To admit that you’ve fucked up is not always an easy task. I have been there multiple times, however this time the problem wasn’t admitting that I was to blame. My problem was that I hadn’t been in this particular situation before, and because of that I didn’t know just quite how to act. Down the rabbit hole I go.

“Hello Rainbow, long time no see.” I said, sounding more tired than I felt.

If Rainbow Dash’s disbelieving look was anything to go by, I guess that she hadn’t really expected it to be me under the cloak. To be fair I probably wouldn’t have expected it either and I’d probably be quite shocked too. Actually, is she just staring out into space? I moved a hand in front of her eyes, trying to get a reaction. Yep, definitely staring out into space. I thought as I waited for Rainbow to recover. But when nothing happened during the following minute I reached over and snapped my fingers next to her ear, causing Rainbow to return to reality with a start.

“Ah! What the hay Cloud!” She exclaimed.

“Welcome back to Equestria Rainbow. You know I expected you to have more questions.” I commented.

“Well I’m sorry for not thinking that the tall thing I saw for the first time a few minutes ago was once a pegasus I knew.” She replied snarkily.

That only brought a smile to my lips though, it was good to see that Rainbow was still the same old Rainbow I remembered.

“Nice to see you too Rainbow. Is it only you here?” I asked, having a hard time keeping any mirth out of my voice.

My comment caused Rainbow’s ears and expression to drop. “Hay feathers, I forgot about AJ. I kinda flew away at full speed when I caught sight of you Cloud. Come on we can catch up when we get back to AJ.”

Without waiting for my reply she started to trot down the road, back towards Ponyville and I had no choice but to follow. Well this should be interesting. I thought as kept Rainbow’s brisk pace. Fortunately we didn’t have to go far before we saw Applejack come running down the road and she came to a screeching halt in front of Rainbow Dash.

“Whoo’wee, don’t go runnin’ off like that on me Rainbow. Tha’s just not good manners.” She berated the Pegasus before turning her attention to me.

“Now what’s this thing? Some sort of critter? Was this the thing ya saw? Why did it follow ya here?” She started asking Rainbow while taking a closer look at me.

“Ah gotta say that despite bein’ this tall it seems pretty docile. Got pretty nice lookin’ eyes too.” She observed while Rainbow was trying really hard not to laugh behind her back.

However since being subtle had never been a skill that I knew Rainbow Dash for it didn’t take long before a chuckle escaped. Applejack turned around almost instantly.

“What’s so damn funny Rainbow?!” she demanded.

Deciding that I’d better stop things before it got out of hand I spoke up.

“Thanks for the compliment Applejack, I always thought you had beautiful eyes too.” I said, causing Applejack to wheel around again.

“Now, now, close your mouth Applejack.” I said as I hunched down and used two fingers to close her open mouth.

Applejack worked her mouth without making a sound for a few seconds as Rainbow lost control over her efforts to not laugh.

“Rainbow Ah’ demand an explanation, who is this?!” Applejack said, turning to Rainbow again the moment she regained her ability to speak.

“You know you could just ask me Applejack.” I told the orange farm pony, since Rainbow failed to answer due to her laughter.

“Alright, alright, how do you know my name? Did Rainbow put you up to this?” She asked, sounding slightly weary.

“No Rainbow did not tell me your name, I knew it since before this meeting. We’ve met before you know, although last time was about two and a half years ago.” I said, and as the last sentence left my mouth Applejack’s eyes widened.

“Land sakes, is that you Cloud?”

When I nodded Applejack started asking questions just like I had expected Rainbow to do earlier.

“Ah’ don’t even know where to begin. When and how did you get back? What’s up with that form? No, why are you back?”

“Whoa, slow down Applejack. Now to answer your questions before they become too many. I got back about two months ago but I have been traveling since then, as for how and why I couldn’t honestly tell you.” I started to answer, telling a half truth about where I had been and choosing to misinterpret the why. I dared not full on lie to Applejack, and it would seem that she had caught something but I pressed on before she any more time to dwell on it.

