I don't know how Rainbow Dash's retelling of her dream, which was apparently about being a ghost in a steamy locker room full of athletes, led to me leading our group to the new house but I blame Carina.

"Welcome to the house of Elfilis! Make yourselves comfortable, you can look through the fridge if you're hungry or thirsty. I can't guarantee we have anything in there but I'll be back down in a bit anyway. Star, if you would follow me so I can show you your room? Everyone else, don't go in the basement. If Carina vanishes, she's in the basement. I don't recommend following her." I only caught a glimpse of Carina pouting at me before I turned around and led Star Vision up the stairs. He wasn't the most talkative person I ever met so his silence as we walked the short distance to the guest room didn't bother me too much, but he was still clearly uncomfortable if his pinched expression was any indication. "So, it's obviously really plain but you can do whatever you want to the place. Just so long as it's reversible anyway. I don't know if we can undo each others powers or abilities or whatever, so you're responsible for cleaning up any particularly crazy Dream-"

"I'm not crazy!"

"... I'm aware." I looked down at the flush Kirin, his blush making his blue coat turn a light shade of purple, and tried to figure out what to say. In the end, I decided I didn't know him enough to try to figure out what was wrong yet. "What's bothering you?" A question which, I only realized after I asked, he wouldn't know how to skirt around if his life depended on it. "Wait-"

"I'm Discord! Or I was, and I don't know how to feel about it! Everypony is being tight-lipped about it, but I'm sure that it's just sitting there in the back of their minds whenever they're talking to me!"

"Star-"

"And I'm not sure he's really gone! I keep having these thoughts, I keep giving in and playing these jokes that-"

"If this is about Rainbow Dash-"

"-and do you know how hard it is to not accidentally turn Sweet Apple Acres into Sour Grape Fields?! And then there's the whole fucking Starswirl thing-"

"HEY! Vision! Relax, calm. Breathe alright? You're fine, no one is just waiting around for you to just suddenly turn into an evil prankster again. You're fine. It's okay." Not that I had much room to talk, but emotional stability seemed like a rare commodity. I know I wasn't the most social butterfly but I got the feeling I was going to be looking for therapists by the end of the week if this pattern of breakdowns continued. Luna, Carina, me, Luna again, me again, me again again, Discord, and Star Vision who I was separating from the one before hand.

"It's not okay! I had to be locked up for a thousand plus years! How do you undo all that time in a matter of hours? I-!"

"By cheating. We literally took the evil out of you, remember?" Cue wide-eyed look of befuddlement. "Let me start by saying that you did not have to be a lawn decoration for a thousand years. I talked with Celestia a bit about this, and I'm pretty sure your imprisonment was the result of either some cosmic accident or because Starswirl was a dick who manipulated the both of you for whatever twisted reason he had. Remember Princess Luna? She helped you get back on your hooves after we got rid of all the Dark Matter?" Cue indignance for some reason.

"Yes, I remember the princesses. I still remember my time as Discord, even if it is a jumbled mess."

"Then you should remember her time as Nightmare Moon? At least a little bit?"

"... Maybe?"

"Which means you kind of remember that, but something I said surprised you anyway?" 'Maybe' was a really vague answer from someone you couldn't lie.

"Yeah, I remember the Nightmare. I didn't remember that she was the princess."

"Well, Luna was cured of the 'parasite' by the same magic trinkets that put Discord in stone for some reason. And Luna is pretty convinced at this point that the parasite was also Dark Matter."

"But, she isn't anything like the Nightmare anymore! I still have these-"

"Isn't she?" I smushed his muzzle against his face when I saw he was about to yell at me. "I never met 'the Nightmare' but tell me if this sounds familiar: Confident, headstrong, a strong sense of pragmatism but still holds a grudge for a long time?" I didn't actually let go of his face, but his eyes rolled before he nodded at me. "Those are traits that Luna still, or has begun to show. That's just her personality. That's Luna, and Nightmare having those traits is just proof that Luna was still in there. Your sense of humor? Playing pranks and telling jokes? Giving as much as you can get? That's you. Okay? That was never Discord, that was Star Vision with a particularly nasty illness. Besides, if Rainbow Dash is going to be taking advantage of your honesty, she could probably do with some humbling." He snorted, clearly suppressing a laugh, but then I had to take my hand off his nose. He shrieked as I went to wipe it off on his mane.

"Alright, sorry for the wait. Star Vision is just setting up his room now, so I don't know if he'll be coming down to- For fucks sake girls. Carina, how?" I came back downstairs to see that Carina had somehow got them all, sans Fluttershy, tied into a knot on the floor.

"Hey~ It's a game I found called Twister!"

"Pinkie, I can't breath!"

