“Oh Mr. Human…” A voice whispered into the dream I was having. It was not the first, and unfortunately, for some time, the voice had been patient, but incredibly persistent, trying to wake me from my sleep.

Dreams, unlike the waking world, were the only place that I felt safe, able to escape the various demons, monsters, ponies, and horrifying images that sent shivers down my spine whenever I saw or even thought too hard about them. When I did, I often accidentally willed them into theoretical existence with just my imagination. Really, some days I just wished I was blind. This condition of mine drove me mad sometimes, having to identify every little thing that I came across and confirm that it matched up with the ideal reality I lived in, on top of what little I knew about this damnable ponyland.

Yet here in my dreams, when I knew I was asleep, no matter what I saw, how I felt about a situation, or the voices I heard, I knew that it was a dream, nothing more, and nothing less, able to be changed by my semi-conscious mind. Back on my world, we called this ‘Lucid Dreaming’. A state of mind where the dreamer understood he or she was in fact dreaming, and was able to control their inner mindings, to a certain extent.

To me, dreams had always been easy to distinguish from reality, despite the waking terrors I faced in the reality that was my life. This was because unlike reality, a dimension where I had no magic, power, or creation, in my own subconscious mind I was my own master. I could do anything, with anyone, anytime I liked, only limited by my own imagination.

This time, I had chosen to lay in an ever-expansive field of grass, all below a night sky filled with constellations of stars from both my home and Equestria’s. No matter what kind of day I had, in my dreams I often returned to this place. Even though I was alone, with nothing but the crackling of a small campfire beside me. And because it was a dream, I could not feel, smell, or taste anything, I felt that I was at peace, rather than going on some crazed adventure, or spending this imaginative time with someone, or somepony, as it wouldn’t be real, and I knew it. Luna had claimed that she was able to dream walk, to be able to enter the dreams of other beings, but up to this point, I hadn’t seen her.

Whether she was lying, avoiding my dreams out of respect, or couldn’t because I was a human, I didn’t think much of it. I enjoyed spending time with the night princess, sure, but this was my dream, something that nothing and no one other than myself was able to tamper with, not even Discord, a being of chaos, and that suited me just fine.

--

“Mr. Osprey…if you don’t get up, I’ll have to fetch a rather cold bucket of water…”

So maybe it wasn’t entirely true. Whenever someone tried to wake me from my sleep, without fail, I could always hear them. I had to wonder sometimes if I actually slept, because my mind was always running, aware of the outside world around-

--

“H-HOLY FUCK!”

I screamed out, ruthlessly ripped from my dream by a concussive wave of freezing water.

Blinking rapidly and trying clear my eyes from the wet disturbance, I looked around my room for the one who had so cruelly taken me from my sleep. During my brief search, I saw that Luna was nowhere to be seen, despite having claimed me for ‘cuddle time’ and saving me from whatever pink princess and armor boy wanted to do with me. A quiet giggle earned my attentions, and I stared into the pink eyes of a mare that I knew I had never seen before. As I glared at her, I took in her features, dedicating it to memory so I could find her later and make her life absolutely miserable.

She was a light tan pegasus mare, almost the color of beach sand really, and she was small in comparison to Angel, who stood above most of her pegasus species. Her hair was a mixture of being a dirty blonde mess at the top but otherwise was braided into a tight weave that hung all the way down to the bottom of her stomach as she stood. Oddly enough, she had a few strands of blue hair that offset her bright appearance. Her tail was the same, kind of messy, and then tightly bound in the same weave, dragging slightly on the ground. Her cutie mark was a bright sun that was wearing…sunglasses or sleepwear of some sort. Not unlike most ponies I saw in the castle, she wore a light set of golden armor with a sun engraving, which must have marked her as a solar guard. Even weirder…she had a golden magical aura outlining her body, not unlike the variety of colors I see on other ponies here, but there was only one being I knew that had a golden one...

I narrowed my eyes at her, baring my teeth a little, hoping to impart some feral intimidation so that she would just leave, too scared of the big, scary, human. Unfortunately, she just smiled.

“Oh my! That’s quite the lovely smile you have, Mr. Human…”

Her voice sounded oddly familiar…too close to an irritating sun princess I knew. I shook my head at her and tried to climb back into bed, curling up with my now soaked bedsheets and blanket. Sure, it was uncomfortable, but I’d dealt with worse before.

However, the new pony was having none of it, as the sheets and blanket were ripped off me, and suddenly bright sunlight shone through my window, right in my face. I glared back at the bright star in defiance for a moment and muttered under my breath.

“Oh, fuck off sunshine. Seriously, long live the winter months, where all your days are cloudy and grey. There’s just no need for this level of brightness. Right in my eyes no less! Every freakin morning, without fail, ever since I got here! I swear Celestia does this shit on purpose. Take notes from your sister already and dim down the daily lightshow.” I bit back another stanza of my morning monologue, remembering I wasn’t alone.

As I looked back at the pony, it seemed that she heard me, and to my surprise, she looked sad, as if my comment personally offended her. My eyes widened, and I knew that I recognized those pink eyes, and even though the body didn’t match, I knew, deep down, that this mare had to be Celestia. It made no logical sense, but this was ponyland. Besides, no common pony would take such offense to the ramblings of someone who just woke up. Heck, most of them would probably agree. Besides, she hadn’t even bothered to conceal her voice, not truly, and that golden aura of hers…I would doubt myself more, but after all this time in ponyland, and spending every single day of my life inspecting every little detail I’ve seen in the waking world, I’d learned to trust my instincts more.

I held my tongue though; after all, this was a curious thing that she was doing. Before me was the mare that seemed to hate every fiber of my being, and I in turn, had grown to dislike her. Every interaction we had was filled with glares and cold statements, which was understandable. Even though Luna was friendly with me and considered me a close friend, humans in their past had ravaged this world, warring against the sisters alongside Discord. Sure, I was not the same as them, but to her, I was a horrible memory of their darker past.

