"A... break?"

Twilight stood baffled as I stood just in front of her as she stood beside the bed. Her eyes widened to the size of grapefruits. I could already see that her forelegs were shaking uncontrollably as she stared back at me in silence.

"It's just a break from our relationship. It doesn't mean that we completely broke up, but it also means that we can't really spend a lot of time together." I explained. "I know it doesn't sound very good, but I can assure you that this would be for the best when it comes to our relationship."

Twilight sat onto her haunches, her front legs still shaking. This time, she let her head drop as well as her ears. The bangs of her mane drooped low enough to hide the whites of her eyes. Her body began to shake. "This is because I yelled at you, isn't it?"

"Twilight, that's not even the issue. That's been long resolved." I confirmed by giving her a light pet on the top of her head. "What my main concern is how quickly we're trying to tie things up. And at this speed, we might end up wrecking what we have rather than salvaging it."

"But I was trying to salvage it. I tried my best." I could see her beginning to shed tears from behind her bangs. The indigo locks of hair could hide her eyes, but they couldn't hide the streaks of tears rolling down her cheeks and off of her chin. Her breathing had also grown nonrhythmic, her trembling increasing as well.

"Twilight," I tried to get her to look at me by clearing the hair out of her eyes, but her magic pushed my hand away from her bangs. I decided to leave her be. "You can't run into something that will change your life. If anything, you should at least plan ahead and make sure that you're making the right decision. You need to make sure that your heart, as well as mine, are in alignment for the long-haul. And us bandit-charging into marriage won't be a very wise decision."

"But we were friends before this. I was willing to give you everything."

"Friendship can be a beautiful thing in marriage... But that doesn't make it a good one. Friends have gotten into relationships as easily as we did and tried to rush things quicker than we ever did. But if you talk to those individuals now, do you think they'll say that it was the best decision they ever made? No. They'll lament on how they altered their friendships for the rest of their lives, how they've destroyed every memory they had prior to their getting entangled. Yes, there are some who end up being married for quite some time, but for many cases that's not it. Don't you want us to stay friends... even if we don't remain lovers?"

"Fri...ends...?" Twilight said on the verge of collapsing in on herself.

"I love being friends with you, Twilight. And I don't want that to be ruined because we ran into a life-long commitment without a proper plan or just out of bad timing. I can't imagine ourselves ending it on the terms where we absolutely despise each other. I just want us to keep that much, even if it all falls apart. And if it doesn't then we can be both lovers and best friends. All I'm saying is that I want us to have time to grow, into something healthy."

Twilight sunk a little lower as she spoke to me. "And this 'break', it's gonna make us stronger... right?"

"Truthfully, that's up to you. Focus on yourself and your needs, allow yourself the freedom from the stress of trying to appease to what I want. If you need to, then I don't mind you exploring for yourself. If I'm what makes you happy at the end of this, then we'll continue. If you find someone else that can do better than I ever could..." I took a deep sigh at what I was going to say. "Then let it be. Enjoy the future with that next-best thing."

"But-"

"Listen to your heart. And if your heart tells you that I'm not it, then I'm not it."

"But what if I hurt you?"

"Then I'll be hurt. It's happened before. I can learn to get over it." I personally knew that it would take me a while to recover from Twilight giving me the boot, but I've learned that heartbreak is a part of life, just as breathing, sleeping, and dying. I don't need to make the same mistakes I made a long time ago to get myself to feel better. I can do this.

"...Okay."

Somehow I wasn't exactly prepared for her to confirm the break. I didn't think she'd do it in contrast to her screaming and crying about how she wanted to stay together and work things through that way. "What?"

Finally, the purple princess lifted her head and looked at me with a bittersweet smile, the tears still brimming from her closed eyes. "Sure. Let's take a break. For our relationship, right?"

I'm actually relieved to hear that she's somewhat optimistic about this. "Yeah. I know it sounds-"

"I mean, 'lest the heart grow fonder', right?" Twilight said with a bit more enthusiasm. "We can keep our relationship fresh if we do this. So why not?"

Now I'm kinda concern as to how she pulled this miraculous one-eighty and changed her stance on the issue so easily. "Well it doesn't necessarily keep the relationship fresh per se, but it does keep it thriving."

"And our friendship will last, even if we don't... That's what you said, right?"

I could already hear the optimism leaving her as soon as she uttered those words. "Twilight-"

"I mean, I could never find anyone like you or you find anypony like me... but we can make it work... right?" She questioned with uncertainty.

I could tell she was trying to boast some confidence that we'd come out on top, almost with a sense of pride. But her sadness was catching on to her boastful banter. I didn't want her to start breaking down now, so I offered her some encouragement. "I'm sure that you'll always have a place in my heart. In fact, you're the first one I actually had the honor and privilege to call my own. And that's an honor that no one can take away."

Twilight gave me a smile as she started to walk towards me. In the fraction of a second, I could feel her clasping around my waist, holding me close to her as she nuzzled against me. "And I'll always have you in mine. But as you said, let's play friends for now. At least we can still hang out... if you want."

"I... I'm afraid not right now."

"Oh... I see. But you can still stick around the castle if you'd like."

