Integration Is Pointless

Chapters

Plotting, Then Action
Frolicking Through The Death Forest
Adjustments
Me, Myself And I
Be Quiet!
Accidents And Cuddles
Awkward
Current Events
Purpose
Featherborrow
A New Dawn
Learning
Weekend
To Err Is Human...
...To Forgive Is Divine.
Escape
Folk Sure Are Friendly...
The Search
Back To Business
Flowers
The Daily Grind
Exodus
Brooke
Shift
What Do You Mean?
Meet the Quillsons
Changes and Problems
Foreboding
Bigfoot
Shocking Events
The Beginning of the End
Finale
I'm Fine
Encounters
Dim
Not Actually a Real Chapter

Plotting, Then Action

"Soooooooo boooooooored!"

I slumped over as I put my crayon down. It had only been ten days and I was already going coocoo from the boredom. I had even written in my journal in advance for when I do go crazy. I needed to break out of here though. As cute as these ponies are I really didn't feel like rotting in here for the rest of my life. I looked out my window at the town below. Ponies were walking around, talking, being happy and stuff. My gaze drifted to beyond the town. Beyond that relatively short wall was the forest. That's were I was heading. There was my ticket to freedom. I needed to plan, and I knew exactly where to plot my escape.

I rocked back and forth as the water splashed against the tub. Sad music was pouring out of my music player as I stared at the falling water droplets. I let the crippling depression sink in for a few more minutes before shaking myself out of my thoughts.

"Alrighty then, time to get to work!"

I could almost hear the dramatic music playing as I packed up my backpack. (What, I don't have any epic music. It's all sad or too upbeat.) I strapped my knife on, gathered up the food I'd stored (they gave me a lot of food okay) and soon had my backpack strapped on. Now, we wait. Once night falls, I'm busting out of this joint. I'll reach the forest, survive, and them I'll... I'll think of something after I make a shelter. Speaking of, first order of business, learn how to make a shelter. I looked at the bed and smiled. Looks like Celestia just keeps giving me stuff to escape with. I sat down and waited, watching the sun descend towards the horizon. Soon, soon I was going to break out of here. I had supplies, a plan (well, about a fourth of a plan) and a way to escape.

I was going to use my bobby pin and long metal skewer to pick the lock. I read a story about that growing up and then read a book about lock picking. You just use the skewer to press down the bottom locking mechanism, then you rake the pin across the tumblers. You find the tumblers and press them into the unlock position. Simple, easy as pie, easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Turns out I was wrong, and it was difficult difficult lemon difficult instead. I grit my teeth as I continued poking around inside the lock. The sun had just set and I was getting frustrated. Finally, after what seemed like forever, I heard a click and the lock released. I swung the window open revealing the outside world. I was about hella far away from the ground, but fortunately, there was a very sturdy looking water spout running along the outside of the tower. I started breathing deeply, trying to calm my nerves as I wrapped my belt around my hand and threaded it through the gap between the wall and the stone schute. It was oddly designed in that it was very thick and freestanding. There was only about a half inch of clearance between the schute and the tower wall, whether intentional or accidental, this was my ticket down.

"Alright, I can do this. This is going to be a piece of cake."

I grabbed the other end of my belt and started shimmying down the spout. I wish I could say I was gritting my teeth and growling as I struggled down the tower. When in reality, I was whimpering and wishing I was hugging bat pone instead. The descent seemed to last for hours, my arms and legs burning as I struggled down the stone wall.

"Don't look down, just... think about rainbows and ponies and rainbow ponies. No heights, just hugs and lollipops and--"

My foot hit the ground, and I looked down. Somehow I had already reached the bottom. I breathed a sigh of relief. I quickly put my belt back on and tightened it. After readjusting my bag I stealthily crept towards the gardens I had seen. They seemed to only have a hedge wall surrounding them, and plenty of trees to climb over it. I stuck to the shadows, staying alert for signs of the ponies. As I neared the garden, a light started approaching from around a corner. I pressed myself against the wall and used a nearby barrel to hide. Soon two guards came trotting past, chatting as they completed their rounds.

"Can you believe the Princesses still have that thing locked up? If I was in charge I would have just gotten rid if it and saved myself the hassle."

"Yeah, those freaks wage war on us and we still gotta be nice to them? Nu-uh, I don't like it. As soon as possible we should arrange a little 'accident.' It's not like he has useful information anymore."

They then were too far away to hear anymore, and I really didn't need to. I guess I chose a good time to escape. I slowly crept on, remaining vigilant in order to prevent capture. Honestly, it was more a short skirmish rather than a war, but these ponies didn't seem to be very experienced with the whole "war" thing. I soon was making my way through the gardens, surprised at just how easy this had been. I mean, I knew security was lax around here, but this was just ridiculous!

I spotted a good sized tree and started to climb. Its branches were low and thick so it was perfect for my escape. As I climbed, I froze when I heard talking below me.

"You sure you heard something?"

"Yeah, and it didn't sound like a squirrel either."

I held my breath as two guards approached the tree. They started roaming around, searching for clues. It was starting to get difficult to hold my breath when on said,

"Whatever it was, I don't see it. Maybe it was one of those big parrots Princess Celestia has?"

The other guard nodded and they trotted away. My breath released with an explosive gasp. I started sucking in air as fast as I could. Their conversation covered my breathing so I was safe for the moment, but note to self, ponies have really good hearing.

I climbed as high as the branches would allow before facing the hedge wall. I gripped the branch beside me and started preparing myself.

"Alright, on three. One. Two. Three!"

I lept as far as I could, clearing the wall completely... and almost falling off the cliff behind it. With a yelp I scrambled to stop myself. My foot slipped and I fell, grabbing onto the ledge as I went. I heaved and carefully pulled myself up. Well crap, now where am I supposed to go. I saw that the forest was now below me, and looked for a way down. A few feet away was a small path, and when I mean small, I mean small for a pony. Needless to say it was plenty wide for a human, just a little... windy. I realized this was beneficial because I could literally hop down the mountain rather than walk down it. I'm going to look like a jackass, but it'll be faster.

About twenty minutes later, I was standing at the bottom mof the cliff with very sore calves. I caught my breath and started wearily jogging towards the forest, ready to create shelter so I could sleep. I started walking, I needed to find a good place to... build a treehouse? A tent? A cabin? Something. Minutes later I found a hollow tree that looked perfect for curling up and sleeping like a homeless man. I put my backpack on the ground and pulled one of my blankets out... and my favorite wax shark. (What!? I wasn't going to leave them all there! I only left a few, and I hid them around my room. They'll have to work in order to find my wax figurines.)

I drew the blanket around me, excited yet tired. Tomorrow I was starting my new life of survivalism. I was going to head deeper into the woods and build a place to live. My eyes closed and I adjusted my backpack, getting more comfortable before falling asleep.

Author's Note

Please comment or something. Just... you know... do something.

Frolicking Through The Death Forest

I woke up well rested... yeah right. I woke up and promptly made a noise similar to a pterodactyl screech as I stretched. My joints cracked as I straighten up. Dear mercy me I should have padded the floor, my back felt like someone had used it as a wrestling mat. I groaned before gathering up my stuff. I ate an older piece of bread, I fugured I should eat the older stuff before it went bad and then eat the new stuff. It tasted like... stale bread. Probably should have wrapped it up a bit better but that was something I could worry about later.

As I emerged from the hollow tree, I breathed in a deep breath of clean forest air, smiling as the fresh scent--

"*cough cough* oh crap *cough* I think I swallowed a bug!"

I rolled my shoulders to adjust my backpack before setting out, determined to put more distance between myself and the big as a mug city behind me. I grabbed a stick to use as a walking stick and started off, ready to seize the day. Now, you know me, so of course I was already planning ahead.

"I'm really," I shook my stick, "Sticking it to the man!"

I laughed before saying,

"Boy, I think I'm 'barking up the wrong tree!'"

"Wow, my humor is really 'branching out!'"

"What a 'sticky situation!'"

I heard a rustling from the bushes and froze, before holding my stick like a baseball bat.

"Come on out! I'm warning you, I'm a 'branch manager!'"

A squirrel scampered away and I swear it was gagging. I breathed a sigh of relief before smirking.

"I guess he was more 'bark' than bite!"

Yeah... I probably should get tested for a concussion. Maybe I hit my head in the middle of the night. Either way, I decided that was enough puns for now, and who knows, maybe all those horrible puns would deter predators. Either way, I was headed into the forest, ready to take on the world.

"Look out world! Cause Jack's coming and I have no idea what I'm going to do!"

"I wanna go home, I want a shower, I want to hug a ponies fluffy little face, and I want to not be in this gross creepy forest!"

The forest had changed. It was darker, and creepier, and the trees literally had faces, and it smelled like cat pee and despair. I hummed to myself as I pressed on, trying not to pass out. How did a world of technicolor ponies that talk have a spooky death forest that smells like an old warehouse mixed with the fridge in the glass factory break room after someone forgot their food. My attention was drawn to a giant mosquito that landed on a red flower... that then ATE IT! How do plants act like mouths!? They're plants!

I heard a growl from behind me, and decided sticking around was a bad idea. I decided to beat a quick tactical retreat before anything went wrong.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHH! EAT THE FLOWER NOT MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

I ran... and ran... and vaulted over some branches and slid down a cliff... and, guess what! I. Ran. I ran so far and so fast that by the time I stopped, I had no idea where the heck I was. Given I had no idea where I was, reaching high ground so I could find where to go sounded like a great idea. I found a sturdy tree and started climbing. As I climbed up the slimy, fusty tree, I pondered what weird life choices had led me to this moment. I ran, I slept, I walked, I ran, I ran, I ran... huh, I've been running a lot lately. At least I'm getting some exercise! Yeah... stay positive and maybe I won't use my knife to end my suffering.

I reached the top and looked out over the still creepy forest. There, a little bit away, was a small clearing with a really thick tree in it. Given that was the only clearing around me, that was my new destination! I tried to memorize the direction and started making my way down the tree... before I fell the rest of the way.

"Gah!"

"Oof!"

"Ouch!"

CRASH!

"OoOoOoOoOoOoHh."

I stealthily... eh, who am I kidding, I fell into the clearing. I picked myself up and dusted myself off. Upon examination, the tree... was a house. Like, a tree house. With a door and windows and everything. There were multicolored bottles hanging from the branches and masks decorated the outside. All in all, pretty cool. Definitely could see myself in one of these. As I stepped forward, a pleasantly accented voice rang out.

"Stop where you are! If you try to run, you won't get far!"

Oh no, it's a pleasantly voiced rapper, my greatest fear. I raised my hands up in a hopefully disarming gesture.

"Calm down man it's cool! I'm cool!"

I turned and... stripey horse? What the heck. She had gold hoops on her neck and leg and had a blowgun held in the corner of her mouth.

"Don't even try to lie, I know your kind is cruel and sly. You come to cause my destruction, but instead you shall face abduction."

Wait, like aliens? Was this the pony equivalent of an alien? Coooooool. Wait, is this thing going to try to probe me? Please let it not hurt! Okay, think. Maybe I can make friends with it and it will be like "ay lmao you fine bro, Imma just go get some tacos!" or something... do they have tacos here?

"Seriously! I'm just trying to find a nice, safe place to live away from ponies who probably want to put me in a zoo."

She paused and looked me over skeptically.

"While your answer was not uncouth, how am I to know it's the truth? Your kind brought violence and woe, how am I to believe you don't have trouble in tow?"

Okay, she had a good point. How could she trust me? Wait, that is what she said, right?

"Listen miss... striped pony. I'm just--"

"I am not a pony with stripes! I am a zeba whom you have given the gripes!" (Gripes: the state of being ticked off.)

"Sorry! Sorry. *ahem* well miss zebra, I know that ponies will be terrified of me, so I'm going into hiding. Given I'm the last human in this crazy world, I figured it was for the best."

She paused before saying,

"The princesses told me to keep watch for enemies... but I only see a traveller in need of amenities. I will give you the benefit of the doubt, but spin your tale, so I can see if it has clout." (Clout: importance or relevance.)

I sighed in relief, glad to be on the zebra's good side. As we entered her house, I was surprised at how comfortable it was. There were a few mats on the floor for sitting on, a wooden table, a large cauldron over a firepit, and shelves and shelves of bottles filled with concoctions of varying colors. She sat on a mat and gestured for me to do the same. If I was going to tell her my story, I needed to skip the parts about me breaking out of prison.

"Begin the your tale of ordeals, then I can see about making some meals."

"Thank you for hearing me out, it means alot to me...."

"Zecora is my name, and hearing you side is no strain. And before you beg my contrition, know I too was once in your position."

My confusion must have been obvious, because she paused to think before saying again.

"I once was feared by the ponies, they would scatter in my presence like frightened conies. Bit one filly upon me a chanced, and now by them I am entranced."

I think I understood it. They were afraid because she looked different. One gave her a chance. Now they're friends. Okay, glad I bumped into her, not a bunch of ponies who would run screaming.

"Well it all started when I got here. I got lost, wandered a bit. Met some ponies. They screamed and ran. I ran. Now I'm here! Pretty much it."

"So you seek solitude in the forest? Or is there more to you checklist?"

"It's more that I want to live a relatively normal life. I don't want to be constantly running and hiding because I'm human. If I could live among them in peace, I would."

"So what your trying to show me, is that you'd be happier if you lived as a pony?"

"Happier!? This place is awesome! From what I've seen you can do whatever you want, be whatever you want! I didn't even know something like this existed! If I could have chosen to be born a pony, I would have done it in a heartbeat."

"You would not morn the loss of your old country, or what about your current body?"

"Nope, and nope. But, no sense dwelling on the impossible. I'm a human, and that's that. But if you can help me find a place to live, I'd be very grateful. It's been a long journey and I'm kind of tired."

She looked down and bit her lip. She opened her mouth and paused before nodding to herself and looking at me with determination in her eyes.

"If becoming a pony is what you think best, I can grant your request."

Wait... is she saying she can....

"Y-you can make me into a pony?!? How!?"

"Potions are my domain, there are many powerful concoctions in this frame. If being a pony is your desire, then I shall mix you a potion over my fire."

I rushed forward and hugged her.

"Zecora, I'll do anything you want. Just make me a pony! I want my life back!"

She slipped out of my arms and started pulling various ingredients off of shelves. A bottle of green goo, a blue flower, some mushrooms, a bunch of black powder, and a piece of orange fruit.

"There, we shall let that simmer overnight. Then the potion will be just right."

"Alright! You're the best Zecora!"

"Now that we are done with assigning the blame, I believe you owe me a name."

"Jack, my name is Jack."

"Well Jack, a pleasure it is to meet. Your mannerisms definitely are sweet."

"Thanks! Your pretty nice yourself. Well, I guess I'll meet you here in the morning. I wouldn't want to intrude."

"Not at all, I would love for you to stay! It would sadden me greatly if my company went away."

"Alright, if it's no bother."

"And safer too. There are many dangers in this forest, even for you. Although the beasts here seek to bite and cut, you will be safe in my hut."

And now I was definitely not going outside. Especially at night!

"Hehe, thanks. Glad to know I was in mortal danger the entire time I've been here."

We got to talking as she made dinner, and despite her unusual way of speaking, Zecora was very pleasant. All to soon, the sun set and it was time to sleep. Zecora got into her bed and I flopped down on a mat. As the nightly forest sounds started up, I heard howling and growls in the distance. I sat there for a bit before saying,

"Hey Zecora, can I sleep with you?"

"Why do you inquire? Are you not warm by the fire?"

"It's not that, it's more that the floor isn't as comfortable and you cute and huggable, and now I'm paranoid about this place, and--"

"D...Do you really think I'm cute? Or are you just acting like a fruit?"

"What? Of course! You're so cute and lovable I wanna just hug you all up! Also, I am a little cold now thar you mention it."

"Most ponies my appearance don't vaunt, but you can join me if you want." (Vaunt: praise or flatter.)

I got up and walked over, glad to be off the floor. I hopped onto the bed and lay with my back pressed to her soft furry back. It was a huge improvement over the floor and I grew drowsy very quickly. Now that I wasn't on a mat by the door, the forest sounds were... kinda nice. Peaceful. I yawned before adjusting my position. Tomorrow the potion would be ready. Tomorrow I would become a pony. Tomorrow was going to be huge.

Author's Note

Comments? Questions? Whatever? You know what to do.

Adjustments

In my time on this bizarre planet, I have discovered something I am naming the "pony effect." What it is, is that if you fall asleep near a pony or other such being, your subconscious takes over and has you snuggle it. Evidence points to this being true given I woke up hugging Zecora with her head on my shoulder. I mean, I'm not complaining, ponies are cute, but I wonder if it's just coincidence or this place affecting me.

Zecora awoke and quickly removed herself from my shoulder with a blush.

"I apologize for invading your personal space! I cannot believe I slept with such disgrace!"

Wait... was that an insult or a statement? Riddles and rhymes make for bad times... dang it. Wait, I could use this to diffuse the situation.

"No problem, I don't mind cuddling. If anything I am at fault for muddling."

She laughed before going and checking the cauldron.

"I believe this is almost ready at last, now let us enjoy breaking our fast."

"Sounds good to me! So long as that means breakfast like I'm assuming it does."

"You are correct indeed, now how about some cherrybrush weed."

I had no idea what that was but soon she pulled some bright red leaves out of a pot and served them with some biscuits. The leaves tasted like cherries, obviously, and the biscuits were very good. All in all a good breakfast. While I cleaned up the small mess left by the meal, Zecora poured the potion into a bottle. She handed the container of viscous blue fluid to me and nodded, clearly telling me to drink it.

"Welp, down the hatch!"

I threw it back and was stunned at the unusual taste. It tasted like... rhubarb... and cotton candy... and dirt and celery and hot sauce all mixed together. I managed to hold back a gag and soon felt warmth blossoming in my stomach and spreading throughout my body. In a flash of blue light I was... shorter? I looked around, confused before I tried to move and lost my balance. I fell to the floor and saw... a furry leg with a hoof at the end.

"I guess this is something new to learn. I was unaware it would make you a Nocturne."

I looked at Zecora and then spotted my reflection in a mirror behind her. I was a bat pony, or a Nocturne as she called me. Maybe that was the official name for them? Anyway, I had dark grey fur, a deep blue mane so dark it was almost black, batwings, fangs, and cat eyes. I did notice everything seemed brighter than before. Maybe Nocturnes had night vision? Makes sense, I guess.

I shakily got to my feet -I mean- hooves and tried to take a step towards Zecora. My legs almost immediately got tangled given I had two more now and the back ones bended the other way (which is very disconcerting by the way.) Zecora caught me and held me up.

"Well, how do you feel? Is this new form horrible or surreal?"

"I-It's amazing! I'm a pony! I'm--"

I was cut off as I tripped and fell again only for Zecora to brace me with her warm, sturdy shoulder. I caught a whiff of her delicate, enchanting scent as I did. It was sublet, barely tickling my now sensitive nostrils. It was like the forest on a warm, spring day, just after the rain. Like flowers blooming and.... What the hell!?

I shook my head as the thoughts sprang unbidden into my mind. I just followed as Zecora set me down carefully before walking off with a quick rhyme about getting me some water. I wasn't really paying attention, I was too busy looking at her distracting flanks. No matter how hard I tried, I kept staring at her and, more specifically, her rump. She was a pony, or a zebra or whatever! A cute, fluffy zebra! She wasn't sexy! I mean, well, yeah she was, but... what!?!

I managed to tear my eyes away before she looked back and sat looking out the window as she handed me the cup of water which I quickly gulped down. My head was all awhirl as I sat there, trying to figure out what was happening. This was just supposed to be changing my body, not my head! Right?

Suddenly, a cold sensation coursed through me and with a flash I was human again.

"Huh? What happened?"

"It is as I suspected, you don't have enough magic collected."

I gave her a confused looked. Magic? What did that have to do with me becoming a pony? I didn't have magic-- oooooooh.

"Ponies have magic in them, right?"

Zecora nodded. (Fortunately, I no longer saw her in "that" way)

"And since I don't, I need some to become a pony."

"You are right my friend, without magic your transformation will end."

"Well where do I get magic?"

"Magic suffuses Equestria, from the plants to the air. You don't have to find it, it's already there."

She walked over to a table and picked up a faintly glowing blue crystal which she then handed to me. It was slightly rounded at one end and came to relatively sharp point at the other.

"That is magicite. Absorbed magic makes it bright. Simply stab the point into whatever you decide, and it will absorb the magic deep inside. Although please don't steal the magic a pony has within, for there is no greater sin."

She demonstrated by picking up an apple and jabbing the crystal into it. As the apple whithered and turned grey, the crystal began shining brightly. She then handed it to me and gestured for me to continue. I guess I'm supposed to put the magic in the crystal inside me, but how? Wait, please don't be taken through the "backdoor"!

I gulped before trying something. I put the sharp part in my mouth, careful not to cut myself, and sucked on it like a straw. It apparently worked because the crystal dimmed and the taste of vanilla milkshakes filled my mouth... weird. With a flash I was my pony self again. I immediately fell, still not certain how to walk.

"It appears in walking you need instruction, I guess I shall take care of your induction."

"Yeah, thanks."

I lay awake as Zecora slept. I was a pony at the moment, and despite my best efforts, my brain was too chaotic for me to sleep. Two sides were waging war in my mind and eventually I gave in. I cautiously rolled over and drew closer to Zecora. Carefull, not to wake her, I buried my muzzle in her fur and took a deep breath. I held back a sigh as her pleasant aroma filled my nose. I took a few more deep whiffs before realizing what I was doing.

No! I'm not going to sit here smelling her! It's weird! It's unnatural! I'm a human and she's... wait, I'm a pony now, but I'm still human, right? I groaned before scooting further away and closing my eyes. After what seemed like hours, sleep final took me.

Where am I?

I was in... my old apartment? How was I--

Relax! We're in your head!<

I looked over and saw... myself? Well, it was my human body sitting on the couch.

Yeah! That's right! I'm you, the real you! Not like--<

~What a bunch of whooie. I'm the real you!~

On the other side of the couch now sat my pony self. At least, my body as a pony. What was happening?

~What's happening is you're all mixed up!~

I agree with him, you don't know who you are, or more realistically, what you are.<

I know what I am! I'm Jack! I'm a....

Pony Jack turned to human Jack.

~See? He doesn't get it.~

Well it is a little strange. How would you feel if you were a human and a pony at the same time?<

~Ugh, being a human would suck! Being a pony is so much better, right Jack!~

I--

Bull! Why be a horse when you can be a human. They don't even have fingers!<

~So! I can fly!~

But you can't play video games well. Hooves are too big for the controller.<

I don't--

~Whatever, it's obvious he likes being a pony better. He's already ogling pony flank. Well, zebra flank, but same difference.~

No he's not! He was forced to by his weird new pony brain and instincts! He much prefers being a human<

Stop! I don't--

~Pony's are better!~

Humans are better!<

~Ponies!~

Humans!<

~PONIES!~

HUMANS!<

SHUT UP!

I awoke in a cold sweat. Sometime during the night I had gone back to being human. I rolled out of bed and went to stand by the table, breathing heavily.

"What the heck just happened?"

I don't know? What do you think?<

~Indecisive guy isn't he? Can't tell what he wants!~

My eyes widened and I looked around for my self and... myself. I was definitely awake, but I could still hear them!

~Yup! We're still here!~

Looks like you're stuck with us.<

".........................Oh hell."

Author's Note

Comments welcome as usual.

Me, Myself And I

~Come on, you so want to hit that!~

Can we not have this conversation while I'm trying to learn how to walk!

I agree, now isn't the time to discuss just how wrong you are.<

And here we go.

~Wrong!? Look at her full, wide hips; her soft fur; her mesmerizing eyes; her delicate, soft lips; and don't forget her amazing scent!~

I'd expect that from a common barn animal!<

~What did you say? It might not be the pony way of doing things, but I will kick your flank into next week!~

Flank! Even your insults are stupid! You're supposed to say "I'm going to kick your ass"!<

~Hey! Watch your language you no good--~

It was at this point I fell while trying to walk. After picking myself back up I turned my attention to my two annoying companions.

"If you two don't knock it off I swear I'll--"

"Who are you talking to? There is no one here but me and you."

Crap, I said that outloud.

Smooth move you jackass, now you look crazy.<

~Understandable given he's a pony with a human whining in his head.~

Can you two shut it for a few seconds!

"Just talking to myself! You know, frustration at falling again!"

"Well nothing to feel bad about, you must master walking before you can continue on your route."

"Yeah, I know. Then I just need to figure out what to do with these wings!"

"Hmm... I believe I have a friend who can help you there. And hopefully her odd appearance you can bear."

What's with this place? There are like, no guys here.

Yeah, I'd noticed there were mainly females and few males. I wonder how that affects their society?<

~It means you're now an insanely eligible bachelor who has a massive chance to get laid.~

Gross dude, cool yourself. Now's not the time for this discussion.

There never should be a time for that discussion. No one wants to hear about how much you want to bang ponies you sick freak.<

~Um... I'm a pony so it's not weird. Ergo It's not weird for Jack to want that sweet pony--~

No! No no no! Enough of that! Don't even finish that thought!

~I was going to say plot! Get your mind out of the gutter!~

Says the one obsessed with sex.<

~It's instinctive!~

"Jack? Are you coming? If you do not hurry you'll need to start running."

"Sorry! Got a bit distracted!"

I hurried along until I was walking beside Zecora. As I looked at the large trees all around us, I said,

"So, what's so weird about your friend that you warned me, a human who is also a pony, about it?"

"Ponies typically do not care for her kind, but please, her circumstance bear in mind. Although changelings have frightening looks, the only thing frightening, is her love of books."

"Changelings? What are those?"

"I'm one of those."

The speakers had a quiet, bored sounding voice. As this was said, a strange pony stepped forward. Except, she wasn't exactly a pony, I think. She had a black, iridescent body. Her hooves had holes going clear through, she had solid blue eyes, fangs, and insectile wings on her back. Overall she was--

Kinda cute!<

~Terrifying! Run away screaming!~

Why would I do that? Human me is obviously right.

Boom!<

~Fine! But don't blame me when she eats you.~

"Magala my friend! I was not expecting you at this bend!"

"Thought I'd drop by for a visit. Who's the Nocturne?"

"This is Jack, although I'm torn as to why you appeared in your true form?"

Magala (I think) shrugged and said,

"I could sense transfiguration magic on him, thought he might be a changeling too."

I chose then to but in.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you."

Magala shifted her attention to me and started slowly walking over. She stopped just a few inches away and leaned towards me. She sniffed me before rubbing her head against my chest like a cat. (She was a bit shorter than the average pony.)

Daw, she likes you!<

~Danger! Danger! Run away!~

"Uh... what?"

"Do not fear, she is seeing if you have love. But be assured she is as harmless as a dove."

Have love? What the heck does that mean?

The changeling pulled away, a slight gleam in her eyes.

"Well I wouldn't say 'harmless', but I'm not going to hurt you... intentionally."

Before I could ask what she meant by that, Zecora spoke up.

"Jack here has changed his form. I ask that his wings you get warm."

Get my wings warm? What does that mean?

Probably help you get used to your new appendages.<

I still remember that weird feeling of having wings for the first time.

~Yeah, but now you can fly! Score one for the ponies!~

Why would you want to fly when you can have fingers.<

"What's his deal?"

"Jack zones out alot. I believe he is just deep in thought."

I snapped back to attention.

"Sorry. Had alot on my mind."

Magala hummed before turning and walking towards a clearing. Zecora gestured after her before trotting back down the path. Apparently I was staying with Magala for a while.

As I reached the clearing, Magala turned and walked back up to me.

"So... what's with your emotions? They're all scrambled up."

"Well I did just become a pony, there's a lot to take in."

"Like your newfound attraction to Zecora?"

I froze. What? How?

"Oh don't bother freaking out. I feed off of love, of course I can sense it. There's a little spark of attraction but a whole lot of confusion with it. You probably don't know if it's right to be attracted to her."

Of course it's not right! You're a human! Just because you look different doesn't change that!<

~It's normal! You're a pony now! Start acting like one!~

The changeling (who ate love? How do you eat an emotion!) sauntered over to me.

"Aw... you're so confused. Here, let me help."

Before I could do anything, she pushed me over. I fell into a patch of soft moss lying on my back. (What, I as still trying to learn this whole walking thing!) She stood over me before settling onto my stomach and pressing her nose against mine.

"What are you--"

She put her hoof over my mouth and made a quiet "shh" noise. Oh heck, I really don't want to lose my v card right now! (Are you really surprised? The amount of paperwork necessary for a relationship was huge! And took forever! And really wasn't worth it.) I flinched a bit as she pressed further up against me. She laughed a bit before pressing her lips against mine. Huh, my first kiss and it's as a pony... with a bug pony thing that's kinda cute bit a little bit scary.

~See! Pony is better! Second day as pony and your life is already drastically improving!~

Until she rapes him. Or do you ponies call it a "struggle snuggle."<

Dang human me, you're a total savage!

Thanks. I am curious though, ponies tend to use their own words for stuff.<

~No! We don't call rape a struggle snuggle! That would be weird!~

My three way discussion was stopped as Magala shifted a bit in my embrace. Wait... when did I start-- oh... the pony effect. After a while she pulled away slightly and licked her lips.

"Not bad. Maybe I should keep you."

"I'm confused, what the heck was that? And what did you mean by 'feeding off lov--"

She shut me up by planting another kiss on me. I always wondered what kissing felt like, and I have to say, it's not half bad.

"You seem to be enjoying this."

I really need to stop letting my subconscious take over because now I was in full on makeout mode.

"Subconscious what the heck!"

"Hm? Just instinct then? Oh well. But feel free to look me up anytime you want. I'm always hungry."

~Creepy!~

Agreed. For such a cute thing she is sorta creepy.<

I second that motion!

"Well, how about we teach you how to fly now. If we finish early I'll give you another kiss."

Sheesh lady, you're almost as bad as pony me is about Zecora!

~I resent that!~

Yet he isn't wrong.<

She got off me and helped me to my feet. I mean hooves. Hooves.

"Now the trick to flying is having good wing motion. We'll start with some basic exercises and then we'll move on. Hope you're ready to sweat, because I love to watch a stallion work."

Okay, keep an eye on her or else I feel like she'll try to do more than just kiss you.<

~Maybe that's not a bad thing. I mean, now that we've gotten to know eachother she isn't that bad.~

I thought you were scared of her?<

~She's too sexy to be scary.~

Is that all you think about?<

~No, it's just what pertains to the moment.~

Shut up and let me focus!

Apparently Magala would be a horrible regular teacher because her way of getting your attention was to kiss you full on the mouth. She would never escape lawsuits by angry parents.

"Focus Jack. I don't want to spend all day on this."

"Yeah yeah I hear you."

I really was dreading learning to fly more than I thought I would.

Author's Note

Hey, thanks for reading! Please, comment or whatever if you feel like it. It makes me feel necessary.

Be Quiet!

I groaned as I landed, glad to be on solid ground again. As cool as flying was, I just was too tired to keep it up for long. Honestly, ever since I'd been taken prisoner I had slowly been getting more and more tired every day.

Could have something to do with becoming a horse.<

~Or from being a boring human in a magical world of happiness and sunshine.~

At least I was getting a bit better at ignoring the constant arguing going on in my head.

"Tired already? Have to say, that was pretty fast. You really need to work on your endurance."

Magala chuckled as I backed away slightly. She somehow managed to make everything she said sound sexual. I was more worried about her jumping me than anything at the moment. She must have realized that because she sighed and... I think she rolled her eyes (hard to tell when they were solid blue)

"It was just a joke, calm down. You've been jumpy since we started."

"Well sorry! I keep worrying that your going to try to tackle me again! Except rather than just forcibly kissing me you'd probably just rape me!"

"Sorry that the prospect of kissing me was so unpleasant! Sorry I'm not pretty enough for you! There! Happy now! I hope you don't have nightmares about the disgusting prospect of mating with me!"

She stormed away and sat down on a log. Okay, that was bizarre.

Just leave. She can't be trusted.<

~No way, you caused this, you're going to at least ask if she's okay.~

Shut up you two.

While they bickered away about who was right and who was wrong, I slowly walked over to her.

"Zecora's house is back down the path. Can't miss it."

"Not what I came over here to say."

She hissed before turning to face me. Uh-oh, I think she might have cried a little. Not good.

"What more do you want me to say! Sorry for subjecting you to the abomination that is kissing me!"

"No. I want to know what this is about."

"Typically. You think you did nothing wrong. You're just like every other pony. You see me as a parasite that needs to be exterminated. You think I'm disgusting and don't deserve love or compassion."

"I don't think that. I just thought you were trying to take advantage of my confusion to have your way with me."

"I wouldn't do something like that! If anyone knows about Tranformative Confusion it's me!"

"Transformative Confusion?"

"What's happening with you and your sudden attraction to Zecora. When you shapeshift, your brain changes too. This causes all new chemicals to be released into your blood stream. This causes the random attraction you've been dealing with. I figured I'd break the ice by kissing you, helping your brain flush some chemicals out."