Narrowing my eyes again, I brought myself out of my thoughts. Forget sleeping in, at this point I just wanted answers. Not just why she was trying to hide her identity from me, but also why she thought it was necessary to wake me from my sleep. Judging from the daylight, I rationalized that I couldn’t have slept for more than a few hours, which was more than well-deserved after everything that had happened. Sure, when you got down to the nitty gritty details, what had happened was really my own fault, but still, I had been through a lot.

“Why are you waking me anyway? I’m assuming you’re a guard, right?” She seemed ready to respond but I cut her off. “Well, for your information, I’m injured! I should be sleeping! By the order of Princess Luna no less!” All true, Luna had even chased off the other royals so I could sleep, and assuming this was in fact Celestia, she would know that already. Yet, her sad expression switched to one of mischief.

“Well, with every respect I’m sure you deserve, Mr. Osprey, you have been sleeping, unbothered might I add, for the past two days. I believe that is more than enough sleep for anyone, injured or not, don’t you? Even the humans of the old days didn’t sleep as long as you have!” My mouth gaped a little, but she continued, smiling sweetly at me, sitting on her haunches, and puffed out her chest, taking a more professional stance, like the guards in the hallways. “As for your first question, I am Knight Sunny Daze, Mr. Osprey, and I have been assigned to wake you up every morning and escort you to your daily duties! By the Princesses’ decree of course!”

I closed my mouth and rubbed my temples. It was going to sound repetitive, but I just had to hear it again for sanity’s sake.

“So, you mean to tell me…I’ve been asleep for two days straight, with no one waking me, without food or water, or even a bathroom break, and for some ungodly reason…you’re the guard that’s been assigned to me as my alarm clock?” She nodded, and her tail wagged slightly, as if she were a dog trying to contain her happiness over something as trivial as being someone’s alarm clock.

Is she just bored or…?

I looked at my watch. It was half past ten, and I only wanted to climb back into my bed and return to the sleep I had been ripped from. However, before I could voice such a comment, I felt something soft brush against my boxers, and by extension, my privates, which sent a shiver of pleasure through my body.

“Woah…it’s so much bigger than I expected…” The mare in front of me whispered, who was now hovering over my erect member, with one of her wings brushing against it slightly. I raised an eyebrow as I stared downwards. It would appear that boxers were part of my new hallucinations, because I was completely nude, at the mercy of Sunbutt’s curious avatar.

Thinking more on it, I didn’t remember going to sleep without my boxers on, which was something I’d have to ask Luna about. I blushed as she feathered my member again, sending more shivers of pleasure through me, but snapped my fingers in front of the mare, and attempted to compose myself, mainly getting my wings to lower from their agitated state. They were way more responsive these days, despite not being able to fly. A little voice in the back of my mind wished she would continue, but I couldn’t allow my moral compass take any more hits, it had already taken too many from Angel’s antics and Twilight’s…experiments.

“Um, right, Lady? My eyes are up here, thank you.” She looked up at me, retracting her wing and blushed a little as well.

It seemed that she was telling the truth about some things, as I felt the full force of my bladder suddenly threatening to burst. It was as if I were some geyser ready to burst, and while these ponies had some odd fetishes, I doubted Sunbutt here enjoyed golden showers. I looked back at her, and surprisingly, she hadn’t looked away, just continued to stare at me, in that calculating gaze that her other more regal form always wore.

“Right, well, um…Sunny? I’m gonna go take care of this…”

She nodded, but didn’t move. I stared at her. She stared back. I could still feel pressure in my nethers, but she was acting odd, as most people would have left, spoke, done something, and yet, here she was, just…watching me.

“So, um, you gonna leave or…?”

She gave me a sly grin. “And why should I do that, Mr. Osprey? If you’re ashamed of your little friend there I-”

Nope, not worth it.

Before she could finish, I gave up and walked to the bathroom, and relieved myself, not bothering with the door. I shook my head at her antics.

You wanna be creepy? Fine, be that way, see if I care Sunbutt. I’ll never understand the women of this place…but if I can outlast your crazy mares in ponyville, I can outlast you.

After taking some time to compose myself, and forgoing the towel, I walked back into my room, at half mast, and folded my arms, trying my best to intimidate my morning intruder. No need to cover myself when she’s already had first contact with it after all.

To her credit, she just looked on with a smile on her face. She said nothing else, so I just opted to pretend she wasn’t there, dressing myself in a blue shirt and black cargo shorts. Interestingly enough, when I had Rarity make this pair for me, they had come back with a small crescent moon emblem just above the pockets. When I had asked about it, she just winked and told me to ask Luna.

Fully dressed, I looked around my room once more. The palace room that had been made up for me was a simple one, allowing for a large bed, a small desk, a closet, and a side bathroom, complete with a shower. And of course, a large window that pointed towards the east, where the sun always rose.

I sighed, looking at the rising ball of flames, knowing that it was going to be a very long day. I looked back at the mare in front of me and decided to play along.

“Alright Sunny Daze, lead the way.”

--

The walk through the halls was uneventful. I walked behind Sunny Daze, as she beamed at every pony we passed, and she told me all about the wonderful sunrise she had woken up to. She told me nothing about my plans for the day, but from the direction we were heading, I assumed, and hoped, that we were heading to the dining hall for breakfast. Even though I just wanted more sleep, no man I ever knew ignored his stomach.

During the walk, I tried to stretch out my limbs and ignore the pain from my back and right arm, where the Timberwolves had ripped into me days before. I expected to find more pain, but it seemed, as resistant as I was, the magic from my treatments had only left me incredibly sore, and I felt none of my wounds open as I moved along.

My wings, still pink, felt incredible, however. Unlike before, where the large white wings had been more of a heavy burden upon my back, and even moving them had been an intense test of willpower, they felt different, more natural even. We turned another corner, and I saw that we were approaching the doors to the dining hall. I smiled at that but continued to check out my wings.

