Throughout their relationship, Spike would see the fashionista fall in and out of 'love' with stallion after stallion. Of course, her romantic fantasies were always a fickle aspect of her life. One day she's dreaming of being a princess beside Blueblood, the other she's imagining romantic getaways with Trenderhoof. Sometimes, she even took the rustic charm of Big Macintosh and let her mind wander about how rough he could be with her, but he was a stallion of tradition and would not often take interest in mares of a different breed. That was another reason why he chose to date Cherilee rather than Rarity.

Of course with every failure, Rarity cried and fussed about her failures and how she was shunned for various reasons. And as those times occurred, Spike was there to become her crutch to get over the emotional injuries. He didn't mind taking the role of being her emotional relief as well as her cheerleader. In fact, he was more proud of it with each time she needed him.

But all of that changed when the human, who appeared from nowhere, had stolen her heart and held it in his hand while he commenced to showing his love for another. And with each moment he played cheerleader, he found it increasingly difficult to shake the thoughts of him out of her. And the harder that became, the less she looked towards him and the more she sought the human. And with her increasing desire to have him, the harder she worked; the harder she worked, the less time she had for the dragon.

Overtime, Spike felt that his time with the mare he longed for had became far too little. And the reason why was because she was overworking herself just to please him, for little or nothing in return.

It made him angry. He was even reduced to bitter silence as he had to leave the boutique, seeing that Rarity had chose to keep Nondis around rather than keeping him. It was a betrayal of his heart when he watched her defend him. And now he had an opportunity to remove the human from the equation and place himself back into the position he'd normally take, which was right beside her as she cried. He would comfort her, cheer her up, convince her that he was such a good friend and warm up to her and become her 'Spikey-Wikey'.

The status quo.

And what better way to remove him than to send him off to a land he doesn't know, on a search for someone who could assume the identity of anyone? He didn't even have to think this one up, but rather it came to him in the form of screaming politicians.

He was always one for overseeing the order of things.

Twilight stood in silence as she stared back at the dragon, letting her mind wander around the possibilities of what all could happen if Nondis was to be deployed to a land he never been to or knew of. Spike, on the other hand, was more than willing to think of the fact that he could never return. His mind was more focused on Rarity.

The politician that once heckled Twilight spoke once more. "Very well then! If that is the case, then we shall make you even more accountable for your misdeeds, Sir Shining Armor. By passing the bill onto the human, we can now disregard any loss of stallions! You get to stay coddled up with your wife and we get to send the human in your place. At the very least he would be well-traveled in his search."

"You can't do that!" Cadance shouted back. As much as she hated to place her husband in any position that could cause him harm, she also hated when the wrong would be rewritten to be 'the right'. "He's not the one responsible for the security breach!"

"If you're going to punish anypony, then it might as well be me! So punish me, I'm the one you want dead!" Shining ordered firmly.

The politician scoffed at the stallion's idea of taking the blame. "And you expect to be given the easy way out? No, I'm not going to allow you to take that route. In fact, I am going to show you the consequences of your actions. Since you appointed a new Captain in your place, I will be going for him!"

"But I'm still responsible!"

"And you're still a prince."

Shining's words were choked short as his jaw fell. He wanted to say something, but couldn't as the politician did establish a valid point. Regardless of being a captain of the guard at the time of the attack, he was still a key political figure as well. "But... but I-"

"You, as well as your sister, are individuals we consider as one of those invaluable pieces to negotiate with dignitaries abroad. And as much as I'd like to personally see you off, you're just as protected as your sister is. So now, I will hold accountable the one who currently holds the rank without the royal title."

"You traitorous snake!" Shining shouted back to the politician.

"Oh I'm sure you let them in too, using your search for the human as an facade to cover your tail!"

"That's enough!" Celestia commanded in a firm tone. "I am afraid that he is unable to serve that sentence, as Sir Nondis is injured."

"He won't be injured for long, princess!" The barking stallion heckled back.

"Be silent, Senator Olive!" Cadance shouted back out to the proud stallion. "Under no circumstances are you to speak like that towards Princess Celestia!"

"Wait!" Twilight shouted, causing the entire room to look to her. "If you tried to send my brother to search for the changeling commander, then why are you just now stating that he's unable to go? That doesn't make any sense! You're contradicting your own statements!"

Senator Olive stood back up and called back out to the young princess. "Tell me, your highness, have you ever heard Shining Armor's name come out of my mouth?"

"But they made the announcement that Shining Armor was held responsible and that he would lead the search party!"

"But did you hear me say his name?"

Twilight froze for a moment, trying to think back on everything he said. "You said the words 'esteemed captain'."

"Yet the name 'Shining Armor' never left my muzzle. I left it at just those words because I was unaware of whom exactly was to replace him. And now that we come to find out that it's none other than your little... playmate."

A few chuckles emanated from the crowd, causing the purple princess to blush. Despite her becoming flustered, she still held her scowl at the stallion. She chose to defend the human. "For your information, he's-

"Pending for approval, I know. But little kittens still require toys to keep them happy. And it looks as if your little toy hasn't been doing very well, as stuck up as you are."

"Representative Crier," Celestia turned her attention to the stallion at the podium. "Let the record show that Senator Olive will be barred from making any more comments. Any further statements he make are to be marked from the record."

"Bar me if you so desire. However, that does not stop this meeting."

Twilight snorted at the senator and looked towards the representative at the podium. "Representative Crier, aside from today's meeting, have you been made aware of the changes in the ranks of the guard recently?

"I'm afraid not, your highness." He answered truthfully. "I wasn't even made aware that the Captain was promoted. From what I understood, Shining Armor was always the captain of the guard. And as long as he wasn't stripped of that title, then he would be held accountable."

