After I admire my home for a bit longer I decide to head out. Twilight said she had some things to take care of, so she went out on her own, now it's just me and Storm. We head into town and decide that we should order the plumbing first, so we head to the mayor’s office. We make it to the office and walk in to the circular room. The room has a single wall cutting it in half that has a single door to the left. The rest of the room is fairly open, only having a few small benches against the walls and a counter going through the middle. Various pictures and papers are framed on the walls and have little plaques underneath them. A light tan pony is sitting behind the counter sleeping soundly.

"Should we wake her up?" I ask Storm.

"Well... anypony else would get fired for sleeping on the job, waking her doesn't seem that bad." I nod in agreement and head to the sleeping pony. When I get to her, I look back to Storm before I gently nudge her a little.

"Hmm...wha...*yawn* can I help you?" she asks sleepily.

"Yeah, I need to..."

"Mr. Eremita! We've been expecting you!" she says as she wakes up completely, and runs to the door... OK. I walk over and follow her through the door. We walk in and make an immediate right, going up a flight of stairs to the next floor. We enter a smaller circular room the has a large desk in the center, with a few chairs in front of it. The dark tan mare with grey hair is sitting behind the desk, trying to balance a little red ball on her nose.

"Ahem..." the receptionist says, getting the other’s attention, and making her drop the ball.

"Mr. Eremita! Where have you been? We were supposed to meet over two weeks ago!"

"Really? I guess I must’ve forgot."

"Never mind that for now, please take a seat," she says as she dives behind the desk and starts to pull out different stacks of paper. I take a seat and try to read the papers, but can't.

"So, what's going on?"

"We're getting you registered to become a citizen," she says as she pulls out the final stack. "If you’re going to be living here, you have to become a citizen of Equestria first."

"I guess that makes sense... you know I can't read any of this, right?"

"It's mostly technical mumbo jumbo. I'll just go through and highlight the areas you need to sign, and we'll call it a day," she says as she pulls out a neon yellow marker and starts to flip through the pages. We spend the next hour going through the stacks of paper - I must’ve signed my name over a thousand times. My damn hand is locking up from handling the quill for so long. Once I sign the last paper I sit back and sigh in relief.

"Finally... now, about my house..."

"You have a house? I was under the impression that you were staying with Miss Sparkle."

"I was, but I just built my own home out by the Everfree..."

"The Everfree! Why would you build it out there?"

"Because there's room. Now, I'm going to need a water line built to my home, also a power line... if you ponies have that."

"Of course... just hold on." She goes back under the desk. A few moments later she starts to pull out even more stacks of paper. "Well... same drill as before?" she says as she starts to flip through the pages. An hour and a half later we finally finish going through these papers, and I finally get to leave this place. I never thought I could hate paper with such a passion. When I go out to the main room I find Storm lying on his back, asleep on a bench. I walk up to him and... oh this is evil.

"Storm..." I say in the most feminine voice possible in his ear.

"Mmm... yeah Twi...?" he mutters; oh fuck, this is going to be funny.

"Ready for round two?" I ask in the same voice, fighting my laughter as best as possible.

"Mmm, you know I am."

"Then let’s go," I say in the deepest voice possible as I stand, making him wake up and fall off the bench.

"Miles!? Aw buck man... that wasn't cool..."

"Yeah, but it was funny huh?" I say as I walk out of the office. I wait for Storm to follow me out and start to walk off. "Well, let’s celebrate."

"What for?"

"I just became a citizen," I say with a smile.

"Well alright, good for you... let’s swing by Sugarcube Corner then."

"Well, first off, let’s stop by Twilight's so I can find my money..."

"Oh, don't worry about that, we made a bank account for you while you were out." So ponies do have a banking system, good to know. We head to the bank in the southern district of Ponyville, where I withdraw fifty bits. With some money on me now, we head to Sugarcube Corner. When we enter the only sound we can hear is of two infant ponies crying loudly as a light blue mare tries to quiet them down. "Maybe we should go..." Storm says, as I walk in anyway.

