"Do you believe in magic?"

Celestia stood against the wall with a smirk on her face as she began to feel a sense of pride. Sunset Shimmer politely drummed her fingers against her legs as she sat patiently next to Twilight. The party of other humans remained idle as my parents tried to come to terms with their youngest son overcoming a career-threatening injury in the matter of fifteen minutes. Stanton continued to do squats while mom tried to motion for him to stop out of fear of aggravating the now nonexistent injury.

"Son, what the hell are you on about? This ain't no time for stupid jokes or gags." Dad stated, still bewildered by the unexpected display that recently occurred.

I rolled my eyes and folded my arms as I leaned against the kitchen counter. "No seriously, do you believe in the concept of things suddenly changing before your very eyes in such a dramatic fashion to where the things you'd see are genuinely transformed into something that you'd never see?"

"You mean like a miracle... Like we seen some damn coming of Christ happen in this very apartment." Dad replied very sarcastically.

"Yeah, well not quite like that, but before your very eyes a 'miracle' has taken place. Surely you as a Christian should look at this with the mindset of 'My son is healed before me' instead."

Dad pointed at Twilight as he spoke. "Boy, I ain't ignorant to what y'all done said. We heard the word 'spell' oh so clearly. And witchcraft ain't of the bible."

I drew a sigh and rocked myself away from the counter top, walking towards him slowly. "But either way, I'd rather take a chance in something that I know can happen because of something I can see. I'd rather have faith in that as opposed to relying on the words of doctors who can only go so far just on good will alone. If I was in the condition that I was in just two weeks ago and came back here for help, do you honestly think you would be talking to me right now?"

Mom finally interjected with her own skepticism, of course she was a lot more frantic. "Son, none of this is normal. I'm not used to this. This ain't some fairy tale where the princess calls on you for help and you just sweep her off her feet to happily ever after."

Dad threw his hands in the air dismissively. "Magic, spells, next you'll be saying horses just casually fall from the sky as pigs fly above."

"Well, according to today's forecast─" I started to joke.

"Nondis, you need to tell us what we just saw cause we're rightfully scared!" Dad emphasized by raising his voice.

"You just said that she's not of us! What is going on!?" Mom asked nervously.

Seeing that the two of them were as open-minded as I made them out to be, I couldn't do much but massage the bridge of my nose. "Of course, this is what we should come to expect out of a good majority of mankind when they're encountered by something not of this world, ill-preparedness and overtly cynical individuals who would even go so far as to be aggressive and violent."

"Don't you deal with that at every summons?" Twilight questioned.

"I'm used to it on you guys' side, even with the overall media bias." I answered, almost seeming as if we were having a casual conversation.

"I'm sorry, what!?" Dad exclaimed, completely confused on the topic of our discussion.

Stanton finally spoke out and patted me on the back. "To put it bluntly, your son may be a national hero in a far away land in a realm where dragons run roughshod and eighteen-foot mountain yetis threaten to crush you to bits."

"In a world where magic reigns supreme, the sun and moon moves on the accord of a chosen few, and one man who dares to overcome all obstacles in his way." Announced Rickey, who was trying his best to imitate a movie preview voice-over.

"That or just try to find someplace to cook a good steak." I replied with a grunt.

Mom and dad went from completely unnerved to simply overwhelmed by confusion. "Um... what's going on exactly?" Mom questioned.

I kissed the back of my teeth and closed my eyes as I said to both of them. "Hey, you guys wanna talk someplace else, it's a bit stuffy in here."

To say it was easy getting both mom and dad into my bathroom without them thinking that they were gonna die or something crazy would be nothing short of a fun little thought. And don't even get me started on bringing them into a room filled with assault weapons, explosives, and large pointy things I use to detach parts of the body with sub-surgical precision.

So instead of just pushing them through the mirror to have way more questions than I would be comfortable answering for the time being, I decided to blindfold them both and calmly escort them through the apartment while guiding them into the throne room. And as we went through, I had Twilight make the effort to dismiss any maids and guards that were on patrol for the day. I also had a strict no-visitation order established for today due to not giving my parents too much to handle at once.

After we had them settled in place, I pulled Sunset, Celestia, and Twilight aside to inform them that their real forms should be withheld for the time being, at least until I managed to get them comfortable. And given that it would take some time for them to do so, I gave it a day before they could come trotting in full-regalia, in all their miniature equine glory.

It didn't take too long after that for us to show back up in the room to remove the blindfolds from their faces. Mom looked around as if she was going to jump out of her chair just from the change of scenery alone. Dad was looking up at the decorative ceiling of the throne room and marveled at the numerous crystals hanging above him. Mom was the first to ask the obvious question. "Nondis, where are we right now?"

"Well..." I slowly began, knowing that she was going to be hard to deal with if I didn't keep things simplified. "We're... Not quite in my apartment anymore."

"What do you mean?" She questioned again.

Twilight sat at the table in her designated chair. "Well, we're not quite in a place called Austin. But it is where Nondis has been for the past ten months."

Dad continued to stare at the crystals dangling from the ceiling, probably wondering if the were real. "Wherever this place is, it sure ain't like home. I don't even remember any hotels having this kind of get-up."

"The whole place looks like we're in a cave or something." Mom said as she looked to the walls of the room.

Twilight chuckled nervously as she grew a little uncomfortable. "Well, I do admit that it took a lot of getting-used-to, especially since my last home..." She paused for a few seconds, looking up to the ceiling's decorations, reaching up to the crystals above. "...My last home, it was destroyed in an attack made against me. But then this place became my new home, so at least I'm not homeless. It might look a bit much, but it feels like home to me."

Celestia walked up to her former student, giving her a hug as she spoke in turn for her. "And it is a lovely home. I just want you to be happy."

Mom quickly adjusted her comment, almost feeling as if she made some sort of insult. "Well, I didn't mean to demean your place of living. I was just saying that the design was a bit... different. I'm not used to the... um... modern look."

"I'll say. It looks pretty expensive." Dad added. "We'll be sure not to break anything."

"As if we can afford to. That invoice from the hospital ain't gonna pay for itself." Mom stated, folding her arms as she looked around the room again.

"I thought Nondis was gonna take care of that." Stanton quickly said, causing Alex to slap him upside the head.

"Wrong, dumbass. He's helping take care of the bill." Alex corrected our baby brother.

"It ain't like I got the surgery. I can understand the two MRI's, the morphine, the pain pills, the overnight stay, the helicopter ride, and even the meals from the cafeteria. But compare that to the four-hour surgery, the outpatient care, the rehab clinic costs, the prescription costs, and then the tuition for next year. Compared to all of that, I don't think we're paying out that much in comparison."

"Medical costs are a bitch to deal with. And let's not even get into student loans." Melanie added with a exhausted groan.

Twilight shook her head as she glanced back at me. "And you should see Nondis' medical costs. Numbers are through the roof, not even his insurers want to cover him because of how frequently he visits the hospital for specialized treatment."

Quickly, mom shot her attention towards me. "Wait, what all happened to you? Why are you visiting the hospital so much?"

"Just for an occasional checkup." I lied for the time being, earning a bit of a frown from Celestia. "I'll fill you in on the details later."

"Wait..." Dad interrupted. "Now, correct me if I misheard what was said at the apartment. But I could've sworn someone said the words 'national hero' and I remember something about you getting hurt on a train." Dad turned to Stanton as he spoke. "So, he does a little something on the train and now he's a national hero? Care to explain anything you told us?"

Stanton smiled weakly as he started instinctively eased backwards. "Well, I mean I might have over-exaggerated the term. He's more of a role model."

"A role model who happens to work in security?" Mom asked. "In a world where 'Dragons run roughshod and yetis threaten to crush you'? What is this, some sort of magic world where the occult roam free and humans are hunted by a myriad of hellish monsters?"

Alex scratched his neck as he replied. "Well... he might be a bit adventurous. But at least he does what he can to come back home safely."

"Besides... The dragons here ain't all that bad." I added again, keeping in the back of my mind what Spike tried to pull off against me. "They approach, they express their peace, and they leave. They don't go around burning entire towns just for the hell of it."

Celestia groaned quietly as she murmured. "They used to, and some still do."

Everyone turned towards her, including mom and dad, who were completely horrified with her muted response. Dad folded his arms and stared at me, waiting for an explanation. "Well... I know you got something to say to that."

"Well none of the ones I've met did that. It's not like the one I talked to destroyed an entire town."

"Ssssssss... oooohhh..." Twilight groaned as she drummed her fingers against the table.

"What?" Melanie asked the young princess.

"...Spike had an incident one time after his birthday." Twilight replied.

"The entire town?" Mel questioned almost astounded.

"Just... a little... half of it." The princess answered slowly before following up with a quick response. "But no fire was involved, no loss of life, no truly substantial casualties! Just... some property damage."

"So the little bastard that don't go any higher than my thigh did all of that?" I questioned.

Mel turned to me and placed her hand on her neck, referring to the scar on mine. "Well apparently, he's most certainly capable of a lot, isn't he?"

I simply shrugged my shoulders, trying to move forward with the conversation. "Well the package might be small, but I'll keep an eye out next time. Anywho, next question."

"Where is your employer?" Mom questioned passionately. "What are your benefits, what's your pay, we know your insurance isn't worth a hoot so what's the backup medical plan, what exactly is your job!?"

I calmly sat on the table and explained myself. "As far as my benefits are concerned, I get the benefit of being on the books. I work six days, sometimes a full seven, most of it is looking out for a bunch of stuff while standing still, I meet some nice individuals, some not-so-nice individuals, I oversee a few things, I clock out, I head out and enjoy the rest of my day. Pay's decent, good enough for a small apartment because I'm just starting off, the whole list of benefits don't kick in until I'm two years in. And if I had to put up a conversion of what I make on the monthly, I'd say that I'm making a good forty grand a month, split that in half and you get my bi-weekly. And of course, it does happen to deal with a lot of keeping my employer and their associates safe. No mob shit, though."

Dad unfolded his arms and nodded slowly with a light smirk. "Forty a month... not bad, son. So what's the catch?"

"I answer to some other guys every now and then, get hounded on, deal with a lot of pressure publicly, and because of the efficiency to which I perform my tasks, I'm kinda stalked by a few press members. But I do have a private place of dwelling here, I eat two meals a day, snacks in between, lots of green stuff. I have a morning regiment to keep myself in shape everyday and I don't spend because I can, but only when I need to."

My dad rolled his eyes, tossing his hands in the air. "Okay, what's the REAL catch?"

I looked over to mom, who was staring at me just as worried as ever, and sighed. "I might have to do a little bit of fighting every once in a while."

"How often you put your life on the line?" Dad asked.

I looked over to mom, who was already starting to walk back and forth in some mode of disbelief. "...Every deployment."

Mom took the liberty of using one of the chairs surrounding the table and dropped her head in her hands. "Oh my God. Nondis, please tell me that these 'deployments' don't have anything to do with no international affairs."

I looked over to dad, who was hunched over, just as curious over what my answer would be. Already, I could feel the room get smaller as my parents waited for me to say something. And as much as I wanted to lie to keep her happy, Celestia would probably reprimand me for doing so. But as far as going outside of the boarders, that's something I have yet to do. And it would probably make her feel better that I haven't been assigned to anything going outside of the country. Either way, I had to give them an answer. "...No and... maybe."

Mom lunged at me and screamed angrily as Melanie ran over to hold her back. "YOU'RE IN THE GODDAMN MILITARY!?"

As my mother struggled to get past Mel, I dropped my head and peeked over to dad, who whirled his finger around repeatedly. "You might as well just keep coming with it. It's not like you're gonna get grounded now."

"Dad, I swear to you that I don't do anything outside of this country. Not once have I left this place, maybe to another city or two, but who hasn't visited some other cities every once in a while when they get bored of the scenery? It's like going from Austin to Houston or Dallas, or even... uhh... Oklahoma City."

"But in the end, you lied about what you were doing, correct?" He said, almost with that same tone of voice that made me uneasy throughout most of my life.

"Yes sir." I replied quietly, almost as if I was waiting for the first hit to come.

Dad stood up, wearing a stern frown that only a father could produce in the face of sheer disappointment. And growing up to see that often, it made me uneasy after seeing him trying to embrace me since I came back. But it felt like there was more of the same instead of something new. I was gonna have to answer his every question, feeling no taller than the equines of this land. "So, you disappear for nine months, this is where you were at?"

