Something you wouldn't really know about Canterlot is that some of the most important ponies got a special place to rest when they passed on. Not the same as those 'important' ponies of the royal sense, but more those that either do something great or those that die in the line of duty. This place was in the mountain under the crystal mine. To make sure no pony could break into the place by mining, the walls around the royal graveyard had specially treated stone. It was close to black granite in coloration, but you could see the magic as it rippled through the stone. The only real difference between black granite and the stone used to encase this graveyard was the way the colors shifted. So it looked like a bunch of moving stars when you looked at it from afar. Celestia and Luna both lead the way down the set of stairs to the far end of the graveyard where unlike the mausoleums and larger graves with stone covers. In the back hard more statues over the grave as there tombstones. Just from the history books Twilight had shared with me, I could see who laid here.

I was made familiar with the hearths warming story that Twilight told me she played a role in. It was the very role she played was who I came to see. Each stone was made to look like the ponies were just turned to stone. Clover's tombstone was her with a book strapped to her side just barely viewable from under her stone cloak as she looked like she was ready to face anything. My mind couldn't help, but wonder if Clover would approve of having a child. I knew she never had a child in her life as she just wasn't able to give birth to one. There wasn't much said to the reason this was the case in the history books, but that didn't really matter now did it? For maybe the first time I set the flowers that I had picked out myself at her grave with my mouth instead of my magic or hoof before, I sat a few feet away from her resting spot. On the way Celestia had explained that her tomb was disturbed, but she had put it right before our visit. I sat there silently alone as the rest of them stayed back so I could have this moment to myself.

“He-” I had a hard time getting the words out of my mouth. “Hello... mother.” I said to her grave and I had been put in a very odd place that I was calling the grave of a pony I didn't even know my mother. I just sat there and asked myself what if questions the whole time. I knew Celestia, Luna, and Cadence were all listening into my personal thoughts, as I didn't care if anypony heard them at all. What was I supposed to do with the fact that I was the child of a pony that died hundreds of years ago? No pony would believe me, as I had already reported that I became a dralicorn above Ponyville. Hell I became a drony at the same time. “I... I don't know...”

“Storm?” A voice said behind me and it was Cadence who walked up. She sat down next to me and placed her wing around me. “It's alright, I didn't know my real parents either.” I turned to look at her a little surprised. “I was a foal when I was adopted into a small family. I didn't have much care growing up as I only knew my adopted parents as my real parents. It wasn't until their passing while I was still at a young age that I learned that I was adopted.” She continued sharing this insight.

“But...” was all I could will myself to say.

“It's alright.” She said as she leaned gently into me. “Even now I still wonder about who they were and what would they think of their daughter now. So I know how that feels Storm.” The heartfelt tenderness in her voice made me completely lose my composure and I just cried. Silent tears that just had been waiting to come out after all this time. Cadence gently rested her head against mine as I felt another pony lean against my other side. I glanced over to see Twilight there as she too leaned into me. I placed my wing around her as she wanted to comfort me. Times like these my mind likes to draw away from what is happening in front of me and remind me of a quote.

“Robert Kennedy once said 'Tragedy is a tool for the living to gain wisdom, not a guide by which to live.'” I said as I couldn't help myself anymore. Cadence and Twilight pulled back for a moment to look at me. “Sorry, my mind decided to remind me of the quote.”

“It's alright Storm, if it helps you feel better, than by all means quote away.” Cadence said, and I shook my head.

“No, just... I don't want to. One is enough for now.” I said.

“If it's any consolation, I'm sure Clover would have been proud to have you as her son.” Celestia said from behind us. We turned to see Celestia and Luna a lot closer than they were as they moved to comfort us.

“Do you really think so?” I asked looking back at Clover's grave.

“She had always wanted a son, so he could live in the bright future she help set for everypony. You help fulfill that wish, so yes.” Celestia said.

“She spoke many times about wanting a son to help guide him down his dreams.” Luna spoke as she sat next to Twilight.

“I'm sure she would be happy to have been there to meet you Storm” Gaia added in as she came closer and sat behind me. She placed her hooves on my shoulders to give me a hug as best she could.

“Did you get to meet her Gaia?” I asked.

“No, but I have read a lot about her. Besides helping Equestria she helped many other countries as well. She gave the means for Saddle Arabia to have plants that would survive more in the harsh clement.” She explained.

“She also helped conduct peace treaties with many races like the Minotaurs and as well as the merponies.” Luna added.

“Just... how am I supposed to process this?” I asked as I looked at her grave. Out of all of us, Shining was the only one that didn't add any words of wisdom to this conversation. He just came by and sat by his wife as all of us just sat there. Sometimes I wish I wasn't such an emotional pony, to be honest this shouldn't have affected me as much as it did. An hour passed before I asked for everypony, but Twilight to give me a few minutes. Twilight tried to give me some space. It's kind of hard to do that when you have a large wing of your coltfriend wrapped around you. “Twilight can I ask you something?”

“Sure Storm, what is it?” She asked looking over at me.

“I've been doing a lot of thinking since the incident with Grimwand, to be honest I have been thinking of things since before that.” I started.

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked.

“Yes and no, but I don't want secrets between us. Well no major ones at least, I mean the whole private party kind of secrets are fine. Just... I guess besides the whole dark one which I've done very little research on. The only thing I could was a small piece of a much larger puzzle.” I began to explain, it was a bit odd talking about this issue in front of my mother's grave.

“What was the piece?” Twilight asked as I could already see the gears in her mind turning.

“Well that's the thing, I don't know. It was some very old markings that look incomplete.” I explained.

“Incomplete, how?”

“Well like I said, it's a piece to a much larger puzzle. In a literal way.” I explained.

“Hmm... mind if I help you with this?”

“I would welcome it, but the problem is I don't know if you can see it. The books from what I gather only translate themselves for who ever is tied to them.”

“I wonder if a translation spell would work on them.” Twilight theorized out loud.

“Possible, but let's do that once we are back in Ponyville. I just need a break from crazy for a while.” I said as I slumped a bit.

“It's alright Storm, I understand. What was the other stuff on your mind?” She asked.

“I guess at the core of everything in my thoughts is the future.” I said looking up at the statue of Clover.

“The future?” She asked.

“Yeah... through everything I talk about either it being pessimistic, cynical, or just in hopeful nature. I always wonder about what's going to happen next and I worry.” I said as I just looked into the statue’s eyes.

“What are you worried about?” She asked.

“Well... everything, I worry that I'm not doing the right thing. Am I just as closed in as I was on earth? I worry about our future together and will it be good or bad. Well this happen or will that.” I said as a solemn tone struck my voice.

“Storm, is the whole idea of marriage one of those things?” She asked.

“Yeah...” was my only answer.

“Storm...” she started and stopped for a few moments before taking a deep breath. “Truth be told I have thought about it myself. I worry that I'm not going to be good enough myself. That I won't do the right thing.” She said and I brought her closer.

