About an hour passed since the time of the incident occurred. A small gathering of guards and coroners circled around as the deceased Count DuMoneé lied on the ground, his mangled face hiding under the shirt I draped over it. As some took pictures of the scene, I was left behind to answer the questions. Mel left to help Alex with mom and dad while I stayed back here to clear any possible suspicions. Either way they tried to see it, I was far from the one responsible.

But don't tell that to the hard-nosed investigators that tried to squeeze me for any testimony.

"So you're saying you had nothing to do with this?"

"If I had anything to do with it, would I be calling you guys in?" I replied.

The coroner stood stoic as he replied. "Happens more often than not. Husband kills his wife, hollers throughout the street that someone murdered her, we take him in for questioning, stories don't match over time, later confesses to it, booked, charged, executed."

"And being the fact that he almost fell on me, I'm supposed to be the one who did it?"

"Nopony's saying you did it." He answered. "We're just trying to make sure you had nothing to do with it."

"Look, the last time me and this guy met was when he was in the hall, having some psychotic episode and I was stuck in a wheelchair. If anything, I think he could've jumped."

The coroner looked up to the open window and then back to me. "So you think he might have had a suicidal thought, jumped out the window, and by happenstance land right next to you?"

"You above all others should know that truth is stranger than fiction." I replied as I folded my arms. "And if you don't believe that I had nothing to do with it, then I have about... um..." I stopped for a moment to count out to myself how many people were with me at the time. I proceeded to count on each finger with each name that came to mind. "...Five, six, seve─yeah, seven other witnesses in the castle."

"Each of them being humans, correct?"

As I answered his question, one of the other coroners walked up to him and whispered something in his ear. "Yes sir."

He turned away from me and the other started to ask questions. "Well according to a few guards here, it seemed that the two of you were at odds. You wouldn't happen to know anyone else who would be at odds with him also?"

"Not that I know of."

"It's also been said that he had been taking some medication throughout the years. Apparently he was battling a few things. You wouldn't happen to know where those particular pills are?"

"If there's anything I don't do, I never touch a person's meds. I've had a grandparent who was dealing with PTSD from a war he fought decades ago, so I know better than that."

"And there's no ulterior motive for having him dead?"

"Is that to assume I called a hit or something?" I inquired.

"Well it wouldn't surprise anyone. After all, he forged your name to donate your body to science and seemingly tried to send an element bearer on recommendation to the same dangerous assignment you were sent to. Seems like a pretty solid motive to simply take away something he needed to remain stable. Or perhaps you might have had someone else to remove those pills from his workplace."

"His assistant Single File was the one who informed me that he was undergoing medicinal treatment. And even then, he was asking me if anyone had seen any of those pills."

"Do you remember what medication he was supposed to be taking?" He questioned.

"I don't remember that. I remember that I was attacked by him while I was still in a wheelchair, by Count DuMoneé and not the assistant. The assistant was trying his best to keep his boss restrained."

The first coroner then stepped in to ask more questions. "Okay, let's change the angle here. So you were attacked when you were still on the road to your recovery, correct?"

"That's true, yes."

"And would you happen to remember the exact details of that attack."

"He looked to my human friend, Melanie, the female. I remember him mumbling something about her 'supposing to be dead' or something. All I know is that he was knocked clean out by the assistant shortly after giving us the creeps."

He looked back up the window and tapped a pen on his chin. "So let's go back to today now. Let's say that you're completely innocent. Now, he falls out of a window at the exact moment you walk by. Do you suppose that this could have been another attack made against you?"

"I don't see any weapons on him, so no. The only way it would've made sense was if he was trying to use a spell, which he could easily cast from the height of that window."

"Not legally, he wouldn't." The first coroner said. "I'm sure you're aware of certain magic restriction laws placed on citizens to deter them from independent research of level four offensive spells or higher, right?"

"He wouldn't be able to legally, but he would be capable of it." Another voice chimed in from behind us, we turned around to see Single File standing with a distant glare in his eyes as Shining stood beside him.

"Shining, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"The moment you called, I had to come by and help clear some things up for you, like your name in particular." He stated as he trotted over to the body, partially lifting the shirt and wincing at the sight of his mangled head. "Oooh, any witnesses?"

"Seven... including my parents who were visiting." I stated, causing the young prince to wince once more.

"Oh that's rough. I'd say I'd want to meet them, but I'd have to take care of a few things. So why don't you go on ahead and check with them."

As I looked back to Single File, he was already on his haunches with tears in his eyes, grieving over his deceased boss. The stallion tried to answer any questions the best he could, but would often have to take some time before he could continue. "They seemed pretty close." I noted.

"When a guy gives you a door to walk through and start your life, wouldn't it hurt you to know they're dead?" Shining replied somberly. "I don't like the guy personally, but Single File's life could've been worse than it was before he got picked up. You have to keep these things in mind. Meaning that they weren't the best individual living doesn't mean they haven't made a difference in someone's life."

I groaned with dismay at the prince. "Ugh, you make it seem like you're justifying him."

"Oh no, he can rot in hell for all I care. Just know that even the blackest-hearted individuals from a historical perspective have done something to make someone else's day, in some way, form, or fashion. The road to hell is paved with good intentions as well as the bad, it's like the cobblestone we walk on. Vengeance, disregarding the lives of others to save the lives of those closest to you, casting judgement, or even outweighing one life over the other, these are the things that we don't wanna talk about... but they do happen."

As much as it pains me to say, he's right. If I tried to take one name of a notorious historical figure, there would always be an odd fact attributed to that person's life that would make us wonder 'what if' or 'what made them the way they were'. Vlad the Impaler wanted vengeance on the Muslims for what they did to him when he was young. Hitler was an artist and a gifted orator, but a cruel man to deny the rights of others to say the least. Stalin unfairly judged others in sending them to death camps, but studied as a PRIEST with academic merits when he was young. Or my grandfather, who was forced to live with the shame of killing innocent men, women, and children at the behest of a vengeful commander.

...In all variants of reality, those words were the cruelest truth.

When I had entered into the throne room, I could see mom holding herself, trying her best to cope with what she just saw. Dad sat in a corner with his head resting in his arm, his mind stirring on the very unsettling thought of watching someone die in front of him. Alex tried his best to calm mom, but she didn't want to listen to anything he had to say. The guards who stood at attention beside the doors watched silently as I approached the group of humans.

"Nondis, what happened to your shirt?" Stanton questioned.

"It's hiding a face you don't wanna see." I responded. "It was messy to begin with, so I'll have to change in a bit. I just wanted to check in on you guys before I did."

Celestia turned around to see me standing in her court without one and lightly smiled. "At least your family's courtesy isn't lost on you." She then looked to my parents and spoke. "You both raised such wonderful boys."

Mom didn't pay her any mind as she walked up to me and snagged me by the arm towards the throne. As she did, she pointed towards her and instructed me. "You walk up to her and tell her that you're not doing this anymore!"

I sighed as I struggled forward. "Mom, come on. It's fine, you don't have to do this."

She frowned before she pushed me forward to the princess. "You tell her, cause I've already said it once, I've said it twice, I've said it a million times that I don't want you to be here."

The doors opened to the hall outside, with the visitation of a party of ponies. Cadance and Twilight stepped forward first before the others started filing in. Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rarity all stepped forward with smiles on their faces as they seemed eager to introduce themselves. Cadance and Twilight became the first two to bow out of respect to Princess Celestia, who welcomed the two. "I see the two of you have made your return from Ponyville. Did something happen to where your visit was cut short?"

"Shining Armor just had some conversation with Nondis and he pretty much shut down everything. He wouldn't tell us exactly what." Cadance replied before she looked to the two other humans present. "And I see we have visitors today."

Twilight stepped before my dad, trying to see if anything was wrong with him. "Mr. Haines, is something the matter?"

My father looked up to see the purple pony princess staring back at him with a hoof extended to him. He scoffed as he instantly recognized the voice. "Holy hell, you are definitely one of them."

Twilight appeared confused as she started to retract her hoof. "Oh... I guess he told you everything."

Dad looked to me with a scowl. "No, my son didn't really tell us jack shit. I had to find out by your mother that you were getting hitched without our knowledge."

Twilight frowned as she took a step back. "Mom told you!? What did she tell you?"

"Oh, just that our son was getting married to some pony knowing how we'd felt about that." He answered as he stood up. "And then he tells us about how his getting involved with you triggers some bullshit excuse of a law that forces him to do a bunch of things without his consent. And to top it all off, he supposedly has assassination attempts against him. Then to top it all off, some pony fell out of a window and smacked his head against the pavement almost hitting my son. Now, with all that being said, how do you think I feel, little miss princess?"

Rainbow brazenly hollered out. "Oh for Celestia's sake, another assassination attempt!?"

Something about Rainbow's wording made mom even more irrational as she urged Celestia to accept my resignation. "You hear that? That's the sound of my son being repeatedly attacked for just merely existing here! Now get him OUT!"

I turned around to Rainbow and corrected her. "Rainbow, I highly doubt it was anything like that."

Applejack then spoke up. "Sugarcube, let's think this one through. If somepony landed short of getting you, then don't ya think that they could've been aimin' fer ya?"

Rarity walked up to me quickly as she noted my lack of clothing. "And whatever happened to your wearing a shirt, dear? In the months we've known you, you've always made it clear that you go around clothed. This is probably the first time I've seen you go public without a top."

Fluttershy then murmured to the others. "Perhaps the shirt was damaged in the attack?"

Pinkie looked at my hands and gasped as she noticed the slight amount of red. She quickly galloped towards me, holding my hand up to her face. "...Non-non... what happened?"

"Well since we're talking assassins..." Dad started off. "I guess one of them decided to kamikaze his way into hurting our son! He missed, barely."

Rainbow looked at my dad with some level of confusion. "Um... what's a kamikaze?"

Stanton promptly answered her question. "Suicide pilot, nose dive to target, disregard life."

Rainbow remained bewildered as she crossed her eyes. "That's just dumb, who throws away their life just to have a chance at killing someone?"

"Anyone who joins the military!" Mom screamed before turning her attention back to Celestia. "Now do us the courtesy and remove my son from your branch of service so that he may come home and never come back to this place again!"

"WHAT!?" The other ponies, including Cadance, exclaimed. Twilight didn't seem phased by it as much, knowing that this was something she made abundantly clear just yesterday.

Rarity became the brave soul to argue against my mother's wishes. "With all due respect, Mrs. Haines, but why do you wish for him to be removed? He's doing such a magnificent job!"

Cadance, surprisingly, also came to my defense. "Mr. Haines, Mrs. Haines, if I can attest to your son's accolades─"

"HIS ACCOLADES!? HE SHOULDN'T EVEN BE HERE!" Mom screamed again, allowing for her anger to boil over like it did yesterday in Twilight's throne room. "My son should be at home, safe from all hurt, harm, and danger!"

While my mom continued her rant, Celestia found herself lacking ever bit of patience for her. "With all due respect, Mrs. Haines, if you can give us a moment." She first cast a bubble of silence over her and then turned to me, asking quietly. "Now as to this 'assassination attempt', what happened Nondis?"

"I told you, guy just landed right next to me."

Twilight teleported over to me as she inspected my body for any cuts and bruises. "Well you seem to be safe, that's always a good thing."

Cadance then questioned me. "So... now begins the investigation as to the individual, the motive, and─"

"The coroners right now think that someone might have intentionally sabotaged Count DuMoneé's meds." I interrupted. "That's why I don't see this as an assassination attempt. Something else had to have happened."

Cadance shook her head and waved her hooves out in disbelif. "Hold on, hold on, hold on. Let me get this straight... Coroners are investigating Count DuMoneé? So are you telling me he's DEAD???

