We all know that life isn’t a cakewalk most of the time, but there are instances when it is. Such occasions are easy to forget in the torrent of things that can go wrong in our lives, not to mention drowned by everyday stress. I urge you to take a moment to treasure times of happiness and times when you feel just right. However, there are times when it feels like your path is about to brighten only for it to stay in this weird twilight. Kind of like getting the answer to a question only to not get an answer to the follow up one.

It was still a bit early for lunch when my wings carried me into the airspace over Sweet apple acres. However seeing that I wouldn’t have time to either search for a job or to do any real food shopping I had decided that it probably was for the best to fly myself out here. If anything it would give the ponies some more time to digest the fact that I was here now and that I had no intentions of leaving. If there were bumps in the road ahead I would deal with them as they presented themselves, what mattered now was that I had gotten back onto relatively good terms with the girls. The two things that still needed attention currently were my nightmares and Celestia. Seeing her again had reawakened so many memories, and now that I had some time to think again my thoughts veered towards wanting to fly over to Canterlot just to see her. I had to sternly remind myself every time I strayed down that path that I had more or less promised her time to sort her own thoughts out. A part of me had also started to think that perhaps going through with Luna’s therapy session might be good before I talked to Tia.

In fact after my first order of business had been concluded today, I had started to view the pending talk with Luna in a new light. Ranger had wanted to give me time to sort things out at my own pace. That was definitely a viable method and at first this had been the one most appealing to me. Mainly because I didn’t have too many options and the fact that I was still running from my past. Luna’s forceful declaration had shaken me since it was so different from what I had been doing previously, but after having time to process it I could see the appeal. I wanted to rid myself of these nightmares, and perhaps this type of shock therapy was the key to doing so.

For now though I’ll have to keep up with what I have been doing to combat my sleep deprivation. I concluded as I landed outside the Apples’ home. Despite being a bit early I thought that it would be best to announce my arrival or at least introduce myself to the remaining Apples. So far I had only really talked to Applejack and had a brief run in with Big Macintosh, meaning that Apple bloom and Granny Smith still had no idea who I was. So I walked up to the front door but before I had a chance to knock I heard voices coming from the other side of the house.

“Ah’m tellin’ ya girls he doesn’t look like a pony. Big sis said that he’s really tall and would stop by fer lunch today.” A young pony voice, carrying the distinct southern twang I associated with the Apples.

“I don’t know AB, we’ve been running around all morning and we still haven’t seen him. Do you think that it’s a prank form your sister?” A tomboyish voice said next as I started to go around the building.

“It could be, but Ah don’t think so. Ma sis is awful at lyin’ after all.” The first voice said.

At this point I was pretty sure who the voices belonged to but when a third, rather squeaky, voice joined in I certain that I was about to find the Cutie mark crusaders when I got around the house.

“I don’t think they’re lying, my sister mentioned him too. I think she called him Cloud.” The third voice said.

I rounded the last corner to reveal the crusaders huddled together, studying something on the ground in front of them. Suddenly Scootaloo threw up her fore hooves in frustration.

“We’ve looked everywhere, I don’t think this guy exists!” She declared.

I choose this moment to reveal my presence. “Oh? Have you looked behind you as well?”

Three filly heads snapped around to see who had spoken, and three sets of eyes widened in surprise when they found me. Apple bloom was the first one to recover as she shouted triumphantly.

“Aha! Ah told ya he was real!”

What followed was me answering pretty much every question the CMC threw my way, although I kept the questions away from topics related to my recent past for obvious reasons. They accepted the fact that I didn’t have a cutie mark nor would I get one rather easily, there were a lot of species in Equestria that didn’t’ have them after all. But the question had me wondering for a bit if I would get one since I was part pony in this form. As the questions continued though I dropped that line of thought.

The crusaders’ seemingly endless energy reminded me a lot of Stella and I idly wondered how the Rustfeather family were doing. The questions were cut short by the arrival of Applejack and her brother, and after a more proper introduction to Big Mac we all went inside the Apple homestead. When Granny Smith had first seen me she had just made note of that I wasn’t a pony and that I was a pretty tall fellow, but had then gone on to reassure me that if her granddaughter vouched for me I was alright in her book.