But that would still leave me within arm's reach of her. If we were going to do this properly, I needed to stay someplace else. "Actually, I was gonna find an apartment in town. Someplace to chill for a hot minute until my shoulder heals up. Then I can station myself in Canterlot-"

"NO!" She exclaimed, catching me off guard. "I mean, that's unnecessary. The accommodations have been made for you already, in an environment where you're free of judgement. Your belongings, as well as the portal to your world, is all here. Why can't you just stay?"

"Twilight, we need to separate. Us being together in separation would do nothing, it would defeat the purpose of what we're doing."

Twilight hung her head low once more. "Oh... I'm sorry."

I leaned down and gave her a quick peck on the forehead, rubbing my hand against her mane. "We'll try for like two weeks to a month. If after two weeks I feel that need some more time, I'll let you know. If you need some more time, then feel free to let me know. Got it?"

Twilight quietly nodded.

"Okay then... I guess I need to start packing my things then."

"...Do you need some help? I'd be happy to assist." Twilight chimed in, trying her best to sound like her usual cheerful self.

"Actually, Sunset's in the room I used to have. She could help me. You already helped me get my stuff across the portal. You're fine."

"Please..." She insisted, trying to walk me to the door. As I began to walk into the hall, I barred the purple alicorn from walking any further.

"Princess, rest. I can take care of this without your intervention. I would let you carry on with your duties in the meanwhile, but do not feel obligated to interrupt your schedule to cater towards me. Last I checked, you are still recovering also."

Twilight's wings shifted a bit as she pushed me out of the door. Her shove was not like the usual playful push she'd normally do. Instead it was like she was shoving me away from her, as if she was gravely wounded and didn't want me to see. I could understand her pain, she was upset of the rejection of me staying here. And she was even more so upset with me rejecting her assistance. Twilight continued to look at me through the door.

"...Well... I guess I'll be seeing you then..." She said with a slight tremolo in her voice.

"Yeah... Later, your highness." I answered, giving her a low bow.

Swallowing her sadness, she produced the biggest smile she could ever give. With a waive of her hoof, she called out to me. "...Farewell, captain. May your nights be as pleasant as they were when you were here."

Her magic glowed brightly as she telekinetically closed the door. As the spacing between the two doors decreased, I could see her face contort into an extremely painful expression. In mere seconds, I could see the smile that once graced her face break into a quivering frown. Her jaw dropped as she fell onto the ground. As the large door banged shut, I could hear the princess sobbing profusely through the heavy wood.

...I'm really sorry, Twilight. But we need to do this.

After over an hour of gathering my clothes and other belongings, Sunset Shimmer assisted me in getting everything from the castle to a small, two-story hotel not too far away from the castle. By the time we had arrived, the lobby seemed completely empty with the exception of one pony at the desk, who was wearily tapping his hoof against the counter. When Sunset walked towards the front desk, he immediately straightened up, slicked back his mane, checked his breath, and produced a seductive smile.

"Welcome to the Ponyville Pamper, one of Ponyville's finest inns. I can mostly assure you that the accommodations will be to your liking, or your money back. May I take your items this evening, ma'am?"

As soon as I walked in, his facial expression soon changed as he realized that I was carrying some more bags. For starters, that devious smirk had then transformed into a confused frown. "Oh, so I suppose you will be having a room for two then?"

Sunset immediately blushed and galloped up to the pony behind the desk, almost climbing on top of it. "Hey, he and I are NOT having any funny business, okay?"

He proceeded to smile once more at the unicorn mare. "Yes ma'am. So two separate rooms?"

"Room for one." I confirmed. "I'd greatly appreciate some help with the luggage."

"Oh..." He instantly sounded uncertain with me being his guest. "Well... I wouldn't... think we'd have something in *ahem* your size."

"So are you saying that you don't cater to humans?" Sunset questioned, seeming to take exception to the statement. "Is that what you're trying to say?"

"No!" He said, starting to back down into his seat. "I-I just-"

"So it's because he's sporting arms and legs and him being a different species from you is why your facilities doesn't seem to accommodate to humans? Or is it just because you don't like him?"

"No way!" He screamed while waving his hooves. "I've seen just what this guy can do! He can kill a changeling from several feet away! And he's a hero who saved a train full of civilians up in Canterlot! He's a savior in my eyes! I-I'm just saying we're not worthy! Our beds were pretty much made with only p-ponies in mind. And there are much better establishments with way better views than here! We don't even have a penthouse suite!"

I shook my head and walked up to the desk. "I'm just looking for something cheap and brief. I had to carry a lot of shit here."

"Don't you mean 'we had to carry a lot of shit here?' Your injured shoulder couldn't even do as much as I could with my magic." She corrected, in a boastful way as she levitated about ninety percent of everything I owned.

"Right... that." I'm not gonna lie, her magic is damn-near up there with Twilight. "I owe you one."

The pony behind the counter grabbed a clipboard from off of the wall and started scanning the list for available rooms. He tapped on the clipboard twice and hummed aloud. "So... would a room down the hall work out for you, sir? It's fitted for two and we could mash the beds together if you'd like."

Sounds like a plan. "Sure! How much per night?"

"Just fifty bits, or a ruby if that's your preferred method of payment. You pay when you check out."

"Room service?" I questioned.

"Sorry, we don't have that. But perhaps I could arrange something of the sort for you, sir."

"Nah, let's just get to this room."