"I mean he's sitting in the courtyard, got my shirt draped over him and everything."

Celestia and Twilight both gasped from the shock of the news as Celestia questioned me. "Are you sure, are you sure that is who it was?"

"When I was on my way to Canterlot for my summons after Twilight's birthday, I got into a scuffle with Spike. I might have lost a bit of self control and bit off a portion of Count's ear. That being said, how could I not identify the one feature of him that I myself inflicted?"

"Wow." Twilight said, covering her mouth with her wings. "Count DuMoneé is dead."

Alex, overhearing the last bit of conversation, interjected himself. "Wait, that fucker's dead!?"

"Who's dead again?" Rickey questioned.

"Count DuMoneé." Melanie answered. "Nondis ID'd him shortly after you guys left."

"Holy hell." Stanton smirked as he spoke. "Bastard smacked the ground like a damn sack of potatoes."

"Ding dong, the witch is dead." Cliff said to himself.

"Which old witch?" Stanton called back.

"That son of a bitch." Mel stated proudly.

"And he'll be lying in state by Wednesday afternoon." Cadance added.

Dad walked up to mom and questioned in place of her. "Okay, what's going on now?"

"Well, dad..." Alex began. "The one who wanted your son to go to dangerous missions so he could die was the one that landed on the ground. So yeah, he's dead, so I guess Nondis is safer now than he was this morning."

"But in all seriousness, what is this?" He asked, tapping his finger against the surface of the barrier produced by Celestia. "I know my wife is still yelling at you, but I can't hear a thing."

"Bubble of silence spell." I answered, looking nervously at mom as I was unsure if she knew whether or not we could hear her tirade. "I'm sure she can hear us, but... we can't hear her." And just like that, mom went completely apeshit as she bashed her fists against the barrier. Apparently she didn't know that we couldn't hear her until just then, which made me even more nervous that she'd have to pull that bubble down eventually.

Dad looked at the barrier and cringed out of fear, not wanting to see the complete animal mom can become when she gets angry enough. He walked up to me and whispered in my ear. "How long does this last?"

"Caster's discretion." I replied.

He looked back to mom, who was still slamming her fists against the barrier. "I'm gonna have to ask that you get her to calm down before you take her out of that thing."

"I already know." I answered, walking past him and apologizing to mom. "Mom, I know this seems a little out of place, but they had some important questions and I had some important information to disclose to my superiors. Even if this was supposed to be an 'assassination attempt' in theory, I can assure you that it probably wasn't. The coroners will look into it and we'll get a summation of what's going on. So we're sorry that we had to kinda put you in the timeout bubble, but we really need you to calm down. Last thing you wanna hear, I know. But if you're willing to calmly negotiate with us right now, then we can let you out of here. Okay?"

Mom huffed and puffed as her hair grew wild and disheveled over her face. She seemed to take a few deep breaths and clear her face of the strands of hair. Pulling her hair back, she tried to make herself look presentable before she gave me a thumbs up. I looked to Celestia as she deactivated the spell. Finally, mom was freed of her audible prison and spoke calmly. "Nondis..."

She looked around the throne room, seeing the decor and all the stained glass windows depicting the different events of Equestria's history. But shortly after that, her attention was brought back to me as I responded. "Yes?"

Mom then spoke in a low, dire tone while she straightened herself out some more. "This is not up for discussion. Your future is not here." She said as the ponies all lowered their ears out of sadness. "You might have made a few friends, warmed a few hearts, and made some other people happy, but it's time to go back to the real world."

I found myself facepalming at her words. Before I knew it, I was looking at my chest. "You know, mom, losing two feet of intestine and having to relearn how to walk feels kind of real to me. Being scared for my life feels kind of real. Breaking my collarbone and having it reset, breaking my arm, dealing with a perforated lung because of some broken ribs, the concussions, getting stabbed, or even getting punched in the face was very real. All the friends I made, the things I did, all of it is real."

Mom stopped herself before she could lose her mind again, taking a few deep breaths before she finally spoke to me quietly. "Home is not here, sweetie. None of this is home, it's tomfoolery. Now I know you had fun here, but it's time to grow up and do something to contribute to society. Our society."

Just hearing her say it made me shake my head. "But I'm not grown enough to make my own decisions?"

Dad sighed as he did what a loving husband could do for his family. "Son, your mother is worried sick. She doesn't like any of this and I can't abide by it either. I think it's time, now that everyone's here, to say goodbye."

Mom lunged forward to grab my arm. "And you ain't staying her another minute─" But her attempt fell short as I backed away from her, folding my arms to where she couldn't just grab it. She tried to grab at me again, only to watch me step back again. For a few seconds she paused before closing her eyes to me, asking. "Us or them?"

Somewhere inside of my mind, I was already playing out the worst case scenarios through and through. Each one of them pretty much yielding the same result as what I was gonna get out of her. And because of that, my chest started to ache and my heart sank into the pit of my stomach. My breath grew short as I spoke. "Mom, it ain't even gotta be like─"

Mom asked once more, this time with force behind her voice. "THEM or US."

"...So you're making me choose?" I asked quietly.

Alex then interrupted with an emotional plea, standing between me and her. "Mom, c'mon. Don't be like that, he just needs to get some─"

Mom then replied. "That lady said he had a day, well it's been a day. So... Home or them? I will not ask again."

Before I could even draw breath for anything, Pinkie pushed against me with a light smile. "Nons... I think you should go."

Applejack, who appeared mortified that I was left with such a drastic choice walked up to me with a somber expression. "Ah guess y'all weren't kiddin' around with that one. But, if family calls fer ya..."

Rarity nuzzled against me as she lamented on the thought of this being my final farewell. "Oh, I am going to miss making clothes for you. I had the cutest thing set aside for you to wear next week."

Before anyone else could talk, I walked up to mom with a pained expression on my face, my voice trembling with both rage and sadness. Her eyes widened as I spoke to her. "Mom... I think... I think you held on to grandpa long enough."

The hit I got from mom was so potent that it basically knocked me off balance and sent me stumbling the opposite way. The flash of stars and lights made the world around me seem a tad darker than what it actually was for a second or two before my eyes regained their focus. When I looked back, I could see mom seething at me. The guards at the doors quickly lowered their spears as if they were ready to charge in and diffuse the situation, but I motioned them to remain in place. Mom stared back at me as I spoke again.

"What happened to gramps wasn't fair for him. He made a decision because he feared death, because his own commander threatened to put a bullet in his head. So instead of dying then and there, not experiencing you, he chose to live with those demons and be with you. Now I ain't too spiritual nowadays, but I don't think God would've let me experience this just for me to leave it. If there was a personification of a higher call, it couldn't be any more obvious than this. So yeah, I'm here, but I can always come by to visit─"

"Mmm-mmm..." Mom hummed, shaking her head and backing away from where she stood. Alex and Stanton both looked on with dismay as she talked. "No son of mine would throw their life away, throw away such promise. You're doing it for a bunch of ANIMALS!"

"LAST I CHECKED, WE'RE JUST AS ANIMAL AS THE ONES WE LOOK AT!" I screamed back, feeling even more depressed as my words began to flow. "Yeah, we can be smarter, we're so sophisticated that we developed technology that would've been our wildest dreams thirty years ago! But we eat, we sleep, we shit, we breed, we breathe all the same! But now that something else is talking back to you with just as much sense as another man, you want to label that as an ANIMAL, failing to realize that we have as much right to be in a zoo with the rest of them! There's more life out in the great beyond of space, and if they ever came to visit, they'd see us just as animal as the dogs you feed. So what if they are, we are no different!"

Mom turned away from me, screaming at dad. "Harold, I wanna go home!"

Melanie walked beside her and tried to reason with her. "Mrs. Haines, Nondis is just─"

My mother, finally losing her nerve, snapped back at Mel as she pointed to me with some of the most destructive words I've heard uttered towards my existence. "Nondis died when he drove his car off that bridge... My son died when he couldn't get out that car. That's where my Nondis is, cause that man over there ain't him!"

I wasn't exactly sure what I felt at that moment. The only thing I know was that I was standing there, feeling something. I don't think I even went through any motions as dad walked up to me with a final plea. "Son, you gotta think of your─" It was just like the moment when I saw the dagger in my stomach, just feeling, resigning, accepting things as they are, nothing was going to change what happened, and if it hurts, then I'd hurt. If I die, I die. People die when they are killed, there's no response to counter that. If it was an act of metaphorical filicide, then there's no other option but to play it in full.

With a strange smile on my face, I looked to dad and said. "Go on home, Mr. Haines. Thank you for visiting fair Equestria."

Hours passed since the events of today transpired. I stayed to myself for most of the time, I didn't come by the dining hall for dinner like the other members of staff. I didn't stick around to speak with the girls. If there was one thing I did, it was just sit in my room and spin my phone around on the table. It wasn't like I had service since all the portals were shut down, and if I didn't have service here then no one did.

I pretty much decided that it would be best for me to become the same way for a while, unplugged from everyone for a moment just to review my thoughts. Not much in the way of concerns because there was nothing to be concerned about now. The worst came, saw, and conquered. The only thing I could do was sit in my room.

Funny, that's all I did when I first came to this world.

The moment the ponies left my room that first day was the moment where I had to come to terms with my not being at home anymore. I spent all night trying to pray to a God I didn't believe in to get me back home quickly. But instead of going out to learn more about the world I was in for my survival, I just holed myself in, trying to delude myself into thinking this was all just a dream. Like how the hell did I even get here to begin with, this ain't the world I'm used to, this wasn't the physics I understood.

Where's my phone, I want to surf YouTube to distract me. Where's my computer, I wanna go on the internet and shitpost about games and anime. Where's my XBox, I wanna shoot people in the face and hear them rage like a twelve year old getting their system taken away for bad grades. What's on TV, I wanna watch something awesome. What's on the news, I don't care. What's up with this bed, it's so small I have to drape my legs over the edge to fit. Why is my blanket so small, I wanna cover my head as I sleep so I can pretend I'm back home.

Ten months ago, those were my thoughts. As for today... Google; search 'living without parents.'

Somewhere inside me, it felt like my parents were dead to me. And the only thing I wanted them to do was to understand what was happening with me and realize the purpose I found in living for the time being. I didn't mind them not completely accepting it, but they had to acknowledge that I was starting to find myself in who I was with it. Instead, my mother feels resigned to say that I died when I fell into the gulf. Dad is too busy trying to please her in her angered state to even care about how I felt.

That was probably the gut punch of it all. Dad didn't even get nearly as angry with my being momentarily engaged to Twilight as mom was. Dad didn't mind that I found myself in the military because he's been wanting me to fend for myself all throughout my life, even going so far as to getting into a fight with me back in high school senior year. But mom was never really the one I pegged that would have the meltdown, it was always dad. Although I should've expected it to be that way since mom was always very emotional about us. But if you place your faith in assumptions, this is what you get.

I'm sure my brothers are trying to call me and let me in on what's going on, but I didn't need to know right now. I just wanted peace and quiet, I just wanted some time alone so I could reconvene. That's really want I wanted to have for myself. It might not be what I actually need, but it felt better than taking the bitter medicine of the current reality. Just let me stay in my escape, I just wanna rot for a while.

It didn't matter who was at the door today, I wasn't in the mood to answer for anyone. I just wanted to be left alone, so I didn't even answer, hoping to put some doubt in their head as to whether or not I'm in the room. Whoever it was could just go away.

Again, I didn't answer. I didn't even move. But that didn't even stop them.

Whoever it was, I had to admit they were very persistent and strong, but it only served to annoy me. In either case, I wouldn't answer them. But that didn't deter them.

