Chapter Two: Mad WorldView OnlineUnto A New WorldChapter Two: Mad WorldChapter Two: Mad World. I slowly opened my heavy eyelids to find that I was lying in the singlemost, comfiest and largest bed I had ever been in. It looked similar to the sort of bed that a king or queen would sleep on in medieval movies. I folded the silk sheets back so I could slide out, and crawled over to the bed posts on each of the four corners of the frame. They were made of wood that must of come from a tree that I had never seen before. It was a dark ebony colour and had a design pattern similar to that of the envelope which started all this. The dark ebony wood stretched up high and connected to a sort of roofing, made specifically for the bed iteself. While looking up, I noticed that the 'roof' of the room I was in was a black void, much like the night sky. It seemed to be endless. Looking around the room, I made a few observations. First of all, I discovered that I was in a royal bed chamber. Falling off the bed with a great 'THUD!', due to my feet getting stuck in the silk sheets, I noticed that my foot was no longer wrapped in bandages. A closer look at the base of my foot, there was but a small scar where the pin had gone. It should have taken much longer than a few hours to heal. 'How long was I out for?'I thought as my heart pounded in my chest. "I'm still in this mad world with talking horses!" I exclaimed, losing my breath and forcing myself to hyperventilate. "We prefer to be called ponies, Jackson" a voice came from behind me. "Wh-who are y-you?" I blurted out. "My name is Princess Luna. I am terribly sorry for having to push you through the portal. Please accept my apologies" said the tall pony. She was on the verge of bursting into tears. I instantly felt sorry for this poor soul. "I a-accept you apology" I started to stutter less, as I was relaxing at the sight of the princess's face. "Are you okay?" I asked. She couldn't hold back her tears any longer. She broke down in a heap on the floor, weeping to herself. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" she kept saying. I walked over to her, hesitating before I put an arm around her neck. "You could have just talked to me first you know.." I trailed off as she looked up to meet with my eyes. She was blushing? "I know" she said, whiping her eyes with a hoof. "I'm not good at this whole social thing yet, that is why I had to put a sleeping spell on you. I didn't know what to do, what to say" There was an awkward silence, which lasted minutes as we sat there on the floor. She backed away from me, making me release my arm from her. "I have so many questions I have to ask you, but first would you like some food? You were asleep for three days, I was in such a panic that I made the spell too strong" She said in an apologetic tone. As if right on cue, my stomach let out a loud growl. The princess was giggling, which soon caught onto me and eventuallly we were both rolling of the floor, holding our sides from laughter. "Well now that the ice has broken" I chuckled "I would love some food". "Fantastic!" she said as she beamed a huge smile "I'll make you something personally!" "You really dont have to, your Majesty" I retorted "I don't wish to be a burden" "Well, I sort of HAVE to make you food.. Nopony else knows you are here except for me.." She looked shamed. "You mean you haven't told anyone yet?" I said, the look of horror was stuck on my face "What if they chase me out of wherever I am, or if they have me executed?" The princess placed a comforting hoof on my shoulder. "I will not let it come to that. You and I will go see my sister later today. I will talk to her before hand so she does not do anything she will regret" she told me. "You must stay here, and if anypony knocks on the door, hide as fast as you can. Don't let anypony see you until you have my sister's approval. In the meantime, I have found some of your personal belongings and placed them on the table over there" she pointed towards the corner of the room, where indeed, there were some of my clothes, some soap and.. My acoustic guitar. "How did you get this?" I yelled as I rushed over to give it a once over. I took it out of it's leather case and checked it, and strummed the strings with my fingers, which gave out of tune sounds. "I collected them from your house as you left to go to the meeting place" she replied, looking uneasy. "I know how much you cared for that thing when you looked at it the night before I gave you that letter" her ears flopped down. "I'm sorry" "Stop being sorry! I am grateful that you brought it, and this 'thing' is called a guitar. It is used to play music" I mentioned. The princess's ears shot up "Music? Maybe you can show me after I get some food and refreshments?" she asked with a smile on her face. "Maybe, I mean i'm NOT bad at it, but I wouldnt have a clue on what to play" I defensively retorted. Almost instantaneously, she cocked her head to the side and pouted her bottom lip. "Please?" She gave me the 'puppy dog eyes'. Damn it she was good at that. I actually knew of many songs that I could play. Feeling guilty, I gave in "Okay fine" The princess stood up and stamped her to front hooves on the floor "Hurray! Thankyou, Thankyou, Thankyou, Thankyou!" She chanted. I couldnt hold back my giggles, before I exploded with laughter. Her face started blushing hotly, before she started laughing too. As we quieted down, she got up and walked towards the door. Looking back over she shoulder, she nodded to me in a friendly 'I'll be back soon' way. I nodded back and she left the room, and I heard it locking from the outside. 'It's not like I was going to leave anyway' I thought as a sat back down and started to tune my guitar. It had been twenty minutes before the door swung open and I dove to the floor to hide behind the bed. Scurring under it, I could hear hooves clacking on the floor. "Luna!" said the voice "Where are you?" It got louder. "That foal! She was ment to adhere to the court thirty minutes ago!" The being moved to the other side of the room. "Hmm.. What's this?" said the voice. I head the sound of a perfectly tuned guitar being played unskillfully. Before I knew it, I was out from under the bed. I snatched away the guitar from the aura that surround it and hugged it tightly. "DO NOT TOUCH IT!" I screamed, as the pony reared up. I only just managed to dodge the hooves coming down onto the floor, with great force they cracked the floorboards. I saw Luna rushing in through the door, followed by two guards. "What the hay is it?" Said one of the guards as he lowered his lance to my throat. Luna instantly jumped in, bucking the lance away from me. "Do not touch him, he is my guest and I take full responsibility!" she screamed, lowering her horn as if ready to charge. "Luna! With me, NOW!" said the voice. I finally looked upand saw that it was Luna's sister, whom she called Celestia. "As for, whatever you are" she looked down at me, and then to the guards "take it to the dungeon and lock it up". "NO!" Screamed Luna, with such force that it made the gurads' flinch, and actually pushed them back a few inches. "DO NOT TOUCH HIM!" She stood over me, and protected me like a mother would protect her child. "LUNA!" Celestia's voice was earthshaking. "STEP AWAY FROM THAT THING!" She instructed, before forcefully lifting her up in an aura of magic and forcing her aside. The tall white unicorn took Luna's place over me, but her horn was glowing. The last thing I heard was Luna's cries and the world faded to black. I awoke in a jail cell, it smelt like faeces, and all I could see were walls that were stained with blood and one single door on the far wall. The ground had patches of hay scattered around and in the corner, I could see where the smell was coming from, the toilet. It was broken and flowing, murky water came from under the lid. I went to brush my brown hair away from my face, but I soon discovered that my hands were bound with rope. On the floor next to the door, there were a set of iron cuffs. I thought that they must have already tried them on me, but found that they were too big to hold just one of my arms. They were ment for a horses leg, not a human arm. It felt like I was sitting there on the cold, wet cement for hours. I didn't even want to think why the cement was wet. Suddenly I heard a pair voices coming from outside the jail door. One of them was Luna's, the other's belonged to Celestia. The door opened ever so slowly as Luna's head shot out around it, scanning the room with her cyan eyes. She spotted me and her eyes went wide as she rushed over to me. She collapsed next to me and dug her head into my chest, her tears were drenching my shirt. We sat there for a while, and Luna seemed to have run out of tears, but she didn't move from her position. I noticed Celestia standing over by the door, looking at the floor, whilst kicking the hay with one of her hooves. "A-am I going to be executed?" I whispered into Luna's ear. She looked up at me, head still on my chest, and shook her head. I felt a sigh of relief flush over me, but it returned just as fast as it left with the next question on my tounge. "What's going to happen to me?" I asked Luna. She slowly moved her head away from me and leaned in next to my ear "I sorted everything out with Celestia. I told her who you were and how you got here, and why you are here" I didn't even know why I was here, I hadn't been able to ask many questions so far. "She agreed to start over again, if you were willing to give her a second chance. She feels terrible for what she did, and she was only trying to protect me.. A foreign species in my bed chambers, who was opposite sex" she blushed slightly, before returning to her serious gaze "Please forgive her" I let the words sink in for a few moments. I couldn't really blame her sister for anything, if I had a sister and found a guy in her room, he'd be lucky to come out with a few bruises and cuts. I stood up, and Luna followed suite. She was just as tall as me, although her sister was one and a half Lunas' high. Stumbling, I slowly shuffled, and I only just noticed my legs were tightly bound aswell, over to Celestia, who looked me in my eyes and quickly darted them away. In that split second, I couldn't stay mad at her, I saw the sorrow in her eyes. She was instantly forgiven. "H-Hi there" I said shyly. She looked up (down) to me and extended a hoof "It's a pleasure Jackson, I'm so incredibly sorry for that misunderstanding" she was nearly in tears. 'How can rulers of a country be so emotionally unstable' I thought to myself. Extending my arms, I managed to take hold of her hoof and shook it. Her eyes widened at the sight of the ropes and her horn glowed. I cringed and tried to hop away, but was surrounded in a white aura. I felt myself become weightless as I floated up to meet Celestia eye to eye. "I'm so sorry! Please allow me to unbind you!" she offered. I held up my arms and the rope came loose, moving like a snake. She continued onto my leg bindings, which came as equeally as loose before landing on the ground. She placed me on the floor and I stretched. It felt good to be able to move again. Luna came over to me and wrapped a wing around me. She didn't seem to care about the fact that I was sitting in things I do not wish to speak of. "Please, come and join Luna and I for dinner, and we may talk about what to do next" she said majestically. Her voice sounded so nice and calm. "Luna, please take him to the washrooms. I will tell the guards to escort Jackson to the dining hall" "Ofcourse sister" Luna replied, looking toward me. "Thankyou your Majesty" I bowed. Both Luna and Celestia Chuckled. "You do not need to call me by my title, 'Sir Jackson'" Celestia said sarcastically "And i'm sure Luna wont mind being called by her name either" Celestia and I looked towards Luna, who simply nodded. Celestia looked back to me, then Luna, then Luna's wing. Luna saw what she was subconciously doing and instantly removed her wing from around my shoulders, her cheecks going a light red. "You were right Luna" Celestia remarked "He is a cute one!" she mumbled loud enough for us to hear. I looked at Luna and saw she went bright red, her face almost completely covered in crimson red. Celestia and I started to laugh and eventually Luna started to giggle. I was going to like this place.
Chapter Three: RoyaltyView OnlineUnto A New WorldChapter Three: RoyaltyChapter Three: Royalty I was being escorted to the Dining Hall by two guards. They were both smaller than me, and neither of them said anything. I tried to get a reaction from them but nothing worked. I even tried licking one of their helmets but still, I got nothing. "You guys are goooood" I congratulated them both. In my world, it would have been weird seeing a twenty-one year old acting the way I did, but I didn't care, I was already liking this world and I hardly scratched the surface. The guards led me to the biggest door I had ever seen, which like Luna's bed, was made out of ebony looking wood with eye catching designs. They both nodded to the guards at the door and they swung them open. I gasped in awe as I stepped into the gigantic room. On either side, there were rows of waiters and waitresses awaiting orders from the Princesses. The windows that they stood infront of were that of beauty, each having their own picture. In one, I noticed a dragon, but it wasn't a dragon. It had a goat's head, on wing of a bat, the other of a bird. It had a serpents tail, and all four of its limps were of different variety, which were a lion's paw, an aligator leg, a chicken's claw and a goat's hoof. I hoped I didn't come across this creature for as long as I was here. In another window, there was a picture of six ponies. One was purple and had a purple mane and tail, on it's flanks it wore a six pointed star surrounded by other stars, the next pony was orange with a blonde mane and tail, and held three apples on its back legs. Princess Luna was standing next to me. "They were the six ponies who defeated Nightmare Moon" she said softly, looking at her hooves "They each own the Elements of Harmony. Applejack the bearer of Honesty, Rarity the dame of Generosity, Pinkie Pie the wielder of Laughter, Fluttershy holds the virtue of Kindness, Rainbow Dash - The Element of Loyalty and Twilight sparkle, the one to bring the six together, holds the Element of Magic" "Will I get to meet these ponies?" I asked politely. She looked at me, she looked a little jealous. "In good time Jackson, first let us eat" she said, as I was nudged to the table, taking the seat across from Luna. Celestia sat at the end of the table. She looked towards the waiters and nodded. Within seconds, there were plates of food being brought out, none of which looked like I could eat. A lot of it consisted of flowers and hay. Then one meal was uncovered that looked eddible, Honey carrots accompanied by a plentiful supply of saalad and apple slices. We served up our meals and began to eat. Halfway through, Celestia finally spoke up. "So Jackson" I swallowed as I looked to her "I would like to hear more about you. Luna has already informed me on alot" I looked over to Luna who was hiding her face with her mane as she looked at her food. I could tell she was blushing again. "W-what would you like to know Prin-sorry, Celestia?" I asked with a smile on my face. "No need to apologise" she said as she beamed a smile. It took all my nervousness away. "First of all, what was that red thing which you took from my grasp? Second, I need to speak to you alone after dinner, if that is alright?" "Ofcourse! And that 'red thing' was called a guitar. It makes sounds, which I or other musicans can turn into music" I replied, and Celestia's grin grew even wider. Finally, Luna looked up. "May we hear some music? Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!" she literally bounced up and down where she sat. I was surprised to hear Celestia chime in too. In unison, they sang "Pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!" and I couldn't help but smile. "Sure" I replied, finally giving in. The two princesses were incredibly happy. "But may I have some time to practice?" They both looked at eachother and nodded at the same time, like they were controlled by one mind. Dinner soon finished and Celestia told Luna that I will be sent to her room soon enough. Luna didn't look to pleased about having to wait by herself, but was equally happy that I was being sent to her room, though I have no idea why. Once Celestia and I were alone, her face went from happy and cheerful to serious. "I have noticed that Luna has been very shy around you, have you any idea why?" she asked quizzically. "I haven't the slightest idea" I replied Celestia's face was stern. "Oh come on! You can't be THAT blind. It's obvious that she has feelings for you" As soon as that was said, my mind raced through all the memories I had of Luna. It was true, the way she acted around me, everything she did seemed to point towards Celestia's observations. "You're right, I don't know how I didn't see it" "Well" replied Celestia "Do you have feelings for her?" I was taken aback by what I was just asked. I'd never really liked anyone before, so I had no idea what these feelings were like. "I guess I sort of do, I mean, I've never let feelings get infront of my dreams, but it's too hard to not let these.. feelings.. go untouched" Celestia looked happy "I am most pleased Jackson. I've seen how happy you make her, so please don't break her heart. I fear what will happen if you do" "I won't, I promise" I said, as I hugged Celestia's leg and buried my head in her chest. She curled her head around me in a motherly hug. "The next thing I wanted to talk to you about, is that the only way a Princess must be able to do anything with a non royal being, is for that being to become royalty themselves. So, if you accept, I am willing to make you Luna's personal guard and royal aquaintance. You will be given your own room in the castle and will be treated the same as Luna or I" she stated with a large smile "Or I can just make you a Prince, so much easier" I was at a loss for words "Y-you.. w-want me to be a.. a Prince? Just so I can be with your sister? Is that even allowed? "I am the Co-Ruler of Equestria, I'm sure I can bend the rules on this occasion" she chuckled to herself. "It would be my honour" I said bowing down. "Well, now we are equals, you do not need to do that anylonger" she laughed some more. "Ofcourse I will have to bring this up in court, but it wont be hard. I give you and Luna blessings, OH! It's Luna's birthday next week, you may want to get her something. Take this and go to any shop you would like and get her something. I know she'll love anything you get her" She gushed as she handed over a small pouch that contained what looked like one hundred gold coins. "Thankyou so much!" I said as I embraced the princess in another hug. "You had better be going now, Luna will be expecting you" She said as she nuzzled me back. I was making my way back to Luna's room by memory. I took a few wrong turns and had to ask one of the servants to take me to her room. It turns out it was on the other side of the castle from where I ended up. As I was walking, I noticed that the guards and servants that I passed would stop and bow to me before moving on. 'Word gets out quick!' I thought. Oh yeah. I was definitely going to get used to this! We finally made it to Luna's room. I let myself in and found her sitting on the balcony. She had my guitar next to her and it had looked like she was trying to play it. I smiled at the sight. "Luna?" I said. She jumped and turned to see me, I let out a gaspas her horn glowed, the sunset behind her changed and the moon took the sun's place. As it did, the picture on Luna's back turned even more beautiful than what it already was. The moon surrounded her figure, as she sat there watching me, my eyes were wide with affection at what I was looking at. Her eyes were made even more pretty by the moon's glow. It was like I was dreaming. "I'm sorry" she said "I saw how you acted when Celestia touched this 'guitar' and I was so taken in my it, I couldn't help myself." She looked embarrassed, and the way she said the word 'guitar' looked and sounded so unnatural that it was cute. "I-it doesn't matter, I trust you" I revealed, taking a seat next to her. Luna levitated the guitar over to me and placed it in my lap "Will you? Please?" she said, with a nearly pleading voice. She really wanted to hear me play. I strummed each string one by one, her eyes opened wide as her attention fell upon me and the guitar. "For you, I'll do anything" I shyly stated, and looked at her face. Indeed as expected, she blushed and blinked her eyes at me, not taking away her gaze. "The rest of the things for this guitar are at home still, and so are my other instruments" I said, before I started a song. "But i'll try my best" I breathed out to let my nerves go, it only worked minimally. I started to strum, and play chords on the guitar which turned into music. 'I will stop the world for you my love, Anything I do, it will be a cut above, Falling into dreams, into a city of nightmares, The only one to show me the way is you my love, I will cross the seas for you my love, I will do what it takes to see you happy every night in my arms, I will protect you at whatever cost my love, For you, I will do anything, My love.' As I finished off the song, Luna was bright red. "My mum used to sing that song for me every night when I went to bed" I told luna, as I looked do at my guitar "This is all I have left to remember her by". The Princess hugged me tightly, and I hugged her back. "Thankyou for sharing that with me Jackson. It means so much" she told me, letting the words roll off her tounge. She gave me a quick kiss on my cheek and hid her face on my chest. We sat there on the balcony for hours, talking. At one stage, she had asked me to teach her how to play the guitar, and I was amazed at how quickly she picked it up. I had tought her the basics, and instead of using her hoofs, due to the lack of fingers, she used her magic. I was very impressed at how she could do that. "Could you teach me how to use magic?" I asked like a little school girl "Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!" I copied the way Luna had said it to me before. She looked at me and replied with a "Yes" before bursting into a laughing fit, with me along side her. Eventually, I had to go to bed, and since being the Princess of the Night, she was ment to stay up all night and sleep all day. 'That is something I need to work on' I thought, even though it was only, or felt like it was only one in the morning. "I'll teach you magic soon, as you will teach me how to play guitar" She reassured me, and I nodded back to her. I left her on the balcony, after giving her a hug and in return she nuzzled my neck. I REALLY didn't want to leave, but I had to. "Tomorrow, I will talk to sister about letting us go to Ponyville to meet the ponies that were on the glass painting" she reminded me. "Thankyou Luna" I replied with a smile "Goodnight" "Goodnight Prince" She replied with a chuckle. 'She knows about that? But I was with her the whole time. The sisters must be able to talk to eachother telekinetically or something I don't know' I trailed off as I left Luna's room. I asked the guard to take me to my room and he did so without hesitation. When we arrived, I opened the doors and stood with my jaw open. The room was amazing. Luna's was dark and had 'no roof', but this room was full of white and gold colours and I could see the roof, which had birds painted in such detail they looked alive. And then I saw the bed. Just as big as Luna's, except it was mine. It was even just as comfy. Within seconds of lying on the bed, I had fallen asleep. I definitely liked it here.
Chapter Four: FriendsView OnlineUnto A New WorldChapter Four: FriendsChapter Four: Friends I was awoken by a knock at the door, which opened shortly after. Through the door came Celestia. "Oh, I'm sorry Jackson. I did not mean to wake you" she bowed her head to greet me. "Thats quite alright Celestia" I smiled to her, which in turn made her smile back. "I thought you said we don't need to do that anymore?" I asked, pointing to her as she finished bowing. An even larger grin was on her face. "Ah yes, I did say that didn't I?" She chuckled "My faithful prince, I hope you have rested well. We'll be going to Ponyville today, and I would like you and Luna to accompany me. I have some errands to run, but I will have to leave at the end of the day. You and Luna shall be staying for a few nights at Twilight Sparkle's house. I want you both to make some friends!" she told me "Luna has met these ponies before, but she has not socialised with them. I want you to help her with that" "Will do Princess! You can count on me" I saluted, making the Princess giggle. "Allow me to pack some things and I will be down in no time" "Very well. After breakfast, we will depart for Ponyville. I'll meet you in the Dining Hall in one hour" she turned to the door and gracefully walked out. It had been a few days since that night on the balcony with Luna, and word had gotten out that there was a new Prince of Canterlot. I liked that title, and I had only been here a few days and I was a prince. How awesome is that? I had found some bags in the cupboard and had begun packing some clothes. The bags were ment for a ponies back, so I was forced to carry them by the leather strap in the middle that connected them together. I picked up my guitar and slung it over my back by the strap and held the bags in my left hand, went to the door and gave the guards my 'saddlebags', as they called them. They offered to take my guitar too, but I refused. I was escorted to the Dining Hall where Luna and Celestia were seated, deep in conversation. When I had entered the room, I noticed that they had stopped talking and were looking at me, which meant, by human body behaviour, that they were talking about me. "Good morning" I said to Celestia, and walked over to Luna and gave her a hug. She blushed and hugged back, and then looked to her sister who gave her a secretive wink. "How are we?" I asked. Celestia spoke first. "I am very well thankyou" she smiled. "As am I, how are you Jackson?" Luna asked shyly, but still managed to look me in the eyes. I nearly melted and she was just asking how I was! "I am great, thanks for caring" I replied, as I beamed a huge smile which made her less shy. "So Luna and I were talking.." Celestia revealed, who recieved the death stare from Luna. "Oh?" I asked "What about?" "You" well she couldn't have been any more straight forward than that. "What about me?" I became slightly nervous. She looked at Luna, who was trying to hide in her seat, she was crimson red, but she still stared at Celestia. She wasn't even blinking. "Well.. um.." she started "She told me you sang her a song. I was wondering if you could sing one for both of us?" she asked with an unsure look on her face. I panicked. "R-right now? Here?" I asked, looking around the room. There were waiters and guards everywhere,atleast twenty other ponies, not including the princesses. "If that's okay with you" Luna said, looking up from her plate, still bright red. "Y-you don't have to.." 'Is that a challenge?' I thought 'Maybe some crazy test to find my worthiness, some crazy girl thing' "Okay sure" I said, much to their surprise. Celestia clopped her hooves together in excitement. Luna looked at me with a new found respect, she knew I was shy, but she didn't think i'd do this. "I wasn't expecting to play anything so soon, but I guess I'll just play this" I stalled as I started tuning the guitar to a different sound. Once it was ready, I strummed the strings and they let out a lower pitched sound than a few nights ago, when I had played for Luna. "This one is called Blue on Black, someone else had written in back in my world, and I put my own emphasis on it" I said, even though it was much the same, my version did not include the slide guitar or electric guitar. It was purely acoustic. I started to play, and the two sisters sat there staring, in a trance from the guitar. 'Night falls, and I'm alone Skin, yeah chills me to the bone You, turned and you ran Oh yeah Oh slipped right from my hand. Hey Blue on Black Tears on a river Push on a shove It don't mean much Joker on Jack Match on a fire Cold on ice A dead man's touch Whisper on a scream Doesnt change a thing Don't bring you back Blue on Black' I continued to play the rest of the song, which went for a few minutes more. When I finished, I lay my hand on my forhead and looked down. It took me a few minutes to realise that everypony in the room were stamping their hooves on the ground in applause. 'I wasn't THAT good was I?' I thought, beating myself up over it. "That was AMAZING" cheered Celestia, and Luna galloped up to me and gave me the biggest hug, nearly knocking me over. "I thought you were good, but not THAT good!" Luna said to me in amazement, before planted a kiss on my cheek. I rose my hand and placed my palm on where she kissed me. Celestia was looking at us, in total approval and joy. She knew just how much Luna and I liked eachother. As the applause died down, the chefs came out and placed some food on the table before the three of us. Infront of Celestia, they revealed a sea of lettuce and daisies, surrounded by apples, carrots, celery stalks and other colourful flower arangements. For Luna, the chefs had prepared carrots and hay, ontop of sunflower petals, covered in a sauce which looked like mayonnaise. Then the chefs had revealed the last dish on the table, mine. It was not as bad as I had expected it to be. It contained mushrooms, beets, and onions, all ontop and mixed with different kinds of herbs and spices. It was an interesting combination. I was glad they managed to keep up the protein count on my meal. I hadn't eaten anything really filling since I was at home. We all thanked the chefs as they left the room, and each of us started to eat the meal. I had managed to take two sticks that were tied to the flowers in the vase at the center of the table, and use them as chopsticks, whereas the princesses dug their faces into their food and occasionally used their magic to put some food into their mouths. Luna looked up at me to see what I was doing, and her face was priceless. She had never seen anyone eat like I was, and because I was using the stem supports from the flowers, it made her even more confused. And then I noticed she had some yellow on her nose from some ground sunflower petal. I had fallen off my chair and nearly choked on the food in my mouth. Nopony knew what I was laughing at. Luna looked towards to Celestia, who caught on and started to giggle, then looked at me again. She couldn't contain her laughs any longer as she let out a loud, hearty laugh which made me laugh even harder. I couldn't breathe, I had to get out of the room before I feinted. From Luna's point of view, she was just looking at ponies in the room like she usually would, who instantly saw what everypony else was laughing at. Soon everyone in the hall was laughing, except for Luna. Celestia floated up a mirror to Luna's face, who's cheeks instantaneously went red hot, and starteed laughing with everypony else. After I heard the laughter die down, I walked back in through the doors. I looked at Celestia and Luna again, who had the guiltiest look on her face and started laughing again. I ran back outside and they could hear my laughs coming from the other side of the door. They started laughing again, along with everypony else. After twenty minutes of non stop laughing and giggling, we all sat back at the table. "It has been centuries since I have laughed like that!" Celestia told us. 'She doesn't even look a day over thirty.. How old is she?' I thought, which I decided I'd ask later. Luna looked at us both and pouted. "And I didn't even know what anyone was laughing at until I saw my face" she said as she chuckled "How was I ment to know there was sun flour on my nose?" Another good twenty minutes of talking, I managed to find out that Celestia was over two thousand years old! And I also learnt other things, like Luna was once Nightmare Moon, and was banished to the moon. "It doesn't change my views of you one bit Luna" I reassured, which she looked grateful to hear. "I suppose we should be off to Ponyville now!" Luna said, changing the subject. Celestia's eyes opened wide "Oh no! We've been here for hours! We must hurry, quickly now!" she exclaimed as she nudged Luna and I to the door. As the door opened, two guards moved to either side of us, taking the princesses and myself to a cart, pulled by two ponies. "Celestia" I said, making turn and raise an eyebrow "Won't the trip take days if we are being pulled?" I asked. All she did was smile and turn and said "You'll see". The guards opened the chariot's doors and we stepped in. It was pretty spacey, considering how small it looked. The chariot itself was made out of a metallic, lightweight golden substance, similar to the armour the guards wore. Our luggage was already loaded. Before I could say anything, We shot up into the air. I was screaming at the top of my lungs, I really did not like flying. "What's the matter?" asked Celestia, as both her and Luna giggled when I dove under Luna's legs, making her blush at how close I was to touching her underside. "I am not good with the whole flying thing" I said sternly "When I was young I was in a plane, and the turbulance alone frightened me" "Celestia please!" Luna begged "Help him! You're better at the sleeping spell than me" Without saying another word, Celestia's horn glowed and I was sent into a deep sleep. Opening my eyes, I found that I was lying on my back, in a bed. This bed was nowhere near as comfortable as the one in my chambers, but it was more like 'home'. I could hear voices coming from outside of the door. With a quick study of the room I was in, I managed to pick up that I was in a bedroom, but this bedroom was scattered with books, and the bed I was on was ontop of a bookshelf. Stairs led down and around the room to the main floor of the large room. I listened to the voices, one was Luna's, the other was a female's, who sounded smart. She probably owned this room, and the bed I was sleeping on. There was also a male voice, which seemed to say things like "If he tries anything funny, I don't know what i'll do" and "Him? A Prince?" Which was usually followed by a "Shush Spike, you'll wake him" or "That's enough Spike". The voices died down, and I got up out of the bed. Following the staircase down to the main floor, I crossed the room to the door. I opened it and the room was dark. I couldn't see much, and I found what seemed to be a railing, which I held onto as I found some stairs, and nearly fell down them. "Shiii-" as I was about to finish, the lights flicked on, and the next thing I heard was "SURPRISE!" and streamers and glitter exploded into my face and eyes. Coughing and gagging, I looked down the flight of stairs to see another main floor, but this floor was full for ponies, of all different colours. Up on a wall, there was a banner saying 'WELCOME JACKSON!', and to the side of the room, there was a massive cake that had four layers. Out of the crowd, I spotted Luna and started to make my way down the stairs to get to her. Before I even touched the floor, I was being bombarded with questions and greetings. Everyone I walked past bowed to me and moved out my way. As I reached Luna, I saw the ponies from the window painting that I first noticed in the Dining Hall. Rarity, Applejack, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash were all looking at me, bowing. Fluttershy had hidden behind Princess Luna, who moved out of the way so I could see the yellow coated, pink maned pony. "Um.. hi" she said as she found a new place to hide. Almost out of nowhere, a pink pony jumped up right infront of my face. I couldn't make out what she was saying, but of the few words I caught, I managed to piece together what I could. Her name was Pinkie Pie and she made this party just for me. She heard that I was coming to town and she was all like 'HHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUHHHH!' and then she ran off to plan my party. The rest I didn't listen to. "Hello Prince Jackson, It's a pleasure to make your aquaintance" said the orange earth pony. Luna had told me what the ponies species were not long ago. The pony sure had an arm on her, she nearly pulleed it out of it's socket. "My name is Applejack and I run the farm down at Sweet Apple Acres!" "It is quite a pleasure to meet a prince as handsome as you, i'm sure we'll be the best of friends!" a white unicorn told me, her flank picture consisted of three diamonds, who recieved a secretive death glance from Luna "I am Rarity and run the Carousel Boutique, Be sure to come by and i'll see what I can do about those gahstly clothes you are wearing!" "I think his clothes are fine Rarity" said the purple unicorn standing next to her, giving Rarity a nudge. "My name is Twilight Sparkle and this is my Library. You'll be staying here until you leave back to Canterlot" Then a blue pegasus took the spotlight "BOOOOOORRIIINNGG!" she shouted, by looking at her mane and tail, this was obviously Rainbow Dash. "How about I show you some of my cool new flying maneuvers!" "Okay girls thats enough!" called a voice from behind me, I knew it well enough to know it belonged to Celestia. I ran up to her and hugged her, looking back at the rest of the ponies, Twilight walked up and hugged her too. "He is new to our world, and has not seen any ponies except for guards, servant and Luna and I, and you've given him a shock. How would you feel if you were in his world and you were surrounded but his kind, making fun of what you wore or looked like?" "Gosh, I'm so sorry darling! We didn't mean to scare you! And I will make you some new clothes free of charge" apologised Rarity, along with the rest of the ponies. Even Fluttershy, who didn't do anything wrong. After a few minutes, I calmed down. 'This is just like the castle' I told myself. I walked over to the punch bowl and poured myself a cup. I slowly began to relax as the music took away all my nerves. This was nothing like the music we had back on my world. sure it was similar, it had bass and a good beat, but it was mainly techno. I walked around for a bit, answering questions that anypony asked me. I had learnt the names of many ponies, but I couldn't remember half of them. 'Why do they have to have such weird names?' I thought in anger. The main pony that I remember though, was the DJ. "Vinyl Scratch, at your service" said the white unicorn. She took off her glasses and slid them up to her short blue mane to reveal her crimson coloured eyes. "What can I do for 'ya?" "You're a pretty good DJ!" I yelled so she could hear me over the music. "I was wondering if I could come into your studio and record something? I would pay you heavily" Vinyl's eyes lit up. "You don't have to pay me Prince!" She replied energetically "I would do anything for anyone that needed help with music! I'll be free tomorrow afternoon, if that's cool with you?" I was dumbfounded that I could see her so soon. "That would be awesome thanks!" I replied, giving her a huge smile "I'll see you tomorrow" "Alright sweet, Catcha PJ!" She replied, putting her glasses back on. 'PJ?' I chuckled to myself. Towards the end of the party, I was fully relaxed. I had started dancing on the floor. I started a 'bus', which nopony was keen on at the start, but soon enough, after Luna and Twilight were copying my dance, the others joined in. There were a good twenty of us dancing, and every pony who was not made way and watched in awe. I felt so good, this party was amazing. The DJ was highly impressed with how I could handle a party. At the end of the bus, every pony was stamping their hooves on the ground. Slower music had started and the couples got on the floor, or the people who could get their friends to dance with them. "May I have this dance?" I asked the princess, holding out a hand. Luna nodded and we made out way to the dance floor. It was awkward at first, but the we both got into the rhythm and were following eachother's lead. It was an amazing feeling. The very last thing that night, was somepony in the crowd, most likely Luna hiding somewhere shouted "PLAY SOME GUITAR". And ofcourse, everypony had seen it sitting there in the corner where two bookshelves met. With a sigh, I picked up the guitar and started walking up the stairs, before turning around to see the faces of the crowd. There were atleast fiftey ponies crowded into the small room. Luna came up and sat next to me, giving me a supportive wing and leaned in and nuzzled my cheek. The crowd let out an 'awwe' as we both blushed hotly. With Luna here with me, I could do anything. "This song was written by a good friend of my father's, who recently passed away" I said as I let out a small weep, luna dug her head into my shoulder. "You can do this" she told me, boosting my confidence. "It's called Lonely Boy, and it goes a little something like this" I started to create music with my fingertips, and I saw many of the ponies were bobbing their heads to the tune, I had only just started. 'Well I'm so above you And it's plain to see But I came to love you anyway So you tore my heart out And I don't mind bleeding Any old time to keep me waiting Waiting, waiting Oh, woah oh-oh I got a love that keeps me waiting Oh, oh-oh I got a love that keeps me waiting I'm a lonely boy I'm a lonely boy Oh, woah oh-oh I got a love that keeps me waiting' The crowd was dancing to the tune, I kept playing and singing. 'Well your mama kept you but your daddy left you And I should've done you just the same But I came to love you And I want to flee Any old time you keep me waiting Waiting, waiting Oh, woah oh-oh I got a love that keeps me waiting Oh, oh-oh I got a love that keeps me waiting I'm a lonely boy I'm a lonely boy Oh, woah oh-oh I got a love that keeps me waiting' I broke out into a small solo, and continued. I gestured Luna to join me. We both sang the last chorus together. 'Oh, woah oh-oh I got a love that keeps me waiting Oh, oh-oh I got a love that keeps me waiting I'm a lonely boy I'm a lonely boy Oh, woah oh-oh I got a love that keeps me waiting' The crowd went wild and the ground stomping roared the library. Rainbow Dash looked incredibly impressed. Luna leaned over and kissed my cheek, which gave me even more confidence. This was the best night ever, new friends and a new found confidence? 'This place keeps getting better and better' I thought to myself. The party ended and everypony went home. Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie all said they would see us in the morning. Which left Luna, Twilight, Spike and I alone in the library. Luna and Twilight went upstairs to bed, while Spike and I slept on the couches in the loungeroom. Spike wasn't that bad of a guy, and I think he thought of me as much. Eventually, we got to sleep, on a night that might have been the best night ever. Luna's POV (after walking upstairs with Twilight): Twilight pulled out a bed and made it for me. I chuckled as I told her there was no point in making it as I'll just pull the sheets off during the night anyway. We stayed up for a while talking, like girls usually do. Twilight and I had become close friends. Every few nights, she and I would write to one another telling eachother how things were going. She'd keep me informed everything, and came to me when she needed help. I trusted her as much as I trusted Celestia and Jackson. I was highly embarrassed to talk about the subject we stumbled onto; Love. She asked me about Jackson and Myself. I simply replied that I had feelings for him, which had grow over time. I told her my heart belonged with him, and that Celestia and I would talk for many hours at a time about him and my feelings. She let it slip that he liked me back, but I already knew that. He might not show it as much as I'd like, but he's just simply amazing. Right when I think he is perfect, he goes and does something that makes me find something else to love about him. I need to tell him that I love him, but I don't know how he'll react. Twilight was snoring away, which made me smile. I can fall asleep when somepony snores, but all these thoughts in my head dont make it very easy. It wasn't until three hours before sunrise that I finally fell asleep. 'Tomorrow is the day I tell him' was my final thought before I entered a deep, dreamless sleep. A/N: The songs used in this chapter were 'Blue on Black by Kenny Wayne Sheppard' and 'Lonely Boy by The Black Keys'. I do not own any of these songs, they belong to their respective bands. Don't sue me, fanfiction is just for fun!
Chapter Five: SecretsView OnlineUnto A New WorldChapter Five: SecretsChapter Five: Secrets In the morning, Spike and I had planned to awaken early and make the girls breakfast. Spike was going to do it anyway, and as he told me, he was Twilights number one assistant, which ment this came as part of his duties. He told me that Luna had come here once before, but she didn't talk much. He knew they wouldn't expect me to help. We entered the kitchen and I went to the fridge, as Spike pulled his ladder over and took the cookbook off the kitchen cupboard and flicked through it's pages. "What are we going to make?" I asked Spike. He was rifling through the pages before he stopped and looked pleased. "Pancakes!" He said as he pumped one clenched hand in the air. I was happy about that, It wasn't salad! "Alright sweet! What do we need?" Spike read the recipe out of the book: '300g of self raising flour Pinch of salt 500ml of milk 2 eggs 60g of melted butter' As he was reading out each ingredient, I made sure we had it out and ready. "Since there are four of us, we should make double mixture.. right?" I asked Spike looked at me, confused. "How should I know, I'm a baby dragon!" we both chuckled at his remark. "Double mix it is" I said. Spike found a bowl for me, and I put in 600g of flour, a litre of milk and cracked the four eggs into the centre. I started combining the ingredients and Spike melted the butter and heated up the frying pan. I tipped the butter into the bowl and continued mixing. Eventually, the mix looked right. "Now" I said, "We should let this sit for five minutes while we clean up this mess" Spike complied and wiped the dishes and bowls as I washed. In no time, The kitchen was spotless again. The mixture had set, and I started to cook the pancakes. Luna's POV: I awoke to a heavenly smell. Twilight soon joined my presence infront of the mirror as we both tried to brush the tangles and knots out of our mane and tail. "Spike must be making breakfast" Twilight suggested, not know what was really going on. I let in a good, deep smell. "It smells so good!" I said as I danced in joy, "Much better than that royal food!" Twilight giggled. "But I thought it was the best in all of Equestria" "But it's all so healthy!" I replied "Its always salad something or hay with this" "That must be TERRIBLE" Twilight said sarcastically as she nudged me with he rump, nearly making me fall over. Once Twilight and I were satisfied with our hair, we opened the door and made our way downstairs. We could hear laughing coming from the kitchen. As we entered, we saw Spike and Jackson covered in flour, throwing it at eachother. "I knew it wasn't a good idea to leave them alone" Twilight laughed uncontrollably as the boys turned to look at us. Jacksoon looked at me in my eyes and he blushed, but not as much as Spike did. "DON'T TELL RARITY!" he yelled as Twilight and I fell on the floor laughing. Once we calmed down, we sat at the table, and Jackson served us all up out breakfast. It looked so good! They had made us Pancakes with maple syrup and strawberries. I leaned over to give Jackson an appretiative kiss on the cheek, and just as I did so, he moved his face towards mine and I ended up kissing him on the lips. We were both too shocked to move away from eachother before Twilight let out an 'Awwe' and Spike asked "Jackson, You gotta teach me that! Maybe I can use it on Rarity!" We laughed at Spike's obsession and Jackson and I parted lips. Jackson's POV (Normal Story): 'That was unexpected!' I thought as I kept my eyes on Luna. 'Our first real kiss, and it was a mistake' We all sat at the table talking and eating our pancakes. Once we were all finished, Spike and I cleared the table. We entered the kitchen before we were stopped by Twilight and Luna. "We will clean up boys, go and get yourselves cleaned up!" said Twilight "We insist". Spike led me up to the bathroom and showed me where the towels and soap were located. I went and fetched some clothes from my saddlebags and locked the bathroom door behind me. Turning on the shower, I let the room steam up. Letting the hot water run down my neck and back, I was incredibly relaxed. My thoughts were clear and I knew what I was going to get for Luna for her birthday, which was only in.. TWO DAYS! 'How could I let time go so quickly without me knowing?' I scolded at myself. First thing was first, I was going to go and spend some more time with the other five ponies that I had met lastnight, but maybe not Pinkie Pie.. She was a little weird.. And then after that, I'd get Twilight to occupy Luna for some time while I went to Vinyl's house. I was going to make her a song, but I needed the rest of my instruments. I needed Celestia. I had Spike send a letter to the princess, requesting that she send me back to my own world for a few hours while I collected some things. Within a few minutes, Celestia had agreed to teleport me there and back, and that she would wait for me at the oak tree. We would leave in two hours, which ment I didn't have much time to see everyone before I left. The only ponies I saw were Fluttershy and Applejack, before having to depart by royal chariot to Canterlot. I was too excited to be scared by the flight, too lost in thought. Within no time, I was landing in Canterlot and sprinting up towards Celestia's chambers. I swung open the door, which startled the princess, who was leaning over a desk. "You scared me Jackson!" "I'm very sorry Princess, but this is important" I panted and puffed "We have to go back now" She raised an eyebrow "Very well. But may I ask why?" "I know what i'm getting Luna for her birthday, and I need to fetch some things from my house in my world to be able to make it" I said, as my breathing returned to normal. Celestia looked very pleased, her horn started to glow, and a white portal similar to the one that Luna had created when I first came here. I stepped through, followed by Celestia. We landed in a field, not far from the tree. After a quick jog, we arrived at the right paddock. My car was still there from when I had left it. "I'll be waiting here for you" Celestia said "Please be careful, my prince" "Don't worry, I'll be right back" I said as I ran down to my car and found the keys under the sun visor. I placed them in the ignition and turned, to be rewarded with the engine coming to life. I sped off down the dirt track, with only one thing in mind. Luna. I reached my house in thirty minutes. It was ten in the morning here, and the shops were starting to open. I pulled in the driveway and switched the car off, pulling the keys out with me as I ran for the door. Stepping into the house, it felt alien. This was my life before.. this. It was horrible. I had no friends left to play music with, so I had all these unused instruments in my house. No matter, I had a better life now. I turned the corner and walked past the loungeroom, into the music room. I took a bass guitar and electric guitar and slung them over my shoulders, picked up two amps and put them in the car. Returning to the room, I picked up the bass drum of the silver pearl drumkit and awkwardly carried it to the car. I had to fold the back seats down to allows everything to fit. I returned to the room and took the rest of the drumkit out to the car. I picked up a keyboard under one arm and held it in place, as I picked up to large speakers in each hand, carting them to the car. There was no more room left once I had placed everything in the car. Locking the house door, I made my way to the car and drove back in the direction I had come. As promised, Celestia was waiting patiently. It was now eight thirty. "Sorry I took so long!" I apologised "It was difficult to carry everything by myself" "Thats quite alright" She replied, not looking angry at all. "I will help you get everything back to Canterlot" she offered as I led her down to my car. Opening the boot, she saw how much I had packed and her eyes went wide. "That's.. A lot of stuff" she exclaimed. "No matter". Her horn glowed, Picking up every intrument and object in the back of the car, she didn't even look fased. I consentrated on a guitar, like Luna had taught me. A small aura wrapped around the guitar, but was much too weak to make it move. Celesstia looked at me "Here, let me help. It takes time to learn magic, don't expect to do it in a week" she reassured as she levitated yet another intrument, without breaking a sweat. She carried everything through the portal and followed her through. We were back in her room. "I hope you put these to good use" she said as she instructed some guards to come in and take the instruments to the chariot. "Thankyou so much!" I joyfully said as I gave her a quick hug and ran out the door. The guards had taken me and the instruments to Vinyl's house. It was still just after midday here. I knocked on the door and was greeted by a friendly face. Vinyl looked different from last night. She didn't have much product in her hair, so it just flopped down over her ears and neck. "Hey PJ!" She said as she gave me a hug. "I've been waiting for ever! Sorry I look a mess, but I couldn't be bothered today, I hope you don't mind" I looked at her with supportive eyes "I don't mind at all. I'm honoured you let me see you like this!" She blushed slightly "That means a whole lot more coming from a prince" she said. Vinyl definiately wasn't shy, that's for sure. She led me through her house and told the guards to set down the equipment in a soundproof room. I dismissed them, and they said that they'd be just outside the room. They were only doing their job. I set up all the instruments, and looked up to see Vinyl sitting behind a huge mix board. She had a microphone infront of her "Testing, Testing one-two" She said, as she looked pleased and bobbed her head "Sweet" I heard faintly from the speakers. She wasn't close enough to the microphone for me to hear her perfectly. "Can you test the instruments for be babe?" I did as I was told, moving from intsrument to instrument looking up to her before she gave me an, as she called it, 'alls good' head nod. Once the instruments were ready, I walked around to the same room that Vinyl was in. "Can you record me playing a whole song on each instrument and put it all together?" I asked nervously. I was about to play instruments that I had little experience on. I could read the sheet music, but I hadn't triend playing very much. "No problem-o" Vinyl gave me a wink as she span on her chair "Lets get this party started" I moved back into the sound-proof room. I had secretly been writing lyrics and sheet music for 'Luna's Song' in my spare time. I started with the drums. Putting the sheet music on the stand, I gave the drums a small demo. It was so unnatural for me, usuing my whole body to play instad of just my fingers. I made a steady, light drum beat. It was a very basic beat, but Vinyl seemed to enjoy it. The only drums she had weren't real, they were just a machine that made the noise for her. After I had finished playing the drum beat, I moved onto the keyboard, and the bass and electric guitar. As I played each instrument, she would play the music back for me through the speakers so I could keep in time. We must have been there for hours just getting the stuff recorded. Luna's POV: Twilight had invited me to the spa, and there we would meet up with Rarity and Fluttershy for some 'girl talk'. Jackson said he'd be fine and went to go see Celestia. I felt bad leaving him while I went to the spa. Twilight and I pushed open the doors to the spa and beauty salon, instantly, we were smothered by four mares dragging us to the treatment area. Rarity and Fluttershy were already waiting for us in the room. "FINALLY!" Rarity yelled "We've been waiting for minutes!" "A few minutes isn't going to change much Rarity" Fluttershy retorted in her usual quiet voice. We spent a few hours lying in the mud bath. 'It's a shame we don't have these in Canterlot' I thought as I sunk deeper into the mud. "So, Luna dear! Whats going on between you and Jackson?" she asked with a wink. "Any gossip yet?" My ears folded back, and I could feel my cheeks go hot. "W-whatever do you mean?" "Don't play stupid with us Luna" Fluttershy said sternly "We've seen how you both act towards eachother" My face must have been as red as the sun. "I.. um.. well.. It is true, my feelings for him are strong" I mumbled, looking at the mud before me. "I've never felt this way about anyone" Rarity, Fluttershy and Twilight all looked at me in awwe. Each of them as jealous as the next. "I wish that would happen to me" Twilight said sadly "But who wants to get to know a librarian? Librarians aren't fun, they're boring and read all the time" I frowned at my friend. "That's not true Twilight. You are very pretty!" I tried to help her, I felt so bad "Some colts just want a quiet mare to be with" "You're right" Twilight sighed "I guess I just have to wait. You were saying?" I sighed "I haven't told anyone, not even Jackson himself" I braced thinking of how they may reply "I was watching him for a while before I brought him here. I had to make sure he wasn't going to hurt anyone, and I saw something in him that reminded me a little of myself, and I continued to watch him in my free time" Fluttershy was the first to reply "You need to tell him that, Luna. You will only hurt him if you keep this secret" It was true. I NEEDED to tell him. "You're right Fluttershy" I smiled at her and she blushed "I'm going to tell him now!" I decided as I got up out of the mud bath and dried off as fast as I could. The cool air touched my skin, I felt more relaxed than I had felt over these past few days. I thanked the girls and dashed for the door. I couldn't find him anywhere. He wasn't in the library, so I decided to search for him around the town. Jackson's POV: "Well, I'll see you tomorrow Vinyl! Thankyou so much for today. We need to finish it tomorrow no matter the cost" I told her as she led me towards her front door. "No problem PJ, I just hope after this is complete, we can hang out more" She said excitedly "I'm already thinking of music we can make together!" She couldn't help but bounce up and down. "That sounds great!" I replied, which made her bounce even more. "Well, Goodnight" She said awkwardly "I'll see you tomorrow!" She lifted one foreleg, signaling for a hug. I knelt down and embraced her. She smelt like alcohol. I got up from the ground and walked back towards the library. I saw Luna searching for something, she looked nervous but she showed great confidence as she puffed out her chest. I chuckled out loud and her eyes locked onto me. She galloped up to me and gave me a quick hug. "We need to talk, privately" she said with her gaze still upon me "Where were you I was looking everywhere" "I.. uh" I didn't want to spoil her surprise, it was nearing completion and I was going to reveal it to her soon "Was just running errands" My eyes darted back and forth. "What errands?" she asked. "I uh.. was with Vinyl Scratch.. The DJ from the party" I replied. Her eyes went wide and then looked sorrow, like she was about to cry. "Why? What were you doing?" "You'll find out soon enough!" I replied, trying to end the conversation. I leaned over and kissed her on the lips, they were so warm and soft, She instantly looked happy again, and this time she hardly blushed. "Now, lets find a private place and talk shall we?" Luna nodded, as she led be back through town. She didn't say a word. We stood on a bridge, looking over the water. She turned to me and quickly looked away. "What's on your mind Luna? I had asked. "You are" she mumbled "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" she managed to say before her eyes started to well up with tears. The sight nearly broke my heart. "Why are you sorry? You haven't done anything wrong.. Have you?" I asked, with a touch of nervousness in my voice. "Have you wondered why I took to liking you so fast?" Luna asked, as she looked in my eyes. I shook my head, I had no idead what she was talking about. "I used to watch you, back when you were in your own world. That's how I found your house. I started to like you from then, before you even knew I exsisted" She said through her tears "Don't take it the wrong way, please!" Luna was begging me for nothing, I had no raeson to be mad at her. "Luna" I said as I pulled her chin up so she'd look in my eyes "If you didn't find me, and 'stalk' me, we would never have met. I'm happy that you did, because I wouldn't have lived much longer in that world. I had no money and no family, and now because of you, my family is at Canterlot. You and Celestia are my kin. I had no friends to count on, and now I have plenty. If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have found these ponies to be my friends. I'm the happiest i've ever been, and I get to share it all with yo-" Before I could finish my sentence, Luna was kissing me on my lips. I felt her tounge trying to gain entry into my mouth. I let her in and our tounges fought the sloppiest, wettest, most awkard battle they'd ever come across. We only parted for a second to breathe, before we were at it again. The kiss lasted a total of fourty seven seconds. It was the best fourty seven seconds of my life. "W-wow" I managed to say. Luna didn't say a word as she wrapped me in her wing and we sat on the wooden bridge, heads resting upon eachother, watching the stars and moon in silence. I loved this place.