“Oh, and this is what I am supposed to look like. Well except the wings.” I said quickly unfolding and folding them again. “The pony form I held last time was extremely weird to me at times, but I managed quite well I think.” I finished.

“Come on you two we need to go meet the others, I can’t wait to see their reactions!” Rainbow interrupted any further questions.

“Ah, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” I replied, much to the surprise of both Rainbow and Applejack.

“Why would’ya say that Cloud? Ah mean Pinkie’s gonna be super happy to meet ya again.” Applejack reasoned.

“Yeah, but entire the reason I didn’t stay in Ponyville today was so that the ponies living here would have a chance to calm down from yesterday.” I explained patiently.

“Wait, what do you mean yesterday?” Rainbow asked as she hopped into the air, flying up to eye level with me.

“Well the entire shield thing and the bug ponies. I just thought I’d let a day or two pass.” I said looking between the two ponies, trying to read their reaction.

“Bug ponies? Wait a gosh darn second, do ya mean changeling?!” Applejack exclaimed.

“Does a changeling look like a black pony with holes, a horn and insect wings? And does it transform by bursting into green flames?” I asked the two of them. Huh, so they were called changelings. I’d better remember that.

“Yeah you just described one perfectly Cloud.” Rainbow Dash supplied in a grim tone.

“Those darned varmints actually went here instead of the meeting!” A fuming Applejack snorted.

While Applejack was still muttering about all the horrible things she would do to the changelings when she caught them I turned to Rainbow.

“I take it you girls have a history with those changelings then?” I asked her.

“Yeah you could say that. Their leader queen Chrysalis was impersonating princess Cadence when she and Shining Armor were about to get married.” She answered, the meaning of course flew miles above my head since I didn’t know either of those names.

“Eh, I got that Chrysalis is the changeling leader. But who’re Cadence and Shining Armor?”

Rainbow facehoofed. “Sorry I forgot that you don’t know these names, and believe me we were kinda shocked too when we first heard about it. Shining Armor is Twilight’s brother and Cadence is the princess of the Crystal Empire.”

“You know Rainbow that answer just gave me another five questions I want to ask, but I’ll stay on topic for now. Did Cadence and Shining Armor get married in the end for real, and when you say princess do you mean ‘princess princess’ or just regular unicorn Noble?” I asked, somehow already knowing what the answer would be.

“She’s an alicorn if that’s what you mean by princess princess, the alicorn of love in fact. And yes they did get married, I got to do the most awesome sonic rainboom at the wedding too.” Rainbow exclaimed happily.

I sighed mentally. Another alicorn huh? And she just happens to be married to Twilight’s brother I bet she lives in that building behind the barrier.

“So I take it she lives in that place behind the barrier then?” I asked, giving voice to my thoughts.

“Naa Shining Armor and Cadence live in the Crystal Empire, aren’t you listening?” Rainbow asked quirking an eyebrow.

“Right, right, sorry it’s just a bit hard to keep track of all the facts flying around. I mean next you’re probably going to tell me that Twilight became the alicorn of magic or something.” I with a small smile, however Rainbow just laughed awkwardly and proceeded to run a hoof through her mane.

“Alicorn of frie-” she started to say but I interrupted her with frustrated cry of my own.

“Oh come on! Why not make it a damn alicorn bargain sale?!”

Wow, I didn’t know that I still cared that much. I thought as I my mind started to catch up with my reaction. Apparently Rainbow thought it was weird too.

“Woah, Cloud didn’t know you had something against alicorns. Isn’t that kind of weird since you and princess Celestia had a thing going o-” She started to rant before I interrupted her again.

“No I don’t have anything against alicorns, it’s is just that… You know what, forget I ever said anything. Now shouldn’t we be doing something other than just stand here and argue?” I said, trying to deflect the subject.

“Alright, alright, fine. I’ll drop it, that being said we’d better get going again. Come on AJ!” Rainbow agreed, and turned to Applejack.

