Author's Note

New chapter! And the first official episode chapter, I believe. Let me state it here and now. After this, I shall forever dread any and all future episode chapters. Their content is massive, and much words are needed to properly cover them. XP

So much so, that you all voted to split it up into two chapters.

But other than that, I hope you all enjoy the chapter! ^^
(Hopefully I didn't jump the shark this time. If I did, any and all praise should go to the writers of the original episode! ;P)

Edit:
I linked some art in this chapter. Have fun, and I hope you enjoy it. ^^

7. Dream-Ministrations Part 1

(October 24th: 8th Day Since Neil's Discovery)

The scene was as she remembered it in modern times. The meticulously crafted stained glass windows were shattered. Cracked and sundered stonework blocks were strewn throughout the hall, accompanied by piles of rubble underneath holes blasted through the walls and ceiling. What few tapestries still hung were torn and riddled with shrapnel holes and burns.

The only significant difference was how new everything appeared. This wasn't the abandoned Castle of the Two Sisters, left to rot for one thousand years from uncontrolled weather. No, this was relatively new. A castle that had been built less than a century into her and Celestia's shared rule.

This was her home, in all its ruined glory, as Princess Luna stood in the decimated pulpit in front of their shattered thrones. How could she have been so foolish? So shameful as to delve into those spells without thought? To spit on her friendships, as few as they may have been?

Much to her shame, she knew exactly how such an event came to be. It was, after all, the very reason she was here.

A scene emerged from her distant, murky memories as Nightmare Moon. A stray beam during the confrontation that night from so very long ago, as it missed her Sister. No, it missed her target as it cut through the castle kitchens. At the time, she hadn't spared a second thought. She was too focused on her goal. Her triumph.

Now, however, she directed her focus on the castle kitchens and one of her friends who always treated her well. Poor, doddering Tea Kettle. The stallion would have been making Celestia's morning tea while mixing her hot chocolate to help her sleep that day...

The casualty report from that night was one of the few papers that Celestia had classified as above even the Princesses, preventing anypony from reading it.

If not for the fact that this was a dream, Luna was reasonably sure she would have broken down. How many ponies had she killed that night? Why wouldn't her sister just tell her?

A tiny, navy blue wisp of distant stars flew up and out of the stonework to her side like an eager puppy. Luna knew exactly what it was and that it was drawn to her anger and self-loathing. A reminder of events yet to play out, as she focused on the dream and the other ponies within.

The Bearers of the Elements of Harmony had already passed the main gate, braved the overgrown courtyard, trampled through the grand entrance, and were making their way through the entry hall. Mere moments from now, they would smash their way into the throne room.

Knowing this, Luna turned to the wisp with an order. "Greetings, Tantabus; I am ready. Do your worst."

The small spirit of energy known as the Tantabus seemed to undulate with excitement before it dutifully served its mistress and floated above her. It settled in the shattered stained glass window that once depicted the shared unity between her and her sister. It instantly transformed into a dark, spherical crystal large enough to blot out the sun. In a single pulse, it ripped control of the dream from Luna. Day turned into night as the spirit fired multiple beams of darkness into an expectant and unmoving Princess Luna.

The energy seared through her fur and burned her skin as it was absorbed into her body. Even then, she knew what was going to happen. What this power would do to her. This is what she wanted, as the burning sensation seeped into her spine and then raced throughout the rest of her body. The pain was almost overwhelming, but not enough to shatter the dream. It was exactly what she deserved, as tortured cries were ripped from her throat.

Any excess power that couldn't be absorbed soon formed a cocoon of darkness around her, blocking more and more of her vision. However, she just caught sight of a door being kicked off its hinges before she was fully enveloped.

"Princess Luna is turning into Nightmare Moon, again!"

Some aspect of her managed to hear Twilight's cry of despair. By then, the powerful corruption had traveled up her spine and was starting to physically convert aspects of her head. She felt the spiral that was her horn as it forcefully corkscrewed another few inches out of her skull. At the same time, her teeth elongated, pulling at the very nerves that anchored them as they went.

In comparison, the alteration of her eyes was a light tickle that hardly registered if not for the maniacal laughter filling her ears. Was she the one laughing? Why?

"Yeah? Well, we've got the cure for that!" Loyalty called out cockily.

She didn't know how she knew, but her mind knew the transformation was winding down inside of her now comforting cocoon of darkness. The pain subsided, only to be replaced by an overwhelming euphoria-inducing power that coursed through her magical pathways. The only part that remained of Princess Luna, the last desperate holdout that was purely her, was her heart as darkness started to ooze into her veins...

Only for the darkness to be shredded as a white flash tore through her cocoon.

The pain instantly returned as Princess Luna barely held her eyes open against the light emanating from the six floating mares before her. No, not mares. Friends. They were her friends, not adversaries to be defeated- or defeated by, as this nightmare was supposed to go. What was happening?

"Wait!" She cried, though to the Tantabus, the Bearers, or herself she couldn't fathom. Still, she pushed through the pain, and her horn pulsed, forming a clear shield around herself.

Luna had only a moment to look back at the Tantabus, which seemed to be defying her order in an attempt to escape. "What is it doing!?" It was an insignificant spirit under her control, her command. It should have been incapable of tearing through the dream's backdrop, yet it was doing precisely that.

Before she could fully comprehend the implications, the might of the Bearer's Rainbow Power struck against her shield.

Luna was forced to divert all of her focus into maintaining her shield as the bright, multi-colored lights surrounded her and obstructed her view.

Her shield miraculously held out against the onslaught but dissolved with the remnants of a purifying rainbow that sparkled and faded away into the surrounding space. However, Luna didn't have the time to care about that. The Tantabus was nowhere to be seen, as was the hole it had torn into the background.

A new, genuine fear pickled along the base of her skull as she yelled, "No, it's gone!"

Immediately after she uttered those words, Luna's very existence was overwhelmed by a moment of burning, purifying pain, only to be soothed by an endless void of calming white. The experience was exactly how she remembered it to be... when she was originally freed from the Nightmare's corruption?

By the time the rest of the world came into focus, she found herself not only back to normal but surrounded by the Bearers of the Elements, her friends.

That wasn't how things were supposed to play out, as she looked into the eyes of each mare. Why wasn't she sealed in the moon? Or petrified? Or, most deserving of all, executed for her crimes?

Why were Princess Twilight and her friends looking at her with happiness and joy? At the very least, she deserved to be looked at with scorn and disgust for her failings!

Something was wrong. Something was missing. Where was the... The Tantabus!

Ignoring their smiling faces and non-stop chatter, Luna sent a pulse to scan her dream. The wave rippled through everything she could see, starting with the mares against her, none of whom seemed to notice, and the surrounding walls. Seconds later, the wave bounced off the limitations of her current dreamscape without any positive trace of the parasitic spirit.

The Tantabus was no longer in her dream. Giving one last concerned look at all the dream constructs representing her friends, Luna focused her horn and collapsed the dream into darkness...

She awoke immediately, startled and sweaty inside the ostentatious crescent moon bed gifted to her by her sister. "What?" She asked herself, between gasps as she tried to control her breathing.

Looking up, she stared at the one aspect of the bed she liked besides the mattress. An oval lantern designed to give off a pale white-blue glow, perfectly adjusted to emulate the light of her moon. Once she was calm, she turned back to self-reflection. "My dream ended happily? How? Why?

Very few answers made any sort of sense, and all of them pointed towards flaws in her spell-craft. The first possible mistake was the Tantabus' limited ability to siphon negative emotions from her self-inflicted punishment. If she made the siphon too strict, it wouldn't be able to sustain itself over the long term. Was that why it tried to escape into the dream realm? It was starving and tried to find another source of anguish before expiring.