The truth was that I could've been back sometime during month six, but I wasn't nearly as confident to say that. Or rather brave enough to tell him. "I couldn't get back. I didn't know how. I-I just woke up here and, they took care of me."

"So that part where you were walking around and you had to hitch a ride was a lie then. And then you meeting up with this girl was a lie too. Let me guess, the two of you aren't even together?"

"We were!" Twilight said, quickly coming to my defense. "I swear to you sir, Nondis and I were─"

"So you WERE!? Well what about NOW!?"

Twilight realized what she had said and fell silent as she looked at me, apologizing without saying anything. Mom grew even more furious as she questioned her. "So what are YOU to my son!?"

I jumped in to answer quickly, before dad interrupted me. "Don't even talk about anything. We can't trust you, so you might as well shut up and let her talk now, cause she's jumping in here to save you. You might as well let her."

Twilight grew anxious as she tried her best to come to my defense. "Nondis is my friend, one whom I shared a lot of my personal feelings with. For me, he was a lot of my first... anything. Guys in this world are scared to even look at me because..." She hesitated for a few seconds before she closed her eyes and revealed to them the truth. "...Guys don't look at me because I'm a princess. I wear a crown on my head, and it's like most males are just terrified of the thought of being around me because they're afraid that any speculation could lead to them doing something they don't want to do. And I know I've been plainly for most of my life, but even if I wasn't a princess, I should've been able to garner the attention to even draw some sort of interest. But because I wear a crown, because I was a student of Equestria's highest ruler being bred for the throne, I... I just felt so alone in that regard. Sure I have friends every step of the way, but I still felt like I was missing something."

I finally jumped in and added to the explanation. "The moment I woke up, I was staring at some weird world where things didn't make any sense to me. Most of the time I was so confused that I ended up walking into the women's bathroom because I couldn't read the signs. But then I started to come to know what this place was like, and the people in it, and I realized that this place is not as bad as it would seem to the imagination. And of course, she and I started to get to know each other and it was like we were there for whenever something went wrong. For me, it was waking up in a world where I had no chance of living on my own. For her, it was the day after getting a little too invested in a wine bottle." Twilight blushed as I mentioned that night. "But from there, we grew. We started talking, learning, and realizing that we were more alike in certain regards, in spite of our differences. But in the end, I was subject to this world's laws because I was here for so long, I was made a citizen."

Twilight walked over to mom and bowed her head. "I know it may have been cruel, but because he showed me commitment, my older brother saw fit for him to show his dedication for me. And as a result, and also in accordance to our country's laws, he was made to enlist. I know you told me about how you didn't like for any of your sons to be a member of any military. And for that, I give you my humblest apologies. If I can give you anything to compensate for this situation, I will do whatever within my power to see that you are satisfied."

"GET MY SON! OUT! OF! IT!" Mom shouted angrily.

Alex then spoke up on my behalf. "Mom, I don't think that's fair to him. He's pretty happy here."

"WELL I'M NOT! I'M NOT HAPPY WITH HIM HERE! I WANT HIM HOME! Where it's safe. Not in some other place where I don't know whether or not my son is okay or on the verge of dying!" She turned her attention to me. "I carried you for NINE MONTHS! I could've chose to not have you here, but I didn't because I loved the thought of having you!" It was at that point my mother started to cry, tears pouring down her face as her lips trembled with every word. "I had to live FIFTY YEARS of watching my father SUFFER... because his country turned his back on him! I had to watch him SCREAM every night! Each night he wake up to the sound of the orders he had to follow, the faces of the people he done killed! And when he came home, he had to deal with being called a MURDERER because he didn't want to die, just cause he wanted to come back home from that hell. I didn't carry you nine months, bring you up eighteen years, send you off to the world, only to wind up like that! If I'm any mother worth a damn thing, I'd tell your princess to GO TO HELL!" Mom's voice finally broke down as she whispered to Twilight. "You go, but you leave my baby."

Dad shrugged his shoulders and looked over to me. "Welp... that's it. Your mother already made the decision."

The mood throughout the room was somber, quiet as my mother started to weep. The sight of her so disheveled and broken made me feel even smaller than Spike. I didn't think I'd ever see her look so distraught, almost as if she was pleading with the fact that her son was dying. And no doubt, she was probably like this the day I came up missing. So for me, it felt even worse, knowing that it took me so long to get back, only to confirm one of her biggest fears had come true. I wasn't ready to say anything to her, to reject her. I just wanted her to feel better.

It's like the day grandma died, she just cried and cried and I was so lost over everything. My grandma was gone and my mom wouldn't stop crying. So I just hugged her, trying to do what she did for me whenever I had gotten hurt, telling her that it will be okay. I tried to comfort an individual who was inconsolable for a valid reason. But the longer I tried, the more it hurt me, the worse it got for the both of us, and the both of us just started crying.

I hadn't even gotten to the other stuff that would've made her and dad angry. We hadn't even got to that point yet and I'm already feeling like my mother is probably well on her way to leaving me by the wayside. It's almost as if my last hug to her was probably the final one we'd share. And it left a deep pain in my chest that made me sulk. I felt like a helpless child again, but with a painful choice of making her happy or making a promise at the cost of seeing her happy again. It was something I couldn't decide for the time being.

It was a decision I couldn't make right now, and Celestia saw that. "Well if that is to be your decision, then there is nothing to stop you. However, should you remain in your duties, then we will try our best to accommodate for you."

Twilight grew depressed at her mentor's suggestion, offering one of her own. "Can't we decide on this later? I think we should convene at a time where everyone is a little more composed."

"It will be by sunset tomorrow." Celestia replied. "Nondis, you and your family will convene to Canterlot for the night. I give you a day to come to your decision. From there, the future is yours to decide."

Celestia, Twilight, and Sunset departed from the throne room, leaving us with both mom and dad. And while mom had made her case to remove me, everyone else offered very little to say in opposition to it. I couldn't even argue against it because I knew the story. And I know that she's only doing it so that I don't ever come out with a situation like grandpa's.

If only she stopped me three months earlier, I wouldn't already have the nightmares.

After a half-hour of letting mom and dad calm down, Twilight and Celestia left to their own duties. Twilight opted to stay in Ponyville in anticipation of a letter she received in the mail from Shining. She stated to me that she would be here to plan for his and Cadance's arrival, but wished us good luck on our journey. After that, we placed the blind folds back on my parents and had them moved from the castle in Ponyville to Canterlot by means of train. Using the portals in both my and Mel's apartments would've have been much faster, but I couldn't risk mom and dad being convinced or empowered to have me locked away in a crazy house or something while that deadline came and went. I also didn't want them to have any control of being able to leave and tell anyone anything that they saw. Mainly, it was a move of insurance as opposed to convenience.

And I already didn't don't like trains as it is.

But in the hours of travel up the mountain, I had the opportunity to isolate the final cart of the train. I apologize for any riders who wanted a quickie in the back, but I needed this just to give them a break from those blindfolds until we got close to Canterlot. But when we got towards the foot of the mountain, I pointed them towards the city to let them know where they were going. The only thing was from the foot of the mountain, it just looks like a bulge out the side of it casting a large shadow to the ground below.

As we passed through the complex network of tunnels and junctions along the mountainside, we continued to talk about the world we were in. Mom didn't say anything, feeling that her outburst from earlier was more than enough that needed to be said from her. But dad on the other hand was quite engaging on the whole trip, which pretty much surprised me and my brothers.

"So we're riding this train to the top of the mountain?" He asked.

"Not to the top, just about halfway up." I replied, going through my phone's playlist of music. "I don't like trains nowadays."

"Well if you were almost killed on one, then why would you?" Dad replied. "In speaking of which, why are you on a train if you don't like it? Why not get on a plane or drive up there?"

"Technology here is about a full eighty years back, dad." Alex added. "If you want to get anywhere, it's gonna have to be by train."

"They had cars eighty years ago." Dad rebutted. "Why not have them here? The walk to that damn train station was more than travel enough."

"Well unfortunately, they don't have any zeppelins built with certain accommodations." I explained. "If you want to fly, you'd use those or go by air balloon. But I don't have the money for a bigger basket than for two. So it was either taking the train or walking."

"Walking to somewhere halfway up a mountain? Son, what kind of people live here?"

"Simple people with a simpler lifestyle. I think it's fair to say that it leaves the air cleaner." I said as I pulled out a pair of headphones.

"Listening to music to distract from the train noise?" Dad asked.

I looked towards mom, who didn't even look at me once the entire ride. I shook my head and answered his question. "Well, I had more than one bad experience on a train. I just never told everybody what it was."

Vanessa leaned against her husband as she asked me. "Okay, what happened this time?"

"I was on my way to a skirmish up here in Canterlot, the city where we're set to meet up at. It's about halfway up the mountain. So, we got attacked by changelings, right."

"Oh God, not those fuckers again." Stanton moaned with displeasure.

"Yeah, those guys. They decided to hold everyone on the train hostage. I walked in, solved the problem, and then ran into an even bigger one when some of the changelings started the engine at the front of the train, had it on overload and fucked up the brakes. Want a grisly bonus point?"

"What?" Vanessa asked.

"They killed the conductor and jammed his head on the brake lever like a hood ornament."

Everyone jumped in hearing my rather gruesome experience. Alex held his wife as he jolted straight up. "Wait, what now?"

"Yeah, they do some fucked-up shit." Cliff added with a scoff. "Motherfuckers was kidnapping people and shit, taking they kids, it was some bad shit."

"Hey Nondis, you never told us what was in that wagon on the way to that abandoned castle in Everfree." Rickey said, causing me to vomit a bit in my mouth as the memory of what I saw flashed before my eyes.

I slammed my hand on the seat I was on and covered my mouth. "Rick, please. I'm trying to tell one story, don't put me on an even worse one."

Mel and Alex looked at me with concern over my health as I started to cough the uptick of acid out of my throat. I shook my head trying to go back to the day of the Canterlot invasion.

"Okay, now the conductor was dead, they lopped his head off and put it on the brake lever. Fair share of nighmares from that. Either way, I debated on whether or not I should've... politely moved the conductor out of the way so I could use the lever, but then the engine exploded in flames. So doing that was a no go, and I left the conductor to peacefully cremate. Meanwhile, I had everybody run to the back of the train, unhinging each cart as we went along so we could use it like a bumper cart system. It almost didn't work, but we were a good five feet away from seeing just how far down the drop would've been off the side of the mountain cause they blew the bridge out."

"Son, what life have you been living." Dad questioned, looking at me with amazement.

"My job." I replied bluntly.

"That's why you should've never been in the military." Mom mumbled as she looked out the window, speaking for the first time since her outburst.

As we approached the city from a more leveled perspective. I pointed it out to dad, who just gawked in awe over what he was seeing. I just proceeded to plant my earbuds in and drown the noise. Alex pretty much took over from where I would normally talk. "Well, we're here. Canterlot, the crown jewel of the realm of Equestria."

His wife smiled as she pointed upwards. "Wow, there are some large birds up there."

"Okay, now let's get back to the blindfolds." Alex said as he quickly realized that the figures flying above were the furthest thing from birds.

Canterlot almost glowed in the majestic decaying sunlight. Celestia was already putting forth her best work to appease my parents. Before they could be blindfolded, a voice called out from the cart ahead letting us know we would be in the Canterlot Grand Royal Station within five minutes. And as we hit the bridge, I couldn't help but to hold my seat and plant my feet against the floor, clenching my eyes shut until someone would poke me on the shoulder to let me know we had reached the station.

My small post-traumatic stress episode was the last thing mom saw before her eyes were bound closed.

We walked to the castle along a guided and secure network of tunnels and dark alleyways that eventually led to the street just in front of the final checkpoint before entering into the citadel. The guards gave me a salute as we passed through unabashed. I know that they were feeling the fatigue after the walk, but when we got them into their rooms there was very little for them to complain about their accommodations. Both mom and dad remained quiet in their room under my strict request.

I also had a special sealing spell placed on the door where the guards were not allowed to release the spell until sometime around five in the morning. As far as food was concerned, Mel took care of that with some carryout from our world and gave them everything they needed to keep from roaming around.

