I stumbled to the rear of the Frontier as it landed, bracing myself against the wall. My wounds from my battle with Ember have taken a drastic toll on my body. I'm sure I had a concussion and more than a few broken bones. Not to mention the many spots I was still bleeding from. Im thankful Romulus was able to fly me back home posthaste. I'm pretty sure I faded in and out of consciousness while sitting in the pilot's chair.

The entry ramp lowered, and I stumbled down it, Only to trip on the step going onto the stone ground of Canterlot and fall right into Romulus's arms as he ran up to me. I didn't even try to catch myself.

"By the Elements! Riley, what happened out there?!" Romulus exclaimed as he picked me up and carried me inside the forge.

"Well, Torch and I talked," I grunted. "Dragon King Torch is quite talkative. His daughter, much more physical." Romulus carried me to my bedroom in the back of the forge and laid me down while I groaned in pain as he did so.

"Godammit. So it was all for nothing." Romulus said, sounding frustrated.

"Not Exactly," I responded. I Then retold the events that had transpired in the Dragonlands. From my opening fight with Ember to my long conversation with Lord Torch while he looked over my body to see the extent of my injuries while treating the open wounds.

"An interesting journey, sir. It seems we have a new goal." Romulus said after I finished my story. "Unfortunately, With the extent of your injuries. There were several broken ribs and a minor fracture in the skull, not to mention your poor shattered ankles. You are quite limited on your options." He said, finishing up a stitch on my shoulder.

"Well, I need to get a list together nonetheless. Having our next steps planned out would at least give me something to manage." I stated. "Romulus, make a list for me."

Romulus nodded his head as a small screen projected forward from his eyes into the air while he still worked on me.

"Okay, so as of right now. We need to contact the Elementals. That's our main focus right now." I said, the words appearing on the small screen as I said them.

"But, without the primal brew, we can't even begin to look for them." Romulus reminded.

"Right. So, first things first. In the morning or sooner, send word to Celestia that I need a few gallons of that Rainbow liquid. Torch said that would be the liquid base for the Brew, and since you have to brew it in an Enchanted Element Steel Caldron, we're gonna need a lot. Also, put that cauldron somewhere on the list for forging as well." I told him as he got up, moved the end of the bed, and started wrapping my feet in a bandage cast that wrapped around my ankles and part of my foot.

"Next, we need to find the other three Elemental ingredients. I can probably guess where they are, but the areas im thinking of are so massive we need something to narrow it down. Hmm." I rubbed my chin in thought. Then, an Idea revealed itself. "Do you think we could build a strong enough P.E.S.R on the top of the Canterlot Mountain to Pinpoint and magnify the locations of Concentrated Elemental magic signatures?"

"Well, technically, yes, the problem lies in the device's size and manufacturing. Not to mention the means to make its range effective and even worthwhile to build in the first place. The Primal Energy Scanning Radar is a very complex piece of machinery requiring a satellite to be remotely effective. How do you suppose we Launch a Sattleite without a Noah Orbital launch cannon?" Romulus asked.

"Well, we do have an aircraft capable of reaching orbit." I reminded him.

"Riley..." Romulus said, shaking his head.

"Now, hold on, hear me out," I said, raising a hand.

He shook his head and looked down at the floor before gesturing a hand at me to continue.

"Okay, so I know how you feel about the pressure seal since we don't have the proper silicone to fix it fully. So here's my plan: once we get the satellite positioned on the tallest peak of the Canterlot Mountains. We then take the sibling satellite and attach it to the Frontier. But only After we get the Froniter heat seal fixed so it doesn't have a fifty-fifty shot of burning up on reentry. Then YOU will fly the Frontier into orbit and drop off the satellite up there. After that, we can pinpoint each of the ingredients we need in seconds." I explained.

Romulus nodded in understanding. "The plan is sound, sir. If it wouldn't take a hundred years to do."

"The hell are you on about!?" I asked, confused.

"Sir, we are not in Romulios anymore. We do not have access to the city's manufacturing facilities and factories, not to mention half of the required resources to make a full-size P.E.S.R. Add all that together, and the time needed just to manufacture all pieces of that radar comes out to just around a hundred years, not to mention the time needed to find the correct replacement materials for those not native to this Dimension." Romulus explained.