On the other hoof, the siphon could have been too generous, allowing the spirit fragment enough energy to... expand itself? To naturally generate a more significant presence and a sense of self? But she would have noticed, wouldn't she, if that were the case?

No. "That. Can not. Happen!" She said firmly to herself. But she had to be thorough. The clock on her nightstand read 2:30 PM. Not only did she need her rest, but if the Tantabus still lived, it was likely now prowling throughout the dream realm. She needed to find it and anchor the free-roaming sliver of a spirit back to herself as soon as possible.

Laying back down, she drew the covers back over her chest and closed her eyes...

~~~

(October 25th: 9th Day Since Neil's Discovery)

Whether asleep or awake, Luna spent the rest of the day and the following night searching for her errant spirit fragment. Even her Lunar Court had been adjourned early in search of the Tantabus instead, not that it mattered. No petitioner had signed up in advance, and no pony in need showed up within the first hour.

All of it was for naught. Whether scans were looking for active disturbances in the dreamscape or specific tracking spells, none showed any signs of the spirit. There wasn't even an increase in nightmares that occurred naturally during the night. It was relatively slow in that regard. Luna was thankful for the unexpected boon, as she cared for her dreamers as usual.

As Luna removed her shoes, her tired eyes settled on the bed before her. After spending her entire dinner discussing upcoming plans for Nightmare Night with her sister, she looked forward to a full day's rest without looking for the Tantabus. It was with absolute certainty that the spirit fragment must have used its last drop of energy in an attempt to escape the dream and withered away. A sad ending for the tiny sliver of herself.

She was just snuggling into the cool embrace of her blanket when a small but significant alarm triggered from her shuttered window. Her eyes snapped open, only to see a small puff of smoke flying towards her through the dull light. Very few creatures could send her messages via dragon-fire, and judging by the spell matrix... As she expected, the smoke reformed above her bed and dropped a perfectly normal-looking scroll bound with Princess Twilight's seal.

Curious as to why she would be the recipient of such a letter and not her sister, Luna grabbed the scroll with her magic and opened it.

Dear Princess Luna,
Last night, my friends and I all dreamt of a creature made of blue smoke. I'm sure you're very busy, but yawn; when you have the chance, please let me know if you have any idea what it could mean.
Yours yawn,
Princess Twilight Sparkle.

Her blood froze. It wasn't possible. There was no way for the Tantabus to evade her notice in the dream realm. And yet, the Bearers all reported the impossible to be true. She reread the letter once more, this time taking note of the words crossed out. Whatever these dreams were, Princess Twilight did not earn a good night's rest at the very least.

But why now? And how? She could guess the answer to the second question easily enough. The Tantabus learned of the bearers through her dreams, and now not only was it infecting them, but if it learned of more ponies through the Elements...

It could infect all of Equestria without her notice.

Without thought, her horn lit up. She quickly gathered magic until her horn overpowered her moonlight lamp, illuminating the room in a darker blue light. Once she collected enough to cast, she released all the magic into a single, almost explosive teleportation spell. One moment, she was lying in her bed, and the next, she found herself plummeting in the skies above Ponyville without a single cloud to land on.

With focus, she spread her wings out to halt her descent immediately with a single flap, then focused. She sent out a quick tracking pulse, weak enough to cover Ponyville without alerting the average unicorn citizen but strong enough to find the Bearers. Thankfully, the pulse came back positive from directly below, within the market district. Each pony she sought was visiting Lady Rarity's Carousel Boutique.

Gathering far less power this time, she blinked to the front door of Rarity's business and opened it without warning. Seeing the gathered ponies, she quickly asked, "Which of you saw the creature of blue smoke in your nightmare?"

Strangely, the first mare to respond was the most unlikely and timid of the group, the Bearer of Kindness. Though she looked far more tired than timid at the moment, "Wow, that was fast."

Princess Twilight, however, quickly answered for them all. "We all did-"

Only for her chipper-looking dragon assistant to leave a well-manicured white feline on a table and interrupt, "Not me!" As he walked towards a tub full of water and a tortoise.

"We know." Three mares, Loyalty, Generosity, and Honesty, groaned simultaneously.

Princess Twilight quickly brought the rest of the group back to the topic at hoof as Spike started tending to the reptile. "So, you've encountered the smoke monster too?"

Though Luna was ashamed to admit it, she knew the best policy would be full honesty, given the monster she inadvertently set upon the mares before her. "The Tantabus is a creature of my nightmares. It escaped from my slumbers yesterday," She admitted truthfully once she walked into the gallery and closed the door.

Fluttershy was the first to respond, worry marring her normally beautiful expression. "But, how did it get into ours?"

Luna looked down, avoiding each mare's gaze at first. "The Tantabus is like a parasite. My dreams must no longer be enough for it. Now it seeks others to infect and corrupt!" To emphasize the point, she looked to and pointed at every mare in the room. It would have been far easier to explain without seeing the torment of the previous night's unanswered nightmares in each mare's eyes. "It must have learned of you six by seeing you in my dream."

Luna could feel the guilt bubbling in her chest... Ashamed, she turned away, but not before seeing Spike walking towards her with an odd look of a... kicked puppy.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," He spoke, gesticulating with his claws. "So what you're saying is you dreamt about all of them and not me?" He finished with a particularly heart-wrenching whine that urged her to turn to him and, by proxy, the group again.

However, Rainbow Dash spoke up before she could hug the sad hatchling while crossing her forelegs against her chest. "Uh, so Smokey gave us bad dreams. No biggie."

Luna shook her head sadly as she scooped up Spike in her magic. She hugged the poor dragon whelp into her fluff, both for him and herself, as she pictured the ghastly, worst-case scenario if she should fail. "I saw that the Tantabus had grown more powerful, but I did not realize that power was enough to enable it to escape my dreams. If its power grows, it could very well find a way to escape into the real world. It could turn all of Equestria into a living nightmare!"

"Okay, okay, okay, I take it back," Rainbow relented as her hooves slipped down her cheeks. "That does sound bad. Really bad!"

The tension slowly polluting the room rose to its highest peak, but only briefly before Twilight slammed her hoof to the floor. "But we aren't going to allow that to happen, are we girls? Princess Luna, what do you need us to do?"

Luna was quite thankful for Princess Twilight's initiative but took a moment to collect her thoughts. She also gave Spike's shoulder a light pat before removing him from her chest and lowering him back down to the ground.

"For now, all of you may go about your day," She told all the ponies involved. "The Tantabus should lay dormant until an infected pony begins to dream. However, tonight, I will require a room large enough for us to sleep together so that I may track down and end this threat."

Each mare looked around the room, silently questioning one another before Twilight volunteered. "My bedroom in the castle should be more than big enough for everypony. I just need to set up enough spare beds."

Rarity perked up right after and fully supported the idea. "Twilight, Darling, I can help you with that. I have plenty of spare bedding that should help."

"I can help carry some of that as well!" Spike added as he rushed over to the white and purple mare with a look of blatant adoration.

After that, the three of them quickly left the gallery, heading up the stairs and leaving Luna with the four remaining Bearers.

"Well, if we're sleeping in the castle tonight, then I need to head back to the farm," Applejack admitted as she broke from the group and walked past Luna towards the door. "Plenty to do if I'm comin' back to town by the end of the day."

"I should leave too," Fluttershy added, following right behind the orange Earth Pony. "So many animals need to be taken care of by tonight."

Once the door closed, only three mares stood in the gallery... Though Rainbow Dash was flying, and Pinkie Pie was bouncing in place with boundless energy.

"I'm supposed to help the Cakes with baking this afternoon," Pinkie gleefully cheered, "But until then I'm free!"

"Very well, do as you normally would. I'll try to lure the creature into my dreams today," Luna told the energetic mare, "With luck, I'll be able to subdue the Tantabus before nightfall. If so, these precautionary measures will no longer be required."

Contrary to what she thought would happen, Pinkie Pie's bouncing slowed with a look of innocent confusion. "If that happens, will our Save-All-Of-Equestria-Slumber-Party become a regular slumber party? And will you still be there?"

Luna blinked as she replayed the party pony's words in her head. "If that is what you wish after all the stress I have put you through."

"Yippee!" The pink pony bounced higher than Rainbow Dash, only to land and leap forward just as high a second time as she passed over Luna. "I have a sleep-over to prepare for. See you later, Princess!"

With one final bounce, she pushed open the front door (without impact or injury, as if it was unlatched) and disappeared.

Now, it was herself and Rainbow Dash as the mare's confident facade suddenly melted away into a more nervous disposition. "Uh, Princess Luna, before you leave?"

"Yes, Rainbow Dash?"

"Well, you said Smokey learned about us through your dreams, right?" She asked, giving the stairwell Generosity and Magic ascended a paranoid look before continuing. "Could it also learn about another pony through my dreams?"

Luna felt a sudden jolt of fear as the situation suddenly worsened. Still, she held onto the small sliver of hope that Rainbow wouldn't add another innocent to the Tantabus' web. "It could. Tell me Rainbow Dash, who is this pony from your dreams?"

"Well, I was teaching Twilight how to fly, but Smokey already knows about her." She explained nervously before flying in close enough to whisper, "But, uh, she wasn't the only 'Alicorn' I was teaching."

With only five Alicorns alive, it took Luna no time to narrow down which Alicorn Rainbow Dash was talking about. Her eyes hardened with resignation. "... Neil," She guessed quietly, only for Rainbow to nod and confirm her worst-case scenario. "Very well. Head to the castle and wait for us," She ordered the Element of Loyalty, "I shall return shortly with the stallion."

In the blink of an eye, Rainbow Dash was gone, leaving an open door as the only sign of her exit.

Only one new objective remained unfinished before Luna could return to Canterlot and retrieve the newly infected pony. She needed to inform Princess Twilight that one more bed would be required with special, chaos-dampening enchantments upon it. If she still couldn't breach the stallion's dreams after that, but the Tantabus could? The stallion could become a nigh unlimited source of power for the parasite.

It was an unpleasant thought she dared not linger upon as Rarity once more entered the gallery with Twilight in tow...