“Twilight, I highly doubt you could ever do the wrong thing.” I said.

“But I already have. I intruded many times into your personal space. I've looked through your things just so I could learn more about you. More than what you've told me Storm. I feel like I've only scratched the surface of who you are. You've worn your emotions on your sleeves and I worry that I may do something that will just rip them away from you.” She said as she leaned in. Once again I brought her as close as I could and gently rested my chin on her head since I couldn't do much else to comfort her physically.

“Twilight, a lot of what I have told you is more then I tell other ponies.”

“I know, and I appreciate that. I also know that you don't like to let ponies in. You share with the princesses as well as the girls stuff that they need to know for context.” She said quietly.

“Yeah... and I know I can come across a little guarded. Like the whole being used thing being a very sore subject with me.” I said.

“Storm anypony would be in your place. Rarity hasn't really done anything lately to do that and she admits that she's worried that you hate her for her impulsive moments.” She said and I knew she was worried.

“I may look like I'm angry, but truth is. They do make things lively for us. Each one of the girls really does add to the whole picture and I don't want to mess with that.”

“Mess with that?”

“I can't help but feel like I'm intrusive myself with you and the girls.” I said gently scratching the back of my head with my claws.

“What? No, no, no. Storm you haven't intruded between the girls and I. Honestly I think we've been closer than ever.” I looked at her a little closer.

“Well... Rarity and I always had the fact that we both are unicorns in common, but not really a lot beyond that. If I am being a little bold here, I've been going to her for relationship advice. As you can tell I'm pretty new to this whole having a special somepony thing.” She said with a sheepish smile.

“I get it Twilight, I've had to go to Celestia and Luna with the same thing.” This got Twilight to blush a little.

“I can't believe you've gone to them about... us.” She said.

“I still can't believe my sister decided to drop the mate bomb on us.” I said.

“Yeah, admittedly that was very uncomfortable.” She said turning as red as I have gotten.

“Trust me, if you had to deal with my family on earth. It would have been so much worse.” I said a little jokingly.

“I remember you saying your family teased you about being...” She trailed off.

“Yeah...” I said as my little chipper mood just suddenly tanked.

“What's wrong?” She asked looking worried.

“I... I just miss them...” I said with dejection in my voice.

“I'm sorry.” She said. For a while after that the two of us sat there before I was able to will myself to do what I wanted to. Twilight supported me with this as she knew it was something I needed to do. To Clover's grave I introduced myself and told it things about me. I knew it was silly, but it was something I needed. Both Cadence, Gaia, and Shining stayed behind while Celestia and Luna had to leave. It seems Blueblood 'needed' attention again, and those weren't my words this time. So the group of the five of us left through the secret passageway and ending up in the private office behind the throne room. From there we went to relax in the garden. A place I haven't seen much of yet, beyond outside my window here. It also seemed that they had planned for a picnic here as Cadence pulled a basket and checkered blanket out of thin air. Somepony is going to have to teach me that spell or show me how. Of course that still wouldn't explain Pinkies power of doing the same thing. Once everything was set out we sat down to relax.

“So Firestorm, have you put any thoughts to what you plan to do?” Shining asked.

“What I plan to do?” I asked, more for clarification then anything else.

“Well, from what I gather your biggest issue has been dealt with. So you have more time to do what you want. You know hobbies and such.” He explained.

“I suppose that's true.” I said not really sure how to answer that scratching the back of my head.

“Come to think about it, that is a very good question. What do you plan to do with your free time?” Twilight asked.

“To be honest... I kind of had this whole idea... nothing serious mind you. Kind of like a dream goal, that I've had since I was a kid. The problem was back where I was from, there wasn't a way to do it.” I said.

“Well, quit beating around the bush and spit it out.” Shining said using his hooves to gesture, much like how I was doing it with mine.

“You need the context.” I said with a smile.

“Do we really?” Shining said with a roll of his eyes.

“Context is everything, a good villain in the story isn't one that just does it for evil sake. No, a good villain as a valid reason. His method may not be, but his reasoning is sound. A good scientist has his reasons too, some of them may be silly. It's the context that makes them have purpose. So yes, context was needed. So let me lay some more on you.” I said and this got Shining to groan a bit.

“Oh hush, I sat through all your roleplaying stories from high school. You can suffer a little monologuing for your answer.” Cadence said and I snickered a little at that.

“Thank you.” I said apparently.

“Oh don't thank me yet, I would suggest getting to the point a little faster.” She said with a smile that just all screamed 'hurry up or you will regret it'.

“Right, so as a child I was into a lot of sci-fi and fantasy stories. From a mixture of a ship exploring space to a group of heroes traveling around for the greater good. Well, these kind of things got me big into both technology and magic. Also mythology if you want to split hairs a bit. Anyway, I've always wanted to mix the both of them.” I explained.

“But technology here in Equestria does that very thing.” Twilight said.

“I know and it fascinates the living hell out of me. To the point I want to get in on it too, I want to start with things I'm familiar with that I think could help ponies. It's just I know what they are suppose to do. Just not how that will translate into making it myself.” I began to explain.

“That doesn't explain to what it is.” Shining said.

“Shush.” Cadence said giving Shining a thump on the back of his head with her wing.

“Hey!” He whined a little.

“Well... some of the things I want to invent is a portable shield. Before you call me out that we technically have that with either a literal shield or unicorns having shield spells. I'm more talking about a shield spell for non-unicorns.” I explained and they all looked at me like I was crazy.

“How would that work?” Shining said and to that I pulled out a doodle I did of a small ball like object that had a large red button on it.

“To put it simply they would activate it with a device much like how ponies could use magical script to put spells on things. Much like my bandages have a pain numbing spell on them, this would do much the same, but with a more outside effect.” I explained.

“So using an array of spell lens to do the same as a unicorn can use a spell they don't have just in case.” Twilight explained.

“Yes... well sort of. The problem is with a spell lens they still need somepony to send magic through it. So this would require to have no pony really focusing on the magic itself. The device would do it for you.” I countered.

“That may be possible, but the hazard could be large if miss used.” She countered.

“Um... could somepony help the class catch up with the lecture?” Cadence requested.

“We are talking about using the mana battery to be that source of magical energy and the last two times that I'm aware of that they have been used was when I was stuck in an alternate universe and the time before when a pony went missing only to have half of him show up. Which I get the worry she has for the project, which is why I want to do heavy testing once we get the desired effects. I don't want ponies hurt for using inventions I made.” I explained.

“So you plan to not make anything offensive in nature.” Shining asked.

“I never said that, I want to make things that can be used in an offensive nature. Just not in a lethal nature.” I explained.

“Why? From what I have heard the technology that you could give ponies could be very useful defending themselves.” Gaia asked.

“But that's the thing, I will never give a weapon in that nature. I want to help make devices that will help better ponies lives, not end them.” I growled towards the end of it.

