If it hadn’t been for two particular individuals I may have just continued running after what transpired in Ponyville that day. But thanks to these two wonderful mares I managed to get my life back on track. I owe them a great debt, and it would seem that I’ve started to collect those. This metaphorical toast goes out to you Pinkie and surprisingly to you too Luna.

I don’t know how long I just sat there on the floor, staring out into space after my tears had dried up. And yet I was still none the wise about the cause for my tears. Was it a reaction to the flowing emotions that had passed, or was it due the heartfelt offer Pinkie had given me? Everything was a mystery to me at this point but eventually I stood back up. Dwelling on it would do me no favors, and seeing how I had always tried to live life in the now something like this would go against everything I believed in. So instead of sitting there I started to inspect the home I had created more closely, there were plenty of objects that my subconscious had added after all.

My work went rather slowly since I had gone quite overboard with my summoning. But seeing how it had been impossible to stop midway to change something I would have to accept my situation. I wasn’t quite sure of how the running water worked, but I wasn’t going to complain as long as it did. As for power to the more modern appliances, and other electronic stuff I had summoned for my convenience, the solution had been simple. On the roof I had multiple powerful solar panels arrayed and a system to store the power for later use. Basically I had imagined a futuristic battery of sorts and the weird logic of this world had done the rest. It was probably a safe bet to assume that the recharge for the spear’s power to come back would be at least ten years or so. That was of course a combined total for all the objects in the house, the house itself and the island.

Anyhow the second floor was dedicated to a second smaller living room, a bathroom, and a couple of guest rooms. Nothing of real interest there, the first floor on the other hand was what my original plan had been. A large kitchen combined with a living room with a fireplace created an open feel for the center of my home. On this floor I also had a small study with books and the like. However it was only filled with books I had read before, I had tried to create new books during my tests of Imagination, but they had all come up with blank pages. I had yet to figure out why I had been able to create the power storage but not the books, not that I could do much about it at this point. Next was a laundry room, and so far this room had been one of the few that had actually seen any use. There was one room I had left relatively empty on this floor too, and that was the room I had intended to be my training room. Lastly I had my bedroom, and I could for the love of me not figure out why I had put a large bed in there. I had tried to sleep in it yesterday but had just ended up staring at it until I eventually turned away from it with a shudder.

With my tour finished I sat down in my living room, but not before turning the music I had paused earlier back on. Ah, yes the music. Much like the books I had only been able to recreate things I had heard before, but having heard more than a thousand different songs in my life that was no problem. In fact I was just glad that I had succeeded in making the music a reality. But enough about the music and my summoning binge, I was going to be forced to buy all the things that I would need to keep this house running. That included food, clothing, additional towels and all the other things I would need to keep my home clean.

It’s not the most entertaining way to spend a summer afternoon, but I’ll have to reap what I sow. I thought as I started to make a mental list of what I was going to try and purchase tomorrow. My first stop would have to be Sweet Apple acres though since my money was in the duffel bag I had left in the barn. I guess I need to find a job as well. I realized. The money I had made in Gryphus could hopefully sustain me for another couple of weeks. But that was assuming that prices here were manageable, I had around eighty bits left and the upcoming expenses kept piling already.

Well what do I do now? I thought. The day still had a few more hours of sunlight and going to sleep now… Well let’s just say that I didn’t trust myself to actually sleep if I tried. So into the training room I went, after scarfing down the cupcake. The training would be a good way to clear my thoughts and to tire myself out, just like it had done for me in the past. I started slow, working through martial arts katas and moving on to practicing the flight techniques Gilda had taught me. Time flew by as I managed to lose myself in my training and soon hours had passed.

I found myself breathing heavily, sweat oozing out of me, as I stood in the center of the room. That’ll do for today. My mind produced sluggishly as I started to turn towards the door leading out of the room. However a flicker of motion in one of the windows caught my attention. Was that? But why did she? Ooh. I thought as I realized just who it was outside my window. Better get this over with.

“If you’re going to end me Luna could you please do it when I’m facing you rather than hiding?” I said loudly while looking towards the window.

There was a brilliant flash and the princess of the night appeared, in all her glory, in the room. She looked calm and collected which made me hesitate for a second before she spoke.

