two chairs and a single door.

I instantly recognized it as an interrogation room, having woken up in one before.

My arm was positively killing me, despite it still hanging limply in its sling. A wave of relief hit me as I noticed the small vial on the floor beside one of my feet. It was only a quarter full and the label was slightly bigger.

"To take the edge off. - Celestia." It read.

I leaned down, recoiling a couple of times due to my right arm hanging about. After a few attempts, I managed to pick up the vial, pop off the cork and down it's contents. I set the vial on the table infront of me.

I spent a couple of minutes attempting to balance the vial on it's curved bottom.

I swear I had just done it when white alicorn burst in through the door, knocking it over.

"Damnit, I just got it!" I said, thudding the desk slightly as Celestia sat in the chair on the other side of the desk.

She didn't look very happy.

"Dan, why must you put me through this." She said, rubbing her face with a hoof. "Let's make this quick, I have a report of a kitchen fire I'd much rather be dealing with instead of this."

"Hey!" I said defensively, "That pan attacked me! If it wants some sort of insurance claim or something, I ain't giving it."

Celestia sighed, "I can't even tell if you're still delusional or not."

I chuckled and reached across the desk, patting Celestia's nose. She glared at me, but she knew she liked it. "Trust me, I would know if I was still high on that stuff. Boy, that was great..." I sighed, reminiscing over all of the memories I couldn't actually remember. "...Wait... Why am I here?"

Celestia rolled her eyes, "Finally! A logical thought. We're progressing. How much do you remember?"

I put my good hand to my chin and thought. "I was going to a... wait... no... I... I was being lead down a hall by a guard. everything after that's just... gone."

"Mhmm..." She nodded as a notepad appeared infront of her and she jotted something down, it quickly vanished. "That's all I needed, you can go."

"...Really?"

She shrugged, "You were under the effects of prescribed medication. It's not your fault what you did. Yes, you took too much, but we can put that down to the effects of the first dose, can't we?" She said, smiling and raising an eyebrow.

I shook my head, smiling, "You hate me yet you help me. I don't get it."

She recoiled, looking slightly offended. "I don't hate you! I don't hate anyone!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, bullshit, that is. I saw your glare just now. Plus, there has to be someone you hate."

She shrugged.

"I don't believe you," I said, returning her shrug, "Just a few months ago you despised an entire race."

She groaned, stood from her chair and exited the room, leaving the door open.

"You're only proving me right!" I called after her, my voice echoing down the stone hallways outside.

After a minute of silence, I realized I had passed out probably at least twice since I had last seen a clock or date. "...What time is it?"

A note appeared infront of me in a burst of magic, colored in Celetsia's signature hue. "You take any more than half a vial every 2 hours and I will know. It seems your species does not need as much as ponies do to have the same effects, so don't try anything. Behave yourself! And good luck with your arm."

Author's Note

Well this happened fast.

Don't really know what caused this, the planned synopsis changed completely a couple hundred words in. Don't know why, but at least I have a spare chapter synopsis now. Don't know when I'll incorporate it though.

Chapter 41: Welcome To The Jungle (Part 1 of 4)

Worried I may have been unconscious for more than a few minutes, I pocketed the empty tube then quickly left the cold interrogation room and eventually got to the regular halls, scanning the walls as I walked. My strides were rapid and my breath was short, the halls seemed to stretch on forever. I felt incredibly alone.

"Clock, clock, clock..." I mumbled to myself as my frantic jog turned into a slow sprint.

As I was running, a firm hand gasped my good shoulder, stopping me in my tracks. It spun me around to face the creature. "Woah, slow down now, Dan. You don't want to fall again." Steve said, standing on his back legs, still holding my shoulder and using it as a support for his odd stance. "I heard about what happened." He sighed.

Propped up like he was, he was almost as tall as I was, if he had straightened up a bit, I'm sure he could have been towering over me.

He was wearing an uncharacteristic suit, but maintained his hat. The blue officer-style cap was a lot more vibrant than usual and the golden insignia on the front was impressively reflective. It was clear he had tidied up his feathers as well, he was not nearly as puffy-looking as usual, and was instead sleek and clean.

Despite how well he was dressed, his sudden appearance only served to tighten my chest further. "What day is it?" I snapped, "What time?!"

Steve's brow folded in concern as he looked me over in an effort to explain my rushed, panicked tone. His eyes locked with the tube sticking out of my pocket. "Ahh... Cadamene..." He sighed with a hint of nostalgia, "Come on." He said comfortingly as he pressed on my good shoulder, forcing me to my knees as he returned to all-fours, he met me at eye-level that way. "It's only been a few hours, don't worry. Just lay over my back, let's get you to your room."

I blurrily stared as Steve turned sideways, "But... your wings..." I said, waving a hand in their general direction as a way of pointing.

Steve gave me a very straight face, "Trust me, I've carried griffins out of bar fights like this, and they weigh a downside more than you do." His face shifted back to sympathy as I continued to hesitate. "If it helps, lay on your back, it'll take the weight off of your arm."

I took in a deep breath, then sighed it out as I turned and fell backwards onto Steve's back. One of his wings extended to support my head and shoulders.

Steve began to walk down the halls and my heels limply dragged across the floor slightly. I could feel, to my right, his broad shoulders rolling in and out with each step he took, the movement causing my shoulder to ache slightly. It took my full willpower to not jump or shake every time his talons hit the marble flooring, as, or a reason I was ignorant to, and despite the sound being expected each time it happened; the clicks and clacks his claws made as he walked were startling me. Each step sent a small spark of pain up from my shoulder to the back of my head, but that pain was being overshadowed by the pressure building in my chest.

Using my healthy arm, I placed a hand across my chest and pushed slightly. My heart was beating so fast it felt like there was an organism in there trying desperately to claw and bash its way out.

I turned my head, letting it lay limp on Steve's wing. All I could see of the griffin was the back of his head. "What's going..." I said airily. It was all I could make out before I simply ran out of air.

Steve's head turned and he stared at me. His powerful avian, amber eyes bored into my skull. He need not speak, for his calm yet serious eyes spoke but one word. "Stop."

I took a few more very deliberate breaths as looked back to the ceiling and slowly closed my eyes. Focusing on keeping my breathing steady and my mind relaxed. The pressure in my chest was restricting my lungs and my breaths were becoming slightly panicked but I had faith in Steve, the look of sympathy in his eyes told me he knew what was happening.

I though, had no idea.

I heard a second set of clicks approaching from further down the hall, behind us. The sounds rushed to the griffin's side and began to walk along side my ride.

"Please, Mister Rosewood..." An elderly voice sounded, "You really should get back to the rehearsal. You'll want to get it right on your big day."

The fur on Steve's back shifted as his head turned to face the source of the voice. "Don't get ye'r feather's in a tangle, I'll be back soon." He said, "An' quiet down will ya'. I've got'a keep this one calm before he 'as a..." Steve's voice trailed off before he leaned closer to the elderly-sounding being and whispered something. I couldn't make out what was said, but it was made of three distinct syllables.

That really left my mind to wonder as to what I could potentially 'have' as I tried to slow my exploding heart.

The other set of steps slowly declined in speed and faded into the hallways behind us.

After a few minutes of walking, I felt a wash of air as Steve opened a door ahead of us and took a few steps in. "You're not in here, right? Dawn?" He called, lingering in the doorway. Steve waited for a response before sighing and stepping into the room and letting the door fall shut behind us.

Through my eyelids, I saw the light turn from a light orange tinge to a calm blue as we headed further into the room.

Steve lifted the wing that was under my head and tilted his body, forcing me to stand. I got onto my feet reluctantly and put a hand to my face, hunching over slightly. Seeing a sofa infront of me, I happily collapsed into it's embrace, being careful of my shoulder.

"There ya go, just relax. I'll get something for your head." Steve said, grinning and heading off into their room's kitchen area.

Their apartment was dimly lit. The sunlight passing through their thin blue curtains gave me only just enough light to see by, and gave the place a very calming atmosphere.

"My... head?" I asked, feeling around my skull for injurys with a hand.

Steve was rummaging around in the kitchen, he paused every couple words to concentrate. "You had a large dose of cadamine... In ponies, that's okay... What they tend to forget is that it can cause nasty stuff in things like griffins... I assume you're the same." He came out of the kitchen and produced a small orange pill-bottle. "Take three of these."

I took the bottle from his extended claw and examined it. "Anti... Bacterials? Why?"

He shrugged, "Cadamine's a magical drug, it works in strange ways. Those should nullify the negative effects of having a large dose."

I took Steve's word and downed three of the small tablets. Which was hard, given I had no water and I wasn't sure whether or not I could safely chew them, but the anvil resting on my chest worked as a great motivator. "What are the effects in griffins?"

He took the bottle from me and tossed it in the kitchens general direction before sitting across from me in the sofa that was facing mine. "Everything from paranoia and seizures to stiff joints and cardiac arrest." He chuckled slightly, "Good stuff though."

I smiled in agreement, "I know, right?"

He snorted before a silence fell upon the room. He shuffled in his seat before standing abruptly, "You try to relax. By the looks of it, ya' heart, or whatever's in there, wasn't doing too good. I could feel your pulse." He said, concerned, ruffling his wings as he made his way to the door.

As I tracked him with my eyes, I noticed, propped up in the corner of the room, was the electric guitar. Or at least, the piece of plywood with some metal and magic attached I liked to call a guitar. It was looking slightly worn out and I'm pretty sure the bottom two frets had fallen off. The pick laying on the floor next to it was all but a splinter now.

"Hey, er..." I said, stopping him just as he got to the door, "This may sound pathetic, but could you play me something?" I asked, pointing to the guitar. "Something at least half relaxing?"

Steve eyed the instrument uncertainly. "I dunno Dan... I don't have much time, wedding rehearsal and all... and I don't think I know anything relaxing..."

I turned my head at Steve inquisitively, "You're not nervous, are you?" His uncharacteristic deminor didn't change. "Oh come on, it's the screw-ups people remember when it comes to weddings, something you can both look back on and laugh. You want it to be memorable, right? Memorable doesn't go by the book."

He turned to me with a slightly goofy smirk, "Okay, fine." He closed the door infront of him and picked the guitar up out of its spot in the corner, leaving the pick on the ground which turned out to just be part of the guitar which had fallen off. He sat back into his previous sitting position opposite me, this time with the instrument lying across his lap. "So... Relaxing?"

I hummed as I thought, thinking of relaxing tunes I used to play. "Ah! I... Can't really show you how to play it so..." I sighed, gesturing to my right shoulder. "...Try something like this..." Although I prepared myself, I was still a little embarrassed vocalizing an instrumental sound, "Oooo-Oooo Oooo-Oooooo Oooo-Oooo-Oooo-Oo Da-Di-Da." More of a feel-good track than a relaxing one

Steve's hand slid down the frets, trying to find the first note by ear. He tried a few experimental plucks here and there once he thought he'd got it. He worked his way through the notes, trying to recreate the sound I had given him.

After a few failed attempts, I thought I'd remind him of the tune he was going for. "Try something like this-"

I was cut off by Steve pulling off the first couple longer notes with a few downward movements across the fret-board, his fingers danced back and forth between two-or-three frets for the rapid conclusion to the tune. It couldn't have lasted more than six or so seconds, but it was an impressive show of tone-awareness. I'm pretty sure he added him own flare to the tune just to make it sound better as well.

When it comes to this kind of thing, it's most likely a successful attempt is just a recreate-able fluke, but it's worth congratulating even if it was just luck.

"Damn, even I couldn't have done that. That was incredibly fast, you've really got a talent there." I said genuinely, letting a large smile spread across my face as the familiar tune resonated in my head for a second.

He shook his head, smiling, "Nah, was just luck, I'm sure."

I scoffed, "I refuse to believe that, that was skill, right there!" I said, pointing enthusiastically.

Steve just continued to shake his head, refusing my compliments.

"Do it again, come on!"

Me and Steve probably sat and played about on the weathered guitar for the best part of twenty minutes before a grey-maned pony came to the door and requested Steve's company. Steve left for what I assume was his wedding rehearsal.

The door shut behind him and left me in silence with a guitar which was still lightly humming from it's last note. My chest was relaxed and I could actually think straight, so I sat and thought for a second or two, just collecting my situation.

So... thing's to do list...

Get this band thing going... We're going to have to think of a name... And we'll need some new members and instruments... How am I going to get drums? Pots can't last forever...

Gotta see Alloy about those ponies I told him to find...

I haven't seen Eb since I woke up... I should probably find him...

Got Steve and Dawn's wedding tomorrow... Wait a second...

I stood from my seat and made for the door, muting the guitar's strings on the way there with a palm. I stuck my head into the hallway and saw no sign of Steve. Luckily, as I turned my head to return into the room, I caught a glimpse of a thin brown tail disappearing behind a corner further down the hall.

I caught up to Steve after a short jog. He was accompanied by the elderly pony. Once Steve noticed me, which was while I was still an impressive distance behind them, he stopped in the hall and gestured for the pony to continue. The old stallion gave out a small sigh and continued down the hall.

"I'm... kinda busy here Dan." Steve said, glancing further down the hall, "Try and make it quick, will ya'?"

I smiled nervously and held my bum-arm with the other, "I don't want to sound all 'entitled' or anything like that... But I am invited to your wedding, right?" Steve blinked, then leaned his head in as if he had misheard something. "I never got a formal invitation, that's all." I said, now tapping my fingers along the underside of my sling-ridden arm.

Steve stayed silent for a while, as if processing what I had just said. He broke into an airy chuckle, "This isn't some 'royal wedding' Dan. Anyone can attend." He smiled at my still confused face. "It'll be at noon, tomorrow. I'd say get their 'bout twenty minutes early, just in case."

"Okay, that's when. But where?" I asked, beginning to sense a cultural divide between me and the griffin.

Steve blinked at me as if I was an idiot. Implying that isn't true sometimes. "...In one of the ceremony halls? Where every other wedding in Canterlot takes place?" He said like it was obvious fact. "Except for those who can afford the royal stuff, but we don't care for the fancy stuff." He added, shrugging.

"Erm... ce- ceremony halls?" I shrugged cluelessly, "D- What?"

If he were a pony, his mouth would have made an 'o' shape, but his beak kind of stopped that from happening. "Oooh yeah. You 'aven't been here all that long 'ave you? It's a little easy to forget, you bein' all settled in now."

I simply shrugged again, in response. It pulled my shoulder a little, but it was good to see it could actually move a little still.

"Well... You look settled in at least. Ah well, don't worry about it, I'll just send a pony or somein' to your room tomorrow, to guide you there, show the ropes and all that good stuff." He said before pointing over his shoulder with a thumb, "I... really should be going, though..."

I quickly gestured down the hall with an arm, "Oh, go ahead. Thanks for the help." I thudded my chest with a fist a few times, "It's feeling a lot better already."

Steve shot me a brief smile before turning and quickly making his way down the hall.

Not really knowing what to do next, I decided heading somewhere familiar would do me good. I turned and headed back towards the way we had come from, I skipped Steve's door, shutting it as I passed, and made for my room.

Once a few feet from my door, I noticed a few small puddles of water just outside of the door. Not big enough to slip in, but noticeable. Stepping over the water, I pushed the door in and was hit with a chill up my spine. Something about the room was off.

Deciding this was probably best ignored, I wandered further into the room, shutting the door behind me.

The room was dead silent. It's hard to describe, but it felt like someone had been in there while I was gone and replaced everything, but it looked exactly like how I had left it. Instead of feeling 'terror' like Stephen King proclaimed one would feel in such a circumstance, I was merely unsettled. "Probably just the meds," I thought, "Steve did say they could cause paranoia."

I walked past the kitchen and poked my head into the bedroom. No one was there. For some reason, the weird feeling seemed to be centred around the kitchen. Everything there was too clean or looked purposefully dirty.

I hummed in thought as I walked further into the room, stood on the bed and put an ear to the wall opposite the door. This was the wall connecting Chrome's room to mine. I listened for a few seconds. Not hearing anything, I thudded the wall twice slowly with the bottom of a fist. Still nothing.

***

Tap Tap Tap

My one good hand drummed against the arm of the sofa as I sat, hunched over in boredom. Relaxing isn't nearly as fun when it's basically mandatory. Similar to how everyone likes to have a lay-in in the mornings and spend an extra hour or two in bed, but as soon as that bed's a hospital bed they want to get out and stretch their legs every chance they get.

I let out a long sigh as I laid back, letting my back rest on the cushion behind me. Glancing at the window, I noticed the sun was starting to dip, heading for the horizon. I rolled my eyes, deciding I'd had enough of waiting. I stood, adjusted my arm in it's sling, then set off to the throne room.

As I approached the throne room doors, one of the two guards grinned at me, pulled out an old-looking polaroid camera and gestured to the doors to his right with his head and did a hitting motion with a hoof. "Now, there's an album-cover idea..." I thought to myself.

Disregarding the very sudden and physics-breaking appearance of a very large camera in the hoofs of a previously empty-hoofed pony, I shook my head and pointed to the sling. "Sorry, can't right now." I said, chuckling slightly. "Maybe next time."

The stallion's armored shoulders dropped in disappointment as I pushed my way through the doors, slipping through as soon as the gap was large enough.

I was slightly surprised to see the room empty, aside from one lone alicorn, sifting her way through a stack of papers. Though it wasn't the usual alicorn.

Luna glanced up at me briefly before burying her head back into the floating papers. "You know, it's illegal to enter unannounced like that." She said, flatly.

I froze where I stood, about a quarter of the way into the room, "...It is?"