More curious now, I maneuvered my right wing out in front of me, and to my surprise, it snapped out with great speed, sending a small gust of wind out. I stopped and held the wing in my hands with awe. My wing felt incredibly light, and I could feel a slight breeze running through each of my feathers, which were all sorts of unaligned and disorganized, but as I examined it closer, I realized that they were incredibly sensitive to my touch, as gentle as I was being. It almost felt like my wings were as sensitive as my hands, even being able to feel the ridges of my fingerprints.

“Woah…” I breathed out, continuing to check out my wing. A light ‘Ahem’ brought me out of my stupor. I looked over to see Sunbutt, still in her disguise looking at me with a small amount of concern in her pink eyes.

“Is…everything alright Mr. Osprey? Something the matter with your wings perhaps?” I shook my head and realigned my wing so that it rested on my back comfortably, like Fluttershy had shown me how to do many months ago.

“No, I’m fine.” Her eyes lingered on my own for a few moments longer, as if she didn’t believe me, but smiled and turned around, entering the dining hall.

“Well then come along Mr. Human, we’ve got a schedule to keep. I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to check yourself out later…”

I rolled my eyes but followed her. The main dining hall was a massive room but was separated into three different sections to accommodate the different species that visited the castle. The guards had a small section to themselves, along the left wall, that looked like an express line at a high school cafeteria, where small brown sacks sat on a countertop just outside the vegetarian kitchens, likely so that guards could grab their food to go. In the center of the room was a large circular stand where a very pretty looking brown earth pony with a stylized mane brewed various liquids, the majority of which was coffee and tea, but also had what looked like a blender and some interesting looking water infusions sitting on the counter behind her. Near the back of the room sat another set of doors that led to a hallway that led directly to the formal dining quarters of the royal family, where servants were bringing back dirty dishes. On the right side of the room was a small kitchen that had a bar top right outside of it, where the meat eaters ate.

Sitting at the bar top, talking to a griffin behind the counter, was Luna, who looked like she was on the verge of falling asleep. Upon seeing our entrance however, her face broke out into a small smile, and she waved, inviting us over. As I sat at the bar top next to my favorite princess, I noticed the silent exchange of expressions between Sunny and Luna. The night princess also flicked a curious gaze between the two of us, but said nothing, only choosing to focus her teal eyes on me.

“Good mor-ooahhhmmnn-ing to you Osprey. I trust you slept well?” I smiled at her great yawn interrupting her greeting. I raised my hand to her head, scratching behind her ears, which she leaned into, sighing in content.

“Better than you apparently…did something happen during night court? You’re normally asleep by now.” A look of irritation spread over her face, and Sunny raised a hoof to her mouth, attempting to conceal a snicker, and failed miserably. Luna glared at her but answered with a growl.

“I do not wish to talk about it. It was…bullshit, as you say. The audacity stallions…hmph! What are riches and court favor to a princess such as myself? As if I care about such fickle things…I-“ Luna cut herself off, composing herself, and moved away from me. “Never mind, it is not important. Now.” She gestured at the griffin behind the counter. “Osprey, I’d like to introduce you to Buster Brown-” I choked, almost bursting out into laughter. Luna gave me an odd look but continued. “-a chef of Lord Thalon, our ambassador of the Griffin Empire. He will be handling your daily ration of protein until the griffin lord returns, so you,” She looked at me with narrowed eyes, “Don’t partake in any more of your featherbrained attempts at hunting.” I flinched but raised my hands up.

“Hey, look, I know how it turned out, but I took down a manticore just fine. I mean, that’s gotta count for something, right?” Sunny scoffed.

“Oh? I believe your injury report says otherwise. Are you sure it didn’t simply take pity on you, and roll over and die? Well, after using you as a plaything of course.” I glared at her, half tempted to call her out, disguise and all, but chose to ignore her instead, looking back to Luna, who seemed amused.

“Yes, that is true, and while Knight Intervention spoke highly of your performance before the timberwolf attack, we simply cannot have you running off to…to…what is you’re always saying? Tangle? Tussle? Tango? Yes, tango with dangerous creatures without proper supervision and training.” She smiled at me, and leaned forward to nuzzle my cheek, muttering in my ear. “Although…if you truly wish to experience the thrill of the hunt again my friend, I would be delighted to join you. You only need ask of me, as there is very little I would not do with you… ” For some reason, that sent shivers down my spine. The way that she said it was less friendly and more…primal, even seductive, as if she meant a little more than just hunting. She gave me an intense half lidded gaze, her cyan eyes baring into mine, before, almost comically, her eyes began to shut further, and her stance slackened. It was as if she fell asleep on her feet-er-hooves. Then she rose, her eyes snapping open once more and shuffled her wings a little, yawning deeply. “Now, I must take my leave, I wish to sleep and allow my sister’s day to shine brightly…without my presence. Take care Osprey, I shall see you later.” With that, she teleported away.

I sighed and looked back at Buster Brown, a smile creeping onto my face. “So…Buster Brown, what’s for breakfast?” The griffin crossed his arms and looked me up and down, as if to say, ‘Are you sure you’re not my breakfast?’ I rolled my eyes, folding my arms against my chest, hoping to make my arms look the slightest bit bigger. “C’mon man, I haven’t had a decent meal in so long…” I looked at Sunny, licking my lips. “Even the little horses are starting to look appetizing.” The mare only glared back at me, while I earned a smirk from the griffin.

“I’d lay off if I were you, I’ve heard those…pegasi are rather stringy. It’s hardly worth the effort.” He turned around, and grabbed a brown sack from the counter, roughly the size of a bowling ball, and tossed it at me. I caught it, surprised by the lightness, and as I opened it, I was assaulted by the scent of spices and sweet savory goodness. Inside the bag were dry chunks of reddish-orange meat, which I had never seen before. Taking a piece out, I looked at the griffin.

“What is this? I’ve never seen meat look like this before.” The avian chef inclined his head.

“Manticore jerky. From what I hear, it’s from that beastie you killed. If I’m to believe the story from that rainbow abomination,” Sunny shot him a furious glance, “-er pony friend of yours, anyway. Why don’t ya give it a taste?