"How would that--"

"You're speaking to a veteran shape shifter."

"Oh."

We sat there uncomfortably for a while as I tried to figure out what to do.

Leave, you've said your part.<

~Patch things up between you two!~

Idea! I knew just what to do!

"Magala, I don't feel how you said I do towards you. You're an interesting person even if your sense of humor can make things a little awkward."

"Yeah, I guess I--"

I pulled the same trick she pulled on me. I darted forward and shut her up with a kiss. I laughed as she froze, dumbfounded.

"But I don't feel 'that way' towards you either. Although I figured I could give you a snack to help you feel better."

The look on her face was priceless. She slowly grinned before saying,

"Carefull, you might give a girl the wrong idea. Besides, you need some lessons."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Lessons?"

"On how to really kiss a mare."

She pounced and started very energetically smooching me. Wow! She was good!

At kissing?<

No, at turning your own defense against you.

~Yeah, cause she turned his surprise attack into an effective counter.~

As... nice (?) as the make out session was, I started feeling that cold sensation again. I guess I was out of magic. That was... oddly fast. Blue flash, check. And now I was a human again. Somehow Magala didn't notice and kept on keeping on. She opened her eyes and stared at my now human self.

"So that's what you normally look like."

"Yup."

"Huh, I don't see how you ran out of magic that fast unless... unless...."

She started staring at my chest. Well, more like through it. She then latched onto me and started rubbing her head against me.

"Uh...."

"Your emotive aura! It's so... so... warm! Like, when I sense a ponies emotive aura, it's like being thirsty in the desert and finding a cup of cold water. You just can't get enough! It's wonderful and horrible at the same time! But yours, it's so warm and comforting, like a warm blanket when you're cold."

She curled up in my lap and started making a sound like a mix between a pur and the humming of a bee. Well... that's cute. I tried to stand up, only for her to burrow under my shirt and cling to my neck. I sighed.

"Guess I'm carrying you."

We arrived back at Zecora's place just as the sun began to set. Magala was still clinging to me as I walked down the path.

"Greetings my friend! How long ago did your lesson end?"

Magala chose then to pop out of the top of my shirt.

"Just a little bit ago. Mind if I stay the night?"

"No skin off my back, I just put some stew on the rack."

We walked with Zecora the rest of the way as I filled her in on how the flight training had gone, and why I was a human again. We entered her home and Zecora said,

"Magala, last weak I picked up a new book. If you want you can have a look."

"Yes! Jack! Carry me to the book!"

"Please?"

"Please!"

I picked up her book and sat down on one of the mats on the floor. Magala sat in my lap as we ate and voraciously read the rest of the evening as Zecora and I talked. We talked about our old homes (which Zecora agreed was much suckier than here) and our families. I learned that here, your parents tend to do stuff like goodnight hugs and kisses, nit just the occasional pat on the back. The more you know.

~See! Imagine how awesome having pony parents would be!~

Oh please, then you'd be a wimp who went crying to mommy every time you got hurt.<

Shut up.

Make me.<

~Say please!~

Soon, the sun had set completely, and it was time to sleep. Magala decided my chest was the perfect place to sleep and curled up on top of me. I got comfortable and started trying to sleep.

You should leave before they can ask you for something.<

Huh?

No way they're doing this for free. They want something from you.<

~Hold on, we can't just bail on them!~

Why not? You're more important than they are. Which is more important, your survival, or these two.<

How would that--

~We're not leaving without saying goodbye!~

Yes we are!<

~No we aren't!~

YES<

~NO~

YES<

~YES~

"SHUT UP!"

I sat there panting as the voices died down. I had woken up Zecora and Magala and now they were looking at me with concern.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's nothing."

"We are worried about you. Please, trust us too."

"I told you, I'm fine."

They shared a look before going back to their respective beds. I returned to my prior position before saying, in my mind.

Alright you two, enough is enough! If you're going to stick around there will be some rules. One, keep the comments to a minimum. If something is important you can make a remark or two, but that's it. Two, no more fighting. You're literally driving me crazy and I can't take it anymore. Okay?

~...okay.~

Fine.<

Finally, silence. It had been too long since they had both been quiet. I could finally get some sleep.

"Happy trails, my friend. May joy meet you at every bend."

"Bye Jack, have fun."

I waved a hoof at the two as I started down the trail towards the town Zecora told me about. I was going to catch a train there and go... somewhere. I had my bag (well, saddlebags. My actual backpack was tucked inside it. As well as all my belongings. Mainly my wax figurines.) and a pair of sunglasses provided by Magala. Without the trees to block the sun, the light would blind my now photosensitive eyes. After a while I emerged on a hill overlooking the small hamlet.

"Look out world! There's a new pony in town, and his name is Jack!"

Accidents And Cuddles

The sign said this place was called "Ponyville," and I doubt they could have invented a more stereotypical name if they tried. I emerged from the shadows of an alleyway into the middle of some sort of marketplace. Ponies of all shapes and sizes walked around, talking, laughing, and buying various items. I think now is a good time to make some pony friends!

~Maybe even a marefriend!~

Or you could avoid them all. Save yourself the hassle.<

First off, I like ponies platonically. I want to pet them and hug them, not bed them. And second, no. I'm going to live life to the--

"VAMPONY!"

I looked up and saw a pink pony with a curly pink mane pointing at me and screaming. Soon all the other ponies joined in and started panicking. As they ran I started dodging left and right, trying not to be trampled. Just when I thought I was clear, a pegasus who was frantically flying away accidentally caught me in the head with a flailing hoof. It knocked my sunglasses off and threw my head in line with the sun, causing blinding sunlight to flood my eyes.

Any of you wear contacts? You know how it feels to put in a ripped one? Well, for all you who don't, imagine getting stabbed in the eye with a needle. Now, for how painful what I experienced was, imagine having red-hot knives stabbed into your eyes and then someone pours boiling rubbing alcohol into them. That was almost how painful it was. I screamed in pain and toppled to the ground. My bags landing in a heap next to me. I pressed my forehooves into my eyes in the attempt to alleviate the pain, but to no avail. I felt warm blood oozing down my head from where I got kicked.

"Oh dear! Carrot honey! Help me get him inside!"

I felt hooves wrap around me and gently carry me inside somewhere. I was then laid on a couch and gentle hooves pressed against my cheeks, holding my head upright.

"Are you alright dear? Can you open your eyes for me?"

I barely managed to crack them open as the pain subsided to a dull throb. Eventually, I managed to open them part way and got a glimpse of my rescuers. There was a lanky yellow stallion with a darker, almost red, orange mane and tail. And a chubby blue mare with a pink mane and tail done up in some sort of poofy style.

"Honey? Are his eyes supposed to look like that?"

That was the stallion speaking, assumedly the mare's husband.

"I think so. He is a bat pony. Although I don't know much about them other than the one I saw when Princess Luna visited during Nightmare Night. Carrot, can you fetch a doctor while I tend to him? Just set his bags on the counter."

"Can do. I'll be back in a jiffy!"

And with that, he was gone. The mare gently set my head on a pillow before walking away. I shut my eyes a bit, giving them time to recover. I heard some clanging and bumping before the portly mare was back with a first aid kit. She set it down before climbing up onto the couch and carefully setting my head on her lap. She dug around in the bag before pulling out a patch of some material that was soaked in some liquid.

"Now hold still dear, this might sting a bit."

She held the wipe in her mouth and carefully smoothed my mane away from the cut with a hoof before gently dabbing at it with the wipe. I sharply inhaled as she wiped it, it stung despite how gentle she was being. As she worked, she started gently caressing my cheek in an oddly comforting way, making soft shushing noises as she cleaned my wound.

After she had finished wiping it, she pressed some gause to the cut and held it with a hoof. She kept on running a hoof through my mane in an attempt to comfort me as she said,

"Don't you worry. Carrot and the doctor will be here in a bit. Just stay calm. Stay calm."

I feel like she was doing that more to calm herself down than to calm me down. Although, it did feel pretty nice. I relaxed a bit and my cheek pressed against her squishy lap a bit. She wasn't "fat" as opposed to "adorably chubby" and that made her so dang soft and plush. Like, I wanted nothing more than to wrap her in a hug and snuggle her all up. The relaxatating (that's a word, right?) feeling spread until my eyes were starting to feel more than a little heavy. I sighed a bit as I rested again my impromptu pillow and my vision began to darken.

don't<

~stay awake~

I was so sleepy. And I was tired before this too. I think I'll take a little nap.

"oh no................... stay......................"

"he.......passed out.................................won't wake......."

"come on...........................stay with......."

I groggily came to and heard sighs of relief from the ponies around me. Carrot, I think, said,

"You had us worried!"

A white mare with a pink mane wearing a nurses hat stepped forward.

"Quite a scare, that! I was afraid you weren't going to wake up!"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to."

I felt a reassuring pat on the cheeks and realized I was still resting in... unnamed mare's lap. The nurse tapped me on the foreleg, returning my attention to her.

"Fortunately, you don't have a concussion. Regardless, I have a few questions I would like to ask you."

Carefull how you answer. We don't know if we can trust them.<

~She's a nurse! She wants to help you. Answer truthfully.~

"Alright, ask away."

She smiled before pulling a clipboard put of her saddlebags.

"Alright, first off, what's your name."

"Jack."

~Ponies don't have names like that! Their names are longer and more... pony-esc?~

Say it's short for... something.<

The nurse frowned as she wrote my name on the paper.

"Is that a Nocturne name? I've never heard one like it before."

"It's ahh...."

Come on, think! Jack... Jack...Hammer? Jack...Knife? Jackknife!

"It's short for Jackknife."

She nodded before adding the end onto my new name. She looked back at me and smiled.

"That's a very nice name. Anyway, next question. What have you been eating the past few weeks?"

"The usual, bread and some vegetables and... stuff."

"Any fruit or meat?"

"Not much fruit and no meat."

She nodded and smiled as she wrote that down.

"Have you been feeling lethargic and weak recently?"

I gulped, unsure if this was going well.

"Y-yeah. I feel tired all the time and get, like, exhausted really fast."

"Just as I feared, you're suffering from malnutrition."

I blinked and shot her a confused look. Apparently the two ponies who had helped me were just as confused. Carrot said,

"How can he be malnourished? Wait, you're not saying he needs to eat...."

"Meat and lots of fruit. Nocturnes need more protein and vitamins than other ponies do. I'll fill out this prescription for a multivitamin. Cupcake, would you be so kind as to keep an eye on him while I go get the vitamins? It shouldn't take long."

The mare, apparently named Cupcake, nodded.

"Of course dear. Being a mom I have more than enough experience taking care of hurt ponies than most. Carrot dear, could you man the counter until Miss Redheart comes back?"

"Can do honey."

He looked at me and gave me a smile and said, with a wink,

"Don't you try anything with my wife mister. I'd hate to have to sick Pinkie on you."

I stared at him, unsure what a "Pinkie" was.

"O...okay?"

He laughed before walking through a door, revealing some sort of bakery in the room beyond. The nurse, Redheart if I heard right, gave me a little wave and trotted out the door, leaving me with Cupcake.

"How about I get you something to eat? Do you like chocolate?"

"Yeah, I think."

She gave me a sweet smile before entering the back of the bakery. I sat up and experienced a wave of lightheadedness. As I recovered I looked around the room I was in. I was on a light blue couch with a small wooden table in front of it. The walls were brightly colored and had pictures of the two ponies as well as some with them holding two smaller ponies. Maybe they were their kids? I looked back at the door as Cupcake walked towards me, a tray held in her mouth. On it were several varieties of baked good, none of which I'd had before. (What, civilian rations didn't have dessert. Just crappy "food.")

She set the tray down and picked up a large, brown blanket that she then draped over me. She adjusted it to lie comfortably over my wings before sitting down beside me.

"Well, here you go. Just have whatever you want."

"Thank you."

I looked over the tray of delicious looking sweets before picking up some sort of pastry with frosting on top. I took a bite and... holy crap. It tastes amazing. I mean, occasionally I'd saved up enough credit to buy a milkshake or a cookie when I was in school, but this was the best thing I had ever tasted! I quickly ate the rest and moved on to delicacy after delicacy. Cupcake gave me a smile.

"I guess they're pretty good?"

"They're amazing! These are the best things I've eaten in my life!"

She blushed before looking me over and saying,

"I don't know if you're too old for this, but I know when I'm feeling hurt, sometimes a hug helps me feel better."

Is she... oh heck yeah. Hug time!

I scooted a bit closer and nodded at her. She broke into a grin and carefully pulled me closer, holding me against her soft chest.

"I just saw how worn down you looked and thought you might want somepony to comfort you."

I nodded, savoring how soft and warm she was. Honestly, I could hug ponies for days and never get over just how amazing it feels.

We sat there for a while before the nurse returned with a bottle of pills and some instructions on how often to take them. After that was done I waved goodbye to the two bakers with promises of returning before I left. As I walked through town, carefull to avoid other ponies in case the "vampony" scare was still happening. As I neared the edge of town, the cold feeling returned. I looked around frantically for a place to hide and spotted some sort of shed built into a tree on a hill. I ran towards it and closed the door just before turning back.

"Whew, that was close."

I turned around to see... a yellow pegasus with a pink mane staring wide eyed at me. We both stood, frozen in place, for a while before she toppled over and lay still on the floor.

"...Oh crap! I killed her!"

Author's Note

Guess who's back! Hopefully I should be getting these chapters out more frequently now!

Awkward

"...Oh crap! I killed her!"

Hide the body! They can't pin it on you if she's gone!<

~Turn yourself in! You killed a pony! You belong in prison!~

Shut it! I got this.

I kneeled down beside the pegasus and put my ear to her chest.

...

"Crap I actually did kill her!"

No heartbeat, no breathing, I gotta do something fast!

Run!<

~'Fess up!~

"Does CPR work on heart attacks? I had to learn it in school! I could save her!"

~Uuh... maybe?~

JUST DO IT<

I hoped I was remembering it right as I pinched the mare's nostrils closed. I used my other hand to open her mouth and, after getting a mouthful of air and forming a seal with our mouths to avoid the air escaping, breathed into her, filling her lungs. I got another mouthful of air and forced it into her again. I repeated this two more times before clasping my hands on top of her chest and pressing down in a steady rythem. (Ah ha ha ha stayin' alive, stayin' alive.) After a few compressions (fancy talk for pressing her chest.) I put my ear back up to her chest and listened. Still nothing.

"Live dang it!"

I repeated the whole shabang a few more times before the pegasus gasped and sat bolt upright. I was so happy I wrapped her in a hug and started doing a little dance in place.

"You're alive! I did it! I DID IT! I saved your life!"

She screamed and darted across the room before huddling, shivering in the corner.

"Gyah! Don't panic! I don't know if CPR will work again!"

She sat there, absolutely terrified, as I slowly walked over to her. Finally, she spoke in a voice barely louder than a whisper,

"P-please d-don't h-hurt m-m-me M-mister hu-human."

I crouched down beside the terrified mare and spoke slowly and softly.

"Just calm down. I'm not going to hurt you. Are you feeling okay?"

She started cowering down more and said,

"What happened? Why wouldn't I be okay? Did I--!"

"Calm down. You just... um... died... a little. But don't worry! I saved you!"

Her eyes went wide and she gulped.

"I d-d-died!"

And then she fainted... I think.

~Check her again. Lets hope she's alive this time.~

Might as well.<

I checked and found that fortunately she was still breathing and her heart was fine.

What do I do now?

~Uh... put her in bed?~

Leave. Turn back into a pony and get on a train.<

I guess... both?

I picked up the pony and put her on a nearby couch. As she lay there unconscious, I couldn't resist patting her adorable head... and rubbing her fluffy belly. When that was taken care of, I pulled out the magicite and started sucking on it like before. With a flash, I was Jackknife again. The crystal's glow was significantly dimmer. I probably should gather more magic before leaving. I spent a few minutes stabbing random fruits and vegetables, leaving a mound of shriveled up, grey fruit in the trash can. With that out of the way, I was free to make my escape.

I hope that mare thinks this was all a dream. Or at least doesn't mention it to anyone important.

~Hopefully!~

This is going to bite you in the butt so bad.<

As I walked the streets of Ponyville, I was glad that none of the ponies were--

"Oh my gosh oh my gosh OH MY GOSH!"

...Bob Saget.

What?<

~It's a swear stand in.~

Suddenly I was accosted by a purple unicorn who started grabbing my wings and ears.

"A real live Nocturne! I've never seen one up close! Well, other then the night guard, but they were on duty so I couldn't ask them anything so--"

"Twilight! Watch out! That's the vampony I was warning you about!"

Oh crap it's the pony who caused the panic earlier.

The unicorn turned to address miss Pink hair shouts alot and... the three other mares with her. A white unicorn with purple mane and tale, an orange and yellow normal pony, and a blue pegasus with rainbow hair. I wonder if she dyes it that color? No way you get perfectly divided colors naturally. The unicorn sighed as she said,

"Pinkie, a Nocturne isn't a vampony. They just have unique physical characteristics that set them apart from the other three races. Because of these differences, little is known about them given how secretive they all are. I mean, nopony's ever even diagramed their anatomy because they couldn't find them! That is, until now!"

She turned to me and gave me the frickin biggest cheshire grin I've ever seen in my life.

"With your help, I can make scientific breakthroughs the likes of which ponykind has never seen! Princess Celestia will be so proud of me! Now what do you say, ready to head to the lab? I'll be sure to pay you for your trouble."

I held up a hoof and took a deep breath as the five mares looked on in varying degrees of interest.

"No."

I started walking away before the unicorn finally registered what I said.

~You could have helped her.~

No. Right call in that one.<

"Wait a minute! Why not?"

"Because I don't want to."

I was picked up in a purple aura as the purple menace pulled me closer. She looked a little frantic.

"But, but think of all the things I could learn!"

"I said no!"

I flapped my wings and flew off, away from the mares. As the purple one sat there, shocked, the orange mare said,

"Welp, ya tried. Ya can't force somepony ta let ya study them."

A few hairs fell out of place as the purple one started stammering,

"But Princess Celestia will be so disappointed! I need to make friends with him, learn a friendship lesson, and then write a paper on Nocturnes! I had it all planned out!"

The others backed away as the blue pegasus began shakily calming her friend.

"Calm down Twi, maybe... uh... try again?"

She snapped to attention, a manic gleam in her eyes.

"Yes! I'll try again! He'll have to stay once we all make friends with him!"

The others nodded, nervous smiles on their faces. As the purple one called "Twi" galloped off, they all breathed a sigh of relief. The unicorn smiled and said,

"Goodness, I was afraid it would be the "tardy" incident all over again.

I said my goodbyes to the Cakes and headed for the train station. As I got to the counter, I held the little bag of gold things the Cakes had given me. Apparently these were the credits around here. I looked at the list of names realized something. I still couldn't read pony. I had heard somepony mention some small town named Coltson, so with no other towns available to me, I made my choice.

"One ticket to Coltson please!"

"Alrighty, here you are. You're just in time, the train is leaving very soon."

Yay! Off on an adventure!

~Let's meet new ponies!~

Let's get wasted so we can hide from the tragedy our life is now.<

I headed for the train when all of a sudden,

"WAIT!"

I looked back and... oh no. It's purple and her entourage.

"What?"

She gave me a pleading look.

"Stay here! We could all be such good friends and learn so much. You seem like such an interesting stallion that I'd love to get to know, so what do you say? Will you stay here?"

"Daw"s could be heard from several ponies around as Twi... realized she was talking to nopony.

"Where is he?"

The pink pony pointed at the train as it chugged away.

"The conductor was all 'all aboard!' and the bat pony was all 'bye!' and he's gone."

Twi got down on her knees and screamed,

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

(Meanwhile.)

Coltson here I come!

Author's Note

Sorry about the delay, technical difficulties. Hopefully fixed now... hopefully.

Current Events

Princess Celestia smiled as the last petitioner left the throne room. Finally, the Day Court was over and Celestia could relax by--

"Your majesty! Your majesty!"

Celestia's attention snapped to the two guards that came charging into the throne room. It was at this point Luna walked in as well. One of the duo, an earth pony, straightened his posture and said, in a typical military fashion,

"Your majesty, We went to the human's quarters and he was gone! We believe he has escaped!"

"Sister! Allow me to take a contingency of guards and hunt him down!"

Celestia took a calming breath. She really didn't want to deal with this problem, but having Luna drop her duties... very well.

"Yes, I think that would be best. Please hurry."

Luna nodded and began leaving the room, a manic grin on her face. Finally, she could get rid of the human. Celestia frowned as she turned to adress the guards.

"Wait a minute, why were you in his quarters?"

The two stood gaping, trying to think of an excuse. Finally the other guard dropped his head and groaned.

"Crap, busted."

"Ah don't know ahbout this Twi. Are ya sure we should follow him?"

Twilight was growing more and more frantic as she hurriedly packed.

"Of course! He probably headed towards the border to return to Nocturnia so he's probably headed to Trottingham! SPIKE! Watch the library while I'm gone!"

A muffled groan could be heard from a small basket nearby as Twilight finished her packing and teleported to the train station. No sooner had she left that a knock came from the door. The four mares opened it to find Fluttershy looking frightened outside the door.

"Oh hey Fluttershy! Are ya looking for Twilight cause she just left to track down this batpony stallion who she wants to study!"

Pinkie's speach was overshadowed when Fluttershy gulped and said,

"T-there was a human in my house!"

The mares gasped. Rarity took Fluttershy by the shoulder and looked her directly in the eye.

"A human?! Are you certain?!"

She nodded as Rainbow Dash said,

"We gotta tell the Princesses! We need to find it and kick its sorry flank back to where it belongs."

The mares nodded before dashing out the door leaving a perplexed Spike standing at the foot of the stairs.

"What was that about hummus?"

~I bet they would!~

No way! That would be weird.<

Fine, I'll test your theory if it will shut you two up!

I turned to the mare sitting beside me on the train and looked her up and down. She had a yellow coat and a lime green mane with a lemon and lime cutie mark. I tapped her on the shoulder and said with my best apologetic smile,

"Excuse me, could I possibly have a hug?"

The mare looked perplexed for a moment before saying,

"Is it your first time riding the train?"

I nodded and she smiled before pulling me into a hug. We sat there hugging for a bit before she let go and said with a bright smile,

"Better?"

"Better. Thanks."

~Boom! Told you a random pony would hug you if you asked nicely.~

What the actual hell.<

Happy? Cause... I actually am. Hugging ponies is like, my favorite thing to do.

And the train chugged on to Coltson.

(In the Whitetail Woods)

Six figures emerged from the confines of their personal ship. Now that the army had been recalled, it was their time to get to work. Equestria wasn't going to conquer itself.

Author's Note

Though I should let you all know what's happening in the world.

Purpose

You could have saved us. We're all dead because of you.

It's all your fault.
Why didn't you warn us? They murdered us while you hid.

Coward.
Monster! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!

IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!

YOU KILLED US ALL!

Everywhere I turned there were more ponies screaming at me in pain and terror. All or them had horrific wounds covering them as they chased me through the cars of the train.

"I'm sorry! I know I should have warned you but I was scared!"

As their shrieking and wailing got louder and louder I stumble onward. I eventually tripped and fell, only to be surrounded by the mass of ponies. The worst were the foals. I could barely stand to look at their mutilated bodies as they closed in and began tearing me to shreds.

I woke up gasping and panting and went to reach up to wipe my forehead when I realized I couldn't move my arms or legs. After a momentary panic I realized that Verdant had wrapped herself around me in her sleep and was now hugging my head as she slept. I breathed deeply as I tried to calm down. It was all okay, it was just a nightmare. I squirmed a bit in the full body hug I found myself in which only caused Verdant to murmur and squeeze me a bit tighter for a second.

Well, this isn't so bad.

Oddly comfortable.<

~Yeah... you know, I wonder if this is what it feels like to get swallowed whole.~

....

... Uh, I didn't realize you were into that.<

~What do you mean?~

You know, the entire "getting swallowed alive" thing. I mean, you do you and all but just... weird.<

~I-I'm not! I'm not into that! I swear! I was just commenting on what I imagined it was like!~

So you've been fantasizing about Verdant swallowing us whole like a snake does its prey the whole time? Oh gross... I just realized that because you're technically me, there's a part of me that gets turned on by that. Eww.

I mean, hey, no judgement and all... but that's pretty out there.<

~I'm not into that stuff! I swear!~

You sounded pretty okay with the issue of being swallowed whole.

~I didn't--~

Oh you're nasty bro! Verdant is like a kid or something! Oh that's just wrong.<

Wait... how old is she? She does act a bit immature but... how old is she really.

~I swear I... forget it, you guys are the worst.~

I laughed as I sensed him sulking in the background of my consciousness. Wait, am I becoming self aware? Or am I developing some ESP powers. Psychokinesis would be awesome!

Verdant shifted a bit and nuzzled the side of my head a few times before going back to sleep. Sheesh, I hope she doesn't accidentally choke me to death like one of those big snakes that lived in the sewers. I realized it was still late and decided I should at least try to get some more sleep. Who knows what tomorrow will bring!

I woke up when Verdant woke up. Mainly because as she yawned she accidentally bit me.

"Ow."

"Oopsss! Sssorry!"

"No prob. Well, I better be going, thanks for everything Verdant!"

I managed to slip out of her embrace and started gathering my things. As I threw my backpack over my shoulder Verdant said,

"Wait, you're leaving right now?"

"Well, yeah. I want to reach Featherborrow before dusk."

"But... but... can't you sssstay for another day?"

"Well... I just figured it was about time to continue on my journey. You know, see the world, find my purpose."

"What if your purpossse isss to ssstay here?"

"I guess I'll figure it out as I--"

She slithered in front of the exit and glared at me.

"No! I won't let you!"

Well then, I suggest you fight your way out. She wants to get in your way, bowl her over.<

~Just run, you can easily outpace her.~

As I weighed my options I looked Verdant right in the eye and... I understood. She wasn't just a lamia or a pony, she was a scared child who didn't want to be alone again. I walked over to her as she blocked the doorway lip quivering and eyes watering and knelt down in front of her.

"I know you don't want to be alone again, but I promise I'll visit you."

"H-how do I know you'll remember! Or what if you get lossst!"

I placed my hands on her shoulders and gave her a small smile.

"Verdant, how could I forget the amazing lamia who took me to her waterfall home and almost choked the life out of me with her snuggles."

She giggled a bit before looking downcast.

"I just wissssh you would sssstay for at least a day."

"If I stayed for another day would you trust me to come visit some time?"

She looked me in the eyes, hope lighting up her expression.

"If you tail ssswear!"

I nodded and she held the tip of her tail out to me. I met it with my pinkie finger which she curled her tail around.

"I swear."

She started beaming as she pounced on me, nuzzling and hugging and laughing and crying all at the same time.

"So what do you want to do first?"

"We can go ssswiming and tell eachother ssstoriesss and sssnuggle and you can read to me and then I'll read to you and we can make some food and..."

"How about we start with swimming and go from there?"

To say I was exhausted by the time evening rolled around was an understatement, and I wasn't the only one. As Verdant coiled up in her nest I carefully flopped down right in the middle like last night.

"I'm heckin' tired!"

"Yeah, sssso am I."

She yawned which made me yawn and then we just passed out from exhaustion.

"Sssso how sssoon until you visssit again?"

"I dunno, but probably pretty soon."

She sniffed as she hugged me, and honestly, I was a bit sad too.

"Bye Jack, I'll missss you."

"I'll miss you too."

I waved goodbye as I set off towards the north, the sun at my right. Verdant waved back before the trees swallowed her up.

Well then, I guess it's next stop Featherborrow.

~Cheer up, you'll see her again.~

Yeah, now you have a hideout in the middle of the forest.<

And once again, you think of things entirely differently.

~Yeah, he thinks everyone is expendable.~

And you think all problems can be solved my smiling and hugging.<

Stop fighting you two, you're being annoying.

~He's just grumpy because we spent a whole day having fun!~

You're just upset you didn't get to be swallowed whole by Verdant.<

Oh... burn.

~Again! Gyaah! You guys are the worst!~

Author's Note

*stereotypical comment about commenting*

Featherborrow

I sat hidden in the underbrush as I looked at the town in front of me. It had taken less time than I had expected to reach Featherborrow but it was still a little after lunch.

Speaking of lunch, what are we eating?<

Don't know.

~Speaking of food, I hope we don't run out of those vitamins any time soon. It will probably be a pain to get more.~

Yeah, probably. I think we have enough though.

The best place to enter the town was probably the large path that lead from the forest to the center of town. I quietly made my way over to it and started getting out my magicite.

Here's to hoping you have enough magic in that thing.<

~Yeah, becoming a human in the middle of a pony town would be very bad.~

It's glowing pretty bright, so hopefully we'll be fine.

Once I was Jackknife again, I moved from the underbrush to the main path and started making my way into town. As I entered the town, I surveyed the houses around me. They were mainly log cabins with some being multiple levels high while some were short and long. As I approached what must be town center, shops and stores replaced the houses and I started seeing ponies walking around buying various goods.

We can lay low here for a bit and then head to another location. Traveling around would probably be the best course of action.<

~But to do that, we need supplies. So we should stay here for a bit and build up some savings. Oh look! they have an ice cream shop!~

All of those are great suggestions. But please, keep the comments to a minimum when I'm talking to somebody.

~SomePONY! Ponies say somepony. If you don't, you'll stand out which we don't want.~

He has a point.<

I rolled my eyes as I continued along until I noticed how quiet it had become. I looked around and noticed that every...pony had stopped what they were doing and were gawking at me like I had grown an extra head.
I lowered my gaze and headed into what must be the city hall. I figured that was the best place to start looking for information about work and where I'd live.

As the white double doors swung inward, I nervously made my way into some sort of waiting room. I approached what appeared to be the main desk and looked at the mare sitting behind the counter. She looked up from her magazine and said,

"Here to see Mayor Bureau?"

I nodded and she smiled before pressing the button on an intercom device beside her.

"There's a stallion here to see you."

The box made a crackling static sound before a voice replied,

"Give me ten minutes to finish this. I'll tell you when I'm ready."

"I'll tell him."

She smiled and said,

"I'm assuming you heard that too."

"Yeah, I can wait."

I sat down in one of the chairs closest to the desk and looked around. The walls were a light brown color with green carpet on the floor. Given the wooden furniture and natural colors it made me feel like I was sitting inside a tree. I looked over the mare sitting behind the desk. She was an earth pony with a light turquoise coat and a white mane and tail so shiny they almost looked like polished silver. She looked up and saw me looked at her which caused her to break into a smirk.

"Whatcha looking at?"

I blinked a few times and replied,

"Just looking around. I'd never ever heard of this place before I saw it on a map."

Wait a minute, why was Verdant's map written in English? Everything else is written in some weird pony language.<

Yeah... I just realized that.

~Pay attention! She's saying something!~

I shook myself slightly before refocusing on the mare who was giving me a skeptical look.

"Were you paying attention?"

I blushed while rubbing the back of my head.

"No, sorry. I've always been a bit spacey"

~Nice save. She digs it.~

She winked and smiled slyly.

"One of those ponies who gets lost deep in thought? That's fine by me. Anyway, I was saying I hope nopony gave you weird looks when you came into town, folks here tend to be wary of strangers. Especially when those strangers don't look like them."

"Oh, yeah. A few ponies stared, but it's no problem. I'm used to it by now."

She nodded before moving from her desk to the chair beside me.

"Now pardon my asking, but what exactly are you batponies called? I can't believe you literally go by 'batponies.'"

"Well the official name is Nocturne, but I don't mind being called a batpony."

She hummed and nodded slightly before holding out a hoof.

"Sparkling Brooke."

I met her hoof with my own.

"Jackknife."

She smiled and I noticed she had freaking adorable dimples on her cute little cheeks.

"Nice to meet you. Although I wouldn't be surprised if ponies are a but standoffish at first. We've had trouble in the past with outsiders causing trouble."

"Really?"

"Mhm. A couple of no good gryphon goons like to fly across the border and vandalize buildings and make a huge mess of food wrappers and beer bottles. But seeing you're not a gryphon, they should warm up to you pretty quickly so long as you prove yourself friendly."

"Thanks for the advice Sparkling Brooke."

"Oh please, just call me Brooke. And do you mind if I do something?"

I raised an eyebrow before shrugging.

"Knock yourself out."

She carefully held my bat wing and slowly ran her hoof over the soft membrane between the slender flight bones.

"Wow, it's so different from a pegasus wing. And the, uh, stuff it's made of is so soft and velvety."

She held the wing up a bit and rubbed it against her cheek.

"I mean, it's softer than my blanket my grandmare made me when I was a little filly. Oh, you don't mind me touching your wing, do you?"

"N-no."

I was barely able to hold back an embarrassing moan of pleasure as she slowly rubbed the sensitive area near the base of my wing.

Dear sweet sassafras this is better than hugs.