"Yet you knew that Shining was also a prince! Why would you call his name?" Twilight questioned once more.

The young stallion looked around nervously as he tapped his hooves together. "...I'm sorry. I made a terrible mistake. I didn't mean to dismiss him being a prince. I was more focused on the 'captain' aspect of the law. I guess I was confused."

"Heh!" Olive blurted out. "Like all college interns, never could get it right."

"Speak once more, and you will be dismissed from the meeting." Blueblood warned the stallion, causing Shining and Twilight to look at the prince with surprise. "There are things I will not stand for. Dirty laundry, bad food, unsweetened deserts, and boredom are but a few. However, disorder is number one on the list."

Olive sat down with a grin on his face, having no shame in his comments. "Having that said now I will turn to you, Representative Crier. In response to your inability to remember a simple law and causing confusion in the parliament, Representative Crier is to be dismissed from his post as I will take the role."

The young stallion walked away from the podium and walked past Shining Armor with disappointment and shame worn upon his face. As he walked by the former captain, he whispered in a low voice. "...I'm sorry your highness. I tried my best."

"You did what you could." Shining whispered back.

As the stallion took his leave, Blueblood took to the podium and carried on the meeting. "Now let us continue. The last place we left off was that the captain of the guard was responsible for the recent invasions and that we were going to have him lead a search party. Being that the captain was also a royal at the time, it then places the responsibility towards one of the immediate rank lower than him."

"But that doesn't make sense!" Twilight called out. "Shining Armor is the one responsible. And he's willing to lead the search party. Can't we just leave it at that?"

"I'm afraid not, Princess Twilight. These matters, though gravely complicated as it has become now, are usually sorted out with a vote. And being that Olive's statements have been scratched from record, we can continue to debate this even later. As for now, we more pressing issue to discuss."

Olive stood up from his seat, screaming at Prince Blueblood. "HOW CAN THE SECURITY OF OUR COUNTRY BE A LESS PRESSING ISSUE!?"

"Guards, please escort Senator Olive from the room, as he has disturbed the order of the parliament for far too long."

The stallion didn't need much encouragement as he stormed out of the room in a fit of anger. Many of his fellow peers began to murmur amongst themselves. Meanwhile, Blueblood continued the meeting.

"As far as any immediate security concerns, Shining Armor will retain that role. We will meet with the new captain come next week, as we are allowing him to recover from the injuries he sustained in battle over in Ponyville yesterday. At that time, we will begin talks about the proceedings of national security. Also on the matter of the investigation, we shall wait until there is enough information before deciding on who would lead the search party. I believe that this is the best solution, and the only solution we can agree on for the time being. Any objections?"

No hooves were raised, as they seemed to have gotten their solution. Twilight drew a breath of relief that Nondis wouldn't have to march into impending doom anytime soon, but she didn't like how Spike had attempted to throw the human into the fray. Spike himself, wasn't very pleased with the outcome either, as it has left Nondis in Ponyville. Shining felt content in the solution being presented, despite that it would still put Nondis in danger, but in far less danger than what was previously proposed. There was a peaceful silence falling across the room.

"If there are no objections, then let there be peace. Meeting is adjourned."

Shortly after the meeting with the parliament, the princess all took their leave to their daily duties. Cadance was busy giving Blueblood praise for his method of handling the situation, stating that it was a very surprising move as well as an unexpected gesture of good will. Shining met with the young stallion that tried his best to resolve the issue in a matter where Shining could best save Nondis. Grateful for his attempts, Shining began to speak with him of matters how he was to be paid under-the-table.

"Twilight!" Spike, however, was busy trying to chase down his maternal figure.

"..." In response, she continued to keep walking down the hall, ignoring the dragon as he trailed her.

"Twilight, I'm sorry." He lied.

"..." The purple mare didn't seem to fall for it.

This time Spike ran at full speed, stopping just a few feet in front of her. "Please Twilight, say something."

"I'm not speaking with you, Spike." Twilight answered harshly, "You tried to get Nondis in trouble after what he did for you yesterday."

"But I said that I could handle it. I was in the middle of handling it when he came by."

"You are so ungrateful and irresponsible. I thought I taught you better."

Twilight walked around him and continued to walk towards a nearby window in the hall. Spike continued to run beside her, as her pace greatly outmatched his. "I said I was sorry."

"You're not. You're angry because Nondis managed to do something that got him in Rarity's favor."

Spike gritted his teeth and tried to step in front of Twilight. "It's not that. It's because Ra-"

"Twilight!" Cadance called out from behind the two. As she walked up, she magically pulled Spike to the side. "Okay, now you can take off. I didn't want poor little Spike here to get blasted to the wall thanks to you taking off."

"No, but-hmmmph!" Spike was silenced by a pink hoof covering up his mouth.

"You go on ahead, Twilight. I know how much you wanna get away from the politics."

"Mmmph! Mmmph phmmm mmmmn!" The young dragon continued to struggle as he tried to get himself free of Cadance's foreleg, but her strength was far too much for the baby dragon to overcome.

"Well, I'll visit you sometime and let you know how things are going on our end. You keep an eye out for Nondis..." The pink princess paused for a moment and started to laugh at herself. "Right. Like you needed me to tell you that."

"Thank you so much, Cadance."

"Hey, thank Blueblood. If there's anything he likes to see, it's the politicians' feathers being ruffled a bit." She stated, looking at a few more of the parliament members walking out muttering to themselves in disbelief.

Twilight cut her glance back at a few stallions that glared back at her. "I've always heard stories of the Parliament being at odds with the royals, I just never thought it would be that ugly."

"Politics is never pretty. Now go on while you can still escape."