“Okay we’ll go, but first. How do I know that neither of you two are changelings?” Applejack asked, and I had to agree it was a reasonable question.

“When I pranked you two in Canterlot I added excessive amounts of spice to your food. Is that good enough?” I answered Applejack, who nodded and turned to Rainbow.

“Do we really have to do this?” She complained but withered under Applejacks stern gaze. “Okay, okay I’ll prove it!” She exclaimed and leaned in to whisper something into Applejack’s ear which she seemed to accept as proof.

“Okay fine, I believe that neither of you are changelings.” Applejack said and turned around towards Ponyville.

Only for her to be forced to turn back again when Rainbow decided to accuse Applejack of being a changeling. Both mares continued to bicker back and forth a bit, before I stepped in to separate them.

“Can we please decide that none of us are bug ponies and that me going through Ponyville right now isn’t a good idea?” I pleaded.

It was Rainbow who answered me. “Heh, sorry Cloud. Well I can see why you don’t want to go straight through Ponyville the day after the changelings left, but where are you planning to go?”

“Hadn’t thought about that, I guess I’ll just stay in the Everfree for a few days.” I said with a shrug.

“Over mah’ dead body. You can stay in the barn Cloud. It’s not much, but it’s better than the wilds.” Applejack offered.

“Then I will happily accept, shall we go?”

“Alright let’s get goin’.” Applejack agreed, but we only walked for about a hundred meters before Applejack stopped again. “Shoot, I forgot that we were supposed to report back to Twilight. Rainbow can you rush back and get Twilight and the rest to come down to the barn? Oh and please make sure mah’ family is safe.”

Rainbow dash just saluted and flew off in a burst of speed, leaving Applejack to lead me to the barn. Hmm I never visited Sweet Apple Acres when I was here last time, this should be interesting. I had time to think before Applejack started to talk again.

“So Cloud…”

Rainbow Dash touched down about twenty meters away from Twilight outside the pinkish barrier, just under five minutes after she had left Cloud and Applejack. Great Twilight was easy to find, now to get her to come with me. She thought as she briskly trotted over.

“Hey Twi!” she called out.

“Stop right there!” Came Twilight’s sharp reply.

What the hay? That sounded hostile, why is she… Oh yeah she must’ve heard about the changelings from the rest of the villagers. She realized.

“Hey it’s okay Twi I’m not a changeling!” Rainbow called back.

“Wait how do you know about the changelings did you and Applejack find one?” Twilight asked and started to move over cautiously.

“Not quite, and I’m not a changeling. If you want proof just ask me anything.”

“Alright, what style of learning works for you Rainbow?” Twilight asked, stopping a few meters in front of her still behind the barrier.

I guess she means that time she figured out that I remember what I see when I fly. Heh, figures the egghead would pick that. She thought with a smirk.

“It’s unconscious learning, right?” she said proudly.

Twilight just facehoofed before answering. “It’s you alright Rainbow, and it is subconscious.”

“Oh that’s just a minor detail.” She said waving a hoof dismissively as Twilight opened a small hole for her to pass through the barrier.

“Okay Rainbow before we go to this thing you found or whatever it is I need you to help out with some things here.” Twilight quickly supplied when the hole in the barrier closed behind her.

“Alright, what do you need?” She asked, the quicker they got done here the quicker they could move to Applejack’s barn.

“Well first I need your help with…”

Twilight had to agree that whatever Rainbow and Applejack had found intrigued her, but right now she needed Rainbow’s help to calm down all of the ponies that had taken shelter in the castle. So for the next few hours she and all her friends, except Applejack, worked furiously to make sure all ponies were accounted for. Luckily it seemed that everypony had made it to the castle safely, that only left coaxing all of them into leaving the castle. For a town as skittish as Ponyville that was a task easier said than done.

Eventually though, sometime between the afternoon and evening, they finally managed to convince Ponyville’s residents that the town was once again safe. Twilight turned to her friends.

“Thanks girls, I couldn’t have done that without you.” She said appreciatively.

