My eyes slowly flutter open. The feeling of a goodnight's rest in one's own bed, it's almost an unfamiliar sensation. But at the same time, I guess you could say that it is indeed familiar. Finally, I'm sleeping in a bed that I don't have to worry about falling off the edge, here in the world of Equestria. My arms and legs shift, brushing against the purple pony that shared my bed.

Yeah, it seems that she decided to take over half of my bed, or rather driving me towards the edge of my side.

Though I could easily disclose my discomfort with having to stand my ground and keep whatever room is left on my side of the bed, I choose not to out of my desire to see her rest. Diplomacy and politics can be a bitch to deal with in the morning hours and she needed all the rest she could get.

I even offered to take myself away from her and drag myself towards the unclaimed edge of the bed. Sadly, she objected to the idea. As we laid in peace, my arms rested over her shoulders and met at her stomach. The soft hairs of her coat brushed against the crevices between my fingers. Her hooves locked me in place as she quietly snored. With each shifting motion made, she'd move herself back towards me. When I had gotten a little hot, I'd back away. When she eventually noticed that I was not as close as before, she'd shift again, driving herself towards me. The cycle repeated itself until we had come to this very moment.

Though I wouldn't complain all that much. I'm sharing a bed with a girl, let alone a princess.

And yet there are still the awkward moments of me getting the occasional boner, thanks to her unknowingly brushing her tail against the crotch of my boxers. And each time I felt a desire to go further, she'd quench that with a rather undignified snort. Every so often, I'd tried to escape my purple pony prison, but I'd find myself still chained to the immense boulder that continues to snore away as she lightly whimpers and jolts in her sleep.

I take a deep breath and let it go, as well as let go of any chance of me getting to the other side of the bed.

Past her disheveled mane and twitching ears, I could see my cell phone on top of the nightstand on the other side of the room. At times like this, I'd usually check the time and see if my mind had somehow shifted the hours forward, despite my lack of sleep. But even that luxury was taken away as she held me as far away as possible from that side of the bed.

We cuddled each other to sleep, but yet I can't seem to get the events from earlier out of my head. It seemed that she had started to become a little obsessive over her time with me... And rightfully so. Her duties as princess has increased with the past few months. Since my training began, she's been running around Canterlot in place of Princess Luna and sometimes Princess Celestia. Add in the time she tries to spend with her friends and her family, and suddenly everything is set off-balance.

She's running around doing all kinds of things, I guess she has to be concerned that my disappearance had caused her to become... suspicious. Not of me, but of other girls and mares. I'm a subject of interest since the news of both my induction into the E.U.P. and defeat of Shining Armor have hit headlines. Add in the fact that I was to be married to Princess Twilight Sparkle, and now I'm a thing on every mare's list.

It seems that many of the mares here were well-acquainted with the saving grace clause.

And that just made Twilight all the more uneasy. I just hope that the stress doesn't affect her health in any way. Just earlier, I had already saw exactly how... concerned she could be.

6 Hours Ago

"I want you to tell me about the girl who hugged you in your world."

I gawked in silence as Twilight stood over me. Rather than smiling like she was just a moment ago, she was almost ready to jump down my throat. Her expression seemed stern as her voice started to sound angry.

"Who was she? I don't know, you tell me." I joked.

Apparently her face wasn't showing any signs of humor. It's obvious that she wanted the truth.

"Okay. She's a friend of mine."

"How close are you two?" She asked me, still standing over me as if she was going to mow me into the ground.

"Twilight, we're just friends."

She squinted her eyes, almost cutting into me with just her looks alone. "There's more to this, isn't there? I want the truth."

Obviously, I wasn't going to make this any easier if I withheld any information. So I decided to come clean. "Well, if you must know, we've been talking to each other since sophomore year in high school. And ever since then, I... I had a bit of a crush on her. But she told me that being friends was all she wanted in this relationship. So I agreed, and we carried on until college."

"...And? What happened then?"

"She and I got into a bit of a spat. I, shamefully, called her out of her name out of frustration. And she left me alone since. She didn't wanna hear from me, that is until I had went missing."

"Missing?"

"Around that time period, I was tossed here somehow. And in the nine months I've been here, I've been considered as missing in that world for the same amount of time."

Twilight removed herself from me, tapping her hoof against her chin. "So their time stream matches up with ours. What's their date in comparison to ours?"

"Same, October 11th. How we count the years there is totally different from here."

"So, what all happened that made you... come here? Did you find that out?"

"The only thing I know was that I was pretty damn close to drowning. My car crashed into the gulf while I was on drugs."

"Drugs?" Twilight asked, seeming disgusted with the mere thought of me engaging in such activity.

"Depression makes the mind do terrible things."

Twilight started to grow concerned. "Why were you depressed?"

"The little spat I had with Melanie."

Twilight, in hearing my reason for going so low, dropped her head in sadness. "...So that's her name? I've heard it before."

"I've probably mentioned her when I made my decision to stay here."

"So why did you leave her?"

I rose from the ground and sat on the bed she still slept on. "She didn't want anything more than to be friends with me."

She took her seat next to me, looking at me. "Why didn't you tell me this story sooner?"

