Wadsworth was waiting for them in the kitchen as they descended the stairs one of his arms circled around to deliver a plate of mirelurk meat into her hands. Sarah nodded her thanks and walked past the robot to the fridge to find something for Luna.

“You know madam, the town gossip mill will be in an uproar when they found out you have slept with a horse,” the robot observed.

Luna snorted in irritation at the machine, but pointedly ignored him.

Just you wait robot... one of these days we will serve you your rewards for these insults, Nightmare silently vowed. Instead of giving Luna a chance to actually say anything, Sarah spoke first as she grabbed a couple of mutfruit out of the fridge and held them up for Luna to see.

“Here, I’ve got a few of these mutfruit here, have you had one yet?” Sarah asked her. Luna frowned for a moment, trying to think if she had, then shook her head.

“No, no I have not,” she answered with a frown as she easily levitated all three of the strange almost purplish fruits over to hang before her face. The alicorn sniffed one of them for a moment, smelling something that smelled... almost but not quite like an apple.

I am not sure whether or not we should eat this, Nightmare quietly muttered. What even is a ‘mutfruit’?

Perhaps it is a fruit that has been bred with other fruit who are less pure? A ‘mutt’ if you will? Luna suggested speculatively.

Then with a mental shrug, she took a bite of the strange fruit. She chewed it speculatively for a moment and then swallowed it down with a gulp. Luna then, much to Sarah’s astonishment, chomped the fruit down whole, core and all along with the other two. Luna’s long tounge then darted out of her mouth and licked bits of mutfruit from her lips, along with juice, and gave Sarah a grin.

“Those are very tasty!” the alicorn exclaimed, still grinning.

“I take it you like them then,” Sarah deadpanned, though she gave the mare a happy smile, glad to have made her friend’s day.

“Indeed, they are delectable,” Luna replied. “Do you happen to have any more?” she added eagerly, eying the fridge with wide hopeful eyes, more resembling those of an over-eager puppy then of an alicorn princess.

Sarah took one look at Luna’s face, and began to laugh, holding her hand over her mouth to keep herself from braying with it. Luna frowned, not sure what was funny about her request.

“What is it?” Luna asked, her tone equal parts confused... and hurt. Luna had never enjoyed people laughing at her, especially if she had no idea why.

“I-I’m sorry, but your face,” Sarah stuttered out as she regained control of herself. “It was just so... cute.”

Luna froze for a moment, then her eyes widened a little and a slight blush colored her cheeks.

“Oh, I did not realize that it was,” she said, a bit of embarrassment in her voice. “I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize Luna,” Sarah replied with a last chuckle. “And to answer your question, yes, yes I do have more,” she proclaimed as she reached into the fridge and to pull out another of them. Luna eyes lit up, and she snatched it from Sarah’s grasp with her magic and happily chomped her way through it.

When did we become so ravenous? Nightmare inquired.

Since we have not had a taste of fruit for several days, and before that on the campaign trail when we were only able to find the occasional blackberry bush to eat them from, Luna replied pointedly as she licked her lips once more.

“Thank you Sarah,” Luna said aloud with a smile as the woman began to walk up the stairs, a fork and her plate of white crab meat in her grasp.

“You’re welcome, Luna” Sarah replied with a slight chuckle. “It was worth the lost fruit to see that look on your face.”

Luna smiled at that and the two reentered Sarah’s room and the woman took a seat in her desk chair. Luna chose to sit on the bed, once more taking up almost its entirety with her bulk. Sarah began to eat her crab meat and she looked over the alicorn who sat on the bed across from her, or more specifically she looked at the star filled mane and tail.

“So... should I be worried about that?” Sarah asked, gesturing towards the stars in Luna’s mane.

“Hmm?” Luna inquired. “Oh no, not at all. It simply means that I have recovered fully from my exposure to the Elements of Harmony,” she assured the woman. “It also means that my body has better adjusted to this world’s magic field.”

“Alright...” Sarah said, slightly baffled by that explanation. Luna noticed and chuckled slightly.

“In simpler terms Sarah, it means that I can cast a bit more magic than I could before,” the mare explained.

“Oh,” the woman said, blushing slightly at how simple she sounded. “That makes sense... so do all of the ponies where you come from have that kind of hair?”

Luna shook her head. “No, no they do not. Only I and... my sister have it due to our alicorn nature,” she said.

“Alright... what does it mean?” Sarah asked.