~Uh oh, somebody needs to be careful or you'll creep her out.~

Is this the pony form of... you know... a girl doing... you know.<

S-shut up and let my enjoy this!

I managed to keep the side of my face facing her calm and straight, but the side that wasn't I was biting my lip as hard as I could. She eventually moved on and gently placed her hoof on my cheek to turn my face towards her.

"I thought you're eyes looked different behind those sunglasses. Can you take them off so I can see?"

"Yeah, they're just to protect my eyes from bright sunlight."

Fortunately I had recovered enough to keep a straight face and removed the sunglasses (which I had forgotten I was wearing) and placed them in my saddlebags.

"Your pupils are all... different. They're not round! And your eyes are such a nice gold color."

"Thank you."

I looked into her eyes and saw they were a deep violet color.

"Your's are very nice too."

She blushed and ran a hoof through her mane.

"Thank you. I've been told they look just like my great grandmare's."

The intercom crackled and the voice said,

"Alright, I'm done. You can send him in now."

Brooke stood up and trotted back to her desk before pressing the intercom button.

"Alright, I'll send him right in."

She smiled again and waved me towards the mayor's office. As I left I looked back at her.

"Thanks for the advice, Brooke. Hopefully I'll see you again later."

"No problem. And feel free to stop by anytime."

And with that I walked into the mayor's office.

I sat in a chair in front of a large wooden desk with a grey unicorn stallion sitting behind it. He had a black mane with a few streaks of gray running through it and was wearing a tie and small spectacles.

"Nice to meet you, I am Mayor Bureau."

"Jackknife."

"Well then, tell me what you need.

As the doors closed Brooke turned to the mare in the back sorting various documents in the filling cabinets.

"He seemed like a gentlecolt."

The mare nodded before saying,

"I figured given how much you were flirting. Is he hot?"

"Oh yeah. He's got more of that rough around the edges handsome look rather than the clean cut look. And he's not in bad shape either."

"Well you'd better make your move now before all the other single mares catch wind of him. Poor guy doesn't know what's coming for him."

Brooke waved a hoof dismissively before turning to walk away.

"I like my chances. Besides, he said he liked my eyes."

The mare that was filling snorted and shot Brooke a wily look.

"You sure he didn't say 'thighs'? That is what most stallions are looking at in a mare, and of course the caboose."

Brooke gave the mare a wink before strutting back to her desk, rump swaying seductively.

"Maybe I should 'escort him out' and let him see the 'whole package.'"

The two mares laughed and the other mare called after her.

"Careful the mayor isn't with him, don't want him getting the wrong idea."

"Honestly, why do you think he wants me to be the secretary. Since we don't have a bowl of candy for visitors he figures we should provide some eye candy instead."

"Oh Brooke, you've got to be careful what you say. We could have ponies in the lobby."

They laughed before heading back to work.

(Meanwhile, in the mayor's office.)

"So you need a job and a place to stay?"

"Yup, nothing fancy. Just a way to earn enough to keep food on the table and a roof over my head."

"Well, I think I have an arrangement that can work in both of our favors. I need an extra pair of hooves around here to act as a custodian and assistant secretary. Basically you'd be keeping the building clean and helping Brooke by delivering various items to various ponies. And in regards to housing, there's a decent sized house on the edge of town that's been vacant for so long, it's gone back into town government ownership. I'll let you rent-to-own the place and take the rent out of your pay. Sound fair?"

I reached a hoof out to grey unicorn and gave him a smile.

"Sounds like a good deal to me."

"Good, I'll have Brooke show you the way and you'll start work tomorrow."

Mayor Bureau pressed the intercom and said,

"We're done. Please show Mr. Jackknife to thirty-one Pine Lane."

The intercom replied,

"I'd be happy to."

I put my sunglasses back on and headed out the door. Upon exiting Brooke smiled and motioned for me to follow her. As we walked towards the door I glanced at her and--

~Daaaaaaaang! She's got a nice butt! Talk about thicc!~

Seriously, if you don't stop commenting on every mare's appearance I will stab you. H-hey! Stop staring!<

I'm not turned on by it! And I'm wearing sunglasses! It's just... hypnotizing. I can't look away.

~Hey, when they got the the booty, you gotta look. And she got the booty.~

I swear, I'm going to snap one of these days.<

I followed her until we stopped in front of a decent sized one story log cabin.

"Well, here we are. Here's the key." She handed a small key that I held with a wingtip, "And if you ever need any help, or just somepony to talk to. You know where I am."

"Thanks, Brooke. I'll see you soon."

She nodded and trotted away as I entered my new house. It was a bit dusty, but it would be fine. With a flash, I was out of magic and hurriedly closed the door, hoping no one saw me.

"Well, guess I'd better get cleaning."

Twilight and her friends idly chatted as the countryside rolled by. They had learned which route the Nocturne Twilight was chasing had gone and were now in pursuit. Suddenly, the train started slowing before it stopped entirely. Twilight and gang raced to the engine car and found the conductor in conversation with the engineer. Twilight hurriedly asked,

"Why'd the train stop?"

"There's another train stopped on the tracks. I'm not sure why though."

Rainbow Dash laughed before saying,

"Is that all? If you want, the six of us can go ask what's wrong. We are the Elements of Harmony after all."

The conductor nodded and the six headed for the stopped train.

"Wait a minute, this is the train he was on! I wonder what happened?"

As they boarded the caboose, they stood in the doorway at the horrifying scene in front of them. There were ponies with various wounds and burns filling the aisles and the sickly smell of decay hung heavy in the air. Fluttershy fainted immediately and the others started gagging and choking. Twilight, tears in her eyes, moved to investigate one of the bodies and saw something that made her blood run cold.

"G-girls. This was done by... by... humans."

They gasped and Pinkie said,

"It must have been the one Fluttershy claimed was in her house! We need to tell Princess Celestia so we can stop that wicked evil mean bad and nasty meany McMeaniepants!"

"Worry not, I happen to be chasing this last human myself."

The girls turned and saw that Princess Luna, followed by a squad of night guards had landed behind them as they talked. Twilight bowed before saying,

"You know about this human?"

"Unfortunately, yes. And I shall capture him and make him pay for his crimes."

As she surveyed the wreckage, she scowled and hissed out,

"Run while you can, Jack. I will find you wherever you hide."

A New Dawn

After spending a good hour clearing the dust and grime out of my new home I turned my attention to the bed in one of the rooms. This house had three rooms and a bathroom so I figured one room would be where I slept, one would be some sort of multipurpose room. The other room was a kitchen with a stove and... a sink. Just those two things.

Sheesh, I'm going to need to get some furniture for this place, I mean look at that mattress!

The mattress... yeah, no way in heck I was sleeping on that thing. It probably had more bugs and diseases than a brothel would.

~Eew... it even smells as horrible as it looks.~

So that's what that smell was. I kinda thought the house just had a natural funk to it.<

I (after wrapping my hands up in some cleaning rags I had found that weren't horrifyingly disgusting) picked up the mattress and carefully threw it out the front door so hard it landed right on the edge of the street.

Some druggy can have it. I guess we're sleeping on the floor for tonight?<

Yup.

~Um... not to ruin the sense of accomplishment cleaning this place gave you, but what are we going to eat tonight?~

I sat down in the middle of my empty bedroom and dug through my bag. I thought I had... no, no food anywhere. At least the magicite has a bit of magic left in it.

Yeah, but we've been cutting it close for a while now. We need to find a reliable source of magic to avoid detection.<

Well if you think of something feel free to tell me!

Suddenly, there was a knock at the front door. I quickly used some of the magic I had to turn back into a pony and opened the door. A whole pony family stood outside with nervous smiles on their faces.

"Uh... hi?"

A stallion I assume was the husband cleared his troat and said in a slightly shaky voice.

"W-we heard there was a new pony living here so we decided to b-bring you a welcome to the neighborhood gift."

One of the children, a filly who appeared to be the oldest, stepped forward and handed, er, hoofed my a pie tin.

"It's my famous blueberry pie. I hope you like it mister...."

"Jackknife. And thank you, I was just wondering what I would have for dinner tonight. I think I'll have some of this delicious looking pie."

My answer seemed to set them at ease (what, did they think I was going to throw it in their face and eat their firstborn child?) and the parents gave me a genuine smile. They were typical looking ponies, the stallion was a normal pony with brown fur and a dark brown mane with a sickle and some sort of grain as his cutie mark, and his wife was a redish purple color with a green mane and a blueberry as a cutie mark.

"Mister Jackknife."

I looked down at the other foal who was a boy with a blue coat and orange mane but no cutie mark... oh crap I just realized without my bags on my lack of cutie mark was visible. That probably makes me stand out and would draw unwanted attention.

"Yeah?"

Please don't ask about the cutie mark!

"Are you a vampony?"

I blinked and raised an eyebrow. Before I could respond the mare gasped and said,

"Orange Spice! Don't be rude!"

"It's no problem. You'd be surprised how many ponies think that because of the wings and eyes."

I turned to the embarrassed kid and said with a reassuring smile,

"I'm a Nocturne. It's very different from a vampony."

He nodded and mumbled a quiet sorry before moving to stand behind his mom. The stallion stepped forward and held out a hoof.

"I forgot to tell you our names, I'm Barley Fields, this is my wife Blueberry, my daughter Rhubarb." The fillie from before smiled at me. She had a pink coat and her mom's green mane. "And of course there's Orange Spice our son. We're very glad to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too."

They smiled and trotted back to their home leaving me with a pie. I closed the door and hurriedly jabbed the magicite into my elbow in an attempt to save some magic.

"I gotta find more before tomorrow."

~That can wait, right now it's pie time!~

In the whitetail woods, the group of guards that had helped escort Doctor Carefull Observer to the old human campsite had been met by a pegasus dispatch from Canterlot. As his message circulated, two mares in specific were dumbfounded by what he said.

"I can't believe Jack broke out and has been... killing ponies. It just doesn't make sense!"

Orchid turned to the doctor and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

"I know, it just doesn't seem like what he'd do. He just seemed to... nice to hurt a pony let alone kill one."

"That's what I'm saying. We must find out the truth and clear his name!"

"Except our new orders are to help track him down."

The doctor frowned before shaking her head.

"What are the Princesses hoping to accomplish by--"

One of the guards near the edge of the groups head literally exploded into red mist causing ponies to scream and look around in panic before a female voice said,

"Weapons free, open fire."

All at once four human soldiers opened fire on the unsuspecting guards taking many down before they could even react. Quickly the guards scrambled for cover and returned fire with magic and arrows.

One group had been unable to reach cover and one of the unicorns had cast a protective barrier. One human, a mountain of a man armed with a minigun unloaded into the field, shattering it in seconds and elimination the guards within just as fast. A few of the pegasi took to the air and desperately tried to avoid fire as they attempted to retreat but were quickly picked off by a mix of sniper fire and arrows fired from the treeline.

"Nice shooting Trace and Lenart. Enoch, can you deal with the cover."

"I've got just the thing."

"I'll cover you with AEGIS. Move!"

The female dashed from the tree line and hit something in her arm causing a barrier to form in front of her. One human with glasses on rather than a helmet followed and, when close enough, threw a sphere into the middle of one of the groups behind cover. It exploded into a mix of fire and electricity evoking screams from the affected ponies. Not a single one rose from the ground.

Farther away from the other groups, Orchid stood holding Doc down in an attempt to avoid notice. She looked at the destruction and mumbled,

"Come on, show them what you've got!"

A group of assorted guards charged the two retreating humans only for a barrage of arrows and sniper fire to cut them down.

"Thanks for the assist."

"Happy to help."

"Atlas, any more of them?"

"Not that I see." Said the minigun totting behemoth.

"Trace? Lenart?"

"Negative."

"Alright then--"

A lance hit the tree that Orchid and the doctor were hiding behind.

"I've got two!"

Literally out of nowhere, another human appeared crouching on the lance, gun pointed at the two.

"Take them out, Lance"

Orchid dove to the side, pulled Doc with her. The human swore before pulling his spear out of the tree and throwing it after them. Orchid ducked and it sailed past them and stuck into the ground. As Orchid looked back she saw that the human was gone. She broke into a gallop, pulling the Doctor with her. Gunfire exploded from where the lance had struck and Orchid saw that the human had somehow gotten there faster than she had expected. She galloped, ducking and weaving as she ran before a bullet narrowly missed her, grazing her side instead.

"Come on Doc! We've got to esca--"

Because she wasn't looking where she was going the two had run right over a sharp decline and were now rolling downhill. At the bottom, they splashed into a fast moving river. While Doc managed to breach the surface, Orchid's armor proved too heavy and she started to sink. She writhed and bucked and scrabbled at the heavy mail before she managed to break the leather straps securing it and pulled herself out of the iron shell. She kicked her hoofguards off and tore off her helmet, allowing her to make it to the surface.

"Doc! Doc where are you!"

"Here! I'm here!"

The mare turned and saw the doctor swimming along behind her.

"Hopefully we should be--"

"Waterfall!"

Orchid spun around and saw, to her horror, a massive waterfall drawing closer fast. The two frantically tried to swim for shore, but failed due to their exhaustion. The current picked up and it was all the two could do to attempt to avoid the rocks and other debris filling the river. They couldn't escape unscathed though, with Orchid painfully jarring her hind leg on a rock she kicked away from and Doc bashing her head against another one. Despite their efforts, they soon plunged over the falls and into the pool below.

I awoke early (Probably because my back was killing me from sleeping on the floor all night) and stretched out, causing a chorus of cracks and snaps to come from my battered body.

"Oh sweet jimminy christmas that hurt!"

~It hurt to hear.~

Consider seeing a chiropractor.<

Honestly I should, my back has felt like crap for ages.

I had spent a good portion of last night skulking around stealing magic from anything I could. I had a few close calls but fortunately I don't think any of the ponies saw me.

Once again, you rely to heavily on dumb luck. Your luck will eventually run out you know.<

I know, but I've been trying to lessen the risks as much as I can.

~Honestly, we've been doing good about not getting caught so far. Let's try to keep it that way.~

*inarticulate grumbling*<

I turned back into my pony form and went to the bathroom mirror to make myself look presentable. I took a shower (although without soap I don't know exactly how clean I would be) and tried to do something with my mane. I had no idea how stallions styled their manes so I just assumed that making it look not flat and greasy was the best course of action. With that out of the way, it was time to go to work and... do stuff.

~Here's to hoping work isn't boring and hard!~

You realize nothing can be easy for us, right?<

Somebody's a ray of sunshine today.

I closed and locked my door and made my way to town hall. When I arrived, I saw Mayor Bureau unlocking the doors. He noticed me and nodded.

"Morning Jackknife. I wasn't expecting you to he here so early."

"Well I don't have a clock so I just hoped I wasn't late."

"We've got some extras in the storeroom, feel free to borrow one of you need."

"Thanks, I think I will."

As we were talking, Brooke and a mare I didn't recognize walked up and smiled while calling out "good morning."

"Morning Brooke, who's your friend?"

"Oh this is Legible Ledger. She does filling for townhall."

I waved to her and she waved back, a shy smile on her face. Brooke bumped me with her shoulder and gave me a sly smile.

"What are you doing back here so soon? Miss me already?"

"Actually I work here now. Mayor Bureau gave me a job."

She looked surprised then smiled broadly as I turned to walk through the now open doors. She turned to face Ledger and mouthed the word "yes" while pumping her hoof. The mare stifled a giggle before walking with Brooke into the building.

After getting acquainted with my duties as secretaries assistant I received my first task, delivering an envelope to the teacher of the local school, a mare named Miss Orchard Bloom. As I set out, I couldn't help but look at the vastly unbalanced population of the town.

I'm counting six mares to every one stallion, what's with the huge gender imbalance?

I don't know, but it's super weird.<

~Um... don't look now, bit I'm seeing a lot of stares coming our way.~

I've got sunglasses on so it doesn't matter, no...pony can see where I'm looking anyway. And it's probably just because I'm a Nocturne.

I continued on my way, following various signs in the attempt to reach the school house.

"Oh? Whatsss thisss? There'sssss two poniessss in my pool? Uh oh, they look hurt. I sssshould bring them inssssside."

Learning

As I walked down the road to the one room school I could here voices talking over eachother. Great, a bunch of rowdy kids all crammed into one room, my favorite. I opened the door and immediately a pegasus with an orange coat and brown mane looked up and hurriedly said,

"Oh thank Celestia! Here, watch the class for a bit. I have to get this colt to his parents!"

Sitting in front of her was a kid with spots all over him.

Must have been allergic to something.<

~Or has some weird disease.~

Before I could object the mare raced out the door with the foal on her back. I stood there, staring after her for a while before I turned back to the class.

"... Does that happen often?"

The kids just stared until one colt I recognized waved his hoof.

"Hi mister Jackknife!"

"Hey Orange Spice."

I moved to stand behind the teacher's desk and looked at the book on the desk and what do you know, it was written in that weird squiggly writing I couldn't understand.

"So... what are you learning today?"

"Are you a vampony?"

One filly in the front had raised her hoof and blurted that out.

"No, I'm a Nocturne."

"Can you mind control ponies?"

"...I don't think so."

"How about see in the dark real good?"

"Yes, that's why I wear sunglasses during the day."

All the children oohed and aahed at that. I cleared my throat before asking again,

"So, what are you learning about?"

Another filly who just oozed teacher's pet said,

"We're learning about chemistry. Today is the introduction day where we learn what it is."

All the other foals groaned and started grumbling about how boring it was and "why can't we learn about cool things like dolphins and humans." Meanwhile, I was surveying the desk that was covered in various bottles and flasks. Fortunately, the labels were multilingual so I could read which was which. Now, chemistry was one of the few classes I was actually good at. I wasn't very good at the complex math part, but blowing crap up? I was very good at. I found a bottle of fifty fifty alcohol water solution and dipped my hoof into it. I found a lighter, and, after getting the classes attention, said.

"Now I know chemistry can seem boring, but I assure you, many parts are actually quite fun and... safe."

And with that, I set my hoof on fire. The class gasped as flames licked along my hoof and gaped at the fact that I wasn't bothered by it. I waited a bit before quickly waving my hoof and putting out the flames. The class erupted into cheers and excited conversation as I showed them my perfectly fine hoof. One colt raised his hoof and said,

"Do you know any more?"

I looked over the desk before finding some powdered sugar and a bottle of sulfuric acid. I poured some of the sugar into a beaker and poured a little acid on top which quickly turned the sugar into a black goo. This prompted more cheers and I bowed slightly.

"Now, what's the most important thing to remember when doing stuff like this?"

The kids looked around in confusion, unsure what I wanted them to say,

"Never do this at home. It's dangerous. Now, does anypony know what I'm supposed to do until your teacher gets back?"

They all shook their heads. Orange Spice raised his hoof and said,

"Can you light yourself on fire again?"

I dunked my hoof into the alcohol solution and light it. Just as it caught and spread all over my hoof, the door opened and the teacher walked back in.

"Sorry to dump that on you like that, but I really needed to--"

She froze as she saw my flaming hoof. I waved it at her nonchalantly.

"No problem, I was just showing these foals a bit about chemistry."

I quickly waved my hoof, extinguishing it and pulled the envelope out of my saddlebags.

"I was sent here to give you this, but I was happy to help."

She nodded, dumbfounded before saying,

"Y-yes, now then. Would it be too much to ask to drop by after school, say around four, so I can thank you?"

"Okay. See you then."

I failed to notice the reaction the class had with foals drawing hearts in midair and making kissy faces. The door closed as the teacher said,

"So, what did I miss?"

The mayor was waiting for me, a scowl on his face as I walked through the doors to town hall.

"What the hay took so long?"

"Sorry, I got there and the teacher need to take some kid home so she literally told me to watch the class and then ran off. So I watched the class until she got back, gave her the envelope, and then came back here."

Brooke poked her head out from behind the desk and asked,

"What was wrong with the foal?"

"He was covered with spots. I think he might have been allergic to something."

The mayor cleared his throat.

"Anything else I should know?"

"Yeah, she asked me to come back at four. Something she wanted to talk about or something. Probably wanted to know what I taught them."

Brooke bit her lip as she thought,

Or, she's trying to make a move on him. If I want a chance I've got to work fast.

The mayor nodded and went back to his office as I picked up a dusting rag and started dusting off various objects around the room.

"So, Jackknife, how did you sleep in your new home?"

"Horribly, the mattress was so disgusting looking I threw it out so I had to sleep on the floor. My back's been killing me all day."

Ooh, he's got standards of cleanliness! That's better than most stallions.

"Well, what did you have for dinner last night? Did you check out any local restaurants?"

I laughed before saying,

"No, but given I didn't have any food at the house yet, I didn't get anything that way. Fortunately one of my new neighbors dropped some food off. Their colt, Orange Spice, asked me if I was a vampony, like, straight up, dead serious thought I was a vampony! I actually saw him in class today, he seems like a nice kid. Heck, all of them seemed pretty interested in my lesson."

And good with foals! Celestia, thank you for sending me the perfect stallion!

"So what are your plans for dinner tonight?"

I shrugged,

"I dunno, I'll figure something out."

Alright, it's go time.

"Well how about you come over to my place for dinner? I'd be more than happy to cook for you."

"Hey, thanks! I'd love that."

I went about my work unaware of the victory dance Brooke was doing behind my back. I spent the rest of the day cleaning up the place until I left to go meet that teacher lady.

I opened the door to the schoolhouse and saw her sitting at her desk grading papers. I did the whole polite cough to get her attention and she turned to me and smiled.

"Oh, hello again! I'm terribly sorry about just dropping that in your lap like that especially given we haven't been introduced."

She stood up and trotted over to me.

"My name is Orchard Bloom."

"Jackknife."

"You know, it's not often you see Nocturnes outside of Nocturnia, are you new in town?"

"Yeah, just moved in."

"How delightful. So how are you finding Featherborrow?"

"So far so good, and I hope to keep it that way."

She nodded before smoothing her mane out of her face in an adorable way.

"So did you move here by yourself or did you bring family?"

"Nope, just me."

"Ah, a fresh start in a new town?"

"Basically."

She smiled and stepped a bit closer.

"You know, if you ever want help with anything, I'm more than willing to lend a helping hoof, or two if I can spare them."

~Hey! She could teach you how to read.~

Yeah! That way I can actually figure stuff out!

"Well, if it's not too much trouble, could you teach me how to read?"

She went wide eyed in surprise.

"You can't read?!"

"Well, I can read that."

I pointed to the section of a bottle written in English.

"So you can read Gryphonian but not Equestrian glyphs? How odd."

"Yeah, and it's been a real pain in the butt not being able to."

"Well, what time do you get off work most days?"

"Five, but I was allowed to leave early today because you asked to see me."

"Alright, we can meet here Fridays at five and have some coffee while I tutor you in how to read."

"Sounds like a plan!"

I waved goodbye and headed towards the address that Brooke had given me. When I was gone Orchard Blosom looked in the mirror and smiled while smoothing out her mane.

"Still got it. I hope he wants some 'extra lessons' when we're done."

I knocked on the door to Brooke's house and she opened it after a short wait.

"Jackknife! So glad you came!"

"Please, call me Jack. Jackknife is a little too long for my liking."

"Alright 'Jack' come on in. I've almost got everything ready."

"Wait, you didn't spend a lot of money making a fancy dinner did you? I really don't think I deserve that much effort."

"Oh Jack, think of it as a 'Welcome to Featherborrow' party."

"Alright, so long as it wasn't too much of a hassle."

We sat down at a table filled with amazing looking foods. There was some sort of creamy potato soup, roasted carrots, salad, and some sort of crispy fry like things with an amazing sauce on them.

"Wow, Brooke! This is fantastic!"

"Oh please, no need to be polite. It's really not that much."

"I mean it, this is amazing!"

We talked as we ate ranging from subjects like our earlier years (which I had to pretty much lie about entirely) to random funny things that had happened to us. Brooke said she was going to get dessert just as I felt it, a cold feeling throughout my entire body.

Oh hell.

BATHROOM<

~It's your best chance!~

"Hey, uh, Brooke. Can I use your bathroom?"

"Sure, it's the first door on your left."

I darted inside and locked the door just in time. With the usual flash of light, I was human again.

What the heck! There should have been enough magic in the magicite to last for a couple days!

I don't know, but we're really screwed now.<

~Come on, think! Where can we get magic!~

Well where did Zecora say magic was!

The air and all the plants and animals in Equestria.<

~Yeah, but won't Brooke notice if a bunch of her bathroom is grey dust.~

Come on, come on!

"You okay, Jack?"

"Y-yeah! I'll be out in a second."

Come on! What is there in a bathroom that is easily replaceable!<

Wait! Idea!

I turned on the sink and said a quick prayer before sticking the magicite under the stream of water. The water that flowed over the crystal lost its shining, sparkling look and ran down the sink looking drab and poluted. But, slowly yet surely, the crystal began to glow. When it was glowing relatively well, which took a while, I stuck it in my mouth and started absorbing the magic. With a sigh of relief, I was a pony again.

Too close.

And that's why we need a backup plan at all time!<

~Now how do we explain the long bathroom break?~

Say you were sick or something?<

Oh yeah, "Sorry that took forever! Was busy being sick in your bathroom! This has nothing to do with your food, I swear!"

~Well think of something!~

As I stepped out Brooke raised an eyebrow,

"Everything alright?"

"Yeah, I had to... clean a bit of sauce off my coat. I noticed a bit spilled on me and I was trying to clean it off."

"Oh, I hate it when that happens. Anyway, I made apple strudel!"

As we ate the (insanely delicious) dessert, we picked up our conversation about funny things that had happened to us. I had just told her about the time everyone in Ponyville thought I was a vampony when she stood up and moved to a couch. She pat the cushion beside her invitingly and I moved to sit down beside her.

As I did, she pushed me over so that my back was facing her and started massaging it.

"H-hey! What's going on!"

"Relaxe, you said your back hurt so I'm helping you."

"You don't have to do tha-aah."

I tensed and then sighed in relief as she massaged a particularly knotted section of my back.

"Oh please, I don't mind."

"Well at least let me do something for you in return."

"Alright, I rub your back, then you rub my back."

"Sounds fair."

As the massage went on, I went from a little tense to basically melting into a puddle at the pleasant sensation. Especially when she started rubbing the muscles between my wings.

"Wow, you're really tense. You needed this more than I thought."

"Uhuh. Izz nice."

She giggled before playfully whacking my shoulder.

"Don't go getting too comfortable on me. You still owe me a massage."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

She flopped down on her side of the couch and I started rubbing her back. She was super soft and fluffy and made cute little humming sounds as I rubbed which was frickin adorable. I don't know how long it was before she stretched and grabbed me with her forelegs before wrapping her hind legs around my waist. She pulled me against her and snuggled into my chest with a happy hum.

Dawww, that's so adorable!

Cute.<

~Hug her really good! Maybe you can even do some smooching!~

Naw, she's just enjoying the cuddles.

I wrapped my forelegs around her and pulled her closer, allowing her to bury her head in my chest. It was so freaking adorable I think my heart stopped for a bit. But, all good things must come to an end and eventually the clock rang that it was eleven. She slowly looked up and groaned.

"Eleven already?! But it feels like you just got here!"

"Oh well, this was fun! Maybe when I'm more set up I can throw you a party in thanks for this one."

"You don't have to go, you could spend the night here."

"I have things to take care of and stuff I need at my home."

She sighed before reluctantly letting go. We said goodnight and I went back home.

You know, that was surprisingly fun. Brooke is a really nice pony.

And there was only a little bit of disaster that almost cost you everything.<

~And you got to cuddle a cute mare! Scores pretty high in my books.~

I swear you two are so weird. One of you is all doom and gloom and the other is all lovey dovey all the time.

~Aw, admit it. You like us.~

More that he'd be dead without us. Well, mainly me.<

Yeah yeah, keep talking.

Author's Note

Will Jack be able to survive all the mares attempting to seduce him, will he catch a clue and realize they are flirting with him? Tune in next time to find out.

Weekend

The next few days passed much like the others with me going to work during the day and gathering as much magic as possible at night. Come Wednesday and the mayor gave me my first paycheck saying "I'll pay you every other Wednesday. I just figured now you can get some furniture." I'm not sure what the worth of the currency here is but I was able to get way more than I thought and still had money left over. I now had a couch, a bed, a table set with four chairs, and other things like soap and groceries. When Friday rolled around I was pretty excited to finally learn how to read Equestrian. It had been a real pain in my rear trying to figure out what everything said other ways.

I was in the back putting away my cleaning supplies when Orchard Blossom entered the building. I hadn't heard her come in but one mare had.

"Oh hey there Orchard Blossom! What do you need?"

"Good afternoon Miss Sparkling Brooke. I'm just here to pickup Jackknife. We have plans."

"Oh really? And what are those plans?"

"Oh nothing too important."

Brooke leaned in closer and growled at Orchard Blossom.

"Listen here, Jackknife is mine! I talked to him first so I get dibs! So if you know what's good for you you'll watch your step."

"Oh, I'm sorry that I'm causing you worry. I never realized you found me so threatening."

"If you try to pull the sexy teacher thing a bunch of stallions fantasize about I'll personally kick your flank to Canterlot and back."

"Careful! You might blow a fuse if you get too worked up. And we wouldn't want you to ruin you face. Goodness knows it's the only thing you've got going for you."

"Why I oughta--"

It was then that I rounded the corner and spotted them. Brooke was turned away from me so I couldn't see the murder in her eyes.

"Oh hey Orchard Blossom! I was just about to go looking for you. Ready for coffee?"

"Oh I'm always ready. I figured I'd swing by so I could escort you to my home. I figured that was the easiest place for us to meet."

"Okay. I've just got to clock out. Back in a sec!"

As I clocked out Brooke and Orchard Blossom glared daggers at eachother. As soon as I came back I started following Orchard Blossom out the door.

"Bye Brooke, see you Monday!"

After a short walk we reached Orchard's house. It was a quaint two story home with flower boxes under the upstairs windows.

"Wow, this looks like something out of a storybook."

"Well that was the inspiration."

I followed her inside and was soon seated on a comfortable brown couch.

"Cream or sugar?"

"No thanks, I like my coffee black."

Orchard walked back in with two mugs of the life giving elixir.

She set the mugs down and started going up the stairs.

"I'll just get the supplies. Be back in a moment."

"Alright, No rush."

It didn't take long before she returned carrying a decent sized book in her mouth. She set it down on the table and opened it to the first page which showed... I think it was the alphabet? Hopefully.

"This is the Equestrian alphabet. It has thirty-four characters each representing a different sound."

"Okay, so this one has thirty-four while the, uh, Gryphonian alphabet has twenty-six?"

"Yes, we'll start with this one here." She pointed to one at the top of the page, "And work our way to here." She then pointed to one at the bottom of the page. Her reaching to point to it caused her neck to brush against my snout.

Wow, she smells really nice. Like fruit and flowers.

Which is weird, even though they're technically animals they tend to have better personal hygiene than most humans.<

~I guess ponies just realize how important cleanliness is.~

She walked me through the various sounds each letter made and after a few run throughs I had a pretty good grasp of them. We then moved on to simple words and while I struggled through each one, Orchard Blossom sat behind me, chest pressed against my back, and rested her head on my shoulder while giving me advice and tips on various words that I struggled with. When I reached simple sentences, she went from just resting against me to gently rubbing my back and shoulders and occasionally nuzzling my neck.

You know, it's kind of refreshing how affectionate pony society as a whole is. They aren't afraid to cuddle and hug whereas humans are all standoffish and awkward.

The ponies are pretty... physical about how much they enjoy spending time with you.<

~Yeah, it's pretty cool. You know, I wonder how different their reproduction bureau's system is here?~

Oh don't get me started on that. With how much time, effort and money you needed to establish a relationship and prove it was worth the government approving, is it any wonder I swore off romance entirely?

I know, and the girl always wants you to buy her this or that and spend time with her and compliment her and blah blah blah. It's such a waste of resources.<

~Yeah, but there's the good side of it too. You have some one who loves you and wants to spend time with you and you genuinely want to make eachother happy.~

We're talking about the real world here, not some fairy tale romance.

"Well, I think that's enough practice for today, how about you?"

I snapped back to attention as she yawned and rubbed her cheek against my neck.

"Yeah, I didn't even realize how hungry I was."

"Well then, how about some dinner? I make a splendid cucumber and hay sandwich."

"Alright, need any help?"

"If you want to take the coffee mugs into the kitchen for me that would be splendid."

"Can do."

While she made dinner I rinsed the mugs and put them on the countertop. Soon we were eating sandwiches with her pressed up against me on the couch. Although, once again I wondered how all ponies were so soft and cuddly. When we finished, Orchard snuggled into my side and started gently tracing shapes on my chest with her hoof. It tickled pretty bad so I was trying to hold in my laughter before she layed her her down on my chest and gave a quiet hum.

"You know, this has been the best evening I've had in a while. I've always dreamed of somepony holding me all close and spending our evenings reading or talking about things that interest us."

"Well I guess even after I learn how to read I can keep coming over for coffee on Fridays if you want."