“And that's a very admirable thing.” Twilight said gently putting a hoof over mine.

“Yes, what other technology would you want to build?” Cadence asked.

“Well besides that, I've always wanted to make something that can be used to summon armor or at least a protective coat of some kind.” I said feeling the inner nerd start to take the helm on this one.

“Oh? but-” Was all I let him get out.

“I know, unicorns can summon items if they know the spell. Just let me paint this picture for you. Let's say you have guards around you, but you don't want them to be known as guards. So normally you would allow them to keep a badge or something to show authority in a moments notice. Suddenly somepony gets it in there head that they want to start a physical fight.” I started to explain.

“You mean like the bar fight incident and the date fiasco?” Shining asked with a cocked eyebrow.

“Not just those moments, but close enough. So let's say that we had other guards there, but they didn't have armor on them. What I want to make is something that allows them to summon the armor on them. Like say we had an earth pony and pegasus guards with us on the day of the bar fight. Granted it would have been over sooner, but say they wanted to make sure they were protected in their armor. This device would make a set of armor appear on them. Maybe not the full metal armor that guards normally wear, maybe a lighter but durable set.” I explained.

“I think I see what you're getting at, but how would that work?” He asked.

“Much like the portable shield. Just the armor would be made ahead of time for the user and contain it within the spell. I've seen ponies summon things from thin air. Like Twilight has made paper, quills, and ink appear out of nowhere, and Cadence did the same for the basket for this picnic. There isn't much difference between that and what I would like to make. That's just the tip of the iceberg on things I wouldn't mind making or improving on.” I explained.

“I could get behind that idea, if you need ponies to help test these out. I'm sure some of our guards would be willing to help where they can.” Shining said.

“I don't think many of them would have issues with that. I know a few off the top of my head that's been wanting a vacation. This would knock two birds with one stone.” Cadence tacked on.

“Likewise, if you're willing to share this technology with Saddle Arabia that is.” Gaia requested.

“It would good test to see different body types.” I surmised. “I'll have to send letters when we are on that stage of testing.”

“I hope you know you aren't going to be leaving me out of this.” Twilight said giving me a little nudge with her foreleg.” She said with a smile.

“Wouldn't dream of it.” I said giving her a kiss on the cheek that got her to blush a little with a smile.

“You two really make a cute couple.” Cadence said with a smile.

“That's only one pony’s opinion.” I said with a cocky grin.

“Oh, and what would you call you two?” She asked smirking back.

“That we make one fantastic couple.” I said with a little confidence in my voice.

“Oh Celestia that was corny.” Twilight said putting a hoof over her eyes. Of course that didn’t stop us from seeing the smile on her face.

“Corny but sweet.” Gaia said with a smile. “I can't wait to be an aunt.”

“Oh god not you too!” I said and Gaia blinked a little confused.

“Not me too?” She asked.

“We get enough of the whole grandfoals bit from her mother.” I said pointing to Twilight with my prosthetic thumb.

“You don't know how persistent that mare can be.” Cadence added on.

“Oh really? Well maybe if you two had some-” Gaia got out.

“I'm going to stop you right there. We aren't ready for that and I don't want to rush head first into anything we aren't ready for.” I said cutting her off.

“Why not? You two love each other, so why hold off?” She asked.

“Because we aren't ready, were you not paying attention?” Twilight asked.

“I was, but I couldn't help but tease. Trust me I get it, Storm here already knows who I have interest in. We've had... moments.” She said turning a little red in the face and hot under the collar.

“Oh, now I've got to hear this.” Cadence said giving one of those looks that Rarity should have trademarked.

“I don't want to talk-” She got out before I couldn't help myself.

“It's Dragoon.” I said and my biological sister shut her muzzle and gave me a little glare.

“Oh really? And how long have those two been dating?” She asked.

“Firestorm, do not answer that.” Gaia said.

“Why not? There's no shame in saying that you've had your eyes on him for a while to the point you two have been dating. Probably in secret.” I said being a little brat. Hey I have no shame in this when she literally have done the same thing to Twilight and I. Of course doesn't help that Twilight was giving one of those 'gotcha bitch' looks to Gaia as I spoke.

“Storm!” She said turning redder.

“What? Can't I be interested in my older sister's love life, since she's been nosy into mine?” I asked.

“There's a difference there, I'm only looking after my little brother.”

“And I'm looking after my older sister.” I countered.

“He's got you there Gaia.” Cadence said.

“I have to side with Gaia on this one. Older siblings should make sure their younger one is well protected.” Shining said cutting into this conversation.

“I'm with Storm on this one, it works both ways. I was protective of you when I found out you were getting married.” Twilight said joining my side of this fight.

“She does have a point, if it wasn't for her we wouldn't be married.” Cadence said. That reminded me of Chrysalis, who as far as I knew was still in the special cell deep within the castle.

“Be that as it may, I still stand my ground on this.” Shining said with a nod. Like that was the end of the conversation on this. Shining, rule one about females. There is never an end to anything when you open up that can of worms. You've got to wait until the can is spent before it's over. I couldn't help but face hoof with my prosthetic hoof, gently this time. He just gave me a confused look.

“Oh really there dear.” Cadence said giving him an eye. Was it bad that the thought I had was 'alas poor Shining I hardly knew ye'?

“What?” He asked like deer looking at oncoming headlights.

“So you're telling me that Twilight should have stayed out of our relationship when it came to our wedding?” She asked much like a viper ready to strike.

“Whoa, hey now. How did get this get turned against me?” He asked.

“Well... let's ask the group. Raise your hoof if you think Shining stuck his hoof in his mouth.” I said as all of us, but Shining Armor raised a hoof. This was followed by an 'oh shit' kind of look.

“That's not what I meant Cadence-” Shining tried to get out.

“Shining you may want to stop digging your own ditch on this one.” I shot back.

“I would listen to him on this one dear.” Cadence said quietly with a sweet smile. Yeah I would trust that one as sweet as I would trust my luck to hold out for another five minutes from something happening to me. Thump!

“Ow!” I said as I rubbed the spot on the back of my head from the red ball nailing me there.

“Oh, sorry about that Storm. Pinkie and I were playing and I guess I hit the ball a little hard.” Said Dash flying over to retrieve said ball.

“It's fine Dash, here you go.” I said floating it up to her as she hovered above us.

“So whatcha all doing over here?” She asked.

“Just having a picnic while asking Storm a few questions.” Twilight answered.

“Oh? What kind of questions? The kind that get's Storm a little hot under the collar?” She asked giving a creepy grin.

“More like questions that got Shining in hot water with Cadence.” I said trying to derail the creepy look I was getting.

“Hey!” Shining said before Cadence decided to shut him up herself.

“Aw, that's no fun...” She said with a slight slump to her flying.

“You can ask the embarrassing questions another time.” I said trying to politely shoo her off.

“Okay...” She waiting for a few moments. “So how about now?”

“I said another time.”

