"Oh, Heart's Warming is coming up." I commented as I read the date on one of the parcels.

Time sure flies fast when you're stuck in a forest.

"What's that again?" Moon asked as finally got up to open the packages.

"Heart's Warming. You never celebrated it before?"

"Uhhh, oh, right. The winter thing with the gift exchanged right?"

"Well, yeah but, it's a lot more than that. I thought you'd be more familiar since, you know. I guessed you probably spent a lot of time with Luna." Not a question I should've needed to ask.

"I, guess? I don't know, I didn't really understand it back then. Besides, I only learned about it when Celestia gave Luna a scarf."

Well. Shit.

Now I can't tell if they were actually friends or not.

"Eh, doesn't matter. I don't really care about it anyway." Moon said and picked up a box from the pile of packages.

"You should. Hearth's Warming is one of those rare events where you can show how much you care about somepony."

"It's that important?"

"One of the more important ones. At least, that's what I was told when I was a kid."

"I, hmm. Alright, I'll keep it in mind." She said with a thoughtful expression before shaking the thought away. "Who the fuck is Fancy Pants?" She asked as she read one of the parcels.

"No clue, though they're probably a noble." I answered and opened the one I was holding.

"What kind of status did you have to get these kinds of packages?" She asked and held up a glass box.

A diamond bigger than my head was nestled nicely on a red pillow.

"I was a farmer." I just answered and took a closer look.

"Authentic Blue Diamond excavated in the soils of the dragon lands. Checked and verified by 'Glamorous Gems'. I don't know who this 'Fancy Pants' guys is, but at least he knows where his gems should come from." Moon said after reading a tag.

"Are gems from the dragon lands good?" I curiously asked and went on to open another one.

"Well, yeah. It's kind of a gamble compared to Equestria, but if a pure lump of carbon manages to be buried deep under one of the volcanoes, with the heat from the lava, a pretty damn rare diamond can come out."

"Huh. How much are these worth then?"

"Well, I don't know how much these are worth now. But Luna did get this exact diamond before, just a lot smaller. About the size of a hoof. I'm pretty sure that one went for over two million bits."

"Two million? For a lump of coal?" I was honestly a bit shocked.

"Don't look at me. Ponies are the ones who found it valuable in the first place. The most expensive things for Nocturnals were crops, since we needed to light to grow them."

"Alright. Then how about this?" I asked and held up a ring.

"Dude, I'm not a noble of Equestria. I really couldn't tell you." She said with a shrug and took it in her hooves.

"Hmm, well. I don't really have a use for these, so you can take them if you like." I said and went for another one.

"Eh, it won't look good. The gold doesn't match my fur." She said and grabbed another box. "Hey, Remedy, I just realized. These things are addressed for 'Floral Green'. How'd they know your past name, in fact, when did you change your name?"

"I never legally changed it. You'd have a better chance finding a six leaf clover than a legal document about me. That's why I was surprised when Celestia first found my file." I proceeded to open the next one. "Me and my brother both changed our names at some point, though I did it a lot earlier than him, I think."

Actually, exactly when did I change my name again?

"You have a brother?"

"Yeah? I didn't tell you?" I brought out a blue box and opened it. "Cold sweets?"

Eh, it's been at least thirty years. It's not like I can remember every single detail.

"No, or I was pretty tired then." She said and ignored the others. "So, is he as ridiculous as you?"

"Not in the sense you're suggesting, no." I thought about Bright. "He's a, uh, an extremely egoist pony. Bright Idea was an inventor, though not of weapons, all of his creations were pretty damn good. At least, I remember him asking me to help him make a structure to hold a copper pole in place."

"So he's arrogant?"

"Yeah, that's the word."

"So, why did he want you to build that?"

"I don't remember his exact words, but it was something about lots of power. According to him, lightning could be harnessed and used as energy. Though, I have no clue how that ended up." I shrugged and opened the last one. "We did end up in the hospital a bunch of times because of his experiments though."

"Damn, so you hate him or like him?"

I was about to answer, then I actually remembered the times I spent with him. I remember us fighting over a fucking rock before. Honestly, as ridiculous as it sounds, that rock was mine, for sure. I definitely found it first.

"Eh." I gave a nonchalant shrug. "We were brothers, what can I do about it?"

"Hmm. Sounds right, I guess." She took the answer. "Hey, what do you want me to call you anyway? Remedy or Floral?"

"Depends, what's your real name?"

"Oh, that's easy. It's 'Puer Umbrae Laito Nocturn'." She said.