With a flick of her wings, Twilight blasted off into the distance flying towards the lands beyond as the sun started to set in the sky. As Cadance and Spike watched the princess leave for Ponyville, she let go of the young dragon's snout. Spike, finally able to speak again, began to voice his displeasure of Cadance.

"Why'd you do that for? I was just gonna-"

"Intercede into the personal relationships of others. Not while I'm around." She answered swiftly.

"But-"

The princess of love cut him short. "Yeah, I know about her. I know about you. I sensed it this morning while we were at breakfast. I could already tell what was the reason for your hostility. Shining and I have already discussed it. The best thing to do is to let them handle this. If Rarity chooses to keep it a secret, I am more than certain that Nondis will speak up when things get out of hoof."

"But-"

Cadance interrupted him once more. "And do you honestly think that trying to throw him under the carriage is going to work? Seriously, like what the hell."

"He's ruining Rarity's business."

"No, she's doing it of her own choice. He's not holding a sword to her throat making her create clothes for him. He wants to pay her, but she's not allowing him. That's all her decision, not his."

"But-"

She politely shoved her hoof against his snout, silencing him before he could get another word out. She spoke to him in a more serious tone. "I had enough. Let's break this down in a way where you can understand. What is your worst fear? I'm not talking about simple things, or nightmares, or scary faces in magazines. I mean your absolute worst fear."

After the pink alicorn removed her hoof, Spike took only a second to think before his mind played out the worst scenario he'd ever experience on a personal level. "At first it was Twilight saying that she didn't need me anymore. And for a while I had thought that to be true, considering how she had so many assistants in the castle and guards. And at a point in time, that's how I felt like. But now, I guess with Rarity, I just want to feel needed, and to be loved."

Spike's head fell as the thoughts of him no longer being needed around those he loved started to swarm throughout his mind. Cadance placed a hoof on his chin to raise him up to gain his full attention.

"Now I'm gonna tell you mine. I'm scared to death of losing my husband. He's a wonderful stallion whom I love very much. Not only that, but he's my only family outside of Twilight and Celestia. Celestia's my adopted aunt, yet her love for me ends where her heartbeat does the same. Twilight and I knew each other for a long time, but we could never really truthfully call ourselves sisters outside of Shining. And him... he can fulfill my most treasured dream, and that is to give me a family of my own. Now how would you think I'd feel if I had lost that?"

Spike, despite incurring losses on a materialistic level, had never experienced a loss so personal. His answer reflected that very truth. "Pretty sad?"

Cadance sighed deeply as she lowered her voice to where only he could hear her. Her tone, once dark and heavy, had suddenly become light and mournful. "I know you've never experienced such an emotional loss. So let me explain this to you. If I lost him, I'd lose my home, my heart, my mind, I'd even lose my life. I'd especially lose my future, and if we didn't have foals before then I'd lose out on my dream of being a mother."

Spike turned around to look back at Shining, who was still speaking with the young speaker. As he saw the white stallion, he started to immerse himself in the thoughts of Cadance. "That sounds like a lot."

"It is. Now let's say that Rarity to you is what Shining Armor is to me." She whispered into the young drake's ear.

"She is!" He shouted loudly, causing a bit of a scene.

"Let me finish." She plugged his snout a second time to silence him for a brief moment. "Now, say that a random stallion came and took Rarity away from you, permanently."

"You mean... to another city, right?" He asked, trying to avoid the thoughts that started to unravel in his mind.

"Try six feet underground."

A shudder traveled down his spine. As it did, his thoughts started to reveal a new fear that had now started to manifest. But as his thoughts of Rarity meeting her end started to blossom, the images of Nondis standing behind Rarity as she defended him started to surface. His fear became quelled as his anger continued to burn for the human. "It's not the same."

Cadance walked in front of him to look him in the eye. Her tone hardened as she proceeded to scold him. "Well that's what you tried to do to not only Rarity, but Twilight as well. Not to mention the others who actually feel some type of way about him. If he was sent out and died because of your selfishness, do you think Twilight would ever let you back in?"

Spike tried to justify his answer. "But-"

"Do you think Rarity would ever want you coming back?"

"But he's different-"

Cadance wouldn't grant him the opportunity to speak as she continued to do so. "But the emotions he show, the love he gives out, the interactions, they're all one in the same just like you and me."

Much akin to a child, the dragon pouted and folded his arms. "He's doesn't deserve her."

Cadance placed a hoof on his shoulder and leaned down to whisper into his ear. "That may be the case, but neither do you."

The dragon's eyes opened wide as he turned back to Cadance, who looked down at him with a cold stare. Instantly, he started to feel small in comparison to the alicorn princess that stood well over his caretaker. Spike seemingly began to shrink as she continued to grow, but his illusion came crashing to a halt with the sound of Shining Armor's voice.

"Cadie!"

"On my way, dear." She said loudly, causing the dragon to jump at her voice. As she broke away from him, she whispered back to Spike. "Now you think about this discussion. And try not to pull something like that ever again."

As he watched Cadance walk off with her husband, he started to feel a myriad of emotions. Deep down, he wanted to argue with her about how he rightfully deserved to be with Rarity, how he fought for her affection time and time again, how Nondis was impeding with his time with the fashionista, how Rarity lusted after him. But the only thing that continued to burn inside of his mind was the image of Rarity and Twilight shunning him alongside Cadance. He didn't know what to feel at that moment aside from frustration.

Spike gritted his teeth as he started to think about how wrong she was about him. How much she didn't know about what all he did for her, the nights he spent by her side and cleaning up her home. The nights where she cried after Nondis and he comforted her in place of him. Fear and insecurity drove him to deny her words./

"I don't deserve her? I don't deserve Rarity? So he does and I don't? What makes him so different? He ignores her and lets her do all these things for him, despite everything costing her so much... He doesn't deserve her nearly as much as I do. I've earned her, I did! I deserve to be with Rarity, NOT HIM!"