“It has to do with our connection to the sun and the moon,” Luna answered with a small shrug. “Tia’s flows with a beautiful never ending astral breeze, and mine is merely dotted with the stars of the night.” Luna’s face took on a troubled expression. “Nopony ever complimented it... not once.”

“Really?” Sarah asked, clearly surprised. “Why not? It’s beautiful, I’ve never seen anything like it before,” she added with a smile.

Luna’s face lit up with a brilliant light. “Truly? You find it beautiful, not frightening or scary?”

“I’m surprised Luna. It’s magnificent, like looking into the night sky,” Sarah replied. “I can’t imagine why anyone would be afraid of it.”

The mare smiled softly, a small blush on her face. “Thank you Sarah...” Luna said in a quiet voice. “Would you like to hear more of my tale?”

Sarah frowned for a moment and then nodded. “Sure, you were with that dragon Jonathan right?”

“Indeed I was... he had just offered me tea...”

Luna stared up at the massive purple dragon, Jonathan, and then her eyes darted over to Celestia’s fallen form which was barely breathing. Jonathan caught her movement and nodded.

“Ah, allow me,” he said, quickly moving a talon to gently pick up Celestia and place her in one of his massive palms. Luna squeaked in fear for her sister, terrified that they’d become the dragon’s next victim.

“Pu-put her down!” Luna shouted up at the dragon. Jonathan tilted his head at her, a puzzled expression on his massive face.

“If I put her down here little one then she might die,” the dragon said, clearly perplexed. “Whyever would I want that?”

"But you’re a dragon!” Luna shouted. “All you do is eat and kill ponies!”

“Whoever told you that?” Jonathan asked her with a raised eyeridge. “Please child, come into my cave and I give you my dragon’s promise that no harm will occur to either yourself or your sister.”

“What if you try and eat us?” Luna asked in a scared voice.

Jonathan dipped his head down a bit closer to hers and two great plumes of smoke rolled out from the sides of his mouth and drifted up into the sky.

“Well then little one, I highly doubt you’d be able to escape me, regardless where you started,” he told her plainly, keeping his voice neutral.

“I-I-I just want my sister to be alright,” Luna said softly, large tears welling up in her eyes. “She-she-she’s been the only one looking after me since papa died and-and-and-” Luna broke down weeping before him and the dragon’s face suddenly blanched and he crouched down even lower until he was on eye-level with the little alicorn filly.

“Hush little one,” he cooed, his massive voice somehow coming out in a low whisper as he moved one of his greatsword sized claws to touch her head. Luna flinched away and Jonathan let out a troubled sigh as he retracted his hand away. “Young one I promise you, I mean yourself and your sister absolutely no harm, in fact I simply seek to shelter you and heal your wounds.”

Luna looked up at Jonathan’s large green eyes and shivered slightly, there was something purely instinctual to the respons... here she was, a miniscule filly staring up at the apex of predators... he could end her life with a single motion, one exhale of fire, one clash of his teeth, one chomp of his jaws.

“I-I-I don’t know,” Luna said softly.

Jonathan looked back at Celestia who was still held gently in his other hand and frowned down at Luna.

“Very well, when you make up your mind then come inside. I promise you, I will not harm nor hold either of you against your will, but your sister must be treated very soon or else she will die and that is something that I cannot abide,” he told her patiently before he turned and lumbered back inside of the cave.

Luna blinked away her tears in time to look up and see the dragon’s bulk retreat into the cave though she had no idea how so large of a creature could move so swiftly. The filly shivered again, it was growing awfully cold outside despite her fur and with night falling Luna had no wish to stay outside in the forest alone... she took a deep breath and got back to her hooves, slowly approaching the dark and foreboding entrance.

She toppled on the edge of indecision, should she go in or stay outside?

A trio of wolf howls split the air behind her, making up the filly’s in a matter of seconds, whereas the dragon at would at least speak with her before he killed her (most likely) the wolves would have no qualms about ripping her appart. With a squeal of fear, Luna ran into the cave.

It was a truly massive construction that appeared to have been carved out of the side of the earth by a pair of tremendous claws (most likely belonging to Jonathan) and the stone beneath her hooves had been polished smooth by the movement of scales. To her surprise, there were indents in the walls every fifty feet or so filled with glowing white magic light emitting from large gemstones.

Luna walked up to one, captivated by the light source, Tia had only told her stories about such things which were fabled to be found in the Unicornia Capital in the halls of the wise city elders... after her experiences lately, Luna had begun to think that the light crystals like the ‘wise’ elders were a myth as well. She stared up at the beautiful lightsource for another minute before shaking her head rapidly, her sister could be being eaten and here she was staring at a light!

