“These should help with any exhaustion and dehydration you may suffer,” Zecora stated as she placed several small glass bottles in front of me. “The first three will help keep you hydrated, the next three for energy and the last one is a very powerful sleep powder.”

It took a few extra moments for me to actually understand what the zebra was saying as she had begun speaking to me without constantly rhyming. It was a slight lag my brain seemed to have as it prepared to understand some hidden meaning behind a rhyme, yet it didn’t happen.

“I didn’t expect you to ever talk like that to someone,” I stated while picking up the last bottle filled with a purple powder. “And why will I need sleeping powder?”

“You’ll know why soon enough my friend,” Zecora nodded as she placed the bottles on the table into a small bag. “And what’s wrong with speaking properly to a good friend?”

“Nothing wrong with that, really... and here I thought it was worrying when Rainbow Dash showed up at Fluttershy’s this morning wishing me luck while handing me a case of energy drinks,” I sighed to myself with a chuckle, taking the bag and heading out of the tree home. “If you don’t hear from me within a week… well, you and all of Ponyville can probably guess what happened.”

“But is it truly a terrible way to go?” Zecora giggled back.

“Perhaps not,” I laughed back as Fluttershy stepped up to me, a small frown on her face. “Thanks again, Zecora.”

“Less talky, more walkie,” Fluttershy grumbled from just outside the zebra’s home. “Mama’s medicine is starting to wear off.”

“It’s like a damn switch was flipped,” I sighed as Fluttershy wrapped her tail around my wrist and began to drag me down the path back out of the forest. “Also, the whole “Mama” thing is actual starting to get creepy.”

“What did I just say!?” Fluttershy snapped as she looked back to me, her eyes boring into mine while still pulling me down the path. “Less talky, more walkie!”

The rest of the trip was done in near silence, Fluttershy’s odd purr the only thing that could be heard as we made our way back to her cottage. Even the animals of the forest kept their distance from me and the purring mare.

“Uh… where are all the animals?” I asked as we finally made it to her cottage. Even here, I noticed a lack of any other living creatures around Fluttershy’s home. I didn’t even hear any bugs or see any birds in the distance.

I was beginning to fear for my life.

“I didn’t want any interruptions for the next few days,” Fluttershy giggled with a little hop, releasing my wrist. “I had Angel Bunny take all my animal friends to White Tail Woods until we finish.”

“Uh…” I dumbly replied. “While I’m glad there won’t be an audience… did you really have to send them all that far away.”

While the Everfree Forest was maybe half a mile away from Fluttershy’s cottage, the White Tail Woods where on the whole other side of town.

“Yes,” Fluttershy stated with a small frown, standing just outside her cottage’s door. “Yes, I did.”

"Oookay..." I began, moving closer to Fluttershy. "I really think we should set a few ground rules before walking through that door."

"The only rule I care about is that you," Fluttershy began in a cool, seductive voice while turning and looking up at me. "Only finish inside."

Then, before I could react, Fluttershy launched herself at me, locking her lips to mine while staring directly into my eyes.

"You'll be sure to do that?" She asked a few moments later as her eyes began to glow. "Wont you?"

* * *

“It’s been four days…” Rainbow Dash mumbled to the other mares around her. “I’m starting to get worried.”

“Come now Rainbow Dash,” Rarity scoffed as she took a sip of tea. “You’re the one who keeps telling us, “Reaper can handle anything”.”

“But this is a whole other thing, Rarity!” Rainbow gasped as she looked at her remaining friends. Aside from Fluttershy, the rest of the mane six had come together for a simple lunch at Sugar Cube Corner, a few having done it to get their minds off their own secondary uterus cycle. “You girls haven’t had to help her with her heat!”

“It can’t be that bad, Dashie,” Pinkie Pie giggled. “I mean, Fluttershy might get a foal in her belly, and then I can throw her a “Your pregnant party”! Then, just imagine how many more parties I can throw after that!”

“Yeah… you have fun with that,” a familiar male voice huffed, drawing the groups attention to the shops entrance.

“C-Christopher?!” Rarity gasped as she noticed the man’s appearance. His clothes were slightly torn in several places and dark bruises could be seen around his neck and on some of his exposed skin. He smelled like he had bathed recently, but still had dark bags under his eyes while also wobbling slightly.

“I know why Zecora gave me sleeping powder now…” the man groaned as he dropped in an empty seat besides the mares. “I just wish she told me it would take an hour to work.”

“Dude, what the hay happened to you?!” Rainbow Dash shouted in shock, looking at some of the damage. “Did… did she hit you?”

“Hickies…” Chris sighed, pointing at his neck bruises before pointing at his torn clothing. “In the way.”

“And you just let her?” Twilight asked.

“To much brain power needed to answer that…” Chris groaned, rubbing at his temples with his right hand while the other rubbed the back of his neck. “I haven’t eaten actual food in three days and I’m starving!”

“I know some ponies get a little excited during their heat, but that still don’t sound like Fluttershy,” Applejack said, her face a little red. “Specially fer a secondary heat.”

“Well, a secondary heat doesn’t last as long as they do in spring, so she should be back to normal by tomorrow,” Rarity sighed before looking at me with a raised brow. “And what do you mean, “actual food”?”

He replied with a dirty grin and a chuckle while looking her in the eye.

“If that’s supposed to be how she acts during a secondary heat, I will probably have to go into hiding in Spring then,” Chris sighed, losing the look he gave Rarity.

“I would ah recommended it anyways,” Applejack replied. “Most Stallions leave town if they aint planning on stayin’ indoors.”

“I’ll just head to-“ I began to say before I found myself silenced by Twilight’s magic.

