Fire…

Fire and burning smoke surrounded him, he could barely breathe left alone see anything. He realized that he was lying on his back outside of his collapsed house and groaned miserably. With some effort on his behalf Chris forced himself to stand, his body screaming at him to rest as he did so.

"Sa-Sapphire!"

Chris walked over to what remained of the roof and attempted to lift an immensely large plank up.

"Ugh! C-Come on!" He groaned in exhaustion.

It took him a good fifteen minutes but the tired Human eventually managed to move enough of the collapsed building. It was the last piece of rubble that revealed her…his little sister.

The Earth pony was still, unmoving and showed no sign of what he was looking for the most…breathing.

"Sapphie…?"

Chris fell to his knees and crawled over to her slowly. Once he reached her, he picked the small pony up and cradled her to him.

He suddenly heard the flapping of many wings behind him but still refused to take his gaze away from his sister.

"Chris? Chris what happened, what's going…Oh my…by the sun…"

Chris recognized the voice instantly but amongst the raw emotions streaming through him it was nothing more than white noise. After a few seconds he was aware of somepony standing in front of him, attempting to lift his face to theirs.

He allowed this and looked on bleakly at the face of Princess Celestia. Said Princess's face was contorting with sadness, sadness for him, sadness for Sapphire…Sadness for all he had lost.

"Chris…Please, come with me." She asked softly.

"No…"

Celestia's eyes shined with held back tears but still she attempted to convince the Human to follow her.

"Chris please, you need to come with me. Just…put her down. You have to leave her…just come with me and we can talk please!"

"No…I'm not leaving her."

Celestia allowed her tears to fall before looking over his shoulder and nodding at somepony. Chris looked behind him with wide eyes as he saw around ten guards approaching him slowly, their spears and swords raised warningly.

"Why Tia?" He asked, spinning his head around to face her.

"It's Sapphire, Chris. Red Hoof…he…he bought her servitude. She is his…even in death."

Chris's eyes widened as he rapidly stood up and backed away from all of them, his little sister still in his arms.

"That sick son of a whorse is not getting Sapphie!" He snarled defiantly, stumbling a little as he continued to back away.

The guards all smirked at him and advanced quickly. It was then that Chris saw the symbol of Red Hoof on their armor. These guards were his own private militia. Celestia stood next to them and continued to try and talk him down.

"There's nothing either of us can do Chris! I'm so sorry but I can't change the law...and the law says that she is his…Just please put her down and come with me before you get hurt!"

Chris looked down at his little sister and then back at Celestia and the smug looking guards. He let loose a few tears and kissed Sapphire's forehead before laying her down on the ground behind him and pulling out a small but sharp looking dagger.

"You can take her over my dead body." He said dangerously.

The guards all laughed at this and put their swords in their mouths, preparing to run at him.

Celestia's eyes were wide with fear as she knew that no matter what she said, the guards would only listen to her parents or their master. She quickly ran in front of the guards and stood a few feet in front of her lover.

"Chris please don't do this…for me please don't do this."

Chris's hand loosened on his dagger for a moment before he gripped it firmly and glared at her angrily.

"Would you? If it was Luna would you?"

The young Princess gazed down at the ground and found herself unable to answer. The guards snorted at this and walked around her before breaking into a sprint and charging at Chris.

Chris waited for the first one to reach him and dodged to the right, twirling his dagger in his hand expertly and stabbing his head. He quickly withdrew it and blocked the next attack, he then kicked the guards' legs out from under him and stabbed him in his eye, twisting the blade and pulling it out. The other guards had frozen at this point, having never suspected that this commoner would be this experienced with a blade.

"You should have been conscripted boy." Said one of them dangerously.

Chris merely remained silent and waited for the next attack to come.

Suddenly Chris screamed out in pain as is whole body began to convulse with electricity, making the Human fall backwards and continue to twitch every few seconds. He lifted up his head and let loose a flurry of tears as he saw Celestia's horn lit up, sparks still coming from the tip. She gave the guards a warning glare and trotted over to Chris quickly, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

"I'm sorry Chris, I didn't have a choice." She whimpered quietly.