"Oh... hello there... may I help you?" says the mare as I approach her.

"Hmm, little sour patches aren't they?"

"Oh. Usually they're little angels, but their father just had to leave to deliver some goods, so it's tears until I can calm them down," she says in a cheerful manner. I sit on the ground in front of her and take a look at them. One is a light yellow unicorn girl with bright orange hair and light blue eyes, while the other is a light tan pegasus boy with dark brown hair and brown eyes.

"May I?" I ask as I hold out my arms.

"Umm... do you have any experience with babies?"

"Actually, I do. Back home I sponsored an orphanage and visited all the time. I learned pretty quickly how to take care of infants and children."

"Well... alright... just please be careful," she says as she hands me the pegasus. As I take hold of him, he immediately stops crying and looks up to me. I smile down to him as he begins to laugh and hit my chest.

"Aw... he's a hitter..."

"Yeah, that's our little Pound Cake for you." Storm walks over to me and looks down at the kids. "Storm, could you be a dear and hold Carrot while I go and get something really quick?" she asks as she hands off the crying kid to him and runs off to the back.

"I guess so..." he says as he tries to get a hold of her, but is ultimately failing.

"You know there's a right way to hold them... right?"

"Well I... OW!" He yells as she bites onto the end of his hoof.

"You know they don't have teeth, right?" He glares over to me and finally gets her in the right position, only to have her wiggle out and try to fight her way away from Storm. "Aw man, if only Twilight could’ve seen..."

"Seen what?" Twilight says as she walks into the store. She walks over to Storm and sees him struggling. With a small laugh she takes Carrot away from Storm and takes hold of her almost immediately.

"But... I... she... GAH!" Storm says as he watches Twilight hold her with total ease.

"HA... kids hate Storm," I tease.

"That's why you've got me," Twilight says as she leans over and gives him a kiss on the cheek, brightening his mood immediately. The blue mare from earlier walks in and takes the two away to the back, for a nap I presume. Afterwards she appears behind the counter and takes our order, which she doesn't charge us for, due to us helping her. We take our food to a table and start to eat together.

"So, Twilight, what's on your agenda for the rest of the day?" I ask as I try out an eclair... fucking awesome.

"Oh... just a few things, nothing special." Yeah... something's up.

"So what are you planning?"

"Just to get a few more chores done," she says as she takes another bite from her food. I look over to Storm for answers, but he only shrugs. "What about you? What do you have planned?"

"Well..."

"Because I think you should go to work today," she says before I can answer.

"Yeah... if I even still have one, how do ponies take missing two weeks of work anyway?"

"Dude, you were in the hospital, I'm sure they'll understand," Storm says as he sits in front of an empty plate - fuck man, how does he eat that fast?

"Maybe... I'll swing by and see if they'll have me. If not, I'll just head home."

"Alright, then you won't need Storm," she says as levitates him with her while she runs out of the building. OK, now I know somethings up... or they're just... AH FUCK. Just repress that memory already!

After I finish up eating I head out to Sweet Apple Acres. I walk to the main building and find Big Mac hauling some apples to the cellar.

"Hey Big Mac, got any work for me?"

"Miles, good to see your out of the hospital. As fer work... Eeyup. Just head into the westernmost part of the fields and buck out there fer awhile." I nod as I take a cart and head west. After a while of walking through the trees I finally stop and begin to buck the trees. I fill my first cart and deliver the apples to the cellar. Once I start on my second load, I sense someone watching me again. I figure it's Luna, and decide to mess with her a little. I flare my magic and create words from my energy.

'HI LUNA', appears in white fiery letters before me. I sense her scrying disappear then reappear.

'HAVING FUN WATCHING?' I write next; to which she blinks her presence again.

'ONE FOR YES AND TWO FOR NO.' She gives a single blink in response.

'COOL', I drop the magic from one of my hands and get back to work, creating my words with my free hand.

'SO DID YOU GET HOME SAFELY?' One blink.