Smiling a little, happy to know that my hard work in the forest hadn’t been for nothing, I bit into the meat, finding it wonderfully tough, and sweet to the taste, with a small kick from the spices he had used. I closed my eyes and hummed to myself in satisfaction.

Remind me to thank skittles for getting the meat…though shouldn’t that have bothered her or something?

“That…was fucking delicious.”

The griffin gave me a curt nod, and disappeared into the kitchen, reappearing moments later with what looked like scrambled eggs, chopped potatoes, and assorted diced fruit. He placed it in front of me and began to take off his apron.

“Of course it is. Now, you should know that I’m only ever here in the evenings, as I am only here serving you as a courtesy to the Princess, and we hardly have the stock to feed ya one meal of the good stuff a day. I suggest you make that jerky count, though if ya’ll bring me more fine fresh meat like that to cook, I’ll happily make more, after taking some myself, of course.” Sunny continued to glare at the both of us, but I paid her no mind.

I smiled, holding out a hand to shake. “Sounds good to me, if the Princess ever lets me out of the castle again.” He shook my hand, and took his leave, attaching a sword belt to his hips. Why are these griffins always strapped?

“I’ll be seein ya then.”

Giving him a nod of farewell, I dove into breakfast, which was unfortunately cold, likely from sitting on the counter for too long. I figured I’d give him a break since he made me some jerky. Jerky that Sunny was eyeing disdainfully while I finished off my plate. Pushing it back on the counter, I looked to her with a raised brow.

“So, Sunny. I’ve met the chef…can I go back to sleep now or…?”

She rolled her eyes and revealed a scroll she was hiding in her wing somehow.

“I’m afraid not. Follow me please. Also, do be a good young stallion and take your dishes to the washing bins.” She nodded to the bins at the end of the hall, where wooden boxes labeled ‘to wash’ sat on a table. Rolling my eyes, I accomplished this task, and followed her through the castle. It didn’t take us long to reach our next destination, as Sunny decided to speed up her pace after looking at the sun, like some kind of clock, and told me to hurry or we’d be late.

We eventually arrived at a familiar courtyard, where Sunny tossed the scroll at me, and then quickly flew off into the sky, saying nothing more than ‘Bye!’

Giving a quick glance to the scroll, I just shrugged and walked down to the training floor. Next to the armory, was a somewhat irritated dragon, who was casting its angry gaze into the sky as I approached.

“Um…hi?”

His sharp gaze transferred to me before it transformed into a more disapproving one.

“You’re…shorter than I was expectin. And weaker. Much weaker. Hardly any meat on you.” Before I could say anything to defend myself, he continued, crossing his arms. “Whatever. The name’s Midnight Flicker. The ponies just call me Flick. I’ll be the one taking over your survival training.”

Awed, I took in the sight of the dragon. Flick was a bipedal black dragon with an orange underbelly. He had to be at least seven or eight feet tall, towering over my scrawny self. His eyes were green, like Spike’s, but they had a sternness about them, as if he was waiting for me to make a mistake so he had an excuse to barbecue me on the spot. On his back was probably the largest battle axe I’ve ever seen, though why a dragon that huge would need a weapon, I’d never know. All in all, he looked awesome.

Not bothering with a handshake, I rested my hands behind my back, a habit that I had picked up from the Army, and never really broke…though very slackened. In a way, this dragon was my superior, so it just felt right.

“Uh…Right. Nice to meet you Flick, I’m sure you know already, but my name’s Osprey. Sorry that I’m not quite what you were expecting but it’s hard to keep a good shape in ponyland when all the meat is sentient and Discord’s trying to kill you.”

Flick rolled his eyes.

“Yeah don’t bother with feeding me your excuses boy, I’ve read the reports, and I know that you’ve had previous experience with some form of military. I can see some semblance of a muscular build on you, if you can really call it that, but I can also see…” He smirked. “That from the ridiculous lack of muscle on you, boy, you’ve been neglecting your training, regardless of proper protein intake.” The dragon then motioned towards a set of large saddlebags that appeared to be made for someone of my size. “We’re gonna fix that. Throw on those bags.”

Sighing, I folded the scroll in my hand and shoved it into my pockets before strapping up. Oddly enough, it felt like a rucksack, even though the bags themselves were positioned along the sides of my body, more than my actual back, leaving room for my wings. Taking a step towards Flick, who was now resting a claw upon the sword I attempted to pick up days before, I realized that the weight of the bags was much heavier than I expected. I was already breaking a sweat.

Flick smirked at my struggling form and inspected the bags, tightening straps, and prodding my body every now and then before nodding to himself.

“Looks terrible, just like you. It’ll do for now, but we’ll find something more form fitting later. In addition to your bags, during your training with me, you’ll be carrying this beautiful work of steel.” He handed the sword to me, and due to the massive length and weight, I just barely kept myself from falling forward with it. Flick narrowed his eyes at my display. “Every time you drop that sword boy, I expect thirty wing ups.”

My eyes widened. “Wait wait wait. You mean…” Rolling my shoulders, I released my wings, which spread wide and flexed out in front of my body. “These things can do push-ups?” The dragon cocked his head to the side.

“Show me what a push up is.”

I sighed, knowing that a push up with the weight of the bags would be difficult, but did as he asked, setting the heavy blade next to me. Positioning my arms to my side, I strained to do one push up. Looking up, Flick just seemed amused.

“I suppose that’s one way to work on those flimsy arms of yours. Now, I understand that you weren’t born with wings, so I suppose that alternative will do. However, I know that you will be undergoing flight practice with another winged instructor soon, so I expect you, after a few weeks, to be able to do wing ups.” With that, the dragon, still folding his arms, fell forward towards the ground, and somehow, caught himself from faceplanting, with his outstretched wings. Continuing to look at me, he gradually rose from the ground, with only his wings. It was one of the most confusing things I had ever seen. It didn’t even seem possible, theoretically, the wings should have broken underneath his weight.

Then again…Angel was able to use her wings to maneuver and control blades.