Chris saw his sister's corpse being lifted up and taken away by the guards.

"No!"

He started to slowly lift himself onto his feet only to be forced back down gently by Celestia's magic.

"Stop Chris just rest my love, please." She pleaded softly.

Chris looked up at her and glared angrily, making her look away in shame.

"I-I trusted you Tia…"

Celestia closed her eyes for a few seconds before opening them and attempting to speak…but Chris cut across her.

"Just…just leave me alone Princess…We're through…"

The Princess's eyes widened in horror at this. She shook her head rapidly and nuzzled him repeatedly.

"No we're not Chris! Please listen to me. I couldn't do anything, Red Hoof is a Prince and I'm only a Princess. His power is above mine, I couldn't do anything to stop the guards and if I didn't stop you then you would have died!"

Chris's breathing became shallow as his gasps turned into sobs of pure depression.

"I wish I had Tia! It's never enough for him is it? First Father then Mother and now my little Sapphie…"

He closed his eyes and turned onto his side, ignoring her attempts to nuzzle him.

"I'm alone now Celestia…I have nothing left to live for…"

Celestia frowned sadly and used her magic to lift him up and into her embrace. Together they teleported into her personal chambers, where she was never to have anypony else other than her family or future Husband. Chris's eyes remained closed as he felt himself falling deeper into his spiraling depression.

The next thing he felt however was his burnt clothing being removed. First was his shoes, then his socks, trousers and completely burned top. He didn't even pay attention to it, nor the soft bed with luxurious covers that surrounded him.

Celestia climbed into it with him and pulled his practically lifeless body into her embrace. She kissed his forehead and then nuzzled his neck soothingly.

"You're not alone my love. You have me…"

Chris let out some more tears, which were gently wiped away by his lover.

"Is it enough Tia?...Is it enough…"

The whole room melted and swirled, twisting and changing into memory after memory. None was comprehensible, there were too many and all were crashing down on each other.

Chris could see his anger, his spiraling depression as the full force of raw emotions smashed into his subconscious.

Awakening…

"AHHHHHH!"

Chris opened his eyes and screamed for all it was worth. There were ponies all around him, attempting to keep him still whilst a female walked towards him carrying a syringe. Chris used all of his strength to force everypony off of him. He jumped out of his bed and quickly realized that all he had on were his jeans.

He looked at the material confusedly but snapped back to reality as more nurses burst into the room, followed by…

Chris narrowed his eyes and let his anger show blatantly as he looked at Princess Celestia. Said Princess noticed this straight away and regarded him with worried confusion.

"Chris what's wrong?" She asked concernedly.

"What's wrong…What's WRONG? You…you let Sapphie get taken away from me!" He replied furiously.

Celestia's eyes widened in shock as she heard this. She quickly realized what must have happened and slowly walked over to him, nurses in tow.

"Chris I'm really sorry for what happened that day. But-"

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Chris yelled, he was absolutely beside himself with rage and was in no mood to listen to what he thought were lies. He looked around and dashed forward, jumping through a window and hissing when he scratched himself on the glass.

He refused to pay attention to it though and he certainly wasn't going to look back. However his focus was stolen as he looked around him…and realized he had no idea where he was.

"What the? Where the…This isn't Foalsville. Where am I?"

He ran into the center of the village and was instantly noticed by most of the population. To his utter disbelief however they stopped all of what they were doing and…bowed to him.

"What…Why is everypony bowing?" He wondered out loud.

"Because you're my Prince, Chris."

Chris spun around to find Celestia no more than five inches from him. He began to back away only to be surrounded by nurses and guards. Celestia smiled at him comfortingly which he found himself almost…drawn too. He shook his head to rid himself of the soothing sensation and attempted to look for a way to run…Which Celestia noticed as well.

"Guards I need you to keep him here. He'll be fine in a few minutes but he mustn't be able to leave Ponyville."

Chris glared at the Princess and looked at the ponies surrounding him.

