Part VIII: Getting Answers

AUTHOR'S NOTE: PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS CHAPTER. I HAVE YET TO GET TO IT AS I AM CURRENTLY REWRITING A PREVIOUS CHAPTER. I ASK THAT YOU PLEASE WAIT UNTIL I POST THE READY CHAPTERS. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE.

Part VIII: Getting Answers

"Just what were you thinkin', bein' out here when them dragons came a-roarin' 'n flyin' 'n burnin'?" Applejack asked her sister, worry and exhaustion in her voice. Several minutes had passed since my shadow doppelgänger departed into the sky for the city Celestia called "Canterlot". I was standing off to the side, watching the path he took towards the mountain range in the distance, all of the conversing around just background mutterings to me.

"Well, Ah-Ah was leavin' from a visit t' see 'n talk t' Sweetie Belle, but--"

"SWEETIE BELLE!" An extravagant voice screamed, and I turned around to see a certain alabaster unicorn running off into the sort-of-fixed Ponyville, galloping as fast as her short, white legs could. After my clone flew away, Celestia used her magic to remove the bloodstains from the dirt ground around us, and made the burned and mauled corpses of ponies disappear from the scene to I don't know where.

"Rarity! Wait up!" Called Pinkie Pie, who galloped after the distressed white mare.

"H-Hold on, wait fer me!" Apple Bloom shouted, dashing away from her older sister's interrogation to see to her friend's well being. None of the other ponies bothered to join them, the rest of them trying to grasp the situation with a new pony.

This one was light brown with a gray mane and wore large glasses, and I think I heard Twilight call her "Mayor Mare", or something like that. The pony seemed fine, for the most part, excluding the shell-shocked veil she wore on her face. She came galloping toward us as soon as Celestia cleaned the town up, but she was reluctant --well, actually she refused -- to approach with Magmus still around. Thankfully, he managed to take a hint and flew off into the sky, but not before saying a few last things to me:

"That being, whoever he truly is, is perhaps one of the only two creatures on this world able to guide you for your task ahead. I realize he does seem a bit...deranged, but he is not evil, not in the slightest. I wish you good luck, Rex."

"Why do you keep calling me 'Rex'? And what do you mean 'one of the only two creatures on this world'? Who's the other?"

The scarlet wyrm smirked. "All in good time, Rex. Besides, your shadow duplicate asked me not to 'spoil the surprise' when our minds were one, whatever that means. Farewell, Rex, though I imagine we shall see each other again soon enough." He turned around to Fluttershy, who had recovered and, thankfully, was spared another sight of the carnage that existed moments before. The light-yellow pegasus recognized the dragon almost immediate when she came to meet the group who stood at the center of Ponyville, and, surprisingly, didn't faint this time. All that fainting couldn't have been good for her health. "And farewell to you, as well, pegasus." Magmus smiled warmly at her, and it didn't take much to see that they were, more or less, friends, or at least friendly towards each other. I knew Fluttershy was a friend to all animals, but dragons too? That was just weird, even for this world.

"Bye, Magmus," the pink-maned pegasus replied cheerfully. "I-It was nice seeing you again." And he flew off, his powerful wings beating the air, lifting him dozens of feet higher every second. It was pretty amazing, to say the least. I wondered where he was going...

Celestia, for her part, was standing away from the rest of the group. "I need a moment to think," she told us, and we obliged. From what I could tell, she hadn't moved an inch. I turned back to where I was originally staring.

"Are you sure...sure that it's safe to be around?" I heard the mayor ask, probably to Twilight, and I knew she was referring to me. "Isn't it a...a dragon, too? What if--?"

"I can assure you with one hundred percent certainty, Mayor, that Michael is not like one of those dragons that attacked Ponyville," Twilight replied.

"Please, Twilight, I'm sure everypony in town heard that terrifying roar that...creature produced. For Celestia's sake, it scared away those bigger, more ferocious dragons! I very much doubt something like that can be considered safe to be around."

Twilight huffed. "I think what you're forgetting to consider, Mayor, is that Michael, not 'that creature', saved Ponyville from being completely destroyed, as well as saved all of its residents from being burned or eaten or dropped out of the sky!" I appreciated that Twilight was trying to defend me, but then again, I couldn't help but feel as though the mayor was right. Whatever I did, that coupled with my appearance, was cause enough to question whether or not I was dangerous.

