"Me, with Flash? NO WAY! I can't do that to him, or Nondis for that matter."

My sudden outburst seemed to have grabbed the attention of everyone in the parlor. After a quick gaze-around, I confirmed that Flash and his friends were nowhere to be seen. Catching my breath on that note, I found myself burying that thought deep in my mind. I needed it buried enough to where that thought became nothing more than a forgotten occurrence. I won't even think of it.

"Twilight, look at me." Sunset requested while trying to grab my shoulder.

"No. I'm not doing it." I answered with growing frustration, pushing her arm away. "I have more respect for Nondis than this."

"Even though he doesn't seem to give it back?" Rainbow said as she pulled out her phone. "That's like him getting nudes from somebody else! And we already know that he kissed another girl behind your back."

Wait, does she mean back in Nondis' world? Cause that was the only instance I told her about, not even including the situation with Rarity. "Well to be fair, he and I did get into a fight over it and I ended up doing something... unspeakable."

Fluttershy grabbed her backpack straps tightly as she asked quietly. "What did you do?"

"...I kinda slapped him."

Applejack rolled her eyes as she waved my confession off as insignificant. "Girl, please. If he done got caught foolin' round me, Ah woulda found more than a slap in my system. Ah'm like a bull, mess on me an y'all best be ready for them horns."

"But I made him bleed!" I said, trying to get her to understand how much I hurt him in doing it.

"Dearie, did you wash your nails after... um... wait..." Rarity started to fumble around with her thoughts as she spoke. "I know ponies have hooves, but wouldn't that result in something more blunt? Or did you end up breaking his nose?"

"I didn't do any of that! I just slapped him with my wing."

The others didn't seem to convinced. "Yer wing? Ah know they're big and all but was that the best you could come up with?" Applejack questioned.

"Actually, pegasi wings are very sharp when the owner becomes agitated or panicked. So her slapping him with a wing in something as tense as a fight would probably leave a nasty-looking scar." Sunset clarified, the others nodding with understanding. "But still, I haven't seen anything like that on him."

"He's wearing makeup every time he goes out. But it's there, and it's just as big as ever." I added.

"Again, horns." Applejack briefly interjected. "He done messed with the wrong one. An Ah just don't get it, why would he leave someone of yer league fer some floozey?"

Rarity is not a floozey. "Um, can we just all agree that Nondis did some bad things, but doesn't deserve to be betrayed like this?"

"Sweetie, dearie, darling... no." Rarity answered. "It's not about the matter of disrespecting him, it's the matter of respecting yourself."

Fluttershy looked towards Rarity as she followed up. "It's also about proving to yourself that you're capable of independence. You can't have a circumstance where he becomes the controlling one in the relationship. If anything, you have to dictate the pace and be the one to set the tone. If he doesn't respect your new boundaries, then it's time to let him go."

I never thought those words would leave her mouth, Fluttershy of all people. But there's much more to it than they know. "But it's not that simple."

"Twilight, you and Nondis agreed to a break. This is your chance to make the next move." Sunset said as she grabbed my hands. "And trust me when I say that your decision to give Flash a chance would ultimately show Nondis that he's not the only interest you have. It will cause him to think. It's not revenge, it's a show of being able to move on."

"So what, I'm just gonna hold his heart hostage?" I asked angrily, pulling my hands away from her.

"He already has yours in a cage." Rarity stated. "The only difference is that he left you with a large-enough gap between the bars where you can just simply roam free."

I can't. "...I'm not ready for that just yet. There's much more to it."

"What more is there!?" Rainbow asked loudly.

I looked to Sunset, who looked at me with pity as she already knew what I was dealing with. She couldn't do much but shake her head. I took in a deep breath and gave my answer. "I can't tell you now. Doing so would be a danger to not just all of you, but also to what's taking place behind the scenes. I know that Nondis is doing some hurtful things, but there's gotta be a reason for him stepping so far out from himself. He's never like this nor has he shown that he was like this before."

Everyone sighed with frustration as they threw the conversation to the wayside. Rarity shook her head as she mumbled. "Poor dearie, he's got you that tied down."

I stood from my seat and slammed my hands on the table, ignoring the stinging as I shouted back to her. "He's my fiance! I'm not going to throw him away like that!"

"Fiance?" Everyone looked at me with shock as their jaws slacked and fell.

"We're getting married... at least we're supposed to be." I then turned to Sunset with a scowl. "And I'm not going to put Flash in a situation he can't handle. I am going to make my own decision without hurting anypony... anybody in the process."

Sunset looked away from me as she spoke once more. "Twilight, we're just trying to show you that you can go another route. It's not like I asked you to sleep with Flash, I just asked you to give him a chance."

"For me to break his heart when I finish?" I questioned passionately. "No, I'm not gonna hurt him. I have my own wounds that need licking, I can't cause another pain because of some knee-jerk reaction... not again."

Sunset frowned as she looked back to me, this time with a pleading expression. "A date. Give him that much. You don't have to go far, you don't even have to kiss him or anything. Just go as friends, and let the conversation do the rest."

"I've already scheduled a date with Nondis this upcoming Saturday. Now Flash can meet Nondis and they can interact, but I won't go as far as talking with him outside of Nondis' company."

Rarity looked to me with worry on her face. "Why are you willing to put up with so much from him?"

