One of the most commonly asked philosophical questions: “Which do you like better, the day, or the night?”

How you answer that can say a lot about you. Some people will say that if you like the day, you’re someone who likes to see the path ahead of them, and who craves social interaction of some kind, as people tend to come out during the day, where it’s safe, and warm. You might also just like it because you get to see all the colors that the world has to offer, or because you feel safer in the light. Why, you might even enjoy it just because of the clouds, and how your mind’s eye can shape them into whatever form it so desires.

Others will say that if you like the night, that you are a person of silence, who prefers the twinkling stars that hold so much mystery to many creatures. You like the company of only a few people, but you feel close to them all the same. You keep them close to you, so you don’t lose sight of them in the vast, seemingly empty night. Maybe you just like to relax in your bed, with your love by your side, and be glad that you both survived another day, and have reached the peace of the darkness.

Yes, a lot can be said about you depending on how you answer that question.

But myself? In all honesty, I prefer the twilight, that time when it is both day, and night. That time when we can see the greatest qualities that both sides have to offer. It doesn’t last as long as the others, but that means you just have to make sure that you enjoy it as much as you can. Twilight appears at both the beginning of another night, and at the dawning of a new day, greeting everyone that goes by.

You can see the stars, and the clouds during twilight, and enjoy their beauty side by side, while you wait for the sunset/sunrise. It signals the end, and the beginning.

Twilight holds the first star, the star that we all have wished upon once, and still do.

You can’t honestly tell me that when you look at the sky, there’s not one small part of you that wishes on that shining star, hoping for a better tomorrow.

All in all, I guess I can say what’s pretty obvious by now:

I love Twilight.

Now I just have to answer the first most commonly asked philosophical question that no one can avoid, no matter how hard they try:

Why?

A gentle breeze lightly tossed my mane about, flicking a few strands across my face, and making me feel like a serious badass.

Let’s see…Cliff overlooking Ponyville?

Check.

Wind that’s rustling my dark brown hair, and blue vest?

Double Check.

Guile’s Theme playing in my head?

Sonic-check.

Monkey butler with a tray of peanut-butter and banana sandwiches?

…Note to self, get monkey butler and teach him how to make sandwiches.

Wait, what was I talking about? OH, RIGHT!

I stood on a tall outcropping of rock on the side of a mountain that was overlooking what I now considered a second home: Ponyville. After being gone for what felt like…oh, say, three months, it looked even better than I remembered it. Hell, I could even see that Lyra and Bon-Bon were both sitting in their usual park bench, most likely talking about their daily lives, or maybe a new theory about humans that Lyra had found in one of her books.

“Wait a second,” I said to myself as I put a pair of invisible binoculars to my face. “Why are there so many ponies out and about? Normally, they’re busy working at their stalls, or something…”

Scratching absently at my dark, thicker version of a “Gordon Freeman” goatee, I decided it was time I applied my detective skills to this scene. Okay, so let’s see…red and pink color schemes…ponies wandering about in pairs…Hugh Jelly in his usual vat of jam…

“Is it Hearts and Hooves day?” Of course, dump me back here when it’s a romantic holiday. Fate has a weird sense of humor. “Welp, I’m not getting anywhere standing on this cliff!” I pulled out a set of glasses with those weird shutter things on them, and put them on my face, letting out a crazy grin as I did so.

Unfurling my chocolate brown wings, I backed up, and said, “Looks like I’m gonna have to jump!” Oh, if only I had my gun-chuks…

Before my common sense could say anything, I leaped off of the cliff, and plummeted to the ground, reveling in the feeling of wind rushing past my face. Snapping my wings, I pulled up from the dive, and soared across the canopy of trees that made up the Everfree forest. The tips of my hooves barely grazed the tops of the green foliage, and I lazily glided towards Ponyville, trying to figure out what I should do next.

“Well, I don’t wanna go to my house just yet. I wanna say hi to everypony…but it’s a holiday, and they’re probably spending it with somepony…wait, Spike is probably at the library! I haven’t seen the scaly dude in a while!”

My decision made, I picked up altitude, and flew towards the direction of the library, happy to be alive.

Oh yeah. You already know what I’m gonna say.

“It’s good to be The Traveler!”

Landing gracefully (and by that, I mean on all four hooves for once), I opened the door of the library, and said, “Hello, I’m looking for a book on how to realize you’ve gone insane! And so is the little voice inside my head.”

No I’m not.

Quiet you!

“Omnius? Is that you?” For some odd reason, I felt my heart beat slightly faster, and I turned to see a lavender colored unicorn with dark purple hair, accented with a single pink streak, smiling warmly at me from the top of her stairs.

I felt a smile appear on my face, and I bowed, saying, “The one and only!”

“It is you!” Twilight Sparkle, one of my closest friends in all the multiverses, quickly trotted down the stairs, and said, “It’s great to see you again!”

“You too, Twi,” I laughed, wrapping my arms around her in a friendly hug. “How’ve you been lately?”

“Oh, fine,” she replied, returning my hug happily. “You know how crazy things can get around here!”

“Don’t I know it?” I said, holding her out at hoove’s length. “Here now; Why aren’t you out and about? Don’cha know it’s Hearts and Hooves day?”

She blushed, and tried to distract me by saying, “How’d you know that was today?”

“Twilight, I learned from Sherlock Holmes and Harry Dresden. I think I know how to figure things out,” I chuckled. “But that’s not an answer to my question.”

She averted her eyes, and I raised an eyebrow in surprise. Is she actually embarrassed or something? Pressing her for an answer, I said, “Come on, Twi, what’s up? Did you just plan on studying through the whole day again?”

“Well…not exactly…” she hesitantly said. “I wanted to try and go out with somepony, but, uh…”

My eyes widened in realization, and I stated, “You didn’t know who to ask. Either that, or they were already taken.”

She smiled sheepishly. “Uh, maybe something like that.”

“Well,” I nodded. “It’s settled. Pick a restaurant; we’re goin’ out to eat!” I grabbed the door, and held it open for Twilight, giving her a mock bow.

“What? But-”

I interrupted her by putting my hoof over her mouth, and saying, “No buts. We eat, we dine, we feast!”

She rolled her eyes, pushing my hoof away from her mouth. For a moment, it almost felt like a tingle of energy passed through my arm, where she touched me. Huh. Must be some static electricity or something.

“Alright, alright,” Twilight giggled. “We can go and grab a bite to eat.”

“Great!” I shouted, giving her a wide smile. “Where do you wanna go? That Three-Leaf clover place? Or should we just go to the market place and pick up stuff for a picnic?”

“I like the idea of a picnic,” she said, heading towards the direction of said market. “But what will we bring? Oh, maybe I should get one of my books and see if-”

“Twilight. Food is food,” I grunted. “We see something that sounds good, we get it. Simple as that!”

“Are you sure?” Twilight’s stomach then grumbled, and I stifled another set of chuckles. Oh, stomachs. You always betray us at the exact wrong times. That’s why we love, and hate you.

“Yes, I think I’m sure,” I answered. “Come on: IT’S FOOD TIME!”

With that, I strode forth, walking with Twilight to the land of good foods, and horrible vendors.

“Well, howdy there, Omnius!” A familiar southern-drawl called out over the crowd of pony couples.

“Applejack!” I shouted back, pushing a way through to her, while making sure I didn’t lose sight of Twilight. As we made our way to the orange and blonde cowpony, she grinned mischievously at us, looking like she had just thought of something funny.

“What are you two doin’ out here?” Applejack asked the two of us as we finally came to her stall. For once, it seemed as if we had managed to get to the front of the line with relatively little trouble, and she still had some of her best looking apple-related treats for sale.

“Well, I just got back, and found out that Twilight didn’t have any plans for Hearts and Hooves day! Can you believe it?” I shook my head, tsk’ing in mock shame. “So I figured, why not go out for a picnic? Good way to catch up, right?”

Applejack shot Twilight a look, and said, “Now that’s a real nice thing to do. Hey, tell ya what, I’ll give y’all some apples on the house!”

“Really?” I asked. “Thanks, A.J! I owe you one!”

“Nah, it’s nuthin’. Say, why don’cha go over to that cherry seller? I heard she’s got some real good deals on cherries today!” She said cheerfully, gesturing to a long line in front of that infamous cherry vendor.

“Mm…nah, I’m not big on cherries,” I confessed. “Unless you want some, Twi, then I’ll go grab us some.”

“Oh, uh…” Twilight’s eyes darted about, and Applejack coughed into her hoof, giving Twilight another pointed look. “Oh! I’d love some cherries. I’ll just get the apples, and maybe something else while you get them!”

I shrugged, and trotted over to the line, silently lamenting the fact that it was freaking LONG. “I’ll be right back!” I called, before I started to whistle the Super Mario Bros. tune.

“Alright, Twi,” Applejack said as soon as Omnius had left them, “admit it.”

“Admit what?” Twilight asked, confused.

“Oh, come on now, tain’t nuthin’ ya need to hide from me,” she replied, giving Twilight a reassuring pat on her shoulder. “Why, I think everypony else knows it! Ah mean, Ah’ve seen the way you two look at each other!”

“Applejack, are you seriously implying that Omnius and I…” Twilight blushed, embarrassed by the question, before saying, “Like each other?”

“Sugarcube, it’s pretty dern obvious,” She chuckled, putting a small load of apples into a bag, before hoofing it to her red-faced friend. “Ah reckon you two are just too stubborn to say it!”

“No, it’s not like that!” Twilight argued. “We’re just really close friends!”

“Then why the hay did he come to see you first, hm?” Applejack shot back. At Twilight’s flinch, she continued, saying, “Twi, you like him. Why don’cha tell him?”

Twilight was quiet, as she tried to think of a good answer. She knew that Applejack could be trusted with any secret, but…how could she explain it? Finally, she just sighed, and said, “I don’t know. Sometimes I think it’s because I don’t know how to say it, or maybe it’s because I’m scared of how he’ll react.” She closed her eyes, and continued, saying, “What if he doesn’t like me back? What if it ruins our friendship, and he leaves forever?”

The Farm-pony’s eyes softened, and she gave Twilight a small hug. “Ah, don’t you fret none. Besides, ya know that Omnius ain’t the type to let something like this push him away from a friend, and I’d say you two are as close as can be.”

Twilight giggled, and said, “He feels the same way about you and the others though.”

“Nah, we’re just his friends. You, on the other hoof…” Applejack stopped, and tried to find the right words. “Well, you two know each other the best! You’re like…uh…”

“Best friends?” Twilight supplied.

“No, it’s kinda more than that…well, you’re special to him! Don’cha remember how mad he got when he saw that Discord made you cry?” She said, internally wincing as she remembered that fiasco.

Twilight flinched too, and said, “I remember...”

“There ya go then, Twi! You’re his special somepony, but you just don’t know how to say it to him!” Applejack said cheerfully.

“I don’t know…I’ll have to think about it,” Twilight said uncertainly, her thoughts conflicting with one another in her head.

“Alrighty then…oh, look, here he comes now!”

XHXHXHXHXHXHXHXHX

“Rip-off artist!” I shouted back at the cherry vendor, before trotting back in the direction of Twilight and Applejack. At the strange looks they were giving me, I set the basket of cherries down, and gestured at the vendor, saying, “You would not believe the nerve of that cherry mare! She tried to make me pay for an entire cherry orchard!”

“Yeah, she does that every now and then,” Applejack said, grinning. She then pushed the bag of apple treats to Twilight, and said, “Now y’all better get movin’ iffin you want to enjoy the rest of the day! Nice seein’ you again, Omnius!”

“You too, Applejack,” I said, picking up the basket of cherries again. As we trotted off, I glanced over at Twilight, and frowned slightly. She was looking a little nervous, for some reason. Concerned, I asked her, “Is everything alright, Twilight? You look a little jumpy there.”

She gave me a small grin, and said, “Oh, no, it’s fine. So, where do you want to have our picnic?”

I thought about it for a moment, and then smiled. “I know! There’s this really nice little hill that has a great view of the sky! Wanna go there?”

“I’d love to,” She said, nodding.

“Alright! Esperanto!” I shouted, running off down the path. “Follow me!”

“Omnius, wait up!”

Preview of Chapter 2:
When Do You Know?

“So…nice weather we’re having?”

“Oh, yes, it does look nice.”

“You look nicer though. Wait, that was supposed to be a thought bubble!”

*^*^*^*^*

“Hey, guess what?”

“What?”

“I’m going out with Octavia tonight!”

Hey folks! I'm just gonna say a couple things real quick:

First off, the chapters in this story will be typically shorter than in, "Omnius' Travels: Equestria". So, this will be updated sooner than you think, and the next chapter will hopefully be done by Saturday or Sunday.

Secondly, I didn't mention this earlier, but this story will take place three months after the original, "Omnius' Travels: Equestria." So, if things mentioned in this aren't in the first one yet, consider it a free hint of things to come.

Thirdly, there will only be around 8 chapters of this. That means it will hopefully be done within the month!

That's all for now!
~Traveler out!

P.S: Search for "How I Met My Pony" DO IT!

“Hey, Omnius?” Twilight asked as they reached a small hill that was just on the outskirts of town. She glanced at The Traveler, and her heart skipped a beat, as she met his warm brown eyes. Catching herself staring at him, she turned her face back to the path, trying to suppress a blush that was threatening to reveal her feelings.

“Yeah, Twi?” He replied, looking at her. Mistaking her blush for exhaustion, he said, “Well, that’s not right. You’ve been carrying the heavier stuff this whole time! Here, let me get that for you.”

With that, he reached over, and gently grasped the saddlebag of apples in his teeth, and tossed it over himself with a practiced ease. Twilight suppressed a shiver as his lips gently brushed over her back, and she gave him a small smile. “You don’t have to do that, I’m fine, really.”

Omnius shook his head, and adjusted the two bags he was holding on his back, saying, “No, it’s not fine. Sorry if it seems old-fashioned, but my Dad raised me to do stuff like this.”

Twilight swallowed, but didn’t raise any more protests. Now that she wasn’t distracted by the weight of the heavy apple bags, she wondered if Applejack hadn’t done that on purpose. AJ knew that Omnius had a certain air of chivalry to him that he would always deny…no, she wouldn’t do that.

Would she?

She shook her head, and settled for trying to think of a way to tell Omnius how she really felt about him. Going over multiple books that she had read on the subject in her head, she attempted to come up with a good way to start it off.

“We’re here,” Omnius said suddenly, stopping at the top of the hill. He gently set the bags down on the ground, and pulled out a large red-and-white checkered blanket that he unfolded.

As he did that, Twilight’s horn glowed softly, as she levitated all of the food out of the bags and set them down in organized piles on the blanket. Omnius smiled appreciatively, and set himself down next to a bowl of chocolate covered cherries.

“Want some?” He offered, holding out the bowl to Twilight.

“No, uh, not right now…” She refused politely. Truthfully, she wasn’t very hungry to begin with, but…

He frowned, but then shrugged and popped a couple of the tiny candies into his mouth, deciding to let the matter drop. For a few moments, they simply ate in silence, Twilight nibbling on an apple tart, and Omnius devouring both a slice of apple and cherry pie.

Finally, Omnius wiped some crumbs off of his face, and said, “So…nice weather we’re having?” He gestured at the slowly setting sun, and the lazily drifting clouds in the sky with a free hoof.

“Oh, yes, it does look nice,” She replied, nodding in agreement.

“You look nicer though…wait…” Omnius’ eyes widened, and he hit himself with a hoof, muttering, “That was supposed to be in a thought bubble!”

Twilight blushed, and averted her gaze. Struggling to get the words past a hard lump in her throat, she managed to stutter out, “Uh, um, thank you…”

Omnius grinned nervously, before he asked, “Yeah, uh…how’ve things been?”

Thankful for the sudden change of topic, she sighed, and said, “Things have been good. A little boring lately…that’s actually what I wanted to ask you about earlier.”

“Hm?”

“Well, it’s just…you told me that you always go to a world when you’re needed,” Twilight pointed out. “I really am glad you’re here though, but why ARE you here?”

The Traveler scratched his beard absently, his face furrowed in deep thought. Twilight could practically see the gears turning in his head, as he silently considered her question. Finally, after what felt like hours, he simply shrugged, and said, “I don’t know. I guess I’m needed here though.”

“Are you sure you’re not here to…never mind,” She said, gaining a sudden intense interest in an apple slice that was right in front of her.

“What’s wrong?” Omnius asked, immediately picking up on her discomfort.

Before she could stop herself, she blurted out, “Do you ever think you could be more than friends with anypony?”

Once again, silence had entered the area, and the pure force of his swag and badassery immediately meant that he reigned supreme.

“What, you mean like best friends?” Omnius finally said after a moment.

Realizing that she had already gone this far, she said, “No, more than that.”

“Double-best friends? Triple?” His eyes widened, and in an awed voice, he said, “Dare I say…”

Twilight held her breath, hanging onto his every word in anticipation.

“…Quadruple-best friends?”

…Silence facepalmed, and decided to leave before things got even more awkward.

Twilight tried to get the words out of her mouth, but her courage finally failed her, leaving her unable to say what she really wanted to say. Instead, she nodded. “Yes, that.”

“Hm…yeah, I think it’s already happened,” he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “I mean, aren’t we quadruple-best friends?”

“Yeah, of course we are…after all, I do trust you with my life,” Twilight answered, hoping he would pick up on the hint.

“Really?”

“Yes. You’ve really done a lot for m-,” She coughed slightly, trying to cover her little slip-up, and said, “A lot for all of us, and you’ve told us that you trust us with yours!”

“That’s true,” he grinned. He then nodded at the sunset, and chuckled. “Hey, check it out. It’s your time of day again.”

“What?” Twilight asked, confused.

“It’s twilight,” he explained. “You know, that time just between day and night?”

“Oh!” She looked over at the horizon, and smiled. “Yes, I guess it is.”

Omnius smiled, and scooted close to her, gently brushing against her side. Wrapping his forehoof around her in a hug, he softly said, “Happy Hearts and Hooves Day, Twilight.”

“You too…” She whispered. Then, in a quiet breath, she added, “Nathan.”

And together, the two of them sat on a hilltop, surrounded by half-eaten food, watching the sunset and enjoying one another’s company.

STUPID. STUPID. STUPID!

I had just returned to my house after walking Twilight home. Even though the day had gone by smoothly, I was still berating myself for saying that whole, “You look nicer” line. DAMN IT! That’s just…GAH!

“Ye Gods,” I muttered, slumping on my couch, still in pony form. “Why did I say that? Sure, she looks really nice, but I didn’t have to say that to her!”

A sudden knocking at my door pulled me out of my thoughts, and I hauled myself over to it to answer. As soon as it was open, I felt myself get hugged by a rush of grey feathers and blond hair.

“Derpy!” I said happily, returning the hug.

“Nathan!” she said back, letting me go. Derpy Hooves, the only mare in Ponyville who needs no description or introduction, smiled at me, her post-mare cap sitting at a jaunty angle on her head. “It’s great to see you!”

“You too! How’s Dinky doin’ these days?” I asked, remembering her little foal. Damn, but that kid was just adorable!

“She’s fine! Oh, before I forget, I have some mail for you!” Derpy reached into a small, worn brown satchel at her side, and pulled out few letters. On in particular an envelope covered in elegant writing, caught my eye.

“Huh. Didn’t expect this little surprise,” I muttered, looking over the letters. The light was too dim to make out anything, but I gave Derpy another smile, and said, “Thanks, Ditzy.”

“Yep! Now if you’ll excuse me, these letters won’t deliver themselves! I’ll see you around, Nate!” She called out, unfurling her wings and flying back towards the town.

Closing my door, I made my way back to my couch, and glanced at the dark, dusty fireplace.

Let’s see…transform back into a human or unicorn, and light fire, or stay in Pegasus form and settle for a blanket. Ugh, it’s a battle of laziness versus how much I like lighting things on fire. Debating over it with myself for a while, I ended up just clicking on a lamp to read the letters, and wrapped myself in a thin blanket.

Laziness: 17

Fire: 15

Bieber: -9

Ponies: Had me beaten from the start.

I chuckled to myself, as I recalled some of the good times that I now owed to the ponies. Thoughts of a certain mare kept creeping into my mind, and I shifted uneasily. “Why can’t I stop thinking about her?” I asked, staring at my floor in worry.

In an effort to distract myself, I grabbed the letters and started going through them. One was another pay check for “Treble Cliff”, giving me my usual modest amount of bits. Sweet, that’ll pay for some groceries and such. Maybe I had enough to buy a couple tickets to that astronomy showing and take Twi-

Next letter! Hey, it’s from Fancypants! Ye Gods, but you just gotta love that guy. Seriously, he’s the rich dude that everyone wishes they knew, and he’s just an all around cool pony. The way he stood up for everypony at Twilight’s birthday party-

GODS DAMNIT BRAIN! I tossed aside the letters I had gone through, and shook my head. “No! Don’t think about her!” I scolded myself. “You can’t, I repeat, CAN’T do this…not again, and not with her…” A tear leaked out of my eye, and I added, “Besides, she deserves somepony who won’t get her into trouble time and time again. Not someone who has a tendency to be a walking disaster zone.”

With a heavy heart, I sighed, and looked up at the mantle above the fireplace. It was completely packed with photos of my friends and I, but one picture always stood out in particular: A picture of a woman with soft red hair, ocean-green eyes, and a smile that could make you feel as if you were walking on top of the world.

Jenna…

…What is with all the emotional stuff?! PULL IT TOGETHER TRAVELER!

Nodding, I picked up the last letter, and raised my eyebrow. Huh. Nice hoofwriting. Apparently it’s from-

WAIT. Wait, wait, wait! I tore open the envelope in excitement, and felt a smile appear on my face as I scanned through the note.

“Dear Mr. Cliff, blah, blah, blah, we met at the Gala last time you appeared, and I was deeply intrigued by your musical styling’s, blah, blah, blah, and am now wondering if you would be interested in…” I looked up from the letter, and cackled in glee.

What? Villains aren’t the only ones who can cackle! It’s a fun way to laugh, and you should try it some time!

Snatching a pen and paper from the drawer I kept to the side of my couch, I wrote a response to the fellow musician, and sealed it inside of one of my now trademark blue envelopes, sealed with my insignia on it.

“Oh, it’s good to be The Traveler!” I laughed, running outside, and taking off into the starry sky. Thank the Gods that the Post Office is open late.

“Thanks!” I said to the current on-duty mail mare.

She nodded, and I trotted back outside, relishing in the cool night air. Truly, it’s a wonderful night to have a curse.

I think I messed that line up. Meh, oh well. Deciding to give my wings a break, I trotted cheerfully through Ponyville, saying hello to some of the fellow late nighters that knew me from some of my…escapades.

“Oi, Omnius!” One called out to me. “When you gon’ pay for that bar you destroyed?”

“I didn’t destroy it, the colt that spilled my coke did.”

We both shared a laugh, and I kept going, chuckling to myself every now and then.

“Omnius, darling? Is that you?” A high, sophisticated voice asked.

“If I’m not, then he’s gonna get mad at me for wearing his underwear,” I joked, turning around to see Rarity with a sleek pair of sunglasses on. “Why are you wearing sunglasses at night?”

“I have a customer who asked me to find a way to make these work during the moon hours,” she explained, levitating the glasses off of her face. “They said, they wanted to, ‘keep track of the lines that they weave’ or some such thing like that.”

“Huh,” I responded. “Didn’t know they had access to that song.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Nothing.”

“Oh, but where are my manners? It’s ever so good to see you again,” Rarity said, matching my stride. “How have you been today?”

“Pretty good. I just got back today, and I got to take Twilight out for a picnic-” Before I could say anything, Rarity gasped, and she gave me her ‘gossip’ smile.

“I knew it, I just knew that you two were destined for each other!” She said joyfully. “I mean, I had my suspicions when you and her first wandered into my boutique that fateful Summer Sun Celebration, but I didn’t think that-”

“Rarity. What are you talking about?” I deadpanned.

“Beg pardon? You mean that you don’t…?”

“I have no clue what you’re getting at,” I lied. “But in other news, I got a letter that really makes my day.”

“Oh?” Rarity said, a little crestfallen.

“Yeah. Guess what?” I nearly squealed, hopping in place like Pinkie for a moment.

“What?”

“I’m going out with Octavia tomorrow night!”

Preview of Chapter 3:

In Her Eyes

“What do you think he and Octy are doing?”

“Ah bet Omnius is makin’ a fool outta both of them somehow!”

“Twilight, what do you think?”

“…”

*^*^*^*^

“Why do you keep avoiding the topic?”

“Look, I jus-”

“No! Answer me right now: Do you care about me, or not?”

“I do! You’re my friend!”

“No, not like that! I mean…do you…love me?”

“…”

“Well?”

“…Twilight, I can’t love you.”

...Dude, I didn't think I'd get that chapter out this early. What with having to study for ACT's, and rehearsal for my school's musical/Broadway revue. Anywho, I'm also still getting some work done on Chapter 18 of "Omnius' Travels: Equestria", so don't worry, I'm not abandoning that story. It's just that this is shorter, and easier to write, as I don't have to constantly refer back and forth between a script/actual episode.

Now, if you'll excuse me, my bed is looking awfully comfortable right now.

Esperanto!

Traveler out!

I stood in front of a pony-sized mirror at Rarity’s boutique, and smiled happily. “Thanks again, Rarity, for making me a new suit.”

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all, my dear!” she said, her horn glowing as she took my measurements.

After I had told Rarity the news, she had insisted that I come in the next morning to get fitted for a new suit, so that I’d actually look nice. Heh. Me, looking nice. Perish the very thought!

“So, you and Octavia, hm?” The fashionista said, casually wrapping me in various fabrics.

“Yeah, it’s pretty awesome! I’ve really wanted to do this for a while,” I admitted, wincing a little. “Uh, Rarity? Too tight around the neck.”

“Terribly sorry,” Rarity apologized, loosening her grip. “I must have NOT NOTICED THE OBVIOUS.”

“What?”

“Nothing, nothing.”

For a while, I stood there in silence, letting Rarity get me outfitted for my suit. A couple of times it seemed that she was a little off today, as she kept accidentally jabbing needles into me. I figured I knew why she was doing this, but chose to keep quiet.

I’ll have to put up with worse if things keep going the way they are.

“Now then, how did you and Miss Octavia meet?” Rarity asked me as she worked, her brow furrowed in concentration.

“Well, when we were at the Grand Galloping Gala, after the whole…” I coughed slightly, and continued, “Incident…I met up with her, and found out that we have a lot in common.”

“Oh? Does she share your love of learning, or maybe…magic?” Rarity stressed. “Or does she like books too?”

“Um…not that I know of,” I replied, faking confusion. “But we have the same tastes in music, and she’s apparently a fairly big fan of my work.”

“Huh…that sounds like someone else we all know!”

“Really? Cool. Anyways, I’m really hoping that this’ll lead to us getting together more often,” I said, my tone hinting that she should let the matter drop. Apparently, Rarity is about as good at taking hints at I am, because she kept badgering me with questions.

Needless to say, I was ecstatic when the suit was finished.

“Thanks, Rarity.” I passed her a bag of bits, and at her slightly offended/confused expression, I stated, “For the suit. See you later.”

“Oh, thank you…” She reluctantly said. “Now you have fun with Octavia…” She added with a trace of venom in her voice.

“Aight,” I said in a neutral tone. Alright, I’ll admit that I was being rude, but hey, give me some credit: She was jabbing me with needles for what must have been hours, and pestering me with questions that I couldn’t properly answer.