"Absolutely."

She snuggled a bit closer and soon was breathing deeply, obviously asleep.

I guess I should put her in her bed? Maybe?

Why not, she doesn't look too heavy. And then you can use this opportunity to gather as much magic in this part of town as possible.<

~Hooray for helping ponies!~

I carefully moved her onto my back and walked up the stairs, careful not to jostle her too much. I finally reached her bedroom and carefully pulled back the covers and moved her into her bed. I pulled the blankets over her made my way back to the downstairs of her house. Once I left, I realized it was still early, like really early.

It's only six forty!? It thought it was much later than that!

Well, what are we going to do?<

~If we wanted to go anywhere special over the weekend now would be a good time to plan or get a train ticket or--~

Idea! It only took us an hour and a half to reach Featherborrow and the sun sets around eight, so we could visit Verdant and be there before sunset!

Sounds good to me, you can gather magic in the forest and not have to worry about being a pony all weekend.<

~And snake hugs!~

It's a plan!

I ran all the way to my house to grab a water bottle and some snacks (in case I needed them) as well as a compass (just in case). I soon was back in the underbrush that I first looked over the town through.

Alright, when the sun was rising I needed to keep it on my right to go North. Now that the sun is almost setting, and I'm going South, I need it at my... right again.

Sounds about right.<

~I think so.~

I nodded and ran a short distance into the forest. When I was a good distance away from town I jabbed myself with the magicite to keep as much magic as possible. Honestly, it was kind of annoying not having multiple magicite crystals but what can I do. I walked and walked until I heard the waterfall just like before.

I wonder if Verdant is even awake? I really don't know if she's a night owl or if that was just because we were having fun?

Who cares?<

~Common courtesy does, something you wouldn't understand.~

I walked to the mouth of Verdant's cave home and soon heard a quiet slithering sound.

"Hello, anybody--"

I was tackled to the ground by Verdant as soon as I opened my mouth.

"Jack! You're back sssso sssoon! Thank goodnessssss, I've been sssuuuuuuper bored! Oh, oh! You'll never believe what happened! I found two hurt poniessss in my pool! I think they went over the waterfall. Bit all they do is ssssleep and sssshiver. One hurt her head and the other her leg ssssso I ussssed my plant sssssmartssss to make them sssssalvesss but they're sssso boring. They're alwayssssss cold unlesssss I'm coiled around them keeping them warm which issss alot. Now you can keep me company!"

"Alright alright, let's go see your patients."

She hurried back inside and I followed, dropping my backpack off by the door. I entered the main cave and found two familiar ponies wrapped in Verdant's warm hug.

"Wait a minute. Orchid?! Doc?!"

To Err Is Human...

“Oh? You know thessse poniessss?”

“Yeah, but why the heck are they here?”

I walked over to them and looked them over. Despite being a bit rough looking, both mares were obviously his former captors/friends. Just as Verdant had said they were both unconscious with Doc having green goop spread on her forehead. What I needed was for at least one of them to be awake so I could ask them what the heck they were doing here. What, I was curious!

“So they haven't woken up since you found them?”

“No, they just ssssleep and ssssleep and sssssleep. I had to make them eat and drink.”

“Alright, let me try something”

I crouched down until I was level with Orchid’s ears and cleared my throat before screaming as loud as I could the most obnoxious sound I could think of.

“BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!”

I kept on “beeping” as the two ponies started shifting and writhing. Finally they both woke up with Orchid shouting,

"I'm up! I'm up!”

She then blinked and looked at me in confusion.

“Jack?!”

“Yup. Now why the heck are you in the middle of the--”

“Doc!” She screamed before looking over at the mare who was groggily looking about. “Oh thank Celestia! How are you doing Doc?”

“My head is pounding and these sheets are a little too tight.”

Both ponies looked down and noticed that the “sheets” were actually a massive snake tail coiled tightly around them with a confused Verdant looking at them both.

“Um... hello?”

Both mares screamed and started flailing about which caused Verdant to scream and cling to the closest object she could, which happened to be me. As the two ponies retreated deeper into the cave, I had to deal with a panicked Verdant squeezing the life out of me while hiding her pony section behind me.

“Verdant! *gurgle* can't... breath!”

“Oopsssss! ssssorry!”

She loosened her hold on me but remained coiled around my chest. Orchid pointed to me with a look of horror on her face.

“J-jack! What is that thing!”

“Verdant, she's a friend of mine and the one who saved your lives from drowning and whatever is making you guys be all shiver-y.”

Hypothermia.<

“Hypothermia!”

They exchanged looks before they both started shivering again. Orchid said through chattering teeth,

“W-what a-re y-you d-d-doing h-here?”

“Uuh...”

Don't tell them about your new life in Featherborrow. They'll be obligated to tell the princesses and you'll have to go on the run again.<

~But what if they help you bargain for a better life with the Princess's sanction?~

Yeah... no. I'm not telling them.

“I'm here to visit Verdant. What are you here for?”

Doc chose then to speak up.

“W-We w-were r-returning f-from t-the o-old h-human c-campsite w-when w-we w-were o-ordered t-t-to t-track y-you d-down. W-We w-were t-told y-you ha-had esc-caped and w-were k-killing inoc-cent p-p-ponies!”

“Wait, the heck!? They think I'm killing ponies!?”

Orchid nodded before saying,

“Y-yeah. They f-found a t-t-train f-full of p-ponies killed by h-humans. B-but we kn-now it wasn't y-you. We're the only s-survivors we know of of the a-at-t-tack by a b-bunch of humans.”

I couldn't believe it. The Harriers were still at it. Why? What was their mission?

“J-jack! W-we need to ch-check for surviv-v-ors and g-get the m-medical equipment at the s-site.”

Oh great. And I'm really the only one that can go. Here's hoping the Harriers have moved on.

“Fine fine. How far away is the battlefield?”

“W-we fell into the r-river off a c-cliff. Hopefully w-we should be able t-to go in a s-straight line f-from the cliff t-to the battlefield. I'll lead you--”

“No. If you try to go you'll probably keel over on the way. You guys stay here while I go get your crap and look for any not dead ponies.”

I turned to Verdant and whispered,

“If I take too long bring them to the edge of town so they can get help. But like cover their eyes or something so they can't find this place again. One of them is a scientist and she’d probably try to cart you back to her lab or something.”

Her eyes showed momentary concern before she nodded and hugged me tightly.

“Come back sssssafe! I don't want my friend to go away forever!”

“I will.” I started out the mouth of the cave before turning back to Verdant and smiling, “Keep them warm, okay!”

She grinned before quickly wrapping around the two again. Orchid struggled a bit and said,

“H-hey! Let me go! Doc! Help me get this thing-- Doc?”

She looked over to see Doc trying to push herself lower into Verdant's embrace.

“S-so cold! Don't care!”

~Why'd you tell Verdant that? About not wanting them to know where she lives?~

Cause I know scientists. Find something amazing and one of a kind and they impulsively capture and dissect it. I'd rather not have Verdant hanging in a laboratory somewhere.

Only one we can trust to do the right thing is ourselves.<

~But they treated you fine!~

Only because the Princess wanted answers. That and Doc got attached to me pretty quick.

~Oh, alright.~

It took sime time but we... I mean I finally reached a cliff overlooking the river.

How the heck are we supposed to get up there?

Climb.<

I groaned as I started slowly scaling the rough stone. It was slow going but after a lot of effort (and sweat.) I reached the top. I collapsed onto the ground and started panting.

Oh man am I out of shape. Run every day for years and barely keep thin but stop for a few weeks and suddenly you lose it all.

~Oh the joys of not having a super fast metabolism and having bad stamina to begin with.~

Okay... I feel like this joke is too easy.<

~What joke?~

About the last thing you said.<

~About having low stamina?~

It's the same thing your ex said isn't it!<

~...I am a fool.~

I slowly stood up and started going in a straight line in one direction. I walked... and walked... and walked some more before I heard a commotion a little ways away. I crept cautiously through the underbrush before carefully peaking out from a thick bush.

There in the clearing were two of the Harriers. I froze and slowly shifted to a more hidden position.

If they find me I'm dead! I've just got to stay quiet and wait for them to move on.

They were talking about something. One was obviously the lady from before and the other was glasses dude. I kept my breathing regular and listened.

“So any luck on that new teck you've been working on?”

“Yes, actually. Allow me to show you. Look... there. See that bird?”

“Yeah. And?”

“I just switch it on and... voila! Thermal signature right there. With this we can now add thermal targeting to our scopes. Hopefully that will... hold on. I'm getting a large heat signature from right there.”

My heart dropped and I froze. I moved behind the tree and tried to think of a plan.

~Turn into a pony and fly away!~

Worth a shot. Even if you can't fly off, you'd still be a smaller target.<

I nodded and grabbed the magicite from my pocket. It was glowing brightly from its last recharge and I popped it into my mouth and absorbed about half of the magic inside. I was then Jackknife and was about to attempt to get away when I heard the lady say,

“We've got Trace watching the tree so if it tries to escape he'll snipe it. Lance, go check it out.”

“’Kay.”

I froze as the footsteps got closer. What should I do! What can I do! Either way I'd get a bullet to the head and--

~There is a way. Stay put and do as I say. We need a ponies ultimate last line of defense.~

Huh?<

~Beg.~

Like shout “Please don't kill me!” really loud?

~No, face where he's coming from and tilt your head slightly to the side. Crouch down a bit and make you eyes go as wide as possible. Now, look up and frown a bit while pursing your lips. Next, flop your ears down and hope he has a heart.~

I don't know.

It's worth a shot.<

I did as instructed and waited. Soon the human walked right in front of me and looked me dead in the eyes.

There is no way this will--

“Daaaaaaw.”

“What is it Lance?”

“It's one of the natives. And it's so adorable! Can we keep it! Please! I promise I'll take full responsibility for it!”

“Enoch? What do you think?”

“We haven't been ordered to do anything other than hold this position since we were instructed to eliminate that military unit. I don't see why not.”

“...Fine. But if that thing makes a mess I'm personally going to kick your ass.”

The soldier in front of me, Lance apparently (he was the dude with the spear or... lance over his back. Was that why he got that name or was he already named Lance before he started using a lance. And why was he using a lance!) pumped his fist and crouched down to be eye level with me.

“Don't worry little guy, I won't let those jerks hurt ya. Come here.”

I didn't resist as he picked me up and walked towards his fellow soldiers. By now the rest of the Harriers had arrived and were looking at me from behind their helmets (well, except glasses dude.)

Nice. Instead of being dead we're their prisoner.<

~It could be worse!~

“Although you should probably knock him out so he can't do anything stupid. Safety measures and all that.”

...I freaking hate you two.

Author's Note

Oh no! What happens next! You'll find out tomorrow! I was planning on having this be one chapter but with the update making me miss my usual time window to write with I had to split it so I'd have enough time.

...To Forgive Is Divine.

“Wait, what? You want me to knock him out!?”

The lady nodded and the other soldiers shrugged.

“B-but why!? What if we hurt him! Or, like, he doesn't go unconscious the first time and we have to keep on hitting him which makes him--”

The massive guy who had a minigun cracked his knuckles and said,

“If ya wont, I kin do tha hittin’.”

Lance shifted away from him a little.

“You’ve been known to kill people in one punch!”

“Lance, this isn't that big of a deal. Just knock him out.”

“B-but...”

Oh for crying out loud! Just do it already!

~Yeah, waiting is making it worse.~

DIY?<

Sure.

As the two soldiers argued I took the opening to wriggle out of his arms and flew straight up a few feet. The soldiers all snapped to attention and began drawing their weapons. One had a sniper rifle, another a massive compound bow, minigun dude’s minigun, and a bunch of rifles. I ignored them as I tucked my wings in and fell towards the ground head first.

Here's to hoping this doesn't break your neck.<

~Or hurt too much.~

I fell through the air before landing with a thump. The world went dark and I heard Lance say,

“Look at that, he's smart!”

I woke up to find myself lying on some sort of mattress. I pushed myself up and looked around. I was... inside some sort of building. I walked over to the door but stopped when I saw my saddlebags sitting on a table near me.

I should probably grab my magicite just in case.

Wow, you're learning.<

~Good idea!~

I dug it out of my bag and tucked it securely under my wing before walking out the door. I was in some sort of hallway that had five other rooms on either side. I walked towards the only door at one end and opened it to find myself in some sort of common room with a couple screens with couches positioned in front of them, a small kitchen area with a fridge and other such appliances, and a few more doors leading to other rooms. I paused when I saw two of the soldiers talking, one was the lady that now that she was out of her armor I could see had tan skin and black hair. Talking to her was a thin guy with blonde hair who was wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Overall, not as intimidating as I was expecting.

“So we still don't have any orders?”

“No, just to remain in this area and don't be found. I have Lenart and Enoch on patrol now.”

“Okay. Hey!” By now they were both looking at me, “He's awake!”

I stood still as he walked over to me.

“Are ya feeling okay?”

I just stood there, staring. I mean, how was I supposed to respond. The lady rolled her eyes and said,

“We don't know if he can understand English, let alone speak it.”

“But he knew to knock himself out!”

“That could have been a fluke. Anyway, we're on next patrol in ten minutes, so get geared up.”

Lance groaned and turned to a man sitting quietly reading a book on one of the couches.

“Trace, can you keep an eye on him. You know, make sure Lenart doesn't try to hunt him for sport or Enoch tries to disect him or something.”

The gruff looking man looked over at us and blinked once. He had skin a few shades lighter than the lady but not as light as Lance. Trace, apparently, shrugged before turning back to his book.

“Thanks Trace, and please don't kill him!”

Wait, what was that about killing!?

Out of the frying pan and into the fire.<

~Just act adorable whenever someone tries to hurt you.~

Lance poked my nose causing me to scrunch my snout up.

“Alright, I... have got... to go. Go... sit... with Trace.”

He pantomimed walking with his fingers and pointed at Trace. I nodded and sat down on the couch beside Trace as the lady turned to Lance.

“Why not leave him with Atlas?”

“Cause he's working out right now. Also Trace is a sniper so he does the whole intimidating, emotionless glare really well.”

“Whatever, let's move.”

I watched as they walked out the door. A few minutes later a voice said,

“Lance and Commander have left the ship.”

I saw Trace look around before turning to me.

He's a sniper, be ready to run for your life.<

~Remember, cute face!~

He checked to be sure we were alone again before closing his book and leaning towards me, his expression unreadable. He stopped a few inches away before his face light up. He reached out and started scratching my chin and... wow, just... it felt freaking amazing. Now I know why Doc liked it so much.

“You are the cutest thing I have seen, ever! Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?”

Me! I'm the good boy! I'm the good boy! More scratches!

He apparently read my mind because he then started using his other hand to pet my back.

“You're so soft and fluffy! I could just hug you and hug you some more!”

Uh...<

~Is it just me, or is he not nearly as intimidating as before?~

He picked me up and hugged me to his chest as he pressed his cheek against my fluffy neck. Yay! I'm adorable!

“Daaaaw, you're the sweetest, floofiest widdle guy I've ever seen.” He pulled away a bit and booped my snout before saying, “Yes you are, yes you are!”

Before anything else could happen we heard the door open and the voice (apparently it tells you who's exiting and entering?) said,

“Enoch and Lenart are entering the ship.”

Trace let go and we both went back to our original positions with him picking his book back up. Meanwhile I pretended to be asleep as I heard footsteps approaching. Trace looked at me and I winked before going back to “sleep.”

“Hello Trace, what are you... isn't that Lance’s little pet?”

My eyes were closed but I was pretty sure Trace nodded.

“Huh, what do you make of it Lenart?”

Another voice spoke. While the other one that was assumedly Enoch had a British accent, Lenart spoke with a southern drawl.

“Ah think tha bat wings look cool. Probably nocturnal given its eyes are all cat like and stuff.”

“Indeed, I'd be very interested in looking at it in greater detail. This is an alien life form after all.”

Lenart grunted while Enoch said,

“And what else can you expect from strong, silent Trace. He's got an alien sitting next to him and he doesn't even care. Well, I'm going to go take a shower.”

“Ah think ah will too.”

I heard their footsteps receding before two doors opened and closed. I sat up and looked over at Trace who had turned to me at the same time. He stared at me for a second before smirking and holding his fist out. I bumped it with my hoof and he said,

“Nice. Thanks for not destroying my image. Well, I'm going to go get something to drink, back in a sec.”

He stood and stalked off leaving me alone again. Not long after I heard a shout from one of the adjoining rooms.

“Kin one of yoo jackasses come spot me!”

Nobody but me must of heard it.

~Go spot him! It's pretty easy!~

I know how to spot somebody! But just...

Might as well. It could earn his favor thus making him less likely to kill you.<

I nodded to myself before walking towards the door. Inside was a weight room occupied by the living mountain himself who I think was named Atlas.

“Oh, it's yoo.”

I looked at him as he smirked and said in a sarcastic voice,

“Did ya come ta spot me little guy?”

Blow his mind.<

~I agree.~

“Yup. You said you needed someone to spot you, and I know how to spot somebody so here I am.”

He froze with his mouth wide open. He had the darkest skin tone yet and had tattoos all over his arms.

“Uh... ooookay?”

He leaned back onto the bench and grabbed the bar. There were so many weights on it it was bending a bit. I trotted over and got ready to push up on it. He lifted it before beginning to lift it up and down in time with his breathing. On the last one he started struggling to lift it which prompted me to help him put it back on the rack. He sat up and looked at me.

“That... was tha weirdest thing Ahv done so far. Ah mean, my workout buddy is some sort a horse thing!”

“Trust me it's weird for me too.”

He nodded before shaking his head and getting ready to do another set. We repeated the process three more times before he was done. He sat there staring at me before shaking his head.

“Ah need a drink.”

I followed him to the kitchen and as he opened the fridge and grabbed a beer I saw the most beautiful sight I'd seen in weeks. They had Doctor Pepper!

Atlas saw me looking and grabbed a can before tossing it to me. Somehow I caught it with my mouth and sat down as he just stared in awe. I opened the can and chugged the whole thing before burping and crushing the empty can against my head. Just then Lance and Commander got back. They saw me sitting with a crushed soda can with Atlas staring at me still. Lenart, Enoch, and Trace chose then to walk back in so now it was all five staring at me and Atlas. He turned to Lance and shook his head.

“Lance, yoor new pet is freaking weird!”

Escape

By this point it was pretty late and another problem had arisen.

“Alright, which of you knuckleheads is keeping him in your room tonight.”

Lance immediately held his hand up, but so did Atlas.

“Wait a minute, Atlas? Why do you want to keep him with you?”

“Are ya kiddin me? This thing's funny. Why da yoo want ta keep him?”

“I'm the one who suggested we bring him with us!”

Commander held a hand to her forehead as she saw them start fighting.

“You know what, I'll decide.”

She looked around before pointing at Trace.

“Trace, you're keeping him.”

Trace shrugged before going back to his book. Lance and Atlas groaned as Enoch approached Commander.

“Do we still not have orders?”

“Yea. I don't know why they're taking so long. Hopefully they'll reestablish contact soon. Until then we're just to eliminate any military personnel that approach our position.”

Lance shook his head.

“I’m just saying, but this is probably the worst assignment we've ever gotten. I mean, I'm fine with killing threats, but we literally blew up a train for no specific reason. We're fighting ponies for... who knows what.”

“It's not our job to ask questions. We either do or we die.”

Lance mumbled something under his breath before walking away. As... surprisingly nice as these guys were, I still didn't want to stick around. Who knows how long my magic would last? As the other Harriers started to disperse, I followed Trace to his quarters. His room was sparsely decorated with a few books here and there as well as some other knickknacks. While he did whatever, I went to check out the bathroom. Inside were the usual fixtures, shower, sink, toilet, but in the corner was a grate that looked small enough for me to crawl through. Only problem was that it was screwed securely in place.

But as a human that wouldn't be a problem. You could use your pocket knife to remove the screws and then turn back into a pony to escape.<

~I’d suggest waiting until Trace is asleep before attempting an escape.~

And I'll need to remain a pony until then.

But where are your bags?<

The room at the end of the hall.

~This could be tricky.~

I removed my magicite from under my wing and absorbed some of the remaining supply. I walked out just as Trace was lying down. He saw me and pointed to a pile of pillows on the floor.

“I'm hoping that will suffice?”

I nodded and flopped down on the pillows. The lights turned off and I felt a hand quickly pat me on the head before all was still. I sat listening intently for minutes before slowly his breathing started to slow and grow deaper. I waited a bit more before cautiously standing and creaping towards the door. One good thing was that my eyes being what they were I could see in the dark very easily. I opened the door and crept towards the room I first woke up in. After slowly opening the door, I began to scout around for my bags. I froze when I heard movement from the bed and held absolutely still, barely daring to breath. After silently freaking out for a bit I returned to my search. I spotted my bags on a table beside the bed and crept over to it. Just as I had reached them, I felt something land on my back. I started and froze as I realized that the person who was sleeping had simply moved in their sleep. I was about to attempt to continue when I heard the person mumble something and begin thrashing around. I gently took their hand and layed it back beside them... only for said person to grab ahold of me and pull me into bed with them. I remained completely still as the mystery human held me tightly against them.

Well... this just happened.<

~Uh... good news and bad news.~

What.

~Good news is that they're still asleep!~

And the bad news?

~You're in bed with the Commander.~

...Of course I am.

Cursed?<

~Probably given our luck.~

Yeah.

Just then the universe decided to flip me the bird and make my life more awkward. Suddenly, I was human again! And the increase in length put my face directly into her... “chest.”

Yup, somebody obviously cursed us.<

~I don't see how this is worse.~

Before, if she woke up to find herself holding me, she probably would be a bit peeved that I was walking around in the middle of the night. But now, I'm a random guy with his face in her bosoms and she probably would castrate me with a rusty spoon.

~Oh... that is worse.~

Uh... look on the bright side?<

What bright side!?

~What a way to go.~

I resisted the urge to punch myself and instead started trying to extricate myself from her grasp. I went slowly, stopping anytime she moved. It took forever but I finally succeeded in my effort to get away.

That was a close call.

Too close.<

~I'll agree on that!~

I picked up my magicite from where it lay and then carefully scooped up my saddlebags. I had no idea where I was or how to get back to town, but at least I had snacks. I slowly made my way back to the door. (A little slower this time given I no longer had my night vision.) I returned to the room Trace was in and made a bee line for the bathroom. Once inside with the door firmly shut, I dug my knife out of my bag and went to work on the screws.

It took ages, but I finally had the grate off of the vent and could crawl inside.

I really hope this leads outside.

And not into a giant fan.<

I reached behind me (which was difficult given how small the vent was.) and placed the grate back on the vent. I pulled my magicite out and absorbed the last of the magic inside it. Now that I was a pony, the vent was a bit more manageable.

I slowly crawled through the dark corridors, looking out each grate in the hopes that one would lead back outside. It took... I don't know how long, but a long time, but I finally made it to a vent that moonlight was streaming through. I put a hoof to it and pushed. The grate didn't move.

Are you kidding me!

~Now what?~

Break it down.<

Right.

I pulled back and slammed my hooves into the grate as hard as I could. It bent slightly.

Harder!<

I hit it again and again and again until finally, with a loud clang, the grate fell to the ground. I crawled out of the vent and dropped to the ground below.

Now do I run?

~Yup.~

Get far away and wait for morning so you can--<

Wait, I'm a Nocturne. I can fly and have night vision. I can just fly up nice and high and look for the town that way.

~...It's worth a shot.~

Just max out on magic so you don't become a greasy smudge on the forest floor.<

Okay.

I trotted around stabbing anything I could and gathering more and more magic. Soon, the magicite was glowing brightly and I stuck the end in my mouth. Feeling a bit stronger, I opened my wings and took to the sky. I flew up as high as I thought necessary before looking around.

~There! I see the river!~

And there's Verdant's waterfall.<

I think I'll stop there for the time being and check to see if Orchid and Doc are still there.

I soared over the forest, the wind feeling refreshing after so long in the cramped vents. With the whole forest spread out in front of me, I couldn't help but smile at the wonderful sensation of flight.

This is the only way to travel.

The view is nice at least.<

~Yeah.~

I soon was right over the waterfall and started trying to descend. What started as a slow circle downward soon was me falling into the pool. I broke the surface with a gasp and sat there floating for a bit.

Note to self, learn how to land.

Hopefully you didn't drop anything.<

I clambered onto the bank and used my magicite to turn back into a human again. I slowly made my exhausted way to the cave and was soon walking through the short tunnel. I found the main room dark with a sleeping Verdant resting in her nest.

Guess she took your advice.<

~...Tired.~

Same.

I wearily set down my bags and turned to find a sleepy looking Verdant staring at me.

“Jack? *Yawn* wha-what are you doing here sssso late?”

“I did say I'd spend the weekend with you, so I figured I might as well drop back in now that the whole business with the two ponies is taken care of.”

“I... I did like you asked. They're in the hossssspital, and don't know how to get back here.”

“Tha-*Yawn* that's good. Anyway, I'm beat.”

She slithered back to her nest and patted the spot I'd occupied before. I wearily clambered over her and soon was dead asleep.

Folk Sure Are Friendly...

I awoke the same way I did about a week ago. Full body hug? Check. Adorable pony half hugging my chest? Check. Unhealthy levels of cuteness for this early? Check. I slid my arms out from their prison and stretched before scratching Verdant's chin. This action which I learned first hand is very pleasant and enjoyable caused my serpentine friend to giggle adorably, cue diabetic coma from the sweetness, and boop her snoot right into my cheek.

“Mornin’ Verdant.”

“Hmmmmmmm... Don't wanna be morning.”

“But it already is.”

“Nooooooooo.”

I sighed before wriggling out of her strangle hold and combed my fingers through my hair. As I opened my eyes, I found a curtain of dirty blonde over my left eye. I rushed to a mirror propped up in a corner and looked in. I knew it had been awhile since my last haircut, but... my hair had grown so much that... that....

“Oh man, I have an em-over.”

“You have a WHAT!”

“An emover.”

“Isssss that what you call it? Weird.”

“You know, when your hair covers one of your eyes. Like a combover except emo.”

“Oooooooh, thatssss what you're talking about.”

“Yeah. I gotta get some scissors... and some shampoo cause it's starting to look greasy as all hell!”

“Why would hell be greasy? Issssn't it more... burny?”

“It's an expression.”

I stretched to the side causing my back to pop like nobody's business, and then my neck, and everything.

“Eew, that sssssounded nassssty.”

“But it felt pretty amazing.”

By now Verdant had come to join me at the mirror and repeated the motion I used to pop my neck. She giggled as her neck made a loud pop before doing it again.

“It feelsss funny!”

“Yeah, just don't accidentally break something. Anywho, I'm going to go clean up in the waterfall. Back in a sec.”

Upon reaching the large pool at the base of the waterfall, I used a bush as cover to strip down and made my way towards the water. I had remembered to grab my soap which I had purposefully not removed from my bag (No I didn't just forget to take it out... shut up.) and tentatively stepped into the--

“Cold! Oh sweet bajeebs it's cold!”

It is a waterfall.<

~They aren't exactly heated.~

I know, I just wasn't expecting it.

I slowly made my way into the FRIGID water and started to wash myself. Eventually I either got used to the temperature or lost all feeling in my limbs but at least it was bearable. I was just rinsing out my hair when I felt something soft and warm press into my back.

Uuh.

I have a suspicion.<

~Yay cute snek!~

“Verdant?”

“Yeah?”

I quickly slipped out of her hug and dove down a bit, covering my... private areas with my hands.

“W-what are you doing?”

“Getting wasssshed up, duh!”

“B-but! I'm already here!”

“Ssssso? Who caressss?”

“BUT I’M BUTT NAKED!”

“Nobody wearsss clothessss except at fancy stuff. We have fur to cover ourssselvesss.”

“I DON’T! THAT’S WHY I WEAR CLOTHES ALL THE TIME!”

“Calm down! it'ssss not like I looked or anything.”

“O-okay, sorry. You just startled me a bit. But just... don't look when I get out, okay? Let me put a towl on or...”

“You forgot to get a towel.”

“...I noticed.”

“I have a bunch! I'll go get you one!”

“Thanks. And... sorry for yelling.”

“It'sssss fine. I know you were just surprised. Besidessss, who caresss if I sssee your privatessss anyway?”

I care.

Must be a pony thing. I shudder to think what would happen if they became human for a day.<

~I'm pretty sure it's just a Verdant thing. She kinda strikes me as...~

Naive?

Innocent.<

~Yeah.~

Pretty soon Verdant came back and tossed me a towel (Or was it a repurposed blanket?) and covered her eyes with a hoof to give me privacy. I put my clothes back on and gathered my belongings before heading out... after eating lunch which I hadn't had for about twenty-four hours. With a goodbye I was back on my way to Featherborrow and was about halfway there when I heard a noise from the underbrush.

It sounded like... somebody scraping two rocks together as slowly as possible. I turned and saw... something. It looked like a dog made of wood with glowing greenish yellow eyes. It growled again and started coming closer.

~R-run!~

Stand your ground! If you turn your back to it it won't hesitate to attack you.<

O-okay!

I snapped my attention back to the dog just as it lunged at me. I stumbled backwards only for it to jump again, teeth aimed for my throat. I threw my arm up and jammed it into the back of its mouth which really... freaking... hurt!

The wood dog started trying to bite and claw at me, obviously going for the jugular. I began kicking and punching it to no avail. In case you were wondering, wood is very hard and will hurt alot when you punch it.

This isn't working!

Knife!<

It's in my bag!

~Just stab it with something!~

I thrust my free hand into my pocket and closed my fingers around the magicite. I pulled it out and drove it straight into its glowing, stupid eye. It howled and let go of my now mangled arm and began clawing desperately at its eye. I watched, horrified, as the magicite pulsed and started glowing brighter and brighter. The dog started turning grey before it froze... and turned to ash.

I sat there, staring at the innocent looking shard that just reduced a living creature to dust.

G-glad I never did that to a pony!

That... that was pretty messed up.<

~It just... poof!~

Yeah. Poof.

I carefully scooped up the crystal and tucked it back into my pocket before turning my attention back to my arm. It was... well, it didn't look pretty. There were deep holes all throughout my lower arm and claw marks on my shoulder. It was bleeding pretty bad and had a few broken off teeth stuck in it.

Do you still have the medkid you got when you were first given that bag?<

I scrounged around until I came upon the thin white box and opened it up. Inside were three syringes labeled “salamander” which I quickly scooped up. I put two back, figuring one would do something and was about to pull the top off when I thought of something.

I should probably pull these teeth out?

~Y-yeah. It'll hurt though.~

You bet it will.<

I groaned before grabbing one and pulling on it. It slid out with relatively little resistance, but still freaking hurt. I repeated the process until all the teeth were gone.

What does this crap even do?<

I don't know but it's better than nothing!

I pulled the cap off the needle and slowly stuck it into my arm. I pushed down the plunger and then put the empty syringe back into the case which I then put back in my bag.

...is that it? It's not even--<

Fire. That's all I can describe it as. It felt like somebody filled my arm with liquid fire as I fell to the ground, clutching my burning arm. Through the pain I saw the cuts and stabs start closing and soon all evidence of injury was gone. I lay there, panting as the burning slowly died down.

Well... that... was awful.

~Useful, but awful.~

I’d suggest saving those for a rainy day.<

Yeah. Hopefully I'll never have to use another one.

I dusted myself off and trudged off towards town. Whatever good mood I'd been in officially gone. Around lunch I reached town and was soon back as a pony and... oddly hungry. I dropped off my traveling gear and grabbed a small bag of bits I had and decided to go find somewhere to eat for lunch. I wandered the town aimlessly with a few ponies giving me curious looks, but many recognized me as the guy who delivered stuff for town hall. Eventually, I smelled something good and wandered over to a small cafe that was surprisingly quiet.

Well it is almost two.<

~Who cares! Let's get some grub!~

I sat at a table in a corner and soon a unicorn mare came over with a menu.

“Hi! Welcome to the Corner Market. I'm Shimmering Scales and I'll be your waitress.”

“Thanks! So... uh, what should I get?”

She thought for a moment before looking back at a mare who must have been her boss. Although, there were more than a few mares over there, and some looked a little upset. One that looked a bit older rolled her eyes and made a shooing motion with her hoof. The unicorn broke out in a grin before sitting right across from me.

“Well, our daisy sandwich with hayfries is amazing. It's my favorite.”

“Okay, I'll have that.”

She nodded before walking to the kitchen and them back over.

“Alright, that should be out soon. Now, I don't think we've met although I have seem you around town this week. Did you just move here?”

“Yeah. So far so good. Ponies here are really friendly and the housing was cheep.”

“Yeah, that's the perk of a small town. So anyway, what's your name?”

“Oh, I'm Jackknife. Although you can call me Jack for short.”

“Alright ‘Jack’.”

She winked and giggled a bit. I guess compared to most pony names “Jack” is pretty funny. I noticed a disturbance outside and noticed that all the ponies were quickly going inside various stores and then switching the signs to “closed.” At the end of the street was... something. Its front was a bird but its back was a cat. Wait, was that....

