Apex Is Coming

I awoke the next day to someone banging on my room’s door. “Fuck off!” I shouted as I put a pillow over my head in an attempt to block out the noise.

“The princess wishes to speak to you!” An unfamiliar voice shouted back.

“I don’t care,” I muttered to myself. I began fake snoring loudly, hoping that whoever was at the door would get the hint. After a few fake snores, I stopped, and swiftly crept back to my slumber.

Sadly, my slumber didn’t last long. The next thing I felt was a large amount of extremely cold water cascading onto me. After screaming for a second, I rolled off the bed and hit the ground with a thud.

I quickly jumped to my feet and glared at the only pony in the room. Turns out that the pony who wanted to wake me entered the room, and had proceeded to dump an entire bucket of water on me.

The stallion was holding the bucket by his teeth. “The fuck is your problem!” I began shouting at him.

After setting the bucket down, he looked up at me with a frown. “The princess wishes to speak to you. She said it was urgent.”

“I wish I could just strangle you right now,” I growled. I looked down at myself and felt my shirt stick to my skin. I sighed and slipped my wet shirt off and began to ring it out over the bed. “You’re a butler right?” I looked over the stallion. He was a grey earth pony with a darker grey mane and tail and brown eyes. He was wearing a butler's suit, so I just assumed he was one.

He nodded once at me. After ringing my shirt out, I threw it on the floor behind me. “Does she need me now?” I asked while examining the rest of my attire. Luckily, my pants, for the most part, were dry, besides a couple of wet spots from the water dripping off my shirt.

The butler nodded again. I sighed and began stomping my way over to the mysterious door from last night. I swung it open, stepped into the room, and slammed it behind me.

Just like I predicted last night, it was indeed a bathroom. I went over and swung open the first cabinet I noticed. Inside were a couple of towels. I grabbed one and began to dry off my torso and hair.

After a few minutes of drying, I walked back into the main room with the towel around my shoulders. My hair was still damp, but I didn’t care. “Who’s gonna clean that up?” I pointed towards the soaked bed and my wet shirt.

He looked over to where I was pointing. “A maid will. Now let’s hurry.” He then trotted over to the door and opened it.

I let out a sigh as I walked over to the bed. I sat the damp blanket onto the bed and grabbed my glasses. After slipping them on, I stepped next to the stallion and gestured for him to lead the way. He stepped out of my room and began to trot down the hallway.

I stepped into line with the stallion while we turned down hallways. During our walk, we passed by a window that overlooked the city. I paused and looked out, noticing that the sky was still dark.

I turned on my glasses and called out ‘time’. Like always the time was displayed, it was currently 5:48.

I let out a groan and turned to continue the walk. But before I could actually begin walking, a cold breeze smacked my bare skin. “Jesus, why is it so cold?” I hugged myself in an attempt to warm up.

“Summer just ended. It’s fall currently.” The stallion spoke. Turns out, he paused only a few feet in front of me. I was wishing he wouldn’t notice I was there, and just continue on.

“Yeah, I know. It’s fucking stupid. It was the middle of summer where I’m from.” I turned off my glasses as I walked by the stallion.

The stallion decided not to respond to that, instead, he quickened his pace and walked at my side. We kept turning down hallways that I somewhat recognized.

It didn’t take us long as we eventually found ourselves standing in front of the door I recognized as the one to the dining area. The stallion stepped in front of me and opened the door. After it was opened, he gestured for me to enter.

Obeying him, I entered the room. I instantly noticed Celestia sitting in the same seat from last night. “Good morning, Saint,” She said in a motherly tone.

“Hi.” I walked over and plopped down next to her. I realized that she seemed to already have breakfast ready. On the table were some pancakes, omelets, pastries, and a single cup of tea. All the food was sitting on their own plates.

“Everything alright?” Celestia asked, concern evident in her voice.

I looked up at her with a poker face. “Well, my species wear clothing to stay warm. And I’m freezing my nips off.” I leaned back in my chair as I finished.

She gave me a confused look before responding. “If it’s cold why didn’t you wear the shirt you had from yesterday?”

I dropped the poker face and replaced it with an annoyed glare. “Maybe if your jackass butler didn’t dump water on me I’d be fine.” I grabbed a pancake and angrily bit into it. Turns out it had chocolate chips, so it was delicious.

Celestia covered her mouth with a hoof and chuckled behind it. “If you like, I could assign you a maid.”

After finishing my pancake I shook my head. “No, I’m going back to Ponyville.”

Celestia dropped her hoof and had a serious expression on her face. “If you plan on going back to Ponyville, I’d like you to have a guard that will stay with you. And they will report back to me every day.”

“Doubt you’ll find someone who would do that.” I chuckled lightly.

“I actually already have a pony for the job.” Celestia levitated over a teacup and sipped from it.

I rolled my eyes at hearing that. “So, what's so important that I was woken up at 6 in the morning?”

Celestia had an unreadable expression on her face. She sat her teacup down and gave me an extremely serious look. “Two things; one, I have a favor to ask of you, and two, I have a question to ask that has been concerning me.”

I was perplexed to hear that royalty wanted a favor from me. “What’s the question first?” I raised at an eyebrow and awaited her response.

“Why were you sent to Equestria, instead of your other team members?”

It took me a couple of seconds to think of a response. “Huh, I actually never thought about that. There’s only four of us, so I guess it was just by chance.” Thinking back to the mission, it made sense that it was by chance. If I went with Beta or Delta instead, I wouldn’t even be here.

Celestia had a dumbfounded expression on her face. “There’s only four members in your group?” I nodded once. “The way you explained it made it sound like there was a lot more.”

I just shrugged. “We don’t need more. The four of us are dangerous as it is.” Celestia had a frown on her face, but I didn’t care. “Any other questions?”

“None from me at the moment.”

“Good.” I leaned back further in my chair and continued speaking. “So, what’s this favor?”

Celestia cleared her throat before speaking. “I assigned Shining Armor a special task yesterday, and I believe he will need the help.”

I had a confused expression on my face. “So you want me to help him?” She nodded once. “Don’t you have other guards?”

Celestia let out a sigh. “I do. But if you’re really the leader of a legendary assassin group, I believe you will be better for the task.”

I nodded while smiling. “Appreciate the flattery. I’ll do it.”

“I know it’s a lot to ask bu... wait, you’ll do it?” Celestia looked extremely confused.

I shrugged before responding. “I mean yeah, fuck it. What kind of assignment though?”

Celestia smiled brightly. “Thank you, Saint, you will be rewarded greatly. Also, Shining Armor will explain everything.”

I nodded once and leaned forward in my chair. “I’ll need my things before I go,” I muttered.

“I’d like you to leave your bombs and bring the non-lethal ones.” Celestia sounded stern.

“Sure,”

“Thank you.” She replied. “Another thing. Can you tell Shining Armor, everything about your team? I want Equestria to prepared.”

“Sure. Where Shi-“ I was cut off as a freezing shiver ran throughout my body.