"Well then, how do you explain the irrefutable fact that he let one of those dragons go free, when he or Celestia could've very easily disposed of it? Did you forget, Miss Sparkle, that that dragon was one of the beasts that were destroying this town?! And it let it go, as if they were old friends! And who's to say that your friend wasn't the reason those dragons came?"

Twilight didn't answer her. I knew, and she knew, that that last question was, to an extent, true. According to what Magmus said, my presence in this place was enough to lure the dragons. If that were true, and for some reason, I knew it was true, then I had to get out of here. I didn't want to be the reason that innocent people--er, ponies were being killed for God knows whatever reason. If there was a way for that to be prevented, then I would do it. And I knew where to start.

"When you have the time, be sure to make your way to Canterlot." That's what my dark duplicate said. Canterlot. Magmus said that he would help me with this task I have ahead of me. I had no idea what this task could have been, or what it had to do with my "true nature",  or the dragons, so I was determined to get answers. I needed to get to Canterlot and find him. But he also said that we all should be in Canterlot for whatever that deranged version of me had in store.

"Are you planning on going to Canterlot?" Celestia snuck up on me, and her voice slightly startled me. I had no idea how deep in thought I was until she came by. She sat to my left.

"Do you read minds, now?" I asked sarcastically.

The white alicorn chuckled. "No, I just recognize that look on your face. You're determined to get whatever answers you need. And honestly? I'm a little curious as to what they could possibly be." Her gaze shifted from mine to the horizon, and I followed.

"I'm sorry for losing my temper like that," Celestia spoke up, "it's just that all that's happened in such a short amount of time, and I was exhausted and angry and eager to find somepony else to blame for something that I could've, and should've prevented." She turned her head to me, and a mask of shame rested on her royal features. "I truly am sorry."

"Don't be," I replied reassuringly. "I'd react the same way. Anyone would've if they were in your shoes, so to speak."

The princess shook her head. "Thank you for your courtesy, but my behavior was inexcusable. I'm a princess, I can't let my emotions rule my judgment. I thought for millennia that that was something I had learned to overcome. Evidently, I was simply holding it back until it exploded, something that experience should've taught me." Her eyes momentarily shifted away, as if spotting the bug she was previously searching for, then returned to Canterlot on the horizon.

After a silent few seconds, I said, "He's not evil, you know. Or, at least that's what Magmus told me."

"I can understand that. Though, he is a tad..."

"Insane?"

"That would be an appropriate description, I suppose."

Silence again.

"So, are we gonna be going there anytime soon?" I asked.

Celestia thought for a moment. "When things here in Ponyville are in order, then we will." She looked back to the other ponies, who were now, I could see, watching us anxiously. "We all will," she finished, letting that final part reach the others.

The mayor approached the princess anxiously, maintaining a generous distance between the tow of us at the same time. "Um, Your Highness, are you sure--?"

Celestia cut her off with an exasperated sigh. "Mayor, if you are going to ask whether or not Michael here can be trusted, save it. I can promis you that he is no direct harm to your town."

The mare obliged accordingly, retreating several steps.

"Very well then. In the meantime, I will go around town and see what I can do for the ponies." The Mayor gave me a baneful glance. "Maybe save whatever, and whoever, is left."

"I will send aid back here as soon as I return to Canterlot," Celestia told her.

"Thank you, that would be most appreciated, Your Highness." The gray-maned earth pony then diligently trotted off towards the town, where I could see ponies finally coming out and helping those with minor injuries and clearing out ruble from the downed buildings. I could hear some of the things that were being called throughout the small town; ponies calling for loved ones, their cries growing more and more desperate for every second they weren't answered, not wanting to accept the fact that their loved ones might've been burned alive or carried away in the sky only to be splattered on the ground in sickening noises that still make me queasy.

"Mommy? Mommy?! Where are you?"

"Lyra?! Lyra, where are you?! Please answer me! LYRA!"

"Somepony help me!"

It was unbearable to listen to. All of these innocent creatures...

"All of the dragons began to converge on this town, because he *appeared in this world."*

And it was my fault. My chest tightened, constricting the air I didn't deserve out of me. I forced my lungs to take in more breath to counteract my chest's attempt to punish me.