I already knew where this conversation was going, and opted to stop any further suspicion. "It's my own choice, nothing else. He's not a horrible being, he's wonderful with a heart of gold, he may be confused at times but I know that he only seeks to do right by everyone. You haven't seen him at his most vulnerable, nor do you even know the sacrifices he makes. He fought my brother just to be in my corner. He risked his life to save everyone, including my parents. And there are so many stories that others would have of him, horrific stories that he ended up writing towards a brighter direction. And I'm just going to throw all that good away because of a single flaw? I may be stupid in saying this, but I'm going to love him... even if I have to learn how. It might not be the easiest way or the one that makes sense, but it's the right way."

The entire eatery was silent as the sounds of footsteps came even closer to our table. Everyone at our table wouldn't say much of anything else as they all quietly acknowledged my statements. But the silence was soon broken as a large bowl was set at the center of our table.

"Here you go, girls." The cashier said as he began to distribute the silverware.

"What took you so long?" Pinkie asked angrily.

"Freshly made wafers, hot from the griddle. Figured you'd like that, ma'am." He said before quickly walking back to his post.

For a brief moment everyone looked to Pinkie, who picked up her spoon and turned to the rest of us with a stoic expression. "...He's not that cute."

Well it goes without saying that I had a pretty enjoyable evening. Celestia made a guest appearance for the show, watching as the six-member stunt group took to the skies to perform a series of daredevil stunts that were deemed far too insane for any normal pegasus to perform. But being that they were so impressionable to the younger members of the audience, they brought out a flying mascot who flew out with the Princess to give out the standard message of 'Don't try this at home'.

Rainbow quickly informed me that she did just that when she got home when she was at such an age, her father ultimately tying her wings to her body and bolting her room shut so that she'd keep from hurting herself. And it didn't get any better for him when she got older.

Going by her current status, those risks are paying off handsomely.

We left the Cloudsdale Colosseum as the sun was setting over the horizon. Several young ponies flew out in droves, performing backflips, somersaults, and barrel rolls. The smiles on each one of their faces as their idols finished performing for them, they were absolutely ecstatic. Rainbow continued to rave on about how she tried a few of the stunts that they pulled, saying how easy or difficult each one was. As she rambled on, I felt the familiar vibrations against my leg. Pulling out my phone, I saw that it was Stanton calling me for something. Putting her on hold for a moment, I quickly answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Nondis, big bro, how and what are you doing?"

"Well, I guess you could say I'm seeing strange clouds and spaceships over Austin. What's up?"

"You high, bro?"

"On life, yeah. Just got through with a big party yesterday. So I'm kinda in the rehab, but at the same time I'm okay. I feel great."

He proceeded to chuckle as he carried on. "Yeah, Melanie was telling me something about that party y'all had. She said that it went on all night and that she kinda took off early. You and Cliff were the only ones that stayed up."

"We weren't the only ones." I mumbled quietly, unwittingly forgetting that my mouth was still against the receiver.

"Excellent observation, my dear Watson. Shall I proceed to call you Smartass?"

I rolled my eyes as I answered my younger brother. "Of course, sir. Might I try a new name in your honor, Shitlock?"

Rainbow flew beside me as she asked quietly. "Who are you talking to now?"

"My brother." I answered, pulling the phone from my ear.

She nodded as she glided down towards the phone and screamed. "Sup, Nondis' big brother!"

He groaned with uncertainty as he spoke. "Who the fuck was that? Was that your girl Bella?"

HELL NO! "Just a friend I'm hanging out with. She's not even into me like that."

"You don't know that." Rainbow said in a mumble, causing me to look at her with a serious expression. "Sheesh, I'm just yanking your reigns."

"Yeah, just don't yank too hard." I really don't need to have any more ponies confessing to me at the moment, I just got two on my plate as is and I can't afford to get myself into anymore trouble with Twilight.

"What's up, handsome?" Those words were stealthily inserted into my ears as I jumped in response.

Upon getting something that felt like a kiss just under my ear, I leaped back for a few feet. "SHIT! What was that?"

"Uh oh... here we go again." Rainbow said with a sigh.

"Here goes what again?" I questioned.

"I don't see how we're going again if we didn't go the first time."

Oh... oh no. That raspy voice, almost sounding as if it's been years of smoke and whiskey done it's toll on her vocal chords. "Captain Spitfire... What a pleasant surprise." In speaking of trouble...

"Captain Nondis P. Haines, you're looking good as usual." She complimented with a smirk.

"I see you remembered my name this time."

"Hey, did I call at a bad time?" Stanton asked on the phone. I had completely forgotten that he was still on the line as this conversation was taking place.

"What was that? Who's voice is that? Where is it coming from?" Spitfire questioned as she looked around me.

As I held off the orange pegasus with an arm, I tried to respond back. "Yeah, I'll probably hit you up in a─"

"Why in a bit? You and me could hit it right now, if you want it." Spitfire said, finishing my sentence.

"Damn, okay." Stanton said in response to Spitfire's words.

As I was holding my phone away from my mouth, I tried to stiff-arm the orange pegasus to give myself some breathing room. But as she complained, I started to catch a familiar scent of alcohol. "She's drunk again, isn't she?" I asked Rainbow.

"She's always drunk after a show. But the thing about her is that she's one of those... functioning drunks. You know, the ones that can drink and still operate like a normal being?"

