It was the beginning of something new. No perhaps not new, more something along the lines of everything old finally starting to fit together. The shards of all my previous attempts at life in Equestria were merging into a complete picture. The time that followed was by no definition the calm life I had known back on earth but it was a time when I was truly happy. After all there were some rather interesting interactions on the horizon.

Princess Celestia had expected a quite normal day today. She was going to visit the different departments and ministries that helped govern Equestria as part of a scheduled routine check. Not that she didn’t trust the ponies of Equestria, no this was something that with time had become a more formal task of hers. In the beginning however she had kept a much closer eye on the dealings of the supporting pillars that had formed under her as she ruled. But even in her suspicion and grief she had realized the necessity of having other ponies help her rule after she had been forced to banish Luna along with the abomination that had been Jealousy. But even now that she had Luna back to help her rule and as an extension Twilight also the departments were now too integral to the current social system for them to be removed. So in short nothing would really change with the exception that her own tasks had been lessened considerably with two additional princesses to take some of the workload. And as such there should’ve been nothing but a normal day ahead of Celestia. Just the same old task that she had fulfilled for the past few centuries. It was due to this sense of familiarity that she was so utterly surprised to find Twilight with an unknown griffin family when she stepped into the Equestrian department of Immigration and travel, or EDIT for short. Not that she was alone in that feeling of surprise if Twilight’s expression was anything to go by.

“What are you doing here princess Celestia?” Twilight said, being the first to speak.

Celestia blinked but collected herself quickly. “I’m in the middle of my monthly visit to the departments. You remember those right? You used to beg me to allow you to come with me until you realized that it would encroach on your time to read.” She answered her former student, a hint of a playful smile on her lips.

“Oh yes, of course I remember. I’m so sorry if I came off as a bit rude but I didn’t expect to run into you at all today.” Twilight apologized hastily.

“No harm done Twilight, although it would be rude to not introduce the guests you have with you.” Celestia said warmly.

“Yes of course! Princess Celestia may I introduce Ranger, Stella and Gilda Rustfeather, visiting from Gryphus to come live with Cloud for an unscheduled amount of time.” Twilight replied.

“Ah pleasure.” Celestia said truthfully, nodding her head towards the Rustfeathers. She knew of this family of griffins from what Cloud had told her about his return to Equestria, and through that she knew that without them Cloud would likely have never made it back to her at all. However expressing her thanks to them for that was something for another time and more precisely another place.

Turning her head back to Twilight she continued. “I take it Cloud is already home then and you are just here to help him speed things up with his visitors?” She asked Twilight.

“What? No Cloud should be down at the harbor right now waiting for us to return.” Twilight said, sounding a bit confused.

“Oh, did he meet you on the way then? Perhaps you’re going back together?” Celestia asked, feeling some confusion of her own.

“No Cloud has been with us all the way from the point we left Ponyville until the point we returned here. Well excluding the rescue part of our trip then it was just Lyra and Gilda here that were with him. Well until he decided to be the decoy then it was just him but other than that it he has been with us all the time.” Twilight rambled.

“Really? Then excuse me I’ll have to go down and greet him too.” Celestia said perhaps a little too quickly. But then again her emotions were in complete chaos at this point. The part of her that missed Cloud wanted her to rush over to him, the part of her that was angry with him not telling her what he was really doing wanted to slap him and the reasonable part of her was piecing together a plausible story given the Rustfeather family being here. So without waiting for a reply from Twilight she turned at the door and headed out again, the visit with EDIT could wait for a couple of minutes.

With a few quick steps she launched herself into the sky and headed towards the harbor that was located nearby, leaving behind a confused Twilight that for some reason felt that she had said far too much.

From her aerial vantage point Celestia took her time to scan the crowds of milling ponies for her coltfriend, not that she really needed that much time though. After all Cloud stood out like a clown at a funeral with his tall stature among her ponies, so as soon as she found the newly returned human she angled herself so that she would come in for a smooth landing just behind him. Of course the effect of having their princess suddenly appear among them caused nearly all of the ponies around her landing spot to gasp quickly lower their heads in silence and respect. Well to be honest the gasps had started before she had touched the ground and that had caused Cloud to turn around. He had of course spotted her as easily as she had spotted him and the weak smile he offered as she took in his bandaged form only stoked the fires of the part of her that wanted to hit him with something.

So with angry steps she stalked up to him, lighting her horn as she advanced. Then with a pure blast of telekinetic magic she slapped him across the left cheek.