"You can try and keep me here Princess, but I will find Sapphire. And then-"

"Sapphire's is long dead Chris." Celestia interrupted. "I know this must be confusing but you'll be okay in a few minutes."

She looked at the glowing mark on his forehead and smiled when it started to dim slightly.

"What are you talking about? Where is she? Where's Foalsville?"

Celestia closed the gap between the two of them and rested her eyes on his. Chris started to feel that sensation again…it felt…nice.

"Foalsville is gone Chris. It fell in the battle of Redfall…the battle you fought in remember?"

Chris felt so strange. All of what Celestia was saying seemed to wash over him, making him feel safe and warm.

"I…I don't…remember…Tia…what's happening to me?"

"The magical energies in your brain forced your memories to collapse in on one another." She answered softly. "Whoever you were when you were remembering was brought forth to protect your subconscious. The present you is recovering rapidly and soon…he'll be back and you'll go back into his subconscious until he remembers who he was again."

Chris's legs began to shake and he fell over. Celestia caught him with her magic however and brought him close to her, not caring the slightest what anypony else thought of her.

"Maybe somepony would like to see him whilst he's still here…as he was so long ago."

There was a bright flash in front of Chris which rapidly dissipated to reveal Princess Luna. Chris's eyes widened at this before he smiled sadly, already feeling as though he was beginning to drift away.

"Luna? You look…different." He said weakly.

"Does the grass still hate you?" He continued feebly, amusement laced in his tone.

Luna's eyes widened in surprise at this. But she soon smiled and picked a blade of grass from nearby. She then put it too her lips and started to blow on the side, creating a strange but gentle music.

"Not anymore Crystal…I learned from the master." She replied gently.

Chris let his body fall limp against his lover's magic and continued to smile sadly at Luna. Said Princess walked over to him and added her magic to her sisters, giving him the Alicorns version of a magical embrace.

And it was in this embrace that the memory of Crystal vanished back into Chris, feeling strangely satisfied but just as sad as he did do.

Chris opened his eyes to find himself lying down in a familiar room. He felt something moving next to him and turned his head around to see Celestia staring back at him lovingly.

"How do you feel Chris?" She asked curiously, her hoof stroking his cheek soothingly.

"Like I've got a pounding headache." He replied amusedly. "What happened? And aren't you still in heat?"

Celestia shook her head and pulled him closer to her, relishing in his warmth as she nuzzled his chest.

"You've been out for a little over forty eight hours Chris. It's quite coincidental really. When I received a letter from Twilight about you, Luna had to slap me to stop me from coming to you."

"Probably a good thing, I'd like to be conscious if you plan on ravaging my body." He quipped playfully.

Celestia just giggled at him and smiled as he put his arm over her tightly.

Chris looked outside of the large window and smiled wearily as he saw the moon shining it's light in the room.

"It looks late…I can't be sure if it is or not yet but…Happy birthday to me I guess."

He closed his eyes and felt the gentle grip of sleep start to take him, pulling him in and-

"WHAT!"

Chris sat up and looked around quickly, but frowned in confusion as he didn't see anything.

"Tia what are you shouting for?" He asked in annoyance.

He looked at the Alicorn and gulped audibly as he found himself under the glare of the century.

"Why didn't you tell me it was your birthday today Chris?" She asked sternly.

Chris sighed and rested himself on his elbow.

"Because it's never really mattered to me before." He replied honestly.

Celestia tilted her head in confusion but after a few seconds nodded, understanding of why he would think so.

"The orphanage never celebrated your birthday did they?" She asked quietly.

Chris shook his head and lay back on his pillow. Celestia crawled over to him and more or less threw her body on top of his, making him grunt a little in surprise.

"Well then today I shall make sure it is the best birthday you've ever experienced." She said enthusiastically. "In fact I can already think of something you might like…Depending on whether you remember it or not."

Chris smiled at her and stroked her face gently.

"There's no need you know, I'm only turning nineteen so it's nothing special."

Celestia just shook her head and gazed deep into his eyes, her small muzzle merely centimetres from his mouth.

"But you're special to me…and makes your birthdays special too."

