Heavenly Crusaders

by The Loner

Rating: mature
Tags: Drama, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Other, Princess Luna, Tragedy, Starswirl the Bearded, Adventure, Violence, Princess Celestia, Death, Main 6
Length: 111820

While fighting against Sombra's forces, the crusaders fight to the last to keep their leaders safe.

Nopony knows for sure where they came from, but as they started searching for a way to fulfill their purpose in the world the holy crusaders found themselves in, they do what they can while enduring whatever challenges fate throws at them. After learning that two Alicorns have been born, they band together to face whatever enemies threaten their peaceful lands.

Many centuries later, one of the remaining souls continues his family line. Having two foals, one girl and one boy, he names the pegasus filly Derpy Hooves and his unicorn son True Heart.

NOTE: THE TRAGEDY TAG IS FOR EARLY ON WITH THE ORDER'S HISTORY

Published 2024-10-11 04:20:00 UTC
Last updated 2025-02-18 02:07:01 UTC

1: A new world

Author's Note

Sorry to make this such a fat starting chapter, I just had to get the time skip out of the way before getting to the real story!

1: A new world

A powerful alicorn spirit watches the events of another world with tears flowing down her face as she collects another soldier from one of many battles to claim the holy city of Jerusalem between the Saracens and the Templar order, saying "Oh how you stir complex emotions within me, soldiers of god, I mourn and grieve for each of you that falls in this struggle."

After spending a little over two centuries to collect certain souls, her mind conjures up the memory of the fall of Acre and causes a tear to drop from her left eye. Not wanting to see any more suffering, she uses her magic to travel to the dimension where she placed each of the souls she gathered, looking upon the hundreds of thousands of gathered souls thinking, 'I must find a way for their souls to hear my words...'

Using her magic to grant them spectral bodies, as well as being able to listen, think, and speak, she watches their souls each choose its own appearance. She looks upon the souls as their transparent ghostly bluish white equine forms look around at each other and talk to each other about what just happened, what they are, where they are, who they are, as well as what is going on when she clears her voice a few minutes later to get their attention.

Hearing someone clear their voice causes the gathered souls to go silent, making the din of confused voices go silent as each one turns to face who just spoke. A surprised gasp or quiet murmur can be heard occasionally from someone in the group as they take notice of a gently glowing form towering above them with no discernible details besides having an equine shape with thin, long legs, a large pair of wings sitting against their sides, and a long horn on their forehead.

The spirit watches the souls and hears several of them mutter about how her mane and tail flows and chuckles lightly before saying, "I must look quite strange to you, but let me clear up some of your confusion for you. You all have perished while performing your duties admirably, however, your order has lost control of the East. Personally, I think that your leaders were led astray by their desires, because you were protectors when your order was first created. You were at your best when you watched over and helped guard travelers to and from the east, not as the conquerors you later became." Shaking her head lightly, she sighs and says, "Forgive me for getting off topic, it has been some time since I last spoke with anyone capable of holding a conversation."

The souls all watch with rapt attention as they hear her continue speaking, "After you died, be it battle, wounds, or sickness, I collected certain pure souls over a number of years and placed you here. I had already asked your god if they would grant me aid, and it was granted to me in the form of permission to borrow a number of souls to fulfill my mission."

Extending her wings in a raised, regal manner, she stands tall and says, "I have brought you all here because I need your help in a world much different than the one you came from, one where Mankind has never been before. This world is under my care, and I am not a god, I am just a otherworldly, incredibly long-lived being with numerous and wondrous magical powers. The world I wish to send you to is inhabited by numerous races of creatures, some sentient, and others not. Though the sentient ones are capable of thought and learning, they have not yet discovered how to speak or write. I ask you to serve as protectors to the sentient races, help them find their way into the world, and set out to find knowledge and discovery. If there should ever be more creatures such as I, protect them from harm as they will be a beacon of hope for the future. When each of you passes from life into death once more in your service, you shall return to your god's realm. I will grant the first few thousand of you with living bodies that your soul has already decided on, hence your spectral, ghostly appearance. As for the rest of you, you shall be reincarnated from birth whenever I decide necessary and shall retain your memories, however you will have to relearn how to use your body and speak. I strictly forbid you all from sharing your memories with anyone but each other and the ones like me."

Wanting to add one more thing before she sends the first Templars to the new world, she adds, "Before I continue, I want you all to heed one bit of advice while you are down there. Beings like me yearn to bring peace and harmony, and in turn, peace and harmony are glorious. In spite of one's station in life, all are equals in a god's eyes. Love, friends, and family are treasures...food, sleep, and shelter are necessities...knowledge is a double-edged blade, and magic is not evil sorcery, but a useful tool. All else is a luxury which one can live without." Seeing their faces nod and bow their heads in agreement, several others voice their acceptance of her task, which brings a smile to her face as she says, "Now I would call upon those knowledgeable among you who have something to impart upon others."

Still feeling it their duty to help others, a couple hours pass as the souls discuss amongst themselves who will be the first to enter a new world. Once the volunteers gather before the towering being and bow their heads to her while bending down on their left foreleg, saying in unison, "We are ready to serve, Your Majesty. Send us where you will, the Templar Order will not disappoint you."

As she prepares to send them to the warm northern lands, she tilts her head ever so slightly and comments, saying, "I always found it strange how your god told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply, repeating the same thing to their children and their children's children, and so on. What I find out of place is how your entire order swore oaths of chastity..." then pauses and raises an unseen eyebrow asking, "Isn't that impolite to your god when they clearly expect you to raise families and teach your children how to live their lives?"

Seeing them rise to their hooves and open their mouths to say something, she cuts them off and says, "My apologies for overstepping, but I just thought I would give you something to think about and possibly reconsider. On to your new lives with you, and be sure to remember the duties I charged to your order."

When she begins to do something with her horn, they turn to each other as one of them asks, "We must have a way to figure out who is reincarnated, how will we accomplish that, brothers?"

An older unicorn with a white mane and tail thinks for a moment, saying, "What do you think about a challenge, saying, 'Life is Sacred' or its latin translation, 'Vita sacra est'?"

A light orange pegasus Templar answers, "That sounds good, then the answer can be 'Our duties shall lead to glory' or in latin, 'Officia nostra ad gloriam ducet' "

With a nod, they practice it together for a few moments to commit it to memory, then turn to face the others behind them as the older one speaks up and says, "Commit these things to your memories, brothers, for there is a challenge that will be asked upon meeting another templar of the order. The challenge phrase in common is, 'Life is Sacred' or in latin it's, 'Vita sacra est'."

When the other group repeats both translations a few times, they say it together as the first group nods with the older one saying, "The answering phrase to identify you as a reincarnated brother in common shall be, 'Our duties shall lead to glory' or in latin, 'Officia nostra ad gloriam ducet'

As they practice it and get the other group to do the same, the older one raises his voice, saying the challenge phrase, "Vita sacra est." waiting a moment before saying, "Reply." When the large group calls back with the correct phrase in latin, he nods in satisfaction, saying, "Do not allow yourself to forget the challenge and its reply, for you all will be expected to remember it to claim your place as a special member of our order just as we will. Together, the first of us shall found the new order and call it Celestial Crusaders."

Once they turn back to her, she takes a breath and begins to cast her spell, saying, "May you do well in the times ahead, Crusaders." Sending them off in a brilliant flash, she looks upon the empty space they once stood with a hopeful sigh and lifts her eyes to look upon the rest of the crusaders waiting to be reborn and says, "You all will be waiting around quite a bit, so I recommend that you tutor each other in what you do not know so that your minds and skills stay sharp."

As the first group appears on the ground and looks around, the older one looks around and turns to face the others, saying, "Alright, first thing we must do is find a place we can make our home, one which we shall expand underground to store our collected knowledge as we record what we know of the past."

Time Passage

So, the newly formed order of Crusaders set out to locate a suitable location to start a shelter, taking them several weeks until they stumble upon a solitary peak amid vast, grassy plains. As they choose to make it their home, they work together to gather building materials to craft makeshift shelters as they attempt to make a cave partway up the mountain into their main base.

The alicorn spirit watches with great interest at how the group shares knowledge with each other and teaches new things to those who do not know them. A year passes as they decide to be a leaderless order when at peace, then the younger ones are sent out in groups of fifty to a hundred to wander the world and learn new things as well as educate the ones capable of thought.

Over the first few years they suffer a few setbacks at first when making first contact with the world's denizens, with some of them just turning tail and running away or choosing to fight.

As time passes, the denizens begin to form tribes after being educated by the Celestial Crusaders. Watching with eyes wide with happiness, the teenage alicorn fights against her urge to prance in place, thinking, 'Oh I am so glad that father let me borrow these souls to give my creations a guiding hand...er...hoof in my place.'

Decades pass by as the Celestial Crusaders learn magic from the unicorns and how to fly from the pegasi, slowly discovering new magic spells and sharing them with those able to use magic responsibly. Unexpectedly, it is the Crusaders who first discover the pegasi's inborn ability to walk on clouds and shape them.

Decades quickly turn into centuries as the Crusaders start to wear their trademark white cloaks leaving their neck and head exposed, with the reincarnated Crusaders having red crosses with flared ends while the regular members have plain crosses on the front and sides with only their backsides uncovered for some curious reason unknown to the spirit. She notices another order form within the Celestial Crusaders called the Hospitaller Knights with a different uniform being much the same way except being black with red crosses.

When things continue to progress over the years, the alicorn spirit is shocked to discover her powers of foresight have greatly weakened when she fails to see past the time of upheaval rapidly approaching, causing her to think over what she predicted so far, thinking, 'Why are my powers not working as they should, I wonder if my father might be able to tell me why.'

In his own dimension, watching over his own creations with a curious, watchful eye, he hears his daughter's voice speak about her failing powers and chuckles, saying, "Fear not, my daughter...everything is as it should be. I am impressed that your foresight lasted this long, it just means that you are coming into adulthood. It was inevitable that your foresight will slowly disappear when you are old enough, so you will have to learn to adapt to being unable to predict things as you could before. Everything will work out somehow, life and fate are interesting that way. By the way, your own creations are doing remarkably well compared to my own."

Her smile threatens to split her face in half at the praise her father just gave her, not caring in the slightest with how her powers will continue to weaken and eventually disappear altogether. When she takes a new breath, her body shivers as it senses something shifting around her. Able to smell the coming trouble, her cheerful mood turns somber as she sighs and thinks, 'Is it that time already? I thought I would have more time to let them prepare...'

Turning away from the mirror to face the others waiting to be reincarnated, she stands tall and says, "A time of struggle is quickly approaching, but I will tell you no more about it. Calmly approach me one at a time in a single line no longer than a hundred souls so that I may reincarnate you to do your part in the times ahead. Protect those you can and help them learn to fight to protect themselves, the only failure I shall punish you for would be to do absolutely nothing for others with your life."

Souls in front of the group stop what their doing as they begin to walk forward, starting to form a line already as they head towards her. A light orange pegasus stops before her and bows before her, kneeling on his left foreleg, closing his eyes and saying, "I am ready to serve god's will, Your Majesty."

Her throat collapses on itself as her breath hitches in it, a fierce blush coloring her cheeks a tinge of barely noticeable pink as her mind screams, 'Just how the world did he figure that out?!' Realizing how she was taken by surprise, she pushes that matter aside to deal with later and calms herself, saying, "May you make many fond memories in your life and have a happy family." She then chooses a mare trying hard for a foal and smiles upon her, then casts a spell upon the soul to send him to her and be reborn. Moving onto the next, she waits for a little while before sending him down to a different mare not in the act of trying for a foal.

A couple decades pass as she continues to send down souls at a more frequent pace when a malicious goat develops a way to steal magical powers and begins gathering goats able to talk like himself, then trains them to fight before sending them off to cause trouble as he starts to use his stolen powers to create monsters to prey upon the other sentient races.

As the Crusaders fight against the monsters and Grogar's hopelessly enslaved soldiers, the casualties goes well past a hundred thousand deaths before he is slain and his bell hidden away by a few reincarnated Crusaders forty years later.

The alicorn sheds her first tears at how many souls it took to bring Grogar's path of conquest to an end, resulting in the race's extinction. Sniffles and sobs escape her in spite of how hard she fights to hold them back as she watches an uneasy alliance form between the tribes, however, the trouble is only just getting started as black, insectoid, pony-like creatures start abducting ponies in the night. Some of the new creatures creep into the homes and beds of their victims and feed on their lust, while others do something similar but use magic to take their appearance and pose as their victims to feed on their love. However, the worst creatures snatch the newly deceased and feast on the misery they cause.

With no choice but to continue reincarnating souls at a quicker pace, it takes a century and a half to drive all but one hive into extinction, whose queen manages to evade being discovered. Looking over and seeing how only just over a hundred thousand remain of the hundreds of thousands she had collected to help her creations prosper, sighing heavily as she thinks to herself, 'How much more trouble lies ahead for my creations? Out of the 300,000 souls I collected over a few centuries, I find myself left with only a few hundred thousand!' Closing her eyes and praying silently, she prays in her mind, 'Oh father, please don't let there be any more battles like the last one, for I might not have the souls to drive back the darkness threatening my world and creations.'

Hearing his daughter's prayer, he sighs and caresses her cheek from afar, saying to her, "Don't lose your way to despair, my dear, everything will work out...I promise. All creations of life must go through a series of trials and hard times before getting a break. Have faith in my wisdom, please."

With her drive renewed and her spirits lifted, she wipes her tears away and stands tall once more, thinking, 'Right, my father promised things will work out, so I will continue keeping watch over them as they make their way through the times ahead and keep sending aid when it is needed.'

A few centuries pass as tensions start to grow between the tribes, despite the Crusaders doing everything they can to ease tensions, the once warm and fertile northern lands soon begin to head toward winter as the Windigoes become drawn to the anger and hatred held by the tribes towards each other.

As a group of earth ponies strikes out on their own, escorted by a few of the well-known and respected Celestial Crusaders, they eventually come across a pleasant place with its own weather and build their own village there. Years later, a black stallion stands beside his wife as she struggles to give birth to the largest foal recorded, he holds her small hoof in his, offering her encouragement, saying, "Come on dear, I know you are strong enough to bring our foal into the world. Remember what the Hospitaller doctors told you about needing to relax and the breathing exercises."

The white coated mare with an off-pink mane and tail with a moderate pale blue streak through them both and a pair of brilliant blue eyes turns to her husband with sweat running down her head and neck, hissing out in a pained voice, nearly shouting, "How do you expect me to relax when our child seems intent on splitting me in half!" Just then she cries out as another spasm hits her body, with the nurse urging her to push hard.

Watching with wide eyes from her secret dimension with the remaining souls, she fights to keep a squeal of joy from escaping her lips as she thinks, 'I knew that it was a distant possibility of another like me to be born, but I never realized that it would actually come to pass!'

The foal is born three hours later with a neighing cry as the nurse mutters to herself in astonishment, saying, "I've never seen anything like this...wings, and the horn of a unicorn?"

The stallion hears her as his eyes go wide while his wife struggles to remain conscious and heads over to see for himself, looking down at a nearly white filly with pale magenta eyes just like his. Having a flowing mane and tail consisting of several colors matching both his and his wife's, he is at a loss for words as he sees that she has both, wings and a horn. When she is swaddled in a pink blanket, he sits down on the floor and cradles her carefully in his forelegs, saying, "She is the first of her kind, dear, our daughter has both wings and a horn. What do you wish to name her?"

Staying awake just long enough to opening her eyes, she sighs breathlessly and asks, "She has a pegasi's wings and a unicorn's horn?"

Nodding, the black unicorn stallion says, "Who knows, she might even have the abilities of the three pony types."

Her eyes begin to drift shut as she says sleepily, "Sounds like she is an embodiment of all three tribes, perhaps one day, she may lead us all into a newfound era of peace...you name her, I'm going to sleep for awhile."

Smiling happily, he rubs his nose against his daughter's and thinks out loud, saying, "The traits of three species huh? I know just what to call your unique species...an Alicorn, and your name shall be Celestia."

Five years pass as he spends what quality time he can with his daughter when his wife gives birth to a second alicorn slightly smaller than her sister, having light blue eyes and a dark coat almost similar to his, except being a greyish blue and a floating mane and tail consisting of a more vivid moderate shade of blue. Smiling down at her while his other daughter hops up onto his back to see her sister, no doubt with a wide smile on her face, he giggles and says, "Since I named you, Cece, how about I let you have the privilege of thinking of a name for your sister?"

Squealing with joy, Celestia prances around her father happily, saying, "YAY! I GET TO NAME MY BABY SISTER!"

Watching her hop around excitedly in his white cloak with a red cross with flared ends, he chuckles and says, "Now do yourself a favor and calm down before somepony gets hurt dear. If you're going to pick out a name, you need to think of something that suits the infant you are naming."

Ceasing her excited prancing almost immediately, she quickly says, "Okay, okay, okay!" then closes her eyes and breathes deeply for a few moments to calm her self down. It takes her a few moments to calm down, but she does open her eyes as her mind no longer races with excited thoughts and walks around the room calmly for any ideas. As she thinks, she then stops by the window and gazes outside, asking, "Momma said that I was born during the day, is that correct?"

Nodding his head, he says, "That is correct, Caelestia, my heavenly treasure."

Scrunching her nose in confusion, her eyebrows rise as she turns to her father, saying, "Why do you occasionally call me Caelestia, have I been pronouncing my name wrong for the last two years?"

Unable to keep from laughing, he shakes his head, saying, "No, sweetheart, you haven't." letting out a half-laugh, adding, "Caelestia is latin, which means heavenly in the common tongue, I sometimes call you that because you are my heavenly treasure."

Thinking it over for a moment, she tries to say it herself, saying, "Hmm...Caylestia, did I say it right?"

Chuckling, he shakes his head again, saying, "No, there's an E sound in there just after the short a." He then pronounces it slowly for her, asking, "Would you like to learn latin?"

Nodding her head, her eyes then go wide as the implication hits her, asking, "Are you implying there's a way to write it in this other language?"

Nodding, he says, "There is, would you like me to teach you to write that as well?"

Smiling widely, she nods rapidly, saying, "YES...ahem, yes please, father. Please teach me to speak and write the latin language you know."

With a gentle nod, he turns his head back to his newborn alicorn daughter, saying, "Very well, but only if you come up with a very good suggestion for her name."

She smiles even wider and turns towards the window, saying, "Okay, I'll hold you to that." Looking around at the dark ground outside the window, she squints to see any details and sighs, saying, "I wish that I could see more outside so I might come up with something good..."

As if in answer, a cloud drifts off to slowly reveal the brilliant full moon hanging high in the sky, allowing a beam of its light to shine on the window and strike the young filly's eye, causing her to squint her eyes shut saying in surprise, "GAH!"

Having seen what happened, he chuckles and asks, "Yeah I do remember that the moon is in its brightest phase right now, so it is bright enough for a pony to see at night. Are you okay?"

She shakes her head and blinks her eyes to get rid of the spots in her vision, then looks around at the nightly landscape before her, saying, "I'm fine, the spots are gone now. I never realized how beautiful the landscape is around us at night with the moon at this point..." Just then a thought drifts into her mind and rattles around a bit, then slowly is joined by another thought, which lead to the forming of an idea. Looking up in the night sky as another cloud prepares to cover the moon once more, she turns back to her baby sister in her father's arms then to the window and back again, saying, "Hmm...what about naming her after the moon, father?"

He thinks it over and nuzzles his nose against his newborn daughter's as a smile crosses his face, saying, "Naming her after the moon, huh?" He then pauses to give it some serious thought, then lets his smile grow wider, saying, "Moon in latin is Lunae, so as per your suggestion, we shall name your sister Luna." Turning to gaze at his daughter, he says, "Since you were both born at opposite times of the day, that creates a bond between you two that is not easily broken. Your lessons shall begin once your mother can look after Luna."

No sooner than having said that, Celestia feels her rump tingling before a brief flash causes her to look back and angle her body to look at her flank. When she sees an image depicting the sun in the sky on both sides of her flanks, she prances around in place, crying out, "I JUST GOT MY CUTIE MARK!"

With a proud smile, he says, "Congratulations, my darling daughter, we shall have a party for coming one step closer to adulthood." His eyes then turn back to his swaddled daughter as she squirms around in his arms, causing him to unwrap her to look her over. When he pulls the swaddle away, he sees a large splotch of black on one side of her flank with a white moon in the center of the black and chuckles, saying, "It seems you both have just gotten your Cutie Marks. Since you have a sun on your flanks, and your sister has the moon on hers...I know that you two are both destined for great things in the future. I do believe quite strongly that you two might need to be side by side through your whole life."

Years later, a traveling unicorn with a pair of violetish grey eyes, a light grey coat, a two-tone white and light grey mane, tail, and a short beard on his face comes to their village, Celestia watches her father move in front of her and Luna. When her father looks at the newcomer, standing tall in his stark white cloak with a red cross on the sides and front with flared ends, she hears him say, "Greetings, distant traveller, what brings you so far out to our humble village?"

Stopping a respectable distance away from the protective parent, the stallion introduces himself, saying, "Good day to you, honorable Crusader, my name is Star Swirl, and I have heard rumors of two foals born with the appearance of a pegasus and a unicorn. I believe they were called Alicorns in one of the less popular rumors, I was wondering if you might permit me the chance to serve as a mentor to those two?"

Relaxing his posture at sensing no ill from this pony, he steps back a little and says, "I shall allow it on the condition that you only teach them with me or my wife around to watch over them."

Star Swirl smiles and bows his head to him, saying, "I thank you for your gracious approval, I shall look for a place to stay so I can begin teaching them what I know."

The spirit watches the two alicorn fillies discover their special powers to raise the sun and moon while also learning latin from her father and being taught many other things from Star Swirl.

Everything changes for the girls one day as they get a rare chance to go out and play together, accidentally playing a little farther from the village than they should when they hear the angry roar of a large creature that swoops down out of the sky to attack them, causing Celestia to shout to her sister, "A Manticore! Get behind me sis!" then casts a barrier to protect the both of them.

The manticore swipes a massive paw at the barrier with its claws extended, causing the shield to wobble slightly. The shield continues to hold as Luna screams in fright.

Hearing the roar so close to town, the black stallion and his wife race out of their home to go find their daughters. Traveling together, they find them both taking shelter under a protective shield held by their oldest daughter Celestia. Upon seeing his children in peril, his duty comes to mind, causing him to lower his head and bellow, "GET AWAY FROM OUR CHILDREN, YOU MONSTER!" then goes into an all-out gallop with the intent to blast it away with his magic.

Holding onto the shield with all her strength, Celestia turns to see their dad charging into the fight and blast the creature with a beam of pure magic. Upon hearing the manticore bellow in pain, she turns her head to see that her father had heavily damaged its wings and sent it away from them. She watches as her father skids to a stop in front of them and faces the angry manticore, then stands tall with his hooves together, somehow to appear as a mountain before them as he looks back to her, saying, "Stay safe within that shield and don't let it fall, I must fight this foe until it either runs away or perishes."

With nothing more to say, he turns back to the creature and sings something in latin before rearing up on his hind legs on the first of the last three words. Throwing his weight forward with his head as he comes back down, he charges forth with his large hooves hitting the ground hard and prepares a spell to attack the beast from the left side.

Celestia watches in awe as she keeps the shield up, hearing her father's thundering hooves when her father suddenly vanishes in a flash and reappears on the monsters right side still charging it, goring it in the side with his horn while blasting it away again with a blast of magic. The creature doesn't go far, but it staggers back to its feet, even angrier than before as it then runs toward the one who hurt it.

The stallion then charges it again and appears from the creatures opposite side this time, managing to gore it again and blast it away with his magic, shouting, "GO AWAY!"

Absolutely livid at being injured yet again, the manticore catches movement in the corner of its right eye and lashes out horizontally with its claws. Feeling his claws tear through flesh and muscle, he hears a weak gurgling sound followed by a skidding thud. Looking down curiously, he sees that it wasn't the one who hurt him as it is a pony with a white coat and turns back towards it, roaring angrily before charging toward the pony who badly hurt it.

Focusing on his duty to protect his daughters instead of his fatally injured wife, he sighs as he figures out that the manticore won't stop attacking until one of them is dead, saying, "Have it your way then, but I am determined to come out of this victorious!"

With tears spilling from her and her sister's eyes from seeing their mother's throat be ripped out by the manticore's claws, she holds her close with her wings wrapped comfortingly around her sister, saying, "Don't worry Lunae, our father will not lose this fight."

The stallion charges the creature from a slight angle, waiting until he is several feet away before teleporting to the opposite side. Unfortunately, his attack fails as the manticore reacts to the flash and blindly lashes out with his tail, stinging him in the side and causing him to lose momentum and stumble.

Having an opportunity, the manticore seizes it and rakes his claws across the pony's body, sending him flying through the air and landing hard on his side. Roaring victoriously, he watches as the pony remains still for several moments.

Waking up to the sound of his daughters' frantic voices, he slowly rises to his hooves once more and shakes the dirt and grass off of him, saying with a pained grunt, "I am fine, my daughters, but the fight must continue as long as you both remain in danger."

At seeing the left side of her father's cloak, she gasps and says, "But you have several deep gashes along your left side, let us finish this fight for you!"

Shaking his head, he says, "No, my beloved children, this is my fight to end. One day you will understand why when you get into a fight of your own." Turning away, he then begins charging the manticore once more, albeit a bit slower than usual due to the poison working through his body as well as the gashes in his left side. Knowing he is at a disadvantage, he waits to teleport into the creature's blind side one last time. When he is a dozen feet away, he teleports and casts a spell to summon a longspear out of ice and hurls it forth with his magic to where the manticore's heart is at. His aim strikes true as the manticore roars out in brief agony before collapsing to the ground and skidding several feet before stopping and taking its last breath, saying with a heavy heart, "I tried to tell you that I would come out victorious..." He then makes his way back to his daughters, saying, "It's safe now, girls, you can drop the shield Caelestia."

Dropping the shield quickly, Celestia races to her father with her sister by her side the whole way. Almost knocking him over from the two of them colliding into him, she nuzzles her head against her father's neck, saying, "Can we go home now, father? We were both so scared that you were going to fall to that manticore."

Sobbing, Luna buries her head between her father's forelegs comfortingly, saying, "We're sorry for playing so far from the village, pater, please don't be angry with us, but we don't get many opportunities to play outside with all the lessons!"

Feeling the poison worming its way through his body, he coughs, but hides his pain as he wraps his forelegs around both his daughters, saying, "I could never be angry with you two for acting your age, for you both still are children in my eyes." Separating himself from their loving embrace, he starts guiding them back to town, saying, "Let's return home and gather our strength again before we come back to retrieve your mother and give her a proper send off."

As they walk up a hillside, he looks at his girls and feels weaker than before, saying, "Girls, should I ever pass on to the next life, I would like to be sent off like your mother and stay by your sides forever."

Celestia nods her head, saying, "Okay father, but I don't want you to leave us until you are beyond old and wrinkly."

With a weak chuckle, he says, "I will do my best to heed your wishes, however, whatever lies ahead for us in the future is ever uncertain and shifting with each decision we make."

When their house is in view, Celestia sighs happily, saying, "Look father, we're almost home, can't you see it just up ahead?!"

Happy at seeing their home, he lets out a heavy sigh, saying weakly as his body begins to rapidly lose strength, "When I'm with you, girls...I'm...always...home."

As they get within a few dozen feet of their home, the girls hear a thud behind them and swiftly turn their heads to look. Finding their father collapsed on the ground, Celestia and Luna both scream out fearfully, "PATER!!" The two try to gently shake him awake, but to no avail as he doesn't respond.

The alicorn spirit sheds tears for how the young alicorns just lost their mother and father, watching as they both run to their mentor to save him. When they get there and he examines the fallen stallion, he reveals to them both that it is too late to do anything as the manticore poison already caused his heart to stop. As the two alicorns find themselves unable to accept that, they run away back to their home. Eventually, as they grow to accept the truth, they both share the same bed and cry themselves to sleep.

Watching as they both attend the funeral in black clothing and black veils, Celestia holds the folded, shredded, and bloody cloak their father died in close to her chest as they watch their father and mother burn on separate piles near each other with their father being burned in a fresh cloak free from any unsightly blemish.

Gathering their things and moving to live with their mentor as he continues to train them, they are closer than ever as Star Swirl starts going out into the world after being inspired by their father's bravery. Star Swirl gathers some like-minded companions and does what he can to protect the ponies from enemies threatening their peace.

Years later, the pony tribes are driven out of their land and led to a more hospitable land by a member of the Heavenly Crusaders, having a red cross on a black background with flared ends. As they discover the other tribes there as well, their feud resumes and causes the temperature to plummet.

As the Hospitaller Knight leads the tribes to a nearby cave for shelter from the storm brewing outside, he turns back to them to see them drawing lines in the sand and sighs, saying, "Why can't you all just get along, you are all equals. You each have an ability unique to you, but being different should not be despised...it should be celebrated instead." When they ignore him completely, he shakes his head, thinking, 'I'm sorry, Your Majesty...but I have failed my duty to you.' then feels himself freezing over when he hears a howling sound on the wind.

Several decades pass as Star Swirl's group wanders the land and vanquishes dangerous foes until he vanishes without a trace one day as Luna and Celestia try to adjust to how much the other ponies look to them for guidance, causing a slight strain on their sisterly bond.

A couple decades after their disappearance, the land falls under the miserably chaotic rule of Discord and his sister Cosmos. As they confront him a few times, failing each time, they set out to find a way to defeat them both and free the ponies from their torment.

When they stumble across a crystal tree brimming with pure and powerful magic eclipsing theirs by a vast amount, the two sisters take the charged gems from their places on the tree and divide them amongst each other. Wanting to face the pair again, they confront him once again and use the jewels to banish them.

As Discord watches his sister try to betray him, a shiver of dread crawls up his spine as he watches a rainbow shoot out and strike his sister. When she disappears before his very eyes and turn to look at the two sisters, he turns to see a rainbow shooting his way and engulfs him completely. As pain flares all through his body, he writhes and twists to get away from the sisters as he feels himself slowly turning to stone. The last thing he sees with his wide, fearful eyes is the white eyes of the two alicorn sisters before he becomes a statue.

Centuries of peace pass when the alicorn senses trouble approaching and sighs, saying, "Not again...I just hope this isn't as bad as the last one." then turns towards the waiting souls saying, "Please form a line as before and approach me one at a time, trouble approaches and you must do your part in keeping the princesses safe from danger."

The Crusader's ranks swell to numbers greater than before as they hear of Princess Amore's fall, arming themselves with weapons as the princesses discuss plans to defeat the tyrannical King Sombra. Acting first, the order gathers en masse with only a select few remaining at their home stronghold underneath the young city of Canterlot to send reinforcements when called.

With so few souls remaining to reincarnate, the spirit decides with a heavy heart to send no more down to help. With tears forming in her eyes, she watches helplessly as the ferocious battle rage on for a couple years before word of the battle turning against the Heavenly Crusaders reaches Celestia's and Luna's ears, catching them by surprise and stirs them into action. As she continues to fight back Celestia's and Luna's premonitions, she groans with effort, saying, "This is the defining moment for you two, don't let their sacrifices be for naught."

Deciding to face Sombra with their own strength, Celestia and Luna race through the skies to reach the Crystal Empire and rescue its citizens. When they get there, however, they see a vast battle involving the vast majority of the Heavenly Crusaders all around the outskirts of the crystal city. Desperate to bring the battle to an end, they charge into the battle to fight King Sombra.

Unfortunately, their attack fails as they are driven back because of his dark magic, having to resort to head to the castle to get the elements in order to bring him down. After they return and grab the elements, the sisters head for the door and freeze when they find themselves amid a battlefield between two forces. The Heavenly Crusaders stand on one side and black creatures with red, curved horns and glowing green eyes on the other, unable to hear anything as they see the gathered Crusaders begin to mouth the words to a song they can't hear. Confused at what they are seeing, they watch as they rise on their back hooves and charge forth into battle with their banners flapping in the wind as they storm down the hill en masse.

Just when the two armies are about to collide, the scene fades to black around them when they see a banner appear before them bearing a familiar image of a half black and white alicorn with its wings stretched out to either side. With the moon appearing on the upper left and the sun on the upper right, they recognize it instantly as the newly created flag of the Heavenly Crusaders. Slowly, the banner shrinks into the distance and appears hanging from a wooden pole fastened horizontally across the upper part of a tall pole, standing upright as a breeze sends the banner fluttering until it slowly leans to the side and starts falling to the ground.

Celestia gasps and instinctively goes to catch the pole and keep it from hitting the ground, but the pole falls halfway and stops for a brief moment. Relieved that the banner hasn't completely fallen, she stops and lets out a relieved sigh until she sees the pole snap and hit the ground.

Luna approaches the fallen banner and goes to pick it up, but leaps back when it bursts into flames, asking, "Just what is going on sister?"

The darkness around them slowly fades away, eventually revealing a grisly sight before the two sisters. Celestia looks around to see still bodies of Crusaders and King Sombra's soldiers littering the field as far as her eyes can see, fear and sadness creep up her spine as she takes to the air, saying, "No..."

Joining her sister in the air, Luna looks around as well when she spots her sister fighting to keep airborne. Learning why she is having difficulty flying when she realizes that the vast majority of the casualties are the Heavenly Crusaders, asking, "Wh-What does this mean, Cece?"

Unable to keep flying any longer, she falls to the ground and hangs her head, saying through sobs beginning to wrack her body, "This must mean that unless we do something soon...the entire order of Heavenly Crusaders will perish here against King Sombra's forces."

Landing beside her sister as the scene fades away to reveal them back in the castle, she lifts her head up with the tip of her left wing, saying, "Then there is no point in shedding tears now if we can do something to change this fate, they need our aid sister, let us tarry no longer."

As the Spirit watches the two leave and head towards the Crystal Empire to battle King Sombra and the Umbrum, she grieves over the vast number of lives lost when Celestia arrives a little bit before Luna and sees that it is already too late to save the Heavenly Crusaders as the fields surrounding the city are littered with the fallen order and Sombra's soldiers.

Falling from the sky, Celestia stumbles from her landing as tears stream from her eyes as she hears the crackling of fires consuming wood, looking around to see the broken banner from their vision being consumed by fire and slowly reduced to ashes. Her heart breaks as sobs tear their way out of her, causing her to frantically teleport all around to find any survivors. Unable to hear any coughs or cries for help, Celestia's flank falls to the ground as she wails out, "WHY DID WE FAIL TO SAVE THEM!?"

Racing to embrace her sister as she starts to turn grey, she pulls her against her, saying, "Steady yourself, sister, don't fall to despair. There may yet be survivors of this costly battle, but we must defeat King Sombra first and free the Crystal Ponies."

As they head to confront the evil king, they both say, "Your reign is over, Sombra. We shall not allow you to bring misery to another pony, be lost to the shadow forever, evil king!" then use the elements to banish him into the ice of the frozen north, letting the windigoes up there serve as his warden.

Feeling his body shift into a shadowy mass, he growls and then shouts, "I will not let you take my crystals from me!!!" then casts one last spell to make the whole city disappear until he returns. Feeling his spell take root, he cackles madly with glee, shouting, "You may have defeated me, but you will never have the chance to retrieve the fallen knights littering the outskirts! AHAHAHAHAHAAA!" When he feels himself sent away through the air, he continues laughing madly as the empire vanishes into thin air and takes the surrounding battlefield with it.

The spirit hangs her head as the few survivors of the battle take off their cloaks and put them away, thinking that they are being punished for failing their duty to her. Placing her hooves upon the mirror, she pleads, "No, please don't let the world forget about you, there is still so much good you can yet do!"

Decades pass as a new flag is created for the ponies, depicting Celestia and Luna chasing each other in a circle with the sun and moon just below and in front of their hooves. Decades turn into Centuries as she continues to reincarnate a few souls to continue working to protect the ponies from the background. Able to see the cross's influence in the Equestrian flag, she smiles, thinking, 'At least they won't be completely forgotten to time... When the time is right, I am sure they will rise again.'

When Luna becomes jealous and transforms into Nightmare Moon, she is then banished to the moon by her sister as the Alicorn spirit remembers the fateful night where this trouble began.

As a group of wounded survivors limp their way past a house with children playing outside, one of the fillies trots up to them, asking, "What happened?"

The surviving crusader remembers when he took off his cloak with a red cross having flared ends and says, "Well, little one, we just got back from fighting back the darkness. Though we saved the day at a terrible cost, the princesses will continue to bring the day and night while keeping you safe from dark forces."

Through the following centuries, she continues to reincarnate the souls until she winds up with just one last warrior, gasping as she then realizes there are no more to send after this soul, pacing back and forth as she shakes her head, saying, "How could I be so foolish and let myself lose track of how many precious souls I had left! If there is a big enough problem this time, how will my creations prevail without their guidance!?"

End of Timeskip

Sensing his daughter's distress, he caresses her cheek from afar and soothes her worries, saying to her mind, "Everything is as it should be, my daughter. Have faith with the last soul you borrowed and have hope that they will succeed, for there is naught else you can do without revealing your existence to your creations. I have learned that for myself, which is why I forbade you from doing the same thing my dear."

Letting out a frustrated huff, she nods hesitantly, saying, "Very well...if you say so, father." then sends the last soul down to the world below.

Never before has time seemed to drag on forever than the slow, torturous three years as she watches the black colt with blonde hair and green eyes live his life. Finding herself growing ever more impatient with every passing minute, she looks around at the vast, empty space around her and sighs when she realizes she is suffering from loneliness and boredom. Trying to find something entertaining about watching the last soul live his life, she utterly fails and groans audibly in frustration, shouting, "GAHH, I HATE THE WAY I'M FEELING!"

Appearing beside her for the first time in a great many millenia, he places his golden shapeless hand against her cheek, saying, "Fear not my daughter, for I know just what to do to help make it go away."

Surprised to see her father in her dimension, she jumps and recovers quickly, saying, "REALLY?!" She then clears her throat and asks, "What might that be, dad?"

Raising his formless hand, he extends a finger towards his daughter's forehead and lightly presses it to her forehead, right between her eyes, saying, "Just this..."

Feeling herself shrinking down to a glowing, white ball of light, asking in alarm, "What are you doing to me?!"

Letting out a light chuckle, he crosses his arms and says, "You will find out very soon, my dear, I shall always be watching over you and your creations."

When she finds herself sinking through the floor and shoot down towards the planet she created, she gasps, shouting, "YOU'RE SERIOUSLY GIVING ME AN ACTUAL BODY?! I THOUGHT YOU SWORE TO NEVER DO THAT AGAIN AFTER WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BROTHER!"

He shakes his head and chuckles mischievously, asking with a metaphorically raised eyebrow, "Did you ever hear me put that into words though?"

Thinking it over, she sighs and says, "Well...no, but you could be a bit clearer with your intentions."

Watching her continue heading down to the world she created, he continues speaking to her, saying in amusement, "That is the great thing about being me, sweetheart...I don't have to explain myself to anyone."

Snorting in annoyance, she says, "You're such a troll!"

Smirking and lifting an eyebrow into the air, he says, "I am not a troll, I may be unpredictable, loving, and a bit eccentric at times, but I am never a troll."

Letting out another snort, she turns her orb self around so that her rear faces him, saying, "HMPH! Talk to the tail dad because my head isn't listening."

Unable to hide his laughter, he laughs softly and watches her get closer to the surface, saying, "I shall wish you a happy birthday in eleven months, sweetheart. No matter what you do with your new life, know that I will always be watching and love you regardless of your mistakes."

When she finds herself heading towards a light grey unicorn mare with a two-tone mane of moderate purple and light grey, she spots a unicorn stallion cuddled beside her with an off-blue coat with a dark blue mane and tail, sighing while thinking, 'Oh wonderful...I really look forward to the messy birth...'

12: Pleasant Times (Contradicting parts removed)

True Heart watches the exchange between Luna and Marougeka with a smile as the two catch up, then move onto discussing what happens next. He is happy when he hears that her, and all the other thestrals can be her royal guards once again, saying, "I am glad things are going well for you Marougeka, but I will miss you occasionally sneaking into my room and tormenting my sleep with the tips of your long mane."

The mare giggles and sidles up beside him, saying, "You do the very same thing to me with that accursed feather! You don't need to worry about being lonely, because even though I love being a royal guard for my lunar princess, I have come to enjoy the soothing sounds of mass every Sunday morning. Sorry to dissappoint you, but I shall be sticking around a while longer to keep tormenting you." Turning to look at Luna, she walks up to her and gives her a firm hug, saying, "I will miss being a royal guard my queen, but I know the others will be very happy to have something to occupy their time at night."

Luna hugs her back with tears in her eyes, saying, "We will have to visit each other regularly to stay up-to-date with whatever has happened. I will see you again soon, Mara." Stepping back from her personal body guard, she turns her eyes to True with a overjoyed smile shining in them and saunters up to him, then bends down and pulls him into a fierce hug with her wings, saying as a few tears streak down her cheeks, "Thank you so much for finding and rescuing the thestrals from their foul treatment, True Heart." Placing a light kiss upon his lips, she holds it for a few moments before returning to her sister's side, saying to her, "Let's go back home, sister, we both have studying to do for this coming Sunday mass."

Nodding her head, Celestia smiles and says, "Indeed we do, I sure hope I remember all the words right..."

Watching the two mares walk back up the way they came with a speechless look upon his face, he feels the thestral mare bump his shoulder and looks over to her, asking, "What was that for?"

With a small giggle, she makes her way up the stairs, saying, "Oh I don't know, perhaps that was for finding us a purpose again rather than just going through life keeping the insect's population under control. Or maybe I was just thanking you again for saving us, there are countless reasons that I could be thanking you...but let's head up to bed. I'm still tired and I don't feel like hanging from the roof since you woke me up."

Nodding and heading up the stairs as well, True makes his way upstairs as she retires to his personal quarters and looks out the back window to see the sun sinking lower in the sky, saying, "Well, I better get started on dinner."

When he wakes one morning, a few days later, he goes through his morning ritual and heads outside to find something to do when he spots Twilight heading up his path and greets her, saying, "Fine morning to you, Twilight."

Smiling and stopping right in front of him with a smile, she says, "It is a very fine morning. Are you busy?"

Shaking his head, he says, "Not at all, I was just heading out to find something to do, what do you have going on this morning?"

With Spike asleep on her back, she says, "I am heading over to Applejack's to help her harvest apples, do you want to come along?"

True thinks it over for a moment before nodding, saying, "I will take you up on your offer, thank you for asking." He then heads outside as Twilight heads down the steps.

When she reaches the wall, she stops and waits for him to catch up, then asks, "Do you think that you could teach me that spell you used against Nightmare Moon?"

With a light chuckle, he nods and says, "I don't see why not, but it burns through your magic like you wouldn't believe." Then he begins to tell her more about the spell as they head down the road to Sweet Apple Acres. However, they reach their destination before he can get to teaching it to her.

Spotting a few of her friends heading up the road, Applejack smiles and trots toward them, saying, "Well howdy yall! How are ya this wonderful morning?"

After chatting for a bit, they head to the orchard beside the driveway to pick apples, which takes them most of the morning as True watches Spike dig around for a snack and picks up the ones that fall off Twilight's baskets or he discards. Chuckling lightly, he spots a certain pegasus flying through the sky and says, "Uh-oh, here comes trouble!"

Making a beeline for her brother, Derpy wavers from side to side and tackles him with a hug, shouting, "BIG BROTHER!"

Twilight turns her head with a chuckle as she sees Derpy atop her brother's stomach, holding him tightly with her wings, saying with a smile, "It is quite clear she thinks the world of you True."

Rubbing her nose against his for a few seconds while oblivious to the fact she is straddling her brother's abdomen, she squeals and wraps her forehooves around his neck and twists to and fro, saying, "Oh, I missed you so much big bro! How long have you been in Ponyville, are you going to stay?"

Even though his sister rubs against him, his body still reacts as he says, "I missed you too, Muffins, but think ya could get off me now? You're bouncing a little too much."

Cocking her head curiously, she feels something hard below her and blushes fiercely, saying, "SORRY FOR GETTING SO EXCITED!" Stopping her body at once, she just lies there, saying, "Don't worry, it is my job as your little sister to protect your decency." Getting back to her question, she asks, "So, how long have you been around Ponyville? Do you have plans to stay?"

Glad that she stopped squirming around ontop of him, he feels himself start to draw back in and says, "Oh, of course I do, I've been around here for the past several years. I live in the south wing of the Celestial Cathedral."

Overjoyed at hearing that, she squeals in delight and squeezes her forehooves around his neck and rubs her cheek against his, saying, "OH, THAT MAKES ME SO HAPPY TO HEAR THAT!"

When her stomach rumbles loudly, she looks at Applejack sheepishly and giggles in embarrassment before seeing Spike pull out a huge apple, bringing a smile to her face as she looks at it hungrily, saying, "Wow, that looks really tasty." However, when Spike eats it in one bite, she is mildly annoyed and huffs, saying, "SPIKE!"

Spike looks at Twilight curiously and asks, "What? You took so long picking apples, that I missed breakfast!" when he feels a burp coming out. When the burp comes out, it makes him jump into the air and tilt his head back as a gout of green flame shoots out, then the smoke gathers and swirls round and round to magically form a scroll.

When his member fully retreats, he hugs his sister back and kisses her forehead, saying, "I look forward to spending more time with you later on, don't you have things to deliver?"

Gasping, she realizes she does and says, "Oh silly me, I need to get going!" then spreads her wings and takes off to deliver the rest of the letters.

Getting back to his feet, True hears Spike reading from a scroll when Applejack and Twilight both gasp in delight upon hearing it is an invitation for Twilight plus one guest to the Grand Galloping Gala. Once he hears Applejack talk about the things they could do around the farm after all the business they would get, he watches Rainbow drop in from a tree branch above them and talk about her desires. Deciding that the Gala isn't worth the fussing, he says, "Well girls, I will leave you to your fun."

Taking his leave of the girls as they don't notice him leaving right away, he heads into town to see who all could use a little help. He spends an hour helping Rarity finish up a couple of orders before helping Pinkie Pie make a bunch of cupcakes, then heads off to see if Fluttershy needs help with her animals.

Making his way back to town, he finds Twilight and the girls heading out of her library home to see them all have golden tickets floating before them, saying, "I am glad that you each managed to get a chance to experience something you haven't before."

Twilight trots up to him with a gasp, saying, "OH NO, THERE ISN'T A TICKET FOR YOU! I can write to the princess and ask..." but is cut off when she hears a loud belch accompanied by a green flash from her windows. She then sees Spike rushing out with two tickets in his claws, saying, "Oh, maybe I don't need to write her after all." Then asks, "What do you have there Spike?"

Spike giggles to himself at getting a ticket, which all ends abruptly as he stop beside Applejack as she looks at him with a knowing look, saying, "I mean, gross! I have to go too?" Remembering what Twilight asked, he then hurries over to her and says, "Oh, Princess Celestia just sent True and I tickets to the Gala."

Smiling at hearing that, the ticket floats over to True as she says, "Isn't that great!? Now we can all go together!"

True watches her and Spike join the others as Applejack walks up to him and asks, "Ya don't look too thrilled to attend, pardner. What's up?"

He looks at her and says, "It isn't that I am not pleased at being invited to an annual event by the princess herself, because I am happy with receiving an invite. The only thing is that I just don't have anything to accomplish at the gala."

Curious, Applejack asks, "Well, shoot, ya don't really need a big goal like us. Won't it be enough to just go with friends?"

True then faces her and answers, "I suppose that would be enough to warrant going."

Nodding her head, she smiles and says, "Of course it's enough, so don't be such a stick in the mud!"

He then follows the girls to their destination to feed Twilight's rumbling belly, listening to their conversation and joining in on occasion. When it gets late, he then heads home to do his nightly ritual, thinking, 'Today wasn't so bad.'

One day, True makes his way back to his home when three fillies suddenly surround him and make a big fuss about him not having a cutie mark yet. When they start to panic, he chuckles and then says, "Fret not, young ones, for I believe that the longer you go without one, the more special it will be to you when you do get it. As you are crusaders, you must always help others when you are not out having fun."

The CMC's all nod and agree to remember that, when Sweetie Belle says, "Let's go around town and try to get our cutie marks by helping ponies with their chores today!"

As they all dash away, True chuckles and shakes his head, saying, "Oh to be so young and carefree."

Months pass by with more than a few mishaps, in which True Heart is drawn into, such as an incident where the whole town were fearful of Zecora when she started to come to town, or the parasprite infestation that happened a few days ago as True Heart spends the majority of his day at Rarity's boutique, working on a medallion to hang around his neck for the Gala.

Putting the final touches on the silver medallion, he blows on the glue holding the thin ruby and diamond in place gently to help it dry. Setting it aside, he helps Rarity out with a few orders when he notices the bell over the door jingle, parting the curtain to see who it is, spotting Applejack and Twilight inside. Stopping where he's at, he sticks the needle into the next spot to stitch and heads out as Applejack says hello loudly. Seeing Rarity concentrating on her stitching, he then steps forth to handle their requests, saying, "Welcome to Rarity's boutique, girls, Rarity is occupied at the moment. Is there something that I can help you with?"

After whispering her answer to Applejack's question, she looks up at True and says, "Yeah, I was hoping for a quick favor, that she might be able to fix a button for me."

Growling under her breath, she then puts on a smile and turns around, asking, "I can fix a button faster than I can blink, so hand the garment over, darling."

Knowing that she is putting her friends first, True makes his way to the back room as they start talking about outfits and the gala, thinking, 'I should be able to finish up these two orders today and give Rarity a few days of breathing room.'

Once she offers to spruce up Applejack's work duds, she remembers that there's another who is going and turns to the curtain, saying, "True, what are you planning on wearing to the Gala?"

Pausing where he is, he sees that the paint is dry on the medallion and takes it off the desk, then steps out with it and shows it to them, saying, "I'm planning on wearing this medallion, this is a masonic symbol or talisman from ancient times that means 'Strong Health and Mental Vigor'."

Rarity's eyes latch onto the detail carved into the silver, causing them to sparkle for a moment in awe when she remembers what she was asking, then asks in a different way, "You're not planning on wearing any actual attire to accompany this?"

True shakes his head, saying, "Not really, I have no desire to own or flaunt anything overly extravagant."

Her mouth falls open as she gasps in horror at the thought of yet another pony attending the Gala 'au naturale' and allowing the growing trend to become more popular, causing her to stamp her front hooves, saying, "NO NO NO! I simply cannot allow such a travesty to occur, therefore I shall make an outfit for you out of my own kindness..."

Just then, Rainbow cries out, saying, "Woah! Look out below!" then falls through the roof and hits the floor, stomach first, then bounces backwards and lands amidst a group of mannequins. When she moves to get up, she hisses at the pain in her right wing, saying, "Sorry. New trick didn't quite work out right."

Heading over to his friend as she gets back onto her hooves, he looks her wing over and touches it gingerly, asking, "Sorry to ask something so obvious, but, does this hurt?"

Wincing, she pulls away, saying, "Ouch! Does it hurt being kicked by Applejack?!"

Chuckling, True prepares a mild healing spell, saying, "Alright, you just have a mild sprain, this will take care of that." then casts it and watches the silver aura of his magic sink in and mend her injury in the span of a second, saying, "Try it now, any pain?"

Flexing her right wing a few times, she then smiles and folds it, saying, "Not one bit, thanks pal." Only then noticing that she is a little tangled up, raising her right foreleg and then turning her head to see the green fabric draped over her wing along with the red fabric around her neck.

Something stirs in Rarity's mind as she looks at Rainbow when an idea hits her, causing her to lift her head and smile widely, saying, "IDEA!"

After she decides to make outfits for all of them and hold a fashion show, she then begins to sing about it while she pulls out various fabrics. Realizing that she is lost to her inspiration, he returns to the back room to continue working on the orders, saying to himself, "I sure hope that she doesn't push herself too hard..."

It takes Rarity only a few days to make the outfits for her friends as she leads them into her boutique with their eyes closed, saying, "Now keep them closed, everypony. Don't look." When they are far enough in, she then says, "Okay, stop there and turn your bodies to the right." Once they all turn, she smiles and then finishes, saying, "Okay, you can look now!"

Taking in the beauty of each of the dresses as Rarity goes into a monologue about them, True looks at his outfit to see that it is simple in design, yet elegant in its own way. Having a gentle sheen to it, he notices raised embossing on the pitch black fabric of the outer tailcoat in the shape of crosses with flared ends that can be spotted against the fabric's natural sheen. Looking at how the outfit is only designed with two forelegs like regular dresses, he spots a thin band that would cover the front part of his sheath and smirks at her thoughtfulness. Taking in the front part of the outfit, he sees an underlying silver chest square with a ruby red bow tie within the opening of a light azure vest, causing him to chuckle, saying, "You really have put serious thought into these outfits, Rarity. The clashing red and blue must have caused you quite a few conniptions."

Smiling proudly, she sees Opal rub up against it while purring loudly and grins, saying, "Not nearly as much as the conniption I kept having with trying to keep it simple, yet elegant. Isn't it fabulous?" Turning to the others, she adds, "Aren't they all amazing?!"

True is the first to speak, saying, "Even though the silk is more extravagant than I would prefer, it is indeed quite stunning and will look great on me at the Gala. Thank you for all the hard work you put into it."

When the others aren't too enthusiastic, he shakes his head as their responses cause Rarity to give in to their expectations and try again to satisfy her friends.

As True works on another order for Rarity, he sees her working on the girl's dresses. Noticing how they are putting her through the wringer, she works herself to exhaustion, which inadvertently reminds him of the battlefield in a way. In thinking of the battle for Acre before they tried to flee with the grail, he wonders, 'If there is a battle, how shall I protect my body from harm?'

While an idea comes to him, he begins testing various metals for suitability during a sword or magic battle. Upon discovering that a less common type of iron can block magic as well as strikes from weapons, he begins sizing himself for a coat of mail. Using small, tightly interlaced rings of cold iron to craft it.

By the time True makes a small patch of it, Spike taps him on the shoulder, saying, "C'mon True, the fashion show is going to start soon and you're going out in front of the others! You need to get dressed for it!"

Nodding and stepping away from his project, he heads to Ponyville where the show is set to happen when he overhears two mares talking about how a fashion celebrity called Hoity Toity is coming to see the show.

The news causes Spike to gasp and put his claws to his cheeks, saying, "I've got to go tell Rarity about this, she will be so ecstatic to hear the news!" then takes off towards her boutique.

Just after sunset, True stands ready to go out and show off Rarity's outfit when he gets a niggling feeling in his gut that tells him something's wrong, causing him to look at the outfits that the girls are wearing when he realizes something, thinking, 'Hold on...' Looking at a mirror showing how he looks compared to the others, a pit forms in his stomach when he thinks, 'I can't go out there like this, it would only end up in disaster for our friendship.'

Turning to face the others, he steels himself for what must be done and says, "I'm sorry, girls, but you must go on without me as I cannot go out dressed like this. All I can say is that it wouldn't end well for us, so think of me what you will for backing out on Rarity's time to shine."

Twilight stands there with a look of shock on her face as True steps out from in front of her, and walks away as Spike starts giving his speech, asking with a tear in her eye, "Why are you walking out on our friend when she's counting on us most?"

True stops and looks over his shoulder at her, saying, "All will be clear, in time." then starts to remove the outfit when he notices Rarity walk up to him.

Rarity's eyes are full of sorrow at seeing him taking off the outfit she made for him to wear in the show, asking in a trembling voice, "W-Why can't you go out looking so marvelous, True?" Then says in a frantic tone, "Does my outfit need changes If so, I can do that in a flash!"

He smiles sadly at her, saying, "It is perfect the way it is." then hangs the outfit on the rack and hugs her, saying in a low tone only she can hear, "Mine is the only one that outshines the others, and it would be bad for us all if I were to go out before them. Because I care for our friendship, I cannot go through with this." Pulling back, he places a kiss on the left side of her cheek, brushing the corner of her mouth, whispering, "I'm sorry, Rarity, but I believe that everything will work out in the end."

Turning beet red at being kissed so affectionately on the cheek, Rarity puts her hoof up to where he kissed her and smiles softly as he walks away from her while she thinks, 'WHY DID HE FEEL THE NEED TO KISS ME!? DOES HE HAVE FEELINGS FOR ME?' Needing to get out there, she trots to a corner of the tent while thoughts run wild in her mind.

Once Hoity Toity voices his displeasure at the dresses he saw, he watches Rarity walk out shamefully as the girls realize they went overboard. When the ponies all leave, he follows Rarity back to her boutique and stays with her a while.

Inside her room, Rarity throws herself around True Heart as tears ruin her mascara, wailing, "OH WHAT A TRAVESTY THAT SHOW WAS! WAHAHAHHH... NO PONY IN THEIR RIGHT MIND IS EVER GOING TO BUY A DRESS FROM ME AGAIN!!"

True wraps his forelegs around her and holds her as she wails out inconsolably, running his right forehoof along the back of her head and down her neck. It takes a few hours for her wailing cries to quiet down to gentle sobs as he nuzzles his cheek against hers, saying, "Don't worry, things will get better tomorrow. I promise."

Pulling away with eyes the size of saucers, she sniffles and holds her forehooves on his shoulders, asking, "Do you truly mean that?"

Nodding his head, he says, "With all my heart, I mean what I say, Lady Rarity."

Her emotions shift tracks at hearing him say that, causing her sobs to turn to sniffles as she closes the distance and rubs her nose against his, saying, "Oh, you have no idea how much it means to have you here to support me..." A new interest hits and takes hold over her, making her turn her head and open her mouth.

True feels her slip her tongue into his mouth while her forelegs latch around his neck, causing him to need to react swiftly to gain control over the situation, thinking, 'This is a very dangerous situation and it must be handled very delicately, for it could result in many outcomes...mostly negative ones in my case.'

Deciding that it would be best to reciprocate for now and then stop to explain later, he opens his mouth further and feels their teeth brush against each other. When he feels himself walking backwards at her guidance, he soon hits the bed and gets a surprise when she roughly shoves him on top of it.

Stepping over him, Rarity lays down on him and returns to kissing him hungrily, pulling back just enough to say in an affectionate voice, "You are always there for me when I am down, and I like that about you. Perhaps we can see how a relationship goes between us, hmm?" She then starts to shift her body up and down to get her intentions across.

Looking into her eyes and seeing the longing, True doesn't lose sight of his goal and places a hoof upon her cheek affectionately, then press a hoof to her chest in a show of trying to stop her, saying, "I would cherish you like no other would, Rarity, but you are too upset right now and in a vulnerable state. It would be very wrong for me to take advantage of you like this, so we must wait until you are back to normal before discussing a relationship. For now, how about I just hold you close so you can take solace in my presence?"

Feeling his hoof press against her firmly in a request to stop, her mind regains control as she runs his words through her mind again. Hearing what he said makes her desire crumble to ash as she smiles and slips off to the right side, saying, "Th-thank you for offering to stay by my side. Would you mind spooning while holding me?"

He shakes his head, saying, "Not at all, just let me shift to my side first."

Rarity shuffles over to give him room, then hears him shift onto his side and then moves back to be against him, going back to sobbing quietly, mumbling, "Y-You really are a good friend, True."

When True wakes, he finds himself chest to chest with his face against Rarity's. Not wanting to disturb her slumber, he carefully pries his limbs out from under his friend and slips off the bed without a sound. Heading downstairs, he then slips out the door and locks it behind him before heading home.

Once he returns home, True resumes working on his project and loses track of the days that go by until Spike taps his shoulder and startles him, saying, "True! TRUE! You have to do something to help Rarity, she's refusing to come out!"

Thinking it over, he then says, "Well, perhaps I could give you some advice that might help out..."

Panicking, Spike bites his claws nervously, saying, "I'll take anything you can offer if it means saving Lady Rarity!"

Nodding, True says, "Alright then, for one. I do know that Opal would do almost anything for her cat, and maybe her mood would improve if she got a second chance to prove herself? Think on what I said and think of what you can do to help out."

Getting an idea, Spike's face lights up as he jumps up, saying, "The fashion show, that's it! Thanks True, you're a genius!" then runs off to go talk to the others.

Returning to his coat of mail, he spends a few more hours on getting it to form to his body properly when Spike returns panting heavily, saying, "The show...is...back on...You are needed...back...at the boutique..."

Nodding his head, he says, "Very well, climb on and catch your breath Spike, we have a pony in need of our help." When Spike gets onto his back and clings to his mane for support, he then trots off towards town.

The fashion show is a big success the second time, greatly pleasing Hoity Toity. In fact, it pleases him so much that he asks for the honor of showing her couture in his boutique in Canterlot, to which Rarity agrees without batting an eye at the opportunities it would give her. However, he tells her that he needs a dozen of each outfit by next Tuesday, which causes her to have a mild panic attack before setting herself to work.