With a nod, he ran from behind the counter and started guiding us to the room he had prepared. Thankfully, it didn't take us more than a few steps and a turn down the hall. I was more relieved that we didn't have to deal with stairs, otherwise my shoulder wouldn't have made it. The guide opened the door to a cozy-looking room, complete with a chair, a bookshelf, and several hard-back classics, including an erotic novel that was a bit too steamy for foals to be exposed to.

After a short while, all of my belongings were lined up against the walls and the beds were pushed together. After a quick rundown of the services available to me, the guide gave me my key and walked out of the room, leaving me and Sunset panting at all of the hard labor we had just finished doing.

"Ahhhh... Done at last." She said as she plopped herself into the chair.

"You okay over there?" I asked as I sat down onto the bed.

"Just a little weary. Carrying so much junk with your magic can leave you with some pretty bad headaches, but I only get tired."

I chuckled to myself. "I suppose, considering that your magic is almost as good as Twilight's."

"Mine will never be as great as hers. I may have been Celestia's pupil at one given time too, but she actually finished the lessons."

"You... You were a student of Celestia?" I questioned, amazed that had similar knowledge with that of Twilight.

"Yup. I just didn't finish. I got too greedy and she didn't like it. I wanted to be princess but was too impatient to put forth the work-effort. So I performed some off-limits research behind her back to learn the secrets to ascension. And after I was found out, I was expelled."

She got caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "So you got caught being greedy?"

"I got caught being irresponsible and greedy, which is why I'm never going to amount to what Twilight can do."

Yeah, I know how that feels. But there was one thing that concerned me. "Quick question, why do you compare everything you do to Twilight?" I asked as I laid back into the bed.

The fiery-maned unicorn yawned and stretched as she remained in the chair. "Well... She's everything that I would've been had I decided to be more patient. And I know that my destiny wouldn't encompass me being an element bearer, but I would still have a crown. Ponies would look up to me for guidance-"

"Don't people do that to you now?"

Sunset yawned once more as she spoke. "To be honest, they still kinda speak more of Twilight. To them, I was the girl who drove them all apart where she's the one that brought them back together. I mean I'm friends with them, but they have a habit of bringing up past sins of mine. But that's a whole other story for next time. I'm just too tired to go into detail."

I looked at the complimentary alarm clock on the nightstand and saw that it was well past eleven. It was well past time for us to get ready to hit the sack. I'm pretty sure she had an early morning as well.

"Well I guess I don't mind escorting you back to the palace real quick-like. You ready to go?"

I didn't get a response.

"Sunset?"

I leaned back up to see the unicorn knocked out in the chair. She leaned peacefully against the cushion of the headrest while breathing softly. I shook my head with amazement.

"Damn, you dropped like a brick, didn't you?"

I stood up and grabbed one of the sheets from off of the second bed to lay on top of her. But as I approached, I began to feel bad for letting her take the chair while I was confined to the beds. Eventually I was stuck trying to make a decision based on my moral compass and my shoulder. But with deep consideration, my morality trounced my shoulder.

Grimacing and grunting, I carried the sleeping mare to one of the beds. I thought about lying down next to her, but I had remember how hot-headed she could be. If she had woke up next to me, she'd probably bash my head in with the nightstand.

...Meh, I'll take that risk. Chairs are uncomfortable to sleep in.

After laying her down, I placed the sheets over her body and left her to her peace. Laying as far as I could away from Sunset, I took my share of pillows and hunched up against the wall. I covered myself up to the best of my abilities, despite dealing with some small sheets, and allowed myself to get comfortable enough to let my knowledge of this world go and transcend into an alternate plane of reality.

What...

The...

Fuck...

Please tell me that was just a B-50 bomber flying over us, and nothing else. I turned back around to see Sunset resting peacefully, quietly resting on her bed. Her chest fell as she whimpered lightly, almost as if she was a small puppy whimpering in her sleep. I guess that she couldn't have been the source of that loud, obnoxious snore from earlier.

...I'm gonna be in for a long night.

The previous night led me to have a rather... unusual dream. For some odd reason, I dreamt that I was in a circle of hooded beings all trying to decide my fate. And shortly after they pointed the finger at me, a large two-headed elephant came marching in the room, coming to my defense. When he finished, that's when I saw a small lizard, who was no larger than a short pencil, jump onto the stand and start screaming obscenities at me. Before I had even noticed, I was holding a sword and a menu with three options came up.

Attack, G-Skills, and Run.

Usually, there was music in this kind of thing to get me pumped up for the fight. Unfortunately, there was no such thing this go round. I have no idea what the Final Fantasy set up was for but I can say that I was thoroughly confused when I had hit run. And of course, the battlefield dissipated into nothingness. I was left in the middle of a black room, sitting in a chair as I watched a door in front of me. The door banged several times before breaking to reveal a black and red demon creature, screaming at me as he charged at me with a yellowish beam of energy. Suddenly, those three options were back on my screen... with one minor change.

Attack, G-Skills, and Die.

Die? Why the fuck is 'die' an option?

Trying my best to mash in the command for the G-Skills, I had noticed that the list was completely empty. The menu then dropped me back into the main selection screen, this time with one of the options scratched out.

Attack, G-Skills, and Die.

So I panicked and desperately called for the attack command. Screaming and shouting, I kept hollering out numerous attacks. Finally, the sword I held in my hand had broken into many pieces, leaving me with a bloodied hand and one less selection on my list. Again, there was a slight alteration.

Attack, G-Skills, and No Other Choice.

