A half-hour has passed since I've managed to return from town. My outing resulted in a fruitful outcome of a large bouquet of white roses and tulips. Unfortunately the reds were all bought out by a local funeral home for a future ceremony. And the pinks were all bought out by everypony in town to send to Zecora for her well-wishing. So I was left with a choice of orange, white, and yellow. I didn't see how orange would fit with her, and yellow would've been a bit off of what I wanted to say. So white was my final offer. Thankfully, I was still with finance afterwards to buy a large box of chocolates.

I wanted to also buy her a book, but I figured with the size of her library, she'd probably read every written tome and grimore in this world's existence. Well so much for my Plan-A. I guess Plan-B would work just as fine and I could nab a book from my world tomorrow. I can't really afford to tax what little time there is left in the afternoon.

The slight vibrations of my right pocket indicated that I was getting a phone call. As I looked on the screen, I noticed an unusual Austin number. Of course it isn't telemarketers or I'd be seeing an area code from a different state. I guess I'll see who it is. "Hello???"

"Hi! Oh my gosh, it actually works!"

My ears quickly picked up the sound of a certain young female expressing her irrational exuberance over the fact that her cell phone works. Can't be no one else. "Twilight, is that you?"

"Yes! Melanie managed to get me a new phone! Isn't that great!?" She responded, seeming all the more excited over being able to get in contact with me like this. Then again, I can remember anyone from when I was still in middle school expressing the same amount of joy. The thrill of being in the small-but-growing cell-phone circle was something that any sixth, seventh, or eighth grader could relate to. I was relegated to getting my first TracFone my freshman year. It was great at first, but then I started to see what all I couldn't do that everyone else could do.

Uh oh, I hope Mel got her something decent. "Yeah, that's great!"

"I already have your number locked in as well as Melanie's, Stanton's, Alex's, Cliff's, Rickey's, and Sunset's! I can't wait to start getting text messages from you!"

Oh yeah, very much like a teenager with their first phone. "Hey, don't rush the texting thing. It might take some getting used to!" I warned, trying to explain to her that texting wasn't really for everyone.

"Hold on, I'll send you one right now. I call you back in a second."

Before I could speak, three beeps indicated that she had already hung up. I was about to call her back when she sent me a rushed message to my inbox.

Sender: 1-(512)-982-3314
Received: 3:12 pm

ffibu afdsb iuF EVIY efiuof eo iune fbyu

So... she might not quite understand the texting method. It's easy to operate cameras and swipe at screens, but the texting thing is a totally different thing. Also, it looks like she was just mashing at buttons. She then called me again to speak to me.

"Did you get it?" She questioned happily.

"Yeah, did you use your hoof to text me?"

She paused for a moment before finally answering in a shy voice. "...Maaaaaybe..."

"Use your magic." I bluntly suggested.

"I can't, using my magic directly causes the screen to go all wonky!" She explained. Perhaps the screen hasn't been properly calibrated to a magical aura, especially considering that magic is ever-constantly moving.

"Then use your feathers." I offered.

"Okay... give me a second."

She hung up on me again as took the opportunity to lock her into my phonebook. The next message wasn't as quick, and it was slightly more legible in contrast to the last one she sent.

Sender: Twilight Sparkle
Received: 3:14 pm

Typng ziso ahrd usign winsg.

I giggled to myself as I realized that she was actually using her wings as fingers to type on the screen. I shook my head and texted her back.

Receiver: Twilight Sparkle
Sent: 3:14 pm

You'll get used to it.

Meanwhile Downstairs...

"I'm a famous journalist with a Pulblizer Nomination! You can't do this to me!"

"Well I nominated your ass to go somewhere else! Now get!"

"You'll pay dearly for this!"

Stanton stood at the door, watching two other guards escort a fiesty pegasi stallion from the front door as he mumbled on about his credentials. The human shook his head as the pegasi continued to struggle with the two guards who escorted him five hundred yards away from the castle grounds.

Shining approached from the upstairs hall as he noticed the tail-end of the human's situation, growing more curious as he saw him slam the door shut. "Stanton? What are you doing here?"

"I'm playing the bouncer. I've already kicked out several idiots with press passes who think they have these special privileges to talk to Nondis about the shit that happened yesterday."

Shining sagely nodded with acknowledgement. "You didn't answer any questions for yourself?"

"Not really, I just asked them why they were here. And if I found out that they were press, I'd ask if they could leave. Besides, if I answer anything, Nondis would probably have my ear sent off to my head coach for ransom."

The stallion chuckled as he stared back at the door. "Did you catch any unruly ones?"

"One bullheaded reporter from a place called Canterlot tried to shove his head through the door. I ended up showing him an example of how far I can throw. The thing that was so hard about it was that he was a pegasi, so he tried to fly his way in after."

"Did he get far?"

"No. I had to be a little more physical with him. So I apologize if you get any rumblings or headlines of how humans have specified weaponry to disable ponies."

Shining grimaced a little as he expressed his concerns. "You didn't shoot him, did you?"

"Only with a stun-gun, nothing lethal."

The alabaster prince felt himself relax as he heard his answer. "That's a relief."

"No, I'm not gonna kill anyone and cause a problem for the administration. That's Nondis' job. In speaking of which, you here to take over?"

The stallion quickly shook his head. "Nah. Cadie told me of a very particular pony who wished to be in attendance today. I'm on my way to the market, wink, to pick up some precious cargo, wink wink."

Stanton was quick to pick up on what he was referring to, and followed the stallions example by not speaking the name out loud. "So what's the shipping costs look like?" He asked, referring to how much he'd have to bribe the overseers.

"For something that would give Twily a big boost for her big day, it pays for itself. As soon as I get back, I'd expect you to gently escort her to the dining hall."

"Can do." The human confirmed just as another knock came at the door.

Shining, who was already on his way out, walked towards the door. Upon opening the door, he quickly identified who was at the door. "Blueblood?"

The blond-maned prince proudly stepped forward into the foyer and teased Shining. "And you thought that I would not show up and make my presence known!? HA! You really are a riot, Shining Armor."

"And you're a bit of a dickweed. What are you really doing here?" Asked the younger prince with a lack of amusement.

"We're royals, we stick together." Blueblood declared as he draped his foreleg around Shining's neck. "I wouldn't designate my company with any of the other rift-raft floating about Canterlot."

"Oh please, what's the real reason?" Shining asked through a forced smile.

The blonde-haired stallion walked away from the younger prince and waved at his wives to move ahead. "Ladies, I would like to have you make your way to the dining hall, please. We're going to have a bit of stallion talk."

As the seven mares walked by Stanton, they looked at him with astonishment. "He cut his hair?" One of the wives asked to the others.

"Too bad, he almost looked cute with all of it on." One of the other wives stated with a scoff.

"I'm not the guy you gals are talking about. He's upstairs." Stanton clarified, once again realizing that they had him confused for his older brother.

The seven mares all oh'd in unison as they looked to one another with embarrassment. The group quickly trotted off to prevent the moment from becoming any more awkward. Meanwhile, Shining continued to question the visiting prince.

"So again, why are you here?"

Blueblood began to whisper as he walked closer to Shining. "We have a situation. The parliament made a summons for our bastard of the month."

Shining's eyes grew for a moment. "What? Why?"

"Apparently, the ones on the far-right were unsatisfied of hearing that Chrysalis was spared. And being that a certain group of representatives have the power and say, the standing majority voted for a deployment."

"That's bullshit!" Shining hollered out, suddenly gaining the attention of the human standing nearby. He then took caution and kept his voice low. "Deployment, where?"

"Between you and I, Shining, I say that they're going to get him involved in the worst situation overseas. Either that or probably the most dangerous territories in all of Equestria. They're going to do what they can to have him 'prove his loyalty' and come back a broken husk."

Shining began to express his frustrations once more. "Shit... We've gotta block that summons."

"It's already been shipped out. I tried to get one of my wives to be the carrier, but the sealed document was said to have left the city in the early morning hours. Someone with the authority and paperwork had to have removed the document themselves."

Shining glanced back to Stanton, who was pointing towards the upstairs hall, informing Blueblood's wives where the dining hall was located. A guard picked up from where he showed them to escort the group to the hall. Shining quickly asked his questions before Stanton could intervene. "Who do you think it is?"

Blueblood rolled his eyes as he droned. "Who else would it be? Senator Count is said to be the main one who called for a summons in the first place. He must be trying to get that piece of parchment to Nondis before the sun's setting."

Shining kicked his foreleg with frustration as he turned back to Blueblood. "Dammit. What should we do?"

"The best thing to do is to resume as normal. If we show signs of our knowing this, he will try to strike sooner than expected. We'll pose our increased security checks as a lookout for the fine fellow that tried to barge himself in here just moments ago. I can only hope that the castle's layout would prove to be a deterrent should he find himself inside of here."

The human finally reached the two stallions as Shining quickly turned to him. "Stanton, quick, did anyone come in here aside from family and friends?"

Stanton lightly tapped his foot as he started listing everyone off he let in. "Um... the mayor. Two workplace assistants, one little guy who apparently knew the place inside out."

Shining took a quick second to think about the list of possibilities. But the one that stood out to him the most was the mention of someone who knew the layout of the castle thoroughly. Only one name came to his mind. "...Spike."

"Last I checked, he was doing some errands for Senator Count last night." Blueblood confirmed.

"Wait, Senator Count?" Stanton questioned.

"His full name is Senator Count DuMonee. He's a far-rightist with an agenda that's borderline fascist. He's also a complete xenophobe with no regard to equine decency. May often refer to you humans as derogatory labels." Blueblood explained.

Stanton tapped his finger against his chin as he let the name marinate in his thoughts. "Count DuMonee...." But before he could make out a face, the name was something that he heard recently. More specifically, that name came along with a small creature that knew the place inside-out. He felt an overwhelming sense of defeat as he slapped himself on the forehead. "AWWWW SHIT!"

The two princes quickly glanced at each other with concern. Shining proceeded to plan on his hooves while he made his way out to town. "Blueblood, if you see that bastard running around here, I need you to kick his ass out."

The blond prince bowed to the other as he heeded his request. "I shall see to it that my presence is very much valued."

The blue-maned stallion galloped out of view as Stanton shouted out to the departed prince. "Shining, I'm sorry!"

He then felt a hoof tap against his leg, accompanied by a voice. "Personally, I won't blame you. But I do think you need to hold that apology for your brother once you see him." Blueblood stated. "Meanwhile, leave the front door to me. You go look around the castle and see if you can find Spike. He's the one you need to worry about"

Stanton gave a single nod as he walked off. As Blueblood started calling out guards, the human pulled out his new cell phone and quickly tapped into his recent calls list. Though there was only one number on it, he punched it like it was most important one. The line rang for a few seconds before a voice answered on the other end.

"Alex, I fucked up. We've got a problem."

Back on my side of the castle, there seemed to be very little disturbance outside of a few giggles and whispers, raised by none other than a giddy fashionista who walked towards the room I changed within. Rarity looked on either side of the halls before she knocked on the door. A devious smile showed on her face as she quietly spoke into the door. "Nondis, I'm hear with your new clothes."

"Give me a sec." I announced as I tried to cover myself a bit after I stripped out of my clothes. Grabbing my jeans, I hopped and skipped in my attempts to keep the mare from waiting too long. I opened the door to see her levitating my new outfit beside her. When I reached out for it, she drew her magic field back and the clothes along with it.

"All of that being shy, why don't you let me bring this in to you?" She teased devilishly.

I smiled back as I extended a hand out to her horn, causing it to quench her levitation spell. With quick reflexes, I planted my hand out to catch the clothes she carried over before they could hit the ground. "Cause I said so."

Rarity didn't seemed too thrilled at my desire to keep her flirtatious advances at a distance. Unfortunately, I wasn't in the mood to play around with her and then clean myself up for the birthday girl. Today wasn't that kind of day. I gave her my sincerest thanks before I closed the door behind me and started changing.