She shrugged, "Well, it is when I'm in here. But..." She looked past her papers and smirked at me, "I'll let you off."

A stress that had built up in my chest released in the form of a relived sigh.

"I heard about what you did in that prison." She said as I continued to make my way towards her. Like Celestia, she had a way of making the whole room reverberate her every word, making everything she said audible wherever you were in the room. It was slightly menacing, in a way. "That would explain the sudden rise in crime-rates in the north."

"It was an accident." I said, quickly.

"I'm aware." She said simply as she continued to trace the lines of text infront of her with a magically-willed quill. "You are looking for Ebony?"

I nodded, though she probably couldn't see me past her papers, "Among other things, yes." I replied.

She sighed as she scribbled on one of the pages, "He, my sister and his Queen are having a little meeting at the moment, it is... taking a lot longer than expected."

"What's going on?" Anything that requires more than one of those powerhouses in one place for an extended period of time is probably a bad thing.

"Something to do with the changeling food-source." After saying this, she glanced up, as if to see my reaction. I probably had my most attentive face on for that moment. She continued, "Something's rolling in on the winds from the north east. It's not love, yet it is 'feeding' them involuntarily in the same way that most love does."

I paused in thought, "That doesn't make any sense." Luna nodded in agreement. "I don't tend to be very... good at things that don't make sense..." I said, giving a quick glance to her horn, "That's you guys's area of expertise, I'll just leave them to it. Call-... Sent me a letter if they have any major breakthroughs, okay?"

"I'm sure they'll let you know." Luna sighed.

She was being blunt, but considering the sizable pile of paper floating before her, she had good reason to want no part in an extended discussion.

***

TAPTAPTAP

My foot thudded against the ground in a steady rhythm as I sat, again, in the sofa. Waiting.

"Quiet up there!" a stallion yelled from below the floor, followed by a few impacts of what I guess was a broomstick hitting the ceiling.

I groaned and slumped back in the chair. "I'M BORREEDD!" I yelled.

"Go dance with Discord for all I care! Just stop that incessant tapping!" He yelled in response.

A thought struck me, "Discord..." I hummed in thought, before standing and leaving the room, hoping I still knew the way to where I was going.

About ten minutes and a few floors later, I was met with a pair of vaguely familiar doors, the setting sun shining through the stained glass panels inset in them. Turning the knob, I walked out into the small garden and headed towards the small brick-lined pool of water.

I sat in one of the four benches and watched the orange sun dance across the water infront of me. I waited.

It was a painful few minutes before someone spoke up, I tried my best not to jump at the voice as it emanated from seemingly every direction at once. "Back again hmmm?"

I collected myself quickly, "I'm bored, and I need a favor." I said, trying my best to project my voice throughout the garden confidently.

"A favor... Perfect." Discord said, now beside me on the bench, mimicking my pose. "What is it you desire?" He continued as I turned towards him, shocked by his sudden appearance. His eyes were, as anyone would expect, sparkling with mischief.

"I need a drum set, from my world. A normal one, a full one. One from my era." I said, making sure my wishes were clear, the last thing I needed was him summoning a battle drum from the year 1500BC.

I was only doing this because I doubted I could make a full drum set out of stuff I could find in Equestria. The guitars were a pain to make, since each fret has to be a certain distance from the last, the strings need to be the right thickness and tuned correctly, but a set of drums is a little more involved than that. They need maintaining, yes, but the actual physical construction would be near-impossible. Plastic isn't very widespread here, I'm not even sure if it exists.

Discord blinked a few times, as if he had caught something in them. "Wait... hang on..." He put a paw up to his eyes and grabbed them, pulling them clean out. He shook them violently, like someone trying to get the last of the tomato sauce out of the bottle. Tiny pieces of paper started to fall from the two egg-shaped balls, as they settled on the ground I noticed each one had the word "mischief" printed on it. Some glitter came out along with them as well. "You'll get it later." He whispered.

Now that I'm writing this, it's kind of strange... I used the term "sparkling with mischief" before I even- oh that damn draco-whatever and his stupid... thing powers...

He shook for a few more seconds before placing them back into his skull. Leaning down, he picked up two of the small slips of paper and read them aloud. "Reason? Understanding? ...Oops, guess I shook too hard." He said, shrugging nonchalantly as he threw the papers back towards the ground. "So, a drum set?" He asked, as the papers beside him burst into small individual flames.

"Yeah, a drum set." I said, still trying my best not to seem weak. "You're probably the only one who'd know what I was talking about."

He raised an eyebrow, lifted his talon and clicked his fingers. In a flash of light, a spotless and very extensive drum set appeared floating over the pool of water. It contained everything a regular person expects from a drum set, plus some.

I nodded, "Yes, exactly like that." I pointed.

He scoffed slightly as a smirk spread across his face. He patted about his body with his paw, like someone who had lost their wallet or phone. "Ah," He said quietly, before pulling open a pocket attached to his side. He whistled a flat tone and the drum set, as if no longer solid, flowed through the air and fed into the strange pocket, shrinking to fit. Afterwards, he patted the area with his paw, the pocket was nowhere to be seen and there was no sign of the drum set. "I think I'll hang on to it, until you can drum up a payment." He said, leaning back in the bench and sighing.

I huffed and weighed my options in my head.

I only saw one.

"What would you accept as payment?"

"Oh I think I know a few..." A grin spread across his face, at first I smiled along, but, finding myself completely outmatched, my face began to twist with worry. "They're not... that hard to obtain, I assure you."

Author's Note

Part 2 coming relatively soon. Sorry about the wait guys, I've had things getting in the way plus a rather bad writer's block.

Chapter 1: Introductions

~~Dan's Journal Entry 001~~:

~~Today was very~~

Nah, screw formatting. No one is going to read this but me, but I'm pretty sure these guys can read minds sometimes. So they have no reason to really, then, do they?

I woke up in a dark room, lit by a dim orange tube-light lying length-ways along the ceiling. The room was rectangular, the length of the two shorter walls was just short enough for me to touch both at once if I extended both of my arms, and the two longer walls were about one and a half times longer than their shorter counterparts. There was a heavy-looking door on one of the longer walls.

As my initial panic faded slowly, I took note of my surroundings further. I had woke on a fairly comfortable sleeping-bag-like-sheet of cloth. And by 'fairly comfortable' I mean rough and slightly itchy but still more comforting than the rest of the room.

The only other things in the room were; what seemed to be a vent with cool air steaming through it, and a small rectangular hole on the bottom of one of the shorter walls. The hole was about the size of the largest side of a shoe-box and went into the wall for a couple inches before fading into a complete black void.

That's pretty strange, the light should reach further in than that.

I stood and composed myself - I had to be ready to face, talk to or perhaps even fight, my captor after all - and tried the door handle, only for it to come off of the door and fall to the ground with a metallic clang. The door showed no signs of the door handle ever actually being real, just a flat surface where it once was. Not even any screw holes, or any other kind of fixing agent.

That was red flag number one.

There was a seed of an idea that got planted in my brain when I noticed that, but I dismissed it as I heard some strange noises. The handle was obviously a trap! Of course! How could I have been so stupid! I looked around the room for any movement for about a minute into the noises, then slowly backed onto one of the shorter walls and sat, and relaxed a little. I was going to give myself a heart attack if I kept panicking.

I have to keep composure...

I noticed the noises stop, and a shuffling begin to sound from the top of the wall opposite the wall I had backed up against. I stared for a while and went back to fiddling with the door handle, trying to find a potential use. I then thought of something, and checked my pockets.

Nothing. I had put my phone on the bed-side table before I slept. Don't ask why I slept in clothes, it had been long week and a new college takes it out of a guy sometimes. Lucky I did, I would have been rather cold in there.

I ran out of ideas of things to do, so I looked to the rest of the room for sources of entertainment, I found that I had backed onto the wall that housed the hole. I was sitting in the center of the wall, and the hole was to my left. I threw the handle as hard as I could into the hole, to judge how deep it went into the wall. It disappeared for a second, then flew out at ten times the speed and hit the wall on the other side of the room. Not making a sound the whole time too, until it hit the wall, and it did so with a sickening metal-on-rock sound. The wall stood, unfazed, not even a scratch. Same for the handle.

"Well..." I whispered. I continued in a louder voice, "At least I now have ONE way to kill myself if need be..." I said this to no-one but myself, and I certainly wasn't expecting a response. Well, less of a response, more of a reaction; there was a small gasp from the same area I had heard the shuffling from earlier. Then some frantic-sounding tapping that slowly faded into the right of the wall. I could tell that the person who gasped was likely a male, due to its tone.

Red-flag number two: I was being watched.

I only had a little bit of a problem with that, because it showed that whoever they were, they actually had some kind of 'care' for me. Whether that was legitimate care, or just enough to 'care' make sure I was in tip-top condition for when they put me into their fighting area, I didn't know.

I kept composure, though my mind was basically exploding with possible circumstances.

What will happen to me? Am i about to die? Where am I? Is this a prison? Or a more science-oriented thing? Is this all just a prank? How does that hole work? If the walls are concrete, how could i hear a gasp so clearly through them? Am i even on earth anymore?

I didn't know.

I deduced part of the wall opposite to me was fake, and was a one-way window of sorts that my captor(s) had somehow made to... look like... concrete. I began debating whether or not that was even possible.

But my thoughts were interrupted by the frantic tapping slowing fading back in from the right, there were more taps this time, a lot more. The sound reminded me of something, but I could not recall it, in my understandably panicked state. It stopped, and a similar, more high-pitched gasp sounded. Female. I tilted my head, to show that I had heard it, but I was not about to be the first to speak. There was a silence, a very uncomfortable silence. I continued staring at the area of the wall I assumed was the window.

That was when I heard a voice, for the first time in.... Well in truth it had only been maybe an hour or so since I had woken, but I didn't know how long I was asleep, they could have drugged me into a 15-year long coma for all I knew. But it was nice to hear another person's voice though. At least I was not alone anymore.

"Er, H- Hello there!" An awkward male voice sounded. Was that... fear? Maybe it was just an act to lull me into thinking I was safe. I mustn't let down my guard. I continued staring, using my best poker-face, though I think I still looked rather shocked, I had never played poker after all.

There was a pause, then some whispering. I could not make out all if it, but I could make out what the female was saying, since her whispers where more akin
to air-ed out yells.

"Not like that, you idiot!" There was an inaudible response. "Of course it was! For all we know his... his?... You. Don't. know. Yet? Why not?!" There was a pause. "Okay, okay, never-mind. 'IT'S' ears could be more sensitive than ours, you probably just scared it!"

Red-flag number 3. 'It'.

I will be the first to admit to having abnormally long hair, for a guy. But it's still pretty clear what I am. Either these guys were idiots, or my suspicions were correct: I was not on earth anymore. I let myself sober up after thinking that, repressing it. Until I get some SOLID evidence, this could all be a misunderstanding.

"Sorry about him," A tender female voice said, "he was just nervous." The annoyance from before was well-hidden, but you could still hear it. "What is..." She continued in a more hushed tone, "This one right? Yeah, okay." I clearly was not meant to hear that.

A question list? interesting.

"What is your name?" She said in a voice so sweet that I choked on my words for a moment, lucky I did, or I would have missed her saying, in her annoyed tone again, "Shh, shut up. We can't miss a word it says." I carefully crafted my words in my mind, trying to say the bare minimum of information, since I now knew that they were after it.

"Er..." I said. I swear I heard them write that down during my pause, I laughed a bit. "My name? Dan. My name is Dan, Dan Michaels in full. Do I get a question?" There was a scribbling sound, they were writing down my words exactly. Great.

"Thank you, and yes, you do." the woman said.

The man chipped in "He shouldn't until we check with-"

"Yes, yes I know. Wait here and keep an eye on... 'Dan' here. I will go check with Her."

The tapping, again, which I concluded was them walking, faded to the right. After she had left, there was a deep sigh from the center of the wall. The man clearly didn't like being alone with me, since he went and got someone else as soon as I talked for the first time, earlier. I thought I would try to make things less... pressing.

"So." I said. I imagine he flinched. "How's things with you?"

"W-what?" he responded.

"Like, er, how are you doing? Whats the weather like? You know, that kind of thing." I heard the woman coming back.

He responded with "Oh. Well, I guess I- HEY, you don't get to ask questions until Pr-"

"She said it's okay," The woman interrupted. "As long as we follow the guidelines She suggested earlier."

"Well then," the man continued "To answer your question, I am doing just fine, and and the weather outside is the only reason I came in today, wetter than a lake out there."

The woman seemed shocked. "It really asked you that?" Still not okay with being called 'it'. But I smiled proudly at that. I imagine the guy nodded, because I never heard a response from him.

"Well, Dan." she said "Answer these few questions, then we will answer any of yours. That we can actually answer, of course. Deal?"

I was surprised by this, but said, "Yeah, okay that seems fair."

There was a long pause, and the rustling of paper. She said after a minute or two; "What are you?"

"A human" I said. Some strange part of my brain was expecting the question. And that question did raise my suspicions.

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen. In human years that is." I said jokingly.

"And how long are 'human' years?" You've got to be shitting me. Okay, if they get to be annoying, so do I.

"365 days on average, each day being 24 hours, each hour being 60 minutes, each minute being 60 seconds and each second like... err... 1,2,3,4... you know?". She tried to stop me multiple times during that speech, but she asked the question, she was getting the full answer. I knew messing with my captives was not a good idea, but that's how I deal with stress a lot of the time.

Safe? -No. Fun? -yes.

"Okay, okay I get it." She said. I just smiled "What is your trade?"

My smile flattened. What was it?... Nothing... I could not think of anything I was really, well, GOOD at...

I draw a little sometimes... hm... I also know a little bit about instruments and whatnot...

"I don't exactly have one" I answered "But I guess I am a novice artist. If anything." It was a purposely vague answer.

There was a pause and some paper noises. "Good enough, I guess. Now you may ask your questions."

I looked down from the window, my neck was starting to ache from craning it back for so long. I sat on my sheet, all the while thinking of which question to ask first, I had so many, but i decided i would have time later to ask the more specific ones. I chose my course of action.

"Your names." Silence. "What are your names?" I asked again.

The man finally spoke up. "That? That's the first thing you want to know?"

"Yeah, I guess." I responded. I chose this question because it made me look like a good person and I'd be able to confirm or dismiss some of my suspicions based on their names.

"Well.. my name is Feather-Flame." The 'woman' said. I think my jaw may have dropped a little.

"And mine," The 'man' said "Is Chrome Star." If my jaw was not slack before, it was now. Silence reined for at least a minute. I just looked at my hands.

"Equestria..." I whispered, completely overwhelmed with feelings. "This is Equestria isn't it?" I said louder. Part of the wall sank in and lowered, revealing a thick glass pane, with two blurry figures on the other side. I could not make out much of their features. Due to the warping and coloration of the glass; they just looked like two grey blobs really.

"H-How??" Feather Flame asked. "That chamber is completely magic-proof!" I had to make something up really fast.

"We humans..." I started. My words were slow and clunky, making it up off the top of my head, while also committing it all to memory for later. "Every time we find ourselves somewhere we don't know, we get visions of that place's history, along with some of it's resident's knowledge. It is not magic. It is... something else, even we don't understand it. And I just got the visions then. And I only have ONE thing to say to you two." I was doing my best to sound aggressive while on the inside I was full of glee, among other things, I must have sounded pretty weird. But they bought it. They looked at each other nervously, then looked back.

"And... what is that?" Chrome Star asked. Sinking slightly.

"NEVER -" they both flinched "-SEND ME BACK".

They both looked at me, shocked. "Never send me back" I repeated, in my most pleasant tone. They stared at me. I just smiled. I am pretty sure at least one of them rolled their eyes.

They both left a little while later, after Feather had apologized for calling me an 'IT' and after they both apologized for my treatment in general, not that I cared that much, I was in Equestria after all, least I could do was accept a couple apologies. A couple hours after they had left, they came back. And, through the hole came some food (I told them what I could and could not eat and I may have gave them a very specific recipe to follow just to see if I could get them to do it), a form of some kind and a quill.

The form; I had to sign to get out, it basically details how I cannot ever hurt another sentient being in Equestria without a VERY good reason. I signed it, once I figured out the quill and ate some of the food. It was alright for probably the first pizza ever made in Equestria, but still, crust was not as soft as I would have liked it.

Before they left, we spent a little while discussing things and eventually decided that I would be staying with the dude, Chrome Star. Since apparently now i was an official citizen of Equestria and 'deserved better'. You know, cause everyone who isn't a citizen can go screw themselves. But i was not complaining. And that dude was okay.

They said I would be let out 'in a couple hours'. Not that I knew when that was of course, so I just slept as soon as they left.

Author's Note

Updated: 05/11/15
-Fixed tenses
-Corrected grammar
-Fixed some italics

Possibly the worst of the whole thing, this chapter is.
While writing this part, actually continuing it past 'a couple more lines then bed' seemed ridiculous.
So it's all rushed, horrible and...
Well I can't judge my own work, I probably couldn't tell Shakespeare's writing from a 5 year old's if you put them next to each other and said "Which one?"

So yeah, sorry for this monstrosity. I do not envy the man who read this through, expecting it to be good.

Chapter 11: 'What Happens In The Cave, Stays In The Cave.'

8 days later

"This is all I could get." The undisguised changeling said as he opened the bags on his sides to reveal 5 apples. He poured them onto the floor of the cave.