"Hmp. You are not the first one to tell me we're not home anymore." I grumbled.

Romulus sighed and stood up, the screen he was projecting fading away as he did so. "Sir, why don't you get some sleep? We can revisit this in the morning." He said, making his way to the door.

He was halfway out the door when I called out to him. "How are you so stable?"

Romulus back, stepped into the room, and turned to look at me. "Pardon?" He asked, confused.

"Although the full weight of the fact that we are not in Romulios, or our homeland at all, just hit me today in my interaction with Torch. I've been suffering in my own regard. Albeit subconsciously, I've still been struggling to deal with the fact that our home is gone. And yet, You walk and talk like nothing is wrong. Hell, you act like nothing ever happened. So I ask, how in the FUCK are you coping so well. Or do you just not care that Dad is gone or that our fucking kingdom is reduced to fucking crater." I asked, my eyes suddenly becoming watery.

"Sir..." He sighed. He sat down on the bed the way a parent would try to comfort a child who had a nightmare. "I'm a super advanced AI who was given a soul by Merlin over five thousand years ago. I've known every king Romulios has had over those five thousand years. I also have seen kings pass on every five hundred years during that time. I'm no stranger to loss, believe me, and it gets no easier each time. I can also process my emotions faster than any human ever could, thanks to my artificial nature. It's not that I wasn't affected by the war or the loss of the kingdoms, including our own. I just process it faster and in my own way. Over the last few months, I have silently grieved, mourned, and moved on. Which was hard for me, seeing as my consciousness was rooted and spread throughout Romulios during the final days when it was wiped out. So, more of me died that day than you Realize."

I was stunned, then I quickly felt like shit. Another piece of guilt to add to the pile. "I'm... sorry, Romulus. I had no idea."

"It's fine." He started, patting me on the shoulder, causing me to flinch in pain. "Sorry. You are only human, after all. That's why I don't blame you for struggling more than I have or saying what you say. Just try and get some sleep, alright. If you need anyone to talk to, you know im here for you, sir." He ended, finally standing up and walking out of the room. Closing the door behind him.

When I awoke the next morning. I was extraordinarily sore. Moving felt like I was trying to move a mountain, and the massive headache didn't help much either. I should have given Ember more props; she fucked me up good. I slowly and painfully sat up and brought my legs to the side of the bed. Normally, I would just throw a few healing Sigils on myself and be fine in a few minutes. But complex bones in the ankles were not my strong suit. Since the healing Sigils based their healing potency on how well you knew your own body biologically. Only the most experienced healers could work on others with their sigils. My skill lies slightly above novice. I'm not an expert on my own body, at least not in the medical sense. I know what it should feel like. I've mended broken ribs and a fractured arm or leg here and there. But complex bone anatomies like an ankle or a hand are a bit much, as are certain tendons and muscles. So for now im stuck limping or walking with a cane. As for my minor skull fracture right where I got decked in the face. If I was looking at an x-ray, I could maybe mend it? But I personally wouldn't trust myself.

I took a few moments to sit there and wake up. Rubbing my eyes to get all the eye-crusties out of them. Trying to avoid the stitches on my face from Ember claws.

"Riley, you there? Its Torch." I heard Lord Torch's booming voice from inside my head, causing a headache to quickly stir in my head.

"AGH, fuck your loud," I said aloud.

"Sorry," He said, his voice rapidly dropping in volume. "I figured I'd follow up with you to see if you're doing alright."

"Yeah, I'm fine, or as fine as I can be. Your daughter fucked me up pretty good." "I responded.

"Good. Not good that you're in pain, mind you. Good that you're doing okay." he corrected himself.

"Speaking of which, how is your daughter doing?" I asked nervously.

"Recovering, your fight put her into a state of hibernation where her body just focuses on Healing. Combine that with my Elemental magic and knowledge of dragon biology. She'll be fine in no time."

"Good to hear. May I ask why you are in my head all of a sudden?" I asked.

"You see, when I was poking around the memories you showed me to fill in on what happened to Dragon King Teramos. I put in a little backdoor so we could talk without you coming to the dragon lands and getting pestered by some of the teenage whelps I got out here. My daughter being one of them," He explained.

"Fair enough, I guess." I shrugged. "it's only for communication, right? You're not peeping around my head?"

