Night Slash woke up in the morning to see Fiddlesticks and Junebug still cuddled up to him. He sighed as he was held down by the two mares as they slept. Not long after he woke up the two mares were starting to stir. Night Slash looked down at the two mares as they looked back up at him. When their eyes met the mares smiled and he gave a smile back to them. The mares helped him up and to the bathroom as they headed for the other shower. Night Slash took the time to get himself clean as he remembered the events that happened at the castle. During that time he was sure that was the first time he saw Nightmare look afraid.

As he thought about Nightmare which was weird since he only saw her as an ally more than anything. He thought about the dagger that he was given by the hooded figure. It held immense power if it could do the things that he could make it do. Night Slash couldn’t help but feel that there was more to the dagger than as he saw it. He made a note that whichever unicorn was watching over him he would have them look over his body. It was weird also because he felt a little more energized than before and this wasn’t until after he used the dagger. He could feel his worry intensify as he felt that he may end up being betrayed by the hooded figure.

What could he be worried about though since he was already certain that he was going to be betrayed. The figure had intentions to help them but it all seemed to be in his advantage than theirs. Night Slash turned off the water and walked over to the mirror. He dried himself off and looked at himself in the mirror. As he stared into the mirror he couldn’t help the anger that was building inside of him. He reached his boiling point with his anger that he punched the mirror. The mirror shattered from his punch and now he looked into the shards of glass at his multiple reflections. As he looked into his many reflections he sighed as he used his magic to repair the mirror.

With the mirror repaired and after coughing up blood and washing it down the sink he headed for the living room. As he walked to the living room the little cuts on his hand were starting to heal. He was at the corner and waited for his hand to finish healing so the mares didn’t question what his body was doing. He looked down and saw that his hand had finished healing so he continued forward. When he was in the living room he saw Silver Spanner and Berry Punch sitting on the couch away from each other. Silver Spanner was sketching designs on a piece of paper as Berry was enjoying a glass of wine. Guess she thought that it was five o’clock somewhere.

As Silver Spanner was working on the sketches she kept looking at Berry Punch. Everytime she looked at Berry Punch Night Slash could see that she was keeping an eye on her movement. It was like she was waiting for Berry Punch to do something so she could attack her. The only explanation for this is that she remembered that Berry Punch slammed her head on the counter. The reason for it though might be something else than the real reason that it happened. Berry Punch noticed everytime Silver Spanner and was just trying to get a rise out of her so that she would attack her. As much as he would love to see these two mares fight he didn’t want it to be done in the house that he was staying in. Night Slash walked in to break up the fight between the mares before it starts.

“Okay you two let’s break this up before this gets out of hand.” Night Slash stated as he walked into the middle of the room.
“Why should I? She slammed my head on a desk for no reason what so ever.” Silver Spanner said as she stared daggers at Berry Punch.

“I’m just trying to enjoy my glass of wine and she is acting like I’m going to rip her head off.” Berry Punch said as she swirled her wine in her glass as she stared back at Silver Spanner. Night Slash was going to have this end here and now.

“Both of you get your act together. Silver Spanner you will stop staring at Berry Punch and trying to egg her on. Berry Punch you will apologize to Silver Spanner for smashing her head into the desk and you will stop taunting her.” Night Slash was starting to lose his temper so he raised his voice to them to show them that he is irritated.

“Why should I do-“ Berry Punch was about to say something but was quiet when Night Slash looked at her. He was giving her a look that dared her to finish what she was saying and see what happens next. Not wanting to upset her master further she kept comment to herself.

“I’m sorry for smashing your head into the desk Silver Spanner.” Berry Punch apologized and held out her hand. Silver Spanner looked at her hand and then gave a sigh as she got up and grabbed Berry Punch’s hand.

“I accept your apology and I will try to control my actions around you.” Silver Spanner said as she shook her hand with Berry Punch’s hand.

With that solved the mares went back to what they were doing before but being a little more polite. Night Slash noticed Fiddlesticks and Junebug come out of the kitchen with breakfast. They handed out the food and they all sat down and ate their food in silence. Silver Spanner was alternating between eating and making changes to the house. The house remained a one story building but had extra rooms built in. The rooms were made using a dimension spell that distorted the space of the house and rooms. Night Slash watched with intrigue as Silver Spanner made the house have extra rooms and retain its old look. Silver Spanner then created a staircase that lead to a basement.