"Wait... Ebony, against the wall, now." I said. He did so and a couple seconds later the Canterlot train sped through the cave and up towards that accursed place. Once it was gone I stood up and looked at the apples, they were all under-ripe and slightly bruised. "Hm, still better than Tuesday. Ripening spell please." I held out the apple as it grew in size slightly and became softer. I took a bite. "Meh, edible, good enough for me. Say, your getting good at this 'real food' stuff." I sat with my back against the flattest piece of rock I could find in the whole cave.

"Speaking of food..." He said, pressing up against me.

"Psh, you know I can't resist." I pulled him up onto my lap and wrapped my arms around him. This was the plan. I feed him love, he goes to Ponyville, disguised, and steals fruit or buys it with money he finds on the floor if possible. After a couple of minutes of changeling cuteness I pushed him away. "Full yet?"

"Yeah, I was just seeing how long you would hug me for."

"Ha, if I wasn't dizzy from not eating enough, I could do it all day."

He rubbed his neck guiltily. "Yeah, I'll try to get more next time."

I waved a hand "Nah it's fine, if worst comes to worst we could go hunting, its been a while since I had some protein. Actually... that's probably why I feel so ill. Think you could pick up some beans or nuts tomorrow? They have protein, not a lot, but enough to keep me going..."

"Wait... you can eat meat?" He asked as he stood back up from our hug.

"Yeah, why? Can you?"

"Kinda. It's not good for us. But in emergencies; it has been done."

"Hm, fair enough, I knew those fangs were used for something other than looking cute." He struck a bashful pose. "Oh my god, stop, please. You're going to drain me dry." I said jokingly.

"Don't worry, I'm not hungry." Wait what "Well, not anymore."

"Wait can you do that? Drain someone?" I asked, somewhat worried.

"Well, yeah. It's kinda what we're infamous for."

"Really?"

"Yeah, in the past, some hives had such low food-levels they had to start draining ponies completely, if you don't do it in small intervals like we do, you can completely drain someone of emotion. Leaves them a husk of their previous self."

"Woah dude, das spooky." I poked him on the nose, he went cross eyed and his nose crunched up.

He recovered and smiled. "And that was delicious."

"Hey, careful there, if you remove my emotions you won't have a source of food anymore."

"Oh don't worry, I'm careful in everything I do."

"What about Tuesday?"

"Okay, I slipped up once, but that was a one time thing, okay?"

We sat there in the cave simply enjoying each other's company. After all, that was all we had, aside from a couple apples and some bags Ebony stole. A while (and a couple apples) later, the amber sun-light began flooding the entrances of the cave.

"Hm, nearly night. You still working on getting those sheets?" I asked.

"Yeah, but the shop is so small it's hard to sneak out with one. Those things are pretty big."

"Just get one from the trash for all I care. Long as it's soft and isn't full of insects." I shuddered at the thought as I said it.

"You know, that farm-house has a bunch of spare beds, I could probably nag one of the sheets if you let me near that place."

"You can't go there and you know why." I said, pointing at him accusingly.

"...I don't!"

"I told you last time!"

"And I told YOU I didn't know was a shut-gone is!"

"It's 'shotgun'."

"Whatever that is!!!" He dramatically waved his hooves in both mock and real confusion.

"I can't tell you what they are, if they make those here, I know I've done a bad job."

He turned a little more somber. "Speaking of which, you think they're looking for us?"

I thought about what he just implied. "...Your saying I did a bad job?"

"...Yes" He said, actually meaning it too.

"It's okay, I made a scene. She'll remember what I said."

"What did you even say?"

I sighed. "Even I wish I didn't know, now. You don't need to know. Ignorance is bliss."

"Yep." He sighed. "Absolute BLISS" He gestured to the cave sarcastically.

I laughed slightly. "But yeah, they probably are, or will be. On a different note; where do you want to sleep tonight?"

"Don't care really. I don't feel the cold like you do."

"Lucky..."

"Hey, at least you have an excuse to cuddle me!" I could not help but laugh a little bit. Oh Ebony, you know me so well. That was actually true. At night we had to share body-heat, he could take the cold, but I couldn't.

"I don't need an excuse." I said with a smug grin. "Hm... yeah, okay, I think that little alcove place was the warmest last time, let's try there again." He did his little 'makes no difference to me' shrug and set off for the location. It was deeper into the cave, it was a little hole I had to crawl to fit through that led to a small room-like hollowing. It was only about half a meter tall, about a meter wide and two meters deep into the wall. Allowing just enough space for me to lie in.

The whole 'sleeping with each other' thing was weird for the first couple nights, but after we noticed it was a necessity (if I was going to survive), we both agreed that what happened in the cave, stayed in the cave, and that once this was all over, we would never speak of this again.

After a couple biology lessons things got a whole lot more comfortable, we both knew each others limits and we both knew that we HAD to do it, lest I freeze to death. So it was nice, really. And it was a really good trust exercise in a way, we both got really comfortable with each other and became a lot closer as friends. He even started to pick up my sense of humor, some of my mannerisms and even my speech-patterns. Which was not exactly a good thing, but whatever, it's a development none-the-less.

We both scooted into the little hole and moved into the position we accepted upon. I curl up and lay on my side facing him, he faces me, on his side. He puts his hoofs over my back and I wrap my arms around the back of his neck. It wasn't that comfortable, and it was definitely awkward. But it was warm. Plus, he really didn't seem to mind being a hot-water-bottle.

***

We were woken by the early morning train rumbling the ground under us.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhggggg." We both groaned, untangling ourselves and shifting out of the small room, into the crisp morning air.

Ebony stretched out his back like a cat, and his carapace shifted and clicked. It looked really cool, and painful. "Any dreams last night?" He asked. That's strange, maybe I did something in my sleep?

"I don't remember anything, why?" I didn't notice then, but it seems that the whole 'leaving Canterlot' thing had made me completely forget about what I saw in Chrome's house, saving me from the nightmares that had been plaguing my nights since the day I saved Chrome.

"Oh, er, never mind." He said awkwardly.

"Seriously, what did I do?"

"You... kinda hugged really tight then nuzzled my neck."

"...And?" I asked. He stared at me for a couple seconds. "OOH, that probably means something in pony-body-language. Don't worry, that means nothing in human."

"I never said it was bad, it was pretty tasty too."

I pointed at him like a dog that had just ate some food I dropped. "No! I am not okay with you eating my emotions as I sleep. When I'm awake, sure, go ahead. Just, tell me, you know?"

"Yeah, sorry, I kinda... panicked."

"Nah dude, don't sweat it, it's fine, just wake me up, or shove me next time I do something weird. Anyway, I haven't mentioned all the weird stuff you've done in your sleep."

He looked about nervously. "Like what?"

"I ain't sayin' anything."

The day continued as usual: he left about an hour after we woke up to go get some more supplies. I waited at the cave, just watching the clouds and hiding whenever a train came by. He came back 4 or 5 hours later, about twice as long as he usually takes.

"Dude! There you are! I was starting to worry man!"

"Sorry! Sorry. It's just, I saw an opportunity, and I took it." He stepped to his side, revealing a small trailer. It was full but there was a cloth covering it's contents.

"Dude! Where the hell did you get this?!"

"I might have bumped into a rich pony a BIT to hard and made him drop a LITTLE money." I smirked, he was beginning to sound like me. "I spent the money I managed to get a hold of on this trailer, then filled it with basic house-hold items from a hardware store."

"Any food?"

"You betcha' there's food! I managed to snag an entire pie!"

"Aw nice dude. Literal life-saver, you are. You know that?" We walked back into the cave and to the outside of the alcove. He set down the trailer and I looked through what he bought and placed them in what I deemed to be the 'correct' places outside the alcove, decorating it like a house.

A sheet, sweet, that can go inside.

A lamp? I guess it would look cool on the outside of the door, though lighting it would be risky.

A couple planks of wood, some nails and a hammer. "Dude, what should I make out of these?"

"I was thinking a door maybe?"

"Yeah, I thought so too. Are these... cleaning supplies?" There was a multitude of spray-bottles arranged in a small bag.

"I don't know, they were giving them away for free, so I just took all of them." A man of my own heart.

I took a look at one of the sprays, an amazing idea popped into my head which in hindsight was actually a really bad idea. I walked up to Ebony with the spray-end facing him, so he could not see the label.

"Hey, Hey Ebony. Look at this." I sprayed him, he was unfazed. "Aw, damn stuff doesn't even work!" I threw it on the ground, revealing it to be bug spray. He looked up at me.

"You fool." He said, all to dramatically. Before he flipped onto his back and began to twitch. I laughed at his antics

"Dude, I was expecting a 'dah hell you say' stare, not this." I continued laughing until I realized he wasn't joining in. "Dude?" Nothing. "I swear I will spray this up your nose if you don't get up." He quickly righted himself.

"Fine, fine jeez g-"

"No, YOU don't say that."

"Say what?"

"Jeez."

"...Oh wow, your right, I am picking stuff up from you..."

"Yeah, stop it. And don't even fake-die again either, only a couple days ago did one my friends actually die. Obviously I saved him, being the infamous 'Sir Dan Micheals, Insubordinate Hero, Defender and Medical specialist, that I am. But still, don't do that man."

"Oh, sorry dude, I forgot. Didn't mean to strike a nerve there. But you never explained that to me, how DID you save him if he had already died?"

"By shocking his heart with lightning, breathing into his mouth, filling his lungs, then emptying them by pressing his chest. Why?"

"That's it? You can bring someone back from the dead just like that?"

"Only if they are very recently dead, and usually only if they died of asphyxiation. Which he did both of, I am pretty sure he died in my arms on my way to the palace."

"How romantic."

"Nah, that guy's taken now, isn't he?" I said, giving him a smug grin.

"...Yeah... you and your weird ways..."

"Yep, I wonder how he's coping..." I imagine Luna can be a bit of a handful sometimes...

The last things in the trailer were the pie and some tools. I ate about half the kinda-warm apple pie before getting started on a door, well, 'hatch' for our improvised house. It took quite a while. So it was dark by the time I had finished, I could see my breath in the air, it was so damn cold. I attached the hatch and went inside, I found Ebony lighting the lamp with a pale-green flame, casting a strange light about the small room.

"Dan?" His tone was serious, yet sincere. "Do you know why I like it here?"

"You LIKE it here?"

"...Yeah. I do."

I thought. Nothing sappy like 'because your here', he wouldn't say that... "Does it remind you of... well, Home?"

"Yeah... How'd you know? Not many ponies have seen a hive and survived..."

"I can't explain it to you. Just accept that sometimes I just know things okay?" In reality, most theories I had read had Changelings living underground. So I just assumed it as fact. I was lucky it was true, or I might have well offended him by implying his home was a hole in the ground.

"Yeah, I've noticed that..." He stared into the flame for a while, I sat beside him, the door doing wonders keeping the heat in. "Dan, what was your home like?" I blinked.

"It's a horri-"

"Not your planet Dan. Your HOME." He said, uncharacteristically sternly.

I sighed. "I try not to think about what I left behind. But someone should know." He looked slightly guilty, but curious. "I lived in a small house, with my Mother and sister... My father moved away a couple years ago..."

"Did he travel with work?"

"No, divorce." He gasped. "Such a thing is common there. But I digress. I woke up 4 days a week for college, the days were long and testing, but I enjoyed them in the all the ways I could. I also had a job in a instrument shop, you know, the places that sell guitars, drums, flutes, violins, all that stuff." He gave me a confused look, I dismissed him with a hand gesture. "Me and my father always seemed to get along, whenever I saw him, which wasn't often. Me and my mother were not on the best of terms when I left... Still loved my sister though, she was helpful when she needed to be. My house was by the coast, so I could go and walk along the rocky shore-line whenever I needed to get away from things..."

"Sounds nice... I've always wanted to see the ocean..." There was a pause. I should take him to see the beach one day... If there are any nearby...

"What was YOUR home like?" I asked and he looked at me, with reminiscent eyes, looking beyond me, and into the past.

"Everyone had a job, you knew exactly where to go and when. ...Navigating the thin alleys and spiraling towers felt so natural that... you could tour the entire place and not even notice... When I left I... I had barely ever seen the outside world, the clouds still freak me out a little even now." He laughed softly. "Guess it not natural for me to be above ground so much? Hey?"

I snorted. "It's completely unnatural for me to even BE here."

He laughed shortly. "Okay, dude. I've got to sleep, and you got a sheet now, guess you don't need me anymore..."

I laughed. "Dude I ain't stopping you. You know what you do to me." He rolled his eyes.

We slept side-by-side from then on, as a compromise between the two methods. Only I had a sheet on me, so its no homo. Right? I don't care, he's a pony, basically, and he's a bro. A little homo here and there never hurt nobody.

***

14 Days later

We had both given up on them finding us. Or even searching for us. Shows how much they care.

I was getting weak, I had one meal a day if I was lucky. Ebony was feeling it too, my malnutrition-ridden mind was in a daze that made it hard to concentrate, causing less fake-ish love to be made. We both decided it was time to send a message, the question was how?

"I'm pretty sure they could track a letter, magically or something." I said in rebuttal of his suggestion.

"How else could we let them know? It's not like we could be seen back there and not be followed back here."

"Yeah, your right..." I thought over everything I had done since I got to that land. It wasn't much. But then I came across something. "Hey is there any chance you could get a recording device today? I guess I could go without food today."

"No! You can't! You are weak right now Dan! Look at yourself and tell me you 'can go without food'." I looked down at myself, he was right. My ribs were more visible than they usually were, I was always underweight. But now, I could see each bone-y rung very clearly.

I sighed. "Dude, just pick up a recording device, whatever this world uses for that, while you're out there, but only after you've got food. Okay?"

"I don't know where I will find one..."

"There has to be a specialist shop or something, you know, a place that sells that type of thing."

"Look, I'll try. But I can't promise anything." He strapped on his bags and waved to me as he left the mouth of the cave, changing into a generic-looking unicorn.

I waved back to him, and got back to the task at hand -- being bored.

For the hours he was gone for I would usually attempt to make things out of the planks of wood he brought sometimes, but I had ran out of those, I usually ended up breaking them anyway. I suck at carpentry. That day I managed to find two rocks, they seemed to be some kind of metal ore, since they were harder than the rock around me. I found these rocks by bored-ly smashing rocks against a wall.

These ones didn't break. One was round, the other was a dagger-like shape, ending in a slightly rounded point. I used them as a chisel and started to draw humorous images on the walls of the cave. Well, humorous to me at least. I also named the house. Over the small the door-way I scratched "The Equality Hole". Then in smaller text under it "No gurls allowed". I leaned back and admired my work. Then almost got decapitated by a train going by behind me, guess I was to distracted to feel the rumbling. The train was gone in a couple seconds, I'm pretty sure no-one saw me. But it was still pretty scary.

A couple hours later, Ebony returned. He had a beaming grin on his still disguised face. I freaked out for a second, thinking a pony had found me, but then I realized it was just him. His face faulted as he eye'd on some of the 'art' I made on the walls.

"Why did you do that? And what is Celestia doing?" He asked, pointing at one of my amazing drawings. I quickly scribbled out part of the picture.

"Nothing! She was... eating cake." He stared at me. "You know she likes cake right?" He just stared. "Hey, don't judge. I was bored today, I let my mind wonder a bit."

"If THIS is what you think of when your mind wonders A BIT, your issues with Celestia are a lot deeper than I thought."

"Hey, I've got no issues with her. I've got an issue with the entire population."

"Yeah I'm pretty sure that's an internal problem you should get checked out."

"Not being a racist is not an 'internal problem'."

"Oh... that's what you meant. Oh, okay..." There was an awkward pause.

"So! What-d'ya get today?" I said, attempting to change the subject, and lighten the mood.

"Oh a couple things..." He whipped open the bags and an impossible amount of stuff fell out. And I mean 'stuff' literally. It was like he had an entire Ikea store in there. "I found a closed store. So I let myself in and helped myself to everything I thought might be useful."

I blinked. "Well, this... potted cactus... sure is... nice... but did you get any food? Or a recording device?"

"Oh yeah, I got a couple apples."

"...Where are they?" I asked as I looked about the pile of assorted things.

"I... don't know..."

"Great, their probably crush- Oh here they are." I picked up the three large shiny apples, they were completely unharmed. "Damn cartoon world" I mumbled as I ate one slowly.

"Hm, that's convenient. And yeah! I found a recording thingy! Or at least I... think it is..." He walked around the pile of things. "Here it is, you have any idea how to make this work?" He held up a device that looked like an old-timey gramophone. It had two switches. By the looks of the symbols on them, they were a "go" and "stop" switch and a "Record" and "Play" switch.

"Yep, this is perfect." I said as I took the device from him and set it down in front of me as I sat. "Could you organize your stuff? Or half of it's going to fly away when a train goes by, I've got to work on this thing." He nodded, changelings are super obedient from what I've seen, or maybe that's just him.

I switched the right switch from neutral to "play" then switched the left from neutral to "go". The white record in the center span, but no sound came out. Blank, awesome. I hit 'stop' then set it to 'record'. A small hole opened as I did so, revealing a kind of in-set microphone. Neat. I clicked 'go' and hoped the record had enough space to hold the whole song.

From what little I knew about music magic, it was evident it really struck ponies, hard. They feel the emotion coming from the song as if it were a confession, unlike us, who use it for entertainment, they use it for emotional means, so singing a song was a great way of exposing my emotion to the ponies. I sang the song I had prepared a couple days prior, I had edited the lyrics from the original to more fit what I felt, and to make it hit Celestia as hard as possible.

I performed my message. I used possibly the saddest, angriest song I could think of as a base when I wrote the lyrics. So the music that backed my vocals was an awesome mixture of guitars and some sick double bass.