The seamstress wasn't at all pleased. "So rude." She said with a frustrated scoff. "The nerve of him, I try to assist him in his wardrobe and he doesn't even give me the satisfaction of seeing if he's wearing anything correctly! It's a certain order to that outfit that pulls it off just right, I can't just have him wearing anything all willy-nilly. HMPH!"

The mare pouted as she turned her tail high into the air at the direction of the door. She closed her eyes, stuck up her nose, and groaned a little more before a voice suddenly called out to her. "Rarity?"

The voice seemed unfamiliar to her, causing her to turn her attention to the direction where she heard her name being called from. Her ears flicked once as she tried to hone in on the source. "Who's there?" She called out, trying to get the voice to call back out for her. Instead, she heard a slight scraping noise coming from behind one of the massive crystalline pillars. She slowly crept up to the left side of the hall as she tried to summon yet another response. "I know that you're over here..." Her ears confirmed as she started to hear another light scrape against the ground, indicating that someone had backed away somewhere. But she was far too keen on her senses as she pounced out and met with her summoner. "AHA!"

The large purple figure that towered above her caused her jaw to drop and her eyes to expand. Her curiosity became fear as the figure started to walk towards her. Her horn lit with a powerful magic, seeming that she would have to defend herself. The draconian figure then spoke.

"Rarity, it's me. You know... your Spikey-Wikey."

Her magic dropped in a mere instant as she froze in place. She gasped as her hoof found her lips. "S-sp-sp-Spike... w-w-what a-are you d-doing here?"

The purple dragon shrugged casually as he answered her. "Well why else would I be here? I came to wish Twilight happy birthday. I'm trying to find Twilight so I can give her my gift and here I am running into you."

Rarity was still in shock over what she was seeing. It wasn't the fact that his growth was new to her, but she was surprised how controlled he seemed. Instead of trying to grab anything that wasn't nailed down, he was standing before her with his usual demeanor. His speech was neither primitive nor broken. He fully recognized her as what she once called him. His voice, which was once light and juvenile, was strong and mature. His height reminded her of Garble, which was enough to disturb her. And much like Garble, his teeth were sharpened, his breath smelled of ash, his eyes was filled with a deep sense of determination. Everything about him drew her attention. "You've gotten so... big."

He smiled as he walked up to the mare, lightly brushing the back of his claw against her cheek. "Well I've been working on myself for a while now. Seems that I've gotten the look you like."

The mare's pupils dilated as she felt the ruggedness of his scales against her coat. Though the dragon proclaimed himself as her former assistant, the hand on her cheek seemed too foreign. "What are you...? Spike─"

The dragon quickly lunged forward and picked up the fashionista, swinging her around in his arms as he excitedly spoke to her. His grasp was powerful against her, nearly crushing her. "It's been so long since I've seen you so close. Lately I've been doing all kinds of things, running around throughout Canterlot, errands, paperwork, organizing, the usual stuff. But since I've come back here, it made me realize just how much I've missed you guys."

The dragon then placed her back on the ground, but not letting her go as she responded to him. "Well we miss you too, Spike."

"Did you miss me?" He asked as he got on his knees to become a little more at-level with her.

As his claws gently picked up her right foreleg, she felt herself becoming a bit flustered as his lips lightly pressed against her hoof. "Well... I started to acknowledge the sudden change of presence, or lack thereof."

He placed her hoof against his face as she started to become unnerved at his advances. He continued to speak as though he were enchanting her. "Mmm... Fresh powder and a touch of honey behind the ears, it's just like when we first met."

Rarity blushed lightly as she pulled her hoof away. "Spike, please." She responded nervously.

"I've grown quite a bit. Now I'm pretty strong, I can fight just about anything like this. Like this, I can protect you." He answered before his greed finally took over, clouding his judgement. His claws reached for the mare's chin, he interrupted her in the middle of her sentence.

"Darling, with all due respect─"

Without warning, he snaked towards her. Her head tried to turn away, but his grip was far too strong to ignore. He moaned passionately as he sniffed her neck. "He doesn't know what you're capable of, does he? Your charms, your wit, your cunning, the way you word things to hide your true desires, your manipulation tactics. I find them amusing, but I know you only mean to achieve your own ends. Though sometimes I question why you insist on being so generous, giving others a look while I stand next to you going unnoticed. I've been mostly seen as a errand boy by you, haven't I? Well I'd much rather say that my place would be beneath your hooves, that is if you wanted me to be that way."

Finally finding an opening to turn herself away, she took it as she tried to push him off. "I think you should go."

"I love you, Rarity. If I could hoard the worlds treasures for the sake of trading you away, I'd be the most pathetic dragon with the smallest... and yet most beautiful token."

His words failed to flatter her, she continued to do whatever she could to escape his grasp. "I'm not going to ask you again." She strained as he hugged her once more.

"I can show you that I'm worth more than him. I've been here for you all this time, and he shows up and drags you down. You don't deserve anyone who's going to drag you down. You deserve better, someone who will wrap their arms around you like this." He murmured as he glanced back towards the door down the hall.

Rarity, who finally realized that the dragon was not actually himself, lit her horn and produced a bright light, blinding the drake enough to where he had to shield his eyes. By the time the light faded back to bearable levels, Rarity was standing just in front of the door. He wiped his eyes and tried to clear the afterimage of a black blur from his sight. Eventually, he could see again, walking towards the mare before she stood firm. "Leave. Now."

Spike saw her scowl at him, not even close to being her usual frustrated expression. This time it was a show of pure anger. He felt a coldness in his chest, his heart climbing into his throat as he saw the mare use her hoof to wipe her sweat in such an undignified fashion. Her mane had lost some of it's volume, her main curl falling just over her left eye. He then realized that his greed took over and caused him to act out of his desire. He backed away a little before bowing down before her.

Though he was excited to see her, what he said was not what he had on his agenda. And now he was at risk of losing his audience. "I... am... so sorry. Rarity, I didn't mean to do that to you. I lost focus, things got heavy and I just went─"

"I've noticed." She spat at him. "Don't you ever accost me in such a manner, even if you were to 'lose it' again."

"I'm sorry." He stated, and then repeated an innumerable amount of times. His face was so acquainted with the rug he stood on that he felt himself worthy to be trampled upon.

The mare found it admirable that he held himself to the extent that he didn't fully press on her, but found it problematic that his new form rendered him so close to succumbing to his greed. Rarity realized that his size would probably diminish should she distance herself. She turned away from him and whispered. "Now I would appreciate it if you were to distance yourself, Spike. Perhaps we could meet later in the dining hall when I have calmed, but not now."

Spike rose as he heard the sound of her hooves growing distant. He continued to speak into the carpet, feeling himself unworthy of her gaze. "...I can't. I can't without telling you how much I need you to help me."

"I can't help you, Spike." She responded coldly, still walking the other way.

Out of desperation, he finally broke. He had to say something that would get her attention, to get her to see him in another manner aside from the beast that grabbed her to whisper sweet nothings into her neck. Those weren't the words he wanted to utter, as opposed to the ones he felt himself growing to speak on.

Raising his head a little to glance around the halls, he called out to the fashionista. "I feel like Twilight is going to suffer because of him. And eventually, she will." The seamstress halted her process and looked back towards the dragon. She paused for a moment as he continued to speak. "Rarity, I need your help. I need you to─"

"He's not leaving, Spike." She answered, jumping straight to the bottom line of his argument. "I know where you're getting at. But I'm not going to tell him to do something that he would disagree with."

In the back of his mind, he was already playing out the scenario that he would eventually lead the two politicians into the dining hall to crash the party. And if they were to find out what they had in store, then he would be seen in a negative light by all of his friends. The thought of being alone and abandoned by those that befriended him terrified him. It was something he long wished to avoid, especially with Twilight.

If she were to find out, he could definitely see her leaving him to the world. Again, it was something he greatly despaired. "Rarity... for your sake and his, please convince him to leave to his world. It's not too late, there's still time."

Rarity wasn't blind to the fact that he had ulterior motives. She quickly called him out on it, even on his past sins. "...So I take it that there's some grand scheme that I am unaware of? Something that might alleviate you of his presence, dare I say, in an abominable fashion?"

Spike looked either way as he walked up to the mare, whispering to her in a low voice. "You know what this is all about. It's bigger than me and you. By the end of it all, I'm scared that Twilight might suffer more than he would. And I love Twilight, she the mother I never had. And you know that I would do anything to protect her, just as I would protect you."

Rarity looked at him blankly as she spoke. "Then what's causing you the stress? What are they going to do with him?"

"I don't know. But I don't want to see you or Twilight in pain because of a loss."

Rarity pursed her lips as she thought for a moment on why she thought his words to be half-backed. She proceeded to show her reason for distrusting him. "My dear Spikey-wikey, would you lean down to give a small mare your ear and your cheek?"

"Of course."

As he obeyed her wish, she used her magic to tug him down a few more inches before questioning him. "Now I would like for you to recant a little something for me. It seems that there were words spoken and heard on separate accounts that align with one another. Perhaps a little something that stated the words 'Well, I think he should've died a long time ago'. Those words wouldn't happen to belong to you, now would they?"

Spike felt his heart race at speeds only Rainbow Dash could reach. His eyes shrank to pins as he felt the tremendous weight of her question being placed on him. He remembered saying those words to Melanie, but never have he said them to anyone else. To hear that there was a second account of those words being herd caused him to panic. He knew that Cadance and Celestia quickly confronted him later that night. In his panic, he tried to deny his ever saying those words. "...No."

"Run that by me one more time." Rarity said once more.

"No. I didn't say that. And even if I did, it would be out of frustration more than anything. But who remembers what all they say when they're frustrated? C'mon! We all say things we don't mean when the moment doesn't feel all that great."

With a deep sigh, she released the dragon and started to walk back towards the door. "Well, I'm glad we had this talk. I shall wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors."

The dragon quickly turned back to face the seamstress. "Rarity, come on. Don't be like this."

She then decided to drive her point home, providing him with the words that effectively shook him to his core. "If anything were to suddenly happen to Nondis, then I would rather you never see me again. Don't come knocking, don't bump into me at the market, don't even write me letters telling me how sorry you are."

Again, the drake panicked in his response. "Please, don't do that. Rarity, I can't─"

"Then you better hope nothing happens... I know I won't be the only one who would feel that way."

His heart began to free-fall. What was once the feeling of something climbing back up his throat had finally lost it's grip and fell deep into his stomach. The feeling of guilt began to overwhelm him. "I'm sorry."

The mare apparently grew tired of hearing those words. This time, she didn't hold back as she dealt another crushing blow. "Oh I know. The remorse you would feel when Twilight packs your belongings and ship them to Canterlot, I can be certain that you'd feel absolutely everything crumbling away because of your selfish desire for attention. Be sure to give Twilight your gift on the way out."

The dragon felt every word of her statement burn underneath his scales, her stoic demeanor was nothing short of convincing that she had no patience for him and his antics. He knew that this time was for real. "For every rose, a dozen thorns. My scales are thick, but I can still tell when you're prickly." Spike answered weakly. He started to walk away as he turned back to the mare for some final words on his defense. "But just know that all of it is beyond me."

As he walked away, Rarity leaned against the wall beside the door. She let out a depressed moan as I opened the door to speak with her. "Miss Belle, your savagery knows no bounds." I said, even showing goosebumps from her wrathfully personal response.

Her hooves covered her face as she sat in place. "He lied to me. I gave him a chance to come clean and he lied in my face."

Obviously she was upset. I know that she's a bit dramatic at times, but the quiet subtlety definitely makes it all the more disturbing. I tried to sit beside her, but her magic field froze me in place just as I was about to land.

I guess even in her dismay, she refuses to let her clothes touch the ground. Though I could understand why Spike would lie to her. I gave her my perspective of how I too would've panicked. "Little secret to tell you. All men lie about something. It doesn't have to be big, it just has to change your mood. And if it does it for the better, we might as well keep feeding that to you as long as it makes you smile."