I find that hard to believe, but there's more than one instance of that being a real thing... even in my world. They can keep high-profile jobs while suffering their addiction, but it would never show unless you actually seen it. It's kinda scary once you see it for yourself. "I guess. I asked because her breath is like it didn't get any less Bourbon-smelling than last night."

"That's Spitfire for you." Rainbow answered with a shrug. Okay, better question, why are all the high-ranking members of the guard drunks?

Before I could get any resemblance of an answer, Spitfire cut across from my left and held my right ear, her alcoholic breath filling my nostrils as she spoke. "Mmm... I know what you like. I know that you're pent up from dealing with your pretty little princess, I bet that even after that party she didn't even so much as touch you. You wanna get off, I got you covered. C'mon, let me fuck your brains out."

The way she just quietly whispered that in my ear was nothing short of a rousing statement, but the booze on her breath was definitely an outstanding testament as to why that would be a bad idea. But her constantly nibbling at my ear was beginning to make it a little difficult to say no... a little.

"Um, Captain, don't you think Soarin's looking for you?" Rainbow threw in, mainly to get a response from the inebriated pegasus.

She pulled off of my ear and groaned with disgust. "Ugh, that fuck? He's probably out nailing Fleetfoot right now. You know he has a thing for you blues." She said while glancing towards Rainbow Dash, causing her to blush a bit.

"Yeah, I kinda got wind of that. He's not my type."

"Seriously? I thought that you liked the 'no-strings-attached' thing."

"I do, and frankly I don't care too much about commitments right now, haven't found anything worth keeping. But Soarin's a total tool, he tries too hard to get laid by any mare he comes in contact with. If he wants it, he's gonna have to work before I pull my tail aside for him."

"Wait, why don't you just hold off until you meet the right one?" I questioned. "That way you don't get hurt."

"Because sex isn't the be-all-end-all to things." She answered while hovering in mid-air. "Sex is recreational, it's fun, it's also natural. I'm not gonna offer go around giving it away at the same time, but I'm not gonna let it be the sole bargaining chip in my arsenal."

"PREACH!" Stanton hollered from the phone... Ah shit, I forgot it was still on call. "Sex isn't some shit you can just say 'it is bad', it's perfectly normal. You can have a relationship later on when you feel like you wanna settle down. But this is our youth here, let's have fun! Fuck that shit about you gotta find someone to love right now, take the love shit slow. You wanna have a good relationship, you have to get around and see what you like! But don't let the good sex be the only thing you want."

"He sounds like he got his shit straight." Rainbow said with a proud smile before screaming into the phone. "You gotta name?"

"Stanton." He replied. "Nondis, who the FUCK you with? I like this chick."

Before I could answer, Rainbow hollered into my phone. "I'm Rainbow Dash, and the other one you're hearing is Spitfire. We're both pegas─"

Yanking my phone away now. "My brothers don't know about this shit yet!" I screeched through clenched teeth while pressing the receiver into my chest.

"What do you mean they don't know? You nearly died like three times and you were honored in a big ceremony just yesterday!"

"What ceremony? You were honored?"

I really should've considered using the mute option. Ugh... this is going to be hell. "Hey, what are you doing tomorrow?"

"Classes, a bunch of them that I don't really want to attend. But can we talk about all this honored and you being nearly killed? I feel like you have a totally different life going on when you're with this Bella chick and her friends. Hell, they sound like a wild bunch."

I'd much rather not, but since he's going to be asking a million questions, I figure that I should go on ahead and answer them before he gets to asking around. Last thing I need right now is getting mom and dad involved when I don't even have a clue as to how they'll react from this. But if I've gained anything from Melanie's visit, I'd say that Stanton would be cool with it. But I'm gonna need some major convincing to get this shit done. "Where are you now?"

"I'm at the campus. Why, is something wrong?"

Yeah, let's just get this part over with so that I can make this upcoming weekend a little easier for me. If I get a strong-enough support network, then I can face my parents with confidence. "I need you to come by my apartment by tomorrow morning, let's try for ten."

"I can't, I got classes in the mornings."

Oh yeah, I almost forgot that he was in college. "Tell them it's a family emergency regarding your former missing brother. I'm sure the school and your coaches will give you a pass if you give out a notice tonight." Because the best thing about being in college is that they don't have to call up to your folks and get a pass.

"What do I say to them? You know they're gonna ask about the cause of your issues."

While that much is true, they won't go too far into questioning it. He can just say it's a personal matter with the family and get off with minimum punishment. But I don't wanna risk that. Maybe I can cook up a little something from past experience... Okay, I got one. "Um... I was mugged by a guy named Jasper. He beat my ass with an aluminum bat, and I'm in stable condition while suffering a concussion, three broken ribs, several contusions, and a fractured collarbone. I'm currently instated at University Medical on East 15th Street. The guy that beat me was found and put in the slammer downtown, Cliff and Rickey are my witnesses."

A long sigh came out as Stanton expressed his amazement. "...You're really good at coming up with excuses. That sounds pretty fucking legit."

Well, the only parts that are lies are the ones about me being bludgeoned with a baseball bat and being in a hospital. The rest is actually factual, even with my quick recovery. "What can I say, watch a lot of Law and Order."

"You hate that show."

Still do. "I tried getting into it, just not my cup of tea. I'm more into Scrubs."

"Yeah... but why do you want me over there at ten in the morning?"

