Riki and Liz's Grand Adventure!

Chapters

Chapter 1: Holy horse shit!.... Pony shit?
Chapter 3: Welcome to Canterlot!
Chapter 4: Riki Storms The Castle!
Chapter 5: Ricochet Riki VS. Captain Shining Armor!
Chapter 6: I Dream of... Luna?
Chapter 7: First day on the job!
Chapter 8: Finally free!
Chapter 9: Promise!
Chapter 11: What's your name!
Chapter 12: Human VS. Monster, Round 2!
Chapter 13: One final push!
Chapter 14: You and I!
Chapter 15: Sinful!
Chapter 16: The Request!
Chapter 17: Issues!
Chapter 18: Las Pegasus!
Chapter 19: The Pipistrello Family!
Chapter 20: Gone debt? New debt!
Chapter 21: The Great Casino Rumble!
Chapter 22: The Blazing Falling Bat Incident!
Chapter 23: Goodbye Las Pegasus, Hello Reality!
Chapter 24: This Is My Fault!
Chapter 25: The Girl And Her Cat!
Chapter 26: Dragon Quest!
Chapter 27: You~
Chapter 29: Her!
Chapter 30: He!
Chapter 31: Who?
Chapter 32: Razzle!
Chapter 33: Him!
Character Bios and Q&A
Chapter 0: Prologue
Chapter 2: Questions and answers!
Chapter 10: We’re not the same!
Chapter 28: Me?

Chapter 1: Holy horse shit!.... Pony shit?

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

Chapter 3: Welcome to Canterlot!

Welcome to Canterlot!

Never fought in a million years, I will be shirtless in the middle of the room and have a pony drawing my blood. Asking me about my body.

Twilight ran her hoof over my abs, "One more question," Twilight said as she crossed off a few things on her list. "Are all humans like you, as in your body?"

I slap her hoof off my stomach, "No, I have more of a slim muscular body, and others can be a lot more... bulky. Or it can be the complete opposite. We have a lot of body sizes, Twilight." I put my shirt back on, "I still can't believe you woke me up so early. You are messing up my sleep schedule!

Twilight rolls her eyes, "Stop complaining, Riki. It wasn't that early."

"You shook me awake at 5, and it's 10 o'clock now." I said, poking her forehead, "But, having you waking me up and running a lot of tests on me, not the worse morning I ever had."

"Really?"

"One day, I woke up one morning to the sound of Liz puking her guts out. I walked into the kitchen, and throwup was everywhere. Turns out she accidentally ate one of my beef burgers instead of her bean burger," I said, shaking my head, "Still don't know how that happened." I take a deep breath, trying to get rid of that horrible memory, "So, you found anything interesting with all the tests you've been running on me?" I got up and did a few stretches, "And please tell me that you did."

Without looking up from her notes, Twilight said, "I did find two things about you,"

"Wait, two things!?"

"Well, do you remember when I tried to use magic on you a couple of times?"

"Yeah, it was annoying. It felt like pins and needles going through my body."

"Will, it's because you and probably all humans have a high level of magic resistance. So if somepony gets you in a magic grip, I bet you can break out of it. "Twilight explained, "But if a strong magic user like Princess Celestia and Luna uses magic on you, your magic resistance won't really help that much."

"Okay, that's good to know. The second thing?"

"The second thing that I found was... How do I put this?" Twilight said, spinning her hoof around. "When I scanned you with my magic, I found something... Weird in you."

"Weird?"

"Yes! Like something is dormant in you," She yelled in excitement. "Like a second heartbeat or something."

"Or! It's my magic resistance messing with your scans," I said, poking her head, then walked into the kitchen. "I bet you'll get something if you do it to Liz," I opened the fridge and pulled out two apples. "Oi, want one?" Twilight nods her head, and I toss her one.

"Yeah, you're probably right. What I found in you was pretty weak. It just flickers off and on."

"Twilight, can I ask you something?"

Twilight takes a few bites of her apple, "What is it?"

"What are the Elements of Harmony? Pinkie told me that you guys use the Elements to beat Nightmare Moon and Discord," I said, finishing my apple. "Pinkie didn't really go into that much detail."

"Well, The Elements of Harmony are the most powerful magic known to ponydom-"

"What does 'Ponydom' mean?"

"And use for defeating evil and to create harmony. There are six Elements, Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, Loyalty, and Magic. I'm the Elements of Magic. Rainbow is-"

"Wait, let me try guessing their Elements!" Think, I have only known them for about a day. But I can use that time and process of elimination to help me. "Ummm, Pinkie Laughter, Rainbow Loyalty, Applejack... Honesty. Mmm, Fluttershy Generosity and Rarity Kindness?"

"Good job, but Fluttershy is Kindness, and Rarity is Generosity."

"Kindness... Generosity is the same thing," I said, plopping down on the couch, "Now tell me how you guys became The Elements of Harmony and kicked Nightmare Moon's ass."

Twilight sits beside me, "Okay, it all started when I was looking out of my telescope."

Oww, my head is killing me. How the hell did I get a hangover just from one drink? Spike and I are at the marketplace getting some stuff for Twilight, and the noise isn't really helping my hangover. I look over to Spike, struggling to carry two bags. I reached over and took one. I shielded my eyes from the sun, "Why the hell is the sun so damn bright!" I grumble.

"Hey, Liz, are you okay?" asked Spike,

"I have a headache, my eyes hurt, and my stomach feels like it got hit by a truck," I said.

"Wow... What's a truck?"

"Imagine a very big loud metal box with wheels," I explain to him.

"Ow,"

"But, I been through worse. One time, I accidentally ate one of Riki's beef burgers instead of one of my bean burgers and threw up everywhere." I said, rubbing my stomach.

"Liz, Spike over here!"

We both look around to see who is calling us until we see Applejack and Apple Bloom waving us over. They have a nice little apple stand with barrels of apples. We walk over to them and set the bags on the stand.

"Hey, Applejack, Apple Bloom."

"So, Liz, are you okay from last night?" Applejack asked me.

"I still have a hangover, but I'll live."

Applejack gave me an apple, "Try eatin' something. It might help."

"How much?"

"On the house, Sugercube."

I took a big bite out of it, "Mmm, I needed that. Thanks, I owe you."

"Where's Riki?" asked Apple Bloom.

"Twilight is running tests on him," Spike answered.

"I hope he'll be okay?"

I push the hair away from my eyes and finish my apple. "Psssh, Riki is fine. One time, we went to Seattle to visit some cousins. While there, he got lost in the city. A few hours late, the cops called and said they had him." I started chuckling, "The cops found him in a back alley, putting two muggers in a headlock."

They all give me a shocking look.

"What?" I said, shrugging my shoulders. "The muggers were fine... They only had a few broken bones."

"Liz, your brother is amaz-" Before Spike could finish, he was cut off by some green fire coming out of his mouth. The girls and I shielded our eyes from the green burp. And it smells bad.

"Damn, Spike! The hell did you eat!?" I said, waving my hand in front of my face. I looked at the dragon to see that he is holding a scroll. "Where did that come from?"

Spike looked at the scroll and answered, "It's from Princess Celestia!"

I pinch the bridge of my nose, "That's not what I meant."

"I'll tell you how it works on the way back," he said, picking up one of the bags.

"I hope it's not about Riki and me. But, I doubt it." I muttered. "Well, bye guys, and thanks again for the apple. I feel a lot better now." I picked up the bag and gave them a goodbye wave as Spike and I made our way back to the treehouse.

"Holy shit, you guys are amazing!" I exclaimed. "You guys are like superheroes. No, you guys are superheroes!" I can't believe that they did all that. They save Equestria from being plunged into darkness and turn an off-brand Loki into stone. You are so cool!

"It was nothing. The girls and I did what was right." Twilight blushed. "So, can you tell me more about you?"

"I think I told you everything I need to say,"

"What about your... Ummm, school life?"

I gave her a questionable look, "My school life?"

"Yeah, if you don't mind," Twilight said with a smile.

Fuck, I wish Liz was here so I could pass this on to her. "Well, I was an average student in school. Kept to myself but still had a good amount of friends. Got expelled out of high school-"

"Expelled!" She yelled, causing me to flinch, "What happened!?"

I crossed my legs, "One day in the middle of my sophomore year, this guy Luke and his three goons tried to jump me behind the school. It was pretty easy to take them down. I wasn't taking it seriously until Luke pulled out a knife." I stopped and thought for a bit. "...I kicked Luke, and he accidentally stabbed himself. Teachers came, Luke went to the hospital, and the rest of us were arrested."

"That's ridiculous. You were just defending yourself!" Twilight shouted.

"Calm down. It's in the past," I said casually.

Twilight takes a few deep breaths, "Sorry, I'm calm... So, what happened next?"

"The charges against me were dropped, but my school still didn't want me." I shrug and lean back a little.

"Did you find another school to go to?" she said worriedly.

"Yeah, Liz's mom took that opportunity to send me to the same private school as Liz," I answered.

"What type of classes did you take?"

"The basic stuff like science, math, and history. I had to take a language, so I chose to do sign language. Since Liz was taking it too,"

That caught Twilight off guard, "What's sign language?"

I held my hands and started signing every word I said, "Well, ASL or American Sign Language is used for people who are deaf, have trouble hearing, or unable to speak physically. We use our face and movements of hands." Twilight looks at my hand with awe. Then, she reaches over and runs her hooves over my fingers. "What are you doing?"

Twilight ignored me and said, "This is interesting. You can communicate with others just by using your hands!" she continued to check my hands. I now have a better look at her hooves. I can see where the fur ends and the hoof starts. I can feel the softness of her underhooves. "I need to document this. Do you mind showing me more signs?"

"You know I can teach you how to sign language," I signed. Twilight looked at me with confusion. "Oh, sorry! Once I start singing, sometimes I forget to talk. I said, 'You know I can teach you how to sign language.'"

"But, I don't have, you know..." she said, poking my fingers. "So, I can't do any of the motions."

"I can teach you how to read the hand signs," I said, wiggling my fingers.

Twilight stops, probing my hands, "Really, you would do that?"

"Yeah, absolutely! I can teach you the basics, and then we can move on to some-" I was cut off by Liz and Spike coming up the stairs.

Liz set down the bags, "Are we interrupting something?" she said, pointing to Twilight's hooves on my hands. "Because we can come back later,"

"Oi,"

She blushed and quickly dropped my hands, "N-no, Riki is just teaching me how to understand sign language, that's all!"

Spike tapped Liz's leg and asked, "What's sign language?"

Liz put the bags down, "Basically, it's talking with your hands," she replied. "But Twilight doesn't have any hands, does she?"

I walked over to Liz and put my hand on her forehead, "How's the hangover?"

"A lot better than I was this morning. I still don't know how you don't have a hangover," Liz said, slapping my hand away. "Twilight, we got everything on your list and more."

"More? What do you mean more?" Twilight said.

Spike digs in one of the bags and pulls out a scroll. Twilight flailed off the couch and ran up to Spike. She starts to read it very frantically. I see her eyes widen as she continues to read, "Oi, what's on the scroll?"

"The princesses want to see you two," Twilight said.

"Really, that's cool!" I exclaimed.

Twilight snaps her head towards me, "Riki, you are going to meet the rulers of Equestria! Do you have any experience meeting royalty!?"

I thought for a bit. I was going to bring up the Elvis impressionist I met a few years ago. But, the look on Twilight's face doesn't seem I should joke around with her. "No, Twilight, I have not."

"Same here," added Liz.

She starts to breathe rapidly like she is going to have a panic attack, "Okay, I know I have a book called 'How to mingle with royalty 101. I'll grab it. How fast can you two read?" Twilight starts to trot around frantically. "No, not fast enough! I'll just tell you two all you need to know."

I walked over to Twilight and picked her up by the stomach, "Oi, oi, Twilight, calm down!" Twilight flailed around for a while until she tired herself out. "Meeting the princesses is like meeting the principal and vice-principal, right Liz?" I said, playfully shaking Twilight.

Liz shakes her head, "Noooo, you are way off. We should listen to her on this. Spike told me that Twilight is Celestia's pupil. So, I don't want us and mean you to embarrass her."

"Understandable," I nod.

"Alright, let's go get the girls!" said Twilight.

"Twilight, me and Riki need to go get a new change of clothes."

"Spike, go with Riki and Liz to everfree and meet us at the train station." Twilight said, "And Riki."

"Yeah,"

"Can you please put me down now!" she shouted, adding a little huff.

I quickly plopped her down, "Sorry,"

Twilight and the girls are at the train station. All of them are just chatting and joking around. Well, except for Twilight. She's tapping her hoof and looking at the clock, "What is taking them so long? They should be here?" she walks to the edge of the platform and looks down the train track to see if the train is coming. Twilight walked back to the group, sat down, and resumed her hoof tapping.

Rarity went up to her and said, "Tw, Darling, It's fine. They probably get caught with something."

"What... What if they ran into a pack of timberwolves," Fluttershy stammered, "Or manticores? It is almost breeding season." All of them look at Fluttershy, "S-sorry, not helping,"

"I should have gone with them,"

Pinkie came out of nowhere and hugged Twilight, "Don't worry, remember Riki is super strong. I bet they're coming, riiiiight... Now!"

Lo and behold, the weird pink pony is right. They can see Riki and Liz running to them. Spike is being carried like a doll by Liz. The girls can hear the two of them arguing as they get close.

"I can't believe you made me wear this!" Riki shouted.

"Shut up. I can't believe you still have it!" Liz shouted, "And fix your tie!"

"No, I like it like this!"

They continue to argue as they stop in front of the ponies. The group sees Riki and Liz's new clothes. Both of them are wearing their school uniform. Riki has a white untucked long-sleeved button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up. A loose blue tie and a navy blue sweater vest with a gold water lily stitched on the top right side. Black khaki pants and his favorite hoodie tied around his waist. Liz is wearing the same thing but, instead of the gold water lily, it's silver. A black skirt with shorts and her goggles still around her neck.

Liz places Spike down, "Hey guys, sorry we took so long."

"Have you two been arguing all the way here?" Twilight asked.

The siblings both shake their heads and say, "No,"

"Yeah, they have been arguing," Spike said, looking at Twilight, "Ever since we left their house."

"It was for a good reason! Look what Liz is making me wear!" Riki said, gesturing to his clothes, "I thought I got rid of this?"

Liz smiles, "I found it in the hallway closet in some boxes, like two years ago." She reaches over and fixes Riki's tie, "Plus, you did say it's like meeting the principal."

Riki just rolled his eyes and loosened his tie, "I hate you,"

Rarity came up to Riki and used her magic to fix his tie, "If it makes you feel better, I think you look very lovely." He just looks down at her and then loosens his tie. Rarity fixed it again, and he did the same thing. The two of them batted for the tie for a little while. Riki could tell her patience was running low, but he continued and started to laugh. "Daring, let me fix your tie!"

"No, I think it's cool!" Riki laughed.

The rest of them just started talking to each other or watched the two fight over the tie until the train came.

Ten to fifteen minutes late, Riki sits on the platform, letting his legs hang off, whistling a tune. Pinkie is behind him, playing with his hair. Riki looks down the track, "Guys, the train is coming!" Riki yelled, getting up. The train pulls into the station, and a few dozen ponies walk off. As Riki and the group boarded the train, he heard someone calling his name.

"Riki?"

"Vinyl!? What are you doing here?" Riki gets off the train and walks over to her. He sees her hair and tail are messy, plus she smells like booze, "And it looks like you had fun." Riki said, cracking a smile.

Vinyl yawns, "Yeah, I just came from a gig in Canterlot."

"Oh yeah, you're a DJ." Riki said, crouching to her level, "Well, the girls and I are going to Canterlot too. The princesses want to meet us,"

"Really!?" Vinyl sounded shocked, "I hope it's nothing bad. We still haven't hung out yet."

"Same,"

"Riki, what's taking so long!? Get on the train before I tell the conductor to leave your butt!" Liz shouted, sticking her head out of the window. "Riki, who's the pony?"

"Liz, meet the cool DJ, Vinyl Scratch," Riki said, pointing at her. "Vinyl, this is my loud little sister, Liz."

"I'm not loud!" she yelled.

Riki ignored her, "I'll see you late, Vinyl." he said, jumping back on the train and waving goodbye. "We'll hang out when I get back!"

"Can't wait,"

I let out a long yawn as I stretched my arms and rested my head against the window. We have been on this train for about two and a half hours. I'm sitting next to Twilight and Rarity, with Fluttershy and Applejack sitting across from us. Liz is playing on her phone with Pinkie, Rainbow, and Spike watching over her. Watching the landscape go past, I think about the times on the subway. Like that one time Liz and I watched two rats fighting over an eggroll. We place bets to see who wins. Or that one time during New Year's Eve, the entire cart was full of drunk people fighting each other. I kind of miss it.

"Riki?" She said, looking up from her phone. "Do you think the princesses can help us get home?"

"Maybe,"

"How did you two even get here?" Twilight asked.

"I don't know, Twilight. I was in the living room playing games."

"I was working on my magnet gun, which overloaded and sent out a big magnetic pulse. Then purple lighting hits the power box." Liz said, looking down. "Riki, is this my fault?"

What the hell is she saying, "Liz, that's impossible! I know you're smart, but there is no way you could have done this to us. I bet some weird magic shit that brought us here."

"Yeah, you're right. I was just thinking about it ever since we got here." Liz said, hugging her legs. "How long until we get to Canterlot?"

"I think we are almost there," I said, pointing out the window. Liz got up and looked out of it with me. We see the city of Canterlot on the side of a mountain. That place looks so cool.

Liz takes a picture with her phone, "I haven't seen anything like this before!"

"Just wait until we get inside, Darling," said Rarity.

"I can see why Celestia moved here," I said.

Liz looked at me, "Wait, what?"

"Oh, yeah, you don't know. Well, Celestia fought and banished her sister. The castle got fuck, and then she moved to Canterlot."

"Riki is leaving out a lot of details," Twilight chimed in. "I'll tell you the full story later."

"Why didn't she just rebuild the castle?" Liz asked.

"Would you stay in a place where you fought and banished your sister?" I said, sitting back down. "She'll be living in a castle of bad memories."

"Well, that makes sense," She said, sitting back down. "She must have gone through a lot."

Pinkie hugged Liz, "Lizzy, it's all good! We saved Princess Celestia's sister, and they're both super duper happy now!"

"Well, I can't wait until we get there. "I exclaimed,

The train's intercom turns on, "Attention passengers, we'll be arriving in Canterlot in 10 minutes!"

I jumped out of my seat in excitement, "Oh, hell yeah!"

The train pulls into the station. Riki immediately opened up the window and jumped out of it. He scared a few ponies by landing next to them. Running out of the station and into the city, yelled, "Hello, Canterlot!" Riki looks behind to see Liz and the others running to him. Liz and Twilight look pretty pissed.

"Riki, what the hell is wrong with you!?" Liz said, slapping his shoulder a few times.

"Riki, why did you do that?" Twilight said, jabbing her hoof into Riki's thigh.

"Calm down, you two," He said, brushing them off.

Liz grabbed his vest and pulled him to eye level, "Riki, listen to me and listen to me good. I want us to keep a low profile until we get to the castle. I don't want the ponies here to start freaking out and getting the guards!"

"Low profile, got it," He agreed, giving them a thumbs up.

"And no runnin' off like last time," Applejack said.

"We don't want you to get lost," Fluttershy said worriedly, "Canterlot is a very big place."

Liz let go of Riki and said, "Good. Now Twilight, how do we- Is that a walking dog!?"

We turn to see a dog walking on two legs. It's as tall as Riki, maybe a little taller. Not only that, we see a few griffins and minotaurs. "Wow, I can't believe I'm looking at a real griffin, minotaur, and a... Dog?"

"Can someone explain the dog," Liz asked, turning to Twilight and the others, "Because I'm really confused?"

"That's a Diamond Dog," answered Rarity.

"I thought only ponies lived in Canterlot?" Riki asked.

Twilight shakes her head, "Ponies are the vast majority here in Canterlot." She said, "I'll tell you two more about this place as we head to the castle."

"Alright, lead the way!" He said with a big smile.

As they begin to follow Twilight, none of them notice a cloaked unicorn mare watching them since they got here. The pony pulls out a piece of paper, and her horn glows hot pink. Using her magic, she turns the paper into a lifelike origami parrot and whispers something into it. The unicorn releases the paper parrot, and it flies off into Canterlot. "I'll just follow them for now until I get new orders. This is going to be fun!" The unicorn whispers to herself, sneaking after them.

The group is walking through Canterlot. Riki and Liz are looking around in awe. They stopped at Joe's donut shop for a snack. Riki almost got in a fight with two minotaurs. Because one of them bumped into Liz, and both dropped their donuts. The minotaur called Liz a freak and demanded she buy him a new one. Rainbow and Applejack have to pull Riki away. As the group gets closer to the castle, the cloaked mare hides behind a building. She carefully studies the group, especially the two humans.

"Never thought they would come to Canterlot." She said, sneaking behind a wooden cart. "And it looks like they are heading to the castle, shit. I need to get inside the castle before they do. I need a... Distraction." She looked at the cart and smiled.

Riki and the others get closer to the castle. They hear ponies screaming. They turn to the noise to see a bunch of ponies jumping and running from a runaway cart. The cart comes rushing towards them. Rainbow, Applejack, and Twilight jump out of the way. Liz grabs Spike and dives to the side with Pinkie. Riki quickly picks up Rarity and Fluttershy by their stomach, jumping over the cart. When he lands back on the ground, he swears the cart was coated in a pink aura and places Rarity and Fluttershy back down. As everyone is getting back up and checking on each other, Riki sees a zoned out mare walking into the path of the runaway cart. He immediately runs after the cart, jumping over and weaving through ponies.

"Riki, what are you doing!?" Liz yelled, and the others followed.

He just ignores them and continues running, "Fuck, I'm not going to make it." Riki said to himself, "Oiiiii, Pony Lady! Move out of the way!"

Moments before the runaway cart

A unicorn mare is walking with her head down and bags under her eyes. She has berry red fur. Her mane and tail are green with dark green highlights. Her mane is in a messy ponytail with a few strands hanging out. She is wearing a reporter hat and a camera around her neck. Her cutie mark is a camera flashing. This mare is named Razzle Snap.

"If I don't find a story by tomorrow, I'll be out of the job." Razzle sighed, "If I were in Fillydelphia, I'd have a drug or murder story by now." She stops to fix her hair and hat. Razzle continues to talk to herself, bumping into ponies and other objects.

"Oiiiii, Pony Lady! Move out of the way!"

That loud yell got her attention. She looks up to see a big cart coming directly. It was coming at her too fast. The mare was too scared to move out of the way. Razzle closes her eyes, waiting for the impact.

Crash!

Razzle felt like she is floating in the air as something wrapped around her barrel. When she opened her eyes, dust was everywhere. Looking up, Razzle sees a minotaur, but when the dust clears, it was not a minotaur. No horns. No fur. A flat face and wearing clothes.

It was Riki.

He is breathing heavily. Riki's left shoulder partially went through the cart, and his right arm is wrapped around her. Razzle's eyes were caught by a flickering orange light coming from Riki's right shoulder. It seems Riki didn't notice the light, and it soon died down. A group starts to form and whispers among themselves.

"Looks like I got here right on time," Riki chuckled. He puts Razzle back down on the ground, picks up her hat, and places it back on her head. "Are you okay, Pony Lady?" All that Razzle can do is nod and just look at the weird thing that saved her life. "That's nice. I thought I wasn't going to make it. Guess I'm a lot faster here."

Razzle just stands there with wide eyes, "W-what are you-" She was cut off by Liz and the others running upon them.

Fluttershy flies into Riki, pushing him back a little, "Are you okay? Did you break anything? Do you need to go to the hospital!?"

Riki pulled Fluttershy off and answered her questions in order, "Yes. I don't think so. No."

"Riki, why did you stop the cart?" asked Liz. "You could've got hurt or killed."

Riki points behind him, "Pony Lady,"

"Pony Lady?" said all of them, looking behind him to see the frozen pony.

"Pony Lady,"

Rainbow flies up to him, "Well, what you did was buckin' awesome!"

"And reckless," Rarity added.

"And you were super duper fast!" Pinkie said, hopping up and down.

"You were like a superhero!" Spike exclaimed.

Liz looks around to see the crowd is getting bigger, "Guys, I think we should get going,"

"I agree with Liz. We should go," said Twilight.

"Alright, let's go," Riki said, beginning to walk away with the group. He quickly turns around and waves at Razzle, "See you late, Pony Lady. And make sure you pay more attention around you, bye!"

Razzle just looks at the group walking away. She finally comes back to her senses and quickly points her camera in their direction. Razzle makes sure to get Riki in the frame and whispers, "Hi Riki, my name is Razzle Snap." Then takes the picture.

Why the hell did it take so long to get into the castle? We are at the entrance of the castle, and Twilight is talking to the guards. And let me tell you, ponies holding weapons are pretty adorable. Twilight gestures to us, and we begin to follow them. Liz made small talk with the girls as we followed the guards through the castle. I'm just slightly behind, looking around and-

S.. h.er... Ta... will ..se..... rig...

What the fuck was that!? I immediately stopped and looked around. Only to see the guards around me giving him weird looks.

"Riki, are you feelin' okay?" Applejack asked me.

"All good,"

Applejack looks closely at me, "Are you shore? Because I can tell if you are lying, and you are."

"I forgot you are the Element of Honesty," I said under my breath. "I just have a little headache, that's all, honest."

"Okay, but you better hurry up before you get left behind." She said, bumping her flank on my leg. I just rolled my eyes and waved her off.

"Okay, Apple-"

So...e... ne.. h..p... H..ry!

I look down the right hallway and then back at the others as the distance between us grows.

The two guards opened up the doors to the throne room. And what I saw first really got my attention. I see two big ponies. Both have wings and a horn. They have to be as tall as Riki. I can feel their piercing gaze drill inside of me. I'm basically standing in a room with two goddesses. I still have my eyes on them, too scared to move. The girls all bowed, and I clumsily made my best attempt at a curtsy.

"You may rise," said Celestia.

Twilight breaks from the group, "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, we have arrived. We brought the two humans you want to meet."

The princesses look at each other and then back at the group. Celestia clears her throat, still keeping her gaze on me. "Twilight, I only see one human."

One? What do you mean on- Oh no. We all turn around to see if he's behind us.

He's not.

"Riki is not here!" yelled Twilight.

"This isn't good," said Rarity.

Applejack pulls her hat down, "Darn, I should've stayed with him when we were comin' here."

"I hope he's okay," Fluttershy whispered. "He's still hurt,"

"Maybe he had to use the bathroom," said Pinkie

"Guys, calm down. I lived with Riki for three years now, and I know him," I said, glancing at the princesses and then back at them. "He probably got lost here, and this place is very big. He's going to find his way here." Dammit, Riki, I hope you are okay.

Riki is in the castle hallway with an unconscious earth pony maid in his arms. One unicorn guard is lying in a small pool of blood. Riki has a shallow cut across his cheek. Two more guards have their spears drawn on him. There is one thing Riki can say in this situation.

"I can explain!"

Chapter 4: Riki Storms The Castle!

Riki storms the castle!

"Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!" I yelled, running down the hall with seven ponies guards on my ass. I looked back at the angry guards. I see four earth ponies and three unicorns. One of the unicorns uses magic to grip my arm. I struggled a bit but managed to pull my arm out. Thank God for my magic resistance. I took a hard right down the hall, running past a table I grabbing a vase. I turn around and begin to run backward. Aiming carefully, then hurled the vase, hitting the pony in front. Causing them to fall face first and making the rest trip over the body. "Sorry!" I yelled at them, going around the corner.

I see an open broom closet. I ran in there and shut the door, putting my ear up against the door. I hear the guards running down the hallway, coming to a stop.

"That monster couldn't go that far," said a guard.

"Split up and tell the others!" said the other guard.

"What about the princesses?"

"Let's just tell the captain first."

I can hear them run off. Flipping a bucket over to sit on and take a deep breath. "...I really fucked up,"

Flashback

"I think I'm lost," I said, standing in an empty hallway, rubbing my chin. Why did I have to listen to that voice? Wait, why the hell did I have a voice in my head!!? I hope I'm not going crazy. All I need to do is to find the Throne room, easy. I continued to walk down the hallway until I saw a guard's helmet on the floor. "What the hell?" I said, picking it up and examining it. I stopped when the smell of blood hit my nose. My guard immediately goes up. "That's not good," I said, getting up and following the scent.

Turning the hallway corner, I run down and see a stallion unicorn guard lying in a pool of blood. I immediately ran to the body, making sure not to step in the blood. "Oh, please don't be dead," I said worriedly, checking for a pulse. I do a sigh of relief when I finally find a pulse. "Good, you're not dead. All I need to do is to stop the-Aaaaahhh, what the fuck!?" I yelled when someone or somepony jumped on my back. I start to spin around, trying to fling the fucker off. The pony's forelegs tighten around my neck, and I begin to gasp for air. I dig my fingernails into the forelegs. "I am not going to be choked out by a small horse!" I said, slamming my back against the wall and managing to pry off the forelegs from my neck. Then I hurled the pony into the wall as hard as I could. "Damn, I can't believe I let my guard down," I said, catching my breath, and I glared down at the mare. "Who the hell are you, and why are you here?"

The cloaked unicorn pulled her hood back, revealing her light violet face and light green eyes. Dark teal wavy bob cut hair with sapphire blue highlight. "Will, that didn't work. I should have gone for the slit throat." She said to herself, stomping the floor. "No, if I just didn't get caught by that guard or-"

"Oi!" I yelled at her getting her attention and causing her to flinch, "Answer my damn question, Horse!"

She looks at me with a hurt expression, "I can't believe you just called me that, and I thought you'd be nice." She put her hooves on her cheeks and shook her head. "No, what am I saying!? But, of course, you're nice! I did catch a glimpse of you stopping that cart, heahaha!" She laughed. "The name is La-la Lu, and let me say you look pretty cute doing it~."

I immediately lunged at her, going for a punch. But, La-la quickly sidesteps and plants her back hoof on the side of my face. Causing me to slam into the wall. "Fuck, she's fast," I muttered, wiping the blood away from my mouth and getting back up. I look at the guard, and I don't know how long he'll last. I need to think of something fast. "You're a pretty good thief to get in here. And you did something to that cart, right?"

"First of all, I'm not a buckin' thief," She huffed. "And yeah, that was me. I was just supposed to follow you guys until I get new orders. But now that my cover is blown, I might as well do something so Boss will be less pissed at me." La-la takes out a piece of paper.

I look down at her, cracking my knuckles, "Are you going to hurt Twilight and her friends?"

La-la chuckles a little, "Hurt the Elements, no, that's not my job." The piece of paper, now glowing hot pink, quickly turned into an origami combat knife, "Mine is to hurt you, human~" After she said that, she lunged at me full force with the knife in her mouth.

I rolled to the right at the last second. I went for a leg sweep, but she jumped out of the way and pulled out another piece of paper. "Wait, you know what I am!?" I said.

"We know about you and the girl, human," La-la said, combining her knife with the piece of paper and turning it into an arrow. "I was surprised to see you two in Canterlot. Saved me the visit, heahah! "

I bolted at La-la, "You keep your hands off my sister!"

La-la launches the arrow with her magic towards my head. I quickly moved my head out of the way and went for a punch. She jumped over me, and that gave me the opening I needed.

"Got you!" I yelled, quickly reaching up and grabbing La-la's back hoof and slamming her on the floor, causing her to grunt in pain. She cracks a smile as her horn begins to light up. I quickly swing her into the wall, making a loud thud.

Beheind you

I immediately turn around to see the paper arrow flying right at me. Quickly grabbing the arrow, only mere inches away from my face. The arrow starts to glow pink.

"Quick Fold-Viper!" La-la snarled.

Immediately, the paper arrow turns into a snake. It tightly wraps around my arm and then lunges at me, aiming for my neck. I quickly pulled and tossed the snake. It lands in front of La-la's hoof, slithering up to her neck and nuzzling her cheek. She turns the snake into two combat knives. One is in her magical grip, and the other one is in her mouth. La-la gets in an attacking crouching position and pinns back her ears.

She's getting serious.

After a few minutes of silence, we both charge at each other. I cocked my fist back, and La-la readied her knives for a slash attack. Time seems to slow down as we get close to each other. My fist is about to collide with La-la's face as her knife is close to cutting my neck.
.
.
.
"Aaaahhhh!"

The ear piercing scream hits us, causing us to stop. I turn my head to see a honey colored earth maid. The honey maid starts to sway from side to side. Her gaze keeps shifting between the probably dead guard and us. "Oi, get bac-" I was cut off by La-la's blade cutting my cheek. Causing me to jump back, landing in front of the maid. "Dammit," I said under my breath, wiping the blood off my face.

"Heahah, did anypony tell you to never take your eyes off your enemy?" Lu-lu asked, pondering the blood covered knife. She snapped out when the sound of hoofsteps could be heard. She looks at me and then smiles, "Well, this was fun, but sadly I got to go."

"Really? I was just beginning to enjoy myself, La-la."

"Awww, don't be sad. Let me tell you this." She said, folding the blood covered knife and putting it under her cloak. "Next time we meet, human. I'll make it worth your while~" She then threw the other knife at the maid, but I managed to grab it.

"Too slow,"

La-la smirked, "Quick Fold-Flash."

The knife Immediately starts to glow and expand. Oh shit, it's gonna go boom. I tossed the blade straight in the air and pulled the maid into a protective hug. The blade exploded, letting out a burst of light that filled the hallway. Opening my eyes a few seconds later. I looked over to see that La-la had disappeared, only leaving a few strands of paper. I cursed under my breath a few times. Then I remember the pony in my hands.

"Oi, are you okay?" I asked, pulling away from the pony. I wasn't surprised to see that she had fainted. I was going to try to wake her up, but I was cut off by two guards pointing their spears at me. There is one thing I can say in this situation.

"I can explain!"

Flashback end

"Fuckin' La-la Lu!" I grumbled, punching the wall and making a few mops and brooms fall over. "Alright, Riki, calm down and think. I need to get to the Throne room." I open the door and peek outside to see the hallway is empty, good. I begin to sprint down the hall, stopping at every corner and checking for guards. I can't help to say that I'm getting a little excited sneaking around. But I can't keep running around mindlessly or...

"Hey, it's the thing!"

"Let's get it!"

I'll get caught.

In an office, a blue haired white unicorn is sitting at his desk doing some paperwork. This pony here is Captain of the Royal Sun Guards. His name is...

"Captain Shining Armor, sir!" An earth pony guard yelled, bursting into the room. Causing Shining to jump and scatter some of this work. "S-sorry, Captain, didn't mean to scare you."

"It's fine," Shining said, fixing the papers. He noticed the worried look on the guard's face. "What's the problem? Looks like you've seen a monster?"

"Well, about that..."

"Shitshitshitshitshitshit!" I yelled, running down the hall with ten ponies guards on my ass. "I didn't do it! I just need to find the Throne room." I look back to see some of the unicorns are getting ready to shoot magic beams. "Oh," The unicorns began to fire off their magic beams at me, but I managed to duck and dodge all of them. "Haha, you guys got Stormtrooper aim!" I laughed. I stopped when something crashed into my back, causing me to grunt in pain, almost knocking me over. I look over to see a gray mare pegasus wrapping her hooves around my waist. I reached over, pulled the pony off my body, then held her in front of me. "Do you know where I can find the Throne room?"

She gave me a confused look and then said, "What!? No way in Tartarus, I'm telling you!"

"Please," I said, placing her under my arm and dodging another magic beam. I reach over, pull off the curtains, and then throw them behind me, trapping three guards. Out of nowhere, a pegasus comes flying in fast. I quickly lead back and bicycle kick straight into the guard's face. Wincing a bit because I think I broke the guard's muzzle. "Come on, please! I'll... scratch behind your ear!"

"There is no way I'll-You do what!?" She said as her face started to turn red. "Don't go around saying things like that."

"Is that a yes or a no," I deadpan, holding her in front of my face.

"Ummm... I'm not that type of mare, plus I don't even know your name. "She mumbled, looking away.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

I shook her and spun her around, "Well, we're coming up to an intersection, so left or right?"

"I can't, you-Ow!"

I pulled her cheek, "I didn't hurt that pony. Please just help me. You can trust me."

She stayed quiet for a bit, then looked back at me. The mare let out a little huff and said, "I can't believe I am doing this. Go left and head straight, then take the second right. If you can see the courtyard, you've gone too far."

"Thanks, umm..."

"Feather Gleam. And I can get in a lot of trouble if you're not telling the truth!"

"Riki, and thanks, Feathers!" I beamed, pulling her into a hug. "Oh, and sorry for this."

"Sorry for-What the buck!" She yelled as I tossed her into guards behind us. I can hear Feather yelling my name in anger.

Turning left, I quietly said, "Thanks again, Feathers. I promise I'll pay you back."

Running full speed through the hall, taking the second right. I knew something was off. I don't see or hear anyone. I need to be on-Thud Out of nowhere, I ran face first into a floating shield. I push off the shield and slowly fall to my knees. "Damn, that hurt... A lot."

"I finally found you, monster. Attacked one of my guards and tried to eat a maid!" Shouted a voice.

"The fuck you mean, trying to eat the maid?" I mumbled, seeing a white unicorn in armor looking pretty pissed. As he got close, I immediately threw out a right hook. But my fist collided with a floating shield, "Fuck!" I kick off the ground to get some distance. I check my hand to see that my knuckle is bruised a bit. "Okay, I can do this," I said, bolting at the unicorn.

I went for a left hook but stopped immediately when that shield popped up. So I spun around it, landing a heavy knee on the unicorn side of his stomach, sending him into the wall.

"You're definitely not a regular guard. You're way too tough," I said, cracking my knuckles and getting into my fighting stance. "So, who the hell are you?"

"Captain of the Royal Sun Guards, Shining Armor!" He said firmly, fixing his helmet and getting into a stance. "I'm here to bring you in."

"Guard in shining armor, funny." I chuckle to myself. "Alright then, Shiny, let's do this. I'll kick your ass and get to the Throne room." What I said must have gotten his attention because he looks furious now. "What did I say something wrong?"

"First, I'm not letting you go to the Throne room," Shining retorted, stomping his hoof. "Second, don't call me 'Shiny'!"

I smirked, "Come on, Shiny, let's get funky!" As I yelled that, we both charged at each other, letting out battle cries. I know this will be one of the hardest fights I have ever had.

Let the fun begin!

Chapter 5: Ricochet Riki VS. Captain Shining Armor!

Ricochet Riki VS. Captain Shining Armor!

In the room with the rulers of Equestria and having Riki running around lost, probably one of the worst days ever. But at least no one's trying to kill me, so that's good. The two goddesses just looked me up and down while chatting quietly with each other. I saw Princess Luna rolling her eyes, then Princess Celestia giving her a quick, gentle nudge with her hoof, smiling. I lead down to Twilight, "Hey, how much do they know about Riki and me?" I asked quietly.

"Remember all those questions we asked you two yesterday," Twilight replied. "I had Spike send them all my notes on you two."

"That's amazing," I said sarcastically.

"Don't worry, I didn't write anything bad about you two."

"Thanks for the reassurance," I muttered, scratching my head.

"Elizabeth June Philips," Princess Celestia said calmly.

When she called me by my full name, my face immediately went pale, and I began to sweat and shake a bit. I think I'm about to faint. "Y-yes, Princess C-Celestia?"

"Please come forth,"

I cautiously took a few small steps toward them but stopped to think about what they might say to me. Twilight puts her hoof on my back, "You'll be okay. They won't bite."

I walked up to the princesses with my head down, glancing at them a few times. "Yes, your Majesties?"

"When I received Twilight's reports on the two of you," Celestia said, placing her hoof underneath my chin. She then tilts up my head to get a better look at me. As Celestia does that, I try not to make eye contact. "I did wish she had described you better. You look a lot tamer than what I fought. Sorry for thinking that, Elizabeth."

Feeling a little braver, I look at her, "It's fine, Princess Celestia, and you can call me Liz."

"Well then, Liz, can you tell us how you and your brother got here?"

"Well, I don't know," I said with my head down, "Riki said it has to be some weird magic shit." I heard Princess Luna chuckle for a bit after I said that. "So, I wonder, can you two get us home?"

"Twilight's report said that you two are from another dimension. Is that right?" Princess Luna asked, and I nodded. "Sister, I think a high level teleporting spell is needed."

"I agree,"

Hearing that brings a smile to my face, "You can get us home, great!" I said joyfully, jumping up and down, "I can't wait to tell Riki! So, when can we do this?" The princesses stay quiet to think over the question. "Is something wrong?" I asked as my smile started to fade.

Celestia clears her throat, "Liz, we are glad to help you, but... It will take some time."

"Some time? Like a day or two, a week?"

This time, Luna spoke up, "Six, maybe eight months."

My face went whiter than Celestia's fur, my eyes widened, and I think my heart stopped. "M-MONTHS!" I yelled, "That's so long. I thought magic was supposed to be… Magical, to get things done fast!"

"Liz, there's no need to shout," Celestia said calmly but firmly, making me shake a little. "We have to make a spell that can teleport through dimensions. After that, we need to locate your dimension, then your home." She explained, "My sister and I also have Equestria to rule."

"Sorry, princesses, I was out of line." I shuddered, looking down, "I didn't know it could be that complicated."

"It is fine, little one,"

The girls and Spike come toward me with worried looks. "Liz, I'll help the princesses with the spell too. It probably will speed up the process a bit," Twilight said, rubbing her hoof on my back. The others chimed in, saying things to cheer me up.

Pinkie pulled me into a big hug and said, "Lizzy, it will be okay. Eight months will be gone in the blink of an eye. But at least you're not stuck here forever!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." I said sadly, "Just eight long months in a different world. What can go wrong?"

Then I remember something or someone,

"Oh, fuck-"

BAM

Let's go back several minutes during the conversation between Liz and the princesses. At the same time, the fight between Riki and Shining is heating up.

We see Riki get a shield bash into his stomach, launching him into a wall. He slowly gets up, holding his stomach. His forearms and clothes are scuffed a bit and have a hoofprint on the side of his shirt. "You're really tough, no wonder you're a captain," Riki said, spitting out some blood and getting into a stance, "I'm surprised I'm able to hold my own, especially against those stupid shields."

Shining's helmet is long gone, with a few light bruises on his cheek and the side of his stomach. "Whatever you are, you're enjoying this way too much!" Shining said, summoning a dozen shields and launching them at Riki, "Take this!"

Riki dodge, dip, duck, dive, and dodge through the shields. Two of them clip him in the arm and leg, but he manages to grab one of the shields, "Back at ya!" Riki yelled, throwing it back at Shining. He dodged to the left but was met with a flying knee to the face. Riki goes behind Shining and swiftly wraps his arms around his waist, "Heavy Suplex!" Riki shouted, falling backward and slamming Shining hard on the ground.

Shining gasped in pain but was able to muscle through and summon a shield big enough to separate them. Shining springs up on his back legs, ready to stomp on Riki's chest. His front hooves come crashing down, Riki quickly reacts by sideways, rolling out of the way. Shining keeps trying to do it again, but Riki keeps rolling away. Then Riki goes into a back handspring to get some distance. One step ahead, Shining quickly lets out a blast of magic, hitting Riki in the face and throwing him back, but thanks to Riki's magic resistance, the blast only hurt a little.

Riki was surprised when his back crashed into something, "Huh, what!?" he said, looking behind him, "A shield?" Riki was about to push off the shield, but Shining was one step ahead again. He unsummons the shield to make Riki lose his balance.

Shining runs up to the slipping Riki, "Take this!" he exclaimed, bucking right into Riki's chest. Riki slid across the floor on his back. "Had...enough?" Shining said, catching his breath.

Riki staggers to his feet, "Gotta...stay in this." he said to himself, rubbing his chest, "Not down for the count, Shiny!" Riki said with a confident smile. His hands go behind his back to reach for something.

But finds nothing.

"Oi, what the fuck?" Riki said quietly with a puzzled look. He checks again and unties his hoodie from his waist, looking around for a bit. "My tonfas, did I drop them?"

Shining is just standing there, very confused about what's going on. Not letting his guard down, he begins to charge his horn, ready to use a spell.

"Tonfas, tonfas, tonfas!" Riki stressed, messing up his hair vigorously, "Where did I... Oh shit, I remember now."

Flashback

Inside Riki's house, we see Liz wearing her school uniform and sitting on the couch with Spike. They see Riki, only wearing black khaki pants and shoes, walking down the stairs. "You're not dressed yet?" she asked, staying up, "Came on, Riki! Twilight and the other are probably at the train station right now."

"Sorry, but I'm looking for something." Riki replied, walking back upstairs, "Let me check my room again,"

"What are you looking for, Riki?" asked Spike.

"My tonfas!" he yelled from his room, "Have you seen them!?"

"Leave your stupid tonfas! We don't want to miss the train!" Liz yelled back, standing next to the stairs with Spike, "Why the hell do you ever need them!?"

Riki comes back down the stairs with a shirt and a worried look. "I just have a gut feeling, you know?" he said, leaning on their handrail, "Don't you have one too?"

Liz looked away for a bit, "No, I don't have a gut feeling, Riki." she lied, folding her arms, "You're just nervous to meet the princesses, right, Spike?"

"Right, Liz," Spike said as Liz picked him up, "What are you doing?"

Liz ignores the squirming dragon, "We will be outside, so finish getting dressed and forget your tonfas." She heads to the front door, "You have five minutes before we leave you,"

Riki waves them off, "Yeah, see you two outside."

Flashback End

Riki falls to his hands and knees, "I don't know what to say?" He says in a depressed tone, and a waterfall of tears begins to flow, "Should I trust my instinct, I'm ashamed of myself!"

Shining is starting to get agitated by the comically crying Riki. "That's it, I'm done playing around!" he snapped, "Should have done this in the first place!" he shot out a beam at Riki. He tried to dodge, but it was too late, "How do you like to be in a force field," And like that, Riki was trapped in a pink sphere, "That was, ugh, my head. You have magic resistance, do you?" He starts to move the trapped Riki down the hall and toward the Throne room.

Ignores Shining, Riki begins to punch the walls repeatedly with all his might. Every time Riki hits the force field, Shining head headache gets worse and worse. He continues to do it a few more times but stops when his knuckles start to bleed. We see some blood on the force field's wall and a tiny crack. "Dammit, felt like I was punching a steel wall." Riki said tiredly, checking out his knuckles, "Okay, Riki, you can get out of this. Just think, I can't keep throwing out punches willy-nilly." Riki takes a few calming breaths and looks at the tiny crack, pondering on what to do. Then it hits him. Riki smiled and started to stretch, "Thanks sensei, I owe you one!" he said happily to himself, "Now then, let's do some fa jin. Oi, can I ask you something!"

"No matter what you said, you're not getting out of this."

"Just a quick question, Shiny,"

Shining stops and looks over at Riki, "What is it?"

Riki begins breathing in slowly through his nose and out through his mouth several times. Pointing his right foot towards the crack, left foot slightly behind, knees bending comfortably, and torso center. Riki's right fist is about 1 inch from the crack, "Shiny, have you ever seen the one inch punch?"

Shining has a confused look on his face, "One inch punch? what are-"

He is cut off by Riki, slightly skipping forward and a twist of his hip, unleashing the strongest one inch punch he has ever done. Colliding against the tiny crack, making the force field shake. After that, Riki didn't move. He didn't pull back up. All he did was stand there in silence.

"Is that it? I expected something... More, guess I was wrong." Shining said in a disgruntled tone.

Riki got out of his stance, "Did I do it wrong?" he questioned, rubbing his chin. "It has been a while since I did a one inch punch or fa jin."

Kssshhhhk

"...Huh, what's that sound?" Shining and Riki both said,

The tiny crack begins to expand fast throughout the entire force field. Riki chuckles, "Guess I did do it right," The force field shatters like glass, letting out a small shockwave pushing Shining back as he covers his eyes. Riki falls to the ground and lands on his butt as Shining's shattered force field dissolves away. Riki looks at Shining with a cheeky smile, "So, how was that?"

"I've never seen somepony break my force field like that," Shining said, cracking a smile, "I never got your name... Umm?"

"Human," Riki said, getting in a fighting stance, "The name is Ricochet Gregory Phillips. You can call me Riki!"

"Well then, Riki, let's finish this!" Shining shouted,

"Yeah, Shiny!" Riki roared,

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Liz said with a sad smile, "Just eight long months in a different world. What can go wrong?"

Then Liz remembered something or someone,

"Oh, fuck-"

BAM

She is cut off by the sound of the throne room doors bursting wide open. Everybody looks towards the door. What they are looking at shocks them, especially Liz and Twilight. It's Riki and Shining rolling on the ground, punching and kicking each other.

"Riki!?" said Liz,

"Shining!?" said Twilight,

Riki managed to throw Shining off. He looks around and sees the shocked and confused faces. His gaze finally settles on Liz and the other, "Oi, sorry I took so long. I got lost and ran into a few problems, haha!" Riki laughed,

"Hey, Riki!" Shining yelled as his horn started to glow,

"Oh, sorry, where did we leave off," Riki said,

Shining and Riki charge at each other with full force, but Twilight teleports between them, "Shining, Riki, stop!" she yelled. They both stop, almost slamming into Twilight in the process.

"Wait, you know him!?" Riki and Shining both said,

"Shiny, you know her?" Riki asked,

"Of course, she's my sister," Shining answered him, "How do you know her!?"

"She's letting me and my sister stay with her," Riki said, pointing at Liz, "If you said that you were Twilight's brother... Actually, nothing will change, but sorry for punching you in the face and all that."

Twilight turns to Riki, "What!?"

"Who won?" asked Rainbow.

"Me," Riki and Shining both said.

"Riki, what happened?" said Liz.

"He assaulted many guards, running through and destroying the castle. He was also found with a severely wounded guard in his hooves," Shining said, getting everybody's attention.

"I have hands, and I only broke a few things," Riki mumbled, kicking the ground,

Princess Celestia takes this time to interject, "Captain Shining armor, is what you say true?"

"Yes, Princess Celestia, the guards informed me that they saw him holding a severely injured Private Paprika and an unconscious maid." Shining informs her, "They tried to apprehend him, but they couldn't. Private Paprika and the maid are in the infirmary and will make a full recovery."

"That's good," Riki said with a sigh of relief,

"Him, fight off a bunch of highly trained ponies," Princess Luna scoffed, "He doesn't look like you could have done it."

"Oi, what's that supposed to mean!?"

Celestia looks at Riki with a straight face, "Ricochet Gregory Phillips, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Riki steps close to the princesses, but the guards in the room point their spears at him. He takes a few steps back and said, "Princess, you can just call me Riki, and what Shiny said is true-"

Everyone gasps except for the princess. The guards start to close in on Riki. Liz jumps in front of him, "Wait, let him finish!"

"What Shiny said is true, but only about me running and fighting through the castle," Riki said, moving Liz behind him, "There was a pony in the castle that attacked that guard, and we fought when I found the body."

"Another pony?" Celestia said, "Riki, can you please tell us your story."

"Okay, this is what happened," Riki said, "It all started when I got lost."

I told them everything, how I found the body, the fight between me and La-la Lu, and running through the castle, except for what La-la said about me and the others and the weird voice in my head. They also brought in the maid, that was there to see if my story adds up. After storytime was done, Fluttershy, with a sorrowful look, wrapped her forelegs around me. Pinkie jumps onto my back, wrapping her hooves around my neck. I want to pull them off, but I'm too tired and beat up to do so, "What are you two doing?" I said, trying to keep my balance.

"Riki, you must have been so scared and all the fighting you did," Fluttershy worried, releasing her grip, "Do you need to go to the hospital?"

I rolled my eyes, "No, I wasn't scared, and I'll just sleep off the pain,"

"Darling, are you sure you just need some sleep?" Rarity said with a concerned look.

"Is sleeping off the pain a human thing?" Pinkie asked, putting her chin on my head.

Liz lets out a sigh, "Not really, it's more of a Riki thing."

Twilight came up to me, "Maybe healing magic will help, but your magic resistance will get in the way."

"So, Liz, did you ask about a way home?" I said, getting up, "Can the princesses do it?"

"Oh, thanks for reminding me, and yes, they can get us home." Liz said, looking away, "And umm..."

"What's the problem, Liz?"

Liz didn't say anything. The only thing she did was cross her arms. I was going to ask her again, but Applejack steps in, "Well, you and Liz are stuck here for about eight months,"

"Really?"

"Yes, it's a very complicated teleporting spell we have to make," Twilight chimed in, "But don't worry, we can have it done."

"I'm still pissed about it," Liz grumbled,

"Stop being pissed and look on the bright side," I said happily, wrapping my arm around her, "We have an eight month free vacation in a new world!"

"That's one way to look at it," Rarity chuckled,

"I hate to interrupt your conversation," Celestia interjected, "There are some things my sister and I want to discuss with you, Riki."

"Yeah?" I said, walking to them and placing Pinkie down.

"We're very thankful for what you did," Celestia said with a thankful smile, but it soon faded away, "But running through the castle and hurting my little ponies, I can't overlook that."

"Wait, are you going to punish Riki?" Liz asked,

"Exactly," said Luna,

Okay, after they said all of that, Liz's face darkened, and her fist started to shake. She stares at the princesses, "That's bullshit, that is actual bullshit!" Liz yelled, getting everyone's attention, "Why are you punishing Riki!? He stopped La-la, but just because he beat up a couple of guards, you're going to punish him? Are you stupid!"

Spike taps Liz's leg, "Umm, Liz-"

He is cut off by Luna stomping her hoof, "YOU DARE SPEAK TO US IN THAT TONE OF VOICE!?" Luna shouted, staring her down, "I HOPE YOU DIDN'T FORGET WHO YOU ARE TALKING TO!"

We all covered our ears as Luna's voice boomed through the Throne room. Why the fuck is she so loud? Is she using magic, or can she just become that loud? I look over at Celestia; she is just chilling like nothing is happening. I wonder whether she can do the same thing with her voice. I move my hands away from my ears to hear Liz shouting, "I don't care! When it comes down to my brother's wellbeing, I don't care who you are! You bit-"

"I'll take it," I said, covering Liz's mouth. She then looks at me with wide eyes, "Liz, you need to stop acting like a baby when you don't like something."

Liz moves away from me, "What!?"

"I'll take the punishment," I said casually, "So, what is it, jail time?"

"You were defending yourself! You did nothing wrong. This is unfair!" Liz ranted, "Why are you just taking it and not fighting back, Riki? You know this is bull-"

"Liz, shut up!" I yelled, making everyone in the room flinch, even the princesses, "I have to take the consequences for my actions. I did hurt a few guards. I did trash the castle. I could have let them take me in, but I didn't." I looked at the ground to collect my thoughts, "...If you don't like my decision, Liz. You'll just have to grin and bear it. Are we clear?"

"But-"

"Are we clear, Liz?"

"...C-crystal..." she murmured,

Fuck, I hate that I have to do that. It makes me feel like an asshole. Now, it's just awkward. I just want to know what my punishment is. I turned towards Luna, then bowed, "I'm sorry about my sister's outburst. I hope this doesn't affect my punishment." I can feel everyone's eyes on me, "Liz can be overprotective, even if she's the little sister." I said with a slight chuckle.

"You may rise," said Luna, "It's alright. I would have done the same thing if my sister was in your place."

"So, what's my punishment?"

The princesses whispered at each other, then looked at Shiny. Celestia cleared her throat, "Riki Gregory Phillips, your punishment for assaulting royal guards is... Community service!" she said, raising her hoof.

"...Community service!?" We all yelled,

"Riki, is it true that you used to be a bodyguard back in your world?"

"Yeah, that was a few years ago?" after I said that, I swear she smiled, "What's going on?"

"Your community service will be a royal guard serving under my sister and me,"

"...What!?" We all yelled again.

Shiny stands there shocked for a few seconds before saying anything, "Princess Celestia, why a royal guard?"

"Yeah, I agree with Shiny," I added,

"Stop calling me that!"

"I want to give Private Paprika some time off, don't you think, Captain Shining Armor?"

"Well... Yes, Princess Celestia," Shiny said with a defeated sigh,

"Good, Riki, you will be a guard here for one week," Celestia said, getting up and walking toward me. I noticed that we were almost at eye level, "You'll be starting today. I hope that's good for you?"

"Yeah, that's good," I said, looking toward Liz and the others. The group has mixed emotions about this situation, especially Liz. I was going to say something, but Celestia beat me to it.

"Twilight and friends, there are a few things Luna and I need to discuss with Shining and Riki...alone." Celestia asked, but it sounded more like a demand, "Can you wait a few minutes outside? That goes for the guards too."

They all nodded, and it was only me, Celestia, Luna, and Shiny in no time. I run my hand through my hair, "What's so important you want to discuss with Shiny and me?"

"Let's start with you telling us what you and La-la Lu talked about," Celestia said in a serious tone.

How the hell does she know that!?

I don't know how I feel right now. I slid down the wall, hugging my knees and letting out a sad sigh, "Fuuuuucccckkkkk," I could hear Twilight and the others surrounding me, but I decided not to look up, "Yes?"

Pinkie taps her hoof on me, "Lizzy, what's wrong?"

"I don't know. It's just been a long day," I said in a flat tone,

Twilight plops down next to me, "Liz, are you upset about Riki?"

"He's one of the reasons why I'm upset," I huffed, "He almost got killed. I'm upset with him. The princesses punished him. I'm upset with them. I was in a shouting match with Princess Luna, I'm upset with myself!" I look up from my knees with slightly teary eyes, "This is just too much for me. I-I don't know how Riki can deal with all this." I wiped my face, "We're so different. Sometimes I think we're not even related if it wasn't for our amber eye,"

"If it makes you feel better," Rainbow said, floating above me, "I think you were pretty cool during the shouting match."

"Thanks?" I said, fiddling with my skirt, "But the more I think about it, it was like a chihuahua barking at a rottweiler, and spoiler alert, I was the chihuahua."

"Liz, the girls and I-" Twilight was cut off by Spike letting out a cough, "The girls, Spike, and I will help you get through this. You have our word," she said with a smile, "We will gladly teach you the ins and outs of Equestria."

"Do you feel better, Lizzy?" Pinkie said while hugging me,

"A little bit," I mumbled, "Can we not tell Riki about this? There are too many things going on right now. I'll talk to him about it when his punishment is over." Just then, the throne room doors open, getting our attention. We see Riki walking out. What caught my eye is that Riki looks less beat up. "Wow, Riki, you look better. What happened?"

"Princess Celestia did a healing spell on me," Riki said, doing a few stretches, "But thanks to my magic resistance, the spell didn't really work to its fullest. So I'm still a bit hurt."

"That's great to hear," I said, getting up, "So, here to say your goodbyes?"

"Yeah,"

"I'm going to miss you,"

"It's only one week," Riki chuckled,

"And when you get back, we are having a talk," I demanded,

"Yeah, Liz, we can," Riki turns his attention to Twilight and the others, "Oh, while I'm gone, Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rainbow is in charge of you in that order. Any complaints?"

"I have one. Why is Pinkie ahead of me?" asked Rainbow,

"Yeah... That's not a complaint, I have a real complaint." I said, "I'm 16 and don't need a babysitter,"

"Just watch over Liz until I get back," Riki said with a sigh, "So, what are you guys going to do now?"

Twilight rubs her chin, "Well, we're going to catch the next train back to Ponyville. We can all stay here if you want?"

"It's all good. You guys head home and get some rest," Riki said, letting out a small yawn,

"And since we're stuck here for a while, I'm going to try to get a job." after I said that, I started getting weird looks, "What!? Riki and I are going to be here for a long time. Can't just freeload at Twilight's house for eight months and not do anything."

"Looks like someone is slowly becoming an adult, hehe!" he said joyfully.

"Yeah, faster than you," I quipped, crossing my arms,

Riki grins, "Good to see you can make a joke, but should you guys start to head out and catch the train?"

Twilight quickly gets up, "Shoot, you're right. We got to hurry!"

"See you later, Riki!" Pinkie exclaimed, hugging him. "I'll throw you a welcome back party when you return!"

"Darling, make sure you're on your best behavior," Rarity advised him, "Especially around the nobles. I don't want you to get in trouble."

"No promises,"

"Don't push yourself too hard," Applejack said, slapping Riki on the back and making him wince, "Sorry about that, partner. I kind of forgot you were still injured."

"Riki, you have to tell me about the full fight between you and Shining Armor," said Rainbow.

"Make sure you get plenty of rest and try not to get into any more fights," Fluttershy spoke softly, "And I'll make sure Louie knows what's going on."

"Good luck, Riki," said Spike.

Twilight and the others begin to walk off. I quickly hugged him, "Come back safely,"

"Okay," I said, hugging back, "Now go before they leave you," Liz pulls away and walks off. And like that, I was alone in the hallway, "I hope I'm making the right decision for them,"

Shining walks out of the Throne room. "Ready for the tour?"

"Sure thing, Shiny,"

"Private Riki, I am your superior, so I deserve some respect!" he shouted,

"My bad, Captain Shiny Armor, sir!" I shouted back, saluting with a straight face, trying not to smile,

"I don't have time for this. Just go." Shiny sigh,

"Woohoo!"

Back in the room with the princesses, Luna has a questionable look, "Tia, how did you know Riki was hiding information about La-la Lu?"

"..."

Celestia saying nothing, basically gives Luna her answer, "Oh, I never really expect you to read his mind," she said with a fake shocked look, "Did you use it on his sister too?"

"Don't you have a moon to rise,"

"Come on, tell me," Luna pleaded,

Celestia closes her eyes to collect her thoughts, "Liz and Riki's minds were a slight struggle to get in, but once I was in, I was almost immediately driven out."

"Because of their magic resistance, right?"

Celestia gets up from her throne, and her horn lights up. She teleports her and Luna to the balcony, "Maybe it was the resistance, but when I was in there, it felt like somepony or something was there pushing me out."

"And whoever La-la Lu is working for knows about humans and Riki and Liz being in Equestria," said Luna, rubbing her chin. "You think this is all connected, do you?"

Celestia looks out over Canterlot and then over to Ponyville, "I wish I didn't,"

Not being chased around by ponies really helps me notice how amazing this place is. Shining showed me a few places like the sculpture garden, courtyard, library, dining room for the princesses, and mess hall for the guards. Right now, we're standings in front of one of the guest rooms. "Thanks, Shiny for showing me around," I said, leaning on the wall, "So, is this where I'll be staying at?"

"No problem," he said, opening the door, "We use these guest rooms for griffins, minotaurs, or diamond dogs. So things are up to your size,"

Walking into the room, Shining really meant it. The dresser, chair, and bed are up to my size but slightly bigger. "This room is pretty nice,"

"There is also a bathroom, and a maid will come in the morning to clean," He told me, "Any more questions?"

"Yes, umm, one question," I said, falling backward on the bed, "What are you going to do about the guards and me?"

"Well, I'm going to head down to their living quarters and tell them what's going on." Shining answered, "I have to tell Captain Vanta Nightfall to spread the word throughout her guards,"

Hearing that weird name made me sit up, "Who's Captain Vanta Nightfall?"

"She's captain of the moon guards,"

"Oh, I can't wait to meet her," I said, looking at the window and seeing the moonrise, "It's almost night, and I hate to kick you out, but I kind of want to sleep,"

Shining apologized and began to leave, "We can discuss your duties in my office tomorrow. Have a good night."

"Aye, aye, captain!"

Shining just rolls his eyes and shuts the door. I got up and took off all my clothes, only leaving me in my black boxer brief. I pulled on my hoodie and then jumped back into bed. I was going to play some music, but I was too tired to grab my phone. I'm surprised I was able to stay up for this lo-ZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I jolted up when my face touched something...cold. "What the hell?" I said, rubbing my tired eyes as I took a few steps. I can hear familiar crunching sounds. I opened my eyes to see that I'm in a land of snow. It starts to snow lightly, holding out my hand to let the snow land on it. "It's real snow? What is this place, and does it feels so...familiar? And I wish I had pants on." I know this is a dream because I remember going to bed. "Wait, how do I know I'm in a dream!?" I yelled through the snowy land. Aww, man, my head hurts.

"E-excuse me, mister?" a small voice said, breaking me out of my thoughts, "H-hey, can I ask you something?"

I cautiously turn to the voice. Behind me is a 5 or 6-year-old boy, a human boy with his head down. He is wearing red rubber tall snow boots, a purple snow jacket, and black wool gloves. The boy has the same skin color and hair as me.

"Wait a second, that kid can't be," I said as my eyes starts to widen. The boy lifts his head, revealing his amber and green eyes. "That kid is me," the kid or me pulls on my hoodie, getting my attention again.

"Mister, can you help me find my mom?"

Author's Note

How do you guys like the story so far? :pinkiecrazy:

Chapter 6: I Dream of... Luna?

I Dream of... Luna?

“Mister, can you help me find my mom?”

I look down at the kid, “What?”

“My mom, I need to find her,” the kid said, squatting in the snow and begins to cry.

I hate to see kids cry, especially a kid version of me, “Oi, I’ll help you find my-your mom. And stop calling me ‘Mister,” I said, picking him up and brushing off the snow, “My name is Ricochet, but you can call me Riki for short.”

“Your name is Ricochet too, and I thought I was the only one with a weird name!” Ricochet said with a smile, “Mr. Riki, you can call me Ricochet, but you can’t call me Riki because only my mom can.”

I chuckled a bit, remembering all the times I said that. I squatted down to see him at eye level, “So, Ricochet, how did you get separated from your mom?”

Ricochet shifts his weight and gets a sorrowful look, “A big scary monster came after us. That’s how we got separated.”

“A monster?” I said.

“Hey, Mr. Riki?” asked Ricochet,

“Yes,”

“Why aren’t you wearing any pants?”

“Oh, umm... I woke up without any,” I said sheepishly, rubbing the back of my head.

“Mr. Riki, you know doing drugs is bad,” Ricochet said, swinging his arms back and forth, “My mom told me that.”

“I know,” I chuckled. “...Come on, let’s go find your mom.”

“Otay!” he exclaimed, running off.

“Oi, wait up!” I said, running after him, “Fuck, is this how Liz and the others feel when I run off… Nah.”

Damn, it feels like we have been walking for hours. It’s just snow, snow, and a dead tree. Ricochet, or little me is having the time of this life. He’s just playing in the snow, running ahead of me. I brushed the falling snow off my head and pulled up my hood, “Oi, Ricochet, this might sound weird, but were you the voice in my head?” I asked, “It has been bugging me.”

Ricochet runs towards me and almost trips in the process. He tilts his head a few times, “Did it sound like me?”

“No… it’s just that… Well…” I groan, rubbing my temples, “When the voice was in my head, I heard it but didn’t really hear it?”

“Otay?” Ricochet said with a questionable look, “Are you sure you’re not on drugs?”

“Oi, it’s hard to explain!” I yelled, “All I know is the voice felt rough.”

“Mr. Riki, can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead,”

“Why are you here?”

I raised my eyebrow, “What?”

“Why are you here in this place? Are you looking for something…someone?”

“I don’t know, Kid,” I said with a sigh, come a complete stop, “Why are you here?”

“What do you mean?” Ricochet said in a flat tone. “We always like to walk in the snow with mom.”

“You know who I am!?” I said shockingly,

Ricochet turns and gives me a pouty face, “I’m six, not stupid.”

I started to rub the back of my head, “Then you should know that-” I was cut off by the ground shaking violently. “What the fuck, an earthquake!?” I shouted, trying to keep my balance.

“I-It’s coming, Mr. R-Riki!” Ricochet trembled, grabbing my hand, “We need to go now before it gets us!”

“What's coming?”

“The-”

Something erupts from the ground, kicking up a ton of snow. It lands right in front of us, shaking the ground again. I quickly picked up Ricochet and put him under my arm. When the snow finally settles, I see a huge 30 feet tall shadowy blob looms over us. Its four soulless white eyes were the only things on its pitch black body. I slowly take a few steps back, “That’s a big ass-”

“Mr. Riki, run!” Ricochet shouted, pulling my hair away from the monster, “Run, like a bunch of swans is chasing you!”

“Don’t bring up those demons!” I shouted back, running away. I look back to see something shocking. The weird thing begins to disgustingly grow four legs with sharp claws at the end. “That is...some bullshit,”

It starts to chase after us, but the monster trips over its newly formed legs. After a while, it got used to walking and begins to pick up speed. I can’t keep running in this condition, and all the snow it’s kicking up is not in my favor. Ricochet wiggles out from under my arm and climbs onto my shoulders. Almost making me fall over, “Oi, what are you doing?”

“Mr. Riki, doge to the right!” he yelled, pulling my hair in the same direction. I dodged, making the monster miss its swiping attack. “Mr. Riki, go down that hill!”

“What hil-Ahhhhhh!” I screamed, plummeting down the big snowy hill. I curse my heart on the way down, “Fuck, shit, damn, bollocks, ass, crap!” Landing on my face hard and then groaning, I feel Ricochet trying to pick me up. I slowly got up and wiped the snow off my face, “Oi, you good?”

“I’m fine, Mr. Riki,” Ricochet answered, pushing the snow off. He then grabs my hand, “But we need to keep going, look!”

I look behind me to see the monster making its way down. I pick up Ricochet, “We need to hide,” I said, running off, “Know any places in this snow covered hell?”

“Just one place,”

“Really?”

“Over there,” Ricochet said happily, “A big spooky dark cave!”

Wait, what the!? Actually, I don’t care if a spooky cave came out of nowhere. “Fuckin’ dreams are bullshit!” I just need to get the kid me safe. Looking back at the monster, “How good is your aim?”

“Pretty good. Why?”

I stopped dead in my tracks and quickly bent down. I start to make about 20 snowballs, “Okay, you ready?” I said, handing Ricochet a few snowballs.

He nodded and began to aim, “Go for the eyes, right?”

“Yeah,”

As the monster gets close, Ricochet chucks the snowballs at its eyes. He missed the first couple of shots, but he hit one of the eyes. “Mr. Riki, get moving!” he yelled, hitting another eye.

I give Ricochet the rest of the snowballs and begin to run away. He keeps hurtling the snowballs at the monster’s eyes. The beast starts to run uncontrollably with only one eye open. With the final two snowballs, Ricochet tosses them and hits the last eyes. The monster stops and rises on its back legs. It rubs its eyes vigorously, trying to get the snow out. Taking this opportunity, I run full speed to the cave.

< Nobody’s Pov>
Ricochet and Riki finally made it to the entrance of the cave. Riki places Ricochet down and gives him a few pats on the head, “Oi, listen up. I’m going to go and distract it, you stay here.”

“What! No, that thing is big and scary!” Ricochet pleated, pulling on Riki’s arm. “Just stay here!”

“Can’t, what if it comes in here?” Riki said, walking away, “I’ll be back, so stay here and keep your head down, Okay?”

“Just like what mom said,” Ricochet muttered with a sad look, going behind a rock. “I wish I was stronger.”

Riki stops at the entrance, taking a few deep breaths to keep himself from blowing up. He stares straight ahead at the monster making its way to the cave. Riki waves his hands wildly while running away. “Oi, monster fuck!”. The beast slid into the snow, almost crashing into the cave. It launches at Riki, but he dodges rolls at the last second. “I’ll be back, Ricochet!” Riki yelled.

In the cave, Ricochet peeked over the rock. He sees Riki and the monster getting farther and farther away. Ricochet starts to walk out but stops when he hears something in the cave. It feels like it’s calling him. He slowly turns around, “H-hey, the name is Ricochet,” he stuttered, walking deeper into the cave. “What’s your name!?”

“Oh, shit!” Riki shouted. He dives into the snow, barely dodging the monster’s slashing attack. It crashes face first into the ground, making winds push Riki forward. He tries to get up, but his cold and numb feet are giving him trouble. “Dreams are bullshit. Why can’t I just dream up pants and shoes!” Riki shouted, getting up as fast as possible. But he feels something wrap around his right ankle, pulling him back down in the snow.

He looks at his ankle to see a black tentacle wrapped around it. The monster drags Riki towards itself, he tries to kick off the tentacle a few times, but it doesn’t work. As the monster starts to stay on its hind legs, its tentacle lifts Riki upside down above its head. It stares at him with its four eyes, blinking at different times. Riki took this moment to punch the monster in one of its eyes as hard as he could.

But it kind of backfired.

It made the monster stumbled back, causing it to swing Riki around. “Oooohhh, fuuuuuck!” Riki screamed. He reaches up to his ankle and pulls on the tentacle, slowly releasing his ankle. “Come on! Come on!”. The monster stops stumbling to see Riki getting his foot free, “Woohoo!” he exclaimed, throwing his arms up in victory. Then he realized that he was falling, “OH NO!”.

Falling and landing on the monster’s face. Riki quickly delivers two strong punches to the eyes on the right side. The monster whips its head back in pain, throwing Riki on its back, and begins to slide down. As Riki gets closer to the bottom, he prepares himself to jump off.

“Okay, here goes nothing,” Riki said, jumping off the back.

As he does, three big bumps appear on the monster’s back. Then tentacles disgustingly burst out of the bumps, dripping black ooze.