“My my, I don’t remember you being quite this acidic young Cloud.” She remarked.

“Well, I can’t really say that I’m thrilled about my own death, can I? That’s why you’ve come isn’t it? The promise you made me two years ago?” I questioned, some of my earlier frustration slipping back into my voice.

“So full of assumptions and anger, you truly have changed haven’t you Cloud? The individual I remember was calm and quick of wit.” Luna half said, half asking.

“Well yeah. I’ve had a pretty crap day so I’m going to think myself justified to be a bit frustrated.” I said, feeling drained. Luna didn’t deserve any of my ire either. “Well? Will you answer my question? Are you here to fulfill that promise?” I asked.

“I will not lie by saying that the thought didn’t cross my mind when I heard about you return from Tia, but I’ve decided to not hold a grudge. I have some experience with grudges after all, and my personal facts say that they rarely gives you anything but misery.” Luna answered me in a stern tone.

I let go of a breath I had been holding during her answer. “Okay, I thank you for that Luna. But we will have to continue this conversation some other time, I was about to head off and sleep.”

“Not so fast young Cloud.” She began, keeping her stern tone. “I believe that I can help you, in fact I might be one of the few that actually knows of a way to help you.”

It wasn’t that I didn’t like Luna, I just didn’t like the way she made it sound like she knew something about me that no one else did. I don’t know if it scared me or if it angered me but it made me instantly switch to rejecting the offer instead of considering it.

“Whatever you think you can help me with Luna, I assure you I have everything under control. Thanks for the offer, but no thanks.” I said starting to turn away from the blue alicorn.

“A hospital bed, the feeling of slowly suffocating, a hand reaching out to grasp someone, something. Anything really, but no help is coming until it’s too late.” Luna said, causing me to slowly turn back and look at her.

“Those dreams are yours, are they not?” She said, studying my face.

I felt whatever hostility I had in me evaporate and I sat down heavily on the floor. “How? How do you know those dreams?” I questioned, disbelieving.

“One of my many titles is Warden of dreams, Cloud. And for the record I didn’t figure out just who this particular nightmare belonged to until my sister informed me of your return. It had baffled us for many a night as we could see the dream but not enter it.” She explained slipping back into her old speech patterns on the last sentence.

“So you can make them go away, I can finally go to sleep without having to worry about waking up gasping for air?” I asked, letting a bit of hope enter my voice.

Luna looked at me sadly. “Alas I cannot, I don’t know why but since I can’t enter your dream I cannot directly interact with it. But do not give up hope Cloud. I know these dreams are terrible, I fought my own demons not shortly after my own return so I know how it is to try and deal with it by yourself. And despite what you may think I wish to help you, what I’m saying is I know the struggle you’re currently fighting.” She said.

“Then what? What can I do to help myself sleep again?” I asked her, almost begging.

“We can talk, dreams are often tied to happenings in the real world. And I’m sure that if we talk we can pin point the source of your night terrors.” Luna stated calmly.

I did my best to keep my face neutral but on the inside I had gone cold. If I couldn’t talk about me leaving, something that happened six months ago. How am I going to talk about something that is so much more recent? I thought, as I felt my hopes for a quick fix drain away.

Luna seemed to sense that something was amiss for she immediately asked if I was alright. “Is everything alright young Cloud, your facial expression has once more gone rather sour.”

“Yes and no Luna, I appreciate your offer but I cannot accept it. I blew up completely unprovoked just today over some questions about my reasons for leaving last time. The reasons for nightmares, for I know the reasons very well are much more recent than that. I am afraid of what I will do should I start talking about this subject.” I admitted to her.

“I see…” She began. “That will not do, the last month of summer ends in two weeks. You will have that much term to come to term with this, then you and I are sitting down to sort out any remaining issues. Even if it ends up being all of them. I will not have you in this state!” She finished sharply. It had not been an offer, it was an order.

“But I may end up driving you away too.” I attempted lamely. Truth was I was torn between terrified at the prospect of what I may do, and hope that it might work.

“We are a grown mare, we can take a few harsh words young Cloud. Now I must bid you farewell though, we have obligations to take care off.” She curtly shot down my attempt at deflection before teleporting away with a flash.