“That was for lying about where you were going!” She stated while she felt the remaining ire start to quickly drain away.

What remained was an overwhelming feeling of longing as she had managed to grow accustomed to having him back. Giving in to this feeling she leaned in and planted a kiss on his lips. Inside she knew that he wouldn’t go and get hurt without a reason, they had had that conversation almost three years ago. And since then she had mulled over his answer that day for many hours.

A few seconds later she broke it. “That was for your reasons for lying though.” She told him softly.

Before her she could see how Cloud’s previously dazed eyes from the blow shifted to eyes that looked at her with a passionate gaze. And if she could have seen her own she would’ve most likely observed a similar phenomenon. For an undetermined amount of time the two of them stood there unaware of the world around them then ever so slowly the silence around them started to become apparent. Looking around she found the shocked faces of her beloved subjects. The fact that none had expected their princess to swoop in and slap a random creature on the docks must’ve been strange enough. But for her to kiss it in the next instance had to have been the icing on the cake. Aw crud. It was supposed to be kept a secret a while longer, wasn’t it? She slowly came to realize. Well no matter how you look at it the cats out of the bag now. She thought with a sigh.

To say that Celestia’s untimely arrival had been anything but Murphy’s law in full effect would’ve been an insult to Murphy’s law. And her follow up had without a doubt caused quite a stir among the ponies that were present on the docks. Though I would be lying if I said that I didn’t appreciate the kiss that had come as a surprise after the slap I had earned. The kiss reignited all the feelings of longing that I had suppressed throughout the excursion to Gryphus and soon my feelings for Celestia were a raging inferno once more, and if the literal hunger in her eyes was anything to go by she felt the same as I did. Part of me understood what the actions Celestia had taken today would mean for our relationship though. With this our relationship was pretty much official and we would more than likely soon fall under the scrutinizing eye of the Equestrian populace. But no matter how true that may be I couldn’t care less I was alive, I had helped save Stella and now I felt as if I could once again spend time with the one I loved above all else.

I leaned in to whisper in Celestia’s ear. “We should probably move from here Tia.” I said, motioning with my head towards the ship we had claimed in Gryphus.

Celestia simply nodded to signal that she agreed with my assessment and fell in beside me as I continued to head back towards the ship. No words were exchanged between us until we reached the ship, and perhaps that was for the better as we had almost every eye possible in our immediate vicinity watching us. However as we boarded the still nameless ship the silence was broken by Lyra’s voice.

“Ah, I see you’ve come back Cloud. Could you help me with-” She started to say but her voice died as she saw who boarded the ship behind me.

“I’ll be with you in a bit Lyra, I just need to have a quick chat with Tia here.” I told the mint green unicorn, having dropped any sense of pretense that I had a strictly professional relationship with Celestia.

“Uh, y-yeah sure.” Lyra managed to produce as I led Celestia past her and down towards the crew quarters of the vessel.

I stepped into the cabin that I had been using as my own for the trip, the captain’s quarters had been left for the Rustfeatthers as it was the only capable of holding all three. Not that I had wanted the captain quarters, quite the opposite actually. I was happy with this small cabin as my own space even though it was barely large enough for me to move around in. Although when it came to fitting both me and Celestia in such a small compartment the space to move around at all quickly became nothing. Something that became abundantly clear when I lost my balance due to my still not fully healed leg, pulling Celestia down with me as I fell.

“Aight, I’ll admit that this may not have been my brightest idea…” I said as I looked up at the princess that had ended up lying on me, her muzzle inches away from mouth.

A memory flashed in my mind of a similar situation from what seemed so long ago. A memory of a human Celestia stumbling forward due to me opening the door she was leaning against and ending up tripping me.

“I don’t exactly mind this though.” Celestia almost purred on top of me, making me wonder if I would ever truly understand females. I had been so sure that she would want to give me a few additional select words for my behavior, but as long as she didn’t want to berate me I wasn’t going to complain. So instead I craned my neck upwards, planting a quick kiss on her lips.

“As much I want to spend time with you Tia, and believe me when I say that I’ve missed you. Now might not be the best time for this.” I said, offering her a smile.

I saw a few emotions play across her features before sighing dejectedly. “I know, I actually have somewhere to be right now as well, but I really feel like we should at the very least talk.” She said.

“Then how about you swing by my place tonight sometime after sunset? Then we’ll have plenty of time to talk, I’ll even have some time to warn my guest that you’ll drop by. I think that they’d want to meet you.” I suggested.