His claws clenched into fists as he started to breathe smoke. His arms trembled as his teeth started to grind against one another, creating a dry chattering noise. His breath started to heat up as he thought about how he was deserving of Rarity. In fact, he would prove just how worthy he was of Rarity's love.

"He'll see just how much I want her. I want her... I want her... I deserve her... I... I... Spike..."

He held his head as a headache started to form. His eyes clenched shut as he started to breathe heavily, thinking more about Rarity and how much he hated Nondis for taking his time with the beautiful Rarity away from him. He came to the conclusion that he would have his jewel, his elusive diamond, his Rarity.

His decision was made.

"S-Spike... want..."

Back in Ponyville...

I really couldn't complain about the food that I was given. Instead, I was too busy complaining about how there wasn't enough of it to go around for round three. Rarity continued to express her apologies while I was more focused on trying to beg her to make another casserole for me.

Of course, she graciously declined due to time constraints.

Finally snapping out of my greed, I settled down and allowed the food to digest in my system. Rarity didn't seem to mind that I was laying on her couch, in fact she encouraged me to do so.

Sweetie Belle enjoyed herself as well and walked back upstairs with her teddy bear not too long after the conclusion of the meal. I didn't even notice her leaving until sometime after.

While I sat on the couch, I started to speak with Rarity about how her making my clothes was cutting into her profits. I tried negotiating with her a matter of my payment, but she remained stubborn as usual. Of course, she declined my proposals to pay her back or to work off some of the debt. Instead, she started measuring me up for more clothes she wanted to make. I initially refused but then she did the lip-quiver, puppy-dog-eyes thing.

I'm never gonna stop falling for that, am I?

I rose off of the couch, feeling as if I was moving a bag of bricks. Apparently the food started to take a toll on me. While I stretched my arms forward to avoid shoulder pains, Rarity answered the door.

"Why hello, darling! And how did things go?"

"I'll talk about it in a moment." Twilight answered as she walked in. "Forgive me for just barging in like this."

"Oh, not a problem." Rarity answered in a cheerful tone.

Twilight immediately flew up to me and gave me a quick peck on the lips as she smiled at me. "Did you eat anything while I was away?"

Still feeling a little tired from my meal, I yawned my response. "Yeah, Rarity cooked."

"Oh, she did?" She asked, seeming as if she was surprised to hear that.

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

The purple pony shook her head as she grabbed my hand. "Nothing. I need you to step outside for a moment."

"How come?" I questioned.

She teleported behind me and gave me a light nudge forward. "Girl talk. Get out."

"What kind of 'girl talk' are you talking about? Is it the personal kind or the gossipy kind?" I playfully asked.

"Classified." Twilight answered flatly as she pushed me out of the front door. "Now wait for me out here. It shouldn't take me long."

As soon as the door closed, I was subjected to waiting outside of the boutique. And with each moment that passed by, I started to get a little restless for some odd reason. I knew that I was limited to doing nothing today, but my mind was still seeking something to do as I waited. I pulled out my phone and took note of the time and battery.

It was six fifty-eight while the battery was at twenty-three percent. Damn.

I guess Flappy Bird would have to wait until later. Why the hell didn't I bring my charger with me? Leaning against the door, I tried to make out what they were talking about. And to my misfortune, I couldn't hear much of anything. It sounded as if they were speaking from behind a pillow as soft as they were. Letting my curiosity get the better of me, I looked through the small glass window imbued to the front door. As my eyes shifted from left to right, I couldn't see anyone inside.

I began to grow impatient, mainly because I was just abruptly thrown outside with no proper reasoning behind it all besides 'girl talk'. And that could be in the realm of anything in this case. I'm not sure what they were discussing, but it was starting to take forever. I looked down to my phone again and saw that only two minutes had went by.

From the perspective of an individual who's mind or fingers were kept busy, I was very uncomfortable. When I was back in my world, I had a laptop, a computer, an Xbox 360, a toy keyboard, and a cell phone to entertain me. And even when those bored me I had the advantage, though I didn't really find much of a desire for it, of hanging out with a fraternity. Or sometimes I'd go to the parties my frat was apart of, get drunk, talk shit and get shitted on for it, and wobble my inebriated Texan ass back home.

Even when I was here, I was kept busy. Despite my lack of usual entertainment resources, I had found something to entertain me. I was shipped off to help the other ponies run errands as a means of getting myself acquainted with some of the town's layout. Rainbow Dash and Applejack would prove to be apart of some rather entertaining competition, and I wasn't much of a sports-guy myself. Pinkie was always pulling me along to help her with a few of her parties, which were awesome either way. Rarity would get me involved with her errands and tell me about the gossip going around the town, Fluttershy would let me interact with the woodland creatures, Twilight would take me to different places to have fun.

And don't even get me started on Discord.

Yet again, I checked my phone to see that another three minutes had passed by. Finally caving in to boredom, I swiped my screen and pulled up the Flappy Bird App. As soon as I was met with the start-up screen, I let myself get comfortable. I needed to get comfortable because this was going to be a frustrating, albeit fun, experience. Just as the game began to count down to my start, I looked at the high-score in the corner. Internally, I continued to scream at Melanie for making it past thirty-two of these damn pipes.

In short, the objective of the game was to tap the screen to keep your bird flying and to avoid the green pipes. You also can't hit the ground or the ceiling or else it's game over. And hitting the pipes will result in you hitting the ground which is also, you guessed it, game over.

When the game started, I had began to time my taps against the screen. It didn't seem to matter which way I was going about this, I wasn't going to reach that high score...

Or anywhere past the first pipe for that matter. Damn, I'm out of practice. As the results screen seemed to remind me that I got a big, fat ZERO on my first go in several months, I calmly pressed 'try again'.