Silver Spanner gestured for Night Slash to go down and check out the basement that she created. As Night Slash headed down the stairs he heard Fiddlesticks and Junebug say that they were leaving for a bit. Then after those two were gone Berry Punch mentioned that she was going back to her bar so she can tend to customers. Night Slash was alone with Silver Spanner in the house and he was glad because he needed her to check him over. Once he was inside the basement what he saw amazed him. The room was very large and held an assortment of baths and pools.

Silver Spanner then came down the stairs and explained what they were all for. The baths were to help with any magic build up that he may experience during his healing. The pools were a way for him to gain back any of his strength and his endurance that he lost. Each pool was different in the way of temperature, environment, and size. The pool could simulate different parts of Equestria and this would help him to get stronger. Silver told him to take his clothes off and change into a pair of swim trunks that were behind the curtain. Night Slash went behind the curtain and got changed.

When he came out Silver Spanner had to keep herself from crying. She looked at the four scars that were on his body and she couldn’t help but feel anger towards James. She didn’t know what would possess a creature to harm such a nice unicorn that has done nothing wrong. Before Night Slash got started on his healing he asked if Silver Spanner could run a diagnostic spell over him and check for any abnormalities. Silver Spanner looked at him confused for a bit before nodding and setting him down on a stool.

Night Slash sat on the stool as Silver Spanner’s hands started to glow and were running over his body. Night Slash felt every touch that she made as she looked around his body for anything that might be wrong. She went through different kinds of diagnostic spells and didn’t find anything wrong. In fact he was doing better than he was before. His strength was coming back at a rapid pace and his magic center was stronger than ever. After hearing the good news Night Slash gave a smile to Silver Spanner. The smile though was false because Night Slash knew that there had to be something wrong with him. Night Slash just gave in for now as he got ready to do some of the things that Silver Spanner wanted him to do.

Berry Punch

Berry Punch was at her bar waiting for ponies to come on in. She was glad that she went with a restaurant and bar type theme instead of just a bar theme. She could cater in two ways and make a pretty sizeable profit. All the money that she made though went to her daughter’s college fund. Berry Punch lover her daughter very much and wanted to make sure that she stayed safe. As Berry was finishing on cleaning the glasses she heard the front door open. Who came walking in surprised her.

Vinyl came walking into the bar and she wasn’t wearing her goggles that she always wore. Berry Punch wouldn’t say that they were friends with each other but mere acquaintances at best. Though to see Vinyl here at this time of day surprised her even more. Vinyl would always come in during the nights and just drink as much as she could before passing out. Berry Punch heard about the rumors and the cruel things that the ponies did to her. Being a good bartender though she would listen to anyponies problems no matter how small.

Vinyl though hasn’t come in the past while and Berry Punch was wondering where she went. Vinyl walked over to where Berry Punch was standing and took a seat in front of her. Vinyl ordered two glasses of cider and some hayfries. Berry Punch just shook her head at the unhealthy lifestyle that she lived. Though she couldn’t complain much since Vinyl was always able to maintain her figure after eating like she did. Berry Punch went back into the kitchen and got started on Vinyl’s food. Waiting for her food to cook Berry Punch went to give Vinyl her cider. Vinyl gave Berry Punch a tip for getting her drinks and then she started to drink them.

Vinyl and Berry Punch talked for a while and about how things were going. Berry Punch waited to ask why she wasn’t wearing her goggles but waited until she felt Vinyl would be open to talk about it. The conversation ranged from how Vinyl was doing on her music to how Berry Pinch who was Berry Punch’s daughter was doing. They shared a few laughs as they talked about some weird things that had happened during the time. This was the first time Berry Punch saw Vinyl so happy and she wanted to know what has caused this great happiness for her.

“So Vinyl how come you aren’t wearing you signature goggles anymore?” Berry Punch asked as she took a glimpse every chance she got to see her red eyes.

“Well I wasn’t able to do it alone. If it wasn’t for my coltfriend then I probably would still be wearing them.” Berry Punch was surprised to hear that Vinyl had a coltfriend. Vinyl would hardly talk to anypony except her and possibly her old friend Octavia. Berry Punch had to know who her coltfriend was.

“So who is your coltfriend then?” Berry Punch asked and she could see the blush that formed on Vinyl’s cheeks.

“Well you know about the human that lives here in Ponyville right?” Vinyl asked and Berry Punch nodded her heading knowing of said human. She reached for Vinyl’s empty glasses and started cleaning them. Before she got too far into cleaning them she excused herself to get Vinyl’s hayfries. She placed the plate of hayfries in front of Vinyl and went back to cleaning the glass. Berry Punch was hoping that Vinyl didn’t say that her coltfriend was this human.