"I'm gonna go look for Rarity," Rainbow Dash announced. I had now idea how she was able to block out the cries. Or if she even was.

"I'll come with," Spike said.

"No need to, dears," rang the voice of the one and only Rarity. She wore a look of relief and content. Pinkie, with her now ballooned mane and tail, and surprisingly enough, Big Macintosh, without his black stetson, stood to one side of her, the former grinning excitedly, while three other fillies stood close by on the other. One was, of course, Apple Bloom. A second had a white coat and horn, and looked identical to Rarity. I noticed, for the first time since I appeared in this town, that this pony didn't have any type of image on her flank. The third was orange-coated, with a dark-purple mane and small wings. On her small flank was the angled wing I was recounted about last night, and I could guess who they were. The other two didn't seem to be hurt, either, aside from several soot marks on their coats. The three fillies never left each others' sides as they approached.

"I am glad to see your friends are safe, Apple Bloom," Celestia spoke.

"You can say that again, Your Majesty," Rarity replied, nuzzling Sweetie Belle affectionately on her cheek. The filly responded in kind.

"Big Mac!" Applejack cried, running to her older brother and embracing in each others' forehooves. "Thank goodness!"

"Easy there, AJ, I'm here fer now, but Ah won't be if ya' keep squeezin' me like that," the big red stallion managed to breath through his sister's embrace. She let go, although reluctantly.

"S-Sorry," she laughed half-heartedly. "Where were you, anyhow? Did them dragons get to--?"

"Nope," Big Mac interrupted. "Luckily, the farm was safe from them nasty-lookin' things while they were attacking the town, so the volunteers are unharmed, thankfully. But when Ah remembered that you 'n Apple Bloom were down here, Ah galloped as fast as Ah could t' make sure you two were alive 'n safe. When Ah passed by Rarity's, Ah heard this little filly cryin' inside, so Ah went in 'n found Sweetie Belle, safe 'n sound 'n cryin' 'er eyes out underneath a stage." He smiled warmly at his siblings, and the three of them embraced once more.

"And I couldn't have been more grateful when I reached the house and found Sweetie Belle untouched by those dreadful beasts," Rarity added, giving the red stallion a watery-eyed smile, and Big Mac nodded once in reply. She went back to nuzzling her sibling.

"Rainbow Dash!" Exclaimed the excited orange pegasus as she swiftly made her way to the chromatic-maned mare. She lived up to her special talent, because she was fast. Really fast for someone so small, and with such small wings. Scootaloo jumped up and wrapped her forehooves around Dash's neck tightly, her tiny wings beating rapidly. The light-blue pegasus pat a hoof on the filly's back. "You're okay!"

"'Course I'm okay, Scoots, but what about you?" Rainbow responded. "Did any of those dragons get close to you? Because of they did, I swear..."

"N-No, no, the dragons didn't get to my house, or Sweetie Belle's, thankfully." She cast her friend a meaningful glance. "We're all okay...for the most part." The filly suddenly looked downcast as her gaze swept across Ponyville. The filly probably took note of the continued wails sailing through Ponyville's streets.

"Well, you don't have to worry about those dragons coming back anytime soon," Dash lied, placing the orange pony on the ground from her excited hug. "Michael here made sure of that!" She threw a hoof at me, and the two new fillies were drawn to my strange appearance. I knew, and I think Rainbow Dash knew, that the danger of dragons returning wasn't completely gone, but I'm sure she told Scootaloo that to make her feel better. The others made no indication to correct her, so I could guess they were figuring the same thing.

"Woah," Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo whispered in unison as they approached me curiously. They didn't seem afraid, strangely. Actually, they didn't seem affected at all by the events that just transpired. Either that, or they were good actors.

Hey, maybe that's Sweetie Belle's special talent.

After several seconds of looking me over, the white unicorn filly asked, with a slight squeak in her tiny voice:

"Are you a real dragon?"

I was about to answer "No", but I was stumped. Was I a real dragon? I made a mental note to ask that to whoever was going to get me the answers I wanted, whether it was my shadow doppelgänger, or the "other creature" he and Magmus referenced.

"Sort of."

"Are you a teenage dragon? 'Cause you look like one," Spike asked out of nowhere.