By the time I had tried to run, the commands kept overriding into other options, all with the same premise.

Accept it, Free Your Soul, And Give Up Fighting.

I screamed loudly, except that my voice could not be heard. Trying my best, I clapped my hands, stomped my feet, banged on my chest and legs, anything to make a noise. And nothing happened, just complete, desolate silence. I grew impatient and just hit a choice.

And the demon rammed his horn into my chest from behind me, my body jerked as I felt the impact. Immediately, I felt myself fall lifelessly to the ground as he continued to gore me into nothing. My body jerked continuously as he laid each and every hit. And in his next hit, the whole room turned black again.

I heard faint sobbing... Unusually sounding as well. The voice was somewhat similar to that of a single woman speaking in three tones simultaneously. The hellish voice continued to quietly sob for quite some time. That is until it just stopped.

I waited... and waited... and waited... and nothing happened. But I could feel something wrap my legs, preventing me from moving. Silently, I stood helpless, awaiting whatever was to come and take me. And I didn't have to wait for too long. Three bloodied faces on three separate snakes all screamed at me simultaneously as they bore their fangs, ready to dig into me. The last thing I saw was the inside of it's mouth, as well as my own self, whispering to me.

"Not like this... Not like this..."

A deep, blood-churning, gurgling sounded from his throat. And then he opened his mouth, stuck out his tongue and ate his own skin alive.

My eyes leapt open, meeting with the familiar sight of sunlight.

I wish I could answer that. But for now, I was just happy to be back in the real world again. Safe, sound, and with a cute mare leaning up against my chest...

Wait a minute... I'm not with Twilight right now.

Looking down, I could see the serene form of Sunset Shimmer nuzzled up against my chest as she snored loudly into my rib cage. I tried to back away, but found my left leg wrapped in something. Unraveling the covers, I found that much of my lower leg was coiled by her tail.

With a few smacks of her lips, she leaned into me even more, whispering in her dream. "Mmmm... Please, let's try this again... no she-demons this time."

...Not even gonna ask what the fuck that's all about. But I need to get away from her before she wakes up and blames me for sexual assault. And in speaking of which, I could already feel her tail slinking up towards my crotch.

"Nnnngh... No..." She mutters out. "I'm way better than her... I'm more mare than she'll ever be to you."

Nope. I'm not even gonna stick around for this one. This screams 'grand-master, unicorn-style, ass whipping' and 'potential sexual harassment charges'. Carefully placing my hand on my thigh to break off her tail, I scooted my leg free from her grasp. But as soon as my leg experienced freedom, my arm was her new captor.

"Hmmm... You're not getting away that easily. Now... let me do... what I know how to do best."

Her sheets must be soaked, and that scares me. In a desperate effort, I manually unwrapped her tail from around my arm, gently and carefully to where she doesn't wake up from her dream. But then there was one other challenge that started to present itself. Her horn began to glow, summoning my hand towards her chest. Still lost in her dreams, she produced a seductive smile and a lip-bite. "I told you I was more mare than her. Now kiss me."

Using all of my strength I pulled at my arm, to no avail. But then I had to remember one simple principle about unicorn magic. Carefully tapping my finger on her horn, I cut her magic off and instantly freed myself from the clutches of her wet dream. But as I sighed in relief, I had realized that I had lost my balance and began to fall towards the floor, landing on my right arm and shoulder.

...That was the injured shoulder... Yup... Not gonna scream though. Want to, but nope... Okay, maybe just a little.

"Arrrgggh! Dammit!" I screeched through clenched teeth and tongue in cheek. My eyes jammed shut as I winced in pain. The excruciating surge of discomfort caused me to remained confined to the floor, grasping at my aggravated shoulder injury. I couldn't help but to be loud to a certain extent, despite my best attempts to keep quiet and let Sunset sleep. But right now, MY MOTHERFUCKING SHOULDER HURTS!

"Nnngh... Hey, are you okay?"

She's still going on with that damn dream? I could've sworn that I woke up the entire first floor with my falling out of bed.

"Nondis, where are you?"

Okay, so now she's awake.

"Nondis... Oh, why are you on the floor?"

...You. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you, but I fell out of bed."

"Oh. You okay?"

"...Shoulder. Landed on it." I spoke, still cringing in pain.

"What!?"

"Fell out of the bed, landed on my bad shoulder, in hideous amounts of pain."

She flipped the sheets over and leapt out of the bed, standing just beside me. "Oh my goodness! How did you fall out of the bed?"

...You. "I was trying to give you your space. And I backed away a little too far."

She tried her best to sit me up while causing me as little pain as possible. After she got me upright, she started to pull against my shirt. "Okay, I'm gonna need you to take this off. I need to have a better look at you."

Trying my best to remove my shirt using one arm, I used my teeth to hold my collar as I pulled my left arm through. Afterwards, I carefully maneuvered around the injury and let the shirt slack off of my right arm. As Sunset look at my shoulder, she had noticed some significant bruising where I had been bit.

"Oh, wow. That looks bad."

"What looks bad?" I asked worriedly, trying to find out how 'bad' my injury really was.

"Okay, hold still for a second. I'm gonna try something."

In a mere second, she summoned up her book of spells and flipped to a distinctive page and began reading off her notes. Taking a glance at my shoulder, she started to let her magic work at my wound.

"Nondis, I'm going to need you to grab onto something. This is going to feel really weird."