A few weeks after the show, it is time to harvest the apples. However, regardless of how True offers to lend aid, Applejack stubbornly refuses help throughout an entire week. Working herself to exhaustion and beyond while also helping others, it results in multiple disasters that True has to help clean up until he tags along with Twilight to confront her and get her to accept their help. It only takes half a week to pick the apples and move them to the barn, as cider season will be upon them in just over a month.

Managing to finish his coat of mail, True tries it on and finds that he needs to make a pad for underneath to prevent it from pinching his body. As he makes adjustments to it over the course of a week, Cider Season hits and keeps him busy for a day or two helping the Apples make cider.

2: Fate Intervenes

As True Heart wakes up in his bed, he rises from it and makes it before heading to the bathroom to do his morning business before washing up. Once he finishes bathing, he moves beside his bed and sits on his flank. Lifting his hooves up onto the bed, he places their bottoms together and closes his eyes, praying, 'Thank you for yet another day in this world, oh heavenly spirit, I will endeavor to do something for another this day.'

Just then, a voice calls up the stairs, asking, "Are you finished with your morning routine yet, True Heart?"

Opening his eyes, he then rises to his hooves and heads for the door, replying, "Yes father, I just finished." Using his magic to open the door, he heads for the stairs when he hears a familiar irregular flapping from the other end of the hall followed by a delighted giggle. Knowing the sound anywhere as his younger sister, he prepares for her to crash into him. When she does crash into him, he lets out an audible 'OOF' followed by a good-natured chuckle, saying, "Morning, Muffins. Trying to get your flying under control are you?"

The wonky-eyed light blue pegasus giggles and nods at her brother, saying, "Yas! It hard!"

Helping her back onto her hooves, he nuzzles against her neck and says, "Just try not to fly too fast or too high in the house, okay? We don't want you getting hurt again and take you to the hospital for another cast."

Derpy nuzzles against her brother's coat affectionately, saying, "Otay, I wuv you."

Smiling, he wraps his hooves around his baby sister, saying, "I love you too, Muffy, don't ever let anyone's teasing get you down."

Eventually returning to his hooves after his sisters affectionate nuzzling, he makes his way back downstairs to see his father and grandfather standing in their living room. With his father being an earth pony and having a dark grey coat and a light blue mane and tail with a pair of amber eyes, while his grandfather is a unicorn and has a light grey coat with blue eyes and a white mane and tail. He looks between the two with a curious look on his face, asking, "What is going on, father?, is there a special reason grandfather decided to visit?"

With a smile on his face, Green Root looks at his son and says, "It is your testing day, son. Your grandfather here has a simple phrase for you to hear."

Turning his attention to his grandfather expectantly, he asks, "What might that be, grandfather?"

Thunder Magic turns to his grandson with a stoic expression and decides to try the latin translation first, clearing his voice and saying, "I do indeed have one phrase in two languages, and one of them is, Vita sacra est. Does that bring anything to mind at all?"

A fog lifts in his mind as he stands taller, moving his front and back hooves together as he responds, saying, "Officia nostra ad gloriam ducet."

His eyes widen as he stands a little taller, proud that the boy answered it correctly and heads for the door, saying, "Take a walk with me to the castle gardens, True Heart."

Nodding his head, he follows him out the door as grandfather tells his dad they will be back late, silently walking behind his grandfather as he heads through the bustling city of Canterlot. As his grandfather leads him down another path, he looks around to see the Sculpture Garden to his right.

Not stopping here, Thunder Magic continues on to the private area of the Canterlot Castle Gardens and approaches a pair of guards who watches them warily, stopping just before them as they bar the path with their wings and says softly so no one else can hear, "Fides et officium."

Watching curiously as the guards return their wings to their sides and stare forward, he continues following his grandfather into the garden, asking, "What does that phrase mean to the guards?"

With a smile on his face, he looks over his shoulder, saying, "It is a closely guarded secret, but I will tell you more once we reach our destination." As he spots a light grey alicorn walking through the gardens, he pauses half a step before continuing on towards a corner of the gardens with a lone statue surrounded by well-manicured white rose bushes. Silently hoping the princess doesn't notice them, whispering to his grandson behind him, "Whatever you do, do not draw the princess's attention if you see her out here, she comes out here to relax and get away from the ponies waiting to be heard when court resumes." As he continues towards the statue, a flock of birds takes off from a nearby bush with a noisy flutter of wings, hoping that the princess didn't hear the noise.

Princess Celestia lays in front of a red rose bush, inhaling the relaxing scent deeply before she turns her head to see what caused the noise and smiles at seeing one of the staff members in charge of maintaining the Castle Garden's state of cleanliness and order. Rising to her hooves, she makes her way over with a soft smile on her face as she sees a young foal accompanying the elderly stallion. She watches as the elder continues heading toward a solitary statue she almost forgot was even there. When she is within talking distance, she looks to the statue with a sad smile, saying, "I see that you came here on one of your days off Thunder Magic, and just who might this young unicorn colt be?"

Spinning around swiftly and misunderstanding the expression on her face, he kneels down on his left foreleg and bows his head to the ground in respect, saying, "Forgive me, Your Majesty, for I wanted to bring my grandson to the gardens I help to keep clean and orderly." noticing that his grandson was doing the exact same gesture.

Realizing he saw her sad expression, she smiles softly, saying, "No need to worry yourself, I am not upset that you brought your grandson to the gardens on your day off." Lifting her gaze to the statue, she sighs and says, "Each time I come out here, I somehow forget that this statue exists with it being so near the edge of the gardens. Then whenever I do take notice of it, I can't help but be reminded of a time long ago that always makes me feel sad."

True Heart sees his grandfather rise and turn back to the statue as the princess walks beside them and stops a short distance away, following suit and facing the statue to look at the tall statue of a pony offering a helping hoof to an injured griffon.

After looking at the statue with a tear coming to her left eye, she blinks it away and turns to the foal, saying, "I hope you enjoy the rest of your visit here in the gardens, little one, I must return to my royal duties." She then looks down into his green eyes and smiles at him affectionately, then feels a tear coming to her left eye again and turns away to head back inside, thinking, 'This happens every time I glance at that statue built in honor of the fallen order of Heavenly Crusaders...'

With the princess returning to her duties, Thunder Magic sighs in relief, then turns back to the statue and places his hoof on a gem disguised as a paving stone, saying softly, "Templariorum fidem et officium sequimur."

Watching his grandfather take his hoof off a round stone and start heading toward the edge of the cliff, he follows him curiously and watches him go to take a step off the cliff, grabbing his tail and pulling him back lightly, asking, "Why are you attempting to walk off the cliff's edge, Grandpa."

Chuckling, he looks back at his grandson, saying, "Watch and you will see for yourself, this is another of our secrets." then pulls out of his weak magical grip and steps off the cliff and onto the newly revealed staircase below.

As he sees his grandfather step off the cliff and start walking down to the left through the air, he approaches the edge and looks over to see a stone staircase leading down to a ledge. Following him down the stairs carefully, he stops at the bottom of the stairs as he sees his grandfather look up the stairs before reaching up with his hoof and pressing a cross-shaped button.

A gentle rumbling sounds from the wall before them as a pair of stone doors are revealed, with his grandpa saying, "When you come here next time, make sure you don't let anypony see you head down these stairs or they will be crushed between the stone railing and the mountain." When the stairs pull back into the mountain with no ponies on it, he faces the doors and pushes them open with his magic and heads into the dark room beyond. Joining him in the room as torches along the walls ignite, he spots a large, staircase winding down out of view that his grandfather starts heading down.

As they head down the winding staircase, curiosity eats at his mind and makes him wonder what this place is. When he reaches the bottom of the staircase, his uncle then turns the handles on a pair of old, large, double doors and pushes them open. The doors let out a heavy groan as they are pushed open and reveal a massive chamber on the other side as black metal braziers flare to life around the room, shedding light to reveal many tables and benches around the room with even more stacked along the walls as he asks, "Just what is this place, grandfather?"

Closing the doors behind his grandson with a resounding boom, he says, "This is our order's stronghold, lad. In times long past, this place was bustling with activity, though our days in the open came to an end when we failed to save the Crystal Empire from the tyrannical umbrum, King Sombra."

Cocking his eyebrow, True Heart asks, "So then we are soldiers?"

Nodding his head, he answers, "Yes, though we focus on our primary duties to do good in the world, however, when darkness rises...we enter the fray. We are warriors that protect the ponies and Alicorns from danger and harm, never turning away from those in need of aid. The Heavenly Crusaders have been around since before the first alicorn, Princess Celestia drew her first breath. In fact, we Crusaders had a small, but important part in bringing the world to how it is today despite what their history books say."

Curious, he then asks, "Are there others in our order, or are we all that's left?"

Shaking his head, he says, "There are many others in our order, however, there are very few of us reincarnations remaining." Letting out a sad sigh, he says, "Although there aren't many of us left, we will still give our all in a fight."

Looking around the empty room, he says, "I remember when I was sent down to do my part, I looked around the space and saw that I was all that remained of our group."

Nodding his head somberly, he says, "I thought that our era might be coming to an end one of these decades with so few remaining, all that we can do now is help others where we can and keep the Alicorns from harm. Before our time on this world comes to an end, let's do what we can to help Equestria remember us long after we are nothing but ashes on the wind."

True Heart stands tall and nods his head, saying, "I agree with you on that, brother, and I shall use every opportunity presented to me to make an imprint on history."

Beaming with pride at his grandson, he nods and says, "And so shall I, brother. Let me give you the tour before I start your training."

Taking a great interest in the great library with some interest in crafting, he watches his grandfather lead him to the training hall and draw a couple wooden swords from a rack.

Sliding one sword across the floor to him, Thunder Magic then readies his sword, saying, "Let's see if you still remember how to wield a sword...EN GARDE!"

After spending most of the day being whacked by his grandfather's wooden sword, he heals his bruises and leads him back home, utterly exhausted and starving.

As he leaves his grandson at the door, he grins and says, "There will be a different trainer waiting for you in the meeting hall tomorrow around 8am, so don't make them wait too long."

True Heart nods his head and goes inside, saying, "Alright, grandfather, I will be sure to remember that." Closing the door behind him, he makes his way to the dining room to find his family getting ready to eat.

As the days go by, turning into weeks and then months with a different pony waiting for him in the training hall each morning, he throws himself wholeheartedly into the training regardless of how sore or tired he feels. On a rare day off, he chooses to take a walk through the city while reading through a tome from the Crusader's library containing a variety of battle spells and basic utility spells, occasionally looking to see what is in front of him so he doesn't bump into anyone. However, when he reaches a rather complex spell to move around, he collides with someone and closes the book, saying bashfully, "OH I'm so sorry, are you okay?" Putting the book away into his saddlebags reflexively, he looks down to see a lavender unicorn filly sniffling on the ground with a dark blue mane and tail with a pink and purple streak through them and a matching pair of purple eyes.

Offering her his hoof, he says, "Let me help you up and brush off the dirt for you."

The little filly sniffles and takes his hoof, looking at the ground shyly, saying, "Thank you." then stands still and hears a poof, looking up curiously to see that he now has a brush in his magic, unable to keep herself from asking, "Where you get that from?"

Using the brush to remove the dirt from her coat, True Heart smiles and says, "I used my magic to summon a brush from my saddlebags." then asks, "Can you use your magic yet?"

With a small smile, she nods, saying, "Mhm. I can open doors, and lift things about like your book." When the brush passes over her right foreleg, she hisses in pain, saying, "That hurts!"

He puts the brush away and leans his head down to look at the injury, seeing that she has a small scrape on her leg saying, "It seems that you have a minor scrape on your cannon bone below your knee, allow me to treat that for you."

The little filly watches as the older colt channels magic through his horn as a gentle yellow glow surrounds her injured foreleg, her eyes grow to the size of saucer plates when the pain goes away and the wound closes up without a mark, causing her to move her foreleg experimentally to find that there is no more pain. Eager to know how he did that, she excitedly shouts, "HOW'D YOU DO THAT!?"

Looking at the filly as she looks straight at him with eyes sparkling with wonder, he pulls the book out he was reading and says, "Well, I learned a first aid spell from this book here I borrowed from a private library."

She looks at the book with eyes hungry for the knowledge within and drools slightly, saying, "I WANNA SEE! I WANNA SEE!"

Before she has a chance to reach for the book with her magic, he tucks it away, saying, "Sorry, but I can't share what is stored within this book with just anyone, it could cause great harm if it was used to do bad things."

The little filly's head drops like a stone as she is saddened, muttering, "I understand..." then begins to sniffle.

Finding her hunger for knowledge stirs something within True Heart as he then gives in to her adorable pouting expression, saying, "However...I might be inclined to copy what is in this book if you promise to only use them to help others."

Her hope returns as she lifts her head and smiles, saying, "I promise on my BBBFF that I will use the knowledge to only do good, now can I see?!"

Chuckling softly, he thinks of a way to help her, saying, "I appreciate hearing you promise that, but I can't show you just yet." Before she can start sniffling, he adds, "Perhaps I can reward you with a copy of this book if you can perform three really difficult spells for a filly your age by this time next year, does that sound like a fair deal to you?"

The filly's smile grows wider and threatens to split her face in half as she happily nods her head with an excited giggle, shouting, "OKAY, SOUNDS FUN!"

When she starts prancing around in a circle, a shadow appears off to his right as he asks, "What does BBBFF mean?"

When she spots her big brother standing near the colt she bumped into and looking at him with narrowed eyes, she stops prancing and runs over to him, shouting happily, "Big Brother, Best Friend Forever!"

True Heart sees her run to a stallion ten years older than he is, who is currently looking at him with narrowed eyes, saying, "Thank you for explaining that to me, I'm sorry for bumping into you earlier and causing you to get hurt. I shall be on my way now since I healed your scrape."

Having been passing by when she heard the young filly's surprised cry of alarm, Princess Celestia looks at the group she is guiding around the city and says, "I will be right back everypony, there is something I must deal with before we continue." Walking away from the group, she approaches the three ponies as the oldest one in the group gives the younger colt a suspicious look, asking, "Is everything alright here, my little ponies?"

They all turn at hearing the new voice and quickly bow while the younger colt kneels and bows his head to her, answering for them all when the filly's brother fails to say anything, saying, "Everything is fine now, Your Majesty. What happened was that I became engrossed in a book of spells and bumped into the little filly here, accidentally knocking her down and causing her to start sniffling. After helping her to her hooves and pulling out a brush to wipe off the dirt that got on her coat, I eventually found a scrape on the cannon of her right foreleg just below her knee. Taking it upon myself for having caused her pain, I used a minor spell to heal the wound."

Her eyebrow raises up curiously at hearing a full report from a colt so young, saying before he can continue, "I know. I was passing by and got a good look at her wound, it was in a dangerous spot on her leg and could have resulted in her being unable to even canter if it was not treated right away. That spell you used is certainly no small feat for a colt as young as you to cast, for it simultaneously cleans, disinfects, and heals the wound without a trace." Pausing for a moment as the other two spin their heads around to gawk at the young colt, then continues saying, "How would you like to attend my school for gifted unicorns, young colt?"

The filly's mouth almost falls to the floor as her eyes become even larger at watching the princess extend an invitation herself to a pony before her very eyes as her mind screams, 'NO WAY! AM I SERIOUSLY WATCHING PRINCESS CELESTIA ASK THIS COLT TO ATTEND HER PRIVATE SCHOOL...HERSELF!'

Seeing no reason to object to her offer, True Heart smiles and nods his head, kneeling toward her like he had before, saying, "I shall look forward to all your school has to teach me, Your Majesty."

Smiling ever so slightly, she says, "I shall have details regarding your enrollment delivered to your parents by sunrise tomorrow. May you all have a bright, sunny day." With nothing further to say, she turns around and heads back towards the group to resume leading them around the city with her mood lifted at finding another gifted unicorn.

After receiving the details about attending Princess Celestia's school, True Heart's parents are ecstatic at the news as his grandfather adjusts his training to work around the hours he will be at school. When he first starts attending, he notices that he isn't the only one without a cutie mark. Treated as the odd pony out because of his pitch black coat and platinum blonde hair, he makes no new friends but doesn't let that bother him as he simply immerses himself into what the school teaches and studying new books borrowed from the secret library.

Weeks pass as he is busier than ever before with his studies, quickly rising to the top of his class and gains the envy of a filly named Sunset Shimmer that is four grades above him, admiring her for her studious nature while only being two years older. When she graduates being second best, he hears a rumor of her disappearance weeks later and decides to go look for her when he has a day off from school and training.

A year passes as the young filly he healed is enrolled into the school with her asking him every week if he has any time so that she can show him her new magic spells, telling her that he has a free day in a couple of weeks and that they can meet by the donut shop.

The filly shakes her head and says, "I don't want to show my magic off to a bunch of strangers, can we go somewhere more quiet?"

Thinking it over, he thinks of the Castle Gardens, saying, "Well...how about we go to a place where my grandfather helps maintain the grounds?"

Trying to think of what day it would be two weeks from today, the filly then asks, "I might be with my foalsitter, would you mind if she came along with us?"

Shaking his head, True Heart says, "It doesn't bother me at all, just as long as you don't mind, little one."

Nodding her head with a smile, she says, "Could you come over and pick us up that day?"

Thinking about it for a moment, he nods yes and asks, "I can do that, where is your house located in the city?"

Telling him where her parent's house is at, she then giggles and says, "Also, my name isn't little one, it's Twilight Sparkle! What's yours?"

When two weeks pass, he makes his way towards where Twilight lives and knocks on the door, hoping that her brother doesn't answer. To his surprise, an unfamiliar light pink alicorn with a multicolored mane and tail consisting of pale yellow, a shade of violet, and a shade of rose streaks answers the door. When he spots her eye color, he kneels before her, bowing his head, saying, "Forgive my intrusion, Your Majesty, for I did not know that Twilight's mother was home."

Upon hearing being considered Twilight's mother, she blushes fiercely before bursting out laughing, saying, "While I am very flattered that you think I could possibly be Twilight's mother, I shall inform you that I am just her foalsitter and her parents are currently at work. Thank you for seeing me as royalty, but I am a princess in name only. My name is Mi Amore Cadenza, what might your name be, young colt?"

Rising to his hooves, he introduces himself, saying, "Apologies, my name is True Heart. It is a pleasure to meet you..." just now realizing how her name translates, he cocks his head and asks, "Wait, your name is My Love Cadence?"

Gasping with delight at finding a pony not a royal capable of understanding her name, she squeals with delight and then pulls him against her into a hug. Holding him close, she jumps up and flaps her wings to do a little spin before returning to the ground, saying, "I can't believe you can understand my name! Can you speak it and write it as well?"

Shaking his head free of the slight daze, he nods his head, saying, "I can indeed, for I started learning it when I was just a babe." Realizing what he just said, he claps his forehoof to his head, thinking, 'Uh-oh...I shouldn't have said that.' To distract her, he then says, "Sorry again for the misunderstanding, Mi Amore Cadenza, but I was wondering if Twilight is here and not busy?"

Nodding her head happily, she then looks behind her to see the little filly in question standing behind her with a wide grin, saying, "Somepony is here to see you Twilight."

Darting up beside her foalsitter, she then prances in place, asking, "Can we go to that secluded place you mentioned so I can show you what I learned this last year?"

True Heart turns his head to the alicorn foalsitter, asking, "Would you mind going on a small trip to a place I know near the castle?"

Raising her eyebrow for a moment, she then shakes her head saying, "Not at all, but could you tell us where we are going exactly?"

Attempting to keep a smirk off his face, he shakes his head, saying, "Apologies, but that would spoil the surprise, although, I can assure you it is nearly the safest and quietest place in all of Canterlot with how close the castle is to our destination."

Cadance tries to puzzle out the clues offered about the destination, she then grabs her saddlebags and puts them on her flanks, saying, "Alright, we will follow you there." then turns to the filly, asking, "Do you need me to carry anything for you, Twilight?"

Shaking her head, she darts out the door, saying, "Nope, let's go!"

Closing the door, she turns to True Heart, saying playfully, "Lead the way...master."

Facing forward with a flushed face, he clears his voice saying, "I wouldn't say that too loudly or somepony might misunderstand your teasing tone."

Shocked at being talked back to, she smiles and thinks, 'It is going to be really fun with you around, I just wonder how Shining Armor is going to handle your wit?'

After leading them through the city and towards the entrance to the Castle Gardens, True Heart approaches the two guards when they only bar passage for him, responding with what he learned from his grandfather, "Fides et officium."

Cadance is surprised at how the guards just snap back to attention and ignore the colt after hearing the words, using her magic to scan them intensely. Finding nothing dangerous about it, she lets it go and decides to ask her aunt Celestia about it later.

Once onto the grounds, he leads them to the solitary statue rarely visited by anypony and stops before it, then turns around, saying, "Alright, Twilight, here we are. Are you ready to show me what you have learned?"

Smiling widely at finally getting her chance to earn a reward, Twilight moves a short distance away and focuses on the statue, saying, "First one, here we go." then prepares the spell carefully before casting it upon the stone statue.

Looking at how she focuses on the statue, he wonders if he should interrupt the spell or not. Deciding not to do anything as the statue can be easily repaired or replaced, he watches her cast the spell and is shocked to see that the spell doesn't damage it...it makes it sparkling clean. Truly impressed by the spell she pulled off, he says, "That's one, now what shall you do for number two?"

Thinking quickly, an idea comes to her and she turns her gaze to the rose bushes in front of the statue, saying, "Okay, second one...here goes nothing!"

He watches as the rosebush begins to grow quickly and climb up the statue, leaving him awestruck as he says in a dumbfounded tone, "Well...that is certainly something alright... What do you have for the last one?"

With a smile, Twilight turns to her foalsitter and goes to ask something when she notices tears streaming down her face, asking out of concern, "Are you okay, Cady, did you get hurt by the flowers?"

Tearing her tear-stained eyes from the statue and wiping her tears away with a tissue, she realizes that the mascara she applied is running down her face in trails, saying, "Oh I'm alright, sweetie. I just got distracted by some past memories I have forgotten is all and it made me sad. Now, what was it you needed?"

Knowing that she is putting on a brave face for the little filly, True Heart lets it slide for now as Twilight asks her foalsitter for a paper, quill, and inkwell before mentioning performing some kind of special dance. When he watches Twilight and the alicorn face each other, the two begin prancing and doing motions with their hooves, chanting, "Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake, clap your hooves and do a little shake!" When they both turn their rumps to him and shake them side to side in sync, he can't help but chuckle at how adorably funny it is, saying, "That was quite amusing, but where was the spell in all that?"

Dropping her spell with a giggle, she sets the quill down and picks up the paper with her magic and moves it towards him, saying with a giggle, "It happened while you weren't paying attention!"

Taking the paper from her and reading it, he sees that the words to their chant were written down. Though when he notices what he said at the end, his eyes grow wide as he hands it back saying, "You learned how to cast Living Quill? Just how old are you?"

With a proud smile, Twilight stands higher, saying, "I'm four!"

True Heart shakes his head with a chuckle, saying, "I can't believe that you learned an intermediate spell that I am still studying...and I'm four years older than you."

Trotting up to him and patting him on the shoulder, she says, "You'll get it one day, I promise." Tapping her forehooves together lightly, she asks sweetly, "So...do you think I have earned the reward you promised?"

Thinking it over for a moment, he smirks and takes his saddlebags off before unbuttoning a flap. Searching through one side first, then the other, he finds the wrapped gift and pulls it out, "Saying I suppose you do with those spells, though I did leave out the more dangerous spells contained in the book I am still studying." then holds it towards her.

Squealing with joy, she takes it from him and begins unwrapping it saying, "THANK YOU VERY MUCH!" When she finishes, she holds the bundled papers above her head, shouting, "YAY! NEW SPELLS!"

Leaving the overjoyed Twilight to her reward, True Heart approaches the alicorn, saying in a low tone, "I can tell that you are being brave, but she is too distracted now to pay you any heed. If you need someone to be there for you this time, let me bear your burden until you can carry it once more."

Cadance's facade slowly starts to crumble as she begins to sniffle when tears start to escape her eyes, turning away from the statue and then burying her face into True Heart's shoulder while fighting her desire to wrap her hooves and wings around him and wail out her sorrow, sobbing, "Th-Thank y-you, you are t-too kind."

Lifting his foreleg and running it under her neck, he places his hoof on the back of her head and presses her further against his mane, saying, "Let your grief flow, Your Majesty, I will sing a song that won't let anyone hear your mournful cries."

Almost losing control, her breath hitches in her throat as she whispers, "Okay...please start."

Taking a deep breath, he closes his eyes and lets a song from long ago come to his mind, then lets himself sing out loud as music begins to play around him and causing time to seemingly slow.

The video is not mine, all rights go to the one who made it!

While heading back to the throne room, Celestia picks up a song with muffled words coming from somewhere behind the castle. Taking a little time to investigate the music, she looks outside the windows to see her niece Cadance with her head buried in the crook of True Heart's neck. Thinking she is being attacked, she then teleports outside to confront him when she is pulled into the magic in the air. Feeling the shift around her, she looks around to see that time is standing still as she finds Twilight hungrily studying the first page of a decently sized book. When the muffled words to the song continue to sound foreign to her, she hears a mournful wail coming from Cadance, she turns to look at her and sees that her wings and shoulders rises and fall erratically. Realizing her misunderstanding right away when she sees the solitary rose covered statue, she turns away, thinking, 'Oh Cadance, I should really spend more time helping you through your grief...'

As Shining Armor Patrols the gardens, keeping his eyes open for any signs of trouble, his eyes pass over a lone statue in the corner of the gardens. When his eyes fall upon the light pink alicorn, his heart throbs in his chest and causes him to freeze in his tracks. With his eyes fixed upon the sight of her head against a young colt's neck, he recognizes the colt from before and makes his way over to break the fight. As he draws nearer, he soon spots her body shuddering as if she is crying and sees a sheen of glistening wetness running down to the underside of his neck, then dripping down to the grass below. Believing that the colt isn't offering her comfort, he approaches the pair, clearing his voice, saying, "Ahem, pardon my intrusion you two, but I shall take things from here."

Nodding his head and not saying a word, he shuffles to the side as the older stallion can take his place. Using his magic to lift her head off his neck, he returns his hoof to the ground and shifts her head over so that the right side of her neck is against his.

The moment she feels her neck touch the neck of a different pony, her hooves wrap themselves around the pony embracing her as her wings go lax and fall to the ground, saying, "Thank you for letting me lean on you, True Heart, but I would prefer being called Cadance without any honorific."

Blinking his eyes in acceptance, he says, "As you wish, Cadance. Should I take Twilight home and keep an eye on her until you return?"

Answering for her, Shining Armor turns to the colt, saying, "Please do, but you better not let any harm come to her, or I will be unhappy."

Nodding his head, he heads over to Twilight, whose head is buried in her new spellbook and ignoring the world, then lifts her off the ground and sets her on his back. With the book in her magic, he makes his way toward the gate to carry Twilight home.

3: The unexpected occurs

Author's Note

Apologies for how this chapter skips through his life as a foal, but I would like to get to the real story before I write 20+ chapters of boring material that is just a filler.

3: The unexpected occurs

As True Heart continues his training, he visits Twilight and spends time with her as Cadance and Shining Armor sneak away without Twilight noticing. When he visits one day, a few years later, Cadance asks him to take Twilight somewhere in town for a few hours. Once Twilight exits the house and waits at the corner for him with the spellbook he gave her in front of her still, he smiles and then turns back to see Shining Armor kissing her cheek and says in a low tone so Twilight can't overhear, "For whatever happens between you two lovebirds, I wish not to know, but do Equestria a favor and take precautions for there will certainly be quite an uproar should any unexpected accidents take root and be discovered later."

Turning to see Shining Armor's reaction, she sees that his head is beet red with eyes shrunk down to pinpricks and a completely flabbergasted look upon his face. Unable to contain her laughter, she gives the door a push to close it and falls to the floor laughing wildly, saying, "The look on your face is priceless!"

Before the door closes, Shining Armor blurts out, "But we haven't gotten that far yet!" but the door closes and cuts off the last few words, causing Cadance to laugh even harder.

On one bright summer day, during another day off, he spots a pegasus filly about his age with a large pair of red-rimmed glasses and having a greyscale mane and tail looking rather upset. Turning to Twilight, he says, "Hold on a moment, Twilight, there's somepony that might need my help."

Stopping with a sigh and sitting on her flank, Twilight dejectedly says, "Okay..."

Walking over to the filly, True Heart stops near her and asks, "Hello, might I ask what has you so distressed?"

The filly looks up at him with a suspicious look and asks, "Why do you care, huh?"

Attempting to appease her, he gives her a disarming smile and says, "Because I bear no ill will towards you, I saw that you were unhappy and thought you might need someone to brighten your day."

Sniffing back tears, her eyes soften slightly at his genuine kindness, saying, "Well...then thank you."

Moving a bit closer, True Heart asks, "What troubles you?"

Letting out a sigh, she paws the ground with her hoof, saying, "Don't tell anyone, but some older foals are pushing me around because of what I dream about."

Cocking his head slightly, he says, "Sounds like they might be jealous if whatever you think about is even grander than theirs are, be a bigger pony and don't let what they say get you down."

Smiling softly at hearing that, she says, "I'll remember that and will just keep my dreams of being a legendary adventurer one day to myself." Realizing she blurted that out, she blushes and then turns and runs away.

Watching her run away blushing, he smiles at having cheered her up a bit and turns around to return to Twilight's side, saying, "Another good deed done, are you ready to head to our usual studying spot?"

Rising to her hooves, Twilight says, "Yep, let's go before it starts raining."

Nodding, he then leads the way to the gardens, using the short phrase to get by the guards when he feels the first raindrop hit his coat and turns to her, saying, "Race you to the Golden Apple Tree!"

Feeling a raindrop hit her, she cries out, "Yah!" then takes off running with her book held above her head, the cover held towards the sky so that she could keep reading. Not watching where she's going, she runs nose first into something warm, fuzzy, and soft. The collision sends the two of them to the ground, with her landing on her flank and the other one lying on his side with his forehooves between his legs and groaning. Upon seeing that she ran into True Heart, she says, "I'm sorry, did I hurt you? Should I go get help?"

Gasping for air while holding his family jewels, he manages to gasp out, "No need...I'll be fine...in a moment...just...need to...catch my breath."

As she sits there under the tree for a few minutes, she hears thunder above them as the rain starts to come down hard when her stomach grumbles, making her ask, "Do you have any food?"

Getting his breathing under control finally, he rises to his hooves and nods, saying, "Just a couple tomato, lettuce, and mayo sandwiches I made for us to snack on. Hopefully, this rain won't last too long."

Twilight looks up at him and says, "Okay, but I heard dad mention to mom that this shower should continue until dinnertime."

Pulling out the two sandwiches, he gives her one and sets it on a plate, saying, "Well these will have to satisfy us until then."

When the two start eating the sandwiches, the wind gusts and causes the trees crown to sway. The motion causes one golden apple to fall to the ground before Twilight beside the plate while another swings by its stem.

It is lunchtime as Celestia makes her way to the dining room to eat, taking a glance outside as she passes a window to see Twilight bite into a golden apple that fell before her. Her eyes sparkle with delight at how the tree found her worthy of one of its treasured apples when she observes a second apple sway back and forth before it is sent sailing towards True Heart. When the spinning golden apple is spears itself on his horn, she is too surprised by the tree willingly blessing another with an apple to even laugh at the sight of Twilight pointing up at his horn and falling to the ground in a fit of giggles.

After taking the apple off his horn and splitting it in half to pull out the seeds, True Heart looks at the seeds curiously and wraps them up in a napkin to examine them later before biting into one half and chewing the mouthful, saying with delight, "Wow, I didn't know that a Golden Apple could taste so much different from an ordinary apple, and this is the very first one I've eaten, how about you?"

Having already devoured her own apple, Twilight shakes her head, saying, "Nope. This was my first Golden Apple as well, but it really was quite delicious. I've heard that the Apples on this tree are special and drop very rarely, we are extremely lucky to have two apples drop for us."

Nodding his head as he pulls out his own book, saying, "Well then I think fortune is favoring us this day, so let us enjoy its blessing to the fullest."

Smiling widely, she nods her head, saying, "I can definitely do that." and returns to her book, studying harder than ever before.

Putting his head into his own book, he continues looking over the spell with a furrowed brow as he tries to understand the context of what its purpose might be. Spending several frustrating minutes reading through and trying to keep the translation from Arabic to Latin clear, he turns the page to the next part of the spell while letting out a frustrated huff when he starts translating the next part.

Hearing his frustration, Twilight looks at him and asks, "Are you having trouble with a spell?"

Lifting his head from the page, he lets out a sigh, saying, "Yes...the spell I am studying is written in another language that I can understand, but it makes no sense. Therefore, I thought it might be written in code that needs to be translated into another language so it makes sense, but my attempts to understand it so far are annoying me."

Cocking her head in confusion, she asks, "How many languages do you know?"

Answering on reflex, he says, "Four or five and can speak and write them all."

Her eyes go wide in amazement, saying, "WOW! I WISH I KNEW MORE THAN ONE!"

Chuckling, True Heart answers, "Well, one is only limited by the knowledge contained within their mind, so if you continue to study whatever you can besides magic, you might know more languages than me in the future."

Remembering what he said before, she says, "If one language doesn't work out, try another. Perhaps you will need more than one to make sense of it."

Smiling at her advice, True Heart nods his head, saying, "Thank you, I will try different combinations then. You are such a smart filly it is scary sometimes."

Giggling in delight at the praise, she beams a wide smile, saying, "Thanks for the praise!"

Returning to the coded spell, he translates it from Arabic to Hebrew next. By the time he makes a breakthrough, Twilight taps his shoulder and asks if he can take her home. Nodding his head when he sees it is getting dark out, he says, "Sorry for getting lost for so long, but I have made progress thanks to you."

After taking her home and returning to his own, he eats some leftovers from dinner before heading upstairs to do his nightly ritual before going to sleep. That night, he tosses and turns in his sleep as he thinks over what translation might reveal the spells mysteries. When he wakes and goes to school after his morning ritual, he spends his study hall looking through the book and trying different combinations until he finally figures it out after having to go from Arabic to Egyptian Hieroglyphs, then from Spanish into Hebrew before finally going into Latin. Finally able to understand how to cast the spell called Seeking Truth, he huffs at how what it does isn't mentioned and goes to close his eyes to attempt the spell anyway when he hears the teacher walk into the room.

The teacher looks around the room for the student mentioned in the request, calling out, "True Heart, you have a surprise exam in the assembly hall, and Princess Celestia has deigned to grace us with her presence to oversee the exams of a few students she hoof-picked herself." She then narrows her eyebrows and says, "It would be in your best interests to not disappoint her by failing it...or else you might be sent back to magic kindergarten."

Nodding and putting his book away, True Heart leaves the room with his saddlebags on his flanks and ignores the fact that he still hasn't gotten his cutie mark yet. When he enters the hall, he spots several other ponies in the room. One of them is Twilight, who waves at him happily with a nervous grin. Moving over beside her, he says, "Do you know what today's exam is going to be?"

Twilight shakes her head, saying, "Nuh-uh, I did not hear about any exams being held today. Aren't you excited to hear that Princess Celestia is going to observe our progress!?"

As he watches the examiners enter, he watches Princess Celestia walk in after them and take a seat way in back at the top of the bleachers, saying, "A little, though I am more curious as to what we will be doing."

When Celestia watches the examiners call forth the first student, she smiles as they perform the task of showing their progress thus far. When Twilight meets her expectations, she hides a beaming smile of pride as it is finally True Heart's turn when he is called up.

Clearing the area around him, True Heart double checks to see that there's plenty of room before looking at the examiners, asking, "The exam today is to show how far I have progressed in my magic studies, correct?"

One of the examiners nods their heads, saying in a feminine voice, "That is correct. Now if you would please perform the best spell you can to show how far you have progressed in your studies, True Heart, we don't have all day."

Nodding his head and taking a relaxing breath, he steadies himself before saying, "Very well, I shall be attempting to cast a spell I just came to partially understand in study hall, though it's purpose wasn't mentioned. Forgive the chant being in a foreign language, but it is an important part of the spell's makeup."

Celestia raises her eyebrow as she watches True Heart sit cross-legged on the ground and take a meditating pose while closing his eyes and sitting up with his back straight, moving his hooves to either side of his body and putting the bottoms of his hooves together just below his chin.

Taking the pose recommended in the spell's description, he takes a deep breath and then begins to chant in latin, "Mecum es omni flatu. Peto ut des mihi sapientiam tuam, da mihi visionem."

At hearing so much latin spoken in such a long time, her mind forgets to translate it as she leans forth with keen interest all over her face. Paying no attention to the surprised looks the examiners are giving her while making notes on their clipboards, her mind finally works on translating the latin so she can understand what was said, saying in a very quiet voice, "I haven't heard that language in quite some time, I thought it fell out of use many centuries ago..."

The examiners watch as the floor below the student begins to glow a bright light azure blue while he slowly lifts up off the ground, still channeling the spell with his light silver magic aura. Wondering what the spell will do, they make notes about the brilliant display when azure flames erupt all around the student suddenly. The sound of a seat clattering to the floor draws their attention behind them to see that Princess Celestia has abruptly risen to her hooves and is leaning over the desk in front of her with an awestruck expression on her face with her wings raised into the air in surprise. Making note of her reaction, they return to looking at the student's spell with great interest.

Regaining her composure after watching the fiery burst around the colt, she sits back down uneasily as the temperature begins to rise in the room. When the temperature continues to skyrocket, she acts quickly and casts a shield to contain the heat within the room. Looking at how the examiners are starting to sweat, she notices that the colt is unaffected by the heat that must be at the very center of the spell. When the heat suddenly dissipates with a flash that causes even her to shield her eyes from the brightness, she blinks several times until she can see again, saying, "Wow, that was really bright, is everypony alright?"

Unable to see because of the spots blotting out their vision, they look around in fright and talk amongst themselves shouting, "CAN ANY OF YOU SEE OR HEAR ANYTHING?" when another answers in the commotion, "I CAN'T HEAR MYSELF THINK DUE TO THIS BLASTED RINGING, AND ALL I CAN SEE IS SOLID PURPLE EVERYWHERE...UGH CAN ANYONE EVEN HEAR ME TALKING?!"

Celestia is about to treat their temporary afflictions, when she watches water-like ripples flow across the walls and returns her gaze to True Heart as his eyes finally open to reveal a brilliant, silver light.

Though his eyes are open, he can see nothing as he continues to channel the spell, saying, "Be ready...for the long night will come within a score and three years, to prevail, thee must listen closely."

Too surprised by a pony successfully casting this spell and not perishing yet, she grabs a scroll and a quill then begins to write everything down.

Blinking slowly, True Heart takes a slow breath and lets it out as his mane and tail begin rising up into the air and fluttering on the non-existent breeze, with his body rising higher in the air and leaving his hooves to dangle towards the ground. Opening his mouth, he then begins saying, "Adore thee my benevolence, then join in my laughter. Remain true to thy self, as I hold true to my words. Objects I value not, for another connects our light."

As she writes it down quickly, she looks up for more and sees silver fire creeping up True Heart's hooves, saying, "Please don't hurt yourself with keeping this spell up, but is there any more to share?"

The silver fire continues to climb up his body harmlessly, engulfing his body before saying, "Worry not, for no harm will be caused. The rest shall be left up to you all. You all can be happy in the light," His shadow rises up onto the wall and suddenly sprouts a pair of wings as he adds, "Or you can lose hope and fall into the dark." with the alicorn shadow on the wall burning away into ash as the spell comes to an end, leaving the colt to fall to the ground unconscious as the fire leaves him in a wisp of smoke that vanishes into thin air.

Celestia rolls up the scroll and tucks it away quickly as the examiners begin rubbing their eyes or ears, talking amongst themselves when they notice the unconscious student and wonder if he passed or failed. Answering for them, she makes her way down to the melted and warped stone tiles below True Heart, saying, "This colt has surprised me by successfully casting an extremely difficult spell for even the most skilled unicorn. Despite not knowing much about it, or the danger to himself, he came out of it unharmed with the exception of his now forever altered appearance. Therefore, I have determined that he passed the exam with flying colors and shall graduate to move on to do independent studies."

Standing next to the pitch black unicorn colt now having larger hooves than before with short, silver and azure feathering at the tops of his hooves with a silver mane and tail with streaks the same azure as in his feathering, the princess turns to the others, saying, "I shall take him to the doctors in the medical wing of the castle for treatment, good day everypony." She then casts a spell to teleport to the castle, bringing him with her.

When True Heart wakes up, he sees a ceiling with white tiles carved with recessed squares stepping down to the next within each other. Turning his head to see a sheer privacy curtain all around him with his grandfather on a comfortable-looking bench seat just beside his bed, attempting to sit up when he gets light-headed and falls back to the bed, saying, "Ugh...if only I could remember what happened at the exam..." Moments later it all comes back to him in a rush, causing him to grunt, complaining, "I would have liked to know that the spell I cast sent me for a loop like that."

Celestia slips through an opening in the privacy curtain on the bed's right side, saying, "I am happy that you have finally woken up after casting a spell that should have been impossible for one your age, how are you feeling my little pony?"

Looking over to his right after seeing his grandfather get up hastily, he sees Princess Celestia standing at his bedside and goes to get up and kneel to her, but groans when a pain shoots through his head.

Shaking her head and using a spell to ease his pain, she says, "There is no cause to genuflect to me when you are injured, little one, for you have been asleep for several days now and you had your whole family worried...including me."

Sighing and looking ashamed, he stops trying to get up and says, "How long have I been out, Your Majesty."

Answering for her, his grandfather says, "Almost two weeks lad, you really upset your sister with that stunt, you know that?"

Turning his head to him, he says, "I'm sorry that I worried you all like that, I was just curious as to what that spell was supposed to do."

Sighing, she then says, "That spell was designed to help one see future events, however, whoever tried to cast it either perished or lost their mind completely. I would greatly appreciate it if you could promise not to ever use it again."

Looking back at the princess, he nods his head, saying, "I swear to you that I will never use that spell again, Your Majesty. I don't want to spend another two weeks unconscious."

Nodding her head happily, she says, "I am happy to hear that, but I must get back to my royal duties now. I shall have a nurse escort you out when you are released."

Smiling back at her, he says, "Thank you for being so kind and caring, Your Majesty."

When the princess leaves the room, Thunder Magic looks at his grandson and whacks him on the back of the head, saying, "What were you thinking in casting a dangerous spell like Seeking Truth? Didn't you understand the note explaining why it shouldn't be used?"

Cocking his head, he asks, "There was supposed to be a note with the spell? Well I never saw it, it sure would have been useful before I worked on understanding the code used."

Letting out an annoyed sigh, he says, "I guess that one of us forgot to put it back in the original copy of the spellbook, but I am quite surprised that the spell caused your appearance to change. Make sure to ask one of us about a spell if you find it having incomplete information, that way we can tell you what we know about it."

Once he is allowed to go home, True Heart looks in the mirror to see that his coat changed from a dusty black to a pitch black. His mane and tail is also different, having silver and light azure streaks through them both. When he sees that his hooves are bigger and have the same glinting, silver hair with azure streaks, he says, "I was wondering why I feel funny when I walk, it will take a little time to get used to these things." Looking back at the mirror, he smiles and says, "At least the color of my eyes didn't change, though the color might be a little shinier than before."

After being given a diploma with a rainbow ribbon containing every color and congratulated for graduating at the top of the class, he spends his free time in the stronghold while trying to hang out with Twilight each chance he gets.

Years pass as he finally turns sixteen, making his way through town as a few young mares his age bat their eyes at him or wave their flanks tauntingly at him while quickly trotting away from him and giggling. Smiling in amusement at their behavior, he spots a tan young pegasus mare about his age with a greyscale mane and tail and having the same pair of red rimmed glasses from the day he first encountered her and heads over to her, saying, "Hi there, I was wondering if I would ever bump into you again." Stopping near her, he asks in a low tone, "Do you still dream of grand adventures?"

As her mind goes back to the day she first saw this stallion, she gives him a gentle smile, nodding and saying, "I do, yes." then asks, "Why do you ask?"

With a gentle smile, he says, "I have a gift for you that I finished a few years ago, if I'm any good at guessing one's character...I think you might like it." then opens his saddlebag and pulls out an item wrapped in a linen sackcloth then holds it towards her.

Taking the wrapped gift from him curiously, she unwraps the string holding the cloth around the gift. Letting the string fall to the ground and removing the cloth around whatever is inside, she finds something wrapped in thin leather strips interwoven together to form a handle of some sort. Dropping the cloth while holding onto the handle, whatever it is attached to unravels and falls to the ground.

As True Heart watches her curiously for her reaction, he sees how she studies the length of it then looks up with with a shocked and speechless expression on her face, asking her, "Do you like it?"

Her firm control over her happiness walks a tightrope at an opportunity to go on a real adventure as she looks down at the gift slowly, then back up at the stallion with surprise all over her face as she softly says, "Is this a real, bullwhip?"

Nodding his head, he starts saying, "Yes it is, I made it my-" when he is suddenly cut off by her mouth crashing against his and feeling her tongue slip into his mouth and slides around his tongue. Taken by surprise, he hesitates for a moment until her wings wrap around his neck and pull him further against her, deciding to reciprocate and turns his head to deepen the kiss further and tangles his tongue around hers until she pulls away with a heavy blush on her face when a variety of whistles and other young mares her age cheer her on and to 'get some'.

Returning her wings to her side reluctantly with the blush still on her face, she leans forward to his ear and whispers, "My name is Daring Do Dazzle, but please call me Dazzle. What's your name, handsome?"

Lowering his voice as well, he says to her ear, "True Heart, it is a pleasure to finally get your name. Was that your first kiss?"

Daring nods her head slightly, whispering, "Likewise, and it was. Was it yours too?"

True Heart nods, saying, "It was a very good kiss for somepony who hasn't kissed before, I take it you either saw somepony else do it or learned how from a book."

Chuckling lightly, she pulls back a little and whispers, "I tend to catch couples doing that when they think nopony is watching." Stepping back a little ways and talking normally, the blush fades slightly as she says, "I love the gift very much, thank you. When I learn how to use it, let's go on an adventure together, alright? I'll come find you when I'm ready, it can't be too hard since you kind of stick out." Without saying another word, she quickly gathers up her gift in her front hooves and takes off to start practicing.

Watching her fade from view, he notices a few young mares looking at him with wide eyes and commenting, "Wow...I guess what I hear about stallions with big hooves is true..."

Just then another stallion's voice calls out, "Don't you all know how rude it is to stare?"

As the mares can't help but keep staring, True Heart looks around to see a red stallion about his size having a yoke around his neck and a blonde mane and tail, pulling a cart stacked high with barrels then looks underneath himself curiously to find his member is out and pointed forward. Rolling his eyes, he says, "Now this is quite the nuisance."

Smiling gently at knowing the feeling, the stallion says, "Arch your back, it helps."

Arching his back like he recommended, he feels himself rest against the underside of his belly, then turns to the stallion, saying, "Thank you for the advice, my name is True Heart. Where are you going with such a load?"

The stallion then blinks and says, "Eeyup, I'm goin to the castle. I'm Big Mac."

True Heart then nods and continues walking, saying, "It was nice meeting you, Big Mac. Be sure to watch out for spilled lotion on the hill, some colt tried to prank a little filly but it backfired."

Big Mac nods his head and starts walking with the wagon rumbling along behind him, saying, "Eeyup, thanks for sharing."

Making his way to Twilight's home, he knocks on the door to find Cadance with Shining Armor there, saying, "Apologies for interrupting, but would Twilight be around or where I might find her?"

Nodding his head and looking down, he narrows his eyes at him and snorts, asking, "You don't plan to visit her like that do you?"

Realizing what he means, True Heart shakes his head, saying, "Of course not, I gave a young mare a gift today so she could follow her dream and she kissed me...with tongue."

Cadance sidles up to Shining Armor and ignores the pink member up against his belly, using her special talent to see his emotions when her nose picks up the scent of a young mare not Twilight coming from around his neck and mouth, saying with a giggle, "Awe, look who just got their first kiss! Congratulations on the path to adulthood True Heart." She then looks at Shining Armor with a smirk and says in a teasing tone, "Who knows, if I was several years younger and still searching for a special somepony...I might have tried to snatch it from you."

His head turns to Cadance with a wide-eyed look of shock, surprise, and horror when he quickly realizes that she is only teasing him, saying, "Cady..."

Placing a kiss on his cheek and brushing her side against his, she nuzzles into him saying, "Don't worry, my Shiny Patootie, you know I only have eyes for a certain Captain of the Guard."

At hearing something he can tease him on, he looks to Shining Armor and says, "Wow, I am impressed you are really making a name for yourself, congratulations. I bet your little sister is very proud of you. Was it your mouth or your hard work that got you that position?" Raising his eyebrows up and down quickly in a suggestive way to mess with him a bit more.

Sniggering at hearing Shining Armor snort agitatedly and offering True Heart a hoof sandwich for his big mouth Cadance rests her head against his, saying, "Don't get angry over all the teasing, sweetie. You know I am the reason for it all because it helps to make me laugh during difficult days."

Letting out a sigh, Twilight's brother turns back to True Heart, saying, "You can find her under the Princess's Golden Apple Tree, but make sure that you aren't exposed when you see her. I'm already busy enough keeping young stallions trying to sneak peeks when she walks by, my heart fills with dread whenever I think of when she might take interest in stallions."

True Heart then smiles and says, "I think you can relax for a few years on that because I think that she might only have eyes for books in the foreseeable decade or so at least."

Cadance raises an eyebrow curiously, saying, "I have noticed that, which means that I might have to play match maker when Shining Armor lets me."

He chuckles and says, "Which means that by the time he agrees to let you do that, he will be old and grey."

She then turns her gaze to him warningly and says, "Is that so? Then I might just have to do something about that..." then looks at the young stallion, saying, "Thank you for stopping by True Heart." then turns around and starts to walk further into the house, looking over her shoulder at Shining Armor with narrowed eyes, saying, "Let's have a talk Shiny." then closes the door with her magic.

4: The Incident

WARNING! THE SECTION AFTER THIS POINT IS A CLOP PORTION! FEEL FREE TO SKIP AHEAD TO THE WHITE PORTION IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO READ IT!!

A year later, as True Heart is making his way to Twilight's new tower residence from her house, he decides to take a shortcut through a section of the city he has never seen yet. Getting turned around after taking a few side streets curiously, he finds himself walking past businesses with names like, 'The Mountain Oyster', 'Clam Shell Buffet', and even 'The Veiled Flank'. While trying to find his way through this new section, a scent in the air causes his member to slip out and eagerly aim forward.

A mare makes her way back home to her husband and daughter from The Veiled Flank's back door for employee's only when she spots a young stallion in front of her heading toward the quarantined section where mares unable to control their urges are placed during their seasonal cycles by the royal guard, hoping that he sees the sign warding off entry.

Seeing a large sign ahead of him, he stops to read it and cocks his head, saying curiously to no one in particular, "Quarantine, huh?" He then continues heading forward, saying, "Perhaps I can do a bit of good here and heal those afflicted. No risk means no reward sometimes."

Stunned and frozen in place by his decision to ignore the warning, the mare sees him about to pass the boundary line. The sight causes her to rush forth and stop him, using her magic to pull him back as she skids to a stop between him and the line of paved stone, shouting with a heavy foreign accent. "NO!"

A mare with a dark orange coat, a slightly long and curly, deep purple mane and tail with a pair of magenta eyes bars his way forward, causing True Heart to cock his head and ask, "Uhm, is there a reason you are impeding my path?"

Staying put, she nods her head, saying in her heavy eastern accent, "Yes, and a good one too. Please heed my warning and go no further, for there are only mares beyond these stones behind me that have lost control of themselves to the season's effects. If you ignore my warning, you would be lucky to be carried out on a stretcher...if the guards find you before the fiery spring cycle ends."

Something in her words click together to make True Heart understand as he slaps himself upside the head with a forehoof, saying, "It is that time already in the spring cycle? No wonder I'm having so many issues around young mares..." Turning to her and putting his hoof down gently, he asks, "Would you be able to show me how to get out of here? I took a shortcut to visit a friend and got lost."

Nodding her head, she can't help but glance at the member the stallion is sporting, saying, "I can show you the way." She then spots other mares making their way across the street as one of them looks at the young stallion's member and goes wide-eyed at the size.

Without warning, he hears a sharp whistle that causes him to turn halfway around when he hears a light grey mare say, "Take a look at what that stud's sporting girls, don't it look like it could split you in half?!"

As other mares turn to look, going wide-eyed as well while some get a lecherous look on their faces, she groans and thinks of a way to get the young stallion to safety before one of them drags him off somewhere and has her way with him, saying, "I can't let them get you, follow me!" then turns and gallops down an alleyway and pauses to look back at him, shouting, "COME ON!"

Spurred into action as True Heart hears hooves galloping towards him, he races after the helpful mare. Catching up to her as she heads down another street, he turns as the pursuing mares call out to the others not to let him escape. Not wanting to find out what they have intended for him, he goes a little faster and follows her around another corner.

After finally losing the mares and hiding out in an unused storage building, the mare turns around and looks the young stallion over, seeing that his member isn't just out...it is rigid and twitching eagerly as he pants heavily. Backing her rear against the wall closest to her, she asks, "A-Are you still yourself, young one?"

Managing to nod his head, he says, "I...I am. For some reason, my body won't listen to me. I don't like the way my body tries to move on its own, do you know of any way to resolve this?"

Letting out a sigh at having no choice but to deal with this, she takes a moment to debate calling out to one of the mares that was chasing him, but shakes her head clear of that idea, thinking, 'No, I can't let myself even consider that, for it might negatively impact this young stallion's life forever. I would never forgive myself if I let that happen, and my family and I might never get the chance to get out of here and open a respectable business...' Turning back to him with renewed resolve, she says, "I do know a way to deal with your predicament, but it isn't something I do for anyone but my husband."

Looking at her, True Heart huffs out and keeps his body still despite it wanting to charge forth and mount her, saying, "I don't want to cause strife between you and your husband, the bonds of marriage are sacred and can't be taken lightly."

She is surprised to hear a young stallion talk so highly like that, striking a chord in her and making her say, "Well then, in that case, shall I call one of the mares chasing after you over here so that she can get what she wants from you and bring a foal into this world?"

Grumbling under his breath and battling his body, he growls out, "No..."

Huffing out in victory, she stands a little taller, saying, "Then you let me worry about my husband, but I cannot let you go out there as you are or you will definitely become a father to more than one foal next year."

While battling it out with his mind and body, he eventually manages to growl out in a frustrated tone, muttering, "Fine... What must I do?"

Preparing herself for what she must do, she says, "Allow your body to walk towards my left side, but stop when your shoulders are even with mine."

As he hesitantly lets his muscles walk slowly forward, he stops beside her with his shoulders even with hers and asks, "What now?"

Unable to reach him, she sidesteps until her shoulder brushes against his, saying, "Now keep your front hooves relatively still and take three big steps to your left with your back hooves, after that...close your eyes."

Stepping to his left as she asked, then making minor adjustments to the placement of his front hooves, he then closes his eyes and wonders what is going to happen when he feels something warm and wet touch the side of his member.

As she wraps her long tongue around his phallus, she realizes just how big he is when she struggles to pull it over to her mouth and loses her hold on it. When it swings away from her, she dips her head down and angles it to avoid her horn brushing against his fur. Slipping her mouth toward his member, she uses her tongue once again to guide it to her mouth. Having to open really wide to squeeze the head into her mouth, her jaw pops as she starts to slide her mouth further down his member.

The tight, warm, and wet sensation causes his hold on his muscles to slip a little when his back arches and his hips thrust forward a little, causing the mare to cough and scold him harshly, hearing her say from under him, "Don't you dare do that when I'm trying to help you! Just stay still and try to ignore the pleasure...your size is enough trouble for me to work with."

Reaffirming his control over his muscles, True Heart says, "I'm sorry, but the sensation caused my grip over my muscles to slip, I will try not to let it happen again."

Taking a moment to recover from having his tip hit the back of her throat, she takes a calming breath, saying, "Try harder." while thinking, 'Maybe this wasn't the best idea after all...'

When he feels the tightness, wetness, and warmth return, he tries to distract himself by thinking of his training thus far. After a few minutes pass with no slips, he smiles and thinks, 'If I can just maintain my hold until the end, that would be great.'

It takes her several minutes to get used to the uncomfortable sensation of her jaw going numb as he continues to twitch in her mouth when she sighs through her nose, thinking, 'Great, he is holding on so tightly that he isn't letting himself release...looks like I will have to put even more effort into getting him to calm down. I sure hope my throat can handle this monstrosity for a few moments...'

His control continues to hold really well as he thinks, 'I feel so close...just a bit further...' All is well until he feels her shift under him and tap his left leg and gestures to lift it and put it on the other side of her neck, doing as she wishes and holds onto her shoulders with his forelegs. When he feels himself enter something far tighter, his control shatters as his body takes over and shifts its forelegs to way behind her shoulders and grips her sides tightly.

The only warning she gets that she is in trouble is when she sees his stance widen and muscles bunch up a little, thinking, 'Oh no, this is not going to end well for me...' Then feels him swiftly thrust forward down her throat, causing it to stretch beyond its limits quite painfully. Unable to even cry out while tears slip down the sides of her face and ruin her makeup, her golden hairband clatters to the ground. Forced to hold on as long as she can, she braces herself for the thrusts and the extra weight when she feels his tip hit a wall and keeps pushing against it, pleading in her mind, 'Please stop, you can't go any further! There's no more room for your ridiculously long member!'

As his body pulls back and thrusts hard again, slamming into the barrier that refuses to yield, his body keeps putting more force behind his thrusts and pulls farther back.

Feeling him getting even thicker in her throat, she tastes something metallic on her tongue, sending a thought through her head, 'Please stop, you're tearing my throat open!' However, she is partially relieved when she feels him nearly pull all the way out of her throat, letting out a silent, agonized scream when he rams it all the way back in and goes in even deeper as her throat surrenders to the assault. Feeling his sheath being driven into her mouth as her jaw attempts to close, a hot warmth blooms inside her stomach as she feels him finally release.

His vision is white as his body continues to release, arching its back to add to the force of it so it goes farther into her body. A few long moments pass when he finally regains control over his own body, hastily climbing off of her and goes to move away from her. The moment his member pops free, she collapses to the ground, which worries him.

When she doesn't move for a moment, he walks up to her and puts his ear in front of her nose and wiggles it back and forth to tickle it. However, when that fails to get a response, he puts it just behind her shoulder to listen for a heartbeat. As he can't hear anything at all, his mind races with thoughts rapidly, thinking, 'Oh no, I killed her! I just took the life of an innocent and a mother! I must do something about this, but what can I do if she's dead?!'

As his mind starts to panic, he thinks back to what he knows about medical treatment. A glimmer of hope appears in his mind's eye as he recalls reading theoretical techniques to help one breathe again, then immediately puts it into practice by pinching her nose closed with his magic and breathing into her mouth.

After doing that for a few moments he moves onto periodically pushing on her chest where her heart should be, which doesn't work after a couple minutes of trying. Having to think of something else, his mind recalls another book regarding medical science theories regarding the body having small charges of electricity running through it regularly. With nothing else to rely on, he decides to experiment with that theory in mind.

Seeing only darkness before her, the mare looks around in confusion, saying, "Hello?" As it echoes out around her, she catches someone out of the corner of her eye and turns to ask where she is. Her eyes go wide as she sees her grandma and grandpa as well as a few other family members she knew as a little filly, overjoyed at seeing them again, she starts galloping towards them. When she sees a stream in between her and her family, she prepares to jump it when something causes her to plant her hooves. Skidding to a stop as a nagging feeling tickles her, she looks behind her to see a white door opening up. Confused, she turns to face it while her family keeps waving her over, asking, "What's that?" As she continues to look at the door, she gets the feeling like she forgot something back there and takes a few steps towards it. The feeling slowly gets stronger and causes her to start trotting when she recalls hearing a voice she heard long ago, eventually picking up her pace when she recalls the face of her special somepony.

More comes back to her as she soon begins to run when she recalls having given birth to a little filly a few hours ago, getting closer to the door when she remembers moving to Canterlot from Saddle Arabia with her husband and daughter.

He tries to shock her once again, saying, "Come on back, you can't leave your husband behind like this..."

The mare's eyes shoot open wide as she gasps in a large breath of air and then drops her head down quickly, letting the breath she took give her the force needed to empty her stomach.

Ignoring the mare vomiting all over his hooves, he stands still and lets her gather herself before saying, "I'm so sorry for doing that to you in the first place, but I couldn't ever forgive myself for robbing a husband of his wife. I leaned on a few theories I read about and tried a few out in the hopes to get your heart beating again." Letting out a sorrowful sigh, he says, "If there's nothing further for me to do, I will find my own way out of this section." then turns and starts walking away.