"Woops! Sorry Dashie!"

"You're one ta talk! Git your feathers out of my-!" I put them all through a portal for a second, and then I opened six more portals that each deposited its own mare onto the oversized couch.

"So I'm guessing there wasn't any food or drink to keep you busy?" It was a particularly red Twilight that answered my question as Carina tried to convince Fluttershy to join her on the spotted game mat.

"Um, no. N-not really. There were a lot of tomatoes but they looked... odd."

"They had a great big 'M' on them right?"

"Yes. Is that... normal?"

"Not at all. But they're healthy, and they taste great. If you don't trust it I can make whatever you want though. Would you like- Oh. Hello Fluttershy." Much to my pink girlfriends disappointment, I was getting more of the butter colored pegasus's attention than she was.

"H-hello. Um, it's okay if you don't want to, b-but, I was wondering... I-if you could maybe, and don't feel pressured, show me... l-like a, um..."

"I'm not that scary am I?"

"Oh no, you're actually very pretty." Fluttershy missed it, but Rainbow Dash's and Carina's snickering was cut off by my tail coming out of a portal and smacking them upside their heads. "I-its just... Could you show me an animal? From one of the other world's? Like Mister Oak's Pokemon?" I mean...

"I don't see why not. Back up a little bit, just in case?" I think I was getting used to being the center of attention, it seemed that everyone just made sure to be quiet and pay attention whenever I started opening portals. I held out my hands as if I were trying to catch a snowflake or hold a ball as I opened a portal to 'an animal Fluttershy would be curious about.' There was a flash of orange and black as something furry landed in my hands.

"Ah? Unhand me! Don't you know who I am?! I, am the Legendary PUSS in BOOoooaaaaah!" I ignored Fluttershy's disappointed whine as I tossed the talking cat back into the portal. The half-dressed cat had pulled a sword on me, he wasn't staying. 'Animal Fluttershy would be interested in that won't try to harm anyone.' Another orange blur landed in my hands, followed by the sound of my hands sizzling.

"Hi! I'm Slugma-!" I threw the (I think) Pokemon back as my hands caught fire. I shook the flames out as the ponies tried to figure out if they had actually seen a slug made of molten rock. Fluttershy still looked devastated which, come on. How was she going to interact with it without getting third degree burns? 'Animal Fluttershy would be interested in that will not harm anyone.' One last flash of color landed in my hands, but this time it was white and the only sound was the wet 'plop' as it landed.

"... I don't know what this is." It looked kind of like a slug, but it wasn't made of molten rock like the last one had been, and it had distinctly feline legs extending from it's lithe body and a cats head with eyes and ears and a nose instead of a featureless blob with feelers wiggling around. It just looked up at me with it's blank, black, and featureless eyes from where it was curled up in the palms of my hands. But it didn't yell threats or start melting my hands so... "Here. It's a slugcat. It's probably an omnivore and should be kept warm and moisturized." I dropped the boneless (that can't be right) animal in Fluttershy's hooves and she began to coo and cuddle the mildly slimy creature into her cheek. Twilight and Carina were apparently curious too if the way they began hovering over her shoulders was any indication, but now it was apparently Rainbow's and Pinkie's turns.

"A little weird, but can you show us something cool? Like out of this world cool?" She just smirked at her pun as the pink baker crawled out from under her legs... Why.

"And can it be funny too! Like the angry cat was?" Apparently my interdimensional travelling powers were a party trick now.

"Sure, why not. Let me just-" Green and purple, followed by grey spikes trying to stab me through the eyes.

"Whooooooooo Daaaaaaaares kidnap the MIGHTY ZIIIIIIIIIIIM!"

It was close to midnight by the time we had finally caught the little bastard. He just kept running around town and causing mayhem, but he was more slippery than he was dangerous. For some reason he was under the assumption that this was some kind of simulation or hallucination and kept trying to 'bend it to his superior and mighty mind' but it was a stroke of luck that we found out he was deathly afraid of water. A couple rain clouds courtesy of Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy meant that 'Zim' had no way of avoiding my portal as I sent him back to whatever hellscape he came from. Sure enough though, Rainbow thought that the alien and his gadgets were cool and Pinkie wouldn't stop giggling at every word he said, which didn't help us up sneak up on him at all. At this point I was just glad it was over as Carina and I dragged our way up the stairs to our room, but then I noticed Star Vision was waiting outside his room for me. Carina just gave me a small kiss on my cheek before walking like a zombie into our room, leaving me with the pensive Kirin. The door had barely been shut behind her before Star rushed up to me to speak.

"You're sure? That I'm okay? That ponies won't mind me being a little... chaotic?"