Lunch was a pleasant happening and it was the first real food I had had in days that wasn’t something from my rations. Well if you overlooked the bagel I had eaten at Sugar cube corner it was at least. Throughout the lunch I made polite conversation with all the Apple members but also Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, that also were present. I also caught Big Mac and Granny Smith throwing glances between me and Applejack occasionally. This made me question if the two of them thought there was anything else going on. However instead of leading the conversation towards such an awkward topic I choose to ignore it, unless they instigated it of course. But since nothing about it was uttered I just filed it away under the fact that I was something new. Perhaps they just wonder how Applejack got to know me in the first place. I pondered as I finished the last scraps on my plate.

I left the Apples and the Crusaders about half an hour later to return to Ponyville. Now came the remainder of my plans for today. First off I needed to take stock of what types of work were available and then I would have to start asking around. Whelp here goes nothing. I thought to myself as I landed on the outskirts of the town again.

A few hours later I sat on a bench in one of the many parks in Ponville just staring at the sky. Turns out that while the ponies generally weren’t afraid of me they didn’t want to take the risk of hiring a completely unknown creature. That being said there were a few that had shaking in fright of me when I had entered their shops that I had been forced to leave. Those incidents had left a bad taste in my mouth but I couldn’t really blame them, I couldn’t really blame any of them for anything. But the issue of having no job and thus no income still remained. I can’t have tried to apply for everything yet, right? I encouraged myself before exhaling slowly. I was about to stand to up when I heard voices come drifting towards me, by the sound of it they were coming closer.

“I’m telling you Lyra he has to be here. This is the only place we haven’t looked so far.” A voice I couldn’t recognize said.

“I still think we should’ve checked at Sugar cube corner again. I heard he spent the entire morning running around with Pinkie.” Another voice replied to the first.

I turned my head in the direction of the voices and moments later two ponies that I identified as Lyra and Bonbon came walking around a bend in the path that ran through the park.

“Oh oh, there he is!” Bonbon cried out excitedly as she waved to with a hoof.

Feeling rather confused as to what was going on I waved back which prompted them to trot over and start to introduce themselves.

“Hi there, I’m Bonbon and this is Lyra.” The earth pony in the duo introduced them.

“Hello I’m Cloud, new neighbor to Ponyville.” I said, sitting up more straight on the bench and extended a hand to shake.

For a few seconds both of the ponies stared at my hand seemingly confused about what I wanted, then a light seemed to go up for Lyra.

“I think he wants us to shake it Bonnie, you know? Like the griffins do.” She said to Bonbon followed by her turn to me for confirmation.

“I had intended it to be a shake, yes. But a hoof bump will work fine too.” I told them, closing my already extended hand.

After exchanging a hoof to fist bump with both mares I continued speak. “So what can I do for you two? I can spare a few minutes but after that I need to return to my job hunt.”

“So that means you haven’t found one yet?” I shook my head. “Good.” Lyra said with a smile.

“I’m sorry, but I fail to see how that is good?” I told the mint green unicorn, quirking an eyebrow.

“Don’t mind Lyra she can be a bit hasty with things.” Bonbon said, giving Lyra a stern look. “What she should’ve said first was that we have a friend who probably would want to hire you. Her name is Berry Punch and she owns a bar combined with a diner here in Ponyville.”

“Okay you’ve got my attention, just what exactly would this job entail?” I asked immediately perking up. At this point I would gladly take any job.

“Well we’re not quite sure ourselves anymore she just keeps changing the job description, but we thought it would be best if you had a chance to talk to her yourself. That is if you’re still interested of course?” Lyra supplied quickly.

“Oh yeah, just let me stand up and we can get going.” I said before doing just that combined with a quick stretch.

“Woah, they weren’t kidding when they said you were tall.” Bonbon commented.

“Indeed.” Lyra agreed, before adding a question. ”Sorry if this seems rude but what exactly are you? We’ve heard probably a dozen different names for your species this afternoon alone.”

“Oh, I’m originally a human. The wings are an extra through my pony heritage though.” I said, giving the most extensive description of my background yet. Well to a pony that hadn’t known me before my return at least.

“So you’re part pony?” Bonbon asked, sounding excited as they started to lead me back into Ponyville.

We walked and talked all the way back to diner that Bonbon had mentioned, and during the time it took us to reach it they bombarded me with questions. It seemed that they were incredibly interested in the fact that I was part pony, the reason for it escaped me though. All in all they were very polite in their questions and before I knew it Lyra announced that we had arrived. When the three of us had entered the establishment Bonbon greeted a pink mare with a grape colored mane and tail.