Alone once again, I turned my gaze towards the ceiling. Two weeks huh? I guess I might as well go through with it. It’s not like it’s going to make things worse. I don’t seem to have a say in the matter anyway. I resolved as I pushed any thoughts about escaping out of my head. For now though I was going to go and attempt to sleep, I was definitely exhausted enough to get some rest. Tomorrow I’ll have to apologize to the girls as well. That should probably be the first thing I do. I planned as I headed to my bathroom for a quick shower. About ten minutes later I found myself on the living room couch, the blanket from my bed over me as I tried to find some elusive sleep.

The following morning was spent in relative silence as I got dressed, went to wash my face and to shave any stubble. I knew Applejack was an early riser and that suited me perfectly fine right now, naturally that made Sweet Apple Acres my first stop this morning. Being able to apologize, retrieve my bag and eat something from the rations inside it would efficiently kill three birds with one stone. So once I was done with my morning rituals I stepped outside of my house and took to the sky. One thing I had overlooked with my house was a way to lock the doors. However seeing that no object could travel outside the marble border I wouldn’t have been able to use a conjured key anyway. From my view in the sky I could see Ponyville slowly start to wake up, or at least some of the early risers like bakers and other similarly employed ponies were starting their day. That probably means the Apple family has been up for some time already. I thought as I closed in on the orchard I could see, not far off in the distance.

A few minutes later I swooped in over the apple trees, but I kept my altitude until I reached the barn. I angled myself into a shallow dive and as I got close to the ground I flared my wings. With a few controlled beats I killed any remaining forward momentum, before finally landing in the dust cloud that had formed. I could hear activity coming from inside the barn so I decided to knock on the open door before entering.

I was again relatively dark in there but the light coming from the door illuminated it enough for me to see the form of Big Mac working on moving farming equipment around. At the sight of me he stopped though.

“Hello there, what brings you to Sweet Apple Acres?” He asked politely.

“I came to get the duffel bag I left here two days ago, and I came to offer your sister an apology.” I answered the red stallion.

“Bag’s over there, and mah sis’ should be in the northern field right now.” He said simply before returning to work.

That went rather smoothly He didn’t even ask what I was or who I was. Perhaps Applejack informed them about me. I thought as I grabbed my bag and headed over towards the north field. It didn’t take long for me to spot the orange mare, as she walked among the trees, carefully taking her time observe that the fruit they carried was developing properly. As she seemed to be quite enraptured by her work I cleared my throat so that I wouldn’t give her a scare by suddenly just appearing. Applejack threw a look over her shoulder and stopped in place when she saw me.

“Hi there Applejack, good morning.” I began awkwardly. “I dropped by to apologize for yesterday, you didn’t deserve any of the things I ranted about yesterday.”

Applejack studied me for a few seconds before answering. “Don’t mention it Cloud, we’re partly to blame too. We assumed that the two years that had passed would’ve been enough time for any old wounds to heal.”

Oh shit they didn’t know, or didn’t remember. My own memory was fuzzy about if I had ever told them about the different passing of time in our dimensions. I realized moments before actually giving voice to my thoughts.

“Applejack, it has only been about six months for me since I left. The time in my worlds flows more slowly compared to this one.” I explained.

“So then you, oh mah stars Cloud. I’m so sorry.” She began to apologize but I held up a hand to silence her.

“No, don’t apologize the fault lies with me for not properly informing you of all the facts.” I said sternly.

Applejack seemed to think about it for a second before nodding. “Well then Cloud if you say so. I better get back ta work, but why don’t you drop by later fer lunch?” She offered and I couldn’t do anything but accept.

About two minutes later I was once again airborne and I was heading towards Fluttershy’s cottage. This was probably going to be hardest one I had to apologize to today, and that was mainly because I knew that I had scared her yesterday. If she hid from me it would make an apology a very difficult endeavor.

True to my predictions I barely had time to land before I heard an “Eeep” and the door to Fluttershy’s cottage slamming shut. And after about ten minutes of trying to apologize to her door I was ready to give up. I guess she needs some more time. I thought and spread my wings but stopped as I heard a soft rustle directly to my left. However looking to my left revealed nothing, shrugging my wings I prepared to take off again only for me to hear the rustle again. This time I looked down and found that a large snake had approached me through the somewhat tall grass. It looked at me expectantly like it was waiting for me to something. So I hunched down to take a closer look, when the snake still did nothing I reached out with a hand slowly ran along the side of the snake. And when I got to the middle part my fingers ran across something bumpy, disrupting the otherwise smooth scales.
It couldn’t be. I thought, eyes widening.