"Personally, I just never had a reason to tell you."

"So... you had a crush on her, she didn't like you back, you got angry and insulted her-"

"It's more than just that. The fight we got into was for another reason."

"So you wanna tell me more about this reason?"

I wanted to put it in a way where I could keep it short and sweet, despite there being nothing sweet about it. "She was angry that I was joining a fraternity."

"That doesn't sound too bad-"

"I was a pledge at the time. So I had to wear a French-maid outfit... with a g-string."

"Okay, that sounds a bit-" Before she could even finish, I pulled out my phone and pulled up a picture of the outfit they made us wear just moments before I put it on.

"Pretty, huh?"

Twilight tilted her head and quirked eyebrow. "You know... I would've like to see you dressed up in that."

SERIOUSLY!? "Wait, what?"

"I think it's pretty kinky. If she didn't enjoy the view, then I would've."

Well... that's different. Somehow I expected her to say that this was way worse than what she'd imagine. Instead, she's getting a rise out of it. "Well, you know. In our society, guys wearing stuff like this is considered as embarrassi-"

And with a light brush of her hoof against the screen, Twilight seemed to turn a different color completely. "WOAH!"

"What?" I questioned worriedly.

She blushed as she levitated the phone and showed me the screen. "Um... yeah, you look pretty alright."

Sitting on the screen was an exact image of me looking at the person behind the photo with a scowl on my face. And of course, I was dressed in full drag, from the makeup on my face to the pedicured toenails. I knew that I had several that I deleted, but I thought that I rid myself of all of the ones of me wearing the outfit. I guess I might've missed that one. I shrieked as I reached for the phone. "I need to delete that!"

"No way!" She argued as she levitated the phone towards her, hugging the photo of me dressed in drag.

"Twilight, please let me delete this."

"No."

I groaned at the thought of the picture still hidden somewhere in my phone. "That picture doesn't need to exist!"

"Too bad. It does and now I'm keeping it."

I tried to tickle her so she could release the incriminating evidence. "No. Give me that phone!"

Twilight teleported away from me and reappeared on the other side of the room. "I will be holding on to the phone for observational reasons. So now you can't delete the picture. HA!"

I ran towards her, trying to grab the phone once more. "Twilight, stop playing these damn games. And what would you even need that picture for?"

"Reasons, that's what."

"Twilight, give me the phone." I ordered, trying to grab my phone from her.

"No." She squeaked out playfully as she flew into the air, getting the phone and her body completely out of my reach.

"You can't have both my phone and my bed. You can only have one or the other."

"Why not both?" She suggested.

That's it. I refuse to play this game of keep-away. This was a game that she was well-equipped to win by default. Throwing my arms in the air and walking towards the door, I decided to abandon the games she kept playing out of built-up frustration. "I'm leaving."

"No!" She shouted as she flew in to pull my shirt.

Freeing myself from her, I walked out into the hallway. "Goodbye, Twilight."

As I started to make my way towards my room, Twilight galloped beside me. "Where are you going?"

"Why do you wanna know?"

She teleported in front of me, stopping me dead in my tracks. "Where are you going?"

Hold on a sec. Did she just... "Why is it so important? I'm just going to my room."

"Can't you just stay with me for a bit?"

"What do you mean? What is it you want?"

"Just stick around, please?"

I've never been so confused. At first she was hounding down my throat over my hugging Melanie, then she wants to keep my stuff, and now she doesn't want me to leave to my own room. Something fishy is going on and I don't like it. "Twilight, what's wrong with you?"

The purple princess walked up to me and nuzzled me passionately, adding further confusion on my part. "I just want you here."

"Why is it that you feel so threatened of me leaving you alone?"

"I... I just want you here with me-"

I backed away from her. "Bullshit. I want the truth."

"Can't you just stay with me for a little while?"

"No, because you're not telling me the real reason you're wanting me to stay." And if she didn't explain why she was so damn moody all of a sudden, I was going to take my leave to my room. I don't know what set me off, but it's like I got upset over something. Maybe it was because she somehow spied on me. Did she even trust me at this point?

"...I just don't want us to grow apart."

"I don't understand. What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I can't just let you wander on your own. In case you haven't noticed, you've been getting a lot of attention since word of our engagement got out."

All because of you deciding to kiss me in front of a crowd of hundreds of boot camp graduates. But still, I have a feeling that her trust for me is at an all-time low. "I don't really see where you're coming from."

"Spitfire, remember her? She's well acquainted with the saving-grace rule, which means she'd be more than willing to help you relieve yourself. But that's not what I want. And now you're hugged up with some other girl that I don't know and... I just can't stand it!"

In speaking of being hugged up... "How did you even know about me and her?"

"You were missing from the palace! When I had sent out a search party for you, nothing turned up. So then I thought that you may have went to spend time with the girls. But when they told me that they haven't seen you since yesterday, I started getting worried. Finally, I came up with a logical explanation of where you might've been. So when I went to see if you had used the portal, that's when I noticed the bed in front of it. That's when I decided to pay you a surprise visit to your world. But when I looked out of the window, that's when I saw you getting out of the car with some girl. Then when you hugged her... I guess I got a little upset."