She then closed the gap between them and started to kiss him gently, smiling into it as Chris returned it just as gently. Together they relished in each other's touch, Chris slowly moving his hands over her svelte body and Celestia using her magic to softly touch and caress his skin, along with her hooves gently rubbing his shoulders and arms.

Celestia pulled back and rested her head under his chin, mindful not to hurt him with her horn. Chris just smiled at the pleasantness of it all.

"You know what?" Chris said quietly.

"What?" Celestia replied.

"It's strange…I know that in reality I've known you and loved you for a long time, but even though it's only been a few days for me now…I can't imagine leaving you."

Celestia raised her head and gazed down at him with a small smile on her muzzle.

"I'd never let you leave me…never again." She said softly, before proceeding to nuzzle his cheek tenderly.

"Oh? And what if some rather rowdy mares came to steal me?" He teased amusedly.

Celestia just smirked and rested her head back under his chin, nuzzling deeply into his neck.

"Mhmm I don't know. The moon does look lovely this time of year though doesn't it?" She replied, a slight teasing tone to her voice.

Chris just blinked in confusion but shrugged mentally and tightened his grip on her ever so slightly, making her smile serenely just before sleep took them both into its embrace.

After what felt like a mere few minutes later, Chris opened his eyes and instantly sat up, noticing that Celestia wasn't anywhere to be seen. He looked around the room but found nothing out of the ordinary. He cocked an eyebrow but got out of the bed and made his way into the bathroom, where he quickly showered and dried himself.

Once he had gotten dressed into some clothes that had yet again appeared out of nowhere, Chris left Celestia's room and started to wander the maze that was her palace. Chris felt very strange as he did so, as though something was directing him subconsciously. He eventually opened a door and found himself in some sort of open area. It resembled a large circular dome, similar to a coliseum used for fighting in the early years of Humanities history.

The first thing he noticed was something floating in the air in a purple glow. The second thing he noticed…or rather felt was the unmistakable sensation that he was being watched. He shook this feeling away and walked over to the floating object. As he got closer to it he recognized it to be a sword…and it made his head tingle slightly the more he looked at it.

The sword's blade was midnight black and had a very peculiar inscription on it. The guard was pointed at each end and a light golden colour, its grip was white and the pommel had a very familiar picture of the sun over it. The inscription was clearly not written in any language he had ever seen and yet…he could read it. He took the sword from its magical prison and smiled at the strange yet familiar way it felt in his hand.

"Beings of darkness be banished by thy light and cast into the sun." He read quietly.

The sword suddenly glowed at this, it's blade being encased in a golden aura which quickly moved up his wrist and covered his whole body. He closed his eyes as the light became blinding, not noticing his clothing as it started to morph into something else. The light died down after a few moments and Chris opened his eyes.

To his utter disbelief his entire outfit had changed. His t-shirt had morphed itself into skin tight yet flexible black leather with some light yet tough feeling metal protecting it. His jeans had also changed into a similar material but were followed up by some medieval type greaves that surrounded them. The greaves were a silvery metal and yet seemed to weigh almost nothing. The shoes he was wearing before had also been replaced by some sort of leather in the shape of flat boots. They had buckles that kept them firmly attached to his feet without catching his skin in any way. His hands had also spawned fingerless leather gloves that were actually quite comfortable and flexible.

But the thing that surprised Chris the most was that his trenchcoat had turned into a sort of cloak. It was white with a golden stripe that went from the hood all the way down to where it finished. He hadn't noticed it yet but on the back of it was a large picture of Celestia's Cutie Mark, namely the sun. The hood was down at the moment and the cloak wasn't done up but was instead open and blowing in the light breeze on both sides of his thighs.

"What the-"

Suddenly the whole coliseum become enveloped in an unbelievably bright light, forcing Chris to put a hand in front of his eyes to shield them. The next thing he knew, he was surrounded by the sound of talking and cheering as the coliseum was suddenly filled with what must have been hundreds of ponies.

He looked up and saw Celestia, Luna and Cadance looking down at him with expressionless looks on their faces. This worried Chris immensely but before he could say anything Luna began speaking to the crowd…loudly.