Now that I was getting back into the mix of things, nothing could possibly go wrong.

Great! I made it past the first pipe.

...And crashed into the second. Game over.

"Fuck off!" I muttered strongly at the game.

Pressing 'try again', I continued to tap my finger on the screen, avoiding several more of the green pipes before my imminent demise.

Game over. My score was nine pipes passed. At least I could vent my frustrations on something that wasn't dealing with the two mares in the boutique. But with each game that passed, my legs started to feel restless. Standing up, I started to pace back and forth to keep myself calm... despite the metric fuck-ton of times I keep dying.

But my work wasn't without it's rewards. I was actually falling back into stride with each loss I incurred. The more I lost, the more pipes I cleared. And on occasion, I'd have a regression of pipes as well, but it wasn't all that bad. Soon, I was back up to my usual twenty-some-odd pipes. And after I hit pipe number thirty, I started to gain confidence that I would beat the high score.

I cleared yet another pipe to make my personal best of thirty one, when suddenly...

"Nondis!"

Just as Twilight called my name, I ended up rabbit-tapping my screen, causing me to smack face first into the next green pipe.

...I am a small yellow flower, flowing gently across the wind and landing into a beautiful lake. A lake full of crystal clear waters suddenly marred by the blood of my enemies. Their limbs floating by as the waters ran red and murky. Violent screams could be heard from far away, indicating that there were several more of them shouting out to their beloved dead. FUCK! SHIT! DAMMIT! AAAAAAAARRRGH!!!

"Nondis, you ready to go?"

I feel pretty... oh so pretty... I feel pretty, and witty, and- "Yes. Please."

Would it be fair to hold her accountable for this monstrous fuck-up despite her not knowing? No? ...Please? Well then I guess I could let her pass. Exiting off the app and checking the time, I could see that a whole twenty minutes had flown by.

"Alright, let's get going." She said as she started to walk off. I followed closely behind her as I continued to mentally sing to myself.

...Wait a second.

As we made our way back to the castle, I could already see the vast improvements from this morning. Many of the holes that riddled the walls from yesterday were repaired as if nothing had happened. The scorch marks on the buildings were painted over and the broken windows were all repaired. The bodies were all cleaned up yesterday via the guards from Cloudsdale, so thankfully we didn't have to deal with that.

I gotta hand it to these ponies, they sure can work fast. I guess it's because of their magical abilities that they can make a town's repair go by so quickly. If we'd have these same issues back on my world, it would take months to get all of this done. They did it in the course of a single day! That's progress!

On our way back we managed to walk by the town square, or rather the place I had to do most of my fighting. Twilight did a bit more snooping around as she kinda played supervisor over the progress of the town. Applejack was busy directing a few ponies to raise up a wall towards a small house. Rainbow Dash, alongside a few other pegasi, were coming in from behind and hammering the nails in place to hold the wall up.

Meanwhile, Twilight approached them and started asking if progress was moving along smoothly. Obviously so because this town was a mess yesterday. I walked over to survey a group of stallions talking about how hard they had to work throughout the day. They threw in a couple of jokes as well to get each other laughing. I started to laugh along with them, but had realized that I hadn't even heard the joke well enough to be laughing. I guess their joy and optimism was contagious enough to draw me in.

"Nondis!"

I turned around to see Twilight standing beside her friends, looking at me. The purple mare walked over and magically pulled at my shirt to bring me back over. With a giggle, she tapped me on the nose and teased me. "Quit being nosy."

"What else can I do? You keep talking to everyone else but me. I gotta keep myself entertained somehow."

She gave me a smirk as her magic pulled out my phone. "Could I borrow this for a quick second?"

"What for?" I asked.

She ignored my question and called both Applejack and Rainbow Dash over. The two mares quickly made their way over and stood next to her. As she held my phone, she waved her hoof at me, telling me to stand beside her.

Okay, I get what she's doing now.

I walked over and stood next to her. As she used her magic to focus in on the controls, she took a picture of the four of us and pulled it back in to view the photo. Immediately she saw that my face was too high for the lens to capture, so she asked me to kneel down for a second one. As soon as I did, we took yet another picture. This time when we pulled it in, we noticed a certain pink pony that suddenly showed up behind us wearing a goofy grin.

Twilight wasn't impressed. "Pinkie!"

The pink mare giggled at us as she stuck out her tongue at Twilight. Applejack and Rainbow Dash didn't seem to mind about it. Actually, they started to laugh alongside her while Twilight looked as if her feathers had gotten knotted up real bad. Eventually she lightened up and started laughing along with them.

I could only watch as they happily exchanged their laughter with one another. But as I started to save the picture as a background, a random lion's paw came up beside me and grabbed my phone.

"And what do we have here? Such an interesting little gadget you have. What all does it do?" Discord asked.

Fluttershy, who accompanied him, grabbed my phone and gave it back to me. "It's called a cell phone, or at least that's what Twilight said."

"Yup." I confirmed. "Back on my world, it's a special cell phone called an iPhone."

"An eye phone? Well do you need some sort of eye magic or something to make it work?" Discord inquired.

"No, just the letter i. It's lowercase where the p in phone is uppercase. As you can tell from here." I said, turning the phone over and pointing to the logo.

"I couldn't help but to notice that the logo is the shape of a half-eaten apple. Is there any reason for that?"

"I dunno. That's just their logo. The company itself is called Apple."

"Do they sell apples?" Applejack asked, overhearing our conversation.

I started to scratch my head on how I could explain this. "Well... they don't sell the apples you know of. They're a company that specializes in computers."

"Com-what-now?" Applejack tilted her head at the word computers. Of course I had forgotten that my technology is decades ahead of what they already have established here in Equestria.

