As I regain consciousness, I find myself in a familiar room. I think I'm back in Big Mac's room. I sit up and bury my face in my hands. Being knocked out this many times can't be healthy.

"Welcome back."

"AGH!" I jump from the unexpected sound and fall out of bed, falling straight on my face.

"You all right there?"

"Maybe," I mumble from the ground, "how long have you been there Big Mac?"

"Mmm, for a bit I reckon."

"Awesome." I push myself up and sit on the edge of the bed. "Big Mac..."

"Eeyupp."

"Why am I naked?"

"Well...we had ta clean your clothes, they were covered in pumpkin chunks." Of course they were, it's always something.

"What's a pumpkin?"

"It's a..."

"No... wait, I remember now. Big orange round thing that hurts, got it. Where's Storm?"

"We put him in AJ's room." I was about to get up, but quickly remembered I was naked.

"Where are my clothes?"

"They're hangin outside dryin'. I'll go check on 'em," he says as he gets up and walks out of the room. I lay back and relax on the bed. No point in stressing over something that I can't fix right now. I look over my body and realize how unharmed I am... strange. Must have been a ton of minor wounds. I think I can hear someone running towards the room.

"Miles! Are you alright?!" Twilight yells as she bursts through the door and runs to my side.

"Yeah, I'm fine..."

"FINE?! Big Mac and Applejack said when they brought you in here you were covered in bruises! How are you completely healed without any medical aid?" Damn, I want to tell her that my magic naturally heals me over time, but I promised Storm I wouldn't.

"Well... let's just say I'm a boss at healing," I say with a shrug. Twilight just sits down and shakes her head.

"*sigh* Well... you’re up, that's what’s important right now. Storm hasn't woken up yet, we were going to take him to the hospital soon." My heart drops from this news. I need to get to him. Moving him around in that condition can't be good, but I can't let anyone see me heal him. Hmm... I think I've got an idea.

"Hey Twilight, where's the restroom?"

"It's down the hall... I'll go see what Applejack is up to." She gets up and walks out of the room.

Once I'm sure she's gone I get up and poke my head into the hallway... coast is clear. I make my way down to the restroom and lock the door behind me. I was about to go to the window, but then nature called. After dealing with that I go to the window. Hmm... It's night time... this should help in giving me cover. I open the window and flare my magic. I concentrate the energy and focus it into my fingers and toes. Once I feel confident, I climb out the window and begin to scale over to Applejack's room. I crawl on the side of the wall, the magic making my fingers and toes have tremendous suction, and make it to the right window. I peer in and see Applejack and Twilight inside, fuck why didn't I think of them? They're both looking over Storm, who is covered in dark bruises.

"Twi, ah'm sure he's gonna be fine. The doctors will be able ta fix him right up," assures Applejack, patting Twilight's back.

"I... just... *sigh* I need to apologize to him. I accused him of being somepony that he isn't." So he isn't the asshole from Twilight's past... YES!

"Ya mean that one feller ya told us about from Canterlot?" Twilight nods. "So we won't have ta buck him up the head, that's good ta hear." Twilight gives a small chuckle and looks to Applejack.

"AJ, I-I need to ask your opinion on something... but you have to promise not to tell anypony." Shit, I need to get out of here. "I kind of... you know..."

"Ya like Storm don'tcha ?" Oh, is that it? I could’ve told you that one.

"Y-yeah. B-but I'm worried that they're old feelings for the other Storm, what should I do?"

"Do ya have feelin’s fer that stallion?"

"No... or at least I thought I didn't. *sigh* I don't know anymore." She says as she drops her head onto the bed, looking over to Storm. Applejack wraps her leg around Twilight and squeezes her in a hug.

"Hey Sugarcube, don't fret over something like this. Iffin ya ask me, I'd say go fer it. Everypony deserves ta have a special somepony, and I can tell he's a good stallion."

"You think so?"

"I know so, and somethin' tells me he likes you as well." OK, this is taking too long, I need to distract them somehow. I take my left hand and levitate a vase. I bring it over the edge and drop it. I'm sure all the extra trees I 'bucked' will cover this.

CRASH

"What was that? Cawn sarn it. Hey Twi, can ya help me clean this up?"

"Sure, I wonder what made it fall over?" Twilight levitates the pieces and follows Applejack out of the room. Once they shut the door, I slide the window open and climb inside. I quickly run up to Storm and flare my magic.