Coughing roughly, she takes a painful, raspy breath and says hoarsely, "Wait." though he doesn't hear her and continues heading for the door. Taking a deeper breath, she forces herself to shout through the pain in her throat, shouting in a hoarse, barely audible voice, "WAIT!"

Having heard her call out to him, he stops at the door with a sigh, saying, "What aid can I offer you for what I've done?"

Able to see the shame and guilt in his eyes, she returns her band to her head and shakily rises to her hooves and wobbles her way over to him. Taking a few moments to reach him, she opens the door and steps towards it, saying in a hoarse, barely audible tone, "Follow me out of here." then wobbles out the door with determination to fulfill her offer to lead him out.

THIS IS THE END OF THE CLOP SECTION, ENJOY THE REST OF THE CHAPTER!

Once she guides him out of the shady part of Canterlot, the mare makes her way home to her husband and daughter. As soon as she walks through the door, she makes her way to the washroom and passes by her husband, saying hoarsely while wincing at the pain she feels whenever she tries to talk, "Tough day, going to wash up before Lunch."

Worried for his wife, he follows her up the stairs and asks, "Could you please tell me what happened dear so I can beat whoever hurt you, black and blue?"

Letting out a sigh and a nod, she heads into the the room and closes the door behind her while starting the shower, then turns to the sink to brush her teeth and wash out her mouth. Once she rinses the toothpaste out of her mouth, she puts a bit of mouthwash into her mouth and swishes it around before tilting her head back to gargle it and clean her throat out. However, that turns out to be a mistake as she instantly sprays it over the mirror and coughing while wincing her eyes shut from the pain and holding her hoof to her throat.

When he sees blood hit the mirror, he becomes even angrier and barely keeps his voice down over the shower, saying, "TELL ME WHO DID THAT TO YOU AND I WILL MAKE THEM REGRET IT!"

Getting herself under control again and wiping her mouth clean with a cloth, she places a loving hoof on his withers and looks into his eyes while saying, "Don't do anything rash dear when I tell you this, but you need to listen the full story...because it wasn't the young stallion's fault."

Fuming at hearing that it was a young stallion who hurt his wife, he sits his portly rear on the ground as his wife starts the tail, saying, "Go on then, tell me what happened, dear."

When she finishes her story, she watches her husband pace around the room shaking his head while muttering agitatedly about how young stallions should have more control over themselves and says, "I know you probably don't want to hear this...but I am glad that I did it and helped him get out of the section. Because if I didn't, I fear that the overly eager mares that chased us probably would never be able to bear foals again after being with that young stallion." She starts coughing again after talking so much, which causes some more blood to drip out of her mouth.

At seeing her still coughing up blood, he walks up to his wife and pulls her close to him with a hoof, saying, "Lunch can wait for a bit, we need to take you to a doctor to get your throat looked at."

Upon going to the doctor while bringing their daughter with them, she stays behind in the waiting room with a coloring book while the wife and husband wait for the exam's results. When the elderly nurse comes back in wearing a white nurse's hat with a red cross on the front of it having flared ends, she looks over the results with a furrowed brow, saying, "Well, I can tell you now that you won't be singing any time soon as your vocal chords are badly bruised, along with there being numerous thin tears all through your esophagus. I apologize if you are a singer, but if you want to make a full recovery, you will have to refrain from talking too much and eating solid food for two months." Her curiosity rises as she then turns to her and asks, "Would you care to explain to me how these injuries were incurred?"

Nodding her head, she then starts her story, saying in her hoarse tone, "Well, it all started this morning when I got off from working at The Veiled Flank and saw a stallion about to enter the quarantine zone."

At hearing the mare's description of the stallion causes her eyebrow to rise slightly in recognition, making her listen more intently to her story. When her story is done, her eyes are wide with surprise, asking in disbelief, "This young stallion's member is what caused your injuries?" Calming herself down, she shakes her head, saying, "No stallion should ever be so big as that..." Turning her eyes back to the mare, she says, "Well, I recommend that you take time off to recover. I will talk to a doctor about setting up magic treatments to heal your throat, good day to you both."

When the nurse gets up to leave, the husband then says, "Hold on! We can't afford any magic treatments, rent and food alone take up most of what my wife makes as I watch our daughter."

Stopping at the door, she turns her head to look over her shoulder, saying, "No need to worry about paying for this visit, every so often, we lend aid to those in dire need of assistance free of charge. It also happens that I am an acquaintance to this colt's family, I will be sure to inform them to find someone to tutor him in handling himself as a true gentlestallion should so nothing like this happens again."

With a nod, the husband smiles, saying, "Thank you for being so kind toward us, ma'am."

Once the couple leave, the nurse makes her way over to True Heart's grandfather's home to report the incident to him. When he answers the door with a tired yawn, she says in a serious tone, "Apologies for bothering you, but there has been an incident with one of our own."

Thunder Magic nods and then steps back to let her in, saying, "Come on in, sister."

When he closes the door after her, she then says, "This morning, True Heart was taking a shortcut through the city to visit somepony..."

After hearing the story in full, he shakes his head, saying, "He needs to be disciplined so it never happens again, go to the hall of reflections and wait for him there. Once he arrives, lock him inside the Pillory and slip a ring over his horn to block his magic, then use the leather strap flog on each flank sixteen times for him losing control of himself and taking the sacred life of another soul. Afterwards, leave him in it all night while leaving a small stool to ensure he can't suffocate, then when morning comes, you may heal his wounds enough to form scars as a reminder of his failure and then release him. It seems that I shall have to pay a visit to this mare once she heals and get her to tutor him in the ways of intercourse."

Nodding her head, she leaves his home and make her way to the stronghold to wait for True Heart, thinking, 'At least he is only getting a light discipline after bringing her back to life...'

Two months pass as True Heart stops trying to visit Twilight after being turned away repeatedly due to her studying something important for the princess, heading to the stronghold when three guards confront him as one of them says, "True Heart, you are to come with us. The princess wishes to see you."

Thinking he is in serious trouble, he hangs his head, saying, "Lead the way, guards. Though, if I am to be thrown into a cell, I just hope that it is one with a view..."

One of the guards' eyebrows rise a fraction at his comment, thinking, 'Why would Her Majesty throw him in prison for what he discovered?'

After following the guards to the palace, the guards stationed at the large, double doors and open them for him, saying, "Her Majesty is waiting for you."

Still feeling the sting of the flog used on his still markless flank, he walks in with his head down and kneels down with his head bowed low, asking, "I am sorry for keeping you waiting, Your Majesty. I am willing to face whatever punishment you have for me."

Princess Celestia raises her eyebrow at hearing that and asks, "Why would I punish one of my subjects for making an important discovery in the field of medicine?"

Lifting his head in confusion, he cocks an eyebrow and asks, "Uhm...what discovery would that be, Your Majesty?"

Smiling genuinely, she answers, "Why the ability to use electricity to return one to life after having passed only a few minutes ago." then raises an eyebrow and asks, "Why were you expecting to be punished, my little pony?"

Swallowing nervously, he then looks around the room at the gathered ponies with pads and quills at the ready, saying, "Well...for being the one to have accidentally caused a pony to lose their life."

As the ponies write that all down on their pads furiously, Celestia clears her voice, saying, "I forbid any mention of this stallions name or description from being published in your articles, any violation of my decree shall incur a hefty fine of 500 bits to be paid by the end of the day. Failure to pay it by then shall result in 31 days worth of unpleasant community service." then turns back to the pony she requested brought before her, saying, "Apologies, but would you tell me more?"

Rising to his hooves, True Heart says, "Well, Your Majesty, I was desperate to not want the shame or guilt of taking a life to haunt me all my life, so I thought back to what I studied and just happened to have read a couple books about theoretical techniques to possibly help one breathe again so I decided to give it a try. When that idea failed, I turned to a book I read that contained medical science theories about one's body containing undetermined measures of electricity. I first started out with the smallest measure at being a minor shock created by a build up of static electricity similar to that which can build up when a pony wears certain fabrics, then gradually moved up to what a pegasus might get from a cloud by kicking it."

Not recognizing anything like that to what she has come across, Princess Celestia asks, "Would you be able to show the books to me that these theories came from?"

Unsure of whether he should show the books to her or not, he nods hesitantly and says, "I can, Your Majesty, as I was trying to figure out why one worked when the other failed." then looks back at his saddlebags and pulls out the two books before levitating them towards her carefully, saying, "As far as I know, these might be the only copies in existence."

Taking the books with a curious gaze, she opens one to the front page and almost gasps in surprise when her eyes go wide at seeing that it is a journal written in latin. A look at the other reveals the same thing, forcing her to recover a few moments later as eyes turn to her curiously at her reaction, she says, "These journals are most certainly the only ones in existence, as I recognize the language these are written in. This language hasn't been seen or spoken in at least a dozen centuries, how is it that you are able to understand this, True Heart?"

Not wanting to be caught lying, True Heart simply says, "Well, your majesty, I learned it from a young age at the hands of a thorough teacher."

Handing the books back to him after looking through each page, suspecting that he is not saying everything, Celestia says, "Thank you for granting me the chance to satisfy my curiosity. To return to the important matter at hoof, I wish to give you a reward for your discovery." Turning her gaze to her assistant, she says, "If you would, Raven."

He tucks the books away as a pony approaches him with a pillow containing something small and a sack, wondering, 'What does she intend to reward me with?'

She sees the curiosity in his eyes and then says, "For helping further the medical field by providing truth to an untested theory resulting in bringing the pony back to life who tragically lost their life in an unfortunate accident, I give to you, True Heart, a golden merit and two thousand bits."

When the assistant levitates the two rewards to him, he accepts the silver horseshoe with a gold star in the center of it and bows his head, saying, "I appreciate the golden merit, Your Majesty, but I shall decline the reward and ask instead that it be divided between the Hospital and orphanage instead."

Celestia smiles as she hears his wording, saying, "Very well then, all of Equestria thanks you for your service. You may return to what you were doing earlier, I hope you can enjoy the rest of your day." She then watches him bow again and take his leave after thanking her again, waiting for the other ponies to clear out of the room before turning to her assistant and saying, "Be sure that the bits are given to the hospital, Raven. Did you notice how he said the hospital instead of a hospital?"

Raven looks at her curiously and asks, "I did, Your Majesty. What do you think he meant by that? Was it a slip of the tongue?"

She thinks it over for a moment before saying, "I'm not sure, but with the text being a dead language today with very few having any knowledge of it and him not specifying whether he can understand tongue or text, it does make me curious enough to want to find out more about him. He doesn't act suspicious in any way, so I don't view him as a threat...but I get the feeling he is holding a few secrets that might be important to Equestria's future."

Picking up on what she might be alluding to, the assistant asks, "Am I correct in thinking that you might want somepony to keep watch over him?"

With a smile, Celestia nods, saying, "That would be greatly appreciated Raven, thank you."

5: An Adventure To Remember

A year later, True Heart is walking to the Stronghold as his grandfather trims the rose bushes around the lone statue and lowers his voice, saying, "I don't know why, but lately I feel like I'm being watched since this past week."

Snipping off another piece of the rosebush, Thunder Magic snorts out a laugh, saying, "Gee, I couldn't tell you why either. Perhaps it might be the fact that you have been drawing unnecessary attention to yourself these days? Like, for example, using that Seeking Truth spell successfully, or could it be because you saved a mare's life after stopping her heart with that ridiculously large siege weapon of yours, perhaps it could even be because the princess found out you can understand Latin..." He then looks over at him with an extremely sarcastic look before returning his gaze to the bush with a huff, adding, "Bah, don't let my aggravation get to you lad, perhaps it was only a matter of time until we drew attention to ourselves after working in the background of Equestria's history for so long."

Leaning over to sniff one of the roses, he then asks, "Should I do anything about it, or just lie low and mosey around town?"

Thinking it over as he examines the bush closely, he says, "Well, since you have finished your training and gained control over yourself, I think that you have earned the right to strike out on your own." Pulling out a hefty sack of bits, he hands it to him, saying, "Here's a couple thousand bits, why don't you go wander around and find an adventure to go on. Perhaps it might be good to brush up on any sort of predictions or past foes that might make a comeback. That Sparkle friend of yours just got in a new assortment of books today, perhaps she would have something that could help since you can't enter the Sanctuary."

Cocking his head at hearing that, True Heart accepts the bits and puts it away, then sighs and says, "Thank you, but she hasn't been accepting visitors lately as I have been turned away every time I tried to talk to her, I wonder if I've done something to upset her."

Smirking, he then pauses in his trimming to look at his grandson, saying, "Then it might benefit you to learn that as of late, she has spent nearly every waking hour underneath the Golden Apple Tree. Her assistant Spike should be able to help you find what you need..."

Looking over to see the lavender unicorn in question with several books around her below the tree, he nods, saying, "It just might, thank you for the tips, brother."

Taking his leave, he heads out of the gardens and makes his way to Twilight's tower, which overlooks the Statue Garden. Upon knocking on the door, the purple dragon with green spines and eyes, having a pale, light green underbelly answers the door then mentions Twilight is not there. As he goes to close the door, True Heart uses a hoof to stop the door part way, saying, "Actually, I didn't come to see her this time since she spends most of her time with her head buried in a book and not caring about what is going on around her.

Spike pulls the door open at hearing that and cocks his head, asking, "Really? What did you come here for if not for her?"

With a genuine smile, True Heart says, "I came to ask you for a little help finding some reference material to brush up my memory on a few things. Would you care to find a few books about some topics for me?"

Happy to finally have some company, he opens the door wide, saying, "Of course, come on in!"

Making my way inside, I look around at the piles of books with a soft chuckle, saying, "I will be going on a journey soon, Spike. Since Twilight isn't accepting visitors anymore, you are going to have to step up and start learning to help take care of her. Unfortunately, that means you are going to have to pick up the slack for cleaning up her messes and making sure she can find what she needs, which also means tucking her in if she falls asleep while reading a book or even making her something to eat."

Spike stands straighter, saying, "I can do that!" then asks, "Now what sort of books are you looking for?"

Sitting in an area clear of books, he considers it and says, "Reference materials that make any mention of foes defeated long ago and anything remotely mentioning any sort of future predictions."

Putting a claw to his chin in thought, the baby dragon then gets an idea, saying, "AHA, I know just the ones you need, one moment!" then dashes off to get them.

When Spike begins laying book after book before him, True Heart opens the first one while pulling out a stack of papyrus, a quill, and an inkwell to take notes. As he spends a few hours going through them, he stumbles upon a brief mention of the Elements of Harmony, saying, "Spike, could you please fetch me a book that further talks about these Elements of Harmony?"

Darting off to a stack of teetering books, Spike calls out, "Of course! I saw something with Elements in the title from today's delivery of books, just give me a moment to find it."

Nodding his head, he then resumes reading about the mare in the moon and pulls out a new piece of paper to begin writing details down on it when he sees Spike set another book before him and says, "Would you mind finding me a book about myths and legends?"

Going off to find the book, he brings it back, asking, "Are you expecting a lot of trouble to happen soon?"

Not wanting to alarm the dragon, True Heart shakes his head, saying, "Not at all, Spike, but trouble always comes when you least expect it. It is sort of predictable that way, however, I am just preparing for whatever may happen. You can never be too prepared for when trouble does strike you, one can only be as prepared by what knowledge they possess."

Looking down in thought, Spike stands proudly and thumps his fist against his chest saying, "I will be sure to help Twilight in every way available so that trouble can't stand against her!"

Chuckling at his behavior, he nods and says, "Now there's a good dragon. Remember, a dragon is only as good as his word and heart are." Looking down at his notes, he sifts through them and nods his head, saying, "Thank you very much for finding all these books for me, Spike. Would you like help in putting them all away?"

Looking at all the stacks of books, he taps the forefingers of his claws together, saying sheepishly, "I would greatly appreciate it, this is an awful lot for me to handle alone."

After helping put away most of the book stacks on the empty shelves, True Heart looks at Spike and puts his things away, saying, "Take care of yourself and Twilight for me, will you Spike?"

Spike nods his head and walks with him to the door, saying, "You can count on me, my friend! I look forward to hearing all about your adventures when we meet again!"

Remembering the gift he made for Twilight he pulls a box out of his saddlebags and sets it on the floor, saying, "Could you be sure that Twilight gets this on Hearth's Warming? I've been meaning to give it to her in person, but I haven't been able to get any time with her."

As he walks out the door, the baby dragon salutes him, saying, "I will be sure to do that for you!"

Turning around to look at Spike, True Heart says, "There's a good lad, keep yourselves out of trouble, you hear?" then faces forward once more and continues on to go on his first adventure.

Three years pass as True Heart finds himself in a small town on the southern edge of the Everfree Forest called Saddlem, nestled against the outermost edge of the forest's boundary. As he passes through town, hearing the townsponies talk about the foretold return of some evil unicorn sisters with the last name of Sandstone. Getting some time alone with the elders and young ponies, he learns quite a bit about how they turned evil one day and began stealing infants from their cribs at night so they could steal their essence and live forever. Their attempt is only partially successful as they only absorb the essence of three infants when they are caught by the furious townsponies and burnt at the stake, but not before cursing their town with their reappearance on one Nightmare Night to unleash their revenge.

After learning all he can about them, he makes his way to their shack just inside the forest on Nightmare Night. Upon entering the shack, he approaches a tall, ugly candle that emanates with a foul magic when something lands on his back and begins clawing at it. Throwing himself over and onto his back, her rolls back onto his hooves after hearing a pained rowl from whatever attacked him. Illuminating his horn, he sees that it is a black lynx with tufted ears and bright orange eyes, causing him to smirk and say, "Candy Banks, I presume?"

The lynx gets onto its paws with a low growl, saying in a male voice, "What was your first clue, genius? Care to explain why you were about to light that accursed black flame candle, you idiotic virgin?"

Letting out a sigh, True Heart says, "Because I feel it my duty to grant these souls their just rewards and bring them their eternal rest."

Unable to hide his laughter at how outrageously funny it is to hear one say that, he snickers out a hissing laugh, saying, "You think of yourself rather highly if you think you stand a chance against the Sandstone Sisters, Winter Frays would squish you like a grape after Sandy Scrawl turns your guts into garters. If that isn't enough to sway your mind, perhaps I should mention that the third sister, Merry Rays would sew your corpse back up and reanimate you to be a lover for all three of her sisters."

Raising an eyebrow at hearing that, he shrugs it off and says, "I will not make an easy target for them, as I have knowledge and faith on my side."

Jumping on his head and grabbing the stallion's horn to keep him from using his magic, he rowls angrily and says, "Hmm...you can hope in one paw and crap in the other, do you realize which one fills up faster?"

Sighing and looking around the room for a way to deal with the nuisance, he spots a large cage and says, "Oh just bite me already and get off my head."

Candy Banks snickers out a hissing laugh, saying, "I did earlier, and I shall do so again if you don't get away from that candle..."

Tilting his head to his side suddenly startles the cursed pony into digging his claws into the sides of his neck, wanting to be rid of him, he violently hurls his head in the direction of the large open cage. The motion dislodges the cursed pony from his neck after raking his claws up the length of it as it is sent through the air and slamming into the back of the cage, hitting its head on the metal and knocking itself out. Using his magic to slam the door closed, he puts an old paddlock onto the cage door to lock it tightly, saying, "You will thank me for this later, I promise."

Making his way to the candle after looking up at the sky, he prepares himself to put on his act and takes a breath. Lighting the candle, he watches the wick sputter out sparks before becoming a yellow flame, which quickly becomes black. A cackling soon sounds from outside, making him stand tall with a smile on his face as the door bursts open as a light brown mare with large upper teeth, a bright orange curly mane and tail, along with a pair of soft brown eyes trots triumphantly into the room.

Upon seeing the silhouette of a pony in their shack, Winter Frays uses a flash of magic to illuminate the candles around the room, gasping and saying, "Sisters! We have company..."

At hearing that, the other to jump out from behind their sister as Sandy Scrawl coos with delight, "It's a handsome stallion! Can I PLEASE PLAY WITH HIM!?"

Merry Rays hops out to the opposite side of her oldest sister, landing on the wood floor with a heavy thud, saying, "Can we kill him so he can mount us later?!"

As one, the three mares walk across the floor as a hungry pack of mares and encircle the stallion black as night with a silver mane with azure streaks and glittering green eyes, sniffing him curiously as they stalk around him in a circle. Seeing that he has no mark still, Winter Fray stops suddenly in front of him and cackles, saying, "Look sisters, this fool still hasn't gotten his mark yet!"

WARNING! THE FOLLOWING PORTION OF THE STORY IS CLOP, FEEL FREE TO SKIP AHEAD TO THE END TO CONTINUE THE STORY!

As he feels Sandy lick his flank curiously, he swats her away with his tail playfully, causing the reddish brown mare to pull back with a playful giggle and sending her long, curly blonde mane and tail bouncing lightly. Turning his attention to the mare matching the description of Winter Frays, he says, "No I have not, but I have heard the tale of a trio of witches so evil and vile, they were cruelly burned at the stake." Taking a chance, he steps closer to Winter Fray and looks her up and down with pretend interest, adding, "I have brought you back to aid you in getting that which you most deserve." Then moves his head beside hers and brushes his cheek alongside hers, adding, "However...I was not expecting you all to be such beauties."

Winter's eyes flutter as she takes a heated breath in as her tail rises eagerly, licking his ear before asking, "Why do you wish to help us destroy this town, stranger? What hath it done to earn your ire?"

Playing with her ear lightly, he then says, "Nothing at all, though I do harbor some disappointment at how Princess Celestia allowed some friends of mine to be forgotten to the history books." Pulling back, he then smiles at her and trails a hoof along her cheek, saying, "Winter, it would be wonderful if we could all work together and bring Equestria into a new era...without Celestia as its ruler. Will you help me bring her down? Before I forget, here is a little incentive for you three to think on..."

Her breathing hitches in her throat at hearing that, caught by surprise when she feels his lips meet hers. As she feels his mouth turn and opens hers in response, she slips her tongue into his mouth as he does the same while letting out a husky moan of desire.

Wanting some attention after seeing their sister being prenched passionately, Sandy and Merry sidle up along either side of the stallion, nipping at his neck, begging, "Please give us some affection too!"

Taking his time to end his kiss with Winter on a wet, loud smooch, he sees her tail fully flagging and turns to Sandy to do the same to her. To his surprise, he watches as Winter shudders violently and creates a wet spot just behind her legs while Sandy wraps her forelegs around his neck and seems intent on shoving her tongue down his throat while a scent fills the air around the room.

Seeing Sandy's tail waving from side to side, spreading her scent, Merry whines and prances in place, saying, "Oh come on, don't leave me waiting here!"

Once he makes Sandy shudder and fall to the ground, he moves onto Merry, saying, "Awe, don't you fret, little dear. I wouldn't do that to a treasure such as you, after all, each and every one of you is precious to me in your own special ways." then takes her mouth with his as she starts to devour his mouth and tongue desperately.

After having to take time to recover from her orgasm, she watches as Sandy struggles to stand on wobbly legs with a wide, dopey grin on her face. Turning to see her other sister's body convulse and spray her orgasm everywhere, she raises an eyebrow as her body wants more from the stallion, saying, "What's in it for you should we decide to help you out?"

Walking away from the twitching portly grey mare with a very curly brown mane and tail, True Heart walks around to Winter's right side, saying softly, "Why nothing at all but the satisfaction of helping another soul." then moves his mouth beside her ear and saying gently, "If that isn't enough to convince you, then let me give you a little taste of what I have in store for you..."

When he pulls away from her, Winter turns her head to watch him curiously with an eyebrow raised in keen interest as her tail is still flagging. Seeing him move behind her and lower his head under her tail, she gasps and widens her stance saying, "H-Hold on! I-I'm not ready yet!"

Sandy looks at her sister through hazy eyes while hearing her moan loudly and widening her stance, attempting to make her way over as she giggles ever so softly, muttering, "That looks like fun..."

As he works Winter Frays towards a second orgasm with his tongue alone, he notices Sandy standing beside him as she starts to slip her tongue into his sheath to draw his member out. The teasing slowly manages to draw it out as he thinks, 'Uh oh...I didn't think this through that well if these three were this pent up...'

When he starts to stiffen, he worries it might go to far as Sandy takes him into her throat, sucking on him even harder. Needing to get Winter over the edge now, he shoves his tongue as far in as he can, then sucks one side of her lips into his mouth while nibbling softly.

Sandy feels him twitch in her throat as she hears her sister let out a wailing cry of pleasure, feeling warmth flooding her stomach which makes her silverish blue eyes close while she hums happily through her nose.

Once Winter Frey collapses into a shuddering heap on the floor, he pulls away from Sandy and hears his member slip out of her mouth with a sucking wet pop, saying, "As much as I would love to continue this and leave you all in a sticky wet heap on the floor, I'm afraid that we must hurry because I lit the candle a couple hours past midnight and dawn is less than six hours away."

Attempting to get to her hooves, Winter Frays cries out in alarm, saying, "Why didn't you lead with that first you foal, we must hurry to prepare potions to steal the life from the infants!" Scrambling to get off the floor, she groans in annoyance, saying, "Sisters! Get the book and start preparing the brew while I learn to walk again!"

As the other two grab a creepy book wrapped in skin that is stitched together with a green eye that looks around the room, True Heart lets them work as it takes a half hour for Winter Fray to get to her hooves with a lopsided smile at every step she takes. Ignoring the disgusting variety of ingredients required as an eerie green glow illuminates the boards around the room, he asks, "Is it ready yet, time is against us."

THIS IS THE END OF THE CLOP SECTION, ENJOY THE REST OF THE STORY!

Hissing through her teeth, Winter Frays silences him, saying, "Almost, we must chant a final incantation before it is ready."

After chanting the incantation together, he leads the three sisters out of the house and casts a shield over it, saying, "Now anyone can't get in and destroy your hard work."

Nodding her head in agreement, Winter Fray says, "Good idea, darling, now lead us to every infant in town!"

Hearing mad cackling laughter outside, ponies wake up with a start and rush outside to find that the Sandstone Sisters have returned, crying out in fear, "They have returned to doom us all! Protect your infants with your lives everypony!"

Turning his head to the sisters, True Heart says, "Gather around the fountain and I shall summon them up through the waters for you all to snatch away." When they flock to the fountain like moths to the flame, he pulls out a silver aspergillum he made and closes his eyes to offer up a prayer in his thoughts, thinking, 'Oh holy light, please forgive me of thy sins tonight for it is necessary in my battle against evil this very night. Lend your aid to me so that I may come out victorious and return the darkness to where it belongs.' Feeling renewed, he walks around the fountain, swinging the aspergillum towards the north, south, east, and west, saying, "Salvation shall come upon uniting the four directions, delivering its grace to those deserving of its attention."

Sandy Scrawl sniffs the air, saying, "Umm...the water he uses smells funny, Winter."

Looking at the glinting coming from the object in the stallion's magic, Merry Rays blinks a couple times, saying, "That silver thing he's using has a dangerous glint to it when the light hits it."

As he watches Winter start looking at him and the area around him, he remains calm as he is nearly finished when he hears her cry out in alarm, "IT'S A TRAP, WE MUST FLEE!" then turns to run away.

Winter takes a few steps before hearing the stallion shout, "CONSECRATION!" Bright light erupts all around them as a large circle of golden light forms a ring around the outer perimeter of the fountain, watching as the spots where he showered with water glow brightly as golden pillars rise out of the ground. Turning her head to the stallion and seeing his horn surrounded by the same golden glow, she screams out in anger and blasts a magic beam at him to kill him.

Continuing the spell, he remains calm as the magic strikes the inside of the golden ring and dissipates in globs of wet goo onto the ground below when he sees the cross beams appear upon the pillars towering above the town's homes, saying, "Your struggle against me is all for naught, evil ones, for I am a warrior of the light!"

Sandy takes a step back towards the fountain as strange letters appear in gold light on the ground around them with crosses appearing in certain places, saying, "Winter, I don't like this spell...it looks scary!"

With the spell manifesting itself, he stands just outside the barrier and says, "Hear my words, Sandstone Sisters, for after learning of your wicked deeds, I have come to trigger your curse upon this town for the sole purpose of sending you to where you belong." Standing tall, he focuses on them as his spell fully manifests itself, dropping his magic and saying, "For the lives of the infants you have so wrongfully stole, the light deems you...guilty."

Just then, a wall of golden light shoots up from the outer circle, blocking their view of the town outside it. As they hear the stallion say, "For cursing a pony into living for eternity after having failed to save his sister, the light finds you...guilty."

Having come outside to watch, townsponies jump back at seeing golden light shoot up into the sky from the inner circle as they gasp in shock at such a powerful spell.

With one final verse left, True Heart looks at each of the three sisters, saying, "For the intention of spreading your wicked ways upon this world, the light finds you...guilty. With three guilty verdicts deciding your fate...may now the chains of punishment drag you down to where your cursed souls belong!"

When Winter sees silver chains shoot up from the inner circle and connect to shackles around their necks, horns, and legs, Winter screams, "NO! I DON'T WANT TO GO! PLEASE DON'T LET US BE DRAGGED AWAY!"

Letting out a sigh, he shakes his head, saying, "I'm sorry, but you all have made your choice in life from your actions, now you must pay the price for them in the afterlife."

The villagers watch in stunned silence as a silver light pools on the ground around the sisters within the inner circle, with the chains pulling taught around their bodies and starting to pull them down into it. The sisters scream desperately as they continue to be pulled into the silver light very slowly, until their screaming falls silent as their heads slip into the silver and disappear altogether.

When the silver light fades away, the golden runes, crosses, and rings shatter and dissipate in a flurry of golden sparkles, causing True Heart to let out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding, saying, "I can't believe that actually worked..."

After having been woken up by the powerful pulse of magic, Celestia steps away from the telescope with wide eyes, asking herself out loud, "Just who are you True Heart?" then makes her way back to bed to think over the massive spell she just witnessed.

True Heart watches the villagers come out in full force, cheering wildly and surrounding him to ask him all kinds of questions. It takes him a long couple of hours before he can slip away, having had to turn down many gifts and rewards while requesting that his name or description not be shared to others outside of the town to ensure his anonymity.

Making his way back to the shack and passing through his shield, he looks over at the cage to see a light grey earth pony's spirit tapping his front hoof annoyedly, saying, "Will you let me out of here already, you dolt! I can hear my parents calling me to supper!"

Trotting toward the cage door, he grabs the key off the wall and slides it into the lock before turning it. Once it opens, he pulls the lock off and tosses it to the floor, opening the door, saying, "Happiness waits for you."

Candy Banks hops out of the cage and onto the floor, trotting around the furniture and towards the door, saying, "Although I am not happy with how you locked me into that cage, I must thank you for helping me find peace. See ya later!"

When he vanishes through the door, True Heart turns back to the book sitting on the stand with narrowed eyes, saying, "You may have intelligence, so I am offering you the choice between three options. You can either choose to let me burn you in holy fire, or be sealed shut by an enchanted silver band of my own making and sleep for eternity. Please choose one of the two, and if you should try to escape, I will stop you and forcibly seal you."

Hesitantly, the book looks back and forth before blinking its green eye slowly and floating over to the stallion and landing before its hooves.

Nodding his head, he says, "Wise choice, I promise that I will never let any creature use you for evil again. In fact, I think you might like your new place as it is really old and sort of creepy in a charming way." He then searches for the band he spent months working on and pulls it out, saying, "Aha, there you are." then holds it up for the book to look at it, asking, "What do you think about it, isn't it nice? This is my first attempt to make something experimental like this."

Opening its eye and looking at the silver bands with chains linking the upper and lower rings, the book rises off the ground and looks at it for a moment. Making its decision, it tilts from side to side as if to say, "Eh...so so." then remains floating above the ground.

Rolling his eyes, he says, "When I get better, I will make you a much nicer one with a few gems on it, alright?"

Rocking forward and back, the book agrees and rotates vertically for him to put the band around him.

After putting the band around the book and securing it in place, he watches its eye slowly flutter closed and drift towards the ground, saying, "May you have a nice, long, rest filled with happy dreams."

WARNING! THE FOLLOWING PORTION OF THE STORY IS CLOP, FEEL FREE TO SKIP AHEAD TO THE END TO CONTINUE THE STORY!

Picking up the book and tucking it away, he decides to cleanse the entire house with holy fire and turns around to head outside when he spots a tall, smooth skinned, reddish black bipedal creature with claws having three taloned toes on each foot. He then sees that the feet are attached to a pair of slender legs which run up to a wide hips connected to a narrow torso with a large bust, having a pair of long, slender arms with long-fingered, clawed hands. When he looks at the body, he sees that the creature is wearing a blood-red leather, corsetted short skirt with a long, slender tail swaying behind her with a diamond shaped tip. Looking up at the head finally, he sees a pair dragon-like horns extending out the top of her head towards the back that bend down before lifting up towards the sky. Looking below the horns, he finds medium length, black hair slicked backwards.

When he finally looks at the face, he gulps nervously and takes a step back when he sees the scale free creature's black eyes having yellow, vertically slit pupils above a slender nose that sits above a thin pair of lips drawn into a playful smile. Not knowing what to do, he asks, "Uh...may I help you, miss?"

Moving her hands to her hips, she cocks her hips at a slight angle and speaks with a smooth sultry voice, saying, "Hello there handsome, I came here on behalf of my dark master to thank you for the new wicked souls deserving punishment." Sniffing the air, she smells something delicious about him and rushes forth to find out what it is.

The creature stops just in front of him and stoops forward really far to smell him, granting him an unobstructed view down her constricted cleavage, saying, "Would you mind telling me what you are and where you came from?"

Shuddering with delight at smelling the divinity coming from him, she moves one clawed finger to her lips, saying with a light moan, "I come from the place that opposes the light that some of you humans fight so zealously for." Taking her other hand off her hip, she leans down and puts the tip of her claw under his chin and lifts it up to look into her eyes, saying, "I am a demon, sweetheart. Just so you know, zealots like you are our most favorite toys when you go too far for the one you follow so blindly." Keeping in mind the reason she came here for, she lets go of his chin and turns around to saunter around him. Snatching the end of his tail and loosely wrapping it around her left wrist, enjoying the softness of it and the shininess of his tail hair. Letting it slide off her wrist, she slowly circles around him, saying, "My master sent me up here for a specific reason, would you like to know what that is?" while biting her lip as she stops in front of him.

Knowing he shouldn't talk to demons, something in him is drawn to her as he asks, "What might that reason be, oh devilishly charming temptress?"

Smiling widely at the flattery, she giggles lightly and watches shivers run up and down his spine when he notices her pearly white set of fangs, saying, "To offer you a gift."

Not having to think about the answer to that, he opens his mouth to say no, and to go back down with her gift in tow but she closes the distance in a flash and locks lips with him before he has a chance to speak. Able to feel her long tongue slide around his, he suddenly feels her breathe out into his mouth. As he smells smoke and feels fire rolling down his throat, he tries to push away but she buries her fingers into the back of his mane and keeps him there.

Unable to help herself due to the strange attraction she has to him, she pushes forward and knocks him onto his back and lies down between his hooves, turning the gifting kiss into one of heated passion as she thinks, 'Oh, my daddy is going to be so irritated with me over this...but oh well, I was bored in hell.' Without warning, she pulls herself away and cuts her tongue open with the tip of her fang before sinking her fangs into the meatiest part of his throat, drinking a mouthful of his blood while licking the holes closed with her bleeding tongue to bond herself to him. Moments later, she feels the bond starting to take effect when her body forms a home for herself inside his body, pulling away a moment before the bond forms from his end.

Having trouble catching his breath due to a fiery sensation building within him, he tries to cough, but it only comes out as black smoke with occasional glowing embers. Unable to think clearly, he turns to the demon that did this to him and growls, getting to his hooves and jumps on her, taking her to the ground and making his way down to her legs. Shoving his mouth against the furless slit she has there, he shoves his tongue inside and twists it around violently before biting it hard and sucking on it even harder.

Arching her back in pleasure, she rewards him by locking her legs around the back of his neck and then going over her peak, squirting her juices down his throat. In the bliss of her orgasm, her body shudders and goes into a second, which causes her eyes to become unfocused.

Once he is able to tear himself away from her death grip on him, his flank hits the floor as he gasps and coughs up some residual smoke, asking, "What in the world did you just do to me demon?"

THIS IS THE END OF THE CLOP SECTION, ENJOY THE REST OF THE STORY!

Unwilling to move from her spot, she giggles and says, "I just gifted you a spell through a kiss called hellfire as my master intended me to give you. The second part, however, wasn't planned. To speak plainly, I bonded myself to you...which is only breakable when one of us dies. Til death do we part indeed, dear fleshy husband of mine..."

His eyes grow to the size of saucers as he processes what she just said, staying silent for several long minutes before finally saying, "WHAT IN THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!"

Laughing at his words, she slaps the floor with a hand, saying, "Too much if you ask my fath-oops, I mean my master."

Catching what she almost said, True Heart narrows his eyes and asks, "The devil is your father? Why in all that is holy would you marry a crusader devoted to serving the light? Won't my beliefs cause you pain or something like that?"

Looking over at him, she chuckles and says, "Of course not, though I will growl or hiss at any mention of my father's creator. Well, to be honest...for some reason beyond my understanding, I find myself really drawn to you."

Groaning at the headache that is rapidly building within his mind, he says, "I need to purify this place of any trace of evil before moving on to another place and do my part to protect Equestria from falling to the darkness."

As he gets up, she sighs and rises to her clawed feet to follow him out, asking, "How do you plan on cleansing the stench of evil that pervades this place?"

Looking around for any hidden compartments or secrets, he finds nothing and heads outside, saying, "You'll see shortly." then pulls out his aspergillum and showers every wall with holy water, seeing the demon dart around to catch a few stray drops on her tongue, which disappear with a flash of azure flames similar to holy fire. Shaking his head, he says, "Don't blame me if you burn to ashes after catching holy water on your tongue."

With a seductive giggle, she dances around, saying, "Worry not, for grandfather had a twisted sense of humor when he created us and those winged pigeons called angels. The force keeping us alive is divine itself, and that which keeps them alive is the opposite. Would you care to hazard a guess as to what demon blood consists of?"

Thinking about it while continuing to shower the shack with holy water, True Heart takes a wild guess and asks, "Quicksilver?"

Laying down along the top of her new husband's back with her hands interlaced over the base of his withers, the demon nods and says, "Got it in one guess, I'm impressed." Knowing the sun will be coming up in a few hours, she yawns and says, "Since I've had such a busy night, I am going to rest for a bit inside my sanctum residing within you. Just so you know, others won't even realize its there unless they have divine powers and scan for it, however I shall let you know if any are around by being a voice within your head. Goodnight dear, I'll see you when I wake."

Before she can get away, he asks, "How rude of you not to grace me with your name, demon. Have you no respect for your so-called husband you hoodwinked into this arranged marriage?"

Floating around him in the form of a black mist with glowing cinders, she giggles and brushes against his ear, saying in a soft whisper, "There is a power in knowing a demon's name, so we must be careful for who we share ours with. My given name is Lillith, I would appreciate it if you respect it and not tell it to others or I would view it as being unfaithful to me, and have to punish you for doing so."

Nodding his head hesitantly, he says, "Thank you for gracing me with your name, my darling wife, I will be sure to not mention it around others. I will see you when you wake." As the smoke filters up his nose, it causes him to jerk his head back and sneeze. Rubbing the funny sensation out of his nose when he hears Lillith's playful giggle in the back of his mind, he focuses back on his task and uses his magic to call forth holy fire, saying, "Oh light, please grace me with a gift of holy fire to consume this dwelling and everything within until all is naught but ash on the wind, for the evil taint left behind here may adversely affect the innocent."

Just then he watches a flicker of fire appear from within the house that quickly turns into an inferno, staying nearby to watch the flames eventually die out when nothing is left but a dug out hole in the ground where there must have been a cellar, saying, "Good. Now I can go back to my temporary room and pack my things up to head somewhere else that needs my aid."

6: Chasing Ghosts

Author's Note

Ready for another chapter with a strange twist? Prepare yourself for a kinky surprise!

6: Chasing Ghosts

As he adapts to his new situation, True Heart spends several years tracking down trails of other dangerous foes like the three sisters, when he tries to get to know his wife better, asking, "Lilly, my sweet, could you tell me more about your kind?"

Thinking it over while in her sanctum, she answers into his mind, "What do you wish to know, sweetie?"

Making his way through the dark Everfree Forest, he asks, "Is it possible for you to reproduce?"

At hearing those words, she stops twiddling her thumbs and blushes a fierce shade of blue, saying, "O-of course I can't, for it is a blessing from grandfather to be able to create life from nothing like the creatures from both your worlds can. Sorry to burst your bubble of having fanged foals running around biting each other, but there's your answer."

Finding his next question, he asks, "Then why is it that you have an entrance down there in the first place?"

She starts drumming her fingers against her arms as she sits in her swinging lounge chair, making it swing back and forth with her legs, saying, "Well because that is a second mouth we were given to torture criminals..." while hoping the questions stop there about her anatomy.

Ducking under a branch and using his magic to scare off a lurking cockatrice, he then asks, "Okay, then why didn't you use it to torture me when I was down there?"

Her face turns deep blue and shouts into his mind from embarrassment, "You aren't a criminal, and only certain types of criminals would be tortured that way! All female succubi like me have teeth down there!" Her voice then goes deathly quiet as she whispers out loud to him accidentally, "Well...every other female except me...that is."

Wanting to hear her say it again, he asks, "I'm sorry, I didn't hear that very well, you said something about 'all except you' ...what?"

Raising her legs onto the cushion as the chair continues to swing, she places her crossed arms over her knees and buries her face in her arms, then shouts into his mind, "I don't have teeth down there, alright! Now stop asking embarrassing and humiliating questions about my flaws!"

Needing to bring her out of her embarrassment, he sighs and leans against a dark tree, saying to her, "Okay, I am glad to know that for the next time I'm down there."

Lifting her head slightly, she peeks over her arms and asks quietly, "Next time?"

With a smirk, he continues walking through the forest, saying, "Yeah, I said next time because I like your little quirks...the fact that you like to sing prayers in latin and drink holy water, not to mention how being around divine power makes you...excitable."

Snorting in amusement, Lillith lifts her head off her arms and puts her legs back down to resume swinging them back and forth while drumming her fingertips along her arms once more, saying, "Don't be a prude now, darling."

Chuckling, he continues walking and says, "Alright, alright. Yes I like the fact you get horny whenever you are around holy power for some reason."

Groaning from boredom, she jumps out of the chair saying, "UGH, I'm so bored! Can I come out and walk around?"

Letting out a sigh, he says, "Not unless you can master your ability to look, and talk, like one of the three pony races. We can't scare the populace half to death like you did at Manehattan."

Plopping down back in her swinging chair, she swings her legs back and forth with more force, saying, "I couldn't help it, the miserably pompous mare called me a hideous slug creature!"

Chuckling, he then says, "Which is why you need to keep working on your appearance to make it look like you have a soft coat that has a glossy sheen to it. Ponies don't have smooth, shiny skin like you do, so you definitely stand out among ponies."

Rolling her eyes and hopping out of her chair with a defeated groan, Lillith says, "Oh alright...FINE! I can't wait to get out and stretch my legs again, it starts feeling really cramped in here when you don't let me out for some air."

Shaking his head at her attitude, he says, "Once we are a good distance away from the herbalist's hut and that shy animal-loving pony, you can come out and romp around for awhile through the forest, okay?"

Smiling, she resumes manipulating her form so that she can stay out, saying, "Alright, I'll hold you to that!" As she shifts her form into one on four legs with hooves and a single horn, she looks at the mirror to see herself, thinking to herself, 'Okay, so I have the basic unicorn shape down, though I need to work on making my hooves one single piece instead of being cloven. The most annoying thing I need to work on is covering my whole body with fur...' As she works on making her hooves one piece, she asks out of boredom, "So why are we lurking around in this wonderfully creepy forest, anyway?"

Making his way out to where he heard rumors of a haunted castle ruin, True Heart carefully crosses a decrepit bridge badly needing repairs, saying, "I am investigating the ruined castle out here to see if it is really haunted, if so, then I intend to help the spirits find eternal rest. Besides, I would like to see the Summer Sun Celebration that Ponyville puts on this year, but there is also this legend that I would like to prove real or false. If its real, I intend to put the wicked alicorn out of her misery."

As she manages to shift her left forehoof into a single piece successfully, Lillith asks, "So how long are we going to be here this time?"

Shrugging his shoulders, he uses a spell to repair the bridge, saying, "Who knows, it could be a few months, or even a few years as far as I know. I wasn't able to get a good understanding of the exact time this mare was defeated."

Starting to work on the other three, she then says, "If you're going to buy a house...at least buy one on the outskirts of town with a basement so I can walk around at least and practice my form, or at least purchase a tent so that we can stay out of the weather!"

Satisfied with the results of his spell, he heads for the castle ruin, saying, "Alright dear, I will keep that in mind if I should find myself considering making this place my home. I will have to ask around for where I can find a tent as I haven't seen any sold anywhere, if I can't find one around here, I might get some fabric and make my own."

Stopping her practice in its tracks, she says, "I have seen what you call a tent and I will not be cooped up in an itty bitty thing like that that!"

Pushing open one of the doors, he walks into the castle interior to hear a gentle breeze blowing through the broken windows. Looking up at the ceiling, he sees blue skies above and says, "This castle is really falling apart, must have been one heck of a battle that took place here."

As he heads further into the room, he spots a statue containing six stone orbs and wonders what it was supposed to symbolize when a ghostly voice breezes just behind his head, saying faintly, "You should not be here...leave."

Turning to look behind him as his fur stands on end, saying, "I am not leaving without answers first."

A different voice passes just by his left ear, asking in a faint whisper, "Ask your questions."

Lillith ignores the conversation and focuses on making herself sprout tiny hairs all over her body, only partially succeeding as her flanks no longer shine. She is about to try again when she hears that the four spirits trapped here are unable to move on due to unfinished business they refuse to divulge to a stallion as it is deemed 'improper'. Finding that of some interest to her, she abandons her practicing and reaches out to one of the four spirits trapped here and asks them through telepathy, asking, 'Forgive me for having been listening in on your conversation, but as I am a female myself...would you be able to tell me what your unfinished business is sweetie?'

Hearing the strange feminine voice speaking to her mind, the youngest of the spirits rests on a broken pillar in the room and looks around for whoever is doing the talking. Able to choose who sees her ghostly form, she remains invisible and looks at the stallion's body to see a purple aura leaking out from within him and asks with the same abilty, 'Since I can only tell that you are powerful and female, I shall share with you the reason we can't move on...we four have wanted to be with a stallion, but no colt ever found us attractive enough.'

Finding herself feeling sympathetic to them, she sighs sadly and sincerely says to her through telepathy, 'Oh you poor dears, that is a real shame that you weren't able to the loving touch of a male. How would you like the chance to finally be able to move on?'

Still invisible, she cocks her head curiously and asks, 'But how can you possibly do that, you are female just like me? You aren't properly...equipped.'

Giggling across her telepathy, Lillith says, 'Well, you see...I am from somewhere else entirely sweetie, and since I have unique skills...I could find a way to release you all from your ethereal shackles. Would you like that?'

A glimmer of hope appears in her mind as she thinks it over, then says, 'I would like that, but how would you accomplish such a thing?'

A mischievous grin crosses her face as she says, 'Unfortunately, that will just have to be a surprise. Do you want to be set free tonight or be trapped here forever?'

The spirit's thoughts battle within her mind for a long few seconds until she sighs and says, 'I want to be at peace...'

Lillith smiles and then shifts in place anxiously, saying, 'In order for this to work, though, you are going to have to make a deal with me. What do you say?'

Considering it for a couple minutes, she eventually sighs and replies, 'What sort of deal is it, can you tell me the details?'

Smiling at her curiosity, she answers honesty, saying, 'Of course, it won't involve your soul in any way, so no need to worry about that. The only things I shall ask from you is the magic you use to affect the world around you for one, and being able to actually see you during the act. That is all, I swear on my honor that this is the whole truth. Do we have a deal?'

The spirit thinks it through a while longer than before, but hesitantly sighs and says, 'Alright, I accept your deal. What must I do now?'

With her willing to accept the deal, she grins deviously in delight, saying, 'Nothing at first until you know it is me, and you will know because the stallion's voice will change and I will call you little one. Then you can come over to let yourself be seen so I can give you your deserved eternal rest.'

Nodding her head, she remains on the pillar, saying, 'Alright, let me tell the other three about your deal so they can see it for themselves.'

Ready to do her part, she uses her demonic skills and runs her powers along her husband's body as if caressing it with her own hands, slowly getting a firm hold on his spirit so that she can swap places with him.

Noticing the sensation of being caressed all over, True Heart cocks an eyebrow and looks around curiously to see no one beside him and then asks his wife through the telepathic link between them, 'Dear, just what are you up to?'

Giggling and answering him, she says, 'Oh nothing much, but didn't you know?' Using her powers to swap places with him, she tosses him into a prison cell made of black obsidian bars inside her sanctuary at the base of his skull and neck, saying, 'Sometimes, a demon just wants to have fun...'

Now in control of his body, she giggles sultrily and looks around, saying, "You can come out now...little one. Your eternal rest awaits."

Noticing the change instantly as the stallion's once green eyes become yellow, the spirit floats down to just in front of the stallion's body and lets the other female see her.

A young mare whose back is no higher than the middle point of her husband's shoulders stands before her, her body a ghostly, transparent silver with a smoky mane to match. Seeing that she is almost literally skin and bones, she frowns lightly and says, "Oh you poor dear, how cruelly you were treated by being locked up and left to starve to death." Reaching forward and lowering her mouth toward the smaller mare's, asking, "What is your name, little one?"

Leaning forward to kiss the stallion's body, the younger spirit says, "Star Trail, what's yours?"

Giggling, she tells her a half-truth, saying, "You can just call me Vale Lily, Star Trail. Now let's seal the deal with a kiss."

Furious at being locked out of his own body, True Heart shouts from his cell and bangs his front and back hooves against the bars to try to break them, shouting, "WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE, I WON'T LET YOU OUT FOR HALF A YEAR!"

Not concerned at all, her lips meet Star's and angles her head to deepen the kiss, watching with delight as the mare's ghostly tail rises up. Feeling the blood in her husband's body starting to shift, she curls her tongue around the young mare's while maneuvering his body to being behind hers.

As he watches helplessly as his member slips out and stiffens, his wife moves her mouth to the young mare's entrance and devours it hungrily.

Star's eyes become half lidded as she widens her stance eagerly, breathing heavily, asking in a ghostly, young voice, "I really enjoy what you are doing with your tongue, Vale, but could you mount me already and keep kissing me?"

Taking her head from the mare's tasty entrance, Lillith steps over either side of Star's body and lines the member's tip up with her entrance and thrusts forward. The tight sensation causes her yellow eyes to roll backward as she returns her mouth to Star's, continuing to pull back and thrust forward as far as she can.

The other three spirits watch on in shock as a half hour passes when they see electrical sparks race throughout Star's body, then lets out a ghostly wail of pleasure when a cloudy white liquid floods into the young mare's body. Biting their ghostly lower lips, they gasp as the young mare's body begins to fall to the floor limply, letting out a breath, saying, "Thank youuu..." before coalescing into a shimmering orb smaller than a hoof and rising up to meet them, saying with Star's voice, "I'll be waiting for you all by the moon to pay back the one who imprisoned us, so don't make me wait too long, because I want to explore what lies ahead for us!"

As they watch her soar up into the sky and disappear, they all practically rush towards the female controlling the stallion's body, saying, "WE'LL ACCEPT THAT DEAL TOO!"

After watching one of the spirits move on, he finds himself unable to stay mad at his wife and says, "You know, dear, I am proud of how kind you are being towards these poor soul's plight. However, it would have been nice to hear about it before you possessed me and swapped places."

Happy about being praised by her husband, she giggles as she mounts another eager mare's spirit, burying the member into the mare fully while hungrily making out with another, with the mare she's mounting eating out the third mare.

Stuck in his cell as he watches his wife use his body to flood the next spirit with his seed, he huffs in annoyance and wishes he was part of it, saying, "It's no fair that you get to have all the fun."

Sensing his lust, she sees another orb rise into the sky, saying to her husband, 'Careful, dear, for you are dangerously close to falling victim to one of the seven deadly sins...lust. However, I can't say I can...oh so tight...blame you as this feels really good. It's no wonder why that tan mare with the weird grayscale mane and tail couldn't walk after you filled her three times, should she worry about bringing a foal into the world?'

Watching as the fourth spirit appears on her back under the second mare, his eyebrow rises as he sees his wife shift between thrusting into the bottom mare and top mare, saying, "No, she took precautions and drank Moon Tea, which is the same thing for mares as Sun Tea is for stallions." He then asks curiously, "It's possible to do that with two mares like that?"

While passionately making out with the mare on top as she slams his hips into the bottom mare's, she laughs through her connection to him, saying, 'Of course it is possible, it is even possible to seed them both by dividing shots between them. However, a mare willing to take part in that is required, though I think that might be rare these days'

Feeling his body getting close, she smirks as she decides to let him have some fun too after having already sealed the last two deals with a kiss to each mare. Running her power along his spirit once again, she giggles across the connection and then abruptly swaps places again to wait to receive the rest of the magic from the last two mares. Eagerly making her way to her love seat, she dismisses the empty cell and makes herself comfortable in her swinging sofa, lying on the cushions completely naked with her clawed feet resting on the armrest and summoning a cigarette between her fingers.

His senses overwhelm him as he pauses to process it all as he feels a cold tongue swirl around his tongue and suck it into something wet and chilly, hearing a pleading ghostly voice, beg, "Please don't stop..."

Realizing he is in control again, he smiles and gets into the kiss while thrusting away into the bottom mare and attempts to switch to the top mare and start kissing the bottom mare.

Shuddering in delight at being kissed again, the bottom mare moans into the stallion's mouth, not yet realizing that the stallion is back in control. Pulling back with his lip between her teeth, she lets it go and says in a husky voice, "My name's Swift Dart, I never knew there could ever be a more caring soul. Thank you for doing this for us."

Letting out a gentle chuckle, he smiles and keeps thrusting, saying, "I'm glad that my wife was so thoughtful in offering to help you four find peace, my name's True Heart and it is a pleasure to finally get to see you." He then pulls out and goes to thrust his member into the pegasus below him, but slides between the two mares instead, causing them both to shudder and convulse, spraying ghostly fluids all over his groin as he attempts to find Swift Dart's entrance.

Taking some time to see straight again, she sees the stallion's green eyes and realizes that the stallion is back in control. Embarrassed about her appearance, she begins to turn invisible when she feels his larger member penetrate her entrance again. Her eyes cross from the pleasure, causing her to shudder again from a second orgasm and remain visible.

When the top mare keeps playing with the stallion's ear, she kisses his cheek and whispers, "My name is Green Step, and I love how you fill me completely. Make me shudder like that again and gush all over you." As he resumes kissing her, she looks into his eyes to see that the stallion is back in control and tries to go invisible.

Annoyed with the two spirits trying to vanish on him, he has to alternate thrusts between them, saying, "I'm not disgusted by your frail-looking appearance at all, if anything, I am upset that one could be so cruel as to treat you like that. So please stop trying to hide from me, I promise that if I ever find the one responsible for your current state...I will make them suffer."

Blushing at his words, Swift slowly wraps her wings around his back, saying, "T-Thank you." then asks nervously, "Y-You really don't find our starved, ghostly forms disgusting, even though you can see and count every bone in our bodies?"

Switching back to her, he buries himself deep and says, "If I found you disgusting, would I keep thrusting and making out with the both of you?"

Smiling as she feels him release inside her, she takes his mouth eagerly and screams out through her nose when her body attempt to bend backwards on itself when searing heat fills her.

After shooting twice inside Swift, he pulls out and buries himself into Green to give her the same amount while hearing an ear-splitting wail fill the quiet night's sky while small electrical zaps race along his member and renewing his vigor.

Taking another puff as she pleasures herself watching him continue to fill the two mares, he soon goes for a second round until both mares lie in a heap on the ground, panting heavily with dopey grins on their faces as his seed remains trapped within them and swirls throughout their bodies.

Too exhausted to even move when she feels his member finally leave her body, Swift weakly cries out, saying, "AHH...Let me catch my breath for a moment!"

Green snickers at hearing that and bursts out laughing, saying, "Well that might be a bit difficult to do since we're both dead!"

Unable to avoid the humor in that, he chuckles and asks, "Do all ghosts have such a morbid sense of humor, or is it just you two?"

Wishing she could move her limbs, Swift lets out a half laugh as she feels her body beginning to shift, saying, "I think it is hard to say, but we immensely enjoyed our brief time with you. However, our bodies are starting to evolve, so, thank you both for setting us free." then kisses his cheek affectionately before her body shifts into an orb and lazily floats up in a slow, twirling dance.

Craning her neck up to look at him, Green says, "Yes, you have made us the happiest mares we have ever been before in life, thank you for a memorable first time for us all."

As Green kisses him on the opposite cheek, True Heart watches her join Swift in the swirling dance as the sun rises into the sky, saying, "You call four hours of intimacy brief?"

His comment causes the two orbs to giggle and continue to twirl through the sky, saying in unison, "YES!"

When they eventually vanish from view, he yawns and says, "Alright, lets make our way into town as it seems we may be here awhile dear."

Remaining naked on her sofa with a blissful smile on her face, she starts to absorb the last bits of magic she got from those final two mares, asking, "We going to be living in a tent or a house?"

Shaking his head, he makes his way back out of the ruined castle, saying, "I have no idea, but we will see once we get to town. I'll try to talk to the ponies and see how much a spot of land with a house costs."

It takes the two spirits a little while to reach the other two as they huff in annoyance saying, "Would you two stop dawdling and take your positions already?!

Giggling, Green floats towards a spot around the moon and says, "Hey, that stallion was back in control shortly after you two moved on, and his member got even bigger if you would like to know! You try to go three rounds with a stallion with a member capable of leaving a mare unable to walk for a while. Be thankful we were able to join you up here when we did, we're still feeling aftereffects after being with him."

Star then heads over to her spot, asking, "Do you think we can pay another visit to that stallion someday?"

Rolling her eyes, she answers, "Of course we can, but that is only if we are still ghosts, and if we still remember him."

THIS IS THE END OF THE CLOP PART OF THE STORY, ENJOY THE REST OF IT!

It takes most of the morning to reach Ponyville as True Heart approaches an arched bridge built out of brick and flat stones mortared together on top of sections of rock at least six inches thick resting on long wooden beams soaked and shaped to form the arch as they dried. With everything resting on four wooden posts with golden decorations at the joining seams, he finds it a curious way to build something like that.

Reaching the other side of the bridge, he sees older-styled buildings with thatched roofs along with a few differently styled buildings. Realizing that this must have been founded by earth ponies, he smiles and says, "I think I might like this town for a change, reminds me of home."

Without warning a voice says, "Hi, I haven't seen you before, what's your name?"

Turning to see who said that, True Heart sees a light pink mare with a very curly hot pink mane and tail, having a pair of light blue eyes, saying, "Hello, my name is True Heart, what is yours?"

As she looks the stallion over in the blink of an eye, she says, "My name's Pinkie Pie, so what brings you to Ponyville?"

Turning his body to face her, he then says, "I've come to help out whoever may need help in town, along with seeing the Summer Sun Celebration that is going on."

Pinkie Pie wonders if she met this pony before when she hangs her head and answers, "Oh, well I'm sorry to inform you, but Ponyville hasn't been selected to host it in several decades." She brightens up immediately and lifts her head while smiling brightly, saying, "However, you never know when we will get chosen to host it! Maybe next year we will get chosen, or the year after that, it's as unpredictable as me! Hehe!" Realizing she hasn't seen or met this pony before, she jumps up in the air gasping and saying, "I KNEW I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU ANYWHERE BEFORE!"

Watching in confusion as the pink mare almost vanishes before him, True Heart blinks twice, saying, "Well, that was certainly weird." He then continues walking further into town and sees a market set up down the road a ways as various ponies give him curious glances before continuing on their way, eventually arriving at the market to see a stall selling apples and heads for it as the current customer collects her apples and goes on her merry way. Seeing a light orange mare with a blonde mane and tail with green eyes a shade darker than his and wearing a western hat called a stetson, he makes his way to the counter, saying, "Greetings, miss, how much are you selling apples for today?"

The mare smiles warmly and says, "Well howdy, pardner. Apples are a bit every day at this stand while cider is double for whenever cider season comes around, although it is several months away from now. If ya want a cup of cider, ya should get in line as soon as ya can, cause we only have so much cider going around, being short-handed and all."

Nodding his head, he pulls out his sack of bits and sets twelve down, saying, "I'll take a dozen please. I will keep that in mind as I might stick around for a time until I decide to head somewhere else."

Picking out the dozen apples, she picks them up by the stems and sets them in a bag, saying, "Oh, so yer new in town? Have ya found a place to stay already, or are ya looking?"