"Because Alex won't be available in the evening. Morning would be the best time for me to explain everything to you. And from the way things are, it'll take up most of the afternoon as well."

"You're trying to get him to come over too?"

"Yeah, I'd figure that I'd tell you both what's been going on with me. And this time you'll be getting the details of it all." No point in leaving one brother out and having the other in the know. It would be best and easier to get the both of them here and tell them the truth.

"...I'm really worried. What you got going on over there?" He questioned, his tone seeming to be a bit softer than usual.

It took me a while to think about how I was going to put it in words that he would be able to understand. But I knew that I had to be straight forward with him, so I can't take any shortcuts. With my stomach almost pushing its way up my chest, I confessed to my younger brother. "Okay, don't tell mom or dad. But I happen to undergo a bunch of shit that could kill me in an instant. I've nearly died twice now and Mel was telling me that I should go ahead and let you guys know what I'm doing. So if something was to happen to me, you'd be in on the loop."

By now, he started to show the nervousness in his voice. "Okay... I can already say that I'm not gonna like what you're gonna tell me."

"It's not a matter of telling than it is showing. I don't wanna hide from you guys anymore. So if you can, please come on by so I can get this mess off my chest."

"You're gonna be okay, right?" He asked, sounding as if he was ready to hop in the car and burn his motor out on the freeway.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"I mean nobody makes up those kinds of stories on the fly, not that fluidly. Are you sure you're okay?" He emphasized his question, trying to get something out of me other than what I had already told him.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just make sure you get down here safely."

"Sure. I'll keep in touch with you."

"Thanks─"

He interrupted me, this time sounding a bit angry. "Hey. If you got some guys fucking with you, you let me know. I'll fuck their shit up real nice-like."

"Yeah, okay. See you tomorrow." I replied with nonchalance, trying to sell him on the fact that I was completely at ease.

"Later, bro."

Three beeps indicated that he managed to hang up, his name disappeared from the screen as I locked my phone and replaced it back into my pocket. Rainbow hovered beside me while she spoke.

"So, they're coming tomorrow?"

Though I was happy that I was finally getting a chance to get my brothers in on what's going on, I couldn't help but to feel a sense of discomfort crushing me as the realization came to mind that I was going to be talking to my brothers. My day had gone south just that quickly. I didn't know how I was going to get these guys introduced to this society, and here I am winging it like I'm perfectly fine with this. What the hell, was I even thinking?

Figures...

"Nondis?" Rainbow asked once more.

"Don't talk on my phone unless I give you permission to do so, okay? My brothers didn't know a damn thing and I didn't want them to until I found a way to get them acclimated." I snapped back to her quietly.

"You could've just cut that thing off, you know." She does have a point, now that was on me. "Besides, I thought you would've told them what was going on with you already. I mean they're your family, shouldn't they be the first to know?"

Easier on paper than it is in practice. "Dash, if you knew anything about my past life on the other side, you'd find out just how quick I am to confide in anyone OTHER than family."

I walked off towards the balloon, quickly gathering my thoughts for tomorrow. Spitfire, seeing the anxiety on my face, realized that now wasn't really a good time to flirt and proceeded to fly someplace else. Rainbow Dash, however, was quick to trail after me. As I climbed inside of the balloon, I had to duck my head below the awfully-low clearance and sit myself down. As I remained in the basket, I could see the familiar shadow of the cyan pegasus perched over the rail, the silhouette draping over my own and onto the other side of the basket.

"...Sorry." She whispered quietly. Her sudden softness causing me to look back up to her as she stared back down to me. "I guess I kinda messed up big, didn't I? I mean, I didn't mean to get involved with something so personal to you."

I'm more frustrated with myself. But at the same time, I couldn't just have her blurting out that she was a pegasus or something. That would've made the whole conversation we were having just a little weird for Stanton to handle. And I have no idea of how I was going to approach tomorrow, considering that Cliff, Rickie, and Melanie had classes tomorrow. I was going to be on my own with this, and it's not going to be easy.

"I can make it work. But I wanted to give it some time so that way I could come up with the proper method of approach. Guess that's off the table now." I made my thoughts known to the pegasus pony, letting my head drop a little more as I felt my mind struggle. For a few moments, we didn't say anything and I just kept my head down as I contemplated on how I was going to convince them that this was... ugh... I have nowhere to go from here.

Eventually I felt a tap on my shoulder, causing me to raise my head. "Hey, I don't like owing anypony favors! So whatever you want, I'll do." Rainbow said as she climbed inside of the balloon.

"Don't bother."

"Nondis, please. I screwed up when I told him my name, so now I gotta pony up for it."

"Why even? You're good." I said, trying to make her understand that I wasn't really in the mood to be 'reimbursed' for her actions.

"NO I'M NOT!" She insisted, grabbing my shirt.

"Why do you feel so indebted?" I asked while trying to free my shirt from her grasp.

"Because I'm me! I don't owe anypony any sort of favors! If I do anything, I'm paying you back right then and there! So whatever you want, I'll do it!"

"Don't let your pride get in the way. That's what I want you to do." I answered, knocking her hooves out of the way.

"That's not good enough!" Again, she hooked her hooves back into my shirt.

"Then what do you want to do?"

By the time I finished asking my question, she had just noticed how close she was to me. She started to grow flustered as her cheeks turned pink, her face contorted into a violent scowl. "...I really don't like you."

