Several Weeks Earlier...

Nighttime in Canterlot. There is not one place in all of Equestria where a sight more beautiful than Luna’s moon can be found.

It was a shame that this was the night that events were set in motion to change the future of Equestria forever.

Allen Greathouse sat up in his bed, having fallen asleep beside his wife, Princess Luna. He looked around the room carefully, making sure nopony was watching, and looked down at the sleeping alicorn. He regretted this decision immediately, as her peaceful, sleeping face made his heart ache, and he even considered tossing his plan aside, and letting fate take its course.

No, he thought decisively. I won’t lose her again.

There was not a single being Allen loved more than Luna, and he still felt guilty about what he had done to her the night he saved Equestria for the second time.

How long has it been? he wondered as he stood up, stretching his wings and cracking his neck as he recalled the events of his last great adventure. Nearly three months ago, this powerful, grey alicorn had been an ordinary human boy, but the arrival of an ancient warlord changed all that. He was now an alicorn prince, married to one of the most powerful beings in the world, and had magical abilities that could possibly rival even Celestia herself. Looking down at his right foreleg, which was wrapped in white bandages, he realized that it was this fact that forced him to make such a decision.

Allen quietly made his way through the castle, careful to not disturb any of the guards, and let out a relieved sigh when he stepped out into the courtyard.

“Prince Allen!” he heard a friendly voice call, “what are you doing up so late?”
Allen turned to see one of the guards approaching him with a smile stretched across his muzzle. Allen shrugged. “I thought I would go for a walk,” he said nonchalantly, and continued on his way.

The guard ran to catch up with him. “Oh, I was just about to go out on patrol! Would you mind if I joined you?” he asked hopefully.
Allen cringed. “I’m sorry,” he said slowly, “but I’m afraid I’ll have to say no for tonight. Maybe some other time?” he suggested, feeling a powerful force building inside him at the guard’s presence.

Luna and Celestia were able to suppress Allen’s outbursts for a while, but they were starting to become too much for even the celestial sisters to handle.

“Oh, I insist!” the guard said stubbornly. “After all, you may need an escort! Who knows what could be lurking about this time of night,” he said ominously.
Allen felt his heart rate speed up a little, and he was feeling stressed. “No, I insist,” he replied through gritted teeth, “please leave me in peace. I’m sorry if I seem rude, but you must leave me be tonight.”
The guard huffed angrily. “Allen, this is outrageous! I cannot allow a member of the royal family to go out unprotected, regardless of their power! The primary duty of the royal guard is to ensure-”

Allen couldn’t hold it back anymore. “I said get away from me, you equine filth!” he roared, his voice suddenly becoming deep and distorted, and his irises flashed an icy blue for a moment. He stood there, breathing heavily as the guard stare at him in shock, until Allen realized what had happened.

“Oh, hell,” he muttered, and waved his horn at the armored pony, causing him to immediately drop into a magical slumber, and then broke into a mad dash, his bandaged leg slowing him only slightly.

It wasn’t until much later Allen found that in his rush, his bandages had fallen off, revealing what lay beneath. It was still covered in the coarse, grey fur that his pelt consisted of, but instead of an ordinary pony’s hoof, his foreleg now ended in a five-digited, human hand.

I have to hurry, he thought grimly, before it takes over completely. Then, no one will be able to save Equestria.

Present Day...

“Hey, asshole, I asked you a question: were you just trying to pick up my girl?”
The question came from a rather thuggish-looking individual, by which I mean he wore his cap at a ridiculous angle and had his pants sagging, exposing his black-and blue boxers. He had a tattoo of a teardrop just below his right eye, and his white tank-top gave me a good view of the words “Faith” and “Hope” tattooed across his shoulders.

I grinned slightly, staring intensely at the bottle I was tipping back and forth between my fingers, and glanced up at him.

“For your information, pal,” I said smugly as I bounced a glass bottle between my fingers, “I was not trying to ‘pick up your girl’. I was being a decent individual - something very rare for a man of my… temperament - and having a polite conversation with this lovely lady I saw sitting alone at the bar, that way no douchebags would come along and actually try to ‘pick her up’. Now that her boyfriend, who I am sure is an intelligent and respectful member of society, has returned, I shall depart from this establishment feeling like a good person,” I explained, the sarcasm and condescendence dripping from my voice like honey as I started to stand up.
This guy, however, was not as oblivious as his appearance made him look. He grabbed the collar of my shirt in a tight fist, keeping me from leaving. “Hey,” he growled, “are you making fun of me?” I noticed now his eyes looked kinda bloodshot; he was either drunk, or possibly insane.

