"What kind of questions do you have in mind?" I ask as I enter the room, with Storm closing the door behind me. Everyone has a concerned look on their face, except Twilight, who is still on the verge of an anger meltdown.

"Well darling... you see the thing is..." Rarity starts, only to be cut off by Rainbow Dash.

"What are your intentions with Twilight!?" she roars as she flies up in my face.

"My...intentions?" I ask, taking a step back slightly confused.

"Yeah, what do yo-" Rainbow Dash begins to say, only to have Applejack pull her down by biting her tail and yanking her back.

"Whoa there little missy! Now, look here Miles, Twilight is our friend, and we're a little... worried about having somepony that forces thumselves onta her living in the same house as her. We just want ta ask ya a few questions to put our worries ta rest." Well, that's reasonable... I think.

"What exactly do you mean by that?" I ask as I look around the room.

"Well, how do ya think a her?" she clarifies.

"Well, she's my friend," I say with a shrug. "I think of her the same way I thought of my friends back home." I look around to see everyone looking away, trying not to look me in the eyes. "What?"

"Miles..." Twilight starts but stops when Spike steps forward.

"Miles, I did a little research on my own. There was never a settlement in history called Topaz Falls. You lied about where you came from," he accuses me, folding his arms with a smug look on his face.

"Hmm... we'll let’s think about this for a minute. Did the authors you read from actually know anything about humans or human civilizations at all?" I ask, crossing my arms as well.

"Well... no, but-"

"So in all that research you did in the last few hours, you couldn't find anything on human civilization. How about any references to humans in general?"

"No, but-"

"So let me see if I got this right. You couldn't find any evidence of a people or culture that existed some three thousand years ago, so you conclude that it must not exist, EVEN THOUGH, you have someone in front of you, who is a person that fits the description of these non-existent people, telling you that there is a city called Topaz Falls, and there is a civilization of humans. Now would you like to know why ponies, as well as any other group, would never see or hear of humans for a long, long, long time?"

"How?" asks Twilight, genuinely interested.

"Because we don't live on the surface. Our cities were built almost three kilometers’ underground. We put them there a thousand years before I was even born." Everyone looks pretty shocked by this, looking up at me with wide eyes and dropped jaws.

"So that's why you don't know what any plants are, because plants can't grow underground," Fluttershy says understandingly.

"Yeah, basically."

"If your cities were underground, then how did you end up on the surface?" Spike asks.

"Well, I figure being sent three thousand years into the future put the planet in a different location. I should consider myself lucky that I even landed on the planet." Ooo... that's a creepy thought.

"Well, how are we to know that you’re telling the truth?" Spike asks.

"Oh, he's tellin the truth, ah can tell," Applejack pipes in.

"So Spike, any other questions?" I ask, making him glare back at me.

He looked like he was about to say something when he suddenly puffed out his cheeks. After a few seconds of holding his face like that, he gives a little jump as he burps out a small green flame. Wisp of energy form from the green flames and merge to form a small scroll in the air. It has a red band going around the center, with a gold seal of a thick ‘U’ on it. Twilight picks it up with her magic and unrolls it in front of her.

"A letter from the Princess, that's weird."

As she reads, she keeps a serious look on her face. Her eyes going from side to side until she comes to the end of the letter. She looks away for a second before re-reading it over again.

"What does it say?" Asks Rainbow Dash impatiently.

"Well... it seems another dragon has decided sleep near Ponyville again. He hasn't started snoring yet but the Princess doesn't want to wait until he does for us to act." She looks up from the letter to everyone in the room for a second, before she rolls the letter shut and walks to a nearby desk. She pulls out another piece of paper and a quill, and writes something down before rolling it up and giving it to Spike. Spike takes a breath in and blows out a small green flame that disintegrates the letter into the energy from before. The energy wisps away through a nearby window and flies away into the night. Okay, so apparently, dragons can breathe fire and are used to deliver mail. And why would a dragon sleeping be a problem for Ponyville? Twilight turns to all the girls and begins to march in front of them.

"Alright girls, it seems Ponyville needs our help again. Everypony go home for the night and rest. We'll meet here tomorrow morning at seven o' clock, so be sure to bring whatever you will need for the journey." All of the girls rear up onto their hind legs and hold their front legs in front of them, giving different cheers of support to one another.

"Seven o'clock, got it." I say, getting more shocked looks from everyone. "What? Did you really think I was going to sit this one out?"

"Why would you go?" Rainbow Dash asks in an irritated tone.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"It’s not really your problem to deal with. Not to mention your methods are a little too extreme for a job this big," Spike says.

I look down to Spike and say, "Now why would I have to get rough with a dragon? They don't seem to be all that tough." Spike just glares at me and gives a small huff of smoke from his nostrils.