Well that explains how she managed to find out about Melanie. "So you decided to take my bed to lure me in here so we could have this discussion."

"It's not that I don't trust you, that's the furthest thing from the truth. I just don't trust her."

Somehow, I don't believe that. If she didn't trust any other girl being around me, then wouldn't that implicate that she'd have an issue of trust with me as well? "Why?"

"She's been missing you for nine months, correct?"

"Yeah." I answered, shrugging my shoulders.

"You both got into a big fuss over relationship issues, right?"

"No, we got into a big fuss over my joining a fraternity." I corrected her.

"But she... Nondis, I just can't trust her. The way she hugged you... it was too close."

"How would you even know that?"

"Princess of Friendship? That's in my title. I know when things are crossing the line between friends and lovers. It starts to become... confusing."

I guess that's a point to her argument. And being that she was in-law'd with Cadance, she'd also be able to distinguish relationships to a certain degree. But that still leaves one thing that disproves her theory. "She has a boyfriend. Why would she even be interested in me?"

"You've been absent from her life for over nine months. An absence does tend to make you think on your feelings for that person. What do you think I've been doing when you were away at training?"

Meeting with delegates, speaking with senators and politicians, conversing with lobbyists, doing paperwork, ordering others around, hanging out with the girls, and dream-wandering in Luna's place. "...Princess stuff?"

"That, and having my mind clouded over thoughts of you. We were friends once before, and then we decided to go past that point. All it takes is a single touch, a single moment of prolonged exposure to cause someone to do something that they might regret later. And if that isn't the case, then it usually leads to them finding out certain feelings for you."

Okay. So Twilight thinks Melanie may have developed some feelings for me in my absence. But somehow, I still don't see it. If Melanie really liked me, then she would've dated me a long time ago. But then again, I do have myself to blame, being that I was a bit selfish and naive whenever it came to being in a relationship. And in these past nine months, I have grown from being a social outcast to a person of interest. I managed to cultivate my body and rewire my mind. I'm a lot more confident than before and physically stronger as well.

She might have a point. "So you think Melanie has it out for me?"

"Nondis, 'think' is hardly the term to use right now. I know she does."

"How would you even know?"

"Her arm slid around you as she let go of you. The way she looked at you, seeming as if she was expecting you to do more. She's too clingy to proclaim herself to be 'just a friend'."

I didn't even think that she was so attentive to the hug. I didn't think of it more than just that, a hug. "Okay. Say that she does. But why would it concern you if you know that my heart belongs to you?"

"She used to be your crush, right?"

"Yeah." Back in high school, I was practically placing her on a pedestal atop of a golden alter. 'Crush' was an understatement at the time.

"Old feelings for your first don't tend to die off so easily... Unless they were of the Caramel variety."

She got me there. "Point taken. But I'm over her."

Twilight looked at me, pleading for me to tell her the truth. "Are you sure?"

"I pretty sure I am." I answered.

Though now that I'm on the subject, it makes me think back to the situation I had with Pinkie Pie. In her case, she had met a stallion who was the total package. The only downside was that he was often away due to travel. And then she met me. She started to develop feelings for me and one thing had led to another. Before we even knew it, we were living with one another and she was getting to spend a lot more time with me. And in that time, she fell for me even more. Then she decided to go all-in for me, that is until Cheese showed up. To this day, she has feelings for both me and him. I don't exactly know what all she feels for me now, but I guarantee that her heart still has a place set aside for me, despite the diminished feelings.

Would it be possible that I might still have a thing for Melanie somewhere? Maybe, but I doubt that it'll be a problem for me and Twilight.

"I'll take your word for it. Just make sure that she doesn't take up more time than I do."

I chuckled a bit at her statement. "Are you jealous?"

"Jealous, moi?" She asked as she played innocent.

"Yes." I deadpanned, seeing through her ruse.

"Okay. Maybe a little. But that's only because your friendship with her is deeper than what I'm comfortable with."

Hooray, my first jealous girlfriend moment. Maybe I should go and get the champagne. "Fine. I'll make sure that my time with Melanie won't rack up to the time I spend with you. Deal?"

"Deal. And no other mares."

And I'm convinced that she doesn't trust me. "I still don't see why you're so concerned w-"

"They're trying to find out what makes you so irresistible to me. And naturally, they'd be able to find out about the sexual aspect long before I do."

"Oh, that's true." Especially being that there are no laws in place to keep me from having my way with any other mare or girl I see. As far as they're concerned, I'm still a bachelor until the rings are on display.

"Okay. Now can we please go back to my room? I really would like to have my wings massaged." The purple princess requested as she unfurled her wings.

I shook my head. "So what, I'm your slave now?"

"...Maybe." She joked causing me to start walking towards the opposite direction. "No, I was just kidding! Come back!"

As she leapt onto my back, clenching me with her hooves, I stumbled a bit from the unexpected load being placed on me. I turned back to the playful princess as she gave me a kiss on the cheek. Suddenly, a thought popped up in my mind. "Didn't you say that you would do me a favor after you came back from Canterlot?"

She let loose a heavy sigh and gave me back my cellphone. "Tomorrow. I promise."