When she started reading her incantation aloud, her magic began to glow from aqua to pure white. Her horn sparked and produced a white ball of light that leapt off of her and floated into the air between us.

"Oh healing light, spring of virtue, heal that which is not of us. Grace them with your power and provide sanctuary. Let your loving embrace show them salvation from all wounds."

The white ball of energy sank into my wounded shoulder, causing me to feel a warmth inside of my body. I looked down to see that the area where the ball had entered my body was actually glowing under the skin. Unexpectedly, my muscles in my shoulder started to shift on their own, moving and swirling as if it was caught in a whirlpool. The bones also shifted themselves, causing me to feel a bit nauseous from the sensation. And in a low hum, the spell dissipated. The bright light within my shoulder faded out, leaving the area feeling slightly warmer than usual.

"Okay, how does it feel?"

I was at first skeptical about what would happen if I had moved my arm, but I had realized that the pain that plagued me just moments ago had no longer existed. Instead it felt like it was just... normal, as if nothing had ever happened to it. Even the bruising that was there had disappeared completely. Carefully, I shifted my shoulder in a circular motion.

And not a single ache was present.

I began to experiment with the other degrees of movement with my shoulder, including shrugging, stretching, cocking my arm in a circular motion like I was throwing the first pitch. Still, no pain to be had.

"This is great! Sunset, you could make millions off of that shit!"

"Thanks." She answered, still feeling a little bashful. "Again, I kinda wrote the formulas on my own. Though the incantation does need a bit of revising. I mean, 'Grace them with your power and provide sanctuary' does sound a bit corny."

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." I stated as I leaned back down towards the floor. I began to perform my usual morning workout routine of a few dozen push-ups. "I'm sure as hell not gonna complain about it."

"Well... um... yeah. Do... Don't you feel like you're forgetting something?" Sunset asked nervously.

"What?" I asked, still lifting myself off of the ground.

"I can't say... I'm not exactly clear on what it is either... AH!"

"What?"

"We shared a bed!?"

Technically we shared two separate beds. It's just that we somehow got wrapped up by the time we woke up. "Not necessarily-"

"You slept with me!? Why did you sleep with me? Oh Celestia, this is so embarrassing." She said as she slammed her hooves over her face to hide herself from me.

"Hey, it could be worse."

"Nondis, did I do anything that might've rubbed you the wrong way?"

Well, since she asked... "Um... Your tail kinda coiled around my leg. So I kinda had to unwrap it-"

Grabbing her tail, she looked at me with a crimson blush forming on her cheeks. "Y-y-you t-touched... MY TAIL!?"

Raising off of the floor, I sat down and tried to explain myself to her. "I had no perverted intentions. If anything, I was trying to escape whatever it was you were dreaming of. And as a result, I fell out of the bed."

"I don't even remember sleeping in the bed. I fell asleep in the chair... you moved me, didn't you?" She asked.

"Well I couldn't let you sleep in a chair. That shit feels fuck-awful when you wake up."

"Well I never asked you to do it!" She shouted, feeling flustered.

She and Twilight are definitely two of the same boat. So I decided to shut myself down. "Okay, well I won't do it again."

"No!" She exclaimed before she covered her mouth to stop herself. She slowly drew in air and let herself calm down. She began to grab my arm and gently sit herself down next to me. "I mean, thank you anyhow... I-I just haven't grown used to guys willingly be nice to me outside of me... well... How do I say this, asserting myself. Bad habits, I know. But there was a time I wasn't exactly looked up to, or even looked at."

I'm assuming this must be the continuation of last night's conversation. Well at least we're back on track. "Okay... go on."

"Well after I was expelled, I found a portal to another world. And when I went through, I found beings that were completely inferior to me when it came to magic... and math. But I was inferior to how they moved, their mannerisms, their interactions with technology, all of it. So when I had gotten old enough, I had forged a few documents and enrolled myself into Canterlot High, where there were even more people who were inferior to me when it came to magic."

"I'm getting a distinctive feeling that your ability to use magic was something that made you feel superior to the humans you ran with."

"I did feel that way! And despite my inability to use magic in that world, I still had my cunning and intelligence to fall back on. So I finally found a small area where I could feel like I could enact my desire to rule, my desire to have control over everything. And me being crowned Princess of the Fall Formal-"

"Forgive for interrupting, but Fall Formal?"

"High school dance."

"Gotcha."

"So when I got crowned my freshman year, I did all I could to keep that power. I also learned that skipping class out of my disdain of going unchallenged in classroom curriculum does lead to... obvious consequences."

"Got held back?"

"I only showed up for test days. The homework I got was easy enough to where I could finish all of it within an hour's time. And they based your grade on both attendance and assignments. So being that I ignored one of the two, I got held back. Needless to say that I didn't make that same mistake the next year."

Figures.

"But I digress. After my first freshman year, I did everything I could to manipulate the entire school to give me the title again. And the same with sophomore year, where I actually had one person dare to stand up to me... Of course I did everything within my power to ruin her, and she resigned. After that, there was no one left to challenge me, no one that dared to show me that they were capable of destroying the legacy I had built. I had became the queen bee of the entire school..."

"But you still weren't satisfied."

"I was without the one thing that made me superior. And with it, I could expand my horizons beyond that of a high school. So when the time was right, I waited for the portal to Equestria to open, grabbed the first magical artifact that was closest to me, and bring it back as a means of activating my magic in that realm. I had three days to do it, but I finished it in less than one."