“Saint, are you okay?” Celestial sounded concerned.

I shook my head and began breathing heavily. “I felt fine ten minutes ago, but it’s like the cold from yesterday came back.” I began looking throughout the room. “There a window or something?”

Celestia looked baffled at that. “Don’t be alarmed.” She spoke softly. I was about to question what she meant, but before I could, I watched as her horn began glowing.

She tilted her horn towards me as it began to glow brighter. Seconds went by, and during that time, I felt the coldness leave me as if it was never there. After a while, her horn died down, and she looked at me with a frown. “Someone cast an eavesdropping spell on you.”

I had a perplexed expression on my face. “A what?”

“Once cast, the user is able to hear everything you say, or what others say to you.”

I was confused at first, but then I became angry that someone had eavesdropped on me without my knowledge. “The fuck!” I stood up from my seat and looked around the room once more. “How? No one is here.”

“You said you felt like this yesterday?” I looked back at Celestia and nodded. “When did it start?”

I sat back down in my chair. “When I entered the city.”

Celestia let out a sigh as her horn began to glow again. “I can’t tell who cast it, but I’ll be able to put up a defense for it.” She finished as her horns glow died down.

“So they can’t cast it anymore?”

Celestia shook her head and sipped on more of her tea. “It’ll only last for a few hours. My guess is that someone took it upon themselves to investigate the mysterious creature that entered the city.”

I began to rub my temples. “How did they cast it now? There’s no one here for fuck sake!”

“If they cast it on you once they can cast it on you again from anywhere. It’s an advanced spell that takes months to learn.” Celestia reassured.

I just sighed and rested my elbows on the table. “It’s whatever, at least they got the warning too.”

Celestia let out a sigh as well. “It’s not whatever. Somepony out there knows about you and who you are.”

I honestly didn’t care if ponies out there knew who I was. I was angry that I was being spied on. My guess was that either Shining or Blue cast it. “Relax, it’s not like you told me any state secrets.” I stood up from my seat and began heading towards the exit. “Ima go meet up with Shining.”

“He should still be in the castle,” Celestia called out from behind me.

“Ok. Also, tell that guard that I’ll be in Ponyville.” I waved behind me.

Before I could make my exit, the door I was supposed to use flew open. And in walked in another pony that also had a horn and a pair of wings. She had a dark blue coat and her mane and tail where just like Celestia’s, they were flowing as if there was wind. Both were a sapphire blue with a purplish outline. It even looked like she had stars in her tail.

“Good morning sister!” Celestia called from behind me.

“Morning sister.” The dark princess finished with a loud yawn. She had her head down blocking me from seeing her eyes. She began trotting into the room, so I quietly stepped to the side.

Once she was far enough into the room, I shrugged my shoulders and left before the dark princess could notice me.

After my exit, I tried my hardest to remember the path to my room. After backtracking my steps, I eventually made it back to my room. I opened the door and immediately noticed a mare inside of it.

“Uhh.” I entered and shut the door behind me, startling the mare. She was wearing a maid uniform, so I assumed she was the maid that the butler was talking about.

The mare turned around and faced me. “Sorry sir, I was just tending to your bed and clothing.” She bowed her head slightly and turned back around. I then noticed that my bed was perfectly fine, as if a bucket of water hadn’t been dumped on it.

“That was fast.” I then realized that she was using magic, she had a dark red aura and inside that aura was my shirt.

My shirt seemed dry, so I reached out to grab it. After touching it, the aura surrounding it disappeared, making my shirt go limp in my hand. “Thanks.” I slipped my shirt back on and instantly felt warmer.

“You’re welcome, sir.” The mare bowed her head again and left me alone in my room. I let out a sigh and sat down on my bed. I really wanted to go back to sleep, but then I remembered that I needed to speak to Shining Armor. So I stood up and exited my room.

I didn’t really know where to look, so I was forced to ask for directions from a nearby guard. Creepily enough, he looked the same as the others.

Luckily, he was nice enough to show me the way. The walk felt like an hour, but in reality, it was probably only half of that. And for the first time during my stay in the castle, I was forced to climb up a flight of stairs. Maybe I should invent the escalator while I’m here. At the end of our journey, we were standing in front of what I assumed was Shining Armor’s suite. “Thanks.” I waved off the guard.

He nodded and began to trot away. I decided to let myself into Shining’s room without knocking, because I wanted to bother him. “What up!” I shouted while closing the door behind me.

Shining Armor was currently making his bed using his magic. His room was a lot bigger than mine, his even had a window in it. “What do you want?” He spat at me.

“Whoa, calm down now buddy.” I walked over and threw myself onto his bed. “I heard that you need help with a task.”

Shining gave me a confused expression. “What do you mean?”

I rolled around on his bed a couple of times before responding. “Celestia was talking about how she assigned you a task. And she wants me to help you.”

He used his magic to lift me up and set me down away from his bed. “No.” He growled at me. “And why would she even ask you?”

I watched as Shining began to fix his bed again. “Wait, she hasn’t told you?” I asked.

“You’re just a messenger.” He turned to face me after fixing his bed. “Why would she ask you to help?”

Celestia must’ve never told him how I’m the leader of Apex. “Uhh... I don’t know you ask her.”

Shining let out a sigh. “I’ll talk to her before I head back to the Crystal Empire.” He began to trot towards the door.

I quickly jumped in front of him and leaned back against the door. “Before you leave, Celestia wanted me to tell you everything I know about Apex.”

He gave me a confused look. “Why, What else do you know about them?”

I just smiled as I began to explain what he needed to know. I told him that there’s only three of them, how they can heal themselves with the nanotechnology, the weapons they carry and use, and finally a basic description of them.

“THEY HAVE WHAT!” He screamed. I just finished telling him about the cluster grenades and how much damage they could cause.

“Relax, they rarely use them.” I walked over and sat down on his bed.

“You said they were being controlled. You don’t know how they will act!”

“Oh, you’re right, they might use them then.” I chuckled while scratching the back of my head.

He began to glare at me. “Is this a joke to you?” He spat.

I just rolled my eyes behind my glasses and shook my head. “No,”

Shining just sighed and shook his head as well. “How do you even know all of this?” But before I could respond, he began speaking skeptically. “Wait, don’t you have exactly what they have? I mean, you have the thing that exploded on impact as well.”

I winced and stood up. “Long story, just ask Celestia.” Shining opened his mouth to respond, but I kept speaking. “Anyways, last bit of advice. Tell your guards that if they see any of them that they must run away and report it back to me or you”.

Shining just rolled his eyes. “Why? From what I know your species can’t use magic. All we do is detain them with magic.”

I shook my head before responding. “They don’t need magic. They’ll find a way to counter it.”

“Nothing can counter magic. And why would we report anything to you?” Shining demanded.

“Because I can deal with them of course.”

Shining squinted his eyes slightly. “You’re gonna take on an assassin group? Alone?”

I stood up and spoke with false confidence. “Ask Celestia and you’ll find out why I can deal with them.” In actuality, those three could kill me if they fought me together.