Turning, I walked out of the boutique, my suit neatly folded and placed into a saddlebag at my side. Unfurling my wings once again, I made my way over to my house, trying to get myself psyched up for my night.

“Hmph,” Rarity snorted as she watched Omnius fly off. “I simply cannot believe that he is being this oblivious!”

An angry glimmer in her eyes, she snatched a saddlebag from a peg on her wall, and started filling it with various materials. In a dramatic voice, she declared, “Just you wait, Omnius! I will not stand by and let true love fail to bring you and Twilight together!”

With that, she charged out her door, and dashed towards Twilight’s library, barely feeling the weight of her saddlebags on her back.

“Heh, 007 can suck it,” I chortled, standing in front of my mirror at home, wearing my new suit.

In all honesty, it was a simple suit, just the normal black and white attire that’s standard in all tuxedoes.

Then again, it was a tuxedo. A freaking TUXEDO. I barely get a chance to wear these bad boys, and I fully intend to take every advantage of it I can. Posing for a moment, I pointed my wing at the mirror like a gun, and said in my best Sean Connery voice, “The name’s Traveler…Agent Traveler.”

The sound of somepony knocking on my door snapped me out of my small flashback scene, and I flew down the stairs. “Coming!” I shouted.

Pulling open the door, I beheld a grey mare with a charcoal mane and tail standing outside, wearing a small, yet stylish, red bowtie, and in a light gown. She gave me a half smile, and said, “Mr. Cliff, I presume?”

“Indeed, Miss Octavia,” I replied, bowing. “Would you like to come in? Or should we just head straight for the music hall?”

She flipped her long mane back, and glanced at the inside of my house. Seeing the bits and pieces of garbage that littered the ground, she gave me a lighthearted smirk. “No, I think we should head to the music hall. After all…we have a lot to do tonight.”

“True,” I nodded. “Alright, let’s be off! Say, how did you get here anyways?”

“I rented a carriage. It’s our ride to the hall as well,” Octavia explained, gesturing at the small two-pony carriage parked just outside of my little area.

“Fancy. Welp, let’s head out!” I opened the door to the carriage for her, and followed soon after, not noticing the pair of magenta eyes that were staring at me from the top of a cloud, hovering low in the sky.

Twilight sat on her pillow, giving Rarity the closest imitation she could of Omnius’ patented (he actually had a patent paper for it), “NO!” stare. It basically consisted of making sure that your eyes and eyebrows were perfectly in sync with each other, so you could transfer the message of, “No way in Hell/Tartaraus/Nevernever is that gonna happen.”

“But Twilight, you must!” The white unicorn pony shouted. “I know how you have those feelings for him, and we need to act fast if you are to-”

“No!” Twilight shouted. “There is no way that you’re going to make me wear something like THAT just to get his attention!”

“But-”

“NO!”

At this moment, a cyan and rainbow colored blur shot through the window, halting mid-flight just before she would have collided with another bookshelf.

“Rainbow Dash?” Twilight asked, confused. Rarity was distracted for a moment as well, surprised by the sudden appearance of their Pegasus friend. “What are you doing here?”

Dash spotted Twilight, and said, “Twilight, you’re not gonna believe this! Omnius is-”

“Going out with Octavia,” Twilight deadpanned. “I know.”

“You do? Oh…well, uh, I guess I shouldn’t have gotten the rest of the girls then,” Rainbow Dash said, chuckling nervously.

“What do you mean, ‘rest of the girls’?”

The three of them turned to the doorway to find that Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Applejack had just walked in, giving Twilight a mixture of sad and sympathetic looks. The unicorn groaned in exasperation, and turned her glare to Rainbow Dash.

“Rainbow Dash…” Twilight said in a low, dangerous voice. “Why is everypony here?”

Pinkie bounced around Twilight, saying in a sing-song voice, “Because, silly, you like Omni, but he’s out on a date with Octy! We wanted to cheer you up!”

“What? Why would I need cheering up? I’m fine!” Twilight said unconvincingly. “I don’t care if he goes out with her!” She turned around, and started throwing books unceremoniously back onto their shelves.

“Twilight, what were you reading?” Applejack asked, attempting to look over the bookworm’s shoulder.

“Nothing!”

Applejack scowled, and snatched one of the books from off of the shelf. She raised an eyebrow, and said, “Twi…if yer not carin’ if he’s dating somepony else, then why do you have a book that’s about telling somepony that you care about ‘em?”

Twilight blushed furiously, and used her magic to take the book back. Shoving it back onto the shelf, she said, “No reason! I just hadn’t read it yet, and I wanted to-”

“Um, Twilight?” Fluttershy softly said. “Maybe you should just tell him. I mean, would it really be that hard?”

Trembling visibly, Twilight kept her face to the bookshelf, and attempted to feign an interest in organizing her books.

She didn’t fool anypony.

“Twilight, it’s alright,” Fluttershy continued. “I’m sure that he feels the same way about you.”

Twilight remained silent, but she stopped “organizing” her books. She sniffed once, before she turned and gave Fluttershy a small smile. Giving the animal loving Pegasus a quick hug, she said, “Thank you.”

After a quick group hug, the girls all started chatting, glad that they were able to help Twilight get her mind off of the situation…that is, until Pinkie had a question.

And when Pinkie has a question, is she gonna ask it?

“What do you think he and Octy are doing?” She asked, putting a hoof to her chin thoughtfully.

“Ah bet Omnius is makin’ a fool outta both of them somehow!” Applejack chuckled, imagining the look on that musical mare’s face if Omnius were to pull his harmonica out and just start playing it.

“Most definitely,” Rarity nodded. “Can you imagine him finding out that there isn’t any soda wherever he is?”

They all shared a laugh at that, imagining him holding his hooves to the sky, and screaming in an overly dramatic fashion. Knowing Omnius, that would probably be exactly what he would do.

“No, no!” Rainbow Dash chuckled. “He’s probably trying to tell jokes to some of those snooty upper-class pony jerks!”

“Rainbow!”

“What? You met them, so you can’t deny it!”

“Twilight, what do you think?” Fluttershy asked, not wanting Rainbow Dash and Rarity to start fighting with each other.”

The lavender unicorn hesitated, trying to think of an answer. She tried to think of something funny, but in the end, she just sighed. “I don’t want to admit it, but…he’s probably making sure that they have a good time.”

“What? Are you serious?” Dash asked, rolling her eyes.

“It’s true though,” Twilight lifted her head up, and stared out the window. “He might make a fool out of himself, but he’d never try to make anyone of his friends look like that. He cares about them too much.”

“I suppose that’s true…” Fluttershy admitted.

“And not only that, but if he likes Octavia, then that means that he’ll-”

“What are you girls talking about?” A new voice asked without warning.

“No, really, what’re you talking about?” I asked, closing the library door behind me.

“Omnius?!” Rarity half-shouted in surprise. “W-what are you doing here?”

I smiled widely, and said, “I’ve got some good news, and I need ponies to share it with!”

“Oh…I take it your date with Octavia went well then?” Twilight said, somewhat sadly.

“Date?” I repeated.

“That is typically what they call it when two ponies who like each other spend a night together,” Rarity spat.

“I wasn’t- WAIT, WHAT?!” I shouted, shaking my head, and staring at Rarity with wide eyes. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘LIKE EACH OTHER’?!”

“Hold on, now,” Applejack said, “Didn’t you just go out with Octavia?”

“Yes! To compose music!” I shook my head again, and at their confused looks, explained, “Look, Octavia is a fan of Treble Cliff, my MUSICIAN NAME.”

“…So you WERE going out with her?” Pinkie asked.

“NO! I asked her if she’d be willing to perform one of my pieces, and tonight was the actual concert for it! It’s normally good manners for the composer to appear alongside the musician, or at least to me it is!” I was a little surprised. Jeez, I didn’t mean that we were dating at all! These ponies…

“But you said she had excellent tastes!”

“In music!”

All of the ponies let out a sigh of relief, and I had to face-hoof them. “Honestly,” I muttered.

“Well, if you don’t like Octavia,” Pinkie started, before giving me a huge smile, and asking, “Then what about Twilight?”

“…Beg pardon?”

Pinkie bounced behind me, and giggled again, saying, “You heard me! Weeeeellll? Do ya, do ya, do ya, do ya?”

“Come on, Pinkie, I heard you the first time. Now if you excuse me, I have to go and-”

“Why do you keep avoiding the topic?” Twilight suddenly said, getting up and staring at me angrily.

Oh no…Oh no oh no oh no.

“Look, I jus-” I tried, only to feel myself get forced against the wall by Twilight’s magic.

“No! Answer me right now: Do you care about me, or not?” Twilight shouted, pressing me against the bookshelf. I tried to move, but the sheer strength of her magic kept me pinned, unable to even twitch.

“I do! You’re my friend!” I said, trying one last desperate attempt to delay the inevitable.

“No, not like that! I mean…” Here, she hesitated, as she attempted to gather her courage. “Do you…love me?”

I remained silent. It was as I feared, and it was something I didn’t want to happen. My heart waged a silent war with itself, as half of it leaped in joy at hearing the prospect that she did love me, while the other half plummeted, knowing that now I would have to do something…horrible.

“Well?” She said, while the rest of the girls watched in silence.

“…Twilight, I can’t love you.”

Preview of Chapter 4:

Loveless, Lifeless, & Heartless

“Twilight, I’m sorry…I don’t love you. And if you feel that way about me, it’s best if we never speak to each other again…”

“…”

“I’m sorry.”

“GET BACK HERE! I’LL SHOW YOU WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HURT MY FRIENDS LIKE THAT!”

“You can’t…what?” Twilight asked, with shock etched onto her face. Her concentration shattered, the magic glow around me disappeared, and I fell to the ground in a heap, taking a few books along with me. I picked myself up, and looked Twilight in the eyes.

I saw so much pain…I saw heartbreak, and sorrow.

“I can’t love you,” I repeated, forcing control over my voice and body in an attempt to prevent both from shaking.

Twilight fell to her haunches, and tears brimmed in her eyes.

“Why can’t you!?” Rainbow Dash asked hotly, taking an angry step forward.

“I can’t…” Taking a cautious step backwards, I swallowed nervously, and added, “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry!?” Applejack shouted. “That ain’t good enough! Y’all need to tell us why you can’t!”

“No, it’s-”

“Is it because she’s not good enough for you? Hm? Is that it?” Rarity asked, glaring at me furiously.

“Of course not, if anything I’m n-”

“Oh, I get it!” Rarity continued, refusing to let me speak. “You just can’t love her because you’re not truly the same species!”

That comment. That comment right there. It made me snap. All of the stress, worry, and sorrow came pouring out, and I gave Rarity a quiet glare. She winced, and stumbled back a step, surprised by how many emotions she could see in my eyes.

“Do you really think that is the reason?” I whispered. “That I can’t see past her exterior? No, trust me, if that was the case, I would get over it in a heartbeat.”

“Then why?” Twilight asked, her voice cracking. “Why?”

Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes, and said, “Because…I’m The Traveler.”

This silenced everypony. You could feel the shock, and disbelief in the air. Shock, because they never thought I would say that as if it were a curse, and disbelief, because it didn’t make any sense…yet. I let out a small, rueful smile, and continued. “All because of that one, little fact, I can’t love anyone.”

“But…how?” Pinkie asked, extremely confused.

“I’ll get the obvious one out of the way first: I’m immortal. I can’t die, and I am literally one of the only beings that will live for all of eternity and beyond that,” I said. “But that’s not the main reason. No, if that were the only problem, it would be nothing. Heck, I know of, and have, ways to extend life. I might even have an immortality talisman lying around somewhere in my vault...”

I opened my eyes, and gazed at them all. I had prepared this rant a long while ago, just in case such an occasion would arise where I would have to do something like this…

Something that I would hate myself for doing.

“I am The Traveler. I Travel across all of time, space, matter, and all of the realities and dreams. All. Of them. Have you ever wondered what would happen if Twilight were, say, a Pegasus? Well out there, in another world, that’s true. In another world, she might be a human, or a dragon. In another world, she might be evil.”

“What does that have to-” Rainbow started, but my patience was already at the breaking point.

“IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH THIS!” I roared. She flinched, and I kept going. “It’s not a matter of IF I’ll meet those alternate Twilight’s, it’s a matter of WHEN I’ll meet them! What will happen when I meet a Twilight that is evil, and bent on conquering Equestria?” I asked, pacing wildly around the room. “Would my love for her make me throw away all of my beliefs, and join her? Just to make sure she’s happy?

“And what would happen when I meet a Twilight who has fallen for another? Would I try to take her for myself?” I pointed out. “Do you remember that Pegasus who came here once, Purple Blaze? In his world, you were married and with child! How do you think I would take that if I loved you?”

Continuing my rant, I asked them all, in an angry voice, “And what would happen if I met a Twilight that was destined to die, and she did so right in front of me?”

I whirled around, and shouted, “IT WOULD BE THE SAME DISASTER THAT HAPPENED WITH JENNA, ALL OVER AGAIN! I would lose all control, and go into a Dark Aura of some kind, slaughtering all who were foolish enough to get in my way!”

“Then why did you fall in love with Jenna?” Rarity tried.

“Because, I didn’t think of these questions then! I didn’t think of these at all, until after she died! Now I have to suffer with the idea that I’ll someday meet a Jenna that is forced to be burned at the stake, or maybe be hanged for treason!” I cried. Stopping, and taking a calming breath to collect my thoughts, I said in a quieter voice, “I will not say that I regret the time I spent with her. I am not foolish enough to do such a thing.”

I wish I could have stopped right then and there. But I still had one more thing I needed to mention: “Twilight, even then, what would happen if both of us went to another world, and I ended up getting so badly hurt that I would have to return to a home world to recover. What about you though? You’d be stuck on that same world, without knowing if I’d be able to come back for you in just a few moments, or in just a few YEARS. I don’t want to have to put anypony, or anypony, through that.

“That also brings up just one more little detail…Twilight, I can’t ask you to give up this entire life that you have here, your friends, and your family, just so you would be able to come with me. You know I couldn’t stay, because I’m needed on other worlds! Not just this one!”

Tears were pouring down Twilight’s face, and my heart ached to see her cry. Right then, I wanted nothing more than to hug her close to me, and to tell her it would be alright. I wanted to hold her in my arms, and say how she meant the worlds to me.

But I couldn’t do that…not if I wanted her to stay safe.

I had to break her heart.

“Twilight, I’m sorry…” My voice faltered, but I then thought to myself, Think of her future…she still has a life to live. Steeling my resolve, I said in a low, but clear voice, “I don’t love you. And if you feel that way about me, it’s best if we never speak to each other again.”

The lavender unicorn, beautiful even in human standards…started sobbing. She shut her eyes, and turned away from me, tears rapidly speeding down her face. Every whimper she let out stabbed my heart like a knife, and it took every ounce of self-control that I had to not run to her. Instead, I turned around, and walked out the door.

As I unfurled my wings, I glanced over my shoulder, and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“Just…get out, Omnius,” Applejack said in a low, bitter voice.

Uh-huh. I knew this was coming: If I broke their friend’s heart, then I pretty much forsook their friendship as well. It cut me even deeper, but if that’s what it took to keep Twilight safe…so be it. Flapping my wings, I took off into the night sky, with Luna’s moon watching me in an almost sympathetic gaze.

I was almost half-way to my house when I heard an angry, fury filled voice shout out, “GET BACK HERE! I’LL SHOW YOU WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HURT MY FRIENDS LIKE THAT!”

Rainbow Dash. Of course, the Element of Loyalty would want to break me for breaking her friend.

I flapped my wings, not daring to look behind me to see if she was catching up. Pushing myself as fast as I could go, I dived towards the forest, hoping that I could maneuver quickly enough through the trees to lose her. As I ducked, and rolled through the branches, I felt somepony’s hooves nearly grasp my tail, followed by the sound of, “Darn it!”

Finally, I pulled my wings into my body, and crashed into the ground, narrowly avoiding any trees and bushes, while Dash sped ahead, unknowingly getting farther and farther away from me.

I stayed on the ground for a few more minutes, barely even breathing, paranoid that Dash would turn around and spot me. However, luck was finally on my side, and she never once looked back.

Phew. Well, there’s one crisis averted.

As if that were luck’s cue to exit my life, it started to downpour, almost instantly drenching me in a torrent of rainwater. I sighed, and said to myself, “Yeah, I probably deserve that…”

A few minutes later, I was flying through the forest, trying to clear my head. I didn’t pay much attention to where I was going, and only a small part of me recognized that I was flying near the cliff where Applejack had proven that she was worthy of being the Element of Honesty. A small smile flickered across my lips, as I flew to the cliff face-

-and got struck by a massive bolt of lightning. I screamed in pain, and crashed into the huge rock wall, sending several boulders careening down the sides, while I plummeted to the ground, already unconscious before I hit the floor.

The feeling of running water going across the back of my head slowly brought me back to my senses, and I let out a groan of discomfort, as I tried to roll over onto my stomach, only to be met with a heavy resistance from my wings. Glancing at them, I saw that heavy black boulders were on top of them, pinning me to the ground. Not only that, but my lower back legs were also buried in rubble, and I got a fresh wave of pain sent through me every time I tried to move.

“…And of course, they’re obsidian boulders,” I muttered. “Great…”

Obsidian…I hate that stuff. You see, a long time ago, I had been taken prisoner by one of the evilest beings in all the multiverses, and he had known about my Traveling. So what he did, was he would torture me with weapons made out of obsidian, but only whenever I either tried to Travel, or summon one of my Auras. The torture would break my concentration, and…he psychologically trained me to think of obsidian as my kryptonite: I couldn’t use any Auras, Travel, or shift back into my normal form.

Luckily, I still managed to escape, and it only affected me if it was touching me, or if I knew that it was one hundred percent obsidian. Anything else, and I could brush it off like a bit of dust.

Then again, that didn’t help the fact that I was still trapped underneath a couple obsidian boulders, and that it felt like my legs were broken.

And the fact that there was now a small stream of water running underneath me, effectively stealing away my body heat. Oh, let’s not forget the fact that I can’t turn my head to even drink from the stream.

And while I might be immortal, that doesn’t mean that I can’t starve, or dehydrate, and be forced to return to another home world to recover.

Great…

But once again…I deserve it.

Preview of Chapter 5:

Isolation

“…Jenna?”

“Not exactly…just a figment of your imagination, really.”

“Oh great. I’ve officially gone crazy from the lack of water and food.”

*V*V*V*V

“…Ye Gods and Goddesses…what have I done?”

I groaned in discomfort, and for the seventeenth time that day, I tried to roll over onto my stomach, in an attempt to dislodge the rock that was stabbing into my back. For the seventeenth time, the obsidian boulders on both of my wings prevented me from making barely any movement.

As if that weren’t enough, the obsidian boulders on my wings were the ONLY boulders that were made of obsidian. Seriously, out of all the places in the Everfree forest to get struck by lightning, I just happened to get lucky, and get hit right next to the area with the only two boulders that could effectively make a prison for me.

For hours, I stared at the sky, in just enough discomfort to stay awake, while still feel tired at the same time. It was maddening. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t quench my thirst. Hell, if it weren’t for the fact that the sky changed color when it switched between night and day, I wouldn’t have had any idea of how much time had passed.

Instead, I was left there, alone with my thoughts, and my guilt. Nothing was there to distract me from thinking about how much pain I had seen on Twilight’s face, after I had told her that we should never speak to each other again. Over, and over again, my mind replayed for me those last few moments I had spent with her, and each time I saw it, I felt my guilt grow.

After two days of laying there, in that condition, I was exhausted. I wanted something to kill me, to send me off to another world to recover, if only to give my mind something else to focus on. For a moment, it seemed as if Fate had pitied me, and an old, battle-scarred manticore wandered into the little cliff/stream that I was trapped in.

The manticore approached me cautiously, sniffing the air, before it gave me a confused look.

“Well?” I snarled. “Come on. I’m easy prey…” When it didn’t make any movements, I screamed at it, “COME ON! END IT!”

Shaking its mane, it gazed at me with a neutral expression, before silently padding away, scorpion tail glistening in the light of the sunset.

“NO! GET BACK HERE! I’M NOT FINISHED YET!” I roared, trying to move again, tearing open numerous small cuts along my wings. “JUST END IT!”

Angrily, I thrashed about, once again attempting to remove my wings from the boulders, but to no avail. I shook my head wildly from side to side, splashing up water into the air, before my glasses finally fell off, and were swept into the stream, slowly being carried away by the water.

“OH GREAT!” I shouted. “Now I can barely see anything, besides those damn boulders! GREAT!”

I slammed my head back into the ground, and tried to resign myself to finally falling asleep.

The sun had risen three more times, and no more monsters from the forest had stumbled onto my little prison. I guessed that I was on my fourth day of going without food, or water, and I barely had the strength to raise my hoof up off the ground. I was also finally starting to feel the effects of sleep deprivation, and my emotions were wildly out of control.

One moment, I would be totally consumed with guilt, and feel as if I were drowning in the feeling of my own inadequacy, haunted by the image of Twilight’s pain. Other times, I was enraged. I wanted to die, but nothing would come up and try to end me.

Right about then, I think the boredom, hunger, and thirst, finally made my brain snap, and I started to see…things.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I spotted a pale white figure walk towards me. In my exhaustion, I couldn’t even turn my head to look at it. When the figure leaned over me, my eyes widened in shock, as the figure lowered the hood that hid her face from view, revealing...

“…Jenna?” I wheezed, squinting at the figure standing above me.

“Not exactly,” she said, smiling sadly at me. “Just a figment of your imagination, really.”

“Oh great, I’ve officially gone crazy from the lack of water and food,” I groaned. “Well, what are you here to haunt me about?”

She kneeled on the ground next to me, and for a long while, she was silent, as she tried to find the right words to use. In the end, she said, “First, before I say anything, I want you to know that I am a manifestation of things that you know. Okay?”

“Okay…” I said hesitantly. What is my mind doing to me?

“…Alright,” She stated. Taking a deep breath, as if to reassure herself, she asked me, “What do you remember about the Shadow-Stalkers?”

I closed my eyes, and struggled to bring my scattered thoughts together into a coherent form. “Uh…Torrentican, Traveler of Evil, makes them…they’re his form of minions…” I mumbled.

“What does he make them from?”

I let out a deep sigh, and kept up the mental work, glad for something to distract me from my guilt, if only temporarily. “Typically made from Dark Magic, occasionally some spirit binding, and he always includes some form of emotions…mostly anger, rage, or hatred. Normally you can tell how he made it by the color they bleed…black equals hatred, red-orange means anger…and they can take the form of anything he wants, although he makes them for a specific purpose each time, namely killing me, or others.”

“Now what do you remember about the ones that look like humans?”

Head throbbing dully, I swallowed nervously. Why was she asking me about all of this? “They are normally the most complicated, but they can typically perform some of the more complicated magics, like force-fields, and mind altering spells. I’ve had a theory that even though he normally only makes them male, that he has the potential to make female ones too.”

“Okay…this will be the hardest question for you to answer,” Jenna said, her voice cracking slightly. “What do you know about my past?”

“…Uh…crap…” This is awkward. But okay, it’s just a manifestation of my subconscious. I’ve just gotta answer truthfully. Besides, I’ve already lost Twilight. And the rest of my friends. I wouldn’t be surprised if Celestia was pissed off at me. I don’t really have much else to lose. “Asides from the fact that you studied extensively in healing magic, and had a dark wizard as a teacher, whom you rebelled against, not much,” I admitted. Almost as an afterthought, I added, “I was planning on asking you more about it after the…fiasco at The Lord of The Land’s castle, but…”

She nodded. “I died. Now, what color was my blood?”

“What kind of question is that?”

“Answer it!” She said sternly.

“Okay, okay…” I muttered. “Red, wasn’t it? No big deal there.”

“When a shadow-stalker bleeds, red means what?”

“Um…now that you mention it, I’ve never seen a shadow-stalker bleed that color,” I confessed. “It’s always been something slightly out of the ordinary.”

“Omnius…Nathan…” Jenna said, almost sorrowfully. “Connect the pieces. And remember: What happened to my body after you went into The Dark Aura?”

…Barely any past that she would explain to me…healing magic taught by a dark wizard…somehow, she knew almost as much about shadow-stalkers as I did, but I had barely told her anything about them…

…

…

…

“No,” I said, my eyes widening. “That’s impossible. He couldn’t ever do something like that!”

“Nathan…” Jenna hesitated, a tear rolling down her cheek, before she continued. “Haven’t you wondered why you haven’t seen an alternate reality version of me, when supposedly the only three that have no other versions of themselves are you, and the rest of the Travelers?”

“You’re telling me that…” I choked up, and coughed slightly to clear my throat. “You’re a shadow-stalker?”

“Was. I was a shadow-stalker. You’ve known it all along,” Jenna said, bowing her head low in shame. “Torrentican created me for one simple purpose. To trigger your Dark Aura, and cause you as much harm as possible…I was supposed to betray you…but I couldn’t bring myself to do so.”

My heart felt as if it were being shattered. Everything I had thought real, between Jenna and I, was fake. It was all planned from the start, by Torrentican. “But…when you died, why was I able to bring you back to life?” I asked desperately, trying to find some semblance of reality.

“The Gods and Goddesses of Good felt pity for me, and for you as well,” she said, staring at the ground next to her. “They decided that I had earned a soul, so they saved my essence, and allowed me to return for one last week with you.”

Welp. I guess I shouldn’t take this that badly then. If what she says is true, then she’s just saying stuff that I should already know. I should be fine with this. Hell, I should be happy that I don’t need to feel guilty for falling in love with another.

But then again, there are a lot of things that I should do.

“So everything between us…that was a lie?” I whispered, tears rolling down my cheeks.

“No, never believe that,” she quickly said. “I only wanted you to know the truth.”

“But why? Why now, of all times?” I half-shouted in a mixture of anger, sorrow, and regret.

“Because: You needed to know that sometimes, it doesn't matter whether you know certain pieces of information or not. I need you to remember the promise you made to me, on the last night we spent together…and because she needs you,” Jenna stated simply, before fading away into the night.

For a long while, I stared at where she had been, and thought about what she had said. The promise I had made to her…would I ever forget?

“I promised that I would find love again,” I said softly, closing my eyes. “But I thought she meant like the love of a family…and what does she mean by…oh no.”

Memories rapidly rushed through my mind, telling me what my heart had known all along.

Meeting her at Sweet Apple Acres, and how worried she was about an impending disaster…

Offering to help her find a way to stop Nightmare Moon…

Naming my first Unicorn Spell after her…

The rage I felt when I saw how Discord had made her cry a single, heartbroken tear…

The warmth of her hug when I returned to Equestria…

“Ye Gods and Goddesses,” I lamented, weeping openly. “What have I done?”

Despite how much I had tried to fight it, despite all of the reasons I couldn’t love her, despite everything I’ve said and done, it was inevitable. I couldn’t deny it, no more than I could deny being The Eternal Traveler of Good.

Twilight Sparkle, one of my closest friends, and one of the most proficient magic users I had ever had the fortune to meet, and bearer of the Element of Magic…

Had just had her heart crushed by me.

And now? I was just beginning to realize…

Everything I had said before flying away…

It was a complete lie.

“Twilight…I’m so sorry…” I whispered, the wind carrying my apology away from me, and through the forest.