"So... you took over the school."

"If it were that easy. After stealing the Element of Magic, I had to earn it back in the one way that I continued to dominate the school."

"The Fall Formal?" I summarized.

"Bingo." She confirmed. "But it turned out that there was one pony who came from Equestria to take back what was hers, and would do anything to get it back. She even united the entire school against me, even going so far as wooing my ex-boyfriend."

"Ouch, that's gotta hurt." And judging from the theft of the 'Element of Magic', it would have to be Twilight who came through to find her. Otherwise, how would she have had limited knowledge about my anatomy prior to my being here? "Go on ahead."

"But she didn't do it in the way that required ruthless backbiting, or merciless sabotage of character. Instead, she did it using a method that I was completely unfamiliar with. And in a mere three days, she had undone everything I had worked so hard to build. My legacy as the princess of Canterlot High had ended when she had won the Fall Formal that year. But I didn't let that stop me. So I lured her back to the portal and threatened to destroy it by smashing the frame around it, making it unstable and unusable. But even in the mist of my threatening to take away the place she called home, she continued to persist. Finally, I had to physically take the crown from her by force."

"So then you had gotten your magic?"

"In a way unimaginable. I transformed into some sort of demonic entity, chocked full of magical energy and capable of transforming the entire school into my army of slaves. By then, I had set my sights for much higher grounds. Using my knowledge, my new-found power, and human weapons, I would take over Equestria with a small army of a few hundred, capable of decimating thousands without a single scratch."

"Well obviously, you didn't succeed. I don't see humongous statues of 'Sunset Shimmer; the Almighty and Immaculate Queen of Equestria'. So what happened?"

"Well... *sigh* Twilight happened. When I used the crown to activate my magic, I had completely forgotten about her being bestowed the crown first, meaning that her magic was long released before mine ever was. And when her magic manifested, it radiated so strongly that it infected the others that she stood by. Her magic then became theirs, and they all transformed into equine hybrids... After that, the last thing I could see was a prismatic light showering me, cleansing me of my demonic form."

"And that's how your rule came to an end."

"Yeah. I was completely destroyed by a magic far greater that anything I could've ever hoped to possess. And when I had realized that what all I did was the wrong way of gaining power, I had thought back to the very first one I had betrayed... my former mentor, Princess Celestia. And what stood in front of me was nothing more than the manifestation of what could have been should I have taken the righteous path, the path I didn't need to walk alone."

"So, you learned your lesson the hard way?"

"Yeah, I did. And not everyone had forgotten about my little 'reign of terror'. If anything, much of everyone still resents me for my past sins. I'm hardly looked at in a positive light, but I still had a select group of friends who were willing to look past that and help me feel like I fit in somehow... But I can't help but to feel that they too resent me for some of my past crimes."

I could see the uncertainty on her face, she didn't even try to hide that she was questioning how everyone still had a thing against her. And I knew how she felt. I too had a checkered past, but I know now that I had decided to move on from that life. I gave her a light scratch behind the ears as I spoke to her.

"Learning to forgive others is a process. It's not a slow one, but it's progressive in nature. They won't forget what you did, but they will also remember that you chose to leave the person you were behind. And being able to make that choice is what makes us human... or equine, if you'd prefer."

She smiled at me, seemingly thankful for words of wisdom I had shared. "Actually, I think human works fine for me."

I stopped scratching her ear and proceeded to gather some of my stuff to hop into the shower. "Well, since you told me yours, I could tell y-"

"Hey!" She shouted loudly.

"What?" I asked, confused and wanting to know what she was screaming at me for

"You decided to scratch my ears and run. I may not have given you permission to scratch, but I damn-well didn't give you permission to stop." She joked as she levitated my hand towards her head.

Seriously, this again? "You ponies are always a fool for these scratching sessions."

"Less complaining, more scratching. You owe me for the shoulder, remember?"

...She is just like Twilight when it comes to this.

Later after breakfast, Sunset took her leave towards the castle while I continued to go through some of my stuff, trying to organize what I would be more likely to wear throughout the remainder of the week. I had a few nice outfits to wear for the sake of just walking about but I didn't really have anything grandiose for show-out. But it wasn't like I was going to have much of a need for that kind of stuff anyhow. The only thing I was going to do was hang around Ponyville for a few more days before heading towards Canterlot. And when I got there, I was going to tell the politicians and nobles that wanted to send me out to an unknown land to hunt down an unknown individual to go thoroughly fuck themselves.

I can get behind that.

But what I'm still trying to get used to is the fact that I'm armed to the teeth. On my bed stood the sniper rifle, the shotgun, and the Glock 42. Immediately, I thought about the fight from earlier this week and mentally simulated how everything could've changed had I been armed with all of this from the start.

A lot would've changed. I wouldn't have been so reserved when it came to using my weapons. But at the very least, Twilight didn't get to see me use it. Spike and Sweetie Belle were a different story however, I couldn't help but to use it then. However, I won't change my stance on the situation. I was required to do some heavy fighting and my old Beretta did the job quite splendidly at cutting the numbers down.

But this was about more than cutting down the numbers. This was about complete and total annihilation of my target and any hostiles that were to get in my way. At least my shoulder was in top shape so that I could use the sniper rifle.