“This is another time.” She said with a grin.

“She has you on that one.” Twilight chimed in.

“Who's side are you on?” I asked.

“Both.” She said with a smirk.

“Great, see what you did Dash. You turned my marefriend into a double agent.” I said throwing my hooves up in defeat.

“All part of my plan.” She said grinning.

“Hey Dashie, what's taking so... oh! Are we teasing Storm again?” Pinkie asked jumping over a large bush that was at least taller than Celestia in one bound. I swear this mare is really trying to screw with my sense of reality at times. I sat there just trying to put two and two together on that alone and all I was getting for an answer was fish.

“Not currently.” Twilight said smiling.

“So what were you talking about?” Pinkie asked.

“Simply tech talk, to relationships, and ending with Shining deciding to jam all four of his hooves into his mouth.” I said with a shrug trying to play it off a little cool. Okay, so sue me I like to at least try from time to time.

“Right... come on Pinkie, let's get back to the game. I'm sure Nightling is missing you already.” Dash said flying back over.

“Alright Dashie.” Pinkie said turning around to jump back over.

“Hey Pinkie...” I asked causing her to stop in midair... literally.

“Yes Stormy?” She asked turning to look at me, still in midair. It took me a moment to look past this hole in physics for a moment.

“How's Nightling?” I asked a little worried, Pinkie looked at me for a few moments a little confused. “Since the um... cave in?” I asked. This got Pinkie to finally land, thank god for that too. I wasn't sure I could handle anymore of that.

“She's doing alright...” She said leaving it hanging there for a bit.

“Is that what she says or how it's coming across?” I asked.

“A little of both...” Okay this was a little unsettling.

“Pinkie, what's wrong?” Twilight asked and we all turned to look at the mare. Pinkie looked back for a moment before turning to us and sat down.

“I'm worried about Nightling. Something happened down there that really got to her, but she won't tell me about it.” Pinkie said.

“Well Storm was with her, maybe he can-” Twilight said but I had to cut her off.

“No.” I said interrupting her, this was followed with me putting my hoof up. “Let me explain before I get the riot. I know or at least have a good feeling of what it is. The only thing is that it isn't my place to tell you. If it's what I think it is. Then she needs to be the one to tell you, not me.” I explained.

“Oh... alright.” Pinkie said a little dejected.

“I will tell you this, if it's what I think it is. Then it's a very personal matter to her.” Pinkie looked at me for a moment.

“I appreciate you telling me at least that much Storm.” Pinkie said before leaving by hopping over the bush again.

“Okay, now if you want to give me the riot act you may proceed.” I said turning to Twilight.

“I...” She said before stopping to sigh. “I get why you denied saying it now. It's just like keeping a secret that isn't really yours to share.”

“Very much so...” I paused shortly after that myself. “I just hope she tells her soon. I know how something like that can eat away at the soul.” After turning back to everypony as they looked at me a little curious. “What?”

“What did you mean by that?” Gaia asked.

“I know how being left in the dark feels. Having only the cursory bit of information. You are left to wonder and pray that it's not the thing you worse fear about them.” I explained.

“I haven't done that to you have I?” Twilight asked looking a bit worried.

“No.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked.

“What's to say? I worry a lot as it's kind of hardwired for me. I've had friends go missing without a word after they said they would be around the next day to not show up for weeks. With no way to contact them it's kind of hard to find out anything.” I said with a light shrug.

“Why would anypony do that?” Cadence asked a little surprised.

“Sometimes it's a mixture of things or it's more likely that they end up forgetting. But it's more worried when some of my friends tell me that something bad may happen and then they suddenly disappear. That's when it gets the worst, because throughout the day I couldn't help but worry.” I explained.

“That must have been stressful.” Shining commented.

“Pretty much.” I said with a shrug.

“No wonder you tend to be pessimistic.” Twilight commented.

“Yeah... I've gotten to the mindset of hope for the best, plan for the worst.”

“That's not really a way to live one's life.” Gaia commented.

“Even so, it's proved to be rather helpful at times. When it came to dealing with drunk friends, I always made sure they got home safely.” I answered back.

“At the cost of you getting hurt.” Twilight answered back.

“What?” Shining, Cadence, and Gaia said at the same time.

“This is true. I've been attacked more than once protecting my inebriated friends on the way home, it's nothing big.” I said shrugging.

“Nothing big? Storm you got stabbed and they didn't have even worry about you.” Twilight said a little surprise.

“That does sound big Firestorm” Gaia said coming into this with no context.

“Look, where I was from that wasn't something as big as many other things and if you remember my other friends gave me the riot act for doing something stupid. So, in fairness the ones that was with me when it happened may not have, but the one's that weren't did.” I explained.

“That still doesn't change the fact that it happened.” Gaia commented.

“Be that as it may, I stood by my morals on that. I rather see me hurt then one of my friends or loved ones. I get it, not the smartest idea to go with, but it's who I am at my core. I rather be the shield that takes the hit, then the still sheathed sword not doing anything.”

“Storm no offense, but that is the biggest crock of ponyfeathers I've ever heard.” Gaia said giving us a flat stare. “No pony is that selfless, so what's really going on?”

“That's the thing, when it comes to those I care about. I am very protective of them. When Twilight got hurt during the dragon treaty, it was enough to trigger a dragon's rage.” I explained.

“You already have gone through your first dragon's rage?” Gaia said a little surprised.

“Yeah, I didn't find out about that until after I had recovered.” I said.

“The first time.” Twilight tacked on.

“He went through two of them?” Gaia asked a little surprised.

“No, but he did do something stupid right afterwards.” Twilight commented.

“Hey in all fairness, I wasn't allowed to go in and stay by your side. So I did the next best thing.” I said defending actions.

“Oh, that must have been before I was getting reports.” Gaia said.

“Reports?” Twilight's ears perked up at that giving my half-sister a suspicious glance.

“I had Celestia send me reports on my brother's status so I knew as much as I could about him before I was able to meet with him myself. That I got to be the big sister for once.” Gaia commented.

“Big sister for once?” Cadence asked this time.

“She is the second youngest out of the four of us, I being the youngest now.” I explained.

“Really?” Shining asked.

“He is correct. Granite is the eldest with Hermit after that.” Gaia explained with a light smile. “I'm glad that I'm not the youngest anymore and I have a younger brother to pick on.”

“When you come and visit.” I shot back with a smirk.

“Oh you're going to be cheeky about this are you?” She asked. “Your lucky I don't know any embarrassing stories about you yet.”

“You don't, but I do.” Twilight chimed in.

“Oh really?” Gaia said smirking. Cadence give a smirk as she leaned in closer.

“Indeed.” She said giving me the devious smirk as I looked at her a little worried.

“Mind sharing with the rest of the class?” Cadence asked this time.

“Nope.” Twilight said with a very cheeky smile. This caused the rest of us to blink a little confused. After a few seconds I couldn't help, but chuckle.