Chapter Six: JealousyView OnlineUnto A New WorldChapter Six: JealousyChapter Six: Jealousy This morning was just the same as the last here in Twilight's house. Her 'tree house' was pretty cosy. We all woke up, showered and ate breakfast. Twilight took Luna and Spike to Fluttershy's cottage while I had gone to Rarity's shop to see about some clothes. Walking up to the Carousel Boutique, I saw that is was indeed a giant carousel. I opened the front door, which was very detailed, and the bell which was sitting behind the door chimed. "Coming!" I heard a voice, which was most certainly belonged to Rarity. She saw me and gave a big hearty smile "Ah Jackson my dear! You came just at the right time, I was just about to have Sweetie Belle fetch you" "That's good then" I said as I smiled back to her "How are you?" Rarity giggled "Oh such a gentleman! Luna is a very lucky mare!" she gushed "I'm quite well thankyou, and yourself?" "I'm am extremely well, the happiest i've been for a while now!" I replied. "I'm just here to get some clothes and then i'm off to see Vinyl Scratch" "Oh? Why is that?" Asked Rarity in an interrogating tone. "It's not what you're thinking! I'm making something for Luna for her birthday tomorrow."I replied quickly, hoping that she didn't get the wrong idea. I know that girls will talk about what you said behind your back even if you tell them not to, they don't mean any harm ofcourse. "Please don't tell her" Rarity smiled "Don't worry your sercret is safe with me" she reassured "Now to see about your clothes, follow me" Rarity led me through her shop, and into her work area. It was scattered with fabric and machines, tables covered with patched up clothes and horse shaped manniqueins wearing semi finished dresses. She led me up to a table where she had me stand. "Now, I'm just going to take some measurements, if you feel uncomfortable at any time during this stage, please tell me and I will stop" "I'm sure I will be fine Rarity" I reassured. She pulled up a clipboard, pen and measuring tape, all of which were surrounded by her light blue aura. "Arm up" she instructed, and I followed her orders and giggled as she touched my under arm and side. She looked at me with a happy smile before she started giggling too. "I'm sorry i'm just really ticklish" I revealed as Rarity moved onto me chest, writing down measurments. "I'll try to be more careful then" she chuckled "I'm not used to someone this ticklish. Now, lift your right leg please" As I did so, she blushed as she took the last measurements. "Alright, well your clothes shouldn't taketoo long. You hurry over to Vinyl's and come back later today to pick them up" She said, before she nudged me out the door "I need to concentrate" "Thankyou Rarity" I said as I gave her a hug, which she was drawn back a little by, but then wrapped a foreleg around me and held me tight. "Luna's heart is in the right place, Jackson. She really loves you" she told me as we parted from the hug. "I know, I really love her too" I replied. I soon left Carousel Boutique and made my way to Vinyl's. All afternoon, Vinyl and I were perfecting the music that we had created yesterday afternoon. "You're really talented you know?" Vinyl told me as she recorded the finished version onto a vinyl record for me. "Thanks" I said "You've got some skills yourself!" I replied, which made her blush. Vinyl got up from her swivel chair "I'll be right back" While I was waiting, I looked over the mix board. 'I wouldn't have a clue how to use this' I thought to myself as I touched a button on the table. Instantly, music started to play, but I hadn't heard it before. Vinyl walked back in, two glasses and a bottle of whiskey were held in her magical aura. She saw me hiding behind the seat. "I didn't mean to touch it I swear!" I confessed, before I saw The white unicorn smile and start bobbing her head. "It's cool! I was going to show you this anyway" She said, walking over to the wooden table which sat next to her mix table "Remember how I asked you if we could make some music together? Yeah well I had made some music lastnight after you left. It's only basic now, but once I spend some more time on it, it will be better" "correction" I said as I watched Vinyl pour some whiskey into each cup "It will be better once WE spend some time on it, so how does now sound?" I asked. She immediately beamed across a smile. "Sweet!" she exclaimed as she passed me one of the two cups of whiskey. She floated two ice-blocks over and dropped them in the liquor. I took a sip and coughed. "A lot stronger than the stuff we have at home!" I coughed and sluttered while I looked at the bottle. It read 'Wild Pegasus Whiskey'. Eventually, I got used to the taste and handled it better. Vinyl was already halfway through her second glass by the time I finished my first. "Alright" She started "Now we're more relaxed, let's do this!" She hit some buttons on the mix table and music started pumping through the speakers. It was a drum and bass track, that was missing something, as she explained it. I went to the soundproof room and brought back my electric guitar, which plugged into Vinyl's mix table. I started playing a random tune, as she warped and recorded everything I played. It wasn't long until I could hear what she was doing. Over the top of the drum and bass, the music I had played on my guitar was making Vinyl's song about 20% cooler. When the song ended, Vinyl looked at me with wide eyes. "That. Was. AMAZING!" She said as she pounced on me, hugging me and kissing my cheek. "!" It was at that moment that we heard a gasp coming from the doorway, before seeing a light cyan tail leave the door before it slammed. "Oh no" I yelled "No this can't be happening" "Who was that?" Vinyl asked slurring her words. "Luna! THAT WAS LUNA!" I said as I got up off the floor and grabbed the vinyl that was recorded for me. "Thankyou Vinyl, I'll talk to you later" "I-I'm sorry!" was the last thing I heard as I ran out of the door. I ran up to Twilight's Library and burst through the door, making Spike jump and the ladder he was on wobble. "Did Luna come in here?" I asked Spike, wearing a look of worry on my face. Spike climbed down off his ladder. "She did, but she was in a hurry and left" he told me "It looked like she was crying, why what happend?" "No time to explain, Spike" I snapped as I ran upstairs to the guest room. Twilight was standing next to my bed, looking out the window. She turned her head to me and looked down in shame, before charging at me and knocking me over. "HOW COULD YOU?" Her eyes were full of tears "HOW COULD YOU?" "It's not what you think Twilight, Vinyl and I were making a song, after she had helped me with the song I was making for Luna I helped her with the song she was making" I explained. Twilight still wasn't convinced. "Luna said she was kissing you" Twilight said with a crackly voice "She was kissing my cheeks in a friendly way!" I was yelling but I didn't care "Vinyl and I have become good friends Twilight. I love Luna and I wouldn't do anything to hurt her!" Twilight's tears started to die down "Y-you were making her a song?" she asked. "Yes, that's why I asked you to keep her busy" I sat down, holding my face in my hands "I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I don't even know where she's gone, and now she hates me" Twilight wrapped a foreleg around me "I'm sorry Jackson. She's gone back to Canterlot, she left ten minutes ago" "I HAVE TO GET THERE!" I yelled "Please, you have to teleport me. From what the other ponies have told me, you're the most powerful pony in Equestria" Twilight blushed but still let out a few tears "Okay, pack your things and meet me here" I wasted no time, and in five minutes, I was back. I had even gone to get my guitar from Vinyl's house. She was passed out and didn't even know I had come back. Although, there was a note on the guitar. It was a letter to Luna saying that what she saw was not really what she thought was happening, and had Vinyl apologising time after time. Back at Twilights house, I was on the main floor with Spike and Twilight standing behind me. "Goodluck Jackson" She said as her horn started to glow. There was a white flash and I could feel my body being whisked away. My eyes refocused and I was outside of the Canterlot castle doors. Two guards had seized me by reaction, but went back to their places as they saw who I was. It must have been atleast an hour before Luna arrived in a chariot, the very one which was left outside Twilight's house incase of emergency. I ran down to the chariot to find Luna, who had opened the door and walked right past me. She was crying, I felt terrible. To make things worse, it started to rain. "Luna!" I yelled trying to get her to look at me. "LUNA!" I started to cry. She finally turned around. "What Jackson?" Her tone was harsh and uncaring. "What do you want? Is it that white unicorn? You've come to rub it in my face?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "Luna you have it all wrong, please!" I replied as she started to walk up the stairs again "LUNA PLEASE LISTEN!" "I suppose you didn't mean for me to see?" she snapped "Was this what you were doing without me? Getting close to drunken DJ's?" "No, that's not true!" I yelled. We were drawing attention from townsfolk. "I.. I was making something for you, for your birthday. Vinyl and I have been working on it for days now, and when you came in and saw what you saw, that was her thanking me for helping her with her unfinished song" I told her, wimpering as I did. "Her and I have become good friends Luna, but nothing more" Luna just looked at me. "I wrote you a song, just for you. All Vinyl did was record different instruments that Celestia helped me bring back from my world. I was going to sing it for you when we were alone, but I guess I have to do it now, so I can prove what I have said. Also, Vinyl wrote you this letter before she passed out" I said passing over the letter. As she was reading it, her eyes widened. She looked incredibely embarrassed as she finished. Celestia had heard all the commotion and was standing at the top of the stairs, her magic was keeping her from getting wet, and she was just watching us, ready to step in if things got out of control. Luna and I noticed all the ponies standing around us. "Let us go inside. I need to talk to you, privately" Luna said with a stern but weak voice. I followed her up to her room, with Celestia beside me who was worried for her sister. She didn't look at me. We all walked inside her room, and Luna used her magic to levitate the water off of herself into a ball of water before moving it over to the window and releasing her magic around it. I walked over to the phonograph and placed the record ontop, pulling the needle over in place, before giving it a good wind up. Music started to play through the speaker and I turned to Luna and Celestia, as they watched me pull my guitar up just intime to start playing. They both looked angry, but apologetic. I started singing, and I knew my voice wasn't as good as it should have been. I was starting to catch a cold and my voice was getting crackly. 'You came, you stole my heart and you saved me Saved me from damnation. If it wasn't for you, I'd be no more I nearly lost everything, but if it wasn't for you I'd be dead Dear Luna! I love you with all my heart Dear Luna! I couldn't live without you' I continued my song, and eventually it came to an end. I was never a good song writer. I looked up to see Luna was lying on the floor, head under her hooves crying. "It wasn't that bad was it?" I asked, trying to enlighten her mood. "It was beautiful" she replied "I didn't know you loved me that much, and I'm sorry for how I acted. I was being a jealous foal!" with those words she started crying more. Celestia bent over and put her head next to ours and said "Luna, you need to forgive him" The dark coloured alicorn looked up at her sister, and then towards me "I'm so sorry! I'll forgive you if you forgive me?" "Forget what?" I asked with a chuckled. Atleast that got her to giggle. "You're so lame sometimes" she told me as she nuzzled my neck, and pulled away to wipe her puffy eyes. "Happy Birthday Luna" I said, before kissing her on the forehead.
Chapter Seven: Royal DutiesView OnlineUnto A New WorldChapter Seven: Royal DutiesChapter Seven: Royal Duties A few weeks had passed since Luna's birthday. We all made up to one another, and Luna even came to see Vinyl with me. At first it was awkward between the two, they wouldn't hold eye contact for before looking away. Vinyl was the first to bring up the situation. "Look.." The DJ said weakly "We can keep on acting like we are now and not get anything done, or we can make up and be friends, and I'm down for making friends" Luna looked at her with a hesitant glare, then her eyes seemed to become uplifted and eager "It would be an honour to be your friend" Luna smiled. She knew that I had gone to visit Vinyl a few times these last couple of weeks, she wasn't to happy about it but she said that she trusted me and that she would come down with me when she could, which ment she had to build up the courage to see her face to face. Vinyl ran up and gave Luna a hug "YES! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" she said as she kissed Luna's cheeks. I rolled my eyes and looked at them both, lying on the floor. "are you two lovebirds going to get a room or can we start making music?" I joked. The two mares looked at eachother and shrugged their shoulders, got up off the floor and left the room, leaning on eachother. "I DIDN'T MEAN IT LITERALLY" I yelled as they excited the door, before I could hear a choir of laughter and the sound of two bodies hitting the floor coming from outside the room I was in. In crawled Vinyl and Luna, teary eyed from laughter. "Hardy har har" I let out a fake chuckle filled with sheer embarrassment. Eventually their laughs died down and we had returned to the mixing table. Vinyl let Luna play around with the switched, knobs and tabs. Everytime she touched something, a light or something would turn on or the speakers in the soundproof room the mixboard was overlooking. Luna was acting like a giddy school girl (or should I say a giddy school foal?), and she didn't seem to notice she was poking her tounge out whilst pouting, as if she was concentrating hard. I started to laugh and soon Vinyl caught on, and before we knew it, Luna was standing over us, wearing a wicked grin. She levitated up two feathers that had come from the swirly chair that Vinyl used, before magically moving them around our bodies. "Well I can't tell you both how happy I am that you two are getting along" I said as I threw my arms around the both of them "But" I continued, taking a quick glance at a nearby clock "It's getting late, and Luna and I have to get back to Canterlot. Princess Celestia wants to talk to us" Luna pouted, sat on her haunches and turned her back on me "But I don't want to go. I want to have fun with my new friend and you!" 'Why does she have to be so damn cute?' I thought 'It's not fair!' "Luna" I said, whom recieved no response from "LUNA" I yelled, in a happy, laughing tone "Don't make me do this!" Still, I recieved no answer, but I saw her body shift slightly. "Alright, If it's what you want" I concentrated on Luna's body, using the magic she had taught me. I was still not very good at it, it was unnatural to humans, but according to her "Every living thing has access to magic. Unicorns just get it easy". A light aura surrounded Luna, and she was lifted up into the air. She flaied her legs helplessly in a panic, before she relised what was happening. Luna bowed her head down in defeat as I moved her out the door, sweat breaking out across my forehead. I opened my arms out towards Vinyl, who rushed in and embraced me tightly "I'll be back in a few days" was the last thing I said before moving out the door. As I walked through the quickly darkening Ponyville, ponies stopped what they were doing to turn and look at their Princess and Prince. They gasped and started giggling at the sight of me holding up their Co-ruler in my magical field. A few of them would boy and say "Your Majesties" or "Good day". I could see Luna's blush growing on her face. She knew she had been beat, and by her own student! I walked up to the chariot behind the Ponyville Library, where Twilight was watching from her balcony in great amusement. I moved Luna onto the back of the chariot, and released my grip. She didn't turn to look at me, and still pouted. Much to my surprise, the guards let out a small chuckle. That was the first time that I had seen them do anything that wasn't serious. I stepped in at took a seat next to Luna. "You're learning well" She said in a grouchy mood "A few months and you'll be near the level of the brightest students in Celestia's school" "Thanks" I replied cheerfully, which seemed to enlighten her mood "You're catching on with the guitar too" Luna smiled bashfully. It was true, The agreement was she would teach me magic, if I taught her how to play the guitar. "You didn't have to embarass me infront of everyone like that" Luna said as she blushed hotly. "You didn't have to be so damn cute and stuborn" I replied, which made her hide her face behind her mane. I was getting used to flying, I hardly reacted anymore, and I knew if I fell Luna or the guards would be there to catch me. Luna snuggled up to me on the chariot, and wrapped her wing around me as we flew towards the castle. "Ah, Luna, Jackson. You're back!" Celestia said excitedly "I missed you both so much". Luna and I gave her a hug as she started talking again. "Luna, why don't you take Jackson to the court and other things you have to attend to tonight. Show him how things work, providing he can stay awake" "Ofcourse I can" I boasted, I knew I could, because I'd been staying up with Luna during her time off, which usually lasted a few hours. My body clock was changing to be with her whenever I could. I felt bad having her be awake during the day when she should be asleep. "Well then" Luna said "Jackson, will you like to join me? I could use the company" She said as she blushed, looking at me with her pleading eyes. "You don't even have to ask" I smiled back at her. "Fantastic" Celestia said "You two have fun! I'll see you both in the morning" She said as she winked at Luna. As Celestia had said her final words, It stuck me how late it actually was. It was probably eleven at night. "These things are so boring" Luna sighed "You have to act so formal and uptight. I'm really glad you're here with me" she told me as she nudged my side. "I'll stay by your side no matter what, Luna" I replied, making her feel special. "I love you" I gave her a small kiss on the cheek. She blushed hotly and nuzzled my neck. "I love you too" We walked up to the court doors, and the guards greeted us and promtply opened the large ebony doors. There were two sides to the court, which were in groups on either side of the room. Through the middle of the two groups lay a long red carpet leading up to two thrones. I followed Luna up through the middle of the crowd and to the thrones. Luna gestured me to sit and we both turned to face the audience. A squire presented herself infront of us. "Good evening, Princess. I see you have brought the Prince along" "Yes, I have. I wish for him to see how the court is handled so oneday he may make decisions like these too" She sounded so stupid putting on her 'royal voice' as she called it. Then I took in what she actually said. 'I was going to start making decisions for the sake of Equestria? No way, I've hardly been in this world for a month and they're already thinking about that?' I thought, going over Luna's words in my head time and time again. "Jackson!" I heard Luna raise her voice at me, She was holding my shoulders with her face close to mine "Are you alright? You sort of left us for a while there" apparently, as she explained, I had stopped staring into space. Luna had asked me for my thoughts on the subject, which I was told was deciding whether to reinstate the old factory that was torn down under Discord's wrath as either a new public school, or a power plant. After having the representatives from both sides repeat what they had apparently spent some time explaining, which they werent happy about, I learnt that the factory used to be located just on the outskirts of Ponyville. The Defense's side, or the side which wanted to turn the rubble into a multistory school, said that it would make it easier for around one hundred and fifty country colts and fillies to make it to school instead of having to travel hours by foot just to get to Ponyville then leaving in the afternoon for another few hours travel back home everyday. In the Opposing side's return speech, they said that it will cost more to build and maintain a school that far out, and that if a power plant was made, Canterlot would save money. I was just about to vote for the power plant, but then I thought of Applejack and how hard it must have been for their family to send their fillies and colts to school aswell as look after the farm. Farmer's need less stress on their backs so they can concentrate on producing a main part of the kingdom's food. Building a school would mean that farmer's will be able to occupy more land out in Equestria without fear of their children lacking the education they needed to survive. I looked towards Luna, who leaned in close and whispered "I'm thinking the school, what about you?" "Yeah" I said with a smile on my face "This beautiful world doesn't need to be poluted" Luna smiled and turned to the crowd "We have come to a decision" Everyone went silent. "We have decided that a school shall be built upon the site of the old factory" Half the courtroom cheered while the other hald remained silent. For the rest of the night, we ruled over four other cases, including extending the Ponyville Library book collection, providing more protection for the road connecting Fillidelphia and Manehatten, and creating a disco club in Coltifornia. After a long night, Luna and I went back into her room. I lay on her bed and closed my eyes. I felt Luna crawl up beside me and lay her head on my chest. "Thankyou for being there with me tonight" she said. "Any time Luna, I enjoy spending time with you. But there's one thing I have to ask, remember how I blanked out and you had to shake me?" I asked "It was on my mind all night. Mind explaining?" she asked still keeping her head on my chest. "You can talk to me about anything" "Well, it happened when you said that I will be making decisions for Equestria.." I confessed "Why so soon? I've only been here for less than a month" Luna lifted her head from my chest and looked at me in my eyes "Celestia and I have been talking" She started "and she really trusts you. I trust you just as much as I trust her. Equestia will trust you as long as Celestia does. I know you have a good heart, you need to use it" "Thankyou, Luna. That means so much to me" I said as I kissed her on the lips. "I really don't want to go, but I need some sleep" I said regretfully. "Well.. You're always welcome to sleep here" she said as she blushed "You know what? I think I might just do that" I said as I wrapped an arm around her "And tomorrow when you're free, I'll teach you some more guitar" I said as she dug her head up under my chin. "That would be lovely" replied Luna "Now get some rest" And before I knew it, I was fast asleep, with Luna resting upon my chest. "I love you" Luna whispered as she wrapped her forelegs around me tighter, snuggling up to my side under the covers.
Chapter Eight: LessonsView OnlineUnto A New WorldChapter Eight: LessonsA/N: Celestia made Jackson a prince because she knew he and Luna had feelings for eachother, and under usual rules and common sense, a princess must be with a prince, not a commoner. There have been no intentions of the characters being married yet, and there probably wont be for many, many chapters to come, IF it happens. I don't even know. I'm just writing as it flows from my head. Oh and Celestia has all the power she could want over the kingdom, anything she says goes. So she makes him a prince, he's a prince. How do you think any kings and queens, princesses and princes started originally? "I am now your king because I can be, come obey me bro" I DON'T EVEN. Chapter Eight: Lessons I awoke to find Luna literally ontop of me. Her wings were spead out to either side of the bed, they were really big! I noticed she started moan and her wings fluttered. "N-No" She mumbled "Don't" her wings retracted and she rolled off me to my right. "NO!" she screamed as she sat up quickly, panting and sweating. "Luna! Are you okay? You were saying things in your sleep" I told her. Luna snuggled up close to me and held me tighter than she had ever held me before, and started to weep into my shirt. I could tell she was scared. "Hey" I said quietly "It's alright, It's over now" I tried to reassure her. "Want to talk about it?" "It was about C-celestia" she started, I could just make out her words from her sobs and sniffles "We w-were in Everfree Forrest, the s-scouts reported that there was an army on the h-horizons so Celestia and I had gone in t-to try negotiate with them. T-they captured us and I saw Celestia b-being dragged off before t-they killed her right i-infront of me!" She cried heavier with her last words. "It's alright, it was just a dream" I told her, not letting go. I looked over to the clock and it read three twenty in the afternoon. "Cry it all out Luna, it's alright" Luna took my offering and balled to intensely that the front of my white, gold buttoned shirt that Rarity had made me, had a long streak of Luna's tears following the creases, all the way down to my brown pants. I looked up the the clock and it now read five forty. Luna had been crying for two hours and wasn't letting up. "C'mon Luna, we have to go see your sister, it's nearly time for you to go to court" I told her as she looked up at me. "I suppose you're right" Luna replied weakly "Will you come with me again?" I hesitated. There were things that I was planning to do, but I couldn't leave her like this. "I will" I said as I helped her stand up. She wobbled a bit and had to lean on me as she cleaned herself up. "I'll be waiting for you outside" I told Luna, she nodded and I walked to the door, opened it and went to my chambers. I had a quick shower and within five minutes I was dressed in a nice attire, consisting of a black dress shirt and black pants accompanied by leather shoes, courtesy of Rarity. I lost myself in thought, and before I knew it I was outside Luna's waiting patiently. I knocked three times on the door. "Just a moment!" I heard Luna's voice call. From inside the door, I could hear rattling and things being tossed around, aswell as the clcik clacking of hooves on a marble floor. Then it all went quiet. The door slowly opened and I saw Luna's eye look at me before she swung it open. "You should have said it was you!" she gasped. "Who else could it be?" I asked as Luna rubbed her chin in thought. "Well" She started as she drew in a large breath "A servant, A guard, Celestia, a royal squire, somepony coming to arange an agreement and alliance from another kingdom, somepony declaring war on Equestria, a dragon, Viny-" before she could go on, I put a hand to her mouth. "I get it" I chuckled "I'm sorry" "Thats alright Jackson" She assured and smiled "lets get going to the court room" she said as she led me out. Tonights court duties were much the same as the last, but it was much shorter. Luna didn't want to speak so she had me announce her decisions. At the end, the court slowly dispatched the room and left the castle. I led Luna up to my room, which I had set up two guitars plugged into their own amps, courtesy of Vinyl, who kept the rest of my instruments safe. "Ready for your seventh lesson Luna?" I asked before taking both guitars in my hands. I held out a basic electric guitar, which was black with an ebony neck that had pearlescent designes running along inbetween the frets. I made this particular guitar Luna's, because it remined me of how majestic and noble she was, much like the guitar itself, and if a dark alicorn was to play a white or blue guitar it would look silly. It was like the guitar was made for Luna. She grasped it in her magic and floated it over to her, holding it how I showed her. She took the pick out from it's position between the strings and gave them a strum, which she smiled at. So far, she had learnt the names of each string, the positions of each fret and how to easily move between each one, how to play a power chord, and a very basic song: The Campfire Song. "What am I learning today Jackson? I've been practicing whenever I can" She said as she beamed a huge smile. "Well thats the right attitude!" I replied, which made her smile more "I think you're ready to learn a new song" Luna danced in excitement, stamping her front hooves on the floor as she cheered. "You'll be learning a song that came from my world, called Wild Thing" I told her "It's very basic, but it helps you in learning how to use and play power chords correctly" "Well teach me teacher" She said as she nudged my shoulder with her hoof. "Alright lets get stuck into it" I replied, nudging her back with my hand. We both took a seat and were faceing eachother. I sat on my amp while Luna sat on a big pillow. A princess must be comfortable, right? "Okay, I'll play you the song first so you know what it sounds like, and then I'll teach you. Try to pick up as much as you can just by watching, like you did with The Campfire Song" I said as I moved my fingers up and down the neck of the guitar, strumming a series of power chords. 'Wild thing You make my heart sing You make everything.. groovy Wild thing Wild thing, I.. think I love you But I wanna know for sure So come on, and hold me tight I love you' As I continued the song, Luna was taking mental notes of my finger positions and how I was playing. Once I finished, I looked up at Luna "Thats the song. I've written down the lyrics here" I said as I gave Luna the sheet. She took it and studied it, before setting it down next to her pillow. "Okay, i'm ready" she said as she strummed random notes, pumping her hoof in the air. I couldn't help but laugh, as I fell off my amp clutching my sides. Luna was chuckling "When you're done down there, I can start learning" I got back up as my laughing died down and sat back on the amp. "Okay" I said "What you want to do it place your fing-magic on these frets" showing Luna where my fingers were pressing. She looked down at her guitar and applied her magic to the same frets that my fingers were. I played the song slowly, with Luna repeating my every move. Slowly, she got faster and faster at playing it, sure she still had some mistakes, but she was really good for a beginner. We sat there for four hours, having a break every hour. Eventually, she had the song down pat, with only the occasional wrong note. "Alright, I want you to start off the song, and I'll play along with you but i'll be the rhythm okay?" Luna nodded. She started to play the newly learned song, as I played the music inbetween. It was Luna's turn to sing. As she sang, I couldn't believe my ears. Her voice was amazing, it was that of an angel. When we finished the song, my mouth hung open. "What? did I do something wrong?" asked Luna "There are no words that I know, that can describe how good that was" I replied, mouth still open. "I could kiss you right now" Luna blushed intesely "Why don't you?" I tackled Luna on her pillow and kissed her lips, our tounges fighting another battle. By now, they were used to these 'battles'. Once our tounges were both 'defeated', we lay there on Luna's pillow. "I don't have any court duties to attend to tomorrow night, so how about I give you a magic lesson, and t-then may w-we c-can g-go on a.." She trailed off mumbling, her face turning bright red. "What was that?" I asked, smiling at her cuteness. "WOULDYOULIKETOGOONADATEWITHME?" She blurted. "A date?" I asked, Luna simply nodded with embarrassment "I would love to" I smiled at her, which made her eyes go wide and she hugged me. "YES!" She said as she flew up in the air, one hoof in the air the others facing down. I couldn't hold in my giggles any longer as I rolled around on the pillow laughing. Luna slowly flew down with embarrassment and started to laugh aswell. It was true though, we weren't officially 'dating'. The closest thing we had to a date was three weeks ago at Ponyville when we sat on the bridge for hours, but even that didn't cross the line into 'date terriotory'. Luna and I were just deeply inlove, and due to Luna's royal duties, there were not many times that we could do anything. Luna started to close her eyes, and I could feel that my eyes were getting heavy. We soon fell asleep in eachothers arms/legs. We awoke at four in the afternoon. Luna had already gotten up and cleaned herself up, and was silently watching me sleep. I had gone back to my chambers and gotten changed into some light clothing, suitable for using magic. Luna had told me that the less you are carrying, or the less weight you are holding, the stress on your body is reduced, therefore making it easier to use magic. I returned to Luna's room to find that she had laid out three books in a row, 'Levitation and You', 'A guide to magic by Starswirl the Bearded' and 'Conquering Mass and Space'. Luna had me sit infront of her, as she lectured me. The notepad I was supplied with at the start of my lessons was starting to get full. After ending her lecture, Luna levitated an apple over to me "Now I know you can hold a lot more than this, but that is not the point of the exercise. The point of this exercise is to learn to keep your focus on an object even if you come across some unexpected difficulties" She said in her 'smart' voice. I used my magic to try and take hold of the apple, and I felt an amazing sensation as my magic covered Luna's. "Did you feel that too?" I asked. "I did" she replied "It happens when two magic users are holding the same object. Ofcourse, the stronger magician wins" she said as she pulled it from my magical grasp, and then levitated it over to me so I could retake my postion on the apple "But it is the sensation itself that mystifies scientists across Equestria. Nopony knows why it happens, but it just does" Luna released her grip on the apple and let me hold it. "Now, I want you to feed the apple to me" Luna said as she grinned. "O-okay easy" I asked, her order took me by surprise. "It will be a lot harder than you think Jackson. You need to consetrate on the apple so it does not fall, if it falls we will start again, and I do not mind because I am very hungry at the present moment" She chuckled "You must have me finish an entire apple before we can move on. Are you ready?" Luna asked. "I am" I replied. "Then we shall begin" she said as I started to levitate the apple over to her mouth, I started to laugh as it got closer and closer to her mouth and dropped the apple. "You must concentrate Jackson. I told you this wouldn't be easy" Luna said glaring at my eyes. She was serious. I levitated the apple back up to her face and Luna went to take her first bite. As her teeth sunk in around the apple, my magical aura dropped and the apple fell out of her mouth. "Again!" She intructed as she levitated a new apple over to me from a nearby bowl and placed it before me. I picked up the apple and moved it towards her face again. This time, she managed to take a bite out of the apple, but as she went in to get a second, the apple dropped. "We are going to keep doing this until you get it right Jackson" She said with an evil grin. "Okay, I will do my best" I replied. Magic was extremely difficult. There was so much strain on my brain and body that I nearly feinted. It was soon explained to me that I was able to move Luna as I once did because of my emotions. Emotions and feelings have great power over magic. These were only few of the many answers that I had recieved from Luna as her 'apprentice' as she liked to call me. An hour and a half later, Luna had finished a complete apple, I put the core in an empty bowl. I was drenched with sweat. I'd never concentrated on anything that much in my life, and my body wasn't used to that much stress. "Another!" Luna demanded and she cocked her head to the side "Please?" she asked politely. She must have finished atleast five apple already, given how many bites she had taken. I floated up an apple and took a bite out of it, before moving it over to Luna who took another bite. We ate two whole bowls of eight apples in the time that had passed. Half an hour later it was six o'clock, and Luna has pushed me out of the door in a great panic before slamming the door behind me. "Give me an hour, then meet me on the observation deck" was the only thing I heard before there was a sound of a door opening and tings being thrown around the room. I turned to look at the guards who were on either side of the door, but they hadn't moved an inch. Then I remembered that I had a date this evening. Running to my room, I pushed through the door and closed it behind me, locking it before I moved towards the bathroom. After washing myself up, I got changed into the nicest set of clothes I had, which were a blue, white and gold coat, which was given to me by Celestia as a gift, along with matching pants and a white shirt. After combing my hair, I noticed that I needed a haircut. The brown hair I wore was getting a little long. Next time that I visited the Carousel Boutique, I would have to ask Rarity to cut it for me. She did now a thing or two about style after all. I had about twenty minutes before I needed to meet Luna, so I decided that I'd be early. I Went outside my room, and asked the guards to escort me to the observation deck. I had no idea where it was. As we were walking, I was taking in the sights of the castle so I could remember it a little better. So far I had only been to the Dining Hall and the Court Room, aswell as the front room. There were several flights of stairs that we had to take before finally we reached the observation deck. The room was a big circular dome, with a balcony leading out to a secluded part of the deck. We were ontop of the mountain that the castle was built on. I had waited around ten minutes, sitting on the bench, before I heard the large wooden doors open from behind me. There, in the doorway, stood Princess Luna. She was wearing a black dress, with matching black shoes which wrapped up her leg and a small black rose was tucked up behind her right ear, held inplace by her mane. My heart beat faster and faster as she walked up to me. "You look amazing" I told her as I bowed and held put my arms for a hug. Luna curtsied and embraced me in a hug. "You look great aswell, thankyou for dressing up for me" she said as she kissed my cheek. "Thankyou too" I replied as Luna dismissed the guards. "I know it's not much, but it's the most beautiful place in the castle" Luna said lightly. "It is beautiful, just like you" I said making her blush. I really liked to make her blush. Luna led me around to the balcony, which was unshielded by the glass of the dome. I took in the sight of the kingdom. Lights were spread out in the distance and I could make out Ponyville. Luna pointed out the other towns and cities. We were talking for what felt like a long time, before we fell silent. I looked at her and caught her staring at me before she quickly looked away. "Luna" I said "Look at me" The princess turned her head at me and looked in my eyes. The moon was reflecting from her eyes, making the colour stand out. "I Love you. I love you more than life itself" I said softly, making Luna blush even brighter. "I've never felt anything like what I am now. I had never been loved in my life until I met you. You're cute and amazing and extremely beautiful and awesome and my mentor and you put up with me when I am difficult and yo-" "I get it" she chuckled, cutting me off "I feel the same way about you. Since I was saved from Nightmare Moon, nopony wanted anything to do with me. They didn't trust me, they didn't like me, but they had to because Celestia said they had to. When Celestia and I would walk through crowds, I could see that they respected her so much more than I. But now I don't need any of that, because I have you" She said as she pulled me close with her wing "And you're all I ever dreamed of" I felt myself blush, which was new. Luna saw my cheeks and smiled, before nuzzling my neck. We returned out gaze over the kingdom. "I love you Jackson" Luna said as she rested her head on my shoulder. "I love you too" I replied, kissing her forehead. Little did we know that Celestia was flying above us. We hadn't talked to her for a few days now, she must've been a little suspicous. "I'm so happy for them" she said to herself, before flying back to the castle gates. Luna and I sat there for hours, enjoying the night sky while it lasted. This was the best night ever.
Chapter Nine: That Excluded FeelingView OnlineUnto A New WorldChapter Nine: That Excluded FeelingA/N: I am currently sitting in a darkend room, with no power, whilst it is raining outside. I am trying to make the story as un-miserable as I can. Enjoy Chapter Nine. PS 'Ali'vous is pronounced 'Aly-Voose" This chapter was re-written by 'tytyvm' who has some great stories of his own. If you have the time, I ask you to take a gander over at his work: www(.)fanfiction(.)net/u/3465491/tytyvm - take out the brackets Chapter Nine: That Excluded Feeling Two weeks had passed since our first date, and we had already gone on a second. Sure, we didn't need to go on dates, but Luna and I both agreed that the moments we shared were somewhat special. The second date was a stroll in the Canterlot gardens, and we had made friends with the many different animals. Our third date was just a night-in together, but it was very romantic. I had the guards bring a table into my room, and I had gone out of my way to pick the nicest bunch of flowers to sit in a vase in the middle of the table, as well as having red candles lit around the room. Dinner was made by yours truly, and much to my surprise, Luna wanted seconds. Within those two weeks, Luna and I had spent six days visiting Ponyville. Vinyl was nice enough to let us stay in her house's spare room. She had amazed us at how she had made it look. On one side of the room, Vinyl had two large beds, which were pushed together to create an even larger bed, almost as large as the beds in the palace, and were covered in red silk sheets with white pillows. On the other side of the room, there was a massive mirror, which could be slid back to find a hidden wardrobe. Luna and I had gone to investigate before we were intercepted by Vinyl, whose cheeks were bright red. "Stop!" she yelled, obviously embarrassed "Y-you can't go in there, there are very.. personal.. items located within NOT suitable for a Prince or Princess's eyes" This just made Luna and I even more curious. "You have to promise me that you will not look at or explore ANY part of this wardrobe, do you understand?" Luna and I looked towards each other and then back at Vinyl. Together we nodded and the white unicorn sighed in relief, brushing her blue mane back from her eyes. "Well now that's cleared up, who's up for lunch?" She asked as her stomach growled. "That would be great" I replied and Luna agreed with a nod. "Great! I know this great restaurant not far from here, c'mon let's go!" instructed Vinyl, as she exited the door and we followed. Walking down the street, ponies turned and bowed as Luna and I walked alongside the infamous DJ. Everypony knew her, and everypony loved her. She was one of Ponyville's most respected citizens, as she could create the most amazing music with the touch of a dial. Within five minutes, Vinyl interrupted her story of finding her 'Cutie Mark' by telling us that we had arrived. "Behold" Vinyl said in a dramatic voice, "Chef Ali'vous's amazing four star restaurant. Best in Ponyville!" Vinyl lead us in through the front doors. Luna and I both gasped in awe at the sight. There were a hundred tables scattered on a floor just as big as the dining hall at the castle. Each table owned a number, a vase of flowers and a red and white checkered sheet. "Table for three" Vinyl asked as the half asleep waiter that was standing at a podium just inside the door, looked down at his book. "Reservation?" he asked lazily. "Uh.." started the DJ "No." "I'm sorry miss, but the restaurant is full unless you have a reservation. No reservation, No table." Luna let out a cough which startled the waiter, who looked up to be face to face with the Princess of the Night. "P-p-p-princess Lu-l-l-luna, I'm m-m-m-ighty s-sorry!" he said as he suddenly became energetic. "Oh! It l-l-looks like a t-t-table has just opened u-up!" she told us as he called another waiter over and whispered in his ear. The two seemed to argue about something before looking up and seeing the Princess and I; he instantly told us to follow him. He brought us to table thirteen, which was positioned next to a window, that overlooked the countryside. The waiter had us seated and brought three menus, which he placed in front of us. He bowed and left to the kitchen. We could hear a faint yell, which probably came from the owner, Mister Ali'vous. Ten minutes had passed and another waiter had come out from the kitchen with a large bottle of water, three glasses and a plate of garlic bread. "Have you made your choices, my ladies; Sir?" he asked politely. All the other ponies at the other tables had finally seen us, and three fillies had come to get Vinyl's autograph, then turned to Luna and I and bowed. "Young ones, you do not need to bow to Prince Jackson nor myself," she said as the fillies rose from their bow to see that Luna had held out her arms in a gesture for a hug. They hesitated at first, before rushing in and hugging Luna, before they charged at me. As they were leaving, we could hear them talking. "That was so cool! Rarity is going to be so jealous of you Sweetie Belle!" Said the orange coated pegasus filly. "And 'ah reckon AJ will be mighty proud'a me too!" said a small, yellow earth pony. She was incredibly cute, with a large bow in her red mane. "Luna is definately mah fahvourite princess now" "I can't wait to tell everypony at school!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle, who had a white coat and purple and pink mane. Luna and Vinyl were enjoying this a little too much. "You girls need some water? You look a little red in the face," I teased. Both glared at me, blushing even more than before. "Quiet you," Luna ordered, and I started to giggle. "I'm uh.. still here your highness and company," said the waiter. "OH! We're so sorry!" Vinyl said as Luna and I mumbled some apologies. "That's quite alright" He said as he beamed a massive smile. "Did you think about what you would like for lunch?" "Uh, yes!" Vinyl spoke quickly. "Have the chef decide," Luna nodded in agreement. "And what will you be having today sir?" the waiter asked me. "I.. Um.." I stuttered. "He'll have the special," Luna told the waiter. The waiter nodded and left towards the kitchen. "Ah, Luna.." I started "What's the special? I can't eat hay or most flowers.." I told her, and of course, she already knew that. "It is," Luna picked up the menu and read from the back page, "a wonderful selection of vegetables on a sea of lettuce, accompanied by bread, spice and everything nice." "Wow, didn't that sound amazing," Vinyl said sarcastically, rolling her eyes and slumping in her chair; as she did so, her blue hair fell over one of her eyes before she brushed it up. That was so cute, why are ponies in this world so cute? It wasn't long until the food had come out, delivered by Chef Ali'vous himself. "Ah Vinyl!" He had a strong French accent "I hope that the world is treating you well". The chef placed a silver plate in front of Vinyl, before removing the lid to reveal a well presented dish consisting of salad, and potato wedges on the side. "Thanks Ali!" She said excitedly before giving him a quick hug. Luna and I looked towards each other in confusion. The chef then moved around the table to Luna, and placed another plate on the table. He lifted the lid to reveal an extraordinary dish of salad, like Vinyl's, except this was accompanied by a quiche that had flakes of chili and cheese on the top. He bowed to Luna. "I hope you enjoy your meal, your highness," and Luna, being her usual shy self, only nodded. The chef then came to me and looked at me, eyes full of wonder. "By the stars, you must be the new prince I've heard so much about!" he exclaimed and I nodded back to answer his question. "Here is your order, sire," he said as he bowed and hurried off to the kitchen. We didn't waste any time eating our food. It was delicious! Halfway through, I had asked Vinyl how she knew the chef, and she simply replied, "I've known him since I was a filly". An hour had passed and the chef had brought out desert, free of charge. All three of us hung our mouths open in awe at the food that was placed before us. Apple fritters, Apple Turnovers and caramel sauce, all covered in fluffy white cream. We don't know how, but we ate every last part of the desert. Walking home to Vinyl's was a slow, uneasy trip. The food we ate was starting to take its toll on our stomachs and before we knew it, we were running to Vinyl's front door. One by one, we each used her bathroom, which needed to be bombed and reconstructed to get the smell of our lunch, with a touch of vomit, out of the walls. Once we had calmed down, Vinyl led us into the studio, where she had shown us her new song. The beat was fast, but the bass was incredibly low. Even though my stomach was empty, I could feel something moving inside of it. I could see Luna bobbing her head to the beat, and soon found myself doing the same. Once it had ended, Luna and I cheered. "That was awesome!" I told Vinyl who turned bright red. "I agree," Luna stated as she clopped her hooves on the floor. "Thanks guys," replied the DJ "I'm going to use it at my next gig, you guys should totally come!" "I'd love to!" I said before Luna could say anything. "As would I, but we might not be able to make it Jackson, we may have duties to attend to," Luna sighed, looking glum. "When is your gig?" I asked Vinyl. "It's next week, down at the local club. I even persuaded Twilight and the others to come!" she clapped her hooves together "It's gonna be so good!" "We'll have to ask Celestia," Luna's voice trailed off. "Jackson, when was the last time we talked to Celly?" she asked me. "Uh.." My face dropped in horror "Oh no, it's been weeks! We haven't even been at the dining hall for breakfast or dinner for so long!" "Vinyl, I'm so very sorry but we must call our visit short. We have to get back to the palace," Vinyl nodded as we rushed out the door. Within an hour, Luna and I were back at the castle. Without stopping we ran through the front gates and to Celestia's quarters. "Celestia?" Luna cried out as she swung open her sister's door, to find that there was nopony inside. "Maybe she's in the court?" I thought out loud, and Luna nodded. "We should just wait here until she gets back, it's only three o'clock," She suggested as she cried on my shoulder, "I'm so sorry sister!" "Hey shh," I said trying to comfort her "Everything will be fine." A few hours past, and Luna and I sat in silence. There were no excuses that we could think of. I had taken Celestia's little sister away from her, the thing that meant most in her life, without even acknowledging what I had done. I had crossed the line. The door to Celestia's room opened with a creek, and in walked the princess. She looked terrible. Her eyes were low and sad, her mane and tail had lost most of its colour and didn't flow like it used to. Even her coat seemed to be a dark glow instead of her usual majestic white. She looked at Luna, and then saw me. She looked even sadder. The sight broke my heart. Luna was the first to say anything, "Jackson, please leave Celestia and I alone," she looked at me with solemn eyes. I nodded and left the room. Luna's POV: "Sister.." I said softly. I walked closer up to her for a hug, but she backed away. "S...sister please," I stammered. "What is it Luna? You leave me for three weeks without saying a word," My sister started to tear up, "You've come to apologize I suppose." "I-I'm so sorry Tia!" I cried. "I was having so much fun making friends in Ponyville and spending time with Jackson that I-" "Forgot your own sister?" Celestia finished. "I know how much you both love each other, and I know of your friends in Ponyville, BUT that does not mean that you leave your own family out of your activities. I would have loved to come see some of your new friends, or done some things with you and Jackson. I'm sure Prince Blueblood could have handled things for a week if we both left!" I couldn't hold back my tears, "Celestia.." I whimpered softly, "Please, I won't leave again without telling you." Celestia walked over to her window and looked out of it, back turned to me. "Have you ANY idea of your own sister's emotions? Do you know no compassion!" my sister scolded harshly. "I..I…I'm so sor-" My sister turned to look at me, her glare was heart stopping. "I've been living in this world for thousands of years, and I've been alone for so long…when you came back, I was so happy. Maybe I would have had someone to talk to when I was down, tell my secrets to. You know, 'normal' pony things…" her tears were hitting the cold, hard floor. "I-" before I could continue, Celestia exploded; generations of pent of up emotions burning as her fuel. "I gave you what I could never have!" she was yelling now, "I've never had anypony to love! I made Jackson a prince JUST so you two could be together, and you DESERTED me!" "Celestia use reason!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. "Luna.." Celestia tone was colder than ice, "leave." Her final word echoed in the back of my mind. "Celestia I-" "LEAVE!" screamed my sister. 'That voice…I've only heard that voice once…' I ran for the door. I had to find Jackson. 'That voice…that voice was hate.' Jackson's POV: I was waiting in my bed chamber, feeling terrible for what I had done. I swear I was wearing a hole in the floor from the pacing I was doing. My door smashed open and Luna was there, her eyes red and puffy. Immediately she embraced me in a tight hug and I led her to the bed. She told me what had happened, and how we had made Celestia feel. I felt even worse. We were there for an hour before there was a knock at my door. I slowly opened it to find a guard in my face. "You have been instructed by Celestia to be escorted out of Canterlot. What you do from there is none of our business. You have ten minutes to pack your things and say your goodbyes," he said sternly. The order struck me like a cannonball hitting a popsicle-stick dam; tears streamed from my eyes. Luna rushed up to the door and yelled at the guard. "You have no right! He is my guest, not to mention a Prince, and he will be staying with me!" The guard wore a frustrated frown, "Failure to comply with Celestia's terms will have the offender thrown in the dungeons, or worse, the offender will be executed. The former prince has been stripped of his title, as by order of Celestia. You will not be allowed to leave the castle until a three day period has passed, princess. I am sorry." In blind rage Luna lifted up the guard with her magic and threw him past the door and against the wall; a spear found its place in his right foreleg. Four other guards charged in the room. The last thing I saw was Luna being tackled by three of the guards; a sudden, sharp pain in the back of my head. And then, there was nothing. Only darkness. A/N: I hope you like cliffhangers.
Chapter Ten: Alone and BrokenView OnlineUnto A New WorldChapter Ten: Alone and BrokenA/N: Yeah Celestia was very out of character, but you get that in a fanfic. She only shows happiness in the show, but she was alone for a thousand years before Luna came back. Think about it. No matter how happy you may be or seem, you can snap or be depressed at anytime, like Pinkie Pie when she thought everyone was laughing at her. Celestia is much the same as in her sister had only just come back from banishment and has already found a love, whereas Celestia has been around longer and hasn't. Sister jealousy is a crazy thing I hear. Also, Luna was not very out of character. We don't really know what Luna's character is actually like, other than the 'Luna Eclipsed' episode, which she was dressed as Nightmare Moon. She was very loud, but sorry and apologetic. She also had a fun side and when she started to relax sahe had a great time and everypony accepted her. I also think she read about the Canterlot Royal Voice, and decided to use it. The way i've seen people portray Luna is shy and quiet. Which is what I am doing, but as her character in this story develops, she learns to come out of her shell and become assertive. Tell me, if you were told your one love was banished from you country and that you could not follow, how would you act? Me? I'd certainly defend my love, at whatever the cost. Anyways, I'm in the middle of a huge thunderstorm, and had to unplug everything, including the internet, so this chapter may be waiting to be uploaded for a while. Enjoy chapter ten! Chapter Ten: Alone and Broken. I awoke to find myself lying face down in a puddle of mud. My belongings were scattered around me. I looked up to see that the sky had big, black clouds and I could smell the moisture in the air. After a quick surveillance of my surroundings, I discovered that I was outsideof the gates of Canterlot, possibly fifty meters or so. That ment that I was on the top of a mountain, most likely on a dirt track due to the mud. I could vaugly remember what had happened. The only thing I remember was Luna trying to protect me and then nothing. In the corner of my eye, there was a red object reflecting the glow of the palace, half buried in mud. I struggled to get up. I discovered that I had a massive bruise on my chest and left thigh. Limping over to the object, my heart sank. It was my guitar. "NO!" I screamed "Nononono!" I was pulling it out of the mud, and saw that the neck had been snapped and three of the six strings were broken. I cried for who knows how long. It felt like hours. I had just lost the only thing that I had left that remined me of my family. It was the only thing left, besides Luna, that kept me from going insane. It had become a part of me, an extention of my body. I had never left home without it, and now its gone. Pulling the guitar stap over my head, the guitar hugged my body unnaturally due to the break in the neck. Picking up my scattered belongings clothes, I tore and tied a few shirts together to make a small makeshift bag which slung over my shoulder. It was pretty terrible, but atleast I didn't have to carry all my things in my arms. A bolt of lightning stretched far across the sky, and soon followed some thunder overhead. Within minutes it had started to rain. I had only gotten so far down the track before I needed a rest. I hobbled my way over to a tree and sat down leaning againt the base. My lungs were on fire, my head ached and my leg! I'd rather go through a whole day of magic lessons with Luna than this. 'Luna' I thought 'What would've happened to her?' Ideas were racing through my head. Every single one was either of Luna being thrown in the dungeon, tortured or worse. I was starting to panic, black was forming on the edges of my eyesight and before I knew it, I was out cold. "Alright son. To survive in the wild, and who knows when you might be stranded out on the farm somewhere, you need to keep calm." Dad said. I was eight, and dad was teaching me skills that, being a farmer, I would need to know. So far he had tought me how to catch animals with a lasso, how to start a fire with two sticks and what sort of mushrooms you can and can't eat. "Keeping calm is the most important thing when alone. As soon as you start to panic, your mind will start to play tricks on you" I nodded as I took in the information. "If you find yourself starting to panic, keep your mind on the thing closest to your heart" he started "No matter what, do not give up" Dad held out his arms for a hug and I ran up to him to embrace him. The more I ran, the further away he got. "Dad!" I cried, tears filling my vision "Dad don't leave me!" I awoke screaming and yelling. It was morning, and I could feel the sun on my face. I saw the morning sky for the first time in a few weeks. It wasn't beautiful like I remember, instead, it was a dull yellow. There was nothing beautiful about it. "It was just a dream Jackson, remember what dad said" I spoke outloud, knowing nopony could hear me. I focused on Luna, and all the good times we shared. I imagined sleeping with her on her bed, her head on my chest with her warm breath creating a tingling sensation on my chin. Almost instantly, I felt motivated. I tried to stand up, but was hit with a sharp pain in my leg. "Oh yeah" I said in frustration. Using the tree I was leaning on, I managed to stand. Slowly, I limped back out onto the dirt tack, which was still a little wet from last night's rain. I started to follow the track down the mountain. Now that it was day time, I saw just how high up I was. The track had a small picket fence following it all the way down, guarding anybody who was using the track from falling off the edge. "Great" I said "Just when I thought my vertigo was no more" I was placing once hand on the mountain side as I hobbled down the long bending track. Judging by how the sun was, I decided that it must be atleast four o'clock. I hadn't even made it halfway down the mountain, and by this time, I couldn't put my hunger off any longer. Luckily, a few hundred meters down the track, I could see a small group of trees off to the side where the mountain was carved away. As I got closer, The small group of trees became a dense forrest. "Looks like i'll be staying here for the night" I told myself "Hopefully theres something I can eat within" I ventured into the forrest like a mad, hobbling monster. I was panting and soon I had to stop. A squirrel had curiously found it's way up to me. It was only a few meters away. "Hey little buddy" I wheezed, still catching my breath. I held out my hand, falm facing down, so he could see I was no threat. My stomach growled, which scared the little squirrel off. "Well that sucks" I spoke outloud. An hour had passed and I had managed to find three mushrooms, two of which were not edible. I had eaten my mushroom, and had fallen asleep at the base of a tree. When I awoke, it was night, but the moon shon brightly. I knew Luna would have done that to help me in anyway she could. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. My vision slowly returned and my pupils dilated so I could see a little better. Infront of me sat the squirrel from before, but this time he had a pile of thirty nuts and a few mushrooms, which he nudged over to me with his nose. 'It must have taken him all night to find these' I thought as I held my hand out on the floor. The squirrel ran up my arm to my shoulder, where he sat with perfect balance while I ate. I shared a few nuts with him and scratched behind his ear, which he seemed to enjoy. The nuts and mushrooms only did so much for my hunger before I dozed off to sleep again. When I finally awoke from my dreamless sleep, I found that the sunlight was still the same dull yellow. The squirrel had fallen asleep on my chest, and awoke when he felt me moving around. "I have to get a move on little guy" I told the squrrel, not sure if he could understand or not. I got up and slung my makeshift bag and guitar around my neck and set off for the track, which hopefully lead to Ponyville. Five minutes of walking, and I saw the squirrel again, standing in the middle of the track. We just stared at eachother for a while before he came running up to me, dashed up my leg and found his way onto my shoulder. "You've been following me eh?" I asked, not expecting an answer. "Well I could use a friend right now" I told him and he rubbed his cheek against mine. I had a newfound hope given to me by this little guy. Limping for another two hours, the squirrel had jumped off my shoulder and glided down to the ground. Turns out he was a flying squirrel, which made him about twenty percent cooler. By this time, I was halfway down the track. I could make out Ponyville in the distance. I walked up to the picket fence and looked down, it wasn't a cliff at this part of the mountain, it was a steep hill. I was contemplating two decisions. 'Go down the hill and cut many hours off my trip or follow the track and play it safe?' I thought. Ten minutes of thinking, I decided to go down the hill. Carefully and slowly, I made my way down the hill on my backside. It had only been thirty minutes instead of what I had estimated to be a two hour trip to get this far down the mountain. The squirrel had positioned himself upon my head for the trip down. I looked up to find him looking down at me, which made me chuckle. I should not have done that. I had taken my eyes off of where I was going and I lost my balance. I started to roll, of which I smashed my forearm and head against a few rocks. Within a matter of minutes, my body smashed against the ground at the base of the floor, chest first. I was winded and couldn't breath. I was panicking, as my body shut down to try and take the pain away. I awoke in the afternoon sun. It burned so bright and hot, I wouldn't have a clue how I wasn't sunburnt. The first thing I noticed was the seering pain in my left forearm, it was bruised and cut. I tried to move my fingers and wrist, but was soon rewarded with another hit of red hot pain shooting up to my brain. Using my instincts, I took my bag off from my back and took out two of my last shirts and made a sling with one, the other was used to help tie a strong stick against my arm, which didn't go without a few choice words and tears. Once my arm was wrapped tightly to my body by the makeshift sling, I noticed that my guitar was not on my back. I looked around and had spotted it only ten meters away. Stumbling over to it, in more pain than I had been in before, I found that it was even more broken that it was when I started my trek. The strap wasn't broken, only disconnected, but the red colour of the wooden base was scratched and cut, and there were cracks all around it. Carefully picking it up, I slung it around my neck as the squirrel flew gracefully down and landed on my shoulder. As he did so, I let out a hiss of pain, as faster than I'd seen anything move, he was one the ground running beside me. "I'm sorry mate" I started slowly, hissing at the pain throughout my body "I'm too hurt to be able to carry you. I started to walk, by walk I mean hobble as best I could, down the track. "Shouldn't have done that Jackson, you bucking idiot" I scolded at myself. How could I be so stupid? Another few hours had passed and I only had a quarter of the mountain left. My body was aching and telling me to stop, but I pushed on. I eventually made it to the bottom of the mountain, and had come to a signpost with three signs. It told me that there were three roads, one led to Manehatten, which had the number '197'. Underneath the Manehatten sign, was another saying Fillidelphia - 153. The last sign was the one I was looking for. It read 'Ponyville - 14'. I didn't know what sort of measuring system the ponies used, so I hoped it wasn't far. I didn't get very far before the lack of water was taking it's toll on my dehydrated body. I must have been hobbling for atleast ten minutes before I had colapsed in the middle of the road. When I awoke, I found myself in a room, laying on a bed. "You're finally awake" I heard a voice call from left left side. I tried to turn my head but soon found that when I did, a shot of pain surged through my body. "I suggest you down move, dear. Your body needs to heal" the female voice said. The pony moved closer to the side of the bed and leant over to get a better look at me. She was a bright white earth pony with a light pink tail and mane. Her mane was tied in a ball at the back of her head, which was accompanied by a white nurses cap, which had a red cross with four hearts in each corner. Her mane was short and dropped slightly over her face, but not enough so she couldn't see. Her cutie mark matched the symbol on her hat. She would have had to have been as cute as Vinyl. "I am Nurse Redheart" She said in a soothing voice "I'll be your nurse for your time here, and will be at your side whenever you need me" She let out a smile. "Thankyou Nurse" I smiled back "Uh, may I ask you a question?" The nurse smiled warmly "You may" "How long have I been here?" I asked. "About a week" She replied "I've enjoyed every second. It's an honour to work on a new species, let alone a prince!" she said in a giddy voice "Tell me if I do anything.. wrong. Nopony has worked on a, as you say, human before" "A week?" I said, but my smile turned into a sad frown as my tears started to return. "May I hug you, prince?" she asked "I hate seeing ponies so sad, and hugs seem to cheer everypony up" I lifted my right arm, as the nurse wrapped her head around my neck and I cried into her mane and coat. She was so soft, I'd never thought a ponies coat could be anything like this. "I'm n-not a prince a-anymore" I managed to stutter inbetween my sobs. "Why? What happened?" Asked the nurse in a consoling voice "Let out all your tears" All the pain that I had kept in these past few weeks rushed out through my eyes. The truth was, I missed home. Sure here was good, better than my world infact, but the ponies weren't humans. I cried for my parents, for my guitar, for Luna and Celestia. I told the nurse what happened at the castle, and what happened over the past few days. She momentarily brought back her head back and her eyes met with mine. Her blue eyes were filled with tears. "Thats.. thats horrible!" she told me as she yet again embraced me in another hug "I t-think Celestia over reacted" she managed to say. We were there for atleast another hour and my tears were all dried up. I couldn't cry anymore, but I could still sob. I turned my neck over to the window, it hurt so much, but I could see my quirrel friend standing on the window sill. I asked the nurse to open the window and as she did, the squirrel jumped through and landed on the bed beside me. "This was the squirrel that I told you about" I said "If not for him, I probably would have gone crazy" As I confessed those words, I rubbed his ear. The nurse smiled "Well it's getting late, I'll let you rest" she said. "Uh, Red? If I may call you that?" I asked. She blushed and beamed a smile "You may". "Well, I was wondering if you could pass on a message to Twilight Sparkle for me?" I asked weakly. I was so tired. "Sure can" she smiled "What would you like me to tell her?" "Could you tell her to come see me here? I need to talk to her" I replied. "I will tell her as soon as possible" She smiled. I smiled back at her, holding out my arm for one last hug, which she quickly, but gently rushed over to embrace. "Thankyou" I whispered into her ear, just as I fell asleep. When my eyes opened, Red was sitting in a chair next to my bed, alongside Twilight Sparkle, who was crying. "I suppose you told her what happend then, Red?" I looked at them both and smiled. The nurse nodded and Twilight rushed up to me and hugged me "Oh Jackson, I'm so sorry! I've never seen the princess act like this" "It's okay Twilight" I told her. "You wanted to see me?" She asked, wiping away her tears with a forehoof. "Yes" I started "I need you to send a letter to Luna telling her where I am, and to come in a few days once everything starts to calm down" Twilight nodded "Is that all?" "Should be" I replied, and Twilight galloped out the door like she was being shot at. "Good afternoon Jackson" Redheart said with a smile on her face. "Good afternoon Red" I said with a wink, which made her blush. "Hey, um, once i'm well enough to get up and about, may I take you to lunch? I have to thank you for everything you've done for me" "I'd love that, but just as friends, right?" She asked with a confused look on her face. "Ofcourse, after all my heart lies with Luna" I replied "But i'd like to be better friends with you" "As would I with you" She smiled "Now, I'm going to go and get you some lunch, I'll be back soon" she said as she hugged me and left the room. The squirrel had falled asleep by my leg. Even though I was broken and hurt, there was still hope.