Liking the mare's warm nature, True Heart says, "Yeah, this is the first time I have been to this quaint little town, and I have not located a place to stay yet, but I am looking. If it is just a spot of land with no dwelling, I shall take it upon myself to build a dwelling of my own. Would you know where I might be able to start my search?"

Putting the last apple in the bag, she picks it up and sets it on the countertop, saying, "Here's yer apples pardner, thanks for yer business. The mayor's gonna be yer best bet as she handles the property listings while receiving only a small portion to put towards the town, ya can find Mayor Mare in her office at Town Hall which is the largest building in town and just so happens to be in the center of Ponyville. In fact, ya can see the top of the building's reddish brown pointed top from here."

Turning to look for the pointed top she mentioned, he sees it and says, "Ah, I see it now, thanks miss. I hope you have a great day." He then uses his magic to lift the bag off the stand.

Before missing her chance to introduce herself, she opens the doors underneath and pulls out a basket then uses her hoof to slide the bits into it. Returning the basket to its shelf and closing the doors, she makes her way around the cart stall, saying, "Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier, my name's Applejack." She then holds her hoof out to shake his and asks, "What's yers, pardner?"

Setting the bag of apples down, he takes her hoof with his and says, "My name is True Heart, miss Applejack, it is nice to meet you."

Smiling widely, she then shakes his hoof vigorously. Taking him by surprise for a moment until he matches her when she catches a glint of humor in his eyes, then suddenly feels herself yanked forward and into a light embrace when she feels a peck on her cheek. Realizing he just kissed her, she hops away with a blush on her face and looks everywhere but the stallion's face, asking with a stammer, "Uhm-uh...W-Wha-What did ya do that fer?"

Smirking, he chuckles and says, "That was for trying to dislocate my arm with your excessive strength, but don't worry, I would never steal the lips of a mare younger than I or flirt with them unless they express interest towards me. However, I don't kiss every mare that shows interest, only a certain few that draw my eye."

Able to find the humor in that reason, she chuckles and smiles lightly, saying, "It's a pleasure to meet ya, sorry fer using too much of my strength, I appreciate ya being straight with me.

When a few mares snicker at having seen the previous exchange, True Heart picks his bag up and makes his way to where Town Hall is at, saying, "I'll see you around sometime, miss Applejack."

Making her way back behind the stall, she pauses to look over at him, thinking to herself with a confused look on her face, 'He can't be that' much older than me...is he perhaps around my brother's age?' She then watches as other mares that saw the exchange gather around her stall and start to pepper her with questions.

As he puts the apples into his saddlebags, he continues heading around a cluster of buildings until he spots the large circular light yellow structure with pillars all around the lower and upper floor. Seeing peaked windows spaced several feet apart on the roof with shorter peaked windows above them, there are tall arched windows a couple feet apart from each other all around the second floor with a few large square windows spread around the sides with a couple small ones above the double door.

Heading towards the double doors, he knocks before opening the door and calling inside, "Hello, is there anypony in here?"

Walking out through her office door, a cream coated mare with a whitish gray mane and tail with blue eyes and a pair of slim, narrow glasses with gold frames steps out, saying, "Come on in, the Town Hall is always open during the day! How can I help you?"

True Heart walks in and closes the door behind him, saying, "I'm new in town and I heard from Applejack that you handle sales of land and homes, so I was wondering what properties you have available."

Smiling brightly at a potential new resident, she introduces herself, saying, "Oh how delightful! My name is Mayor Mare. Are you interested in properties with houses already on them or planning on building your own?"

Introducing himself, he says, "I am True Heart, it is a pleasure to meet you. Let's see what you have that already has a dwelling on it. If nothing sparks my interest or is out of my price range, we can see what is available for land."

Mayor Mare nods her head and says, "Alright, please follow me into my office so I can show you the listings I have." When inside her office, she heads to a cabinet and opens a drawer before pulling a folder out. Setting the folder on her desk, she says, "Please take a seat and I will show you the listings a few at a time. Now, is your price range above five thousand bits or below?" As he enters her office, she walks around to the door and nudges it closed a little hard after having received a card from Pinkie Pie.

Heading to the seat across from her desk, he takes a seat, saying, "Unfortunately, it is a fair bit below that at about 1500 bits."

Pushing her glasses further up her nose, she says, "Okay then, let's go over what I have in this folder." She then flips the cover open and looks over the listings one by one, taking her sweet time on purpose to buy time for Pinkie Pie to set everything up, scrunching her nose and sighing with a huff, saying, "I should really redo these listings so that the details and price are all in the same place..."

True Heart watches her look over the listings closely, sliding them aside and turning them over after commenting about its price being too high. Not letting the lack of success get to him, he chuckles and says, "Property must be pretty good this year, but if there is nothing available, it doesn't bother me at all to have to build my own."

Smiling at hearing that, Mayor Mare says, "Well it is true that prices are certainly doing very well, I wish that I was having a better time at finding one for you." Several minutes pass by when she finds one and slides it over for him to look at, asking, "Here is one, it is a one bed and bath with a combined kitchen and dining room with a small living room for 1500." Wanting to be caring, she asks, "I don't mean to be nosy, but will you have enough to cover living expenses if you purchase this home?"

Wincing at not having thought of that, he hisses briefly before saying, "Uh...I forgot to take that into account, so no. Taking living expenses into account, I would have to find a place within the price range of 1200 bits."

Furrowing her brows at the new price, she takes back the listing she showed him earlier and turns it over. Once she reaches the last listing, she slides the stack back into the folder with a sigh, saying, "I'm sorry that I couldn't find a place with a house on it already, it appears you will have to build one for yourself."

He watches her return to the cabinet with the folder between her lips and put it back, then pulls out another one and sets it down, asking, "What does land go for these days?"

Returning to her desk and setting the folder down, she opens it and says, "Oh you have caught a slight break with that, land usually sells for 400 bits per acre. However, since I am currently trying to increase our population, the land is only 250 per acre." She then pulls out a series of papers indicating different locations around the town, saying, "There are a few empty lots in town I would like to see developed, but you can also purchase a specific number of acres outside of town limits if you would prefer a little privacy."

True heart looks over the listings in town, but they are too small for his liking. So he moves them aside to see the paper listing the township and a few nearby properties, seeing a place south and slightly west of Ponyville having hundreds of acres called Sweet Apple Acres with a place a few miles east of it called Fluttershy's Cottage having only 3 acres. Seeing the town on one side of the stream, then Fluttershy's and Sweet Apple Acres being on the other, he asks, How many acres are between Fluttershy's, Sweet Apple Acres, and the Everfree Forest?"

Looking at the map details, Mayor Mare says, "About 400 to 600 acres. How much are you interested in and where would you like it placed on the map?"

Thinking it over, he says, "I would like to get 5 acres between the stream and the road heading to Sweet Apple Acres, just a mile or so to the left of the road heading south from Ponyville."

Quickly calculating the cost, she raises her eyebrow, asking, "Are you sure about that, dear? The cost adds up to 1,250. Can you survive on what will remain of your bits after this purchase?"

As he does the math over what he spent on bare necessities the past few years, he nods his head, saying, "I can if I cut back on 3 meals a day and eat the grass on the property line, besides, I need to either purchase a tent to call home for now or offer labor in exchange for renting someone's spare room. To be honest, I could afford it if it was a couple-hundred bits more, but I might not be able to afford a tent." He then digs out his bit bag and starts to count out the bits in groups of 50 and sets them on the table.

Glad to know that he has options to fall back on, Mayor Mare starts counting the bits out, double-checking her count before calling out the final number of each group. It takes a little while to reach the amount agreed upon for 5 acres, but as the count is checked for a third time, she nods her head and pulls out an empty chest to put the coins into, saying, "Thank you for your purchase, just let me put the coins in here so we can begin working on filling out the details on the deed to your new land."

Just then he hears a faint murmur and looks around, asking, "What's that noise?"

Knowing that it is the ponies hiding in wait whispering excitedly about a new resident, she stamps her hind hoof on the floor to silence them, saying with a chuckle "Oh, that is just a pesky fly I have been trying to get rid of, they say news travels like the buzzing wings of a fly."

Letting out a chuckle of his own, he says, "Oh I know the feeling after being in Canterlot most my life."

Once she finishes sliding the last few bits into the chest, she closes it and sets it on the floor, saying, "Alright, now lets start filling out the deed's details."

7: Being Neighborly

Once Mayor Mare finishes writing the final details onto the deed, she turns it around, saying, "Now if you just sign it, you will officially become a new member of Ponyville and a part of this community." When she watches him put his name on it, she nods her head and brings the quill back to her side. Picking it up with her mouth, she draws a square indicating the town's newest expansion beside the river and right between Fluttershy's and Sweet Apple Acres.

After bringing the map up to date with their newest residency, True Heart then blows on the ink to help it dry before rolling it up and sliding a golden ribbon tied in a bow around it, asking, "Are there any building codes or anything of the sort I should know about before I start planning out my new place?"

Shaking her head, she says, "Not at all, though if you want it to also be a store, restaurant, club, or anything like that, you will have to let me know so that I can put out flyers to let others know of your new business venture." Returning to the floor from her chair, she walks around the desk and says, "Now, if you would stand and clap our right hooves together to seal the deal so I can properly bring you into the community, I would very much appreciate it."

Tucking his new land deed into his saddlebags, he nods and gets out of his chair, saying, "Alright then. I look forward to my time in your quaint little town."

As she raises her hoof and brings it wide, she then swings it in front of her and feels her hoof meet his in the center with a loud clop echoing throughout the room. Taking notice of his larger hooves, she smiles widely, saying with a slightly raised tone, "Please allow me to be the first to welcome you into the community, True Heart. Now let's go out and introduce you to everyone..." then trots towards the door, saying, "Let me head out first so I can get everypony's attention." She then opens the door a little, and sees that all the windows have been closed. With a smirk crossing her face, she removes it and then sighs, closing the door and playing up her age a bit, asking, "My eyes aren't what they used to be dear, would you be so kind as to go out first and provide a gentle light for me to see by since these eyes are so sensitive to the shift from dark to light?"

Realizing that it is a setup and that there are ponies hiding out there with excitement radiating off them, Lillith remains quiet about it and says through her link to her husband, 'Will you stop dawdling already and go out there, don't make your horn too bright or you'll blind the poor mare.'

Nodding his head, True Heart walks around to be in front of her and opens the door then walks through, saying, "Wow, it really is dark in here, let me shed some light so that we both can see..."

He doesn't get the chance to use his magic, as if his last word was a cue, curtains are pulled back to let in the light. Hearing a multitude of voices cry out, "SURPRISE!" while ponies jump out from behind tables set up around the room with long tables on two sides of the room fully loaded with all kinds of sweets and drinks. Realizing that it is a surprise party as they whistle and cheer happily, he laughs, saying, "You all are good, though Mayor Mare's last comment seemed a little off to me."

Happy to get a new neighbor, Applejack trots up to True Heart with a few ponies following behind her and sees Pinkie Pie talking animatedly about their first meeting. Wanting to save him from having his ear talked off, she bumps her foreleg against his shoulder, saying happily, "Welcome to Ponyville, neighbor! If ya ever need anything, drop on by Sweet Apple Acres sometime and I'll be happy to lend a hoof."

As other ponies walk up to him and introduce themselves along with welcoming him to Ponyville, he introduces himself and talks to them a little. Making his way toward the refreshments table to get a cupcake to snack on, he spots a light gray mare with a purple mane and tail having blue eyes heading his way with a smile.

The light grey mare with a curled mane and tail walks up to him and introduces herself, saying, "Hello darling, my name is Rarity Belle, and I am a fashion designer that prides herself on making the best designs possible. I live on the upper floor of my shop called Carousel Boutique, for fashion is ever moving. Feel free to stop by if you ever need a garment, my door is open from dawn til dusk." Recalling overhearing his conversation with Mayor Mare, she twirls a part of her mane around her hoof, saying, "I couldn't help but overhear that you are willing to offer labor in exchange for a place to stay. I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I didn't generously extend an offer for you to stay in my spare bedroom upstairs."

Catching Rarity's last comment causes Applejack to lightly knock herself in the head with a hoof, saying, "Ahh ponyfeathers, I gone and fergot that he's also looking for a place to stay. Well, better late than never..." then trots over and sidles up besides Rarity to shoot him an offer as well, saying, "Pardon my rudeness, but I gone and plum fergot that ya were needing a place to stay until ya have a place of yer own. If ya don't fancy working with gems, fabric, and all that fru-fru stuff, ya can borrow the guest room upstairs and help us round the farm. What do ya say?"

When both mares look at True Heart expectantly with a grin, bumping each other back and forth as if battling silently over him, he chuckles and says, "With a pair of lovely mares as yourselves both wanting to offer me a place to stay, how can I say no to either of you. Therefore, since I am accustomed to going from place to place, I shall spend one week with one of you, then move to the other and so forth. Does that sound acceptable to you both?"

Happy at hearing that solution, both mares look to each other and stop bumping each other before turning back to face him, asking simultaneously, "Who's first?"

Not wanting to pick one over the other, he pulls out a bit, saying, "To be fair, why don't we let chance decide?"

Seizing the opportunity first, Rarity lifts her head up and says, "I pick heads to stay at my place."

Chuckling at her antics, Applejack says, "Alright then, I'll be tails then. Don't bother me none anyway."

Flicking the coin up in the air, True Heart says, "Alright girls, best out of three." As the coin flips end for end, it heads towards the ground and bounces off the wood floor a couple of times before rolling around in a circle and falls onto one side, showing tails, causing Applejack to hold her head higher, saying, "Well that's one fer me Rare."

Rolling her eyes and lifting her nose a bit higher, she huffs and says, "Just you wait, Applejack, the next two will go to me."

Lifting the bit up again and flipping it into the air, it flips end over end before hitting the floor and bouncing a few times before falling on heads, making the fashionista smile and preen at her victory, saying, "See?"

With a light huff, she says, "Yep, but now we're even. The next one wins the match and takes this stallion home!"

Rarity giggles and says, "You might want to watch how you word things, Applejack, or some ponies will think you are looking to have a foal."

Applejack turns beet red at hearing her say that and quickly says, "WHA-bu-but I'm not, I swear! We just could really use a little extra help around the farm is all."

True Heart smiles as he hears a few snickers around the room at how loudly she said that out loud, picking the bit up again, saying, "Last flip, and the winner will get a new house guest and an extra set of helping hooves."

All eyes around the room are on the coin as it is tossed into the air, flipping end over end slowly as time seems to slow. Eventually, the coin makes its way back toward the ground and bounces on the wooden floor, landing on its edge with enough horizontal force that it starts rolling across the floor. Seeing the rolling bit, ponies lift their hooves and watch it go by anxiously, until it hits the edge of a platform and bounces back. When the coin starts to spin on its axis, they all hold their breaths as they wait to see how it lands.

He watches the bit spin slower and slower until it stops, remaining on its edge and causing several ponies to say awe. However, True Heart just laughs at it and says, "That right there is a thousand-to-one chances." then uses his magic to retrieve the bit as ponies laugh at the extreme odds and flips it again, saying, "This time it will be either heads or tails."

As Applejack watches the bit rise and fall, flipping end over end, it hits the floor and rolls in a circle before falling on tails, resulting in her saying triumphantly, "TAILS!" She then turns to True Heart with a smile, saying, "See ya when the party's over, True, I have some cleaning to do in the guest room." Turning to Rarity, she smiles and says, "That was fun, wasn't it Rare."

Smiling and nodding her head, Rarity turns to Applejack and says, "The suspense was a little enjoyable, yes, though I have some work to do in my own guest room, darling. See you again soon." She looks at True Heart and says, "Since today is Tuesday, I shall see you next Wednesday, mister Heart."

Nodding at her as she turns and starts to head out, True Heart says, "I look forward to finding out what tasks you will have me perform next week."

The farm pony looks at True and asks, "I'll show ya where Rare's boutique is at so ya know how to get there before guiding ya to where the farm's at, just let me know when yer ready to go."

Having not slept yet a yawn crawls its way out of him as he smiles sheepishly, looking around the room, saying, "I would love to stay and meet more of you, but I have been walking for most of yesterday and last night. So regrettably, I will have to say farewell and goodnight to you all. I look forward to seeing you around town when I start trying to figure out what kind of residence I would like to build just outside of town." Turning to Pinkie Pie, he then walks up to her and says, "Thank you for the party, for I enjoyed it during the short time I was here." then kisses her cheek, which causes her to jump for joy as confetti shoots out of her mane and she starts talking rapidly.

After taking his leave with Applejack, he follows her as she takes him by Rarity's boutique and Sugarcube Corner, informing him that Pinkie Pie works there occasionally and is ran by Mr. and Mrs Cake. When they pass by her stall, she quickly packs everything up into the cart and hitches herself up to it before heading down the road to her farm, asking, "If ya don't mind me asking, what is it ya do? I ain't not met a pony yet that don't got something they like doing, be it for themselves or bits."

Following her across the bridge, he says, "I make my way around Equestria, helping others that need it. Occasionally, I take bits for providing labor. However, I know how to protect myself and I go out of my way to protect others from harm free of charge and of my own accord, though I won't share details of my past fights with others as I wish to remain anonymous."

Applejack looks at him curiously, then asks, "Hmm...ya said yer from Canterlot, right? So do ya have any family around here? If so, perhaps I know 'em already!"

True Heart thinks for a moment, then says, "I'm not sure, but I don't think so. I have a sister named Derpy Hooves, though I nicknamed her muffins and call her that, but I have no idea if she lives here or in Canterlot still..."

Smiling widely, she says, "She's yer sister! I know her alright, she's a light bluish gray pegasis that tends to crash into things occasionally, with blonde hair and wonky eyes, correct?"

Nodding his head with a smile, he says, "Yeah that's definitely her, do you know what she's up to now?"

Applejack nods and keeps walking, saying, "She's our accident-prone delivery pony, she tries to keep damage to her parcels to a minimum by letting herself take the brunt of the collision. She has a small cloud home just above Ponyville, she came here about three years ago and always talks about ya and how much she loves and misses her big brother."

When they reach Applejack's home, she puts the cart in the barn and grabs the basket of bits by the handle with her teeth, then heads up to the house and opens the door, saying around the handle in her mouth, "Howdy everypony I'm back early and brought a friend!"

As True Heart meets Applejack's family and sees Big Mac again, Applejack takes Applebloom upstairs to prepare the guest room after telling everyone that he agreed to help both her and Rarity out in exchange for a place to stay while he works on building his home.

After having a meal with Applejack's family, he heads up to his room for a decent night's sleep. He wakes the following morning by Applejack knocking on his door, letting the others go before him so he can do his morning ritual. Once his ritual is finished, he uses the bathroom and washes his hooves before heading downstairs for breakfast

As Applebloom eats her blueberry pancakes, she sees True Heart making his way to the dining table. However, her eyes, along with everyone else's around the table are fixated on his flank as Applebloom is the first to speak up, asking in a shrill tone, "Why haven't you gotten your cutie mark yet!?!" She then turns to her sister and asks, "Is there a possibility I will remain a blank flank forever?!"

Chuckling lightly, True Heart takes a seat at the table, saying, "I highly doubt that, little one, for it only means they will be that much more special for when we finally do get our cutie mark. I have a vague idea about what it is I must do in life, but I just need to keep trying different things until it does appear."

When breakfast continues, he goes out to learn what the family does and begins to help them out however he can. As he takes breaks, he thinks about what kind of a home he wishes to build. The rest of the week goes by relatively quickly as he helps them finish harvesting one orchard.

When the day comes to head over to Rarity's home for the first time, he wakes up early to go take a look at his property after his morning ritual. When he gets there, he walks through his new land to see what needs to be done first when he has an opportunity to come here and start doing what he can. The first things he makes notes of are that the tall grass needs to be cut down and the stones removed. Having a bit of time, he works at cutting the grass down around the corners marked with tall sticks, deciding to get some string so that he can tie it around the top of the posts to give him a general idea for how much work he needs to do for a wall no higher than his back.

Spending only a couple hours of getting started, he makes his way to Rarity's boutique so that he can begin helping her with whatever she needs aid with. When he arrives at her place, he sees a sign out front reading: I'm open, come inside! After seeing that, he heads on inside and hears the jingling of a small bell overhead and looks around the shop, saying, "Miss Rarity, I have come to lend you a helping hoof this week." When a moment of silence ensues, he wanders around and says, "Are you back here, Rarity?"

Maintaining her focus, she calls out from her back room, "Apologies, darling for not responding earlier True, I am currently trying to finish up an order for a client's dress. You can come on back here, you won't bother me at all as I am just pinning a piece in it's place. Once I finish this up, I would like your help in replenishing my stock of gems that I use in making dresses. By chance, do you know a spell to locate things?"

Walking into the back room, he sees her by a strange stand with a pony body form on it, saying, "Ah, I see that you use quite a few mannequins for your projects. I have seen wooden, full-bodied models before, though they may be a bit dated. To answer your question, I do have a few varieties of locating spells, yes."

Taking a moment to look away from her work and look at him with wide eyes, Rarity says, "Those antiques are STILL being used today?"

Nodding his head, he says, "I can't speak for other designers like yourself, but a relative of mine has a few serving as armor stands to honor warriors of the past."

Going back to the dress she's working on, she says, "I suppose that is a decent use for them, though do you have any idea how hard those are to come by these days and how expensive they are?"

Shaking his head, he says, "Unfortunately I don't have the slightest idea."

Rarity then picks up her needle and thread and begins stitching it onto the dress carefully, saying, "Just one of those old relics is worth at least four dresses far more elaborate than this one which I sell for the fair price of 80 bits per outfit."

Surprised at hearing that, he looks around the store and says, "Well, it looks like you do very well for yourself."

Smiling as she finishes sewing the piece on, she severs the thread then returns it to the pincushion before taking the dress off and moving it to a hanger, saying, "I do make enough to get by comfortably, but I am generous and will help a pony out if they are having a hard time of it." Carrying the hangar to a rack, she sets the dress on it and smiles happily at having the final order from the day before finished, saying, "Since that is out of the way now, I can see if you know a gem-finding spell."

Cocking his head a little, True Heart thinks about the locating spells he knows and says, "You know what, I don't think I know that one. I have one for locating and identifying a few different types of stone, metal ore, and finding underground water sources."

Rarity smiles and then says, "Perhaps I could teach it to you if you teach me the one to locate ore?"

Smiling back at her, he nods his head and says, "Sounds fair to me, shall I teach you first or do you want to go first?"

Thinking it over, she giggles saying, "Why don't we do it like we did it at the party a week ago and flip a coin? Oh and before I forget, how was your week at Applejack's?"

He pulls out a bit and asks, "just once or best out of three?" then says, "It was great, I managed to help them finish harvesting the east orchard."

Rarity then says, "Just once is fine, I pick heads."

When he flips the coin into the air, it falls and bounces a couple of times before landing on heads, causing Rarity to smile and cheer about winning this time. As Rarity teaches him the spell, he discovers that it isn't too much different from the other spells he has for finding things and starts to teach her the ore finding spell. While explaining to her that it reveals veins, pockets, or even rare pieces on the ground, he also explains to her that each ore can be identified by a certain color and which colors mean what ore.

After testing her new spell out on a couple different objects around her boutique, she gets used to what it looks like when the object is hidden from view, saying, "Alright, would you have any issue against pulling my wagon for me to where we will be searching?"

Shaking his head he says, "Not at all miss Rarity, lead the way."

Leading him to where she keeps her wagon, she says, "Alright darling, you can hang your saddlebags over the front of the wagon as they will hinder your ability to turn while hooked up to it.

As he takes his saddlebags off and sets them over the front boards, then heads over to the front and backs between the wooden double-bend poles connected by a single tree, but doesn't see where to hook himself up to it and turns to Rarity, asking, "Uhm...where is the harness at miss Rarity?"

Blushing at having completely forgotten to grab the pieces, she trots back inside to grab them and comes back out with the three pieces, saying, "Apologies for forgetting, darling, but I was so surprised by your lack of a cutie mark that I gone and forgot all about the harness." She goes to hook it around him, and asks, "Does the scent of a mare's perspiration bother you?"

Shaking his head, he says, "Not at all, but it might smell a bit like me once we bring this back to unload, would that offend you?"

The blush deepens as she shakes her head, saying, "Not at all, but feel free to call me Rare or Rarity as we are friends now."

After being hooked up to the wagon, he then asks her, "Do we need any supplies for digging the gems up?"

Smiling at the stallion, she shakes her head, saying, "The shovels and hand scythes are strapped to the outsides of the wagon as that is about the only time I ever use them."

As she starts walking, he asks, "So where are we headed to start our search?"

Continuing her way towards the southern road, Rarity says, "We are on our way to your new land to tame the wild and unruly prairie grass that claimed it, that way it will look less like wilderness and more like a city lot."

Curious about why they are going to his lot, he asks, "Might you be able to explain why we aren't searching for gems instead Rarity?"

Slowing her pace to walk alongside him, she smiles and answers, "Of course, we are going there to help you get a head start on your property. Since we are a community, shouldn't we help a new member out?"

Unsure about not doing any work for her, he says, "Well, I don't want to sound ungrateful, but I feel like I'm not doing my part in turn for renting your spare room."

Chuckling softly, Rarity says, "No need to worry your handsome head over small details like that, we will still have some time left to search for gems. We will also be spending most of tomorrow searching for gems to replenish my supply. So, tell me. Do you have any plans for the grass after we cut it down or the stones if we need to remove them?"

Shaking his head, he says, "Alright then, I have no need for the grass. As for the stones...ones smaller than an average pony's body can be discarded."

Nodding her head, she heads across the bridge ahead of True so that they don't hinder other ponies wanting to cross, looking back over her shoulder and saying, "That is good to know then, Applejack should be able to use the grass and I have another friend who might be able to use the stones."

Once they arrive at his lot, Rarity unhooks him from the wagon and they both take the hand scythes off the wagon to start cutting the grass. As Lunchtime comes around, Rarity moves a few stones aside to make room for her picnic blanket.

After setting out the picnic blanket and basket, the two of them have lunch that Rarity prepared herself. When lunch is over, True helps Rarity pack up by shaking the blades of grass and debris off the blanket and folds it back up for her, asking, "Shall we get back to work and finish up?"

With a nod, Rarity then says, "I shall get started on bundling the grass into bundles."

Finishing the five acre lot and clearing a bit past the edges a couple hours later, he cleans the scythes and sharpens them before putting them back in their place on the wagon's sides. Moving onto the bundles, he picks them up a few bundles at a time and lays them neatly in the wagon to make the most use of the room there is with the blanket and basket in the front.

As Rarity ties the last bundle, she sets it with the others she has made and looks around at the nice and clean lot, saying, "This now looks like a very nice lot with all the grass out of the way, do you plan to make sculptures out of the big boulders?"

With a smile, he says, "Not exactly art sculptures like you're probably thinking, but I plan on attempting to carve long blocks out of them to build my home with."

Cocking her head in thought, she then asks, "Something like how some of the older buildings in Canterlot and the Castle are?"

Nodding, True Heart puts a few more bundles in place, saying, "Yes, but on a less grand scale."

Curious, Rarity helps load bundles into her wagon, asking, "Would you happen to have any sketches of what you plan to build?"

Shaking his head as he puts the last bundle on the wagon, he says, "Not really, though I do have a few rough measurements started. With the grass cleared now, I will have to think of how much work I need to do to get a big enough spot leveled so that I can build a lower level to serve as the foundation once I come up with an idea of what I want to build here."

Hooking him back up to the wagon, Rarity then smiles and says, "Well if you need any help with designs or clothing, you are welcome to come and see me. Now, shall we head over to Applejack's with this load and come back for another?"

As they make their way to Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack accepts the grass all-too-happily and gets her siblings to help put the grass in the barn loft. Afterwards, her brother hooks up to the big wagon as Applebloom comes with her sister and big brother to help load bundles.

Once they get to True's cleared lot, Big Mac pulls his wagon up by the stack of grass bundles and waits for his sisters to be in position, hearing them say they're ready to catch bundles, responding with a nod and a word, saying, "Eeyup."

It only takes a couple hours to get the remaining bundles back to their barn at Sweet Apple Acres as Applejack watches her brother find a new place for the rest of the bundles, saying, "Hoo-eee! I am mighty thankful of y'all to bring this grass to us, I didn't realize how much grass one can get off of a five acre lot. We managed to stuff our barn loft clear to the rafters and still have to find a place for the rest! But that's a good thing 'cause it means we won't have to worry about running out of food for the cows anytime soon."

Big Mac comes back for another few bundles, chuckling and saying with a smile, "NNOPE!"

As the last bundle is unloaded, True and Rarity make their way back to his lot to load the stones too small for his use and head to where Rarity's other friend lives. When they arrive, Rarity knocks on a red door that has an upper half and a lower half, saying, "Oh Fluttershy! Are you in there?"

The upper door opens a slight amount as a cyan eye peeks out through the small opening, noticing the strange stallion behind her friend and saying in a barely audible voice, "Hi Rarity, do you need something?"

Able to hear her friend despite her soft voice, she smiles and says, "Yes, darling, True just moved into town a week ago and after clearing the grass off his lot, he has a bunch of stones he has no use for. So, we brought them over to you, thinking that you might have a use for them?"

Blinking a few times, she thinks it over and nods her head, saying ever so softly, "The animals could use them around their dens to provide more protection...I'll be out in a moment."

Stepping away from the door as it closes without a sound, Rarity heads back to where she left True and says, "My friend is extremely shy around new ponies, so keep that in mind. If you ask her something, she is going to reply in a tone barely within hearing if you aren't listening hard enough."

Nodding his head, he patiently waits until she comes out. When she does, he sees a butter yellow pegasus with a very long, light pink mane and tail making her way around the front of her house gazing at him with wary eyes occasionally. Keeping back to give her room, he continues to follow her around the house and into her back yard.

When she stops and flies over to the wagon to grab a small stone with her front hooves, True Heart stops where he is to see what she does with it.

Rarity watches Fluttershy drop the stone on the ground a short distance away and hears her tell him in a bare whisper to set the rocks there, when he does nothing at all, Rarity sighs mentally and says for her friend, "Fluttershy wants you to put all the rocks where she dropped the rock she just carried."

As the stallion begins to unload the rocks, Fluttershy looks at her friend and says in a soft voice, "Thank you, the animals will be very grateful for you bringing these stones here to better protect their homes."

Smiling and nodding her head, she says, "We took a bunch of tall, fresh cut grass to Applejack's, and they struggled to find room for it all. If you or your animals could use a few of the bundles, you could go visit and ask for some."

Nodding her head with a soft smile, she says, "I appreciate you telling me that, I will remember that. Is this stallion your special somepony?"

Rarity chokes on air at hearing that and spins her head to her friend with a light blush, saying, "Of course he isn't, darling. He is just new to the community and has offered to trade labor in exchange for staying at my place and Applejack's farm every other week. If you would have been at Pinkie's surprise party, you would have heard that he is your new neighbor." When she hears her friend hide under her mane, she sighs and says, "I'm sorry for raising my voice to you, but it was shocking to even hear you suggest that. From what I seen of him so far, he is a thoughtful stallion and kind, but I strongly suggest you get to know him better or at least raise your voice a bit so he doesn't mistake you for a light breeze."

Pawing the ground lightly, she looks at the stallion as he turns to return to the wagon, spotting scars on either side of his flank and gasps lightly. Moving closer to her friend, she raises her voice a bit and asks, "What happened to him to get those scars on his flank?"

Raising her eyebrow curiously, she watches True unload more rocks and then turn around to go get more, seeing that he has quite a few scars on either flank nearly identical to each other. She opens her mouth to ask, but gets a better idea and says, "If you want to know that, you will have to ask him yourself."

The suggestion of raising her voice causes Fluttershy to shrink in on herself and tremble, whimpering softly, "I...I can't."

Letting out a soft sigh, she says, "Sadly, you leave me no choice but to give you a slight push." and spots a large split hair in her tail and grabs it with her magic, saying, "Sorry, Shy, but you need to speak your mind."

When she feels a hair suddenly yanked out, she cries out, saying, "OW DID YOU GET YOUR SCARS?!" When she realizes she blurted her question out, she hides beneath her mane and curls up into a ball while her face turns red.

Unloading the last rocks, he sets them down with the others with a soft sigh, and turns to them, asking, "Do you want details or the short version?"

Deciding to just satisfy their curiosity for now, Rarity says, "The short version, if you don't mind. We don't want to cause you any pain."

Nodding his head, True heart says, "Well, I got these scars several years ago after I failed to control myself and caused an accident in Canterlot, which resulted in me being punished for nearly causing a family great heartache."

Rarity's eyes are wide at hearing that as her mind tries to puzzle out what could possibly have happened when she hears a flap and sees a blur of yellow rush over to the stallion, once she sees Fluttershy hugging the stallion and sobbing, saying, "Oh you poor, poor little dear! That must have been such a terrible and scary thing for you to have to go through, I'll be here to help you through whatever troubles you may have." Taking a moment, she then says, "My name is Fluttershy, and I'm so sorry for not introducing myself earlier. I'm really shy around new ponies until I open up to them."

As the weeks go by, True Heart tries to figure out what kind of home he would like to build. One day, when Rarity takes him with her to the spa after fulfilling a larger than normal order, he lies on the table getting a deep muscle massage and drifts off for a moment. He finds himself thinking about all the strongholds and cathedrals he visited when he opens his eyes again to find that it is time to go to his hooficure.

Once he and Rarity finish getting their treatments done and head back to her boutique, Rarity starts making a list of things she needs to order. As she is busy, True Heart sits at her design table and turns the lamp on, then pulls out one of her white sketching papers and a charcoal drawing pencil. Tapping the flat end against his head in thought, an idea starts to come to him that allows him to get started.

When Rarity finishes her list she goes to let True Heart know she's going to make a trip to Canterlot, but sees him focusing on a piece of paper thoughtfully with a small ruler and says softly, "I just wanted to let you know that I am going to change the message on the sign and head to Canterlot to get a few supplies since nopony in town is heading there anytime soon, be sure to lock up if you go anywhere."

Hearing her, he nods his head and says, "Alright, take care of yourself while in the big city and watch out for hoodlums."

Snickering behind her hoof, she says, "Oh, no need to worry about me...if anything, you should worry about those poor dears that try anything with me."

Smirking as he pulls out another piece of paper and says, "I know, because your whining and complaining is legendary and will bring even the angriest dragon to his knees begging you to stop and offering you gems."

Raising an eyebrow at his teasing, she teases him back, saying, "Careful darling, for somepony might think you and I are in a relationship."

Nodding his head, he says, "You're right, I should watch my tongue around innocent and beautiful mares such as yourself, for I don't think my wife would appreciate me flirting with other mares."

Her eyes shoot open wide at hearing that as she says in shock, "Y-YOU'RE MARRIED!" She then blinks a couple times before asking, "H-How long ago did you get married? Where in Tartarus is she, and why haven't we seen her around town yet?"

Turning away from the paper, he says, "I am, though it isn't a typical marriage as you are likely thinking, it is more along the lines of a contract of sorts. As for how long ago, it has been several years since we sealed the deal with a kiss. Presently, she is in a timeout in my mind for getting up to some mischief."

Rarity recovers a bit at hearing that, thinking, 'Oookay, so he has a bit of a strange personality quirk.' then plays along with it, asking, "Would it be alright if I meet her?"

Looking seriously at her for a moment, he hears his wife plead, whine and beg to be let out for a bit and sighs, turning his head and saying to his wife, "Dear, have you made any progress with your ability yet?"

Pacing around her sanctuary fitfully in boredom, Lillith morphs into her pony form and looks herself over, seeing that she has finally managed to make herself look like an actual pony, saying, "I have at long last dear, so can I please come out for a bit?! I swear I won't cause any mischief, just please let me stretch my legs!"

Blinking slowly, he turns back to Rarity and asks, "Can you Pinkie Promise me that you won't freak out and start panicking if I let her out, Rare? She can be a bit of a troublemaker."

Her eye twitches at having to make a Pinkie Promise, but takes a calming breath and then says, "Oh, alright...if I must, I shall."

After seeing her make the motions and saying the words to the official Pinkie Promise, True Heart gets up from the table and walks to the center of the space, saying to his wife, "Smoke to pony if you will dear."

Rarity watches curiously as he stands in the center of the room, closing his eyes before taking a deep breath and letting it out as a dark red smoke falls to the floor before him. Once it finishes coming out, she watches in astonishment as it moves to his left side as a soft light flickers from within when she sees it rise up off the floor. Her eyes bug out of her head as she watches the cloud form four black hooves and the legs of a pony, having a dark red fur coat. When the smoke finishes forming the body, she finds herself looking at a unicorn mare with a curved, pointed horn sharpened to a point with glittering silver eyes and a silky looking, jet-black mane and tail with a pair of burning pink hearts for a cutie mark.

Upon taking her pony form, Lillith prances around in front of her husband, saying, "How do I look dear?"

Looking her over closely, he nods and says, "Like you should, now please introduce yourself and try not to do anything wild enough to make her faint..."

Turning her head to look at him with a pouty lip, she huffs, saying, "Awwe...you're no fun." then rolls her eyes and says, "But I shall listen since you let me out so kindly." Trotting over to him and kissing his cheek, she then turns to face Rarity and smiles at her, saying, "Hello, miss Rarity. It is a pleasure to finally get to see you with my own eyes, you may call me Vale Lilly."

Rarity's mind struggles to process what she just saw as she looks the creature over from head to tail, finding herself asking, "Uh, what did you just do?"

Looking at her, Lillith smiles and says, "Oh, that was just me leaving my sanctuary inside my husband's body."

Nodding her head robotically, she tries to think of something else to ask, asking, "W-What are you?"

Thinking of how to answer her, she says, "It's better off that you don't know, so let's just say I'm from a place that is much warmer and scarier than this one is. You don't have to fear, however, because compared to how droll things were where I came from...I like how peaceful it is here, so I Pinkie Promise that I won't do anything truly evil while in your world." Getting an idea to put her at ease, she says, "In fact, to prove that I'm not lying...Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." while doing the motions for a Pinkie Promise.

Unable to hold back a snicker, True Heart chuckles and says, "Never in all my life, would I ever think I would see one of your kind make a Pinkie Promise."

Turning back to him, Lilly says with a pout, "Hey, I had to find a way to put her at ease somehow, or would you rather me walk right up to her and make out with her?"

Shaking his head, he says, "As much as I wouldn't mind watching that, don't do it because her mind is barely keeping up. Her mind might overload and cause her to faint, and that would mean I would have to carry her to her room. That is a boundary I would like to avoid crossing as much as possible because we are roommates at the moment, and I am pretty sure she would vehemently oppose to being carried into her room and gingerly placed upon her bed by a stallion."

Her mind forgets about processing what she saw moments before and decides to process it later, asking, "H-He's right, a-aren't you two married?"

She turns back to her and says, "We are through a contract I made with him via mixing my blood with his, though I consider us having an open marriage and could care less who he involves himself with as long as I get the chance to join when he introduces me."

It takes a couple hours before Rarity is comfortable with leaving the two alone in her boutique, saying, "If you two make a mess...please clean up after yourselves so I nor my customers have to put up with smelling sex and spread rumors about me being more than roommates with you."

Taking her leave, she makes sure to have her saddlebags for the things she needs to buy as she tries to come to grips with what happened earlier.

With Rarity gone, True returns to his sketching as Opal decides to come out of hiding and investigate the new arrival, saying, "I would behave if I were you Opal, my wife will get even with you if you get up to mischief with her."

Hours pass by as his sketching becomes more and more of a solid blueprint as he tries to think of something for the windows when he steps outside for a moment when he watches the sun set and the moon rise, saying, "Another beautiful cycle change..." The idea hits him then as he grins and heads back to the drawing table to finish the rough sketch of his plans.

8: Trip to Canterlot (Details edited 2/13/25)

A few weeks pass as he continues to put the final touches to his building plans when he starts to make a list of tools he needs along with materials. Fortunately, there are plenty of tools in the sanctuary that he can utilize, saying, "At least I know where to get the tools I need."

It takes a few more days until he is ready to start looking for where to find the stone he needs and turns to Applejack, asking, "Applejack, do you mind if I take off to go get some tools I need for building my new home?"

Shaking her head, Applejack says, "Not at all pardner, ya helped us mightily with getting the harvest in. Cider season is a few months away yet, will ya be needing to borrow our big wagon or the smaller wagon?"

Thinking it over, he then says, "Hmm...if you don't mind, I would like to borrow the smaller one. The smaller wagon might have enough room for everything I need to bring over from Canterlot."

Nodding her head, she says, "Not at all pardner, we consider ya as one of the family. Ya can find the smaller wagon out behind the barn, though the padded harness is on the wall beside the big doors."

Smiling at her, True says, "Thanks a lot for offering up your guest room, Applejack, it really means a lot to me."

Smiling as a light blush colors her cheeks, she says, "Don't think nuttin' of it pardner, ya help us out, we'll help ya out."

He then makes his way towards the barn to get the harness and moves it over his head, settling it against his shoulders as he heads around to hook himself up to the wagon. When he reaches the back of the barn, he looks inside to make sure nothing else is inside before laying his saddlebags over the top board at the front, then starts backing up between the poles and hooks himself up to it using his magic. Stepping forward, he makes his way around the barn and trots along the road to their home, calling out, "Thanks again, I'll try to be back by tonight or tomorrow!"

Applejack trots out of the house with a large basket, saying, "Hang on for a moment pardner, we can't let ya go on a trip without food. Take this basket along with ya for whenever ya need to stop and eat something."

Stopping the wagon, he looks back to see Applejack set her front hooves on a step and put the basket at the front, saying with a smile, "Thanks again for being so thoughtful, I'll be back before you realize I'm gone."

Stepping forth, she puts a foreleg over his neck and hugs him, saying, "Ya be careful out there, ya hear me pardner?"

Nodding his head, he hugs her back and says, "I always am."

Letting him be on his way, she pulls away and watches him trot on down the road until he is out of view, then turns and heads off to the next orchard to keep harvesting apples.

True Heart spends most of the day trotting towards Canterlot, stopping to eat dinner before continuing on, absently wondering if there is another entrance to the stronghold as he makes his way to the path up the mountain late in the day. By the time he gets to the main thoroughfare, the sun is setting as he decides to head to his grandfather's to ask about other entrances to the stronghold.

Hearing a knocking at his door, Thunder Magic gets out of his chair and opens the door to his humble abode, seeing True Heart outside his home with a small wagon on his lawn, saying, "Ah it is good to see you, come on inside lad."

Heading inside, he says, "Likewise, grandfather, how are things at the castle?"

Shaking his head, he sighs and says, "The princess hides it well, but she is in a tizzy at having lost track of you at Saddlem."

Cocking his head in confusion, he asks, "You both know about that?"

Thunder Magic chuckles and says, "Lad, all of the big cities have heard some version of the Sandstone Witches being defeated, though only I and the princess herself know that it was you. She, however saw a bright light shoot up into the night sky and raced to her telescope to see what it was, and saw you standing before them while casting an immensely strong spell. Every one who was awake that night saw the bright golden pillar, including me. Did you know that travelers report that the fountain that was once the town's center has been made larger and now sports a large statue depicting a mysterious unicorn stallion with large hooves facing down three small mares cowering in fear?"

Shaking his head, True Heart sighs and says, "After all I went through to remain anonymous..." He then turns to his grandfather, saying, "I turned away all rewards and gifts, along with giving no comments about who I was and asking them not to describe me to anyone..." He then huffs and asks, "Has anyone figured out that I was responsible for that?"

Chuckling, he says, "Not to worry lad, the villagers and Princess Celestia are being rather tight-lipped about anything regarding who it was that tricked the witches and defeated them, though I did hear a curious rumor about how four glimmering, white orbs rose into the sky. What was that all about?"

Letting out another sigh, he says, "Well I went to the ruined Castle of Two Sisters to see if it was really haunted and did what I could to set them free."

Thunder Magic nods his head and says, "Good on you, lad, now what brings you to Canterlot?"

He then tells his grandfather what he has been up to lately, mentioning that he has plans on putting down roots in Ponyville, saying, "I finished the designs a couple days ago and made a list of things I need to find and acquire, the vast majority of the tools I need are in the stronghold. Would it be possible to take a wagon down the steps by the statue?"

Shaking his head, he says, "Yes it is, but Princess Celestia is trying her best to find you, she has even told the castle guards to bring you to her the moment they spot you, it is too risky to go that way now."

Hanging his head in slight defeat, he asks, "Well then, is there another way in?"

Thinking it over for a moment, he nods and says, "There is, lad, but let me go grab something." Making his way to a bookshelf, he pulls on a book titled, 'The Passage of Time' and causes the whole shelf to pull back and slide into the wall.

Watching his grandfather curiously as he pulls out a thick scroll, he asks, "What is that grandfather?"

Putting the scroll down on the coffee table, he sets things off to the side, saying, "This is the only map we have that shows every chamber, hall that was ever part of our stronghold, it even shows the passages that lead to it." He unrolls it, saying, "There is only one other passage that leads into the stronghold, and it is at the base of the mountain a short distance from the path that heads up to the gates of Canterlot. I've never personally used it, but the map says that it is there."

Looking the map over, True Heart looks at his grandfather, asking, "Shall we go down there together and find it?"

Rolling the map back up, he grabs his saddlebags, saying, "Of course, lad, I am curious as to how it has held up after so many years."

When his grandfather tucks the map into his saddlebags, he heads outside and hooks himself up to the wagon and waits for his grandfather to join him, asking, "Would you care for a lift to the bottom to save yourself from all the walking we're going to have to do?"

Considering his thoughtfulness, he nods and says, "Thank you very much for offering, lad, time is slowly catching up to this old pony." Making his way to the back of the wagon, he opens the back gate and climbs up onto the bed then closes the gate behind him and puts the pins back in place. Turning around, he heads to the front and makes himself comfortable on the floor, saying, "Alright lad, down the mountain we go."

Pulling back out of his grandfather's yard, he returns to the street, saying, "If you're hungry, you can help yourself to what's left of the Apple Crumble that is in the basket."

Enticed by the offer, he opens the basket up to find a tin containing a couple slices of Apple Crumble and smells it eagerly, saying, "I love the apples that come from Sweet Apple Acres, one can really feel the love they put into their orchards. It is nice to be able to sample one of their dishes." Lifting a slice out of the tin and taking a bite, he closes his eyes blissfully as he happily chews the tasty treat, swallowing and saying, "Wow, you are a lucky stallion for getting to stay at a place with a mare that can cook this good, you would be an even luckier stallion if you tied the knot with one this talented."

As he heads back out of the gates, he turns to go down the path, saying, "I don't know if Applejack cooked that or if Granny Smith did, but I will make sure they both get your praise."

Making his way down the path now free of travelers due to it being night, he picks up the pace and trots down the path while using his horn to light the way and clear obstacles from his view.

Watching from inside the wagon, Thunder Magic watches his grandson trot a bit faster down the path, saying, "Make sure to be mindful with each step you take, for marble causes a pony to have to walk or trot slowly or risk sliding around."

Smiling as he keeps clearing the way forward, he says, "One thing I am confident in, grandpa, is how well my teachers taught me." He then goes into a gallop as he goes around a gentle curve.

Reaching the ground without incident, he gradually slows down to a trot in order to make a turn, saying, "Alright, grandpa, which way is it supposed to be, left or right?"

Pulling the map out after finishing the last piece of Apple Crumble, he lights his horn and looks at the map for a few moments, saying, "Turn right and follow the edge of the mountain's base until we reach a flat spot on the mountain, doesn't say anything else besides finding for that which we guard."

Turning right and following the mountain's base as closely as he can, he keeps his horn illuminated and looks for a flat spot. Once he has been following it for a few miles, he sees a slight cut into the mountain and heads toward it to see a pair of statues carved to look like alicorns on either side of a fairly large flat spot. Seeing some debris littering the ground, he clears it away and says, "I think this might be it, grandpa. Is there any clue as to how to find the door or even open it?"

After looking at the scribbled words barely legible, he smiles and chuckles, saying, "Yep, I found a translation here." Rolling the map up and returning it to his saddlebags, he gets back up and turns around. Facing the back gate, he opens it and climbs back down cautiously, closing the gate back up and returning the pins to their spot before making his way to the space, then says, "Pro gloria luminis, pugnamus ut pacem servemus."

As True Heart watches the wall for movement, he hears a slow rumble as he sees lines appearing along the top and bottom. The two doors are then connected by a vertical line between two stone doors as they swing inward, large and wide enough for Applejack's large wagon to pass through and have room to spare. Turning to his grandfather, he says, "You will have to tell me that phrase before I go back to Ponyville, let's continue on and see how this old passage held up to time."

Making their way into the passage ahead, the elderly pony tries one of the torches fastened to the wall and it is the other that causes the doors to close. Continuing through the passage, they find it in remarkably good condition and only have to move a few rocks out of the way to continue ahead.

It takes a fair amount of walking and moving debris out of the way, but they do reach the end of the long tunnel and discover that another sconce on the wall opens the doors before them. Once they enter the room, they are both surprised to find a few wagons of various sizes are left inside.

As True approaches the wagons, gems around the room come to life and illuminate the space. Looking closer at the wagons, he sees that their wheels have slightly ornate spokes. Noticing that they have a red cross with flared ends running across the entire wheel with white between the inside corners of the cross and stopping at the flared edges of it, having two spokes on opposite sides painted silver and two more running perpendicular to it painted gold, he turns to his uncle and says, "Each of these wagons is marked with the crosses some of our shields bore."

Seeing the wagons marked that way makes Thunder Magic smile and nod, saying, "Yes lad, I believe that is how the ponies recognized our order in the old days, you should take one of these with you when you go back to Ponyville to build your home. Now you go gather the tools you need so you can be on your way, I will continue exploring rooms long forgotten and start cleaning them up as you find what all you need. I will be sure to help the others cleanup these newly rediscovered rooms when I have time."

When Thunder Magic pulls another sconce that opens a door into the side of a wide corridor, he chuckles and says, "I never thought that they would put a door there of all places, this must have been where they loaded and unloaded supplies and such."

True pulls his wagon past the doors and into the corridor, then parks it along one side to unhook himself from it. Once he unhooks, he makes his way to the crafting room to grab the first few things he needs. Making several trips back and forth to the wagon and the tool shelves, he eventually grabs all of what he needs there and recalls that he wanted to bless the place, saying softly, "Dear, are you able to step onto consecrated ground or be inside a holy place?"

Smiling at hearing that, Lillith says from her sanctuary, "Of course I can dear, you don't have to worry about me bursting into flames and burning to death while sleeping next to you in our holy home. Besides, If I felt anything at all, it would only be a pleasurable tingle to me just like holy water is, I'm your twisted and kinky little demon wife, you know."

Nodding at that, he feels relieved and then heads to where the holy blessing books are kept and grabs several of them that he will need for when he builds his home, then carries them over to his saddlebags and stores them inside. Going back over his list, he notices he forgot to grab a few and heads back to grab them, adding them to the growing stockpile inside his wagon before checking over his list again. Once he sees that he has it all, he wanders around to find his grandfather, finding him standing inside a small storage room, and asks him, "What did you find in here, grandpa?"

Thunder Magic looks around and smiles, saying, "Take a look around and see for yourself, lad."

True Heart enters the room and looks around to see a room full of collars that go around a pony's neck and other equipment, each of them bearing fine silver detailing along with a symbol in clear view. In plain sight lies the small, white debossed shield on the upper sides of the collars having a white background with a red cross having flared ends on each end inside it as the main focus of the image . Not all of them are collars, however, some of them are full harnesses like they had back in the time he fought alongside his brothers. Nostalgia hits him as he walks up to one of the harnesses and runs his hoof over it with a slight smile on his face, turning to his grandfather and asking, "Think you could help size me up for one of these harnesses, grandfather?"

Grinning as he makes his way towards one of the stands, he says, "Would a cardinal take a dump in the woods?" Looking over the harnesses, he says, "Since you're still growing, you are going to need to change sizes once it becomes too small. The same thing goes for the collars as well, so we might as well get you two of each so you are prepared. There are also strings of bells that can be clipped onto the harness and collar, would you want some of them too for Hearth's Warming?"

Nodding his head with a smile, he says, "Would there happen to be any hoofshoes?"

Shaking his head, he says, "Unfortunately, there aren't because each member is buried with theirs and the new members have to forge their own when their 18, along with making their own armor, weapon of choice, shield, and of course, cloak. As you grow bigger, you will have to remelt your shoes down to resize them if they become too small, the same goes for adding to your armor as well as your cloak if you make it while young. Since you are almost at the age, let me get you a few books about what you will need to know for all that."

Once he has two collars and harnesses, he carefully adds them to his pile so that they don't get tangled. Placing the books into his saddlebags, he heads back to where he got the collars and harnesses and grabs a couple freestanding empty harness stands and lays them into the small wagon, which is now starting to become overfull. Chuckling as he sees the wagon, he looks down to see that there is a place to tow another wagon behind it and heads to where the other wagons are and asks his grandfather, "I wonder which one I should take along."

Thunder Magic looks around and says, "Remember that you are still growing, so grab one that isn't too hard after you find out how much you are going to have to work to pull the fully loaded wagon in the corridor."

Nodding his head, True Heart says, "Right, that is a really good idea." then makes his way to the wagon parked in the corridor and hooks himself up to it. Once he is hooked up, he tries to take a step forward, but to no avail as the wagon doesn't budge. Continuing to add strength until the wheels finally roll forward, he ends up using a little more than half his strength to make it turn.

When he returns to the other room where the wagons are stored, it takes just as much effort to stop the wagon. Using some long blocks to help keep the wagon from rolling forward, he places them in front of the back wheels before unhooking himself. Letting out a sigh, he says, "If it was that tricky to slow and come to a stop, I might need your help getting down the curving downward path, grandfather."

With a chuckle, he looks at his grandson and picks out a wagon a fair bit larger than the one he brought, saying, "Not a problem, grandson, not a problem." Making his way over to the wagon, he looks around it to see that there are a bunch of tongues hanging on the wall and finds a couple different ones, and asks, "Do you have a style preference for the pole styles?"

Nodding his head, he says, "Double bends if you can find one."

Seeing one just off to his left, Thunder Magic grabs it and takes it off the wall, then sets it into the wagon he picked and grabs a hitch to tow the wagon behind another. Taking it off the wall, he carries it to the front of the wagon before pulling out the pins and sliding the back of the hitch into place, then slides the pins back into place and secures them. With that part done, he removes the hitch pin and sets it behind the other wagon's rear hitch, using his magic to lift the other wagons towing hitch up and guide it ahead. Turning the wagon, he maneuvers it into place behind the other and grabs the hitch pin with his mouth and drops it into place before putting the keeper back on it. Knowing that he will need spare wheels, he heads over to the other side and compares sizes a bit before putting two front ones and two back ones in the back. Heading over to the wagon, he checks the front box for tools and nods at seeing what is needed, saying, "Alright, there are tools for changing a broken wheel along with a flat tarp and a tarp for others to keep out of the weather inside. There are rods tied to the sides for putting the other cover on if needed, I even put in a change of two front and back wheels."

With a nod, he hooks himself up to the smaller, front wagon, saying, "Alright, let's take our leave then." and starts towards the doors out, pulling lightly on one of the sconces until one of them clicks and makes the doors open up with a groan.

Following his grandson down, he occasionally has to provide some stopping power with his magic after True Heart is trying to keep the corridor ahead illuminated. Making it down after a couple of hours, he watches as the doors open when True pulls the correct sconce.

Letting out a relieved sigh, he lets the weight push him forward and trots out of the corridor. Making a left turn, he keeps trotting until he returns to the road and stops. Looking over to see his grandfather beside him, he smiles and says, "Thank you for everything, grandpa. Will you be okay to get back on your own?"

Thunder Magic nods, saying, "Of course I will, a bit of walking up a gradual incline like this is good exercise, now you best head back to Ponyville. I'm sure your friends will be glad to have you back."

Nodding his head, he smiles and starts heading back, saying, "Once I finish building my home, I will buy you a ticket to Ponyville so you can see it for yourself."

With a smile, he watches his grandson head down the road at a walk, saying, "I sure hope it doesn't disappoint, lad!" then chuckles and makes his way up the winding path to Canterlot.

Having been letting himself catch his breath while walking for a good half-hour, he slowly works himself into a trot, then to a canter while using his horn to light the way. When he gets tired, he slows down to a walk for a break. Deciding to keep walking as he isn't in a big hurry to get back, especially since everyone will still be sleeping if he canters some of the way there.

It is mid-morning when Applejack hears a creaking and rumbling noise coming up the driveway, making her set down her barrel of apples to see who it is. Once she sees that it is True, her smile widens and trots toward him as she spots him pulling a second wagon behind it. Noticing that it is larger than the one he's pulling, she whistles and says, "Hoo-ee ya have a mighty load there giving that small wagon a workout, do ya need a hand in unloading?"

Trotting his way to the barn, he stops a short ways to the side, saying with a tired breath, "If ya wouldn't mind, hills are a real bear with a load like this heh. Have room for a spare set of wheels and a towing hitch until I can find a place for them?"

Chuckling and nodding her head, she says, "Oh I'm sure they are, pardner. We definitely do have room, where did ya find the bigger wagon yer towing?"

Unhooking from the borrowed wagon, he moves to the back and removes the keeper from the hitch pin, saying, "I got this from my family's private storage. Pulling the hitch pin out, he slides the hitch off just far enough to return the pin and keeper before heading to the back of the towing hitch. Pulling the pins holding it in place, he uses his magic to lift the hitch up and guide it out from between the two wagons. Setting it aside to put away later, he heads to the side and lifts one of the wheels out and sets it aside, saying, "Here's one of the wheels, think you could handle it?"

Stepping against the backside of the wheel, she begins guiding it to the barn, saying, "This is easier than coring an apple!" Setting it against the front corner opposite of where the harness and collars are kept, she returns for another, saying, "Alright, hand me the other back wheel pardner so that they're in the same spot."

It takes no time at all to get all four wheels out of the wagon as True Heart helps Applejack move the towing hitch into the same corner as the wheels when Applebloom and Big Mac offer to help unpack as True Heart says, "Alright, let's get this into the other wagon after I set the other poles out so I can hook them up when this one's empty."

After setting the other hitch out, he takes a little time to set the harness stands out to place the two harnesses on them along with the collars. Opening the back gate of his wagon, he watches as Applebloom hops up into the back with no problem, saying, "Glad you had no problems getting into the back, Ab."

As they help take things out of the back and set them into the larger wagon, Applejack notices that each of the four wagon wheels have the same pattern of silver spokes perpendicular to gold spokes with red lines between each gold and silver spoke pairing. The + has flared edges painted on the whole wheel, including the center, which is surrounded by white between the red + and the red flared ends of the symbol, asking, "Hey, what is with the painted pattern on each of the wheels, is that some sort of icon or something?"

Chuckling, he nods and levitates another item over to Applebloom, saying, "Yeah, it is a newer version of my family's sign of purpose."

As her baby sister moves things around, Applejack looks the wagon over, saying, "Wow, I can't believe how old this wagon is and still in this good of shape, must have been well loved and cared for."

Nodding as he moves the last thing over to his wagon, he pulls the basket out and hands it to Applejack, saying, "I'm sure it must have, but my grandpa had to use his magic to keep it from pushing me down the twisting corridor and smushing me into the door from how heavy this was. Sorry for putting your wagon through such a troublesome test, Applejack. If it needs any repairs, let me know and I'll cover the cost."

Without missing a beat, Big Mac shakes his head with a smile and says, "NNOPE!"

Smiling and setting the empty basket down, she says, "I'm with my brother on this, ya don't need to worry about it cause we repair our own wagons. Besides, it is due for a little maintenance anyhow. How was the food?"

Hopping out of the wagon, he closes the back gate and returns the pins, then turns to Applejack and says, "Awesome as always, in my grandpa's own words after taking his first bite from that Apple Crumble... Wow, you are a lucky stallion for getting to stay at a place with a mare that can cook this good, you would be an even luckier stallion if you tied the knot with one this talented."

Big Mac nudges his sister's shoulder suggestively while wagging his eyebrows, as if to say, 'Looks like my little sis may yet find a good stallion.'

Catching the shit-eating grin on his face makes her blush deepen as she picks up the basket with her nose and heads back towards the house, saying while waving her tail back and forth dismissively, "Ah'm not sure if ah'm as good as Granny, as she was the one who baked that Apple Crumble."

Wanting to tease her a bit, he calls after her, "OH, in that case, perhaps I could introduce my grandpa to your grandma!"

His smirk widens as he catches his sister stumble and almost fall flat on her face before racing into the house, causing him to chuckle and turns to True Heart, looking him over and saying, "Ya look tired, need me to return the small wagon to its spot?"

Shaking his head, True Heart says, "I can handle it after it tried to push me into a wall so many times, thanks anyway for offering." then makes his way between the poles of the now-empty wagon and hooks himself back up to it, then heads for the barn to drop it off.