“Oh. I guess you've noticed ‘it.’”

“What?”

“The gryphon. Its been hanging around town all day asking all these different stores about jobs and stuff. As if anypony here would hire a gryphon. We've had enough trouble without inviting one to live here. All gryphons are trouble and should just stay in the Gryphon Kingdom away from Equestria.”

“Oh.”

At that moment, a pony came and dropped off my food. I started eating as Shimmering Scales kept talking about this and that. I'd noticed that her cutie mark was a butterfly but how that pertained to a restaurant was beyond me. Soon I'd finished my meal and paid with Shimmering Scales telling me to come back soon. I made my way home and noticed that the sky was getting dark and cloudy.

~Tut tut! Looks like rain!~

We should head home.<

Yeah.

I hurried the rest of the way home and reached my door just as it started pouring. I hurried in and set my bags down before looking out the window into the growing storm.

You know, I've always liked rain. It's so soothing.

Meh.<

~Makes me sleepy.~

As I looked out, I saw an alien shape run for the cover of a nearby tree and huddle beneath it.

Is that...

~It's that gryphon from before.~

I don't think its been having much luck finding a job. Especially considering what Brooke told us about this town and gryphons.<

As I watched, it hunkered down and started shivering from the cold water. And, unless my eyes were deceiving me, crying.

Oh man, that's sad.

~I dunno, I thought gryphons were all trouble. That's what Shimmering Scales said.~

To hell with that. All these ponies treated you the same when you first came here.<

Yeah... I'm going to do something!

I opened my door and whistled as loud as I could. The gryphon’s head snapped in my direction.

“HEY! IF YOU WANT YOU CAN WAIT OUT THE STORM IN HERE!”

The gryphon stood up and hurried over, attempting to avoid mud puddles in the way. I stood aside as my mysterious visitor stood under the eaves of my house and shook himself (or herself, I dunno.) off. As the still wet gryphon crossed inside he looked at me and nodded.

“Thanks. I was starting to think I was going to have to stay under that tree all night.”

Okay, judging by its voice it was a dude. I nodded and closed the door before heading to the bathroom. I grabbed an extra towel (gotta love two packs!) and handed it to him. He began scrubbing his feathers and fur as I walked into the kitchen.

“Just set that by the door when you're done. Want something to eat?”

“Yeah, whatcha got?”

“Uh... some various fruits. Half a blueberry pie, stuff to make peanut butter sandwichs, and some cereal.”

“C-can I have some pie?”

“Sure. Anything to drink? I've got milk, OJ, or root beer.”

“Milk’s fine.”

“Okay.”

I grabbed the requested items and set them on the small table by the couch. I gestured for him to sit down which he gladly did.

“Still cold? I've got a blanket?”

“I don't want to be a bother.”

“You're not. Trust me.”

“O-okay. I am pretty cold.”

I grabbed the extra blanket I had (okay, what is there with this town and only selling in bulk.) and draped it over him. He had already devoured the pie and grateful pulled the blanket closer.

“Want a sandwich too? You look pretty hungry.”

“N-no. It's fine. I don't want to eat all your food.”

I gave him a look which just screamed “are you kidding me.” He sheepishly grinned and rubbed a claw against the back of his head.

“I’ll go make you a sandwich. Feel free to use my shower while I do. Not to be rude, but you're covered in mud.”

He looked at himself and cringed.

“Yeah, I look like crap.”

He grabbed the towl I’d given him and headed for the bathroom (which I pointed out for him. Trust me, it's always a little uncomfortable to ask.) I listened as the water turned on and I heard a very audible sigh of relief. I understood that too. Warm showers man, warm showers. I made three sandwiches (what, I wanted a damn sandwich. Sue me.) two of which I set on his pie plate and the other I began eating myself.

He seems nice.

~Guess everypony was wrong.~

If you hadn't noticed, ponies are racist.<

Pretty soon, he was back and much cleaner than before. He sat down and looked at the sandwichs I had made.

“They won't bite you you know.”

He smiled and picked one up before saying,

“Thanks. Just, for all of this. For the food, the shower, everything. I can't thank you enough.”

“No prob. I'm Jackknife by the way, but my friends call me Jack.”

“Talion.”

“Sweet name, very badass.”

“If only that aspect transfered over to me.”

“I dunno. You are a gryphon, that is pretty badass in and of itself.”

He blushed and started looking me up and down.

“Before you ask, no. I am not a vampony. I'm a Nocturne.”

“I kinda figured that.”

“You’d be surprised at how often I have to say that.”

“Seriously!? Wow, I just thought ponies were scared of me.”

“Naw, they're scared of anything different. So I know what it's like. Although, not as bad as you. I think this town has a history with gryphons.”

He sighed,

“No wonder no one would give me a chance.”

“So... what're you doing here?”

“I was trying to move here. I used to live in the Gryphon Kingdom but... I didn't really fit in there well. I figured I'd move to Equestria even though there's the whole taboo about eating meat.”

“Yeah, I've gotta take pills to get enough protein and iron.”

“Nocturnes are carnivores?”

“Omnivores. But we need meat to survive.”

He nodded before going back to his sandwich. Once he was done he looked out the window and saw that it had cleared up, revealing... the sunset?! How long had it been!?

“Well, I'll get out of your way. I better go find somewhere to sleep tonight.”

“Oh no, you better stop right there. You can crash here as long as you need. I'm betting you don't have any money?”

He shook his head.

“So that means you're stuck here unless you feel like flying to another town which will take days. I'm sure if I throw in a good word at work I can get you a job. And then we can figure out permanent housing for you.”

He looked at me, dumbfounded.

“R-really!”

“Mhm. What’re friends for?”

He grinned and blushed.

“F-friends?”

“Well duh? I only spent all day talking to you and offered you a place to stay. I'm pretty sure we can consider eachother friends by now.”

He gave me a warm look and nodded.

“Okay. I can work with that. So... should I sleep on the couch? Or something?”

“Eh, we can just share. I don't mind.”

I turned and walked towards my bedroom. Once I was in the doorway I gestured inside.

“Su casa, mi casa.”

He slowly walked over and looked at the double bed.

“A-are you sure? I'm fine with the couch.”

“I already told you, if you don't think it's weird, we can share. I personally don't think it's weird for two dudes to share a bed when there's only one bed. Besides, that couch would be too small for you. And I sure as heck don't want to sleep on it.”

“Alright alright! You win.”

I took my turn getting my teeth brushed and stuff like that before pulling out a toothbrush for Talion to use. I was lying in bed when I heard the water turn off and he got into bed with his back against mine.

“Gnight.”

“Night.”

Honestly, you might be wondering why I was so friendly with this guy, bit you haven't seen a gryphon before. Or felt one’s cuddly floof. You know how soft and fluffy birds are? And how cuddly cats are? Well a gryphon is both mixed together. Literally so huggable and pretty cute with how fluffy their feathers are. So yea, it's not weird.

The Search

“Any word from my sister about the strange writing and symbols found in the human’s quarters?”

“I'm afraid not Princess Luna. The writing appears to be in a cypher our cryptologists can’t translate, and the symbols still baffle our arcane researchers.”

Luna sighed as she surveyed the group under her command. After meeting up with Twilight and the other Elements of Harmony they had insisted they help her find the rouge human.

Where could he be? He always acted so foolish I never imagined he was this devious.

“Your majesty.”

Luna turned back to the courier from Canterlot.

“Yes?”

“Did you hear the last part of my message?”

“No. I'm sorry, I was deep in thought.”

“I said that we found wax figurines of ponies and humans hidden around his room. We believe that the symbols and the dolls are linked together. It is the Princess’s suspicion that the reason he escaped and has caused this much destruction is some twisted form of blood magic.”

“Blood magic?! Such vile and evil magics were destroyed long before Sombra himself first came to power.”

“That's not all. The squadron of guards we had in the Whitetail Woods vanished without a trace last week. So far not a single pony has been found.”

Luna grit her teeth in frustration.

“Anything else?”

“No your majesty.”

“Very well, tell my sister I shall continue the search.”

The pegasus nodded before taking flight, leaving the lunar princess to her thoughts.

“Luna? Is everything alright.”

Luna turned to the voice and saw that Twilight and her friends were making their way towards her.

“I'm afraid not Twilight Sparkle.”

“What’s tha matter sugar cube?”

“The human we are tracking appears to be far more devious and dangerous than we originally thought. Not only did he fool all of us into complacency with his brainless act, but we have reason to believe he is practicing powerful blood magic to destroy those who oppose him.”

“Blood magic? What's that? I've never heard of it and I've read every book on the various schools of magic!”

“It is dangerous magic that requires the blood of a living soul to power. Many ponies found a way around the blood price by using the blood of innocents rather than their own. It was such a barbaric and cruel magic my sister and I stamped it out long ago. The most dangerous part of blood magic is that anypony can use it, not just unicorns.”

Rainbow Dash cut in with a wave of her hoof.

“Wait a minute, you're saying that there's magic that non-unicorns can use!? Like, actually magic that I could use. ‘Cause I'm already the best flyer in Equestria, but if that's the case than I could be the best pegasus in Equestria because I'd know magic!”

“If only it were that simple. It's not so harmless as it sounds. Each ritual requires a sacrifice of blood, but not just a small amount. An entire body is required in order to fuel even the most basic of spells, and the magic itself twists the caster, making them cruel and vicious.”

“So...I'm assuming that I don't want to learn how to do that.”

Fluttershy spoke in a trembling voice.

“M-maybe if you described the human we'd have an easier time looking for him. I mean, if that's okay with you.”

“He has pale skin and a mane that is a cross between brown and yellow. Other than that, I don't know. I never really spent any time near him. If only Orchid and Doctor Carefull Observer had not been lost with the patrol in the Whitetail Woods we might have a chance. They were very friendly to him and learned much about him.”

“Wait, THE Doctor Carefull Observer!? The one who proposed the thesis about the internal cloud causing pegasi to be able to cloud walk!?”

Luna nodded sadly.

“B-but, if she was studying him, she should have left some notes. She was a master organizer!”

“I’m afraid not Twilight Sparkle. She brought all her notes with her to study the remains of the human camp. Jack truly was a genius to destroy the two ponies who knew him enough to possibly predict his movements.”

The mane six all exchanged worried looks only for Fluttershy to speak up.

“B-but if he killed the ponies who considered him a friend, why'd he save my life?”

“Wait, WHAT?” Rainbow Dash yelled.

“Yes Miss Fluttershy, I am most curious to hear this.”

“W-well, I was s-sitting at home and all of the sudden a human runs through the door. He slammed it shut and sat there for a bit before he turned and saw me. W-well, I was really scared but... um, he looked scared too. Then everything went black and... I only remember waking up to him doing CPR on me. He started freaking out saying ‘You're alive!’ and stuff like that. He told me I had died and... and then I fainted.”

Luna turned her back to the six mares and mumbled,

“What could this mean?”

Pinkie sidled up to Rainbow and whispered,

“It means he obviously has a crush on Fluttershy. I mean, why else would he be so quick to kiss her?”

Rainbow Dash toppled to the ground laughing as a guard approached Luna.

“Your majesty, we are beginning to run short of supplies. I suggest picking more up in the nearby town of Featherborrow before moving deeper into the forest.”

“Yes, that sounds feasible. Alright, at dawn tomorrow we shall make for Featherborrow. I just hope that today's scheduled storm doesn't make the road too muddy.”

Author's Note

Hey, quick notice in case you guys hadn't realized. I take you guys suggestions into consideration when writing and often will add something you comment about into the story if I like it. So feel free to comment away!

Back To Business

Have any of you ever been hugged by someone bigger than you? Like, not just a lame standing hug, but full on cuddling? If so you know how warm and comfy it is. It's like... having a warm meat blanket of affection and mutual respect and support. Nice, huh? Well now give that big hug-buddy soft, fluffy feathers and super cuddly cat fur and you have what getting snuggled by a gryphon is like.

I woke up like I usually did; eyes slowly open, see how early it is and how exhausted I still am, INTERNAL SCREAMING!

One good(ish) thing about my brain is that I wake up a few minutes before my alarm goes off and boy... I need those few minutes. As I looked at my clock and saw that, hallelujah, I've got fifteen minutes, I eased back into the tight hug that I had woken up in. You know, it's odd to be on the other side of one of these early morning hugs, but I loooove it. So nice, so warm, so safe. But... all good things must come to an end, and so did my fifteen minutes.

*Riiiiiing, riiiiiiing, RiiiiiII--*

The alarm was interrupted by Talion straight up punching it off the nightstand before pulling me closer to his feathery chest.

So much for him being uncomfortable about sharing.<

~You're forgetting the Pony-Hug Theory.~

(All together)

If you fall asleep beside a pony your brain subconsciously hugs the pony.<
~If you fall asleep beside a pony your brain subconsciously hugs the pony~
If you fall asleep beside a pony your brain subconsciously hugs the pony.

...Did we synchronize that?

Yeah, gross.<

~We're so in sync.~

I started tapping Talion on the shoulder prompting him to groggily awaken.

"Talion... as comfy as this is I've gotta get ready for work, and you're coming with me."

His eyes slammed open and he scrambled out of bed.

"OH CRAP I'M SORRY!"

I stared at him in confusion as he flushed with embarrassment.

"No seriously, I don't mind. But I do have to go to work. So grab some breakfast and a shower if you need it and let's go."

He nodded, looking away in embarrassment. I just shrugged before walking towards the shower. As I washed myself in the warm downpour (suck it waterfall) I heard the refrigerator open and close, which I assumed was Talion making breakfast.

I dried off and walked out to see my feathered friend munching on a bowl of baked oat bites. (with cinnamon!) He looked at me before looking back at his cereal, looking nervous. I sat down and poured some cereal for myself before saying,

"What's got you so worked up?"

"I...I understand if you want me to leave. I'm really sorry about that and there's no--"

"I already told you, I don't really care. The only one making a big deal out of it is you."

"Okay, but I could still sleep on the couch if you wanted."

"Please, I shared a double bed with my brother for ten years because we didn't have enough beds or rooms for us to not. I mean, he never hugged me in his sleep, but then it would have been weird."

He nodded before looking at me.

"You have a brother?"

"Yeah, we used to be pretty close. But then he left home and just stopped talking to me. Which kinda sucked."

"Oh... I have three sisters. One older two younger. They can be a real pain in the ass, but I still love 'em."

"Huh, how old are they? Like, highschool age or older?"

"Well there's Linsey, she's twelve but she started school late so she's still in primary school. Then there's Megan, she's sixteen, so highschool. Me at nineteen, almost twenty. And then Jessica who's twenty-two."

"Wow, pretty diverse bunch."

"Yeah... then there's my parents. We... didn't leave on the best of notes. Well, more like they tried to talk me out of leaving and... I stormed out."

"Oh... that's... uh..."

He grimaced and returned to his cereal.

"Sorry, didn't mean to get all heavy this early."

"I don't mind."

He smirked at me before saying,

"Is there anything you do mind? You seem a little too laid back."

"When people have bad breath but get all up in your face to talk to you."

He made a face and said,

"Ugh, I hate that too. Or when someone's all sweaty and they get super close and it's just really uncomfortable."

I shudder before whispering,

"Gym class."

This prompted a shudder from Talion who nodded back.

"Gym class."

We finished up breakfast before walking to town hall. On the way Talion looked at me and said,

"Is this even going to work?"

"I'll make it work. And if not, you can still stay with me. Heck, you're welcome to stay with me anyway and like... help pay for food or something. You know, be roommates?"

He nodded and looked at the sunrise.

"Yeah... roommates."

Soon we were right outside the building with me going in first. I opened the door prompting Brooke to smile.

"Hey Jack, how was your weeke..."

She trailed off when she saw who was following me.

"Hey Brooke, it was fine. Oh, meet Talion. He's a friend of mine. I was hoping he could get a job here. Nowhere else will give him a chance 'cause he's a gryphon."

She just sat there, flabbergasted. Soon the mayor himself walked out of his office on his way to grab coffee from the break room. He stopped when he saw me... or more likely Talion.

"Uuh..."

"Good morning Mayor Bureau. I wanted to talk with you about something."

He nodded, mouth still open.

"Uuh... I'm... coffee..."

He stumbled away towards the break room which was odd. He usually only did that on Fridays. I turned to mention it to Brooke but she was gone. I'm pretty sure I saw her tail sticking out behind her desk though.

"Umm... are you sure this will work?"

I looked at Talion and smiled.

"Well, we won't know until we try."

He took a deep breath and rolled his shoulders as the mayor returned with his coffee. He didn't even glance at us before speeding up to get to his office. I followed him and motioned for Talion to do the same. Once inside I saw that Mayor Bureau was sitting stiffly behind his desk with a nervous twitch in his eye.

"So... about what I wanted to ask you. Do you think you could find a job for Talion."

I nodded in the gryphon's direction which prompted the Mayor to blanch.

"H-he wants a job... here?"

"Well, nowhere else would even interview him, so I figured I might as well see if you'd give him a chance. You've always struck me as more progressive and free thinking than the other ponies in town."

Yes. Flattery always helps.<

~Butter him up like a biscuit!~

It worked because the mayor immediately loosened up and smiled.

"Is that so? Well, I do try to be inclusive. Equestria is a land of harmony after all."

"It sure is. But, enough about me, do you have any questions for Talion?"

The mayor looked back at the gryphon with a hint of doubt. He bit his lip and thought for a second before saying,

"Well... we've had a bit of a tough time with filing but that would require you to know Equestrian writing."

"I already know it, sir. I took it in secondary school."

"How're your organization skills?"

"I'm a neat freak."

He mumbled to himself before sighing and smoothing his mane out.

"Alright, I'll give you a chance. Just please, don't make me regret it."

The two shook hooves/claws with Talion beaming.

"I'll do my best, sir."

I'm pretty sure he just likes being called "sir."<

~Ego-stroking!~

I nodded to the mayor before following Talion out the doors. When we were out he grabbed me by the shoulders and stared shaking me.

"Thank you! Oh man, I can't believe that happened! Yes!"

He let go of me leaving me staggering around dizzily.

"Hey... no problem buddy. Just... yaaaaay."

I attempted to walk around him but accidentally plowed right into him knocking us both over. I landed on his chest which prompted a laugh from him.

"Whoops, sorry Jack. I didn't mean to make you dizzy."

"Eh, no problem."

I got up and walked over to the front desk where Brooke was cautiously peaking out.

"So... anything you need me to deliver?"

"T-there were two unknown ponies found at the edge of town in the hospital. C-can you go see if they are awake so you can get their names?"

"No problem. And can you show Talion to the filing room? And please, don't treat him weird all day. He's really nice."

She nodded and I gave her a smile before trotting away. She looked over at the waiting gryphon and gulped.

"F-follow me please."

Legible Ledger hummed a quiet song as she slowly worked through the mountain of paperwork she had to file. It just kept piling up and was way too much for just one pony.

"Um... Ledger? M-mayor Bureau hired somepony else to help you with the filling."

She turned, visibly excited.

"Really!? Finally! I'm always swamped with--"

She froze when she saw a massive gryphon standing nervously behind Sparkling Brooke.

"Uh..."

"This is Talion! Welp, gottagobye!"

And with that, she was gone leaving the quiet mare with the nervous gryphon. They both just stood there avoiding eye contact before Ledger coughed and murmured.

"Umm... could you... take care of... that stack."

She pointed a shaking hoof at the indicated pile of paper. Talion nodded before picking it up and getting to work. The two filed... not even speaking when they needed something.

I trotted along the road to the hospital ninety-nine percent sure who I was going to see.

Well I guess Verdant dropped those two off.

Mhm.<

~Yay.~

I reached the hospital and asked for directions at the front desk. As I walked to the room I was told about I couldn't shake the nagging feeling I was forgetting something. Upon reaching the room I saw none other than Orchid and Doc sitting in hospital beds.

"Hello."

They turned to face me with different expressions once they saw my awesome Nocturne bod. Doc had curious fascination written all over whereas Orchid... I dunno, curiosity?

"My name is Jackknife and I'm here to find out your names and where you're from."

Doc opened her mouth only for Orchid to cut her off.

"Well, I'm Orchid Mimosa but everyone calls me Orchid."

So she does have two names!

Yippee.<

~The more you know!~

"And this is Doctor Carefull Observer. We're both from Canterlot. But, how about you? Do you live here?"

"Yup. So, how're you two feeling?"

"A little under the weather, but hopefully we should be fine in a few days. Maybe you could drop by again some time?"

"I'll be sure to. Well, I've got to get back to work. Later!"

I waved as I walked out the door with Orchid waving back, a warm smile on her face. Doc glared at her, eyebrow raised.

"Are you done, Orchid? I thought you guards were supposed to be professional? Yet as soon as a stallion walks in you start drooling all over yourself. I wanted to discover more about him for my research! I want to figure out why there are so few stallions born nowadays! If this trend of increasing female population and decreasing male population keeps up we might have to start making breeding programs with one stallion being assigned to a group of mares. And nobody in their right mind wants that!"

"What's there to research!? What could you even do to fix that!? And besides, you can't fault me for trying to make a good impression with an eligible Nocturne stallion! You know how few stallions Equestria has? Well Nocturnia has less, and many go to join the night guard and almost immediately get snapped up by some pretty-faced, sweet-talking whorse who batts their eyelashes and flirts their way into bed with them. And besides, I didn't get on your back about Jack!"

Doc blushed and gasped.

"W-what are you implying!"

"Oh please, you weren't even subtle. And even if I was blind, I can still hear. You talk in your sleep and we've been sharing a tent this whole time."

Doc gaped and started looking frantic.

"What do you mean!? What did I say!"

Orchid closed her eyes and faked dreamy expression.

"~Ooh Jack, wrap me up in your strong, muscular arms.~"

"S-stop it! I would never--"

"~I just want to lick you sexy stomach. Or... if you prefer I could teach you some Equestrian... biology.~"

Doc blanched and looked away.

"Oh? Did I strike a nerve? It must have been an "interesting" dream given all the moaning."

Doc cringed down and blushed, unable to meet Orchid's eyes.

"Oh, and I didn't even have to mention the smell or how quick you were to change your--"

Orchid stopped when she saw tears dropping from Doc's eyes.

Oh no, me and my big mouth.

"D-doc?"

Doc just shut her eyes and turned away.

"Listen, I'm--"

"Shut up Orchid."

Orchid flinched as the usually polite and proper mare turned towards her with a dangerous expression.

"D-doc!? Listen, I'm--"

"No, you listen to me. I know what you must think of me. That I'm a freak for my infatuation with him. But did you ever bother to ask why? No! Unlike you, stallions never even looked at me! Sure you might be single, but you've been on a few dates even if it didn't work out. Stallions have complimented you, made you feel special. But me? No! I was just a brainiac! I might as well have been made of stone for all it's worth! I never let it get to me though, 'No,' I said, 'I don't care. I'm above petty delusions of romance. I'm a mare of science!' But then Jack came along. At first I was just attempting to get close to him for information, but... he treated me differently. He saw me in a different way. He said I was cute, adorable, lovable. All those things I'd never been called. He didn't see me as a brain, churning out useful ideas and interesting theories, he saw me as a pony. He saw somebody he could hug and show affection to. And... it just... just..."

She trailed off and looked away.

"I'm so sorry Doc, I didn't know you were going through that."

She sniffed before turning back to Orchid, unaware that the nurse had just walked in.

"It's okay, and I'm sorry for patronizing you for flirting with Jackknife."

The nurse set down the tray of food she was carrying and gave them both a smile.

"You know, you might not understand how it works here, but we don't get many new ponies. Of course, even then they aren't usually stallions. So when an eligible, open stallion comes to town who doesn't look like a hydra's backside, all the mares that are looking for a stallion tend to start competing."

She leaned towards Orchid and gave her a wicked smile.

"Now, I might not be looking for a relationship, but I still wouldn't mind bringing that fine stallion home one evening. Everypony knows nurses can be pretty alluring if we want. So, let me make this clear."

She leaned even closer, staring Orchid right in the eye.

"Hooves. Off."

Orchid raised her hooves and nodded. The nurse returned to her sunny smile and trotted away.

"Hope you get better soon!"

Orchid turned to Doc and gulped.

"Maybe I should stay single, or just plain old avoid stallions for a while."

Doc nodded and gave her a smile.

"Maybe that would be for the best."

As Orchid turned away, Doc smirked as she saw her disappointment.

“Of course Jack isn't the only one who I've come to... appreciate.”

Orchid blanched.

“Uhh... Doc? Please tell me you don’t—“

Doc froze and blushed.

“That came out wrong! I meant as a friend! Purely platonic!”

“Right... uh... how about we never speak of this again.”

“...Agreed.”

I strode calmly through the hospital, ready to head back to city hall. Unless... was there something--

*Flash*

...oh poop.

I dove into the nearest room with an open door and closed it behind me. I turned and saw that, unfortunately, there was a little colt sitting dumbfounded in the bed.

"Uh...."

He just stared, mouth agape. I saw his hoof begin to move towards the help button and I quickly shook my head and clasped my hands together while mouthing "please don't." He froze and continued looking at me before pulling his hoof back towards himself. He looked around before saying in a conspiratorial whisper.

"Are you a human?"

"Yes, but I don't want to scare anyone. So please, don't tell anyone that I'm--"

I heard the doorknob begin to turn and I quickly ducked into the only place I could think of. Underneath the bed. Hoofsteps started making their way towards me and a female voice said,

"Hello, Juniper Berry. Is your tummy still aching?"

"No Miss Linen."

"Oh, please just call me Nurse Linen. Miss Linen makes me feel old."

"Sorry Mi... Nurse Linen."

"Wonderful! That should mean your horsey pocks are almost gone. You should be able to go home tomorrow! Well, I'll see you at lunch."

"Bye Nurse Linen."

Once the door closed I crawled out from under the bed and tousled the colts mane.

"Thanks kid, I owe ya."

He smiled and nuzzled his snout into my hand.

"You're soft. I like you."

I smiled at him before scratching behind his ears causing him to giggle.

"Thanks. I like you too. Well, I've gotta go. Don't tell anybody! It'll be our super ultra secret."

He nodded and made a zipping motion across his lips. I gave him a thumbs up before opening the window and climbing out. Fortunately, I was on the backside of the building which was directly across from the woods. I dashed for the cover of the forest, looking for magic to drain.

...<

~...~

...what?

That was adorable.<

~You'd make a good dad.~

Shut up you two.

Author's Note

Sorry this took so long. I had to take the ACT and a bunch of other stuff. Also... yeah... it got real in the middle there. I mainly thought I should adress why Doc was so hung up over our hapless human. Unfortunately I'm going to be busy for a while so the next chapters might be a bit delayed.

Flowers

Once safely in the shade of the forest, I proceeded to perform the usual "ran out of magic, oh no." routine. As I casually strode through the trees I realized I'd never been in this section of the forest. I took in the massive trees and small animals when suddenly I was in a dark glade light with a light blue glow. I looked down and saw a carpet of bright blue, glowing flowers spread before my feet.

"Holy crap."

~That's probably a whole lotta magic.~

And creepy. Why'd it get so dark?<

It's just thicker here.

I bent down and picked one of the fluorescent blooms and held it up for investigation. Where I was touching it my fingers felt all warm and tingly.

Yup, lotta magic.

I started gathering up magic with my magicite only to realize how bright it had already become... and how hot it was. I started to fan myself but... I felt a little woozy.

I think the heats getting to me. I'm going to rest for a bit and drink some water.

...

Huh, they're awfully quiet.

I staggered over to the edge of the glade and slid down to the base of one of the trees. I pulled the water bottle out of my backpack and took a swig. My eyes got heavier... and heavier... and then I nodded off.

(Minutes later.)

I woke up gasping for breath and reached a hoof up to my... hoof? But I didn't.

I looked and saw I was a pony... without using magicite.

How the... what do you guys make of this?

...

Guys?

...

Wait... huh? How the... whu? I thought... voices.

I shook my head and started trotting towards the town. Upon reaching it I realized just how much the ponies looked at me... and... how much I didn't want them to. Wh-why were they looked at me? What do they know! I-is something wrong with my body?! Stop staring at me!

I lowered my head further and made my way towards town hall. All these ponies... what are they even doing? I jolted and flinched as a pair of mares bumped into me.

These stupid ponies, they're all just... looking at me. Stay away from me! Y-you're all just shapes! Shapes of flesh! You're all just worthless shapes!

I ducked through the doors and fortunately out of the sight of the ponies.

"Hey Jack, did ya get that info?"

I flinched as I heard Brooke speak. D-did she call me Jack!? D-did she know?! B-but how! I... I've gotta be careful around her.

"Y-yeah, it's right here."

I slid a sheet of paper I'd written the names of Orchid and Doc on as well as where they qere from before darting into the broom closet.

"Huh, that was... different."

"W-wow. The Gryphon Kingdom sounds cool."

"Yeah. It's really a couple of islands all together under one rule, but each one had their own culture."

"You know, Talion, you're really sweet for a gryphon."

"Thanks Ledger. I'm glad you're not scared of me. You're probably one of the nicest ponies I've met."

Ledger smiled and blushed.

"Y-you think so?"

"Well, yeah. Haven't other ponies told you that before."

"Oh, um... no. I-I'm kind of a homebody. The only pony I really talk to is Brooke."

"Ah, I get ya. My sister is like that."

"Which one?"

"Megan, the sixteen year old. She just comes home from school and buries her beak in a book."

"Oh, I do the exact same thing."

"I feel like you two would get along well. Maybe you'll meet her sometime and talk about books and stuff."

Ledger went wide eyed and blushed.

D-did he just insinuat me meeting his family!? L-like you do with a marefriend!? D-does he... like me? I mean... he's kinda cute. A-And he's really sweet... and sensitive. M-maybe I should... no, play it cool.

"So, Talion. Have you ever been... uh... on a date before?"

Talion rubbed the back of his head with a claw and shrugged, ruffling his feathers up adorably.

"No. Never."

"O-oh. That's... um...."

Okay, Ledger. Be brave. What would Daring Do say.

"H-hey, Talion... do you wanna... maybe...."

Ledger gulped before squeaking out in a hushed whisper.

"G-get some f-food sometime?"

Talion blanched and looked at her in horror. Ledger cringed away, embarrassed and... odly disappointed at the same time.

"I-I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. Of course you wouldn't like ponies especially one as homely as me and...."

"Woah woah woah! Calm down. T-that's not what this is about at all!"

"B-but... I didn't... Y-you don't have to lie. I understand--"

"N-no, you really don't. Uh..."

Talion rubbed his shoulder before whispering in her ear. Ledger paused and then looked at him.

"Wait... really?"

He nodded, blushing.

"Oh, well... oops."

"No prob. Uh... can we get back to filing?"

As soon as the clock struck five I bolted for my punch card. After rapidly checking out I ran for home as fast as physically possible.

All those ponies. They all were staring and judging with their haughty eyes. T-they think they're so important. B-but I see what they really are. Just a whole bunch of shapes. Just shapes... made of meat with some stupid goals and desires. A-and it's all pointless! Nothing anyone does means anything! We're all just... dust! Worthless piles blown through a cold, uncaring world.

I shuddered before slinking towards the kitchen. I slung my bag off and looked at the fridge with distaste.

I... I don't feel like eating. What's the point anyway?

I walked towards the bathroom and turned the water on. As I sat under the water I heard the door open.

W-who?

"Hey, Jack! Ya home?"

Oh... it's just Talion. W-what does he want? I... I don't want to talk right now....

I got out and looked at my damp form in the mirror. At my misshapen eyes. My weird, ugly ears. My gross, unattractive body and creepy, unnatural wings.

I really am a freak. Why... why does it hurt so bad. It hurts... inside me. It's this cold pain right in my chest. I can feel it in my lungs... my heart. I feel so... empty. Maybe all those people in my old world were right. I really would be better off dead. W-was that world a dream? Or this one? What am I anymore?

I looked at my reflection more closely and rather than the ugly creature before I just saw what I saw as all the other ponies. Shapes. Just a mishmash of random shapes without purpose. Waste of space.

Suddenly the door opened.

"Hey, you okay in there?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine."

He gave me a piercing look.

"Uh hu. Well, if that's the case can I use the shower?"

"Y-yeah. Go ahead."

He gave me an inquisitive look as I skirted around him. He shrugged and closed the door.

"If it's importanthe'll tell me eventually."

I sat on the couch and looked out the window. The sky was so... drab. Everything was so boring and pointless. Why should I keep this up? I should just stay in bed and rot like the garbage I was. I didn't realize how long I'd been sitting there until Talion sat down on the other side of the couch.

"What'cha doin?"

I didn't answer. I didn't feel like talking. It was all so boring. A pointless endeavor that people still insisted on doing. Why can't they all just shut up and leave me alone.

I flinched as I felt something touch my shoulder before two strong claws grabbed my shoulders.

"Okay, what's wrong! You're acting really off right now."

"I'm fine."

"Jack, please, talk to me."

