Chapter 26:

'Meet the Family'

Twilight Sparkle was informed that the royal banquet was almost ready and all of her friends were currently with the Princesses in the throne room waiting for the maids and chefs to finish setting everything up.

She walked into Cadence along the way. Cadence informed her that she told Starlight to remain in the castles medical quarters and that the Earth Pony would be kept in Canterlot until the war was over. Since Metal Wing knew who he was, it would be too dangerous for Starlight to return to Ponyville. Twilight had no objections to this of course.

The two Alicorns sat outside the courtyard in front the castle gates, talking to each other about everything that has happened. The Iron Five infiltrating Canterlot, the scattering of the Elements of Harmony and the search for the six artefacts, the encounter with Metal Wing and the appearance of The Mad Unicorn. So much had happened in such a short amount time, and Twilight Sparkle knew that these events were just the beginning, there was definitely more to come.

Twilight's thoughts were interrupted when she heard a voice call out to her. "Twilight!"

The young Alicorn turned towards the source of the voice. A large smile made its way onto her face as she saw two Unicorns approaching her. One of them was a Unicorn mare. Her coat was a bright grey colour and her mane and tail, both that resembled Twilight's, were a mixed colour of white and purple. Her eyes were a bright blue colour and her Cutie Mark was three purple stars.

The second was a Unicorn Stallion. His coat was a light blue colour, while his mane and tail were both a darker shade of blue. His eye colour was a shade of yellow, and his Cutie Mark was a yellow waxing crescent moon with a smaller crescent moon inside.

"MOM! DAD!" Twilight Sparkle rushed over to the two Unicorns and hugged them tightly.

Twilight Velvet pulled back from the hug and returned her smile. "How have you been dear?"

"I've been great!" Twilight Sparkle replied, her smile lowering a little as she continued. "Of course, the last couple of days haven't exactly been great, as I'm sure you'll have noticed from my letter."

Night Light frowned a little at her words. "Are you okay?" He placed a hoof to her face, his frown slowly replaced by a worried expression. "Those monsters didn't hurt you did they?"

Among the things she mentioned in her letter to her parents was what happened to her the other day when the Iron Five had infiltrated Canterlot and attempted to steal her crown. She made sure she left out a few things, like how Vanisher had used a spell to look into her memories and how she suffered quite a bit of pain from it. The last thing she wanted was her parents worrying so much about her, of course, they still were worried about her, but they would have flipped out if she told them everything that happened.

Twilight Sparkle smiled. "No they didn't hurt me dad, they just, tried to steal my crown and, uh, one of them used a spell that left me unconscious, that's all." She said.

Night Light let out a relieved sigh before turning to Cadence. "It's good to see you again Cadence, thank you for looking after our little Twilight."

Cadence smiled at him. "Well, I am her foalsitter after all." She said giggling a little.

Twilight Sparkle rolled her eyes and turned back to her parents. "Well, I...I'm sure you'll be wanting to meet Dusk."

Twilight Velvet smiled widely at the Prince of the North's name. "Oh but of course!" She hugged Twilight Sparkle tightly. "I cannot believe my daughter is getting married! And to the Prince of the North himself! I've heard he's quite the Stallion!"

A nervous chuckle escaped Twilight as she cast a quick glance at Cadence. "Yes...he...is...quite the Stallion." She replied. If only she knew.

The four Ponies made their way into the castle. As they walked through the castle hallways, Twilight Sparkle and Cadence told the older Ponies about everything that was happening, the war with the Iron Empire to be more precise. Night Light and Twilight Velvet were very worried at the mention of Metal Wing's name, and their fears only tripled when The Mad Unicorn was brought up, it was clear that even they had heard the rumours of the Black Knight. Cadence assured them however that everything would be alright, the Equestrian Army was being mobilized, the security in Canterlot was tripled and more Ponies were joining the Royal Guard. With Dusk and his army also helping to oversee everyponies protection, Twilight's parents were able to relax easier knowing that all efforts were being made to ensure nothing would happen to their daughter, the Princesses or the towns and cities around Equestria.

Even so, despite all of the measures that were being taken, Cadence knew things would still be difficult.

As they trotted along the hallway, they saw a familiar armoured figure approaching.

"Magister Sky Shadow!" Twilight Sparkle called out.

