After crying for half an hour straight, Octavia finally ran out of tears and looked at Fiery once more, right into his eyes. “Tell me again Fiery, what did the doctor say exactly?”

Fiery bit his lip, not wanting to repeat to her the thing that caused her so much pain once before, but knew he had to. “She… She said that the fetus inside, um… from what I could tell, s-she said that it aborted itself… It’s because i-it wasn’t able to tell w-whether or not it was supposed to be a pony…”

“You mean when Princess Celestia-“ Octavia began to ask, but was stopped as Fiery nodded.

“Y-Yeah, um… I-It’s because of the whole you turning human…” Fiery answered her. When he told her once more about the situation, she put her head on Fiery’s shoulder and tried to squeeze out more tears, but was unable to. “I’m sorry baby, had I known…” Octavia only tried to dig her head further into Fiery’s shoulder, wanting to get as far away from her emotions, from the hell she was currently experiencing, she just wanted it all to go away.

“You don’t need to apologize Fiery.” Octavia told him quietly.

“But I do, had I never met you, you wouldn’t be…”

“But I also wouldn’t have had all those happy moments either.” Octavia corrected him.

“’Tavi…” Fiery returned her nuzzling as he nuzzled her back, unsure of what to do. The two stood there, nuzzling each other, trying to comfort each other for a few minutes when the doctor from before had knocked on the door.

The doctor entered the room and saw the two, sighed, and then addressed the couple. “I’m sorry to interrupt two, but I wish to speak to you two.”

Fiery and Octavia turned to the doctor, and Fiery asked. “Y-Yes doctor?”

“Ms. Pie, Mr. Embers, I know what you’re going through right now is extremely hard, but I wish to let you know that we need to get the fetus out of Ms. Pie, otherwise she’s going have to… get rid of it manually…”

Octavia had been able to find a few more tears, but wiped them away as she tried to stand bravely. “I-I understand doctor. U-Um, w-what do I need to do?”

“Follow me to the abortion facility, we’ll help you there.” Octavia and Fiery nodded and began to follow the doctor to the clinic that was next door.

As Octavia laid there on the cold medical table, she reached a hoof out to Fiery, who stood by her and grabbed her hoof back. The procedure took only a small amount of time, but while it was happening, Octavia felt like it was an eternity. ‘Fiery has nothing to do with this.’ She kept telling herself. ‘He wanted the foal just as much as I did. He didn’t want it to come to this.’ But as she thought about it more and more, the more she convinced herself the opposite way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Starry had been sitting in her room, the fireplace warming her as she stood by the window, looking out at the bleak city of Canterlot. ‘Why did they have to schedule rain today as well?’ Just then she heard a voice from behind her belonging to Celestia.

“Because the city hasn’t had a good rain for quite a while.”

Celestia walked up next to Starry, and the two sat there looking out of the window as Starry replied. “I hate it when you read minds without permission… And besides, it’s only been two weeks since the last rain…”

“Forgive me Starry, but I have been concerned about you. Besides, you know I can only read a select few.”

“Funny that a ‘select few’ is really about your entire country, huh?” Starry shot back.

Celestia only rolled her eyes. “Please Starry, I didn’t mean to offend. I just wish to know what is keeping you so down. Even the children are becoming worried.”

“I doubt a foal that just turned three and a five and half year old really care about what their adoptive grandmother ‘feels’. Besides, you’re a goddess; I don’t think you would really care about what a mortal is going through.”

“Starry! This isn’t like you! Please! What is troubling you! I want to know…” Celestia lowered her head, trying to show to her friend that she cared, but also tried to hide her tears. “You know that I’m not a goddess, and you know that you’re not just any ordinary mortal… you’re my friend…”

Starry sighed. “I know, forgive me Celly, I’ve just been thinking a lot, that’s all.” Celestia looked over to her friend, wiping her tears away with her hoof, and was about to speak when Starry continued. “Fiery is going to want to come here soon. Whatever he says, whatever he does, you must let him come here and you must forgive him for anything that he might say or do.” Starry looked at her friend with determination in her eyes. “Do you understand Celly?”

“What do you-“

“Do. You. Understand Celly?” Starry said in a more angry tone. Celestia nodded in response. Starry then looked back to the window and sighed. “I’m sorry Celly… Look at me, ME, Starry Skies, a servant of the royal family, commanding the princess of an entire nation to do something… I’m sorry Celly, I shouldn’t have acted that way…”

Celestia stayed silent for a few seconds before answering her friend. “You must have a good reason to do such a thing Starry. Besides… I want to tell you something personal.” Starry looked up at her friend, confused. “I don’t think of you as a friend or a servant or any of that… We’ve been through so much together, you, me, and Luna. It’s because of you that our world didn’t burn a thousand years ago. It’s because of you that our nation may be saved once more because of the sacrifices you’ve made… It’s because of you that I’m still here today… You’re not a friend or a servant Starry… You’re my sister…” Celestia smiled as she finished, tears dropping to the floor, as she lifted her wing and put it over Starry’s shoulder, bringing her closer for a hug. “Starry, you and your son are family to me, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Starry began to tear up as she looked up at Celestia, then dug her face into Celestia’s side, trying to hide the tears that were coming out. ‘Thank you Celly… Thank you so much…’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fiery and Octavia had just gotten home, both being completely silent on the trip back, and as they got inside, Vinyl had already gotten up, taken her glasses off, and seen them. “Hey you two, what’s up?” She asked with her normal grin.

