“What do you mean, 'Allen almost blew up the entire bedroom wing of the castle'?” Cadence asked with wide, concerned eyes as we gathered around the Crystal Throne. Luna was standing to my right, Twilight at my left, and my other friends were right behind us.

“Seeing as I was unconscious for the whole event, I think you two should be the ones to tell her,” I said quietly.
Twilight stepped forward. “Princess, we think-”
Cadence cut her off with a gentle smile. “Twilight, I’ve told you before, just call me Cadence. Not only have I known you since you were a filly, but we’re practically related!” she said.

Twilight blushed. “Right, sorry. Anyways, Allen might be unknowingly harboring some kind of great, magical energy. This morning, we found him having a nightmare, and his panic inside his dreamscape was affecting the physical world as well; he made furniture fly around his bedroom while he levitated in the center, and almost unleashed a shockwave that would have destroyed most, if not all of this castle,” she explained.

The pink alicorn nodded understandingly. “I see. Do you have any idea of what could have given him so much power?” she inquired.
Luna suddenly looked concerned. “I think I may have an idea,” she said, and stepped in front of me. “Hold still, Allen,” she said softly as her horn glowed brightly, and she swept it across my body, like one of those wands they use at an airport to see if you’re concealing a weapon. When she was finished, she looked up at me.

“What did you do to get back to Equestria?” she asked in a low voice.

I shrugged. “Celestia told me how to use my crystal to reopen the gateway between worlds,” I said innocently.

Luna pressed on. “Where is your crystal now?”

“Gone. It turned into a pile of dust on the way in,” I said slowly, “Why? Is something wrong?”

Luna widened her eyes. “Wrong? Well, for starters, if it weren’t for your half-pony state, you would probably be dead right now!” she said hotly.

I held up my hands calmingly. “Woah, what do you mean, I’d be dead?” I asked, completely confused by what was going on.
“I can’t believe my sister didn’t remember how dangerous it was to exert all of a crystal’s energy without proper protection,” she said angrily, and then looked back at me. “When you used the crystal’s full power to return here, you were directly exposed to a massive release of magical energy. To a pony, it would have simply passed through them, since they already have magic in them. But to a human,” she trailed off.

“It would immediately fill them to the brim,” Twilight finished. “You would have unknowingly carried all of that magic inside of you until your body, unaccustomed to having any magical energy inside of it, simply gave out.”

My eyes widened. “What?” I yelled, panicking, “What happens now? Can all that energy still kill me?”

Luna shook her head. “Fortunately, that danger has passed now that you are part pony, because now your body has adapted to having magic inside of it. The only problem we have now is since you have so much energy inside of you, it’s going to be hard to control. You will have to keep your emotions in check, and I will have to spend the night with you to ensure your nightmares don’t cause any more… episodes,” she said with the slightest glint of humor in her eyes.

Cadence stepped down from the throne. “So everything is sorted out?” she asked, and we all nodded. “Good. Allen, I need you to come with me. There is something I need to show you,” she said darkly as she led me out of the throne room.

After a long walk to the lower levels of the castle, we eventually arrived at a massive set of crystal double-doors, deep beneath the castle’s inhabited levels.

“Is this…?” I asked, looking nervously at the princess of love.

Cadence nodded. “The Crystal Empire Royal Archives,” she said dramatically as she led me inside. It was a large, circular room, with bookshelves lining the walls. There were several columns throughout the room, each one standing three feet high and topped with some strange artifact. We kept going until she stopped at the center of the room, where I saw something that gave me a sharp pang of dread.

Sitting on top of that one pillar, dead center of the room, sat a jet-black crystal, about as long as my hand.

“Why do you have this?” I demanded as I stared at the weapon of my old enemy, Drayke.

“We kept it here so it could be protected by the Empire’s magic, and no dark forces could get to it. Now, with the threat of that warlord, we know that isn’t going to be good enough,” she explained, and looked up at me. “You have to make sure Sanguis Cruciatus does not reach this room. If he does, he will have control of the strongest army in all of Equestria, and not even myself, Luna, and Celestia will be able to stop it,” she said darkly.

I remembered what Drayke could have done with that thing. In just one week, he made a suit of near-impenetrable armor, an army of near-indestructible crystal soldiers, and put all of Canterlot and the surrounding areas in a state of oppression and imprisonment.
I nodded. “So, what do we do? Can we destroy it?” I suggested, but Cadence shook her head.

“We tried that already. The most damage we could do was reduce it to fragments, but they would immediately come together and reform into a solid mass again. No matter what we do, this crystal just has too much power to be destroyed,” she explained. “No, Allen, what you must do will require the ultimate sacrifice: if Sanguis ever finds out about this crystal, and seeks it for himself, you must use it to leave Equestria and return to Earth, permanently removing it from Sanguis’s reach.”

I stared at her for a moment. “I just got back here a few days ago, and now you expect me, if worse comes to worse, to just up and leave again?” I asked, upset.
Cadence nodded sadly. “I understand that I am asking a great deal of you, but it is for the greater good of all. I am certain that Equestria will be able to fend for itself against him with whatever he has now, but if he gets his hands on that crystal, it will all be over,” she said with finality.

I glared at that black rock with pure hate. Even in death, Drayke was still finding ways to screw me over.