I picked up the long-barreled rifle, looking up and down at it's massive size in comparison to the handgun on the bed. Looking at the scope, I noticed a few dials with numbers on them. I would've like to know how they work, but considering the small amount of room I had in here, I guess I would have to go out and have a dry-run with it later.

I don't know who could be paying me a visit at this time of the day, especially considering that I haven't given out any information of the new place of residence. And house-keeping wasn't due for another two hours. Perhaps it could be someone from the front desk. Either way, I was not going to let them get curious of the lovely toys sitting on the top of the bed. I don't want them blabbering off to the news about strange alien devices being left in my room, otherwise that would bring more unwanted attention. When I made my way to the door, I placed the chain on the latch and cracked the door open to see who was standing outside.

"Hello?"

I didn't see much of anyone standing outside of my door. I guess I was just imagining thi-

"Hi there!" Shouted a voice from behind me, placing a hoof on my left shoulder.

"SHIT!" I screamed loudly, turning around and grabbing the hoof on my shoulder. As I pulled, I had stopped myself short as soon as I saw the golden slipper on the pink hoof, belonging to none other than Princess Cadance. "What the fuck? How the hell did you get in here?"

"Teleportation spell. And further more, I wanted to pay you a much-needed visit to have a much-desired conversation with you."

Right... The magical muffin button that miraculously causes maneure to manifest itself before my very eyes. "Well... can you kinda knock normally next time, so I could open up the door and see you standing in the hall, so that I could then invite you in."

"Well you weren't doing anything lustful. If that were the case then I would've given you a few more minutes."

"Wait, how would you have known about me-"

"Princess of Love. I've learned to differentiate between love magic and lustful urges. Plus sex just so happens to be a thing I can sense."

...Well that would've made things so awkward had I been jacking off. But still... "Look, can we just agree that I don't like being barged in on?"

"I can tell."

"Now to question four, why are you here? Shouldn't you be up north somewhere?" I questioned.

"I came here to pay Twilight a visit. And apparently you must have restocked since I was gone." She said, pointing to the bed.

SHIT, the guns are still out! "Oh, you weren't suppose to see those."

"So what do these even do?" Cadance asked as she poked her hoof at the smallest gun in view.

Grabbing her hoof quickly, I grabbed the gun and placed it in the box. "What do these even do? What are they even doing here? Why would these be out for you to see them?"

"Mainly because I just appeared in your room without warning before you could have the chance to hide all your dirty..." She looked at the box I had threw the gun in. "...laundry."

I laughed nervously as I started to grab the shot gun and the sniper rifle and place them in the box. "Well actually, there's a funny story behind all of this-"

Suddenly, I felt something yank at the sniper rifle. I looked back to see her magic grasping at the tip of the barrel. "Wow, this one's huge. Even has a little scope on it."

I placed the shotgun under my arm to free up my left hand. Tapping her horn, I quickly grabbed the weapon from her. Meaning that they weren't filled with ammo doesn't mean that I shouldn't take precaution in handling weapons of that caliber. "This is for my upcoming hunting trip."

"So what does it do?"

"Pick off changelings from over eight-hundred yards away."

Cadance gasped at the number, staring slack-jawed at the weapon I placed in the box. "...No way!"

"It will cut down on me trying to get close and taking out the changeling commander. Instead, I can take him out from a safe distance and be on my way home before they could even know what hit him."

Cadance walked right by me and started to levitate the shotgun out of the box. "So what does this one do?"

Again tapping her horn, I pushed the shotgun back inside. "That is for special occasions."

"Such as?"

For reasons quintessentially American. "For when I have to defend myself in short-range distances in wide-ranged areas. I lovingly call it 'boom stick'."

"Why 'boom stick'?"

"Because similar to your husband, you cock it, it goes off, it gets everywhere. And though billions of sperm cells are practically harmless to you, eight small, metallic pellets going off at about eight-hundred miles-an-hour are not."

Cadance winced at the possibility of how much damage could be done. "That sounds like it hurts. A lot."

"Well, if I shot a changeling in the leg with it, it wouldn't have much to stand on."

"Yikes! So if you hit one in the head?"

I just stared at her for a quick second. "...Heh, heard of the phrase 'bust the head to the white meat'? Well the 'white meat' would come busting out of it's ears."

Cadance stared at me, somewhat mortified at my explanation. "...Eww."

"I know, right. But it get's it done quicker than a sword would. And the best thing, I can bypass armor with this."

"OKAY... Let's change the subject!" She said quickly while looking at the clock on the nightstand. "I have a really important day with Twilight, I'm supposed to be taking her out to the spa and I should really be getting back with her."

"Oh, that's nice."

Cadance then turned her attention back to me. "Yeah... I kinda have a reason why I'm taking her out and about today. She seems to be in the pits lately. Any idea why?"

"Well..." She probably already knows by now. "She and I kinda got into a bit of a spat."

The pink alicorn sat on the bed as she spoke. "I heard. You two broke the cardinal rule of the approval process and gotten yourselves in trouble."

I shook my head as I verbally expressed my disapproval. "Remind me why that law exists?"

Cadance kinda cringed while she tried to explain herself. "Oh, well I can't really tell you. If you really wanna know how it got started, then you're going to have to ask Princess Ce-"

"Forced against her will." I answered in deadpan. "I know. Still wondering why it currently exists."