Rarity raised her head out of her hooves and looked at me. "So you would lie to me as well?"

"I'd be more honest about it." I responded sarcastically, trying to lighten the mood.

She rolled her eyes and stood. On her face was a rather unimpressed expression. "I'm beginning to think you're no worse than him."

"Hello kettle, pot's the name." I playfully owned up to the fact, all while clearing away the curl from over her eye. Though to be honest, I'd have to say that she looks a bit prettier this way.

"When you put it that way, we're all a bunch of liars." Rarity said with a smile. "How many times did I convince a stallion or two to do something for me with just a mere wink and nudge?"

"Honesty's too brooding for the party to feed on. Gotta give it that spice." Oh great, now I'm taking after my dad's sense of humor.

By the time I finished my sentence, she was already adjusting my clothes and tucking in portions of my shirt. "Speaking of parties, what do you think will happen now?"

"Well... I saw the residential party couple enter the castle a few minutes before I did."

"Oh, they're here together?" Rarity inquired.

"Yeah." I confirmed. "Let's just hope Pinkie's not having any trouble with Cheese. I know she's still a bit miffed from the changeling getting more action than her."

Rarity giggled as she started playing with my hair. "Darling, those two will reconcile soon enough."

One Hour Later...

"Cheese, listen to me! We can't do a traditional basket weave texture because we'll run out of colored frosting."

"But the design would cause it to be symmetrical on all cuts based on a one-inch wedge-cut system."

As the couple stood in the kitchen, both seemed agitated with each other as they both pointed to a five-tier birthday cake that was only covered in eggshell-white frosting. One set of blueprints lied just next to it on the counter depicted the anticipated design being filled with several stripes and edible ribbons. Pinkie groaned as she walked over to the counter and picked up a piping bag filled with indigo frosting.

"That may sound great, but we still need more frosting! That or we could space out the lines."

Cheese walked over to the counter and picked up the blueprint, almost shoving it in Pinkie's face. "Spacing the lines would compromise the cutting system in place, leaving us with fewer guests capable of getting a third slice! It's uneven distribution!"

The pink mare deadpanned. "Cheese, you should know that there's always spare cake after the party."

"Pinkie, I'm just saying that it would be best for us to make more frosting."

Pinkie rolled her eyes as she walked off to open a few of the cabinets. "Cheese, look at this place. Does this place look like it's remotely stocked to handle baking for a large venue such as this?"

"We're in a royal castle, why wouldn't it be stocked?" The stallion questioned.

"Because the last one who went grocery shopping was Spike, and guess when was the last time Spike was here." The mare responded sassily.

It took Cheese a moment to recall, but he gave his best educated answer. "Two weeks ago?"

"EXACTLY! And given all the late-night munching Twilight's been doing since his disappearance, I'd say that there's hardly anything to make the volume required to follow the design."

Cheese grew surprised to hear that the reason for there being so little stock was because of Twilight. He looked towards the stove and scratched the slight stubble on his chin. "Twilight cooks?"

Pinkie's eyes grew big as she sighed with bemusement. "She tries, only to have a hazmat unit to come clean the mess. Really, she's more of a snack-food aficionado. Spike's usually the one who does all the cooking for her."

The stallion grew astounded. "Well if she snacks on junk for most of the day, then how come she doesn't gain weight?" He asked quietly while searching more of the cabinets for ingredients.

"Alicorn metabolism." Pinkie quickly responded. "She scarfed down a bunch of hayburger meals at one time and didn't even flinch."

"She must do a lot of ordering out." Cheese said as he grabbed a step stool to reach some of the higher shelves.

"Why do you think we have so many orders of chocolate eclairs being shipped out every other day?" Asked Pinkie, who opened the fridge to find a half-eaten dandelion sandwich, a large box with only a corner of baby carrots, an unwrapped hayburger, a can of whipped cream, a small bag of cherries, three of the aforementioned eclairs, and a carton of milk with Nondis' face on the side. Above his face was a 'MISSING' caption at the top. She looked at the expiration date and saw that it was still within two days of it's expiration date.

Meanwhile, Cheese finally managed to find a bag of confectionery sugar sitting on the topmost shelf. "Hey Pinkie, I found some powdered sugar up here."

"Seriously?" Pinkie asked as she slammed the fridge door and galloped to the stallion.

Looking up, she could see that he was trying with all of his might to reach the large plastic bag. But even with the added assistance of a step stool proved to be too little to even open the cabinet, let alone reaching for a bag on the top shelf of a cabinet so high up. "Yeah, but it may be a little too high."

Pinkie grimaced as she realized that everything was set up to where only unicorns and pegasi could reach. And being that the both of them were earth ponies, the situation proved to be a difficult one to overcome. Thinking on her hooves, the mare realized that getting to the top was going to require the added height of two ponies. And being that Cheese was quite taller than her, she realized that his height would be a better means of getting to the cabinet as opposed to the stepstool he stood on. At the very least, he could elevate her a bit. "I'm gonna need you to hold me while I get it."

Cheese climbed off the stool before standing on his hind legs and offering his back like a ladder. "Okay, I'm ready."

Without hesitation, she climbed on top of him, reaching up to his shoulders as he grimaced from the pain of her hooves driving into his body. He endured his discomfort as quietly as possible, offering Pinkie a bit more height than what the step stool would've offered. His hind legs started to wobble a bit as she shifted all of her weight onto his forelegs. The lack of stability made the pink mare feel uneasy about her current position.

"Hold still, Cheese!" She demanded.

Growing a bit impatient from her commentary, he quipped back at her. "Look, I might not be... the strongest stallion in the world... but maybe.... This is a tiny little suggestion..."

Pinkie turned back around to face the struggling stallion below her. "I am not that heavy, Cheese!"

"I'm just saying..." He struggled as she shifted her weight once more. This time, she tried to use one of her hind legs to climb up to his right foreleg. For a second, there seemed to be promise as Pinkie was mere inches away from tapping onto the bag. But his hind legs wobbled again, causing the pink mare to slip from his hoof. "CRAP!" The stallion exclaimed as he moved to break her fall.

Pinkie began to show more frustration as she turned back to the stallion below her and screamed at him. "CHEESE! C'mon and lift─"

Suddenly a vibration and a small blast of warm breath caught her immediate attention. "Hmmph?" He hummed as his muzzle was buried just underneath her tail. Her tail instinctively wrapped around his neck as she jumped. A series of sparks electrified her senses as a light tingle of pleasure sent a shiver down her spine. Her face quickly reddened as she realize where his mouth was located.

Trying to remain composed to carry out the task at hoof, she slowly spoke to the stallion. "...Okay. Look, I know we're still recovering from the spores, but can we focus on the thing at the top of the cabinet?"

"Mmm hmmph, mplmmm." He moaned, trying to use his tongue as a means of breaking through to some air so he could breathe. The pink mare felt his hoof press up against her flanks, her tail tightened around his neck in response. For a quick second, she wanted to let her eyes roll to the back of her head while his hooves pressed into her. She lowered her head in an attempt to suppress a moan, but her efforts were in vain as she let out a trembling breath

"Try pushing me back up without using your tongue, please." She requested quietly. Her body was already feeling heated as he pressed her upwards. But he too started to show that his desire began to outweigh his willpower to carry out the task before them. With a light kiss to the dock of her tail, he pulled back for a brief moment before plunging his tongue against her moistened nethers. Pinkie grew ecstatic from the sensation of being worshiped with reckless abandon. She started to pant in a rhythm, biting her lower lip by just the skin of the inside of her mouth. With an expression of carnal desperation, she whispered to the stallion below her. "Okay, maybe a little tongue."

Her hooves no longer reached for the bag of sugar, instead pulling back down for the stallion that drove her mad. The heat that seemingly came from nowhere ended up sending a painful ache in her lower abdomen, indicating that she was anxious for a release. Her walls stretched and throbbed as his tongue worked inside of her. His hooves, instead of pushing up at her, wrapped around her haunches to hold her down. His soft grunts were the indication that he himself started to feel frustration of not being tended to. He balanced himself as best as he could while he continue to devour everything she gave him. Her tail shook, causing her eyes to shoot open with shock.

Nearly throwing herself off balance, she turned back around to the door to watch it quickly open. Revealing a party of three who conversed with one another.

"I'm sure that this is the dining hall, right he─"

...HOLY FUCK! WHAT THE HELL DID WE WALK INTO?

Pinkie stared back at me as if I were a large truck running into her in the middle of the night. She froze in place as both Mrs. Velvet and Mr. Crescent stared at the two slack-jawed. The three of us were staring at what could be the greatest discovery since the Kama Sutra... Of course in my eyes, it was the equivalent to that combined with a National Geographic documentary on the mating habits of sapient equines. And I mean damn, he's making me feel like I got a little cheated in life.

And he's even sporting a fifth leg to boot.

"Dining hall's down the hall, first door to the left." Pinkie said after a moment of silence, being accompanied by a bag of sugar falling out of the cabinet onto the floor.

"Oh my God... This is embarrassing." I muttered while I was red in the face, trying to face away before Mr. Velvet had to poke around the kitchen.

"Oh is that the cake?" He questioned, looking towards a five-tier cake with no decorations on it.

"Mmmphmm." Cheese confirmed.

Quickly trying to move towards the room, I pushed for our party to move forward. "I think we should get going."

But Mrs. Velvet was not turning a blind eye to the two-pony totem pole standing in front of us. Instead, she marched right into the kitchen with a scowl on her face. "Hold on, I'm going to address this unsightly display the only way I know how."

"Mrs. Velvet?" I started to question, before she lit her horn to separate the two ponies.

Cheese, who seemed out of breath, proceeded to show his appreciation for his renewed air supply. "Oh thank you so─"

But he was quickly interrupted as he was levitated to face the other way. Pinkie was laid on her back on the island counter, just directly in front of Cheese. Her legs were pried open as the older mare quickly opened the fridge and dug out a can of whipped cream and a cherry. I was almost floored as she just took a quick taste of the whip cream before spraying it all over Pinkie's muff to create a pair of panties, planting a cherry just on top of her clit.

After scooting the stallion forward, she smiled at her work and proudly kissing her hoof like it was her greatest masterpiece. "There, problem solved. Now don't be shy when it comes to licking that little pink button or she won't be getting off the right way."

Crescent shook his head at his wife before whispering to Cheese. "Be sure to press your tongue up a little when you do, that G-spot isn't going to stimulate itself. Also throb a little against your abdomen, helps you edge off a little before you go plunging in. You last longer, and you get a pretty nice load off."

"Well come along, Melanie. We don't want to stop them from going at each other's throats." Mrs. Velvet stated as she started to walk out of the kitchen.

"I'd say her throat must feel mightily neglected. Should be solved soon enough." Mr. Crescent joked as he followed his wife.

"Wash up when you finish." She added as we all stepped into the hall.

"Be sure not to mix up the batch of batter... unless you're into that kind of thing." He said as he closed the door behind him.

The two ponies that accompanied me were nothing short of brand-name insane. I still couldn't process these two, and these are Nondis' future in-laws! GOD, Nondis' mom is going to throw her son into a bottomless pit. "You two are... indescribable."

The grey mare shrugged as she responded. "You expect us to not share our wisdom? Do you not know what we've created in the heat of those epic moments where even our horns are throbbing and oozing with magical discharge?"

Okay, now it's overkill. "ROOM IS THIS WAY! LET'S GO NOW!"

Velvet chuckled as she used her magic to push me in the exact opposite direction of the place I was trying to get us to go to. All while she moved me, she and her husband continued to tease at me. "Well come along, Crescent. She's obviously a little stirred up from seeing the two romancing in the kitchen."

Crescent merely laughed at my discomfort as he muttered to himself. "Ah, what it is to be young and fresh to the world of sex."