"Okay, to put it bluntly, they don't sell fruit. They sell phones, touchpads, watches, and all kinds of high-tech stuff that you'd see in a sci-fi movie, or better yet, stuff that you'd only read about in books."

"Yeah, but the concept of multidimensional travel is a work-in-progress when it comes to their world." Twilight noted in an attempt to one-up mankind. "Your technology is better when it comes to making daily life a lot easier, but when it comes to magical practices that could alter the fabric of time and space, humans don't have that one."

"Of course, we don't have magic. But we don't always have paperback or hardcover books that could be eaten by bugs. Instead, we have our stuff downloaded onto our phones and tablets."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Once again, daily life things."

"Once again, that could give us information at the touch of a button."

"But it couldn't survive getting wet in a thunderstorm, now could it?"

I think we're going to be at this for a while.

After our short argument about who's technology was better, we came to the conclusion that ponies had the best advantage when it came to the arcane and the supernatural, and that humans had the advantage of adapting and terraforming our environment.

Of course, when I brought up the fact that we had sent humans to the moon and back down at-will kinda gave them a shock. The last known pony to make it to the moon was Princess Luna, and she was banished there for a thousand years.

Of course, he started to get into an argument about longevity, but the sun had long set over the horizon, indicating that our conversation was dragging well past it's time of completion. But that didn't stop me and Twilight, who argued over what was what on the way back home.

"And? Ponies are capable of living up to well over a thousand years."

"That's Celestia and Luna, they control the sun and the moon, which have been existent for OVER FOUR BILLION YEARS in my world!"

Neither of us were willing to concede as we finally made it back to our room.

"So? Ponies on average get to live about sixty-eight years." She stated triumphantly. "So how about you humans?"

I sighed heavily knowing that I was beat on that topic. "Humans life expectancy is averaged globally to around sixty-seven years."

"That's right! So we ponies would ultimately live a year longer than you..." Suddenly, Twilight trailed off as she took the time to think about her statement. Her tone suddenly went from confrontational to remorseful. "...I'd live a year longer than you."

Already, I could see the sadness welling up in her eyes. I placed my hand on her cheek, caressing her as I stroke her. "Hey, it's just an average. I could be well on my way out far later than that."

"Or it could be earlier." She whispered as she looked to me. Her hoof sought my hand, grabbing and holding it firmly against her face as she nuzzled it. "I don't think I'll be ready for that."

"Well you don't have to worry about it, because I'm not dead yet." I answered, stroking her mane softly.

"I don't think I can handle losing you. We've just gotten to know each other... and now we're marrying one another. If you died today, I'd never get the chance to call you my husband."

Twilight breathed heavily as she leaned against me, hoping that I'd hug her back. I wrapped my arms around her and whispered into her ear. "How about we get off this subject before you get any more depressed?"

"Under one condition." She murmured into my chest.

"What's that?"

"You have to promise me that you'll stop trying to play hero. There's nothing wrong with being normal."

I chuckled at her request. I never really did see myself in a world of talking, colorful equines as the norm. "That's not exactly something I can do, you know. It's hard being normal when I'm considered as abnormal to everypony else."

"You're one of us. I think you are."

"Yeah, but how does everyone else see me?" I questioned.

She pulled off of me and gave me a frown, showing me that she didn't like the question I asked. "Stop that. You're trying to seek confirmation of your existence based off of everypony else's opinion of you. It doesn't matter what they think."

Yet in that instant, somehow my mind was fixated on one particular figure that hated me. The words he spoke as he growled at me, causing Rarity to stand in between the two of us. "I guess you could tell that to Spike then."

Twilight walked away from me, looking towards her writing desk with the diary. She shook her head as she looked back at me. "Spike... Spike tried to get you deployed today."

Wow, that little fucker decided to screw me over, after I saved him. He must really hate my guts, for what seems to be for little reason. I thought Rarity made it clear to him that her doing my clothes was a personal choice of hers. I guess love, or obsession, can blind one to reason. "Where to?"

"I don't know. But that just made me so uncomfortable, to see that there are ponies out there who were willing to send you out so quickly. If it wasn't for Blueblood buying you time, you'd be going off to a land you haven't been to or have little chance of survival."

Wait a minute... Did she just say- "Blueblood?"

"Yeah, I know right?"

I was still in awe over the two things that transpired in Canterlot. I guess that's why she was so willing to keep me close to her since her coming back. She knew that they were trying to send me off the entire time and I'd be nothing more than a martyr for their cause, or to go a step further, an obstacle moved out of Spike's way.

I'm still trying to process that he actually tried to betray me like this. Wow... I'm at a loss for words. I... I can't even think that he'd try to get me sent off, or worse, even killed.

"So he came to Canterlot after he left Ponyville?" I asked.

"Yeah. Apparently, he had more to say to me as I was about to leave, but Cadance came by and kinda cut him short."

So, the 'girl talk' from earlier wasn't the result of his ratting Rarity out. But still... "So what now?"

"I'll have him temporarily reassigned. Until he learns to calm down, he can't be here in Ponyville... I can't believe I'm even saying that."

"Why?" I questioned, starting to see her become even more saddened.

"Because... I promised him that I'd never send him away, and here I am... doing just that because of... I don't know." She started to hold back her tears. "Why does he have to act like this? Where did I go wrong?"

"It's me." I answered quietly. "If Rarity wasn't making all of these clothes for me at the risk of her business going under, he'd be a lot more stable. This is all me."

I wasn't willing to disclose her feelings just yet. If anything, I don't disclose that kind of stuff to others without their consent. I haven't even told Twilight about Pinkie's feelings towards me, so how could I contradict myself and do the opposite with Rarity? That would be unfair and it could break the bonds of their friendship. I was already walking on a thin line as it was, I couldn't just shovel all their dirt out for the world to see. And she said it herself, their friendship sessions was a chance for them to come clean with one another. I can't break that obligation.