“It would be best if you didn’t mention where you would hide during Spring,” Twilight said with a sheepish smile. “You know, in case somepony happens to remember where you said.”

“Right…” Chris sighed, looking over the group. “Would one of you mind getting me something to eat? I wasn’t lying when I said I haven’t eaten in three days.”

“Commander Pinkie Pie is on the job!” Pinkie Pie saluted before rushing to the back of the store, leaving a smoke cloud of her image behind.

“So… your leaving for the tournament in a few days, right?” Rainbow Dash asked as Pinkie’s smoke cloud dissipated. “Where’s it even supposed to be this year?”

“The South Sands,” Twilight replied. “The Kingdom of Cat-Uwan is hosting it this year. I’m very excited to go.”

“Aww, no fair, how come you get to go?!” Pinkie Pie chirped as she dropped a plate of food stuffs in front of the hungry man. He didn’t even bother looking it over before shoving what he could into his mouth.

“Princess Celestia invited me to go with her this year!” Twilight cheered. “I wasn’t able to go to the last one, but this time, I not only get to go, but have a chance to learn about a whole new culture in the process!”

“Egghead…” Rainbow Dash grumbled before looking back at Chirs. “Reaper, you gotta put in a good word for me! Spitfire is supposed to be participating this year and I have to be there to see her win!”

“Ah thought we agreed that we wanted to see, Chris win,” Applejack grumbled as everyone shared a quick glare towards the mare.

“And I do,” Rainbow Dash replied with a huff. “It doesn’t mean I can’t have a back-up plan.”

“Rainthow Dath hath a plan!” Chis shouted around a mouthful of food before swallowing and turning to look at Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie, prepare for operation R.D.H.P!”

“All fire extinguishers are up to date and emergency services are on standby!” Pinkie Pie replied, slapping on a green metal helmet and saluting.

The room erupted into laughter at that as Rainbow Dash took her turn to glare at the rest of us, a heavy blush on her face.

“Yeah, yeah, laugh it up,” Rainbow Dash mumbled as she looked towards the cackling human. “But come on man, you gotta let me come with you! I have more than enough days off saved for it!”

“You have days off saved?!” Rarity chirped, earning another round of laughter as everyone looked at Rainbow Dash in shock and amusement.

“I hate you all…” Rainbow Dash grumbled.

“You know it’s all good natured, Rainbow Dash,” Chris said, ruffling the mare’s mane. “If you want to come and Celestia says it’s okay, then I won’t stop you.”

“Yes!” Rainbow cheered, tackling the human in a surprising hug.

After realizing what she did, Rainbow quickly pulled away and the blush from earlier reappeared on her face.

“I-I better go get things ready,” Rainbow stuttered before rushing out of the shop.

* * *

Spending a few minutes talking with everyone, a little giggle from behind drew my attention to Mrs. Cake as she walked in with her foals resting on her back.

“Foals!” I called out, jumping from my seat and rushing the mare.

“Eep!” Mrs. Cake chirped as I scooped the two foals off her back.

“The adorableness!” I called out, holding the two foals in my arms and spinning around, causing the two to giggle and laugh.

“They aren’t going anywhere, Christopher,” Mrs. Cake giggled as reared up and took her foals. “Stop looking like a teenaged colt after his first uterus experience and then I’ll let you coddle your Godfoals.”

“Godfoals?!” the others shouted in surprise as Mrs. Cake went to the upper floors of the shop.

“Yeah, they asked me the other week,” Chris replied sheepishly, scratching the back of my head. “It was a surprise that they asked me out of the blue, but I didn’t see a reason to say no.”

“Party!” Pinkie Pie shouted suddenly, her smile looking a little off and her mane deflating slightly.

“It’s okay Pinkie,” I whispered to the mare, leaning close as the others talked amongst themselves for a moment. “I’m just the Godfather. But I did put in a good word with them as to who the Godmother should be.”

“Thanks,” Pinkie smiled back, her features returning to normal.

"Now that, thats out of the way," I said, turning to the others. "How has everything been these last few days?"

"Well... its actually been pretty calm," Twilight replied with a smile. "A few ponies said they saw more animals in White Tail Woods, but other than that, things have been normal."

"This is Ponyville, Twilight," I replied with a smirk of my own. "You're going to have to be a bit clearer when you say "Normal"."

"Nothings exploded, nopony was injured and the Crusader's haven't been seen much," Rarity answered with a smile. "Its actually quite nice."

"What about Cotton?" I asked.

"She hasn't left the your house much," Pinkie answered with a small frown. "You should go see her after this."

"I will," I nodded, already making my way to the shops door. "I'll see you girls later."

With a few quick good bye's, I was out the door and heading home.

* * *

“I am so sorry about what I did,” Fluttershy squeaked for the hundredth time that day alone. “I couldn’t control myself in the end there.”

“And I already accepted your apology,” I replied, closing my suitcase. “But I have to get going; Celestia will be here any minute now if she isn’t already downstairs eating me out of cake and home.”

“Okay,” Fluttershy sighed before fixing me with a cute glare. “Just don’t get hurt, you got it?”

“I’ll try my best,” I replied, kissing her forehead quickly. “You sure you don’t want to come?”

“Oh… I couldn’t,” Fluttershy muttered shyly. “So many ponies I don’t know and a whole new country are too much. The stress of it could lower the chances of me being pregnant.”

“And I’m not going to question that since I’m not a subject matter expert on interspecies cross breeding,” I smiled back, picking up my suitcase and weapon box. “You helped Rainbow Dash pack more than a toothbrush, right?”

“She didn’t even have that originally,” Fluttershy giggled as we left my room and made our way out of the house. “All she had was a blanket and her favorite pillow.”