“Aww, why not?” Gaia whined a little annoyed.

“Storm told me that in confidence that it would stay between us and after a few events between friends. I learned that some secrets are best kept between the ponies that have them. Because when they tell you that secret they are putting trust in you, and losing a friends trust is the fastest way to lose a friend.” Twilight explained.

“Forever!” Pinkie chimed in from over the hedge looking at the two of us like some kind of conspiracy poster.

“Exactly, and Storm trusted me so I don't want to break that trust.” Twilight continued like Pinkie didn't just eavesdrop into the conversation. Granted I was surprised she didn't pop out of the potato salad or something equally odd.

“Does Pinkie do that a lot?” Gaia questioning about the paradox that is Pinkie for the first time.

“Gaia let me save you a lot of time. If you see something weird around Pinkie, then it's Pinkie being Pinkie. The least you think about it, the saner you will be.” I explained, and Gaia just blinked at me for a bit.

“I think I will just take your word for it.” she said in a very not sure kind of tone. “That being said, Storm you picked a good mare to be your mate.” She said smiling. This got the both of us to blush a bit.

“Oh come on, there is no shame in the fact that you two shared a very intimate moment.” Cadence added in with a moment.

“I don't think they want that more aired out.” Shining commented being on our side of it.

“And what's the shame in that? It's one of purest forms of love and I support that.” She said as if what Shining said had offended her.

“I completely agree with Cadence on this one.” Gaia commented.

“Oh you would, but as soon as it switches to you and Dragoon. I bet you clam up pretty fast.” I shot back returning the favor. It was Gaia's turn to turn red from this.

“Oh? So that's the mysterious drony you've been spending some 'quality time' with.” Cadence said.

“I... um... So yeah... about Storm in-” She got out before I cut in.

“Oh no, you are not dropping this back on us. You were caught red hoofed and it's time to face the music.” I said grinning like hell. Oh this was payback for all the whole mate comments and I was going to enjoy this like fine wine.

“Oh yes, tell us about this stallion of yours.” Cadence said, surprising enough Gaia did talk about her relationship. Since it was close to her start as Queen in Saddle Arabia. Before that she was the local dracorn who helped grew a lot of the plants that feeds the country today. Since she specialized in augmenting the plants to deal with harsher climates. It wasn't until a war between the griffon kingdom that she became Queen. While this was happening she and Dragoon were dating. Since he was a member of the guard that got quite limited a bit more so when she took the throne herself. It seemed that there was a large stigma about royalty dating guards that went back for hundreds. It was one of those old hidden traditions that never went away. So they had a hard time 'dating' for the first few years as it was a complete nightmare to get time alone. Even as a ruler and newly appointed royalty she had to deal with Arabian ponies coming to her at almost all hours of the day. The thing was it wasn't always having to have a special date somewhere, granted she did tell us about few of her favorite one's like when Dragoon flew her to one of the high towers to watch the sunset with some prepared food. The other one was a little oasis trip she had to take with a few of her guards. While she had the other guards patrol, she spent some quality time with Dragoon.

Honestly it wasn't bad and a lot more romantic than what Twilight and I had already done. Didn't help I was feeling a little ashamed at that after Gaia's telling. Of course Cadence didn't help when she flat out started talking about a few of her dates with Shining. All I can say is dear god those two went on a massive amount of dates, of course they started dating in the pony equivalent of high school. So I could only guess it was quite some times to accumulate the dates. The only thing I could take away from this was that sometimes it wasn't about a fancy date, or to really do anything. It’s about the time you spent with the one you cared about the most. The memories of just Twilight and I enjoying our time together. Reading books, staring out into the stars, and even the little dinners at home making idle conversation about some magical question I had or something else. I would never trade even one of them for anything.

It wasn't long afterwards that we decided to kind of go our separate ways. Partly because I needed to redo my bandages. My hind legs were starting to hurt and I didn't want to get as bad as last time. Gaia was kind enough to help float me as Twilight decided to play a numbing spell to my legs. This meant I won't be walking for at least a good hour, but I didn't feel anything either.

“So... something that I'm curious about. Twilight, what do you see in my brother?” Gaia asked on the way to the room.

“You're seriously doing this now?” I asked a little annoyed in the air.

“It's fine Storm I don't mind answering it. It's hard to really say what I see. The real thing is what I feel around him. Which in itself is also hard to say when it's not one single thing. Not that I'm avoiding the question. There are moments when I feel safe around him, like when he places his wing around me. Feels like a comfort I never want to lose. Than sometimes I get this feeling in me that makes me want to protect him as much as he protects me.” As Twilight explained this I watched her start to have that thousand mile stare when you're lost in your own world and could see for miles unhindered by space and time.

“Go on.” Gaia continued as she eyed me.

“There is something about him that makes him different than other ponies, the obvious aside that is. I've seen when him at his most caring and open moment, as well at his most vulnerable. I've seen him take beating after beating and still keep going until he can't anymore.” She continues but I watched her ears shift back as her gaze dropped. “There are also times I just want to help him with his personal problems, but I feel like I fail him time after time.” I tried to say something to interrupt, but as I began to open my mouth, it was clamped shut by Gaia's magic. She even had the gall to give me one of those 'shut up and let the mare speak' looks. Excuse me sister, but this is my marefriend and I want to help her feel better. “Just I can never fully figure him out. He acts just fine about things that would cripple a pony inside, like it was just a bumped hoof. Other times I've seen his mood shift rapidly at the smallest thing, and part of his logic I can't fault.”

At this point I think Twilight forgot I was floating behind her as she hopped into the car driving down memory lane. “And this is what you see in my brother?” Gaia asked as she probably noticed that Twilight never really answered to question.

“Like I said it's something hard to really explain.” She said with a smile on her face.

“My brother said much the same about you.” Gaia said smiling.

“He did?” Twilight asked turning her head to look at me. Gaia deciding that I could speak finally.

“Well not those exact words, but the meaning was there.” I said after shooting Gaia a glare. “Also, next time don't bind my muzzle. It really does annoy me when ponies do that.”

“He isn't lying either, he almost went explosive over at our friend Rarity's when she did it to him as a mare.” Twilight said before she noticed what she said and snapped her mouth a moment too late.

“Oh, I remember that report. So poison joke makes you a mare. Maybe we should-” Was all I could stand.

“No. If anypony gets that request sparingly is Twilight. No offense to you Gaia, since you're my sister and everything.” I began using my own magic to get right into her face while keeping me in her magic. “But next time you suggest that, I will pop you in the mouth.”

“Storm!” Twilight said.

“What? I'm tired of the teasing. I got dunked in a vat of it by Rainbow and Applejack. Cadence threatened me with doing it, and god knows my horrible luck with that stuff since it screws with an already messed up mind. You get to ask, because I care for you and I want to make you happy. This however isn't going to happen. My hoof is firm when it comes to this shit.” I said before finally being tired of being in magic. So I grabbed my hooves in my own magic to help support me and popped out of Gaia's hold. Mind you, magically I was beating my skull in. That's not counting the burning orange glow from my inflamed mane. I was reasonably pissed about this in my opinion. Gaia stopped following me, if I had noticed Twilight had stopped too. Of course I was too angry to really notice.