Back in Ponyville, a certain unicorn rolled over restlessly in her sleep, whimpering as she had a nightmare. Her small, draconic assistant was worried for her. No matter what he tried, he couldn’t get her to wake up.

Just as he started to consider writing the Princess a letter to ask her what he should do, she suddenly became quiet. Spike looked at her with concern, and was surprised to see that she had fell back into a peaceful slumber, her muscles visibly relaxed.

Letting out a sigh of relief, he crawled back into his bed, and pulled his blanket over himself. Drifting off to sleep, he thought he heard Twilight whisper, “I’ll find you...don’t worry.”

Preview of Chapter 6:

Gods Help Her

“I love him. And he needs our help! I don’t care what he said that day, it doesn’t change anything about the way I feel about him!”

“But he’s probably on another world by now! And even if he isn’t, how are you going to find him?”

“I don’t know…but there’s GOT to be a way! There just has to be!”

“Spike!” Twilight shouted, shooting out of her bed. The sun was just sending its early morning rays through the library windows, but that wasn’t what had Twilight worried. She had just awoken from a dream where she had seen Nathan, trapped in a black, shining cage. Something in her heart told her that the dream was real, at least in the sense that Nathan was trapped somewhere…

Shaking her head, she dashed into her kitchen, where her assistant was dutifully cooking a mixture of eggs and potatoes in a frying pan. “Spike!” she shouted again, startling the baby dragon.

“Twilight? What’s wrong?” Spike asked, looking away from the stove in concern.

“It’s Nathan!” Twilight said, grabbing a saddlebag and tossing in a few seemingly random items. “He’s in serious trouble, and he needs our help-”

“Nathan? You’re still going to help him after what he did to you?” Spike scoffed, crossing his arms angrily. He aimed a pointed glare at Twilight, and added, “He broke your heart. I heard everything he said from upstairs! So why would you want to help him?”

Twilight’s ears pressed down against her head, and she stared at a small speck of dust on the floor. “Because…” she said, closing her eyes.

“Because what?”

Suddenly, she shouted at the top of her lungs, “I love him! And he needs our help!” At Spike’s shocked expression, she continued, saying, “And he needs our help! I don’t care what he said that day, it doesn’t change anything about the way I feel about him!”

“But he’s probably on another world by now,” he pointed out. “And even if he isn’t, how are you going to find him?”

“I don’t know,” Twilight admitted. Her eyes then lit up in fierce determination, similar to whenever Rainbow Dash would train to join the Wonderbolts, and she said confidently, “But there’s got to be a way! There just has to be!”

Four hours later, and Twilight and Spike had searched the entire library for some sort of spell that would help them find Omnius. So far, they had found several tracking spells that would have done the trick…the only problem was, they needed something personal of his to make it work.

“No, we can’t give up now!” Twilight said, reaching for another book with her magic.

Spike knocked it out of her grasp, and half-shouted, “Twilight, it’s useless! We have nothing of his that can work, and his house has that weird security system of his! Unless you know how to get in there, then we’ve got no hopes of finding him.

Twilight glared at Spike, tears brimming in her eyes, and he stepped back a little in fear. He had never seen her look this desperate and angry. He swallowed nervously, and added, “B-but maybe we can look for him the old fashioned way?”

She nodded, wiping at her face a little. “You’re right, Spike, we can do that. Gather the rest of the girls, and let them know what’s going on.”

“What about you?” He asked, as he ran outside of the library.

“I’m going to start looking. I know he’s out there somewhere, I can feel it!” She called out over her shoulder, as she ran towards the forest.

Twilight’s mind was in turmoil. She didn’t know why she still loved him, even though he had told her, as simply as he could, that he couldn’t love her, and how it would never work out between them. So why was she running into a monster filled forest, on a hunch that had barely any basis in fact? Why was she going to possibly risk her own life to save him?

“Nathan!” she cried out, scanning the woods in front of her. “Nathan!”

While she was busy searching the forest, Spike had been running his scaly tail off, and he told the others what Twilight was doing. Reluctantly, they had agreed to help, if only to let Twilight know that it was pointless.

Well, almost all of them thought it was pointless. As they split into teams, Fluttershy pulled Pinkie aside, and asked her, “Pinkie…are you still mad at Omnius?”

She frowned, and said, “Nope! I actually feel pretty sorry for him!”

“You do?” Fluttershy asked, more than a little surprised.

“Well sure! Look at him! He goes around, helping others so much, that he’s seen a lot of people and ponies get hurt!” She said, poking her head into a tree, in an attempt to see if Omnius was hiding in there. “And there’s that big meanie Torrentican! Look at all the stuff he puts Omni through!”

“Oh, good, I’m not the only one who thought about that,” Fluttershy said, sighing in relief. “I only thought about those last night…I don’t think Applejack and Rainbow Dash have gotten over it yet though. I hope they aren’t too mad.”

“Ooh, I hope he’s not hurt,” Dash said, scanning the skies while Applejack ran beneath her.

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want anything getting to him before I do!” She snarled, punching her hooves together. “When I find him, I’m gonna pulverize him!”

“Well, don’ get too excited. I wanna teach him a thing or too ‘bout hurtin’ mah friends,” Applejack agreed, bucking a tree next to her for emphasis. “Now then, where’d you last see ‘im?”

Rainbow Dash scowled, and scanned the trees around her, trying to recall the night he had fled…

“Let’s see…it was right about here!” She said, pointing a hoof to the ground where Omnius had crashed to avoid her. “I would’ve caught him, if, uh, there hadn’t been an Owl stuck in a tree!” She said, blushing profusely, not wanting to let her friends know that he had accidentally outmaneuvered her.

“An Owl? Dash, you know those tend to live in trees, right?” AJ deadpanned, not being fooled for a second.

Dash rolled her eyes, and said, “Uh, yeah, I knew that! But its talons were stuck in the branch! Anyways, I go and help it in ten seconds flat, but when I get back, he disappears. “

“Hmm…alright, Dash, sure,” Applejack said, choosing not to wound Rainbow’s pride. “But where do you suppose he is?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care! I just want to find him, and beat him into next Tuesday!”

XHXHXHXHXHXHXHX

Twilight raced through the Everfree forest, calling out Nathan’s name repeatedly. Finally, she had to stop running, and give her voice a rest. She had been searching for what must have been hours, screaming for her…friend?

“Are we friends?” Twilight whispered to herself, as she sat down by a small river. She stared at the reflection in the water, and rubbed her eyes tiredly. For an instant, instead of her reflection, she could see Nathan’s, his dark brown eyes hiding something that had intrigued her since the first day they had met…

His eyes held something to them, something that everyone could notice to varying degrees. In his eyes, you could see laughter, joy, and happiness on the surface of them…but if you looked deeper, you would find the wisdom only gained from an extremely long life, and experiences that would amaze even the most intrepid of explorers and adventurers. Twilight saw something else though…something that no one else had seen in them.

Fear.

She looked into his eyes, and saw that he was afraid. Not just for his friends either. Even though a large part of that was his fear of something happening to them, there was another type of fear…

Fear for himself.

He was afraid of becoming too powerful, and too ambitious. He didn’t want to become a God, even though he fully knew that he held the potential to become one, if he so desired. Every waking moment of his life, he had to worry about being too powerful, and worry about what would happen if he snapped, and started using that power for all the wrong reasons.

He needed an anchor…he needed something to hold him in place, so that his memories, along with the lessons he’s learned, wouldn’t be swept away…

Twilight bowed her head, and whispered softly, “Um…Gods and Goddesses of Good? I know that Nathan is the one who prays to you all, but…Please, if you can hear me, help me find him…”

A tear rolled down her cheek, and fell into the water, before being swept away by the current. She sniffed, and turned to move on…

A glimmer of light on the surface of the river caught Twilight’s attention, and she trotted over to it to investigate. Her eyes widened in amazement, as she used her magic to gingerly raise a pair of thick, black rimmed glasses out of the water. The frame was slightly scratched, and the left side had a long crack running along the edge of it…but they were unmistakably-

“Nathan’s glasses,” Twilight whispered. She looked up the river, where the flow was coming from, hope lighting up her face.

Shoving them into her saddlebags, she galloped up the river, following the opposite direction the water was coming from. She ran up the hill, her bags gently thudding into her sides, and she frantically searched the area around her. A small part of her recognized the place as the cliff where she had nearly plummeted to her doom, before AJ and the others had saved her.

She felt her eyes drawn to a small rockslide that must have happened a few days ago. Then, she saw…him.

She saw Nathan lying in the river, his wings and part of his lower legs covered in boulders.

“Nathan!”

Preview of Chapter 7:
Heart to Heart

[Right now, I’d suggest you listen to, “Sora’s Sacrifice” ~ Kingdom Hearts]

“Twilight?” I called out weakly, seeing the purple blur in my vision. I tried to roll my body towards her, only to be met by the resistance of the obsidian boulder tearing into my wings, and a wall of pain. Lifting my head, I squinted and the blur came into focus, forming the shape of Twilight’s body.

“Nathan!” she cried, galloping towards me, her hooves splashing some water onto my face. As she reached me, I felt my strength suddenly fail, and my head dropped into the small river again, sending yet another wave of cold through me. I shivered uncontrollably, and Twilight knelt in the water next to me, her eyes taking in the small avalanche that kept me pinned to the ground.

[Right now, I’d suggest listening to “Sora’s Sacrifice” ~ Kingdom Hearts]

I gave her a tired smile, and said, “This is one of my better hallucinations, isn’t it?”

Twilight looked at me with tears in her eyes, and she said, “Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of here! Just-”

“Wait, Twi,” I interrupted. “I know you’re just another figment of my imagination…but…please, just let me say something.”

“Nate…”

I once again struggled to lift my head off of the ground, and forced myself to meet her beautiful violet orbs. Putting as much strength as I could into my words, I said, “I was wrong.” At her look of surprise, I continued, not wanting to lose this precious chance I had to make peace with myself. “I never should have said that I didn’t love you. I never should have hurt you like that.”

Tears flowed out of her eyes, and she said, “Please, Nathan, you’re weak. Just wait a second, and I’ll-”

“I know I’m going to probably die here, and I’ll have to go to another world, and not see you again for who knows how long, but I wanted to let you know…” I swallowed, tears brimming in my own eyes. “That even though there are endless Twilight’s, some good and some bad, that you…you are my Twilight. You are the Twilight I want to see at the beginning of each new day, and the Twilight I want to see at the end of each night.”

My head fell to the ground again, and Twilight gasped in shock. “I’ll get you out of there! Please, just stay with me!” She shouted, the rocks around me starting to glow, as she struggled to lift them. She groaned in effort, pouring all that she could into her magic, but the rocks stayed where they were, their collective weight too much for her to handle.

“It’s okay!” Twilight said. “I’ll let the others know you’re here!” She closed her eyes, and sent out a series of bright purple flares into the sky, lighting up the small canyon-like area with a harsh light that could be seen for miles. “Now we just have to wait, and we can dig you out,” she said, lying in the water next to me.

I shook my head, and whispered, “I’m not sure I’ll last that long…” I felt my conscious start fading, and darkness crept into the edge of my vision. With one final effort, I looked at Twilight, and forced my lips to form the three words I should have said long ago…

“I love you…”

Twilight’s heart stopped when she heard him say those words. Her eyes widened, and she saw his eyes close, and his body seemed to loosen up, as if he had fallen into a deep sleep.

“No…please, don’t be dead, please don’t!” She felt a pressure build up in her chest, and she shook her head wildly. “No! Nathan!” Forcing her eyes shut, she tried lifting the rocks again, but to no avail.

She shook her head again, and poured more magic into the rocks. Memories started to race through her mind, as she struggled against the boulders.

Meeting him for the first time at Sweet Apple Acres…

Him holding off Nightmare Moon while she attempted to summon the sixth Element of Harmony…

The Running of The Leaves, where they both tied for fifth place…

The warmth of the sunset on Hearts and Hooves day…

Her eyes shot open suddenly, glowing a fierce, blazing white, and she felt the pressure in her chest increase suddenly, making her feel as if she would burst if she didn’t release it. Grasping the boulders with her magic, she flung them all aside as if they were nothing more than pebbles, freeing Nathan from his prison.

As soon as they were gone, her eyes returned to normal, and ignoring the weariness she felt, she tossed herself upon his unmoving body, and desperately pressed her ear against his chest, listening and straining her senses to hear…

Thump. Ba-thump.

It was faint, but it was still unmistakably there: The sound of his heartbeat. He wasn’t dead…

[Music Over.]

She smiled, tears still flowing out of her eyes, and she finally realized how cold he felt against her fur. Pushing him out of the stream for the first time in days, she moved his still body onto dryer land, and used her magic to grab some small chunks of wood that were untouched by water. Setting it all into a small pile next to Nathan, she lit it up into a small fire, illuminating the area with a warm, orange glow.

That taken care of, she set her saddlebags onto the ground, and started pulling out some of the items she had thought to bring with her. She tossed a small blanket over Nathan, and pushed him closer to the fire. After that, she filled a small canteen with water, knowing that due to the position he had been trapped in, he hadn’t been able to drink in what must have been days.

As soon as she was done setting up camp, she lay down next to him, and smiled gently. Her heart swelled, as she recalled the words that he had spoken to her. Tipping his head up slightly, she brought the canteen to his lips, and poured water into his mouth. She blushed slightly, glad that he wasn’t awake to see this.

As soon as the canteen was empty, she set her head down on the ground, and thought that she would rest her eyelids for a moment.

When I finally opened my eyes, I thought that I would be on another world, back in my human form.

Instead, I found myself lying in front of a small fire, finally feeling dry after five days of lying in the river. I still felt weaker than a child, but it was such a relief to finally start to feel somewhat warm again.

As I came fully into consciousness, I started to shiver slightly, and I looked around. The last thing I remembered…

“You’re awake,” Twilight said from my side. I looked over, and was relieved to see that she was close enough that I could see her without my glasses. She tried to smile, but her lips couldn’t seem to form the right shape.

“So what happened before…that wasn’t an illusion?” Please, don’t let it be just a dream…

“…Did you really mean it when you said that you loved me?” Twilight asked in a small voice, her eyes gazing into mine.

“I do,” I stated. “Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia’s faithful student, and bearer of the Element of Magic…I love you.”

She smiled this time, causing my heart to skip a few beats. Her eyes glowing in the firelight, she said, “I love you too.”

We both stared at each other’s eyes for a moment longer, before I felt a sudden impulse…Deciding to trust my heart on this one, I leaned forward, and pressed my lips against hers.

A look of surprise flashed across her face, before she closed her eyes, and returned the kiss, softly pushing against me. For a few minutes, we sat there, kissing each other, until I started to shiver violently.

“Nathan? Are you okay?” she asked, concerned.

I nodded, and managed to stutter out, “J-j-just c-cold.”

She nodded, and moved closer to my side, pressing her body against mine. Using her magic, she lifted up a small blanket I hadn’t noticed before, and she threw it over the two of us, snuggling closer to me as she did so. “There,” she said as she finally finished. “Better?”

“Better,” I replied, lifting a tattered wing up, and using it to pull her even closer to me. Together, we both sat with each other, staring into the fire that Twilight had created, and after a few minutes, I asked, “Twilight?”

“Yes?”

“When did you start falling for me?” This probably isn’t something you ask someone (or somepony) when you just confess your love, but…it’s something I had to know.

Twilight thought about it for a moment, before she smiled, and said, “I’m not sure. I think around the time that you offered to help me try and study a way to banish Nightmare Moon.”

“Really?” I asked, surprised.

“Yeah. You were the only one who took me seriously at first, and then after that, when you tried to stop her from escaping…” She closed her eyes, and buried her head underneath my chin. “You risked your life for us. You hardly knew us, yet you still did that. And then after, you kept throwing yourself into danger, time and time again, just to keep everypony safe. You never asked for anything in return, except for us to be happy...I guess that's when it started sinking in...”

“Wow…I guess it took us long enough to get to this point,” I chuckled, nuzzling her in return.

“Mhm,” she answered, happy to just be with me. “Now…when did you fall in love with me?”

I scratched my beard with a free hoof, and considered the answer. “I guess…since I first met you. I was just in denial because of…well, yeah.”

“...Can I ask you something?”

“You just did,” I joked.

She shook her head, before saying, “What happens now?”

How do you respond to that? How do you say to the one you love that you have no idea of what will come? It’s simple, actually.

You tell the truth.

“I don’t know,” I said. I stared into the fire, and added, “I don’t know if I’ll be able to stay here with you, or if I’ll have to leave the next day. And if I do leave, I don’t know if I’ll be back in a few days, or in a few months.”

Twilight nodded, already having guessed as much. Still, she smiled, and said, “I guess it doesn’t matter now. We’re still together, aren’t we?”

“Yeah…we are.” I yawned, and felt my eyelids grow heavy.

“Nathan, go to sleep. You need to rest, after all. I’ll wake you up when the others get here,” Twilight said, softly brushing through my mane with her hoof.

“I don’t want to…I don’t want to miss a moment of this,” I wearily replied.

“Nate,” she sighed. “I’ll be right here. Don’t worry. I’m not leaving you.”

I grinned tiredly, and she kissed my cheek. “I think I could get used to this,” I muttered.

She rolled her eyes, and told me to go to sleep.

Well, I can’t exactly say no to her, now can I?

Preview of Chapter 8:

Together

“Luna…I have a proposition.”

“What is thine idea?”

“I believe it is time we gave Omnius…a reward.”

*^*^*^*

“So, think Dash will be happy to see that we’re-”

SMACK!

“OW!”

Yawning, I cracked open my eyes to see that the sun had risen well up into the sky, where it bathed the area around me in the soft glow of morning. For a moment, I panicked, thinking that I was still trapped underneath the boulders, until I felt the warmth of Twilight’s body pressed against mine. Sighing in relief, I kissed Twilight’s forehead, still not believing that it was all real.

“Mmm…” Twilight stirred at my kiss, and opened her eyes blearily. She smiled, and wrapped her forehooves around me in a sleepy hug. “Good morning, Nathan.”

“It certainly is,” I replied, returning the hug. “Well, I imagine it is. The only thing I can really see right now is you. Then again, that’s not really a bad thing.”

“Oh! That reminds me,” Twilight said, letting go of me for a moment, so she could rummage through her saddlebags. Before I could ask her what she was doing, she let out an, “Aha!” of triumph. She turned back to me, and to my amazement, she placed my glasses back onto my face.

“You found my glasses! But I thought that the river carried them away?” I said, happy, but confused.

“Well, I found them in the river. I guess we both just got lucky,” she said, lifting the blanket off of herself. “How do you feel?”

“I feel fine,” I answered, giving her a smile of my own. And then, as if it had a reputation for ruining the moment to uphold, my stomach growled-no, it ROARED ferociously. Seriously, I think I heard it echo slightly. Chuckling, I added, “Okay, maybe I’m hungry.”

We both shared a laugh, and she opened her bag again, this time pulling out a few granola bars. “It’s not much, but it should hold you over until we get home.”

I took the bars quietly, and laughed quietly.

“What is it?” Twilight asked.

“You said ‘home’,” I stated. Biting into the bar, I chewed on it thoughtfully, while Twilight raised an eyebrow at me. Knowing that she would want an explanation, I said, “See, to me, home is where the heart is. That means that wherever my friends are, that’s where home is. Now, though, I’m with you.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, and said, “That sounded really corny, you know that, right?”

“Oh definitely. It’s the truth though.”

I tore into another granola bar, while Twilight filled up a canteen with water from the nearby river, and sipped at it occasionally. Finally, when I got bored of the silence, I asked, “So…didn’t you shoot out a flare or something last night?”
“I was actually just thinking about that,” Twilight admitted. She looked up at the sky, a worried expression on her face. “The girls should have seen it, and they should have been here by now. I hope nothing has happened to them.”

I nodded in agreement. “Yeah…I don’t want them getting hurt because I had to say something stupid.”

I trembled slightly, and shook off the dark thoughts in my head. They didn’t belong here, not in this moment. Not when Twilight is right here, at my side. In fact, she seemed to sense my thoughts, and she curled up next to me, and I wrapped a wing around her. The movement felt so natural, that it made me think that my Pegasus form was meant to do things like that. It still might have hurt my wings a bit to do that (okay, a lot!), but it was worth it to feel Twilight pressed against me.

The sound of twigs breaking reached my ears, and I quickly put myself between Twilight and the bushes where the noises were coming from, glaring as I did so. I might have been weaker than normal, but there was no way I would let anything try to hurt Twili-

“Twilight!” Suddenly, Spike and Rarity burst through the bushes, with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie close behind them. Before I could react, they had crowded around the two of us, and were bombarding us with questions. I swayed slightly, the sudden noise after so much silence throwing me off, before Twilight took matters into her own hooves.

“Everypony! Please, calm down!” Twilight called out over the noise. “We’re fine, there’s nothing to worry about.”

“Yeah, everything’s good,” I added, nodding in agreement.

Rarity frowned, as her eyes took in how Twilight was supporting me, and how there were two imprints in the ground where our blanket was still lying on the ground. Her eyes widened, and her lips curved into a knowing smile.

“What? Rarity? What are you smiling about?” Pinkie asked, tilting her head in confusion. “Ooh! Did you just remember a funny joke? Because I remember one about a mule, and a griffin, and they walk into a bar where-”

“No, Pinkie darling, it’s not that!” Rarity said, barely containing her joy. She then put her face up close to mine, and she said, “Are you two…?”

I chuckled, and pulled Twilight closer to me with one of my wings. “Does that answer your question?”

“Wha-ha-ha-ha!” Rarity laughed, clapping her hooves together in her excitement. “Oh, I just knew it! Why, you two fit each other so perfectly!”

“Congratulations,” Fluttershy quietly said.

Pinkie on the other hoof, gasped overdramatically, and shot off into the forest, leaving a Pinkie-shaped cloud of smoke where she had been standing before. I shook my head, and decided not to worry about it.

“Hmph.” Spike crossed his arms, and he shot me a fierce glare. “I can’t believe you still helped him,” he muttered to Twilight.

“Spike,” Twilight said warningly.

I raised a hoof up to stop her, and said, “No, he’s right. It doesn’t matter why I did it, I still never should have done that. I nearly ruined my friendship with all of you, and I almost lost you. Spike has every right to be mad at me.”

That surprised him, and he said, “Oh, uh…yeah! Just, um, don’t do it again!”

Twilight rolled her eyes, and she lifted up a small scroll. “Spike, could you please send this to Princess Celestia?”

“What is it?” Spike and I both asked at the exact same time.

“It’s a letter I wrote while you were sleeping, Nate,” Twilight explained, while Spike burned the letter up in a puff of green fire. “Well…it’s a friendship report, actually.”

“Oh?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Just as I was about to ask Twilight what she had written, Fluttershy interrupted, and asked, “Um, if you don’t mind, what happened last night? We were really worried about the both of you.”

“Oh. Well, when I flew away from the library last night…”

Princess Celestia was sitting on her throne, trying to enjoy a rare moment of peace. She had just gotten finished dealing with some of the more uptight and arrogant nobles of Canterlot, each of them wanting to complain about SOMETHING. Sometimes being the wise and kind ruler had its drawbacks. Not being able to use magic to silence them was one of them.

As she entertained thoughts of replacing Money Bags’ mouth with a zipper, there was a brief flash of fire, and a scroll appeared, floating in front of her.

“Oh? It’s a little early for a friendship report,” Celestia mused, as she opened the scroll with her magic and scanned its contents. After she finished, she looked up, and called out to her guard, “Cancel all other meetings for today. I will be occupied with more important matters.”

“As you wish, your highness.”

With that, Celestia’s horn glowed, and she teleported out of the throne room, and into the hall outside of Luna’s quarters, still levitating the scroll in front of her. Before she could knock on the massive doors, they opened, revealing her sister, and ruler of the night.

“Sister?” Luna asked, rubbing her eyes wearily. “I was just having the most delightful dream…”

“Luna, please; Read this,” Celestia said, giving the scroll to Luna.

Luna quickly read the contents of the scroll, and a happy smile lit up her face. “I had a feeling that this would happen eventually.” Her smile disappeared, as she thought about all of the obstacles still in their way…

Luckily, it seemed that Celestia had already accounted for this.

“Luna,” The sun princess started, a small smile tugging at the edges of her lips. “I have a proposition.”
“What is thine idea?” Luna asked, momentarily slipping into her old accent for a moment.

“I believe it is time we gave Omnius…a reward.” Celestia explained her idea to Luna, going over some of the touchier subjects with her sister.

“Tia…if we are to do this, we will have to get the other gods’ approval,” Luna stated.

“I know. But I feel confident that they will accept it…after all, it can be our way of making sure that Torrentican can’t turn the tables on Omnius as easily,” Celestia said, her eyes hardening as she remembered the many atrocities he had committed, and how she had discovered Jenna’s true identity.

“You’re right. Well, we mustn’t wait any longer. Send out the message.”

“And then I heard you guys coming, and just…yeah,” I finished, taking another swig of water. Twilight had helped me to explain what had happened, but I still had to tell them what it was like being trapped underneath those boulders.

“You mean Jenna…oh my,” Fluttershy said, covering her mouth with her hoof. “Omnius, I’m so sorry…”

“Sans Souci. Besides, I’ve got Twilight, and she's definitely real to me,” I replied, smiling.

Twilight blushed, but smacked the back of my head and said, “Stop saying cheesy lines!”

“It’s not cheesy when they’re true! Besides, who doesn’t love cheese?”

We all shared another laugh, and I sat down, tearing into my seventh granola bar. “Wonder where Dash and AJ are.”

“Well, they were searching the opposite side of the forest. They should be here momentarily,” Rarity replied.

I nodded, satisfied with the answer for now. Looking from myself, and back to Twilight, I asked, “So, think Dash will be happy to see that we’re-“

Without warning, a cyan colored blur shot out of the bushes, and I instinctively pushed Twilight to the side, and lowered my head to take the blow.

SMACK!

I felt myself get thrown to the ground, and the force of the attack sent me crashing into a nearby tree. “Ow,” I stated, shaking stars out of my eyes. “Good to see you Rainbow. Your charges need some work.”

“Well how ‘bout my bucks?” A southern voice said from behind me.

“Ye Gods.”

I tried to say something else, but a pair of orange hooves connected with my face, and the stars in my vision exploded, sending waves of agony throughout my skull. I fell onto the ground, and kept falling into darkness…

“Did anypony get the license plate of that freight train that hit me?” I groaned, feeling my mind slowly pull itself together. A dull ache pulsed through my head, and I had to force my eyes open just to see where I was.

Bad move.

“AH! THE LIGHT! IT BURNS!” I yelled, shutting my eyes again. I forgot that when I get headaches, my eyes become extremely sensitive to light. And I also forgot something else: “OW! Yelling hurts my head, okay, good to know!”

“Oh, he’s awake! Again,” I heard Twilight say from somewhere in the room.

“Omnius! Pardner, I am REALLY sorry I did that,” Applejack’s voice said. She sounded extremely apologetic, and she added, “I didn’t stop ta think ‘bout wah ya said those things, but Twi explained it to me.”

“Oh…Sans Souci then,” I said, once again daring to crack my eyes open. “Where are we?”

“You’re back in my library.” Suddenly, my head felt as if cold water had been poured down it, and my headache faded away. I opened my eyes fully, and saw that Twilight’s eyes were just inches away from my own.

“I could get used to this,” I grinned. I got up, picking myself up off of Twilight’s bed (Get your mind out of the gutters!), and jumping to the floor. “Where’s Rainbow Dash?”