“Its two weeks until the actual tournament,” I chuckled as I noticed the mentioned mare standing just outside my house with Twilight, a small pile of suitcases besides them. “Was she just going to sleep the whole time?”

“Hey, are you talking about me?!” Rainbow Dash huffed as we walked over and I added my things to the small pile.

“Why, were your ears ringing?” I asked with a smirk.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Twilight asked as Rainbow Dash continued to glare and Fluttershy giggled.

“Superstition, Darling,” Rarity replied as she, Pinkie Pie and Applejack showed up. They all had small boxes that I guessed to be snacks meant for the trip. “Some ponies believe that the random ringing in your ears means somepony is talking about you.”

“That’s just stupid,” Twilight replied as she directed her gaze to the sky.

Celestia said that she would arrive in Ponyville by airship to pick us up for the three day trip. It was meant to show off to ponies as we passed over a few different cities before spending a large portion of the trip over open water and clear skies.

“This is going to be my first time on an airship,” I smiled looking over towards Canterlot and trying to see if I could see something. Every now and then, if you paid enough attention high in the sky, you could see the large build of a ship floating to and from Canterlot.

They were still pretty rare to see though, as it turns out. Aside from being mostly used for trade and long travel, only the richest of the rich had one and they could only be stored in certain places.

“I’ve been in a few different ones,” Twilight said as she smiled at us. “The only problem I have with them is that they can be really cold if they fly too high.”

“Oh, how I wish I myself could go and ride upon the Royal airship,” Rarity sighed dramatically as she floated the large box she had to me. “Such is a place where I truly belong.”

“Oh course it is, Rare,” Applejack sighed as she put her box down and I looked inside the one given to me.

“Hey, you got it done!” I cheered as I looked upon the gift given to me by the fashion designer.

“I had to work a little later than normal to put in the final touches, but I wanted to make sure you had it for this event,” Rarity smiled back as she stood proudly. “You did say that it was meant to be worn for important events, correct?”

“Yeah, I did,” I said as I pulled out the first item in the box.

It was a large white hat with a shining black bill and a golden Eagle, Globe, and Anchor attached to the front. The next item was a dress blue coat with golden buttons, red lining, white belt and a golden buckle plate with another eagle, globe and anchor.

It had several Ribbons and Medals, all of which I had earned back on Earth, as well as two medals I was unfamiliar with. One was a simple gold medal with a blue ribbon and two alicorns flying around a half sun and moon, the other was another gold medal, but it had a six pointed star and had a rainbow ribbon.

“What are those?” I asked Rarity, pointing at the two medals.

“The Rainbow one is something we all got after taking charge of the Elements of Harmony,” Twilight answered as a sheepish smile grew on her face. “You were… uh, unconscious at the time and the Princess gave me yours.

“I only remembered that I had it when Rarity came to ask if there were any that she should add?” Twilight chuckled as I stared at her. “The… um, Holder of an Element medal.”

“The other one is the one you earned for saving, Princess Luna from assassins,” Rarity quickly cut in. “It’s the Royal Accommodation award.”

“Oh…,” I replied looking at them again. Putting the coat aside I pulled out a pair of blue cotton pants with red strips on the side and a pair of shiny black shoes. “I’m really impressed that you were able to do this from a few pictures and a horrible description.”

“Well, I am a master at my craft,” Rarity cooed with self-praise before turning to Twilight. “Do be a dear and take plenty of photos when he wears it, will you?”

“Of course,” Twilight replied.

“That’s great and all, but how much longer do we have to wait?” Rainbow Dash groaned as I put the clothing back into the box.

“You’re the one with the better eyesight,” I replied as I placed the box with the other luggage. “When you can see an airship heading for us, you’ll have your answer.”

“Hey, where’s Cotton?” Pinkie suddenly asked, frosting on her lips and the box she had arrived with open. “I thought she would be here to see you off.”

“She’s not taking me leaving very well,” I sighed heavily. “When Luna came to pick up my armor the other night, it took me an hour just to get her to give me the helmet. Then, she refused to even talk to me and Derpy took her somewhere a few hours ago to talk.”

“Don’t you worry none,” Applejack said as she placed a reassuring hoof on my hip. “She’s just scared with yah leaving, but the rest of us will keep ah eye on her.”

“I know that, but I still don’t like leaving her like this…” I sighed again, turning to look in a random direction, hoping to see the filly so I could give her a proper goodbye.

“He’s going to be such a good father,” Fluttershy hummed, earning a blush from me and giggles from the others.

“I see something,” Rainbow Dash suddenly shouted, a moment later. Instead of Canterlot, her gaze was locked up high into the air above us. “Look!”

Looking straight up, we were all surprised to see a white ship with purple trim slowly sinking towards the town from several miles in the air.

“That’s one way to make an entrance,” I commented as the ship came closer and closer.

Ten minutes later, the ship was directly above us and looked large enough to fit ten of my house with a gold colored balloon that was twice that size.

“It just screams “Canterlot”,” I mumbled as a few pegasi jumped off the side and made their way towards us.

“I know,” Rarity sighed blissfully as three pegasi landed next to our group. Two were simple guards, but the third was a familiar looking mare with flame like hair.

“Darn, I was hoping my sister would be here,” Spitfire huffed as she looked at our group.

“She’s at work,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “But if she knew you were going to be here, she’d have shown up.”

“I personally don’t know what you see in my sister, Reaper,” Spitfire huffed as she gave a starstruck Rainbow Dash a smirk. “Given the chance, I could show you things that she could only dream of doing.”

“In your dreams maybe, featherduster!” another familiar mare shouted as they rushed onto the scene, shoving her face against Spitfire’s. The two looked almost exactly alike, except one had wings while wearing a blue and yellow spandex suit, while the other had a blue police shirt, hat and no wings.