***---***

By the time I was finally able to get myself back to my room, my nose had already started to bleed. I knew why, as I was using my magic to help support my lower half, to keep myself moving towards my destination, and burning some of it off from my anger alone. I put myself in some really bad shape, and still having to change my bandages wasn't any better. It wasn't until I had finally calmed down from my outburst to my half sister, a question popped into my head. Why did the bandages stop working so fast? Well I had time to think about it more when I had a guard get a maid or nurse. It seems Celestia decided that some specially set aside nurses were needed when I came to visit.

Not saying that she wasn't wrong about it, but the fact that it had to be done annoyed me to no end. So I had a nurse help me change by bandages and by all accounts my question was puzzling even to her. She asked if she could take the bandage to see if there was some reason with it alone that it stopped working. I complied and asked if she could get somepony to bring me a simple sandwich and drink to help replenish the energy I spent like an idiot. She said she would pass on the message and left me be. Oddly enough Twilight hadn't shown up since the outburst and I couldn't help, but wonder. Why? I don't think it was anything I said. Okay maybe threatening to pop my sister in the mouth was too much, but I think I was entitled to being on the aggressive side for a while.

“We didn't go through a fucking two week nightmare just to be tossed into fucking poison joke as a joke.” Shadow said as he was riding the rails of my thoughts.

“I agree, it was too soon to joke about that after the mind fuck nightmare.” I answered agreeing with him.

“Storm, dumb question, but how are you holding up?” Shadow asked and I was a little surprised he even took the time to ask.

“You are in my head, shouldn't you know the answer to that already?” I asked.

“True I could check myself, but I thought you deserve the space for once.” He said once again surprising me.

“Okay, who are you and where's the jackass in my head?” I asked as a smart ass.

“Point.” He said with a pause, then followed by a sigh before he continued. “After the nightmare, I thought I would respect your privacy more. Surface thoughts not counting as you broadcast those fuckers to the point I can't ignore them.”

“Thanks I guess, but to answer your question. No, I'm not okay and really just need to do something different.”

“Something different.” Shadow asked.

“I'm just tired of some of the shit I get from ponies. I get it I can be an easy target for things. Probably some things that ponies take lightly on a normal bases. Being dragged off for something against my will being the one that is annoying me the most. I'm not helpless.” I said beginning my damn rant as the bounding in my head started to worsen.

“Storm, I get it. Remember I'm here for the ride.” Shadow said.

“That's another thing... no offense to you, but I really just need my head to myself. No ponies listening in Celestia!” I said shooting a glare at the door.

“I figured you would have noticed me listening in.” She said as she entered the door.

“Kind of hard not too when my headache started to flare for no reason.” I commented.

“As Shadow said, point.” She said calmly. It was then I noticed a mug of something in her magic. She floated over to me on the bed as this was where I had decided to place myself for comfort. Whatever the hell this was, it sure wasn't drinking about at least. It reminded me of oil by the weird shape rainbows on the surface of the dark purple liquid.

“And what is this?” I asked looking at it as by the look alone, told me it wasn't going to taste good.

“It's to help with the magic. Think of it as a regenerating magic potion.” She said with her calm tone that wasn't sitting well with me for some reason.

“Okay, now what is it really?” I asked really not wanting to do the song and dance right now.

“It's a potion that helps suppress the feeling of magical fatigue while helping to replenish your magic.” She explained.

“Okay sounds better, I'm guessing this doesn't taste any good.” I commented.

“Hard toss up from having to taste that or dealing with the backlash from using too much magic.” She said.

“I suppose you have a point.” I said looking at the liquid. There was no denying the feeling like a kid having to taste the nasty grape cough syrup for the first time. “You only live once I suppose, well... three times in my cause.” I said gripping the mug in my claws and downed it as fast as I could. She wasn't wrong about the whole hard toss up bit. The taste alone made me almost choke. If I had to guess the taste, it would be a mountain of trash turned to goop and condensed as far as it could. The worse part of how it felt like slime the whole way down. I shuddered as soon as it finally passed into my stomach.

“Oh god the taste sucks.” I said as I fought to get a little water to wash the taste out of my mouth.

“Agreeable.” Celestia said.

“Now if I may ask, why are you here? I figured you would be dealing with Blueblood's whining.” I asked before taking another swig of water.

“I wanted to come check on you.” She asked coming over to the bed to look down at me. I was able to get myself into a sitting position were I was comfortable again.

“Well... I'm about the same as I was.”

“Besides almost dropping from magical fatigue.” Celestia countered with a light smile. I gave her a flat look before letting my head droop a little with a sigh.

“Gaia decided to push a very sore button about poison joke.” I explained and Celestia just looked at me quietly with a cocked eyebrow. “I wasn't in the best of moods for that joke to be dropped again. So I snapped back, which mind you I do believe I was in the right for. I came out of a two week nightmare and having my mind fucked with since the beginning. I didn't need anymore of it at least for a very long time. Hell, I'm still recovering so that would probably make things worse.”

“I think she was making a joke Storm.” Celestia said calmly.

“It was a poorly timed joke.” I shot back with a flat look.

“Be that as it may, but she is still learning to be the bigger sister.”

“Still not an excuse for making that joke.”

“Don't you think you're being a little unfair?” Celestia said, and this caused my left eye to twitch.

“And what is that suppose to mean?” I asked before I started to grind my fangs in my mouth as they changed into said fangs.

“Gaia is still learning how you act and being from a different place. You act much differently than other ponies do.” She explained.

“You don't say?” I sarcastically said giving her a flat stare.

“I'm not your enemy Storm.”

“I know, I'm just really angry about things and I just need to calm down. That being said I did need to talk to you alone at some point.” I said looking at her with a bit of worry. Celestia eyed me quietly, like she was judging me.

“What is it that you needed to speak with me about?” She asked.

“Shadowstorm.” I answered before I took a deep breath and looked at her directly into her eyes.

“Go on.” She asked in a calm tone.

“I want to give him his own body.” I answered and she sat there looking at me. Like an the old guards in front of Buckingham palace. Unmoving, silent, and almost unresponsive for a few minutes.

“Why?” She asked as it looked like she was giving me looking down upon you stare. It could have been just me or maybe she was, but it just felt like she was putting pressure on me with her gaze alone.

“Since Luna's magical mishap Shadow's-” Was all I got out.

“Storm let me explain.” Shadow requested and I was a little surprised.

“How do I do that?” I asked.

“I can hear him just fine, proceed” Celestia commented and my guess was using the same telepathic link from before. Than I remember they heard our fight at the carnival last night.