~~~***~~~

As far as days went in his lavishly gilded cage, today was pretty good, or so Neil thought. None of the ponies woke him up, leaving him to laze in his hospital bed until the allure of still-warm chocolate chip pancakes drew him out. After which, he enjoyed a long shower as his wings went to work, requiring only moderate attention.

During his shower, however, his mind had latched onto a small but interesting tidbit of information about the Princess of Love that fuelled hope and anguish for his chances of getting home. The beginning of her official biography was vague, stating that she was found as a child near the edge of a forest near an Earth Pony settlement. The forest and settlement went unnamed, but the book stated they were both north of Vanhoover.

At the time, he was disgusted by the pony pun based on Vancouver. To the point he brushed the information aside as a cover-up for her true origins. But that morning, the more he thought about it, the more he felt it was too much of a coincidence. Sure, she had shown up as a foal near a random town. A pegasus if the snippet at the beginning of the book was to be believed. But after saving the village from a love-stealing witch, she somehow ascended into an Alicorn.

In comparison, he showed up, thankfully fully grown, in the middle of a bustling city. The thought of reliving childhood as a pony was mildly terrifying. But the common aspect of their stories had them appearing out of nowhere. Leaving Neil to think perhaps there was more in common between them. Was Princess Cadenza a human, like him, forced to grow up and adapt to this insane world? Did she know of a way back? Or was it a mere coincidence?

That persistent group of thoughts led Neil to the library after his shower. After returning the books he already read to Mrs. Keeper, he wandered the shelves for more information on the elusive Princess of Love.

Fifteen minutes later, he found a single book that fit his requirements. Its pink cover and on-the-nose title promised to be the answer to all of his unanswered questions. With The Mysterious Origins of Princess Cadenza safely secured under his wing, he paused his search and returned to the reading area.

That had been twenty minutes ago, and so far, the book hadn't answered a single question he had before opening the cover. Instead, it spawned far more about the world's sanity. A secret, long-lost daughter of Princess Amore? With the foal trapped during her escape attempt under the same curse Sombra used to banish the Crystal Empire. And how did this foal escape the curse? An unknowable, miraculous flicker in the spell that only affected the ponies at the absolute edge of its limits?

After the introduction with its outlandish claims, the author started with Princess Cadenza's fuzzy childhood memories, linking them to the well-documented amnesia suffered by all of Sombra's victims in the Crystal Empire (Though if Neil's hypothesis was correct, perhaps the princess remembered her childhood well enough).

However, the sound of metallic hooves echoing off the shelves caught Neil's attention, forcing him to pause his reading.

Each step was faint at first. But as the seconds passed, they became more refined, with a strict cadence that told Neil all he needed to know as he put down the book and hid his wings. Chances were the incoming pony was just another guard. However, if another pony was escorted, perhaps a pegasus flying indoors or a naturally quiet pony on their hooves, it was better to be safe than sorry.

He had not expected to see Luna's whimsical, almost misty dark blue mane drift around the corner. Followed shortly by her horn and then the rest of her as she was illuminated by the tendril-like locks sparkling with little, distant stars. When she fully turned around the corner of the bookshelf, his tense eyes locked onto hers.

Even though he felt nothing but disdain for the princess, she approached with a calm, if slightly haughty, expression on her shadowed muzzle. Each step that brought the princess closer was stiff but authoritative and complete with purpose.

Almost as if she was leading a procession of some sort, though Neil couldn't imagine why. Even Bulk noticed her gait and straightened his posture. However, Neil couldn't tell if it was to appear on his best behavior or to stay alert for an upcoming confrontation.

She closed the distance at a measured if strict, pace that only stopped when she stood on the other side of the table he was currently occupying. The entire time, she kept her eyes locked on him. "Private Bulk, Neil, I would have preferred to meet under better circumstances. Instead, I bring ill tidings to you both. Equestria is under threat from a parasite known as the Tantabus."

Bulk's physical presence was already on high alert. Still, when Luna stated that Equestria was under threat, Neil could have sworn the pegasus became even more tense than even he felt.

Neil, on the other hand, mainly felt confused. The Tantabus, whatever the hell it was, didn't ring any bells in his mind. Meaning it wasn't a monster from history. More important, however, was why the dark princess would be approaching him of all people. Also, where the hell was her annoying, olden-time English? She sounded more like her sister now, the very same sister who needed to know about this far more than he did. "And you came here, why? Shouldn't you talk about this with Celestia?"

"I have already sent a priority message to my sister to keep her informed," Luna informed them before her aura started collecting around her horn. "But in the grand scheme, she has no part to play in this unless we fail. Though unfortunate, the part you play is far more crucial."

"What are you doing?" Neil asked, slowly slipping out of his chair as his eyes focused on her horn. As she spoke, the glow hadn't been all that noticeable since it nearly matched the colour of her horn. But now, her aura encompassed the entire bone, becoming more vibrant by the second.

"Transporting all of us to where we need to be," She offered cryptically as Neil managed to sidle up against Bulk's side. He felt a little safer with the guard between himself and Luna, though he still didn't understand the nonsense spewing from her mouth.