Before Riki ever touches the snowy ground. The newly made tentacles swiftly wrap around Riki’s body, pulling him back. The monster moves Riki in front of its face. It slowly constricts Riki, making sure not to break him into two. Riki tries to break out with all his might, but it’s getting him nowhere. “I don’t know how this can get any worse!” Riki snapped.

It gets worse.

The monster’s lower face starts to stretch and tear. Riki's eyes widened when a mouth with a whiplike tongue formed. “This is some fuck,” Riki muttered, “At least I could find out if I died in a dream, I died in real life.” The monster dangles Riki over its mouth and lowers him in. Riki closed his eyes, preparing to get bit in half.

Out of nowhere, a blue beam of magic blasts through the tentacles, dropping Riki face first into the snow. The tentacles around him begin to dissolve away, “What the hell?” Riki questioned, rubbing his head. He sees the monster roar in pain as another magic blast hits it square in the face, slowly disintegrating it away.

“And here I thought it would put up a fight,” said a calming voice.

Riki turns to see Princess Luna. “P-Princess Luna!? Why are you here!? How are you here!?” he said, sounding very confused. “Wait, are you the real Princess or a dream?” Riki slowly shuffled his way up to Luna and poked her in the face.

“Of course, I’m real!” she yelled, slapping Riki’s hand away, “It is my duty as the princess of the night to step into ponies’ dreams.”

“Oi, first you don’t have to yell, and second I’m not a pony!” he shouted back. Riki sees that Luna’s eyes shift downward at his lower body. “Can you not!” He quickly covered himself as best as he could.

She rolled her eyes, “I really don’t see the problem here. You know we ponies rarely wear anything.” Luna said, walking next to Riki, bumping him with her flank.

“Yeah, I have been meaning to ask about that….” Riki said, running his hand through his hair. “…So, how do you ponies keep your... ‘stuff’ from being seen?” Luna just stared at Riki with a blank face. He quickly tries to think of something to say. “It’s just a question! You guys just don’t wear pants and…and… Wait, are you laughing?” Riki said, pointing at the snickering pony. “Damn it, I can’t deal with this awkward shit! I’m going!” He begins to storm off to somewhere.

Luna couldn’t contain her laughter anymore, “Pfffttt, hahaha! Sorry, but I wa-I wasn’t expecting you to say that, hahaha!” She flies in front of Riki, stopping him in as tracks. Luna sees his red cheeks and something else, “Oh my moon, you have freckles.” she said in shock, then poking Riki’s freckled cheeks. “Have you always had freckles or…”

Riki bends down and picks up some snow, rubbing it on his cheeks to cool off. After that, his freckles and flushed cheeks fade away. Riki starts to draw in the snow, “Yes…sort of,” he muttered to Luna, try not to make eye contact, “My freckles are weird. They only appear when I blush or get super embarrassed.”

“That is weird,”

“You will not tell anyone, anypony, or anything about it! There are only a few people who-”

A black tentacle comes crashing down at them, but Riki is fast enough to push Luna out of them away. Both turned to where the attack came from, seeing the monster slowly rise out of the snow.

“What in Tartarus? I thought I got rid of it!” Luna said with a surprised look.

“Oi, I need to ask you something,” Riki said, getting up, “What the hell is that thing!?”

“It’s a nightmare, a strong one.” she said, flapping her wings, “I’ll try to banish it again, stay here.” She flies towards the nightmare with amazing speed.

“Wait!” Riki shouted at Luna, but it was too late.

Luna flies straight at the nightmare, firing a magic beam at it. But she was shocked to see her attack blocked by the monster’s tentacles. Then the tentacles start to chase her around. She dodged and blasted the tentacles around her and managed to get a few shots off the nightmare's back and face, but it wasn’t fazed.

“Dammit, why is my magic barely doing anything to this beast?” Luna asked herself, “Is Riki’s magic resistance affecting me, or is this nightmare more than it seems?” Before she can think of what to do next, a tentacle wraps around her back hoof. “What!?” The monster swings the princess of the night throughout the sky like a rag doll. It then hurls her down to the ground with great force. Luna closed her eyes and braced for impact.

“Luna!” Riki shouted, diving to catch her at the very last second. But instead of Luna falling into Riki’s arms, she lands on top of him. “Gyaaa! Why did you land in my back!?”

“It’s not my fault!” Luna yelled at Riki, rolling and sitting on his back.

“If I feel this when I wake up, I’m kicking your ass!” he yelled back.

“Do you know who you’re talking to!?”

“A heavy ass pony!”

Luna rolled her eyes and muttered, “Have you seen Tia’s.”

“Who? Wait, I don’t care. Get off me!” Riki said as calmly as possible, flailing under Luna’s butt.

The two continue to argue with each other. Unbeknownst to them, the nightmare looms over them. It begins to open its mouth, starting to charge a beam. The bright light in its mouth gets Riki and Luna to stop fighting.

“Well, I forgot all about you, shit,” Riki said blankly.

“Yeah, same,” Luna said with a blank expression too.

As the beam gets brighter and bigger, the two finally decide it’s time to get out of the way. But when they tried to, they couldn’t move an inch. Looking down, the snow around them has turned into black goo.

“Luna, do something!” Riki said worryingly, trying to pull himself free. Riki sees her blasting the goo already with a steady beam, slowly getting rid of it. “Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up, hurry up! Luna, hurry up!”

The monster finished charging its attack. Riki finally managed to pull his arms free. He shifts over in front of Luna to protect her, his arms out in front. “What are you doing?” asked Luna.

“You don’t have enough time to get us out,” said Riki, “I going to try to slow down the attack!”

“What, are you crazy!?”

“Come on, you nightmare monster, bitch!” Riki roared, “Show me what you can do!”

Time seems to slow down to a stop.

As the monster is about to attack, a flickering orange light shines through Riki’s hoodie. Luna stops what she’s doing, mesmerized by the light. The light made her feel safe, warm, and fearless. It has the opposite effect on the monster, causing it to hesitate for a bit. But it shakes out of it, firing its attack.

And then…

Baaaaammmm!!!

Out of nowhere, a fist punches the monster in the face. Making it swallow its attack and causing it to blow up in its body. The monster crashes into the ground, roaring in pain and kicking up snow. Riki and Luna’s eyes widen at what they saw. In front of them is a second monster. With all the snow in the air, it’s hard to make out all the details of this creature. The only thing they can see is that it has two horns on its forehead and spiky shoulder length hair.

“A-another nightmare!?” Riki stuttered.

“This isn’t good,” Luna said, blasting at the goo again.

The monster in the snow gets up and lunges at its attacker. Making tentacles to wrap around the horned beast. The two nightmares stats to fight each other, and the horned nightmare is about to fall on the two spectators.

At the last second, Luna got rid of enough goo to pull her and Riki free. Biting down on Riki’s hood, she quickly flies into the sky. They see the horned nightmare crash into the ground from the sky, with the other nightmare on top clawing at its body.

Luna takes this opportunity to fly away, close to the ground. Riki is making sure he doesn’t slip out of his hoodie. He looks behind him, watching the two beastly nightmares fight it out. “This is so fuckin’ cool,” Riki said in awe, “Oi, Luna, what’s the plan?” She said a few things, but carrying Riki by his hood with her mouth, it was hard to say anything. So, Riki swings himself on top of Luna’s back, making sure not to hit her wings.

“We are getting out of here,” Luna said with a slight blush, “My magic does not work to its fullest here. So, simultaneously taking on two powerful nightmares is not good.”

Riki sees something in the snow up ahead. Patting Luna’s head, he said, “Oi, what’s that?”

“A Dream Door!” Luna said with relief, landing in front of the door.

The Dream Door is orange with three horizontal fists engraved in the middle, and an amber eye shape stained glass window on the top. Riki walks around the door a few times. He’s pretty confused about the random door in this snowy hell. Luna opens up the door to reveal a blue and purple cosmic space. Riki was about to say something, but Luna pushed him in.

I slowly open my eyes to see the cosmic space around me. Then, looking down, I see that I’m floating… In space. “What the hell just happened?” I said, trying to wrap my head around it.

“We left your dream. That’s what happened.”

I tried to spin around but somehow ended up upside down, looking at Luna. “Oi, you push me!”

She stretches her wings, “Calm down. Getting through your Dream Door was the only way we could escape those nightmares. You should thank me.”

“Thanks, and what’s a ‘Dream Door’?” I asked. Luna rolled her eyes, like how am I supposed to know what a fucking Dream Door is.

“A Dream Door is a way to get into and out of a dream,” she explained, “Every living thing that can dream has a Dream Door. Each one has its own unique design. All doors lead back to one place… The Dreamscape.” She gestures to the cosmic area.

Having my eyes closed and spinning in place, thinking about what she had said. I run my hand through my hair, “So, basically, it’s like entering someone’s room. The Dreamscape is like a huge apartment building with the Dream doors being the rooms. The unique design is like the room number.”

She gave me a shocked look, “Uh… I never looked at it like that, but basically, what you said is right.”

“Then that makes you the apartment manager who likes to break in!” I yelled, pointing at her, but I was still upside down.

Luna flips me right side up, “It’s not breaking and entering. I help lots of ponies and nonponies with their dreams.”

“We have an old man that likes to bust into people’s houses. Wear a suit red and like to give little kids toys, but since he does that, people think it’s fine.” I ranted.

“Wait, who?”

“That doesn’t matter!” I said, lazily floating over to her. “The real question is that you never answered my question.”

“Wow, you’re still on it?” Luna said with a questionable look.

“Yeah, answer me!”

“Will, if you must know, we use our tails to keep our ‘stuff’ as you put it, from being seen.”

I start to shake my head, “No! Not that one, the other one. Why were you in my dream!? And don’t give me that ‘Princess of the night’ shit.”

Luna stomps her hoof twice, making a medium round table and two chairs appear to form the stars. She went to sit down, and I followed her. “Tea?” Luna asked me, but I just gave her a straight face. “Yeah, your right. We’ve been through a lot. How about a beer?”

“…Yeah…” On the table, two mugs full of beer appeared. I leaned over to pick up my drink, “Thank you.”

“To answer your question on why I was in your dream. It’s quite simple, I want to see a human dream.” Luna answered me, taking a sip of her drink. “I was just curious, that’s all.”

I chugged half my beer, slamming it back on the table. “Why me, why not Liz?”

“I did stop by her Dream Door, but looking inside it….”

“Wait, what!?” I said worriedly.

“It’s not bad, it’s just… I’ll just let you look for yourself,” Luna said, stomping her hoof twice. Next to us, A door appeared out of the cosmic space. It looks like mine, but instead of orange, it is gray, and the engravings are two wrenches in an x shape. “Go on and open it.”

I stayed up and went to open up the door, and what I saw shocked me. I have a bird’s eye view of a half destroyed city. But that didn’t shock me. Liz is on top of a huge fucking robot. She is wearing a gray Power Ranger like suit without the helmet, and she is fighting a huge ass Timberwolf. I slowly close the door and turned back to Luna.

“That's why I came to your dream. I wasn’t expecting two nightmares.”

“Well, it’s the first time I had that dream in a while. The nightmares monsters are new.”

Luna looks at me confused, “You had that dream before, explain?”

“Yeah, when I was a kid, I had that pacific dream a lot.” I said sadly, “As I got older, that dream just went away. I guess I was wrong.”

“Do you wish to talk about it?”

“Thanks, but I’m good.” I said, leaning on Liz’s door, “l dealt with it before, I can do it again.”

“Now what?” she said, finishing her drink. “Do you what to look at Liz’s dream again.”

“Absolutely!”

In the dark alley in the deepest parts of Canterlot, a pony sneaks around with a limp. The pony steps into the moonlight, revealing that it is La-la Lu. She slumps next to some trash cans. La-la moves her cloak around to show a few bruises Riki gave her. “Buckin’ human.” She limps down the alley to a boarded up abandoned building. La-la uses her magic to push up the wooden boards to walk in.

She walks up a few flights of stairs. She can hear the sound of someone eating and the smell of blood. La-la stops at the worn out door. She opens it and says, “I’m back Wrathy pie!”

Wrathy or Wrath is a six and a half feet tall diamond dog. He is leading in a chair, eating a rabbit, and wiping the blood away with a dirty towel. Wrath has a medium size muzzle with two fangs pointing upward. His ears are upright, with his right ear being clipped. Arms are slightly slimmer than a normal diamond dog's and a short tail. The fur is a rust brown with a lighter underbelly and burgundy colored eyes. Wrath is wearing an open navy blue sleeveless hoodie and a platinum swirly armband on his left side.

Wrath looks down at La-la Lu, “What happened to you, paper brat?” he said in a rough voice. La-la tells what happened at the castle and the fight with the human. But Wrath interrupted the story by grabbing La-la’s throat and slamming her into the wall. “You fought the human and lost! Give me one good reason I shouldn’t rip your throat out.” Wrath snarled.

La-la pulls out the blood stained knife and shows Wrath. He snatched it and tossed La-la to the ground. She gets up and says, “Could’ve been more gentle Wrathy pie.” La-la takes off her cloak, revealing her origami crane cutie mark. “The human boy is still in Canterlot.”

Wrath looks over the stained knife, “How do you know?”

“Before I got here, I stakeout the train station. I only saw the human girl and the Elements. We should go after the girl.”

Wrath growls, “No, we go after the boy. I am NOT dealing with the Elements! Go send a message to the others.”

He goes up to a black jar with images of monsters of different shapes and sizes fighting on it. The vase is wrapped around in orange and gray small chains. A vertical piece of paper is on the vase with weird characters. Wrath takes the blood stained knife and wipes it on the paper. The Weird characters slowly but not fully fade away. The vase starts to shake violently, and some of the chains break.

Needs…more…

Chapter 7: First day on the job!

Author's Note

Sorry for taking so long, please enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 7: First day on the job!

First day on the job!

I never thought of spending my Sunday morning standing next to a pony princess and listening to stupid complaints, but here I am. Day Court, that’s what Celestia called it after she personally woke me up. I don’t know why she wants me here. We’re currently taking a 20 minute break. So, I leaned against Celestia’s throne, slowly drifting back to sleep. But Celestia gently hits me with her wing to wake me up.

“Why am I even here?” I said tiredly,

“I thought you might like to experience Day Court,” Celestia said, taking a sip of tea. “Want some?”

I shake my head, “Listening to rich ponies’ first world problems hurts my head. My pool this and my house that. Princess, that tree and or building is an eyesore.”

“It sounds like you and the higher up don’t mix?” Celestia asked,

I just rubbed my head, remembering all the times I had to deal with the rich kids at school. Even worse, the one I had to deal with back at the nightclub I work at. “Ran into a lot of them, you can say.”

“Luna told me she went into your dreams last night.”

“And what about it?” I said politely as possible.

“You two ran into some powerful nightmares,” Celestia said worryingly, putting her tea down. “If she didn’t enter your dream, I don’t know what they would have done to you.”

“Thanks for caring, Princess Celeste.”

I see Celestia cracking a smile, “Oh, so you are calling me Celeste now.” A unicorn guard walks in before I can say anything, “Yes?”

The guard does a bow, “Princess Celestia, King Guto is here and making his way to the conference room.”

“Oh… I must have forgotten his arrival was today.” Celestia said, sounding a bit surprised. “Well then, guess I have to end Day Court early for today.”

“Thank god,” I said under my breath.

“Riki, I would like you to join me.”

Damnit, she must have heard me. I was going to say something to try to get out of it. But the same pony begins to talk again.

“Princess, Captain Shining Armor wants to see Riki.”

I walk guard with a smile on my face. “Sorry, Princess, but Captain Shiny needs me,” I said, rubbing the back of my head. I have to thank him for pulling me out on this.

Celestia looks at the guard, “Can you please go wake up my beloved sister for our meeting with King Guto,” she said. The guard does a small bow and begins to leave. “And Riki, you will be here for Day Court tomorrow.”

“Okay,” I said defeatedly.

Riki walks up to Shining’s office and knocks a few times. Opening the door to see Shining at his desk working on some papers. To Riki’s surprise, Feather Gleam was here. “Captain Shiny and… Feathers, right?”

She gets out of her seat and walks to Riki, “Well, it’s just Feather.”

“Sorry about that,” Riki said, rubbing the back of his head.

“No, it’s fine. You can call me that if it’s easier for you.”

“Thanks,” he said with a smile. “And sorry about yesterday.”

“Oh… It’s fine.”

Shining does a few small coughs to get Riki and Feather’s attention. “I have two things to tell you.” said Shining, “First, King Guto is here to see the princesses.”

“Yeah, I know,” Riki said, crossing his arms, “Also, thanks for calling me here. I still don't know why the sun princess wants me to come with her. Oh yeah, forgot to ask. Who is King Guto?”

“King Guto is a griffon. He rules over Griffonstone, east from here.” Shining informed Riki. “He’s just here to discuss some stuff with the Princesses.”

“Okay,”

“Second, I want you to patrol around Canterlot,” said Shining, “And Feather Gleam volunteered to go with you.”

Riki looks down at Feather, “Really?”

She taps her hooves together, “It was more like nopony wanted to do it. So I stepped up since we already talked to each other.” Feather feels bad for Riki since no other guards want to be near him. She knows he’s kind of weird looking and beating up a bunch of guards. But, if the princesses and the captain can trust him around them, so can she.

Riki gave Feather a little bump to break her train of thought, “Oi, Feathers, you okay?”

“Yeah, peachy,” she whispered.

“Alright, let’s go!” Riki exclaimed, “I can’t wait to see the rest of Canterlot!”

“Riki, your not sightseeing,” Shining said sternly.

“C’mon on, Shiny, your no fun,” Riki said sadly.

Feather and Riki start to head out of the room. She gestures to Riki down and whispers, “I can show you a few of my favorite places here if we get any free time.”

“Thanks,” he whispers back.

“Oh, Riki, there is one more thing I like to discuss,” Shining said calmly, leaning forward in his chair. “…Privately.”

Riki nods and then looks at Feather, “You can go on.”

“Alright,” Feather said, walking out of the room, “I’ll be waiting at the entrance hall stairs.”

When she finally left, Riki turned to Shining with a serious look. “So, what is it?”

Feather is standing by the stairs for about half an hour, waiting for Riki. She taps her hoof on the ground a few times, “What is taking him so long?”

“Hey, Feather Gleam,” said a male voice.

“Hey, hey!” said an annoying feminine voice.

She took a deep breath. Out of all the guards here, why them? She turns around to see an earth pony and pegasus guard walking toward her. “Oak and Angel, nice to see you,” Feather said in an annoyed tone.

Oak Ridge is a unicorn pony. He is dark brown with a dark green tail and mane. The pegasus is white, with a dark pink mane and tail, and her name is Angel Beat.

Oak leads on his spear, “Don’t be like that, F.” Feather rolls her eyes, and Oak continues, “So, what are you doing here, waiting for Specs?”

“Specs, yeah, yeah!” Angel added, nodding her head a few times.

“No, he’s off for today,” Feather told them, “Specs will be back tonight. I’m waiting for Riki, still don’t know what’s taking so long.” What she said shocked them. Oak almost fell over, and Angel’s wings when up in fear.

“W-wait, wait, that weird looking thing?” Angel stuttered, looking around for him. “I heard Captain Shining was looking for somepony to go on patrol with that monster.”

Oak gets a scowl on his face and stomps his hoof, “I still can’t believe the princesses and the captain let that freak walk freely around.” he complained, “They should have locked it up for what it did.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Angel agreed. “I bet that monster is planning something bad. Like, like take over Canterlot.”

Feather didn’t like what she was hearing. “Riki isn’t an ‘It,’ and he’s not planning anything. From what I have seen, he’s a goofball and a pretty okay guy.”

What Feather said really ticked off Oak, “That thing threw a vase at my face!”

Before things can continue on, they hear footsteps. Looking towards the sound, they see Riki running to them. As he gets close, Riki starts apologizing, “Sorrysorrysorrysorry, Feathers!” He had stopped in front of Feather, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry, I got lost on the way here. I had to ask a maid for help.”

Feather sighed briefly and asked, “Do you always get lost?”

“…No, not all the time. I just need to get used to the layout.” Riki looked at the two ponies glaring at him, but Riki just brushed it off. “Oi, Feathers, who are they?”

She just rolled her eyes, “Oak Ridge and Angel Beat.” Feather said unenthusiastically, gesturing to them. “Now, Riki, let’s go. We get a job to do.”

As Riki makes his way to the stairs, Angel whispers into Oak’s ear. He chuckles a bit and moves his front hoof out, tripping the human. Feather is shocked watching Riki roll and flip down the stairs. He tried to stop himself, but he couldn’t. Hitting his head on the final step, landing on his back with his eyes close. Riki takes a few calming deep breaths. He can hear Oak and Angel laughing their asses off.

Feather turns to the laughing ponies, “Why would you do that, Oak!?” she yelled.

“Haha, It’s wasn’t my idea,” Oak said between his laughter. “Angel is the one who told me to do it.”

“Sorry, sorry,” she giggled, “That thing had it coming.”

Feather’s wings when up like she was about to attack them, “That wasn’t funny! You two are ass-”

“That was some fall,” said a feminine but tough voice, “Are you okay, whatever you are?” Feather, Oak, and Angel stopped to see someone they recognized standing above Riki.

“Yeah, just about to get up,” Riki said, slowly opening his eyes. He was expecting to see a pony, not a “Griffin?”

“Captain Gloria!?” yelled Feather.

The griffin named Gloria is average size for her kind. Her body reminds Riki of a black jaguar with barely visible spots. Gloria’s beak, talents, and feathers around her gray eyes are a dark maroon color. She is wearing a gold chest plate and gauntlets that fit on top of her talents.

Gloria smirks then says, “You’re a griffin,”

“Funny, but no.” Riki said, sitting up, “I’m a human, not a griffin.”

Feather flies to Riki with a worried look, “Oh, my Celestial! Riki, are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he said, rubbing his head, “I must have tripped over my feet.”

“No, it was Oak and Angel.” Feather fumed, stomping her hoof. She turns around to see Oak and Angel have already left. She cursed under her breath a few times.

Gloria helps Riki up off the ground. He pats the dust off him, “Thanks, the name is Ricochet or Riki for short.”

“Gloria,” she said confidently, “One of the captains of the Griffonstone’s royal guards.”

“Wait, how do you know Captain Gloria?” Riki asked, tilting his head sideways.

“This isn’t her first time here,” Feather answered him.

Gloria looks at Riki, “So, you’re a human? I hope this isn’t rude, but where did you come from?”

Riki slips his hands into his hoodie, “Will, it’s kind of a long story. I love to tell you, but Feathers and I have to go on patrol.”

“Oh, sorry,” Gloria said sheepishly, “I don’t want to keep two from your duty. If we meet late, you can tell me your long story.”

“Promise!” Riki said with a smile.

Gloria said her goodbyes and went on her way… Somewhere?

As the two make their way to the castle’s entrance door, Feather stops Riki. She has a gloomy look on her face. Feather sits on her haunches and rubs her shoulder, “Hey, about what happened with Oak and Angel. They aren’t the best ponies here. I still don’t know why they’re here, but don’t let them get to you.

Riki gives Feather a small smile and pats her head, “Oi, you worry too much. Falling down some stairs is nothing compared to what I’ve been through back home.” He said casually, “Was he one of the ponies I ran into?”

“You threw a vase at him,”

“Oh, yeah,” he chuckled, “Being honest, I was aiming for his legs, not his face. So, are we just going to walk around Canterlot?”

“Yeah, pretty much. Help out anypony who needs it.”

“Easy!” Riki exclaimed.

Cut to Riki getting slammed face first onto a table by a drunken minotaur. Feather and a few other ponies are watching from the sideline. Riki and Feather are inside a bar, dealing with a drunk minotaur complaint.

As Riki deals with that, Feather goes around getting statements from the minotaur’s friends and a unicorn bartender.

“Easy, right, Riki?” Feather said with a cheeky smile.

“Yeah, easy as pie,” Riki said, slowly getting off the table. “Oi, sir! It would be best if you calmed down!” Riki jumps onto the minotaur’s back, wrapping his arm around the horns. The minotaur drunkenly spins around, pushing any nearby object away.

“Get off, you hornlesshh calf,” The minotaur said drunkenly, trying to reach for Riki.

“Oi, Feathers, what’s the word? What is his problem!?”

“The minotaur’s name is Mcaleese. His friends, Topaz and Kiwi, found him here,” Feather explained, gesturing to a diamond dog and earth pony. “Something about his marefriend.”

Riki gets a confused look, “A marefriend?” After hearing that, the minotaur falls to his knees and slams his head on a table.

“Dating somepony,”

“Oh, like a girlfriend,” Riki said, jumping off the hammered Mcaleese, “Why marefriend? Mare means lady pony, right? So was he dating a pony?”

“No, it was another minotaur,” interjected Topaz, the brown diamond dog.

“She broke up with him,” Kiwi, the green and brown earth pony, added, “Something about moving too slow.”

“So, he got drunk to forget?” Riki asked, looking down at now crying Mcaleese. “I’ll handle this, Feathers.” Riki starts to pat the minotaur's back and begins to whisper in his ear.

“What are you doing?” asked Feathers, but Riki just waved her off.

After a few minutes of whispering between Riki and Mcaleese, they got up. Mcaleese looks a little bit better than before.

“Mcaleese, you have been through a lot. You need to get some sleep.” Riki said calmly, “Remember what I said and that you have your bros for help too.” Riki helps Mcaleese over to his friends. “You two keep an eye on him for the next few days. Also, don’t talk about his ex for a while, got it?”

“Wait, you’re not taking Mcaleese in?” asked Topaz, putting Mcaleese’s arm around his shoulder.

Riki shakes his head, “He is still in the bar, so no public intoxication, right Feathers?”

“Yeah,”

“What about you, bar pony?” Riki asked the bartender. “You want to press charges?”

The pony rolled her eyes, “He didn’t break anything, so no. But he will be banned for three weeks.”

“Is that good with you guys?”

“Yeah, thank you,” said Kiwi.

“Thanks,” said Topaz, leaving the bar with Mcaleese on his shoulder and Kiwi following behind.

After the three of them left, Riki and Feathers helped put the tables and chairs back where they were.

“Oi, let’s go, Feathers!” Riki said, walking onto the bar. “See you later, bar pony!”

“Next time you come back, drinks are on me.”

Feather caught up with Riki outside the bar and said, “You were pretty good handling that situation.”

“Thanks,”

The two of them continue to walk through the streets of Canterlot. Feather sees the weird looks Riki is getting, but he has a big smile on his face. “Riki, what did you say to the minotaur?” Feather asked.

“I just say stuff like if she doesn’t like the pace, then she is not the one,” Riki answered honestly. He then stops and leans on the nearby streetlamp, “It just feels like a normal night at my job.”

Feather stares at him, “What was your old job?”

Riki scratches his head, “Throughout high school, I was a bouncer for a small club in New York, my home.” He stopped for a bit to think about those times. “Just dealing with drunks or any troublemakers. I always try to solve the situation without getting violent.”

“Wow, I didn’t expect you to say that,” Feather said, sounding a little shocked. “So, did you have other jobs, or was that it?

“Being a bouncer is my main job back home.” Riki said, running his hand through his hair, “I did a lot of side jobs like doing MMA matches, bodyguard, bounty hunting with my cousin, and strip club.”

That last one really got Feather’s attention. She went wide eyed and yelled, “You’re a stripper!?” Her outburst gets everyone around them to look at the human. A unicorn mother quickly covers her little foal’s eyes and walks away in utter disgust.

Riki pinches the bridge of his nose and starts to walk off, and Feather follows. “No, I’m not a stripper. I just work there from time to time, like volunteering.” Riki said in a slightly annoyed tone.

“Explain,”

He rolled his eyes, “My uncle owns a strip club, and it’s a themed one. I’ll help him think of and help set up the theme for the month.” Riki chuckles then say, “Occasionally, he’ll call me in, and when he does, it’s usually something big. One time he did a jungle theme, and he needed someone to watch the tiger, so it won’t try to eat the customers.”

It took some time for Feather to process what Riki said. After that was done, she had to ask one more question. “What about the cage?”

“What cage?” Riki said with a confused look.

“Oh, my-” Feather was interrupted by Riki's booming laughter. It was so loud that everyone in the streets of Canterlot stared at the laughing human. Feather gives Riki a playful bump with her flank and says, “You got me. There was no tiger.”

“Hahaha, there was no tiger,” he said, getting the rest of his laughs out, “It was a jaguar.”

“I don’t know if that’s better or worse,” she deadpans. “But, why do you have so many jobs?”

“My sister does live with me,” Riki taps Feather’s forehead, then says, “Come on, I think that’s enough about my life. Let’s see if someone needs us.” After he said that, Riki picked up his pace and ran off.

“Wait up!?” Feather shouted, flying after him.

The two of them went around helping anyone who needed it. Feather tells Riki things about her throughout the day like she was born here and came from seven generations of royal guards. Feather continues to talk but sees Riki looking around for something. “Riki, you good?”

“Yeah, just looking around,” Riki said unconvincingly. He and Feather stop in front of a tea shop, “Here you go, Granny.” He then takes an old unicorn mare off his back and sets her down in front of the shop. “Are you sure you don’t want us to wait for you?”

“I’ll be fine walking back home, thank you, hairless diamond dog.” said the old pony.

“No problem, Granny.”

The two of them watch the old pony walk into the tea shop. Feather then said, “Well, that's enough for today. We should head back. The dining hall is about to start serving food. Are you hungry?”

Riki crosses his arms, “Do humans have ten toes?”

She gets a confused look and scratches her head, “What?”

He sighs and begins to walk to the castle, “Let’s just go.” Feather just shrugs her shoulders and follows. Then out of nowhere, a red pony mare with a camera jumps in front of them. Mane and tail are a bit messy.

“I finally found you! I have been looking everywhere for you!” the red mare said in utter joy, “I-I heard around a weird looking creature being Canterlot. I know it was you!” She runs up to Riki, getting into his personal space. Then, standing on her hind legs and planting her hooves on Riki’s chest, “I am so happy to meet you again, Riki!”

Feather and Riki look at each other at what just happened. Riki grabs the hooves and moves them off this body. Letting the pony fall back to all fours. “Ummm… Who are you, and how do you know my name?”

“I’m Razzle Snap,” Razzle said, fixing her mane, “You saved me from that runaway cart. And the ponies you were with called you that.”

He remembers what she was saying, “Oh, Pony lady!”

“It’s umm, Razzle Snap,” she corrected him.

“You said you were looking for him?” Feather interjected, stepping in between them. “Is it because you want to thank him?”

“Yes… And there’s another reason,” said Razzle, “Look, I’m going to cut to the chase. I’m a journalist for Canterlot’s newspaper, and I wan-need to do an interview with you!” She digs in her saddlebag, pulling on a pencil and notepad. “It’s just a couple of questions and a few pictures, so how about it, Riki,” she said, shoving Feather away.

Before Riki could answer, Feather cuts in, “Look, if you want an interview with the big fella. You have to ask the princesses or Captain Shining Armor to set it up .”

“Wait, what!?” shouted Razzle, “Do you know how long that will take! I need to do this story before somepony else does.”

“Not my problem,” said Feather, flying behind Riki and starting to push him towards the castle, “C’mon Riki, we have to go.” He doesn’t know what’s happening, but Riki just goes along with it. As they leave, they hear Razzle shouting at them.

“I will have an interview with you, Riki!”

“Thanks for handling that, Feathers,” said Riki, still being pushed by her. “I really didn’t want to do an interview. Not a big fan of journalists, back home.”

“No problem,” Feather said, sounding a bit exhausted, “Hey, can you walk now? I’m getting tired here.”

“Sorry,”

Flashback

“Oh, Riki, there is one more thing I like to discuss,” Shining said calmly, leaning forward in his chair. “…Privately.”

I nod, then look at Feathers, “You can go on.”

“Alright,” Feather said, walking out of the room, “I’ll be waiting at the entrance hall stairs.”

When she finally left, I turned to Shiny with a serious look. “So, what is it?”

“When you go on patrol, I want you to keep an eye out for La-la Lu.” Shining said, “What you said yesterday back in the throne room really got me thinking.”

“About La-la still being in Canterlot?” I asked, and Shiny nodded. “I was just going off the information I got when we were fighting. But yeah, I'll keep an eye out for her. And if she did see me, it would let her know that I’m still here.”

“That’s the plan,” Shining chuckled, “And Riki, good luck out there.”

“I’ll be on my best behavior, Captain!”

Flashback End

I’m standing in front of Shining’s office door. I told Feathers I wanted to talk to him, and then I’ll meet her at the dining hall. After standing there for a few more minutes, I finally decided to open the door, “Oi, Shiny, I’m back.” I said, walking inside to see a strange looking pegasus sitting across from Shiny. “Oh, sorry, I did know someone else was here with you.”

“Riki, I want you to meet the captain of the moon guards, Vanta Nightfall.” Shining introduced her, and she gave me a small wave.

Vanta Nightfall, I think her name fits her pretty well. Vanta’s body is charcoal black, mane and tail are gray with silver highlights. Some of Vanta’s hair covers her right eye. Also, her wings look a lot different from pegasi. But, wait, what’s in her mouth? I look a bit closer, and to my surprise, Vanta has fangs… Fangs…

“Fangs!?” I yelled surprisingly.

“Oh, yeah, you don’t know.” Shining said, slightly chuckling, “Vanta, do you want to tell him or me?”

“I got it,” Vanta said to Shining as she walked over to me. She moves the hair away from her purple eyes and starts to look up and down at me. “Hmmm… When Shining told me what you did, I expected you to look….” Vanta gave me another look around, “…Dangerous.”

“Too lazy to look dangerous,” I said as she poked my thigh, “So, what are you?”

She backed up and said, “I’m a bat pony.” Vanta shows off her wings, causing me to tense up a bit.
“Scared that I might bite,” she said with a smile.

“Scared? Why should I? You look amazing!” I exclaimed, catching her and Shining off guard. “I love bats, I have an aunt, and she runs a bat sanctuary. I really enjoyed helping her out.”

“Oh, you like bats,” Vanta said with a slight smile, “That’s good to hear. The entirety of the moon guards is bat ponies.”

“So, anything special about being a bat pony?” I said, crossing my arms, “Other than looks.”

“Well, we bat ponies live a bit longer than other ponies.” Vanta informs me, “Better hearing, eyesight, and we have echolocation.”

That’s pretty cool and obvious, but there’s something I still want to know. “Do bat ponies drink blood?” After I said that, it became dead quiet. Well, I mean, it’s only the three of us here. “My bad, that was probably offensive.”

Vanta fixes her hair, “No, it’s fine, and you are right. We can drink blood, but we don’t have to. We can eat the same food that regular ponies can eat.”

“What about bugs?”

“Bugs,” Vanta moaned,

“Oh, no,” murmured Shining,

“Ummm, Vanta?” I said, starting to back up a bit, “Are you okay,”

“Yeah, it’s just bugs are soooo good,” Vanta said joyfully, as her tail started to sway side to side. “It’s like a sexual pleasure in the mouth. When you go to the dining hall, I recommend the fruit flies salad. Have you ever eaten bugs before?”

“A few times, like grasshoppers, crickets, and deep fried tarantulas.”

Vanta licks her lips, “Tarantulas, I haven’t had that for a while.”

“Riki, how was patrol?” Shining interjected,

“It went pretty smooth, with only a few hiccups.” I smiled, “Feathers and I run into a journalist on the way back. But, besides that, pretty smooth.”

“What about La-la?” asked Shining, “And don’t worry, I already filled in Vanta on everything.”

“No, I didn't see her. Sorry.”

He sighs, then says, “It’s fine. She probably already left anyway. Riki, you did well today. I’ll call you if anything else comes up. And before you get something to eat, see the princesses in the conference room.”

“Got it!” I said, walking out the door, “Bye, Shiny, and nice to meet you, Vanta.”

After leaving the room, I started to walk through the hallways for a while. I then remember something, “Where is the conference room? I mumble to myself.

“Need some help?” whispers a voice into my ear.

I quickly jumped into the air and then landed on my back. But, wait, I know that voice, “Gloria?” She is standing over me like last time. I don’t know how the hell I didn’t hear her.

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” she lied.

“We need to stop meeting like this,”

“I kind of like it,” Gloria said with a smile, helping me up. “So where is Riki the human going? Because it looks like you’re just going around in circles.”

“I’m trying to find the conference room. Know where it is?”

“You’re going the wrong way,” Gloria said, walking away, “I’m heading there myself. I’ll show you.”

“Wow, known a lot about this place!” I said, then something hits me, “Wait if you were going to the conference room. Why are you here? Were you following me?”

Gloria stumbles, “Mmmm… Nooo…”

“C’mon, stalker bird,” I chuckled.

“Hey, don’t call me that,” she yelled.

As we walked to the conference room, Gloria told me about her home, Griffonstone. She talks so highly about it. Makes me want to go there one day. Gloria also said that Griffonstone is built on and around a huge tree.

Gloria’s wing taps my side to get my attention, “Yeah?”

“You zone out for a bit,” Gloria said, tapping me again, “I asked you something.”

“Sorry, what did you ask?”

“How did you get here?” she asked,

I rub my chin, rocking my head from left to right, “Well, my sister and I got teleported here. Twilight and her friends found us in Everfree forest. Later the princesses wanted to see Liz and me. While there, I got into trouble. Now I have to work here for a while. Hmm, I thought it would be a lot more complicated than that.” We stop in front of the conference room’s doors.

“While you were going on patrol, I heard around that you and Shining fought each other,” Gloria asked with a slight smile, “I tried to ask Shining, but he wouldn’t tell me anything. So, is it true?”

“Yeah,”

“No, buckin’ way!” she yelled, “Who won?”

“It was a draw,” I said, opening the conference room’s doors. We walked in to see Princess Celestia talking to what I presume to be King Guto. He has dark grey fur, darker colored wings, and golden eyes. Wearing his crown and a sash. Luna looks sleepy as hell, I feel bad for her.

Luna’s tired eyes look over at me, “Riki, good to see you!” Celestia and Guto look over at me too.

“I hope we didn’t interrupt something important.”

“Not at all. We were just wrapping up.” Celestia said, “Riki, I want you to meet King Guto.”

I walk up to Guto with Gloria by my side, “Nice to meet you, your majesty. My name is Ricochet Philips.” I said, “And before you ask, I’m a human.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you. Princess Celestia already told me about you, Ricochet.” Guto said, quite friendly to me. “And it looks like you already meet Gloria.”

“Yeah, helped me get here,” I look over at Luna and Celestia, “Shiny said that you have something for me?” After I asked, a box appeared in front of Celestia with a popping sound.

“It’s from Liz,” Celestia said, floating the box towards me,

I grabbed the box and moved to the table in the middle of the room. The box feels kind of heavy. I open it up to see a letter on top of some clothes. Finally, I can take off this tie and sweater vest and wear something new. I picked up and opened the letter, and it was from Liz.

Dear Riki,

How are you doing? I hope you’re not getting into trouble. I’m doing good over in Ponyvill. In the box is a set of clothes and your phone charger. I was going to send you your tonfas, but I decided not to as a punishment for getting into this situation. I can’t wait for you to get back,

Love Liz
P.S.

I almost forgot that I ran into Vinyl while running some errands with Spike. So we talked a bit about how we’re stuck here, and guess what! Vinyl said she’ll give you a job when you get back. Okay, love you.

P.S.S

The girls and Spike says hi.

“Thanks,” I said, putting the letter into my pocket.

“You want to send a letter back?” asked Celestia.

“Maybe, later,” I said, picking up the box and making my way to the door, “I’m hungry as hell, so I’m heading to the dining hall and then to bed.” I walked out the door, but I walked back in, “One more thing, Luna before you go into my dream again, ask.”

“Can I go in your dream?” Luna asked,

“No,”

“Then you have to come to Night Court.”

I look over to Celestia, and she just shrugs her shoulders. I took a deep breath and said, “Let me take a nap, and I might be there.”

After Riki dropped off the box in this room, he made it to the dining hall. Only got lost a few times. The dining room is almost packed. Most of the sun and moon guards are here for dinner or breakfast for the bat ponies. Some are just chatting or getting ready to go home or start their shift.

Riki has a bowl of fruit flies salad, Vanta's recommendation. He looks around for a place to eat until he hears a familiar voice.

“Riki! Over here!” yelled Feather, “You can eat with us!”

He sees Feather sitting at a small table with a bat pony and a unicorn wearing glasses. Riki begins walking over to them. Riki passes by a certain pony, Oak Ridge. He gives Oak a friendly smile, but that somehow pisses him off. He uses his magic, grabbing the back of Riki’s pants leg.

As Riki falls over, he can feel the eyes of everyone here on him. He can hear Oak and a few other ponies start to laugh. Before hitting the floor, Riki quickly throws his bowl of food at Oak’s face as hard as he can. The bowl breaks on impact, covering Oak in fruit juice and dead flies.

It got dead quiet in here.

Oak slams his hooves on the table, “What the buck!?”

Riki gets up and brushes himself off, “Oops, my hand slipped!” A few guards around chuckle, “You should have known I can be clumsy. You did watch me fall down some stairs.” Riki was just about to walk away, but Oak stopped him.

“Have something to say?”

Oak gets up and walks in front of Riki, “Yeah, I got something to say. I don’t want you here. Nopony wants you here. You should be locked up for what you did!” Some of the guards begin to form a crowd around Oak and Riki.

“Oi, we don’t always get what we want. Stop complaining!” said Riki, “If I apologize to you, will that help?”

“You think saying sorry will make us forget what you did!?”

Feather pushed herself through the crowd of ponies. She went up to Riki and bit down on his hoodie, “Come on, Riki. We should go!”

Her words fell on deaf ears.

Riki steps forward, getting everybody’s attention. He looms over Oak, making the pony feel fear as he stares into those soulless amber and green eyes.

“Is it going to attack me, right here!?” Oak mumbles to himself.

What Riki said next shocked the entire room.

“You can hit me one time, free of charge,” Riki said casually.

“What are you saying?” asked Feather.

“What are you getting at?” Oak asked

Riki crosses his arms, “Well, you said sorry won’t cut it.” Riki said, crouching to Oak, “So, are you going to accept my apology by punching me in the face.”

Feather puts her hoof on Riki’s shoulder, “Riki, he’s not going-” She was cut off by Oak punching Riki in the face, “Never mind.”

Riki gets up and rubs his right cheek, “Alright, how do you feel?”

Oak stood there for a bit, then said, “I’m less pissed at you now.”

“Good enough for me!” Riki laughed, “Who else wants to accept my apology for punching me in the face.” About half of the ponies raise their hooves in the air. Riki is slightly stunned, “This is going to take a while.”

Shining and Vanta walk in front of the dining hall door.

“I hope Riki and the other guards are doing well?” Vanta asked in a curious tone.

“You worry too much,” Shining begins to open the door, “He’ll be-” Shining and Vanta both stop when they see Riki get punched in the face.

“Okay, who’s next to punch the human!” Riki yelled, “Are you the last one? I lost count.”

“Hey, what is going on here!?” shouted Shining.

Riki steps up, “Captain Shining Armor. I was just in the middle of apologizing to them.”

Shining was taken aback by Riki calling him by his name. He clears his throat, “Really?”

“Yeah,”

“But you’re all beat up, Love?” Vanta pointed out, “Is this a human thing?”

“No, it’s more like a thing with my cousins.” Riki said, rubbing the back of his head, “I know it’s weird.”

Shining sighed, “Sun Guards, listen up! If you don't work tomorrow, head home! And if not, head back to your quarters and get some sleep!”

“Moon Guards, you got your nightly routes!” Vanta yelled, “Start your patrol. Remember to stay safe, and stay strong!”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

“Riki, stay back,” said Shining. Riki nods as all the guards leave the dining hall. Then, once It’s just the three of there, Shining said, “Look, Riki, as long as you’re here. You’re my and Vanta’s responsibility. Next time, come see us if there’s a problem between you and one of our guards.”

“Got it,”

“You’re dismissed,”

Riki walks out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

“Riki, you good?”

He looks up to see Feather and her friends. A navy blue unicorn stallion's tail and mane are a lighter shade of blue. Wearing big black rim glasses that slide down a little. And her other friend is a bat pony mare. She is a light shade of gray with prussian blue hair.

“Oi, Feathers and…”

“Specs, nice to meet you.” said the unicorn, using his magic to push up his glasses.

“Bebop Lass!” the bat pony introduced herself, “But, my friends call me, Bop. And let me say this, it was pretty smooth of you to let everypony that hates you get a free hit in.”

“Nice to meet you too, and thanks.”

“I think it was more idiotic than smooth, Bop.” Specs said, “There were other ways Riki could have done to deescalate the situation.”

“Anyways,” Feather interjected, “Riki are you going to your room?”

“Yeah, I was going to Night Court,” Riki said, touching his face and then hissing in pain. “But not tonight.”

Bebop claps her hooves, “I’m station for Night Court. I can tell Princess Luna that you’re not coming.”

“Thanks, Bebop.”

“You’re welcome,"

Riki lets out a big yawn, “Shit, my bad. I’m going to go, but I will make sure to talk to you guys later.” Riki says his goodbyes and runs straight back to his room.

“Fuck, today was long,” I said tiredly, jumping on the bed, “Don’t feel like taking off my clothes.” I try to get comfortable, but I can’t. I think I have too much stuff on my mind. “I should write back to Liz,” I said, rolling out of bed. Went to the dresser and opened up the first drawer. “There has to be paper in here… Oh, found it and a pencil.” I pulled up a chair and began to write.

Dear Liz,

I’m doing good over here. My first day when a lot better than I expected. I’ll tell you what happened when I get back. I think I made a few new friends, and one of them is a griffin. Can’t

I stopped writing and then sat there for a bit. I have never been good at this type of stuff. I got up and headed to the bathroom, “I’ll work on it later. Need to take a piss.” As I walked past the window, something caught my eye. I open the window to see an owl. “Need to pee!” I yelled, running into the bathroom.

The moonlight shines on the owl to reveal it is made of paper. It flies off into the dark sky. In the next few days, Riki and his friends will go up against a very dangerous foe that might cost them their lives.

Chapter 8: Finally free!

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

Chapter 9: Promise!

Promise!

“Coming through! Move out the away!” Specs yelled, running full speed through the streets of Canterlot. Specs look behind him, “Feather, come on!”

She is lagging behind a bit with a sprained right wing. “I can’t believe we left Riki,” Feather trembled with a tear in her eye. Her wing twitches in pain, “We should hav-”

“He decided to stay behind,” Specs huffed in pain, taking off his helmet and tossing it off.

“Riki, please don’t die,” Feather said to herself, picking up the pace. “You promised.”

Back in the hotel room, La-la looks out a smashed window. She pulls out a few pieces of paper, “Do you want me to go after them?” La-la looks back at both of them, waiting for an answer.

Wrath just shrugs his shoulders, leaning back in his chair. He looked at Taboo, “Do you have anything to say?”

Taboo stands tall, holding an unconscious, beaten up Riki by the throat. He then drops Riki like a sack of potatoes, “NO, LET THEM RUN TO THE SUN AND MOON.” Taboo crosses his arms, “NOW THAT I’M FREE, SOME OF MY POWER IS RETURNING TO ME SLOWLY.” Taboo flexes his arm, then says, “THE ELEMENTS ARE MY BIGGEST THREAT, RIGHT?”

“That's what that scaly bastard and stupid shut-in said.” Wrath grumbled.

Taboo plants his foot on Riki’s chest, “THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY, WHAT POWER DO THEY HOLD?” Taboo gets a wicked smile, “I’M QUITE CURIOUS. THE ELEMENTS DIDN’T EXIST BEFORE I WAS IMPRISONED.” Taboo slams his hands together, and black energy starts to glow between his hands.

“What are you doing?” asked Wrath,

He doesn’t answer. A few seconds Taboo pulls his hands apart, revealing midnight blue baggy hakama pants. The right pant leg has a koi fish pattern going around the leg. Taboo slips on the pants, then tighten the straps around his ankles. A fabric forms around his waist as a wraparound skirt. Draping over his back and in the front is slightly open.

“UNICORN, MAKE ME A FEW THINGS WITH YOUR PAPER MAGIC.”

“My name is not Unicorn. It’s La-Urgh!” La-la was cut off by a black tentacle slapping her across the face, then wrapping around her throat. La-la tries to get free, but the tentacle gets tighter and slams her into the nearby wall.

Taboo pulls her closer, staring into her eyes, “I DIDN’T ASK FOR A NAME, UNICORN.” A heavy paw is placed on Taboo’s shoulder. He turns around to see Wrath with a scowl, “A BRAVE ONE.”

“Drop her,” Wrath said firmly, gripping harder on Taboo’s shoulder. There are a few seconds of silence as the pony’s face turns blue.

Taboo drops La-la on her back as she gasps for air. He brushes Wrath’s paw off his shoulder, “NEXT TIME I SAY SOMETHING, DO IT!” La-la just nods, rubbing her bruised neck. “NOW, UNICORN, I NEED YOU TO MAKE ME SOMETHING.”

In the castle’s throne room, Celestia’s glowing horn touches Liz’s forehead.

“Liz, how are you feeling?” asked Celestia, trying to get rid of Liz’s headache.

“Tired,” said Liz as Celestia pulled away from her.

“The way you describe that nightmare monster,” Luna chimed in, “It’s like the one Riki ran into. That nightmare or whatever it is.”

Liz gets a worried look, thinking about the voice in her head. “We need to find Riki, now!”

“Where is he?” asked Celestia,

“Shining Armor said Riki is on patrol and hasn’t come back,” said Fluttershy

The throne room's doors burst wide open.

Specs and Feather run into the room, with Shining Armor and Vanta Nightfall following behind, telling them to go to the Infirmary. Feather falls to the ground, trying to catch her breath. Specs struggled to stand up and yelled, “Princesses, this is bad. Riki is in trouble!”

“What happened?” asked Celestia.

“We were following the paper rat made by La-la!” Feather said frantically, “We got in a fight with her, a Diamond dog, and a monster!”

“Riki told you about La-la?” said Luna.

“La-la?” Liz rubbed her head, “Isn’t she the one that infiltrated the castle?”

Shining looks at the princesses, and they give him a nod of approval. He rubs his eyes, “Yeah, La-la is the pony Riki fought a few days back. La-la was ordered to go after the two humans,” Shining explained, “That’s what Riki told us in the throne room when it happened. We’re also told that she was heading to Ponyville, but running into the humans here in Canterlot, her plans probably changed.”

“Why didn't you tell us!?”

“It was Riki’s idea,” Shining answered.

“La-la knew about humans?” asked Rarity, “That’s impossible. Riki and Liz haven’t been here for that long!”

“This monster is dark as night and has four glowing white eyes?” Liz asks Specs and Feather.

Feather nods, “Yeah, it also has long hair, claws, and a twisted voice.”

“What happened to my brother?”

“...After Taboo got released,” said Specs.

Flashback

In the hotel room, Taboo is standing over them. Specs and Feather are too scared to move. But, on the other hand, Riki feels like he wan-needs to punch the creature. So, Riki quickly hits Taboo square in his face with all his might.

But the punch didn’t even make Taboo budge. He just smirks. “YOU CAN STILL FIGHT, SUGOI!” Taboo yells in excitement. He then grabs Riki by the face and throws him to the other side of the room. Riki slowly gets up, watching Taboo walks towards him. His gaze quickly shifts over to Specs and Feather. Then two black tentacles shot out of Taboo’s back, hitting Feather’s right wing and Specs in the face breaking his glasses.

“Specs! Feathers!” Riki yelled, “I thought you were fighting me!”

“THEN FOCUS ON ME, HUMAN!”

Riki goes a right hook, but Taboo easily blocks with his forearm and then does a palm strike to Riki’s chest. Two more palm strikes hit Riki’s side and stomach, making him cough up some blood.

Riki does a flurry of punches and kicks, Taboo blocks and dodges all of Riki’s attacks like he’s dealing with a child. “WHOEVER TAUGHT YOU HOW TO FIGHT, TAUGHT YOU WELL!” Taboo chuckles, catching Riki’s reverse roundhouse kick with his right hand, “BUT STILL SO SLOPPY!”

“Sloppy!? I’ll show you sloppy!” Riki shouted as Taboo went for a punch with his other hand. With Riki’s free leg, he kicks Taboo across the face. Freeing his other leg and barely dodges the punch.

Taboo smirks, “CLEVER,” Riki wasn’t done yet. Landing back on his feet, Riki dives through Taboo's legs. Taboo watched Riki run over to the ponies, “WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING?”

“Specs! Feather! We need to go!” he yelled at them. Wrath jumps in the way, ready to attack. Riki dodged the claw swipe and rolled across Wrath’s back, grabbing his vest simultaneously. Riki lands on the ground and lifts Wrath by his vest. “Out of the fuckin’ way!” Riki roared.

“Urgh!” Wrath shouted as he gets slammed on the wooden floor, almost breaking it.

“Specs! Feather!” Riki said, picking them up and running to the window. “Go get some help!” Riki then throws them out the window, shocking everyone, even Taboo.

“Aaaahhhhh!” Specs and Feather both yelled as they fell from the abandoned hotel. Feather tries to fly, but her sprained wing won’t let her. Specs quickly use his magic, slowing them down. Crashing pretty hard in a pile of debris. “Riki!” Feather yelled.

“Go, I can take them! Just get the others!” Riki said confidently, looking out the window. He then gets a serious look, “I’ll be fine, I promise.”

Flashback End

“You left my brother!” I shouted, pointing at the two ponies. I think I’m about to cry, “He could be dead right now!” Rainbow Dash and Applejack hold me back.

“Liz, calm down,” said Applejack, standing before me. “Don’t take your anger out on them. They are already mad at themselves. You don’t need to pile it on.”

“Riki probably escaped and is on his way back now,” Rainbow added, “He is the toughest human I know!”

“Riki is one of the only humans here,” said Rarity, “But we understand what you mean.”

“Look, Riki decided to stay back, so we can get some help.” said Specs, “If he didn’t throw us out that window, we wouldn’t be here.”

I take a few deep breaths to calm myself down. “Sorry, it’s just… I know Riki is tough, but he never ran into someone like that. What was its name again?”

“Taboo,” Specs answered,

I look over at Twilight. Her face is sort of a mix of worrying and pondering. Shining sees this and asks, “Twily, what’s wrong?”

“It just... I’m worried about Riki,” She said softly, “And that I don’t know anything about this Taboo.” Twilight puts her hooves on her head, “I never ran into that name in any books I read.”

“Princesses, do you know anything about Taboo?” I asked.

The two of them been quiet for a while. They're probably taking everything in to take the best action in this situation.

It was like this for a while until Celestia spoke up, “In our few millennia of being alive and ruling over Equestria. My sister and I have never met or heard of this Taboo.”

“Taboo could be affiliated with Discord,” said Luna, “Thinking about it some more, it’s most likely not the case.”

“An unknown enemy is not a good thing. Vanta and I will get a team ready for Riki’s rescue.” Shining chimed in. He then looks over at Feather and Specs, “The two of you go to the infirmary.”

“But we want to go get Riki back too!” Feather said, struggling to stand up. Then leans on Specs for support, “We left him once. We’re not doing it again!”

“Feather, stop! We are in no condition to fight. We will just get in the way!” Specs yelled, “Riki got us out of there because he’s worried about our safety!”

“...Sorry,” Feather muttered,

Vanta walks up to them, “Come on, you two, let’s take you to the infi-”

CRASH

Something smashes through one of the upper windows, landing in the middle of the room. Everyone gets in a fighting position. Celestia, Luna, Twilight, and Shining's horns start to glow. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Vanta get ready to pounce, and even Louie joined in. Fluttershy and I just hide behind Rarity.

I get a better look at the thing, or should I say animal. “It’s a white bird?” I said, peeking my head out. It looks off. Then my stomach starts to twist and turn.

“It’s a parrot,” Fluttershy said, walking to it. “Hello there, are you okay?” I immediately grabbed Fluttershy and pulled her back, “Liz?”

“It’s not real,” Celestia said, “But it can easily pass as one.”

“A paper parrot,” Specs added, “La-la made it, no doubt.”

“It's not attacking?” asked Feather.

Luna moves closer to it with Celestia, “I say we destroy it.”

The paper macaw opens its beak, “DON’T YOU WANT TO HEAR WHAT I GOT TO SAY, FIRST?” A distorted voice fills the room. It sends a chill down my spine. “HELLO, IS THIS WORKING?” The bird turns its head to get a better look at Luna, “MOON, I HEARD STORIES ABOUT YOU. THE AGGRESSIVE AND RUDE ONE. NO WONDER THE PONIES LOVE THE SUN MORE THAN YOU, HAHAH!”

Luan uses her Royal Canterlot Voice, “WATCH WHAT YOU SAY, FEEBL-”

Celestia stops Luna before she does anything rash, “I’m Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria with my sister Luna. I believe you have our friend, Riki.”

The parrot’s head tilts, “I DON’T REMEMBER ASKING FOR YOUR NAME, SUN? BUT I DO HAVE THE HUMAN BOY. WE’RE ALREADY HEADING TO A LONELY PLACE CALLED EVERFREE FOREST.”

Luna stomps her hoof. “Stop playing games! Just wait until I get my hooves on you!”

“TEMPER, TEMPER MOON,” Taboo taunted, “DON’T YOU WANT TO HEAR ABOUT A OFFER ON HUMAN?”

I clenched my fists and yelled, “Just g-give my brother b-” The parrot quickly looked in my direction. I took a few steps back.

“OOOHHH, HUMAN GIRL THINKS SHE CAN TELL ME WHAT TO DO, PATHETIC!” Taboo spat, “I CAN HEAR THE FEAR IN YOUR WORDS. THE HUMAN BOY SHOWED MORE BRAVERY FIGHTING ME THAN YOU RIGHT NOW! SO SHUT UP, YOU STUPID CHILD! THE BOY SHOULD BE ASHAMED TO SHARE BLOOD WITH YOU!”

I hung my head low as Taboo’s words cut deep into me. How can Riki stand against that monster, and I can’t even talk to it through a damn parrot. Why am I like this? Why can’t I be brave like Riki? Should Riki be ashamed of me? These questions are dancing around in my head. Taboo is right. I am pathetic. My eyes start to tear up until I feel something bump my leg. It’s Louie.

“Hey, don’t talk to Liz like that!” Rainbow shouted.

“Yeah, you meanie bird!” Pinkie added while hugging me.

“I’M NOT A BIRD, YOU STUPID PONY!” Taboo yelled back.

“Liz is not pathetic,” Rarity said, getting in front of me.

“Riki will never think of her like that!” said Applejack.

“And what if Liz is scared, it’s normal,” Fluttershy muttered through her hair.

“UGH, YOU PONIES ARE VERY ANNOYING, ESPECIALLY THE PINK ONE!” shouted Taboo,

In the sky approaching Everfree Forest, Taboo sits on top of a huge paper eagle. In his right hand holds a paper parrot. He runs his other hand through his hair, “BRING ME THE ELEMENTS, AND I WILL HAND OVER THE BOY.” Taboo looks at the eagle talons it’s carrying Riki’s unconscious body tied up with paper rope. “IF YOU REALLY CARE FOR THE HUMAN, MY DEMANDS WILL BE MET. ONE MORE THING…”

“IF I SENSE THE SUN, MOON, OR ANY OTHER PONIES EXCEPT THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY! I’LL KILL THE BOY AND RAIN HIS BLOOD OVER THIS MISERABLE LAND!" What Taboo said shook everyone in the room. My face went pale, and my heart is beating out of my chest. He can’t kill Riki.

“Where in Everfree?” Celestia asked calmly but forcefully.

“JUST FOLLOW THE BIRD,” said Taboo, “I’LL BE WAITING.” After Taboo is done talking, the parrot starts to fly around in circles.

A tear ran down my cheek, Taboo has Riki, and now that monster wants some damn magical items! This is so fucking frustrating! I just want to go home.

“Princesses, we need to borrow a flying chariot,” said Twilight

“Wait, you guys are going?” I said, looking over at them. They all nod their heads, “What if it’s a trap? What if Tabo-”

“Who cares if Taboo has a trap or two,” Rainbow interrupted, “We were able to beat Discord and Nightmare Moon. Taboo will be easy.”

“But you guys have to give the Elements up!”

“Darling, even if Taboo does get the Elements of Harmony. We are still connected to them.” Rarity answered.

“And Taboo can’t even use the Elements, well I don’t think so?” added Fluttershy.

“We’re not going to give him the Elements in the first place,” Twilight added,

“I need to know something,” I said, wiping my eyes, “Why are you doing this?”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, “Don’t you want your brother back?”

“I do want Riki back with all my heart. But why are you guys doing all of this? We’re not even from here. We barely even know each other.”

“Because we’re friends,” Twilight said, “And friends always help each other. We promise to get Riki back.”

“We Pinkie Promise to get Riki back!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Pinkie Promise?”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye!” Pinkie said, crossing her heart and closing one eye.

I confusedly looked at the others to see they were doing the same thing. I give them a small smile, “Be safe. I just have a bad feeling about all of this, especially Taboo. I am counting on you guys.”

“Alright girls, we have a human to save!” exclaimed Twilight, “Let’s show Taboo why you don’t mess with The Elements of Harmony!”

In Everfree Forest, Taboo is in a very open wooded area sitting on a pile of dead Timberwolves for the past 30 minutes. He picks up one of the wood pieces and starts chewing on it. “SO, HUNGRY,” Taboo mumbled, “I WANT SOME MOCH-.” Taboo looks up in the sky to see a flying chariot pulled by two pegasi.

The paper parrot comes flying down, circling around Taboo. The golden chariot lands a good distance away from him. Taboo watches the ponies step out of the chariot, wearing the Elements of Harmony. He jumps off the pile of wood. “THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY, I HEARD A LOT OF AMAZING THINGS ABOUT YOU PONIES! WHEN I WAS TRAPPED IN THAT JAR!” Taboo exclaimed, pointing at them, “LAUGHTER… LOYALTY… KINDNESS… HONESTY… GENEROSITY… AND MAGIC.” His gaze slowly looks over them. The ponies look back. This is the first time they have seen anything like Taboo.

“W-what are you?” Fluttershy asked, trembling behind the other “A demon or something?”

“ME, A DEMON?” Taboo chuckles, “I’M NOT LIKE THOSE LOW LIFE CREATURES. I WAS A WARRIOR! I WAS PART OF A POWERFUL CLAN! I WAS IMPRISONED IN THAT JAR FOR STANDING FOR WHAT I BELIEVED IN!” Taboo shouted so loud that it put the Royal Canterlot Voice to shame. It distorts the air around them, scaring away all the nearby animals. The paper parrot and eagle start to unfold, dropping to the ground. Twilight and the other cover their ears, trying not to get blown back. A chill ran down their spine. It felt like Taboo is right on top of them.

As they watch, the beast catches his breath. Twilight shouted, “We are here to stop your evil plans to take over Equestria!”

“EQUESTRIA, STILL CAN’T BELIEVE THIS IS THE NAME OF THIS LAND NOW,” Taboo said to himself, scratching his face. He looks at the ponies. “SO YOU’RE NOT HERE TO GIVE ME THE ELEMENTS?”

“We’ll give you something, alright!” Rainbow shouted, flapping her wings.

“Now where's, Riki!? We Pinkie Promise Liz to get him back!” Pinkie exclaimed.

Taboo gets an angry look in his eyes. “A PROMISE?” A claw shot out of Taboo’s back, breaking through the wood piles behind him. The third hand grabs the unconscious Riki, pulling him back through. “LISTEN WELL, YOU DAMN PONIES! PROMISES ARE WORSE THAN LIES!” He then throws Riki’s body in the air. Before any of them can react, Taboo slams his hands together. “IT GIVES THEM FALSE HOPE!”

Riki’s body starts to glow and expand until…

KABOOOOM

Riki’s body explodes, shaking everything around it.

Taboo smirks at the ponies’ pale and shocked faces, “THAT’S WHY YOU DON’T MAKE PROMISES.”

Chapter 11: What's your name!

What's your name!

Celestia and Luna start to concentrate. They don’t want to teleport half their body or something. Locating Riki’s house is easy since they did it before when the two of them first arrived. In a blink of an eye…POP… Riki, Liz, and Louie are gone. Both of them are silent. After a few minutes, Luna spoke up, “Tia, why did you let Riki go after Taboo?”

The sun princess took her time, trying to find the right words. After a few seconds, Celestia says, “Riki is a strange pony or human. He has only been here for a few days and wants to fight for us. When I was healing him, I went into his mind. I felt…”

“Safe, warm, fearless?”

Celestia gets a confused look, “…How did you know?”

“When I was in Riki’s dream, I felt that when he protected me from that nightmare,” Luna said, remembering back to that night. She’ll never forget that feeling. Luna brought it up to Riki, but he didn’t know what she was talking about. “What about Liz?”

“She’s scared but tries her hardest not to be. I see a lot of hidden potential in Liz. All she needs is a little push, Riki too.” Celestia said, “Those two are very strange… In a good way. I wonder if all humans are like this?”

Luna does a small sigh, “You think they can beat Taboo?”

“I think they can pull it off,”

“I have faith in Riki, Liz, and the girls,” Luna smiled. After a few seconds of silence, “…Did you know Riki has cute freckles?”

“He has what!?”

“Captain Shining!” yelled a blue unicorn guard. Shining Armor and 20 guards are at the abandoned building location. Searching through the hotel rubble and rooms

“Find anything?” Shining asked,

“We remove a good chunk of the rubble to find paper arrows and Diamond Dog fur.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes, claw marks and some blood. But no bodies.”

Shining stomps his hoof, “They couldn't have gotten that far. Half of the guards come with me. The rest stay here and check all the buildings here!”

From a building a few blocks down, La-la and Wrath watch Shining and half the guards leaving. La-la is a little banged up. On the other hand, Wrath is bleeding from his head and holding his shoulder.

“Wrath, some of them leaving,” La-la said, “What are they doing?”

Wrath lays against the wall, “They probably splitting up just to find us.” The stunt that Riki pulled really did a number on him. “Paper brat… You okay?”

La-la looks down with a blush, “Yeah, thank you for protecting me from the falling rubble. But are you okay? If I just had some paper, I could patch you up.” La-la walks over to Wrath, petting his injured paw. “What about the guards? I wish I could make a giant paper eagle so we can escape. And you’re definitely not in a condition to fight.”

“Shut up. I can fight.” Wrath grumbled, pulling away his paw. La-la stops him by putting some pressure on it. “Okay, I can’t fight right now.”

“…What about Taboo?” asked La-la, letting go of Wrath’s paw and tapping the floor playfully.

“What about Taboo,” Wrath huffed, “That shut-in pony told us to free Taboo. We did it. We’re not doing any extra shit for him. Taboo is on his own.”

“She’s going to be so mad,” La-la trembled,

"Let her," Wrath scoffed, slowly gets up, “C’mon, we need to go. If we stay here any longer, we’ll get captured” He makes his way to the door, “We can hop a train to get out Canterlot. Lay low for a bit before heading back to base, got it?”

“Yes,” La-la beamed, skipping towards Wrath. “Wrathy, I’m sooooo hungry. Can we stop by the donut shop?”

“We have no bits,”

“Who said we’re using bits?” La-la said with a cheeky smile.

Wrath burst out laughing, “Let’s take a few baker’s dozen!”

“Yeah!”

“Why did you have to go, you idiot!” I yelled with tears in my eyes. I kick the door open into my workshop and start breaking stuff. Throwing my tools into the wall, kicking over a tool chest. I don't care anymore. I pick up a socket wrench and throw it at flipped over vespa, knocking it over. Going to flip a table, but Louie jumps on top of it. I slump against the wall and hug my legs.

“Why, Riki?” I sobbed, “Why do you have to be so brave. I wish dad were still alive, he could have stopped you.” My stomach burns like the pits of hell. Did I make the right choice? It’s not selfish to think about your own safety…right? “Even if I did go, I’ll just get in the way.” I buried my face deep into my legs. I just want to cry myself to sleep.

I can hear Louie walk to me. His head rubs against my legs. “Louie, go away. I’m not in the mood.” I said, pushing him gently away with my foot. He scurries off, only to come back later dragging something. Louie drops it and starts to rub his head on my legs again. I chose to ignore him this time. Louie stops and then bites my exposed ankle. “Ow, Louie, no biting!” I said, rubbing my ankle. He does a few meows, then bops something on the ground. Looking at what he brought me, I’m surprised to see a wrench. I pick it up and admire the tool. A thick 21mm chrome vanadium steel double open-end wrench. My fingers run over the wrench.

Flashback-Three years ago

“Damn, I can’t believe you got drunk,” I said, opening the front door and guiding my drunk brother inside. “What if the cops saw you like this?”

“I’m 21,” Riki said tiredly as I put him on the couch.

“Your birthday is tomorrow,” I said with a smile,

“Oh shit, your right!” Riki laughed, laying face down on the couch, “Abby came back from deployment, and Nikolai got dumped, so we have to throw a party!”

I sit on the couch arm, “It was just the four of us in Central Park.”

“Did you have fun?”

“…Yeah, especially when you and Nikolai went dumpster diving behind the Dunkin Donuts. I need to text Abby the pictures.”

Riki rolls onto his back, “Oi, they throw away perfectly good donuts. At least I didn’t steal a shopping cart.”

“If Nikolai and Abby didn’t leave, I wouldn’t have done it. I’ll just return the shopping cart tomorrow, good night.”

“Wait,” Riki said, pulling on my hand. “I was saving this for your birthday, but I want you to have it now.”

“You know a birthday present is supposed to be on a birthday?” I said with my hands on my hips.

Riki digs in the couch cushions, and of course, he’ll hide it there. He hands me a wide rectangle box, “If I can celebrate my birthday early, you can too.” I open up the box. Inside is a 21mm double open-end wrench. It looks amazing like it was made by hand. “I remember when you first moved in, you were complaining about losing it or something.”

I nodded, “Yeah, but it was a 22mm.”

“Sorry about that,” Riki sighed, “I should have double-checked with you.”

“No, I want to keep it!” I said, shaking my head as fast as possible. “It feels so amazing, it so perfect. Where did you get this?”

“Sensei knows a guy who makes weapons. I got his number, and we chatted. A few weeks later, your wrench came in the mail.”

“Wow, thank you!” I said with a smile.

“…Liz, sorry for leaving you and Dad. I just couldn’t deal with your mom.” Riki said, staring at the ceiling empty gaze.

“it’s… Understandable.” I said softly, fiddling with the wrench. “But don’t do it again, promise?

Riki smiles, “As long as you promise to have my back!”

“Of course, I promise to have your back.”

“One more thing, I had a message engraved on the back of the wrench. So you can remember that….”

Flashback End

“I’ll always be with you,” I read aloud as tears pour from my eyes. Damn, what am I doing here!? I quickly wipe the tears from my eyes. Getting up from the ground, I pick up the tipped-over tool chest. Rolling the chest to the vespa, I pull back my hair and put on my goggles. Louie starts to purr as his head rubs against my leg, “Louie, we got some work to do. Guys, stay safe. I’m coming!”

“IS THAT ALL YOU GOT!?” Taboo taunted, dodging a flying tackle from Rainbow Dash. He then grabs her tail then spins her around over his head. “LOYALTY, AREN’T YOU HAVING FUN? BECAUSE I AM!” Taboo exclaimed, building up more and more speed.

“Let her go, you varmint!” shouted Applejack, running towards Taboo with Pinkie.

“GLADLY,” said Taboo. Using that built up speed, he hurls Rainbow at Applejack and Pinkie. Rainbow’s body collides with Pinkie and Applejack.

The three ponies roll across the ground into a pile. “You two okay?” asked Applejack, getting off Pinkie and Rainbow Dash.

“O-owwwie,” Pinkie answered,

“D-dizzy, very v-very dizzy,” Rainbow said, trying to make her head stop spinning.

Meanwhile, Twilight freed Fluttershy and Rarity from this weird black goo by blasting away with her magic. “It’s all in my mane,” Rarity complained,

“I can’t open up my wings,” Fluttershy said, removing some of the goo from her wings.

“Rarity, help Fluttershy with her wings,” Twilight said, running towards the other. Twilight sees Taboo lunging at Applejack with his sharp claws.

Taboo is surprised to see Pinkie in his face, pulling a cupcake out of her hair. “This super-duper amazing cupcake was for Riki, but you can have it!” yelled Pinkie, smashing the cupcake into Taboo’s top and bottom right eye.

“MY EYES!” Taboo roared, backing away and wiping the frosting out of his eyes. “I’LL KILL THE PINK ONE F-AGGGHHHH!” A powerful magic beam from Twilight hits Taboo square in the face. His body rolls across the ground. Stopped himself by digging his claws into the ground. “I EXPECTED THE ELEMENT OF MAGIC TO DO SOMETHING TO ME. THE CUPCAKE… I HAVE NO WORDS.”