I had a blank face as I stared.

"What? I was literally the child of a god, adopted, sure, but still. Oh! And I was Nightingale Chorus for a bit before I got adopted. It's why Luna still calls me 'Night', even though I told her not to." She said that last part with an annoyed expression.

Well, then this issue might be a lot bigger than I though. If Luna knows about her past, and still calls her 'Night', then she's basically worsening her relationship with Moon every time she calls her.

"Well, you can call me whatever you want." I spoke up.

"Alright, then I'll call you Floral, 'cause nopony else calls you that." She said with a proud expression.

"Although not one of worst reasons I've heard somepony call another a name, it's still on the boring side." I said with a chuckle.

"Oh, fuck off." She replied with a chuckle as she reached into the blue box. "So, what the hell is this thing?"

"Don't know. It's cold, but not frozen, why don't you give it a try?"

"Yeah sure."

That was the day I realized Moon really, really likes sugar. Which prompted me to hide away the box of chocolates by carving a tree inside out as she devoured all thirty six of the cold treats inside the blue box.

I'm sure she'll learn her lesson after the crash.

At least she made quite a bit of progress on the treehouse before collapsing from fatigue.

"That's why you can't go into the Everfree, even of it's just because of your friends and school ended early." Derpy talked in a tone not a lot of ponies knew she could.

"Got it, mom." Dinky Hooves, who had not, to the relief of her mother, inherited the misaligned eyes.

"Good, now mommy's gotta go do her job, alright? Have a good day at school!" She said with a smile before flying away, accidentally hitting a street light on the way.

Dinky flinched slightly as she worriedly watched her mother fly away, looking for a few extra seconds just in case she got hurt. Though, it didn't last much longer as the bell rang and Dinky ran into school building.

Now, despite having just heard an incredibly disturbing news from her mother, Dinky was very smart, and also very much a child. Since she was never going to go into the Everfree forest anyway, she decided it was not her problem.

What she didn't think of was, that another had just happened to listen in on their conversation.

"Silver, did you hear what that mare said?" A very pink filly with a tiara asked her friend.

"Of course I did, but that can't be true right?" A grey filly with glasses asked back.

"No way, Nightmare Moon can't be back. Twilight and her goons destroyed Nightmare Moon back then. She's gotta by lying."

"How would we know for sure though?"

"Isn't it simple? We just go into the Everfree to look."

"Go into, the Everfree? Are you sure, Diamond Tiara? That seems like a bad idea."

"Come on, that Postmare said it's not even that long in. Just a quick ten minute walk in and we're done." Diamond encouraged her friend as a few plans went through her head.

Mainly on how she can cause the biggest mess that would gather the most attention.

"Diamond Tiara! Silver Spoon! Just what are you still doing outside?! And why are you two in that bush?" The teacher yelled out at the students.

"Oh crud." They said in unison before sprinting to the schoolhouse.

No matter how much power they have, in this little town, the teacher held a much more powerful position than you would assume. Especially over kids.

"Who?" Floral said in an absolutely flabbergasted tone.

I stifled my laughter as I stared at his fully shocked face.

I just took a sip of my mixture of whiskey and tea, mostly whiskey, as I stared at their conversation. Oh and I'm currently hanging from the bottom of treehouse. I don't entirely understand how this is working, but I'm basically making my hooves stick by using a bit of Nocturnal magic.

"I am Fancy Pants. I'm the current patriarch of the family your brother, Bright Idea has started, sir." That white dude with the tuxedo repeated himself.

Don't know why he's so damn terrified though. His face is basically begging Floral to not go ape shit.

"And I'm the matriarch, Fleur De Lis." The white mare with a nervous expression said. "Sir!" She quickly added on.

"I, how?" Floral was absolutely losing it.

About a full minute went on with just Floral sitting with the most confused face I've ever seen on him.

"So, you're telling me. That, Bright Idea, the same asshole who told a mare that she was too dumb to be his marefriend, actually got married and managed to have kids? The same guy whose ego was big enough for him to say 'Gods may be stronger, but I will always be the most intelligent'. That guy?"

Is that what he's confused about? Holy shit, I'm actually struggling to hold my laughter in. This shit is one of the most entertaining things I've seen in my time here.

"Um, according to family tree, Patriarch Bright conceived four kids in total." The male one said.

"I, alright. That sounds unbelievable, but since you somehow know about my name, I'll, accept it, somehow." Damn, he's really struggling to accept it.

Hmm, I'm starting to get a headache. I should probably stop hanging upside down.