"Transport?" he asked, confused. Was Luna calling for a cart? And if so, was it a ground-based one or one of the flight-based ones? "Where and how?"

"To Ponyville," She simply stated before her aura exploded outwards in a flash, blinding Neil to everything but the single colour of blue while also feeling the most indescribably uncomfortable feeling he'd ever experienced.

When the light subsided, the only trace of one or more ponies ever being there was an open pink book describing one side effect of dark magic exposure: amnesia.

~~~

Neil had no fucking idea what the hell was going on around him, which almost pushed him into a near-panicked state. The only reason he didn't was the clank of armor coming from his left, signaling that whatever he'd just experienced, Bulk did as well.

As Neil looked around, his sight was blurred from whatever he had just experienced. But amidst the fuzzy purple structure he now found himself in, there was also a green blur with a round brown shape underneath it.

Without thinking, Neil dove for it and felt the rim of his newly befriended plant pot dig into his chin as he lost control and vomited up his breakfast. He had no control over the sounds and smell as he was forced to retry his chocolate chip pancakes for the second time that day. As he did, though, an errant thought flittered throughout his mind, mocking him during his current predicament, 'But horses were incapable of throwing up, right?'

At least he wasn't alone in his misery. By the second, or was it the third wave of upchuck, he felt his cloak pushed aside before a cool metallic object pressed lightly against his back. The shape indicated a horseshoe, meaning Bulk was the one rubbing circular motions into his back to ease his nausea. It was a kind thing for the Pegasus to do, but not entirely effective as he was overwhelmed by another automatic response.

Minutes passed before his void of a stomach felt it had emptied most, if not all, of its contents. During this, Neil had managed to clear his sight and learn that the plant he had been fertilizing had a brown stem that was nearly an inch thick with an almost bark-like texture.

After a few firm coughs to clear the dregs from the back of his throat and a final spit, he slowly removed himself from underneath the decorative bush. He looked to his right, ready and willing to thank Bulk for his attempt to ease his stomach at the very least, but paused. It wasn't Bulk sitting beside him with his hoof on his back. It was Luna, with a mix of emotions from calm professionalism to... concern?

Neil instinctively pulled away from the mare as his wing shifted defensively into the newly formed gap between himself and her hoof. With the animosity between them, he would have expected her to sit back with a smirk at his obvious discomfort.

So why was she the one who tried to comfort him? Or did she feel responsible since she was the cause? That was the only logical conclusion, as Neil quickly stood on all four hooves and turned away from the princess.

Now that he could see, it was clear that he was no longer in the library. He didn't recognize where he was at all. Whether it was a castle or an elaborate mansion, the purple-blue walls, made entirely of crystal, were rather bare of decorations. Neil couldn't see a single portrait or tapestry as he looked around, not that they were needed.

Somehow, the faceted crystal structure naturally reflected light in the form of stylized clouds, mountains, and trees across the walls.

It wasn't just the walls. The decorative pillars that appeared to grow out of the floor, the floor itself, which was relatively smooth compared to everything else, two separate sets of stairs, and the arched ceiling far above... Everything was made from multi-faceted crystals of various purple hues. The only exception was the windows, whether placed into the walls or inside the doors, which were carved. Formed? from green crystal instead.

There weren't any apparent seams in the rock, leading him to believe the entire building he now found himself in was carved from one continuous piece. But that was impossible. Who in their right mind would cut a multi-floor building out of crystal? Where would they find a large enough piece?

Beyond that, there wasn't much inside wherever he was that could be construed as not crystal. The railings running along each stairwell appeared to be made out of gold, along with the wall sconces and the door frames. But other than that, it was just the reddish-brown carpet branching off in three separate directions, two leading down short hallways to the right and left, only to end at the stairs.

Bulk wasn't far away, either. Standing beside the door, his guard appeared at ease instead of alert. Neil quickly brushed his cloak over his wing and approached while asking, "Where are we?"

"Goin' by descriptions I've heard, I'd say we're inside the Castle of Friendship in Ponyville," Bulk told him honestly, if a little confused.

"Ponyville..." Neil muttered to himself, skipping over the last few minutes of discomfort in his recent memory, back to what Luna said before the flash. "You said we needed to be here. How?" He asked, directing his accusation towards Luna. "How did we go from Canterlot, to here in a fucking blink of an eye?"

Any concern on her muzzle evaporated when he swore, leaving only her impassive, professional mask. "I felt it prudent to get here as soon as equinely possible, so I teleported all three of us into the entry hall."

"Teleportation?" Neil asked incredulously, more to himself than anyone else in the room. Was he the first human to survive being instantly transmitted from one place to another? And what if something had gone wrong?

"Y'know, fuck it all, why not? You ponies have telekinesis, you destroy the laws of physics; why not instant teleportation on top of that? So did you dematerialize us, essentially killing us in the process, only to rematerialize us all here?"

That got a reaction, though slight. A noticeable hardening around Luna's eyes as she responded. "Before you fully devolve into another immature, curse-ridden tantrum, know that Rainbow Dash is nearby and will explain the situation to you." By that time, Neil caught sight of another ominous glow building up around her horn. "I will see you tonight."

Before he could respond, Neil flinched away as a second flash originated from Luna's position. However, this one was dimmer than the one from the library. After a few blinks and a lack of nausea-inducing discomfort, he looked to where Luna was standing just a moment ago, only for her to be gone.

Irritation welled inside his chest, to the point where he poorly mimicked her haughty, imperious tone. "Devolve into a curse-ridden tantrum," He snorted, somewhat regretting the action immediately as he was hit with a fresh hint of bile at the back of his throat. "Well fuck you too, you stupid Bitch."

"Neil, that's enough," Bulk reprimanded, finally breaking from his position at the door as he came closer. "She ain't here no more, and I know for a fact that at least one young'un lives here with Princess Twilight Sparkle."

"Oh great, another princess," Neil exhaled with a growl, venting a small portion of his frustration from the strange situation he suddenly found himself in. "So, do you know what the hell is going on with this Tantabus thing? Or are you just as blind as I am?"

"I don' know a thing about this Tantabus," Bulk admitted as he looked between the hallways branching off from the crystal castle's entry. "But, I know the Princess wouldn' do this unless it was important, so let's find Ms. Dash and figure out what the hay is goin' on."

Neil gave him a slight nod in agreement. He didn't feel like braving either set of stairs, on the off chance his nausea returned with a vengeance. And he wasn't going to sit around and wait by the door like an idiot. So he took the only remaining path, a hallway that delved deeper inside the castle by a mere twenty feet before branching off into a T-intersection.

On the plus side, it had a little alcove hidden away with a bench for guests and even a tapestry to stare at while you wait.

Sadly, both of those paths were just as long as the halls leading to the stairs, but these two ended in dead ends. 'Pretty pathetic for a castle,' Or so Neil thought. Was it a castle? Multiple books pointed out that Twilight was an avid researcher and a gifted student under Celestia before becoming an Alicorn.

Was this instead a wizard's tower carved out of a single, massive crystal spike protruding out of the ground?

Neil quickly put that idea aside in his mind as he heard a muffled thud from his left, through one of the green crystal doors. Bulk also heard the disturbance and faced toward the source of the noise. His armor plating made multiple small, distinct tangs as he quickly overtook Neil as the lead pony.

Without saying a word, Bulk slowly closed the distance from the source of the unknown sound. Neil followed right behind the armored pegasus. Before either of them reached the door, however, it opened. Allowing a relatively diminutive bipedal lizard creature covered in purple scales and wobbly green ear-like fins to exit with an absurdly sized mass of cylinder-shaped pillows held above its head.

When it spotted them, the creature came to a stop as well. Judging by its expression, it was more confused than shocked to see them. And then, to Neil's mild surprise, it spoke with an almost childlike voice. "Uh, hello? If you're here to see Twilight, the castle is closed today. But you can try again tomorrow if you want!"

Bulk quickly answered for them both, "Princess Luna teleported both'a us here and told us to find Ms. Dash. You wouldn't happen to know where she is, would you Spike?"

"Princess Luna?" The lizard child known as Spike questioned, "That means you know about the...?"

"The Tantabus?" Bulk finished for him with a firm nod, "Yup."

"Well, Twilight said another pony would be joining us," Spike admitted as he shifted the giant pile of pillows balanced on his head. "I guess that's one of you two?"

"Me, apparently," Neil admitted, trying to mask his annoyance. It wouldn't be right to take his frustrations out on an innocent kid. "So where's Rainbow?"

"She's helping Twilight and Rarity set up for tonight. Follow me!" He darted around the two of them with far more agility than Neil would have given him credit for, heading towards the main door. "Hurry up!"

Shrugging, Neil spun around and followed Spike at a brisk jog. Bulk followed him as well. Of course, when Spike turned the corner and made a beeline for the right stairway, Neil couldn't help but groan. He hated climbing stairs with four hooves.