Okay, now they're just being ridiculous. I rolled my eyes as I plugged my ears closed with my fingers, tuning out the noise. But it didn't work out well for me as the next thing that came up was far louder than any loudspeaker at my door.

"YOU ARE IN THERE, AND YOU ARE NOT ANSWERING! THEREFORE OUT OF CONCERN FOR YOU WELL-BEING, I WILL NOW FORCE MYSELF INTO THE ROOM! DO NOT ATTEMPT TO IMPEDE!"

As if her voice wasn't impeding enough. Cadance then proceeded to teleport herself into the room and took a deep breath as she looked at me, still plugging my ears.

"I SEE THAT YOU ARE DOING WELL AND NOT IN ANY MORTAL DANGER! HOWEVER I SEE THAT YOU ARE AUDIBLY IMPAIRED FOR THE TIME BEING! SO FROM NOW ON I SHALL SPEAK TO YOU AT A VOLUME APPROPRIATE FOR YOUR SELF-INFLICTED DYSFUNCTION! I SHALL NOW QUESTION YOU AS TO THE STATE OF YOUR PERSONAL AFFAIRS!"

I unplugged my ears as my room stopped rumbling for long enough to let me reply. "I'm not deaf, though you're making a case of why I should be."

The pink princess gave me a smirk as she stood victoriously. "Well I guess you wouldn't have to deal with stuff like that if you were willing to answer your door. Twilight and the others have been standing outside wondering if you were okay for the past two hours."

"Why?" I asked.

"Because they're worried for you! You don't think that us being here was by accident, did you? Shining told Twilight that you called him over some important matters in Canterlot, so she suggested that we drop everything we were doing and come to check in on you! Isn't that good enough?"

I rolled my eyes and dismissed her statement. "However nice her intentions were, it doesn't even matter anymore. I'm dead to my parents, so it's pretty obvious that I shouldn't care what they think anymore."

Cadance sat on her haunches, perfectly imitating her stance on the matter; steadfast. "Are you listening to me!? We are worried for you, and last I checked you're only dead to one of your parents."

"Yeah, I'm dead to the one that gave birth to me. She's sitting in her fucking house wishing I did actually die instead of telling her the truth! How am I supposed to feel!?"

The princess took a deep breath as she walked over to the door, unlocking it and allowing for the others to enter. Twilight walked in alongside her mother, her father, and her brother. Behind them, they closed the door and allowed Cadance to speak once more. "I know it's not fair to you. And I know that you sitting here with this dead expression on your face doesn't do much in the way of trying to improve your mood. I understand you want to be alone, but that's not gonna cut it anymore."

Twilight then added. "Nondis, the things you've done here could never be undervalued. Who you are and what you mean to us is something that could never be undersold like some cheap gift. And the fact that you even went against your mom to say you'd stay was more indicative of who you are as a person... even if we are, and I quote, a bunch of animals."

I felt a tinge of pain as that word caused me to cringe. "Twilight, none of you are like that! Even if my world is different, I don't see you like that. I stopped seeing that the moment I woke up to a bunch of you talking to me, telling me that everything was going to be alright. But now I feel like that's just what we as a species will look at you all like. And that's not fair to any of you."

Velvet then spoke up as she trotted over to my side. "Sweetheart, I get what you're trying to do, but that apology isn't yours to make. And I know that if I say anything demeaning of your kin, then I would be no better than the accusation she made of us."

"And besides, we knew that she wasn't on board with the idea of you being with Twilight just from the reaction of your friend Melanie. When we came around, the first thing she resorted to was hiding herself." Crescent explained. "And it's true, it wasn't really fair to you that you were forced to marriage plans upon finding interest in our daughter."

"The fact that you even brought them here when you didn't have to was just a testament to how much you were willing to make good on your honesty to your parents instead of hiding things like you normally would." Twilight suggested. "I know I showed up to your world just to get to know who your parents were. But in the end, I didn't even bother to pay that much attention to everything you said of them."

"No that's my fault." I replied. "I placed on you the expectation that we had to appease my dad more than my mom. But I just didn't want her to know my lifestyle in the guard. But from the moment she found out, I knew that this whole trip was gonna be a mess. That's my bad."

Shining then sat on the bed as he spoke. "I know you made some mention of your grandfather being a military guy, I even pegged you down for being a legacy brat like me. But if I had known you were going to have some hell to answer to with your mom, then I could've came around sooner. It's just too bad that my being here was because of my trying to clean up some other mess. Now THAT wasn't fair to you, what happened as a result wasn't fair to you, nothing about today was."

Velvet then spoke up again. "If you ask me personally, I think your mother made a mistake in choosing to be angry. That wasn't her decision to make whether or not you do anything to make YOU happy. I know she said she wanted you to grow up, but she didn't see just how much you did! We keep telling her all the things you've done for others, how selfless you are, the diligence you show in your duties, the ability in your completing a job! You're working with your own place, a cute girl to talk to every once and a while, and you even have a few others in a higher circle backing you up each step of the way!"

Cadance added. "You might not have know much about this until recently, but Alex came to me and Celestia about trying to get Twilight over to your world without it being too much trouble for you. Celestia bypassed a lot of duties and had me fill in for a bunch of them just so she could meet that deadline. That's why I was at the party piss-drunk and angry because I was busy being away from my husband when we were supposed to have a day together. If only I knew the other reasons why my body didn't agree with what I was doing, then I wouldn't have been so venomous."

"If anything, that just makes it appear that I was in the wrong there." I answered. "Had I know you were lugging some extra baggage for the upcoming journey, then I would've been more reserved."

Cadance lightly chuckled before frowning. "Let's be honest, my interrogating Chrysalis didn't help in the way of my confidence. The entire time, she just taunted me over Shining Armor and everything about that wedding. So instead of letting my husband take care of that like I should have, I ended up being tainted."

I wanted to smile for her happiness, even despite the many times she pissed me off or got in the way of my relationship with Twilight. But the events of today weighted too heavily in my mind, so much that I lost the capability to do so. "I can only hope that you are going to love your foal as unconditionally as you love your husband. And if they do something wrong, try not to scold them too much."

Cadance paused for a moment and looked towards her own body. "If anything, today's experience taught me what not to do as a mom. I can't use my magic to make things go away for you, I could but that wouldn't teach anything. So I can only hope for the best when it comes to your family, because even if we don't agree on many things, I won't wish for a mother to disown her own son."

"Thanks. And I hope that thing growing in your belly grows up to be big and strong." I replied, sitting back on the bed to stare at the time on my phone, still seeing no bars of reception.

Shining veered over and gave me a light nudge with his hoof. "Hey, I know we're kinda crazy, but how about it?"

"How about what?" I asked.

Velvet finished his suggestion, cutting in where he left off. "Of course we could never replace your mom and dad, but we can treat you just as family as we do with Spike. If your mom is done raising you, which she shouldn't be, I wouldn't mind to take a crack at it! Now note that we're NOT replacing anypony, just stepping in. After all, there's no such thing as growing up without parental guidance. Of course the visitations start to get scarce, you hardly ever hear much from them but around once or twice a month, and then they start having families of their own." She said, looking to Cadance proudly. "Before you know it, they'll be just as worried about things like who's looking to take care of the baby, the cost of daycare."

"Food, clothes for the cold because of their weak immune systems, clean linens, environments to be raised in, putting away a few paychecks for the old college fund, the whole nine yards. I know Shining and Cadance are royalty starting their own family, but there's no better advice than to talk to the ones who's done it all for well over twenty years." Crescent said as he ruffled his son's mane.

Twilight followed Shining's example and sat on the bed next to me, leaning in against me. "I know this feels out of place and really sudden, but we didn't want you to feel like you didn't have an emotional support network. The last thing we need to see is you going back to being stuck in a room for well over a week. You came so far from where you were when you first came here."

"Especially that one time he was stuck in a bathroom." Shining joked.

Twilight cracked up at the distant memory, but quickly corrected herself after using her wing to slap her brother's back. "You came a long way, Nondis, even I can say that. And we might not be together now, but you came up pretty well as a suitor. Just don't go breaking hearts and you got my stamp of approval."

"And try not to get into too much trouble." Cadance advised sternly. "Cause if you do, I'll come and hunt you down myself."

"I'll keep him reigned in, sweetie." Shining said with another nudge to my side.

"And if you need any advice on anything guard related, you know you can come to me or Shining. Don't be afraid to know what you're not supposed to technically know, just as long as it's not illegal." Crescent stated.

The five ponies, each of them with brightened faces, reminded me so much of the moment when I first came here. I remembered that first day, my hiding underneath my sheets to not look at their faces as the spoke. Just the one encounter with Twilight's magic made me fear genuinely for my life, as if I was going to be dragged to some torture chamber for someone's sick amusement. But instead of that, they assured me my safety and promised to look after me, to provide something if I needed it. This was almost an instant replay of that moment, only I knew who they were and what they could do this time.

And for the first time in well over a few hours, I could put on a simple smile and feel comfort in knowing that the worst is indeed over. From now on was the beginning to healing instead of worry and regret. It felt wonderful to know that, and even though my mother practically disowned me, there were a few nuggets I could take from this experience. For the first time, my dad felt proud that I could fight. It might be a small sample size and the emotions are still smoldering, but somewhere inside I felt that they would subside to understanding. I had hope for the future now, and the five ponies in my room did enough to ensure that.

Perhaps I had a sixth to talk to after for her words of encouragement. "Thank you. Thank you all."

I looked at the doors of Celestia's personal chamber, tracing out the image of her sun sigil. My hand froze for a few seconds before I tapped my fist against the thick wood of her door. For moments, I heard nothing, wanting to assume that she didn't quite hear me the first time around. So I tapped the door a second time, this time a little bit louder. Still no response.

I suppose that the lack of guards being in the hall should've given it away that she wasn't in her room, so I turned around and committed myself to visit later tonight or sometime tomorrow. But instead of leaving right away, I ended up catching Celestia turning into the hall with a few guards following her for security. She appeared surprised to see me out of my sulk before she turned around to the guards, as well as a coroner and a state official, dismissing them for the time being.

She walked up to me before she used her magic to unlock her door and give herself entrance to her room. Without a word, she used her magic on my arm to pull me inside after her. The high princess then closed the door and spoke. "Captain, is everything in order?"

I ended up shrugging. "I guess we'll see in a few days, hopefully mom doesn't let it linger for too long."

She placed a slight interest in the side of my face, seeing a slight bruise from where my mom slapped me. "I would've never guessed that your mother would be so passionately opposed to your being here. It's a concern of mine to see you remain in spite of your family's wishes."

"They'll get used to it." I noted, walking over to a nearby mirror to see the damage for the first time, a large red mark outlining the palm of her hand and fingers. "Yup, momma can still slap the hell out of me."

"The guards behind you treated it as if you were attacked." She noted.

"I saw, I called them off before they could do anything."

"Had I been unassuming of the circumstances, I would've intervened in a similar manner." She replied.

"I think you would've jumped right in, I've seen how you fight." I said with a chortle.

The princess weakly laughed in response. "I don't... I don't think you have."

"Well if that's the case, then I don't want to find out cause you can be terrifying."

She pulled me down to her eye level by my shirt's collar and looked at my face. "My gracious, she left an ugly impression on you."

"I'm used to it from my dad's end of the deal. We actually got into a fist fight when I was younger." I explained. "So this is light stuff.

"But I've never seen you thrown off balance by something so simple of an attack."

"If it's momma, then you might as well call it a war crime." I joked, feeling the side of my face. "But that's not why I came here."

Her lavender eyes glanced back at me as her horn ignited with her magic. The golden glow illuminated the space around her as she whispered. "You are comfortable with me removing my regalia, are you not?"