"Uh, Miles... Spike is just a baby dragon," Twilight says. "This is going to be a full-grown dragon."

"OK, how big do they get?"

"Well... most are around two stories tall, have seventy-foot wing spans, and are around a hundred feet long." What's a foot? Do... do they actually measure using their feet? Is that their way of saying a meter? Even then, that's a big creature. And if they can breathe fire like Spike does, that could cause some problems.

"Are you still going?"

"Of course I am, I-"

"Then I'm going too."

"Why would Twilight going make you still want to go?" asks Rarity.

"Well, if you’re trying to infer that I'm only going because of some strange affection for Twilight, stop. I'm going for only two reasons. To protect Ponyville, and to protect my friends."

"We don't need to be protected, we can handle things on our own," Rainbow Dash says defensively.

"I'm sure that you can, but as long as one of my friends is in danger, I will always be there to protect them, no matter the cost."

"W-what does that mean?" Fluttershy asks timidly, while she also seems to be shaking slightly.

"I would die for my friends." Again, stunned silence fills the room.

"You would die fer us in ord..." Applejack starts but stops when I interrupt her.

"No, no, not you. I said my friends. As of right now, that means Storm and Twilight." I say as I walk by Twilight's side. Pinkie Pie's hair seems to deflate as she looks up to me with hurt eyes.

"Does that mean that you and I aren't friends right now?" she asks in a mournful tone.

"Sorry, I don't use the term 'friend' lightly. But that doesn't mean I won't be friendly towards you or any others. Being a friend of mine means more than just asking questions or doing small favors. To me, it's about being there for one another. Helping each other through the hard times and accepting one another for who they are. All you've done since I've been here is chase me like some wild beast, accuse me of being things that sound horrible, and use me to further your own interest. The only exception is Fluttershy, who is only not a friend because I hardly know her, but given some time I could see her being a very good friend." Fluttershy gives me a small smile, but the rest seem to be only angered by my remark.

"Hey, I'm a great friend!" yells Rainbow Dash. "Why wouldn't I make a good friend?!"

"I didn't say you would or wouldn't make a good friend. I just said that I barely know you, so I'm not your friend. I'll be a pleasant acquaintance, but we're not friends." She crosses her forelegs and pouts on the floor. I think I'm coming off as a dick, but I mean what I say.

"So if we’re not friends, does that mean you wouldn't protect us if we were in danger?" Rarity asks quietly.

"I would protect you within a centimeter of my life, but for my friends, I'd be willing to give that last part up, if it meant they would be safe." Everyone goes silent after this. I can see Storm and Twilight are thinking hard about this, that's probably for the best. Everyone else just seems to be deep in thought, with really offended expressions on their faces.

Twilight gives a soft sigh before saying, "Well, we'll just have to worry about this tomorrow. We all need to go home and prepare for the journey." Everyone silently agrees to this and walks out the door, except for Spike, who gives Twilight a final glance before he walks up the stairs. Once they're gone, Twilight magically shuts the door and approaches me. "You know, you really hurt some of their feelings right now."

"Yeah, I know. I didn't mean to come off as offensive, but I meant every word."

"So you would die for us?" Storm asks, walking around and sitting next to Twilight.

"Yeah, I would." Twilight and Storm exchange looks before looking back to me.

"Why?" They ask together.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, why would you throw your life away for somepony you met yesterday?" I can see a look of concern on both of their faces. I turn away from them and walk over to a nearby window, looking up at the night sky. After a minute or two I take a deep breath before turning back to them.

"What else would I use my life for? Everything I ever knew died three thousand years ago. Even if the city is still there, with people, what would be the difference from going there or staying here? Either way, I'm starting over. I'm here now, so I'm going to make the best of it." Twilight drops her head and shakes it a little. Storm looks at her, then to me. I motion for him to put his arm... leg around her, and he hesitantly gives it a try. Once his foreleg makes contact, Twilight immediately looks up to him, after a few seconds of staring she looks back down.

"*sigh* Miles... what am I going to do with you?" she says quietly.

"Nothing right now," I say, getting her attention. "Right now we’re going to prepare for the big trip tomorrow. Now, what will we need?" This puts a smile on her face as she breaks off Storm’s hug and walks over to the desk. She pulls out another piece of paper and writes a few things down. Once she finishes, she turns back to me and Storm with her confident smile back on.

"You two go through this checklist and bring all of the needed items back here when you find them. I've got to work on a few things in my lab so I'll be back up in a while."

"Can do, boss," I say with a salute, making her giggle slightly. She gives me the checklist and trots up the stairs. Once she's gone I look back to Storm. He's sitting there, wide eyed, staring at his leg.

"You alright?"

"I'm never washing this leg again," he says dreamily.

"Gross, well let’s get started on this checklist." I unroll it to find that all of the listed items are drawn instead of being written.