Fiery was the one to respond. “Please Vinyl, not now.”

“What? All I asked was what was up.”

“I said not now Vinyl!” Fiery yelled at her, causing Vinyl to recoil in fright.

In response, Octavia had yelled at Fiery. “Don’t yell at her Fiery! She had nothing to do with this!”

“Well sorry, but I told her that it wasn’t the best time to talk about it, didn’t I?! Besides, I wouldn’t be like this if you weren’t so damn quiet on the way back from the hospital!”

“Well maybe I wouldn’t have been so damn quiet if you didn’t wish for something like this to happen!” She yelled back at him.

Fiery walked up to Octavia in the face and yelled at her in a threatening tone. “What did you say?!”

“I said maybe I wouldn’t have been so damn quiet if you didn’t wish for something like this to happen!”

“Look here bitch, I never wanting anything like this to fucking happen!”

“U-Um, F-Fifi? ‘Tavi?” Vinyl said sheepishly in a failing attempt to try and to get their attention.

“Oh that’s such bullshit Fiery! All you could talk about ever since you found out was that you wanted to get it aborted! Well now you got your fucking wish!” What happened next stunned the three of them, as the sound of a slap echoed through the house and Octavia fell on her plot.

After dealing the blow to her face, Fiery snapped out of his rage, instantly regretting the decision. “O-Oh my god, baby, I’m so sorry. I-I didn’t-“ But before he could continue, he felt himself get lifted up into the air and thrown backwards towards the stairs.

Vinyl had stepped between the two and made sure that Octavia was alright before facing back to Fiery. “I don’t know what your problem is Fiery, and I don’t care who you think you are, but nopony, and I mean NOPONY, lays a hoof on ‘Tavi like that and gets away with it!” Vinyl yelled at Fiery, ready to attack if she had to, but was stopped as she felt a hoof on her shoulder. She turned around to see Octavia get back on her feet and shake her head. “B-But ‘Tavi!”

“No Vinyl, he didn’t mean it… Besides, it’s just as much my fault as it is his for pushing him to do it.”

Fiery had taken a step towards them, wanting to apologize, when Vinyl turned back to him with her warface on. “Don’t you dare take another step Fiery! I won’t hesitate to attack you again!”

“’T-Tavi… Vinyl… I-I never meant to… I swear! I... I...“

Octavia interrupted him as he tried to find words to apologize with. “I think it would be best if we didn’t see each other for a few days Fiery…”

“’T-Tavi… Y-You don’t mean that, do you?” Fiery asked her, tears forming in his eyes, but Octavia only looked away.

“Please Fiery, I don’t want us to do any more damage to each other or ourselves than we already have.”

Fiery lowered his head, crying freely now. “F-Fine, i-if that’s what you want, I’ll go… But know that I do love you both… I-I never meant to... I never meant to hurt anypony, I really didn’t…” He told them as he turned around and started to go up the stairs to retrieve his things.

Vinyl had turned back to Octavia and spoke to her. “You’re not hurt, are you ‘Tavi? He didn’t really do any damage did he?”

“No Vinyl, I’m fine.” Octavia responded weakly, tears forming in her own eyes.

Vinyl looked saddened as she watched her friend sit there, tears streaming down her face, and there was nothing she could do for her. “Maybe it’ll be best if you told me what’s wrong, huh?”

“When Fiery is gone Vinyl. I don’t think I’ll be able to talk about while he’s around.”

Vinyl sighed once more but nodded. “Alright ‘Tavi, whatever you want… You want me to tell Pinkie to come over as well when he leaves? Try to cheer you up?”

“Please Vinyl this isn’t a joke.”

“Sorry, but I’m just trying to think of somepony besides me who is close to you to help you. I don’t know what happened at the hospital, but it’s obvious that it was something terrible .” Octavia looked at Vinyl and began to rub her face in Vinyl’s chest, crying as she did it. Vinyl was shocked at this but she didn’t pull away. Rather, she embraced the grey mare and held her close. “There, there. Everything is going to be alright. That’s right, just let it out, Vinyl’s here for you ‘Tavi…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fiery had just entered his room when he began to think. ‘Please Celestia, please be there. Please please please, pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease-‘

‘Alright, alright, I’m here. What is it Fiery? What’s got you in such a panic?’