I was initially thrown off by her suggestion before I answered her. "Uh... sure, go wild."

The princess then removed her slippers, as well as her crown. Her eyes looked back at me before she removed her chest piece, but quickly glanced away. "I know this may seem strange to request, but can you turn around for a moment."

"Okay. Do you." I quickly grew a bit flushed as I turned around with my eyes closed. As I had my eyes closed, I could hear nothing but the sound of a large metal object softly clang against her hoof as she placed it carefully on a rest of some sort. The next thing I heard was the familiar hum of a magic spell being cast. And then for a few minutes at a time, I could hear nothing but the sound of zippers and cloth shifting. And then at last, silence.

However, she caught me by surprise as a pair of soft arms draped around my neck and down to my chest, holding me close as she pressed herself against me in what could've been the best hug I've ever felt. The princess didn't say anything for a while as she tightened her grip a little, breathing against the back of my neck and shoulders as she whispered. "You deserve so much more than this."

My eyes opened as I looked to my side, seeing her saddened visage partially hidden by the plentiful, colorful locks of her hair. The transformed princess continued to hold me.

"I still do not understand why you chose to be here with us instead of going back home. You're free to do as you choose, there's no attachment here for you to think about. You could've made your family happy, but you stayed. Why?"

I simply answered. "Why not?"

The princess looked at me, wondering why I was content with the choice I made, but still smiled. "...Thank you for choosing us. You didn't have to, but you did."

"I did what I did because you all gave me a second chance to reimage myself. You all took care of me when I needed it. You didn't need to build me a way home, and yet you built one for me, and two others for my friends. You didn't have to do all of that, but you did it anyhow. That's my way of showing thanks for all that you guys do for us, not so much as just me anymore."

Celestia loosened her grip on me, separating me from the comforting warmth she produced. "I suppose that your mother will find the time to rediscover her love for you. But until then, we're more than happy to show you the affection you deserve."

"As much as I appreciate the sentiment, I also appreciate you for being a friend. You gave me the courage to do all of this, to face the worst of my fear and smile back. If it wasn't for you doing everything you did, I'd be lying to my parents about everything still. But here you are, pushing me to do right and being honest. I know it hurts now but you said it yourself, give it some time and it will pass. You've lived long enough for me to put my trust in you."

She walked over to her night dresser and pulled out a small jeweled necklace with her royal sigil resting on a pendant's surface. She held it up to me and placed it around my neck as she spoke. "I'm sure you're wondering what this little trinket is and the purpose it serves. It's actually a key, it will allow you to traverse the hidden passages of the castle for ease of access to certain rooms. I was to give this to you upon officially naming you as captain, but other matters ensued. So, here you are and here's your key."

I placed my hand on the pendant as it shimmered with a slight glow, the caramel jewel at it's center gave off a dim orange light. "So what else does it unlock?"

"I promised you a raise, didn't I?" She said as she rubbed her arms.

"This is it?" I questioned. "Not that I'm ungrateful by any measure of the word, but this seems a bit small." I said as I held up the item, the pendant being just the size of the nail of my pinky finger.

"Well I would give you one like mine, but I'm sure it wouldn't fit you." She replied, walking over to her nightstand.

"Well how wouldn't it fit?" I asked, before realizing she was holding up her golden chest piece. With the large object in tow, she walked up to me and adorned it on my neck, holding on to it initially. The shape of it was already awkward to feel against my chest, reaching as far down as my belly button. The very tip of the item had even poked me just inside of it. But the moment her hands left the item, I felt a crushing weight drag me down to my knees as the choker appeared to have weighed at least fifty pounds. I hunched forward to prevent myself from allowing the tapered tip at the bottom to sink into my abdomen. The pressure it put on my neck was very much unhealthy and I tried my best to maneuver out from within it's grasp before strong-arming it into my hands. I looked up to the giggling princess with amazement. "Lady, how do you wear this shit!?"

She reached down with a single finger, taking it at it's thinnest point, lifting it up completely effortlessly as she smiled. "I guess there's also a strength factor to take into account." She then placed it on herself and frowned at the discomfort it provided to her also. "The bottom usually contours to my chest so finely, in this form it just pokes me a little in the midsection."

I looked to her chest and factored in the size of her breasts. "Yeah, that ain't a good feeling when you're lacking the insulation to allow for that to simply be a minor inconvenience."

"By whatever do you mean?" She asked, completely ignorant to my reasoning.

"Your chest is rather plentiful in resources, trying not to sound crude here."

She looked at the chest piece and slightly pressed down on it with her fingers, noticing the recoil her breasts had against the heavy chunk of gold. "I suppose it would be that way, your brothers have told me that I was quite gifted in the qualities desired for a mate."

"It also helps that you have the strength to tilt the sun at will and can put me in craters, still wondering how I didn't die from that." I added, standing to my feet and stretching my neck.

"Well my choker has the same capability of that small pendant I gave you in terms of unlocking the paths hidden within the castle."

"But don't you just simply cast a spell to do that, you know with Canterlot being so unicorn-centric?" I questioned further.

"I do that most of the time, but who's to say that I'm knocked unconscious, there has to be a way to ensure my safe passage if I'm unaware of things."

I scoffed at the mere notion of her being knocked out of commission. "That's pretty absurd. Don't you think you're strong enough to take a hit or two?"

"Chrysalis caught me off guard once." She replied softly. "It was the day of the wedding, and she had absorbed much of Shining's love and magic. Before I knew it, I had my own crown knocked off my head. And a magic blast to the horn is disorienting, no matter how powerful you are. It's a good lesson to always be prepared, never downplay your opponent... not like I have."

The answer she gave to me had pretty much rendered me silent on the topic. I simply remained silent on it and looked back to the trinket I was given. "So... This small a thing is now the key to unlocking all of Canterlot Castle."

"It may be a small thing, but potent. It gives you access to every room in the castle. But I suppose it can be used for other miscellaneous purposes... like coming to talk to a friend if you ever need to." When I looked back to her, I had noticed the clothes on the floor and her wearing her chest piece like normal. The princess stood without her crown and slippers, but she was still no different than the royal pony she looked to be daily. "And if you'd like, maybe I could offer some advice on anything you might be going through. I might have countless stories to tell, and I may babble on at times, but if you're willing to come around and listen to an old mare waste away a few minutes of her life, then don't be a stranger."

"Oh, thanks!" I walked over and knelt down to give the princess a hug, which incidentally caught her by surprise. She squeaked with uncertainty before I quickly pulled away. "Oh, sorry... should've asked first."

She placed a hoof on her shoulder and looked at me with a tender grin. "It's alright, the reason I transformed is because I figured it would've been more comfortable for you to hug me in that form as opposed to something smaller being an inconvenience."

I shook my head as I rolled my eyes. "You do realize the form you're in now is where I feel the most comfortable, right?"

She lost her smile for a moment as she guessed on why I felt the way I did. "Is it because of my shape in human form? Is it too tall, or is it the... you know, the extra baggage?"

"Well, do you remember what I said in the car Wednesday night?" I asked.

She glanced down to the ground for a second before returning a devious smirk. "Oh right, I forgot I was supposed to smack you for that."

"Please... don't." I begged, remembering the weight of her chest piece and how she easily picked it up with just one finger. "I don't think I'll live."

She placed back on a more innocent smile instead of the one that seemed to come with a pair of devil horns. "Then I suppose you should understand that I don't appreciate the lust."

"Understood twelve times over." I replied, getting on my feet and walking towards the door before she stopped me one final time.

"Oh, and captain, one more thing."

"Yes, your highness?" I answered formally, earning a disapproving deadpan. "Oh, right. Cella."

"...Celly, actually." She began. "Melanie called me Celly once. I kinda like for you to address me when we're just on our own, no need for the formalities when we're having a heart to heart."

I stared blankly for a moment then shrugged. "Okay, Celly it is."

"You should come by more often. A captain usually gives a debriefing every once in a while. And if you're going to be in the swing of things again, then maybe you should keep that in mind. And don't be afraid to talk to me about anything. Oh, and you should feel free to explore the castle a little more, your station is due to change in the coming weeks since you're not a suitor anymore, and I don't want you relying on a map to not get lost. There's also the matter of your image to look into, appearances is key and hygiene is of the upmost priority. And if you need to eat anything, then there is a special chef assigned to monitor your diet. If you get sick, then you should visit the royal infirmary ward instead of the local hospital. And one last bit of advice when you're traversing the secret passages throughout the castle, NEVER go inside of Luna's room, even when invited."

That's a lot of things to be classified under the phrase 'one more thing'. "I'll keep that in mind."

Realistically speaking, I won't remember half of that shit when I walk down the hall.

The Next Day...

As I woke up to the sound of some pretty raucous laughter in the halls, I instinctively reached for my phone to check the time. Realizing that it was a few minutes past eight, I jumped out of bed and chided myself for oversleeping. I took a quick rinse in the shower, scrubbing the parts that mattered most, dried off, threw on some clothes, and ran out the room to make a beeline for the briefing room. As soon as I entered, the other officers snarked and gaggled at my lack of punctuality. One of the higher-ups reprimanded me on my inability to report on time to the meeting.

The meeting pretty much pertained to the security for Count DuMoneé's in-state memorial. They apparently wanted a strict security model in the case of some individuals who were with unsavory motives decided to attend. It was the request of the senators, oddly enough, the supposed son decided that he didn't care about the security detail, just wanting for the funeral to be over and done with.

I wonder what the hell he did to make his son so pissed off, speaks a lot to his character.

After that bunch of talk, they then highlighted the details of his escort towards the plot he was supposed to be laid in. This seemed to be the only thing the son was firm on. Instead of accepting the offer of having him rest within the catacombs of long-serviced parliament members beside some of his most respected peers, an honor reserved for those who gave more than ten years to service the laws of the country, he made the request that he'd be buried beside his long-departed wife at a small cemetery mausoleum. First question that came to my mind was 'How the hell did this dude find a WIFE?'

The question quickly dropped of out my mind as other things came up in the discussion like who was on the permitted guest list, another thing the son had no interest in writing, and again some members of the parliament did. To me it seemed like the family's involvement was so minimum that it felt like someone else really pulled the strings on whatever was decided to happen. There wasn't much talk about anything else of significant importance, just the details of that and some other mundane patrol things that essentially added up to standing in a hallway for six hours.

I have to admit, being a guard stationed in Ponyville seems so exciting compared to being one here.

Just another day outside of having to fight off changelings, a feud with Shining Armor or some of the politicians, and Celestia being sick, it's just us going through the motions of standing in one spot for six hours, reporting, then going on an inspection of the grounds. From there, you finish your hours, clock out, and fall back into the civilian life. I mean it's what most of them preferred, and I can understand not wanting to be out there on the front line of some great unknown somewhere. But considering how fast-paced my last two months have been, it just feels like a completely different thing.

But that's the life of a suitor. Having to deal with the in's and out's of being romantically invested in someone of a higher social status, getting that opportunity came with some truly unfair disadvantages. Though my being able to human my way through them have been somewhat interesting. Of course it's not a fun thing to know your life is on the line, but it adds a bit of that adrenaline factor which makes each success feel so rewarding, so fulfilling, and you can't help but to wonder about the next assignment and how dangerous it could be to you. You feel uncertain of whether or not you live through your next assignment and it scares you, but when you have friends to help you along the way, it starts to become something you'd look forward to.

Today, no one came by, and that's to be expected. Cliff, Rickey, Stanton, and Mel all had semester finals to power through, they'd at least be locked up until Thursday evening. Plus the whole situation with mom and dad might have caused some awkwardness among the others. The portals were closed, so I don't think I'd get any word from them until I decided to pay them a visit.