Cadance rolled her eyes at this one. "Oh, it went a little deeper as time went on. When Celestia tried to have it removed the first two-hundred-nineteen times, they always killed the motion in vote. And as time progressed, they tried to use it as a bargaining chip against the younger, naive princesses. Ultimately, they wanted to have their so-called trophy."

"Wait, so you mean they wanted Princess Celestia to marry with one of them?"

"Well this law was birthed from envy. When Celestia had her romantic getaway, they got flustered and thought to themselves 'how dare she give herself so willingly to an enemy rather than us'? And when the politics got thrown into the mix, it all became one huge mess."

Given that she was accused of treason, I could assume that much. Any personal matter dressed in politics could be sold to anyone who was stupid enough to buy it, but the problem was that the lie was so ingeniously woven that even some well-informed individual would believe it. And those who challenged the belief were considered as fools and branded as such.

Politics is sort of like the tale of The Emperor's New Clothes: personal benefit was the model and political ideologies were the 'magnificent robes' it wore. And of course, I would be one of those labeled as the 'fool' for my disbelief in a system that has been established and maintained for well over a thousand years.

That's a role I wouldn't mind playing. "But that doesn't make any sense. Why make a law-"

"If they couldn't have her, then no one could. And every other princess or prince that followed behind her, they suffered the same ordeal... It was much worse for the princes."

The princes? But wouldn't they have it easier for them being male members of the monarchy? "But why?"

"They couldn't take advantage of a prince. They couldn't use him in the ways they wanted to. So they did everything in their power to get rid of him. They'd even go so far as locking him in a room with ten mares on estrus just to have him tried."

...Ye olde politics, thou art fucked up. "Wow, now that's bullshit."

"The same with those on the approval list. If it's a stallion trying to unionize with that of a princess, then he'd pretty much be sent off to the front lines of battle, trained or not."

"WHAT!?" So they'd send these guys out to die, just to free up the princess from a possible marriage? Are these assholes serious? At least now I understand why they needed me to be a member of the military from the start. I see that Celestia had probably added that in for the sake of giving us 'applicants' some ground to stand on. "For what reason?"

"You have aging nobles, politicians, and legislators all wanting an additional grab for power. A stallion of elder age and mountainous influence would rather have his last hurrah by marrying a young and fertile princess."

So basically... "This is all about the sex, isn't it?"

Cadance sighed very audibly as she looked at the time on the clock. "I wish I had more time to get into it, but I-"

"No!" I shouted, standing in front of her. "These guys are trying to send me out to a land unknown to find a target unverified. And by their train of thought, they would be sending me there with nothing but a sword and a spear. I feel as if I should have a right to know if they were planning to do the same shit with me."

Cadance rose from the bed and started to walk towards the door. "I'm sorry, but my time is far spent. I have to-"

I ran around to intercept her before she could leave the room. "No, you've already told me this much. You might as well tell me everything you know."

The pink princess tried her best to avoid eye contact with me. I continued to stand in the way of her exit. Eventually, she sat back down on the bed and took a deep breath.

"...They've already place it in motion, they want you to lead the investigation for the sole purpose for you not coming back. Their first reason was that you weren't a pony to begin with, but since your approval process application has been filed, they just simply want you to disappear... for more obvious reasons."

So they are trying to get me killed... well it looks like my enemies are both seen and unseen. I can see the changelings from a mile away, but this was a dagger in the back by a system that had me put in place to protect it.

Completely stunned, I walked over to the other bed and lied down, trying to let it all sink in. "Why... just why me?"

"You're not the only one." Cadance whispered as she brought her hoof over to stroke my cheek. "Shining Armor had been placed in similar situations as well, many even more dangerous than what you'll have to endure. If anything, you have the tactical advantage of weaponry beyond our comprehension and manufacturing capabilities. Shining had a sword, a shield and his own wits. Every time he came back, he'd look at them just to see the scowl on their faces."

"But why us?"

"Isn't it obvious? I married Shining Armor so they're still hostile towards him, even more so being that now he's a prince. He's protected from all of these dangerous excursions, save any punishments handed down by Celestia."

"So again asking... Why am I the next whipping boy?"

"You've should've realized it by now, Nondis."

I took some time to think about it, wondering what had earned me the mark of being... Oh no. That's why Twilight was trying to... I quickly sat up from the bed and looked towards Cadance, who had a sad look on her face. She looked at me with empathy set in her eyes. By now I had finally came up with the main reason why they were so sold on having me sent out to fight. My mouth slid open to let words pass, but the air had failed to rise from my lungs.

Cadance remained silent as she turned away, looking back to the clock as she closed her eyes and tried to stop herself from welling up tears. "When she was first crowned, Shining and I tried our best to do whatever it took to protect her."

"...Twilight. They're trying to get with her."

Lo and behold, one of the first major plot twists in the story. I say it is major for specific reasons, you'll have to read in a later chapter to find out what they are though.

The tension builds, the drama unfolds, and eventually it will all come crashing down. To say that not even I had planned this one out was an understatement. But now I'm going to build on it. How? Well stick around for future chapters to find out.

And I know some of you are unsatisfied with the snail's pace that I'm taking. I personally don't like it either. I will try my best to snap out of it and get back to the usual pacing.

Thanks for reading and feel free to leave your comments below, should you have any.

Depending on reception, I may ultimately rewrite this chapter.