A chorus of no problem and don’t mention it filled the air for a few seconds before Twilight continued.

“Alright then, next on the agenda Rainbow and Applejack found something-”

“Somepony.” Rainbow interrupted.

“Yes thank you, somepony outside Ponyville and Applejack stayed behind to bring this individual to her farm. Rainbow hasn’t said who it is because it would and I quote ruin the surprise. ” Twilight said with a sigh.

“Anyhow who wants to come with me and Rainbow to the farm?”

“I’d love to find out who this mysterious pony is darling, but I’d like to take a few minutes to check on my family first.” Rarity spoke up.

“Um, and I would like to check on my animals and critters. You know if that’s okay…” Fluttershy said carefully.

Twilight just nodded and turned to Pinkie, or would’ve if the party pony hadn’t gone missing. She looked around wildly for a few seconds but couldn’t’ find her.

“Where did Pinkie go? She was here a second ago.” She asked without even hoping to get an answer. “No matter she’ll show up later, she always does. Okay so it seems it’s just Rainbow and I for now then.”

After a quick set of see you later and similar phrases Twilight and Rainbow hopped into the air started flying towards the large apple orchard that was Sweet apple acres. Throughout the flight she tried to pry any sort of clue she could from Rainbow, but the polychromaticly maned mare refused to budge. So when they landed outside the Apple family barn, she knew nothing more than that there was somepony waiting inside. As they approached the barn one of the doors swung open to reveal Applejack.

“Hey there, what took ya so long?” She greeted.

“Sorry ‘bout that AJ there were a lot to do regarding the villagers. Oh and Applebloom, Big Mac and Granny Smith are all fine they should be heading over here as we speak.” Rainbow quickly summarized.

“Thanks Rainbow, so Twi you here to see him alone? I would’ve guessed the rest would be interested to meet him again too.” Applejack said, raising an eyebrow.

“They probably would be if Rainbow had told us who it was instead of just saying that it would ruin the surprise.” Twilight said tiredly.

“Ya didn’t tell her?” Applejack said, turning to Rainbow with a disapproving look.

“Naa, it’ll be much more fun this way.” Rainbow said with a grin.

With a sigh Applejack turned back to Twilight. “Well, you’re in fer a surprise Twi.” She said before stepping to the side, allowing Twilight to go inside the barn.

Despite the afternoon sun outside the barn was dark, the only light source being the open door. So she did her best to strain her eyes to pierce through the darkness, and just as she was about to cast a spell to banish the darkness a distinctly male voice called out.

“I gotta say that I was skeptical at first when I heard about it. But those wings suit you Twilight Sparkle.”

She looked around trying to find the source, she barely caught sight of a motion from one of the large beams in the ceiling before something dropped down in front of her. Slowly the thing that had landed in front of her stood up, it was tall, but she still couldn’t tell what it was due to the cloak the thing wore. But as it turned to face her eyes quickly widened in recognition. That is definitively a human. He clearly knows me but who could it be? They shouldn’t be able to cross over to this world with the mirror right now. She thought frantically. And for that matter shouldn’t he be a pony if he’s in this world? Her mind continued to supply before coming to a dead stop when the human spoke again.

“You okay there Sparkle butt?”

Cloud. Her mind finally worked out before the world around her went dark.

Eeh, did Twilight just faint? I wondered as I slowly approached the small alicorn. Well shit, she did. I thought. Unable to decide what to do next as I carefully poked Twilight with a finger. Just as I started contemplating if I should call Applejack or Rainbow Dash in here the purple alicorn started to stir again.

“I had the strangest dream.” She murmured to herself as she started to scramble on to her hooves, her head facing away from me.

“Yeah, no dream Twilight.” I said in a neutral tone, but seeing how fast Twilight’s head snapped around I might as well have been shouting.

“Cloud, but how? Why now? You are not possible! The rift was closed, why are you here if you aren’t possible?!” She started ranting, growing louder every passing second.