But I did have someone pay me a visit today.

After some mandatory inspections of the grounds and a little bit of ordering some others around, I took my lunch break to the downtown district. It wasn't a huge lunch, just a steamed carrot dog from one of the street vendors. I took my quick meal and wandered towards a nearby newsstand. Looking at the magazine covers, most of them had the image of Count DuMoneé on the front as a memorial to the deceased senator. Another had Rarity's face with the headline, reading 'This Year's Fashion Belongs to the Element of Generosity Herself' with a sub headline on the side reading 'It's Coming; Five Ways You Can Tap Into the Human Market.'

Naturally, my eyes ventured towards the tabloid magazines to see what strange gossip was being spread about me and Cadance this time. But nothing showed up in that vein. Instead, it was Cadance and Shining Armor's wedding photo shopped behind a crib with a black oval inside of it. The headline read 'Baby on Board; Royal Family Expecting First Foal.' The sub headlines were a bunch of garbage titles like 'Princess Twilight's Next Suitor; Who is it?' and 'Captain's Friend Explains Conditions to Human/Pony Relationships; Is Sex on the Table?'

But what seemed to be an empty space dedicated to one magazine in particular seemed to have grabbed my interest the most. I looked over the counter to see a mare engrossed by an article she was reading as I questioned her. "Hey, what used to be in this section that sold out so quick?"

Without looking up, she giggled as she explained the reason for the empty section on the front shelf. "Oh, hottest new bit of human gossip. The captain's parents was rumored to pay him a visit yesterday and a few unnamed sources from within the castle recalled that he was disowned! His own parents DISOWNED him because of, get this, he was a member of the guard! Seriously, how silly is that!?"

I quietly pursed my lips and held my hand out to the pony behind the counter. "Would you happen to be reading that article? Perhaps I can see it for a while?"

"Sorry, sold out!" She said before noticing that I was actually standing there in front of her. She laughed nervously and gulped as she politely handed me the magazine she was reading. "Well I guess you can read up on mine."

I bookmarked where she left off by folding one of the corners and flipped to the front cover. On it was my face in black and white as the title read out in bold letters.

I went back to the bookmarked page and skimmed my way through the first few paragraphs until I came across the meat of the story.

The captain's parents then actively sought out Princess Celestia herself, calling her an [sic] 'animal' as they demanded the discharge of their son. Her Majesty, showing a great deal of patience, declined to give a direct answer to her request and instead passed the authority of the final say to the captain himself, he refused. It was also believed that he said something to draw the ire of his mother, causing her to strike at him so painfully that he seemed to have lost balance. It was also stated that it left a noticeable mark on the left side of his face.

The captain then quietly wished them farewell and left the royal throne room without further statement. Upon the final departure, he was not seen with the other humans as they congregated to another room of the castle, seemingly to a heavily-guarded portal that gave access to the human world.

As far as what the humans truly think of Equestrians as a whole, it is now perceived to be a negative connotation, one the captain argued against so strongly in the face of his family. As of now, all other confirmed witnesses have declined to comment. The captain himself could not be reached for comment on the incident, as it would be best to assume that the personal matter were to be kept private.

I ended up crunching the magazine in my fist, sternly glaring at her. "How many of these have you sold?"

The mare acted sheepish, completely intimidated by my subtle show of anger. "Well... they came in this morning. It was so hot in the first hour that neighboring towns requested copies. So the shipping company cut our daily shipments to redistribute them to places like Cloudsdale and Ponyville. All the stock in Canterlot been sold out for a couple of hours now, it's a hot read and the publishers are having a hard time keeping with the demand while maintaining the delays to ship out the other orders to newsstands across the country."

I seethed at the thought that someone just blew my business out to the public, worst off it was dealing with MY FAMILY. I slammed the magazine on her counter and angrily ordered her. "Listen, lady. I don't care if you don't make another bit at this newsstand, you get another shipment of these damn things, you burn them on site."

The mare shrunk behind her counter, squeaking back to me. "I don't control what's published, I only sell it. There's a headquarters on the corner Spur Boulevard and Bridle Street, they're the ones who push this stuff out."

"Well I'll be sure to voice my complaints with them. Please stop selling this bullshit." I ordered, snatching the magazine and started walking off as she called out to me.

"Hey, I wasn't finished with that." She called out, causing me to stop and look back at her like she had gone crazy. "Oh, okay... I'll just wait until next shipment."

I continued to walk away, looking for a nearby trash can to toss the magazine into. Upon reaching one, I read the title one last time, the word 'DISOWNED' being firmly imprinted in my mind, feeding my anger even more before I slammed the magazine into the waste bin. As it almost fell in, it stuck to the outer lip of the lid. I had to literally punch it in with my fist before it was consumed by the darkness and I allotted myself forward progress.

"Hey, sonny. Hadn't seen yer likeness in a while."

I turned around, looking for a second at a random throng of ponies passing by me before a hoof tapped at me from the side. I looked down to see Granny Smith standing there with a smile, packing a set of saddlebags on her back. "Oh, hey Granny. What's going on, how's your day?"

"Well I hadn't seen ya in almost forever 'n' a while. But I trust somethin' ain't fittin' ya right."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

She glanced over to the trash bin and sighed. "Well fer starters, yer punching that there waste bucket harder than Applejack bucks trees in an estrus period. Darn girl ended up crackin' the trunk of the poor thing. Never forgave herself fer that, especially now with that freaky magic surging through her veins."

"Huh, I thought she would've controlled that by now." I replied.

"Oh no, it seeps out whenever she's working hard through some things. She's ain't a very patient filly. She's stubborn, bull-headed, prone to overdoing things, and overprotective, but that's just Applejack fer ya."

"Sounds about right." I cosigned.

"Yeah... Why don't we find a place to park it fer a while." The elderly mare stood quiet for a little while as she pointed to a bench on the side of the street. Following her, she took her seat and tapped the empty side of the bench. As I was about to sit down, she spoke once more. "She told me a little something about what happened yesterday with yer folks."

"Oh, so you heard about that." I deadpanned. "Well it's not like all of Canterlot's gonna be knowing about it by the end of the day."

"Beg yer pardon?" She inquired.

"That magazine I threw away, it pretty much spilled the beans on everything that happened, albeit poorly paraphrased to bait in some readers."

Granny Smith drew an exasperated sigh while she placed a hoof under her chin. "Boy howdy, I guess that would make fer a good reason to be punching things. Family business should never be out in the open. A magazine putting it out there is just plain disrespectful. That's what's wrong with writers nowadays, they just wanna put all yer stuff out there and get defensive when ya confront 'em about it."

"It's worse in my world, but the issues are still the same."

The elderly mare opened one of her bags and started rummaging through it. "While I'm lookin' fer a little somethin' I'm gonna tell ya a little story about two parents and their kids."

"Sure, I got some time to kill." Even though I saw that my lunch hour was quickly waning by, I remained stationary as she told her story.

"Well there was once an apple farmer and a pear farmer, their properties lied right next door to each other. They had a bit of a feud over sales. So whenever the market opened up fer the day, they'd do their sales and fight with each other over what was better, pears or apples."

"You were that apple farmer, weren't you?" I asked.

"Darn tootin'!" She proudly exclaimed. "Now, back in those days, I still had my charms and could grab any stallion from a herded marriage, I could also buck the bark right off an apple tree with as much as a single hindleg to the trunk. But most importantly, I could sell, sell, sell my apples like I was giving away a free bit with every apple. But the other farmer, Grand Pear, he ain't like me too much cause he could sell just as hard as I could. We ain't really got along, our families. And yet, there was two little fillies who found themselves bein' friends throughout their lives."

Almost feels like a Capulet-Montague situation, only thing that would make it full Romeo and Juliet would be if they were of the opposite sex AND fell in puppy love over each other. "Well it was bound to happen eventually."

"Eeyup." She confirmed. "Those two fillies were none other than my own son and his daughter, Bright Mac and Buttercup. But in honesty, her family-given name was Pear Butter."

"Bright Mac, so that's Big Mac's father?" I asked.

"Oh he fathered all three, that's why I look after 'em so dang hard."

"Wait, how did you find out about them being together?" I questioned.

Granny Smith stopped smiling, her voice growing a bit more grave. "Well, I found 'em hidin' in the apple orchard, just a little short of the Pear property line. The first time I caught 'im, I dragged Bright Mac up by his ear and gave him what fer. But he ain't listen to me nan one bit. The second time I caught him, he scraped up all his bits and held a little wedding on the property line. Grand Pear also caught 'em at the alter. To figure that we'd both find out that our kids were in love at the same time, at a wedding no less." She finished looking through one sack and murmured to her self. "Now hold on, it's in the other one."

"So what happened next?" I asked.

"Well they got married right in front of our faces. So we ain't really like that too much, specially since it was a Pear and an Apple tryin' to get hitched. And the reason Bright Mac did it was so that he and Pear Butter could claim themselves to one another before her father and her moved to Vanhoover. But while her father tried to pull her off... well you can pretty much fill it out from experience."

"She stayed." I concluded quietly. "She didn't want to leave him so she stayed."

"She was given a choice by her own father, either be a Pear or an Apple. She chose to be an Apple, and Grand Pear just left her alone, never talkin' to her again. Didn't even take the time to write for the longest. She was pretty sad about all of it, but I vowed to make her feel just as family as Bright was my own son. And it paid off, three times to be exact."

"Big Mac, Applejack, and Apple Bloom?"

"Why they wouldn't have stopped at them if it wasn't for... unfortunate circumstances."

That doesn't sound good. "So what happened with them?"

The elderly mare pulled out an envelope with a broken pear sticker at the back where it once sealed the contents within. She gave me the aged letter, allowing me to read the words on the old parchment. "Just take a moment fer that, will ya?"

I had to admit as I was reading the letter, I felt awash of melancholy. Each neatly scripted word showed me the pain of a father who knew they made a wrong choice, a man lacking closure to the death of his daughter. It felt like I was on the outside looking in to a scene that could easily replicate itself into my life. And just the thought of that made me feel physically ill.

Granny Smith placed a hoof over my hand as she looked into my eyes with intent. "Sonny, let me let ya in on a little somethin'. I ain't like what Bright Mac did behind my back, so much that I harbored some anger in me fer a while. But when I had a little youngin' tryin' her best to fit in fer the family, I couldn't even refuse. They were in love, and my son was happy. And there ain't nothin' more important to a mother than seeing her son happy. And if yer mother was cut like any other, she'll come 'round to loving you in spite of. So don't you hate on her now, she's gotta adjust to the change."

I wiped my eyes, trying to keep my voice stable while I spoke. "I don't hate her. I-I just... I-I-I thought she'd be the one to understand. I felt like for the longest time my dad was gonna be the one to fuss and scream at me, like he has all throughout my life. I knew she hated me being in the military, but..." My eyes got blurry and watery, my voice trembling and breaking with inconsistency. I had to wipe my face clean with increasing frequency as I felt the elderly mare's hooves wrap around my neck. "I-I never expected her to abandon me."

"She hasn't." Granny whispered sweetly, speaking slowly. "She just doesn't know how to feel 'bout all this here. Why when AJ started to talk about how she was supposed to be some destined savior of Equestria, I argued her down to the dirt over how much I didn't like her running around looking for trouble. I told her that she'd end up just like her ma and pa. But you know what she did, she did just like ya did an' decided fer herself what she wanted to do. And each time she goes on an adventure, I close my eyes and ask her parents to guide her way back to us safe and sound. But I know from a mother's perspective, she ain't gave up on ya yet. If she's fightin' ya to keep ya safe, if she's lashin' out, she cares fer ya. Don't you take nun' she says in her emotional state too seriously, she's gonna come 'round eventually."