That actually makes things a lot easier. I was just going to have Storm do all of the work, but now I can help. I split the list with Storm and begin searching throughout the house. Most of the items are simple, a satchel bag, some quills, ink, but some things I have no clue how to find. One is a drawing of a book with some specific drawing on the front. I end up spending hours looking through every book until I luckily come across it. When I put it in the pile of found items, I can see that Storm only has one item left.

"Hey Storm, let me see your list really quick."

"Uh, okay..." This was too easy. I look throughout the page and then shift back to mine. I continue to swap the two until I feel confident he doesn't know which is which. I then give him my old one and begin to walk into the kitchen. "Aw come on, not cool." Sucker. I walk into the kitchen and check the last item. It's drawn in orange and looks like a triangle. It has long green things coming out of the back and for some reason, looks edible. I check the fridge and sure enough, there's one right there, surrounded by other variously colored objects. I grab it and go back to the front room.

"Hey, what is this thing?"

He looks over from a bookshelf and says, "Its a carrot. It's something you eat." Hmm... nah, it's for the trip, so I won't try it. I throw it into the pile of stuff and walk over to Storm. Checking the list, I can see that we only need about four more things.

"What's next?"

"Well, we need our armor, the first aid kit, a bag for me and you, and to double check the list to make sure we have everything on the list."

"‘Check the list’ is on the list?" I ask, looking down at the list.

"Yup."

"Efficient. Well, my armor is under my cot and you've got yours on, so check that off. I guess I'll go get the first aid kit while you get the bags." He nods and walks up the stairs to find the bags. Hmm... if I were a first aid kit, where would I be? I go and check around the kitchen cabinets for anything that resembles a first aid kit. After going through a few cabinets, I finally find a small white box with a red plus on it. I take it and open it up to find bandages, tubes of ointment, and other various medical supplies. I close it up and bring it to the other supplies. Well, that should be everything, except for-

BANG

A loud explosion erupts from the other room, making me jump slightly. I quickly run up the stairs and can see smoke coming up from the other lower room. Before I can run down there, Twilight and Storm come running out, Twilight's face is charred black and she’s coughing like crazy.

"What happened?"

"I was *cough* making some potions *cough* when Storm bumped into me. *cough cough cough* That ended up making a big explosion." I look over to Storm, who is recovering from a coughing fit.

"I didn't mean to, *cough* I was just trying to get the bags *cough* out from under all those books." I look between the two and begin to laugh. I tried to stifle it at first, but after a few seconds of seeing Twilight's charred face I couldn't hold it any longer.

"What's so funny!?' Twilight huffs.

"Your face! Bwahahahahahaha!" I fall to the ground in a fit of laughter. I seriously have to hold my sides or they'll fall off. When I finally get control of myself I look up at the two and wipe away a tear. "Sorry, it's an inside joke... kind of. Are you alright Twilight?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she says in an annoyed tone. "The other rooms are filled with smoke, so we'll just have to sleep out here tonight. I'm going to take a shower, can you two find the spare blankets?"

"Yeah, no prob." Twilight gives a small sigh and walks back up the stairs. I look over to Storm to see him sitting there with his eyes wide open. "What's up with you?"

"Both the rooms are filled with smoke."

"Yeah, and?"

"So we all have to sleep out here..."

"O-kay..."

"ALL of us, together, in this room." I think about it for a second before I put one and one together.

"Oh sweet Barbra..."

---

After taking a good long look, I give a soft sigh. No matter how many times I do it, setting the sun has always been one of my least favorite things to do. I love interacting with the sun, raising it, lowering it; making solar flares are one of my favorite events in particular, but setting it always brings mixed emotions. It's like saying goodbye to a dear friend while giving them one last hug. I know I'll see it tomorrow morning, but the separation has always been something I disliked.

*sigh* Well, at least I no longer have to raise the moon. I love Luna's night sky all the same, but interacting with the moon has always felt... different. The sun always fills me with warmth and confidence, giving me the strength to do anything. Whereas the moon has always been cold and ominous, filling me with dread. I'd never tell Luna that though. She always gets so sensitive when it comes to the moon. She wouldn't get that if she made it appear more... alive. Maybe more ponies would be willing to stay up and enjoy it, but she insists on making it seem devoid of life. Well, it makes her happy, so I'll try my best not to pester her about it... too much.

I fly down from the cloud cover of Canterlot and land on my bedroom balcony. I can see Luna doing the same, coming back from raising the moon. I wave a hoof to her and she waves back before walking into her room. Something seems off with her today. Normally she's a bit more perky than this. I should talk to her. I fly over to her balcony and tap on her glass door.

"Luna? Is everything alright?" After a few silent moments, the door slowly opens to reveal Luna, looking very tired.