“Alright ladies, full power!” Twilight shouted,

Taboo sees the glowing eyes of the six mares floating in the air. He can feel the Elements’ power radiating from where he stands. Taboo watches as a huge rainbow beam slams into him with the force of a speeding freight train. Stone slowly consumes his lower body. Taboo claps his hands together to make a faint glow. The rainbow beam stops a few seconds later, and the girls gently land on the ground. In front of them is a stone statue of Taboo. His hands together with three of his eyes are closed. It’s like he’s meditating.

The girls walk up to Taboo, “We did it, but….” Twilight said somberly, “We lost Riki. How are we going to explain this to Liz?” She looks down at the ground with a few tears. Pinkie pulls Twilight into a caring hug.

“What's next?” asked Fluttershy. Before anyone could say anything, the statue started to shake a little.

“Wait, what’s going on?” said Rarity, as they all backup.

“No, he can’t,” Twilight muttered,

The statue thrashed around for a bit. Cracks begin to form as black light shines out. Twilight quickly puts up a shield just as the statue exploded. The force was so much it broke through Twilight’s shield easily, throwing them around the ground.

“YOU CALL THAT SEALING ME AWAY?” Taboo yawned, doing a big stretch. “PROPHETIC, BUT I DO FEEL A LITTLE SLUGGISH....” Taboo stretches his arm, grabbing Pinkie by her hair.

“Help!” Pinkie yelled, being pulled away. They want to get up, but they can’t. Too tired to stand, all they can do is watch Pinkie struggle to break free from Taboo’s grasp.

“LAUGHTER, I ALWAYS HATED THE COLOR PINK,” Taboo said coldly, ready to slash through the pony. Pinkie closes her eyes as she can hear her friends calling for her. “TIME TO DI-AAAAGGGHHHHHH!!!”

Out of nowhere, Taboo takes a flying kick in the stomach. Letting go of Pinkie as he was sent to fly into a tree. Pinkie is caught before touching the ground. Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity are shocked at what happened. Doing a double take because they can’t believe what they’re looking at.

“Oi, you can open your eyes, Pinkie.”

“Riki,” Pinkie said in total disbelief.

Riki carries Pinkie to the other and picks them up too. Running to the chariot and kicking it to its side. He places all of them down and drops his backpack. “I have water, granola bars, rice cakes, and a first aid kit,” Riki said casually, pulling out all the stuff. He looks up to see all of them have tears flowing from their eyes. “Oi-” Riki is cut off by all of them hugging him.

“We saw you died!”

“You exploded into tiny, unrecognizable pieces.”

“How are you alive!?”

“Are you even real!?”

“Is this a trick from Taboo?”

“What happened when Taboo captured you?”

“Does Liz and the Princesses know you’re here?”

They all flood Riki with tons of questions, and he waits for them to get them out of their system. “Listen, the Riki that Taboo killed, was fake. I was held hostage. And yes, they know I’m here. The Princesses are letting me handle this.” Riki gets up from the ground and heads back to the battlefield. He stops to look at the ponies, “You guys did a great job! Now sit back and rest. I want to get my licks in!” They give Riki a confused look, “It means I want to punch him.”

Taboo rubs his head as he stands up. He wonders why that human is here. And why did that attack hurt so much? Was it… No, it couldn’t be. That human doesn’t have it! It’s probably the Elements blasted that is messing with his body. Taboo returns to the battlefield, seeing Riki stand tall on a rock. “WHY ARE YOU HERE?”

“Why?” Riki said, doing some stretches.

“DID THE SUN AND MOON PROMISE YOU SOMETHING? IT’S THE ONLY WAY I SEE YOU COMING BACK TO FIGHT, AM I RIGHT?” Riki says nothing, and Taboo continues, “WHAT DID THEY PROMISED YOU? WEALTH, FAME, PLEASURE?” Taboo cracks a smile as he stares down at Riki, “OR, DO YOU THINK THAT BEATING ME, THEY WELL LOOK AT YOU DIFFERENTLY. THEY WON’T SEE YOU AS A MONSTER, BUT A HERO!”

“…”

“HEAR MY WORDS, NO MATTER HOW MANY GOOD DEEDS YOU DO. THEY WILL STILL LOOK AT YOU AS A MONSTER, A OUTSIDER, A THING THAT DOESN’T BELONG HERE.”

“…Shut up…” Riki said, hopping off a rock.

“WHAT’S WRONG? DID I HIT A NERVE?”

“I’m not doing this for wealth, fame, or recognition. I don’t care if they see me as a monster. I don’t care if they see me as a hero.” Riki said seriously, “I'm doing this because I want to. I do care about my friends and their homes. I’m not going to stand around and do nothing.”

Taboo tightens his fist as Riki’s words hit him hard. Reminds him of someone he knew long ago. “WHAT’S YOUR NAME, CHILD?”

“My name is Ricochet Gregory Phillips!” he says with all his might, “And I’m going to kick your ass!”

Chapter 12: Human VS. Monster, Round 2!

Human VS. Monster, Round 2!

Flashback – 17 years ago

A 6-year-old Ricochet Phillips rides on a New York bus, alone. He's wearing bright red rubber boots and a purple snow jacket, with black wool gloves. Riki swings his legs waiting for his stop. Watching the snow hit the bus window slowly get heavier and heavier. It Reminds Riki of what he saw on the news, January's biggest snow storm, and something about- Ding! Riki looks at the destination sign as it starts flashing in red ‘W 50th St'. Riki stands up from the seat and pressed the request to stop button. The bus slows down to a stop, and Riki hops off the seat and to the front.

“Thank you, Mr. Bus driver sir,” said Riki as he get off the bus. His mom always told him to thank the bus drivers. As the bus leaves, Riki pulls out a piece of paper with bad handwriting with the name Mat Lowell and directions to a hotel.

Walking through the snowy streets, Riki follows the directions carefully. A few people on the street asked if he was lost or something, but Riki politely decided. Even if he’s a little kid, Riki knows the ins and outs of this city. It only took him half an hour to get to the destination. He stands in front of a 10-story hotel. Riki tried to look up information about this place, but he found nothing. No stars, no reviews, no employees. If you walk past this place, you wouldn't know it existed.

Riki watches the snow fall from the front door. He hopes his dad doesn’t be too mad about this. Walking inside, Riki is surprised to see how kept up this place is. The lobby’s floors are clean, the plants are healthy, and the furniture almost looks brand new. The only thing creeping Riki out is that it is so quiet. He walks up to the service desk to see no one there. He looks behind it to see a trash can full of beer cans, a few notes, a desk office phone with a lot of voicemail, and hard butterscotch candies that look like it’s been there for a while.

…Ding

The sound of the elevator gets Riki’s attention. He hides behind the service desk as the elevator doors open up. Two men walked out of the elevator both wearing black suits. The first to step out is a very tall well built black man in his late forties, bald head, and a goatee. The other person is a young Korean man in his mid-twenties, also looks like he just got his ass kicked.

“Why didn’t you help me, I was getting fucked.” grumbled the young man, touching his bruised face.

“I told you to be careful,” said the older man with his deep voice. “You’re lucky to be alive. If you did die, I have to fill out a report about you.”

“You’re an asshole, I hope you get hit by a bus!”

The older man laughs, “You need more than a bus to take me out…. Also, watch your mouth, there's a kid here.” The man points at Riki's head poking out.

“Kid?” said the young man, looking at Riki. “Hey, get out here.”

Riki sits there for a while, “Could Mat be one of them?” he said to himself. Riki crawls out from his hiding spot and carefully walks toward the two men.

“What is a little kid like you doing here?” asked the younger man.

“I’m here to see Mat Lowell, that all,” Riki muttered, looking up at them.

“Are you Mat’s kid?” The young man leans down to get a better look at Riki, “Would make sense, that bastard does sleep around a lot.”

“Language, Ty.”

“My bad, Simon.”

‘So, Mat isn’t one of them?’ Riki thought, 'Who are they? Do they know Mat?’ He snaps out of thought by Simon getting on one knee, trying to be on Riki's level.

“What are you doing in a place like this, boy?” asked Simon.

“Ummm, I’m with my dad…” Riki muttered, trying not to make eye contact.

“You're farther told you lying is bad, right?”

Riki nods, “He also said that talking to strangers is bad too. So, why are you guys here?”

“That’s classified.”

Ty scratches the back of his head and says, “Look kid, this isn’t a place for you, go home to your mom and dad.”

Riki’s dad must de worried about him. And mom… “I just need to talk to Mat, it's very important!” Riki shouted.

Simon was about to say something, but his phone goes off. He pulls it out and looks at it for a few seconds before staining back up, “Ty, time to go.”

“Got it,” said Ty, putting his hands in his pockets.

Simon looks at the kid one more time, “You know what you’re doing? Mat can be dangerous.”

“Yes!”

“Alright, Mat lives on the sixth floor, the room with no number.”

Riki gives Simon a smile, “Thank you!” He then runs to the elevator.

Ty gives Simon a worried look, “I hope you know what you’re doing?”

“Come on, we still a few more stops before the storm hits.”

Riki roams the sixth floor hallways, looking for the room with no number. It’s kind of weird walking around a quiet hotel. About 10 minutes later, Riki finds the room. It’s Between rooms 623 and 624, but that doesn’t make any sense to Riki. Knocking on the door a few times, Riki hears heavy footsteps followed by yelling, “Oiii, I told you if you two don’t fuck off, I’ll cut off your balls!” The door flies open revealing a toned woman with long messy blonde hair, dark circles under her bright blue eyes, and big… She’s wearing a white crop top showing off her abs, and black sweat pants. The smell of alcohol hits Riki’s nose, even if he’s a few feet away. She looks down at Riki, “Who the fuck are you?”

“Umm… I’m looking for Mat Lowell, is he in there?”

She squints her eyes, “You’re looking at her, kid.”

Riki’s eye widened, “You’re Mat!? I thought you were a man, you know. "

“Mat is short for Madeline,” she told him, “Wait a minute, who are you and how did you find me?

“I don’t think Mat can be short for that,” Riki said under his breath, playing with his jacket. “…My grandpa told me about you and where to find you. He said you are the best bodyguard he has ever hired.”

Madeline takes a closer look at Riki, especially at his amber eye. After a few seconds she says, “So you’re Henry's grandson? I should have known you are related to that old bastard, both have that amber eye.” She then grabs Riki by the jacket and lifts him up. He is surprised at how easy she's holding him, “Now tell me why you’re here, brat.”

Riki covers his nose, trying not to smell the alcohol on her breath. “Grandpa told me you can help me!”

“With what, your homework?”

“How to fight!”

With one swift motion, Madeline turns and throws Riki into the room. Riki flies and crashes onto her couch. He gets up and looks around, it is just a normal hotel living room, but with a lot of beer cans. Madeline stomps on her coffee table, “You want me to teach you how to fight?” Riki nods, and she continues, “Look if you have bully problems, go tell your parents or some shit. I'm not teaching some brat that can barely even tie his shoes. ”

“No, I refuse your refusal!” Riki yelled, jumping onto the coffee table.

Madeline looks him dead in the eyes, “You can't do that!”

“I just did!”

“Get out of my house, you brat!”

“Hell no! Even if I wanted to there's a storm outside.” Riki says pointing at the window. “Madeline-"

She picks up Riki, “I can just throw out the window, there's snow so you’ll be fine.”

“You have to teach me, please help me!”

“Why should I?” Madeline asked, “What’s your reason? Because you think fighting is cool, or a fuckin' game!?”

Riki thinks about his mom and, “I don’t want to be useless anymore!” Riki's eyes start to tear up, “I don’t want to watch the ones I love die in front of me again, and I can’t do anything!”

As Riki cries and flails around, Madeline watches with a straight face. “Who did you lose?”

“My mom, I couldn’t do anything to protect her! I was too scared to move, too scared to fight!”

“Your just a kid,”

“Everyone keeps telling me that, and I don’t care. Just please help me!” Riki begged.

Madeline smirks, “You know if you go through this, I won't go easy. I don’t care if you’re a child or a full grown adult. It will be like going to hell and back.” She then puts Riki down and points at the door, “But if you think you can’t handle it, you can leave, just quit.”

Riki looks at the door for a bit then turns to Mat. “I’m not quitting, ”

Mat starts to laugh in utter joy, “Guess your old man was right about you.” Putting her hands on her hips, “From here on, you are a student of Madeline Lowell!”

Riki starts to cry again and hugs Madeline's leg, “Thank you, Madeline! You’re the best in the world, I owe you everything!”

“Oi, stop doing that,” Madeline said, trying to shake Riki off her leg. “ Here are so ground rules. Rule#1 No crying, got it?”

Riki let go and wiped his face, “Are there any more rules I need to know about?”

“Rule#2 Don’t ask if there are any more rules.”

“Okay, That makes sense… I think?”

“Rule#3 Don’t ever doubt me,”

“Understand,”

Madeline runs her hand through her messy hair, “Oi, I forgot to ask, what’s your name?”

“Ricochet Gregory Phillips, or you can call me Riki!” he exclaimed, “I won’t disappoint you!”

Flashback End

“YATAGARASU ARROW!” Taboo shouts as he slashes the air, making a big crow shaped projectile. It speeds straight towards me as it cuts the ground. I manage to jump out of the way at the last second. The air slash continues on, cutting down a few dozen trees before it dissipates.

“That was so cool,” I muttered, charging at Taboo. “I have to ask, did you teleport me and Liz here? How do you know about the humans!?” We both did a straight punch, and our fists collided with each other. I immediately pulled back in pain, “Ow, ow, ow! Felt like I just punched a brick wall!” Barely dodging Taboo’s spinning heel kick. I block an incoming jab, hook, and rear hook comb. It hurts like hell, even if I’m blocking. Taboo does the same combo, but I wasn't expecting him to change the rear hook to an uppercut. Taking the full hit to my stomach almost made me throw up.

“IF YOU DEMAND ANSWERS, YOU GOT TO BET IT OUT OF ME!” Taboo taunted, “YAMI CLAW!” Taboo’s right hand doubles in size as a black aura covers his claw. He swipes at my head but only manages to cut my cheek.

“Fine!” I shouted, headbutting Taboo in the face. Ignoring my killer headache, I grab ahold of Taboo and turn against him. Lifting up the creature over my shoulder and yell, “Heavy Shoulder Throooow… MAX!” Slamming Taboo on the ground as hard as I can. Taboo then goes for a leg sweep. As I jump over it, Taboo punches me in the chest as he gets up from the ground. I grab the arm with both my hands, wrapping my legs around his neck and waist. We both hit the ground. I really hope this armbar works. I pull hard on his arm until I hear a snapping sound. Unwrapping my leg around his neck to repeatedly stomp his face.

Taboo starts to stand up and makes a tentacle to pry me off. It wraps around my body, tightening and making me cough up a bit of blood. “IS THAT ALL YOU GOT, RICOCHET?” Taboo mocks.

“I literally broke your fuckin' arm,” I replied, trying to get out of the tentacle.

“REALLY? WELL, YOU DID POORLY AT IT.” Taboo chuckles, showing off his perfectly fine arm. How did he fix it so fast? Don’t tell me he can regenerate. “NOW I’M GOING TO ASK YOU AGAIN… IS THAT ALL YOU GOT, RICOCHET?”

“….No… Just getting started!" Riki said, gasping for air. I bite down hard on the tentacle, losing up enough to wiggle free. Landing on my hands to spring me upwards, deliver a blow to Taboo's chin with both my feet, throwing his head back. As I land, a weird feeling runs through my body as I punch him across the face hard enough to make a cracking sound.

He reels back in pain and wraps a tentacle around my waist. “THAT ACTUALLY HURTS!” Taboo roars as his tentacle powerbomb me.

It hurts so much I couldn’t scream in pain. I think I can hear my name being called, or it’s the sound of something breaking… It’s probably both. The tentacle lifts me up again, ready to do another powerbomb. I know I can’t take the second one. Mustering all my strength, I get that weird feeling again. Ignoring it, I kicked straight through the tentacle, “Tuagh Crash!” Landing on my back, I kicked up to my feet but fell to my knees. Touching my forehead to see that I’m bleeding, that's not good. My right hand has some bruises forming, not good too. Standing up and spat out some blood, “What the fuck was that?” I asked myself, watching Taboo rubbing his chin.

“Riki, are you okay!” yelled Pinkie,

“You want us to hop it!?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“I’m good, stay there!” I replied, “...You’re getting a lot out of me, Taboo.”

“YOU’RE GETTING A LOT OUT OF ME TOO, WAY MORE THAN THOSE ELEMENTS.” Taboo praised me, “BUT IT'S NOT ENOUGH, RICOCHET.”

I take some deep breaths, “Your body is weird, were you born like that?”

“NO, I WAS NORMAL.” Taboo answered, “BEING TRAPPED IN THAT PRISON FOR SO LONG, I ACTUALLY FORGOTTEN HOW I LOOK LIKE. ALL I DID IN THERE WAS WALLOWED IN MY ANGER AND THINK.” Taboo slams his hands onto the ground, “ENOUGH TALKING, DEATHBOUND!”

“Riki watch out!” shouted Twilight,

“Underneath you!” added Fluttershy,

Looked down to see the ground underneath me had turned pitch black. Black hands spring from the darkness around me. I watch as the hands start to flail around, it’s hard to tell where they're going. I avoided one by jumping back, but get hit in my side and face. Every time I block or dodge one I get hit.

“Dammit,” I said, avoiding another attack. More hands appear and lunge at me, “Time to use these.” I pull my tonfas from behind my back, swatting away the hands. Going around and destroying the rest of these hands only took me a few seconds. After that, I feel like I’m at my limit. I fall to my hands and knees, “This isn’t good.”

I hear screaming, Twilight, and everyone else is being graded by those black hands from Taboo. “ALRIGHT, THIS HAS GONE ON LONG ENOUGH,” Taboo grumbled. A tentacle comes from above ready to crush me, but I don’t move.

As the tentacle gets close...

‘Riki are you scared of death?’

Flashback – 8 years ago

In the hotel gym, I’m sitting on the dojo mat, chugging a bottle of water after a long day of training. “Are you going to kill me?” I asked worriedly, “Because sparring with you can do that.”

She puts her hands on her hips, “If I want to kill you, I would have done it by now. Just answer the fuckin' question”

“…Makes sense,” I said, looking up at the ceiling. I thought about my answers for a bit, “…I’m scared of the ones I care about dying...even you.”

Madeline rolls her eyes, “Riki…”

“What do you want me to say, I’m 15.” I sighed, “I still have a lot of years left… If I don’t get sick or something, but you know what I mean.” I look at Madeline, “I mean you’re 45-Ow!" Madeline punches me in the back of the head.

She cracks her knuckles and scowl, “How many times do I need to tell you, rugrat! I’m at least 34 with the body of a 28 year old. Riki let me tell you something, and you better listen.”

“I’m listening,”

Madeline gets a serious look, “This world is a lot more…dangerous than you think, you’re like at the front gate.”

“What does that mean?”

“I’ll tell you when you’re ready,” Madeline does some stretches, “Just remember these words, Riki. When you fight, death is always there. But! With the right mind, body, and spirit, your death will be life.”

“What the fuck are you saying? Are you still drunk?” I asked, getting up.

“You’ll understand when you're older,” Madeline said, rolling her eyes, “…Just a little drunk, Ahahahah!!!”

“Unbelievable,”

Flashback End

The spectating ponies watch Taboo's tentacle come crashing down, kicking up a bunch of dust. They all yelled for Riki, trying to break out of Taboo’s grasp.

“Riki, noooooo!” Twilight shouted, using her magic to blast away from Taboo’s Deathbound attack.

As the dust dissipates, all of them are shocked to see Riki stand, he completely sidesteps the tentacle.

“Yeah, Riki okay!” Pinkie cheered.

Twilight looks at Riki, something feels off about him. She doesn’t know what’s going on, but something catches her eyes. A faint orange glow enveloped Riki, “What is that?” Twilight asked herself as the mysterious glow slowly flickers off and on.

Twilight wasn't the only one who saw this. Taboo stares at Riki while mumbling something, as he watches the glow go away. He starts to scratch one of his horns, making a sound like a nail on a chalkboard.

Taboo is ticked.

“Mind, body, and spirit,” Riki said to himself, readying up his tonfas. He cracks a smile, “…Your death will be life… I think I get it now?”

“Riki?” Twilight whispers.

Taboo starts clawing at his face and lets out a primal roar that distorts the air, as a dark aura quickly emanates from his body. The force of the shockwave cracks the earth beneath him, it was so much it repels the ponies back.

“N-not this again,” Twilight said, putting up a shield around them.

“What about Riki?” asked Applejack, “Where is he?”

“He’s right there!” Rarity shouted, pointing at Riki through a dark aura. They watch Riki stand tall with a determined look. Unfazed by the pressure as he prepares his tonfas.

Taboo glares at Riki with every ounce of hatred, “I DESPISE YOU! EVERY TIME I LOOK AT YOU… IT BRINGS OUT THOSE FRIGHTFUL MEMORIES!” Tons of tentacles gush out of his body and speed towards Riki.

Riki jumps up, dodging Taboo’s attack. He lands on a tentacle and begins to run on it. Another tentacle comes straight toward Riki. Jumping over it and landing on the ground, Riki twisted his right ankle but didn’t slow down. The ponies watch in awe as they see Riki duck, flip, and spin around Taboo’s deadly tentacles, getting close and close to his target. Riki blocks one of the incoming tentacles with his right tonfa, sparks fly off as the tentacle grinds against it. The tonfa starts to crack as Riki pushes off it. Getting close to Taboo, Riki spins the cracked tonfa and smashes it against Taboo’s stomach while running past him, breaking it in the process. The pain shot through Taboo's body, but it wasn’t enough to put him down. He was about to mock the human, but stopped when Riki yelled, “It’s over!” Taboo turns around to see Riki’s other tonfa already in front of him, “Brutal!”

“...!?”

“Guillotine!!!” In one swift motion, Riki’s tonfa strikes through Taboo’s neck, lobbing off his head. The ponies' eyes widen as they watch Taboo’s head fly in the sky and land just a few feet away from the body.

“Wow,” Rainbow says as the head finishes rolling around, “That was so bucking cool…”

“And gruesome,” added Fluttershy, Looking away from the body.

“It’s finally over,” Rarity said tiredly.

Riki starts to walk over there with a little limp and holds his side. He is surprised to be conscience. Taboo's headless body just stood there like a statue. Now Riki has to get the jar and have the Elements seal Taboo in it. It going to be ea-

“Riki behind you!” Twilight shouted.

But, it was too late.

“Aaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!” Riki screams in pain, as a sharp pain pierces through his left side. His eyes slowly look down to see a tentacle. “…Dammit” Riki can already feel the blood flowing out of his body as the tentacle slowly pulls out of his body. Riki falls to his hand and knees, gripping his side, so he doesn’t bleed out.

“Riki!”

Riki with his blurry vision watches as Taboo’s body starts to twitch, and a few seconds later, a pitch black crow with three legs and four glowing white eyes flies out the neck. The crow then goes to Taboo’s head and grabs onto it. Picking up the head and flying back to Taboo’s body, placing it back. Moments later, the eyes start to blink individually.

“YOU WOULD HAVE KILLED ME IF I WAS NORMAL,” Taboo scoffs, cracking his neck. “BUT IT DID HURT A LOT, I'LL GIVE YOU THAT, RICOCHET.” Taboo walks to Riki, still on his hands and knees. The crow on Taboo’s shoulder flies off into the woods as he picks Riki by the throat, “…STILL IT WASN’T GOOD ENOUGH”

“Let him go!” Applejack demanded.

“Yeah, you big stupid monster!” added Pinkie.

Taboo gaze quickly snaps to the group of ponies, “KEEP TALKING, AND I WILL KILL YOU...” His words hit them, making them too scared to move. Taboo ready his claw, “IT’S OV-” beep beeeep!!! “WHAT IS THAT-"

BOOOM!!!

An explosion hits Taboo straight in the face, dropping Riki. Everyone looked in the direction disclosure came from, and they couldn't believe their eyes.

"Liz!" Riki exclaimed.

Liz is riding on a vespa and holding four roman candles taped together, “Get away from him, you scum sucking asshole!” She speeds up the vespa and heads toward Riki. He immediately understands and takes this opportunity. Riki takes his broken tonfa and stabs it deep in Taboo’s lower right eye until the handle prevents him from going any farther. As Liz rides past them, Riki hops on the back of the vespa and watches Liz drops a black smoke bomb.

“Liz, I knew you would come! And you fixed the vespa.” Riki yelled joyfully, hugging her tightly. Liz's backpack opens up, and Louie pokes his head out, “Louie, good to see you too!”

“Quit with the hugging, I’m trying to dive!” Liz shouted at Riki. She turns around to see Riki with a goofy smile. Liz cracks a tiny smile, but it turns into a frown, “…Look Riki, I want to say I’m sor-"

Liz stops talking when Riki gently pokes her head, “Oi, we’ll talk about it later. We have other problems.” Riki stands up and points at Twilight and the others, “Liz over there, quickly!”

“Gotcha!”

“Lizzy! Riki!” Pinkie exclaimed as she ran to them. Pinkie jumps into Liz’s arms and nuzzles her.

“I miss you too,” Liz said, struggling to carry Pinkie. She looks at the other, seeing they're beating bodies. Liz gives them a somber smile, “Sorry that I was late. I… You guys must hate me… Sorry.”

“We don’t hate you, sugarcube,” Applejack said caringly.

“But, you could have been here a lot sooner,” Rainbow added. She is Jabbed in the side by Applejack, “I mean, I'm glad you're here. Wait, how did you find us?”

Liz put Pinkie down, “ When I was getting ready to leave I saw a rainbow explosion in the sky. And Louie followed Riki's scent too.”

Fluttershy walks up to Riki, “You need to rest,”

“No, I’m good.”

“Darling, you’re bleeding pretty badly,” Rarity said worriedly, “And been fighting all day!”

“I can try to heal you, but that's not really my affinity, and your resistance will get in the way.” said Twilight, “You did bring a first aid kit.

Riki takes off his hoodie and tightly ties it around his waist, hopefully slowing down the bleeding. He needs all the time he can get. “We have to deal with Taboo first. Oi, Pinkie throw me a water bottle.” Riki catches the bottle and then dumps it on his head, washing all the blood and dirt off his face.

“How are we going to do that?” Twilight asked,

“With the jar I brought,” Riki said, tiredly pointing at his backpack, “Taboo escape from there, so we are going to shove his ass back in the jar.”

Pinkie sticks her head in Riki's backpack, “No jar in here,” She then pulls her head out with a rice cake in her mouth, “Just this.”

Riki's eyes widened, “What I thought I brought it. Dammit, it’s the only thing that can stop Taboo.” Riki hung his head in shame until Liz tapped him on the shoulder, “Yeah?”

“Is this it?” Liz said, pulling out the jar that Riki was looking for. Louie pokes his head out and lets out a tiny meow, “When you left in such a hurry, you forgot it on the table. So I grabbed it with the other stuff and shoved it in my backpack.”

“Hell, yeah! Liz, you’re the best sister in the world!” Riki exclaimed, “I can always rely on you when I screw up.”

Liz smiles, “Thanks… That means a lot.”

“You said you have other stuff with you?”

“I did,” Liz then dumps her backpack out, and a bunch of things fall out. Steel rope, taser gun, two smoke bombs, lighter, and duct tape. There’s also Riki’s illegal fireworks he got from his Uncle Dan, a pile of M-80, a couple of Cherry Bombs, and one Roman Candle.

“Where did you get a taser from!” Riki shouted, pointing at it.

“Look, I got a good deal on eBay, plus I modified it to be a lot more powerful.”

“How powerful?”

“Enough to make the police tasers look like toys,” Liz said proudly, “Oh, I have this too.” She pulls out a can of pepper spray from her pocket, “Auntie Gwen gave this to me a while back. She said it's powerful stuff.” Riki looks over all the stuff and scratches his head while tapping his foot.

“Big guy, got something on the mind?” Rainbow asked Riki, poking his leg.

After a few moments, Riki spoke, “…I think I have a plan.”

“You do!?” They all yelled.

“Yeah, you guys just need to use the power of the Elements on him.”

Twilight puts her hoof on Riki’s leg, “We tried that, but he broke out.” She lets out a small sigh “Taboo has some strong magic.”

“I don’t think he's using magic, I think he uses something else. But that not going to mess up the plan.” Riki pulls out his one remaining tonfa and starts to draw on the ground, “Now here’s the plan.”

After a few minutes, they all walk onto the battlefield, face to face with Taboo. Riki is standing in the front with Liz, Rainbow, Rarity, and Pinkie on his right side. And Twilight, Fluttershy, Louie, and Applejack are on this left. Taboo looks at the group, “I THOUGHT YOU GUYS RAN AWAY… GUESS I WAS WRONG, GOOD.” He looks at Liz, “AND NOW THE GIRL IS HERE. WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG, SCARED OF ME”

“Yes, but I’m more scared about losing my brother and friends!”

“YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED HOME!”

Riki takes a deep breath and yells, “Oh, shut up! You're just talking all this shit because you're on your last leg! Not only you take a blast from the Elements, you also fought me for a while.”

Twilight looks at Riki's wound as the blood starts to seep through his hoodie around his waist. She doesn’t know how long Riki can keep fighting. Twilight remembers what Liz said about Riki when they first met, ‘Once something gets in his way, he will keep ramming into it until it falls, or he does.’

“Taboo get ready to fight the Elements of Harmony and the Amber eye Duo!” Riki shouted with all his might. “The plan One final push, is a go!”

Chapter 13: One final push!

One final push!

"Phase one, double time!" Riki shouted, running towards Taboo, "Applejack, Rainbow!"

Applejack finish tying the steel rope into a lasso, "Right behind ya!"

"Got it, big guy!" Rainbow Dash said, flying after Riki.

Liz watches Riki, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash charging at Taboo. She looks at the others, "Alright guys, you heard Riki. Phase one is a go. Let's get ready for phase two." Liz and Twilight start to take apart some of the Cherry Bombs. Pinkie tears strips of tape, Rarity grabs a few M-80s and begins to pull out the fuse. Fluttershy's job is to watch for the sign, so the next phase can begin.

Riki looks at Applejack, "Are you sure the steel rope isn't heavy?"

Applejack chuckles, "It's nothing I can't handle."

"Glad to hear," Riki said with a smile, pulling out his one tonfa. Runs up ahead and slams the tonfa on Taboo's head, but he blocks with his horns.

"HOW DO YOU WANT TO DIE!" Taboo exclaimed, "BY YOUR OWN WOUNDS OR BY MY OWN HANDS!" Taboo goes for a claw swipe, and Riki blocks it with his tonfa.

"I'm too lazy to die!" Riki yells, pushing Taboo's claw away. Spinning his tonfa, Riki hits Taboo multiple times across his body.

Taboo parries one of Riki's strikes. He's going to punch Riki in the face, but something catches his arm. A steel rope lasso slowly pulls his hand back. Taboo follows the steel rope with his eyes until it lands on, "HONESTY, I FORGOT ALL ABOUT YOU." He tries to pull his arm free, but Applejack's earth pony strength is too much for the worn-out Taboo. "I GOING TO RIP YO-AHHUUGG" He was cut off by a kick in the face by Riki and then a punch.

Riki kicks Taboo in the leg, making him fall to his knees. Applejack begins to run around Taboo, wrapping him up with the steel rope.

"YOU THINK THIS WILL STOP ME!" Taboo shouted at them.

Riki didn't answer, just side kicking Taboo in the face. As Taboo falls back, Applejack bucks him from behind. Taboo falls forward and meets with a punch in the face. Applejack does another kick, and the Riki stomps on Taboo's face.

"Riki And Applejack Team Attack!" Riki shouted, as they simultaneously hit Taboo, "Great Tarnation Beat Down!" The two continued to hit the tied up Taboo back and at each other, like a game of ping pong. Every kick Applejack does, Riki follows it up with a kick or punch.

Taboo makes a tentacle to attack Applejack, but Riki jumps in front of her, taking the brunt of the attack. "Are you okay, Applejack?"

"I'm fine,"

Taboo stands back up, using two tentacles to rip the steel rope off. As he does that, Riki takes out something from behind his back. He runs at Taboo, "It's kind of funny that your eyes are the weakest part of your body, and you have four!" Riki throws a can of pepper spray tape together with two M-80.

"WHAT!?"

The can of pepper spray explodes in front of Taboo's face. Riki is surprised that the pepper spray bomb worked so well. Taboo rubbed his eyes in pain, trying to get the mixture of gunpowder and pepper spray out. Riki takes this opportunity to jump onto Taboo's back and grab onto his horns. Riki stabs his tonfa in one of Taboo's eyes and then jumps off, "Riki and Rainbow Dash team attack!" After Riki yelled that, Rainbow Dash came down from the sky with a thundercloud. A thunderbolt rained down, using Riki's tonfa as a makeshift lightning rod, "Great Thunderbolt!"

KRA-KOOOOM!

"AHHHHHGGGGGUUUU!!!" Taboo screams in pain as the electricity courses through his body. Even if it only lasted a few seconds for him, it felt like a few minutes. Taboo stops screaming after it was over. Riki's tonfa is completely destroyed, melted into Taboo's eye socket. It's hard to tell, but Taboo's body is burned really badly.

"There goes my other tonfa. I'm going to miss it, but sacrifices have to be made." Riki said sadly as Taboo removed the melted tonfa from his eye. "Applejack, Rainbow, let's go!"

Back with the others, Liz is putting the rest of the fireworks inside the vespa seat compartment. Fluttershy runs up to Liz, "Riki is about to start phase two."

"Good, because we just finished." Liz said, showing Fluttershy a ball made out of duct tape with a fuse. "I'm surprised Riki was right about Taboo's regeneration."

"I still don't understand what Riki meant by that. Liz, can you explain it to me?" Rarity asked.

"Riki told us if Taboo wants to regenerate, he has to use energy. So the plan is to put Taboo in a hard spot that he needs to regenerate and to fight."

"If he uses energy to regenerate, he'll be too tired to fight." Twilight chimed in, "But if he doesn't, all that damage might be too much for him."

"Correct,"

"When you explain it like that, it makes a lot of sense." Rarity said, "I wish Riki explained it like that. All he said was, 'We are going to stop Taboo from regenerating.' Sometimes I don't get him."

"You'll get used to it," Liz mumbles, "Anyways, we need to go."

"Yeah, we're ready!"

Riki counters one of Taboo's attacks, "Slowing down, I see!"

"I'LL SHOW YOU YOUR OWN HEART!" Taboo spat.

"I'll take that as a yes,"

Taboo roars, letting out a flurry of tentacles. Riki notices the number of tentacles is a lot smaller, "Guys, Taboo is getting tired!" Rainbow Dash and Riki are able to dodge pretty well, but Applejack is not so well. One tentacle hits her hat off then another comes towards her. At the late second, Riki picks up Applejack and her hat. "Tuagh Crash!" Riki shouts as he kicks through a tentacle. A second comes towards them, "Shit!" Riki pulls Applejack in, so he can take the full hit.

"I got you, big guy," Rainbow Dash said as she grabbed Riki's shirt with her teeth.

"Thanks, Rainbow," Riki said, being dropped safely away from Taboo. He then places Applejack back on the ground.

"Hey, guys!" shouted Liz, "Ready for phase two!"

"Good! Applejack, go to Liz." Riki said, retightening the hoodie around his waist. "Rainbow, show Taboo the winds! Pinkie and Liz get to position!" Riki then takes a lighter from his pocket and throws it at Liz.

Rainbow Dash flies around Taboo as fast as possible. After a while, Taboo is standing in the middle of a small tornado. Taboo digs his claws into the ground, trying not to be blown away.

"LOYALTY, YOU'RE ANNOYING!" Taboo roared, hitting Rainbow Dash away with a tentacle. As the tornado disappeared, Taboo was immediately punched in the face. The two of them go back and forth for a while. Taboo kicks Riki's side wound, making him stop for a bit.

As Taboo goes for a punch, Louie out of nowhere, jumps on Taboo's face and starts to claw his eyes out. Taboo grabs Louie by the scruff of his neck, "I'M NOT AFRAID TO SKIN A CAT."

"You let go of Louie right now!" Fluttershy yells as she slams into Taboo's stomach with great force. Riki follows up with a head butt, making Taboo drop the cat. Fluttershy grabs Louie before he touches the ground and then flies away.

Twilight and Rarity use their magic to pull Riki away from Taboo, "Pinkie, Liz, now!" Taboo is in front of Pinkie's party cannon, looking down the muzzle. Liz lights the fuse on the duct tape ball and then shoves it into the canon. The only thing going through Taboo's head is where this canon came from.

"Fire!" Pinkie and Liz both yelled.

The canon goes off, shooting the duct tape ball. Taboo blocks as the tape ball explode right in front of him. Inside the tape ball is a mixture of gunpowder from the Cherry Bombs and a bunch of pebbles. The force of the explosion turns the pebbles into killer shrapnel. Embeds itself into Taboo's arms, head, and chest.

As Taboo stumbles back in pain, he feels something being poured on him. Looking up to see Fluttershy dumping a water bottle full of liquid. The liquid gives off a strong smell, "WHAT IS THIS!?"

"I love the smell of gasoline, don't you?" Liz said, pulling out the model taser gun. "Also, I love how flammable it is."

"FLAMMABLE!?"

Liz aims and pulls the trigger. The barbs stabbed themselves of Taboo, hitting him with a heavy shock. Taboo's upper body burst into flames, "YOU THINK A LITTLE FIRE CAN STOP ME!" Taboo shouted as the flames burns his skin. Taboo sees Twilight use her magic to pick up the vespa, and throw it full force at him.

Taboo catches the vespa with both his hands. His eyes widen when Liz yells, "How about a vespa full of fireworks!?" Looking at the vespa to see the seat is gone, revealing a bunch of fireworks. Taboo's flaming body already started to set off the fireworks, then a few seconds later...Boom!

Everyone covered their eyes and ducks. Liz is throwback since she was the closest, but Riki catches her. "Liz, I didn't expect it to be so big. How did you do it?"

"The gas tank is under the seat compartment. So, when the fireworks go off and the removing the fuel cap… Boom!" Liz explained, and then she frowned. "Kind of sucks that I have to destroy the vespa right after I fixed it."

"First thing when we get home, I'll buy you a new one, promise," Riki said, taking out a smoke bomb from behind his back. "We're moving to the last phase!"

Taboo rises from the ground and tosses the destroyed vespa aside. Riki pulls the pin and throws the smoke bomb at Taboo's feet, "NOT THIS CHEAP TRICK AGAIN!" As the smoke covers the area, Taboo tries to sense where Riki or the others are. "DAMMIT! WHERE ARE YOU, RICOCHET, GIRL, PONIES!" Taboo roared.

"I'm right here, left side!" Riki yelled. Taboo swipes his claws to the left, but he hits nothing. "My left, not your left, you fuckin' idiot!" Taboo was then hit across his face. "Try again!" Riki continues his hit and run tactics in the smoke. Taboo claws the area around him, trying to find that annoying human.

This went on for a while until Taboo said, "ENOUGH!" His voice boomed, blowing away all the smoke. It revealed that Riki was wearing Liz's goggles.

Riki takes off the goggles, "The infrared on the goggles is pretty good," He then tosses Liz's goggles back, "But, it's a little too tight around the eyes."

"Because you have a big head," Liz joked, pulling on her goggles and walking next to Riki.

"Funny," Riki muttered, rolling his eyes. "Are you girls in position for the final phase!?" He calls out to Twilight and friends. They're a good distance away from the battlefield.

"Yeah!" She yelled back.

Taboo eyes widen when he sees that Liz is holding a jar. Riki then yells, "Yeah, prepare to get your ass shoved back in here! Liz, follow right behind, Okay?"

"Got it, but don't run too fast." Liz said, putting her hand on her hip, "I'm already tired as it is."

Suddenly Taboo starts to charge at Riki and Liz like a wild animal. Ready to pounce on Liz, thankfully Riki pulls her out of the way. He then swings Liz around, hitting Taboo with her feet.

"Hey, can you not use me as a weapon!" Liz shouted.

"Sorry," Riki replied sheepishly,

"HOW DO YOU HAVE THAT DAMN JAR!" Taboo roared, getting their attention. The two of them see Taboo running on all fours towards them. "I THOUGHT THAT DOG AND PONY STILL HAVE IT!"

Riki takes the jar from Liz, "I took it when I escaped!" He then swings the jar at Taboo, but misses.

Taboo takes this opportunity to grab Riki by the face, "IT DOESN'T MATTER. YOU HUMANS AND YOUR PONY FRIENDS CAN'T RESEAL ME! THE TIME I WAS SEALED, TWO POWERFUL KAIS THAT DID IT, DIED IN THE PROCESS!"

"Kais?" Riki said under his breath.

Liz jumps on Taboo's back, pulls out her wrench and hits him over the head. Riki manages to get his face free, dropping to the ground. Taboo pulls Liz off his back and throws her, hitting the ground with a thud.

Liz slowly rises while rubbing her head, "Ow, that hurt like a bitch." Riki runs up to her, and before he can say anything, Liz says, "I'm good,"

Taboo starts to smirk, but it slowly goes away. He sees Twilight and the others as they begin to channel the power of the Elements. Eyes glow white as they slowly lift off the ground, and energy builds around them.

Taboo now knows what their plan is, and he needs to stop it now. Seeing Riki and Liz running towards him while the jar is in hand. If he can kill the two humans here, maybe he can buy some time to go after the ponies. So, using the rest of his energy, Taboo makes as many tentacles as possible. The tentacles wrap around Riki and Liz as they are only a few feet away.

Riki struggles to take a step, "Do it now!"

Immediately after hearing Riki's words, Twilight and the others fires their harmony beam. The beam hits all three of them and instantly disintegrates some of Taboo's tentacles. One of the last tentacles hits the jar out of Riki's hands, before it disappears. Liz manages to grab one of the handles and points the opening at Taboo. As the rainbow beam continues to hit them, Riki holds the other handle. The inside of the jar starts to glow. Taboo slowly gets pulled into the jar as parts of his body gets turned to stone. But it wasn't enough. Taboo lets out a loud roar as a black aura emanates from his body again.

"IF I HAVE TO USE MY ONLY LIFESPAN JUST TO KEEP FIGHT," Taboo snarled as he extended his hand to Riki and Liz's face, "I'LL DO IT WITH A SMILE ON MY FACE!"

Riki and Liz close their eyes, readying themselves for what Taboo is about to do. Then…

'In a tough spot, aren't we?' said a deep masculine voice in Riki's head.

"What?" Riki said confusingly,

'Ohhh hohoho~, sorry that we were late.' said an elegant feminine voice, entering Liz's head. 'Your brother and friends did an outstanding job, little one. Now let us handle the rest.'

' We dealt with Taboo before. We can do it again!'

Suddenly Riki's right shoulder starts to glow orange, and Liz's left shoulder glows a bright sliver. Both of them are fully covered in an orange and silver light. The jar starts to shake as it absorbs all the harmonious energy around it, causing Twilight and their friends to drop to the ground. Twilight pushes herself off the ground. As she looks toward the humans, her jaw drops. Behind Riki and Liz are two glowing figures. The orange one has two horns and long wild hair, and the silver one has seven flowing tails. That's all the details Twilight can make out.

Taboo eyes widen as a ton of orange and silver chains fly out of it. The chains wrap around Taboo's body and pull him, "NO, NOT THIS!" Taboo shouts as his lower body is pulled inside the jar. His eyes stare daggers not at the humans but inside humans. As Taboo's head slowly enters the jar, he utters his last words, "THE TWO OF YOU WILL NOT STOP JIGOKU'S GATES!" Once Taboo is fully inside, the jar flies out of Riki and Liz's hands as the light from their shoulder dissipates. The humans fall to the ground, out of breath, as their friends run up to them. They all quietly watch the jar spin around and around until it stands itself up. A white beam of light shoots up into the sky, parting the clouds in the way. You can see it from Ponyville or even Canterlot. The light then fades away as a lid is formed from it, and orange and silver chines wrap around it.

They stare silently at the jar for about a few minutes, but it feels like hours.

"We did it!" Pinkie yells joyfully.

They are screaming in excitement. Applejack and Rainbow Dash high five, Fluttershy cuddles Louie, and Pinkie pulls Rarity into a big hug. Riki and Liz watch them celebrate with a smile. Soon they both collapse to the ground. A small pool of blood forms under Riki, and he begins to blackout. The last thing Riki saw and heard was Twilight's smile on her face turns to shock as dread filled her voice. Then… Darkness.

Riki floats around in outer darkness... Alone.

He slowly opens his eyes, "What happened?" Looking around and taking in his surroundings, "Liz, Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Rarity! Where are you!?" He starts to breathe rapidly as thoughts fill his head, is everyone okay? Am I dead? Did we beat Taboo? Riki tries to remember what happened, but everything is a blur. Riki begins to calm down. This place reminds him of the Dreamscape Luna took him to, but different.

' I know, it's a shame that we can't introduce ourselves to them, but Taboo had to come first. Took all of our collective energy just to reseal that bastard. Guess we have to rest again.'

"It's that voice again," Riki said as he began to look around. "Where is it coming from?"

'Stop complaining. I didn't help the boy when he was fighting Taboo alone, unlike other times. He accessed it by himself. I was a bit surprised since he is… Human, right?'

This voice sounds like he's talking to someone only he can hear.

"Oi, who the hell are you!" Riki yells angrily at the disembodied voice, "Where's my sister and friends!"

'I'm going to enjoy this!' yells the voice in excitement.

I jolt up in a cold sweat, looking around to see I'm in my room from the castle instead of that weird place. I look down at my arms to see bandages wrapped around them and a hospital IV in my right arm, "What the fuck happened?" Hearing some noises coming from the bathroom, the sound of the sink being turned off. The door opens to reveal Princess Celestia holding a bowl of water with a rag inside, "Oi, Celeste…."

She almost dropped the water bowl, "Riki, you're up!?" Celestia said with a smile of relief, placing the bowl on the nightstand, "Everypony is worried about you."

"Really?" I said, shifting the bed. I looked outside the window to see it was night. "How long was I out, a few hours?"

"…Three days,"

"Three days!?"

Chapter 14: You and I!

You and I!

“Three days!” I shouted, “Wait, Liz, Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Rarity!” I throw off the covers and rip out the IV. The moment I touch the ground, pain shoots throughout my body. “Awww, fuck!”

Celestia gently me back to bed, “Riki, you are in no condition to move… When the girls arrived back, you were at death’s door.”

I looked at my body and noticed new clothes. A plain white t-shirt and black gym shorts, no hoodie in sight. My arms and legs are covered in bandages. Pulling up my shirt to see more bandages. I see some dry blood on the left side of my stomach. It’s the wound that Taboo gave me. Touching my side, I’m surprised to feel stitches. I carefully run my fingers over the stitches as I count them. 15…16…17… 23 stitches! Damn, that’s going to leave a scar. Running my hand through my hair, “Celeste, how are the girls?”

Celestia used her magic to pull up a chair, “They are doing well. Only a few bumps and bruises, that's all.”

“What about Liz?” I asked.

“She’s okay too,” Celestia said with a smile, “Liz woke up the moment she arrived here. Her only injury was a sprained wrist.”

I let out a sigh of relief, “That’s good. I was so worried about them. Where are they now?”

“Home, they have been watching over you in shifts for the past two days, waiting for you to wake up. I told them to go back to Ponyville.” Celestia says to me.

“Okay, why are you here?” I asked.

“After Fluttershy and a nurse gave you a sponge bath and new benches. I told them I’ll watch over you tonight.

“Fluttershy and a nurse saw my dick,” I muttered, shoving my face into my hands. But that doesn’t matter. Liz and the others are doing well. I still have something on my mind, “…Celeste, you said I was at death’s door. How bad are my injuries? Not including the one Taboo gave me.”

Celestia took a deep breath and said, “…Both your arms and legs were shattered. You have broken seven ribs, a shoulder, and a hip. Some torn muscles, concussion, and internal bleeding.”

My jaw just dropped, “Holy shit!”

“Luna and I use our magic to heal you, but your magic resistance limited how much we could heal. So, the doctors handle the rest.” Celestia then looks away from me.

“Is everything okay?”

“The doctor said you lost your…sheath.”

There is a moment of silence before I say, “Sheath? How can I lose my sheath if I never had one?” Is she talking about my tonfas?

“You don’t have a sheath?”

“I don’t. I just let it hang.” I said casually, “But sometimes I have to play with it a bit to keep both in place.”

“You have two!?” Celestia shouted as her cheeks started to turn red.

“Umm, yeah, I have two.”

“Well… I will make sure the doctor knows about all of this.”

I don’t know why, but I think we’re talking about two different things. “Celeste, what about Taboo?

“A lot happened when you were asleep,” said Celestia, “When the doctors finally got you in stable condition, Luna and I personally delivered Taboo’s jar to Tartarus.”

“Tartarus, the weird dungeon prison place?”

“Oh, know about it?”

“Yeah, but it’s all a story back on earth.” I scratched my head, “Did you find any information about Taboo?”

“No. But, the past three days, hundreds of ponies had come to Day and Night Court about the big beam of light.”

“Beam of… Wait, you saw that!?”

“Everypony in Canterlot saw it. Even ponies from Ponyville saw the light.” Celestia drops her on the bed, “Luna and I had to tell them something. We couldn’t keep avoiding the questions. And to make it worse, the journalists somehow found out you and Liz were involved.”

That is bad. I hope they don’t blame us for something terrible. “So, what did you tell them?”

“What they need to know,” Celestia said, starting up.

She makes a newspaper appear on my lap called Equestria Times. I read the headline out loud, “The Elements of Harmony triumphantly stops vicious monster with help from the humans.” As I read the article, I don’t see any mention of Taboo, La-la, or Wrath. But the ponies don’t really know about them. “Equestria knows about Liz and me. Is that good?”

“Don’t worry, I use this opportunity to put you and Liz in the good light.”

“Smart, anything else?”

“Yes, it’s about La-la and Wrath,” Celestia said, getting my full attention. “They escaped, but I have wanted posters going throughout Equestria as we speak.”

“That’s good,” I said, placing the newspaper on the nightstand.

“Riki, do you remember what happened when you and Liz were resealing Taboo?” asked Celestia

“It’s a little fuzzy. The only thing I remember is when the jar starts to absorb the Harmony blast thing.” I said, scratching my head. “Need to know something?” I should tell her about the voice, but I want to keep this to myself.

Celestia says it’s okay, and we continue talking for about an hour or so. We stop when I let out a yawn.

“Well, looks like it’s time for me to go,” said Celestia, “Need anything else before I leave?”

“A goodnight kiss will be nice,” I joked.

“Really?” Celestia said, getting close to my face.

I frantically shake my head, “Wait, Celeste! It was a joke. I'm all good!”

She looks at me with a smile and says, “Luna was right. You do have cute freckles.”

Quickly touching my cheeks, I can feel them heating up. “Wait, Luna told you!?” Celestia nods as she backs up, “Once I get out of this bed, I’m going to kick her ass.”

Celestia chuckles, “I never seen freckles appearing on somepony’s face when flustered.”

“Yeah, I know, weird.” I huffed, “My mom has freckles, but I don’t know why my freckles act like this.”

Celestia walks to the door, “Good night, Riki. I’ll let Twilight know you woke up first thing in the morning.”

“Thanks,”

And like that, Celestia was gone. I’m now alone in a room with only the moonlight shining through the window. All of this made me realize how much I hate bed rest. Pulling the covers over my head, I sink into the bed, “Tomorrow’s going to be a long day.”

The next day in Ponyville, sunlight shines through the Sugarcube Corner’s window. Pinkie finishes serving a pony at the counter, saying, “Thank you, and come again!”

“Pinkie,”

“Yes, Mr. Cake?”

“Your friend doesn’t look too good,” he said, gesturing to Liz sitting in a booth.

“I thought bringing her here would make her feel better.” Pinkie skips to Liz. She watches Liz lazily playing with her slice of pie, “Lizzy, you have to eat,” Pinkie said worriedly.

“…Not hungry…” Liz said dryly, pushing the plate away.

“Twilight told me you didn't eat last night,” Liz looks out the window and watches the ponies go through the morning routines. She likes to watch people back on Earth whenever she has free time. Now with ponies, it’s a bit better. But watching ponies is not making her feel better. All Liz can think of is Riki.

“Lizzy, come here,” Pinkie said soothingly as she sat beside her. Pinkie pulls Liz into a hug, “I know you are worried about Riki. We are all worried about him too.”

“I know, all you girls are worried,” Liz mumbles, getting out of Pinkie’s hug. She plays with a napkin, “Pinkie, do you think I’m a good sister?”

“Yes, why would you say that?”

“It's because I didn’t go with Riki when you went out to help you guys.”

“But you did come, and you saved Riki too!” Pinkie exclaimed, “You were amazing!”

“But when I got there, he was already fucked up. If I went with Riki in the first place-”

“Lizzy, don’t blame yourself, but if you really think that, just ask Riki yourself. And if you want to do that,” Pinkie pulls the plate to Liz, “You need to eat, what would Riki say?"

“You better eat. If not, I’m going to eat it for you.” Liz said, trying to mimic her brother’s voice.

They both laughed, “Hahaha, that was pretty good.”

“Thanks,” Liz smiled as she started to eat. "Do you have siblings?”

Pinkie playfully taps her hooves, “I have three amazing sisters! You and Riki should meet them!”

Before Liz can ask for their names, she sees Spike running towards Sugarcube. He threw open the door, “Liz, Pinkie!”

“What's wrong, Spike?” Liz asked in between bites.

Spike catches his breath, “…Riki woke up!”

Back at the castle, a blue and yellow nurse mares, Berry and Nana. The two bandage and apply medicine to Riki’s bruised body.

“Mr. Phillips, please stop moving around,” Berry said.

“And can you take off your gym shorts?” Nana added, “We need to apply medicine to your lower body.”

“Umm, I can do that myself,” Riki said, putting his shirt back on.

“Okay, we’ll just finish wrapping your legs then.”

“Do you know how long I will be like this?” Riki asked as he stretched. “I don’t want my muscles to get stiff or anything.”

Berry finishes wrapping Riki’s right leg, “We all thought it would be longer, but a week for your body to be in okay condition, that includes your stitches.”

"The human body is pretty weird?" Nana said under her breath

“That’s great!” Riki said joyfully as Nana finished his other leg. There is a knock at the door, “Come in!” The door opens to reveal Feather, Specs, and Bebop.

“Riki!” Feather exclaimed, dropping her saddle bag and running to him. She was about to hug Riki, but Berry stopped her.

“I don’t want you to accidentally open his stitches,” Berry warned her. She looks at Riki and then says, “We'll be leaving now. Make sure you don’t move around a lot.”

“We’ll check up on you in a few hours,” Nana added as she closed the door behind them.

“How are you feeling?” asked Feather,

“All good in the hood, but I could be better. I feel a little pain when I move, but I got used to it.” Riki smiled, “I should ask how are you two?”

“We’re doing good,” Specs answered, pushing up his glasses.

Riki looks toward Bebop to see she has a tired and angry face, “Bebop, you good?”

She lets out a small yawn, “I’m just a bit tired,” Bebop tiredly walks up to Riki, “And I’m mad at you, Feather and Specs.”

“Mad?”

Bebop throws her hooves in the air, “You three left me out!”

“You're mad that you weren’t there.” Specs deadpan, “I should have expected that.”

“I know it’s stupid, but if I was there….” Bebop paws the floor, “Maybe things will play out differently?”

Riki pokes Bebop’s head to get her attention, “Oi, you better not be blaming yourself!?”

“I’m not, but-” Another poke to the head, cutting Bebop off.

"Next time I go on a mini adventure, I’ll bring you.”

“You promised!?”

“Yeah,”

Bebop does a little dance, and Feather begins to laugh. Feather soon stops laughing when she remembers something. She goes towards her saddlebag and pulls out a rectangular box. “Riki, this is for you,” Feather says as he takes the box. “You know my mom loves to make things out of crystal. She made you this.”

Riki opens up the box, “Wow!” He pulls out a figure crystal of himself. The crystal Riki is wearing a hoodie and pants. But something stands out, “…Do I have pony ears?”

Feather rubs the back of her head, “Mom forgot how your ears looked.”

“It’s fine, but why did she make me this?”

“It’s a thank you gift for helping save Equestria and saving me during the hotel fight.”

“You told her about the hotel fight?”

“I didn’t give her all the details,”

“Anyways, have you seen the paper?” asked Specs, “The Taboo incident is on the front page.”

Riki places the crystal statue on the nightstand, “Yeah, I read some of it last night. What about it?” He then grabs the newspaper from the nightstand and hands it to Specs.

“The two mystery creatures, now known as humans, had helped Elements of Harmony with a sinister evil.” Specs read from the paper. He adjusted his glasses, then continued, “We tried asking the Princesses who or what was that unknown evil, and they refuse to answer. Princess Celestia only told us that without the help of Ricochet and Elizabeth Phillips, that monster would still be roaming.” Specs places the newspaper back on their nightstand, “Now everypony knows what you are and thinks you and your sister are heroes. That's a lot better than thinking of you to as-”

“A hornless minotaur?” Feather said, cutting Specs off.

“Hairless diamond dogs?” Bebop added.

“Aliens,” Riki said, just to be involved.

Specs sighed, “I was going to say ‘A monster,' but all that can work too.”

“I really don’t care if they think I’m a hero,” Riki says as he shrugs his shoulders. “I just did what’s right.”

“What do you mean!?” Bebop shouts as she jumps on Riki's bed, “You’re the big talk here.”

“Bop, Riki was already the talk here for the wrong reason.” Specs cut in.

“I know that, but all the guards know about the fight. Rainbow Dash and Applejack told us!”

“The way they told the story made me wish I was there!” Bebop exclaimed, “Rainbow Dash said you knocked Taboo's head off!”

Riki let out a small chuckle, “Trust me, you probably don’t want to be there.” He then rubs the back of his head, “Is there anything I need to know about?”

Feather taps her chin, “All the guards are on high alert? Not just in Canterlot, but all over Equestria.”

“Because of Wrath and La-la, right?”

“Yeah,”

“What about Shiny?” Before anyone can answer Riki, they hear a knock on the door, “Come in!”

The door opens, and Shining walks, “Oh, you have company.”

“Captain!” the three ponies said in unison.

“Oi, Shiny!” Riki smiled, “Good time, we were about to talk about you.”

Shining chuckles a little, “I hope it’s not bad.”

“It’s not. I just want to know how you are holding up?”

“If I don’t count having Wrath and La-la escaping, I’m doing fine.” Shining sighs, “Anyways, how’s my best human guard
doing.”

“Still alive,” Riki chuckled, but he stopped. He gets a serious look, “…Oi Shining, I want to apologize.”

“For what?”

“For not being able to finish my duty here.” Riki mumbled with his head down in shame, “Remember my community service.”

“Your community service is done?” Shining confusedly, “Did the Princesses tell you?”

“…What?”

“I take that as a no,” Shining then pulls out a letter and hands it to Riki. “Here is your proof of completing your service. Let's just say you helping with Taboo counted for your service.”

“That’s awesome!”

“But if you want to stay and become a guard….”

“No thanks. The whole being a guard was fun, but it’s not for me. Too many rules and regulations to follow.” Riki said casually, “You can give me a call if you need help with something.”

“Awww, I thought you would say yes,” Bebop said with a frown.

“I suspected that,” Specs said, pushing up his glasses.

“That’s a shame, I had fun going on patrol with you,” Feather added.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to come back and visit.”

“You better!” Bebop exclaimed.

There was a knock on the door, “Who’s that?” Feather said, walking to the door. When Feather opened it, she was pushed out of the way by Razzle Snap.

“Good, you're awake!” She said, rushing toward Riki.

“You!” Feather said angrily.

“Who?” Specs and Bebop said in unison.

“Pony Lady?”

“…Really,” Razzle deadpan,

Riki chuckles, “Sorry, I’m just fuckin’ with you, Razzle.”

Bebop looks at Feather, “Who is that?”

Feather huffed, “That’s the journalist I told you about a few days ago.”

“Journalist Razzle Snap good to see you…again,” Shining said with a fake smile, “But, I thought I took you, we will contact you… Wait, how did you get in here!?”

Razzle giggles, “Look, Captain Shining Armor, I would love to have this conversation about how I got in here. But I have to conduct an interview with the hero of Equestria.”

Shining was about to say something but was stopped by Riki, “It’s fine, Shiny. I did promise her an interview.”

Shining sighed, “Alright, just make sure you don’t say anything… Well, know.” He then walks to the door, “I got some paperwork to finish. I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, I think we should go too,” Feather said as she, Bebop, and Specs followed Shining out of the room.

“See you soon, Riki!” Bebop shouted.

“Don’t push yourself,” said Specs.

Riki waved them off, “Bye, guys, and Feathers, tell your mom I said thanks.”

The door shut, just leaving Riki and Razzle. She sits in the nearby chair and takes out a pencil, notepad, and tape recorder from her saddle bag. Razzle starts the tape recorder and places it on the nightstand. She used her magic to write on the pad, “Hello, my name is Razzle Snap, a journalist for Equestria Times. Today is August 18th. I’m conducting an interview. Can you please state your full name and age?”

Riki was taken aback by how serious she sounded. He clears his throat, “My name is Ricochet Gregory Phillips, and I’m 23.”

“Mr. Phillips-”

“Just call me Riki,” he interrupted.

“Sorry. Riki, can you tell me what the monster that attacked Equestria was?” asked Razzle, “Was it a demon or something else was.”

“Already asking me the big question, haha!”

“Please focus on the question,” Razzle said with a straight face.

“…I’ll answer to the best of my ability.”

“Did you fight the monster, or was it just the Elements?”

“Well, I wasn't there when the girls and monster started to fight, but I saved Pinkie from being killed when I got there. After that, I one v one him while the Elements rest up for a bit.”

“Wow, you’re very strong!” Razzle smiled, “Also coming at the last minute to save Pinkie, just like a superhero.”

“You don’t have to call me that,”

“So, you single handily defeated the monster?” Razzle asked.

“No, I had help from my sister and the girls. We all worked together to seal him.”

“So, that bright light that shut up into the air three days ago was the result of the monster being beaten?”

“Yes,”

“Can you tell me why you decided to fight the monster instead of letting the Elements of Harmony deal with it?” asked Razzle, “Were you promised something in exchange or…?”

“They didn't promise me anything. I did because I want to.” Riki said, crossing his arms. “So, how long will this interview
last?”

Razzle doesn’t answer, she just writes down a few things and says, “Does the monster's appearance have something to do with you and your sister?”

“No comment.”

“Does this monster have any affiliation with Discord?”

“No, but if they ever met. I think Taboo might or will try to kill Discord.”

“Taboo, is that the monster’s name?”

Riki's eyes widened, “Fuck, I didn’t mean to tell you his name. Celestia doesn’t want Taboo’s name in the paper, so can you please redact that.”

“Sure, I’ll do that.” Razzle said, crossing Taboo off her notepad, “What is this, Taboo? Was he a human?

“He was not human!” Riki shouted, making Razzle jump. “Sorry, I did mean to yell. It’s just….” Riki reached over and grabbed the tape recorder. He stops the recording, “Off the record, We don’t know anything about Taboo. Celestia, Luna, and even Twilight have nothing on him. I asked Celestia for any information about Taboo, and she got nothing.”

“That’s scary,” Razzle muttered as she sank into the chair, “Something even the Princesses don’t know about.”

“Yeah, but you don’t have to worry. Remember Taboo is sealed up and in Tartarus.” Riki told Razzle, hoping to cheer
her up. He starts the tape recorder again and clears his throat, “I think that’s enough about the monster, any other questions?”

Without skipping a beat, Razzle asks, “You were seen working with the guards. Can I ask why?”

“It was my community service,”

“Community service, can you please explain?”

“Will, I sort of got in trouble for getting in a fight with a couple of guards and Shining.”

Razzle's eyes widened, “Why did you do that?”

“There was an incident and a misunderstanding, but I can’t elaborate any further.”

“I hope that incident doesn’t affect your view about Equestria?”

“No, I really like this place.” Riki said joyfully, “A lot different from back home. Still not used to the whole clothes thing.”

Razzle looks at herself, then back at Riki, “Do I make you uncomfortable?”

“No, not at all! It’s a bit off, but I am getting used to it.” Riki said frantically.

Razzle looks confused, “Do all humans always wear clothes?”

“Yeah, we wear clothes to protect us from the elements. We’re not hairy like you guys.” Riki explained, “And that we’re all naked under the clothes.”

“Oh, I did know that.” Razzle looks up and down Riki’s body. She starts to shift around and think about what Riki just said. Razzle's face begins to heat up as her mind starts to wild, “Hehehe….”

Riki taps Razzle’s head, “Oi, you’re okay?”

“Y-yeah, yeah, I’m okay!” Razzle stuttered, “…Riki can I see your injuries…like under your shirt?”

He gives Razzle a questionable look, then shrugs, “Sure, I don’t see why not.” Riki pulls up his shirt showing his bandaged stomach.

Razzle leads forward and places her hoof on Riki’s abs, "Just like in the magazines."

“Umm, what are you doing?”

She quickly pulls back with a blush, “Nothing! Can you tell me about Earth and how you got here?”

Riki pulls down his shirt, “Okay… Well, it all started a while back.”

“Come guys, hurry!” I said, running ahead of them with Louie in my arms.

“Liz, slow down,” Applejack said, “Riki ain't going anywhere.”

“Yeah, Applejack is right,” Spike said, trying to keep up with a gift box Rarity asked him to hold. “You have been rushing us to get here since you found out Riki woke up.

Stopping so the rest of them can catch up. I place down Louie, “Sorry, I just got excited. Knowing that he’s okay really makes me feel a lot better.”

Rarity walks beside me, “You don’t need to apologize, Darling. We’re just happy that you’re not down anymore.”

“Now that you’re super duper happy, no more gloomy, Lizzy!” Pinkie exclaimed, jumping in front of me.

“I still can’t believe Riki was able to wake up so fast,” Fluttershy said concerningly, “When I was helping a nurse bath him-”

“That’s something I really didn’t need to hear,” I muttered, rubbing my temples.

“The nurse said he’ll be out for weeks with injuries like these.”

“Weeks, yeah right.” Rainbow Dash scuffed, “You saw the big guy. I know he’ll be up in a few days.”

“Really? I remember you worrying your flank off about him.” Applejack chimed in.

Rainbow’s face turns red, “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

We all laughed as Rainbow used one of her wings to cover her face. I stop to look at Twilight to see she’s in deep thought. But now that I mentioned it, Twilight has been like that for the last three days. As the others tease Rainbow Dash, I walk next to Twilight. She didn’t notice me until I gave her a little bump.

“Oh, didn’t notice you there,” Twilight said sheepishly.

“It’s fine, but Twilight, are you okay?” I asked, “You have been quiet since we got here. Is something on your mind? Is it about Riki?”

“Liz, do you remember what happened at the end of the Taboo fight when you and Riki were sealing Taboo away?”

I start to think back to it, but even thing is so fussy. There was a voice, but I can’t remember what it said. “No, not really. Did something happen?”

“Well, I saw something, and I’m trying to make sense of it.”

“Did you tell anyone, or should I say anypony?”

Twilight sighed, “I asked the girls if they saw it, but they didn’t.”

“What about the princesses?”

“I was going to tell them once we arrived here after the Taboo fight, but it slipped my mind.”

“Understandable, Riki was in bad condition when we came in.” I said, “How about this, you can go tell the princesses what you saw, and the rest of us will go see Riki.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,”

Twilight nodded and went off to find the princesses. I return to the group, and Spike asks, “Where’s Twilight going?”

“She’s going to see the Princesses,” I said, picking up Louie. I look at the gift box Spike is carrying, then at Rarity, “What’s in the box, Rarity?”

“It’s a special surprise for you, brother,” she smiled. “And he’s going to love it!”

“Alright, let’s go see that big idiot .”

As we continue to head to Riki’s room. A red unicorn walks past us, mumbling something. She has a tape recorder up to her ear. The pony is to focus on what she is listening to notice us. The weird thing is that she looks familiar.

“Liz, you’re lagging behind,” Applejack said down the hall.

“Coming!” I yelled, running towards them.

A few minutes later, we finally arrived at Riki’s room. Standing in front of the door, I don’t know why I feel so nervous. I took a deep breath and opened the door, “Riki, we’re…here?” We all walk into the room to see it’s empty.

“Where is he?” Fluttershy worried, “He shouldn’t be moving around.”

“What if he went back to Ponyville?” Pinkie wondered.

“No, we would have seen him heading to the train,” Applejack said.

“He’s not in the bathroom,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Let’s go see-”

“Oi, guy!” We all turn around to see a smiling Riki pushing a cart full of food. Going past us and sitting on the bed, he begins to eat. “Nice to see you,” Riki said casually, shoving bread and cheese in his mouth. “I just came from the kitchen. DI didn’t want to bother anyone, so I just took some food from the fridge and stuff.” Riki bites into a green bell pepper, “I also ate one of Luna’s pudding cups, so don’t tell her.”

There was a moment of silence before I watched everyone jumping onto Riki and hugging him,

“Riki!” They all yelled.

“Oi, don’t squeeze me so hard! My body is still sore!” he yells in pain, but they don’t listen. Riki let out a sigh as he embraced them. “Where’s Twilight?”

“She went to talk to the Princesses,” Spike said, letting go of him.

“I hope it’s for a good reason,” Riki said, “Liz, you look like shit. Have you been eating?”

I begin to cry as I hug the crap out of him, “Riki… I miss you!” Pushing my face deep into his chest, I let out all the emotions I had bottled up the past three days.

“Oi, you’re getting snot on my shirt!”

“You fuckin’ asshole, you could have died!” I cried, “Did you ever care to think how I would feel if you died!?”

“I sort of wasn’t thinking about that,” Riki said sheepishly, “Too busy thinking about protecting you guys. And Liz, you of all people think I will die to an asshole like Taboo, that’s quite hurtful.”

“Quit joking around, Riki!” I yelled, punching him in the shoulder.

“Hahaha, sorry, Liz!” Riki laughed, pulling me into a hug. “Always, how are you guys?”

“A lot better now that you're awake!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“That's good, that’s good to hear,” Riki smiled as he let go of me. He then picks up Louie and starts to pet him. “Spike, what’s in the box?”

“I don’t know?” he answered, “Rarity told me to hold it.”

“It’s a gift for up,” Rarity chimed in, “Go on and open it, Darling. You’re going to love it!”

Riki takes and opens the box, his eyes widening. “My hoodie!?” Riki gasps. “I thought it was gone?”

“No, it wasn’t, but it was in bad shape.” said Rarity, “It was torn and had blood stains. After a little cleaning, it was as good as new!”

“You’re the best!” Riki beamed, “I'm glad you saved my hoodie. I just feel naked without it, thanks Rare-bear!”

“Darling, stop. You’re making me blush.”

After Riki puts on his hoodie, Pinkie jumps on his back and asks, “Riki, since you’re all better now-”

“I won’t say all, but go on,”

“How about we throw you a party!” Pinkie exclaimed, “Wait, we can have two parties in one. To celebrate the defeat of that meanie Taboo and your recovery!”

“That sounds great, but I think I’m not in the partying condition,” Riki said, giving Pinkie a pat on the head. “How about when I’m at 100%, then we can have a huge party.”

“Okie dokie loki!” Pinkie said, sitting down next to him.

“Speaking of condition, how are you feeling?” Rainbow Dash asked,

“A bit stiff, and it hurt a bit when I move.” Riki said casually, “They said my stitches will be healed in a week or two.” Riki shows us his bandages on his stomach, “Taboo really did a number on me. I could have done better.”

“Better?” Spike said, “They said you were fighting Taboo evenly all by yourself. I wish I was there to see it!”

Riki crosses his arms, “To tell you the truth, if the fight between us were to continue… I would have lost.”

“Don’t say that,” Spike said, shanking Riki’s leg.

“Yeah, you were amazing fighting him!” Rainbow Dash added. “It was sooo cool when you dodged all those tentacles and knocked Taboo’s head off!”

“Don’t forget when you came out of nowhere and saved Pinkie,” Applejack said.

“My hero,” Pinkie said lovingly, nuzzling Riki’s arm.

But he doesn’t seem to notice since he looks lost in thought. Fluttershy sees this and taps his leg, “Riki?”

“Hmm?”

“You okay?”

“Just thinking about something, nothing important,” Riki said, trying to play it off.

I was going to say something, but the knock on the door got our attention. A few seconds later, Twilight, Celestia, and Luna walk inside.

“Riki!” Twilight exclaimed as she hugged him. He takes it, too sore to stop her if he wants to. “I was so worried about you. I didn’t know when you would wake up!”

“Good to see you, Riki.” Luna yawned.

“You’re doing much better than the last time I saw you.” Celestia smiled.

“So, why are you two here?”

“We came here to thank you and Liz for helping save Equestria,” Celestia answered.

“It was no problem,”

“Yeah, what he said.” I said, “But, you should just thank Riki. He did more than me, I was support.”

“Bullshit!” Riki yelled, “If you and the girls didn’t help me fight Taboo, I would be dead.” He rubs the back of his head, “So, thank you for saving my ass.”