These two really think I'm a virgin??? Like seriously, I've whored myself out to like five guys in high school, and had a fuck buddy when I stayed on campus. Hell, Rickey and I even had sex in the front seat of my car! Seriously, a virgin??? "I am not! I'm freaking twenty-one years old."

"Again, young and fresh!" Mr. Crescent teased.

Okay, nevermind this. I'm still trying to go to the main place I need to escort them to. "Okay whatever. Can we please make our way to the dining hall?"

"And not get to have more fun with you!? Are you absolutely mad?" Mrs. Velvet questioned. "I swear both you and my daughter have this thing in common where it's so awkward to talk about the natural responses our bodies have to certain situations."

"I wouldn't call it a common case." He responded to his wife. "Melanie walked in on two others having fun. Twilight was having her fun with Nondis when we walked in the last time."

NO FUCKING WAY! He was doing that same shit with her!? "Wait, seriously, you two walked on those two?"

"Oh, what a story it was!" Mrs. Velvet declared as she gave me a devious smirk.

Okay, now she's got my attention. Morbid curiosity won out this round. "Alright, I'll bite. What were the two doing anyhow?"

"Well..."

Quite a while later, I was happily walking down the halls with both Cliff and Rickey when we suddenly ran into an unexpected guest. Sunset Shimmer paid us a visit from her world to wish Twilight a happy birthday and to discuss with her some more findings in her medical research of how magic can be further optimized when being used on humans. She also spoke of her friends on the other side and gave them high praises of their willingness to offer themselves for the sake of medical practice.

Honestly, I can't say that either one of us would be so willing to take up that challenge.

But since she arrived, she's been rambling on nonstop about how everything worked out in her research and how she was willing to show Twilight her work. She promptly started to search me for any wounds that she could use her magic on. To her misfortune, I wasn't wounded enough to become a test subject. I did, however, tell her everything that happened to me for the past three days, causing her to become a big concerned. But I obviously showed that I was still sane and healthy.

"But really, thanks for showing up, Sunset. I know that Twilight's a little unbalanced from yesterday, but I'm willing to bet that she'd love to have you around to talk to."

"Yeah... I can't believe that Queen Chrysalis made an attempt to ghost you away."

"Well that's life, I guess. Things happen." I answered with a sigh.

The mare gave me a sideways glance, showing a bit of worry. "But with you, I'm starting to suspect that you must have the worst luck of any being in existence."

"Nah, I get some pretty promising perks on the side of what I have to go through." I answered.

"Do you really?" Rickey asked playfully.

"Well I get to frequent the castles of the nation. I also get paid to stand around and look pretty. Sometimes I'm paid to answer questions. It's like being in the NBA, without the massive salary."

"But didn't you almost die this time?" Sunset questioned. "It's like you're always on some precipice of death whenever Twilight calls me in to heal you."

"Nope. Just a bad headache, plus being dumped in a wagon next to a predisposed acquaintance of mine, and having my mind controlled like a ham radio set. But thankfully I didn't need anything that required me to go to a hospice." Yeah, cause losing my mind the first time around wasn't enough to completely disable me.

"Yeah, that's because you had some help." Rickey stated while slapping me in the back, which happened to sting a little.

"I'm not denying that, hell no. I'm actually glad you five came along when you did, otherwise I'd be doing some pretty unspeakable shit."

"Like shoving your tongue down that bitch's throat?" Cliff deadpanned.

"Ugh... or worse than that." I said with a cringe.

At last, we made it into the dining hall, where there were several balloons and banners strung from high above. Tables were placed in bunches as a candle decoratively lit the center of each one. Discord was mingling with both Twilight and Fluttershy while Applejack and Apple Bloom left their gifts on the table. Granny Smith and Big Mac were taking a glimpse at the friendship journal that stood just beside the table reserved for the guest of honor. Rarity and her family all conversed with one another, with Sweetie Belle waving at the four of us as we walked in. Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash already started playing games to pass the time until the party got started.

Mayor Mare was quietly conversing with both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Princess Cadance was busy checking the decorations and seeing if anything was out of place. Being that she knew Twilight so well, she figured that anything being slightly off would actually irk the birthday girl by a slight amount. Shining was speaking with a few other mares... Blueblood's wives to be more precise.

Huh, wonder what they're doing here.

Just as Shining took notice of me, one mare in particular broke from the group and casually trotted over to us. "Captain Nondis! It's been ages!"

"Gleam, hello! How you been?" I asked with a bow to the princess.

"I've been hearing more and more of your accolades while I was in Canterlot. A stupendous congratulations on your successful capture of the changeling queen! That's a feat beyond many a guard's dream."

I raised up and faced the other two men who accompanied me. "Well, it was either her or me. But I did have some help, these two here are my friends─"

"Rickey and Cliff!" She shouted, quickly reaching out to Rickey's hand to shake. "I've heard quite a few stories about the two of you helping our esteemed captain! As a princess of Equestria, I welcome you both. Honorary citizenship is nothing that is given lightly."

"Rickey, Cliff, this is Gleaming Star. She's Blueblood's fifth wife─"

She quickly switched over to Cliff as she interrupted me. "And one big fan of humans! I wouldn't have known there would be so many different shapes and sizes you all come by. Even darker ones with longer manes. You two wouldn't happen to be single, right?"

Wait, what? That was a bit sudden.

The two men stared at each other as Sunset took the opportunity to speak on behalf of the both of them. "Well I'm not really sure if that's something to be discussed so openly."

"Oh I was just being curious. But I can definitely speak for the many associations in Canterlot that view humans as a potential target for herd building." Gleam stated with a sing-song tone and a bright smile.

"Herd building?" Cliff and Rickey asked in unison while looking to me for an answer.

Gleam continued. "Oh you didn't know? Mares in Canterlot are willing to share the experience of being some of the first ponies to share a non-platonic relationship with humans."

The two men ceased all movement after they turned their attention back to her. "Non-platonic??? As in─" Rickey asked before he was interrupted by a high-spirited Gleam.

"Oh and let me tell you, many of them are quite young and eager to the thought of sharing our mating practices with you humans. I'd thought I tell you that since you were curious. Or at least to give you a heads up so that when you get some fanmail, you'll know what they'll be going after."

Sunset grimaced as she watched the two slowly turn to each other, unsure of how to answer the princess. Without further hesitation, she quickly spoke for the both of them. "I don't think they were curious at all!" She emphasized while stomping her left hoof into the ground, her face slightly reddened. "Why would you tell them something so off-putting?

Almost instantly, Gleam's smile was wiped from her face, being replaced with a saddened frown. "Oh. I didn't know that you humans were uncomfortable with the notion of being pursued by us ponies. I do apologize, honestly I am so sorry."

As her ears folded and her head dropped towards the ground with regret, Rickey tried to say something that would cheer the mare up. "I mean... uh..."

Cliff then followed up. "It can't be that bad. I mean if Nondis can work things out with Twilight, then I'm pretty sure that we can kinda... you know... work through it."

"They didn't seem to have any problems working through it this morning." Snarked Rickey, referring to the morning banter between Twilight and I.

"Exactly, and... You ponies kinda know how to dance a bit. Little bit of prolonged exposure, and I think we might start to lose the ability to tell much of a difference." Cliff stated.

I then decided to add my personal take. "Exactly what happened with me. I was nervous like hell when Twilight started making advances, albeit when she was inebriated. But as time went along, I slowly became more open to it and embraced the possibility of being in an interspecies relationship. It just takes some time getting used to it. And despite the fact that Twilight and I started going at rocket-speed, it was still a slow process that took a few months of being integrated into equine society."

"What he's saying is this: Now that we know what's going on and how we're viewed, just give us some time to ponder the idea and think about it while we slowly come around to deciding whether or not we're interested." Rickey concluded while Cliff cosigned with a nod.

"Still a possibility, but it will take a little convincing." I added, causing the princess to breathe a little easier.

"Oh, okay. That's a little encouraging to hear in contrast to what the young mare beside you stated."

"I'm Sunset Shimmer, one of Princess Celestia's former pupils." She responded, not happily introducing herself.

Gleam grew a bit of her excitement back as she glanced towards the highly-distinguished royal. "Oh! So I take it you must've graduated from Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns?"

Sunset became a bit more reserved in her response. "Uhh... Let's just say that I had to leave because of... personal reasons."

"Drop out, huh?" Gleam called out with a murmur, causing Sunset to feel a bit bad. "Well there's a lot of those who couldn't handle the slow pace of the lessons, and I understand that there were a few who were envious of the personal attention a select few of the students were given. I think there were like a total of ten unicorns who's development was personally overseen by Celestia. My younger sister told me all about it before she dropped her courses there five years back."

Honestly, I don't think she harbored any ill-intent with what she said, but it's obvious that being called a 'drop out' was quite painful to Sunset. "I meant to say, the reasons were personal between me and Celestia herself."

A slow nod was given as a response from Gleam. "Oh wow. I hope everything is alright between the two of you."

"Why are you saying that like we were dating or something?" Sunset questioned, becoming a bit flustered.

"Well, a lot of her personal pupils end up developing feelings for her throughout history, despite her desire to push them away once they reached a certain age."

Okay, now I know that response wasn't by any means of the word innocent. "...Cliff, Rickey, why don't you two go over there and mingle with the crowd."

"Okay." The two said, glancing at Gleam before they walked off.

"Hey, wait up!" Sunset said as she chased after the two. "I'm coming with you."

The three others left us, causing our conversation to become a one-on-one affair. I started to correct her on her comment, but she held a hoof up and spoke. "I am aware that my comment was colorful and without decorum. However I believe it was necessary to find a way to isolate you. My apology to her will come later. We have an important thing to discuss, but we need to go to an isolated part of the room before we can resume dialog."

Before I could say anything else, she walked off and led me to a table on the other side of he room. She looked around for a second before taking her seat and urging me to do the same. As I got comfortable, I then prompted her to continue. "Now, what were you saying?"

"Blueblood's been around for over a hundred years, so he's been telling me the things that he saw with his former mentor. It turns out that she's very prone to developing personal relationships with her students, often experiencing a great deal of pain when they were punished for their breaking the law. It was said that she would mourn profusely when they endured an excruciating amount of pain or died."

I see, dancing around the issue to kill time. She did this the last time to ward off a few eavesdroppers. I decided to go along for the time being. "So, there were others who were punished?"

Or maybe not, she tapped her hoof at the center of the table, pointing to the smaller sun sigil placed directly above Twilight's cutie mark in the center. "There is one scroll in particular with all the names of every pupil she had throughout her history. Those names were of the ponies who managed to reach the status of royalty, only for it to be taken away by their personal desires or a politician's cruel joke. She would write their names on the scroll and their reason for no longer being her equal."

Hmm... an interesting little story she's trying to tell. Perhaps I've seen this scroll once before. "I take it that she keeps it inside of a magical safe hidden in her room."

"No, not anymore. Rumor has it that a former prince, Fair Charity, was traveling in caravan towards the Horseshoe Bay. They were quickly dispatched by a raiding group of beasts that took everything and left the prince with an obscure end. He had the scroll with him before he died. They didn't find anything but bodies when they went to search for the lost tribute, and even the initial search party was ripped to pieces."

Okay, this story got dark real quick. "Any reason why he had it?"

"For the same reason why he was so determined to have Processu Approbati removed. Back during that time, he was considered to be a champion of the guard, an avid fighter as well as strategist. Guards of the E.U.P. would rally under him, and the people would look up to him as a proud leader. But one thing he was known for was practicing the forbidden arts, hence why he ventured so far south to avoid practice upon Equestrian lands. Of course this was when the border of the kingdom was extended as far as Appleloosa. He vowed to learn the forbidden arts to combat any supporters of the law. And he carried a strong support group of aristocrats, abolitionists, scientists, guards, journalists, you name it."

That explains the presence of the tribute. "Basically, he had enough resources to start a revolution."