“Downstairs,” Twilight answered. “Come on, we don’t want to miss the party.”

“Party?”

I trotted down the stairs, with Twilight by my side, and Pinkie jumped out in front of me and yelled, “SURPRISE! Happy ‘Stopped acting silly and decided to get together like everyone thought you should’ party!”

“…Uh, wait, my what party?” I asked, before Pinkie shoved a cupcake into my mouth. I then decided to not question Pinkie’s randomness, and instead enjoy the food. In front of us, ponies were crowded into the library, enjoying some of Pinkie’s baked goods, and listening to some random music.

Yeah. I’m just gonna eat my cupcake now.

Why yes, I do have my priorities straight.

“Hey, Nate, good to see you’re still alive.” I looked over, and saw a very familiar looking human…

“Kyle!” I said, giving him a bro-hoof. “How did you get here?”

“You ask that a lot, you know that?” He said, returning the gesture happily. He then raised his eyebrows, and looked from me to Twilight rapidly. A smug grin appeared on his face, and he said, “Called it.”

“Yeah, you did,” I agreed. “And you know what?”

“What?”

“I couldn’t be happier that you were right.”

A few hours into the party, and I was back to my old self. Several cupcakes and soda drinks can do that for me. Oh, and Twister. I’m really good at Twister. Wait, what was I talking about again? Oh right!

Just as I finished what must have been my thirteenth cupcake, I felt a hoof tap my shoulder. Swallowing, I glanced behind me to see that Twilight was standing there, holding a small telescope.

“Can we go somewhere a little more…quiet?” She asked, looking pointedly at the night sky outside.

I took the hint, and nodded. My stomach growled at me again, and I turned back to the table to grab a tray of cookies. Balancing them on my head, I quickly followed Twilight outside, as we snuck away unnoticed by the crowd.

“Did you really have to bring those?” Twilight asked, giving me a small grin.

“Well…yeah, kinda.”

She just rolled her eyes and took one of the cookies from the tray. As she bit into it, she also levitated another cookie into my mouth, saving me the trouble of trying to reach the tray.

“F’angs” I mumbled through a mouthful of food.

A few more minutes of walking later, and I realized that she was leading us back to the hill where we had spent Hearts and Hooves Day together.

“So, why’d you want to come out here?” I asked, looking at the night sky.

Twilight set up her telescope, and put her eye to it, adjusting a few knobs on it. “I got a letter from Princess Luna, saying that there was supposed to be a meteor shower tonight! It should be happening in just a few minutes.”

As she finished speaking, a meteor streaked across the sky, leaving a small trail of white light in its wake. Twilight gasped, and a huge smile lit up her face. I watched the sky with her, as more meteors shot across the sky, and I said, “Aren’t you supposed to make a wish on a shooting star?”

“Who says I didn’t?” Twilight asked, giving me a teasing smile. “What if I already got my wish?”

“What would that be?”

She nuzzled my side, and kissed me again. “Take a wild guess.”

I chuckled, and returned the kiss happily. “Well, I’m still hoping my wish comes true.”

“What did you wish for?”

“Can’t say. It’d ruin it,” I stated. “But so far it’s going well.”

We sat there, together, occasionally glancing into the telescope to get a better view of the falling stars. Every time Twilight would use the telescope, my eyes wouldn’t be on the sky. They’d be on her. They’d be watching the stars in her eyes.

On a sudden impulse, I asked her, “Twilight, do you want to see the stars?”

“Aren’t we watching them already?” She replied, a semi-confused look on her face.

I shook my head, and gestured at the sky, saying, “No, not like this! I mean…never mind, it’s probably not a good idea anyways.”

“Oh, I would actually like to hear it, Traveler.”

Twilight and I jumped, and we turned to see that not only was Princess Celestia standing there, but so was Princess Luna, Kyle, and the rest of the girls. I swallowed nervously, and said wittily, “Uh, hi? Lovely weather we’re having?”

Luna nodded, her eyes glued to the sky. “Indeed. I put a lot of effort into this night. After all, it is a special occasion.”

“It shows,” Twilight said.

“Special occasion?” I asked, my eyes narrowing slightly. “Uh, what’s going on?”

“Yeah, I’m a little curious about that myself,” Kyle added.

Celestia smiled, and she turned to Twilight and I. “It is quite obvious that you two harbor deep feelings for one another, correct?”

We both nodded.

“But as Omnius can’t stay, and his Traveling is random, you might be separated for quite some time, now wouldn’t you? And Twilight has a life here…”

Again, we nodded.

“Therefore, after conversing with several Gods of Good, we have decided to do this…” Celestia and Luna’s horns both glowed, and a beam of light shot out of them, hitting Twilight’s horn. Her eyes started to glow, and a purple ray shot out, and connected with my chest.

For an instant, I felt like I was a part of Twilight. I could hear what she heard, and see what she saw. For a moment, I could feel the amount of raw, magical energy she held inside of her. Finally, the lights disappeared, leaving me drained.

“What…what just happened?” I panted, shaking my head.

“Twilight is now bound to your life,” Luna stated. “As long as you both continue to care for one another, and as long as Omnius lives, so shall she.”

My jaw dropped in shock. Twilight gasped, and she looked frantically between the two Alicorns. In awe, she started to say, “B-but that means that-”

“You now have part of the magic that makes Nathan who he is inside of you. You can learn any and all magic abilities, and are just as immortal as he is. Your only limits are that you cannot Travel by yourself, and…Nathan will explain the rest.” Luna averted her gaze for a moment, but I was too happy to care.

“But…what about the random Traveling?” Twilight brought up. “What will happen if I’m gone for so long, that-”

“That is another gift: Whenever you leave, and return, you will always return to the point you were at five seconds after you left,” Celestia said, smiling.

All of us sat there in shocked silence. This was…I mean…they just…

YE GODS AND GODDESSES!

“Princesses…Gods and Goddesses of Good…” I muttered. “Thank you…”

[Right now, I’d HIGHLY suggest listening to “Promise – Next New World” Mega man Zero 4]

Okay, that just leaves one thing I have to do. I hope I’ve hung out with the Doctor long enough to know how to do it properly.

“Twilight?” I asked, grabbing her shoulders. “Do you want to see them?”

“See what?”

“The stars! You know, stars, other worlds, mysteries that can be unseen, but believed in!” I replied. Gesturing a hoof at the stars above us, I said, “There are endless worlds out there, each one with countless moments to experience! And each of those moments has a story, waiting to for someone to hear them!”

Twilight swallowed nervously, and she hesitantly asked, “And…you want me to…see them with you?”

My heart fell slightly, and I said, “Well…yeah. If you want to. I mean, if you don’t want to-”

She silenced me with another kiss, in front of everyone there, and she said, “Of course I will!”

I laughed in joy, my heart now soaring high into the sky. “Well, no sense in putting it off any longer! Want to go now?”

“Now?! As in, now-now?”

“Duh! I’ve already got our bags packed!” I winked. “Pocket Dimensions! Can’t go wrong with them!”

She thought about it for only a second, and then nodded. A frown crossed her face, and she asked in a small voice, “What’s it going to be like?”

“What? Traveling?”

She nodded.

“Twilight…I’m going to tell you a secret. Well, I guess everyone here is gonna hear it, but not big deal.” I leaned closer to her, and said, “Traveling is always how you picture it.”

“Huh?”

“Exactly! You’ll feel how you think you’ll feel! Kyle thought Traveling was like going down a tunnel, right?”

“It’s true!” He called out, slightly annoyed.

“And I always picture it as a jump! Like I’m just taking one big leap of faith, and trusting in fate to take me where I’m needed!” I grinned sheepishly, and added, “It’s why I’m always falling when I enter a new world.”

“So…a leap of faith?” Twilight repeated.

“Yep.” I held out a hoof to her, and said, “Don’t worry about the fall though. I’ll catch you.”

She smiled, and accepted my hoof. “Live and Learn?” She said, quoting one of my many phrases.

“I love you so much right now,” I replied. With that, I turned on the spot, waving goodbye to the others, Twilight waving as well, and shouted, out one phrase that summed up all of my feelings at that point. One phrase that expressed my love for Twilight, my endless thirst for knowledge and adventure, and my eternal fate, along with stating who I was with pride, and confidence.

“IT’S GOOD TO BE THE TRAVELER!”

As they disappeared, Celestia let out a knowing smile.

“What?” Kyle asked her. “What’s so funny?”

“I feel as if we have made things…even, for The Travelers again,” she answered. “Torrentican has his Shadow-Stalkers, his own personal army. Neutra has her Disciples, her own secret organization. Now? Omnius has Twilight. His own light to guide him in the darkness to come.”

“Whoa…that’s kinda deep.”

“Yes,” Luna nodded. “He now has his Eternal Twilight.”

Howdy y'all! Yes, you read that right! It's the end of Story 1! I might put up more bonus chapters, or maybe new story arcs if I feel like it. Who knows!?

Also, has anyone noticed the hidden subliminal message? If I've already told you, please don't say, and let the others figure it out. If you think you notice it, please say so in the comments!

Esperanto!

“Hang on, Twilight!” I shouted, as we fell through the air.

She tightly grasped my throat as we fell, still not used to the sensation of Traveling (even though we must have done it about a dozen times). Then again, I’m not really complaining. It gives me a chance to get a strangle-hug from Twilight.

“And…” I flared out my win-Wait, I don’t have wings. Why am I in earth pony form? “Um, Twilight?” I shouted, a hint of nervousness in my voice. “Think you could, oh, I dunno, teleport us to someplace somewhat safer?”

“What!? Why can’t you just-?”

“Wings are gone! Sorry!” I apologized, grinning sheepishly. “So! The ground is getting awfully close…”

I swear, even though it is damn near impossible to hear things when free falling from about a couple hundred feet in mid-air, even as a pony, I heard Twilight let loose an exasperated sigh. Before I could ask her what was wrong (other than the fact that we were plummeting at an alarming rate), her horn flashed, and I felt myself crash into the ground with a muffled WHUMP.

“Ow…Twilight, you okay?” I asked, as I peeled my face off of the ground, stars lightly dancing in front of my eyes. Apparently, she had teleported us closer to the ground, thus negating the damage caused by physics, and gravity.

She groaned lightly, and said, “Yes, I’m fine…Oh, my head hurts.”

I frowned, and got up as soon as she had let go of my neck, and rolled onto the ground. Concerned, I glanced around, and then shifted into my human form once I saw that no one, or pony, was in the area. Placing a hand on her side, I felt her heart beat rapidly through her fur coat.

“You don’t seem like you’re fine,” I commented, slinging my backpack off of my shoulders, and rummaging in it.

“No, really, I’m fine. I’m just tired,” Twilight insisted, smiling at me.

“Twilight, you’ve pulled off crazier teleporting spells than that without breaking a sweat. Need I remind you about the Death Eaters?” I joked, pulling out a slightly dented tin canteen.

“That was an emergency!” she protested, accepting the canteen gratefully.

“Hey, I had a gun! I coulda handled them.” I stretched out on the ground while Twilight drank from the canteen.

“Your revolver holds six rounds,” Twilight pointed out.

“So?”

“There were twenty four of them! There was no way you could have gotten all of them,” she insisted, giving me her best, ‘It’s highly illogical’ look.

“Love you too,” I mumbled, rolling my eyes.

She giggled, and crawled over to me, laying her head on my chest. Together, we stared up at the crystal blue sky above us, and watched some of the clouds roll by. Birds softly chirped in the trees around us, and I let loose a content sigh.

“It’s good to be home,” Twilight murmured. “It feels like it’s been forever since we’ve seen everypony…”

“Only been about five seconds if I remember,” I muttered. My eyelids grew heavy, and I suppressed a yawn. The sudden fall, and then the rapid transformation had drained me a bit. Well, it doesn’t help when the last world you went to involved you and your OP magic girlfriend (I still don’t think that word fits her…) kicking ass on a near godlike level.

“Cthulhu…never wanna deal with HIM anytime soon...maybe next Tuesday,” I sighed. Putting a hand on Twilight, I said, “A nap sounds pretty good right now. Care to join me?”

When Twilight’s answer was to move herself closer to me, I nodded, and muttered, “I’ll take that as a ‘yes’.”

The sound of Twilight groaning woke me up from my short nap…okay, I say it was short, but in reality, the sun had set, and stars were twinkling in the night sky. Looking at Twilight, I saw that her eyes were squeezed shut, and dots of sweat beaded her forehead. Worried, I put a hand on her forehead, and winced when I felt how hot it was. Oddly enough, it only felt like heat was coming from…her horn?

“Okay, didn’t see that coming,” I whispered. Curious, I touched the tip of her horn, only to quickly snatch it back, barely holding back a gasp of pain. The tip of my finger now had a shiny burn mark on it.

“Not good.” I picked Twilight up in my arms, carefully avoiding her horn, and said, “Hey, Twi, wake up.”

Her eyes slowly blinked open, and she looked at me tiredly. “Nate…I feel…strange,” she admitted, rubbing her head in discomfort. Tensing a little, she asked, “Why are you carrying me?”

“Your horn feels like a pointy Bunsen burner,” I stated. “I got worried, so I’m walking us to town.”

“But you’re in human form,” she protested, squirming in my arms.

I tightened my grip on her, and stubbornly said, “It’s nighttime. The only ones who will be watching us are the moon, and a couple eccentric ponies. Maybe some artists.”

“Well, even then, where are we going?”

“I’m thinking we should head to my place,” I answered. “I should still have some of the books I borrowed from the library in there, and one of them should be a medical textbook.” A trolling idea popped into my head, and I grinned. “And maybe we can have some coffee.”

“I don’t like coffee though.”

“Me neither,” I said in a low voice, smiling suggestively. I couldn’t keep it up for long though, and I busted up laughing, despite Twilight’s apparent illness.

Twilight wasn’t amused. She jabbed her horn at my side, and I yelped in pain. Much to the surprise of both of us, my shirt now had a small scorch mark on the side of it, and a small hole torn into it.

“I didn’t mean to do that!” Twilight instantly said, looking at her horn with a hint of fear in her eyes. “I don’t know how that happened…”

“Yeah. Your horn isn’t that pointy…” I then pushed my glasses up a little, and cleared my throat. “Uh, scratch that.”

Indeed, as Twilight saw in the dim reflection of my glasses, that her horn had lengthened, and was now significantly pointier than before. Man, did I just really use the word “pointier”? Sorry, off-topic.

“What’s happening to me?” Twilight whispered, her voice trembling.

“I don’t know, but I have some suspicions…” I replied truthfully. “Let’s get to the library then.”

“What about your place?”

“Spike isn’t at my house. We’re gonna have to have him send a letter to the Princesses,” I said firmly, taking off down the path. “If this is what I think it is, things could get…messy.”

After a hasty explanation, Spike had sent the letter to Princess Celestia, despite the late hour, and I had set Twilight in her bed. She had fallen asleep again, this time because of a whispered sleeping spell on my part, and I was slumped in a chair next to her bed.

“Is she gonna be okay?” the small dragon asked, looking at the unicorn with concern evident on his face.

A half-smile appeared on my face, I tousled the small dragon’s head (it’s really awkward to do that to lizard with no hair), and chuckled. “Spike, this is Twilight we’re talking about. Not being okay isn’t on her to-do list,” I joked.

He laughed, and sat on a small stool next to my chair. For a while, we just chatted, him asking me about our latest adventures. Just as I finished telling him how we tricked The Capitol into thinking we had died in the Seventy-Fourth Hunger Games (fun story, remind me to tell you guys), he gagged suddenly, and a puff of green flame shot out. The flames quickly transformed into a scroll, bearing the mark of the royal family.

Spike and I both snatched at it at the same time, both of us eager to hear what the Princess had to say.

I started to read it out loud, while Spike tapped his clawed food on the ground nervously. “’Spike, Sean…’” I stopped for a moment, and looked at Spike. Celestia used that name only when things were vastly serious. “’Move Twilight to her basement, and have Spike gather the rest of the girls. Luna and I, along with Shining Armor and Cadence, will be there shortly. Sean, do not leave Twilight’s side for even a moment.’”

Spike and I stared at the letter incredulously. I don’t think either of us were expecting THAT sort of response.

This doth not bode well for the home team.

“Spike, you heard the letter! Er, I mean, read the-Oh, you know what I mean!” I said, crumpling up the letter, and shoving it into my pocket. “Go get the girls. I’ll move Twilight downstairs. Wait…”

Just before I went to the door, I pulled the curtains in Twilight’s room shut, and gestured for Spike to do the same as he went down. He got the idea, and did as I asked, before scampering out the door. I gave him a few seconds, and then snuck into the basement, trying to make as little noise as possible. As soon as I reached the bottom, I gently set her down on a blanket, and sat by her, tugging my revolver out of its personal Pocket Dimension.

This is definitely bad.

Very. Very. Bad.

For what felt like hours, I sat in the darkness of Twilight’s basement, one hand resting reassuringly on my sleeping unicorn’s side, and the other tightly gripping my revolver, the thumb positioned on the hammer, ready to pull it back at the slightest hint of action. Every little sound that reached my ears made my heart stop for an instant, as I set my mind to putting together what was going on.

“Alright, so here’s what I know so far,” I whispered quietly to myself. “Whatever is making Twilight all messed up, is something big enough to worry the Princesses enough to warrant an appearance by them, and by the captain of the Royal Guard. Now, apparently, even though it’s serious, she doesn’t want to have the entire world knowing about it, hence the reason she didn’t say she was bringing a squadron of guards. She also told us to stay where we are; meaning that she doesn’t want us to be spotted…secrecy is the key in this scenario.”

I adjusted Twilight more comfortably on the floor, and covered her with a small blanket that I had had the sense to snag on the way down. As soon as I was satisfied that she was good enough, I went back to my thinking. “Now, what else…Spike was sent to gather the others. Now why would he be sent, and not me, unless she thinks that Twilight needs to be guarded? The question here though, is what does she need to be protected from? Also, now that I think about it, with Spike getting the girls (way to go, you finally get the girls! ZING!), that also means that she doesn’t want things to look out of the ordinary, as Spike frequently runs errands such as these…and things that are out of the ordinary attract attention.”

Suddenly, I heard the clopping of hooves on the floor above me, and I gently thumbed the hammer of the revolver down. As I heard the door up above me creak open, I asked myself one last thing:

Who would be paying attention in the first place, and why?

“Omnius? Twilight?” I heard Spike call out from the top of the stairs. “It’s me! I brought the others!”

“Get down here then,” I hissed. “Wait! Spike, what did I do to the guard ponies we met at the Grand Galloping Gala?”

“Why are you asking me that?” he asked, a hint of confusion in his voice.

“I’m paranoid that you’re some sort of changeling!”

“What? Why would I be a changeling?”

“…You raise a fair point there, Spike.” I then cracked my neck, and added, “Just answer the question though.”

“Ugh, fine. You tried to do something called a ‘Vulcan Neck Pinch’, and then punched one in the face,” answered the small dragon.

“Yep, that’s you. Alright, come on down.”

“What’s with the paranoia, anyways?” Spike grumbled as he walked down the stairs, the rest of the girls in tow. As they neared the bottom, I let loose a breath I didn’t know I had been holding, and gestured for them to sit down.

“Sorry, but after a combination of the response from the princesses, and my experience with living through the Holocaust a few times…” I left the rest unsaid, as they could guess what I had meant by, “Holocaust.”

After exchanging pleasantries with the rest of the girls, and getting them up to speed on what was happening, I leaned against the wall, while Pinkie asked, “Wait, if the princesses are coming, when do you think they’ll get here?”

“That’s a good question.” I glanced at the door, and thoughtfully said, “Maybe one of us should be at the door. Make sure we know they’re-YE GODS!”

Right in the center of the floor, a bright flash of light erupted forth, and I quickly threw my arm up to shield my eyes, instinctively shifting into unicorn form. My revolver fell to the ground, before it was encased in the navy blue aura of my magic. Contrary to popular belief, it’s actually kinda hard to hold a gun, and use it, with magic. Mostly because since you’re grabbing pretty much every part of it, you have to make sure that you also pull the trigger, while turning the reloading mechanism, etc, etc.

“You can put the gun down, Omnius,” A regal voice said softly.

“Sorry, Princess,” I apologized, slipping the revolver back into its pocket dimension. As my eyes adjusted, I recognized the forms of all three princesses, along with the…angered…glare of Shining Armor.

Oh. Shit, we haven’t told him yet, have we?

“It is quite alright. Hello everypony,” Princess Celestia, greeted the others.

“Howdy there, Princesses!” Applejack said. “Uh, iff’n y’all don’t mind me askin’, but what’s wrong with Twilight?”

“Yes, she looks absolutely horrid!” Rarity stated. “And her horn is burning to the touch!”

Luna nodded, and she trotted over to Twilight’s slumbering form. Frowning slightly, she touched the tip of her own horn to Twilight’s, and Cadence smiled at me. “So, Omnius…how’ve you been?”

“Oh, pretty good so far. You know, kicking flank, taking names. Howzabout you two?”

“Great! Shining Armor really managed to-”

Said unicorn husband rudely interrupted her, by saying, “When did you start going out with Twilight?”

“Oh, a while ago. Why do you ask?” I said cheerfully.

Shining Armor’s eyes narrowed dangerously, and a spark of magic appeared for an instant, before disappearing. Cadence looked at him worriedly, and said, “Um, Shining? We talked about this. You said you weren’t going to get mad…”

“Oh, I’m not mad,” he said unconvincingly. “I’m just peachy.”

Before I could ask him what was up, Luna turned to look at all of us. Clearing her throat, she said, “It is as we feared.”

“What? Is Twilight gonna be okay?” I instantly asked, almost at the same time as Shining Armor. He was just a couple
seconds off though.

“…I do not know how to say this, but…” Luna hesitated, before Celestia nodded, and took over.

“Omnius, how powerful is Twilight’s magic?”

“Pretty damn powerful, I’d say,” I replied.

Rainbow Dash nodded, saying, “Yeah! She’s like the most powerful unicorn ever!”

“Right. Now, when she was tied to Omnius’ life force-”

“SHE WAS WHAT!?” Shining Armor exclaimed in surprise.

Everypony looked at me, and I sheepishly grinned. “We, erm, might not have gotten around to telling him everything yet.”

“Oh…Well, it’s a good thing that we already told him about you being The Traveler of Good,” Cadence joked.

Shining was not amused.

“I want to know why my baby sister had to be tied to that chump over there!” He shouted.

“We’ll explain later,” Celestia stated. At the looks of everypony, most notably myself and Shining, she sighed, and said, “Alright, I’ll get straight to the point then: When Twilight’s life was connected to yours, her own magical power began to increase as a result.”

“Right, I knew that. We found that out after Twilight zapped a bunch of Death Eaters-I mean, Bad guys into a wall.” I mentally berated myself for the near slip of the tongue.

“What you didn’t know is that it also triggered a…mutation, if you will,” Luna cut in. “Her body, in this form at least, can’t withstand that much magic. Starswirl the Bearded almost had a similar problem himself, if you recall.”

“Okay, but what do you mean by ‘mutation’?” My suspicions started to seem more like fact, as new information started coming to light.

“The best way to explain this, is for you to simply feel her back,” Cadence stated. She motioned for me to go over to Twilight, and I gulped audibly.

Under the gazes of everypony in the room (and the death laser glare from Shining), I placed a hoof on Twilight’s neck. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Slowly, I moved it lower, and lower, feeling her back, until I reached a spot where I felt something…harder than the rest of her back. Two something’s, actually.

“Why do I feel bumps here?” I asked.

“Where would you find those bumps on another pony?” Luna asked me softly.

“…Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy…” I said in a trembling voice. They started at the sound of their names coming from me, and I asked them, “Please extend your wings. Please.”

Hesitantly, as if they had already guessed what I needed surefire confirmation of, they did as I asked, spreading their wings until were spread to their full length. I gazed at their wings, and nodded as everypony took note of the spot where the wings connected to the body.

For an instant, there was silence, and then I said, “She’s becoming an Alicorn.” It was a statement, not a question.

“Yes. Currently, her body can’t handle the raw amounts of magic, and it is changing to adjust for it. Normally, this isn’t a problem in most unicorns, because as they grow they get more powerful. In Twilight’s case, however, her magic exploded in growth, and as she doesn’t age as much as she used to, if at all…” Cadence trailed off, letting us figure out the rest for ourselves.

I looked at Twilight, and fell to my knees besides her. Gently, I brushed a strand of hair away from her face, smiling softly. “Twilight’s gonna be an Alicorn…that’s…SO FREAKIN’ COOL!” I laughed, trying to be happy about the situation.

Celestia smiled, before nodding her head. Her smile quickly disappeared, however, as she told me something that had completely slipped my mind. “Unfortunately, the transformation has the unfortunate side effect of making her temporarily susceptible to almost all forms of magic.”

“What do you mean by that?” Fluttershy asked.

Luna looked up at the door, as if checking to make sure we were still completely alone, before answering, “Do you recall when Torrentican attempted to steal Celestia’s magic?” When we all nodded, she continued. “The spell required to do that is one that comes from this world…and he has been spreading its knowledge to others…Others who would jump at the chance to steal the magic of arguably the most powerful unicorn in Equestria.”

My eyes widened, and I leaped to my hooves. Before my mind’s eye, the faces of everyone with revenge motives we’d crossed paths with on this world flew past it in a speeding blur: Torrentican, Trixie, the griffons, the dragons, Queen Chrysalis, the Diamond Dogs…

All of them would want revenge, or more power, and Twilight was the perfect way to get that…

“No way in hell am I gonna let that happen!” I snarled, feeling a primal rage build up inside of me.

Shining Armor nodded, and he went and slung Twilight on his back, ignoring the confused look I gave him. Without so much as acknowledging my presence, he turned to the three Alicorns, and said, “I’ll take Twilight with me back to Canterlot. I can have the guards there protect her, while I put up another shield around the city for however long it takes for her to finish that.”

“Wrong-o there Captain Equestria,” I cut in, jumping in front of the stairs and cutting off his path. “If Torrentican is involved, then he’ll definitely spread the word to everyone with a grudge against Twilight, or me. That means the changelings will have heard about it, and they’ll be impersonating some guards.”

“Not the ones that I hoof-pick myself,” he shot back. “I think I know my own troops well enough to know which are fake, or real.”

Am I the only one getting tired of his attitude problem towards me? I looked over to Luna and Celestia, and they nodded, understanding what I was silently asking them. Well. I hope this works.

“Yeah, you did great with knowing your own WIFE was replaced by one of them. Oh, wait, sorry. You didn’t, and technically, she was your fiancée back then,” I spat. The look of rage on his face nearly took me by surprise, but I stood my ground.

“Either way, I’d sooner trust them than I’d trust you!” he angrily shouted, trying to shove his way past me. “I don’t care WHAT Twilight thinks of you. You’re the reason she’s in this mess, and you’re the reason all of those monsters want to hurt her.”

“Now wait just a minute,” I tried to interrupt, but to no avail.

“In fact, you can just go disappear again for all I care! You obviously can’t protect Twilight from any of them. For once, it seems like Twilight didn’t make a smart choice…I’m surprised she was dumb enough to fall for you!” he growled, shoving me aside.

All of the ponies in the room gasped at his show of anger, and the unintentional insult he had thrown at Twilight. I was thankful she was asleep for that.

“If you excuse me, I need to go find a squadron of guards who are actually cut out for the job!” He finished, opening the door in front of him.