‘I need somewhere to stay for a few days Aunt Celestia, I also need to talk to my mom about something.’

Celestia had stayed silent for a little while, but finally answered. ‘Alright, I have a chariot on its way. I don’t know what’s going on, but if you say you need some place to stay, I’ll let you. Do you mind if you sleep with Luna in her room?’

‘Jesus, what is it with you ponies and wanting me to have sex with everypony? Yeah, sure, whatever, just don’t expect anything to happen, I’m really not in the mood for any jokes.’

‘Actually I asked you that because we don’t have any rooms available… You see, we have a conference that happens every year with the nobles and such and the rooms are all taken for them and their families…’

‘Alright, I get it...’ Fiery sighed mentally and spoke to Celestia again. ‘I’m sorry Aunt Celestia, it’s just… I’m going through a lot right now, alright? How are the kids doing?’

‘They’re doing fine, why do you ask?’

‘Well, I might need you to keep them a little longer there. ‘Tavi and I aren’t really in the best of relationships right now… I think it would be much better not only physically, but mentally as well, for the kids to stay there until ‘Tavi and I can sort things out…’

Celestia stayed silent for a little bit longer before asking Fiery about the relationship. ‘What happened between you and Octavia?’

Fiery let out another mental sigh and answered. ‘I’d really rather not talk about it right now. I’ll tell you after I get a chance to talk to my mother. Deal?’

‘I suppose that’s satisfactory, hope to hear from you soon then.’

‘Yeah… Hope to tell ya soon…’ Fiery ended the conversation and got his guitar which was the only thing he really needed besides his cigarettes. He had almost forgotten them when he checked his end table. He picked up the pack and stuffed it into his pocket, as well as his Equestrian Credit Card. ‘Still can’t believe that Equestria has these things… Oh who the hell am I kidding…’ He then walked out of the room and began to walk down the steps to see Octavia and Vinyl hugging by the door. He coughed to get their attention, then spoke out. “I’m, uh, getting a ride here soon. I-I’ll be staying in Canterlot for a little while, at least until I think I’m able to forgive myself for what I did…”

Octavia walked over to him, surprising Fiery, tears still streaming down her face, and kissed him on the cheek. “I know this is hard on both of us… I’m sorry for acting this way and-“

“No ‘Tavi, don’t be.” He whispered to her. “You have no need to apologize. I let my emotions get the better of me and… I’m sorry…” He said to her as tears also began to stream down his face. “I’m so sorry ‘Tavi… I never wanted to hurt anypony, especially you…” He apologized as he wiped his nose with his hoof.

“I know.” She whispered back to him. “But perhaps it’s for the best that we spend some time apart… I’ll miss you, darling…” She gave him another kiss on the cheek and began to walk back towards Vinyl.

Fiery followed her and got to the door, but before opening it, he turned to Vinyl. “Vinyl, I just want to apologize for yelling at you, I didn’t mean to lash out at you like that.”

“It’s alright Fifi.” Vinyl told him, her face saddened at the fact that such an event had to occur.

“I promise you-“ He turned to Octavia. “Both of you, when I get back, I’ll make it up to the two of you somehow…”

“I can’t wait.” Vinyl joked, earning a small smile from Fiery. Fiery was about to open the door and walk out when Vinyl spoke up once more. “Fifi?”

“Yeah?”

“What do you want us to tell the girls in case they come around looking for you?”

Fiery sighed and looked at the ground. “Just… Just tell them that I’m taking a little time to myself, to clear my head…”

“You know they won’t believe that.”

He looked back up at Vinyl and gave her another small smile. “That might be true, but you can’t exactly say that the reason why I’m leaving is because I don’t want to hurt anypony else, right?”

Vinyl smiled back a little smile herself and answered. “Yeah… I suppose you’re right…” Fiery finally opened the door and walked out of the house, waiting on the front porch for the ride which came minutes later. As Fiery lifted off and sadly waved goodbye to the two, Vinyl turned back to Octavia and smiled. “I guess it’s just the two of us again.”

“At least for a little while Vinyl…” Octavia replied sadly.

Vinyl continued to smile as she reached out a hoof to Octavia. “Come on, it’s better if we get back inside. Get on the couch and I’ll make us some of that herbal tea that you love so much.”

“Do you even know how?” Octavia said as she gave a small smile back to Vinyl.

“Yeah, I do…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After spending an hour inside the chariot, Fiery had finally reached Canterlot, where it was raining hard. He had to rush inside as he tried to get to cover, out of the rain. “Damnit, why did it have to rain today?” Fiery asked to no one in particular, but got an answer from somepony he knew very well.

“Because the city hasn’t had a good rain in a while.”

Fiery looked up at the source of the voice to see Luna standing there, smiling at the stallion. “Luna…”

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it darling?” She asked him as she continued to smile at him.