Both of these meant bad news for me.

I glanced over at the bartender questioningly, and he gave me a nonchalant shrug, a sign that he did not care about what I was planning to do. After a quick scan of the room, I realized that the few other patrons had left; it was just me, the asshole holding me, and his girlfriend.

I looked back at my captor, my fingers wrapping tightly around the glass bottle I had been playing with moments before. “Well, it looks like you caught me,” I said apologetically. “I was, in fact, making fun of you. Good job on catching on to that, by the way; you have successfully changed my guess of your intelligence level from ‘sub-brick’ to ‘average domesticated dog’.”

The guy’s brow furrowed, and I saw him pull back his free hand to punch me, but I was already prepared. I swung my right arm outward, my glass weapon shattering right on his temple. Shards of glass flew everywhere, and my adversary was bleeding profusely and screaming in anger and pain. He charged at me like a bull, but I jumped and rolled over the counter, grabbing two other bottles and smashing the ends off. I held the two jagged bottles defensively, daring my attacker to make another move.

“I’ve fought scarier shit than you,” I growled, brushing a strand of blonde hair that was obstructing my vision to the side. I’ve been killed by scarier shit than you, I thought, realizing my statement was not entirely true.

He looked me in the eye for a long time, his gaze actually turning fearful for a few moments.
“Whatever, man,” he said with a roll of his eyes, “only a pussy would use a pair of glass bottle like that.”
I kept my intense stare. “That’s because I care more about staying alive than what other people think of me.”

The drunken and/or insane douchebag stared at me again. “You’re crazy, bro. Let’s go, babe,” he said to his female companion, who gave me an apologetic look before exiting the building with her boyfriend.

I stared at the pair until they were out of sight, and then let out a shaky breath. “Sorry about the mess, Gus,” I said, turning to the bartender.
The man waved a dismissive hand and grabbed a broom, sweeping away the shattered glass. “It’s no biggie, Drayke,” he said in a gruff voice as I hopped over the bar and returned to my seat.

I gave the man a concerned look. He was the first person I saw when I returned to Earth after my time in Equestria, and since then he had treated me like a son. He was a no-nonsense man who knew how to run a bar properly, but I was worried about him; he seemed to have lost that spark that kept him going through life and set him apart from everyone else. I glanced up at the clock, noticing it was almost closing time.

“You need any help closing tonight, Gus?” I asked gently. He shook his head and coughed in his elbow.
“I’m fine, Drayke,” he said nonchalantly. “You go on home and rest.”
I nodded obediently and headed for the exit, stopping in the doorway and looking back at the old man. “You sure you’ll be fine?” I inquired. “Sometimes I worry about you being here so late at night on your own.”

Gus gave me a small smile. “Drayke, you worry about me too much,” he said with a laugh. I looked down, embarrassed, but he went on: “That’s a good thing. You need people in your life to worry about, otherwise you turn into an animal. That’s why I’m glad to have you around; I worry about you as much as you worry about me.”

I nodded and chuckled quietly. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Gus,” I said, and walked out onto the New York sidewalk. It was a dreary night, and the sky was filled with clouds that looked like it might rain. I shuddered, remembering my fight with Sanguis. Before he killed me, he had brought up all of my old memories of my old life on Earth, and I realized that there was no point in running from my past; I had sworn off coming back long before, but a near-death experience can change that pretty damn quick.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the crystal I had used to return to my world. It had no use here as anything other than a paperweight, but I still kept it as a good-luck charm. After all, the damn thing had brought me back to life twice. I stared at the black gem, entranced by it for a moment, until I quickly put it away and headed for my apartment.

I remembered all my time in Equestria, and the beings I had met. I wasn’t too excited about the ponies, but I wondered what Allen was up to. Although we met as enemies, I liked to think we parted as allies.

I wonder if I’ll ever see him again, I thought wistfully. There’s no way in hell I’m going back to Equestria, but maybe he would come to Earth. Only time will tell, I suppose.