By the time he returns the borrowed harness to its place on the wall in the barn and returns to the wagon, he sees that Big Mac and Applebloom have finished putting the other hitch on and smiles, saying, "I could have handled that, but thank you." He then looks at the two stands with the harnesses and collars on them, he grabs the smaller collar with his magic first and looks it over before putting it on and fastening the buckles.

Applebloom looks at the strange shield on the front and sides of the collar, being white with a red cross having flared ends across it, asking curiously, "Is that the older version of your family's sign of purpose?"

Knowing what she is looking at, he nods his head, saying, "It is the original symbol indeed, though it is from over a millennia ago and it has, unfortunately, been lost to the history books." With a smile, he says, "Well, I should get these other harnesses over to Rarity's so they stay out of the rain planned for today and put the tarp on it to keep the tools dry."

Nodding his head, he says, "See ya next week." then turns to his baby sister and says, "C'mon Applebloom."

Backing between the poles, he hooks the chains to the single tree and then uses his left hoof to lift the poles off the ground to attach the straps to them. Looking everything over, he sees nothing wrong and then starts walking forward to feel his wagon creak and start to roll with him, noticing right away that it takes less effort to pull. Turning around in front of the barn, he looks up in the sky to see pegasi start moving clouds into the sky already, saying, "It would be best to hurry as much as I can before it starts raining."

As Rarity pins a piece to another outfit, she hears a knock on the door and calls out, "I'm open darling, come on in!" When the knocking persists, she groans in frustration and gets up with a frown, saying, "UGH some ponies need to stop being so spoiled..." Reaching the door, she opens it with an unimpressed frown that turns upside down when she sees True Heart at her door, pulling a wagon behind him, saying, "I was wondering when you were going to return from your trip to Canterlot, darling. I was wondering why you were knocking, do you need a place to keep your wagon dry?"

Smiling, he says, "If it won't be a bother for the best fashion-conscious mare in Ponyville, though I do have a couple leather harnesses and collars I would like to keep out of the weather. I have stands for them to sit on, so they can be tucked in a corner out of sight."

Nodding her head, she says, "It is no bother at all, I am happy to lend a helping hoof to my friends. Let me have those harness stands first because it should start raining soon."

Unhooking himself from the wagon quickly, he makes his way to the steps and climbs up. Seeing the two stands, he pulls one out and sets it down by the door, along with the other one shortly after. With the stands spaced out a little, he picks up one of the harnesses and lays it over the stand, saying, "I think that is the smaller one, but let me check it against the other one."

She looks at the antique harness with a scrutinizing eye, then glances at the other one he pulls out, saying, "That's the small one dear, the body is shorter."

With a chuckle, he says, "Oh, okay then, I have the other one on the wrong stand." After Rarity moves it to the other stand for him, he sets it on the proper stand and sees the difference. Pulling out the big collar, he sets it on the large harness, saying, "That's it, I'll see you over by your wagon shed."

Taking one harness inside, she sets it in the spacious back room then returns for the other and trots outside to help make room for the larger wagon. When she gets to her shed, she opens the doors and asks, "The wagon is a bit heavy for me to lift alone, would you mind lending me a hoof?"

Nodding and turning his head to grab the wagon with his magic along with Rarity's and lifts it up with her, asking, "You guide it to where you need to, I'll manage the lifting."

Standing in front of her wagon, she moves it as far as she can but sees a box in the way and drops her spell, saying, "Ugh, that box is always in the way..." then returns her magic to the wagon and guides it over even farther, saying, "Go ahead and set it down, dear, I hope that is enough room for your wagon."

Looking at her, True Heart says, "Alright, you will have to use your eye for detail to guide me into position."

It takes thirty minutes to squeeze the larger wagon into the shelter as Rarity sighs, saying, "I'm sorry, but it's too long with the poles, dear."

Nodding his head, he says, "Then it is a good thing that the front is detachable, isn't it."

Her eyes widen as she says in disbelief, "They detach nowadays! I need to upgrade my wagon...I've had it since I started out."

True Heart pulls the pins and then grabs the poles with his magic and takes it off the wagon, returning the pins to the holes on the wagon before lifting the poles up and setting them in back of the wagon, saying, "There, that should give you enough room to close the doors."

Rarity smiles widely as she gets an idea, saying, "IDEA!" then closes the doors and secures them before trotting back into her boutique, calling back, "Come along, I'll need help once I finish drawing the designs up!"

He follows her inside to help her out as he feels the first raindrop hit his coat, closing the door as thunder rumbles in the distance, saying with relief, "Whew, we finished just in time."

9: A Monumental Task

As he helps Rarity out and assists Applejack on the farm for the next three weeks, August soon arrives as he takes what opportunities he can to start planning the groundwork. At Rarity's insistence, he makes his way over to Fluttershy's so that he can ask for her help before starting to dig up the ground.

Hearing somepony knocking on her door, Fluttershy makes her way over to the door and opens it a little to see True Heart outside. Smiling and opening the door further, she says with a warm smile, "Hi True Heart, it is so nice for you to drop by. Would you like to come in for some tea?"

He smiles at her and says, "I appreciate the offer, but perhaps another time. I wanted to stop by to ask if you would help me look for any animals around where I am planning on digging so that we can relocate them?"

After hearing his request, she nods her head, saying, "Of course! I would be glad to help you, let me go get a few things ready."

Waiting patiently, he is joined by Fluttershy a few minutes later with her saddlebags and a basket, then proceeds to lead the way as Angel hops up onto her back and a bluejay lands on her head, saying, "I see your animal friends are going to lend their aid as well, how very thoughtful of them."

Once they get to his lot, they work together to find the animals living on or under the ground, it takes the better part of the day to move them back and forth as he and Fluttershy return to take a break.

He lies on the picnic blanket as Rarity and Applejack join him and Fluttershy with their own saddlebags as Applejack says, "Mind if we join ya?"

Surprised to see Rarity out here, he smiles and says, "I'm glad to see that you decided to take a break from your designs, please take a seat."

As Rarity smiles and takes a seat, Applejack rests on the edge of the blanket and says, "It feels so good to take a day or two to relax before jumping back into things, ya know?"

True Heart nods and looks around, saying, "I hope we got all of the animals moved, it would be bad if I started the dirt work and an animal got hurt..."

With a smile, Fluttershy turns to Angel asking, "Angel, would you and Jay be a dear and double check for any dens we missed?"

The bunny hesitantly nods his head after finishing his carrot and hops off with the bluejay following him.

Looking around the lot, Applejack turns to True Heart and asks, "When are ya thinking of getting started, pardner? That way, Big Mac and I can pitch in and help you however we can."

Speaking up, Rarity says, "Yes darling, when are you planning to begin? I've seen glimpses of what you have drawn, and from what I could see... I definitely want to be a part of it."

With a smile, he says, "Very soon. If I were to guess, I would say within a couple weeks because I must first use a lost art to bless the ground I own."

They all cock their heads curiously as Applejack asks, "I don't mean to sound rude, but why do you need to bless dirt before building a home?"

He chuckles and says, "Because in doing so, evil will not be able to trespass on my land while all others will be permitted past the walls. After blessing it, it may take up to a week for it to solidify."

Curious to see the lost art, Rarity sees Angel return and give Fluttershy a thumbs up as the bluejay returns and shakes his head. Getting the idea that there are no more animals on the property, she hears Fluttershy tell him there are no more animals to be found, then asks, "Would you be able to do that today so we can watch you?"

True Heart thinks it over and shrugs, saying, "I don't see why not, I believe I have everything I need. Just let me brush up on what I must do to perform it properly."

When Rarity watches him pull out a very old book, she says, "I take it you got that from your grandfather's collection as well?"

Nodding as he goes over the steps, he closes the book and puts it back into his saddlebags, saying, "Alright then, it is mostly straight forward." Turning to them, he smiles and says, "Alright everypony, observe the ritual in silence and follow me at a fair distance as I will sprinkle water to the North, South, East, and West several times in different locations."

As he makes his way to the northern edge in the center of the property, the group follows him and observes as he pulls out a silver object with a wider end and begins talking in a strange language while sending water droplets to the North, South, East, and West in that order before sitting and putting his hooves together for a few seconds. When he goes to the southern central edge and does the same thing, they remain silent as he moves to the eastern central edge of his property.

It takes him about fifteen minutes to perform the ritual in all four directions as he then makes his way to the northeastern corner, performing his ritual there before doing the same in the southeastern corner. When he heads to the northwestern corner, he performs it once again and heads to the southwestern corner. With one final place left, he makes his way there and double checks to see if he has enough holy water left for it.

Standing off to the side near the center of the lot, they watch him refill the item he is using to sprinkle water with before he starts his ritual. This time, however, is different as he channels his magic from the beginning all the while chanting in the strange language and sprinkling water in the four directions. When he sits down and puts his hooves together with his eyes closed, a tingling passes over their coats and causes them to look around curiously before a brief, but bright flash of golden yellow light blinds them.

Applejack rubs her eyes along with the others and says, "Hoo-ee that sure was bright, any of y'all seeing spots?"

Rarity blinks her eyes quickly to get rid of the annoying purple blotches in her vision and nods, saying, "I am too, Applejack." She then turns to True Heart and huffs irritably, asking, "You could have warned us about that bright flash, you know!"

Chuckling softly, he puts the cover on his aspergillum and returns it to his saddlebag, saying, "Apologies, I didn't expect that it would take effect that quickly, it never said how long it would take to activate."

Curious, Fluttershy then asks, "Was that bright flash the blessing you were talking about?"

Nodding his head, True Heart says, "Indeed it was. I need to do it during the day so that it hopefully wouldn't activate during the night and startle people from their sleep."

Having felt a pulse of magic, Celestia excuses herself from court momentarily to investigate it from her lookout tower. When she arrives, she puts her eye to the lens and channels her magic to see any magical residue. It takes her a moment when her eyes spot a sparkling coming from Ponyville and focuses the telescope on it, her gaze passes over the town as tiny specks of ponies fly or walk around town. She is about to give up searching when some kind of glittering just outside of town catches her eye, adjusting the focus slightly as she scans around the southern edge of town. Spotting a small hut, she then sees a farm and focuses on it a moment before the glittering catches her eye again, causing her to look to the south a bit when she spots a small plot recently cleared of grass. Noticing a group of four ponies, she focuses the telescope as far as she can to see three ponies talking to a fourth with a black coat. Unable to make any details out due to a tree partially blocking her view, she sighs irritably and then examines the land curiously as it sparkles regularly. After looking it over, she lets out a curious huff saying, "Well...I haven't seen that spell used in a very long while, but who could have cast it..." Tempted to go back and watch the pony with a black coat a bit more, she sighs and says, "I can't sit there spying on one pony in hopes of finding him...my subjects await." She then heads back to the throne room to resume court.

Looking to his friends with a smile, he turns to Applejack and says, "I know that you all are struggling to satisfy those who come far and wide to taste your cider, would you like me to help however I can?"

Applejack lays her hoof on his shoulders and chuckles saying, "Oh definitely pardner, we're gonna need it big time to satisfy all the thirsty ponies we get each Fall. Besides, ya need to start focusing on getting what groundwork ya need done before the pegasi bring the snow clouds."

Rarity nods and says, "I agree with Applejack, because once it snows and the ground freezes...you will have to wait until spring to continue working on your home."

Nodding his head with a sigh, he realizes they are right and asks, "Are you both sure you don't mind helping me, it is gonna be dirty work to move all the dirt for what I have planned for here. There will be a great deal of precision involved as well."

Pinkie Pie hops out from behind Applejack and smiles, asking, "I wanna help too! What will take a great deal of precision?"

True Heart chuckles and hears the others voice their assurances that they will help too, saying, "Alright, let me bring out my foundation map so that I can show you what I have planned..."

Taking the better part of two hours to walk them through the steps required for his idea, Rarity gawks at the measurements jotted down on the design pages then glances up at True Heart with wide eyes, saying, "Darling...you're either a genius of this age, or insane. Do you know how much work it will take to bring this to fruition, not to mention how much labor this magnificent monstrosity will take?"

Applejack cocks her head at Rarity and asks, "I don't see the issue with it, what's the problem, Rare?"

Turning her eyes to Applejack, she groans and says, "Applejack, darling, the issue is that this home True Heart wants to build is so large...you could build a second barn on top of your current barn inside of this building and stand on the tallest point of the second barn to be able to stand on your hind legs to touch the very top of the roof. Then, you could build five barns end to end to reach the back wall, then turn the barn sideways and build three more end to end on either side of the last barn in the line of five to reach the wings on the north and south sides.

Her eyes look down at the drawing as her mind conjures up an image of what she is seeing, causing her eyes to grow to the size of saucers as she says with wide eyes, "Woah-nelly this sure is big." then turns to look at the stallion and asks, "Isn't this a mighty bit excessive for just one pony?"

With a smile, he says, "I'm building this for the town, for this is not just a home. It is a place where ponies can come to offer their gratitude for the blessings they have been given by the holy light. Of course, it is not just for giving thanks, I have shown these to Mayor Mare and offered my willingness to host banquets for celebrations as well as having breakfast, lunch or dinner for each and every holiday."

Fluttershy smiles kindly and then asks, "What did she say?"

True Heart then says, "She was over the moon at the idea and gave me her full support for the idea, she even offered to rally the townsfolk and tell them all about what I plan to build and ask for volunteers to lend a helping hoof to bring this marvel to fruition.

Pinkie Pie then sees what materials are required and smiles, saying, "OOH, MY FAMILY WOULD LOVE TO HELP OUT WITH THIS, I'M GONNA GO VISIT THEM NOW! SEE YA SOON!" then zips off without another word.

As Applejack thinks it over, she chuckles and says, "I've always wanted to be part of a community project, I'll go talk to my family about this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Rarity then sits straighter and says, "I will ensure that every design is perfect."

Time skip covering the construction (Mostly Celestia's 3rd PPOV)

When the small group of ponies begin to dig, Mayor Mare gets the town fired up about the monumental project, which leads to hundreds joining the efforts as Pinkie Pie's whole family throws themselves into the project with gusto.

As weeks pass, rumors of a massive construction project reaches Celestia's ears, piquing her curiosity. Whenever she has the chance, she watches with pride as all pony races work in harmony to lay the foundation of a massive structure.

Each passing day, just before sunset, Celestia observes the progress through her telescope with a smile as she watches the excavated dirt be moved around to level the edges of the property. One evening, she is looking through the telescope when she spots the black pony from that one day, causing her eyes to crinkle as a wide smile crosses her face, saying, "So this is where you have disappeared to True Heart...I will make sure to keep an eye on you for myself, that way I will never lose you again."

To be able to keep an eye on him, she works a plan out with her assistant. Postponing court due to important matters involving Equestria's future prosperity, she disguises herself as a unicorn with a ocean blue coat, yellow mane and tail, a pair of lavender eyes with a golden horseshoe having a small sun above the points as a cutie mark. Turning to her assistant, she asks, "What do you think Raven, will anyone suspect that I'm...well...me?"

With a small chuckle, Raven looks her over closely and shakes her head, saying, "Not in the slightest, and if anypony suspects anything, just say that you are a big celebrity and would like to maintain your anonymity while helping out with this project. Now remember, don't teleport directly into town. You will have to come up with an alternate name for yourself as well as do a bit of walking so that nopony is startled by your sudden teleport into the center of town."

Nodding her head, Celestia prances in place from excitement, saying, "I will remember that, now wish me luck!"

Raven smiles and says, "Good luck, see you tonight sometime to hear all about your day."

Chuckling, she says, "Alright, I'm off to go be a normal pony for awhile!" then uses a spell to teleport in a field by the stream to Ponyville a few miles down the road and makes her way towards the construction site.

True Heart watches as great progress is being made on finishing up the eastern foundations, asking over his shoulder while he tries to drag a boulder out, "How's construction going on that elongated well!?"

Applejack dumps another bucket of mud and dirt into the waiting pony's wagon and sets it down, calling out, "It's nearly a hundred feet deep now, how deep ya want us to go?"

The boulder finally comes out, pulling a root with it as he says, "Go to about fifty feet more and finish it off so a pure water filtering spell can be put over the well!" Moving the boulder to the top so that it can be broken down and hauled off to serve as fill later, he then sees water trickling in. The trickle gets faster every few seconds as he calls out, "We got another leak here, must be from another small pocket of water!"

A brown unicorn with a cream mane and tail step forth, saying, "I'll take care of that, sir."

Nodding his head, he moves out of the way to let her take care of it and looks around to see what else he can do. Spotting a mare trying to pull out a stubborn tree trunk, he hops up onto the ground and heads over to her, saying, "Let me help you with that." Grabbing a length of chain, he ties it around the trunk and hooks it to his collar.

Sighing with relief, the mare looks at him with a smile, saying, "Thank you, this is really stubborn."

Ready to start pulling, he steps up beside the mare and says, "Lunge forward on three...one...two...three."

When Celestia arrives at the site, she watches in astonishment as teams of ponies empty fully loaded wagons of various materials. Watching as small, square stones get carried to dwindling stacks when she hears a mare call out, "Need more mix here!"

Seeing an idle pair of hooves, a dirty lime green mare walks up to the new arrival and points her hoof in the direction of the boss, saying, "Wanna chip in, the boss is the black stallion over there, pulling out a stubborn oak that refuses to budge."

Nodding her head, she walks over to the east end as she watches a stump get pulled out with a groan of protest. Stepping up to the black stallion she knows as True Heart, she thinks of what to call herself while he and the mare get out of their chains. Deciding on calling herself Lucky Star, she approaches him as he sets the chains down in a box and sees her, introducing herself, saying, "Hi, I heard about a big project in Ponyville and came to lend a hoof, my name is Lucky Star."

Turning his head and letting out a breathless cough, he catches his breath before saying, "Glad to have another helping hoof, my name's True Heart. Welcome to the team, Star. You can help me work on bringing this hole to the edge of the white stakes over here, grab a shovel from a tool rack and hop in."

(Lucky Star) nods her head and looks around for a rack with a shovel, finding one several feet away, she trots towards it and picks it up in her magic. Turning around and making her way to the hole, she looks around for True Heart and spots him working on the southern end.

Hours pass as the ponies put their all into reaching the white markers, when True has somepony take a measurement. Satisfied with the measurement, he climbs out using a ladder and walks around the perimeter to check the shape and depth before finally saying, "Digging at the south end is finished, proceed to dig out the next section!"

When sunset starts to draw near, she hears a bell being rung and an elderly mare calling out, "That's a good days work everypony, it's quittin time fer dinner!"

Sweatier than she's ever been in her life, Celestia climbs out of the new section she was helping excavate and makes her way down the road she used to get here with a smile on her face when she hears True Heart call out, "Be sure to add Lucky Star to that list of volunteers Mayor Mare!" Curiosity stops her in her tracks as she thinks why a list would be kept.

True Heart approaches the new volunteer and says, "Thanks for coming today, will we see you here tomorrow?"

Nodding her head, she says, "I wouldn't miss an opportunity like this if you tied me to the train tracks!" When he smiles and nods before turning around and making his way towards a table of refreshment, she continues towards the road to take a bath.

Raven waits in Celestia's chambers when she sees a flash as the princess teleports in, asking, "How was your day of manual labor, Your Majesty?"

Feeling tired from using her magic the entire time, she smiles and says, "It was amazing, I got to use my magic to help dig out what is going to be a very big hole."

As she senses something slightly foul in the air, she smiles lightly, saying, "No offense, Your Majesty...but you should take a bath, you smell a little sour."

Cocking her head, she sniffs the air and smells the stench and wrinkles her nose a moment before smelling herself again, saying, "I do smell foul. I had no clue that doing manual labor once in awhile could smell or feel so good." She then giggles at the face her assistant makes and prepares to lower the sun and raise the moon, saying, "I should try to make a recording of this so that I can watch it once in awhile to treasure."

Smiling, Raven says, "I already thought of that for you and implemented a way to record the event through the eye of your telescope, though I will have to adjust it as needed when enough progress is made."

Beaming a wide smile, she trots over to her assistant and pulls her into a firm hug as she protests. Chuckling, she lets her go and then returns to her usual appearance while Raven trots over to her private bathroom.

Using every chance she can get to help with the project, days turn into weeks as she uses her identity as Lucky Star to purchase thirty barrels of cider for all the workers to share over the month. The only time the workers don't show up is Nightmare Night, although she does show up along with the stallion.

As time continues to pass, the foundation and the base floor layout are completed after the first week of November with the large stone shed's construction is done a few days later. When the pegasi start bringing in snow clouds, the workers cover the materials up to protect them from the snow as all tools are put inside the shed.

On Hearth's Warming, Celestia sighs and looks out the window wistfully, eagerly waiting for spring to arrive so she can resume working herself into a sweaty mess.

Time seems to pass so slowly until she spots activity on the site weeks later and takes up her previous disguise to resume work, telling Raven that there won't be any court today as more pressing matters of state came to her attention. Teleporting to the same spot as before, she makes her way to the construction site.

Once she arrives, she spots True Heart guiding large stones into place, trotting up to him eagerly but waits for him to finish placing a stone before saying, "How can I be of service, boss?"

Glancing over to the mare that helped out last fall, True Heart smiles and says, "Good to see you came back to keep helping, the fun part is just getting started. These stones need to be arranged and cemented in place in a very specific order, are you up for learning something that requires a great deal of precision? If not, you could head over to Applejack or Rarity to offer your help."

Thinking it over for a moment as another block is moved and cemented into place, she nods her head, saying, "I'm ready to tackle anything, what do I need to know?"

It takes a few tries to get it right with True Heart's help at first, but she gets the hang of it by the time they break for lunch. When work resumes, she takes a moment to glance at the large schematic set out on a table, showing which stones are supposed to go where. After refreshing her memory, she heads back to the wall she is working on as the next stone is brought to her. Looking at the marks on the stone tells her that it is supposed to be the stone just to the left of the last window on the north wing, but something about it looks off, so she goes over to the table and looks it over to find the block in question and the measurements of it. Grabbing a long ruler, she heads over to the stone and measures its dimensions. Sure enough, one of them is off by a bit, she looks to the pegasus beside her, saying, "It's off a bit, the cement needs to come off." She then looks up to look at True Heart, saying, "Boss, this window stone's off a bit, too big on top."

Nodding his head, he says, "Good catch Lucky, use the pad and pencil to mark down the proper measurements and send it and the stone with a runner back to the mason who carved it. Be sure to write down a message for all the masons to take a twenty minute break to get a drink of water and rest a moment."

Heading back with the stone in tow, she sets it beside the table and looks at the measurements, saying, "Gonna need a runner with a wagon over here!"

An earth pony stallion nods his head, saying, "At your service, where am I going?"

Looking at the mason's mark, she writes down the proper measurements, saying, "To Limestone Pie for corrections, as well as with a message telling all the masons to get a twenty minute break for water and rest."

Nodding his head and slipping the paper into a message holder around his neck, he watches her load the stone into his wagon. When she tells him he's ready to go, he turns around and hurries over to where Limestone Pie is at.

It takes ten minutes for the stallion to come back with the corrected stone, watching the unicorn lift it out as if it weighed nothing, saying, "The masons are grateful for that break, be sure to tell the boss for me, will you miss?"

Nodding her head, she checks the measurements and finds them the same, saying, "Alright, please apply cement to the spot this was supposed to go."

The ponies work throughout the remainder of the day, making progress with reaching the first window of the north wing before hearing Granny Smith ring the bell, calling out, "It's quitting time, y'all! See ya back here bright and early tomorrow!"

Months pass as progress continues, with the structure slowly taking shape before her very eyes. As more layers of stone are added, crates of small rock debris are dumped in between the inner and outer walls.

As Celestia continues to show up to help with the construction over the next several months, rumors circulate that she might be sneaking away to secretly help out. When she shows up to continue helping move stones into their proper places, she is surprised to see True Heart approaching her with a smile, asking him, "I'm ready to get back to moving more stones into place, boss."

True Heart chuckles and shakes his head, saying, "Others can handle that now, but you, Rarity, and I will be starting a new task today."

Curious, she cocks her head and asks, "Oh, and what would that be, boss?"

Smiling, he says, "Searching for ore, silver in particular. I can teach the spell to you, don't worry."

Eager at learning a new spell, she prances in place, saying, "OOH, teach it to me please! Are there other variants of this spell?"

Nodding, he says, "There are, care to learn those too?" When she nods eagerly again, he says, "Alright then, let's head over to the shed so I can hook up to my wagon. You wouldn't mind pulling a wagon, would you?"

Shaking her head, she follows him to his wagon as he sets a bunch of pickaxes into it before backing up between the poles and hooking his chains up to the wagon followed by the straps. When he pulls out, she hears him ask her to follow him and walks beside him, stopping near Applejack and asking for a padded collar for her.

With the collar around her neck, he leads her over to a wagon the same size as his and has her back up between the poles to hook her up to it. After getting her ready, he sees Rarity heading towards him and says, "Welcome to the group Rarity, shall we gather the others?"

At hearing that, Applejack walks over to the group of wagons and lets out a shrill whistle, calling out, "ALRIGHT EVERYPONY! THOSE OF YA WHO VOLUNTEERED FOR THE MINING CREW MAKE YER WAY TO WHERE THE BOSS IS AND LOAD UP INTO THE WAGONS!"

Cocking her head, Lucky Star looks at True Heart and asks, "What do we need silver for?"

Smiling as he hears the back gates open up on their wagons as ponies climb in and make room for others with the picks taking up some room, saying, "You will see when the time comes."

After a couple other wagons show up, the others yet to find space climb into the empty wagons. When they are all loaded, they all head west toward the mountain range in the distance.

It takes a few hours to reach the mountains as Lucky Star tests out her new ore finding spell along the way, finding a few lumps of gold atop the ground and placing them into a box on the side of the wagon. When True Heart stops near the mountain, she stops beside him as their back gates open up.

True Heart approaches the mountain and channels his spell for finding silver, taking a few minutes of walking before he locates some, saying, "Alright, there is a vein right here just ten meters in, I will use a blasting spell to mark the spot and get you all started. Those of you that have a protection barrier spell, put them up and shield as many of the others as you can."

Casting her own barrier, she watches several ponies heading towards her and lets them through, then watches True Heart marking the spot with a black x before stepping a fair distance away. When she watches him charge his spell and cast it at the black mark, she watches him raise his own shield as an explosion splits the air and sends debris flying in every direction.

Once the smoke clears, he looks at the decent sized crater he left in the mountainside, using his spell to find the silver vein again and marks it with another x, saying, "Alright, there you go, be cautious while you're mining. When support beams are brought over, use them every ten feet or so to prevent cave-ins as much as possible."

When she spots Maud head towards the mark and starts hammering away at it with her hooves, she blinks in surprise at how quickly she is making a hole into the mountain as Rarity starts walking along the mountainside with her own searching spell. Making her way to the mountainside, she casts hers to find any veins around her. To her surprise, she finds quite a large vein ahead of her and marks it, writing how far in the vein is and where it is at.

For the next year and a half, the majority of her job is to locate more veins or bring the wagons filled with debris or silver ore to the site.

Nothing really changes much until the construction is two and a half years in when she joins True Heart and Rarity on a journey north of Ponyville with their wagons full of jewel crafting ponies, asking, "Now what are we searching for?"

Trying to make good time, True trots on as Lucky keeps pace with him, saying, "Well, we will need to mine crystals from the forgotten mines under Canterlot."

Shocked to hear that he knows about them, she asks a little loudly, "I'm surprised you know about them, how did you come to learn of their existence?"

Shrugging, he says, "I learned of it in an old journal in my family's private library. If we're efficient, we can find the crystals we need to mine here. Rarity is with us on this trip because of her eye for detail, for it will make a big difference in the building's design."

After making their way into the city, True Heart leads them around the city to a place just outside the castle wall and taps the wall a few times experimentally. When he pushes a brick inwards, a wall slides inwards before drawing back into the doorway.

Lucky Star looks around curiously as they head down a corridor that leads to a large, flat area where they unhook from their wagons as Rarity pulls out a couple pieces of paper with colored images on them she cant identify from her angle.

It is nearly time to lower the sun and raise the moon when they return to the surface as Lucky turns to True, saying, "I wish I could go back with you all, but I forgot about an important errand I needed to do before nightfall. Could one of you take this full wagon back for me?"

True smiles and nods, saying, "Of course, I look forward to seeing you back to work whenever you can spare the time."

As she unhooks from the wagon and slips the collar off, she then hands it over to an earth pony, saying, "I hope I will be able to help tomorrow as well."

When tomorrow comes, a few duties require Celestia's attention before she can sneak off to the construction site. As she walks around, she sees True bringing a full load of crystals back and trots toward him, saying, "I came as soon as my duties would let me."

He smiles as Luck Star arrives, saying, "Glad you could make it today, we have quite a few loads of crystals to bring back yet. Go grab a collar and a wagon so we can get a move on."

After getting a collar and hooking up to a large wagon, she watches as dark planks and beams are unloaded beside the building, asking, "What kind of trees are they getting the dark wood from?"

Once she joins him, he starts trotting down the road, saying, "They are from the Everfree Forest, though they are just the ones on the outermost edges to keep the forest from expanding too far."

Having been trotting for awhile, he looks around to see no ponies nearby and says, "I'm glad you continue lending us a helping hoof...your majesty."

Skidding to a stop at hearing that, her wide eyes snap to him, asking fearfully, "HOW DID YOU KNOW?"

Turning the empty wagon and stopping a short ways from her, he smiles and says, "Your voice mainly, then there is how you suddenly had to run an errand just before the sun was supposed to be down. You don't need to worry though, as I will not share your identity with others. Tell me this though, are you enjoying getting your hooves dirty with this project?"

Letting out a heavy sigh, she nods her head and says, "So you suspected me from the very start..." Lifting her head up, she says, "Very much so, and I appreciate your discretion about my identity."

Nodding his head, he then starts walking and turns around, saying, "Now let's not waste any more time standing around and talking, we can do that while we trot."

As they head to the mines to fill up on crystals, other ponies head out of the mines with full loads of crystals. The day passes relatively quickly when Rarity heads back out, saying, "That should be more than enough to handle what you have designed, True. I shall start helping the jewelers with the cutting and precise measurements, that way everything will be absolutely marvelous! By the time these are to my liking, Celestia herself will envy their beauty!"

True and Lucky look at each other and burst out into laughter as True says, "Oh, I'm sure she would if she saw what was planned. I wonder what she would say though if she were here to overhear your gloating."

Rarity gasps at hearing that and follows them towards the exit, saying, "OH PERISH THE THOUGHT! I MIGHT BE SENTENCED TO SCRUBBING FLOORS THROUGHOUT THE CASTLE UNTIL I'M OLD AND GRAY!"

Once the construction reaches its fourth year, Lucky Star and several other ponies are thanked for their contribution and help while several others remain behind for final touches.

As she sits in a chair by the window one evening, she stares out at where the large magical shroud is that prevents her from spying on the final stage of construction as she hears Raven say, "Don't pout because he wants to keep a few secrets, you keep a few secrets yourself."

Groaning as she gets up, Celestia says, "I can't help it, I feel like part of the family that built that towering structure."

With a kind smile, Raven says, "Oh don't worry, I'm sure that he just wants you to be surprised when he plans to unveil it."

End of time skip

When the final touches are finished, five years have passed as True Heart looks at Rarity, asking, "How much more do you have left to paint Rare?"

Resting on her hovering cushioned seat, courtesy of a pair of pegasi, Rarity continues working on the last little bit, saying, "This is the last one I need to paint darling, I will be finished in half a minute at most."

As she keeps painting, he looks at the windows with a smile, saying, "You really need to see your work from down here when you finish Rare."

Finally finished, she sets the brush into the tray and huffs, saying, "Alright, alright. I just finished, so I'm on my way down now. I can't believe you swindled me into coming up here on a plank and two cushions to paint the depressions closest to the windows a deep red. It clashes with the windows!"

When she walks over to him, he says, "Follow me a short distance away and you will see why I had you do that, but I didn't swindle you. I simply offered to take you out on the town for doing what I asked."

Following him with a frown, she pouts and whines a little, saying, "But you refused to say which town!"

Taking out a cloth, he lays it over her face, saying, "Now don't freak out, I'm going to turn you around with my magic."

Huffing and stomping lightly, she says, "Don't you Da-AAAHH!" then feels herself be turned around and set back down, shouting, "YOU SCOUNDREL!"

Before she gets any more irritated, he yanks the cloth free to let her open her eyes, saying, "Now open your eyes and see what your bravery has achieved."

Opening her eyes with a snort, she prepares to berate him for the clashing colors until she spots that what she painted fits remarkably well against the limewashed limestone in spite of the colored crystal windows, finding herself speechless at seeing the architecture of the building. Having been silent for a few moments, her jaw is hanging open slightly as she silently whispers, "Absolutely marvelous..."

Letting out a sharp whistle in awe, Applejack walks over to them and looks it over, saying, "I still can't believe we built this thing in just five years, you said it normally would take about sixty years or even longer without the use of magic."

Smiling widely with pride and joy, he nods his head and says, "Yeah, we set a construction speed record that will never be broken in our lifetimes." Looking to the front of the grounds, he smiles and says, "I will have to get a monument built so that ponies can look at it to see the names of all those who helped."

Rarity looks around and smiles saying, "The short, white marble wall without gates looks really nice."

True looks around again and says, "Eventually, I might get a few trees to add a decorative look."

Pinkie pops up between Rarity and Applejack, saying, "WOWIE, THIS BUILDING IS GINORMOUS! THINK OF ALL THE PARTIES I COULD HAVE HERE!"

Chuckling at her antics, he asks, "Did you get those invitations sent out to everyone on the list Mayor Mare showed you?"

She nods her head, saying, "Absopositutely! I can't wait for when Monday is finally here!"

Rarity smiles, saying, "Pinkie, darling, Monday is only two days away."

When Monday comes by, Celestia and her assistant sit inside the chariot as her guards fly them to the unveiling ceremony hosted by Mayor Mare as the princess asks, "I am really eager to see what it looks like now."

As True Heart sees the princess's chariot come in for a landing, he watches the gathered crowd of ponies bow their heads and joins them.

Exiting the chariot with Raven holding the same recording crystal from before, she holds herself regally as she sees the shimmering veil still blocking all sight, saying, "Please rise everypony. Thank you for the invitation to this grand event, Mayor Mare."

With everyone finally here, he nods to Mayor Mare to begin. He listens to Mayor Mare give her speech about how this project got started, then how they all came together as a community to help another out who wanted to give something back to them. The speech continues on to say how others heard of the project and traveled from far away cities, even coming from Saddle Arabia to help out.

After giving her speech, Celestia watches curiously as Mayor Mare says that tokens of gratitude and remembrance of this monumental achievement of community togetherness shall be given out. She stands and watches curiously as names are called up one by one, handed a silver-framed award with writing and a sketch of some sort. After the names start reaching the z's, Celestia begins to worry that her other name was forgotten.

Mayor Mare then smiles and says, "Before we unveil the finished marvel, there are two final tokens to give. Though she is unable to approach the stage at the moment due to having to keep the barrier up, let's hear a round of applause for the talented Trixie Lulamoon!"

The ground rumbles from the cheerful stomps of the gathered crowd of ponies, then quiets down as it waits to hear the final name.

Making his way to the podium, True Heart takes over for Mayor Mare, clearing his voice before saying, "This final name belongs to a pony you all worked alongside." then looks at Celestia before smirking and saying, "Her name is Lucky Star. Your Majesty, would you care to accept this reward in her place?"

Catching his hidden message from his smirk, Celestia nods and starts heading towards him, saying, "I would like that very much, thank you for offering." When she gets about halfway there, she finishes, "Though I think she would prefer to accept this herself."

When she casts a spell and appears as Lucky Star, the entire crowd of ponies gasp and go dead silent as they watch her make her way up to the stage. As he steps aside to give her room to speak, she says, "I have enjoyed my time working with you all, though I must now return to ruling over Equestria after a brief... vacation from the stresses involved in being a ruler."

Turning to her, he takes the last token and says, "Thank you for getting your hooves dirty with us, Your Majesty." When she goes to take it with her magic, he holds onto it and grins mischievously, saying, "However...for thinking you could get away with hiding your identity from us forever, you need to be punished."

Raven watches from her seat curiously as the princess cocks her head in confusion before True Heart suddenly moves in and kisses the side of her mouth, saying, "You have been thoroughly punished." Her face turns cherry red as she an aghast expression on her face while Raven fights back tittering laughter until she hears wolf howls from the stallions and cheers from the mares.

Unwilling to let them see her blushing in her true form, she hastily holds her token closely as she hurries back to her assistant. Seeing her lying on the ground breathless, she narrows her eyes and asks in an annoyed tone, "Are you having a good time at my expense?"

True Heart then calls out, "Now then, without further adieu, allow me to present to you...THE CELESTIAL CATHEDRAL!"

Looking up at hearing the name, she watches as the veil dissipates rapidly as fireworks shoot up into the sky and explode with a multitude of colors. Once her eyes take in the sheer size and beauty of it, looking over every detail when she notices a colored crystal window near the top on the right half of the wall with a brilliant sun shining down upon a land of working ponies. However, tears form in her eyes when she takes in the sight of the window to the left of it, seeing the brilliant, white, full moon amidst a starry, night sky with ponies lying asleep on the grass below with happy smiles.

It takes her a long moment to compose herself when she notices another detail that leaves her speechless, the sight of red crosses with flared corners on the ends, around every window. Her body starts walking towards the side of the building as her assistant follows her, going into a trot once she sees more crosses around each window she sees. Her eyes take in the glinting metal between each of the cut pieces of colored crystal, realizing that it is pure, polished silver.

Having to trot a bit faster to keep up with the princess's slightly longer legs, Raven asks worriedly, "Is anything wrong, Your Majesty?"

Unable to hear due to her shock at seeing the symbol again in so long, she eventually returns to the front where she spots True Heart talking to some pony as the doors are open with ponies walking inside to see the final results of their hard work. Making her way over to him when the pony walks away, she lowers her mouth close to his face and asks in a low tone, "Can we talk in private for a moment?"

Seeing the conflicting emotions in her eyes, he nods and starts walking towards the far wall of the property. Once he reaches it, he hops up onto it and rests his forelegs against it, asking, "Yes, Your Majesty?"

Joining him on the wall, she asks, "W-Where did you learn of that symbol?"

Playing ignorant, he asks, "Why do you want to know? Is it special to you?"

Nodding her head, she says, "That symbol is very dear to me because it belonged to a valiant group that fought against evil forces. It also means a great deal because my father was one of those warriors who openly displayed that very cross. Please tell me where you learned of it."

Letting out a steady sigh, he switches languages and says, "Fuit pars mea tota vita mea. (It has been a part of me my whole life.)"

Her eyes become as wide as saucer plates at hearing that old, long-forgotten language, taking her a moment to kick her childishly stunned mind into gear and says, "Quid? Id verum esse non potest! Ordo iam pridem deletus est! (What? That can't be true! The order has long since been destroyed!)"

He looks at her with a serious look and shakes his head, saying, "Non perimus, in umbras post cladem oppressam recessimus. (We did not perish, we retreated into the shadows after the overwhelming defeat.)"

She loses her ability to concentrate on a single thought as thousands upon thousands of questions flood her mind, causing her to relax her muscles and fall to her flank utterly speechless.

Raven steps into the princess's view and watches her eye tick back and forth at random, as if chasing thoughts right in front of them. Turning back to True, she narrows her eyes and asks, "What did you say to her that caused this?"

Shaking his head, he says, "That is between me and her, it is up to her to decide whether to tell you or not, so ask her about it. She needs to go back to her room at Canterlot Castle to straighten herself out. Make sure to be specific with any instructions you need to give her or she may misunderstand."

Huffing in annoyance at having to clean up a mess, the assistant turns Celestia's disguised face to her and says, "Your Majesty, you seem out of sorts. Please teleport to your room at the Castle in Canterlot, I will be there in a few minutes."

Celestia blinks slowly, but understands enough to say, "Right. My room, Canterlot Castle. Wait for Raven, my assistant." Without another word, she then teleports to her room and sits in the dark to wait for her assistant.

Raven groans and casts a quick illusion spell to make it look like Celestia is heading back to her chariot, keeping the spell up quietly while saying to the guards, "Back to Canterlot, princess's orders."

Nodding their heads, they swiftly turn around and take off into the sky like a shot.

10: The Big Day (Part 1)

A year passes while Raven Inkwell has to put forth quite a bit of effort to get Celestia into a somewhat normal state as she finds her in the piano room listening to someone playing sad songs, letting out a sigh as she heads towards her, asking in a low tone, "Your Majesty, will you please tell me what the problem is?"

Letting out a sigh, Celestia hesitantly puts up a privacy barrier that shuts out all sound and keeps ponies from looking in, turning to her assistant with a look of longing on her face, saying, "A very long time ago, there was a group of valiant ponies who showed no fear when faced with evil forces. This group was called the Heavenly Crusaders, and they've been a part of Equestria's history as far as I can remember, though they all but vanished without a trace when an evil king tried to mount a siege to take Equestria. My sister and I got to the battlefield too late and saw bodies bearing white shields and white cloaks marked with that exact same cross displayed around every window. We both thought that they all had perished that day, well, until I saw that symbol and heard what True Heart said. His words shook me to my very core, Raven. They shook me so deeply that I went back into my memories and relived my days with my sister and I's father, who happened to be one of their members but lost his life after protecting us both as young fillies from a manticore attack."

Realizing how much she is suffering inside, her assistant sighs, saying, "I didn't know how much pain you were in, Your Majesty. If you ever need to talk to somepony, I'm here to help you."

Smiling at her, she pulls her close with her wings and gives her a rare hug, saying, "I really appreciate that, Raven." A sniffle escapes her as she sheds a single tear, whispering, "I miss my sister so much, I wish she was here with me."

Glad at having been able to find some one to be the preacher for mass every Sunday morning and holidays, True Heart explores the depths of the Everfree one Nightmare Night for a dank cave where he recalls hearing some monster that abducts ponies from their beds in the dead of night. With his wife beside him, he stumbles upon a decrepit castle having collapsed long ago revealing a hole into the mountain, saying, "This must be the place that the book mentioned."

Standing outside of the crumbled ruin, a shiver runs down her spine as Lillith says, "Something sinister is going on here, and I don't like the stench of death that permeates the air here. Do you want me to come with you as added protection?"

Shaking his head, he says, "That won't be necessary as I can hold my own against whatever creature the darkness wants to throw at me. Thank you for your concern dear." Kissing her lips, he then turns away and heads into the darkness of the cave."

As he looks around the tunnel, he hears an echoing whimper coming from deep within and calls out, "Who goes there!?"

A strange gust of wind passes through the cave as a voice whispers into his ear, "Just a starving mouth desperate for some sustenance."

True Heart then makes his way further, looking around and saying, "There's no need to be shy, I won't harm you. Can we talk?"

When the pony's head is turned away, the creature slinks towards him in the shadows, saying, "I know you wont, but I don't like the light, it burns. What's the point of talking when you don't have anything worth listening to?" Once he darts around silently to the other side of the pony, he rushes in and sinks his fangs into into the top of the neck just below the head and drinks deeply

Sending out a blast of holy light, he briefly cries out in pain, saying, "You will regret that."

Lillith prances nervously outside of the cave as she hears shrieks of both anger and pain along with her husband's brief cries of pain and fervor, watching flashes of light briefly appear within the tunnel. The sounds of battle last for only a half hour when she hears her husband call out, "I'm fine dear!" causing her to let out a breath she didn't know she held.

True Heart makes his way further into the cave as the bloodthirsty vampire pony turns to ashes behind him, eventually finding a laboratory with notes about how to create a perfect, undying race of ponies. Shaking his head at the audacity of such a pony, he continues deeper into the cave, saying, "So the madpony behind all this was called Dr. Gladimir Flankenstein, I sure hope that he wasn't successful in his endeavor."

It takes him a little while longer to reach a room containing three cages with three starved mares inside them, noticing right away that they have been twisted into this form by the mad stallion. He takes in their appearance, one mare being a greyish red with lavender eyes, as the one to her left is a deep blue with green eyes, and the last left of the second one being grey with yellowish green eyes. One common factor between the three of them is that they all have bat-like wings and long, tufted ears along with their eyes having vertical slits in them and a pair of small fangs jutting down over their lower lip.

The greyish red mare in the cage on the far right smells a new scent, unable to see due to her eyes forcing themselves shut at the incoming light, crying out, "Whoever you are, please let us out! We swear on our nocturnal lives that we won't hurt you!"

Reassured after hearing that, he dims his light and says, "Before I let you out, I have questions for you to answer in regards to Equestria's safety."

Nodding her head and finally able to withstand the brightness, the reddish mare says, "Ask whatever you want, but please hurry. The sun is on its way and we must fill our bellies on whatever insects we can find."

With one question answered, True Heart then asks, "Okay, these next few may be a bit insensitive, but do you drink blood as well? Are you creatures bloodthirsty vamponies like your master?"

The grey one hisses angrily at the insinuation, but the reddish one silences her, saying, "Quiet! Nopony has ever seen us before so that can be expected for a question." then turns back to the black unicorn stallion, saying, "We can drink blood, but some of us prefer to live off bugs. When we do drink blood, we will always ask before biting somepony. However, we are nothing like that monster and we refuse to call him our master, we have no clue as to who created him in the first place."

Nodding his head, he says, "I do, the one who created him was some tyrant called Sombra, and he was defeated long ago along with his army. If I were to let you out, can you be trusted to not cause trouble or attack other ponies out of fury or thirst?"

The reddish mare nods her head, saying, "That is great news to hear, and I can swear on my beating heart that I will heed your advice and be the kindest pony I can be and only eat bugs or ask ponies to let me drink some of their blood."

As he turns to the others, he hears them nod their heads and voice their agreement to his request, heading to the first cage, asking, "What are your names?"

The reddish mare with the reddish blonde mane and tail introduces herself, saying, "My name's Marougeka."

The deep blue mare with a reddish orange mane and tail beside her speaks up next, saying, "Mine is Aleveera, handsome."

The grey mare in the last cell with a black mane and tail says, "I'm called Veldona, now can you please let us out, I'm starving to death here."

Knowing they can likely smell the blood seeping from his wound, he nods his head and makes his way to the first cage and blasts the lock off the door, asking, "Are there others like you in this place?"

Gasping at being reminded of that, Marougeka exits her cell saying, "Yes! There are dozens more deeper in, I'll guide you there. Quickly, let the others out already for dawn is coming and we burn from its rays!"

Hurrying to the other cells, he sets the prisoners free and watches them dart away, shouting, "DARLING, DON'T HARM THE PONIES COMING OUT!"

Following Marougeka down to where the others are being held, True Heart asks her to lead him to the ones that can be trusted to live peacefully amongst ponies without causing harm.

Hearing that the stallion won't let the dangerous ones free, she sniffles and nods her head, saying, "It breaks my heart to hear that several of these ponies won't know freedom, but I understand why you are doing this."

It takes a few minutes to free the ones who can be trusted as True Heart pulls out a long blade and lets out a heavy sigh, saying, "You may not want to watch this next part as it is the kindest thing I can do for them with what I must do to cleanse this place of the evil stench that lingers heavily in the air."

Marougeka cries mournfully as she watches the stallion run his silver blade through each and every one of the unfortunate ponies incapable of being set free due to their hostile nature, sobbing out quietly that echoes across the room and through the vast tunnels.

When the last pony falls to the ground and stills, he makes his way to the prone mare and uses his magic to pick her up, saying, "Is there enough time for you to go out and feed?"

Sensing where the sun is, she shakes her head, saying, "Not enough to fill my belly to last to nightfall..."

Putting one hoof behind her head with a resolute nod, he says, "There's no other choice then... Go ahead and take what you need from me Marougeka."

Marougeka's breath hitches in her throat as she looks at him, asking, "W-What?"

Caressing her cheek lightly, True Heart says, "Drink what you need from me."

Tears flow from her eyes at hearing his kind offer, saying, "But you are wounded, I cannot."

Not wanting to hear her excuse, he uses his magic to open her mouth, saying, "Even so, I cannot abide letting another suffer while I can still do something to help. Now drink or I will cut myself and hold you still while spilling my blood down your throat."

Sighing, she gives in to his stubbornness and moves her mouth to his and kisses him affectionately, pulling away, saying, "Thank you...I will never forget this."

Feeling her sink her teeth into the top of his neck, he ignores the stinging pain as he hears her swallow mouthful after mouthful of his blood. Once she pulls away and licks the wounds closed, he turns to look at her asking, "Do you need a place to stay once I purify this wretched place?"

Nodding her head, she says, "We can take shelter in the forest, but it would be nice to sleep peacefully, knowing that we are safe."

Releasing his hold on her, he watches her sit down before saying, "Alright, can you tell me if you have any aversion to the object I am about to pull out?"

Marougeka nods, saying, "Of course." She watches him pull out another silver object and start swinging it at the wall as if trying to provoke it into attacking, causing her to shake her head, saying, "I feel nothing amiss from whatever you are doing." When he then starts doing the same thing towards her, she feels droplets of water strike her and causing her to cry out in surprise, saying, "AHH! That's cold, stop that!"

Chuckling, he returns the cap to his aspergillum and puts it away, saying, "Sorry, but I had to know if you had any problems with blessed items." Sighing with relief, he then says, "I have a safe place where you all can take shelter. To the northwest of here you will find a town, and outside of town there is a towering structure newly built. The front doors are never locked, so walk in through the double doors and try not to be spotted by anypony that may be inside, though it is normally empty after midnight. When you are inside the long corridor, head to the very back and follow the staircase leading into the vaults of the cathedral. I apologize, but there aren't any beds down there for you to sleep on."

Smiling, she chuckles and says, "Fear not, for we don't sleep on the ground, we hang from above."

Nodding his head, he says, "You best go and find the others and tell them what I told you before the sun rises. I will be back there when I can."

Marougeka kisses his cheek, saying, "Thank you for offering us safe haven, we haven't heard your name though."

True heart lets out a chuckle, saying, "Apologies, my name is True Heart. Now get going, for time is against you." When he watches her dart out towards the exit, he closes his eyes and then begins to shower the tunnels with holy water.

Pacing impatiently outside the tunnel, Lillith groans with relief when her husband finally walks out with three, heavy claw marks down his side and hurries over to look it over when she watches blue flames erupt from the mouth of the tunnels entrance.

When he sprinkles water around the whole perimeter of the crumbled ruins, he quickly trots away, saying, "Let's get to safety so I can reduce the last vile remnants of the evil taint on this area."

Following him quickly, she watches him summon forth more holy fire to eradicate the evil there and finally gets a chance to look his wound over, saying, "We need to get you to a doctor, this wound is infected and bleeding badly."

True Heart starts following her and says, "I can handle the infection easily, but I will do what I can to slow the bleeding."

After heading through the forest at a fast pace, Lillith hears a heavy sigh followed by a thump from behind her and spins around to see that her husband has collapsed. Worried for him, she puts her ear to his chest and hears his heart beating much, much slower than it should and then says, "I'll be back with help, hang on dear!" She then turns into her smoke form and darts down the path towards Ponyville, her mind thinking of only one pony that could help him.

Fluttershy is in her bed surrounded by her animal friends when a large gust of wind blows her door open violently, causing her to bolt upright fearfully when she spots a dark, red smoke floating up the stairs. Shrieking fearfully, she zips under the bed and hides there as she hears her animal friends respond to the intruder with protective snarls, and growls.

Not bothering to look as a pony, Lillith takes her demon form and looks around for the pony she needs and sees the bear take a step toward her and narrows her eyes warningly, "Don't try me Harry, or I will turn you into a fur rug before you can blink an eye." Gazing around the room, she doesn't see her and hears a noise under the bed, saying, "COME OUT HERE FLUTTERSHY OR TRUE HEART IS GOING TO DIE!"

Hearing that her friend is in danger, Fluttershy darts out from under the bed and looks up at the strange creature, saying, "Take me to him right now!"

Rushing down the stairs, Lillith hears her tell Harry to follow her. Exiting Fluttershy's cottage, she races towards the forest as fast as she can with the pegasus and Harry keeping pace with her speed.

After reaching the place where her husband collapsed, they rush him to the hospital in Ponyville for treatment. However, it takes a couple of weeks for him to show any signs of waking up.

Once True Heart is capable of opening his eyes, he looks around to see his wife by his side as she says something he can't quite understand. It takes a few minutes for the confusion in his mind to clear up as he asks groggily, "Where am I?"

On the left side of the bed, standing opposite of the dark red mare, Celestia leans forward a little, saying, "Ponyville General. You gave us all a serious scare when news of your visit to the hospital."

Thunder snorts and says, "Yeah lad, we don't appreciate being scared half to death at how serious your wounds were."

Lillith taps her hoof irritably, saying with a pout, "When Fluttershy saw how bad your scratches were, you made her terrified of ever going out on Nightmare Night."

Rarity huffs in mixed happiness and annoyance, saying, "It took us a while to calm both her and your wife down, not to mention the fit that Princess Celestia went into at hearing that you nearly died."

Finally getting a moment to speak as everything makes sense again, he sighs and says, "Apologies for scaring you all so badly. I got hurt after going into the forest, following old rumors of ponies going missing in the Everfree."

Cocking her head curiously, Celestia asks, "What were you doing in the forest?"

Applejack then stomps her hoof and says, "Everypony knows to stay out of that scary forest, start talking pardner."

The fashionista blinks in disbelief, saying, "And you were so brazen or crazy to go in there at night?! Explain yourself now before I have Pinkie Pie tickle it out of you..."

Sighing in defeat, he groans saying, "I was hunting down rumors of some monster that abducted ponies from their beds in the dead of night, never to be seen or heard from again."

Raising her eyebrow curiously, the farm pony taps the bed with her hoof interrogatively, saying, "AND?"

Continuing on, he says, "I came across this crumbled ruin deep in the Everfree on Nightmare Night however long ago that was, and encountered a vile creature that could blend in with the shadows and shied away from the light. After a fierce battle, and being bitten numerous times by that blood-sucking menace, I prevailed and skewered him with a silver sword that killed him. Leaving him there as he started to turn into ashes, I then wandered deeper into the cave and found a laboratory. Learning that he was created by somepony from long ago named Sombra, I also learned that his name was Vladimir Flankenstein. I then explored deeper into the tunnels..."

Celestia listens with wide eyes, as does everypony around her, to the story he tells, waiting until the end to say, "Wait, you actually saved the Thestrals?"

True Heart turns to her and asks, "They're called Thestrals? I had no idea what they were, so I let them stay in the vaults under the Cathedral."

Applejack then gasps and says, "YA LET A BUNCH OF BLOOD SUCKERS LIVE IN YOUR BASEMENT!"

He looks at her with narrowed eyes, saying, "Just to clarify, they also eat bugs. Furthermore, while most prefer eating bugs, some do drink blood...BUT, they always ask for a pony to let them feed off them. I pretty much had to force Marougeka to drink from me since there was not enough time to catch bugs by sunrise."

Lillith smacks her forehead with a hoof, saying, "So that's why you were so short on blood."

Smiling through his stern expression, Thunder Magic says, "Ever helpful to the point where it nearly kills you, try not to let your desire to help others get you killed before your time."

Nodding his head, he says, "I never planned to do so in the first place, but I will keep your words in mind. Will someone please tell me how long I have been out?"

Gears turn in the princess's mind as she says, "You have been unconscious for a month, since you are awake now, I can finally return to my pressing duties." Using her horn to teleport back to her room, she sighs in relief and throws herself onto her bed, letting herself cry out her frustration at nearly losing a connection to the past into the sheets. Once she has herself under control, pieces fall into place as she gasps upon seeing the signs of a prophecy coming to pass and rushes to her bookshelf. Pulling a book to her, she opens it and flips to a certain page, reading through her version of it, 'Upon the time when ponies of the night soar through the sky to feast on bugs or offered blood no more, a mare loses sight of herself from her sister's lack of care. When she is sentenced to watch from above, it shall be a thousand years until she returns to settle the score.' Knowing she has seen another prophecy somewhere, she rummages through her books before she finds it and reads through it, eventually saying, "Legend has it that on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape and she will bring about nighttime eternal."

As her mind does the math, she gasps as she realizes what that means, she returns the books to the shelves and makes her way to the restricted section of the royal library to help prepare her student, thinking, 'I can't believe that I didn't see the signs earlier. I need to do what I can to help Twilight along for when that time comes...'

Months pass by as True Heart hears the news that Ponyville has been selected to host this year's Summer Sun Celebration and lies in his bed irritably as he watches the clock hit 4am, calling out, "Nurse Redheart, can I get released yet? I don't want to miss this celebration!"

Sighing as she heads to his bedside, she looks his chart over before examining his injuries closely, eventually saying with a hesitant tone, "Since your wounds have healed rather nicely, I suppose you are well enough to get a clean bill of health. I strongly advise you against any strenuous activity for the next six months. If you do not heed my suggestion, I shall send Fluttershy or Applejack after you. Do you understand?"

Nodding his head nervously, he watches her take his clipboard with her and bids him to follow. When he gets to the checkout, he watches ponies starting to head to Town Hall and then signs the release form, then takes off the hospital gown and sets it on the counter before walking hurriedly out the doors. Walking through the doors of Town Hall, he spots guards all around the outer edge of the building, with a large crowd of ponies in the center. Searching for his friends, he spots Applejack near the stage and heads towards her.

When Applejack feels somepony bump her shoulder, she turns to see her friend True beside her and hugs his neck lightly, saying, "Well look who's escaped from his bed, does Nurse Redheart know yer here?"

Snorting in an amused tone, True Heart nods and says, "Of course she does, I wouldn't miss this once-in-a-lifetime's chance to see Princess Celestia raise the sun with my own eyes. She examined my wounds and removed the bandages before grabbing the clipboard and leading me to the checkout, once I signed the release form, I left the gown on the counter and headed for the door and straight here."

Nodding his head, he then goes silent as he watches Fluttershy fly up and guide the birds through a chorus to get their attention, followed by Mayor Mare giving a speech when he looks up at the moon high in the sky with the shadowy image of a pony covering half of its face. As he watches four orbs move towards the moon's center, he sees a flash that clears the shadow on the moon. Seeing that his research paid off yet again, he smiles and looks towards the stage as Mayor Mare brings the speech to its finale.

When he hears the curtains be drawn back on the balcony, True Heart's eyes shoot up to it eagerly as the spotlight illuminates it to reveal that nopony is there besides Rarity. As he hears her cry out in confusion, she then wanders the balcony when he hears a familiar voice comment, "This can't be good."

Turning his head to look, he sees Twilight standing there with Spike on her back beside Pinkie Pie as Mayor Mare speaks, saying, "Remain calm, everypony. There must be a logical explanation for this."

Chuckling when he hears Pinkie Pie comment about loving guessing games, he sees Rarity head to the front of the balcony, saying, "She's GONE!"

However, when Rarity races off the balcony as a cloud of purple smoke emerges on it, he watches it while fighting to keep his smile hidden as it transforms into an alicorn with a nearly black coat, a transparent, sapphire blue mane and tail, along with a pair of moderate cyan eyes with a vertical slit. When the alicorn looks at the crowd below her, she smiles and says, "Ah, my beloved subjects... It has been so long since I have seen your precious little sun-loving faces."

While a rainbow-maned pegasus rises up and demands to know what she did to their princess while trying to get into her face, Applejack holds her back by the tail, saying, "Slow down there, Nelly."

The alicorn mare chuckles darkly and asks, "Why, am I not royal enough for you?"

True Heart then watches her stand straighter and fold her wings annoyedly and asks if they know who she is, causing him to smirk when Pinkie Pie starts guessing. A snort leaves his nostrils after seeing Applejack stuff an apple into her mouth to silence her, leaving the alicorn to ask the ponies if her crown no longer counts after being imprisoned for a thousand years.

As the alicorn looks at a light grey mare with a purple mane and tail and blue eyes, she asks, "Did you all not recall the legend? Did you not see the signs?!"

His eyes turn to Twilight as Spike lays on the floor unconscious when she says that she did and knows who she is, then tells them all that she is the mare in the moon...Nightmare Moon. Turning his eyes back to Nightmare Moon, he listens to her talk for a bit and suggest that she should also know why she's here.

When Nightmare Moon chuckles darkly, she looks around at the ponies, saying, "Remember this day, little ponies...for it was your last. From this moment forth, the night will last forever!" then cackles wildly with glee.

Seeing an opportunity to rain on her parade, True Heart lets himself laugh.

Laughter interrupts her own, causing her to look for who is responsible for it. Spotting a black stallion with green eyes and a silver mane and tail with an azure streak through them, her eyes narrow in a squint as she irritably says, "And just what are you laughing about, little pony?"

Coming to a slow, chuckling stop, he says, "Oh nothing really, I will enjoy watching you fall."

Just then the Mayor Mare cries out, "SEIZE HER! SHE'S THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS WHERE THE PRINCESS IS!"