Shining mumbled something under his breath. But before I could ask what was said, he spoke louder. “Do you at least know when they will be arriving?”

That’s a question I hadn’t really figured out. “If I had to guess, probably a couple of weeks, or months for all I know. I don’t know what they're planning.” I was basing my theory on the device I used to get here. Considering I probably used a prototype that worked. All they had to do was make it so they could at least get back to Earth.

“That’s enough time to prepare,” Shining mumbled. He then trotted out the door, leaving me behind.

I groaned, but eventually caught up to him. “Well enough about me. What’s this mission you’re doing?”

Shining turned to glare at me. “I’ll tell you after I talk to Celestia.”

I just paused and let Shining go on ahead of me. All he did was trot a couple of feet before turning down a hallway. “This bitch,” I muttered.

I began stretching while walking through the castles upper part. I was pretty confused as to where I was. I’d never been to this part of the castle before.

Luckily for me, I spotted a maid who was watering a plant. “Yo!” I called while walking over to the mare.

She looked at me and shifted her eyes away instantly, she continued watering the plant with the water pale in her mouth.

I frowned but decided to speak. “Anyway, can you lead me to my room?”

She sat the pale down and looked at me with a worried expression. “S...sure.” She muttered quietly. She instantly turned around and slowly trotted ahead of me.

It didn’t take long for her to lead me back to my room. The second I got into it, I threw myself onto my bed and closed my eyes. Now that I didn’t have anything to do, I could finally relax.

I fell asleep after five minutes of relaxing, and I was awoken by the sound of knocking at my door. After letting out a loud and obnoxious groan, I stood up and headed over to the door.

I swung it open and was greeted by a surprised looking Celestia. “Don’t you have a bunch of responsibilities?” I asked while yawning.

Celestia gave me a frown, but responded after a couple of seconds. “I do, but you should as well. I advised Shining about your relationship with Apex.”

“And?” I was waiting for her to continue.

Celestia sighed, but ultimately continued. “He wasn’t happy to hear about how you’re the leader. He believes your the reason their coming.”

I just rolled my eyes. “They’d come regardless. I’m on your side, Celestia, I want them back as much as you don’t want them here.”

Celestia had an unreadable expression on her face. Then, after a couple of awkward seconds, she nodded. “Ok, I believe you, Saint, I’ll keep you updated if we find them.”

“Thank you.” I turned to walk around, but then realized something. “Wait,” I spun back around and faced Celestia. “Do you still want me to help Shining?”

Celestia had a soft smile on her face. “If possible, yes. He doesn’t want you to but I’d like it if you did.”

I nodded and grinned. “Just send a letter to Twilight whenever you need me. I’ll hear the details then.”

Celestia frowned and squinted her eyes. “You’ll just accept a task without hearing the details?” Celestia sounded skeptical.

I rolled my eyes before responding. “Yes, I’ll be able to do whatever you need me to do.”

Now Celestia rolled her eyes. “If you say so. You’ll be getting a letter as soon as I can send one. I’ll see you later, Saint.”

She turned around and began to trot off, but before she got far, I remembered something. “Yo, quick question. There’re teleportation spells right?”

Celestia turned around and raised a brow. “Yes, there are. Why?”

“Is it possible for you to teleport me to Ponyville? It’s a lot faster than getting a train.” I was broke and I figured it would be rude to ask a princess for money.

“I can, but it takes a couple of seconds.” She tilted her horn towards me and it began to glow brightly. “The guard who will be with you will arrive later... and thanks for helping us, Saint.”

“Shit, I completely forgot about that pa-“ I was cut off as a loud pop sounded off. Celestia was replaced by a bunch of stalls selling various items. I spun around quickly and realized I was in what looked like a market place. But I was definitely in Ponyville, because I recognized some of the ponies from the town. “Magic is broken.” I muttered to myself.

The first thing I did was take an uneventful walk to the library. The ponies of Ponyville still gave me odd looks, and like always I just ignored them.

I spotted the library and quickly hustled over. I didn’t bother knocking since I lived there, so I opened the door and let myself inside. I quickly spotted Spike, who was dusting down some bookshelves with his pink duster. “What up, Spike.”

Spike spun around and looked up at me with a smile. “Hey man! Where have you been?” He quickly ran over to me.

“Had to stay overnight.”

Spike and I both stared at each other awkwardly for a couple of seconds. He had a strange expression as he began to speak. “What happened while you were in Canterlot?” He asked.

I was definitely confused as to what he was talking about. “What?”

He then began to scratch the back of his head, a habit he picked up from me. “It’s just that Twilight said I shouldn’t talk to you if you stopped by. Apparently, you did something bad in Canterlot.”

I took a step back as I felt my heart drop. “Is that all she said?” I nervously asked.

Spike shook his head once. “No, she also kinda kicked you out... I tried to stop her, but she wouldn’t listen!”

I clenched my first and plastered a fake smile on my face as I spoke. “I guess I deserve that.” I finished with a quiet laugh. “Anyways, know where she is?”

Spike had a frown on his face as he set his duster down onto the ground. “She just left not to long ago. And are you okay?”

“Yeah,” I lied. “Know where my stuff is?”

“Yeah, about that.” He again began scratching the back of his head again. “Twilight had me send everything you had to Celestia.”

I definitely was annoyed to hear that, but I tried my hardest to not show it. “When did that happen?”

“I think a couple of minutes ago.”

“Oh, well cya around.” I turned around and headed for the door.

Just before I could exit, Spike called out to me. “Where are you going!?”

“I guess to find her,” I mumbled. “I just missed her so it shouldn’t be that hard.” I opened the door, stepped outside, and shut the door behind me.

I let out a sigh and walked away from the library. I was enraged and annoyed. Shining must have twisted the truth and made me sound like a monster who tried to kill Blue for the fun of it. Maybe she would understand that it was in self-defense, all I gotta do is find her and explain my side of the story.

I didn’t know the layout for Ponyville, so I didn’t know where to look first. She couldn’t have gotten far, so it shouldn’t be hard to find her.

The first place I headed was to Rarity’s shop. I was hoping to find Rarity, and ask her if she knows where Twilight was.

I got there after roughly five minutes, and like usual, I let myself inside without knocking. “Yo, Rarity!” I called inside the shop.

“She’s not here.” My eyes flicked down to a familiar filly wearing a saddle bag.

“Oh, know where I could find her?” I asked the unicorn filly.

“She just left not to long ago.” I let out a loud groan at hearing that. I instantly turned around and exited the shop.

I stomped my feet as I angrily continued through Ponyville. I was getting annoyed at how unlucky I was for just missing Twilight and Rarity.

My train of thought was ruined as I noticed the sound of trotting. I looked down and noticed the filly trotting at my side. “Why are you following me?” I asked.

She looked up at me with a confused expression. “You’re going the same way I am.”

Now I had a confused expression. “Where are you going?” I asked.

“To school of course!” I instantly turned on my glasses and called out ‘time’. I watched as it displayed 7:52. “Who are you talking to?” The filly asked.