"Precisely why he was on his way to Horseshoe Bay, so that he could carry out his plans and field a conflict that would uproot the entire parliament. But there were a few within his camp who saw his plans and thought it to be too radical. Brainwashed by politicians and aristocrats, they lured the beasts to the caravan and smote everypony, including the prince. As their reward, they were hailed as martyrs, for they too they were slain by the beasts."

Damn, at least the traitors were given their just due for ratting out their superior. "So what happened next?"

"Nothing much. The parliament saw fit that they would have a hoof in the activities of the military's workings to prevent the seeds of rebellion growing that strong ever again. By that point, every guard feared finding themselves in any emotional favor with a royal. And even though their influence would wane over time, they would have some guards be an example of their power. Long deployments, dangerous missions, inexperienced commanders placed in the position of leading them, all of it would result in massive casualties. Stallion population eventually grew so short that Celestia herself had to enlist mares. By then, the deployments decreased and the drop in stallions came to a crashing halt."

Wait... IS THIS WHY THERE'S SO FEW STALLIONS NOW!? "So these guys fucked up the population and got away with it?"

"Oh no, Celestia had the ones responsible for the entire operation executed. They were quartered and sent to the various sides of the boarder. She also assumed the final say for much of the parliament's deployments, and enacted the Emergency Herding Act of 694 P.C.D.."

"Mating requirements. Damn, didn't know the country was that fucked up." Quartered, huh? I guess they didn't bother with the 'drawn' part. But for her to send the ones responsible to the gibbet, there's some admiration to be had for Celestia. However, that just leaves more questions about the torture tower back at the ruins. What all were they doing over there?

"Many of those who were in that parliament system were eradicated. But back to the main topic. The prince was killed and the seeds of upheaval were all but extinct. And though the practices of putting certain guards in positions where they were made to be an example were limited, there was one recent account where they completely embarrassed the guard for that sole purpose."

Recent? I don't like the sound of that. "And when was this?"

"Six years ago, they sent Shining Armor to the mountains south of here. The beasts that were rumored to kill the prince attacked his battalion, resulting in only four survivors, two that currently live to this day."

...Oh hell no. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because Senator Count has sent out a summons for you just early this morning. And judging from your accolades and growing influence, he may want to set an example out of you next."

You know what, Sunset, you were right. Fate really seems to hate the fact that I chose to stay here. "Well I guess I gotta do the tap-dancing genie and put on a show tomorrow."

"He's here in the castle, along with his assistant, They will be looking to give you your deployment papers today."

Damn. So not only Spike's here, but that asshole too. I am really going to have to make for some strict security reform when this party ends. For fucks sake, Twilight doesn't deserve this on today of all days. "How bad do you think it is?"

"Possibly a six to eight month deployment. Blueblood came here to warn you of that."

That's why she's here, it's to pass on a warning. "Okay. I'll send out a search party for the senator and have him escorted out. He's not ruining this day for Twilight."

"Blueblood has already taken the reins of security. You would be better off staying in here until the senator is found. Going out to find him, and eventually running into him would mean that you wouldn't be around for the party, or the rest of the night for that matter." She said as she stood up from her seat.

Thinking back to what had occurred between Spike and Rarity earlier today, I know that this would be favorable to us. If he's genuine in saying that he missed the girls, then he's more likely to let things fall to the wayside. I wanna be able to eliminate the chance of him ever showing up, but doing that would probably go against Twilight's desires.

I don't wanna give him a chance, I mean damn I want him kissing the bricks with his nose, but that's Twilight's trust and Rarity's promise that I'd be breaking. But should he pull some stupid ass stunt, I will bash his head in till my knuckles turn purple. "I don't think it's a matter of when he will, but if at this rate."

"Nondis!"

The two of us looked up to see the guest of honor walking up to us. Gleam whispered to me before she departed. "I'll be on my way to apologize now, you tend to your princess. After all, it's her special day you're celebrating."

After bowing to Twilight, she excused herself to make her way towards Sunset Shimmer and the others. Meanwhile, Twilight had grabbed my arm and gave it a light nuzzle. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"Birthday girl, you doing okay?" I asked.

"No, you were nowhere to be seen!" She stated with a demanding tone. "And I've already made it clear that I want to spend my day with you."

"Okay, okay. I'll stick around." I answered as her magic then coated my arm to escort me over to wherever she walked.

As the purple princess happily carted me off to mingle with the others. The one she introduced me to was a brown mare with a green dress who also looked a bit like Rainbow Dash, but with large purple glasses. As she started to talk with her, she carried on from when I was fighting changelings on the train. The mare took quite an interest in the story and prodded the both of us for more details. While Twilight rambled on, I couldn't help but to wander off into thought about what was going on. And more importantly, I was worried if that senator would be making his entrance into here anytime soon.

Please let someone find them before it's too late.

As the party guests started to gather inside of the dining hall, Spike paced himself in the shadows of the pillars to avoid all the security. As one duo of guards walked past, he watched from wherever he could hide. And given that his larger form would give him an easier chance of being spotted, he shrank himself down to his normal size, making it significantly easier to hide. As he was hiding, his gift started to show signs of slight wear. His palms continued to ooze with sweat as he clamped onto the box for dear life.

The patrol finally turned the corner, causing him to draw a breath in relief. "I miss being able to walk down the halls without having to hide from security." He griped. "At least I could talk to a few of the guards before being placed on errand again."

The dragon jumped as the voice directly in his ears screamed his name. He quickly tried to run, but found no chance of it when a pair of pink, frosting-covered hooves wrapped around his small body.

"It's been four evers since I last saw you!"

Looking up to see a familiar smile, he felt himself loosen up and chuckle a bit. "Hey, Pinkie. How's it hanging?"

"It's been going. But what about you? I heard that you were doing some pretty important busy stuff in Canterlot. What they got you doing up there where you can't visit us!?"

Unsure as to what to tell her, he generalized his answer. "Well, the usual... stuff."

"Like???" She inquired with a huge smile.

The young drake scratched his neck as he gave his response. "Well it's not that different from what I do with Twilight. I just help with paperwork and running errands. That's all."

Again, the party ponies' hooves glomped around the baby dragon as she squeezed him tightly. "I knew you had to come by and visit. Twilight's birthday isn't something you'd usually skip out on. I completely understand that you and Non-non aren't on the best of terms, but I really think she would appreciate it if you showed up and stuck around."

Spike saw a pony wrapped in a white cloak and Cheese walking up with a five tier cake covered in magenta and indigo stripes. As the two approached, he felt another tinge of guilt strike at him, causing his smile to slowly fade. "She would, wouldn't she?"

"Is that a gift behind your back?" The pink pony asked, pointing to the present hanging off of Spike's tail by the ribbon.

"Yeah! I just wanted to give this to Twilight... but it seems like I won't have the time. Got a lot more busy stuff to do."

"Oh come on with that!" Pinkie said while taking his gift from him. "You think I'm gonna let you get by without having some sort of interaction with Twilight? She misses you, everypony does!"

"Do they?" Spike asked, feeling as if they shouldn't.

"Of course, it's not like we don't ever ask about you! Sometimes we're left wondering what ever happened to you. It's almost like you disappeared off the map!"

"Maybe it's for the best." He thought to himself before he started to slowly pry himself loose from Pinkie's grip. "I still gotta go. Hey, can you take that gift to Twilight for me?"

Pinkie started to feel a little depressed in seeing that Spike was so eager to leave after they had met. She wanted to encourage him to stay, but realized that he would be just as dedicated to trying to find a way to leave. Unfortunately for the dragon, Cheese saw a means to keep him around for a small amount of time, even if it was for a few extra minutes. "Fat chance, little buddy. We're in need of a third set of hooves to help us with this stuff! We're trying to get this cake in here along with our other big surprise."

"What's the surprise?" Spike questioned.

Cheese looked to the pony covered in the cloak. As two hooves, with distinguishable stripes, reached up to briefly unveil the face that was so carefully hidden. "It has been ages since I've last heard or seen scale of you. Spike you crafty little dragon, how do you do?"

"Zecora?" Spike said with a bit of excitement before realizing that her hooves were devoid of it's usual decorations. Her neck was even shown as opposed to the silver rings he'd see her wear during any occasion. Even her eyes were slightly glazed as darkened circles formulated underneath them. It was evident that she had undergone some degree of strife in his absence. "What happened to you?"

She cloaked herself once more, even hiding her legs as she answered him. "It is a tale for yet another time, when I am ready to tell. On that subject as of now, I am not ready to dwell. My pain and struggle shall be placed last for today. I don't intend to sully the mood of Twilight's nineteenth birthday."

"Oh. Well I don't wanna screw up the mood either. I think that my presence would probably be a bit of a problem." Spike stated as he tried to smooth-talk his way out of helping with the cake.

Instead, Spike found himself being pressed along for the ride as the cake shook a little. Cheese and Pinkie both tried to do whatever they could to prevent the cake from taking a fall. After the cart stabilized, Cheese gave his argument. "I'm sure that she'll be more than willing to let you hang around. Everypony will understand. Now come on! Grab that side of the cake and I'll get this one. Pinkie can guide us where to go next."

As the troupe started to march along, both Pinkie and Cheese winked to one another. Zecora took notice and prodded at the couple. "The two of you seem rather upbeat from when I last saw. I trust that your reunion was with limited flaw?"

"I had to get over the fact that a changeling took advantage of him. We did a bit of making up before we finished the cake." Pinkie responded.

"Suppose I shan't need to ask. I feel the result was quite crass." The zebra joked.

"Yup." Replied Pinkie, who erupted into a giggle and a snort. "We made sure to clean up before finishing though."

"That poor can of whipped cream didn't stand a chance." Cheese mumbled before he continued to egg the little dragon onward as the doors to the dining hall came into view. "Come on, Spike! Put your back into it!"

I've had an interesting little development.

Apparently the mare Twilight introduced me to was actually the author of the Daring Do books herself. She went on to tell about some of the amazing discoveries she's made in the forest south of of the Badlands. She introduced herself by the name of A.K. Yearling, which is apparently a play on J.K. Rowling. She also told me about how she wanted to discover more of what my species had to offer in terms of culture, I told her that I'd try my best to share it in book form. Twilight was also just as giddy to hear the news and demanded that they'd engage in a book swap from time to time so that way each can share what they've learned.

Such is the life of two bookworms.

"There's my little birthday girl!"

Well that voice sends a shiver down my spine.

When I turned around, I could see two familiar faces standing next to Melanie. Of course the voice would belong to none other than Crescent. His wife Velvet casually waved to her daughter, prompting the purple mare to gallop towards them.

"Mom! Dad! It's so good to see you!" Twilight said as she hugged both of her parents.

"Oh Violet, nineteen years and you still haven't grown out of chewing your mane." Velvet teased as she played with her daughter's hair.

"Mom, not so loud." The younger mare urged as she tried to reflatten her disrupted mane style.

"Why I am so happy to be able to give you away! You have no idea how nervous I was when you were first declared princess." Twilight Velvet stated as she looked back to me with a bright smile.

I waved back at the mare as Melanie came walking over. She squeed as she lightly shook me while pointing at them. "Well did you three have fun?" I said with a mocking tone.

"They're fucking batshit insane." She whispered through clenched teeth.

Oh, she must've caught a glimpse of their true nature. "Yeah, we'll get used to 'em."

"You haven't yet?"

Considering that this is only the second time we've met... "Nah, still working on that."

"Yeah, I'd figured. I wouldn't really recover from the fact that they walked in on her giving you a blowjob."

...Just how much did she disclose to this girl? "We're not going to discuss that. Not ever."

For a while the two of us stood next to each other without saying anything. But Melanie wasn't too keen on keeping silent about it. "...Did it feel good?"

"Stop asking me awkward questions." I requested while trying to walk away.

She pulled at my arm, yanking me back towards her as she teased me. "You used to ask me awkward questions and I used to answer them. Payback's a bitch, ain't it?"

"Yeah, I dropped that one bad habit. You drop yours."

She gave my arm a light smack as she pouted. "You're no fun."