While the staircase looked a little on the steep side, Neil received a mild surprise after the first step. The entire stairway might have looked like smooth crystal, but on closer inspection, each surface was made up of hundreds, if not thousands, of slightly off-angle facets.

This gave Neil ample grip as he slowly made his way up the wrap-around staircase. Even stranger, while there was an occasional green crystal window, they were built into the inside wall. This allowed a person to look into a circular room made entirely of crystal with a large table and seven separate thrones inside.

Eventually, he cautiously made his way up to the top, with Bulk sticking by his side every step of the way. The area they found themselves in wasn't at all grand, or spacious, as Neil would have expected of a castle. Instead, it was little more than a short, ten-foot stretch of floor between the top of both stairs. To his left was a small alcove with benches, likely for guests to rest after the climb. To his right was a wide-open archway leading out to a well-lit area.

Spike was kind enough to wait for them, though he looked a little impatient when they finally crested the last step. "Are you sure you're looking for Rainbow Dash and not somepony a little slower like Fluttershy?" He asked innocently enough.

Neil thought he might have caught the faintest hint of a smirk as if his comment on their speed might have been a joke. But he didn't know who or what Fluttershy was. It could have also been the lizard's facial structure, so he brushed it aside. "Pretty sure we were told to see Rainbow."

"Okay. Bedrooms are this way," He told them, gesturing towards the arch with his head.

That much was obvious, but the moment Neil passed through the arch he received his first real piece of evidence that he was no longer in Canterlot. To each side was a reasonably wide hallway that curved out of sight, roughly the same size as the halls in Canterlot Castle.

Right in front of him was another archway decorated with purple fabric curtains that opened up to an outside balcony and the skies beyond. The balcony itself was pretty large and made of some unknown type of brownstone. But it was the view beyond that captured Neil's attention.

He could see hundreds of buildings, or at least their quaint-looking thatch roofs, all centered around a taller, multi-story building with a steeply angled brown roof. It was as if an old European village had been ripped out of the countryside, though the central building wasn't the only odd shape he could see.

There were quite a few in that regard, as his eyes darted from a roof that looked eerily like a jester's cap to a steeple in the shape of a cupcake judging by the pink, icing-like shingles. But other than a single mansion a distance away from the town itself, there wasn't a single sign of excessive wealth. Just a quaint little village with some odd design choices.

He felt the rush of multiple emotions as he turned away to follow Spike. Elation at being away from Canterlot and, by proxy, the princesses was the greatest by far. However, it was tempered with worry solely because he was in an unknown place, and he was brought here for a specific reason by the one princess he'd rather avoid the most.

It wasn't long before Spike stopped in front of a pair of doors made out of blue crystal, marking them as different from all the others inside the castle. Instead of waiting or calling out for assistance, Spike only gave them a quick look before giving one of the doors a light push with his foot.

Immediately, as if a switch was flipped on, a slightly posh female voice emanated from the room as the door swung inwards. "-do you think we should place the extra- Spikey Wikey, there you are! We were starting to worry."

Before Spike even managed another step into the room a different female voice spoke, sounding just as worried as the first. "It normally doesn't take long to travel up the tree. You didn't fall and hurt yourself, did you?"

As the second voice spoke, a pinkish-red aura surrounded the large supply of pillows Spike was carrying and lifted them all into the air. Freeing Spike of his payload and revealing a curved set of green plate-like spikes on top of Spike's head gave him an oddly adorable, baby Godzilla look.

"No, I didn't fall in the storage room this time," He groused, keeping one clawed hand on the door to keep it open while walking inside. "Hey, Twilight, you know the pony Princess Luna talked about? He's here with a guard. You didn't tell me they were a stallion, though."

"A stallion?" The posh voice asked, going from worried to curious in an instant. A light blue aura took hold of the second door, making it appear like an inner power source was emanating through the crystal before the door swung into the room. Less than a second after that, a pony's head peeked out into the hallway, with their horn aglow in blue.

It was clear to Neil that the mare before him took exemplary care of herself. There wasn't a single flaw in her well-brushed white coat. Her swooped and voluminous curled hairstyle looked complex, without a single purple hair out of place. Even her eyelashes looked meticulously brushed and evenly spaced, as her critical blue eyes quickly locked on and scanned over them before lighting up with genuine joy.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Gentlestallions. You may call me Rarity. Please come in, both of you. I'm sure Twilight doesn't mind having a few tall, well-dressed stallions in her room," She offered with a coy smile before looking back into the room. "Do you Twilight?"

While Rarity was introducing herself, the second mare, now identified as Twilight, was already addressing Spike. "Luna only mentioned a pony, Spike. But, if he's the pony Luna told us about, he's infected by the Tantabus just like the rest of us." She then called out a little louder, "We're just about finished if you'd like to join us?"

Neil quickly glanced at Bulk, only to see the Pegasus was in his professional guard mode. So, with an ambivalent shrug, more to himself than anyone else, he casually made his way towards the room.

Once they were moving, Rarity quickly retreated into the room. However, she was kind enough to keep both doors open as her aura also transferred to the other door. "Oh, I wonder which of you will be meeting the literal stallion of your dreams? Do you think it's Fluttershy? I could see her meeting a dashing young stallion during her stint as a fashion model."

Neil was just getting his first glance at the room's crystal interior when Rarity turned to look back at him, flashing the triple diamond emblem on her rump, as if she planned her words and actions perfectly. "You wouldn't happen to work in the fashion industry, would you, Mr..?"

"Neil, and I've never worked in the fashion industry." He told her honestly if a bit bluntly, diverting his eyes away from the white mare and onto the slightly narrowing eyes of Spike. Even if he was, what would he do? Model seasonal clothing in the local Co-Op flyer? Pushing that errant thought aside, he quickly looked around the rest of the room.

Like the rest of the castle, the walls were made out of crystal ranging from purples to various hues of blue. What wasn't expected was the sheer number of beds cluttering the room. Up against the wall, beside the door, was a fancy four-poster bed, perhaps a little larger than his bed in the infirmary. But eight more beds were fanned out in a circle from that base, taking up most of the room's space.

Each bed looked to be large enough for only a single occupant. Oddly enough, however, a ninth bed was off to the side, right next to a bronze and blue telescope.

That's where he saw the final occupant of the room, her horn glowing the same pinkish-red that relieved Spike of his pillow pile. She wasn't holding pillows, though, not anymore, at least. Judging by the strong scent permeating the room, what appeared to be black permanent markers danced around the final bed as she drew a complex circle with odd-looking symbols around it.

That must have been Princess Twilight, judging by her glowing horn and partially flared wings as she concentrated on her task. Neil had to admit he was expecting the purple mare to be taller, at least as tall as he was, though more in line with Celestia and Luna. Instead, she was as tall as Rarity.

However, the one mare he was expecting to see was suspiciously missing from the room. "I was told Rainbow was here? She's supposed to explain what the Tantabus is and why I'm even here."

"Rainbow? She was here just a moment ago," Rarity admitted as she quickly looked around the room. Once that failed, she walked to the four-poster bed and thoroughly checked it. "I do find it odd that Princess Luna would ask you to speak with her instead of Twilight..." Her eyes lit up as she looked at the canopy before she looked towards the ceiling. "Rainbow! What are you doing up there?"

Following Rarity's gaze, Neil spotted Rainbow hovering against the domed ceiling. Each hoof held a rag as she polished the crystal above. The pegasus took a few seconds to finish buffing a patch of glistening crystal before looking down to answer Rarity. "Cleaning. What? I said I'd help, and cleaning's helping."

"But polishing the ceiling?" Rarity asked with a raised eyebrow, only for her eyes to widen, and a small, but playful smirk grew on her muzzle. "Unless Neil was a part of your dream?"

Neil looked up to gauge Rainbow's response, but she was already gone by then.

Returning his sight down, he found Rainbow was already on the same side of the bed as Rarity. She looked a little flustered but still countered the unicorn's accusation. "Nuh-uh. No way! Don't you dare think I have frou-frou dreams about stallions!"

Before the topic could devolve into a full-blown argument between them, Neil cut into the conversation. "Rainbow, what does she mean by part of your dream?"

That seemed to do the trick as she looked towards him instead of the white mare. "Oh, uh, Princess Luna had a dream about us. That's how Smokey learned about us and invaded our dreams. Then I had a dream about-" Rainbow cut herself off, looking slightly panicked before turning back to Rarity, who was now sporting a victorious if slightly teasing grin.

Ignoring that, Neil finished that line of thinking for her. "Okay, and through your dream, I'm now infected." He found the whole situation insane. An evil dream monster? What was next, an unkillable murderer with a hockey mask and a machete? "So if I were to dream about Bulk," He hypothetically asked, gesturing toward the pegasus beside him, "He would be infected by the next night? That's how it works?"

He was expecting either Rainbow or Rarity to answer him. Instead, it came from the other side of the room as Twilight finished whatever she was doing and sealed the markers held in her aura. "Essentially correct, though the Tantabus would likely reach out and infect Bulk soon after he appeared in your dreams."