"I don't want to right now."

"You can trust me."

"I said not now."

"Please."

I flinched as he held my chin with his claw and forced me to look into his eyes.

"Did something happen? Did someone... do something to you?"

"No. Nothing happened."

"Jack. I'm worried about you. You're... jumpy, and quiet. You have been for a while now."

"We just got home."

"Jack, it's ten. You've been sitting here for hours. You haven't eaten or had something to drink."

"I'm not hungry."

Talion sighed.

"When you feel like talking, I'll be here."

I'll never feel like talking. Nobody's going to make me talk if I don't want to. It's not worth it. I wish I could live somewhere where I was far away from all of these jerks. I don't need any of them. They're all just weighing me down. And I... I'm so alone. There's nobody I can trust but myself. Nothing can fill the hole inside me. They're all just...shapes.

They're all just shapes.

Author's Note

Uh oh, that's a bad sign.

The Daily Grind

"Y-you asked for me Mr. Mayor?"

"Yep, I need you to give this packet to Clean Sheets, the owner of Sheet's Bed Emporium, this to the front desk of the hospital, and this one goes to the Main Street Bakery. Just follow your nose to that one."

"Is that all?"

"Mhm, get going."

I nodded sullenly and turned to walk away.

"Oh, and try not to take so long YOU WORTHLESS PIECE OF FILTH!"

I flinched and whimpered,

"O-okay."

The mayor went back to his work as I made my way to the front desk.

"More deliveries?"

I nodded.

"Well don't have too much fun."

I wordlessly exited the building.

Brooke giggled before going back to her magazine.

He's such a cutie. That's it, I'm asking him out tonight.

Ledger fidgeted as she and Talion sorted the various papers they were in charge of. She finally worked up the courage to speak and said,

"Uh... congratulations Talion."

He cocked an eyebrow as he looked at her.

"About what?"

"Um, on you and Jack. You make a cute couple."

He blushed and cleared his throat while rubbing his shoulder.

"Uh... we're not a couple. I mean... I definitely wouldn't mind if he asked me out."

He grinned and ruffled his feathers a bit before continuing.

"I mean, he is really cute, and he is really funny and easy to talk to. We have a lot in common... maybe it would work out between us... but... I don't know if he's... you know... gay."

Ledger nodded before resuming her filing.

"Well, I still think you'd make a cute couple."

I kept my head lowered as I hurried through the town. Everyone was staring, why did they have to stare? I know I'm a freak and really ugly, but it's rude to gawk. Why do I have to keep doing this? And why do I feel so miserable. I just... I can't figure out how to be happy.

I shuddered and flinched away when a group of young foals ran right through me, parting like a river around a rock.

Stop touching me! You're all shapes! Meaningless shapes!

"Shapes, all shapes."

I mumbled as I reached the bed store. Upon entering I saw an older mare standing near a display.

"Oh hello dear, need something."

"A-are you Clean Sheets?"

"Mhm, sure am."

I handed over the envelope before turning and walking out the door.

"Have a nice day, sweetie."

D-don't call me sweetie! I'm not your sweetie! I'm... I'm nobody's sweetie. Nobody loves me, nobody ever will.

The hospital was easier given I didn't have to talk, but unfortunately many of the nurses insisted on greeting me or talking to me. I hurriedly excused myself from each confrontation before dropping off the packet and leaving.

I then trotted towards Main Street, doing my best to avoid attention. I soon found the bakery, thank goodness, and ducked inside.

"Hiya! How's it going?"

"F-fine."

"Need something sugar, or you just window shopping?"

She winked as she said that. I recognized her, she talked to me last week. Wait... why would she bother seeking me out!? W-what does she want!? I shivered before holding out the envelope that the mayor had given me. She walked over and picked it up before giving me an odd look.

"Well, thanks for this." She bumped her flank against mine before walking away. "Don't be a stranger. I'm happy to help you any time. For anything at all."

I nodded before rushing out the door, glad to be leaving. Honestly, this job just got worse and worse, just like my life.

I grabbed the cleaning bucket and started rummaging through its contents in search of a rag to dust with. Honestly the building wasn't even dusty, but I needed something to do.

This is such a waste of time.

"Hey, Jack. Cleaning up the building?"

Ugh... why is she bugging me.

"Mhm."

"Nice. So, I was wondering if you wanted to go get some dinner tonight. We could go out or you could drop by my house."

I really don't want to do either of those. I just want to go home.

"Uh... I don't know if I'm up to a friendly visit today."

She frowned before nodding.

"O-okay, maybe some other time?"

"Yeah."

Why the heck does she want to meet me one on one? What's her plan?

As she was walking away, she stopped before turning around and walking back over.

"Actually, I'm going to be honest with you. I like you. I want to go on a date with you."

I froze. A d-date? Like... for a committed couple?

"A d-date?"

"Yeah. You know, see if something's there. I like you a lot and... want to date you."

"Uh... uh..."

She rolled her eyes before bumping my shoulder.

"You don't have to tell me now, I know I kind of sprung it on you. Just... think it over."

I sat on the couch in the break room as she left, stunned. What... what was I supposed to do? Was... was I supposed to go along with it? I barely even registered as Legible Ledger walked in.

"Oh, uh, hey Jackknife. What's going on?"

"I... I don't know."

She looked at me curiously as she got a water out of the small fridge.

"What does that mean?"

"B-Brooke just asked me out. I... I don't know what to do."

"Well... do you like her like that?"

"I... don't know."

"Well, um, you don't have to if you don't want to."

"I... I can do that?"

"Well... yeah. You can date anypony you want. Whether it's a mare like Brooke, or, if you're so inclined, a male... like, oh, Talion, or something."

Oh smooth Ledger. Casual bring a relationship with Talion to mind. I so ship them.

"Wait, what? You... you can... date... a guy?"

"Phff, yeah. Nopony's gonna judge. Well, at first they might, but they'll get used to it."

"I... I..."

I could date a dude? Like Talion? I... did I like him like that? I mean, he made me feel so warm and safe and he's adorable and snuggle-able and... But Brooke is sweet too, and cute, and soft and likes me... I... I....

I held my hooves to my head and grimaced. Why... why did everything have to be so complicated! I jumped up and ran for the door. I... I needed to think! Why! Why was I so much of a disappointment! Why couldn't everyone just leave me alone! But... I don't want to be alone. But... they're all just shapes and... no one matters! Nothing matters! I can't... they're all shapes! Meaningless just like me!

I didn't realize I'd run into the woods, but I found myself standing in the middle of a clearing with a tree with a large hollow in the base beside me. I crawled in and did something I hadn't done in years. I cried.

"Jack?! Jack!? Where are you?"

Talion sighed as he looked for his friend. He had no idea where he could have gone. Soon he saw Ledger and Brooke talked frantically to eachother. He ran over and asked,

"What happened?"

Ledger turned and shook her head.

"He... he asked me about dating after Brooke asked him out and he just... ran off. He looked so... panicked, and scared."

Talion blanched when he heard this.

"Oh no."

"What? What's going on with him?"

He turned to Brooke and grimaced.

"He's been going through a bit of a rough patch and must have panicked. We need to find him before he does something he'll regret."

Ledger sniffed.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have hinted at the possibility of you two dating."

Brooke looked confused before scowling at Ledger.

"You can't just assume that Jack's gay! Or that Talion's gay either! I mean, he can choose if he wants to but that's up to Talion too."

"Actually, I am gay. But that's beside the point! We've gotta find him!"

The three nodded before running out the door.

The mayors door opened and Mayor Bureau looked around in confusion.

"Where the hay is everyone?!"

Author's Note

IMPORTANT NOTICE!!!

Hey! I've been getting comments and messages from readers and now I need your input. By popular demand, here's the romance options. You narrowed it down to either Brooke or Talion as his romantic interest and now you need to choose. So, pick one and tell me. I can't write the next chapter until you do. Thanks!

Exodus

Author's Note

Change of plans.Note: this will all make sense in a bit, this for character development and story progression not some deep narrative about politics or crap.

Exodus

"JAAAACK! JAAAAAACK!"

I lifted my tear-stained face and saw Talion enter the clearing. He looked frantic and worried... for me. I crawled out and sniffed.

"T-Talion?"

He turned and gaspes as he saw my miserable form.

"Jack, are you okay?"

I shook my head, tears dripping off my chin.

"N-no. I'm... I'm so confused, and alone, and scared."

He pulled me into his arms and gently stroked my back as I cried into his chest.

"It's okay, it's okay. I've got you."

I sniffled as I pressed closer to him, glad for his warmth.

Brooke ran through the forest, searching for Jack. Although, that wasn't the only thing bothering her.

I can't believe... Talion's... that's... unexpected. Whatever, I need to find Jack fast!

She froze, a look of shock on her face as she entered the meadow Jack and Talion were in. There was no way this was going to end well.

I finally got my breathing under control and let go of Talion.

"T-thanks. I'm sorry for running off like that."

He smiled before patting me on the shoulder.

"Hey, we roommates have to stick together."

Suddenly, a familiar voice spoke, disgust in her voice.

"You... you're!"

I turned and saw Brooke looked at me and Talion in horror.

"B-Brooke?"

She whirled and ran off without another word.

Talion gave me a confused look.

"What was that about?."

I shrugged.

"Well, whatever's the case, I'm glad I found you.

I sniffed before latching back onto him.

"Now then, let's head home."

Upon reaching our house I cleaned myself up before getting into bed where Talion was already asleep. I moved over until I was pressed up against him and burrowed under his wing. I knew one thing and one thing for certain. The gryphon beside me was totally awesome... and he was super soft and cuddly.

As we walked to town hall, I noticed that... everyone was glaring at us. And anytime a family got within a hundred feet they would pull the children away and glare at us, as though we'd threatened them.

"T-Talion, what's going on?"

"I don't know, but maybe we'll find out at town hall."

Hushed murmurs came from all around and I caught snippets of each one.

"Can't believe they--"

"How weird."

"They're both...."

I lowered my head and flopped my eats down. Were they talking about me?

Upon reaching town hall, we saw the mayor with Brooke behind him, looking at us as though he had just heard about our funeral.

"Mayor Bureau?"

"Listen... I just think you two should go... before anything happens."

"Mayor Bureau, what is this is all a--"

He held up a hoof before saying,

"Listen, I have nothing against the two of you personally, but I'd rather not have a problem on our hooves. You understand, right?"

Talion frowned.

"Yeah... I think so."

I looked at Ledger who was staring, grief stricken at the two of us. She caught my eye and blinked away a few tears before mouthing,

"I'm so sorry."

I gave her a concerned look before following Talion away.

We arrived at home and sat on the couch. Now that the heat of the moment had gone, Talion looked deflated and tired. I spoke up,

"W-where do we go? We can't live here if we don't have jobs."

He sighed before rubbing his head with his claws.

"Only thing I can think of is staying with family. My parents would put us up for a bit, but we'd have to take a train to the Gryphon Kingdom."

The Gryphon Kingdom. One place I hadn't even seen a picture of. But....

"Alright, let's go to the Gryphon Kingdom."

He looked at me and shook his head.

"You don't have to come with me. I've imposed enough as it is."

I moved over to him and hugged him.

"We roommates have to stick together. Besides, you're, like, the only one I trust right now. I'd be lost on my own."

He pulled me closer and smiled.

"Alright, the Gryphon Kingdom it is."

We settled into our seats as the train pulled out of the station. We had taken all we could and had left on the first train possible. The only pony that said goodbye was Ledger, but eventually then she wouldn't stop crying and blaming herself. But, we were finally on our way. A new country, and a new lease on life.

One good thing is I aparantly don't need to gather magic anymore. That will come in handy. I leaned towards the window and looked wide eyed at the mountains we were passing over. They were beautiful.

"Just a few hours over the mountains and you'll be able to see the ocean. Then, it's straight to Ironrock, the main island of the Gryphon Kingdom."

I smiled. This might not be so bad after all.

"What do you mean there's a problem?"

Enoch sighed as he turned the screen towards the five other humans.

"There's been a massive uprising. And, in order to insure we didn't join it, the Union disabled our piloting systems and deleted all coordinates from our ship. We're stuck here."

Commander sighed and bent over, massaging her temples.

"Well, we're going to have to figure something out, aren't we."

Lance bit his lip before sighing.

"Yeah, I'm sure the natives will respond favorably to us asking for peace. We've only killed how many of them?"

Commander sat bolt upright.

"What if we didn't ask."

Atlas looked at her in confusion.

"Coom again?"

She smiled wickedly.

"Why ask for that we can take."

Luna sighed as her troops set up camp. Tomorrow they would arrive in Featherborrow. And then they would--

"Your majesty!"

She turned as an exhausted pegasus messenger stopped before her.

"Yes?"

"We've received word that two of the members of the team researching the human camp are in the hospital at Featherborrow!"

She gasped.

"But they all went.... This shall prove most useful to our search."

Brooke

Legible Ledger stalked angrily into town hall after the whole disaster with Jack and Talion.

I just... I don't know how it got so out of hoof so fast. I mean... I knew the ponies here were used to doing things a... certain way, but I never expected.

She froze as she walked past Brooke who was sitting, an emotionless mask over her features. Ledger gulped before turning to her.

"I... I know I'm not the most... outspoken of ponies, but I have something to say to you."

Brooke didn't move.

"How... how could you be so cruel?! I mean, I knew you didn't approve of... you know, but... to drive them out of town. I just... I...."

"You... you think I wanted this!?"

Ledger turned and saw Brooke staring straight ahead, but with tears leaking out of her eyes.

"You think... that I'd purposefully hurt... one of the kindest stallions I knew! That... that you know I... I liked!"

Ledger stood stunned as Brooke began to shake, from anger or sorrow she wasn't sure.

"You don't even know the half of it."

Brooke stood staring at the two as they held onto eachother. She couldn't believe.

It's... It's true!? No, no no no. If the ponies of the town find out... they'll be treated like... like...ooooh I gotta go warn the mayor so he can help keep it quiet!.

She turned and ran, panic searing through her.