"Ha, I didn't even have to change some of those lines." I laughed and turned to see that Ebony was staring at me, with tears in his eyes. "Come on dude. It's just a song."

"I'm sorry, it's just... songs seem to affect us more than they effect you... plus I-... I could taste your emotion." Oh shit.

"Oh.. aw, man, dude. Come here-" I hugged him "-I'm sorry dude, I should have warned you or something." He pushed me away.

"Dan, it's okay, really. You needed to record that anyway. Plus... It WAS beautiful... even if it didn't taste that nice..." Beautiful? I will admit it was pretty hardcore, though I have a rather limited experience in that field, so I probably can't even use that word yet... but still... 'Beautiful' is not the word I would use to describe that kind of music. I mean, it's nice and I like it. But... still...

I laughed. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure if this does not work, nothing will... You up for an undercover mission?" His eyes widened in both fear, and exitement. I noticed the record still rolling. I put in an impromptu personal message, then stopped the recording.

"So... undercover mission?" He asked with an excited smirk.

I explained my plan, it executed immediately.

Author's Note

Updated: 07-08/11/15 (It's only 2am)
-Added 's everywhere!
-Fixed stuff like formatting, grammar and those other things
-Ironed out some pesky plot-holes

Woah, I said I would have this up by today, and I barely made it!

If you can't tell, I really like playing with Ebony in this. Writing those two interacting, for some reason, has been probably the most fun so far.

Chapter 22.5: Prospectives

Celestia's log - entry #5579

Hearth's Warming, 3 R.L

We all looked over to Ebony, after Chrome pointed to him. The changeling was silently mouthing words, his eyes were concentrated on something in the distance. He then performed a slight ceremonial bow. Before moving backwards, away from us.

I was put on guard as soon as he bowed, that particular bow was only used by knights and high ranking guards when thanking royalty. And if that was the case, I had to be ready for anything.

His horn lit, creating a glowing rune on the floor. We all stepped back slightly, I began racing my mind, finding and remembering every spell I could use if the worst happened. I looked to the ponies I would have to defend. They were all frozen in fear, though Dan seemed more concerned than anything, he was still focusing on Ebony, unlike the rest of them, who were staring at the rune. Though I did notice Dan readying one of his knifes slightly, but for some reason, he moved his hand back into a more relaxed position.

The rune burst into a tall stream of changeling magic, appearing as flames.

I closed my eyes, hopefully rest did too. We all looked up at the creature that stood before us. Many gasps came from the ponies behind me. I instantly began to analyse it's body-language, but Luna beat me to it.

"She is not in a combat stance. Stand down, but remain on guard." She said, he voice echoing around my head, signifying she was talking though her magic, so only I could hear it. I nodded her thanks and took a confident stance.

Before us stood a Changeling Queen. Though much different to the one who had attacked Canterlot beforehand. This one was older. Much older. It's jagged shell-like skin was slightly grayed and covered in scars. Ranging from small cuts around her legs and face, to large incisions on her sides. One of her wings was limp by her side, it was torn down the middle. She was almost twice my height, my eyes only coming up to just above the base of her neck. It was clear, despite her war-ridden appearance, that we would be close-to out-matched if she decided to attack. But she remained still, with a neutral expression.

As I prepared myself for the multitude of occurrences that could come from this. Dan called, "Ebony!" As he ran towards the Queen.

"Dan, what are you-" I began to say, but stopped as he ran head-first into the creature's chest, landing on his back. He looked up at the Queen, before shaking his head slightly and standing up. He looked to me, "Erm, Celestia? Did you just hit me with magic or something?" He asked in a slightly offended tone. The queen remained unmoved, and simply stared down at the human with watchful eyes. Her pupils intently focusing on him.

I grit my teeth slightly, now was not the time for his games. "Dan. Get back here." I said. The Queen narrowed her eyes slightly. I looked to her, doing my best to look apologetic, "We apologize. State your intentions." I said in a neutral voice, trying to hide our collective feelings, but I am sure she could taste them.

The Queen looked to me. She gave me a look I had only ever seen in a couple other ponies, and a human. She really did not care, there was almost no respect in that gaze. It was not degrading, but it did not make any of us very comfortable. She opened her mouth to answer. "I, Elder Que-" She stopped as someone cut her off.

"I, wanted to help Ebony." Dan said. The Queen behind him did not move. But her features hardened.

The now slightly trembling ponies behind me gasped. I was lucky I had trained myself well, or I would have been sweating bullets at this point. Luna looked as if she was feeling the same way. If she was so inclined, that Queen could easily lift a hoof or cast a spell, and Dan would be no more than a pile of dust, if that.

"Dan." I said, trying to remain calm, and in control of the situation, "You are not helping matters at all, get back here!" I looked back up to the Queen, she met my eyes with her own. "I am so sorry, please repeat."

Dan looked around in mock confusion. Before shrugging and turning towards the Queen, she looked down at him with slight annoyance. He simply stared through her, not even meeting her eyes, that were almost directly above him.

He took a step and hit her chest again. I debated using telekinesis magic to haul him back over to us, but I did not want to alert the already angered Queen. Dan mumbled to himself, before placing his hands on her throat. Her eyes widened in rage, her teeth ground as she refused to move. After a couple very tense seconds, Dan turned around and looked at me.

"What is thi-..." He looked at our shocked expressions. Even I found myself at a loss for words. "What?"

The Queen spoke from behind him. "Remove yoursel-"

Dan raised his voice. "What?! What are you staring at?!"

The Queen growled in frustration, but remained still.

"Guys, I don't think you realize this, but there is an invisible warm thing here. It's king of freaking me out. And so are you, with the staring."

The Queen looked to me, a mixture of anger and patience on her face. "Dan." I said, "Look behind you."

He turned quickly, again, not meeting the queen's eyes. "Ebony's just passed out, why are you guys freaking out about that and not this!" He said, poking the Queens chest. The Queen twitched slightly, clearly wanting to do something about the human in front of her.

Everypony behind me remained silent, staring at Dan. I looked to the Queen. "I am so sorry about this. I don't know what's gotten into him."

The Queen sighed slightly. "Please remove him."

I nodded slightly sympathetically before looking back down to Dan. "Now, please. Come back here, so we can discuss in peace." I said to him.

"...what do we need to discuss about?"

What is wrong with him? Does he have a death-wish all of a sudden? The Queen looked as if her limit was about to be reached. "Dan, look behind you. Tell me everything you see." I said, I looked up at the Queen again. "So sorry, just bare with us here."

The Queen nodded, exhaling in an attempt to contain herself.

He looked over his shoulder and back again. "There is just Ebony passed out on the floor. That's it."

"...Dan..."

"...yes..." He said, mimicking me.

"I think we have found yet another one of your 'powers'." I said.

He smiled. "Really? What did I do?" He looked back at Ebony. "Is Ebony not really there or something? Can I see into the past? Is that it?" He said excitedly.

I blinked. "No. Not quite. Please Dan just... wait outside the door please." I pointed to the door with a wing.

He huffed, "Fine." And walked out of the door.

I sighed. "Sorry about him. He is... not of this world, I do not think he could see you."

The Queen sighed in relief as Dan left the room. "I see... That is unfortunate." She paused, slightly. Taking that time to straighten herself and regain any lost composure. "Now, my intentions." I nodded to her, Luna did the same. "I first want to thank you all, for keeping this scout safe. Despite his lack of a disguise."

I smiled, the Queen didn't return it. "You are very welcome. Ebony here has been rather pleasant over the last couple months."

The Queen nodded. "Yes, he was always a little strange. Tell me, who was it that discovered him?"

I shook my head politely. "That can wait until after you state your intentions."

She smiled. "You need not worry. You have shown that the ponies have learned. I come in peace. Though I regret to say it, it will bring confidence to you that I no longer have a hive of my own. 'Ebony' here is all that's left."

I blinked. "You are Ebony's Queen?"

"Yes, I was captured by another hive a couple years ago. They invaded our hive and poisoned me a couple days later. I still do not know how. The poison they used kept me unconscious, but alive. And from what this scout told me," She indicated to Ebony. "The poison also blocked any of my telepathic transmissions."

"Then how are you here? What happened?" Luna asked from my side.

"I awoke 3 weeks ago. In their hive. The troops surrounding me instantly converged on my position. It is very clear I was not meant to have woken up at all. Obviously, they stood no chance against me in combat, so I fought my way out of their hive. That is part of the reason I don so many marks of war." She ran a hoof along one of the many lines on her chest. "Once I was out I made my way back to my old hive... It was empty. I waited there for hours, no changelings ever showed themselves. So, as I left the hive, I decided to re-activate the old telepathic communications gateway held within me. I found only one changeling able to receive the messages. But they were unable to respond. I had given up all hope of finding them, I could not fix their communications gateway unless they held a very high amount of emotional energy within them. But this changeling seemed to be limiting himself."

I raised a hoof slightly to make her pause. She turned to me slightly, with attentive eyes. "Ebony is in a relationship. I believe he has been sustaining himself on the love given by his partner."

She nodded. "Yes, that explains it. If he took to much, he could drain them. Thank you for that information." I nodded happily. "I believe this scout is in need of reward, he has done rather well for himself. But I as I was saying: I could not fix his communications without a very high amount of emotional energy, just now, there was one that was large enough. I used the energy he collected remotely, directing it to his communications gateway. This allowed it to work temporarily, we conversed shortly, then I teleported here, with help of his magic. The distance was large, so I believe he will need time to recover his magic. But he should be unharmed."

Sensing an incoming silence, I decided to ask another question. "So, you have stated that you come in peace and why." She nodded. "What do you plan to do now?"

He hummed slightly. "I plan to stay here as long as this city stands. If that is allowed."

I narrowed my eyes. "As long as this city stands?"

She waved a hoof. "Pony, if the date that scout told me was correct, I am 7583 years old. And as far as I am aware, I have a lot more years to come. I have seen cities rise and fall. I doubt, from what I have learned, that any city will last forever. Even this one."

I nodded. "That is understandable, I was not aware of your age. I am sorry." She snorted slightly. "And I am sure we can arrange for you to live here as long as you need too. But, please, call me Celestia."

The Queen became more focused. "Ah, yes. Celestia, I have heard of you before." She turned to Luna. "You must be Luna?" Luna nodded. "Nice to meet you both, I appreciate the understanding and help you have given to me. I suppose I should introduce myself, that creature interrupted me the first time." She said, pointing to the large doors Dan had left through. "I am Elder Queen Vicissit. Though I suggest for your own convenience that you call me Vicissit."

I nodded to her, Luna did the same. "Welcome to Canterlot. Vicissit." I said, Luna followed up with a similar statement.

I turned around, to see the ponies and griffin behind me. some of them still looking rather shaken. "Any of you want to introduce yourselves?" I asked.

Rosewood shrugged and raised a talon. "I'm Rosewood. Celestia's personal guard. I'm not on duty right now so do whatever you want."

I was slightly shocked at him, but Vicissit seemed to enjoy his casual nature.

The rest of them introduced themselves slowly. Chrome Star almost fainted and Feather Flame and Dawn did not look very comfortable at all. I sighed inside when I saw this. Some old wounds never heal, or at least, not within their life-time.

"Sorry," I said, "But could the rest of you leave us for a while? I believe we have some arrangements to make."

The rest of them nodded and turned to leave. But Luna seemed reluctant, staying behind for a couple seconds. "As you wish sister, I will be staying with Chrome tonight if you need me." She said, before turning to head towards the door. She didn't see it, but Chrome performed a small hoof-pump before she turned. Luna used her magic to carry all of the still open boxes of gifts, since it would be impossible for many of them to carry them themselves.

They all paused at the door. "Celestia?" One of them called. "Dan's asleep by the door."

"Just sneak past." I said, waving a hoof dismissively.

They slowly exited the room, leaving me, a magically fatigued Ebony and Vicissit.

Me and the Queen discussed the agreements and arrangements needed for her to stay her. They were the same as Ebony's. She quickly agreed to all of the rules and limitations. She must have been desperate.

"Thank you for this. There is nowhere else for us to go, unless we went into hiding." She said as she passed the now signed paper back to me. The sun was long-gone past the horizon.

"No problem, it's the least we could do. Now, is there anywhere specific you would like to stay while you are here?" I asked.

"I would like to stay with the scout. 'Ebony' you call him?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yes, he still goes by the name of the pony he was disguised as. But unfortunately, Ebony is already staying with someone."

"Ah yes, you mentioned he is in a relationship... I will allow them their privacy. I will take any room. Though... a large one would be nice. I have a feeling some of the rooms might be... a bit too small." She said, referencing her grand stature.

"Yes, there are more... customized rooms, designed for beings of all sizes. Though they are rather far from Ebony's room." I said.

She sighed. "They will have to do. Now, Celestia, about that creature, earlier." She said, glancing at the door.

It was my turn to sigh. "I am sorry for his behavior. I will explain everything, but first, let me get him in here." I said, collecting the signed paper and teleporting it to my quarters. I walked over to the doors and peaked through them.

Dan was asleep, leaning against the wall. Every so often his head would slump, then spring back up. I walked through the door quietly, in slid shut behind me. I lightly poked Dan on the shoulder. Slowly, he slid down the wall, but quickly built speed as he headed towards the floor. His knifes clattered as he collided with the floor.

Dan moaned as he recovered. "What?" He said into the ground, impatiently.

"You can come back in, everything's sorted out." I said, opening the door and walking in.

He slowly followed me in, I lead him to Vicissit. Then turned to look at him.

He looked about he room a little. Confused. "What?"

"You really can't see her, can you?" I asked.

He turned an scoured the room with narrowed eyes. "See who? Okay, this is getting to much now. Please... just tell me what is happening." I pleaded.

I turned to Vicissit, who was looking a lot more understanding. "You don't mind if I-"

"Go ahead." She said, cutting me off slightly.

"Okay, thank you." I turned back to Dan "You want me to explain everything?"

His eyes lit up. "Yes! God yes! I have no idea what h-" I silenced him with a raised hoof.

I sighed. "This really is a shame. Well... you see, Dan...

Author's Note

Updated: 11/11/15
-Fixed stuff (can't remember anything, stuff is happening)

(Vicissit is pronounced: Vi-sis-it. By the way. It derives from the word Vicissitude, do your own research into what that word means if you want to know. I didn't even know it existed until I found it today.)

There, that explained everything. Kinda. Don't worry, answers are coming. Don't be afraid to ask questions in the comments, I will answer them, I won't take offence, I know I miss bits of information I mean to put in sometimes. Plus, if you tell me stuff I have not explained, I can put that explanation in one of the later chapters, so the other people will know too! It helps everyone, so please, You see anything amiss in these chapters, please tell me so I can attempt to fix it.

This chapter is formatted slightly differently, because it's written by someone other than Dan. That's how it works now? K?

Chapter 23: Trying To Understand (Emphasis On 'Trying')

Celestia sighed. "This really is a shame. Well... you see, Dan..." She paused.

The door opened slightly, we both turned sharply to look at it. The entire room was deathly silent, so the noise alerted us both very quickly.

And there was Chrome, standing in the doorway and looking slightly embarrassed at the attention. "Sorry, did I interrupt something? I'm here to get Ebony... we kind of... forgot him."

I looked over to Ebony, he was still out cold. I shrugged. "Yeah, just come and get him. I would help you, but... something... stopped me last time."

Celestia looked away from me and slightly upwards for a couple seconds, then said. "Yes, I believe he was trying to help Ebony. Don't worry, I'll sort this out." She turned to Chrome. "Please, feel free to escort Ebony to his room, all he needs is rest."

Chrome seemed nervous about entering the room for some reason, but eventually dragged Ebony out of the room. By his tail. Not the best why of doing it, but it worked, I guess.

Celestia turned back to me and produced a large stack of paper, courtesy of her magic. She magic'd me a couple sheets of paper from the top of the pile. They were covered with writing on both sides. There was a quill rapidly writing on the top page, another blank sheet of paper replaced the top one as soon as she took it. She dispelled the large stack of paper, it disappeared in a pop of golden magic.

Celestia continued. "This is my log, a diary of sorts. It writes down everything I do in a way that I can go back to and read. In case I need to review a situation. These pages are of the last couple hours, read them through. While you are doing that, I will try to figure out what is happening here."

I took the pages out of her magical grasp, thanked her and walked over to a window, using the moon as a reading-lamp. I think Luna would be happy with me.

From what I could tell, the text she gave me was very close to 3000 or so words long. So it took me about half-an-hour to read. I was not a fast reader, nor an experienced one. Not to mention the fact I had to wrap my head around the fact of what actually just happened. I had no idea how, though. I had a feeling Celestia was about to give me another lecture on how magic worked, and that didn't go very well the last time.

So turns out, that invisible 'wall' was actually an ancient changeling queen or something. And for some reason, I could not see her, even though 'seeing things' is kinda my specialty here, having these 'powers' and all.

I finished the pages of text and walked back over to Celestia. She halted her one-sided conversation and took the pages from me, they disappeared in the same magical flare that the stack they came from did.

She smiled slightly. "I think, think, I know what has happened."

I put out my arms. "Well, your doing better than me, lay it on me."

She gave me a smug look. "You're not going to interrupt?"

I sighed. "Fine, I promise I won't interrupt."

She nodded happily. "Thank you, it is crucial that you understand what I am about to say."

She paused. For a very long time. I knew what she was doing, but I wanted to get this over and done with. I opened my mouth to speak, but she continued, with a mischievous grin.