True Heart watches as Nightmare Moon rears back and strikes them all down with her lightning before turning into a cloud of smoke and racing away, thinking, 'Don't worry, your time is coming soon, Nightmare Moon.' When he spots Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie heading out the door, he follows after them.

As he follows the group to the Golden Oak Library, he walks in after Fluttershy and hears Applejack say, "But she sure knows what's going on. Don't you Twilight." When the lavender unicorn steps forth into the center of the room, he lets the others gather around her while hanging back to listen.

While Twilight calms herself and says, "I did read all about the prediction of Nightmare Moon's return. Some mysterious objects called the Elements of Harmony are the only things that can stop her, but I don't even know what they are or where to find them, I don't know what they even do!"

True Heart listens to her read aloud from the reference guide Pinkie Pie found and smiles at how they were last seen in the ancient castle of the royal pony sisters, chuckling at how they all exclaim in fright at the mention of the Everfree Forest. Making his way to the door, he says, "I have been through the Everfree Forest a few times, I'll guide you down the best path to the ruin."

Applejack stops in front of the door, saying, "Not so fast, pardner. Ya just got out of the hospital an hour ago, ah don't want ya getting hurt any worse than ya already are. Remember how ya barely escaped that last fight ya got into last Nightmare Night?!"

With a smile and a nod, he says, "That was against a real monster without a conscience, Applejack. This time, it is just a powerful Alicorn called Nightmare Moon. Besides, I made a promise to someone that I intend to keep, so I'm still going. Though if it makes ya feel better, we can watch out for each other on the way."

Sighing in defeat, she bumps her hoof against his shoulder, saying, "Oh alright, pardner, ya done gone and convinced me, let's get going."

Twilight follows the stallion outside, thinking she has seen him before but can't quite place where. She continues to follow him through town to the edge of the Everfree Forest, reaching the edge a half hour later. Standing close to the edge, she hears Pinkie Pie call out 'let's go' excitedly and says, "Not so fast, everypony." Letting out a sigh as the black stallion stands just inside the forest's border, she says, "Look, I appreciate the offer, but I'd really like to do this on my own."

Hearing Applejack's reply, he chuckles and keeps walking deeper into the forest. As he leads them down a path to a ledge, he stops on it and considers going back due to the cracks he sees ahead when he hears the cyan pegasus called Rainbow telling an eerie tale, putting the all on edge and rolls his eyes, saying, "I don't like how this path looks up ahead, let's turn back and take a different one."

Rainbow continues to stalk forward, saying in an eerie tone, "Cause everypony who's ever come in...has never...come..." She then jumps up into the air and flaps her wings while shouting, "OUT!"

The ground around them breaks away, causing them all to begin sliding down the cliff while Fluttershy and Rainbow remain in the air as Rainbow looks at Fluttershy, saying, "Fluttershy, quick!"

Using his magic as best he can to stay on his hooves, he spots a purple cloud racing away and shouts, "Nightmare Moon, your a menace to society!" and hears a chuckle from the distant cloud when a rock knocks him off balance, causing him to chant, "Not on my left side, please not on my left side!"

As Rainbow picks up Pinkie Pie, she spots the stallion struggling to stay on his hooves and notices three, somewhat fresh gashes running down his left side and calls out, "Fluttershy, help Rarity! The stallion's in trouble!" Hurrying over to set Pinkie down, she then races up to see the stallion about to fall on his right side until he shifts his weight over to his right.

When he lands on his right side as intended, he looks ahead of him with his left eye, he sees a root jutting out of the stone and shouts, "Crap!" then clamps his jaw shut and closes his eye to brace for the collision to send him spinning.

When she watches the stallion hit the root and spin clockwise, she calls out, "Fluttershy, he's spinning!"

Looking over to her friend approaching the edge quickly, she gasps and races over, grabbing onto his tail with her teeth and attempts to slow him down.

Having a chance to grab his neck, she flies upward, saying, "We got you pal, we got you."

Applejack sees Twilight about to slip off the edge and lets herself slide down to grab her hooves, saying, "Hold on! I'm a-coming!"

True Heart wobbles from dizziness, having to sit on his flanks as Rarity is on his right side to offer comfort. When he recovers from the dizziness, he opens his eyes and shakes the confusion out of his head as he looks up to see Twilight cry out in fright before being caught and lowered to the ground by the cyan pegasus and Fluttershy. Spotting movement from the corner of his eye, he snorts in irritation at seeing the purple cloud, thinking, 'Oh, you are so going to get double the pain if you keep trying to hinder us...'

As Twilight takes over leading from the dazed stallion, she hears Rainbow recap the tail of her recent heroics, sighing and saying, "Yes, Rainbow, I was there, and I'm very grateful for you saving us. But we have got to reach..."

They all gasp as True Heart tries to shake himself out of the daze, but can't and looks on as a large manticore appears in front of them and roars menacingly. Knowing he needs to protect them, he prepares a spell to send it flying backwards.

Gasping as she watches him charge a spell, Fluttershy hurries over and touches his horn with her hoof, saying, "Wait."

He watches as a few of the ponies try to deal with the manticore, he watches Fluttershy jump in front of their charge and shouts at them to wait. He is then surprised as she walks up to the manticore and nuzzles it like it were a baby, shaking his head in mild amusement when her approach works as she discovers a thorn in the creature's paw.

Fluttershy looks up at the manticore and says, "Now, this might hurt for just a second when I pull it out." She then grabs the edge with her teeth and quickly yanks it out, then spits it away when the creature snatches her up and begins purring and licking her mane affectionately.

With the manticore no longer a threat, True Heart follows the others on ahead as his daze starts to clear up. Sighing in relief at having clear thoughts again, he says, "It feels good to be able to think clearly again."

Turning to her friend, Applejack asks, "How are ya holding up, pardner?"

Smiling softly, he says, "All in all, I am doing pretty good despite my right side being scuffed up a bit, it was lucky that I was able to push myself over onto my right side instead of my left."

Having been walking for a little while in silence, Rarity looks around and whines, saying, "Ugh, my eyes need a break from all this icky muck." When she keeps following the path ahead and finds herself surrounded by darkness, she lowers her voice and says, "Well I didn't mean that literally."

When True Heart's eyes adjust to the darkness amidst the commotion of voices, he hears Applejack comment about stepping in something and chuckles, saying, "Alright, who did it?"

Blushing lightly, Applejack hears Pinkie cry out and says, "It's just mud..." when she bumps into something and looks up to see a scary face on a tree, making her jump away, shouting, "AAH!"

Looking around at all the faces on the trees around him as the others huddle together screaming in fright, he rolls his eyes as he hears Pinkie start to giggle and make weird sounds. Turning his head, he sees her making faces at a tree with a face as Twilight tells her to run, hearing a music in the air as she begins to sway to a song, saying in a pleading tone, "Oh no...don't start..."

When she continues singing, he does his best to ignore the strangeness of it. Hearing her mention laughing to make them disappear, he heads over to a tree with a face and rolls his eyes, saying, "I've seen much scarier things than a tree with a face, you will have to try much harder to get me to be afraid...ha ha ha." and watches the face disappear with a pop.

After laughing at the trees and making the faces disappear, they make their way to a roaring river with a sobbing serpent as Twilight asks, "Excuse me, sir. Why are you crying?"

Seeing a wave of water crashing down toward them, True jumps back and out of the way, saying, "Hey, don't splash unclean water on my wounds, serpent!"

Sobbing, he then sniffles, saying, "I'm terribly sorry for my carelessness, but I can't stand how revolting I look without my mustache!"

When Applejack and Rainbow comment about his troubles being no big deal, Rarity approaches the serpent and admonishes Applejack and Rainbow for not caring, saying, "Of course it is! How can you be so insensitive?"

He watches as Rarity goes on about the serpent's appearance and how it is all ruined without his mustache, he smiles as she then tears a loose scale off with her teeth and hacks off her tail.

Spitting the scale away, the fashionista then picks up her tail and attaches it to the severed end of his mustache, earning her his gratitude, saying, "You look smashing."

Noticing how he can see everything with her tail being so short, he looks a little bit too long when he feels someone jab him in the shoulder and turns to see Fluttershy looking at him with narrowed eyes, saying sheepishly, "Apologies, I didn't mean to stare."

Lowering her voice, Fluttershy says, "You don't like it when we stare, so neither do we. Please don't let me catch you doing it again or I will be upset with you."

11: The Big Day (Part 2)

Nodding his head as he sees the others making their way across with the aid of coils formed with the serpent's long body, letting them get a little ways ahead before hopping across with Fluttershy following beside him. When he catches up to the others, he looks ahead to see the familiar rope bridge with the castle ruin just ahead and sees Twilight racing towards it and gasps when he sees that the ropes have been untied from the other side, shouting, "STOP HER! THE BRIDGE IS DOWN!"

Acting quickly, Rainbow darts forward and grabs her tail as she heads over the edge, then pulls her back to safety before letting go of her tail, saying, "What's with you and falling off cliffs today?"

Sighing in relief, he continues to walk forward as Rainbow flies over to grab the bridge and reattach the ropes when a heavy fog rolls in and blocks his view of the other side, saying, "Did more spirits move in since the others moved on?"

Lillith chuckles and says to him from her sanctum, "No dear, this is just more of Nightmare Moon's trickery. You can let them deal with things a while longer."

After a few moments, Rainbow returns successful as Twilight leads the group across to the other side, saying, "See? I'd never leave my friends hanging."

Following them across and into the castle, True Heart watches as Fluttershy and Rainbow grab the five small orbs as Twilight says, "The book said that when the five are present, a spark will cause the sixth element to be revealed."

Smirking as he figures it out, he watches Twilight try to use her magic to create a spark when a purple swirling tornado picks the elements up and tries to disappear with a teleport, spurring him into racing forth as Twilight jumps towards it and passes through it moments before it snaps shut.

Twilight lands roughly on cold stone when she feels a muzzle crash into her personal business, causing her eyes to widen, crying out, "COLD NOSE!"

Realizing where his muzzle is, True Heart jerks his head away, saying, "Terribly sorry!"

Blushing fiercely, she pins her tail between her cheeks and nods shyly, saying, "I-It's okay, but try not to let it happen again as I don't know you very well."

Nightmare Moon chuckles as she holds the elements with her mane and tail, saying, "So close, yet so far..."

Rising to his hooves, he watches as Twilight lowers her head and prepares to charge, saying, "You need armor to do that properly!"

Huffing in determination, she says, "I know what I'm doing!"

When she pauses a moment before taking off, he says, "I beg to argue!"

As she sees the young mare preparing to charge forward, she lowers her eyelids in disbelief, saying, "You're kidding...You're kidding, right?"

True Heart waits for an opportunity as Twilight's horn glows, wondering what she has in store for Nightmare Moon. When he watches the two get close to each other, the unicorn teleports to where the elements are lying.

Twilight then charges her horn to try to create a spark between the elements, saying, "Just one spark." Focusing harder, she says, "Come on, come on!"

He watches as Nightmare Moon turns into a tornado and rushes to the dais and lands before Twilight when a spark jumps from the elements to her horn and sends her flying backwards. When Twilight lands on her back, he watches her push herself back up as Nightmare Moon looks down in fear saying no a couple of times.

Watching the shimmering aura around the elements with a smirk, that smirk disappears when they stop shimmering and continue to be inert, saying in shock, "But where's the sixth element?"

True Heart starts walking forward as he watches Nightmare Moon rear up and slam them down on the ground, causing the elements to shatter into pieces, looking to his left at Twilight, saying, "I will buy you some time to figure something out, try not to take forever."

As the pieces fall to the floor, Nightmare Moon laughs and says, "You little foal! Thinking you could defeat me!" She then stands taller and snorts, saying, "Now you will never see your princess, or your sun. Which means...The night will last...forever!"

Approaching the dais with a smirk, he interrupts her laughter, saying, "Before you celebrate, allow me to present you a couple of gifts first, Your Majesty."

Cocking her head curiously, she asks with a raised eyebrow, "Gifts, you say? What kind of gifts do you mean?"

Bowing to her in false respect, True Heart says, "The kind that truly make one all-powerful, but one can only be passed to another by touching horns. Permission to approach, Your Majesty?"

Enticed by the offer, Nightmare Moon smiles slightly and says, "You may, but if you try anything, it will be Tartarus for you."

Twilight watches the stallion walk forth with eyes the size of saucers as her mind struggles to comprehend what is going on, only able to blink as the stallion stops at the base of the stairs while Nightmare Moon lowers her head down enough to touch horns with him.

As she watches the stallion close his eyes before touching his horn to hers, she closes hers in response and waits to receive a surge of power. However, she is taken by complete surprise when she suddenly feels the stallion shoving his tongue into her mouth, shocking her to her core as her wings shoot up in the air.

When he feels her reciprocate with her own tongue, he catches a soft moan escape her as he pulls away to catch her blushing lightly, saying, "A thousand apologies for deceiving you with the first gift, Your Majesty, I just couldn't resist the charm of your beauty and needed to kiss you."

Standing up straight with a fierce blush coloring her cheeks, she fidgets with a shard for a moment, saying, "Uhm..." then gathers herself in a regal manner and says calmly, "Ahem, I shall forgive you for stealing my first kiss, as I found that quite enjoyable, please proceed and present your second gift to me and no more tricks."

True Heart nods and steps away a short distance as Twilight's wide eyes follow him like a hawk, turning around to face her while charging a spell into his horn, saying, "My second gift to you, is...Retribution."

Twilight's eyes are pulled back to Nightmare Moon as she watches a pillar of golden light rise behind the alicorn, thinking, 'What is he going to do with that, bat her around with it?'

Seeing the alicorn's eyes starting to move, he then casts the next phase, shouting, "Justice!" Successfully drawing her eyes back to him, he waits for the cross member to form as chains start to drop down towards the floor. Once the final phase is ready to be cast, he then shouts, "Crucifixion!"

Nightmare Moon spots a golden glow in the mare's wide eyes and prepares to look when she feels something latch around her front hooves and yank her back viciously, slamming her into something hard enough to rob the breath from her lungs as she feels her forelegs being pulled outwards. Attempting to twist and jerk herself free, both her hind legs are yanked downwards and held firmly. Turning her head around to look at what is going on, she sees her legs fastened to a pole by glowing, golden chains with a cross member towards the upper part which her hind legs are firmly chained to. Looking down at the stallion in anger, she shouts, "You lied to me, enjoy your stay in Tartarus!"

As True Heart watches another chain wrap around her neck and horn, pulling them back against the pole, he says, "Nightmare Moon, for your crime of leaving four mares to starve to death in the cells below this castle, I find you guilty and sentence you to suffer for causing them such horrific torture! May your penance grant you wisdom."

Twilight watches in awe as Nightmare Moon is attacked by endless golden shocks, causing her to scream in agony when she hears voices coming from behind her and turns to look and sees her friends making their way towards her. Listening to what they're saying, realization hits her as she notices the stallion straining to hold the spell, saying, "You think you can destroy the Elements of Harmony just like that? Well you're wrong, because the Elements of Harmony are right here!"

While he continues to keep the spell up, he catches tidbits of Twilight's speech, thinking, 'Make your speech short, I'm starting to run low on magic here...'

Nightmare Moon twists her head enough and grunts through the painful shocks, looking down at the mare, saying, "You still don't have the sixth element, your spark didn't work!"

True Heart continues to fight to maintain his spell as Twilight's speech resumes, causing him to roll his eyes, saying, "I'm starting to run on fumes here, do whatever you're going to do already!"

Moments later, a large rainbow crashes down upon Nightmare Moon, obliterating the complex spell True Heart was using, inadvertently causing a backlash that sends him flying backwards and into a pillar.

As the stallion is knocked unconscious, Nightmare Moon can't celebrate her reprieve when she feels the rainbow of harmony start to work, bellowing, "NOOOOOOOOO!!!"

Several minutes pass after a bright flash fills the room, with the mares coming to first as Rainbow groans, saying, "Ugh...my head feels like it just got kicked by Applejack..."

Once they notice that they have new jewelry, and that Rarity's tail came back, Applejack turns to Twilight and says, "Gee, Twilight, I thought ya were just spouting a lot of hooey. However, I reckon that we really do resemble the Elements of Friendship."

When the sun rises into the sky and the moon sets, Celestia lands just past one of the broken windows, saying, "Indeed you do."

Happy to see her mentor back, Twilight gasps and runs toward her saying, "Princess Celestia!"

Overjoyed that Twilight succeeded, she embraces her warmly for a moment, saying, "Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student." then raises her head up, saying, "I knew that you could do it."

Once Princess Luna is reunited with her sister, she spots somepony with a black coat at the far back of the room and points to them, asking, "Uhm, sister, just who is lying atop the pillar back there?"

Princess Celestia turns her head to look and gasps when she recognizes True Heart lying unmoving upon the remaining section of pillar and trots towards him, saying, "Stick with me Luna, I may need your help if he is injured."

As they reach him, Luna watches her sister gingerly pick him up in her magic and lay the stallion onto the ground and set her ear in front of his nose, which flicks on reflex and causes her to let out a relieved sigh, asking her, "Sister, who is this?"

Tears trail down her cheek as she says, "This stallion's name is True Heart, but I will tell you more later. He is only unconscious, but I wonder what could have had such force as to cause the wall to crack so severely from the impact?"

Concerned, the younger sister nuzzles her nose against the fur in his ears to try to rouse him, trying it a few times until she lightly nips it and gets a groan in response. Glad that she managed to wake him, Luna smiles at her sister, saying, "He's coming to."

True Heart attempts to lift his head, but coughs up spittle for his effort and tries again. When he is finally able to hold his head up through the pain in his head, he tries to open his eyes. The attempt causes him to wince in pain as a wave of dizziness hits him, making his head fall to the floor as he coughs more profusely. Catching enough breath to try to speak, he manages to softly say, "Ugh, opening eyes equals pain and lightheadedness."

Celestia gasps as she notices the red spots in front of True's mouth, saying, "I sure hope there is no more than that or it might mean that he has internal injuries. Can you hear me True?"

Unable to hear anything due to the ringing, he takes another breath and coughs, hacking out a metallic tasting liquid and says, "Okay, metallic taste, definitely bad sign. Need to cast first aid..." When he goes to cast the spell, his head threatens to explode and causes him to immediately stop, saying in a pained hiss, "Using magic very bad, makes head almost explode."

Knowing some magic about healing, Celestia sighs and says, "From the looks of it, he must have been using a heavy spell when it was destroyed and caused a backlash."

The comment sparks her memory as Luna says, "Moments before Nightmare Moon was defeated, he was maintaining a three-phase spell that immobilized her and caused her to suffer from intense pain caused by golden electricity. The spell was kept up when the rainbow hit and obliterated the spell."

Nodding her head, she examines him, saying, "Definitely suffering from a great deal of backlash, but I can't believe that he is capable of casting a three-phase spell of such magnitude to successfully restrain an alicorn for a short time. I wonder what other magical secrets he knows." When her spell completes, she sighs and says, "The ribs on his right side are completely shattered, he has a fractured spine and a lightly lacerated right lung."

Luna hangs her head, saying, "So then he is going to perish..."

Before she has a chance to start crying, Celestia says, "No he is not, I will do what I can with the few healing spells I know."

Scared for her friend, Rarity then sighs and says, I can't believe I'm doing this, but I have no choice..." Taking a breath, she then walks up and says, "Please brace yourselves, everypony, for this may be quite a shock to you. I do know somepony that might be able to help out more." Steadying her nerves, she calls out, "Vale Lilly, please come out here in whatever form that is strongest to lend what aid you can to save your husband." Looking around, she says, "Please don't be alarmed by what you are about to see, it is just how she is able to emerge, even though it is immensely creepy."

Confused, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna look from Rarity to True Heart when a reddish-black low-lying smoke emerges from his mouth, causing them both to leap back alarmed as Celestia raises her wings defensively and prepares to cast a spell.

Lillith appears in her bipedal form with clawed hands and feet, sighing blissfully as she stretches and looks over to Rarity, saying, "Thank you for warning them about me, Rare. I wanted to come out sooner to do something, but I could sense sun-butt over there making her return. So I refrained to avoid a hostile confrontation."

Snorting angrily at being called that, her eyes narrow as she says, "My name is Princess Celestia, not sun-butt. It would be wise of you to remember that or I will banish you to Tartarus."

Rolling her eyes, she sits in front of her husband, saying, "Apologies for the name-calling, I just had to tease you a bit because of how large certain parts of you have gotten lately."

Unable to hide her snicker, Luna drapes a wing over her mouth as she tries to keep her laughter from getting out.

Focusing her powers into her claws, she takes hold of his chin and shifts her natural healing abilities over to him, saying, "Well, aren't you going to help me heal him, Your Majesty? My healing can only do so much with his ribs being confetti at the moment."

It takes a couple hours to heal the damage caused by the backlash from the spell as Celestia sighs at finally restoring his shattered ribs, saying, "At least his horn only had fractures and wasn't broken off."

They all gather round as best they can, hoping that he wakes up soon when they hear a groan, followed by him saying, "Ugh...I feel like Applejack tried to stomp me into the ground."

Finally able to open his eyes, he lifts his head up and winces, saying, "Remember, no magic." Opening his eyes and looking around, he sees ponies all around him with only one new face belonging to a small alicorn.

Recalling how he kissed her as Nightmare Moon, Luna hides under her sister's wing, saying, "Sister...he's looking at me funny."

Seeing how fiercely she is blushing, Celestia smiles and says, "Don't worry, little sister, he just hasn't seen you yet. Why don't you introduce yourself?"

Curious, he then looks around and sees the massive crater with his wife in demon form, saying, "Dear, what in the hell are you doing out and in your true form?"

Narrowing her eyes and hopping off the broken column, she grabs his chin firmly between two of her clawed fingers, saying warningly, "I was called out by Rarity to help Princess Celestia piece you back together like you were a messed up jigsaw puzzle, you really should be thanking me for how much my natural healing ability helped you out."

Blinking twice, he then says, "Y-Yeah, I'm sorry dear. I just don't want to go through the hassle of explaining everything about you, me, and our unique marriage to everyone here."

Sighing, Celestia says, "We already had that interesting chat, are you feeling pain anywhere else?"

Turning his head to her, he shakes it slowly, saying, "Not at all, but I do need to make one observation..."

Cocking her head, Princess Luna pokes her head out, asking, "What might that be?"

Smirking, he says, "Note to self, cease casting all magic spells before the rainbow of doom hits."

His words cause everyone around to burst out laughing as Rainbow says, "Yeah dude, I've had quite a few crashes in my years, but nothing epic enough to leave a crater of that size!"

True Heart turns back to the small alicorn, saying, "I apologize for not recognizing you from anywhere, what is your name?"

Struggling with her desire to hide behind her sister's wing, she steps out from under it with a sigh, saying, "My name is Princess Luna, and I must thank you for taking retribution out on Nightmare Moon for the lives of those four unfortunate mares from so long ago, and also for helping to save me from her darkness."

As a thought nibbles at the back of his mind, he says, "It is nice to meet you, Princess Luna, I am True Heart." Unable to fight his curiosity, he asks, "Uhm, by any chance would you happen to remember what happened after Nightmare Moon teleported with the elements?"

Looking away and tucking her head under her wing bashfully, Luna says, ".....No...."

Seeing how she is acting, True Heart sighs and says, "You do then...crap." All eyes turn to him expectantly as he then says, "I profusely apologize for stealing a kiss from you like that as Nightmare Moon.

Celestia sees how red her sister's face is turning and asks, "Sister, would you like me to punish him mildy, or severely?"

She shakes her head and says, "Neither! It was...enjoyable...for a first kiss."

As her sister overheats from saying that in front of everypony, she chuckles and nuzzles her affectionately, saying, "Then congratulations, sister, I hope you treasure the sensation for a long time."

Pinkie Pie then says, "Hey, do you know what this calls for? A PARTY!"

The two sisters make their way back to Canterlot to prepare for their arrival as the group makes their way back, with Twilight and True Heart walking at the head of the group when she looks at him and asks, "I can't shake the feeling that I've met you somewhere before, but...where?"

He looks at Twilight and says, "Well, we met when you were a little filly and before you even started attending Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns."

Everything clicks as she remembers and says, "I REMEMBER YOU NOW! Besides today, how have you been lately?"

Rainbow Dash hovers over head and says, "Biting off more than he could chew in the Everfree Forest last year from what I heard."

Raising her eyebrow, she asks, "What happened?"

Sighing, he tells her all about his adventure to the crumbling ruins, taking up some of the trip as he finishes it, saying, "Then I started to head back to town with Vale Lilly when I passed out somewhere along the way, so Lilly checked on me and rushed over to get Fluttershy. After she told Fluttershy I was in danger, they both came racing to save me. Next thing I remember is waking up in Ponyville General with a bunch of angry mares around me, including Princess Celestia herself where I was scolded by them all. I then spent the next several months stuck in the hospital and finally got released in time for the Summer Sun Celebration under orders to do no strenuous activity for the next six months or else Nurse Redheart would sic Applejack or Fluttershy after me."

Finally reaching town, Twilight looks over to see a towering structure to their left, asking, "What's that over there?"

Rainbow then flies upside down a couple feet above the ground, crossing her hooves behind her head, saying, "Only the awesomest, largest building in Equestria built in less than half the time it would normally take to build anything as close to it!"

Chuckling, he says, "Yep, that is the Celestial Cathedral, and it only took an army of ponies, a griffon or two, and a new resident from a faraway land called Farasi. Oh, and don't tell anyone else this, but even a disguised alicorn you are close to worked alongside us to build it."

Applejack then trots up and says, "Not to mention yer wife pardner."

True Heart chuckles again and adds, "Her too, of course. Services are held every Sunday and the morning of every holiday."

Pinkie Pie and the others then chip in and tell the other things that go on there, arriving in town just in time to see the royal chariot circle around the town and come in from the south.

After being caught up on important recent news, Princess Luna can't help but stare in awe at the newest, largest building in Ponyville, saying, "I find it very hard to believe that you enjoyed physical labor, even more so that you worked alongside our subjects sweating and getting dirty while in disguise."

Smiling as she recalls her efforts to help build the cathedral, saying, "Mhm, without you to help lower the sun, I was always tired. Dealing with the day to day nuances of court and keeping a smile on my face around ponies really gets under my coat, especially when dealing with nobles that suck up to me just to get something they want. I wound up coming up with bogus excuses just for a vacation from the hassle." Letting out a sigh to relax herself, she then says, "Sorry about that, I'll get back to what I was saying before the rant. Anyway, tokens of gratitude were given out in silver frames, and I was the last one to get one. I tried my hardest to keep my identity as Lucky Star a secret, but True Heart was on to me from the very beginning due to my voice. So he asked me if I would be willing to accept it on her behalf or in person, and I told him I'd be happy to. I made it halfway down the aisle before I told him she could accept it herself a moment before I took my other identity, after I got up there and he offered the token to me, he said that I needed to be punished for trying to fool him, so he kissed me on the side of the mouth, in front of the whole crowd. You have no idea how annoying it is to deal with the kinds of rumors that sprang up from that."

Giggling at hearing that, she says, "I look forward to watching the recording of the project with you when we have a chance as we spend some much needed time together.

True Heart watches as the chariot lands and rolls to a stop alongside the road, where they exit and start heading toward the group he's in. Once they stop a short ways ahead, he genuflects and bows his head in respect. When the others rise, he follows suit and watches as a couple of pegasi fillies lay a necklace of red and white roses around Luna's neck.

When he sees Twilight look sad and hang her head, Princess Celestia makes her way over to her and asks why she looks so glum. Seeing his chance, he steps forth a little bit to be within earshot of her and asks in a soft tone, "Welcome back, Princess Luna, Equestria has missed you."

Smiling softly, Luna says, "It is good to be back, my little pony, thank you." Then cocks her head a little and asks, "Is there something you need?"

True Heart nods his head and says, "There is one matter I would like to consult with you on. If you could, please try to find time and pay a visit to the large building south of town so that I can discuss it with you?"

Nodding her head as he genuflects to her, she says, "I will consult with my sister on the matter, once she is finished with her student."

Rising to his hooves, he smiles at her and says, "I am most grateful, Your Majesty."

True Heart then turns his head toward Princess Celestia and hears her say, "Spike, take a note please. I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn known as Twilight Sparkle, shall take on a new mission for Equestria. She now must continue to study the magic of friendship, then she must report her findings to me, from her new home in Ponyville." With nothing further to do, he spends a little time talking to the girls before heading to his home in the cathedral.

A couple hours pass when Princess Celestia leads her sister into the cathedral, neither of them having been inside yet as She says, "It still amazes me that this only took 5 years to build, just look at how high the ceiling is."

Walking alongside her sister, Luna looks around to see numerous benches lined up in neat rows on either side of the room with a large aisle down the center, having a long, red velvet rug running up to the platform at the far back, with a smaller aisle in between the center of either line. Finally looking up at the arched ceilings, she then over at the windows to see colored panes depicting a bright, sunny day during spring, summer, fall, or winter. Along with the sunny scenes, she sees more elaborate nightly scenes with the moon in various stages over a land during the same seasons, saying, "Wow, those stained glass windows are really well-done."

Huffing lightly in annoyance, she chuckles and says, "I'm still annoyed that he kept them secret from me, however, they really are breath-taking, but they aren't stained glass."

Looking at her curiously, she then asks, "Are they cut gems then?"

Shaking her head, she smiles and says, "No, they are natural crystals harvested from the forgotten crystal mines under Canterlot, even I forgot they were down there until we took a few wagons to Canterlot one day from Ponyville. The metal between the pieces is purified silver, it makes me slightly jealous that these are far nicer than the stained glass in the castle..."

Hearing voices in the cathedral, he recognizes them both and makes his way out of his wing, opening the door and entering the main chamber, saying, "If you are amazed by the windows, you should take a look at what is behind you."

Turning around to look behind them, the two sister's mouths fall open slightly and gasp as Celestia takes notice of three thrones of equal size. One high, dark wooden throne on the far left has a high back with a flat, light blue heart crafted out of crystals with a ribbon of gold lace around the bottom. The one to the right of the double doors has the same high back matching her own cutie mark and its color on it, though it is the one to the left of the door that really has her attention. Seeing that it has the same high back whitish-blue crescent moon on it, she asks, "When did you have the time to have a throne carved for my sister, she just returned not five hours ago!?"

Chuckling, True Heart says, "It's been there since after we finished the roof, same with the others."

Spinning around to face him with wide eyes, "You knew that my sister was going to return? When did you find out?"

Smiling at the two princesses as Luna turns to face him in shock, he says, "I first stumbled upon it when I was looking through my family's personal library, a couple years before I graduated from your school, Your Majesty. I didn't know it was about Princess Luna, it only vaguely mentioned how a malicious alicorn appeared and tried to make the night last forever. I found out about Nightmare Moon's return somewhere between 6-8 years ago, possibly even 9. I went to see Spike since Twilight wasn't accepting visitors due to her studies, and I spent several hours browsing through the books there about any monster legends and prophecies. Once I had what I needed, I left Canterlot to wander Equestria while getting rid of dangerous foes that endangered lives. When the time got closer, I moved to Ponyville to wait for the Summer Sun Celebration in Ponyville that I saw in that vision oh so long ago." Looking at the newly returned princess, he asks, "Why don't you take a seat in your new throne, Princess Luna? I think you might enjoy the surprise waiting for you there."

Curious, Princess Luna nods and says, "Alright, you piqued my curiosity." She then opens her wings and flaps them to rise into the air, turning herself around and making her way to her throne.

Celestia watches her land and get settled into it, gasping when she sees the crystal light up and fill the large room with sparkling light, asking, "How did you manage to enchant the crystals to do that?"

Looking at her with a smirk, True Heart says, "Many magical secrets reside within my family's personal library, but your throne does that too. The one on the far left is Cadence's and it lights up too, but there's another little surprise in store that I will not share until she tries it out."

Huffing in annoyance, she raises her wings and flaps them hard then heads for her throne to sit in it. Once she reaches it, she sits down and makes herself comfortable, saying, "Oh wow, this much comfier than the throne in Canterlot Castle, what time do services start?"

Smiling at how radiantly the crystals are shining, he says, "Mass starts at the same time every Sunday morning and holiday, 8am and lasts to 9am. If Your Majesties decide to attend, be sure to send a notice the day before so that we can have clergy here to provide breakfast for you. Please be sure to arrive an hour and a half early so that you have time to eat and talk before others start to arrive." Remembering one more thing, he says, "There is one other thing I must tell you about, your status, power, and influence over Equestria count for nothing here as this is strictly neutral ground. So, whenever you do choose to attend, and no offense intended: feel free to leave your ornamental crowns at home."

Princess Luna spots a white leather-bound book with a red cross having flared ends on the cover in a small tray and pulls it out curiously, asking, "What's this?"

Spotting the bibles in their magic, True Heart smiles and says, "Those are called bibles, I kindly request that if you borrow them to read: be sure to bring them with you to mass as there are parts in there that you might be expected to sing from. Fair warning to you and aside from the reverend's, your books are the only ones in latin."

Putting her book into a storage pocket to study, Luna rises from her seat and drifts back down to the floor gracefully, asking, "What was it that you needed to consult me on?

Looking at her with a serious expression, he says, "There are several ponies I rescued from a mad scientist last year taking refuge in my belfry or vaults that I wish to get your opinion on what they could do. Please follow me to the vaults first to see if they are down there."

Knowing what he wants to show her, Celestia puts her own book into her storage and hesitates to get out of her seat when she sees them both head towards the back. Letting out a sorrowful sigh, she grumbles softy, "I was so comfy too..." Getting up out of her seat, she spreads her wings and takes to the air softly, then heads back towards the ground.

Following him through the doors, Luna looks around at the high ceiling having strange circular-shaped stone pieces across the corridor, asking, "This is very strange way to build a ceiling."

Looking up, True Heart nods and smiles saying softly, "The x-shaped sections are called ribs, which is why they became nicknamed Rib Vaults." Leading her around another corner, he hears the faint sound of gentle breathing from several voices and looks back, saying very softly, "Wait here, they don't do well around strangers just yet."

She nods her head and stops there, saying in the same tone, "Very well."

He heads around a corner and walks down the short corridor to the room ahead, walking into it and looking up to try to locate Marougeka, finding her in the back corner and walks just in front of her upside-down roost, saying, "Marougeka, I must speak to you a moment."

Not hearing him at all, the thestral mare continues to sleep soundly, until something begins to tickle her nose. Wiggling her nose side to side in an attempt to get rid of the tickling, it persists as she is forced to snort it away. When it returns, she grumbles lightly and opens her eyes sleepily to see who's responsible. Seeing that it is True Heart standing on the ground holding a feather, she giggles lightly and says, "Quit that! I'm trying to sleep. What is it that you need, my friend?"

True Heart chuckles and answers softly, "I need you to come with me, there is somepony that I would like to introduce you to."

Nodding, Marougeka yawns widely and spreads her wings, then drops from her perch and gracefully rights herself to land on the floor soundlessly, saying, "Lead the way." Following him through the room filled with her sleeping kin, she says softly, "You haven't been around for a while, how have you been?"

Looking over his shoulder as Marougeka strides up beside him, he says, "Well, I have been in the hospital for the past several months after my fight with your previous captor, I just got let out less than twelve hours ago."

Nuzzling her head against his neck, she says, "I'm sorry to hear that, but I am glad that you are okay now."

Approaching the end of the corridor, he nuzzles her back, saying, "So am I." Trotting ahead and around the corner, he stops before Princess Luna, waiting to hear her catch up a bit, saying, "Your Majesty, allow me to introduce you to...Marougeka."

Luna's eyes go wide at seeing the thestral, recovering when she recognizes the name and gasps, then rushes forth to embrace her saying, "Marougeka, you've survived after all these years!"

Happy at seeing her former mistress again, she wraps her neck and wings around her as tears trickle from her eyes, saying, "Mistress Luna! It is so good to have you back, we've missed you so much ever since you became Nightmare Moon..."

13: The Grand Galloping Gala

When the night of the Gala arrives, True finished the pad to wear under his coat of cold iron mail, looking himself over in the mirror to see how it looks. Liking how it stops at his knees and has a slit in front, he walks around a little bit but stumbles numerous times due to the armor being so heavy. Unable to move a few steps without stumbling due to the added weight, he sighs and takes it off, setting it back on the stand, saying, "I guess I need to further train to get stronger in order to handle the added weight...and to think that I'm still only part-way done with my outfit." Shaking the doubt creeping into his mind out, he then says, "No, this armor might be needed one day, so I shall stay my course and remain determined. I'll need to work on my smithing ability to make my helmet, then I'll need to improve my tailoring for my tunic covering."

Just then he hears pounding on the door and pushes the stand back into the corner, saying, "I'm on my way, hold on."

When the door opens, Spike sighs with relief, saying, "FINALLY! I've been trying to get your attention for a half-hour!"

Sensing trouble, True asks, "What's the problem this time, Spike? Is Ponyville under attack?"

The young dragon looks at the town and shakes his head, saying, "Of course not, but you need to start getting ready." He then notices that he is a bit sweaty and puts his palms to the sides of head, saying, "Oh man, Rarity's gonna have a fit if you show up looking like that! C'mon, we need to get you fixed up, pronto!"

Not really understanding the big fuss, he sighs and trots after Spike as he hurries down the road, thinking, 'What's the big deal about a gathering to celebrate the completion of Canterlot?'

Spike rushes up to Rarity's door and pounds on it, saying, "TWILIGHT! TRUE HASN'T GOTTEN READY YET AND HE'S A MESS, WHAT DO I DO?!"

Hearing that, Rarity gasps in horror and screams, "WHAAT! HE'S NOT READY AT ALL?! TAKE HIM TO THE SPA AND TELL ALOE AND LOTUS THAT HE NEEDS AN EMERGENCY PREP FOR THE GALA, AND TO PUT IT ON MY TAB! DRAG THAT CARELESS STALLION THERE IF YOU MUST!"

Doing just that, Spike dashes over and grabs a clawful of his mane, then tries to run towards the spa run by Aloe and Lotus, saying, "Come on, pick up the pace or you will miss out on attending the Gala!"

True picks up the pace begrudgingly and follows Spike to the Ponyville Spa, when the dragon tells them that it is some kind of emergency. With a smile and a nod, both mares use the towels draped around their necks to grab and then drag him into the room and then close it after him, hearing Spike call out, "Head to Rarity's when they are finished, I need to get ready myself!"

The two drag True into the shower and then scrub him down from top to bottom, being very thorough despite his protests and almost getting too personal with him before washing the soap off. Once they get him dry, they bring him to the next station to trim his mane, tail, hoof feathering, and his hooves, even including checking the bottoms for cleanliness.

After the two mares finish preparing him for the Gala, he makes his way towards Rarity's boutique where she insisted on keeping the outfits safe and clean. When he arrives at the door, he notices a golden glint heading towards him and ducks the attack. To his annoyance and surprise, it isn't an attack, but is just the golden ticket to the gala, sighing to say, "Didn't know the tickets could be enchanted to stay with their pony."

When Spike arrives, he knocks on the door, saying, "Aw...c'mon you guys, let us in!"

Spotting Rainbow heading for the door, telling Spike she's on her way, Rarity gasps and dashes for the door, saying, "OH HEAVENS NO! We're getting dressed, have you no decency?!"

Hearing Applejack comment about how they don't wear clothes causes him to chuckle at how he adjusted to this world's strangeness, then walks through once Rarity opens the door and apologizes, then explains her reason for not wanting to open the door. When the door closes behind him, he smirks and says, "That would be a normal reaction if we were anywhere but here right now, Lady Rarity."

Cocking her head, Twilight then asks, "What do you mean by that?"

Looking to Twilight, he then smiles and says, "Oh, I said that because I've been to many different places and have seen different customs."

After a bit of nudging, Rarity gets the girls back on track with their preparations and begins to put her eyelashes on, blinking a few times to ensure they are in the proper place before turning to Spike, saying, "We'll just have to see how things work with what we have planned." Spotting the state that her friend's mane and tail are in, she says, "Ugh, your coiffure is a disaster, True, let me take care of that for you."

True let's her do as she wishes as she pulls out a comb, conditioner, and styling gel, saying, "Do whatever pleases you with my mane and tail, but don't dye it pink. With my coat so dark, it would seem to glow in the dark from the contrast alone."

Hearing that gets all of them laughing as Spike just looks confused, then resume their preparations to go. Finally ready after taking an hour and a half, they climb into the apple-turned carriage as Spike takes the driver's seat.

Having a small hiccup at the start of the journey due to Spike's eagerness to get there, the carriage stops as the young dragon hops down and opens the door for them.

Being farthest from the door, the stallion lets the others go first and watches Rarity get up first to exit the carriage. Not caring about being the last one out, True steps out of the carriage as Spike says how amazing the girls look, saying, "I must agree, they surely do look wonderful in those dresses."

As they start walking down the road, True starts to follow after them, only for Twilight to begin a song, singing, "At the Gala!" Resisting the music's magic trying to pull him into joining, he follows along silently beside Spike as he sings along. Coming to the lowered drawbridge, the synchronized singing comes to an end once they reach the red carpet leading inside.

When the others scatter in different directions, Spike is left behind and rests his head against his claw, saying, "Or not, so much for my idea of fun."

Moving to stand beside him, he smiles softly and says, "Worry not Spike, because they are girls. Some girls do tend to let their emotions carry them away sometimes, so why don't you show me around the castle. The only places I've seen before are Celestia's golden apple tree and part of the statue garden, but first, let's be polite and pay a visit to her majesty before starting the tour."

Nodding his head, the young dragon smiles and gets onto his feet, saying, "Of course, we can't be rude to the one who invited us in the first place!"

Following him to a small line of ponies just starting to form, he waits in line for his turn to greet the princess when he notices Twilight standing before her with a wide grin on her face as she talks to her mentor. Once she stands to her left, he watches the first pony approach her.

It takes a little time to reach the front of the line when he notices a couple of ponies from a distant land, whose attire reminds him of encounters with Islamic people from his time spent in the holy land. Once they greet the princess and her student, they move off to the side and talk amongst themselves, giving Spike and him their chance to greet the princess.

Walking up the stairs, he stops a short ways before Princess Celestia and genuflects to her in his own special way, hearing her welcome him to the Gala, then says, "I am most grateful for you extending an invite to Spike and I, Your Majesty."

Smiling genuinely, Princess Celestia says, "You are most welcome, how could I not invite one of the best students that attended my school? I hope you have a wonderful time at the Gala this evening."

Rising to his hooves, he then smiles and asks, "Forgive me for taking up more time than I should, but who might those two foreign visitors be and where are they from?"

Smiling at his interest, she chuckles lightly and watches them walk towards an arch saying, "You are forgiven, but I am not sure as their reply didn't mention their names besides saying they were esteemed members of society in Saddle Arabia." Hoping to break the boring decorum up a bit, an idea comes to her as she gives him a gentle, scheming smile, asking, "Would you be so kind as to get to know them and improve relations between our nations?"

As Twilight's and Spike's jaw go slack at her request, True genuflects, saying, "I will do my best to not let you down, Princess Celestia."

Assuming he will shake things up a bit, Celestia holds back a chuckle and nods, saying, "I look forward to the results of your given task."

Making his way down the steps after the foreign visitors, he sees them stop and look around as if they are at a loss of decision. Knowing that he is younger and the one approaching, he faces the stallion and bows his head to him respectfully, saying in a questioning way, "As-Salamu Alaykum?"

Hearing a greeting in their own tongue causes the tall mare beside the stallion with her to smile while hearing her husband reply, "Wa-alaykumu s-salāmu."

Sticking with what he knows of the Islamic tradition, he raises his right hoof to shake his and recalls that he needs to place his left hoof over the top of the stallion's for a proper greeting. Unable to do that due to being on four legs, he needs to adjust to compensate for it. When the other stallion places his hoof before his, he then moves his hoof forward to be beside his and curls his hoof back towards him.

Recognizing the old hoofshake greeting, the stallion turns his foreleg over and curls his hoof back towards himself. Shaking their interlocked hooves firmly one time, he pulls it back and returns it to the ground with a smile. Knowing his wife is holding back her snickers at the old greeting being used from an age long ago, he then speaks in the Equestrian tongue, "While I appreciate you showing knowledge of our tongue and culture from long ago, society has since evolved since then as it is my wife you should have greeted first."

Watching from the corner of her eye and listening closely, Celestia keeps her face from showing her surprise and shock at knowing even more about their culture than she does, thinking, 'Just where did he manage to learn things that I don't know?!'

Spike watches as the mare laughs gently before forgiving his friend for using an out of date greeting, resulting in a steady conversation being started, sighing and saying to himself, "Great, looks like I'm on my own..."

Hearing how they were looking to greet Princess Luna and welcome her back, he then smiles and says, "I would be honored to aid in your search, though I do not know my way around the castle. Allow me to call upon another who knows his way around, might I also interest you in a tour around the castle?" When they nod and give me permission, I turn away and head towards Spike, asking, "Spike, how would you like to take us on a tour around the castle?"

Grinning, he nods and makes his way down the stairs, saying, "SURE! Where should we start?"

True looks at him and says, "Well, how about we start by helping them find Princess Luna so that they can welcome her back?"

Following his friend back to the foreign visitors, he then bows to them politely and says, "Allow me to lead you to the throne room, as Princess Luna is currently watching over the dream realm at this time."

Surprised to hear that, Amira then says, "Oh, we don't want to bother her if she is busy."

Waving his claw, Spike says, "Not at all, I'm sure she would be happy to receive a visitor or two at night. Right this way, if you would, please."

The way to the Throne Room consists mainly of True and the visitors, Haakim and Amira, trading information about each other's lands when True asks, "So a group of travelling ponies came to offer aid against the invaders, could you tell me more about that?"

Amira smiles and looks to her husband saying, "My husband can, he is far better with our ancient history than I am."

Happy to provide further information about a group that helped to bring their kingdom about, Haakim says, "They were a group of noble warriors that helped those in need by giving them whatever they required from their own belongings, always there to help the less fortunate...be they dreadfully ill, starving, homeless, or without a family. They cared not what one's standing was, or how high others' stations were, they helped where they were most needed. They called themselves Heavenly Crusaders and became more famous with our tribe before we had a kingdom, fighting off an invading force of frightful creatures called the Maoniigi that killed stallions regardless of age, and forced themselves upon mares before taking them prisoner." He then continues to tell what he knows of their further achievements before eventually saying, "Then one day, they all just left for somewhere else and we never heard anything about them since, and it was around a thousand years ago that we heard anything about them." Curious, he then asks, "Might you know what became of them?"

Knowing what happened after that, but wanting to keep it secret from Spike, he nods his head and casts a quick privacy barrier to keep sounds in, saying, "I do know, this is just to keep those outside of the barrier from hearing. It isn't known by any besides the ruling princesses, so I would like to keep it that way for now. From what I know through surviving records, they gathered their entire order from all across this world and marched off to fight off a tyrannical unicorn king who wanted to dominate all Equestria and the lands beyond. Though the battle was fierce and cost a terribly large number of lives, decimating their order with just over a hundred thousand slain. It was a victory they could not savor because while they succeeded in wiping out the king's army, they no longer had the strength or numbers to face the mighty king. Forced to flee in disgrace at their failure, the few that survived removed their cloaks and vanished into the shadows of history. What happened to them afterwards is something that I will share when it is appropriate, as it seems that we might have arrived at our destination."

Spike stops tapping his foot impatiently and asks, "Why did you put that privacy barrier up?"

True looks at him and says, "Because they wanted to know more about an order from long ago that vanished, and it isn't a story that a dragon as young as you should hear because of how ugly it is. Did we reach the throne room already?"

Nodding, he says, "We have, would you like me to let the guards know you would like to see Princess Luna?"

The younger stallion looks at his friend, saying, "No offense, Spike, but I think it would be best if I handled things from here as these are visiting foreign dignitaries."

The young dragon goes rigid and blinks a couple of times, looking back and forth between his friend and the foreign ponies with wide eyes, saying, "Uhmm...alright then, go right ahead."

True approaches the two thestral guards and stands tall, saying, "I ask permission to seek an audience with Princess Luna."

One of the guards looks at the other and sees them nod, then faces the stallion facing her, saying, "Very well, I shall inquire about your request." Remaining in place, she uses telepathy to speak with her princess, asking silently, 'Pardon the intrusion, Your Majesty, but True Heart is seeking an audience with you. Do you wish for us to let him in?'

Surprised, yet happy to have him visit her, she exits the Dream Realm and double-checks her appearance on the throne before clearing her mental voice, saying, 'We shall grant him entry.'

When the guards open the door and grant him entry, he looks over at the dignitaries, saying, "Let me go first and find out how she is adjusting to being back to her true self so I can tell you what to expect."

Amira nods and says, "That is very thoughtful of you, thank you."

Nodding and walking through the doors, he walks down the carpet up to Luna and hears them close behind him, saying, "Welcome back to your rightful place, Your Majesty, the lavender smells wonderful and is a nice touch. May I inquire as to how you are adjusting to the changes?"

Princess Luna beams happily and uses her royal voice to bellow, "THANK THEE FOR THY HEARTWARMING WELCOME, FATHFUL SUBJECT. WE APPRECIATE THY LIKING OF THE CHANGES WE HAVE BROUGHT ABOUT, IT PLEASES US GREATLY! THEE MAY! FOR WE ARE MAKING GREAT STRIDES IN ADJUSTING TO HOW MUCH THINGS HAVE PROGRESSED!"

Hearing the glass vibrate behind her from her sister's voice, she sighs mentally and thinks, 'Oh sister, we really need to work on how to talk to others...'

Wincing slightly from the volume, True smiles and walks a bit closer, saying, "Your Majesty, might you listen to a suggestion?"

Nodding sagely, she then bellows, "VERY WELL, WE SHALL HEAR THY THOUGHTS. THEE MAY SPEAK FREELY."

He nods and then says, "Princess Luna, it may benefit you greatly to not use your royal voice outside of royal matters involving official business, could you possibly try to speak to me with a much softer volume?"

Luna thinks it over a moment and nods, using a volume that is half strength of the full royal voice, saying loudly, "IS THIS TONE ACCEPTABLE, MY SUBJECT?"

Thinking that it may take more time to get it right, which is time that True doesn't have tonight, he sighs and then says, "It is much better than before, but still a bit loud. I would spend more time to help you get it right, unfortunately, I will have to return some other time outside of the Gala."

Happy at having a visitor, she smiles and says in a tone lower than before, "WE SHALL LOOK FORWARD TO MAKE FURTHER ADJUSTMENTS, FAITHFUL SUBJECT." Before dismissing him, she then asks, "IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THAT WE CAN DO FOR THEE THIS GLORIOUS NIGHT?"

Not having to think it over, he says, "There is, Princess Luna. I was wondering if you feel comfortable enough allowing two delegates from Saddle Arabia in to greet and welcome you back?"

Realizing this is an unofficial social meeting from how he worded it, Luna tries to lower her voice further and then says, "WE SHALL PERMIT IT, PLEASE BRING THEM IN AND ANNOUNCE THEM TO US."

Nodding, he turns around and heads for the door, pleased that he got her to lower her voice that much. Opening it with his magic, he then looks at the to delegates and says, "She will see you two, but keep in mind that she is still adjusting, so she may be a bit loud and talk in a slightly stiff and old-fashioned way. Could you wait for me to announce you before entering? At seeing their nods, he closes the door and then walks back towards Princess Luna a little ways before stopping and saying in a raised tone, "ANNOUNCING THE ARRIVAL OF THE SADDLE ARABIAN DELEGATES, LADY AMIRA AND HER HUSBAND, SIR HAAKIM!" Stepping aside as he opens the doors wide for the two ponies, watching as they walk forth and then closes the doors before they reach the base of the stairs.

The greeting goes remarkably well in spite of Luna's slightly too loud volume and way of speaking, with the two leaving to let her resume her patrol with an overjoyed smile on her face. Resuming with the tour around the castle, I spot a blindfolded Cadance being guided forward by Shining Armor. Finding it strange, I look to Spike and say, "Show these two around the rest of the castle, Spike, I'm going to go investigate something unusual."

Spike shrugs his shoulders and says, "Alright, head to Pony Joe's when you're finished." then continues down the halls to show them the guest VIP rooms.

True follows the couple through the castle, narrowly avoiding being seen by a guard pony in a section where guests aren't permitted. Winding up tailing them to a tall tower, he hides in a dark shadow behind a crate while watching Shining Armor turn Cadance to face the balcony and remove her blindfold.

Awed by the sight of the beautiful full moon in the night sky above with few clouds scattered throughout the sky, Cadance feels Shining Armor stand right beside her, saying, "Oh Shiny...this view is just amazing..."

Feeling her lean up against him with a happy sigh as she nuzzles against his lower jaw, he then says, "There is only one thing that would be more amazing than this..."

Curious, Cadance nuzzles her body up against his and asks, "Oh? And what might that be, my dear Shiny?"

The observing stallion keeps hidden as he senses a momentus event coming and watches Shining Armor step back from the alicorn then drop to one foreleg while pulling out a light blue, heart-shaped box, opening it while saying, "If you would make me the happiest stallion ever and let me stay at your side forever..."

The sight of the engagement ring shocks her to her very core, causing her eyes to grow to be the size of saucers while sparkles fill her eyes. Unable to respond for several seconds as she squeals happily and jumps for joy in her mind, her hoof rises up to her open mouth as she then kicks her brain, shouting mentally, 'DON'T JUST STAND THERE STARING AT IT, ANSWER HIM!' Regaining her senses moments later, she gasps hastily and looks into Shining Armor's eyes, saying, "Shiny, are you seriously asking what I hope you are asking?"

Shining Armor then smirks and says with a cocked eyebrow, saying, "To marry me? Why wouldn't I want to marry the prettiest mare who only I have eyes for?"

Cadance squeals for joy this time and shouts, "YES! Do you know how long I've been waiting for you to ask!?" Picking up the ring, she puts it onto her horn, looking up at it, saying, "Oh it looks just perfect on me!"

Before they can celebrate too much, True steps out into the open, saying, "Congratulations to the both of you, I wish you happiness and prosperity in your years ahead."

Gasping and reacting in unison, Shining Armor prepares a spell, then spins and jumps forward while she gets behind him as he says, "How dare you intrude on our special moment!" Just then, he realizes that it is True Heart and huffs, asking, "What are you doing in this part of the castle, True Heart? It is off-limits for party guests."

Unfazed by the charged spell, he says, "I was with Spike on a tour of the castle with a pair of high-ranking delegates from Saddle Arabia when I noticed you out of the corner of my eye, which looked suspicious to me, so I turned to look and saw Shining Armor guiding you along with a blindfold over your eyes. Thinking that one of you was up to something, I followed you two up here, which was a little tricky as I almost got caught by a guard once. However, my senses were wrong as I learned that Shining Armor was only proposing."

Able to sense a pony's emotions, Cadance steps out and sighs, saying, "It's alright, Shiny, you can relax, he's being serious and doesn't have any jealousy around him."

Dismissing the spell, Shining Armor relaxes and resumes a normal stance beside his fiance. Realizing that True is friends with Twilight, he starts to feel like he got caught with his hoof in the cookie jar and fidgets a little, asking nervously, "Uhm, w-would you mind not saying anything to anyone, especially my sister?"

True nods, saying, "I shall because I know how upset and hurt your sister will be if it doesn't come from you, so don't wait too long to tell her. You will owe me a favor for this in the future."

Sighing with relief, he drops his head a little and says, "I can agree to that, as long as it is within reason. Thank you."

Looking towards the open window, he then says in a gentle tone, "Since you are officially engaged to each other, I have some advice for you both. Until you two are officially wed, you will have to keep it quiet, which sadly means that Cadance can't wear her ring until at least a year passes and your aunts are quietly informed. Until it is made public by Princess Celestia or Princess Luna, you both are going to have to act as you did before tonight or your engagement will turn out to be a scandal. So I wouldn't go on the balcony with your ring on or some sharp-eyed photographer might just notice and take a picture, enjoy the rest of your night in this room together...but don't get too carried away in the happiness and love."

As the stallion walks away, Shining Armor blushes in embarrassment at the insinuation, saying, "Humph, ever annoying."

Before walking down the spiral stairs, True says, "Oh, Your Majesty, if you ever need a way to have some fun or punish the good captain, just remember...Fides et officium."

Feeling Shining Armor move suddenly, Cadance steps away and looks him over, seeing that he is standing in a rigid, front facing posture that the guards were in so long ago and laughs, saying, "I will remember that phrase, thank you True Heart. How long does it last?"

Looking over at her, he says, "Usually only lasts about 15 to 30 seconds, but can be refreshed by saying it again before it wears off."

Smiling, she then trots over and kisses his forehead, saying, "I will remember the advice you gave us and stick to it, thank you for warning us of the possible outcomes of being too careless." Trotting back over to her fiance, she then smiles and says, "Feel free to stick around if you want to watch me put makeup on Shining Armor and stick a dress on him..."

Able to find some harmless amusement in it, True says, "Mind if I take a picture of that?"

Grinning at knowing how to get him back with it, she agrees, saying, "Not at all, go right ahead as long as I get one too!"

After having fun at Shining Armor's expense, he tucks his picture away and makes his way back to the unrestricted part of the castle after closing the balcony window most of the way for safety. As he heads outside for some fresh air, he sees other ponies sitting on cushions and spots Rarity with a good-looking stallion with a greyish-white coat having a blonde mane and tail. He stands in front of the statue every pony doesn't realize is here and stands before it, noticing that it could use some maintenance. Using his magic to tend to the statue, he is relieved to see it back to its original image, saying, "I swear that I will do whatever I must to help this world remember our order long after we are dust on the wind, brothers."

True stands there looking at the statue in reverence, thinking about the others that have moved on to other pursuits when he sees the stallion Rarity's with pull out a cushion and then claim it for himself. The display causes him to feel disappointment at how the stallion was so rude to her, making him head towards her while pulling a cushion off of a nearby table. Passing beside them casually, he looks to her and smiles, saying, "Apologies, miss, but ravishing young mares like yourself don't deserve to sit on the cold ground wearing such a lovely dress. Here is a gift for you."

Rarity looks at the kind gentlestallion and is shocked to see that it is her friend True to bring her a pillow and say such flattering words to her, causing her to smile and say, "Thank you, kind sir." while hoping to get a jealous reaction from Prince Blueblood. When he does nothing, she huffs in irritation, and sits down on the placed cushion, saying, "Ahh, it is so refreshing to have a real gentlestallion show some manners and be quite flattering. If he continues to be so charming and continues to flirt with me...who knows what will happen?"

Figuring out she is trying to get the other stallion to show interest, he decides to save her from him and says, "It seems that the stallion you're with has no interest towards a talented, stunning mare like yourself. Might I interest you in a dance, Miss?"

Smiling at a genuine chance to have fun for once, she gets up and collects her pillow, saying, "I would enjoy that very much, thank you. You may call me Rarity, what might your name be, kind stallion?"

Taking the first step towards the ballroom, he plays along, saying, "My name is True Heart, miss Rarity. I can't believe that an extremely gifted mare as yourself made my outfit all by yourself, did you also make the dress you're wearing?"

Shaking her head and walking beside him happily, Rarity says, "Not at all, I was going through a rough patch and didn't have the time to start on it. However, I have some wonderful friends that came through and made it for me...following the meticulous designs I had drawn out. How did you first learn of my boutique in Ponyville?"

True chuckles and says, "Well, I was passing through Ponyville one day and I heard the townsponies talking about a mare with a serious gift for fashion, so I decided that I would put your talent to the test by telling you I wanted an outfit that was simple, yet elegant. This very outfit is the result, and I am pleased with it because it is truly one of a kind just like you are."

Blushing as he spins his tale, she bumps her flank against his playfully, saying, "Awwe, such a flatterer." then sets the pillow upon the cart for used pillows.

Taking a deep breath, he says, "Wow, the further you get from that stallion makes the very air smell sweeter, can you notice that?"

Chuckling under her breath, Rarity says, "No I cannot, but some members of the Canterlot Elite can be quite tiresome to be around." and then hears mares whispering questions like, 'Did he really draw a mare away from Prince Blueblood?!" As they group together to discuss what just happened, she overhears how shocked they are by a royal being shown up. Glancing over her shoulder with one eye towards the prince, she sees him look at the group first, then at her before sticking his nose into the air and snorting derisively, thinking, 'After a few dances, I'll give him a second chance to redeem himself.'

Heading towards the ballroom, they sample the fancier foods offered before smelling the delicious food from Applejack's stall and walks over with Rarity, saying, "Get whatever you would like as I will gladly pay for it."

She smiles at his behavior and then turns to Applejack, saying, "Two apple dumplings, please." then asks, "How are the sales going, darling?"

Smiling, Applejack says, "Two dumplings coming right up." Putting two dumplings on a tray, she brings it up and sets it down, saying, "That'll be four bits." Collecting the bits from True, she sighs, saying, "Not well at all, only sales ah made were an apple pie, and two dumplings."