"Why don't you just admit you're jealous, Floral?" I finally spoke up and landed on the ground.

Feeling a bit heated from the whiskey, I made my way over to Floral. Though I was rudely interrupted by some moron in a guard costume, pointing a sword at me.

Oh wait, that's an actual guard. The fuck is up with that stance?

"HALT!" He yelled in my face.

Seriously?

"Is the guard training that bad nowadays? You really think your neck and jaw muscles are stronger than your hooves?" I asked as I examined the guard.

There's barely even a hint of an actual battle stance. He doesn't even have the basics down. He can basically be pushed down, and why is he standing as high as possible? His neck is left completely unprotected.

Before I could actually make an action, I froze for a slight bit as I felt that familiar bloodlust.

"Hey. Be careful where you point that thing. You should know when somepony is an enemy or not." Floral sternly said with a blank face and sharp glare.

The guard was basically in shambles from the pressure.

"Yo, you should probably stop that before these guys faint." I managed to say in a joking tone as I went ahead and laid down behind him.

He let out an annoyed breath as I felt the bloodlust crawl back in.

"If this is the best guards you have, I suggest hiring some better company. And I assume it's your best, this is the Everfree after all." He said in a cold voice that sent a bit of shivers.

"Y-yes, sir. I'll make sure to check the skills next time." The fancy guy replied in a shaking tone.

Props to him for still maintaining his smile.

The mare was trying to secretly shove the guard back behind her.

Huh. She's standing pretty strong right now. That composure too, she might actually be a fighter.

"Anyways." I spoke up to break the ice. "You guys got anything else to say?"

"Oh, yes, actually. Since I have never managed to meet Fancy's family, I thought to at least introduce myself to you." Thankfully, the mare noticed my attempt and directed the attention somewhere else.

"You two are married, yes?" Floral asked with a much calmer tone.

"Um, yes. We've been engaged for fourteen years by now." The stallion spoke out.

Sensing that I don't really have much of an interest in their discussion, I took a small stretch and looked around the camp.

A whole squadron of guards, a carriage and a wagon. Wait, if there's a while squad, why'd only one guard move? Is he actually a rookie?

Looking at that wagon, I can see it's full of all kinds of random stuff. Gems, gold, boxes of stuff. Are those clothes and shit? There's a bunch of hats and, some round thing with three needles moving around in a circle. It's a clock? Why's it so tiny?

Looking at those items, I couldn't help but feel like I should be thinking about something.

OH SHIT!

Taking a glance at Floral and seeing him be distracted with some serious talk, I took the chance and stood up.

"Hey, you, the mare." I called her and went over to her.

"Moon?" Floral asked.

"Shut up, Floral. Mare talk." I quickly made an excuse and went over to her.

The guards were a bit too damn cowardly to actually stop me.

"Uh, yes ma'am?" The mare was terrified.

"Girl, drop that shit. I need you to find something for me." I quickly asked and looked back at Floral to make sure he was out of earshot.

"Y-yeah, sure. Whatever you need." She said in a shaking tone.

"Perfect." I whispered and grew a smile.

I got the perfect idea.

"I need you to find me a cloud walking spell."

"What?" She was a bit confused.

"Come on, don't make me repeat myself, you're too young to be going deaf. I need you to find me a spell that lets me walk on clouds." I said and wrapped a hoof over her shoulders. "Don't scream or anything, I need to make sure you do this in secret."

"I, um, may I ask why?"

"The fuck you mean why? Isn't it obvious?"

"No? Not really."

"Look, it doesn't matter, I just need you to do me this favor and find me that spell."

"I, uh, can, teach you the spell right now."

"Even better!" I accidentally shouted and shut my mouth.

Taking a peek over my shoulder at the two stallions talking seriously, I sighed in relief and turned to the mare.

"Alright, teach me that spell right now."

"So, you want my blessing?"

"Well, yes. Although I keep calling you the brother of Bright, you're still my ancestor." Fancy Pants said in a slightly nervous tone.

"Okay, first of all. Calm down, you're not talking to Celestia or something." I said and grabbed a nearby cup. "And I'm not exactly your ancestor since I was adopted into that family." I continued and poured in some tea for him.

"I, see, but it shouldn't matter if you're adopted. I just wanted to make it official, I suppose." He said, still a bit nervous as he accepted the tea.

"Oh don't worry, I've never let that bother me." I reassured him. "And for the blessing, I guess I could try." I said and thought of the words.

What do you usually say for a blessing.