After I had gotten a vocal confirmation, I decided to piggy-back her to her room. Smiling and humming gleefully, Twilight rocked her head back and forth as if she was a filly anchored on the shoulders of a giant. As I opened the door, I still saw my mattress lying on the floor. "You know I'm gonna have to take this back to my room." I stated.

"Why?" She questioned as she climbed back down.

"Well, I didn't bring it here for me to not sleep on."

Throwing the sheets and pillows off of her bed, she turned back to levitate the large mattress off of the floor. "Well, then sleep with me."

Pony says what? "What now?"

Just as quickly she tore the bed apart, she threw the undersized sheets on the mattress and made a palette for the two of us. After fixing the pillows, she jumped back on top of the bed and patted an empty space next to her.

"Pretty please?"

The Next Morning...

The sun wasn't as bright as it would normally be. This morning, the sky seemed to be a little clouded. I guess there's supposed to be a storm scheduled for today, either that or maybe there's an overcast to kinda regulate the temperatures from getting too high. It is October after all.

"Aw geez." I mumbled to myself as I noticed that I was literally teetering off of the edge of the bed.

Twilight was pressed against me even closer than before. Her hooves had went from locking me in place to simply holding my arms close to her. She still stirred a little as I laid beside her. My eyes started to wander around the room. Her room was much bigger than mine. Her ceiling was higher than mine, her chandelier was larger,and her bathroom's enormous as hell. I have a window where she has a balcony. Even parts of her ceiling had skylight windows installed where mine was just solid crystal.

I've been in here before, but never really took in just how big it was in comparison.

Starting to feel my weight sink towards the edge, I decided that it was time for me to get up and moving. I pulled myself up from the warmth and comfort of the bed.

"Nnngh... please... don't."

My eyes widened a bit as her hooves went back to locking around my arms. But instead of just simply locking in place, they actually pulled me closer towards her. Attempting to pull myself out of her grasp, I started to contend for my freedom. But her whimpers pleaded me to do otherwise.

"You can't... Don't leave... You can't leave me..."

Was she having a nightmare? Her hooves now frantically clasped around my arms, pulling and tugging at me as if she was trying to get me to do something. The way she started to pull my arms, the pressure it produced in certain spots, it started to become physically painful. I opted to wake her from her dream.

"Twilight."

"No you can't-"

"Twilight!" I called out a second time, shaking her to wake her.

She stopped shifting and calmed down for a moment. Her grasp loosened and her hooves started to rub the length of my arms. She pressed herself against the two limbs that cradled her. Her cheek was obviously stained with tears. I didn't seem to understand what had happened to cause her to become like this. She pulled away and turned herself over to face me.

"Twilight, you okay?" I asked.

The only response I was given was a pair of hooves clasping my cheeks as she tenderly placed her lips upon mine. Her forehead rested against mine after the short exchange. Her eyes were slightly reddened from her crying. She sighed in relief as she held me. "I am. I just needed to wake up to you."

"Did you have a bad dream?" I inquired, hoping that she'd tell me what she was dreaming about.

She shook her head, smiling at me. "It's nothing."

"Sure seemed like something to me." I stated, still feeling the bit of soreness in my arms.

"It doesn't matter. I got what I wanted today."

"And that was?" I asked.

"I got to wake up to you." She whispered.

"Twilight, that was the cheesiest thing you've ever said to me."

"Shut it. Now kiss me, your princess demands it."

Rolling my eyes, I complied with her request. Our lips briefly touched as we heard a knock at the door. She lightly tapped me on the nose and rose out of the bed to answer the door. "Who is it?"

"Twilight, did any word of Nondis come up?" Rainbow asked through the door.

"I'm fine!" I hollered back out.

"Well open this door so Ah can knock the fine right out of you, mister! Y'all don't go round 'n gettin' us worried like that, ya hear!?" Applejack scolded through the door.

"We were really worried since you went missing! I even called a few of my animal friends to help find you!" Fluttershy stated.

"I'm good! I just went back to my place for a bit." I confessed as I got up and walked over to the nightstand to grab my phone.

"Your place?" Rarity questioned, sounding confused.

"You went back to your world?" Pinkie asked.

"I thought you went to Baltimore!" I called back out to Pinkie.

"Uh, doi! I stayed around to help look for you! And the place is called Baltimare!"

"Oh, right." Careful Nondis, your human world is showing. "Sorry."

Twilight opened the door to let all of the girls in. Even Cadance stood at the door.

"Cadance? What are you doing here?" I asked, bewildered to see her here in Ponyville.

"Well, Twilight wrote me and told me that you pretty much disappeared off the face of Equestria. I'm just glad you're safe. After all, I couldn't let Shining sit in the room and cry about you."

"Excuse me?" Shining asked as he stormed from the hallway and into the room. "Crying over who?"

"Now I can understand your wife being here, but why you?" I asked the stallion.

"Dipsh-" He glanced back at Applejack and grimaced a short while. I guess even he didn't want to get nagged on by her. "Dummy, you're a guard. Remember that?"

"Oh yeah." I guess that would be a concern if one of his guards had went missing. It could pose a serious security threat providing that certain conditions were met.