I was, again, stumped at the question. I was eighteen at the time, and in my world, eighteen is considered to be a grown-up age. Although, you weren't really considered an adult until you turn twenty-one, so technically, I suppose I was a teenager. It was then that I noticed how ridiculous that system was. Are you an adult at eighteen or twenty-one, which is it? I also had no idea how dragon years worked, if there even was a distinction between dragon and human years, and since I didn't know how young dragons came to be considered adults, I answered:

"More or less." I think my tone of voice was making it quite clear I was getting tired of answering questions. I wanted to start asking them for once.

"Pinkie Pie," Fluttershy spoke, "are...are the Cakes alright? Oh, it would be simply awful if anything happened to them, especially to the foals."

The pink pony nodded vigorously. "The Cakes weren't here! Before I came over to Twilight's this morning, they left with the twins for a vacation up in Vanhoover for the holidays! Everything's okey-dokey-lokey!" Her face softened slightly. "Although, while we were coming back, I saw that Sugarcube Corner was...not so okey-dokey-lokey. I should probably send them a later telling them what's happened in the few hours they were gone." Then she giggled, "I hope they don't think it was my fault! I can see how they would think that, since they leave and some sort of chaos just happens to occur!" She started to laugh uncontrollably. "Oh boy, that would be hilarious if they--!"

"Everypony," Celestia called out. All of our eyes turned to her, Pinkie silenced. "I believe since we have made sure our loved one are unharmed and accounted for, we should be making our way towards Canterlot."

"Girls," Applejack said to the three fillies. They immediately turned to her. "The three of you stay here 'n help out whoever y'can around town. Got it?" They nodded in unison. The orange cowpony then turned to Big Macintosh. "Big brother, watch over 'em while we're gone, will ya'?"

The burly stallion nodded once gruffly. "Eeyup."

"I think you should go with them, Spike," Twilight told the little drake standing right next to her. He responded with a look of unease, his pupils shrinking only barely enough for my dragon-vision to perceive it.

"Uh...d-d-do I have t-t-to, Twi?"

The lavender mare cocked an eyebrow. "What's wrong, Spike?"

The drake didn't respond, instead, just looked around nervously, his big green eyes shrinking further. I knew what was bothering him. She was oblivious to what he was doing.

"Twilight," I said. She turned to me, brow still cocked. I nodded my head towards Spike. After several moments of studying the little dragon, realization hit Twilight.

Spike was shaking. Quivering with fear. He may have been a dragon, but he was a baby dragon. The things he saw when he first came outside and witnessed what that monstrous brood of dragons were doing to his home. Ponies he probably knew, some he may have even been friends with, being burned alive, suffering at the claws and jaws of those demonic titans. It was enough to traumatize any kid. I felt bad for the little guy. I wondered how Apple Bloom and her friends weren't reacting in the same way. They seemed to be around the same age, they all should be shaking with fear, shouldn't they? Yet here they were, ready to go around Ponyville and help the residents with whatever they can. I thought about the stories Twilight and Applejack talked about last night, then figured,

Nothing can hinder these three ponies...

"Oh, Spike, I-I'm sorry. I didn't realize how you were feeling." She pulled the dragon in for a tender hug. "Would you like to come with us if that'll make you feel better?"

The drake quickly nodded his head into her shoulder, his quaking calming down.

"C'mon, y'all!" Yelled Apple Bloom to her fellow group of four. "We gotta help out Ponyville!"

"Yeah!" Exclaimed her teammates, save for Big Mac. Then all three of them yelled as they ran towards Ponyville:

"CUTIE MARK CURSADERS CITY SAVERS!"

...Dear God...so...loud...Are...are my ears bleeding...?

"Oh boy..." Big Macintosh mumbled under his breath. He trotted unhurriedly after them.

"If everypony is ready?" Chimed in Celestia, annoyance creeping into her voice.

We all nodded, except Pinkie, who was digging a hoof into her ear, then called out, "What?"

"Good." Her majestic horn glowed a bright, blinding golden aura, and a second later, we all disappeared from Ponyville.

The next thing I knew as soon as the golden light dissipated, we were in a completely different room. The ceiling was high, and on both walls were glass windows with images of several colorful ponies, as well as other creatures. This place looked...well, worthy of royalty. On one end where large, golden doors that towered a ridiculous height, as if there was something in this new building we were in that actually needed doors that high. Celestia, Applejack, and the others were arranged around me in the exact same way we were standing in Ponyville. Then it hit me.