“That sounds like a good solution.” Celestia agreed before surprising me with her next question. “Just to clarify though, your guests are the Rustfeather family, correct?”

“Yeah, but could you tell me how you know that?” I answered, adding a question of my own.

“Ah, I happened to run into them at the Equestrian department of Immigration and travel. Incidentally that’s where I heard that you were here as well.” She told me.

“I’m going to assume that Twilight was the one who told you.” I half asked.

“Indeed it was, speaking of that though I should probably get back before she has a nervous breakdown. She has never been good with me breaking character like I did back there.” Celestia said thoughtfully.

“Alright then, you go deal with your day and then we can talk later at my place.” I told her.

“Yes, see you later Cloud.” She said, leaning down to give me one last peck on the lips before teleporting away.

For a short time I lay there on the floor not really bothering to take any kind of measures as to getting up. But as I heard voices whispering outside the door to my cabin I struggled up onto my feet again and crossed the short distance to the door. Opening it caused Bonbon and Lyra to come tumbling into the room, almost knocking me down onto the floor once again. The two mares untangled themselves quickly before standing up, both of them wearing sheepish expressions.

“Hey there Cloud, we eh… We were just about to knock.” Lyra tried to explain.

I responded by raising an eyebrow at the obvious lie. “Oh, were you now?” I said, my voice laced with sarcasm and a healthy dose of mirth.

“Ah, yes.” Lyra agreed, nodding vigorously as Bonbon facehoofed when my sarcasm went completely unnoticed by Lyra.

I turned my eyes towards Bonbon when she decided to speak up. “He knows Lyra. Although I’m beginning to think I’m part of some joke you wanted to play on me Lyra.” She said.

“What? How can he know? My deception was flawless.” Lyra complained before remembering that Bonbon had said more than that. “Oh and I’m not sure what you mean by joke.”

“Not sure? It’s quite obvious that princess Celestia isn’t here, right?” She said to the unicorn.

Before they could start arguing among themselves I decided to interject. “She was here a few minutes ago though.” I said.

“I… But… Why?” Bonbon sputtered at my response.

Should I lie? It’s only because Lyra didn’t catch the fact that I was using a pet name for Celestia that I’m even able to try and do this. I asked myself. They would know the truth eventually no matter what I did at this stage but perhaps it was best to wait with such revelations until we were safely in Ponyville. So instead I choose a sort of middle path.

“It’s no secret that the princesses talk with me frequently at my home in Ponyville, you know this right?” I asked them.

When they nodded I continued. “Well she wanted to swing by and say hello basically. So I invited her to a talk later tonight at my place.” I said, leaving out a few more close encounters.

And as I finished my brief explanation both ponies were nodding understandingly. I doubt that they would’ve been taking it so calmly if they had known everything that had transpired behind that door. But knowing Equestria they’d probably know sometime during breakfast tomorrow. If there’s one thing that spread quickly here it was rumors and gossip.

I pushed further ponderings out of my mind and turned to Lyra. “Did you need help with anything by the way?” I asked the unicorn as I remembered that she asked for help when I boarded earlier.

“Oh yes! Thank you for reminding me. There’s a thing I’d like to talk to you about your fighting style.” Lyra blurted out.

“Aight then let’s get above deck first, that way we can start heading home the moment Twilight returns with the others.” I suggested, and Lyra was quick to agree.

“So this is your home, huh? I have a ton of questions I want to ask but I think I’ll start with how is all this possible?” Ranger asked as we disembarked form the sky ship that had been moored to my floating island.

At that question I wanted to slap myself as I had managed to neglect telling him about Imagination’s powers, as well as having glossed over some facts about my current home. So without wasting any more time I summoned my soul infused weapon to the surprise of the Rustfeather family. I held out the spear in my right hand so that the griffins could see the weapon clearly as I launched into an explanation about its mysterious properties. And a short elaboration later the Rustfeathers were inaugurated into the circle of individuals that knew exactly what my weapon was.

“So with all that being said, don’t be surprised if you find some things in my home that seem to be completely alien to you. Just come talk to me and I can guide you through the process of how to use them properly.” I finished my explanation, having let go of Imagination a few seconds earlier so it was no longer present.

“I… I’m not quite sure what to say Cloud.” Gilda answered, sounding a bit dazed. Most likely due to the amount of information I had poured over her and her family just now.

“You really don’t have to say anything, but come now let’s get inside so that you can unpack and get settled in.” I said as I ushered them towards my door.