I... I need to do something! They'll be ruined if I don't! Oh, why'd they have to be.... I don't even care that it's weird! They're my friends Tartarus be darned! But... if I try to tell them, they'll think I'm some jealous, spiteful mare trying to vent her frustration! Why is everything so complicated!

~~~~~~~

"Mayor Bureau! You've gotta help me! Jack and Talion are gay! If we don't tell them--"

Gasps rang out, causing Brooke to notice what she'd walked in on. Sitting behind her was the town legislature. Six of the most stuck in their ways, stubborn ponies known to ponykind. One stood and turned to the others.

"I warned you! That gryphon is trouble!" He turned towards the mayor and scowled.

"If you don't fire him and his... his... partner! You'll be out of a job too."

Brooke stood stunned as the legislature filled out, leaving her and the mayor. He sighed,

"Brooke, you couldn't have chosen a worse time."

She turned to him, fear in her eyes.

"T-they can't be serious! I mean, we can get the help of all of their friends to--"

"It won't help. You know what they're like. They'll whip the whole town into a panic. A bunch of ponies who normally wouldn't really care are gonna think that those two are Discord himself. Our hooves are tied."

"No... b-but, they're my friends!"

He sighed and looked her in the eye.

"I know it's going to be tough, but I want you to act like you're mad at them too." He held up a hoof to silence her.

"I know, I know. But it's for their own good. If Jackknife has to live the rest of his life wondering about wether or not you love him, he'll never move on. It'll be hard, but I'll do it too, help them move on. It's the least we can do."

Brooke nodded, holding back tears.

"Why'd everything have to go wrong?! Why can't life just go according to plan for once."

Ledger sat, hooves covering her mouth as Brooke finished her tail.

"B-Brooke, I... I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have just--"

"It... It's okay. I just... it all happened so fast. If only I'd... if I'd waited a bit, or checked his office before opening my big mouth. It all would've gone so differently. I wish, I wish I could change--"

She trailed off and Ledger placed a hoof on her shoulder.

"Well, at least they've got eachother to watch their backs. I don't know if they actually will, you know, get together. But at least they aren't all alone."

Brooke nodded and wiped her eyes.

"Thanks Ledger, I needed that."

Ledger smiled before bumping her shoulder with her own.

"Besides, I heard a bunch of Guards are coming to town. Maybe some Canterlot stallion will come sweep you off your hooves."

Brooke laughed and gently punched Ledger's arm.

"Ledger! You're terrible!"

The two laughed before heading to their respective workplaces. At that very moment, a certain princess set hoof in Featherborrow. She hummed to herself before saying,

"Soon, I'll track you down soon."

Author's Note

What was that!? Did I just double jigger you?! If you saw that coming (you know, it all being a series of unfortunate events) you are obviously psychic. It all went according to plan with me trying to make as many of you ticked off and confused as possible! (Which I fear I did a little too drastically.) I dunno about you guys, but I love stories that take what I thought was going on and smashing it into a billion pieces of wrong. Hope you liked it! It was going to be longer, but I got busy and decided to split it so I could publish it today.

Shift

I sighed as I watched the mountains slowly crawl past the window. I rolled my eyes and stood up before heading towards the back of the train.

"Where are you going?"

I turned to Talion and shrugged.

"Bathroom."

He nodded as I left the car. I made my way to the end car so I could have a bit of privacy. As I reached the caboose I opened the door and stepped out. The wind whistled past me as the train continued through the green hillocks near the mountains. I sighed as I set my head down on the railing.

"I wish I--"

Cold, why did I feel--

*Flash!*

Have any of you ever gotten hit in the head really hard? Like... really hard. Once my brother and I were wrestling and he accidentally sent my head through a wall... and into the beam inside. That dazed confused feeling, that's all I was feeling right now.

I staggered to the left as my vision swam and I fell over something. I rolled as I hit the ground before coming to a stop. I was a little scrapped up but not too bad. But... the question was, where was I?

Ugh... what happened?<

Huh? Wait....

~I think we got hit by a bus.~

Are we... in the mountains?

I raised a hand to my head as pain coursed through my skull. Okay, only thing I could think of as to why we were in the middle of nowhere with a massive headache was....

Massive bender.<

~Kidnapped by the mob?~

Hell if I know. My head feels like someone used it as a diving board. I remember leaving the hospital... going into the forest... and then... those blue flowers. Everything else is a blur.

How about we never go picking glowing drug flowers ever again.<

~So we have no idea where we are, what day it is, or where out stuff is. All we have is our clothes and the magicite in our pocket... that or you're happy to see me.~

It's magicite and... are those train tracks?

Maybe we got on a train?<

~Our bags must be on it.<

I lept to my feet and sprinted after it.

What are you..."

"MY WAX SHARKS ARE IN THOSE BAGS!"

~Oh hay!~

STOP GRAB ASSING AND RUN!<

I ran as fast as I could after the train. Nobody takes my sharks, NOBODY!

Twilight and friends walked down main street as Princess Luna gathered supplies. They decided that town hall was as good a place as any to ask directions to the nearest bakery. (Pinkie was hankering for a cupcake!) Upon entering, the mane six saw a rather depressed looking secretary sitting at the desk. She looked at them and tried to force a smile.

"H-hello, welcome to Featherborrow."

Twilight, being the good pony she was, immediately walked up to her as Pinkie began digging through her suitcase looking for her "I'm sorry you're sorry and that makes me sorry" sorry cake. It's like a regular cake, except sorry.

"Is something wrong?"

Brooke sighed.

"No, I'm fine."

Applejack huffed.

"Sugarcube, even I could make that lie sound more real."

Brooke looked down before looking at the five mares in front of her. (Pinkie was still looking.)

"You can tell us! We're the Elements of Harmony. If it's a friendship problem it's our duty to help!"

Brooke bit her lip before replying.

"I accidentally said some things that hurt two friends of mine. And, because of that, they had to move. I... I just want to see them again and tell them how sorry I am and make sure they know I didn't mean what I said."

Twilight clapped her hooves together. This obviously would teach everypony a valuable lesson and she'd write to Celestia and Celestia would compliment her on being the best student ever!

She put a comforting hoof on her shoulder and smiled.

"Don't worry, we'll come with you to see your friends. Where are they?"

"Uh... the Gryphon Kingdom."

Pinkie cheered as she found her cake. Not her "I'm sorry you're sorry and that makes me sorry" sorry cake, but her "we're solving a friendship problem and got the munchies" not-sorry friendship cake.

"Then let's go to the Gryphon Kingdom! I'll go tell Luna!"

Brooke raised a hoof as she vanished out the window.

"But I--"

The five mares cheered and began pulling Brooke towards the train station.

"Have work!"

Mayor Bureau looked out from his office and sighed as, yet again, his employees disappeared.

"I'm getting too old for this."

I stood panting before a bridge running out over the ocean. Far out to sea was an island that was where the train had gone.

You might want to turn into a pony again. You don't want to be seen.<

~And then you can fly!~

Good idea! I'm coming Sharky!

I spread my wings and took flight. Mysterious island here I come!

Author's Note

Once again, sorry about the short chapter and long delay. You might be saying, "what's with the spastic tone shifts all over?" And to that I say, "Magic. Magic makes things complex." At least that's what I always thought. Anyway, I feel really bad about leaving you guys for so long and that it'll probably be a while before my schedule clears up again, so I'm going to do something I wouldn't normally do. I'm going to suggest a story. Basically, I started reading a story the other day during my break at work and really liked it. I thought I'd just help a new writer out and give you a replacement story while I work my butt off. It's called Unexpected Adventure by... I don't remember the dudes name. It's about dragons and stuff so... yeah. Cool. Anyway, hope you liked the chapter!

Edit: Oh shoot I didn't realize it was listed in "also liked." That makes things easier. So yeah... look for it down 👇 there if you're interested.

What Do You Mean?

Talion began to pace back and forth as he watched the passengers getting off the train. Jackknife hadn't returned and still was missing when the train arived in Gate Station, the main station for people entering or exiting the country. So now he was looking for his friend among the throng of disembarking ponies.

"Jack! JACK!!!"

He continued to worry when no sign of him presented itself. He worriedly mumbled as the train began boarding.

"Cmon, where is he! He wouldn't just ditch me... would he? I mean, not that I could blame him given I caused this mess in the first place, but I kinda thought we were...."

"Ayyyy! Talion!"

I swooped down and landed right beside Talion as he spun in the direction of my voice.

"Jack!"

He rushed forward and hugged me tightly.

"Where were you!? You just vanished!"

I chuckled as he squeezed me against his floofy feathers.

"Well, I fell off the train, looked back, and said 'Hey! My bag's on there!' Anyway, could you tell me where exactly we are and why we're here instead of at work?"

He pulled away and gaped.

"You fell off the train!?"

I nodded with a grin.

"Yeah."

He looked at me again and said,

"And you're not... mopey any more?"

"Huh? What do you mean mopey?"

"Jack, what day is it?"

I tapped my chin as I thought.

"Uh... like... Tuesday?"

Talion grabbed me and took to the skies.

"Woah! Where are we going!"

"The hospital! Something's obviously wrong!"

I shrugged and began looking over the town we were in. It was larger than the other towns I'd been in ever since I'd been here, but not too large. Up ahead was a large building with a red cross on top.

Cool, I wonder where we are though?

A gryphon with greying fur and feathers held a dim light in front of my now unprotected eyes. I squinted a bit but he held my eyelids up with his claws. He moved the light back a d forth while I followed it.

"I'm not seeing anything. So what had you so worried?"

The doctor turned to faced Talion as I looked about the office.

"Well he started acting all depressed and weird earlier this week and then he claims he fell of the train and can't remember any of it! There had to be something going on!"

The doctor hummed before turning to me.

"So, what's the last thing you remember before you fell of the train?"

I looked up and squinted.

"Well... I left the hospital after getting the names Brooke asked for... and then I went into the forest. Oh! I remember picking some bright blue glowing flowers that I think gave me the massive headache I had upon falling off the train!"

"Blue glowing flowers? Were you near the Everfree Forest?"

Talion nodded.

"Yeah, the town was beside the Nebulae Woods, an offshoot of the Whitetail and Everfree."

The doctor clicked his tongue before motioning for Talion to follow him outside. Once safely out of earshot he turned to Talion and said,

"I think your friend wandered into some poison joke. It's a strange flower filled with chaotic magic that affects creatures in strange ways."

"So you're saying it made him super depressed and anxious and then he lost his memory? I've heard of the stuff before bit I thought it just made you get spots on your tongue or change colors when you sneeze."

"Some cases are more severe than others. A mare in Baltimare thought she was a fire breathing dragon for a whole month. When she got over the effects she couldn't remember any of it... and had an insatiable craving for spicy food."

Talion rubbed his temples and sighed.

"So how do you fix his memory?"

"You don't. He either naturally regains it or he doesn't get it back at all."

"You're saying there's no way for you to make him remember!?"

"No. Why is it so important to you? It was just a few days."

Talion groaned and looked away.

"We kinda... sorta... unofficially... started dating."

The doctor blinked before grabbing a clipboard.

"So the poison joke made your friend gay? Or was he before?"

"I don't think he was. Why are you--"

"Fascinating! It made him depressed and gay rather than chipper and clueless! I'm so writing a paper about this!"

Talion and I walked out of the hospital with Talion looking downcast.

"Hey, cheer up buddy! It doesn't matter to me that I don't remember what happened! We're in the Gryphon Kingdom, aparantly, and we're, supposedly, going to meet your family!"

Talion sighed and shook his head.

"I'm fine. Just... nervous."

I wrapped a foreleg around his shoulder and gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"I love how shy you are! It's so freaking adorable!"

Talion blushed and looked away.

"Gee, thanks."

I laughed as we walked down a street that lead to a more residential area of town. We stopped in front of a house and Talion raised a claw to knock. He froze and took a deep breath.

"Well, here we go."

He knocked and a shrill voice rang out,

"I'll get it!"

The door opened and a small gryphon stood in the door. She gasped and Talion smiled.

"Hey, sis. How's it--"

"PONY!"

She pounced on me and latched onto my chest. I toppled over and lay on my back as she rubbed her feathered cheek against me.

"Sweetie! You can't just...."

The female gryphon that had come to the door froze.

"Talion?"

He grinned and rubbed the back of his head.

"Um... hi Mom."

"Oooh! She's so cute!"

They bother turned to look as I held the squirming gryphon in a hug. She had moved up to my neck and had wrapped all four legs around me. The gryphoness in the doorway sighed and beckoned us inside.

"Well, come on in. I'll try to pry her off you in a bit. But first," she turned to Talion and glared,"you have a lot of explaining to do!"

He sighed as we entered the house. Me with a tiny gryphon glued to my chest.

...

She's so dang floofy!

Meet the Quillsons

As I walked through the door I looked around at all the pictures hanging on the walls. They were all of two older gryphons with four younger ones. I recognized Talion and the one clinging to me who I was assuming was... crap, I forgot what Talion told me his siblings names were.

We were escorted into a large sitting room were the dad gryphon and one of the older sisters was sitting. They both looked up and their eyes widened.

"Talion?"

He nodded.

"Hey... everyone."

His Mom turned to him and pointed at the couch.

"Sit young man."

He mumbled "yes ma'am" and sat in the designated seat. She turned to the still stunned sister and said,

"Jessica, could you go fetch Megan. She's in her room."

Jessica groaned.

"Come on, can't you make Linsey do it?"

"She's unavailable at the moment given I don't have a crowbar."

She pointed at me and I waved. Linsey chose then to pipe up.

"See! It's a pony! I've always wanted to hug one! They're so cute!"

Talion's Mom sighed.

"You should really let the poor dear go. He probably doesn't want to be clung to like a jungle gym."

"Oh, I don't mind. She's too cute to get mad at."

She squealed and hugged me tighter which caused the mom to give me a smile. Yay! I was making a good first impression on my bestie's parents! Jessica sighed and walked up the stairs.

"Megan! Get your tail down here!"

A muffled sigh of exasperation could be heard before Jessica came back downstairs followed by another gryphon with a shorter hair, I mean, feathercut. They all sat down and Mrs. Talion's Mom turned to me and Linsey.

"Can you two give us a moment to talk to Talion. I made cookies and you can have one. They're in the kitchen."

Me and Linsey both gasped and looked at eachother.

"Cookies!"
"Cookies!"

I carried her on my back as we walked towards the door. Now where was the kitchen?

When we were gone, Talion's mom turned to him and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, Talion Quillson? Want to tell us what happened and why you're back with a pony in tow?"

He sighed before looking around at his family.

"Yeah... I'm, I'm sorry for running off. I was just... I was being stupid. Can you forgive me?"

Everyone's expressions softened and Mrs. Quillson nodded.

"It's alright sweetie, we forgive you. Now, tell us what happened."

He sighed and rubbed his claws against his legs.

"Well, after our... disagreement."

"You mean when you got ticked off because everyone asked you if you were gay?"

He glared at Megan as she continued to stare into space.

"Yeah, as I was saying, after I left I flew to Equestria because I thought it'd be a better fit for me given... you know."

They all nodded and Jessica pointed at the kitchen.

"Is he your boyfriend?"

Talion blushed and started stammering.

"N-no! Er, I don't know. It's complicated."

"How complicated?"

"He stumbled into some poison joke that made him super depressed but then I started taking care of him and we kinda started unofficially dating but now that he's recovered from the poison joke he doesn't remember any of it."

They all just stared at him before his father laughed.

"That's complicated alright."

He then looked Talion in the eyes and said,

"But, as I said before you... left, I'm fine with your decision, however... odd it is. You're still my son and that won't change even if you do... like... men."

Talion nodded.

"Thanks Dad."

Megan smirked.

"Just try to keep it down at night. I don't want to have to start wearing headphones to bed."

"Megan! Shut up!"

Megan dodged the pillow he threw and just laughed.

"Aww, you're so protective of your boyfriend."

"He's not my... well, I don't really know if he is. Although, he did say that me being shy was cute. Maybe he does remember? Ugh, why does everything have to be so confusing!"

Mrs. Quillson cleared her throat.

"You still haven't told us what happened."

Talion grimaced.

"Okay, basically after flying for a while I arrived in the town of Featherborrow and none of the ponies would even interview me about a job. It started to rain so I decided to wait out the storm under a tree. Then, I heard a voice telling me I could wait out the storm in his house. It was Jack. So, I went to his house and he got me a job. We became roommates until a series of misunderstandings caused us to have to leave town. Given his still wacked out state, I decided I could at least attempt to help him and we came here. He fell off the train and recovered from his poison joke before I took him to the hospital. And that's basically it."

They all just stared at him before Mr Quillson stood.

"Welp, I need a drink."

Everyone nodded and filled out towards the kitchen. Upon entering they saw Linsey and Jack sitting on the floor playing with a whole lot of wax sharks. Upon them arriving Jack looked up and waved.

"Hi! I was just showing her my sharks! I made them out of candle wax!"

They just looked at him in confusion before Talion pointed at the wax figurines.

"How long have you had those?"

Changes and Problems

We all sat around the table as Mrs. Quillson set the food down. Apparently tonight she had cooked something called "fish and chips" and it smelled really dang good. As everyone got into their seats she glanced at me with worry.

"Umm... I wasn't expecting to have a pony eating with us so... I hope us eating meat doesn't bother you too much. I can go try to whip up a salad or something if you want?"

I looked at her in confusion.

"I eat meat."

That seemed to have caught everyone off guard, except Talion who already knew. Before they could ask I opened my mouth and displayed my fangs.

"See, omnivore."

Mrs. Quillson nodded but remained skeptical. After getting a helping of food I joined the rest in eating and--

"Holy!... this is the best thing I've ever eaten!"

Mrs. Quillson smiled and rolled her eyes.

"No need to try to butter me up. It can't be that good."

"No, it really is! I've never eaten anything that tasted like this!"

She smiled and blushed.

"How kind of you to say." She gave all the children a disapproving mom smile. "I'm not used to compliments on my cooking. Most of the time everyone askes if we can eat out."

I swallowed another bite before saying,

"Probably because they've been eating good food for so long they've grown used to it and don't appreciate it as much."

Talion shuddered.

"I know I'll never complain again. Equestrian food is pretty bad for a gryphon. All that hay and flowers."

He made a face and went back to his food. Mrs. Quillson turned back to me and smiled.

"So, you never really introduced yourself. Would you mind telling us a bit about yourself?"

I nodded and set down my silverware.

"Well, my name is... Jackknife, but everyone calls me Jack. I like... hugs? Uh... I don't really know what to say."

"Well how about where you grew up?"

As I thought about what to say Talion looked at his mom and mouthed,

"What are you doing?"

She mouthed back,

"Learning more about him. It's my duty as a mom to learn all about the friends of my children so I can tell if they're weird or not."

Talion rolled his eyes.

"He's weird alright, but in a good way."

Megan slapped a claw to her face as she watched them before snapping her claws to get both of their attention before mouthing to Talion,

"This is my I don't have friends, Mom would creep them out."

Mrs. Quillson huffed and crossed her arms as I finally got my story straight.

"Well, I grew up in Nocturnia. I had a brother, but haven't seem him in years. Uh... I had a boring childhood and really like it better here."

Mrs. Quillson nodded and smiled.

"Well I'm glad you're happy."

I mainly just listened for the rest of the meal as everyone else talked. When dessert arrived (Coconut Cream Cake) Talion looked at Jessica.

"So, I've been meaning to ask. Why are you back at home? I thought you were moving in with your fiancé?"

She scowled and stabbed her fork into her cake.

"I was until I thought I'd surprise him by coming home from work at lunch only to find him 'having a business meeting' with his boss on lunch break. I broke off the engagement and last I heard him and his slut of a boss are a thing now."

Linsey turned to Mrs. Quillson.

"Mommy, what does slut mean?"

She shot Jessica a look before turning to her youngest child.

"It means she's not a nice person."

Linsey "ooh"ed before pointed at Megan.

"So that means Megan's a slut 'cause she won't let me in her room."

Megan laughed as Mrs. Quillson attempted damage control. ("You can't call people that!" "But Jessica--" "Jessica was being a bad role model for a twelve year old.") I looked over at Jessica who was sitting to my left and patted her on the shoulder. She looked at me as I gave her a reassuring smile.

"Some people are just the worst."

She smirked.

"You can say that again."

The evening passed quickly after that and soon we were trying to figure out where I'd sleep. Talion suggested I take his bed while he slept on the couch and we switch every other night, I suggested we just share which apparently weirded out his parents and the older two sisters. Talion explained I'd been sharing with people for a while and that it wasn't weird (which honestly, why would it be weird for guys to share a bed when there's only one? That would be like saying two guys hugging was weird. They're friends, why can't they hug?)

Upon voicing my opinion everyone reacted differently. Talion's sisters started laughing and said something to Talion that made his face red while his parents gave eachother a look. Eventually we sorted it out and my idea was accepted.

As I lay in bed looking around the unfamiliar room I realized something. It was cold in here! Despite having all the covers pulled up, I was shivering. I looked over at Talion to see he appeared to be perfectly comfortable. I poked his back which caused him to roll over and shoot me a questioning look.

"What?"

I didn't respond but just snuggled against his floofy feathers.

"What the..."

"I'm cold! And you're super fluffy and warm!"

"But why are you hugging me!?"

"I already told you, I'm cold."

"But... but... isn't it weird to hug a guy?"

I rolled my eyes.

"What is with you guys and that? Why would it be weird for me to hug you?"

He opened and closed his beak a few times before sighing.

"Whatever, just don't tell my parents. They probably would think it was... weird."

I nodded and squeezed his fluffy gryphon floof. Seriously, I said it before and I'll say it again, gryphons are super huggable!

(Meanwhile, in a hotel near the train station)

The mane six, Brooke, and Luna were all getting ready for bed (with a certain fashionista hogging the bathroom.) Luna had joined up upon hearing Brooke's friend's name was Jack, short for Jackknife. Nopony knew why she was so interested all of the sudden but she'd sent the rest of her troops back to Canterlot and had accompanied them. Twilight looked at the still rather peeved Brooke and smiled.

"So, where can we find your friends?"

"I don't know."

Twilight did a double take.

"You don't... but we traveled all this way!"

Brooke sighed and facehoofed.

"You dragged me onto a train before I could tell you. All I know is he took the train to this station. Other than that, we'll have to walk around and try to spot him. Also, I'm expecting you to compensate me for the days of my job you're going to make me miss."

Twilight sheepishly grinned and rubbed the back of her head.

"We probably should have told the mayor we were taking you."

Brooke kept a deadpan look. Twilight sighed and looked out the window where Luna was perched.

"I wonder why Luna wanted to join us so bad? It's not like her to give up a task so quickly."

Brooke shrugged before looking at the line for the bathroom door. Rainbow Dash was knocking with a frustrated look about her.

"How long does it take, Rarity! You've been in there for twenty minutes already!"

A muffled voice replied.

"I'm putting on my face mask! Just because I want smooth skin doesn't mean you can rush me!"

Brooke rolled her eyes. At this rate, by the time everypony got their teeth brushed it would be dawn.

(Canterlot)

Princess Celestia hummed a little tune as she finished the last letter she had to write today. Finally, she was finished with her duties for the day and could sleep.

Just as she was about to stretch and stand up, a commotion could be heard from behind the doors to the throne room. She perked up as she heard strange sounds that were... coming closer. Suddenly, six humans burst through the door, guns leveled at her. She light up her horn only for one to step forward and say in a female voice,

"I wouldn't do that your majesty, unless you wanted this pony to meet an early end."

She motioned towards where one of the soldiers was holding her assistant, Raven Inkwell, at gunpoint. Celestia glared at them as she slowly ler her magic fade. Her magic was powerful, but she wasn't willing to risk the life of Raven. The soldier nodded.

"A wise choice. Now then, you're going to be coming with us. Enoch!"

One of them that wasn't wearing a helmet raised his gun and shot her. She looked down at the dart lodged in her shoulder before the world went dark. She crumpled to the floor and the human laughed as Raven cried out in horror. As Atlas hoisted the Solar Princess over his shoulder she looked at Lance who was holding the hapless hostage.

"Take care of her."

He looked between the two of them before nodding and carrying her into a side room. After a brief pause one gunshot rang out and then he returned. Commander nodded before addressing the soldiers.

"Alright, leave the note and let's get out of here."

Foreboding

I woke up to find myself trapped in a fluffy prison. Talion had apparently rolled over in the night and was lounging on top of me. Which was fine given I was warm now. I smiled and wriggled up a bit so my muzzle was poking out and I could breathe easier. I heard whispering outside the door and it slowly opened. As soon as it did everyone walked in looking worried. That immediately changed to shock and then Megan and Jessica started laughing. Talion's dad closed his eyes and got a weird look as his mom looked at us in horror.

"T-Talion?!"

Talion grumbled and shifted slightly. I raised a hoof and poked him in the face. He tried to slap my hoof but just ended up slapping himself. He jolted and looked around blearily.

"Wha- I'm up! I'm up!"

"Talion, what are you doing."

He looked at his mom before looking at me. I smiled and waved.

"Morning!"

He jumped off the bed. Not just rolled off really fast, but lept up and landed on his back behind the bed. Linsey laughed and ran forward. She jumped onto my back and hugged around my neck. She giggled as I bopped my hoof gently against her beak.

"I wanna snuggle with Jack! Can he stay with me tonight? Please! Pretty please!"

Mrs. Quillson sighed as Talion stood, a furious blush on his face. He gulped and said,

"What are you guys doing in my room?"

His dad looked at the ceiling and sighed.

"It's eight thirty. We figured we'd wake you up for breakfast. But apparently you were tired."

He wouldn't look Talion in the eye as his sisters began to laugh and pantomime something with their claws I didn't quite understand. Impossibly, Talion's blush got redder and he quickly responded.

"We didn't do anything! I must have rolled over in my sleep!"

"Yeah... sure Talion."

Jessica winked and laughed as Talion sunk behind the bed.

"I swear, we didn't."

Mr. Quillson raised his claws.

"What you two do... is your business. I believe you, but... just... uhh... whatever."

Talion nodded and got up. He walked out and down towards the bathroom. I looked at his family and smiled.

"Good morning. Sleep well?"

Everyone just kinda looked at me before Mrs. Quillson smiled and replied.

"I slept very well, thank you. How about you?"

"It was pretty cold. So that's why I decided to use Talion as a space heater."

Everyone looked at eachother and "ooh"ed. They began to file out and I stretched before pulling the gryphon off my back.

"I'm going to get some breakfast. How about you?"

Linsey nodded and scampered out the door with me following at a more leisurely pace. Upon reaching the table everyone sat down and began digging into the large plates of eggs, bacon, and french toast. It was really good. I mean, way better than the stuff I was eating in Equestria. Oh meat, glorious meat. Each bite of the scrumptious substance was like a walk down sort of memory lane given all I had for meat before was rations. Rations suck.

"So, you two planning on getting jobs here or...."

Talion swallowed his bite and pointed to the paper he was reading.

"I'm looking through the classifieds now. Unfortunately the doctor said that Jack needs to wait a bit before going back to work, in case of... complications."

"Complications?"

Everyone looked at me just as I was trying to remember what I was going to say.

"Yeah, complications."

Everyone went back to eating and I decided it wasn't worth remembering what I was going to say. When the dishes were cleaned up everyone went their own way leaving me sitting on the couch with nothing to do. Talion was out job hunting so that ruled him out. Now who to follow around?

I stretched and started up the stairs before feeling a familiar cold chill. I dashed into the bathroom and locked the door. Back to human and I started reaching for my magicite. Only to realize I didn't have it on me.

"Where did I..."

In your bags.<

~You didn't want anyone to see it.~

Yeah... crap.

I unlocked the door and peeked out. The coast was clear. I gently opened the door and creeped down the hallway I was almost to Talion's room when I heard a gasp. I spun around and saw that Linsey was staring at me.

"Uh... hello."

She pounced and I fell backwards as a weight hit my chest. She sat on my chest and looked at me with curiosity filled eyes.

"Are you bigfoot?"

Uhh... what?

Captain Stonewall rounded a corner and saw that the two guards assigned to the throne room were lying on the floor. He trotted over and prodded them and they blearily stood up.

"Wha... what's going-- THE PRINCESS!"

The guards spun around and dashed through the throne room doors Captain Stonewall rolled his eyes.

"Rookies," he muttered, "Always falling asleep at their posts." He was surprised to see that Princess Celestia wasn't sitting in her throne and that the two guards were frantically looking around. He cleared his throat and belowed,

"ROYAL GUARD! REPORT!"

The two skidded to a halt and rushed to stand in front of him. They saluted and said,

"SIR! We were attacked by humans, sir! They hit us with some sort of silent dart gun, sir! We believe they've captured the Princess!"

Stonewall gasped and looked at the empty throne.

"I want you two to go check the royal chambers! Double time! Move!"

They positively flew out the doors and towards Celestia's chambers. Stonewall grit his teeth and paced. What could have happened? Surely no humans could beat the Princess? She was too powerful! A door creaked open and he spun to face it. Out crept a scared looking Raven Inkwell, Princess Celestia's assistant.

"Raven! What are you doing?"

She gulped and remained hidden behind the door.

"I-I was heading to the throne room to deliver some papers when I saw six humans knock out the guards. They spotted me before I could run and used me as a hostage to subdue the Princess. After they got her their leader told one of them to 'take care' of me. He was supposed to kill me, but he didn't."

(Earlier)

Lance carried the quaking unicorn into the side room and put her down before covering her mouth with his hand.

"Listen to me. I don't want to hurt you, but we can't have anyone notice something until morning. We didn't kill anyone because we didn't want to arouse suspicion, so don't worry. Nothing bad is going to happen to your princess. I need you to stay hidden until they notice the princess is missing. Okay?"

Raven nodded, tears streaming down her face. She opened a closet nearby amd ducked in. Lance cocked his pistol and fired a round into the wall. With that done he rejoined his squad and they left the castle.

Stonewall looked at the sobbing unicorn before him with mixed feelings. He was glad she was okay, but if she would've gotten his attention last night....

"I-I'm sorry. I should have... I should have gotten you. But... I was so scared! I-I let Princess Celestia down."

She slumped to the floor and sobbed harder. Stonewall patted her shoulder and said,

"Raven, it's okay. I understand. You're not a soldier. I just hope the Princess is alright."

(At Harrier HQ)

Everyone was relieved now that the leader of the ponies was securely locked up. They knew that the ponies had strange powers and really didn't want to mess with them. Commander laughed again and Atlas looked at her worriedly.

"Why are yoo laughing? Yoo've been laughing since last night?"

Commander shook her head.

"It's just so ridiculous. Imagine what my six year old self would have done if she'd seen a magical rainbow pony!"

She burst out laughing again and Enoch smirked.

"She's got a point. Who would have thought we'd be fighting talking ponies?"

Everyone shook their heads. There was no way to truly come to terms with what they were doing.

Bigfoot

"Are you bigfoot?"

I stared up at the tiny gryphon on my chest and thought of a plan. Maybe... just maybe this could work. I changed my voice to sound more jolly and said,

"You bet I'm bigfoot! Fwuh huh huh! And who are you little gryphon?"

Linsey squealed in delight and did a little dance.

"I knew you were real! Everyone told me I was wrong but you're real! I can't wait to tell everyone!"

She made to jump off but I grabbed her tail and pulled her back. When I was in a sitting position I gave Linsey a serious look.

"You can't tell anyone! If anyone else saw me I'd turn into a...."

Cmon think of something whimsical.

"Pile of cauliflower!"

Yeah, that was whimsical.

She gasped and nodded while making a motion like zipping her beak. She then cocked an eyebrow and said,

"Wait, why can I see you and it be fine?"

Crap. Something heartwarming!

I pointed my finger at her and gently poked her chest, right over her heart.

"Because you truly believe in me. You never let what anyone else said get to you. You are the truest believer."

I swear I heard "daaaw"s coming from somewhere as Linsey smiled at me. She looked so dang adorable I couldn't help but pull her into a hug which she immediately reciprocated. She reached up and tugged on my beard.... Wait, when did I grow a--

"You're so hairy. I didn't know you'd be super hairy."

I chuckled a jovial chuckle and winked at her. Dang, people should hire me for birthday parties.

"Well, bigfoot is a wild fella. I don't think I'd be bigfoot if I looked all fancy."

She "ooh"ed and I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Suddenly her mom's voice called out,

"Linsey? Who are you talking to?"

We both gasped and Linsey pointed to Talion's room.

"Quick! Hide there!"

I nodded and quickly crouch walked my way over. Once inside I grabbed my magicite and looked the crystal over. I needed more magic, bad. I had just enough to transform and dash to the nearby woods before running out. As I prepared myself to change I paused as I listened to the conversation taking place outside.

"I wasn't talking to anybody. Just myself."

"Really? I thought I heard multiple voices?"

"That was me. I like doing that sometimes."

"Huh... well... okay. I'm going to go run some errands. Megan is in her room and Jessica is downstairs. Be good while I'm gone."

"Okay, mom, I will!"

And then the footsteps moved away. The door opened and Linsey looked in.

"Bigfoot, what are you going to do? You'll turn into cauliflower if you get caught!"

"I'm going to my home! The woods outside of town."

She gawked and said,

"You live in the woods outside of town?! C-can I come visit you sometime? I've always wanted to meet you!"

I gave my best hearty chuckle and patted her head.

"Don't worry! I'll drop by again some time! I just... needed some TP!"

She nodded like that was the most rational thing to do. She waved goodbye as I climbed out the window and moved out of sight. She darted to her room and squealed in excitement before pulling out some paper and crayons.

"I gotta draw bigfoot! I actually know what he looks like now!"

(Later, in the woods)

I trudged around in disappointment. Sure I was getting magic, but not as much as in Equestria. I guess Equestrian was just more magical? And I needed enough to last for a few days given I was staying with a family of six. I also was careful not to take all from one place so it wasn't a massive blotch of withered plants in the middle of the woods. After a while I had enough and was back to being a pony. A quick flight back and I was walking through the door just as Mrs Quillson was putting away the groceries.

"Oh, hello Jack. Where have you been?"

"Oh, I went for a walk. You know, taking in the sights and all that."

She laughed and shot me a look.

"There really isn't much to see. We live in a small town."

"Well this is my first trip to the Gryphon Kingdom so I just wanted to look around."

"Fair enough."

I walked over and grabbed the jug of milk before putting it in the refrigerator. She smiled and handed me the eggs.

"I would tell you you didn't have to help, but I don't think that would stop you."

"Nope!"

We quickly put everything away and Mrs. Quillson looked at the clock.

"Well I have some time before I need to make dinner. Want to look at some old photos?"

"Yeah!"

I sat on the couch as Mrs. Quillson eagerly picked up an old leather bound book and carried it over.

"I'm so happy you want to see my album! Everyone else doesn't want to and they complain if I ask their friends."

I sidled a bit closer and said,

"You kidding! This is going to be awesome!"

She squealed in delight (guess I know where Linsey got that) and opened the book. I leaned against her so I could see better and asked,

"Are all gryphons super soft and huggable? Or just this family?"

She blushed and waved me off.

"Oh stop being such a sweet talker. Nobody's called me huggable in years."

"Really? How come?"

She sighed.

"Well, everybody's growing up. Even Linsey is too busy to sit and snuggle with her mommy anymore. I remember when they were younger they'd all fight over who got to sit with me when we watched movies so they could cuddle. But, those days are long gone."

She looked sad as she tenderly looked at one of the photos. A younger Mrs. Quillson was sitting with the child forms of Jessica and Talion beside her. They were so small! Even smaller than Linsey was now! And in her arms was a bundle of blankets everyone was looking at.

"That's when we first brought Megan home. Back when she was such a goofball. Always trying to make people laugh. Nowadays she barely says more than 'fine' or 'whatever' and hates everyone. Well, except her family. To quote her, 'you guys are fine. It's everybody else I can't stand.'"

I snickered before snuggling a bit closer to the matriarch of the Quillsons. She beamed and adjusted her arm so she was partially hugging me around one shoulder.

"Now I can see why Talion likes you so much. You're such a sweetheart."

"Aw... thanks."

We sat there looking at photos and laughing at the funny ones. My favorite was one of Talion puffing out his chest in pride as he held a tiny fish towards the camera. Behind him, Megan had just reeled in a fish that made his look like a guppy. After a while the door opened and both Talion and Mr. Quillson walked in. They froze as they looked at us. Finally Talion opened his mouth.

"Uh... Mom? What are you..."

She looked up and smiled cheerily at them.

"I was just showing Jack some old pictures!"

Jessica walked downstairs just then and groaned.

"Seriously!? What is with you and showing people old family photos! You kept trying to show them to anyone I brought home! Every single time!"

"And every single time they made an excuse not to! And look at yourself now! Single, because they were all jerks! Mother knows best!"

I shrugged and said,

"She seems to have a point. If the family of your friend/fiancé isn't important enough to you to look at some photos, then that person is probably a jerk."

Mr. Quillson motioned for me to follow him as Talion, Jessica, and Mrs. Quillson began to argue. I followed him into the kitchen and he gave me an appreciative look.

"Thanks for humoring her. She gets kinda lonely sometimes with everyone being so busy."

"No problem! I enjoyed looking at embarrassing family photos."

He laughed and opened the fridge.

"Good man... er, stallion. Anyway, given nothing's ready for dinner, I'm going to throw some burgers on the grill. Wanna help? I happen to be an expert grill master."

I shrugged.

"Works for me."

(Meanwhile)

"Mom, why did you even ask him to--"

"It's a parent's job to evaluate anyone their child brings home to see if they're good enough for them. Why, that's what your father's doing right now! And I have to say Talion, I'm impressed! I might not... like your lifestyle, but you have my blessing to pursue a relationship with him."

She smirked before looking at Jessica.

"And if it doesn't work out between him and Talion, maybe you should ask him out."

Jessica spluttered as Talion opened his mouth in shock.

"Mom!? What the... are you trying to set Jessica up with Jack?! Even though I'm interested in him!?"

She shrugged.

"Well, I said if it didn't work out. And besides, I want grandchildren! Imagine how cute a little hippogriff baby would look!"

Jessica went scarlet and face palmed.

"Seriously? Ugh... I swear, she never stops pestering me about that. I get it, you want grandkids! But why are you always badgering me about it!"

"Well it's obvious I'm not getting any from Talion given his... preference. And Megan hates everybody so she definitely won't be getting married anytime this century. So that leaves you!"

Jessica sighed as Talion snickered. Mrs. Quillson smirked as she looked at him.

"Don't laugh just yet. I got a movie for us all to watch tonight. You never truly know someone until you watch a movie with them."

Talion blanched.

"No. Please no. I know what you're going to do but please... don't do it."

All he got in response was a devious smile.

Shocking Events

(At the hotel Twilight and gang are staying.)

Twilight sprinted into the room causing everyone to look at her. Rarity looked at her flustered face and said,

"Is something the matter, darling?"

Twilight stood panting after her sudden sprint. Pinkie bounced into the room with a mountain of takeout boxes on her back.

"Guess what everypony! I got Neighponeisan food!"

Twilight finally recovered her breath and gasped,

"No time! Princess Celestia was abducted by the humans!"

Everyone gasped and Luna teleported over and snatched the letter Twilight was holding. She gasped as she read it.

"When did this happen!?"

"I don't know! Spike just sent it to me now!"

Luna scowled and said,

"Twilight Sparkle, I must ask you and the other Elements of Harmony to return to Equestria and help the Royal Guard with the search. I must find what I'm looking for before joining you."

The mane six nodded before running to the station. Soon only Luna was in the room. She growled in frustration before looking out at the still moving sun. Fortunately, Celestia had cast an emergency spell in case something like this happened after she was captured by Chrysalis. It wouldn't do for ponies across the country to panic as the sun stood still. It would last three days, but Luna hoped to find her target before the night was over. Once everyone was asleep, she'd comb their dreams for hints of Jack's whereabouts.

She turned as Brooke walked in.

"Good evening, Princess Luna. Unfortunately, I still haven't found them. If I knew Talion's last name I might have an easier time."

"Yes, of course. You should get some rest. Pleasant dreams and goodnight."

Brooke nodded before heading towards her bed. Hopefully tomorrow would be more fruitful.

(At Harrier HQ)

Celestia awoke to find she was shackled to a table in a small metal room. Wires were attached to various points across her body and her horn had a strange cuff over it. She looked it over and, when she didn't sense any spells on it, attempted to teleport back to Canterlot. As her horn charged, the cuff beeped before a powerful election shock disrupted her spell. She gasped at the painful sensation of electricity running through her horn and immediately stopped. A human she'd failed to notice spoke up.

"Uh... I wouldn't do that. Given we don't know exactly how to stop your weird powers other than to lop your horn off, we did the next best thing. Sorry."

She gave him a cold look and said,

"Did you harm my little ponies during your little attack?!"

He shook his head.

"No, we were trying for stealthy so... they're all alive."

She nodded. At least that was a small weight off her back. She looked at the guard and said,

"What is it you humans hope to accomplish with your campaign across my country?!"

He didn't answer immediately. After a bit he pointed to the door.

"That's for the Commander to say. I'll leave it to her to discuss all that stuff."

Celestia scowled and looked over her restraints again. If she could somehow make her horn restraint lose power, she could escape. She just had to be smart about it. Before she could put too much thought into it, the door opened and the female from before walked in.

"Hello, Pony. Let's talk."

(Meanwhile, While all these dramatic events are happening, at the Quillson household.)

After dinner we all moved to the main sitting room where a television screen was sitting across from two couches and an armchair. Megan immediately ran to the chair.

"Mine!"

Jessica groaned,

"Seriously!? But I wanted to sit there!"

Megan shrugged and moved to a more comfortable position.

"Oh well. Besides, you know I don't like being touched. And sitting on a couch basically guarantees you'll be touching someone."

Jessica looked over and saw what her mom had planned. With her mom, dad, and Linsey on one couch, she now had to sit with Jack and Talion. And it just so happened that her mom had had the two sit so Jack was in the middle. Something about guests getting the best seat. Nobody but Jack was fooled.

As Jessica sat, Mr. Quillson pushed play and the movie started. I was surprised it was black and white until I realized that people still used swords and spears here. I shivered slightly as the room felt a little colder than before. I was oblivious to the fact that Mrs. Quillson was discreetly turning down the thermostat as she looked over at our couch. Unaware of the little game being played I scooted over and wrapped Talion's wing around me. He flinched and began to blush.