Her voice remained serious. "Dan, I theorize that the reason you can see through my invisibility spell is because the magic used by me to cloak myself reflects off of the magic that is contained in you, since it is such an odd frequency. But, the reason you could see through Ebony's disguise may not have been for the same reason. I saw that in the memories I extracted from you and placed on the com-scroll a while ago, that you can see green specs in Ebony's eyes, yes?"

I nodded, not wanting to speak.

"This is not because you can see through shape-shifting magic, as I originally thought. You can only 'see through' invisibility. The fact is that changeling magic itself is invisible to you. Changeling disguises physically changes the changeling, and thus you can see it. But you could not, for example, see the aura of effect when Ebony lifted his wine-glass with his magic, could you?"

I thought back to when I was teaching Ebony to use the guitar. It never lit with that magical light that unicorns have. I shook my head, slightly shocked I didn't notice.

Celestia smiled. "So, you can see their disguises since they are physical changes. But you cannot see their magic itself."

I raised my hand.

Celestia rolled her eyes. "Fine."

I lowered my hand again. "Then why could I see Ebony's laser spell?" He had used it in the cave. Almost hit me.

"For the same reason you can see their disguises. It is a physical object. Well... laser in this case. The laser is not actually changeling magic, it is produced by changeling magic. Also, the specs you see in their eyes are actually their luminescent retinas. They use a spell to suppress them when they are disguised, but that is their magic, so you can still see it. Their retinas produce light, that is why Ebony's eyes glow slightly, it is also the source of their night-vision."

I thought for a second. "Okay... that actually kinda makes sense, considering it's magic we're talking about."

"Yes, I have been 'dumbing it down' slightly for you." She said, maintaining her goddamn grin.

"Gee thanks. But that does not explain why I can't see the-"

"What was that about not interrupting?" She asked, cutting me off. I gave her a blank stare. "Good. Now, I was getting to that."

She straightened herself slightly. "The reason you cannot see her, is that she used a changeling method of teleportation. So, in laypony's terms, she is covered, inside and out, in residual changeling magic. She is practically made of it right now. So you cannot see or hear her, since you cannot see or hear her magic."

I wasn't about to ask how teleporting worked, that speech would never end, if it were to start. So I just stood in silence and nodded my head, understanding somewhat, or at least trying to.

She continued. "So, in theory, eventually she will re-appear, into your vision. But it will take about a week, if we do not find a way to rid her of the residual magic."

I raised my hand.

Celestia rolled her eyes again. "We are working on a way to rid her of it, don't-" She turned away from me, craning her neck upwards slightly. "Pardon?... Oh, no. I don't think that would work." "Yes, but you would still contain the residual magic." "Yes, that would work, but then I would be invisible!" She said, laughing slightly.

I shrugged. "Hey, maybe it would be an improvement."

She gave me a mock-glare. She gave herself away by smiling. "Yes Dan, but it would also be rather bad for my health. So unless you have some 'out-side-of-the-box' human ideas, we'll just have to wait it out."

I thought for a second. "Use a bunch of magic, to use up all the residual stuff." I said, pointing a confident finger at the ceiling.

Celestia shook her head. "No Dan, it's the spells that create the 'residual stuff'."

"Oh... hmm, use a vacuum cleaner to suck it all up? I hear it works on ghosts, maybe it works on magic too."

She blinked. "...Vacoom cleaner?"

"Oh yeah, nevermind. It's a human thing."

She shook her head. "Sadly it seems we will have to wait." She turned back to the invisible figure. "I will however still have a team of my best unicorns try and figure out a way of speeding up the process."

There was silence for a couple seconds. I was not sure if the Queen was speaking or not, so I just waited, it seemed I had annoyed her enough already. Even if I didn't mean to.

Eventually, Celestia glanced back at me and said. "That would be rather sweet of you. I am sure Dan would like you to."

"I would like to what?" I asked.

Celestia fully turned towards me. "Queen Vicissit-" I am guessing she was cut off. She snorted a chuckle. "Vicissit would like to converse with you. Privately."

I blinked. "Erm, how do you plan on doing that?" I said, trying to look at the invisible Queen, but I probably missed.

Celestia answered for her. "She will follow you to room 271, I believe you have been there before?" I nodded. "There is a pencil and paper waiting in that room, she will converse through her writing."

"Hmm, good idea. Follow me, I... guess. I can't see you so... er... just... make sure to follow me." I said, awkwardly shuffling towards the door.

Celesti giggled. "She says she'll be fine. You two run along now, I have got a sun to raise tomorrow, so I have to get at least some sleep."

We all headed out of the doors, Celestia and me parted ways at the hallway, both going in different directions.

I looked back, seeing nothing but dark and empty hallways.

"I trust you are still following me?" I asked.

I got no response. I was about to reiterate when I felt a nudge on my shoulder, I turned and saw nothing.

"Oh, you're there. Okay, this'll sound weird, but can I keep a hand on you while we are walking, just so I know you have not ran off somewhere, and so I don't feel like crazy guy talking to thin air?"

I got no response aside from another nudge.

"Oh yeah... err, two taps for 'yes, you can keep a hand on me' and one tap for 'no, you can't'." I said.

I received two hits to my shoulder. I smiled.

"Thanks." I reached out, my hand around the height of Celestia's shoulders. Nothing. After a couple of very weird seconds of waiting, a surface touched my hand. "I'm guessing that's your shoulder?" The surface pulled back and hit my hand twice. "Oh okay, good."

Then the surface rose into the air, once it had stopped my hand was level with my head. "That's your shoulder?!" It nudged twice. "Wow, okay. No offence, but you are very large. Vertically, not... the other... direction... you know what I meant... You're tall."

I felt the surface shake slightly. She was laughing at me, great.

Eventually we made it to room 271, it was set up just like last time, two large sofa-chairs facing each other with a small desk in-between. But this time, it was my turn to sit on the wrong side of the desk. As there was a small pad of paper and a pencil sitting there on the desk.

I held open the door and waited way longer than a probably should have then sat down on the sofa furthest from the paper and I guess Vicissit sat on the one in front of the paper.

"So, you got me here. What did you want to talk about?" I asked as I watched the paper lift off of the desk.

The pencil scribbled onto the paper for a couple seconds, before it turned around.

"You are not of this world, yes? Tell me about your world." It read in very neat writing.

"Oh boy, that's a lot of possible answers. More specific maybe?"

She wrote under it, "History. Where are your species on the evolutionary ladder, and how did it get there?"

I shook my head, smiling. "This is going to be long. But also rather fun. Plus, you will be the first one I have ever told any of this, so feel free to take notes."

The notepad returned to the desk, and the pencil pressed against the page in anticipation.

I smiled.

I told her all about the multiple theories on how we were created. The scientific versions and a couple religious versions. I explained what religions were, and why they existed, so that she could understand what I meant. I went through everything that I could remember that those biology lessons back at secondary school told me about how humans developed, slowly making more and more tools and machines.

Soon (Aka: a couple hours and a sunrise later) I was explaining present-day technology. I even threw in the wars that I knew anything about. She was what... 7500 years old was it? I am sure she could take it. And she did. Almost every word I said was recorded onto the note-pad.

Once I had finished, I looked out the window, seeing the red sky outside. "Wow, okay. I've got to get to sleep. You okay to find your room?" I asked.

On one of the few remaining plank pages she wrote, "Yes, Celestia told me how to get there while you were reading her Log."

I nodded and headed for the door. Then a thought struck me. "Hey, you're Ebony's Queen right?"

"Yes." Was written.

I smiled. "He is going to be absolutely thrilled to meet you. You know that?"

"Oh I do. He could barely contain himself as we talked telepathically for the first time in years."

I chuckled. "That's Ebony. Speaking of which I should really get back to my room. The time is beginning to catch up on me." I said tiredly as I waved, turned and began to leave.

But a tapping noise stopped me. I turned back around to see note pad hitting the desk gently. It read, "Why is your room related to my scout?"

Ah, I could have worded that better...

"Well, if I remember correctly, Celestia told you that Ebony was in a relationship?"

"Yes. She did."

"Well... I'm the other half of that relationship."

The note was still for a couple seconds, before, "You are the one that has fed him? For all this time?" was wrote.

"Oh no, only for the last couple months. But I am also the one who revealed he was a changeling. Celestia was not at all happy about that, so I took him away from Canterlot for a while. 25 days in fact. Celestia eventually calmed down, and we returned. While we were away, we had to survive on what we could find, so he got me food, and I fed him love. It was purely to survive at that point, nothing romantic about it. But after a while, we decided that we were good for each other and made it official. That's okay with you, right?"

The note was again, still for a while. But the pencil eventually wrote "It is fine with me, as long as He is safe. Have you been keeping him safe?"

I laughed slightly. "Oh yeah, I literally put myself between him and Celestia when he was revealed. And Celestia meant business from what I could tell. Plus, a while ago..." I raised my hand, showing the still tender scar on both sides of my hand. "...This happened. Some guy who fought against changelings... kinda, came into a restaurant we were eating in. He had a knife... This one in fact!"

I held up the large knife. The note was scribbled on. "What did you do? And how did you end up with his weapon?"

"I kinda jumped at him and impaled my hand on the knife, that's how I got the scar. We tussled and I won, he died. Simple as that. Though I did slam Ebony's face into his plate while getting him out of the way. That's why there is a scar on his face." Ebony's scar had faded significantly, but was still there if you looked for more than a couple seconds.

"That explains his scar then. Thank you for doing these acts for Ebony's safety. Consider me in your debt." The note read.

"I would be a gentleman and refuse your debt, but I have learned that having royalty to back you up is a very good means to get out of things. Like, Celestia managed to get me out of having to spend time in jail once. Yes she had to kill herself and frame me for her murder, but it worked in the end." I said, chuckling slightly.

The note shook slightly. "Yes, Celestia seems to have a weird way of thinking sometimes."

"She certainly does." I said.

We exchanged some rather awkward and papery goodbyes and I left. Heading back to mine and Ebony's room. I opened the door and walked in, finding Chrome asleep on one of the couches, with a note beside him.

It read: "He said he was going to 'guard' Ebony. But I suspect he will fall asleep before you get back, Dan. Please leave him where he sits. - Luna

PS: Despite what Luna thinks, I am STILL awake. - Chrome st-" The ink trailed off the page.

The quill used to write the note was still held in Chrome's mouth... somehow. I took it out of his teeth so he didn't choke or anything.

I rolled my eyes and walked into the bedroom, Ebony was under the sheets. Smiling as he slept. Thanks Luna. She must have been giving him a nice dream or something while he was recovering.

I carefully laid down beside him, making sure not to disturb him. He needed his rest, from what I had heard. It took me a while to fall asleep, as I had slept against the wall outside the throne room that evening. But I eventually drifted away.

***

"Is he well"

I looked around me, a black void.

"Oh, sorry." She said. "This must be your first time. Let me help you with that."

The void around me faded. I found myself standing on a street corner. Houses and cars lined the roads.

"The hell?" I whispered under my breath as I looked around.

"This is a dream." She said from behind me. I screamed and turned, leaping back slightly. It was just Luna. "I am sorry, I did not mean to scare you."

I collected myself and stepped back up the curb I had fell off of. "No, no it's okay." I looked around again, it was strange to see my world again. "This is a dream?"

"Yes, this is a dream. Your dream. I used a familiar memory to create it's surroundings." She looked at a car, then up at a telephone pole. "Though I don't understand what much of this is."

I shrugged. "Human stuff. So what do you need?" I asked. Looking back to her. I tried to look casual, but I was still freaking out slightly on the inside.

"I wanted to know if Ebony was okay, as well as whether or not your meeting with his Queen went well. Celestia said you could not see her?"

"Ebony is fine, the meeting went well and no, I can't see her. Something to do with me not being able to see changeling magic, something like that. She had to talk to me through writing, since I cannot hear her either."

"Okay, that is nice. I will leave you to this dream." She said, turning and walking towards a portal of some kind.

"Wait!" I yelled, she turned her head. "What do I do here?"

She looked at me as if I was stupid. "Anything you want. It's your dream. Did you not have dreams back on your world?" She asked, looking slightly concerned.

"Not like this, no. The only dreams I ever had were all jumbled and meaningless. And I've forgotten most of the ones I have ever had. I've never been in anything like this before. It feels like I'm awake. Like, actually here."

She smiled. "Well, have fun." She said as she walked through the portal and it closed behind her.

I looked around the landscape. It was just down the road from my old house. Have fun? Anything I want? How? I looked down at my hands.

"Erm... fireball!" I pointed at a car. Nothing. "Aw..." I tried again, really trying this time. "Ffffffireball!" I thrust both my hands towards the car. Nothing.

"Well... this sucks." I closed my eyes and held out my hands. "Rocket launcher." I opened my eyes and looked down at my hands. Nothing.

I sighed and began walking down the street, going in no particular direction. I screamed as a portal suddenly opened next to me and Luna fell into me.

"Luna, what the hell?!" I yelled as I stood up.

She quickly righted herself, pointing her horn about the place. "I have detected violent entities trying to be created, did they make it in? I tried to stop them!"

"I tried to blow something up. Is that what you mean?"

She blinked. "You made those violent entities?"

"I... guess so. Let them in for a sec."

She looked unsure, but nodded. "Okay, I am no longer protecting this dream."

I held out both my hand and closed my eyes. "Rocket launcher." She didn't look any different, but apparently she changed something, because my arms were hit with an impossibly light and very typical-looking RPG. Probably from a game or something.

I looked to Luna with a face of pure joy. She looked to me in fear. "Dan... what is that?"

I pointed it down the street at a local shop and pulled the trigger. A projectile launched from the barrel and hit the shop. Turning it into a rain of rubble, budget food items and celebratory cards. "Yeeeahhh!" I yelled. "That was awesome. Thanks Luna. Literally, like, the best princess. Celestia never gave me a rocket launcher!"

She stood there and watched the dust settle for a couple seconds. "Dan... you're insane."

I looked to her, she flinched as the newly reloaded weapon pointed in her general direction. "Yeah, Celestia said the same thing a while ago." I pointed the rocket right at her. "What happens to ponies that die in dreams?"

She stared at me in fear. "...They wake up... wh-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence.

I woke up laughing. So hard in fact I actually fell of the bed, it wasn't a long fall, so I was fine. I looked to the clock on my bed-side table. 7am. Looks like time works differently or something in dreams. I looked down at Ebony as I stood, he was still out cold. Wow, he really DOES need his rest.

I stood and composed myself slightly. "What happens to ponies..." I chuckled as I walked out of the bedroom and into the main section of the apartment. "Celestia was right, I really am insane."

"I would certainly say so." I looked up from the floor to find Luna sitting by Chrome on the sofa, who was looking at me with a concerned brow.

Chrome spoke as I laughed and close the bedroom door behind me. "Why did you laugh just now?"

I shrugged, containing myself. "I killed Luna."

He stared at me, then looked to Luna, who sighed. "I gave him control over a dream last night. He created what I assume was a human-made weapon and-"

"Blasted her to pieces!" I finished for her. I didn't really get to see what the explosion did, as I assume it 'killed' me too. But I think it's safe to assume at least something came off in the blast, considering what it did to the shop.

Chrome looked like he was about to throw up. Luna just rolled her eyes. "Yes... you are lucky I like you Dan. The last pony to do something like that was sent to a mental institute and diagnosed with 6 different anti-social disorders."

I laughed. "Hey, I just like to blow things up sometimes."

They both gave me concerned looks as I casually whistled my way over to the kitchen and fixed myself some breakfast.

It's pancake time~

Author's Note

Updated:11/11/15
-Fixed grammar
-Fixed some tenses

Crisis averted, I think. That made sense to me. I spend the last couple days thinking about how to fix it and this was the best I could think of. The 2/3 day hiatus is over!!

Also, I made some more appropriate cover-art. I messed up a couple faces, but its better than the doodle I had beforehand. I made this one specifically for the fic, whereas I made the first one before I even began writing the thing. I didn't bother cleaning up the lines in the new one, I just needed something better than the first one. Plus I was bored and happened to have my tablet plugged in, it was the first thing that popped into my head. Probably because this fic has been plaguing my mind for the last couple days.

~~Oh and by the way, the new pic is 'Steve-Celestia-Dawn-Chrome-Luna' in the background.~~
~~And 'Ebony-Dan-Feather' in the foreground. Oh and the lantern, from the cave. I don't know why.~~ --Image Updated Since--

Chapter 42: Welcome To The Jungle (Part 2 of 4)

Birds were chirping and whistling when I awoke, though luckily the window of my bedroom was closed so they were muffled. Otherwise, I probably would have gone to the effort of making a gun just to shoot at them.

The door-frame rattled as someone knocked and called, "Dan? I have been sent to collect you." from the other side of the door. The voice was somewhat familiar and very clearly male.

The last thing I remembered from the night before was shaking hands with Discord. No matter what situation it is, that's usually not the best thing someone can do. But I knew what I was doing, or so I'd like to think at least.

My bad shoulder still pained, but it wasn't actually feeling too bad. Taking into account what happened last time I took some, I decided I didn't need the cadamene that day. A small voice in the back of my head told me to keep it until later.

I rolled in my bed, trying to shift position. In my half-minded state, I rolled to my right, right onto my still recovering shoulder. I jolted to my left, quickly sitting up, my legs hanging off the side of the mattress. Not exactly what I'd call a peaceful awakening, but I was very much awake, so who was I to complain.

I turned around, looking down at the bed. Ebony wasn't there. This concerned me slightly as I stood and walking to my drawers.