And I was thankful she was asleep for what I was about to say…

“…You think that I can’t protect her?” I whispered in a deathly quiet tone. “You think that you could do a better job than I could?” Shaking in rage, I used my magic to slam the door shut on his face, forcing him to turn around and face me. “You...you, ARROGANT, NAIVE, BASTARD!" Everypony once again gasped in shock, except for the Princesses, who seemed to expect what I was about to do. "If you think you can do a better job, then answer me a few questions!” I shouted, trotting up the stairs to look him in the eye. “If you’re so caring and protective of that mare, then where the FUCK have you been!?” He flinched, as if I had just said something he didn’t want to bring up, and I went on. “Where were you when Nightmare Moon returned? And don’t give me any excuses about not having heard of it!” I yelled as he opened his mouth to respond. “I know for a fact that several guards were there already, some of them Pegasi, and they’ve been trained to fly to Canterlot in less than a couple of hours! And yes, you had plenty of guards to spare! I saw all the guards at your wedding! So!” He backed up a couple of steps, and I followed him, pressing him downwards with the pure force of my anger. “Where were you, when she was about to fall off a cliff? When she was attacked by a manticore? WHERE WERE YOU WHEN DISCORD WAS RELEASED?! WHERE WERE YOU WHEN SHE HAD TO BRAVE THE HEDGE MAZE!? AND WHERE WERE YOU WHEN DEMONS ROSE FROM HELL, AND ATTACKED PONYVILLE?!!”

He fell back, looking like I had physically struck him, and tried to answer, but I didn’t care for it. He was standing between Twilight, and safety, and he had pushed me to my breaking point. As he tried to find a good response, I used my magic to lift Twilight off of his back, and onto mine. As I did so, I said, “Now while you think of an answer to that, I’ll tell you where I was.” I pointed first at the girls, and then at myself, and snarled/growled, “I was right there besides her. I fought Nightmare Moon, I held back Discord, I slayed or defeated every single monster that was foolish enough to try and hurt her, and made sure she was safe! And now, I’ll make sure that nothing lays a single claw, talon, or hoof on her, until she can get back on her own hooves!” Stepping aside, I opened the door again, and gestured at it, never taking my gaze off of Shining Armor.

“So you can either get the hell out of this house, or you can finally start making up for missing so much of her life, and help me keep her safe.”

Shining shook his head, and sighed in defeat. Cadence shot me a look, to which I responded with an apologetic grimace, and she rushed to his side. They both looked at each other, silently conversing with each other in the way that only true couples can do, before Shining nodded.

He looked at me, and stuck out a hoof, saying, “I might not have been able to help her out before, but that was only because of bad luck. Even then, I still should have tried harder to help her. Now, I’m going to make sure that we can keep her safe…and I guess you’re the best pony for the job.”

I stuck out my own hoof, and we shook on it. Smiling, I said, “Great. Now then, come on. We need to find a better hiding place than this. Something tells me that someone’ll be smart enough to-”

THUD!

Shining and I glanced above us, as dust lightly fell onto everypony and Spike (it feels awkward to call him 'everypony'). The floorboards creaked, as something moved about, obviously searching for something...or somepony.

“…Called it," I whispered cynically.

“What’s up there?” Shining whispered, tensing as if to strike out.

I closed my eyes, and felt my ears twitch in anticipation. Inhaling deeply, I took in the raw scent of freshly torn earth. Above my head, the sound of padded paws thudded against the floor of the library, accompanied by the occasional “woof”.

“Diamond Dogs…maybe a dozen, maybe more,” I said, cracking my neck. Turning to the princesses, I nodded, saying, “Alright, here’s the plan. I’m gonna go into human form, grab my new and improved boomstick, and unleash hell on them. Shining, feel free to join me.”

“Omnius, you know that we’re all powerful beings, right?” Luna asked rhetorically.

“You’ll have to take Twilight, and head out. Obviously, Ponyville ain’t safe enough if Diamond Dogs are traipsing around up there,” I grunted, shifting back into my regular form. Shining yelped in surprise, as I opened a small Pocket Dimension, and put away the revolver, replacing it with a classic pump-action shotgun with a second grip on the pumping-mechanism.

“Alright, get outta here then.” I loaded the shotgun, and climbed to the top of the stairs, slowly opening the door just a crack. “I’ll figure out who tipped them off, and why they’re here in the first place.”

Celestia nodded, and the entire group of ponies vanished, leaving me and Shining by ourselves.

“So, think we’ll be able to take ‘em?” Shining said, giving me a cocky grin.

I grinned right back at him, and clicked the side of my glasses, transforming them into a pair of black sunglasses. Turning to the door, I brought my boot up, and slammed the door open, startling the pair of burly dogs that stood in front of it.

“It’s time to kick ass and chew bubblegum!” I shouted, slamming the butt of the shotgun on head of the one closest to me. “And I’m ALL OUT OF GUM!”

[I’d highly suggest listening to “Grabbag” from Duke Nukem. Preferably the CarboHydroM version.]

Without skipping a beat, I brought up the gun, and fired it at another armored dog, tearing apart his shoddy armor, but failing to kill him. Good, I don’t wanna have to clean up their bodies. Or traumatize any ponies.

Shining seemed to hold no reserves about killing them, as he charged at one, and impaled his horn upon its torso, neatly piercing the armor and tearing into its heart. The dog staggered back, before falling over.

“Nothing hurts my little sister,” he growled, putting a shield up between him and another dog that had leaped into the fray.

Meanwhile, I ejected the spent shell, and loaded another one into the chamber, kicking out again with my boot to push a dog into another, forcing them to the ground. “Stay!” I commanded, before jumping back to avoid the razor sharp claws of a dog that had snuck up on me.

Instead of panicking, I simply let my instincts take over. Years, and years of combat experience, training, and failed experimenting (never load a cannon with the scattershot weapon from Contra) all resurfaced, and I ceased thinking.

Instead, I reacted.

My shotgun came up with blazing speed, and with a squeeze of the trigger, another Diamond Dog fell, never to rise again. Realizing the gun was empty, I picked it up like a club, and used it to block the double fisted blow of one of the Guard Dogs (those huge D-Dogs with armor on). Pushing him back, I shoved the barrel into his mouth, and tore the crude knife he had at his belt away from him. Not even skipping a beat, I jammed it into his throat, and took my shotgun back.

“Down!” Shining yelled. I instantly ducked my head, and a small purple dome, roughly the size of a cannonball, shot over my head, taking out a would-be assassin.

“Thanks!” I shouted over the commotion. Shoving the gun into another P.D, I reached in and pulled out a golden magnum, and smiled evilly. “Come get some,” I growled.

The rest of the Diamond Dogs fled with their tails tucked between their legs.

“Groovy.”

[Music over]

“It’s worse than I thought,” I stated once the chaos was over.

“Worse?” Shining repeated questioningly.

I nodded, and went over to the two Dogs that were still cowering in the corner. “Someone decided to get all lippy, like Luna said, and they told the Dogs about Twilight’s…changes.” Glaring at the two prisoners, I knelt beside them, and continued. “Someone told them how it’d be beneficial, or how it would be good for revenge.”

One of the dogs caught on to what I was saying, and he quickly shouted, “We do not know anything! Honest! We is just simple scout dogs!”

“Who sent you then?” I asked, Shining standing right behind me with a knife scavenged from one of the fallen dogs held in his magical grasp. “And tell the truth. Me and my friend here hate liars.”

The other dog gulped, fear in his eyes, and said, “Alpha did! Alpha did! He says we is to get pony so we can get more gems!”

“Okay. Who told your Alpha, then?” Shining growled.

“Demon in black coat! He says that we can gets our own magics if we get the pony! Please don’t hurt us!” he whimpered pathetically.

I sighed, and stood up, rubbing my head. “Alright,” I finally said in a calmer voice. “You can go then. Just do me two favors.”

“Anything!” they promised quickly.

“First: clean up the mess. I don’t wanna deal with that tonight,” I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose.

“And what’s the other?” the smaller dog asked hopefully.

“Deliver a message to your alpha…” Suddenly, I grabbed one of the dogs by the collar, and brought him up to meet my eyes. “Tell him that if he’s gonna try this again…well, he’s gonna need a bigger army.”

The dog’s eyes widened in fear, sending a pang of guilt through me, but I slammed the dog onto the ground, and nodded. “Got it?” Shining emphasized.

The dogs nodded meekly, and I turned on my heels, and stormed out of the library.

“Well. I didn’t expect you to get THAT angry,” Shining said as soon as we were outside.

“I didn’t either. But now I’m even more worried,” I said, wiping sweat off of my forehead. “Did you notice how the dogs weren’t surprised to see me in my human form?”

“I dunno, they looked pretty shocked to me. Then again, maybe that was you kicking open the door and shouting stuff about bubblegum.”

“That’d do it,” I agreed. “But even after, when we were interrogating those two mini-dogs.”

“Mini-dogs?”

“They looked like Chihuahua versions of Diamond Dogs. I mean, did you see how short they were?” I chuckled. “No, sorry, off topic. The point is, that there’s only one other person who could’ve shown them their human form so that they wouldn’t be too surprised.”

“That Torrentican person you mentioned?”

“Yeah. Him.”

With that, we lapsed into silence, and started to aimlessly wander the town, until we found ourselves outside of the forest. I glanced around, and said, “Alright, we’ll wait in that cave over there until the princesses can get a signal to us or something.”

“Right. So…who else do you think knows about this?” Shining asked as we sat down on the floor.

Leaning against the walls, I thought about it for a moment, and said, “Alright, I’m gonna use some detective work here…”

“Hey, if it helps us out, go for it,” Shining shrugged.

“Okay. So, here’s what we know. Torrentican somehow knows about Twilight’s change. He’s informed the Diamond Dogs, who would be able to use her magic to mine more gems, and maybe have a little revenge for when we handed their asses to them when Rarity was pony-napped by them.” I got up and started pacing, pulling a bubble pipe out of my pocket, and blowing on it thoughtfully. “So, if we’re going by process of elimination, who else would stand to benefit from this?”

“The changelings,” Shining answered instantly. “If Twilight hadn’t figured out what was happening at the wedding, Canterlot would’ve been taken over.”

“Correct. Not only that, but Queen Chrysalis could take that magic, and use it to increase her baseline power. If that were to happen, she could not only challenge Celestia and Luna without having to feed on anything, but she could use that to spread her reign of power. Imagine if she somehow got into the Griffon territories,” I pointed out, tapping the pipe to my beard.

“That’s true…man, if she’s the worst one-”

“Oh, by no means, she isn’t! We can’t forget the dragons! During the great dragon migration, those teenager dragons got their asses handed to them by little old me. If they spread the word that there’s a powerful dragon fighter running amuck, like I told them too, then that means that they’ll be looking for a chance to silence me.” I coughed slightly, and added, “That, and grown dragons will naturally go for anything that can increase their standing if it holds small enough risk.”

“Is there anyone you didn’t manage to piss off?” Shining asked sarcastically.

“Well, I’m fairly certain Discord won’t wanna mess with us. Heck, if he were freed again, he’d probably help us,” I admitted.

“…You’re an interesting creature, you know that?”

“Twilight says that allllll the time.”

Sorry it's short today, but I wanted to get something out. Next chapter will be longer, and will have some epic moments (hopefully).

Anyways, I'll be able to start work on another little...project, that's in the works for The Travels. Updates for this, and The Travels will be slower than usual, but it should be worth the wait if the projects turn out good.

For a few hours, Shining and I sat in the cave, waiting in silence for some word from one of the princesses. Eventually, I decided to sit down on the floor. Why? Because it’s a damn sight harder to use meditation while standing up.

“What are you doing?” Shining asked me curiously.

“I’m gonna practice my meditation, and see if there’s anything else out there at the same time. I’m a little rusty, so it might not work…”

Closing my eyes, I began to clear my mind of all distractions. Worry, anxiety, fear, anger, sorrow, and happiness all faded away. A peaceful serenity replaced it all. Shining seemed to sense that I was doing something important, as he made barely any noise at all. Slowly, my mind’s eye started to open, and I saw the entirety of the cave in it. Every single insect, slumbering bird, and creeping bat was open to me. My mind then began to expand, and more life revealed itself to my mind.

It’s a humbling experience, no matter how you look at it. No matter how powerful, or clever that you think you are, whenever you open yourself to the life that’s all around you, the sheer amount of it can always overwhelm you if you’re not careful. And it might turn you into a vegetarian. That’s something I tend to avoid, as I kinda like my cheeseburgers.

Anyways, while I expanded my mental faculties, I worked on calming my physical self as well. My heart started to pump in a slower, more rhythmic beat, while my muscles started to relax. As that happened, my usual aches and pains that lingered after a battle began to fade away, only to be replaced by the same cool feeling of peace, and awareness.

“Shining, don’t try to poke me,” I mumbled without even opening my eyes.

“How did you-?”

“I'm Batman,” I replied instantly. I then opened an eye and winked at him, and we shared a weak laugh.

Five minutes after that, I could sense nothing in our immediate vicinity. And that’s what started to worry me. Even the insects, normally so numerous that they could always be felt, seemed to have vanished. The only signs of life I could sense were myself, Shining, and the plants.

“Something ain’t right,” I finally said, breaking my concentration, and standing up. I rolled my arm a few times to stretch it out, and added, “I can’t feel anything out there.”

Shining nodded, his own eyes darting about. “Yeah. I can’t hear anything out there. And do you smell that?”

“Smell what?” I asked, sniffing a few times. “As far as I can tell, there’s nothing in the air.”

He frowned somewhat, and shook his head. “Not just that, but I mean…there’s something in the air. Like the calm before the storm, you know?”

“I get what you mean. Hm…either way, there’s nothing we can do until somepony gives us the word of where they are,” I sighed. I started to pace around the cave, and started to puzzle over different things.

Waiting. That’s all we did. For almost three hours, in near total silence, we waited, hoping for some sort of signal or confirmation that everyone was okay. I mean, sure, we had fought off the Diamond Dogs, but what about the other potential enemies?

As if in answer to my questions, a sudden spark appeared in the air, and a small scrap of paper dropped onto the cave floor. I snatched at it quickly, and read a small message, in Luna’s hoofwriting. According to it, they had bunkered in a cavern not too far from our own. Shining and I quickly left the cave, and followed the instructions on it to a nearby clearing that was set against a cliff wall.

The wall was peppered with small holes everywhere, each of them a potential hiding place for our friends, but we didn’t know which one was the one they had chosen to bunker down in.

Neither did the dragon smashing its claws against the cliff.

“So…a dragon,” I commented weakly, looking at the massive, green scaled beast that was hammering away at the side of the cliff. Serrated spines twisted down the length of his neck and tail, while his wings furiously beat his wings to stay aloft in the air.

“A dragon. How did you make THEM mad?” Shining asked, as his horn glowed in anticipation of the unavoidable confrontation.

“Great Dragon Migration, I mighta handed some teenage dragon’s asses to them.” I cracked my neck, and started to think of ways we could fight that scaly mother-hubber. “One of them ratted me out to their elders, and the next thing I know, I’m fighting dragons.”

“You definitely don’t get in trouble by halves, do you?” Shining chuckled.

“Any job worth doing is worth doing right,” I solemnly nodded. “Okay then. How the hell are we gonna get rid of that thing?”

“I dunno,” Shining said, scratching his head. “How did you get rid of the dragons that attacked you?”

I coughed slightly, and pinched the bridge of my nose. “I might’ve just snuck away,” I confessed. “I’m not one for fighting dragons…”

“You and me both then. So how are we supposed to get around that thing?” Shining asked, looking around at the other caves lower to the ground.

“I dunno. Normally, in the olden stories, Dragons were always defeated by a combination of wit, and cunning,” I said, scratching my beard. “And witty though I may be, cunning I ain’t…we need a way to distract it, or-”

A hoof tapped my shoulder suddenly, and I whirled around to meet the face of Princess Luna, who was smiling mischievously at the two of us. She tapped her mouth, and gestured for us to come closer. When we were both right next to her, her horn flashed for an instant, and I found myself inside of a dark cave.

“That helps,” I smiled.

Luna nodded, and led us further back into the cave, where the rest of the ponies, and Spike, were waiting. Cadence immediately ran to Shining, and they embraced, pressing close to one another in a combination of relief and happiness. I sighed, and went over to Twilight’s still slumbering form, and placed a hand on her back.

“How much longer until all of this is over?” I murmured, idly running a hand over the small bumps that were protruding from her back.

Celestia stood over me, and shook her head, saying, “Two more days at the least.”

“And at most?”

She hesitated, before answering, “She might be in that state for three months.”

Remaining silent, I continued to stroke Twilight’s mane, and pondered the situation. In any case, I needed to talk with Twilight about all of this. “Princess, is it alright if I remove that sleeping spell now? Or should I just…” I trailed off, and she nodded understandingly.

“Luna can allow you to talk in her dreams,” she said, motioning for Luna to come over and work her magic.

Without warning, soft moonlight filled my vision, and the ground fell away from me. Silently, I plummeted towards…something.

When the light faded, I was surprised to see that stars were twinkling everywhere. No matter where I looked, stars dominated my vision. Well, minus one obvious exception.

“Sean?” Twilight’s voice echoed. I turned, and spotted her lying on the ground, her legs curled up beneath her. Ethereal wings gently floated on her back, and she looked somewhat scared.

“Twi,” I answered, running over, and wrapping my arms around her in a gentle hug.

“What’s happening?” she whispered, burying her face in my shirt.

Easing myself into a sitting position, with Twilight on my lap, I slowly told her everything that had happened while she was asleep. I didn’t even bother trying to hide anything, as we both knew that she would know if I tried.

She just knew me too well.

“So right now, Luna let me come into your dreams for a few moments,” I finished, once again stroking Twilight’s mane. “I can’t wake you up, or else the pain of the transformation’ll hurt you too much.”

[Right now, I’d like to suggest that you listen to “I, Zero, Your Fellow Interlude – Mythos” from Mega Man Zero 3]

She let out a heavy sigh, and closed her eyes. Trembling slightly, she asked me, “How are you holding up?”

“Not too good, actually,” I answered truthfully. “Twilight, I’m scared. Just today, we’ve had to fight through a small battalion of Diamond Dogs, and there’s a huge dragon trying to smash its way into our hiding place, with more on the way. Not only that, but Shining and I both agree that the changelings, griffons, and probably some shadow-stalkers are gonna join up in this whole thing.” Tears fell from my face, and I had to struggle not to raise my voice. “We can’t get the royal guard over here in time, Celestia and Luna can’t fight ALL of them off, and now I somehow managed to get everypony else involved.”

Before I could continue, Twilight pressed her lips against mine, effectively shutting me up. My eyes widened in shock, and she giggled slightly. “Now that I have your attention, maybe you could listen to me for a second?” she asked teasingly. “If it makes you feel better, I’m not scared.”

“What? But…why?” I asked, surprised.

She pressed herself closer to me, and answered, “Because…you’re here.”

“Um, didn’t you hear the earlier rant? I’m not strong enough to fight off all of them by myself! Shining was right…I can’t protect you,” I growled, slamming my fist into the ground.

“Sean…” Twilight chided. “You CAN do this. It’s not just strength that wins wars, and you know that. Besides, I know you can get us through this.”

“How? How do you know?” Just as I asked that, the stars started to glow brighter, and their light filled the room, blinding me.

Suddenly, I started to fly into the air, and the last thing I heard was, “Because I trust you! You’re not just a Traveler! You’re a guardian!”

My eyes shot open, and I jumped up, startled. “What happened?” I shouted, summoning my sword. “What’s going on?”

Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and Shining Armor all continued to face the direction of the opening of the cave, barely acknowledging my return to consciousness. In fact, Rarity was the only one who turned to me, and grimly answered, “They’re here.”

Confused, I crept to the entrance of the cave, and felt my eyes widen in fear as I looked outside.

I didn’t like what I saw.

On the ground, a hundreds of Diamond Dogs prowled about, howling and barking at the caves, some of them already digging into the ground, ready to hunt us down. Loads of them were wearing crude metal armor, and waving around spears tipped with different gems, most likely signifying rank of some kind.

Above them, massive dragons soared through the air, lighting the sky for miles with the occasional burst of fire. The only good thing about them was that they were the least numerous, with roughly fifty dragons there. Flying alongside them, I could see swarms of black specks, eagerly buzzing about.

Yeah. Changelings. Thousands of them.

Shit.

“Well, that’s it then,” Rarity said from behind me. “There’s too many of them. Not even the combined might of the Elements could get rid of them.”

“Rarity might be right,” Shining said darkly. “I couldn’t even bring up a shield large enough to withstand all of them. The changelings and dogs, sure, but the dragons?” He shook his head.

“What we need is more time,” Celestia stated calmly, gazing at the armies below us.

I didn’t answer them at first. At the moment, my thoughts were busy running through endless plans, trying to pick one that could possibly get us all out of this alive. Snippets of conversations flashed before my eyes, as I started to form an idea.

“I’m not strong enough to fight all of them off by myself…”

“More time…”

“Back up…”

“It’s not strength that wins wars…”

“That’ll keep ‘em squabbling for half an hour!”

Hang on...I’ve been through something like this before, or at least, been there for someone else to go through this! If I can just rearrange a speech, and hopefully remember enough of it, then we’ll have enough time for me to…wait a second. IDEA!

“I have a plan!” I shouted, laughing crazily. “I need you all to trust me though!”

“We’re with you,” Cadence instantly said.

“Excellent! Alright then, Rarity I need you to rip my clothes a bit, make me look more battle weary! Luna, if you would please use your magic to make my voice louder and more echoey, that’d be fantasic! Pinkie!”

The pink mare looked at me in confusion, and I grinned.

“Get me the background music.”

Twilight was right. It’s not just strength that wins wars.

Words win wars.

Soon enough, my shirt had been artfully ripped on its sleeves, with bits of red dye (courtesy of Cadence’s magic and some red hairs from Dash) on certain places. I had an eye-patch over one eye, and my hair was still tied back in its signature do-rag. Hopefully, that would make me look a bit more tough...and give me an edge.

“Ready?” I signaled Luna and Pinkie.

They nodded, Pinkie pressing play on her record player (that she stashed just in case of an emergency…it’s Pinkie, don’t ask).

[Right now, I’d suggest listening to “Words Win Wars” from Doctor Who.]

I jumped out of the cave, and landed on a ledge, shouting in my magically amplified voice, “Hello Everfree! Who takes Twilight’s power, takes Equestria! But! Bad news everyone!” Suddenly, the moon’s light focused on me, illuminating me for all to see, and I cried out, “’Cause guess who!? HA!”

The armies roared in anger, and started to move forward. I shook my head, and added, “Listen you lot! You’re all clanking about, it’s really very distracting. Could you all just sit still for a second, because I. AM. TALKING!!!”

In shock, they all stopped where they were, surprised that I would do such an idiotic thing. Some of them were intimidated, others amused. It didn’t matter though. I was on a roll.

“Now, the million dollar question is: Who’s got Twilight? Answer, I do, next question! Who’s coming to take her from me?” I held out my arms, waiting for them to make a move. When no one did, I called out, “Come on! Look at me! No plan, no backup, no magic worth a damn, oh! And something else I don’t have: Anything! To! Loose! So!”

I waved my hand at all of them, and continued, shouting, “If you're sitting down there with all your weak little troops, and all your silly, little, weapons, and if you’ve got any plans on taking Twilight Sparkle tonight! Just remember who’s standing in your way! Remember, every black day I’ve ever stopped you, and then, AND THEN!” I glared at all of them, and held my hand up in a single fist, and stated, “Do the smart thing.”

The armies glanced at one another for an instant, before I hammered it home.

“Let somebody else…try first.”

All of them finally started to remember when I had fought them, some of them remembering individual encounters, others remembering stories. As one, they all fled backwards, retreating to what they thought was a much safer distance, and I grinned.

“That ought to keep ‘em squabbling for about half an hour,” I cackled, coming back inside of the cave.

I looked around at all of them, and scoffed jokingly. “Ponies,” I muttered. “Now! We’ve got some time now! I’m gonna do something that should help us out!”

“What’s that?” Applejack asked.

“Call in a few favors...You know, I think it's time Gordon payed me back...”

"The guy with the crowbar?"

"No...the guy who helped me meet Jenna."

“Alright, let’s see how many Ruby Slippers I’ve got,” I muttered, reaching into a small pocket dimension.

“Ruby slippers?” Rainbow Dash asked. “What are shoes gonna do to help us?”

“That’s the name of a potion I created,” I replied. Finally, after a bit of digging, I came out with two small bottles of clear, sparkling red liquid. Shaking them a little bit, I added, “This is how I can bring others with me to other dimensions, or times, without screwing up the continuity of their story.”

“How does it do that?”

“Well, to understand it, you gotta know what I typically make it out of.” I uncorked one bottle, and sniffed it, making sure it was still fresh enough to last. “Oh, that’ll do nicely,” I grinned.

“Okay, what do you make it out of then?” Dash interrupted, snapping me out of my thoughts.

“Huh? Oh, right! Ruby Slippers. Basically, I make them out of two critical ingredients: dust from a Sorcerer’s Stone, which creates temporary immortality, and my own blood.” At her wide eyed look of shock, I quickly said, “My blood dilutes the immortality, making them ageless, but able to fall in battle, while also giving them the ability to return to their point of origin.”

“Wow. That’s pretty useful!” Pinkie said, looking at the crystal bottles. “So how many people are you bringing?”

“Unfortunately, my last stock of potion got destroyed in a lab accident, and now I’m down to two doses. This means I can only bring two people…but who?” I asked, scratching my beard.

“Didn’cha say somethin’ ‘bout bringing in an old friend to help us?” Applejack reminded me.

“Yeah, Gordon.” I smiled, and laughed for a moment. “He’s one of my old friends. Heck, he was one of the ones who helped me meet Jenna!”

“Really? Wow! Is he a really strong fighter? Or a superhero?!” Dash asked excitedly.

At this, I had to stifle another laugh. “Sure, he’s strong in mind…Not so much in body. Ask him to lift a suitcase, and he’ll get winded after a few stairs,” I joked. “Gordon’s a wizard. Extraordinarily powerful one at that.”

“So he’s like a human version of Twilight?”

“No! Twilight is potentially much stronger, and she has better social skills,” I deadpanned.

I drew a circle in the dust with my sword, and sealed it off with a snap of my fingers, filling it with energy. “Give me a moment; I’m bringing him here now.”

“How do you know if he’ll even WANT to help us?” Fluttershy asked quietly.

“Simple. The spell will give him a warning, and he can ignore it, or accept it. Like a friend request on facebook, only less annoying.”

The circle started to glow a faint white color, giving off a radiant glow that filled the room. Slowly, but surely, shadows began to dance around the room. Images of blazing wildfires, freezing blizzards, and roaring thunderstorms flickered across my field of vision. The ponies winced, and in a loud voice, I began to chant in a rhythmic tone. Dust rose up from the floor, surrounding me, and the circle, in a tornado-like cloud, occasionally crackling with electricity.

Finally, an unfamiliar voice rose above the noise of the vortex, and said, “Alright, alright, I’m coming! I just need a mom- AAAAAAHH!”

A black robed figure with ash-blonde hair stumbled out of the circle, and fell to the floor in a tangled heap. I got up from the circle, grabbed his arm, and lifted him to his feet. We gave him a quick dusting off, and he sighed in displeasure.