"Ran into your little friend earlier today." I mumbled into her ear.

"Which one?"

"Spike."

She glared at me with disgust. "Oh God no, he's here?"

"And apparently so is one of the senators. You know those guys I love talking about so much?"

She took a second to think about who I was talking about. "You don't talk about them very often."

"Precisely." I confirmed.

Melanie groaned as she placed her palms over her face. "So, what are we going to do?"

"As far as what I was told, security will be heightened and on the lookout for the senator and his accomplice."

"Meaning?" She asked with a hand flexed outward

"Meaning that we should chill out for the time being."

"Bad idea."

"Yeah, I know. But you said it yourself: Sometimes your company is all someone would want of you. And obviously, Twilight wants that from me today. So I'm gonna do my best to make sure that she's happy until the moment she blows those candles out. When she starts tearing through her gifts, I might take a break to check on where we are on the search."

She looked towards the guest of honor while she spoke. "But what if you run into the senator out there?"

"Then I'm out of sight when I get my paperwork. End of story. I come back in here with a little extra weight."

"You better hope that's all you'll be coming back with." Grumbled Melanie.

"Me too."

A few seconds went by before the doors that opened to reveal Pinkie Pie walking in with a huge cake. "SURPRISE!" She screamed cheerfully, darting up to the purple princess to give her a hug. Twilight returned the gesture as she saw two figures walking the cake in.

"Happy birthday, princess!!!" Cheese said as he stopped pushing the cart. His assistant started to grumble about the cake.

"Seriously, how is it that a cake like this is so hard to move!?"

"Spike?" Twilight called out, separating herself from the pink party pony. The room grew incredibly quiet as she walked up to the dragon.

"Oh, uh... Hey Twilight." He greeted his guardian with a nervous grin.

Without a moment's notice, he was scooped up by Velvet and given a hug. "Well if it isn't our little dragon hatched from a humble little egg. Spike, we haven't heard word from you, child!"

The young drake nervously responded. "Sorry, I was kinda busy."

"Busy or not, you needed to be here with the family! Come here!"

While Velvet carted Spike off in her magic, Melanie looked on with disgust. "I can't believe she's so hugged up with him."

As I looked at her, I could see the contempt growing in her face. I knew that she wasn't too thrilled to see him, not after what he had told her. But there was one significant issue that she overlooked: context. Without it, she would only see this as a newly made friend chumming up with the scum of the earth. And that was something I had to explain to her. "Mel, there's one facet of this whole puzzle that you don't know about right now that turns this whole thing into the correct perspective."

"Okay, what?" She asked vehemently.

"Twilight hatched him at a entrance exam when she was a filly. She was literally the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes. To him, it's a mix between his elder sister and his surrogate mother. To her, he's the little brother she never knew she wanted but loved to have. So he's been with their family for I guess the better part of a decade. I don't like the bastard either, but I can respect that much of their dynamic."

She folded her arms as she watched Crescent give him a quick noogie with a boisterous laugh. "So he's adopted?"

Twilight then draped her foreleg over his shoulders and gave him a hug, smiling as she embraced her 'number one assistant'. "Entirely, yes. And being that he came first, he's gonna get the benefit of seniority over me. To Twilight, he's her family as much as he is her number one assistant."

"And Rarity's stalker. What is he going to do when he sees her?"

I scoffed at the mention of that. "Rarity got him locked down. She's a savage when it comes to letting him know when he's right or wrong. And earlier today, she put him on notice. I was holding a shotgun while changing clothes, and she was burning his shit to the ground. She's made it clear to me that she's got him, she doesn't want any interference."

"Are you sure?" She looked at me with uncertainty.

I looked back at her as I whispered back. "...She told me on a date to not get involved with him."

Her worry then turned to criticism as she gave me her full attention. "I hope you know you're playing with fire here."

As I turned back to look at the family, Shining and Cadance eventually got in on it and greeted the drake, but from a foreleg's length. Cheese was setting up a camera on a tripod as Pinkie and Cliff sat the cake off towards the gift table. "I've dealt with worse." I stated as the festivities continued to unfold before me.

"Cadance, Shining, get in a little closer!" Velvet requested, urging the two to obey.

"Camera's set. We're good to go!" Cheese said as he gave a quick nudge towards the birthday girl. From behind him, a cloaked figure showed up. Immediately, Mel and I were up on our guard while the stallion carried on like nothing was happening. "On the count of three, I'm gonna need you all to say the magic word!"

"What's the magic word?" Twilight asked.

"We'll let you find out, kiddo." Shining said, while giving his younger sister a light nudge.

"Just know that it will be a surprise." Cadance added before Cheese started to count.

"Okay, everypony on me! One... two... three..."

"ZECORA!!!" The married couple shouted to the top of their lungs. As her name was called, the robes came off to reveal the recuperating zebra. Twilight held her hooves to her face as the mare walked up to her and gave her a huge hug.

"OH MY GO..." Twilight became overwhelmed with emotion, shaking as the shaman clung on to her. Her eyes brimmed with tears as she felt herself collapse under her own weight. While the princess sobbed, both Melanie and I stood speechless.

"Oh my God. When did they get her here!?" She asked, her face turning slightly red and her own eyes welling up with tears.

"Your question is as good as mine." Personally, I was more relieved that it was her as opposed to any politician with the intent to cause trouble.

Twilight rose as soon as she found the strength to recover from the sudden shock. "Zecora, you're here... You should be in the hospital!"

The zebra shook her head with defiance. "My time in that room made me depressed to no end! So I thought it appropriate that I'd spend my day with a friend. Though I am slightly weak, that much is true, I wanted to see that face on you!"

"Zecora, I'm so sorry!" Twilight whispered as she embraced her friend once more.

"Do not be, my dearest friend. It's because of you I have yet to meet my end."

As the two continued to embrace, I took a quick glance at the cake and grew a pair of horns. I only wanted to take a swipe at the frosting, I swear I wasn't going to tackle the whole damn thing. But if it was good, I might end up hurting myself. "You know, I think I'm gonna leave this one to them." I muttered to Mel as I tried to sneak towards the cake.

But I didn't go unnoticed as I tried to ninja my way towards the five tiers of what appeared to be heaven. Zecora called me out. "And where do you think you're going, I've still have you to thank! I wouldn't have made it another second without your recklessness, if I may be frank."

Not before long, Twilight teleported herself next to me and dragged me towards where they were taking the family picture. As I saw Spike staring back at us, I felt that I didn't belong. "I don't know if I can get in on this."

"You can and will!" Twilight demanded.

"I'm not a family member." I argued.

"You will be soon enough. Now look for the camera." Velvet said as she assisted her daughter in dragging me along. Melanie started to dig for her phone as she walked up to stand next to Cheese.

Every once and a while, I'd look down to where Spike was, only to see him looking right back at me. Our animosity towards each other showed, but we tried our best to not let it remain etched in this picture. Thankfully, we were outside of each other's reach. I towered above the ponies that surrounded me. Cheese took a few photos before he was done. "Okay, one more."

As the final flash showered the room in white for a brief second. I felt myself wanting to walk away before I got dragged into some more conversation with Spike nearby. "Don't move yet!" Melanie said as she finally pulled up her camera on her phone. "I gotta get one more in."

"Is it really necessary?" I asked.

"Yes." She answered sternly. She started to scan the room, seeing both of my brothers talking with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. "Alex, Stanton, come here! Get in the photo!"

The two perked up as Alex answered her. "Not sure if that's a good idea right now."

"Just get in!" She said, urging the two to come around. Both of them hesitantly got up from their seats and walked over to stand behind the row of ponies. Spike took a glance back to see that the two that stood beside me towered just a few inches above me. Meanwhile, Crescent was more surprised of them being included.

"Oh what are these two doing here?" He asked.

Melanie gave the ponies a bright smile as she loudly announced to the room. "Mr. and Mrs. Sparkle, meet Alex and Stanton, Nondis' brothers, older and younger respectively."

A light gasp came from the stallion while Velvet actually screamed bloody murder. "YOU HAVE SIBLINGS!?"

Immediately after that bit of news, Spike stopped staring at me and looked ahead, eyebrows fully raised. Melanie glanced at the drake before she took her next picture. "I thought you should be getting to know the extension a little, so there you go." Spike then forced a smile as Melanie adjusted her settings. "Now say 'smiles'!"

Two Hours Later...

The party continued to drive on as if nothing could stop it. Despite our concerns of having the senator paying us an unexpected visit, we had fun. The CMC practically zerg rushed my brothers as soon as we finished taking pictures. The mayor then spoke to them and went on about how honored she was to have my siblings visit 'our humble little village just in the shadow of the capital'. We danced to quite a bit of pony music and Cliff introduced them to the electric slide, which they pretty much loved.

Sunset seemed very talkative with Cliff after he finished dancing, even sharing a nice conversation about her world and how everything was so similar to ours. Gleam continued to speak with Rickey about everything she told him about the 'Hooves for Humans' fan club back in Canterlot. I can already tell that those two mares are already throwing their pitches to the guys for dating equines just for the experience. I was already aware of this being a possibility when they were discovered, but I'm just relieved that it didn't devolve into the hysterics that occurred during the trial with Caramel and Pinkie. That's a relief.

Spike partook in most of the games and dancing while a few of us watched with careful eyes. We were very keen on not letting him out of the room to sneak in his yet-to-be-discovered party members. But from what we were seeing, he couldn't care any less about them. On occasion he would ask Rarity to dance with him for a bit, getting rejected by some other 'interruption' by running off into a table that was engaged in a very vocal discussion. He did manage to get a dance or two from Sweetie, who then danced with Alex.

Of course, Velvet dragged me out of my seat and onto the dance floor... Is there any way I could get a memory spell to bleach out the parts where I did embarrassing things to try to make myself look half-way decent at dancing? At least Twilight got a good laugh out of it.

Finally, it was time to serve up the cake. Everybody managed to wait in line for a slice except for Melanie, who stated that she was 'just not up for sweets right now'. Too bad, the cake was pretty fucking nice. I had to go back for a second and third slice. Celestia walked off with about fifteen slices while Luna descended back to her table with nine of her own. Cadance grabbed about six. And whatever wasn't already cut, Twilight claimed the rest for what she called 'culinary study'.

But once the birthday girl started to open her presents, we made sure that Spike's was first to be unwrapped. He sent her a book, replicating the friendship journal she had out for reading, filled with his entries and everything he learned since his departure from Ponyville. After that, we politely escorted Spike to the hall, where I and my brothers spoke with him about Senator Count and how he needed to be escorted from the premises.

While I had to stick around for Twilight, they didn't have any problem being the dragon's entourage for the time being. Instead, they were quite eager to get done so they could head back. "Hurry up and walk faster." Stanton commanded.

Alex followed closely behind with a taser in hand, and a firearm on person should anything get dicey. "You're lucky to even be in here right now. If it wasn't for the fact that Twilight and you go way back, we'd kick your ass out the moment you walked into the room."

Spike grew complacent with their orders as he led them towards the room he left the two stallions inside of. "I get it, you guys don't want me here."

"No, we don't want you AND your friends here. There's a difference." Stanton corrected.

"I know. And the only way I get to stay here is if I somehow convince them to leave?" Spike tried to confirm.

"Overnight stay is out of the question, but you can stick around for another hour or so. Just as long as the birthday girl gets her fair share of you, we'll tolerate your being here." Alex stated as watched the dragon stop moving, causing both Stanton and he to remain still.

"...Can you guys hide for a quick second. I need to convince them that the area's clear. Then I just need some time to talk to them."

Alex whispered as he crept towards one of the crystal pillars beside the door, hiding completely from the view of the occupants. "We're keeping an eye on you, so hop to it."

"No funny shit either, or you'll find out just how much heat you can take." Stanton whispered as he did the same to the opposite side. Both raising their tasers and waiting for the moment the two would walk out. Spike then quietly approached the door.