“My glasses.” I honestly answered while adjusting them.

“Why?” The filly kept questioning.

“Reasons.” I quickly shut off my glasses and attempted to change the subject. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Sweetie Belle! What’s yours?”

“Saint.” Awkwardly enough, I didn’t continue the conversation. Instead, we just walked in silence for a few minutes. “Wait, is that the school?” I pointed ahead of us and watched as a red building that resembled an older styled schoolhouse came into view.

“Yep! And that’s Applebloom,” I watched as Belle pointed a hoof at the southern filly who wore a red ribbon in her mane. “And that’s Scootaloo.” Belle moved her hoof to the right and there was the orange pegasus filly. They both were trotting towards us with smiles on their face.

“Aww, the trio who jumped me.” I looked down at Sweetie Belle as I recalled the day the three fillies jumped me and tried to ‘save’ Twilight.

She looked away with a blush forming on her face. “Sorry about that.” She muttered.

Before I could reassure her, the fillies approaching us both spoke in unison.

“Hi, Sweetie Belle!”

“Hey, Sweetie Belle. Hey, Saint.” My eyes snapped onto Scootaloo.

“You know my name?” I questioned.

She nodded once. “Yeah, Rainbow Dash talks about you a lot.”

“Good stuff right?” I kept questioning.

She shifted her eyes away from and had a fake smile. “Yeah.... good stuff.”

I just rolled my eyes and frowned. “Ya names Saint?” Applebloom asked with her signature southern accent. I nodded once. “Why are ‘ya walking Sweetie Belle ta school?”

“It was an accident,” I answered while scratching the back of my head.

“You walked her to school on accident?” Scootaloo asked.

“Yeah, I asked her something and left after she answered. Apparently, I was walking towards the school so she followed me.” I finished with an awkward smile.

Scootaloo and Applebloom both just stared at me with confused expressions. “Yeah, it was an accident!” Sweetie Belle supported me from my side.

Applebloom opened her mouth to speak but was cut off as a loud bell began ringing. After a few seconds, the ringing stopped and Applebloom began speaking. “Come on girls, don’t wanna be late.” Sweetie Belle left my side and followed Scootaloo and Applebloom towards the schoolhouse.

“Wait!” I called. All three of them turned and gave me awaiting expressions. “Have you two seen Twilight or her friends?” I asked pointing at Applebloom and Scootaloo.

They both looked at each other before turning to look at me. “We saw Pinkie Pie not too long ago,” Scootaloo answered.

“Where? Like, just point in the direction and I’ll leave.” I was getting impatient at this point. Sure the three fillies were adorable and cute, but I’d rather just find Twilight and sort this out.

Both Scootaloo and Applebloom pointed at me, so I assumed they meant behind me. I turned around and spotted Pinkie Pie in the distance. “Huh, well that’s lucky. Thanks, I guess.” I began walking over to Pinkie.

“Thanks, Saint!” I heard Sweetie Belle call from behind me.

I didn’t turn around as I began shouting. “No problem I guess!”

I made a beeline for Pinkie and made it towards her in no time. “Pinkie!” I called.

She stopped bouncing and turned to look at me. The second she saw me she smiled brightly. “Hiya Saint!”

Pinkie began bouncing over to me. “You know where Twilight is?” I asked.

She began nodding rapidly. “Twilight and Fluttershy are looking around next to Fluttershy’s cottage!”

I had a confused expression on my face as I crossed my arms. “What are they looking for?”

Pinkie stopped bouncing and began giggling instead. “They’re looking for Tank, duhhh!”

“Who?” I kept questioning.

“Rainbow Dash’s pet!”

I uncrossed my arms and began rubbing my temple. “Just tell me the story, from the beginning.” I was starting to get a headache from her giggling.

“Well, one day Rainbow Dash wanted a pet! So we decided to-“ I cut Pinkie off by placing a finger over her lips.

“I take that back. Tell me from today please.” I asked as nicely as I could. Pinkie crossed her eyes and looked at my finger, then she looked at me and nodded her head repeatedly.

I regretted asking Pinkie to tell me the story. I would’ve been better off guessing it. She told me EVERYTHING that happened to her today. What time she woke up, what she had for breakfast, and how she was working at a place called Sugar Cube Corner when Twilight needed help.

The main point to her story was how Twilight and everyone else asked her to help them find Rainbow’s pet tortoise. “Thanks, Pinkie.” I tried to hide the annoyance in my voice. It took her roughly fifteen minutes to tell me everything.

“No problem!” She finished with a bright smile.

I let out a sigh and began cracking my knuckles. “So, let’s go meet up with them.”

“But I’m not finished with looking around here!” She protested.

I let out a loud and obnoxious groan. “Fuck it. I’ll help you.”

“Yay!” She began bouncing in place. “Follow me!”

Pinkie lead me around Ponyville, looking in places a turtle couldn’t possibly fit into. I got annoyed by that so I told her it might be a good idea to question the ponies of Ponyville. She agreed and thought it was a good idea for us to have a good cop bad cop routine. And you can guess who was playing the bad cop.

“WHERES TANK!” Pinkie screamed at a frightened looking mare.

The mare was currently laying on the ground with her hooves over her head. “I don’t know!” She cried out.

“Then explain!” Pinkie pointed at a pot with a plant I couldn’t identify in it. “THIS!”

“It’s a plant.” I whispered next to Pinkie.

“YES! And turtles eat plants!” Pinkie looked up at me with a grin.

“And?” I kept whispering.

“That means she lured Tank in with this plant and stole him!” Pinkie then looked back at the mare. “GIVE TANK BACK!”

“I said I don’t know where he is!” The mare sounded like she was on the verge of tears.

I frowned and shook my head. “This was the stupidest idea.” I grabbed Pinkie by the tail and began dragging her in the opposite direction. “Sorry about her!” I called from behind me.

After I was a few yards away, I let go of Pinkie’s tail and turned to face her. “You’re not allowed to question anyone ever again.”

“I almost had her!” Pinkie protested while spinning around to face me.

“No, not even close.” I let out a sigh and a couple of deep breaths. “Can we just find Twilight and the others?” Pinkie was starting to get on my nerves.

“Fineeeee.” After speaking, she muttered something under her breath.

“What?” I asked.

“Let’s go!” She shouted and began bouncing away from me. I just sighed again and followed after her.

Pinkie and I hustled to Ponyville's marketplace. Apparently, everybody was supposed to meet up there if they couldn’t find Tank.

After entering the marketplace, I instantly spotted everybody talking in a circle. “Finally,” I muttered to myself.

Pinkie and I approached the circle, and once we had gotten close enough, everybody turned to look at us, and among that everybody was Twilight. She gave me a look that made me feel like Delta had shot one of her arrows through my gut again. She looked angry. She was giving me the look you give people you despise, people you absolutely detest.

Before I could even think of something to say, Rainbow began shouting at Pinkie. “Did you find him!”