I couldn’t help but sigh before holding up a hand to silence her. “I’m beginning to think that I’ll hear that question a lot in the coming days but I’m afraid that I can’t answer neither how nor why. Well at least not yet.”

“Then at least tell me why you are here of all places? Are you going to just up and leave again?” She demanded.

“I guess I can tell you that much. I don’t intend to leave Equus again but then at the same time I’m unsure of what I should do. As for why I’m here, I came here to show those I know that I’m back and then to see where life takes me.” I answered. I really hadn’t planned any further.

“When you say that you came here you imply that you’ve been somewhere else before coming here.” Twilight remarked.

“Yeah I’ve been living in Gryphus for the past two months.” I added before I could stop myself.

“Two months! You’ve been back on Equus for two months and you just now decide to show up and tell us that you’re back?!” She near shouted.

I had forgotten how good Twilight was at pushing my buttons when it came to situations like this. For I could feel a very familiar frustration rising within as Twilight continued to rattle off one accusation after another for how I had acted.

“Well perhaps I didn’t want to be the cause of any more chaos in Equestria! Perhaps I just wanted to stay in Gryphus and live out my life in peace!” I cut in, my voice rising in sync with Twilights.

“Well perhaps you should’ve thought a step further then! You should know that we cared for you even after you just disappeared that day! Not to mention Celestia, do you know exactly what she went through?!” Twilight responded in kind.

“Yes I’m quite aware of just what I put her through, and that’s one of my main reasons for not coming back here! What right do I have to waltz right back into her life and throw whatever relationship she has now into a maelstrom of confusion?!” I shouted back almost instantly.

“What relationship?! There’s no pony alive that even dares to even ask her on a date! You gave her a taste of something that she hadn’t had for over five hundred years!” Twilight shouted back.

That caused my anger to go out like a match in a rainstorm.

“Could you repeat that please?” I asked the irate mare carefully.

Twilight snorted angrily. “Yeah you Cloud! Your actions caused long lasting problems for Celestia but unfortunately it isn’t my place to tell you what!”

“No the part about her not seeing anyone.” I asked again.

“She hasn’t been seeing anypony since you left, not that she has allowed anypony near her really. But I will not allow you to contact her! Not right now! This needs to be handled with care!” Twilight barked out, stomping her hooves at the end of every sentence.

I was barely listening at this point though as my thoughts had started to spiral away at the confirmation that Celestia hadn’t entered a new relationship. In the background Twilight was ranting again but I didn’t care what she said right now. I needed to get to Celestia, it was high time that I stopped putting this aside. So I held up a hand again to silence Twilight.

“I need a few minutes to clear my head Twilight, I’ll answer any questions you have after that. But for now I just need to take a quick walk.” I told her.

“I don’t know Cloud, you aren’t the easiest individual to trust.” Twilight stated.

“I’m well aware of that but please, it’s not like I’m going to be able to make a run for it with these two legs.” I said.

“Alright then I suppose you’ve got a point, but you’d better answer everything after this.” Twilight conceded grumpily.

“It’s a promise.” I said as I walked past her and out of the barn.

I forced myself to keep my pace calm as I headed deeper into the orchard, but as soon I couldn’t see the barn anymore I broke into a full sprint. I kept up the sprint for a few minutes before I took to the sky with a few mighty beats of my wings, my heading being Canterlot. I thought I told you not to lock your heart away Tia, this is not what I had hoped for you! I thought, not sure if I was frustrated or happy.

Applejack and Rainbow had just enough time to let Twilight into the barn with Cloud before the Apple family arrived at the scene. After some hasty explanations that a long way guest was meeting with Twilight in the barn both mares started to help granny smith to prepare an early supper. Soon though heated voices could be heard resonating from the barn, something that kept up for quite some time before suddenly growing quiet again.

“Hey Applejack, you think she knocked him out?” Rainbow suggested with a grin.

“Naa, Twi wouldn’t do that. But I think it’s awfully quiet. Should we check on them?”