"WELCOME EVERYPONY TO THE ANNUAL CELESTIAL ARENA, WHERE EVERYPONY FROM ALL OVER EQUESTRIA COME TO PROVE THEIR WORTH. NOW ARE YOU READY FOR THE FIRST ROUND?!"

At this the entire crowd went ballistic, screaming their approval to the Princess. Said Princess raised a hoof and everypony instantly ceased their shouting.

"What? Annual Celestial Arena?...HAVE THEY GONE NUTS?! I CAN'T FIGHT!"

Before Chris could get a chance to say anything a large gate slowly raised a short distance from him. He watched on warily as a male Pegasi walked out, dressed in some strange looking leather armor and carrying a crude looking dagger in his mouth.

"NOW AS WE KNOW ANY WEAPON IS ALLOWED, INCLUDING MAGIC AND RANGED WEAPONS. THE FIRST PONY TO YIELD LOOSES, ACCIDENTAL DEATH WILL BE EXCUSED BUT PURPOSEFUL DEATH WILL NOT BE AND WILL RESULT IN INSTANT BANISHMENT! PREPARE YOURSELVES COMBATANTS!"

Chris was close to sweating buckets and his opponent could see it. The Pegasi smirked at him and gripped his dagger firmly in his mouth, already laughing at the victory he could see coming. The nervous Human figured that nopony would be able to hear him over the noise and assigned himself to the realization that he was going to get the shit beaten out of him.

"I can help."

Chris blinked at the familiar voice… recognizing it as his own, or rather…

"Crystal? Is that you?" He thought quickly.

"Yep and it looks like you're in a bit of a pickle doesn't it." Crystal replied bemusedly.

"Well as sure as I am that this is amusing for you, I really could use a hand or several." Chris said rapidly, not liking the look in his opponents eye.

"Ha! Well I can help, but you're going to have to…take a backseat as it were."

"What?"

"By Solaris Chris! You're going to have to let me take over our…your body for a bit. Unless you wanna be beaten to a pulp. We'll both be in control, you mentally and me physically." Crystal explained quickly.

Chris wasn't sure about that. He didn't like the idea of anyone taking over the physical functions of his body…but on the other hand he had no idea what had gotten into the Princesses but he wasn't keen on getting his ass handed to him.

"COMBATANTS BEGIN!"

Chris jumped at Luna's sudden declaration and saw his opponent flying over to him rapidly.

"OKAY OKAY TAKE OVER!" He literally yelled mentally.

"Haha well since you asked so nicely."

The sun tattoo on Chris's forehead glowed briefly, startling the Pegasus into stopping abruptly as he saw Chris's expression change from scared into…confident.

The Pegasus quickly regained his bearings and flew at Chris again, twisting his head and attempting to slice his cheek. To his utter surprise however Chris easily blocked the attack and punched him in the face, knocking the dagger from his mouth and getting a loud cheer from the crowd as a result.

The Pegasus was knocked down but quickly got back up and shook his head to get rid of the ringing that now filled his ears.

"Heh! You got lucky there!" He declared arrogantly, picking his dagger back up and somehow holding it with a hoof. How he did so was a mystery to Chris…but Crystal merely smirked and gestured him to try again, getting a great deal of satisfaction as the Pegasus fell for it and charged him again.

Crystal quickly swerved out of his path and using the flat side of his blade, smashed down on his forehead. The Pegasus fell down from the air and rolled several times before he stopped moving, unconscious.

The crowd erupted into loud cheers that only escalated as crystal raised his sword into the air. He walked over to the Pegasus only for him to vanish from the arena completely.

"Teleportation? Since when can a Pegasus do that?" Crystal wandered confusedly.

"Maybe they get teleported when they yield or become unconscious." Chris theorized quickly.

They were drawn out from their thoughts as another opponent came from the far end of the arena. To Crystal's chagrin it was a female Unicorn wearing what looked like enchanted armor. She had blue fur and a very sleek and neat mane and tail. He also noticed that her Cutie Mark was four drops of water. The Unicorn continued walking until she stopped a few feet from Crystal and smirked at him.