"Of course. You have your privacy, and I have mine," he responded.

"Well, while I got you here. I do have a question about what I slept on last night."

"Ask away."

"Why are the tensions between the Dragons and Ponies so high in the first place? Surely, it wasn't always like this." I asked.

"Well..." he started. "There are few things that caused things to be the way they are. The unique Dragon nature of this Dimension is one of them. We go off in a very simple yet semi-barbaric way of showing respect. Through violence and combat, as you have seen with Ember. We see all those who can't hold their own in a one-on-one fight as beneath us. Seeing as ponies that could do that is almost one in a generation. They, too, fall in that category."

"Yeah, no, I get that. But surely there was a very specific moment that caused things to really 'Kick Off?'" I asked.

"Well, I suppose if you go all the way back to Dragonlord Flame's rule before Ponies officially settled in Equestria. A group of Ponies had just finished settling down in what you all know as the Everfree Forest and dubbed the land Equestria. The group was quite large and had more than a few capable warriors and mages among them. When they chanced upon Flame's son Crag."

"What do you mean by chanced?" I asked.

"Crag was an adventurous dragon who was different compared to the rest of our kind. He chose to go out and explore the world in his youth before taking his father's position as Dragonlord. He was more docile than the rest of us, but was still quite an experienced warrior. He had taken up refuge in a cave near the pony settlement hidden deep in one of the deep canyons. A pony mining team ventured down into the canyon for the rich metal deposits down there and awoke Crag. Who terrified them and caused them to flee upon sight. Even though he did nothing to make them fearful of him. Wanting to apologize, he went to the settlement to do so. Unfortunately, it did not go so well."

"What happened?" I asked.

"When Crag arrived at the settlement, he decided to introduce himself. Greet the ponies with an open claw in order to smooth things over into his apology. Unfortunately, the ponies weren't as eager to meet him. Most of them having never seen a dragon before and the mining team filling the ponies' thoughts with fear. They gathered their weapons and warriors, along with calling upon the soon-to-be-called 'Pillars of Equestria' to take on Crag. The following battle that ensued caused a lot of death on the pony's side and heavily wounded Crag to the point of retreating. He barely got within the borders of the Dragonlands before he perished, bleeding out on one of the ash-covered hilltops just within the border. His father, Lord Flame, was flying around the border lands to ensure the security of his territory when he came across his son's body. To say that he was outraged was an understatement. His wrath was unmeasurable. However, it took him several more years to figure out it was the ponies who slew his son. As such, he visited the small settlement, which now had the castle of the two sisters in mid-construction. And now, the pillars of Equestria had the Elements of Harmony. The following battle was the first time the Elements were used at their full power and earned their reputation as a weapon still feared by races across Equestria to this day. The Elements stripped the Dragonlord of all his power and banished him to Tartarus, where he died of old age."

"Old age? I thought dragons lived for thousands of years?" I stated.

"They do, but in those conditions. A dragon's biology would rather die sooner than live like that. After that, my father quickly rose to power as the new Dragonlord. He chose to steer clear of Equestria and their magical superweapon. But taking his chances to get quick hits with small skirmishes at border towns and such. Tensions with the ponies have been high ever since."

"Huh, im gonna have to roll that around in the noggin for a while. Process it and figure out what I can do on my end with the ponies. Because from the sounds of it, both sides can be blammed. However, and I know it's not my right to say, but the ponies did kinda kick it off. Killing Crag did seem to light the fuse." I said, rubbing my chin.

"I appreciate your commitment to smoothing things over with our kinds. But you don't have to. It's not your job to do so, after all. It's probably best we steer clear of each other's kind anyway. It's just safer that way."

"It may not be my job. But I'm gonna do it anyway because I want to. You looked at my memories. I'd rather see peace blossom than violence prosper." I responded.

"That's very noble of you. But I would suggest you focus on other goals for the time being."

"Yeah, I gotta find the rest of these primal ingredients for this Brew. Are you sure you can't help me out? Not even a hint or nudge in the right direction?"

"Nope. Then it wouldn't be a quest, would it?" Torch ended, as his presence faded from my mind.

I waited a few moments and sighed. "Welp, time to start the day, I guess."

I tried to stand and quickly fell back onto the bed. I tried again, with some more push-off, to get my first step started. I then stumbled forward and fell onto my face with a loud thud.