Meanwhile I was set one of the other guest rooms down the hall. I ultimately praised myself for getting them this far without so much interference and dealing with ponies bumping into them. No press asking annoying questions about my ongoing drama with Cadance. None of that, just a room to three entities: Me. Myself. And some other guy named I.

With the portals being off for a majority of the time, I didn't have the luxury of using my phone's internet whenever I wanted to. So I just stared out into the night sky of Canterlot, looking at the buildings and streets below, well past the battlements of the citadel. As I stared out into the sea of the capital's nightly bustle, I received a knock on the door. "Who is it?" I called out.

"It's me, Melanie." She called through the door. "Can I come in for a bit?"

I walked away from the lovely view of the city, quickly making my way to the door and welcoming the woman into the room. In her hands she held a bag from Whataburger. "Sweet, whatcha get me?" I asked as I greedily opened the sack and started munching on the fries.

"Pattie melt, hope that can hold you over till morning." She said with a smile.

"Sometimes you just know what makes me go, even when I'm not feeling too hot."

Her smile faded as I started to rummage through the food, my hands becoming slightly greasier with each fry I consumed. Mel, sat on my bed and waited quietly for me to say something. But instead of waiting for too long, she took the initiative to speak. "So, you told your mom that you were in the military. I gotta say, you really stepped up on that one."

My mind could only go back to the image of her weeping profusely as she pleaded with me to change my mind, detracting from my appetite a bit. "Yeah, I guess that's a thing now."

"Yup." She answered quickly, letting a long drawn-out silence follow her answer. Instead of enjoying my food, I opted to wolf it down to satiate my hunger quickly. The woman then crossed her legs as she patted her fingers against the bed. "Well, any part inside of you know what the answer is?"

"For tomorrow?" I questioned.

"Yeah. I mean I know it's still your decision to make, but..."

"Mom might not like it either way." I replied. "If I go, then I'd be hounded for even putting myself in that situation. But if I stay... Yeah, let's just say her being pissed won't even be the beginning of it."

"You haven't even told them the pony part of things either." She said as she careened onto her back, placing her hands behind her head. "So when are you going to tell them that?"

"Don't need to." I answered. "I don't wanna tell them and then have to show them because of their being too damn stubborn to take me seriously. All they need to do is wake up in the morning and find out for themselves."

"But wouldn't that make them even harder to negotiate with?" She asked.

"It would, but they wouldn't act too out of sorts if they don't know how to get back home. That's why I blindfolded them for most of the journey here. To give them that literal wake-up call I had when I first found myself in Ponyville, that's all they need to understand where I was coming from."

Mel freed a hand to pull at the back of my shirt. She looked away as she spoke. "You know, I'm not supposed to tell you this. But your mom told me to come here and talk to you."

I rolled my eyes at the idea. "Let me guess, convince me to leave this world and go back home, right?"

"She was pretty desperate in telling me to do whatever it took to get you to change your mind about all of this. She even gave me the green light to... you know."

I scoffed and facepalmed at that idea. "Oh how Christian of her."

Mel started to laugh as she explained further. "Well, that part was more your dad's idea. But the funny thing is that your mom had no reservations. She wants me to drag you back home, be your girlfriend, marry you, and have lots of kids so you can focus your priorities on living a normal and fulfilling life."

"Living life like normal, right?"

"Yeah... Though I do see where she's coming from." She said as she drew a deep breath. "I mean when I first got here, I just looked at Twilight like 'This is what I'm losing to, really?' And it drove me nuts. And after you told me that you didn't want any part of me, I just fell into a fit of depression. Of course my talking shit to Spike for his immaturity managed to bring me up a few notches, but for a while it lingered." Melanie then rolled to her side, pulling me against the bed as she spoke again. "I swear to you that each passing day I saw you and Twilight hugged up, I was losing confidence in myself as a woman because the guy I liked for years just... put me away. I know I did the same to him, so I guess I deserve something for that, but somewhere inside my heart I felt like this was just too cruel. I wanted to cry sometimes because I just felt like I had more to give him, because we were the same. But in the end, I just had to come to terms that being a different species doesn't matter if you wait too long."

I shrugged and thought about my time throughout college, the moments we shared leading up to the night we separated from each other. "Nah, I deserved some of that bullshit you gave me. I was too busy trying to play nice guy. But it feels like... I don't know. I never found myself being a topic of interest for anyone but you, and even that had restrictions. I wanted to be like that, but at the same time I was really trying to get mine and get off. I wanted to be that friend you could talk to, but I also wanted to be that friend who you could trust enough to experiment with. Hell, I remember in high school I just wanted to fuck your brains out... despite my not knowing how to do that exactly."

The woman chortled lightly as she replied. "You were a bit of awkward in high school, but I don't see it that much now. Instead, I just see a man who went out in the forest dueling with giant beasts to save his own skin. You look more like a man... a man I had to cut open and remove two feet of intestine, but you are a man regardless. And I guess me watching you do all of that just makes the teenage girl inside me scream 'fertilize'. I remember one morning I caught you doing handstand push-ups and of course my thing just goes 'Good morning, panties. Can you, like, go somewhere?' For the first time, I was really interested in knowing just how strong you were. Could you pick me up, could you carry me throughout the hall, could you slam me on a bed. Stupid shit like that."

As she was telling me all of this, I could already see her face getting redder by the moment, growing even more embarrassed that she was just telling me how she genuinely felt about me, in every aspect. But her talking about guys she liked to me was nothing new, she'd do it every Saturday night. However, her going on about it made her feel like she was talking to the friend she knew she could trust with all of that saucy baggage as usual. The only difference was that this time, it was me.

"Oh, oh my God, I'm literally telling my best friend that I was..." She covered her face and screamed as she kicked her legs trying to ween out her excitement. "Nondis, please shut me up! I don't wanna talk about this to you!"

Admittedly, I found her squirming around somewhat adorable and I opted to do otherwise. I followed my dad's example and whirled my finger around with a playful smirk. "You might as well just keep coming with it. It's not like you can rewind time and take it all back."

She grabbed a pillow and forcefully stuffed it in my face, trying to silence me. "Shut up! Shit, you don't need to hear this!"

"Mmmm mmm phmmph (Well too bad)." I hummed before I pushed the pillow off my face to speak. "You came clean with me. So guess what, you might as well air it all out if it's gonna make you feel better."

Mel got off of the bed and paced around the room as she calmed herself down. "Ugh, Nondis, I'm so sorry."

"About." I teased.

"FUCK YOU!" She screamed out of frustration.

"Ha! When?" I joked, still being a bit playful.

That I have to admit was probably a huge mistake.

She walked over to me, undid her pants, shoved me into the bed and straddled me all in one singular motion as if it was seamless. Looking up to her, I could see her chest rising and falling as she bit her lip. Her breasts raised and lowered with each breath she took as her pelvis slowly rocked forward against mine. Her hand traveled underneath my shirt, pulling up to reveal my bare chest as she outlined every nook and cranny of my shape. She used her other hand to play with the elastic waistband of her purple boyshorts. She whispered quietly to me.

"Nondis, have I ever told you the significance of my toys?" She began as she leaned in against my ear. "Mandingo is for when I feel like I want to be a size queen. Fernando is when I have class to go to and I got about ten minutes between to head to the bathroom and get one out of the way. Lucy is for when I found a good 'cum-control' video on PornHub, when just simply getting off isn't gonna do it for me. But do you know what they can't do, like a Nondis can?"

"What?" I asked nervously.

"They can't put their hands on my waist when I want them to go deeper. They can't grab my tits when I wanna clasp onto it's arms, I cant lock my legs around them like I can with you, they can't moan like I want them to, they can't look at me when I'm riding you. They can't hold my leg and drill me for dear life, pile drive, look me in my eyes when they're on top of me, sweat on me, breathe on me, cum in me. They aren't the man I fantasize them to be."

"And I am?"

She planted her hand on my chest as she started to let her other hand slip beneath the purple boyshorts she stained. "...I know you're happy here. I know you like playing around with these little pony girls, they're easy to pick up and toss around. But playtime's over, I'm the real deal. I got a lot for you to hold on to, I'm not nearly as light as some of these pony girls, I'm a challenge, and I don't like to lose."

"Mel, I'm just as competitive as the next guy─"

"Then why don't you stop playing around like you don't know what's going on. Stop all of this and just... make me happy. I'm tired of competing, I'm tired of watching you get hurt. The scars are hot, but I don't want you to have too many. Let's just go back to the way things were between us. Let's just be us, just like you wanted it to be."

Before she could kiss me, I turned my head away to give her my cheek. Her eyes remained locked on me as much as her body locked me onto the mattress. And even though the rush of excitement I felt in my loins was substantial enough for me to act on it, I felt something in my mind and heart both coming together to argue against it. The mix of the fruity smell of her perfume clashing against the more intimate musk she gave off was intoxicating, especially since she was hitting on all the points I would've liked.

But even then, it was still Mel. It's still that friend I went through high school with, we shared some of our college experiences with, we talked, shared, argued, cried, and even fought with each other. But we were still the friends we because we shared so much with one another. And I know I had said it already, but me crossing the line would only hurt us in the long-run.

"Mel... I gotta admit, I haven't busted a nut since the start of the week. Twilight sleeping in the nude in my bed, Celestia's curvy ass having some weird vendetta against panties, and you having every intention to mess up these sheets tonight is something I'd love to indulge in. But you and me..." I finished, shaking my head as I tried to ease myself back from our compromising position.

She pulled herself off away from me and stood as her pants started to fall from her waist, revealing the growing stain between her thighs. The smell of it wafting against my nose with every second of my seeing it. I closed my eyes and reached down for her pants, pulling them up for her when I spoke again.

"I respect you too much. I love you for the friend you are, but I can't do this."

As she picked up from where I had left off on her pants, she turned away from me and buttoned her pants. After she finished gathering herself, she sat on the bed beside me, holding her soiled hand against her waist, hiding it from view as she spoke. "...I know. I just thought I should try to convince you."

"By selling yourself off to me?" I questioned.

She grew silent for a few seconds before she could speak again. "I don't want you to stay."

"Cause I keep getting hurt, right?" I asked.

She shook as she started to explain herself. "I know I can't change your mind, but I can't sit here and say nothing like what I feel don't matter. I'm hurting as a woman seeing you with someone else. And as your friend, I can't be anything but happy for you. But it ain't fair that you have to keep doing all of this and getting hurt for someone who wouldn't even stay with you."

"But have you ever thought that maybe I'm not staying because of someone else?" I asked.

"Look, if you stay here for you, then I'm all for it. I'm just saying what I feel like personally. I'm tired of these parliament members treating you like shit. The universe itself treats you like shit. People coming around to try and kill you, it's not fair. I don't wanna have to look at my best friend dying on the table again. I can't do it."

She covered her face and closed her eyes with a painful frown, trying not to cry as she leaned against me. I didn't refuse her, instead welcoming her in with open arms. As I hugged her, I finally fell to realization that I had to tell her one of my reasons for my decision tomorrow.

"Mel... Do you wanna know the worst thing that gave me nightmares here? It's the inability to help someone when they call for it. On the way to saving a few other ponies in Everfree, I walked across a wagon stacked like a slave ship. The smell was unbearable, and inside were ponies of all ages, dead or alive. There were several ponies who were reaching out to me as soon as I opened the tarp. And when they saw me, they cried out as loud as they could, They were all so malnourished that you could swear they were skeletons. They didn't look like ponies anymore, those bright big eyes they have, glossy and lifeless, all of them. I could smell decay, defecation, urine, all of it. One stallion reached out to me with both of his hooves, and just as he strained to do so, he died holding on to that hope. One little filly who was trapped at the bottom just looked at me and didn't even bother, she knew it was done for her."

I then tried my best not to let the vision disturb my stomach too much. I clenched my eyes shut and took deep breaths before I found the ability to continue.

"The sad thing is here I can make a difference for someone, but back home I know I can't. I get thrown in the military here and save lives here on the homefront. I go over there and I'm fighting online battles for internet supremacy, completely ignorant to whatever else is going on. I'm just a number in a sea of numbers, hoping I get my six seconds on Vine, my ten minutes on YouTube, my fifteen minutes of fame."

"But you can live a healthy and normal life." She replied.