"But Rarity already stated that she didn't mind making you clothes. I didn't know that her business would take a hit."

"I tried to tell her that I'd pay her however way I needed to. But she kept writing me off."

Twilight sighed as she turned to her journal once more. This time she levitated it towards her and summoned a pen. As she scribbled something down, she spoke. "I'll have something arranged for her. I'll try to deposit a few funds from my account to hers. It'll be considered as an anonymous donation, so that way she'll be unaware of who actually sent it to her. I'll pay her a specific amount each week and we can move on from there."

"Do you mind me pitching in?" I asked.

"Sure, I'm certain that she'll appreciate it. Just deny that you sent it to her and she'll never notice the difference from one of her other special clients."

I can get behind that. At least then I'd be paying her back rather than feeling guilty for each piece of clothing I wear for free. "Okay. But what about Spike?"

"I'm sure that there's more than just clothes in mind when it comes to him. He can be a bit clingy when it comes to Rarity. Again, I'll show him that he can't stick around if he intends to play foul with you."

"Are you sure about this?" I questioned, seeing that Twilight still had some thoughts against it.

"Sometimes we have to learn the hard way. I love him, but that doesn't mean that I won't show him the error of his actions." She stated firmly. "I won't try and find an easy way out of this one... not again."

I quirked an eyebrow at her choice of words. "Again?"

She paused for a moment, looking outside of her window. As she saw the moon climbing high into the sky, she remained silent for most of the time. Finally, she turned back to me and pointed towards the door.

"Let's go for a walk."

"Twilight."

"Yes?"

"I can understand that you wanted me to accompany you tonight, but why am I wearing a blindfold when there's already little light as it is?"

"Just hold on to me, we're almost there."

I continued to blindly follow Twilight, holding on to the very tip of her wing. I was trying my best not to injure her as a result of me grabbing her too harshly. For much of the way, she constantly told me about some of the adventures her and her friends went on, the dangers they faced and the trials they overcame as a result of their friendship. For the most part it was quite inspiring, but for the other it was frustrating to walk around blind. At least I could say I'd blindly follow her into danger.

In speaking of danger.

"Careful of where you step. There's a bit of broken glass here and there as well as some rusty nails, so you might not want those in your foot."

Where the hell was she taking me? I didn't know any place that had broken glass and rusty nails when I was here. Perhaps this was someplace new. She slowed down, using her magic to remove my hand from her wing. She continued to adjust me afterwards, trying to move me towards one solitary spot.

"Stand right here. Don't remove your blindfold just yet."

As I heard her hoofprints trail off, I started to grow concerned of where I really was. "Twilight, where am I?"

"You're home." She answered quietly.

I cringed to myself, unaware of what to think. "Home doesn't sound like broken glass and creaky wood."

"You're right, it shouldn't... You can take off your blindfold now."

Undoing the knot on the back of my head, I could feel the bright moonlight reaching my eyes. As I finally removed the blindfold, I was met with a rather unusual sight.

I was standing on a wooden floor, all around me seemed to be the destroyed remnants of what appeared to be a library. To my left was what I assumed the doorway that led us here. To my right was a set of stairs that ended in ash and blackened wood. Remnants of window seals and walls was all that stood here. A few scorched books lied scattered across the floor. Even where I stood was covered in dirt and paper.

"Welcome to Golden Oaks Library, my home."

"You used to live here?"

"Mmhmm." She confirmed with a nod. "It used to be an abandoned Library that nopony really used since it's former owner left for Seaddle. The mortgage was partially paid off when I had gotten it. I finished off the payments, I bought insurance for it, and all of it came out of my summer stipends from Princess Celestia. Here was when I first started my lessons in the magic of friendship."

She walked up to me, magically levitating all of the papers away from my feet to reveal a star-shaped scorch mark that resembled her cutie mark. As soon as she wiped off the dirt, I began to see the other stars that circled around the larger one. It was definitely her cutie mark. "So how did this get here?" I asked.

"That spot there, that's where I was given my wings. That was the last place I stood as a unicorn, as a student of friendship. That's where I became a princess. It's also the very spot where we and the girls started our first adventure together."

"Seems like some pretty good times." I stated quietly.

"They were. And you won't believe how angry the insurance firm was with me. I had to constantly have repairs done for miscellaneous reasons. Rainbow Dash crashing through my window, Spike crashing a hole in my walls, my constant misfiring spells, the numerous times where the foundation was removed, apple juice spilling across the library, changeling attacks, they didn't know where to start. But there was one place they knew where to end."

She and I shared a laugh for a brief moment before she had gotten really quiet again.

Wow that's a lot. "In speaking of where it ends, what happened to this place?"

"Let's just say that I got caught trying to take the easy way out of things."

I looked around and saw the damage. I blinked twice and scratched my head. "This was the easy way out?"

She started to gaze off towards another direction, towards the front door and past the horizon. "I went against a mighty foe. My orders were to protect the magic of Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, and that of my own. They all gave their magic to me in an attempt to hide it from him. Instead, he found me anyways. When he first met face to face, he towered well over me. I was so scared when I saw just how big he was, and the fact that he could steal magic made him all the more terrifying."

"So you ran away?"

"I did. But it was to prevent him from stealing the alicorn magic. So I teleported all the way from Rambling Rock Ridge to here. But he already knew where I was headed. So he sent out a powerful blast of magic and well... this was the result. This could've been avoided if I had decided to fight him prior to my coming back here, but I didn't. And now whenever I pass by here, I'm reminded of what happens when I run away from my problems, when I decide to take the easy way out of things rather than the right way."