"You're pretty good, but Celestia's lover or no I won't hold back on you. So it might be wise for you to just surrender whilst you have the chance Prince." She said loudly, deliberately mocking his title and getting a cheer from the crowd as a result.

Crystal merely smirked back at her and twirled his sword expertly.

"Wow that must have taken a while to rehearse." He laughed in amusement. "Did it take all night or is your special talent making up shit?"

The Unicorn stopped smirking at this and snarled at him angrily.

"You'll pay for that ten times over Prince." She said scathingly.

"OKAY COMBATANTS…BEGIN!" Luna yelled.

The Unicorn instantly lit up her horn and started firing very large fireballs at him. Crystal cursed and was forced to dive, duck and roll to avoid all of them. Eventually the Unicorn stopped firing having exhausted her magic temporarily. Crystal took this moment and charged at her quickly, raising his sword and attempting to smack her with the side of the blade. To his utter surprise however the Unicorn grinned and fired a bolt of lightning directly at him, hitting him directly in an unguarded area of his chest.

Crystal flew backwards and rolled a few times, his whole body jittering as the bolts forced him to twitch and shudder violently.

"UGH! Buck that hurt…I should have known she was…Ow…Bluffing. She exhausted herself way too quickly." He muttered painfully.

He saw the Unicorn's horn lighting up again and forced himself to stand, having already partially recovered which surprised him. The Unicorn blinked at this as well but narrowed her eyes and fired a large burst of electricity at him. Crystal put his sword in front of the blast and caught it, but found himself being slowly forced back by the continued stream of lightning. He felt his sight dimming somewhat as the toll of being blasted with lightning before rapidly started to affect him.

"Okay Chris I'm going to try something This worked on that Griffin magus…it might work again…" Crystal thought quickly.

"Go for it, I'm not sure how much longer we can stand if you don't try something."

Using the last dregs of his strength he twisted his sword and redirected the lightning right back at her.

The Unicorn's eyes widened at this and she attempted to teleport away from it. Unfortunately for her she was too slow and was quickly enveloped in electricity. Crystal watched on as she was thrown backwards into the arena's wall, smashing into it and falling to the ground twitching and unconscious.

He raised his sword in the air and received an ear shattering scream from the crowd in response. He lowered his sword and quickly checked himself over, wincing when he felt the spot that got zapped with lightning.

"Ow…I'm not sure how much longer I can last." He muttered quietly, looking at the gate as yet another combatant stepped into the arena. It was another Pegasus but this one was female with black fur, purple eyes and a wild red mane followed up with an equally wild red tail. Her Cutie Mark was a fiery tornado.

"OKAY EVERYPONY THIS IS THE MOMENT YOU'VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR. EQUESTRIA'S ARENA CHAMPION WILL FACE EQUESTRIA'S PRINCE! LIEUTENANT FIREFLY AGAINST CRYSTAL JUSTICE! WHO WILL WIN?" Luna shouted to the crowd, getting mixed responses as a result.

Firefly flew over to a spot a few feet away from Crystal and regarded him with a…proud expression?

"Wow Prince, I've never seen anypony fight so well against Water Vapour." She said proudly, smiling at him confidently.

Crystal raised an eyebrow at the lieutenant but smiled back at her and bowed in respect. Firefly did the same before readying herself into an aggressive stance and withdrawing her sword from its scabbard, holding it in her hooves and eyeing Crystal warily.

"COMBATANTS…BEGIN!"

Firefly flew high into the air and circled around him quickly, so quick in fact that he had trouble keeping his eyes on her. He kept his sword raised and steady in his grip, waiting for her to dive at him. Like he predicted Firefly launched herself at him and swiped at him expertly with her sword. Crystal blocked this…barely and pushed back at her, almost knocking her off balance.

Firefly quickly recovered however and charged at him in a different direction. Crystal blocked this again but hissed as her blades tip caught his cheek and opened a shallow cut.

"Shit! Waiting for her isn't working… Dammit why can't she be like those predictable Griffons?!" Crystal thought in frustration.