He didn't get an immediate answer, but he called into the room for the two to identify his voice. "Hello, it's me. You guys can come out now."

Again, no response.

Spike rolled his eyes and groaned with frustration as he pulled out a golden key and placed it into the lock. When he opened the door, he called out once more. "Guys?" But as soon as the door opened fully, he could see that the room was very much empty. Neither one of it's former occupiers remained. The dragon fell to his knees. "Oh no!"

"What, what is it?" Alex asked, quickly coming around from the corner and rushing into the room. Stanton followed suit as he continued to arm his taser.

"They were in here! I swear! This was where I left them! I told them to wait here until I got back!" Spike explained, but not getting as much as a look from the two brothers.

"Apparently they got tired of waiting." Alex concluded.

"As many fucking security sweeps we had in the past two hours, you mean to tell me they didn't get caught not once?" Stanton asked.

Alex looked around the room, but noticed that there was a dusty vent grid laid on the dragon's bed. He then looked up to see an open shaft where a few strands of fur and horse hair dangled from it's edges. "Not if they avoided the halls altogether." He said as he pointed to the hole in the ceiling.

"They're in the vents!? SHIT!" Stanton growled as he took a quick exit towards the dining hall.

Alex grabbed the dragon by his most prominent fin and dragged him out of the doorway. "You're coming with us to point these bastards out. You know the layout of the castle, so you'd know where these vents are and how long it would take to get from point-A to point-Z."

"We could probably catch them in the dining hall. Since that's the one place I know they'll be going for, we can spring a little something on them when they arrive. Don't even give them a chance to talk, just tase them and cart their sorry asses out." Stanton suggested while Alex gave the dragon a vividly crossed expression.

"You better hope we find them before they find the party, or your stay might be cut short."

It didn't take them long to find their way back to the dining hall. The older of the two seemed a bit out of breath while Stanton was marginally sweaty. Spike on the other hand was a lot more exhausted than the other two. But as he came through the door, Velvet marched up to him and pulled him up to their table. "There you are, you little dragon you!"

The young drake tried to explain himself before she cut him off. "Mrs. Sparkle, I'm sorry I can't talk right now─"

"Of course not. Little Violet is going to raise a toast, and she wanted to wait until you were here."

Spike glanced back towards the two human siblings with guilt starting to turn his stomach inside out. He began to feel nauseous. "I really don't think I should be here."

"And why not?" Crescent asked.

"Look, it's not that─"

The sound of a fork lightly tapping against glass hushed the room to a dead silence. The guest of honor stood up from her seat as she began to announce to the entire room. "Good evening, everypony! I hope that you all are enjoying this party as much as I have enjoyed you throwing it!"

"THE PARTY SHALL LAST FOREVER!" Pinkie shouted to the top of her lungs.

"I wish!" Twilight responded loudly to match with her friend. "But in all sincerity, I can't begin to put into words the wide array of emotions I felt when I saw each and every one of you. Today is a day I wanted to celebrate with everyone. And even though I've gotten to avoid the dance floor, it's nice to know that my fiance thoroughly embarrassed himself in my place."

"You still owe me a dance, princess." I announced in front of everyone.

She gave me a light giggle as she answered. "That I do. Just don't call me out for having two pairs of left hooves."

"I will make no such promise." I announced once more.

Twilight continued. "But before I start humiliating myself before everyone... again, I would like to say a few words of thanks. Of course to my mother for giving birth to me." She said sarcastically while pointing to Velvet.

"Ugh, she actually protested her own birth. How do you stage a sit-in within my─"

The princess was quick to disrupt her mother before she said something to embarrass her. "My distinguished brother and wonderful sister, who granted two unexpected wishes today. Mine was to know if Zecora would be fine, and Zecora for getting out of the hospital room to mingle. Of course it goes without saying that I owe a tremendous thanks to my friends, who've been with me through every possible turn of my life, allowing us to achieve the impossible when all hope seemed lost. Obviously I can't forget Spike, who also helped me keep sane whenever I was about to lose my mind. Another thank you to Sunset, who's magical contributions allowed me to keep my fiance from getting hurt anymore than he already was."

"I'm just happy he didn't break anything this time!" She joked loudly.

"You and me both!" Melanie agreed.

"Yes. To our distinguished guests, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, who taught me many things in my life, as well as the in's and out's of being royalty. I also heard that Blueblood was really working in overtime on the security detail."

Shining scoffed as he shouted a comment of his own. "Possibly the most work he's ever done for the past ten years!"

While everyone had a chuckle, the blond prince gave his fellow royal a simplistic response, knowing that he couldn't top the comment. "I'll owe you for that one, Shining."

Twilight finished laughing before she carried on with her speech. "And who could ever forget the five massive giants standing here in the room? To all our human friends, we thank you not only on an individual level. But the entire nation of Equestria owes you all our deepest gratitude. Without any of you, this day would never have been possible. Several ponies would still be missing, Cheese would still be in the hooves of the changelings, and we would've never been able to retrieve our friend, your friend, your brother. And for this, I give you my utmost respect. Now as for you..." She said while turning to me with a sassy look.

She's gonna rip me to shreds, just watch.

"How are you gonna let changeling get you on your day off?" Everyone broke out into a chuckle as soon as she said it. I knew that was coming. "And then you have the nerve to sacrifice yourself to save one of my friends from certain doom. I know that you are the captain of the guard, but can I at least share one grievance with you?"

"You may, your highness." I said, ready to take anymore blows she might have for me.

"You are the worst when it comes to coming out of anything in one piece. You keep doing it over and over again. And each time I have to clean up after you, I'm left worrying whether or not you'll bonce back from it this time or the next. I can even remember the first time you did it, you nearly got yourself killed. You defended one of my friends earlier in the day, but was caught walking in the evening and ended up in bad shape. Then you nearly got my brother to kill you, twice. Then you nearly got yourself killed alongside my mom and dad. Then again in Ponyville three weeks ago, and in the ruins of Everfree two weeks ago, then just yesterday."

"I get it, I suck at staying healthy." i said, stopping her from rambling on about my medical history.

"Boy do you! But I also understand that it's par for the course when you're a guard. And the sacrifices you've made are way too much to be ignored. If I wanted to, I would keep you in a cage and throw away the key just so that I could keep you to myself for a week. If I could keep you safe with me for one week, that would be all I'd want. And I know I'm being selfish, I don't care! But I'm being selfish because I'm beginning to realize that I can't function without you, not as well as I used to. You damaged me, and I'm hurt whenever you leave. And I remember the day when you fought my brother, when you said that you would carry me whenever I got tired..."

I could already tell from the gradual decline of stability in her voice that she was was on the verge of letting loose a few tears. I grabbed a nearby clean paper napkin as I knew she was going to start crying at any moment. "I did."

She took a few breaths to get herself together before she spoke. "So... I can expect you to take full responsibility in keeping me together. If you leave me, I won't ever be the same. You owe me this, because you changed me so much. And if I can't close my eyes and see that I've shared my life with you, I'd wander this land without purpose until I could..."

When she paused, I could already see her tears falling right off of her cheeks. I quickly reached over and tried to wipe her face. "Hey, hey. Look at me. I'm here." I tried to make light conversation of the situation, ultimately to get her to chuckle a little. "Don't haunt me after you die. Just don't die, please."

Instead, she just lightly shoved me. "You idiot, I should be telling you that!" She screamed, becoming a bit emotional.

"Just stop." I got out of my seat and quickly gave the purple mare a hug, prompting her to tightly wrap her hooves around me. She lightly rocked me from side to side, nuzzling me as I held her. "You know I'm just as scared of losing you. That's why I'm doing this."

The sound of a boisterous male echoed from up above us, causing me to separate from Twilight and scan the room. "The fuck was that?" I asked.

And just on cue, a vent grid fell from the ceiling and landed against the ground with a loud clang. Following it were two stallions who fell into the nearby table, where the cake sat on. As they landed on the center of the table, snapping it in two, they caused the cake to launch high into the air. As it arced towards Blueblood, Gleam stepped forward and halted the cake just a few feet from hitting both her and her husband. The blond prince sighed with the relief of not having to relive a past experience of being covered in cake. Rarity rolled her eyes as Blueblood's other wives applauded Gleam for her quick thinking. As the cake was set aside to another table, everyone's eyes were then on the two stallions and the compromised table they laid on.

"Ugh... I knew the fall was going to be painful, thank goodness this table helped break the impact. Help me up, Single File."

The second stallion hopped off of his superior and used his magic to assist the senator to his hooves. "Yes sir!"

Count continued to dust himself off as his understudy aided him on his task. "I swear it took us an hour to find this damn place. The library, the bathroom, the princess' personal chamber, the kitchen, the broom closet, WHY DOES THE BROOM CLOSET NEED VENTILATION?"

"Probably to give some poor, unfortunate souls a fighting chance should they find themselves locked away." Single File answered.

Princess Celestia was the first to address the party crashers. "And what are you doing here!?"

"Don't you have something to do other than impeding on other's privatized matters?" Princess Luna chided.

Shining pointed his hoof at the two stallions. "I trust that you don't have anything to contribute, so I'll be so kind as to give you a walking order. SECURITY!"

Already without Shining saying anything, my brothers had moved in to take both of them. Senator Count tried to speak as he pulled out a scroll with a red wax seal. "Your highness─" Suddenly, the scroll was batted out of his hooves. Next thing the senator felt was a hand firmly grab his horn, strongly yanking him towards the ground. As he looked up, he saw Stanton holding a taser next to his ear. "You again? Have we met?"

"Yes, at the front door. I didn't know who you were then, but I know now the reason why you're here. So you can take this as a formal request to get your pale, flaky-and-crusted, sorry ass out."

As both Stanton and Alex yanked the stallions up and started to push them towards the door, Count tried to make his case before his exit. "I completely understand your desire for me to leave, but not without a word─"

"Sorry, no freedom of speech here. This is a dictatorship." Alex said, cutting him off.

Single File tried to speak for his boss while Alex continued to shove him along. "Summons have been made, and have been set to expire by midnight. It's for the captain."

"Alright, let's get them outta here!" Blueblood cried out as she dismissed the two stallions with a hoof.

"Gag his ass!" Melanie called out as Stanton reached out for something to mute the two with.

As the two were slowly being shipped away, Shining walked towards the scroll and levitated it towards him. He carefully broke the seal and started to read the contents of the scroll. While the two started to struggle with the non-compliant stallions, his eyes glanced at a single word that caused him great dread. His heart sank as he read the word 'Arimaspi' and looked back in the earlier part of the sentence to the word 'deployment'. The stallion's eyes grew quiet and cold as he dropped the scroll and marched towards the two senators. Cadance saw her husband march forward without posture as he walked up to Alex. "Shining!? Shining what's wrong!?" Cadance called out.

Shining looked at the taser in Alex's hands and then stared back to Single File. After looking up to the human, he mumbled in a low voice. "Let me borrow that."

"What?" Alex questioned.

Shining stood motionless for a few seconds before he used his magic to disarm the human and fire the taser directly into the back of Single File. The young stallion screamed with agony as over a thousand volts were sent churning through his body. Shining let loose of the trigger as she started to question the stallion.

"ARIMASPI MOUNTAIN!? YOU'RE SENDING HIM TO ARIMASPI MOUNTAIN!?"

I kinda scratched my head a little at the word, but my arm could feel a pair of hooves nearly squeeze it to sleep. I looked down to see an absolutely mortified Twilight leaning against my arm, breathing heavily. Looking back down, I could see Spike covering his face as Velvet and several others, jumped out of their seats. Senator Count smiled innocently as he explained himself. "It's only for a week. I can assure you... that the assignment is short."

"You know that place is a DEATH SENTENCE!" Cadance screamed with horror, obviously causing me a great deal of concern that I was being shipped to this place. If I didn't take it serious before, I do now.