"Mel, I can't go back and stay there now. Too much has changed for me, in the very little time I spent here. There's so much to do, so much to see. Anything that's normal and silent starts to bring up demons for me. I know mom's not happy about me being here, but now that I'm seeing a portion of what grandpa was telling me all these years, it's too late for me now. I'm having to deal with the consequence of my decisions and that's something I'm fine with accepting. I've got too much business to finish here, too many promises."

Melanie sighed as she kept hugging me. "I don't like you staying, again that's me. Your parents begged me to try and convince you otherwise, and I failed. And even though I don't like you being here getting hurt, I will support you in every step you take. But now you gotta be the one to tell them everything you told me. And when Momma Haines tells you off for it, I'm gonna stand by you and hold you up."

I turned around and kissed her on the forehead with a comfortable smile. "That's a relationship I'd love to have. Thank you, Melanie."

She giggled lightly as she replied. "Anytime you call me 'Melanie' is when I know you're being for real."

"Cause you're a real friend. You at least tell me you disagree with the shit I'm doing and stop me when I go too far. Even when I was pledging, you were like that. So I can't even argue you."

She stopped hugging me and stood up. "Oh yeah, and sorry for... you know."

"You were doing great actually." I replied. "I just... nah."

She rolled her eyes in defeat as she scoffed. "...Well, maybe next time then."

The Next Day...

The morning sun rose just over the horizon, kissing the eastern side of the mountain. Most of the working world of Canterlot got up by the break of dawn and already started to get their business ready for the daily traffic. Those getting up in expectation of their jobs would go visit the numerous places where they could go grab a bite to eat or a cup of coffee to down along their route. And just as the streets of Canterlot were in a bustle, so were the halls of it's castle.

Guards and maids ran back and forth, making sure that the halls were clean and the closets unoccupied by late-night debaucheries a-la some of the guards who sought a rendezvous with one of the maids or each other. And in the residential hallway, two guards were made to stand in place for an entire night. Groggy-eyed and yawn-plagued, they leaned on their spears to keep themselves awake with the discomfort of their positions.

Suddenly, the door between them opened, causing them to jolt back in place and assume their regular positions. Drastically tired, they tried their best to retain their discipline. Meanwhile, an unfamiliar face to them stepped out the door as he spoke. "Martha, I'm just tired of being cooped up in here like a damn chicken in a slaughter shack."

The elder woman replied. "I just want to know why we're even here. If Nondis just manned up and told them that his family comes first, then we wouldn't even be here."

"Honey, look. That boy ain't got the brains to be thinking about stuff like that. He's still caught up with that damn girl, which they confirmed that they're not even seeing each other for the time being."

"That's what makes it worse!" She replied. "She comes by acting all nice and whatnot like she cares for him, but then we come to find out that she's the reason he's caught up in some military junk he ain't ready to take on or didn't even consent to. 'The laws of this world' my behind."

"Princess this, princess that. I'll believe that girl is as much of a princess as my being Jerry Jones." He quipped before looking over to the guard standing next to the doorway. He looked for a moment, rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things, and then looked to the other side to see another guard of the same stature, just a different color. He looked back and forth between them and stepped back in the room. "Hey Martha, c'mere." He ordered, curling his finger to her.

She did as he instructed and walked up to the doorway. He lightly pushed her outside and had her look both ways to see the two guards standing outside her door. The next thing she noticed was the spears they were clutching on to. "What in God's green earth is this?"

"I'm sayin'. Horses in armor, holding spears. Well ain't that a hoot." He said, walking up to one of them.

"Taking the phrase 'a horse of a different color' a tad bit too literal." She added, joining him while he started to tug at the spear's tip.

He started to poke his finger at the tip, only to find out that it was just as sharp as it looked. The man reeled his hand in quickly. "Goddamn! Honey, those things are sharper than they ought to be."

"And here I was gonna go about how cute the little ponies look in their little getup." She answered. "But I guess they'd take offense to my demeaning them, especially if they're holding spears."

"How do you know it's a pony?" The man questioned.

"I had always wanted a pony when I was a little girl. And dad got me a Shetland when I was nine. Damn thing got hit by a truck when dad tried to catch it from escaping it's pen. I got real devastated, and he offered to get me something bigger. And of course, you remember Whinny."

"That damn horse never liked me." He replied dismissively. "Liked you, your mother, Alex, and Nondis to bits cause he wouldn't stop brushing her, but hated me for some odd reason."

"That's cause you wouldn't stop throwing carrots at the damn thing!" She exclaimed as he waived off her explanation.

"I thought the horse would like carrots." He said, just as he started to take off the helmet of the gray guard, revealing yellow eyes and a silver mane.

The elder woman walked up to the pony and leaned down to look at him. "Your eyes are really unusual, but they are pretty." She started to run her hand in his mane, approaching with caution and moving slowly. She started to run her fingers through his mane, surprised at the clean texture it had. "Your mane is so well-kept. Whoever's grooming you must really love you a lot." She then ran her fingers to his ears, scratching them from behind. The stallion then leaned his head in to receive more of the unusual ministrations. The touch eased him greatly and he started to think of homely thoughts, smiling as he reminisced.

"Ha! Check it out, Martha. You got 'em smiling." The elder man noted, however starting to realize that equines don't usually produce such expressive smiles, especially ones similar to those a human would have. "That's... not normal, is it?"

"Not really, but some are more expressive than others." She answered before turning her attention back to the entranced stallion. "Aww, now doesn't that feel nice, sweetie?"

"It feels so wonderful."

The woman stopped dead in her tracks and reeled back in her hand as the stallion started to look confused towards her. She looked confused towards it as he spoke once more.

"Aww, why'd you stop?"

"Twenty-six... Twenty-seven... Twenty-eight..."

As I continued my morning workout, I tried my best to keep my balance as I propped myself up and down using only my arms. In a handstand stance, I continued to push myself up and down to give myself as much weight to support as a way to enhance my upper body strength and balance.

Needless to say it was painful at times. "Twenty-nine..." And rather hard to do. "Thirt─"

The screams from the hallway made me completely lose balance and I fell to the ground well short of a clean thirty. I got back up, holding my sore shoulders and rotating my arms. After stretching myself and putting on a shirt, I shook my head and chuckled.

"Okay, I guess they kinda got the hint now."

Walking down the hall, I could see a gathering of guards and maids standing outside of the room my parents seemingly holed themselves into. Even though some part of me was terrified of how they'd treat any others they'd come across for today, I was more entertained by the extreme lengths they went to 'protect' themselves. Apparently, dad must've taken one of their spears and used it to start poking at a crack in the door. As he used the door as a makeshift phalanx shield, he occasionally thrusted the spear from the door as a means to drive anyone back. From the other side of the door, I could hear him screaming.

"Get back! Back, all of you!"

I just walked up to the door from the other side and waited for him to push that spear out again before pulling at it and throwing it onto the ground. Finally defenseless, he shut the door and braced it with his own back. I simply knocked and answered him. "Okay, game's over. No need to play Roman legionnaire here."

"Nondis!? Is that you!?" He asked from the other side of the door.

"Open the damn door, you're causing a scene." I ordered, to no avail.

"Nondis, the horses talk! And they have weapons! I've got to defend myself!"

"The only ones in need of defending is the guards you're attacking." I replied bluntly. "Now open this door and let's talk it out."

I could hear through the door mom whispering to dad. "Harold, let's just do what he says."

Dad waited for a while before slowly opening up the door, seeing that I was the first thing out to greet him. He leaned his head out and checked the surroundings, seeing the spear on the ground. I reached down to pick it up and hand it back to the guard, who was still missing his helmet. I turned to him and asked. "Where's your helmet?"

"One of the other humans took it. She was scratching my ears and I thought she was doing great for a while until I said something."

No wonder they're freaked. "Come stand next to me, please."

The guard hesitated but followed orders and waited as both mom and dad emerged from the room. Mom smiled awkwardly as she held the guard's helmet in her hands. She crept forward to give him back his protection and quietly whimpered towards him. "I'm sorry for taking this."

The guard looked to me waiting for some mode of confirmation. I nodded and fanned my hand towards her. He walked up to her and smiled kindly as he replied. "It's nothing, ma'am. I'm just sorry for startling you."

Mom gave a singular nod before running back to her husband's side. I walked between the two parties and announced to them both. "Okay, now that we got that mess out of the way, let's all go about our day then, shall we?"

Dad put on a fake smile as he walked up to me, pinching my still-sore shoulder. "Nondis, what the hell is going on?"

"You'll be experiencing that all day, so get used to it." I replied. "You should also consider that any pony you talk to is going to exhibit the same emotional range and mental capabilities that you show as a human. So in short, treat them as you would a stranger walking the street and greeting you."

Dad was about to say something before he stopped himself and opting to put a curled finger of inquiry over his lips. He looked at the guard, who easily replaced his helmet and then found something to say. "How the hell does he grab that without fingers?"

As I walked down the hall, signaling both my parents to follow me, I then started to break down some guidelines to the both of them. "Also a few rules of engagement to go by. First, they can see colors, all of them. Second, they come in different colors, all of them. Third, some can move extra heavy shit. Fourth, some can fly. Fifth, some can use telekinesis and teleport from place to place at will. Sixth, they adhere to code and conduct of cleanliness and hygiene, so don't be afraid to eat the food given to you. Seventh, don't call them horses. Eighth, don't call them mules. Nineth, don't belittle anyone because of their use of pronouns, speech patterns, lifestyle, or occupations, and treat them as you would like to be treated. And tenth, don't ask the princesses about their hair. Got it?"

Mom looked to dad as he mumbled under his breath, pointing to the guard they had their spat with. She quickly shook her head and threw her hands down. "Fine. Just get this over with so we can go back home."

I turned back to mom and calmly replied. "Eleventh, don't rush unless it is an emergency involving danger, loss of limb and/or life. There is no greater risk to self than uncontrolled fervor. And twelfth, there is no better part of valor than discretion, keep your relation to me anonymous for the sake of any peering paparazzi."

Mom barged in front of me with a scowl on her face, yanking at my arm to stop me from moving forward. "And you think the media's gonna stop me from yelling at you, stop you from being my son!?"

I slowly walked into her, grabbing her on the shoulder lightly as I whispered by her ear. "Just as there are those extremists who don't like immigrants back home, they don't like us either so the feeling's mutual. Please do your best to give a good impression so that I don't have to clean up any mess."

"So you're telling us that your little image is more important than us?" She asked fiercely.

I quietly spoke to her again. "Some more information you won't like, but I've had assassins come after me. Twice. Love you, mom, but you gotta learn to shut it down sometimes... for your sake."

Mom kinda froze in place as she tried to wrestle with the fact that I had to semi-threaten her with the reality of having a family member involved in a key position within the country. I suppose it can be one hell of a culture shock, but I still wanted her to realize that her yelling at me wasn't going to make matters go her way any easier. The same went for dad, who's more susceptible to do just that. If he ever tried to have his own fit, I'd have very little choice but to introduce him to a scared-straight scenario.

I'd much rather not, but I'll do it if need be.

This morning, I had woke up to the familiar drone of my PS4's dashboard. The screen continued to show a number of notifications from other players I missed out on for the night, instead opting to have a gaming night to my lonesome. I really didn't want to be bothered with anyone else, I wasn't in the mood. I felt like I needed to close myself off to think and feel through what all just happened with me.

The rejection thing is something I'm used to. But add the whole ten-seconds-away-from-fucking-your-best-friend... yikes.

Again, I really... REAAAALLLLY wanted to just put it all out there. And for the first time since we reconnected, I finally had a chance to do what I've wanted to do since... high school really. It's been there for a while, just personality-wise I liked him. But then he had to go and get summoned to an alternate world for several months and come back with a well-toned body that made him less of a best friend and more of a snack. I know they say absence makes the heart grow fonder, but it didn't say anything about the hormones raging like a stubborn twelve year-old crying over a bad game of Call of Duty.

Last night was probably the first time in my life where something inside me was literally screaming for procreation. Maybe it had something to do with Mrs. Haines telling me that she wanted me to get married to him and have kids by him. It could've been Mr. Haines trying to coach me into going after his son, making him happy by doing all the things a guy likes. Or maybe it was some hidden desire to be a part of that family.