"What?"

"You're making me put that on the table, aren't you?"

I became uncertain as to what she was going on about, hoping that she wasn't going towards any physical direction. "What are you talking about?"

She slammed her hooves into my chest and asked in an unusually feminine voice. "...What do you want from me?"

"If you're trying to sell yourself short, then I'm afraid that you're in for some bad news." I responded, trying to not say it directly.

"I'm not selling myself short! I just..." For a moment, she remained still before tightening her grip on my shirt and whispering back to me. "I'm saying that if you want, you can get to know my personal issues."

"There's no stealthy innuendo to your statement, correct?" I questioned, being indirect on what I was implying.

"If you've got sex on the mind, then you're gonna be in for some disappointment." She bluntly answered with a dead tone.

Oh, thank God. "Never asked, nor do I want to know about your personal issues."

Though I wasn't trying to come off as mean, I just didn't feel myself ready to take on more than what I'm already swamped in. But Rainbow didn't seem to see it from that perspective. "...Why not?"

"Why should I when you never tell me? It's too invasive." Not to mention that I can't just go around carrying everyone's emotional baggage.

Rainbow tapped against my chest, still bearing that scowl on her face. At least the light raspiness in her voice returned. "But I invaded yours. You have a right to invade mine."

"I've got enough baggage I'm carrying, no thanks." When those words carelessly left my mouth, I felt something inside of my abdomen push back into my diaphragm, a brief but powerful chill that told me that I was doing something wrong. Now that I think about it, I am being selfish. I'm going back to that same mode I was in when I was younger. I'm busy trying to wall myself off instead of working towards a solution. I really should apologize─

"...You're carrying it, and you don't have a choice."

...Let me hold off on that. "What makes you say that?"

"Because we're friends, dumbass!" She said, grabbing my head and butting into my forehead with her own.

"OW!" I shouted as I felt myself becoming all the more combative. "We don't even really interact like that. We never did, not even in the months I've been here."

Again, she gave me a solid buck in the head as she burrowed her forehead against mine, her eyes locking on mine. "But it's never too late, we're buddies. And I don't like hanging around ponies I barely even know. When I hang around you, it means I wanna get to know more of you. To me, you seem like this one pony I see everyday and never really talk with one-on-one. The last time we even had something like that was when you were on your first day of patrol, and I was giving you instructions."

"So you're saying that I don't hang out with you enough?"

Yet again, she rammed her head into mine, causing me even more discomfort. "Exactly! Everypony I know has had a moment or two with you, to get to know a piece of you, that you that you claim is your past self."

"But what if I said that my past self was nothing that I wanted to talk about, that it was nothing like the me I am today?" And I almost showed a piece of that side just now.

Before her head came ramming back in, I placed my hand in the way to take the blow. Instead of hurting my forehead this time, it was my fingers that took the punishment. She didn't seem to slow at any given point either. "Then I'd be getting to know a lie. I wanna know the truth about you, not some stupid shit you did when you were younger. I wanna bond with you, be your friend! I hate being called your friend and I know almost nothing about you! The way you and your human friends interact, the way you and our friends interact, you don't share that with me! And frankly I'm beginning to feel cheated out of everypony."

I tried to take a moment to explain myself to her, that I was never really one for socializing. I offered her a glimpse of my past self. "Rainbow Dash... Look, I'm not a book you can just read from cover to cover. It takes a moment to get me to respond to you. You're really big on small talk and can go a mile with it. I'm just getting the hang of it. You're all out there and I'm more to myself. I can socialize with others when I choose to, but not when I'm forced to. I chose to socialize with the ponies here because this was a new experience for me, and I wanted to know more about the world I'm in."

"Oh, I know that." She said as she pulled away completely. Feeling somewhat relieved, I pulled my hand from my forehead. The only thing I seem to have an issue with is that she took the opportunity to pull my hands out of the way while giving me one final butt to the face. This one was significantly lighter, but landed on a still-tender area. "I'm just saying, I'm tired of hearing about you and Twilight, or you and Applejack, or you and somepony else, somebody else. I wanna get to know you, because you're awesome. And you might not know this, but I'm very open to my personal matters when it comes to my friends because I know I can trust them. The more I can interact with you, the better. I want to trust you, I want to give that to you... Is that too much to ask?"

I took another moment to think about everything that happened to me in the past month. Much of it was still pretty overwhelming and I was still recovering from some previous discoveries and incidents. A reluctant confession silently leapt from my tongue and into the world. "...Rainbow, I don't know if I can carry anything else."

The soft sensation of her lips being planted on the top of my head nearly sent me into shock. Instead of looking up to her with surprise, I was more confused. She chuckled as she pressed her hoof on my forehead. "That's what I'm here for, buddy! I'm here to help you get from point-A to point-B with all that stuff in tow. Haven't you learned anything from your months of being here?"

Suddenly, those words echoed as if I was trapped in a massive concrete hall several hundred feet long. The memories began to pour like a light flooding a pitch-black room. In my one moment of selfishness, my weak point of where I decided that I just couldn't function with much else on my back, she reminded me that I wasn't truly alone in this. Yes, I wouldn't have the human assistance like I normally would, but it still stands that I have friends here who would be willing to help me get my point across... even if it was to send my brothers into shock.