"Fuck." I mumbled into the floor.

I heard the door open in front of me as Romulus stepped in to check what the noise was.

"Trouble walking?" He asked with a loving snicker.

"Just help me up, dammit." I groaned.

Romulus quickly helped me to my feet, walked me out to the living room, and set me down in my recliner. "I was just finishing Breakfast," Romulus said as he walked back to the kitchen. "You slept like a rock last night. No nightmares, I assume?"

"No, thankfully. I was too tired to dream last night." I said, pulling the lever on the side on the side of the recliner to recline it.

"That's good to hear," Romulus said as he returned with a plate full of food. Sausage, eggs, toast, and a glass of orange juice. "Hear, eat. You must be starving."

I took the plate of food without hesitation and began eating. Setting the glass of orange juice on the end table next to the chair. I looked at the clock to check the time. It was eleven thirty-eight.

"Anything worth reporting this morning, Romulus?" I asked.

"Well, I did send word to Princess Celestia about your request for that Rainbow liquid. She was eager to respond and said she would stop by sometime today to personally deliver it and hear how your Journey to the dragon lands went. Of course, I offered to fill her in on the details, but she preferred to hear it from you specifically." Romulus explained.

"Course she would," I said, stuffing a chunk of sausage in my face. Then, I quickly remembered a thought I had right before I fell asleep last night. "Romulus, the Frontier has reflective radar plating, right?" I asked with a mouth full of food.

"Yes, sir. It helps with enemy missile lock and increases the effective scanning range. Why?" He asked.

"What if we reconfigure the scanner using the plating as a boost to scan for high-density primal energy signatures? Essentially, turn the Frontier into a flying P.E.S.R.," I suggested. Romulus stood in the kitchen and cleaned pans in silence for a few minutes as he thought.

"I suppose that could work. We'd just need a sample energy signature to recalibrate the scanner. The range won't be nearly as good since we're gonna need to condense the scan range to get the best accurate results. But considering the speed of the Frontier, that shouldn't be a problem." He said as he continued to clean the pans and put them away.

I cleared my plate, set it aside, and relaxed in my chair for a minute. I brought my hands up and looked at them. I was surprised to see my knuckles were bruised. I thought back on my fight with Ember the day prior and thought aloud, "Wow, guess punching dragon scales does leave a lasting impression, huh?"

"Indeed. To be honest, sir, you're lucky you didn't break them. You know dragon scales are harder than most steel." Romulus commented.

"I'm very well aware, Romulus." I continued to think about my fight as I continued to look at my hands.

"ya know what's weird about that whole fight, Romulus?" I asked.

"What, sir?"

"The fact that it's been so hard for me to use my primal magic in even the simplest of spells since our arrival here in this new world. And yet, in the dragonlands. It felt like I was back home with how much magic I could draw on. In fact, I was able to reactivate my body enhancement sigils that you helped me weave into my body." I explained.

"Which is not something you need a small amount of primal energy to do," Romulus commented, seeming intrigued.

"Right now, I've been trying to push and just activate the sigils in my arms, and I'm coming up blank. It's like there is a severe Primal energy gap between here in Equestria and the Dragonlands." I said, finally giving up on my attempts to activate the sigils and resting my arms on the armrests of the recliner.

"Which, from a scientific perspective, isn't possible. Primal energy is a free-flowing energy source like the air or light. But it is much more complex as it doesn't quite obey the laws of physics. There would have to be very specific barriers or effects in play to inhibit that sort of movement. Or else the primal energy in the dragon lands would have spilled out into the rest of the Equestria by this point." Romulus added, sitting down on the couch next to me as he was now also deep in thought.

"Then again, this is a new dimension. Things could work differently here." I commented.

"Not necessarily. Primal energy is a constant and does not change its raw nature. We can manipulate it into a condensed or focused form of one of the four primal elements. But just raw, untapped primal energy, as stated by Merlin's Fire Elemental companion. 'Is a source that is constant across all realms and dimensions. No matter how different they may be to ours, Primal energy will always work the same. But the way the people of those realms interact with that energy may change drastically.'" Romulus quoted.

"Hmm, so what you think, is that the Dimension that Equestria resides in interacts differently with Primal energy than our Dimension does?" I asked.