"But what if I─"

Before I could finish my question, she quickly interrupted me. "No sir, ya ain't gotta think about that. Just keep on keepin' on long enough fer her to see ya one more time. That or give it a few days, it'll kick in soon enough."

After a brief moment of catharsis, I stood back on my feet and cleaned my face off. "I can't believe I broke down like that."

"I can't believe ya tried to hold that one in. Stuff like that ya need to let out, just let it flow, and then you start to see a little past the pain and a lot more to what you can do for your future, of everyone's future... Pear Butter told me that one." She said before the chimes of the train station's clock tower sounded out from the distance. Granny jumped up as she started to count the bells. "Wait, it's that time already!? Oh, I gotta catch the train back! Don't you skimp out on seein' us in Ponyville, ya hear!?"

While she galloped away, I looked down to realize I was still holding the old letter. "Hey, you forgot something!" I called back to her.

"Just keep it fer now! Drop it off when ya visit!"

While the elderly mare disappeared into the throng of ponies, I could still feel the aging parchment in my hand. I placed the letter back in the envelope with care and placed it in my back pocket for the time being. My eyes closed and I performed an about face to make a sprint toward the castle.

I could already feel the hot breath of my superiors breathing down my neck from here.

As soon as I got back, everything went pretty much as expected. I got reprimanded for being out and about too long and was told that I had to pull an extra hour of overtime to make up for the twenty extra minutes I spent trying to get back here. It may not seem fair, but considering the shitload of other punishments I could've had, this seemed to be on the light end. So I went through my shift, with the additional hour of standing outside of the checkpoint with my sword in tow.

If only I knew how the sword alone would garner so much attention. I had little foals walking up to me asking me if it was too big to use properly. Other citizens just seemed amazed over how uncharacteristically long the blade was by Equestrian standards. I also had a few snarky ponies walk by me asking if I was overcompensating for something, especially mares. And my quick answer to all of them was "Nah, sword's for hacking and slashing. But if you're asking about that... you're gonna have to keep that to the imagination."

Unfortunately, that wasn't the only bit of sexual harassment I had to deal with for the day. In fact, one mare asked me if I was available for an escort service. "I escort precious cargo, ma'am. If you're asking me for something else entirely, then you should probably get to know me in my off-hours first." Someone even went as far as to nuzzle against me. "Ma'am, I know what you're looking for, the scent gives you away." And even a few dared to try and get a little curious of where it was. "Lady, can you please not?"

But on top of all of that came one particular crowd of ponies, not really a crowd because it was more like four or five who did this. These few were the dissenters, the ones who probably read the article in that magazine and outlined one key detail outside of everything else that was written.

"So Princess Celestia's an animal to you humans!?"

"Our princess, lowered to that of a common mule, how distasteful!"

"You're the animal here! All you humans are an inferior, less-intelligent species!"

Some tried to dig deep. "If a human who's unable to move the sun calls the one who can an animal, then who's the lesser beings!? Canterlot doesn't need you here! I'd say go back where you belong, but even your parents don't want you back!"

And one even went to dire extremes. "Can't you see it, you're unwanted here! Your family disowned you! Princess Twilight even left you and Princess Cadance was right! You're useless, a blight on the pages of Equestria's history. Go throw yourself off the battlements, maybe the rocks on the mountainside can clean the name of our country from your filthy mouth! You're worthless, so no one will miss you!"

I didn't even take the time to argue against either of them because if I did, it would've given them the validation of my acknowledging their existence, that their words would have meaning to me. Unfortunately, the best answer to ignorance is all in the namesake, so it wasn't worth it to give them a box to stand on.

That last guy, however, stuck around for a while, well over half an hour. He didn't stop, almost as if he had some bone to pick with me and I somehow wronged him in some fashion. And because of my ignoring him, he proceeded to get even more infuriated, threatening to throw rocks at me. By that time, it was a few minutes away from my being able to leave my shift, so I just chinned up and bore it, at least until he grabbed a minimum of three crates and made some makeshift stairs to stand closer to my face. And when he started screaming at my ear, I checked my phone to see if I was off the clock.

Wouldn't you know it, I was a minute over.

So I turned to the rambunctious stallion and grabbed at his horn before hissing out a firm warning. "Make way for Her Majesty's Royal Guard." By the time I finished my statement, another guard wielding a spear appeared to take my station. He looked at the unruly stallion with a quirked brow as I gave him a quick salute. "He's your problem now, so have at."

The guard looked at me with disbelief. "With all due respect, sir, you let this disrespectful young punk approach you. There is a protocol to establish."

"Well let's just say I wouldn't know my own strength." I replied, glancing back at the heckler. "I won't risk any ill-reputation on the behalf of the princesses' forces."

The guard politely stepped in my place and stood stoic as the heckler hounded on him for defending me. "You would allow that thing to represent OUR princess!? You're nothing but a weak, sniveling─"

In a mechanized motion, the guard turned to the heckler and pointed his spear at his face. "AWAY FROM HER MAJESTY'S ROYAL GUARD!" After his order, he snapped the spear's tip at the cobblestone before the stallions' forelegs, causing him to stumble backwards. From there, the guard marched forward as he smacked the spear's tip repeatedly onto the ground, until the heckler was a clear five feet away from the checkpoint. The stallion marched back to his spot and glanced back at me. "That, sir, is how we drive back unruly personnel."

I felt a bit embarrassed from the fact that a lower ranked guard showed me out publicly, but I just took it as a learning experience. I wasn't used to the aspect of dealing with civilians too often other than saving their lives from changelings. Other than that, and killing larger fiends, the smaller things were pretty much housed in the furthest reaches of my mind's storage. I looked back up to see the heckler walking away without any argument or lingering about.

...Perhaps this was some sort of test?

Meanwhile...

The heckler who screamed at the human guard for a time, turned off into an alleyway devoid of much sunlight. He quickly checked his surroundings before walking up to a wooden box and knocked on it's side. He then turned to the side and spoke to the wall as the wooden box suddenly transformed into a equine-shaped figure. "That human's not as intimidating as the stories make him to be."

"You of all others should know that appearances can be deceiving."

"Oh shut up." The stallion mumbled. "You would've pissed yourself trying to do what I did."

The shadow-shrouded figure groaned in response. "You weren't even there! I saw what he and his kind did."

"You're still a fucking grub. I don't even see how you managed to make it this far. Should've died like the rest of the weak."

"You don't mean that." The hidden figure whimpered.

"Well I DO!" The stallion hissed, producing a forked tongue, his eyes flashing green before returning to their facade. "If it wasn't for our sister getting too cocky, we wouldn't even be in this mess."

"No one really knows how she got killed that quickly. I even took the time to find the answers."

"So probably like what, four seconds before you heaved?"

The figure sighed with discomfort. "Actually, around seven."

"Weakling, that's what you've always been. For a changeling, you do a piss-poor job at changing."

"Pharynx, you know─"

"Pony name, dipshit!" The 'stallion' called out angrily.

"Ugh... Dream Slayer." The shadowed figure moaned as he pointed a holey hoof at the other 'stallion'. "Can't you think of a better pony name than that?"

"Oh, like you got one. Okay grubbie, what name you got coming down the pipe?" Pharynx asked in a condescending manner.

The veiled changeling took a moment to answer. "How about... Sun Dancer?"

"Bleugh!" The changeling was repulsed from the other's suggestion. "Way too pony for me. If I get a name, I'm gonna use one that fits me to a T. Besides, even guards have these soft names like Sword Shine, Sentinel Shield, or even Shining Armor. Where are the ones with the real names?"

"Remember Dream Slayer, when in Canterlot, do as the ponies do."

"Can you shut your feminine drone ass up?" Pharynx replied. "If I was our queen, I would've named you ThorASS."

"Hey!" The other changeling called out, causing the other to look at him in deadpan. "...My butt's not that big, is it?"

"Well if you aren't gonna make use of it to get our queen out of prison, then shut up, Thorax."

Turning in my time card, I left the barracks and entered into the dining hall. From there my attention was turned toward the food I would be eating. No meat this time, unfortunately, but Rarity managed to show me an appreciation for well-seasoned and cooked vegetables. That was not anything I received here, instead being a cold salad with extra carrots and not enough ranch dressing. My side dish was a steamed apple with a cinnamon stick for a core, a bit exotic for me but still pretty delicious. And my drink was a glass of water and another glass of tomato-carrot puree.

No need of slapping myself for not having a V8.

As I was finishing up my dinner, Celestia entered into the dining hall for a quick cup of tea and an escape from her hard-nosed assistants. And it was as if the staff already knew what was going down. Without any word from her, they ran towards the kitchen and came back in with a cup of hot tea and a tray of optional additions. Her face showed no changes of mood as her appreciation was just a simple smile. Her lips touched the tip of the cup, she blew into her tea to cool it off a little before she had her first taste. She looked at me and asked. "Would you like some?"

"I'm fine, thank you." I replied, looking back down to my half-drank glass of not-V8.

She continued to occasionally sip into her tea as she spoke. "So how was the first day, your official first day?"

"Well, it could've been better, could've been worse. Ran into a few hecklers on duty at the checkpoint. I walked through town a bit and ran into some familiar company. And also there's a certain article that came out today highlighting a few things that happened yesterday." I casually replied.

"You mean Count DuMoneé?"

"Oh that's all over the shelves, but it's not selling nearly as much."

The princess shrugged. "Well that's the cost of politics, you can't get the citizens to really buy in until the eve of an election."

"That's also true. But yeah, I was talking about the situation with my parents."

"That got out?" She asked, almost opting to put her tea down for a second. "Who disclosed that?"

"I don't know for certain, I just want the news to stop spreading. Not everyone needs to know my private business." I answered with a frown, staring up to the ceiling.

The princess drew a sigh of exasperation and understanding. "Those are the drawbacks of being a public figure, anonymity is lost to those who are chosen."

"I didn't exactly choose to be a public figure, I was required to be that by law."

"Well if it's any consolation, I am indeed sorry for your troubles." She said before taking another sip of her tea.

"Isn't there some way we can stop these people from shipping this crazy shit out?" I asked, remembering the inflammatory way they described how my parents addressed the princess.

"I'm afraid that these things are well out of our jurisdiction, protection of the press and what-not." She said flatly.

I grabbed the glass of not-V8 and chucked it back while trying my best to bypass the taste. Upon swallowing, I felt a strong shudder surge throughout my body before I planted my head into the table. "My whole week's gonna be straight-up garbage, not even a burning trash-heap, just the outright ridicule of dumpster cold-fusion."

The princess walked over, placing her cup next to mine. "I know things are hard for you, but you've come a mighty long way from where you were when you first arrived. I've watched you grow from being isolated in Twilight's castle to being a social creature who shows a genuine level of compassion. And in your journey, I know that you've found the strength to overcome most any obstacle in your path. This may be an inconvenience on a personal level, but I know that you will be strong."

"Thanks." I said as placed a hoof on my shoulder. She then signaled for another cup of tea to the servant. "Still doesn't give me any ability to stop people from reading this ridiculous crap. Now they're gonna thing that all of us humans are gonna perceive Equestrians to be nothing but a bunch of animals."

"You said it yourself, we're all a bunch of animals, including that of your own species." As the piping hot cup of tea was introduced to her on a similar tray, she placed it down before me and extended her hoof towards it. "And I wouldn't have it any other way."

Realizing it would be considered rude to refuse her, I accepted the offer and tried to grab the cup by the handle, only to burn myself in the process. "Shit, this is hot!"

Upon realizing her error, she apologized for the circumstance. "I'm so terribly sorry, I usually prefer my cups warmed before the tea is poured in. I should have made the exception prior to ordering yours."