Rainbow just nodded and together they excused themselves to granny Smith before heading out and over to the barn. Inside they found Twilight sitting by herself with a heavy scowl, however she perked up when she saw who it was.

“Hey girls, you didn’t see Cloud on your way in?” she greeted them.

“No, why?” Rainbow asked, sounding somewhat confused.

“He said he needed a quick breather after I mentioned Celestia to him.” Twilight answered.

“Ya let him leave Twi?” Applejack demanded.

“No of course not, but he told me he needed a few minutes to clear his head.” Twilight defended.

“Yeah but ya left him without anypony to watch him. Whatever made that seem like a good idea? Especially after telling him about princess Celestia.” Applejack pushed onwards.

“I don’t see what the big deal is here? I mean it’s not like he’s going to fly away, humans don’t have wings or anything like that.” Twilight stated with certainty.

Applejack exchanged a quick look with Rainbow who quickly shook her head in panic, they both knew what was going to happen when Twilight caught on. But as fate would have it Twilight had become a rather perceptive pony over the years and noticed the silent exchange between her two friends.

“He doesn’t have wings, right?” she said, a slightly crazed tone had entered her voice.

“Err, about that Twi’ we may have forgotten to mention that small detail.” Rainbow said carefully.

Twilight’s right eye started to twitch nervously and a rather creepy smile started to slowly appear on her face. “This is bad, this is bad, this is bad…” she chanted all while she kept unfolding and folding her wings.

“Hey Twilight calm down, come on breathe or something.” Rainbow suggested, sounding unsure of her own suggestion.

“CALM! How can I be calm?! This is a disaster, I need to get Spike and send a message right away!” Twilight shouted before vanishing in a flash.

“Woah! Where is Twilight going?” Pinkie Pie asked as she entered the barn with Spike on her back.

Rainbow and Applejack exchanged another, this one being one of what are the odds combined with don’t question it, it’s Pinkie.

“So where is the new arrival? I need to know when I should start my welcome to Ponyville act.” Pinkie said to the groan of both Rainbow and Applejack.

Celestia walked slowly through the corridors of Canterlot castle, another day had passed and she knew she should be grateful that it had been a peaceful one. Especially with all the business regarding Tirek about four months back, and not to mention Discord’s mysterious disappearance just two months ago. But despite all this she couldn’t help but sigh to herself, life had become monotonous once again and she had started to feel detached from everyday life. Twilight was shaping up to becoming a fine princess, Cadence had the Crystal empire to worry about and Luna was steadily regaining popularity among the citizens. Why has it become so hard for me to be happy for them? She thought to herself as she reached her personal chambers, barely acknowledging the guards stationed outside.

Seeing how she had lowered the sun already the room was cast in relative darkness, and through the large balcony window Luna’s moon could be seen slowly rising. Is that a small draft I feel? She let her eyes wander across the room. Odd, did I forget to close the balcony door today? She thought as she noticed that the reason. She trotted over to the door while simultaneously removing her regalia, and after closing the door she turned around dead set on getting some sleep. She tucked herself in and closed her eyes, it shouldn’t be all too hard to find rest.

“I thought I told you not to lock your heart away Tia.” A familiar voice rung out in her chambers.

Ah, it’s this dream again. It had been nearly eighteen months since the last time she had one of these. Now any second Cloud is going to say something again. But when there was no second line coming from dream Cloud she became confused. That’s odd where is the continuation? She thought as she strained her ears.

“Come on Tia not even I fall asleep that fast and that’s saying something.” Cloud’s voice suddenly said much closer.

Startled by the proximity of his voice she sat up in her bed and turned to towards the direction she had heard him. This dream Cloud was way more blunt tha- her thoughts stopped working as she saw Cloud in his human form leaning on one of her beds posts.

“Hi there Tia, long time no see.” Human Cloud said cautiously.

For a few long seconds her mind remained in the nonfunctioning state it been put into just moments prior. But as her mind once again started to work she slowly got out of bed and lit her horn.