“I understand what must be done,” I said sadly, but then grinned dangerously, “which is why I’m not letting Sanguis get his hands on this thing!” I declared. Cadence stared as I went on dramatically, starting to pace. “I’ll stop him dead at the gates this time! My friends all saw the power I have; I just need to learn how to control it! And then,” I said, mostly to myself as I stared at the crystal, “then he’ll regret ever threatening me or my friends.”

~-~-~-~-~

Because of the coming threat of an attack from an ancient, undead warlord, and the stories he had heard of thr dangerous creatures that inhabited Equestria, Robert Greathouse decided it would be a good idea to start getting in shape. So, after the incident concerning his son was sorted out, he went off to join the guards for their training. He felt rather foolish doing so, as they were much more well-trained than he was, but he didn’t want to rely too heavily on others if a time ever came when he would need to defend himself.

He started by following the guards on a ten-mile run through the empire, which he was able to make about one-and-a-half before falling down at the side of the road. Several ponies giggled at his collapse, which he could admit was a little melodramatic. A few moments later, a white unicorn with a two-toned blue mane walked up to him; Robert had seen him with the others before, so he assumed he had broken off for a moment.

“You okay?”” he asked, a slight laugh in his voice.

Robert smiled as he stood. “I’m fine. I’m just not used to extreme runs like this; the only time I break into a sprint is when I am needed in the lab, or if I’m late for a board meeting,” he said, still panting.
The unicorn nodded. “You were a scientist in your world?” he asked curiously.

Robert nodded as he stretched his aching legs, and started to walk down the street with the unicorn by his side. “I was a member of a top-secret group that was trying to break the bonds of our universe. Which, as you can see,” he said, gesturing to himself, “was pretty successful. Other than that, my organization didn’t do too much. I guess our shareholders and supporters were relieved when that portal finally opened,” he added with a laugh.

The unicorn nodded, grinning. “Hey, my name’s Shining Armor,” he said, holding out a hoof.

Robert shook it firmly. “Robert Greathouse,” he said clearly, appreciative of his name. The Greathouse mantle had belonged to his father, grandfather, and even further predecessors, a fact his family was quite proud of.
Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. “Greathouse? Are you Allen’s father?” he asked nonchalantly.

Robert nodded. “By blood, yes, but I don’t think he thinks of me that way. He’s… kinda ticked at me right now,” he said sadly.
Shining nodded. “He seems like a good guy. I’m sure you’ve heard of his exploits?” he asked the man.

Robert shrugged. “A little bit; just enough to know he saved the world,” he chuckled. “I guess that makes ‘Greathouse’ an even grander title, huh?”

Shining Armor laughed. “It sure does. He’s definitely no fluke, either. He trained with us the other day, and left some of the senior guards speechless!”

Robert laughed. “What did he do, beat down a giant robot or something?”

Shining rolled his eyes humorously. “Well…”

~-~-~-~-~

I stared at my target intensely, a splitting headache ravaging my brain as I focused on the target in front of me. It was evening, but I had lost track of time because of my determination. I was back in the throne room, once again struggling to master the Bolt spell.
“How long has he been standing there?” I heard Rainbow Dash ask Applejack over to my left.

“About fifteen minutes, give or take,” she replied.

I narrowed my eyes. “Shh, I’m trying to concentrate,” I said, gritting my teeth through the pain.
Luna trotted over to me and rested a gentle hoof on my shoulder. “You should give it a rest, Allen. If you keep this up, you could hurt yourself,” she said worriedly.

I stared straight ahead. “I need to learn how to use my magic, in case that guy comes back. No matter what it takes,” I said grimly as I forced more and more willpower on the target, an effort which was answered with nothing.
Luna sighed heavily and grabbed my head, turned it sharply to face her, and kissed me. We sat there for what felt like ages as the buzzing in my head faded rapidly, and I felt light as a feather. I heard my friends gasp behind me as we broke the kiss, and I looked over my shoulder.

“What?” I asked sheepishly, “you all know Luna and I are togther!”
Twilight shook her head. “Allen, look down!” she said, pointing a hoof towards my feet.
I looked down at my brown shoes, which were in much better condition than I could have hoped, given what I had been through in the past year. Only one thing seemed out of the ordinary, however.

The ground lay a good three inches below them.

“Holy crap!” I shouted, suddenly flailing my arms and rolling forward until my back was facing the ground. “I’m floating!” I said, looking around excitedly.

“You don’t say,” Luna giggled as she walked around me. “I think I know how to help awaken your powers,” she murmured as she placed a hoof on my chest and gently brought me back down to the ground.

I shot up like a board. “Really?! How? Anything to avoid these insane headaches!” I said happily, rubbing my head for emphasis.
Luna nodded, smiling. “Thanks to this morning’s display and what we have all just witnessed, I am certain that your powers are directly influenced by your emotions; anger and fear make you destructive, and happiness and comfort make you float. Perhaps there are other secrets to be unlocked?” she asked herself aloud as she walked away, motioning for me to follow.

I looked behind me to my friends, more specifically to Fluttershy. “Sorry I wasn’t able to help out with the fair today,” I said apologetically, “I just really need to make sure I get these powers under control.”

She nodded, smiling understandingly. “It’s okay, Allen. I understand you want to keep everyone safe. Just remember you’re not the only person who’s worried about their friend, okay?” she asked, and the others all nodded in agreement.

I smiled. “You know I won’t,” I called as I followed Luna, unsure of what awaited me.