Pinkie began shaking her head repeatedly. “Nope!” After stopping the shaking, she gestured a hoof to me. “But I found Saint instead.”

“Hi.” I awkwardly stated while waving a hand. Everyone besides Twilight and Rainbow gave me a warm smile.

Applejack was the first to speak. “Haven’t seen ‘ya in a while,” she admitted while tilting her hat towards me.

“Been busy I guess. You know how life goes.” I started scratching the back of my head awkwardly before turning to Rainbow. “Anyways, how's the search for your pet going?”

“Why did you bring him!?” She spat at Pinkie, completely ignoring me.

“Because I’m actually a nice person.” I cut in before Pinkie could respond. “I assume you need the help since you clearly haven’t found him yet.”

“We don’t need your help!”

“Rainbow,” Fluttershy muttered. Everybody looked at her, including me. She blushed while looking away from us. “We could use the help. The more the merrier, right?” She practically whispered.

“Yes, she's right darling.” Rarity had decided to come to my defense. “The more the merrier indeed.”

“That’s why I fuck with you two.” I lied as I stepped next to them. I didn’t exactly consider them friends, but I couldn’t just say that out loud. It was better to let them think they were though “Where have you looked so far?”

“So far we’ve looked everywhere in Ponyville.” Twilight’s voice was significantly more forced than it usually was, in addition to now also having an undercurrent of hostility. She stepped forward and continued. “Pinkie, has anyone seen him?” I was shocked that Twilight didn’t call me out about what had happened in Canterlot, instead, she seemed to be ignoring me.

“Yep! Bon Bon was being suspicious so Saint and I questioned her.” Pinkie shouted.

I just shook my head as I sighed. “That’s wasn’t a questioning.” As I finished speaking, an idea popped into my head. “Wait, what about the massive forest next to this place?”

Everybody in the group changed their expressions to ones I couldn’t identify. “He wouldn’t go in there!” Rainbow started shouting.

I nodded a couple of times before responding. “I’ll check there then. There’s always the off chance.”

Before I could actually leave to go look, Rainbow declared something that shocked me. “If you’re going in there, I’m coming too.” I raised an eyebrow at that.

“Why?” I asked, “You don’t even like me?”

Rainbow frowned. “I’m going because you might bring back some random tortoise.”

I turned to face the others. “You five double check everything while we head into the forest.”

Twilight stepped forward with a worried look, and the tone she had pained me when I heard it. “We can’t let you two go in there alone!” She protested.

I let out a sigh as I stepped in front of her. “It’s just a forest.”

Twilight glared at me. “It’s not the Everfree I’m worried about.” She spat.

I clenched my fists as I tried my hardest to not shout. “Rainbow, I’ll meet you at the forest.”

“Don’t keep me waiting.” I watched out of the corner of my eye as Rainbow took to the skies.

“You girls go on ahead, I wanna have a word with Saint.” Twilight squinted her eyes at me and had an expression that I knew all too well, as it was the same one I had used on Bruce after he had brainwashed my team.

The others must’ve noticed Twilights expression, because they all seemed to become very worried. “Oh dear,” Fluttershy muttered as her ears flopped down.

“Don’t take long now.” Rarity awkwardly said as she lead everyone else away from us.

Now it was just Twilight and I. I wanted to shout, but I did everything in my power to hold it back. “Your brother lied to you, Twilight, it was in self-defense.”

“Don’t lie to me. Blue wouldn’t try to harm you.” I had barely even finished talking when she yelled back in protest.

“I never once lied to you.” My fists were clenched so tight I could feel my nails starting to dig into my palms.

“Yes, you have!” Twilight stomped a hoof on the ground as she continued. “Saint isn’t even your real name. Shining told me.”

“So what, for fuck sake. Why does that matter?” It was getting harder to hold back my anger.

“It does matter. How can I trust you if you lie about your name!?” Twilight shouted back.

“It is my real name though, your brother is a lair! He set me up!” I was on the verge of shouting at this point.

“Don’t call my brother a liar!” She growled. “Maybe if you were honest I’d think you were innocent and it was all a misunderstanding.”

“For fuck sake, Twilight, I never lied to you.” I gritted my teeth in an attempt at holding my anger back as much as I could.

“Then what’s your real name then? If you’re so honest, then what’s your real name?”

“WHY DOES MY NAME MATTER?!” I shouted at the top of my lungs. Regrettably, I had lost my temper.

I began breathing deeply. I stopped clenching my fists and let them sag at my side. I looked around and saw that everybody in the market place was looking at me. Some ponies looked shocked, while others looked frightened. I simply looked back at Twilight. She was looking at the ground, whispering something I couldn’t make out.

“What?” I asked nervously.

She looked up at me with a sad expression, tears at the corner of her eyes. “Leave Ponyville.” Twilight sounded like she was about to start crying.

“What, why? I didn’t even do anything.” I protested.

“You’re a monster. Just leave and never come back!” She finished by shouting. She then turned around and began galloping off.

It took me a couple of seconds to register what I just done, but once I did I began rubbing my temples while quietly muttering every offensive word I knew. My real name had always been a sensitive subject for me. I hated it being brought up in conversation.

After a minute of cursing, I frowned and dropped my arms. I turned around and slowly headed towards the forest to meet up with Rainbow. I couldn’t think straight, I was furious and upset. I trusted Twilight and she didn’t believe me when I was actually telling the truth, she practically betrayed me.

I know I lie a lot, but I had never lied to her. I trusted her enough to tell her the less important things about me.

I don’t know how long I’d been walking for, I just let my feet carry me as I blocked out my surroundings. But someone began shouting, ruining my attempt to block out my surroundings. “What are you doing?!” I looked over and saw Rainbow hovering in the air. “There’s a pathway over here!”

I looked back in front of me and realized I had almost entered the forest. “Oh,” I muttered. I walked over to the pathway and signaled Rainbow to descend.

She gave me a weird look but eventually landed next to me. “Stay next to me. The last thing I need is to get lost.”

“Sure... but are you okay?” I looked at her with a confused expression on my face. “You look upset.”

“Why do you care?” I spat.

Rainbow gave me an angry stare before it changed to a frown. “Last time I ask if you’re okay.” She grumbled while angrily stomping into the forest.

I sighed and quickly caught up to her. “My bad, just not in the best mood.”

Rainbow let out a sigh as well. “It’s fine. I’m upset too, I just want to find Ta-“

I cut off Rainbow as I noticed something odd about the forest. “Why the fuck is it so dark!” I shouted.

The last time I was here the forest wasn’t as dark, in fact, it was pretty bright. I looked around and confirmed that it was definitely darker. It looked like we entered the forest during the night. I looked down at Rainbow. She was looking at me with a frown and confused expression. “What?” She asked.

“I was expecting you to explain why it’s so dark.” I stopped walking and crossed both of my arms.

“Why do you think I would know!” Rainbow spun around to face me. “Come on we have to hurry.”

“Hold up,” I called before she turned around. I quickly turned on my glasses and shuffled it to the heartbeat scanner. “Come here.”