Gilda didn’t really react when we crossed into my house as she had been there before but both Ranger and Stella came to a pause as they saw the interior of my home. But given the architecture and the many strange new objects such as speakers or perhaps the ceiling lamps perhaps their sense of awe was to be expected. After all I had literally opened a door to another world for them. So after showing them the guest rooms on the second floor I gave them a full tour of my home. Gilda was pleased to find the training room, something that I had never had time to show her during her brief stay last time. Ranger on the other hand marveled at the large kitchen I had constructed, instantly taking a liking to the idea of having a kitchen island to prepare dishes and ingredients on. And last but not least was Stella who just looked truly exited for the first time in quite some time. So on the inside I cheered a bit for the small victory of having succeeded in distracting her from her worries, even if it was just for a short time.

“Aight I guess that’s everything to say about my home.” I concluded as the tour came to a stop in the living room.

“It’s something different alright.” Ranger spoke up, receiving a nod of agreement from Gilda.

“Well I guess that’s a valid statement, do you have any questions so far though?” I asked, but as the Rustfeathers just looked among each other silently I continued talking. “Aight if there are no questions right now I suggest that you make yourselves at home. I have to run and take care of some errands in town though so I’ll be back in a bit.” I informed them.

“I’ll come with you.” Gilda volunteered but I held up a hand to stop her.

“No I can’t ask you to help right as I invited you here, besides you don’t have to worry about me needing help getting around now that I can land safely again.” I said.

I walked over to the door and opened it. “Don’t worry I’ll be back before you can start to miss me.” I told them before closing the door as I exited into the autumn afternoon.

It was something that I had come to realize during the time it had taken to fly from Canterlot to Ponyville. My leg still made it hard to walk for extended periods of time but my wings were perfectly fine. So as long that I was extra carful during takeoff and landing I would have no problem with getting around. As such I was in the air almost immediately after having left my home, soaring towards Ponyville.

I had a few things in mind that I needed to take care off once I reached the town but the two most pressing ones were to get some food shopping done and to swing by The silver grape to inform Berry that I was back in town. As I flew I noticed how good it felt to actually fly again, and marveled at the fact that Rainbow had managed to stay onboard the ship until we came within viewing distance of Ponyville. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how the long trip on the sky ship must’ve been like for her if it felt like this for me, a somewhat mediocre flyer. My thoughts were cut short though as I saw the street where Berry’s bar/diner was situated approaching rapidly. Focusing entirely on making my descent as slow as possible I managed to land with a slight wobble as I took most of the landing on my healthy leg, using injured one only to stabilize myself.

Once I felt that I was in control over my balance I entered the establishment. I was met with the sight of a couple of dozen ponies enjoying either an early meal or a drink, and so far no one of them seemed to have noticed me. That was until a certain young unicorn filly came bounding out from the sea of table legs.

“Cloud!” She cheered happily, causing most assembled ponies to turn their heads towards the door where I still stood.

I gave them an awkward wave before greeting the filly. “Hello Ruby, it has been a while, hasn’t it?” I said at the same time as Berry came walking from the bar area.

At the sight of my still fairly bandaged body she paused. “You look like you fought five griffins and lost.” She remarked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah, it was something like that.” I answered evasively.

Berry tilted her to the right at my answer but shook it quickly moments later before speaking. “Well whatever reason it’s good to have you back Cloud, although I’m hesitant to ask you to work now that I see you condition.” She said, studying my various bandages more closely.

“Well…” I began but paused. What was I supposed to say? That I could work no problem? That wouldn’t be very convincing no matter how good of a liar I was.

Instead I rephrased what I had begun to say. “Well as long as I just work the bar it should be fine. I realize that I wasn’t hired for that task alone but at least I’ll provide some help.” I suggested.

Berry looked at me thoughtfully before answering. “Hmm, how long would you say that you have left before you’ve recovered enough to work full time again?” She asked me.

Now that is question I’m not sure about at all. I thought to myself. Normally injuries like those I had would’ve forced me to be bound to a bed for months. But given the abnormal rate that I was currently recovering at it wouldn’t be anywhere near even a month.

“I’d say about a week, give or take a day or two.” I answered my employer.

Berry nodded to herself. “Then as far as I’m concerned you’re welcome to return to work tomorrow evening, say 5pm?” She said after a moments’ contemplation.

“Thanks Berry, I really appreciate it.” I told her sincerely.

“Bah, just make sure you’re on time. Oh and bring some of those marinated garlic things as a ‘I’m sorry I took a sudden vacation apology’.” She told in a serious tone, but the grin on her face told a different story.