Since I didn't own any formal attire, I simply put on some of the more monochromatic variations of the clothing I did have. Closest thing to a suit I had.

Fearing my escort may have left, I quickly made my way to the door and swung it open. I lept back slightly at the sight of the royal guard, he seemed slightly surprised as well.

"I knew I recognized that name!" He said, pointing at me with a hoof. "And before you pull that 'do I know you' stuff; it's me, Midnight."

I then recognized his strangely deep voice. It's still odd hearing a voice that deep come from a creature with eyes that big. He was, as said, in guard-form, but he was missing his helmet and had his mane tied back in it's usual fashion.

I walked into the hall, circling him. I patted him roughly on the head as I passed him. "Oh hey. You showing me to those ceremony room things?" I asked, gesturing for him to lead down the hall.

He quickly fiddled with his hair, making sure I hadn't disrupted it. "That is what I said. Yes, this way." He said, beginning to walk down the hall slowly. I began to walk alongside him. a few steps into the walk, he turned to me and brought up a subject I knew was inevitable. "So, how's Feather?" He asked, almost tripping over his hoofs.

Shrugging, I said "I haven't seen her since I saw you last." causing his shoulders to droop in disappointment. "She'll probably be at this wedding though, so I'd keep an eye out."

"Really?" He asked excitedly.

I simply nodded to him as we continued walking. "Where are these halls then?" I asked, once I realized we were heading for the exit of the palace.

"They're embedded in the side of the mountain, carved into the rock." He said, leading me out into the streets. We turned and started heading in the general direction of the mountain that pushed up past the city and into the clouds.

"Oh, cool. So, what, you guarding the wedding or something?" I asked.

He shrugged, "I just so happened to be on duty in the hall they're using. Some guy told me to go and get you."

"Griffin?" I asked, "Big guy? Blue hat, suit?"

"Yeah that's him." He said, nodding. "Clearly you know eachother. But, if you don't mind me asking, how do you know him?"

I shrugged, "Well... One day, I kinda needed to talk to Celestia, so I kicked him in the face." I said, stopping for a moment to do a recreational kick. I knew for a fact I had used my knee, not my foot, but it looked better the other way.

The conversation paused slightly as Midnight looked at me suspiciously. "You kicked that guy?"

"Yep."

"...And you're going to his wedding."

"Yep."

He sighed as he continued to lead me, "You two better not get in a scrap. He's brought half of the griffin population along by the looks of the reserved seating on his side of the room."

"Oh great, more griffins." I said, sounding sarcastic. But I was actually looking forward to seeing what griffins looked like aside from Steve. "What about the Bride's side of the room?" I asked, figuring the room was similar to a conventional church.

He thought, "...No one related, by the looks of it. 'Friends of the family' but no actual family. Why?"

"Just wondering."

He lead me up to a rather unassuming door. It was slightly indented into the stone face of the mountain where the houses and walls all stopped abruptly. Two steps lead up to the small wooden door, inscribed beside it in the stone were the words "Ceremony halls".

He stopped outside of the door and turned to me, looking me up and down. "You taking those off or what?"

I blinked, looking down at myself, "My... clothes?" He nodded. "...Why?"

"Don't you know?"

"No! That's why you're here!" I yelled, I couldn't help a smile coming to my face though. "I know nothing about this stuff."

"Oh yeah." He mumbled, smirking at his own importance. "Well, to put it simply, it's kind of offensive to attend a wedding while wearing clothes that aren't ceremonial, unless you're the bride or groom, or if it's a really high-budget wedding or something." He tapped the side of his head, "'Is why I'm not wearing a helmet. The other bits are mandatory though." He said, gesturing to the metal laying over his back and around his chest.

I looked at my clothes, "I am not taking these off." I said, steadfast.

"Suit yourself." He said in his bass-y voice. "You get in a scrap with those griffins, I ain't helping."

With that, he pushed through the door and lead me in. Inside was a incredibly wide room, about as wide as two or three throne rooms lined up. About fifty feet across from the door was a wall which spanned the entire width of the room and was lined with six large double-doors, similar to those used in the throne room. They were spaced equally down the long wall. Each door was open, showing large rooms all fitted with rows of pews, an isle cut down the middle of them and a slightly raised platform of stone at the end of the room.

The entire place was cut into the side of the cliff, the walls and floors were the same smooth grey rock. Each room was lit with a fissure-like hole in the ceiling which let sunlight down into the room in rays that danced off the light specs of dust floating around the ceiling. I couldn't help but fear for the safety of my lungs.

"They'll be in the last room to the right, number six." Midnight said, beginning the walk off down the room towards the door in question, "Feel free to have a look around, it's not starting for at least another ten minutes."

Breaking my eyes from the empty room infront of me, I looked to him and called, "Thanks!"

He silently accepted it with a wave of a hoof as he continued to make his way towards the sixth doorway down the wall.

I looked back to the room infront of me and continued to gaze at it. It didn't force happiness down your throat, like the setting of a human wedding. The grey walls showed this quite well. But with the golden sunlight shining down upon the slightly raised area where the bride and groom would make their vows, it held connotations of hope and simplistic beauty. More symbolic than the white plastic weddings I was used to seeing.

It was beautiful in a very natural way.

"Hey, you here early too?" A voice said from behind me.

I jumped and turned around startled. It was just Chrome, who now had a smug grin spreading across his face, seeing that he had scared me.

"I spook you?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes and peered over my shoulder, looking back into the room. "Yeah, I was just you know... Lost in thought."

He scoffed. "Lost in thought... Nerd."

"...Said the scientist to the unemployed money-grabber." I countered.

"Whatever" he sighed, smiling at his own defeat. He began heading across the room, "Come on. They're going to be in room six, I'll wait with you."

I shrugged and began to walk alongside the pegasus. "Yeah, Midnight told me they'd be using room six."

He turned to me, "Midnight?" He asked with an innocent curiosity I hadn't seen from him in a while.

"One of the guards." I said, trying not to make a big deal of it. After all, most of my friends were, at some point, in the military.

He rolled his eyes and continued to look where he was going, "You and your friends in high places." He sighed.

We reached the door and turned, it was the same as the other room, except this one was decorated with rings of flowers hanging on the walls. They looked like lilies, but, with me being not only from an another world, but also being an average male, I could never have been sure. They were hung in a similar fashion to reeves at Christmas, except with less spiky leafs and more petals.

There were six guards, all helmetless. Three along each wall. I could tell which one was Midnight by the fact that he was the only on with his hair tied back, the other five had much more sensible cuts. Ones that could be easily hidden by a helmet if they had one.

Me and Midnight shared a glance as I followed Chrome to a pew on the left of the isle, second from the front. We sat in it's center, leaving room for about two or three ponies next to Chrome and maybe one next to me.

Placing myself in one of those long chairs sparked off a few old memories, past weddings I had attended and the few times I went to church for a Sunday morning. This made me realize something. I turned to Chrome, who already had his mouth open to say something. Whatever he was going to say was interrupted. "Wait, we never had a bachelor party for Steve. Or did I miss it?"

Chrome seemed relieved I had said something, "Griffin ways. They have two parties at the same time after the wedding." He said, shrugging. One of the guards rolled his eyes subtlety in one of the corners. "One for the groom and stallions, one for the bride and mares."

"In the same place? Or..."

"Nope. In two completely different places, zero contact."

"That doesn't seem very romantic."

"Yeah, but it's an old tradition derived from... hunting and survival or something. Which is romantic in it's own way... Kinda."

I hummed, wondering what could have caused this tradition. Maybe the two had to hunt separately to show they could survive independently? How 'old' is he talking here?

"They are good parties though." He added, his tone turning the strange kind of serious that is usually only ever used when explaining how bad things are. "Imagine the most ridiculous bachelor party, now times that by ten in both length and ridiculousness."

It was hard to judge just what a 'ridiculous bachelor party' was when it came to ponies. So I said the only thing I could think to say when encountered with a social event I knew nothing about. "Well, what should I wear?"

His gaze hardened slightly, "Anything you don't mind getting a little dirty."

That's when I knew it was safe to assume I was right to ditch the innocent possibilities for just how insane this party was going to be. "And when does it start?" I asked, becoming slightly anxious.

"Begins as soon as they're wed. Ends at noon."

I blinked, "...It's basically noon now..."

He grinned, "Noon, tomorrow."

I mumbled something I probably shouldn't have said, given I was in probably the closest thing to a church in existence. I was excited, a party's a party. But I was also slightly terrified at what I might end up seeing or doing by the end of the night, which wasn't due for another 24 hours apparently. I made a mental note to not have too many drinks, lest I do something I might regret.

A mental note I forgot much too soon.

I heard some iconically light hoofsteps approaching us from behind, I twisted and leaned over the back of the pew to see Ebony, head hung low and eyes barely open, trotting towards us. Me and Chrome shared a worried glance as he dropped into the small space next to me.

"Hey, you ain't looking so good." I said as Chrome leaned forward to look past me. "I haven't seen much of you. Something wrong?" I think we could both see he was exhausted.

Ebony leaned back in the seat, letting his head hang off the back of the chair lazily. "I... didn't get any sleep last night. My Queen... needs me to..." His words trailed off as his eyes drifted closed.

I reached over to shake him lightly but a grey hoof pulled on my shoulder. My good one, luckily. "Let him sleep." He said quietly, "He needs it. Luna told me what they were doing with him and his Queen. I can explain it."

I moved my hand away from the changeling and turned back to Chrome. "What are they doing? He's completely exhausted!" I whispered.

"In short, an in non-magical terms, -" Finally, someone who knows how to talk to me. "-his Queen is getting 'food' and they don't know why. It doesn't feel like love, but it's similar, apparently. Ebony's been experiencing the same thing. It's coming from the north east, which is where that other Queen went off to after you teapotted her like a bea-" I quickly placed my hand over his muzzle, squeezing his jaw shut.

"Can we skip this sentence?"

He shook his head, I felt a smirk spread across his face with my palm. I narrowed my eyes and pushed my palm forward onto his nose and placed my thumb under his chin. His eyes widened when he realized I now had full control over whether or not he could breathe.

It was an old method of subduing dogs; block the nose with the palm, keep the mouth shut and you've got a dog at your mercy with just one hand, as long as it wasn't a particularly strong dog. I had learned it from my old boss, back in the music shop. He practically collected dogs and knew a lot of people with dogs, so there was often people coming into the store with them, since he allowed them in as long as they were behaved. He didn't want me to get caught off guard though, so he taught me a few of his techniques.

Usually, I'd have used my other hand to hold the scuff of their neck, or keep their paws down. But since it was in a sling, I couldn't really do that with Chrome. But he seemed too shocked to think to use his hooves.

I held Chrome's breath for him until he caved and nodded rapidly along with a few muffled 'okay's.

As soon as I let go of him, he gasped for breath, but tried his best to stay quiet, glancing at Ebony, who was still asleep. "Don't... ever do that again." Chrome rasped, still catching his breath.

"No promises." I said, "You were saying?"

Chrome took a few seconds to collect himself. "Basically... they are trying to find out what the 'food' is. And they need all the information they can get. Ebony's one of the two ponies who can even have any, so their's a lot of information they need to get from him. They were planning on taking a small trip up north tomorrow, just the two of them."

I turned to Ebony, who was still passed out in a very uncomfortable-looking position. "Why didn't I know about this..?" I mumbled.

"Let him off, he's been really busy." Chrome wagered. "It's not like you had anything planned."

I was about to answer when a collection of clicks and clacks started to echo from the hall outside of the room, along with a few chuckles of laughter. Me and Chrome looked to eachother, he pointed at Ebony worriedly.

"Chrome, hide your innocent eyes!" I shouted, pushing him over with a firm shove to the chest before turning to Ebony and throwing myself into his shoulder chin-first, wrapped my good arm around him until it rested on his other shoulder.

Ebony jolted and let out a short yelp. He looked down at me with wide eyes before he figured out what was happening. "Oh, I haven't had enough of this." He said, turning in my ~~arms~~ arm and returning the gesture.

"I know," I said quietly as I heard the sound of claws on stone reach the door, "I need you awake, we've got company."

I pulled away from him, leaving him with a wide smile and a little more will to stay awake. I composed myself, sitting up straight before looking to Chrome, I saw he was already back up and smiling at me. "Shut up." I mumbled.

"It's nice to see!" He said in an offended tone. "You two don't-"

"I will push you again."

He rolled his eyes and crossed his front hooves to his chest like a spoiled child. I could still see the small remnants of a smirk emerging though. I ignored this and turned my attention to the crowd who had just entered the room.

Thirty-odd griffins came in and immediately dominated one side of the pews, luckily, the column were weren't on. I tried to decipher what they were saying, but after a while I realized most of them were actually just communicating through a series of avian chirps, purrs and clicks. They were a very diverse group, some were larger than Steve and more bear-like in stature, while some were no bigger than the average pony. Their bird-like features also varied, some were regal looking eagles with angular, chiseled faces and large beaks, while some others had more rounded features, smaller beaks and larger, more circular eyes. Their colors ranged from black, brown, white and some more red or purple hues. Nothing overly saturated though.

Their vastly differing appearances were enhanced by the strange apparel some of them were sporting. Some of the older females had wooden beads dangling alongside the long feathers atop their head and many of them had what looked like hand-knitted scarves and ponchos made out of waywardly mismatched colors of thread. A few of them had small pipes held in their beaks, causing small columns of grey smoke to rise from the crowd.

Each of them had a small band around one of their arms, each with a flower tucked into it which was reminiscent of those on the walls.

Me and the two ponies sitting with me observed in silence. Me and Chrome were taking quick and frequent glances at the griffins, while Ebony, probably unaware of himself, stared at the group. As I took another look at the griffins, I was taken aback slightly by a pair of amber eyes staring back at me from across the room. Slowly, the twittering quieted down as more and more of the griffins noticed us and began to stare back.

The guards around the room shifted on their hooves. The movement of their armor was the only sound in the room for a split second. But since staring at eachother was probably not going to help at all, I decided to take the situation head on and speak up.

"Do any of you know..." I paused mid-sentence and leaned towards Chrome and quickly whispered, "What do you call this language?"

"Equestrian! Equestrian!" He whispered back through his teeth.

I rose back up into my seat and acknowledged the griffins again. Their eyes collectively shifted from Ebony to me as I did so. "Do any of you know, er... Equestrian?"

The group all looked to eachother and mumbled to one another. A particularly large drake sat up slightly and pointed to an older-looking hen. "We all speak little. She is best." He said in a voice that rivaled Midnight's on the bass-scale. The group all turned and nodded in mutual agreement.

The female lifted her head to pear over the crowd. "I suppose I am." She sounded regale, but had the aged look of someone who was at very least down-to-earth. "Which do you know, Rosewood or Dawn Skies?" She inquired. "Or are you here merely to observe?" She followed her sentence with more avian sounds, after watching the expressions of the griffins around her, I think she was relaying what she had said to me in their language. The group's eyes darted between the three of us, though Ebony was getting a lot of attention he wasn't too comfortable getting.

Chrome decided to speak for us all and stood on his chair to peer over me at the griffin. "We're friends with both of... them." Chrome said, starting off strong, then losing confidence mid sentence.

I decided to back him up, or at least distract the griffins from his flopped sentence. "Yeah, Steve hasn't told you about us?"

"St...eve?" She stuttered, causing a few mumblings to start up in the surrounding griffins.

Chrome groaned and smacked his hoof into his forehead. Ebony gulped nervously and shuffled away from the griffins slightly and pressed up against me, all the while keeping eye contact with the increasingly skeptical griffins. They were still eyeing us with peeked interest.

I decided to take a little gamble, "Er... 'Steve' is somewhat of a nickname. You can blame me for that one." I said, raising a hand honestly, "It's a name from my... erm... culture."

The old hen stayed silent and scanned my face. Less than a second later, her expression lighted and addressed the griffins around her with another round of clicks and chirps. They all seemed to nod in approval and a few small conversations started within the crowd.

"What's going on? What are they saying?" I asked, slightly concerned. I don't think anyone would be too comfortable with that many griffins in one place. Steve was rather threatening on his own, let alone his family and friends.

The older griffin turned back to me, a proud smile on her face. "We are just happy that little Rosewood has managed to settle here. We were skeptical when he left home..." She said, a touch of sadness leaking into the last few words.

A small smirk had to be pushed back at the word "little". It wasn't the word I would have used to describe Steve. It did make me wonder what her relation to Steve was though.

An avian whistle and a single click came from the doorway. All the griffins sat in the pews instantly turned and responded with the same whistle and click. They all briefly lifted their chins as they did so and it seemed subconscious, telling me it was probably a greeting of some kind.

Turning to the doorway, I was rather surprised to see Feather walking into the room, giving quick waves and acknowledging gestures to the griffins.

A few metal badges swung on Feather's chest as she walked. They were clipped to her fur and were very clearly of military origin. I decided not to ask her what they were for, she probably wouldn't appreciate that.

As she made her way to the pew infront of us, a few griffins shot some statements at her which I, obviously, couldn't understand. A small smile promptly appeared on Feather's face which could only be described as 'bashful', which was odd to see on her usually composed complexion. It made me curious as to what they must have said to elicit such a reaction, or more importantly, why?

Part of me didn't want to know.

"You three are here early." Feather said, sounding somewhat cheery. "How are you doing?" She asked, aiming the question at no one in particular as she sat infront me.

Chrome shrugged limply and Ebony passively mumbled something about being 'fine'. I just pointed to my sling.

"The usual then." She sighed, turning back around to face the front of the... let's call it a church.