Sky Shadow looked up from the floor and saw the Princess waving at him before she continued towards him. He was about to wave back, but as soon as he saw Twilight Velvet and Night Light, he froze.

"We were just heading towards the throne room to meet up with the others for the banquet. By the way, have you seen Prince Dusk?" Twilight Sparkle asked, then she remembered her parents. "Oh how I could forget! These are my parents, my father Night Light and my mother Twilight Velvet!" She said happily.

Night Light and Twilight Velvet gave warm smiles at the silver armoured Magister, who merely continued to remain motionless as he stared at them.

Cadence noticed his motionless state and said, "Magister?"

Sky Shadow shook his head, causing his armour to rattle a little before facing the two Unicorns. "Forgive me, I was lost in thought. It's...it's a pleasure to meet you." He said holding his hoof out.

Night Light chuckled. "It's ok, pleasure to meet you too." He said gently bumping his hoof against Sky Shadow's.

Sky Shadow turned to Twilight Velvet and held his hoof out to her next.

Cadence noticed Sky Shadow's hoof was shaking a little as he was holding it out to Twilight's mother, causing her to give the silver armoured Pegasus a curious look.

Twilight Velvet, still smiling, gently shook his hoof instead. "It's nice to meet you."

No reply came, instead, Sky Shadow merely nodded.

Cadence decided to speak up. "Magister Sky Shadow, since you're meeting Twilight's parents and since we're going to the banquet, why don't you remove your helmet so-"

"NO!"

All four of them jumped back in shock at the Magister's sudden shout.

Everything was silent for a good long minute, it took Sky Shadow a moment to realise what he just did. He quickly regained his composure and let out a loud sigh. "I...I'm sorry I...I didn't mean to yell like that..." He quickly turned and left down a separate hallway, almost like he was eager to get away.

The four Ponies just stood in silence, watching as the Magister walked further and further away from them, still shocked by what just happened.

Twilight Sparkle turned to the others, who were looking at her hoping she had an explanation for the Magister's behaviour. "Um...I'm really sorry about that. He's just a bit troubled at the moment."

"I see..." Twilight Velvet replied, still watching the Magister worriedly. As soon as he walked around the corner at the end of the hallway she turned back to her daughter. "So, Twilight dear, where is my future son-in-law?"

Twilight Sparkle, Cadence and Night Light all rolled their eyes at Twilight Velvet's eagerness to meet the Prince of the North. Twilight Sparkle said, "Now that you mention it, I don't know where he is. He said he had something important to do but...I don't know where he went off to."

Cadence looked at the floor and closed her eyes. "Well, as soon as the banquet is over I plan on having a little talk with him myself." She said, recalling her conversation with Starlight a while ago. She felt her blood boil as she remembered what Starlight told her, everything that Dusk had said to the Earth pony, she literally just wanted to go and blurt it out to Twilight right now. But she knew that if she did so, especially in front of Twilight's parents, they would start having second thoughts about the marriage overall, even Twilight's father would most likely try and talk her out of it.

"Well, wherever Dusk is, I'm sure he-" Twilight Velvet stopped as she and the others heard loud hoofsteps and rattling metal echoing through the empty hallway.

It was getting closer too, in fact, it didn't take them long to find the source.

Coming from the same direction Sky Shadow had, was the Pony they were just talking about. Prince Dusk, flanked by Magister Black Lance and Magister Snow Charm.

"Dusk!" Twilight Sparkle called out. She forced a smile onto her face and rushed over to him. "You're back!"

Dusk raised a brow as he stopped when she reached him. "It would appear that way, yes."

Cadence led Night Light and Twilight Velvet over to them. Twilight turned to her parents and said, "Your timing couldn't be better. These are my parents, my mother Twilight Velvet and my father Night Light." She introduced her parents, still keeping a forced smile on her face. 'Please don't be a jerk.' She pleaded in her head.

Dusk faced the two Unicorns, who were giving him friendly smiles. He let out a low sigh and nodded. "I'm sure I don't need to introduce myself."

"Oh but of course not!" Twilight Velvet said smiling before giving a polite bow. "It's an honour to meet you Prince Dusk."

Night Light nodded and bowed next, albeit it didn't last much longer than his wife's. "I see I'm going to have quite the charming son-in-law."