"So this thing spreads fast, too. But why does that matter? What does it do?" He asked, trying to balance the severity of their reactions (Except for Spike, who was now reading a comic on one of the beds) to an admittedly fast-spreading but otherwise benign sounding... parasite? Though he had to admit, the thought of a parasite swimming around in his head that very moment...

He brushed aside that particular thought as Twilight began to speak. "Once the Tantabus infects a dreamer, their dream changes into a nightmare. Allowing the parasite to feed on the negative emotions and gain power. The more dreamers it infects, the faster it can do so. Once it has enough power, Princess Luna thinks it will be able to escape from the dream realm into the real world and turn all of Equestria into one massive, never-ending nightmare!"

... Which was bad. Really bad, Neil had to admit, if the threat was real. Thinking back to his previous night's sleep, he couldn't remember whether or not he had a nightmare. He didn't wake up in a cold sweat, at the very least. "One last question then. How are we going to stop this thing?"

"With luck, we might not need to do anything," Twilight explained as she opened the top drawer of her modest dresser and stored the markers. "Right now Luna should be sleeping. As the only infected dreamer, the Tantabus should be drawn to her dream and attack it. If it does, she can capture it. If not, all the affected dreamers will sleep here while Luna tracks down the Tantabus in our dreams."

Neil's entire body tensed. Luna was going to be in his head? He knew she could do something similar after her anti-swearing stunt. But if she could delve into his dreams, why not his memories? What sort of secrets could she discover about him? What would happen if she found out he wasn't a pony? What could he possibly do to stop this!?

"" Neil felt a hoof touch his shoulder, and more out of instinct than conscious thought, his head jerked to see Bulk looking at him with worry. "You alright?"

"Fine. Just fine," Neil admitted, though his body felt a bit... twitchy; His wings especially, as he all but forced them against his sides to prevent movement. Ignoring that for now, he glanced around the room to find that he was not only the center of attention, but the mares were either looking at him with worry or poorly hidden disbelief. "What?"

Rarity was the first to speak, her calm voice attempting to put him at ease. "Darling, please don't take this wrong way, but you appeared to zone out right after Twilight explained tonight's plan."

"He-he, yeah..." Rainbow Dash laughed awkwardly, looking nervous all of a sudden. "I mean, we're used to this kind of stuff because we're awesome," She admitted, gesturing to herself and the two other mares with a wing before pointing to him. "But he hasn't done anything like this before."

Neil couldn't understand why she called him out like that, but he felt mildly affronted by it as she diverted the room's attention back to him. She didn't stop moving either, as she spread her other wing and gave both a light flap. She easily launched herself over the canopy bed mattress before gliding the rest of the way next to him. "Tell you what. You girls finish setting things up. I'll take Neil and Private Bulk into Ponyville for a tour or something."

"Oh, of course, Darling. We wouldn't want to overwhelm Mr. Neil or his guard stallion during their first End of Equestria as We Know It event," Rarity conceded before her eyes lit up. "And if you feel a bit peckish, there's a quaint little cafe at the end of Stirrup Street. Rainbow knows where it is. Just tell them Rarity offered lunch, my treat."

Midway through Rarity's offer, Rainbow made her feelings about it and the situation they were in quite clear. She butted her head against his cloak-covered shoulder and managed to push him along the crystal floor and out the door without much issue. "Sure thing, Rarity. See you later Twi."

It was an odd feeling, having the crystal slide underneath his hooves while Rainbow somehow found enough grip to push a stallion nearly twice her size. By the time he slipped into the hallway, Neil had assumed the same magnetic hoof ability that allowed ponies to pick up items as if they had hands, allowing Rainbow to grip the floor.

Bulk, his ever-vigilant guard against all threats to his well-being, followed diligently as well. Once all three left the room, Rarity gave one final wave of her hoof before her aura surrounded both doors. The last thing he saw was Twilight silently questioning him with a look before the doors closed with a light thud.

Rainbow let loose a frustrated groan right after and removed her head from his shoulder, looking him directly in the eyes. "You'd better be thankful. Rarity's going to hold that over my head for at least a month."

Neil had an inkling of what she meant, though he couldn't understand why he should be thankful to Rainbow and not Rarity for the free meal. But now that he was out of sight, he took the opportunity to loosen the stranglehold on his wings. Allowing the appendages to ruffle underneath the cloak before settling back down. "Hold what over your head?"

"She thinks I'm having frou-frou dreams about you, and now she offered to pay for a date." She groused, correcting his minor misconceptions before looking to the door with her ears perked. "Let's get this tour going."

Having just met her, he could imagine the posh unicorn pressing her ear against the door to listen in, if she was the matchmaking type. "You know what's going on better than I do. Lead the way."

As Rainbow led them out of the castle, Neil was half expecting her to make them detour and glide off the balcony he had passed earlier. Strangely enough, she didn't; instead, she opted for the stairs like an average pony. Still, the blue Pegasus was a flight junkie. So once he and Bulk braved the first few steps, she lazily hopped into the air and flew beside them the entire way down.

Once they reached the base of the stairs, she was even kind enough to fly ahead and open the front door as he and Bulk jogged along the short hallway. Everything seemed perfectly normal until he passed the threshold outside. Immediately he was bombarded with multiple unexpected noises, most of which were drowned out by the sound of crashing water as if a waterfall was nearby.

He could hear numerous birds whistling to his left, and a quick look confirmed a small flock of sparrows hopping along the surrounding crystal... roots?

Indeed, the surrounding crystal formation looked exactly like tree roots. His curiosity spiked, and Neil looked up. They were directly under the balcony, but the support structures to the right and left of it resembled thick, almost oak-like branches. It was the weirdest structure he'd ever seen, including his recent stint in Canterlot.

"Hey Neil, you coming?" Rainbow called out, drawing his attention away from the castle and towards the mare already a fair distance down the dirt path presumably leading to Ponyville. "Or are you going to stand there all day?"

"I'm coming! Just hold your... sails," Neil flubbed, as he stepped out of the doorway. Bulk followed closely behind, closing the door behind him with an outstretched wing. He knew they had horseshoes. But what about actual horses? So far there was no mention of them in any book he'd read.

Once he caught up to the hovering Rainbow, Neil asked, "So why are we suddenly taking this tour?"

"Because," She stated, giving the castle one last look back, "A part of the deal being your flight instructor was not revealing your secret. When you froze, I saw your wings twitching under the cloak. I'm sure Bulk did as well, right?"

"Yep," Bulk agreed, backing her up. "I knew somethin' was goin' on after the Princess was mentioned. It's why I jostled your shoulder."

He could only recall pausing for a second, maybe two at the most at the thought of Luna traipsing in through his memories. But if he almost gave away the fact that he was an Alicorn... "Did the other two notice?" He asked, glancing warily at the cottages they were passing by at the edge of town.

"If they did, they didn't say anything." Rainbow shrugged as if it was no big deal. "But I got you out of there, and now you owe me one. I'm thinking of more flight training to make up for lost time." She finished by spinning around. Her speed and trajectory didn't change as she flew backward, but her crossed legs and smug grin told him he wasn't getting away this time.

"After the tour, right?" He asked, keeping his eyes locked on hers without looking downwards. Given her current position, her entire underbelly was in open view as her tail trailed limply in the minute breeze their pace created. "Where would we even go so I'm not seen?"

Rainbow didn't notice or care about her unintended flashing as she shrugged. "I have a few spots I like to practice." Thankfully, she flipped back around so that her tail was at least covering the essential bits while her hoof pointed slightly to the west of the pointed brown roof. "But there's one spot near the Everfree that nopony goes to."

"The Everfree?" He perked up almost immediately upon hearing that. He had no idea that Ponyville was near his primary target.

"Yeah. You've heard about it?" She asked, looking back at him confused as the cottages around them became more dense.

"Only that it's a very dangerous forest where the old Castle of the Two Sisters remains." He offered nonchalantly as if it was just a bit of trivia he knew.

"A very dangerous forest, yeah. But me and the girls go in there all the time." She bragged, buffing a hoof against her chest even though her back faced him and Bulk. "You just have to avoid the cragadiles, cockatrice, ursas, manticores..."

Most of the monsters she listed, he had no idea what they were. But he knew what a manticore was, thanks to high school D&D sessions. There was no way they were the exact same creature. That was impossible, right? After all, unicorns were in no way near what the D&D version was. "... Timberwolves, plundervines..."

And, of course, he tuned back in the moment she said plunder-vines. Since his mind was already centered around his high school buddies, it immediately veered in an entirely different direction. 'Thank you, Ken, and your anime obsession for that less-than-appealing image.'

"... And star spiders, which are pretty harmless if you leave them alone." She finished as she took a left.

They were in the town proper now from the looks of it. Cottages of different shapes and sizes surrounded them, with randomly sized yards and spacing between buildings. Some were surrounded by low hedges, or picket fences. But most eschewed any sort of barrier entirely. Neil could even see a few businesses in the mix as well.