"Indeed. The puzzle pieces are here. They just need a capable scientist to put them together." Romulus looked at me, and I swear if he had a mouth, he would certainly be smiling. "I believe I finally found a way to occupy my spare time!"

I smirked at the machine. "You've been that bored this whole time?" I asked.

"Sadly, yes, without the constant background noise of the city machinery, the questions of the citizens, or the thirty bajillion alarms to occupy my massive computing power. I admit I've been losing my mind." He chuckled.

"Haha! Glad I'm not the only one!" I laughed.

Our conversation was suddenly interrupted by a knocking at the door.

"I WoNDer wHo tHAt cOUld bE?" I said snarkily. Getting a snicker from Romulus.

I tried to get up and answer it, but Romulus got up before me and was already heading to the door. "I'll get it, sir. You stay there and relax."

"Fine by me," I said, leaning back into my chair.

Romulus opened the door, and from the angle, I was sitting. I Could see part of Celestia's flowing mane through the crack in the door that connected it to the wall.

"Greetings Romulus. Can we come in?" I heard Celestia ask.

"Certainly." Romulus stepped to the side as Celestia walked in, Shining armor close behind her, carrying a large saddlebag. Romulus closed the door behind them. When they both saw me in the chair, their eyes went wide.

"What? Is there something on my face?" I asked, confused.

"Well, the massive, nasty-looking bruise stretching out from your nose is something on your face," Shining commented.

"I have a bruise on my face? Huh, what does not looking in a mirror do to a guy." I commented.

"What happened?" Celestia asked.

"You guys want the full story or the short version?" I asked.

They both looked at each other, then back to me. "Um, the short version?" They said in unison as they took seats on the couch next to my chair.

"Long story short, When I got to the dragon lands, I was ambushed by the dragon lord's daughter. Managed to keep my ship from crashing, thank the elements. A fight ensued, in which I emerged victorious. The dragon lord respected my strength and allowed me to speak with him. In doing so, we found a lot of common ground. When I talked to him about Pony and Dragon relations. He said the best he could do was keep the dragons under his rule away from the border so there would be no more attacks on the border towns as long as they didn't expand farther into his territory. Other than that, his claws are tied." I explained.

"Well, that's certainly better than I expected," Celestia said, clearly surprised. "Not very many Ponys go into the Dragon Lands and come out alive."

"Well, as you can see. Im no Pony." I stated.

"Yet you still look pretty banged up despite things," Shining commented.

"Well, yeah, I got a minor skull fracture, a few broken ribs, and two shattered ankles." I quickly turned to Romulus, who was watching the conversation. "By the way, we need to get on that." He gave me a quick nod and walked away, before I re-focused on the ponies. Who were both surprised and concerned for me. "However, you should see the other girl. From how I understand what Torch told me. She went into a Healing-Hibernatic-comatose from how bad I fucked her up."

"I'm still surprised that you managed to win a head-on fight with a dragon. Even the younger dragons are still super tough." Shining stated.

"Yeah, she's bipedal and somewhat humanoid-shaped. I was trained in the military to fight and subdue opponents with those same parameters. She had raw strength and, admittedly, some cunning. But With my training, I won, and not without taking a few hits in the process, as you can see. Hell, I had to hit her with a lightning bolt to really put her out of the fight." I stated.

"Well, all things considered, Im glad you made it back safe," Celestia said in her warm, soothing voice. "Oh, I almost forgot. Soarin and a few of the wonderbolts came through on my request and brought several jars of the rainbow liquid from the Rainbow Falls." Celestia gestured to Shining Armor, and his horn hummed to life with pink magic. Six large jars floated out of the saddlebags on his back and were set down on the table. I eyed the jars curiously and picked one up to inspect it.

"It's all fresh from the natural rainbow falls near Cloudsdale. I hope it's enough." Celestia said as I turned the jar over in my hands. No matter how much I did so, the liquid remained a rainbow. No mixing of colors, just straight lines of color that rotated with the jar's orientation.

"Fascinating," I said in awe. I reached out with my mind towards the jar to see if I could detect the primal magic within the liquid. And it lit up like a Christmas tree with Sky element energy. "Oh yeah, this will certainly serve as a proper base for the primal brew."