I could look at this mare and never even realized that she had lost so much. Instead, I'm sitting here in the middle of the very thing she lost. Her heart was broken beyond repair that day, and coming by here would prove to be a painful reminder. I couldn't imagine myself losing all of what I had worked so hard to keep, my home, the memories it contained.

I'll never get to know that pain, the pain of a tornado victim, the pain of a fire victim, the pain of a flood victim, the pain of bombs hitting your home, or even this pain.

The only pain I ever come to know is to witness the damage firsthand.

"So... Do you know the other reason why I brought you here?" She asked with a weak smile.

"No."

"It's because I want you to replace this."

I looked around, once again surveying the damage. "Don't you think that this is a bit of a stretch?"

She shook her head. "Hardly. A home can be repaired or replaced. The sentimental value of an item can only last as long as it does or the memories behind it. But the life of a loved one... There's no value on that. There's no replacing something that can only exist once. I can't replicate you, so having you in place of this makes perfect sense."

"So you'd want me to replace all of this?"

"If it's not too much to ask for."

I took a moment to think about my answer. But there was still something I wanted to know before I would agree to this. "One more question, why?"

"...Because you mean more to me than this."

I walked up to her, grabbing her by the chin as I held her up to look me in they eyes. Those beautiful lavender orbs that circled around in an endless sea, the way the moon glowed in them, I began to pant heavily as I leaned in towards her. "You're lying."

She took a step back, leading me slowly towards the door. "How dare you accuse me of lying."

"Then tell me, how much more value do I have over this?"

There was no smile on her face, no expression of happiness. But neither was there one of anger or disbelief. Instead it was one of determination, it was one of firm resolve. She leaned up to me, briefly making contact with my lips as she nibbled on my lower lip. Tugging and pulling lightly, she yanked me in. A small peck was all I was given, yet the strange glow in her eyes as if she was a feline hiding in the darkness, awaiting her prey as she shifted and readied herself to pounce, it sold me on the fact that she would give me more... Much, much more.

"Let's go back. I'll show you just how much you mean to me."

All guards were dismissed. All servants were sent home. All of the assistants and secretaries were placed on leave as Twilight and I ran through the halls. And the moment we closed the door behind us, we were left staring back at each other. Still gathering our breath, we calculated our next moves against each other. What began as a race to the room had now became that of a chess match. With each move she'd make, I'd counter with one of my own. My leg would move towards her, she'd move back. For moments at a time, our thoughts circled around one another, trying to find an opening.

Her horn glowed dimly, offering us the only bit of light we had available aside from the moon. I could hear the clattering of two small rings landing on the floor. Her breaths became heavy and baited as I stalked her towards the bed. I reached out to grab her, unwittingly grasping my hand around her throat. Her response was her magic dragging me in, tightening my grasp on her. Twilight moaned quietly as she writhed in my grasp.

"Ravage me." She did not say those words, yet she mouthed them. Her breaths trembled as she looked at me with pleading eyes.

I pulled off my shirt quickly, trying to free myself from the clothes that still symbolized any form of civility I might have had left. I started to work on my pants, while Twilight used her magic to pull at my hair, yanking me in to give her lips the attention she desperately craved for. Thought it was painful at first, I ignored it for a much better pursuit; ecstasy. I pulled the rest of my clothes off, tossing them on the floor to join with the chastity rings she had worn earlier.

My hands glided over her lips, sliding down in an agonizing pace to reach down and cusp it's way in between her haunches. Her body seized up as if a sharp bolt of pain ran through her body. But I knew that her cry was one of enjoyment. I gifted her with two, causing her to wiggle and grind against my moistening hand. My fingers would curl and flex inside of her as my thumb gently worked against the winking bud.

Effective immediately, her body tensed and thrashed wildly as her juices spurned forth as if I had struck the vein of a hot spring. Much of my hand became affected by moisture, causing me to slip out of her easily despite her walls pleading with me not to leave. Though she herself protested my retreat, she found an immense curiosity over her own flavor. Her magic pulled at my arm, dragging it towards her mouth where her tongue awaited. In between my fingers, her slimy organ heedlessly cleansed me, ultimately resulting in nothing more than a slobbering mess.

I didn't care much for it, as my main concern was that she cleaned so much of herself that I failed to get a chance to sample for myself, a problem she'd rectify with a long, heated, passionate wrestling of our tongues. When we separated, our lips were barely bridged together by several strands of saliva. We were ugly, uncivilized, slovenly, and yet we felt nothing but a wanton desire to send each other to a place neither of us could reach alone.

My body moved accordingly, spreading her legs wide as my throbbing form pressed against the lubricated entrance of her nethers. As my eyes trailed downward, I had broken myself out of trance to see that I was just an inch or two of voiding her title.

"We don't-"

I was silenced by the warm feeling of magenta flames encircling my lower body, pressing me towards her. She whispered to me as the sweat began to bead across her face. "I give you consent." She whispered under her warm breath.

As I inched closer, I felt what I had long desired starting to become a reality. I leaned against her, prodding myself head-first into her sex. Already, I could feel the tightness overwhelming me, almost pushing me back out. As I pulled back out, I felt the magenta flames intensify their grip around me, forcing me forward.

"I won't tell if you won't."

After I sank into her, she used her magic to pull me even further. Suddenly, she pushed me back out. I looked back down and then to her. She quietly mouthed to me in a small voice. "I trust you."

To be continued...

So... Me thinks that the situation has gotten seven layers of real. Now that Twilight has taken the extra step, placing her very title at risk, what would become of her? Would Spike show just how much he resents Nondis? Would Rarity ever have a chance at him? Will Nondis cave and tell Twilight the truth? And who will lead the search for the changeling commander?

Only time, as well as a few more chapters, would tell.