“You really don’t need to thank us, right girls?” Twilight said, and the girl agreed. Celestia coughs slightly to get our attention, “Riki and Liz, for helping the Elements of Harmony beat Taboo, my sister and I would like to reward you.”

“Is there anything you two want?” asked Luna.

“I don’t think so…” Riki mumbled, “Liz, anything we need?”

What do we need? I thought about this for a while, then I got it. “Riki, I have an idea!”

“lay it on me,”

“That’s it! Keep it coming, keep it coming!” Riki shouted at Luna.

The two are on the outskirts of Ponyville, about a 15 minute walk to town. Riki is currently guiding Luna as she levitates his house in the air.

“You don’t have to guide me, I have eyes!” Luna yelled.

“I wouldn’t be doing it if you didn’t hit those trees back in Everfree!” he yelled back. “A little to the right… That’s it, stop!

"Now drop it-”

Luna drops the house.

“Gently… I was going to say gently.” Riki muttered. Riki looks at the house and then at Ponyville, “You think this is a good distance?”

“I believe so,” Luna answered, “But why so far? If it’s about the ponies there not liking you and Liz, I can go down-“

“It’s not that,” Riki interrupted, “I really don’t care if it was. I want my house here because of the space.”

“The space?”

“Back in New York, it was very crowded.” Riki explained, “And now it’s all the space. I can pretty much do anything I want. Plus, the location here is amazing.”

“If this New York you lived in was so crowded, why did you stay?” Luna wondered.

“I have my reasons,”

“So, you don’t want to tell me?”

“Correct!” Riki smiled, and Luna just rolled her eyes.

Riki looked at the sky to see if the sun would set. Celestia must have started to move the sundown, he thought. The whole sun and moon thing hurts his head because the sun constantly moves. “Maybe the sun is under a spell?”

“You said something?”

“Nothing,” Riki muttered,

After a few minutes of silence, Luna said, “Are all humans like you and Liz?”

Riki shook his head, “You guys got lucky having us sent here. Can’t imagine if a bad guy was sent here.”

“Riki, Luna, we’re back!” Liz shouted as she, Louie, and Celestia got close to them. “Riki, nice spot for the house. It’s not too close, but not too far.”

“So, how is everything on your end?”

“Talking with Mayor Mare was easier than I thought,” Liz said, taking off her backpack. “But, I think having one of the rulers of Equestria really helped.”

“All I did was add a few words here and there.” Celestia chuckles.

“Anyways, the Mayor agrees that the house is now a part of Ponyville. A few ponies will come out here tomorrow to connect us to the water.”

“Good,” Riki sighed in relief, “Hmm, what’s this?” He watches Liz pull out a thick stack of paper.

“Stuff the Mayor wants you to sign,” Liz hands Riki the papers, “I told her, ‘My big bro Riki will have this done in a flash!’ she said in a cutesy voice.

“I hate you.”

Riki flips through the stack of paper. He was surprised to see all this just to move his house closer to Ponyville. Riki will just skim through it. Probably nothing really important here he needs to know.

…Right?

“Anyways, thanks for the help with all of this,” Riki said, leaning on Luna.

“It was our pleasure,”

The Princesses both say their goodbyes and head back to Canterlot. Riki and Liz start to clean the house since Luna dropped it. Lucky for them, nothing really broke. Just a few things fell over. Applejack and Apple Bloom stopped by and gave them a few apple pies as a housewarming gift. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie dropped by next. Pinkie has a cake with the words, ‘Welcome to Ponyville!’ written on with icing. Rainbow didn’t bring anything, so she said the cake was from both of them.

Next was Fluttershy and Rarity. It was a pretty short visit. Rarity came in and just took Riki and Liz’s measurements. She wants to make clothes for the only humans here. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. And Rarity remembers Liz telling her about mainly wearing overalls. Fluttershy has a bag of cat food. Even if they already have some, they don’t have the heart to tell her no. Riki was about to bring up the whole, bathing him, but he decided not to.

It’s now night, and the moon is high in the sky. Riki is sitting at the kitchen table with Twilight. She's helping Riki with the forms as Liz shows Spike Riki’s manga collection. Right now, Twilight tells him about Ponyville events, but Riki is barely listening.

“Riki, did you hear what I said!?” Twilight yells and slams a hoof on the table.

“Yeah! Yeah, I heard you….” Riki said tiredly.

“What did I say?”

“Something about Winter Wrap something, Running Leaves, and some heat wave thing?.” Riki said tiredly, “Look, can we work on this tomorrow? I really want to go to bed, and we’ll finish it at your place.”

Twilight lets out a little sigh, “Okay, but are you sure you and Liz are fine here? You guys can easily sleep at the treehouse.”

“Good night, Twilight,”

“Alright,” Twilight said, sounding a bit disappointed. “Spike, time to go!”

“Okay!” Spike yelled from upstairs. A little late, he and Liz come down the stairs. Riki sees Spike has one of his manga. Spike noticed this and said, “Riki, can I borrow this?” He holds up One piece volume one.

“Yeah, sure,” Riki said casually as he stretched carefully, making sure not to pull his stitches. “Just don't burn it.”

“Thanks, Riki!” Spike smiled, going to the front door.

As Twilight makes her way to the door, Liz stops her. “Twilight forgot to ask, but can you teach me how money works here?”

“Oh, absolutely!” Twilight beamed, “Riki, do you want to join too?”

“Why not,” Riki shrugs.

“Good! I’ll see you two tomorrow!”

Holy fuck! Today was something. Staring up at my ceiling and trying to get comfortable in my bed. I don’t know how long I have been awake.

There is a knock on the door, “Riki… Are you up?

“You couldn’t sleep, too?” I said, leading up from my bed.

“Yeah… So I came to ask if I can sleep in your room tonight.”

“Of course,”

“Good!” Liz said happily, “I’ll be back. I need to get something.”

A few minutes later, I heard struggling. “Liz, you good?”

“All good!”

Next thing I know, Liz bursts into my room with her mattress and blanket. I’m too stunned to say anything. I see Louie lazily on the blanket Liz is dragging. She places the mattress beside my bed, “Now I have somewhere to sleep.” Liz drops to the bed face first, and Louie hops onto her back, “…Riki?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think everyone back home thinks we’re dead?”

“What, no!” I shouted, but I started thinking. We have been gone for a while. “…I hope everyone doesn’t think that.”

“Oh,” Liz mumbles as she rolls over, “…Do I have to go to school?”

I rolled to my side, too, “No, you don’t have to. You’re smart as fuck. I still don’t know why you’re in school in the first place back home.”

“Because if you didn’t, the judge said he’ll take me away from you. Just like he took me away from mom.” After she said that, the room got pretty quiet, even if it was just the two of us. I can hear a bird fluttering outside.

“Liz-”

“Riki, I want to apologize,” she interrupted, “I want to apologize for not coming with you to fight Taboo.”

“Liz, it’s fine.”

“No! It’s not fine!” Liz shouted, sitting up from her bed. “I’m your sister, and I just leave you to fight Taboo alone. Riki, I'm sorry for being so scared. I turned my back on you and the others! And yes, I know I did show up later, but what if I didn’t? What if I decided to stay here, you and-”

“Shut up,” I lazily, throwing a pillow at Liz’s face. “Listen up, you saved our pony friends and me. That’s it. Stop thinking about the what if, Liz!”

“But I-”

“But nothing,” I said, “We beat Taboo together! And you were amazing!”

“Riki…” Liz mumbles, pulling the covers over her head.

“And I remember you said, ‘We’re not the same.’ or something like that?”

“What about it?”

“I’m glad you’re not the same.” I said happily, “I like how you are nothing like me. You're special in your way. And just remember this, no matter what happens here. You and I are in this together, got it!?” After I said all of that, I could hear some… Crying? I sit up to have a better look at her, “Liz, are you-”

“Riki!” Liz cried, hugging me.

“Liz, get off. It's too late for this!” l said, annoyed, trying to remove her grip. “And I don’t want you to break my stitches!” then see Louie jump on my bed and start to nuzzle me, “Not you too,”

“You’re the best!” she cried out.

As the two humans continue to talk the night away, a three-legged crow with four glowing white eyes watches them.

The crow’s eyes squint before stretching its wings, then flies away.

Chapter 15: Sinful!

Sinful!

Wrath walks through a dark hallway. The only thing that accompanies him is the sound of his footsteps. It has only been a few days since Wrath and La-la arrived back at their base and a week after the Taboo incident. Thinking about getting a drink, but the thought is pushed out of his head by a heavy smell of sex. Wrath covers his nose as the smell fills his nostrils. He already knows who and where it’s coming from, “That lady pisses me off. Why can’t she do that outside like the animal she is.”

“Wrathy, I have been looking all over for you!” Hearing his name, the dog turns around to see La-la running towards him. She stops dead in her tracks when the smell hits her, “W-what is that smell!?”

“That slithering slut is having a party in her room, but It doesn’t matter.” Wrath said, leaning against the wall. “Now, Paper brat, what do you want?”

La-la starts to blush now, knowing there is a sex party down the hall. She does a slight cough, “Umm, a meeting is being held in the conference room.”

“…And?”

“And Greed says if she doesn’t see you there, half your bones will be outside your body.” She said, a little too cheerful.

Wrath groans, “Buckin’ fine, but you are coming too!” He then starts to walk to the conference room. La-la catches up to Wrath and tells him she can’t come in, but he ignores her.

The two of them get to the room pretty fast, for La-la it was. Wrath, on the other hand, felt it took hours. Listening to the pony talk all the way here was annoying, but a bit soothing. Wrath shakes that thought out of his head and opens the door.

The conference room is dark, only having a light shine down on the round table in the middle of the room. There are three others in the room. “What in Tartarus are you three sitting in the dark for?” Wrath asks, rubbing the side of his head.

“What’s wrong, Poochie?” said a seductive voice in the shadows, “Sssscared of the dark?”

“Call me Poochie again, and I will rip out your throat, Lust!” Wrath barked.

“Doggy, you’re ssso rude to me,” Lust replied dramatically.

“The more you talk, the more I get pissed.” Wrath said coldly, sitting down in a chair away from Lust. La-la sits next to him on the floor, trying not to be noticed.

“Why didn’t you sssit next to me?” Lust asked in a cutesy voice. “Am I too beautiful for you? Ssso must you can’t resist jumping on me, right?”

“Kind of glad the lights here are messed up,” said Wrath, “I don’t have to see that shit face of yours.”

“That’sss rude… Poochie,”

Wrath slams his paws on the table, “Don’t call me that. I’ll kill you!” He jumps across the table, ready to rip Lust to shreds.

“That’s enough,” said an older female voice.

Suddenly, Wrath is teleported back into his chair, “Look who finally decided to step in, Greed.” Wrath mutters as a unicorn walks on top of the table. Dark caramel brown body, and two brown tone hair and tail. Greed’s hair is in a messy bun with two thin crystals sticking out of it and heavy bags under her eyes. She wears a messy lab coat long enough to cover her cutie mark.

“I would let you two kill each other, but I don’t want Sloth waking up!” Greed quietly yelled.

Suddenly, something slumps onto the table. The light reveals a sleeping yak, Sloth. He has two golden horn rings on each horn and braided hair that covers his eyes.

“What about him, you damn shut-in pony!” Wrath roared, pointing at the heavy sleeping yak. “You have that Paper brat drag my ass here, but the yak sleeps.”

The table shanks as Greed walks across it, "I'm just glad I was able to get his lazy ass here," She stares down Wrath with her tired eyes. Her horn mirror inches from his forehead. “You can wake the sleeping yak, I don’t care.” Greed said tiredly, “Remember the last time somebo-somepony woke him up.”

Wrath remembers that all too well. It was an accident that he woke up Sloth, but it was mostly La-la. Wrath then leads back in his chair, “What about the fat cat? I don’t see his ass here.”

Greed walks back to the center of the table, “Gluttony in the kitchen. I told him to be here. Guess that idiotic cat decided not to listen to me.” She lets out a small huff, “Next time I see him, I’ll teleport a brick inside his stomach.”

“Gluttony most likely will enjoy that,” Lust said offhandedly, “What about my scaly hunk, Pride~.”

Greed rolls her eyes, “Pride left earlier this morning, saying something about the Badlands.”

“Anyway, why are we here!?” Wrath asked, “I swear if it’s something stupid.”

Lust still in darkness, she annoyingly taps her fingers on the table. “Yeah, I was in the middle of a little get together.”

Greed answers them by moving to the side, revealing a three-legged crow with four glowing white eyes. Lust and La-la are very confused about the bird. Wrath starts to get heated, “You called us here… For a buckin’ bird!”

The crow flies on top of Greed’s head, “watch what you say, dog.”

“The crow talks?” Lust said surprisingly.

Wrath’s nose twitches, “Taboo?”

“That’s Taboo!?” Lust and La-la said in disbelief.

“Yeah, I think so.” Wrath said as he crossed his arms, “They smell the same, and the voice is somewhat the same too, but less distorted?”

"I can't believe I got my hopes up," Lust mumbles.

La-la gets up and places her hooves on the table. She squinted, “Are you sure because the last time we saw a Taboo, he was a lot bigger. Also, he was defeated by the Elements and the two humans.”

The crow, now known as Taboo, stretches his wings. He then flies and lands in front of La-la, “i am taboo, unicorn.” He turns his head away with a hateful look, well his best attempt with his bird face. “i just lost my body,”

There was a moment of silence before Wrath started laughing. He bangs the table, making Taboo fly back to Greed. Sloth’s head shook after each hit, but it wasn’t enough to wake him up.

“Wrath, this isn’t funny!” yelled Greed, stomping her hoof.

“I think it’s funny, ahahhhh!” Wrath laughed, “Oh, how the mighty have fallen!”

“Please ignore that idiotic mutt.” Greed told Taboo, “I would like to know why you are like this, Lorde Taboo. I was so surprised when you flew into my lab.”

Taboo ruffles his feathers, “when ricochet cleaved my head off-” Taboo gets interrupted by Wrath’s laughing and snarky comments, but Taboo ignores him. “i made this crow body and moved my consciousness to it.”

“Okay, but why did you do it?” Lust asked.

“i did just in case i lost, and i did.”

La-la plop her chin on the table, “I don’t get this?” Greed groans, and Wrath begins to chuckle. “So, what did they steal away?”

“a puppet, to put it simply.” said Taboo, “they steal away my power, well all the power i couldn’t take in this body.”

“Lorde Taboo, I’m sorry you are like this!” Greed apologized, “If that idiot dog and paper peon would have helped-”

Wrath barks to get Greed’s attention, “You stupid shut-in pony! La-la and my furry ass were only told to release Taboo.”

“And we did!” La-la added.

“You and Pride didn’t tell us to fight the Elements of Harmony and the two humans.” Wrath grumbled, “Once Taboo was freed, we were done.”

Greed was going to yell at them, but Taboo stepped in. “dog, what is your name?”

“Wrath,” He answered coldly.

“wrath and the unicorn have nothing to do with my loss.” Taboo said, “i decided to keep fighting, being cooped up in that jar made me battle hungry.”

Wrath smirks as he leans back. He can respect that answer. He put his feet on the table, “What now, Taboo? You’re freed but a bird. So, do we give up or plan around it? Either way, I don’t care.”

“be on standby,” Taboo said, stretching out his wings. “i need to talk to Pride when he returns from the Badlands.”

“What about the humansss?” asked Lust, "I'm very interested in the boy."

“let them be,” Taboo grumbled, “we’ll discuss them later.” After he said that, Taboo flew out of the room.

Lust yawns, “Well, you heard Taboo, time to be on ssstandby. I have to get back to my party.” As Lust heads to the door, her glowing yellow eyes fix on Wrath. “Wrathy pie, do you care to join my little party~.”

“Go suck a dick!” Wrath barked.

“I will!” Lust yelled back, shutting the door behind her.

As Wrath mutters to himself, La-la taps him to get his attention. “What is it?”

“Wrathy, I’m hungry.”

“Then go to the- Gluttony in the kitchen.” La-la nods as Wrath lazily stands up, “Well, let’s head to town.”

“But that’s a three hour walk!”

“I guess you’re not hungry,”

La-la lets out a sigh but then remembers something. “We can fly on a paper eagle, which will take one hour.”

“I don’t feel like flying,” Wrath huffed, “And we should keep a low profile, La-la.”

“Well, while you two go on your little lunch rush, I have some research to continue.” Greed said, walking off the table.

“What about the lights?”

Greed sighed, “I’ll send one of my automatons to fix it.” She then teleports out of the room with a soft *Crack*

La-la taps her chin, “We should have asked her to teleport us to town.”

“Even if we beg, she won’t do it.” Wrath said, going to the door. “Now come on, we’re burning daylight.” The two of them leave, and Wrath slams the door behind them.

The sound of the door slamming wakes Sloth, looking around to see he’s alone. The sleepy yak lets out a yawn and falls back to sleep.

Deep in the woods, Wrath and La-la are walking through it. La-la is walking pretty fast, and Wrath is lingering behind a bit. “I do love the chirping birds!” La-la said gleefully, “What about you, Wrathy?”

“Annoying, but also relaxing.” Wrath muttered.

La-la slowed down a little, “Wrath, what’s on your mind?” The amount of time she spent with Wrath, La-la could tell when something was getting to him.

“… It’s about the humans, mostly about the human name Ricochet.”

“Why are you thinking about that?” La-la asked, “Taboo said-”

“I know what he said,” Wrath interrupted, “But the humans will get stronger the longer we wait.”

La-la notices Wrath’s tail is wagging. She watches and whispers, “That’s rare.”

“Especially the human Ricochet. I wish I could see him fight more.” Wrath smirks as his tail wags faster. Wrath is confused. Is he getting excited about the human? “I haven’t felt like this in years! I wonder if he thinks the same as me, Riki?”

“Aaahhhcccoooo!”

“Bless you, Riki.”

“Thanks, Spike,”

Spike and Riki are in Riki’s room playing a game of Yu-Gi-Oh. Riki is teaching Spike the game, and the little dragon is learning quickly after a few games. Riki chalks that up to being Twilight’s assistant or so crap, but Spike still has a long way to go.

Riki’s side of the field is empty. On Spike’s side of the field is Elemental Hero Flame Wingman and one monster face down. Riki places two cards face down in the spell and trap zone, “Someone must be talking about me. Also, I end my turn.”

Spike draws a card, “It’s probably Twilight. Anyway, I attack you directly with Elemental Hero Flame Wingman. I finally won!”

Riki flips over his face down card, “Magic Cylinder, I win.”

“Come on!” Spike yelled, falling on the floor. “… Let’s go again, you go first this time.”

Riki says, “Sure, but let me use the bathroom first. I need to pee.” He leaves his room and heads to the bathroom. Once inside, Riki looks in the mirror and pulls up his shirt. Bandages wrapped tightly around his waist, a bit annoying for the human, but Riki got used to it. His eyes are drawn to the dried blood stain on his side, “Time to change,” Riki said as he removed the old bandages and put on new ones. He was about to pee but heard someone knocking on the front door, “Spike, go answer it!” After a few minutes, Spike calls out to Riki. Telling him to get down here now. He flushes the toilet and then washes his hands.

As he heads down the stairs and to the front door, Riki wonders who it could be. He swears that it’s a pony trying to introduce him to their lord and savior. “Spike, who’s at the door?” Riki asked, turning the corner.

“Princess Celestia,” Spike said casually.

Riki’s eyes widen, “The lord and savior!”

“I haven’t been called that in a while,” said Celestia, “May I come in?”

“Sure, but why didn’t you teleport inside?” Riki said, letting the princess in.

“I didn’t want to be rude, Riki.”

“Well... Now, I give you permission to teleport inside my house.” Riki beamed as the three of them walked to the living room.

Celestia smiles, “Why, thank you, Riki.”

“Excuse me, Princess Celestia,” Spike said, “Can I ask why you’re here?”

“You know Twilight isn't here,” Riki said, crossing his arms, “Did something bad happen? Am I in trouble? Did Twilight say something about humans that I can neither confirm nor deny?”

Celestia was taking back a bit, but she got her composure back. “Nothing bad is going on. I was going to send a letter, but I decided to talk to you face-to-face.”

"You came to see me!? Shit, you make me feel special!" Riki laughed, but seeing Celestia's face. He can't really make it out, "How about you sit down." Celestia plunks down on the couch, making a squeaky noise. Riki is surprised that the couch didn’t break under her ass. He remembers when Luna landed on his back. "Alright, talk to me."

Celestia took a deep breath and said, “I need you to go to Las Pegasus with BlueBlood.”

“W-what!?” yelled Spike as he fell back onto Riki’s leg.

Riki just stands there a few seconds before saying, “Who the fuck is BlueBlood?”

Author's Note

Oi, how's it going!? This chapter will be the start of the Las Pegasus Arc (I couldn't think of a better name). I really hope you enjoy!

Chapter 16: The Request!

Author's Note

The first chapter of the new year! For this year, I want to release 12 chapters. One chapter down, 11 chapters to go. :pinkiecrazy:

Chapter 16: The Request!

The Request!

"Wwwwhat!?"

"Wow, how about you guys yell louder," Riki said dryly, munching on a cookie.

Riki and Spike had gathered everyone at a café, sitting at one of the outside tables. As the human and dragon chow down on some cookies, the rest are stunned, except for Liz. She just takes a sip of her water.

"Riki, do you know what you're walking into!?" Rarity nearly shouted, "Do not do it. You'll have a better time hanging out with a hungry manticore."

Riki wipes the cookie crumbs off his face, "I already said yes."

"Figures," Liz said under her breath.

"I told him to wait and think about it, but he said he already made up his mind." Spike chimed in.

"Rarity, you seem to know Blueblood." said Riki, "What's the history between you two?"

Rarity's face starts to get twisted, "We met at the Grand Galloping Gala. And I thought he was my dream stallion."

Riki knows where this is going and wishes he didn't ask. I'm not a big fan of romance drama stuff. He had already gotten enough of that listening to his aunt. He rubs the back of his head, "Oi, you don't have to talk abo-"

Rarity cuts him off, "Blueblood is the most uncharming pony I have ever met. I was treated with little to no respect. He is self-centered, self-absorbed, rude-"

As Rarity continues her rant about that awful prince. Twilight gets Riki's attention by tapping his hand, "Can you give us more details because all you told us was you are going to Las Pegasus with Blueblood?".

"Ummm, Celestia asked me to accompany Blueblood on his trip to Las Pegasus this Friday." Riki shared, "So I have to be at the castle tomorrow." This gets everyone's attention. Expect Rarity. She is still on her rant about Blueblood.

"You just came back, and now you're leaving!" Pinkie yelled, jumping across the table. She hugs Riki and starts to tell him not to go.

Riki pulls the pink pony off of him and places her back in her seat. "I'll be back Sunday."

"What happened to the guard ponies?" Rainbow asked, "Isn't it their job to do stuff like that."

"Did something happen?" Twilight said worriedly.

Riki quickly shakes his head, "Nothing bad. The guards are just going through some heavy training."

"Training?"

"Yeah, after the whole La-la sneaking to the castle. Shiny and Vanta wanted to make sure this doesn't happen again." Riki explained to them, "Celestia asked Blueblood to postpone his trip, but he didn't want to. Luckily, Luna reminded her that I have bodyguard experience."

"That's why it was so out of the blue." Liz said as she ate a cookie, "Be safe out there."

Riki gets a confused look, "You're okay with this? You're not mad or something?"

"I just worried about your injuries, that's all."

"Same here," Fluttershy said, "I don't think you should go. It has only been a week since you woke up." She scoots closer to Riki, "Does your side still hurt? What about your stitches? Las Pegasus can be a very dangerous place-"

Riki puts his hand on Fluttershy's head, "Calm down, Fluttershy. I'm doing a lot better than I was a week ago."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I helped Applejack with some apple bucking yesterday morning."

"Riki struggled for a while, then fell asleep under a tree," Applejack added, "I had Applebloom dump some water on him to wake him up." This got everyone to chuckle a bit.

Riki crosses his arms, "You weren't supposed to tell."

"Anyways, I need to know why you took that job from Celestia?" Liz asked.

"Well, Las Pegasus is this world's Las Vegas, so I have to go!" Riki exclaimed, "I can't wait to see how amazing Las Pegasus is!"

"You know Las Pegasus is on a cloud," Spike said.

"That's awesome, a city in the sky!" Riki yelled so loud it got the surrounding ponies' attention. "Sorry!"

"So you're going there to sightsee?" Liz said, a bit annoyed.

"...Yeah." Riki lied, looking away.

Beep Beep Beep Beep Beep

Riki pulled out his phone, and his eyes widened. He quickly stands up and says, "Shit, I got to go to work!"

"Riki, there are a few things I want to discuss with you." Twilight quickly said.

"I'll head to your place when I'm on lunch," Riki said frantically, running off to work. After that, everyone starts to leave one by one. Because they have things to do, like jobs or errands, this only leaves Liz, Spike, and Rarity.

"And that's why I don't like Blueblood. I can't believe I was thinking about marrying him. Wait, where is he?" Rarity looks around the table, "Where is everypony?"

"Riki, Applejack, and Pinkie headed off to work," Liz answered, "And the others have other stuff to do. And don't worry about the bill, it's been paid for."

"You were too deep in your rant to notice them leaving," said Spike, "But we decided to stay."

"I had nothing better to do," Liz said, running her hand through her hair.

Rarity's face lights up, "If you have nothing to do, how about coming with me? I got a dress for you to try on."

"That's amazing," Liz said sarcastically.

"Darling, it will be fun." Rarity beamed as she got up from the table, "Spikey-wikey, would you like to help me?"

"Absolutely!" Spike joyfully.

"This is going to be fun," Liz blandly said.

"Vinyl, I'm here!" I yelled, flinging the door over. I can hear music playing throughout the store. Looking towards the front desk to see my boss lazily sitting there. I look around the store to see no one is here, "I guess we're having a slow day."

"Hey, Riki." Vinyl yawned, "Yeah, I think that too."

"Vinyl, can I ask you something?" She nodded, and I continued, "Can I get the next three days off?"

"Sure,"

"You're not going to ask why?"

"I don't want to get in your business," said Vinyl, "Unless you're doing something amazing." I don't say anything but smirk as I rub the back of my head. "Okay, what is it?"

"Celestia asked me to grade Blueblood as we head to Las Pegasus."

"That's a big job. How much are you getting paid?" Vinyl asked, "You are grading royalty. You should get paid a lot."

"Celestia didn't discuss anything about the payment."

"I think you should ask for something since you'll be with Blueblood." Vinyl yawned, "Follow me to the back." She leaves the front desk and heads towards a door with bead curtains.

"Vinyl, have you played in Las Pegasus?" I asked, entering the back room.

"No, but I always want to." Vinyl said, with a smile, "I have been to a few clubs up there with my roommate." She then plops down on a bean bag, "Can you grab a few of those boxes on the top shelf?"

"Your roommate, what's her name again, Octavia?" Vinyl nods, and I continue, "When is she getting back?"

"She'll be back next week," answered Vinyl.

"I can't wait to meet her," I said as I reached for the boxes. "What else did you do in Las Pegasus, gamble?"

Vinyl smiles and says, "Nah, not much of a gambler pony, but… I do manage to hook up with a few guys."

I almost dropped the boxes after hearing that. "Please, don't talk about your sex life." I mumbled, "I don't want to think about two ponies banging."

"I don't just bang ponies. Diamond dogs and griffins are on the table." Vinyl told me, and I just rolled my eyes. "…Riki, are you a virgin?"

"What!? No, I had sex before." I muttered as I placed the boxes down. Dammit, why is she asking me this? "Can we talk about something else?"

"One more question,"

"Is it sex related?"

"Yeah,"

"...What is it?"

"Do you humans have sex the same way as we do?" Vinyl asked,

I walked up to Vinyl and grabbed her hoof, "No, we do it like this by holding our partner's hands. Or, in this case, hoof." Even with the glasses on, I can tell her eyes widen. I smiled, "I'm messing with you."

About to pull my hand away, Vinyl doesn't let go. "What a shame. I thought I was going to have some fun." She flirted, "Anyways, I think that's enough talking. Can you restock these CDs and break down the boxes?" I watch Vinyl leave the room, "I'm going to lunch!"

"...What!?"

"Rarity, how long do I need to stand here?" I asked, looking at myself in the mirror. A ball gown is not my style. At least it's my favorite color, silver.

Rarity walks around me, "Just a bit longer. There are a few more things I want to add." She uses her magic to adjust the gown. "Liz, isn't this fun!? I get to make a beautiful gown for one of the only humans, and you get to wear it!"

"I wouldn't call that fun," I grumbled as I dropped my head.

"Darling, stop slouching."

"You sound like my mother," I mumbled as I fixed my posture.

"You said something. I didn't hear you?" Rarity asked.

"...Nothing."

I see Spike walking back into the room with two ribbon rolls. "Here are the ribbons you asked for, Rarity." She takes the rolls and pats Spike on the head. I swear that little dragon likes it a little too much.

"Liz, which ribbon color do you want, Pearl white or Eggshell white?" She floats them up to my face so that I can have a good look. But to me, both of them look the same. I carefully look over the ribbon, "How about eggshell." Rarity's face scrunched up, and she shook the other ribbon roll. "Pearl white?"

Rarity's face lights up, "A fabulous choice, Liz!" Why the hell did you give me an option!? She tosses the eggshell white roll and wraps the other ribbon around my waist. "Liz, what's on your mind?" Rarity questioned as she tied the ribbon into a big bow on the back.

"Nothing, nothing is on my mind."

Rarity starts to put pins in the dress. "You've been fidgeting around since the start. Don't you like the gown?"

"No, it's not that!" I said frantically, "I'm very thankful for it."

"Good!" Rarity beamed, "Now, how about some gems." She floats up a box of multi-colored gems.

"Is it because Riki is going to Las Pegasus, and he didn't discuss it with you?" Spike asked.

"It's not that," I said as Rarity placed gems on my midsection. It's about what I am going to do here." They both gave me a confused look. "Riki has a job and is taking a mission from the princess. And me, I got nothing."

"What did you do before you got here?" asked Rarity, "

I thought about it for a while, "Go to school, on my computer, and work on some of my inventions."

"What about any friends?"

"I didn't have any friends at school, never had the time," I replied softly. "Well, if I don't include any of my family members or the people my mom forces me to hang out with."

"Wait, your mom did what!?" Rarity shouted.

I took a deep breath. I really don't like talking about it, but I should tell someone. "My mom, Riki's stepmom-"

Rarity interrupts me, "You and Riki have different moms?"

"That's hard to believe," said Spike.

"Anyways, she was a member of the private school board I attended. It was for the gifted and rich, mostly rich students." I continued, tightly grabbing the sides of my dress. "Mom pushed me to make friends with the upper class, but I just wanted to focus on my work."

"Darling, it must be tough going to school there." Rarity soothingly said, "Please tell me things got better for you there?"

"Things did get better when Riki started coming to my school."

"That's good to hear!" Spike exclaimed, "But I never knew Riki was the gift of type."

"He's not. Mom pulled some strings and made him… Forced him to join the volleyball team." I said, trying not to get too upset. "Rarity, are you done yet?"

"Done! Now give me a spin, Darling!" I did a spin, and I'm not going to lie. I felt like a princess. I wonder if she can make me some opera gloves? I look at myself in the mirror, admiring the gown. The ribbon around my waist with beautiful colorful gems. Tied up into a big bow on my back. Damn, I look cute!

"You look outstanding!" Spike exclaimed.

"So, any complaints?" Rarity asked, looking up and down at me.

"No complaints here."

"Good,"

Still looking at the mirror, I ask, "So, how much do I owe you."

"On the house, Darling."

My eyes widened, "Really, this dress looks like it cost a shit ton! Look at these gems!"

"I'm looking, and they look tasty," muttered Spike.

"There has to be something I can do."

Rarity smiles, "How about you join Fluttershy and me at the Day Spa this Friday."

I had never been to a spa before, "Yeah, that will be fun." A day at the spa can really clean my head. I mean all the stuff I've been through. A good massage is what I need.

After a while of stockings, organizing, and helping consumers, Riki is finally on his one hour break. He is about to head to Sugarcube Corner, but he remembers Twilight wants to talk. Heading to the treehouse, Riki wonders what the pony wants to talk about. He stops thinking about it when he hits his head on the treehouse's door. Riki knocks a few times but gets no answer. He was going to knock again, but he remembered that Twilight's house was also a library. So Riki just let himself in. As Riki walks inside the treehouse, he yells, "Oi, Twilight!" Riki walks around a bit before calling her name again, "Twilight, where are you, purple pony!?" Riki went upstairs to the kitchen. As he waits for a response, he begins to dig into the fridge. He wished something other than vegetables and fruits were in the fridge.

"Riki, what are you doing in my fridge?"

The human pokes his head out with a carrot in his mouth. As he munchies on the carrot, he says, "Twilight, how are you doing!?"

"I'm doing good. I heard you from downstairs." She deadpan, "I see you're having a snack."

Riki closes the fridge as he finishes the carrot, "Sorry, anyways, you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yeah, it's just a few things on my mind," Twilight said as she headed out of the kitchen. "Follow me, Riki."

He follows Twilight down to the basement. Riki is pretty surprised to see a lab. "Wow, this place looks cool!" Riki exclaimed as he checked out the vials with mysterious liquids. "You should bring Liz here. She'll enjoy this place!" A certain machine catches Riki's attention, "Oi, what's that?"

Twilight sees the machine Riki is pointing to, "That is the machine I use to try to understand Pinkie Sense."

"Pinkie Sense?" Riki said to himself, "I think I remember seeing that during my first day here."

Twilight shanks a little, remembering all the stuff that happened to her. "Anyway, I brought you here because I can run some tests."

"More tests, come on, Twilight." Riki said tiredly, "I'm not spending my hour being tested."

"Riki, this is very important." Twilight pleaded. "Please, I'll make it fast." She stares at Riki, giving him puppy dog eyes.

Riki rubs his head in his hand, "Fine, stop looking at me like that. Too damn cute."

Twilight blushes about Riki's comment. She quickly puts a helmet with blinking lights on the human's head. She then presses a few buttons on the machine, and a few seconds later, it starts to work. "Riki, have you been feeling… Off or weird?" Twilight asked, still a bit flustered.

He thinks the question over for a bit. He remembers a few times, well, a lot of times. "Yeah, I feel off sometimes. But after the Taboo fight, not anymore."

"Can you elaborate?"

"For first, no more voices in my head." Riki chuckled, "My body no longer feels weird, and no more headaches."

Twilight is taking a back a bit. "What!?"

Riki rubs the back of his head, "Look, I thought it was just some weird side effect of coming to this new world." Riki removes the helmet, "During the tail end of the Taboo fight, I don't remember anything."

Twilight feels for Riki. She wishes he had told her about his problems. Did Riki think she couldn't help him, or did he want to keep something to himself? "Are you hiding stuff from me?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's just you don't tell me-us the full story or anything that's happened to you." Twilight said softly, "Unless we ask you to elaborate, you just give us bits and pieces."

Riki does that a lot. It's a problem he needs to work on. "Sorry, Twilight. I will try my best to give out more information." Riki sighed, "I should tell you why I really accepted the job from Celestia."

"Why did you accept?"

"I accepted the job because I wanted to use this as training."

Twilight gives Riki a confused look, "Training? What do you mean by training?"

Riki takes a deep breath, "I was in a three day coma. After that, I just did nothing but rest. I don't want to get sloppy, Twilight." He pulls up his shirt, showing his bandaged stomach. "Every time I look at this, it reminds me of Taboo. It reminds me that I still have room to grow, to get stronger." Twilight stands there in silence as she listens to Riki's words. She never knew he felt like this. "Look, I know I shouldn't use the job for training. But being out in the field will help me a lot more. Well, that's what Sensei said." Riki checks his phone to see his break is all most over, "Dammit, I got to go. We can continue this later."

"Wait, Riki!" Twilight shouted, but he didn't hear her as he ran up the stairs. Twilight is now alone in her lab. She sighs and says, "Bye."

Don't know why, but today felt so long. After talking to Twilight, I head back to work. I spent a few more hours there before Vinyl let me leave early. I thanked her and went home.

When I got home, I saw Liz in the kitchen, "Oi, you hungry?"

"No, I'm good." Liz said, pouring herself a glass of juice, "Hey, Rarity invited me to go to the spa with her and Fluttershy."

"That's great!" I said joyfully, "You need the relaxation for the stuff you've been through."

Liz nods, "…You should head to bed. You got a big day tomorrow." She then hugs me, "Don't get too beat up on me."

I have a small smile on my face. Returning the hug, "I know, I will not get too beat up." I then headed to shower, but I stopped. Fuck it. I'm going to bed. I'll take one in the morning. I take off my clothes and slip on my penguin onesie. Falling face first onto my bed, I begin to doze off.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day.

Chapter 17: Issues!

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

Chapter 18: Las Pegasus!

Las Pegasus!

“Wow, even in the day, this place looks amazing!” Riki exclaimed, sitting on top of the carriage. “I can’t wait to see this place at night!” Riki looks down to see the road and buildings built on top of clouds. “Oi, how is everything not falling through the clouds?” Riki asked worriedly.

“The clouds here are specially made so buildings and the residence won’t fall through,” Bebop answered.

“Still be careful walking around,” Feather added, “I heard stories of holes in the clouds. One moment you’re just walking, then the next, you’re falling out of the sky. A cloudy sinkhole.”

Bebop rolled her eyes, “Those are just made-up stories.”

“How do you know?” Feather asked.

“My dad told me,” Bebop said proudly.

As the ponies continue to talk about cloudy sinkholes. Riki just takes in the scenery. He hopes he can come back here one day with Liz and the girls. But something feels off, like they're being watched.

“Riki, are you listening to me!” Feather shouted, getting Riki’s attention. “I’m trying to ask you something.”

“Are you okay, Riki?” Bebop asks worriedly,

“What?” Riki said, looking at them. “Sorry, I was just thinking. What did you want to ask?"

Feather lets a sigh, “Well, I want to know if this place makes you homesick?”

Riki falls back on the carriage’s roof, looking up at the sky. He doesn’t really show it, but he misses home. “Just a little bit.” Riki lied, “But Las Pegasus reminds me of my uncle.”

“The one that owns a strip club?” said Feather.

“Your uncle owns a strip club!” Bebop said in disbelief.

Riki nods, “Yeah, but I’m talking about another uncle, Uncle Franky. He lives in a place like this, but we call it Las Vegas. Uncle Franky visited me and Liz when we were little and taught us some games. Poker, blackjack, and other stuff. Liz wasn’t really good at it, but I picked it up pretty fast.”

“I can’t believe your uncle taught you two poker at a young age,” said Feather.

Riki chuckles, “You sound like Liz’s mom.”

“How good was your uncle in poker?” asks Bebop.

“Good enough that people think he’s cheating!” Riki laughed. Bebop and Feather join in too.

They stopped when Blueblood started to bang on the roof, “Be quiet! I’m trying to read!”

Riki bangs on the roof, “Sorry!”

After a while, the carriage finally made it to the hotel. Riki jumps off the carriage’s roof and then looks up at the building. A solid 23-story hotel, “This place is way bigger than Mat’s hotel.” Riki said to himself. He then opens the carriage’s door, letting the prince out.

Blueblood walks out and says, “Get my luggage. I’ll be heading inside.”

Riki approaches Feather and Bebop, “So this is where we split.”

“Yeah, but we’ll be back on Sunday around noon.” said Feather, “So be ready, Riki.”

Bebop nuzzles Riki goodbye, “Stay safe, and don’t let Blueblood get under your skin.”

“And watch out for cloudy sinkholes,” Feather added.

Riki pats Bebop on the head, “I’ll be okay, and the prince will be fine under my watch.” He says his goodbyes to Feather and Bebop, watching them leave.

As Riki heads inside the hotel, in the shadows a diamond dog and minotaur watch from afar.

“We need to go tell Coal.” said the minotaur.

“Right,” the diamond dog replied.

“This place sure is busy,” I said, walking through the lobby. I’m so used to Max’s empty hotel, I forgot how crowded it can be. “Now, where is the prince?”

I look around for Blueblood and make sure I don’t accidentally run into anyone. I can hear the residents whispering about me.

“Isn’t that the weird thing from the magazine?” one pony whispered.

“It’s kinda cute in a weird way, you know.” whispered a griffin to her friends.

“Why is it here?” one mumbled with fear in their voice.

I finally see Blueblood talking with two mares. Walking up behind him, I can see the ponies’ eyes begin to widen.

“What’s wrong?” Blueblood said confusingly. After those two ponies backed away a bit before running away. Blueblood turns around to see me, and he does not look pleased. “You scared them away. Can you fix your terrifying appearance,” Blueblood said as he gestured to my entire body. “I don’t want another lady to run in fear, Tiki.”

I stared at him briefly before saying, “Sorry, I’ll use my shapeshifting power to look less scary.”

“...I’m waiting,”

He really thinks I can do that. “…It takes an hour to use my power,” I said straightly. Blueblood rolls his eyes and then walks to the reception desk to get his room key.

“Here is your one-bedroom penthouse key, Prince Blueblood.” said the pony receptionist.

Wait, a one-bedroom? “Oi Prince, where am I going to sleep?”

Blueblood looks at me and says, “Sorry, I only got a room for myself.”

Why do I feel that ‘sorry’ was not genuine? I slowly walked towards the receptionist, so I didn’t scare her. “Excuse me, are there any free rooms available.”

The receptionist frantically looks through the check-in books, “Umm, sorry, we’re fully booked. The Canterlot Orchestra is in town. I’m sorry.”

I let out a sigh, “It’s fine.” Walking back to Blueblood, I told him what was going on. And to my surprise, he didn’t care. I can figure out where to sleep later. “Alright, let’s get you to your room. Now, where are the stairs?”

“Stairs? I’m not taking the stairs.” Blueblood grumbled at me, “I’m going to the elevator.”

Elevator!? “You guys have an elevator here!?”

“Yeah, why wouldn’t we.”

We headed to the elevator, and inside was a unicorn elevator operator. “Hello, what floor?”

“The penthouse,” replied Blueblood.

The unicorn begins to use his magic on the elevator, making it go up. This is pretty cool. After a few minutes, we finally arrived at the penthouse floor. Walking to the room, I open the door for Blueblood. And wow, this penthouse looks amazing! Big living room, an indoor bar, and a balcony with a pool. Putting down the luggage, I then ask Blueblood, “Now, that we’re all settled. What’s going on?”

Blueblood sits down on the nearby couch, “Well, later tonight you’re taking me to the casino.”

“Casino, okay. But how are we going to get there?” I asked, leaning on the wall. “Are we walking or taking a taxi?”

Blueblood scoffs at the idea of taking a taxi. He then goes to his luggage and starts to look through it. After a few seconds, Blueblood pulls out a pamphlet and gives it to me. It says ‘Mama Ruby’s escort service’ I was not expected to read that. I open the pamphlet, “Have a sexy time with one of our beautiful ladies.” I read to myself. Seeing some suggestive pictures of ponies, griffins, and… Wait, is that a cat!? “You really called from an escort?”

“Already paid in advance,” Blueblood said, “They are going to send a limo. It’s going to pick us up at 7 to take us to the casino.”

Okay, 7 o’clock. It’s around four right now so, we got some time to kill. I look over at Blueblood, and he is giving me a weird look. “What?”

“I'm hungry,”

“So, order room service,” I said, taking off my backpack.

“I don’t want food from here.” Blueblood grumbled, “I want food from Tartarus’s Kitchen. I want you to go there and get me one of my favorite meals there.”

Wait what!? “I’m not supposed to leave you,”

“That. Is. A. Order.” Blueblood retorted

Remember what Bebop said. I sighed, “Just stay here, don’t let anyone in.”

“I’m not a kid!” Blueblood yelled, “I’m just going take a shower and then a nap.”

Yeah, you’re definitely not a kid. Blueblood wrote down what he wanted from the restaurant, then signed it with his signature. So, they know whose food they’re making. “What about the bits?”

Blueblood rolls his eyes, “They should be lucky I even eat there.”

“You will pay for an escort but not food. Glad to see where your priorities are.” I muttered under my breath.

“What?”

I quickly put on a fake smile, “They are lucky to have a great stallion like you to eat there. No, not just eat there, but know that they exist, Prince Blueblood.” I hope that wasn’t over the top. But looking at him, he seems to love it.

“You know Tiki, you aren’t so bad.” He said with a smile, “Keep this up, and I might make you my personal guard.”

“Thanks,” I said tiredly, “I’ll be back as fast as possible.”

In the back streets of Las Pegasus, a dark brown minotaur and a short gray diamond dog are both wearing suit jackets. The two of them enter a bar, and inside is a mix of creatures, from ponies to cats. Playing cards, smoking, and drinking. The two were greeted when they entered. “Scout and Slugger, you two are back early.” Said the bartender pony. “Did something happen?”

Scout the diamond dog nods, “Yeah, something good, right Slugger!?”

“Right,” Slugger agreed, “Now where is Coal? We got some things to discuss with him.”

“He’s upstairs in the back,” Bartender said, “What a drink?” Scout says no, but Slugger asks for any mix of hard liquor with lemon and no ice.

The two go upstairs to the room. Inside is a dark gray unicorn named Coal with a slicked back mane and wearing a pinstripe suit jacket. Coal is sitting on a couch as he drinks from his glass. In front of him is a table with bags of bits and a bottle of whiskey. He is surprised to see Scout and Slugger, “Guys, you are back? No money to pick up?”

“Coal, we saw Blueblood.” Slugger said, “And we know where he’s staying at!”

Coal’s eyes widen, “Really!?”

“We have to tell The Don about this!” Scout said sitting down.

Coal shakes his head, “No, we can’t. Do you remember what today is!” They don’t answer, and Coal continues, “Boss is on his 36th wedding anniversary with his wife. And the Misses don’t want work to interrupt them on their trip, unlike last time. If she gets mad, the boss will be mad.”

“Yeah, we know.” Scout gulped as his ears lowered. “The last time Boss got mad, he showed us earth ponies can’t fly.”

“But if he finds out we didn’t do anything, he’ll get rid of me.” Coal said with a bit of fear in his voice. “It took me eight years to get to the position of capo!” He begins to freak out, accidentally knocking over his drink. “Plus, Blueblood has guards on his flank. We can never get close.”

“Calm down, buddy. Freaking out right now is not good,” Slugger said. “And Blueblood only has one guard with him.”

“What?”

“Yeah, it looks like a hornless minotaur or hairless diamond dog.” Scout added, “I think I saw it in a magazine.”

After hearing this Coal calms down a bit. “Just one guard, I can work that. Scout sent two guys to watch the hotel and report back when Blueblood leaves.”

“You got it,” Scout replied as he walked out of the room.

“Fuck, I think I’m lost?” Riki said, looking off into the city from a palm tree. He climbs to the top, trying to get a better view. Before Riki left the hotel, he asked the receptionist where Tartarus’s Kitchen was. However, he’s not the best when it comes to direction. He tried asking for help, but they didn’t respond or run away. “Okay, how about-”

“Hey, weird thing!”

Riki looks down to see an earth pony cop, “Oi!”

“Get down from there!”

Listening to the cop, Riki slides down the palm tree. Landing in front of the cop he says, “Is there a problem officer?”

The cop cautiously keeps his distance, “…Yeah, there is a problem. You can’t climb the trees.”

“Make sense.”

“And I was getting reports of a weird-looking creature.” Said the cop, “May I ask what you are doing here?”

Riki rolls his eyes, “Look I don’t want any trouble. I’m just looking for Tartarus’s Kitchen.”

“Why?”

“I’m Prince Blueblood’s bodyguard-”

“...Yeah, I have to ask you to come with me.” The cop firmly interrupted, “At the police station, you can tell me and the others your story.”

Riki knows this pony is not going to listen to him, just like his first time in Canterlot Castle. So like last time he decided to… Run away.

“No,” Riki said as runs away from the cop pony.

“Get back here, monster!” The cop yelled chasing after the human.

Riki runs down the streets, trying to figure out what to do next. Well, the first thing is to lose the cop. He looks back to see the cop is still on his tail. As long as there is only one cop after him, getting away is possible. Quickly thinking, Rik pulls out some of his bits, “Who wants free bits!” He throws the money on the ground, causing the nearby locals to dive for the bits.

The cop gets caught in the pileup. He can only watch Riki get away, slipping into an alleyway. “I’ll find you!”

“I said no!”

“C’mon, Twinkle. Stop playing hard to get.”

In a dark alleyway of Las Pegasus, a black fur lady diamond dog wearing a blue cocktail dress, is grabbed by an orange cat wearing a black hoodie.

“I’m not interested, Kaz!” Twinkle barked as she broke out of Kaz’s grasp.

Kaz’s back starts to arch as his ears flatten. “Mangy mutt! Do you know who you are talking to!?” Kaz yelled, slamming Twinkle into a brick wall and holding her there. The smell of alcohol hits her face as he continues to talk, “Do you know what I can do to you and get away with it?” He leans close into her ear and whispers, “…A lot.”

Twinkle tried to break free, but she couldn’t. She then steps on Kaz’s paw pretty hard, making him yell in pain. “Sorry, my paw slipped.” Twinkle said with a smile. Kaz was going to hit her, and Twinkle looked ready to fight. But they both stop when they hear something coming down the alleyway. Both of them turn to see a weird looking creature. It's Riki.

“I think I finally lost him,” Riki said, trying to catch his breath. He then looks up to see a cat pinning a diamond dog against a wall.

“Is that…” Twinkle whispered.

“What is that!” Kaz yelled.

Riki slowly walks down the alley, not making a sound. Twinkle and Kaz just watch the human as he gets closer to them. Kaz’s tail starts to go between his legs and Twinkle just kept quiet. Riki walks past them, bumping into Kaz in the process. Kaz lets go of Twinkle and begins to shout at Riki, “Hey, ugly! Don’t you know who you bumped into!” Kaz grabs Riki’s shoulder and forcefully turns him around, “I’m a part of the Pipistrello family. And if you-”

In one swift motion, Riki grabs and pulls Kaz’s hood over his head, hard enough to make him flip over. Lands on the ground with a thud. It was so fast, Twinkle almost couldn’t see what had happened. Kaz was standing up, and now he’s on his ass. She took this opportunity to hide behind a nearby dumpster. Kaz gets up, confused about what just happened. He starts to punch and claw at Riki, but Kaz can’t land a single hit. Riki counters Kaz and punches him in the chest. “ I thought cats are supposed to have good reflexes.” Riki laughed.

“You bucking freak!” Kaz hissed, “I’ll kill you!” Reaching into his hoodie’s pocket, Kaz pulls out a switchblade. He begins to slash wildly at Riki, “What’s wrong, freak!? Scared you might get cut?”

Riki casually sidesteps a knife thrust. He then grabs Kaz’s wrist and pulls him into an elbow to the face, knocking the feline out cold. Kaz falls face first onto the ground. Riki turns to look to Twinkle, “Oi, you good Dog lady?” She slowly nods her head, and Riki continues, “That’s good.” Down the alleyway, Riki and Twinkle can hear hoof steps. Riki's eyes widened, “Oh, shit! The cop pony!”

“Cop!?”

“Yeah, he was chasing me.” Riki quickly picks up Kaz’s unconscious body and drops him in the nearby dumpster. “You have to cover for me,” Riki said hiding behind the dumpster.

Just then, the cop stops in front of Twinkle, “Ms., have you seen a big hairless creature running down here?”

“Ummm…Yeah, the creature went that way.” Twinkle lied, pointing down the alley. “If you leave now, you can catch up to him.”

The cop gives his thanks and tells her she shouldn’t be in a dangerous place like this. The cop then runs off.

Twinkle waits for a few seconds, just in case the cop comes back. “…You can come out now.”

Riki comes out from behind the dumpster, “Thanks for saving my butt. My name is Riki.”

“Twinkle and I should thank you.” she smiled, “Plus I kind of know about you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, you were in a magazine. Well, more like in the ‘Top 5 Mysterious Things of the Week' section.”

Riki gets a sly smile, “And I was number one.”

“No, you were number two.” said Twinkle, “You were beaten by a carrot that looks like Princess Celestia.”

“Oh,” Riki said disappointedly.

“I also read that you saved Equestria.” Twinkle walks up to Riki to get a better look at him, “You look a lot better than in the pictures.” She then gives Riki a sniff, “And you smell nice.”

“…Thanks?” Riki said, stepping back a bit. “So what was with the cat guy?” He then points at the dumpster.

Twinkle crosses her arms, “That bastard's name is Kaz. He stopped me when I was heading back to work.”

“Why, you two once dated?”

“Oh, Celestia no. I have way better taste.” Twinkle spat, sounding a bit offended. “That feline thinks he can rub up on me, just because I work for Mama Ruby's-”

“Escort service?” Riki interjected.

“Now how do you know that?” Twinkle said with a cheeky grin. “If we knew the hero of Equestria would be using our escort service. We might give you a discount.”

Riki shakes his head and mumbles, “N-no, it’s not me. It’s Prince Blueblood who requested the service. I’m his bodyguard.”

“Oh, that’s a shame.”

“Wait, you believe me?” Riki said, scratching the back of his head. “Because the cop didn’t.”

“You saved Equestria, and you saved me.” said Twinkle, “But what are you doing here, are you supposed to be with the prince?”

Riki lets out a sigh, “He told me to get him some food from Tartarus’s Kitchen, and I didn’t feel like arguing.”

“Then why are you here?”

Riki looks away, “I got lost.”

Twinkle chuckles, “I’ll help you. Tartarus’s Kitchen is close to Mama Ruby.” She begins to walk away, “It’s about a 20-minute walk to Tartarus’s Kitchen.”

“Thanks, Twinkle, I owe you!” Riki beamed as he followed her. “…So, how long have you been an escort?”

“I’m one of the secretaries, not an escort.” Twinkle said.

“Oh, you’re a secretary,” Riki said with a smile, “Can you do me a favor, just a small change to something?”

As the two leave the alley the dumpster lid flies open and Kaz crawls out, covered in trash. “I need to tell the others about this.”

Finally back at the hotel, this food pickup bullshit was tiresome. I was lucky to get some help from Twinkle, or I will never have found my way. I hope the Kaz guy doesn’t go after Twinkle, but she said Mama Ruby will take care of it.

I swing the bag of food as I walk to the elevator, but I see it’s about to close. “Oi, wait!” I yelled, running to the elevator. The elevator operator sees me and opens the door. “Thank you, elevator guy.” Walking in I see two pony ladies. One’s a pale blue unicorn, and the other is a gray earth pony wearing a pink bowtie. “Penthouse, please,” I said, leaning on the wall. The operator nods and begins to move the elevator.

“Oh. My. Celestia!” the unicorn yelled, making her friend jump. “Youyouyouyou!” She starts to point at me.

The earth pony looks friend, “Lyra, it's rude to point.”

“But it’s him, the human!” Lyra said gleefully, “Ahhhh, I can’t believe this is happening.”

That’s new. I had never seen a pony so excited to see me. “Oi, I’m Rik-”

Lyra quickly stands on her hind legs and plants her hooves on my chest, “Your Ricochet or Riki. I-I read a lot about you in the newspaper and magazines. You were number two on the Top 5 Mysterious Things of the Week.” Lyra then starts to caress my chest, “Oooh, almost like a minotaur.”

“…Thanks?”

Lyra stops, “Oh, where are my manners? My name is Lyra Heartstrings, and this is my friend Octavia Melody.”

"Nice to meet you," Octavia said as she pulled Lyra off me, “Sorry about her. She isn't really like this. After seeing you in the paper, Lyra was amazed.” Octavia fixes her hair, “I can't lie when I say I'm very thankful for what you did.”

“It was nothing,” I said sheepishly. Wait, did Lyra say Octavia? “Oi, Octavia, your Vinyl's friend.”

“You know Vinyl?” Octavia said, surprisingly.

“Yeah, she’s my boss.” I smiled, “She wanted us to meet when you come back to Ponyville. But I guess we can meet now.”

Octavia nods, “I guess we can.”

“Riki, I got to ask! Is your sister here?” Lyra asked as she checked out my hands.

“Liz still at Ponyville,” I told them, “I'm here on a request for Celestia to be Blueblood’s bodyguard."

Octavia gasps, “Princess Celestia asked you to do that!”

“He did help save Equestria,” Lyra said, letting go of my hand.

“14th floor,” said the elevator operator, “Have a nice day.”

“This is our stop,” Octavia said.

“Aww, but the human. I still want to talk to him.” Lyra whined, “Riki, you want to come hang out with us?”

Using her earth pony strength, Octavia drags Lyra out of the elevator. “Riki is a very busy pony. It was nice talking to you.”

I wave goodbye as I say, “We can hang out when you get back to Ponyville.” The elevator continues up, and a few minutes later, I reach my floor. I thanked the elevator operator and quickly made my way to Blueblood’s room. I knock on the door as I call out to him, “Oi, unlock the door. It’s me!”

I continue to do this until Blueblood opens the door, “Hey, that’s annoying, you know!?”

“My bad,” I said, “Anyway, here is your food. Your roasted eggplant slices with mozzarella cheese.”

“You can throw that away. I'm not hungry anymore,” Blueblood said as he walked inside.

“What!?”

“You took too long, so I just ordered room service.”

“I was gone for an hour and a half. Couldn't you wait a bit longer?”

Blueblood shrugs his shoulders, “No. So, you can throw that. Wake me up at six.” He then walks back into his bedroom, slamming the door.

I drop the food on the table and fall on the nearby couch. I don’t know if he’s doing this on purpose or not. Letting out a groan, “Someone kill me now.”

“Whoever did this, I’ll kill them!” Slugger yelled, throwing an empty bottle of rum across the room. “Who in the buck drunk the good booze here!”

“It was probably one of the new guys,” Coal answered.

“Slugger, just drink something else, you big baby,” Scout said.

Slugger was about to do something, but there was a knock on the door. “Come in!” Coal yelled.

A griffin opens the door with a worried look on his face. “Capo, downstairs! It's an emergency. One of the new kids got pummeled!”

Coal, Slugger, and Scout all hurry downstairs. They see a beaten up Kaz. Coal was the first to speak, “What happened? Was it the Limelight family who did this!?”

Kaz shakes his head, “No, it wasn’t them. It was a weird lookin creature.” Kaz explained what had happened to him to them. Well, he told them what happened, but with a few lies. Saying he has weird powers and stuff. Kaz also describes how his attacker looks, the human Riki. As Kaz finishes his story, Scout returns with a magazine.

Scout flips through the magazine and stops on a page that says 'Top 5 Mysterious Things of the Week'. He then shows Kaz a somewhat blurry picture of Riki, “Was this the creature?”

“Yeah, that’s the ugly punk boy!” Kaz hissed, “Took me by surprise.”

Coal takes the magazine and reads. “It says his name is Ricochet Philip, a human. Saved Equestria with the Elements of Harmony.”

“He’s the one guarding Blueblood,” Slugger said, crossing his arms. "What next, Coal.”

“This Ricochet messed up one of our boys. Just because he saved Equestria doesn't mean he's exempt from the wrath of the Pipistrello family!" Coal yelled, “We fight back!”

Chapter 19: The Pipistrello Family!

The Pipistrello Family!

The casino! What a truly fantastic place. The sounds of winning laughter and crying defeat fill the casino. As Blueblood and I walk past the slot machines, he says, “I could have sworn I told the receptionist for two mares?” He then perceives to check out some can-can pony dancers that passed by.

“What a shame,” I said, trying to sound sincere. I have to thank Twinkle for messing with Blueblood’s request. I followed Blueblood as he complained all the way to the craps table. He sits at the table and asks me for his bits. “You want the whole bag?”

Blueblood nods, “Yeah, give me the whole bag of bits.” I pulled his bits from my backpack and handed them over. “Now go away. I don’t want you to scare away any ladies.” Blueblood waves down a cocktail waitress and asks for a drink.

“Okay, I’ll be close by.” I said, walking away, “Just yell my name if you need me. You know my name, right?”

Blueblood huffed, “I do, Tiki.”

“...Riki”

“Yeah, that’s what I said,” Blueblood said pathetically.

An earth pony, a cat, and a human are sitting at a blackjack table in a tense game. Riki has been on a three-game winning streak. The pony has 10, the cat has 12, Riki has 16, and the dealer diamond dog has 18.

“Hit,” said the earth pony, and the dealer dog deals out a card. It goes from 10 to 15 to 23. Bust. “Damn it, my wife is going to kill me!”

The cat taps for his card and gets a queen of spades, bust.

Riki looks at his cards, queen of hearts and six of spades. He likes how the queen card is Princess Celestia. He lets out a yawn and says, “Hit.” The dealer pulls and flips over the card, and it’s a two of clubs. Riki asks for another card, and it’s a… Bust. A six of clubs, “Damn, what a shame. I was on a good win streak.” He had lost 500 bits in this game, but in the end, Riki made 2,300 bits from the last three.

Riki gets up from the table and looks at Blueblood to see if he is having a good time. Laughing, drinking, and chatting with girls. Riki scratches the back of his head, “Blue is having fun, so I think I deserve a drink.” He then saunters over to the nearby bar and sits on a stool. Riki gets the bartender pony’s attention, “Oi, can I get a rum and coke? No ice and three limes, please.” He then pays with chips and gives the bartender a tip.

“You could have won that game,” Riki hears this and looks to his left to see a lady cat sitting a few seats down. He looked around to make sure she was talking to him. The cat swirls her martini with the cocktail skewer, “Hi there~,”

The calico cat lady is wearing a dark red mini bodycon sleeveless dress, a black choker, black toeless stockings, and two golden earrings on her left ear. She also has fluffy bangs that cover her right eye, red lipstick, mascara, and winged eyeliner.

As he sips his drink, Riki says, “I just got a bit too cocky.”

The cat picks up her martini and clutch bag to sit closer to Riki. She crosses her legs towards Riki, purposely tapping his foot with hers. “You lost on purpose. I was watching you play. I mean, who wouldn’t watch you play? Winning three games in a row, Mr. Card counter.”

Riki almost spat out his drink, “W-what!?”

She leans closer and says, “What’s wrong, cat got your tongue?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about?”

The cat reaches into her clutch and pulls out a beaten-up Snorlax wallet. “I’m not dumb, Riki-boy. I’ve been around.”

Riki’s eyes widened, “Oi, that’s my wallet! How did you get it?”

“You were at the craps table, Riki-boy. Not aware of your surroundings.” She said seductively as she opened Riki’s wallet, “Oh, that’s a cute picture of you. Can I have it?”

“No, you can’t have my ID!” Riki yells, taking his wallet back. “What do you want, and who are you?”

She sips the rest of her martini, “I just want to thank the guy who saved one of my girls, Twinkle.”

“You know Twinkle?” Riki asked, “Wait, are you Ruby?”

The cat smiles and shakes her head, “No, Riki-boy. My name is Mimi, Mama Ruby’s right paw lady.”

“Oh, you’re the number two.” Riki said, leading on the bar table, “So Mimi, how’s Twinkle doing, and how did you find me?”

“Little Twinkle is doing good, and she told me where you’re going,” Mimi said with a small smile. “Twinkle told all the girls back at Mama’s what you did for her.” Mimi starts to play footsie with Riki and begins to speak seductively, “How you put that Kaz in his place, no hesitation.”

Riki pulls his feet away, “Umm, it was nothing, Mimi.”

“Twinkle did say you look cute, in a weird looking way.” Mimi flirted, “If there is a way to thank you, I would love to do it~.”

Riki hold his hands up, “Look, I’m not interested, and I’m on the job.”

“What a shame, and here I thought we could have a good time,” Mimi said, getting up and walking behind Riki. She drags her soft paw across Riki’s shoulder and then to his cheek, “And about your job, it looks like it’s about to get tough.” Mimi then points to where Blueblood is.

Riki looks over to see a well dressed diamond dog and a minotaur. The minotaur then grabs Blueblood by his jacket collar. “Oh, shit!” Riki yelled as he frantically ran to them.

“Bye-bye, Riki-boy.” Mimi said, waving goodbye, “Until we meet again.”

What the hell is going on? First, the cat lady, and now this shit. I never thought someone would do this! Damn. “I’m coming, just hang in there!” I assured Blueblood as I pushed my way through the crowd. “Sorry. My bad. I need to get through.” Wow, everyone here doesn’t know what’s happening or just doesn’t care.

I can see Blueblood struggling to break free. His hooves are in the air, “Tiki! Tiki! Save me right now. That’s an order!” Blueblood yelled.

“It’s Riki!” I yelled back, “Damn, is he trying to make me not like him?” I see them turn the corner into a hallway. Quickly jumping on a poker table to get out of the crowd. I got to where they were and turned down the same hallway, “Fuck I think I lost them.” As I ran past a hallway door, something grabbed my hood and pulled me into the room.

I get up to see I’m in one of those private casino rooms and not alone. Looking around the room, I saw an earth pony, unicorn, griffin, and a cat. Are they all wearing suit jackets? “What’s going on here, a little dress party?” The group looks like they’re ready to fight. That’s not good. “I assume you guys are working with the ones that took Blueblood,” I said, getting up from the floor. “If not, I recommend the four of you let me walk.” I was about to leave the room, but they decided to rush me. Grabbing a nearby chair, I slammed it on the griffin’s head. Then, using the chair to block the cat’s claw attack, “This is going to be a waste of time.” I huffed, pushing the cat away with the chair. “Just hang in their Blueblood."

At the back of the casino, the double doors fling open into an alley. Scout walks out with Slugger holding Blueblood behind. “Put me down, you buck-” Slugger cuts Blueblood off by throwing him against a dumpster, scaring away the nearby rats. “That hurt, you disgusting minotaur!” Blueblood yelled, but his voice died when he got a better look at his kidnappers. “Scout and Slugger, it’s been a while.”

Scout leans in real close, “Yeah, it has. Me, Slugger, and Coal, we all miss you.”

“Coal, how has he been?” Blueblood asked skittishly.

“He’s doing good,”

“Enough of the chit-chat!” Slugger yelled, picking Blueblood up by the scruff of his neck. “I’m going to ask you once. Where is our money?”

Scout leans on the nearby wall, smiling, “Slugger, cutting to the chase like always. Blueblood, make us happy and tell us you have our money. If not, I’ll take your horn and make it look like an accident.”

“You do know how much unicorn horns go for?” added Slugger.

“I-I need more time-Ouch!” Blueblood yelled as his horn was pulled roughly by Slugger. He then holds Blueblood in front of Scout.

“It’s been two years, Blue boy.” Scout said with a slight growl, “Slugger, we’re taking him in.”

“What about the weird human?”

“The others are handling that creature,” Scout said. “Probably already dragging his flank back to base.”

“The only thing they’re are dragging is their bodies off the ground!” Scout and Slugger look behind them to see a slightly beaten-up Riki. His hoodie has a magic blast scuff mark on it and claw marks on the side. Riki was pissed because he just got his jacket fixed by Rarity. “Oi, how’s it going?”

Scout looks stunned as he says, “You beat them all. It was four versus one.”

“Yeah, it was a bit tough,” Riki said, cracking his shoulders and knuckles.

Blueblood managed to get free from Slugger’s grip and ran behind Riki. “The two of you made a big mistake! My bodyguard is going to put you guys in the ground. Go get them, Tiki, beat them up.”

Riki ignores Blueblood and says, “Who are you guys? Because I don’t know if you’re stupid or just don’t care. You know who he is, right?”

“Look, buddy, we don’t care if he’s a noble or some random pony.” Scout sits on a nearby trash can and says, “We are part of the Pipistrello family. We have business with the Prince.”

Riki’s eyes widen, “Wait, Pipistrello family like as in the mafia?” Scout nods his head. Riki looks back at Blueblood, “You got tied up in the mob. What did you do!?”

“Nothing,” Blueblood lied.

“He owes us 300,000 bits,” Slugger said. Riki’s jaw drops as he hears this, and Slugger continues, “We also have business with you, Ricochet.”

“What business?”

“You beat up Kaz, one of ours,” Slugger said coldly.

Riki lets out a groan. If he knew Kaz was part of the mob, he would just grab Twinkle and run. Riki knows how bad and annoying the mob can be. He, Madeline, and his cousins had countered with the mafia several times in New York. “Look-”

“No, enough talking.” Scout interrupted. “Slugger, take them in.”

“Don’t tell me what to do, and stay out of this. I want to see what the human can do.” Slugger snarled as he took off his suit jacket. He then cracks his knuckles, “Let’s make this quick, I have a bottle of cognac with my name on it.” Slugger then charges full speed at Riki and Blueblood, ready to throw a punch.

Riki quickly grabs a nearby trash can lid to block Slugger’s punch, but the force pushes Riki and Blueblood back. “Shit, this guy is tough,” Riki said, throwing the destroyed lid away. He then pulls out his tonfas to block Slugger’s incoming horn attack. Slugger overpowers the human and launches Riki into the ally wall, almost hitting Blueblood.

“What’s going on? Why are you losing!?” Blueblood yelled at Riki, “Do better, Tiki!”

“Get out of the way,” Riki said to Blueblood, picking himself off the ground. He then runs towards the minotaur and slams one of his tonfas down on Slugger’s head with a loud Crack. But the attack only made Slugger mad, “Damn, that did nothing.” Slugger tries to grab Riki, but he jumps out of the way. Riki knows he can’t beat Slugger in power, so speed is his only advantage. Riki plans to focus on dodging and trying to wear out the minotaur.

Slugger’s horn clashes against Riki’s tonfas and says, “The newspaper said you’re strong enough to save Equestria, but I’m not seeing it!”

Riki jumps back, only for Blueblood to get in the way, “Shit, move!” Slugger takes this opportunity to land a solid punch on Riki’s face. The hit almost knocks Riki out cold. His legs start to wobble as blood begins to seep from his mouth. As Riki falls back, he kicks Slugger in the chin. Riki spits out some blood and says, “We need to leave now!”

“You two are not going anywhere!” Slugger roared, lunging at Riki and Blueblood, trying to grab them.

Riki picks up Blueblood and slides between Slugger’s legs. Running to the door, Riki says, “I’m glad that I propped the door open with my backpack.” Entering the casino and shut the one-way door behind them.

Slugger doesn’t move for a few seconds before looking over at Scout. The dog is just sitting on the trash can. “Why didn’t you help?” Slugger spat.

“You told me to stay out of this,” Scout said, hopping off the trash can. “So, this is your fault.”

“I will kill you one day.”

“Same,”

Running down the empty hall with Blueblood in my hands, yelling at me to put him down. Quickly opening a utility closet, I toss the loud pony to the ground and slam the door. Grabbing a nearby bucket, I flip it over to sit on it. Slowly catching my breath, I can see Blueblood shouting at me, but I’m too tired to listen. The me that was fighting Taboo most definitely can beat Slugger. What happened to me?

“Hey, Tiki, are you listening to me!” Blueblood yelled at me. “You better-”

“Oi, Blueblood, my name is not Tiki. It’s Riki!” I interrupted, “If you can’t remember my name, don’t say it.”

Blueblood starts to get mad, “Prince Blueblood to you, and don’t tell me like that. Where's the respect?”

“Nonexistent, but you can try to earn it. The same goes for me calling you prince. You can earn that shit too.” I said as I pulled out a bottle of water from my backpack. “Here, take it. You look like you need it.” He looks at it for a few seconds before taking it. As Blueblood starts drinking the water I ask, “So, how did you get in a big debt with the mob?”

Blueblood thinks for a bit before saying, “Two years ago, I was on a bad losing streak. They offered to clear my debt. Also, I think I was a bit drunk at the time.”

I want to yell at him. I really do. Taking a few calming breaths, then saying, “…Does Celestia and Luna know about this?”

“…”

“You can’t be serious.” I groaned, “Why didn't you tell them!”

“I didn’t want to lose my money privileges,”

Fuck, this guy is something. “I’m going to tell the princesses want you did, and I hope they beat your ass.” I deadpan.

“What!?”

“Anyway, Feather and Bebop will be here Sunday.” I said get up, “We need to lay low until they can pick us up?”

“Let's just go back to the hotel,” said Blueblood, ‘We can stay in the room until Sunday comes.”

I shake my head, “They probably know where we stay, and we can’t go to the cops either. The mafia probably has their hands in there.”

“What now? I don’t want to lose my horn!” Blueblood shouted frantically, “Your job is to protect me. Think of a way out of this!”

“Oi, calm down and stop yelling,” I said, going to the door. “I do have a plan. First, we need to get out of this casino.”

“Okay, what’s next?”

“Second, we just wing it. Like we need to get lucky.”

“I’m going to lose my horn!” Blueblood cried.

“Hey, I think somepony is in here.”

“Then open the door.”

I crack my knuckles, “Looks like our hiding spot is gone. Get ready to run.”

“Hun?”

The doorknob begins to turn, and I quickly grab it. The door starts to thrash about, “It's jammed!” I fling the door open, causing a diamond dog to fall back. I grabbed his legs and dragged him into the room, shutting the door in the face of a pony. “They’re in here!” yelled the dog.

I quickly grabbed and slammed the dog’s head into the wall, knocking him out, and his body fell on Blueblood. Opening the door, I pulled the pony into the room. I quickly knock out the pony and turn to Blueblood, “They’re looking for us. Time to start the plan. You ready?”