“Great, I just had these cleaned. Do you have any idea of how hard it is to get dust and dirt out of these robes?” he said, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, good to see you too buddy,” I said sarcastically, before giving him a high-five, and pulling him into a one-armed hug. “How’ve you been?”

“I would be better, if I had more warning.” I ignored his complaining, and handed him the potion. He eyed it for an instant, before saying, “Hm…I’m not quite familiar with this potion. Your own creation, I assume?”

“Yeah. I call it a Ruby Slipper. Shut up and drink it, kay?”

He sighed, but lifted the bottle to his lips and poured the contents down his throat. After a bit of spluttering, and gasping, he finished it, and choked out, “Okay, not the worst I’ve had.”

“Right. Well then, let me get the other guy here. You guys can introduce yourselves to each other while I do that,” I said, stepping back into the circle.

Now, the real question is, who is it gonna be? I can only afford to bring one more person here, and I need them to be ready to fight an entire army. Someone who’s used to fighting things like changelings, or dragons, but who can actually take on an entire army of them…they’ve gotta be able to turn the tides, and preferably look scarier than Hell.

Wait. I think I know someone who fits the bill entirely!

“…Magic, talking, ponies.” Gordon ran a slender hand through his hair, and shook his head in amazement. “I fought demons, an undead suit of armor, and found out that my father is literally death itself, but…I fail to understand how PONIES, of all things, are sentient.”

“To be fair, a race of nearly hairless, bipedal creatures seem just as strange,” Rarity pointed out to him.

“Touché, salespony…touché…” idly, he snapped his fingers, and conjured up a small fireball to light up the cave.

“So…you’re Gordon, then?” Fluttershy asked meekly. She had to constantly fight the urge to hide behind Rainbow Dash, as this tall, slim figure appeared slightly terrifying to her. That, and the fireball he held in his palm didn’t really help out at all.

Gordon tensed, as he realized that now, after years of practice, and failed attempts, he would have to do something he could never do right.

Socialize.

“It’s nice to meet you,” the Pegasus continued. “I’m Fluttershy.”

“Hello, my name’s Gordon,” he automatically replied, his brain falling back to his list of default responses he had memorized from a book. “What’s yours?” He then smacked himself on the forehead, and muttered, “Wait, you already said my name! No! Hold on, I know the right response!”

Immediately, and without any warning whatsoever, a pink haired blur popped in from ABOVE HIS EYES and yelled, “HI! I’m Pinkie Pie!”

“Gah!” he shouted in surprise, stumbling backwards. “How did you do that?!”

“Well, I took a big breath of air, and then I let it out and said-”

“No, how did you just go from-but you were over- and then you popped in!?” he pointed at her, and tried to make sense of what had just happened.

Pinkie Pie giggled, and responded with a casual shrug. “I dunno! I just leaned over you and said, “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie!’.”

Gordon tried to form a coherent response, but as Pinkie was still defying the laws of physics by hanging over his head, it was admittedly a little hard for him to do so. This pony was pretty much laughing in the face of everything he believed was true about physics. Did that extend to the rest of them as well?

Before his sanity snapped, he was gladly distracted by the sound of Omnius shouting, “Ah ha! Now this is what I call backup!”

I had a wide smile on my face, as I rejoined the others. Bowing to them, I said, “Mares, Gordon, and Royalty…”

A thunderous THUD echoed throughout the cave.

“Please, give a warm welcome to my good friend…”

A second thud reached our ears, shaking dust from the cavern, and making us all shake a little.

“A space marine, and mighty warrior, who happens to owe me a few favors…” I grinned wickedly, and pointed at the hulking figure that had just entered the light. “Captain Titus.”

The Ultramarine nodded his head at the awestruck ponies. Even the princesses and Shining Armor seemed to feel a little intimidated by the giant, power-armor clad man that towered over them.

“It is an honor to meet you all,” he said finally, breaking the silence.

I turned to him, and asked, “Did you bring what I asked you for?”

He opened a metal fist, and dropped a keychain with his emblem, a golden skull with wings set in a sort of loop, into my hand. “Use it wisely,” he cautioned.

I summoned my blade, and slapped the keychain into place. A bright flash lit up the cavern for an instant, before disappearing as quickly as it had come. Grinning, I swung the sword experimentally, and laughed. “Oh, now we’ve got a chance at this,” I said, hefting my new chainsword Keyblade onto my shoulder.

Captain Titus nodded, and I quickly tried to get introductions out of the way. Once everyone knew everyone’s name, Titus looked to Princess Celestia, and asked, “Is she the ruler of this world, then?”

“One of them,” I answered.

“Hm…” Titus looked closer at Celestia, as if he were debating with himself over something.

I shrugged, and elbowed his side. “She could technically be considered an alternate-reality version of the Emperor, if you think about it.” At his questioning gaze, I continued, saying, “Well, think about it…Virtually immortal, heroic, legendary…kind and benevolent?”

Okay, maybe the last one was a stretch, but you never want to call the God-Emperor anything BUT that, especially when an Ultramarine is standing right next to you.

Either way, Titus sighed, and said, “Very well then. For now, at least for the duration of this mission, I will refer to her as the highest power.”

“Good.”

Gordon cleared his throat then. “Speaking of ‘the mission’…well, what’s our plan?” he asked. “What are we up against, for that matter?”

“Alright, let me get you all up to speed…”

“…You haven’t really changed that much, have you?” Gordon said weakly, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

“If by that, you mean I still constantly get into situations that spiral out of control as fast as possible, then yeah, that hasn’t changed,” I said cheerfully.

Titus seemed to still be slightly uncomfortable with the idea of an alternate-reality pony version of his Emperor, but then again, there was a mission to be completed. Not only that, but one of his brothers was in need of his help. That took precedence right now.

“So, we all clear on the plan then?” I asked everyone.

“What plan?!” Gordon shouted. “Your ‘plan’ is basically to just go out there, metaphorical guns blazing, and try to take out as many of them as possible!”

I smiled. “When has the plan been anything different?” I joked. Gordon rolled his eyes at me, but let out a small smile. It was just like old times.

“So…we’re doing this for the pony, then?” the wizard asked, glancing at the unicorn that was in the corner. “And…you’re in love with her?”

“Yep,” I instantly replied.

“…A pony?”

“Unicorn if you wanna get technical,” I shrugged.

Gordon sighed, and shook his head. He gave Twilight one last look, and said, “Well, if that’s what makes you both, erm, happy, then I guess I can’t really say anything against it.”

“Smart move,” I chuckled, clapping him on the shoulder. “Shall we get out there then?”

With that, Gordon, Captain Titus, Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, and I strode out of the cavern. The rest of the girls, and Shining and Spike, would stay behind to pick up any stragglers that managed to find their way there. That, and Shining would keep up a constant shield around Twilight at all times.

Our job was to get out there, and take care of any beast that got close enough to hurt her.

Easy enough, right?

“…The armies got a bit bigger, I think,” I muttered, as we stood on the ledge that overlooked the field where our enemies were standing.

Indeed, now the Diamond Dogs were equipped with heavier armor, and some of them were swinging crude swords at us now, howling in excitement for the upcoming battle. The changeling swarm seemed to double in size, and it looked like the dragons were the only ones who remained the same.

“Who am I fighting?” Titus asked, looking at the army nonchalantly.

“Titus, you and Celestia are going after the changelings,” I instantly said, going with my instincts on this one. “Gordon, you and Luna are gonna take out the dragons. Stay up here, fire as much magic as you can.”

I hefted my Traveler’s Blade off of my shoulder, and charged down the mountain, calling out at them, “I’ll handle the dogs! ESPERANTO!”

After I said that, all Hell broke loose. Soon, I was lost in the horde of Diamond Dogs, while everyone else went for their targets.

Titus ran down the side of the mountain, his weight literally starting several small avalanches. Without hesitation, he activated his thruster pack and launched into the heart of the changeling swarm, his chainsword hacking through them with ease. “FOR THE EMPEROR!” he cried, smiting his foes in the instant they had been foolish enough to challenge him.

Soon, though, his momentum started carrying him down towards the ground, as gravity resumed control over him.

Fine by him. Now he could squash the foes that were underneath him.
Many of the changelings, or whatever it was that Omnius called them, attempted to assume his form, but with mixed results. Some of them just took on a patchwork blue color, while others increased in size, but only some of his power-armor had been able to be copied onto them. Either way, they failed to copy his appearance, and only wasted precious time, as he brought his sword closer and closer to them.

“Feel the wrath of the Emperor!” he called out, as he slammed his boots on the heads of the insects that were unfortunate enough to be in his path to the ground.

The impact was quickly absorbed by the armor, but a changeling, larger than the rest, had crashed into his weapon, and managed to tear it out of his hand. Now weaponless, he started throwing punch after punch at the changelings, but they kept coming at him faster than he could take them down.

Before he knew it, he was buried beneath a mass of black, squirming changelings.

And in the next instant, they were quickly vaporized by a beam of white hot energy. When he reopened his eyes, he was stunned to see the white Alicorn standing before him with a look of fury in her eyes. Her horn glowed, and his chainsword returned to his hand.

“Keep fighting,” she commanded, before taking off in a majestic blaze of light.

If he had any doubts that she was the Emperor of this world, they had just been eradicated.

“FOR CELESTIA!” he shouted, as he rushed once again into the swarm.

Another bolt of thunder shot out from Gordon’s fingertips, where it struck a dragon right on its eye. The dragon roared in pain, only to have its wings quickly covered in a thick layer of ice, preventing it from flying properly. The wizard then clapped his hands together, and the dragon fell from the sky, and crashed into the forest below.

And then three more dragons rushed towards him in a vengeful fury.

“Oh, COME ON!” he shouted, as he ducked behind a boulder. “These things just don’t give up!”

“WIZARD!” Luna cried out, leaping behind the same boulder. “Are you injured?”

Gordon shook his head, and said, “No, I’m fine. But there are far too many dragons for my lightning to take out. If we really want to start reducing their numbers, I’ll need more power!”

“What do you need?” the princess of the night instantly asked.

He scoffed, and said in a cynical tone, “Unless you are capable of summoning a storm for me to call lightning from, I highly doubt that there is much we…” he trailed off as he watched Luna fly off into the night, her horn glowing a faint blue color.

Realizing that she had something in mind, he scrambled away from the boulder, and threw several flaming darts at the dragons. They did little to no damage at all, but they managed to catch their attention, allowing the Alicorn to fly higher into the sky, where she proceeded to…

“She can summon clouds,” Gordon deadpanned. “She’s a talking pony, who rules over the night, and she can call storms up. Of course.”

In almost no time at all, dark, charcoal colored storm clouds had appeared over their small battlefield, and Luna smirked at the look of awe on Gordon’s face. “Is this big enough?” she asked.

“Oh, this shall be entertaining,” he chuckled.

While the dragons tried to fly to a lower altitude to avoid the storm clouds, Gordon removed his gloves, and raised his hands to the sky. While he started chanting the words to a magic spell, his eyes started to glow a bright blue, as he channeled more and more energy into his frail body. The air started to crackle with electricity, and the Luna felt her fur stiffen in anticipation of the upcoming attack.

One of the dragons seemed to realize what was going on, and he attempted to rush the mage…only to be met with a gigantic bolt of lightning that shot out from the clouds. Before it could even screech in pain, it quickly disintegrated into a pile of ashes.

Gordon cackled, and started calling down more lighting, all while humming an all too familiar tune.

More dragons charged at him then. Some of them attempted to bathe him in a torrent of flame, but to no avail. Luna would divert the course of the fire with her magic, while Gordon would instantly fry them with another bolt of enchanted lightning.

As he reached the crescendo of the 1812 overture he had been humming, the storm roared above his head, and a tremendous explosion of thunder beat against the ears of the dragon armada.

“You won’t survive to regret this!” Gordon shouted.

More dragons appeared, and filled the skies.

“…Um, I mean, you have a lovely set of scales?”

They roared in unison, and Gordon winced.

“Okay, I’m just gonna keep zapping then.”

I ran towards the massive group of Diamond Dogs, and swung my blade at the nearest one. The sword easily tore through his armor, and the dog howled in pain. Pulling the blade back, I kicked the dog into another nearby group, scattering them. As I swung my sword at them, another dog tackled me from the side, knocking me away from them.

I pushed the dog off of me, only to have another take its place. Before I knew what was happening, more and more dogs threw themselves on top of me, and began pummeling me. I threw my hands up to take the worst of the hits, but they were relentless. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t get back up. Every time that I managed to throw off one dog, two more were ready to keep beating at me.

In a desperate attempt to get away from them, I started to hit the ground with my fist. If I was right, then I was just above one of their tunnels…

“OH JEEZ!” I shouted, as I fell into a narrow tunnel. Above me, the dogs had confused looks on their faces.

Well, this is a fine pickle, isn’t it? Stuck in a tunnel, hiding from some dogs that are too stupid to look underneath all the dirt and dust to search for their prey, and I’m fairly certain some of my ribs are broken again. I’m supposed to be keeping them from getting to my girlfriend, and the rest of our friends. Oh, let’s not forget that there’s an army of them against only one of me.

Yeah. Things aren’t looking up.

For a moment, I heard something whisper in my head, “Just stay down…you’re not strong enough to fight them…Give up.”

No. I can’t. I made a promise.

“But you’re weak. Injured.”

So? I’m also insane, because I’m apparently talking to myself. That’s never stopped me before.

“You can’t do this. You are only a small spark of light, in a desolate ocean,” the voice sneered, taunting me.

I slowly pushed myself to my knees, and said/thought, “You might be right about that…but there’s something you need to know.”

My eyes started to glow a fierce, burning orange, and the dogs finally noticed me. Some of them turned away from the mountain they had started climbing, and rushed at me, howling in anticipation of the kill.

[Right now, I’d suggest listening to “Man on Fire ~ The Megas”]

“Sometimes, to ignite a blaze of friendship…” I started whispering.

The air around me started to ripple slightly, as if caught in a massive heat wave.

“An inferno of love…”

Small embers started to dance along my fingers, while tiny tendrils of smoke curled up and rose into the air.

“And the fires of creation…all it takes…”

I snapped my fingers, and a small spark jumped off of them, and fell to the ground.

“Is a spark.”

Suddenly, a gigantic pillar of fire shot out of the ground, and engulfed me in a bath of red-hot flames. Any dogs that were unlucky enough to be caught in the blaze were gone in an instant. Not even their ashes remained.

When the pillar died down, I smirked at the dogs, and clenched my fist. Fire erupted from the ground, roasting the dogs around me, and I shouted, “BURN! BURN AT THE HANDS OF THE BLAZING ANGEL AURA!”

Enormous tongues of flame shot out from my arms, and I went into a fury, completely annihilating every single dog that had been foolish enough to challenge me.

“Can you feel the fire!? Can you see your cities burn!?” I cried out. More fire poured out of me, incinerating everything. Any of the dogs that managed to get close enough to land a serious wound on me were burned just by standing too close to me.

For what felt like hours, I fought through the dogs, pouring all of my energy into the attack. I didn’t bother holding back this time. When you’re fighting an army of this magnitude, and two goddesses are already helping you, you kind of get the green light to let loose.

Finally, the dogs seemed to realize that if they wanted to survive, it would be best to cut their losses and flee, while they still had the chance.

“Yeah, RUN!” I shouted after them. “And remember that I’m waiting for you the next time you want to get an uber-charge from a unicorn turning into an Alicorn!”

[Music over]

Once they were all gone, the fires died down, and I swayed on my feet.

“I guess I put too much energy into that attack,” I mumbled tiredly. “If it kept her safe though…”

I collapsed to the ground, and closed my eyes, too weary to do anything else.

“Worth it.”

Gradually, I felt my mind start to piece itself back together. “Ugh…okay, I’m not doing that again,” I groaned. “Too much energy in one rush…Gah…”

Attempting to stretch, I was surprised to find that I was tied to…something. What? Wait, where am I for that matter? The last thing I remember is me using my Blazing Angel Aura, and passing out afterwards.

“Ah, excellent. You’re awake,” I heard an all too familiar voice say. “Why don’t you open your eyes, and look at the face of your new great and powerful master?”

I swallowed nervously, and cracked open an eyelid to see a powder blue unicorn in a tattered purple cape standing in front of me.

“Oh, Trixie is going to have such wonderful fun with you,” she laughed.

Shite.

“Trixie? Is that you?” I asked incredulously.

The unicorn gave me a haughty smile, and said, “Why of course! Only the Great and Powerful Trixie could have masterminded such a brilliant plan to capture you, and get revenge on Twilight Sparkle!”

To say I was surprised would be an understatement. I mean, seriously, out of freaking nowhere: Trixie. Sure, Shining and I had our suspicions that she would show up, but I didn’t think it’d be after the battle.

Acting on a feeling in my gut, I said, “Oh yeah, you got me real good. Just like you tricked that Ursa into attacking us.”

Her eyes flickered away from me for a moment, and her confident smirk faded for an instant. Then she laughed, and said, “Oh yes, I was rather brilliant that day, wasn’t I? After all, I made the Ursa attack you all, did I not?”

Right where I want you…

I smiled widely, throwing her off, and shouted, “OBJECTION!”

Trixie blinked in surprise, and I said, “Miss Trixie, if you were to recall…YOU DIDN’T BRING THE URSA TO PONYVILLE! And it wasn’t you who made it attack everyone! It was the work of two slightly dumb kids, and Torrentican!”

“So? What if I decided to accept the blame?” she tried to ask in a proud manner.

“Simple…because Trixie…” I grinned maniacally. “Your pride would prevent you from doing that!”

“What if I’ve learned?”

“Oh, that’s also true…” I admitted. She started to laugh at my apparent failure, until I added, “But then again…how come I’m still trapped to this chair?”

Trixie rolled her eyes, and said, “Because, you fool, I made sure to make the bonds out of obsidian!”

“Gotcha,” I smiled. “You didn’t speak in third person this time. Why would you speak in third person earlier, and then switch to first person?” I asked. “If you’re really Trixie, you need to stick to one story. Did you learn humility, and the ability to speak in first person? Or are you still the same as ever, and hell bent on revenge?”

[Right now, I’d suggest listening to Cornered.]

Trixie flinched as if I had physically struck her, and I continued my rant. “If you were really the Great and Powerful Trixie, you would have interrupted me several times by now, and gone on about your plan for revenge. Not only that, but if you had learned humility, you wouldn’t need a revenge scheme in the first place!”

“But that doesn’t-“

“Plus, even though you’ve heard about what my human form is, how did you know that it was ME? There were two other humans out there kicking ass!” I yelled.

She glared at me, and her eyes flashed a sickly green color. I cracked my neck, and shook the chair around, trying to get loose. No luck though. To try and buy myself time, I said, “So that means you’ve interacted with someone who knows what I look like, or…you’ve seen my human form before!” I grinned and said, “Isn’t that right…QUEEN CHRYSALIS?!”

[Music Over.]

A stinging blow smacked against the side of my face, and stopping my rant. I looked up to see that a large, slender changeling was standing in front of me with a look of annoyance on her face. “Congratulations,” she purred, flipping her hair over one eye. “You’ve found me out.” She then glared at me, and said, “Now how is that going to help you?”

“…Um…good question,” I replied. “I didn’t plan that far ahead, did I?”

She smirked once again, and ran a hoof through my hair. Shivers raced down my spine at her touch, and I had to suppress the urge to flinch. She sensed my discomfort, and whispered, “Yes, my pet. You are still trapped here, you are still powerless, and you are mine to…enjoy.”

Yipes.

A beam of green magic snaked out of her horn, and slowly floated towards my eyes. I once again struggled against the obsidian bindings that kept me firmly attached to…whatever I’m attached to. I need to buy myself some time.

“Wait, why did you take me?” I asked, right as her magic tore away my glasses.

“Hmph, isn’t it obvious?” she asked, stopping her magic for a moment. She gave me a bemused expression, and said, “Changelings feast on love in order to survive, and increase their powers.”

“Yeah, okay. But why me, specifically? If I’m right, weren’t you after somepony else?” I pointed out.

“You’re not as stupid as you look,” she chuckled. Her hoof…leg…thing…lightly drew circles on my chest with her hoof, as she said in a sultry voice, “You see, at first, I was after Twilight Sparkle, that blasted unicorn that ruined my plans…but then, I realized. You. Are. An immortal.” She punctuated each word with a tap on my nose. “And I managed to get just a taste of the energy you have inside of you.”

I swallowed nervously, as I started to piece together what she was saying.

She rolled her eyes in remembered ecstasy, and purred, “Oh, it was glorious. And I could feel it already starting to replenish itself. So, when Torrentican found me, and informed me of Twilight Sparkle’s…changes…I formed plans to get, not her…but you.”

“Well, that makes sense,” I feebly said. “And I’m gonna guess he also told you about my bit with obsidian then?”

“That he did,” she responded. “And so, I waited for you to waste all of your energy during the attack. When you finished the Diamond Dogs, I snuck in, and spirited you away to this little hideaway.”

Indeed, other than the fact that I could tell I was in some form of cavern, or maybe a mine, I had no idea where we were. If it weren’t for the soft light coming from a dim torch hanging from the ceiling above me, then I wouldn’t have even known that.

“So, basically, I’m your new super-battery, is that right?” I finally managed to say, ignoring the cold shivers that kept trying to force their way down my back.

“Oh, indeed,” she gleefully said. “Now, I believe it is time to feed…”

Her horn glowed again, and the same eerily glowing tendrils extended towards my eyes.

Countless hours later, I felt tired. Drained. Weak. I could barely move at all.

And Queen Chrysalis was more powerful than before.

“I don’t get it,” I mumbled wearily. “I thought you fed on emotions and love, not energy.”

“Oh, but we do, my pet,” she laughed. “And you have plenty of emotions to feed off of. Especially your love…” She grinned evilly, and said, “Your love for Twilight Sparkle, even though you can’t see her…your constant worry for the safety of your friends…your anger, when they are threatened…”

Against my will, a flash of hot rage surged through me, only to be quickly drained by Chrysalis.

“Yes, be angry. Feed me with your fury, and make me stronger than ever before!” she whispered.

Without warning, I felt a second voice whisper in the back of my head, “Nathan, don’t worry. I’m coming. Just distract her a little longer.”

Who…?

“Hm? Why aren’t you angry anymore? Do you finally accept me as your master?” Chrysalis mocked, lifting my chin up to force me to stare into her eyes. “Do you realize I’ve won, and there is nothing you can do about it?”

For some reason, I started trembling in a silent chuckle. I don’t know why, but what she said struck me as incredibly funny. Eventually, it turned into a full on roaring laugh that echoed throughout the cavern.

I looked at her, and she stepped back a bit, surprised. “Oh, really, Queenie?” I asked in an amused tone. “You think that you’ve won? That I’m properly captured, and chained up? I hate to break it to you, but your master plan has one very big, gaping hole in it.”

“And what would that be?” she asked, confused.

“You see, there is one being that you never, EVER, make mad,” I answered, suddenly becoming deadly serious. “You never harm that being’s friends, never threaten to destroy their home, and you most certainly NEVER take from them the one thing that they love more than anything in this, or any other world.”

“You?” she asked derisively.

“No...not me. I’d give you mercy.” The wall of the cave shook suddenly, filling the dust with air. Acting on instinct, I said, “I’m talking about…HER.”

The wall exploded in a flash of bright purple light, temporarily blinding us. When the light dimmed, I looked up, and felt my heart soar in happiness.

[I'd suggest listening to "I am The Doctor" right now.]

There, standing in a massive hole that revealed a moonlit field, was a lavender colored Alicorn, wearing small bits of silver armor, and she had a golden tiara with an amethyst gem set into it on her head. She stood taller than before, almost as tall as Celestia, and her mane flowed around her in a dark purple light, lightly speckled with pink stars. Her eyes were glowing with a bright, furious white light…and she looked righteously pissed.

I grinned at Chrysalis, who was still staring at the Alicorn in shock, and said, “Queen Chrysalis, I’m sure you’ve met Twilight Sparkle. She’s my marefriend.” I frowned, and muttered, “Or Girlfriend. Man, Traveling is confusing sometimes.”

“Chrysalis,” Twilight said conversationally. “You’re going to run now.”

“Or what?” the Changeling Queen sneered.

In answer, Twilight’s horn glowed, and Chrysalis was lifted off of the ground, and smashed against the wall of the cavern. “Or that,” she said.

Before Chrysalis could get up, Twilight blasted her with a burst of magic from her horn, and sent her further into the cavern. With another flash of her horn, my bonds disappeared, much to my happiness. Unfortunately, now that I wasn’t stuck, I ended up falling flat on my face from sheer exhaustion…again.

Without a word, Twilight used her magic to levitate me onto her back, and she asked me, “Are you alright?”

I smiled, and wrapped my arms around her. “My girlfriend just turned Super Saiyan, blasted an uber-charged Changeling Queen, and saves me from being raped,” I answered. “I love you so much right now.”

She turned her head back, and nuzzled me in return, before flaring her wings, and taking off into the night.

[Music Over]

After a bit of flying, we had made it back to Ponyville, and Twilight and I had filled each other in on what had happened to us during the last twenty-four hours. Apparently, after I had been taken, Gordon and Titus had wanted to search for me, but Twilight was still going through her transformation. So, in a compromise, Gordon had managed to use his magic to allow Twilight to track me down using our connection to each other’s lives, and souls. Then, after the transformation was
complete, she found out I had gone missing, got her Element of Magic, went Super Saiyan with its power, and found me.

“She did WHAT to you?” Twilight shouted in anger, as we landed in front of the library.

“Tried to rape me, and she drained my energy?” I answered.

I hopped off of her, and we entered the library. She used her magic to remove her element, and in the blink of an eye she had returned to her normal form. Well, with wings, but still. She’s my Twilight, no matter how she looks.

“Where is everypony?” I asked her, looking around at the vast bookshelves.

“They’re back at Canterlot. The potions you gave Gordon and Titus wore off a while ago, so they should be back home now,” she answered, fluttering her wings. She grimaced, and said, “These still feel really weird.”

“Hey, you flew great just a minute ago,” I smiled, wrapping my arms around her again in a hug.

She giggled, and said, “Maybe, but that was only because I was charged by the Element. I’m not sure I could even hover right now.”

“Doesn’t matter to me. We’ve got all the time to learn it,” I chuckled, giving her a gentle kiss.

She giggled, and gladly returned the kiss. Her horn glowed again, and she quickly wrote a letter to Celestia, letting everypony know that we were safe. As soon as she was done, she turned back to me, and said, “So, what do we do now?”

I shrugged, and gave her a small grin. “Whatever we want, I imagine.” I shifted back into Earth Pony form, and shook out my mane. “So…How are we gonna deal with Chrysalis?”

Twilight thought about it for a moment, before slowly saying, “Well…she shouldn’t be a problem for a while.”

A devious smile crept across her face, and I found myself feeling extremely proud of her. “What’d you do?” I asked.

“Well…I might have put a memory block on her, so she can’t remember where Ponyville or Canterlot is,” she said, batting her eyelashes at me. “It’s only temporary, but it should keep her down.”

That did it. I burst out laughing, and Twilight soon joined me. I think we woke up half the town with our laughter, but who cares?

I’m with Twilight. She’s with me. She's safe. And she also got a major power boost.

I think I can call that good.

So, there we have the end of Story 2, with Twilight becoming an Alicorn, and temporarily going Super Saiyan. Yeah, one of you actually got that right. Sure, all of you guessed she would become an Alicorn, but only ONE person guessed the Super Saiyan bit.