Romulus came back into the living room from one of the back rooms with a large screen in one hand. He walked up beside me in the recliner and dropped to a kneeling position as he grabbed one of my legs by the calf and picked it up to rest on his bent metal knee. He held up the screen to my ankle and began scanning it.

I leaned forward and sat the jar back down on the table. "Cool, one of four primal ingredients down." I leaned back in my recliner and looked at Celestia and Shining Armor on the couch to my right. "Well, Shining, I gotta ask. How's it going with Cadance?"

His eyes lit up at the thought of Cadence. "Oh, things are going great! Better than I expected, actually! I didn't expect Cadence to be into a stallion like me, but we've really hit it off."

"Well, good to hear!" I stated. "Im glad my drunken antics had something good blossom from it."

"Yeah, but that's not the only thing that 'blossomed' that night," Shining commented nervously.

"Why? What happened?" I asked, now also starting to get nervous.

Shining turned his head to face Celestia. "Do you wanna tell him, or do you want me to do it?"

Celestia waved Shining off and took the lead in the conversation. "I've been made aware that you had an altercation with some stallions at the local bar here in canterlot a few nights ago."

I looked to Shining Armor with a look of annoyance and said, "You told on me?"

"As captain of the royal guard, I have to report and document anything I see that's noteworthy in the eyes of Equestrian law. That night was no exception." Shining replied.

I opened my mouth to reply, but Celestia waved me to be quiet. "Im not throwing blame. In fact, I'm on your side. The whole matter was self-defense, and even though the three stallions came to me to press charges against you when they sobered up. I had already seen Shining's report and waved them off. But, as per my job as ruler of Equestria, I did have to conduct a small investigation."

"And?" I asked.

"Well, I must admit. From the sources I've asked, both frequent patrons at the bar and the few bartenders that work there. You drink there a lot. More often than anyone else at the bar. Almost every other night, according to the graveyard shift bartender. Now, he did defend you in the case of you normally keep to yourself. So he assumed you were just having a rough night. Plus, you stated at the bar and quoted, 'It brought up some rather unhappy memories I wanna keep suppressed.'"

"Sheesh, fuckin blabbermouth," I mumbled.

"What was that?" Celestia asked.

"Nothing." I sharply replied.

"If I may cut in, Princess. it will only take a moment." Romulus said, raising a hand.

"Sir, you can conjure precise healing Sigils better than I can. Could you conjure up one with seven rings?" He asked.

"SEVEN RINGS?!" I said, utterly baffled. "What the hell are you doing down there that requires Seven-ring precision?!"

"Sir, I don't think you understand the severity of your ankles' state. Your left Talus is in four different pieces, and your right Talus is in five. The ends of the Tibia and Fibula in both of your legs are fractured, and both naviculars are cracked. I have several sigils blocking the pain receptors in your ankles right now that are severely lessening the majority of the agony you should be experiencing right now. So yes, Seven Rings is quite necessary."

I scoffed and opened my palm. Conjuring a single healing sigil with a large circular circumference. Then, I conjured another one within the circle, only smaller. I repeated this process several times with increasing difficulty. Creating a layered sigil going past three layers, or rings in this case, was not an easy feat. By the time I got to the sixth ring, I was breathing heavily and sweating. When I focused on myself and started working on the seventh. You could have sworn I was trying to take one hell of a bathroom break.

Once I finished, the seven rings were in place. I stuck out my hand to pass off the massive spell sigil to Romulus. "Fuckin take this stupid thing," I said, sounding exasperated.

He quickly stuck his hand under the rune between it and my hand and funneled his own primal energy into it. Slowly taking the complex sigil from me and relieving me of its mental drain to keep it sustained. "Good job, sir. I know that took a lot out of you." He turned and nodded to Celestia to continue while he aimed the sigil at my ankles and began his work, starting with the left one.

"Thank you, Romulus. Now, where was I..." Celestia murmured.

"The bartender tattled on me?" I replied as I leaned back in the recliner, wiping sweat from my brow.

"Right. But 'tattle' seems a bit childish, don't you think?" She responded with a slight chuckle.

"I may be in my late forties, but my body is as developed as a teenager. In pony terms, I'm barely seventeen to you all." I reminded.