I just stared at the cup and proceeded to pick up a small tea spoon to feed myself the beverage. "So, how was your day then? Any politicians annoy you in the parliament?"

She signaled the server away, motioning the same for the others that waited in the room. "It was a somber day, really. The mayor of the city and some members of the city council dropped by to offer their condolences. We went about our day for the most part, but in the final hour was the time they gave pause to remember Count."

"I'm sure you felt uncomfortable about that, didn't you?" I asked.

"Of course, I too had to speak of him."

"Why?" After tasting the tea without it's additions, I realized that drinking the tea plain was not ideal for my preference.

"Because of two things. The first thing would be my social status, if I were to say nothing then it would only allow dissent among the ranks, especially those who were considered to be his closest peers."

I took a bit of the sugar and added it in, then picked out the cinnamon since it was already situated in my mouth from the apple earlier. "Well it must've been fun to suck up to them."

She took a sip from her cup again and sat in the chair next to me. "...The second reason was another reason I'm not too proud to speak of."

"Oh come on. It can't be that bad." I said while using the spoon to feed myself the tea again, this time being a bit more to my liking.

"Two decades and some time ago, he wasn't a politician. He was an educator, a teacher of the intermediate courses of magic theory and application. So he was a former employee of my academy."

I stopped stirring in my tea for a second, knocking the spoon out and splashing some of the hot beverage on my hand as I tried to prevent myself from dropping the spoon onto the ground. After burning myself a little from holding the spade of the spoon and dropping it on the table, I flicked my hand and comforted it for a few seconds. "I'm sorry, but you say what?"

"Yes, he was a teacher in my school, his courses were directed towards those between the ages of nine and fourteen."

"Ugh, I bet he was a pretty shitty teacher." I said, trying to think of someone like him being my middle school teacher.

"On the contrary, Nondis. He was incredible in his approach. If some of the other teachers couldn't unlock what a student had, he was adept in doing what they would deem impossible. A brilliant mind to unlock the unspoken secrets of magic within himself and a more than capable combatant in some of the emergency courses we had in self-defense."

Somewhere inside me, I was already prepping myself for yet another twist to be added to the story. "I suppose you're gonna tell me he was a guard too? Just make this joke a little more cruel, why don't you."

"No, he wasn't." She stated firmly. "He was strictly a magic instructor who prided himself in unicorn teachings. Though it developed in him a sense of superiority, one that made it clear that he viewed other races of ponies as inferior in contrast to that of unicorns."

"So you had to fire him because of that?" I guessed.

"No. He resigned the day after his wife died. From there, he went into isolation for a while."

So a death in the family caused him to retire from being a teacher? I know that grieving sometimes takes a lot out of you to where you need the time off to be able to somewhat function, but never have I heard of someone quitting their job because of something personal like that. Perhaps it was the stress that made him so bitter? I'm not quite sure, but there seems to be a lot more to Count DuMoneé than I would've guessed. Still, I didn't like the guy, so... "How did he get into politics then?"

"I'm not sure, but to say it changed him would give his colleagues too much credit."

"So, safe to say the two of you never really saw eye-to-eye?" I surmised.

"There was barely a time when we did. But the students needed his knowledge and I needed to do what was best for my student's future success."

In other words, she had to make a hard choice. It made me question the circumstances that would've occurred from his departure. "So when he retired, what happened with the students he brought up?"

"They struggled for quite some time. Many of them didn't even finish the tertiary exam to allow them to take the more advanced courses they needed to complete their education. So they either quietly transferred to local schools, retook their exams, or dropped out in realizing there was no hope in continuing."

It sounds a lot like what some people will do in college. Of course there's dropping out because you partied too hard and didn't study enough, then there's dropping out for family reasons, money issues, emotional trauma, health reasons, you name it. But another question came to mind. "Did you try to convince them to stay?"

"We offered slower-paced courses, but some parents argued that it was too remedial. So the students ended up doing one of the three things I mentioned."

"I guess that might have hurt the school in more ways than one." I said, thinking of the potential problems it would show to any superintendent overlooking the school.

"It did for some time. But I changed my approach and started to become a more hooves-on instructor for a few of the most gifted students. From there, the students became encouraged to compete."

"Well if they had a chance to spend a week or two with the Princess of the Sun, I'm sure any one of them would've jumped at the opportunity." Hell, if anyone could have a class taught by the President of the United States, I'm sure some would be willing to sign up for the experience.

"Indeed. Nowadays, the guidelines have gotten stricter. I'm very limited in my power to choose who I'd want to be my personal protégés and all. They had to hold auditions to see who would be worthy or capable of learning to learn from me at a young age. And those windows were at a strict level, no older than the age of ten."

And since Twilight referred to Celestia being a mentor to her, it had to be assumed that she had to undergo the same process. "So... did Twilight have an audition?"

The princess sipped down her tea as she answered the question. "Here's the funny thing about her, she initially failed because of a deficiency she suffered at a young age. For some unicorns, they can't use magic very well when they're born, for the rarest of cases it becomes a second-nature. But then there are those who are unable to use their magic effectively when they grow to a certain age. And being that the auditions were for such a young age group, it was required that they had to have a strong connection to their magic."

Twilight failing at something seemed a bit farfetched for me to comprehend, but it didn't surprise me too much. "So if she failed, how did she become your student?"

"Again, it was initially noted that she failed to show the capability of levitation, much less hatching a dragon's egg. But then a large explosion happened in Cloudsdale that was heard throughout all of Equestria. When she heard that, it scared her so bad that she not only hatched the dragon egg, she turned her parents into potted plants and threw all her judges into the air for quite some time, she even performed an aging spell on the dragon hatchling to where it grew to full-size. Of course that dragon broke through the roof and left a notable hole in one of the castle's adjacent towers, but I knew then she was more than capable of being my student."

That's probably how she got Spike, so metaphorically speaking he's pretty much like her child. That's a weird thing to think about when you consider his emotional range for Rarity. "And so the stories began."

"Indeed. She grew quite a lot from being in my classes. Her magic problem showed itself every blue moon from that point on, but let her get a little excitable and she turns anything into teacups or flip tables five times larger than her little body. Overtime, something within me resonated with her, and it told me that she was destined to succeed where I had failed."

Probably pertaining to her elemental status and being able to purify Luna. I looked at my phone realizing that my time was well spent in the dining hall, around fifty minutes of it. "Well... that was an interesting little story."

"It seems more like a two-for-one there, but it's been fun nonetheless. I hardly have anyone to talk to nowadays." She said as she patted her hooves on the table.

"You, nobody to talk to? But everyone's been wanting to talk to you for the past millennium. I'm sure that's more apparent with the way media has transformed in your world. And just wait until it evolves into the mess ours is back in my world."

She hopped out of her seat and started walking towards the tray of items she failed to touch and placed her empty cup at the center. Her eyes traced the outlines of the cup while she spoke. "There's talking to someone out of a prerequisite, and talking because you genuinely want to learn how to trust. In some ways, you just want to confide in someone who would find a way to counter your state of being and keep you contained."

I tossed my head back and laughed at the idea of her trusting me. "And you think I'm trustworthy enough? Lady, I don't trust myself to make the right decisions in life, what makes you think I'm trustworthy enough to even be able to─"

"I can't trust myself either." She interrupted. "If only you knew the other side of me, you'd probably never want to see me anymore. It would scare you to pieces."

I casually rolled my eyes in response. "Let me guess, you did some things, killed some people, and now it's a blemish on your record? As long as you've been living, it wouldn't surprise me. It would surprise me if you had all these laws and protocols crushing you and not once have you entertained the thought of lashing out. At that point, I'd wonder if you were really self-destructing more than you are now."

The tray shook as the princess started to levitate it, but dropping it before it could get half an inch off the table. "Do you perceive me to be self-destructive?"

"If I can be real for a minute, you do everything for everyone else and jack-shit for yourself. The only thing you do is ask for a cake every now and then. But what else do you do other than that? You're forced to smile for a bunch of people who only care because of your status and not for who you are. I bet Twilight put you on so high of a pedestal sometimes that you wonder if you can really reach down and touch her again."

Celestia thought about her former student and often how she'd get praised for anything she did or even completely idolized. And then she recalled her interactions with her throughout their time in Austin. "She more or less presented herself on equal ground when we were in your world."

"Yeah, because we were in a completely different environment where the two of you are no more common folk than I was. We're all on the same footing there, but when we come back home the rules are different."

Celestia looked up towards me for a second and stared before glancing back at her tray. "I just want to forget the rules for a while and be who I really am without any spectacle or question. It's gotten to the point where the real me has become too offensive for others to see."

"Then be yourself, because I would love to get to see the real you instead. I can't be friends with a figurine, I want to be friends with another being." I knelt down and placed an arm over her shoulder. "And I'm sure you've had long enough to think of who you want to be. So bring that out more often, to hell with everyone else, express yourself. And if they find it offensive, well that's their problem."

The high princess stared back at me with a nervous look as she stood. As soon as I felt her trying to walk back, I quickly retracted my arm and attempted to offer an apology. But she placed a hoof over my mouth and paused for a moment. After a few seconds of silence, she began to laugh. "This is probably the first time I've ever been seen as vertically challenged, but I accept that reality." Her words confused me initially, but I started a nervous laugh of my own. She then held me in place, looking at me with what could be her brightest, most sincere smile. "But I wanted us to be casual this time, so I don't know why I felt so brittle just then. Maybe it's just that I feel a little more comfortable being around you humans."

The doors behind us creaked open, causing Celestia to quickly quench her magic. The high princess watched as her younger sibling came in to notify her. "Sister, it's time."

She looked at her cutie mark for a second before she turned her eyes to me while I stood up, but this time with a mischievous grin. "...Captain, can you do me a quick favor?"

I quickly caught on to her joke. "I don't have a lick of magic to levitate a feather, what makes you think I can move the sun?"

Luna seemed the least amused of the three of us. "Hmm... she could give you the magic and you could do it, but it would be VERY IRRESPONSIBLE OF HER."

The princess sighed as she trotted out the room happily. "Well, can't say I didn't try."

While I began to stretch off my dinner, I walked over to the doorway to see Celestia disappearing amongst the large granite columns of the hallway. "She can be so crazy at times." I said quietly.

Luna nudged by me playfully. "You try living with her when we were younger. Absolute tyranny, would prank me every chance she got."

"So how do you feel about her?" I asked.

The younger princess elicited a small groan. "I just want back the Tia I knew, spirited, kind, carefree, and forever laughing. Something's changed her, and it's so sad to watch her put on a mask to hide it, even around me."

I looked down to Luna. "You think she'll ever stop wearing it?"

She closed her eyes, taking the moment to reflect. "She took it off for you, actually. I wanna say the last time she ever took it off in front of me was when she talked about... I'm probably speaking too much."

"Sombra." I whispered as quietly as possible, causing the night princess to double-take.

"So she told you?" She asked, appearing surprised.

"I know her heart's still hurt from it. But she's trying." I said quietly.

"I think you should talk with her more." She said finally, starting to make her way behind her elder sister. However, she stopped and called back to me. "Oh, and that nice little trinket she gave you, you should probably wander around the passages a bit and─"

I just shook my head. "She already told me not to go into your room, so nice try."

"Well that's no fun."

I woke up much earlier this go around. For some odd reason, it took too much out of me to get out of bed yesterday, but it seemed like I had all the energy going into today's shift. And to say that it helped with my interaction with others would be the understatement of the week. I was active in engaging with my superiors, and they were just as energetic about the state funeral tomorrow.