Chapter Eleven: I-dee-ah!View OnlineUnto A New WorldChapter Eleven: I-dee-ah!Chapter Eleven: I-dee-ah! A few days had passed and Nurse Redheart and I had gotten closer. She knew that I was deeply inlove with Luna, but that didn't stop her from liking me. "Emotions can't be forced to go away" I reassured her as she cried in my arms. She had confessed how she felt and thought she was a terrible pony for doing so. "I'm honoured that a pony as nice as you would like me. But we have to stay friends. If it makes you feel any better, I would be trying to win your heart over if I was not with Luna" She looked up at me and wiped her tears away "You really mean that?" "Ofcourse I do" I replied. I was finally able to move around. I had tried to walk, but it hurt too much. Red had to push me around in a wheelchair. She told me that it will take atleast two weeks for my leg and chest injuries to heal, and atleast another three ontop of those for my arm to completely heal. I was to remain at the hospital until I could walk on my own, which ment more time to spend with my new friends, Redheart and the squirrel. "I think you should name him Carver" Nurse Redheart suggested, and the squirrel seemed to nod and jumped onto her back, before running up ontop of her head and hugging her ear. "He likes you" I smiled, and Reheart blushed. "Carver is a good name" Carver was affectionate and took kindly to his name. We sat there talking and laughing as Carver bounced around the room. An hour later, It was nearing lunchtime and my stomach growled loudly. "How about I take you up on that offer to take me to lunch?" She chuckled. "That would be great!" I replied. Redheart pushed me through the town, and everypony was looking at me with sad eyes. We arrived at a small resturant, nothing fancy like Chef Ali'vous's, but it was cosy, and it definatly was not the type of resturant that you needed to book in advance. Red had pushed me through the front door, and went to speak with a waiter to arrange a table. Within five minutes, we were placed at a small table for two, along with two menus. "The menu was much different, and much easier to read than the last resturant I was at. In the 'Lunch' section, there were many tasty meals, but one stood out. "Curried Egg sandwhiches, with fried chips" I said outloud "Sounds good, I'll have one of those thanks" I smiled at the waiteress, who then smiled back at me. Redheart poked out her tounge in disgust. "I don't like curry" She told me "I'll just have the daisy and sunflower sandwhich, thanks" She told the waitress, who wrote it down and scurried away to the kitchen. "I saw you had a guitar with you when you were brought in" The nurse started "Do you play?" "No, I don't I carry a guitar around for other people to play" I said with extreme sarcasm. "Oh, thats very interesting" She started, not picking up on my sarcasm "I used to play bass with my filly friends back when I was in school. I was the only earth pony in my class to be able to levitate objects. Then I had to do work experience at the hospital to pass, and as I did so, my cutie mark appeared and I've been a nurse ever since" Then I had an awesome idea. "Well, I was being sarcastic with what I said" I confessed "I do play guitar, and I'm teaching Luna" I smiled "I have a bass guitar at Vinyl's if you'd ever want to come and play?" I offered. Redheart blushed "Well it's been a long time.." she said as she trailed off "But i'd love too" "Great, well once I clear things up with Celestia, we'll get right to it" I replied as I remembered how broken my guitar was. My face dropped it's recently happy expression. "What is it?" asked Redheart. "My guitar, It was broken when I found it, and on my way here it became even more so" I nearly cried, but didn't remembering I was in a public place. "Well" The nurse replied with a cheerful smirk on her face "When you were brought in, You wouldn't let go of it. I saw how much it ment to you and had it sent off for repair before you even came to" I couldn't believe what I had heard. "Thankyou so much!" tears were welling in my eyes, but they didn't drop "How ever can I repay you?" Red lifted a dismissive hoof "No need Jackson" she smiled "Just you being my friend is enough" "Thankyou" I replied as she trotted over and hugged me. 'I am going to repay her anyway I can' I thought to myself. Soon enough, the food came out on two plates, which unlike Ali'vous's, did not come covered. Redheart bent her neck down and started to take small, cute bites out of her sandwhich as I inhaled one half of the two on my plate. "Why don't you use your magic to eat the sandwhich?" I asked her as politely as I could after swallowing the food in my mouth. "It's very rare for an earth pony to use his or her magic like I do" she said softly "I don't want it to seem like i'm showing off by using it" "Nonsense" I replied to her words "I think everypony will love you even more" With my words, she looked at the sandwhich, which flew up to her houth and she started eating again. "Better?" she asked. "Perfect" I said, which made her blush. Half an hour had passed and Redheart started walking me back to the hospital. "Nurse? Can we go to Vinyl Scratch's house please?" I asked. "Sure, but i've never met her before, and I dont know where she lives" Red confessed "I don't get out much" "Turn left here and continue down to the end of the road" I instructed "And don't worry, I didn't know anypony when I came here" I comforted the nurse. I looked up at her to see that she was smiling, and she pushed me the rest of the way to Vinyl's house. When we arrived, I lifted my arm to knock on the door. As I did, Redheart slapped my hand away with her hoof. "You need to rest!" She scolded, I saw the anger in her eyes and retracted my arm back to my body. "Sorry" I said, wincing at the red mark left on my hand. Her eyes then drooped, before she picked up my hand and kissed it, saying sorry over and over again. I chuckled "It's alright Red, you know whats best for me, and knocking on doors is not something I should be doing". Redheart stopped kissing my hand and stoop up properly. She was still apologising when Vinyl had opened the door. "Whats all th-" She asked before her voice changed to that of worry and hurt "JACKSON!" She screamed before she literally jumped on me, being careful where she placed her forelegs and hugged me. "I got thrown out of the palace by Celestia, and I am no longer a prince, which doesn't really bother me because it ment nothing to me. It was just a title" I told her. Vinyl nuzzled me. You're very welcome to stay here as long as you'd like Jackson" She said "But I'd like you to see something before we do anything" her voice contained a hint of excitement. "Lead the way" I instructed curiously. A wide grin appeared on Vinyl's face as she turned and walked back through her door. I looked up to Nurse Redheart, who wore an uneasy expression, while looking at Vinyl. She wasn't just looking at the DJ, she was LOOKING at the DJ. "She really is something isn't she?" I teased. "Yeah" she said. She seemed to snap out of her daze, and started blushing "Oh! Um.. pretend you didn't hear that" she said quickly. "Red and Vinyl sitting in a tree" I started to say, I made sure Vinyl couldn't hear me. "K-I-S-S-I-N-G". Behind her bright red face, I could see her cold stare. "Shuttup" she mumbled and I let out a small laugh. We entered Vinyl's studio and we saw her jump up to her swivel chair and span around on it to face us. She turned to face Redheart, who instantly started blushing. "Do you need some water or something?" Vinyl asked, oblivious to the real reason that the white earth pony was blushing. Redheart nodded and Vinyl left the room. "Just relax Red" I smiled. Redheart let out a nervous laugh before blushing even more. Vinyl quickly returned with a glass of water wrapped in her magical aura. Redheart concentrated on the glass, and her aura overlapped the stunned DJ's. "Wha-how?" She asked. The infamous DJ seemed to have lost her cool, and I was there to witness it. Obviously she had felt the same tingle that Luna and I had felt on one of my many magic lessons. There was a long awkward silence. "Lets j-just say I-I'm a very t-talented earth p-pony" Redheart managed to say, despite her situation she handled it pretty well. Impressed, Vinyl introduced herself to the white earth pony "Names' Vinyl" She said as she extended a hoof and smiled "Great to meet'cha!" At first, Red was hesitant, but soon her muscles seemed to relax and she smiled back, shaking the DJ's hood with her own "I'm Redheart". Another awkward silence fell over the room, was there more to be said? I started to hum the tune of the song I was teasing Redheart with earlier. She shot back an embarrassed but stern look. I started to laugh loudly, and Vinyl looked at us both "Am I missing something?" she asked. "Yes!" I managed to say between my laughing. "NO!" Redheart covered up my answer as soon as it was said, which only made me laugh harder. There was a pain rising up my sides and chest. I remembered how bruised I was, maybe laughing wasn't such a good idea. "Ow! Ow! Ow!" I said, giggling but slowly stopping. "Serves you right" Redheart laughed before attending to my bruises to make sure I hadn't done anymore damage or opened any wounds. "Laughing is a good remedy for getting better, but too much of it and it will make your wounds worse" She said as she poked one of my small bruises in my useable arm. She smirked as I winced in pain. She wasn't being mean, just getting me back for what I had done. "Sooo.." Vinyl said, reminding us that she was still here "Can I show you what I wanted to now?" she asked. Her mood seemed to go from good, to even better with our reply. "Yes" Red and I said in unison. "That was creepy, but anywho!" She said as she span around on her chair to face the mixboard. She pressed a button and music started puring through the speakers. Atfirst, Red was startled and jumped and I let out a small chuckled, before she nudged be with her flank. The music was amazing. It started off slow, but then the beat dropped and started making cool noises. Vinyl's voice was overlapping the music. She was singing, or saying, in the song, and her voice was extremely good. 'Pump the brakes, you're a red-flag, red light Holdin' up for stop signs. I'll never be sloppy seconds Go ahead, take them back, your one, two, three minutes All you do is take, take, takin' off the little Got More goin' on I'd rather be eating glass, stick hot needles in my eyes, go ahead and tap that ass Draw them up, yeah like there's candy Girl I ain't tryin'a connect or paint a picture I'm not in it, never will be You can't be me, get your freak on, you can suck it, they've all seen it And you liked it, now who wants it? Cotton candy sugar high Break your bones when you come down You're a one trick, my trick pony who's next to hop on Ride, ride, ride... Bout to bring a blood spill We've both been there, what's the next stop? I won't sit still Back to bring up what's real We've both been there, what's the next stop? I won't sit still' There was an 'instrumental' part which went for a minute or so and then the singing started again. 'Pump the brakes, you're a red-flag, red light Holdin' up for stop signs. I'll never be sloppy seconds Go ahead, take them back, your one, two, three minutes All you do is take, take, takin' off the little Got More goin' on I'd rather be eating glass, stick hot needles in my eyes, go ahead and tap that ass Draw them up, yeah like there's candy Girl I ain't tryin'a connect or paint a picture I'm not in it, never will be You can't be me, get your freak on, you can suck it, they've all seen it And you liked it, now who wants it? Cotton candy sugar high Break your bones when you come down You're a one trick, my trick pony who's next to hop on Ride, ride, ride... Bout to bring a blood spill We've both been there, what's the next stop? I won't sit still Back to bring up what's real We've both been there, what's the next stop? I won't sit still' There was another 'instumental' part to the song before it soon ended. Red stood there, and I sat there in my wheelchair, stunned. We were like that for a few minutes before Vinyl spoke up. "So was it good? or.." She asked as her voice trailed off. "That was amazing!" Redheart screamed. "I knew you were good, but i'd never heard your music" Vinyl blushed "Thanks" She smiled towards the white earth mare "What about you?" she asked me "What do you think of it?" "I thought it was terrible" I said, and Redheart nearly slapped me before I continued "terribly awesome!" I laughed. Vinyl sighed with a relief "You got me" She said as she slumped down on her chair letting her hair fall over her eyes before she brushed it back up. I looked over at Red, who at a slight blush showing on her face. I knew what she was thinking. I thought the same thing when I had first seen the DJ do it, but not in the same way that Red was thinking it. "So, who's thirsty?" Vinyl asked with a grin on her face as she levitated up three shot glasses and a bottle of half finished Wild Pegasus. Her face changed to one of glee as I nodded, but her eyes lit up as she saw Red nod. I knew what Vinyl was going to do, people did it in my world. Vinyl poured the three small glasses full with the yellow liquid. I must admit I did like this whiskey. Vinyl and I both drank our shots at same time and we waited for Red to finish hers. "I-I don't drink much" She confessed. "Nothing bad is gonna happen" Said Vinyl with a smile on her face which started to blush "I'll be here if anything goes wrong, and so will Jackson". With Vinyl's reassuring words, Redheart downed the whiskey in her glass. Her eyes went wide as she could feel the burn down her throat. "That was intesnse" She said as she slammed the glass down on the table "Another round?" She asked with pleading eyes. Vinyl complied, she complied for the next four shots, over a total of one hour. Red and Vinyl were smashed, drunk as anything and I was just starting to feel the effects of the alcohol. 'Although I guess they are smaller than me' I thought to myself. It was now six o'clock. I decided I'd go to bed. "Goodnight girls!" I said in a half drunken slur. "Night" The both giggled. I stumbled into the guest room, and slumped down on the red silk bed. I forgot entirely about my wheelchair, the alcohol took the pain of walked away. I soon fell unconcious, and was awoken by a slam of a door and more giggling. It sounded like it was coming from behind the mirror that Vinyl told Luna and I not to explore. There was a glow from what I thought was a light coming from beneath the mirror. I got up off the bed and stumbled to the mirror, which I opened the teeniest bit and looked through. Inside I could see Vinyl and Redheart drinking more alcohol, but it wasn't whiskey. They were sitting at a table, next to a bed. Vinyl disappeared from my sight, but quickly returned with a suitcase. She opened it and pulled out a large black box. A grin appeared on her face. I'd never seen a grin like this on anypony before. "This is going to be so fun" Vinyl slurred towards the drunken Redheart. The sight was incredibly cute, until Vinyl opened the black box. There were two fluffy, pink hoof cuffs levitating out of the box. As much as I wanted to watch I knew, even in my half asleep/half drunken state that it was wrong to spy on their intimate session. A closed the mirror door which shut with a loud clunk. "Jackson!" I heard Redheart and Vinyl call out in unison. I ran for the door, and bolted down the hallway. Behind me I could hear the two ponies calling my name but I still ran. I made my way to the soundproof room and picked up a guitar. I had to get my mind off of what I had just seen. I started strumming as Vinyl and Redheart walked in, following the sound of the music. "There you are!" Vinyl said with an embarrassed look on her face, Redheart's expression was more than embarrassed. They seemed to be able to talk well enough for me to understand. "We are so sorry. We didn't mean to wake you" She said. "Redheart was more drunk than Vinyl. She started to giggle "We were going to invite you to join, but Vinyl said you were with Luna. It would have been fun" "Stop!" I yelled, their ears dropping back "Please. I haven't thought of Luna or anypony like that. It's going to be a while before I do. The species difference is too weird for me right now" I said in a more calm voice. I was still playing the guitar. I really wanted my one back. "Now you two go have fun, I'll just sleep in here tonight" Vinyl and Redheart looked at eachother and then back at me. "You're my guest, and I'm not letting you sleep in here" Vinyl said, even though she was drunk she was still a good host "Let alone that you're one of my good friends. Now with that out there, I think I can speak for Reddy and I that we don't have to do anything. We just got carried away, and now that you know whats in that room, you can't tell anypony okay?" Redheart blushed at the name that Vinyl had given her. They were only with eachother for four or so hours and she had already been given a pet name. "I won't tell anyone, don't worry" I reassured "But I don't want you both to not.. do.. what you were just about to do because of me". "Jackson" Redheart said "Where's your wheelchair?" She changed subject deliberately, It was obvious that she didn't like talking about this. I honestly had no idea where I had left my wheelchair. I remember in how much pain I should have been in, and My arm started to hurt. I looked down and remembered that my arm was broken and in a sling. Playing guitar was not good for it. "Um" I started "It might be in the room we were drinking in" I said not remembering the name on the room. Vinyl turned and walked out, and left Redheart and I together in the soundproof room. "So" I started "Where was I? Oh yes!" I started playing a tune which was familiar to Red's ears. "Vinyl and Redheart sitting in a tree" I sang and the nurses face went red as she started to hit me. "K-I-S-S-I-N-G" Vinyl said as she came back into the room, wheeling my chair through the door. I felt my face going red, Vinyl had heard. "She walked up to the ever reddening Redheart, and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I KNEW IT" I exclaimed "But you're not in a tree.." Red nuzzled Vinyl's neck and they both started laughing. I concentrated on my leg, and stood up. Vinyl helped me and her magic wrapped around my own, and we embraced eachother's magic. A third aura wrapped around both our magic, but this aura was around my whole body. I was lifted up into the air and placed on the wheelchair. I looked to Redheart, but she shook her head and pointed towards the doorway. There in the doorway, was Luna. Luna was back. A/N: The lyrics used belong to Deadmau5 - One Trick Pony. I do not own the song, nor does Vinyl. Do not sue me.
Chapter Twelve: Together is BetterView OnlineUnto A New WorldChapter Twelve: Together is BetterChapter Twelve: Together is better "Luna!" I screamed in joy as I tried to get up from the wheelchair. Her magic still held me down. "Jackson, we need to talk" She said in a stern voice. She didn't seem happy. I looked towards Vinyl and Redheart, who shrugged and began talking. I saw Redheart pick up the bass guitar from it's stand as Luna wheeled me out of the room. I looked up towards Luna, who was looking straight ahead. I began to worry. We continued down the hallway, passing the assorted portraits, many containing Vinyl. Luna pushed me into the guest room. "Are you drunk?" Asked Luna in a depressed tone, with a slight hint of joy. I looked at Luna through my drunken gaze "Maybe" I slurred "A little bit". The corner's of her mouth curled slightly. "Well this need to wait until you're sober" She replied. "But.." I started before Luna stopped me. "No buts!" She said quickly "This is extremely important, get some rest" She levitated me out of my wheelchair and placed me on the bed, before tucking me in. She lay a small kiss on my forehead. "I love you" She said as she turned to leave the room. "Luna?" I asked. "Yes Jackson?" she replied. "I missed you" I said sheepishly. Luna left without saying anything back to me. I couldn' sleep, the only thing I could think about was Luna being here. The next morning, I awoke to find Redheart's head resting on the bed that I was so graciously placed into. Her head lay resting in her forearms, and she snored softly. 'Why?' I begged to god 'Why do you put me with all these cute ponies?' I felt movement from Redheart's location, and saw that she was slowly starting to wake up. "Goodmorning sleepyhead" I said in a playful voice. "Argh!" Red moaned in pain, her hooves clutched her head "Why does my head hurt?" "I think I know how to fix that" I smiled and Red's ears shot up but drooped back down again in pain. "Once i'm all fixed up, we need to talk" Redheart said as she helped me out of the bed and into the wheelchair. She reared up and placed her forelegs on the handles and pushed me towards the door, before Vinyl came running in. "Jackson!" She shouted as she jumped to the side, just in time to dodge the cripple and the hungover nurse. Without taking a break, Vinyl continued "Jackson we need to talk, soon" She said. Her voice sounded nervous. "Sure thing Vinyl" I replied "But can we get some breakfast first? My stomach is killing me" Both of the ponies looked at me, horror on their faces. All I could do is laugh. "It's a figure of speech" I said inbetween giggles "It's not really killing me, it's just rumbling and it's so empty that it hurts". Red and Vinyl both gave a sigh of relief. They honestly thought I was going to die. We made our way to the dining room, which Luna was already sitting, and the food she had prepared was placed infront of each seat on the table. "This looks great Princess" Redheart said nervously as she bowed. Luna smiled "There is no need for that, and call me Luna. Anyfriend of Vinyl's is a friend of mine". 'What about me?' I thought, becoming jealous and confused as to why Luna was acting this way. "Well Jackson brought us together" Vinyl said as she dug her muzzle into the food placed before her. It was simple hay and carrots but nopony complained. I noticed there was no food for me. "I guess i'll just go down the street for lunch.." I said, feeling saddened. I concentrated on the wheels of the wheelchair, and they started to turn and moved me towards the door. "I'll come with you!" Redheart said as she rushed up to the chair, wheeling it out the door. I gave one last look behind me, to find Vinyl's face buried in her food, hay in her mane and Luna, looking out the window. I had to get to the bottom of this. Redheart and I were walking through the streets of Ponyville, and before long Red cluched her head again. "It hurts Jackson!" She said, nearly in tears "Make it stop!" She had her head in my lap, her eyes were wide and pleading "You said you knew how!" "Can you get me to Sugarcube Corner?" I asked her, which was asking a bit much considering the state she was in "They have to have the ingredients, they are a bakery afterall" Redheart got up slowly and pushed me to the shop, which was right around the corner. I was still amazed at how she could push through such pain. As we entered, our eyes adjusted to the light. Red's head was hurting more so and ontop of that, Pinkie appreared out of nowhere, as usual. "Hey guys! Sorry for the lights, I was just testing some equipment for an upcoming party which is just going to be some awesomly awesome it'll make Rainbow jealous! But I need somepony's opinion on something and you two just happened to walkthrough the door!" She said as she took another breath, but Redheart placed her hoof infront of the pink pony's mouth. "Pinkie, I need some ingredients. We'll help you with your party after but right now my friend needs help" I said painfully. The pink pony was bouncing around us in circles "Ooh! You guys wanna bake? Why didn't you ask? We've got apples and lemons and peaches and flour and butter and.." Pinkie made a drooling sound "..SUGAR!" She licked her lips with a smack. "Great, Lead us to the kitchen!" I said. "Alrighty! Follow me. Try not to make too much mess, Mr and Mrs Cake are out in Manehatten for a while and they asked me to look after the shop. How cool is that? Anyway, I don't really want to clean up a mess, and this party is really super duper important" She said cautiously "I'll KNOW if there's a mess.." "No problem Pinkie, i'm not making anything special" I replied, reassuring the usually hyper pony. With her last words she seemed to stop bouncing and had a serious face. Mr and Mrs Cake letting her run the shop was a great responsibility and she wanted to make sure nothing went wrong. Pinkie left Red and I in the kitchen, and I had her sit in a chair facing the kitchen bench. I rolled over to a door in the room, and there stood the largest pantry I had ever seen. It was atleast the size of Twilight's front room, and had rows upon rows of shelves. In the center along the far wall, there was a fridge. Inside, I found some of the ingredients that I needed. Placing them in a basket, which was conveniently located beside the fridge, I continued to roll my wheelchair down the isles of food. It took a good five to ten minutes of searching before I found everything I needed, even the alcohol. I returned to Redheart triumphant and pulled out a jug and a large glass, which were convieniantly located underneath the bench. Redheart watched amazed, but slightly disgusted at what I was making. "Three oz of tomato juice One and a half oz of vodka Half oz of lemon juice One dash of Worcestershire sauce Celery salt Ground pepper Hot pepper sauce Celery stalk for garnish" I sang as I put each ingredient into the jug and mixed them well. I poured the concoction into the glass, topped it off with ice and placed it infront of Red, who looked at it and poked her tounge at it. "It looks good, but what you put in it was gross. Are you sure it's safe to drink?" Asked Redheart. "Sure i'm sure" I said reassuringly "It helps with hangovers". Red pinched her nose and took a swig, and I saw her eyes widen. "It's actually pretty good!" She said as she wiped her muzzle, leaving a red stain on her soft white coat. "More?" She aske with pleading eyes. I chuckled "Okay, but not too much more, it's got alcohol in it" I told her, as I made some for the both of us. Within ten minutes, Red had said that her headache had passed, and gave me a tight hug. "Since we are here" I said "I may aswell get something to eat. Doing all this put me off of my thoughts for a while, which I really needed" Red looked at me with tender eyes as she pushed me back out into the main room, where Pinkie had finished setting up her party. A large banner read 'Welcome home Mr and Mrs Cake!' and there were streamers everywhere. "We're going to talk about it once we are alone, okay" Red asked. I nodded back. "There you guys are! What took you so long?" Pinkie asked, appearing between us. We both jumped at how sudden she appeared. "It just took me a while to find all the ingredients. That pantry is huge!" I told the pink party pony. "Oh my god I know right? I once got lost in there and had to wait three days, living off cookies and water until Mrs Cake finally heard my screaming and she was all like-" Pinkie made a gasping noise "This is where you've been all this time pinkie? and I said Yes, I've been lost in here for days and I've lived off the food in your pantry. Then she said I'm so sorry pinkie, Mr Cake and I left for a trip to the Cake-baker's meeting in Apalloosa and the-" I lost track of listening to her, and I stared off into space, or rather her face. She just kept talking and talking! It was incredible. "-and then I said oatmeal? Are you CRAZY? So then Carrot Top sa-" I raised my hand to her mouth and covered it. She just kept talking even with my hand there. What the hay? "PINKIE" I said loudly, making her stop talking. I removed my hand from her mouth. "Yes Jackson?" She asked. "I'm very hungry, could you find us something to eat?" I replied. "Sure no problem! By the way you're a really good listener. I have all this stuff that I want to say to ponies but they never have time to listen to me so it all just gets built up and-" Pinkie's tail started to twitch "Oh no twitchy tail. TWITCHY TAIL!" She said as she dove under a table. Red and I just stoof there as she cowered underneath a table holding cakes and other things. Something fell through the roof. It was Rainbow Dash. She collided with me and sent me flying back into Red. "Just when I thought I was recovering" I said as three of us got up. Pinkie emerged from under the table. "I said twitchy tail didn't I?" Pinkie said. "Pinkie, you are so random!" Dash replied and shook her head, then looked at me and Red "I'm sorry guys, I didn't mean to hit you let alone fly into the shop. A trick went haywire and here I am" She said with an embarrassed chuckle. "It's alright!" I said as I got up off the ground and helped up Red. "Here, let me pay for your breakfast" Dash said as she handed Pinkie two gold bits which were kept in a small puch under her left wing. Leaving Sugarcube Corner with two cupcakes, courtisy of Rainbow Dash and made by Pinkie herself, Red pushed me to the park. It was amazing. As we were walking through, I saw many ponies and foals playing and having fun. Red pushed me to a bench opposite a duckpond, where she helped me onto the seat and sat closely beside me. "As you know, I need to talk to you" Red started, she had a small blush glowing on her cheeks "How do y-you ask somepony o-out?" Red's cheeks were bright red now. "You mean ask Vinyl out?" I said as I nudged her side with my right elbow. The answer was obvious, due to what happened the night before, and the growing red on her cheeks "Well Vinyl had told me that she was doing a gig at a local nightclub sometime soon, you might want to find out when that is and she might ask you to come with her, or you can ask if you can go and watch and have dinner afterwards. Make sure you say something like 'do you want to go to dinner with me?' or 'want to grab some dinner with me after the show?'. Something like that" Red was making mental notes about what I had said. "Alright, I may need to talk to you again later" She said with a nervous smile "Want to talk about whats been bothering you?" "Well" I began "Didn't you see how Luna was acting? She wouldn't even hug me. She didn't even make me breakfast" "Maybe there was nothing she could make you?" Red suggested. "Maybe, but she could have said that. It hurts though, and you'll probably know once you're with Vinyl" I replied. Red looked confused "How do you know that?" She asked. "Because in any relationship, there are always fights or something stupid" I replied to her question. Red hugged me and nuzzled my cheek "It'll be alright" She assured, and I could feel my muscles starting to relax. I hadn't noticed how tense I had become "You're a really good friend Jackson, and I'll always be here for you, and so will Vinyl. You should have heard how much she talked about you lastnight. She really looks up to you" I felt myself blush a little, accompanied by a weak smile. "Thanks Red" I said as a leant into her warm hug. Redheart pushed me back through the park and town. We were halfway to Vinyl's before the DJ rushed out infront of us. She saw Red and blushed. The blue maned unicorn gave a quick kiss on Redhearts cheek which left a small blush behind, and took control of the wheelchair. Before I knew it I was going back to the park. "Deja Vu" I said to myself as we arrived at the duck pond and Vinyl sat on the bench. "What? Anyway about lastnight.." Vinyl started, a blush arose on her cheeks, which was something unusual from the DJ "I know I can't blame what we said, did and were going to do on the alcohol but thats all I can come up with. I only brought it out because Reddy looked nervous, and I didn't mean for us all to get drunk and-" I placed my hand to her mouth to stop her from speaking. "It's alright Vinyl, I understand" I reassured the white unicorn as she looked up to me. Her eyes widened "Thankyou!" She said leaping off the bench to give me another bombardment of kisses to the face. 'Is her family from France?' I thought and chuckled to myself. "Lastnight was.. special" Vinyl said as she slowly stopped kissing me. "Thankyou for leaving Red and I alone, we got to know eachother better. I'm also really really sorry about what you saw when we woke you up" She said, looking sad, but very very cute. "Nothing happend though, I promise!" I waved a dismissive hand "Think nothing of it Vinyl" I said as I opened my arms, gesturing for a hug "It's already forgotten" which ofcourse it wasn't, I mean for two mares, they are both incredibly attractive. No way I could let go of that thought so easily. Vinyl wrapped her forelegs around my neck and we hugged for a good five minutes before she broke the silence. "What was with Luna?" asked the DJ, still holding onto me "She was acting a little weird dont'cha think?" "Yeah" I replied "But i'm trying not to think about it". "Well if you need to talk i'm always here, or well.. not here here.. more like in my studio but none the less! My door is always open for you" She said with a smile. "Thanks V" I said as she nuzzled my cheek. "Wanna go back to yours now? I need to find Luna" "Sure thing!" The DJ said as she loosened her grip around my neck. Her hooves curled around the handles of my wheelchair and started pushing. It was nearing one o'clock by the time we got back to Vinyl's, and Redheart had made us lunch. Luna was nowhere to be found. The white nurse pony had made us some sandwhiches. For Vinyl and herself she made hay sandwhiches which were cut into triangles and for me she made a jam sandwhich. "Sorry" Red said as she saw me looking at the sandwhich "I didn;t know what to make you, I'm still getting used to it" I smiled at her "No problem, I love jam sandwhiches" I said, saving her feelings as I happily took a bite out of the sandwhich. The bread must have been fresh because it was light and fluffy, and the jam tasted like the fruit, which i'm guessing were plums, were picked yesterday. "Oh my, This sandwhich is amazing!" I said, mouth half full of food. Red looked up to me and beamed a huge smile. It was simple, yet delicious. After lunch, it was decided that the three of us would go mess around with the instruments while waiting for Luna to return. As we made our way to the soundproof room, Scratch had asked Red and I to go to her next gig with her, but had asked me to sing for one of her songs that she was making. "Will do!" I stated, which I recieved a massive smile from the unicorn "But I don't want to be intruding on your 'date'" I teased as I winked towards the two white ponies. Both looked at eachother and blushed intensely. Vinyl was the first to speak "So you wanna make it a date?" she asked towards Red, who still had flustered cheeks. "I-I was about to ask the same thing" She replied as she quickly kissed Vinyl on the lips. Vinyl nearly had a heart attack. "Okay-okay break it up you two, lets get to the recording room so Vinyl can show me this song i'm ment to be singing to" The DJ instantly snapped out of her shocked daze and nodded in excitement "I already have the lyrics and everything. I tried singing it, but my voice didn't sound right. It needs a male's toned voice and here you are!" She said shrugging her shoulders "And I would like you to sing it live. Makes for a better reaction to the audience, although I will need to record some things". I simply nodded and Vinyl led Red and I through the house. "You're welcome" I whispered to Redheart, who nuzzled my neck. "Thankyou, I didn't know when or how to ask her" She said as she pulled away from my neck and smiled. Vinyl jumped up to her seat and had me sit in the same room I sat while recording the other song she wanted me to sing. As I took my place, I could see Red through the glass window pulling over a chair next to Vinyl's, and placed a pair of headphones, similar to the DJ's, over her ears. "Testing, testing one two" Vinyl's voice boomed through the room. I gave her a thumbs up and I could hear Red asking Vinyl a question. "Can you show me how you use this?" She asked nervously. "No problem!" Vinyl replied as she looked to me and spoke through the mic again "You'll find lyrics on the sheet infront of you". I looked down and saw a sheet of paper on a music stand. Picking it up, I looked at the title of the song. 'Stamp on the ground' I read to myself. I gave Vinyl another thumbs up and I heard her explaining what each button on her table does to her 'marefriend' sitting beside her. I saw a white hoof hit something on the table and music started to play. It sounded like guitar plucking, but changed through some sort of synthesizer. "I'll sing through with you so you know how the lyrics fit in" Vinyl told me, which calmed my nerves. Even though I had sung before both of the ponies, I still felt butterflies in my stomach. A few runs through the song and Vinyl said it was time for a break, and waived her hoof towards herself, beckoning for me to go to her. We were practising the song for an hour or two and now it was nearing early evening. As I made my way through the room, I could hear Luna's voice coming from the recording room. "I'm really sorry Vinyl, but I have to talk to him now" She said in an apologetic tone. "No problem Princess!" replied Vinyl. As I entered the room, all eyes were on me. "Be sure to bring him back soon, we need to practise more. The gig is in two days" She said with a worried, but confident tone. "Don't worry, I wont have him for too long" Luna reassured Vinyl, who let out a sigh of relief. Vinyl looked towards Redheart and whispered in her ear, and both ponies got up from their seats and left the room closing it after them. "Hey Luna.." I said weakly. My sadness had quickly returned upon hearing her voice. "I'm sorry how I acted before Jackson, I was in shock of how bad condition you were in" Luna confessed "But that aside, Celestia wishes to apologise" "She hasn't done anything wrong Luna. She was right to do what she did" I started "It was my fault. You've only been back for a year since being banished to the moon. The last thing she wanted was for you to be taken away again" "Nonsense, it was my-Celestia's fault. Don't blame this on yourself" she said cautiously, like she was hiding something. 'My?' I thought to myself 'Why is Luna acting so weird?' "Hey Luna, can you tell me what you wrote in the letter you gave me back in my world?" I asked. "Uh.." Luna replied "Um.. well it was a long time ago" she stalled. "Luna wouldn't have forgotten. Tell me who you really are" I ordered as I magically grasped everything I could and levitated them around the imposter, ready to crush them with chairs and tables. 'Luna' let out a sigh and her horn started to glow. "I'm so sorry Jackson" She said as tears started to well up in her eyes. Luna's body started to glow white, and it magically reformed into a much larger pony. It was Celestia. "Great" I said angrily "Now I can't even trust Luna to be herself" Celestia looked at the floor, her tears were creating a small puddle on the hard floor. "I'm so sorry!" She yelled "I had to know for myself if you loved her or not". Vinyl and Red came rushing through the door, nearly hitting Celestia's back legs. There they saw their ruler in tears, before her horn started to glow and within a flash, the princess had disappeared. "What happend?" Red asked in a comforting voice as she ran up to me and threw her forelegs around my neck, which was soon followed by a second pair of hooves around my chest, and Vinyl's head buring into it. "It wasn't Luna. It was Celestia" I said, as a unconrtollably shook. "I'm sure it was Luna last night when she tucked me in.." My two pony friends hugged me tighter. "You know, you two are my best friends.." I said bashfully, trying to cheer myself up. They were my only friends apart from Twilight and the others. Red blushed and Vinyl held tighter. "You're one of mine too" Vinyl said while Red let out a small squeak. For a moment, I was happy. Then another Luna came crashing through the door. "Jackson! Thank god I found you!" She said as Vinyl and Red moved away from me. Luna tried to hug me but I was unresponsive. How was I supposed to know if it was really her? "Whats wrong?" She asked me. "Tell me something that only we know. Something nopony knows about save for us" I requested. 'Luna' gave me a confused look, and she lifted a hoof to her chin. After a few moments of pondering ,she lent in and whispered in my ear. "When we slept in the same bed together, we nearly.. did.. something which I dare not speak in public" She pulled her head back and a small blush was spread across her cheeks. "LUNA!" I yelled as I leaped off my wheelchair, tackling her over and embracing her in a kiss. Our lips passed and I spoke again "I missed you soo much!". I quickly regretted my actions as my arm burst into pain. "Here let me help" Luna said as her horn started to glow and I saw my bruises and cuts disappear "I can't fix broken bones, but I can take the pain away" My mouth was awide with awe. "You have to teach me that" I mumbled. Luna smiled and kissed my arm, which seemed to releive me of all pain. "I'm sorry this all happened to you" she started, raising her head to meet mine. "Celestia seems to have cooled down, maybe we should try approaching her?" she suggested. "She's already approached me" I said which took Luna by surprise, looking at me with confused eyes. I sighed. "She came in a few seconds before you arrived, but she was using magic to look like you". "What?" Luna said angrily, maybe a little too loud. I covered my ears in pain and Luna saw. "I'm sorry, but she has no right. I will speak to her at once" She said as she gave me a long kiss on my lips and levitated me off her. "I'll be back in a few days once I've sorted this out" Luna said as she touched her horn to my forehead "But we'll keep in touch". With those last words, Luna's horn started to glow and I felt a rush of energy flow through me. "What was that?" I asked, trying to recover my bearings. "That was a communication spell that I had been learning while I was locked up in my room by Celestia. No matter where you are, or how far away we are from eachother, we will always be in contact" She said triumphantly. "Thats.. awesome!" I exclaimed. Luna beamed a massive smile and placed me on the ground, releasing her magical grip on me. "See you in a couple days" Luna said as she gave me a hug and a passionate kiss. "Bye" I said sadly. "I Love you Luna" "I love you too Jackson" She said as she left the room, whilst Vinyl and Redheart came out from behind the door. "That.. was.. soo.. CUTE!" Redheart squealed. Vinyl turned to Red and moccked my voice "I Love you Luna" She said in a bad impersonation, but it was a funny sight. "I Love you Jackson" Redheart replied to 'myself' and hugged 'me'. The two white ponies burst out in laughter and were rolling on the floor. I stood over them and soon caught the giggles and joined in. A few hours of whiskey and stories, we all went to bed. I went to the guestroom while Scratch and Red went into the DJ's room. They assured me nothing would happen like the other night. I slowly walked into my room, leaning on the doorframe. 'That spell that Luna cast on me to heal my wounds certainly did it's job' I thought to myself as i sat on the edge of my bed. I concentrated on the lightswitch with my magic and it flicked off, along with things on the nearby table which flew off in all directions. I probably shouldn't be usuing magic in this state, who knows Ponyville may never recover! After pulling on the laces on my shoes and sliding them off, along with my shirt, I lay my head on the pillow and closed my eyes. I thought of Luna, and there was a newfound connection to her that wasn't there before. I felt safe. 'Goodnught Luna' I thought, and soon after it was answered by Luna's voice. 'Goodnight Jackson'. The next day was packed full of practising for the song I was to sing at Vinyl's gig. We didn't stop for Lunch and kept going until around three o'clock until Redheart, being the caring nurse she is, ordered us to get something to eat. We sat in the dining room, playing with the food on our plates. We weren't very hungry, we were having too much fun singing and making music. Red sat next to Vinyl across the table from me. She looked up at me with a wide grin on her face. "I got you a present Jackson!" she said as she used her magic to levitate my red electric acoustic guitar infront of me on the table, complete with red bow around the neck. "NO WAY!" I screamed as I took the guitar from it's place on the table and took the red bow off "NO FREAKING WAY!" Redheart looked ecstatic from the joy she was seeing on my face and in my actions. "You're welcome" She beamed as she opened her forelegs for a hug. I rushed in and embraced her warmth. "Thankyou so much!" I said as I continually bombarded her with 'thankyous'. "Vinyl helped too, we both pitched in to pay for the repairs" She said as she gasped for air. Noticing how tight I was hugging her, I slowly let go of her and moved to Vinyl. "You don't know how much this means to me, and now I have to pay you both back" I promised. "You don't have to" Vinyl said happily "You've already repayed me helping me with my music" "And I've already told you that you don't need to repay me back at the hospital" Redheart concluded. Too bad for them, I was going to repay them anyway. Vinyl and I returned to practising the song. It wasn't a hard song, there weren't that many lyrics because they just repeated themselves. As the night crept closer and closer, we all became more tired and tired. soon enough, we had all gone to bed. When I awoke, I could see a blue and pink streak across both my eyes. Nurse Redheart and Vinyl must have snuck inat night and fallen asleep on my bed. They were now situated on either side of my body, wrapping their hooves around my body with my arms around theirs, whislts their heads both arched inwards towards my chest, resting upon my shoulders and neck. Redheart was the first to wake. Her eyes adjusted to the light and she assesed her situation, looking at Vinyl first, and then to me. She responded to her surroundings by burrying her head under my chin. "I had a nightmare, so I came in here to sleep with you. I didn't want to wake you nor Vinyl, but you give the best hugs and.. and" I got her to stop talking by quietly 'shh'ing her. "It's alright Red" I whispered trying not to wake Vinyl. She must have gotten lonely and searched for us, and decided to snuggle up in the bed. It sure was big enough. Soon, Red fell back asleep and I was left to my thoughts, and Luna. 'Luna' I thought to my love 'Are you awake?' 'Yes dear, how are you?' Luna responded. 'I'm good thankyou, hows talking to Celestia going?' 'She wont even look at me. She really is sorry Jackson' Luna said in my head. 'I've said before, she has nothing to be sorry about' I replied 'Well I have to go, time for breakfast. Talk to you later today' 'I miss you' Luna said, and all I could imagine was her pouting. 'We'll be together soon enough' I reassured the voice in my head 'I miss you too'. Then the voice was gone. I felt Vinyl's body shift from it's place around my right arm, and she slowly opened her red coloured eyes and looked up at me, before closing them and hugging me tighter. "Morning sleepyhead" I whispered, and Vinyl's cheeks let a small blush show. "Morning" She replied with a cute yawn "Today's the big day, I think you're ready" She said quietly with a big smile. "Thankyou for doing this" "It's no problem, anything to help out a friend" I replied which made her smile even larger. I felt Red move around and heard her yawn. "Goodmorning Vinyl, morning again Jackson" She said as she smiled at me. Vinyl's stomach rumbled, breaking the moment that we were all having. "Aha" She said, embarrassed of how loud it actually was "Who wants breakfast?". Red and Vinyl offered to make breakfast, so I went to go and take a shower. I was finished and dressed in ten minutes, I had even put my clothes in the wash. The 'washing machine' was different compared to human ones, but worked the same none the less. 'I will have to go see Rarity about some clothes today' I told myself as I made my way through the house. I turned a few corners and opened some doors and I found myself in the dining room. Red and Vinyl had put so much into this breakfast. There were three plates on the table, accompanied by pancakes, apple tarts and fritters, and strawberries to top it all off. "Wow" I said looking towards the two white ponies, who were covered in small amounts of batter and other things. "This looks amazing, you really didn't have to" I said as I sat at the table, and Vinyl and Red soon followed. Each and every bite was like an explosion of flavour in my mouth. "Oh my god" I said with the goofiest grin on my face and a mouthful of food. Vinyl giggled at the faces I was making. "That good eh?" she asked smiling at me as she shovelled more food into her mouth with her hoof. "Definately" I replied and both the ponies beamed. "After breakfast, I have to go see Rarity, but I'll be back later to practice the song" "No problem" Vinyl assured "You already know the song well enough, so be back at around two? The gig starts at seven so that gives us plenty of time" "Sure thing" I said as I finished my plate of food and gave both Redheart and Vinyl a quick hug, before dashing out the door. It was a quick trip to the Carousel Boutique, no more than five minutes. When I arrived, I was just about to open the door when a small white unicorn filly with a purple mane came charging out and into my legs, knocking herself over and making me stumble. "Are you alright?" I asked, concerned for the poor filly. "I think I rolled my ankle" she said, nearly in tears. She tried to get up but was only rewarded with pain and embarrassment as she fell back onto her rump. "Will you let me help you?" I asked cautiously. I knew how kids in my world reacted to being picked up, and didn't want to create a scene. The little filly blushed. "You may" she replied, giving me a smile. I bent down and gestured her to get onto my back, and she did, although it was very awkward at first, but soon enough I was giving her a piggy back ride back into the Boutique, hoping that Rarity would have some ice or something. "What's your name?" I asked as I stood up on my feet and stretched out my legs. The little white filly let out a squeak as she was lifted into the air, but soon found that I was holding onto her tighter, and her body relaxed. "My name's Sweetie Belle" She told me "I was off to see my friends Scootaloo and Applebloom, but now I guess they have to see me" she said with a sigh. "Sweetie Belle" I replied "What a lovely name!" She blushed even more, and by the time I had found Rarity in her back room, her face had lost much of it's blush. Rarity turned around to see me holding the filly. "Oh Jackson, how lovely it is to see you!" She called aas she stopped the machine she was using. "Sweetie Belle, I see you've met Jackson". "I did, I ran into his legs and rolled my ankle but he helped me back inside and here I am" She said in a fast, but understandable sentence. "Do you have any ice Rarity?" I asked. "I do, in the freezer in the kitchen. I'll be here when you get back" She said as she started her machine up again, which strung a thread through a piece of material. Sweetie Belle directed me to the kitchen, which was up a flight of stairs. On the way, I learnt that she was Rarity's sister and that she was apart of a group called the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders'. When We entered the kitchen, I placed her down on the benchtop and searched for the icecubes. Moments later, I returned with some ice wrapped in a wet cloth. "You need to keep this on your sore ankle for ten minutes, and take it off for two hours. If it still hurts after that then repeat" I told the filly, who's only response was to hug me. "You're the coolest grown up ever!" She said as she jumped on my back again and we headed down the stairs. By this time, it was nearing lunch time and I had sorted things out withh Rarity. She said after she had made her order, she would begin making me some new clothes. She had kept my measurements from before so the visit was quick. I now had a few hours to spare before I returned to Vinyl and Red, so I decided to meet up with Twilight and Rainbow Dash. The visit with Twilight was nice, she really is a good host. She managed to teach me a spell to create light from my hands (because I didn'y have a horn, where else was it suppoed to go?). My visit with Rainbow however, was not what I was expecting. "Hey Rainbow!" I yelled to her. She was asleep on a nearby cloud. "Rainbow!" I bellowed yelled even louder, which seemed to wake her up. She looked around to see who was calling her and spotted me on the ground. She flew down to greet me, leaving a rainbow streak behind her. "Oh hey Jackson" She said with a smile and her tomboyish voice "Long time no see! How's it going?" "Not too bad, just a broken arm and other stuff. What about you?" I asked. "That's so cool, can I sign your cast? Oh and i'm awesome as always" She said with a playful smirk. "You sure can, but I don't have a pen on m-" I was cut off by Rainbow blasting off towards Ponyville and returning minutes later with a black pen. "Wow that was fast" I finished in astonishment. "Heh, I am the fastest flier in all of Equestria after all" She boasted as she signed my cast. I hadn't even noticed the cast until then. 'That's because I put it on you' Luna told me in my head. 'Thanks!' I replied 'You're amazing you know that?' I heard Luna giggle 'Not as amzing as you'. "There!" Rainbow said with a touch of awesomeness to her voice "Done!". I looked down at the cast and found that she had written 'Rainbow Dash' in crude writing along with 'Here's to your recovery' and a drawing of a cloud with a lightening bolt coming out of it, just like the one on her flank. "Thanks Rainbow" I said and she rushed in and hugged me, before backing up and regaining her posture. "I uh, I mean you're welcome" She said embarrassed "DON'T TELL ANYPONY ABOUT THIS" She begged. "Well" I said with a smirk on my face "How about we race for it? You win: I don't tell, I win: I tell Twilight and the others. I'm sure Applejack will love to hear it" I said as I nudged her flank. "A challenge? Bring it! To that tree and back" She pointed to a tree that I guessed was a hundred meters away. "No wings" I said as she landed next to me. "No problem, I can win without 'em" She boasted. Before I even had a chance to get ready, I heard Dash start the race. "ONE-TWO-THREE-GO!" She yelled as she bolted off, galloping as fast as she could. I took off after her. Soon enough I was matching her speed. I wasn't the most fit guy around, but I certainly had some speed. Rainbow and I touched the trunk of the tree at the same time and ran as fast as we could back in the other direction. I wasn't really going to tell everypony if I won. I slowed down a little and let her get the lead and she had passed the finish by a head. "Oh yeah! Fasted in the air AND on the ground" She boasted "I thought you had me for a second, but I just got faster and faster" "You're pretty quick" I puffed, noticing Dash wasn't even panting. "I'm the quickest!" She corrected me "But you're pretty fast yourself. Hey that was fun, wanna to hang out some time?" She blurted, almost illegibley. "That would be great" I replied, which made her smile. "Well I gotta go move some clouds, there's ment to be a storm over the Everfree Forrest tonight. See ya' around Jack" She said as she blasted off into the air. "Catcha!" I replied as I watched her fly off into the distance. I turned and started walked back to Vinyl's. When I returned, the house was quiet. I slowly made my way to teh recording room and could hear Vinyl's laugh. I opened the door and was greeted by the usual two ponies. "Jackson!" Vinyl said "We were just talking about you!" Oh god. "Yeah, about how we met and stuff" Red continued her partner's sentence. "Also look who we found!" Vinyl said excitedly as my squirrel friend pooped his head out of her blue mane. "Carver!" I said as he jumped towards me and landed on my head "I missed you buddy". It seemed that he missed me too by how much he was rubbing himseld on me. "Where'd you find him?" I asked. "Well I had to go get supplies from the hospital and I found him outside the window of the room you were in" Red said as a smile stretched across her face. "Thankyouthankyouthankyou!" I said as I hugged Red. "Do I get one too?" Vinyl asked. "Come here!" I replied to her silly question and embraced her in a hug. A few minutes had passed and Carver was already settled in at Vinyl's. "Okay, so you ready to start practising?" Vinyl asked. "Sure am!" I replied. Vinyl had me move into the soundproof room as per usual, but had Red do everything that Vinyl would normally do. She was a fast learner too. A few hours had passed and it was now five in the afternoon. Vinyl wanted to get to the club early to set up, so we arrived an hour and a half early. We had to cart everything over to the club, it took thirty minutes until everything was at the club. Outside, we could hear a muffled bass beat. As we walked inside, the beat became unmuffled and Red's and my eyes adjusted to what we were seeing. The room had a gloomy blue colour to it, and certain areas had smoke around everyponies hooves. There was only one level to the club, which had a bar run by two very friendly looking ponies. Vinyl led us through the crowd and up behind the stage, along the way she recieved many praises and hugs. I saw Red heating up. "Need to talk about it?" I asked her. "No.. I'm just fine" She said in a flat tone "Just a little jealous. Never been in a proper releationship before" "Jealousy is healthy in every relationship. It shows that they care about the other person, or pony in this case, enough to be jealous" I said trying to spare her feelings "I know she only has eyes for you". Red seemed to relax at my words "Thanks Jackson, but I can't help but be jealous" "No problem Red, I just don't want to see you hurting" Red blushed "As do I about you". I put my arm around her as we waded through the crowd. What felt like hours, was only a few minutes by the time we arrived behind stage. Ponies had already set up Scratch's turntable and connected it to the speakers. "You're on in ten" I heard a stage pony tell another DJ. I had no idea who he or she was, but she looked like a novice. "Beginner's come here and entertain the crowd before the big guns show up" Vinyl boasted "It's how I became known". I made mental notes about the things I saw. Behind the stage was pure chaos, but somehow the stage ponies kept everything in order. I saw ponies running everywhere trying to get everything ready and set up for the next act. I even saw a pony in a booth controlling the lights. "This is crazy" I said nervously "I've never performed infront of this many people or ponies before" I confessed, feeling the butterflies rise in my stomach. I was getting nervous. "Nervous?" Vinyl asked, and all I could do was nod as my skin turned pale "I know what will fix that". The DJ gestured me to follow and we arrived at a bar. I took a seat next to Vinyl and Red sat beside me. "I'll be here until you guys finish the gig" Red said sadly. "Oh no, Jackson will only be up there for one song, which I will call him up for. The rest of the night he'll be down here with you" Vinyl reassured her marefriend, and gave her a kiss on the cheek. I saw Red's lips curl at the sides as a wave of relief washed over her. "Aw cute" I heard a female voice call from the other side of the bar. I turned to see that it was a brown mare, with a white mane and tail, along with her chest and hooves. She had big blue eyes. "Hey Tumbleweed!" Vinyl said in a happy tone "It's been so long!" She said as she ran around the bar and gave her a friendly hug. "Too true" Tumbleweed replied. "How have you been? I see you've got yourself a pretty mare" She said as she gave Vinyl a wink and nudged her rump with her own. Red blushed "Yeah I've been great, even better now that Redheart's come into my life" She said as she lent over the bar and kissed the white unicorn again, which made Red blush even more. She looked back at Tumbleweed. "What about you?" "I've been pretty good, I've just gotten back from Manehatten undertaking a course in bartending. I aparently needed it since the new laws have come in" She said. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?" Vinyl's cheeks went red "Oh! Whoops!" She said as she flushed hotly "Tumbleweed, this is Jackson and Redheart, guys this is Tumbleweed. We used to know eachother way back in school" Tumbleweed took notice of me and her eyes went wide "Is he.. a.. a..". "Human?" I asked and Tumbleweed nodded "Why yes I am, any friend of Vinyl's is a friend of mine" I said as I extended my arm for a handshake. She looked at my hand and then at my fingers. "Don't worry, he's really soft and pudgy!" Vinyl teased. "Hey!" I said, not sure whether I should be offended or taking it as a compliment. Tumbleweed touched my hand with her hoof experimentally and soon shoved her hoof into my hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Jackson" She said, nearly ripping my arm off with her handshake/hoofshake "Where I come from, humans are a creature of myth and fantasy" "Where you come from? And you know about humans?" I asked, confused. "Yes, I come from across the seas, thats why I have a different coat to these ponies and my accent is strong" She did have a very unique coat, and her accent sounded like an american-indian accent. "And yes, There have been many stories of humans coming to this world, but I never took any to be true. "Well I find you very charming" I replied. It was hard to tell if she was blushing or not so I continued "And very cute". 'There it is!' I thought to myself as I saw her blush spread across her cheeks. "Anyway, what can I get you guys?" Tumbleweed asked as Vinyl returned around the bar to her seat next to me. "We'll have some American Pony thanks" Vinyl said and Tumbleweed nodded, pulling out three shot glasses and pouring a yellow liquid into each. All three of us downed the drink at the same time and Tumbleweed giggled when Red and I coughed. "Whoo-ee that's strong!" I said as I slammed the shot glass back down on the bar. I felt my nerves starting to leave as I loosened up. I saw Red's muscles retract aswell. Vinyl just looked the same as before. "Alright, three Sunset Sasparillas to go" She said "Put it on my tab". "No problem" Smiled Tumbleweed as she poured three drinks into three new glasses and topped them each off with a lemon wedge and a cocktail umbrella. "Awesome" I said, which made Tumbleweed beam. Vintl left the bar and went backstage "I'll see you up there" She told me and gave me a hug. After the DJ had left, I had just enough time to ask Tumbleweed a question before Vinyl's music started. "Hey Tumbleweed?" I asked as I took a sip from my drink. "Yes Jackson?" She replied. "Are you free tomorrow? If so come hang out with the three of us" I said as I beamed her a smile. "I am free tomorrow, as a matter of fact. I'll meet you at Vinyl's tomorrow morning" She said as she left to serve another customer. Red and I turned out attention to the stage, where a pony stood infront of a microphone. "Fillies and Colts, the DJ you've all been waiting for.. Vinyl Scratch!" The stallion said and left the stage. The club erupted into the sound of hooves stomping on the floor in appplause. The curtains opened and all eyes were on Vinyl. She looked at me and I gave her the thumbs up and she winked at me, and slid her glasses on. "Are you ponies ready?" She screamed into the mic. Red and I sat in awe at how much control she had over the audience as they erupted into a choir of yeah's and woo's. "Sweeeet!" She said and the crowd replied to her. "Groovy" They said and Scratch giigled into the mic. "I love you guys" She said as she used her magic to place the needle on the record and beats started to pump through the speakers. A few songs later, Vinyl spoke up. "For this next song, I'd like my very good friend Jackson to come up and sing" She said with a smile and everypony turned to look at me. Everypony was silent until I got up on stage, and they started cheering. I knew many of the ponies here, they were at my party that Pinkie thre for me when I first came to Ponyville. I even spotted Ditzy Doo at the back. I turned to see Vinyl smiling at me with intense respect. "Ready?" She asked as a stage pony brought out a microphone on a stand and placed it infront of me. I nodded and Vinyl hit a button on her turntable. Familiar music started to play. 'Just like rehersal Jackson' I thought to myself to calm my nerves. Seconds later, it was time for me to sing. Ponies were alraedy bobbing their heads to the beat that Vinyl had created. 'Stamp on the ground Jump, Jump, Jump, Jump Moving all around Tep tep da dow Stamp on the ground Jump, Jump, Jump, Jump Moving all around We're jumping all around Düp düp düp düp düp Jumping all around' As I finished my verse, Vinyl sang into the microphone. 'DROP THE BEAT' While all the ponies started to dance and feel the song, I sang during the beat. 'We're jumping all around Düp düp düp düp düp' It was time for the next verse and chorus. By this time I was fully relaxed. 'We're sending out an invitation To everyone in every nation. But don't sleep get on the run Stop thinkin' and have some fun! Stamp on the ground Jump, Jump, Jump, Jump Moving all around Tep tep da dow Stamp on the ground Jump, Jump, Jump, Jump Moving all around We're jumping all around Stamp on the ground Jump, Jump, Jump, Jump Moving all around Tep tep da dow Stamp on the ground Jump, Jump, Jump, Jump Moving all around We're jumping all around Düp düp düp düp düp' Vinyl sang into the mic again. 'DROP THE BEAT' I went down into the crowd and started to dance with the ponies. I didn't have much time, but it was worth it. I stood infront of the crowd, and the copied my dance as best as they could. I had started a bus. I was stamping on the ground with all the ponies copying, and soon I was clapping and dancing around before I had to go back up on stage. 'So come and join our love foundation Go feel the heat, the sweet vibration 'Cause we are about to ignite And we wanna go out tonight! Düp düp düp Jumping all around' 'DROP THE BEAT' Vinyl sang one last time. Another barrage of beats hit the ponies who cheered and stamped while I danced up on the stage. I managed to gesture Red to come up and join me. We were dancing with eachother infront of everypony and the next lot of singing began. Red finished the song with me. 'Jumping all around Düp düp düp düp düp Jumping all around' The audience burst into applaud as Red, Vinyl and I stood next to eachother on stage. We all bowed and Vinyl spoke through my mic. "Thankyou Ponyville! That was AWESOME!" She screamed like a crazy filly. The last thing I remember was walking home with Vinyl and Red. We had gotten a little tipsy before we had left. We couldn't walk straight, so we had to lean on eachother to move. When we were inside Vinyl's house, the two ponies helped me to my room where I passed out almost straight away, joined by Vinyl and Red. They didn't even bother going to their own room. We were becoming a small family. A/N: The song used at the nightclub scene that Jackson sang was not owned by Vinyl nor I, it was owned by the Italo Brothers. There was also an OC in there called Tumbleweed.