“Hisserton?” I addressed the snake which let out a hiss that strangely enough sounded pleased.

I sat down continuing to slowly pet the snake as it slowly slithered up into my lap where it coiled up to bask in the morning sun. For a few minutes I sat there, just baffled at this strange turn of events, but then I heard the door to Fluttershy’s cottage open again. A few careful hoofsteps could be heard and as I slowly looked up I heard them stop. Fluttershy stood a few feet away from me a hesitant expression on her face. In an attempt to calm her I gave her a small smile and a nod, but nothing more.

Seeming to gather courage Fluttershy crossed the remaining distance between us. “You know Hisserton?” She asked in a low voice.

“You could say that, I kind of saved her when I first got here six months ago.” I said to the yellow mare.

Fluttershy looked just as confused as Applejack had so I launched into the same explanation that I had gone through with her. Deep down I had a feeling this wouldn’t be the last time I had this conversation today either.

“Despite all that I owe you an apology Fluttershy, I should’ve foreseen that I might react harshly and should’ve warned you all.” I finished.

“It’s… okay. I think.” She said softly. “I don’t’ want to keep you though Cloud, you seem to have a lot to do today given your explanation.” She said, and we bid our farewells.

Two down four to go. I thought as I took off from Fluttershy’s home. Things were going very well so far given the circumstances, well the only bad part so far had been a somewhat frustrated Hisserton that had not wanted to be moved from my lap. A bit of coaxing from Fluttershy had solved that though, and I had ended up promising that I would return to visit sometime in the near future. What waited for me now though was Ponyville. Would my presence cause panic, or had the ponies here grown a bit of a back bone? These were questions that circulated in my mind as I flew in over the town border. As I scanned the town from high above I came to realize something strange, I couldn’t find Twilight’s library anywhere I looked. That put a halt on my immediate plans to talk Twilight next, so I quickly bumped her down a step. This way I could continue with my apologies and ask where Twilight resided at the same time. So towards the next major landmark I flew, and that happened to be Sugar cube corner.

However seeing that it was still early the street where Sugar cube corner was situated was still mostly empty, with the exception of one or two ponies. That meant I probably wouldn’t cause a widespread panic just yet, and so I went in for a quick landing. As I approached the door I remembered something that I hadn’t even considered to be a problem since my first night here. The fact that the height of the door was shorter than I was, meaning that entering and exiting a pony home would indeed be a recurring nuisance. Hunching down I noticed that a sign on the door said open, so with a small wing shrug I entered the building.

“Hello and welcome to Sugar cu-” The happy voice of Mrs. Cake greeted only to abruptly stop when she noticed what had entered her shop.

This was something I had been expecting to happen anyway today so it didn’t even faze me as I walked over to the counter still slightly hunched over due to the overall size of the room I had to move inside. I stopped in front of the wide eyed Mrs. Cake before speaking in the most polite tone I could muster.

“Excuse me miss but could I please have a word with Pinkie Pie please?”

Mrs. Cake just nodded before quickly disappearing in between a set of double doors that I assumed led to the kitchen area. From inside I could hear snippets of conversation between her and what I thought to be Mr. Cake.

“…seems to be… ….sort of winged minotaur… …asked for Pinkie.”

“Are you sure… …is he… …debt collector?”

“…you thinking it’s a gambling…”

“…too polite…”

A familiar bubbly voice from behind me tore my attention away from the pony couple busy freaking out behind the kitchen doors.

“Heya Cloud what brings you here?” Pinkie asked, and I turned around to face her.

“I came to apologize for my behavior yesterday, and now I think I’ve caused the cakes to have a small breakdown. The last part was completely unintentional though, I just asked if I could talk to you.” I quickly summarized.

“Oh that’s silly Cloud they’re not having something as bad as a breakdown they’re freaking out.” She said with a smile as she marched past me and into the kitchen.