It just felt right to call her 'momma'. Mrs. Haines was there for a lot without Nondis even realizing just how involved she was in my life. She made our graduation so much better than it should've been... at least my dad seemed to think so. He even looks at her like a good friend to me, letting me become something of a goddaughter to her. At least in the later parts in my short life, she was there for much of it. It's wasn't like my real mom was actually good for that.

No. She found better friends at the end of a peace pipe.

But she came around whenever it felt convenient for her. She came around when I felt happy, or when it was a large birthday celebration going on. Dad would try his best to 'normalize' her whenever she came around me. But I found out through the years that her being 'normal' was actually a bribe of two-hundred dollars and a quick meal to eat, a shower to use, some time to do her hair, forego the makeup and wear this really anxious smile. Almost like she couldn't wait till I fucking got done being a damn daughter so she could go back to sucking some other man's cock for her next hit.

I was really numb to it, not truly sure where I wanted to be until the day we celebrated our graduation. And of course, dad invited her to the dinner, hoping that she'd try to behave, to act like a mother should. It was the first time I ever got the chance to look at my family and compare it to Nondis' own. And for the most part, it went well until we started getting our gifts. And of course, mom got antsy again, thinking that she could rush my life along so she can go back to being on the business end of a nightstick.

And then, the bomb dropped, just in time for the entire party to experience the fallout.

She walked up to me, scratching her neck, looking at every gift card I got from my friends and family, and even those from Nondis' family. She walked up to me and said the words I never wanted to hear from her.

She didn't own a car.

I told her that I understood, and that she could leave whenever she needed to.

I told her to ask dad to give her a ride.

While she said that, she was trying to hug me and reach for my purse. I don't think I could ever forget the stinging pain in my knuckles from driving it into the side of her face. I almost forgot what she looks like now. I just remember the fact that when we were separated, Momma Haines took over and gave her a grand cuss-out I'm sure Nondis nor I have ever heard. So she got her two dollars, but she was told to never come near me again.

That's the last time I saw my real mom.

From the time we started college, she encouraged me to keep in touch with Nondis, to keep him out of trouble and make sure he didn't do anything wild. He did it anyways, but that still didn't stop me from being the mediator between him and his parents whenever he made some life-altering decisions. When he got kicked out of his house, I kept him around mine so he could recover. When they got his apartment, I was there to spill whatever issues I had with some other person or any asshole I had in my classes.

And as he started to stay in college over the years, he slowly started to drift towards independence in terms of his social ability. We started seeing each other less and less because of his frat hazing him on the daily. And he started to show frustration over my frequently changing romance partners.

Of course, we got into an ugly one and you know the rest.

He comes back into my life being this absurd monster of meat. Everything I wanted in a guy aesthetically, in the body of the guy I was searching for the better part of nine months. It was a dream come true, a dream with the wettest of floors, the endless ceilings. If I had know that was all promised to someone else for a lifetime, someone I couldn't even fight against, I would've just left my dream alone and pretended the man that showed up to the frat house that night was someone else. Maybe it would've been better to deal with the pain of losing him in the gulf, than to watch him kiss on someone who wasn't even a human to begin with.

But then it got so much worse, she suddenly transformed into a human. She could touch him, hug him, kiss him, be with him as one of us. She was much better looking than I could've ever hoped to be on my best days. When I said I had lost confidence as a woman, I really did. And if that wasn't enough, Celestia comes strutting through with all her assets looking like every Instagram model's worst nightmare: Thick natural flawless beauty with no filters and so much hair to pull on.

Somewhere in my mind, I was losing ground on trying to be a good friend, wanting to push towards my own case. If he still had any attraction for humans, then I had a chance. And I wanted that chance, no way in hell I was gonna pass up on the opportunity. Am I entitled to his affection, no. But did I feel like I waited for so long, only for his big engagement to fall short and end so quietly?

Did I hold him in my arms when Twilight left him in a hospital bed to mope about his future?

Did I feel like this Thanksgiving was supposed to be for me and Nondis to share?

Did I feel that sense of dread when Momma Haines broke down after finding out her son was a guard?

Did I want to try my best in making her happy, making myself happy by doing what I wanted to do for the longest time, making him happy by giving him a normal life we could share between us, by offering a future of our own, some kid running around in pampers while I had to worry about whether or not we would be eating delivery or deciding who's cooking for the night? Have I ever fell in love and lust for a man I knew, and would I embarrass myself by crossing the line we established? Did I cry when he rejected me, leaving me to wonder how stupid I was for even trying to give that to him, by trying to force my desire, my want of a future he long rejected a time before?

...yes.

I was in no position to even see his face again. I knew this time there was no 'better luck next time' because I gave it all to him and he still denied it. And if I tried it again, something inside me will hurt too much for me to stop. I'll become desperate, trying to beg and get something out of nothing. Then we'll be talking about a friendship gone south, one that took so long to cultivate.

'My eyes are green cause I eat a lot of vegetables' I keep saying to myself. 'It ain't got nothing to do with your new friend. I don't care, I swear, I'm through with you, you don't mean nothing to me, so go ahead and be with her'

I never thought I would masturbate in angst, but here we are. And instead of Lucy taking me on a wild ride, I just seized for a second before coming back down to earth... several times, trying to mentally fulfill a fantasy that was never meant to be. And of course I'm certain my PS4 caught a virus because of all the porn I pulled up in the browser.

And nothing could ever get me so heated like I was when that man was hard pressed between my thighs last night.

I didn't want to see him, talk to him, or even think about him because it would start to make me feel things I don't want to feel anymore. What makes it all worse is that I told him everything. Now he knows the real me, what I want, what I like the most, and he's probably disgusted that I'd even go so far as to put my fingers down my pants like I was just some horny teenager. He probably doesn't even wanna see me anymore.

And here I go into Equestria, fully dressed, wearing this plastic smile on my face... the same one my mom wore when she got antsy. I walk down the hall, take a left, then a right, and finally I'm in the hallway where Nondis is giving his parents a quick tour of the castle.

The smile he has on his face is so goddamn destructive. "Hey, Mel! Good morning!"

"Morning." I can't even look at him.

Mrs. Haines walks up to me with this nervous smirk as she politely grabs my hand and whispers to me. "Honey, I'm so glad to see you. This place is so bonkers!"

"Let me guess, the ponies talk?" I replied.

She freezes up and gives me a grave look. "So we're not crazy!?" She turns around and screams to her husband. "Harold! She knows we're not crazy! She-she just said it!"

I politely took over from wherever Nondis left off on his explanation. "Nope, the ponies here are very talkative and expressive. I'm actually surprised Twilight's not with you guys."

Mrs. Haines looked at me with confusion wrought throughout her face. "Who's this 'Twilight'?"

I smacked myself in the face with a colorful show of disbelief. "You didn't tell them about her?"

"Not yet, unfortunately." That's code for 'I don't wanna tell them that right now'. "But I do have to survey the grounds to make sure nothing bad happened. If you can keep them entertained on the way to the dining room, that'll be great." And that's code for 'Here, you do it'.

*sigh* "...Okay... Well, let's make our way downstairs for breakfast."

Our tour of the castle was mostly me pointing out a bunch of shit that had nothing to do with cultural enrichment and more of me pointing out which closets were for brooms and mops, which rooms were residential, and which rooms were offices. If it wasn't for the fact that Nondis texted a photo of the floor layout to the other five of us, we'd be getting lost every time we show up to visit. But on a positive note, we knew where all the secret passageways were. It's just that we didn't have any magic to use them. If only this place wasn't so unicorn-centric, though then again it's so that not just any random guy can get access to any room whenever they wanted to.

I'm sure one of those passageways lead to Celestia's bedroom or something.

Mr. Haines didn't seem too thrilled with the fact that they were already missing a few NFL games today, loves himself some Cowboys. But he's been surprisingly patient, considering that Nondis suddenly took off without filling them in on much. And it feels more like he's being the patient one while Momma Haines is the one who's a little more aggressive. Though to be fair, I'd be aggressive too if I had to walk down three flights of stairs just to get to the dining room. At least this can't get any worse.

"Ma'am, I'm just following protocol." A guard calls out from behind us.

"And how often do you offer that same protocol check when Crescent comes by to pick up a book from the Royal Library?"

Oh, oh GOD no. I quickly grabbed both Mr. and Mrs. Haines hands and tried to drag them to the dining room as quick as I could without getting noticed. Even if I myself was the most identifiable of the six humans Equestria's seen thus far because of my feminine shape, I was not going to get caught up this time. Meanwhile, the guard behind us whimpers meekly. "...Not often."

"Exactly. And my being a former hall stooge of this castle has well earned me my rights to purvey in the debauchery of every young and fertile stallion and mare who wishes to let their love roam free!"

Mr. Haines was a turn short of a backwards double take before I dragged him and his wife into the dining room, hiding off like I was a terrorist avoiding a metal detector. But as the doors closed behind us, I could overhear the slight passage of the conversation between the guard and the shameless patron. "Ma'am, I know your daughter and son happen to be royalty, but we do have a changeling watch to observe."

"D'oh, please! Any changeling would be trying to pass me off as a normal mare."

"It's true." A mature male voice cosigned. "She's more likely to out-tryst one of those greedy, soul-sucking, love-ingesting, life-destroying parasites."

"You might as well just give me the higher clearance package, I swear I won't go after any more politicians this time."

"Try not to get into trouble, ma'am. The captain would have my head if you were to cause trouble today." The guard replied.

After a brief period of silence, I started to take a sigh of relief, ultimately feeling much better now that there was some semblance of peace in the world... that was until the doors busted open in such a dramatic fashion as the light gray mare came streaking through with a huge smile on her face, singing my name out loud. "♪Ohhhhh Meeeeelaniiiiieeeeee!♫"

I forgot how there's no running from this lady when she sees you. She just sees you and you're good and in for the ride of the day. "Mrs. Velvet, so lice─I mean─nice to see you." Yeah, if having a case of head lice in front of your classmates wasn't fun enough, you had her to deal with.

She quickly teleported herself from the other side of the room to directly in front of me to shake my hand. "It's been ages dearie. How has life been treating you!?" She asked before turning her attention directly to the other two humans in the room. "And Celestia bless, you brought visitors!"

Mr. and Mrs. Haines looked back to one another as they both muttered in unison. "Celestia bless?"

The mare then extended her hoof to Mrs. Haines as she introduced herself. "I know that the two of you might be new around here, so I'll spare you the song and dance routine. I'm Twilight Velvet, you may call me Velvet, like the rope. And behind me is my most cherished husband Crescent Sparkle."

"Charmed." The blue elder stallion said as he extended his hoof to Mr. Haines.

The two of them didn't quite know how to respond to the casual greeting offered by the ponies and tried to think of a way to show some return of the gesture. Momma Haines went first and lightly leaned down and took the mare's hoof from underneath as she shook it slowly. "It's nice to meet you as well. Are you the Twilight I heard of recently?"

"Actually no─" I started to say before Mrs. Velvet interrupted me.

"Depends, what have you heard?" Mrs. Velvet replied, completely bypassing my answer.

Momma Haines leaned down to speak to the eccentric unicorn. "You seem to know someone by the name of Nondis Haines. What is your relationship with him like?"

The mare didn't miss a beat with her answer. "Him? Oh, he's a great young stallion brimming with ambition, passion, and excitement. Why I haven't seen anyone cause a media firestorm from his words alone through all of my years. He's strong, resourceful, he's got a good head on his shoulders, a bit crafty, and even funny sometimes. Why if I had a choice to be younger, I'd easily give him a day of my time!"

Mrs. Haines quickly became agitated over her response and took some offense to it. "I'm sorry, a day of your time doing what?"

"You know, a day to spend with the likes of a young strapping colt like him who just oozes with confidence." Mrs. Velvet replied with a shiver throughout her body. "The wild-like demeanor he tries to hide is absolutely adorable. It's perfect for me!"

She was not helping Momma Haines calm down by any chance of the imagination. Instead, she was getting even more furious. "I'm not sure if you should be getting so close to him."

The mare scoffed dismissively in her retort. "Oh, but I would be interested in my future son-in-law."

"WHAT!?" Both Mr. and Mrs. Haines pretty much exploded at the mere speaking of those words. Already, I was pulling out my phone trying to text Nondis to hurry his ass up and finish whatever he was doing before this whole situation reached critical mass.