Dusk raised a brow for a moment before brushing his short fiery yellow mane back with an armoured hoof. "Well, it's, nice to meet you too. Atleast someponies have the decency to respect their-"

"SO HOW ABOUT THAT BANQUET THEN!" Twilight Sparkle shouted loudly, cutting Dusk off before he could finish his arrogant reply.

Dusk merely looked at her, brow raised. Twilight let out a nervous chuckle before turning back to her parents. "Sorry mom, dad, but I guess we'll have to make introductions short, we do have to attend the banquet after all. You will of course be staying for the night, right?"

Night Light nodded. "Of course sweetie! We didn't come all this way for nothing. Although, I'm not sure where we'll sleep for the night."

Magister Snow Charm spoke up. "I'd be glad to take you to a spare room if you'd like."

"That would be wonderful, thank you." Twilight Velvet replied.

"Right this way." Snow Charm said, gesturing for them to follow her.

Twilight Sparkle waved to her parents as they followed the Magister down the hallway. "I'll try and talk to you before the end of the night!"

"We might be asleep by then!" Night Light replied loudly.

As soon as they were gone, Twilight let out a relieved sigh and turned to Dusk. "So, what do you think of them?"

Dusk raised a brow. "They're very...friendly." He said, his tone sounding somewhat bored as always.

"Hmph." They all turned to Black Lance. "Last I checked, everypony in Equestria was friendly..." He began making his way down the other hallway towards the throne room. "They're too friendly." He spat in disgust, though they didn't hear him.

Cadence rolled her eyes and turned to the future couple. "Well you two, the banquet is just about ready, let's go and get settled in shall we?" She said before trotting after Black Lance.

Dusk turned to Twilight Sparkle and merely nodded at her.

Twilight, frozen still for a moment, was about to let out a loud groan in frustration, once again, he had backed out of a conversation with her. Quickly however, she regained her composure and followed him, even if he wasn't going to talk to her now, she swore she would try and get him to open up later, even if it killed her.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Kickback casually tapped his hoof on the table as he stared out the bar window at the night sky, still dwelling on the earlier conversation he had with his partner. Speaking of his partner...

The table was littered with empty bottles, Air Break was just finishing another bottle and placed on the table next to the others, letting out a loud burp before wiping his mouth.

"Gross." Kickback said as he continued to stare off into space, looking like a bored like a bored little colt.

Air Break chuckled. "Haven't had a good drink in a long time. I'll admit, the Ponies of Equestria know their wine."

Rolling his eyes, Kickback said, "I suggest you stop there before you end up drunk. Besides, I'm almost out of bits, and I'd prefer to keep what I have left."

The large blue Earth Pony looked at all of the empty bottles on the table. "Eh, I'm sure a few more won't hurt."

Kickback shook his head. "No, no more. Besides, it's night crying out loud, we should have been back hours ago."

"I suppose..." Air Break saw movement at the corner of his eye. He cast a quick glance at the Stallions who were seated in the corner and noticed they were leaving. As the four walked by them, Air Break swore he saw them give him and Kickback a threatening look.

As soon as they left, Air Break turned to Kickback. "Did you see that?"

"See what?" Kickback replied, still looking out the window.

Air Break turned back to the door the Stallions went through. "Those Stallions gave us a look. I say we go after 'em."

Kickback sighed and rested his head on the table. "No Air Break, I'm starting to get sleepy, let's just go back to the castle."

"Come on, a few more drinks shouldn't hurt." Air Break replied.

Kickback raised his head and narrowed his eyes at the larger Earth Pony. "No Air Break, I think you've had enough, now let's go." Placing a good number of bits on the table, Kickback got up and started to leave.

Letting out an annoyed sigh, Air Break eventually followed.

The two Earth Ponies exited the bar and began making their way down the dark empty streets of Manehattan.

"So, did you hear what Cloud Hunter did?" Kickback asked as the two walked.

Air Break narrowed his eye, not facing the red Pony as he replied. "He's an idiot. We could have used those fillies and bartered with Celestia and Luna. Instead, he does the HONOURABLE thing and takes them back. UGH!" The blue Earth Pony punched a nearby trashcan, sending it flying all the way to the other side of the street.

Kickback looked at the eyepatch that covered Air Break's right eye. "Air Break, I've been meaning to ask you..."

"What?" Air Break replied without looking at his partner.