"Shut up a second will you, I've got an idea." Chris said sternly.

"Well it had better be a good one or we're going to lose." Crystal replied curtly.

He blocked yet another attack and cursed as his legs wobbled from the sheer brute force of her attacks.

"Right yes. Well if you look closely you'll see that she attacks in a pattern. It's always left, right, right, left and then she repeats. If you can intercept her on the last one when you should be able to throw her off balance."

Crystal dodged another attack and rolled away from her, preparing himself as she flew towards him quickly.

"I hope you're right." He thought quickly.

Firefly quickly reached him and attacked rapidly, swinging her sword at him so quickly that he could barely see it.

"Left, right, right…NOW!"

Crystal ducked under her attack and punched her under her chin, snapping her head back and knocking her out of the sky where she hit the ground and rolled away. Her sword had flown some distance away from her and so she had no hope of retrieving it.

The lieutenant shook her head and narrowly avoided being hit with the side of Crystal's blade. She saw her sword on the other end of the arena and cursed mentally. Crystal lunged at her quickly and caught her side sharply, cutting her shallowly.

Firefly cried out in pain and flew up high, barely avoiding a dangerous swing from Crystal as she did so. Said Human was pretty much exhausted and running on automatic, only able to stay upright by sheer willpower alone. Firefly noticed that she wasn't doing too well herself and cursed at having been resorted to use her secret weapon.

"You're bloody brilliant Crystal, but you're exhausted and this fight is mine." She shouted from the sky.

"Oh really? Come down here and prove it then!" Crystal shouted back.

Firefly merely grinned and flew up high into the sky, confusing Crystal slightly. None the less he prepared himself for one last go and get himself as steady as he could, his sword placed in front of him defensively. For a moment all was silent.

Suddenly Crystal heard a sharp whistling and looked up.

"Oh shit…"

Firefly was flying down at him rapidly but what got his attention was that fact that her entire body was surrounded with flames. He could see the flames burning through her armor as well as the pain in her eyes.

"This must have been a last resort type of attack." Chris told him quickly.

The Pegasus quickly changed her direction and slammed her body into him. What happened next shocked the entire crowd including the Princesses.

The moment her body made contact with Crystals there was a LOUD explosion. Crystal had no hope of dodging or blocking it and was sent flying backwards into the arena's wall. He smashed into it harshly and cried out in pain as he did so, before sliding down it and ending up in a kneeling position. Firefly's body was singed but thankfully for her, her armour had absorbed most of the fire and her coat had escaped being burnt. She was still badly hurt however and was only just standing, having picked up her sword and was leaning on it.

The entire arena was completely silent, looking on at Crystal as he remained quite motionless.

Luna looked at Celestia who was observing Crystal with wide eyes. The sun Princess nodded at her sister who cleared her throat in response.

"THE WINNER IS FIRF-"

Luna was suddenly shut up by Cadence's hoof as she pointed at Crystal. Said Human was slowly standing up, using his sword to help him balance himself.

Firefly's eyes went wide in disbelief at this. Nopony had ever gotten back up after she had used that attack. Nopony!

Crystal raised his head and looked at Firefly defiantly. Then to everypony's surprise he actually started to slowly walk over to her, using his sword as a sort of walking stick. Firefly knew that she was spent and had no energy left to fight him with. If he reached her and put his sword by her neck she was have to yield.

Crystal was dragging his feet as he slowly made his way over to her, his tattoo flickering rapidly as he did so.

"Almost…there…" Crystal thought tiredly, refusing to give up despite the sensation of his essence fading back into Chris.

He was halfway across the arena, edging his way to the Pegasus at a painfully slow rate.

"Shit…sorry…Chris…"

Celestia watched on worriedly as his tattoo stopped flickering and merely glowed brightly, before dimming and leaving Crystal motionless as a statue.

Chris opened his eyes and looked up at Celestia wearily, a small smile on his face.

"Sorry…" He said painfully.

To everypony's utter disbelief the Human dropped his sword and collapsed onto his front. His armor flashed and changed back into his usual clothing, albeit with a few rips and tears.