“Will do.” I agreed before bidding them farewell.

Berry had to return to work after all and I had some groceries to acquire. So once I was out on the street again I took to the sky once more, and after a short flight I repeated my careful landing process at the Ponyville market. I caught quite a bit of attention as I landed among the ponies milling about, getting their daily shopping done. A few even went as far as to come up to me and welcome me back to Ponyville, something that invoked a warm feeling within me.

I got my food shopping done rather quickly as most ponies had already completed theirs already however I was somewhat disappointed to find that the Apple family stall was already empty. It would’ve been nice to tell them that we had returned safely. Guess I’ll have to tell them tomorrow. I thought as I headed towards Sugar cube corner, which was to be my last stop for the day. Reasoning that at the very least I could be courteous enough to inform Pinkie that I was back, also as an afterthought purchasing a cake or something with would be a good dessert for the evening. With that in mind I simply landed outside the bakery and pushed the door open, only to be tackled by a pink blur that latched onto my midsection before I could take a single step. An involuntary grunt escaped my lips as the pink mare applied some more force into her hug, reminding me that my midsection was still a bit tender.

“Hello Pinks.” I said in a slightly strained voice as she nuzzled her head against my still bandaged abdomen.

“Welcome home Cloud.” She replied, not showing whether she had registered that I was still injured or not. Knowing Pinkie she could be tactfully ignoring it or perhaps she had already known about my predicament.

I let her keep nuzzling for a bit before clearing my throat. “Um do you think we could go inside?” I suggested carefully.

“Oh, of course!” Pinkie exclaimed before releasing me.

I followed the bouncing mare inside the familiar shop. In here my arrival caused further heads to turn and quite a few waved or called out greetings that I returned with a smile. It was hard to describe in words but it truly felt as if I belonged and was welcome in Ponyville given how the ponies had reacted to my return.

Just as Pinkie and I reached the counter Mrs. Cake exited the kitchen, letting out a surprised gasp as she saw me standing there.

“Oh my, what happened to you Cloud?” She asked, a hint of worry in her voice.

“It’s a long story Mrs. Cake, I can tell you some other time if you want to hear it.” I told her, allowing a calming smile to play on my features.

“I might hold you to that dearie.” She said half-jokingly. “Now what can I do for you, this evening?” She asked.

“Well I’d like to buy a cake to bring with me. Any recommendation on what’s good?” I asked the blue mare.

“Hmm, I’m afraid that all we have left today is chocolate cake. Most of the cakes we make are either ordered in advance or to be sold in slices.” Mrs. Cake said apologetically.

I held up my hands in a disarming manner. “Chocolate will be just fine Mrs. Cake, how much will it cost me?” I told her sincerely.

“Oh that will be 20bits.” She replied quickly.

I dug through the remaining bits I had left after my trip and todays shopping, but I didn’t lament that I had burnt through most of my savings. To have Stella safe was worth all the money I would ever make. So after paying for the cake I left Sugar cube corner, saying my goodbyes to the ponies inside. And as I stepped out into the rapidly disappearing daylight I was struck with the feeling that I had forgotten something important.

I paused for a second pondering what it could be that was bothering me. Had I perhaps forgotten to buy something? But no matter how hard I thought I couldn’t put my finger on what it was so instead of just standing there I took to the sky, beginning my flight home. And when I landed twenty minutes later or so I still hadn’t figured out what was skirting my memory. I threw one last glance towards Ponyville in the distance, the last light from the setting sun rendering it nothing but a dark silhouette. With a sigh I walked over to my door and there I froze. From inside I heard muffled voices, voices that didn’t belong to the Rustfeathers.

Curios as to who it could be I pushed the door open only to reveal both Luna and Celestia entertaining the Rustfeather family with some kind of wild tale from their past. As they heard the door close though they stopped all heads turning towards me. The moment Celestia saw that it was me she vanished in a flash only to appear next to me the very next moment.

“Welcome home.” She said before planting a quick kiss on my cheek. Much to the surprise of the Rustfeathers, although not as much for Luna.

And with that the feeling of what I had forgotten went into overdrive, as I had promptly forgotten to inform the Rustfeathers about the full extent of my relationship with Celestia.

Author's Notes:

Well here's chapter 21 and as expected the new time constraints placed on me made this one take longer to complete. Nevertheless I hope that you enjoyed the chapter and look forward to what I have planned in the future for this story.

So until next time you get a working title as usual, Plans and princesses