I was left to wonder how freaking out was better than a minor breakdown, as I heard Pinkie join the muffled voices coming from the kitchen doors. A short time later all three ponies emerged from the kitchen, Mrs. Cake cleared her throat.

“Pinkie has assured us that you are a friend of hers.” She began.

“She also said that you are something called a human?” Mr. Cake interjected almost questioningly.

“We would just like to apologize for our initial behavior when you first entered.” Mrs. Cake continued.

“It’s okay, no it really is. I may be the only one of my kind that’s here right now so your reaction was justified.” I said, raising my hands in calming manner.

“If you say so, it still feels a bit awkward for us though dear are you sure it’s fine to just leave it at that?” Mrs. Cake asked.

“I’m positive, but if it’s not too much trouble do you think I could borrow Pinkie for a bit? If she’s with me it might help prevent similar reactions.” I suggested.

“Hmm, the breakfast hours are the ones that requires the most attention so it is really ill timed.” Mr. Cake answered thoughtfully. “Why don’t you stay here and have a bit of breakfast as an extended apology and then when the rush is over Pinkie can tag along with you?” He went on to suggest.

That was a very intriguing offer since I hadn’t had anything to eat from my remaining rations yet. So as I saw no harm in staying a bit longer I accepted. I was quickly directed to a table, but when it became clear that the chairs were too low for me to use I just sat down on my knees on the floor beside the table. Soon I nursed a cup of coffee between my hands and a tasty bagel sat on a plate next to it. Then like a spell had been cast the relative calm that had existed in the bakery shattered as ponies started to flood in to get their breakfast. In the beginning I just sat there observing them as I sipped on my coffee. I got a multitude of looks ranging from wonder to fear, and eventually a brave few dared to walk over to talk to me. Most seemed interested in just what I was and what I was doing there, so I told them the truth and that the house that had appeared over night was mine. There were only a few conversations that lasted longer than that as almost all of the ponies here were heading off to work, but hopefully they would spread positive rumors about me. It wasn’t a surefire method, but I hoped that if I just acted polite and calm in these short interactions I would make a good first impression among the Ponyvillians.

Eventually the stream of ponies tapered off and Pinkie appeared, all smiles and bounciness, by the table I was still sitting at. So after bidding the Cakes farewell Pinkie and I set out into Ponyville. There were definitely more ponies out and about now, but at most it was the same reactions as the ones inside Sugar cube corner except on a larger scale. Pinkies presence seemed to help prevent the all-out panic I had feared though, something I was very grateful for.

“Say Pinkie, I never did get a chance to fully apologize in there. So I’m sorry about yesterday.” I addressed the pink mare bouncing beside me.

“Hmm I dunno Cloudy, there’s one thing that might make me forgive you.” She said, looking at me with a playful grin.

“And what would that be?” I asked curious as to what she had in mind.

“Well, this!” She exclaimed happily as she pounced onto me. She then proceeded to quickly climb up so that she was riding on my shoulders, her fore hooves resting on top of my head.

“Enjoying the view?” I asked her, not bothering to keep my amusement out of my voice.

“Yep! You’re a great taxi Cloudy, I should do this more often.” She sighed happily from her human shaped lookout.

“Well do you think you could point towards the library? I couldn’t seem to find it when I was flying over.” I asked my passenger.

“Oh, the library is gone Cloudy. Tirek went and destroyed that.” She said sounding a bit disheartened before switching back to cheerful.

“But it’s okay, Twilight is recreating it in the Friendship castle, but we mostly just call it Twilight’s castle. She’s the only one of us that lives there after all, did you want to go visit Twilight next?” She quickly blurted out.

“I had planned on it, but if she’s all the way over at the castle we might as well visit Rarity first. Who’s this Tirek though?” I asked as I shifted my heading.

“Tirek? He was this big bad red and black goat guy who stole all the magic in Equestria, but the Twilight received all the alicorn magic and went all Imma smash your face…” Pinkie launched into her explanation with her own brand of fast talk and choice of graphic descriptions.