Shaking my head, I rose, and picked up the blade from the floor. “Sorry to disappoint Flick, but I don’t even know how that’s possible. I think I’d break my wings even thinking about it.” The dragon rolled his eyes.

“We’ll get there. For now, you and I are going to go for a little run.”

--

When Flick had said run, what I was thinking was that we would run around the castle grounds, and maybe take in some of the scenery of the city of Canterlot itself. What I didn’t expect was to SCALE the mountain the castle rested on. Sure, I suppose we weren’t climbing the mountain with our hands and feet, but the rugged mountain paths Flick led me up felt no different. How the dragon managed to stay level, I’ll never know. After a few hours of putting me through the ringer, and not even making it to the five-mile marker like he wanted, Flick had enough and flew us both back to the training grounds, where he waved me off and told me I was to report to him every single day for exercise, as I was nowhere near ready for his ‘survival’ training. Needless to say, after that hellish experience, I took a nap.

Sleeping on the stairs to the training grounds, I found myself being shaken awake by a guard. Though most of the day guards looked the same, this one was a familiar face..Sun Chaser if I could remember correctly. The set of his muzzle with a few scars crisscrossed upon it, a dead giveaway if nothing else.

“Mr. Osprey, I am to escort you to the throne room. Princess Celestia wishes to speak with you.”

Ignoring my sore body, I tried to mentally prepare myself to deal with the sun goddess and followed the guard.

“Hey…you’re Sun Chaser right? Sunbutt’s usual messenger I think. I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of you without the other…except of course when you’re coming to fetch me.”

Turning his head, he gave me a pained expression.

“Yes, Mr. Osprey and while I am happy you remember my name, I do wish you wouldn’t disrespect my princess so…blatantly. I promise you that she’s quite wonderful if you took the time to know her better.”

I scoffed at that.

“You’ve been at our meetings Chaser. You know damn well that disrespect is very much mutual. I can’t really blame her, since humans have a bad rep here, but still, she’s the one who’s always so cold, unlike Luna.”

The guard’s ears perked up at the mention of Luna. A coy smile spread across his face.

“Not to pry Mr. Osprey, but there are a few rumors floating around…you do seem to spend a lot of time with our lovely night princess. Perhaps there is something more than just friendship at play between the two of you? She has never seemed quite so chipper as she is when you’re in her presence in the time that I have served here.”

I sighed and remembered this morning, where Luna had given me a rather curious proposition. It had sounded like intimacy, but unlike Angel, Luna was less straightforward and even harder to figure out at times. That and she’s a pony, soi I may have just misread into her words. So, I simply went with my age-old answer.

“Sorry to burst your bubble there Chaser, but I’m just not into ponies, I promise it’s not like that. Luna’s just my friend.”

Even with my statement, the guard didn’t look convinced.

“Whatever you say, Mr. Osprey, whatever you say.”

--

All my life, I had expected mythological creatures like dragons to be fierce, intimidating, and tall as houses, and after seeing Flick, I was willing to continue my outlook, noting him as a younger dragon. What I wasn’t prepared for was the beautiful creature that stood before me in Celestia’s throne room.

She was…exquisite, and even that word seemed lacking. Gentle sea-green eyes watched me curiously as I did my best to take in her features without running forward for a closer look like some kind of fan boy. The female dragon beside Celestia was slender, graceful, and had curves that made me feel things I couldn’t completely understand, or maybe just didn’t want to. The dragoness was covered in sky blue scales that faded into deep a blue and purple near her wingtips and underbelly, yet there were a few deep scars just above her chest that seemed to glow a faint green color. Unlike Flick, she stood on all fours, just barely taller than Luna.

Apparently irritated by my lack of greeting, Celestia cleared her throat and approached, with her horn glowing gold.

“If you’re quite finished ogling my ambassador, I believe we have matters to discuss.” Her tone was icy, as if I were about to be in some sort of trouble. Tearing my gaze away from the beautiful creature beside her, I folded my arms over my chest.

“Right. What did you want…Princess.” As much as I wanted to call her Sunbutt, I wanted to make a good impression on the dragon. If I was lucky, she might just stick around to talk for a while.

Giving me a slight nod, as if she approved of my faux politeness, Celestia’s horn flashed brighter, and suddenly a heap of dark, shredded metal loudly dropped to the floor in front of me. Not completely sure what I was looking at, I bent down to examine the pile closer. Picking up a small piece of it, I looked back at Celestia with a raised brow. She looked concerned at my lack of response.

“I believe those are the remains of the armor that was crafted for you. I was hoping you would have an explanation for its current state of existence.”

My eyes widened, looking back at the scrap of metal in my hand.

“Holy crap…something did…this?”

Celestia nodded. “Indeed. It seems that we will need to post a stricter watch on the palace grounds. This is a clear attack against you, as no other creature within these grounds can wear that armor. I’ll put in a request for another set, but for now, do your best to stay out of harms way, Mr. Osprey.”

I smiled. “Princess, I’m sure you know as well as I do that Discord thoroughly enjoys making my life…difficult.”

The dragon smirked.

“I believe that difficult is a very lacking description of your situation, my dear human.” Celestia sighed at that, turning to face the dragoness.

“Indeed. My apologies, I believe that introductions are in order. Osprey, this is Ryomi, an…ambassador of sorts. She requested to meet you upon hearing the news of your arrival.”

I raised a brow at that, but the dragoness stepped forwards and began to circle me, looking me up and down. “Quite so. It is not often I find another creature that has traveled to other worlds as I have.”

“Wait. You can travel to other dimensions? How is that possible?”

She smiled at that. “I am a dragon. I am not limited to your mortal limitations or understanding.”

“Fair enough I guess…so, knowing that you supposedly have the ability to do so…would you be able to take me back to where I belong?” Ryomi frowned, stopping to sit in front of me.

“There lies the problem…where you belong exactly. I have been told of the deal that Discord has given you. You should know that your world is-”

A sharp snap echoed throughout the throne room and Ryomi was unable to speak, her maw snapping shut sharply.