"May the light of the sun keep thine marriage divine, and Harmony bless thine future. Does something like that work?"

"Y-yes! That works just fine. Thank you."

"It's fine, sorry I'm not good with these things."

"It's good, it's perfect. Don't worry about it." He said in quick succession. "Since I'm introducing myself, I'll leave the wagon with you. I hope you found my gifts to be good, and the ones my wife have brought."

"Speaking of gifts." I muttered as I thought of a problem. "Could you get me some silver chains. Preferably, ones that won't break or rust easily?"

"Yes, absolutely. I can do that for you." He said and took a sip.

Looking at his pleased expression, I glanced at my pot of tea. I wonder if I could make it better?

"Good, I need you to get them to me in the next week. As early as possible." I knew I was being a bit demanding, but those chains are more important right now.

Moon liked the ring, but she said she didn't like the color. And getting her a ring might feel a bit weird.

"I can get them to you on the day after tomorrow."

"Perfect, I'll thank you in advance." I said and gave a nod.

"No problem, sir." He gave a small bow.

"You don't need to do that, and just calling me Re-actually. Where did you get my real name?" I almost forgot to ask about that.

"That, I found about you a bit from your brother's recordings, and the rest from Princess Celestia."

"Celestia huh? She should really warn me about stuff like this." I mumbled that to myself. "Wait, recordings?"

"Yes? I was under the impression you knew, since he seemed to be connected to you by the time he first made it."

Oh, right. He did mention something about that in a letter.

So the asshole actually managed it. Getting big from his inventions. I chuckled once as I grew a proud smile. The idiot actually achieved his dreams, and got over all the struggles.

Why do I feel like something went wrong though?

"Well, I advise you to leave as early as possible. Monsters tend to attack this camp." I gave the suggestion.

"Excuse me, monsters? Right, I can make it so that guards are regularly stationed here." He said in an encouraged tone.

Taking a glance at the squadron of guards standing at the wagon, I almost let out a worried sigh. They'd been standing for about thirty minutes at best, and they all look like they're about to fall down. Speaking from experience, they should be able to stand in those armors under the blazing heat for at least eight hours. A bit of bloodlust shouldn't even faze the guards of nobles and royalty.

"I advise against that. If those guards really are your bests, they won't even survive a minute in a fight to the death." Rather harsh words, but I won't let others die because of negligence.

"I, see." Fancy replied in a discouraged tone.

"Don't worry, Luna said that she'll take over the guard training from now on. Those guards should start being able to fight soon enough." I tried to relieve him of his worries slightly with those words.

Not sure of they worked though.

"Well!" I said in chipper tone. "You should head out now. You don't wanna know what it's like to stare into Timberwolf's maw."

"Yes, I understand. I'll visit again, si-Floral." He caught himself.

I grew a calm smile and gave a nod.

"Oh, and, if you see monster walking into the barrier. Don't attack, you'll die." I gave that warning.

He gulped once before nodding and calling his crew.

Moon seemed to be done with her 'Mare talk' with Fleur De Lis.

Watching them slowly leave, I made sure they went out of sight before addressing Moon.

"So, what did you two talk about?" She asked first.

"Depends, what did you two talk about?"

"Forget it, it's mare talk. You don't need to know." She said rather quickly.

Thank Ce-

Who do I thank again?

Anyways, it's a good thing she didn't pursue the matter. It should stay a surprise after all.

Finally letting out a breath, I breathed heavily as I gave a few relieved chuckles.

Fleur seemed to share the same views.

"Dear Celestia, that was much more intense that I thought it would be!" I let out and got on the carriage.

"You're telling me. Your ancestor is a really scary guy huh?" She asked back with a nervous laughter.

"Absolutely, and the way he addressed the princesses. It seems like he's just decided to live a quite life, since he just calls the princesses by name."

"Yeah, no kidding." She said and let out a relieved breath before collapsing onto the seat and leaning on me.

I wasn't much better as I laid back fully onto the seat, forgetting all about etiquette.

"What the!" Hearing one of the guards, best of the best in Canterlot by the way, I quickly rose up and looked at where they had their weapons pointed at.

Witnessing a gigantic Timberwolf casually strolling into the barrier, along with a child that seemed to have a skip in their step, I sweated slightly, wondering what I should do. Though, remembering Ancestor Floral's words, I let out a deep sigh and sat back in my seat.

"Forget the wolves and move back to Canterlot!" I gave the command.

Author's Note

Alright guys, one more to the chapter pool!

Not much to say on this one, regretfully.

So, as always, thanks for reading!