'GOOD GOOD, WAS YOUR SISTER MAD ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED?'Another single blink.

'SORRY ABOUT THAT, I SHOULD MEET HER AND APOLOGIZE IN PERSON.' Two blinks.

'NO? WELL, IF YOU’RE SURE.' One blink.

'WOW, THAT MAD HUH?' One blink. I finish loading the cart and begin to take it to the cellar, when a thought comes to mind. How does she know what I'm writing? Last I checked, our written language was completely different. When I finish unloading and make it back to the part of the field I'm working, I bring my concern to her.

'CAN YOU READ THIS?' One blink.

'HOW? OUR TEXT IS DIFFERENT.' After a while of silence I realize I didn't ask a yes/no question.

'WE SHOULD DISCUSS THIS.' One blink.

'WELL, I HAVE A HOME ON THE NORTHERN PART OF PONYVILLE, COME BY ANYTIME.' One blink and then her presence fades away. I continue to work for a couple more hours, filling a total of five carts, before Big Mac approaches me.

"That'll do fer today Miles, good work. Let's head inside an' get you yer pay." I nod and follow him inside. I receive my pay and am about to head out when Big Mac stops me. "Uh... what're ya up ta?"

"Well... I've got some things I want to get done at home, why?"

"Well... uh... maybe ya wouldn't mind... hanging out?" I look at him quizzically for a minute before I turn to him.

"Well, alright, what do you want to do?"

After a few hours of playing various games, horseshoes, tug-o-war, hay bale toss - most of which he won - I finally start to head home, only to see Big Mac walking besides me.

"Uhh... Big Mac..."

"Eeyup."

"Why are you following me home?" He shrugs and continues to walk beside me. "Is something going to happen?

"Nnnope, ah jus' wanna have a look at yer home, iffin ya don't mind."

"Oh... alright." We continue our way until my home comes into view. What the fuck... when did I get windows? I run up to my door... when did I get a door? I open it up and...

"SURPRISE!" yells everyone inside, making me fall back. I see everyone I know inside my home with party hats and massive smiles.

"Wh-what's going on?" I ask as I stand back up and walk inside, almost fainting when I see all of the new furniture inside.

"Well Miles..." Twilight begins, but stops when Pinkie Pie jumps in front of her.

"It's your HOUSE WARMING, THANKS FOR SAVING THE GIRLS AND CONGRATS FOR GETTING BETTER SO SOON PARTY!" Without warning, I turn and run as fast as possible out of the house. Another party, it just had to be another party. I try to run farther away but I suddenly flash back into the room. I try to run again, but Big Mac pins me to the ground and holds me as I start to panic.

"Let me go, let me go. No party! NO PARTY! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME GO!" I stop yelling when Twilight walks in front of me and puts a hoof to my mouth.

"Miles, calm down. It's not a party, that's just what Pinkie calls it. Now I'm going to let go and have Big Mac get off you, but only if you promise not to run away." After I try and collect my nerves I nod to Twilight, who steps back and motions to Big Mac to get off. I stand up and look around, I can't believe it, my home. I walk to the room to the left and see that they made it into a living room, just like I planned. A long light tan couch sits against the wall with a long table in front of it. To the left and right of the table are single seats that seem to recline back. Underneath all of this is light a light tan rug, with a white design going through it.

I turn around to the group and say, "Where did all of this come from?"

"Well, while you were gone, I gathered the girls and started to go through town, asking for donations for your home. Many of the residents of Ponyville are still grateful for what you did, so we were able to furnish your home quite easily," Twilight says as she walks into the room.

"Really...? I don't know what to say, other than thank you. This is one of the kindest things anyone has ever done for me." Before anyone can say anything, a knock at the door catches all of our attention. I walk over and open the door, and fall back as my heart starts to race.

"Why hello there Miles, may I-"

"Celestia!?"

Next Chapter: Chapter 41 Meeting The Past Estimated time remaining: 79 Hours, 34 Minutes