“No!” Blueblood cried.

“Good,” I said as I opened the door. Checking the hallway to see that it’s empty. “Come on and keep up.”

“Don’t run too fast, I get tired easily!”

A cat and unicorn are staying in the hall. The unicorn looks at the cat and says, “How dangerous is this human that we’re looking for?”

“Are you scared?”

“No, but he did take out four of us and manage to get away from Slugger.” The pony said, sounding a bit terrified. “Also, you see what the human did in the newspaper.”

“Fake news,” replied the cat.

The pony rolls his eyes, “You should really stop saying that.”

“Oh, stu-Ahhggg!”

Out of nowhere, Riki slams his tonfas on top of the cat and pony’s heads. Their unconscious bodies fall to the ground. “They’re out cold, come on!” Blueblood walks out from around the corner, and Riki says, “How many members did they bring?”

“Umm, a lot more.”

Riki turns around to see six more Pipistrello family members. “That’s some shit right there.” Riki groaned as he ran away with Blueblood. The two stopped when three more Pipistrello family members appeared. Riki grabs Blueblood and runs up some nearby stairs. As they got to the second floor, Riki got a clothesline from the hell from Slugger, dropping him and Blueblood on the floor. This got the attention of casino players.

“Told you the plan will work, you twin horn bastard,” said Scout. “Block his way and make him come upstairs.”

“Shut it, dog,” Slugger replied as he picked up Riki by the throat. Blueblood tries to run away, but Slugger steps on his tail. “You’re not running away this time. Grab this fool, and don’t let him go!” After he said that, a diamond dog and griffin picked up the prince.

As Slugger walks over to the balcony with Riki by the throat, Scout follows and says, “Ricochet, I’m going to be nice to you.”

“Bullshit,” Riki coughed out, trying to break out of Slugger’s grip.

Scout ignores the human and continues, “If you bring us 300,000 bits to the Red Daffodils, you get your prince back. Also, don’t think about leaving or calling for outside help.”

“Is that it?” Slugger asked.

“Yeah, you can drop him,” Scout said with no hesitation.

And like that damn Slugger lets go of me.

I fell and fell, then BAM! My body lands on a poker table, scaring everyone around it. I don’t think I can get up. My body is done. A crowd starts to form around me as I shift my head around. From the second floor, I hear Scout yell, “300,000 bits to the Red Daffodils, or we turn this unicorn into an earth pony!”

My eyesight goes blurry, then darkness.

Chapter 20: Gone debt? New debt!

Gone debt? New debt!

So soft it feels like I’m on a cloud. Wait. Cloud, Las Pegasus, Casino, Blueblood! I jolted up as fast as possible but stopped when a sharp pain went through my body. Not this shit again. I hate waking up like this. “Alright, where am I?” I asked myself, looking around the room. It’s a nice bedroom with dim lights. Mostly everything is a deep dark red.

“Looks like the human is finally awake, goody.”

I look over to the voice to see, “Mimi?”

“You remember me, Riki-boy,” Mimi said with a smile. She is wearing a slim black nightgown with matching frills, “Like what you see, Riki-boy?”

“Where am I, and how long was I out?”

“You’re no fun,” pouted Mimi as she walked to the bed. Sitting beside me, she says, “We’re in my room, and more specifically, you’re at Mama Ruby’s place. Count yourself lucky. Only a few have landed on my bed.” I rolled my eyes, and Mimi was taken aback before continuing, “It’s Saturday, five in the afternoon.”

“Shit, I need to save Blueblood!” I yelled, trying to get up, but Mimi stopped me. “Why are you stopping me?”

“You’re not in good condition to run into their base.” Mimi said soothingly, “You were dropped from the casino's second floor, remember?”

I rub the side of my head, “Yeah, that fall really did a number on me. Still not the worst pain I’ve been through.”

Mimi lays down on the bed, “You know you didn’t say thank you, I did save you.”

“Thank you, Mimi.” I smiled, “I don’t know where I’ll be if you didn’t get me.”

“Stop it, you're making me blush!" She gets up and heads to her dresser, “Oh yeah, Mama wants to meet you when you wake up.” Mimi throws my clothes at me, “I took the liberty to wash your clothes. Got rid of all the sweat and blood.”

I pulled the covers off my body. Yep, no pants. Mimi walks into her closet as I ask, “Why does Ruby want to see me?”

“What do you mean 'why'?” Mimi yelled from the closet, “You saved one of her daughters.”

“Daughters?”

“Mama treats all the girls here like her daughters,” explained Mimi as she walked out of the closet. She’s wearing a blue short sleeve dress shirt with a light blue tie. A white frilly skirt and black toeless leggings. Mimi goes to her dresser to put on lipstick and fix her hair. “So how do I look, Riki-boy?”

I finished putting on my clothes before saying, “You look nice.”

“I was going for sexy, but that would do.” Mimi huffed with her hands on her hips. “Anyways, let’s go. I don’t want to keep Mama waiting.”

As we left the room, I saw a griffin and a pegasus. They wave at me, and I wave back, “Oi.” The two girls giggle at each other before leaving. “What was that about?”

“All the girls know you saved Twinkle. You’re a little hero here.”

“It was nothing,” I said as I followed Mimi down the hall. “Mimi, can you tell me about this place?”

She nods, “First, the place isn’t just some escort building, but a home.”

“...A home?”

“Not every girl here is an escort. Some need a place to live.” Mimi gets a smile before saying, “Mama Ruby is a beautiful and kind lady. Before she built this place from the ground up, Mama was one of the best burlesque dancers in Las Pegasus!”

Wow, Mimi looks up to her. “So, Ruby built this place?”

“Not really. She won this building in a poker game.” Mimi said casually, “Also won a golden tooth from a dragon.”

Holy shit, she is something.

“We also do burlesque shows, and sometimes when Mama is not busy, she joins.” Mimi stops at the door. “Alright, we’re here. Cute human first.”

“Thanks,”

The two walk into the room. Mimi shouts, “Mama, we’re here!” The office chair spins around, revealing a middle aged gray and white chubby cat, Mama Ruby. She wears purple eye shadow and matching lipstick.

Riki sees that Ruby has a resting bitch face, but that all goes away when she smiles. “My oh my, our guest is finally awake!” Ruby said gleefully. She gets up from her desk, and Riki is surprised to see she is taller than him by a head. Ruby makes her way and gives a big hug to Riki, accidentally smothering him between her breasts. “He’s like a hairless cat.” Riki can smell expensive perfume and cigarettes from Ruby’s fur. It’s weirdly relaxing, but the hug starts to hurt.

“Mama, he’s still injured,” Mimi said worriedly.

When Ruby lets go, Riki gasps for air. She fixes Riki’s hair and says, “Sorry, honey.”

“It’s fine, Miss Ruby,”

“Called me Mama,” Ruby said as she returned to her desk.

Riki nods then he notices someone else in the room. “Twinkle, what are you doing here?”

“Well, I’m Mama Ruby’s personal secretary.” She answered, “Also, I heard what happened to you. I feel like this is my fault. I did get you in trouble with the Pipistrello because of Kaz. I’m so sorry.” Twinkle then gives Riki a literal puppy dog look.

“Twinkle, what happened to me is my and Blueblood’s fault, mostly Blueblood. I would have saved you if Kaz was or wasn’t a part of the Pipistrello.” After I said that, her doggy tail started to wag, Riki remembered why he was here, “Mama Ruby, you wanted to talk to me?”

Ruby nods, “First, I want to say thank you for saving one of my daughters. I contacted Kaz’s idiot hairball Don, and we talked briefly.” That catches Riki’s attention. "He said he’d deal with it when he came back."

“It sounds like the two of you know each other?” Riki asked, “Old friends?”

Ruby smirks, “More like acquaintances, knew him before he became the new Don of the Pipistrello family. Also, he married my friend, Maple Page. We used to work at the same burlesque show before she got married and had a filly. You should have seen us on stage, singing and dancing. This one time-” Ruby stops when Twinkle gets her attention.

“Mama Ruby, you’re rambling again,”

“I’m sorry,” Ruby said, sounding embarrassed, “The other reason I have you here is your situation with the Pipistrello family. I wonder if I can help you with your problem.”

Riki begins to smile, “Really, that would be amazing! It’s Blueblood’s debt. That’s all I need help with.”

“How much is it?”

“300,000.”

Ruby almost fell out of her chair, “Sorry, I can’t ask the Pipistrello family to let Blueblood’s debt slide. If it was a few thousand, then maybe, but 300,000 bits.”

“It’s fine,” said Riki, “…The Pipistrello family, can you tell me about them?”

Ruby takes out a cigarette from her desk and then lights It. “The Pipistrello family is one of the three mafia families in Equestria. Las Pegasus is the first of many places where the Pipistrello family is located. They do all the dark shady mafia crap you can think of.” Ruby takes a puff from her cigarette.

“Why haven’t the princesses been involved?”

“The Pipistrello family knows ponies in high places, good lawyers, and great at hiding evidence,” Ruby answered.

Twinkle worriedly asks Riki, “What will you do now?”

“They want me to bring 300,000 bits to Red Daffodils. I’ll give it to them.” Riki said, “I have 50,000 bits in my backpack, plus some I won at the casino.”

“But you still need 250,000 bits,” said Mimi.

“Blueblood was smart enough not to bring all his bits to the casino. So, I will return to the hotel to get the money.”

“Mama, I’m going with Riki,” said Mimi.

Ruby puts out her cigarette, “Be careful, and Riki, watch my girl.”

“Yes, Mama,” Riki and Mimi said, leaving the room.

When they leave, Ruby lights up another cigarette, and Twinkle asks, “You think everything will be fine for Riki, Mama?”

“Riki looks and sounds like a tough guy,” Ruby said as she blew out some smoke. “He’s definitely going to cause havoc for the Pipistrello, haha!”

At the Red Daffodils, Coal sits in a room, pouring himself a drink. The door opens, and Slugger walks in carrying Blueblood, with Scout following behind. Slugger places Blueblood down on the nearby chair. “Be gentle,” said Blueblood as he fixed his hair.

“Prince, it's good to see you!” smiled Coal. "I'm Sorry I couldn’t see you last night. I hope you slept well.”

“Your goons made me sleep in a closet,”

Coal takes a sip of his drink, “So, I was told you don’t have the bits and your bodyguard, is that right?” Blueblood nods his head. Coal then turns to Slugger and Scout, “And the human, where is Ricochet?”

“Slugger dropped the human from the second floor of the casinos,” told Scout.

“Landed on top of a poker table,” Slugger added as he drank out of a bottle.

“Did you check if he was alive?” Coal asked, getting a bit frustrated. “Because a dead body can’t pay off the debt, please tell me he’s alive.”

“No,” said Scout.

Slugger slams this bottle on the table, “That scrawny kid is alive. He’s stubborn as a calf.”

Coal sighs, “You two go to the Blueblood’s hotel room and check if Ricochet is there. If he is, bring him here.”

“I’m drinking,” Slugger burped.

“I’m not going,” Scout said, picking up a magazine.

Blueblood shifts around in his seat, “What are you going to do to me?”

“Slugger, do we still have the dartboard?” Coal asked.

Riki and Mimi step out of the hotel elevator as she says, “Your sister sounds very lovely. I would love to meet her.”

“So, what about your family, Mimi?”

“Mama Ruby and the girls are my family.” Mimi chuckled with a hint of sadness in her voice, “Mama founded and raised me.” Riki is not sure if he should ask about Mimi being an orphan. “Riki, are we here?”

“Y-yeah, this is the room.” He said as he stopped. The two enter the pentroom, and Riki says, “I’ll go check Blueblood’s bedroom. You can make yourself comfortable.”

“Good, I’m going to fix us some drinks!” Mimi said gleefully, making her way to the indoor bar.

“Nothing hard,” Riki said, walking into the room. He grabs one of Blueblood’s luggage and starts to look through it.

He hears Mimi yell from the kitchen, “So, did you have a lady back at your home?”

“No,” Riki yelled back, “Too busy with my jobs, or sometimes it doesn’t work out… So, what about you?”

“No guys or girls have tamed my heart,” Mimi said as she finished making drinks, "I'm looking for three things in a partner.”

"What are the three things?"

"I'm not going to tell you, kyahaha!" Mimi playfully said, walking into the room. She placed Riki's drink on the nightstand and drank hers. “So, did you find it?”

Riki holds the bag of bits up, “Now I need to count the money.” He opens the bag and pulls out a bit with a 20 edge into it. “This almost looks like a quarter, but gold.”

“Let me see,” Mimi said, picking up the bag. She then weights the bag with her paw, “About 200,000 bits in here.”

Riki’s eyes widen, “Wow, that’s amazing, Mimi! How did you learn to do that!?”

“It’s one of a few tricks you pick up here, Riki-boy,” Mimi proudly said, returning the bag. “I also have a trick I can do with my tail. I can show you.”

“Mimi,” Riki deadpan.

She lets out a sigh, “I know, you’re on the clock.”

“You can show me later,” Riki joked, grabbing his drink and leaving the room.

“Oh, I really hope you’re not joking, love,” Mimi purred.

As the two step out of Blueblood’s room, a magic beam comes hurtling toward them. Riki drops his drink, quickly grabs Mimi, and hides behind a couch. He looks over the couch to see a unicorn and diamond dog, “They have to be from the Pipistrello.”

“Why are they here?” Mimi questioned.

“I don’t know, but watch me work, kitty cat girl!”

“I’m watching,” Mimi said with a sly smile.

Riki runs from behind the couch and punches the dog in the face. The unicorn fires off a beam of magic at Riki. He quickly pulls out one of his tonfas and swats the attack away. “Damn, I can’t believe that worked. Celestia really had these tonfas made amazingly well!” Riki then rushes towards the unicorn, dodging another magic beam. “My turn!” he yelled, slamming his tonfa on the unicorn’s head.

As the unicorn falls to the ground, the diamond dog comes right behind and wraps his arms around Riki. “Got you-” The dog was cut by Mimi smashing a lamp on his head. Letting go of Riki, the dog’s unconscious body falls to the ground.

Mimi stands over the body and says, “Saved you again, Riki-boy.”

“Thanks, but I thought you said you’ll be watching?” Riki said as he picked up his tonfa.

Mimi flips her hair, “Got bored.”

Riki rolled his eyes as he picked up the pony by his shirt collar. He begins to shake the pony awake and yells, “Oiii, wake up unicorn! I didn’t hit you too hard!” Riki makes his way to the sink and turns on the cold water, splashing it on the unicorn’s face.

The pony’s eyes slowly open, “W-what happened?”

“You tried to fight me, that’s what happened!” Riki yelled, splashing more water on the pony’s face. “Tell me why you and your pet are here?”

“Our Capo sent us here to find and bring you in.”

“Capo? Mimi, you know who that is?”

“Capo's name is Coal.” Mimi answered, “Ran into him a few times, annoying little pony.”

Riki drops the pony to the ground, “Alright, let’s go.”

“Wait, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Mimi said concerningly.

“I know, but I need to see Blueblood,” Riki said as he poked the unconscious diamond dog. “You can go back to Mama Ruby’s if you want.”

“Nah, I’ll come with you. Just in case you get in trouble.”

“Awesome!”

Mimi and I have been following the two Pipistrello goons for about 20 minutes now. I quietly whisper to Mimi, “Have you been to the Red Daffodils?”

“A few times, just to tell them to back off from my sisters.” Mimi hissed. “The Pipistrello family really gets under my fur. Every time I walk in there, I feel sick knowing all the crimes they committed. I wish that place burns down to the ground.” Damn, didn’t know Mimi had this side to her. I can feel the hate in her voice. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared.

We finally made it to the bar. I looked over at Mimi, and she nodded her head. Opening the door, I was hit with the smell of booze, cigarette smoke, and bad news. Everyone’s eyes were on us as we stepped inside. “Mimi, you can wait outside if you want?”

“No, I’m good. Let’s just get this over with.”

Looking around the bar, I counted about 30 Pipistrello family members. If I take one missed step, I’ll be jumped. I take a deep breath and firmly say, “Where is Blueblood!?”

“Welcome to our lovely establishment, Ricochet!” I look up at the second floor where the voice is coming from. A dark gray unicorn steps out. “My name is Coal, one of the Capos of the Pipistrello family. I heard a lot about you. Look at that, Ruby’s kitty cat, Mimi.”

“Buck off.” Mimi hissed

“Where’s Blueblood?” I asked again.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” Coal smiled, “I was told you were supposed to have the bits for the prince’s debt.”

I hold up my backpack, “It’s in here, take it.”

“Outstanding,” said Coal, “Kaz, take the backpack and count the bits.”

“Oh shit, Kaz, it’s been a while!” I chuckled, “Are you mad at me for throwing you in the dumpster?” Kaz only hissed at me and then snatched my backpack away. “Oi, Charcoal!”

“It’s Coal!”

“Don’t care, show me the Blueblood!” I demanded.

Coal huffed in annoyance, then stomped his hoof on the ground. On cue, I see that damn minotaur Slugger walk out of a room with Blueblood on his shoulders. Slugger looks down at me with a shit-eating grin. That pisses me off. Just because he won that little fight between us doesn’t mean he’s better than me. “You’re here, thank the sun!” cried Blueblood as he squirmed around, “It’s been nothing but Tartarus here! They made me sleep in a closet, fed me peanuts, and threw darts at me. I want to go home!”

“Coal, we got a problem,” Kaz said, walking back into the room.

“What is it?”

“I only counted 250,000 bits plus a bit extra.”

“250,000,” Coal said to himself, “Human, are you trying to pull one over on us? You know who we are!?”

“No, I’m not!” I quickly said, “It’s all the bits I had on me. I hope you guys can just pass 50,000.”

Coal was silent for a bit, just taking in the situation. Scout comes up to Coal and whispers something into his ear. After that, Coal says, “Sure, I can do that. Blueblood, your debt is gone.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Blueblood cried joyfully. “I won’t tell anypony about this.”

Wow, I can’t believe that worked. I look at Mimi, and she has a sour face. “What’s wrong?”

“Something isn’t right, Riki.”

“What do you-”

“Let’s talk about your debt now, Ricochet.” Coal said sternly.

“What debt? I don’t have a debt!?” I yelled.

Coal gets a big grin on his face, “You do. It’s the debt for beating up my guys.”

“You can’t be serious!” Mimi shouted, “You’re just making shit up!”

Coal ignores her and just focuses on me, “You beat up 11 of my guys, so let’s do 30 per head. Since I’m in a good mood, I’ll round down, and guess what? Your debt is 300,000 bits, hahaha!”

“That’s bullshit, and you know that!” I yelled, “You know I can’t get that.”

“Well, we will keep Blueblood as insurance.” Scout said, “And we also know you and Blue Boy will be picked up Sunday.”

“You have midnight to get the bits or explain to the Princesses why Blueblood is now a red puddle.”

This can’t be happening. I look where Blueblood is. Am I fast enough to grab him? Can I take them all on? I took one step towards Coal and the others.

He sees this, “Don’t be dumb, you know where you are.” Coal stomps his hoof, and all the creatures start to stand up, “I don’t want to kill a human.”

“Riki, we need to go now!” Mimi said worriedly, pulling on my hand. “We can figure out what to do back at Mama’s.”

As Mimi pulls me out of the bar, I can hear Blueblood yell, “Save me, T..Riki!” Holy shit, he said my name. Blueblood, I'll get you back, I promise! Just wait a bit longer. That's all I ask.

Chapter 21: The Great Casino Rumble!

The Great Casino Rumble!

“No, that’s not it,” I said, balling up a piece of paper. I lean back in my chair, looking up at the ceiling. Liz, focus up, you can do it. Just draw what you want. Wait, what do I want? “I don’t know!” I yelled, pushing away from my desk. I just need a break and some food. Heading to the kitchen, I open the fridge, looking for something. Man, I really wish I had asked Riki to make some food before he left.

Scanning through the fridge, I hear a knock on the door. “At this time of night?” I asked, walking to the front door. I opened it, and I was surprised to see Twilight. “Oh, Twilight, come in.”

“Thanks, I hope I didn’t wake you up,” Twilight said, walking in.

“No, I was already up. I don’t want to be rude, but why are you here?”

Twilight looks embarrassed, “Well, I just came to check up on you. I haven’t seen you all day. What’s that all about?”

“… It’s nothing bad. I needed some alone time,” I responded sluggishly, “I’m just working on a new invention.”

“Whoa, may I take a look!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Well, I haven’t started yet,” I said, scratching my head. “Few very rough drafts, by nothing really special.”

“Oh, I see. Do you mind if I look at your lab?”

“You can look, but it’s a workshop. Not a lab.” I take Twilight to my workshop, and she’s pretty shocked to see the room.

“Cool, right?”

Twilight looks around, “Ummm, it’s nice. But can I ask, is it always this messy?” Using her magic to pick up some trash around the room.

I look around, and I don’t think it’s that messy. Just a few plates, cups, and tools all over the place. “Sometimes, but I have a system to find what I need.”

Twilight picks up one of the balled-up papers. She opens it, “What’s this?”

I sit in my spinning chair, “Oh, that’s just a robot.”

“A robot, you say!” Twilight gasped, “You can actually do that?”

“Yeah, but it’s just a small robot,” I said, calming her down. “Lost interest in making it, so I dropped it. A robot is so generic.”

“So, do you have anything in the works?”

I thought about what Twilight said. There is one thing I can show her, “Yeah, let me get it.” I look through the many balled-up papers. After a few seconds of looking, I finally found it! I unball the piece of paper and hand it to Twilight.

“...Liz, this is outstanding!” Twilight exclaimed, “You should do this one! Do you know how much good you could bring if you made this!”

“No, I wasn’t thinking about that.” I said honestly, “I was thinking about the vespa that blew up in the Taboo fight… I thought it would be easy to make at the time, but in another world. I can’t really get any of the parts I need.

Twilight looks over my blueprint, “Why not use crystals as a substitute? Some crystals can store magic, and you can use that for the power.”

You can what!? I never knew crystals could do that, man. I quickly took the blueprint from Twilight and rolled my chair to the table. I started to draw over the blueprint. It can work. It has to work. I turn around and show Twilight, “Is this possible?”

Twilight looks over it and then nods, “…Yeah, it’s possible.”

“Do you want to help me with it?”

Her eyes widened, “Really, that will be amazing! I have some books about crystals that can help. Should we start now?”

I want to start now, but all this excitement makes me tired. “How about we start tomorrow? I want to get some sleep. I’ll meet you at your place.”

“You got it, Liz,” Twilight said with a smile. “I’ll see you tomorrow, and have a good night.”

I said goodbye to Twilight as she went home. I finally got something to eat and then headed to my room. I changed into my pajamas and then fell face-first onto my bed. I could feel Louie hopping on my back. “Hey, boy.” I yawned. "Tomorrow, I’ll be working on a special project with Twilight. And Riki is coming home. Do you miss him?”

“Meow,”

“Yeah, me too,” I said, rolling over and pulling Louie into a snuggle. “I wonder how Riki is doing? I hope he’s having fun…”

“That no good pony!” Mimi yelled, slamming her paws on the table.

After the whole incident at the Red Daffodils bar, we decided to head back to Mama Ruby’s to think of a plan. And get something to eat. Mimi slams the table again, almost knocking my drink over. “Oi, why are you more pissed off than me?” I said, stuffing my face with fried zucchini.

“You’re not?”

I point my fork at her, “I’m pissed. I have to save a pony who doesn’t care about me.”

“…Then why save him, you can just run away.”

“Look, I’m not running away. I know Blueblood is a bad guy jerk, but he’s not evil. He needs my help, and I will give it to him.”

“You pity him?” Mimi asked.

“...Look, Mimi, we got other stuff to talk about. I need to find a way to get 300,000 bits before midnight.”

“It’s 9 o’clock!” Mimi yelled, sitting across from me. “How are you going to get all those bits, Riki?”

“...Is there like an underground fighting ring?”

“There was one, but it was shut down two months ago,” Mimi replied.

“That’s ass,” I sighed. As the two of us just sit at the table, trying to figure out what to do. Twinkle comes into the dining room, and she looks surprised. “Oi, Twinkle.”

“Hey, Twinkle,” Mimi smiled.

“Hi, wow, you guys look bad. What happened?” Twinkle questioned. I explained what happened, from the hotel fight to Coal’s new demand. “Oh, my Celestia, I can’t believe that. Riki, how about asking Mama for the bits?”

“I’m not doing that, Twinkle!” I yelled, scaring Twinkle and Mimi. “Fuck, sorry. I didn’t mean to yell at you. I just don’t like borrowing money.”

“…Sorry for bringing that up.” Twinkle mumbled.

“No, it’s not your fault.” I apologized.

“Oh, that’s right! The reason why I came in here.” Twinkle then hands me something. It’s a quarter. “I found this in the dryer. I’ve never seen this before, so I assume it’s yours.”

“Yeah, it’s my quarter. Thank you,” I said, looking at it... Wait, can that work?

Mimi taps my head, “Riki, you have been looking at your quarter for a bit too long?”

“Is it special?” Twinkle questioned.

“Now it is, Twinkle. I could kiss you right now!” I exclaimed.

“...Huh?” She blushed.

“Lucky dog,” Mimi said with a sly smile.

“Guys, I got a plan to get the bits!” I said, get up from the table.

“What do you want us to do?” asked Mimi.

“Find a unicorn that can duplicate and some gold paint. Meet me at Mama Ruby’s office.” I said, running out of the dining room. God, I hope this plan works.

The Gold Haybale casino is one of the best places in Las Pegasus. A ten-story building full of gamblers trying to win big. Inside a private room, Slugger, Scout, and Blueblood sit there in silence. Slugger is fixing himself a drink from the bar, and Scout is reading a gossip magazine that says, ‘Sapphire Shores newest hit!’. Blueblood looks at a grandfather clock. It’s almost midnight.

“...Can I use the bathroom?” Blue asked quietly.

“Will he show up, Slugger?” Scout asked, ignoring the pony as he flipped through the magazine.

“That little brat better show up for what he did to get us here!” Slugger yelled. After that, the door opens, and Riki, Mimi, and Twinkle walk in. “Speak of the devil.”

“Oi, you got my message.” Riki smiled.

“You threw a brick through our window!” Scout barked with rage.

“You did what!?” Twinkle yelled.

Riki crossed his arms, “I didn’t want to bother you guys, so I tied a note to a brick and tossed it.”

“Good, they deserved it,” said Mimi.

“You two scared me sometimes,” Twinkle sighed.

“Anyways, I saw some of your guys on the casino floor.” Said Riki, “What’s that about, scared?”

This causes Slugger to quickly stand up, “Who’s scared?”

“Look, human, I want to get this over with.” Scout yawns, “I’m tired as Tartarus, so tell me, do you have our bits?” Riki takes off his backpack and pulls out a big bag of bits. He then throws the bag at Scout’s feet. The dog opens the bag, “Nice, I love to see this!”

“Aren’t you curious about how I got the 300,000 bits?” Riki questioned.

Scout chuckles, “As long as we got our bits, I don’t care how you did. You could have killed for it, and I wouldn’t bat an eye.”

Slugger pushes Blueblood to the group. The pony makes his way behind Riki, “Let’s leave this place, now.”

When they leave the room, Scout pulls out one of the bits from the bag and looks at it. “…Hey, does this bit look a little off?”

Riki’s group quickly runs down the hall. “I can’t believe you found 300,000 bits.” Blueblood said, “And why are we running?”

Mimi says, “…Well, what we gave them isn’t really bits.”

“Huh?”

“We gave them a bag full of quarters from my world, painted it gold, and duplicated it. A pretty good plan, right?” Riki smiled, “So, we need to leave before they find out.”

“Well, I do wish you came to get me a bit sooner,” Blueblood complained.

Mimi huffs, “Why are you complaining? You should be thanking Riki, he made the plan.”

Blueblood rolled his eyes, “Why should I? It’s his job to protect me. The human is my bodyguard.”

What Blueblood said really gets under Mimi’s skin. Before she can say anything, the group hears someone.

“Ricochet!”

Twinkle let out a yelp, “Is that… Slugger?”

“Buck, they found out.” Mimi cursed, “I thought we would be able to leave the casino before they found out.”

“Yeah, get ready,” Riki said, heading his backpack to Mimi. They can hear the heavy hooves steps down the hall, coming at an alarming rate. “You guys go on. I’ll deal with Slugger!”

“Are you crazy!” yelled Mimi, “Didn’t you lose to him last time.”

“That was last time,” Riki said, stopping in the hallway. “I want to beat Slugger. I don’t want to leave here with a loss.” Before anyone can say anything, they see Slugger tackle Riki into a room.

“Damn, do all humans act like him?” said Mimi.

The three make their way out of the hallway on the casino’s third floor. They can hear Scout yell, “Get them!” Pipistrello’s goons begin to go after the group, making the casino players panic. Poker chips, cards, and drinks fly in the air.

“What are we going to do!?” yelled Blueblood. A Pipistrello member tries to grab the Prince but is stopped by Mimi scratching them in the face.

“We need to get to the first floor.” Mimi said, “But we can’t leave Riki.”

“I can leave without him. He will understand,” Blueblood said, beginning to run off. But Mimi grabs his tail, pulling him back.

Mimi hisses at the pony, “You’re not going anywhere, we’re not leaving Riki!”

“Do you know who you’re talking to!?”

Mimi rolls her eyes, “Look here, this is all your fault, Prince. And now Riki is doing his best to help you.”

“Mimi, calm down.” Twinkle said.

She ignores Twinkle and continues, “I’m surprised Riki can stand this long with you. I hate ponies like you. I would have left you.”

“How rude, you cat!”

“The only reason Riki is saving you is because it’s his job, no! I say he’s saving you out of pity!”

“Pity, you can’t pity me!”

“Can you two stop!” Twinkle barked, “Riki wouldn’t like this one bit!”

“Sorry, Twinkle.” Said Mimi.

“…”

Damn, that really hurts. Pushing the rubble off my body, I see Slugger walk through the hole in the wall. He takes off his suit jacket and folds it, placing it on a nearby table. “What’s wrong, don’t want me to ruin it.”

He ignores what I said and fixes himself a drink from the bar in here. “...I have seen more guts in you than any other member of the Pipistrello family, except for the boss. You want a drink?” I shook my head, and he continued, “I wonder if you would have joined us if we met before all this?”

“I would have said no, sorry.”

“You would have been a good member of the family,” he said, finishing his drink. “I, Iron Horn Slugger, a great member of the Pipistrello family, will give you a fight.”

I start to do some stretches, “Is that your full name or an epithet?”

“Yes,”

“Fun,” I said, pulling out my tonfas. “Let’s do this!”

Running at full speed, we met in the middle, clashing my tonfas against his horns. We struggle for a bit before Slugger overpowers and lunches me into a slot machine. “…Shit, I can’t beat him in power. I need to think of some-Ahhh!” I quickly jumped out of the way of Slugger’s horn attack. It punctures through the machine like it was nothing. “That was close, I don’t want another hole.”

Slugger’s mighty strength rips the slot machine in half. He then rushes at me full speed, trying to grab me. I dodged all of his attempts and then jumped onto the poker table. “You’re like a damn bug!”

“How nice,” I said, pushing down on the poker table and hitting Slugger in the chin with the other side. Slugger grabs and then throws the table across the room. I use that as a distraction to run past and hit Slugger in the stomach with my tonfas, “Double Hammer!” I then kick him in the thigh, “Tuagh Crash!” He turns around and hits me with the back of his hand, making me fly into a wall. I pick myself up, “Fuck, none of my attacks are doing lasting damage. I need to do some real damage.” I get up and run towards the minotaur, “Have another Tuagh Crash!” I kicked across Slugger’s chest, but he took it like it was nothing.

He grabs my leg and slams me on the ground repeatedly like a towel saying, “Iron Thrash!”. I can feel my insides shake hit after hit. I then threw my tonfa at Slugger’s eye, making him drop me.

I slowly get up and try to catch my breath. His body is tough, and he doesn’t look exhausted. What do I have over him, speed? But I need to break through Slugger’s beastly defense to do anything. Blitzing towards him, I yell, “I’m not losing to you!”

The casino floor is now a battlefield. Mimi pokes her head out from behind the table. “I can’t believe the Limelight family is here,” Mimi said in disbelief.

“Yeah, now it’s just chaos out there.” Twinkle said, looking out from the table.

“Well, we should let these fools fight and get out of here!” Blueblood chimed in.

Mimi pokes Blueblood, “How about you be quiet so they can’t find us.”

“Hey, what’s that sound?” Twinkle asked.

“Woohoo!” Riki exclaimed, entering the floor on top of Slugger like a bull rider. Slugger tries to get Riki off his back. He slams his back against the wall, but Riki quickly jumps off as he knees Slugger in the face. Slugger retaliates by grabbing Riki’s hood and throwing him like a ragdoll. The human rolls across the ground and crashes next to a craps table.

Scout walks to Slugger, “We got a problem!”

“I can see,” Slugger said as he removed his tie. “The Limelight family, how do they know we’re here?”

“I don’t know, but my guess is that the human told them.”

Slugger grabs two passing Limelight members, a pony and a diamond dog, by the face. “Why are you here!” demanded Slugger, slowly squeezing their head.

“I-Iorn Horn Slugger!” the pony shuddered.

“We were told you guys were getting a whole bunch of Bits.” Said the dog.

“Did the human tell you?” asked Scout.

“Human?”

“Buck, then it has to be a rat?” Scout questioned, “One of the new members?”

“It doesn’t matter, where’s Ricochet?” Slugger said casually, slamming the dog’s head into the ground.

Mimi and Twinkle rush to Riki’s side to see if he is alright. Riki is out cold, bleeding from the head. Mimi begins to shake him, “Hey, wake up!” After a few seconds, Riki finally wakes up. “You alright?”

“Yeah, how long was I out?” Riki asked, rubbing his head.

“About a few seconds,” Twinkle answered. Riki looks around to see fighting going on, and Twinkle notices this. “The Limelight and the Pipistrello family are currently in a brawl.”

“Limelight?”

“Another mafia family, pretty new compared to Pipistrello.” Mimi explained, “Five years ago, they appeared in Las Pegasus. Causing even more trouble.”

“Now that you are here, we can leave!” Blueblood frantically said. A body flies past them like a rocket. “W-what was that!?”

The four look at where the body came from. They see Slugger holding a pony by the face and shouting, “Get out of the way, you piss ants! Where are you, Ricochet, don’t tell me you ran away!”

“Oi, I’m right here!” Riki yelled as he got up. “You guys get to the first floor. I’ll meet you there!” Before Riki can run off to face Slugger again, Mimi stops him.

“Wait, Riki, tell me why you’re going to fight Slugger again. And ‘I want to’ is not an answer!” demanded Mimi.

“…If I run away, I won’t get stronger.” Riki declared. “In this world with dangerous creatures, I need to get stronger. I need to be capable of defeating guys like Slugger to protect the ones I care about. Mimi and Twinkle, you’re in that group. Even you, Blueblood.”

His words move Mimi. Only knowing him for a day, Riki already cares about her and Twinkle. Mimi gets a small blush on her face, “Alright, but don’t lose this time, Riki-boy. We’ll be waiting for you on the first floor.”

“You can do it,” Twinkle added, “But be safe.”

Blueblood just kept quiet, not looking at Riki.

Riki runs off as the three head to the stairs with the panicking crowd. Blueblood looks back at Riki as he fights through the mob families.

I hit a Limelight and Pipistrello member as I rushed past them. There is no time for small fights. Only one is on my mind. I can see Slugger manhandling a few Limelight goons. The minotaur sees me and shouts, “There you are, Ricochet! I thought you ran away.”

“Never!” I yelled, picking up a nearby stool. I threw it at him, but Slugger swatted it away. A pony rushes towards me, ready to attack. Quickly jumping on the pony’s head to jump again towards Slugger. As I jump past him, I hook on one of his horns using my tonfa handle. Slamming the minotaur onto his back, “Falling Hammer!” The floor cracked as I could hear Mimi and Twinkle cheer for me from afar.

“Slugger, you good?” Scout asked nonchalantly.

“Of course I am,” Slugger said, getting up as he dusted himself off. He then looks and gives me a creepy smile. He gets in a stance that reminds me of a football player. Slugger launches at me with a big burst of speed, “Iron Charge!”

I began to run towards him, and at the last second, I slid between his legs. “I’m over here!” I yelled, waving my hands in the air. Slugger begins to chase me, smashing through tables, machines, and both mafia families. Using my speed to dodge all of his attacks, I’m able to land a few hits.

“Slugger, what are you doing!?” yelled Scout.

“Shut-Ahggg!”

I cut Slugger off by three consecutive punches to the face, “Trifecta Pummel!”

“You’re getting really annoying!” Slugger yelled, ramming into me. I grab his horns, trying to slow him down. It worked a little before Slugger began to swing his head around, throwing me off. My body flies through the air briefly before hitting and bouncing off a slot machine. My body crashes into some tables. If something wasn’t broken, it’s broken now.

I try to catch my breath, but I can’t. My vision is getting blurry. This isn’t good, I need to get up. I tried to get on my feet, but I just dropped onto my back. Hearing Slugger walk towards me, “It’s over, you lost. I’ll kill you quickly,”

The group finally reached the first floor. As they push through the panicking crowd, Mimi stops and says, “Wait, where’s Blueblood?”

Twinkle then says, “Did we lose him in the crowd?”

Back on the third floor, Riki lies on the ground. As Slugger walks up to finish the human off, Riki closes his eyes. He just needs a few more seconds to catch his breath, that’s all. Slugger looms over Riki and cracks his knuckles. Pulling his fist back, Slugger is ready to smash Riki’s head in…

Thud!

Slugger stops and looks down at a bag of poker chips that have been thrown at him. He turns around to see Blueblood, “You?”

Riki shakily leans up, “Blueblood, what are you doing here?”

“To save you, you idiot!” Blueblood said, dragging him away from Slugger, using his magic to pull Riki’s hood. “You should be thankful and not pity me! Also, you’re heavy.”

“…Shut up,” Riki groaned. “Why aren’t you with Mimi and Twinkle?”

“We got separated through the crowd.” Blueblood answered, “And don’t tell me, Prince Blueblood, to shut up!”

“Are you really doing this?”

Slugger stomps the ground, “Hey, are you ignoring me!?”

“You stupid minotaur, you see that I’m talking to my lazy bodyguard!” Blueblood yelled back.

“Lazy? Oi, who fuck are you calling lazy, you dumb Prince.” Riki responded sluggishly.

Blueblood smiles cheekily, “Really, I’m not the one lying on the ground waiting to get my face punched in.”

“…I was catching my breath…”

“Making excuses, I’m pretty disappointed in you, bodyguard.” Blueblood insulted. “My Auntie’s said all these good things about you, but I’m not seeing shit right now.”

“Now is not the time for you to speak this crap,” Riki muttered.

Blueblood gets into Riki’s face, “You’re the one that’s speaking crap. You said I will beat Slugger, but guess what? You can’t! Just run away from your problems, like me.”

“I can do it, I won’t!” Riki yelled, pushing himself to get on his knees.

“…Then prove it, Riki.”

Riki slams his fist onto the floor, slowly getting up. His body is telling him to stop, but he doesn’t care. Breathing heavily, he stands up and looks at Slugger. The only thing on Riki’s mind is to win. “… I’ll take you down in five moves.”

“You can barely stand and think you can beat me in five hits.” In a brief moment, Slugger sees an orange glow flicking around Riki’s body, and then it stops. “What’s th-Ahhhgggg!” Slugger screams in pain as Riki lands a powerful gut punch. The minotaur rolls across the ground and then crashes into a few Pipistrello members. This was the first significant amount of damage Slugger took. And it won’t be the last.

“Slugger!” yelled Scout. He didn’t know what he saw. It was like Riki had just teleported in front of Slugger. Scout shook that thought out of his head. It wasn’t teleporting, it was speed.

“When did he get so fast?” Slugger asked himself as he slowly got up. He wipes his mouth to see blood, “When did he get so strong?” He looks toward Riki with rage in his eyes. He launches himself at Riki, “Iron Charge!” Slugger’s full body weight slams against Riki, but he is surprised when the human fully stops him. Riki lifts him up and then suplex Slugger into the ground, cracking the floor beneath. Slugger struggles to get back on his hooves. His head is killing him, “Y-you bastard! I’ll br-Gaaahhh!” Slugger was cut off by Riki kicking him in the groin. He fell to his knees in pain, trying to catch his breath.

“You let your guard down,” Riki said coldly. He then follows up by kicking Slugger in the face. Slugger’s body flies and breaks through the railing.

On the first floor, Mimi and Twinkle can see Slugger falling from the third floor. The two of them are utterly surprised. Slugger’s body comes crashing onto a poker table, causing everyone around to freak out. When the dust clears, everyone sees how beat up Slugger is. Blood is coming from his head, mouth, and nose. “….is it over?” He said to himself, but he remembered that was only four hits. He has one more. Slugger’s eyes widen when he looks up.

Twinkle points up, “Mimi, is that?”

“Y-yeah.”

In the air, everyone can see Riki fall with Blueblood in his hands. “Heavy Landing…!!!”

“Damn!”

“Crash!!!” Riki yelled, landing on Slugger’s stomach, knocking him out.

The winner of the casino rumble is the human Riki!

Chapter 22: The Blazing Falling Bat Incident!

The Blazing Falling Bat Incident!

The floor is quiet. The crowd watches Riki gets off of Slugger’s unconscious body. He then places Blueblood down. “Warn me next time you decide to jump!” Blueblood yelled at Riki.

“I’ll think about it,” Riki replied with a smile.

“Riki!” Twinkle said joyfully, hugging him.

“Owww, Twinkle!” Riki said, getting out of the hug.

“Riki-boy, nice job,” Mimi said, patting him on the back.

“What about me!” yelled Blueblood, “I did save him.”

“…I’ll think about it.”

Blueblood and Mimi begin to argue, and Riki lets out a sign. “Oi, you two can talk each other’s ears off. But we need to get out now.”

On the third floor, the fighting between the Limelight and Pipistrello stopped. They all had the same expressions, utterly shocked.

Scout makes his way and looks over the railing. “Hey, Slugger! Stop playing around and get up. It’s not funny!” No matter how loud, Scout shouts at Slugger to get up. The minotaur won’t budge an inch. “Oh, no. This can’t be happening… Slugger has been defeated!” The Pipistrello members begin to panic, and the Limelight uses this to their advantage. Scout sees the Limelight push forward, “Retreat! All Pipistrello retreat!”

“What about Slugger?”

“We’ll pick him up on the way out. Now move!”

Once outside the casino, we broke away from the crowd as a few dozen cops showed up. Some enter the building, and the rest begin to take statements. They must have gotten word on what the hell is going on.

“Alright, it’s time for you guys to leave this place,” Mimi said as we ran down an alleyway.

“Yeah,” I replied, “To the airship landing place.”

Blueblood gives Mimi and me a confused look. He asks, “Why are we leaving Las Pegasus?”

“Well, it’s unsafe for you guys to be here.” Twinkle answered, “Even if Riki beats Slugger, let’s not take any chances.”

“We grab you, then we leave by hot air balloon, Mama let us use. That's the plan.” Mimi added. “There’s a train that comes past here. You and Riki will have to hop on it.”

“What?”

As we approached the entrance of Las Pegasus, I stopped and began to run the other way. “Riki, where are you going?” Mimi asked.

“I got to do something really quick!” I yelled, “I’ll meet you guys at the hot air balloon. I’ll be back as fast as possible!”

“You better, or we’re going to miss the train!”

“Yeah!”

Back at the Red Daffodils bar, a party is being thrown. Coal sits at the bar, waiting for Scout and Slugger to return, “What’s taking those idiots so long?” Coal said to himself, “It's supposed to be in and out two seconds!” Coal magically grabs his drink and leaves the bar, “I’ll be up in the room. Tell me when Scout and Slugger get here, got it.”

“You got it,” Kaz said drunkenly.

Coal heads upstairs and slams the door behind him. The Pipistrello members continue to party, and as they do, there is a knock on the door. “I got it,” said a pony. As he was about to open the door, it was knocked down on top of him. This causes everyone in the room to stop and look to see who it is.

“A party, how fun.”

In the upstairs room with Coal. He is counting the bags of bits, but he stops. His ears pick up the ruckus coming from downstairs. “What is going on down there?”

The door opens, revealing Kaz with a worried look, “Coal, this is bad! He’s here.”

“Who’s here?”

Before Kaz could say anything else, he was hit on the head. Coal watches Kaz's unconscious body fall to the ground.

“Oi, unicorn,” Riki said as he walked over Kaz's body. “How have you been?”

As Riki approaches Coal, the unicorn begins to shake a bit. “What are you doing here? Where's Scout and Slugger?”

Riki gets right in Coal’s face, “Still at the casino. Scout is flipping out after I beat Slugger.”

“You did what?”

“Look, I came here to tell you I don’t have a debt anymore. Blueblood has no debt anymore.” Riki said coldly, “You guys will also not mess with Mimi, Twinkle, or any other girls at Mama Ruby. Because if I find out, you lay a single hoof on them. I’ll show you how violent a human can get.”

Coal slowly nods his head as Riki backs away. He then sees Riki grab a few bags full of bits. “W-what are you doing?”

“Compensation,” Riki said as he walked away.

Coal takes this opportunity to use his magic, shooting a fireball at Riki. “Burn, you monstrous bastard!”

Riki just sidesteps the fireball, letting it fly out of the room. “To slow.”

There is yelling from downstairs before Riki can beat the shit out of Coal. “Fire!” yelled a pony, “The bar counter is on fire!”

“Get some water!”

The fire burns through the bar, fueled by the different types of alcohol. Riki sees this and says, “I was about to kick your ass, but this is fine. Bye, unicorn boy!”

Coal sat on the couch as he watched Riki leave. The sound of fire and panicking fills his ears. Coal is trying to figure out how one human can do so much damage. “…The boss is going to kill me.”

Near the entrance of Las Pegasus, a hot air balloon sits there. The balloon is a bit different from the others. It has a rudder and a steering wheel. Mimi and Twinkle get ready for the department. Blueblood is just sitting in the basket, not helping at all.

“Damn, what’s taking him so long?” Blueblood asked, looking out from the basket.

“Maybe Riki had to use the bathroom.” Twinkle answered, “I wonder if humans use the bathroom like we do?”

“First, gross. Second, he would have told us if he had to.” Mimi chimed in, “Riki made it sound really important. Still, he needs to hurry up before the train passes.”

“Oiiii, guys!” The three look over to the noise to see Riki. “Sorry about that. I hope we didn’t miss the train.”

Mimi shakes her head, “No, but you did cut it close. Anyways, where did you go?”

“Well…” Riki said, pointing behind him. “I paid a visit to the Red Daffodils bar. And I had to pee.”

They look behind Riki to see smoke rising into the sky. Mimi's eyes widen, “Riki, did you set fire to their bar?”

“Oh no, I’m not an arsonist.” Riki said, “That dumbass Coal tried to hit with fire magic, but he missed.”

Mimi smiles, “I wish I could see that idiot Coal’s face! Take that, you Pipistrello buckfaces!”

“Oh, I remember you saying you wish that place burned to the ground.”

Twinkle notices the bags Riki is carrying, “Riki, what’s that?”

“Bits I took from the Pipistrello.” He said, dropping the bags in the basket. “I don’t think they need it.”

Blueblood looks in the bag, “Wow, that’s a lot of bits!”

Riki, Mimi, and Twinkle get in the hot air balloon. “So how do we get down?” Riki questioned.

“Thankful, this is a specially made hot air balloon.” Twinkle explained as Mimi used the burner. “You can think of it like a mini airship.”

“That’s so cool!”

The balloon floats, and Twinkle begins to steer it off Las Pegasus. After a few miles away from the floating city, Mimi presses a button on the burner to make it blow cold air, making it go down. In the distance, a train can be seen and heard. “Good, right on time,” Mimi said, tying a rope on the basket. “Riki, get ready. And remember, the train is going pretty fast, so time it right.”

“Yeah, I got it.”

Blueblood pulls himself from the bits, “Wait, what’s going on?”

“You’ll see,” Mimi said, making more cold air blow out. The hot air balloon started to go down at a speedy rate. Twinkle steers the balloon over the train tracks as the train passes by. Mimi hands Riki a rope.

He waits for a bit, then jumps onto the train. Riki lands on the roof without a problem. He carefully makes his way to the caboose. Pulling the rope down, Blueblood jumps on the caboose, “Wait, my bits!”

“Blueblood, we’re taking enough bits for food and train tickets.” Riki said, “I think Mimi and Twinkle should have the rest. They helped us out a lot.”

The prince sighs, “…My bits.”

Riki lets go of the rope, and the distance between them grows, “Thanks for everything, you two, and tell Mama Ruby I owe her!” Riki yelled at them.

“It’s no problem, Riki!” Twinkle yelled back, “You should come back when things calm down here!”

“Riki-boy, when you do come back. I’ll show you a special time!” Mimi shouted, “Oh, one more thing.” She holds up something that catches his eye.

Riki quickly checked his pockets and pulled out his wallet. His ID is gone. “Oi, that’s mine!”

“I know, Riki-boy.” Mimi smiled, “I just want something to remember you by, love.”

Riki lets out a heavy laugh as he waves goodbye to them.

On the hot air balloon, Twinkle and Mimi are making their way back to Las Pegasus. Twinkle sees Mimi looking at Riki’s ID. Then it hits her, “Oh my Celestia, you like Riki!”

“What? No, I don’t!” Mimi said frantically, “Riki is a good friend that I really...care about.”

“…Does he meet your three criteria?”

Mimi blushes as she nods, “He’s strong, doesn't give up without a fight, and very caring.”

There is a moment of silence before Twinkle says, “I’m telling Mama you like Riki.”

“What, don’t do that!” Mimi pleaded,

Twinkle continued to tease Mimi as the hot air balloon floated higher. Laughter can be heard from the balloon between the girls.

Blueblood and I are sitting on some boxes inside the train's caboose. We have to be quiet, so no one comes back here. But we don’t have to worry about that since he and I haven’t been talking. Oh yeah, I almost forgot about this. I took off my backpack and pulled out a bottle of wine with a picture of a manticore.

This gets Blueblood’s attention, “Where did you get that bottle of wine?”

“Took it from the Pipistrello. They weren't going to drink this.” I said, popping the cork off. I then took a drink from it. “Ahhh, that tastes expensive. Here, have a drink.” I held the bottle in front of him, shaking it a bit. Blueblood sighs and takes it. “That's it, drink. It’s been a long night.”

“It’s good,” Blueblood said, passing the bottle back.

We did this for a while. I then thought back to the casino and what he did. “Oi, Blueblood.”

“What is it.”

“Thanks for saving me back at the casino.”

Blueblood gets a small smile, “Well, I didn’t want my bodyguard dying on the job. So, I did the heroic thing and saved your life, Riki. I think I deserve a reward.”

“You called me by my name again,” I chuckled.

“Oh, I didn’t realize.”

“Well, for your reward. I’ll start calling you Prince Blueblood sometimes.” I finished the bottle and placed it on the floor. “…Also, thanks for those words of encouragement back there.”

“Words of encouragement?” Blueblood huffed, “I just wanted you to hurry up so I can go home. I want my bed.”

“I believe you, Prince Blueblood.”

Blueblood sits there in silence before saying, “…I should thank you for saving me and getting rid of my debt.”

“It was nothing, made the trip a lot more fun.” I joked, leaning back. “But next time, choose somewhere you don’t own anyone. Anyways, once this train stops at a station, we’ll get tickets to Canterlot.” I yawned, “It’s going to be a long day, so get some sleep.”

A place of fun. A place of misery. A place where it can give and take. And a place of sin, Las Pegasus. Even if it has a different name from the home of the human, it’s still the same at its core. As the sun rises, it begins a new day. The events that happened in Las Pegasus spread through the city like fire. The defeat of one of the most infamous members of the Pipistrello family and their building set ablaze.

On this day, these events will be known as The Blazing Falling Bat Incident!

Chapter 23: Goodbye Las Pegasus, Hello Reality!

Goodbye Las Pegasus, Hello Reality!

In Canterlot, the castle has been in a frenzy for the past 16 hours. The sun and moon guards are running around the palace, taking orders from Shining and Vanta. It’s been high alert ever since Feather and Bebop returned from Las Pegasus. Telling the princesses that they couldn’t find Riki or Blueblood anywhere. They have gotten reports of an incident that happened Saturday night, but they don’t have enough information to see if it's connected to Riki and Blueblood.

In the castle hall, Specs briefs Captain Shining on new information they found. “Captain, we got reports that Prince Blueblood and Riki were spotted at the Gold Haybale casino Saturday night.”

“Anything else?”

“Yes, we now know there was a fight in the Gold Haybale casino.” Specs said, “Two parties were involved, the Pipistrello family and the Limelight family.”

“A mafia squabble in a public area?” Shining said to himself, “Do we know why they fought?”

“No, all we know is that the families fought and that ‘Iron Horn’ Slugger was defeated.”

Shining stops in the middle of the hallway. He heard stories about ‘Iron Horn’ Slugger when he was just a regular sun guard. One of the heavy hitters of the Pipistrello family, the one you don’t want to fight alone. “Did one of the Limelight members beat him?" Shining sputtered, clearing his throat. “Was it Goco? From what I know, they do have a history.”

“No, Captain, there were no reports of the griffin Goco. It was somepony else.” Specs answered, “Reports did say that it, and I quote, ‘A hairless tall creature saying oi'." Specs watch Shining’s face, trying to express his feelings right now, which is like a show. A mix of curiosity, shock, relief, worry, and a hint of anger. “I expected this would happen.” Specs said to himself.

“Captain Shining, there you are. I was looking all over for you! What’s wrong with your face?” Feather asked, entering the hallway. “It looks like you ate a lemon. Anyway, the Elements of Harmony, Liz and Vanta, are in the throne room with the princesses. They're waiting for you.”

“Alright, I’ll head there immediately. I'm just worried about how they're going to react,” said Shining. “The two of you have been working a lot, so take a break. I don’t want both of you dropping on the job.”

“Yes, Captain!” Feather and Specs said as they watched Shining run to the throne room. As Shining turns the corner, Feather drops to the floor.

“Feather, are you okay!?” Specs asked worriedly as he helped her up. Specs gets a better look at Feather’s face, and she looks horrible. “What was the last time you got some sleep, don’t lie.”

“…I haven’t got any sleep. I have been worried about what is going on.” Feather responded sluggishly, “Ever since Bebop and I came back, it’s been nonstop work. I want to find them.”

He sighs, “We all want to find them, but you can't help like this. Riki doesn’t want to see you in this state.”

“I know… It’s just I heard what you told the captain.” Feather mumbled, “…You don’t think the mafia got to them?”

“No. Riki is strong.” Specs reassured her. “Anyway, where’s Bebop? I haven’t seen her since you two came back.”

“She was with me an hour ago and said something about getting some air.”

“Alright, let’s go find her.” Specs said, “Then we can all get some food in our stomachs.”

The two of them make their way to find Bebop, but it takes a lot longer than they thought. They checked the training ground and the garden, and they even checked inside the maze. Specs is getting annoyed trying to find Bebop, and Feather just wants some rest. They make their way to the castle front. When they walk outside, they see a sleeping Bebop on the ground. Specs let out a sigh, knowing that they should have checked here first. Feather, on the other hand…

“Wake up, we've been looking for you!” Feather yells as she flies over, preparing to land on the bat pony. But at the last second, Bebop slowly wakes up and tiredly rolls out of the way. This causes Feather to land on her face, “Aghhh!”

The scream fully wakes Bebop up. Looking at Feather, and says, “Feather, what happened?”

“Nothing,” Feather answered, spitting grass out of her mouth.

“Bebop, how’s your nap?” Specs asked, walking to them.

“It was alright,” Bebop said as she stretched her wings. “Have we found Riki and the Prince?”

“No, still looking.” Said Feather.

There is a moment of silence for a while. The three of them watch the many ponies walking about in the royal city of Canterlot. “…Guys, have you noticed ever since Riki came here and we became his friends. Stuff got like ten times harder and exhausting.” Bebop asked with a yawn.

“Yeah, it’s a wild ride.” Specs answered, “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t satisfied with Riki’s company.”

“You’re right about that. It’s been the weirdest point in my life.” Feather smiled, “I’m glad we’re Riki’s friends, but sometimes I want a day that I don’t have to worry about the big guy, right?” Bebop and Specs nod in agreement. ‘Buck, I’m so worried about Riki, I think I can hear him say ‘Oi.’”

“Yeah, me too.” Bebop said, “…And it’s getting louder?”

Specs looks into the distance, “Wait, is that!?”

“Huuuuhhh!?”

“Riki fought who!” yelled everyone in the throne room. The reaction is what Shining expected. He was surprised to see Luna had a small smile on her face. Shining, Vanta, and the princesses had to explain to the Elements and Liz who the Pipistrello family is. Twilight had read a few things about them, but it was minor compared to what she was told right now. Also, telling them when it comes to the Pipistrello family and others like them, it’s hard to get a hefty amount of evidence to bring them down. Well, Luna wishes she could go in there and crack some heads like Riki did.

“Wow, and here I thought my brother could have a normal job. He’s missing!” Liz yelled, “Now I’m being told he fought some minotaur.”

“Well, it’s not some minotaur,” Vanta said, “Like what Shining said, Slugger is part of the Pipistrello family. He's infamous for what he can do in a fight. There are rumors that he killed a young adult dragon.”

“D-do we know why Riki got in a fight with that dangerous minotaur?” Fluttershy hesitated to ask, “What if they wanted him to join, and Riki said no, so they attacked him.”

“Now, Darling, why would those ruffians even want Riki.” Rarity responded.

“Riki is super strong!” Pinkie said.

Shining shakes his head, “Look, all we know is that the Pipistrello family got in a fight with a rival family. We can assume that Riki and Prince Blueblood were there when it happened. Riki and Slugger could have bumped into each other, then started fighting.”

“That could be possible.” Liz mumbles, then she looks at the princesses. “Can you guys track down Riki and Blueblood with magic?”

“Sorry, our magic can't locate them,” Celestia said.

“Riki's anti-magic body is probably why we can't,” Luna added.

As Liz lets out a sigh, Applejack walks up to her. “Sugarcube, you’re taking this a lot better than expected.”

“Yeah, I thought you’ll be freaking out.” Rainbow Dash added.

“I am freaking out, but that won't help.” Liz said, “Twilight was the one to freak out the most. You should have seen her reaction when she read Celestia’s letter for the first time.”

“I spat my drink on Spike,” Twilight sighed, “Anyways, we should head to Las Pegasus to see if we can find Riki and the Prince.”

“I hope you girls have a better time finding them than us.” Said Celestia, “We are all counting on you.”

As the girls make their way to the door, everyone hears yelling, crying, and laughing. Then suddenly, the throne room's doors burst open, causing everyone to freak out. Because they see Riki with Feather and a crying Bebop hanging on him. Right behind him is Blueblood and Specs.

“We're here!” Riki shouted with utter joy. He landed right in front with a smile on his face. “Sorry that we are late.” Feather and Bebop fell off. “Oh, and sorry about that.”

Blueblood stopped running and tried to catch his breath, “Why did we have to run all the way here?”

"Oh, Liz, did you get taller?" asked Riki.

His sister and the others then surrounded Riki. They all notice Riki and Blueblood's rough appearance. Before the girls can really ask Riki what happened, Celestia is the first one to talk. “Riki, would you like to explain why you and my nephew have been missing?”

Riki shakes his head, “Missing? We were not missing, right?”

“Y-yeah,” Blueblood agreed.

Celestia gives the two a skeptical look, “Really, so why you two didn't return with Feather and Bebop?”

Blueblood begins to clam up, and Riki steps forward. “Prince Blueblood had decided to take the train back. He wanted to see the scenic route.”

“Riki is right,” Blueblood interjected, “You know the countryside. Hills and plains, stuff like that.”

Everyone just looks at the two, knowing they are hiding something. Blueblood looks like he can keel over and die from paranoia. Riki, on the other hand, looks alright, but he feels like shit.

Luna then asks, “Is there anything you want to tell us? Like anything at all?”

Blueblood shakes his head, and Riki says, “Nothing really happened. Me and the Prince just had a regular time.”

“Yeah, it was fun?” Blueblood said like he was questioning himself. “I enjoyed myself. Riki was very good at his job. I can say Riki is an acquaintance after my trip.”

“Thanks. Oh, there was one thing.” Riki said, “I did get into a fight and with the help of Blueblood. I won.”

“Huuuhhhh!?” The whole room was surprised to hear that. If they weren’t confused about what was happening, now they are. Celestia whispers to Luna for a few seconds, then says, “We don’t know what's going on, but as long the two of you are safe and sound. We think we should call it a day.”

“Really!?”

“Yes,”

“Woohoo!” Riki exclaimed, falling on his back. He couldn’t stand up anymore.

“Specs and Feather, escort Prince Blueblood back to his room, then get some rest.” Shining said, “I got to go spread the word that everything's fine now.

“Yes, Captain.”

“Understood,”

“Bebop, you can go with them too. And I’ll help Shining.” Vanta smiled.

As they say their goodbyes to Riki and leave the room. Liz, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie surrounded Riki again. Pelting him with a whole bunch of questions.

“Darling, why do you look and smell horrible.”

“You and the Prince look pretty chummy. What happened between the two of you?”

“Sugarcube, did he really help you in a fight? Don’t tell me you're lying?”

“Riki, do you need to get checked up?”

“Ohohoh, Riki was it fun at Las Pegasus? I always wanted to go, and you’re so lucky!”

“Big guy, how much bits did you win?”

“I’m just happy you’re back, bro.”

With all these questions, Riki is tired, hurt, and hungry. He just looks up at the ceiling, thinking back on what happened. Not as stressful as Taboo, but still, it was tough. And the fight with Slugger, what was that weird power back then? The same thing happened with Taboo, but this time was different. He shakes his thoughts out of his head and lets out a yawn, causing everyone to stop. “Look, all I want to say is goodbye, Las Pegasus, hello reality.”

Back at Las Pegasus in the parsley burned down Red Daffodils bar. The Pipistrello family is sitting in defeat. Slugger is bandaged up and lying on a charred couch, drinking his pain away. Scout is flipping through a burned magazine. And Coal still hasn’t recovered from what happened. Their bar, destroyed. Their bits, stolen. Notoriety, down the damn drain. He’s worried about how the Don is going to react. Coal begins to bang his head on the table. “T-this is bad, oh shit, this is bad! How are we going to explain this to the Boss!?” He quivered.

“What do you mean we?” Scout asked while chuckling. “I think this is all on you. You're the one that set this place ablaze.”

“It was an accident,” Coal yelled, “This is on you and Slugger. He got away from you two!”

“Coal shut up!” Slugger yelled, shaking the room. “You’re giving me a headache!”

Scout scoffs at Slugger as he puts down the charred magazine. “Are you sure it wasn't the human?”

The dog’s snarky comment really gets under Slugger’s skin. Slamming his bottle of booze on the table, Slugger gets up in Scout’s face, “You listen here, mutt, I’m not in the mood to take shit from you.”

“What are you going to do?” Scout asked with a deep growl.

“Break you,”

“You couldn’t even do that to the human, pathetic!”

The tension in the room is so thick you can drown in it. As it looked like a fight was about to break out between the three, there was a knock.

“Come in,”

Kaz enters the room and says, “…The Don is here. He demands to see you three.”

They all begin to sweat.

“Why is the Boss here?” Coal whimpered, “His wedding anniversary isn't over until tomorrow.”

The three make their way out of the room and down the stairs. All close to each other in fear of their boss. At the bar, a bat pony as black as night, looking through burnt rubble. He’s wearing a pinstripe suit jacket with a matching fedora and a gray overcoat. This bat pony has been a member of the Pipistrello family since he was a colt. Worked his way up the family and finally became the Don at the right age of 25, after the old Don died, his father. He is feared and respected by friends and foes. The pony that’s been the Don of the Pipistrello family for the past 31 years is…

“Don Waltz, it's good to see-”

“Never in my life have I seen anything like this,” Waltz said coldly, cutting Coal off. “How long has this once beautiful place been here?” There was no answer. He doesn’t like that. He stomps his hoof, cracking the burned wooden floor. Making everyone there jump.

“Sorry Boss, I just thought that rhetorical-”

“Answer!”

“Ever since Las Pegasus was built, sir!”

Waltz plays with the charred wood with his hoof. It almost feels like he lost an old friend. “Coal, was it the Limelight family who did this?”

”N-no, it wasn’t them.”

“Then who!” Waltz yelled, making Slugger take a step back. He notices this and says, “Slugger, what happened to you? I've never seen you so bandaged up like this.”

“He lost to this wild beast,” Coal answered for Slugger, “It was also the one that burned your bar.”

“And who may that be?”

Scout clears his throat, “The human named Ricochet, Boss.”

Waltz's eyes widen as he remembers reading about the human and his exploits. Never thought he would cross paths with that creature. As Waltz was about to say something, a maple colored pegasus wearing an expensive looking dress walked inside, “Waltz dear, what going- Oh my Celestia, what happened here!?” The Don’s wife, Maple Page, said in shock. “Is this way we came here? And Slugger, who did this to you?”

“Maple, I’m handling this. And I thought you were going to see your friend Ruby?”

“I wanted you to come along, Dear,” Maple said.

“You know she doesn’t like me,” Waltz deadpans. Just wait outside. I'll be out in a few.” He then kisses his wife. When she leaves, Waltz remembers the real reason why he’s here: “Coal, come here.” The pony carefully walks to his Boss, scared of what might happen next.

“Y-yes?” He said, sounding a bit terrified.

“Is there a Kaz here?” Waltz asked him, “Because I can’t keep up with everypony that joins the family at my age.”

Coal nods, “Yes, he’s fairly new. Do you want me to go get him?”

Waltz pulls Coal real close. “No, it’s just on my wedding anniversary. I got a message about Kaz's behavior from my wife’s friend. This is what will happen. I’ll be back here in Las Pegasus in one week, and I expect this place to be fixed and Kaz be… Let's say terminated. Use a cloudy sinkhole.”

“Y-yes, sir.”

“Good, and next time you see that human, I want him dead.” Waltz smiled. Alright, it's time to leave. The wife is waiting.” As he left the bar and began to walk with his wife, Waltz looked behind him and saw a crow flying away.

From that day on, Riki had started a war between him and one of the strongest mafia families. What’s one more enemy on the human's table going to do? It’s not going to hurt anyone… will it?

Author's Note

Oi, how's it going!? Well, that's the end of the Las Pegasus arc! Did you guys enjoy this part of the story or not? And do you have any questions? The next arc is in the work, but there will be some between chapters, like two or three. So have a nice day and be safe.

Chapter 24: This Is My Fault!

This Is My Fault!

“Riki, bring me the first aid kit, fast!” yelled Fluttershy. “Twilight, push all that stuff off the table and grab some towels now!” The two frantically run around as the yellow pony gives out orders. Liz watches silently, too scared to step into Fluttershy’s house. Her eyes slowly follow Fluttershy, putting a badly injured Louie on the table. She wishes she could look away, but she can’t. It’s her fault Louie is like this. If she hadn’t gone into that damn forest, none of this would have happened. The only words that she can say are…

“I'm so sorry, Louie… This is my fault.”

Flashback- Earlier this morning

Crystals, Crystals, & More Crystals, is one of many weird and interesting books Twilight has in her library. We’re spending hours researching for our big special project. Twilight has been reviewing several research papers about crystals, and I’m handling the books. Louie is here, just sleeping around.

“Link Crystals are a type of crystal that can send sound to the crystal it’s linked to.” I read to myself. That’s pretty cool, but not what I’m looking for. I pulled out a sticky note, writing ‘Helpful, but not right now’ and then placed it on the page. Flipping to the next page, I read ‘Solar Crystal.’ Okay, this sounds interesting. I read a few lines before stopping, “Twilight, I found what we need!”

She drops the papers and walks over. Reading over the page, Twilight says, “Yeah, that will work!”

“Solar crystal is the perfect power source for our crystal engine,” I said, opening my notebook. Flipping to a sketch of a piston engine with crystals in it. “Now we need to find them.”

Twilight looks up from the book, “It says the crystals can be found in places with lots of light.”

“Know any places?”

“A few, mostly mountains. It also says that solar crystals can be found in Everfree Forest. It’s rare to find because the crystals don’t get enough light.”

“Alright, what now?” I asked as I stood up.

“There are two options. One, we can go hiking in the mountains, but it takes a few days to get there and find the crystals.”

“Not really a hiker,” I sighed.

“Two, we can go to Everfree Forest and look for it.”

“But did you say it is rare to find?”

“Yes, but I think a friend can help us.” Twilight smiled. “Her name is Zecora. She lives in the forest. I think she probably knows where to find it. Whichever option you choose, I’ll be perfectly fine with it.”

“…Well, let's go to Zecora to see if she can help us.”

“Alright, let's get ready,” Twilight said, heading to the stairs. “I’m going to get my saddlebag, be right back.” As Twilight walks up the stairs, I start to put away some of the books.

I hope I made the right decision to get the solar crystals this way. It might be dangerous. Maybe I should get Riki’s help. No Twilight is enough. Plus, Riki has been a bit sluggish ever since he came back from Las Pegasus. I want to give him a break. I made my way to Louie and picked him up. “Hey, how’s your nap?”

“Meow,”

“Are you dropping Louie off at Fluttershy’s house or leaving him here?” Twilight said, coming down the stairs.

Before I say anything, Louie jumps onto my shoulder. “I think he wants to come with us.”

“Are you sure?"

“Yeah, now come on. We are burning daylight!” I shouted with excitement. This might be fun.

“Right!”

Deep into Everfree Forest Twilight, Louie and I make our way to Zecora’s hut. As we do, I ask Twilight how she knows Zecora. Twilight tells what happened, from thinking that Zecora was some evil enchantress. Accusing her of putting a curse on them and thinking that she was going to eat Apple Bloom.

Surprise to hear how bad they fucked up. I'm also surprised that Zecora doesn’t hate them.

“I hope you and the girls learned your lesson,” I said, pushing through some bushes.

Twilight lets out a sad sigh, “What we did was wrong, and we learned from our mistakes.”

“You guys did act pretty normal when you met Riki and me.” Louie pops his head out of my backpack, letting out a meow. “Louie, I think they will be more worried about the two humans than you.”

“You're right about that.” Twilight chuckled. "Liz, we’re here.” She stopped and pointed at a tree. I saw masks and bottles being hung from the tree. Twilight knocked, “Zecora, it’s me, Twilight.”

After a few seconds, Zecora opens the door and says, “Twilight, it’s good to see you, but may I ask who that I view?”

“This is one of my new friends, she is a human.” Twilight smiled.

“…Hello, Zecora. It’s nice to meet you.” I said, “My name is Liz, and umm?”

“You’re surprised to see a zebra in Everfree, don’t you worry because this place can be heavenly.”

“…Yeah, that’s what I was about say. Nothing else.” I chuckled. Didn’t want to bring up the rhyming thing. “Also, I’m surprised you haven’t heard about me and my brother. We've been here for about three weeks, give or take.”

“I rarely leave the forest for supplies, so I don’t get any news about you guys.” Zecora said, “But one time when the sun rise, I think I saw your brother with my eyes.”

“You must have seen Riki when he was working out. Oh, Zecora! We came here to ask for help.”

Twilight nods and adds, “We wonder if you know where we can find any solar crystals?”

Zecora thought to herself before saying, “Crystals that use the sun as power, I know where you can find them within one hour. I would like to come with you two, but I’m a bit busy with my cauldron’s brew.”

“Oh, maybe next time,” I said, sounding a bit disappointed.

“Don’t worry Liz my new friend, I will help you to the end,” Zecora said. She then gets a piece of paper and writes something down. “I’ll write down directions to the solar crystals in a flash, but watch out for creatures that will cause a thrash.”

“Thanks, Zecora!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Yeah, and we will be very careful.” I added, “If things do go bad, Twilight can teleport us out.”

“Meow!”

Thank God Zecora doesn’t write in rhyme. Even if I only talked to her briefly, I could tell that she is kind.

Carefully look at Zecora's directions and say, “Twilight, do you see a tree resembling a dragon?”

“Umm, no.”

“Fuck, maybe we passed it or something?” I questioned, looking around. “Wait, where is Louie?”

“Yowl!”

We both look up in the trees to see Louie. He lets out a few meows. “It sounds like he wants us to follow him.” Said Twilight. We followed Louie for a bit. Passing through some shrubs, we see a tree resembling a dragon.

“There it is!” I exclaimed, “Good job, Louie.”

“Mrruh~”

Heading to the tree by sliding down a hill slope. “Okay, the solar crystals should be here,” I said, brushing the dirt off my body. We begin to look around the tree for the crystals.

After a while, I heard Twilight say, “Liz, I think I found the solar crystals!”

I make my way to Twilight to have a look at the crystals. Having a better look, it’s the size of my hand. “It’s small?”

Twilight took out a book from her saddlebag, flipping through the pages. “It says that solar crystals grow better in sunlight, so that's why they’re so small.”