The church fell fairly silent, since the avian language being tossed about by the griffins next to us was fairly quiet, aside from the occasional ruckus of boisterous laughter. In the echo-y chambers of the church, I could here the tapping of hoofs idly walking around in the large hallway outside of the room.

I realized something, before giving a short glare at Chrome. "What about you?" I asked Feather, "How are you doing?"

Chrome looked slightly ashamed. Ebony thumped my side with a hoof, defending Chrome in a somewhat sarcastic manor.

She turned around to look at me, slightly shocked, "I'm, uh, fine." She said, before forcing a toothy smile and returning her attention to the front of the room. As she turned her head, her eyes caught something which caused her to double-take for a split second. During her second take, her eyes were harsh and calculating, narrowing into a suspicious glare. For that tiny moment, I could see the machinery inside her head turning at full capacity. As she looked at the front of the room, she didn't give the area so much as a third glance.

Chrome's eyes were bulging and he was frantically trying to get my attention with a rapid tapping of my shoulder, but I ignored him momentarily and looked to the area Feather had been distracted by for that split second.

There, standing in his post, was Midnight. He had the face of a child who got caught stealing cookies and was having his punishment decided in the other room.

I gave him a questioning look, to which he simply gestured to Feather with a few movements of his terrified eyes. There was a small amount of excitement behind his terror, probably because his chosen mare just looked at him. The terror was probably due to the way she looked at him.

Since I couldn't really help Midnight in any way, I leant my head towards Chrome and whispered, "What?"

Putting a hoof to my face, he forced me to look at him. "She said 'uh'." He mouthed silently.

I remembered what Chrome had said about Feather stuttering; it meant something was wrong. And since she said it before she noticed Midnight (who was probably just giving her gooey eyes or something) it can't have been him. She stuttered before she left to find Dawn, an action that came out of nowhere. Dawn had been missing for years by then, so randomly searching for her didn't really make much sense to me.

I made a mental note to ask her why she did that if I were put into a position where it would be polite to ask.

The trotting I could hear outside of the room began to pass by the door. Half of it stopped. "Look at the pretty bird-ies mommy!" A small voice said from the doorway, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.

It was a small earth-pony colt. He didn't even flinch as everyone turned to look at him. The same could not be said for the mare just ahead of him, who I assume was his mother. She froze and smiled nervously at the hall full of predatory stares coming from the griffins.

Chrome had whipped his head around a lot faster than the rest of us at the sound of the voice with a hopeful expression on his face. This expression faded once he had time to look at the pair in the doorway.

Feather, who seemed eager to distract herself, waved her hoof at the mare, gesturing her to come into the room. "Come on in! I swear, their harmless enough." she called, referring to the griffins.

Not exactly helping Feather's point, a few deep chuckles came from the crowd of griffins. The mare didn't look too convinced as she slowly began to shuffle towards her son.

"Come on mommy!" The colt whined, "Look, they've got kids too!" He said, pointing a stubby hoof into the group. Turning my head, I saw a small griffin who's head and feet were far too big for it's fluffy body, peaking over the back of one of the pews and staring curiously at the foal.

The mare looked about frantically for a split second before looking down at her wrist. "Why... Won't you look at the time... We'd best be off! Come on!" She called nervously to her son.

I would like to point out that her wrist was completely void of anything watch-like.

Her son sighed as she dragged him away from the door by his tail.

Half the griffins laughed, while the other half sighed in what sounded like disappointment. There was a clear relation between the griffin's reaction and their gender, as the laughter was distinctly male.

Feather just smiled and huffed, falling back down into her seat.

The tiny griffin looked crest-fallen.

As the mother left, foal in tow, a small crowd of ponies came into the room. Their hooves were light and respectful and most of them wore similar badges to Feather but most were a little more lack-luster. They filed in and filled the spaces either side of Feather and the large space to the left of Chrome. As they passed us, Ebony got quite a few unsavory looks, though most stopped when I responded with a look of my own.

I also got a few looks, probably either because I was... well, a bipedal monkey or because I was wearing clothes to a wedding.

Soon after them was a similarly sized crowd made up of relatively normal looking ponies, they filled the pews behind us and I couldn't shake the feeling of having holes burned into the back of my neck. I gave a glance to Ebony, his expression proved he was feeling the same.

Idle chatter filled the room. The griffins continued their chirping and Feather began to do what looked like some catching up with the veterans surrounding her. She gestured to Ebony a few times, so I assume she was explaining why exactly there was a changeling at their friend's wedding. The rows behind us began to mumble, but they stayed rather hushed.

I thought I'd contribute to the ambient noise, "You doing okay Eb?" I asked, turning to him.

He blinked his heavy eyes, as if having to process what I had said for a while. "...Very tired." He whispered.

"How 'bout you sleep now? I'll wake you up if stuff starts happening, promise."

He gave a dopey smile, nodded and simply collapsed in his seat. He laid down on the hard wooden seat, somehow making it look rather comfy, and used my knee as a pillow to rest his head on. By the looks of it, he was out in seconds.

"So," I said quietly, turning to Chrome. "Why'd you turn so fast when that kid spoke?"

He looked a little solemn for a second, "I thought I recognized the voice." He paused and forced his face back into a semi-neutral state. "You keeping those on then?" He asked, changing the subject and gesturing to my clothes with a hoof.

"Yes!" I kept my voice down for Eb, but it was obvious I wanted to yell. "It's making me insecure just being in a room full of naked things, especially when I'm made aware of it."

I caught sight of a wicked smirk spreading across Chrome's face.

"You have something witty to say, don't you." I sighed.

He didn't deny it. "You haven't been outside on a windy day, have you?"

I paused to think, "I... Have. Why?

He continued as if I hadn't said anything. "Oh I remember my days as an adolescent. Looking out the window on a gusty day, watching the ponies and waiting for a well-timed gust in the right direction. It was hilarious to watch with a couple of mates, when we weren't out breaking or climbing stuff."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, confused as to where he was going with this.

"Well," he said, "A pony's tail, if the wind is strong enough, works a lot like a flag." To help me visualize, he put up two hooves, then moved the front hoof out of the way, revealing the hoof behind it.

It all clicked. "...Chrome you pervert." I whispered. He just chuckled. "I will never unsee that now."

"Hey, I was young and immature!" He said defensively with a smile still on his face.

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, now you're just old and immature." I could see him formulating a response before I even finished my sentence.

"Says the one who's species refuses to take their clothes off. And judging by your age I bet you'd do anything just to see one of your kind naked."

"I'd do anything just to see one of my kind, period." I retorted. Chrome stared at me in silence, his eyes became slightly moist. "I was joking... Too far?" To be honest, not my smartest move, I mean, he had what basically amounted to a mental breakdown because he separated me from my kind.

He nodded and wiped his eyes with the back of a hoof before the moisture could gather. "Too far." He sounded like he just took a speeding anvil to the gut.

"Sorry." I whispered, then decided silence was probably the best course of action and used my mobile hand to idly scratch at Eb's ear.

After a little while of waiting, during which time a few wandering ponies had gathered by the door and were simply watching out of interest, an elderly pony walked up the isle and stood on the raised platform.

I shook Eb, who was practically putty at that point, by his shoulder. "Come on, Eb. Something's happening."

Slowly sitting up, Ebony rubbed at his face and looked around. Realizing where he was, he sighed groggily and sat back up into his chair, leaning on me heavily. As much as this was pulling on my bad shoulder, I thought it was best that he got as much rest as possible.

This rest, however, was short lived.

"All rise for the bride and groom!" The elderly pony called. It was more of a request than a command, but everyone in the room who was sitting stood, and all those who were standing straightened.

I felt rather out of place standing in a place like that. Being about one-point-five times taller than the tallest griffin in the room made me feel like a blot on a landscape. Like a pylon in a forest.

Ebony had a particularly hard time standing, but after a few sluggish movements, he was there. Basically.

"Bride and groom?" I whispered to Chrome, crouching slightly to reach his ear, "They come out at the same time?"

Chrome turned to me to respond, but Feather shushed us with a less-than-subtle "SSHHH".

Hearing footsteps, the two columns of pews, myself included, turned to the doorway. There, walking somewhat casually, through the doorway was Steve and Dawn.

Now, when one imagines wedding attire, one thinks of sharp suits and long, flowing dresses.

Here, that was only half right.

Steve was in the suit I had seen him in earlier, navy blue with a white shirt and black tie. It seemed to have been loosened since I had last saw him, as his chest looked less restricted and he looked a lot more comfortable.

Dawn however... She simply wore a few white bands of fabric haphazardly tied in knots. There were two equally spaced on each of her legs and one passing over her forehead and behind her ears, keeping her hair back.

It was quite literally what she had worn when she was prepared for that battle that got called-off. Which, much to my displeasure, had been dubbed 'The Battle of Teapot' thanks to Chrome's new-found political influence. The perks of having a princess under your belt, I guess.

Needless to say, she didn't have the array of knifes she had last time she wore those. She did however have Ellie, her hammer-knife-spear hybrid weapon, balanced between the feathers of her outstretched wings.

It was slightly unnerving to see a fourteen-inch blade and a block of metal almost the size of a loaf of bread on the end of a pole in a church, of all places.

As they walked, a few of the griffins cupped their hands around their beaks and called in an avian tongue. Whatever they were saying, it put a smirk on Dawn's face, caused Feather to roll her eyes so hard I could tell she rolled them despite me being behind her and had Steve fighting not to laugh.

Once they reached the platform, they stood facing eachother either side of the elderly pony who made a downward hoof-motion, to which the two crowds both sat back down into their seats.

Ebony was very thankful to have something to lean on and took full advantage of the opportunity.

As we were sitting, Dawn whispered something into the older pony's ear. He nodded and seemed relieved.

"At the bride's request," The old pony said, "We'll skip the old-fashioned stuff, and get right to the point." There were a few quiet cheers of approval, most came from the griffins. "Do you, Dawn Skies, take this griffin as your husband."

I decided not to inquire on the differences between weddings here and the one's I am used to. Asking questions is kind of a waste of time if the answer is just going to be 'That's just the way it is here'.

Dawn smiled, but one of her back hooves was tapping against the floor rapidly, not hard enough to make a sound, but noticeable. "I do." She gestured to Steve with her eyes, clearly things were not going fast enough for her.

The elderly pony turned to Steve, "Do you-"

"I do." Steve interrupted, giving Dawn a smile.

The pony cleared his throat, "Okay, do either of you have memorial trinkets you would like to exchange?" They both shook their heads. "Then I pronounce you husband and wife. You may kis-"

"Oh jesus..." I sighed and I buried my head in my hands as Dawn shoved the pony out of the way and leapt at Steve.

Judging by the cheering and applause coming from the pews around me, again mainly the griffins, they were really going at it.

I peaked to my left, Chrome was doing the same as me and gave me an uneasy smile. I peaked to my right, Ebony was just watching with a small smile, though he did lick one of his fangs briefly. I assume the room was simply radiating love, among other things, but at least he was a lot more awake.

"Have a little respect you two." Feather scorned from the pew infront of us. Me and Chrome just shared another awkward look and shook our heads.

***

"So... party time?" I asked, looking to Chrome.

Me, Chrome and Ebony stood outside of the ceremony hall's entrance as the room poured out onto the streets, there were two distinct lines made of griffins and ponies heading in different directions, one male, one female. Both groups were making quite the ruckus and ponies were clearing off the streets, making way for the riot.

"Yep." He said, cheery as I'd ever seen him. "Anything you need to do beforehoof, do it now, I'll wait here."

I thought for a second and looked to Ebony, "I don't have anything to do, what about you?"

Ebony sighed, kicking at the cobbled street under his hooves. "I've got to get back to my Queen. I don't want to leave you but..." He glanced at the stream of ponies and griffins still pouring from the door embedded in the cliff. "I don't really like loud parties."

Chrome nodded understandingly, "It is a pretty big one. At least it should be. I don't blame you."

Ebony looked to me, his eyes were sad and searching for understanding. I nodded, "You do what you need to do Ebony."

He grinned and reared up into a hug, careful not to hit my arm, "Thanks, Dan." He said quietly as he dropped back down onto all-fours. I patted his head as he passed me, on his way to the palace.

"You ready?" Chrome asked, a scary grin on his face.

"I hope so." I said as we joined the male crowd, following the current of bodies through the streets.

After a few minutes of walking, we followed the group into a area of the city I hadn't been in before. Even in the midday sun it seemed dark, it looked as if the palace itself was casting a shadow over the whole area. As we passed a few particularly dingy bars, I got an idea of what kind of a 'party' I was in for.

That idea was thrown out of the window and instantly replaced as we rounded a corner and were assaulted by an array of pink neon lights.

One detached building, like a ruby in the bottom of a trash can, stood proud surrounded by the dank decrepit streets. 'The Shackled Mare' read the large neon sign above the door.

It was a large single-floor building with no windows. In an impressive display of craftsmanship, an image made of neon lights stood above the previously mentioned sign. It featured a mare on her hind legs, swinging off of a pole with one forehoof. Two broken handcuffs hung from her forehooves.

I turned to Chrome suspiciously, we had managed to stay side-by-side despite the bustle of the crowd around us. "Does Luna know you're doing this?"

He shrugged, "She said I could. It's tradition. Well, for griffins anyway."

"Huh, I assume Dawn has gone somewhere similar?"

He nodded.

"So the first thing griffins do after marriage is... Go to a strip joint?" I asked.

Chrome seemed quite surprised I knew what the building was. "Yep, it gets the thrill of cheating out of their system, makes the marriage last longer apparently."

I snorted, "That, or neither party really wants to complain. This is one awesome tradition."

Despite my apparent enthusiasm for the situation, I couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable. I had spent a couple of months in completely clean and innocent surroundings, now I was approaching a damn strip club.

Steve was at the door, welcoming everyone in. As the door opened and closed with each griffin or pony that went through I only got glimpses of darkness and pink hues. Me and Chrome were among the last to go in.

"Hey you two," Steve said, opening the door for us. "Go on in."

We both nodded thanks and began to walk into the club. Steve caught my left shoulder at the last second. "You... sure this is your kind of place Dan?" He asked, "I thought you'd be off with Dawn and the others."

I had no right to be offended, with me and Eb and all, it was a good assumption that I'd prefer to go with the girls.

"I don't think I've been here long enough to know... 'Which club to go to'. Figuratively and literally." I responded, "I'm just following Chrome's lead."

"Fair enough, don't let him get you into trouble." He said, giving my shoulder a pat before letting me go in.

I took my first steps into the club. The first thing I noticed was the music. It was very distinctly club music, electronic, with a heavy beat, but it was at a very respectable volume, so I could not really work out the details. It was really just a thumping in the background. I saw no speakers, so I assumed magic was to blame.

The place was massive, a corner obscured the other half of the building, but from what I could see, there was a bar serving drinks to my right, booths with draw-able curtains to my left and dotted around the room in fairly equal intervals were raised platforms with poles reaching to the ceiling. Needless to say, they were occupied.

The whole place was occupied.

I walked further into the fairly brightly lit club, past the very full seats, and peered around the corner. The room continued to the left, making an upside down 'L' shape. Around the corner, there were three raised isles with more poles at the ends. Even though, to me, the beings expertly straddling the beams didn't look too special, they seemed to be the main attraction. Many stallions and drakes crowded the seating areas lining the isles.

The griffin-to-pony ratio was probably 1:1 in both customers and performers, though the two seemed to keep to their own race, somewhat.

Seeing a spare seat at the bar, I quickly sat, eager to get out of the way of the many roaming females. As much as I wouldn't have minded a little bit of female company, I had only just gotten there and I was way, way out of my comfort zone.

I swiveled in my chair, looking out across the room. Either side of me were two rather large griffins, already drinking away. I noticed something was missing as I looked around the room. Bouncers. The were no bouncers, unless they were disguised as clients. This made me a little wary of the two griffins next to me.

The barista, a unicorn mare scrubbing a glass clean in her magic, walked up behind me. "You after any drinks? Or just a place to sit, ey?" She asked, her tone was more understanding than accusatory. Her voice was sweet, yet held a certain authority to it. She also had a rather airy accent that just reeked of 'Northern'.

Turning back to face the bar, I considered my plans of action. "Erm, sure." I said, "I'll have... Ah..." I noticed, as I put my hands into my pockets, I had no money.

The barista smiled, "Don't worry, whole place has been rented out for the wedding. Drinks are on the house."

I blinked, "Oh, sweet. Erm... A pint of beer I guess, I didn't have breakfast this morning, I need the calories."

That's how it works right? Either way, tick that off the bucket list. Beer for breakfast. In a strip club no less.

She looked at me oddly, then seemed to drop whatever she was thinking about. She was probably used to being hit on, and here I was explaining my day to her. "Beer? What kind?" She asked.

"Um... The... third most expensive. I have no idea what the brands here are, so just give me that one." I said, shrugging.

She laughed slightly, the griffins either side of me both gave me a short glance that reeked of jealousy. "I could tell you were new here, what brought you to Equestria?" She asked, using a pump to fill a clean glass.

I thought for a second, "I... Can't really answer that. I'm pretty sure my whole life here is one big scientific experiment or something. There's a scientist guy here somewhere," I said, gesturing to the room, "grey pegasus, complete doofus when it comes to anything except physics, ask him if you really need the answer to that question, I probably shouldn't say."

She smiled as she slid my glass to me, it had a very large handle, probably designed to fit hooves. "I'll keep an eye out for him. Anything else I can get you?" She asked, leaning over the bar slightly. The two griffins almost choked on their drinks and began to glance between me and the mare.