"Did we just teleport?"

Celestia chuckled. "Indeed. This is the throne room of Canterlot Castle."

Twilight shook her head, Spike sitting on her back. "The princess has the ability to teleport over vast distances, due to her higher magical reserves. It's...it's a little nauseating at first, teleporting such a long distance."

"Really?" I replied. "I feel just fine."

"Ugh," groaned Rainbow Dash, "lucky you...hrmph!" Her face turned a nasty green.

"Finally! There you are. I was getting bored."

My head slowly creeped around to the opposite end of the tremendous room, towards where another pair of doors, these more jeweled than golden, and there stood my shadow clone, arms crossed with a look of irritation on his dark dragon features, as if we were late for a party.

"How did you get in here?" Celestia asked.

He raised an eyebrow. "Let's just say your security sucks." The monarch lowered her head, her gaze fixed on him. "Relax, I simply slipped in unnoticed through an open window. I didn't hurt any of your guards, or anything."

Applejack went to the front of the group. "Alright, pardner, we're all here. So what was it ya' wanted t'show us?"

The duplicate shook his head. "Nope. Not all of you are here. There's someone still missing."

"Who?" I asked.

My clone looked like he was about to answer when the doors behind us groaned open, and another voice spoke,

"Tia?"

All of our heads turned around, and a new pony came into view. I noticed this one was an alicorn, like Celestia, though much shorter, around Big Macintosh's height. Her coat, wings, and horn were dark-blue to indigo, with big, blue eyes. What really stood out about this one was her mane and tail. They, like Celestia's, were constantly undulating, like sails in the wind, and they were like the night sky, blanketed with thousands of little white dots that must've been stars. She entered the room, and made her way to Celestia.

"Princess Luna, you're here," Twilight spoke.

The darker alicorn nodded in acknowledgment to the lavender mare, then continued to the taller monarch. "Sister, what is going on? I received a letter on my nightstand, telling me to meet you here. Did you send it?"

"Nope, I did!" My doppelgänger shouted out, effectively gaining Luna's attention. "Perfect! Everyone's here! Now we can begin." He rubbed his palms together rapidly. "Oooooooh! I'm getting giddy!" He stopped. "But before that, you should probably fill her in on what's happened so far. Go on, I'll wait some more." He resumed his previous stance, except this time tapping his foot impatiently.

Oh yeah, definitely not evil. Just flat-out coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs.

Luna raised an eyebrow, then noticed me, surprise rising in her face, then turned back to her apparent sister, who, along with Twilight and some of the others, efficiently began to explain what had happened in past thirty-six hours. She seemed to be taking it well until they reached the part of the dragons attacking Ponyville, and my subsequent transformation from a human to...whatever this body can be called.

"Mother of Equestria, that's horrible! Those vile dragons! I simply knew they were all evil, heartless monsters!" Her blue eyes filled with outrage. Then she froze, and turned to look at Spike, who had hidden himself into Twilight's mane. "No offense, Spike," she said apologetically.

"Ahem!"

Our gazes shot to my clone. "Are we ready?"

Looking to each other for confirmation, Celestia responded, "It would appear so, yes."

"Good. Now, if you all would come a little closer, please. Don't be shy, I won't bite." He snickered on that last part. We all, reluctantly, obeyed. This clone may not have been evil, but he was crazy enough to provoke caution from all of us. "There, stop." We stopped.

My shadow doppelgänger tilted his head up and shouted, "HEY! We're ready over here!"

For a while, nothing happened. We looked at each other, confused. I stood at one end of a little half circle we created, Twilight, Celestia, and Luna in the center, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie on the opposite end. Rainbow, who stood between Luna and Pinkie, spoke,

"Who are you talking to?"

"Give it a minute," he answered quickly. "He likes to make an entrance."

"Who?" Rainbow pressed.

"I said wait!"

After several more awkward seconds of waiting for this mystery host, a crackling lightning bolt erupted from the floor in front of us. Everyone jumped back at the unexpected spectacle.

"Ah, there he is," my shadow said casually.