“The only thing you’d be showing him is how many diseases a slut like you has!” Valliant growled.

“Why you…” Spitfire began to growl before a flash of light cut her off.

“I thought I told you not to leave the ship Captain,” Celestia calmly said as she materialized next to me. “This is the opposite of that order.”

“S-sorry, Princess Celestia,” Spitfire gulped as she gave her sister a quick glare before flying back to the ship.

“And I believe you have a job your supposed to be doing, Officer Heart,” Celestia said, turning to the uniformed mare.

“O-of course, your Highness,” Valliant bowed before looking at Twilight. “You mind keeping my sister away from Reaper? I’d ask Rainbow to help, but I think she’d just give him to her.”

“We’re flying there with Spitfire?!” Rainbow gushed. “This is going to be so awesome!”

“I’ll keep an eye on him, Valliant,” Twilight nodded as the mare gave me a wink before returning to her duties.

“I can take care of myself you know,” I huffed good-naturedly.

“Enough with that talk,” Celestia interrupted with a shake of her head. “Do you have everything you’ll be needing?”

“Should be all right there,” I replied, pointing at the pile.

“What about goodbye’s?” Celestia said as she looked around. “I thought there would be more ponies here to wish you well.”

“That was all done yesterday,” I replied with a shrug. “Ponies stopped by yesterday wishing me luck.”

“And what about Cotton?” Celestia asked with a raised brow. “With how attached she is with you, I’d think she would be here.”

“She’s not taking me leaving too well,” I sighed again.

“Oh,” Celestia simply replied as she looked at our luggage. With a simple wave of her horn, our stuff disappeared, most likely to the ship above us.

“I have a few ponies getting the crates of apples you donated right now Ms. Applejack,” Celestia continued, giving a warm smile and nod to the cow pony. “I’ll be sure to let everyone know where they came from.”

“T-thank yah kindly, Princess,” Applejack stuttered, trying and failing at hiding a large smile.

“Well, it’s time for us to leave,” Celestia said, looking at me. “Do you want to climb up yourself or do-“

“Wait!” a small, squeaky voice shouted, cutting off what Celestia was saying and drawing everyone’s attention to the approaching filly who was running like her life depended on it.

For a split second, I was worried that she was in trouble and was preparing to handle a situation. But When I noticed Derpy and a few other familiar ponies close behind the filly, my nerves settled.

Stopping in front of me and Celestia, Cotton took a few minutes to pant heavily as she regained her breath. In that time, Derpy, Doctor Psyche and Sparkler arrived as well with a small stack of papers held by each of them.

“Y-you can’t take him!” Cotton huffed, looking at the princess. “You can’t because… uh… because…”

At this, Cotton looked back at the three mares that had arrived with her, receiving smiles and nods from all three.

The rest of us simply stared at what was going on with obvious confusion.

“Why can’t I take him, Cotton?” Celestia asked, a small twinkle in her eye. “It would be very bad if I didn’t take him with me and a lot of ponies will get angry.”

“Because… because it would be den-ter-mental to my mental health!” Cotton replied, messing up when she tried to say “detrimental”.

It was both cute and surprising.

“Then how do we fix this then?” Celestia asked, although it was obvious she was directing her attention more towards the three mares than Cotton without making it obvious to the filly.

“This is the paperwork stating that, in my own professional opinion, that Cotton is not at the point yet where she can be safely separated from Reaper yet,” Psyche said as she levitated her small stack of papers to the princess. “While it might be unorthodox; I recommend that she join him on the trip.”

“What?!” the rest of us, excluding Celestia shouted in shock.

“This is the paperwork necessary for her to leave the country, signed by both her legal guardian and the Local Foal Services director,” Sparkler said, taking the papers she and Derpy had and giving them to me. “These will give you temporary guardianship over Cotton. All it needs is the princess’s signature to finalize it.”

I was so surprised by what was going on, I almost missed that the signature for the Local Foal Services director was Sparkler’s.

“You’re the Local Foal Services Director?” I asked, looking at the mare.

“What did you think my job was?” Sparkler asked, giving me a smirk.

“Gem polisher?” I offered with a sheepish smile.

“That’s my side job,” Sparkler replied with a smirk before looking at the princess. “Does this help settle any issues that may come about, Princess?”

“I want to say no,” Celestia replied a little uncomfortably. “But it’s important to listen to your doctor and the forms do look to be in order. Also, it should be enough to prevent too much trouble.”

With that, Celestia’s horn flashed once again, and I saw her own signature appear in several places on the stack I held.

Like she already knew where to sign.

“I’ll go get a bag packed for Cotton,” Derpy chirped as she nuzzled Cottons head. “I’ll be right back.”

“Well, I sure didn’t see that comin,” Applejack said for the group as Cotton made her way over to me with a hopeful smile.

“I can come to now, right?” Cotton asked, looking up at me.

“Well, I guess you are, but I’ll need to get something then,” I sighed, trying not to smile at the idea of not having to leave her behind.

“Geralt!” I shouted, turning to the house. At my call, the large wolf bounded from around the back of the hose and rushed up before me and the others.

“You want to bring your pet wolf?” Celestia asked, looking at Geralt with a small frown. “I already said that it would be a bad idea.”

“And I agreed when I thought he could stay here and watch Cotton,” I replied, giving the wolf a few ear scratches. “But if she’s coming with us, then so is Geralt.

“Also, he’s not my pet, but my friend.”

“My apologies then,” Celestia sighed. “But its going to cause some issues with the crew to begin with.”

“Screw them,” I waved off. “They got a problem with him, they can say it to his face.”

At this, Geralt turned and growled at Celestia, bearing his fangs and raising his heckles.