"I'm never gonna fully understand the human aging process, but anyhow, back on the subject." She said, clapping her hooves together. "In the post-examination of everything I've gathered about that night, I have to ask. Is everything alright?" she said, her expression quickly softening. Reminding me of my mother coming to comfort me after a nightmare.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't it be fine?" My eyes drifted nervously down to Romulus, who was focused on my ankles. "We'll, except for this," I added while I gestured to my legs.

"Well, yes, of course. But I mean, mentally, are you okay? Despite some of the worst-case scenarios I've seen over my thousand years as Equestria's ruler. No one drinks that much and that often unless there's something going wrong." She clarified.

"Im fine, Celestia. My trip to the stars a few days ago just brought up some unfond memories. Thats all." I responded, Crossing my arms and looking away. I could still tell she had raised an eyebrow.

"I doubt that. Even before your flight, Luna had come to me once or twice about you having frequent violent nightmares, and yet you had refused to let her in to help deal with them. You still drank just as much before that, too. So, I'll ask again: Is there something wrong?" She asked again, her voice sounding slightly more stern.

I sat there in silence for a few moments before turning my head to look at Shining, who had a sympathetic look on his face. Then I looked at Celestia. I felt somewhat comforted, and my expression softened, yet I also felt cornered. My memories flashed back to nightmares of the First cataclysm bomb vaporizing my whole regiment. My squad of friends turned to ash and dust while my royal talisman spared my life and returned me to the castle of Romulios. I thought back to holding my sister's charred corpse after her caravan was ambushed and burned to the ground. I thought back to my whole family gathered around my mother after an assained drove a knife through her chest as we watched her bleed out in front of us. I thought of my dad's last words to me before he ordered Romulus to put inside that damn ship and leave Romulios before the Catacyslm bomb wiped it out.

"Keep our history alive, teach those not to do what caused our undoing. Be better than us, son."

My expression hardened again, and anger filled my mind. "Maybe you all should mind your own fucking business."

Both of the ponies were taken aback by my response, and Romulus slapped me hard on my thigh. "LANGUAGE! You should know better than to talk like that to Royalty!"

"Shut up and do your job, you oversized tin can. Or do I need to use one of the royal overrides on you?" I threatened. Romulus's digital eyes went wide in shock. He slowly turned away and went back to working on my ankles. I only remember threatening him with the overrides once. And that was right when I woke up after my talisman saved me back home. I wanted to get on the next flight out to the impact zone of the bomb and see if there was anyone to save. He stopped me and stood in my way of what I thought was the only chance to save my friends. That's when I threatened him.

The overrides were simple in design yet barbaric when it came to Romulus. Merlin put the overrides in place in case Romulus ever went corrupt or turned on the kingdom. The Overrides forcefully put the human soul within his code into a stasis. Or a prison, as Romulus described it one time. And left only His AI running, following the hardcoded rules of his programming without human free will. While essentially benching his soul. He can't mess with the overrides because of Merlin input them into his source code. The one time he talked about it. Romulus described it as having your soul ripped from your mind and put into a cage while watching numbers run the show. He said it was barbaric, cruel, heavily traumatic, and excruciatingly painful. Hence, his current reaction when threatened by them.

"Riley, we are just concerned for your safety, if there's something wrong, then..." Shining armor was started but was then quickly cut off by me.

"Then you should worry about your guy's own problems instead of mine. My issues and my trials are mine and mine alone. Not something to burden on someone else." I stated firmly.

"That's not a healthy way to deal with whatever's going on with you!" Celestia retorted.

"Then you don't know humans well," I responded. "Can you guys do me a huge favor? And get the FUCK outa my house!? You all pissed me off today."

"Riley-" Shining started.

"NOW, dammit!" I shouted. Slamming my fist onto the wooden end table to my right. Smashing through it with ease.

They looked at the broken end table hesitantly but slowly got up and, gathered themselves and made their way to the door. Romulus got up quickly to go and open it for them.

"Oh, and one more thing," I added before they bother walked through the door. Causing them to look back at me.

"Don't do an intervention with me again unless you want me to pack up and leave. I am my own man and my problems are my own."

Author's Note

Sorry I've been so spotty with my chapter updates. My inspiration/motivation wanders around a lot so it takes some work to convince myself to hard focus on writing for long periods of time. But when I do get that burst, I get stuff DONE. Anyway I hope you enjoyed!