Sorry, off topic. Anywho! Next Story arc will be the moment we’ve all been waiting for (well, I have at least). What would that be? Wwweeeeeeeellll…

Let’s just say it involves a ring.

It had been a few months since Twilight had become an Alicorn, and we had decided to lay low on Equestria for a while. Twilight had learned how to hide her wings to appear as an ordinary (or extraordinary if you ask me) unicorn. I was on top of the world. Nothing too bad had happened, much to our surprise. Things were relatively normal at Ponyville.

And as there wasn’t a crisis to stew over, I realized that I now had a golden opportunity to do something incredibly important to me…and to Twilight, as well.

So, after asking Rarity and Fluttershy to take her out to the spa for the day, I managed to sneak out of Ponyville, with a small sack of items that were vital to the success of what I was about to do.

Finally, after a few hours of trekking through the Everfree forest, I had come upon the small grove that I had hidden myself away in during my…hopeless stage. Smiling grimly, I remembered the feeling of letting my instincts take over entirely. I’ll admit, even now I felt a sort of dark attraction to the thought of becoming one with my primal self again.

But that could happen later.

What I was about to do was far more important.

Now, I’m not much of a blacksmith, or artist for that matter. But I’ve had a fair amount of training, and practice in my time. After all, working with Bruenor Battlehammer, and some of the finest dwarven blacksmiths tends to give you a bit of experience, doesn’t it? And those elves know what they’re doing as well…

And I was going to create something that soared past them in both beauty, and importance.

Hesitantly, as I waited for the sun to set, I opened the small bag, and carefully dumped the contents into my palm. A small silver cube, and a glowing amethyst crystal tumbled out, with a small tube of glittering blue diamond dust landing gently on top of it all.

“There we go,” I whispered, as I set the items cautiously on the ground. Once I was satisfied that nothing would crush them, I started gathering stones from the surrounding area, and arranged them into a box shape on the ground in front of me. Soon, I had a decent, makeshift furnace set up.

“Now, a quick spark,” I muttered. A snap of my fingers lit the furnace, just as the sun dipped below the horizon, and cast the area into darkness. Perfect. Now, I can only see the furnace…

Then again, I guess the right terminology in this scenario is a forge, hm?

Once the forge was hot enough, I shifted into my Wizard’s Aura, knowing that this process would require all of my magic talent. Slowly, I started to chant an old dwarven forging song to clear my thoughts, and soon enough, the silver block rose into the air. A wave of my hand sent the block to the furnace, where it lazily floated above the fire, absorbing the heat.

Eventually, I felt the silver start to gradually melt in my magic’s grasp. Thankfully, not a single drop was lost. With a great amount of effort, I waved my fingers, never once breaking the chant, causing the silver to shimmer, and bend. In the darkness of the night, I molded the silver into the shape of a circle, while the stars watched from above.

“Now, for the hard part,” I grumbled into my beard. With a free hand, I uncorked the small bottle of diamond dust. Then, as if taken in a grasp of insanity, I tossed the entire contents of the bottle into the air. The dust seemed to become temporarily suspended for a moment, before being swept up in a conjured breeze. The breeze carried it to the glowing ring of silver…and every single bit of it was attached to the ring, where it playfully reflected the firelight into the shadows.

Smiling in amazement, I called the ring to my hands, and used a brief ice-spell to cool it, merging the diamond dust and silver permanently. When it was cool enough to hold in my bare hands, I carefully placed it on an open palm, and stared at it in awe-filled reverence.

Only one thing to do now, and the forging will have been completed…

The amethyst floated into the air, and started rapidly spinning, as I poured my magic into it, giving it power, and shaping it to my will. Soon, the crystal shifted into a tiny, round orb…small enough to fit onto the silver band I had just created.

With one final effort, I merged the silver and crystal into one, whole being…

And with that, my ring had been completed.

The fire died out entirely, no longer fueled by my magic, and the stars twinkled brightly in the night sky, letting me see the final results of the ring.

Flawless, gleaming silver shone in the starlight, reflecting my tired and shocked gaze back at myself. Tiny runes formed from the diamond dust shone brilliantly, and the gem…the gem was perfect, and it burned with its own inner fire.

“You know,” I said to no one in particular, as I started my trek back to Ponyville, “Most people would go out and buy a ring. They’d make sure that it was the most expensive one they could find, or maybe find the one that has the most meaning to their loved one. Not me though. I had to go old school, and make my own.”

I tucked the ring into a small blue box, and pocketed it, chuckling quietly.

“Oh, it is good to be The Traveler.”

Once I made it back to the library, I collapsed on the small couch we had recently bought, and dismissed my Wizard’s Aura. Exhausted, I had to fight to stay awake. Still, despite my weariness, I felt oddly proud of myself. I had created this ring, and soon, I was going to make sure it was given to the right person…or, pony. Meh, grammar. I’m not mad at you this time.

Just before my eyes closed, the door opened again, jolting me out of my stupor. My smile grew larger at the sight of Twilight, radiant as ever, who trotted casually into the library.

“Hey Twilight!” I cheerfully called out from my position on the couch. “How was your day?”

She smiled at me, and said, “Oh, it was great! Turns out I really needed that spa day after all.”

“See? I told you you’d like it,” I laughed, as she came and lay besides me.

“Mhm…” she agreed. “So, what did you do today?”

“Oh, you know,” I slowly said, rolling my eyes. “Just the usual. Decided to make reservations at a fancy restaurant for us, so we can have dinner tomorrow,” I causally answered, examining my fingernails.

Twilight gave me a quick peck on the cheek, and wrinkled her nose in mock disgust. “You need to shave that stubble again,” she playfully teased.

“What?” I replied indignantly. “I thought you liked my manly detective stubble!”

“I do! It’s just that now it’s hairy hobo stubble!”

We both shared a laugh at that, and eventually, the two of us drifted to sleep on the couch, locked in each other’s embrace.

After agreeing to meet at the restaurant at around six, I went home to prepare myself. A few quick favors from my old friends, and everything was set. For once, one of my plans seemed ready to go off without a hitch.

…If I could fit this damned tie on my suit!

Right on time, in Earth Pony form, I was standing in front of Twilight’s library, wearing my best suit, recently repaired by Rarity. My hair had been painstakingly combed, and slicked back, while my beard was trimmed, and my face was free of any stubble. Hell, just to make sure I didn’t reek, I put on bits of fancy cologne. Yes, actual cologne. That wasn’t Old Spice.

I know. I’m shocked too.

I adjusted the small flower in my lapel, and knocked on the door, holding a bouquet of lavender flowers in my free hoof.

“Coming!” Twilight called out, before opening the door. I had to keep my jaw from falling to the floor when I saw her wearing her simple, blue silk gown.

She blushed at my expression, and shyly asked, “Do you like it? I had Rarity make it for me a while ago, but never got the chance to wear it.”

“You look stunning,” I smiled. I gave her the flowers, and she set them in a small glass jar before we left to go to the restaurant.

“You seem nervous,” she commented, noticing my slight tremble.

“Nah, I’m fine. Sans souci, and whatnot,” I instantly replied, averting my gaze. Subtlety was never my strong suit, even though I could probably pull it off when I needed to, but around Twilight? She could read me better than one of her books.

Thankfully, she let the matter drop, and we reached the restaurant soon after. As soon as we had been taken to our table, I winked at the grey earth pony playing the cello, and she winked back at me, much to the confusion of Twilight.

“Isn’t that Ocatavia?” she asked.

“Is it? I hardly noticed,” I answered, picking up my menu. “Think I’m gonna get that clover salad this time. What do you think, Twi?”

She rolled her eyes, and buried her face in her own menu. Yeah, she knows I’m planning something. Luckily, she doesn’t know what it is…

Once we had gotten our meals, and finished them, I felt my heartbeat quicken. It was now or never.

I waved my hoof, and Octavia cleared her throat, and called out to the other ponies at the restaurant, “Ladies and Gentlecolts, if I could have your attention?” The moment they had all been silenced, she continued. “I would like to introduce a very close friend of mine, Omnius. He is going to be singing for all of us tonight.”

They politely applauded me as I stood up, and grabbed the mic that had been set up for the occasion. Twilight raised her eyebrow, and I nodded happily at her.

“This song I’m about to sing, goes out to my lovely marefriend, Twilight Sparkle,” I said, closing my eyes as I brought the words of the song to my mind.

Soft music filled the air, and I quietly began to sing:

“This is the moment…
This is the day…
When I send all my doubts and demons
On their way!

“Every endeavor,
I have made - ever -
Is coming into play,
Is here and now - today!”

I opened my eyes, and looked at Twilight, and felt everything start to fall into place.

“This is the moment,
This is the time,
When the momentum and the moment
Are in rhyme!

“Give me this moment -
This precious chance -
I'll gather up my past
And make some sense at last!”

My voice rose, and I stepped off of the stage, and started walking towards her.

“This is the moment,
When all I've done -
All the dreaming,
Scheming and screaming,
Become one!

“This is the day -
See it sparkle and shine,
When all I've lived for
Becomes mine!”

Carefully, I reached into my pocket, and pulled the small box out, making sure that it was set firm in my shirt pocket.

“For all these years,
I've faced the world alone,
And now the time has come
To prove to them
I've made it on my own!"

Twilight’s eyes glimmered with small tears, as she realized I had planned this all for her.

“This is the moment -
My final test -
Destiny beckoned,
I never reckoned,
Second Best!

“I won't look down,
I must not fall!
This is the moment,
The sweetest moment of them all!”

I grabbed the coat of my suit, and flung it off of me, much to the surprise of everypony watching.

“This is the moment!
Damn all the odds!
This day, or never,
I'll sit forever
With the gods!

When I look back,
I will always recall,
Moment for moment,
This was the moment,
The greatest moment
Of them all!”

As the music slowly faded away, I pulled the box back out again, and knelt before Twilight. I put the mic up to my mouth, and said, “Twilight Sparkle. We have known each other for so long now...you’ve been there for me, more than I have had to be there for you. And now? I want to change that.”

I opened the box, and revealed the ring to her. She gasped in shock, and delight, and I exclaimed, “Twilight, I want to be there for you for every moment of Eternity. So…will you marry me?”

For what felt like hours, the entire room was silent, as Twilight looked at me with huge, shining eyes. Finally, she threw her hooves around me in a tight hug, and shouted, “Yes!”

I didn’t hear the applause. I didn’t hear the congratulations.

All I heard was that single word.

And everything else had fallen into place.

The warm light of the early sunrise seeped in through the windows, gently dancing on my eyelids. With a small yawn, I stretched my arms to wake myself up. Happiness surged throughout my entire being, as I felt the warm lavender colored bundle at my side.

“We’re really getting married…” I whispered quietly. “We’re really getting married. I can’t believe it.”

Slowly, so as not to wake up Twilight, I crawled out of bed. Creeping down to the kitchen, I started to let my mind wander.

Somehow, out of all the multiverses, universes, and omniverses that are in existence, I had managed to find the one sentient being who I was perfect for. She could look over all of my faults, all of my mistakes and problems…and someone who I could be with. Man, what will her parents think when we tell them we’re getting married?

…There’s something I need to do.

Lost in thought, I was taken completely by surprise when Twilight wrapped her hooves around me in a hug.

“Good morning, Sean,” she yawned out.

“Mornin’ Twi,” I gently replied, returning her embrace.

She sensed that I had something on my mind. With a quiet kiss, she gestured for me to sit next to her on the couch. Once we were comfortable, she looked at me, and asked, “Is there something you want to talk about?”

It was a few moments before I could come up with a good answer. Patiently, she waited for me to find the words, a small smile on her face. Finally, I took a deep breath, and said, “Twilight…I need to go somewhere before we can start planning the wedding.”

“Where do we need to go?” She nuzzled my side comfortingly, urging me to go on.

In a hushed voice, I told her what was really on my mind. She nodded understandingly when I finished.

“So, if it’s alright with you, Twilight…I’d like to take you with me. I can’t do this alone…it’s been so long since I’ve been there,” I admitted, a tear slipping out of my eye.

“Of course,” she answered instantly.

I embraced her tightly, and whispered, “Thank you, Twilight. This means a lot to me.”

Still hugging her, I leaned backwards, pulling both of us into another world.
One that I thought that I would never have to return to.

“Here you go, Twilight,” I chuckled with my eyes closed, handing Twilight her usual human clothes.

“Thank Celestia for Pocket Dimensions,” her voice muttered embarrassedly. She quickly pulled on a purple blouse and blue jeans while I averted my eyes. She had learned quickly why humans wore clothes after a disastrous trip to Las Vegas…hey, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

When she let me know that she was decent, I turned to see a tall, slender woman with dark hair staring back at me. She had a pink streak in her hair that complimented her beautiful violet eyes. The woman gave me a wry smile, before saying, “Sean, do you have to stare every time we go through this?”

“I’m not staring, I’m taking in the beautiful view,” I instantly replied.

We both shared a small laugh. Sadly, it didn’t last as long as I would have lasted.

I forlornly looked around us, taking in the dark green forest. Twigs and dry leaves crunched underfoot, as a light breeze shook the leaves above us.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Twilight asked me, slipping her hand into mine. “No one will think any less of you for it.”

My hand squeezed hers in reply.

“It’s not too far,” I stated. “Just a short hike through these woods, and we’ll be there in no time at all.”

Before my courage could fail me, I started walking forward. Twilight and I both stomped our way through the forest, and I can’t tell you just how glad I was that she was with me. If not for her, I would have chickened out of what I was about to do.

It was strange. I hadn’t been there in so long, yet everything seemed to be the same. The trees were thicker, and the grass was greener, sure, but…

Finally, we had made it out of the woods. Now, we were standing in a wide expanse of tall green grass that snagged at our ankles whenever we stepped in it. An old looking house sat near the woods, close to where we were, actually. A decrepit blue shed stood next to it, soliciting a sad smile from me. A little ways away, I could spot an old road that cut deeper into the forest.

None of that was what we came here for though.

It was what lay across the street that held my goal…the old graveyard.

Heart racing in my chest, I felt my will start to waver. What was I doing? I wasn’t supposed to be here, I didn’t belong here anymore. I had escaped this place after so long. Why did I come back? I can still leave, actually. No one has seen me, I can always just Tra-

Twilight wrapped her arm around mine, interrupted my thoughts.

“It’s not too far now, Sean,” she reminded me. “Just a few more steps, and you’ll make it.”

I tightly squeezed her hand in response, not trusting myself to speak. She was right. I can do this.

For a moment, we stood there as Twilight gave me her strength. Then, as the sun started to reach the highest point in the sky, we started forward once more.

Several minutes later, and we were standing in front of a small patch of grass. Twilight gave me a small kiss, and I sat down in front of the patch.

[Right now, I’d suggest listening to “His World – Sad version”]

“Hey Mom…sorry I haven’t been out to visit you. Things have been extremely hectic. I guess that’s what happens when you’re the Eternal Traveler of Good, right?”

Twilight sat down next to me, silently waiting for me to go on.

“Anyways, you’d never believe what I’ve been up to lately. Remember that game I used to be obsessed with, Super Mario 64? I met him. Mario, I mean. He’s more awesome in person. I know that I might have seen it happening in visions, but to actually live through it? To actually see him in person? Man, that just took my breath away. He considers me an honorary brother now, and that just makes me smile every time I think about it.

“And it’s not just video game worlds I’ve been to. Remember how I used to watch ‘Pocahontas’ all the time? Heh, I remember Dad telling me that I used to watch it every day. But yeah, I met her too. She helped teach me to remember to listen to what my heart tells me. I gotta say, that’s something that I don’t ever wanna forget…

“Speaking of Dad, how is he? You’re still watching over him too, right? I really miss him…since I became the Traveler, I haven’t been able to see him. I’d have to explain a lot of things to him that I couldn’t. I really hope he’s alright though. Maybe Kura’s finally started to mellow out.”

I chuckled at that.

“I shouldn’t say that. She was just…I dunno, misguided? Anyways, that’s not what I’m here to talk about. I know I mentioned it to you in prayers, but you know that T.V show, ‘My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic’? I finally got to go there. And now it’s one of my home worlds. Can you believe it? And not only that, but I’m best friends with the Mane Six, and the princesses. Not to mention a few others…heh, it sounds like something out of a bad story, doesn’t it?”

I sniffed, and wiped my nose absently with my handkerchief.

“Well, it gets better. Remember Twilight Sparkle? The one who was really into books like I am? Something incredibly lucky happened, and somehow…well…it turns out that once I finally met her, and when she met me…we fell in love.”

Trembling every now and then, I told her about everything that had led up to that moment, not skipping any of the details. Twilight helped me to remember a couple of things when I doubted myself, even adding her own comments every now and then.

“And then yesterday, I finally worked up the courage to propose to her. I sang ‘This is The Moment’ from Jekyll and Hyde, and for once I was able to hit the high notes. For some reason, I’m guessing that’s the hardest thing to believe, isn’t it? She said yes, and now we’re planning the wedding.”

Twilight leaned against my shoulder, and silently gave me a questioning look. I gave her a smile, and she turned to where I was staring.

“Hello…My name is Twilight Sparkle. I have to say, you should be incredibly proud of your son. He’s done so much for everyone. Sure, he still might have a temper, and not think things through every now and then, but his heart has always been in the right place…I promise I’ll look after him. Someone has to make sure he doesn’t hurt himself all the time, at least.”

For another couple of hours, Twilight and I just swapped stories about our time together. I hoped that my Mom heard everything…

When the sun started to touch the horizon, I stood up, and stuck my hands in my pockets.

“I’ll come back to visit again,” I promised. “But we’ve gotta go now. Our people need us, and all that…”

Tears freely flowed down my face, blurring my vision.

“I miss you, Mom. May Jesus and God make sure that heaven is good enough for you,” I croaked.

Twilight placed a hand on my shoulder. “Let’s go home,” she whispered.

So we did just that…and I left my birth world behind once again.

Happy birthday Mom.

-Sean

“No,” I stubbornly growled as I slapped a few cards onto the table in front of me.

“Oh, come on mate!” a rust colored Unicorn pony groaned from the other side of the table, several empty bottles surrounding him.

I was just cleaning up after the latest Poker Night shenanigans. Twilight had opted to head to bed early so that she could get the rest of the wedding taken care of in the morning, and I was entertaining the two beings who were trying to convince me to do something that I didn’t want to do.

One of them was the earlier mentioned Unicorn pony, appropriately named Rust, while the other…well, the other one was a sight to behold. His current form was that of a dark, royal purple colored cat creature, with wings and the build of a lion. If I remember right, he’s something called a Leo Aeries Sagittarius, or something like that.

His name, however, is Mobius. All things considered, he’s a lot like me. He’s extremely long-lived, travels across certain multiverses, and can turn into a human. He’s got his own version of Equestria that he prefers to bum around on, but he’s technically not a Traveler. He’s something called a Seer (long story, click his name to see it).

Rust? Rust is just a former human turned pony who’s rude, crude, and one hell of a dude. He’s extremely violent, can’t get through a single day without his alcohol…and is just a serious badass. I can honestly say he’s got a good heart, at least. Oh, and he's a pirate. No, really. Because of a barfight we both got into, he ended up losing an eye, and acquiring a taste for rum and loot.

But right now, since I told the two of them about the wedding, they’re getting on my nerves.

“Look, I told you, I don’t need one of those,” I repeated for what felt like the millionth time.

Mobius rolled his eyes, and said, “Come on now, Omnius! What’s the harm in doing something like that? We already talked to Twilight about it, and she says she’s perfectly fine with it!”

“See? That’s a first! Your freaking fiancée actually agreed to let ME throw you a bachelor’s party!” Rust shouted, taking another swig of rum. Slamming the bottle on the table, he stood up and added, “And besides, think of the possibilities!”

I snorted at that thought. Continuing to clean up the table, I sarcastically said, “Yeah, we could go out and get hammered in Las Pegasus…think that bar’d let us in after we trashed the place like that?”

Rush grinned sheepishly, and said, “Hey! It’s not my fault those two gangs tried to beat the shit out of us!”

“Dude, you went over and told them how you slept with their mothers,” I deadpanned.

Mobius laughed uproariously at that. Giving the both of us a cheeky grin, he asked, “How did that happen?”

“Oh, the usual,” Rust said. “Just another fun trip to Sin City.”

“Yeah…wait, we got distracted again!” I realized, smacking my forehead in a facepalm. “Look, the point is, I DON’T WANT A BACHELOR’S PARTY. Even if I did, I’d have no idea of who to invite! Seriously, I’ve met too many people to be able t-”

Rust cleared his throat, and slapped a small notebook down on the table. I raised an eyebrow at it, while he said, “Here’s the invite list, the venue, and the time to show up. I’ve already done it.”

I just gaped at it, surprised that he had went ahead and done all that. Hell, I only just told him and Mobius tonight! How did he…?

The Seer winked at me, and said, “Surprise! Now shut up and come with us!”

Before I could voice my protests, a green aura of magic lifted me off of the ground, while Mobius just gave me another one of his smug “Troll” smiles.

“Rust, you get him to the bar. I’ll get the guests there!” Mobius said, while Rust carried me out the door.

I’m not even gonna ask how they decided on the guest list. Maybe they saw Twilight’s wedding invite list, or something. Besides, free party. Maybe I’ll have a good time.

Maybe.

A few minutes (and several awkward stares) later, Rust and I were standing in front of a dingy looking bar. There were cracks in the windows, chunks of wood torn out of the doors…really, it looked like the only thing holding this together were good intentions.

I liked the place already.

Rust abruptly cut off his magic, dropping me onto the ground unceremoniously. “Thank you for using Rust Taxi services. We accept booze, babes, and bacon as payment.”

He held out his hoof, and imitated a small cough.

I rolled my eyes and muttered, “Yeah, yeah, I’ll buy you a drink inside.”

“Woo hoo! Free booze!” Rust shouted in excitement, pushing me into the bar.

The place was actually much cleaner looking on the inside. Everything looked…well, GOOD. The bottles were glistening at the bar, the tables were free of any debris, the jukebox was actually working…

Wait. Something’s not right. For one thing, that jukebox is playing an AC/DC song. Last I checked, Equestria didn’t have that level of Rock ‘N’ Roll yet…and I see Jack Daniels and Captain Morgan in the alcohol selections. All of that is human stuff.

That, and the bar was surprisingly empty…minus the folks all crowded around a large table in the center of the room.

I honestly could recognize each and every single one of them. Shadow Breeze, Purple Blaze, Razor Graze, Lance Greenfield, and Vinetion…wait, am I the only one who just realized that all of them are Pegasi? What is it with people and being a Pegasus? Is something wrong with being an Earth Pony? Oh, wait, I’m getting off track again.

Asides from them, we had an incredibly tall Pegasus with an evil glint in his eye sitting next to a female draconequus with a bulging stomach…better known as Silent Charge, and Anarchy. I haven’t seen those two in forever! Hope they haven’t destroyed the school since I’ve last seen them.

…Oh crap, they have, HAVEN’T THEY?!

No, wait. Save the freak out for the end of the presentation. Okay.

With them, I saw the ever-so-familiar face of Kyle, everyone’s favorite lawyer/psychotic dude, and one of my bosses: Iron Clad, new God of Good.

Pardon the breaking of the fourth wall for the umpteenth time, but I simply refuse to describe them in excessive detail. There are simply too many people that I’d have to do that for, so instead I will simply provide a link to a blog post with their oh-so famous faces on it. OH MISTER AAUUUTTTHOOOORRR~! Oh wait, that’s me!

[Click here to be taken to said blog post.]

Now, where was I? Oh, right.

“What the heck?” I stammered in amazement.

Silent Charge gave me an amused smirk, as if he had expected my reaction, and he said, “Surprise, Omnius. Congratulations on becoming engaged. Now then, have a present.”

A massive text book sailed through the air, literally coming from out of nowhere, and smacked me in the chest. The sudden book hurl threw off my balance, and I fell to the floor. Everyone laughed at the sight of me flailing underneath a cartoonishly large book, some of them nearly falling out of their chairs.

“Halp…” I wheezed.

Anarchy rolled her eyes, but snapped her fingers. A motivational poster of a kitten hanging from a tree appeared above my face, magically floating in the air.

“There,” she smiled. “Doesn’t that make you feel better?”

“No…”

That only made everyone laugh even harder. Finally, Shadow Breeze took pity on me, helping me push the massive book away. Picking myself up off the ground, I muttered in a dry tone, “Yeah, now I can see why Mobius invited you guys…hardy har har.”

The feline in question just gave me another one of his trademarked Troll Grins, and said, “After you told me about them, I just HAD to tell them about it!”

Graze looked at him with an amused expression, and said, “Hey. At least he didn’t freak out over the ball of yarn.”

“I thought it was a bomb!”

“And batting it around while meowing was gonna disarm it?” Purple Blaze asked.

“…Well what do you know about bombs?”

Breeze chuckled at the cat, before saying, “I might not know about bombs, but I know what a ball of yarn looks like.”

Mobius grumbled for a little bit, a little annoyed that the trolling tides had been turned on him. Vine gave him a pat on the head, and cheerfully said, “Now, now. We’re not here to troll each other like that.”

“We aren’t?” Anarchy, Mobius, and I said at the exact same time.

Vine glowered at the three of us, causing all three of us to mimic zipping our mouths shut.

Graze nodded in agreement. “She’s right. We’re here to PAAAAARTAY!”

Half an hour into the party, and…amazingly, nothing had been broken yet. Honestly, with all of the clashing personalities in the room, it was a miracle that a major fight hadn’t been started. Granted, it was a little concerning to hear Kyle and Silent Charge both talk about torture methods so casually.

“Now while I feel that my students are highly intelligent, they also seem to never be able to pay attention,” Charge was saying with a malicious glint in his eyes, “So to ensure that they have an…incentive…I simply tell them about the Iron Maiden I have stashed in detention.”

Kyle laughed wildly at that, and said, “Oh, man. You’ve definitely gotta be the best teacher I’ve ever met! Now how do you deal with the ones that don’t pay attention?”

Charge grinned wickedly. Another text book appeared in his hoof, while he took careful aim at the back of Razor Graze’s head. Graze’s ears pricked, but before he could even register what was about to happen, Charge hucked the book full strength at the poor Pegasus’ head.

WHACK!

As Graze toppled over onto the floor, the teacher nodded, and said, “See? I’ve just taught him to never let his guard down around me.”

“You psychotic bastard!” Graze howled.

WHACK!

Shadow Breeze tentatively took a sip from his mug, and nearly spat it back out as soon as he had tasted it. He grimaced at bitter taste of it, instantly regretting letting his friends talk him into trying it. “How can you all stand that?” he coughed. “It’s disgusting!”

Lance lifted his own mug to his lips, and took a massive gulp from it. Letting out a belch, he said, “It’s an acquired taste. Sadly, only the toughest people can drink it.”

As if that were his cue, Graze slammed two bottles of the stuff onto the table. A wide smile on his face, he said, “If that’s true, then why don’t we see which one of us is tougher?”

Mobius leaned over to me, and whispered, “Why are they acting like that again?”

“They’ve both got voices in their heads. One of them is the lawful good side, the other is the more asinine jerk-ish good side,” I replied. “The one in Graze is Kill, and the one in Lance is Break.”

Iron Clad nodded. Making sure no one was listening, he placed a small bag of bits in front of us. “Thirty bits on Lance.”