But other than that, more and more of the maids started to whisper as I walked by. A few were questioning if I was any kind of supremacist, others were just simply questioning whether or not I would stay in the guard for much longer. But the moment my eyes shifted towards them, I got either one of two reactions. If they looked away, it meant that they were saying something that I didn't want to hear. If they waved back at me, they were probably showing sympathy over the situation I was in.

The guards were a totally different breed, however. Most of the enlisted ones still had some resentment over my sudden promotion, and that same resentment wasn't lost with my fellow officers. One mare in an officer's uniform walked up to me, gave a hesitant salute, and trotted past me while giving me quite a stare-down. And given that many of them had held Celestia to the highest regard, there weren't any shortage of guards who didn't see me as an ideal fit to protect the royal family. But then there were some others who saw it admirable that I stood against my parents to do just that. Their reactions were far more welcoming, greeting me every time I entered the room. And those few who served alongside me at Arimaspi Mountain, they admired my continued dedication to the degree that they started to hail me as an outstanding leader, so much that I was starting to get a little nervous that I would somehow not meet the expectations they set.

And for me, all it took was a select few.

It wasn't my first week on the job exactly, that was plagued by hordes of changelings attacking the city. But it sure felt like my first week on the job with all this pressure on me to meet with expectations, now especially since I was supposed to be an overseer of the security detail in regards to the funeral tomorrow... a funeral to some bastard who tried to forge my signature and donate my body to science. So yeah, I was not taking an easy route to my usual hump day activities.

My day dragged on unceremoniously, I was just pointing guards in various directions trying to establish protocol. Drilling the squad of pallbearers to perfectly sync to one another and call out every step they took. Stairs tended to be the most frustratingly time-consuming drill I've ever had the displeasure to oversee.

I'll summarize it for you. There's the pallbearer squad, and then there's the one chosen to be the squad leader. If they wanted to walk up or down those stairs, squad leader would call out 'ready, step' with each stair they took. Now keep in mind that Canterlot has a shit-ton of stairs, so that's a lot of waiting around for these guys to walk up or down the stairs, and it wouldn't stop until each member of the squad had achieved the minimum two steps away from the stairs before halting, then marching forward... only for them to halt again and march up more stairs. And I haven't even gone into detail over how slow they march into the MASSIVE hall leading up to the royal chapel. And that's just the getting in.

Now, repeat that same process for leaving.

And since this was drills, I had to overlook that plus getting a few other details from the sky-watch to make sure there weren't any dubious elements introduced in various places that could compromise the safety of the procession, the funeral, the recession, and the repass. There was also the band who played an excerpt of Equestria's national anthem and something called the 'Song of Hours' which is essentially a hymn dedicated to those who gave their years of service to the nation's government.

Hypothetically speaking, if Celestia were to have a funeral, it would be the anthem, the hymn, another hymn called 'Ode to Thine, Mine Crowned Queen' and another hymn called 'Go to Thee, Thy Resting Place'. And each song would require the march to become much longer, with a squadron of four additional ponies instead of the usual six because of her size and the fact that she will be dressed in full regalia within a crystal coffin.

I've already seen the coffin, I already weighted how heavy it is, the dress she'd wear, the silk shroud that would cover her mane, the royal crown of the high monarch she'd wear in place of her princess tiara, the wagon her body will be set on when it rides through town, the royal tomb she'll be laid inside of, the four elite service guards who would stand watch over her crystallized corpse for the first six months for public viewing, and finally the spot in the Canterlot Gardens where she will finally be put to rest. As per job description, I'm not allowed to even let the notary sign off on any of those things. Doing so would result in my immediate dishonorable discharge following the conclusion of her funeral.

Basically, the past two days, I've been learning a lot about state and royal funerals, which has been quite a downer.

Finally, my shift came to an end and I was on my way to the dining hall for my dinner. As soon as I arrived in the room, Celestia was already waiting with a cup of tea in her magical grasp. The princess smiled when I stepped in the room, welcoming me with her trademark royal smile. "Good evening, captain. I take it your day went well."

"If you call boring to an unbearable level 'well', then I can vouch for that." I answered. "Seriously, I never knew funerals had to be so fucking hard to coordinate. When my grandfather died, he just had a flag draped over his casket and then a few of my uncles carried him out of the church."

"It's much different when you're dealing with something much bigger than civilian affairs." She quietly noted. "Even if you feel as if it's unnecessary, they are going to do what is considered appropriate for the service of the individual being put to rest."

"If I ever die, can you make sure that my funeral is as simple as possible?" I asked.

"And do you think that for one second the citizens will accept that?" She rebutted.

"If it's my funeral, I think they should."

The sun princess stopped sipping her tea to speak. "Even if you're hailed as a hero for many and a powerful voice for others? I don't think I would be able to accomplish something like that. Your funeral, if anything will be just as, if not more difficult. Of course you can have a private ceremony in the presence of your peers and family after the fact, but considering your status, it's mandatory that you'd be announced for others to see and grieve, as they too would share sadness in your passing. As much as it pains me to deny you your wish of complete intimacy, you are still a public servant with many accolades already endued to your name. I'm sure the line to thank you wouldn't be short enough to give you that wish"

"I'm a public servant who's assigned to privately secure your safety. I'm a body guard, what am I to the thousands of guards before me?"

"A historical figure. The first human being in Equestria assigned to be the first human captain of the royal guard, your funeral is going to bring about more pomp and circumstance than a high school graduation."

"What if I start to smell?" I asked as I sat down.

"There will be provisions to prevent that, much like any other funeral held in private. And besides, I don't think you would mind offending anyone at that point."

Taking a moment to realize the conversation we were having, I started to feel a sense of dread over time. "Oh dear God, I'm sitting here wondering how I'm gonna smell when I die. What existential terror have I unleashed on myself?"

The princess gave out a hearty chuckle. "As if I haven't had that same question for well over a thousand years. I just feel like my absent self is going to do something so outrageous that it will possibly clear the streets themselves."

"Not that you'll mind at that point, right?" I asked jokingly.

The princess quirked an eyebrow and held the cup of tea up to toast to that fact. "Well, it's bound to happen eventually. I'm not immortal."

"A thousand years, and you still don't look a day over twenty eight."

The princess sipped from her cup as her voice popped in my head. "994 years under my actual age." I looked at her with a slanted deadpan as she shrugged off my facial expression. "As if I was going to say that out loud."

I just folded my arms in a pout. "Immortal ass."

"Kiss it." Her voice rang through my head, this time causing me to damn near fall out of my chair from the mere fact that she reacted so... crassly. It was odd and extremely bewildering. But I'm sure she did it just to get a reaction out of me. Her lips tried to stay glued to the side of her cup of tea, but I could see that she was struggling to keep them from spilling any tea she might have tried to drink.

"That is probably the first time I ever thought of you having no filter. It's a fun side of you, I have to admit."

"Then maybe I'll bring about a thought or two when you're around, so at least I'm not the only one letting things simmer in my brain."

"Just try not to do that too often." I answered. "I'm still a little unnerved from that one time with Chrysalis."

"Noted." She said, this time speaking through her mouth as opposed to using her telepathy.

One of the servants walked up to me to present me with a small slip of paper. On it was the meal I was scheduled to eat. To no one's surprise, it was a heaping helping of vegetables and a fruit salad for a side. The servant bowed to the princess before dismissing himself to retrieve my meal. I just took out my fork and started 'drawing' on the piece of paper I was given. "I get that you really wanted me to be in prime conditioning for the job, but why all the dietary restrictions all of a sudden?"

The princess snickered as she replied. "Am I supposed to allow that smorgasbord of a feast from Thursday stay on your person? You had at least three helpings, I'm just doing what needs to be done to keep you from gaining anything unwanted. So it's paramount that you keep in prime shape and be able to remain as healthy as possible to diverge from the possibility of sickness. I refuse to have you bedridden for the next month."

I sighed and shrugged my shoulders in a sarcastic show of disbelief. "Okay MOM, I won't get sick."

The room remained silent for a few more minutes until the food came in. Celestia continued to sip on her tea while I started to fork around in my food. The only way I knew she was ready to say something then was when I heard the sound of her teacup clattering against the small saucer it rested itself on. "Nondis, there's something I want to discuss with you."

"Sure thing." I answered, taking a quick siesta from my dietary plate.

"If you knew that your family would've had reservations about you being in the guard, then why did you allow the process to continue? Just the mention of that circumstance would've annulled your process from the start."

I took a few moments to look back at the moment I was in the throne room of Twilight's castle. I recalled my facial expression when it was announced that Twilight and I were to be engaged shortly after receiving my citizenship papers. I leaned back and voiced my thoughts aloud. "I guess... I wanted to do something I haven't done before. I mean if you looked back at my middle school to high school days, I guess I was romanticizing the idea of being in a relationship. I was also, to warn you explicitly, raging with adolescent hormones that had me really fiending for sex. It didn't matter who, it could've been my best friend, I just wanted the chance to be considered as 'normal' and have a 'normal teenage experience' of being that guy with that girl and promising our future to one another only for graduation to really close the final chapter of our relationship. My older brother Alex was a notorious womanizer and my younger brother Stanton is... well... you can guess."

"Adept at the idea of seducing the opposite sex. And displays his confidence in a somewhat aggressive manner." She concluded.

"Yeah, though his comes as a perk of being an athlete full of testosterone and rage. So girls are immensely attracted to that alpha personality. Alex didn't have that physical edge like Stanton, but he was just as popular because of his charisma. And I aspired to have that for the longest. It's just that I was between those two and never really had anything to differentiate myself other than me trying to advertise myself being a cool dude to chill and play games with, most of my attempts coming out as awkward or cringey. And as such, I failed to garner a lot of positive attention."

"I find it's easier to bring attention to yourself when you just try to be yourself and not overtly obsessed to be the figure you visualize yourself to be." Celestia replied.

"Yeah, that I heard and understand now, but you couldn't tell me that shit even a year ago. And thus brings me back to the situation with Twilight. I found myself a girlfriend for the first time, and I just wanted to meet the expectations so damn much that I didn't care how much I got hurt. As long as I could be that guy for her being that girl, I was more than happy to take the bruising. But I guess I too excited to say no. My parents didn't even come to mind until the first time I saw them again, and that's when I started really think in the back of my mind, would the really accept any of this."

"At least you have an answer now." Celestia said with a softened tone.

"Yup... Disowned and abandoned for choosing to be different, for deciding that I didn't want to have a 'normal human experience'. It's not a fun thing to know."

Celestia walked up to me and pointed at the door with a smile. "Though I'm sure there is someone who would want to talk to you further on this issue."

I looked up to the door, watching as another human appeared from the hall. A mature man with recognizable features, the peppered hair, the grungy beard, the hardened hazel eyes, all of which staring right back at me with an apologetic smile on his face. I looked back to Celestia and saw her just as cheerful. My jaw fell through the floor as I couldn't believe who was standing here, actually STILL here in spite of what happened for what felt like the longest time. With almost a childlike whisper, I called out to the man in the doorway.

"...Dad?"

Hello to all, I trust the year has been off to a great start for you guys because my karma hasn't been that great. In short, adulting continues to be a chore and it continues to eat my expenses (Sorry KH3, maybe next month...).

But in all seriousness, I hope everyone has been doing well and finding themselves on the better end of their luck. And I know some of you are caught in that deep freeze up north, is everything alright with you guys? Are you well? Do you need any amount of napalm to thaw your front door? Please don't lose fingers or limbs, because that's like one of my biggest fears right now for something to happen to my hands (that's my way of living and primary source of income). If you guys ever need some assistance in that frozen hell up there, please feel free to contact anyone you may need to and don't hesitate to voice a concern with your local authorities should something go south.

Cause this... this ain't healthy.

Stay warm, stay safe, stay together. I'll see you all in the next one.