"I'd like to speak with the owner of this place, if they're available." I said, causing one of the griffins to give me a disappointed expression while the other slapped his own face with a palm.

The mare backed off of the bar and gave me a suspicious look, "...I can get them for you." She pointed across the room, "There is an empty booth over there, sit there with the curtain drawn, they'll be with you eventually."

I turned to look where she was pointing. There was a booth, a 'C' shaped chair inset into the wall with small semi-circular table in front of it. There was a small curtain which was pushed to one side next to it.

"Thanks for the drink, hope this isn't too much trouble. I just have a few concerns." I said, standing with my drink and making my way over to the booth. I took a sip of my drink before setting it on the small table, leaning forward, pulling the curtain shut then sitting.

I was half way through my cup before anything happened. The drink was rather nice, though it had that expensive taste that kind of lingers in the back of the throat like a looming debt. I had a feeling that I would have a looming debt if it were not on the house.

Ducking under the curtain, a pegasus mare entered the small room. She had rosy cheeks, half lidded eyes and a tail that refused to stay still. She sat across from me and began to shuffled around the seat towards me. "What can I do for you?" Her voice was heavy and wavering in a deadly mixture of alcohol and lust. "Can I-"

I reached across the table and put a finger to her mouth, stopping her in her tracks. "I'm just waiting for the owner." I said calmly.

Her face straightened sharply. "Thirty seconds. Don't move." She said in a painfully sober voice before resuming her drunken act and leaving the booth.

For someone pretending to be drunk, she sure smelt like she was. Who knows, maybe they have alcohol-scented perfume here.

I had a feeling I just passed some kind of test. I rewarded myself with another quarter of my drink. While drinking, I lost count of the seconds.

"Still waiting, huh?" The barista said from across the table as I put my drink down. I jumped a little, but I imagine the little alcohol I had drunk helped dumb down my reaction.

"Mhmm," I mumbled before swallowing the mouthful I still had, "Yep, still waiting to see the owner. There a delay?" I asked.

"Nope." She said, shaking her head. "In fact, you're in luck. You're speaking to her."

"Heh, nice undercover work." Said, gesturing to her with my cup.

She grinned, "Thanks. Do me a favor and don't tell anyone, ey?" I nodded as I took another sip. "Great. So, what are your concerns?" She asked, leaning across the table slightly.

In the brighter light of the booth, I could work out her colors. Pure white coat, a light pink mane with thin two white streaks in it and a few black speckles on the bridge of her nose. Her cutie mark was a hollow heart-shape being filled by a cup pouring red liquid. Her eyes were the same color as her mane.

Overall, she looked like some sort of strawberry-topped dessert with that coloration.

"My concern is that there are no bouncers. I respect the performers, they make good money. But, you know, they've got to be safe." I explained.

She seemed to relax slightly, "Oh, don't worry, they're safe."

"How so?"

She smirked slightly, "All the dancers here are trained in self defense and general offence." She said as I finished the last of my drink. "They are the bouncers."

I hummed as I set my empty glass down on the table. "You seen rather proud of your little army."

She eye'd my glass for a second. "I am. Hang on-" She poked her head around the curtain. "Can we get some wine in here ey? Thanks." She leant back into the small room. "I am. They save me money, and they get paid handsomely."

A hoof reached out from under the curtain and placed a wine bottle and two glasses on the table. After that, it patted around blindly on my side of the table. I shuffled my empty cup towards it with a tentative finger. The hoof patted the side of the glass, searched for the handle, then snatched it away under the curtain.

She used her magic to lift both the glasses and the bottle, filling them both half way with practiced ease. I was slightly unsettled by her using magic so close to me. She seemed rather competent at it too.

"I think I saw your scientist." She said as she landed our glasses infront of us. "Over there." She said, pointing through the curtain.

I lifted the bottom of the curtain, peeked under it and looked in the direction she pointed. Sure enough, there was Chrome, sitting like a king with six mares surrounding him, two by his back hooves, one laying either side of him on the long seat he was sat on and two leaning over the back of his seat resting their heads on his shoulders.

Feather was there too, I noticed. Which shocked me for a moment, before I remembered how she was. She was sitting at the bar, happily watching over the crowds with a small glass balanced on one hoof. Midnight was nowhere to be seen. Maybe he never left the church?

"That scientist guy," I said as I pulled myself back into the booth, "do those mares go for anyone? Or is he really that good?" I asked.

She snorted, taking another look under the curtain, "Jealous? The girls do as they wish, he must have done something to get their attention for the moment." She waved a hoof, "They'll move along eventually."

"Huh... This a family business of yours?" I asked as she pulled her head back into the booth while taking a sip of her glass. "Or'd you build it?" I took a swig of my drink also. It was a particularly fruity red wine, not really to my tastes.

She rolled her eyes, "Enough questions from you." She said, topping off each of our glasses a smidgen. "I want to here about you. How'd you get here, ey?"

"I told you, I can't..."

"Please?" She sweetly pleaded, "I told you my secret. Tell me yours."

I sighed, "Fiinne." I muttered, smiling as I took another sip of wine. The fruity taste was growing on me.

She tapped her hooves together in glee.

I explained my general situation. I kept things rather positive, as not to kill the vibe. We slowly worked our way through the bottle. She seemed genuinely interested, it probably wasn't every day she saw something that actually surprised her, since I imagine owning a joint such as that one is pretty strange work sometimes.

"...And I'm making a band." I concluded.

"Really?" She asked. I nodded to her as she finished another glass. "I sing a little myself actually." She poked her head out of the curtain again and called for another bottle. I turned and found the current bottle empty, along with another bottle I didn't even remember drinking.

That's when things start getting fuzzy.

***

A few memories of the day before echoed through my head as I woke up.

***

"What's your name?"

"Oh, sorry, mine's Dan. Your's?"

"Ponies just call me 'Wha's'ername'. I prefer to keep my name to myself, keeps the club under-wraps."

***

I groaned and checked my shoulder, it was still in the right place, and feeling a lot better. Still hurt to move though. My sling wasn't on. Must have fell off at some point during the night.

I reached to my right, pushing through the sheets. "Hey, Eb, what's the time..." My hand, instead of reaching a changeling, reached open air. I achingly rolled to my left as I sluggishly opened my eyes, "Ebony, why am I on your side of the be-"

I froze as my eyes locked with a pair of pink irises staring back at me widely.

We both lay there frozen as the realization dawned slowly on us.

She broke the silence, "You... remember anything?"

"Nope. You?" I responded.

"Me neither." She sighed as she sat up in the bed.

The room was lit by an early morning light, the hues you only get from a rising sun. The room was compact and tidy, judging by the slanted window in the ceiling, we were in a converted attic-space of sorts.

She stared at the floor infront of the bed, "Oh Celestia." She whispered before looking back to me.

"What? What is it?" I asked, sitting up also. "Oh." On the floor, resting in a heap, were my clothes along with my sling.

We both just stared until She turned to me. "Hey, could be worse, right?" She said, surprisingly chipper. "Trust me, I am not an easy mare, even when I'm drunk. This doesn't happen often."

I flopped back down onto the pillow below me, placed my hands over my face and groaned. "Where are we? And why are we not hung-over?"

"Oh, this is my resting space for when I don't have time to get home but need to sleep. Party's through that door and down the stairs. As for the hang-overs, a year or so ago some surfer-dude came in and placed a spell over the whole place. I still send him cheques." She paused. My clothes were magically slapped onto my still hand-covered face. "Come on, quickly. It's only eight, there's still time to get back to the party. If they ask, just tell them you scored the barista." She said, stepping off of the bed.

As I got dressed under the covers, she trotted to a small desk loaded with cosmetics and backed with a large mirror.

I stood once I was dressed, there were a few red stains on the shirt. Looking over, I found her messing with her eyelashes. "Is this... going to come back to bite me?" I asked, checking my clothes for any other stains.

She didn't move as she stared into the mirror, magicking utensils around her face in complete concentration. "Probably not, unless you go spreading my identity. No telling anypony I own this place, ey?"

"Got it." I nodded to her reflection. I pointed to the stains on my shirt. "What do you recon? Wine or blood?" I asked jokingly.

"Let's just assume it's wine so I don't have to kick you out." She said only half jokingly. "You get back to the party, I'll be back to serving drinks in about an hour or so."

I made my way to the door and let my hand rest on the handle. "Thanks, erm... W'as-'er-name." I thought for a second. "Can I just call you Wasser? What's-her-name is a bit of a mouthful."

She snorted, "Sure, and no need to thank me, you're not the only one who had a good time last night. Probably. Actually..." She swiveled in her chair to face me. One eye was beautifully made-up, the other was bare. "One last thing. This place is somewhat 'under-the-radar' due to a deal 'the boss' has with the Canterlot guard. You ever get in trouble, need a safe-house or just a place to stay; come visit me, ey?" She said, a suggestive smirk on her face.

"I won't think twice." I said as I opened the door. Beyond the door was a steep, narrow staircase leading to a black door.

A wall of guilt hit me as I closed the door behind me, causing me to stop. I sat on the top step.

I mumbled to myself under my breath. "Damnit, I didn't want that to happen... What's Ebony going to think? I was drunk, I didn't have control of myself. I've been drunk before and I know what happens, I should have stopped after the second bottle. What about Wasser? She was making advances even before we got drinks. Maybe she's just so used to being hit on that it's special when someone comes in without subtly demanding sex... I don't know... I hope this all just blows over."

"Well, if anything," I said, standing up, "I've got a place to stay if Celestia decides I need to pay for that rug... Or the doors... Or the prison... Or the crimes that sent me there... So that's nice."

I collected myself and headed down the stairs, the music slowly got louder as I approached the door.

I pushed the door open and found myself back in the main room, coming out of the wall that separated two of the booths. The outside of the door was crafted to match the wall perfectly. Noticing this, I quickly shut the door behind me and walked away, as not to gain attention.

The party had died down a little, and a few ponies and griffins lay on the seats and bar stools asleep, while most were still either drinking, or enjoying the show. Feather was passed out, face down on the bar with Chrome next to her, barely awake.

Seeing a spare stool next to them, I decided to join them.

"You two seen Steve at all?" I asked as I sat and waved over a timid mare that seemed to be filling in for the barista. "I need to talk to him for a bit."

Chrome sighed, a smile plastered on his face. "He's... around." He didn't seem very aware of his surroundings at all.

The mare behind the bar gave me a questioning look. To which I said, "You serve food?" He silently shook her head and recoiled like I was a wild animal ready to pounce. "Oh, okay, some of that wine that me and What's-her-name had given to us earlier. If you know what that was."

She nodded and walked off.

I noticed one of Feather's ears perked up to attention at the mention of Wasser's name.

Chrome turned to me, it was as if he was in slow motion. "What were... you doing with Wha...sher-face?" He slurred. Close enough Chrome. Close enough.

I rubbed the back of my neck as a small glass of wine as shuffled towards me timidly from behind the bar. "I don't remember exactly, but uh..."

Chrome's eyes widened. In his very drunk state, that meant his eyelids were almost at their normal height for a second. "You didn't." Feather's ear twisted towards me, ready to funnel in the sound of my response.

"...Yeeaaahhh..." I croaked, breaking eye contact with Chrome to look around the room. I spotted Steve stretching his arms as he woke up on one of the sofas, he was wearily looking around the room. "Ah, there he is." I said, standing, taking my glass and making my way to the griffin. I was lucky I spotted him when I did, Feather might has well have given herself whiplash with how fast she removed her face from the bar to stare at me.

Steve rubbed at his face, then tapped his head. He was missing his hat.

Much like people are with glasses, it was strange seeing him without it. He clearly wasn't all there, since he couldn't seem to spot the hat lying on the seat next to his.

As I passed it, I picked up his hat and set it on his head. He blearily looked up at me, and gave me a 'one second' gesture with his talon. He closed his eyes and concentrated on something. It was like he had tapped into a special 'griffin willpower', because he came back much more sober, or at very least, a little more awake.

Adjusting his precious headwear, Steve gave me a grin. "Oh, Dan. You havin' a good time?" I could clearly smell the alcohol on his breath, but he seemed lucid.

"Sure, it's been... Interesting." I said honestly. He smiled in approval. "You want to head out someplace? I'm starving and I need to talk to you for bit."

Steve shot me a tilted glance, furrowing his brow, "What kind of talk?" He looked behind him to the bar and turned back to me after seeing Feather, who was still staring at me blankly. I couldn't tell if she was drunk, shocked or both. "It got anything to do with why... Er..." He snapped his fingers, clearly trying to think up a name.

"Feather?" I offered.

He pointed at me and grinned, "Tha's it." He continued. "-why Feather is looking at you like that?"

"No, but we can talk about that too if you want. It's more of a proposition than anything." As if on cue, stomach grumbled at me. "Plus, I haven't eaten in an unhealthy amount of time."

Steve put a hand to his own belly with concern, "Ah, I'm rather hungry too. Okay, how's a place with meat sound to you?" He asked, getting out of the chair he had well and truly sunken into. He left a very Steve-shaped crater.

"Sounds great." I said, following him, "Lead the way."

***

A few minutes later and Steve had led me to a small cafe nearer the base of the palace. It was tucked away between a few larger shops and had a small sign of a griffin in a red circle in the door next to another that read "We are OPEN!"

I waited until we had food infront of us before bringing up the topic I needed to discuss.

Me and Steve had the same dish, simply because I had no idea what to get. It was simple, plain, strips of beef with the fat expertly trimmed. It wasn't all that tasty and was in need of a few condiments, but it worked as a filling breakfast. It certainly kept Steve busy.

"I need your help with something." I sighed.

Steve peered up at me from his plate with a peice of meat hanging from his beak. Steve's gaze seemed to be harsh even at it's tenderest, but he seemed rather curious as to what was bothering me.

"I'll probably need Dawn as well. It'll have us out of Canterlot for a couple of days, and in a place a lot less safe." I said cryptically, I didn't want the details out unless I knew he was down for it. "Which is why I need you two with me."

Raising and eyebrow, he wiped the stray piece of meat off his beak. "What exactly would we be doing in this... 'less safe' place?" He asked skeptically.

"Retrieving an item." I said, again keeping the details to myself for the time being. "In exchange for a prize that'll benefit all of us."

He narrowed his eyes, "An item for who?"

I huffed, looking to Steve, he was eyeing me expectantly. "...Discord."

His beak clamped shut. Leaning back in his seat, he crossed his arms and looked at me cock-eyed. He stared at me for a few seconds, his breathing was slow and methodical as he appraised me.

After a full thirty seconds, he snorted and shrugged. "I'm in."

I was taken aback slightly, "You don't want to know more?"

He rolled his eyes, "I know the game, you weren't going to tell me any details before I'd said I was definitely going to do it. So news wouldn't spread as fast, or at all."

"Wow, er... Okay. What about Dawn?" I asked. "Would she be willing to help out too?" I couldn't really take one without the other.

He laughed, "Trust me, if she wasn't so darn good at surviving, I would'a assumed she had suicidal tendencies. She has a wanderlust like no other when it comes to places that might get her killed, or worse." I decided not to ask what the 'or worse' was. "Most of her military days were spent doing missions she wasn't even meant to be doing. She has a lust for danger." He put a talon to his chin, "Actually, it'll make for a good honeymoon."

She has a lust for danger. Never before had I heard that term used so literally, and considering how scary Steve (or griffins in general) could be, it wasn't hard to believe.

"Want a quick run-down? Since you're in?" I asked, Steve responded with a shrug.

Pulling out my journal, I set it on the table and opened the page of the day before. Inside was a map, folded scruffily Inbetween the pages. I spread it out across the table, it was no bigger than the plates we were using, so it easily fitted between us and our plates. It was a drawing, by discord himself. The whole thing was drawn in fountain pen, I was pretty sure he only did that to remind me how much I was missing using a pen to write with, since here I only had a choice of pencils or quills.

It was a top-down view of the whole mountain in staggering detail, including Canterlot and the train-tracks. It extended to the left, past the base of the mountain and into the forest which was labeled "Everfree" in cursive. Rather deeply I to the mass of trees, was a small "X" mark with an cartoon-ish arrow pointing at it from the north, above the arrow written in what I swear to god was comic sans was "in there somewhere". No capitalization, no punctuation.

I explained to Steve what exactly this meant. Basically, Discord wanted a 'non-descript' orb from a temple deep in the Everfree forest that was left behind by a long-dead ancient civilization. According to Discord, ponies had never been there due to how deep it was into the forest.

"So... What is this 'orb' he wants?" Steve asked as I folded away the map.

I shrugged, "He said I'd know it when I saw it. So it probably glows or something, I don't know."

"And the prize?"

I smiled, "You know those pots and pans Dawn is ruining by drumming them to hell and back?"

He blinked, "Yeah? We've actually ran out after she managed to put holes in the last few."

"It's the instrument those pots are mimicking. So hopefully, she won't break that one."

"Huh..." Steve sighed, "So why does he need this orb anyway? How do you know it's not some sort of artifact or weapon or something?" He asked, slightly concerned for probably the safety of all of Canterlot, knowing Discord and whatever he gets up to in his free time.

I shrugged. "He said something about wanting a new door-stop."

Author's Note

This fic was being slow, so I halted the progress on my other project and focused solely on this one. I had planned for this to be 5-6k words... Well, you saw how that turned out. I got waaay to distracted this chapter. It was fun to write though.

This chapter had some very slow moments, and for that I apologise. I'm really not all that good at this "describing" business. Trust me, I'm trying to get better.

I'm trying to bounce the characters off of eachother more. You know, put a little friendly banter in there.