“You’re on,” Mobius instantly said, placing his own sack on the table. “What about you, Omni?”

I glanced at the two drinking Pegasi, mentally calculating which of them would out-drink the other. While Lance had somehow become an angelic being, I also couldn’t forget the fact that Graze was…well, he’s Razor Graze. Even his freaking name sounds badass!

Finally, I just ended up saying, “Neither.”

All the while, the two rivals had been downing mug, after mug of…actually, I’m not entirely sure WHAT it was. I remember Vine said something about it being homegrown, but that’s about it. No, wait. There’s the problem: Pegasus (SERIOUSLY! NEARLY EVERYONE’S SOME FORM OF PEGASUS!) with powers over everything to do with plants, including hops, making alcohol.

Well this is going to be more interesting than I thought.

Now, where was I? Oh, right.

Lance and Graze were neck and bottleneck, both of them surrounded by a small pile of bottles. Neither of them seemed to be giving in, as they drank enough alcohol to make even Wolverine jealous. Finally, after fifteen minutes of nonstop drinking, Lance reached out for one last bottle…and then his eyes rolled into his head.

He crashed onto the ground, while Graze swayed in a drunken victory dance. “Yesh! I told yoush I wash tuffer!”

As Graze reveled in his alcohol induced triumph, Rust slammed an entire tankard of ale onto the table, and let out a mighty belch that rattled the very foundations of the bar. The drunken Pegasus looked at him in shock.

Rust glanced at the few bottles remaining on the table “You gonna finish the rest of that?”

The Pegasus (WHICH ONE?!) fell onto the ground.

Mobius and Iron Clad sighed, and pushed their bags towards me.

“Thank’ee kindly, folks,” I laughed. “Now, the real question is how we’re gonna wake up those two jokers.”

In answer, Vinetion went over with two piping hot cups of coffee. After she downed the precious contents, she proceeded to break the empty cups over the heads of the two unconscious ponies.

Instantly, they shot up, so many curse words flying out of their mouths that I would have had to change the rating of this story to “Mature” simply because of how bad it was. I think I actually learned a few new ones from their rant.

Everyone facepalmed them.

After Lance had recovered from his bout of extreme drinking, he wobbled his way over to me, a look of glazed confusion on his face.

“So, you’re gettin’ married to Twilight?” he slurred. Okay, maybe he hasn’t recovered. “But…but I’M married to her already…”

“Yes, yes you are,” I said in a neutral tone. “But that’s YOUR Twilight. This one is MY Twilight. There are many like her, but this one is mine.”

Lance swayed uncertainly as he climbed into the bar seat. Withholding another burp, he mumbled, “There’s more than ONE Twilight?”

Oh great. I get to explain multiverse theory to a guy who’s drunk off his rocker. This is gonna be harder than making a decent Family Guy cut-away reference in a story involving magic talking ponies, so that I don’t have to explain it for the umpteenth time.

“Okay, maybe if I said something like how it’s harder than Brentalfloss is for Bjork…no, wait, then it’s just a Brentalfloss joke. Oh! ‘Harder than Battletoads’…No, no, there are already enough video game jokes in it already. ‘Harder than it is for a fat guy to resist a cheeseburger?’…too obvious.”

I sighed, and pushed my laptop away from myself for a moment.

“Stupid Fourth Wall moments. Completely derail my train of thought.”

“But what about the kittens?” Lance asked.

Mobius, who had joined me in my doomed attempt to explain it, groaned in exasperation, and said, “THERE ARE NO KITTENS. IT’S A METAPHOR!”

“Oooohhhhh,” he nodded dumbly. “Well, it makes more sense now. Congratulations. Bartender! Another piece of floor for me to pass out on!”

With that, he fell onto the floor again.

Mobius and I glanced at him, before shrugging indifferently. Vine looked over from her seat at Lance, and muttered, “Peh…Men…Can’t hold their liquor. Present company excluded of course.”

Another bottle was drained in the blink of an eye at that, and Rust said, “Yep.”

“Eeyup,” I nodded, sipping a can of Mountain Dew.

“Mmhm.” Kyle downed his drink.

“Yeah…” Mobius sighed.

We all looked at Vine expectantly.

“What? Is it my turn? Oh, I’m sorry,” Vine apologized. She gulped down her coffee, before saying, “Uh-huh.”

Best. Bachelor party. EVER.

A little later into the party, and Rust had brought up a very, very, very, very, VERY important question that I'm sure everyone should have asked earlier.

"So where are the strippers?"

I groaned in exasperation, rolling my eyes at the question. "Rust...are you being serious?"

"Omnius, strippers are no laughing matter. Especially for bachelor parties!" Rust said, a mad gleam in his eyes. "Come on, I know that there are strippers SOMEWHERE!"

Lance and Blaze overheard this, and immediately joined him in his search for strippers. While they went off to search, Anarchy and Vinetion joined me at the table I was sitting at.

"...They do realize that women are here, right?" Anarchy pointed out.

"And you're a human right now?" Vine added.

"And Anarchy is preggers," I deadpanned. "And married at that. Vine, aren't you dating Graze right now? Actually, mostly everyone here IS married in some form. I'm surprised Lance and Blaze went with it."

"Yeah..."

All three of us shook our heads at that. It wasn't a surprise when the two Pegasi returned with downcast expressions on their faces.

"What's wrong?" I asked them.

"Rust found the strippers..." Lance stated.

"Why aren't you with him then?" Wait, THERE REALLY ARE PONY STRIPPERS?!

"We're married...well, we remembered that at least," Blaze chuckled.

"So...where's Rust?"

I heard Rust cackle over the sounds of the music and everyone talking. In a loud voice, he shouted, "HAIL TO THE BACHELOR!"

That answers that then.

Finally, the party started to end. All of the drinks had gone, the jukebox had played all of my favorite rock ‘n’ roll songs, and Mobius and I had gotten into one hell of a fist fight that decimated half the bar.

“Man, that was just awesome you guys. Thanks for everything,” I said, giving everyone a high-five and/or hug. “Honestly, I didn’t ever think I’d get one of these. Hell, I never thought I’d be getting married in the first place!”

Blaze grinned, and slapped a hoof on my shoulder. “What are friends for?”

The darker colored Pegasus smiled in agreement, and said, “Yeah. You’ve helped out a lot of ponies and people over the years. It’s about time the universes paid you back.”

I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that after he said that, things quickly went to Hell in a hand basket.

The door to the bar burst open suddenly, surprising everyone there. To my astonishment, Spike ran in as fast as his legs could carry him, a torn piece of parchment clutched in his claws.

“Omnius!” he shouted, making his way over to me, a look of pure fear on his face. It looked like he had just sprinted half a mile to get here.

“Whoa there, Spike.” I bent down and picked him up. “What’s wrong?”

In answer, he wordlessly handed me the parchment with a trembling claw. Shadow Breeze took him off my hands while I glanced at the contents of the small scroll. It took me less than three seconds to read the entirety of it…

My entire body started to shake in pure rage. It was a miracle that I didn’t explode on the spot. As it was, Vine looked at me in concern, and asked, “Nate…what’s wrong?”

I read the letter out loud to everyone there, barely able to keep my voice down.

“’Round two starts now…’ I looked at Spike, now sitting on Shadow Breeze’s back with a terrified expression on his face. “Someone took her, didn’t they?”

He nodded, tears leaking out of his eyes. “H-he just showed up out of nowhere…I couldn’t stop him! He used some kind of glowing stone on Twilight, and it knocked her out. I tried to save her, but…he was…”

The dam broke then. Tears flowed uncontrollably from his eyes, finally unable to hold it back any longer. I couldn’t believe it. I had to see the library, just to be sure. My mind was racing at a million miles a minute, trying to think of the possibilities. I thought that it had ended when Twilight became an Alicorn. Her power should have increased to the point where she would have been able to fight off almost anyone who would have dared to come after her, or at the very least let me know what had happened.

Something didn’t add up here.

I barely noticed that the others from the bar were following me. Hell, I barely noticed anything at the moment. All I could think about was how Twilight was in danger.

By the time we reached the library, my mind had played through a thousand different scenarios. Nothing made sense though! There was no one on this world who could have done that. Torrentican couldn’t have reached her without my knowing…

I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw that the door had been ripped off its hinges. Inside was nothing short of pure destruction. Everywhere I looked, books had either been burned, torn apart, or ripped to shreds. The windows were shattered to pieces, the walls had scorch marks all over them…

And Torrentican was standing in the middle of the entire wreckage.

“Ah, hello Omni-”

I grasped him by the collar, and pressed him against the wall. “Where is she?!” I roared. His lips cracked in a smug smile at my anger.

“Temper, temp-” He howled in pain as I slammed him against the wall again. My fist crashed into the side of his head, again and again, until he stopped trying to talk.
“WHERE. IS. SHE!” I shouted again.

“Hmph. You should know that brute strength won’t get the answer out of me,” Torrentican spat, spraying the ground with a bit of blood.

I roared in anger again, as a haze of red filled my vision. No longer in control of my actions, I flung Torrentican across the room, where he broke through another of the bookshelves. I started to rush at him, only to have Breeze and Blaze grab my arms. It was more the shock of having them restrain me that stopped me, then their actual strength.

“Sean, stop!” Shadow Breeze said, pulling my now limp body away from Torrentican.

“Yeah, come on man,” Kyle added. He made his way over to me with a concerned look on his face. “Beating the hell out of him isn’t going to get you anywhere, satisfying though it may be.”

“Actually, it WILL get you somewhere,” Torrentican laughed insanely from his position on the floor. “But I highly doubt it will be anywhere useful!”

My temper flared again, and it was only Iron Clad’s magic that kept me from attacking him again.

Anarchy glared at Torrentican, and said, “Don’t worry…I believe I can get an answer out of him.”

Her husband, the book hurling teacher, smiled wickedly. “Yes…” he whispered. “A spirit of chaos and lust interrogating is truly a sight to behold.”

The draconequus smiled seductively at Torrentican, placing a paw on the Traveler of Evil’s head. Mentally, she wormed her way into his mind, prying the answer from his very conscious.

While she did that, Mobius pulled Kyle to the side and started having a whispered conversation between themselves.

“I’m worried about him,” Mobius said, glancing at me in a covert manner. “I’ve never seen him get this mad.”

Kyle shrugged indifferently. “I’m not really that surprised. I mean, you’ve seen how mad he gets when one of his friends is in trouble, right?”

“Yeah, but still,” the Seer insisted. “Even then, he’s never gotten that angry!”

“Well, now it’s not just a friend,” he pointed out. “It’s his best friend, his fiancée. Not only that, but he told you what happened with Jenna, right?”

I cut in then, startling the both of them by saying, “She was murdered by the enemy of my friend. I don’t know what his real name was, but I can remember everything else about him. He was a monster…and hopefully, I won’t see him for an incredibly long time.”

A long sigh escaped my lips. My friends heard it, and wisely chose not to say anything. The next ten minutes were pure agony for me. Torrentican was one of the few true masters of mental warfare, in every sense of the word. It would be only a combination of luck and skill that would let Anarchy even glimpse the answer…

“Someone named ‘The Lord of the Land’ has her,” Anarchy said suddenly, as Torrentican fell over on the ground.

...What?

…WHAT?

“How did this even happen?!” I half-shouted in astonishment.

Anarchy pinched the bridge of her nose, and shook her head a bit, dazed from the abrupt shift back into reality. “According to his memories, Torrentican wanted you to suffer what he had to suffer…and apparently, The Lord of the Land still holds a grudge against you for thwarting his plans against Gordon.”

“Where is he?”

“He’s…in the ancient castle of the Royal Pony Sisters,” she said, snapping herself out of it.

“Okay then,” I quietly said in a deathly quiet voice. “Thanks again for the party. Sorry it had to end this way. Now, if you excuse me…”

I summoned my sword, and trademarked silver revolver.

If Demons run when a good man goes to war…then let’s see what happens when a Traveler goes to war.

A/N: Okay, so...that blog post. I got lazier and didn't do it. I'll get on it eventually.

I didn’t stop to shift into pony form. I didn’t stop to get my armor from my house. Hell, I didn’t stop to let Twilight’s friends know what had happened, or even write a note to Princess Celestia.

There was probably plenty of time for me to do that, in retrospect. It would have been the rational or logical thing to do.

But then again, The Lord of the Land and Torrentican had both done the one thing that had them signing their own death warrants. They had made the mistake of making sure it has nothing to do with this world; that it’s completely, irrevocably, and ultimately personal. Do you want to know what that means?

It means that I have no reason to hold back. That all of my years of studying, everything I’ve learned throughout my entire life, is available to use.

My sword started to glow brightly, before shifting into its base form: a sleek, white-bladed sword with a simple, blue-leather wrapped hilt, and an orb shaped pommel. At first glance, it would have seemed normal; ordinary, even. But that was just how it looked. The blade seemed to hum with power, nearly endless energy coursing through it. The very air around it shimmered visibly.

Unconsciously, I started to lower the barriers I always kept around my mind. They weren’t ever there for my safety, oh no. If eyes are the windows to the soul, then mine were forced to constantly be a shield to the madness that always lay dormant in my heart. Everything that I’ve seen, that I’ve been, they can see, if they just take even a glance at my eyes.

The sound of approaching hooves from behind me reached my ears, but I didn’t slow down at all. My march through the woods took on a sort of unpronounced grace, like that of a great cat on the hunt.

“Hey, Omnius! Wait up!” Shadow Breeze said, flying alongside me.

I pulled my bandanna out of my pocket, and tied it around my eyes. Didn’t want to accidentally flash-fry whoever decided to try and take a peek inside of them.

“Breeze,” I curtly said, tightening my grip on my sword. Couldn’t really see anything now, but…I felt everything around me. The way that the life around all objects would merge almost seamlessly with the magic in the air of Equestria…I could sense that everyone from the party, save Blaze, Charge, Kyle, and Lance, had decided to follow me into the forest.

“You’re not really gonna go in there alone, are you?” Breeze asked from my right.

“Anything I say gonna turn the rest of you around?”

“Nope!” Anarchy chirped cheerfully from above me.

“Where’s everyone else?”

“Blaze had to take Lance home, since he got too plastered, and you know about Kyle’s heart problems” Graze stated. “Charge is…erm; well…Anarchy somehow gave him her pregnancy…”

I raised an eyebrow at this.

“Chaos is a wonderful thing, isn’t it?” the draconequus giggled.

There was a slightly bemused sigh from a little bit behind me, as Rust said, “Call it what you want, I think it’s more disturbing than that R63-Gun. I will never live that down.”

“Yeah, but you don’t regret it either, do you?” Mobius deadpanned.

“Hell no! I looked sexy as a mare!”

Their banter might have seemed light, but…

A hoof was placed around my shoulders, as Iron Clad stated in a firm tone, “We’re here for you, Om. If there’s any way we can help, we’re going to do just that!”

I tilted my head in his direction gratefully, and said, “Thanks. Thank you all. You know, there is something you can do right now.”

“What would that be?” Mobius asked.

Magic surged through the air, as a low guitar chord echoed hauntingly through the air.

“Follow my lead.”

Twilight Sparkle was trapped, and there was no denying it. Every magic spell she threw against the sides of the crystalline dome she was trapped in did absolutely nothing, she couldn't find any type of weak point, there was no indication of the shield around here disappearing any time soon. And even then, she had no idea where she was. All she could make out were the circular stone walls, chipped away in the style that only years of neglect could bring. There were no windows, only a single cast-iron door.

Of course, there was also the hulking, armor clad figure that had taken her in the first place. His armor was heavily scratched on nearly every single inch of it, while his shoulders, torso, and head were all stained black with the reminders of some horrible blaze. A massive broadsword, almost as wide as a tree, was slung casually over his back. What Twilight though was his most intimidating feature, however, was his bucket-shaped helmet. Two long, curling horns jutted out from the sides of it, and in the marrow slit used for eyes...she could see the cold, steady, gaze of a dead man with nothing to loose.

And she felt no fear at all.

The Lord of the Land cast his chilling gaze at the defenseless Alicorn. "You are the one that the Traveler calls his own?"

Twilight scoffed at him, picturing what Sean would say in a situation like that. "No, sometimes he's mine. We've worked out a time-share plan on who owns who."

Maybe not exactly what he would have said, but she was learning.

His eyes narrowed dangerously, a cold anger rising in them. His gauntlet clenched for an instant,and he stated, "You would do well to watch your tongue, witch."

Twilight met his gaze with a glare of her own.

"You have steel, I will admit that much," The Lord of the Land continued. "I find it a true shame that the circumstances force us to meet as enemies. Your courage and thirst for knowledge are a rarely found trait."

"After hearing about everything that you've done, I'm not too sure about that," Twilight countered. Her newfound wings flared instinctively as The Undead Lord moved as if to strike her.

He seemed to be smirking at her, when he told her, "I am not a man to be trifled with, Miss Sparkle. Your foolish friend should have known that before he forced my hand."

"Why do you even want to hurt him?" Twilight asked, instinctive worry for her loved one lacing her voice.

There was a long silence, as he considered her question. He stood as still as a statue, an almost thoughtful air about him. Finally, he answered, “I’m certain that you were told everything about my…origins. How the father of one of his dear friends,” he spat in contempt, “cursed me, and stole everything away from me. I had the chance to enact revenge on that wizard’s son…At first, I assuaged my conscious by saying that by spilling his blood, I would be freed. As the years passed…well, needless to say, they became slightly twisted, though the goal was all the same.

“But then Omnius and the rest of Gordon’s friends stopped you, didn’t they?” Twilight asked.

“Unfortunately, yes…and it was all because of Omnius that I lost everything in the blink of an eye. For the second time, all I needed was within my reach…and he took it. He wrecked everything,” The former king muttered. “I was back at square one. Even less than that, because he no longer lived on my world. Neither did his wench, for that matter.”

“You took everything away from him that night, too,” the magic prodigy countered.

“He still had more than I did…and he found you, for that matter.”

His broadsword was in his hand in the blink of an eye, dark fires smoldering in his eyes, the only sign of life Twilight could make out.

“This entire room is laced with obsidian,” he continued. “I beat him once in a duel, I can easily best him again. And then, he will be forced to watch…because I won’t kill you. You have his magic flowing through your veins, and I imagine he has yours in his as well. All that means to me is that I can break you. That he will be left with nothing more than a broken husk.”

At this, Twilight did something completely unexpected to the both of them. She didn’t shake in fear, or laughter. There wasn’t a heroically defiant glare, or a cold gaze.

There was only a small, knowing smile.

“You think that’s going to stop him?” she asked. Not even bothering to wait for an answer, she plowed on. “I think you’ve got something wrong here. I’m NOT the frightened damsel in distress, and he’s not the stupid fighter who will make some big mistake that will make you win. You’re not the evil mastermind, and this isn’t an inescapable prison. Let me tell you what all of this really is.”

She stomped her hoof on the ground, and met The Lord of the Land’s glare with a triumphant look of her own.

“This is just a brick house, and you’re just a tin can with a grudge. I’m not a damsel in distress, I’m just waiting for Sean to break me out of here.”

Suddenly, the sound of music started to echo throughout the entire room. Low, haunting, foreboding chords lingered in the air, as Twilight smiled at her ‘captor’.

You can run on for a long time.

Run on for a long time.

Run on for a long time.

Sooner or later, God’ll cut you down.

Sooner or later, God’ll cut you down.

“And right now?”

Go tell that long tongue liar.

Go tell that midnight rider.

Tell the rambler, the gambler, the back biter

“My fiancé is standing right outside whatever this place is, with some of the most powerful beings he’s ever met at his side.”

Twilight sat down, and ignored the nagging voice in her head that was saying how close Sean was to loosing it.

Tell ‘em that God’s gonna cut you down.

Tell ‘em that God’s gonna cut you down.

There it was. The castle where Twilight was being held, and where The Lord of the Land was waiting for me. Nothing about it had really changed since the last time I had come here, all those years ago. Well, years for me at least.

Now, though, there was a giant, translucent dome that covered the entirety of the castle. From the looks of it, it had taken someone with considerable skill to set it up. They had probably spent weeks just getting prepared to cast it, and taken a few days to conjure it up. Hundreds of hours had been poured into it, just to make sure there was nothing that could get through it.

And it only took us ten seconds to completely shatter it, and the front doors to the castle.

Mobius, Rust, Iron Clad, and Anarchy unleashed their most powerful destructive magic at it, bombarding it with wave after wave of energy.

While they did that, Shadow Breeze, Graze, and Vinetion pummeled at it with brute force, and several uprooted trees.

And while THEY did that, I swung my sword over my head, and brought it crashing down on the dome in front of me. There was a vicious crackle of electricity, and a thunderous explosion as the blade collided with my target.

The barrier didn’t just fail. It shattered into a thousand pieces, and collapsed into nonexistence.

 “Next stage of this plan,” I stated, while breaking out into a mad dash for the castle. “Stay back, and snap me out of it if I lose it.”

With that, I aimed my revolver at the floor, and pulled the trigger.

The stone exploded into a massive cloud of dust, and I fell into the pit below.

Instantly, my eyes picked up on the form of The Lord of the Land in his hulking armor, with his sword casually gripped in his hands.

He started to say something that probably would have sounded like an incredibly well thought out monologue about his reasons, why he was doing all of this.

My revolver cut him off with a thunderous “BANG”, and tore his sword out of his grasp. It didn’t stop there, though. The heavy gun disappeared from my hand, as I hurled my sword at his now defenseless arms. As I expected, the blade bounced harmlessly on his enchanted armor.

That wasn’t why I did that though.

Now free of all burdens, my hands shot forward, and sent a massive wave of pure force at The Lord of the Land. He went flying into the air, before another flick of my wrists sent him crashing against the side of the wall. His body created a deep crater in the underground walls, revealing the smooth earth behind it, and I brought my hands down to the floor.

He was forced to go through most of the wall, until he reached ‘ground’ level, and from there, I couldn’t stop.

My bandana slipped from my face to hang about my neck, as I clapped my hands together, this time picking up the stones that had been freed from the walls in my rampage.

As each one slammed into his head, I shouted out, “YOU. DO. NOT. TOUCH. MY. WIFE!”

He didn’t even have time to recover, but I warped behind him, and slammed the base of my palms at his neck. The heavy armor collapsed on him, and I forced him to get back up, and stare straight into my eyes.

No mental barriers to hinder the Soul Gaze, the technique that would allow him to see every trauma, horror, and suffering I had been through in my entire lifetime…and he saw everything.

There were no words to describe the fear I saw in his eyes.

He crumpled to the ground at my feet.

Thirteen days later

I struggled to fit the tie around my neck, my fingers fumbling the knot every time I tried it.

“Gods…freaking…GAH!” I shouted, tossing the damned article of clothing onto the ground. “Hundreds of thousands of years, and I STILL can’t work with these stupid things!”

A soft knock at the door to my dressing room startled me out of my annoyance. Sheepishly shaking myself out of it, I opened to door to find Rarity standing outside of the room in her best dress, a knowing smile on her face.

“Trouble with your apparel, Nathan?” she asked me.

I bent down to pick up my tie, and held it out towards her. “Halp?”

The alabaster unicorn chuckled wryly, before her horn lit up with the telltale glow of magic. Instantly, the most hated of all apparel was fitted perfectly to my neck. I let out a relieved sigh, and thanked the fashionista.

“Think nothing of it dear,” she replied kindly. “After all, we can’t have you late for your own wedding day.

I swallowed awkwardly, and pulled at my collar.

“Why, you aren’t nervous, are you?” Rarity asked incredulously.

“I know, I know,” I sighed. “I’ve literally looked death in the face, and offered it a drink. Why should I be nervous at the day of my own wedding...again?”

Rarity tutted softly, and balanced on her back legs as she threw her forehooves around me in a comforting hug. “You’ll do fine, darling. The worst has already happened. All you need to do now is walk down that aisle, stand by your bride, and say those two words with all of your heart.”

I gently returned her hug. “Thanks, Rarity. You’re a true friend, you know that?”

Bells started to ring loudly, reaching the two of us all the way from the front of the castle.

“Oh! You need to hurry! Go, go, go!” Rarity said, pushing me out of the room.

“Cripes!” I shouted, tearing off down the hall. “Let’s go then! ESPERANTO!”

It was time. All of us were gathered inside of Canterlot Castle, and even Anarchy had been allowed on the premises (provided she was completely sober). Every one of my friends were seated right at the front, where they could see everything in sight.

Rust let out an audible sniffle, before wiping a tissue across his eyes.

“Dude, are you crying?” Blaze asked him.

“I can’t help it...this is just too beautiful!” he sobbed. “And when I cry, I have to drink!”

With that, he pulled out a bottle of rum, and took a long draught from it.

I fidgeted at my place at the aisle, Rarity filling in for my best man. I figured it fit, seeing as how she was the one who helped to plan this entire thing. Definitely saved me and Twi a lot of trouble.

Speaking of her...

The organ started to play the stereotypical “Wedding March”, and a lavender colored mare, wearing a pearl-white dress that flowed about her like it was made of water, started to trot slowly down the aisle. I felt a hard lump form in my throat, as I fought against the urge to just run out there, and skip straight to the good part.

Still, to see her there...it felt undeniably right. I can’t even begin to describe the joy that was in my heart at the sight of her. She looked so beautiful...

And then she was standing at my side, her purple orbs glittering underneath the thin veil over her face.

Celestia smiled at the two of us, before launching into her speech. As she spoke, I couldn’t help but glance out at everyone in the crowd. Everypony and everyone who had shared in our adventures...

Shining Armor nodded approvingly at me, while Cadence winked by his side. Next to them, Rainbow Dash gave me a hoof-pump, Applejack tipped her hat (I made damn sure she was able to wear it), and Fluttershy gave us a shy smile.

Luna’s eyes twinkled from the shadows, while the rest of the audience watched the monumental occasion. Twilight and I had agreed to only let our closest friends be there. So, naturally, the entire place was packed.

I can’t believe it...after all those years, after the endless loneliness, the death, the solitary wandering...I have finally found the one that I want...NEED to be with. Someone who can listen to me, who can comfort me when I fail...and I can always be there for her. We’ve already done our best to help each other, even as friends.

This...this is truly, the moment.

I was so wrapped up in my thoughts, that I almost didn’t notice Celestia ask me if I would stick by Twilight, no matter what happened. Well, she used better words.

I said I do.

When Twilight was asked, she said the exact same thing.

“Then, with the blessing of the Gods and Goddesses of Good, I now pronounce you husband and wife,” she proclaimed. “You may now kiss the bride.

I swept Twilight up in my arms, and held her in the classic, “Gone with the wind” hold.

“Gimme some sugar, babe,” I muttered.

She replied with what would normally be called the greatest kiss in the world.

Me? I called it the beginning.

It was the beginning of our life together.

The beginning of our adventures through out all of Time, Space, and Matter, and across all of the realities and dreams.

And the end of my loneliness.

It was my Twilight.

And just like that, we've reached the end of this part of the story. We've ended it on a happy note, and to add anything more at this point would, I feel, be a mistake. Perhaps I'll write a one-shot and stick it up in the "Tales From the Other Side" section, if I ever get inspired, or feel like there is something more to add.

Then again, there's always more to add in the tale of a Traveler and his friends and family. For now, though, the page shall turn, and move onto another story. I haven't the faintest idea of what lies ahead...and that is the part that excites me the most.

But, that's not the main point of this.

I just wanted to take a sec to say...

Thanks. No matter how corny, or poorly edited it seems.