Although it might already be too late, Mrs. Velvet was just spilling his whole private romance details like it was the hottest topic of the week. "Yes! My daughter Violet has been so passionately in love with him, it's been adorable! Why the kids nowadays have started throwing those weird celebrity couple names all around the town. TwiDis, TwiNon, NonLight, just to name a crazy few."

"Oh, and you won't believe the following he's garnered." Crescent added, pouring jet fuel on top of a roaring volcano. "There's a whole fanclub based around him and his friends. But as far as the most desirable one, that he is. It's gotten so bad that older mares on the prowl started investing in ways to possibly buy his time."

Momma Haines paused for a moment, trying to calm herself down before asking the mare. "So you wouldn't happen to be any of those assassins I've been hearing about?"

Velvet broke into laughter as she denied the absurd idea. "Oh, goodness no. The only thing I'm an assassin to is character. Why, whatever drove you to ask such an outrageous question?"

"So you know Nondis, and he happens to be with your daughter?" She questioned.

"Indeed he is, I don't see it going any other way." The mare answered.

Both Mr. and Mrs. Haines looked to each other before the elder woman leaned in to shake Velvet's hoof. "Well it's awfully nice to meet you. I'm Martha, and the angry man you see over there is my husband Harold. We're... the Haines family, Nondis' parents."

If there weren't any stars in Mrs. Velvet's eyes before, there were a galaxy of them now. She enthusiastically shook her hand with ceaseless abandon. "Well I'll be the daughter of Faust! I should've done my song and dance as soon as I meandered into the room! What a BRILLIANT surprise and honor to meet you! We must talk more, there's so much to discuss, things to do, ponies to see, have you ever thought about any more visits to our humble little world?"

Mr. Haines was boiling over as Momma Haines tried her best to play mediator, despite her own anger welling up inside. "Well, it's more of a long discussion we wished to have with an employer of his, especially pertaining to his... line of work."

Velvet quickly jumped in. "Oh yes! A new recruit into the royal guard and already a little after finishing his basic training, he's appointed as Captain of the Royal Guard. Though it didn't come without a recommendation or two."

Crescent poked his chest out proudly. "Ah yes, to relive those days of marching around in my uniform and my thousand nights in a dark hallway, standing to post. I don't even recall all the numerous shenanigans I got into when the princess wasn't looking."

"I can recall ours." Velvet replied with a smirk.

Crescent chuckled deviously as he mumbled to her. "Royal library table, bubble of silence."

"You forgot the invisibility spell to boot."

"Ah, yes. Those were the days where you were so... squeaky. They didn't even know we were right there giving them a show, broad daylight and we're just staining the finish."

"And there I was being the shy one." Velvet replied, giving her husband a kiss on the lips. "If you only knew the monster you created that day."

"I do, we named him Shining Armor."

"AHEM!" Mr. Haines interrupted loudly, finally speaking for the first time. "We're still on the topic of our son being in the military without our knowledge."

The two ponies seemed taken aback, completely caught off guard when they learned the real reason why they were here. Velvet was, again, the main one to speak. "Wait, you didn't know!? I figured Alex or Stanton would've told you something, especially if not Nondis."

Mr, Haines nodded his head slowly. "Yeeaaahh, our boys don't believe in telling us anything nowadays, even Nondis just broke us in on that one yesterday and he's still not telling us much. The first thing that happened was our youngest son comes up with a knee injury and he's out for the year. Two days later, his knee gets fixed and he's running like nothing ever happened. The only explanation he ever tells us is 'magic' which is a stupid explanation. Either way, my wife don't like him being in the military because of some family reasons."

"Oh!" Velvet replied with a sense of dread. "That's, um, not good."

"My father was in the military." Momma Haines began. "And after seeing him come back from the war he fought in, I just can't stand to see any of my sons go down his path. Now as far as we know, this girl by the name of Bella was said to be the princess here along with a lady by the name of Celestia. She said to meet her here so that we can decide on whether or not to keep him in since him and Bella were over and done with."

I politely tapped on her shoulder and whispered quietly. "Uh. Nondis never really clarified the situation, but the girl we called 'Bella' isn't really named 'Bella'."

"Then what was her name?" She asked, growing irritated again.

With a quiet voice, I moused her voice into the room. "...Twilight Sparkle."

Mrs. Haines looked to me with a really indignant frown and gritted through her teeth. "She's one of them, isn't she?"

"Yes, but she's really nice." I said, trying to lessen the damage of the situation. "I mean, she helped heal Stanton, she cooked in the kitchen with you, she considers you a nice person."

"She drafted my son into the military!" Mrs. Haines replied bluntly. "He didn't tell us he was getting married! He won't even tell us the damn truth about his goddamn safety and well-being! He's getting all cozy with some girl that ain't even human! And he's been gone for the better part of an hour and a half! I'm hungry, and there ain't no princess to talk to! So you tell me how the HELL I'M SUPPOSED TO STAY PATIENT!"

Already, this was getting ugly. And it's not like I can just say some magical words to make everything feel better. But in strange form, it was none other than Mr. Haines coming to the rescue, holding his wife back and comforting her. "Sweetie, taking it out on some ponies who aren't even the source of our problem isn't gonna work here."

"I can't make it work, Harold! I don't feel comfortable here! Our son's having nightmares and walking into danger unseen! He's got assassins on him!" She answered back, trying her best to shove him away. "I'm dealing with a son who ain't telling us nothing! And we're supposed to be his parents!"

Velvet eventually stepped in with her own input. "I know things may be more than a little confusing for you both, and for that I am sorry. I just thought he would've told you all of this already. We truly apologize if there's been any discomfort provided on our behalf."

Mrs. Haines was rapid-fire with her response. "No. Thank you. You told me everything I needed to know about my son and now we're making a decision for him. He's obviously not right in the mind, so we're gonna have to intervene on his behalf and say he's done here. Now where's the princess so we can knock this out the way?"

Crescent offered his own argument against her decision. "Ma'am, with all due respect, I think if he wants to remain a guard, shouldn't that be a decision he makes?"

By that point, Mr. Haines put up a rebuttal not even Nondis could argue against. "Last I checked, he was the one to say we make decisions as a family. He said that to me just two days ago when he was talking about Stanton's operation. The boys voted to have him moved for some fancy light show, and now here we are saying that this should be a personal decision when it should be a family one. Now given the magnitude of the scope we're dealing with, it should be within reason to assume that a decision involving marriage, possible loss of life, and a change in address should be discussed."

Velvet offered to speak against the man's conclusion, but Crescent stood in front of her and assumed the role of a negotiator instead, calmly hearing out Mr. Haines. "Alright, now that I can concede to. After all, the unity of our families should not be solely based on the opinions of one but rather of many. I'm sure that is how Processu Approbatio is dictated. And as a former captain of the guard myself, followed by my son holding the position prior to your son attaining it, I can assess the risks your son has undergone and also be able to tell you from experience whether or not this is something you can agree to do or not. My wife wants to join with you all, and our daughter seeks happiness with your son."

Mr. Haines, still expressing some internal anger towards Nondis, he calmly pulled up a chair and sat himself at the table. "Well, I can give it to you that you're a fair man. I can't even argue the logic you've presented. However I am gonna have to be very explicit with you, we in the human world do not date outside of our own species as it is a societal taboo."

"Well that explains a lot." Crescent responded. "A family with a strict upbringing should expect nothing less of their own son. And to say that your son has failed to disclose the numerous deeds he's done for thousands of lives can attest to some of your mounting frustrations. This I am aware of."

"Our frustrations have little to do with what he did for everyone else. We're concerned with what he did behind our backs and without any promptness to it." Mr. Haines replied sternly. "Now me personally, I wanted for a long time to see my son be able to defend himself. So all of this for me is just fine, I was always okay with him being in the military, though that goes against my wife."

"A wife is never wrong." Crescent quipped as he summoned two glasses and a bottle of what seemed to be apple-brand whiskey. He calmly placed the glass before him and poured him up a glass, offering the drink to the man. "Shall we drink to that?"

Possibly for the first time since he came here, Mr. Haines cracked a genuine smile as he raised the glass up to his nose. "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." He then tasted the drink for himself, becoming pleased with the taste of apples and the spices of cinnamon and ginger. "This is some really good stuff. Where'd you get it?"

"Special brew imported from a cellar at an old apple farm down in a little town called Ponyville. My daughter has a castle there. Locals are pretty nice and homey, far different from the busy streets of Canterlot."

"So... We get that there are some princesses running around. What really runs this place?" Mr. Haines inquired.

"Money, power, and strength. If you have one of the three, you're well on your way. I'm sure all of those three things are a universal concept."

"That it is." The man agreed with another swig of his drink. "For us it's more of playing the markets, the voters, and then the sports we watch every weekend. Stanton wants to be a professional football player. Alex is an accountant with a minor in litigation."

"Which effectively means Nondis with his amount of sway can change the fate of a nation. Think of the numerous ideologies he could share with us, it would make him a political powerhouse. Wouldn't you agree?"

"It sounds more of a pipe dream to me." Mr. Haines answered.

"You should hear him speak. He's known for getting the country itself in an uproar. I've even heard he roused even the hardened politicians who thrive in the parliament, some of which try to undermine his authority as recently as the past three weeks. The stage is set for him, you know."

"My son? I don't know about you, but Nondis doesn't like to speak out in public very often. He's a shy kid."

"Shy enough to slay a beast three times his size." The stallion replied, summoning a newspaper with the image of Nondis backed against a tree as an arimaspi tried to crush him to death. He then gave it to Mr. Haines. "I do not deny that even the meekest of the guild are capable of overcoming the odds."

"Holy Mary mother of Joseph." The man said, gawking at the image of his son, holding the greatsword against his chest to protect himself. Crescent then provided another headline, showing the triumphant return on the train, carrying huge sacks of gold and other untold riches. He looked back to me and whispered. "Now I know I should be just as mad with you because of you being in on this, but is any of what I'm seeing is true?"

"Yes sir." I replied. "It's even said that he fought off a hundred of those things by himself."

"Yeah, and I had to sleep in one to survive."

***Point of Perspective: NONDIS***

The entire room looked back to the doorway, I was standing standing in front of both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, in all their regality and ponyness. Behind the both of them was Alex, Stanton, Rickey, and Cliff. Celestia approached dad from the side as she offered a hoof of greeting. "Now is the first time that I may be able to greet you as I am."

Identifying the crown on her head, dad glanced at me and bowed his head out of respect. "The pleasure is all mine, your highness. I just didn't think the whole 'princess' moniker was legitimate."

"I can assure you that our thrones are very much legitimate." Luna added as she bowed her head to dad. "As is the honor we have in hosting the parents of our most esteemed captain. We were informed of your desire to alter the status of his occupation. But there is no negotiating on an empty stomach. Surely we may show our hospitality, much as you have shone it to my sister. Equestria is truly grateful for the accommodations of your world and it's offerings."

"Food would be nice." Mel stated, taking a seat as if she was standing in one spot for well over an hour.

I walked over to speak to her. "So when did Mrs. Velvet get here again?"

"Just. In. Time." Mom grunted as she reached for my ear, pulling me down to her shoulder. "And let me tell you, you have A LOT to explain. Also, what's this about you marrying a pony princess?"

Although I was experiencing some immense pain, I was trying to keep my composure. "So I can safely assume they got wind of everything."

"Everything short of your second life story." She answered with a frown.

"Well good, that means I don't have to explain much."

The negotiations between dad and Crescent carried on for a great deal of time, but what ended up surprising me was how civil dad was for the entire conversation. He was oddly compliant, possibly because of the whiskey Crescent provided had them engage with a common interest. It's obvious that his years in the guard has taught him a great deal of patience, causing him to become a suitable negotiator. And realistically speaking, negotiation wasn't quite my strongest suit, I'm capable of it but not to the degree Crescent has developed.

Plus it's my dad, if I say anything then we'll be arguing for hours on end.

However, mom was beyond livid with me about everything. Apparently, she didn't take too kindly to the fact that I was about to get married. She's also upset that I was fighting so often, traveling to battle against hellish creatures for the sake of retrieving the lost wealth of a nation. If I had to summarize the laundry list of issues she had with me being here, it would be chalked up to the fact that I was getting married to a pony in a foreign world and forced to serve in it's military beforehand. Not that it's an unfair justification for her being mad, I just didn't see why she wouldn't see the benefit of my doing all of this from a humanitarian point of view.