“Now now, my fair lady…I can’t have you spoiling my good fun.” With those words spoken, Discord appeared out of thin air, floating on an invisible breeze. All three of us glared at him. He clicked his tongue in disapproval. “Now now, that is no way to greet an old friend.”

Apparently recovering her ability to speak, the dragoness scoffed, looking around.

“Friends of yours? Here? Please point them my way so I may put them out of their misery. All roads lead to ruin when you are involved, and I pity even the fools who walk alongside you.”

Discord rolled his eyes at Ryomi and floated over to me, examining the necklace Luna had gifted me.

“My dear dragoness, I’m sure you understand that only fools find themselves on the road to ruin as they are destined to. My meddling has no effect on free will after all, much to my dismay…” He looked up at me, his eyes flashing blue. “It is the choices we all make of our own accord that lead us down the road of our so called destiny.” He poked my nose. “It is why I have made a deal with you, my caged little bird. I only wish for you to make choices of your own, so I may see how your path will come to end.” I shivered at that, and he grinned.

Annoyed once more, Celestia cleared her throat. “As I have stated many times before, Discord, you are not welcome here, and you have sworn to behave yourself if I remember correctly. I must ask you to explain your purpose here or leave immediately, as you are interrupting a PRIVATE conversation.”

Discord waved his talons at her, as if dismissing her. “Yes yes, I know well what I swore to. However, I am here to offer assistance, rather than spread more of my namesake.”

Ryomi barked a laugh. “This is a first.” Discord glared at her, eyes still an uncomfortable blue, then turned back to face me.

“Now, I understand dear woona has given you a gift my boy. I am here to offer you a choice.”

Cupping the necklace with my hand, I narrowed my eyes at the miniature hellspawn. “What kind of choice? If its anything like that deal we made in that forest, I’m not interested.” Discord just chuckled at that.

“I for one, am quite enjoying the results of that deal my dear boy, however I believe that you will be quite interested in this. After all, it does concern a dear friend of yours…Divine Intervention.” A flash of yellow appeared in his eyes and he seemed to cringe at saying her name, before returning to an annoying grin once more.

Another hallucination? Why do his eyes keep changing like that? Its almost like there’s more than one…being in that body.

Casting my thoughts aside, I went to grab him.

“What did you do to her?” The chimera just slipped out of my grip and rolled his eyes.

“I have done nothing yet, I simply see a…path where your pretty pink angel finds herself in a bit of a pickle is all. Forgive me for being ever so kind as to find you and offer assistance.” He sighed and with a talon, appeared to rip the very air around it into a dark void, almost like some kind of portal, just big enough for his small body. ‘Oh well…I suppose if I am not wanted, I shall be on my merry way…”

He began floating into the void. I sighed, knowing that he was trying to play me in some way, but if it really did concern the well being of Angel, I couldn’t just stand by and not do anything about it.

“Wait.” Discord grinned as he turned to face me, the portal fizzling into black bubbles, then into nothingness. I gave that a curious look, but then shook my head and continued. “Go on then, what’s this choice you speak of?” The dragoness beside me sighed.

“This is a bad idea…”

Discord ignored her, once more inspecting the necklace.

“Now we’re talking…now this is a simple thing really. I wish for you to give me this necklace.” I glared at him.

“Why the hell would I do that?” He shrugged.

“To help your friend of course.”

“How?” He laughed, ruffling my hair.

“Now now, I can’t tell you that…why it would ruin the surprise!”

I groaned. “How exactly is this a choice that benefits me or Angel again?”

Discord shook his head. “I do not give you an easy choice, my dear boy. You must understand that this choice I offer you will not be mutually beneficial. One of you will suffer in the future, and that necklace is a powerful remedy.” He looked at me with those piercing blue eyes of his, a serious intent in them, very unlike his usual jovial personality. “I ask you this, little bird. Would you sacrifice a little sanity for the well being of another?” He held out his lion’s paw, gesturing to the necklace, and his eyes turned yellow, an unnerving grin spreading across his face. “Make your choice.”

Still confused at all of this, I looked to the Celestia and Ryomi, who had both been very quiet. It appeared that they had been silenced once again. Celestia was furiously shaking her head at me. Ryomi however was just staring at me. There was what looked like a calculating look on her face, as if she were more curious on what I would do, rather than offering any insight. I looked back at Discord who seemed to be getting impatient.

“And you won’t tell me anything else about this danger that she faces? Or how this necklace helps? How do I even know that you won’t just take it for yourself, using it to hurt someone?” Discord rolled his eyes, which flashed yellow.

“I suppose that you will just have to trust me. Need I remind you that I am a GOD? I care not for your actual feelings on the matter. I am here for my own entertainment. Do or do not. Make your choice, I have things to do, beings to see.” He opened the dark void again and began floating towards it.

Not so friendly now I guess. Seriously, what’s with those eyes?

Thinking about it, the necklace was helping me feel better about the world around me, the magic seemingly keeping me anchored to reality. Yet, I had been dealing with all of this well enough before Luna’s gift, and if it would really help Angel in some way, while she was being punished and off on a dangerous mission…

I took off the necklace and held it out.

“Take it and give it to her.” Discord was back in an instant, coiled around my arm and gripping the necklace, smiling. I grimaced at that. “This doesn’t mean I trust you, I just want the best for my friends.” Discord rolled his eyes at that.

“How noble and utterly predictable of you. Truly a knight in shining armor. Now, things to do, beings to see. Ta ta, little bird!” With that, he was gone. No void, no flying out of a window, just gone, as if he had never been there. A shiver ran down my spine, and once more I was greeted with the familiar feeling anxiety. I could also swear that some of the shadows were moving near the edges of my vision, but when I looked, there was nothing there.

Great. Back to this.

I looked back to Celestia, and she opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by Discord, reappearing out of thin air, dressed in a pink tuxedo, and tall, Abraham-style hat to boot. “Oh and one more thing, dear boy.” He gestured at the black mound of metal that used to be my armor. It disappeared into thin air. He looked me up and down. “Armor does not suit you I’m afraid, I suggest you find some other means of…outer wear. One should always be comfortable, even if that means nudity.” He winked at me and disappeared once more. The room went quiet.