As she talked I came to realize just how close to home my comment yesterday must’ve hit Twilight. Yeah I guess that I couldn’t continue to have this day go perfectly, I’ll need to have a serious talk with Twilight. I thought, but I didn’t allow myself to dwell on it. That would only serve to sour my mood, and right now I needed to radiate polite and friendly rather than grumpy and introverted. Instead I asked Pinkie what she had been up to the past two years and she happily told me about her adventures, occasionally making small pauses to wave or greet a pony passing by. Surprisingly the act of Pinkie riding on my shoulders seemed to further disarm any notions of me being dangerous.

“…and then I decided that it would be for the best to seal the entrance to the mirror pool.” Pinkie finished another crazy tale, just as Rarity’s Carousel boutique came into view.

“You know Pinkie if I lived a life half as Crazy as yours I’d probably end up arrested.” I told the party pony as I walked up to the door and knocked.

“It’s open~” Rarity’s voice called out from inside.

As we entered Rarity started her boutique slogan but paused when she saw who entered. “Hello Cloud, Pinkie.” She greeted us both cautiously.

“Hello Rarity, are we interrupting something?” I asked her.

“Nono, not at all. I wasn’t expecting you to show up after yesterday though.” She said, still a bit cautious.

“About that, that’s the main reason for my visit today. I’d like to offer an apology for my actions and an explanation for my reaction.” I replied.

Rarity just replied by nodding, prompting me to go on and explain again just how long it had been for me. When I finished Rarity nodded thoughtfully.

“Alright Cloud consider your apology accepted, but please try to remember things like this in the future. It’s not entirely pleasant to get yelled at like that, even if I was just a bystander in this case.” She told me, causing me to grimace a bit at the end.

“Now I believe that you hinted at another reason for visiting me?” She inquired.

“Yes, I’d like to see how possible it would be to commission a few extra sets of clothes from you. Also I’d need to know what the pricing for such an order would be.” I quickly summarized.

“Well dearie that all depends on the order. Do you want gems? Simple cut or something more elaborate? There are many variables at play here.” She explained.

“I see. Well I don’t need gems and the clothing needs to be durable enough to support everyday usage. Simple style would be preferable, something similar to what I’m wearing now would probably be the best option for now.” I replied thoughtfully.

And so Rarity and I dove into the process of setting up an order of two extra sets of clothing for me and extra underwear. Given my budget both of us came to the agreement that we’d limit the price for now but Rarity received a contract from me. She would be my sole Equestrian provider of clothing, effectively securing a future source of income from me. I also left the choice of fabric and color to her, trusting her expertise in the area to make something workable. When I finally left the boutique, with Pinkie, Rarity had already taken my measurements and was busy sketching on a few designs. She had also invited me over in a few days’ time to have a chance to look at the designs before she started to work on the clothes.

From Rarity’s Pinkie and I started to head for the large tree-like castle that I now identified as Twilight’s castle. I was surprised at the amount of ponies that had gotten onto the streets by now, and judging by looks I was getting the rumors were doing their job. Despite that I did see a few ponies turn and hurry away as walked down the street with Pinkie now bouncing beside me. I guess that it was unavoidable to not have a few of them be suspicious about me. I thought, as I walked in silence. Pinkie noticing this took a sudden leap onto my back, where she quickly crawled up onto my shoulders again.

“Not going to allow you to go all broody moody~” She announced before letting out an infectious giggle.

Soon both of us were all out laughing as Pinkie steered us down the roads of Ponyville towards the castle in the distance. Our good mood seemed to spread to the ponies around us, as quite a few came up beside us to say hi to Pinkie or ask who I was. Again I kept things rather simple and just gave my name, race and where I lived without elaborating further. Because while I wanted to avoid a Ponyville fears me type of situation, apologizing to the mane six was still my priority. On that front I only had two left to go, and by the look of things I could get it done before lunchtime. Without Pinkie’s help I doubted things would’ve gone even close to this smoothly.

When we got closer to the castle the amount of ponies coming up to say hello had dropped significantly, not because they weren’t interested it was just the simple fact that the castle was situated in the outskirts of Ponyville. This close and with the force field down I could truly appreciate what the crystalline structure actually looked like for the first time. Thanks to Pinkies stories I also knew vaguely how this castle had come into existence. As I walked up to the castle’s main entrance I reminded myself of just why I was there, and just how much I had fucked up yesterday. I was going to act like a damn adult and apologize not only for my outburst but also for what I had said in ignorance. With that in mind I reached out and knocked at the door. For a few seconds I waited but heard nothing from inside, I reached up to knock again but Pinkie stopped me.