“Two and a half years, and now you show up nonchalantly like nothing ever happened?” She questioned, surprising herself with how deceptively calm her voice was. Although it seemed that Cloud started to catch on as her bed was enveloped in the same golden glow as her horn.

Light Keeper let out a relaxed sigh as princess Celestia went past him and Fog Light to enter her quarters. She seemed to be in one of her darker moods this evening and he didn’t want to do anything that could provoke his princess. What many ponies failed to understand was that despite being incredibly powerful and wise princess Celestia was still a pony under all those walls others saw around her. The truth of matter was that it was only the close staff and her sister that ever saw this side of her.

“Did she seem a tad gloomy to you Light?” Fog whispered from his position to the left of him, mirroring his thoughts with his question.

“Yeah, she never really recovered from the incident two and a half years ago. And it wasn’t’ made better by the fact that Chrysalis showed up and beat her when she was still recovering from that spell.” Light Keeper replied to his fellow guard.

Even though he technically outranked Fog Light he didn’t mind the fact that he addressed him without proper respect. They had gone through basic together and had found to have a lot in common. Although the main difference between the two would be the fact that while Fog was ever as good of a soldier as Light Keeper was, he had a tendency of finding trouble. Not the serious kind but enough to keep him from advancing in ranks.

“Yeah, that was a fiasco with the changelings alright. For us guards I mean.” Fog Light agreed. “Well she has been forced to pretty much work nonstop since then too, I guess it’s good that lady Sparkle ascended to ease some of the burden.” Fog continued.

“Yeah tell me about it, sometimes I wonder just what is wrong with our country. There’s just one great villain after another.” Light Keeper lamented.

“At least we have Discord on our side.” Fog added.

Light Keeper had to agree with that, Discord had proven to be useful right up until he had betrayed them again. He was just about to point that fact out to Fog when his ears caught something from inside the princess’s quarters. Was that talking? He held up a hoof to make sure Fog stayed silent and strained his ears, leaning slightly closer to the door. It could of course just be princess Luna that dropped by, but he had to make sure.

“…ike no… ..ing …er …appen…” His princess’s muffled voice could be heard through the door.

“..ia ..alm …own. …ut …own the …ed!” A male voice could be heard responding to his princess. Before his mind could begin to even start contemplating what an ed was, or who the voice might belong to the large double doors he and Fog had been guarding were torn to splinters as Celestia’s bed came crashing through them. Wide eyed Light Keeper stared at the broken mass of carved wood that had once been a set of doors and a bed. He slowly turned his head back towards the princess’s chambers and managed to just catch a glimpse of a tall shape rushing past with a very angry princess hot on its heels.

How dare he dodge?! The irrational part of Celestia’s mind screamed as she dove after Cloud when he made run for it. Her hooves slid across the marble floors as she came rushing out of her rooms and out into the corridor. Cloud was already quite the way down the corridor keeping quite the pace for a bipedal, but she would be damned if she gave up at this point. With flap of her wings she gained a burst of speed and continued her pursuit of the individual that held her ire.

Her hooves thundered across the castle floors as she ran, the doors lining the walls nothing but a blur. Yet despite her best efforts she couldn’t seem to close the gap between her and Cloud. It didn’t help that he could take corners much more smoothly than her at these speeds either. Oh let’s be honest here Celestia. A quiet voice whispered in her head. It’s been a while since you actually had to push yourself. She pressed it down refusing to acknowledge that any fault was hers at the moment.

“Come back here this instant!” She cried out, as Cloud turned another corner up ahead of her.

This path leads to the upper guard quarters. She realized. With all the noise we’re making there’s bound to be activity up there! She cheered, knowing that the fight would soon be over. Her glee was short lived though as rounded the corner in time to see Cloud dive over a group of surprised guards and continuing to run after a quick roll. With a small growl she flapped her wings and soared over the guards, refusing to let herself be beaten.