“Yeah, light barely touches the forest ground here,” I said, examining the crystal. “No wonder it's hard to find. Huh?” As I check out the crystal, something catches my eye. Pushing away the dead leaves, I see crystal shards.

“Liz, you find something?” asked Twilight.

“I think so?” I picked up one of the crystal shards and showed it to her. “It looks like it was from a solar crystal. And look here.” I then picked up a solar crystal. It was a bit bigger than the one we found, but half of it was gone. “Is that a...?”

“Bite?” Twilight said, getting a closer look.

“Grrrrr!”

We quickly turned around to see a pack of timberwolves. The five wooden wolves slowly make their way to us. “I think I know why that crystal was bitten into, ” I said as we slowly backed up. “Timberwolves eat solar crystals for the sun energy inside. It's probably like a treat to them.”

“Liz, that's nice and all, but I think we need to leave.”

“What about the solar crystals?”

“Leave it. I’ll teleport us out of here now!” Twilight said, getting her horn ready.

“Wait, where is Louie?” I panicked, “I’m not leaving him, Twilight!” I then ran off, trying to find him.

“Liz, wait!” Twilight yelled, following after me.

“Louie, where are you!?” I shouted. I look behind me to see the timberwolves slowly gaining on us. “Twilight, do something!”

Her horn glows and says, “Look away, now!” As I do, I can still see Twilight’s horn let out a blinding bright light. This causes the Timberwolves to trip and stumble over each other. “They’ll be like that for a while.”

“Good, now we can go find Louie and get the hell out of here,” I said with a sigh of relief. I then stopped, trying to catch my breath. “Louie! Where are you, Louie!”

“Liz, keep it down. We don’t want the timberwolves to find us.” Twilight warned me.

I know, but I need to find him. I can’t leave my cat. “Lou-” I stopped when some bushes began to rustle slightly. “Louie!” I make my way to the bush.

“Wait, Liz!” shouted Twilight.

As I approach the bush, a timberwolf jumps out, ready to bite into my face. Too scared to close my eyes. Too scared to scream. I can only watch the wooden wolf get closer and closer. Someone save me!

“Hisss!”

Right before me, I see Louie clawing and biting the timberwolf’s face. “Louie!” I called out, watching this unfold.

The timberwolf shakes its head, trying to get Louie off. It then manages to fling the cat off, making him hit a tree. Louie gets up on his paws and lunges toward the timberwolf. Just to get smacked away, hitting the ground with a thud next to me. “Louie!” I screamed in terror. I picked Louie up. His body is limp. Wait, is this blood!? As I pulled Louie into a hug, dreading the timberwolf to attack me. When it was about to lunge at me, a magic beam hit it.

The timberwolf drops to the ground. “Liz, there you are,” Twilight said, running up next to me. She then sees the badly injured Louie, “What happened?”

“Twilight, we need to go now!” I cried, “Get us out of here. I need to save Louie!”

Her horn starts to glow, “Fluttershy can help. We can go there.”

Flashback End

It’s her fault. It’s all her fault. Liz looks at her hands, seeing the blood of Louie stain on them. As tears begin to flow, she feels like she's about to throw up. Liz grabs her chest when her heart begins to race. She knows what this is, she experienced this before.

A panic attack.

She tried to catch her breath as she fell face first into the grass. She can only hear Riki call out to her before blacking out.

Back in Everfree Forest, from a tree branch above. A crow watched the whole thing. It flies down to a pile of sticks that was the timberwolf. Plucking out one of its pitch black feathers and says, “let’s do a little experiment,”

As the sun sets and the moon rises, Liz sleeps quietly in her bed. Downstairs in the kitchen, Riki and Twilight are having a cup of blackberry tea. “Twilight, thanks again for getting Liz and Louie out of there,” Riki said, sipping his tea. “But lucky enough, I was at Fluttershy’s place helping her move a few things.”

Twilight taps the table a few times before saying, “You’re welcome, but it doesn’t feel like I helped. Louie got hurt, and Liz has been asleep for hours.”

Riki reached over and grabbed her hoof, “Twilight, stop bringing yourself down. If you didn’t teleport them out of there, shit would have been bad.” Riki said with a soft smile, trying to cheer her up.

“Thanks for the words, Riki,” Twilight said softly. “How are you feeling?”

To Twilight’s dismay, Riki pulls his hand back and says, “I was thrown off when I saw you guys appearing out of nowhere.”

“Teleporting more than myself can be tough,” Twilight said, finishing her tea. “It was a lot more difficult with Liz, her magic resistance.”

Riki grabs the empty cups and drops them in the sink, “Then I saw Louie, and Liz was freaking out calling for Fluttershy.”

As the two continue to talk, Liz quietly walks into the kitchen. Twilight notices her and says, “Liz, you’re up!”

“How are you feeling?” Riki asked, drying his hands. “I was worried as hell when you fainted.”

“I’m fine. What about Louie?” Liz asked, on the brink of tears. Waiting for Riki’s response. “Please tell me Louie is still alive!”

“Louie is alive,” Riki said with a smile. Liz then hugged Riki as hard as she could. “Fluttershy was able to keep him in stable conditions. Just a few broken bones, he’ll be up and running in a few weeks. Well, that's what Fluttershy said.”

“Let’s go see him!” Liz said ecstatically. She begins to run off but is stopped by Riki grabbing the back of her shirt. “What are you doing?”

“Look, it’s late Liz.” said Riki, “We can check up on him tomorrow morning. Now, you hungry?”

Liz was about to say something but stopped. Riki is right. Louie will be there tomorrow. “Okay, we go tomorrow. I’m going back to bed, not hungry.”

“Well, I think I should go now.” Twilight said, “Spike is probably waiting for me or fast asleep.”

“Oh, do you want me to walk you home?” Riki asked.

“Bro, this isn’t New York.” Liz deadpan.

“I’m just trying to be nice, hahaha.” Riki laughed, and Liz sighed.

“…I don’t mind if you do,” Twilight mumbled.

Riki stopped laughing and said, “You said something?”

“Nothing, I’ll see you guys tomorrow!” Twilight spluttered as she ran out of the house.

“What’s up with her?”

“I don’t know,” yawned Liz.

There is a moment of silence before Riki says, “You know it’s not your fault, right Liz?”

“…Sure,” Liz mumbled as she goes to her room. Leaving Riki alone in the kitchen.

He lets out a small sigh, “Guess I'm eating alone.”

At Fluttershy’s home, Louie sleeps peacefully in a cat bed. His bandages are nice and snug. The moon shines through the open window. Louie slowly opens his eye when he hears a flapping sound. He was too weak to move, only able to turn his head. He sees a crow as black as night, illuminated by the moon. It spreads its wings and plucks a feather, “let’s see how well this works.”

“Come on Riki, hurry up!” Liz yelled at Riki.

The two are making their way to Fluttershy’s house to see Louie. They could have left earlier if Riki hadn’t made Liz eat breakfast. Riki yawned, “When I said we could go in the morning, I didn't mean this early.”

“It’s eight in the morning,”

“I know, but I’m so tired…” Riki responded wearily, falling to the ground. “I’m going to take a nap. Wake me up in a few hours.”

“Get up you lazy-”

“Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!”

“What the hell was that!?”

“I think that was Fluttershy!” Riki blurted, getting up and running to her house. “Liz, hurry up!”

“Got it!”

They quickly make their way to Fluttershy’s house. When they got there, one of the windows was broken. “Burglar or monster?”

“No burglars in Ponyville, so it has to be a monster,” Riki said, flinging the door open. “Fluttershy!?”

Her house is messed up. Looks like a tornado passed through here. “Fluttershy, where are you!?” called out Liz.

“Over here, under the couch.”

Riki quickly picks up the couch. They see Fluttershy curl up with Angel Bunny beside her. “Fluttershy, you alright?”

“Y-yeah, I’m okay.” She stuttered.

“What happened to you?” Liz asked, “And where’s Louie?”

Fluttershy gets a worried look, “When I woke up to check up on Louie… He attacked me, then he jumped out the window.”

“What, Louie attacked you?” yelled Riki when he dropped the couch.

“No, that’s not possible. He will never do that!” Liz yelled. “What are you talking about, Fluttershy.”

“Liz, stop yelling at her,” Riki said.

“…Sorry.”

“He was acting weird. I couldn’t understand him.” Fluttershy shuddered.

“Where did he head off to?” asked Liz.

“I don’t know, I was hiding under the couch,” Fluttershy responded.

Riki gets up and looks out the window. He sees some blood on the glass and a blood trail. A couple of paw prints, but some of them are different sizes. “Riki, you found something?”

“Yeah, I think Louie is heading to Ponyville.” Riki said as he began to run off, “Come on you two, we need to catch that crazy cat!”

Fluttershy tells Angel she’ll be right back. When she catches up with Liz and asks, “Wow, Riki really figured out where Louie is going.”

“Riki is smart when it comes to mystery stuff,” Liz answered. “Back home he watched a lot of mystery shows. But we can talk about that later, we need to catch up to Riki.”

“Right!”

On the outskirts of Ponyville, Twilight makes her way to Fluttershy’s place to meet up with Riki and Liz. Twilight has been thinking about what happened last night at Riki’s house. She just ran out of there like a weirdo. “Sweet Celestia, what is wrong with me.” Twilight groaned, hoping Riki and Liz don't bring it up. “Huh, what’s that?” She looks out into the distance to see something lying on the ground. Carefully making her way to it. When Twilight got close, she could tell what it was. It’s Louie.

The cat is breathing heavily, and his only eye is blood red. “Louie, what happened to you? I need to get to Fluttershy.”

“Me-mmEo-oWe,” Louie said groggy, flopping around.

“Wait, Louie, let me help,” Twilight said concerningly. When she goes to pick Louie up, she hears someone yelling. She looks towards the noise to see Riki, Liz, and Fluttershy. “Oh, hey, I was coming to meet you three!”

“Twilight, get away from Louie!” yelled Riki.

“He’s not himself!” Liz added.

“What do you mean-Ow!” Twilight was cut off by Louie scratching her.

Riki goes for a dive to grab Louie, but the cat jumps out of the way. “Damn, when did Louie get so fast?”

“Louie, stop!” Liz begged. “Let us help you!” Her words didn't work on Louie. He just continued to make his way to Ponyville.

“Twilight, are you okay?” Fluttershy asked, checking where Louie had scratched her. “Good, you’re not bleeding.”

“Yeah. What’s going on?”

“We'll tell you as we chase down Louie,” Riki said as he ran after the cat. “We need to stop him before he seriously hurts someone or himself!”

As they make their way to Ponyville. Liz and Fluttershy tell Twilight what is going on. Liz asks Fluttershy if this is the timberwolf’s doing. Fluttershy responds that she doesn’t know.

“Guys, Louie, 10 o'clock!” Riki shouted.

“He's going into the marketplace,” Twilight said.

Louie runs around the market, making ponies drop their stuff. He then jumps to stand to stand, knocking over things. Riki jumps to grab Louie. However, the cat jumps out of the way, causing Riki to crash into a flower stand.

“My flowers!”

“Sorry about that, ummm…”

“Daisy.”

Riki brushes the dirt off himself, “My bad, Daisy. I'll pay for all this later.”

“C’mon, Riki! We don’t want to lose Louie.” Liz said as she ran past him.

“Coming!”

When Riki caught up with the three, Rainbow Dash flew beside them. “Yo, what’s going on?” Rainbow asked casually.

“We are trying to catch Louie,” Twilight said. “He's fast, so can you help.”

“This will be easy. I can catch that cat.” After she said that, she quickly grabbed Louie. Rainbow was then hit in the face with Louie’s paw a few times. “Hey, stop that!” Riki walks up to Rainbow and carefully takes Louie so he doesn’t escape. Louie tries to squirm out, but Riki holds him down.

Fluttershy gets a better look at Louie, noting the red eye and narrow pupil. “This doesn’t look good.”

“Guys, his tail.” Liz shuddered, “Look at Louie's tail!”

They all looked at the cat's tail, which was split into two. The two tails whipped around wildly, hitting Riki’s arm several times. “That’s new,” said Riki.

“Fluttershy, what is going on with my cat!” yelled Liz.

“I don’t know, Liz.”

“Oi, I can’t hold on to Louie.” Riki grunted, “He's getting heavy!”

Before anyone can question Riki about what he said, they already received every answer. Louie begins to grow in Riki’s arms, making Riki drop him. “Get back!” Riki yelled at the ponies around them.

“What is going on?” Twilight mumbled.

They watch Louie grow and grow from the size of a large dog to an elephant. Standing at a solid 10 feet tall, Louie looms over the group. Riki is the first one to speak up, “Don’t panic!” He was then swatted by Louie’s big paw. Riki’s body flies through the air, crashing into a couple of stands. This causes the ponies to panic.

The marketplace is in utter chaos. Screaming fills the air as Louie begins to wreck everything around him. Rainbow and Twilight began to help the ponies get to safety. “This way!” shouted Twilight.

Fluttershy went to check up on Riki. “Oh my Celestia, Riki, are you okay!? You’re bleeding!”

“Just give me a minute,” he mumbled, rubbing his head.

As for Liz, “Louie, stop!” She's trying her best to stop the rampaging giant cat. Liz keeps yelling at Louie, hoping that she can get to him. “Louie, please stop!” Liz pleaded as tears filled her eyes. Louie stops and turns to Liz, looking down at her. Piercing red eye stares at her, letting out a low bellow. Liz takes a step back, but Louie gets closer. He opens his mouth. Fear starts to set in.

“Louie?”

“Get away from her!” Riki shouted, flying kicking Louie in the face. “Liz, did he hurt you?”

She only shakes her head, not saying anything. The only thing on her mind was Louie about to say something.

Louie stumbles back from the hit and then lets out a hiss. Riki pulls out his tonfas as he runs towards the cat. Jumping up and slamming his tonfas on Louie’s head. When Riki lands on the ground, he is met with a paw swipe. However, he quickly rolled out of the way. Seeing Louie’s claws cut through the ground effortlessly,

“That was close,” Riki muttered.

“Riki, look out!” Liz yelled.

“Huh!?” Riki said as one of Louie’s tails grabbed him. He tries to break out, but the tail starts to constrict. Not wanting to be crushed, he gets an idea. “Sorry about this.” After Riki said that, he bit down hard on Louie’s tail.

Louie lets out a painful cry. Flicking his tail up, accidentally throws Riki up in the air pretty high. Luckily, Rainbow Dash saves him, “Gotcha, big guy. So, what's the plan?”

“Can you drop me over Louie’s head?” Riki request.

“Sure,”

Riki then shouts, “Oi, Twilight! Keep Louie in place!” Twilight uses her magic on Louie’s paws so he can't move. “Good, now drop me.” Rainbow let’s go of Riki, falling at a fast rate. Louie struggles and manages to pull one of his paws out. But it was too late. “Heavy Landing Crash!” Riki lands on the cat’s head, slamming into the ground.

“Nice job!” Rainbow said from above.

“It's over,” Twilight said as she looked over all the damage that had been done.

“I really wish there was another way to stop him.” Fluttershy sighed sadly.

Liz nodded in agreement as she began to cry, “It hurts to see him like this.”

Riki was about to say something, but he was thrown off when Louie quickly jolted and got up. He then followed it up with a paw swipe, launching Riki into the fountain nearby. He hit his head pretty hard, too dazed to move. Louie then jumps and lands over Riki, ready to bite his head off. The cat was stopped when Liz threw a rock at his head. Turning, and looks at the crying Liz for a few moments. His red eye flickers before he slams his head into the ground. He then ran away. Liz watches as her cat makes his way out of Ponyville. “…Louie,” she wipes the tears from her eyes.

Twilight and Fluttershy help Riki out of the fountain. He takes off his wet hoodie and wrings it out, “Oi, Rainbow! Do you see Louie? Where's he going?”

“Everfree Forest,” she said, flying down.

“Fuckin', of course,” Riki muttered.

“What now?” asked Fluttershy.

“We have to go after him,” Liz declared, “I want to get my cat back. I don’t know what the hell is going on with him, but I know he’s in there.”

“Liz, Louie almost bit Riki’s head off,” Twilight said. “We should get the Princesses for help-”

“Nah, we got this handled.” Riki interrupted with a smile, “Liz, since you stopped crying. What’s next?”

Liz stayed silent for a moment before saying, “We go to Everfree Forest, find and bring Louie back. I want to try talking to him. If that doesn’t work, we’ll use force.”

“Alright, let’s do this.” Riki said, “But we need to get the others.”

Liz nods, “I’ll go get Pinkie and Rarity. Rainbow Dash, you get Applejack. Twilight and Fluttershy, can you two patch up Riki and pick up Spike. When you guys are done, meet at the entrance of Everfree Forest.”

“Yeah, let’s go save Louie!” Riki shouted.

“Yeah!”

A tree falls over as Louie's giant body crashes into it. Breathing heavily as he stumbles through the forest, his head spins and spins. Louie repeatedly slams his head into a nearby tree.

“you are something, cat.”

Louie stops and frantically looks around, trying to find where the voice is coming from.

“i saw what you did, monster. they saw what you did, you beast.” The voice reverberates throughout Louie's head. “your friends don’t want you, they attacked you out of fear. but I enjoy everything you did.”

“Li-aow-z!”

“you think that little girl loves you right after what you did? no! you have nothing. except for power, that i give you to save your little life.”

Just then, a pack of timberwolves begins to surround the cat. Snapping and growling at him.

"go wild!"

Chapter 25: The Girl And Her Cat!

The Girl And Her Cat!

“Louie, where are you!” yelled Pinkie from on top of Riki's shoulder. “If you come out, I have a secret treat for you… It's a cupcake!”

“Pinkie, it’s not a secret if you tell him,” Riki said tiredly.

The group has been searching in Everfree for a few hours.

“Riki, you’re lagging behind,” Rarity said worriedly, “Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Yeah, Louie really did a number on you,” Applejack added.

“I've been through worse.” Riki smiled, “Also, thanks to Fluttershy and Twilight for helping me.”

“Don’t push yourself, Riki,” Fluttershy said worriedly.

From Riki's hood, Spike says, “I was surprised to see you and Twilight with a messed up Riki. More surprised to hear Louie did that to him.”

“You should have seen Louie. That one red eye and then gotten very big.” Rainbow said. “He was like a monster.” Liz hears this but tries to push it out of her mind.

Applejack bumps into Rainbow and says, “Don’t say that. You don’t want Liz to be mad.”

“My bad,” Rainbow apologized.

“Liz is too mad at herself to be mad at anyone else,” Riki said as he broke off a tree branch. He begins to swing it around like a sword.

“Does she still think this is all her fault?” asked Fluttershy.

Riki swings the branch around, hitting a few trees in the process. “I think she needs someone to tell her it's not her fault.”

“Darling, why don’t you tell her? You are her brother,” said Rarity.

“…I did. But I think she needs to hear it from Louie.”

Ahead of the group, Liz and Twilight are walking side by side. It has been quiet between them. Liz breaks the silence, “Twilight, do you think Louie is a monster?”

“What? No, I don’t think Louie is a monster.” She said, shaking her head. “Ignore Rainbow Dash… Do you think Louie is a monster?”

“…No, I don’t think Louie is a monster.” Liz mumbled, “…I am scared of him. And that makes me mad. I want him back, but what if we can’t save him.”

Twilight was about to say something, but a loud rustling sound could be heard. “What's that?”

The others regroup with Liz and Twilight. As they do, the sounds of falling trees can be heard. “Is it Louie?” Liz asked.

“It might be a manticore,” Fluttershy said, hiding behind Riki.

Riki removes Pinkie from his shoulder. “Whatever it is, just be ready,” he says, preparing his stick.

The sounds stop.

“Maybe it was nothing-"

“Rrrraaaaaggghhhhh!”

A huge timberwolf jumps at the group, ready to bite at them. Riki quickly shoves the stick in its jaws, stopping its bite. He then follows it up with a stronger right hook to the face, but it does nothing. The timberwolf roars before lunging again. They all barely dodged the attack. “Everyone okay?” Riki shouted as he held Pinkie and Fluttershy under his arms.

“Yeah, we’re all good here!” Twilight yelled back.

As Riki puts down the two ponies, he has a better look at the timberwolf now. The wood is dark like it’s been in a fire. Slightly bigger than Louie, and it has red eyes. “Oi, Fluttershy, that timberwolf. Can they look like that?”

She trembles behind Riki and shakes her head. Look at the timberwolf up and down, saying, “No, this is the first time I've ever seen one like that. Riki, we all need to get out of here.”

The timberwolf goes to attack the others, “Shit.” Riki said, pulling out his tonfas. He then hits the timberwolf across its side. “Damn, its body is tuff.”

“Riki, watch out!” Spike yelled from Riki's hood. He ducks under the timberwolf’s swipe attack.

Taking this opportunity, Riki gets some distance. “Thanks for the lookout, Spike.”

The dragon moves to Riki’s shoulder, “It’s nothing, but be a little more careful.”

“What’s wrong with that timberwolf?” asked Applejack.

“A lot bigger and scarier,” said Rarity, “We should run.”

Riki spins his tonfas, “Twilight, can you get us out of here?” Riki didn’t get an answer. “Oi, what’s wrong?”

“Liz…she's not here,” Twilight said with a worried look.

“What!?” yelled everyone.

“Ow, fuck, damnit!” I yelled, rolling down a hill. When that timberwolf attacked us, I jumped back a bit too much. Didn’t know I was so close to a hill. I finally stop rolling, laying in an opening field. Nothing feels broken. Looking where I rolled down from, it’s too steep to climb back up, and even if I yell, they probably can't hear me.

That damn timberwolf is something alright, but Riki is with them. It did look different than the other timberwolves. It kind of reminds me of Louie. Wait, is the same thing that happened to Louie, is happening to the timberwolf too? Shit, I can theorize about that later. I need to find a way back to the others fast. Looking around the open area, I see some trees that have been pushed over. I walked up to see claw marks, a lot of claw marks. “Louie?”

Making my way deeper, following the downed tree and claw marks. A rustling sound catches my attention. I know I shouldn’t go towards it, but I need to see if it’s Louie. Then something big slowly walks out. I take a few steps back, a manticore, and it looks hungry. It has big wings, long scorpion tail, and a flowing red mane. “Hey, h-how about we just talk like normal…creatures,” I said nervously.

“Grraaaauuuu!”

Oh, God, it’s breath smells.

I begin to run away from the manticore as fast as possible. Making my way back to the open area I was at. I tried to climb the slope, but it was too steep. Pulling out my wrench from my backpack, I get ready to fight. The manticore runs to me. Ready to dodge out of the way, however, something slams into the manticore’s body. Standing between the manticore and me is Louie.

The two stare down each other for a bit. Louie lets out a hiss before hitting it in the face, drawing some blood. The manticore lets out a growl before running at Louie. They both start to bite and claw at each other. The manticore when to use its tail, missing a few times. Going for another strike, the manticore is cut off when Louie bites on the tail and spins the manticore, then slams it to the ground. The manticore was about to get up, but Louie placed his paw on its head. Louie was about to go for the killing blow. I couldn’t watch anymore, “Stop it, it's over!” This distraction allows the manticore to escape into the forest.

When Louie looks at me, his eye flickers red, and he walks towards me as he breathes heavily. He has trouble walking forward like he's trying to stop himself. As it looks like Louie is about to attack, he turns around and runs. However, I grabbed one of his tails. “Where do you think you're going!?” I yelled, pulling on his tail. “We are worried about you. I'm worried about you. You know how much it hurts me to see you like this, like some monster!”

Louie pulls his tail from my grasp. Getting in my face, he lets out a low growl.

“What’s wrong? Don’t like being called a monster, so stop acting like one then!” I reach out and try to touch his face, but he pulls away like he's scared. I kept pushing and managed to touch his face. It's so soft to touch. “Whatever is going on, let us help you, please!” I begged as tears began to flow out of my eyes. “I hate seeing you act like this.”

“…I-I’m sorry.”

My eyes widened. I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. “Louie, you just talked?”

“I don’t know what’s going on. I'm so scared.” Louie cried, “I keep hearing a voice. It hurts so much. Telling me all these bad things. But every time I look at you, my head feels clearer.”

“This is my fault. I got you hurt, almost got you killed!” I wailed, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Liz… It’s not your fault,” Louie said, nuzzling me. “But now I’m like this… What if I can’t be fixed? You don’t want me.”

“You got it all wrong! I will always want you.” I smiled with tears in my eyes. “No matter how weird you get, I will always love you.”

“I love you too!”

As the two hug, a silver glow comes from Liz's shoulder. Without them knowing, the silver light coats them. Dark energy began to flow out of Louie’s body. Then, a black feather rises out of his neck, fading away into nothingness. When the light slowly goes away, the two pull apart from their hug. “It’s gone.”

“What’s gone?” Liz asked.

“The voice is gone, and my head doesn’t hurt anymore!” Louie said happily, jumping around. “I feel better, Liz! I don’t feel like I'm going to explode anymore.”

Liz began to smile, “That’s amazing… Wait, how’s that possible? What happened?” Liz watches Louie playfully runs around. Maybe she shouldn't worry about it. I'm just happy that he’s back in some way. “…Oh shit, Louie!”

“What is it, Liz?”

“The others are in danger!” Liz yelled frantically, “A wild looking timberwolf is attacking them. We need to go help!”

Louie picks up Liz by the back of her shirt, flipping her onto his back. Liz’s hand digs into the cat’s soft fur. “Hold on tight,”

“Wait, how are you going to find them?”

“I can follow Riki's scent.”

“Rarity, watch out!” Riki shouted as he kicked the timberwolf in its side. Making it crash into a tree. The timberwolf gets back up. At the spot where Riki kicked, vines came out and fixed the broken wood. “That's cheating!”

“Why does the darn thing always try to attack Rarity and Fluttershy?” asked Applejack.

“Maybe my stunning beauty hurts its hate filled heart.” Rarity said dramatically.

“What about me?” Fluttershy said.

Riki gets in front of them, getting ready for the timberwolf's next attack. “Look, I don’t want to burst your bubble, Rarity. But I think it's trying to pick off the weakest link.”

“Now that’s just rude,” Rarity huffed.

“Yeah,” Fluttershy agreed.

Twilight fires a beam at the timberwolf, hitting it in the face. “We need to find Liz so we can get out of here.”

“I know, I know,” I said, running to the timberwolf. “But if we don’t beat this bastard, it’s going to be a lot harder to find Liz with this timberwolf on our ass. Rainbow, go low, I'll go high!”

“Yeah!” Rainbow Dash flies toward the wolf. It was about to bite her, but she went underneath the timberwolf and hit its leg, making it fall. Riki is about to slam his tonfas onto the wolf's head. However, the timberwolf opens his mouth, shooting out sharp wood chips. Riki manages to block a few of the wood chips, but the rest digs into his arm.

“Riki!” Twilight shouted.

"Your arm!" Fluttershy yelled frantically.

Riki pulls out the bloody wood chips and says, “I’m fine!”

The timberwolf is going to attack Riki, but Louie jumps on and pins it down. Louie then picks up the timberwolf by the neck, throwing it across the forest. Everyone is surprised not just by Louie saving Riki, but also Liz riding on a giant cat. “Lizzy! You're back, and you found Louie!” Pinkie squealed.

“Hey, guys!” Liz smiled, “Need help!?”

“Absolutely!” Twilight replied.

Fluttershy carefully walks up to Louie and asks, “Liz, is Louie alright?”

Before, Liz could answer, but Louie did instead. “I’m alright, Fluttershy. I'm a bit scrambled in the head, but I think a nice nap can help.”

“That’s good to hear,” Fluttershy said with a sigh of relief.

“Wait, did I just hear Louie talk?” Riki said shockingly.

“Yeah, Louie talks now.” Liz said, “I thought you gotten used to all the weird stuff here?”

“You're right, but I never expected this.”

Rarity taps Riki’s leg, “Excuse me, I don’t want to interrupt this, you two, but the timberwolf.”

The timberwolf runs wildly at them, but it looks off. Like it is falling apart, its tail snaps off, and its ears just drop. It tries to regenerate, but it’s breaking down too fast. “What’s wrong with it?” asked Spike.

“It looks like whatever made this timberwolf is breaking down the body.” Twilight hypothesizes. “It can’t handle anymore.” She was then thrown onto the back of Louie by Riki.

“That’s cool, but we need to leave,” Riki said, throwing everyone onto the cat. “Louie, not too heavy?”

“No, I’m good!”

Before Riki can get on, the timberwolf jumps at them. Crashing onto the ground, it lost its wooden front right leg. Riki quickly grabs one of Louie’s tails. “Go!”

Louie begins to run through the forest, being chased by the timberwolf. Liz looks back at the wolf and says, “Twilight, shoot at its other leg!” Twilight fires a beam and hits its other front leg. The timberwolf falls face first into the ground. It tries to get up, but its body begins to expand, and then...

Booom!

The timberwolf explodes into tiny wooden pieces. Its body couldn’t handle the mysterious power that was flowing through it. The force of the explosion launches everyone out of Everfree Forest, landing on top of each other.

“Is everypony alright?” asked Applejack.

“Wait, where's Louie!?” Liz said worriedly.

They all look around only to hear, “You guys are sitting on me!” Louie wiggles his way out from under everyone. He then jumps onto Liz’s lap, “Almost suffocated under pony butt.”

“Glad to see he’s fine,” Riki said, getting up, “The whole talking thing will take some time to get used to.”

Twilight gets up close to Louie, “Liz, how is he talking?”

“And how did you calm down, Louie?” Fluttershy added.

“I don’t know?” she responded, “When I got separated from you guys, I ran into a manticore. Louie saved me.”

“I wasn’t in the right state of mind, but I heard Liz.” Louie said, “The voice in my head was telling me to do stuff. I just ignored it, then my head began to hurt. We talked for a bit, then poof, I was feeling a lot better.”

“That really doesn’t explain anything,” Twilight sighed, “I need to tell Princess Celestia about this.”

“Louie, I need to know. Do you know how you got like this?” asked Riki, “Because you and that timberwolf were like the same.”

“What do you mean?”

“The red eyes, very big, a weird aura coming from the back of the neck.”

“What weird aura, darling?” Rarity asked.

“Maybe that timberwolf hit Riki a little too hard, Rare.” Rainbow Dash said, rolling her eyes.

Riki rubbed the back of his head, “Anyways, Louie, what happened?”

The cat takes this time before saying, “Last night, I remember something coming into Fluttershy's house, but that’s it. My mind was so foggy at the time, sorry.”

Liz pats Louie on the head, “It’s okay, Louie.”

Louie shakes Liz’s hand off his head. He then jumps off from her lap, “No. It’s not okay, Liz. While I was not in the right mindset, I did bad things. I watched everything as my body acted like… Some monster.” Louie begins to cry his heart out. His body starts to grow again.

“Louie, take a breath!” Riki shouted.

“Liz, darling, be careful.” Rarity said as Liz walked over to Louie.

“We still don’t know what's going on with him,” Twilight added.

“I know what I’m doing.” Liz slowly reached out and petted Louie’s face. And she softly said the same thing he said to her. “Louie… it’s not your fault.” Liz’s words hit Louie hard. He returns to his normal size, and Liz picks Louie up. “Stop kicking yourself, okay?”

“But what about all the damage I did?”

Liz looks over at Riki, “You'll handle it, right?”

Riki groans, “The mayor is going to have my balls.” The ponies look at him weirdly. “Not like that. Luckily enough, I have the bits from that bodyguard job the princesses gave me. I think that will cover it.”

“I’ll come with you, Riki,” Twilight said as she fixed her hair. “If you don’t mind.”

“You can come, may need the company.” Riki smiled.

“Thanks,”

“Hey, can you two flirt later, I’m starving!” Rainbow interrupted.

Twilight began to blush, “Rainbow Dash, we were not flirting. Right, Riki?”

“I’m starving too, hehe!” Riki chuckled. “Who else is hungry?”

“Me, me, me!” Pinkie said joyfully, waving her hooves in the air.

“All that running really has a mare worn out.” Rarity chimed in, fanning herself.

“I'm hungry too, but no cat food.” Louie required.

Applejack asks, “So where are we going to eat?”

“I’ll cook something for you guys,” Riki said.

“Really, you’re the best!” Fluttershy smiled.

“Yeah, Spike, will you help me cook?”

“Sure!” he said as he got into Riki's hood. “Wait, what are we going to cook?”

“I don’t know, I'll figure something out.”

As the group makes their way to Riki’s house. Riki and Liz both look up, like they feel something familiar. “Huh, what's wrong?” asked Twilight.

“…Nothing?” Liz questioned herself.

“Yeah. Nothing.” Riki reassured her. “Come on, guys.”

A cloaked figure watches the group from a cloud above. “Taboo, your little test failed. Somehow, the cat got freed, and that pitiful timberwolf couldn’t handle the power. Feeble creature.”

“no, my test worked better than i expected, pride.” Taboo said as he flew on top of Pride’s shoulder. “i will tell you that i was surprised that cat survived, all thanks to that human.”

Pride huffed as his eyes narrowed, “Still don’t know have you lost to that group, Taboo. Six pitiful ponies and two humans. But I am interested in how strong they are, especially the boy.” Pride readying his scaly claws, preparing to jump off the cloud. “And there's a dragon too, exhilarating!” The cloud underneath begins to darken and lets out a low rumble.

“hold it, pride.” Taboo squawked, “now is not the time to scratch your itch. right now we wait.”

Chapter 26: Dragon Quest!

Dragon Quest!

“C'mon, Fluttershy, it'll be fun!” said Twilight. Inside Fluttershy's cottage, Twilight and Riki are watching Rainbow Dash pull Fluttershy across the floor by her tail.

“Yeah, Twilight is right. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Riki added, “...I mean, I think it is? I'm still new here, and I don’t know what is a lifetime opportunity here. ”

Fluttershy digs her hooves into the floor, “There's nothing fun about dragons! Scary, yes! Fun, no!” She manages to escape from Rainbow Dash before getting caught again.

Riki leans down and whispers to Twilight, “Wait, what about Spike? Did she just forget about him? ”He then crosses his arms, “I think Spike is fun. Scary, not even if I'm drunk.” Twilight jabs Riki’s side, “Okay, not the time, but I’m telling Spike what I said.”

“Fluttershy, Riki is right. The great dragon migration is a once in a lifetime opportunity.” Twilight said as she walked up to Fluttershy, “This migration happens only once in a generation!”

“Thanks, but... no thanks!” yelled Fluttershy.

Rainbow Dash sighs as she tries to hold down Fluttershy, “I watched that boring butterfly migration with you, so now it's your turn to watch the dragon migration with me! You owe me!”

Riki sees Twilight’s pouty face. She really wants Fluttershy to come along. Riki pats Twilight’s head. “I got this, Twilight… Rainbow, let me handle this.” Riki gets up and picks up the squirming pony, “Fluttershy, stop moving and listen to me… okay?”

“Okay,”

“I know that you’re scared, but I think you should come,” Riki said as he gently put Fluttershy down. He pats her head, “It won’t be bad there.”

Fluttershy hides behind her hair and mumbles, “I don’t know, Riki. What if a scary dragon goes after us?”

“Fluttershy, everything will be alright, I promise,” Riki said soothingly, “I’ll be right next to you the entire time we're there. And I’ll make sure no dragon comes near you, except for Spike.”

“You really do that for me?”

Riki nods, then says, “Yeah, of course.”

“Alright, I’ll go,” Fluttershy said, moving the hair away from her eyes.

Twilight gets a big smile on her face, “Oh, this is great! Fluttershy, you won't be disappointed! And I think Pinkie, Applejack, and Louie are done digging the trench.”

“T-trench?” Fluttershy stuttered.

“Yeah, so the dragons can’t see and attack us.” Rainbow Dash replied.

“I think I made a big mistake,”

Riki picks up and places Fluttershy under his arm. He begins to head to the door, saying, “Too late. You can't back out now.”

In a field, Twilight, Riki, and the others are sitting in a trench wearing camouflage clothes. Riki looks up into the sky and asks, “So, see any dragons yet?”

Twilight pulls the binoculars away from her face and quietly says, “No, I don’t see anything. Applejack, what about you?”

“I don’t see a thing,” Applejack replied quietly.

“Why are you two whispering?” Riki asked. He then looks around at Pinkie to ask if she sees something. But she’s using the binoculars backward. “Having fun, I see?”

Pinkie looks at Riki through the backward binoculars, “Yeah, yeah! Do you want to use them?” She then hands the binoculars to Riki. “Also, I think there's something wrong with the binoculars. Everything looks weird.”

“Buck! You don't think we missed them?” Rainbow Dash asked. “That is so lame.”

“I don’t think it’s lame that we missed the dragon,” Fluttershy spoke up as she sat next to Riki and petted Louie. “Well, too bad. I guess we have to leave.”

Fluttershy is about to leave, but Twilight says, “We're just a little early, and I'm glad we are. This way, we can watch every moment of the migration.”

Riki gives Pinkie her binoculars and makes sure she's using them correctly. Riki turns to Twilight and says, “Well since we're waiting for those dragons to show up. Twilight, how's the crystal engine you and Liz have been working on?”

Twilight sets down her binoculars and says, “Great, actually. We are working on a few designs. And for the solar crystals that we need, we have to hold off on that.”

Louie stretches and says, “Where the hell is Liz, Rarity, and Spike?” He then jumps on Pinkie’s head. Pinkie then holds up the binoculars for Louie to use. “Liz wants to take pictures, so she better get here.”

“I bet Rarity is holding them up,” Applejack said.

“Oh, guys! I see them!” Louie shouted as he pointed with his paw.

“Yoo-hoo!”

They look out of the trench to see Rarity strutting like she’s on a runway. She’s wearing an outstanding dress. You can also say that her dress is loud. Following right behind Rarity are Liz and Spike. Liz is wearing camouflage with a matching backpack and face paint. Spike is pushing a tea cart. Rarity makes her down to the trench as slowly as possible. Once Rarity reaches the bottom, she twirls to show off her dress. “What do you think? Am I the toast of the trench or what?”

“You'll be toast alright, when the dragons see you parading around in that getup.” Applejack huffed as she looked up in the sky. “You stick out more than a pear in a bushel of apples.”

“I think you look nice, Rare-bear.” Riki smiled

“Nice is an understatement, Darling. I look fabulous!” Rarity flips her hair and says, “Who says camouflage has to be drab?” She then strikes a pose.

“The ones that don’t want to be attacked by dragons,” Applejack answered with a smirk.

Liz takes off her backpack, “I have to talk Rarity out of making a big entrance. She wanted to use confetti and walk on a carpet.” Liz pulled out her camera and then attached a telephoto lens to it. “Hey, Fluttershy, I’m surprised you even came.”

“Well, Riki said he’ll protect me if dragons attacked,” Fluttershy said as she nuzzled up against Riki.

“Ahoy, maties! Dragons ho!” Pinkie shouted, pointing up in the sky. Everybody quickly looks up to tens of thousands of dragons filling the air. This is the great dragon migration. They let out a collective of oohs and aahs. Well, except for Fluttershy, she just hides behind Riki. Dragons fly throughout the air, occasionally breathing fire and bumping into each other. Liz begins to take photos, “This is so good! I wish I could get a close up on one of these dragons.”

“Wow, this is amazing!” Twilight beamed, “I have to write this down!”

“Just watch Twilight.” said Riki, “Liz will have plenty of pictures and videos of the migration… so relax. Oh, Fluttershy, would you like to use the binoculars?”

“No thanks, Riki. But thanks for asking.” Fluttershy blushed.

Liz stops taking pictures and looks over at Twilight, seeing she’s not focusing on the dragon migration. Twilight is looking at Fluttershy and Riki. Liz moves next to her and asks, “Hey, is everything alright? You're not watching the migration. Is something distracting you? ”

Twilight looks at Riki and Fluttershy, then back at Liz. She quickly smiles and says, “I was just… seeing how Fluttershy is holding up. That’s all, Liz.” Twilight goes back to watch the dragons.

Riki falls and lands on his back, “Watching these dragons are making me hungry!”

Spike comes in, pushing a tea cart and wearing an apron. He hands Riki a cookie, “Here, Riki, this will hold you over. Does anypony else want one, or would you like some tea?”

“Spike, why are you wearing an apron?” Riki asked as he ate the cookie.

“What's wrong with wearing an apron? You won't be laughing when you spill blueberries all over your scales—”

“Shin,”

“All over your shin. That's one tough stain! ” Spike said as he gave Pinkie a cupcake.

Rainbow Dash laughs, then says, “One tough stain against one lame dragon.”

“Lame!?” Spike gasped.

“She’s kind of right,” said Applejack, “You really don’t act like a dragon.”

“Spike is the opposite of a ferocious dragon,” Louie said as he groomed himself.

“Leave him alone, Spike is unique.” Rarity spoke up. “He doesn't have to look like other dragons.”

“Or act like them,” Twilight added.

Rarity walks up to Spike and pats his head, “My little Spikey-wikey is perfect the way he is.”

Spike has a sad look. “I don't act like other dragons?” Everyone just nods their head. Spike is surprised that they think he doesn’t act like a dragon. He takes off the apron and looks at it. Dragon doesn’t wear aprons? “...I thought they did,”

“Why would you want to, Spike?” asked Applejack.

“Yeah, dragons are destructive creatures,” Fluttershy said. “I'm glad you’re not like them.”

“They're right. You've got something those dreadfully fierce dragons can only dream of.” Rarity smiled.

Spike gets a hopeful smile, “Really, what's that!?”

“The cutest widdle chubby cheeks! Ooooo!” Rarity cooed as she stretched and squashed Spike’s face.

“Cute?! Dragons aren't supposed to be cute! Right?” asked Spike.

The little dragon begins to blush, and Rarity says, “Oh, sweetie, you are turning the most delightful shade of red.” Everyone smiles while Spike continues to blush. Well, except for Riki. He just watched in silence and ate off the tea cart.

This was the breaking point for Spike. “Rrrgh!” He makes it out of the trench and begins to storm off. Well, it was more of a waddle off. Rarity was about to say something, but Riki stopped her.

“Whatever you're going to say is just going to make it worse,” Riki said as he dusted himself off. “As the only guy here that is not a cat, I should talk to him man to man… Human to dragon.” Riki got out of the trench and went after Spike. When he catches up with Spike, he says, “I don’t know if this helps, but you look good in that apron.”

“Thanks, Riki,” Spike sighed. He stops and then kicks a rock, “Riki, what do you think of me? Am I a dragon to you?”

Riki sits on the ground and says, “Spike, what are you getting at?”

“Riki, please answer the questions,” Spike begged.

Riki sighs, “The girls are right. You don’t act like a dragon. And it’s fine.”

“I don’t think it’s fine.” Spike then sits next to Riki, “When I think about it, It kind of makes sense now. Ponies raised me.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I was given to Twilight as an egg.” Spike looks up in the sky, watching the dragons fly past. “...Riki, what do I do to feel in tune with my kind?”

Riki took a moment before saying, “People from my world have the same problem as you. And the way they solve it is by getting in touch with their culture. Like talking to their people and visiting where they come from.”

“Thanks, Riki. I think I know what to do.” Spike said with a smile. “I probably need to sleep on it.”

Riki gets up and puts Spike in his hoodie, “That’s good to hear, man. We should head back. I think the dragon migration is over.” He looks up to see little to no dragons. “Plus, I need to pee.”

“Same,”

The next day in Ponyville, Riki, Liz, and Louie are walking through the town. Riki wants to pick up a few things for dinner. He feels like making mixed veggies with tofu and brown rice. Liz and Louie decided to tag along. Louie is in his giant form with bags on his back. “Riki, what’s next?” Liz asked, sitting on of Louie.

“Yeah, we just need some rice and more booze,” Riki answered.

Louie leans down and says, “Booze?”

“When we got back from the dragon migration yesterday. I drank the rest of the beer and ate from my Reese's stash.”

“Reese's stash!?” Liz said shockingly. “I never knew you had a Reese’s stash. Where is it?”

“I’m not telling you.”

“Hey, guys, is that Spike with a bindle?” Louie said, pointing at the dragon. The two look over to see Spike walking like he has somewhere important to go.

“I wonder where he’s going?” Riki questioned. “C'mon, let's go talk to him.” The three make their way to the little dragon. Riki stops him and says, “Oi, Spike, what’s going on?”

“Oh, hey, guys. I’m leaving.” Spike said with a smile. This causes the three to freak out for a bit. Spike quickly stops this, “I’ll be back. I'm just going to join the dragon migration!”

“What gave you that idea?” asked Louie.

“I got the idea from Riki, from what he said yesterday. By getting in touch with my kind.” said Spike, “I thought about it last night, and this morning I decided to go.”

“Does Twilight know about this?” Liz chimed in.

“Yeah! She is very supportive of me going,” said Spike. “Twilight believes that I need to go on this quest to find myself.”

Riki claps his hands together, “I'm coming too!”

“What!?” The others yelled.

“What do you mean by going with Spike!” Liz shouted.

“Well, I’m not going alone,” said Riki. He then points at Louie, “You’re coming too.”

Louie's eyes widened. “Why me?”

“We need a ride there and back, and it will be fun!” Riki said joyfully. “Plus, cuz you can't go alone. So, Spike, can Louie and I tag along?”

Spike thinks for a bit, then says, “Yeah, you two can join. But you’re not a dragon. Would you just stand out?”

“Don’t worry about that, Spike. We just need to go back to my place to get a few things.” Riki then picks up Spike and places him in his hoodie. “Liz, I’m going to take the groceries back to the house. Will you be good for a few days?”

“Yeah, I’ll be good,” Liz said. She walks up to Louie and pets him, “Well, you guys have fun with your trip-”

“Quest.” Riki and Spike interrupted.

Liz rolls her eyes, “Whatever. I’m going to see Twilight. Have a nice quest.” Riki jumps on Louie and begins to head home. Liz waves goodbye to the three, “And Riki, try to bring back a souvenir.”

“Okay!”

I know Riki is strong, and Louie can keep up with him. I hope they don’t run into any dangerous dragons. Making my way to the treehouse, I see Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash. “Hey, guys!”

“Good morning!” Twilight said. “Oh, Liz, we are going to follow Spike. He joined the dragon migration. Would you like to come?”

I shake my head, “About that. I already knew Spike was going on his quest. Riki and Louie are joining him."

“They are?”

“Yeah, and I don’t think you guys shouldn't follow Spike,” I said, crossing my arms.

“But those big, ugly, nasty dragons. What if one goes on a rampage and just gobbles Spike up?” Rarity worried. “I know Riki is tough, but he never fought a dragon before… we should go.”

Rainbow Dash smirked. “The big guy can beat a dragon.”

“Riki got this handled. He and Louie will have Spike there and back safely.” Liz smiled.

“Yeah, we should let Riki do this,” said Twilight, “But if they are not back in a week. We are going to go look for them.”

“Yeah!”

“Are we going the right way?” I asked as Louie ran through the grassy plain. Watch the sun slowly begin to set. I realize that I'm a pretty lucky guy. I’m riding on a cat that’s the size of an elephant and with a dragon.

“The dragons were going in this direction,” Spike said. “Plus, it feels like we’re going the right way.”

“Also, I can smell the scent of fire,” Louie said. He begins to slow down and says, “Can we take a break.”

“Yeah, It looks like it’s about to be night.” I jump off of Louie. I check out the grassy field, nothing dangerous out there. “We can set up camp here for tonight.” Louie stops next to me and begins to shrink back to normal size. I take off my big camping backpack, “Oi, Spike, can you make a fire?”

“Can do.” Spike grabs a few twigs and leaves, putting them in a pile. He then breathes out a small flame. “All done, Riki. So, what are we eating?”

I took out a pot, a bag of rice, and a can of baked beans. “Just some beans and rice.” Putting the pot over the fire, I pour the baked beans into the pot. “Food will be done in 20 minutes.”

Louie lays down next to the fire, “This feels nice.”

“Riki, I've been meaning to ask. Why did you decide to come along?” Spike asked me as he sat next to the fire.

As I stir the pot, I say, “Well… I just want to make sure you get there and not end up in the ground.” I take a sip. Damn, I should of brought some honey. “And there is something else…”

“Something else?”

Louie perks up and says, “Oooh, Riki is going to talk about his mom!” Spike and I give the cat a look. “Riki, I have lived with you for many years. I know when you are about to talk about your mother.”

I rolled my eyes at the cat, then said, “I was like you, Spike.”

“Really?” asked Spike.

I took a deep breath and then said, “I lost my mom when I was little. Didn’t know much about her. Only stories from my dad.”

“Sorry about your mom.”

“It's fine. I’m somewhat over it.” I said as I took out some bowls. “My mom is Irish, and I wanted to know about my Irish heritage. A few years later, I got a chance to go there. My grandparents were farmers, and I have an uncle who owned the bar there.” Thinking back to that time puts a smile on my face. It has been a while since I visited my family there. “It’s good to know where you came from. I think that’s enough talk. Let's eat!”

Pouring Louie a bowl of food. Louie takes a bite, then says, “Thanks again for not feeding me cat food anymore. I mean, it's okay, but your cooking is amazing.” Louie begins to dig in.

“Thanks for the food, Riki.” Spike said, “Hey, are you going to eat?”

“Yeah, right after I set up the tent.” Opening the tent bag, I began to set it up. “...Y’know what's funny?”

“What?”

Adjusting the tent, I say, “It’s only us. Us guys!” They stared at me for a few moments before I continued. “We are three men-”

“I’m a cat,”

“And I’m a dragon… What’s a man?”

Sighing and crossing my arms, I say, “We are the only boys in the group. And we three never hung out before without the girls.”

“Really?” Spike muttered, “I could have sworn we have.”

“A few days ago, I wasn’t a chatty cat,” Louie said as he stretched. “So, yeah. We haven’t hung out like this.”

“Great! Now, what do you guys want to talk about?” I said as I fix myself some food. “Anything is on the table.”

A few seconds of silence pass. I was about to talk about Mimi, but Spike spoke up.

“...Can we talk about girls?”

I chuckle a little, “Sure, but I wouldn't say I'm a ladies' man. I'll help as best as I can.”

Spike took a moment before saying, “There is this girl I like…”

“Rarity?” I said, not looking up from my bowl.

“Yeah, Rarity-WAIT! How do you know that!?” Spike exclaimed as he jumped up.

“Yeah, just continue.”

Spike clears his throat, “Well, what do I do to make Rarity like me?”

I took a bit to think. He and Rarity, I don’t see it. Looking over at Louie, he gives me a look. He's thinking the same thing. “Well, have you thought about looking for someone else?”

“What do you mean?”

“You have Rarity tunnel vision.”

“Tunnel vision?”

“You focus too much on her. There could have been somepony else, but you couldn't have known.” I rub the back of my head, “Look, Spike, I'm not trying to be rude. Just be more observant.”

Spike nods, “Yeah, yeah. But I don’t think anypony can catch my eye like Rarity. Her beauty shines brighter than any gem I've ever seen.”

“Whatever,” I said, leaning back and staring into the sky. The stars shine bright with the moon so full. “Louie, how about you and Rarity’s cat go out?”

Louie perks out, “Opalescence?”

“Yeah,”

“No, absolutely not!”

“You two talked?” asked Spike.

“Once, she acted so upper class,” answered Louie. “Rarity needs to stop babying that cat.”

“What about you and Liz?” I asked with a smile. He responded by hissing at me. Spike and I laughed. “Now, do you want to hear the story of me and my cousins getting stuck in Rome?”

“I do!” Spike said ecstatically, “...Wait, what’s Rome?”

“A big stony city,” Louie replied as he licked his paws clean.

“Cool!”

Walking through fields and going across rivers has been fun. We managed to catch up with the dragons in a few days. Riding on top of Louie through a forest full of dark orange leaves. Brushing the leaves off my head, I feel Spike wiggling around in my hood, “Look who’s awake. How’s your nap?”

Spike lets out a yawn, “Good, how long was I out?”

“I think it’s around noon?” I said. “So, about a few hours. Oh, you slept through this raft ride with this donkey.” I need to stretch my legs. Placing Spike on Louie’s back then jumped off on the cat. “Oi, Spike, are we close?”

“Yeah, I can feel it.” Spike said, “Guys, look up there.” Louie and I look to where Spike is pointing at. It’s a tree with two red birds. “Phoenixes, you two never seen one, right?”

“Spike, I always thought they were bigger?” I asked as I watched the two birds grooming each other. I see Louie beginning to focus on the Phoenixes. I tap the cat’s head, “Oi, don’t get any ideas.”

“Hey, I'm not dumb enough to attack flaming Birds.” Louie huffed, “Even if I’m about the size of an elephant.”

“Look, we’re out of the woods!” I yelled, running ahead. Once we are out, we see volcanoes. One of the volcanoes has dragons heading to it. “Guest, we have to climb that.”

Louie gives me a double take, “We have to climb a mountain!?”

“Well, it's an inactive volcano.” Spike corrected him.

“I see smoke, so it’s probably active,” I said as I crossed my arms. “Well, I’m not a volcano expert.”

“That’s great!” Louie said sarcastically.

“Quit whining like a pussy, let's go!” I smiled.

“I am a cat,”

The three scales up the volcano. Well, it was more like Riki carrying Spike and Louie. As they make it to the top, they hide behind some rocks. Spike looks inside the volcano to see tons of dragons. All different colors, shapes, and sizes. The little dragon has the biggest smile on his face. “Now, what dragon should we hang out with?” Spike didn't get an answer. He turns around, Riki and Louie are not there. “Riki? Louie? Where are you guys?”

“Sorry, Spike. I just went to hide my backpack and get change.”

“Change for what-” Spike's words die when he sees Riki. Riki is wearing an orange dragon onesie with wings clearly taped on. “...What are you wearing?”

Riki does a few poses before saying, “It’s my disguise, so I can blend in with the other dragons. I’m wearing my Agumon onesie. I hope the taped wings help out.” Riki lets out a hearty laugh as he pulls up the hood. “Pepper Breath, haha!”

Spike sighs at Riki’s antics. “Wait, where is Louie?”

“I’m right here!” Louie sticks his head out of the onesie. “I think I should hide in here.”

“So, Spike, what are we doing?” Riki asked as he looked inside the volcano.

Spike points at some dragons, “Alright, you guys see those teenage dragons?” Riki and Louie both nod, “That’s our get-in.”

Make their way inside the volcano, carefully sliding down so they don't fall. As they make their way to the teenage dragons. They see them wrestling, laughing, and eating gems with each other. The teenage dragons finally notice them when Spike trips over a rock. Riki picks up Spike and says, “Oi! Dragons, how’s it going!?”

A red dragon as tall as Riki steps up and says, “Who are you two?”

Spike clears his throat, “Uh, hi. I'm Spike.”

“And I’m…Agumon,” Riki can feel Louie biting his back. “That’s the only thing I can think of,” Riki whispers to him. The dragons begin to surround them. Riki gets ready if he has to fight.

“Well, I’m Garble.” He said as he sized up Riki, looking into Agumon’s eyes instead of Riki’s. Garble then introduces the other dragons to Riki and Louie. “How come we haven't seen you two around before?”

Riki rubs his head, “I mostly hang out in the back when we migrate.”

“Dude, he’s one of those dragons,” Whispers a purple dragon to a white dragon.

“I think he’s the one that threw up in the lava pool.” The white dragon whispers back.

Garble picks up Spike by the tail. Riki is about to intervene, but Louie stops him by biting his neck. “Wait, don’t do anything.”

“Oh, and I live in Ponyville and–” Some laughter cut off Spike from the dragons.

Garble drops Spike, “Hahaha! Ponyville? That explains it! I knew you gave off a pony-ish vibe.” Garble slowly gets in Spike’s face. Spike backs up until his back is up against a rock. “If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were part pony!”

“Who, me? I'm not part pony! I'm all dragon, see? Raar!” said Spike, trying to make himself look scary. But it’s not really working.

“Or maybe you're a pony in a dragon costume,” Garble said, making the other dragons laugh. Riki sighs as he gets in between Spike and Garble. “Agumon, what are you doing?”

Riki knows Garble is the boss of this group of teenage dragons. So, if he keeps Garble calm, the others will follow. “I ran into Spike this migration. And let me tell you, he is a dragon of dragons.”

“Oh, yeah? Prove it,” said Garble.

“How do I do that?” Spike chimed in.

“By acting like one! Who's up for a little belching contest?” Garble announced, making the dragons around cheer with excitement. Each of the dragons takes turns burping up fire. The next one is better than the last. “Agumon, it’s your turn!”

Spike gives Riki a worried look. Riki pats Spike on the head, “I got this. I came prepared. Oi, Louie?”

“Yeah, what do you need?” He asked as he crawled up my back.

“There is a small bottle of rum and a lighter in my right pocket,” I whispered. “And put them in my hands.” Louie carefully grabs and places rum and a lighter in Riki’s hand. He sneakily chugs the bottle of rum. Riki spits out the rum on the lighter, blasting out a stream of flame.

From the dragon's perspective, it looks like Riki is breathing fire. But it was just a simple booze flamethrower. Dragons cheers with Riki’s performance. “Nice one, Agumon!”

“Dude, that was amazing!”

“It was nothing,” Riki said casually, making his way back to Spike. Spike taps Riki’s leg and asks him how he did that. “Just some booze and a lighter. Saw Madeline do it a bunch of times. She’s good with anything that has to do with booze.”

“You think you can beat that, Peewee?” Garble said, bumming into him.

Spike takes a few deep breathes before breathing fire. But something other than fire came out, too. A letter from Princess Celestia. Riki and Spike’s eyes widened as they watched Garble pick it up and begin to read it. Riki is surprised that Garble can even read.

“From the desk of-” Before Garble can read anymore, Riki snatches the letter and shoves it down his onesie. “Whoa, Agumon! If you’re that hungry, we have gems over there.”

“My bad.”

“Alright, let's do some tail wrestling!.” Garble yelled.

“Yeah!” The dragons roared.

Time has been flying by. After tail wrestling and the short time Spike was ‘King of the Horde!’ before Garble took it from him. I will say my time here with the dragons is pretty fun. It’s like a frat house, but everyone can breathe fire. Spike is having fun here. I would love to see him like this. Maybe we can come back here later.

“Oi, Louie?”

“Yeah, Riki?”

I look over the cliff, “Is that a pool of lava down there?”

“Yeah, yeah, it is.” Louie nods.

“...Cool,” I said. “And we have to jump down there?”

Louie moves to the top of my head. “Well, I can sit this one out.”

I watch a dragon jump off the cliff and cannonball in the lava. That looks cool and painful. Something taps my leg. Looking down, I see Spike, “Oh, you can cut in front of me.”

“Thanks,” Spike chuckled. He stops when he looks down. “Uhhh… That's a long fall we got there.”

“What's wrong, Spike? You afraid the lava will hurt your soft pony hide!?” yelled Garble.

Spike takes a few deep breaths, trying to get in the zone. Taking a couple of steps forward, he then jumps. Louie and I watch as Spike falls, screaming his lungs out. Then…

Thwack

Spike painfully belly flops in the lava.

“Oi, Spike, you good!?” I yelled.

“...Peachy,” Spike said as he swam out the lava.

“Agumon! Jump!”

“Nah, I’m good!” I said. “You guys go ahead. I'll catch up later!” As the dragons head back, Louie hops out of the onesie. “Huh, where you going?”

“Bathroom,” Louie answered as he stretched. “I’m going to go behind those rocks.”

Swinging my arms around, waiting for my cat to go poop. I noticed something or someone. It looks like a blue dragon, and I can’t really tell what it’s doing. But I think the dragon is watching me… Oh, shit! Did the dragon see Louie?

“Hey, let me in,” Louie said as he climbed in the onesie. “Hey, Riki, you good?”

“Y-yeah, just thinking.” I look back to see the dragon is gone. “Just thinking.”

We make our way back to Spike and the others. When we get there, Spike runs up to me. “Riki, Louie, there’s something I need to tell you!”

Wow, he looks pretty excited. “What is it, Spike?”

“Well, I’ve been enjoying my time here…”

“And…?”

“...I'm not going anywhere. The way I feel right now, I could hang out here forever.”

Wait, what did Spike just say? “Forever, like staying here?”

“Yeah, I feel like a dragon here. Not a pony.”

Louie pops his head out, “Spike, what are you saying!?”

“Tell everypony that I said goodbye,” Spike said somberly. “Thanks for taking me here.”

I took a deep breath, “...Spike, are you sure you want to stay?”

“Yeah,”

“Spike, Agumon! Come over here!” Garble shouted, “We have something big.”

Spike runs ahead as I stay back. Louie goes to my shoulder and says, “Riki, we need to stop him. He doesn't know what he's talking about.”

“Spike’s mind is set in stone,” I said, rubbing my head. “He is the only one that can change it.”

“Riki, we do nothing then?” Louie asked frantically.

“Nothing,” I said quietly.

Making my way to Spike and Garble. I see they are getting ready for something. “Oi, what’s going on?”

“We are taking Spike on a real dragon raid,” Garble said.

“A dragon raid?” I questioned.

“Yeah, there's a nest full of phoenix eggs nearby, and we're gonna swipe 'em!”

I look down at Spike with a concerned look, “You are going?”
“Yeah, what about you?” Spike asked.

Letting out a yawn, saying, “I'm pretty tired, so I'm going to leave.”

“You’re going to miss the raid, Agumon.”

I begin to walk away, “It's fine. You guys have Spike. He’s a dragon of dragons.”

“Riki!”

In the woods right outside on the volcano, Riki is riding on top of Louie, still in his Agumon onesie. Louie sighs, “Riki, you did nothing to stop Spike. We are just leaving him, huh!?” Riki doesn't say anything. Louie huffs and turns back to regular size.

“Really?”

“Riki, we should go get Spike.”

“He needs to make the decision on his own,” said Riki, “If I just take him, he won’t learn. I care about the little dragon, I really do.” Riki gets up and places his head on a tree.

“Learn what?”

“That it’s okay that you don't fit in with your-”

“Kind?”

“Yeah. I learned that lesson when I was young.” Riki said softly. “And I think Spike should too.”

Louie became the size of Riki, “You really didn’t want to leave Spike?”

“...When Spike said he's staying. I hope he was joking.” Riki said with a slight chuckle. “Damn, fuck the lesson. Louie, let's go get our little dragon buddy!”

Louie's ears perked up. “Good, because I can hear Spike, and it's not going good.”

“Shit!”

Spike is running through the woods with a phoenix egg. Chasing after him is Garble and the other dragons. Thankfully, with Spike's small size, he’s able to dodge the dragons by using the trees. Carefully holding the egg tight, Spike dives into a bush.

“Peewee, where are you!” Garble roared, “Let us smash that egg, or we are going to smash you!”

Spike watches some dragons go past before quietly moving out of the bushes. He stopped when something stepped on his tail. It was Garble. “Hey, buddy.”

Garble steps harder on Spike’s tail, making him squeal. “Give me the egg, Peewee.”

“No! It's just a defenseless egg like I was!” Spike shouted, spitting out some fire. “I'm not gonna let you hurt it!”

“No one says no to me.” Garble gets ready to attack Spike, but at the last second, Riki comes flying in and kicks Garble in the face. The dragon’s body slams into a tree. Garble rubs his head, “Agumon! What was that for!?”

“Oh, just helping out a friend,” Riki said, “Oi, Spike, how’s it going?”

A few tears welled up as Spike said, “I thought you left!”

“I was bullshiting, I didn’t want you to stay!” Riki replied, “But I wanted you to make your own decision. I didn’t want to drag you away. You probably hate me if I do.”

“What!?”

The two other dragons are going to attack Riki, but Louie jumps out of the onesie. Growing to full size, Louie slams his paws on the two dragons. “Cat-astrophe!” Louie then uses his two tails to wrap around them and throw the dragons into a tree.

“Did Agumon throw up a cat?” said one of the dragons before passing out.

“What’s with the egg?” Riki asked.

“They want me to smash it,” Spike said, holding it tight. “That’s crazy!”

Riki watches Garble flies into him. “Oi, Garble!” The red dragon gets ready to breathe fire, but Riki quickly chops Garble in the throat, making him choke on the fire. Riki then grabs Garble by the face and smashes his head into a tree, knocking him out. “Damn, I thought he was going to be stronger.”

“Thanks for the help, guys,” Spike said.

“C’mon, let's go return that egg.” Riki then picked up Spike and put him on his shoulder. “Now, which way?”

“That way,” Spike pointed. He took a moment, saying, “Riki, I learned something today.”

“That it’s okay to be different?”

“Yeah, I realize that who I am is not the same as what I am.”

“Oh, I like that.” Louie chimed in, “You should put that on a shirt.”

“Look, sorry for leaving you,” Riki said softly.

“It’s okay, but if you didn’t, I wouldn't realize that I like the way I am.”

Riki lets out a big laugh, “That's the only thing that matters! Who cares what people think about you! If you like the way you are, it's alright.”

“Yeah! I'm a dragon raised by ponies!” yelled Spike. “Riki, this trip was fun! We should do this again.”

“The whole camping thing?” Riki smiles and says, “Yeah, we can do that again. Oh, we should also invite Shining Armor and Big Mac.”

“Oh, Riki! I think the egg is about to hatch!” Spike shouted frantically.

“Let’s go find this egg’s parents!” Riki said, jumping on Louie’s back.

“Yeah!”

Chapter 27: You~

You~

There is a pony, a unicorn named Razzle Snap. She is 25 and a half years old and moved to Canterlot a few months ago from Fillydelphia. Every day, Razzle wakes up at 8:05 on the dot. She gets out of the shower at 8:15 or 8:20 if she gets soap in her eyes. At 8:30, Razzle eats apple cinnamon oatmeal, orange juice, and toast with mixed berry jam. 8:45, she finishes breakfast and then reads one of her many romance novels. 9:30, Razzle heads to work.

Razzle works at Equestria Times as a journalist. She has a crappy boss and makes an okay amount of bits. Razzle makes her way through the busy workers to her desk. Her plain desk. Just a typewriter, a tiny cactus, and one of her cheesy romance novels she accidentally left here. “I was looking for this.” Razzle shifted through the papers on her desk, looking over the things she wrote.

“Hey, you’re here!” Razzle turns around to see a chestnut-brown unicorn with short hair and a sweater vest cutie mark. He’s also wearing a sweater vest. Waving, he says, “Morning, Ms.Snap!”

“Morning to you too, Chester,” Razzle said with a weak smile. “And you don’t have to call me ‘Ms.Snap.’ Razzle is fine.”.

Chester nods, “You got it, Razzle. Umm, I would like to say your hair looks very good today.”

“Thanks, Chester.” Razzle said, “Is there something else?”

“Yeah, I want to know if you want to go-”

“Razzle Snap! In my office now!” a voice boomed. Causing all of the ponies to flinch.

Razzle lets out an annoyed sigh, “Buck, what does he want? Look, Chester, the Boss wants to see me. We’ll talk later.”

“B-but I want to know if you want to go out!?” Chester blurted out. However, Razzle was gone, making her way to the boss’s office. “...I’ll ask you later.”

In the office, she sits there quietly. Across from Razzle is her boss, who is named Boss. He’s a big earth pony stallion, blue as dark lapis. He sits there looking over the mountains of papers on his desk. Without looking up, Boss says, “Razzle Snap, do you know why I called you?”

“No, sir,”

“You gave me one good story, and it was about that human,” said Boss, dropping some papers. “That’s it! Nothing else since you got transferred here from Fillydelphia.”

“Well, I thought the piece about the burnt toast that looks like Princess Celestia was good,” Razzle said with a small smile. She stops when Boss slams his hoof down. “...Sorry.”

With a straight face, he says, “Do you know why I'm not firing you right now!?”

“Y-you see potential in me?” Razzle stuttered.

“Tartarus, no!” yelled Boss, “It's because you’re the only pony that got a one-on-one with that human!”

“That human has a name, and it's Riki,” Razzle interjected.

“I don’t care if its name is Wife-Bucker!” Boss, take a few deep breaths. Goes into his desk and pulls out a cigar. “Look, that piece about the human was the last story you gave me. If you don’t get me a new story, your flank will be on the side of the street. Now go!”

“Yes, sir! I’ll get you your story!” Razzle said frantically as she left the Boss’s office.

Boss lights up his cigar. Taking a few puffs, he says, “This generation is really killing me.”

Walking the streets of Canterlot with my head hanging low. Every day, I fight to keep my job. Trying to find a story better than the next one for my stupid damn boss. Stopping in the middle of the street, I run my hooves through my hair. This is too much for me. I want to scream. I want… I need… “Riki,” I’ll get another story out of him. Riki probably won't give an interview, but if I told him my job was on the line, he would do it; he’s a nice guy. And sweet…and tall…and… “What am I thinking!” I yelled out loud.

Come on, Razzle, don’t think about that. You have a job. If I hurry, I can probably catch the train to Ponyville. As I made my way to the train station, I stopped. Across the street, I see Riki walking with two guards. I was about to go look for him, and now he’s here. Is this fate? The mare runs into a stallion when she needs something, just like in my book.

Making my way to him, I say, “Hey, Riki, you on the job?”

“Oh, Razzle, it’s good to see you.” Riki smiled, “No, I'm just hanging out with Feathers and Specs.”

“Look, journalist, Specs and I are doing our job.” Feather interjected, “So don't go write things about us fooling around.”

Oh great, her again. “Well, I'm not really Interested in writing about a pony. Especially you with that attitude.”

“Attitude!?” Feather yelled, “I’ll show you attitude!”

“Calm down, Feather.” Specs said, pushing up his glasses. “You want to talk to Riki, right?”

“Yeah, there are a few things I like to talk to him about,” I said, “Look, Riki, I need a story or my boss will fire me.”

Riki crossed his arms, “Again?” I nod my head, and he continues, “Okay, you can get an interview. I’ll see you two later.” Feather and Specs said their goodbyes to Riki before leaving.

“Alright, do you want to go back to the office?”

“How about we get something to eat?” asked Riki, “I’ll pay.”

Is Riki asking me to eat with him? No, it’s normal. “Umm, sure, I would love that.”

“Great!”

I follow Riki to a nearby restaurant. We decided to eat outside, and let's say, this is fun. I know it’s only been a few minutes, but I'm really enjoying myself. It’s been a while since I ate with somepony. This reminds me of this one chapter in my romance book. I watch Riki look over the menu. He’s really putting in the brainpower to pick what he wants. “Adorable,”

“You said something?” Riki asked, looking up from the menu.

“Nothing. Well, are you having trouble finding what you want?” I look into Riki’s different-colored eyes. The green looks pretty, but that amber eye takes the cake.

“I don't know what to get?” Riki said, looking back at the menu. “What are you getting, Razzle? …Razzle, do you hear me?”

“Your eyes are pretty,” I mumbled. Oh, my Celestia! Did I just say that out loud? I begin to blush, “Riki, I didn't-”

Riki let out a chuckle, “Thanks, Razzle, and let me say your hair looks amazing today.”

Does he really think that about my hair? “Thanks, Riki. Oh, I was thinking about getting spaghetti and brussels sprouts.”

“That sounds good,” Riki replied as he leaned back in his chair. “Oi, waiter, two orders of spaghetti and brussels sprouts, please.”

“Riki, let's start our interview. There are a few things I like to ask.” I said, pulling out my notepad. Time to be professional.

Riki groans, “Can we eat first? I think better on a full stomach. So, let's just talk about stuff. We’ll have the interview later.”

“But the stuff we talk about can be used in the interview,” I said as my hooves tapped together. “So what’s the difference?”

Riki sighs, “An interview is a conversation between an interviewer and an interviewee. We are not doing that. We are talking like friends who are getting something to eat. So let's talk.”

Okay, talk, Razzle, talk to Riki. Like friends… “Wait, we're friends?”

“Yeah,” Riki said, taking a sip of water.

I smile and say, “Thanks, Riki.”

We began to talk about stuff. Well, I just listened to Riki. He tells stories about his world and family. Especially the story about the time his sister accidentally ate a strawberry. She was allergic, and Riki had to rush her to the hospital. Riki is so caring and brave to work in that stressful situation. I can listen to Riki talk for hours. His voice is lovely… That’s a normal thing to think of, right?

Yeah, that's normal.

“Oi, Razzle, are you okay?” Riki asked, tapping me on the head, breaking me out of my daydream. “The food is here.” I watch Riki as he eats his food. He's a bit of a mess eater. It's adorable in a weird way. I wonder if all humans eat like that.

Not wanting my spaghetti to get cold, I began to eat. It's good.

“How was your day?” Riki asked between bites.

My day? Nopony, have you ever asked me about my day? Is this what a date feels like? No, it’s not a date. This is just two friends getting food, like what Riki said. “My day has been…tiring. You know my boss is on my tail.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

“But my day is a lot better because of you,” I said as I played with my food. “It’s been rough ever since my mom died.” My hoof taps the table as I think about the horrible day. I was so alone that day. “It hurts thinking about it.”

I see Riki reaching over and grabbing my hoof. He looks into my eyes and says, “Razzle, I know how it feels losing a parent… It’s rough. But I know you will get through it.”

Even though they are simple, Riki's words really make her feel better. “Thanks, Riki.”

“No problem,” Riki said, finishing his food. “Oi, how about we start the interview? I’ll tell you about what happened a few days ago.”