Chapter Thirteen: TumbleweedView OnlineUnto A New WorldChapter Thirteen: TumbleweedChapter Thirteen: Tumbleweed. It was late morning, probably around ten. The three of us had slept in peace, recovering from last night's alcohol. That is, until Vinyl woke up. "Ahhh!" She screamed, waking both Red and I up. She was flailing her legs and trying to kick something. I Let go of Red and wrapped my legs and arms around her, to stop her from moving. "Whats wrong Vinyl?" I asked her. 'P-P-Pony!" She said, pointing next to her. I looked up and sure enough, there was Tumbleweed, only inches from my face. "Goodmorning friends!" She said happily, similar to the sort of happiness that Derpy showed when you talked about muffins. Vinyl started to calm down as she realised who the pony was. "Tumbleweed?" Red asked as she rubbed her eyes "Why are you here?" "Because Jackson said to come around if I were free, so I did" She said as she beamed a smile. I realised how different she looked compared to other ponies. Lastnight I wasn't sure because I thought it may be part of a uniform that she had to wear, but I was wrong. She had a brown coat, with white rings around her hooves and neck, aswell as a ring on her chest. Lastnight she was wearing an apron, so I must've mistaken that for white fur. She also had a white stripe coming from her mane-line down the her nose. Her mane was regal white and her cutie mark were of symbols I had never seen before. "I made everypony breakfast. I wasn't sure what Jackson would eat, so I just went and bought him some muffins from the bakery around the corner. I hope you don't mind" She said as she looked down and kicked the floor with her hoof. "I don't mind at all Tumbleweed!" I said which made her smile "Thankyou for making us breakfast, we'll be down in a second". "See you then!" She said as she turned and pranced out the door. "YOU INVITED HER OVER?" Vinyl asked in an angry tone. I felt terrible "I thought it would be nice. You said she was your old friend afterall, and she seems like a really nice pony. I wanted to make friends with her too". "Tell me next time you do something like that, it IS my house after all" She scolded, which made me feel worse. I looked down at the floor, sitting on the side of the bed, hanging my head in shame. Vinyl came over and wrapped her foreleg around me "But I was going to get her to come over anyway, so all is forgiven. Just before you go do it again, come and ask me okay?" I nodded in agreement "I won't do it again". Vinyl kissed me on my cheek "I'm sorry for yelling at you like I did, I just get grouchy when someone wakes me up". I felt a little better after that "Well lets go get some breakfast then" I said as I smiled to Vinyl. I helped Red get up from the bed and the three of us went down to the dining room where Tumbleweed, being the bartender she is, had masterfully set out the table, along with each of our plates. She had even made my muffins look amazing. "Wow" Red said, eyes wide with amazement. "It's not much, but anything I can do. I was invited over, so I have to repay your hospitality somehow" Tumbleweed replied to our amazed faces with a giggle. "Please sit!" She gestured with a hoof, pointing to the chairs. We all took a seat, including Tumbleweed. "I added something to your muffins Jackson, because they looked a little bland" She said with a smile as I took my first bite "It's a delicacy where I come from". It was just a normal breakfast muffin, but she seemed to have add some spices and other things. "Where exactly are you from?" I asked "You look very different from other ponies around here". It looked like Tumbleweed was about to cry when I realised what I said must have sounded "Oh no! I didn't mean it like that" I quickly fixed my mistake, hoping I didn't hurt her feelings "I meant you're extremely pretty, and your coat has more than one colour.." Tumbleweed blushed "Why thankyou. I didn't know humans could be so nice!" she said in return, before she answered my question "If you can remember, lastnight I said I come from across the seas?" I nodded "Well that's party true. I was born there and came over with my parents as a filly at a very young age. Awenasa, my home, was called Shoshonean. I didn't keep many memories with me from it, but i've seen photos and heard stories" "Well i'd love to hear these stories oneday, if thats alright with you ofcourse" I asked. I really did want to learn about her culture. "I'm free later today if thats okay?" She asked, showing a massive smile on her face. "I'd like that" I said back to her. Meanwhile, Vinyl and Red had eaten their breakfast and had left Tumbleweed and I to ourselves. After all I invited her over. I started to clear the table, when Tumbleweed insisted that I go sit down and let her do it. I wasn't going to let that happen. 'Jackson' Luna said in my head 'This is part of her culture. It's an offence to clean up what she made' 'But it just feels so wrong!' I complained back to the voice in my head, while I regretabally let Tumbleweed do the cleaning up. 'While she's doing what she has to, let me teach you about her land and race' Luna said in a motherly tone. 'Wait, how did you know she was here let alone that I was making friends with her?' I asked. 'Well besides being able to talk to you, I can also read your feelings and emotions' Luna replied in a hesitant voice 'I can also see what you are seeing'. 'Well I wouldn't rather have anypony else in my brain than you' I replied. I felt Luna blush 'Woah, I felt that!' I said in astonishment. 'Felt what?' Luna asked. 'Your cheeks' I teased, feeling her cheeks get even hotter 'I guess this spell works both ways'. 'It does' Luna replied, I felt her become embarrassed. She didn't know. 'The bond between us is getting stonger, let me try something' A few moments passed and nothing happend. 'Lun-AAAAARRRGGHH!' I screached into my brain as pain overwhelmed me. It wasn't physical pain, but it felt like immense pressure was squeezing my brain. 'I'm sorry' Luna said apologetically 'I didn't know it would hurt that much'. She could obviously feel the pain aswell. 'But try think of Tumbleweed's home' She requested. Almost instantly, I could feel relief wash over my brain, like a had popped a balloon barricade with a pin. I felt.. smarter? I knew everything about Tumbleweed's homeland, her cultures and native language. 'H-how?' I asked Luna. 'The spell allows me to project my memories into your mind so you may have them, or learn something which would take months, in a matter of seconds' She replied smartly. 'Well it worked' I told her, and I could feel her smiling. 'Oh! Before I forget, I'll be returning later today to tell you some great news, but I need to tell you face to face' she told me. 'I'll see you then' I replied. As I re-entered the living world, I noticed I was lying on a couch with an ice-bag over my head. "Jackson!" I heard Tumbleweed call "I found you on the floor. You weren't waking up and I feared the worst. I didn't want to lose a friend so fast!' She started to weep. I now knew that her kin were very loyal ponies. Friendship ment a lot more than what i've seen around Ponyville. I was her friend, and by her culture, that ment I was family. "I'm sorry Tumbles" I said weakly. She blushed at the name I had just given her "I was just talki-well, thinking to Luna. It's hard to explain but magic happened and I can talk to her in my head" Tumbleweed's mouth hung open "You know the princess?" She asked in awe. "It's a little more than know.." I said, and my cheeks went a slight shade of red. "OH!" Tumbleweed caught on "How long?" I actually had to think about that. "Since i've been here, a few months I think" "Well i'm happy for you" She said with a smile "Anyway, I finished cleaning up, I was wondering if you wanted to go for a walk? I'd love to hear about where you came from" "Sure" I said with a large smile. Not many ponies ask me about it, so I was getting excited "But this afternoon Luna is coming here so we need to be back by then" "Luna? Here?" Tumbleweed exclaimed, I saw sweat break out on her petite face. "Tumbles" I Chuckled "She already knows about you" 'I do' Luna said in my head. Creepy. "And she will like you" I reassured. I was about to hug her then my new found knowledge given by Luna told me otherwise. Ponies like her don't like to be touched. They first need to build up a level of trust before anything physical happens, even something small like touching hooves. I have to let her touch me first.. not in a creepy way. 'Definately not in that way!' Luna thought to me 'Only I can touch you like that' I felt myself AND Luna blush. I had gone into my room to get some clean clothes, which reminded me to go to Rarity's to pick up my new set, and have a wash. I wasn't even in the shower for long before the door swung open and in came Tumbleweed. "I instantly covered up my.. private parts. "Why are you doing that?" She asked innocently. "C-covering myself up? Because humans don't really like to show ourselves naked" I replied. "Well here in Equestria, everypony is naked.." She trailed off in thought. What was she thinking about exactly? "I'm not a pony" I said quickly. "Don't worry Jackson, I won't look" she reassured even though her eyes were glued to me. "TUMBLES!" I yelled. "Oh" she said slowly before snapping out of her daze "OH RIGHT! Sorry" She said as she turned around "I'm just going to leave a towel on the bench here" She told me, trying not to look at me. Awkwardly, she tried to start a conversation "So I hear the weather is good" "TUMBLEWEED GET OUT!" I said, starting to get incredibly uncomfortable. "Alright well I'll be right outside the door incase you need anything" She said as she left the bathroom. I felt myself finally relaxing, then Luna chimed in. 'So thats what it looks like?' She said teasingly, I could feel an intense blush on her cheeks 'Oh what am I going to do with you?' she teased even more. 'Luna get out of my head! This is my private time and asmuch as I would want you to be here right now I need to get myself clean, and all this is not helping!' 'Okay okay, i'm sorry. See you later today then' She said, embarrassed. Ten minutes later, I emerged from the bathroom sparkly clean. "I'm sorry" Tumbleweed said softly. "It's alright!" I said in a cheerful mood, atleast she wasn't freaked out or anything.. so confidence boost much? "Lets go for a walk". I led Tumbles through Vinyl's house and out the front door. On the way I left a note for Vinyl just incase she and Red came back from wherever they were, they'd know that Luna was coming and that I was out with Tumbleweed, and would be until later. When I left Vinyl's front door, I instantly felt the hot sun on my face. 'Luna, what season is it?' I asked. 'Summer, and it's December, nearing Hearth's Warming Eve' She replied 'I'm a little busy right now, i'll contact you soon' "Jackson? You there?" Tumbleweed asked, literally shaking me by my shoulders. "Wha-yes ofcourse I am, just asking Luna about something" I said sheepishly "I'm sorry" "No need to apologise, what were you asking her about?" she asked curiously. "Just what month it was and the season we are in" I replied. "Well I could have told you that" She said, teasing me with a smile. I dropped my gaze to the floor, to find that Tumbleweed pushed my chin up with her hooves and looked me in my eyes. "I needed to here her voice. I haven't spent time with her for so long" I said, nearly crying infront of my newest friend. "I know what you are feeling" She said slowly, before embracing me in a hug. By her culture, she has shown me that she trusts me. Somehow, Tumbleweed's hug gave me strength. "Thankyou Tumbleweed" I said into her neck as we broke off the hug. "I know i'm not as close as Vinyl or Red are to you, but I'm here for you whenever you need somepony to talk to, okay?" She offered and I nodded back "I know what it's like to be the odd one out. All my life I've been different because I come from somewhere different. Nopony looks at me in the same way as they would if they were looking at ponies from their country" She lent against me, helping me walk and we talked all the way to the outskirts of Ponyville. By now it was nearing lunchtime. Tumbleweed and I actually had more than being different and left out incommon. Turns out both our parents died at a young age, we both liked liquor, and music. She said thats the main reason she works at a nightclub. Eventually I had asked her about her cutie mark. It wasn't a picture like most cutie marks, for it were a, what I guessed, some sort of symbol. "Ah yes, I thought you might ask about that" She said before thinking deeply. "Long story short, all my family have the same mark. My cousins, uncles, aunties, grandponies etc all bear the same mark" Luna didn't even know about that. "Well I think it looks amazing" I told her, which brightened her mood even more than her usual happy glow. We made small talk walking around the countryside sharing stories and memories. I didn't know it, but I was unintentionally leading us to Applejack's farm. Tumbleweed was telling me about her time in school and how she really met Vinyl. She said things like when they were in high school, they 'experimented' their feelings with eachother. Tumbleweed said that it was too weird for her and that she only liked stallions, whereas Vinyl seemed to like mares and stallions. Tumbleweed told her, and Vinyl wasn't mad. They continued being friends ever since. I then told her about how my life was before I came to this world, how bad humanity is. She didn't say anywords, all she did was walk closer to me and nuzzled my neck. As we were walking down the dirt road, we saw Applejack working on her farm. She was in the middle of bucking a tree when she spotted us and waved us over with her forehoof. Quicklyl, but not too fast, Tumbleweed and I made ourway up to the orange earth pony. Her coat was glistening with sweat in the midday sun. "Howdy Sugarcubes" She said in her cheerful accent "How are y'all? Gosh it's been forever since i've seen you Jackson, nearly gave me the willies. You're becoming a stranger around Sweet Apple Acres" "Hey Applejack!" I replied back to her "I'm good, and I know I've been caught up in some stuff but I'm here now" Applejack extended her hoof to the bartender, who hesitated for a moment before linking her hoof with the other. "Please to make your aquaintance" Said the orange earth pony, sweat dopping from her tail "My names Applejack, but you can call me AJ for short" "I'm pleased to finally meet you Applejack, I always wanted to meet the person who supplies the apples and liquor that I sell. Names Tumbleweed" She said as she gushed over AJ's presence. "Thats mighty kind of ya Tumbleweed" Applejack said as she wiped sweat from her brow "You guys hungry?" Right on cue, our stomachs rubled loudly. "I'll take that as a yes" AJ laughed. Applejack had led us up through her orchard, telling us the story behind her farm. "My great great grandpappy started this farm, and its been handed down through it's generations. Even Ol' Grannysmith used to work this land, but then her mind went" She said like it pulled at her heart. "You're doing a great job AJ" I told her, which made her blsuh and smile "If you ever need any help, don't be afraid to ask" "Ah'll keep that in mind sugarcube" She said bashfully. We eventually found our way to the barn house, and Applejack led us inside. Her house cosy, much like my house back on my farm. It had pictures on the walls of the apple family, each of their cutie marks remesbling something to do with food or apples. The orange pony had us sit down at the table before she dashed into the kitchen and returned quickly with two other ponies, one was a little yellow coloured filly with a red mane, which had a big bow tying it up. The other pony was a large red stallion, the only stallion other than Mr Cake that I know of so far. The trio held a plate on each of their heads, aswell as two on their backs, except the filly who could only have room for one. They placed the food onto the table and Applejack raced back into the kitchen and returned and came back with five empty plates and placed them on the table before everypony and myself. "What about Grannysmith?" The little filly asked. "Grannysmith is napping Applebloom" AJ replied, all that came from the red stallion was an 'Eeyup' before serving up his food. Tumbleweed and I looked in awe at the food before us. There were apple fritters, apple flapjacks, apple pancakes, apple cobblers almost everything apple. I guess being a farm pony makes you pretty hungry. Tumbleweed and I had only just finished our first apple fritter as we saw Applejack, Applebloom and the red stallion go for thirds. "So Tumbleweed" Applejack started with a mouthful of food "Where abouts do you work?" "I work at the nightclub in Ponyville" She replied as she took another bite of her second apple fritter. "Ah never seen you there b'fore Tumbleweed, and ah make the deliveries mahself" Said the red stallion. "Well what was your name? I'll be sure to look out for you next time you come" She replied with a cheerful smile. "Ah'm Big Macintosh, and this here is mah sister Applebloom" He said pointing to the filly beside him. "Ah'm Applejack's only and best brothe-OW AJ what did did ya do that fore?" He said angrily as he started to rub his back leg, Applejack must have kicked it. "I'm sorry Big M, I was just teasing. I didn't mean to kick you that hard" Applejack apologised. Big Mac had a much stronger accent than AJ and Applebloom, but his voice was slower and laid back. Tumbles and I had finished lunch and had cleared the plates from the table, much to the objection of the three ponies who set the food before us. I pulled AJ aside and explained how Tumbleweed's culture says that if a pony does something for you, then you must repay them. Applejack sighed, feeling bad about letting her guests clean up, but if it was culture then she had to step aside. "I'll be out in the field, it's nearing two, I need to get a move on if i'm going to get my job done" She said with a determined look on her face "I'll come find you in Ponyville tomorrow for some work, if you're interested" "Thanks AJ" I said as I turned to walk off to the kitchen, before I was halted by her voice. "What do I not get a hug?" She said teasingly, sitting on her haunches and opening her forearms towards me. "Ofcourse you do" I said as I rushed up to her. She smelt like apples, cinnamon and dirt. It was an amazing combination. "Ah, Sugar.. You can let go now" She said awkwardly. I backpedalled fast, feeling incredibly embarrassed "I'm sorry I'm sorry!" I said quickly. "Hon, you're acting like Fluttershy. I don't mind a long hug, helps me relieve my stress and anger from my job, except I need to get going" She told me "But I wouldn't mind a longer hug tomorrow after work if thats alright? I need somepony or in your case some human, to talk to. Now it's not a date, I already know about you and Luna, but a 'friend date' I guess" "I know what you're saying, I'll be there don't you worry" I said to her and she tipped her hat with a smile and left the barn house. I had found Tumbleweed in the kitchen leaning on the bench, looking out the window. She had already washed and dried the dishes and had them neatly stacked next to the sink. "Aw no fun!" I said jokingly. I didn't want to do any dishes, but I couldn't help but feel bad that I didn't help. She turned and smiled at me. "Ready to go?" she asked politely. "Sure am" I replied, returning her smile. We were about half way to to town when we saw a royal chariot landing in Ponyville. 'I'm heeeeeeeerrreee' Luna said playfully in my head, voice taking over my thoughts. 'I'm nooooot' I replied in a low tone 'I was at Applejack's with Tumbleweed, we'll be there soon'. 'I can't wait' I felt her wink. 'Stop blushing!' she teased again 'What will Tumbleweed think of you?' 'Well she already thinks i'm crazy because i'm talking to a voice in my head..' I said softly. Luna just chuckled. "We'd better hurry Tumbles" I said to her as I quickened my pace into a slow jog, waiting for her to catch up. "I-I'm not much of a runner" Tumbleweed replied slowly as she caught up to me. "Don't worry nor am I, I found that out when I raced Rainbow Dash the other day" I chuckled and soon found Tumbleweed giggling with me. It wasn't long until we were passing the Twilight's Library, we were slowly getting faster and faster the closer we got. We were at full speed by the time we reached Vinyl's. "Good run" I panted to the sweaty Tumbleweed standing beside me. "Lets NEVER do that again alright?" She said as she nudged my shoulder with her hoof. "I wasn't planning on it" I replied, a smile was tugging at Tumbleweed's lips. We entered the house and made our way to the recording room, where we found Vinyl, Red and Luna chatting and laughing. "Jackson! Tumbleweed!" Red said beckoning us over with a friendly smile. "Good afternoon, your highness" Tumbleweed said as she bowed down, bending her right knee. "Hey Tumbleweed, I've heard so much about you from Jackson" She said as she looked at me with a grin. She managed to put extra emphasis on the word 'heard'. "Oh and please, there's no need to be formal, call me Luna" "I thought you'd be all stuck up, but you're not. THIS IS GREAT" Tumbles said happily as she clapped her hooves together. Luna chuckled before moving on to me. She rose from her seat and walked over to me casually, before unexpectedly pouncing on me, knocking me over on her back. She was awfully heavy for a pony! "I missed you so much, mind talking in private?" She asked with pleading eyes. "I missed you too, and I don't mind" I said as she got up off me and levitated me, upside dow, next to her side. I took one last look at the three ponies in the recording room as I left the room, Red was blushing, Vinyl had a smirk on her face and Tumbleweed was confused. I saw Vinyl move over and whisper in her ear, making Tumbleweed's cheeks go red. What did she say? Luna levitated me through the house. I had no idea where I was, blood was rushing to my head and I was dizzy, also being upside down doesn't help with your sense of direction. I felt myself being placed on a bed.. well atleast I think it was a bed, and I heard a door slamming from behind me, then there was the sound of the tumblers of the lock falling. I was now trapped in the room with Luna, who still held me in her magical grasp. "Now" Luna said with a determined look on her face "Anything you want to do before I take this spell off you?" 'You mean the mind talk spell right?' I asked her in her head. 'Yes, I mean that spell' She replied. 'Well actually, remember how you gave me your memories to me about Tumbleweed's culture?' I asked once more. 'Of course I do' She replied. 'Well how about I give you my memories of learning guitar, so you know how to play as well as me?' 'That would be a great idea, except I want to learn on my own with you teaching me, I find it fun' She told me, a small blush on her face "Same thing with you learning magic, except I don't need to eat any more apples, I think they're going to my flanks' 'Yep, you're definately getting fat' I joked and chuckled. 'Hey!' Luna said as she looked at her flank, trying to see if I was lying or not. She was concentrating so much on her flanks that she dropped me out of her magical aura. I took the oppertunity and bolted for the door. I even managed to unlock it and get it open before I was once again wrapped in a purple glow before being floated back to the bed. She laughed and shook her head, as she placed her horn against my forehead. A white flash blurred my vision, but returned quick enough to see something in Luna's eyes, nothing I've ever seen before. Lust.
Chapter Fourteen: A day with the ApplesView OnlineUnto A New WorldChapter Fourteen: A day with the ApplesChapter Fourteen: A day with the Apples. The next morning was the best I had in a very long time. I had awoken with Luna under my right arm, head on my chest. She was incredibly warm and I dared not to wake her. Last night was.. different. That's all I can really say. I mean, nothing ACTUALLY happened.. I had Luna stop what she was doing and I explained how I felt about it and she was happy to wait, but I still had to.. 'service'.. the princess. I still feel a little weird about it now. "Morning love" Luna said groggily as she placed a kiss on my lips. "Goodmorning" I replied back to her in a loving tone. She was looking right into my eyes. "About lastnight.. I'm sorry if I pushed you a little" Luna apologised "I guess not seeing you for so long just built up, but it's been more than a thousand years since i've felt like that" "It's alright Luna, I already told you that" I repeated for the tenth time now. "I love you" Luna said as she fell back asleep on my chest. "I love you too" I whispered back in her ear. I didn't manage to get back to sleep, there were too many things going on in my head. My mind was recovering from the spell that Luna had placed on me a few days ago. I felt dumb without her mind there for me to 'tap' into. Even the world seemed to have an odd grey tinge to it. And the things that happend lastnight, my brain won't shuttup about it! 'You are one sick puppy Jackson' it would tell me, or something else like 'What were you thinking?'. Luna's breathing was becoming quicker and quicker. Her legs were twitching and she was making little 'yelping' noises. She was having a bad dream, and passed experiences with Vinyl and Red told me NOT to wake a sleeping pony, especially when they're the size of Luna. Vinyl managed to nick my loins with her hoof when I woke her up, imagine what a pony twice the size of her would do? She'd do a little more than nick. As bad as I felt, I'd just have to let her sleep through it. Everntually she woke up, her eyes were welling up. "Bad dream huh?" I asked her, obviously knowing the answer. Luna just nodded and dug her head under my chin. "Need to talk about it?" I asked, if she needed help, then I was going to be there for her. The dark mare just shook her head and held me closer. "Hold me" she begged. I was already doing that, but I held tighter. Half an hour of 'snuggling' Luna got up and started to shape herself up. Her bags were already in the room. 'Why would she need bags?' I wondered 'It's not like she needs to wear clothes right? I mean, I know from what Rarity told me that ponies like to dress up, but why?' Luna levitated a brush out from one of her bags and started to brush her mane and tail, looking at herself in the mirror that hid Vinyl's 'Sex Dungeon'. I shuddered at the memory of the other night. "I'll be in the shower" I told Luna as I took some clean clothes out from my saddebag backpack that Applejack had given me, and it had been modified by Rarity to fit on my back. I looked at Luna's reflection in the mirror and saw her face, she was pouting and frowning at her hair. She couldn't get some knots out? I chuckled to myself and went to the bathroom, which was located IN the guestroom. Fancy fancy Vinyl. I turned the hot water on in the shower, letting the room steam up as I got undressed. I turned the cold water valve to get the water to a tempurature I liked, seeming as it was summer, it was a cooler than usual shower. The bathroom door opened, but luckily enough after the last run in with ponies 'accidentally' finding me in the shower, I had convinced Vinyl to get a shower curtain. "Jackson?" I heard Luna's voice, it was almost unaudible, muffled by the curtain and water hitting the floor. "Yes Luna?" I asked her, popping my head out from behind the shower curtain. "Can I join you?" She asked, there was no blush on her cheeks, so she musn't want to do anything like last night. "Sure, jump in" I told her. Luna wasted no time getting in, as she teleported behind me with a flash, blinding me momentarily. "I can't get this stupid knot out of my hair, I need to wash it and I couldn't stand it any longer" She confessed, water hitting her coat and mane, making it sag and grip to her figure. "So excuse me for one moment". Luna teleported out of the shower and I heard clattering in the bathroom before she returned, blinding me again. I found her holding two bottles of shampoo and conditioner up to my face. Luna cocked her head to her left and pouted, her mane was covering one of her eyes. "Please?" she asked, ever so cutely. "Well I can't.. wait no pretty much anything can't say no to that face" I said in defeat as I took the shampoo bottle and opened the cap. Luna's face was full of joy as she turned to her side. I turned the shampoo upside down and squeezed one long line starting from the top of her mane all the way down to her tip of her tail. Now she was blushing. I started to gently scrub my hands on her back, foaming up the sweet smelling gel. I massaged her body all over, even her chest and areas she couldn't reach. It was like giving a dog a bath, except this dog had wings. I moved to each wing, massaging and scrubbing the base before moving onto the rest, my fingers going in between each feather. Luna was purring. I moved onto her tail, foaming it up as gently as I could, cleaning between each strand of hair. Running my fingers up her back to the base of her mane I started to massage her shoulders. Luna moaned "You're amazing with your fingers you know that?" she said teasingly. "Heh, thanks" I replied with a grin. First time I've been told that in my life. I slowly moved up her mane, getting behind her ears and eventually to her fringe. My fingers found the knot, which had Luna yelp in pain. "Sorry! I'm so sorry!" I said retracting my hands from her hair. "It's alright Jackson, please continue" She said as she pushed her head into my hands again. "Please?" "Oh alright then" I said before placing my hands on her head again, brushing her mussle and chin with my fingers and washing her neck. I then moved back up to her mane, where I once again found the knot. Taking extra care, I slowly massaged the knot out, much to the relief of Luna. I moved onto her horn, before she mover her head away, nearly slicing my wrist with it's tip. "Woah there Romeo, not there" She said in an embarrassed tone. "What's wro-" I started before quickly stopping. "Oh" I said, taking a look at the horn and feeling dirty. "Sorry" "It's alright, you didn't know. But I'll let you touch it oneday" She said with a wink. I turned around and took the showerhead off of it's holder. I was about to start to wash Luna off before taking a good look at her. She looked like a marshmellow. White suds were covering her body head to hoof. All I could see other that white were her eyes, horn and wings, which had sprung up and returned back to their spot when I touched her horn. I started to giggle, before dropping to my knees in laughter. "What?" Luna asked before teleporting out. From the guest room, I could hear Luna's laughs. She was probably looking at herself in the mirror. Luna teleported back. "Wash me off now!" She laughed. "But it's too funny! Vinyl would love to see this!" I said, cluching my sides. "Vinyl won't ever see this" Luna said in a panicky voice "Will she?" I looked up to Luna, who had her head cocked to the side and was pouting. God damn me to hell "No fun" I said at the pouting Luna. I could just make out her lips through the white. I gave her a quick kiss on the lips, before retreating and washing my mouth out with the shower head. "Soap does NOT taste good" I stated, Luna couldn;t hold her laughs any longer as she fell to the floor laughing. "Laugh at me will you? My little marshmellow?" I said in a playful tone as I pointed to shower head at her, squirting her face with water. "Ahahaha stop it!" Luna as she tried to cover her face from the water. She soon calmed down, but we were both still giggling as I washed the rest of the soap from her mane and coat, placing my hand over her eyes so it wouldn't find it's way into them. Soap and eyes don't mix! By this time, the hot water had run out and we were now having a cold shower. Luna put her aura around my hand and levitated it up to her eyes, squinting at my fingers. "You're all wrinkly Jackson!" She laughed as she touched her hood to my hand. "You feel funny too! You're not soft anymore" "Humans do that when they've been in water for a long time, so now we are clean time to get out?" I asked. "Yes, although I'd much rather spend more time in here with you. I had so much fun!" Luna said exceitedly. "So did I" I replied, showing a large smile. "Oh! Before I forget, Celestia wants to meet you in two weeks alright?" Luna said slowly, making sure I pick up every detail "She wants to start over from the beginning, scratch the being thrown into dungeon part" I laughed nervously "Why two weeks then?" "She wants things to die down. She doesn't want you to think of her until then" Luna replied. "I can do that" I told her, and Luna thanked me. I got dressed and Luna finished making herself pretty, which I told her show doesn't need to do.. she's already pretty enough. We made our way out the door and started to walk down the hallway before we heard a scream coming from Vinyl's room. "WHO USED ALL THE HOT WATER?" Vinyl screeched as she swung her door open, towels wrapped around her head and body. Luna and I had guilt painted all over our faces. "YOU!" She screamed towards us as she picked up a magazine and rolled it up "YOU LITTLE MONSTERS!" She was trying to murder us with a magazine. "Little?" I said in a disbelieving manner. Note to self: Don't use up all the hot water. Luna and I ran back to the guest room as fast as we could and shut the door, locking it behind us. "GET OUT OF THERE!" Vinyl screamed as she hit the door repeatedly. "I thiink we should wait in here for a little while" I whispered to Luna, who nodded to me. She could easily escape by teleporting outside the house, but that would leave me alone to fend off Vinyl if she managed to get in. We waited for atleast twenty minutes. Vinyl finally stormed off. "Don't do it again!" She screamed as she stomped down the hallway. We waited another five minutes before emerging from the room. Hopefully Vinyl wouldn't try kill us again. Sneaking down the hallway, Luna and I could hear Red and Tumbleweed still talking, but then we heard Vinyl giggle. They were all in the dining room. Luna's ears drooped and both our heads hung down low as we walked in through the door. All eyes were on us, Vinyl was giving us her signature smile, which made all my nervousness go away. Pretty sure it had the same effect on Luna, who was blushing intensly. "Sorry for that little tantrum before. I am VERY sensitive over my water" Vinyl told us. "So Redheart told me" Tumbleweed teased as she nudged Vinyl, who's face was nearly as red as a tomato. Luna and I started to laugh, and soon the rest of the ponies before us were joining in. Eventually we calmed down and Red and Tumbleweed went into the kitchen to start making breakfast, which left Vinyl, Luna and myself. An awkward silence fell over the room. Luna wouldn't look at Vinyl, she just hung her head to the floor. Vinyl was the first to speak. "I'm sorry alright?" Vinyl told us again. "I forgive you, and so does Luna" I replied "But Luna feels horrible for what we did, and so do I" "Well I forgive you lovebirds, hope you had fun last night and in the shower using MY hotwater" She said with a wink and brushed her hair up from her eyes. Luna was first to react "We didn't do anything like that" she protested, giving me a thoughtful look. I nodded in a confused agreement. At first, Vinyl didn't buy it, but then she finally gave in. "Alrighty well I'm going to go help Reddy and Tumbleweed, see you soon" She said. Vinyl left Luna and I in the dining room, and we began to talk. "Why did you lie to Vinyl about lastnight?" I asked her. Luna scooted over closer to me. The table had two long bench seats, much like a picnic table. She wrapped a wing around me and pulled me in close. "I know how you feel about it" She said softly "I wouldn't think that you would want anyone to know what we do in our private time" "Well.. You can tell if it's what you want" I replied "I want you to be happy". she wrapped her other wing around me and held me with her forelegs, nose up against mine. "Jackson, you being here makes me happy" She said as she gave me a kiss and wrapped her neck around mine. It felt like I was in a sleeping bag. "I wouldn't trade you for anypony in the world" "AWWWW!" We heard Redheart gush. We turned to see her standing in the hallway with a jug of water and five cups floating next to her. "Hey Redheart" I said casually as Luna gave me a sloppy kiss on the cheek "How long were you there for?" "Enough to have my heart melt" She said sheepishly "That was adorable!". She walked up tp the table and placed the water and cups on the table. "Breakfast shall be ready in five minutes" She said as she bowed and giggled. "You silly pony" I laughed as she got up and went back to the kitchen. I heard two more 'Awwes" come from the kitchen; Vinyl and Tumbles. Luna and I just looked at eachother and shook our heads before turning to the door and waiting patiently. Luna rested her head on my shoulder, and still had her wing wrapped around me. True to Red's word, breakfast came out in five minutes. Pancakes. I was going to become a pudgey human soon. We finished breakfast and Luna and I insisted we clean up. It wasn't hard, Vinyl showed no intrest in it, Tumbleweed's culture said not to, and Redheart just didn't want to have us do anything. With the dishes done, Luna and I went to the recording studio. Nopony was here, but there was a note on Vinyl's swivel chair. Picking it up, I read it out to Luna. 'Jackson and Luna, Have gone out with Reddy and Tumbleweed, be back later this afternoon. If you leave the house, remember to lock up and leave the keys under the front pot plant. Vinyl' "I wonder where they've gone" Luna questioned and I shrugged my shoulders. "Beats me" I said. "Everypony has plans" "Well I have to go see Twilight Sparkle soon anyway, want to come with me?" Luna asked. "I can't, I have to go see Applejack. She needed to talk to me about something" I replied, which made Luna's face droop but picked up when she started to think about Applejack needing to talk. "What about?" She asked me. "Well yesterday, Tumbleweed and I went for a walk and Applejack was nice enough to give us lunch at her house" I started "I gave her a hug and she said she wanted to talk to me about something". "Well I won't hold you back" Luna said cheerfully and we both rose from the table "I'll see you this afternoon alright?" She asked and gave me a kiss on the nose. "You will" I said as I gave her a hug and ran to the soundproof room to fetch my guitar, and soon left the house on the way to Applejack's. The day was just as hot as the last. I had to stop in Ponyville to 'buy' some water from the local co-op. (A/N: For those who don't know what a co-op is, I'm not sure if it's an Australian thing or not but it's a store or supermarket that small country towns have). I walked into the co-op. It was as big as Vinyl's house, but had no walls. It was, at it's most basic form, a large empty, single story room, but it had isles of canned food, refridgerated and frozen food, ice-cream, sweets, cupcakes and pretty much everything you could think of. I walked up to the refridgerator, pulled out a bottle of water and went and lined up at one of the two lines of ponies waiting to be served. All the ponies were looking at me, slightly freightened, but soon adjusted to my presence. The pony infront of me adjusted first. "Hey there stranger!" Said a yellow mare with an orange mane, she had two saddlebags over her back. "Names Junebug, what's yours?" "My names Jackson" I replied "It's a pleasure to meet you". Junebug chuckled and shuffled her feet "Aww well it's nice to meet you too" a small blush was forming on her cheeks "So you must be the human everypony is talking about" "Talking about me?" I asked the pony before me, and she nodded in reply. "You're the talk of the town, that performance you did at the nightclub was awesome and I think it made the paper" She said as she handed (Hoofed?) me the daily newspaper. True to her words, there was an article on the front page, with a picture of me dancing with the other ponies. The article read as follows: HUMAN HITS THE DANCEFLOOR, HAS GOT STYLE. Yes, that human that everypony has come to know has come out of his shell and mingle with the ponies in the club. An interview with the DJ known as Vinyl Scratch tells us more: 'What can you tell us about the human? Yeah Jackson's a pretty cool guy, he's got some talent I'll give him that. Where does he live? He lives with me of course, anypony or in his case human, with that much energy and talent gets to share a pad with yours truely. OH! So is there anything going on there? No no! I'm with my one and only Redheart. I love her to death. So Jackson's available then? Sorry ladies, that fine hunk of meat is taken by Princess Luna herself. Can't say I'm not a little jealous, but everypony is right? He must be something then! I mean if he's with Princess Luna.. You haven't seen everything about him. Luna told me she's the happiest pony in all of Equestria.' So this human , Jackson, has become the new phenomenon in Ponyville. I ask you all to be kind to him, we need to be ourselves, the loving and caring ponies we are. He may be different but deep down he's the same.' I looked up to Junebug, who was smiling. "I've read that over and over" she said as she placed her groceries on the black conveyor belt, which brought the items to the unicorn cashier who packs them in bags and collects the money from the buyer. "I'd love to get to know you" I was flushing, from both the article and Junebug's words. "H-how does tomorrow sound?" I asked. "Sounds great! I'll meet you at Ponyville square after lunch?" She suggested. "It's a plan" I replied, smiling towards the friendly pony, who's groceries were packed and she paid over the counter to the stallion. She picked her bags up and put them into her saddlebags as I was being served. The cashier picked up the bottle and looked through a book, before telling me the price. "That'll be two bits please sir" He asked politely, the look on his face was one of absolute boredom. I then realised I had no money. I hadn't thought about getting a job because everything was here for me, either at Vinyl's or by another ponies expense, and if it was I'd always find a way to repay them. Junebug caught my distress and trotted over to me, placing two bits on the counter. The cashier took them and Junebug pulled me away so the next pony could be served. I just looked at Junebug and opened my mouth to thank her before she cut me off. "No need to thank me, you can repay me tomorrow" she said with a smile. Great. Now I NEEDED to get a job. Junebug left for some unknown place in Ponyville and I left to walk up the long dirt track to Sweet Apple Acres, taking regular breaks. Ten minutes or so later, I spotted Applejack in the orchard buckeing trees, making the fruit fall down into the buckets laid beneath. As I got closer, I could see that she was sweating more than before. "Hey Applejack!" I said as I got to a mere five meters away. Applejack jumped and turned around "You scared the living heck outta me". "Sorry" I said as I kicked the dirt "Here have some water". I held the bottle up to Applejack, who took it and took a big swig. She handed it back to me and sat under the shade of the tree she was working on. I sat next to the orange country mare and she took her hat off and put it on the ground. "Whoo-ey! I never liked the heat, takes the energy right outta ya" She told me, trying to catch her breath. "Just walking here was a struggle" I told her. Applejack's lips curled "Now that's just plain lazy". I chuckled "Well I need some work to keep in shape" I told her, hoping she'd get the hint. She got the hint. I've never felt this exhausted since working on my own farm. I was helping her buck the trees. Obviously I wasn't bucking the trees, but I was picking up the apples that didn't fall in the basket and putting them where they should be, aswell as picking up each basket when they were full and unloading them into a nearby cart. It was nearing three by the time we had finished, we worked through lunch and our stomachs were growling. Farming does make you hungry, which backs up my thought from the day before when the Apple family were inhaling their food. Applejack chuckled when out stomachs grumbled at the same time "I think we should go get some food" She said cheerfully as I helped her hitch up to the cart. "Jump on!" She told me, flicking her head to the cart. "Won't I slow you down? I weigh more than a couple hundred apples.." I said slowly. Applejack looked at me and shook her head, lips curling at the sides. She waved her flank in the air and stamped her back hooves "These bad boys need to be tested, plus.." Applejack tensed her flank muscles, showing how big they were "I've been using em' everyday. They're the strongest in Ponyville, aside from Big Mac's that is". "Alright, show me what you got!" I said as I jumped into the back of the cart. Within seconds, Applejack had the cart at half speed (The fastest it could go with a full load of apples and a human on a bumpy road. Don't want to lose a wheel now). "Woo-hoo!" I cheered as we were nearing the barn, Applejack looked back and winked before slowing the cart down. I jumped off the back and walked around the side, unhitching the orange pony from the cart, who had a smirk on her face. "Told ya didn't I?" She said, pleased with herself. "That was awesome!" I exclaimed, and Applejack put her nose up in the air and crossed her forelegs, accepting the praise. "Applejack!" A voice came from inside, and seconds later Applebloom came rushing out and into Applejacks legs, hugging her. Applejack returned the gesture, embracing her sister in the hug. I awkwardly shuffled in the moment. The little filly looked up from her sister and saw me, before she ran up to my legs and hugged them. AJ chuckled. "Alright alright Applebloom, me and Jackson have to talk. Where'd Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle?" She asked. "Well, Sweetie Belle is helping Rarity and can't come out until tomorrow and Scootaloo is practicing for the school athletics compe-competi-" She couldn't pronounce the word. "Competition?" I finished for her. "Yeha that's it. Anyway ah've been stuck here by mahself all day" She said sadly. "You coulda come helped me today, I needed it" AJ scolded. "Ah'm sorry sis', Ah didn'tknow which paddock you were in" She replied. I looked at the sad little filly. "Tell you what, after Applejack and I are done talking, I'll come out and play with you. How does that sound?" Applebloom's face lit up "Will you really?". "Of course!" I replied cheerfully. Applebloom did a little dance around me "!" she chanted. Applejack burst out in laughter "Alright Applebloom, but you have to let us talk first okay?" Applebloom nodded furiously "Okay, don't be too long though!" "We need to take as much time as we need, Applebloom. This is important" I told her, and looked up to Applejack who had a smile and a small blush on her cheeks. "Are you guys getting married?" the filly asked us ever so cutely. Applejack and I looked at eachother, back to the filly and back to one another and burst into laughter. "No Applebloom" AJ said in between her laughing. "C'mon Jack, lets's go get married" She said sarcastically and she entered the house. I turned back to Applebloom and crounched down. "We're not really getting married". Applebloom rolled her eyes "Suuuuure" She said as she ran off to wait for me. I turned back to the house and entered the front door, where Applejack was waiting for me. "Thankyou for that Jackson, It means a lot to me to see Applebloom so happy" She said as she gave me a hug. I've never seen this side of Applejack before. She always acted tough and brave, but this was a more caring, sensitive side. "You're welcome AJ, I'd do anything for you. You're like my best friend, you know that right?" I asked. "Aww, you're my best friend too, besides Twilight and the others, but we have to be friends for the elements to work, unlike you and I" She replied with a smile on her face. "C'mon, lets go to my room where it's private. I need that hug right about now" "Thats a good idea" I said as she turned and led me through her house. I took off my guitar and left it by the door. We eventually got to her room, which was up a flight of stairs. On her door, there was a sign hanging on it, probably made by Applebloom which read: Applejack's Room. Before she opened the door, she stopped and turned to me. "Alright, I have to say something before we go in" She started, her accent was soothing "What you're about to see is private, you can't tell nopony anything you see in this here room. I trust you, and that's the honest truth" "You don't need to worry about that AJ, I won't tell anyone, and that goes for Luna too" I replied, which made her muscles untense. "Thanks sugarcube" She said as she pushed open the door. Her room was samll, but large enough to fit two beds, one to the left side and one in the center of the far wall underneath the windowsil. Over the bed to the left was a shelf of pictures and trophies. Walking over to them, I looked at the largest, which was of a pony twirling a lasso. It had 'Ponyville's Derby Champ' enscribed on the metal plate on it's base. I looked at the pictures, which had photos of Granny Smith when she was young, Big Mac and herself standing under their first planted trees and a picture of Manehatten at night. I heard Applejack sit on the far bed and sigh, looking out the window. She bowed her head and started to sob. I moved over to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders and brought her into my chest. "So what's up?" I asked, trying to put as much thought and care into my words as I could. I don't do this very often. "A lot of things, The sky and Rainbow Dash for starters" She chuckled, even when she was hurting. She had a heart of gold. "I meant what's wrong? I'm here for you to talk about it, for as long as you need" I told her, making sure she heard me. Applejack wrapped her hooves around my neck and dug her head into my collar. "Granny Smith doesn't have much time left" She cried, tears wetting the front of my shirt. 'Maybe I should get a waterproof shirt?' I thought to myself. "How long?" I asked her, feeling her pain. "Two months at most. Doc said her hip broke down so much that small parts of it somehow got into her bloodstream" She said, gripping me tighter "It got to her heart and she had to be taken to hospital. If the doc didn't get the chunk of bone out from her heart, she would have died. But it won't be long until it happens again, and next time we might not be so lucky". I couldn't say anything, there were no words that I could say to make her feel better. I new how it felt when people tried to say something to take away the pain of losing a loved one. No matter what they say, it doesn't stop hurting. "He told us even if she survives a second round, the trauma to her heart and body will kill her within a week" She cried harder, biting my shirt to stop herself from screaming. I stroked her mane "I don't know what to say AJ, I can't fix it. Even is we had the strongest unicorn in all of Equestria to perform a healing spell, it wouldn't be enough. She's lived a good life hasn't she?" AJ nodded "You don't need to say anything, holding me is more than enough". I had an idea. "Maybe.." I started but trailed off. "Maybe what Hon'?" Applejack asked as she brought her face up to look at me. "I'll be right back!" I said as I broke her embrace and raced out the door. "What in the-" I heard AJ say before she was out of earshot. I returned moments later with my guitar strapped around my neck. "Maybe we can write her a song?" I suggested. I saw Applejack smile, a smile which I hadn't seen for many years. "That's a great idea" She said and sat up on the bed as I sat down next to her. She rested her head against my shoulder. "Thankyou Jackson" She said softly as she took her hat off and laid it on the bed. "But seeing as I promised Applebloom that I'd play with her, I'll just play you a song" I said, which made Applejack smile again. "You don't need to do that" She told me, taking her head off my shoulder. "I want to, and we'll start working on Granny Smith's song in two days, I'm busy tomorrow. It should be Saturday then right?" I questioned the orange pony. "Yeah, I'm free Saturday" Applejack replied. "Well now you're not, I'll be over in the morning if that's alright?" I asked. "That's good" She replied. "Alright well" I said as I strummed random notes on my guitar "Comfortable?" "I am Sugarcube" she replied. "This would sound better with drums and stuff but here goes" I told her so she'd understand "Just incase it sounds terrible". I started to strum my guitar and I closed my eyes, feeling the rhythm on the music being created by my guitar. 'I wish I knew you Way back when Before you were part of my plans I think that we would have been friends There's only time to live our lives And you'll be the one who's by my side And I can promise you then You'll always be my best friend Till the end when we part I will give you my heart And I'll promise to love you with all that it is And I'll promise to be there whenever you need me Because you'll always be my best friend You'll always be my best friend You'll always be my best friend You'll always be my best friend You'll always be my best friend You'll always be my best.. friend' I opened my eyes to see that Applejack was crying again. "I've never heard anything so beautiful in my life" She said she she hugged me "Thank you so much Jackson. You'll always be my bestfriend too" I embraced her hug, and a few moment later, found I was trapped. "You can uh.. let go now" I said teasingly. She retracted her forelegs and went back to her position on her bed. "Well I suppose you had better get going and play with Applebloom" AJ said, sadness returning to her eyes. "Hey, I'll be here to spend the whole day with you on Saturday, don't forget that" I told her and got up from the bed. Just as I got to the door, Applejack interupted me. "OH! I nearly forgot" She said as she dove into her bedside drawer and pulled our a hefty sack of coins. "For your help today" "Applejack I couldn't" I told her. "Well you have to, because you worked and you get paid. Besides, you earnt it" She said she she shoved the pouch into my stomach in a friendly manner. "Now get along now, you don't want to keep that filly waiting. She's amazing at getting what she wants" She informed me "Goodluck" "Cya AJ" I said as I left her room, moving down the stairs. I looked at the clock hanging on the wall near the front door, which read five o'clock. 'Shoot, sorry Luna' I thought, remembering we couldn't talk like that anymore. I opened the front door and found Applebloom trying to balance on a soccer ball. "Jackson!" She said as she jumped off the ball and charged at me. I ran, chanting "You can't catch me NA-NA-NA-NA-NA-NA!". My guitar was flopping around on my back, I couldn't see the filly anymore, so I took it off and laid in against a tree so it wouldn't get damaged. Just as I laid it against the trunk, I heard something moving in the tree. I looked up just in time for Applebloom to strike me in the chest, tackling me to the ground. It didn't hurt, but she sure got some force behind her. "Tag, you're it!" She screamed as she touched my nose and ran off squealing. I gave her a headstart and watched her enter the apple orchard. Ten seconds later, I was rushing into the orchard after her. She was nowhere to be seen. 'She's good!' I thought to myself as I scanned the area. Then I had an idea. I focused my energy and cast a spell on myself. My eyes went blind and I dropped to my knees. I had read in one of the books in Twilights library that there was a thing called a 'seeing spell'. You could think of however you wanted to see the world and it would happen. Slowly, I opened my eyes and saw that the spell worked. Everything was outlined in an orange border, leaves, stones, insects. Everything in my line of sight was made easier for me to see. It was an augmented reality. I looked down and could see hoof tracks on the floor, which had a feint green glow in my new vision. "FEE FI FO FUM! I SMELL APPLEBLOOM'S BUM!" I said and laughed at my own joke. I then heard giggling coming from the west, along with more glowing hoof tracks. "I'M AN ANGRY GIANT AND I LIKE TO EAT LITTLE FILLIES FOR DINNER!" I said as I stomped around, pretending I didn't know where she was. I caught a glimpse of her red bowtie from behind a tree. I started to stomp towards it, sniffing loudly pretending I could smell her. I stopped at the tree and I could hear her faint giggling. "Where could that filly have gotten to?" I questioned outloud, knowing the answer. I turned around, facing my back to the tree which Applebloom was hiding. "Ah'm right here ya' big ugly giant!" She said she she jumped out from her cover behind the tree. I turned around slowly, like a giant would, and spotted the filly out in the open. She turned and ran away from me, giggling like crazy. Every step she took, I could see glowing hoof marks where her own hooves were planted before. I slowly stomped after her. Even moving this slow I could catch up to her. My magically enhanced vision started to fade as I got closer to the filly. Once I was close enough, I picked her up and slung her over my shoulder. She was kicking and flailing her legs like crazy "You'll make a fine dinner" I said and stomped off the way I had come. "NO!" She screamed and kicked her legs around again, hitting my chest and back. I knelt to the ground and laid her on her back and started tickling her. "Stop it!" She laughed as I tickled her. "Stopitstopitstopit!" I pursed my lips and went down to her belly, blowing a raspberry on it, which made her giggle even more. "Only if you come back to the barn with me" I said in a deep voice. "Only if you stop tickling me!" She squealed as I bent down and blew another raspberry on her stomach. I stopped after a few minutes of tickling and dodging legs, and we were walking back to the farm house. "That was so fun!" Applebloom cheered as she rode on my shoulders "Ya have to come and play with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle too!" "I will, I'm coming back on Saturday, how's that sound?" I asked. "Ah'll let the girls know tomorrow" She said excitedly. Another five minutes of walking and we eventually made it back to the barn. Celestia's sun was setting and Luna must have been getting ready to raise the moon. I set Applebloom down and moved to the tree where Applebloom skydived me, picking up my guitar and slinging it over my shoulder. "I'll see you Saturday okay?" I said as I crouched down and opened my arms. Applebloom ran up and wrapped her forelegs around my neck "Ah won't forget" She said as she broke the hug and moved back to the house. Just before she walked through the door, she turned and waved to me. I waved back and she went into the house. My stomach rumbled louder than it ever has before, which reminded me that Applejack and I didn't get any food when we got to her house. I ran back to Ponyville with only one thing on my mind. Food. A/N: Song used was 'You'll always be my best friend' by Relient K.