“Try using the doorbell instead. It’s a big castle after all.” She said, and I was left wondering why I hadn’t thought of that myself.

So instead of knocking again I rang the very obvious doorbell that I had somehow managed to miss. A melodious chime could be heard from inside, a few more seconds passed and eventually activity could be heard from inside. The door swung open, revealing a relatively short but familiar green and purple dragon.

At the sight of what had rang the doorbell though the poor dragon seemed to freeze. While he was no stranger to weird stuff around Ponyville the sight of Pinkie riding on the shoulders of an unknown species had to be something else. When a minute of silence passed I started to grow worried and decided to speak.

“Uh, you okay there Spike?” I asked.

Spike shook his head. “I’m fine but who’s asking?”

“Oh! Oh! Let me answer this one!” Pinkie cried out and hoped down from her vantage point.

“In the red corner, hailing from a mysterious land that only the oldest and wisest of us have been. An excellent fighter with ties to Equestria’s past and a newcomer in the current world balance. He is a marv-”

“Pinkie! Just cut to the chase.” I interrupted her.

“Ah, party pooper.” She complained but went on after a stern look. “Spike allow me to reintroduce Cloud.”

“Cloud? Woah, you look different!” Spike exclaimed, the surprise clear in his voice.

“Yeah, guess you could say that. I’d love to catch up at some point Spike but I have some urgent things I need to talk to Twilight about, is she in?” I said, feeling a bit bad for having to brush him off.

“Yeah, but she has been in a weird mood since yesterday. She’s in her room on the second floor, you can’t miss it.” He said, pointing towards a large crystal staircase.

“Oh and Cloud, good to see you again.” He said as Pinkie and I stepped inside.

I responded with a nod to the dragon, now that I saw him in comparison with Pinkie he seemed to have grown a few inches. He was just shy of the average female pony height now, I idly wondered how he had evolved as a person too. But such ponderings would have to wait for now though, I had a purple alicorn to talk to.

After heading upstairs I found the aforementioned door easily, and a knock later the door swung open to reveal a tired and disheveled looking Twilight.

“Err, hi Twilight. Got a minute? I’d like to apologize for yesterday.” I said to her, keeping a bit of caution in my tone.

“If anypony should apologize it should be me.” She said, sounding depressed.

“But the things I said yesterday-” I began but Twilight interrupted me.

“Hit right where it hurt Cloud. I’ve been up most of the night thinking about it.”

“Then all the more reason for me to apologize, I spoke in ignorance not knowing what you had been through, not to mention that my behavior was far past the line.” I argued.

“Then I’m guilty of the very same thing you are, I am the reason you overreacted. I’ve been trying to find out why I did it, but I can’t seem to find an answer. And then you show up now the very next day to ask for my forgiveness? Why Cloud? I just can’t decide if you’re the most annoying or the easiest individual I have ever had to deal with.” She ranted, while giving me an almost pleading look.

I went down to one knee so that I came down to almost eye-level with her. “The reason I acted like I did yesterday was because I had less time to cope with everything than you girls had. It has only been six months since I left for home last time, and it appears that it wasn’t enough time for me to digest everything and move on.” I told her. And so I gave Twilight the full story on how time worked differently between our respective dimensions, something her inner scientist seemed to appreciate. In return I asked her to tell me about her latest foe.

“Okay then now what?” She asked me after elaborating on her experience with the Tirek fellow.

“How about we agree that both of us were in the wrong? I know it will probably be awkward between us but I’d still like for you to be my friend Twilight. I’ll even try to keep you in the loop every time something weird happens.” I offered.

Twilight thought for a second before giving me a weak smile. “I’d like that.”

“Great.” I said before grabbing my duffel bag. After a bit of digging I managed to find my somewhat mangled research notes on Imagination.

I held them out to Twilight who grasped them with her aura. “What’s this?” She asked.

“A peace offering of sorts.” I said, motioning for her to read the improvised title I had put on the top of the first page.

Twilight’s eyes widened and the first real smile I had seen since she opened the door bloomed on her face.