Celestia wasn't spared any words either, as mom really unleashed her frustrations over why such a law remained in existence. And it took a half-hour for her to simmer down to where she could talk in an indoor voice. Again, not that I don't understand her reasoning, I'm just more baffled over her insisting that I be removed without hearing any other argument for me staying here. Even when Mel tries to offer a reason, she's just outright ignoring it.

And then came the family vote. Since I threw that argument of 'we decide things as a family' to get Stanton to relocate to Austin with his injury, they flipped it onto me and decided to hold a referendum. Mom's vote was automatically a 'no' in favor of me just leaving Equestria altogether and 'living my life like a human should'. Dad was okay with me learning how to fight, but not complacent with my adventures and the risks they provided. Alex didn't seem to mind me being in Equestria that often, he just didn't want me to do anything stupid while I'm here. Stanton wasn't too thrilled to see me in the state I was in when I returned from my mission three weeks ago, citing his own nightmares over the situation, but he was accepting of the friends I made while I was here and cited his trust in the network I developed around me.

And because mom didn't like there being a possibility of my vote being the deciding one, she threw in Mel's name to cast her ballot. I already knew her answer, basically a no. And being that Vanessa wasn't here in Equestria to cast her vote on the matter, we were left at a deadlock. And it didn't help that the only thing that kept this conversation going was Mel speaking from her heart. But really, I couldn't blame her. If I had to watch my best friend flat-line and get resuscitated because some assassin had it out for me, then I would've done the same.

Crescent saw that our vote ended in a stalemate and offered that we convene out in the garden for a while so we could take in the beauty and calm ourselves to it's tranquil nature. While the idea was being presented, Celestia had her servants bring in the food. And for the entirety of the meal, I had mom staring me down like I had committed a grave crime against her, as if I was a stranger sitting in a courtroom, looking at the family I hurt.

On a brighter note, at least she was eating the food.

We took our venture to the back end of the castle and made our round towards the gardens when a small squadron of pegasi flew down to give me a report of the activity on the mountain. As I confirmed the situation, mom found herself storming off to the inner gardens. By the time she realized it, she was in the courtyard, standing in front of a golden statue of an incomplete sun. Standing in front of it, she realized that she was in the circle of light within the ring of the statue's shadow. Her eyes stared at the object and she winced with dread over the object.

"Exactly what gods do they worship around here?" She asked herself, looking to the golden object. She looked back to her own shadow and saw herself stretched oblong at it's center, but much smaller than the shadow of the statue. She walked up to the plaque and read the inscription.

"Summer Sun Idol:
The Summer Sun Idol was created in the second year of our highest princess Celeste Delanise Valkyrie. in celebration of the glorious sun that brings us light and warmth throughout the year's round. Created by a group of Everfree's finest metal smiths, the proud icon depicts a triumphant sun overcoming the darkness that was set to eclipse our world. It is a monument dedicated to Her Majesty's defeat of the dark harbinger Nightmare Moon.
DO NOT LEAN AGAINST. TRANSPORT WITH CAUTION."

As she looked at the object, she couldn't help but to touch it out of dire curiosity . Her fingers brushed against the metal and the nail of her index finger tapped against it's surface. But she failed to notice the figure standing behind her as he spoke. "They pull that thing out every Summer Sun Celebration. I swear had to have been dropped at least once."

The woman turned around with a shriek and held her chest as a white stallion approached her.

"You're a new face, who are you?"

The woman stood backwards, completely leaning herself against the statue. When she realized that she backed into the statue, she turned around quickly to see it shake a little, covering her mouth in horror. But before it started to rock unsteadily, the unicorn stallion cast his magic to firmly set the statue in place as he levitated her away from it. He then looked at her and smiled.

"My goodness gracious, if there were any guards out here watching you bump into that, they would ship you under for it. But don't worry your human head off too much. Your secret's safe with me, I've done it once before."

"Who are you?" The woman asked, still backing up a bit.

The stallion chuckled as he replied. "I'm not anyone you should be afraid of. I'm actually a resident of this establishment. Though it would be fair to bring up that I have yet to get a name from you, human."

Feeling estranged from the situation of someone calling her human, she quickly responded. "Martha. I'm just passing by."

The prince chuckled once more and tapped his chin with a hoof. "I see, you have that same silly accent as our dearly esteemed captain. A bit twangy, if I do say so myself."

Martha covered her mouth instinctively before she gave a reply. "I have an accent?"

"Indeed. I can only assume you are from the same place our captain is from."

She sighed deeply as she shook her head. "Ugh, he shouldn't even be here with all of this."

"And here he is. Surely you're fine with him being here as opposed to being of the deceased." The stallion replied, causing her to flinch at his statement. "Am I to assume that you are of some familial relation to Nondis?"

"Who are you?" She questioned strongly, balling up her fists as if she was ready for an encounter. "Who are you and what do you want!?"

The stallion winked at the woman with a smile. "I can assure you, I am no hostile threat. Think of me as a friend to your son. As for who I am, Blueblood. Prince Blueblood Esquire. I'm just a lowly aristocrat given a name, a purpose, and a crown. And no, I will not be asking you to scratch behind my ears... no matter how good it may feel."

The woman winced with uncertainty as she loosened her fists. "Um... okay."

"So I believe you may have some qualms with your son being a member of the guard, correct?" The prince inquired.

"How are you knowing all of this?" She asked in turn.

"Well I do hold a crown to my name. Seeing that I'm very seldom in the room does not make me as uninformed as one would think. But I do know that you're not supposed to be this far in the labyrinth." The prince stated.

Martha then folded her arms as she pouted over her current circumstances. "Oh great, now I'm stuck in some godforsaken maze. It's as if I'm being tortured or something."

The prince walked beside her and placed a hoof on her. "I hope you don't mind me touching you, but I do want to help you and to let you know that if you're feeling uncertain about anything he's doing, I can assure you that his reasoning is as justified as yours.

The woman dug her fingers into her arms as the frustration started to build once more, snapping out just as quickly as she did when she found out about her son being in the guard. "I just don't want my son suffering, aright. I just don't like him being here. I don't like him being too friendly to you ponies, especially when there's a nice girl waiting for him back home. I mean no offense to you, sir, but I just want my son to come home and stay home."

Blueblood nodded slowly with pursed lips. "I can understand how that can be a bit of a situation. He wants to serve, you reject that idea, and now there's an indecision looming. But the question you need to ask yourself is simply this. And I don't mean to come and offend you by any means, whatsoever. But answer this... Are you ready to be a mother to your child?"

"How the hell does that make any damn sense?" Martha barked in retaliation. "I'm here and I'm making a decision because I am his mother!"

"But in retaliation of trying to protect him, you end up stunting him for the long-run. Don't you think it would be wise to allow for a chance for him to sprawl forward and explore the possibilities that are endued to him? I'm sure he understands you mean well, but taking away a once-in-an-impossibility chance to learn more of himself and what he's capable of beyond what could be conceived in the realm of his human existence? Don't you think that some horizons are meant to be explored when you're set to enter the prime of your life?"

"Not when it comes to the price of losing your son!" Martha argued angrily, rivaling the serene nature of the alabaster prince.

The stallion sighed for a moment and quietly spoke. "You know, when I was younger, I wanted a mother like you, one who cared enough to scold me whenever I did something I didn't like. But I never had one to really know of since I was born. My father was always trying his best to send me off to a marriage I didn't want for myself, but had little choice in fulfilling, 'for your success' he would say to me. Of course, I'm vastly older than you."

Martha scoffed with some laughter as she performed a double take to the prince's words. "Ha! You, older than me! That'll be the day."

The prince smiled while whipping his mane back with a sense of pride. "Of course. Four-hundred twelve years counting, and I'm still feisty for the hunt."

She stared blankly, completely speechless at the unicorn prince as he continued on.

"And the one who visited your world to speak with you, our highest princess, the one who that hunk of metal idolizes, she's well over a millennium and looking just as refined as ever."

Again, Martha was left completely flabbergasted, incapable of the simplest forms of speech.

Blueblood continued on. "Long story short, we have seen generations grow and die as the leaves on the tree with each passing season. I've seen battles fought over the pettiest reasons, and some for the best of intentions. I've seen corruption, so foul and disgusting that it begs the question why equinekind continues to persist. And in all my centuries, I have never found myself looking at something standing on two legs capable of changing well over a thousand years of history within the span of a single day, much less being able to change himself for the better. Of course there's a few slip-ups, but that's all apart of climbing that mountain of life. And here's the thing, the mountain you've climbed thus far may not have the same peak your son is trying to reach. But are you so much of a mother to yodel at him from your summit and ask him how he's doing, or will you be the one to cut his ropes while he's on his way?"

Martha stared back at the stallion, stunned by his question and folding her arms as she pondered. The longer she thought of an answer, the more she realized how correct her son was in stating how the ponies of Equestria had just as advanced of a mental facility as any human would. For the first time, she replied to him not as something different, but as a fellow sapient. "I get all that, but I'm just not feeling comfortable with him going out to get hurt. You know he told me how there were assassins coming after him?"

Blueblood groaned as he cosigned with her. "Indeed, he is a popular figure and he's got enemies here in the city. No doubt he's going to be in danger of dying. But isn't there some other means in your world where his end could come as quickly as it would here? After all, he at least came back to you."

Martha turned away from the stallion, feeling herself becoming embarrassed over the fact that this creature much smaller than her was already on the verge of making her cry. Doing her best to control her emotions, she looked towards the sky and remained stoic. "He did that, yeah he did."

"And maybe there are some differences in this world that he felt so afraid to tell you because he knew that you would be hurt. But in spite of all of that, he chose to let you in on it instead of it being some secret he carries to his grave. Might not have told you everything, but he sure wanted to show you this world. Can we agree that it counts for something?"

The woman wiped her eyes and sniffled. "Yeah. But I really don't like him just doing this and..."

"Come, I'll show you the way out." Blueblood pointed her towards an opening in the path, starting to guide her as he walked forward. "You know, there was a mare who watched her son go into danger and come out a broken individual for a while. You may not know her, but you've encountered her just earlier today. Her son was Captain of the Royal Guard, and he was sent to a cruel deployment. It changed him so much that it forever altered his ability to love, and even destroyed any chance of a good night's sleep. And you know what that mare did?"

Martha looked back at the stallion with her guess. "She got angry."

The stallion laughed once more. "That's putting it mildly. She was short of stabbing one of the members of the parliament with his own quill. She even fought like five guards before she was subdued. And the reason she wanted that revenge was because he fabricated the assignment, just because the young captain was in an engagement with a princess."

"What happened to him?" She asked.

"He's well. And he's living life as any individual would, overcoming their trials and putting on their best face for everyone around them. Being strong for everyone, including his wife. He's twenty-five now, married to a princess, holding a crown himself, and still fighting for our nation's safety. In fact, he was the one who trained, sparred, and promoted your son. His younger sister was expected to be your son's fiance, though you've been told."

"I was told he was fighting my son." Martha added.

"That's not a lie either, they didn't quite see eye to eye for a while." Blueblood confirmed. "But if you ask them both how's life been for both of them, they'd pretty much respond the same. They'd say 'We're breathing and everyone we love is still rooting for us.' And there would be no arguments against it because each of them faced certain doom, and came away with life and limb. They're strong, and I'm sure that anyone you knew would say the same. Does it mean that they wouldn't offer a few disclaimers, of course not. Would they have some stories to tell, certainly. Would they be for the feint of heart, not a chance. But would they take the time to try and live a life that was best for those around them, well it depends on how strong they are. Not everyone can come out to try and live their best life after witnessing tragedy and cruelty, but those who do possess such a discipline that so few carry."

Martha took a moment to think more of her father, the man who came back from a war being called a criminal and a murderer. Though she would hear some stories when she grew of age, she started to realize all the many things she still got to experience with her father. In spite of his suffering from the ghosts of demons past, he would do nothing short of satisfying his daughter. She remember the story she told Harold that morning and held herself as her stomach became weak. Her eyes truly welled and reddened before she could catch herself, and the feelings of nostalgia ran ceremoniously through her mind. And that same man would go on to show that side of him with her children. She smiled for a while before she could do nothing but sniffle and sob.