Hoping the blue Pony wouldn't get mad on the subject, Kickback said, "Well, do you plan on getting revenge on Shining Armor? He is the reason you're wearing that eyepatch after all."

Air Break glared at him. "Of course I plan on getting revenge on him! Shining Armor will rue the day he took my eye! I will make him suffer before I kill him!"

Kickback rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say big guy."

As they rounded a corner, they noticed the four Stallions from earlier were just up ahead, circled around something. "Ugh, let's go the other way." Kickback said.

Air Break narrowed his eye at them. "They ain't gonna do anything, let's just walk right by 'em."

"I'd like to try and avoid a fight Air Break, I don't want to get my coat and my mane all messed up." Kickback replied.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, Air Break nodded and started following the smaller Pony in the other direction.

The four Stallions didn't notice them and remained where they stood, circled around something. Just as one of them moved forward, something slipped through their legs and began sprinting away down the dark streets.

"HEY! GET BACK HERE!" One of the Stallions shouted out.

A small filly rushed around the corner of a nearby building and panted heavily as she looked around the streets for help. Her coat was a light brown colour, her short mane and tail were both a dark and light pink colour and her eyes were a pale green colour. She started shaking as she heard the loud hoofsteps of the Stallions getting closer.

She looked around again and, to her relief, she saw Kickback and Air Break just up ahead.

Not willing to be caught by the Stallions, she quickly rushed towards the two Earth Ponies.

Kickback's ears twitched as he heard hoofsteps rushing towards them from behind.

"GET BACK HERE YA LITTLE PEST!" A loud voice shouted.

Kickback and Air Break exchanged looks before turning to the source.

Just as the two officers of the Iron Empire turned to see what all the commotion was, they were immediately greeted by the small brown filly, who rushed her way between their legs and hid under Air Break. "P-Please...help me..." She muttered out in a frightened tone.

Air Break raised his foreleg and pulled it back a bit to get a look at the filly, while Kickback just stared at her in confusion.

Before they could say anything, the four Stallions from earlier had reached them. "You're the two Ponies from the bar."

Kickback and Air Break just stared at them.

"You know this little filly?" Another Stallion asked.

Kickback shook his head. "Nope."

The first Stallion spoke again. "Well if that's the case, you won't mind giving her to us."

The little filly was shaking madly as she looked up at Kickback, tears forming in her eyes. "D-Don't...don't let them near me...p-please..."

Kickback and Air Break continued to look at the Stallions, almost as if they hadn't heard her, but they did.

The first Stallion grinned at them. "No need to make a scene now, just give her to us, you did say you didn't know her after all. No point in getting yourselves hurt over a filly you've never met right?"

Kickback and Air Break exchanged looks once more, finally, Kickback faced them again and smirked. "Yeah, you're probably right."

"Then give her to us and we'll let you walk aw-"

"Unfortunately we don't take kindly to threats." Kickback interrupted the Stallion.

The Stallions all narrowed their eyes at the two Earth Ponies. "What?"

Kickback chuckled. "You see, we're not the type of Ponies who tolerate threats. And if there's one thing I despise the most in this world, it's a bunch of Stallions picking on those smaller and weaker than themselves." Kickback continued to smirk at them.

Air Break just raised a brow at his partner, clearly remembering how they had chased the three fillies back in the Everfree Forest. With a loud sigh, he stepped forward and pointed at the four Stallions. "If you wanna fight, let's fight. I've already killed a few Ponies during my time here, you four will be foal's play."

The little filly slowly backed up but stopped when she found herself bumping into Kickback's forelegs. She looked up at him, a look of worry still on her face.

Kickback just looked down at her and grinned evilly before turning back to Air Break. "Air Break, have fun."

Air Break smirked and raised his hoof. "Who wants some?"

"GET HIM!" The first Stallion shouted.

With that, the three other Stallions rushed towards him.

Air Break chuckled as one of them threw a forehoof at him, but he easily caught it and slammed one of his own forehoofs across the Stallions face, knocking him out just like that.

The other two looked at the unconscious Stallion in shock before turning back to the large blue Earth Pony. Unfortunately, Air Break was already at their faces, he grabbed them both and slammed their heads into each other.

Seeing his friends fall to the ground, the first Stallion quickly rushed forward and successfully landed a punch on Air Break's chest.