"Well at least I know you didn't turn traitor on us." He joked.

"No. I just went back to my world to grab a few things."

Pinkie jumped front and center. "Ooh! What kind of things!?"

I pulled out my cell phone and pointed at her. "Smile!" I said as I tapped on the screen.

She wore a huge, cheek-busting grin and showed the whites of her teeth my phone made a shudder noise. "Is that some sort of camera?"

Twilight walked beside me and looked at what I was really doing. "Quit recording video of Pinkie."

Somehow, I had forgotten that she had limited knowledge of human technology and how it worked. Pinkie then jumped in excitement and bounced beside me. "Video?"

"Yup. And it can take pictures too." I answered as I tapped the screen to stop the video from recording.

"Wowwie! What is that thing!?" She said as she watched me pull the video I just recorded back up.

"It's a cell phone." Twilight began to explain. "In the human world, they use it to communicate with one another. They can also use it to take pictures, videos, record audio, jot down ideas, read off recipes-"

"Upload pictures to Instagram, rant and complain on Twitter, fuss and bitch on Tumblr, play games, video ch-"

"Hold on a second!" Pinkie interrupted. "Did... you just say... 'play games'?"

I think I may have made a critical mistake here. That was a point that I clearly didn't need to introduce. But I guess some men want to watch the world burn. So let's see how far this goes. "Yeah. But..."

"But what?" The pink pony asked as she leaned in closer.

"But it was designed for humans. You know, fingers and all." I said as I tapped the screen to begin the playback.

"Aww. That's mean." Pinkie said in a mopey tone. But her sadness soon subsided as the video of her played back as it did just mere seconds ago. "But that's so awesome!"

"Let me see!" Rainbow Dash asked as she flew over to see the video.

"I hope you don't mind me watching." Fluttershy added.

"For such a small device to perform a task that's designated to much more expensive and bulkier equipment, this is a technological feat that I would say dwarf even our own advancements!" Rarity proclaimed.

"Does it tell you anything about produce and agriculture?" Applejack asked.

"On my world, where it has a signal, it can tell you the weather."

"Big deal! I could tell you the weather!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Okay, take for instance the weather above Everfree Forest. How the clouds move on their own, how the temperatures regulate themselves. That's like that all over my world. No one regulates the weather. Nature does what it does all on it's own."

The other ponies just stared at me silly. Even Shining Armor was amazed. "How does that even work?" He asked.

"Well, as you can tell from me, we don't have magic. Instead, we have science and technology."

"On the human world," Twilight took over from there. "There isn't magic like ours. So they have machines made to predict the weather patterns so that they can properly plan for anything. Even tornado hotspots are predicted minutes before they even touch down. They may not be able to manipulate their weather, but they have made a living off of their chaotic world."

"I see..." Shining started to rub his chin at the thought of being able to live in a place where even the most devastating weather patterns can sneak up on you. "Sounds kinda dangerous."

"Meh, it's okay." I said, shrugging it off.

"So..." Cadance started wear a devious smile. "If that could take pictures, could it take pictures for... reasons?"

"As a matter of fact," Twilight began. "There's even this one picture of Nondis where he's wearing a-"

"TWILIGHT!" I screamed out, trying to silence her on the matter. Even my heart sank as I forgot to delete the picture yesterday, even after it was brought up. I guess I was distracted.

"What? I thought you looked cute in the French-maid outfit."

"SAY WHAT!?" Shining blurted out before he busted out laughing.

"Oh, Ah gotta see that!" Applejack said as she reached out for my phone.

A light blue flame encircled my phone as it floated over towards Rarity. "I'm sorry Applejack, but if he wishes to not disclose such intimate apparel, then it's his... oh my... Now that is quite dashing."

"GIVE ME THAT!" I said as I tried to grab the phone from Rarity, which then found itself being taken in by Cadance's magic.

"Oh, you look so cute in this. But I bet that my husband pulls it off so much better."

Shining blushed as his ears fell at the mention of the outfit. "Cadance, can we talk about that later?"

"What? I was just talking about the time during our honeymoon where you wore this tight little, see-through lingerie I got you."

"CADANCE!"

My phone soon found itself back into my possession, after Twilight politely closed the file. "Okay, let's not go into details of what my brother was wearing. I don't need the image of him wearing fishnet stockings and lipstick in my head. And for your information, Cadance, Nondis can, has, and will always wear it better than Shining."

"Is that so?" Cadance asked with a coy smile.

"Bet on it." Twilight said with a cocky grin.

This is getting ridiculous. I need a drink. "Shining, where's the nearest liquor cabinet?"

"Down the hall, make a left past the library, third door to the right, pull the golden lever shaped like Twilight beside the desk. If you want ice, then place a book on the coaster right beside the lever."

I performed an about-face and made my way towards the door. Shining didn't hesitate to follow after me. "Bitchin'. Let's go get that drink."

"Right behind you."

Both Shining and I took it upon ourselves to take to the hidden bar that was installed just a few months prior to my coming here. I asked him why he installed one, his response was so he could one day share a drink with his overly-stressed sister. It was a kind thought, but sadly it would never come to fruition. Especially being that Twilight swore off of drinking after her first hangover. So I guess this was the first time since it's installation that it's been used.