“Since Luna tried to suppress me in Storm's mind I've had time to think. For the most part she is right that I've been a parasite in his head. Recently we've both discovered that I'm half of Storm's soul since a drony’s body wasn't meant to house a human soul at it was. We don't know if it was just how Grimwand made our body or if it was just a byproduct of the process, but it's like that none the less. Storm brought up the idea of what if I had my own body. I will admit, it is appealing, the thought of being my own pony instead of just an entity in his head.” Shadow explained.

“What would you do if you had your own body?” Celestia asked still giving us the stare down.

“If I were to be honest, I wouldn't know. When Storm and I separated the first time because of how I manipulated the magical effects of the Element's of Harmony much like using light refraction to do so. The first things I did was just explore in secret.” He explained.

“Explore where?” She asked.

“I visited a few cities using the illusion spells that I had learned while trying to figure out how to separate without leaving myself weak. Manehattan,, Trottingham, Canterlot, and Prance being some of the places. It was shortly after I left the latter when Grimwand found me and let me know that I was still connected to Storm. My life and his were still connected, which meant I wasn't my own drony.”

“Wait... if you visited these places, then why couldn't I access those memories?” I asked a little curious.

“As most of our memories are connected some of them just seem not to connect. While I have greater connection to yours as you don't suppress them naturally. I had to make sure to keep mine guarded. Grimwand had a way of... extracting memories.” Shadow explained, this caused both Celestia and I to shudder at the thought.

“If I permit you to have your own life, and I do want to stress this is a very big if. Would you promise not to hurt any of my little ponies?” Celestia asked.

“I will agree as long as I reserve the right to protect myself.” Shadow responded.

“That I could agree with, but this is a choice I can't take lightly. If you permit me to have sometime to think about this.” She asked.

“That's only fair.” Shadow answered.

“If I may ask, how do you propose to do this?” She asked.

“To answer that, I wouldn't know. I don't plan to use necromancy to do that before you start worrying.” I began and I could see her relax a little after I said that. “At most I would use necromancy is to move the soul since it's the only way to do it. Beyond that the only idea I have is an artificial birth and even that is beyond my skills.”

“Artificial birth?” She asked.

“It's much the way we were made, taking two parts of DNA to create a new life of sorts.” I explained.

“It would seem to be the cleaner idea, if you may suggest you let me work on that as well. Only if I agree to let him be loose. After what you had done during your time free, admittedly while working for Grimwand. Your chances are very slim, but every pony deserves a second chance. I will send you a letter once I have decided. Now if you excuse me, I need to go take care of something.” She said before she stood up to leave.

“Celestia.” I said before her horn lit up with magic as well as the door handle.

“Yes Storm?” She asked.

“Thank you for at least entertaining the idea.” I said.

“Your welcome Firestorm.” She said before she left. This gave me sometime to just relax, and that involved me floating my tablet over to me. With a press of the power, a few taps, and swipes I let myself relax to some Moonlight Sonata set to an ocean breaking against a sandy beach as I just laid on the bed.

***---***

“I can't believe I got talked into this.” I said as I was once again sitting in court. Granted it was night court this time as Luna asked me to join her. That was of course after a few hours explaining how my tablet worked. All after Luna deciding to barge right into my room after I was taking a nap. I mean I was in a comfy bed with nice relaxing music playing. She wasn't gentle with waking me up either. Good thing I didn't do what I normally did when somepony woke me up out of a sound sleep, come up swinging.

The other thing of note was that Twilight hadn't returned or if she did, I was still asleep. So Luna asked if I wanted to accompany her in night court. Mostly because she's been really bored during them and this was a good chance for us to talk more about human technology. What we didn't expect or at least from how Luna explained it to have a hall full of ponies worth of appointments showing up. Even Luna looked a little surprised at this. The only thing I groaned a little at was the high brow looking ponies waiting. Of course a bunch of the ponies tried to get up and talk to Luna all at once. Lucky for us the guards were able to stop the madness before it began.

So after we got up to the throne and Luna took the seat while I sat off to the left on a cushion like last time, they let in the first group consisting of six ponies. Two there looked like high brow unicorns. I only say that because how they were dressed. The cream colored stallion with the black slicked back mane wore a light blue dress shirt with a black tie. Next to him was a silver coated mare with an equally black mane done up into a two tier bun. She wore a very long lighter blue dress compared to the pony next to her. They both had amber colored eyes. From my angle I couldn’t see their cutie-marks. The other four were a pink earth pony stallion with a brown mane and tail, a violet unicorn mare with an orange mane and tail, a dusty blue pegasus stallion with a light gray mane and tail, and finally a gray mare with black and red striped mane and tail.

I didn't get a chance to catch the four other ponies names but I sure as hell got the first two. Mr and Mrs Wallet, that would be bad if it wasn't for the fact there first names were Heavy and Luxurious. Who in there right... wait... no pony in there right mind would go with that. Of course that's not to say I've heard worse. I can't tell if that is to go to Filthy Rich or Crown Royal. Of course I could go for some Crown Royal... ah, the drink not the pony. So we spent two hours listening to the proposal that the Wallets wanted to bring to Luna. To break it down simply they wanted to tear down an old theater so they could put up a opera house.

The other four ponies wanted to have this idea shut down as a lot of the young ponies use that to put on local plays. Which personally I was in more favor of, besides the fact that Canterlot already has an opera house. The thing was it wasn't owned by them, but Fancy Pants instead. So I'm guessing they were trying to get into the business themselves. I couldn't fault them for that much. I could fault them for picking a bad town to do it. Compared from what I've seen, Canterlot is smaller than Manehattan which has a street dedicated to just theaters. Not counting the four other ones in different corners of the city. Canterlot has two, the one for locals and the opera house. I think that was enough myself and I voiced this opinion to Luna through our telepathic link.

“I would agree with you about the theater, but how did you know about the ones in Manehattan?” Luna asked over the link.

“I'll give you three guesses and the first two don't count.” I shot back with a smile.

“Twilight?”

“Twilight.” I answered as we turned back to see the group of them fighting. Well more like yelling at each other. Sometimes I think ponies act more like children then children do. I mean really is this how court is for Luna and Celestia? Just ponies dragging in their pissing matches so somepony could side with them with some weight behind their swing? For me I would personally side with the four trying to state that they are doing it for those wanting to get into the business and for younger ponies. It sounds like a reasonable idea in my book.

The Wallet side of the argument is that they would be able to bring more class to Canterlot and allow less known shows to appear in the opera house. For the most part I could already see a hole in the argument when one there is a second theater that just needs some fixing to be suitable for it, but no pony thought of that idea now did they? It was worse when the fight continued to get louder and louder as they tried to speak over one another. I had to intervene at this point.

“Enough!” Both Luna and I said using the royal Canterlot voice. This got the point that even Luna was annoyed as well.

“You all are grown ponies, I think it's time for you to act like it for once.” I tacked on.

“I agree with Prince Firestorm on this one.” Luna commented.