“Well my coltfriend is the human that lives here. James is just the greatest man that you could ever meet.” Vinyl’s blushed intensified as she thought about James but was pulled from her thoughts as she heard something break.

Berry Punch dropped the glass that she was cleaning when she heard that Vinyl was going out with the monster James. Berry Punch used every ounce of strength to not yell at Vinyl but went to picking up the glass pieces. Berry Punch was cleaning up the broken glass as Vinyl just ate her food waiting for her to finish. Once Berry got all the glass picked up the two of them started talking. Vinyl asked what happened and she said that glass slipped from her grasp. Berry Punch on the inside was very worried for Vinyl’s safety because James could if he wanted to just destroy her completely.

Night Slash

Night Slash was inside one of the baths as Silver Spanner added special herbs to it to help with his magic center. Night Slash just sat in the bath as the water seeped into his skin a little as he took in the healing properties of the water. He could feel his magic center grow stronger as he sat in the water. Silver Spanner mentioned that he would need to do this a couple more time for a few days for it to fully take effect. Night Slash thanked her for all her help in this and for looking him over. She gave a small blush and said that she was doing as she was told. After thirty minutes of being in the bath Night Slash got out of the water and dried himself off.

Night Slash headed for one of the pools picked the one that simulated a place far from Equestria. Night Slash jumped in the water without even checking to see what it was like. When he surfaced from the bottom his teeth were chattering and he was certain that his testicles retracted into his body from how cold it was. Silver Spanner was on the side giggling to herself as Night Slash stayed in the water slowly freezing. He could say something to her but what good would that do. He was the one that jumped into the water without testing it.

Seeing as how he was in the water he was going to stick with it. Silver Spanner offered him the chance to take another pool if he wanted but just refused. He was in this pool and was going to it even if it killed. He really hoped that the latter wouldn’t happen to him because that would just suck. Hooded figure comes to the house to find out he died while swimming. There was no way that could sound any stupider if he just fell from a cliff while he was tied to a safety harness. Night Slash walked over to the end of the pool and got ready.

He pushed off with his feet and started swimming laps back and forth in the pool. It wasn’t about how many laps he did but that he kept going for the amount of time that he was in the pool. Like that bath though he could feel some of the effects that this magical healing session gave him. The pool helped him feel as though he had tons of energy that he could spend. After another thirty minutes of swimming in the pool he got out. Silver Spanner quickly walked over to him and wrapped him in a towel. Even being wrapped in the heavy towel he was still freezing like crazy.

Silver Spanner helped him to one of the showers that were in the basement. Once he was inside he set it to hot water and took off his swim trunks as he sat under the water. Night Slash gave a sigh of relief as the hot water ran over his body warming him up. Night Slash guessed if that there was a pool that could be that freezing then there had to be one that was insanely hot. He was not looking forward to swimming in that because he didn’t want to end up boiling his organs. After his shower he dried himself off and wrapped a towel around his waist. When he opened the door Silver Spanner was standing on the other side with a change of clothes.

Night Slash grabbed the clothes and got changed into them. They headed back upstairs as Night Slash took a seat on a chair and waited for Berry Punch to get home. As he waited Silver Spanner got started on dinner for the three of them. Twenty minutes later Berry Punch entered the house looking exhausted. Silver Spanner asked if she was okay. She said that she was fine but she needed to get back here as fast as she could to tell Night Slash something. Berry Punch told him everything that she talked with Vinyl about and expressed her concern that she might be in trouble. Night Slash brought her in close for a hug as he soothed her.

Night Slash promised that everything will be okay in the future. Berry Punch looked at him as though he was making it up but he wasn’t. He was giving her a look that promised that Vinyl would be okay and that they will deal with James later. Berry Punch was able to calm down and eat her dinner with everpony else. After dinner they headed off to bed as the two mares followed Night Slash. They asked if they could sleep with him tonight and he said that it was okay. As they all laid in bed with the mares nuzzled against him Night Slash started to think about Vinyl. He thought that it would be fun to mess with James and his harem later if he destroyed Vinyl by using her eyes as a reason for everything. Night Slash smiled as the thought about the chaos that would rain from destroying James’ harem and with that he fell asleep.

Author's Notes:

Thanks to ErikTheSoulReaper for the idea on this chapter.