You know, I have no problems in being the recipient of that honor.

Shining pulled up a chair and swirled his glass of Applejack Daniels as he looks into the glass. I took a sip from mine, experimenting how the beverage would taste on ice. Amazingly, there was far less of a burn in my throat. Instead, I started to enjoy a smooth taste, the flavor being a lot more distinct in comparison to the flame-fest that Shining caught himself enjoying.

I never did like drinking barrel-proof liquor straight.

That disparity aside, he started to relax. I could already see the sense of relief washing over him. In truth, that same wave had hit me as soon as I walked in the room. No longer did I have to sit in a room with my fiancee as she discussed with my soon-to-be-sister-in-law how I could wear ladies brazier and undergarments better than her husband could. That was a debate that neither I nor Shining would be willing to partake in, especially in front of five other mares. At this point, I'm trying my best to block out the images of him dressed in see-through panties and lacy stockings. And even that thought brought up the unsightly mental image of Discord wearing a sukumizu holding a ball-gag and a power drill. It makes me wonder, was he the one wearing the ball-gag and the drill was actually-

Yup. I need to down this whole bottle.

"Hey, Shining?"

"Yeah." He answered casually.

"Got any more of these?"

He started to giggle a little at my question. "Don't you think it's a bit early to be getting your ass planted against the ceiling?"

"I have some disturbing thoughts in my head. And I want to make sure that my brain can't see nothing but pink shit marching across the room."

"Yeah, you'll have moments like that. But try to moderate. I still need you conscious."

"Shit. I didn't take you for a careful drinker."

He hummed as he took a sip from his glass. "I wasn't always one."

"Really?" I asked, suddenly intrigued by what he meant.

"They say that the booze helps the pain go away. You know, bad memories?"

Then again, I forgot that he's the Captain of the Guard. That means his position had to have come with some really dark corners, corners that he'd try his best to keep hidden. Military was never really as simple as serving one's country like they say it is. Sometimes, you have to take another's life. And when you take that life, you hear them screaming in pain as it takes place... That's a little darker than what I wanna think about. Changing the subject.

"I guess that makes sense. Back in my world, we'd use it for recreational fun."

Shining went back to swirling his glass. "Don't get me wrong. We can party our balls off too. It's just with all the responsibility of being Captain and Prince of the Crystal Empire, I had to learn how to slow down."

"Public opinion?" I inquired, tilting my glass at him.

"You could say that."

"Cadance on your case?"

"Are you kidding? Cadance takes bottles to the head without breathing."

I chuckled a little. "I guess she got that deep-throat game down packed."

Shining took a brief moment to gush. "Like you wouldn't believe. That mare is crazy."

"Really? But I thought that princesses were-"

"Cute and innocent? Prim and proper? Above living out their lives and fulfilling their most primordial desires? Please. I won't speak for Twily, she'll tell you herself. Celestia, she's enigmatic when it comes to the subject of sex. Princess Luna enjoys voyeur. Cadance is a party animal and a freak in the stack, she's that wild mare-next-door that has multiple facets."

"Or layers." I added.

"Yeah. It's like the deeper you go, the more you find out. Like for example, despite her outward appearance being cute and cuddly, did you know she was actually trained as a guard?"

My jaw nearly shattered from hitting the ground so hard. "Seriously!?"

"Yeah! It turns out that she's the adventurer-type. Not only that, but she's a bit of an adrenaline junkie."

"So I guess you two are alike." I stated, causing the stallion to shake his head.

"Not really. In fact, I'm usually the one that has to keep her out of trouble."

"So you're the leash that keeps her anchored in place? I kinda thought that it would be the other way around, being that you're a guard and all."

"Nah. I mean it's fun to go out venturing once and a while, but she wants to do shit that could possibly kill her."

"And you stuck your dick in crazy for what now?"

Shining threw back his glass and took in the remnants of the brown liquid. "Exactly that. She was so wild and carefree. I knew in my heart that I had to tame her. Though I've failed to do so, I still have pride in knowing that I did manage to cage her in. She had lived this double life for years and years on end. She went from foalsitting Twily to knocking off heads in the snow. She may look pretty and pink, but she doesn't play when it comes to a fight."

"So... Any foals?"

"Nah. Not right now. I'm too busy enjoying myself. At least give me another year or two of sabotaging her royal pinkness and then we can talk about foals."

I started to laugh. "Sabotage? Are you hitting it that hard?"

Shining groaned in playful agony. "Rather the other way around. She doesn't know what a quickie is. The only thing she knows is passionate love making and ravenous sex. Neither of those takes less than five minutes."

"Damn, she'd make a hell of a sorority girl." I mumbled as I took another sip, emptying my glass.

"That's the only thing she didn't do. College was too, quote-unquote, high risk for a princess to attend."

"High risk?" I asked.

"Too many stallions running on hormones, colts trying to build herds, all that other good stuff."

Now that he mentioned it... "They do have a point. Fraternities can be a breeding house if you get the girls interested enough."

"How would you know about the fraternities?"

"Well... I'm kinda in one."