The filly started running down the corridor, or she would have if she wasn’t still exhausted from her flight through the forest earlier. Instead she simply trudged along the incredibly long corridor. There were occasional branching pathways, but Luna didn’t check them, instead she simply followed the sound of Jonathan’s footsteps.

After ten minutes of walking, the young alicorn found herself in a relatively small room. The ceiling was made of clear crystal and there was a large pool of water in the center of the floor. Jonathan stood beside the pool, which from Luna’s point of view was more like a small pond. Celestia’s still form lay in the water on her back in front of the dragon who was staring down at the mare with a look of deep concentration on his face.

“What are you doing to her?!” Luna shouted in fear. “Are you trying to dro-”

Instead of reply, Jonathan simply raised a single claw at her and Luna’s mouth clamped shut. It wasn’t magic, it was simply the strength that the gesture had behind it. Then the dragon took in a large inhale before letting out a small stream of blue fire directly down on top of Celestia. Luna let out a loud piercing shriek at the sight of her sister being cooked alive by the dragon’s fire.

She stared at the sight, her throat roaring with agony, unable to look away from the terrifying image in front of her. However, as Jonathan shut his jaws and the fire receded the light blue alicorn saw that her sister was... unharmed, in fact, she looked better than she had before.

Luna ran forwards, this time her adrenaline giving her the strength for a full sprint. She entered the water-

And promptly let out a cry of surprise at the freezing temperature of it. It was like she’d fallen into a frozen lake. Meanwhile, Jonathan had scooped Celestia’s damp body out of the water and deposited her gently on the shore beside him.

“I would get out of that water,” the dragon called to the filly. “It’s quite chilly.”

Luna took his advice, hauling herself out of the freezing water as Jonathan blew a small yellow jet of fire into a large pit not far from the side of the pool and a warm sensation seeped into the room, banishing back the cold. That didn’t help Luna however, she was too far away from the fire and her fur was soaking wet. She lay on the cold stone floor shivering in exhausted defeat.

Then, before she realized it she was being picked up and carried in Jonathan’s enormous claws.The filly let out a squeal of abject fear as the scaly claws closed around her and carried her aloft. Thankfully, the sensation was very short lived and she found herself beside the drying fur of her elder sister in a matter of seconds. Luna reacted immediately and began to nuzzle her sister’s side worriedly.

“She will be fine little one,” Jonathan stated, turning his large green eyes on her. “I have bathed her in healing fire and my spring here kept her from being harmed by the inherent heat. Nestle by the fire while I retrieve my teapot and see if I can’t find something for the two of you too eat that isn’t hard as a rock or full of blood.”

Luna let out a little whimper, still not entirely comfortable with the large dragon’s nearness. Jonathan let out a quiet sigh and trudged off while Luna nuzzled her sister.

“Tia, Tia can you hear me?” she whispered quietly in the white alicorn’s ear. “Please Tia, wake up!”

Celestia’s eyes flickered open and she caught sight of her clearly distressed sister. “Luna? Are... are we dead?” she asked quietly, her voice hoarse and scratchy.

“N-no,” Luna said, shaking her head.

“Oh... good... otherwise Elysium would look a lot less impressive then I’d thought it would be,” Celestia replied, a dry chuckle emerging from her mouth.

Luna stared at her sister for a moment before she threw her forelegs around Celestia’s chest and hugged her tightly.

“I-I-I thought you were dead!” Luna exclaimed, tears welling up in her eyes again. “And then the dragon breathed fire on you and-I-I-”

Luna was cut off as she buried her face in her sister’s soft, still slightly damp chest. Celestia pulled her sister closer to her and began to sing softly.

“There little bird, in the orange sky...” Celestia sang until the lullaby was done and Luna had finished weeping, her voice worn beyond belief but the sight of her sister beginning to nod off beside her was well worth the pain in her throat.

It was only then that Celestia noticed the large dragon staring at her with gentle, appreciative eyes.

“That’s quite the singing voice you have for yourself young one,” the dragon told her with a smile which he somehow managed to make unthreatening.

“Thank you,” Celestia replied, her voice cracking in the process. She knew there was no point in being afraid of the dragon... if he’d wanted to he could have killed her in seconds and the fact that he hadn’t yet clearly stated his intent.

“Oh, don’t speak,” the dragon said, waving away her thanks. “Or rather, don’t speak until you have regained your voice. Singing after what you have been through must have been a great deal hard enough, no reason to strain yourself further for my benefit.”