“What are you doing?” She asked while approaching me. I slide the glasses off my face and crouched down. I gently put the glasses on Rainbow and adjusted them so they wouldn’t fall off. Surprisingly my glasses fit her pretty well. They were small for her eyes, but they fit nonetheless. “You’re glasses are broken.” She frowned at me.

I stood back up and pointed at my heart. “My glasses aren’t normal. Right now I set it to heartbeat scanner, meaning that you’re going to see the heartbeat of creatures hiding in bushes and trees.”

Rainbow spun around and looked around the forest. After a couple of seconds of spinning around, she began shouting.“This is awesome!” I watched as she trotted over to a bush and stuck her head in it. Moments later she popped her head out.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“I saw a red blinking light so I went to go check and it was just a rabbit.”

“Well that’s how they work, you’ll see the red blip when you’re scanning a creature’s heart.” I walked up to her and gestured for us to continue. “Lead the way.”

“Wait!” She protested. “What else can these do!?” She sounded excited.

“I’ll show you after. Now come on, we gotta hurry.”

“Oh, right.” She spun around and began trotting deeper down the path. I caught up to her quickly and walked alongside her. “So why am I wearing them exactly?”

“To find Tank faster?” I was confused as to why she was asking a question with such an obvious answer.

“Yeah, but why are you trusting me with them? Wouldn’t it make sense for you to wear them instead?” I looked down and Rainbow, she was looking up at me with her head cocked to the side.

I let out a sigh as I looked away from her. “I don’t trust you with them. I think it’ll just be more efficient with you having them.” I then pointed above us. “Just fly up and look around, you at least gotta be next to the trees to see the heartbeats of animals in bushes.”

“Don’t get lost.” She sounded annoyed, but then again, I didn’t care. I watched as Rainbow began to spread her wings. Then seconds later, she took to the skies with a single flap of them.

I let out a yawn as I walked the path of the forest. I wasn’t really looking for Tank. I was listening for him. I could barely see the trees to my side, I was much better off listening.

Of course, I heard the sounds of leaves rustling, birds chirping, and occasionally Rainbow flapping her wings from above me. I watched as she dived down into some bushes in front of me. Seconds later, she poked her head out with a frown. “This is going to take forever!” She complained.

I sighed as I agreed with her mentally. Even with the heartbeat scanner, it would still take forever. That’s when I remembered a much better setting. “Actually, there is a better way I guess.” I gestured for Rainbow to come to me. After a few seconds, she obeyed and approached me. I took the glasses off her face and put them on. “I just remembered a much better sett-“ I was cut off as I heard what sounded like a helicopter’s propeller coming from the bushes of the forest.

I looked to my right and watched as a creature came flying out of the bushes. Luckily, I was quick enough to duck, allowing the creature to fly over my head. “The fuck was that!” I shouted. I stood back up and looked over to see a turtle wearing a helmet with a crooked propeller on its back.

Before I could ask questions Rainbow dived at the turtle and took it into a hug. “Tank! You’re okay!”

“Uhh,” I muttered to myself.

Rainbow seemed oblivious of me standing only a few feet away. “I thought I told you not to enter the creepy forest!” She scolded. The turtle slowly turned his head to face her. He was wearing a frown which made me frown as well.

I let out a sigh and turned my glasses to the default setting. I cleared my throat and watched as Rainbow quickly dropped the hug and stood next to Tank with a sheepish smile. “Glad you found him, but let’s celebrate outside the forest.”

“You’re right.” She somehow picked up Tank with her hooves and sat him on her back. “Okay let's lea-“ Rainbow was cut off by the sound of growling.

I looked in the general direction of the growling and realized that it was coming from the direction where Tank had come from. “Guess he was running away,” I muttered. I quickly set my glasses to heartbeat scanner. A single red blip popped up and began blinking.

I backed up slowly and stood next to Rainbow “How fast can you run?” I whispered to her.

“Run?” She whispered back. “I’m the fastest flier in Equestria, why would I run?”

I looked down at Rainbow with a frown. “If you could carry me I would say fly. But I doubt you could. And if you fly away and leave me here, I’m haunting you if I die.” I angrily whispered.

All she did was roll her eyes. “I wasn’t planning on leaving you.” Right after she finished speaking, a long scorpion tail came out from the bushes. I quickly jumped back, letting the tail slam down into the ground in front of me.

“BOOK IT!” I shouted. I quickly turned towards Rainbow and grabbed Tank off her back, fortunately, he wasn’t heavy. The last thing I needed was for him to fall off of Rainbow while we were running.

Right after I did that, I began running in the general direction that we had come from. Adrenaline pumped through my body as I decided to get off of the pathway.

I quickly moved side to side, avoiding trees as I kept moving forward as fast as I could manage, jumping over roots and other things that could trip me. We weren’t that deep into the forest, so it shouldn’t be long before we got out. “DUCK!” I heard Rainbow shout from my side.

I instantly obeyed as I ducked as low as I could while sprinting. I felt a gust of wind against my hair, followed by the sound of wood splitting in half. I looked up and noticed the scorpion tail sticking out of a tree not too far in front of me.

I quickly sidestepped the tree and kept sprinting. A loud roar could be heard from behind me, followed by the sound of thunderous stomping.

Even with the creature behind me, I still wasn’t scared. The exit to the forest was only a couple yards ahead of me. I put on an extra burst of speed and exited the forest swiftly.

I kept on sprinting for a couple of seconds before slowing down to a jog. After stopping, I turned around and watched as Rainbow ran up and stopped in front of me. “What was that thing!?” She asked.

“I think it was a manticore.” I wheezed out,after trying to catch my breath. “I just wanna know why it was focusing on me and not you.” I sat Tank down on the ground and began stretching. I was breathing heavily and drenched in sweat.

“Maybe it wanted something different from a pony.” She finished by laughing. I don’t understand why I found this funny. But I joined Rainbow in her laughing fit. After we both finished laughing she gave me a weird look. “I owe you one, Saint.”

“Good, cause I might have a favor coming up.” I rubbed the sweat off my forehead. “I need a shower,” I muttered to myself.

“Sure, just ask whenever.” She proceeded to pick up Tank and set him onto her back. “Let’s go tell everypony we found him.”

“Nah, ima chill here. You got it.” I sat down onto the grass and quickly laid down on it.

“If you say so.”

“Wait,” I called before she left. “Did I outrun you?” I quickly sat up to watch her reaction.

Rainbow looked dumbfounded. “No! I had to stay behind you to make sure you didn’t get your head taken off.” She began approaching me with her face contorted in anger. “I could beat you any day of the week!”

I stuck my tongue out at her as I laid back down. “Another time.” I already knew I was going to lose, but I can humor her.

“Yeah, I’ll cya around, Saint.” I listened to the sound of her trotting away. After a couple of seconds, the sound stopped.

I looked up at the sky and instantly regretted it. My glasses were still on, so it was extremely bright. I quickly turned them off and sighed as I watched the birds flying overhead.