The guards cries for her to wait fell on deaf ears as she pressed on, it was clear that Cloud was running without a plan and if luck was on her side he would eventually take a wrong turn and end up in dead end. Or I could block his path by using magic. Using her innate ability she reached out towards a door ahead of Cloud and flung it open, only for him to make a small adjustment to his heading in the last second. And after the failed attempt to stop him with a door she no more chances to duplicate the trick, as he stayed away from doors. Grabbing him directly with her magic was also out of the question since he was changing direction way too often for a telekinetic field to properly form around him.

That left stun spells which quite frankly she hadn’t used for a very long time, not to mention the risk of hitting a random bystander. After all they had rushed past plenty of servants by now that had either dove out of the way or had simply stood frozen in shock as one of their princesses, without any regalia, had come leaping over them.

“Stop running!” She called out as the shape of Cloud rounded another corner ahead of her.

But as she came around the corner and saw Cloud’s form disappear up a set of stairs, instead of down, she knew that the mad chase was about to be over. Hah! That stair leads to a tower lookout. She cheered triumphantly as she ascended the stairs. She found Cloud standing on the guard railing facing her, behind him the night sky spread out in a beautiful vista of stars. He can’t be thinking of jumping, right? She thought as she slowly walked out from the stairwell.

Her eyes widened though as Cloud gave a two fingered salute before falling backwards and out of sight. With an involuntary gasp she hurried over to the rail only to see a pair of large blue grey wings burst out from under the cloak Cloud was wearing. Still frustrated she dove in after him and just above the ground she finally caught him.

They landed in a tangled heap of limbs and clothing. But this time Celestia was the faster out of the two of them as she quickly freed herself and pinned Cloud to the ground. In the moonlight she finally saw his face clearly, he looked tired. Not the exhausted kind of tired but the kind she had been feeling every day since he left. Deep down she still knew why he had done it, but now she just wanted to be mad. Despite her efforts though she felt her previous anger start to ebb away to give way for something else, tears. She quickly scrambled away from Cloud, she didn’t want him to see her cry. She wouldn’t cry! But she couldn’t hide her sniffles, and before she knew what had happened Cloud had enveloped her in a hug.

“I’m sorry Tia, this was poorly handled of me. I just… I’m really bad at this sort of thing.” He explained, carefully trying to choose his words.

The combination of what she had yearned for so long and the rampaging emotions she felt became too much for her at that point and she broke down into full on crying. She could feel Cloud’s wings envelop her too as he gently rocked her back and forth.

“You’re real aren’t you?” She managed to ask between sobs.

“There, there Tia. I’m really here, but for now just listen to my voice and what I have to say.” He said soothingly.

“To be perfectly honest your anger with me is completely justified, and I won’t have any illusions of you forgiving me for what I did. In fact I suggest that you don’t it, will help you to be rational for the days to come. But we still need to sit down and talk Tia, there’s a lot of things that were left unsaid between us. When you feel that you are ready for that come find me. I’ll be staying in the Ponyville area.” He explained and all she could do was force herself to nod.

“Then this is farewell for now Tia.” He continued as he slowly released the embrace and stood up.

He took one last look at her as she looked back, a small smile on his mouth, before hoping into the sky and disappearing into the night. Things were going to change again.

It was on tired wings that I flew in over Ponyville, but I couldn’t allow myself to rest just yet. No I pressed onwards a bit further so that I came to the road leading to Sweet Apple acres, and after following it for a few hundred meters I touched down on one of the hills. From my hill I could clearly see Ponville, Sweet Apple acres and what I assumed to be Fluttershy’s cottage. This place is as good as any. I thought as I summoned Imagination. After creating a wide border for a reality marble I sat down with the spear across my lap, I was going to need a new home.

Author's Notes:

Well here's another one. Took a while to write but then again it's slightly longer than the rest of the chapters so far. Hopefully I got some comedy that works into this chapter as well, more importantly I hope that the chapter felt believable.

Anyway I hope that you enjoyed it nonetheless, next chapter will most likely be called: Life, lemons and Luna.