Celestia nodded mutely as the dragon came closer and set down a large tea kettle, at least large enough for him to grasp without it being wholly awkward, in front of her. The sound of water sloshing back and forth within it reached Celestia’s ears and Jonathan unexpectedly blew a small stream of fire down on it, causing Celestia to wince away in fear. Thankfully, the wince was unneeded as the fire simply bathed the tea kettle for a moment before it let out a piercing whistle.

Luna stirred slightly in her sleep, letting out a soft sigh, but otherwise remained asleep as the dragon took up the kettle in his claws and poured it into a bowl sized cup which he’d produced while Celestia had been preoccupied worrying about the fire. He added a pair of teabags to it and made some final adjustments before he pushed it over to her.

“There little one, it should help with your throat,” he instructed kindly.

Celestia nodded slightly and took a long sip, finding it to be a delicious chamomile blend. The white alicorn looked up at the dragon and gave him a nod of thanks to which he responded with a simple draconic smile. Celestia drained the bowl, surprising even herself with her thirst, and then looked up at the dragon once more.

“Thank you sir,” she said politely.

“You’re very welcome, my name is Jonathan by the way,” Jonathan replied, giving her another smile. “You are very lucky that you ended up outside of my cave and not one of the other dragons’ you know. They would most likely have eaten you or left yourself and your sister there in the hooves of those dastardly unicorns,” he added.

“I... thank you then,” Celestia said, not quite sure of how to respond to that.

“Think nothing of it, I am simply cautioning you for the future,” the dragon said with a slight shrug. “Now, that brings us to the more pressing subject, that of your future.”

Celestia frowned, but nodded slowly. “What do you mean sir?”

“Please call me Jonathan, though I do appreciate the politeness,” Jonathan corrected her. “As for what I mean... you have both clearly done something to earn the ire of the entire unicorn council and they will most likely seek you out wherever you go and as mere fillies I doubt you will be able to fight them yourselves, no?”

“I... I suppose that is correct,” Celestia stated slowly. “But what are we to do about it?

“Well, you could always stay here and live with me until you’re older,” Jonathan suggested idly. Sure enough, Celestia’s jaw dropped.

“But-but- but you’re a dragon! Why would you allow two fillies to stay with you?” she asked him, astounded by the idea.

“I’m lonely and bored,” he replied with a slight shrug. “My mate, is still in hibernation and appears to be happy that way for the next two centuries, and I have had no company to speak with of for the last one. Do you know how boring it is to have nothing besides your hoarde to enteritain you?” Jonathan’s voice took on a tone of utter boredom and Celestia had the queerest image of him sitting alone on a stack of gold endlessly counting it.

“I... suppose I can see how that would have its downside,” Celestia said slowly.

“Indeed... anyways, I have a room or two already set up for this type of thing, in case I’m ever forced to host some whiny young drake, so that should be no trouble,” the dragon explained. “And this way you can both stay protected from the blasted councilors.”

“Is there anything that we would be forced to do in return?” the white alicorn asked.

“Keep me company,” Jonathan replied with a quiet chuckle.

“I think we’ll be able to manage that,” Celestia said, nodding her head.

“Oh excellent!” Jonathan exclaimed with a grin. “I was worried that you’d say no! I’ll go and make up your guest rooms immediately!” With that, the large dragon all but skipped out of the room before Celestia had a moment to react.

“Well... it beats the forest,” Celestia murmured before she bent down to nuzzle the sleeping form of her sister.

“Wait, if you were asleep how do you...” Sarah trailed off, her empty plate of crab meat resting on the desk beside her.

“Tia told me,” Luna said with a small shake of her head. “I... wish I could go back to that time...”

Sarah nodded and got up, giving Luna a pat on the neck. “Yeah, I understand,” the woman said with a nostalgic smile of her own. “But we should probably get moving, I’m sure that Moira’s store is open by now and we’ll need to stop there before we get under way again.”

“Alright,” Luna said, rising to her hooves and following the woman. “This promises to be an interesting day.”

Author's Notes:

Now, I know that this chapter is kind of filerish... but I've come to the conclusion that this story is going to have around 40 to 50 chapters if I want to get in everything that I want to do so I figure it's okay to have a few chapters like this which only really focus on characters and backstory instead of on action and fighting. I hope you enjoyed the lullaby I picked, it’s one of my favorites.

Oh, on a last note, go check out Speven’s pokemon crossover too, it’s really good and highly underrated http://www.fimfiction.net/story/155749/pokmon-xtraordinary