Before she knew it, the stallion beside her pointed towards the exit of the labyrinth. "Not everyone can navigate through life like nothing's wrong, no one truly can. But that doesn't mean that we can choose to parade our pain for others to give us pity, that's not a fun way of living. And I'm sure you don't want to live that way either."

The woman looked to the exit and wiped her eyes for a final time. "So... I guess you'll be joining us on our little tour of this garden?"

"Oh no, I'm afraid not." The prince replied. "I'm in the middle of a few other proceedings. But it was nice to speak with you, surely you would come to visit us more often."

The woman walked herself towards the exit, revealing herself to the human search party. Blueblood lingered behind as she waved her goodbye. But as soon as she disappeared from view, his eyes narrowed and his smile disappeared. The prince stood with his chest out as he walked back the opposite direction.

"I understand that is your mother, Nondis, but she cannot interfere with our plans."

Not long after mom showed back up from her mini journey through the garden labyrinth, she told me of a stallion who helped her out and guided her back to the entrance. We were mostly relieved to see her not covered in leaves, thorns, and twigs, as that would've probably made more of her case to have me leave here.

But that's not what surprised me the most.

She came out with something like a smile on her face as she looked at me. Mom smiling for the first time should've been something worth celebrating on the spot. But we didn't really have time to dwell on it. Instead, we had a lot to discuss with her and dad about my getting engaged to Twilight. And understandably, they were not pleased with my not telling them that we were a separate species. No questions asked, they strongly refused the idea that I'd get into any romantic or sexual relationships with anyone here, noting that it would be counterproductive to a family dynamic if I was unable to have one of my own because of anatomical and biological differences.

Again, I understood their logic. But I also added in my argument for the emotional response and the possibility of attachment that could occur when one starts to become intimately aware of you and wishes to ditch the norm and take a risk for you as much as you would for them. It was a point that they argued down to the ground, but I wasn't gonna let it stop me. I also offered the argument of Twilight's transformation for a counter, but then they brought up the fact that her job would require her to remain her actual self because of the expectations placed on her as opposed to the independence I have of meeting those same expectations.

It was a pretty lengthy debate, and one I couldn't win for the life of me.

But when it came to the topic of my being in the military, the conversation was much more tranquil. Instead of being a deadly sea of fire and flames, it was pretty much a civil discussion where we had some minor disagreements with one another. And again, they presented some solid arguments against my being drafted. And I agreed with them entirely because I still felt that no relationship should have to have a military prerequisite, even if it was with anyone who was higher in the social or political hierarchy.

And of course, that spawned another discussion I had to go in depth with.

"So that's pretty much the law that dictates that." I said, finishing my explanation of what the Approval Process law entailed.

Again, obviously, mom was furious. "What in God's green earth compelled them to make a law like that!?"

I shrugged at her question. "I guess some nobles who were jealous that the head honcho was getting intimate with some other guy they didn't know. You know, that shady crap they pulled back in the dark ages."

"And you're telling us that the this law was in existence for over a thousand years?" Dad inquired.

"Pretty much." I answered. "And because of a few amendments they added to it over the centuries, I was dragged off to basic training for what was considered to be 'in accordance to the limitless possibilities presented that would allow some unfortunate happenstance to occur to the royal in proposition.' So basically, because I was considered to be 'too weak' to protect the princess by default, I was deemed unfit and had to be trained to... well, become fit for the position of 'suitor'. From there, I had to build on accolades from the months starting out to prove my leadership qualities and strengths because of one significant factor."

"Let me guess..." Dad replied. "You get to hold some sort of title if you go through with it."

"If I'm going by the conversation I had in the maze, I'd say you would be a prince." Mom concluded.

Alex, who was still unaware of that specific detail, spoke out. "Wait, you becoming a prince? Nobody ever told us that."

"Well they bring it up when you start your process." I proceeded to explain. "I was aware of it from the moment I was told that the only way we could have a relationship was if I met the three key standards. The first was to become an official citizen of Equestria. The second was that I could undergo military training to improve my leadership and physical skills. And the final one was if I could withstand a waiting period of eight months while having a relationship with the princess, with the family's blessing taken into account, a two-in-one deal there."

Cliff then asked. "So is that the main reason why if you break up, they say you can't get with the princess again?"

"That's a primary reason why they take that into account. And the no sex thing is there because nobles and politicians deemed it necessary for reasons of selfish envy. Basically, they've tried to have their kids and whatnot marry into the royal family, and it has yet to work."

Dad again brought up the question. "But still, why does that law still exist? Surely as smart as these ponies may be, they should be able to follow up on basic trends to society."

"They're selfish, dad. They don't care about society as long as they get paid or they get power. That's all that matters to them." I briefly summarized.

"And you wanna live in this?" He questioned.

I stammered for a bit before coming out with my answer. "Well... if you had a chance to stop it, wouldn't you?"

Dad placed a hand on my shoulder as he politely made an attempt to convince me. "Son, look. I know you feel like you can make a difference for a whole bunch of people, but if something's been standing pat for over a thousand years... you gotta know when to hold or fold out. And they ain't folding, so you might as well bow out there."

I casually removed dad's hand from my shoulder as I spoke. "Dad, listen. I can change this, I can do something to make this stop. I don't care if I have to keep fighting to do it, but I'm not gonna stand by and do nothing." I looked to mom for a moment as I continued. "The number one thing Gramps always told us was to not get into any fights you can't win. The second thing he said was if we did, we'd better fight for something that's right. And let me tell you there been more than one moment where I felt like I was gonna be meeting that man face to face in the afterlife. And each time I get there, I feel like he's turning me away saying 'you're not done.' So what sense does it make for me to sit pat and watch all these other people suffer because of a few politicians' greed and some person's evil?"

Dad shook his head as he replied. "Nondis, you're crazy if you think you can change the world."

"I already did, dad. I'm the first human here in a world of no such thing, that's a change in and of itself. All of us being here is a symbol of that change. Us being able to go to and from this world and ours is an ASTRONOMICAL change, one that transcends the very physics we've come to know and understand! You know how many scientists in our world would kill to see this, to experience what we get to do? Hell, I'm serving under a princess who's ruled for over a thousand years, who can move the sun when she wanted to. I should've been drowned and gone when I couldn't get out from that car in time. But I'm here, we're here! That's the change! I could just simply say 'but God' and the both of you will go nuts, but look around you, see the faces words spill from, and realize that we have become what is said to be unlikely, unscientific, the unreasonable, the theoretically and 'realistically' impossible. Think of those chances, and now think of us being able to rewrite a law."

Dad stared at me for a moment, backing away as my words resonated within him. Something about my words caused him to take in the sight of the world around me and take notice of what was actually real. Mom stared as she backed into a bush, her hands instinctively felt for what she ran into, feeling the leaves scratch and tickle at the tips of her fingers. The smell of the beautiful flowers that neatly littered the grounds. Her eyes looked over to her husband as he looked to the castle, his eyes widening dramatically.

I continued to speak. "Mom, dad, I just want you to know─"

Before I could finish, I felt a rush of wind beside me. Before I could do anything but slightly turn my head, I heard the sound akin to an empty shoe loudly smacking against concrete. And by the time I could see what it was, I could see a stallion lightly bouncing at my side before he came to rest with a sickening gurgle. The stallion's head was misshapened from the impact, an eye protruded from one of his sockets. His limbs twitched for the fraction of a second as the cracked bone splinters acted as weak shrapnel to the grassy cobblestone. A gray horn rolled to the toe of my shoe as the stallion laid motionless, leaving nothing but the sound of a death rattle.

"AAAAH!" My mother shrieked hysterically.

"WHAT THE HELL!" I leaped back from the body, still expressing tremendous shock over the incredibly close call.

"OH MY GOD!" My father yelled before he closed his eyes to look away.

Cliff started to run over but stopped himself as a pool of blood started to grow. Expressing abject horror, he covered his mouth. "Where did this nigga drop from!?"

Stanton covered his mouth, but for a different reason as he gagged at the sight of the body. "Ehhhh, his head, his head─his FUCKING head."

"Ugh, shit." I said, not able to do much for a time but hold the hair of my head back. I know somewhere in the back of my mind I was thinking 'why is this happening now' but the main thing that I was trying to get over was the fact that there was a body that could've landed on me, missing me just by mere inches. After the initial shock wore off, I proceeded to follow protocol. "Everybody remain calm, Alex, can you take mom and dad somewhere else? Stanton, you go with."

As my brothers quickly grabbed our parents and dragged them somewhere else, Cliff walked off to follow them. Rickey look at the body and heaved for a moment as if he was about to vomit. To his credit, he held his constitution long enough to speak and run away. "Well I've seen some shit to know I ain't staying here."

Melanie, who was a little more used to seeing a bit of gore walked beside me as I tried my best to avoid the growing stream of blood running from his body. As I made an attempt to examine the situation, she looked up to see an open window with a curtain hanging out. "Murder, maybe?" She asked.

As I looked to where her eyes met, I trailed from it to the ground he rested on. "That's a hell of a fall. I know that much."

Looking at the stallion, I realized that I had to make some attempt to identify the body. And since I didn't have anything in the way of gloves, I didn't have much of a choice but to do it the old fashioned way. I walked over to one of the smaller trees and wrestled a small but sturdy branch off to use. As I started to poke the stick underneath the face of the dead stallion, Mel complained. "You're gonna touch him with your bare hands?"

"I ain't got gloves to work with, Mel. They don't make latex gloves for humans."

She continued to voice her concern as I tried my best not to touch him. "Still, that shit is unsanitary, and you're running the risk of an infection."

"I ran the risk of getting hurt just for standing in one damn spot, as you can tell." I replied back.

Finally realizing I couldn't get it done with just a stick, I sucked up any bad vibes I had and remembered that I had to cut open an arimaspi to hide for my life. Realizing I had done much worse, I settled to moving his head with my hand to note any distinctive marks on him. "Nondis, I think this is─"

"Wait a minute..." I said, looking to the top of the deformed head I propped up. turning his head, to the other side, I could see there was a noticeable chunk of it's ear missing. Looking at the protruding eye, I could see it's color, it's golden ring. The cutie mark was a first, but the mane color and the coat started to piece it all together for me. "SSSSSsssss-oooooooohhhhhh."

"What?" She asked almost responding in second nature.

"Who's this guy's next-of-kin?" I asked, pointing to him with a bloodied hand.

"Why?" She asked, backing away as she looked at my hand.

"Cause I'm sure they're gonna be a wealthy ass." I said as I realized I didn't have anything to dry my hands off but my own shirt. And knowing I couldn't just leave him there in the open for others to see, I had to make a quick decision and take off my shirt and use it as a towel before draping it over his head and torso.

"I'm not sure if Rarity would appreciate you leaving one of her shirts on a dead body." Chided Melanie.

"You wanna keep looking at this mess?" I asked sarcastically.

"No." She answered in a disgusted deadpan.

I started to reach in my pocket for my phone, pulling up Shining's number. "Is the portal to our world open?"

"I'm sure I left it open." She replied, just before I could get a dial tone.

For a few seconds, I waited until I could hear the young prince's voice on the other end of the line, among a myriad of noises. "Shining Armor." I called out.

In the background, I could hear music as the stallion chuckled to someone else before answering me. "Oh, hey Nondis. Hey, I just broke the news to Twily and her friends. You would not believe her reaction to all of it."

"Again, congrats on the baby. But we need to talk." I stated seriously.

He paused for a moment, realizing my tone was not as friendly or carefree as usual. "Sure, what's up?"

"Well... I'm in the castle courtyard right now. There's a dead stallion at my feet. Cutie mark of a yellow crown and three jewels within, smoke gray coat, formerly unicorn, gray mane. Wanna guess who's face is currently resting on the cobblestone?" I said as I tossed the stick away to the side.

"I don't think I know anypony like that." Said Shining.

"I do. His name is Count DuMoneé."

Hey there, wishing you all a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS/HANUKKAH/KWANZAA/HOLIDAY SEASON. Thank you for sticking around and as a way of getting into the holiday spirit, I shall now sing to you the spoilers of my people! OOOOOHHHH!

♫On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me:
A close shave with Count DuMoneé!♪

Whoever can come up with the other twelve can comment down below and I will come up with a master post of the best ones I've seen! Here's to a happy new year to all of you!