Shining casually placed his glass on the counter and placed his full attention at me. "You? Fratboy? I didn't take you for one to be interested in that kind of stuff, let alone joining one."

"Well, I did it for a stupid reason. Can't say that I've fully regretted it yet, though." I admitted as I poured more whiskey for myself.

"Wow... Who'd thought you'd be sporting colors?"

"Colors?" I asked curiously.

"Each fraternity has it's own set of colors here. Don't they have colors where you're from?"

"Yeah, but we have Greek lettering for ours, so we'd call them Letters."

"Oh. That's different."

"Yeah. A little."

A short period of silence ensued. The only sounds that continued to resonate throughout the room was the sound of us sipping on our drinks, the clanking of our glasses, Shining's grunts when he downs a significant amount of liquor, and the occasional sigh.

"Hey." Shining was the first to break the silence. "Let's talk."

"About what?"

Shining took a brief pause. "...What happened a few months back."

I shook my head. "Don't even trip. You were running off of anger."

"Exactly. I was pissed and I strangled you. Not to mention all of the times I decided to make your life a living hell afterwards."

An apology. I'm actually quite shocked. "Well... I mean... We've gotten past this already, didn't we?"

"We'll set up a rematch for next week, but aside from that... I made some mistakes and abused my power for the sake of breaking you and my Twily apart. And sometimes I didn't even take into consideration about how she felt about all of this. I made her uncomfortable... and my wife extremely angry. All because I forced you to give me a half-assed answer."

"That part's on me."

"No, it's not. I screwed up and I let my own selfish insecurities, as well as my desire to be protective of my little sister, get in the way of your relationship with one another."

Honestly, I didn't think he'd actually try to apologize for the stunts he pulled. And if anything, the shit I went through because of him actually helped me become who I am as of this moment. I can fight, I can stand up for myself, I have proven to myself that I could overcome significant odds. It was because of him that I was able to call myself a guard. All I needed was that aggravating push in the right direction, and he gave me just that. He made me angry enough to want to change, to want to drive and succeed in what I do. That was just who he was. Granted he tried to kill me once, but that only made me stronger, smarter, and a lot more patient. In reality, I didn't want his apology.

"Just quit it."

Shining stared back at me, confused as I took another sip of my drink. "Huh?"

"You know what you did was wrong. And you know that Twilight didn't approve of what you did. Hell, I was inches away from death's door because of you."

"That's why I'm trying to apologize."

"Don't." I answered sternly.

"Why not?" He asked out of frustration.

"Because I've learned so much from you. Despite your desire to break me, you've only molded me into something that I didn't expect myself to become in all the years of my life. You've made me see that being passive-aggressive in certain situations would get me nowhere. You pissed me off enough to actually become more of a man. You made me become this mentally-sound character that could also boast some pretty decent physical strength. It's because of you that I'm a guard, soon to be wedded to your sister whom I love. So please don't take any of that back, not from me."

Shining stared back into his glass, almost as if he could see another world at the bottom. "I didn't think you would be so forgiving."

"Now I didn't say that I forgave you just yet. But eventually, I might."

The stallion scoffed a bit. "Just make sure you don't keel over before you do. Otherwise, I'd drag you back from hell and beat it out of you."

I giggled at his threat, knowing that he'd be the type to do just that. "I can actually see that happening."

"Good. Now, a toast."

Our glasses raised. His was enveloped in his magic while mine was firmly holstered in my hand. They clanked against one another as I cried out. "May I always kick your ass in every spar."

"You got that ass-backwards, dumb fuck."

We downed our drinks and shared a laugh with one another. At least I have a drinking partner alongside this rivalry. I'm perfectly fine with that.

"So... did Celestia take it easy on you since I left Canterlot?" I questioned.

"Nah." He answered, pouring himself another drink. "She's still making me do the bathrooms. I've got three more weeks left before I'm relieved."

"I guess you'll be happy then." I joked at his expense.

"Maybe. I'd actually be just a prince by then."

I refrained from taking another sip from my newly-poured glass of whiskey. Unable to contemplate the words he just said, I stared back at him. "What?"

"Yeah. Celestia's making me resign after my month's done."

She's WHAT!? "¿Por favor, perdoname?"

"Yeah. She's letting me go. She got really angry about the me holding letters thing, that and the transferring myself to supervise your company."

Damn. That hurts. I at least wanted to warrant myself a competitor of the Captain of the Guard. Now he wasn't even going to be that for very long. I ended this guy's career... More of him ending it because of what he did to me, but I was a catalyst nonetheless. "I'm... so terribly sorry."

"Shut it. That's what I was supposed to be saying." He snapped back at me.

"So what are you gonna do now?" I didn't see him doing much if he was going to be a prince. Blueblood's a prince and even I didn't hear about him until six months in. Would he too fade into some sort of obscurity?

"Well, I'm still married to Cadance. So I guess I'm gonna be looking over Crystal Empire affairs from here on. Hooray for listening to the bureaucrats and politicians all day."

Damn, that's a death penalty. I gotta at least let him keep his job. Besides, I've already beaten him in combat. How much more shame can a guy handle? "You think she's up for suggestions?"