Though my mind was still in chaos, I became calmed in seeing that little bit of order revealed itself. Eventually, it will begin to spread and cause me to become serene, but for now that bit of order was just enough to give me some direction on how I would go about with tomorrow...

Not just tomorrow, but from this point onward. "So, if I let you carry this weight, you'll help me get to the next point?"

"What are friends for?" She answered with that smugness, that cocky smile she often wore. Her confidence became infectious, leading me to make my first move since I've been corralled in this basket.

"Okay. Then I know what I want you to do for me..."

When we returned to Ponyville, I tried to meet up with Twilight so that she could undo the spell. Being that I was already finished with my first venture in the skies above, I wasn't too fond of being in the air several thousand feet. Not to mention that the weather at that altitude was a bit nippy.

For a while, I waited in the throne room. I didn't quite understand where she went after I had left, but I wasn't going to use this magic any longer considering that it was said that it would be used for an extra two days on top of today. And even then, she wasn't very sure if three days was the working time frame for us humans. Personally, I'd much rather not find out.

The thought of me walking on those clouds and suddenly plopping through them as if somebody turned off a light switch was very unnerving.

Finally, the familiar patter of hooves sounded throughout the halls. The doors opened to reveal the purple alicorn I've been waiting for. She flinched in response to seeing me sitting here. "Oh goodness. Nondis, you startled me."

"Sorry for that." I responded, standing from my seat to walk up to her. "I just came here to undo the spell."

Twilight tilted her head at my request. "Huh? Why now?"

"...I don't like extreme heights." I answered flatly. "Found that out today, the moment I looked down was when I saw the world spin."

"Oh yeah, the spell kinda does have the side-effect of enhancing any preexisting cases of vertigo. Perhaps I should've checked if that was an issue of yours."

Going back to that train ride that almost got me at the bottom of a ravine two weeks ago, yeah I could see that being an issue. "Yeah, undo me please."

Twilight continued to voice her concern. "Are you sure? We can just give you some ground-based clouds to walk on if you need the boost of confidence."

"Nah, I'm good."

I watched as Twilight's horn lit for a moment and glow white, but suddenly cut off. "Oh, another thing. What are you doing next weekend?"

I had to think for a moment as to what she had planned. "Actually, I was going to try and see if you could see my folks next weekend."

Her face immediately lit up as she ran over to me and grabbed my hand with her hooves, dancing all the while. "REALLY!? Oh my gosh! I would be honored─Wait, as in me still being a pony? In YOUR world?"

Yeah, about that... "Uh, not the pony part. But yes, if you can manage to find some way to turn yourself into a human."

She started to lose that eagerness as soon as the thought started to circulate through her mind. "Oh. Nondis... Um..."

"What?" I questioned.

She proceeded to let me go as she landed back on her front twos. "Oh... what day did you have in mind?"

"I think Saturday would be a good day for us to go there. If not, we can set something up for Friday. Just don't ask about Sunday." Please for the love of all fuck, not Sunday.

She turned around and walked over to the table to sit in her designated seat. Turning back to me, she gave me a saddened look. "I'm sorry, but I have something planned for Saturday. And..."

I circled my hand in a whip as I implored her to continue. "...And?"

"Nondis... I can't change who I am, not this soon."

"Well, why not?" I asked.

"Because, I haven't found any way to get myself to become a human, much less look like you do." She said as she played with her forelegs. "Is there any way we can kinda... postpone our meeting? I mean, I would love to... but..."

"Don't you have a spell that can transform me into a pony? I remember you saying that when you were drunk several months back. So I'd figure that you'd know how to reverse the process."

Twilight shook her head. "No. That's the thing, I was drunk when I said it. I didn't really know how to turn you into one. I was just... drunk and flirty."

"So there's no way you can change? Not even for a day?" Dammit, well there goes my plan with Rainbow Dash, not to mention the dinner on Saturday night.

"I'm sorry. I can work on one this week, but it won't be done by Saturday." She said as she summoned a notebook and a quill next to her side. "But I promise to call on you when I've gotten something cooked up. Would that make sense?"

I sighed dejectedly, feeling nothing more than loss after loss. "Ugh... Well, I can talk to my folks and see if we can reschedule. But they're not gonna like it, especially being that Discord had already signed you up─"

"DISCORD SIGNED ME UP!? HE WAS IN YOUR WORLD, WASN'T HE!?"

Well since he was busted by Fluttershy, I guess there's no point in me trying to cover it up now. "For a short while. But he spoke as you to my parents over the phone. If you had a talk with him, he'd tell you all of the details. I'm more focused on what all I have to get done tomorrow."

Twilight thought about saying something, but froze in place as she took a moment to reset her words and say something else. "...We haven't gone on a date since we've been together."

"Twilight, what does that have to do with anything?" I questioned out of frustration.

"Everything. We just haven't had the time for each other since I was punished. I feel like that date you and Rarity had was something that kinda stepped over the line."

"Twilight, it's not like I slept with her." I answered with a groan.

"Yet!" She quickly interjected. "At this point, I don't even care anymore! What you do now is solely on you!"

Okay, she just... I am so lost. "What? What do you mean you don't care? You just said you felt like me and Rarity going on a date was 'stepping over the line' despite the fact that we agreed to do this to begin with."

"I'm saying that I want an equal opportunity!" She exclaimed. "Just like you said we can go over some things and see if we want to move on, I want to see if we can assess the situation and see if there's a chance we can get back together after this."