“Afternoon Berry, we brought you somepony who’s interested in the job.”

The pink mare looked up from the bar she had been polishing prior to Bonbon speaking. “Oh hello Bonnie, Lyra.” She greeted them before turning to me. “And you must be the one they’re talking about.”

“Us and the rest of Ponyville.” Lyra chimed in as the same time as I said “Yes.”

“Alright then, first off I’m Berry Punch. The owner of this little place here that I named The silver grape.” She told me.

“I’m Cloud, a human that’s looking for work.” I told her.

A quick smile flashed across Berry’s muzzle. “See that’s what I’d like to hear. Now have these two told you anything about the job I’m offering?”

“Not too much, perhaps a more detailed description would be good.” I suggested diplomatically.

“Hmm okay, well you see I’m in need of…”

From there Berry laid out an extensive description of what she needed, and I started to realize why no one else had taken the job so far. Turns out that she wanted someone who could mind the bar when she wasn’t working there, at the same time the employee needed to be able to work as a bouncer for the occasional rowdy guest. And on top of it all the position required you to be comfortable with odd working hours, given the fluctuating schedule. With all that information I could easily see why she hadn’t been able to find a pony that was suited for the job. That being said it wasn’t exactly the job I would prefer, but seeing how I had little to no choice right now I decided that I would at least try it.

“Alright I’m interested, I can’t say that I’m familiar with bartending so you’ll have to give me a crash course in that should you decide to hire me. When it comes to the working hours and working as a bouncer though everything is green.” I told Berry as she studied me thoughtfully.

“Hmm, I guess that I could show you bartending it’s not exactly hard to learn and you seem social enough to be able to do it. However do you have anypony that can confirm the fact that you can work as a bouncer?” She asked.

“If you want a pony to vouch for my martial skill you can ask Rainbow Dash, in fact I could probably arrange a sparring match with her tomorrow if you’re interested.” I replied almost immediately.

“Hmm.” Berry hummed, as she sat there in silence, more than likely debating with herself if I was qualified enough to fit the job she had offered. “It’s probably a bit late for this question, but do you have any previous experience working in this business?” She added after a few seconds of thought.

“I worked for two months as a chef in Gryphus before coming here.” I said with a wing shrug. At this point the interview, or whatever this was, had to be a test of my patience. Or at least I thought it was something like that, either way I had to guess that ponies found Berry’s interview style to be quite random. I know for a fact that I did at least find it to be confusing if nothing else.

“Hmm.” She hummed again and turned to Lyra. “Hey Lyra you’re a Still way specialist, right? Could you test him to see if what he claims is true?”

Lyra facehoofed with a groan. “Berry, for Celestia’s sake are you going to scare this one away too? Even if I were to spar with him it wouldn’t be fair, not unless he’s capable of magic himself. And no before you ask again I will not spar with him, he already offered to show you what he’s capable of.”

“Alright, alright fine I’ll stop stalling.” Berry grumbled, and turned back to me. “Cloud was it? Consider yourself hired for now, I expect you to show up here tomorrow at eight thirty in the morning.”

“Aight, thank you Ms. Punch I will not make you regret this decision.” I said offering my fist for her to bump.

“Oh lighten up, just make sure you’re on time tomorrow.” She said with smile, bumping her hoof onto my fist.

As I left the diner Bonbon ran out after me. “Hey wait a sec Cloud.”

I turned around to face the cream colored earth pony. “Yes?”

“Congratulations on getting hired and sorry about not warning you about Berry’s interviews. She can have a tough time actually making a call at all when it comes down to it.” She said, sounding apologetic.

“Naa, it’s fine really. I mean without you and Lyra I never would’ve known about this in the first place. So there’s no need to apologize.” I said giving her a smile.

“Ok, see you around then Cloud!” She exclaimed happily before trotting back inside, humming happily to herself.

Right, that was strange. I thought as I watched Bonbon disappear into The silver grape once more. I turned around and headed in the general direction of the market place that I had spied earlier during all the times I had flown over Ponyville today. As I walked I made a point to smile and wave to passing ponies, but on the inside I couldn’t help but feel that there was something about Bonbon and Lyra that I was forgetting. Eh, it can’t be too important. I decided with a shrug.