Chapter Fifteen: Twilight's SleepoverView OnlineUnto A New WorldChapter Fifteen: Twilight's SleepoverChapter Fifteen: Twilight's Sleepover. When I made it home lastnight, I cleared out Vinyl fridge. They just stood there and whatched me gorge on the food. I didn't care what it was, as long as it went into my stomach. I even ate hay, and to my surprise it wasn't even that bad, although it made my throat itch. Once I was done, Vinyl told me that I had to restock the fridge, which ment buying four litres of milk, chocolate sauce, ice-cream, cupcakes, six pack of beer and I'd have to make dinner for the next three nights to restock the left overs. Vinyl said she was looking forward to eating some hay and gravy for lunch the next day, which I was in the middle of eating. Just make me feel like a monster why don't you? For the rest of that night, we stayed up late. We played cards until atleast eleven, and Red had gone to bed, followed by Vinyl, which left me and Luna. We needed Tumbleweed here again. "How was your day?" Luna asked me in a saddened tone. I shifted around to the other side if the circular card table to sit next to my other half. "My day was great, it would have been better with you though" I said as I wrapped an arm around the princess. "What about you? How did your errands go?" "Yeah. Good" she replied, bowing her head. "What's wrong Luna? I asked, snuggling up under her wing. Luna sighed, but smiled. "I was looking forward to spending some time with you". "I know love, I was planning on it too, but little Applebloom wanted to play and it wasn't even for very long". Luna smiled and looked at me with loving eyes "I want to have a filly of my own oneday". "Oh? And who might you be wanting to have that filly with?" I asked with a wicked grin on my face. "Who else?" She said as she wrapped her wing around me, making the hug even tighter. She saw my face, which was one full of disbelief. She chuckled at the sight. "I know what you're thinking, and it can be done" She started as she rest her head on my shoulder "Twilight introduced me to a zebra in the Everfree Forrest. I know of zebra magic and brews that can make a pony give birth to a zebra foal, so she may be able to make a brew that makes it so you and I can have a foal". Luna's face then loosened a bit "If not, we can always adopt". I could see how much she actually wanted to have a child in her eyes, she didn't want to adopt unless it was the very last thing we could do. "We'll see Luna, we'll see" I said as I stroked her mane and pulled her in for a kiss. Today, I awoke to find that Luna was ontop of me. She really was the hugging type when in bed. She was making small whinnies everytime she breathed out, and she had her tounge poking out like she does when she concenrates. It was so cute. But, unfortunately, she was getting heavy and I was finding it hard to breathe. I really didn't want to wake her up, but what choice did I have? "Luna" I whispered, giving her belly a nudge with my arm "Luna wake up". She slowly stirred awake "Wha-no I do not want the royal garments!" She yelled as her head shot up, hooves pressing down on my chest. Now I really couldn't breathe. "L-Luna.. ca..eathe" was all I could say, there was no wind left in me at all. Luna looked down at me and saw my face, my lips were turning blue. "Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!" She said as she quickly got off my body. My body immediately took in a breath, and I cough and wheezed shortly afterward. I felt myself starting to calm down, and my breathing was returning to normal. "What a way to start the day huh?" I said jokingly. Luna didn't find it funny. "I nearly killed you" she said in a hightened tone, tears were forming at the sides of her large, beautiful eyes. "Well you didn't, so lets put this behind us and look forward to the day?" I tried to suggest. Her gaze didn't change at first, but then it soothed and turned into one of joy. "I'm free today" said the princess in an excited tone "Want to hang out?" as she asked me, she lent back on a pillow and sniffed. She was trying to act cool and it was hilarious. I started to giggle "Well we can hang out this morning, but I have to meet Junebug this afternoon" I told Luna, who's eyes dropped at the edges upon hearing this. Her mood picked up, and she had a grin on her face. I knew that grin. "Well then we'll have to make the most of it wont we?" she said as she clopped her hooves together. Excited, but slightly frightened, I smiled and made a nervous chuckle. "Oh jeez". Breakfast was over fast. The main topic for the conversation was Tumbleweed. We came to a decision that we would have Tumbleweed stay with us. Vinyl could only give up one more room, so we were certain that she would be the one to take it. We also decided what we were going to do today. Nurse Redheart had to go back to the hospital and sign some forms to say that I'm healthy enough to look after myself. She could have done it sooner, but she wanted to stay with us longer. At this moment, Vinyl asked Redheart if she wanted to move in, and Red broke down in tears and said yes. They would only be together when Red was home from the hospital. Vinyl told us all that she would go ask Tumbleweed if she wanted to move in, which we all hoped that she said yes. Red suggested that she go with her. The DJ didn't disagree. Luna and I decided that her and I would go see Fluttershy, and afterwards the three of us would have a picnic in the country side. After that, Luna said she wanted to speak to Rarity, and I remembered that I had to see Junebug. Busy busy busy! I knocked three times on the cottage door. There were so many animals around, it was crazy. The door slowly creaked open, revealing an observing eye. The eye looked me up and down, and on cue the door slowly opened, revealing the very shy and nervous Fluttershy. I hadn't visited her enough. "Hey Fluttershy" I said softly, trrying not to scare her. "Oh.. hey Jackson" She said, almost inaudible "Come in please.. I mean.. If that's alrigh-" her voice cut and all I could hear was a squeak. Her eyes were focused on Luna. "Good morning Fluttershy" Luna said in a friendly tone. "P-p-p-princess Luna!" Fluttershy replied, bowing her head as far down as she could get it. "I've told you before Fluttershy, you don't need to be so formal with me!" Luna chuckled upon seeing the yellow pegasus mare's face turn a bright red. "Oh y-yeah" Fluttershy replied, she tried hiding behind her mane. Her face blended in with her pink hair "Come in please!" The canary yellow pegasus stepped aside from the door and let us into her home. My oh my it was cosy! It was like an old ladies house, but had the feel of a much younger tennant. "You guys can sit over here, I'll go make same tea" Informed Fluttershy, who trotted off to the kitchen humming a happy tune. Luna and I took a seat at the table which Fluttershy pointed us to. "I love Fluttershy" Luna said to me, looking around her house. I shot Luna a glare "Not like that!" She retorted, blushing hotly. "Well in that case I love her too" I replied, trying to make her feel better. Right at that moment, Fluttershy came in with three teacups and a pot of tea, all resting on her wings. "Love who?" She asked happily. Luna and I looked towards eachother and nodded, then turned our gaze to Fluttershy. "You" We replied in unison. Fluttershy's cheeks flushed hot red "Oh.." She said shyly "Well I kind of.. like someone else.." "Not like that!" Luna chuckled. "We love you because you're so kind and calm all the time" I finished "And it's not like-like". "It's like how a friend loves another friend" Luna finished for me. Fluttershy's cheeks lost some of their reddness. "Well in that case I love you both equally as much" She said quietly, so quiet Luna had to perk her ears up to hear and I had to lean in a little "But I sort of knew you ment that. It was just amazing to see you both speaking one sentence". Luna blushed and I wrapped my arm around her. "So why are you both here?" Fluttershy asked "I don't usually get many visitors except for Rainbow Dash when she's hungry, Applejack when she's hurt, Rarity when she needs advice and TWwilight when she's lonely. Pinkie Pie just randomly pops up out of nowhere. She's so randomly random" I smiled at the cuteness of this one pony. It's like all the ponies I've met have been combined into one. "We actually came to see if you wanted to go for a picnic with us?" I asked politely. Fluttershy rose her hoof to her chin and stared at something out the window. "I'm not busy, so I would very much like that" She said with a smile. "You're not as shy as last time I met you Fluttershy" Luna said in a soft tone, similar to the one Fluttershy was using. If they kept this up I might need a hearing aid. "Twilight taught me how to be assertive, but I wasn't sure it was working" She replied with a frown, which turned into a beaming smile "I'm glad it is though". It wasn't long until Fluttershy was ready to go out. 'What did ponies need to do to get ready? It's not like she needed to get dressed up or anything. Do they even wear makeup?' I thought to myself, screwing up my face and shaking my head. "What's that look for?" Luna asked with a chuckle. We were standing outside while Fluttershy got ready, and we were looking at all the animals that the shy mare was looking after. "Do ponies wear makeup?" I blurted, which probably sounded like 'doponieswemakeup?'. "What's makeup?" Luna asked quizzically. That answeres my question. "Nothing important. The females in my world wear stuff called makeup on their faces, it's supposed to make them look prettier and hide their faults but most that do wear it are much prettier without" I explained "They think they 'need' it when they really don't" "Oh! Well we do have this black stuff we put on our eyes, or around our eyes whatever suits you" She replied with a smile. I leaned in for a closer look and Luna closed her eyes, showing me the black outline. "Well I like it, it makes your eyes stand out" I told her, trying to make her blush. She didn't blush "That's what we wear it for Jackson, both mares and stallions. Although the stallions that do usually act like mares.." She chuckled. Fluttershy's cottage door swung open with a cracking noise, which made both Luna and I jump. "Oh sorry.." Fluttershy said in a whisper, with a hint of humor in her voice "I don't know my own strength sometimes. The animals have grown used to it" "Thats alright Fluttershy!" I replied "Let's get goi-" I stopped mid sentence realising something. "Luna.. we didn't bring a picnic basket.." I said as I facepalmed, which connected with a mighty slap, making Fluttershy squeak and hide behind Luna. "Oh?" Luna said with a grin "Watch this, my sexy apprentice". Luna's horn started to glow, and I saw Fluttershy's face going red. "You did not just say that.." I replied, giving myself another facepalm. Luna just chuckled as something started to form infront of her out of thin air. A large basket appeared infront of me, wrapped in Luna's dark blue aura. "How?" I asked, gasping at the awesomeness that was just performed before me. "Just teleportation Jackson, but I am amazed it worked so well! Usually I can't teleport something that I can't see" She confessed, but looking happy at the same time. I pouted "Teach me?" I asked, trying to mimic Luna's puppy dog eyes. "I will when you're ready, we have another lesson soon so I'll judge your ability then" She told me, poking her nose in the air and swishing her tail. "Alrighty then" I said with a sigh, but still kept my pout face on. Fluttershy spoke up, apparently she was had been trying to say something for a while now. "Um.. guys I forgot to tell you but Twilight is having a slumber party and she wanted you both to come" She said and looked down at the dirt road, pawing the soil "Thats if.. you didn't know already. I mean the rest of the girls will be there! It'll be so fun!" the pegasus clapped her hooves together in excitement. "We'd love to come!" Luna exclaimed, clapping her hooves together. True, I was excited but I didn't want to talk about hair and all that, although there would be Applejack and Spike.. and Applejack says she doesn't like all that frou-frou stuff so she'll be bored, Rainbow Dash doesn't really seem like the type either. "I can't wait!" I said after taking a think about it. "Great well it starts at six" Fluttershy informed us. "Cool" I said as we continued walking "We'll be there". We walked for around five more minutes? I couldn't tell, I was having too much fun talking with Fluttershy. Who knew that such a shy pony would be so interesting and have so many stories to tell? "-And then the squirrel came right up to me and rubbed his cheek against my leg!" She finished her story, leaping into the air for emphasis. Luna giggled at Fluttershy, who slowly sunk back down to ground. "How does there look?" I asked, pointing to a small clearing on the right, which was covered by the shade of the tall trees nearby. We weren't too far from Ponyville nor Applejack's farm, sort of in the middle. "That looks great" Luna replied and Fluttershy nodded. I smiled back and we made our way to the clearing, which wasn't twenty meters from the dirt track, but was located up a small hill. I opened the basket that had been hovereing in Luna's magic and took out a checkered sheet and laid it on the ground while Luna and Fluttershy presented the food, plates and cups. Cupcakes, hay, plenty of orange juice and some daisy sandwhiches were scattered around me on the blanket. We started to plate up our food. Fluttershy took small amounts at a time, whereas Luna put as much as she could on her plate. The two ponies looked at me as I placed some hay on my plate next to the cupcakes. "What?" I asked, looking at their shocked faces. "I thought you didn't eat hay?" Luna asked. "Well when I ate out Vinyl's fridge, I ate hay and gravy and I liked it" I replied with a shrug of my shoulders. Luna shrugged and dug her muzzle into her food and Fluttershy just smiled. (A/N: Now I will tell you, I am slightly tipsy while writing this from here on, at eleven thirty at night so forgive okay? Okay). "Now I know what to get you for your birthday" Fluttershy joked. Luna looked up, food stuck to the sides of her muzzle "When is your birthday?" She asked. I smiled at Luna, when she was eating she really didn't care about anything. Nothing mattered to her when she was chowing down on food. "Thirteenth of July" I replied "What about you and Fluttershy?" "Twenty third of January" Fluttershy informed. Luna looked like she was thinking hard "I don't really know" she told me, looking down to her food "I was up in the moon for so long I was going a little crazy but now there's no crazy left I have to learn and remember things again". "Well we'll find out" I comforted Luna, placing a hand on her back "I promise". Luna looked a little happier "You know what? Let's do your magic lesson now" She said spontaneously. What made her think of that? "Now? like now-now?" I repeated. Luna nodded crazily. "Well I'll let you two get to it then" Fluttershy said softly, but with a big smile on her face. God I loved Fluttershy. "I don't want you to feel rejected or what have you Fluttershy" I replied to her kindness. "Oh no! I won't be!" She replied quickly "Besides I'll see you tonight won't I?" "Of course you will" Luna spoke up, and I nodded emphasising her words. "Alright well see you then" Fluttershy said and she bowed to Luna before giving us both hugs, before she turned and flew back to her cottage. Luna's horn glowed as she saw the yellow speck disappear into the horizon "This lesson will be on enchantments" She exclaimed excitedly. "Junebug!" I shouted to the mare in Ponyville Square (A/N: I'm a poet and I didn't even know it?). She was sitting on a stone bench, looking at the water feature before her, which was a statue of Celestia with her wings fully stretched out. Her mouth was pointing heavenward, and water was streaming out from stone pursed lips. "Jackson hey!" She said as she got up from the bench and smiled. "I hope you weren't waiting long" I said, returning her smile. "No I just got here" She said cheerfully "Shall we walk?" I smiled and nodded. We walked for five minutes without saying anything. I decided to try and break the ice. "So how are you?" I asked. "I'm good thanks!" Junebug replied with a smile "How are you, my human friend?" I chuckled "I'm great!". Another awkward silence fell over us both. I wasn't really getting frustrated but I don't really know how to explain it. (A/N: Not tipsy anymore, sorta fell asleep at the keyboard.. I think. Now I'm trying to continue on from where I left of). "So Junebug! What do you like to do for fun?" I asked, hoping that we'd do it. She seemed to think for a few seconds before answering me. "I like to pick flowers for my flower shop. Thats why I have these baskets" She said as she shook her rump, making the two baskets jiggle around. Atleast we were going to do something! "Alright! Where are these flowers you want to pick?" I asked, trying to hide my boredom. We were now atleast doing something. As much as I wanted to be here with her today, I just didn't feel like it. My mind was set on Twilight's sleepover and using the enchantments that Luna taught me, I was going to give them all presents since it was Hearth Warming soon. We had been picking flowers for a while now, and I had learnt much. Flowers actually have healing properties which a zebra called Zecora uses. I was starting to have a good time, and then Junebug said she had to go. We were only with eachother for three hours. "I had fun today Jackson" Junebug said with a smile "Sure it was awkward at first but I didn't know you liked flowers so much! I could have just started with that" "I didn't know I did either.." I replied, shrugging my shoulders "Want to catch up again soon? You can teach me more about flowers, maybe some healing stuff". "Well I could certainly teach you about the flowers, but you'll have to speak to Zecora about the healing potions and brews" Junebug replied, off in her own little world "I'll let you know when I'm able to get away from the shop again" She said as she gave me a spontaneous hug, scaring me half to death. She was just standing there and the next thing you know A yellow blur hits me fair in the chest. I calmed down and returned the hug, before I broke it. "Oh I nearly forgot!" I said as I took the pouch of gold out from my pocket and placed four bits in her saddlebaskets. "You gave me two bits extra.." Junebug said in a mocking tone "I only used two yesterday!" "Well when people, or ponies, give me any money at all I pay them back their full amount plus half" I said with a smile "But in your case I'm feeling generous". Junebug giggled and shook her head when I bent over and bowed to her. "Until we meet again m'lady" I said in a fancy tone. "You foal" She chuckled and walked away "Cya". 'Now' I thought with a sigh as I turned to face Ponyville and it's shops 'Time to go shopping'. Later: I finished buying the presents for tonight withing an hour and it was now nearing four. I was to be at the library at six. I spent all my bits on the girls, including Luna, Vinyl, Tumbles and Red. I had found my way to Vinyl's and there was nopony there, so I had gone straight into the guest room and locked the door behind me. Vinyl's POV: So we all decided what we were going to do for the day. Everypony missed Tumbleweed and the truth was, I did too. The house was just so different without her, and I mean as much as Red and I love our privacy from time to time, I had to agree with Jackson when he called us a 'family'. You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you that my house was usually quiet, besides the visits I got from Octavia. And y'know? I sorta like it this way. I love the noise and the music that everypony plays. Red and I left my house and started to walk to the hospital. "I'm going to miss you" I told Redheart. "I know you've told me twenty times Vinyl" Redheart chuckled to me "But I won't be gone for long, and I'll still come back every night after work". "But that's still too long!" I replied, feeling my face droop even further. "Well" Redheart said to me in a seductive tone "I'll make it up to you every night?". She flicked her tail in my face as she trotted ahead of me, and I felt my cheeks flush red. "Then I guess I have something to look forward to every night" I replied, biting Red's tail and giving it a hard tug. It was Red's turn to blush "Not until tonight V!" She exclaimed "And especially not in public". "Aww" I sighed sadly as we came to a stop outside of the hospital. The building was huge, I'd only been here a few times, but it never seemed any less scary. I hate needles. Red smiled at the face I was making and gave me a kiss, before turning and entering the building. 'I wonder if Jackson and Luna are doing anything interesting?' I thought as I headed to the club to see if Tumbleweed was in. Jackson's POV: It was now five thirty, and I had finished setting up everything. For Vinyl and Red, I had set up the dining room with red scented candles, cooked some food and had it all out and dished up for them. It was to be a romantic evening for the two mares. I said I'd repay them somehow didn't I? I left a note inside the door telling them what I had done and why. I packed my things into my backpack saddlebags and left for Twilight's library. I arrived at Twilight's house. I'd only been here once but I had been meaning to do it again. Just as I raised my hand to knock on the door, and a familiar pink blur entered my vision. "Ooh! Jackson! How're you? I'm great! You know what else is great? This party! I know its going to be the bestest sleepover yet! Even better now that you're here!" Pinkie screamed into my eardrum. "Thanks Pinkie, I'm glad to see you too" I replied, slightly shell-shocked. The library door creaked open to reveal Twilight's friendly face. "Hey Jackson. Pinkie what did I say about harrassing the guests?" She said with a stern look on her face. "Don't harrass them I know Twilight" Pinkie said sarcastically and rolled her eyes "Lighten up that pretty little face of yours and have some fun!" she touched her hoof to Twilight's nose, making her blush. The purple unicorn looked over at me "Come on inside, everypony will be here soon" she stepped aside the door and let Pinkie and I in. As I took a step inside, my nostrils were filled with the smell of cupcakes and lollies, which made my body shiver. It was a good shiver. "Jackson! It's so lovely to see you!" Called a posh voice which could only belong to Rarity. "Rarity!" I said as she trotted over and hugged me. She smelt like apple and cinnamon cupcakes. She was the only one here so far. "How long have you been here?" I asked her. "I've been here quite a while, I've been helping Twilight decorate the Library for the sleepover" She said with a confident smile "How does it look?" I looked around the room and found that it had a very wintery feel to it, even though it was the middle of summer. "It looks great Rarity, you both outdid yourselves" I told her, boosting her confidence. At that moment we heard a load knocking, or bashing, at the door. "Rainbow ya weren't allowed to use ya wings ya cheat!" I heard a southern voice call from the other side of the closed door. "You never said I couldn't!" Returned a boystrous voice, none other than Rainbow Dash herself. "Ah didn't think ah'd have to!" AJ replied angrily. Twilight rushed to the door and opened it, having Rainbow Dash fall through onto her face and AJ started laughing. "That makes it all better!" Applejack said as she rolled on the floor. "Shuttup AJ" Rainbow replied, blush on her face. "Hey girls" Twilight said supressing a rising giggle "Glad you could make it! Come inside" Applejack held out her hoof to help Rainbow up. "Thanks" Rainbow said "We'll race again soon and I won't use my wings okay?" Applejack nodded "Sounds fair". "Hey Applejack! Rainbow Dash!" I said as I brought them both in for a hug. Applejack returned it with her own hearty huug, but Rainbow just awkwardly laughed and put her hoof around me. "Now we're just waiting for Fluttershy and Luna" Twilight said happily as she gave Applejack and Rainbow hugs. "Um.. I'm here Twilight" Came Fluttershy's voice from the corner of the room. Everypony plus one human jumped in fright. "Oh sorry". "That's quite alright Fluttershy" Twilight responded, using her magic to pick herself and everypony else up "How long were you there for?" "Oh.. Only a few minutes" Fluttershy whispered. "Alright" Twilight said awkwardly "Lu-". She was cut off by a blinding light, which everypony was blinded by.. except me. I was used to it. Luna was standing in the center of the room, she had two saddlebags on her flanks and had a rug over her shoulders. "Hope I wasn't late" She said bashfully, looking around at the ponies on the ground. "Just in time darling" Rarity called, shaking her head to clear her temporary blindness. "Lets get this party started!" Rainbow said as she took flight and pumped her hoof in the air. I had never partied like that. Ever. I was exhausted and was slumping down on the couch, next to me was Rarity and Twilight. "Great sleepover party Twilight!" I told the purple unicorn. All she did was nod back. She wasn't the fittest out of the group, but that didn't mean she wasn't the most talented. Luna, Rainbow, Applejack and ofcourse Pinkie were still up and dancing. "I looked over to the two mares beside us and saw that Twilight had a big book floating infront of her and she was flicking through pages. The cover read 'The biggest book of sleepovers 101'. Twilight caught me looking. "I used to have another one but I found this in Canterlot not long ago" She said with a shrug of her shoulders, slumping further down into the chair, before her eyes grew wide. Twilight's horn's glow grew bigger, creating a second layer of magical aura around it. 'Everypony to the lounge please' She said in my head, and by the looks of it everypony else's. It was much like Luna's Mindtalk spell but Twilight used it in a different way. Luna looked impressed. Everypony moved and sat around a large tree, which was decorated with large balls, bells, ribbons and fake snow. Around the base were many wrapped presents all with colourful paper. "Presents time?" Twilight suggested excitedly, which was returned with many excited hoofstamps and cheers. Twilight giggled "Alright alright calm down girls. Now I've already sorted all the presents into piles which belong to that pony" Twilight said as she pointed everypony to their piles. Each present was given by eachother and by a few other ponies around Equestria, like Twilight's parents and Celestia. A few moments of unwrapping and the six friends had finished. Luna and I sat off to the side on a nearby couch and watched, locking arms and leaning on eachother. The fire behind us was burning hotly when the six turned to us. "Now y'all gonna open ya presents too?" Applejack asked. Luna and I lookied at eachother. We weren't expecting to receive any. "We'll bring them over to you" Fluttershy said as she took two presents on each wing and carted them over. Appljack picked one up on her nose and the other on her back, Rainbow balanced two on her own wings and Rarity and Twilight used their magic to carry two each of their own. Pinkie appeared behind us with her two presents, making Luna jump and shift awkwardly from my side. "We'll start with Rarity's first" Twilight stated, and Rarity was more than happy to obey. The white fashonista smiled as she placed her presents infront of Luna and in my lap. "Now it's not much so don't get your hopes up" Rarity said looking down at the floor while we opened the presents. I saw Luna take out a beautiful black dress, with lace and what looked like onyx gems. Onyx is black right? Luna was brought to tears "It's beautiful Rarity thankyou so much". Rarity blushed a little. In my present was a coat and a pair of pants. The pants were made of the whitest silk and wool that was the nicest I'd ever felt. The coat had golden buttons and came with a vest which matched the pants. "Rarity I.." I was lost for words. All I could do was hug her. "No need to say anything dear, it was my pleasure" She said happily, obviously seeming my gawking face. I released Rarity and she stepped back and lay down near the other five ponies. Spike was asleep and had been up in his room all night. "Pinkie? Would you like to go next?" Twilight asked. "Oh boy! Yesyesyesyes!" She said as she bounced around the group. Everypony was looking at her. "Pinkie Pie, you are so random" Rainbow said with a facehoof, and received a nudge from a nearby Applejack. Pinkie bounced over to Luna and I and placed to presents infront of us. "Come on guys open them up I know you'll like them I made them myself! Oh no I think I just spoiled the suprise. They AREN'T cupcakes!" She said in a creepy tone. They were cupcakes. Lots and lots of cupcakes. Luna tried her best to look suprised and I spoke for the both of us. "Are you trying to fatten us up Pinkie?" I said jokingly, which received some chuckles. "NO! Ofcourse not silly!" Pinkie replied, still bouncing "Do you like 'em? Do ya? DO YA?" I took a bite of the top cupcake and my mouth was flooded with flavour. I moaned and Luna nudged me. "What? They're good!" I replied to her teasing. Pinkie was estatic. "Okay Pinkie, lets have Rainbow up now" Twilight said, a hint of frustraion in her voice, dragging Pinkie back with her magic. Rainbow stood up and gave Luna and I her presents. They weren't wrapped very well, but I was taught never to judge a book by it's cover, and that was right. Inside were our presents were necklaces. "They're cloudstone" Rainbow informered Luna and I "You have no idea how hard it was for me to get them and to make them right for you guys to be able to touch them". That made Luna and I gasp even more. The necklace looked like a thin chain of clouds, but was hard like a stone.. hence cloudstone. "One size fits all" Rainbow said triumphantly as she helped Luna and I put them on. She had experience with moving clouds, so it was more or less the only way Luna and I could actaully put them on. "Wow they suit you both so well" Rainbow said with a victory smile. "I agree, yo ulook very dashing Jackson" Rarity said to me. "Luna looks amazing" Fluttershy said softly. Twilight instructed the other ponies up before giving her own, which were two books on romance. Gee hint hint Twilight. Applejack gave me a ten gallon hat and Luna a few bottles of hard cider. Luna looked unsure why she gave her that, and Applejack whispered something in her ear. I still have no idea what she said, but whatever it was can make Luna blush as red as a lobster. Fluttershy had given us small indoor plants that grew minature apples. Applejack was amazed. Now, it was our turn to give the presents. I picked up my bag from the side of the couch and unbuttons the strap which was holding it closed. Luna had given everypony a ticket to the Hearth Warming Masquerade Ball in Canterlot which was in a weeks time. Rarity was the most excited. I took out the first present, which was for Fluttershy. It was her favourite flower, but had been enchanted so it would never die. Rarity's present was a needle and thread, which were enchanted to bring good fortune. Rainbow received a jacket and a pair of flying goggles, which she adored. Twilight got a book to do with romance, which was a coincidence due to what she got me. For Pinkie, I had a bottle of the hottest hot sauce I could find, which was supposedly imported from Tumbleweed's homeland. And last but not least, Applejack. "Now, I couldn't think of anything to get you" I confessed, kneeling down infront of her "But at the last second it struck me". I pulled out an enchanted Red Ribbon, which I tied around the base of her hat. "Whenever you need someone to talk to, or you just feel lonely.. All you need to do is whistle and I'll be there" I whispered into her ear "I know it's not much compared to everypony else's presents, but I want you to know no matter where I am I'm always here for you". Applejack's eyes started to tear up. "It's perfect Jackson" she told me, letting a few tears roll down her freckled cheeks. Her friends were shocked that one of their most strongest friends was now crying. I wrapped my arms around Applejack, and soon found that every other pony was hugging her too. The rest of the night consisted of truth and dare, which had Luna and I kissing infront of everypony. Thanks Pinkie. Then something that was going to happen, happened. "Truth or dare?" Rainbow asked me. "Truth" I replied. "Ahhhh you baby! Alright let me think" Rainbow said as she rose her hoof to her chin and squinted her eyes "Alright got it!" "Why were you really kicked out of the castle?" Rainbow asked, at which everypony's ears poked up. I let out a long sigh "Guess I have to answer it don't I?". Luna saw my distress and shuffled over to my side, wrapping herself around my body. Rainbow looked like she was regretting asking me the question. "Well you guys remember how Luna and I were spending heaps of time in Ponyville not so long ago right?" The girls all nodded. "Well Celestia got a little jealous, and angry that I took Luna away from her" I said, and Luna gripped me tighter. "Celestia wouldn't act like that" Twilight said, not accepting what I had said. "She did" Luna replied before I could speak. "But why? The Celestia I know wouldn't do that" Twilight protested. "Well what if you lost spike for a thousand years, finally got him back just to have him taken away?" I asked her. Twilight remained silent, and my eyes started to tear up ""I took away the thing that ment the most to her away, without even knowing it" My voice was getting louder "I brought this on myself. All I've ever done is hurt people, and been blamed for things that I didn't even do" "Jackson.. It's not like that" luna cooed into my ear, trying to calm me. It worked for a moment, but soon my anger took over. "I need fresh air" I said as I got up and stormed for the door. "Jackson wait!" I heard Rainbow Dash call. I took one look back at the ponies, before I shook my head. "I'm just going to hurt you too" I said as I closed the behind me. "What'd I miss?" I heard Spike's voice coming from the library as I turned to leave Ponyville with one destination. Everfree Forrest.
Chapter Sixteen: ..Jackson?View OnlineUnto A New WorldChapter Sixteen: ..Jackson?A/N: This chapter is written in Luna's POV. Yes, the WHOLE chapter. Chapter Sixteen: ..Jackson? "Jackson" I called as I watched my love leave the library. I should have stopped him answering the question. I watched his face turn from one of joy and laughter to one of sorrow and pain. All I did was hug him, it's all I could do. I galloped to the door and opened it with my magic, and found myself out in the street. Jackson was nowhere in sight. "Jackson!" I yelled into the warm, crisp summer night air, the warmth was licking at my ears, making them twitch "Jackson where are you?" I yelled again, still no response. I saw a light turn on in a nearby house "Hey shuttup would y-" the voice stopped, realising who he was scolding at "P-princess I'm so sorry please forgive me". "It's alright my faithful subject" I said, trying to mimic my sister. I felt so stupid "I am sorry, you should be forgiving me. I will let you rest in peace". "Goodnight Princess" Said the stallion, he obviously liked his sleep. I had to find Jackson. He has no idea how dangerous Equestria at night. He was lucky to survive being kicked out of the castle. I tried my best to make the moon as bright as possible, but that's ALL I could do. When he was gone, I only had the guitar he gave me left. I was so sad. But I supressed my sadness, building a wall around the thought of him dying. Now.. it was now coming back. Twilight and the other five came out to find me in a mess on the ground, drenched in my own tears. "We'll find him Princess" Twilight told me, putting her hoof on my back. "I couldn't find him anywhere" I sobbed pathetically "I don't think he's in Ponyville anymore" "I.. I'm sorry" Rainbow said empathetically, trying to fix what she had done "I didn't mean for this to happen". "It's.. I.." I started, trying to get my brain to work "I would say it's alright Rainbow Dash, but he's missing". I saw Rainbow's face drop, and Fluttershy placed a wing over her. "Though you couldn't have known how he'd act so it's not your fault" I finished, but the cyan mare didn't change any emotion. "Princess.." I heard Twilight say into my right ear, her forelegs were around my neck "There is no way that we would be able to find him in the dark, lets look tomorrow okay?" I nodded. Oh why did I nod? This wasn't what I wanted at all. I stayed at Vinyl's that night. I couldn't stay at Twilight's, I couldn't sleep there. Vinyl and Redheart comforted me. Redheart had finished work and they were both getting ready for bed. I felt terrible. "What's wrong Luna?" Asked Redheart, seeing the state I was in. My eyeliner was running down from my red puffyeyes. I took in a big sniff. "Jackson.." I started "Ran away". "What? How? What happened?" Red and Vinyl asked. "Rainbow Dash asked him why he was kicked out of the palace. He explained but Twilight and the others couldn't see why Celestia acted that way and then he.. he just broke down and ran" I explained, feeling more tears coming. Red embraced me in a hug while Vinyl paced the room, cussing random words and occasionally saying my love's name. "Does he have any idea how dangerous this was?" Vinyl said sternly. I could detect a hint of panic and anger in her voice "Ohh when I get my hooves on him.." "NO!" I retorted, maybe a little too loudly "Don't hurt him". "I wasn't going to hurt him Luna.. I was going to tie him down and let you have your way with him" She said with a wink. "I'd just let him g-" I realised what she had ment exactly, and felt my face turn beet red "OH!" "VINYL!" Red scolded as she tackled her marefriend "What did I say about teasing Luna and Jackson?" "To be a good little mare and do as I'm told and I'll get rewarded in the be-" Vinyl's voice was cut by Redheart's hoof, which was now inside the DJ's mouth. "VINYL!" Redheart screamed, looking at me with an embarrassed face "The princess.. let alone anypony.. does not need to know about.. THAT.." "You asked" Vinyl teased her mare. 'They're going to be together for a long time' I thought to myself. "What's with all the noise?" A familiar voice called from the hallway. It was Tumbleweed, Vinyl must have been successful in getting her to live with the musicians "Why is the princess crying?" "Sorry Tumbleweed" Vinyl said as she looked down to the floor, hanging her head in shame "Red and I were about to go to bed and then Luna came in and we saw she was crying and we asked what was wrong then I teased Luna with tying Jackson up when I find him so she can have her fun and then Red told me off and then I teased her and then you came down" Vinyl said in one breath. Really? Red and her must get up to some fun in there.. I felt myself blush. WHY DID I THINK THAT? "Why are you blushing Princess?" Tumbleweed asked, which made Red and Vinyl turn their heads. "NO REASON" I blurted loudly. "..right" Vinyl replied to my weirdness. I wasn't a social butterfly like my sister. One thousand years on the moon will do that to you "Anyway, time for bed. It's your turn tonight Reddy" She said with a wink. Red.. went Red. I let our a chuckle at my thought, which was heard by all three ponies. "Now what?" Vinyl asked with a roll of her eyes. I pointed a hoof at Redheart "Red's red". Vinyl and Tumbleweed chuckled at my words, which made me feel more confident. I walked over to Redheart and wrapped a wing over her "Come on! It was funny!" I said in a humorous manner, and soon managed to get her to laugh by tickling her underside with the tip on my wing. A few moments of that, and Tumbleweed spoke up. "I can track Jackson for you tomorrow Luna" The pretty, exotic mare offered. "That would be great, thankyou Tumbleweed" I said as I dried my eyes for one final time before we all headed for bed. The next day: After a hearty, but awkward breakfast Tumbleweed and I set out to find Jackson. Redheart had work and Vinyl had a meeting to go to, so it was just the two of us. We were walking past the library when Twilight spotted us from the balcony. Oh I really didn't want her to come along. "Princess!" She exclaimed "Are you going to find Jackson? Mind if I come help?" 'Yes' "Not at all young one" 'Goddesses damn it'. That felt weird. "I'll be down in a sec" Twilight said in a giddy manner. "Why?" Tumbleweed asked "She'll slow us down". "I know I just.. can't say no" I whispered, feeling ashamed "I'm not like that" "Well Jackson is one lucky human" Tumbleweed said bashfully as we both waited outside of the library. A few moments later, the door opened and Twilight stepped out. She had spike, her baby dragon, riding on her back, aswell as two saddlebags full of items. "What's in the saddlebags?" I asked her quizzically. "A few books on emotions and psychology, food and water" She said proudly. "You won't be needing those Twilight" I sighed, and she just gave me a look that ment that she thought I was wrong. "Fine, let's go". It wasn't long until, would have been shorter if we didn't need to take so many breaks for a certain purple unicorn, Tumbleweed traced his tracks into The Everfree Forrest. Ofcourse he went in there. I was starting to panic more than before. He could be dead for all I know. I really hoped he wasn't dead. 'Luna? What's wrong? I can feel your distress..' Celestia asked me. We have always had a strong magical bond between us. 'Jackson has run away' I told her bluntly 'We've tracked him to Everyfree Forrest. I don't want to talk about it until we've found him okay?' My sister went quiet for a few moments, before replying. '..sure' Her voice sounded hurt, making me inwardly wince. "His steps have gotten closer here, which means he was slowing down" Tumbleweed informed me "Is that.. blood?" She waved me over to where she was loooking, a tree. upon it's bark was a small smear of blood and the trail led straight up to it. "Is that his?" I asked, panic was rising to an all new high. "There's no way to be sure, but clues say yes" She said in a worried tone "If he's injured, he won't be far" "Are these hoof marks?" Twilight spoke up from behind us. Surprisingly, they were. "Good work Twilight" I said with a genuine smile. She wasn't THAT bad, actually kind of cute. Maybe I should hook her up with somepony. 'Argh! Brain focus!' I told myself, mentally punishing my own mind. "Zecora's hut isnt far, and if there are hoofmarks where Jackson's tracks stop then maybe she took him?" Twilight suggested. "Or it could have been a werepony" Tumbleweed said, pure worry on her face. My eyes went wide and I looked to Twilight for an answer. "There's no such thing as a werepony Tumbleweed, that's just an old mare's tale" Twilight reassured me and Tumbleweed. I let out a breath that I didn't realise I was holding. "Where's Zecora's hut?" I asked the unicorn. I knew that Tumbleweed could find it herself, but if Twilight knew the way then it would make everything faster. "Follow me" She said with a swish of her tail and a pleased look on her face. Oh goddesses. I chuckled again at this. Jackson had only started using it, and it sort of caught on I guess. "Zercora?" Twilight called as she pushed open the door to the zebra pony's hut. Inside was dark, maybe a little eerie. In the dense darkness, something stirred. It moaned and hit something before the lights came on and it turned out to be Zecora. "Ah Princess!" Her eyes went wide in panic "Forgive me for I look a mess" She didn't really "It's alright Zecora" I told her. "Zecora, have you seen a creature called Jackson around ehre? We were following footsteps and they turned into hoofsteps" "Hmm" The zebra rose her hoof to her chin in thought, and then nodded her head, making her bangles and bells jingle "Do you mean the pink, hairless ape?" "HEY!" I yelled but then retorted, thinking about what she said. He actually was a pink, hairless ape "Sorry, never mind" Twilight gave me a stare and turned back to Zecora "Where did he go?" "He stayed the night here because he was quite ill, but this morning made his way back to Ponyville" Zecora rhymed. The three of us remained silent. "Did he say anything?" I asked. "He did not speak much, but he did talk about a certain bunch" Zecora replied. "What did he say?" Twilight asked nervously. "He asked me not to tell, you will have to learn about this without putting him under a spell" The zebra mare said with an added emphasis. "Thanks for you help Zecora" Twilight thanked, aswell as Tumbleweed and I. The three of us left the hut and followed the trail back to the entrance of The Everfree Forrest, true to Zecora's word. The trail led us back to the outside of Ponyville and underneath a cloud house. At the base of a nearby tree, sat a cyan blue pegasus and with her was Jackson, who had no shirt on and a bandage wrapped around him, aswell as one that was on his hand and up his right wrist. Jackson's left arm, which appeared unharmed, was wrapped around Rainbow Dash. The both looked up and saw us and said a few words before getting up and making their way over to us. "Hey" Jackson said. "Hey.. HEY? THAT'S ALL YOU CAN SAY?" I screamed at him, which made him hide behind Rainbow "I THOUGHT YOU DIED!" "I'm sorry.." He said softly, looking down at the floor. "I know you didn't want to answer the question lastnight, I was going to stop you but I didn't" I told him. "It's not that. It was.. something else" Jackson said sadly, and Rainbow nuzzled his neck. "What's going on?" Twilight asked, confused as the rest of us. "I sought out Rainbow this morning to tell her it wasn't her fault.. and the real reason I left lastnight" Jackson retorted. "Well?" I asked sternly "What is it?" "I'd rather not talk about it right now. I had Rainbow swear she wouldn't tell anypony. THAT'S how I felt about it.. I don't want to go around telling ponies" He told us. "Let's get back to Vinyl's then. You have some explaining to do" I ordered. "I actually have plans with Applejack this morning and I'm not one to go back on things like that" He objected, but soon gave in once I gave him my puppy eyes look. I nearly had to let out a tear to get him to come. On the way back to the DJ's house, Twilight left back to her library. Tumbleweed, Jackson and I made our way through Vinyl's front door. 'Luna, I'm happy that Jackson is safe' Celestia said with her usual motherly tone. 'As am I sister. It seems he still hasn't gotten over the whole ordeal that happened at the castle. I hope you know what you're doing at the masquerade ball..' 'Don't you trust your own sister?' 'Of course I do.. and Celly?' 'Yes Lunacae?' 'Don't call me that' I felt my cheeks go red 'Nopony calls me that. Anyway I'm sorry for how I treated you lastnight. I'll talk to you about it later today okay?' 'You had good reason to Lunacae. I look forward to talking with you, because I too have some things that I need to talk about' 'Until later' "Luuuuuuuunaaaaaaa" I heard Red's voice call, and was started when I saw a hoof infront of my face. "Sorry but you were sort of out of it there.." The white nurse mare told me "Jackson's wounds are minor compared to before, but not too serious. I have to look after him again" "Well I wouldn't have anypony else look after him" I replied, making Red blush. "Aww I'm not THAT good, but thankyou" She said, accepting the compliment "I'll need t-" Redheart was cut off by Jackson screaming. "Vinyl! What are you doing? Untie me!" He tried to thrash about, but Vinyl had his arms and legs bound, and he was lying on his side on the floor, sitting ontop of him was the DJ responsible, who was laughing loudly. "Here you are Luna, have fun" She said, poking her tounge out at Jackson "Don't ever do that to us again" "I won't just untie me!" Jackson yelled. Vinyl got up off him and trotted up to Red and I "He's all yours" She whispered as she dragged Redheart out through the door, followed by Tumbleweed. The DJ looked back at Jackson "Thanks for dinner by the way Jackson, it was so sweet. We had a great time. Toodles" And with that everypony was gone except for me, and the human lying on the floor. "Luna, untie me please!" He begged. "Hmm.. let me think about that" I said as a slowly walked over to him and crouched behind him. "Nah.. I want to have some fun" "What kind of fun?" He asked me, a hint of panic in his voice. "Nothing to worry about my love. You trust me do you not?" "I.. I do.." "Then you have nothing to fear" I assured him. I levitated Jackson off the ground and made my way to the bedroom. Oh this is going to be fun.
Chapter Seventeen: Bliss ExplicitView OnlineUnto A New WorldChapter Seventeen: Bliss ExplicitA/N: WARNING: Explicit Version. You have been warned. Also it was meant to be portrayed as a little awkward for Jackson and Luna.. plus I've never written a sex scene before. This chapter is back to Jackson's POV. Enjoy or not. Whatever. EDIT - SCREW IT IM JUST HAVING THE SEXY CHAPTER. NO CLEAN VERSION. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ SCROLL DOWN TO PAGE BREAK. Chapter Seventeen: Bliss. I looked towards Luna, whose horn was glowing; her magic was wrapping my body. It was a tingling sensation, and the last time she picked me up it wasn't there. She opened the bedroom door and laid me on the bed. "That was naughty running away like that and making everypony scared," Luna said as she climbed up onto the bed and lay on my stomach and chest. Her face was inches from mine, "Now you have to be punished." Without hesitation, Luna drove her tongue into my mouth, exploring the inside. I fought back with my own, trying to force her out my mouth, but it was no use. Her tongue was so much stronger; she'd probably done this before. Luna parted our lips so we could breathe, before she went back to kissing. Slowly, she started to kiss my neck; moving down at a slow speed. Her lips kissed the bandaged on my chest, as well as around my belly button; going down in a straight line to my pants. Luna's lips scrunched up and she frowned when she looked at them. "I'm going to have to untie you to get these off," Luna told me, and I nodded. "No running off?" I shook my head. Slowly, she untied the knots that Vinyl had made. I began to feel jealous of Redheart. Luna used her magic to pick me up while pulling off my pants with her teeth, revealing my boxers. "More? Seriously?" She teased and she proceeded to take off my last layer of clothes; leaving my shaft exposed to her face. Luna grinned devilishly "I wonder what it tastes like?" She said as she began to tie me up again. "What are you doing? I thought the agreement was I wouldn't run away?" I retorted, unable to move my legs due to her strong magic. "Hush," She said as she finished tying my legs back together "You are only allowed to speak when spoken to, understand?" I nodded furiously. "You will also call me Miss Luna or Princess," She ordered. "Seriously?" I said sarcastically. Luna bopped my nose with her hoof, making my eyes water. "What was that?" she asked in a powerful tone. "Yes Miss Luna," I replied, before she put a hoof in my mouth. "No more talking." She ordered as her head slipped from my view. I heard her walk around me and get onto the bed beside me. "Do you love me?" Luna asked. Were we really going there.. now? "You already know I do, Miss Luna," I replied, obeying her rules. "Say it." "I love you Lu-Princess." "Good. I love you too," was the last thing she said before she untied my hands and laid down upon her stomach. I got the hint, and my hands found their way onto her shoulders. My fingers were pressing firmly into her back, every now and then Luna would moan when her muscles relaxed. My hands moved lower, massaging her spine on the way down. I placed small kisses on her back where I had massaged, sending small jolts of pleasure through her body. She started moaning again. I moved down to her flanks, where I got a good look at her cutie mark. I pressed my forefinger onto it. Luna moaned louder than before; obviously cutie marks were sensitive. A grin appeared on my face as I bent down and gave it a kiss, tracing the crescent moon with my tongue. My tongue started to move to her nethers when I was stopped and bopped on the nose again. "I am in charge here, you are my slave for the time being.. seeing as you ran away and all." Luna said in a stern voice, and held out her left hoof. "Kiss it." I just sat there looking at her. I was her slave? "Kiss it," she said a second time, waiving it in the air. I leant in and kissed it. "This hoof has been tense lately. The Princess wants it to be massaged," she said in a way that made her a little scary. I obeyed, massaging her hoof and leg. Luna flopped back down on the bed, moaning when I hit the tense spots. I sighed to myself, I wasn't erect anymore. "My love?" Luna said upon hearing my sigh "What's wrong?" "Nothing Miss Luna," I replied, not making eye contact, as I continued to massage her legs. I stole a quick glance of her face, and she was looking down at, well, me. "Oh, I can fix that," She said with a seductive wink. Luna placed her hooves over my member and started to massage it. Considering ponies don't have fingers, she was doing pretty well. When it got hard, she started to jerk it up and down, making me moan. "Told you I could fix it," She said triumphantly. "Princess.. I-I'm close.." I said as I shivered with pleasure. "What does that me-OH!" Luna realized and stopped. "Why'd you stop?" I asked, my eye pleading her to continue. Luna went to the other side of the bed and untied both my arms and legs. It felt so much better to be able to move. The dark blue mare presented her rump to me, sticking it high into the air. "It's my turn" Luna said with a smirk on her face. I crawled over to her on the giant bed, and touched her nether lips with a finger, making her shudder in delight. I rubbed her slit, and slowly my finger started to get sticky and wet. "What's this?" I said with a grin, "Princess juice?" "Did I say you could speak? No." She said as she kicked her right hind leg out, making contact with my chest "Lick it." "I'm sorry Miss Luna," I whimpered, rubbed the now reddening mark on my chest. That was going to bruise. She just clipped my wound. I lent in close to Luna's round ass. I took in a deep whiff of her scent. It was a light musky odor, but had a sweet after-smell. I slowly stuck out my tongue and touched it to Luna's lips. My mouth was bombarded with flavor. It wasn't the best tasting thing in the world, but it was nice enough to do it again. So I did; but this time, I licked all around the pink before pushing my tongue inside. Luna was moaning, and started to thrust her hips into my face; making my tongue plunge deeper. By now, she was incredibly wet. Her juices flowed out onto the bed. "Jackson?" Luna said between her moans. I took my tongue out momentarily, "Yes Princess?" "I'm.. I'm ready," She said. Her cheeks darkened a little more than what they had been. I rose to my knees, and Luna lowered her rump making it easier for me to reach. One hand was one her flank, covering her cutie mark, while the other guided me into her hole. She stopped me as I touched her. "Jackson wait," She said quickly. "What is it Miss Luna?" I asked, the anticipation was intense. "It.. it's actually my first time believe it or not," She said shyly. "Don't worry. It's mine too, except I've had a little experience with foreplay. You see, there was this party an-" "Shh! You're talking too much," She interrupted, "Just, go slow okay?" "As you wish Princess," I said with a wink and proceeded to push my length inside of her. She squealed when I got halfway. She started to bleed. Luna had just given me the most precious gift. Her virginity. "You can put the rest in when you stop staying still.." Luna said bashfully "Happy Hearths Warming" "You too Princess," I said as I pushed the rest of my length inside of her. I slowly thrust into her; her ass slapping against my waist. "Oh my god, this is amazing!" Luna screamed as her body tensed up and released again. "Agreed.. Miss Luna," I said, gasping for air as the walls of her slit clenched around my shaft. Five minutes of this, and Luna spoke up again. "Jackson.. I.. want to.. ride you," She moaned. I obliged, sliding my dick out of her wet hole. I laid on my back, and Luna stood over the top of me. She used her magic to stand my rod up as she slid it into her pussy. She was in control.. as she seemed to like. Luna started off slow at first, but eventually gained speed. "P-princess.. I'm close.." I stuttered as she pounded away. Her hips were moving faster and faster. "Hold on for a few more seconds," She whimpered as she let out a loud screaming moan. I felt her pussy clench around my cock, and she came to a shuddering orgasm. I felt her fluids running down my shaft, and I released, sending my seed deep inside her. Luna slumped down on top of me, legs and wings spread out on the bed. "I.. love.. you," She said between pants. "I love you too Miss Luna," I said as I gave her a kiss. We just lay there in each other's embrace for what felt like hours. I loved Luna so much. -PAGE BREAK- An hour later: Luna had fallen asleep ontop of me, and now I was encased in a caccoon of feathers, wings, sweat, legs and love juice.. I had to go see Applejack.. I was going to be late. I carefully levitated Luna off me with my magic and laid her on the bed next to me. I rose from the bed and showered and dressed myself, before grabbing my guitar from the corner of the room and opened the door. I turned back at my sleeping angel, she could sleep through anything. I could hear Vinyl and Redheart talking and laughing as I walked down the hallway. I followed their voices to the soundproof room, where they were playing around with the dials and switches on Vinyl's mixing board. They didn't know I was there, so I silently watched them. Redheart was singing into a microphone, and Vinyl touched a dial which changed the sound of her voice. She sounded like a large stallion, similar to Applejack's brother. I let out a small chuckle, which made Red and Vinyl jump. "Jackson! You scared the horn off me!" Vinyl exclaimed as she got up from her swivel chair and gave me a hug. "I'm sorry but that was incredibly cute" I teased, making both the ponies blush. "Not as cute as watching Luna carry you to the bedroom" Vinyl replied, nudging my with a hoof "How was it? Sounded alright" "VINYL! Don't you think that's a little personal?" Redheart scolded as she tackled the mare, pushing her over playfully "Buuuut it would be great to know, I could write it down and keep it as useful information" "Useful information for what Reddy? You and your hoof?" Vinyl teased again. I chuckled. Redheart went bright red and shook her head in embarrassment, covering her face with a hoof. "Pretend you didn't hear that" Red begged awkwardly. "Pretend like we didn't hear you and Lu-" Red tackled Vinyl again. She was a white and pink blur. "STOP IT VINYL!" She ordered, bopping her marefriend on the nose. "Never! MWUAHAHAHA!" Vinyl laughed with a sinister tone as she pushed Redheart off her and ran for the door "Jackson and Luna in the bedroom. H-U-M-P-I-N-G!" Oh it was on. I placed the guitar by the door and chased after the cheeky white DJ, followed by my good friend Redheart. She was gallooping along side me and decided to start a conversation. "Jackson.. I just want you to know how much I appreciate everything that you've done for Vinyl and me" She told me "And that dinner last night was so romantic and amazing. You really didn't have to do it" "You were my first and best friend in this world Redheart, besides Celestia and Luna.. but they don't count" I said to her as we turned a corner into the kitchen "I love you both to bits, and you've both done so much for me I couldn't help myself" "I love you too. You know, you've been my best friend lately too. I actually need to talk to you later, if that's alright?" Redheart asked politely. "That's no problem Red, I'm always here for you" My words made Red blush. "Thankyou Jackson, I mean it" she gushed "I need to take a look at those wounds before you go too" "No problem" I said as we backed Vinyl into a corner. "Guys it was a joke come on" She said as she tried to back up more, as if she could push herself through the wall. I fouund some rope in a nearby drawer. "Time to repay the favor Vinyl" I said as I replicated Vinyl's evil laugh and proceded to tie Vinyl's fore and hind legs while Redheart help her inplace. I was done in a few moments and I stood back, admiring my work. "She's all yours Redheart, I think she needs punishing" I said with a chuckle. Redheart blushed and moved over to the side of the kitchen, leaving Vinyl tied on the floor, she gestured me to sit up on the bench. I did what she asked as she brought a chair over for her to stand on. She slowly took off my bandages to reveal the cuts and lacerations I had received the night before. "Where's this bruise from? It wasn't there before.." She said, pointing to the hoofmark on my chest. "Lu-nowhere" I lied. She looked at me with a smirk and a wink. She knew. Out of nowhere, she pulled out a medicine box and placed it on the counter. Out of it, she pulled some cream and more bandages. "Now this may sting, but it will help. No more strenuous activity until I say it's alright okay?" She said half sternly half humored. She put some of the cream on her hoof and proceded to rub it onto my wounds. Sting? More like being re-cut open. I tried to hide the pain as well as I could "Ow! Thanky-Ow!" It was over faster than I thought and Red was wrapping me in bandages again. "That's all you big baby" Redheart teased as she finished wrapping my bandages. "I've seen foals complain less" I nudged her with a fist "I'd like to see how you'd act in this situation" "I'd handle it better than you" Redheart poked her tounge out with a 'humph'. "Oh? Well next time you get hurt I'll play doctor with you and let Vinyl examine you" I replied. The white nurse mare's cheeks turned to a shade of bright crimson "You wouldn't!" "Oh I totally would" I teased again as I got up from the bench, slid my shirt back on and proceded to the door. I looked back to see a helpless DJ lying on the floor and a Pink haired nurse looking.. very.. happy. "Have fun! Toodles!" I copied Vinyl's goodbye from earlier, making Redheart chuckled and Vinyl blush. "You look a little under the weather there Vinny, I suppose I have to give you a full checkup" I heard Red say as I exited the room. I made my way back to the recording room to pickup my guitar, which was slung over my shoulder. Walking towards the door, I passed Redheart who gave me a wink. She was carrying Vinyl on her back. The DJ had a look of horror mixed with excitement plastered on her face. "I've written Luna a note, which I'll leave infront of her door" Redheart told me "I said she could meet you tonight at the Ali'vous resturant. I'm going to treat us all to dinner" "You really don't have to Redheart" I said. "But I want to. Now be there at six" She instructed. "Will do" I saluted "Uh.. Redheart? What time is it now?" "One in the afternoon" she replied. 'Five hours should be enough time for AJ and I today' I thought to myself. "Thanks Red, I'll see you tonight!" I said as I opened the front door, but was stopped by Vinyl's voice. "JACKSON HELP ME!" She yelled. "Redheart? Can you hear something?" I said, acting like I couldn't hear her. "Might just be the wind" It was a still day. "See you!" I said as I left the house, making my way to Sweet Apple Acres. I walked down the long, dirt road. It must have rained out here in the countryside, because the dirt was sticking to the bottom of my shoes. Half an hour later and I turned up on the doorstep on the large, red barnhouse. I knocked three times and waited a few minutes, before the door slowly opened. "JACKSON!" Applejack's cute little sister screamed in a happy tone. I crouched down and she ran up and gave me a hug. "Good afternoon Applebloom, is Applejack home?" I asked, getting to the point quickly. "She left ah'round an hour ago" Applebloom informed me as she broke our minute long hug "Said somethin' about goin' to the market. She said to let you in if you got here when she was out.. So come in ah 'spose" She said with a smile, and then her eyes turned wide "We can play ah game!" "That's a great idea Applebloom" I said as I entered the Apple house hold and placed my guitar by the front door "What did you have in mind?" "How about hide an' go seek?" Applebloom suggested. "That sounds fun!" I replied, earning a massive smile of respect from the little filly. "GREAT! Now you go count to thirty outside and ah'll hide ah'right?" Applebloom told me the rules, which I agreed to and went out the front door to start counting. "ONE!" I called out loudly so the yellow filly could hear me. I heard her giggles and the sound of hooves running on the floor. She had little legs, so her hooves made contact more often compared to an older mare. "TWENTYNINE! THIRTY! READY OR NOT HERE I COME" I called out into the house through the opening door. I could hear her giggling in the house, but I had no clue where she was. I wasn't going to cheat with a vision spell this time. "Ooooooooh Aaaaaaapleblooooom!" I called out, knowing she could hear me "When I find you I'm going see just how ticklish you really are!" "No!" I heard her cute little voice call from behind me, followed by an 'eep!'. I turned slowly to see that the little filly had been following me. She must have been hiding behind the door and kept out of my sight the whole time. She turned and ran away from me, deeper into her home. I slowly chased her while saying things to tease her "Where are you going Applebloom? I thought we were going to play?" She just giggle and ran. I cornered her at the end of the hallway, well atleast I thought I did. She charged at my legs, which opened and let her through. "Sneaky filly!" I said to her as she ran back down the hallway. Applebloom laughed "No! You're just too slow!". "I'll show you slow! Wait.." I thought about what I had said and Applebloom laughed harder. I chased the filly into the loungeroom, where I decided to catch her. I picked her up by her waist, and she responded by flailing her legs around in the air. Slowly, I turned her over and put her back onto the shaggy carpet beneath us. I used both hands to tickle her stomach and under her forelegs. "AHAHAHA STOP IT!" Applebloom cried out in laughter "JACKSON AHAHAHAHA! STOP IT STOP IT!" I continued to tickle her as the front door opened and revealed a surprised Applejack. "AJ HELP ME AHAHAHAHA!" Applebloom begged her sister. Applejack laughed casually, before she instantaneously moved into a gallop and tackled me off her little sister. "NOW APPLEBLOOM" She said as she lay ontop of me "GET HIM!". "No no no NO!" I yelled as Applebloom camed over and started to tickle me back "AHAHAHAHAHA!". Applejack joined in on tickling me, each of the ponies took a side each. "I CAN'T BREATHE AHAHAHA!" I yelled after a couple of minutes of torture "AHAHSTOPAHAHA! "I think he's had enough now Applebloom" AJ told her sister, who gave her a wide grin back. "That was so fun!" She giggle and clopped her hooves together "Why can't you ever come around whenever Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are here?" I slowly recovered from my torture "Well tell me the next time they are! How about I come to school with you for a day?" "Will you really? That would be so cool!" Applebloom said excitedly "We have show and tell on Monday, so you can come in then!" I nodded "When do you start school?" I asked. "Eight thirty in tha' mornin'" Applebloom told me. "Great, I'll meet you in the town square on Monday" I said as I gave the filly a hug. "Applebloom, can you go play with your friends?" Applejack asked "Jackson and I have some things to do and talk about". "Grown up things?" Applebloom asked innocently. "No, but I'd rather you didn't know about it just yet sugarcube" Applejack said as her face drooped. "Okay Sis" Applebloom said as she got up off the rug "See you later". "Thankyou Applebloom" I replied to her as she left the house. "You and her get along so well, and I usually don't see her so happy and excited" Applejack told me with a smile "You should come over more often". "I might just do that AJ" I said as I opened my arms for a hug, kneeling on the rug. Applejack got up from her position on the rug and came in close to me, embracing me with a tight hug. It was a typical, friendly, country hug.. except I could detect that she was holding onto me with a little more than happy feelings. It was almost like she was sad.. which is true because of what was happening with Granny Smith. "C'mon, lets go up to my room" Applejack said softly as she broke the long hug. I nodded as she helped me up, and I moved to the door and picked up my guitar, then followed Applejack up to her room. I liked Applejack's room. Every time I was in here I'd see something new that I didn't see before, like that statue of a rooster on a shelf. 'How do ponies make things like that?' I thought to myself as Applejack sat on the bed that was closest to the window. "That was given to me by my great grand pappy when I was born" Applejack said when she saw me looking at it. "Come over here" She said with a pat on the bed next to her. I obliged, walking over to the bed, and taking a seat next to the orange mare. "I've written some lyrics and I have a sound for that there guitar of yours can make to go with them.. that is if you're good enough" She teased with a nudge as I brought the guitar around my neck and into my lap. I took the pick out of the strings and played every string to make sure it was in tune. "Of course I'm good enough, that's like saying you can't buck apple trees" I teased back, looking at her flanks "Or saying you have smaller leg muscles than Rainbow Dash". "Hey! I'll have you know my muscles are well bigger than that featherbrain's!" Applejack retorted. I rolled my eyes "Sure sure". "Whatever, lets just get this song started ya' foal" Applejack said with a chuckle. I stuck my tounge out at the mare, before turning attentive to her. "So the guitar should sound like this.." Applejack made noises with her mouth and suprisingly it sounded good "Can you do that?" I gave her a wink before I started to replicate her music idea. Thirty minutes later, and I had the song pretty much down pat. It was just a lot of repetitive chords. "Do you want to sing to the music now?" I asked Applejack, who returned my question with an uneasy smile. "O-okay but I have to be honest with you.. I'm not the best singer" She said as she dropped her head, hat covering her face. I took her hat off and placed it on the bed beside me, then lifted her chin with my finger and looked her in the eyes. "You don't need to be shy around me" I told her. "I'm not sure.. it's just I thin-no I know everypony else has a better voice than me. Not that I'm really bothered, I care more about my apples than singing. But when everypony breaks out into these song things I always think I let them down" She confessed. "Well let me hear your voice, and I'll be the judge alright?" I asked. "Alright Sugar" She said softly, nearly a whisper. I started to play the music that Applejack had taught me, and it came out fluently, not counting the mistakes I made, but I just kept playing through. Then AJ's voice came in. 'And now I know the only compass that I need is the one that leads back to you. And I know the only compass that I need, oh is the one that leads back to you. And the burning blisters on my feet will calm, So hold me as I'm close to flaw. Away from the warmth of your arms I stay, off the radar and into harms way. Now I know the only compass that I need, oh is the one that leads back to you.' Now came the 'instrumental' part as AJ called it. I decided to hum a tune that was going in my head that we could use. I was thinking of trumpets along with the guitar. 'Yeah, coffee will raise the head again, cokes that lead us from the pain. Words just sit like empty scribbles, such empty caffeinated widows. Now I know the only compass that I need is the one that leads back to you. Now I know the only compass that I need, oh is the one that leads back to you.' The sing had finished in around three minutes. I wiped a tear from my eye. "That bad eh?" AJ put herself down. "That was amazing. Your voice is better than many others that I've heard. In fact I loved your voice. I could listen to it for hours" I gushed, making Applejack perk her ears up. She let out a small blush. "Aw shucks Sugarcube, you've gone and made me all red like" She said in an embarrassed tone. "Again?" I asked as I placed Applejack's hat back on her head. "Again" Applejack confirmed with a nod. Later that day: "Cya Applejack!" I said as I gave her a hug "I'll let you know when we can use the recording studio" "Thanks Hon" she replied with a large smile "You really are a good friend". "Not forgetting me are you?" Applebloom said with a stomp of her hoof. "How could I forget my most favourite filly?" I said as I gave her a tight hug. "Aww" Applebloom replied in my ear, and as I broke the hug I saw her cheeks were as red as her mane "Don't you go forgettin' about Monday!" "I wouldn't miss it for the world" I replied to her. I got up and started to leave the farm. It was around five at the time. I turned my head back to the barnhouse and saw the two sisters return to the warmth of the house. I could faintly hear Applebloom's words. "Jackson is so awesome! Can ya marry him pahleeeeaaaaassseee?" She begged her sister. "No Applebloom we're just friends, besides things would be awkw-" Applejack's voice was cut by the door shutting behind them. Yes. Very awkward. Fourty or so minutes later I arrived at Ponyville and was making my way through the town when an idea struck me. It was something Applejack said to me. -Flashback yeah- "Ponies just break out in song and dance" Applejack told me "One pony starts to sing something and then somehow every pony knows the routine and lyrics, like it's some sort of magic that ponies have" -End Flashback- Maybe I should give it a try. I walked the Ponyville square, and there were atleast twenty other ponies around. I spotted Luna and the others walking towards the resturant. 'Perfect' I thought to myself as my memory called up a song. I thought about it as hard as I could. I even thought of John Travolta. "Luna" I called out, making she and the others walked up to me. As she got closer music started to come from nowhere, I started to sing. "I got chills. They're multiplyin'. And I'm losin' control. 'Cause the power, you're supplyin', it's electrifyin'!" Luna's eyes went wide, then a large smirk appeared on her face. She knew what was happening and knew her part because of some unknown magic or something or rather. It's all gobble-dee gook to me. The dark blue mare pushed me away. "You better shape up, 'cause I need a man and my heart is set on you. You better shape up; you better understand to my heart I must be true" I took over as Luna ran away from me, over to a nearby house, which so happened to be Vinyl's. "Nothin' left, nothin' left for me to do". Then we both started to sing and I followed her up the stairs that I knew so well. "You're the one that I want. oo, oo, oo, honey. The one that I want. oo, oo,oo, honey. The one that I want oo, oo, ooooo The one I need. Oh, yes indeed" After we sung 'the one that I want', ponies around us would sing "You are the one I want" in the background, which included Tumbleweed, Redheart and Vinyl, aswell as many other ponies like Bon-Bon and Junebug. After the chorus Luna sang again. "If you're filled with affection You're too shy to convey, Meditate in my direction. Feel your way". Then we both took turns singing. We ran up to the water feature and Luna climbed up on the wall of it's base and started walking around it, I followed "I better shape up, 'cause you need a man" I sang. "I need a man who can keep me satisfied" Luna replied to my lyrics. "I better shape up if I'm gonna prove" I sang again, I put my hands on Luna's waist and she jumped down. We danced through the street, continuing the song. (I'm guessing a pony's waist is halfway down their bodies? Cause that's where I grabbed her) Luna teleported behind me. "You better prove that my faith is justified" Luna sang back to me. Her voice made her all that more attractive. "Are you sure?" I asked in song. "Yes, I'm sure down deep inside" We sang together. We started to sing the last chorus, and every single pony was either dancing or singing along with us. "You're the one that I want. oo, oo, oo, honey. The one that I want. oo, oo,oo, honey. The one that I want oo, oo, ooooo The one I need. Oh, yes indeed. You're the one that I want. oo, oo, oo, honey. The one that I want. oo, oo,oo, honey. The one that I want oo, oo, ooooo The one I need. Oh, yes indeed" The random music stopped. Everypony cheered, amazed at what just happened. "Jackson" Vinyl started "What was that?". "I have no clue" I replied "Applejack thought it was magic that made it happen". I helped Luna down from the water feature. "well she was right, only extremely strong magic casters can use that spell" She told me. "That was a spell?" I exclaimed, wrapping my head around the fact I cast a spell without even knowing it. "Yes, a most amazing one at that" She said with a smile, before she connected her lips with mine. Vinyl, Redheart and Tumbleweed looked at us both with questioning faces. "Magic" I said with a shrug of my shoulders, answering their rising questions. We were finally at Chef Ali'vous's resturant. Redheart had made a reservation, so there was no need for anything like last time to happen. We were shown to a large table in a private seating area. The table had a large, red table cloth draped over it. Ontop were eating utensils and a range of wine and water glasses. "Ah Vinyl! How are you?" I heard Chef Ali'vous call from behind our group. "Hey Ali!" She said as she gave him a hug "I'm fantastic, what about you? How's work?" "I'm am good, thanks for caring young Vinyl" She said with a smile, his moustache wiggled when he did "As for the business, ever since you brought Princess Luna here, it's been booming!" "I'm happy to hear that Mr Ali'vous" Luna said to him with a cheerful smile. "I'll leave you lovers alone for a while to make your orders" He said with a wink and turned to leave. Redheart and Luna blushed, thought Vinyl, Tumblweed and I didn't budge. I could understand why Tumbles wouldn't blush, maybe she DID have somepony to love? I'll have to ask her about it later. Moments later, a waiter came out with a bottle of wine, and took our orders down on a notepad. He were a unicorn, and was levitating both a quill and the notepad. He looked to be still quite young, but had a noticable age difference between Vinyl (being the youngest) and himself. He had wrinkles under his eyes, which were bright blue. His mane and tail were brown and his coat was yellow. An odd combination. He left to the kitchen after scribbling down the orders on his paper and disappeared out of sight. The five of us were having the funniest conversation. Well it wasn't really a conversation as much as Vinyl doing stupid things and the rest of us laughing and telling her what to do next. It started off when Vinyl said "Hey guys check it out". Four heads turned to the white unicorn, and all eye saw that she was drinking wine through her nose. The three girls 'EEWWED' in unison. "AWESOME!" I exclaimed, slamming my hand down on the wooden table and bursting out in laughter, followed by the rest of the ponies. Vinyl couldn't help but laugh, blowing all the wine out of her nose and back into her cup. "AHAHAHA!" She laughed, wiping her nose on her hoof "Okay okay". She swiped a hoof across her face, leaving it dead serious. This just made the four of us laugh even harder. The DJ turned around, hiding her face from our eyes. She turned back around moments later wearing a hilarious face which made us laugh even more. Vinyl silenced her laugh and bit her lip as the waiters came out with our food. They saw three ponies and one human laughing. They looked to Viny, and she just shrugged. Redheart was still laughing loudly and gave Vinyl a nudge to the side, which made Vinyl burst out in laughter again. The waiters just looked at us with smirks and a few chuckled. In total, there were six waiters. Five brought out each of our dishes while the sixth carried more bottles of wine. Vinyl's eyes went wide at the sight of this. She loved alcohol. The waiters placed the food down infront of the respective ponies and myself and left us to eat. The food was much the same as last time. That's all I can really say. We left the resturant and Redheart paid, even when the other four of us protested. She's actually really stubborn. We were walking home, and everypony was a little tipsy. I too was feeling the effects of the wine (which was extrememly expensive by the way), and decided to talk to Tumbleweed. "Hey. Hey Tumbles" I said as I lent against the foriegn pony, who lent back against me. "Hey. Hey Jackson" She replied with a chuckle, and started to wobble "Whoo-ee!" "Woah there" I said as I threw my arms out to catch her slowly falling body "Easy now" "Thanks" She slurred "Did you have a question?" "Actually I did" I replied "Is there.. you know.. a 'special' pony in your life?" I asked awkwardly. "Are you asking me out?" Tumbleweed said in a flirtatious voice. "WHAT? No!" I saw Tumbleweed's face drop. Maybe that was a little harsh "I didn't mean it like that.. I already have Luna you see" "I know and I'm jea-It's great what you two have" Tumbleweed told me, correcting herself halfway. "Well may I ask what type of ponies you're interested in?" I asked her. "You may" Tumbles replied. "Uh.. Will you tell me?" I asked again. "Why do you need to know?" Tumbleweed retorted. I didn't actually know why I was asking that question. I was silent for a while and looked away from Tummbleweed, who soon spoke up. "I'm into mares" She revealed "But I also like stallions. They would have to be smart and cute and funny too" That answers that "Thanks Tumbles" I said as I wrapped my right arm around her neck. We all pushed through Vinyl's front door. Luna had strangely disappeared, but I knew she couldn't have gone far. She was right next to me at the front door. I'm sure she would be up to bed soon. I said my goodnights and made my way to my room, and as I entered.. it felt different. I couldn't put my finger on it.. and just as my brain was about to get angry and make me smash something, I heard something move behind me. I large sillhouette of a pony was standing behind me, before it disappeared in a white flash. "Wha-?" A/N: Okay I admit this chapter was pretty terrible, especially that Grease reference.. (SHAME! I was just bored..).