“I guess we know what happened to the armor now.”

Ryomi tapped a claw on the ground, giving me a curious look.

“That was a rather interesting interaction…it seems the lord of chaos truly does have a fondness for you.” I sighed at that. Celestia however, was fuming. The princess wore that look she always had when we talked, as if I could do nothing right, and my one goal in life was to harm her and her subjects. It appeared that she did not approve of my choice. Sure enough, within moments, she invaded my personal space, bringing us nose to muzzle.

“I had hoped that these few months in equestria alongside Knight Intervention would help you develop common sense, but I must ask. Are there nothing but feathers floating about in that head of yours!? Why would make yet another deal with that no good-” She continued on a tirade, but I just tuned her out, as always. She must have realized this as she glared harder and raised her voice.

I rolled my eyes and looked past her towards Sun Chaser, who was standing guard near the doors, giving me a sympathetic look.

Here we go again.

--

Celestia’s lecture had gone on for a while, until she had given up and sent me away. On my way out, the dragoness Ryomi said that she would find me later in the week to talk more but stayed to talk more with the irate princess. Giving a nod to Sun Chaser, I walked out of the doors of the throne room and wandered about the castle. I didn’t really have any particular destination in mind. Unfortunately, I had left the scroll from earlier in the throne room, and I didn’t want to deal with any more of Celestia.

Honestly, I didn’t know what her issue was with me. First this morning with her avatar and then that pointless lecture. I knew what I signed up for. Sure, I would admit that none of my interactions with Discord had ever gone well, but a necklace was a small thing in comparison to Angel’s supposed well-being. Besides, I didn’t think Discord had ever lied to me, he didn’t exactly have a reason to, being a god with magical powers. I did, however, miss the necklace. Walking through the hallways, I could feel my senses return to normal. No more peaceful cold sensations flowing through my body, only the flickering shadows in my peripherals, and I could hear whispers on the breeze returning to their haunting symphonies.

Coming closer to my room, I realized that the whispers were getting louder.

That’s odd…maybe I’m not hallucinating?

Sure enough, something was happening. I slowed my pace as I peered around the corner and saw that the door to my room was open. The whispers had stopped, as if someone had heard my footsteps. I felt in my gut that I should turn around and get far away. This entire walk, I hadn’t seen any guards walking through the hallways, which was odd, considering it was still daytime and my room was close to Luna’s hall, which was always guarded with night and day guards patrolling the area around it.

As I was pondering this, I felt something sharp grab one of my wings.

“Easy there human…not a sound and we’ll all get along just fine.” My blood ran cold. As I turned my head, I saw that a large griffon had appeared seemingly out of thin air right behind me. He was on all fours, aside from the one of his front talons wrapped around my left wing. Meeting my eyes and putting a talon to his beak, which I assumed was the motion to be silent, he leaned past me into the other hallway.

“Oi! I’ve got him, get ya flanks over here.” He whispered furiously. Seconds later, three figures appeared. One was another griffon, slightly smaller than the one holding my wing and appeared to have a reddish hue to his feathers rather than the usual brown and white combination I was used to seeing. The other two were unicorns, one blue, one grey. All of them had saddlebags on, and I saw that the unicorns both had unsheathed blades strapped to their backs underneath the bags. All three of the newcomers stared at me, as if expecting me to explode or something.

I had a general idea of what this was. It had to be a kidnapping. An odd one, but it was too sketchy to be anything else. I wasn’t exactly sure why, but their equipment and lack of guard apparel pretty much said it all. Flexing my wings, a little, I looked back to the one holding my wings.

Better play this careful like. Or maybe just stupid.

“What are you guys doing?” He gave me a flat stare.

“You’re our payday human. I suggest ya come along quietly. You’re worth more alive, but I’m not very patient.” He dug his claws into my wing, and I felt an arc of pain shoot to my spine. I nodded quickly at him.

“Alright I got you. Can…you let go? Look, I won’t cause any trouble. I’m not a complete idiot, I know I can’t do anything against your unicorns. No magic of my own and all. Just lead the way.” The griffon grinned even more. He let go.

“Hmph. After all those bedtime stories, I thought ya would have more fight.” I shrugged, a plan already forming in my mind.

“I don’t have magic, my wings don’t work, and y’all have weapons. why start a fight I don’t have a chance in winning?” He seemed to like my answer.

“Smart choice.” He nodded to the blue unicorn. “Watch him. We’ll scout ahead and get outta here.”

Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I watched the three of them turn, and the blue unicorn walked closer to my side. He grinned.

“Get a move on then.”

Then I smiled. “Get real.” His expression became confused as I quickly gripped his horn and proceeded to use all of my body weight to swing him into the wall. It really wasn’t impressive with me more dragging him than gaining any actual lift but the impact made a satisfying thump, and I was running off toward the other unicorn as the others turned around, looks of shock on their faces.

I knew that the blue one was probably only stunned, but my plan was simple. Take down the magic users and then run like hell, probably screaming bloody murder along the way.

Reaching the grey unicorn in a few strides, I raised my right leg up and kicked the pony in the face with everything I had, carrying the pony into the air slightly with a crack.

The griffons unfortunately weren’t as shocked as I thought however, as a feathered mass crashed into my side as I was preparing to run, rolling us further down the other hallway, closer to my room.

The reddish griffon snapped his beak at me furiously, trying to peck my face as he struggled to get his talons from under me. I winced in pain as we crushed one of my wings underneath us, but I reached back a fist and punched the avian in the face repeatedly, remembering what Angel had said about how fragile their beaks were. He squawked loudly and rolled off of me, and I prepared myself to run.

Then I stopped as I looked at the griffon’s companions. The grey unicorn I had kicked was still in a mound on the floor, groaning, but the other griffon and blue unicorn were being held down by a set of bat winged ponies in dark armor. Another bat pony was beside me, looking at the griffon I had just punched. She looked back at me with a grin.