“Thank you Cloud, with this I might actually learn something about your artifact.”

Twilight quickly got absorbed into the notes I had presented and was busy pulling reference material from a few personal bookshelves when Pinkie and I left a few minutes later. That left only Rainbow Dash to apologize too, and her home wouldn’t be difficult to find. In fact I had seen it most of the morning ever since I entered Ponyville. It was kind of hard to ignore the house built of clouds, spewing rainbows. Since Pinkie had been away from Sugar cube corner for quite some time now and lunch hours were approaching we decided that it would be for the best to split up for now. So while Pinkie bounced off, back into Ponyville, I took flight and headed for Rainbows home.

When I started to get close to the house a thought struck me. I wasn’t sure if I could actually walk or manipulate clouds in this form. But as I carefully touched down on the pillowy surface of the cloud it became clear that such worries had been unwarranted. I knocked on the door only for it to produce no sound whatsoever. Oh yeah it’s made of Clouds. I thought, resisting the urge to facepalm. Instead I searched for a doorbell, and quickly found one that I rang.

“I thought I told you Thunderlane, this is my day off and I don’t wa-” Rainbows angry voice was heard through the door until she opened it. She looked frustrated and the expression did not change when she saw I wasn’t the Tunderlane fellow she had assumed I was.

“Oh it’s you.” She said in a flat voice.

“Yeah it’s me. Listen I came by to say I’m sorry about yesterday.” I started, feeling a bit like a broken record by now.

“Yeah that wasn’t cool at all Cloud. I mean you and I have had our fair share of shouting matches in the past but that one came out the blue.” She berated me.

“I know and I like for you to know the reasons behind it if you’ll listen.” I offered.

“Hmm, naa. Although I have a better Idea on how you can make it up to me.” She said with a smug grin.

Part of me dreaded what she could be thinking but the more sensible part of me told me to man up and accept. I couldn’t afford to make the same stupid mistakes I had made last time.

“What did you have in mind?” I asked, pleading internally that it wasn’t something weird.

“You can teach me how to use those weapons you never taught me all those years ago.” She replied with a grin.

Oh what have I just gotten myself into? I questioned myself as I held out my fist towards Rainbow.

“It’s not going to be easy and I’ll have to drill you in the basic forms for a long time, are you prepared for that? You might even find that it’s completely incompatible with a pony.” I half asked, half told her.

Her grin just widened further as she bumped her hoof against my fist. “Deal!” She exclaimed happily before shooting off inside her home coming back with a training bag.

“So we start now, yes?” She asked.

“Not so fast, my schedule for today is pretty cramped as it is. Come by tomorrow after five pm. Then we can decide on a schedule for this.” I told her.

Rainbow’s excitement seemed to wash out of her, but a small smile remained. “Alright then, but you better promise me at least three times a week.” She bargained.

I couldn’t do anything but agree, three times a week should be manageable. As I left Rainbow’s home I felt good, it had been a really hectic morning but I had managed to clear the air between me and the main six. They had certainly matured a lot since my last visit here and we had been able to discuss things like adults, for the most part. It was just unfortunate that I had brought this incident into being in the first place. What awaited me now was lunch at Sweet apple acres, a hunt for a job and to buy food and supplies in ponyville.

Author's Notes:

Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter, it was one of those that kept growing and so I had to force myself to create a stopping point. What follows will be me own personal rant about the chapter and the writing process I went through for this one, you may skip to the end to see the working title for the next chapter.

Now first off a few things about this chapter. First you may have noticed that the chapter title has changed from what i originally had intended, Night before a new day. This came to be since the chapter just kept growing in length and I realized that i could spend another full week writing if i didn't push things back to later chapters.

Next on the agenda is the pacing of this chapter, I could've gone into detail with every interaction Cloud had with the mane six but that would've made a very long chapter or several long chapters that would've been very repetitive. I'm already afraid that this chapter comes across as a bit repetitive.

Lastly I wanted to get through all of the mane six in this chapter and drag it out, all the characters are capable of acting as adults so i don't see any reason for them refuse an honest apology. Thus there's no reason to make it a, no screw you scenario. I think that would be in direct conflict with the character profiles.

Next chapter working title: Imagine that...