Chapter Eighteen: Back to SchoolView OnlineUnto A New WorldChapter Eighteen: Back to SchoolA/N: Do you like.. Bananas? No? That's good, 'cause you wont be finding any bananas.. on the mooooooooooooooonaaaaaaa bee-yetch! - Friendship is Magic Bitch. Oh and Applebloom is my favourite filly.. SO DAMN CUTE. Chapter Eighteen: Back to school. "Please read the rest Mommy!" "It's time for bed sweetie, you too Gamble" "But Muuuuuuuuum!" "No buts! The three of you off to bed, or else the monster that eats disobedient fillies will come get you!" "Ahhh!" "DON'T EAT ME!" A few days had passed and it was now Sunday night. I was staying with the Apples so I wouldn't be late for school. Oh man it was weird to say that. I wasn't actually planning on staying the whole day, but word got around and Applebloom's teacher came to see me in the morning. (A/N: This was on Sunday morning before Jackson went to the Apple houshold, just to make sure theres no confusion..) "Jackson? There's a teacher here to see you.." I heard Vinyl's voice call from the front of the house. "What?" I said to myself, squeezing the bridge of my nose as my eyes adjusted to the harsh sunlight. I rolled to my side and saw Luna's beautiful eyes staring at me. "Didn't do your homework?" She teased. "Quiet you" I replied as I kissed her forehead and rose from the bed. I stumbled around the room, trying to find my bearings and when I finally did I made my way down stairs. "Vinyl?" I called out, noticing she wasn't by the door anymore. "In the lounge room!" I heard her voice call from one side of the house. I made my way to the lounge and there was Vinyl sitting on the biggest couch, and next to her was an unfamiliar purple pony. Vinyl turned to me and smiled "This here is Cheerilee". I extended my arm out to the confident looking pony, who placed her hoof in my hand without hesitation. "It's a pleasure to make your aquaintance Jackson" She said, beaming me a smile. I couldn't help but smile back. "As me to you Cheerilee" I said as we broke the handshake. "You guys hungry?" Vinyl asked thoughtfully as she got up from the couch, signalling me to take her seat. "I am actually" I replied "If it wouldn't be too much trouble of course" "I'm feeling a little peckish too" Cheerilee said bashfully. "No problem! I'll be back soon" Vinyl informed as she left towards the kitchen. Cheerilee and I sat in the lounge for a while, and no words were spoken. I guess she was waiting for me to speak first. "Ma-" "S-" "You first" "You first" We both said at the same time, and ended up chuckling over it. "Okay okay you first" I repeated in a friendly manner as I lent back on the couch. Cheerilee cleared her throat before speaking, and she gave me a hearty smile. Her personality was so.. motherly. "So I heard that you were going to school with Applebloom?" She asked me. "Well, I offered to take her to school and she said something about show and tell. I didn't actually say anything about staying" I replied to the purple earth pony, who's smile was still as large as ever. "Yes, young Applebloom gets carried away sometimes" She said with a chuckled and lent back into the couch. She must have been remembering things about the little filly. "I think it would be a great oppertunity if you came into the class for a day" "Oh?" I said, a little shocked from what I heard. School was for little people and I wasn't little! "Why's that?" "Because you can come tell the class about your world and all things human" She replied in her confident tone "Besides I don't think that I'd be able to hold the class's attention if you only stayed for the morning" "I guess I can stay" I said with a smile. "Great, I'll see you tomorrow morning!" She said as she got up from the couch and proceded to leave the house. Vinyl came in just as she left the room "Damn, guess I gotta eat hers then" She said with a chuckle as she sat next to me. I was still thinking about tomorrow. 'Class full of fillies.. how hard could it be?' I thought to myself. Monday morning I was awoken by an eager Applebloom, litterally bouncing ontop of me. I had slept in Applejack's room on the spare bed. Applejack and Big Mac were already out collecting apples and doing everything else they do during the day, so it was just me, Applebloom and Granny Smith. Although Granny Smith would be asleep until a long time later. It was around six in the morning. "Goodmorning Applebloom" I said with a smile as I picked her up from my chest with my hands, her excited bouncing was going to bruise my chest! "Mornin' Jack!" She replied "This is gonna be so cool!" I chuckled at her enthusiasm. I told her I'd be staying for the whole day when I had come around the night before. She bounced like Pinkie would when she's planning a party. I made breakfast while Applebloom was getting ready. I had already had a quick shower in their bathroom and was already dressed. Applebloom came out from the hallway with saddlebags placed upon her back when she saw me in the kitchen. "I made breakfast" I told her, seeing her face turn from a questioning look to a wide grin. "Cool! What did ya make?" she asked as she made her way to the kitchen bench and pulled out a chair, scrambling up to the top. Her saddlebags were left at it's base. "Not much" I said softly, not sure if she'd like it "I didn't really know what you liked" "Ah'll have ya know Mister Jackson, ah'd eat almost anythin'" She said with an even larger grin than before. "Great 'cause I made porridge" I said and winced, tensing for her disapproval. "What are ya doing that for?" She asked innocently "I love porridge!". I smiled as I slid her plate over the benchtop to the small filly. She had her hair thrown back over her shoulders so she wouldn't get it messy. She dug her muzzle into it, and I slowly watched the food in her bowl reduce. I had finished my bowl, using a spoon found in the drawers under the cupboard, and was serving myself seconds when Applebloom asked for more. She licked her lips, and when she looked up to me she had porridge on her snout and nose, and I couldn't help but chuckle. "What did ya put in that?" She asked kindly "When AJ makes porridge for me, it doesn't taste as good as that!" I chuckled again "Just honey, cinnamon, apple slices, sultanas and a pinch of salt" "You can teach AJ!" She exclaimed as she dug her muzzle back into her bowl. 'SO. FREAKING. CUTE' I thought to myself. We were walking through Ponyville Square and Applebloom noticed we were late. I don't know how we were late, we left so early! Okay maybe we got a 'little' distracted.. Then I had an amazing a split second idea. "Applebloom?" I asked. "Yeah Jackson?" She asked back. "Hold on" I told her. "Hold o-AAAAAAHHH!" She let out the cutest squeal as I wrapped my hands around her small waist and tucked her up underneath my arm. I made sure that my guitar wouldn't smack into her before lifting her up. I broke out into a sprint, three times faster than what Applebloom's little legs could take her. "This is so cool!" She yelled up to me, feeling the wind in her hair. She threw her front legs out like Superman. Applebloom was really enjoying this. Soon enough we ended up at the school. I ran up to the front doors, puffing and panting as I set Applebloom down. "That was so fast Mister Jackson!" She said amazed as she hugged my legs and then pulled back "Time to make something up about why we were late ah 'spose". "Leave that up to me" I said with a wink as she walked up to the door. I pushed open the door and stepped aside. "After you Miss Applebloom" I said with a smile, making her blush at my words. Oh yeah, I could make ANYPONY blush. Watch out Celestia.. Oh. "Thank ya kindly" Applebloom said as she walked into her class, and I followed behind her. The walls of the school were covered in paintings (done on paper) which must have been done by the class. Every filly in the classroom turned to see the yellow coated filly and the large human behind her. I could hear them all gasping. "Late again Applebloom?" Asked a small gray coloured filly with a silver mane, in a bully's tone. "What is it this time? Granny Smith needed help finding her glasses again?" Added a pink coloured filly, who was wearing a crown ontop of her purple coloured mane. Both of the fillies started giggling and laughing at Applebloom, who was hanging her head low. "Don't you two fillies have something better to do?" I asked them as I stood over Applebloom in the most protecting way I could. "Don't you have some better filly to protect like Diamond Tiara or I?" Said the grey earth filly. 'Ooooooh' I thought as I mentally punched them in the face. I knew I couldn't really do it, but I've had enough with bullies from when I was younger. I knew what Applebloom felt, but the image of hitting them cleared my memory almost as quickly as it came. I don't know why I thought that. I heard the door that Applebloom and I had just used open. "Goodmorning Class, and you Jackson" Cheerilee said with a warming smile. "Goodmorning Miss Cheerilee" The class responded to their teacher's greeting. "Morning" I responded, returning her smile. I followed Applebloom to her seat, and sat down next to her table in the aisle. Sitting down here, I was just as tall as the rest of the class. I lent in and whispered in Applebloom's ear. "Don't worry about those two" I said as I pointed towards Diamond Tiara and I had yet to discover the other's name. I saw her Cutie mark was a spoon, so I decided I would call her Spoony "I got your back". "Thankyou" was all Applebloom said back as she turned her attention to the teacher. I followed suit, as well as the other class. "This morning we will have some show and tell, and after recess we'll start some hoof paintings" Cheerilee said happily, which made the rest of the class cheer. "What about the ape?" The gray earth filly asked. "That's enough of that Silver Spoon, and I'm sure that he can join in" Cheerilee said as she smiled at me. Cheerilee turned and started to write names on the blackboard with some chalk that she held in her mouth. Her writing was beautiful, all curly and stuff. Sorta similar to the letter I received at home. The purple teacher had to use a set of wooden steps to reach the top of the board, and once she had finished she called out the first name she had written, from a collection of four. "Pip, you're up first for show and tell" Cheerilee announced in a motherly tone. The whole class and I turned around to look at the poor colt. I didn't know who he was, so my eyes were just looking everywhere until he got up. It's a hard walk to get up infront of the class. Pip was a short colt, and looked to be very young. He was white and had brown patches along his coat in various places, including one over his left eye. His mane and tail matched the colour of the patches. He made his way up next to Cheerilee's desk, who whispered some encouraging words to him. "Hi.. uh.." he was pretty nervous, I could see him shaking "So Dinky and I went exploring on the weekend and we found a rock" He said as he pulled out a rock from inside his mane "It looks like a star, so we thought we'd keep it. We were pretending to be pirates for a day and we just found it. It was our bounty" "Arrrr!" I said like a pirate, and the whole class turned to look at me. No pony spoke.. they just stared. I bowed my head and they all turned back around, and Cheerilee just giggled. "Thats all" Pip said as he made his way back to his seat. "Very good Pip!" Cheerilee stoked his confidence "Applebloom, you're up next" I saw Applebloom's eyes grow wide and she got up from her seat. I stood up with her and took the long walk with her. She felt more confident with me by her side. The filly and I stood by Cheerilee's desk and faced the class. "This here is Jackson" Applebloom announced to the class. "Hello Jackson" They chanted back. "Hey there" I said with a wave of my hand. "Jackson is the coolest most awesomest guy anypony will meet. He helps ponies when they are sad, he plays games with me, he makes me food and gets me to school on time. He's like another brother to me" I blushed a little at how much she looked up to me. "Why don't ya tell everypont about ya self Jack?" Applebloom said with a nudge to my leg. I looked towards the eager class, and saw their eyes were all full of questions. "As you now know, my name is Jackson" I startsed as a hoof in the back row shot up."Question in the back row?" "Where did you come from?" Asked a small purple filly. "I was getting to that. I came from a different world" I stated, earning gasps from around the class. Another hoof shot up and I pointed it the blue colt "What do you eat?". Careful Jackson "I'm an omnivore, which means I eat plants and meat" as I said meat all the ponies looked at me in shock and horror "But I don't eat meat anymore! Not in this world" I saw all their faces return to their once eager smiles. I sighed in relief. "Any more questions?" I asked before continuing my story. Diamond Tiara rose her hoof, aswell as Pip. I pointed to the pink pony "Are you and Applebloom colt and filly friends?" She asked with a hint of jealousy in her voice. I guessed that ment like girlfriend/boyfriend. I saw Applebloom blush furiously, I bent down and gave her a hug. "No we aren't Diamond Tiara, I don't think I could bring myself to steal this little gem away from any of the other colts or fillies" I said with a wink towards Applebloom, who blushed even harder. I gave the beet red filly a kiss in the cheek, which made the class 'aww' and Applebloom nearly faint. I stood back up and faced the class "Pip? You had a question" "Um.. Oh yeah! Could you play that thing?" He asked excitedly pointing towards my red guitar, situated near Cheerilee's desk. Cheerilee's eyes grew wide as I looked at her. Her head was furiously nodding, she had been wanting me to play it aswell. "I don't know" I stretched out, making the class and Miss Cheerilee respond with a 'Pleeeeeeaaaseee!'. "Okay fine" I gave in with a chuckle. I went and picked it up, and gave a nod to the teacher as I turned back to face the class. I sat down next to Applebloom, who was still standing at the front. I lent in and whispered in her ear "I'm going to need help with this one". "B-but ah don't know the words and ah can't sing an-" I cut her off by putting my fingers to her lips. She was talking too fast for my brain to comprehend. "Do you trust me?" I asked her with a whisper. "Well.. Ah do bu-" I cut her off again. "Well you're going to have to trust me now alright?" I told her as I placed my pointer and middle fingers on both hands on both sides of her head. "O..okay" She said as she closed her eyes. I too closed my eyes and concentrated on a song. I opened my eyes to see that Applebloom was staring at me, and my fingers were glowing in a red aura, similar to the colour of the filly's hair. 'Well that's new' I thought to myself. "Jackson, ya eyes are glowing" Applebloom whispered. 'That's definately new' I thought again. I pulled my hands away from Appleblooms head and asked her if she knew the song. I was amazed when she said yes. I didn't actually think it would work. I started to strum on my guitar. What would usually be a keyboard, I actually played on my guitar. Applebloom started to sing. "Looking out ah dirty old window. Down below the carts in the town go rushing by. Ah sit here alone and ah wonder why. Friday night and everyone's moving. Ah can feel the heat but it's soothing. Heading down, ah search for the beat in this dirty town" I sang in the background of this part. I sang the 'downtown' lyrics aswell as the chorus, and such is the same for the rest of the song. During the chorus I'd sing 'woah oh'. "Down town the young ones are going. Down town the young ones are growing. We're the foals in Equestria. (Woah oh!) We're the foals in Equestria. (Woah oh!) Everypony live for the music-go-round" "Bright lights the music gets faster. Look boy, don't check on your watch, not another glance. Ah'm not leaving now, honey not ah chance. Hot-shot, give me no problems. Much later baby ya'll be saying never mind. Ya know life is cruel, life is never kind. Kind hearts don't make ah new story. Kind hearts don't grab any glory. We're the foals in Equestria. (Woah oh!) We're the foals in Equestria. (Woah oh!) Everypony live for the music-go-round." I sang the interlude part or whatever you call it. "Na na na na na na. naa na na na na sing it" "Come closer, honey that's better. Got to get ah brand new experience. Feeling right. Oh don't try to stop baby. Hold me tight. Outside ah new day is dawning. Outside Suburbia's sprawling everywhere. Ah don't want to go baby. New Pony to East Coltifornia. There's ah new wave coming ah warn ya. We're the foals in Equestria. (Woah oh!) We're the foals in Equestria. (Woah oh!) Everybody live for the music-go-round. We're the foals We're the foals We're the foals in Equestria" The whole class cheered, except for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. They just stuck their noses up. Even though it was acoustic and had no drums or anything it still sounded cool. Everypony was still congratulating and cheering when Cheerilee dismissed the class for recess. "We'll have the rest of the show and tell's next monday. Everypony enjoy recess!" She said with a chuckle as she watched all the fillies and colts leave the room. Just as I was about to exit, the purple earth pony teacher called me to stay behind. "Jackson can you come here for a second?" She asked. "What is it Cheerilee?" I asked in reply as I laid my guitar down near her desk again. "It's you and Applebloom. I've never seen her so happy in school. Ever" She informed me, making me feel great. "We just click. It's like she's an extension of my personality" I told her "Like my younger self you know?" "I do, that makes a lot of sense. Just look after her alright?" She said with a chuckle. "Will do" I saluted the teacher and left the room with a new sense of confidence. I strided out of the door and saw everypony was sitting at different tables, much like picnic tables. I spotted Applebloom and her friends, and she motioned for me to come over. "Howdy Jackson" Applebloom said as she scooted over on the bench for me to sit next to her. There were two fillies on the other side of the table "This here is Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, these were the two ah said were never around when you came over" I remembered "Oh yeah? It's great to meet you both" I said with a smile. "Yeah just don't try anything" The orange pegasus filly with a purple mane. "SCOOTALOO!" Said the white unicorn next to her "This is the prince you're talking to, remember?" 'What?' I thought to myself 'OH WAIT A MINUTE! I remember these two. They came and got Vinyl's and Luna's autographs at the resturant' "I remember!" I exclaimed "But I'm not a prince anymore, don't ask" "Wasn't planning on it" Scootaloo replied in a 'tough' voice. "Now Scoots be nice" Applebloom told her sternly. "He's got no Cutie Mark though! I don't want anypony or anyhuman joining the CMC" She replied angrily. "Now hold on just a minute" I replied "What is a CMC?" "Well the three of us don't have out cutie marks yet" Sweetie Belle started. "And we were sick of older ponies telling us that we should wait and that it will come in it's own time" Scootaloo continued. "So we do plenty'a stuff to try an' get our cutie marks" Applebloom finished. "That's pretty cool I guess, but humans don't get cutie marks Scootaloo so I won't join you guys. But If you ever need help with anything just ask and I'll be more than happy" I offered. "Thanks Jackson" Sweetie Belle said while taking a sip of her juice. "You're welcome" I said back with a smile. Seeing the three ponies eat made me realise I didn't bring anything. "Hey Applebloom, I forgot to bring stuff to eat, I'll meet you back in class when I'm back alright?" I told her as I rose from my seat. "Where are ya gonna go?" She asked me in her southern accent. "Just to the shops" I bent down and gave her a kiss on her cheek "I'll be back later". The little filly blushed intensely "O-okay". As I left the three fillies, I could hear Sweetie Belle gushing over how cute that was and Scootaloo saying she doesn't like all that sappy stuff. I later returned to the class, halfway through a lesson. They were studying mathematics. Oh lord. "Get lost?" Snickered Diamond Tiara. 'ooooooooh' I thought to myself, mentally counting to ten. "You're back! I didn't think you were going to be.." Cheerilee said as she walked over to me and pulled me away from the class. "You didn't have to come back you know" She whispered to me as we faced away from the class. "I know, but I wanted to be here for Applebloom" I replied, just as quiet as the purple pony. Cheerilee sighed and smiled "I don't know what you'd be like with children of your own. Take a seat". Cheerilee and I parted and I made my way back down the rows to where Applebloom was sitting. I had a look at the book that she was using and it was pretty basic maths. Addition, Subtraction, Division and Multiplication. The questions were simple, but I knew that these foals were only young, probably the equivilent of a grade two or three. But I was probably wrong, this is a different world after all. Applebloom slid her book over on the table so I could use it aswell. I didn't need to know this, I've already been through this. After another half an hour, my ass was getting numb from the cold floor. Can't you die from that? Cheerilee had asked the class to work out of the book, pages fifty through sixty. I looked at Cheerilee with a questioning look, and she gestured me to speak with her at her table. The desk looked much to large for a pony her size. Even the chair was big. "I guess, since you're here.. You can help the foals when they get stuck while I do some paper work and markings" She told me. Who was I to object? I didn't know how hard it was to be a teacher, but it looked difficult from seeing all the paper piles on her desk. I saluted her "You can count on me" and I was rewarded with a genuine 'thankyou' smile. I turned and walked around the class, much like my old teachers would in my own school many years ago. I saw many of the colts and fillies struggling, but none of then put their hooves up for help. "I'm here to help you all.. Don't be afraid to ask for help okay?" I announce and asked the class. Almost instantly, I saw several hooves shoot skyward. I just chuckled to myself. I started with the front row first, helping two foals in addition. There were none in the second row, so I moved onto the third, and saw that Silver Spoon's hoof was held in the air. The look on her face was priceless. I walked over to her desk and knelt down next to it. I could feel Applebloom's glare on the back of my head. "What do you need help with Silver Spoon?" I asked as politely as I could, not forgetting that this was the filly that tried to tease me before. Although, as mother used to say: 'Treat others how you wish to be treated'. So HOPEFULLY she returned my friendly gesture. "It's this stupid multiplication I can't do it!" The gray filly threw her hooves up in the air in defeat. "Come now Silver Spoon, I'll help you through it" I told her, granting me a smile from the once mean filly. "I doubt it, this is pretty hard stuff. I'm sure a human like you couldn't do it" She challenged. "Oh? Okay then well five times three is fifteen" I said proudly. "Wha-how?" She burst out in anger. "I can teach you just listen alright?" I asked as I picked up her pencil. The filly sighed in defeat. "Fine". I smiled inwardly 'I win!'. I started scribbling on a scrap piece of paper. I showed her that, in the equation five times three, that the five is the original number, and the three is how many you have of it. I also said that you can re-write it so it bcome five plus five plus five. The filly went wide-eyed at how well I helped. I think she understood it. "Oh.. I knew that" She said with a blush. "I know you did" I said with a pat on her head as I rose to my feet "Glad I could help". "Yeah whatever" She said gruffly as I moved onto the next student. I was liking this. A few students later and I arrived at Scootaloo. "As much as I don't WANT your help.. I sort of NEED your help" She said in a whisper so none of her classmates would think any different of her. "That's what I'm here for Scootaloo" I said with a smile "And don't worry, I won't tell anypony". That made Scootaloo smile "I guess you're not THAT bad" She said with a boystrous chuckle. "So what do you need help with Scootaloo?" I asked as I knelt next to her desk, just as I had done with all the other foals. "I'd like you to check my answers and tell me if I'm doing anything wrong" She told me. I took her book and looked at it. Every answer was correct save for a few things wrong. I put a fake look of worry on my face. "What? That bad?" She asked me. I looked at her, then back to the book and took out the red pen which I had taken from Cheerilee's desk. Sneaky me! I shook my head left to right while I placed ticks next to every correct answer. When I gave the book back to the filly, she nearly fainted. "You-argh!" Scootaloo hit me playfully, realising I was acting, seeing all her correct answers. "Now theres a few wrong, but I notcied they were because you didn't carry when you multiplied" I told her, at which I recieved a blush "Fix those up and I'll come back alright Scootaloo?" "Okay sure, and you can call me Scoots, my friends call me that" She said with a smile. I felt victorious. I was happy to have another friend. "No problem Scoots" I said as I rubbed her mane, making her giggle. OOur 'moment' was ruined by Cheerilee's voice. "Time for lunch, you little ponies run along and have fun now" she said with a smile. Once again, the teacher motioned for me to stay behind. I sighed to myself and went to the front of the class. "You have a way with the children, I've never seen anything like it" Cheerilee told me, and I looked to the floor, feeling a light blush. YES I BLUSH GET OVER IT. "So I have a propersition for you". "Oh?" I questions, asking her to go on. "How would you like to come and be my assistant? You'll be paid well and all that" She offered "It would help me immensely". I was taken aback by her offer. I didn't know what to think. "What's the catch?" I asked her. She looked at me wide eyed. "I'm appalled you would think that there would be!" She retorted. I stayed silent for a few seconds, making her reveal what she was hiding "Oh alright! I noticed you were friends with that character from the club. Yes I know, me at a club, but I decided to try something different and then I saw that bartender.." Her cheeks turned rose red, unlike Redheart's beet coloured blush. It was a distinct difference. "I'll see what I can do" I said with a smile. "So does this mean that you'll be my assistant?" She nearly screamed with excitement. "Uh.. Yes I suppose it does" I replied, letting out a laugh at her happiness. She bounced.. no.. lept out of her seat and gave me a hug "You have no idea how much stress this will take off my shoulders" She said over my shoulder. "I suppose I should go out and get lunch now" I told her as I tried to break the hug. Thankfully, she let go. "Try to be on time please Jackson" She said to me, just as I reached the door. "I will don't worry" I said, reassuring her. The only reason I was late was because I may have gotten lost.. but nobody needed to know that! An hour or so later after eating at a nearby resturant, I returned to the school to find that all the ponies were indeed lined up outside. Cheerilee was standing at the front of the two lines. She was goooooooood. "Line to my right in first" she instructed, and as said, the foals on her right moved into the classroom. The second line didn't need to be told to move, they were well trained. Cheerilee looked towards me and winked before moving inside the building. I followed closely behind. "You can start work with me next week" Cheerilee told me and moved to the front of the room. I took my usual spot near Applebloom and listened to Cheerilee's teaching. The rest of the day was packed full of science. It was cool, I paired up with Applebloom of course, and we mixed bicarb and vinegar. We may have added a little too much of each by 'accident'. Alright fine we had fun okay? Is that soo bad? School finished quickly, and I was walking Applebloom home. "Wow! So you're really gonna be Miss Cheerilee's assistant?" She asked cutely. "Sure am, which means I'll be able to see you every day" I cheered. "That's so cool!" She cheered along with me. The day was coming to a close, and I had finished playing with the little yellow filly. Everything today was moving surreal-ly fast. I was already at Vinyl's front door step. "What the hell is happening to me?" I thought aloud. "Need to talk about it?" came Luna's voice from behind me. I realised I was now in my bed with my love. Now I was starting to panic. "Luna use your magic on me now" I ordered. She rolled over and looked at me with a confused look on her face "Please just do it!" Her horn glowed just in time. It caught my mind and body and I was able to slow down. "What's happening Jackson? You've been like this for days.." She told me. "I don't kn-WHAT?" I yelled "THE LAST THING I REMEMBER WAS TAKING APPLEBLOOM HOME AFTER SCHOOL". "You've taken her home every day Jackson.." She was getting worried, and she wasn't letting go with her magic. "What day is it?" I asked her. "Thursday.. Why?" She replied. "The last thing I remember was on Monday" I told her "My magic changed colour, and the aura was coming off my eyes and hands". "That's.. Incredible! Your magic has evolved" She said excitedly. "Wh-what does that mean?" I asked her. She lent in and gave me a kiss "Your magical abilities grow over time. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. You have to use different spells for it to work though, so using the same spell over and over wont make your magic progress". "That doesn't explain why I have missed two days of my life" I said in a worried tone. "That's your body adjusting to the magic levels. Don't worry, it happened to Celestia and I too" She said as she gave me a hug and didn't let go "Memories of your lost days will come back to you once your body adjusts". Luna let go of her magical grasp and within moments I was at the castle, eating at the table that I used to sit at when I was.. A prince. Oh man, this is fucked. A/N: Alright, I had to pump out this chapter. Sorry if the quality is not up to standard. My story will now be updated anytime within a week after the chapter previously released. So next chapter will be within a week. Cheers for the reviews.
Chapter Nineteen: Lost DaysView OnlineUnto A New WorldChapter Nineteen: Lost DaysA/N: Thanks to Bronytime01 for giving me idea's to write this chapter! Currently at a friend's house typing this. Sort of a get together with five of us. I'm the only brony here and it sucks, I'm the end of every joke. I can't even play my own xbox (Which I brought by the way). "I'm going to play Fallout New Vegas.." I said as I rose from my seat. No one took any notice of me. "When wants to watch Episode One of Seaon Two of Psychoville?" Asked one of them to the group, who were huddled around the computer and lying on the couches. "Yeah sure" "I do" "I.. Don't" I said under my breath as I walked back to my seat and started typing again, hoping they don't ask me what I'm doing because I'll be made more fun of. This fucking sucks man. Hello deppression! *Sigh* I don't know why I told you all that. Just.. enjoy. Chapter Nineteen: Lost Days. Everything was starting to come back to me. I could remember the last few days that I had 'missed'. Tuesday: I wasn't starting work at school until next week, so today and the rest of the days I wasn't there. I was helping around where I could. Either helping Vinyl make music, Redheart at work or just cleaning up the house with Tumbleweed. On Tuesday morning, Vinyl had me help her with her music. Basically, she had me teach her how to play the drums. She picked it up incredibly easily, you know, being a DJ and all she could feel the beat. No double kick yet though. Natural Talent at it's finest. She could have used her magic, but she somehow gripped the sticks with her hooves. I.. what? I started off by teaching her the most basic drum beat. Two bass kicks in a four count bar (A/N: I actually played drums for four years but I don't remember much), bass on beats one and three, snare drum on two and four and hi-hat on one through eight (Broken up, i.e one and two and three and four and). Within half an hour, she could play the beat fluently. The next thing I taught her, once she was confident enough, was that she could add to the basic drumbeat. To explain this to her confused face, I took the drumsticks from her and added to the basic drum beat, i.e double bass drum or sixteen beat hi-hat. Vinyl's eyes widened as she took in the information, understanding the aspects I was trying to get across. Thankfully, when she sat down, she had used what she learned. "This is pretty similar to DJ'ing" Vinyl said while pumping out a beat, panting slightly "But you don't need to use this much energy while cranking out beats from the vinyls". "Well yeah, 'course" I replied while bobbing my head to here tune "Maybe you could teach me to play music like you do". Vinyl replied inbetween breaths "I'd.. Like that.. Jackie". "Jackie?" I asked, liking the name. Vinyl finished her beat. "Y-yeah.. Pet name.. Seeing.. As.. We are such good.. Friends" She said with a small blush. "I'm glad you think of me as such a close friend" I replied with a smile. "We have known eachother for a month or longer, I don't remember. Too many Wild Pegasus's does that to you" She replied with a grin. "Then I'd better not tell you what you confessed the other night" I teased with a wink, making Vinyl's eyes grow wide with shock. "WHAT DID I SAY?!" She practically screamed at me. "Not telling!" I crossed my arms and poked my tounge out at her. I held my face up high. Within an eyeblink, Vinyl was ontop of me, beating me with her hooves. It wsan't an anger beating, but a friendly beating. Even then, my chest was going to bruise.. again. Thursday: My memories returned, but nothing of much importance. I guess the magic only allows you to see the most important things, although I still have memories of those things. Now I was at Rarity's shop. Why would I be here? What the fu-. "Darling!" I heard Rarity's voice call. I looked up to see Rarity using a machine. Her back was turned and she was working hard, pieces of fabric were floating over from all directions "I really need that gold twine right now". Turns out I was heading towards a storage room. I had no control over what I was doing, I was merely a spectator. I ran to the storage room and opened the door, made from some sort of tree. I could see the grains in the wood running vertically. There were rows upon rows of shelves, full of assorted fabrics and twine, lace and frilly stuff. Now, I'm not one to know about this stuff.. But I know what golden twine.. or string.. looks like. Took me thirty seconds, but I had found it. I gave up looking by myself and thought about my magic. I channelled my energy into my hands. At this time, I'm pretty sure I hadn't learnt about the whole magic evolution thing, so I was basically just using magical instinct. My hands glew (A/N: Is that even a word?) again in my new red aura. In the corner's of my eyes I could see red, so I supposed my eyes were glowing too. I focused my mind on golden twine, and as easily as I cast the magic, the twine floated out into my hands. "Jackson? Do you need help?" I heard Rarity's voice call. "No!" I replied "I'm coming now". I ran out the storage room, shutting the door behind me. I soon found myself at Rarity's side, placing the twine next to her on the table. She didn't even look up as she used her magic to thread a long strand of string into the machine she was using. The second needle on the contraption was now ready to go. "Thanks for your help Darling, but I can take it from here" She said as she started to use the needle with the golden twine to stitch pieces of fabric together. My face dropped and I my body was filled with guilt and sadness. Had I really taken that long? "I-I'm sorry" I stuttered as I turned and walked to exit the building, before being stopped by Rarity. "Darling, I didn't mean it like that" She said empathetically. I noticed her machine was whirling down to a stop "Darling look at me". I slowly turned, keeping my gaze to the floor. "Jackson please" She pleaded. My eyes rose to meet hers, who was now a mere two feet away. She rose up on her hind legs and put her forehooves on my shoulders. "Darl-Jackson. Love. I didn't mean that in anyway to hurt your feelings. It's just you don't know where anything is, and I was stupid to ask for your help" I still wasn't feeling any better "I'll tell you what though, if you come in one day in the near future, I'll give you a full walkthrough of the boutique so you can help me more efficiently". I didn't know how to take that. I still hung my face low. "C-can you forgive me?" I asked her. "Jackson, tis I who should ask for your forgiveness" Rarity said as her eyes seemed to grow larger. (A/N: STILL GETTING FUCKING IGNORED) I didn't say anything as she brought me in for a hug. One of her hooves rubbed the back of my head as our necks craned around eachother. She smelled lovely. "You still helped me today you know" Rarity told me as she broke the hug. "Thanks Rarity" I said as I stifled a sniff. "You poor dear, let me make you some tea" The white marshmellow mare said as she trotted off to the kitchen, her mane bouncing with each step. I sighed and shook my head, a smile emerging on my face. 'Rarity is my friend, she wouldn't hurt me intentionally' I thought to myself as I walked to the kitchen. Saturday: I found myself alone in a carriage, I had no idea why. (A/N: Quit Depression, didn't feel good xD I'm doing the happy dance.. I'm doing the happy dance +10 interwebs if you guess what movie that's from! What was this shit I was writing? DA FWUCK IS THIS? Where to go from here.. AHA!). The pony inside the cabin with me was peering out the window as we rose up the long and winding road to the castle. The castle.. The castle.. Oh that's right, Celestia invited the girls and I to a party thingo. Fun. But where were the others? "Is something wrong sir?" The passenger asked, whom was a unicorn, wearing a look of nervousness upon her face. "Nothing Ma'am" I replied, seriously not knowing who this pony was "Just wondering how the girls are doing". The mare's face lost all it's nervousness as it brightened up into a smile. "They're probably wondering the same thing, and I'm sorry" She apologised "But this is a Masquerade Ball Sir, we can't really let you know what they are wearing". "I suppose you're right" I replied. 'So I went to a Masquerade Ball huh? Fancy' I thought to myself as I let the memory continue. I looked down at myself, and stared at my hooves before continuing on "Do I look alright?" 'Why did I have hooves?!' I panicked, obviously my past self had no problem with it. "I wouldn't even know that you weren't actually human Sir, and you look smashing" She replied. 'Hah! Smashing! Thorneberries! But I guess this wasn't permenant'. She held up a small blue, circular vanity mirror, which was almost invisible against her own blue coat. I guess i should explain what she was wearing first.. And what she looked like. The mare was wearing a stunning dress, made with gold lining and the palest of blue, making it seem white. Her mane and tail were short and green like her eyes. Yeah, bad despcription get over it. I want to tell you more about meeeee. (A/N: Fourth wall breaking? :O) I, if I do say so myself, made quite a cool looking pony. This body had nothing on my human form though. I suppose it made sense that I was turned into a pony for the ball, wouldn't be fair if I went as a human. What creature in this world looks like me? My coat was a chocolate brown, and my mane and tail were striped like a fire (Red, orange and yellow). I was wearing a creamy yellow coloured suit that had 'bird tails' at the back, running down either sides of my new flank, aswell as a 'pirate' looking hat, matching the suit, but had a pink feather sticking out the top. My mask was a long stark beak, extending past my muzzle, and same colour as my feather. I was pleased with this. "We will arrive in five minutes Sir" my passenger/guide whatever told me. "Thankyou" I replied to her. Time skipped around and I was now at the ball, mingling with other ponies. Not that I had any clue who they were.. I WAS trying to find out which ponies were my girls. Luna and Celestia had supposedly changed their forms into 'smaller', non alicorn ponies. Every pony was wearing something amazing, tailored by either Rarity or some Canterlot pony. I was startled by a voice coming from behind me. I turned to see that it was a light azure pony, with a golden mane. "Hi there!" Said the mysterious pony, the voice was female so that was a start. What she was wearing though was of much higher quality than any of the other pony's disguises. "Hey! So, may I guess who you are?" I asked, straight forward as usual. The mare let out a hearty chuckle. "Sure go ahead" she allowed. "Rarity, or one of the princesses" I spoke in a confident tone. The questioned mare chuckled again, and made a noise like that siren thing on those game shows "Beow weow. You are wrong my good sir, but good guess!". I scuffed a hoof on floor "Dang it, your turn". The mare rose a hoof to her mask, which wrapped around her eyes and travelled down her snout. "You're either Appleseed, Sunflower or Hoity Toity" She said to me, lips curling at the sides. "Nope, no and no" I said with a smile. "Oh, well great costume by the way. Can't wait until your identity is revealed" She said with a bow. I bowed down too "As you M'lady". The light blue mare turned with a chuckle, and swished her tail in my face before leaving. The rest of the night was pretty much the same. I'd found Luna though, it's not hard to know the person or pony you love if you know them aswell as I do. I spotted her quirky-ness out of the crowd easily, and I knew her giggle. I seized the oppertunity to talk to her when she was alone. Sneaking up behind her, I placed a hoof on her left shoulder while she was serving up her punch. Luna let out a squeal as she turned to face me. Her new form didn't make her seem anything like a princess. She had a white coat with a brown mane, wearing a light coloured dress that covered her flanks, and dragged along the floor. Her face was covered by a mask that resembled some sort of creature. "Hey there" I said in an upbeat manner. "H-hi, you nearly made me spill my punch!" Luna giggled, not knowing it was me. Maybe I should use this to my advantage hmm? "I'm terribly sorry madame, will you find it in your heart to forgive me?" I couldn't act like myself to spoil the disguise. "Yes Jackson I will" She giggled "You sound so silly when you speak like that!". "How did you know?" I asked her. "Same way you knew it was me, I love you remember?" She said with a light blush on her cheeks "You make a good looking stallion". "Yeah I guess" I replied bashfully "I love you too". "So how's your night been so far?" Luna asked me, striking up a casual conversation so nopony would know it was us. "Not bad, I haven't seen anyone I know yet. Yourself?" I asked, serving up some Punch for myself. I took a sip and somepony had definately spiked this punch. Gooooood. "It's been good, I know what Twiight Sparkle looks like now" She said with a chuckle "Enjoying your punch?" She said with a wink. "That was you?!" I replied, slightly startled. Luna nodded frantically "Don't tell anypony alright?". "I won't". "Promise?". "I promise, but you and I are going to have a talk about this afterwards okay?" I told her, hoping not to sound like I was going to lecture her. I really wasn't going to. Luna nodded again "Okay, I must be off! The night is still young and there's pony's yet to be pranked!". And with that she was gone. A couple of hours later and I too had found Twilight. That beard gave it away. Why would somepony come to a Masquerade ball dressed as a bearded magician? The night came to an end with the revealing. Twilight was the spokespony, who stood on a stage infront of a microphone. She took off her beard and cloak to reveal it was her, when everypony already knew who she was. "It's me everypony!" She explaimed. The crowd let out fake gasps "I know right? Best costume of the night?". I heard somepony behind me say 'no', and somepony else coughed. There was an eerie silence in the room, and I saw little beads of sweat break out on Twilight's face. She looked at me with pleading eyes, beckoning me to help. So I did. I made my way upstage and stood next to the terrified unicorn. "Without further a-do, lets start the revealing!" I announced for Twilight, who started to relax. "Thankyou Jackson" She whispered. "How did you know it was me?" I asked her, copying her quiet tone. "I was the one who turned you in to a pony, and don't worry it's temporary. I did it for many pony's here tonight". "Cool, mind unvieling me then?" I asked with a smile. "It would be my pleasure, I'll make sure to change your clothes with you, nopony needs to see.. that" She said with a blush. "See what?" I asked her. "Well when I changed you into a pony.. You couldn't wear anything during the transformation.." Her blush grew into a deeper red. "Oh man.." I said with a light blush myself. "Yeah, nothing to be ashamed of.. I've just never had the chance to see anypony or human like that, it was actually sort of fascinating" Twilight told me, her blush starting to fade. "Alright well just turn me back and please make sure nopony else gets to see me naked okay? Since you've seen me like that I guess it's alright for you, but nopony else understand?". "I understand" She replied, within milliseconds her horn started to glow as her aura wrapped me, and I felt my bones changing. I held back a scream from how much pain this actually caused me. Apparently I would have changed back in time, but I could be changed back whenever I wanted by the pony who cast the spell, and ONLY by that pony. The crowd let out a truthful gasp as they saw my turn into my human form. It felt better being able to stand up straight. Never going back into that pony form. Ever. The crowd cheered and begged for more the elegent azure pony to show herself, who complied and made her way onto stage. Twilight's horn glowed brightly as the elegant pony's hair puffed out and turned pink, and her coat turned to a darker shade of pink. My jaw, aswell as the crowd's, hit the floor. Pinkie was that 'elegent' pony. "No way" I exclaimed as I looked at the excited party pony. "I fooled you all I was so good! Betcha you guys didn't think it was me!" She bounced up and down. The looks on some ponies faced wwere hilarious. The rest is boring. Luna and Celestia presented themselves. As usual Celestia looked at me with sorry eyes (Seriously.. this is getting annoying), aswell as many other ponies. The night was coming to an end and everypony was leaving through the two large doors. It was just The princesses, the six friends, my girls, and I left. Vinyl, who didn't look too pleased in the way her hair had been done up was the first of us to leave. "Sorry guys but I gotta go wash this stuff out of my hair, Redheart thought it would be a good idea to use it and now my hair is all hard and feels terrible. See you all later" She said as she left the room, recieving friendly goodbyes. Cheerilee and Tumbleweed left next. They had gotten to know eachother better at this ball, and they didn't even know they were talking to eachother the whole night! Then Twilight and her friends left, leaving Redheart, Luna, Celestia and I. Redheart left to go see how Vinyl was doing and then it was just us. "Jackson, would you like to stay at the castle tonight?" Celestia offered in a quiet tone. "I'd love that Celly" I replied, recieving a blush and a smile from my use of 'Celly'. "Great, you may use your old room. Luna? Would you like to take him there?" She offered. "Actually.." Luna started as she walked over to me and whispered in my ear "I think you should ask Celestia if she'll walk you to your room". She gave me a kiss on the cheek as she drew her head back and returned to her spot next to her sister. "What did you say?" I heard Celestia whisper into Luna's ear, who just smiled. "Celestia, I'd like it if you showed me to my room.." I told her "I mean, if you'd want to..". This startled Celestia. She wasn't expecting that question. "I.. Um.. Sure. L-Luna I'll talk to you later" She glared her sister down, making Luna grin and clop her hooves to the floor. "Huzzah! Another victory for Luna the Prankster!" She said as she ran off down the hallway giggling. "So.." I started trying to strike up a conversation. "So.." Celestia replied "Shall we?". The majestic alicorn stood back, pointing her wing to the door. "Of course!" I said back to her, beaming her a smile as I took my place by her left side. A few minutes of walking in silence, I decided to speak up. "Celestia, please may we put what happened behind us and start again? Luna told me a while ago that you wanted to do just that.." I asked. Celestia's ears shot up and she stopped walking "Jackson I'd like nothing more than that". Her hair started to gain some of it's colour as we spoke. "Great! Well can you tell me something?" I asked. "What's that? She replied, colour still pouring back into her now semi-moving mane. "What's it with Luna and her pranks?" I chuckled. My question made the princess giggle. "Well it started not so long ago.. Nightmare Night to be exact.." "-And it took the Pegasus guard's three days to get all the furniture down from the ceiling!" Celestia laughed loudly as she used her magic to open my door. By now all the colour had returned to her mane and tail, and there was no tension between us at all anymore. I gripped my sides in pain while I chuckled and fell onto my old bed. The princess had been telling me of Luna's pranks, of when she made 'fire breath' cupcakes that backfired on the prankster, when she put a zapper on the door handle of the kitchen so whenever the chef tried to open it he'd get shocked or, with the story she had just told me, glued everything in the guard's quarters to the roof with superglue so the room was upside down. I finally caught my breath and the pain in my lungs slowly disappeared. Celestia still let out a few giggles as she calmed down too, and sat next to me on my bed. "It brings me great pleasure to know you're back Jackson" She said in a motherly tone as she extended her wings and hooves out for a hug. I couldn't say no to the princess, so I soon found myself in a tight embrace with the white unicorn, her forelegs wrapped around my neck and wings around my back. It was so warm inside that caccoon, I didn't want to leave. I don't think Celestia wanted to either. It seemed like she was pouring all her guilt and sadness into the hug, which lasted for atleast ten minutes. I started to laugh as her mane wrapped around my waist and tickled my underarm. The princess broke the hug, but kept her wing around me as she spoke. "Breakfast will be at seven tomorrow. I'll have a guard fetch you when it's time" She informed with a smile as her lips nuzzled my cheek "I'm glad this is all over". "Thankyou Celestia" I replied, rubbing my head against her neck as I wrapped my arms around her torso "And so am I". I let out a yawn that I couldn't stop. "I suppose I should let you sleep yes?" She said with a light chuckle. It was too late. I had already drifted off to sleep in Celestia's embrace. The white alicorn sighed with a happy smile and carefully laid down with Jackson onto the large bed. She made sure not to wake him. She too, fell asleep in the warm embrace from her sister's lover. 'Now I know what she see's in him' She thought as she finally drifted asleep. A/N: I am having trouble with uploading this chapter. I don't know what the fuck is going on. Shitty quality chapter, but oh well. Mega case of writer's block up in this bitch. All I can think of is the sequel and the flash animation I'm trying to make for this story. Hopefully I get it finished by the end of this story.