To his right was a square building with large oval windows and a large billboard on its thatched roof. The sign didn't say anything, per se, but it advertised... burgers and sodas. That had to be a mistake, right? Or it was a vegetarian alternative since he could only see the lettuce portion of the burger. As far as he knew, ponies avoided meat.

He thought he saw a second about one to two blocks in front of him. A jewelry shop of some sort, named 'Diamond In-' before the rest of the sign was cut off by a cottage. Unfortunately, he couldn't see if the shop was named after the well-known Aladdin cliche as he followed Rainbow and turned left.

Quite a few ponies, mostly Earth Pony mares, were walking around this area of town. Rainbow would give them a wave as she passed, and most would return the gesture. But more often than not, once their eyes shifted towards himself and Bulk, there would be a pause in their step, a raised eyebrow, or they would suddenly become nervous.

Thankfully, Bulk's gleaming armor was drawing most of the attention. A few caught sight of his horn, however. Those mares tended to flinch or look at him with pity, both of which he ignored.

A little down the street, they turned right at a two-story building that looked to have a storefront on the main floor creatively named 'Bon Bon's Bonbons'. He didn't have much time to look into the shop, but the sweet scent of sugary goodness that awaited inside the open door was tantalizing. Up above, a quaint little balcony was attached to the second story.

Folding chairs took up most of the space and a music stand suggested that it also housed an apartment or a living space. Weird, but not the oddest thing he'd seen.

The final street they traveled down was a little cramped for walking side by side and curved around more than a few buildings. As if they were built without considering their neighbors or before proper regulations were put into place. Rainbow swerved around the obstacles with ease.

At the end of that last narrow, shady street, the town opened into a wide open plaza. Everywhere Neil looked, ponies of all kinds were walking this way and that or stopping at small tents set up throughout the open area. The circular, four-story tall building with the pointed roof stood in the plaza's center. To Neil, the first two floors looked vaguely like a cake, with decorative lines made from wood planks and pink windows for accents.

He could see two signs facing separate directions from where he stood, with 'Town Hall' clearly written. Rainbow lazily hovered towards the building, her wings barely flapping to keep herself above the crowd as she went. Normally, Neil would have followed without a thought. But there was a veritable crowd of ponies barring the way. He'd seen crowds of ponies before, almost every single day since he'd shown up in Equestria. But that was always at a distance, hidden away in a crate. Actually, traversing through a gigantic mass of ponies? That was something he never had to contend with before...

Looking back to Bulk, who was as calm as always, Neil clenched his wings into his sides, took a deep breath, and pushed forward. The same phenomena that happened before when Bulk was spotted in his shining armor occurred again. Neil ignored it, though, fully intent on catching up with and walking next to Rainbow. He almost managed to catch up with the Pegasus as well, as she started to curve around Town Hall.

However, a medium-sized group of small pony children caused a break in the crowd as they followed a dark pink mare with smiling flowers on her flank. Thanks to them, he was allowed to see a strange phenomenon that gave him pause.

A fountain was sitting between the town hall building and the cottages wrapping around the plaza. In the center was a pony carved out of stone, balancing on a ball. But it wasn't the fountain itself that caught his interest. No, it was the light teal unicorn sitting at the fountain's edge as she played her harp very peculiarly.

It might have been a rash decision, but Neil veered towards the fountain. The unicorn was holding the harp and playing it with her aura. That was normal enough, Neil presumed. But, as he got closer, the more vindicated he felt. The unicorn was manifesting hands to play her harp, and not the three-fingered Minotaur hands he had seen in textbooks. Hers had four slim feminine fingers and a thumb, almost perfectly matching a woman's hand.

The tune she was playing was rather enchanting as well. An uplifting sort of ditty, that fit the cheerful market almost to a tee. Neil glanced to his side, noting that Bulk had followed on his little detour. "Is it normal to hold something like that?" He asked quietly, gesturing towards the harp.

"Some unicorns shape their magic in odd ways, yeah," Bulk whispered back, "I can't tell what sort of creature paw she's usin', though."

They even moved as they should, as the golden ethereal hands danced across the strings. Plucking one string after another with dexterous ease. Neil was convinced he knew the exact creature they belonged to. After all, he used to be human. And if it happened to him, perhaps she was a victim of circumstance as well. He wasn't going to voice that out loud, however.

"Hey, I thought we were on a tour. Why'd you stop here?" The slightly perturbed voice of Rainbow Dash asked from above, only for her to add a quick, "Oh, hi Lyra," When the music stopped.

Neil swore he felt the shift of Lyra's eyes and the crowd's as they all converged on Rainbow, Bulk, and himself. "Well, I rarely see street performers where I'm from. So, I thought I'd listen for a minute or two," He answered before giving a polite nod to Lyra. "You play your harp very well, by the way."

"Thank you! But it's a lyre technically," She corrected mildly before greeting the mare hovering directly above him. "Hello Rainbow. You don't normally stop and listen. How are things going for you today?"

"Well enough, I guess." Neil could hear the lazy shrug through the tone of her voice. "I'm giving these two ponies a tour of Ponyville at the moment."

"You did mention a tour. Welcome to Ponyville, both of you." Lyra beamed as a few mares, and even a light brown stallion in the crowd welcomed him and Bulk to town. "Did you come here on the morning train?"

"Nah, we didn't take the train," Neil admitted, "Me and Bulk were teleported here against our will about... a little less than an hour ago, I'd say. That about right?"

"Yep," Bulk agreed.

Neil had been expecting some sort of reaction, but beyond a few looks of curiosity or eye rolls, there wasn't.

"Against your will? Was it another of Twilight's failed experiments?" Lyra asked, looking at Rainbow.

"Nah. It's just another Tuesday sort of thing," The Pegasus explained as if it were an everyday situation.

Whatever Tuesday meant, that caused a more noticeable change in the nearby ponies. Ears perked up, and eyes glanced this way and that as the vicinity became more alert. Some even left, like the stallion and the two mares at his side, as if they were escorting him to safety.

"But, me and the girls are taking care of it." She continued casually, as if she doing her spring cleaning.

"That's good to know. Well, I hope you enjoy your stay," The musician offered, sounding a little more wilted. In that short amount of time, the crowd was cut in half. "It seems like I might be ending my performance a few hours early at this rate."

Luckily, Lyra didn't pack up right away. After taking a deep breath, she posed, closed her eyes, and started playing... not a happy tune. But not a sad one, either. As Neil listened, the best way he could describe it was alert, but with a hint of... the Mission Impossible theme? He sat there for an extra minute, just listening, but it was there. Odd.

Looking up, he was glad to see Rainbow was hovering horizontally instead of vertically, as he quietly asked, "Hey Rainbow, how much is an average month's rent in Ponyville?"

"Uh, most ponies pick a spot and build a house in Ponyville," She answered, a little louder than needed but not loud enough to disturb Lyra a second time. "If I had to guess, maybe fifty to a hundred bits a month? Why?"

"You'll see," He whispered before turning to the pegasus beside him. "Bulk, do you still have access to Celestia's account?"

"I have a few slips on me for emergencies," He confirmed after looking around at the diminished crowd. "I'm guessing you wanna make up for the crowd Rainbow chased away?"

"Yeah. Celestia likes it when I spend money on her ponies," He admitted quietly so only Bulk could hear. "How does... double the max rent for an entire year sound?"

"That sounds like you're tryin' to impress the mare or spend the Princess' bits like an idiot." He whispered back, clear enough to voice his disapproval. "You sure?"

"Definitely, to all three," Neil joked as he watched Bulk lean away before both wings dug into his armor. Seconds later, he had a slip of parchment in one wing and a quill and ink bottle in the other.

Even if Celestia didn't personally approve, what would she do? Taking the money back would rend her carefully constructed image as the perfect ruler. Even if this helped a fellow castaway adrift in a sea of ponies only a little, he was more than willing to help.

Once the Mission Impossible-esque song ended, Bulk quickly placed the folded slip of parchment into the instrument case, which was propped open against the fountain.

Lyra watched the guard with a hint of confusion as Bulk placed the parchment alongside a few golden coins, then retreated to Neil's side.

"A tip and an apology from the three of us for thinning the crowd," Neil clarified for her, "But, as much as I would like to stay, Rainbow still has a tour to finish."

He then turned away from the musician, to the south. The direction Rainbow headed initially, before his little diversion. However, before he walked too far, he craned his neck back to tell Lyra one last thing. "Oh, and don't peek until after your performance ends for the day."

Hopefully, she followed his advice. If Bulk was right, and she was impressed by the amount, he wanted as much of a head start as he could get before the mare tried chasing him down.

Thankfully, Rainbow was more than ready to go as she swooped ahead of him. Leading the way once more as they curved around Town Hall and angled themselves towards a dirt path leading towards a darker, wilder, and ominous-looking wall of trees in the distance.

The hairs on the back of Neil's neck stood upright. A faint sense of wrongness welled up inside of him. Somehow, on some instinctual level, he knew without asking that the forest before him was the Everfree Forest...

His current goal looked a little more dangerous than he initially anticipated, as Rainbow brought them ever closer.