"Hey Tia, what's up?" she says somewhat groggily.

"What's up? I know you've been learning to speak the common dialect, but since when do you use common slang?" I ask with a slight chuckle.

"Huh? Oh, well, I heard Miles say it, and I kind of like the simplicity of it. Two words, yet so much is being asked," she says while shaking her head slightly.

"Miles?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, right, I haven't had a chance to tell you yet. Well, remember the creature that your student sent you a letter about?"

"The one with the weapons who kept running away, yes I remember."

"Well, that night I found him and spoke with him for a while. He didn't seem to be a threat to anypony, and his story sounds like it would be unbelievable. He spoke of losing everything and how he just wants to go home. You should have seen the look of devastation on his face. I decided to ensure that he doesn't become a threat to all our little ponies, that he will live among them for some time. I've set a guard to be with him at all times and that he would live with your student for the time being."

"You put some creature we know little about in the care of my prized student!? Why would you do that?"

"Twilight is more than able to not only fend off this... human... and is more than capable of being able to provide for him. Look at how she handles that baby dragon."

"Yes, well, Spike is different from other dragons. He's been raised by ponies his entire life, not to mention he's still only a baby."

"Yes, a baby we once had to call the Wonderbolts for because he was rampaging through the city," Luna says flatly. "I saw this human and from the way he acted, I don't think he would ever hurt somepony, especially after what he did."

"What did he do?"

"A stampede of cattle went through the town. He ran out to try and help, but was tackled by a bull. He then fought off the bull and saved the town. This is also why I'm so tired, I received a letter from the guard I posted with him. I went down to check up on him. That's when Miles asked me 'what’s up'."

"He asked you what’s up. As if you were a common friend?"

"Basically. He treated me as if I were an equal; I don't think he's ever been around royalty before. Or knows how to act around royalty, for that matter."

"Do you know where he came from?"

"He said he comes from a place called Terradisia. I've never heard of it before, have you?"

"Hmm... no, I haven't. Not off the top of my head at least. Was there anything else about him that seemed interesting?" Luna looks down and away from this question. I've seen this little act before, here come the lies.

"Well, you see, the thing is..."

"Luna," I say as I take a step forward, "I'm your sister, you can tell me anything, what happened?"

"*sigh* I think I... aroused him." Okay, wasn't expecting that.

"Well, Luna, you are a very beautiful mare. I wish he wouldn't look at you like that, but those feelings are completely natural. Now was there anything else you wanted to tell me about this human?" Luna looks up to me and quickly looks away again, she's hiding something, I know it. Before she could answer there came a knock from her inside door. We both walk to the door and open it to find one of the palace guards standing at the door.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your highness, but our border patrol has discovered another dragon sleeping on the outskirts of Ponyville. Would you like to send a squad out to take care of the problem?"

"That won't be necessary," I say. "I will have my student take care of this problem. Please keep all guards at their post."

"Very well, your highness," he says as he gives a salute and walks down the hall. Luna closes the door and turns back to me.

"Are you sure it is a good idea to have your student handle something like this?"

"She and her friends have done this before, I have the utmost confidence in her ability to handle the situation quickly and quietly," I say as I walk back to the balcony door. "I'm going to send her the letter now so she can get started as soon as possible. Have a good night, Luna." As I walk through her doors I can hear her mumble something, but can't understand it. I'll have to come by the next chance I get to talk some more with her. I fly back to my room, pull out a parchment and quill and begin to write.

‘My dearest and most faithful student,

Ponyville is on the brink of turmoil once again. It would appear that another dragon has decided to sleep within the borders of your town. Though he hasn't started, I fear that that he may begin to snore and shroud the land in a thousand years of smoke. I entrust that you and your friends will be able to deal with this issue once again.

Princess Celestia’

I levitate the note and am about to seal it, when an idea comes to mind. I know Luna isn't telling me everything about the human, and I know that she will never tell me the full story without annotating it some way. If I can get Twilight to report to me about his exploits, I can figure out whether or not Luna is ready for this kind of responsibility. But at the same time, I can't see Luna taking this the right way. Well, I did say she would take the lead on this one, but I guess having Twilight giving me occasional reports wouldn't be too involving. I unroll the note and begin to add to it.

‘P.S. I would like to ask you a favor as well. I have found out that the human Miles will be living with you for a period of time. I would ask that you send me occasional reports on his behavior and exploits. I know Princess Luna is taking charge on this one, but I can't help but be curious about it. If you choose to, please let me know as soon as possible. I would also ask that you keep this between the two of us.’

I roll the scroll up and send it off. I hope nothing comes from this. I would hate to have to take this project from Luna, but if things end up becoming too much for her, I will do what is necessary.

Next Chapter: Chapter 18 Night Time Complications Estimated time remaining: 84 Hours, 36 Minutes