I didn’t know what to do. It was probably nearing lunchtime and I was dirt poor, and now very much homeless. I was still angry, but I didn’t want to take my anger out on people who hadn’t done anything. I’ll be saving that for Shining Armor.

I was going to force Shining to tell Twilight the truth no matter what. I actually liked Twilight, she’s like a happier Sara. And I miss Sara. I decided to just close my eyes. I wasn’t like I wanted to sleep, it’s just that I had nothing better to do.

I don’t know how long I was laying down like that. My face felt hot from the sun. I was worried that I could’ve gotten sunburned, but something starting blocking the sun from my face. “Excuse me.” An unfamiliar voice spoke.

I opened my eyes and was greeted to a pair of green eyes. I quickly rolled over and stood to my full height. The mare who interrupted my peace had a dark green coat along with a red mane and tail. Her tail and mane were both straightened, and both had green highlights going through them. She was also wearing a pair of green glasses that went well with her green eyes. “Hello?” I waved awkwardly.

“Hello, my name is Christmas and I’m t-“ I cut her off as I chucked to myself. “Excuse me?” She sounded offended but I didn’t care

“Like the holiday?” I asked after I stopped chucking.

She gave me a confused look before frowning. “I’m unaware of any holiday called ‘Christmas’. But if you’ll allow to introduce myself I’d appreciate it.”

“Damn, my bad.” I gestured for her to continued and she nodded her head.

“As I was saying... my name is Christmas. And I’m the guard Celestia sent to look after you.”

“Oh, any proof?” I began looking over Christmas. She didn’t look like any guard I’d seen. She was a unicorn I noticed, but that doesn’t automatically make you a guard.

“Yes, she should’ve sent a letter to Twilight Sparkle about my arrival.” She sounded annoyed but I didn’t care. I let out a sigh as I began stretching. “Come along, let’s go talk to her.

“Can’t.” I didn’t hesitate in responding.

She frowned and squinted her eyes at me. “Why?” She asked.

“Cause she kicked me out and hates me.”

Christmas had an annoyed expression as she sighed. “Well, I’ll go get the letter and prove it to you. Just wait here and don’t do anything.”

“Sure,” I wasn’t planning on staying here. “I’ll be right here.”

“Good, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” She nodded her head, turned around, and began trotting towards Ponyville.

After a few minutes passed, I decided to enter Ponyville as well. Hopefully, I wouldn’t run into Christmas or Twilight. I walked through Ponyville like I owned the place. All eyes on me like usual.

I turned on my glasses and called out ‘time’. 14:24 displayed for me. I quickly turned off my glasses and let out a yawn. I still had so much time to kill and I didn’t know what to do. I had a plan to fix my homeless problem, but first I needed food and to find Rainbow.

Thinking back to it, it was pretty stupid that I didn’t eat breakfast with Celestia. I was starving. Usually when I was hungry, I’d complain to Twilight, but sadly, I couldn’t do that.

I sighed as I walked through Ponyville. I know Twilight told me to leave, but I’m not going to. What’s she going to do, force me out?

My thoughts were interrupted as I heard someone shout. “Hey, Saint!” I looked up and watched as Rainbow landed in front of me. “Whatcha up to?”

“Oh?” I crossed my arms and frowned. “You just like me now?”

“I wouldn’t say that.” She frowned. “It’s just that I think you’re a lot cooler now.”

I adjusted my glasses and smiled. “You wanna try my glasses don’t you?”

She smiled sheepishly at me and nodded repeatedly. “Yeah, you said later, and it’s definitely later.”

“How long ago did we find Tank?” I asked while turning on my glasses.

“Couple of hours ago. I met up with everypony and told them what happened.”

“Cool,” I was about to take my glasses off but I realized something. “Wait, they probably smell. I should wash em.”

Rainbow frowned. “You don’t smell that bad.”

I nodded my head. “Yes, I do. Now, I need to ask you something important.” I quickly turned off my glasses and adjusted them.

“Yeah, ask anything.”

I took a serious expression as I frowned. “Can I trust you?” I asked.

“Course you can. I’m not the element of loyalty for nothing.” She finished by pumping out her chest

I didn’t want to ask what she meant by that. But I still wasn’t planning on trusting her. I just wanted to exploit the fact that she owes me a favor. “Good, think I could crash at your place?” I asked.

Rainbow had an unreadable expression on her face. Then all of a sudden, she began laughing. My frown deepened as I just watched her laugh. She seemed to notice I wasn’t laughing because she looked up at me with a shocked expression. “Wait you’re serious?!”

I began to scratch the back of my head. “Yes, Twilight kicked me out so I’m homeless now.”

“Why would she do that!?” Rainbow shouted.

I was about to respond but someone behind me did first. “Because he’s a murderer.” My heart dropped as I listened to the familiar voice. I turned around and saw Christmas approaching me. She had an angry expression on her face, along with a scroll engulfed in her green aura.

“What! I know I didn’t like him when he first got here but I wouldn’t go that far.” Rainbow protested from behind me.

Christmas looked at me. “Want me to explain or would you prefer to do it yourself?” She asked.

“How the fuck did you even get behind me?” I growled.

“That’s not important. Answer the question.” She demanded.

I sighed as I turned around to face Rainbow. She was wearing a puzzled expression on her face. “Rainbow ima be honest with you okay. But I need a place to stay for a while. Please, can you help me?”

Rainbow had a sympathetic look on her face. “I would but there’s a tiny problem.”

“What, you live with your parents or something?” I asked. I expected everybody to be adults, I mean I’m not gonna judge her if she did.

“It’s better if I show you.” She began to trot by me. I shrugged my shoulders and followed behind her. Christmas stood in line next to me, which definitely annoyed me but I’d get over it eventually. My only hope was that Rainbow didn’t live in some shack.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!” I shouted. My jaw dropping. Currently, we were on the outskirts of Ponyville, and in front of us was a massive spiral building in the clouds. “That’s not possible!”

“Course it is. I wouldn’t be able to live there if it was impossible.” I looked at Rainbow with a shocked expression. “What?”

“Fuck you mean what? Clouds are just water vapor or whatever. You can’t put something on a cloud.” I protested.

“Watch me,”Rainbow announced before she began flying towards the building in the sky.

I turned to look at Christmas. She had an unreadable expression. “I know we didn’t talk at all on the walk here. But just know, I’m not a murder.”

She looked up at me with a frown. “My captain says otherwise.” I just rolled my eyes and looked back up to the building.

“Did you talk to Celestia at all?” I asked.

“Yes, she informed me that you’re the leader of a group of assassins. And my captain told me you tried to kill Blue Bridge.” I was annoyed that Celestia didn’t explain the entire situation to her.

“Let me see the letter,” I demanded. Christmas levitated the letter over to me and I quickly grabbed it. I opened it and began skimming through the contents. “Dear Saint blah blah blah…. I've sent one of my most loyal guards to Ponyville, her name is Christmas….. I also received what I believe to be your equipment, along with a letter from Twilight. Don’t worry about your stuff I will keep it at the palace until you’re needed. Also, I believe you should talk to Twilight and explain everything to her from your perspective.” I frowned as I finished reading the last part. I sighed as I began ripping up the letter. “Too late for explaining.” I muttered.