"Twilight─"

"I know we're on break! I just want a fair chance for you and me to have some time together, in a way where we can socialize outside of the eyes of every journalist in town. Nondis please, I want to show you just how much I can be to you, not just as your special somepony... but as your girlfriend, your fiancée."

I shook my head as I let myself become distracted by this conversation. "Twilight, we can talk about that later. But tomorrow I need to throw together a plan."

"I'm not moving on from this conversation."

At this point, I became really heated. "Then fucking undo this goddamn spell so I can leave!"

"No!" She answered defiantly. "I won't. Not now, not tomorrow, not ever again! I'm not going to cast another spell for you until you can FUCKING LEARN TO LISTEN TO ME!"

...what?

As her voice rang through the halls, I had to come to grips that this was actually the first time she had screamed at me like this... using profanity. I was instantly flabbergasted, but at the same time, I was still just as angry as I was when she diverted the conversation onto this particular topic.

I took a deep breath and proceeded to back away. "Obviously, we've escalated the conversation just a tad. So what I'm gonna do is back off... and leave you here... because we both need to separate."

She stepped off of her chair as she walked towards me. "Oh there you go, running away like you usually do."

"Twilight, I don't wanna hear this."

She quickly snapped back at me, letting her anger get the better of her. "Then tell you what, next Saturday is a day I will dedicate towards working on my relationship. You don't have to be involved, I could easily find someone else."

She just... yeah.

"...So... You can find someone else... right?" I questioned, pursing my lips with a sarcastic smirk. "Someone who's willing to fight politicians, who can get to where I'm at right now, can live through all the shit I did, can deal with the bullshit law that continues to punish the both of us? Sweetie, you don't have a fucking prayer in finding anyone like that here!"

"Oh that's the beauty of it, Nondis! I don't have to! I could just simply go with one of your friends, since you've done that to me."

I actually felt my legs move on their own as I marched towards her. "So that's how it is?"

"Yeah. But I have a much better moral compass than you do, so I'm not gonna do that. I'm going to go for something even better, someone who loved me from the start! He doesn't know about all of these stupid laws, he doesn't know anything about these crazy politicians, he doesn't require saving every time I look up, and I don't have to pay for his medical expenses when he goes to a hospital because he doesn't get hurt! I don't have to worry about seeing him die because he's out of harms way!"

"SO I FUCKING BLEED FOR YOU, BERATED, BEATEN, CHOKED FOR YOUR UNGRATEFUL ASS, AND YOU SAY THIS SHIT TO ME!? FINE, GO HAVE FUN! I'D SAY FUCK YOU, BUT I ALREADY DID THAT!"

...Oh no.

By the time I had realized what I had said, I saw Twilight standing before with a seething frown, complete with tears running down her face. Instantly, I felt my own words cut into me as the guilt slammed right into me. I had done the one thing I had told myself that I would try not to do.

"Twilight..."

She tried not to show any emotion in her voice, speaking in a low tone. "...So... goodbye then?"

Ugh... I swear this is like a bad drug. I keep screwing up each time, yet I keep doing this, knowing that it's gonna hurt someone else. "...I never meant to say that... I was pissed, and I just... just screamed."

She used her magic to pull me down, angrily staring at me as she met with me face to face. "...You are..." She couldn't finish what she was saying as she proceeded to break down into tears. "You... I hate you..."

I didn't know what else to do besides wrap my arms around her and constantly tell her how sorry I was in her ears. I did everything I knew, I stroked her mane, I nuzzled against her, I kissed her just below her horn, I squeezed her tightly and cradled her head in my arms. Initially, she pushed off of me, battering her hooves against my chest. But a few seconds in, she just clenched her hooves around my body as she sank into my chest. Not only crying, but screaming apologies at me.

"I'm so sorry." I repeated several times. "I... I was hurt... I snapped... I said that shit I knew I shouldn't have said..."

"I just started throwing things..." She moaned. "Whatever could hurt the most, I just went at it."

I quietly confessed as I continued to clench my arms around her. "Twilight, I was scared. I was so scared. I never been in something like that."

"You're scared!? You idiot, I was the one playing out of my feelings. I wasn't myself."

"...I became something I didn't want you to see."

"We are absolutely horrible at this."

"I have a lot on my mind, I just... ugh. I'm so sorry."

"No... I did something that I just said that I wasn't gonna to do."

I tried to pull off of her to see her face to face, but she used her magic to draw me back in. Her body trembled as she held on for dear life. My hands shook as I tried to make amends.

"Twilight, I don't care what you do. Just don't let us get to that point again?"

"That was me... You tried to walk away and I just panicked."

I shook my head as I kissed her again. "I should've been better than what I was. I didn't need to keep that going, and I did."

"We're both wrong, you idiot."

"I know."

Her foreleg climbed up to the back of my head, caressing me as she lightly rocked from side to side. "We should've... we should've never did this..."

For several minutes, going on to an hour, we stayed wrapped up in each others arms, coddling each other and telling one another how much we didn't mean for the words to leave our mouths like that. That one moment of our emotional weakness ended up completely overwhelming us at that instant, causing us to see just how childish we were being. We bore witness to just how easily our friendship could've dissolved.

It was that obvious just where this was headed.

The previous night was one that was something that we actually needed to get out of the way. Every last bit of our emotions for the past two weeks were just building and building, eventually it was going to come to where we had a good case of the screams. But when we had finally unleashed, both of us walked away with some pretty deep scars.