“Don’t growl at her you idiot!” I snapped, swatting the back of the wolf’s head. “Save it for the ones who can’t swat you across the continent with a thought.”

“Id rather he not growl at any of my ponies, but that looks like it wont be the case,” Celestia sighed.

* * *

“Kinda wish I could have gone…” Pinkie sighed as she and the others staying behind watched as the airship flew up and away.

“Oh, don’t you worry none,” Applejack smirked as she looked at her pink friend. “We might not be going for all the setup, but Princess Luna said she’d take anypony who wanted to go when she left fer the real thing.”

“Oh, I am definitely going to that,” Rarity smiled. “What about you Derpy, are you thinking of attending as well.”

“Of course,” Derpy replied, looking at everyone with a smile. “How else am I supposed to pick up Dinky?”

* * *

“Surprising to see you here Vlad,” I said while walking with the stallion. “I would have thought Shining would be the one to come, seeing as he leads the Day Guard and serves under Celestia directly.”

“He was, but I guess it was only because Princess Cadence was going to come as well,” Vlad replied as he walked beside me, another stallion with black umbrella beside him, keeping most of the sun’s light off Vlad. “I’m not sure what happened exactly, but Princess Celestia said that Princess Cadence wasn’t going anymore.

“After that, Captain Armor asked me to lead the Princess’s guard until the actual tournament,” Vlad finished before looking up at me a small smirk on his face. “Actually, this gives me the chance to introduce you to somepony that’s been wanting to meet you for a while.”

“And just who would that be?” I asked with some worry, looking around the area.

We both stood to one side of the ships deck, watching the receding coast line of one of Equestria’s port cities just outside of Las Pegasus. All around us were ponies working to keep the airship flying correctly and keeping things from shaking loose due to an increase to the normal speed the ship was meant for.

We were apparently on a bit of a time crunch to catch a certain wind gust or something that was meant to cut a day off a normal trip. Meaning that we would most likely be the last of the ruled kingdoms to arrive to the preparations if we didn’t catch it.

“He means me, dear,” a sensual voice whispered into my ear, causing me to spin and look for the woman behind me.

“Over here,” the voice whispered again when I found no one behind me.

This action continued for a few moments before I decided to just create a barrier of smoke about ten feet around my body and slowly bring it in until I felt something press against my back.

“Oh, you’re no fun,” the voice said with an audible pout.

Releasing the barrier, I turned to look at the pony who had been messing with me and immediately recognized her from several photos I had seen.

A Pegasus mare with goldenrod fur, navy blue mane and sparkling turquoise eyes looked up at me. She looked to be pouting, but I could tell it was more of an act by the ever so slight twitch I could see in the corner of her mouth.

“While I’m sure you’ve seen pictures of her,” Vlad said, stepping up to stand beside the mare and share the shade of his umbrella. “Allow me to introduce you to my life mate and love, Glimmering Cloud. Mother of my young and acclaimed cloud sculptor.”

“Oh, leave me something to use at least,” Glimmering Cloud huffed pushing Vlad away from her with a wing and a more obvious smirk. “You’re not the only pony that likes to be all creepy and mysterious to others.”

“Oh come, Love,” Vlad chuckled as he returned to his position without having moved far. “I can’t help but show you off to everypony I know.”

“I didn’t come to be shown off, Vlad,” Glimmering Cloud replied, pushing Vlad away more forcefully this time. “Especially when the pony your trying to show me off to, is the same one currently in a herd led by our daughter.”

“Uh… it’s nice to finally meet you, ma’am,” I offered with a sheepish smile, holding a hand out to shake her hoof. While I had seen pictures and heard a few stories about the mare, it was another thing to finally meet her and the first thing that stuck out to me was how she looked a lot like her daughter, aside from the coloring.

“If you’re going to with my daughter, I won’t accept a hoof shake,” Glimmering Cloud chirped as she rose to her back hoofs and hugged my waist…

*CRACK*

“Too much, too much!” I cried out as I felt my bones start to crack under the mare’s strength.

“Oh, come now, this shouldn’t be that bad,” Glimmering Cloud giggled as I found myself unable to break her grip without having to resort to magic. “Besides, it’s the best way for me to tell just how my daughter did.”

“I won’t even be able to tell what you did if you don’t let go soon!” I cried out as I contemplated using my magic to get out of this situation.

“Such a whiner,” Glimmering Cloud sighed as she released me and I fell to my knees with a pained groan. “And you don’t even have any strains or fractures.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!” I growled, drawing looks from most of the sounding ponies. Those looks quickly disappeared as they caught sight of Vlad.

“It means my daughter didn’t do everything possible to get me a grandfoal!” Glimmering Cloud shouted, a slight red glow developing in her eyes. “I bet she let you sleep and one point too, didn’t she!?”

“Uh… what?” I asked, sparing a glance at Vlad for some kind of clarification.

“Hu… what… I can’t hear anything!” Vlad called out as I quickly spotted the ear plugs in his ears. “I especially can’t hear anything about what my daughter did or didn’t do to her stallion!”

“You had better hope your seed took, or I’m locking you and my daughter up in a room and not letting you out until I’m a grandmother thrice over!” the mare yelled into my face as she gripped it with her two front hooves and trying to crush my face.

“Ah thish rash, I wnsh be alive for thash!” I tried to yell as her hooves worked to rework my face.

“You’re right, I can’t have you dyeing until then,” Glimmering Cloud huffed, releasing me and stepping back, her eyes losing their red glow.

“First, Twilight Velvet and now you?!” I shouted, jumping to my feet and taking step away from the mare. “What is wrong with some of you mares?!”