"... Star, I just spent hours chasing an angry alien around Ponyville with the girls. It turned into a whole town event. Everypony was out in force chasing a tiny green dude who would threaten to turn us into his mindless minions with his amazing 'invader technologies' one second and then decide that Spike must be his loyal robot companion in disguise the next. By the end of it Pinkie was trying to get us all to a 'Caught The Funny Meany' party and no one even batted an eye. They all just giggled and said goodnight to each other. I initiated a hide and seek with a fucking alien, and to be honest? I think some of the crap the girls will get into without my help is way worse than anything you or I will come up with. Short of announcing your evil plans or transforming into a draconequus, I don't think you'll run into any ponies trying to turn you to stone or run you out of town. The worst you'll get is some awkward looks and some rumors that'll go away the longer you stay here."

"... Well, when you put it like that..."

My head hadn't even hit the pillow yet when I awoke in the Dream. Luna was already waiting for me, cup of tea in her magic as she raised an eyebrow at me.

"Tia says she got quite the interesting letter from her prized student while she getting ready for the night."

"Only one third of that whole mess was my own fault, I swear."

"Hmph. You don't believe that."

"No. It's probably mostly my fault, but Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were enabling my recklessness so I plead the fifth."

"... The fifth?"

"Yeah, you know, like... Nevermind, I don't know either. It's one of those things I only vaguely remember."

"I see. Well, I'm not actually going to give you a hard time about 'Zim.' I wanted to ask you something a little... Personal, I suppose." I could tell, she wasn't reverting back into ye' old speech but she wasn't letting herself be as loose in her speech as I was used too... Why doesn't Star Vision speak like that? I don't think his memories of Starswirl had the old asshat speaking like that either. "I am not trying to insinuate anything, I am not trying to judge you or cast doubt on your actions. I am in need of advice that I... do not know how to ask for. And I am hoping that your answers to my questions will help me find what I need."

"I'm all ears Luna. Lay it on me." I ignored the way her eyes flicked to my wings and tried not to laugh. It probably would've derailed the conversation.

"... How... How do you know you love Carina? Or anypony for that matter?"

... Well damn.

Luna watched Elfilis as he rubbed his chin in thought, trying not to bite her lip as her nerves tried to get the best of her. She didn't think it was a good sign that he had to think about it, but she also knew that was just how he worked. Letting his thoughts calm as he collected and consolidated what he knew into meaningful words. She didn't think he had too, she had seen him come up with fully formed thoughts within seconds, but she appreciated his caution.

"I don't think it's something you can know." Fuck his caution.

"That's not helpful."

"Sure it is. You can't know that someone is happy, you can't know if you are sad. That's something you feel, something you have to recognize. I never asked myself, 'do I love Carina?' It was just something I realized was true one day. It snuck up on me while I was recovering from making the Knights. The feeling came over me and I realized that I loved her all the sudden. It had been that way for awhile, but I don't remember when it started. It was... kind of scary. To realize that I had strong feelings about her so quickly." That sounded about right, though Luna was sure she knew when the feeling took over, even if she didn't recognize it at the time. There was a deep, steadying breath before she asked her next question.

"How do you... feel that Carina loves you back?"

"... That's usually the hard part isn't it? With Carina, it's easy. Do you honestly love her? If so, she loves you back. I'm starting to get the impression she doesn't really understand a difference between romantic and platonic love either. It's all Love and she's willing to give it to anyone who gives it back. You should have heard some of the crap she said today, trying to 'stealthily' start a sex party with the girls." Luna just blushed, remembering some of the more raunchy dreams the changeling has had recently. "But, with anyone else... Assuming you aren't a changeling, you can only take a leap of faith, I think. You have to decide if you trust your gut, your heart, your instincts or what have you. You have to ask yourself if the other will return your feelings, and you have to make sure you actually give yourself a definitive answer. Maybe you'll be wrong, maybe you'll be right, but you can never know." She hung onto his words, memorized them, internalized them, but she couldn't agree with them fully. As she looked at the soft look in Elfilis's ringed eyes, listened to the caring tone of his voice, remembered the way he would always make time for her if she needed it, she knew.

Luna knew she loved him.

... Fuck, I think I have a crush on Luna. Hopefully all this talk wasn't so she could go and ask the fucking mailpony or something out to dinner.

Author's Note

Beep boop, brain re-booted. Romance is hard dudes, especially when the characters involved aren't Carina. I'll assume the references I made this chapter were obvious, except the slugcat. That's from a little game known as Rain World. No, it will not have a prevalent place in the story like Swaddle Dee or the Knights or Toby. Fluttershy just has a new slimy pet that is used to the post-apocalypse and the endless cycle of death and rebirth.

Also, Fluttershy could totally take care a molten pet rock. Elfilis doesn't know what he's talking about.