"Uh... w-what are you d-doing?"

"I'm cold."

He looked over at his parents and discreetly tried to take back his wing.

"Uh... there's a blanket somewhere down here, I'll... I'll go get it for you."

I was kinda disappointed actually. I wanted fluffy gryphon hugs! As he left Megan looked at me and said,

"Okay, what's with you and hugs? You're like... always trying to hug somebody."

Mrs. Quillson gasped.

"Megan, don't be rude."

I waved it off and said,

"No, she's right. I do tend to seek physical affection. I think the main reason for that is because my parents were too busy with work to really spend much time with me so I kinda was affection starved for most of my life until I moved to Equestria. So not only that but it helps me cope with my out of control life and drastically shifting circumstances brought on by a very different culture I don't entirely understand by helping me feel safe and accepted."

Everyone gave me weird looks when I was done. Mostly surprise with a hint of sympathy. Without a word Jessica slowly pulled me towards her and wrapped her wing around me.

"Dang... that... that was deep. Uh... this better?"

I nodded and hugged her just as Talion walked back in. He looked at me in surprise before looking at his mom who was excitedly whispering to a less than interested Mr. Quillson. He scowled before sitting back down and poking Jessica in the shoulder, getting her attention. As she looked at him he pointed two claws to his eyes and then pointed at her. She shrugged and raised her hand in the universal sign for "what the heck are you doing?" He scowled at her before making a slicing motion across his neck and pulling me back against him. I looked up and said,

"So now you want to hug?"

"I said I was... getting a blanket. You know, for us to share."

He draped it over us and his dad rolled his eyes. Not at him, but at his wife's antics who resumed her whispering with increased fervor. Megan snapped ber claws which got her two older siblings attention before pointing at the screen. She mouthed,

"Shut up and watch the movie."

They both rolled their eyes and Talion mouthed back,

"Make me!"

Megan gave them both a flat look before raising her claw. She pretended to uncap her middle claw like lipstick and rubbed it to her beak before pretending to blow a kiss with said middle claw. Talion threw a pillow at her. I laughed and said,

"This is awesome! I always wanted to do family activities!"

Nobody heard given Megan had returned fire and accidentally hit Jessica who thought it was Talion who threw the pillow at her. Before long all three were throwing stuff at eachother at discreet intervals in the movie.

(Later that night.)

Luna flew through the dream world before stopping before another door. She'd been looking for hours yet nobody had even subconsciously seen Jack. She opened the door and looked inside. She saw a small room with a young gryphon drawing on a piece of paper. Upon closer inspection she was drawing....

"Child! Where have you seen this!"

The gryphon yelped and spun around.

"Who are you?! Why are you in my house!"

"Child, I am Princess--"

"Burglar! Burglar!"

She grabbed a baseball bat and lept towards the Lunar Princess. Luna barely avoided the weapon before the small gryphon grabbed her mane and began whacking her across the head with the bat.

"GO AWAY BURGLAR! YOU CAN'T HAVE MY STUFF!"

Luna attempted to tell the child she was dreaming.

"Young-ow- girl! This is -ow!- stop! OW! I said! OW OW! Why won't you list-OW!"

Luna growled before using her magic to pull off the gryphon.

"CEASE THIS AT ONCE!"

All at once the dream shattered as the gryphon woke up.

(Real world)

"Linsey! Linsey what's wrong!"

Linsey woke with a gasp as her mom shook her.

"BURGLAR! I won't... Mom?"

"Sweetie, you were shouting in your sleep."

Linsey shrugged.

"Sorry. I had a dream a burglar broke in." She reached under her bed and pulled out a baseball bat. "So I hit her with this!"

Mrs. Quillson turned to her husband and said,

"I told you buying her a bat was a bad idea. Should've gotten her a bicycle."

They both looked as she pantomimed whacking people with the length of study wood.

"Eh, at least she's not a wimp."

The Beginning of the End

I awoke to a surprise. I was human again. And had a gryphon lounging on my left half. I slowly raised my arm to try to push him off but....

"Wow... he's even softer when you have fingers."

I managed to keep it down to only a few pets before wriggling out from under him. Once free I retrieved my magicite and became a pony again.

"Alright, time to go for a run and get more magic."

Talion awoke to find Jack missing. He shook himself awake before venturing downstairs. He was just in time for the rest of the family to begin hunting for breakfast so he could look around.

"Anyone seen Jack?"

A series of sleepy "no"s and yawns greeted him. Megan slapped the back of his head in passing.

"Don't worry 'Tally.' I'm sure your boyfriend will come flitting around anytime now."

Talion grumbled and put some bread in the toaster. Jessica giggled and said,

"I'm sure you'll be fine without him. I hope you can go thirty minutes without having a little guy clinging to you."

"S-shut up!"

Linsey poured herself some milk before pointing at Jessica.

"You're just jealous Talion has a boyfriend and you can't keep a boyfriend to save your life."

Jessica spit out her milk as Megan snickered.

"You just got a morning roast from Linsey." She leaned over and high-fived her sister. "You keep up the sarcasm and maybe you can be as big a disappointment as I am someday."

Mrs. Quillson gave Mr. Quillson an exasperated look.

"Honey, where did we go wrong?"

He looked up and shrugged.

"Probably when we decided to have kids. They're cute at first, but when they reach this age they're all moody and boring. It's all boys and meeting up with friends. Nobody wants to play cowboys with Dad anymore."

As everyone sat down Mrs. Quillson pointed her spoon at Talion before saying,

"You know, you never actually told us what happened. Why did you have to leave that... Feather... whatever it was?"

Talion sighed.

"Well... Jack ran off when Brooke--"

"Who?"

"This mare that had the hots for him."

Everyone nodded.

"Well, Brooke asked him out and he panicked due to his Poison Joke addled brain. He ran off and I found him. She saw us hugging, assuming Jack was... like me, and ran off. The next morning everyone kinda ran us out of town. As far as I know she stirred everyone up out of spite because she thought she was being rejected."

Everyone was looking at him as he went back to his toast. Mrs. Quillson had a deep scowl and soon snarled,

"Well, if I ever see that hussy I'll be sure to teach her a thing or two. Nobody hurts my baby boy!"

She reached over and pinched his cheek. Talion groaned as his siblings snickered.

"Mom! Can you not?!"

Mr. Quillson smirked as he looked over the top of his newspaper.

"Talion, it's a parent's job to embarrass their children. Also, you make yourself an easy target. I know the gay stereotype is being effeminate, but you really need to grow a backbone."

"Thanks, Dad. I loved the motivational speech."

Megan threw a piece of bagel at him to get his attention.

"You know, I've heard adds over the radio for testosterone supplements. It increases your masculinity and confidence. Maybe if you took them you wouldn't be wearing the apron. It's kinda sad the pony's wearing the pants in the relationship given he's, like, half your size."

He blushed profusely and slumped down a bit as everyone started howling in laughter.

"W-we're not dating... well, not yet. I don't know if he's... interested. A-And I don't need testosterone supplements!"

Jessica gave him a fake sympathetic look and said, in as sarcastic voice as possible,

"You sure. If you don't have the balls enough to ask him out you might."

This caused his already red face to turn crimson as he slid down even more.

"S-shut up."

Everyone laughed until there was a knock at the door. Everyone looked over in confusion as Mr. Quillson stood and walked over. He opened it to reveal--

"Morning!"

I trotted inside as Mr. Quillson opened the door. I walked over and sat down with the family.

"Where?..."

"I went for a run."

Everyone nodded and went back to their food. Mrs. Quillson looked up and said,

"So, Jack. Anything you want to do today? Given it's the weekend we've got all day."

I tapped a hoof to my chin as I thought.

"I don't know. I'll just follow you guys around."

She nodded and I quickly scarfed down some breakfast. With that out of the way it was shower time. I had retrieved my music player and selected a suitable track. I turned on the water as The Great Escape by Boys Like Girls started.

Just as it got started Megan walked by. She froze as she heard music playing and pressed her ear against the door. She nodded in approval as the song continued.

"That's pretty good."

I finished my shower and dried off before opening the door. I immediately saw that Megan was standing right there.

"Can I help you?"

She coughed.

"Sorry. I wasn't... what was that song?"

I paused before retrieving the music player.

"Uh... The Great Escape."

"It was... actually pretty cool. Most ponies I've seen around school like that gross techno-pop stuff that doesn't actually use any instruments."

I held up the player.

"I've got a whole lot more if you want to listen."

(Later that day.)

"Talion? Talion!? Have you seen Jack anywhere. I've been trying to find him for a while now. We're all going out to the mall."

"I dunno. Maybe Megan knows."

"Why would you think that?"

"She's the only person upstairs."

Mrs. Quillson shrugged before walking towards Megan's room. As she approached, she heard loud music coming from inside.

"How many times do I have to ask her to use headphones! She knows I don't like that stuff."

As she slowly opened the door, she saw a surprising sight. Sitting beside Megan on her bed was Jack. He was pretending to play the guitar while Megan faked drumming along to the music. Jack leaned too far over and fell off causing both of them to burst out laughing.

"Dude! What even was that!?"

"It was the big guitar solo! You can't tell me you don't air guitar along with the song sometimes."

"Whatever. I was referring to you flopping over like a drunk badger."

"Oh! That's just because I am not graceful."

"I can tell!"

Mrs. Quillson closed the door and silently "squee"d. Even Megan, Miss "I hate everyone" Megan liked Jack!

"So even if it doesn't work for one child, there's still a chance!"

She giggled before knocking on the door.

"Megan. We're heading to the mall. If you see Jack around please tell him."

"Kay."

She turned and walked down the stairs, a mischievous smile on her face.

Once everyone was present, we made our way to the mall. On the way we all talked about this and that with Linsey asking me why my ears were fluffier than other pony's. (Cause they make me more lovable.) Upon arrival, I couldn't help but appreciate the pleasant building sitting before us. It was about two stories tall and had lots of windows to let the sun in.

"It's not the biggest mall in the Kingdom, but it's definitely one of the nicer malls."

I nodded as Mrs. Quillson spoke. It definitely was nice. We all stuck together as we moved above the various stores. Linsey and I insisted we visit the pet store. As everyone else was looking at some puppies, an aquarium caught my eye. Inside was a long, brown spotted snake that was looking at me with its big eyes.

"Aw... there's something adorable about that little face."

I walked over and peered inside. It flicked its tongue before slithering into a small log in the aquarium.

"Heh, reminds me of Verdant... wait, aw man, I meant to visit Verdant again! I gotta remember to stop by there sometime."

The snake poked its head out and flicked its tongue before pulling back inside.

"Yeah, I am the worst."

"Uh... Jack? Are you talking to that snake?"

I turned to see Talion staring at me while everybody else was still looking at the various animals.

"Maaaaybe."

He rolled his eyes and we went to join his family. After leaving the pet store we made our way to the food court. Just before we reached it, I saw a pony I recognized. I perked up and dashed over.

"Brooke!"

She looked up as I hugged her.

"J-Jack!?"

I nodded.

"Hi, Brooke! How's it going!"

"F-fine. I just... I was looking for... aren't you, you know, mad at me?"

I blinked.

"Why would I be mad at you?"

"Because... because I made a dumb mistake and... and you paid the price for me being so... so...."

I stopped her by hugging her.

"There there, we all make mistakes. Goodness knows my parents made me!"

She backed up.

"What!?"

"Kidding!"

She froze before bursting out laughing.

"Jack! Can't you let me be sad for at least a minute! I'm trying to be heartfelt!"

"Nope!"

She looked me up and down and blushed.

"So... if... if you're not... upset with me... do you maybe... want to...."

(While this was happening)

Mrs. Quillson looked around as she noticed Jack was missing.

"Hey? Where's Jack?"

Talion looked around before groaning. He pointed at Jack hugging a mare.

"There. Great, what's she doing here."

Megan looked over at the two.

"Who?"

"Brooke."

Mrs. Quillson gasped and looked over as the two ponies hugged again.

"Why is she in the Gryphon Kingdom?! I thought you said she lived in Equestria!"

Talion pointed at Jack.

"I'm pretty sure she's here for him."

Mrs. Quillson scowled and stormed over.

"Mom! Don't--"

A claw clamped over his beak as Jessica silenced him.

"Oh no, I wanna watch this."

Linsey climbed up onto Jessica's back to get a better view.

"Is Mom going to kick her butt?"

Megan snorted.

"Fifty-fifty chance. She might just passive aggressively smile and be overly sweet. Like with Jessica's first boyfriend."

Jessica huffed.

"Chet was nice! I still don't see why--"

"His goal in life was to be a dj. You obviously are a bad judge of character."

(Back to me)

Before she could finish, Mrs. Quillson interrupted.

"Hello! I'm Mrs. Quillson! I'm Talion's mother."

Brooke looked over and nervously smiled.

"Oh... hi. It... it's nice to meet you!"

She raised her hoof and Mrs. Quillson began to shake it.

"You must be Brooke. Talion told me ~all~ about you."

She accented this by painfully squeezing Brooke's hoof.

"Oh... d-did he!?"

"Mhm."

She kept an overly sweet smile as Brooke began to sweat. Everyone knows that there's nothing more dangerous than a mom whose child you've hurt. Especially if said mom is a massive mix between a bird of prey and a lion with razor sharp claws and a beak made for killing.

"W-well. It's so nice to meet you Mrs. Quillson. Uh... could you excuse me. I was just about to tell Jack--"

She squeezed her hoof again.

"Oh, but I wanted to have a bit of," she narrowed her eyes and a bit of venom entered her voice. "Girl talk."

"But I just--"

Another squeeze and she was being pulled away. I waved at them.

"Okay! By Mrs. Quillson! Bye Brooke!"

Brooke looked back and saw Talion and his family watching the whole goings on.

"Help."

Everyone shrugged except Megan, who flipped her off.

I was about to head back over when a mare's voice said,

"You wouldn't happen to be Jack, would you?"

"Yeah!"

I turned and saw... oh crap.

Princess Luna light up her horn and the two of us vanished in a flash of light.

We reappeared in some sort of room with me falling back onto my haunches.

"What the--"

"Well well well, we meet again Jack."

I looked at the smug looking princess looming over me.

"Uh... what?"

She laughed.

"Don't play dumb! I know you somehow made yourself appear as a pony!"

"No-no-no! You've got the wrong person."

She raised her eyebrow.

"A real pony would have said 'you've got the wrong pony.'"

...

"Frick."

She light up her horn and began lifting me up into the air.

"You don't even have a cutie mark. I'm honestly surprised nopony has noticed you yet."

"Uh... cause I'm too nice?"

She scoffed.

"Oh yes, it was so nice of you to slaughter my ponies and wreak mayhem across Equestria."

"That wasn't me!"

She used her magic to clamp my mouth shut.

"Silence. With you as a hostage, I can trade you for my sister. You'll finally serve some perpose."

"Hey! What'd I ever do to you! And why was that about--."

"You pose a threat to all of Equestria. Your kind is not welcome here! My sister might believe you can live among us, but she was always a bit too merciful."

With a flash I was back in my familiar old dungeon cell. And then my supply of magic ran out. I didn't think it wise to transform back now. Might as well keep my ace in the hole.

(The next day)

I was herded onto a chariot and soon we took off in the direction of the forest. From what I'd heard, they hadn't found the humans. The humans had issued a set of demands and set up a meeting area. The ponies didn't have any handcuffs in my size, so I just had two guards with me at all times. Luna approached the meeting point with a squad of guards and me hidden to be brought out at the opportune moment. Soon, the Harrier's entered the clearing. Well, some were missing. Obviously set up around the place to provide sniper support.

"So, ponies. Have you come to meet our demands?"

Luna raised her head.

"I have a... counter offer."

She gestured for me to brought forward.

"You return Celestia, and I shall give you him."

Commander turned to Enoch and whispered.

"Who is that?"

"Probably a trick. They must have the ability to creat complex illusions and are trying to deceive us."

Commander nodded and turned back to Luna.

"My original offer still stands. Surrender Equestria to us, and your princess lives. I don't care about him."

Yup, saw that coming. Luna scowled.

"Really, so you won't mind if I have my guards kill him where he stands?"

The guards pointed their spears at me throat.

"Woah! Chill Luna! You've gone from two to ten real dang fast."

"Shut up."

I needed to act. If I didn't get away now, I'd die either by the ponies or being caught in the crossfire. I slowly moved my hand towards a small pouch on my waist and my fingers closed around the object within. Both guards had moved so they were standing slightly in front of me so it made the next part easy. I whistled which caused their attention to snap to me. I tossed my wax shark up into the air causing them to jump in surprise. Their spears moved away enough for me to grab their heads and bash them together. I caught my shark and ran as fast as possible.

"Stop him!"

"Any of your ponies move and they get their brains blown out!"

All my pursuers froze and allowed me to escape. I ran and ran in a straight line until I saw a familiar tree house! An idea occurred to me. A brilliant, awesome idea.

"Zecora! Zecora!!!"

She poked her head out of the window and smiled when she spotted me.

"Hello my friend! I was not expecting you this weekend."

"Never mind that! Do you have any of the potion that made me a pony!"

"Why yes indeed! And from your tone, I expect you are in need. I have made a brew that has no end. No longer on magicite will you depend."

"I don't need it for me, but I need that and if you had a potion that takes memory that would be great."

She gave me a skeptical look.

"It's serious! I really need both of those!"

She nodded and rustled around before returning with the requested potions.

"I don't know your reasoning, but these two potions are more than just seasoning. The blue is for form and the red for memory, but know that both are irreversible, use them responsibly."

I hugged her and grabbed the potions before running back towards the conflict. When I was close I saw that nobody was in the clearing.

"They must have returned to their camps."

I slowly made my way towards where I hoped the Harrier's base was and lo and behold, there it was. I skirted around and clambered into one of the vents on the outside. I needed to be sneaky. I slowly made my way over the kitchen and looked down through the grate. Inside everyone was sitting around a table looking stressed. Directly below me was a counter was a large pitcher that held what looked like brightly colored slushy.

"How long do we wait?"

Commander continued cleaning her pistol.

"I'll give them one more day. After that, things'll get messy."

I paused as I prepared to pour the potions into the container. Who was I to judge whether they became ponies and lost their memory. Sure it would mean everyone would survive given I could probably convince Celestia to not bother them or me, but they'd lose everything. Should I really do this? If I didn't then they'd try to take over Equestria and either succeed with lots of ponies dying, or fail with them dying and lots of ponies dying and me running back to the Gryphon Kingdom. Unless I release Celestia and she amd Luna kill them all. So the question is, which is the right choice?

~do it~

don't do it<

Author's Note

You decide. I'm writing the final chapter Sunday, so you have until then to cast your votes.

Finale

I sighed as I looked down at the two potions I had. Sure this was taking everything from them without their consent, but I was saving their lives in the process. Celestia might be nice enough, but she definitely wouldn't forgive them for killing her subjects. Even if they were just following orders. Sorry guys, but it's for your own good.

I unstoppered the bottles and dumped the contents into the waiting pitcher. After a bit one of them picked up the pitcher and poured everyone a drink.

"Here's to hopefully seeing tomorrow."

Everyone voiced their agreement and drank the alcohol. After a bit one of them, Lance I think, coughed.

"Damn, Enoch. What was in that!? It's burning like crazy!"

They all began coughing before one by one they slumped to the floor. I waited until I saw the flashes and turned into a pony and ducked inside. Slowly picking themselves off the floor were two earth ponies, a pegasus, a unicorn, a gryphon, and a fricking dragon! I guess it just randomly changes you given I was a Nocturne and nobody else was. They all looked around in confusion. The gryphon rubbed a claw to his head and spoke in Lance's voice,

"W-where... where am I? And... who am I?" He looked himself over and said, "What am I?"

I cleared my throat as everyone looked about in a daze. They jolted and looked at me in confusion.

"Listen up. You don't remember anything because of an accident that occurred while you were traveling. You need to follow me and I'll take you to out friend. She'll help you get adjusted and get back to your lives."

They all nodded except for the only mare. Commander had become an earth pony mare with a brown mane and tale with a light tan coat.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Jack. And I just saved your lives."

I silenced their questions before escorting them to Zecora. After briefly explaining what happened she gladly welcomed them and went about teaching them about Equestria. I returned to their old base and looked around. I turned back into my human self before opening a door marked "Prisoner." Inside Celestia was secured to a table and looked very cross. Her eyes snapped to me and she gave me a disapproving stare.

"Jack."

"Celestia."

"I assume you've come here for a reason."

I walked over and began undoing the restraints.

"Yup. I'm rescuing your butt."

She gave me a surprised look before smiling.

"How wonderful. I did find it hard to believe that such a naive pony, I mean, person, could truly side with those barbarians. I trust you weren't responsible for any of the attacks across Equestria?"

"Bingo. Although your sister seemed happy to hunt me down."

She sighed.

"Yes. I apologize for her. She is ever eager to prove to myself and our subjects the depths of her commitment to their protection after her banishment. Please don't hold it against her. Despite my opinion, she believes all humans are monsters undeserving of mercy. She isn't a bad pony, just... intense sometimes. I hope she didn't harm you."

"Nah, it's fine. Just please, don't bother me from now on. I'm going to get out of your mane so don't worry about me. Hopefully you'll never see me again."

Her smile grew sad.

"That's too bad. I quite enjoyed your enthusiasm during your stay in Canterlot."

"You mean imprisonment."

"You were given a suite in the castle."

"And put under house arrest. You would not believe how boring that got."

She smirked and gave me a mischievous look.

"Let's just agree to disagree. I'll be sure to put in a good word for you with my little ponies, but it is indeed wise for you to lay low for a bit. Now then, onto the matter of bringing those soldiers to justice."

"Sorry, but I already took care of them. You'll never hear from them ever again."

She nodded.

"Perhaps that's for the best. I do despise having to deal with murderers."

I finished with her restraints and removed the device from here horn. She stood and stretched before looking at me with a smile.

"I'll never forget your assistance, Jack."

She spread her wings and pulled me into a hug.

"Although you are a human, I'm happy to call you one of my little ponies."

"Oh stop, you'll make me blush."

She laughed before giving me a motherly smile and planting a kiss on my forehead.

"Feel free to visit Canterlot later. I know a certain doctor and guard who'd be ~very~ happy to see you again."

She winked before vanishing in a flash of light. I laughed and shook my head.

"Wow, what a brat. Doesn't even give me a chance to reply."

I casually strolled out of the base and began my journey for a place to rest up. Goodness knows I've been through some crap.

(Later that night)

Verdant sat, bored out of her mind, in her cave. She'd been playing solitaire for years and it never got anymore fun.

"I miss Jack and those two ponies. It was nice having people to talk to. Right Mr. Bubbles?"

She looked over at a small hermit crab sitting in a fishbowl. It blew some bubbles before scurrying into a small cave she'd built it. She sighed and began shuffling her cards. She heard a distance in the cave mouth and turned to see--

"Jack!"

She dove and snuggled against my chest as I fell over.

"Easy there Verdant! Calm down!"

"You came back!"

"Yup! And do I have a story for you."

She moved back to the center of her cave and made a seat for me out of her tail. I sat down and began.

"Well, it all started when I got drafted...."

Author's Note

IT IS FINISHED! YEAAAAH! And now I have to make a third one... yeah..... jk I love writing.

I'm Fine

Jack's log. It's been two days since they locked me up in here. Orchid and Doc came to see me. They are leaving for the area the Union set up camp to study it. Don't know how long they're going to be gone. I'm pretty bored right now. All my belongings were returned to me except my gun. I convinced them to let me keep my knife. It was my Dad's. The Union issued field knife they took, but my knife is a pocket knife, so it's fine. The only things I have to do are listen to music or write in this. Luna gave me this doodle pad and crayons as an insult to my intelligence, but they are useful. There are so many books in here, but I can't read them. They're all in some weird language I can't understand. Except for Orchid and Doc, no one had visited me. I'm so bored.

Jack's log, day three. I like keeping a journal, it's very... relaxing. I've been having trouble sleeping, so I play soft music to help me sleep. The battery is solar charged, so there's no problem there. The window is locked with a hairpin lock. I could pick it, but I really don't want to climb down that far. I found a massive box of candles under the bathroom sink while I was doing my exercises. I guess I now have a bunch of candles so I can... set up a spa? A monastery? A candle emporium? Whatever. Hey, quick joke. So, four robots crash into the city one day. The first one goes to a car dealership and hears a commercial about their low prices. The salesman kept saying "yes we did" so the robot went around saying "yes we did, yes we did." The second one goes to a candy store and goes to grab a lollipop. But, some kid takes the lollipop, and another kid takes it from him. So the kid screams "He took my lollipop!" So the robot goes around saying, "He took my lollipop."

The third robot goes to a kitchen store, and hears a salesman talking about forks and knives, so he goes around saying, "forks and knives." The last robot goes to an appliance store, and heard two people talking about a refrigerator. One says, "plug it in!" So the robot goes around saying, "plug it in!"

So the four robots go and kill somebody, and get arrested. In court, the judge says, "Did you kill this man?" And the first robot says,"yes we did yes we did."

The judge says, "why would you do this!?" And the second robot says,"He took my lollipop!"

The judge gets confused and says, "what did you kill him with?" And robot number three says, "forks and knives."

The judge shakes his head and says,"Unfortunately, you are sentenced to the electric chair." The fourth robot says,"Plug it in!"

I don't know what much of that means, but my Dad told it to me, and he heard it from his dad, and his dad, and so on. I wonder what it all means.

Jack's log, day ten. I've listened to all my songs to exhaustion. They put a spell around my room that keeps all noise in and out. Apparently guards complained about my music. I've been using all the candles they had under the sink to make figurines. There were so many candles, but I only light one. I can see well in the dark. So far I have made twenty ponies, thirty humans, and forty sharks. I like sharks.

Jack's log, day... seventeen? It's so quiet. I can't stand it. I keep punching the walls for the sound. The pain is nice. None of the ponies visit me. The only person I have to talk to is myself. I drew all over the walls today and made a creepy symbol beside the door. It's nice. The last conversation I had was... remembering is hard. I just hope I don't start getting answers when I talk to myself. Then I'd be crazy.

Log, day... I can't remember. Everything is boring. I have no energy to do anything. Life just seems so... meaningless. I hope I don't go insane in this room. I'll just keep writing, and hope for the best.

I got an answer.

Who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I who am I

I'm back from the brink of insanity. Everything was a haze of pain and darkness. It occurred to me. I can't stay here. I'm braking out. If I brake out of here, I'll be fine. I'll be fine.

I'm fine.

Author's Note

Comments? Bring them to me.

Encounters

I groaned as I shifted in my seat. Because my old seat mate had gotten off, I was able to lie down in a futile attempt to get more comfortable. I was so bored I was playing "I spy" with the voices in my head... which is just sad.

~I spy with Jack's eye something that is... yellow.~

The sun?<

~No.~

That bird flying next to us?

~Yep! Good job!~

I was just looking for a new object when suddenly, a massive explosion consumed the fromt of the train.

What was that?

I don't know but I think we're in trouble.<

~Y-you don't know that. Trains explode randomly all the time... right?~

The remaining ponies in the car started panicking at the train slowed down. Obviously worried about the sudden explosion. As the other passengers started gathering around the door leading to the other cars, I made my way to the door of the caboose. More sounds could be heard from the cars ahead of us including screams and muffled cracking sounds.

~I've got a bad feeling about this.~

You've got your bags, I suggest hiding in the caboose for a bit.<

~Should we tell the others to as well?~

At that moment the ponies started panicking. I don't know if they realized what was happening or if they just panicked but they were screaming and crying and generally being obnoxious.

~Scratch that, they're hysterical. No use there.~

I opened the door and slipped into the dimly lit space. I carefully closed the door behind me and started looking for a good hiding spot. A large crate in the corner caught my eye and I soon was stowed away inside it. Just as I closed the lid and found a hole to peer through, I heard an explosion rip through the car I had been in accompanied by screams and... gunshots? Does that mean....

Suddenly the door flew inward and a human in high tech combat armor came in, gun at the ready. To my horror, four more soon followed. Through my hole, I could see them look around and... dear mercy they're the Harriers.

~You don't mean...~

The six most deadly assassins the Union has at their disposal? Yeah, and now we're doomed.<

~J-just keep quiet!~

One of them, a woman, spoke.

"Are we clear?"

One with a freaking spear strapped to his back slung his gun back over his shoulder before saying,

"Yeah, I don't see squat."

The lady turned to one who wasn't wearing a helmet but rather had on a pair of glasses with a heads up display visible in the lenses.

"Have Trace and Lenart had any escapees?"

"Negative."

"Alright. We're all set to head back to base. Once the natives notice a missing train near their capital, they'll send some of their already puny military to investigate. That's when we'll strike."

I held completely still as they exited the car and didn't breathe until their footsteps were no longer audible.

~What the heck are we supposed to do now? Where do we go?~

Staying in the open is a horrible idea, so I suggest we head for the woods. I'd rather deal with whatever's in there than the Harriers.<

Definitely.

~But shouldn't we warn somebody? They're going to ambush the ponies!~

Who would believe us? And besides, the ponies are stronger than they think. They have magic after all.<

Whatever, but me not dying is first priority. When should I move?

Wait ten minutes, then leave through the back of the train.<

~Why the back?~

I figured we didn't want to see what they did to all those ponies.<

I guess I hadn't really had time to process it, but it occurred to me. All of the ponies, other than myself, were dead. I sniffled as I felt... guilty. I lived and they didn't because I didn't warn them. I could have--

Feel sorry for yourself later! We need to move and we can't have you breaking down now!<

~Yeah, just... push it aside for now. It'll be okay.~

I nodded before taking a deep breath and exiting my box. The smell of singed fur and charing meat filled my nostrils as I hit the floor, causing me to gag. I held my breath and dashed for the back door before coming to my senses and slowly pushing it open. As I cautiously emerged into the sunlight, I kept low to the ground as I hurried towards the forest.

Alright, where to now?

Water. Find a stream or something.<

~Food shouldn't be a problem. You can just eat grass.~

I nodded before setting out into the less scary forest than before. Unlike the Everfree, this forest was bright and filled with life. I distracted myself by gawking at the massive trees and bright flowers. Birds were singing and squirrels ran along the trees, scolding me whenever I approached them. It was so... odd. Not one hundred feet away an entire train was murdered and yet this place was so peaceful. I walked on and on until I realized I really didn't need to be a pony in the middle of nowhere.

~I wonder if the magicite works both ways?~

Let's try it. I need to save as much magic as I can.

I dug around in my saddlebags before pulling out the titular crystal and carefully sticking the point into the elbow of my left foreleg. I felt a cold sensation spread out from around the area and soon was human again, holding a glowing crystal that was in my arm.

Handy. But we should keep moving. You still don't want to be out at night.<

I switched bags back to my backpack and placed the magicite in a safe place before continuing onward.

The sun was nearing the horizon as I heard a marvelous sound, water. I quickened my pace and soon arrived at a gorgeous waterfall surrounded by plants and trees of all shapes, sizes, and colors. By this point I was parched so I rushed forward and started drinking mouthful after mouthful of the cold, crystal clear liquid. After I had had my fill, I stretched and began looking around for a decent place to camp.

~You could always climb a tree. You'd probably be safe.~

Surprisingly that's good advice.<

~Hey!~

"Woah, what kind of creature are you?"

I started as a light, feminine voice filled the air around me.

Another girl. Apart from the pegasus guard and Carrot we've only seen girls here.<

~Yeah... what's with that?~

Knock it off!

"Who said that? Who's there?"

There was a pause before the voice said,

"Oh cool! Ssso you can talk!"

I heard a quiet slithering sound behind me and turned to find... something. It had the front of a brown pony with a forest green mane with streaks of light green in it, but around her belly, right before the area her hind legs would be, was a long snake tail as thick as her body, ergo as thick as my chest. She looked at me with bright emerald eyes and started looking me up and down with obvious curiosity and wonder.

What the...<

~...Hay?~

"Um... I'm... a human. And you're a... snake pony?"

The creature wrinkled her nose and crossed her hooves.

"I'm not a 'snake pony,' I'm a lamia. That's different from a naga though! Nagas can hypnotize people and I can... well, apparently lamias are supposed to sing really good, but I can't. Oh! What's a human? Is that like a gorilla? Or a dragon? Or a minotaur?"

"Uh... I only know what half of those things are, so I'm assuming no. I also have no idea what a naga or lamia is."

She slithered a bit closer, obviously eager to tell me more about herself.

"Okay, sssso lamia isss a magical creature that isss both pony and ssserpant. Pretty neat, huh!"

I just stood there for a few seconds.

~Uh...~

That's pretty obvious.<

"Yeah! It sure is! ...Soooooo... can you tell me where I am?"

She tapped her chin, her forked tongue sticking out of her mouth as she concentrated.

"Um... thisss isssss where I live, ssssso I've always jussst called it my home, but I think I have a map in my cave sssssomewhere!"

"Great! Lead the way!"

She looked at me in bewilderment and also a bit of excitement.

"You want to come into my housssse?!"

"Yeah? If that's not a problem."

She bounced up and down a bit while saying,

"Thissss isss sssso awesssome! No one ever visits me!"

"Why not?"

As I said that, her ears drooped and she coiled up a bit. She held the end of her tail in her forelegs and started petting it.

"Well, the few timesss poniessss came here before, I tried talking to them. They alwaysss ssscream and run and c-call m-me m-m-monster *gasp* and I get r-really lonely b-but I'm too ssscared to leave the foressst! Sssso I-I..."

She whimpered as tears started rolling down her cheeks. Oh man, that's just sad.

~Comfort her!~

It is our best chance at getting out of here.<

~Not my point.~

I stepped forward and carefully wiped the tears off her cheek. She looked up at me with damp eyes, trying to figure out what I was doing.

"I know you're not a monster, monsters don't cry when they're called monsters and they definitely aren't as cute as you are."

"Y-you think I'm cute?"

"Adorable."

I hugged her and started petting her mane, hoping that running my fingers through it would help calm her down. It worked as she snuggled up against me, her snake tail lazily wrapping around my back as she hugged me.

"Y-your really warm."

I pulled away a bit and booped her on the nose.

"And you're super soft and cuddly."

She giggled before looking at the setting sun.

"It'ssss almosssst night, do you want to... well... ssstay the night with me?"

I nodded causing her to squeal in excitement.

As we walked, er, one of us walked, to her home, she babbled excitedly about how much fun this was going to be and how nice I was and just a bunch of random things.

After a short walk, we reached the mouth of a cave in the rocks beside the waterfall. As we entered, I was surprised at how neat and cozy it was. Blankets lined portions of the floor and lamps filled with fireflies sat on rough wooden tables. There were various books and maps around the room on shelves and framed on the walls. All in all a lot better than what I was expecting.

"Ssssso? What do you think?"

"Nice place you've got, very cozy."

She smiled before slithering over to a map hanging from the wall and pointed to a large patch of forest marked "The Nebulae Woods" which bordered on another portion labeled "The Whitetail Woods." In the middle of the Nebulae Woods was marked a waterfall called "Espir Falls."

"Sssee! We're right here!"

From the falls I could see the closest town was one to the north called "Featherborrow." It was the closest town not only to the forest, but also to some place marked "The Gryphon Kingdom."

"So all I have to do is head north for a while?"

"You bet! Jusssst keep the ssssun at your right until you reach the edge of the foresssst."

"Huh, thanks!"

We went over to some sort of nest thing made of various blankets and cushions before my serpentine friend asked,

"Are you hungry? I've got ssssome fruit if you want."

"That sounds great! I haven't eaten in a while."

She came back holding a homemade bowl with several varieties of fruit in it. As we ate the assortment of fruit, I couldn't help but wonder at what they're names were. Some were sweet, while some were sour and even a bit spicy. I suddenly realized something.

"You know, I never heard your name."

She looked up before blushing.

"Oopsss, I forgot."

"No biggie, I just figured friends should know each others names. Mine's Jack."

"I'm Verdant."

"That's a very nice name, Verdant."

"Yoursss iss too, Jack."

After we had finished our meal, Verdant coiled up inside the nest which I guess was her bed. I looked around for a place to sleep before she grabbed me and pulled me on top of her tail. She readjusted so that I was in the middle and her pony half was lying on my chest with her muzzle tucked beneath my chin. I carefully extricated my hand from her coils and pet her back, causing her to hum in pleasure.

Aw, who'd have thunk a snake pony thing could be adorable.<

~And so comfortable, talk about lumbar support!~

I yawned loudly as the exhaustion of running from a train wreck caught up to me. I hadn't even realized how tired I was until I was lying down. I held Verdant like a stuffed animal and shifted around a bit before looking over at my backpack.

You know, I don't think I'll ever have a "normal" day here.

What tipped you off?<

~Who cares, normal is boring.~

Amen to that, amen to that.

Dim

I slowly brushed my teeth as I stared deep into my own eyes. They looked dull and hungry. Just like some wild animal.

I spat and finished washing my mouth before walking to my bed. I collapsed and curled into a ball on my side before pulling the covers over me. I felt Talion get in his side before I turned out the lights. As I lay there motionless I could hear Talion tossing slightly in an attempt to get comfortable.

With a sigh he tapped my shoulder causing me to flinch.

"Jack. If there's anything I can do to help you get through... whatever's wrong, just ask."

I shrugged, not even bothering to reply.

"I... I know it's not really my place, and I'm sorry for prying.... But please... tell me. Are you feeling sick or something or... is it in your head."

I weakly sighed.

"I don't know. I just feel... empty. Like... I've never known happiness and never will again."

That gave him pause but after a bit he gently grabbed me and pulled me against his warm feathers.

"I don't know if this will help, but I'm here for you. Don't talk if you don't want to, but I'll be here if you need me."

I nodded numbly before saying,

"I... I think I feel a bit better."

He hummed before pulling me closer and wrapping his wings gently around me.

"Well... I hope you get back to your old self soon. I... It hurts me to see you like this."

I leaned my head against his chest and listened to the soothing rythm of his heat.

"I don't know... but... I feel so alone ...and lost."

He sighed before pulling the covers a bit closer.

"Well, I'm not leaving you alone. You're like... the best friend I've ever had, well, only friend I've ever had. The other gryphons were all jerks. Anyway, uh... goodnight, Jack. I'll be right here. Hopefully you'll be able to sort yourself out."

I nodded and snuggled a bit closer into his warm body. I slowly relaxed as I listened to the gentle "lub-dub" of his heart. Maybe... I'll feel better tomorrow.

I woke up and was tired like usual. I glanced at the clock and sighed. I didn't want to get up. I snuggled back against my only companion and sighed. Still just as down as before. Except, now I had to try to make myself get out of bed. But... why should I? It wasn't really worth it. Who would even notice I was gone? And even if I did, who would care.

"Feel any better today."

"Worse."

Talion gently rubbed my back. It felt nice.

"Well, nobody feels good in the morning. Wait a bit before saying for certain."

I groaned and buried my head beneath his wing. He chuckled before scratching my ear.

"Comfy?"

"You're so soft and warm."

"Well if the only way I can help is to be your space heater than fine by me."

I groaned before pulling on his wings, wrapping them tighter around me.

"What time is it?"

"Uh...."

*RIIIING...RIIIING*

Talion turned off the alarm and groaned.

"Remind me why we're working?"

"I don't know. It won't accomplish anything anyway."

He sighed before slowly crawling out of bed, dragging me with him. I didn't let go, walking was too much effort. He dragged me to the kitchen and got out some bread to make toast.

"Whatcha want?"

"Not hungry."

He sighed before picking me up by the scruff of my neck.

"You need food. Eat some dang toast."

I grunted as he dropped me onto my hooves. I slipped into the bathroom and started getting ready to brush my teeth. This way, I'll have an excuse not to--

"Nu uh, not that easy. You're eating whether you want to or not."

I moaned in protest as he dragged me to the kitchen and dropped me into a chair.

"I liked it better when you didn't bug me like this."

"I liked it better when you weren't acting like a jellyfish with a cold."

"What?"

He picked up my foreleg with a claw and dropped it. It flopped to the table like a bonless fish.

"Mhm, jellyfish. Now eat your toast."

I sighed before eating my bland toast. Talion started towards the door but noticed I was lagging behind.

"So help me if you don't suck it up I will cary you."

Yeah right. Like I buy that. Why should I hurry to work. Not like it matters at all. I yelped as Talion slung me over his back and held me down with his wings.

"Noooooo. Stop."

"I warned you. We're going to be on time like it or not."

I huffed before nestling into his back.

"Whatever, I'm napping."

The walk to work... well... was awesome. I got to nap while going to work. How awesome is that. I love sleep, it lets me ignore the nightmare that is my life.

He opened the door and Brooke called out.

"Oh uh... hey Talion. Where's... is that...."

Ledger walked out to see a disheveled Talion with a tired Jack snuggled into his back. Her eyes widened and she blushed.

Wait! Jack, who's normally overly chiper in the morning la looking tired while resting on a bedraggled Talion's back?! Does that mean... but I... oh. I didn't realize... Jack... oh! Oh my!

"Uh... is Jack okay?"

"He's tired. I'm going to go clock in."

"Alright, see you later Jack!"

I groaned as Talion carried me into the the break room. Today was going to suck, like every day. Ugh... I hate life.

Author's Note

Sorry it's short. I've been busy.

Not Actually a Real Chapter

Jack got out of his tree and came to a sudden conclusion. He was a strong, independent man who didn't need anyone. He marched through the forest, a spring in his step... until he tumbled down a cliff. He tumbled and bumbled and crashed down until he fell into a river. That river carried him far away until he washed up on the shore of an underground lake.

"Nice place."

He said.

"I'm a live in this sucker."

So for years Jack dwelt in the underground cave with his only companions the fish of the cave and a rather large eel that lived in the lake. He grew rather fond of that eel and soon asked it out. Oh how they laughed over a dinner of fish and mushrooms light by the warm bioluminescence of cave moss. The years passed and the two grew old until Jack finally passed in his sleep. The eel looked sadly at his body before eating him and swimming back to its underwater cave.

The End.

Author's Note

NOTICE!!!!

Wow... just... wow. I woke up and checked to see if anyone commented and guess what? Seventeen comments and twenty-six messages. It was basically split half and half so in order to preserve the peace for a while and let everyone mull over their choice I'm going to have Jack go on a date with both Talion and Brooke. After that I'll ask for your opinion again and hope this time it's conclusive. Originally it was going to be he'd start dating one of them, but now it's going to be different. Thanks for your input and I'm glad you thought my story was worth commenting on. Also... you lot who scolded me for "having my readers write my story for me." Go soak your heads you bloody tosspots.