“Oh, you know Velvet?” Glimmering Cloud asked, a new sparkle in her eyes. “I met the mare a few years ago during an event. She’s Shining Armors mother, right?

“I remember thinking about introducing him to—”

“She’ll be like that for a while, so you can go if you want,” Vlad said, moving beside me as he pulled the plugs out. “She won’t even notice you’re gone until she’s done with whatever it is she’s talking about.”

“But then that pink Princess starts complaining abo—”

“You don’t have to tell me twice,” I replied, blinking away from the pair and appearing behind them with a separation of over two dozen feet.

“I see you finally met Captain Vlad’s wife,” Celestia’s voice chirped as I moved farther away from my prior location. She stood a few feet away from me and looked to have come from inside the ship. I could see Cotton walking next to her, a look of worry and confusion on her face.

“What the hell is wrong with your ponies?!” I blurted out at the alicorn.

“I’m still trying to figure that out myself,” Celestia sighed as she levitated a letter to me. “Unfortunately, there’s another issue that I’m going to have to leave up to you.”

“Please don’t tell me they burnt my house down…” I groaned as I recognized Spike’s writing.

I read the letter quickly.

Then, I sighed heavily while shaking my head.

“How did I not see this coming?”

* * *

“We’re all going to die in here!” Scootaloo cried out from the darkness.

“Will you stop saying that?!” Sweetie Belle groaned from somewhere else in the darkness. “Its only been a… few hours… WE’RE GOING TO DIE IN HERE! HELP! SOMEPONY HELP US!

“I’M TOO CUTE TO DIE!”

“Aint the first time ah got sealed in a crate oh apples,” Apple Bloom calmly stated before a familiar sounding crunch drowned out Sweetie Belle’s frantic whining. “At least they’re fresh.”

“Why didn’t we just go with them when Cotton went?” Dinky’s voice questioned quietly.

“I’M TOO COOL TO DIE!” Scootaloo shouted as she started banging on the wooden wall nearest her.

Outside the large wooden crate the fillies were hidden in, I stood; watching the small flames that were the crusaders souls move around in slight panic.

“At least they put air holes into it,” Twilight sighed as Rainbow Dash continued to chuckle from the shouts coming from within.

“How much longer should we leave them in there?” I asked. “Too much longer and Celestia cant send them back.”

“She won’t be able to send them back,” Twilight quietly replied with a frown. “She may have the strength to do it, but they’re too young to handle that much magic being used on them for a teleportation spell.”

“So, it’s either turn the ship around or take them with us,” I sighed. “I’ll get them out of the box and get this taken care of, you mind taking miss giggles over there and see about setting a room up for them with Celestia?”

“Okay,” Twilight sighed as her horn lit and Rainbow Dash began to lift into the air. “They’re obviously really scared right now, so try to go easy on them.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I waved off before looking down to my left side at the large wolf to my side and the filly on his back. Cotton seemed to have a little trouble staying balanced on the ship, so she had climbed onto Geralt’s back during the initial tour of the place.

“Cotton, why don’t you calm them down while I go get a crowbar?” I directed, pointing to a far wall where a few of the objects were stored.

“Okay,” Cotton nodded as she patted Geralt’s side. “Come on Mr. Geralt.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle slightly at that while I moved a retrieved the metal bar I needed.

“Get us out of here!” I heard Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle shout out as I returned.

“Oh calm down, you’re not going to die in there,” I chuckled while opening the top of the box.

The moment the lid was opened, all four fillies jumped out, shouting in exuberance.

That exuberance died quickly when they noticed themselves floating in front of me while wrapped in a gray mist.

“You got some splanin’ to do,” I told the fillies.

“Crabapples…” Apple Bloom grumbled.

* * *

“We’re sorry,” the four fillies said as they kept their gazes low. The crate had been emptied of everything but the remaining apples, so a few bags sat next to the small group.

“I’m not the one you all should be apologizing to,” I replied, looking down at them with a small frown. “Do your guardians even know that you’re here?”

“Mommy gave me a note,” Dinky quickly stated while pointing towards the bags.

“I got one too!” Scootaloo chirped, surprising me.

“Then go get them,” I waved to the two of them before looking at Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. Both had worried looks on their faces and seemed to be panicking slightly.

“What about you two?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“We’re sorry!” they shouted together, their eyes wide with fear and worry.

“That’s not what I asked,” I sternly replied, looking down at them with disappointment. “Didn’t I make it clear that any time you even think of leaving Ponyville, that you not only tell your sisters but get a signed note of permission.”

With what I knew about the Crusaders, I knew that telling them to not do something would end up with them probably doing it anyways. So at least one way to help mitigate issues was telling them that they needed signed notes from their guardians or sisters letting them do something.

It was a work in progress.

“But mah sis would never let me go!” Apple Bloom bemoaned as Scootaloo and Dinky returned. While Scootaloo had a single sheet, Dinky had several.

Sweetie Belle just scuffed her hoof on the ground while keeping her eyes on the ground, a forlorn look in her eyes.

“You all have no idea just how much trouble you’ve caused all of us,” I said, taking the papers from two of the fillies and looking them over. “Especially for the Princess.”

Scootaloo’s paper was a simple generic letter from her guardians giving her permission to attend a ”Special Event” and said that I had their permission to watch over her. If it weren’t for the fact that I had met the filly’s guardians, two mares that were apparently her aunts, I would think that Scootaloo had tricked them into signing the paper.

But I had met the two and was disappointed to find that they weren’t the most caring of guardians. Both having jobs that resulted in them spending little time at home and left Scootaloo home alone for a day or two often.

Dinky’s little stack was a properly worded letter of permission from her mom and a small stack of papers that allowed her daughter to leave the country.