More lightning filled the room, its thunderous counterpart accompanying it eagerly. My wings formed their X-shaped light-sheild again. I couldn't make it out clearly, but I managed to distinguish a figure rising from the carpeted floor through what was probably an inter-dimensional portal. I looked over to the ponies on my left, and they were either cringing away from the show, or braving it. To my right, my clone didn't appear to be fazed by the flashing light or pounding thunder. He remained still, arms crossed, wings tucked, eyes bored, even though he claimed to be feeling "giddy" minutes before.

After a good minute, the lightning and thunder vanished, bouncing throughout the massive throne room until they echoed out of existence. That must've been heard from miles away. We all returned to look where they once were, and in their place stood a hooded figure. The hood and robe this new pony wore were pure white in contrast to the pure-black coat that made itself evident on the hooves that stood below it. A very large, jet-black horn, approximately the same length as Celestia's, extended past the border of the hood, which covered most of this newcomer's face, obscuring the eyes from view with its substantially wide-spread shade. The powerful barrel chest on this pony was covered with thick, silver fur, indicating this this was a stallion before us. In total, he was a little shorter than Celestia, though significantly taller than Luna or Big Macintosh.

"Three thousand years of humility, and you choose now to be a showoff?" The shadow me expressed unimpressively. The new figure didn't answer. Then, the horn glowed with a gray aura, and so did the hood. The hood dropped to reveal this pony's face. The eyes opened up to reveal steely-silver irised spheres. They were hard, and directed towards Celestia and Luna, as if, even when they were closed, they knew exactly where the two princesses were standing.

The two aforementioned alicorns caught their breaths, making everyone turn to them. On both of their faces was a look of horror and shame. They stared back at the stallion, not muttering a single word, pupils only millimeters in radius. In fact, from where I was standing, I think Luna was shaking a bit.

"Princess Celestia? Princess Luna? Are you two alright?" Rarity asked asked from where she stood between Twilight and Applejack to my left. They didn't respond.

"What's wrong, Celestia?" My dark doppelgänger asked condescendingly. He then stated to laugh maniacally. "You look like you've seen a ghost!" The stallion remained quiet and motionless while my clone grabbed at his sides. Celestia stood in shock, a motionless state that must've meant she was seeing something absolutely terrifying to her and Luna. But so far as I could tell, the dark-coated stallion wasn't doing anything except standing there, keeping his own steely gaze fixated on the white and dark-blue monarchs.

Twilight, unable to contain her anxiety, turned back to the ominous stallion and called out, "Just who are you?"

His steel-silver eyes slowly swiveled towards her, and Twilight initiated the same frightened state the princesses were in, except now, the two of them seemingly relaxed as the unicorn's eyes left them. Until he returned to his original staring point, and the alicorns resumed their staring contest.

Then, the black stallion opened his mouth, seemingly to answer, when all that came out was a hacking laughter as his face contorted to that of a prankster's that echoed throughout the room. He collapsed onto the ground, laughing outrageously, pounding on the floor with a hoof, his face no longer cold and menacing, but mischievous and playful. My clone joined in, laughing harder on the ground.

Needless to say, we were all confused.

The stallion, after a while, ceased his episode on his back, his forehooves covering his tear-stained face. Then he finally said,

"Centuries of practicing that in front of a mirror, gone! Wasted!" And he continued laughing. Remarkably, his voice was like that of a person in their twenties, even though he evidently claimed to be "centuries" old.

"I don't even know how you managed to hold out that long!" My clone stated through laughing spasms. "Ow, my sides!"

All of a sudden, Pinkie Pie joined in the merry scene, falling on the ground next the stallion and falling into her own fit of laughter.

"What are--hehehehe...what are you laughing at?" He asked her.

"I don't know! It's just funny!" She replied, and grabbing her ribcage as she did.

All of the tension in the room had left already. Now, it was just the continued droning of laughter, until after five minutes, they ceased as well. The stallion stood up, rubbing the last of the tears from the coat on his face. Pinkie retuned to where she stood next to a very bewildered Fluttershy.

"I'm sorr--hehe...I'm sorry about that," the unicorn murmured, "it's just that I was hoping I could finish that the way I'd planned during the last few centuries." He looked around the semicircle, noting our shocked, wide-eyed expressions.

"I'm Ouranos Black, Celestia's and Luna's older brother. Nice to meet you all."

"Brother?" The Elements of Harmony and Spike breathed in unison.