Air Break just looked down at the Stallion, unfazed by the weak punch. The Stallion just looked up into his piercing yellow eye in shock. He turned around and attempted to run, but by the time he took a step back, Air Break had hammered his forehoof across the Stallions face, knocking him out.

The little filly covered her eyes throughout the whole fight, as soon as she heard it stop, she slowly removed her forehoof from her eyes. She looked on in awe as she saw Air Break standing triumphantly, while the four Stallions were on the ground unconscious.

"...Wow..." She muttered quietly.

Air Break turned around and faced Kickback. Kickback chuckled as he looked at the unconscious Stallions. "Do you think you went a little too easy on them?"

"Hmph, they should just be glad that I didn't have my spear with me." Air Break said as he approached his partner. "Anyway, quick as it was, I always a love a fight."

Kickback rolled his eyes and smirked again. "Whatever you say."

The little filly decided to speak up. "Um...I..."

As soon as the two Earth Ponies looked down at her, she remained silent.

Kickback chuckled again. "Relax little filly, we won't harm you, we're off duty." He lowered his head a little as she looked up at him. "What's a little filly like you doing out this late though? I heard Manehattan was quite the troublesome place, why were you out by yourself?"

The filly just looked at the ground. "I...I was heading home, until those Stallions there showed up and-"

"I asked why were you out here by yourself." Kickback interrupted.

The filly just remained silent.

Kickback merely sighed and turned. "Whatever, don't answer us, it's not like we care. Come on Air Break."

Air Break and Kickback were about to walk on, until the filly spoke up. "Umm, could you...maybe..."

"What?" Air Break said as he turned slightly to look at her.

"Could you..." She looked at the ground for a moment, trying to build up the courage to say what she wanted to say. "Could you maybe...take me to my house?"

Kickback and Air Break just stared at her for a good long minute. The two exchanged looks before turning back to the filly. "How far do you live?"

"Just down this street..." She pointed in the opposite direction of where they were walking. "Only a ten minute walk from here."

Kickback rolled his eyes and sighed. "Fine. A ten minute walk shouldn't be too bad."

The filly started leading the way as Kickback and Air Break walked by her sides.

During their walk, Air Break couldn't help but notice that the filly was continuously staring at him. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

The filly smiled cheerfully. "I just thought it was awesome how you completely handled those Stallions back there. I mean, I didn't see it, but, I just thought it was amazing how you knocked them all out like it was nothing."

Air Break raised a brow. "Like it was nothing? That's an understatement."

The filly giggled a little. "My name's Babs Seed by the way, what's yours?"

"Air Break." The large blue Earth Pony replied immediately. "That's Kickback." He said tilting his head towards the smaller red Pony.

Kickback rolled his eyes, not comfortable with giving his name to a Pony he didn't know, even if she was a filly. "So, who do you live with Babs Seed?" He asked.

"My sister Sunflower." Babs Seed replied. "You'll want to meet her, she's really friendly."

Air Break raised a brow. "...I'm sure she is."

Kickback nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure we've already established that the Ponies in this land are friendly."

"What do you mean 'this land', are you from somewhere else?" Babs Seed asked.

"Of course." Kickback replied. "We come from a different land, I'm sure you've heard of it, the Republic of Dalkia?"

Babs Seed tilted her head a little with a confused expression on her face. Kickback raised a brow at her lack of knowledge on his home land. "The land across the sea, far North of Equestria? Ruled by the Iron King? Metal Wing? Hero of Dalkia and the Alicorn who defeated King Grande?"

Again, Babs Seed merely looked at him in confusion. Not only did she not know, but clearly news of the Iron Empire hadn't reached Manehattan yet, which wasn't too much of a surprise since Manehattan was far in the Eastern side of Equestria.

"Ugh, never mind." Kickback said. "But don't worry though, soon enough, everypony in Equestria will know the name, Metal Wing."

Babs Seed looked up at Air Break. "So are you a royal guard for the Princesses I'm guessing? I mean, only royal guards would be big and strong like you, right?"

Kickback cast a quick glare at her, annoyed that she quickly moved on from the previous subject.

Air Break sighed in annoyance. "No, I'm not a royal guard. The royal guards in Canterlot are a bunch of weaklings."

Babs Seed stared at him in confusion for a moment before smiling cheerfully again. "Only a Pony as big and strong as you would say something like that about the guards." She giggled.