~~~

Neil's legs protested through sheer agony as he continued to run. Around and around, lap after lap, with nothing but the smell of torn-up grass, freshly exposed earth, and his own sweat to keep him company. And the worst part was that he and Rainbow knew that no matter what she put him through, he'd be perfectly fine by tomorrow morning.

That was why he was running as many laps as physically possible around the not-so-small clearing in the woods Rainbow had picked out.

"Thirty-four!" Rainbow yelled as he passed the starting position, the large tree branch she was currently lying on like a puffed-up, self-important Cheshire cat.

He desired to be back in town, listening to Lyra's music. That had been much more relaxing compared to this, even if he was surrounded by an unknown amount of ponies. But that had been three, perhaps four hours ago, judging by the sun's current position?

Then, as had happened so many times before, the inevitable caught up to him. His front left hoof slammed into the ground at a slightly wrong angle, causing a minor hitch in his cadence that snowballed from there. One moment, he was upright, gasping for breath as the outside edges of his vision faded to black. The next, he was sliding along the grass as dirt and plant matter intermingled with the foamy sweat on his belly before he finally stopped.

Rainbow was on him immediately, giving him about a second of rest to catch his breath. "Thirty-four and a quarter. Not bad for your third set of laps," She congratulated, patting a hoof against his burning shoulder. "Let's move on and focus on those wings again. Another hundred wing-ups, now!" She commanded before blowing a whistle.

Where she even picked up the infernal thing, Neil didn't know. But he managed to slowly extend his wings, each joint popping with discomfort, with only a small groan. It was a never-ending cycle. When running, his wings would get a short break.

Now that she decreed wing-ups, his front legs would get some time to recover. Unfortunately, his back legs and thighs never got a break. He suspected that was intentional on Rainbow's part.

"Who knows," Rainbow continued, with the whistle no longer pressed against her lips. "Another couple hours of this, and you might get off the ground on your next session. Then I can start teaching you the good-"

"TWENTY-FOUR HUNDRED BITS!?" The faint but shocked sound of Lyra's shriek wove through the trees.

... Clearly, Lyra had finished playing for the day as Neil collapsed into wheezing, gasping laughter.