“Okay, here is what’s going to happen,” I began, looking over the four. “You’re all going to write letters to your families telling them where you are and that your safe. You will also ask for the proper paperwork for coming on this trip.

“If your sisters don’t know what they need, they can ask Derpy,” I continued, directing a look at Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. “You will also write an apology to Spike, because he will not only be the one delivering and sending letters, but also because he will be sending any homework and classwork you miss while here.”

“Awwww…” the four fillies sighed as they heard this.

“After that, you will apologize to the captain of this ship for stowing away without permission,” I continued, non-pulsed. “After that, you will then apologize to Princess Celestia.”

“Yes, sir…” the four fillies replied with looks of defeat.

“Cotton,” I began, turning to the filly and her mount. “Why don’t you and Geralt take them up to my room while I talk to a few other ponies?”

“Okay,” Cotton replied as Geralt turned to walk to an upper level where a room had been set aside for me. The four fillies, without being told, grabbed their bags and moved to follow Cotton and Geralt.

“Scootaloo,” I called, stopping the little Pegasus from leaving with the others. “Can I speak to you for a moment? I’ll bring you to the others after we talk for a moment.”

“O-okay…” Scootaloo replied before giving her friends a nod and walking back over to me.

I waited a few moments for the others to leave before I began to speak to Scootaloo. I wasn’t worried too much for them because most of the crew was terrified of me and Geralt by the looks I had seen.

“I got the letter,” the filly sheepishly said before any words could leave my mouth.

“Yes, you did,” I replied giving the filly a small smile. “Which is a lot more than Apple Bloom or Sweetie Belle can say.”

“Y-yeah,” Scootaloo replied, her smile growing into a more real one.

“How much of this did you tell your aunts when asking for permission,” I asked.

“Everything, I swear!” Scootaloo immediately replied, her smile slowly fading. “They said okay… gave me the letter… and now here I am.”

“Is everything alright at home, Scootaloo?” I bluntly asked. “I told you, I’ll talk to your aunts if you want; all you have to do is say the word.”

“No!” Scootaloo quickly replied. “Nothing's wrong at home, they were just really busy when I asked them.”

“And that’s what worries me Scoots,” I replied. “They always seem to be busy and I’m just worried about you.”

“Well… I’m fine,” Scootaloo grumbled. “Can I go now?”

“Yeah… yeah,” I sighed, letting her go. I knew it would be a bad idea to push her too much and I hadn’t heard anything bad, so I decided to leave it for another day.

Getting proper permission for her to travel would be the issue. But between Sparkler and Celestia, I should be able to get what I need.

* * *

“I cant believe they did that…” I groaned while falling into a small couch. I was currently in Celestia’s cabin and the room was massive.

It was as large as the entire first floor of my house and set in the rear of the ship. Full body windows showed me a perfect view of the air and sea we had already traveled. The bed in the back of the room could hold three Celestia’s and looked like it had never been used.

“If there’s anything I’ve learned over my life,” Celestia replied, siting in another couch to my left. “It’s that fillies will be fillies.”

“Well, those “Fillies” basically ran away from home, stowed away on a government ship and contaminated a crate of food,” I began. “And that’s just what I can think of at the moment.”

“They’re foals who wanted to go on an adventure,” Celestia scoffed as her horn flashed and several drinks appeared on a table between us. “They apologized to me and the Ship Captain, so I don’t see the need to do anything more than what you’ve already decided.”

“Well, this adventure of theirs is going to be quite boring,” I replied, grabbing a glass and pouring a random drink. It didn’t smell alcoholic, but it did smell sweet and looked a little like juice. Downing it quickly, I found that it tasted quiet good.

“I’ve already decided that they won’t be leaving the room until we land anth Ig… whaaaath….”

As I spoke, I began to lose feeling in… everything.

“That worked faster than I thought it would,” Celestia commented as she got up and moved in front of me.

I tried to say something, ask what she did or what was going on. But all I could produce was a trail of drool.

“Calm down, I just wanted to teach you a trick,” Celestia grumbled as she did something with magic. “Where we’re going, your more than likely going to be poisoned one way or another and I wanted to make sure you knew how to handle it.”

“Uhhhhggg!” I groaned, find just enough power to twitch.

This resulted in me falling out of the couch and hitting the floor hard.

“You had better not bleed on my floor,” Celestia grumbled, putting me back on the couch.

“Now then,” Celestia began as she poured herself a drink of what I had. She downed it just as fast as I did before continuing. “What you drank was simply juice mixed with a paralyzing potion. Its not enough to hurt you but it is great for practice.”

As Celestia said this, she brought her empty glass back to her lips and spit out a gray glob.

“That is the what the potion looks like normally,” Celestia commented, waving the glass around slightly. “It might not look like it, but I’m constantly using magic to check and prevent myself from being poisoned.

“The trick is that I internalize the magic and spell so that it can counteract it before it can even take effect,” Celestia said. “Then I just expel it however I can.”

“Uh….” I groaned back. I just wanted the poison gone, and her telling me it was a spell that she used wasn’t going to help me.

“Right, so all you need to do is do exactly like I told you,” Celestia told me. “Twilight figured it out in under an hour. You have two since you don’t use regular magic. or I will leave you outside on the deck for the night like that.”

Before I could even twitch, she walked back to her couch, summoned a book and began to read.

* * *

“Seven… six… five…” Celestia counted off, the two hours almost up.

“Beuggg!” I puked, mere seconds before the two hour mark. A small gray object rocketed out of my mouth as I found myself finally back in control of my body.

“One,” Celestia finished as her horn lit and a small gray pebble was lifted closer to her for inspection. “Looks like you mixed it with something else inside your body; made it solid.”