“Are you doing that to make me feel better?” I said sluggishly.

“Yeah.”

I get a slight smile, “Alright, what’s the story, Riki?”

“The dragon migration Spike, Louie, and I went to.” Riki said, “It was fun.”

“Tell me more,”

Riki told his amazing story about the dragon migration he joined with his friends. A talking house cat and a dragon. When we were done eating, Riki walked me back to my job. That was kind of him.

“Oi, Razzle, this was fun!” Riki said joyfully, “Tomorrow, come to Ponyville.”

Oh, my Celestia, what is Riki asking me? “Why?”

“So we can hang out,” said Riki.

“I really love to! I mean, I’ll see you tomorrow, Riki.” I gushed, then quickly calmed down, trying to keep my cool. “I don't work tomorrow, so I'll be there around noon.”

“Good!” Riki smiled as he walked away. “It's a date!”

“...A date? Is he going to ask me out? Maybe I should ask him out,” I mumble to myself. I can feel my face heating up as I let out a squeal. Did he ask me out? Riki just asked me out! Oh, buck, what am I going to wear? Wait, what do I even do on a date? I haven't gone out with somepony sense…ever. I’ll think about it later, I have work to do.

Razzle has been working hard the past few hours, writing about Riki’s dragon migration trip. As she looks through her notes, Chester walks up to her. “Hey, Razzle, good to see you.” She doesn't answer. She just works on her story. “...Is that a story about the human? What's its name again?” Chester talking about the human gets Razzle’s attention.

“Riki. His name is Riki.” Razzle huffed, stopping what she was doing. “We had lunch. He told me a few stories. I'm writing about the dragon migration he went to.”

Chester clears his throat, “That’s neat. Umm, Razzle, you don’t work tomorrow. So I thought we could get a cup of coffee together?”

“Sorry, Chester, but I already have something planned tomorrow,” Razzle said with a smile. She can’t wait to see Riki again. “Maybe next time. Hey, can you give this to the boss? I’m going to head home early.” Razzle gives Chester her finished story, “You can look over it if you want to, bye.”

Razzle makes her way back to her home, thinking about her ‘date’ with Riki. Once she’s home, Razzle makes herself some tea and grabs her favorite romance novels. She had always dreamed of meeting a stallion like the ones in her book. And now she had finally found her stallion, Riki. “Tomorrow will be the best day ever!” Razzle squealed.

The next day, Razzle is getting off of a train to Ponyville. She is wearing a tawny-orange sundress. Her green hair is tied in a neat ponytail with a bow. And since today is a special day, Razzle decided to put on a little bit of makeup. She really hopes Riki likes all of this.

As Razzle makes her way out of the train station, she sees Riki. Razzle over to him and says, “Riki, you look great.”

“Really?” he said, looking over himself. “I’m just wearing my regular hoodie and cargo shorts. Oh, you look nice. I love your sundress.”

Razzle looks down with a blush on her face, “Thanks, Riki. I just put on the first thing in my closet.” That was a lie. It took her all of this morning to find the right clothes.

“Oi, Razzle, what do you want to do?” Riki asked.

“Is there a bookstore or library here?”

“I know a place, c’mon!”

Razzle walks closely next to Riki. Her tail brushes against his leg. Razzle has the biggest smile on her face. Humming a tune to herself, she nuzzles Riki’s leg. This is the best day of her life, and nothing can go wrong.

“Riki!” A pink blur passes Razzle as it crashes into Riki. Pulling him into a hug, saying, “RikiRiki, there is something amazing I want to show you!”

“Oi, Pinkie, good afternoon.” Riki chucked. “I would like to see that! What is it?”

“You know that candy you showed me?”

“The Reese's?”

“Yeah, I made some,” Pinkie then pulled one out from her hair. Somehow, it's perfectly clean. “Have one.”

Without a second thought, Riki eats Pinkie’s Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. “Whoa, this is good! It’s batter, then ones back home.”

“Thanks, Riki.”

Razzle watches the two talk for a bit before letting out a cough, getting Riki’s attention. “Oh, Pinkie. This pretty pony is Razzle Snap.”

Razzle sees how close Pinkie is to Riki. Her hooves around Riki’s neck, nuzzling him. Razzle’s hoof begins to tap. She takes a few calming breaths before putting on a fake smile. “You must be Pinkie Pie. Riki talked about you. You two must be close?”

“Of course we are! Riki is my BHFF!” Pinkie beamed.

“What?”

“Best human friend forever! Lizzy is also my BHFF.” Pinkie said, hopping off over Riki. “Razzle, you're a friend of Riki, and now you're my friend too!”

Pinkie pulls Razzle into a bone-crunching hug. “Thanks,” Razzle said with a fake laugh. She gently pushes Pinkie off her. “Look, Riki and I got somewhere to go. Just us.” She then walks off.

“I’ll talk to you later, Pinkie!” Riki said as he caught up to Razzle.

After a bit of walking, Razzle and Riki arrive at the Golden Oak Library. They enter the library and greet it by Twilight. “Hey, Riki. Oh, who’s your friend?”

“This is Razzle, the journalist from Canterlot,” said Riki. “We’re hanging out, and she wants to see a library.”

“Yeah,” Razzle chimed in, “I want to check out a book.”

“Really,” Twilight smiled.

Razzle looks over to Riki. He says, “Twi doesn't get that many ponies here.”

Twilight rolls her eyes, “So, Razzle, what book are you looking for?”

“Any stories about romance,” Razzle answered.

“Over there,”

Razzle makes her way to the bookshelf. Looking over each book, she mumbles, “Read that and that.” Razzle uses her magic to pull over the nearby ladder. As she climes it, she can overhear Riki and Twilight talking.

“Twilight, where is Spike?” Riki asked.

“Over at Rarity’s place.”

“Haha, I should have known,” Riki laughed, “So, how was your day?”

Twilight brushes the hair away from her eyes, “Good, especially when you come around.”

“Really? You're just saying that to be nice.” Riki smiled.

Twilight giggles, “No, it’s true.”

“Is that purple pony flirting with Riki?” Razzle said to herself. She leans a bit off the ladder to get a better look at them. Watch them laugh and playfully bump each other. A sharp pain hit her chest. Was this jealousy? Razzle never felt jealous; she only read about it in her romance novels. Razzle gets an idea. She begins to lean back as much as she can. Making the ladder fall back, she lets out the best fake scream she can, “Aaaahhh!” Razzle’s screams fill the library as she falls. But before Razzle’s tail touches the floor. Riki comes running with great speed and catches her, landing on his back. “...Riki.” was the only word she said as a blush crept upon her face and a sly smile.

“Shit, Razzle, are you okay!?” Riki asks worriedly.

Twilight runs up, “Oh my, Celestia! What happened?”

“I-I must have accidentally leaned back too much,” Razzle said, snuggling into Riki’s arms. “But I think I’m okay.”

Riki stands up, “That’s good.” He gently puts down Razzle, to her dismay.

“And I didn’t find a book to my liking,” said Razzle, fixing her dress. “Riki, I’m getting hungry. Let's go get something to eat.” Riki and Twilight watch Razzle walk out of the library.

“...What was that about?” asked Twilight.

“I don’t know,” Riki said, shrugging his shoulders. “I’ll talk to you later, Twilight.”

Riki and Razzle are eating at an outside table. Riki takes a sip of his drink and then says, “Razzle, why did you storm out of there like that?”

Razzle stops eating and says, “Sorry, I was just embarrassed from the fall. I just wanted to get out of there. I hope Twilight doesn’t think I’m rude or something.”

“Oh, Razzle, it's fine. Twilight will understand.” Riki said, “She’s a pretty reasonable pony. Twilight is nice and can be funny sometimes.” Razzle listens to Riki talk about Twilight, which feels like hours. It chips at her the longer she listens to Riki talk.

“Riki, are you going out with Twilight?”

“What? No, we are just friends.” Riki said.

“Good, because I want to know if you would like to go out with me,” Razzle said with a big smile. “I mean, the stories you tell just hook me. You’re like the stallions from the books I read. Brave and strong, always saving me! You treat me differently, Riki. So would you go out with me!?”

“Huh?”

“Razzle, there you are,” said Chester.

“Hey, you need something?”

Chester takes a bit to compose himself, “I want to know if you want to go out. There is this nice restaurant the both of us can go to.”

Razzle is a bit surprised that Chester asked her out. “Oh, Chester, I'm seeing somepony. We got together yesterday.” Chester was devastated when he heard this. He should have asked her a lot sooner. “I asked him, and it was so romantic.”

Flashback

I sit there waiting to hear Riki’s answer. The biggest smile on my face after I poured my heart out. Riki takes a deep breath. He’s going to say it, he’s going to say yes!

“...No.”

“Huh?”

Riki rubs the back of his head, “Look, Razzle, you are a nice pony. Any other guy would love to go out with you, but I don’t think I’m the right one.”

“...”

“I’m sorry, but we can still be friends,” Riki said softly. “I’m not really good with this.”

“...It’s okay,” I mumbled. My heart, it hurts. I don’t want it to hurt. This must be a mistake.

Riki gets up, “Umm, I’ll be back. I need to go to the bathroom.”

I watch Riki go to the bathroom. I sit there motionless as my heart feels like it’s being ripped in half. Spat on, stepped on, betrayed after I gave you my heart. No, that is not how this will end! My books don’t end like this, so why should my love? Riki. You, I can’t lose. You have things about you I can’t put into words. You are special to me. You're probably confused, you're new to this world. “Hahah! Riki, you want to say sorry. And you want to go out with me!? Riki, I would love to go out with you. You and I together. Nopony will stand in our way.”

“Oi, Razzle, I’m back,” Riki said as he sat down. “Sorry, I took so long.”

“It’s okay. I can never be mad at you.” I swooned, “Let’s get some ice cream… Love~”

Chapter 29: Her!

Her!

Early Friday morning, Riki finishes getting dressed. He’s ready for today and quite excited to help Vinyl with the club. Vinyl hasn’t told Riki how long they will be there, but he’ll bring some clothes with him. He grabs his backpack and walks out of his room, heading to Liz’s room. He needs to discuss a few things with her. Riki knocks on her door, “Oi, Liz, you up?”

Riki knocks on the door a few more times, getting louder and louder. It stops when the door opens, and Riki accidentally hits Liz in the forehead, “Fuck, I’m up! You don’t have to hit me, you ass.” Rubbing her forehead, Liz cursed under her breath. Riki can't help but chuckle at the situation.

“Sorry,” Riki said, trying to hide his smile.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Liz mumbled, “Riki, why are you up so early? The sun isn't even up. What time is it.”

“It’s 5 o'clock. And I’m leaving to go to Canterlot.” Riki answered, “And there are a few things I want you to do. Clean the house, buy some food, and I think there's something wrong with my stereo.”

Liz sighed as she rubbed her eyes, “Okay, but Riki, I have a bad feeling about today.”

“...Really, I’m not getting anything. But just for you, I’ll keep an eye out for anything bad.” Riki hugs Liz. “I’ll see you and Louie later.” Makes his way downstairs. As he was about to leave, Riki saw the Fifty Shades of Grey book, his ex-girlfriend. He thought he had gotten rid of the book. Well, he would deal with it later.

I made my way to Vinyl’s place. I never noticed how quiet Ponyville can be. I should wake up early more often… Nan, sleeping until noon is fun. Knocking on the front door a few times, it opens and reveals Octavia. “Oi, morning. Didn't expect you to be up so early, Octavia.”

“Morning to you too, Riki. Come inside.” Octavia replied. Walking inside, I see that Octavia and Vinyl’s place is pretty nice. “I just made some green tea. Do you want some?”

“Umm, yes, that will be nice.” I said, “It’s funny,”

“What is?”

“Back home, I wasn’t really a big tea drinker.” I chuckled. “ So, where is Vinyl?”

“She should be in her room getting ready,” Octavia answered. “Can you go check on her? Room is to the right.”

Finishing my tea, I say, “Yeah, I’ll do that.”

Heading to Vinyl’s room. I knocked on the door a few times, not wanting to accidentally hit her in the face like Liz. I can hear things falling over as Vinyl comes to the door. “Octavia, I told you I’m up!” Vinyl shouted as she opened the door. “Just give me a-oh! Riki, it’s you. I thought you were Octavia. Anyways, come into my room.”

“I bet you're dying that you finally got me in your room.” I quipped, “Be gentle.”

Vinyl playfully hits my leg, “Oh, shut up. I’m almost done packing up the equipment.” Vinyl’s room is a mess with music stuff scattered all over the place. A few empty cans and a bunch of dead glow sticks. “I usually have to carry this stuff, but now I have you.”

“You don’t carry your shit. You use magic, which is lazy and cheating. So, how long are we staying there?”

“Today and Saturday. Then we leave Sunday morning.” Vinyl answered.

My foot hit something, moving the stuff off it. I’m surprised to see a purple glass bong. Holy shit, they have weed. Picking it up, I say, “Oi, weed is legal here?”

“My bong, I’ve been looking for that,” Vinyl said as she took it from me. “Yeah, it’s legal, why wouldn't it be… Do you think I have time to hit one?"

I shake my head as I pick up the bagged equipment, “I don’t want to drag your high pony ass around. C’mon, we have a train to catch.”

“Yeah, yeah,”

“Liz, wake up! We have stuff to do.”

“...Louie, what time is it?” I grumbled, pulling the covers over my head.

As Louie begins to pull the covers, he says, “It’s 10 in the morning. Now get up, lazy ass!” Pushing the covers off, Louie gets thrown off the bed. “Meow!”

“Fine… Just let me get ready, Louie.” I lazily rolled out of bed, grabbed a few things, and then made my way to the bathroom. I took a shower and brushed my teeth and hair. Going back to my room, I put on my clothes. I noticed something. “My pants…”

“What’s wrong with your pants? Oh! I can see your ankles.” Louie said as he pawed at my pants, “Did you shrink your pants again?”

“No… Well, I don't think so.” I said, pulling on a shirt over my long sleeve. “Louie, I think I grew an inch or two.”

“It looks like you're going through a growth spurt,” said Louie. “Do you think you need new clothes?”

“I thought I reached my adult height. Shit, we should go to Rarity’s place. I need new clothes. After that, we’ll go shopping for food, and when we get back, we can clean the house.” I picked up my backpack and began to leave. “Let's go, Louie.”

“Yeah!”

As we make our way to Rarity, I realize that Louie being able to change size is so fuckin’ cool. I just love riding on my giant cat's back. I wonder how big Louie can become. I wonder what other stuff he can do.

When we finally reach Rarity, Louie shrinks down and jumps on my shoulder. Walking inside, I see Rarity working on a dress with Sweetie Belle in it. “Hey guys, I hope I'm not interrupting you two.”

“Oh, Liz, not at all.” Rarity said as she adjusted the ruffles on the dress. “I'm just working on a dress request.”

“I'm helping as her model.” Sweetie Belle said. She went to take a step forward, but the dress was a bit too long, and Sweetie Belle fell over. “I’m okay.” She gets out of the dress and runs over to Louie, giving him a pat on the head.

Rarity quickly makes her way to me. Looking up and down at me, she says, “Darling, it looks like you grew an inch and a half.”

“Whoa, you're good, Rarity.” I'm amazed she can just look at me and know what’s going on. “Well, that's the reason why I'm here. I need new clothes. I can wear my old ones, but it will be uncomfortable.”

Rarity uses her magic to grab the measuring tape and begin to take my new measurements. “Oh, this is going to be so much fun, Darling!” Rarity lets out a joyful giggle. “Sweetie Belle, can you get me my sketchbook.”

“Sure thing!” Sweetie Belle replied, running off to get the book.

Rarity backs off and says, “Liz, I have many fabulous designs. I'm working on this lovely sundress for you. All the ponies will be jealous; even Princess Celestia will be.”

“Nothing too flashy, okay?” I mumbled. “I just want some casual clothes… Oh, but most importantly, I want overall.”

“Can I put gems on it?” Rarity asked.

“Maybe a few.”

Sweetie Belle comes back into the room with the sketchbook, “Rarity, here you go.” She flips through the book, stopping on a blank page. Rarity begins to draw all the outfits she wants to see me in.

Looking over the drawings Rarity did, I'm still surprised at how good she is with human clothes. “Oh, I like that one,” I said, pointing at an outfit. It’s overall shorts with gems replacing the buttons. A nice-sized chest pocket, too.

“What color do you want, Darling?”

“...How about gray with a black zigzag?” I said. Rarity nodded as she sketched in the zigzag. “Yeah, like that. How long will it take?”

Rarity takes a moment before saying, “I can get it done in an hour or two, but I still need to finish the dress I was working on.”

“Take your time, Rarity. I have some shopping to do.” I replied, “Come on, Louie. Louie?” I look around for my cat, only to see him with Rarity's cat. What was the cat's name again? Opalescence, yeah.

“Oh, my Celestia, Opal and Louie! You two look so lovely.” Rarity cooed. Opal nuzzles against him. Louie pushes her away. “Louie, what’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong!?” Louie shouted as he got away from Opal. He jumps on one of the closest mannequins, but Opal just follows. “She’s what’s wrong.” Opal lets out a few meows. “Don’t be surprised. You know what I mean.” Louie then becomes the size of a tiger, trying to scare Opal off. But Opal just wrapped herself around Louie’s tail.

“Oh yeah, you can still talk to animals.” I said, “I forgot all about that ever since you started talking… Well, I’ll get going. And I’ll leave you here, Louie. Play nice with your new friend.”

Opal climbs on top of Louie’s head and purrs. “C’mon, don't leave me!” Louie cried.

“Love you,”

“Move it over here, Riki!” Vinyl said, sitting on the stage. Picking up the big speaker, I moved it a few feet. I see Vinyl gestures to keep moving. I let out a groan before moving it a bit more. “Yeah, that’s it. Right, there is good.”

We have been in this nightclub for a while. Setting up and testing the equipment took 3 hours. We could have been done a bit sooner if the owner hadn't been trying to hit on Vinyl… and me. I’m just happy the pay is good. Rubbing the back of my head, I say, “Alright, done on my end. What about you? Are you done with everything up there?”

“Yeah, everything is set up here,” Vinyl said, looking over her equipment. She hops off the stage. “We can come back here later tonight before the party starts to do the final sound check.” As we head out of the club, Vinyl lets out a yawn, “I’m going back to the hotel to get some rest. I don’t want to fall asleep at the turntables.”

“I’m going to walk around for a bit,” I said as I gave Vinyl the room card. “Don't lock the door.”

“You got it,” Vinyl said, going back to the hotel.

Walking around, thinking about what to do next. My stomach begins to grumble. Damn, I didn’t really eaten anything ever since I woke up. Lookin’ around to see where to eat is really making my head. Fuck, I want a burger! A Smashburger with two beef patties, honey mustard, spicy mayo, grilled red onions, lettuce, swiss cheese, mushrooms, and a fried egg. With a side of sweet potato fries. God, that is what I want. It's one of the few things I miss from my world.

“Hey, Riki!”

Turning around, I see Feathers, Bebop, and Specs. “Oi, guys! Good seeing you.”

“Riki!” Bebop smiled, hugging me. “This is some good luck! We were about to go to Ponyville.”

“Really?”

“That’s right,” answered Feather. “We all have the day off, and we want to see if you want to hang out.”

“But seeing you here, we don’t have to do that.” Specs added. “If you don’t mind me asking, why are you here?”

“Oh, I’m here on a job with Vinyl.” I replied, “She is DJing at a club. We just finished testing the equipment.”

“Wait, what’s the club?” Bebop asked.

“The Flickering Rainbow, yeah, that’s the name.” Both Feathers and Bebop lets out a gasp. “You guys know this place?”

“Of course we do!” Bebop shouted. “Feather and I have been trying to get into that club for weeks!”

“The lines are so long; by the time we get there, the sun is up. Fleur de Lis said it was one of the best nightclubs she had been to. Well, that’s what it said in a magazine I read,” added Feather. She looks at me and smiles, “Oh, Riki, we are very good friends, right?”

“She wants something.” Specs interjected. “Every time Feather wants something, she pulls the good friend card.”

“Oh, shush, Specs,” Feather replied. “...But you’re right. Riki, is it possible to get us in the club?”

I cross my arms and tilt my head, “...I think I can do that.” Feather and Bebop lets a squeal of excitement. “What you, Specs? You coming?”

He pushes up his glasses, saying, “Not really a party pony. I'll probably go back to my room and read.”

“That’s boring!” Bebop yelled at Specs. She then smush his face with her hooves, “You are not doing that! Riki, Specs is coming. Even if he doesn't want to, we’ll drag him.”

“I’m happy to do this for you guys, but there is one thing I want.”

“What is it?” asked Feather.

“Can you guys take me to get something to eat!” I begged, “I'm so hungry!”

Specs let out a small chuckle, “I should have expected that.”

“I-I haven't eaten anything! Please!”

Riki, Specs, Bebop, and Feather are eating at an outside table. Bebop and Feather both got mac and cheese with cauliflower. Specs had mushroom and garlic spaghetti. And Riki, well, he asked for the biggest baked potato they had. They gave him six baked potatoes and told him not to ask for more.

The group has been talking for a while. Specs put down his drink and said, “I don't want to ruin the great time we are having. But, Riki, has the princesses or the captain got in touch with you?”

“No, about what?”

“...Wrath and La-la Lu.”

This caused Riki to stop eating. “No, why?” Riki replied, sounding a bit worried. It had been a while since he had thought about them. His last encounter with them was him pulling the roof down on them. Those two are tough. He would have thought if you hadn't done that.”

“Well, there were sightings of them.” Specs said.

“Huh! Where!?” Riki shouted, almost knocked over the table.

Specs continues, “Las Pegasus. The two were spotted by a few guards a few days ago. The guards when to go apprehend them, but…”

“What?”

“Four in critical condition… One dead.”

Riki sits there in silence, looking at his food. His head only fills with what Specs said. This is the first time Bebop and Feather have heard about this. Feather breaks the silence, “So that’s what happened to them. I thought the mafia did it.”

“How do you know about this?” Bebop asked.

“I overheard Captain Shining Armor and Vanta Nightfall talk about it.”

Riki slams his hands on the table, cracking the wood. “Why didn't they tell me!?” His voice causes all the ponies around them to look at them. Riki ignores the ponies.

“If they told you, what would you do?” Specs asked Riki.

“I-I would go looking for them, then kick their ass!” Riki loudly replied. “Once I get some free time, I'm going to go there and give them a piece of my mind.”

“Is that a good idea?” Bebop asked. “I know that you’re upset about this, but…”

Riki rubs his head, “I don't know. I should calm down and just think.”

Hopefully, to change the subject, Feather looks around to talk about it. Luckily for her, she sees someone. “Hey, isn't that the journalist? Razzle Snap?”

Riki looks over and says, “Yeah, that's her.” He then finishes his potato.

“What’s wrong?”

“It just… Razzle asked me out, and I said no.” Riki mumbled. “...I wonder where she's going?”

Three of them are shocked.

Before they can say anything, Riki stands up and says, “I don't want to hear anything. I think it's time to go. I need a nap before the club tonight. I'll see you there.” He then walks away.

“...So who’s paying?” Bebop asked. She and Feather both look at Specs.

He lets out a sigh, “Fine, but the three of you own me.”

Back at the human household, Liz finished pulling up the food. She was about to go back to Rarity and pick up her new outfit and Louie, but she was home and might as well fix Riki's stereo; it wouldn’t take that long.

Sitting at the kitchen table, Liz is soldering the loose wires back and munching on peanut butter and chocolate chip granola. “Damn, did Riki drop this thing off the fuckin’ roof?” Liz stops when she hears a few knocks on the door. Putting the soldering iron down, Liz makes her way to the door. “Rarity, Louie. Sorry, I just wanted to drop the food off and got distracted by Riki's stereo.” Liz opens the door and sees it’s not Rarity or Louie. “Oh, sorry, I thought you were someone else. Why are you here?”

“Rarity, you were supposed to only make one outfit,” Louie muttered, adjusting the bag full of clothes on his back. “You made a crap ton.”

Walking beside Louie, Rarity says, “Darling, I was on a roll making all those fabulous clothes for Liz. I couldn't stop the ideas from flowing. This is only half of the outfit for her.”

“Liz is not a doll, Rarity.”

“I know, it’s just… Making clothes for her and Riki really pushes my creativity.” Rarity smiled. “Oh, we're here!” The two finally arrived at the house. Rarity opens and says, “Liz, you didn’t come back to my shop, so we’re here!”

Nothing

“...Liz, are you here!?” Rarity shouted, “Hello…?”

Louie stops and sniffs the air. “There’s a faint scent … Wait, no!” A familiar scent made Louie's eye widen in fear. “Nonononononono!” He drops the bag of clothes and runs to the smell, and Rarity follows. Rarity is about to ask what’s going on but stops when she sees Liz’s body on the kitchen floor.

Rarity lets a blood-curdling screen.

They rush over to her body and flip her over. Both of them are shocked to see that Liz’s face is red and swollen. “What’s wrong with Liz!?” Rarity asked worriedly, “Is she breathing?”

Louie's ears flicker. “Liz is barely breathing. I've seen this before when she accidentally ate something with strawberries. Liz is having an allergic reaction! I’ll be back.” He then runs out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

“L-Liz, it’s going to be okay. We’re here, w-we got you.” Rarity’s voice trembles as she begins to cry. She rubs Liz’s head, hopefully to calm herself down. Let her know that she is here with her. Liz’s hand, covered in hives, slowly reaches out to Rarity's hoof. “Louie…!”

With all the strength, Liz has left, and mumbles, “R… R-R…”

“Louie, Liz needs you!”

Louie comes back with an EpiPen in his mouth. Spitting it out, he says, “Take the cap off and stab her leg!”

“What!?”

“Just do it!”

Rarity grabs the EpiPen and stabs Liz’s leg. “What now!”

“We go to the hospital, fast!” Louie said, growing in size and putting them on his back. He then busts down the front door. Running full speed into Ponyville, Rarity is holding on tight with Liz in her hooves. “Stay with me, Liz! You’re not dying... Who the hell did this to her!"

Author's Note

The Character Bio has been updated. Also, feel free to ask questions.

Chapter 30: He!

Author's Note

Sorry, for the long wait. I just needed to take a break. The next chapter will come out next week.

Chapter 30: He!

He!

“Let me hear you make some noise!” The crowd in the club goes wild as the music picks up even more. Lights are flashing and fog blasts out the machines, truly making this club a time to remember. Vinyl is up there Djing likes it’s no tomorrow, especially with the help of Riki’s phone. Lots of nice music for her to explore. This is one of her best shows. And Riki is out there being Vinyl’s best hype pony or hype man. It has been hours of nonstop club fun.

On the stage, Riki sees Feather, Bebop, and Specs. “Oi, Vinyl!” Riki shouted, “I’ll be back, I see a few friends of mine.”

“Take your time! You worked hard tonight.” Vinyl said, “Oh, can you bring me back a drink?”

“What do you want?”

Vinyl shrugs her shoulders, “Surprise me.”

Riki jumps off the stage and heads to them. He walks through the crowds and sees them at a booth. “Oi, you guys made it. And let me say you three look nice!” Feather is wearing a pink feathery sweater and a black skirt. Bebop is wearing a short dark blue dress with stars. Specs wear a black collared shirt with a matching vest and bow tie. “It’s still weird seeing you guys wearing clothes.”

“Weirdly, you always wear clothes, but we don't say anything,” Feather replied, sipping her drink. “You look nice in your clothes, like always.”

Riki sits down with them, “So, how’s the club?”

“Amazing!” Bebop smiled.

“Yeah, just wish the drinks weren't so expensive,” Feather huffed.

“Just put it on my tab,” Riki replied.

“Really? Riki, you're the best!” thanked Feather. “Bebop, let’s dance a bit before
we get more drinks.”

“I can’t wait to tear up the dance floor!” Bebop beamed.

“Specs, are you coming?” asked Feather.

He shakes his head, saying, “No, I'll stay here and save our booth.”

Feather looks a bit disappointed. She then says, “Oh, okay then… Well, when you get bored sitting around, you can find us. Come on, Bebop, the floor is ours!”

“Yeah, the floor is ours!” Bebop cheered.

The two trot to the dance floor, leaving Riki and Specs in the booth. When Feather and Bebop are out of Riki’s sight, he turns to Specs and slaps him upside the head. “Dumbass.”

“Oww, Riki. Why in Celestia did you hit me?” Specs asked angrily, rubbing the back of his head. “And it better be a good reason.”

“For being a dumbass, and I wanted to.” Riki deadpan.

“Riki.”

“Feathers wanted to dance.”

“She has Bebop,” Specs replied.

“With you, Specs.” Riki then poked Specs on the forehead. “Why don't you want to dance with her?.”

“...I’m not a good dancer,” said Specs. He then takes a sip of his water. “I’ll just fall on my face.”

Riki taps on the table a few times, “Specs, look! Feathers and Bebop are dancing with two other ponies. Oh, and a stallion is pretty close up to Feathers.”

“What!?” Specs said frantically, looking for them.

“Hahaha! I got you, Specs!” Riki laughed. “Wow, look at your face. So, are you going to tell Feathers that you like her?”

Specs almost spit out his water, “No! Well, umm… Feather is a lovely mare, and I really like working with her…”

“Wow, I never seen you like this, Specs,” Riki said, nudging him.

“Feather is an outstanding pony, but I am not ready.”

“Don’t tell yourself that, buddy.”

Feather and Bebop are sitting at the bar. The bartender walks up and sets down two drinks. “Here are two more Strawberry Banana Margaritas for the two lovely mares.”

“Oh, thank you,” Bebop said, batting her eyelashes. “You can put these drinks on Riki the human’s tab, Mr. Bartender, sir.”

The bartender blushes as he walks away, “Yeah, anything for you.”

“No,” Feather said, taking a sip of her margarita.

“Why? I think he’s kind of cute.” Bebop replied. “Wait, that’s right. You have your eye on another pony.

“Not this again.” Feather sighed.

“Yes, this again! You and Specs are perfect for each other.” Bebop gushed. “Why don’t you just ask him out already?”

Feather sits there in silence, licking the salt on the rim of her glass. “He’s probably not interested, doesn't even want to dance with me.” A pony walked up to Feather, ready to drop his best pickup line. But Feather shut him down. “Keep walking!”

Bebop sips from her margarita, then says, “Specs probably can't even dance, that’s why."

“You might be right, Bebop.” Feather said, “Anyway, what do you think the guys are talking about?”

“Guy stuff, like how they like butt, boobs, and crap,” Bebop replied, finishing her margarita. “Hey, Mr. Bartender, sir! Two more margaritas, please!”

Feather stares at Bebop, “Yeah, I think you drink enough for tonight.”

“...Riki, can you keep a secret?” Specs asked, looking down at the table.

“Yeah, what is it?”

“...I used to be engaged six years ago.”

Riki is silent for a bit, processing what Specs just said. “Oh. Oooohhh! That’s big!” He couldn't believe what Specs told him. “Who else knows about this?”

“The Princesses and Captain Shining Armor,” Specs answered. “...I called off the engagement and ran away. My family and fiance were furious at me… You must think I’m a big bastard of something.”

“Are you happy now?” Riki asked.

“...Yeah. I’m a lot happier now than I was back then.” Specs replied. “After some time wandering around the streets of Canterlot, I ran into Captain Shining Armor and then joined the guards.”

Riki takes the story in. He wasn’t expecting Specs to have a past like that. Specs said he’s much happier now, so that’s good for Riki. “...Why haven’t you told Feathers and Bebop?”

“I always think about telling them, but… I don’t know how they will act. I mean, Fearther has always been unlucky with boyfriends. If she finds out I stood up to my ex-fiance, Feather might think I'll do that to her in the future.”

“...You guys use the word boyfriend?” Riki asked, “I thought you guys would use the word I don't know, coltfriend or something?”

Specs give Rikia a questionable look, “Out of what I said, me saying boyfriend is what you focus on.” Riki just nods his head. Specs let out a sigh, “Boyfriend and coltfriend are interchangeable.”

“Oh, like how some say soda and others say pop.”

“You know, Riki, never change.” Specs smiled, patting Riki on the back.

“Thank! And don’t worry about your secret; it’s safe with me.” Riki said, patting Specs on the back too.

As the two pat each other on the back, Feather walks up and asks, “W-What are you two doing?”

“Patting each other from the back because we care about each other,” Riki replied. “So where is Bebop?”

“Flirting with the bartender,” Feather said, sitting down.

Riki looks at Specs and then at Feather. “Oi, I need to get Vinyl her drink. You two play nice.” When Riki leaves, it’s quiet between the two. Specs uses magic to play with his cup, and Feather taps her hooves on the table.

Specs looks at Feather as she watches the dancing going on. He takes a deep breath, “...Feather. You want to go dancing?”

She perks up, “Really, you want to dance?”

“Yeah, do you?”

“Absolutely!” burst Feather, getting out of the booth. “C’mon, Specs! I want to dance my hooves off with you!” She runs to the dance floor, and Specs follows.

“Feather, you don’t have to run!”

“Thanks for the shots, but I need to return to Vinyl. I don’t know how long she has been waiting.” When I get up, I see Rainbow Dash. Why is Rainbow here? “Oi, Rainbow!”

Fuck. Why is my head spinning… Wait, I can't feel my legs?

Specs and Feather dance together, having the best times in their life. The two stop when Bebop walks up to them. “Just look at you two!” Bebop gushed. “Having fun, I hope.”

“Yes, we are.” Feather smiled. “So, how were you and the bartender?”

“It was going well until he said how much I reminded him of his mother.” Bebop sigh. “Big mood killer. Oh, yeah, have you seen Riki?”

Feather shakes her head, and Specs says, “No, we haven’t. Riki said he was going to get a drink for Vinyl. Why did something bad happen?”

“I ran into Rainbow Dash, and she is looking for Riki,” Bebop said.

“Where is she now?” asked Feather.

“She went to Vinyl to see if she knows where Riki is.”

“There is no way we can just lose a human,” said Specs, making his way to the stage. Feather and Bobop follow. Once he gets to Vinyl and Rainbow Dash, he says, “Hey, what’s going on? You're looking, Riki?”

“Oh, you’re Riki’s friends,” Vinyl said. “Rainbow here is looking for the big guy.”

“Something bad happened to Liz, and she’s in the hospital.” Rainbow Dash said frantically. Feather and Bebop let out a gasp. “I’m here to find him.”

Vinyl stops the music, “Sorry for stopping the music, but this an emergency! Riki, are you here!? Riki!” Then, there was no reply. “Okay, that’s not good… Has anypony seen a 6-feet tall human around?”

“Where did Riki go?” Bebop said worriedly. “He would have told us if he left, right?”

“Riki couldn't have just disappeared?” Feather said.

Specs pushed up his glasses, “Knowing him, he must be caught in some trouble.”

Chapter 31: Who?

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

Chapter 32: Razzle!

Razzle!

“Hold your asses, I’m coming!” I yelled, heading downstairs to the living room and seeing my two cousins, Abigail and Nikolai.

Abigail, or Abby for short, is one of my older cousins. She’s wearing a white tank top that says ‘Black Don't Crack. But We Do Crease.’ A skirt and black boots. Her hair is in a braided bun, with sunglasses resting on her head. A big thing about Abby is she has vitiligo. White patches over her body and some of her hair. The most defining one is the white patch around her eye. Abby said she’s proud of her appearance. “What took you so long?” Abby said, with her hand on her hip.

“Doesn't matter, he’s here now,” Nikolai said lazily. His hair is messy, like always. Nikolai is wearing a black t-shirt, baggy blue jeans, and flip-flops with no socks. He always looks tired.

“So, Abby, when do you get deployed again?” I asked.

“Umm, next week,” Abby answered. “I’m going to be there for a while.”

“Nikolai, how’s your girlfriend?”

He crossed his arms, “Well, you know I was with the lovely Spanish girl, Carmen. But she had to move home.”

“Sorry, I hope-”

“Later that night, I met an Italian girl, Adriana.” Nikolai said, “And she has beautiful green eyes.” Abby rolled her eyes, and I laughed. Nikolai jumps from girl to girl. He’s faithful to each woman he’s with but doesn't let heartbreak keep him down.

“Anyways, where’s Liz?” asked Abby. Before I can answer her, there is a knock at the door. “Oh, that must be her? I’ll get it.” Abby walks to the door and opens it. Time seems to stop as I hear Abby yelling in pain. Nikolai and I both look towards the door. I can’t believe what I'm seeing.

“...Taboo?”

Taboo held Abby’s lifeless body in the air. He then throws Abby’s body to the side. I look over at Nikolai and see he’s gone. “YOU MADE ME INTO THIS! YOU BETRAYED ME! WE WERE BROTHERS!”

Betrayed? Brothers? What is he talking about? Taboo launched himself at me. I get ready to fight, but I can’t move. Suddenly, I feel a mix of emotions. Sadness, disappointment, forgiveness. These emotions are not mine. “Damnit!” As Taboo gets close, I prepare myself for the attack. However, a giant hand comes crashing through the roof and grabs Taboo. Then a voice rang out.

“...Apologies. It looks like my memory and feelings merged with yours… I’m sorry.” The giant hand pulls Taboo up through the roof. “I think it’s best to wake up now.”

“Oi, wait! Who are you?”

“...A monster.” the voice chuckles.

My eyes slowly open as I rub my head. “Damn, I must have drunk too much. And that dream, I should asked Luna about that… Huh? Where am I?” I said, looking around. I’m in a white room with no windows and only a door. I then noticed a collar around my neck, and it was chained to the wall. What type of joke is this? “Vinyl!? Feathers, Bebop, Specs!?” I yelled, trying to pull off the collar, but it wouldn't come off.

How did this happen, but mostly, who put me there? “The Pipistrello family… No. This doesn't feel like their style.” I said to myself, rubbing the back of my head. “...Wrath and La-la could be the ones?” Hearing the door open, I turned around, and my eyes widened. “Razzle, I don't understand?”

“You're just going to hurt yourself, Riki,” Razzle said, closing the door behind her. She walks in front of me. “That collar is tough enough to keep Minotaurs locked up… Somepony as strong as you needed something like this. Don’t want you to run away.”

“Huh?”

Back at the hospital, Liz finished putting on some new clothes. She’s wearing a gray T-shirt and blue jeans. She finished tying her sneakers, “Darling, I do wish you let me get you something more…flashy.” said Rarity.

“What I have is fine,” Liz replied. “I can wear something flashy after all this, Rarity.” She got a little lightheaded when she tried to stand up and fell back on the bed.

Fluttershy rushes to her side, “Liz, are you okay? You know you don’t have to go.”

“Fluttershy is right, and you need your rest.” Rarity said worriedly. “You should stay behind.”

Rubbing her head, Liz says, “I’m good. I’m going with you guys.” A while back, Princess Celestia messaged the group that they couldn’t find Riki or Razzle in Canterlot. However, they found Razzle’s residence. “I want to help. I’m not sitting around.”

“You sounded like Riki,” Fluttershy said.

“You’re right,” said Rarity. “Very determined and don't really worry about your health. Yeah, the two of you are definitely siblings.”

“I’ll take it slow, guys.”

“Thanks.” Fluttershy smiled, “...You think Riki will be okay? Because I never ever expected something like this would happen.”

Liz crossed her arms, “I never expected a crazy pony bitch would take my brother.” Liz then lets out a sigh as she lays back on the bed. “Damn, once I get my hands on that pony bitch…”

“What are you going to do to her?” asked Rarity.

“A few dozen punches in the face.”

“I would say that's unladylike, but since it's Razzle, hit her extra hard for me.” Rarity smiled.

The doorknob Jiggles a bit before opening. Liz, Rarity, and Fluttershy see Louie hanging on the doorknob. “Hey, you guys ready?” Liz stands up but wobbles a bit. “Liz…”

“Louie, I'm good.” She said, picking him up. “C'mon, I don't want to keep the others waiting. Let's go to Canterlot!”

“Razzle, what is going on?” Riki said, taking a few steps toward her. However, the chain collar keeps him away. “Where am I? How did you…” Then Riki remembered the drink, back at the club. He was getting Vinyl her drink. As he did, Razzle ran into him. They had a few shots, then he blacked out. “You messed with my drink!”

“You got, haha. I did mess with your drink,” Razzle said casually. “When you weren't looking, I poured a tranquilizer that's strong enough to knock out a manticore. I hope you’re not mad.”

“I’m confused about why you did this?”

“I did this out of love, Riki.” Razzle said, “What you said about not being together, I fixed it. Now we can be together, Riki. I got rid of the problem.”

“What do you mean?”

“Riki, please don't get mad. I only did this; all of this for you.”

“What the hell did you do,” Riki said coldly as he tried his best to get closer to her.

“I killed your sister,” Razzle said, looking Riki dead in his eyes. “Well, try to kill your sister. I gave her some strawberries. However, she survived. I found that out by asking the DJ.”

“...”

“Liz is the reason you can’t date anypony, so I had to do what I did.” Razzle smiled. “I know this is hard to hear, but it’s okay… I will figure out a way to fix things.” Riki doesn't say anything; he looks at her blankly. Razzle sees this and smiles, “Want a hug?” Razzle then hugs Riki, but he doesn’t hug back.

“...Let me go, Razzle,” Riki said. “If you set me free now-”

“I can’t do that, Riki,” Razzle whispered into his ear. A smile appeared on her face. “You and I both know what will happen to me if I did… I don’t want to be locked away from my human.” Razzle snuggled deep into the hug; she’s really enjoying this. A tear ran down her cheek, “I know you’re mad right now, but you’ll see it will be better, my love…”

Razzle let out a sigh as her horn started to glow. The collar then began to shock Riki. “Aaahhhh!” Riki yelled in pain, falling to the floor. He struggles to take off the collar, but he can't. “Stop!”

“I’m so sorry, Riki. I hate that I had to do that to you.” Razzle sniffled, wiping the tears away from her eyes. She stops the shock of the collar, making Riki gasp for air. “But as your girlfriend, I need to show you what happens if you step out of line.” Razzle rubs her hoof on Riki’s head, “You must be hungry. I’ll get you something to eat, Riki. See you, my love!” Razzle hums a tune to herself as she leaves the room.

Riki is alone, looking up at the ceiling. The room is only filled with the sound of his breathing. “Liz, Twilight, guys… Hurry up and find me already…”

We arrived at Canterlot and immediately headed to Razzle’s place. Well, not all of us. Twilight and Spike went somewhere else. Twilight said she needed to see someone who might help in this situation. When we got to Razzle’s apartment, a few guards were inside. Shining Armor walks out of the living room and sees us. “You guys made it... Liz, how are you feeling?”

“Lots of emotions I'm feeling right now,” Liz replied. “But I’m keeping it together.”

“You’re a lot better than me. If Twilight was taken like this, I don’t know how I would act?” said Shining, “Speaking of Twilight, where is she?”

“She and Spike went off to meet someone who can help.” I look around Razzle’s place. "Shining, do you have any information on that, Razzle?”

He nods, “Earlier today, I had Specs and Feather go to Equestria Times to get any information about Razzle.” Shining pulls out a notepad and says, “Razzle, 25, just moved to Canterlot from Fillydelphia a few months ago. She got a job at Equestria Times as a journalist. But it wasn't really going too well for her. She would have been fired, but the story about Riki really saved her.”

“She sounds so normal,” Fluttershy said, “How did Razzle turn out like this?”

“Love, that’s what happened.” Rarity replied. “Razzle loves Riki, and when he said no… She broke.”

“Razzle could have moved on like a normal person,” I grumbled.

“She could have been lying on the couch eating ice cream while crying… Like Rarity.” Rainbow added. Rarity hits Rainbow on her shoulder. “Ow, what was that for!”

“Anything else, Shining?” Applejack asked.

Shining looks away and coughs, “Ummm, we found something in Razzle’s room closet. I don’t know how to… explain it. It’s best if you guys look at it.”

What does she have to make Shining act like this? We make our way to Razzle’s room and gather around her closet. “Who wants to open it up?” asked Fluttershy, “Because I don’t want to.”

“Oh, I’ll do it.” Pinkie opened the closet, and what we saw shook us to the core.

In Razzle’s closet are a ton of pictures of my brother. How did she get close-up pictures of him? “What the fuck am I looking at?” I grab one of the pictures to get a better look.

“Hey, there’s a picture of Riki and me,” Pinkie said, grabbing the photo. “Oh… My face is scribbled out. That's not nice.”

“It looks like a shrine for Riki,” said Rarity, with a disgusting look. “Oh my, is that his hair!?”

“How did she get that?” asked Rainbow.

“The same way Razzle gets these.” Louie has one of Riki’s socks in his paw. “That pony has been in our house.”

“This girl ain't right.” Applejack huffed.

Razzle has been in the house. How did she get in? Oh, I know how. “Ever since Riki and I got to this world... We haven't been locking our house that much.”

“Why not!?” Fluttershy gasped.

“Will, it was Riki. He said no one would rob us here.” I answered with a sigh.

The door to Razzle’s room opens, and Twilight and Spike enter the room. “Hey, there you guys are. What are you looking at… Is that a Riki shrine?”

“I think so, Twilight,” Spike replied.

I close the closet; looking at that shrine makes me sick. “Twilight, where were you and Spike?”

“I was getting help for a friend of mine.” Twilight said, “She has a spell to help us find Riki.”

“That’s amazing, Twilight! So, what’s the spell?”

Twilight looks away with a blush. “...It’s just a locating spell. It’s a good one.”

“Umm, okay,” I said, rubbing my head. What was that about? “Alright, guys! Let’s save my brother from that crazy bitch pony!

Chapter 33: Him!

Him!

Breathe in… Breathe out… Breathe in… Breathe out… The best thing I can do in this situation is to stay calm and focus. Can’t think of a way out right now. No matter how hard I pull on that damn chain, it won’t break. So, waiting for Liz and the others to save me is the best option. “This sucks so much!”

The door opens, and Razzle walks in. I knew it would be her, but I hoped it was Liz. “Riki-boo, I’m back! And I got you something to eat.” She smiles at me like what she’s doing is normal. Razzle places down a small container. “Guess what I made you, Riki, guess!”

I sit against the wall, looking up at the ceiling, saying, “I’m not guessing.”

“C’mon, Riki! Do it for me, please.” Razzle begged. “I’ll give you a hint, okay? It has scales.”

“...”

“It can go up a waterfall, and bears love to eat them.”

“Razzle, I’m not playing your damn gam-Aaahhhh!” I yell in pain as Razzle activates the fuckin’ shock collar.

“Guess, Riki, guess,” Razzle said coldly.

“Salmon, the answer is salmon!” I yelled.

She stops shocking me and then claps her hoofs together. “Good job, Riki. I knew you could get it right.” Razzle opens the container, and it’s salmon. Some badly overcooked salmon. Even Liz can do better than this. “I caught and cooked this fish. I did this to show how much I care for-”

“I’m not…eating that,” I said between breaths. Wait, did she say caught the fish? That means we have to be near a lake… So we are in the woods somewhere…hopefully.

“Why not, my big human?” Razzle asked, with a hit of sadness in her voice. “You don’t like fish?”

I slowly get up from the floor, using the wall to help me stand. “No… I just don't trust you, Razzle…”

“You don’t trust me?” Razzle gasped. “...Is it because I put tranquilizer in your drink to get you here? Riki-boo, that happened yesterday. You need to get over that.” Oh wow, she really said that. “Now eat, you're hungry.”

I smile at her, “I'd rather starve.”

Razzle scowls at me. I was ready to get the shit shocked out of me… But she didn’t. “Fine! You can starve, don’t eat. I only care about your well-being, but you don’t, Riki!” Tears start to fill her eyes as she runs out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

I wonder if I got Razzle riled up like that, she’ll let me go… Or kill me. I’ll take that chance.

The Riki recovery party is going well. Thanks to Twilight’s spell, the group can find Riki in no time. However, it’s getting dark, and they have been walking all day. Liz and Twilight wanted to keep going, but Louie suggested they stop. Can’t stop Razzle if they’re all tired and hungry. Knowing the cat is right, so they call it a day.

When the group finds a nice opening in the forest to rest, Rainbow Dash makes a campfire. When she was done, Applejack started to make stewed apples. To help out, Fluttershy and Pinkie went out to pick the wild berries they passed a while back. Once they finished eating, they sat around the campfire and talked a little. After a while, Fluttershy lets out a yawn. “Oh, sorry. It looks like I'm ready to go to bed.”

“Darling, you can say that again.” Rarity said. “But I’m not sleeping on the ground. Don’t want dirt in my mane.”

Louie licks the food off his paws, “I got an idea.” He grows in size and then lies down. “You guys can sleep on me.” Without a second thought, Pinkie and Fluttershy jump on the huge cat. “Whoa!”

Pinkie quickly wrapped herself with one of Louie’s tails, “So soft and fluffy!”

“You’re right, Pinkie,” Fluttershy said, rubbing her face into Louie’s side.

Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash found a spot on Louie to sleep on. The cat yawns, “I’ll try my best not to roll over in my sleep, guys.” Louie looks over at the fire to see Liz and Twilight are still there. “Hey, you two coming?”

“I’m not tired,” said Twilight.

“Same,” Liz said as she got closer to the fire. “We won’t stay up too late.” Liz and Twilight sit quietly around the campfire as the others fall asleep. Liz grabs a few leaves, tossing them Into the fire. “...Twilight, can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, anything.”

“What spell are you using to find my brother?” Liz asked, looking at the pony.

Twilight quickly looks down at the ground, and her face heats up a bit. She looks back at Liz, “Oh, umm… This fire is getting hot, isn’t it?” Liz doesn’t answer. Twilight sighs and then says, “Look, you can’t tell nopony. Not the girls, not Louie or Spike.”

“You have my word.”

Twilight sits there for a bit before saying, “Remember when we arrived at Canterlot, Spike and I left to see somepony?” Liz nods, and Twilight continues, “I went to see my friend, Cadance. To see if she can help.”

“How did she?” Liz asked.

“Well…”

Flashback

When Liz and the others go to Razzle’s place, Twilight and Spike want to find Cadance. The princess of love can be very helpful in this situation. Twilight knocks on Cadance's door, and she answers, “Oh, Twilight! It’s good to see you… What’s wrong?” Cadence moves aside, letting Twilight and Spike in.

“It’s Riki, he was taken,” Twilight said somberly.

“I heard about that, your brother told me,” Cadence replied. “The pony that foalnap Riki was Razzle. I was told she did it out of love… So as the Princess of Love, I try to see if I can find Razzle…”

“Didn’t go so well, huh?”

“No. Razzle's love of Riki is not loved…wel,l not at first.” Cadence answered. “Her ‘love’ is toxic, like a pile of sludge. An unhealthy obsession. It’s hard to find somepony that feels like that… It scares me. I wish I had stepped in before things turned bad.” Cadence lets out a sad sigh

“I need a way to find Riki.” said Twilight, “I’m hoping you have a spell to track by...”

Cadence's eyes widen, and then he pulls Twilight to the side, away from Spike. “Twilight, you love Riki.” She said in a whisper, making sure Spike didn’t hear. “And don’t say you don’t. Because I can feel the love you have for him right now

“It's more like a small crush... D-do you have a spell or not.” Twilight quickly says with a blush.

“So, when did you fall for him?” asked Cadence.

“Cadence!”

“Sorry, sorry.” She chuckled. “And yes, I have a spell that can find your ‘friend'.”

“Thanks, Cadence, you’re the best... And it's just a small crush.”

Flashback End

Twilight is looking at the fire, afraid to look at Liz. She doesn't know how Liz will react. “Liz?” Twili waits for Lis's response. but she got nothing. “...Liz?” Twilight looks up to see Liz has fallen asleep. Liz must have dozed off when she was talking. Twilight is a bit relieved that it happened. She puts out the fire and takes Liz to Louie.

As everyone is asleep, Louie has been up the entire time. He heard the entire conversation. “That's interesting,” Louie said to himself.

Riki slowly opens his eyes as the door opens. Razzle walks in with a sad look. “Riki… I want to say sorry for yelling and telling you to starve. Can you forgive me?”

Not looking at her, Riki says, “Forgive you? Yeah, if you let me go.”

“You know I can’t do that, my love.”

“Doing all of this… Really showing how much you love me. That’s amazing!” Riki said sarcastically.

“It will take some time for you to realize that you and I meant for each other,” Razzle said softly. “I can’t wait for your first kiss, Riki!”

“And I can't wait to get out...” Riki walks over to Razzle, looming over her. "You and I both know you can't keep me here. Cuz everyone is looking, and they are going to find this place, wherever we are."

"Why are you even fighting this, Riki?" Razzle huffed. "If you just see how happy this makes me... How happy this is going to make you."

"I don't think so, Razzle," Riki said as he sat down.

In the forest, a crow lands on a branch. "lust, sloth. I sense the human, both of them..." Taboo says as he flies down and perches on Sloth the yak's horn. "We go at dawn."

"Dawn? That's so early." Sloth yawned.

"Oh, quit your whining," Lust says as she slithers right next to him. Lust is a Melusine. She has long black hair and purple bat-like wings on her back, used to cover her breasts. A dark purple snake tail lower body, and a black cloth with a beautiful pattern wrapped around her waist. "I can't wait to wrap that human up~."

"I can't wait to get some sleep," Sloth grumbled as he leaned against a tree.

"i can't wait to get this over with."

Character Bios and Q&A

Author's Note

Oi, this is a place for character bios and questions. So, if you have any questions, just ask, and I will respond as fast as possible. I will also let you guys know when I add more bios.

What are your thoughts on Riki and Lizi?

Character Bios and Q&A

Ricochet(Riki)Gregory Phillipsis an energetic and sometimes lazy half-brother of Liz. Riki can be childish, but he can easily act like an adult if need be. He is an excellent fighter, trained in many different ways of hand-to-hand combat by Madeline. Riki learns this to protect and help people. He can be a troublemaker without knowing what he did. Like getting lost and going somewhere, he’s not supposed to go or be too stubborn. But that stubbornness gives Riki an undying will to keep fighting, no matter how big or strong his opponent is. He will fight.

Likes: Fighting, Yu-Gi-Oh, Digimon, Manga, Naps, Exploring, Cooking, Mystery movies and shows

Dislikes: Olivia(Liz's mom), Bad people, Scary movies, Awkward moments, Gum, Being looked down on, Swans, Zombies

Elizabeth(Liz)June Philipsis a smart and serious little half-sister of Riki. She tries her best to stay out of trouble, just sticking to her lane. No friends if you don't include a cat or family. Liz is at the top of her class, except for anything physical. She used her intelligence to make many inventions and fix stuff around the house. Liz can be very mature for her age but also emotional. Especially when something involves her brother. She is very defensive over her brother, even if she's the younger sibling. Liz really looks up to Riki, wishing to be just like him. Deep down, Liz knows she will never be like him but has to become her own person.

Likes: Inventing, MMORPGs, Cats, Robots, Power rangers, Super Sentai, Rainy days, Learning new things

Dislikes: Hot days, Strawberries, Spicy food, Clowns, Babies

Wrath, a diamond dog that is quick to anger, works under Taboo in a secret group. Wrath can get so mad he can go into a blind rage. Attacking anything and anyone around him. La-la is the only one who can calm him by using her magic. Wrath likes to be alone but sometimes enjoys La-la’s company. He’s one of the longest members of Taboo’s group after Pride and Greed. Wrath knows what he’s doing is bad, but it’s better than where he was long ago.

Likes: Being alone, Meat, La-la, Naps, Butterflies

Dislikes: Very loud noises, Everyone around him, Pride, His old home, Dog jokes

La-la Luis an upbeat and deadly unicorn that specializes in paper magic. Her origami cutie mark shows that she’s highly skilled with paper. La-la is not one of the core members but is like a grunt. She works directly under Wrath and is always with him. La-la is able to calm the dog down with her paper magic. Every day, she practiced making 1000 paper cranes as fast as possible. No one knows why La-la does it, but she always says, ‘I can do better.’

Likes: Origami, Wrath, Stories, Dancing,

Dislikes: Being sick, Fire, Being alone, Taboo

Taboo is an unknown creature even the princesses know nothing about. A monster freed from his prison, ready to cause mayhem. Doesn't remember how long he has been in that jar, but he remembers who did it. Taboo is strong, smart, and cocky. He doesn't take weak opponents seriously, usually playing with them until he gets bored. When Taboo takes someone seriously, he’ll call them by their name. Taboo has plans for the land of Equestria.

Likes: Fighting, Looking down on others

Dislikes: Riki, Liz, Elements of Harmony, Being trapped

Feather Gleam is a pegasus that followed in the steps of her father and became a Sun guard. Feather was one of the first guards to befriend and respect Riki. She is very upfront when she needs to. Can also be very messy when it comes to her room or her choices of boys. She always manages to find the weird ones.

Likes: Being a guard, Bebop’s music, Snacks, Go out with friends

Dislikes: Surprise parties, Green apples, Mom telling embarrassing stories about her, Pudding

Bebop Lass is a somewhat ditzy bat pony, a part of the Moon guards. Even though her two best friends work during the day. Bebop sometimes manages to hang out with them, even if it costs her some sleep. Bebop also plays saxophone. On her free nights, she goes to Canterlot’s jazz club, playing her heart out. No one knows why she became a guard instead of a professional jazz player.

Likes: Jazz, Hanging out with friends, Sweets, Rainy nights

Dislikes: Blood, Waking up early, Pop music, Snow, Centipedes, Las Pegasus

Specs is a unicorn sun guard with glasses a bit too big. He takes his job very seriously and tries to stick by the books. Specs is known as Captain Shining Armor's right hand. Knowledgeable about magic and other stuff. He’s the quiet one in the friend group of Bebop and Feather. Can be a stick in the mud when hanging out, but if you get a few drinks in him, it's a different story. Specs doesn't say why he became a guard but just says he’s glad he became one.

Likes: Studying, Books, His friend's chaotic nature, Hard candy, His glasses collection, Bebop’s music

Dislikes: Unorganized things, Nobles, Drunken version of himself, Loud music,

Razzle Snap a unicorn journalist for Equestria Times, made in Canterlot and ships all over the place. Razzle works hard to find a story for her annoying boss and tries to keep her job. She has always been a loner, just doing her job. Writing boring stories here and there until the humans showed up in this world, especially Riki. The amazing stories Riki has can help Razzle keep her job and then some. She will do her best for a story, giving it 100%.

Likes: Riki, Writing, cheesy romance stories, Hay fries with extra ketchup, Gossip magazines

Dislikes: Boring stories, Her boss, Annoying ponies, Pizza

Mimi a flirtatious feline who works at Mama Ruby's Escort Service as the right hand of Mama Ruby. She likes to show how sexy she can be, especially around someone she thinks is cute. At the escort service, Mimi is sort of a big sister to all the girls there, one big family. And she hates it when her sisters get picked on, especially if they go after Mama Ruby. Mama saved her life, and Mimi will never forget it.

Likes: A nice drink, Clothes, Massages, Dancing, Family, Playful flirting, Being on top, Grilled fish with parsley

Dislikes: Her family getting hurt, The Pipistrello family, Coffee, Being lied to, Baked fish with lemon cream sauce

Twinkle is a kind dog for her size but also fierce. Twinkle has been Mama Ruby's secretary for years. She’s more level-headed than Mimi, even if she's a bit younger. Plus, she enjoys teasing Mimi, especially about Riki. Twinkle loves to help the girls around the building with their problems here and there.

Likes: Teasing Mimi, Manticore steak medium rare, Helping the girls, Scary books

Dislikes: Apples, The Pipistrello family, Dancing(can’t dance), Thunder storms

Ruby(Mama) is a large, well-advised older cat who knows a lot about things. She's the proud owner of Mama Ruby's Escort Service and won the building in a poker game. Ruby treats the girls there like her own. She doesn't just run an escort service. She also runs a home where girls don't have a place to go. Ruby loves her daughters.

Likes: Her daughters, Expensive perfume, Makeup, Burlesque show, Baked fish with lemon cream sauce

Dislikes: Grilled fish with parsley, Someone messing with her family, Cheese, The Pipistrello family

Coal is one of three capos of the Pipistrello family. It took this unicorn eight years to get to the position. Well, Slugger and Scout didn't want the job. Coal uses this position to sit around and let soldiers handle things; he doesn’t want to get his hooves dirty.

Likes: Being capo, Bits, Mares, A nice cigar

Dislikes: The Limelight family, Riki, The house of Mama Ruby, Blueblood

Slugger is the Pipistrello family enforcer, the main muscle. He was taken into the Pipistrello family at a young age. After the Don was impressed with the minotaur’s action, he was given the name Iron Horn Slugger. Slugger was offered the position of capo, but he declined it. Saying he doesn’t want to sit around, like what Cola is doing now.

Likes: Booze, Breaking things(especially bones) Suits, Fillydelphia pizza

Dislikes: The Limelight family, Riki, The house of Mama Ruby, His booze being drank, Losing a fight

Scout joined the Pipistrello family around the same time Slugger joined. The Diamond Dog is one of the smartest members of the family. Scout doesn’t fight if he doesn’t have to. He rarely has to since he is always partnered up with Slugger.

Likes: Magazines, Messing with Slugger, Bones, Fleur de Lis.

Dislikes: The Limelight family, Riki, The house of Mama Ruby

Waltz A bat pony, has been a member of the Pipistrello family since he was a colt and worked his way up. By the age of 25 and after the old Don died, his father. He took over as the new Don. Waltz has been the new Don of the Pipistrello family for the past 31 years. He was feared and respected by friends and foes.

Likes: This family, Wife, Kids, Wine.

Dislikes: The Limelight family, Riki, Things not getting done

Gloria is one of the captains of Griffonstone’s royal guards. She’s quite curious about new things, so anytime she has a chance to travel outside of Griffonstone, she takes it. Gloria has a habit of sneaking up on others, especially the ones that she likes. Gloria can be so stealthy that her presence is erased. Earning her the epithet, The Ghost of Griffonstone.

Likes: Fishing, Rabbit soup, Flying through clouds, Traveling

Dislikes: Thunder, Flounder, Ice cream(Too cold)

Chapter 0: Prologue

Prologue

In a bathroom thick with steam, a man walks out of the shower, grabs a towel, and starts to dry himself off. He then walks up to the fogged mirror and wipes it off; a 23-year-old man with brown skin and black hair, Ricochet Gregory Phillips, or Riki for short.

Walking out of the bathroom into the hallway. I finally made it to my room. Tossing my dirty clothes onto my bed, I accidentally hit my cat. “Sorry, Louie. I didn’t see you there, my bad.” Louie rolls over and out a loud meow. Louie is a black and white tabby cat that is missing his left eye. The white fur on him makes it look like he’s wearing pants.

After I got dressed, I walked to my window and opened it. Since my lovely room is on the second floor, I have a good view of the city. Looking at the sky, I see a crescent moon and a few clouds but no stars. “Well, I haven’t seen Liz all day. She probably doesn’t know I came home.” Liz’s room is across from me. But, knowing her, she's not in there.

Walking to the back of the living room to the back of the house. A door has a sign that says, Liz’s Workshop and Do Not Disturb.... I walked in. The room is messy. The tables have a lot of piles of paper and unorganized tools. There is a blue Vespa flipped upside down in the corner. I see Liz in the back of the room, sitting on a small tool chest with two big ones next to her. “Oi Liz, this place is a mess.” I kick an empty energy drink, “You working hard?”

“I like how you just walked all up in here,” Liz said, annoyed. “But I’m happy to see you.”

“Really!?” I said as she turned towards me.

Elizabeth June Philips is my 16-year-old sister. She has the same skin tone as me, but since she stays inside a lot, her tone is lighter. Her hair is the same color as mine, and it’s in a curly faux hawk. Some of the hair is covering her left eye. She is wearing tattered gray overalls with the straps down to her sides. She has a blue shirt and black and white high tops. Around her neck are safety goggles.

“Yes, it’s something super cool!” Liz shouted gleefully.

“That’s good, but can you turn down the volume?”

“Riki, you know how I get when I work on something!” She puts on the goggles and giggles, “And sorry about the glitter bombs. I didn’t know that too much glitter is a bad thing.”

“It took me three days to get the glitter out of my hair,” I deadpan. “All I did was super glue your tools to the table. I think you overreacted." She grabs my arm and pulls me to the table. “What the hell am I looking at?”

“It’s a magnet gun!” She replies cheerfully. “You see that screwdriver next to you?” Picking up the gun and pointing at the screwdriver. Carefully aiming and pressing a button. The gun boots up and glows blue. The prongs vibrate while electric sparks shoot out, hitting the target. The screwdriver starts to shake, and I hear Liz’s voice pleading for this to work.

Then, the screwdriver stops moving.

The magnet gun starts sparking, and a plume of smoke comes from the side. This is not the first time one of Liz’s inventions. But I know how to deal with it. “It’s okay. At least it worked a little.” I try to cheer her up, putting a hand on her back.

Liz brushes off my hand and slams the gun on the table. She opens a panel to see the damaged circuit board and pulls out the soldering iron. “No, I have been working on this for weeks!” She snapped while putting on the goggles. “If I had more power or something… I don’t know.” Liz runs her hand through her hair, taking a few deep breaths. “….Sorry, can I be alone?”

"I’ll be in the living room if you need me, okay?” She nodded her head. “Good!”

I've been thinking about what to make in the kitchen. I don't know how long I've been here, but I need to think of something. "Maybe I should get takeout. Chinese, pizza, or..."

The house shakes.

Pots and pans begin to fall. A few plates fell from the cabinet, but I was able to catch a few. The light lights flicker a few times before everything goes dark. “What the fuck!?” was the only words that came out of my mouth. I pulled out my phone to see if I could call someone or check the news. “No signal? It's a blackout, but we have solar panels." Liz came in the running with her phone in flashlight mode.

“I can explain!”

“Explain, please! Why don’t we have power? Is this a blackout!?”

Liz starts to shift in place. “Well... A power outage will not affect us.”

“Okay, but why don’t we have power?” I said sternly.

She shifted again and hung her head low. “Well… I need power for the magnet gun. So, I connected the solar panel’s power box and transferred the power to the gun.” Tears start to form as she looks at me and takes my hand. “Sorry, it overloaded and sent out a big magnetic pulse. I got flown back a little. Also, purple lighting happened and hit the power box.” She looks like she’s about to burst into tears, using my hand to wipe her face.

“...Are you hurt?”

She shakes her head.

“Look, it’s late. We should talk about this in the morning, okay?”

Liz uses my hand to wipe her face again. “Okay. First thing in the morning, I will fix the power bo, " she says with a small smile.

“Get some sleep. I'll clean up here."

Today was a long day. I just need my bed, my lovely bed. Changed into my blue frog onesie, I drag my feet across the carpet and land face-first on my bed. I turned my head to see my still sleeping cat. “Good night, Louie. See you in the morning.” I yawned and pulled the covers over my head.

Louie wakes up from the movement. He does a nice stretch and hops off the bed. Then goes to the window sill to look at the night sky. He stares at the sky in curiosity and wonder. The last time he looked outside, the moon was not full, and there were no stars. He feels like something is off, but he’s just a cat, so he jumps on top of Riki and goes back to bed.

It’s morning… I need more sleep. Looking at the alarm clock, it says, ‘set time’ flashing in bright red. “Looks like Liz got the power on,” I said tiredly. Getting up and doing a few stretches for the body. I picked up my phone to see that it was showing 11 o’clock. Guess I got a few more hours of sleep. I think something is off, but I can’t put my finger on it. What is going on? Louie is not here, and my door is open. Was Liz in here?

Walking to the bathroom to clear my mind, I turn on the sink. Hot water will help.

Nothing.

Turning on the shower.

Nothing.

“We have no water,”

I walked out of the dry bathroom and headed downstairs to see if I could find Liz. Then, I started hearing voices from the kitchen, stopping halfway to listen.

“Wow, that’s amazing! You have to tell me more!” Said an overexcited voice.

“Well, where should I start?” Liz ponder.

“The super-duper muffins are almost done!!!”

“Louie, you are such an adorable cat. You should meet Angel; I bet two will get along.”

“Liz, are you sure your brother is okay with this?”

“I mean letting somepony he doesn’t know come into his house.”

“I still think this is all a trap!”

“I said, it’s fine... And not a trap!” Liz replied.

What is going on in there? Slowly entering the room, what I saw shook me to my core. Liz was the first to notice that I was there.

“Riki, look!” She said with excitement, “I met the locals!” Now everybody has their eyes on me. I rub my eyes to make sure I’m not seeing things. Right now, I am looking at six, about four feet tall horses, no too small…. Ponies, weirdly colored talking ponies.

I see a pink color pony with curly dark pink hair… um, mane and tail. She’s next to the oven. I look at Liz and see four ponies sitting with her. First is an orange body with a blonde mane, tail, and green eyes. She has freckles on her face and wearing a brown stetson hat. Next to her is a pony with a horn, so a unicorn. She has a white body, blue eyes, a violet mane, and a tail with small curls. She is wearing a bit too much makeup, but more power to her.

Another unicorn but purple. Her mane and tail are navy blue and dyed strands of pink and purple. She is sitting next to Liz, and I can see a paper and quill floating in a purple aura. Next to the purple pony is a yellow one with a pink mane and tail. She also has teal eyes. She was petting Louie. Now that she sees me, she tries to hide behind her mane. I can see her, so it’s not working. She has wings, so she is a pegasus. But it didn’t stop there because I could feel someone staring daggers at me. I see a blue pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail in that direction. She is staring at me with those magenta eyes like she will attack me if I make a wrong move.

Okay, I’m standing here, wearing my frog onesie. For about a few minutes, we just stared at each other. Well, I have to say something, right?

“Who the fuck are you guys!?”

Chapter 2: Questions and answers!

Questions and answers!

"Hey, Riki, can you take off your clothes?" Twilight asked.

I don't like where this is going. "Umm, what was that?"

"Oh, sorry. Can you please take off your clothes?" she said with a big smile. That kind of freaks me out a little bit. I don't know if 'Please' will help with this request, but that's just me.

"Can I ask why?" I said, not making eye contact.

"Will I want to see the human body?"

"Like muscular system or other stuff like that?"

"Pretty much," then Twilight popped in a quill and paper out of thin air. "And I do what to run some test on you. Also, get a few samples."

I REALLY don't like where this is going. Liz did something; I know she did. What the hell did they talk about when I was in the shower.

"What did you do?"

"I just volunteered you," Liz said,

"I hate you," I said, pinching the bridge of my nose.

"I love you too, bro-bro!"

"Well, I not getting naked for you or doing any test!" I nearly shouted. "So, can we talk about something else?"

Rainbow moved to the other couch when I sat next to Liz. When I did, I flicked her shoulder. She stepped on my foot, so I stepped on hers. She grabbed my earlobe, pulling it. I grabbed her hair and gave it a slight yank.

"Owwww! Riki, you asshole, let go!"

"You first!"

"You started it!"

"You started it by volunteering me!"

We kept going with our small fight, but nothing serious happened.

"Ahem!" Twilight coughed.

We both looked at Twilight and then at each other. Finally, we let go of each other and fix ourselves. Liz was able to get the last hit on my shoulder.

"Sorry about that, Twilight. Won't happen again...maybe?" I said, rubbing my shoulder.

"Yeah, sorry about that little distraction, Twilight." Liz chuckled while fixing her hair.

"So, how are we going to do this?" I asked, leaning back on the couch.

Twilight rubs her hoof on her chin, "I'll go first."

"Okay, Twilight, what is it?"

"It's for the both of you. Can you please state your full name, age, and date of birth?"

"That is a little weird, but okay. My name is Ricochet Gregory Philips or Riki, born on May 5th, and I'm 23."

"My name is Elizabeth June Philips, and you guys can call me Liz. Born on January 1st, and I'm 16."

"Good, good," Twilight said while writing everything down.

"Our turn now. Can I go first, Liz?" I asked.

"Be my guest,"

"Alright, what are those weird symbols on your butts?" I said, pointing to the symbols. "Because all you ponies have them, except for some of the little ones." They all gave me confusing looks, well, except for Liz. That's when Rarity spoke up.

"Riki, those weird symbols are called cutie marks," Rarity said, showing hers off, and the other followed. "And it's not on our butts; it's on our haunches."

"Same thing,"

"Umm...sure, okay," Liz said. "To add to his question, what are cutie marks?"

"Cutie marks are the symbolic representation of the pony's special talent. It's one of the things that make a pony happy." Twilight explained. "I can infer that since you don't know what cutie marks are, humans don't have them, right?"

"Yeah, pretty much, and we don't have magic," I said, pointing to the quill and paper.

Twilight looks shocked, "You don't have magic!"

"No. All our magic is fake or only real in stories and stuff." Liz interjects. "You and Rarity can use magic. What about the others? Can they use magic?"

Twilight sat there for a bit, then said, "Yes and no. Everypony has magic flowing through them, some more than others. Unlike unicorns, pegasi and earth ponies can't do spells. However, the innate magical abilities of pegasi can move clouds to control the weather, and earth ponies can grow plants extremely well. Also, nonmagical, the earth ponies are the physically strongest out of the three."