The Princesses, the crowd and Firefly just looked at the fallen Human for what felt like years.

"The…THE WINNER IS FIREFLY!"

The crowd of ponies broke out into loud applause, stomping on the ground rapidly and creating a noise similar to a small earthquake.

Firefly just looked at Chris in shock…before smiling and picked herself up painfully.

"Huh…I guess you're the one I've been waiting for." She said happily, before grimacing in pain as she started walking over to him.

She turned him over and picked up his wrist. The Pegasus then reached into her severely burnt armor and pulled out a small dagger. She smiled in gratification when she saw that it had escaped being fried before lowering it to Chris's wrist and slowly dragging it across his palm. She then slowly dragged it over her hoof and pressed the two cuts together, slowly chanting an foreign language as she did so.

"Ego nunc iurare coram his testibus ad perpetuum erit per latus tuis. Protegere. Ut haec suffulciatur vobis. Et quamvis vobiscum adiunctis. Vestra sum arma "

The crowd was completely silent as they watched this curiously. The Princesses merely smiled as they instantly recognized what the lieutenant was doing.

"So she's finally chosen somepony to be an Armatus for. Who would have guessed that it would be your lover Tia." Luna whispered happily.

Celestia just nodded and regarded Firefly with a small frown, prompting Cadance to raise an eyebrow as she noticed a familiar emotion touch her Aunties muzzle.

Firefly finally removed her hoof from Chris's palm and placed him on her back, her years of training being the only thing that stopped her from collapsing at the weight, however little it may have been. The lieutenant then slowly made her way out of the arena and disappeared from the crowd, which had finally regained their senses and was beginning to disperse.

Firefly had made it to the palace hospital and had placed Chris in a bed. Nurses and doctor's quickly swarmed the Human, not wanting to anger their Princess by failing to help him recover. A doctor went over to the Lieutenant and got her attention by tapping her charred armor.

"Umm Miss Firefly do you mind letting us have a look at you. There's no need for you to keep an eye on-"

The Pegasus looked at the doctor with a rather intimidating glare which instantly shut him up.

"I will stay until he has recovered. You can look at me here if you like but otherwise attend to him and leave me be." She told him bluntly.

The doctor blinked rapidly but nodded and sent some nurses to look her over…carefully. He on the other hoof started to magically pull off Chris's clothing to check for any damage.

A few hours later Chris opened his eyes and instantly saw Firefly and Celestia looking at each other angrily.

"Tia's angry? That's a first." He thought bemusedly.

"Uhh did I miss something?" He croaked out loud, his throat felt like sandpaper which caused him to wince painfully.

Both of the mares jumped before looking at him happily. Firefly backed off a bit though to allow the Princess to get closer to her lover but kept her gaze on the Human.

"Hey sweetie how are you?" Celestia asked gently, rubbing his arms softly.

Chris blinked in surprise at the new pet name but smiled and stroked her cheek tenderly.

"Well I got fried and I can just about feel my fingers but apart from that I'm great." He quipped quickly.

Celestia just smirked at him and nuzzled his cheek lovingly. Firefly laughed quietly at his joke but remained pretty much silent apart from that.

"So it's been a good birthday for you so far then?" Celestia giggled.

"Wait that was my present?" Chris asked bewilderedly. He wasn't ungrateful but was rather surprisingly amused.

Celestia nodded before stroking his forehead and giving him a soft kiss. She then made her way towards the door before stopping and looking back at him with a grin.

"A part of it. Your…party is later on tonight. You should be healed up by then, I've got the best doctor's in Equestria looking at you so you should be alright for it, but just tell me if you feel otherwise."

Chris cocked an eyebrow in amusement but nodded at her and laid his head back on his pillow as she left.

"Well…I think this might be the best birthday I've ever had."

Author's Notes:

And there's another one for the list XD

Mmm I've had my drink...or three and now I'm nice and relaxed.

Time to write!

Oh and here is the translation for Firefly's Vow- "I now swear before these witnesses to forever be by your side. To protect you. To support you. And to be with you no matter the circumstances. I am your armor"