Single File continued to explain calmly. "Well it's not like he's going alone. He'll have a few guards to accompany him. Just a few─" And all that calm was surged away as Shining Armor sent another thousand volts into the stallions body, even holding the trigger for an extended period of time before Alex and Stanton had to yank the taser away from him. "Thirty! Thirty guards will accompany him!" He answered, not wanting to get hit with another blast.

Twilight started to pet my arm as Zecora stood from her seat. "You know he's been through enough as is. Let him be, he just captured Chrysalis!"

"Captured, but not killed." Count stated as he slowly stood, free of Stanton's grip. "Your image took a pretty big hit, captain. Among my colleagues, your name has been the source of ridicule and judgement. You would do well to answer the call before you. The next train leaves in an hour."

Celestia stamped her hoof into the ground as she spoke. "I will suspend any summons made for him until tomorrow at noon."

"No, princess. We require him now. We demand answers for his negligence, his lack of security, and his absurd methods! The charges have been filed, he is to leave tonight should he wish to keep his job, and moreso his freedom."

Finally, I found the grounds to speak on the matter. "Look, I'm not leaving tonight, okay? I'm spending time with my friends and fiancee, it's her birthday. And furthermore, it's way too damn late for any business to take place. So if you would please find your way out─"

Senator Count took a brave step forward as he cut me off, causing me to buck back at him. "You think that all of the charges are against you, captain. I can assure you that they are also towards another party. So if you'd wish for your princess to keep her wings, or for me to keep my silence about the fact that she had her wings clipped due to her engaging in premarital coitus with you─" At those words, Shining turned to the senator with enlarged eyes. Count looked back to him with a smug smile. "Oh my dear, I was not supposed to say that in front of Shining Armor! Then again, I'm surprised that nopony has even told him already."

Just like that, the air jumped from my lungs as Twilight's older brother looked back to the two of us, heartbroken. Twilight buried her face into my arm as he stared at us. I honestly couldn't find the strength to look him in the eye as he seemed to grow numb. Velvet walked away from her seat to confront the senator. "And it matters what my daughter does in her relationship and why?"

"Because, ma'am, it's law." He answered with a smile, whispering in her face.

Rickey turned to Princess Celestia as he asked loudly. "Quick question. Can we shoot the messenger?"

The senator chuckled as he turned back to the one who asked the question. "It would be unwise. I am the only one to stop the charges from following through."

"He's bluffing." Crescent called out.

The senator then summoned another scroll, unveiling a grievance report. "Oh I am not. This here, this is a copy of the formal application of charge, a grievance made against the princess for corruption and treason against the country. Again I shall say, you owe us your company, sir captain."

I could feel Twilight still rubbing herself against my arm as she started to lean in on me. I looked at Shining, who seemed empty as he stood in place. Cadance walked up to her husband in an attempt to comfort him. Both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna angrily watching, realizing that there was officially nothing that they could do. By law, if a summons were to be announced before a royal audience, it was automatically made official. At that point, I'd have to answer it.

And given the MASSIVE leverage he has against me at the moment, I can't refuse without Twilight having to suffer some sort of defamation or physical pain. And it wasn't like I couldn't let Twilight go through something like that again. Even seeing her go through with getting her wings clipped was nothing short of agony. I couldn't let it happen again. I won't.

With a deep intake of air, I closed my eyes and threw my head to the ceiling. When I exhaled, I felt myself already being sent to a situation where they were going to do something to send a message. And even though I was warned earlier, I still struggle to deal with the fact that it's happening to me. In defeat, my head dropped, my eyes opened, and my voice found words. "If I was to go with you?"

What was a bitter pill to swallow only became even more so as Twilight then pulled my arm down, trying to anchor me in place. The senator silently answered my question. "Then I would revoke my charge. Then you would hear your options, would be granted a time period to ready yourself, wish your compatriots farewell, and then ride with your fellow guards to your assignment. The arrangements are already in pending and will be fully realized come tomorrow afternoon, you ship out Monday morning."

Rickey slammed his hand into the table as he groaned. "You sir are the worst scum of the earth. And that's accounting for my world too."

"Fucking Adolf Hitler looks like a damn saint next to this bastard." Melanie stated.

I raised my head and accepted my task, not that I had much of a choice to begin with. I didn't even say anything as I started to make my way from around the table and out of the dining hall. But then a powerful magenta aura surrounded my entire body, gluing me to the floor. Looking down, I could see Twilight's horn being lit. "Twilight, I gotta go."

"Mm-nmmm. No. You stay here." She answered weakly. "I can take whatever I get, but I'm not going to lose you."

At the sight of compassion, at the mere show of one dedicating their own health and life to another, the senator's colors were finally revealed to everyone within the room. "You see that, Spike? This is what your surrogate mother is reduced to. She's willing to abdicate her position for the desire of one lanky monkey."

Soft gasps sounded throughout the room as each pony expressed shock. Rickey launched himself out of his chair as he reached for his gun. "Did he just─"

Cliff... did NOT take the comment too kindly. He snapped and pulled out his gun, putting the senator down his sights. "HELL NAH! You dyin today, nigga! You finna catch a whole clip in yo ass!" He shouted as loud and clamorous as possible, the sound of his voice echoing throughout the room.

"GUYS!" I shouted out, trying to stop Cliff from killing the senator out of a reason he didn't necessarily understand. "This one's on me."

As I said that, Twilight amplified her magic. Celestia lightly tapped on her student to get her to remove the spell. While she didn't wish to, she did so without a choice. Her former mentor lightly tapped her horn, causing the spell to drop. After I was freed, I slid my arm out of Twilight's grasp. She watched in silence as I walked away from her side, out of the room, and into the hall.

Next, Count's voice rang out in the silence. "Very good. Now come along, Spike. Our time here is done."

I can't.

If I had to sum up everything that I'm feeling at this very moment, it would be best defined by those two words. My forelegs felt the coldness that replaced the once warm feeling of my fiance's arm. Seeing him so removed from his normal demeanor scared me. But it didn't scare me as much as the sight of my brother staring so lifelessly towards the ground. It terrified me in knowing that my fiance would be sentenced to the same torment my brother once faced, the very same torment that forever robbed my brother of a goodnight's sleep.

Just imagining Nondis coming back with every bit of baggage my brother carried made me feel so weak. The thoughts of him walking every family into the lobby of the morgue, apologizing for the lives he couldn't save or bring back, made me sick to my stomach. Even the scenario of seeing him being brought back in... pieces... I didn't know whether or not I wanted to cry, vomit, or close my eyes thinking that this was all just a bad dream.

I'd probably do all three just to be safe.

The sound of a chair scratching against the floor woke me out of my trance. I jumped as soon as the sound reached my ears. When I finally came to, I could see Spike slowly climbing out of his chair, marching at the pace an undertaker would have after digging a few graves. He didn't look at anyone as he left, he just stared at his feet moving forward.

While walking past mom, she tried to send her hoof to bar him from going any further. "You can't be serious, dear child."

"..." Spike didn't respond much outside of looking up to her.

She then put herself in his way, defiantly halting his progress. "No. You cannot be this naive to think that this abomination has any morsel of respect for you or Violet! You just saw him threaten her! She is your family, and you are willing to turn against her? Why, Spike!? Why do you betray us like this!? Did we not give you enough!?"

"It's not because of Twilight entirely." Rarity responded with a soft tone. "I, too, am to blame."

My mother paid her no mind as she placed her hooves on the dragon's shoulders. "Spike, we are your family! This is your home!"

He started to pull himself away as my mom pleaded with him. Eventually, he broke from her grasp and he walked towards the door. Cadance called out to him. "Spike, you know that going with him now would result in you not being able to come back."

"He knows. And he knows that we would rather him never return if he left. Because our friendship was obviously worth so little in the sight of his greed." Rarity responded harshly, causing Spike to stop on his own. He looked back to Rarity who angrily got up from her seat and walked past him on the way out. "If only you were more mature, I'd would've entertained the thought."

The senator waited for Rarity to pass by, who smacked him in the face with her tail as a show of disrespect. Count felt his cheek as he started to feel himself become enraged. He turned back to the dragon standing before the doorway. "Spike, let's go. We don't have all night."

I was left shaking as Rarity said those words to him. A part of me wanted to correct her for being so harsh to him, but I knew that Spike had done something to hurt her. I couldn't get in the way of that. But I still wanted to say something that would cause him to reconsider. But everything I wanted to say was already said by mom. Cadance already told him the consequence of his decision to leave. Rarity only served as an example of how harsh the reality of his choice was. I can't say anything right now, I couldn't even if I tried. Something inside of me snuffed my words out as they were in my throat, causing me to choke.

Spike started to speak as he looked back at me. "Twilight... I..."

Senator Count tapped the dragon on his head, urging him to leave quicker. "You're the only one to stop those charges, Spike. You've bore witness to the escort, the conversation that took place between her and Celestia."

Spike turned back to him, shoving his hoof off of his head as he screamed to the senator. "I DID NO SUCH THING!"

A sickening, demonic smile formed on the senator's face as he blurted out to the whole room. "Or perhaps you'd share that it was you who tried to slice him as he slept!"

A wave of gasps and murmurs filled the room, I was the only one to remain quiet. Again, I couldn't say anything. I was too shocked to say anything as the sudden revelation hit me worse than any blow I received from my worst enemies. Spike, the one I hatched and raised as my own blood, the one who was so loyal to me, tried to kill the one I called my own half.

I can't respond to that.

"Spike... no." Pinkie moaned with an aching sadness.

"That explains the door." Princess Luna mumbled as she looked that Spike.

"Wow... fuck me." Melanie cried out as she threw her glass at the ground in a fit of rage.

The stallion picked up where he left off, stomping a hoof just inches before Spike's face, caging him like a father would his own foal. He fabricated a loving smile while he leaned in towards him, whispering in his ear. "There's no going back, Spike. Now that it's all said and done, there's only one place you truly belong. Now let us return to Canterlot so YOU can remove those charges. You wouldn't want your surrogate mother to lose her wings, now would you?" He said as he started to pet him.

Spike finally broke down, falling on his knees as he wiped his eyes. He tried to keep his eyes on me as he spoke, failing because of the tears that continued to fall. "I'm...s-s....Sssoorry."

The senator who caged him in, retracted his false kindness, using his magic to lift him and shake him violently. "QUIT YOUR CRYING! DO YOU WANT TO SAVE HER OR NOT!?"

As Nondis' voice sounded from halls outside, the senator tossed Spike towards his understudy. Catching him in his field of magic, Single File was generous to check in on the dragon before Spike ran outside of the room. He followed closely behind as the senator remained in the room to speak one final time.

"Tough crowd, huh? I know how that can be. Fillies, gentlecolts, and monkeys alike, I bid you adieu."

He then looked at me as he levitated a slice of cake from the table. With a carefree smile, he dug his fork into the cake and took a taste. After he took his first bite, he hummed with delight.

"Oh, and happy birthday, your highness."

Ugh...

It's been a hellish month and a half.

It's not that I've been dealing with writers block, as that is not even the case this go around. Instead, life had gotten a little real for me... A little TOO real.

Not all was bad, but not all of it was good either. I'll probably explain from recently to when all of it started to get to me. I know this is a little personal, but then again this site tends to be a bit of a cathartic method of relieving stress and bad moods. So if this is too much, then feel free to ignore it.

Now enough about real life. Let's get to the story.

√ Portals Arc
√ Guardians Arc
√ Changelings Arc (you are/were here)

Of course this set up took a while and I did think about breaking it in half. But I decided against it for the sake of actually letting the story flow. I honestly didn't want this to drag longer than it did (and yet it still does, go figure). With the sequences of the backstory, it leads into the next arc of the story.

Welcome to the Senate Arc, where cutthroat politics and underhanded business is all in a single helping of breakfast. Of course Nondis will be getting some breaks, but it will take some work getting them.

The question is what new plot armor shall the protagonist wear for the next arc? Well next chapter won't have any, but I can assure you that there might be some walking around. Stick around next chapter for what could be a rather interesting train ride to Canterlot.