"You may feel some discomfort," I say as I remove the sheets and grab his chest, pumping the healing magic into his body. I figure his body make up would be similar to that of mine: blood vessels, muscle tissue, that kind of stuff. Sure enough, as soon as I begin, the bruises begin to dissipate. After a few seconds, he jolts into consciousness, so I let go of him and shut off my magic.

"Miles... what's going on, where are we?" he asks in a panicked tone.

"We're in Applejack's house, they'll explain later I'm sure. You didn't see me." I charge the magic back into my fingers and toes and climb back out the window. I make my way to the restroom and climb back in. I go to the door and open it, only to find Twilight standing right in front of me. "We need to stop meeting like this," I say as I walk out into the hall, leaving a frozen and blushing Twilight behind. I walk back to Big Mac's room and find my clothes on the bed, so I begin to get dressed. About halfway through getting dressed I hear Twilight walk in. I look back to her and ask, "Something on your mind?" Yeah - Storm.

"Huh... oh, no. I just... can I ask you something?" I finish getting dressed and sit on the bed.

"I'm all ears."

"Well, what if, hypothetically speaking of course, I were to..."

"What's going on?" Storm asks as he walks into the room. Wow, cock block yourself why don't you?

"Storm!? How did you get better all of the sudden!?"

"Umm..." he looks to me then back to Twilight, "you mean you didn't do this? I know you kind of hate me... but... I dunno."

"What? Oh... right. No, Storm... I-I didn't mean those things I said. I had you confused for another stallion. I don't hate you." The room fills with an awkward silence. I can tell they want to talk more about... some other things, so I stand up, getting their attention.

"Well, not that this isn't fun, but I'm going to leave you two alone now." I walk past them and head down stairs. I go into the living room area and find Applejack and Big Mac talking to an elderly pony. She is a light green color, with grey-white hair that is up in a bun. She looks up to me and points a hoof at me.

"You there, eh, what was it... Yards...er no, that ain’t right.... Miles! Come here, I wanta have a word with ya," she says, her age showing in her voice. I walk up to her and kneel so we're closer to being face to face.

"Can I help you?"

"Huh... wha? Oh, right. I wanta offer ya a job here at Sweet Apple Acres."

"A... job?"

"That's what I darn said! Ya did good out there an' we sure could use the help this season. The pay would be ten bits a tree ya buck, whadda ya say?" Well, I do need to start making some form of income. Not to mention the manual labor would help me stay fit. Fuck it, let's get to work.

"I'll take it. When do I start?"

"Start what? Oh right, ya can start workin' here tamorrow, jus' come on down an' find Big Mac, he'll get ya ta work from there on."

"Sounds good to me," I say as I stick my hand out to shake. The older pony takes it and gives me a shake with more force than I would believe she would be able to muster. Once done, she begins to slowly walk away, muttering something about being up too late. I stand back up and look over to Big Mac, "So do I call you boss from now on?"

"Nnnope, Big Mac will do just fine. I expect ya here tomorrow at noon. I'll be out in the carrot fields, so just come find me when you get here."

"Can do."

"Welcome aboard Miles!" Applejack says as she walks up stairs.

"Hey, if you see Twilight or Storm, let them know that I'm heading back to the library. Got to rest up for tomorrow and all, right?"

"Eeyup." I nod to them and begin to walk back home.

The walk home was fairly peaceful. The night sky shone with its usual beauty as a cool breeze blew from behind. Strange, a few days ago I was in the fight of my life and now I'm becoming some average Joe, wake up and go to work, pay the bills and let life go by kind of person. Given, I still seem to have trouble find me. Not to mention I don't think that life will ever be normal here, being the only human and all. But who knows, maybe a simple life could still be a fulfilling life.

I walk for a while longer in silence, reflecting on everything, when something moving in the night sky catches my attention. I look up and try to focus on it, but whatever it is, it lands in the center of town before I can get a good glimpse of it. I quicken my pace and try to find whatever it is. When I get to the center of town, I see Luna's carriage sitting there with two guards. I try to see Luna but I can't seem to see her anywhere.

"MILES!"

"AGH!"

---

After raising the moon and setting the sun, Celestia and I make our way to the dining hall for a late dinner. We don't always eat together, but we try to spend as much time together as we can; sometimes I go to sleep late and have breakfast with her, or she stays up late and has dinner with me. We don't always get to do this, due to her busy schedule, but we try to as often as possible.