“Well. Princess Luna was right; you are a feisty one!”

--

With the four kidnappers being taken away by solar guards that had shown up minutes later, the three night guards escorted me to my room, with the female one by my side, a big smile on her face. I held my left wing in my hands, making sure that I there wasn’t any more damage. Despite finding nothing wrong with it, just like this morning there was something odd going on with my wings. I made a note to talk to sparky about it next time I saw her, consequences be damned.

“So…mind telling me what that was all about? Also, who are you? I don’t think I’ve seen you before.” I asked the female night guard.

“Sure! Let’s secure your room first though, make sure there aren’t anymore baddies waiting for you.” The three of them checked my room, and having cleared it, invited me in and shut the door. I was still feeling whiplashed from how fast everything had just happened, so I walked over to my bed and the female followed me, sitting in front of me with her companions alongside her. Still smiling, she gave me a quick salute with her bat wing, which was utterly adorable. “I’m Midnight Song, and these two are Midnight Echo and Midnight Shadow. We’re filling in as your protectors while Knight Divine Intervention is away.”

I raised a brow at that. “My new bodyguards huh? I love you adorable ponies, but I don’t think y’all are doing a great job so far. I was just taken hostage yknow…” Midnight Song giggled, oddly enough.

“Silly human, you were never in any real danger. We’ve been following you around since this morning.” She put a hoof to her muzzle, as if rethinking her statement. “Well actually, it was Breeze and Dream earlier…” Then she looked back excitedly. “But we changed shifts as you were coming out of the meeting with Princess Celestia!” She hoof pumped the air. “We got the fun shift!”

Both of my eyebrows raised at that. Looking at the trio, I knew that I hadn’t seen them at all throughout the day. Or any other night guards for that matter.

“What? How? I didn’t notice anyone following me at all.” One of the male bat ponies, probably Midnight Shadow, smirked.

“Just doing our job Mr. Osprey, no need to be seen until its necessary. We’re really just meant to be your shadows. Though you’re going to have to put up with at least Song here, she’s too…excitable to stay hidden for long. We’re working on it.” Song rolled her eyes at him, then bounced onto her hooves, grinning at me.

“Well, I don’t want you to be lonely with your friend gone, so you can talk to me while I’m on shift! I’d really really like to know more about you!”

I smiled a little. “I think I’d like that. You’re like a less crazy Pinkie Pie.” I shivered as an odd sensation washed over me, like I had seriously ruined someone’s perfectly happy day and would receive some serious party time with gummy to make up for it! Pinkie really is a very nice pony after all, she would neeeevverrr do anything to hurt anybody, no matter what they said about her!

What the…where did that come from?

I came back out of my…whatever that was to Song waving a hoof in front of my face. She looked concerned until we locked eyes and then the smile was back.

“Oh good, you’re back!”

I shook my head. “Right, sorry about that. I uh, space out sometimes. Nice to meet y’all, but what about the kidnappers? What was that all about?”

Midnight Echo, the other male bat pony, cleared his throat and stepped forward.

“One of the reasons we didn’t immediately step in was to find that out for ourselves. Like they said though, it seems that there’s some kind of hunt going on for you. You’re the first human to appear here in a long time, and some ponies out there can be a little…obsessive with exotic creatures. We should have more information once the kidnappers have been interrogated.” I nodded at that, but still had another question.

“Okay, fair enough, but what was the other reason you didn’t step in quicker? Angel was really good at her job and usually handled things for me or alongside me, rather than watching as I got attacked. Plus, you guards always seem to posture against threats instead of wait to attack like you did.” The three of the guards shared a sheepish look with each other. Song spoke up for them.

“Well…we were curious what all the talk about Osprey the human was about. There are rumors about you fighting manticores, Timberwolves, and other crazy things. Besides, we know from our brief chat with Knight Intervention that you don’t really like to be sidelined.” She smiled at me again. “We really were watching the whole time; you weren’t in any real danger. We’ll just be able to do a better job at guarding you if we know what you’re capable of.”

I grinned. “So, did I live up to my reputation?” All three of them grinned, nodding.

Echo smirked. “It was kind of underhoofed how you lied to their faces and then slammed that poor unicorn into the wall like that.”

Song bounced in place. “That kick was awesome though! You sent that meanie flying and he wasn’t even a pegasi!”

I laughed. “Yeah, it was kinda sneaky, but I think it worked out well, I think I might have actually escaped without your help.”

A pounding on the door interrupted our conversation and like a switch, the three bat ponies lined themselves in front of me, ready for a fight. Then Echo relaxed and opened the door, letting in Flick, the giant dragon having to bend over to get inside. He was holding the large sword from my earlier day’s training and had a very interesting look of anger on his face. His green piercing eyes looked into mine.

“Didn’t I say that you were to carry this around until I told you otherwise? You should never be unarmed.” Then he dropped the sword to the floor, letting it clang loudly throughout the silent room. Glaring at me, he motioned to the floor. “Now, sword’s been dropped, I believe you owe me some push ups…I believe that three hundred should do for your stupidity this day.”

I groaned but clammed up and smirked at the dragon, crossing my arms.

“You know Flick, I don’t think I owe you any push ups. You said if I dropped the blade, I would pay for it, but it’s you who’s dropped it.” The dragon smirked.

“So, the human is smarter than he looks. Alright then, you escape this time, but come tomorrow…” He began to leave. “Your training will reflect your level of stupidity today.”

Then the dragon was gone. The bat ponies didn’t move for a second, then Song, ever the catalyst for conversation, turned to me once more.

“It seems that you are already real chummy with the midnight clan Mr. Osprey! Just how many of us do you know?” I sighed, attempting to pick up the sword, and groaned once I saw Midnight Blossom enter the room with a smirk on her face.

“Too many midnights, just way too many.”

Author's Note

It's been a while, but the story still lives! Updates are going to be scattered as I try to slow the story down a bit, but I hope you enjoy.