“But your highnesses-” Mr. Wallet tried to say.

“No buts, I personally think the idea of tearing down a theater for another opera house is ridiculous for here in Canterlot. Maybe Manehattan it would make more sense, but here no.” I said shooting off my mouth.

“No offense your highness, but we came to ask for Princess Luna's opinion on this matter.” Mrs. Wallet said.

“And I want to hear Prince Firestorm's opinion.” Luna very firmly stated.

“If you want to 'help' the local theater, that's one thing. You can help them bring the building up to code. Maybe help with advertisements and work out some deal with them. So they can get noticed and you can make your bits back. I support artists in all manners and forms.” I said as I let my emotions take me.

“Thank you your highness.” Said the four other ponies.

“Be that as it may, it completely blows my mind that you six ponies couldn't work out a deal before having to drag this here. Make contracts, work out deals, and use the brains you were given.” I continued.

“The prince makes a point, I will appoint some of the castle's staff to help set up an agreeable contract. As long as you all can work together, and I don't have to see any of you in here for this matter again.” Luna commented and signaled for them to leave. Which they did surprisingly quietly.

“Is this what it's like for you two?” I asked turning to Luna.

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“Being dragged into almost literal pissing matches between ponies? I mean some that just a little thought and an agreeable solutions could be easily found?” I asked using my prosthetic hoof to help emphasize what I meant.

“More than I would like to admit openly.” She explained.

“You and Celestia must have the patience of a saint to deal with all this. Is this going to be something I'm going to have to deal with daily?” I asked looking a little worried for my already dwindling sanity.

“Only if you wish to hold court, a lot of the ponies that come are business ponies. Most times try to get advantage over another when it comes to buying a property. Others try to deal with some of the laws. A few to get them instated while others try to get them appealed. There is a few that come for general advice about something beyond their control.” She explained with a light shrug and with a few hoof motions.

“So... nine times out of ten it's business ponies wanting a leg up on another?”

“Most times yes.” She answered with a nod.

“Well don't that sound familiar.” I said groaning a bit.

“What do you mean?” She asked.

“Humans have a habit of doing the same just so they can either gain more money, more power, or for some piece or pawn to use later.” I explained.

“Do you do that?” She asked.

“Technically yes, as I gained more friends. Really I was pretty simple as a human compared to a lot of the others. I mean yeah was it nice that I saved up for a computer so I could talk to my friends more online, sure. Did I get enjoyment from it, of course.” I answered.

“Online?” She asked.

“Humans created a network we called the internet which was used for many things. Entertainment, communication, data storage, and more. My tablet would be a choice thing to sort of show it, if I was still connected to the internet. I could pull any bit of information I wish to know. Well within reason as some information was government secrets or just not available at the time.” I continued to explain.

“Fascinating, tell me more.” Luna said leaning over the arm to look at me.

“Well... most times I looked up videos which is like a play, but it's always the same no matter how many times you watched it. It involved more grander sets, and isn't limited by locations. Same with music as I have vast hours of songs to listen to at a whim. Books that could fill libraries all contained on a card smaller than a piece of confetti. Humans created so much for so many things.” I continued as Luna just looked wrapped into my conversation. “We could tell stories in interactive means where you could control the character him or herself. You could run dungeon after dungeon and looting grand treasure. Save a land of beings from pure destruction from many sources. Magic, technology, war, and so much more. If I could I would bring some of the technology I could here. Well... not the weapons.”

“Goes without saying of course, but tell me about these interactive stories.” She said leaning in.

“Where do I begin, they cover fast subjects. You have futuristic, sci-fi, westerns, swords and sorcery, military historic battles, romance, simulators, and so much more. Honestly no matter how much I talk about it, I could never really do it justice.” I said relaxing a bit.

“Maybe you should bring some of it over. It sounds like it could benefit Equestria greatly.” She said with a smile.

“I could I suppose, but that would mean I would have to go back to earth. After last time, I'm not sure that's a good idea.” I said.

“What if you had others go with you?” She asked.

“It's possible, but it would have to be a small number. No more than four at the maximum.” I said.

“I would like to see this ah... earth.” She said giving me a smile.

“If and this is a big if, I decide to do this. I would be the one with final say. Because earth doesn't have magic so I would limit the use.” I said.

“Of course.” She said as she began to give me that damn look like every other mare could. “So what do you say?”

“Luna, one I'm still recovering. No way in hell would I say yes right now. Two, if we go, Twilight goes too as I gave my word on that one. Three we would need things prepared before we go. This isn't one of those just jump in, loot treasure, and bale kind of trips. This would take a lot of planning. I mean I was gone for what a few days at the least? So Celestia would have to be given the heads up so she could deal with your moon as well as have Night Court postponed for a while. So let's just say the idea is on the table, but not being touched yet.” I said not looking at her as I knew I would give in if I even saw that look for longer then a second.

The rest of the court wasn't as bad as I thought from the first appointment. Some of them were charities that were asking for a little help and honestly, both Luna and I are kind of suckers for it. I'm not saying that's a bad thing as I loved supporting charities with good goals. The ones here were for the filly scouts, which were like the girl scouts on earth. The other one was a more education request and I completely agree with helping them out as well. As long as the money is being used for what they are requesting. After Luna agreed to help the Canterlot school system, I made a small request for Ponyville to get a little boost as well. I mean I did have a little home town pride after all. She said she would look into it some more, but she didn't see a problem with it. I did request that the idea didn't come from me officially. Both so I don't show favoritism even though this could be counted as that since I'm technically from Ponyville. I mean I did drop into existence right above Applejack's farm after all.

Beyond that there were a few other ponies asking for help and we tried our best to do so. One of them was relationship help and I gave the best advice I could. His problem was he wasn't sure how to propose to his mare and the whole social status was his worry. Since she was from one of the noble families in Canterlot and he was from Trottingham. So I suggest going somewhere romantic and personal for the two of them as well as a few other details. Luna just watched me with a smile as I just pretty much served this pony his proposal on a silver platter with gems encrusted in it.

Luna did question me on how did I get my romantic flare and I could only answer it the one way. “A good artist knows how to paint the right scene. Either be a writer, painter, or whose canvas is the night sky. An artist always knows when the time comes.” I said with a cheeky smile.

“That has to be the corniest thing I've heard all night.” She said and I couldn't help myself.

“Well I aim to please.” I said as we both laughed into the night, because tomorrow I was set to return home after too long a time away.

-End of Chapter-

Author's Notes:

Okay so I need to address a few things. The next few chapters at the least will deal with episodes from the show itself as I have written in to the story already. Most of them in the past with the only one that has happened during the story was Magic Duel. Now that being said, I do have reasons for wanting to do this but I can't share them at this time.

That being said, a few things were addressed here. The whole idea of Shadowstorm getting his own body again. As well as what Firestorm wishes to do to help Equestria. So... let me ask you this, what do you all think about all this?