"You're Ouranos?" I asked through my baffled state. He looked over at me, assessing my appearance before replying,

"Sure am. And you must be Michael, correct?" I nodded. "Do you realize how long I've waited for the heir to appear? Over three thousand years! And that's nothing compared to what the world has waited for. I'd say that'd come close to...maybe...ten thousand years?"

"Fifteen," my clone added, who had recovered and resumed his crossed-arm stance.

Ouranos incredulously turned his head around, his voice echoing as he shouted, "Fifteen thousand?!" The clone nodded. "Wow," he turned back to me, "you are really, really late! But, what can you do? I don't control everything in this reality. A lot of things, granted, but not everything."

The rest of the ponies were silent, still shocked to Ouranos' theatrical appearance. No one made a sound. He looked around again, and his brow furrowed.

What did he mean by "heir"?

"What?" He asked to thin air. "Haven't you ever seen the immortal spirit of a pony before?"

"Obviously not," the duplicate said, losing interest of what was -- or rather, wasn't -- happening in front of him and took interest in the ceiling and walls. Smirking at the sarcastic reply, Ouranos turned to look back at Celestia and Luna, who were probably turned to stone on their insides, because they haven't moved or said a single syllable since he arrived.

"Celly. Lulu. It's good to see you both again." He smiled warmly, his eyes glazed over with moisture.

"Is...is it truly you?" Luna whimpered, tears forming in her revived eyes. He nodded once. His silver eyes became more inviting, not rock-hard cold as they once were. The next thing I knew, an indigo blur slammed into Ouranos' torso, sending him flying backs several yards. My dark clone had to dart up into the air to avoid being tackled as well as they landed on Ouranos' back. Luna's sobs could be heard bouncing down the throne room and back. Her forehooves were wrapped unrelentingly around the black stallion's neck, and he reciprocated, although his longer hooves reached around her smaller body more easily. Luna made some incomprehensible noises while Ouranos continued to holder, calmly whispering,

"Shh, it's okay, don't cry, Lulu, I'm here."

"Three millennia..." Celestia muttered as she slowly stepped towards the reunion. "And here you are, again..." Her voice was hollow and weak, but still held some regality. My dragon eyes followed her, and so did my clones', who landed right behind me, sniffling.

"I promised myself I wasn't going to cry, but...BWAHAHAHAHAHA!" The next thing I knew, he was shaking and squeezing me violently, a waterfall of black water blasting out of his eyes in a cartoonish-fashion. From across the room, I could make out Pinkie Pie doing the same thing, although most of what I could see was just blurry madness. Suddenly, he stopped and stepped to my side. "Oh, by the way, you dropped this." He smacked a book into my chest, and I grabbed it. It was the crimson book I had earlier, but had completely forgotten about it.

"When did--?"

"You dropped it when the dragons attacked and you went to save that filly. Luckily, I managed to catch and bring back into my home dimension while you were too focused on being a hero." His scaly brows furrowed and he frowned, making his dragonesque face quite intimidating as he scolded me. "Do you have any idea how lucky you were when your body transformed right before being toasted? Real fuckin' lucky, let me tell you."

I flipped through the book. It was in the same condition as I remember it, crimson on the cover with a black bar wrapping around the bottom edge, the golden outline of a comet-tailed dragon on display right on the cover, and pretty thick.

"I see you found my book," chimed in Ouranos. I looked over to where he was reconciling with his sisters. They two of them were crying, but smiling now, seemingly forgiven of their past sins by their older brother. "How is it, if you don't mind me asking? I've been dying to get a third opinion, since the last three thousand years I've only had him read it, and he's read it countless times."

"Well, I know how I feel about it: incomplete." My clone replied.

"Rub it in my face some more, why don't you..." Ouranos pouted.

Twilight suddenly burst out: "Will somepony please explain what the hay is going on here?!"

We all looked over, shocked, at the lavender mare, who was panting heavily as if she were holding that in for a while.

Ouranos chuckled. "Hehehe, of course, but, let's go somewhere more relaxing, shall we? I have a feeling we," he looked at me as he said it, "have a lot to discuss."

"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!" Exclaimed my doppelgänger excitedly. "I'm gonna get to give you guys the grand tour of our home!"

"Huh?" We all said in unison. But before a straightforward  answer could be given, Ouranos' horn glowed gray again, soon filling the whole room with light.

And then darkness.