Chapter Twenty: How Things WereView OnlineUnto A New WorldChapter Twenty: How Things WereA/N: It's a little rushed, but it shall be fixed when I get to editing it. I'm only up to chapter six now and haven't even uploaded two yet. Anyway, enjoy I guess. It's a lot better than when I had him asleep for four months and then have the crossover.. I'm still sorry about that okay? Chapter Twenty: How things were. I awoke to a figure stirring beside me. The sun was shining through the tinted glass onto the bed of which I was wrapped in feathers and hooves. Celestia and I had fallen asleep together on the bed the night before. I heard the door creak open slightly and saw Luna poking her head through. She smiled solemnly as she entered the room and made her way to the side of the bed, where she lay down, resting her head on the silky sheets. "How'd it go?" She whispered to me, glancing at her sister then back at me. "Great, all is the same as it used to be" I said, looking at the sleeping princess around my body "If not better". "That's great to hear, because after breakfast you've got another magic lesson" Luna said with a contempt smile on her face. "What will it be on?" I asked her, and with a flash she was gone. "Teleportation, young grasshopper" She said from the other side of the bed. That made me chuckle. "Yes, thank you Sensei". "No I don't want to go to school!" Celestia mumbled in her sleep, squeezing me tighter. Luna let out a roaring laugh, which caught onto me which in turn woke up the sleeping beauty herself. "What's so funny?" Celestia said, rubbing her eyes and letting out a yawn. "Nothing" I replied, supressing a chuckle. "Lulu, dear sister, pray tell me what you both find so funny?" Celestia asking politely. "Never!" And with that Luna was already out in the hallway running as fast as her long.. sexy legs would take her. "Jackson stop drooling" Celestia chuckled. I actually was drooling.. In front of Celestia.. Her older sister. "Don't worry I'm not going to do anything drastic like I did before" Celestia told me, taking a great deal of weight off my shoulders. "Thanks Celly" I said as I opened my arms to once again embrace the majestic white horse. She was just as warm as before, and I felt my body shiver in response. Celestia and I made our way to the dining hall and we took our seats, with Celly at the head of the table, and Luna and I facing each other on either side. There was a small pain in the back of my head, but I decided to take no real notice of it. "So how did you both sleep last night?" Luna said with a smirk on her face. "Great actually. Your sister makes a good blanket" I said, giving Luna a smirk of my own. "And your love makes a great pillow!" Celestia chimed in. I couldn't help but chuckle at Luna's jealous face. "We're only teasing Luna!" I giggled and kicked her hoof with my foot. "I know, besides Celestia is nothing compared to me" Luna said, giving me a wink. "Ahem" Celestia cleared her throat "I don't need to know that". Luna blushed intensely. "I-I forgot a-about that.." She stuttered, highly embarrassed at how she was acting in front of her sister. "Think nothing of it Lulu" Celestia said with a smile "How's the whole magic evolution thing treating you Jackson? I could sense that pain in your head which means it's nearly over". "Yeah its fine, I mean sure I have a headache but I'm not jumping in time anymore" I replied as four waiters made their way into the hall through a large arch door. I remember the first time I saw those doors, it was so long ago. "That's good. I need to run through some paper work and stuff. I never really changed anything to your title.. You know.. Prince and all.. Ponies just assumed" "That's not true Celestia, you told me that Jackson were no longer to date me and you told the guards he wasn't a prince" Luna butted in. "Okay fine, I may have let that slip. But it will only take the matter of having you in court with me today to have you back to royalty" Celestia told me. "This is going to be good!" Luna said in a slightly dark voice. Celestia shot Luna a glare. "When do I need to be at the court?" I asked the alabaster alicorn. "All day" "All. Day" Luna repeated dramatically with a grin on her face. "Well there go my plans" I said. I didn't actually have anything planned other than sleep and eat and that magic lesson with Luna. "I'm sorry" Celestia replied "But you'll have to make your way to the courtroom after your lesson with Luna" The waiters had dished out and prepared all the food for eating by this time and we all started taking mouthfuls. "Did you hear that I got a job at the school in Ponyville?" I asked both sisters, using the specially made knife and fork to cut my scrambled eggs on toast with pepper, salt and a drizzle of tomato sauce. This has to be the best thing I've eaten my whole time here. "Why yes, Luna told me about it. I'm very happy for you" Celestia said as she wiped her lips with a dainty handkerchief, holding it in her magic. Both Luna and Celestia were the same as me. In this world, it's bad to eat animals.. But ponies still eat and use eggs every day? How does that work? "I'm pretty excited, I start tomorrow" Today was Sunday "I need to leave tonight so I can get to school on time". "Do you have enough quills and parchment Mr Teacher S-Sir?" Luna teased again. "Quiet you" I replied, Celestia chuckled. "That won't be a problem, court will end early today anyway" Celestia informed me as we finished our breakfast with some orange juice. "Oh? Why is that?" I pried. "No reason. I just can't be bothered is all" 'Now I know that's not true' I thought to myself. 'It does seem a little odd' Luna thought back. "Time for your lesson Jackson let's go!" Luna said as she teleported beside me "How cool was that?" Luna grabbed my arm with her magic and pulled me up from my seat before pulling me through the large double doors and up through the extravagant hallway to her tower at the top of the castle. "Here is a note-pad and a quill. I can assure you that you won't get this first shot so you need to take notes so you can practice" Luna said as she put on some glasses with her magic, and levitated up a thirty centimetre ruler. I picked up the notepad and sat down next to the ink pot and quill, which I dipped in the ink and scribbled on the paper to get used to the feel of the feather. "Ready?" She asked. I nodded "Ready". "Alright so, the first rule of teleportation is patience" Luna said proudly, using her magic to slid her glasses back up her snout. "Patience? Really?" "Well you don't want to end up inside a brick wall now do you?" "No.. I wouldn't actually. Patience. Patience is good" I said as I wrote it down next to the number one on the paper. "The second thing to mastering teleportation is being able to visualise the world as a spectrum of light, or the space between you and where you want to go or the object and where you want it to go as a series of curtains that you must push past in order to teleport" "That.. made no sense" Luna sighed and face hoofed. "Okay well think of it like this. When you look through a cylindrical object, all you can see is where you are pointing it right?" "Yes..?" "Well think of teleportation like that, except you'll be moving your body through that cylindrical object!" "I'm still not sure I get what you mean but I can accept that. Continue" "Okay well anyway, teleportation is the breakdown of atoms of an object and transferring them to another place without the physical travel in between. If done incorrectly, can leave you with half a body or a full body with no memories at all. You'll basically be reverted back into a big baby, which actually isn't much of a change so you'll be fine" Luna teased, smacking my leg with the ruler. "Hey!" I said, rubbing my now reddening leg. "Okay, so seeing as I'm not going to let you use teleportation on yourself for a very long time, I'll teach you how to move a stationary object, much like our levitation lesson" "I don't think you need to eat any more apples Luna, your thighs are getting fat" I teased back, receiving a gasp and two smacks across the face with the ruler, left to right and then back right to left. "Uncalled for!" Luna pouted. "Well if you dish it out be prepared to take it" I said with a poke of my tongue. "Fine, well you're stupid!" Luna harrumphed. "If you say so Thunder Thighs" *SMACK* *SMACK* "Seriously?" I asked in return. "Yes" Luna pouted again; her lips were slightly curled at the side "Now, I need you to concentrate on that.. Apple" "I knew it" "Stop it!" Luna giggled with frustration "Anyway, concentrate your magic on it and think of the locating you wish it to be, for example, the plate in front of me" "Why not straight into your mouth? That way you don't have to put any effort into it" "Because I'd rather not have my jaw bone and skin fused with an apple, now do as I said" "Fine" I concentrated as hard as I could on the apple and saw my magic surround its skin. It took five minutes before there was a bright flash of white and then nothing. The apple was no longer there. "Where'd it go?" Luna asked. I looked down to find that it was not on the plate, it wasn't even in the room. "What the Fu-" 'Luna, Jackson, what is this? Why do you send me an apple?' Celestia's voice asked telepathically. An hour or two had past and it was now just before lunchtime, probably eleven-ish. Luna and I had finished the magic lesson for the day and I could now successfully move an apple into Luna's cupped hooves. I was now on my way to the court room. I was told by the guards that there would be food brought there for lunch. As we made our way towards the large ebony doors, the guards that were escorting me nodded to the guards by the door, who nodded back and opened the doors. Doors doors doors, why can't there just be one long hallway with NO doors? I entered the court room and I was filled with memories of my first time here. My first encounter with these ponies and I handled it pretty well I must say. "-Plans shall be passed" I heard Celestia's voice say from the other side of the crowd. The room was similar to before, maybe a little different. The audience was split into two groups, who were both represented by two ponies. In the middle of the crowd there was a long red carpet which led up to Celestia's and Luna's throne. Celestia was occupying hers when she spotted me. "Jackson! How lovely it is to see you" She said with a warm smile. Both crowds turned to look at me. "As you Princess" I said with a bow. I had to be formal because it was in front of other ponies. "Come. Sit. You may use Luna's throne" She said, gesturing to the throne on her left. It wasn't as big or marvellous as the alabaster mare's, but it was big enough for me. I made my way up through the middle of the crowd, taking light steps on the carpet before me. The room was so silent. As I sat in Luna's throne, I heard gasps and objections until Celestia gave me a secretive wink and addressed the audience. "Please bow to the newly re-instated Prince of Equestria" She ordered, and within a second the audience fell quiet and were on their front knees "Jackson here was treated unfairly not so long ago and was stripped of his title of prince, but all has been fixed". "Hail Prince Jackson!" The crowd bellowed. Cue Star Wars ending music.. No? Okay.
Chapter Twenty-One: OffersView OnlineUnto A New WorldChapter Twenty-One: OffersA/N: I need a hug. Chapter Twenty-One: Offers “VINYL! REDHEART! TUMBLEWEED! I’M HOMIZZLE FO RIZZLE MY PONIZZLES!” “And I’m just home. Normally” Luna and I had stormed through the front door of Vinyl’s house after taking a seemingly quick carriage back to Ponyville. Before we did anything, we took off to the DJ’s house; or our house if you’d like. We were one big happy family after all. I saw Luna’s ears perk up towards the direction of the recording studio. I couldn’t hear anything, but she could. Darn her and her hearing! It’s going to get me into a lot of trouble one day. We casually started walking down the hall, before we both burst out into a sprint. Stopping just outside the door, I could hear music coming from the other side. Judging by the speed and bass, it was definitely one of Vinyl’s own. “Should we knock?” I asked Luna, who shrugged and looked at me innocently. “If there’s music playing, they probably won’t hear it” She suggested. “Makes sense” I said with a smile and proceeded to open the door. The doorway revealed Tumbleweed and Redheart dancing in the middle of the room while Vinyl was using her turntable and crazy buttons to make music. Come to think of it, she still has to show me how she does that. “HELLO!” I yelled at the top of my lungs, only for my voice to be drowned out by the music. Red and Tumbles were dancing with their eyes shut and Vinyl was facing away from me. In front of the DJ there was a glass of water. ‘Are you thinking what I’m thinking?’ Luna asked me with a smirk. ‘Sure am Lu’ I replied. I concentrated on the glass and picked it up with my magic, rising it up so it was above Vinyl’s head. I slowly started to tip the glass on its side. ‘Do it. DO IT!’ Luna egged on. A single droplet of water fell from the rim of the cup and landed on Vinyl’s shoulder, who retaliated by jumping in shock. I quickly moved the glass in time for when she looked heavenward and saw nothing but the roof. Shrugging it off, she went back to her music. I let another droplet fall, this time onto her spine. She shivered and looked up again, only to find the rest of the water come rushing down on her face. Luna and I fell back laughing only to be jumped on by the wet-maned unicorn. Her electric blue hair was now flat against her face as she playfully hit me and tickled Luna. I managed to look up and see Tumbleweed and Redheart who had stopped dancing and stared at the three of us on the floor. The music had stopped by now and all you could here were grunts and laughter coming from the doorway. “Hey friends!” Tumbleweed exclaimed as she helped Luna and I up and managed to get Vinyl away from us. “And hello to you too Tumbleweed” I replied, shooting her a friendly smile. “Hey Tumbleweed” Luna replied with a shy smile. It was her ‘cute’ smile. “Hey you two, what’s up?” Red asked, adjusting her pink mane and bun and putting her nurses cap back on top of her head with her own magic. “What? Can’t we visit our family?” I chuckled. Redheart rolled her eyes and Vinyl nudged me with a hoof. “Of course you can” Tumbleweed said with a hug. “We aren’t really a family Tumbles” Redheart said with a sigh. “We can be” Luna said, making all eyes fall on her “I.. Uh.. I mean..” “What do you mean Lulu?” I asked, every pony had a curious look on their faces. “I.. Uh.. I was planning on telling you all..” She shifted uncomfortably and scuffed her hoof on the floor. Her large wings ruffled slightly. “Well?” Redheart asked and we all took a step forward. “Well..” the regal princess swallowed loudly and shrunk back against the wall in the hallway “You know.. Princess and Prince and all.. We can make it happen”. Now it was my turn to be stared at. “Hey. Hey! I didn’t know anything about this; I’ve only been a Prince for a few weeks in total” I said defensively “But I’m down if every pony else is”. “Give me some time to think about it” Redheart responded politely. “Me too!” Vinyl agreed who turned to Tumbleweed “What about you?” “I like it, I’m in!” She said with a smile and was instantly by my side, seriously, her warmth was seeping into my skin she was that close “I would love to be a part of the family with Jackson. He was one of the first to want to get to know me without trying to ‘get to know me’” Her face turned sour and frowny. “I’m glad to hear that Tumbles” I said as I wrapped an arm around her neck and she returned it by tucking her head under my chin. I looked over to the couple standing before us “Take as much time as you need”. *** Vinyl was taking the liberty of telling Luna and I what had happened since we had left. Apparently Tumbleweed had gone and talked to Cheerilee and I should expect to see more of her, even more than what I would as being her assistant in teaching. She then went on to explain everything she did during the days and nights. I’m not going into detail, but it was mainly: Gig; Drink; Hit on Red; Sex with Red; Sleep; Sex with Breakfast etc. Finally she told me about something good. My guitar had been kept safe over the time and Redheart had an idea with Vinyl to make music. Redheart with her base and Vinyl with her recordings of the drums and they had seemed to make a pretty good beat. “So that’s why we need you and Luna!” Vinyl finished, throwing her hooves up and falling back onto the couch for added emphasis. “So let me get this straight” I said as Vinyl looked up and sighed but nodded to keep me talking “You want Luna and I to play in a band that you two miraculously created over the weekend?” “For the tenth time yes!” Vinyl said with a huff of frustration. Luna and I sat across from her on the opposite couch in Vinyl’s front room/living room which ever you prefer. The couch itself was new. A night blue coloured thing that sat three ponies. “Then who’s the singer?” Luna asked. “We all are! Jackson is the lead singer, and the rest of us are back up. So.. Whaddaya say hmm?” Redheart said, frightening us all with an unexpected entrance from the side of the room. “We’ll give you your answer when you give us ours” Luna said for the both of us, which was exactly what I was going to say. God I love her. ‘And I love you’ Luna thought to me with a small blush dancing on her dark blue cheeks. “Fair enough” Redheart said with a kind smile “You shall have your answer by the end of the week”. Today was Sunday, which meant I had to start work tomorrow at the school. That gave Luna and I five to six days to make up an answer for the couple. “That’ll be fine Redheart” I said with a smile “And whatever you choose to decide we won’t be mad so don’t feel bad, just be glad!” Luna, Vinyl and Redheart all face-hoofed, each to their own slapping sound. Vinyl’s was the loudest. “You’re starting to sound like Pinkie Pie Jackie” Vinyl said with a shake of her head. A/N: Alrighty Thunder-mighty! Sorry for the late update and short chapter. I’ve been working on an animation for this story and I can tell you this now.. I fucking suck at animation. If there’s anybrony out there who can help me, tips or not, please PM me. Also, any ideas for their band name?
Chapter Twenty-Two: MondayView OnlineUnto A New WorldChapter Twenty-Two: MondayA/N: Would you say that foals in school learn English as a subject? Because that’s what I’m going with. Also, I’m very VERY sorry for the late chapter, but unfortunately this is how it is going to be from now on because I am now an Apprentice Electrician and work from 6:30 to 3-5 in the afternoon. The thought of giving this story up to another author was considered, but I need to know from my readers, the people who actually enjoy this story. Do you want me to give this story to another author to write in exchange for chapters coming out faster? OR Do you want me to keep writing in exchange for better quality of the story/personality of characters with longer waits for each chapter? Chapter Twenty-Two: Monday. “So then what happened Momma?” “Well it goes a little something like this” *** Mondays. Everybody hates them, and some people hate them more when the night before you had one too many drinks and woke up with a hangover to start teaching school kids. No wait, that’s just about every teacher I know. I, as it just so happens, woke up this morning to a powerful migraine. Last night Vinyl cracked open a new bottle of ‘Fancy Pants Champagne’ and decided that we’d all drink it in the one night. Then Tumbleweed brought out some Wild Pegasus saying that she gets to take a bottle every now and then from work. We all managed to hammer that back too. The first thing I’d like to say is sorry to my liver. I’m so sorry, please don’t kill yourself. The second thing is that there was just a knock at the door. I really don’t want to talk to anypony right now. “Jackson, its Luna. You’re going to be late for school! Cheerilee is outside waiting” my love’s sweet, soothing voice cooed from behind the door. I managed to level myself upright, sitting on the side of the bed and resting my pounding head in my hands. “Jackson?” Luna’s voice called again. “Yeah. Yeah I’ll be... I’ll be out soon” I replied with a small grumble. “Is everything alright my dear? Can I come in?” “You can” “May I?” “You may” The door opened slowly and Luna popped her head through before pulling the rest of her body into the dark room. “It’s so dark in here” She said as she proceeded to turn the light on. *Click* I shut my eyes and groaned, planting my face into the pillows next to me. “Off!” I moaned in pain, waving my left arm around madly as if somehow I could reach the switch. “Sorry! I’m so sorry!” Luna said as she quickly turned the switch off. *Click* I slowly raised my head from the pillows and to my brain’s liking, it was dark again. I could make out Luna’s silhouette trotting over and I felt her weight depress the bed to my left. “You know, I always liked the dark” I said with a grumble. Luna wrapped her wing around me and drew me in for a hug. The underside of her wing was so warm, similar to a thick blanket. You know the ones you would use in winter that are filled with feathers. “And you’ve always liked the stars” She cooed into my ear, nuzzling it gently. “Do I really have to go to work today?” I asked, already knowing the answer. “Yes” Luna said “Cheerilee needs the help and it’s your first day there” “Do you even have a hangover? You drank just as much as me” “Of course I do, I’ve just learnt to hide them” She chuckled “What sort of princess presents herself as being a drunk?” “The cool ones” I replied, my lips curling at the sides. “Are you saying that I am not cool? I am cool!” the princess of the night protested. “Yes. You’re cool” I chuckled and Luna snorted softly. “Time to get up though, you’re going to make Cheerilee later than what she already is” “Okay” I sighed “Help me up” Luna stood and pointed her wings towards me, letting me grab the tips as she hoisted me up. Her dark coat nearly blended her figure into the dark seamlessly. “Didn’t that hurt?” I asked. “Nope!” Luna giggled “A Pegasus’s wings are built strong like that, and I’m part Pegasus” “Well… that’s cool… I guess” I said sarcastically, receiving a light smack with one of her wings. “Hurry up and get dressed, I’ll let Cheerilee know that you’ll be down in five minutes” “Thanks” I said as Luna opened the door and blew me a kiss before leaving the room. As soon as I saw her leave the room I rubbed my temples and started searching for my clothes. What do teachers assistants wear? There’s no way in a million years that I’d wear a suit. I’m going to look badass, so I’ll wear my red shirt, black baggy pants and… my necklace and my white sunglasses? Where did these come from? ‘Just a little good luck present, the necklace is from Luna’ Celestia’s voice chimed in my head in her usual sing-song tone. ‘Cheers Celly’ I replied as I slung my clothes over my shoulder and headed to the bathroom for a quick shower. *** I slid the necklace over my head and pulled the string knots at the side to adjust its height. It was an awesome necklace, it had a snake’s head and its tail was made of sort of tribal flames and was the size of the upper segment of your thumb. I also put on my… Uh… I’ll call them belt bags from now on. They go around your waist and hang on either side of your thigh. In five minutes exactly I was out the front door and facing a very distressed teacher. Doesn’t matter, I look boss. “What took you so long?” She asked, tapping her hoof on the ground. “Hangover” I replied “Sorry” “Eh, I have one too don’t fret about it” Cheerilee confessed “Let’s get a move on” “Lead the way” I said, following on the left side of the teacher “What are you teaching them today?” “With your help, how not to be late for school” She huffed, rolling her eyes. “Ha” I replied “But seriously though” “English and then we are going to do some hoof paintings” Cheerilee told me, quickening her speed. The two saddlebags she carried on her back bounced around furiously. “Here” I said with a caring tone “Let me carry your bags” “It’s alright, you don’t have to. We’re late enough as it is” “Well if I carry your bags you’ll be able to run easier, therefore we will arrive on time” I reasoned with the purple pony. “Ugh fine hurry then!” the teacher replied, coming to a halt. I used my right hand and grasped the strap that joined the bags together. As the back of my hand touched the mare’s back, I felt her muscles tense and heard her let out a small gasp. I quickly removed the bags and laid them over my shoulders so both bags were on my chest. I looked like a donkey. You know, the ones from Mexico that they make carry all their junk. I was carrying Cheerilee’s surprisingly heavy bags, as well as my two around my waist. “Thanks” Cheerilee said cheerfully “That’s much better! Now come on!” *** My lungs burned and my muscles ached but we made it. We made it to school on time. The school foals were just arriving at the door when Cheerilee told them to form two rows. For a school teacher she was pretty fit. She rummaged around in the bags I was carrying around my neck and pulled out a key which was attached to a rather boring piece of brown string. “Would the row furthest from the door enter first?” She said after unlocking the door with the key that she masterfully held and manipulated in her teeth. The ponies in the line all gave me smiles as they passed, except for Silver Spoon. ‘I can’t wait to put her in detention’ I thought as I gave her an evil smirk back, making her go wide-eyed and look away. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were both in the line and giggled at the face I was making as they passed. “Would the last line please enter?” Cheerilee asked politely. “Yes Miss Cheerilee” said a young fat colt, whose eyes were replaced by hearts and floated in the air “Anything for you” I nudged Cheerilee and gave her a wink, which made her blush and roll her eyes in return. “G’morning Mister Jackson! G’morning Miss Cheerilee!” I heard Appleboom’s voice chime from the line. I turned my head and spotted the filly’s big red bow and found her staring up at me with large round eyes. She was no longer in the line. “Good morning Applebloom!” I said as I bent down and gave her a hug. “Good morning Applebloom, I hope you’re prepared for school today” Cheerilee said with a smile on her face “Did you do your homework?” “Yes Miss Cheerilee” Applebloom replied while juggling her small saddlebags around on her rump “It’s all right here” “That’s good Applebloom, run along now” Cheerilee instructed and then turned to me “Let’s get the day started shall we?” *** “Please take out your homework and place it on your desk. Jackson will come around and collect them” Cheerilee addressed the class, and the sound of bags opening and paper ruffling was heard throughout the room “While he is collecting your homework, please open your English books to page sixty-two” I did as Cheerilee asked and lined myself up on the left of the row that was closest to the door, which happened to be on the right side if you were facing the front. I walked down the aisle and collected six pieces of homework from the total of eight ponies from either side. The two foals that didn’t have their homework both gave me guilty looks as I passed them, one of which was Diamond Tiara. She mouthed the words ‘I’m sorry’ as I cruised past. I was now at the back of the class room and I re-positioned myself in-between the last two rows of four. As I walked I passed the Cutie Mark Crusaders who were smiling brightly, each giving me their pieces of homework. Snips and Snails each gave me their sheets. Even Silver Spoon which surprised me. I walked back to Cheerilee’s desk and placed the papers on the tray which read ‘homework’. “Twelve out of sixteen” I informed Cheerilee who simply nodded and picked up a piece of chalk from inside her desk and hoofed it to me. “Write their names on the board please” She instructed. “I only know one of their names” I said awkwardly, fondling the chalk in my hand. “I know I was joking! I’ll help you learn their names” then she looked towards the class “Whoever didn’t hand in their homework please raise your hooves” The four foals raised their hooves slowly. “Please say your names so Jackson may write them one the board” she said, glancing to me as she said my name. “Golden Symphony” “Aegis Wing” “Diamond Tiara” “Crimson Stripe” I wrote each name as they were called out in the upper left corner. “I want each of you to report to detention at lunch time” Cheerilee said with a hint of sadness in her voice. The foals all replied with a sigh of defeat and sorrow. “Now I’d like you all to work on exercises One-A through Four-A” Cheerilee instructed and the class picked their pencils up and got to work. The teacher then looked to me “I want you to help them if they get stuck on something” “Will do!” I said with a salute and Cheerilee just smiled and rolled her eyes. *** It was now recess, and the foals had just undergone a lesson which deemed to be difficult. Cheerilee had asked me to be on ‘duty’ as she calls it, which pretty much means to watch over the colts and fillies and break up any fights etc. There were no fights, much to my dismay. There may have been no fights, but Silver Spoon was really trying to start one. With whom I hear you ask? Why me of course! “Don’t walk over here you hairless ape, I don’t want my air to be tainted by your smell!” She said with a really outright mean voice. You know, one of those whiney rich school girl voices that make your ears bleed. “I’d advise you to not make comments like that Silver Spoon” I warned. “What are you going to do? Hit me? A worm has more of a chance of hurting me than you, isn’t that right Diamond Tiara?” She looked to her friend for support who looked at her uneasy. “I… I don’t want to get in anymore trouble Silver” She begged “Please” “Don’t be such a wuss Diamond Tiara” Silver Spoon scowled “Tell him he’s fat or something” Once again she mouthed the words ‘I’m sorry’; unseen by Silver Spoon, before doing what she was made to do. She took a large visible gulp before speaking. “You’re fat” The pink filly commented, not making eye contact. ‘Maybe I should have a word with her’ I thought to myself. I felt really sorry for her, even though I really shouldn’t. “Silver Spoon you’ll be joining the others in detention at Lunch, and Diamond Tiara” I said, looking at her directly “I’ll talk to you after school” And that was that. I about-faced and walked away. *** Recess ended shortly after I spoke to the two bullies. Cheerilee had the class read out an answer individually and they were told if it was correct or not so the rest of the class would know their own markings. “Who got more than half of them right?” I asked the class. All hooves rose. “Who got all of them right?” Cheerilee asked. Three hooves rose, belonging to Applebloom, Diamond Tiara and a pony whose name I didn’t know. “Well done class!” Cheerilee congratulated “Now turn to page seventy-one and read the story and then answer the questions on pages seventy-six and seventy-seven. We’ll check the answers after lunch” I watched the class follow the instructions set out for them, each pony was shuffling around in their bags and each brought out a large binder file type book that read ‘English 1B’ on the cover. That’s when I noticed Applebloom’s desk was clear of any book. “Applebloom doesn’t have a book” I whispered to Cheerilee, making sure the filly couldn’t hear me. “Applebloom” Cheerilee said, raising her head from the downwards position it was in “Take Scootaloo’s English book down the road with Jackson and get the pages copied please” “You can copy pages?” I asked, my voice raising a little. To be honest, I was not expecting that. I mean ponies don’t have much technology, so I seriously doubted that they would have a photocopier too. “Yes, can’t you do that in your world?” “Yes of course we can, Humans are creatures of ingenuity and technology” I replied, trying to stand up for the entire human race. “So you’re all nerds then?” I heard Silver Spoon’s voice chime in. Celestia fuck me with her fore-hoof, if she said anything else I’d p- “Look, it’s like he’s about to break! I thought humans were strong?” That was it. “Detention for the next week, at recess AND lunch. No if’s, but’s or any form of protest!” I half yelled, sending all the fillies back into their seats. “I was just about to say that myself” Cheerilee said, backing me up in my decision “Silver Spoon, I’m very disappointed in you” “Look at him though! He doesn’t belong here; he’s an animal and belongs in a zoo!” She protested, her words cutting deep. I looked towards Cheerilee and noticed her apologetic glance before she addressed the filly again. “I’ll be speaking to your father when he collects you today and you have detention for the next month” She said simply “You do not make fun of teachers, especially one as nice as Jackson” “B-but” “No buts!” I chimed in with a grin on my face, my eyes burning a hole in her forehead. The class cheered and laughed at the sight of their class bully losing her argument. I saw the smirk of the pink filly sitting next to her; she was looking away from her friend so she wouldn’t see it. “Now, continue with your work please” Cheerilee instructed. *** “Don’t listen tah Silver Spoon or Diamond Tiara Jackson” Applebloom said as she trotted down the path towards the town “They might try tah break ya, but they’re jus’ lookin’ for some sort’a reaction” “Thanks Applebloom, I know all about it” I said to her with a reassuring smile “I’ve been bullied before; I think everyb-pony has at some stage of their life” “That’s true” She nodded in agreement “Come on, we’re nearly there!” A few more minutes of walking/jogging; depending on how fast Applebloom decided to go, we ended up at the so called place where we were meant to get the pages copied. The building was large and was made from what looked to be mud-bricks. The doors were hanging on hinges halfway, and were shaped in a country western style like the ones from any cowboy movie you’ve ever seen. They were so high up; Applebloom’s bow didn’t even reach the bottom. I pushed open the door after Applebloom entered and stood there for a moment to let my eyes adjust to the lighting. The first thing I could make out was a stallion leaning in the corner of the room behind a bar, he had a makeshift cigarette in his mouth and was wearing a ten gallon hat that hid his face, from which a horn protruded from the top. He was wearing a dusty vest which had a pistol strapped to his right upper foreleg. “Howdy” He said with a gruff, western accent. “Howdy there mister!” Applebloom said cheerfully “Where’s Miss Green Print?” The stallion shifted his head slightly towards a hallway across from us. ‘Great’ I thought to myself as I followed Applebloom down the hallway ‘Another Big Mac’. The passage wasn’t dark compared to the first room we entered. The walls were white and were plastered with posters about saving wildlife and forests. We came to a door that was situated down the end of the hall, marked with a green circle encasing a white silhouette of a tree in the middle. Applebloom knocked three times with one of her fore hooves before she was answered. “Come in!” sung the voice. I pushed the door open for the filly and let her enter first. I followed after her and my eyes opened wide as they took in the scenery. The room was filled with plants and trees that overgrew bookshelves and tables. In the centre there was a tree that stretched upward, nearly touching the ceiling, and spread out in all directions with its vines drooping down in random places. In front of the central tree was a desk, covered in assorted flowers and grass. There was a mare sitting behind it in what looked to be a chair, made of winding timber. The pony had a leaf green coat with a mane and tail to match. Her eyes were a deep magenta and appeared glassy. “Heya Miss Green Print!” Applebloom said excitedly, before taking in a breath through her nose “It sure does smell lovely in here”. “Good day Applebloom and yes, my posies and frangipanis have opened up!” the mare replied in a rising tone of excitement. She darted to her eyes to mine for a few seconds before taking a few quick sniffs in the air. “Applebloom, who is that? I can smell the Carbon on him from here. Actually a better question, what is he? Should I call him a he? Or is he a she?” “I’m a-“ “He’s ah he and he’s ah human!” Applebloom replied. “A human you say?” she replied, clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth. “Yes-sir-re Miss Green Print! Now can I-“ “Tell me human, why do you taint my home with your presence?” “I was accompanying Applebloom here to-“ “Why do you have so much Carbon on you?” “How can I have any Carbo-“ “Miss Green Print I’d really like t-“ “Wait taint?!” “What are you here for anyway?” Applebloom and I shared a glance before turning our heads back to the mare. “I’d like to have these pages of this book copied please” Applebloom said with a slightly pushy tone as I took the book out from her bag and moved over to show Green Print the pages. As I moved closer the mare reared up from her desk, flipping it over before running behind the large tree. “O-Kay then!” I said, very confused and to be honest a little hurt. “I’m sorry but I can’t. You shouldn’t even be in this room” She said hurriedly. “Can’t what?” I asked before feeling a nudge on my left leg. “Here Jackson, lemme have the book and y’all go wait outside, ‘Kay?” Applebloom said. I handed the book over to her, which she took in her mouth and then moved to the door before taking a look back over my shoulder. I saw Green Print slowly moving back to her desk from behind the tree. What the hay was her problem? *** Not too long later, Applebloom came out from the room with a sigh holding her pages in her bags, along with Scootaloo’s English book. “How did she do that?” I asked as we left the building, re-entering the nice and colourful town. “Do what? Copy the pages?” Applebloom replied, trotting back towards the school. “Yeah? You don’t exactly have photocopiers in this world” “Spoilers” Applebloom stated before giggling and sprinting off to the school. “Spoilers? What do you mean?” I yelled after her, jogging to catch up. *** By the time we got back to the school, it was nearing lunchtime. We stumbled through the door, all sweaty and what not. “And what took you two so long?” Cheerilee asked, tapping her hoof to the ground. “Crazy tree lady” I puffed with a shrug of my shoulders. “She could smell tha’ Carbon on him” Applebloom continued. “Ah, she gets like that when she meets new ponies… or humans” Cheerilee reason before motioning Applebloom to take her seat “Now you can all start your work”. The class sighed before they all got to work. *** “Okay class time for lunch! Everybody have fun!” Cheerilee said with a smile before her face turned into a bitter frown “Except for those who didn’t do their homework and Silver” “Oh come on!” She whined. “You have to face the consequences Silver Spoon” I said with a slight smirk on my face. “Consequences Schensequences” “No more talking. The four of you that didn’t do their homework are to move to separate corners of the room and write ‘I will remember to complete my homework and hand it in on time’ one-hundred and fifty times, Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara are to each write a letter to Jackson saying sorry” Cheerilee ordered. Every foal moved on cue. “What?! I am NOT saying sorry to that ape” Silver Spoon screeched, sending every pony’s ears to fold back. “You will, you both will” Cheerilee stated calmly “Otherwise you won’t be leaving for Lunch” “Ugh!” She threw her hooves up in the air before tearing out a piece of paper from a book and picking up a pencil in her mouth. I started to walk down the aisle that was closest to Diamond Tiara, who was at the back, unlike her fellow bully Silver Spoon at the front. I crouched down next to the pink filly’s table. “Hey” I said softly “Sorry for giving you detention” “Sorry for calling you fat” She replied in a heart breaking voice, her soft voice was breaking “Could I talk to you after school please?” “Sure, I’ll be here for an hour after class ends anyway” I told her, seeing the corners of her lips curve into a small smile. “Thankyou” *** Half an hour later, the only two that were left in the room were Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. “Alright, both of you please give Jackson your letters and then leave for lunch” Cheerilee said as she looked up from her paperwork, which was spread out across her desk. The two foals made their way to the front of the room where Cheerilee had placed a chair for me to use. Silver Spoon spat her letter at me on the floor and it slowly floated down and landed at my feet. I picked it up and read it silently as Silver left the room. ‘To the big ape, I’m sorry for calling you a hairless ape. I promise I’ll do it again. Definitely not yours, Silver Spoon' I scrunched up the letter and threw it in the rubbish bin next to Cheerilee’s desk and spotted Diamond Tiara waiting patiently with her letter folded in half in her mouth. I gestured for her to give me the letter and she ever-so-softly placed the letter in my hands before backing away and moving to the door. Just before she left she shot me a glance and then she was gone. I opened the letter and read it to myself. ‘Dear Jackson, I’m so so so sorry, please forgive me. I didn’t want to call you fat and /youer/ /yore/ you really aren’t. You will understand after school. Yours, Diamond Tiara’ I re-folded the letter and sighed before looking to the teacher behind her desk. Did she see what was going on? *** “Welcome back from lunch class” I said with a smile “Who’s up for some hoof paintings?” The class cheered and got up from their seats to collect their necessary items. Obviously they’ve done this many times before because they knew exactly where everything was. “I also want each of you to paint something that you can write a story about, because that will be your homework for the next two weeks” Cheerilee stated, receiving sighs from the class. ‘Way to kill the mood’ I thought to myself as I listened into the chatter of the room. “Hey Scootaloo check this out!” “Hahaha Snips! That’s so funny!” “Diamond help me with this would you? Give me some ideas!” “Crimson! You have paint on your coat!” I turned to Cheerilee who smiled back. “What are you so happy for?” I asked. “I don’t have to do this paperwork” She said, motioning her head to the stack of papers next to her. “If not you then who?” I asked. “You of course! How fun!” I let out a massive sigh. Maybe this wasn’t the job for me after all? *** “Class if dismissed, but I want Diamond and Silver to remain please” Cheerilee said. “Celestia damn it!” Silver Spoon swore. “Silver! Your language!” I retorted “She also happens to be a very good friend” “A friend? With an ape?” “Would you just stop?” “Why would I? Hurting your feelings?” “Jackson, please wait here and watch Diamond Tiara while I go talk to Silver Spoon and her father” Cheerilee instructed, to which I replied to a nod. They both left and I remained with Diamond as instructed. She sat at her desk with her head in her forelegs, which were crossed. I pulled up a chair opposite the filly’s desk and sat patiently. “Jackson, I’m so sorry about Silver Spoon” She said eventually, what seemed like five minutes. She raised her head from her forelegs and a wave of shock washed over me. The filly was crying. “I’m so sorry about everything” she sobbed. “Look, how about I take you home and talk to you there, maybe get you a nice cup of hot chocolate hey? Someplace you can feel safe” “I don’t have a home! My parents walked out on each other and I’ve had to look after myself!” She yelled. “I… I’m so sorry Diamond” “Every pony is sorry! They all are! They didn’t do anything but they’re all so sorry but they don’t do anything about it!” “I… Diamond listen to me, let me take you back to my place and we’ll sort this out there okay. What would happen if one of your classmates came in and saw you like this?” “I wouldn’t care if they did. No pony cares about me so why should I care about them?” “Please Diamond” I pleaded. I really wanted to get to the bottom of this. “Okay” she said quietly before burying her head in her legs and breaking down into sobs again. “Just let me tell Cheerilee I’m going alright?” I told her, receiving a nod. I ran to her desk and tore a piece of paper and half and wrote her a note before dropping it in plain sight on the top of all her papers and running back to the filly. “Okay ready?” “Yeah, I suppose so” “Okay” I said, opening my arms for a hug “Come here” “What?” “Just trust me” “Why? What are you going to do?” “Take us home?” The filly sighed and rubbed her eyes before getting up from her seat and trotting over to me. She hesitated for a second before reaching out and embracing my in a hug. I quickly teleported us out of the room before any pony saw us leave. *** “Eugh! I think I’m going to be sick” Diamond said as she stumbled out of my embrace on the living room floor. “Teleportation does that to you if you haven’t done it before” I said with a smile, watching her face turn a slight green “If you need to use the bathroom it’s down the hall to your left” “Thanks, I’ll be right back” she said, using the wall as a brace before disappearing into the bathroom. ‘Luna’ I thought ‘I need you to get Vinyl, Red and Tumbleweed out of the house for a few hours; I need to talk to one of my students about her troubles okay?’ ‘Aw look at you, my little softie’ I heard her reply. ‘Please, just do this for me’ ‘Okay, but you owe me’ *** Ten minutes of dry reaching and maybe a little projectile vomit, Diamond Tiara made her way back to the living room. “Sorry about that” She said with a glum look on her face, eyes still red from her crying. “You’re forgiven, come and sit” I said, patting the seat on the couch next to me. She did as she was asked, and it was awkward for a few moments before she spoke up. “So now what?” She asked. “Well, you wanted to talk to me. Shoot” The filly sighed before speaking again. “Can I please have a hug? No pony has hugged me for so long” “Of course you can, and why haven’t they?” I asked as I wrapped an arm around the filly, who nuzzled and pressed into the hug, not showing any sign of letting go. “I… I don’t know” “Well I can’t exactly help you if you don’t know what you want to talk about” I said, feeling her wrapped her forelegs around me even tighter. “I’m sorry about calling you fat, Silver Spoon made me. She’s been making me do things for a while now” she said, voice crackling. “What else has she made you do?” “I’ve had to do her homework for her, that’s why I didn’t do mine. I was too caught up in doing hers that I had no time for it” “Diamond, I had no idea” “No pony has. I have to live and look after myself” She sobbed harder, her voice barely understandable. I picked her up and wrapped both my arms around her “Cook, clean, make my bed, sweep the floor, buy groceries even tuck myelf in at night” Her tiara started to poke at my neck, I moved my hand and removed it from her mane, patting and stroking her hair once it was placed down. “It’s okay Diamond” “No, it’s not. I have no money left, FillyLink won’t help me because of who my father is and I’ve got nothing left!” “FillyLink?” I asked. “They give you money each week if you live by yourself, but if your parents earn too much then you don’t get anything and that’s what is happening to me” I let her cry out onto my shoulder for a good hour giving me time to think before I spoke up again. “How about you live here with me and my friends?” “You mean you don’t hate me? You want me to stay here?” She said, her eyes widening as she looked at me. “Why would I hate you?” “Well every pony seems to” “I’m no pony!” I replied with a chuckle. “You really mean it? You’re not pulling my tail or anything?” “I really mean it Diamond, you’ll be a part of this family. That is if Vinyl and Redheart agree to the offer Luna and I made” “You live with Vinyl Scratch AND Princess Luna?!” I chuckled “Yes, and Redheart!” “Yeah she’s nice but she gives me needles” Diamond giggled. “See? You’re happier already!” I cheered, hugging the filly tighter. “Thanks Jackson, you have no idea how much this means to me” “You’re very welcome Diamond, now let me show you to your room” *** “THIS? This is my room?!” Diamond Tiara screamed, looking around the room. It had white walls and ceiling, a bed, chest, writing table and art stand. “Yes do you like it?” I chuckled. “It’s so big! Thankyou thankyou thankyou!” “You’re very much welcome Diamond, now dinner will be ready at seven. I’ll come collect you when everybody gets here for you to meet them alright?” “Alright Jackson, I’ll see you then!” And with that I closed the door.
Chapter Twenty-Three: Work in ProgressView OnlineUnto A New WorldChapter Twenty-Three: Work in ProgressA/N: So, here's what happened: My laptop received its first mega virus and deleted everything on it. I had this chapter nearly finished and then had to restart, and it's never as good once you write it the second time around. I need a new laptop, but I can't afford it ($2000). I'm going to have to sell my body on the street corner and sell vital organs to get one. If I do that I'll die because I won't have any organs left, therefore the story won't be updated. Now, I know you think I got Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara mixed up... But I didn't. I don't know why but I've always hated Silver Spoon. I think. Feel free to draw fan art for this… It makes me feel special. Chapter Twenty-Three: Work in Progress *Knock* *Knock* *Knock* "Diamond?" I asked through the door leading to her new room "May I come in?" "You sure can! Come look!" She called out excitedly. I opened the door slowly and entered into a room that had been changed dramatically from what it used to be. The room was pink for God's sake. "Diamond" I started, darting my eyes around the room "How did you do this?" "Well when you left me here some time ago, I took it on myself to get some paint and paint my room!" She said happily as she trotted over and nuzzled my hand "Do you like it?" "It's uh… VERY you" I replied, examining the room once again I found something out of place. The bed had been moved from its spot and was up against a door. "Diamond, what's in here?" I asked as I poured some magic from my hand and into the bed and started to move it away. "Jackson, don't!" was the last thing I heard before I was struck by an avalanche of assorted items, flowing freely from the cupboard. Dolls, chests, teddy bears, tiaras, suitcases and the sort were scattered everywhere. "I said don't" Diamond said sarcastically as she picked up items and started to move them off from on top of me. *** "So now that's all cleaned up, are you ready to meet your new housemates?" I asked as I placed the last bear into a chest against the wall. "Not really" Diamond said nervously "What if they don't like me?" "I'm sure they will" I reassured the filly as I walked to the door and opened it for her. "But what if they don't?" "Then… I don't know, but I'm sure they will!" "I hope you're right" Diamond said as she slid off the bed and passed through the door. We made our way down the stairs towards the dining room. "Here we are" I said as I halted just before the door, looking through the porthole and seeing my friends gathered around the rectangular table. I looked down to Diamond Tiara who was sitting on her haunches; head cocked downwards like a swan. "It's just going to be the same as always" She sighed. "You know that's not true" I replied, kneeling down in front of her. "You might think that!" She whispered in a snappy tone "But it's not the truth! There's a reason that I was-" "Diamond Tiara" I cut her off "If they don't like you then they aren't the ponies I know. I wouldn't put you or any pony in that sort of situation" "But" "No buts, and besides we're going to be family" I said while ruffling her mane with my right hand. "You're going to be my dad?" Diamond Tiara squealed. "I uh…" "YES! It would be so much better to have a dad like you. I HARDLY saw my old father at all" "Whoa there, slow down speed racer" I said with a chuckle "He's still your father, and I said 'Family' not father" Diamond instantly pouted. "Then when will we be a family?" "When Redheart and Vinyl give me an answer and… Well you know… When I… Propose to Luna" I said slowly. "Awww! Do it now!" She squealed in delight. "No not now! I don't even have a ring or whatever you ponies use yet" I replied, cheeks going a light shade of red "Plus it has to be perfect" "At a restaurant with flowers and musi-" "Alright alright let's meet the others" I pushed open the door as soon as I stood up, startling the small filly, causing her to yelp and freeze in place. All eyes fell upon me, which then moved down to the young foal who was half hidden behind my legs. "Jackson? Who's this?" Luna asked curiously, furrowing her eyebrows. "This" I said while stepping aside to reveal the filly better, who was bright red and couldn't keep eye contact with any of the ponies in the room "Is Diamond Tiara" "She's so cute!" Redheart said which was backed by a vigorous nod from Vinyl sitting beside her, who had a mouth full of carrots and celery. "Hi new friend!" Tumbleweed said in a happy tone. "H-hi" Diamond managed, starting to calm down. She then noticed Luna's gaze and quickly fell onto one knee. "There is no need for that" Luna smiled politely "That's only for when things are formal and this" She raised her hoof and moved it in a circular motion "This isn't formal" "Come! Sit!" Vinyl said as she patted the seat next to her "I don't bite… unless you're made out of chocolate!" Diamond giggled slightly and slowly moved around the room to the other side of the table whilst I took a seat by Tumbleweed. Luna and Redheart were at either end. "Is she one of your students Jackson?" Redheart asked me as I plated up food for myself; a healthy dose of carrots, mashed potato and bread. "Yeah, and I invited her to live here with us" I replied, shovelling a helping of food into my mouth. Vinyl was dishing up Diamond's food when she replied. "This IS my house you know" she said in an unimpressed tone. "Well from now on I'll run things by you before I do anything" I said, gaining a smile from the electric blue maned unicorn. "Thanks Jackie, either way I would have let her stay! She's just so cute!" Vinyl gushed, making Diamond's cheeks turn beet red in her seat as she awkwardly ate some of the food that Vinyl had given her. Redheart glanced at Vinyl and raised her eyebrow, then quickly flicked her head to the side. The white unicorn then rose from her seat and promptly left the room. I was the only one to catch this. Something was going on and I was going to get to the bottom of it. "So Diamond, how do you like Jackson as a teacher so far?" Luna asked, finishing the food on her plate and serving herself some seconds. "He's just as good as Cheerilee! He's so nice and he likes to help us when we are stuck with questions" Diamond said with a half full mouth of food. Luna looked to me with a content smile on her face "Did you know he also plays instruments? He's awfully good at the guitar" Diamond looked to me with a grin on her face "I've seen him play once at school, but I'd sure like to hear it again" "Well I don't have my guitar here" I rubbed the back of my head with my left hand. "I do" Tumbleweed replied as she pulled my guitar out from under the table. "What? How?" I asked in utter bafflement. All I got for a reply was Tumbleweed tapping her nose with her hoof, along with a wink. I sighed and placed the guitar strap over my head and pushed the chair out away from the table to give myself more room. Vinyl walked in as I strummed each string in a downwards motion. "What to play? There are so many good songs!" I stalled as I played random notes on the guitar. "Just play anything" the DJ said as she took a seat across from me. "Well I don't know if I've played this before but I'll do it again even if I have! It's called Heron Blue" I stated as I began to play the song. "Don't cry my love don't cry no more A crashing sky a rolling screen A city drowning Gods black tears I cannot bear to see She lay under the midnight moon Her restless body stirring Until the magic morning hour Like poison it succumbs her Her baby skin her old black dress Her hair it twists round her necklace Constricts and chokes like ruthless vines To sleep she overtakes her?" I then started to play a melody interlude, which sounded like an Angel's song. "Her room is painted Heron Blue Lit by candlelight and chandelier And from her headboard perched so high A million dreams have passed her Don't cry my love don't cry no more It overwhelms my breaking heart A minor swell of violins I cannot bear to hear them" I then used my magic to duplicate my voice and play it over my singing, as well as add a rhythmic bass beat. I could see every mare in the room start to tear up. "A mother shepherds her young birds She fills their mouths and warms their souls Till they are strong and good to fly Away from her alone she'll die Cradle on quiet old oak limbs As heaven blue her light fails A breath of soot into her lungs A life, a journeys end in one" After another small melodic interlude, I put as much emotion into the song as I could. "Don't sing that old sad hymn no more It resonates inside my soul It haunts me in my waking dream I cannot bear to hear it Don't play those violins no more Their melancholic overtones They echo off the floor and walls I cannot bear to hear them" I finished the song and raised my head to see every pony weeping and sobbing. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry" I said as levitated the guitar over to the corner of the room and brought back a box of tissues for the emotional mares. "That was the saddest thing I've ever heard" Tumbleweed cried as she embraced me in a tight hug and let her tears stain my shirt. I placed my hand on her back and cooed in her ear as I felt my eye twinge. Not that I was going to tell anypony, that song was actually for my mother. I miss her so much. "Please" Vinyl started as she cradled Diamond Tiara in her forelegs "Don't ever sing something like that again. You have a talent for making ponies feel things through your music and I hate crying" Luna just sat and sobbed. 'I miss my mother too. I didn't even know her that well' Luna told me telepathically. 'I'm sorry Luna' I replied as I mentally hugged her. *** Luna said nothing as we walked down the hallway, coming to a halt at the entrance to our room. We looked to the door and noticed a picture hung on the front. It was a picture drawn by Diamond, as depicted from her name on the bottom right corner. The picture was drawn in coloured pencil and was of both Luna and I standing side by side with the words "Jackson' and Luna's room" in an arch on top. Luna aww'd whereas I thought it was awesome. I held the door open for the princess and followed her through, taking a seat on the bed. "Jackson" Luna said lightly as she looked at herself in the mirror, which hid the dungeon that Vinyl had used a few nights ago. "Yes Luna?" I asked her, unbuttoning my shirt. "I want children" My hands froze halfway down my shirt. "Luna…" I sighed. "Jackson" She said lighter than before, turning around to face me "From seeing Diamond Tiara today, I haven't felt this way for a very long time" "You've thought about it before?" "Yes" She rasped as she walked over and sat onto the bed "Before I was Nightmare Moon". "Can we even have children?" I asked as I took my shirt off, levitating it over to the laundry pile. "We can" She said, grabbing my right hand in her hooves and looking straight into my eyes "I've been studying cross species fertilization spells and potions" "That's where you've been?" "Yes" She replied "I can get Zecora to make the potion and I can enchant it" "But wouldn't the children be deformed? Like half human half pony?" I asked, trying to shake the images from my head. "No, that's the cool thing! The enchantment works for the male in the relationship" "So I'd be a pony then" "No-" "Oh thank god!" I fist pumped. "Oh thanks…" Luna said, letting go of my hand and looking away. "No you don't understand, I like being a human" "Well" she looked back to me "It doesn't change you one bit, which is good because I like you the way you are. All it does is makes it so you can make pony babies for a day" "Are you really sure about this Lulu?" I asked as she wrapped a wing around me "I mean children are a big responsibility, even for a princess like you" "I can handle it" Luna said sternly "And I know you can too" "Well what about marriage?" I asked. Luna blushed hotly "That would be nice". "R-really?" Luna nodded and blushed brighter, looking away. "It would be amazing" She said. "Would you like to go to dinner tomorrow night?" I asked. "I would love to" Luna said with a cheesy smile. "Then it's a date!" I replied, giving her cheek a sloppy kiss. A/N: I feel bad about taking so long to update so I'll end this here. Next chapter should be around 10k words for what I have planned.