"Are you saying that you'd defend me, in spite of all of the shit I put you though?"

"Are you saying that all of the shit I went through to become a better man was for nothing?" I asked right back.

"I'm not saying that, but-"

Both Shining and I turned to the door. The two of us almost drew our weapons, and had it not been for the two guards entering, we would've brandished them in defense. Though our reason to unsheathe them would've been justified as one guard held the other up. The other guard spattered in blood staggered forward as he attempted to speak.

"Cap...tain..." He sputtered weakly as he coughed up a bit of blood. Immediately, Shining and I tended to his wounds. As I walked up to him, I could see very well that he was one of the same stallions I graduated with from basic training. He struggled to breathe as he writhed in discomfort.

"Easy, Spade." The other stallion whispered as he tried to calm the wounded guard.

"What the hell happened?" Shining commanded he and the other guard laid him against the ground.

"We were ambushed. Canterlot's under siege. He was wounded as he was trying to notify you. So I assisted him to get him here."

I took off my shirt and tore it into pieces as I attempted to suppress the bleeding. As I held against his side, my hands quickly became tainted with the murky red stains of the stallions life-force. I tried my best to apply pressure to the wound, but with the way he was shivering, I knew that he had lost too much blood already. It wouldn't be long.

"Brigadier... General... Nnngh-" He tried his best to speak through the pain. "Assassinated.... Killing... others of... high rank.... Active and retired... at risk...."

The stallions pupils started to dilate, meaning his vision had started to fade. "Stay with us, Spade!"

"Highs... did... I do good...?"

"You did fine. Just stay with us. Focus."

"Who did this?" Shining asked, gaining no response from the wounded guard. "Spade!"

It was too late... By the time Shining had asked his question, he had already drew his final breath and left this world. I was now holding onto the wounds of a dead stallion. My hands slowly pulled away from the nouveau dead guard. A distant, yet relaxed expression remained on his face as he stared into oblivion. And sadly, death doesn't come with dramatic music. My hands turned slowly to see the crimson coating still fresh on the surface. A gut-wrenching sickness started to manifest as my hands shook in fear.

I never knew that death would be so horrifying to see in person.

I blankly stared at the lifeless body before me, all while Shining shook me. "Nondis! Nondis, get up!"

With a blink, I was brought back to current time. I looked to Shining, who wore a demonic scowl on his face as he placed his hoof over the eyes of the stallion. As he pulled it back, Spade's eyes were firmly closed.

"Who did this?" I whispered quietly to myself.

"If you were paying attention, you'd know that the Changelings were attacking Canterlot. Now ready up, we're moving out!"

"What about Spade?" I asked distantly, still finding it difficult to process in my brain that he was dead.

"He's gone! Now let's go before we lose any more lives!"

He and I walked out of the room, marching down the hall at an expeditious pace. As we moved along, we saw the spatters of blood that trailed from where he walked. When we had turned down the hall, we could see Twilight and the others all looking around to see what was going on. The trail of blood ran through this hall as well.

"Cadie, I need you to take care of a guard in the room down the hall."

"What's his status?" The pink princess asked.

"K.I.A.."

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes in reverence to the news. "That's bad news."

"What's bad news?" Fluttershy asked timidly, already scared of seeing blood all over the floor.

Cadance started to walk towards the room we had just left. Meanwhile, she had started to issue out orders. "Twilight, I need you to go alongside your brother. Rainbow Dash, I need you to keep the girls in the room until I can get this mess cleaned up. Shining Armor-" She turned back to him. "Come back to me in one piece. I made a vow that I would love all of you, don't go losing bits and pieces."

"Got it."

"No orders for me?" I asked.

"Twilight's got that covered. I know you can handle it, little sis."

Twilight hardened herself almost as much as her brother did. I don't think I've ever seen her this... scary. Even her wings seemed to become pointier than usual. Her ears peeled back as she marched forward alongside her brother. "What's the status report?" She demanded.

"Changelings again. They're offing every high-ranked official, enlisted or retired."

Twilight started to gallop at full speed. "Then we need to hurry."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Shining went after her, leaving me to run behind the two.

Those two seemed really angry about this. I can understand that this was an attack on their country, but it appeared that it was more than the changelings attacking a city. From what I remember, Canterlot is their home city. So I could understand them becoming a bit angry over the subject.

That means that I should do everything in my power to help, no matter the costs.

"I need to go to my room and get something." I said as I remembered that I was without a shirt.

"Well hurry up!" Twilight ordered. "We're not gonna lose our dad for you to change clothes! We're going on ahead!"

"Dad?" I asked.

"Dad used to be Captain before Twily was born. He retired early to take care of the both of us." Shining explained further.

"And we won't lose him to them. So hurry up!"

So the Changelings have invaded Canterlot in an attempt to decapitate the ranks so that order falls apart. And now, innocent lives are at risk as well as those of the elderly and weakened. That means we'd need to quickly neutralize the threat by any means necessary. In that case...

I tried to end this one as ambiguously as possible to leave you guys to think about what would happen next. Once again, trying new things and seeing how they would work in the context of the story. If you want to find out what he's thinking, then stay tuned to the next chapter.