"What would you like to have for dinner, your majesty?" asks the waiter.

"I would like some oven roasted roses, with some hay fries on the side, please." He writes down my order and turns to Celestia.

"Just a salad for me, thank you." He writes down the order and trots to the kitchen.

"Really Tia? Another salad, I swear lettuce must be the only thing you ever eat these days."

"Well I'm sorry sister, some of us don't have the luxury of being able to eat whatever they want and not have to worry about blowing up."

"Really? That sounds awful. Tell me more," I say, giving her a playful wink. She shakes her head and takes a drink from her glass. "Anyway, how was your day?"

"Stressful. The griffins are pushing for more land, and it doesn't seem as if they're looking anywhere else to expand."

"You don't seriously think that they would try and take land by force, do you?"

"No, not now at least."

"Maybe I should talk to my friend, Regina. Maybe she could talk in their senate and try to calm things down."

"Regina? Oh, right. The ambassador you made friends with, don't worry about it too much. Things are tense, but they will not boil over. War hasn't existed in Equestria for over three thousand years, I don't believe it will happen now." I hope not. The waiter walks out with two silver trays and sets them in front of us.

"Enjoy, your majesties." He says with a bow as he walks back into the kitchen. The food smells delicious. I take my fork and bring a rose up, with a final sniff I take a bite and savor the flavor.

"How’s your salad?" I ask.

"Just fine," she replies in a slightly irritated tone. We continue to eat in silence, enjoying each other’s company. When we finish our food the waiter comes back out to take our plates.

"Would you like a dessert?"

"No, that won’t..."

"Please bring me and my sister a slice of cloud cake." The waiter nods and trots into the kitchen.

"Luna, I can't have cake, it would ruin my diet."

"If I recall correctly, cloud cake would be your favorite type of cake, isn't it?"

"Well... yes, but my diet..."

"So, one slice of your favorite type of cake with your favorite sister should make its way into your boring old diet," I say as I give her the best puppy eyed look I can muster.

"*sigh* So much for my diet. One slice, and that's it, I don't want to completely explode."

"Hmm... I don't think a single slice could possibly do that," I say as I poke her in the ribs, making her jump a little. We share a small laugh before the waiter comes back out and gives us each a slice of cake. We both thank him and begin to eat. I notice that Celestia is eating hers with much more gusto than I am, so when she isn't looking, I switch our plates. She doesn't notice until we both finish our cakes.

"That was evil, Luna."

"Oh shush now, you enjoyed it." She gives me a small smile before we begin to walk out together.

"What's on your schedule for today sister?"

"I have to go back to Ponyville, it seems that our little troublemaker has bested a dragon in a fight..."

"He what!?"

"Well, you sent your student and her friends to solve that dragon problem, he made it his responsibility to help, and ended up having to fight a youngling. I wish to have a word with him to go over the details some more, I have a feeling there's more to this than what a simple letter could tell."

"Are you sure you don't want my help, I cou—"

"Tia, I think I can handle dealing with a little scuffle. It was just a young dragon."

"Okay, just be careful, alright? I don't know what it is, but I can't shake this bad feeling about him."

"Don't worry Tia, I'll be sure to be careful, now I must leave quickly if I wish to catch him while he's awake. Good night dear sister."

"Good... night."

I trot off towards the carriages and hop in mine. I tell the guards our destination and we take off. The flight goes by fairly quickly, mainly due to my mind racing about, trying to think of ways to bring up the subject. I don't want to be direct about it, but at the same time, I can't think of a way to go from dragon fighting to alicorns from three thousand years ago. As we fly over Ponyville, I look over the edge to see Miles walking down the road alone. I let the guards know that I'm going alone, and to wait by the mayor's office. I jump off my carriage and glide down to him. He seems to be deep in thought and doesn't see me right away. I circle around him and approach from behind. I don't know why, but I feel hesitant to approach him. I lower down to talk to him but he sees something and begins to trot after it, so I follow closely behind. He stops near the town center and just looks over to my carriage, this is too easy.

"MILES!" I shout directly behind him.

"AGH!" he shouts as he tackles me to the ground. I close my eyes as I hit the ground with him on top of me. When I re-open my eyes, I'm staring straight into his eyes.

Next Chapter: Chapter 25 Feathers and Pancakes Estimated time remaining: 82 Hours, 55 Minutes