Ones that needed immediate attention.

For the first time in weeks, we shared a bed. For the first time since our break, we kissed each other. Oh God, how we missed that one moment of our lips coming in contact with one another. I didn't even care how sinful this was, but we sure didn't bother to think about what we were doing. Everything we did was breaking the rules, and we happily played right through them. I never heard Twilight scream so much. She never saw me convulse so violently. I never saw her back arch so far in. She never got a chance to see my eyes roll back. We sweated underneath the sheets, for hours on end, as we drove for every yard except for the ninth.

Turns out she could still get in trouble for that.

But after countless hours of teasing, the stacked up seconds of each culmination, and several minutes of cuddling one another, we came to a consensus of what our future would consist of. Of course, we also discussed the matter of my brothers' visit. She was very surprised to hear that I would try to regale them here rather than wait for a future time. Realistically speaking, I could've made it up in my mind to cancel this morning's appointment. But I chose to go on with it just to knock off one less obstacle... rather two.

The portal was started once more, the mirror shimmered as I stood in front of it. Twilight pulled at me just before I could leave, turning me around and sinking her lips into mine for yet another time. As she pulled off of me, she muttered at me.

"Remember our promise."

With a nod, I showed my agreement. Though it was something that I had some reservations against, but if she wanted this to be, then I would fight tooth and nail just to see to it that it comes to pass. I owe her that much.

With a brave front, and somewhat shaky legs, I marched through the portal, letting myself become engulfed by the mirror's image.

From the moment I walked through the door, I could see the familiar set-up of my apartment bathroom. It didn't take me long to get a phone call from my older brother, who was calling to say that they've been knocking on the door for thirty minutes. Of course he would make it a habit of showing up to something ahead of time.

I walked out of the bathroom, into the the hall, unlocked the door and allowed my brothers to enter the apartment. Each one of them made a note of the air being somewhat stale, but that's only natural when you occupy a space and don't really open any windows. Not much I can do about it considering that I'm not here that often.

Each one of them sat on the couch as I walked into the kitchen. "You guys want anything, snack, food, drink?"

"Nah, we ate BK on the way here." Stanton answered as he pulled out his phone. "So whatcha got going on?"

"Nothing much. I'm just gonna get me something to drink before we begin."

Let's be honest, I wanted to take one cap-full of water and sip on it slowly. And we were not going to get started until I had finished my second bottle. But that would be completely wrong, and I don't want to make myself look like a total dick... not when I've pulled out the master-dick card for yesterday evening.

I simply grabbed two bottles and quickly downed the first as I was standing in front of my fridge. After opening the second, I took a bit of it back before closing it back up and making my way back towards the den. Both Alex and Stanton was eagerly waiting for me to say something, while I was just hoping that us sitting here would just magically somehow get them from this side of the mirror to the other. So for a while, we sat still, looking back at each other awkwardly.

"So..." Alex began. "I heard you were staring on Thursday night's game."

"Huh?" I blurted out.

"He means me?" Stanton said as he raised his hand. "I'm getting the first start of my college career."

"Wait, how did you manage that?" I questioned.

Both of them sighed before Stanton answered my question. "You haven't been paying attention? Our first string guy got hurt something fierce. He's got a hairline fracture in his tibia. He's gonna be out for the rest of the season."

"Let me guess, SEC defense?" I questioned.

"We were playing Bama." He quickly answered, causing me to cringe. As much as we hate hearing about them, Alabama was nothing to be played with, even with their overrated schedule.

"So how did that go?" I asked.

Alex shuddered as he looked at Stanton's face. "They lost, 59 to 0."

"ANYWAYS─" Stanton was quick to change the subject. "We're not here to discuss football scores, now are we?"

"From what Stanton was telling me, you've been doing something dangerous." As he glanced to me, I could hear Alex speaking while I opened the bottle of water and proceeded to chug it on down. "He's even heard something about you being honored or something of the like."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, pushing myself to get it over with. "Yeah. That's true."

"You also said something about you being nearly killed twice now, is that also true?"

"...Three times. I had an attempt on my life that I had completely left off the count."

The both of them remained seated as they expressed their outrage. "What the hell are you doing to get yourself in these kinds of situations?" Stanton questioned.

"I'm not doing anything illegal. But at the same time, I'm not doing it here at Austin." The both of them looked at me awkwardly as I rose out of my seat. "Follow me, if you would."

The both of them slowly rose from their seats and followed me to the bedroom. As I opened the door, both of them kinda took notice of my room being in a bit of disarray. But their faces didn't completely twist and turn until I had gotten to the bathroom. When I had let the both of them inside, they both looked at me as I closed and locked the door behind us.

"Guys, I think there's a little something off with the mirror you bought me."

So yeah, things have kinda fallen out a bit this go round. But what will happen next chapter, and what is this promise that Twilight asked Nondis to keep? Answers will ensue upon reading further between the lines. But I can assure you that the next chapter will be interesting.

There was a theme in today's chapter.

That one particular montage paragraph depicting Twilight and Nondis reconciliation, as well as the fight beforehand, it was pretty much written with this theme in mind. Yes I know this is a cover, but I kinda prefer this one. This one is pretty much the words Nondis has in mind as he's... making up.

I'm beginning to think that I should do these themes more often.