Date NightView OnlineUnto A New WorldDate NightA/N: Sorry about how long it took to update this chapter. I’ve lost my motivation for this story; any story in-fact. It will most likely pick back up again when Season 3 starts, I’m currently writing ideas down for my next stories. Any-who, enjoy this chapter, if there are any of you left that actually read this. It’s pretty terrible. Chapter Twenty-Four: Date Night I awoke this morning to a light song from the birds perched on the balcony. I shifted my weight on the bed to find that Luna was missing from the spot she took every night, though there was a faint smell of something that I couldn’t put my finger on. It smelt… nice. Like a rose, with a hint of bacon. I sat up, examining the room and letting my eyes adjust. Nothing was out of place, though the laundry had been taken and in its place was a note. I lay back down on the bed staring at the ceiling. Children. She wants children. Am I even ready for this? Should we wait? What does that note say? I shifted the bed covers from atop of me neatly to the side and slid my feet out, landing directly in something warm. Looking down, I noticed there were two slippers on my feet. What? How? I’ve never had a pair of slippers in my life. There was another note on the wooden bedside table beside me, though this one was in a sealed envelope complete with the Royal insignia of a flaming sun. Picking it up and turning it over, I noticed it had been kiss sealed where the wax should be. Touching it with an index finger, the envelope disintegrated in my hand, leaving a letter and a large pouch in my lap. The bag was made of leather, and was tied by something which looked to be made of pure gold. It was also twice the size of my fist. How did that fit in there? Putting the bag to the side, I picked up the letter with my fingertips and carefully unfolded it. “My Dearest and most loved Jackson, It is of great pleasure to know that you will be proposing to my Luna. I wish you both the best of luck, even though I know that you won’t need it. Don’t get your head in a spin by thinking how I managed to make the bag fit; the only explanation I can come up with is Magic and molecules. There is a great place in Canterlot of which you can buy Hoof-Rings. You could also pay a visit to the blacksmith and have one custom made. I would love you to come and visit me this afternoon in my chambers, we have much to discuss! Yours forever and always, Celestia x P.S: Enjoy the warm feet!” How did she know? No time to dwell on that! I stood up and stretched, groaning as I did. Rubbing my eyes, I opened the top draw of the bed side table and slipped Celestia’s letter into it, and pulled out my Cloudstone necklace that Rainbow had so generously made for me for Hearths Warming. Shaping it around my neck, I moved sluggishly to where the laundry pile used to be and picked up the second note of the day. It was a simple piece of light blue paper, with my name on the front. I opened it and it shone brightly, blinding me with white. Closing my eyes, I noticed that I could still see. This wasn’t the room I was in before. Then I saw Luna’s face appear in the dark, and then the rest of her body followed by our room. I could see myself asleep on the bed behind her. “Luna? What’s going on?” I asked. The Luna in my vision didn’t reply, she just stared at me with a cheerful smile. “Hey Jackson” She said quietly as if trying not to wake me or anyone else “I hope you still remember about our date tonight. I’ll be going out today to get ready, as well as run some errands for my sister” Then her horn glowed. “There” she continued “I’ve separated us from the communication spell to give us both a little privacy” Her ears then twitched her head shifted, my vision shifted, to look at me sleeping. “It looks like you’ll be waking up soon” she giggled and turned her body, looking at herself in the mirror with a swish of her tail “I love you” The “Video” then finished and my eyesight returned to seeing the backs of my eyelids. My eyes fluttered open and I was struck with a wave of disorientation, though I managed to stay upright by balancing on the nearby wall. With a shake of my head, I regained the ability to stand on my own and walked over to the mirror where Luna had made her note thing. I wonder what Vinyl’s dungeon looks like… No! She told you not to and you have to respect her privacy! Screw you conscience, I do what I want ‘cause I’m an independent black woman mmm-hmm! I placed my hand flat against the reflective surface and slowly slid the monstrous mirror to the left, revealing a corridor, lit by pink candles that followed two tall walls to a main room. The room was round and large, though it wasn’t as big as any other room in the house. The floor was covered in a soft, wool-like material that was the same colour as the pink candles which, including being at the entrance, were also sitting on candle holders in various locations around the chamber. Taking my slippers off, I felt the carpet hug my feet. It felt strangely good, like walking on a soft, woolly marshmallow. Putting my feet back into the slippers, I walked over to a drawer which was on one side of the large heart shaped bed against one part of the wall. Opening the first draw, I found a pair of pink fluffy hoof-cuffs and some other long and thick… Unmentionables. The second draw contained a pony version of the Kama Sutra. Curiously, I flipped to a random page… Okay I turned to 69 whatever. How the hell is a pony meant to get their leg like that? Putting the book back, I willed my legs to take me towards the tall wardrobe on the opposite side of the room. It had to be at least twice my size. Placing my hands on the handles as any normal person would, I swung the doors open with eagerness. What I saw was NOTHING like I was expecting. It was full of assorted clothes and costumes. Maid outfits, chains, whips, hats and what have you. You know, ANYBODY who would come to this world would not think that the nice and humble ponies would use this stuff. It was actually pretty cool. I grasped a whip from the side of the wardrobe and brought it up close to my face. There was writing on the handle. ‘Whip ‘O Nine Tails – Property of Vinyl Scratch’ My eyes then followed the direction of the whip to the end of the tails. Sure enough there were nine, but what took me by surprise was what was on the end of each. Fishing wire. Fishing wire was tied to the end of each leather tail. I put the whip back in its place with haste, closing the doors quickly after. I shuddered, hoping that Luna hasn’t gone exploring in here and gotten any ideas… I turned around and made my way back down the pink lit corridor and proceeded back to my room, shutting the mirror behind me and resting my back against it. So. Many. Images. Though I wasn’t really complaining. It was kind of hot. Slowly, I stumbled towards the door and pulled it open and started to head down the hallway when I chose to stop at Tumbleweed’s room. She didn’t have a permanent residence here, but Vinyl said she was allowed to stay here whenever she wanted. *knock* *knock* *knock* I heard a small, cute squeal emanate from the room, followed by an equally as cute yawn. “You may enter” While opening the door, I noticed that Diamond Tiara had also drawn a picture for this room as well. It was of herself and Tumbleweed standing in a green field underneath a rainbow that had the words ‘best friend’ inside. I swear that filly could cure cancer with the amount of ‘dawws’ that she generates. The first thing I saw when I entered her room was a blur of light brown and bleach white, before I found myself staring at the ceiling with a small main in my stomach and a ‘growth’ on my chest. “Jackson!” Tumbleweed exclaimed as she snuggled her head into my chest “I missed you!” “Hey Tumbles” I chucked as I rubbed her soft coat with my hand “It’s only been what, nine hours since I saw you?” “Nine hours too long!” she said as she raised her head. I fixed her little light blue ball thing she wears above her left ear and tucked it up into her hair how she likes it, causing her to lightly blush and smile. “Thanks” she said, wearing a bashful smile “I didn’t have long to get ready, I wasn’t expecting anyone so I slept in!” “You’d look fine to me even if you had your hair down over your eyes, dirt in your coat and mud on your hooves” I said as I pulled her back into the hug, feeling the heat from her cheek on my chest. “That means a lot to hear you say that” she replied with a sigh “Can you come to bed so I can use you as a pillow?” she asked, then noticing the look on my face. “Well Vinyl has a room full of-“ “I DIDN’T MEAN IN LIKE THAT!” She blushed furiously as she got up from atop of me. “I know you didn’t” I chuckled “I’m just stirring you up is all! Besides, how did you know I was going to say that, I could have said a room full of fluffy kittens?” “I… Well… Me…” Tumbleweed stuttered, shying away while watching me lie down on her bed. “Are we doing this or what?” I asked as I opened my arms. The light brown mare waltzed herself over to the bed and literally jumped into the offer, hooking her foreleg around my neck and pulling me down onto the bed next to her. “We should hang out today” She said with a smile. “I was actually going to ask you the same thing. I need a mare’s opinion on a ring” I said as I rested my head on hers, staring on the ceiling. “You’re going to propose?” “Yeah, tonight. I need to get some clothes too” “I’d be more than happy to join you. It’s going to be a good day!” She said excitedly. “Well when you’re ready, we can go eat some breakfast and then get started” “Give me thirty minutes. Ten to snooze here with you, fifteen to shower and get ready and then the last five minutes to relax” she said with a keen smile “You can give me a shoulder massage”. “Oh can I know?” I laughed. “Yes” she replied “But I’ll owe you one, maybe on the day of your wedding” “She hasn’t said yes yet, and I haven’t even asked her!” “Oh but she will say yes” “And how do you know that Miss Tumbleweed?” “I’ve seen the way she looks at you, the way she presses her face into your face when you rub her cheek” She said while mimicking the action with her hoof “The way she says she loves you, to hold you” She continued, bringing her hoof close to her chest “Even right down to her body movement and behaviour; always facing in your direction, she flicks her tail when she’s walking in front of you and her ears always perk up when you start speaking even though you may be talking to some pony else across the room” She broke the hug and shifted her entire body to face me. “She loves you and wants to be with you for the rest of her life” I simply stared at her, studying her facial features for any signs of exaggeration. I’m a pretty good body reader. “How do you know all that?” I asked. “Huku, Mother, was a tribe shaman back in my homeland” she replied “When we moved here she taught me a few things” “Interesting. Well I have to say that was just about the cutest thing I’ve heard you say! How do you not have a colt-friend yet?” I queried. Tumbleweed blushed “A while back I said I was into colts, back when I was telling you how Vinyl and I met? I said we were experimenting back in school and I said I was straight” I nodded, gesturing for her to continue. “That may not be entirely true” she confessed, refusing to make eye contact. “There’s nothing wrong with that Tumbleweed” I reassured her, placing my hand on her back. “You can’t tell anypony” “Silly Tumbles! You don’t need to worry about that. I won’t tell anyone unless you want me to” “I’ll get there eventually, I’ve had my eye on that teacher remember?” “Oh right, Cheerilee!” “Shh!” she hushed me, folding her ears back “There’s something else I need to tell you too” She opened her forelegs and I gladly accepted. “And what’s that?” I asked, my breath making her back hairs move. “In my culture, we have four main groups on ponies in our lives; family, friends, a mate or partner and then one pony that we search for” “What sort of ponies do you search for?” I asked. “Well they aren’t like what Luna means to you. They’re… sort of like that one pony that we give our life to, who we take after and always go out of our way for. We feel their pain, and once we choose they basically become a part of us. Like two souls as one” “Where are you going with this?” “I think you’re that pony, or human” I was taken back. “Tumbleweed… I…” “I know it’s a lot to ask” “Well… I… Suppose I can be. I mean you mean a lot to me too, but why not Vinyl? You two are best friends” I told her. “She is one of my very best friends, and so are a lot of other ponies” She replied “But I just don’t feel the same thing I do with them compared to when I’m with you. It’s like a tingly sensation that you get when you eat too many jungle berries but its constant” I took a moment to think it over. She was practically giving her life to be, and in return I’d have to give mine to hers. I mean sure, Tumbleweed is awesome… But this was a lot to agree to in such a short time. I’ll have to talk to Luna about it. “Well uh, how about I give you your answer at the end of the day?” I asked. I watched as her expression fell for a split second, before it perked straight back up again. “That would be nice” she replied. “Cool, now are you going to take a shower or what?” I teased, poking her with my index finger. “What? Do I smell too much for your liking Mr Prince?” She played, hitting me back and jumping off the bed with a stretch. She put extra emphasis on Mr Prince with a roll of her eyes. “Maybe just a little bit” I replied, using my thumb and forefinger to fortify my point. “You mule!” Tumbleweed laughed as she jumped onto the bed and tried to chase me. Instead, she found her hoof caught in the silk sheets, and turning into a comical rolling ball. She stopped rolling when she fell of the side of the bed with a loud thud. Somehow, she managed to tie herself up, on her back, with a perfect little bow of bed sheets binding her hooves together; complete with a priceless grin staring up at me. “Help?” She whimpered, her voice filled with defeat and embarrassment. “You’re so cute!” I said as I pulled one of the bow tails, hearing her sigh in relief. “I thought you were going to leave me there” She told me as she picked herself up from the floor. “What? After the offer you just made me?” I replied with a slightly surprised expression “Now way” “True that” She replied and continued with a smile “I’ll go have my shower now, I shouldn’t be too long”. And with that she skipped out of the room and down the hallway to the bathroom. She doesn’t have the privilege of her own ensuite. Now left in the mare’s room, alone, there was only one thing to do… Go exploring! Where to start? I shuffled over in my comfy white and gold slippers to her wardrobe and peeked in. Nothing but clothes. I moved across the room to the shelf on the wall above her bed. Using the mattress as a ladder, I propped myself up to get a better view. There were two shelves, one above and one below. The top had a framed photo of a group of ponies, one of which was Tumbleweed who was just as old as Applebloom. The white stripe on her snout hadn’t even grown to its full length. There were two other photos on this shelf, one of Tumbleweed and two other ponies. One was a large black stallion with white rings above his four hooves and one on his chest. The other was a white mare that was about three quarters tall as the stallion. Her mane matched her coat, a pristine snow white. I noticed that she had specks of brown and black in her hair. This must have been her parents… The next picture; well I lie… It was more of a map; A map of part of Equestria. This has to be her homeland. On the bottom shelf, there were a few assorted trinkets, a Polaroid camera and a picture of Tumbleweed and I. Out of the trinkets, one thing caught my eye. No way. The shot glass we shared the first time I met her at the bar… I felt my heart strings being tugged at. No crying Jackson! “Jackson? What are you doing up there?” A familiar voice called from behind me. I turned to see Tumbleweed standing at the end of the bed, her coat and mane slightly damp from her shower. “Um… Nothing” I replied, hiding the shot glass and picture behind my back. “What’s that nothing behind your back?” she asked suspiciously. I sheepishly pulled out the shot glass and photograph, causing a light blush to form on Tumbleweed’s cheeks. “Oh right” She said, rubbing the back of her head with her hoof “I’m not stalking you or anything” “Not at all, I mean you just preserve my fallen hair in jars” I laughed. “He-he yeah” She looked away “I suppose I do” “…What?” Tumbleweed started to laugh loudly, falling to the floor while holding her sides. “You should have seen the look on your face!” she said in between her laughing and gasps for air. “I suppose that was pretty funny” I admitted “Are you ready to go?” The light brown mare rose to her feet and wiped a tear from her eye before her face changed into a serious stare. “I’m pretty sure I said you can give me a massage” “You also said you’d owe me one” I replied. “I did say that didn’t I?” she said as she lay down on the bed in front of me “My shoulders are killing me” I knelt down on the bed beside her and placed my hands on her back. “Right here?” I asked as I pressed my thumbs into her skin, feeling her tight muscles react to my touch. “Mmm” she replied as she lay her head down on her legs “Four and a half minutes and counting” I continued to rub her shoulders, pressing a little harder where I felt the most resistance. I worked my way across her shoulder blades and around her neck before returning to her spine, running my fingers along it. “Tiiiime” The mare yawned cutely “Thank you for that Jackson” “You’re most welcome my good friend” I replied as I got up from the bed “Shall we get breakfast out or have it here?” “We’ll get it on the way to Rarity’s” she decided as she too got up from the bed and moved out the door, followed by me. We walked through the kitchen and the lounge to find the house was empty. Everyone else was at work. “It’s so quiet” I stated, receiving an agreeing nod from Tumbles. “Redheart usually leaves at four in the morning, and Vinyl has to leave to go do things in Canterlot and other cities to organise her shows. Sure, she could just walk in and play like she does in the bar I work in but it’s very disrespectful for the DJ that is playing at the time” “Yeah that’s true. She must be pretty popular then” I said as I opened the front door for my friend. “Thanks, and yes she is. Almost every pony in Equestria knows who she is, and those who don’t will know soon with what she’s planning” “And what’s that?” I asked as I walked down the steps from the front door. “Spoilers” She replied, touching her nose with a hoof. “Come on really? You’re really going to do that again?” I complained. “No I’m not going to” she chuckled “Are you ready to know what she is going to do?” “Yes” “Are you ready to be blessed with the knowledge?” “Yes. Stop stalling!” “She’s going to have a concert in Manehatten, and she is going to invite you and Luna to it tonight” she told me. “So… What’s so special about a concert?” I asked. “She’s dedicating it to you, also Luna but mainly you” she replied, weaving in and out of a group of ponies/ “Why?” “That’s for her to tell you and me to keep secret” “You and your secrets!” I exclaimed. Tumbleweed giggled and broke out into a quick paced trot. I had to start jogging myself to keep up. I could see the Carousel Boutique coming up quickly, and the first thing that my eyes picked uop was the mass of multi- coloured ponies gathered in front of it. As we got closer, we could hear some loud, fancy pop music and someone speaking with a megaphone. “That’s Sapphire Shores! I’d know her voice anywhere” Tumbleweed said as she sped up to reach the back of the group. “Who is she?” I asked as I tried to peek over the top of the crowd, which was easy enough due to the height difference. The mare with the megaphone had a pale olive coat and a brilliant azure mane; Complete with a fancy dress-thing which reminded me of Lady Gaga in a way. “Here comes the next model, wearing the next seeeeensational fashion for winter, the ‘Future Look’” The model that trotted out had a blue coat, accompanied by these weird rings that literally floated around her waist, hooves and neck. The crowd was silent for a little while, until the mare shook herself like she would if she were wet; like a dog. The rings started to glow in a bright white with a slight blue hue, causing the crowd to gasp. Then a deafening cheer erupted, causing the model to blush, pivot and strike a pose. “This design comes in twelve different colours, and are asexual” Sapphire said “I’ll be using them in my next concert, which every pony here who buys just two sets of Future Rings will get free entry! Just remember to keep your receipt to show to the bouncer griffons at the door and you’ll be admitted” She then scanned her eyes over the crowd and spotted me at the back. “Oh! It looks like we have royalty here today!” she said as she pointed at me, making every pony to turn and fall to one knee. “Hail Prince Jackson” they chanted in unison. What the fu- “You may rise?” I said experimentally. As instructed, all ponies rose back to their hooves and stared at me, as if waiting for me to say something. “Uh… I came to see Rarity” I then looked to Tumbleweed “We came to see Rarity, so if it’s no bother, can we just squeeze through?” The audience all stepped aside to make one narrow passage the led straight to the door. “Say hello for me” Sapphire said as I walked past her place on the stage, who received a nod in response. I opened the door for Tumbleweed and swiftly followed her in before shutting it, pressing my back against the wood. “That was awesome” I said. “Well you’ll be getting a lot more than that for the rest of your life” Tumbleweed said with a quirky smile. “And you’ll be known as Lady Tumbleweed” I told her. “Aww thanks Jackson” “No worries” I said as I got off the door. “Is that my wonderful Jackson that I hear?” I heard a voice call from somewhere in the boutique. “That depends if that voice belongs to Rarity?” I asked, earning a small giggle from Tumbles. The white mare then stepped out from a door to the left of her shop and into the main atrium. “The one and only!” She said with a gleaming smile, walking up to me and my friend “How wonderful it is to see you again!” “As it is to see you!” I said as Tumbleweed and I walked up to her, meeting halfway. She embraced me in a friendly hug, and did so for Tumbleweed too before taking a step back to her place. “What are you after?” the white mare asked. “I’m looking to have a nice suit made, as well as find out why this Sapphire Shores is outside your boutique” I said with a smile “She also says hi” “Oh how nice of her!” Rarity said with a small, lady like chuckle “I will tell you while I work. Come!” She did a fancy pirouette and walked to the door she emerged from. There was a little more skip to her work than usual. She led us through her home and into her studio, where she instructed me to stand on a podium. “I’m ever so sorry dear, but Sweetie Belle was making something for a school project and used the piece of paper that had your measurements on it” She told me as she levitated a measuring tape and a clipboard with a pencil out from her table “Arm up” I lifted my arm as I watched Tumbleweed take a seat on a nearby couch. The only noises for the next few minutes were Rarity scratching down numbers and my stifled laughter. When she finished, she asked me if Tumbleweed was looking for some clothes as well. The bar mare promptly shook her head. “What do you want the suit to look like?” Rarity asked me, pencil ready to draw. “I’d like a simple black suit, neat and high fashion with a white shirt to go with it” I said. After a few minutes of drawing, Rarity had shown me her picture. The figure looked exactly like me, and had looked pretty boss. She took it back and furrowed her eyebrows. “It’s missing something…” She said while chewing on the pencil “I’ll figure it out while I work, and it will be done in half an hour if you’re willing to wait?” “If it’s not too much trouble…” “Not at all my dear!” she insisted with a wave of her hoof “No pony has ordered anything because Sapphire is out there selling m-our next line of clothing” “You mean you created those rings?” Tumbleweed asked, placing all her attention onto the mare. “Why of course! And they really aren’t that hard to make either” Rarity said as she turned to her sowing table, levitating over some black fabric as she spoke “It’s our line of clothing because she promotes the rings and in return I get faster fame, although she gets seventy percent of the profit” “SEVENTY PERCENT?!” Tumbleweed and I exclaimed in unison. “Yes, I know” Rarity sighed. “Why are you doing it then? You could have gotten me to do it, or even Luna” I told her. “No offence, but the younger ponies in this world aren’t too interested in royalty. Sure we are here in Ponyville but in other placed such as Manehatten and Neighston, they are more interested in celebrities and the like” Rarity said. “That still doesn’t really answer the question” I said. “She will be able to get my name out there, and once she does then I will be able to live in Canterlot; where I belong!” “I suppose that is plausible” Tumbleweed said. I turned to the brown mare. “Do you even know what that word means?” I asked her. “No but it sounded right” She said shyly, her eyes darting around the room. “Well I don’t either so don’t feel bad” I said with a smile, and a small chuckle. Tumbleweed didn’t seem to find it funny, she didn’t say a word. “So…” Rarity said, cutting the awkwardness with her voice like a knife “I worked out was missing and you’ll never guess what it was” “And what was it?” I asked. “My ‘new to be signature’ rings of course!” she said extravagantly. “I was actually about to ask you about those” I replied “And you’re adding them to the suit right?” “Yes dear, if you get hungry while you wait there’s food in the kitchen” Rarity said with a wave of her hoof in the general direction of said room. “Thank you very much” I said as I took a seat by Tumbleweed on the couch. Now all I had to do was wait. Waiting was NOT my special talent. *** “It’s doooooone!” Rarity sang as she took the suit away from the sowing table and held it up in her magic. “That’s exactly how I imagined it to look Rare” I said with a smile as I got up from the couch and took the suit from her grasp “Is there somewhere I can get changed to try it on?” “You may use my room, up the stairs and down the hall to the right” She said with a beaming smile plastered across her face. “Thanks” I said as I moved to the staircase and to her room, hearing Rarity’s final words as I shut the door. “So… Tumbleweed, are you SURE you don’t want any clothes?” *** Rarity’s bedroom was extravagant. It wasn’t the first time that I’ve seen it, but it never ceases to amaze me. Seriously, she always talks about wanting to live in Canterlot… You’d think you’d be there in her room. The windows had expensive curtains pulled to their sides and she had carpet as white as snow, or Celestia’s coat. Her ceiling was high in the rectangle room, and was accompanied by a very fancy cornice. In one corner of the room sat her bed, which is where I placed the clothes when I got changed into the suit. Like a glove. I felt so swag, this was definitely going to be the night. THE night. *Knock* *Knock* *Knock* “Jackson? May I come in?” I heard Rarity’s voice penetrate the door. “Of course, it IS your room after all” I chuckled and turned from the bed, my eyes meeting the white mare’s as she entered. Rarity gasped. “You look smashing!” she said as her eyes grew even larger. I shuffled awkwardly on the spot. “Thanks, but I can’t seem to get these rings to work” I said as I turned back to the bed and picked the four up in my hands. “It’s really quite simple dear. You let a little magic flow into them and they glow and hover in place” My human instinct had me using my hands instead of my new found magic. I was yet to get accustomed to it, no matter how good I actually was with it. Rarity took one of the rings with her telekinesis and held it around my left wrist. She closed her eyes and concentrated. Moments later the ring came to life and she released her grip, leaving it hanging in place. “Now you just have to tap each ring to that one and they’ll work” “Thanks Rarity” I said with a smile as I started to take the suit off and place it in a set of saddlebags that Rarity had left for me. “Anything for a friend Jackson” She said with a smile and turned to leave. “Go get her” she said with a flash of joy in her eyes. *** “So where to next?” Tumbleweed asked while trotting beside me as the hot midday sun beat down on the both of us. “Well we’ve checked the clothing off the list” I replied as I shook the bag in my left hand. “So we still have the ring, the dinner reservations, the music and the cute date before hand?” Tumbleweed said as she read off her mental checklist. “There’s no cute date beforehand, and I have to go see Celestia sometime today as well” I heard the mare make some noises, which resembled talking to herself. “Yes” She said finally “If we go to the jewellers after a light lunch, we will be able to go make the reservations for some time around seven o’clock and then finally you can go and see the Princess before your dinner” I kept my pace even as I turned to face Tumbleweed. “How did you do that?” “Do what?” She asked with a smile. “How did you plan out my day so easily?” Tumbleweed blushed slightly “I thought about it while we were in Rarity’s, and I just had to make some quick changes when you said you had to meet up with Princess Celestia” “Right, well thank you! You’re like my very own secretary!” I chuckled. “Well back before I became a bartender, I was studying to become one with Vinyl in school” She said as we passed the co-op where I had met Junebug at one stage. “Vinyl wanted to become a secretary too?” I asked. “I probably should have worded that better” Tumbleweed said with a smirk on her face “I was studying to become a secretary while Vinyl was studying her music” “Oh! That makes much more sense” I said as I slowed my walk, coming up to a small deli on the corner of a street “Why didn’t you become a secretary then?” “No-pony needed one, or they just didn’t want to hire me” She said with a pout “So I did the next thing on my list” “Bartending?” I asked as I led the brown mare into the store, holding the plastic strip door thing up for her. The deli was cosy, like Applejack’s house. It smelt nice, like when you walk into a restaurant and all you can smell is the nice food. The walls were painted a bright sunset orange and were decorated with paintings. There was a vending machine to the left of the room, alongside a fridge filled with assorted drinks. The counter was much like a Subway counter, having those curved glass windows to protect the food inside. “Correct, and I’m happy that I got this job!” she beamed, stopping by the counter and looking at the menu behind the cashier. I looked up at the menu, seeing a lot of healthy and unhealthy foods. I didn’t know what to buy. “Can I help you?” The cashier asked in a lazy voice. The stallion yawned and adjusted his headgear before looking at us again; his eyes were nearly closed so he mustn’t have had any idea who he was looking at. “I’ll get what you get Tumbles” I said as I took out the bag of gold bits. “Uh, we’ll have a salad I suppose” she said in an uncertain tone. “Is that all for today ma’am?” the cashier asked. “Oh and two apple juices!” Tumbleweed replied as she quickly span and trotted to the fridge, retrieving two plastic bottles full of the yellow liquid. “That’ll be ten bits please” The stallion said. I complied and counted out ten golden coins on the counter. Another employee walked out and disappeared behind the glass, re-emerging a few minutes later with two take-away boxes of salad. The purple unicorn mare smiled as she handed the boxes over. “Come again!” She said while waving her hoof, which later turned to hit the cashier in the right leg “What did I say about getting a good night’s rest?” “I… I…” Was all we heard before we were out of ear shot. “Let’s go sit down by the fountain, under the shade of that tree” Tumbleweed said as she led me to the centre of town. It feels good to sit down every once and a while and just watch the busy town go about its business. I think Tumbleweed has the same idea. I cracked open the lid of Tumbleweeds salad and passed it to her, before opening mine and using my fingers to pick up a piece of lettuce and raise it to my mouth. My eyes darted over to the mare beside me, whose body was facing me and her eyes were boring into mine. “Y-yes?” I asked, stuttering a bit from the stare. Seriously, she wasn’t even blinking. Tumbleweed looked away with a happy sigh “I just know I’ve made the right choice”. “The right choice about choosing me as your soul-pony or whatever you call it?” Tumbleweed nodded. “Do you have an answer yet?” She asked while digging her muzzle into her container. “Not yet” I replied “But I’m more or likely going to say yes”. “So why not just say yes now?” She asked. “Because I’ll be giving part of my life to you, so I need to know you’re the one as well” I replied. The brown mare seemed to contemplate my words, before nodding and making an affirmative noise. “That’s fair” She said as she looked at the fountain in the centre of the square, and then up to the regal palace in the distant mountains “How do you like your salad?” “It’s pretty good, I mean it’s no lamb steak but it’ll do” I said without thinking “I mean…” “You eat baby sheep?!” she said under her breath so no-pony else could hear. “I thought I told you that humans eat animals and plants” I said, raising my hands defensively. “You did… But baby sheep?” She said in an unimpressed tone “Seriously?” “They taste nicer” I retorted, folding my arms and putting my nose in the air. “That’s horrible!” Tumbleweed said as she quickly finished her salad “But whatever, let’s get to Canterlot” “But I haven’t finished my sa-“I tried to say before the bubbly though slightly pissed mare pulled me from my seat in a hurry towards the train station. *** The train station was a humble little thing. It was barely half the size of a train station from Earth, but probably ten times more organised. ‘Ponyville Station’ was cut into a wooden sign that hung above the large arch passageway. It was, and I regret saying this: cute. My companion led me through the building, which was bigger on the inside. Seriously, have you been there yet? It is LITERALLY bigger on the inside. From where I was standing, with bag o’ le suit in hand, I could see the multi-coloured train at the terminal. “ALL ABOARD FOR DEPARTURE TO CANTERLOT IN FIVE MINUTES!” A male voice boomed over the speaker system, sounding a little tinny and robotic. “That’s us!” Tumbleweed said as she raced to the counter, throwing a few bits at the mare behind it and receiving two tickets thrown back at her. We boarded the train after showing the guard said tickets and found a spot towards the back. Cool kids ride in the back. The train interior was much like a train steam strain passenger car pulled straight from the older times. It had nice green, patterned carpet and cream coloured wallpaper to match. “NEXT STOP: CANTERLOT!” The voice boomed again as the engine pony shut the doors on the train cars. “This’ll be fun!” Tumbleweed said, nearly shaking in her seat from excitement. “If you say so” *** “Well that was fun” I said as we jumped off the train at the Canterlot station, and obvious bored tone accompanied my voice. “I had fun; I told you that you should have tried hanging your head out the window!” Tumbleweed said giddily as she trotted by my side, her hooves clip-clopping on the tiled floor of the train station “Where to first Princie?” “You’re the one who organised everything” I rebutted. “Oh yeah” She replied, a light blush appearing on her brown cheeks “Uh, I think I said to the Jewellers or Blacksmith right?” “I don’t know” I said with a smirk “You tell me” We stepped out of the station into the bright sunlight. All around the two of us there were dozens on snooty ponies going about their lives. Is it wrong that I felt like punching them in the face? “Jewellers it is!” Tumbleweed decided, veering her trot to the left; aiming our walk at a large building about two hundred metres away. “I wonder what Luna is up to” I spoke to myself, looking up into the cloudless blue sky. “Probably thinking about tonight” My companion told me with a smile “It’s going to make her so incredibly happy” “I’m actually starting to feel nervous” I said, letting the words linger in the air before speaking up again “Not about tonight, about the future” “Sir and Madam?” The stallion said from the other side of the room, near a stand of gold and silver rings “If you would like to choose your rings now…” “Oh right!” I replied, pushing Tumbleweed over to the stallion “What do you think?” She looked at the stand and spun it around with her hoof before pointing at one of the rings and looking back at me “How about this one?” I took it from the stand of fondled it with my fingers, examining it. It looked to be pure gold, with a strand of silver running through the middle and it could easily slip over my wrist. “This one is from Prance, specially designed to encase the memory of a wedding inside to be kept forever” The stallion informed us, receiving two “Aaahs” from the both of us “Although I must admit it does not match your mare’s eyes Sir” He took the hoof-ring from my grasp with his magic and held it up to Tumbleweed’s face, who blushed furiously and turned her head away. “See?” He said. I let out a chuckle, which turned into a full gut busting laugh “She’s not my mare-friend!” “She isn’t?” “Nope, just a really good friend who is helping choose a Ring for my real mare-friend” I said, bringing Tumbleweed close with an arm. “May I ask who your mare is then?” “Princess Luna!” I said with a smile. “I’m sorry, but you do not fit her highness’ colt-friends description” He said, putting the hoof ring back on the shelf. “Lolwhat” I replied, giving Tumbleweed a deadpan stare and receiving one in return. “I said you are not her majesty’s colt-friend” It was Tumbleweed’s laugh that broke the silence that followed the stallion’s words. “And who are you to say he isn’t?” She asked, getting in his face. “The description that I was given by a very trustworthy associate was that he looked like a Diamond-Dog and you sir are no dog” “Who exactly did you hear this from?” I asked. “That is classified; now get out of my store before I call the authorities!” And we did just that. I was not going to buy a ring from someone as dumb as that pony. “So I suppose we will be going to the blacksmiths then?” Tumbleweed said, her voice filled with disbelief of what had just happened. “I suppose so! Wait…” I looked up towards the sun “It’s nearing two o’clock, can you go make the dinner reservations while I go get the ring made?” “Will do” she saluted and galloped off. “Wait! Where is the blacksmith?!” I yelled after her, but she didn’t hear me “Great juuuust great” I looked up to the rooftops of Canterlot and spotted black smoke a few blocks away billowing up into the sky from a large chimney. There it is! I broke out into a mad dash in the direction of the smoke. *** *CLANG* *PING* *SSST* I followed the sound as best as I could and ended up in front of a large wooden house, connected to an open room half the size of said house. The “Half Room” had a large male earth pony working within, using his brute strength to swing a hammer down with his mouth onto an anvil. I walked up the wooden stairs and towards the pony. “Hi!” I said, just a little bit too enthusiastically. *CLANG* *PING* *SSST* “Ahem” I cleared my throat and still received nothing. “HELLO!” I yelled. The stallion flicked his left ear and his eyes slowly turned to meet mine. “Didn’t see you there, hearing isn’t what it used to be” He said slowly in a voice very similar to that of Big Mac “Whaddaya need?” The stallion was old. He had visible wrinkles and had bags under his eyes. And his eyes. The stories and experience I could see in them, it’s something that no words can describe. “I need a ring made” I said “I can pay handsomely if you make it right now” I untied the bits bag from my waist and showed him, who widened his eyes. “What sort of ring do you need?” “I need an engagement ring” I told him. “Well I can make you one in no time from almost any sort of metal with any sort of gem in it” “Then I’ll have a silver ring made up, with the best gem you have” The stallion turned and walked to a nearby shelf, picking up something on his nose and throwing it onto his back. He walked back over and turned to show me his back. Whatever it was wrapped in a grey rag. “I was saving this for something special, but I know who you are and what you are planning to do” He said with a kind, relaxed smile “I’m too old to find my own mare, so I want you to have it” I opened the rag and gasped at what was inside. It was the most flawless, beautiful gem I had ever seen. The colour was a bluish red with a tinge of green. “It’s called a Turpias” He informed me “I can embed it into the ring for her highness” “Thank you… I’m sorry I didn’t get your name” “My name is Iron Hide sir” “Thank you Iron Hide” I said with a smile “I won’t forget this” The blacksmith pony gave me a happy, tired smile. “Your ring will be finished within the hour” “Thank you, I will send some pony to pick it up then” I replied as I shook his hoof in gratitude “Most likely a mare named Tumbleweed” “I hope all goes well your highness, good luck” he said with a nod and watched me leave the building. *** Walking towards the castle, feeling the heat of Celestia’s sun, I spotted Tumbleweed running towards me. “Jackson!” I heard her voice call, getting louder as she got closer. “Tumbleweed!” I greeted the red faced pony with a grin “How did it go?” “Good” she replied, wheezing and panting deeply “The dinner reservations have been set for seven thirty, which gives you an hour and a half to meet with the Princess and an hour to get ready” “Thank you Tumbleweed, and the music?” I asked, patting her on the head. “Octavia will be playing at the restaurant, and you have a seat towards the front on the right” “Who’s Octavia again?” I questioned, receiving a dead pan stare in return. “Y-you’ve never heard of her? Not even a little?” she asked in a tone that sounded like she didn’t believe me. “Not that I can remember…” “Well she’s Canterlot’s greatest… I forgot what it’s called; it’s basically a large cello with a fancy name” “Alright, I do know what you are talking about now” I said with a smile “You can have the rest of the day off; although I’ll need you to pick up the ring from the blacksmith and drop it by my room in the Palace when I am getting ready” “Can do!” Tumbleweed saluted cutely, so hard in fact that a few strands of her hair fell in front of her eyes. She then opened her forelegs for a hug. “Then I will see you then!” I said, returning the hug before parting and heading off to the Castle. *** I never really noticed this before, but the castle is actually really large. It has to be at least three football fields wide, receding into the face of the mountain. And I was going to be one of the rulers who lived here. …Well, hopefully. I walked up the stairs that led to the main gates and met the guards who were stationed there. Upon noticing me, they opened the gates and bowed as I passed them. Two others from the other side of the doors flanked my left and right and followed me as I walked down the long, marble floored hallway. “Princess Celestia has been waiting for you to arrive” The guard on my right informed me “Though is currently in a court session with Griffon Ambassadors, her highness has requested that in this case that you are to wait in her Royal Chambers” “Lead the way” I… well… I instructed. I still didn’t like giving orders to ponies but it has to be done. We took a right turn not far up from the gate that lead to a flight of stairs. At the top of the stairs there was another door, guarded by another two guards. ‘My’ guards turned and left as the door to Celestia’s room was opened. ‘Great’ I thought to myself ‘More waiting’ *** I was lying on Celestia’s bed, staring at the artwork on the ceiling when the doors re-opened. I had only been waiting around fifteen minutes. The Princess walked in and dismissed the guards that followed her before turning back to me with a tired smile, walking across the room. “I’m sorry I took so long my Prince, but I was forming a very important peace treaty with the Griffons” the alabaster mare said, taking off her crown and placing it on her dressing table with a sigh. “That’s quite alright Celestia, I have no problem in waiting for you” I replied, catching her smile as she proceeded to take off her golden collar thing. “Thank you Jackson” she finished her sentence by placing the collar on a nearby mare mannequin, and then started to take her slippers off and place them on the same mannequin. She turned around to face me and my mouth fell open in awe. I had never seen her without her royal attire on, she looked so different. “Is something wrong?” she asked in her classic sing song tone, walking over to the bed and taking a seat next to me. “Nothing, I just haven’t seen you when you haven’t been wearing anything before” I replied “You look like a different mare” Celestia chuckled. “That’s because the Princess that wears that clothing is not the same Princess that is sitting beside you now” “Celestia?” “I have things that I need to discuss with you, and if it is spoken from princess to prince then it will not be the same” she said “It needs to be sister to brother” “Sister and Brother?” “That is correct, my little human” she replied with a light giggle “In life, I believe that there is the family that you are born with, and the family that you choose. I have chosen you to be my brother, even though once you marry Luna you will be anyway” “Then it would be an honour to have you as my sister, I also consider Tumbleweed my chosen sister as well so I suppose she falls under the chosen family tree for you too somewhere right?” “That is right, and I know that you will give her the title of Lady when you are able to” “Yes, you are correct” I said with a smile “What did you need to talk to me about?” “This might be a little hard to take in…” she replied, seeming to go over some words in her head. “It’s okay, I’ve taken a whole lot of information and the like today, a little more won’t make much difference” “If that is your wish” She nodded her head before looking me right in the eyes “You are informed that Luna controls the Moon and I control the Sun?” “Of course…” Celestia got up from the bed and walked up to the middle of the room. “Ever since the beginning of Equestria it was foretold that the third royalty, who was not related by blood, was to take control over the Earth itself” “The Earth?” I questioned “As in vegetation?” “Vegetation, animals, the sky, fires, lightning and rain” Celestia concluded “Basically anything that has to do with the planet” “But I thought Pegasi took care of the rain and clouds?” I asked. “That is true, but they have never had a third royalty to control them. They had to take it upon themselves” “So what you’re saying is…” “You will have to control the Earth as a whole” *** I woke up in my private chambers on my bed, Celestia and Tumbleweed by my side. “Jackson! You passed out!” Celestia said, putting her now golden slipper covered hoof on my arm. “Yeah that happens sometimes” I told her “What time is it?” “Seven…” Tumbleweed replied, eyes widening in shock “We’re going to be late!” “Does Luna even know where we are going?” I asked, literally using my magic to teleport across the room to my dresser, finding my clothes placed inside. Probably placed there by Tumbleweed. Celestia answered this. “I told her that you will pick her up from her room at seven fifteen” “Jackson, you just teleported” Tumbleweed muttered, but I didn’t take much notice. “How am I going to get ready in fifteen minutes?!” Celestia’s horn shone with a golden aura, before a beam shot out from the tip and hit me in the chest. I didn’t really get to see what had happened or how, but afterwards I found myself in my suit, glow rings around both wrists and ankles and I seemed to be showered. “Like that” She said with a smile “You look really nice” “I agree” Tumbleweed said with a smile “Here is your ring” She pulled out the ring from behind her back and gave it to me. I opened the box and I gasped. The ring was amazing! “This… This is…” “Yes, it’s a good ring!” Tumbleweed finished for me “Now go get her!” “Yes… Yes you’re right!” I said, shaking my head and putting the ring into my inside jacket pocket “I’ll see you both later” “Good luck Jackson” Celestia said with a smile as I left the room. *** ‘ Control over the Earth as a whole?’ I thought to myself as I briskly walked to Luna’s room, once again flanked by guards ‘Which in turn puts me in-charge of the lives of all ponies on the planet..’ “We have arrived Sire” One of the guards said, before turning with the other and marching off back down the hallway. Wasting no time, I knocked on the door. *Knock* *Knock* *Knock* “Come in!” I heard Luna’s voice chime from within the room. I did as instructed. Placing my hand on the door, I pushed it open to find the room as dark as the night itself. “Luna?” I asked, shutting the door behind me “What’s going on?” “Do you remember that low light vision spell I taught you a while back?” I heard her say, her voice resonating in my eardrum as if she were right next to me. “I do, but it starts to hurt after a while” “Activate it; you won’t need it for long” I did as was asked. I concentrated on the flow of my magic and poured some into my hands. They started to glow a ghostly white. Phase One: Complete. Placing my palms together, I started to rub them together quickly as you would when trying to warm them up. Soon the aura colour changed to a light blue. Phase Two: Complete. I raised my hands up to my head and covered my eyes with my palms, transferring the magic to my eyes. Removing my hands, my eyes started to outline shapes in the room with a blue outline. I could start to see the stairs leading to the upper level of her room. I peered into the dark room and saw Luna standing at the top of the stairs, that is until she teleported in a flash. “Luna? Where did you go?” I asked. “Right here” I heard her say in my right ear before she lit candles in the room with her magic. The room illuminated with a dim glow. There were hundreds of candles placed in random areas around the room. I turned around to come face to face with the Princess. “Hi” she smiled and tapped my head with her horn before mischievously teleporting away. “Lulu” I laughed “What are you doing you silly pony?” I heard her faint giggle come from the middle of the room, so I decided to walk that way. As I got closer, her giggle changed direction; towards the balcony. I walked out into the fresh air through the two large glass doors that led to the balcony and found a table, covered in a silk red table cloth and red candle. Then something even more amazing caught my eye. The moon. The moon was low in the sky, and it was the largest I had seen it during my stay here in Equestria. And the stars! The stars were breathtaking! There were trillions upon trillions of little sky candles shining in the dark sky. I felt a hoof tap my shoulder. “Hey” Luna said as I turned. I didn’t have much time to respond before her mouth connected with mine, and left it just as quick as it came. “I was thinking we could spend the night up here instead of going out” Luna confessed, looking bashful as she did. I looked her up and down, taking in the dress she was wearing. It was a black dress that showed off her slim body that had frills at the bottom and neck. On top of her head was a cute little hat that had a small blue rose in it. To put it simply; she was amazing. “I… I…” “Shh” Luna cooed, putting her soft hoof to my lips “Sit” I obliged, pulling out a seat for her first before I sat. Her horn shone a soft blue, lighting the candle in the middle of the table before summoning up two silver platters of food. “How was your day?” she asked, breaking the silence. “Very full on” I confessed “I teleported” “Really?” she asked with an impressed look on her face “You shouldn’t have been able to do that for at least another few months” “I don’t know how I did it” I said as Luna revealed the food on our plates. On Luna’s was a nice selection of greens, along with blue flowers and hay. Mine on the other hand was a lamb steak. “How did you get this?” I asked “And how are you not disgusted by it?” “You have to do what you have to do to survive” she said, pouring two glasses of wine “And yours is eating meat. I can put up with it, because I know you wouldn’t eat anything that could actually talk or has a soul. This meat came from your world” “I see, thank you” I said with a smile “How was your day?” “Very relaxed actually” She replied, putting a forkful of food into her mouth “I slept for most of it” “Well that’s understandable” I said “You ARE the Princess of the Night” “Your Princess of the Night” *** The night was going well, and very quickly. It was nearing ten by the time we moved back inside. We had finished four bottles of wine. …Each… “I fe-fe-feel amazing!” Luna said in a slurred voice. “I know what you- *hic*-mean” I said, hiccupping half way through; causing Luna to let out a hearty laugh. “You’re so drunk!” she teased, swinging her head in my direction and falling onto me. We fell onto the carpet near the bed, laughing and rolling around. “Luna…” I said as we began to calm down, staring at the ceiling as we lay by each other “There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you- *hic*”” “And what is that my love?” “Well I had this whole night planned out for the both of us” I said “And it was- *hic* -supposed to be special” “This was very special” “I know, it turned out better than what I had planned” I told her, rolling onto my side to look her in the eyes “And it’s about to get better” “Wh-what do you mean?” she slurred, giving me the bedroom eyes. “Not that, yet…” I said as I reached into my pocket and stumbled up onto my knees. I pulled out the hoof ring in its box and opened it, revealing the piece of silver inside. “Will you marry me?” I asked. “Yes!” She cried, pulling me into a drunken embrace. Tonight was going to be the best night of something amazing. Well that's it, I hope you enjoyed it! Hit this video up to see what me and my friends do when we are bored!
Chapter One: AwakeningView OnlineUnto A New WorldChapter One: AwakeningIMPORTANT A/N! DO NOT PASS OVER! 29th of February 2012: Hey guys, just a quick note. The creative side of me is getting back into this story slowly. I am taking the time to go through each chapter, editing AND ADDING parts to them. As I get closer to the later chapters, I will then take the time to re-write them. To those of you who liked it, I'm sorry but the Darkness will cease to exsist, and so will the crossover to that other story. It just didn't feel right, and in that time I was recovering from my illness so my head was all stuffy and I couldn't think straight. Anywho, every once and a while I'll upload the next edited chapter and so forth. So sit tight and relax, this train is coming home! From your author, -jackson3525 Chapter One: Awakening Ever since I was a child, it was blatantly obvious that I was different. Every other kid wanted to be something special like an astronaut or a teacher. Me? I wanted to play music for people to make them happy. I'd play a shoebox with strings attached that I made at home and pretend to sing to a crowd. I knew what I wanted and I was going to get it. My mind was set. When I was ten, mum and dad bought me an acoustic guitar, my first real six string. I played it 'til my fingers bled. Even up until this present day, I still have it, the red Les Paul, country style with two black patterns cut-out on either side of the strings, and it's my most cherished item. The next thing you know, I'm fifteen, and my friends and I had started up a garage band. We called ourselves 'The Crimson Doves', Lame I know, but we were young. It wasn't long until we split up. We couldn't meet up enough times to be able to practice, and the others seemed to have found themselves girlfriends. Before I knew it I was alone, again. I was not ready to move on, I wanted.. no I needed to play instruments, playing music was my passion, which just made the whole ordeal harder for me. My mother died when I was sixteen, she was driving home one night from the local pub, when she turned a corner and swerved to miss a dog. The car ended up wrapped around a tree, the paramedic told dad and I that it was a quick death, but from the look on his face, I could tell she was lying. For the next two years, my father blamed me for her death. He would always get drunk and come home trying to hit me. Once, he smashed a bottle on the table and nearly stabbed me in the stomach with the smashed end. No matter what would happen, or how much shit I went through, there would be one place that I could go to where I could be alone. It was out in one of our paddocks, not too far up the farm, under an old oak tree. I planted it there when I was two years old. It was where mum had been buried. There I could play my guitar for her to hear, alone with my thoughts that she could actually hear it. Hah. How stupid was that? My dad passed away when I was nineteen. He was diagnosed with liver cancer, which moved to his kidneys and lungs, and eventually to his bone. Once it reaches your bones, it cannot be cured. I had him buried next to mum; I knew it would have been what he had wanted. Ever since then, I have been living in a small shabby house in the city, living of the insurance money from both parents. I sold the farm to someone in town, who could do a lot more with it than I could. He was even nice enough to let me keep the paddock where my parents rest. So after telling you a small overview of my life, let's continue with the story shall we? *** There was a knock at the door. I lived in a house in the city, it was a big change coming from the country. The room was dark, and I only just, by luck, managed to stumble through the lounge room, past the couches and table without stubbing a toe, to get to the front door. There was nobody at the door when I arrived. "Oh come on! I only took ten seconds!" I yelled. That was probably an exaggeration, knowing me it would have taken ten seconds to get up off the couch. I looked down to see that there was an envelope lying on my porch. Picking it up in my hands, I turned it over, examining the level of detail that had gone into the designs on the paper. It had a small crescent moon in the upper left corner, surrounded by which looked like part of a night sky, or dark clouds. It actually looked like it was a picture taken straight from a camera. On the back of the envelope, the word 'Canterlot' was boldly placed at the top. Moving my eyes ever so slightly down, I saw the letter was sealed with red candle wax. 'That's odd, I didn't know people did that anymore' I thought to myself. I noticed that the wax was pressed in the centre; it had the words 'Princess Luna, Co-Ruler of Equestria' imprinted. "What in the world is an Equestria?" I spoke out loud, knowing no one could hear me. I walked back inside into the lounge room, flicking on the light so I wouldn't hurt myself from all the crap on the floor. It didn't help though, I didn't see the pin on the floor as my eyes were adjusting to the light, didn't even acknowledge its presence until it was in the base my foot. Letting out many choice words, I crashed into the couch, tears forming in my eyes. I looked down at my foot and there was blood running down the heel to my toes. The pin was just hanging there loosely from a.. newly formed gash. I held my breath and bit my lip, and in one swift movement, I pulled out the pin, screeching like a banshee into the quiet, dark emptiness of my house. 'Doesn't look like I'll be walking anytime soon' I told myself as I wrapped my foot in a pillow case. I hobbled over to the hallway and found the medical box, pulling out a sowing needle some thread, and then making my way to the alcohol cabinet and pulling out my favoured whiskey. I hopped back over to the couch, balancing myself on things as I went. I sat on the couch and unwrapped my foot from the pillow case. Holy fucking shit-balls batman! Blood everywhere. There was sort of an unwritten rule among the country town I lived in. It was something to do with teaching everybody skill that you knew well. I guess that's how I learnt to stitch wounds, but I couldn't use a syringe to save my life. I took a long swig of my whiskey, feeling it burn on the way down. Then I took another, and another before finally reaching for the needle and thread. I poured some whiskey on a clean part of the pillow case and rubbed it on my cut, hissing through my teeth before. I had to clean it before I start. I threaded the needle and touched it down to my skin. "Come on Jackson you can do this!" I said, trying to get myself motivated "Three, two one!" The needle pierced my skin and I let out a howl of pain. The needle breached the other side of my skin and I took another long drink of my whiskey. This was going to take a while. *** After applying correct dressing to my foot and keeping it levitated, the pain almost ceased to exist, and once again all my attention was back on the mysterious envelope, which had somehow positioned itself upon the coffee table in the middle of the lounge. Slowly and carefully I pried open the seal with a nail, hoping not to ruin the beautiful piece of artwork. It opened with a satisfying slice, and to my surprise no damage was done to the detail, which I was ecstatic about. Inside the envelope, there was a letter, accompanied by to golden coins and a polaroid picture. The golden coins had to faces on them. One side had, which looked like, a portrait of an angel, she had long flowing hair and a.. horn? 'Okay, now that's a little weird' I thought cautiously. I flipped the coin over to see a similar face, but this angel did not have flowing hair, as hers was straight. All around the side of the coin, it read 'The Solar Empire of Equestria'. Extremely confused, I picked up the Polaroid picture. There were two horses standing by each other, I recognised their faces from the coin. The taller one, obviously the older and wiser due to being larger, was a white winged Pegasus. Its horn was much larger than the smaller horse's. It had a massive rainbow mane and tail which looked like it touched the floor. This particular alicorn wore golden slippers on all four of her hooves, and it had a smile which brought warmth to my soul. The other horse, however, still had the same features as its companion, but was much smaller and a whole lot cuter. Its coat was dark blue in colour and the mane and tail were a light cyan. It too wore slippers, but of a different style to its larger friend. They were of light cyan, like its hair, but did not curl around the leg like the other horse's. Her horn was slightly smaller also. At last I reached the letter. 'What secrets could it behold? How do I know that this is not just some stupid prank?' I thought, letting my hopes down, 'Although if this was a prank they certainly put a lot of effort into this'. I opened the letter, the first thing I saw was the penmanship. It was amazing, like candy to my eyes. The paper was of same quality as the envelope. 'Dear Jackson Please do not be alarmed. My name is Princess Luna. I am writing this letter to you, to tell you where you need to be, and so you have a heads up when you get there. I know this may be a little too much for you, but I mean you no harm. You have no reason to trust me, but I must ask that you do. Go to the burial site of your parents, under the tall oak tree. You may not have noticed it, but there are two small holes that fit the two coins which I have enclosed. You will need to put each coin in, so my sister's face is towards mine and mine as to hers. Once that has been done, lay the photograph at the base of the tree. I will help you face to face from there. Yours truly, Princess Luna.' At the end of the letter, I could not comprehend what I had just read. 'There is another species out there that is contacting me, and wants to meet with me' I was going over that thought time and time again. The next thing I knew, I was on my way to my former farm. It must have been around eleven at night by the time I had reached the property gates. Another ten minutes of driving, and I was right where I was told to go. I did as the letter had instructed, carefully placing the coins in their respective places, and laying the Polaroid on the ground beneath the tree. I eyes grew wide as my jaw hit the floor. The two horns on the alicorns on both of the coins started to glow, and small bolts of electricity bounced between them. I took a few steps back, just as the wind had picked up. The leaves of the tree started humming in the wind, which made me a little agitated, I kept checking behind me to make sure there was no one there. I had the strangest feeling that I was being watched. Right before me where I had been standing not ten seconds ago, a large purple oval appeared from thin air. Within a second, it started to shimmer as something pushed me from behind, forcing me tumbling into the purple light. I felt myself falling a few meters before smashing my head on the floor. Looking up, I saw one of the two alicorns from the picture I had received. It was towering over me. My thought was to run away as I pushed myself along the floor into a corner. It started walking over to me, horn glowing. Before I could let out a scream, I was knocked out cold.