Air Break and Kickback just exchanged looks again.

"Listen umm...I just wanted to say thank you. For protecting me from those Stallions. Manehattan really is an unpleasant place to live in." Babs Seed said.

Kickback smirked. "You think this city is bad? You should have seen Dalkia twelve years ago. Now THAT was a very unpleasant time to live there."

Babs Seed once again spoke to Air Break, almost as if she never heard Kickback at all. "So if you're from a different land, how long do you plan on staying here in Equestria?"

Air Break shrugged. "I don't know."

"Hey, since it's late and all, why don't you spend the night in my sisters house, I'm sure she'd be happy to let you stay for the night." Babs Seed suggested.

Air Break looked down at her. "No thanks."

"Aw come on!" Babs Seed replied, hoping he'd change his mind.

"No." Air Break said. "We have a lot of work ahead of us, we don't have the time."

Babs Seed looked at ground as she walked on, suddenly, a thought occurred to her. "Well, will you atleast come back and visit when you get the chance?"

Air Break looked down at her again. She gave him a big innocent pleading smile. He let out a loud sigh and said, "Fine, I'll come and visit whenever I have the time. Where is your house anyway?"

"Right here!" Babs Seed shouted as she jumped up a small set of stairs next to them. The house wasn't really too different from many of the other houses that they passed by.

Babs Seed jumped up the stairs and approached the door. She slowly turned around and faced the two Earth Ponies again. "Are you sure you don't wanna stay for the night?"

Kickback sighed but managed a slight smile. "Listen, Babs Seed, we're grateful you want to make it up to us, but like Air Break said, we're too busy, we've got a lot of work to take care of."

Air Break nodded. "Yeah, but..." He stopped as he noticed the sad expression on her face, almost as if she were about to cry. "But...like I said, I'll come back and visit. Then we can talk about whatever you want. Does that sound good to you?"

Babs Seed's eyes lit up at his words and she smiled cheerfully at him before rushing down the stairs and grabbing one of Air Break's forelegs, hugging it tightly. "Yeah! That sounds perfect! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

The three just stood there in awkward silence, Babs Seed was still hugging Air Break's foreleg, while Kickback and Air Break both just continued to stare at her, brows raised.

"Uh...Babs..." Air Break said.

Babs Seed quickly let and laughed. "Haha! Sorry, I got carried away." She jumped up the small set of stairs and turned to them once more. "Well, I'll see you again soon then, right?"

Air Break managed a slight smile. "Yeah, soon."

Smiling at them one more time, Babs Seed tried to open the door, but the doorknob was too high for her.

Sighing, Air Break made his way up the small set of stairs and opened it for her.

No wanting to waste his time, Babs Seed quickly walked in and faced him one more time. "Thanks again."

"You're welcome." Air Break replied before walking back down the stairs towards his partner.

After exchanging nods, the two looked at Babs Seed a final time before walking off, Babs Seed waited until they were out of sight before closing the door, smiling with excitement knowing that she'd get to see the big blue Earth Pony again.

Kickback and Air Break walked on in complete silence, trying to forget everything that just happened, but they couldn't.

"You don't really plan on coming back to visit her do you?" Kickback asked.

Air Break sighed. "Yeah. Besides, I'll probably only visit for a few minutes anyway, and it's not like I have anything better to do at the moment. The battle won't be for a while as far as I know. I'll probably visit her after that."

Kickback shook his head before chuckling. "Well, if you're really planning on coming back, you'll need to survive the battle first."

Air Break glared at him. "Oh believe me, I have absolutely no intention of letting myself get killed by any of those pathetic royal guards, or Shining Armor for that matter. I'll kill 'em all."

Kickback chuckled. "Good to hear..." He let out a loud yawn before jumping up onto Air Break's back.

"What are you doing?" Air Break asked in an annoyed tone.

Kickback got himself comfortable on the large blue Earth Pony's back before closing his eyes. "You've still got a lot of energy, and I'm tired, so you're going to have to carry me."

Air Break turned his head slightly to glare at him. "You lazy little..." He stopped. Knowing his partner was always like this, he just decided to not bother complaining and let out a loud sigh. Years ago he would probably would have hit him and threw him off, but now, he was more tolerant than he used to be.

"I think spending time in this land of peace and harmony is starting to rub off on me."