“Why the fuck would you do that?!” I roared at her, my mind almost at a snapping point. The fact that I was fully conscious while being unable to move even a finger was terrifying.

“So that you know what to do if you get poisoned at the tournament,” Celestia calmly replied as she put the small pebble in a glass before directing me back to the drink she had summoned earlier. “Now do it again.”

“Hell no!” I replied jumping to my feet. A part of me thought I shouldn’t have been able to do that, but the rage building up in me masked that. “Not unless I get more than “Incase you get poisoned”!”

“Because I need you to be able to do it,” Celestia replied, growling slightly. “I know you had your helmet designed to help in case of a poison gas attack, but it won’t help if its injected into you or slipped into your food or drink.

“You may not like to hear this, but if you can be poisoned and just shrug it off with ease, then I can use that.”

“Use that for what?” I asked, frowning deeply.

“To protect the others from it,” Celestia replied calmly. “If I go around using my magic to check our entire parties’ meals and what not, it would send a sign of distrust to our hosts.

“The Equis Tournament’s main focus is to keep relations civil between all participants,” Celestia continued to explain. “Countries and settlements all over the planet use this tournament to settle disputes in a way that doesn’t lead to war.”

“So what… it’s a show of force?” I asked, starting to calm down slightly.

“Yes and no,” Celestia replied.

“Yes in that it shows those who are trying to harm us that their attempts are useless,” Celestia grumbled. “And no, in that it shows others that we trust them enough not to check our own meals.”

“But we will still be checking, right?” I asked, now worried that someone would try to poison me or someone else.

“Of course,” Celestia replied. “The fact that someone like me doesn’t check helps balance the trust mistrust scale.”

“Its sounds like you don’t trust anyone at these things,” I commented.

“I don’t,” Celestia admitted. “Like I said, this tournament is used to help decide very important things all around the world, so certain actions are always expected; even if they don’t happen.”

“Who else can do it?” I asked.

“On this ship, that would be myself, Captain Vlad and his wife, Twilight, a few guards and yourself now,” Celestia replied. “The biggest thing is that we not show that we are checking or being affected by whatever might be given to us.”

“Which is why you want me to do it again,” I sighed.

“We have three days to get it to the point where you can immediately detect and cleanse yourself of poison without showing it,” Celestia replied, indicating the drink again. “Be happy I’m starting you off with a weak paracletic like this, because I’ve once been poisoned with a concoction that burns your insides within seconds of injection.”

“Your not gonna hit me with that stuff,” I stated, rather than asked.

“I will, when you least expect it,” Celestia replied with a serious expression. “Even Twilight has been through it.”

“W-why now though?” I asked, worried. “Why didn’t you or Luna start this training back in… Equestria…”

I didn’t even need to hear Celestia’s reply to know why.

Looking out the window, all I could see was open air and sea.

“We’re no longer in Equestria,” Celestia replied. “If the wrong pony heard about this training, even I wouldn’t be safe from the law of the land.”

“I ever tell you how much I hate you,” I grumbled, poring myself another drink.

“Usually it’s me telling you that,” Celestia replied, switching the main container of drink with a dark red one. “You have an hour to finish this time because that’s how long it will take for the next one to kill you.”

“I’m starting to hate the fact I can do magic,” I grumbled, taking a seat and downing the drink.

* * *

“Uhg…” Christopher groaned as he left Celestia’s quarters. It was three in the morning and he had finally gotten to a point where he could feel the poison in his body.

That was Celestia’s main objective in this training. Cleansing a body was easy for her and any well-trained unicorn or healer, but if you didn’t even know you were poisoned, it wouldn’t be of any help.

“How I hate that man,” Celestia grumbled as she downed the last of the drink she had last given Christopher. This one had a way of making the body tense and relax randomly and uncomfortably.

She actually quite liked the taste of it with the juice it was with.

“Princess,” Vlad greeted as he entered a few minutes later. “I noticed, Reaper leaving and thought now would be a good time to talk.”

“Make it fast,” Celestia replied, taking a seat in the same couch Christopher had been in for several hours.

“It shouldn’t take long,” Vlad replied before beginning.

“The fillies spent the entire evening in the room given to them, my wife made sure of that,” Vlad smiled. “I also got word that Gryphons will be sending one of their princess’s as their ambassador, but it’s their representative that will cause us some issue.”

“Who?” Celestia asked, spitting out a glob of yellowish gel.

“The Bloody Claw,” Vlad replied with a heavy growl.

“The Commander of the same mercenary company that took a contract on my sister,” Celestia added to herself, a frown also on her face. “They have to know that this will cause several issues.”

“Apparently they stepped forward when the Emperor Storm Beak put out that he was looking for a powerful representative,” Vlad added. “They want the chance to take on the Reaper.”

“Buck!” Celestia shouted, flinging her glass away and letting it shatter on a wall.

“Afraid the Reaper can’t handle them?” Vlad asked with a smirk.

“It’s the fact they want to take him on that angers me,” Celestia replied. “That fool probably wants revenge for his brother.”

“Do you want me to do something?” Vlad asked.

“No,” Celestia growled. “It will take some work, but The Bloody Claw will get his fight.”

“Will you tell Reaper?” Vlad asked, already knowing the answer.

“No,” Celestia replied. “Anything else.”

“The Arthwani will be in attendance,” Vlad said, a slightly concerned look on his face.

“I thought they would,” Celestia sighed.

“After all, if anyone’s after the Reaper, its them.”

Author's Note

Like all the times before, quote the chapter title.

Sorry it took so long, re wrote this chapter eight times and still don't like it all that much. But as you can tell, things are going to start even more complicated from here on out and I got a lot of writing ahead of me.
I already have a pretty good portion of the next chapter done already, so you can look forward to that at least.