Once the letter was just a bunch of tiny pieces of paper I tossed it into the air and let the wind carry it away. “That's littering!” Christmas shouted. I didn’t care at the time, so I didn’t respond. Christmas starting muttering something under her breath, but I still didn’t care.

After about a minute of waiting Rainbow flew out of the building. And to my surprise, she was pushing an entire cloud using her hooves. My jaw dropped as I watched her descend with it in front of her.

She stopped pushing the cloud when it was only a few feet in front of me. After stopping with it, she jumped on and sat down like it was a chair. “See.” She finished by laughing.

I rubbed my temples as I sighed. I slowly approached the cloud and poked it with a finger. Unsurprisingly my finger went right through it. I pulled back my finger and looked at it. Some water droplets were dripping from it. “Only a pegasus can touch clouds,” Christmas explained from behind me.

I wiped my finger on my shirt and sighed. “Whatever, I’ll be living in the forest if you need me.”

“Wait.” Before I could walk off, Christmas started speaking. “I could cast a spell that will give you wings for three days.”

“Really? I’ve always wanted to fly with wings.” I mused. I’ve been in planes before. But it’s boring when no one on my team enjoys watching the same things I do. We’d usually have a projector on the plane and take turns picking movies. But I digress.

“Yes, it’ll last for three days ” Christmas explained.

“Fuck it, just cast it.” I stood still and lifted both of my arms. I watched as Christmas nodded her head and horn her began glowing a dark green.

I clenched my eyes and tried my hardest to stand still. I felt like if I moved, the spell would malfunction.

I could hear the sound of sparks flying, but I still didn’t open my eyes. “Did it work?” I asked while opening my eyes and dropping my arms. I didn’t feel any different sadly.

Christmas was panting heavily, but she eventually responded. “Yes.”

I turned to look at my back and I was instantly disappointed. “The fuck are these?” I asked. On my back was a pair of transparent butterfly wings.

“Your wings!” Rainbow sounded excited as she pushed the cloud closer to me. “Come on let me show you my house.”

“Bro, I’m not fucking with these gay ass wings.” I took a step back and crossed my arms.

“There’s nothing wrong with them, come on, I’ll even teach you how to fly later.” Rainbow pushed the cloud closer to me

I let out a loud and obnoxious groan. “Fuck sake.” I approached the cloud and tapped it with a finger. To my surprise, it actually felt solid.

I put both of my hands on the cloud and started pushing down. “It feels like a soft bed,” I muttered. I quickly hopped on to the cloud and gripped the sides. “What about you?” I looked at Christmas with a confused expression

“I’m going to head back into Ponyville and pick up a few things.” She turned around and started trotting back to Ponyville.

“Wait, is she staying too?” Rainbow asked.

I sighed as I laid down on the cloud. “Probably, sorry about all this. It’s a long story.”

“I’m fine with it. My house is definitely big enough.” Rainbow began pushing the cloud I was on with ease. We were flying at a slow pace so I wasn’t that worried.

I loosened my grip on the cloud as Rainbow continued to push me up to her house. “You sure you’re fine with us staying?” I asked.

“Of course. I mean, you did help me find Tank, and I can’t just have you living in the Everfree forest.” I turned to look at Rainbow. She was flapping her wings repeatedly with a determined expression on her face. I just shrugged and let her push me.

We made it to the cloud fortress after about a minute. Rainbow ended up parking the cloud directly in front of her door. I slid off the cloud and landed on my feet with a thud.

“How did it feel being on a cloud for the first time?” Rainbow asked.

I looked at Rainbow with a frown. “I mean, it’s cool and all.” I then pointed at my back. “But these wings are wack.”

“Wings are wings.” Rainbow pushed past me and opened her door. She trotted inside and I followed behind her.

“What?” The exterior of the building looked like it was made using clouds, but the interior seemed to be made out of wood and marble. “How does this stuff stay on the clouds?”

“What do you mean?” I looked down at Rainbow and she was looking at me with a confused expression.

“Never mind.” I didn’t want to press the subject because magic was probably going to be the answer.

“Okay, well, this right here is the living room.” Rainbow gestured a hoof to the room. The room we were in had a couple of couches along with a coffee table. Finally, there was a staircase leading up was along the left side of the wall.

I started walking over to the bigger couch “Cool, well I got the couches.” I sat down on it and let out a yawn. I attempted to lean back but my new founded butterfly wings made it hard.

“Don’t you want to see the rest of the place?” Rainbow asked. I did indeed want to but not now.

“Rainbow, I’m at the point of my life where all I want to do is sleep. Even if I’m not tired.” I complained. I tried to lay down on the couch but my wings were making it impossible. “How do you sleep with wings?”

“I usually sleep on my stomach.” She took a stern look as she continued. “Can you at least explain everything?”

I frowned as I was successfully able to lay across the couch on my stomach. “Ask Christmas. Cause apparently everybody believes Shining and his bullshit.” I complained while sliding my glasses off and putting them on the coffee table.

“Saint, just explain it and I might believe you instead of her.” Rainbow protested. After groaning for a second, I sat back up and leaned forward.

“Well get comfortable, kinda a long story.” I watched as Rainbow trotted over and sat on the other couch. I cleared my throat and began explaining everything that happened while I was at Canterlot, but left out everything about Apex.

At the end of my tale, Rainbow was looking at me with a shocked expression. “So Shinning Armor set you up!” She shouted.

“I mean, I guess. I would’ve never did what I did if I wasn’t being tortured by magic.”

“So that guard is supposed to be looking after you?”

“Yes, her names Christmas.” I tried not to snicker after saying it out loud.

“Is that why you and Twilight are fighting?” Rainbow continued.

“Yep,” I nodded while stretching. “Not much I can do about it.”

“Yeah, but that’s not fair! You didn’t do anything wrong.” Rainbow jumped off the couch and began trotting to the door. “I’m going to go talk to her.”

Before I could say something Rainbow flung open the door and flew out of it. I let out a sigh as I laid back down onto the couch. I closed my eyes as I let out a loud yawn.

I’m surprised Rainbow believed me and was letting me stay here. I didn’t like her when I first got here, but she’s probably the most chill out of all the ponies I’d met here. Christmas, on the other hand, is going to make me want to strangle her. It didn’t make sense, I thought Celestia would explain the entire situation to her. But instead, she thinks I’m just a murderer.

I don’t know what I’m going to be doing now. I was lucky enough to not end up being homeless. But there wasn’t much I could do. I want to fix my friendship with Twilight because she’s the only pony I somewhat trust. But Shining’s an asshole who has a sister complex. Next time I see him it’s going to be really hard to not kill him.

Also, sleeping on my stomach is going to be a lot more uncomfortable than I thought it would be.