Seeing the disappointed look upon her face, True then looks around and says, "It might be a bit too quiet around here, so I would recommend moving to a slightly busier area like the rest area we just came from. Ponies over there might be more inclined to buy something and eat while they rest and talk."

Thankful for the tip, the earth pony's smile widens as she then nods her head, saying, "Thanks a bunch for that helpful tip, ah'll head over there now."

While holding their dumplings, they watch Applejack grab her cart and move it towards the rest area, taking a few moments to enjoy the delicious food that Applejack made herself before making their way toward the ballroom.

After passing through an open doorway, True leads Rarity to the dance floor and starts dancing with an older style she recognizes. Utterly delighted at him knowing the style, Rarity switches to it, saying happily, "My, I didn't know that you were such a classic."

Happy that she is having fun, he continues leading and says, "I figured that I better study dancing if I ever came upon a situation that might call for it, I'm glad that studying them paid off."

Without realizing it, a few other couples join in on the dancing, mirroring their movements. As the songs change, True ends each dance by lifting his partner's right hoof and kissing the upper part of it.

Feeling on top of the world, Rarity's legs begin to feel sore and sticks through to the end of the dance. When her pastern is kissed, she returns her hoof to the ground and curtsies to her friend, saying, "Thank you for a lovely time, True, I have enjoyed myself immensely. I would dance with you more, but I must head elsewhere."

Genuflecting to her normally, True says, "I am pleased to hear you say that, milady, I hope you enjoy the rest of your night." Once she heads out, he makes his way across the room to do something else.

An hour passes as things start to go a little wild when Pinkie takes over the music, trying to get everyone to liven up. However that turns into a crazy scene when Rarity opens the door for Prince Blueblood and walks in after him with a soaking wet shawl draped over her shoulders. As Applejack pushes a huge cake in on a rolling cart with a big smile for all the hoity-toity ponies to enjoy, the music stops suddenly as Pinkie Pie shouts, "Stage dive!" When she leaps off the stage, stretching her legs out wide while sailing right for the cart carrying the cake.

It transforms into a disaster when True sees Pinkie Pie land on the edge of the cart and catapult the tall cake into the air, unable to react quick enough when it heads right for Rarity and Prince Blueblood. Expecting the stallion to step in front of Rarity, he is disappointed and angered when the stallion moves Rarity in front of him. When the cake splatters all over her and ruins her gown in the process, he snorts and starts heading towards the two when Rarity spins around and growls at the stallion who hid behind her.

Rarity then blows her top and starts stomping towards him while giving him an earful, shouting, "You, sir are the most uncharming stallion I have ever met! In fact, the only thing royal about you, is that you are a royal pain in the rump!"

As he watches her back him against the wall, he smiles a little when she whips her mane back and forth, causing the cake's remnants to splatter him. While backing away on his back hooves, he stumbles and strikes a podium carrying a large statue of an alicorn, causing it to teeter forward and fall towards a group of ponies, shouting, "RAINBOW!"

Seeing her chance to impress the Wonderbolts, she raises her wings, saying, "This is it, my chance to show off my skill!" then dashes forth to catch the statue.

While Prince Blueblood struggles to get to his hooves, Rainbow struggles to balance the statue on her back and bumps into one of the towering columns. The nudge turns out to be just enough to make the column lean over and strike another column beside it, which causes a cascading effect due to the circular room, saying, "Get to the center of the room and put up a protective shield!"

The ponies rush to the center as he drags the dazed stallion into the group by his tail, casting his own shield to keep them safe when the others fail to. Once the dust settles, he calls out, "Is everypony alright?"

A chorus of yeses sound out when the dazed stallion then says, "No..."

True looks at him with a questioning look, asking, "Where are you hurt?"

Prince Blueblood then sniffles and says, "I-I'm all dirty, and my outfit is ruined..."

Realizing he is fine, he huffs as the stallion gets back onto his hooves, shifting his eyes to Rarity's dress and saying, "Pardon me, Lady Rarity, but may I borrow your shawl a moment?"

Confused, Rarity nods her head, saying, "Of course, but it is dripping wet."

Seeing the question in her eyes, he picks up the shawl around the middle of it, saying, "It seems there is a flower here in dire need of pampering..."

Lost and unable to understand what he means, she asks, "Huh? What do you mean?"

With a smile, True then says, "You will find out shortly." and turns towards the spoiled stallion, saying, "Square yourself up and I will begin cleaning."

Standing up tall, Prince Blueblood holds his head high with a smile, saying, "Now this is how I should be treated..."

Bringing the shawl back, he then admonishes him in a harsh tone, "I have seen many things in my life, but never have I seen a stallion so conceited and self-concerned as you." Without warning he then uses the shawl as a whip and strikes him across the face hard, drawing a cry of pain out of him, saying, "You have been so spoiled by life in the palace so badly that you expect everypony to wait on you and do everything for you, leaving you to see everypony around you as a lowly servant."

Turning his face to look at the stallion in shock and horror, he says, "Y-You just struck me, h-how dare you harm royalty?!"

Striking him across the face harder on the opposite side, it causes the stallion to stumble to his left as he continues his tirade, saying, "I have heard rumors about you, Prince Blueblood, and with how you've behaved tonight..." Bringing the shawl back around to send him back the other way with a loud smack, he continues, "It is all too clear that you have no respect for the opposite gender, and you are either ignorant of the fact that mares greatly outnumber stallions by at least 5 to 1...or you simply couldn't care less because mares are beneath you."

Celestia and Twilight walk into the room through a pair of gold doors, with Celestia asking, "What is all the commotion in here?" Taking in the state of the room's destruction, they then hear a loud slap come from the center of the group of ponies followed by a cry of pain, watching in shock with their mouths hanging open as they see Prince Blueblood walk backward out of the group, saying, "S-Striking a royal is a crime! Stop at once and I'll get my aunt to pardon you!"

Not caring for who watches, True Heart then says, "I could care less about that, but what means more to me is that you learn the proper way to treat those around you." He then strikes him again and splits the stallions lower lip open, saying, "That goes double for how you see mares..." He then trails off as an idea comes to his mind, then moves the soaking wet shawl over him and wrings it out. When the last drop of water hits Prince Blueblood, he hands the shawl back to Rarity, saying, "Thank you for letting me borrow that, it is finally time that he learns something useful to society..."

Unable to look away or do anything, she puts the shawl back around her neck and asks, "What are you going to do to him now?"

Smirking, he looks at her out of the corner of his eye, saying, "Wait and see, you will be sure to have quite the laugh." Looking back to the sniffling older stallion, he then stands tall and says, "It is time for you to learn how the other feels by walking a mile in their shoes..." Preparing a spell he never had the desire to try before, he sinks more of his magic into it and then hits Prince Blueblood with the spell.

Celestia and Twilight watch curiously as the stallion's body shimmers brightly and then begins to change, growing longer in the body and shrinking down a bit in height while becoming more slender all around. Once the changes are finished, Celestia can't stop a snicker from escaping her lips, having to use a hoof to keep herself from bursting out laughing at seeing her nephew's new form.

When True looks at the stallion's new form, he inspects it carefully to see if everything is correct and stands before them. With a nod to the stallion, he says, "With this new form to serve as your penance for your transgressions against others, I shall leave you to your thoughts...Princess Blueblood."

Feeling smaller, Prince Blueblood's eyes widen at the implication that he is now a mare, causing him to worry and panic, saying in a much more feminine tone, "Wha-Wha-What did you do to my marvelous body, heathen!?"

Looking into the mare's face before him, he says, "Why, I was merciful enough to give you the chance to experience life as a mare does, meaning that you are a mare...inside and out. Don't worry, for the spell can be undone...as long as you do not become with foal during the spring season approaching. If that happens, I'm afraid that you will be stuck like that until it can be studied further to explain why that is."

His eyes widen fearfully as he then says, "As the nephew to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, I ORDER you to undo this spell IMMEDIATELY!"

True then sighs and says, "I'm sorry, but I refuse. I don't take orders from spoiled royals, their commands mean less to me than a fly's fart in a hurricane. If you would please take your leave now, I would be most grateful as I have reached my limit to deal with ponies like you for one day." Turning around as others start to snicker and laugh, he walks away as Rarity follows him with laughter in her eyes.

Fighting against the urge to faint at the massive scene she just witnessed, she slaps her right forehoof to her head and groans, "Well...at least it can't get any worse than this..."

No sooner than finishing saying that, a loud rumbling sounds from outside. Her attention is drawn to a pair of golden double doors that are shaking, when they suddenly burst open as a horde of animals comes barreling through them with a familiar voice behind them, shouting, "YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE ME!!"

As ponies start to run every which way in fright, he gathers the other girls he knows together when he hears a sharp whistle from across the room. Looking over, he sees Twilight waving them over, shouting, "Over here!" Heading for the door where Celestia is standing beside it, he sees her watch him with a narrow-eyed smirk, saying, "Apologies, Your Majesty, I will accept whatever punishment you deem worthy when this is over."

Fighting back her laughter, she stays behind to calm things down, thinking, 'How could I punish someone for causing me to have so much fun at the Gala?'

True follows the others down the stairs and comes across a shattered glass shoe belonging to Rarity, and picks it up on reflex before tucking all the pieces away. When they get to safety, he follows Twilight as she leads them to Pony Joe's doughnut shop, where Spike has been waiting and asks about the Gala.

When they all sit around a table and order a dozen doughnuts of different kinds, Spike listens to them say how Twilight's night went, saying, "Wow, that sounds like the worst night ever." when they all chime in and shout that it was, laughing afterwards.

Moments after Twilight comments about hoping Celestia isn't angry for the Gala disaster, he sees the princess enter through the front door, saying, "That was the best Grand Galloping Gala I have ever attended!"

As True hears Twilight talk to Celestia about it, she remains in a good mood and assuages her concerns about it, saying, "Oh, Twilight, the gala is always like that." Once Twilight responds, she continues and says, "Of course, which is why I was so pleased that you all were attending. I was really hoping you might shake things up. Although things may not have gone as you had intended, I believe you'll agree in the end that it didn't turn out so awful for this group of friends you have."

Minutes pass as Celestia looks at True Heart with a warm smile, asking, "Speaking of the best night ever... True Heart, although I find what you did to my spoiled niece..." coughing and correcting herself, "Ahem, nephew...greatly amusing. Is he in any danger from the transmogrification spell you cast upon him?"

Shaking his head, he says, "Not at all, because it is completely reversible as I said. As long as he doesn't fall prey to nature's call, he can be restored to his former self. The real question is...should I? He seems far better suited as a mare in my opinion."

Laughing softly while looking up in momentary thought, Princess Celestia then says, "Hmm, I will have to observe his actions and figure that out, though I would like to know where you learned such a complicated spell. Can you please tell me where you learned it?"

Nodding his head as Twilight voices her desire to learn it too, he says, "I learned it from an old tome in my family's secret library, and I could help you learn it if your mentor approves."

More curious than ever, the princess fights the burning desire to know more about the secret library and forces herself to let it go for now until she discovers more, saying, "I would appreciate to learn more about it in the future, whenever you feel ready to share." She then looks over at her student, who is buzzing with excitement at hearing of a secret library and a new spell. Chuckling, she says, "I will let you study it once it is fully understood, okay, Twilight?"

Beaming a wide smile, she nods ecstatically and says, "Oh thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, thankyou, Celestia!"

Making their way home an hour later by carriage, Twilight asks True a bunch of questions about the secret library and begs to see it one day. Unfortunately, to her annoyance, all she manages to get out of him is that it is well hidden and that he might be able to show her one day in the future if it was important enough.

14: Luna's first Nightmare Night

As True works harder to strengthen himself to handle moving in his coat of mail by carrying four bushel baskets of Zap Apples to the barn, he prepares the cathedral for nightmare night that he decided to try having since Nightmare Moon was defeated and Luna returned to Equestria this year.

When the big night finally arrives, the stallion dresses up as a soldier and stands just behind the fence to wait for when the younger ponies start arriving with a guardian. The time finally comes several minutes later as ponies line up for the haunted cathedral he set up, then prepares his usual speech, saying, "Greetings on this wonderful Nightmare Night, before the tour begins, I will tell you that there are four important things to remember before going inside. The first is that: Nothing you see inside is real., the second is: The only danger here is falling and injuring yourselves., the third is: If you get injured or break a bone, I can heal you as long as it is not a more serious injury., and the last is: If you get too scared to continue or start feeling ill, you can always ask to leave. Before I continue any farther, I shall tell you now that the only spells allowed within are illumination spells if you are unfortunate enough to get separated from the group. I have a few ghostly friends inside to help out with a few parts that are no danger to you in any way, I assure you that they are not Windigoes, so do not be afraid of them. With the announcement out of the way, let the tours begin."

Getting into character, True uses an old way of speaking and greets the first group, "We Welcome thou all to these frightful, once-hallowed grounds, brave ponies. Grim news do we bring to thee about troubles which began a fortnight ago..."

Making her way into the throne room, Celestia sees her sister looking bored on the throne and chuckles, asking, "Not much patrolling to do tonight, sister?"

Sighing, she looks up from her spot on the throne, saying, "Unfortunately, not yet." Wanting something to do, she then asks, "Since I'm not too busy, is there anything we can do together as sisters?"

Knowing of one thing she has been wanting to do with her sister, she smiles and says, "Well, when you transformed into Nightmare Moon long ago, a tradition came into existence that eventually got me to recognize it as an official holiday at the end of October. I haven't been out during it because of two reasons, the biggest reason was that I was missing you. The second reason was because the duties I was dealing with left me too exhausted to do anything but sleep." Walking up to her sister, she nuzzles her cheek and pulls away, saying, "Since you have returned, I have had more energy to spend a few extra hours with you, sister." Smiling at her, she then asks, "Would you like to oversea one thing that our friend started doing after the Cathedral was finished? I even have a long distance listening crystal that we can use to hear what is going on where the telescope is looking."

Curious about the new tradition and happy for a chance to spend time with her sister, she smiles and nods, then gets off the throne, saying, "I would like that very much and learn more about this holiday. Do we need to go to the observatory tower?"

Celestia nods, saying, "That is the strongest telescope in our castle, plus I can use a projection crystal so that we don't have to switch back and forth between the lens."

Making their way to the tower at a trot, Luna gets the honor to attune the telescope to the front of the Celestial Cathedral in Ponyville. Adjusting it to the gathered line of ponies out past the fence, she then lets Celestia set the crystals in place to let them see and hear what is going on out front.

When her sister finishes fine tuning the crystals, the first thing they both hear is a crack of lighting followed by shrieks of terror followed later by peals of laughter from the ponies outside, causing Luna to be concerned and ask, "Are our subjects in peril, should we go investigate their screams?"

The older sister shakes her head, saying, "Not just yet sister, let us keep watching. If it looks like there is trouble, we will let Twilight and the Elements to handle it if we deem them capable."

Letting herself relax, Luna gets comfortable on a pillow and continues to watch the floating image before them curiously. A few minutes pass as a group of foals escorted by an adult and True Heart dressed as a war-torn royal guard, asking, "Did he acquire that from our old castle?"

Nodding her head, Celestia says, "From the looks of it, I think he found a way into the restricted armory."

Surprised to hear that, she turns to her and asks, "But isn't that only accessible by us?"

Turning to her sister, she sighs and says, "Yes, however, it seems that he somehow knows of another way." Turning back to the image, she huffs and shuffles her legs to get more comfortable, saying, "I keep learning more intriguing things about True Heart, sister. The first time I ever saw him was as a young foal in the gardens with one of our elder unicorn groundskeepers, Thunder Magic." Recalling that there was a statue there in front of them, she adds, "I heard a flock of birds take flight and turned to see them standing in front of a monument to the fallen order of Heavenly Crusaders."

With this being the first she's hearing of it, Luna cocks her head and asks, "There's a statue to their order?"

Nodding, she says, "Yes, it is somewhere in a far corner of the gardens, and I don't understand why I keep forgetting it exists. The first time I remember ever seeing it is when I first moved in, but it appears to be from before your banishment."

As they continue to talk about the curious young stallion, Luna then says, "I wonder what other secrets True Heart is not sharing with us, sister..."

Continuing to watch the image and listen to True Heart speak to the next group, Celestia says, "I don't know, but we will find out through careful conversation with him whenever we have encounters with him. One thing that I've learned from talking with him and hearing about him through Twilight's letters, is that he's careful with how he words things around his friends and us especially."

Nervous, the younger sister turns to her sister, then asks, "Sister, are you sure that he has the potential to be like us?"

Lifting her head up and turning to face her sister, she nods assuredly, saying, "I am, because when he took a strange pose and chanted a phrase in Latin, I thought nothing of it and translated it moments later." Telling her sister what else she saw, heard and felt, she trembles lightly and says, "Luna, I had no idea what kind of spell he cast and those flames scared me, I was about to dispel it when I noticed that he wasn't being harmed. I only realized that it was some kind of prophecy spell when I heard him speak, when it was finished, he passed out and his body was forever changed by the spell. Both worried and curious, I collected his materials to learn more about the spell he used while he was unconscious. What I found shocked me, there were various scrolls written in five different languages, Luna...and I could only understand one written in Latin. True Heart wasn't even close to being 16 yet and he was able to understand 5 written languages and decoded a spell using all five of them."

Looking at the stallion in question with wide eyes as he greets another group of foals wanting to go inside, Luna says, "True Heart is a stallion that we must go to great lengths to observe and watch out for, then." Unable to look away from him, she asks, "Do you wish he would have been your pupil instead of Twilight?"

Thinking it over for a moment, Celestia then sighs and shakes her head, saying, "As much as I want to say yes, I must admit that Twilight was and is the best choice to be my pupil. Unfortunately, True Heart seems to beyond any tutoring we can offer...at least until he becomes one of us, I hope."

Concerned, she slides over beside her sister and lays her wing over her, saying, "We will do what we can to help him out as he follows his own path."

Wanting to make the rest of their night together fun, she nods with a smile and looks at her younger sister asking, "Would you want to tour this 'haunted cathedral' with me in different forms, Lulu? I've never been to one before."

Wanting to try it, Luna nods and says, "I would, but how shall we go? Two fillies or do you have something in mind?"

Thinking it over, Celestia then looks at the image and says, "There seem to be chaperones with groups of foals, though there are groups of older ponies lining up in small clusters. We could either go as a mare and her filly, with me as the mother...or we could go as two teenage sisters. Which one would you prefer?"

Observing the image a bit, she watches True Heart greet the older ponies a bit differently, asking them if they are prepared for a scarier version of the same tour. Making her decision, she then says, "It appears that the tours for the foals have stopped, so, it would be best to not raise suspicion and go as teenage sisters."

Nodding her head, she says, "Alright then, let us take on smaller forms with blue and light yellow colors opposite to each other, with each of us having green eyes slightly different shades."

Standing up and moving off her pillow, Luna smiles, saying, "Okay, here I go." then uses a spell to change her appearance and size, picking a shorter light golden yellow unicorn mare with forest green eyes, and a blue mane and tail. The last change she makes is switching her cutie mark to a ruby split in half, changing to a younger voice in case she has to speak, saying, "How is this?"

Smiling and liking her sister's appearance, Celestia says, "Very well done, Lulu." Changing her own voice, appearance, and size to be identified as her twin sister with a lighter shade of green eyes, she picks an image of a diamond with a bright sparkle on one of the upper facets, saying, "I shall go by the name Star Shine, what will you choose, sister?"

Thinking of something somewhat like her sister's, she says, "Hmm...I will go by Rising Light."

Standing up and moving beside her sister, she says, "Be sure to talk with the same volume as we are using now while in these forms, because we will need to act like our subjects. If you're not ready to try talking to others in public yet, you can remain quiet and smile politely while acting shy and nervous. Are you ready to go?"

Taking a breath and nodding, she watches her sister collect the crystals and deactivates them. Putting them away, she then removes her regalia with a giggle, hearing her say, "Almost forgot that we aren't the royal sisters Princess Celestia and Princess Luna right now, silly me."

Giggling, Luna removes hers and puts them away, saying, "Now we won't raise suspicion as much."

Leading a few groups through the catacombs, the line gets shorter after the night wears on when two sisters arrive, with the light colored one dressed like a Timber Wolf and the other like a Thestral. Not caring that they make the line a tad longer, he goes through his greeting and then leads them into the dark labyrinth he has set up.

Several minutes pass as they watch him return with the group, giving them slices of caramel rainbow apples to eat. When they walk past them and head back to town, they overhear them talk about wishing they could have made it to the end and win the prize for completing the tour. Seeing a cart to the left of the line, Rising Light reads the sign above it, saying, "Grand Prize for thou braving the Haunted Cathedral's terrors."

While they stallion gives his speech to the next group, Star Shine looks around the others in the line and asks, "Excuse me, sir knight, but have any brave ponies completed the challenge this night?"

Looking to the mare that just spoke, True Heart nods and says, "Two groups have braved the perils lurking within and came out unscathed." He then begins to lead the group inside.

The two sisters stand in line, anxiously waiting for their turn as Rising Light says softly into her sister's ear, "I'm glad I remembered seeing the ponies paying a candy toll, it was interesting going to a few places to gather enough to pay it."

Nuzzling her back, she smiles and says, "I would do anything to have more time with my beloved sister."

When the time comes for the sister's group to enter the Cathedral, True heart greets them, not realizing that the two ponies are Celestia and Luna, saying, "Welcome to the Celestial Cathedral, miladies. Have either of you been on one of these tours before?" When they shake their heads, he smiles and says, "Very good to hear, there are four important things to remember before going inside. The first is that: Nothing you see inside is real., the second is that: The only danger here is falling and injuring yourselves., the third is that: If you get injured or break a bone, I can heal you as long as it is not a more serious injury., and the last is that: If you get too scared to continue or start feeling ill, you can always ask to leave. Before I continue any farther, I shall tell you now that the only spells allowed within are illumination spells if you are unfortunate enough to get separated. I have a few helpers of the ghost variety that will not harm you in any way, I assure you that they are not Windigoes, so be not afraid of them."

Once he reaches the end of his initial greeting, he gets into character, saying, "We Welcome thou all to these frightful, once-hallowed grounds, brave ponies. Grim news do we bring to thee about troubles which began a fortnight ago. Deep in prayer were we when there was a rumble that came from down below, go to investigate it did we. Discover the cause we had, for long-forgotten creatures had crawled out of the ground or breached the veil between worlds. Only on this night was it possible, to tear through what keeps us safe from what lies beyond death, as it is thinnest during just a single night out of the entire year."

Seeing them both trembling lightly, he continues, saying, "Greatly outnumbered were we, unable to beat them back and were then forced to flee. Managing to contain them are we for now, until salvation arrives." Looking up at them hopefully, he asks, "Might ye be capable of aiding us in our quest to seal them all away?"

Looking at each other, they notice the other trembling and giggle delightfully before turning back to him, saying, "We will do our best!"

Bowing his head to them, he says, "We are most grateful for thine assistance, for the barriers shan't last much longer. Go now, must all of us, though we have powerful talismans for thee to battle the fiends lurking within." Grabbing a couple of hoof-sized sacks full of candy hidden within candy gems, he then hands the bags to them, saying, "Accompany me inside, a challenge lies within. Though ye must both pay the toll of 1 piece of candy each, so that we may appease the wardens overseeing Nightmare Moon's cell and ensure her cravings are sated for another year."

Excited by what he said, they pay the toll as Rising Light turns to her sister, asking, "I wonder what lies in store for us?"

As Star Shine sees him use an old spell to seal doors, she chuckles and says, "We will both find out very soon. I wonder which of us will be the first to scream."

When the doors close behind them with a boom, they watch as the ancient locking spell is put back onto the doors. Once the golden spell finishes, the room is engulfed in darkness with the only light coming from glowing crystals scattered along the edges of the narrow black corridor they find themselves in.

As they stand there amidst a low fog not going higher than their pasterns, a low mournful wail is heard from somewhere nearby as Rising Light looks around to see cobwebs in places across the ceiling a few feet above their heads when she hears faint giggles from farther ahead.

Making their way down the corridor, Star Shine is the first to jump when a crate jumps off a stand and falls to the ground with a loud crash.

When there is a loud crack of thunder and lightning overhead, suddenly illuminating some well hidden statues of angry, two-legged shaggy-haired creatures resembling dogs with very sharp-looking claws, they both cry out in alarm and run behind their guide as he chuckles, saying, "That creature was quite tricky to defeat with its speed, sharp claws, and ability to see perfectly in the dark of night. Don't stray too far or thee might get snatched away by one of the creatures deeper in and carried off to the land of the dead, where thou will have to follow a spirit guide to find thy way back to us..."

By the time they reach the lower floor, both sisters are pressed against each other, walking side by side and trembling nervously when they spot the skeleton of a two-legged creature start crawling out from under a fallen stack of barrels, groaning out, "So...hungry."

Responding to its appearance, he backs towards the side of the corridor, saying, "QUICK, OFFER IT A RED JEWEL AND IT MAY RETURN TO ITS SLUMBER!"

Crying out in fright, Star Shine hastily pulls a red gem out of the bag and moves it in front of the undead creature, saying, "Eat this, not me!"

Once it sees two gems before it, it reaches up and clutches them in it's skeletal hand, saying, "Thank...you..." before crawling backwards to where it emerged.

Leading the two mares through the dark corridors with them offering the suggested gems to each potential snatcher, True is impressed they made it halfway through without getting grabbed, saying, "Ye have braved many perils thus far, but the most frightful lie further ahead."

Gulping nervously, they press on, determined to finish the challenge together. As they round a bend, they lose sight of their guide and call out for him. When there is no answer, they both let out ear-piercing shrieks as they are suddenly swept away by shadow creatures. Finding themselves in a dark, boarded up room, their hearts hammer away in their chests as Rising Light says, "H-How do w-we get out of t-this, sister?"

Star Shine looks around with wide eyes as she tries to force her heart out of her throat, saying with a forced chuckle, "I-I don't know, look around for anything that might provide a hint to our escape."

Rising Light looks around for a bit when she spots a subtle, glowing red text and reads it aloud, saying, "Twice shall show you the way." Looking up to her sister, she asks, "What do you think that means?"

Thinking it over a moment, she then spots a glint above her and illuminates her horn to see, spotting a large bell above her. Figuring it out, she then giggles, saying, "We must have to ring the bell above us twice to find the way out, we must be in the bell tower."

Finding a rope in the corner, they pull it twice and see a door lift up to reveal a spiral staircase leading down, illuminated in a bright cerulean glow with mist flowing up from the corners of the floor. Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, they spot a glowing orb hovering before them, hearing a faint voice say, "Follow."

Waiting for them at the corner where they were snatched, he hears a couple high-pitched screams from above and waits for them to return. When they return a few minutes later, the ghost vanishes and heads to the next part. Heading towards them, he then bows, saying, "A thousand apologies, we had no idea there were mischievous gremlins about." Straightening back up, he asks, "Shall we continue on, miladies?"

Pushing on, Rising Light is the next one to shriek as the decomposing bodies of multiple ponies shamble towards them groaning, 'hunger'

After having to offer gems to each one, their supply is running pretty low. Making their way past more obstacles that gets one of them to shriek, they come across a large room with a large, skeletal dragon surrounded by a deep red, electrified mist.

Sensing intruders, the dragon raises her head slowly, grumbling at being woken and brings her head around to gaze upon them with a baleful glare. Letting out a breath of red smoke and red sparks, the skeletal dragoness growls out, "WHO DISTURBS MY SLUMBER?!"

Hearing the two sisters shriek in fear at the sight before them, he trembles and says, "Heavens above...it appears that the tear became large enough to let the dragon god Livalyel to enter our world and try to expand her rule. QUICK! OFFER WHAT GEMS THOU HAVE LEFT OR SHE SHALL SEND US ALL TO THE LAND OF THE DEAD SHE RULES OVER WITH AN IRON CLAW AND FIERY BREATH!"

Frightened by the sight of the of the true monstrosity before her, Rising Light frantically searches through her bag and empties it. Finding only two large gems, an emerald and a diamond, she bows before the creature and shouts, "THIS IS ALL I HAVE, YOUR MAJESTY, PLEASE SHOW MERCY!"

Looking the trembling ponies over before her, she moves her skeletal head closer and inspects the offered gems. Once two more gems are added by the blue mare, she snorts out a puff of sparking smoke, saying in a booming voice, "SUCH A PALTRY OFFERING I SEE BEFORE ME! I SHOULD DEVOUR YOU ALL FOR SUCH AN INSULT...HOWEVER, I SHALL BE GENEROUS AS DIAMONDS AND EMERALDS ARE MY FAVORITE TO SNACK ON." Taking the gems in her red magic, she grabs them with her claw and says, "AS A SHOW OF GOOD FAITH, I SHALL RETURN AND REPAIR THE DAMAGED VEIL. FARE THEE WELL, MORTALS." Shifting into a low-lying smoke, she slinks away out of view with her candy, whispering into her husband's mind, 'Just so you know, dear, those two mares are actually Celestia and Luna in disguise.'

Raising an eyebrow at hearing that, he replies, 'Oh? Well then I should punish them for fooling me...' Getting back into character, he then lets out a relieved sigh, facing the two disguised mares and says, "Thank heavens she was pleased with the offering, or we would of had to face her in battle. Let us leave this place and let her work her magic to restore things to their proper place."

Smiling to each other, they happily trot after him as he leads them out. When they walk out from where they entered, the doors shut behind them as the bell rings out twice in celebration of their achievement.

Leading them back to where the line was, there are no other ponies waiting as it is near the end of Nightmare Night as he stops beside the cart carrying the Grand Prize for completing the tour, bowing to them, saying, "We are most grateful for thine help in making this a sacred place once again, brave ponies." Picking up the box on top, he then offers it towards them, saying, "Please accept these delicacies in thanks for aiding us in our time of need."

Wide smiles cross their faces at succeeding in their goal together, with Rising Light saying with tears in her eyes, "We did what we set out to do sister, this is going to be a night I will treasure for a long, long time."

As the two begin to walk away, True Heart watches as the light unicorn puts the large box across her saddlebags and trots towards them, dropping his act and saying, "Oh and one more thing before you go, ladies?"

Star Shine stops and turns, looking right at him as he gets closer, asking, "Yes, what would tha-" when she suddenly feels him lock lips with her and slip his tongue inside her mouth.

Rising Light chuckles at seeing her sister being kissed passionately by a much younger stallion, egging her sister on when she sees her wrap her forehooves around his neck, saying, "OOH, looks like somepony's really enjoying the attention..."

Moaning softly in delight at the passionate kiss, she remembers that she is in public and slowly removes her hooves from his neck, asking, "Wh-Why thank you for that breathtaking kiss, kind sir, but I'm afraid that I am not looking for a special somepony at this time."

With a smile, he then starts turning towards the other sister, saying, "Is that because the both of you are a thousand years more experienced than I am, Your Majesties?"

Star Shine is shocked speechless at him figuring out who they were through their disguises, when her jaw drops open at how he starts making out with her sister.

As Rising Light finds herself backing up into a column, she sets the box down on the ground and lets him press her back up against it. Getting a little too into it she pulls away and nips at his neck, moaning softly while trying to wrap her tail around his.

Blushing fiercely at her sister being so forward, she clears her throat, saying, "Ahem, we are in public, sister, so please don't start mating in front of me."

Chuckling, she returns to her hooves with dilated eyes, saying, "Awe, someone wanted more..." When her sister stammers at his approach, she is silenced as he kisses her more passionately, asking him, "How did you figure us out?"

Once he stops, leaving both sisters with dilated eyes and waving their tails slightly, True says, "My wife saw the auras of your magic and then told me about it."

Huffing lightly in annoyance, Star Shine then says, "We will just have to work harder so you can't see through our disguises." Turning to her sister, she then says, "Let us return home and enjoy our reward together, sister."

Putting the box back on her saddlebags, Rising Light sidles up to True Heart and nips his right ear, saying, "Thank you for such a fun and memorable night, True. I might return next year to go through it again." Turning, she then walks away with a little sway in her hips.

With the closing hour nearing, True makes his way back to the front doors and removes the seal. Walking in, he then calls in, "Alright everyone, that's it for tonight. I'm heading over to join the others by the statue of Nightmare Moon to make the offering, thank you for all the help!"

Numerous laughs come from inside as they all give their response, commenting about hoping to do it again next year as four ghostly orbs appear floating before him with one of them replying in a familiar voice, "Thanks for giving us the chance to have a little fun tonight, it was very enjoyable to have a little fun making them shriek in fright at our actions."

Nodding, he smiles and says, "I'm glad that I was able to get in touch with you at all."

Swift Dart dances around him, saying, "We truly appreciate you reaching out to us with that spell." Feeling a little sad about having nothing else to do but wander, she looks to the others, then back to him and asks, "Uhm...would you have a problem with me hanging around here? It's rather boring in the spirit realm."

Surprised to hear her ask, the others watch True Heart curiously for his reply.

Having no problem with it, True smiles and says, "Not at all. Will you need me to relocate your remains to a preferred spot from where they lie?"

Swift looks around to track the direction of her remains, finding them in a peaceful meadow six feet down beside many others. Turning her head back to the stallion, she then says, "Nope, mine have been given a proper burial in a beautiful spot behind the old castle."

Looking to the others, he asks, "Do any of you need remains collected from where you perished?"

As they all search for the location of their remains, one orb moves forth, saying, "I do, unfortunately. My remains are trapped in a collapsed section of the dungeon, shall I guide you to them?"

Smiling at her, True Heart then says, "We can retrieve them tomorrow after mass, as there is a final task left for me to do tonight. Will that be alright?"

Nodding with a smile, she says, "That will be just fine, another day or week under the debris won't do any more damage than what was already done."

Before turning to head outside, he smiles and says, "Alright then, I will be back in about a half-hour, then we can take everything down."

She smiles and watches him go, saying, "Alright, I will help the others start cleaning up in the meantime." Turning to the others, she asks, "Why don't we all go make ourselves useful?"

Hearing a chorus of agreements, True turns and heads out, saying, "Thank you so much girls."

Making his way to the gathering at the statue with the black cauldron full of offerings, he waits for them to finish placing candy next to the statue and approaches it while preparing to put on a small show to close out the night. Bowing his head in reverence, he begins his act, saying in a loud voice, "The heavens above Equestria were free of Nightmare Moon's presence thus far," then places the full cauldron upon the ground before the statue and uses a spell to detect hidden traps just to make use of its unique yellow, flame-like aura, continuing, "but I pray that the offerings brought forth tonight are enough to please the wardens overlooking her cell and ensure her cravings remains sated through one more year." Raising his voice and throwing his head to the sky, he calls out to signal Marougeka, saying, "OH MIGHTY WARDENS WATCHING OVER NIGHTMARE MOON, HEAR ME! OFFERINGS HAVE BEEN GATHERED, I SEEK AN AUDIENCE WITH ONE OF YOU IN HOPE THEY GAIN YOUR APPROVAL!"

Having borrowed a set of Thestral royal guard armor for this, Marougeka transforms into a black cloud and rushes forth from a distance. Stopping and hovering beside the statue, she returns to her regular form and looks down upon the armored soldier she knows is True Heart and calls down to him, shouting, "WE HAVE HEARD THY SUMMONS AND I HAVE BEEN SENT TO GAUGE THE OFFERING THOU BRING." Looking down at the medium-sized cauldron nearly overflowing with candy and the pile beside it, she then turns back to the stallion, shouting, "THOU ART LUCKY THAT THE OFFERINGS ARE RESPECTABLE, FOR NIGHTMARE MOON HAS BEEN TESTING THE STRENGTH OF OUR WARDS IN ORDER TO SATISFY HER DESIRE TO FEAST. THESE OFFERINGS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED AS THEY WILL ENSURE HER CRAVINGS ARE SATED THROUGH TO NEXT YEAR." Picking up the pile and drawing the candy out of the cauldron with her magic, she rises higher into the sky and bellows, "WE SHALL RETURN FOR NEXT YEAR'S OFFERING, ENJOY THE PEACE GRANTED UPON THEE."

True Heart rises from his bow and looks up at Marougeka as she transforms into a black cloud of smoke and bellows, "FARE THEE WELL!!!" while rocketing away out of sight, then heads towards Luna's chambers in Canterlot Castle as he hears cheers from the ponies behind him.

After having several ponies praise him for the haunted adventure, he passes by Twilight and Spike, who is enjoying candy on her back while dressed as a cragodile when Twilight asks, "So, how many ponies made it through your Haunted Cathedral?"

With a smile and a chuckle, he says, "Besides you, Applejack, and Rainbow...one other group from a farm far away from here, and another group from Canterlot I haven't met before tonight. Wonder if I should have asked for their names..."

Smiling, she then says, "Only if you wanted to become friends with them, is there any of the Grand Prize candy medallions left?"

Nodding, True then says, "There are five boxes of them left, I wonder what I will do with them..."

An idea comes to her as she looks at him, saying, "You could bring them to the after party tonight!"

Thinking it over for a few moments, he nods his head, saying, "Very well, show me the way there, Twilight. Unfortunately I won't stay long as I have to get the Cathedral ready for mass tomorrow morning."

Remembering that tomorrow is Sunday, she giggles and says, "Right, I forgot that tomorrow's Sunday."

After heading back with her and grabbing the remaining Grand Prize boxes made out of chocolate, True follows her to City Hall where he hands them off to Mayor Mare to do what she pleases with them at the party. Seeing that Spike is asleep and thinking he might need a little help in the crumbling dungeon under the ruined castle, he turns to Twilight and softly says, so the young dragon doesn't hear, "Hey, Twilight?"

Noticing his tone, she moves closer and lowers her voice, asking, "Yes? What's up?"

Double checking that Spike is asleep, he blows a couple short puffs of air to see how he reacts. When he only chuckles and tells Twilight to quit, he nods and then returns to looking at Twilight, asking, "After mass tomorrow morning, could you send Spike over to help Rarity for a bit?"

Nodding, she cocks her head in curiosity and responds, "Sure, why do you ask?"

Walking along as they head towards her home, True answers, "Because there is something that I need your help with, I'm going to be heading back to the castle ruins to recover something precious to a friend of mine I helped before."

As they reach her door, she opens it and walks in, saying, "Okay...can you tell me what it is?"

Smiling gently, he glances at Spike and says, "I will once you put Spike to bed, this is something that he isn't old enough to hear."

Knowing that it is something serious, she nods and carefully makes her way upstairs to put Spike to bed. Setting him down in his basket, she kisses his forehead, whispering, "Goodnight, Spike." As she lays his blanket over him, he grabs the blanket and rolls over, saying it back to her. Heading back down the stairs, she stands before him and says quietly, "There, he's tucked in and I closed the door to ensure he doesn't overhear, now would you tell me what's going on?"

Looking at her, he sighs and then says, "Alright, you remember how I said I had ghosts helping with the tour?" Pausing to see if she understands, then sees her nod, he continues, "Well those were the very same ponies who I helped grant peace, I won't tell you how I achieved that, so don't ask. But when they were locked away in the old castle's dungeon, they were left to starve and perished there. Once Luna returned, either she and her sister collected their remains and buried them personally, or they had guards do it. I'm guessing that possibly Luna saw to it personally, but anyway, one of the bodies is still down there, trapped in a collapsed section of the castle. I am heading there to recover and give them a proper burial, so I thought that I might need a little extra magical support to ensure they are recovered safely. Can I count on you to help me out in this grim task?"

Tears slip down her face at hearing of how ponies were left to starve to death, then raises her head high and wipes her tears away, saying, "Yes you can, I will wait for you after mass is over and have Spike go with Rarity. Then, we can be on our way."

Smiling at her willingness to help another despite how unpleasant it may be, he leans forth and kisses her on the cheek, saying, "Thank you so much, I look forward to a smooth recovery. So you know, the ghost, who's body we are recovering, will lead the way to where she fell."

15: The Recovery

The following day after mass concludes, Twilight sends Spike with Rarity and sees everyone leave when she sees a shimmering orb float down from above, saying curiously, "Hmm, what's this?"

As she watches the curious mare attempt to touch her, the ghost suddenly darts forward and whispers into her ear, "Boo!"

Startled, she cries out, "WAHH!"scrambles back and lands on her flank with wide eyes as she then hears the sound of a mare laughing. Looking around the room, she then sees the twinkling orb move closer and asks, "Are you the ghost that will be guiding us into the ruins?"

Bouncing up and down, she says, "Yep, are you ready to brave the dark forest and journey into the foreboding dungeons where-"

Cutting her off, True approaches her with his collar around his neck, saying, "Stop scaring her, I might need her help to hold up parts of the area we are heading into."

Dropping in height with a sigh, she says, "Awe... Alright."

Smiling at Twilight, he then says, "Apologies for her actions, ghosts have a morbid sense of humor. I still need to get the rest of my harness on, so let's go outside to the shed."

Nodding and following him outside, she says, "It's alright, I guess it is only natural for a ghost to not fear death anymore."

Making conversation as he gets into his harness, he sets his saddlebags onto the side of the wagon along with Twilight's and hooks up to his wagon then walks forward, saying, "Ruined castle dungeons, here we come."

A few hours pass as they make their way through the forest using a safer path, arriving at the bridge to the ruined castle as True compares the wagon's width to the bridge's. Unsure if it is wide enough, he turns to Twilight and asks, "Do you know if it is wide enough for the bridge to handle?"

Grabbing a measuring tape from her bags, she moves it to the far wheel and looks at the number before measuring the bridge's width. Lifting her head and rolling the tape back up, she nods, saying, "It's small enough to fit, and with the ropes having been replaced recently, it is strong enough to handle its weight easily."

Taking her word for it, he nods and has her guide him onto the bridge, proving to be a bit tight as Twilight has to use her magic to adjust the wagon's position. Reaching the other side, he parks the wagon beside the entrance to it and sets blocks in front of the wheels, then unhooks himself from it to take off his harness and collar. Once out of his harness and collar, they follow the spirit into the castle and head down a dark corridor which is partially blocked by a portion of collapsed ceiling.

Using their magic to move the rubble against the wall, they proceed further into the depths. Taking a few turns, they finally arrive at the barred entrance to the dungeon, True Heart uses a spell to unlock the sealed gate.

Upon entering the dungeon, Twilight smells a foulness in the air and wrinkles her nose, saying, "This smell is very unsettling, is this what death smells like?"

Spotting the collapsed section, he nods and says, "Yes, what you are smelling are the lingering vapors left behind from the decaying bodies that have been stuck here for a thousand years. I can see the collapsed portion ahead, and it is quite large. I will definitely be needing your help to move all this."

Just then another voice calls out from behind them, "Don't worry, pardner, we're here to help!"

Turning to look behind them, Twilight looks at two of her friends curiously, asking, "Applejack, Rainbow, what are you two doing here?"

Smirking, Rainbow lands beside Applejack, saying, "I overheard you two talking about going into this castle's dungeon on some sort of a rescue mission, so I told Applejack about it and we decided to come help. So who are we rescuing?"

Sighing, True turns around and says, "This isn't exactly a mission to save a life, you two, we are here to recover the remains of a pony who's body is still trapped under the rubble ahead of us."

Hanging their heads, Applejack says, "Shoot, that is sad to hear, but ah would still like to help rescue them so that they won't be stuck in this awful place anymore. What do we need to do?"

Smiling as Rainbow offers to help as well, he sees the empty cells and says, "We need to carefully move the rubble so that we can get to the cell where her body is, hopefully we are careful enough that we don't bring more down upon our heads and find ourselves trapped here until we perish."

Setting to work seeing which stones can be moved first, Twilight and True carefully move them to the ground so Applejack or Rainbow can move them into the empty cells.

Taking them a few hours to make enough room, they find the cell where the mummified remains of a unicorn mare with a once-brilliant auburn mane and tail. As Applejack and Rainbow look at the body, Applejack is the first to speak, saying, "Gee, ah always knew that death was a part of life, but ah had no idea that the process could be so...cruel."

Knowing that all-too-well, True nods and looks at the crushed skull of the unicorn corpse, saying, "There is no way to tell how she died, but for her sake, I sure hope that she didn't suffer much. I'll gather them and we can be on our way."

Just then, another voice calls out, "Hey, don't just leave me here to turn to dust, take mine with you, too!"

The ghostly mare then looks to the far side of the room and huffs, saying, "Absolutely not, criminal! You were found guilty for raping twenty mares and abandoning their foals! You don't deserve peace!"

True looks towards the pile as the other spirit huffs and talks back, proving to him that the deceased stallion is unrepentent. Unable to leave his remains behind, he sighs and says, "I am hesitant to give you a burial due to you not showing remorse, though my soul demands that you receive one despite what you've done."

The stallion's spirit then sighs thankfully, saying, "Thank you!"

Before he can continue, True keeps speaking, saying, "However, you will receive a solitary, unmarked grave."

Groaning, the stallion says, "I don't care if you drop my remains in a latrine, I just want out of here!"

Pulling a sack out for the mare's remains, he collects them and ties it shut, then slips it into his saddlebags and heads for the far pile, saying, "Very well then, we shall extract you from under that heap."

In spite of their protests, they all work even more carefully as several of the stones in this pile are holding up the rest of the ceiling, managing to move enough to reach the deceased stallion. Seeing that the bars over top of the cage are bowed down, sandwiching the sides and pinning the corpse, True sighs and says, "Twilight, can you bend them enough so that we can get him out?"

Nodding her head as Rainbow gags at the raunchy smell, Twilight says, "I sure can." Using her magic, she manages to force most of the bars back into their original position, saying, "There, now stuff them into a sack so we can get out of this dark hole."

Recovering the somewhat more intact corpse, True then feels a breeze ruffle his mane as he puts the body into another sack, asking, "Can anyone else feel a breeze?"

Nodding her head, Rainbow says, "Yep, I have felt it since we moved the last few of those rocks, it helps to keep the nasty smell away."

Looking up to her, he asks, think you can show me where it is coming from?"

Following the breeze, she finds the source and says, "It's coming from behind this huge pile here."

True looks at where she's pointing and groans, saying, "It just had to be dangerously close to a crumbling, load-bearing support pillar..." Turning to Twilight, he says, "Twilight, you and me are going to have to work together and build a new column of of intact blocks in order to keep this ceiling from crushing us, thankfully, the cross members doing most of the holding have minimal damage despite their age. Let's start a large, square base," turning to Applejack, he asks, "Would you mind helping bring the better stones over so we can place them in a specific pattern?"

Applejack nods her head, saying, "Not at all, pardner." Looking at Rainbow, she says, "Rainbow, ya should probably help move blocks over too."

When the first stones begin coming over, he carefully guides Twilight on the pattern to use. It takes them a few hours to get enough blocks to get half way to the ceiling when the first signs of trouble are heard, feeling a gentle vibration in the floor as they all work a little faster.

Once they reach the ceiling, True then looks at Twilight, saying, "I'm going to have to try to push up on the part just above the sturdy column, you continue helping Rainbow move them into the right pattern. I sure hope we can get the last three layers in before anything else happens..."

Helping the others as he starts pushing the beam up, Twilight watches dust fall through a crack in the ceiling near the column and lifts the block higher with a grunt, asking, "You get it into place yet, Rainbow?"

Adjusting it a bit more, she says, "Yep, go ahead and set it down."

A half-hour passes as Applejack sees that there is yet one more layer to finish, saying, "We're almost there yall, keep it up."

Huffing in effort, True grunts from the strain of holding up possibly several thousand tons of stone, saying, "Good, I'm anxious to get out of this death-trap."

It takes them a half hour to finish squeezing the last block into place as Rainbow calls out, "All good, Twilight, set it down and release your magic."

Lowering it down to rest on the other stones, Twilight releases her magic and turns to True, saying, "Alright, you can set it down now and catch your breath True."

Relieved at hearing that, he sets it down as cautiously as possible, hearing the ceiling groan above them as it adjusts to the change. When the weight fully leaves him, he drops his magic and looks at the last obstacle, saying, "Alright, now let's start with this nightmare of an obstacle..."

As they carefully sort out which stones to move first, a loud crash comes from far behind them and dust starts to billow into the room while Rainbow says, "I have to ask. Why didn't we just go back the way we came while that path was still stable?"

Trotting over to check it out, Twilight heads back and says, "Because in structures with compromised integrity, it is always safest to push forward as the path back may become blocked at any time. I'm also pretty sure that True has a good reason for spending all that time building a column before making a path through this rubble."

Nodding his head, True says, "I do. I have a sneaking idea that something interesting lies behind this pile, but if not, we can always try to clear the path back."

Continuing on, they catch the first glimpse of an open archway ahead of them as the scent of death and decay become heavier, when Rainbow gags, saying, "Woah, that really stinks!"

Once they finish moving the stone out of the way, he sees three, mummified ponies in a group with saddlebags and a book that must of slid out, saying, "Hmm, since they were heading here in a hurry, it is possible that they were trying to rescue the prisoners from a grim fate as it is quite clear they died from fatal head and neck injuries probably caused by falling rocks."

As Applejack watches him head towards one of them and start searching through their belongings, she calls out, "Hey, that's a little rude, don't ya think?"

Cocking his head slightly, True responds, "Perhaps a bit, but it isn't like they have need of what's inside since they've passed on. Besides, perhaps what's inside might provide information about who they were."

Not able to object due to it making sense, Twilight approaches one of them to help out, saying, "As much as I really don't want to search through a dead pony's things, I have to agree with him so that we can put names upon their graves."

Finding nothing but spoiled food and water with a few images of ponies in one side, he searches through the other and pulls out a folded up chunk of white fabric. Curious, he unfolds it and holds it up, saying, "A little light, if you please, Twi?"

Nodding her head, Twilight says, "Sure." she lights up her horn and turns her head to see him holding up a full-body white tunic having a red cross with flared ends on the left side. Not recognizing the clothing, she asks, "What is that you're holding True?"

Letting out a sad sigh, he says, "It's a tunic from a special member of the Heavenly Crusaders, and only special members are permitted to own one by Templar law. Since he has one, he must be buried with the others." Realizing he said way too much, he goes quiet for a few seconds before saying, "All of these ponies here must have been members too, check their bags to see if any of them have one."

Feeling curious, Applejack asks, "What's so special about these Heavenly Crusaders yer talking about, pardner?"

Finishing her search through one of their saddlebags while hearing True tell them a bit about the order, she finds no tunic or book of any kind when she spots True take a few of them from the deceased pony's saddlebags and add them to his own swiftly. Turning to search the next pony, she notices the book by the last pony's saddlebags, saying curiously, "Hello, what do we have here?"

Turning his head, True sees Twilight about to open the book, he sees a shimmer move across the book in the light and rips it away from her grasp, saying, "NO!"

Not pleased about him taking it from her, she huffs and looks at him with an upset look on her face, saying, "HEY! I was about to find out what was in that!"

Letting out a relieved breath, he says, "I know you were, but the thing about this book...is that it has a trap enchantment placed upon it. Set to be cast upon the curious pony that tries to read it without disarming it first, putting a permanent polymorph hex upon them that can only be undone by a member of the order that is permitted to know it."

Blushing nervously at hearing that, Twilight blinks twice before asking, "Oh...well, thank you for stopping me in time. But, how do you know so much about this secret order of Heavenly Crusaders? I've never come across a single hint as to their existence in all the books I've read. I've known you since I was 4, but I feel like you're not sharing your full story with us. Can you please just come out with whatever it is?"

Curious as well, Rainbow then says, "What else are you keeping from us? I thought we were friends, dude!"

Applejack then walks closer and says, "C'mon pardner, ah may not have known you as long as Twilight, but ah do kinda feel that yer keeping a lot to yerself."

With a sigh of relief at his friends being observant, True says, "Well, where should I begin?"

Replying immediately, Rainbow then says, "From the beginning, duh."

As Applejack gives Rainbow a brief scolding for her remark, Twilight smiles and says, "I think that it would be best to start from where this group first started."

Nodding his head, he then says, "Very well, let us finish here first and then get outside to where it is safe, then I shall begin telling you everything I am able."

When they finish searching for tunics or books of any kind, they find 6 others with some books and tunics. Watching her friend collect their bodies and belongings, Twilight asks, "Are we ready to continue on True?"

Thinking they most likely moved on, True shakes his head to tell her no, saying, "Not just yet, I must check for any other lost souls here." Taking a breath, he calls out into the area around him, "If there are any other lost spirits roaming these ruins, come forth now so you may be put to rest!"

Several seconds pass without any replies, allowing him to look at Twilight and nod, saying, "Alright, let's get out of here. I sure hope we don't find any more down here."

Nodding her head and following close behind True, carrying a few of the bodies herself, Twilight says, "I hope we don't either or we will have to make trips back here to collect them."

It takes them a half hour of walking before they see light up ahead as Rainbow dashes ahead, saying, "Alright, open skies here we come!" Forced to stop in her tracks when she sees that the exit is gated, she tries various ways to open it and calls out, "Applejack, think ya can kick this door open? It's either locked or rusted solid."

As Applejack trots ahead, True hears her kicking the door and says, "If you can't get it, there might be a spell over it to keep unauthorized ponies out." However, when he hears the metallic clang of breaking metal, he chuckles and says, "Seems like there either was no spell on it or the rescuers either dispelled it or disabled it."

When Twilight passes the gated entrance, she scans it for any magic and says, "I can't sense any magic residue on them, can you, True?"

Scanning the gate and the door, he looks at her and shakes his head, saying, "The locking spell must have been removed or destroyed when they went through, because I can't sense anything either."

Once the others join them, Rainbow then says, "There's a path back up over here, but watch your steps in some places."

Finally reaching the top, he heads over to his wagon and sets the crusaders' bodies by the wagon, saying, "Don't worry, brothers, I will get you back home so you can finally rest with the others."

Making their way around the castle, the girls look at him curiously, hoping he starts sharing soon. When they follow the orb around to the back of the castle, they see a field with 5 other graves.

Heading to a separate area, the stallion uses his magic to dig a hole nearly 5 foot deep and drops the bag with the other stallion's remains into it unceremoniously, then channels a spell of unrest around the grave, saying, "To whoever's corpse is buried here, I pray that you enjoyed your actions in life, for now, you shall reap what you have sown for being so heartless. Because you have forced yourself upon unwilling mares and abandoned their foals, I sentence your soul to wander endlessly. Meaning that you will be unable to linger anywhere longer than half a minute, unable to be seen, heard, and even unable to interact with anything around you. You shall be hounded by those who you've harmed until they decide you've earned forgiveness."

Floating closer at hearing his words, the stallion pleads, saying, "Oh come on, bro, cut another stallion some slack!"

Watching the display, Rainbow says, "Woah, talk about harsh punishment..."

Not letting himself be swayed, True rears up onto his back hooves, saying, "My judgement is final, may your pennance begin...sinner!" Returning to the ground hard, he finishes the spell and watches as several other orbs appear around the stallion's ghostly form, questioning why they are here, and answers, "You all are here as retribution for this criminal's choices in life, I hope you all shall see to it that he receives no respite from your displeasure with how he treated and abandoned you all."

The stallion looks at all the floating ponies around him with scowls on their faces at hearing what the other stallion said, saying with wide eyes, "No...no...please have mercy!"

Huffing and swishing his tail, he moves the dirt into the hole, saying, "I don't have mercy on vile cretins like you, so begin your penance until they decide to forgive you."

Applejack watches with a stunned look on her face as the other stallion starts to cover his ears and beg for them to stop shouting, then sees him vanish into thin air and asks out of reflex, "What in the hay did ya just do to him, pardner? Where'd he go?"

Making his way over to help say a few words for the mare, he answers, "I just used a spell of the supernatural variety to make a criminal roam between worlds and pay for the unforgivable wrongs they have done. He will wander Equestria aimlessly, never stopping in one place for very long before continuing on his way, never able to be seen by another living soul again."

When Twilight gently puts dirt back into the hole, she looks at him and says, "I think that is a well-deserved punishment, but could you start telling us where the Heavenly Crusaders began?"

Nodding, he says, "Let us pray."

Closing their eyes, they then hear him say a prayer for the unfortunate mare, taking only a couple minutes to reach the end as they all say, "Let it become true."

After making a headstone for her grave, True leads them back towards the wagon, saying, "Since this will be a long story to tell you all, why don't you accompany me on my journey to bring my fellow brothers home?"

Loading them up into the wagon carefully, he gets back into his harness and collar as Twilight asks if she can write this all down to share with Celestia. Seeing no harm as she already knows much of it, he nods and then backs up in between the single tree to hook up, saying, "Well, for starters, our order was originally a military order called the Knights Templar a very long time ago, created..."

Making their way across the bridge, they listen to him tell them all about the order of humans. With Living Quill still working, Twilight pulls out another paper and lets the quill continue on writing as he takes a short break to let it catch up. When he continues, she is shocked to hear of the intense battles that had been fought in the name of some all-powerful being with no name.

Hours pass as they exit the forest, with the others resting in the wagon while True takes a drink to satisfy his dry throat. Once his throat is no longer dry, True says, "After the loss in the middle east, our influence over the people caused the rulers to become fearful of us trying to overthrow us. Unfortunately, the order was made out to be the villains and were subsequently arrested and then executed on false charges." Looking back over his shoulder, he then says, "As far as I could find, that was the end for our order on Earth in a different world. Now I shall begin with how we came to be in this world, though I will omit some details as I am not permitted to share details about the power that brought us here."

Blinking at how much she has written down, she then sets it inside the wagon as the whole stack won't fit in her saddlebags, saying, "It's really sad to hear what went on in the other world, though I can't believe that the order was around for two centuries and then simply tossed aside like garbage."

Nodding his head, he trots on down the road through Ponyville as the mare's spirit heads over to her new residence, saying, "It is unfortunately the way things work there. Do any of you need to do anything while we're back in Ponyville?"

Shaking their heads, Twilight says, "Only thing we might need is some food, but other than that, we are good to continue."

After eating at a restaurant in town, they then continue heading north out of town. When they get far enough out of town, True says, "This may shock you when you hear this, so please don't ask questions until I finish telling you the story."

Nodding their heads, they then listen and wait for him to continue as Twilight readies more paper she retrieved from home, casting her spell on the quill once again to write down whatever is said.

Continuing with the second part of his story, he says, "After dying at Acre, I found myself in a dark place with many others in bluish white, spectral horse forms. Looking around, we asked each other what happened, where we were, who we were, and what was going on. We then saw a mysterious being which I will provide no information about or even hints, who then said they would clear up some of our confusion. They then told us we all had perished performing our duties admirably, though our order lost control of the East."

While hearing more of the story, Twilight's eyes are wide at hearing of the duties their entire order was given when the first thousand were granted living bodies. As his story continues, her burning desire to get answers for her numerous questions gets stronger.

Not going into specifics, he says, "We do have a way to identify the reincarnated members of our order, though I won't share what that is as it will fall out of use since there are no more after me." He then begins to tell them how they passed the time they spent in the dark place.

Hours pass as they listen to him tell what he knows of the time around his birth and the following years after that until he awakened to his knowledge of the past. As they hear about how his training was, Rainbow smirks and says, "Wow, seems like you had no time to get into trouble."

Looking at Rainbow harshly, she shushes her and waits to use a quill to scratch out what was said after True's reply. As he resumes the story, she hears of what he had done up until he came to Ponyville. Making sure to keep his life separate from the information that she craves, she puts a ribbon around the fat roll of papers and puts it into her saddlebags. When he continues telling them about the early years of their order, the Celestial Crusaders, her eyes bug out of her head at hearing how they helped guide them forward by teaching them how to speak among various things.

Applejack watches Twilight pull out a full inkwell and a second paper as her face remains frozen in shock, chuckling softly and saying, "Heh, ah think yer mind has gone on vacation."

As Twilight doesn't respond, Rainbow nudges Applejack and says, "At least somepony is finding this incredibly boring information exhilarating, I'm bout ready to fall asleep here." She then splutters in shock at hearing that the crusaders learned magic and how to fly from the newly-formed tribes of ponies, however, it was the crusaders that discovered how to manipulate clouds first and taught them how to do it, saying, "SERIOUSLY?! Pegasi lived on the ground!?"

Continuing on without responding to her shock, True says, "I remember when we were called to form a line no more than a hundred long due to a time of struggle approaching. From what I learned of the struggle, all I will share with you is that it was against a sapient creature that discovered a way to steal magic with an enchanted magical relic. After enslaving many others of his kind and creating numerous monsters, a great war began between them and some brave ponies along with most of our order, costing hundreds of thousands of lives before he was defeated and his relic hidden away four decades later. With his race going extinct, the time of struggle was not yet over as ponies began going missing in the night..."

Half way to their destination, he tells them of how they spent a century and a half fighting, managing to drive all but one group of the mysterious insect ponies into extinction, which managed to escape their hunt.

Once they get to the mountain, Twilight struggles to keep her head up from the massive amount of information she's trying to process. Setting down another inkwell and a large stack of paper, she casts a self-sorting spell and links it to the Living Quill spell that is still going strong, saying to Applejack, "Don't let the paper or the ink run out, I need to...process a few things."

Nodding her head, Applejack says, "Ya got it, Twi."