The physically strongest? I look closely at Applejack and Pinkie to see that they are somewhat muscular. Well, Pinkie is slightly chubby and speaking of Pinkie. Her hoof is raised, waving unbelievably fast.

"RikiRikiRikiRikiRikiRikiRikiRikiRikiRikiRikiRiki!!!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"What is it?"

"It's about you and Lizzy's eyes. I really like them! It reminds me of a half-and-half cake or Neapolitan ice cream but with only two flavors."

"Thanks. Our eyes run in the family. Well, more like just the amber eye runs in the family," I said, showing off my green and amber eyes. Liz followed suit and showed off her amber and brown eyes.

"Why is that?" Rainbow asked.

"Liz can explain better than me," I said sheepishly.

"Our family has a weird version of Heterochromia iridium; you guys call it the same thing?" Twilight nods, and Liz continues, "When a child is born in our family, it will have an eye color of amber, no exceptions." Liz explained.

I cut in and said, "We have a cousin who is blind; one eye was pale from the blindness, and the other eye is amber, no exceptions. So I like to call it 'The Amber Eye Curse,' cool, right!"

"The other eye color will come from ones outside the family," Liz continues. "We got our amber eye from our dad."

I looked to Twilight to see if she was about to say something but stopped. Her face gives off a 'Should or Should not' type of vibe. Before I asked her what was wrong, Rainbow called for me. I guess I'll ask her later.

"Yeah, Rainbow?"

"When you were fighting those Timberwolves, you were pretty good. How long have you been doing it?"

"Yeah, never seen somepony fight like that before," said Applejack.

"Will... I have been training since I was seven. Learning tons of different fighting styles and techniques throughout the years from my sensei. Enter a few tournaments and win a lot of trophies and stuff." I took a deep breath and exhaled, "But I don't care about that. I also had a few jobs that helped me hone my skills."

"What types of jobs?" asked Rarity.

I ran my hand through my hair, "A bouncer at a random club when I was in high school. A personal bodyguard for a rich girl. And right now, I'm doing a whole bunch of stuff to make money."

"Umm... C-can I ask you and Liz something... I-if you don't mind?" Fluttershy said through her hair.

Liz and I both nod.

Fluttershy pets Louie a few more times and then says, "A few times when you and Liz talk... I can see that you guys have canines. So that means you two eat...meat."

All of them are giving us wary looks. I expected this, but I did hope none of them didn't ask.

"Yes, we humans eat meat. But we also can eat fruits, vegetables, etc."

"Simple, we'er omnivores." Liz chimed in.

They all sigh in relief.

"Well... I'm an omnivore. Liz is more of a herbivore, like you guys!" I joked.

Liz rolls her eyes, "I'm a pescatarian."

"You're a pesca-what!?" asked Pinkie.

"I'm a pescatarian. I don't eat meat, but I do eat fish." Liz said.

"You're a pescatarian, too scared to become a vegetarian."I laughed.

Liz got up and pointed at me. "Shut up!" she growled. Then, she walked angrily to the stairs. "I'm going to the bathroom."

Once she was up the stairs, everybody looked at me, even Louie. "I was just messing with her!" I sigh and run my hand through my hair. "I'll apologize to her later."

I splash water onto my face and fix my hair. I have only been in the bathroom for about 15 minutes. I know he was just messing around, but it can still get annoying sometimes. Right now, I going through a lot. As I walked out and down the stairs, I only Riki, Twilight, and Spike. Riki and Twilight are chatting, and Spike was breathing fire on some papers. "What's going on? Did I miss something?" I asked, going over to them, "And where's the others?"

"Well, Spike is sending the reports on you and Riki to the Princesses," Twilight said.

"And the others have jobs to do," Riki said lazily.

"Applejack has her family apple farm, Rainbow has weather duty, Rarity has her boutique, Fluttershy has to feed the animals, and Pinkie works in a bakery," Spike explained.

"You did miss something pretty funny when you were out," Riki chuckled. "Rarity asked what does 'Fuck' means. Hahaha, the look on her face!"

"Where's Louie?" I said, looking around.

"I asked Fluttershy to take him with her so he can get something to eat," Riki said, getting up from the couch." And speaking of getting something to eat, I'm hungry."

"I'm hungry too," Spike said, rubbing his stomach.

Spike and Riki exchange looks.

"Food, food, food!" Riki chanted.

Spike is joining in, "Food, food, food!!"

"Food, food, food!!!"

"Food, food, food!!!!"

Riki and Spike start running around in circles like a bunch of five-year-olds. They continue to chant while laughing like a bunch of idiots. Twilight and I watch those two go on for a bit, and I would find this annoying... But I'm getting hungry too.

"I think we should listen to them," Twilight giggled.

"Yeah, you're right about that," I said, still looking at the prancing fools. "Are we eating here or..."

Twilight rubs her chin, "Let's eat out. I know a good place! Also, I would like to show you two around Ponyville, so you guys can get used to it here," Twilight got off the couch and walked to the stairs. "I have to go get my saddlebag from my room. Oh, can you... Umm." She gestures to Riki and Spike.

"The doofus duos? Yeah, I got it!"

We're currently walking through the town, and I can say this place is pretty lovely. The only thing I don't find 'lovely' is the ponies staring at me. I slowly move close to Riki, basically hiding behind him. I hate it when I'm being stared at; It makes me feel like the odd one out. It reminds me of school... That's fucking great. I feel Riki poking the side of my head, pulling me from my thoughts.

"Oi, Liz, you okay?"

I brush his finger aside, "Just...dandy,"

Riki stops walking, and I bump into him. "Liz, I'm sorry about what happened earlier. I was just messing with you."

"It's fine. I knew you were just messing with me. I should have kept my cool."

"Naaaww, I kind of deserved it!" He chuckled.

I smiled at Riki and hugged him. "At least I'm not a crazy vegan."

"If you were, I would most definitely disown you!"

I give Riki another hug. But we broke apart when a particular purple unicorn said something.

"Awww, you two made up," said Twilight.

"Made up? We never break apart in the first place, right, Liz!"

"That's right! No matter what, I always have this tall bastard's back!"

"I have the most reliable little sister," he said. "Now enough talk, Twilight, lead the way; I'm starving!"

We finally arrived, and It looked like one of the cafes back home. I see ferns and different colored flowers around the outside. A few ponies were eating outside and chatting but stopped when they looked at us. I hope that stops soon. We walked inside the cafe and went up to a red unicorn mare, and she was wearing waitress attire... But, no pants.

"Hi, my name is Ruby Bell! How may I help-" She stops when her gaze lands on Riki and me. Her joyful tone was replaced with fear. "Ummm, h-how may I h-help?"

"I would Like a table for four, please," Twilight said with a smile.

"W-would you like to eat inside or outside?" she said timidly.

Twilight looks at us, "Inside or outside?"

"Out!" Riki and Spike both said.

I shrug my shoulders, "Outside is fine."

Ruby used her magic to pick up four menus, "Okay, follow me to your table."

We follow the mare outside to a lovely round table. It has flowers and an umbrella in the center. We all went to sit down, the chairs were a bit small, but I made it work... Riki, on the other hand.

Riki looks at the chair, "Do you have any bigger chairs?"

"Sorry, we rarely get... Things like you." the waitress said.

Did she call my brother a 'Thing'? That bitch! I was about to say something, but Riki gave me a 'Don't do anything' look.

"It's okay. I can make it work," he said, sitting down.

The bitch waitress gave us the menus and took out a notepad. "Now then, what can I get you to drink?"

"Water, asshole," I said with a little bit of venom. Riki was the only one who heard that; in response, he kicked me in my leg. "Ow, fucker!,"

"Water," Riki said with a smile.

"A water, please," Twilight said.

"Crystal Bepsi," said Spike.

The waitress walks away to get our drinks.

"Crystal-what?" asked Riki.

"Crystal Bepsi is a type of soda made from crystal."

"Wow, that is pretty cool!"

I look over the menu, and some of the food is inedible. Flowers, hay, and pasture grass are made into different types of food. I do see a mixed vegetable bowl that looks good. A few minutes passed, and Ruby came back with our drinks.

"Here are our three glasses of water and Crystal Bepsi!" she said. "Are you guys ready to order?"

"I would love a daffodil and daisy sandwich," said Twilight.

"And three orders of hay fries!" Spike added.

"I will have... A large bowl of mixed fruit, no tomatoes, and no strawberries ." Riki ordered.

"And I will take a medium bowl of mixed vegetables with tomatoes," I said while giving back the menu.

She grabbed the rest of the menus and said, "I'll be right back." Then she left.

"The hell is a daffodil and daisy sandwich?" Riki asked.

"Alright, one daffodil and daisy sandwich, a large bowl of mixed fruit, no tomatoes, no strawberries, a medium bowl of mixed vegetables with tomatoes, and three orders of hay fries!" Ruby said while giving us our food. "If you need anything, just call...or not." She quickly walks back inside.

"Well then, let's dig in!" Riki said, diving in.

Riki and Spike are chowing down like monsters. I pick up my fork and move the bowl closer to me, taking a few bites.

"This is good; thank you, Twilight," I said.

Riki stopped eating, "Yeah!" Then went back to eat.

"Twilight, what are we going to do after this?" I asked.

Riki slams his bowl on the table, getting the attention of us and the other ponies around. It also made Spike do a spit take. "I know what we can do!" Riki yelled with a piece of fruit in his mouth.

"Yeah, what is that?"

"Let's go see Pinkie at her job! I forgot what she caught it, Suger something?"

"Sugarcube Corner," Spike said in between hay fries.

"Yeah, Sugarcube Corner! I really want to eat Pinkie's cupcakes." Riki said while rocking the chair side to side. "So, can we, Twilight?"

Twilight takes a bite from her sandwich, "We can do that."

"Alright, let's finish eating, then head to Sugarcube Corner!" after Riki said that, he scarfed down the rest of his food.

"Riki, Twilight has to pay first. Oh, thanks again for paying. Is there anything Riki and I can do for you?"

Twilight gets a big smile on her face and points to Riki, "Well... I have one thing in mind."

He takes a deep breath and fixes his hair, "Fine! ... I'll let you do your test on me, but we'll do it tomorrow."

"Riki, you're the best. I have a lot of stuff planned!" Twilight gushed as she brought out a piece of paper and quill from her saddlebag.

Riki leans over to Spike, "What is she doing?"

"She's making a list," Spike answered.

"List of what?"

"A list of all tests she's going to run on you,"

Riki hung his head, "I think I made a big mistake."

We are staying in front of Sugarcube Corner, which screams bakery. Riki and I have been looking at the roof for about five minutes, give or take. "You think the roof is real gingerbread?" Riki asked me.

"No," I said, then looked at the roof again. " Maybe."

"Riki, Liz, are you coming?" Spike said, holding the door next to Twilight.

"Coming!" we both said, walking to them.

Inside next to the register, I see a blue earth mare wearing an apron, and I don't want to sound rude, but she's quiet... Big for an earth pony. Then, a pink blur slams into Riki's chest out of nowhere, causing him to stumble a bit.

"Riki, you're here!"

"Danm, Pinkie, nice to see you too," Riki said, giving her a few pats on the head.

"Liz, you're here too!" Pinkie beamed.

"We just finished eating out with Twilight and Spike, and we decided to come here." I look at Riki putting down Pinkie. "More like Riki decided, and we followed."

"Well then, since you two are here, I would like to introduce you to somepony."

She pulled Riki by his hoodie sleeves to the blue mare, and I followed behind. "I would like you to meet Mrs. Cake, my super amazing boss. Mrs. Cake, this is Riki and his little sister Liz, the two humans I told you about!" Then she went over to Twilight and Spike. "We're going into the kitchen, be back in a few!" after Pinkie said that, she quickly took them to the back. I wonder what that was about?

"Well, it's nice to meet you two. Pinkie said a lot of very good things about you two."

"Really?" I said.

"Yes, when Pinkie got here, she went on and on and on and on... And on about you two."

"So, Mrs. Cake, is it just you and Pinkie that works here?" Riki asked.

"No, we have my husband to help out too, but he's out of-"

Mrs. Cake was cut off by some... Crying? And lots of it.

"Crying?"

"Babys?"

"Oh, just the twins. They must have woken up from their naps," she said, walking around the counter and up the stairs. They're probably hungry right now. I'll be right back." After Mrs. Cake told us this, she went upstairs—literally, when Mrs. Cake went out of sight. The front door opened, and a pony walked in, stopped, and stared at us. Riki and I both stared back.

"Ummm, welcome to Sugarcube Corn-"

"Aaaaaaaahhhhh, monsters!" the pony screamed, running away.

"Guess we're getting a one-star review," Riki said; I huff at his lame joke. "What, it was funny."

I see Twilight and Spike walk out of the kitchen with a confused look.

"What was that screaming?" Spike asked.

"A very...unsatisfied customer," I replied. "So, why did Pinkie take you guys in the back?"

Twilight and Spike look at each other and back at us.

Twilight puts on an obviously fake smile, "It's nothing, right Spike?"

"R-Right, nothing," he said, sitting on the barstools next to me.

They are definitely hiding something big. As long as it's nothing terrible involving us, it's all good. A few seconds later, Pinkie comes out skipping... Prancing? With a tray of cupcakes on her back. All of them have pink frosting with a bit of green in the shape of a leaf.

"Made some very special cupcakes!" she exclaimed, putting down the tray.

We all grab one, and Spike immediately eats his cupcake and goes for another. Riki sat there looking at his cupcake. By now, he will be on his third one. I wonder what's wrong?

"Oi, what type of cupcakes are these, Pinkie?" Riki asked.

As I was going to take a bite, Pinkie said. "Strawberry."

Riki immediately takes the cupcake out of my hand before I can bite into it. He places it back and moves the tray away from me.

"That was a close one. Are you okay, Liz?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"What's going on? You don't like strawberries?" Pinkie asked.

"I hate strawberries!" I snapped, causing them to jump a little. "Sorry, It's just that I'm severely allergic to strawberries."

"Liz, I didn't mean to. I am so sorry," When she said that, I thought I saw some of her hair straightening out.

"Pinkie, you didn't know. I never fought I will run into strawberries this early. That's why I didn't bring it up."

Pinkie's hair returns to normal, "I'll fix you something else if you like!"

"I'm good,"

"Oi, Liz, since we're on this topic, do you have it with you?" asked Riki.

"Always," I reach inside my overalls chest pocket, pulling out an EpiPen. "See, always."

"How many EpiPens do you have left?"

"Four, including this one." I put the EpiPen back. "The rest of them are in my room."

"Riki,"

"Yeah, Twilight?"

"Your hoodie is ripped," Twilight said, pointing to the spot.

"What!?"

We look to see three slashes on the side. He must have gotten it in the fight with the wolves. I can't believe we didn't notice it until now. A lot of stuff has been happening. Riki pulls up the side to show that the slashes are only on his hoodie.

Riki hung his head, "This is my only and favorite hoodie... Fuckin' Timberbitches," Twilight pats Riki on the back and tells him everything is going to be okay.

"You know you can get it fixed," Spike said, finishing the rest of the cupcakes. "You know... Rarity."

"Shit, you're right! Come on, let's go!" Riki said, then ran to the door. Before he can open it, I call out to him.

"Riki, wait, we have to get Louie,"

"Why don't we do both? Spike can take me Rarity, and you can go with Twilight to get Louie."

I see Pinkie pull in Spike and Twilight in a huddle. She says something and occasionally sees her head pop out. They break out of the huddle.

"That's a good idea, Riki!" Twilight said a little bit too joyfully. "And we can meet up at... Ummm, let's say, Sweet Apple Acres at 8 o'clock." Twilight looks at Pinkie and gives her a wink; Pinkie gives one back.

"....Okay?"

"....Yeah, gotcha. So, I'm just going to take Spike now," Riki said, picking up the dragon and placing him in his hood. After that, he slowly steps backward to the door and opens it. "Well, bye, Pinkie, and tell Mrs. Cake bye too," he said before closing the door in front of him.

"Well, that was weird," Pinkie giggled.

"Yeah...weird," I said, rolling my eyes.

After going the wrong way a few times, we finally made it to the Carousel Boutique, the best place in Ponyville. Will, Spike's words, not mine. Walking inside, I see a few pony mannequins, some with clothes, some without. I took Spike out of my hood and placed him down.

"Hey, Rarity!" Spike called out.

I hear some hoofsteps near the stairs. "Spike?" Rarity said, going down the stairs. "And Riki! What are you two doing here, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Riki's hoodie is ripped,"

I took off my hoodie to show her. "Yeah, one of the wolves must have got me in the fight. I wonder if you can fix it for me?"

Rarity grabs my hoodie with her magic, "Of course, Darling, I would love to!"

"But I don't have any money, so I have to pay you back later... Somehow."

"Don't worry about it, Riki."

"Thanks, Rarity! You're very... Um?"

"Generous?"

"I was going to say 'kind,' but that works too," I said, shrugging my shoulders. I'm leading back on one of the mannequins until my elbow hits something.

Then I heard a meowing sound.

A very aggressive meowing sound.

As I looked at it, I was hoping it was Louie. But deep down, I knew it wasn't true... Fuck. I see a white Persian cat with a weirdly shaped head, and it looks pissed.

"Opalescence, be nice to him," Rarity said, "He didn't mean to wake you up."

Opalescence hisses at me, then jumps off the mannequin and heads upstairs.

I do not want her near Louie.

"My little Opal isn't she something," she said.

"She something alright," I said, rolling my eyes. "So, will it take long?"

Rarity went to the sewing machine and put on red glasses, "Maybe a few minutes. Why got somewhere to be?"

"Sort of," I answered, "Well, Twilight said to meet at Sweet Apple Acres at 8. And I want to check out a few more places around here. But the whole Sweet Apple Acres... Something's up about it."

Rarity stopped when she heard this, "R-Really?"

"Yeah, and when you add the weird winks and huddle groups." I shift my attention to Spike, "Oi, Spike, what was that all about?"

That gets his attention, "Ummm, what!?"

"What did Pinkie say to you and Twilight in the back?"

"W-Well... It's... Ummm, it's not bad! But we can't tell you." Spike cast a glance at Rarity.

"We?" I look at Rarity "... Are you in on this?"

Before she could say anything, the front door opened, revealing three foals. I see a white one that kind of looks like Rarity. Behind her is an orange and yellow one.

"Rarity, I'm ho-" the white one stopped when she saw me. "M-M-M"

The orange one pushes her way to the front, "It's one of the monsters everypony is talking about!"

Then the yellow said, "I thought it was Pinkie's new pet?"

Wow, I don't know which one's worse, being a pet or being called a monster...

Being a pet.

"You three came at the right time! "Rarity said, walking to them. "I would like you to meet Riki."

"Oi,"

"Riki, this is Sweetie Belle, my sister, Applejack's sister Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo," Rarity said, gesturing to each of them. "Now, how about you tell Riki everything you do. Also, ask him lots and lots of questions until, like, I don't know... 7 o'clock." I see her lean down and whisper something to them. After that, the three ran toward me with big smiles. I know what you're doing, Rarity, weaponizing kids.

"What are you?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"Human,"

"Who is the other hooman?" Scootaloo asked.

"My little sister, Liz."

"Why ain't she 'ere?" Apple Bloom asked.

"She went with Twilight to pick up our cat, Louie." I stopped for a bit, "I wonder how she's doing?"

Fuck! ...I know Fluttershy is... Shy, but living so far from Ponyville is ridiculous! But this place does look beautiful, all the different colored birds flying around and singing in their houses hanging in the trees. Hearing the river flow is nice and calming. Now I know one of the reasons why she lives out here.

We walk up to her cottage and knock on the door.

"W-Who is it?"

"Twilight and Liz," Twilight said. "Can we come in?"

"Oh, yes! Just wait a moment."

Wait a moment, more like a few minutes. I think I heard six, seven, ten. Yeah, ten locks, paranoid pony. Fluttershy opened the door, "Come in. You must be here for Louie." she said, shutting the door behind us.

"Ye-JESUS FUCK IS THAT A BEAR!" I yelled, going behind Twilight and trying to make myself look smaller, "FLUTTERSHY, YOU HAVE FUCKIN' BLACK BEAR IN YOUR HOUSE!" I start to breathe rapidly.

"Whoa, Liz, calm down and breathe. Everything is fine, right Fluttershy." Twilight said, moving away.

Fluttershy moves to the bear and rubs its back, "Yeah, Harry is a nice bear, is that right?" Harry, the bear, nods and leans down to say something to her. "Herry wants me to tell you he's not a black bear but a brown bear."

I got up and dusted myself off, "Sorry, Harry, for assuming your...species and for freaking out. Back where I come from, bears aren't this laid back," I said timidly, looking at him up and down. "Or as big as you." He's a solid 10-foot-tall bear. I kind of want to be behind Twilight again. I take a few minutes to regain my composure to remember why I'm here. "Fluttershy, thank you for looking after Louie, and sorry in advance if he misbehaves while he was here."

"You don't need to apologize. Louie is a sweet cat," she gushed. "But, he did have a little altercation with Angel, nothing serious, by the way."

"Who's Angel?"

On cue, a white rabbit hops from behind Fluttershy with Louie in tow. Louie runs to me and jumps into my arms, purring and nuzzling against me. Louie looks down at the rabbit and hiss. In return, Angel makes a throat-slitting gesture. I don't think it was a little altercation.

"Well... Thanks again for watching Louie." I look at the clock on the wall, and the time is 7:37." Twilight, we should head out now."

We both say our goodbyes to Fluttershy, and Twilight whispers something to her. As we headed towards the farm, I saw Fluttershy fly in the same direction as us. Where is she going? What did Twilight whisper to Fluttershy? Why is Louie having beef with a rabbit!?

So many questions!

I wonder how Riki is doing? He better not be late. If he is, his ass will be mounted on my wall.

"Damn, we're going to be late!" I said, running through the marketplace. "Liz is going to mount my ass on her wall!"

Spike is clinging to my hood pretty hard, so he won't fall, "I told you we didn't have enough time to check out the bowling alley!"

"Oi, sorry if I want to know how ponies bowl without fingers!" I huffed, "Now, which way!"

"Turn left!" He yelled. I made a hard left, nearly tripping over myself. "Look out, flower sisters!"

"Flower, what!?" I see three earth ponies in the way, and one of them is pulling a big wooden wagon full of flowers and stuff. "I'm jumping it!" I said smiling

"Wait, what!?"

Speeding up as fast as I could, jumping into the air. I look down at the flower sisters and mouth the word 'Sorry' to them. Leading on my toes, immediately sprinting off.

"That was awesome!" Spike exclaimed.

Running on the dirt road, I can see Sweet Apple Acres from here. I also see Liz, Twilight, and Louie waiting for us under an arch. Getting close, I can tell that Liz and Twilight are pissed. I stopped at them, breathing heavily and putting Spike on the ground.

"... We're here," I said tiredly. "I have a good reason why I'm late."

"That is?" said Liz, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Pony bowling," I said with a straight face.

"That is a good reason," she said, "Okay, Twilight, we're all here. What now?"

"Just follow me,"

Looking around and seeing tons of apple trees, I can't believe just Applejack and her family runs this place. We followed Twilight to the barn and stopped at the doors.

"You two stay right here. Spike and I are going inside." Twilight said, "We will call you when we're ready, okay?"

"Yeah, just go in already," I said, waving them off.

When they walked into the barn, Liz went up to me and said, "So... What do you think they're hiding?"

"Spike did say it's nothing bad. So, a surprise party, maybe?"

"Really? A surprise party, but they just met us."

"Hey, you guys can come in now!" Twilight shouted.

I go up to the door and plush it open.

"And why will they-"

"Surprise!!!"

"What the fuck!?" Liz said, throwing Louie in the air and landing in my arms.

Looking around, I see everyone that we know is here. The barn is full of balloons, streamers, and food. This place looks pretty amazing. Pinkie comes up to us with pure joy on her face. "You guys like this super-duper amazing party!?"

"What is this for?" Liz said, catching her breath.

"It's a 'Welcome to Equestria/Ponyville party!' Yyyaaayyy!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"Wait so, all the hiding and whispering," I said, "Was all for this."

"Yeah, sorry about all of us acting weird," said Twilight, and the other girls apologized too.

"And for not having all the ponies from Ponyville here," said Pinkie, "Some of them can say some really mean things about you two."

"No, it's fine," I said. "We did just pop out of nowhere."

"Yeah," Liz said, "All you guys here are the nicest peo-um, ponies I ever met."

"Awww," all six of them said.

"Since we're done with that, the food over there is calling my name!" I said, walking away.

"Fine, let's party," said Liz.

"Hey, my line!" Pinkie said, waving her hooves.

Wow, even if this party is small, it's still really cool. Liz and I did meet the rest of Applejack's family, Her grandmother is nice, and her big brother seems cool, even if he doesn't talk that much. I introduced Liz to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. I wonder if they know what crusaders are. Also, I saw Pinkie pull a cannon out of nowhere, shooting out confetti.

I'm sitting at one of the tables eating a slice of apple pie. I see Rainbow Dash flying to me with two wooden mugs." Oi, haven't seen you for a while, what did you do all day?"

"You know, flying around, pushing and sleeping on clouds," she said, sitting next to me, "The usual. But I did follow you around town where you got lost trying to find Rarity's place." she laughed.

"Yeah, laugh it up!" I huffed, "So, what did you bring me?"

"Hard apple cider," she said, handing me a mug.

"Really?" I took a sip and then coughed, and Rainbow patted my back.

"You good?"

"Yeah, I was not inspecting it to be that hard." This time I chugged half of it down to get used to it, "Damn, this is the best alcohol I ever had, and I used to work at a club."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that!"

I set my drink down and looked behind me to see Applejack sitting on the other side.

"Hey AJ,"

"Oi, Applejack, thanks for having this party here."

"It's no problem. I couldn't say no when Pinkie asked if she uses the barn."

"Hey, Applejack, I've been wondering how strong is an earth pony?"

"Really, thought 'bout the same thin' when you whooped those Timberwolves." Applejack said, placing her foreleg on the table, "Hoof wrestle!"

Hoof wrestling, so like arm wrestling, I can get behind that, "You're on!"

"I call winner!" Rainbow yelled.

This is nice. It's been a while since I went to a party. I sip my apple cider and watch Spike pigging out on the food. Then, I look over to see Fluttershy talking to the Crusaders. I really hope they don't know what that word means.

Excusing myself, I walked over to her, "Hey, Fluttershy can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead,"

"Can you take Louie home tonight?"

"I would love to have Louie stay the night. I'll take good care of him!" she said happily, "By the way, where is Louie?"

She's right, I haven't seen Louie in a while, "Last time I saw him, Riki had him. Let me go ask him."

Okay, hoof wrestling Applejack and Rainbow was much harder than I thought. Winning half the time against Applejack and winning a majority of times against Rainbow. Right now, Applejack and I are doing a tiebreaker game.

"Come on, Aj, you can do it!" Rainbow cheered.

"What's wrong, Riki, gettin' tired," Applejack said, pushing my hand down a little.

"Naw, I'm all good in the hood!" I huffed, pushing back to the starting positions. Slowly I move her hoof to the table with all my might. Getting close to victory like it's tapping my shoulder... Wait, someone is tapping my shoulder! I quickly look back to see Liz.

"Hey, Riki, I need to ask you something?"

That broke my concentration, giving Applejack the opportunity to quickly push my hand down and slam it on the table.

"Nice job, Aj!" said Rainbow giving her a hoof bump.

"So, close," I mumbled. Turning my attention to Liz, "Yes, Liz, you need something?"

She takes a sip of her drink and sets it down next to mine, "Yeah, have you seen Louie? Because I asked Fluttershy to take him home with her." Liz picks up a drink to take a few more sips, coughs a little but continues to drink the rest.

"Ummm, the last place I saw Loius, he was inside Pinkie's hair licking a lollipop," I said casually, grabbing my drink, but It wasn't there. Looking at Liz, seeing her face turn slowly turn red, and she starts to sway back and forth. "Liz, that's my drink, it has alcohol in it! "

"W-What?"

"That's going to hit her hard," said Rainbow.

"Darn tootin'. I bet Liz last five minutes," said Applejack.

"I say three,"

"You two are both wrong, ten minutes tops."

We were all wrong.

Liz lasted 24 minutes and 37 seconds. It gives her enough time to drunkenly eat half of a pie and blackout on top of it. After that, the party is pretty much over. Granny Smith was the first to go, followed by Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Rainbow, and Scootaloo. Fluttershy found Louie licking apple pie off Liz's face and then left. I helped Big Mac move the tables and Pinkie with the decorations.

Twilight came up to me with a full and knocked-out Spike on her back, "Riki, ready to go?" she said tiredly.

"Yeah," I said, rubbing my eyes. "Oi, guys, we're leaving; see you tomorrow!" I went to my unconscious sister and picked her up, giving her a piggyback ride. "Okay, ready,"

Riki, Twilight, and the unconscious duo are walking in the night streets. Riki can hear Liz softly snoring in his ear. Seeing some ponies hanging around the street light, he looks up into the sky and sees the moon. Riki doesn't know if it's weird, but this world has a beautiful moon. Unfortunately, his concentration is broken went Twilight bumps into him.

"Sorry, I had a little too much to drink."

"Do you want me to carry Spike?" he said, fixing Liz on my back.

"No, I'm good," Twilight said, "When we get back to the house, you can put Liz in the guest bedroom, and you can take mine."

"I can sleep on the couch,"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, Twilight! You did a lot of things for us. Not only did you save my sister from getting killed by a Timberwolf, but you also fed us, helped throw a cool party, and now letting us stay with you! Twilight, you are the best and nicest person ever!" Riki gushed. "Will not a person but a pony, that doesn't matter. Twilight, I owe you big, and I swear I will pay you and the others back. You have my word." Twilight is blushing hard, but It is too dark for Riki to notice.

"Riki," Twilight said, hiding her face,

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah,"

"Back when we were asking you and Liz questions... About your ey-"

Riki cuts her off. "I know where this is going,"

"Sorry, if you don't want to talk-"

"Yes, Liz and I do have different mothers. She is my half-sister, but I still love her with all my heart."

"If you don't mind me asking, why is Liz living with you?"

Riki stops walking, "How should I word this? ...Well, Dad died about five years ago. At his funeral was the first time I saw and talked to Liz after I moved out." Riki takes a few deep breaths and continues, "She looked so heartbroken, and her mom, Olivia. She took it the hardest; she was not the same after that. Then, a few years later, Olivia was caught doing bad things, and now Liz is living with me. If you want the full story, you have to ask Liz herself."

Twilight took some time to process what Riki said, "What happened to your mom?" When she said that, Riki's breath hitched.

"....."

"Did she die?"

Riki only nodded,

"Riki, I'm sorry for bringing this up,"

"No, it's good. I probably need to talk about it, but not right now." Riki starts to pick up his pace, "I'm pretty tired right now."

Twilight matches his walking speed. "When you're ready to talk about it, I'm right here."

"...Thanks,"

In a room sitting next to a fireplace, a big white pony with a horn, wings, and a colorful flowing mane, an alicorn, Princess Celestia. She is rereading Twilight's report, no matter how much she does. The Princess can't believe what she's reading. "This is... Interesting?"

Chapter 10: We’re not the same!

We’re not the same!

The girls watch the mangled corpse of their human friend fall from the sky. The body lands with a Thud, charred and missing limbs. Riki is almost unrecognizable. Rarity and Fluttershy are the first ones to react. Both let out a blood curdling scream, “Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!”

Pinkie’s hair immediately went flat, “No, no, no, this can’t be real.”

“WHAT’S WRONG, LAUGHTER?” Taboo taunted, pointing at Pinkie, “WHERE THAT SMILE!”

Rainbow Dash falls to the ground next to Applejack, who is too scared to move. Twilight just stopped. What is she going to say to the Princesses? What is she going to say to Liz? Twilight stares at Riki’s corpse, “…Riki…?” Twilight starts to hyperventilate as tears begin to flow, “W-why!? Why did you kill him!”

“MOTIVATION,” Taboo said, looking at the sky.

“Motivation!?” Rainbow shouted, “You just killed our friend!”

“THAT’S A STRONG WORD, FRIEND. HOW LONG HAVE YOU KNOWN THIS HUMAN?” Taboo asked, staring down at the ponies, “THE BOY HAS BEEN HERE FOR LESS THEN A WEEK, AND HE'S A FRIEND?” He takes a step forward, and the girls step back. Taboo grins, “WHAT’S WRONG, ELEMENTS? YOU WERE READY TO FIGHT ME! THEN WHEN THE HUMAN GETS TURNED INTO A DIRTY FIREWORK, YOU’RE READY TO RUN WITH YOUR TAIL BETWEEN YOUR LEGS, HAHAHAAA!” The monster’s laugh echoes throughout the forest. “OR? YOU NEVER CARE ABOUT HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE. IF SO, YOU SHOULD THANK ME!”

What Taboo said really hit a nerve. A chill ran down Taboo’s back, watching the Elements start to glow.

“OH, WHAT’S THIS I’M FEELING?” Taboo asked, looking at the now angry ponies. A twisted smile is slapped on his face, “WOW, WOW, WOW! SUCH ANGER! SUCH HATRED! SUCH MALICE! THE LAST TIME I FELT THAT MUCH ILL WILL, I WAS BEING SEALED!”

“Get ready to get sealed in a stony prison!” Twilight shouted with all the anger she could muster.

“Yeah!” the others yelled with the same energy.

“SHOW ME THE POWER ELEMENTS OF HARMONY! SHOW ME WHY I SHOULD FEAR YOU!” Taboo roared in excitement, slamming his hand on the ground, “DEATHBOUND!"

The ground under the ponies turns pitch black, and a few dozen black arms spring up from the darkness. Twilight quickly pulls up a shield around them. The black claws start to slash and punch Twilight’s shield. “FIGHT LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT, BECAUSE IT DOES!”

“Fuck, my head,”

“Wrathy, the human is up!” La-la says joyfully, skipping around the tied up man.

Riki is alive! He has never left the abandoned hotel room. He struggles to sit up, but La-la pushes him back down.

“That was some beating you took.” Wrath said, leaning back in his chair. “I’m surprised you even woke up.”

“Oi, dog, where that psychopathic monster at?” Riki demanded.

“Why would you like to know?”

“So, I can kick his ass!”

Wrath rolls his eyes, and La-la gets in Riki’s face, “Did Taboo hit you so hard you forgot what happened, dumb human?” La-la starts to poke his face repeatedly, but Riki ignores her. “Are you some type of masochist?”

“Do you have a death wish or something?” Wrath asked, getting out of the chair. “Because you talk like a fool!”

La-la continues to poke Riki, “Taboo is handling The Elements of Harmony right now. So give up, you dumb human. You lost!” La-la goes for another poke, but Riki bit her. “Owwww! Wrathy, the human bit me!”

“I was taught to keep fighting… Long as I’m breathing...” Riki muttered as he sat up. “I’m not giving up.”

“The one who told you that must be a bigger fool than you!” Wrath spat.

“…Shut up, you dumb mutt,”

“What was that!?”

Riki stops and thinks for a while, then smirks, “You heard me, dumb mutt!”

“Shut it before I rip out your eyes!” Wrath roared, claws inches from Riki’s eyes.

“So, I don’t have to watch you chase your tail, Pooch. Go ahead!”

Wrath grits his teeth and starts to breathe heavily. Riki can feel the dog’s heated breath on his face. A deep growl fills the room. “Wrath, calm down!” La-la pleaded, stepping in front of him. “He’s trying to get under your fur. Just go back to the table and cool off, for me… Please.”

The growling slowly stops and is replaced with calm deep breaths. Wrath looks at Riki, then La-la, “…Fine.”

As Wrath begins to walk away. Riki opens his mouth again, “Why are you leaving? Going to go lick your balls!?”

Dead silence.

La-la’s jaw drops, and her eyes widen. She couldn’t believe Riki said that. She knows exactly what’s going to happen next. La-la looks at the Diamond Dog, “…Wrathy?”

Wrath’s blood starts to boil. He bared his fangs, yelling in pure anger, “I’ll kill you!” Running through La-la like she wasn’t even there. Wrath lunges at the human, ready to rip him to shreds.

But everything is going as planned. Riki quickly turns, so Wrath slashes through the paper ropes. The now freed human springs into the air in joy, “You really live up to your name. Wrath, the dumb dog!”

“Stop antagonizing him!” La-la yelled at Riki. “Wrathy, calm down! Listen to me, deep breaths, count to ten!” But her words fall on deaf ears. Wrath is too angry to talk. Only barks and snarls escape his mouth. Blinded by rage, he lashed out, hitting Riki and La-la away.

“Okay, not really part of the plan here,” Riki said, getting up from the floor.

Wrath rashes at Riki like a wild animal, ready to rip him to shreds. Riki dodges and then punches Wrath across the face. But being filled with so much rage, the attack did even faze him. Riki jumps back to get some space, but Wrath immediately closes the distance.

Rampaging like a beast, Wrath flailing around, trying to hit his target. Riki easily reads Wrath’s movements, attacking when he sees the opening. Dodges Wrath’s overhand double hammer fist, smashing the table instead. Riki’s foot hits something, looking down to see the pot that Taboo came out of. Using his fast thinking, Riki kicks the jar right into Wrath’s face. The jar bounces off, and Riki then catches it to block an incoming attack. “Wow, what is this jar made of?” Riki said, blocking another attack with it. Riki then hit Wrath across the face a few times with the jar, but it still looks like it was doing nothing.

“This is all your fault!” La-la shouted at Riki. She digs inside her cloak pulling out all her paper. La-la counts how many sheets of paper she has left after making Taboo the giant paper eagle, two parrots, the fake Riki, and being burned up by that pony guard. To tell it how it is, La-la is running low. She thinks about what to do next. Go after Riki or calm down Wrath? “Wrathy, you owe me big time!”

Riki slams the bottom jar on Wrath’s face, pushing him back slightly. La-la runs up behind Riki, “Fuck, I don’t have time for you!” He then swings the jar at La-la, only for her to dodge out of the way.

“Well, I don’t have time for you too!” La-la spat as they both dodged Wrath’s incoming attack. “After calming down, Wrath. I’m breaking your legs!”

“Fun,” Riki said sarcastically, “But I have to take a rain check.” He dodges another attack, jumping up to an exposed rafter. Hanging on the rather with one hand, Riki throws the jar, hitting Wrath square in the face.

La-la runs in front of Wrath, “Here goes nothing, Quick Fold-Butterfly waltz!” Using the rest of her paper, a couple of dozen paper butterfly flies out from La-la’s cloak.

The paper butterflies swarm around Wrath. He swats away some of the butterflies but slowly stops, looking more relaxed. Wrath rubs his forehead a few seconds later, “Shit, what happened?”

“Wrathy, you’re okay!” La-la said lovingly, hugging and nuzzling him. “You were going through one of your blinded rages.”

“Get off me,” Wrath tiredly said, pulling La-la off him. She tries to hug him again, but Wrath just holds her away. “Where’s the human?” La-la just points up.

“Shit, that’s not good,” Riki said worriedly, still hanging on the rafter. He was hoping they didn’t see him. Riki starts to hear cracking sounds, looking up to see the wood is breaking. Then, an idea hits him, “This will probably kill me.” La-la uses her magic on the remaining paper butterflies Wrath didn’t destroy, turning them into arrows. Not a moment to spare, Riki pulls on the cracking rather with all this might. Causing the entire roof to cave in.

“What!?” La-la yelled, grabbing Wrath’s leg.

“He’s crazy!” yelled Wrath.

The roof crashes down on all of them. The floor gave way, collapsing into the room beneath. This keeps happening until all the rubble crashes into the lobby.

The sunlight shines through the holes in the roof and floor, hitting Riki in the face. Slowly opens his eyes to see that he’s hanging over the first floor room. Lucky for him, the hood of his hoodie got stuck on the second floor broken floorboards. Wrath and La-la weren’t so fortunate. The two are trapped underneath all that rubble in the lobby. Riki carefully gets his hood unstuck and lowers himself to the lobby, landing hard on his back.

“Okay, not my best plan. And I think I broke my wrist,” Riki said tiredly, rolling off the rubble. His body hits something. Looking over, it’s the jar. “Jesus, what is that thing made of?” Riki gets up with the jar, then looks at the big pile of rubble. “That should hold them for a while. Time to head back to the castle. I hope everyone is okay.” Riki runs out of the lobby heading straight towards the castle.

As Riki leaves the abandoned hotel, the rubble moves a bit.

Running through the streets of Canterlot, I jump over a group of ponies. “Sorry, coming through!” I yelled. Damn, everything hurts. So hungry, so sleepy. But I don’t have time for all that, focus Riki! I think there’s a short-

“Riki! I finally found you!” exclaimed a red furry object, tackling me.

Looking at the furry object, I’m surprised to see it’s, “Pony lady?” I said, coming to a complete stop. “Look, I really don’t have the time to talk.”

“It’s Razzle Snap,” she corrected me, “I need that interview. Like need need that interview with you!”

I placed her down, “Take that up with the Princesses,” I would run off, but Razzle stepped in the way.

“I’m going to be straight with you. Since you got here, you’ve been the big story. And all the journalists have been going crazy! An interview with you can really boost a pony’s reputation.” Razzle said, rubbing her hooves together. “I heard around the workplace that the Princesses have turned down journalists the past few days. So, I was wondering….”

“Look, I’m not a big fan of journalists,” I said, walking away.

As I leave Razzle there, she starts yelling, “Riki, please, my job is on the line! My boss was about to let me go, but I managed to get another chance. He told me to get an interview with you. If I can’t, he’ll fire me!” My run slowly turns into a walk as she continues, “You wouldn’t let this mare get fired because of you, would you?” Razzle sniffled, eyes tearing up. “That’s a shame. I thought you were nicer.”

I stop in my tracks. I can hear small groups of ponies talking. “Is that thing really going to get her fired?” said a pony.

“I hope not,” said another pony.

“I don’t know, just look at it.”

“That’s a shame,”

“Is that how it kind treats mares?”

Clench my fists and start to walk back to her. I bent down and gently pulled her ear, “Listen to me, you’re not going to lose your job… You can have your interview with me later. There some bad stuff going on right now, okay?”

Razzle smiles on her face, wiping away her crocodile tears. “Thank you, thank you, thank you! This made me the happiest pony in Canterlot. You won’t regret it!”

“I hope not,” I mumbled, running off to the castle.

After getting lost for a bit, I finally reached the castle entrance. As I run up the steps, I see two familiar faces, “Oak, Angel!”

“Riki!” Oak said with surprise.

“What are you doing here?” asked Angel, “All of us were told you were captured.”

“I escaped. Now follow me!” I said, running inside the castle.

As they caught up to me on the stairs, Oak asked, “Why are we following?”

“Yeah, yeah!” said Angel, “And what’s with the jar?”

“Just listen! Oak, tell Shining to gather some guards and head to the abandoned buildings. La-la and Wrath are there. If he leaves now, there’s a chance they’ll still be there.” Oak was about to say something, but I cut him off. “I don’t have time for your horse shit. Just go!” Oak rolls his eyes and runs off to Shining.

“What do you want me to do?” asked Angel.

“Feathers and Specs, where are they?”

“The both of them are in the infirmary,”

“Good, go tell them I’m okay.”

Angel nods, flying the infirmary. She stops to ask me something, “What are you going to do?”

“Going to get ready for my rematch!” I yelled in pure determination, running straight to the throne room.

Inside the throne room, Luna has a few stacks of books next to her, reading through them to find anything on Taboo. Her progress… Nothing. Celestia keeps an eye on Liz, ensuring she doesn’t get those headaches again.

“Liz, how are you feeling?” Celestia asked.

She rubs Louie’s head, “I feel like my heart is coming out of my mouth.”

“Liz, go rest in my bedchamber,” Celestia said concernedly, “Or maybe get something to eat?”

“No, I’m staying here!” Liz said, slightly raising her voice. “I am not going anywhere until I see Riki. How would you act if you were in my position, Princess Celestia?”

Celestia looks over at Luna, sees her tossing a book out, and picks up another. “I’ll act just like you, my apologies.”

“It’s okay. You’re just worried about me. And your right, I should rest.” Liz said, running her fingers on Louie’s ear. “…I remember the day I moved in with Riki. Those first few weeks there, I wasn’t really the best sister. After Dad died and Mom… I was just at my lowest point.”

“How did Riki pull you up from your darkest day?” Luna asked, looking up from her book.

“Yes, I would like to know too,” said Celestia.

Liz gets a small smile on her face. It was annoying at first when he tried to cheer me up. Even when she yelled at him, that hardheaded fool didn't give up. Liz thought back to the day Riki dragged her out of her room to Central Park. Later that day, pushing a drunk Riki in a stolen shopping cart full of day old donuts. And it was one of the best days Liz ever had. “He took me to the park, and we had donuts, that’s all.”

“Really?” Luna asked, raising a brow.

“Yeah,”

Louie’s head and ears perk up. He lets out a few meows and jumps off Liz’s lap. Liz gets up and walks over to Louie, and picks him up. The cat does a few more meows, “Louie, what’s wrong?”

Suddenly the throne room doors get kicked open, followed by a loud, “Oooooiiiiii!”

Liz’s eyes widened as she gently dropped Louie. Riki, standing only a few feet in front of her. He’s surprised to see her here in Canterlot. Before Riki can say something, Liz tackles him to the ground. “…Riki…Riki, you’re okay. I was so worried!” Liz cried into her brother's chest. “You need to stop scaring me like this. I thought you would never come back!” Louie comes over and rubs his head on Riki’s face.

Riki is happy to see both of them. He would love to keep this going, but Taboo. Riki took in the hug for a few more seconds despite the pain. He moves Liz off him and stands up, “Liz, I’m fine. And stop crying on my hoodie, it’s already been through enough.”

“No,” Liz said, pulling him into another hug.

Riki rolls his eyes, “Anyways, where’s Twilight and the others? Is it true Taboo is fighting them?”

“What do you mean?” Liz questions, pulling away from Riki.

“When I was still captured by La-la Lu and Wrath, I was told Taboo is after the Elements.”

Celestia gets up and walks to Riki, “Wait, Taboo didn’t take you to Everfree?” Riki shook his head, “That’s not good.”

“That filthy lying rat!” Luna shouted. Her horn starts to glow. Luna is trying to find Twilight and her friends. “Buck, I can’t locate them!”

“It’s probably Taboo,” Riki chimed in, “When I first met him… His body felt weird like he was touching me without touching me. Taboo's presence probably smothering Twilights in the others.”

Celestia agrees, “Using his magic to hide his presents and the others.”

Riki was going to say something about Taboo using magic, but Liz spoke up.

“How did you escape?” wondered Liz.

“I dropped the entire roof on them, so they’re stuck there for a while. Shiny and a group of guards are heading to them, should make it there before they get out.” Riki then shows them the jar, “I also have this.” Celestial and Luna look closely at the jar. A weird pattern of creatures they have never seen before. “Taboo was imprisoned in this jar, and this fuckin’ jar is indestructible as shit.”

“Your plan is to get Taboo back in there, am I right?” asked Luna.

“You just took the words right out of my mouth,” Riki said, putting the jar under his arm.

“But Taboo isn’t just going to hop in there.” Liz pointed out, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“I know that, so I thought maybe Twilight and the others can do it.” Riki thought back to when Twilight told him about turning Discord to stone. “Celeste, is it possible The Elements of Harmony can be used to reseal Taboo back in the jar?”

Celestia took her time to think, “…It's possible,”

Riki smiles, “Good, now can I ask a favor, can you heal me? My wrist is broken, and maybe I have other broken bones. I really don’t know. I’m surprised I can still stand, hahaha!”

Celestia places her glowing horn mere inches away from Riki’s forehead. His body is slowly covered in a golden aura. Immediately, the feeling of pins and needles courses through Riki’s body. The few bruises on his body fade away, and the cuts slowly close. Soon after the golden aura leaves Riki’s body, he does a sigh of relief as the good majority of his pain goes away.

“Riki, how do you feel?” Celestia asked with a worried look, “That magic resistance of yours really limits how much I can heal. So, I focused on your major injuries.”

Riki does a few small stretches, “I feel better than before. A little stiff in shoulders and back, but I’ll live.”

“Do you need anything else?”

“Yeah, can I get a teleport back to my house?” Riki asked seriously. “You said that Taboo is in Everfree Forest, and I need to stop by my house for a few things.”

They are all caught off by what Riki said. Luna shakes her head, “Wait, you’re not going to confront Taboo, are you?”

“Riki, I advise you should stay here and rest,” Celestia said calmly but forcefully. “Let Luna and I deal with Taboo.”

“I got a score to settle with that asshole!” Liz keeps quiet as she gently grabs Riki’s wrist. Riki bows his head, “Please, let me go help Twilight and her friends! I lost against him the first time. But this time will be different, please Celestia, Luna.”

Celestia and Luna look down at Riki. They can feel the determination coming from his body. “Ricochet Phillips, do you know what you are getting into?”

“Taboo might kill you this time,” Luna added, hoping he would reconsider.

Riki looks at the Princesses with no fear, “I want to do this. I’m not running away. So, you two pretty ponies just stay here.”

Liz’s grip tightens around his wrist, “Wait,” she said, but it was too quiet to hear.

“Very well, Luna and I will do as you asked,” Celestia said as she and Luna got ready to use their magic. “Liz, will you be joining him?”

“She will,” Riki answered for her. Louie climbs up Riki’s back and lays on his shoulder, “And the cat.”

Celestia and Luna start to concentrate, they don’t want to accidentally teleport half of Riki and Liz’s bodies. Locating the house is easy since they did it before when the two of them first arrived. In a blink of an eye…POP… Riki, Liz, and Louie are gone.

...POP...

Riki, Louie, and I come crashing down in the middle of our living room. “I thought having magic resistance would be cool,” Riki huffed as I rolled off him. “Now it’s just a pain in the ass.”

“Riki, can we talk?” I asked, getting off the ground.

Riki gets up and hands me the jar. He heads to the stairs, “Sure, but I need to get ready.” Riki runs to his room, “Oi, have you seen my fighting gloves!”

“Riki, I don’t want you-”

“Never mind, I don’t need them.” Riki yelled from his room, “Have you seen my… Never mind, I found my tonfas!”

“Riki, can you please listen,”

Riki is coming down the steps. He is wearing a new set of clothes, except he still has on the beaten up hoodie. In one hand is his tonfas, and the other a backpack. Riki rushes past me into the kitchen and places everything on the dining table.

“I need water bottles and food….” Riki said to himself, digging in the cabinets and fridge kitchen. “Liz, can I take your rice cakes?”

“Riki!” I shouted, “We need to talk now!”

Riki shoves water bottles and snacks in his backpack. “Liz, we can talk-”

“I’m not going,” I said as I placed the jar on the stove. “And I don’t want you to go too.”

“What?” Riki said, giving me his full attention. “Liz, we need to go help them.”

“No, let Twilight and them handle that thing. This isn’t their first time! Riki, you’re not playing a game. This is real!” I snapped, getting in his face, “You’re not some hero from a comic book or a manga protagonist! You. Are. A. Human.”

“Taboo-”

“Why the hell do you want to fight that monster!” I can feel tears falling from my eyes, “That thing kicked your ass. That thing could have killed you, and you want to fight it again. This isn’t earth, Taboo isn’t some thug on the streets of New York!”

“Liz, I’m not- I want to do this,” Riki said, keeping his cool. “Liz, you’re supposed to have my back. I’m relying on you to help me and our friends to beat Taboo.”

I give him no time to say anything else. I need to get this off my chest. “Riki, are you a fuckin’ idiot!” I yelled at him so loud that Louie hid under the table. “I’m 16! I can’t fly like Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy. I can’t use magic like Twilight or Rarity. I’m not strong like Applejack or Pinkie Pie. And I’m definitely not like you! I’m terrified here! I want to go home! I’m not brave like you. No matter how hard I try, I will never be like you. We’re not the same!”

“I am scared. I have been scared since I got here,” Riki said, zipping up his backpack and putting it on. “People show fear in different ways, Liz.”

“If you are so scared, why are you going?”

“I’m terrified of Taboo. I’m terrified of what he can do. What if he wins? What would happen to this place, the ponies, and the other creatures here? This is their home.” Riki then gets a somber smile, “Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and the other friends I made here. I’m scared of losing them to Taboo. I don’t care if they got this or not. I’m helping them. They give us food and a place to stay. The day we arrived here, they greeted us with open arms.” Slipping his tonfas behind his back, Riki heads to the door. “They’re our friends. What will Dad think if I just didn’t help.”

“Don’t you dare bring up Dad!” I yelled, following Riki to the door, “I don’t think Dad was talking about fighting a fuckin’ demon!” I pull on Riki, trying to stop him. But he won’t stop, “Riki, don’t you go! You will die!”

“So will they,” I let go of Riki after he said that. He opens the door, “If you don’t want to come, stay here.” And like that, he runs into Everfree forest.

Liz's crying gets quieter the deeper Riki runs into the forest. It’s hard for him not to turn back, but he can’t. After a while, he realizes that he doesn’t know where to go.

Riki slowly closes his eyes. He needs to clear his mind. Too much is going on. Riki’s breathing slows down. He begins to ignore the noise around him. The sound of chirping birds, the wind blowing through the trees, and flowing water a few miles ahead. Riki keeps doing this until he hears nothing except his heartbeat. But something was off. Riki hears and feels a weak second heartbeat. He remembers this feeling, saving Razzle, fighting La-la, his dream, and meeting Taboo. Before Riki can dig any deeper, he immediately opens his eyes. A small glow of orange on his right shoulder appears and then disappears.

Taboo is...

“That way!” Riki shouted, running deeper into the woods with blazing speed. He doesn’t know what’s going on, but he doesn’t care. “Guys, just hold on a bit longer. I’m coming!”

Chapter 28: Me?

Me?

“Riki, can you bring out the new vinyl records from the back?” asked Vinyl Scratch.

“Sure thing,” Riki said, his voice muffled as he struggled to get out of the bean bag. The record store job is going very well for Riki, he thought as he finally managed to stand up. He really enjoys working here. The store is filled with music from a record playing. “Oi, Vinyl, I think today is going to be a slow day.”

“Why do you say that?”

“We haven't had that many customers in days,” Riki said, going into the back room.

“...Octavia is here,” Vinyl replied, pointing at her friend. Octavia had just returned to Ponyville from her orchestra tour.

“She doesn’t count,” Riki said playfully as he emerged from the back room with a box of vinyl records. Octavia, wearing a slightly shocked expression, is greeted by his jest. “Octavia, you haven’t bought a single thing here; you are not a customer.”

“I was going to buy something, but not anymore.” Octavia huffed, and Riki and Vinyl laughed.

Riki pats Octavia on the head, “I'm messing with you. And Viny, when we get the new Songbird CD next week, a lot more ponies will start coming in.”

“Anyway, Riki, I'm glad you are here. With the orchestra tour, I’ll be gone for months. And I can’t help Vinyl with the store.” Octavia said as Riki started to put away the records. When he began to work here, things were out of place, and Vinyl looked overworked. “I always told her to hire another set of hooves here, but she doesn’t listen.”

“I couldn't find a pony that I like.” Vinyl chimed in. “Then you came in, Riki.”

“Well, thanks. I’m glad to help.” Riki said with a smile.

Vinyl claps her hooves together, and she remembers something. “Oh, Riki, Friday, a club in Canterlot wants me to DJ.”

“You want me to come in on Friday?” Riki asked.

Vinyl shakes her head, “Nah, I want you to come with me. Help me with setting up stuff and carry me back when I'm blackout drunk.” Vinyl and Riki laugh, their laughter filling the room, and Octavia just rolls her eyes, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

“It's going to be fun,” Riki smiled, his mind already picturing the lively atmosphere of the club. A ding sound could be heard. Looking towards the front, Riki was about to welcome a customer—but instead of a customer, it was Rarity. “Oi, Rarity, what are you doing here?”

“I was walking past, and I decided to stop and say hello. So, how’s everything?”

“...Well, it’s been an average week. Work, training, a pony asked me out, and-”

“Somepony asked you out!?” Rarity exclaimed, her voice filled with surprise and excitement, and her eyes widened. Rarity rushes over to Riki and plants her hooves on his chest, surprisingly strong for a unicorn fashionista. Her sudden intensity takes Riki aback. Rarity's eyes stare deep into Riki’s as her hooves dig into his chest. “Riki, tell me what happened.”

“Rarity… You're hurting me.”

“Tell me!”

Riki shudders, so terrified. “A few days ago, a pony asked me out.”

“Who’s the pony?”

“Razzle Snap,”

“The journalist?”

“Yeah…”

“What did you say?” Rarity demanded.

“I just... I just said no, "Riki's voice trembles slightly as he confesses his decision to Rarity. The room falls silent, the weight of his words hanging in the air. Rarity's expression is blank. Riki can’t tell what's going on. He looks over at Vinyl and Octavia to see if they know what's going on. They don't.

“You just said no?” Riki nods, and then Rarity slowly slides off of Riki. "What did Razzle say?”

“She understands,”

“Darling, you broke the poor mare's heart! And here I thought you knew better. Why did you come to me after that?” Rarity's voice is filled with a mix of disappointment and concern.

“Well, I thought it wasn't important, Rarity.” Riki sighed, “She asked me out, and I said no. Razzle was fine.”

Rarity rolls her eyes, “What’s the last time you talked to her?”

“...”

“Riki?”

“...The day she asked me out.”

“Well, you need to go to Razzle and check up on her,” said Rarity. “She’s probably home alone, eating a tub of ice cream and lying on her couch. Trying to figure out what went wrong.”

Riki smiles and then says, “It sounds like you had experience, huh?” Rarity proceeds to use her magic to pull Riki’s hood over his face. “Oi, stop. I was kidding. You can get anypony you want.” She stops pulling Riki's hood. He fixed his hair and said, “But Rarity, are you being a bit overdramatic with this whole thing? Vinyl and Octavia back me up!”

Vinyl doesn’t say anything, but Octavia says, “Well, Riki, you should check up on her.”

“Fine, I’ll catch the next train to Canterlot,” Riki huffed as he walked to the door.

“And tell me all about it when you get back. We’ll have some tea, Darling.” Rarity smiled. “Oh, before you go, I need to know. Why didn’t you want to go out with Razzle?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t in the mood, and I have to…take care of my sister.” Riki answered as he rubbed the back of his head. “I don’t have the time for a romantic relationship.”

“It’s because she’s a pony?” Vinyl spoke up.

Riki looks away and lets out a sigh, “Yeah, it’s one of the reasons. I hope that's not rude to you guys.”

“Not at all,” Octavia said, trying not to make Riki feel bad. You are new to this world; I wouldn't expect you to be.”

“But if you ever want to buck a pony, you know where I am.” Vinyl joked.

“Vinyl!” Octavia gasps with a slight blush. Riki laughed, and Rarity rolled her eyes.

“I'll think about it,” Riki chuckled.

“Well, there's some gossip in town about a couple of ponies that have their eye on you.” Rarity told Riki, “I’ll gladly say you're not interested in dating.”

Riki crosses his arms as his head tilts. “That must be why I have those strange feelings of being watced. I thought I was paranoid.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I’ve been getting this feeling of being watched since a few days ago,” said Riki, “Also, I've been missing some of my clothing… Well, it doesn’t matter. I need to get going and catch that train. Oh, Rarity.”

“Yes, Darling?”

“Buy a CD on your way out.”

“...Fine.”

At Twilight's Library, Liz and Louie walk inside with a bunch of books. Twilight had asked Liz if she could borrow some of her books from Earth. Liz thinks it’s better to give the books to Twilight instead. She had already read all of them, and Riki wasn’t going to read them. Liz places the books on the desk. “Twilight! Your new books are here!” After Liz says that, Twilight teleports right in front of her, startling Louie.

“I forgot she can do that,” Louie said as he calmed himself down.

“Oh, Liz! Thank you so much for donating your books.” Twilight smiled.

“Don't mention it. I was done reading them,” Liz replied, “And Riki found something else to fix the wobbly table.” Twilight begins to look over the books Liz brought in. They are different genres, and some are a bit worn out. “I can always bring in more later if you'd like?”

“Liz, what’s this book?” Twilight asked, holding up a book. She looks over to see Fifty Shades of Grey book in Twilight’s hooves. As Twilight was about to open the book, Liz swiftly snatched it away. “Huh? What’s wrong?”

“Sorry, Twilight, but this book should not be here. I don’t know how it got in the pile.” Liz explained, putting the book under her arm.

“What’s the book about?” asked Twilight.

“Well… It’s a very erotic romance novel. Riki’s girlfriend or marefriend gave it to him. I thought he threw it away.”

“Riki has a marefriend?” Twilight asked. Seems like that’s way more important than the erotic novel. Twilight lets out a sigh, “I didn’t know he had a special somepony.”

“Well, not anymore. Riki broke up with her the first few days after I moved in with him.”

A small smile appeared on Twilight’s face and muttered, “Good to hear.”

“You said something?”

“Umm, good to hear more about Riki!” Twilight said quickly as she looked away. “He doesn’t talk about stuff like this.”

Liz scoops up Louie and says, “You're absolutely right. He never opens up to me about his love life. And I'm his sister; I should know about the girls he's dating. I don't want some disrespectful and suspicious woman touching him.”

“He talks to me about it, and I eavesdropped when Katie came over.” Louie chimed in as Liz had him dangling in the air. Liz and Twilight look at Louie with a surprised face. “I couldn’t talk at the time, but I can still listen.”

“Well, tell us.”

Louie gets out of Liz’s hands and jumps on the desk. “I don’t know, Liz. You will most likely be upset with what Riki told me.”

“Tell me, cat.”

Louie looks away and says, “Well, a few years ago, we were in the kitchen. We were talking about his last girlfriend.”

“Katie? I only met her a few times.” Liz interjected, “She was nice, but why did Riki break up with her?”

“Well, she broke up with him,” Louie said, correcting her. “It was because of you, Liz.”

“Me!?”

“Katie was upset about all the time he was spending with you.” Louie answered, “Riki said she was right. He wanted to spend a lot of time with you when you moved in.”

“Really?”

Louie nods, “And it’s pretty hard to raise a teenage girl. So he worked even harder and had no time to date.”
“Liz, are you okay?” Twilight asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I just found out I’m keeping my brother from dating!” Liz's voice cracked as she crouched down. She let out a heavy groan, “Took away his love life without knowing it. No wonder he doesn’t talk to me about it.”

Twilight gently rubs Liz’s back, “Don’t beat yourself up about this.”

“Yeah, and this was years ago.” Louie chined in, “Plus, Riki doesn't care about his love life. The reason he doesn't talk about it is because he thinks it boring.”

Liz lets out a small sigh, “Twilight, your brother tells you about his love life, right?”

“Of course, Shining does,” answered Twilight. “He’s dating Cadance. She used to be my foalsitter.”

“Okay, you have to tell me every detail about how that happened,” Liz said, her voice filled with interest.

In the city of Canterlot, I found my way to Razzle’s apartment. It would have taken me hours to find her place, but stopping at Razzle’s job and asking around really helped me find where she lived. Walking up the staircase to the third floor. I stop in front of a door that says ‘3C’. A bit nervous, I cautiously knocked on the door a few times, but there was no answer. I hope she’s not out. “Oi, Razzle, you in there!?” I shouted, knocking on the door again. “It’s me, Riki!”

Just then, a bunch of noise can be heard from inside. The sound of hooves running to the door, followed by the door being unlocked. The door swings open, and it almost hits me in the face. “Riki, you’re here; why are you here?” Razzle asked, hiding behind the door. I pulled the door away so I could have a better look at her. Razzle has an unkempt mane and tail, wearing a purple fuzzy sweater with stains on it. “Well, say something.”

“I came to check up on you,” I said with a bit of worry in my voice. “Are you alright? Because you look-”

“Horrible?” Razzle interrupted me. I didn’t reply, but that was a good enough answer for her. “So, how do you find where I live?”

Rubbing the back of my head, “I knew you worked at Equestria Times, so I checked there. Then your Boss told me where you lived… He also told me you haven’t been coming to work. Why’s that?”

“...”

“Alright, I’m coming in,” I said, walking past Razzle. Stepping inside Razzle’s apartment, I see how messy it is. Worse than Liz's workshop. I accidentally kicked an empty pint of peanut butter and hay flavor ice cream. “Shit, Rarity was right.”

“Riki, do you need something?” Razzle asked.

Without answering her question, I looked in her kitchen. It was pretty messy, so I asked, “What’s the last time you actually ate some food?”

Razzle moves an empty box of cereal with her hoof, trying to hide it. “...A while. Look, Riki, are you here to talk or cook for me.”

A smile appears on my face as I roll up my hoodie sleeves. “That’s a good idea! I’ll cook you something, and then we can talk, okay?” Razzle doesn’t say anything as she makes her way to the table. She sits there in silence as her hooves gently tap on the table. “Alright, let's see what you have in the kitchen.” Looking through the cabinets and refrigerators to see what to use. I found one green bell pepper, brown rice, oakley, and one can of tomato sauce. “I can work with this.”

Alright, let's begin. As I work my magic, I can feel Razzle watching me. It feels familiar for some reason. Shrugging it off, I start to cook the rice and heat up the tomato sauce in a different pot. After a few minutes, I washed and chopped the oakley, then dumped it into the sauce. Stirring the pot and adding seasonings he found in the cabinets. Taking a taste, I said, “Alright, it’s done.” Cutting the top of the green bell pepper off, then scoop the pepper insides out. I pour the brown rice into the scooped-out bell pepper and then the tomato sauce on top. Put the finished food on a plate with a fork, knife, and napkin. I take the plate of food and place it in front of Razzle. “Brown rice inside of a bell pepper with tomato and oakley sauce. Now eat!”

Razzle looks at it and sniffs it. Not wasting any time, she picks up the utensils with her magic and takes a bite. Her eyes widened, “Riki! This is good! How did you learn how to cook?” Razzle takes another bite, “Oh my Celestia…”

Smiling, I say, “I’m glad you like it. It’s something I picked up.” I basically had to step up to cook after Mom died. Dad wasn’t a good cook, and I got tired of takeout. “Now, let's talk. Why are you missing work? Your Boss sounds mad that you haven't been there. I lied and said you are doing a paper on me.”

Razzle stops eating and wipes her face with a napkin. “...I was busy with…stuff. It doesn't concern you.”

I tap the table a few times, “Is it about what happened that day?” I see Razzle look away as she stuffs her mouth. A small blush appears on her face. “Guess I'm right. Look, Razzle, I'm-”

Razzle's hoof quickly shot up in front of my face. “Riki, it's okay.”

“Really?” I picked up the fork and took a bite. I made it, and it looks like she doesn't care. It's pretty good, but it could be better.

“Yeah, but I just want to know one thing.” Razzle runs her hoof through her hair, then says, “The reason you wouldn’t go out with me is because I’m a pony?”

Okay, I need to choose my words wisely. I don’t want to hurt Razzle’s feelings. This is going to be hard. Just say yes; it’s because you are a pony. “No, it’s not because you are a pony…”

Fuck!

Razzle’s face lit up, “Really?”

“Yeah?” I struggle, my words caught in my throat. Why can’t I just be honest? Why does it have to be so complicated? If I tell her the truth, that it's because she's a pony, she might think I’m calling her ugly, and I don’t want that.

A smile appears on Razzle’s face. “That's good. And here I thought the problem was me being a pony… So what’s the reason?”

“Umm, the reason is…”

“Yes?”

“...Liz!” Damnit, I just lied right into her face.

Razzle gives me a confused look, “Your sister is the reason you can’t go about with me?”

“Yeah. It’s just that I'll have no time to date someone.” That's a lie, too. Ever since I got here, I have had a lot of free time. And I don’t really need to watch Liz. “...Look, I'm not in the right space to date. I’m sorry.”

Razzle nods her head, “I understand Riki. And I think it’s time for you to go.”

“Ummm, yeah,” I said, getting up. “Oi, Razzle, make sure you clean up around here.”

“Got it, thanks, Riki.”

“And that’s what happened.”

“Riki, I thought I told you to fix it,” said Rarity, sounding very disappointed. She poured me a cup of tea. "But you made it worse. Do all humans act like this, or is it just you, Riki?”

“It's just me, Rarity,” I mumbled, “Should I go back and fix it?”

She takes a sip of tea, her eyes never leaving mine. “No, Riki, you just make it worse. But I think Razzle understands where you two are.”

“...”

“Riki, are you alright,” Rarity inquired, “Is there something amiss with the tea?”

“Huh? No, it’s just I have a bad feeling.”

“About what? Explain, Darling.”

Okay, how shall I say this? “When I was talking to Razzle, something told me to stay away from her—a gut feeling. I have gotten that feeling before, but not like this.”

“Riki, I think you just feel guilty. You want to stay away from Razzle because you lied and broke her heart… Want so more tea?”

I groan as I rub my eyes. “How long are you going to hold this over me?”

“A week of me bringing this up, or you wear a few new outfits I'm going to design for you.” Rarity smiled as she finished her tea.

“...Nothing green, and I don't do frills.”

“Darling, the clothes I'm going to make will be fabulous!”

“...Amazing,” I sighed.

Back at Razzle’s place, she has finished cleaning her apartment. It's looking a lot better, except for the napkin Riki wiped his mouth with. The napkin, a small but significant reminder of their time together, just lays there on the table. Using her magic to pick up the napkin, Razzle makes her way to her room. She goes to her closet, a place filled with memories, and opens it.

Inside the closet, hidden from prying eyes, is a trove of pictures of Riki. Pictures of the human from all different angles. Like she was following him all over Ponyville, some are blurry, and others pictures are taken pretty close without Riki knowing. Razzle, her heart pounding, carefully places the used napkin in the closet. As she touches a few pictures, her voice quivering, she says, “Riki, you came over to my place! You really care for me, Riki. Then you cooked for me, and I cleaned. We were like a married couple! And here I thought you don’t love me.”

Razzle, unable to contain her joy, jumps into the closet with a big smile on her face. She’s lying in a pile of her clothes, giggling. Razzle digs in the pile and pulls out a pair of Riki’s black boxer shorts. She rubs the boxer on her face and says, “I still remember the day when I got these.”

Flashback

On the outskirts of Ponyville, Razzle makes her way to Riki’s house. She looks into the window to see if anybody is there. Lucky for her, the humans are gone. Razzle uses her magic to open the window. Ever since Riki got here, he hasn't been locking his window that much.

Razzle crawls through the window into the house. She looks around and is amazed at how Riki’s house looks on the inside. She makes her way upstairs, looking for Riki’s room. Once inside the room, Razzle jumps onto Riki’s bed, rubbing her head into the pillow and inhaling the smell. Her tail wags as she rolls herself under Riki’s cover. “His bed feels so soft. I wish Riki were in bed with me.” Razzle is thinking about going through some of Riki's stuff to see what he likes.

As she was about to get up, her ears picked up the sound of the front door opening. Razzle quickly jumped out of bed. She frantically trotted around, thinking about what to do. “Umm, I need to do something… I need to hide. Under the bed, no, I won’t fit.” As the footsteps got close, she looked toward the closet and quickly jumped inside. Hiding in a pile of Riki’s dirty clothes, Razzle sees Riki entering the room, “...Riki.”

Behind the closet doors, Razzle watches Riki walk around. “Liz, can you get the egg salad sandwiches and put them in the lunch bag?” Razzle sees Riki taking off his hoodie and shirt

“Okay!” Liz replied,

Razzle watches as Riki finishes taking his clothes off. Her eyes widen as she sees Riki’s member out in the open. Razzel can’t believe she sees a human dick. Her tail starts to move around as one of her hoofs starts to shake. “...Oh my Celestia, so that’s what a human penis looks like,” Razzle whispers to herself. Her eyes follow Riki as he moves around.

Goes to his dresser, pulls out swimming trunks with the goofy-looking sharks, and puts them on. He walks to the door, ready to leave, but he hears something in the closet. Razzle holds her breath, hoping that Riki will go away. He goes to open the door…

“Riki, c’mon, we have to go!” Liz shouted.

“Yeah!” Riki shouted back, shutting the closet door. He left the room. After a few minutes, Razzle came rolling out of the closet. A pair of Riki’s black boxers dangled off of her horn. Taking the boxer shorts and pulling it up to her muzzle, giving it a deep inhale. “I’m keeping these.”

Flashback End

Razzle is now wearing Riki’s boxer shorts, her tail poking out of the fly. “Riki, my love. Now that I know being a pony isn’t a problem. Makes me the happiest mare in the world.” Razzle swooned. “Having a souvenir of yours and seeing your… Member. Oh, it feels like I’m in a romance novel.” Razzle blushes as she thinks back to seeing Riki naked, “Then one day we can… I can’t wait!” Grabbing one of the many pictures of Riki, she hugs it close to her chest. “...But Riki, we have one problem, one big problem. The reason we can’t be together…”

Razzle digs in her closet, pulling out a photo of Riki. And he’s sitting with his sister. Using her magic, Razzle rips the photo in two. Looking at Liz in the photo, and says, “One problem, one big problem, the reason that keeps us away, Riki.” Liz’s photo begins to crumble, then combusts into flames. “I’ll fix our problem, Riki, my love~.”