What followed was plain and simple shopping. And while it was a rather tedious experience I did come to realize about halfway through that I was supposed to be haggling with the vendors about the prices. I silently lamented all the bits I had probably lost in the beginning. Now I understand why all of them seemed so pleased when I left. I thought with a sigh. Refusing to dwell on it I returned to my remaining task for the day, to stock up on food. So after acquiring a wide variety of different ingredients I left for home. The find that had surprised me the most but had been welcome indeed was a fish vendor. Not that I was particularly fond of fish, I preferred meat, but it would do for now. I could perhaps look into having meat delivered to my home later, however it was probably for the best to not light a potential fire about my eating habits just yet.

I landed on my doorstep feeling tired but glad that I had accomplished everything I set out to do today. I entered my home and walked over to the fridge to dump the food into it.

“Let me help you with that.” Luna said, walking up beside.

Finally things were going my way. I had managed to get a job, the girls had been briefed on my immediate situation, they had also received my apology and even Luna was helping me unload my groceries… Wait, that doesn’t seem right. I thought, turning my head to find Luna humming away as she levitated food from my bag into the fridge.

“Err, what are you doing here Luna? I was under the impression that you were very busy?” I asked once I managed to find my voice. A feat that took a full minute due to the bizarre situation.

“Why am I here? I’m definitely not bored and or hiding from our duties as a princess.” Luna said, following it up with a somewhat forced and loud laugh.

“Right… It’s not like I can force you to leave if I tried.” I said, pinching the bridge of my nose.

“Good! Now that we have established that I’m here completely guilt free there’s a question I forgot to ask last yesterday. How did you manage to make this house and the island it rests on?”

Better to just play along for now. I surrendered mentally before answering her.

“Oh, I used this.” I said, summoning Imagination.

Luna’s eyes widened in shock. “Where did you get that spear?” She all but stammered out in a disbelieving voice.

“You mean you actually know something about it?” I asked, feeling some degree of excitement stir inside me.

Luna swallowed audibly. “Yes you could say that. Tia and I spent many years trying to find one of these weapons when we first tried to deal with Discord. But we ultimately came to the conclusion that he had managed to destroy them all. Why this one was spared we may never know since Discord has been missing for a few months.” She told me, her eyes locked on the spear in my hand.

“Why were you trying to find these? I thought you used the elements to defeat Discord? I inquired, feeling a bit confused.

“The elements were not our first option young Cloud, back then we didn’t even know that the elements of harmony existed. But we had found mention of a type of weapon used in the old wars.”

“And those were like this spear? What were they called?” I interjected.

“I’m afraid that we never found a name for them in the ancient texts we managed to recover, but what we did learn was that it probably was going to work against Discord. We needed to stop him by any means possible even if it meant killing him, and if we didn’t do it fast there was probably not going to be a future for the budding nation of Equestria. Although with the discovery of the elements of harmony our search for these fabled weapons fell into oblivion.” She said, looking up from the spear and fixing her gaze on my own. “What you hold in your hands was our first real way to stop him all those years ago.”

“And just how is this spear able to stop a being that can warp reality?” I asked, meeting the gaze of the Lunar alicorn.

Luna answered with a question of her own. “Do you know the one thing a draconequus cannot change?” I shook my head and Luna elaborated. “The one thing they cannot change is one of their own. If I’m correct Cloud you’re holding the last weapon of its kind in your hands. A weapon imbued with the soul of a draconequus. In practical terms it’s a weapon that cannot be transformed into something harmless, should it threaten the life of one capable of changing it at a whim. Naturally it makes it immune to other types of transformation magic as well.”

I was stunned as I stared at the weapon in my hands. A weapon that had been forged using the soul of another living being.

“And you are sure that’s what you saw?” She questioned the smaller form in front of her.

A series of shrill chirps emanated from it and a smile split her muzzle, revealing two impressive fangs.

“You’ve done excellent work commander take a day to rest, you’ve earned it.” She praised her soldier before turning away.

At last she had found a way to deal with the last obstacle, now she would only need to put that unknown creature under surveillance so that she could learn its weaknesses. Today had become a most excellent day and what better way to commemorate ones happiness but with a laugh. She thought as she threw her head back to let her laughter echo through the dark caverns she and her hive called home.

Author's Notes:

Alright, most of the new characters that will be in this part of the story have been more or less introduced and the over arcing plot had a small step as well. Not my personal favorite as a chapter but I hope you enjoy the reveal towards the end.

Next chapter has the working title, A truth long overdue.