No sooner than hearing that, she sighs with a weary smile and groans, saying, "Uhhuuhh....too...much...shock..." and promptly passes out.

As they near their destination, True takes another drink, then resumes the story, saying, "When we were called to form lines again, I watched as our numbers began to dwindle down to only about five or ten thousand until we could resume our practicing until we are called."

Twilight finally wakes a couple hours later when they stop somewhere beside the mountain, hearing True finish his story, she waits for the quill to finish writing before dismissing the spell and puts it away as the paper floats over and flips onto the newest stack. Ending that spell as well, she corks the inkwell and puts it and the remaining few sheets into her saddlebags before looking around to see a few teetering stacks of paper, asking, "How much of the rest of that did I miss?"

Using her wings to keep the stacks from falling over while lying on top of them, Rainbow says, "Eh aside from winning a war at the cost of over a thousand casualties and utterly decimating their order, choosing to disappear from the world to become a group working in the background of Equestria's history out of shame and guilt? You didn't miss much."

Pulling up to a slow stop, True says, "We are here, before I head towards the doors, I would like you all to Pinkie Promise not to tell anyone else aside from our close friends about what you are about to witness or about this location. I will inform Princess Celestia or Luna about it whenever the situation calls for it." Looking at Twilight, he then sighs and says, "Sadly, that includes Spike, Twilight, until he learns not to blurt things out which should remain secret."

Despite grumbling about it, they go through with making an official Pinkie Promise as Rainbow then says, "There, we made a Pinkie Promise, can we continue on now?"

Nodding, he moves towards a flat spot in the wall between two alicorn statues and stops in front of the large flat spot between them and mutters softly to the door, "Pro gloria luminis, pugnamus ut pacem servemus."

Moments later, the girls all watch in shock as a pair of doors open up between the two statues, when they see him trot through the doors and then pull on one of the enchanted, burning torches. Travelling up the wide, winding path, they see torches come to life and show a clear path before them.

Reaching the next bunch of doors, he stops and then prepares to pull the sconce to open the double doors, saying, "I do not know if anyone outside of the order is allowed into our stronghold, so I'm not sure what may happen."

Eager to see what lies beyond the door, Applejack says, "We'll just hafta play it by ear then."

Pulling the sconce, the door then rumbles and swings open as the lights begin to come on in the wagon bay where dozens of wagons of various sizes are lined up in rows around the room. Making his way through aisles on the far right side of the room, he parks in front of the doors heading further into the interior rooms. Unhooking himself from the wagon, he says, "I will be right back, I need to find out if there is anyone else here. Try not to wander off too far in search for new rooms to explore until I return."

Twilight nods and watches him pull another sconce, then head inside and close the door behind himself. Lowering the back gate, she then steps out as softly as she can and makes her way to some of the wagons lined up as Applejack joins her, saying in astonishment at the size of the room, "Applejack, can you imagine how long it must have taken to build a room this size, with secret entrances!?"

Heading into the room ahead, True calls out, "Hello, are any fellow brothers or sisters here?"

A few minutes later, an older mare walks in accompanied by two younger mares wearing maid hats, saying, "Greetings brother True Heart, what do you need aid with this fine evening?"

Looking at her, he smiles and asks, "Greetings Wise Owl, I pray that you are in good health and doing well these days." Feeling a bit nervous, he then asks, "How strict are the rules for bringing close friends to the Stronghold?"

The question and the nervous look on the young stallion's face set the older pegasus to cackling happily, saying, "Oh dear me, hahahah! We aren't nearly as strict now like we used to be. While we normally don't bring others here, we won't throw them out or punish anyone for it if they do. However, if they would like access to the library or other rooms in this place, they will have to join and become a normal member of our order."

Nodding his head, he says with a smile, "That is good to hear, as I have brought three close friends of mine and had them Pinkie Promise not to tell anyone about this place. I also opened up to them about our order's history."

The pegasi mare smiles and lays a hoof to his shoulder, saying, "It is good that you found someone to trust enough to open up to, that is going to go a long way in having society remember us when we original members pass on." Returning her hoof to the ground, she then clears her voice and says, "Now let's go say hello to your guests."

Leading her to the wagon bay, he opens the door to find the three girls looking at the chariots, saying, "Girls, would you come over here? I have somepony here who would like to welcome you to our Stronghold." Once they head over, he then gestures to the older mare, saying, "This is Wise Owl, a fellow sister of our order, she was the pony that taught me about using fibers to make fabric and thread from them, as well as how to use them to make various things." Turning to her, he then introduces them to her, saying, "Wise Owl, these are three of my friends from Ponyville. From left to right, they are, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight Sparkle."

Smiling at recognizing them, the mare says, "Oh I've heard tales of how you all defeated Nightmare Moon, good on you to help set Luna free."

After she introduces her two maids, True waits for an opportunity to speak to her. When it comes, he sighs and says, "Pardon me for not saying anything about this earlier, sister, but I have recovered seven of our lost brethren."

Gasping briefly, she then smiles and says, "Happy news it is that you managed to recover a few of the members that have fallen, though it saddens me to think that there are still so many we cannot bring home due to the aftermath of that horrid battle." Knowing what needs to be done, she stands tall and says, "I shall ring the tolling bell to summon the others, but let us first go prepare the memorial chamber to receive their remains."

16: Trouble Begins

Following her through the corridors and rooms to reach the chamber to inter their newly recovered brethren, they arrive as the room's crystals on the walls start lighting up when Twilight walks in and looks around at the vast chamber, seeing heavy stone lids resting on boards over holes carved into the floor. Looking towards the front of the room, she sees ones set on the floor with something carved out of the large stone cover and heads toward it. Seeing that there is a tower shield carved onto the cover with the front painted white and having the same red + with flared ends on it, she looks over to another one to see another white tower shield with the same symbol. Heading down the line, she finds that there are a few different versions of it and asks, "Why are there different types of shapes and colors on these covers? Do they signify a different group within the order?"

Wise Owl walks towards her, saying, "They do, dear. Even though they may have belonged to a different order where we came from originally, we all came here together. And thus, we are all family to each other through the order."

Looking around the room, True looks at Twilight, asking, "Hey Twilight, do you happen to know any cleaning spells?"

She looks around the room and nods, saying, "I do, but...I won't be able to handle this large of an area."

Smiling, he says, "Good, then we can cast it together with combined magic, meet me in the center of the room so I can show you how to do that if you don't know how."

Grinning, she follows where he is heading and makes her way there from the other side, asking, "Alright, tell me all about combining magic."

Chuckling, he looks at her and then goes into tutor mode, teaching her what he knows about the unusual technique. When he finishes, he asks, "Ready to give it a try, Twilight?"

After putting the tips of their horns together, they channel their magic together and manage to succeed on their first try. With that done, they then see Wise Owl head over to another room.

Following her in, True tells her that this is their preparation chamber for preparing remains for burial, pointing to a long bell, saying, "That is the Tolling Bell, it is enchanted with the ability to summon every member currently alive to the waiting area with the exception of those already here, teleporting them here within one to five minutes."

Once the bell is rung in a sequence of three tolls before a short pause, it rings three more times in the same pattern while True tells her about how the bell was made. While they wait for the others to arrive for the ceremony, Wise Owl notices how curious Twilight is about this place and walks up, saying, "I like how curious you are about this place and its magical curiosities, Twilight. Would you and your other two friends like to join the Celestial Crusaders?"

Thinking it over for a bit, she looks to her friends and sees them both nod yes. Turning back to her, she then smiles and says, "We all would like that very much, thank you for offering us the opportunity to join such an old, respectable order!"

She looks at the young mares, saying, "That is wonderful to hear, our order continues to survive with each new member we get. I'm sure that True would have liked to invite you to join, however, he isn't quite old enough to be given that privilege. We will have to have the ceremony after interring our fallen brethren."

Minutes pass as the members arrive, with the elder members taking charge and assigning tasks to others while the girls keep out of the way of their preparations. The tunics are cleaned and prepared along with the remains, where the tunics are then put on the pony they come from due to their cutie marks being sown inside the collar.

It takes twenty minutes before the ceremony begins as the eldest of them all reads a few words to them when the members all begin to sing out in a language that none of the three girls know.

True watches each of the recovered remains be placed in a line of empty tombs, then lids are then laid over each of them with the last being placed at the end of their chant. As the leader of the ceremony assigns a group to begin carving and painters to put the final touches to the covers once the carvers are finished, before they can start carving, True smiles as he hears him talk about new members joining them.

As he follows them to a large enough space, True moves to stand in line with the others as three elders call the three mares down the aisle. When they head down the aisle, he hears them state the purpose of their order and ask if they wish to become fellow sisters to the others within the order. A happy smile crosses his face at seeing all three of them learn their unique genuflect and state their wish to join the order, then stomps his forehooves with the others when they are handed their own pins to show that they are also members of their order.

When the members all make their way to a large, raised square, Twilight is shocked when she hears one of them call out a destination in Manehattan and vanishes in a flash before her very eyes, rushing over to True to ask him something. Skidding to a stop before him, she comes nose to nose with him and asks, "Please tell me what I just saw happen where that pony just vanished before my eyes in a flash, it looks a lot like Teleportation magic, which I learned by accident when I was being chased all over Ponyville for one of the golden tickets I received. Finding myself backed against a building with nowhere to go, I panicked and wanted to go to a safe place. I then felt a sudden surge of magic and poof, I was inside the Golden Oak Library."

Chuckling as most of the ponies continue to teleport back to where they came from, he says, "Don't be too shocked to learn that our order figured out teleportation first and shared it with you all several centuries ago, though the Teleportation Circle was discovered fifty years ago by one of our sisters." When he notices Twilight giving him her crazed, knowledge-hungry, he sighs and says, "Alright, how about we start helping you learn different languages so you can start to learn a few spells in a few books written in that language, books from my family's secret library?"

Her eyes shrink down a bit as she thinks over what he said until his final words hit her like a brick as her eyes sparkle in wild delight, saying, in a barely restrained voice, "I'd love that very much, when can we start?"

Looking into her glittering eyes full of desire, he chuckles and says, "Tomorrow, is that fine with y-"

Overjoyed, Twilight suddenly turns her head, closes her eyes, and locks lips with him, ignoring a couple whistles until her mind returns to the ground and feels something inside her mouth. Investigating it with her tongue, she slides it around the slippery object until she thinks, 'Hmm...it feels a little like my tongue, but different somehow.' When she feels a rush of air against her cheek, she wonders what is going on and opens her eyes to see that she is sharing a passionate kiss with her friend True, causing her to scream a thought in her mind, 'JUST WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING, KISSING MY FRIEND!?!'

True opens his eyes to see Twilight looking at him with various emotions warring across her face, yet, she still continues to kiss him. Needing to get her to organize her thoughts and emotions, he makes the first move and wraps his hoof around her neck before pushing his tongue a little further.

With his tongue pushing further into her mouth, Twilight growls mentally at the noise and begins chasing her thoughts down and driving them into place. Taking her a few moments, her mind is finally clear and she discovers that she...likes how he kisses.

Watching the two from a distance with Applejack, she walks forward and says, "Hey, umm...are either of you going to realize you need air, or can I get in on that action?"

Twilight blushes fiercely and jerks away, saying, "R-RAINBOW!"

Lying on the floor from her reaction, the pegasus says, "Hahahah, your reaction was hilarious, Twilight!"

Ignoring her, he looks at Twilight and asks, "Glad to see that you have regained control of your mind and emotions, I know that your brother would hunt me down if he found out I took your first kiss. So, let's just keep that between us for now, until we know where we stand with each other, alright?"

Nodding her head, she says, "Y-Yes, that would definitely be best because of how overprotective my brother is of me. To answer the question you were asking before my body rudely interrupted you, tomorrow would be great to begin teaching me all the languages you are able to speak and write."

With that settled, he nods and says, "Alright then, let me go get a few books to start teaching you Latin first, we will then move onto the others when you have a firm grip on that language. Just so you know, I will put a spell upon pages that contain dangerous spells for in and out of combat use. The spell will make the page look like words are rushing every which direction on it, please do not try to dispel it as I do not want to spend time on the moon or in Princess Celestia's dungeon for turning you into a dangerous weapon of war. Let me be your shield and sword when it counts, sister, for we reincarnations are forbidden from sharing our prior memories and experiences in life with others. Yes, there are a few more things that I am keeping from you, however, it is important that it remains that way due to what I remember from that spell I cast which melted the floor in Celestia's school."

Able to relax finally at realizing that the library is inside the Stronghold, she asks, "Do you think that you could try to put one of those Teleport Circles in your Cathedral somewhere, so there's a quicker way there?"

True thinks her question over seriously for a moment and nods, saying, "It is certainly worth giving some serious thought to, I will let you know my answer tomorrow when I see you. Do you want me to come over or are you going to visit me?"

Yawning, Applejack then says, "Think we can head back through that teleport-thingy, ah'm mighty tired and haven't had dinner yet?"

Hearing that he can decide, he tells her that he will come over and then turns to Applejack, saying, "Of course, think of a location where it is somewhat hidden wherever you want to go, for example...Barn Cellar at Sweet Apple Acres in Ponyville."

Nodding their heads, Applejack and Rainbow head to the circle to head home, with Applejack choosing to teleport to the farm's driveway and Rainbow choosing her home above Ponyville.

Twilight then turn to him, saying, "Alright then, let's go get those books and be on our way back."

Once he heads over to the library, he has to keep an eye on her since she acts like a foal in a candy store. When she moves towards a stack of combat spell books, he says, "Alright, I'm putting a leash on you Twilight, because the books you have your eyes on are spell books containing combat spells. Many of which, cause harm to one's opponent."

When she feels a magical tether wrap around her neck and pull her towards him, she grumbles, but follows it with an annoyed snort, "Forgive me for being curious, okay?"

With a smirk, he says, "I know you can't help it after finding out that this is where I've been getting my knowledge from, but remember what happens to the cat when they get curious."

Sticking her tongue out, she says, "Don't say that expression around Fluttershy, it'll make her cry."

After grabbing the books he needs, he puts them into his saddlebags and then makes his way back to his wagon, saying, "Oh, think that you could hand those books you collected from the fallen so that I can see what is in them?"

Handing the books over, she watches him pull a sconce to open the door and then makes her way over to the wagon, asking, "Before I forget, would you mind telling me what you all were singing?"

Backing in between the single tree, he hooks himself up to it and goes to pull the sconce to close it when he hears Twilight close the back gate, saying, "Sure, that is just Gregorian Chant. What makes it different is that words are chanted in a monophonic way..."

Twilight listens curiously while keeping the stacks of paper steady as he tells her more about it before telling her what was actually said, saying, "That is certainly different from how we bury those that have perished in some way, be it accident, age, or illness."

Nodding as he trots towards the exit, he pulls the sconce and says, "We definitely have our unique mannerisms compared to other ponies in Equestria." When they return to the outside world, he closes the door behind them and sees the time of day, saying, "Wow, today went by fast. I better get you home so that you can eat and then get to bed."

Sorting through the stacks, she nods, saying, "Thank you for being so considerate, I certainly do have a few things I need to tend to when I get back..." While she works on sorting them out into bundles and tying ribbons around them to keep them together, her mind absently starts puzzling out why her body felt the need to suddenly kiss him.

Traveling along at a canter, he looks around to see what she is doing and chuckles softly when he sees her focusing intensely on sorting out the stacks of paper, thinking, 'I'll just leave her to her sorting then, there's a long way yet until we get back to town.'

After returning to Ponyville, Twilight moves her stacks inside the tree and wishes him a good night, saying, "I look forward to learning Latin with you tomorrow."

When the lessons begin, days turn into weeks, then into months as winter ends on schedule for once thanks to Twilight's organizational skills. Spring proves to be quite annoying this year as True keeps taking Sun tea every day to avoid unexpected pregnancies, with a few mares coming by and snatching him away for some action. Once the mating season passes, they are sent to deal with a dragon that decided to nap in a mountain cave several miles away.

Weeks after the dragon encounter, weird things begin happening in Ponyville as True works to keep animals and other critters from eating the Cathedral. Huffing in annoyance at their persistence, he puts up a large barrier to keep everything away from it and goes to find the girls. Finding most of them at Applejack's, he wades through a pile of popcorn towards Applejack's and looks around at the oversized apples on the trees with rubber trunks. Shaking his head, he then says, "This is madness, no spell I know works to undo what's going on. Where's Twilight at?"

Heading over through the field, Twilight smiles and says, "Don't worry, everyone. For I have just learned a new spell that will fix all of this!"

Watching her with happiness in his eyes as she casts her spell, sending a beam to a group of affected plants and trees before a rainbow of colors races outward matching the colors of Twilight's body and her magic aura. When the brightness fades away, he goes through what he knows of what might have caused this, but comes up with nothing and looks to Twilight for any ideas.

As she looks around with a shocked look, she says, "I don't believe it...my failsafe spell FAILED!" Turning to Spike, then to True, she asks, "What will we do now?"

Rarity walks up with a raincoat and a hat on with an umbrella while Spike responds with giving up, saying, "Spike, I assure you that Twilight will think of something to do about this craziness."

Once she comes up with a plan of action, she has Rainbow gather the chocolate milk filled cotton candy clouds where Applejack then lassoes the group and bring them down to the ground. To finish things off, she whispers something into Fluttershy's ear, where she comments about hoping the animals stay away from the tied-down clouds.

Making his way over to Twilight as she comments about being able to do anything by working together when he sees Spike belch out a scroll from Princess Celestia, watching as she then picks it up and reads it.

Reading the letter quickly, she gasps and puts the letter away, saying, "Come on everyone, Princess Celestia wants to see us all in Canterlot right away! Get ready, I'm going to teleport us all there!"

Looking around, True asks, "Do you have enough magic to handle teleporting all eight of us, including you?"

Holding her head high, she nods, saying, "Definitely, I could take us all there and back and still have enough for one last trip."

Nodding his head in acceptance, he says, "Alright then, let's be on our way."

Casting her spell, Twilight takes them all to the castle's front doors and heads towards them as the guards start opening them, saying, "Come on, we must hurry!"

Upon seeing them all rush toward her, Celestia says, "Thank you, Twilight, and thank you all for coming so swiftly." When Twilight begins rambling off questions, she raises her hoof to stop her, saying, "Follow me."

Arriving in a part of the castle he hasn't been in, he looks around while following the girls and Celestia down the hall as she talks about what's going on. Hearing Discord's name being brought up and the culprit of what is going on causes an anger deep down to rise within him, causing him to huff out angrily as Rainbow comments happily about him being turned to stone, saying, "Should have realized it sooner that pest is the cause of all this madness."

Curious to hear more, Celestia stops and turns around, asking, "Your order had encountered Discord? What happened?"

Heading over to an image of him in a window mural, he snorts at the creature, saying, "Well, he certainly enjoyed himself by making Marbles flood into our sanctum, leaving those inside with no choice but to wade through a sea of marbles while he then enchanted every book to come alive and start flapping around. To stop the books and marbles, they had to act fast and sealed the air ducts and entrances. The sanctum was nearly lost to us when the entrances were sealed, as it took us twenty years to regain access to it and clean up after he had his 'fun' I won't tell you what went on inside during those twenty years as it was quite distressing for me to learn in the first place, but since he's returned...retribution for what he did will be assured."

As she sees wisps of black smoke rise from around True's hooves, she goes to address him and talk about what is bothering him when it vanishes. Setting it aside for now, she resumes her story, saying, "I believed that the spell we cast would be strong enough to keep him contained forever. However, as Princess Luna and I lost our connection to the Elements...the spell has broken."

When they stop at the end of the hall, he hears Princess Celestia call this Canterlot Tower where the elements are kept inside before she asks the girls to wield them again. Once the discussion ends, he watches her unlock it with her horn. A magical glow then spreads out from where she put her horn, engulfing the door as they then swing out wide to reveal a jeweled box. As the box is removed with her magic, he sees her open it to reveal that they are gone. Grumbling under his breath at thinking this is more of Discord's doing, he looks around, wondering, 'That menace can't be too far away if he is pulling a stunt like this, he enjoys doing things like this in person from what I've read in the books from previous encounters with him.'

Maniacal laughter echoes into the room from somewhere, saying, "Make sense hoh? What fun is there in making sense?"

Before having a chance to call out, he hears Celestia call him out and show himself. Looking around the room for where the pest is as his anger fills his body, slowly bubbling under the surface, he spots him in a mural when he flits over to another one, talking about how he was encased in stone. His anger reaches a boiling point at seeing the creature who had caused so much misery to their order when he mentions how he doesn't turn ponies into stone, shouting, "NO! YOU JUST FILL THEIR HOMES WITH MARBLES AND TRY TO STEAL THEIR WRITTEN KNOWLEDGE, CAUSING THEM TO SLIP AND STUMBLE AROUND UNTIL THEY BREAK THEIR NECKS!"

Looking at the black pony, he rolls his eyes and shrugs, saying, "Pff, why should I care if a few couldn't handle my pranks?"

True's anger transforms into hatred as he bellows, "YOU CONSIDER 100 DEATHS TO AMOUNT TO LESS THAN THE LIFE OF A SINGLE ANT IN A COLONY OF MILLIONS?! YOU ARE A VILE CRETIN, DISCORD, AND I WILL FIND A WAY TO MAKE YOU FEEL PAIN FOR BEING THE CAUSE OF THEIR DEATH!" Slowly, his hatred morphs into rage, causing his appearance to start to change colors.

Celestia then gasps as she watches the stallion's body begin to emit black smoke when his eyes glow bright green and emit purple smoke, shouting, "Stop, Dark Magic only tickles him!" but she watches as he screams in rage and casts a black beam at Discord, who only laughs when it hits him.

Discord collapses and rolls around in the small space, shouting, "AHAHAHAHAHAAH, STOP THAT! IT TICKLES!"

Growling as True glares at him, seeing how useless all magic is against him until an idea hits him. Dropping his connection to the dark magic, he digs deep within himself and closes his eyes, concentrating on his connection to the lord above. Discovering a new type of magic within him, he studies it for a moment to figure out what it is. Learning that it is holy magic he feels hidden within him, he taps into it. Without wasting a moment, he calls upon it and then fires off a short beam of azure fire at Discord's image in the mural.

When the fire hits him, he feels a light pinch, saying, "Hmph...congratulations, you pinched me."

With that not being enough, he searches for something more powerful when he recalls how he could combine magic and reaches for the hellfire spell while still holding onto his holy magic. While he continues to reach for it, he hears a strange whisper into his mind different from his demon wife's voice, telling him of what it will cost to be able to wield both at the same time. Determined to inflict pain more serious than a pathetic pinch, he then growls out loud, "If that is what it takes for this vile sinner to know pain...THEN SO BE IT!"

Hearing the animalistic roar coming from the stallion's mouth as his coat takes on a blackish red fiery glow causes Celestia to gasp and back away. She watches the silver hair on his body shine with a bright luminance before becoming silver flames as the azure hair does the same thing, but in azure flames. Seeing his eyes change to one pure white and the other blood red makes Celestia back further away until she watches different colored flames spiral up his horn, one reddish-black and the other azure.

Discord watches curiously as a swirling blue and reddish-black orb appear above his horn when he notices a ghostly aura surround the stallion's body, clapping gleefully at the sight, saying, "Oh what a show you are putting on for me! I can't wait to see what that is supposed to do."

Lillith watches from her sanctum, egging him on as Discord writhes in pain inside the window, saying, "Yeah, burn his mismatched ass, baby!" However, she notices that the combined magic is doing far more than causing him pain when she sees small pieces of him vanish, spotting that his strong silver aura that is slowly sputtering out. Shifting her senses over to her husband, she gasps in fright at seeing his very soul aura burning away with the spell. Desperate to stop him, she reaches out to Celestia's mind and screams, "THE FOOL IS BURNING AWAY HIS SOUL TO HARM DISCORD, SUNBUTT! YOU MUST RISK YOUR OWN BY INTERRUPTING HIS CONNECTION INSIDE HIS BODY BEFORE HE STARTS BLEEDING FROM HIS EYES, EARS, NOSE, AND MOUTH!"

Shocked at being screamed at, she reaches out and replies back, "HE'S DOING WHAT?! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO DO THAT?"

Shaking her head with an exasperated sigh, she shouts, "IT WORKS BEST BETWEEN MUCOSAL CONTACT, SO JUST LOCK LIPS WITH HIM AND SEND YOURSELF INTO HIM WHILE KEEPING YOUR DAMN HEAD OUT OF HIS BEAM. DON'T ARGUE WITH ME ABOUT KISSING HIM YOU TWO-THOUSAND-YEAR OLD VIRGIN UNLESS YOU WANT TO WATCH HIM TURN TO DUST RIGHT BEFORE YOUR VERY EYES AND VANISH INTO THIN AIR!"

Scared at the thought of losing him, she rushes forth and drops to the floor while turning her head sideways and placing her lips onto his. She feels no way to extend herself yet and slips her tongue into his mouth, feeling it possible to connect to him when she hears Vale Lily tell her to fight against it with all she has.

As True pushes harder to harm Discord, oblivious to the fact that he is being kissed by the princess, he hears a voice whisper to his ear, "Don't do this, too many ponies will be hurt by your loss. Can you really sacrifice your own life just to make Discord scream in pain for a few moments if it means that your friends, Princess Celestia and her sister spend years crying over how they weren't able to lay your remains to rest with your brethren?" Her words then cause thoughts to stir in his mind, which grants a strange sensation to worm its way through his body and mind while working to weaken his connection to the hell magic he is using.

Twilight and the others watch either Discord, True, or Celestia in shock as she focuses solely on the sight of Princess Celestia kissing a much younger pony...with tongue when her eyes notice a golden aura seeping into his. Not understanding what is going on yet, she watches as his body stops glowing while sweat is drenching his face and neck.

Seconds pass by when Celestia finishes severing his connection, causing her to feel him jerk his head away to cry out briefly. Opening her eyes, she watches him stumble back a few steps with his eyes screwed shut before his back hoof slips first and causes him to fall to the floor rump first. When she gets back up onto her hooves shakily, her breathing is ragged at having to fight so hard to break the connection. Looking True over as his head hangs down, breathing heavily while his whole body shakes from the effort to keep standing. Taking a few steps forward, she then nuzzles her nose into his neck, saying gently, "Rest now, my precious little pony."

Barely keeping his upper body up, he gasps when he recognizes the voice and stammers, "O-Okay..." taking a few breaths to finish, he continues, "S-S-Sorry for failing, Y-Your M-Ma-jesty."

Once she hears him say that, she watches him simply collapse to the floor. Placing a wingtip before his nostrils, she feels him breathing regularly and lets out a sigh of relief as well as shedding a couple tears, saying, "Thank heavens that is finally over..."

Paying no heed to Discord's pained hisses, Twilight asks, "Uhm Celestia? What just happened? Is he going to be alright?"

Nodding her head, she turns to Twilight, saying, "What happened was that he was joining two opposing magics into a single attack at the cost of his soul's energy, so I had to make a connection to him in order for me to sever one of the magical links. He will be just fine, although it will take some time for him to recover from this ordeal. Unfortunately, he cannot assist you in his current state due to how prone to anger he is at the sight of Discord and his greatly weakened state. We will have to keep him here under observation until he is well enough to be returned to Ponyville under your care." Turning a baleful eye towards the gasping, furless Draconequus, she says, "No more games, Discord, what did you do with the elements?"

Snapping his fingers to cover himself in a yellow suit with pink polkadots, Discord sniffles painfully, saying, "This is no longer amusing to me, so I shall abide to your request in my own little way..."

By the time True wakes up, he learns of Discord's defeat a week later and then receives a big scolding from all three Alicorns for what he did. With no choice but to stay by one of their sides, he stays by Celestia's side during the day and then Luna's at night. When he is allowed to return to Ponyville a week later, he is accompanied by his new sitter/warden, Cadance, who is to never let him out of her sight. When he returns via train with Cadance in tow, Twilight is overjoyed at seeing her foal sitter again as the language lessons continue.

Fall nears its end after a few crazy incidents happened at least once a week, such as Spike falling victim to his greedy dragon instincts and Luna making her first public reappearance during Nightmare Night. However, the craziest was when Rainbow injured her wing and was stuck in the hospital for almost two weeks, resulting in discovering her passion for reading books about Daring Do when she was then released and tried to break in to take the book so she could finish it.

Having sent a letter a few weeks ago to Shining Armor after going over what he remembered from the spell he cast in Celestia's school, True Heart hears a knocking at the door to see Shining Armor at the door with a large box, saying, "Early Hearth's Warming Gift from a friend."

Hearing her fiance outside, Cadance rushes towards him and wraps her forehooves around his neck, saying, "It is so good to see you, Captain, how are things in Canterlot?"

Letting the two catch up a bit, he waits a bit before turning to Shining Armor and asking, "Did you bring the item requested, Shining Armor?"

Nodding as the guards keep watch dutifully, he says, "Yes, I have a special device for measuring ambient magic. May I ask what you are going to do with it?"

True nods and says, "Yes, I will be using it to figure out something that will forever change Equestria, but please wait here a moment while I get a few things ready for us all."

Cadance turns around to look at True, asking, "Where are we going this time, True?" When he doesn't answer and head further in, she follows him, saying, "Come on in Shiny, this is a community building except for the right wing." Seeing True grab his saddlebags from his room and then head over to the kitchen, she asks, "True, please answer me."

Grabbing a few things from the kitchen, he stuffs them all into a sack and then into his saddlebag, saying, "We are going on a flight to someplace cold in search of magical hotspots, I cannot say more due to security reasons involving the fate of Equestria. Apologies, Cadance, but I cannot tell you or the captain more than I have already." With everything needed, he starts trotting towards the door, saying, "Well, we better get a move on while the weather's still fair."

As he approaches the chariot, he loads the box into it and then moves to stand in front of the guards, saying softly so only they hear him, "I am operating for the benefit of the princesses and the whole of Equestria, I have one request to ask of you at this time. If you will hear me out, grant me your full focus. If you will grant my request, nod your head. If you refuse it, return to your previous pose."

Slowly, the two guards look at him intently and wait for him to state his request, hearing him say softly, "Do either of you know anything about an empire that vanished in the snowy lands north of Equestria? Blink once for yes, twice for no." Debating whether or not to answer, one guard signals the other by nodding subtly, then blink once together. Standing there stoically, they then hear him sigh in relief as he continues, "Okay, I was hoping that a few members of the Royal Guard knew. What I need from you is to take all three of us into the snowy north within fifteen miles of where it is rumored to be, so that I can use a device to figure out what is going on. Will I be able to count on you both?"

True sees the guards nod their heads and stand up straighter, saying, "I appreciate your aid in this matter, Celestia made sure you were trained well, though you all should cast your eyes around your surroundings more often to have a higher awareness of them."

Climbing into the chariot, the guards then take off for their destination as Shining Armor looks at True questioningly, asking, "I sure hope you have a way for us to stay warm in the cold northern lands, True, because we don't."

Nodding his head, he says, "Not to worry, I have a spell that will keep the temperature from getting to us, including the guards."

A couple hours pass as they finally reach their destination, with True making sure that his spell is still keeping them warm, saying, "Alright, I need to get the box and take it to a high place, then set it up and start taking readings."

Sticking together, they follow the stallion to a place he finds suitable, then watch as he sets it up and begins messing with a few things on it before he shows any interest in what it is showing him.

As he looks through the emerald, he spends twenty minutes watching the dial bounce lower and almost return to the same spot as before, saying with a tight smile, "Ah, ok. I see now, these numbers tell me everything I need to know." Taking it apart, he then sets it back in the box and closes it up tight, saying, "Alright, we can head back now."

After returning to the Celestial Cathedral, Shining Armor and the guards prepare to return as True steps in front of them, saying, "I don't mean to be a bother, but might you be able to grant me one more favor in regards to protecting Equestria's future?"

Looking at him once again, he gets close and whispers, "I need one of you to report to Princess Celestia right away that the magic in the NORTH LANDS is fast receding. One last thing I would request of you, is to be notified if it returns so that the soldiers lost in that battle may be recovered and given a proper burial." Surprised to hear the second request, they both nod their heads twice to follow through with them both.

Cadance looks at True quizzically, asking in an interrogating tone, "Just what are you up to, True?"

Smirking, he then looks at her cutie mark, saying into her ear, "Oh not much, just preparing a gift for when you two tie the knot. Speaking of which, have you told Celestia and Luna about it or even picked a date?"

Nodding while fighting back an overjoyed smile, she says in the same quiet tone, "I most certainly did just before being tasked to foalsit you and they both are over the moon at the news, the date which we chose is June 24th."

Before pulling away, he then says, "Well then, you better get started on what you want for your wedding, I hear they require a lot of planning."

With a smirk, she giggles and says, "Don't worry, I have that covered already, all I want is a simple wedding, nothing grand or overly extravagant."

17: A Canterlot Wedding, Part 1

Author's Note

Hey everyone, I was trying to get the wedding in one chapter, but it is simply just too much with what I am writing. So I had to split off a good chunk of it to start a part two. Hope you all enjoy it!

17: A Canterlot Wedding, Part 1

While winter trudges on, the snow outside gets deeper as Cadance keeps a close eye on True's recovery, wondering how much longer it is going to take for his soul to finish recovering what was foolishly spent. Using what time he can, his warden travels with him and helps with his body strengthening to be able wear the heavy metal body covering he made for himself, even joining in on the language lessons that he is giving Twilight.

Absorbing the knowledge almost as well as Twilight, she notices that the two have been much cozier since she first started watching over True. When she uses her ability to sense emotions, she is happy to see love starting to blossom between the two and smiles at Twilight showing a little interest in what love is.

Time wears on as weeks drag by when she watches him begin working on crafting a helmet for himself along with working on weaving a linen garment from scratch in spite of Rarities insistence on using finer material than flax fibers, to which he abides her request and uses heavy wool for a tunic to keep him warm in cold temperatures. His second choice sends Rarity into a fit and tries to take over, which sparks a fight between the two over antiquated ways and traditions to more modern ones that makes Cadance step in and get the others to break it up.

Patching things up with Rarity as Hearth's Warming Eve, True begs Twilight to ask Celestia to allow Cadance some time off so she can enjoy herself for a short while. Celestia grants the request on the condition that Twilight and the girls take over watching over him, much to his annoyance and insisting that he doesn't need a foalsitter.

As he adapts his idea with what he recalls of the armor their horses wore, he adds more mail to his legs and closes it up to cover his underbody with the exception of his sheath and the area behind it. Greatly wishing he could put mail over his head and neck like he could with his human body, he thumps himself in the side of the head, saying, "Right, I'm a pony now, so I have to be mindful of my mane along with a few other things."

While he works away under constant supervision of one of the girls, he finishes making the overlapping plates over the top of his neck and attaches them to leather strips.

Applejack watches over him while he works, chuckling as she hears Rarity complain and nearly whine to True about using animal leather to hold everything together.

Rarity paces back and forth in a fit, whining, "UGH! I cannot believe you are actually planning on wearing leather in public..." She then stops in place and glares at him, shouting, "ARE YOU SOME KIND OF HEATHEN CREATURE THAT REPLACED OUR BELOVED TRUE!!? REVEAL YOURSELF!"

Snorting in amusement, True puts the final touches to the straps and turns to look at Rarity with a smirk, saying, "Damn straight, I am a western barbarian and proud of it! In the middle of the night, I'll barge into the home of any gorgeous damsel that is unfortunate enough to catch my eye. SO LOCK THY DOORS OR I MIGHT BARGE INTO YOURS, LADY RARITY!"

Her eyes go wide at hearing that and recovers the next moment, throwing her head into the air while spinning around on her hind leg snorting, "HMPH! I shall take my leave of you then, as I must wash the icky sweat from this sweat lodge you built." Stomping towards the door dramatically, she opens the door, saying, "Fare thee well, heathen." Shutting the door a little too hard, she then feels a pile of snow fall upon her from the roof, grumbling, "Wonderful, just wonderful, now I'm going to have icicles hanging off my glorious mane!"

Applejack lies on the floor laughing at what just happened, looking at True, she chuckles and says, "As funny as it was seeing the two of ya bicker like an old married couple, ah think ya and Rarity might make quite an interesting pair."

Smiling and letting out a chuckle at that, he says, "I'm sure we would keep the town ponies entertained, though I am not sure she is looking for that kind of relationship with me. I think that because unlike her, I am perfectly fine living in a hole in the ground with enough food to get by. Even though this Cathedral is for the community, living in it is considered a luxury due to the mandates and regulations set for our order to follow before we came here to this world." Letting out a sigh, he then wonders aloud, "I wonder if us not being under any kingdom's command was good or bad for us..."

Sensing the topic turning serious, she sighs and says, "Ah don't know the answer for that pardner, as yer gonna have to decide that for yerself. However, ah'll be here to support ya and help in any way ah can."

Smiling as she rests her hoof on his shoulder, he says, "It makes me happy, knowing I have good friends to rely on when I need to ask for help." Rising up and walking away from his finished headgear in irritation, he walks over to the mail resting on the sturdy stand and looks it over for any ideas as to get rid of his dissatisfaction with what he made. Spending a few moments looking it over, he lifts the chainmail around the neck up to see the protective pad below when Applejack enters his view. Lifting his eyes to her, he sees how her mane and tail are in a ponytail and recalls how she braided it for when they attended the first Gala, causing an idea to come to him. Smirking and sighing happily, he chuckles, saying, "How could I not realize that the answer was right in front of me?" Trotting past Applejack, he kisses her on the cheek, saying, "Thanks fer helping me out by just standing there, AJ."

Happy to help, but confused, she says, "Yer welcome, mind sharing what ya figured out? Or am ah gonna have to wait to see?"

Chuckling as he gets started, he says, "I'm adding more to it so that I can keep my neck safe, then to top it all off I'm going to make a pair of old-fashioned horseshoes."

Months pass by as True keeps working away on his ongoing suit of armor, managing to complete the neck section and attach it to the leather straps by making special links he sews onto the leather straps with a lot of heavy thread. Though he still is working on a way to be able to put it on and remove it when he overhears Rarity mention using a clip or other fastener. Thanking her for the idea, he does just that and adds six small clips to the ends of the mail. Determined to have this finished once and for all by the time the big day arrives, he starts working on his shoes as he keeps the wedding date in his mind, .

When it is Two weeks before the big day, Cadance turns to True and asks, "Are you going to wait to go to Canterlot with your friends, True?"

Shaking his head as he takes his new armor off, he says, "No, because it is far more important that you remain safe until you and Shining Armor say I do, and the only way to ensure that is by being your personal bodyguard for the wedding."

Smiling as she watches him get out of the armor he made, she asks, "I know that I've helped make you stronger, but how are you able to move around as if it isn't there?"

Unfastening his armor and padding around his body, he sets them both on the stand and then puts his saddlebags on, saying, "I still notice the weight, but I was trained to be able to fight in armor at a young age. All the extra training finally paid off for when the day comes I need that armor, now let us be on our way. I will be vigilant in my duty to protect you, to my very last breath if it calls for it."

Touched by his sincerity, she accompanies him outside of his workshop where he stops to lock the door before continuing on, asking, "That blade on your helmet is not sharpened, is it?"

True shakes his head, saying, "Not yet, haven't had the time to do so with having to finish enchanting my shoes with increased traction, but I will sharpen it once the wedding is over. Nothing is worse than being unprepared for danger, which can quickly result in your death."

Making their way to the train station late in the evening, they get into the first class car as Cadance makes herself comfortable on one of the large cushions with True taking up a careful watch. As they head on their way to Canterlot, he casts out a detection spell to pick up any hostile intentions nearby and finds none.

Nearing the base of Canterlot with no incidents so far, he remains on a sharp lookout as they near the series of tunnels below the city when he hears glass break. Spinning around in an instant, he spots a waiter approaching him pushing a covered cart with food on top. Taking no chance, he casts out his detection spell and senses hostility from the pony before him, shouting, "CAST YOUR SHIELD, CADANCE!" and fires off a hasty blast of magic at the pony, striking them and sending them flying backwards. As the pony and cart crash through their door and the door into the next car, he hears buzzing and screaming coming from that car, saying, "CHANGELINGS! KEEP YOUR SHIELD UP NO MATTER WHAT UNTIL YOU'RE POSITIVE IT IS ME!"

WARNING, THIS PORTION CONTAINS GORE, FEEL FREE TO SKIP IF YOU DON'T WISH TO READ IT!

Cadance watches as darkness fills the cabin when the train enters the tunnel, trembling at being attacked and being unable to help out without dropping her shield. Hearing hissing and buzzing approaching, she then sees True casting deadly spells towards the buzzing sounds, which then explode. Pained screeches cry out as more dangerous spells are cast to maim and kill, glancing her brief glimpses of the luxurious car having green blood splattered all over the floor and walls around the holes torn into the sides of the car.

Ten minutes pass when the attacks stop as she hears a smack accompanied by a heavy thud and a pained stallion's groan. Once the train leaves the tunnel, she sees the bodies of black, insect-like pony creatures being carried away with a large one standing before her shield...with her forehooves on his neck threateningly, asking the Changeling, "W-Wh-What do you want?"

The large changeling then smiles darkly and shuffles her hooves around on the stallion's neck she knocked out, saying, "For starters...to kill this stallion for murdering so many of my beloved subjects. After that, I want to seize all of Equestria, starting with Canterlot, say goodbye to your personal guard, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza!"

Before she can rear up and break True's neck, Cadance shouts, "PLEASE DON'T!"

Sensing her fondness for the stallion, she chuckles and asks, "Oh? Are you willing to surrender to me and be my prisoner?" Seeing her actually thinking it over, she pounces on the opportunity and rears up, demanding, "DO IT OR HE DIES!"

Having no other choice to save his life, she sighs in defeat and hangs her head as tears roll down her face, thinking, 'I'm sorry, dear, but I can't risk someone's life to protect my own...'

THIS IS A TEMPORARY END TO THE GORE, ENJOY THE FOLLOWING BIT OF THE STORY!

When she sees her drop the shield, she grins and then uses a spell to send her to a prison cell deep within the crystal mines under Canterlot, saying, "Good, now just sit tight and I will be right with you after I decide what to do with this wretched stallion..."

Sinking into the spell, Cadance looks at True, saying, "Please don't harm him for protecting me."

Once she goes into the cell she made for her, she looks the stallion over appraisingly, then grins maliciously and says to her whole hive, "This stallion will serve as a wonderful source to increase our ranks, take him to the Beta Hive and place him in amber, leaving only his mouth and...necessary bits exposed for our purposes. If he runs out of stamina, dose him with love poison to keep him useful. He does not need to stay awake for the activity either, so have your fill of him...fellow females.'

WARNING! THIS NEXT SECTION IS A SHORT CLOP FOLLOWED BY A GORY ONE! FEEL FREE TO SKIP AHEAD TO THE WHITE PORTION IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO READ IT!!

Due to unconsciousness, Lillith is trapped inside her sanctum while to the amber renders her husband unable to use his magic. Watching angrily as he is sent to a dark place below the ground, where he is visited by female after female endlessly, screaming, "WHEN I GET OUT, I'M GOING TO CUT LOOSE ON YOU ALL AND GIVE YOU NIGHTMARES THAT WILL HAUNT YOU FOR THE REST OF YOUR DAYS!!"

When True finally comes around, he feels an immense tightness around his member followed by him climaxing and spraying his seed inside of some female that waits for him to finish before leaving. Taking him a few moments to regain control of his eyes and eyelids, he grunts when another tight sensation surrounds his member as he asks his wife, 'Dear? Where are we, and do you know what happened?'

Sighing with relief, Lillith says, 'It's about time you woke up, dear, I've missed you terribly. Can you please let me out so I can let my fury out on these pests? Oh, so you know, you were knocked out by their queen, who threatened to kill you unless Cadance surrendered to her. So she sacrificed her freedom to save your life, and was sent some place that I couldn't see or locate. Also, you've been here for a week and a half and have been screwed by at least fifty female changelings.'

Growling at hearing that, he takes a breath and glares at the changeling who is on top of him, going wild with a look of ecstasy on her face when he fills her insides, saying, 'Show no mercy, but no killing infants'

THE CLOP PORTION ENDS HERE, HOWEVER THE PORTION AFTER THIS CONTAINS GORE, FEEL FREE TO SKIP IF YOU DON'T WISH TO SEE IT!

When the changeling leans down to kiss him, Lillith seizes her chance and rushes out through his mouth and into hers, saying, 'This is going to be quite the entrance...'

He watches as the changeling stumbles back, coughing profusely before shouting, "What have you done to me?!"

True only chuckles when she screams in pain, suddenly turning into a gurgling as a five-clawed hand reaches out of her throat covered in green blood. It is soon joined by the second, when the fingers close around the two halves of the mouth and head, spreading them wider apart until the changeling's skin begins to tear. Ripping the changeling in half and standing on her two legs, dripping wet with changeling blood, he hears his wife laugh maniacally, calling out to whoever else can hear, "You feast on love? Well...so do I. Let's find out who is more terrifying, shall we?"

Watching as changelings rush towards his wife, she pulls out a pair of long, nasty looking whips and begins twirling them around. When one changeling nears, one whip wraps around it as she then snaps it a different direction, tearing the changeling in half as it goes to find a new victim.

Cackling all the while, Lillith tears through dozens of changelings rushing towards her like paper as screams fill the air, leaving body parts scattered all around the cavern she is in. When she sees them starting to flee, she clucks her tongue, saying, "Awe, don't want to play anymore? Well that's alright, I will just let a few pets have some fun with you instead...enjoy!" Putting one whip away, she puts two fingers on her right hand to her mouth, she whistles sharply, summoning forth some of her pets, shouting, "FEAST ONLY UPON THE GUILTY AND DON'T TOUCH THE YOUNG AND DEFENSELESS!"

True then watches with wide eyes as a pair of doors rise out of the ground and burst open to release a blood red light from the opening, seeing dozens of massive skin and bone wolves with blazing red eyes rush out through the portal. When new screams start filling the tunnels, he turns to his wife and asks, "Dear, could you let me out of this?"

Nodding, she walks over, sashaying her hips with each step and uses her magic to melt away the amber, saying, "There you go, dear, I'm going to close the door and go find some more to play with while you find the way out."

Finally free, he begins to try his magic as his member starts to retreat back into his sheath. Surprised when he can use it inside the tunnels, saying, "I shall wait until you're finished with them before returning home." As he waits for the horrified screams to end, he wonders just how many big this place is when silence finally falls within the tunnels, he calls out to his wife, asking, "Shall we go home now, dear?"

Happy with all she has done, Lillith saunters back towards him with a satisfied look upon her face , nodding back towards him while snapping her fingers to re-summon the portal. Whistling to her pets, she calls out, "Return home, my darlings, for you have done very well today!"

Once the hell hounds pass back through the portal, he watches her close the portal before trailing her finger through the blood and tastes it. Spitting it out right away, he chuckles and asks, "Not to your liking?"

Trying to get the taste out of her mouth, she spits again, saying, "Yuck, you would think that their blood would taste so sweet after feeding off the love of other ponies, but no, it tastes as sour and rotten as can be!" Using her flames to burn the blood off her, she then turns into smoke and returns to her sanctum, saying, 'Now you can enjoy yourself while I take a much needed nap after such exertion.'

THIS IS ANOTHER TEMPORARY END OF THE GORE SECTION, ENJOY THE FOLLOWING PART OF THE STORY!

Teleporting back to the Cathedral, he trots outside to look at Canterlot. Seeing that it has a shield up still brings him relief as he heads to his workshop to finish the blade on his helmet, saying, "Fear not Cadance, I will not let the Changeling Queen succeed."

Spending a few hours putting a sharp edge on the nearly full half-moon blade, he nods in satisfaction and grabs his shoes first to put them on. Holding one to his left forehoof first, he moves his feathering back before bending the three crosses on the front and side of each horseshoe back against his hoof. Setting his hoof against the side of the anvil to hold the shoe in position and taking a smaller hammer, he drives the two short spikes on either side of the three flared ends of the cross into the soft outer part of his hoof. Once all three crosses are firmly held in place on the first shoe with the short spikes, he moves onto the others.

After getting all four of his shoes on, he picks up the three layers of his armor and slips them over his body while widening his stance to distribute the weight better, then grabs the floor mirror angled to help him see underneath over to him so he can fasten the ends together underneath him. Once his underside is fastened, he fastens the mail around his legs before braiding his mane down along his neck and tying it at the end with a white ribbon bearing a plain red cross on each end.

Picking up his upper body armor, he lines his horn up with a hollow space in the blade to still allow him to use his magic and slips it on. Making some adjustments to it, he then ties the pad in place first before clipping the mail to the loops on the leather straps, then buckles the leather straps underneath his jaw to keep his helmet firmly on his head while still allowing him to talk if needed.

Heading over to his tunic, he smiles at seeing the original cross of their order before they came here. Taking it off the hangar, he places it over his back and grabs the long lace Rarity made to tie it down with, then trots over to the hanging mirror to see the the two lines of ringed holes down the back. Running the white lace through the holes in a criss-cross pattern, he ties a small bow at the top of it before fetching his sword belt.

Attaching the broadsword nearly as long as his body down the length of his back, he makes sure the buckles fully secure it in place before securing his triangle shield over top of it. Heading towards the last item he needs to complete his look, he grabs the chain mace from the hook and heads over to the standing mirror. Standing before it with his rear facing it, he turns his head around to look at his tail.

Fastening the chain's end to a pair of medium-sized, D-shaped rings secured at the folded end of a heavily stitched, thick length of cloth running down the length of his mail along his back, he lets the mace head hang down to compare the length of his tail to it. Choosing to trim it at the end, he takes his tail and splits it into three parts before tightly braiding it around the chain until reaching the last few inches of the chain's length. Having a few extra inches to trim, he snips them off just before the mace's head and wraps a white ribbon around, near the tail's end several times before making a small bow. Finally done, he turns around to look at himself in the mirror and nods at his final, intimidating look, saying, "Let's go help drive those Changelings off and rescue Cadance."

Trotting back outside, he closes the door behind him and then uses his magic to teleport himself into the outskirts of Canterlot. However, his spell lands him a hundred feet from the bubble and sighs, spotting two royal guards along either side of the path, saying, "The barrier must prevent anyone from teleporting in, I will just have to walk to the castle."

WARNING, THIS FINAL SECTION CONTAINS GORE AND CAN BE SKIPPED IF YOU WISH. FEEL FREE TO SKIP AHEAD TO THE NEXT CHAPTER AND ENJOY!

Seeing the heavily armed pony heading towards them, they lower their spears towards them, shouting, "HALT! STATE YOUR BUSINESS IN CANTERLOT!"

Standing firm, he stops a few feet from them and says, "I am True Heart, I was escorting Princess Cadance to Canterlot when we came under attack and she has been abducted, I must warn Princess Celestia of the danger at once."

Maintaining their posture, the guard on the left says, "SEIZE HIM!"

Hearing a buzzing from above, he casts destructive spells towards them as he hears the two guards charge forward. Lowering his head down, he uses the blade to deflect both spears as he spins around to strike them with the chain mace. When he feels the head hit the guard's head, he watches as the strike crushes their skull and sends them flying into the other guard as the dying changeling's disguise falls. When the other guard hits the ground and scrambles to his hooves, True charges towards him and impales him on his blade.

Pinning the changeling against the barrier, he hears it start to gurgle, snorting while saying, "Don't stain my blade with your vile blood." then unceremoniously throws his head back, tossing the choking changeling behind him while looking at the barrier, saying, "Now how will I deal with this..."

Movement ahead of him through the barrier gets his attention, drawing his eyes down to see a group of royal guards rushing towards him with spears at their sides. When most of them form a line as two guards move to the barrier and take up guard positions on either side of the road with their spears crossed, they uncross them and create a weakness in the barrier.

Taking it as an invitation inside, True heads forward and passes through, stopping before the line of guards, saying, "I have dire news for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, Cadance and I were attacked on the train to Canterlot where I was incapacitated and captured along with Cadance. However I managed to escape, though I have no idea where she was taken. The enemy we face are called changelings and are led by a queen, they can take the form of anyone at all. Will you grant me one request?"

One of the guards nods, saying, "Stand down, if he was an enemy, he wouldn't have slain two of his own." Focusing on the stallion, the lead guard says, "We normally only take orders from Princess Celestia, but I feel that you can be trusted to guide us through this fight. What do you recommend us do, sir?"

Glad that they are deciding to put their trust in them, he looks at them and says, "Do you have a way to communicate with each other?"

The guard nods his head, saying, "Affirmative, we have a horn and a set of signals to communicate different things to each other, what shall we do?"

True then says, "I want you to gather all of the guards here except for those guarding the entrances so that we can figure out how many of them are imposters and weed them out." He then begins to hear a dull thumping from above and looks to see many black dots gathering outside of the barrier as others bash their bodies against the barrier, returning his gaze to the guard, adding, "There is much we need to do before that barrier falls, so hop to it!"

After pulling out his horn and blowing the appropriate signal, it takes several long minutes for them all to gather. Once a few groups of stragglers join the ranks of guards, he casts his malicious intent detection spell and keeps it up while counting the ranks, calling out, "There are enemies among us, and I shall deal with them rank by rank. If any try to flee during my search, you will die in horrible agony."

The guards remain stoic, but slightly nervous as they watch the heavily armed stallion walk before the first rank of guards with his sword drawn. The intense look he gives each of them as he inspects them in a far more menacing manner than the Captain of the Royal Guard ever would, their eyes following his every move with shallow, nervous breaths. Without warning, they watch his sword thrust into one of them at the far end, then slice through the guard beside them. Falling to the ground as green flames return them to their true appearance, their eyes widen in shock at how he seems to know how to find them.

Reaching the end of the first rank, he returns to where he slew two of the imposters and harshly yanks their lifeless corpses out of line, saying, "FIRST RANK, RIGHT FACE!" As they execute his order, he then shouts, "FORWARD MARCH!" Watching them march a fair distance, he then shouts, "HALT! CLOSE GAP!"

The guards behind the open gap march forward two spaces before stopping and hear, "LEFT FACE!"

Deciding not to alert any others to how efficient his spell is, he makes his way down to the last rank and starts to inspect them from behind. Finding one right away at the very end, he removes the blood off his sword with a swing and then sheathes it. Grabbing the imposter's head and swiftly twisting it around, he hears their neck snap as their disguise falls and tosses them out of line.

Remaining stoically facing forward, the rear line of guards then hear, "REAR LINE, RIGHT FACE! CLOSE GAP" As the guards close the gaps, the line is down to half of what it was when they hear, "FORWARD MARCH! LEAD PONY, GUIDE THE LINE IN BEHIND THE FIRST RANK!"

Not knowing what is going on adds to the tension the imposters feel as long moments pass between the orders being given to the line being inspected, one of the imposters reaches out through their hive-mind to the queen, saying, 'My queen, something is amisss. There's an armored, black stallion going through and clearing the ranks of the Royal Guard. He's slain two already that I saw with my own eyes, what are we to do?'

Surprised to hear that, the queen then dismisses it and says, 'Maintain your covers, their barrier is still up. However, it won't be long until it breaks, the element of surprise is on our side. What is this stallion's progress?'

As he hears another rank given orders, the changeling says, 'He's going through the guards rank by rank, and there were twenty ranks of guards in lines of fifty long. He's currently working his way forward through the tenth rank, though the first rank was already cleared.'

Not liking what her subject said, she says, 'Keep me informed on his progress, I need to head down the aisle now.' Addressing them all, she says, 'All of you within the guard maintain your covers until the barrier comes down, when it does...kill the stallion.'

Time passes slowly for the changelings in the second rank as the stallion makes his way through the ranks, killing the changelings he finds quietly until he reaches the last rank, causing the same changeling from before to say, 'Apologies, my queen, but he is on the last rank now and trotting his way through, breaking the neck of those he somehow seems to know where they are. Apologies, Your Majesty, but we have failed...'

Gasping briefly at feeling the neck of her subject snap, she spots Twilight and her friends race for the doors, flying into the sky towards them while laughing and saying after them, "You can run, but you can't hide from the swarm!"

With the last changelings dead, he drags them out of the line, shouting, "SECOND RANK, RIGHT FACE! LEAD PONY FILE IN BEHIND THE LAST RANK! FORWARD MARCH!" Once they reach the end, he calls for them to halt and face him, addressing the regiment of guards, saying, "Those of you that remain are all that remain of the Royal Guard. Pegasi, form groups of at least five and work your way through the city and shout for the citizens to get to cover as an enemy attack will start any moment and to lock the doors until Princess Celestia or Princess Luna can give the all clear to signal it is safe. Focus on those within the city and leave the Castle to me, but be prepared to fight at any moment and use this challenge to tell friend from foe, day and night. When asked day, you reply with night. It can be used in reverse too, so remember that. Go now, as that barrier could fall in the next second, so waste no time." As the pegasi take to the air and form groups before taking off, he turns to the others and says, "Unicorns come forward so I can try to teach you a new spell in record time to detect malicious intent, which is what I did earlier as it is quite effective on revealing foes."

Minutes pass as the unicorn guards pick up the relatively simple spell quickly, allowing True to get on with his task as he says, "Earth Ponies, form multiple groups of at least 10 or less with two or three unicorns per group and form roving patrols through the main thoroughfares of the city. Keep track of the barrier's integrity every few seconds, if it should break, use a horn to send out the signal for all guards to prepare for battle. If you encounter an insect pony, either kill it or incapacitate it at your own discretion. I swear to you all on my honor, that I will do whatever it takes to keep Canterlot and Equestria from falling into enemy hands. Now...MOVE OUT!"

The guards all salute him and begin to execute his orders immediately, taking them only a few minutes before heading into the city. Smiling at how efficient they are, he decides to praise the one responsible for their thorough training once this is all over. Trotting after the guards, he makes his way towards the castle when he hears a sound he didn't want to hear just yet.

Looking up at the barrier as he hears horns sound, True sees cracks forming in the barrier and hurries along his way, thinking, 'I will not let them seize victory...' However, the barrier shatters before he gets very far, causing him to stop to fight against the wind the falling barrier makes.

Once the wind fades, he looks up to see black streaks heading down towards the city. Preparing for a fight as quite a few head his way, he chooses to handle them all himself and lets his wife rest while drawing his sword and shield, shouting, "Come taste the sting of my blades!"

As Twilight and her friends fight a large group of at least fifty changelings, she hears quite a lot of screeching hisses coming from the city, wondering, 'I sure hope you're okay True...' Just then she hears Fluttershy let out a horrified scream and rushes to her side to rescue her, only to find her trembling violently behind the real Applejack, asking, "Why'd you scream, Fluttershy?"

Clobbering another changeling going after her friend, Applejack says, "Well, she was frightened by the dead changeling that fell from the sky, with its head almost completely removed."

Blasting another one with her magic, she curiously says, "I wonder what happened to cause such a bad injury..."

As Rainbow dukes it out with a changeling posing as her, she spins around and bucks them in the face, saying, "Do you really have to ask that question now, when we're neck deep into a fight with changelings?!"

Snorting as she decks one changeling, she says, "Think about what you said, it should be quite clear who could possibly have been so violent..."

Smiling widely at figuring her meaning out, she feels Pinkie hop on her back and treat her like a magic cannon, saying, "Fire away, Pinkie!"

Using every weapon available to him, he is surprised that he isn't completely dripping wet with the blood of slain changelings and uses an acid spray spell to melt the changelings trying to attack him from behind when he hears the sound of galloping hooves followed by, "CHARGE!"

Three groups of royal guards enters the fray after finding out True has been bogged down for twenty minutes in the same area with the bodies of changelings getting dangerously high, with one of them shouting, "GO TO THE CASTLE, WE CAN HANDLE THIS!"

True nods his head and turns to the only gap between the groups, casting a quite violent spell, saying, "Battering Ram!" The spell then races forth, blasting the bodies around him far ahead of him and splattering against the sides and corners of buildings and trees. Wanting to even out the odds for the guards, he spins around and channels a spell to clear a path where the beam hits, shouting, "GET DOWN!"

Once he finishes reducing the mountains of bodies into just hills to crawl over, he hurries through the path he cleared, thinking, 'I'm on my way, girls, don't give up yet...'

Captured and brought back to the wedding hall, Twilight sighs as Chrysalis asks if she realizes the reception is canceled, then tells the changelings in the room to go feed. As she starts to brag, Twilight jerks her head away when she hears Applejack apologize for not listening to her, responding, "It isn't your fault, she had us all fooled."

Fighting his way through changelings in the castle, he searches for the wedding hall when he spots a flower petal drifting past him. Following the petal for a short distance, he then comes across a room filled with hundreds of changelings. Shaking his head, he says, "Why squash bugs when I can just incinerate the lot of them?" Sheathing his sword and securing his shield away, he reaches for his holy magic. Once he feels the magic fill him, he then sends it forth in a wide arc through the point just in front of the blade, aiming to fill the whole room with azure flames as he starts to hear screams come from the insects.

THIS IS THE END OF THE CLOP AND GORE!

18: A Canterlot Wedding, Part 2

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