Fiery looked down at the ground, but was able to nod. “Yeah… It has…”

The two of them stayed silent for a few seconds, unsure of what to say next, but Luna was able to break the silence. “Tia and Starry are waiting for us inside. We mustn’t keep them waiting.” Fiery nodded and began to follow her deep within the castle, not speaking a word as they walked.

When they finally reached the room that Celestia and Starry were in, Fiery walked inside, expecting Celestia to leave, but much to his surprise instead, Luna came to join them. “I thought I said I wanted to speak to my mother alone.”

“I’m sorry Fiery, but I can’t allow that.” Celestia answered.

“Why not?” He asked, but as soon as he did, he felt a tug on his back, as the guitar on his back began to unstrapped itself from his back and began to rest itself against the wall. “Why did you need to take my guitar away?” He asked bitterly, looking at Celestia.

“I didn’t want it in the way of our conversation.” She simply answered.

Fiery didn’t push it any further and instead looked at his mother. “You knew didn’t you?” He asked her angrily.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Starry answered him with a calm tone.

“Don’t fuck with me mom, you know damn well what I’m talking about.” Fiery snapped at his mother, almost as if he was about to bite her head off if he had to.

Starry sighed and answered him once more. “I suppose I do… Very well Fiery, I’ll tell you, but you must promise you won’t get angry at me or Celestia.”

“That depends on the answer.” Fiery snapped back at his mother.

Starry sighed once more. “Please Fiery, I-“

“No, you listen here mom. I just got kicked out of my own house for striking the mare I love!” Luna had gasped at the statement, not because of the fact that he had just admitted to striking Octavia, but the fact that he acknowledged that he only loved one mare. She was about to open her mouth when Fiery had looked over at her and heard her gasp. “Yes, it’s true Luna. I know we had fun times together, but… We’ve spent so much time away from each other, and because I was always near ‘Tavi…”

Luna was tearing up and was about to storm out of the room, but was stopped as her sister’s wing covered her way to the exit, telling her not to go. “S-Sister?”

“Fiery-“ Celestia started. “I’ve watched you grow up since you were a foal, and I was there for you when your mother couldn’t be. You are not like a nephew, but like a son I never had…”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Fiery asked in the same bitter tone.

Celestia sighed. “I do not know what has caused you so much pain, and I love you very much, but do not think that I will let you get away from insulting my sister or breaking her heart.”

Fiery had a smirk on his face as he began to laugh, confusing the mares inside the room. “Are you fucking serious? You think you can tell ponies who to love? I’m sorry if you haven’t noticed Celestia, but this isn’t the fucking dark ages anymore. Ponies are allowed to love who they want to love.”

Celestia was about to respond to Fiery when Starry had stepped between the two. “That’s enough you two. Fiery, I know you don’t mean that, and Celestia, he’s right, you don’t have the right to tell anypony who to love and who not to love. Now Fiery, I will answer your question about knowing or not… Yes, I did know, but not until after you had come back from Earth…”

“But you knew… You put us both through that hell and didn’t say a god damn thing about it until it already happened!”

“Yes, I know, and I’m sorry son, but there is nopony to blame in this. Celes-“

“Nopony to blame?! Of course there is! It’s because of you that we didn’t know, and it’s because of Celestia here that it even happened! Had you just let ‘Tavi stay here in Equestria instead of sending her to Earth with the two of you, she would still have that child growing inside of her!”

Just as Fiery had ended his yelling, lightning struck nearby, causing thunder to roar loudly as the rain hit the window even harder than before. Celestia had just found out what was bothering Starry the entire time, and why Fiery was so mad, but didn’t know how to respond to it. Was it really her fault? Did Octavia really miscarry because of what she did? Before she could think anymore, Starry spoke up, breaking her train of.

“Celestia had no idea Fiery. I had no idea until it was too late. There was nothing that could have stopped the miscarriage. I’m sorry for the loss, but you must understand that I was not able to foresee such a tragedy!”

“Bullshit! You could have foreseen it, but you didn’t want to! And now because of your selfishness, ‘Tavi probably thinks it’s her fault, and that she probably deserved to get hit! So it was your fucking fault!”

“That’s enough Fiery!” Celestia yelled at him, getting everypony’s attention. “I now know what’s going on, and I apologize for the tragedy, but it is as Starry said. It is true that she is able to see the future whenever she wants, but she does not have the ability to stop it if it’s going to happen. Yes, it’s true that she could have seen it before we went to Earth, but who knows, would that still have stopped the tragedy?”

“Yes! It’s because of your magic of turning her into a human that the fetus died!” Fiery yelled at her. The four ponies stayed silent in that room as the rain continued to hit the window and the fire in the fireplace kept crackling as it burned the wood that it was fed. Fiery then spoke up, breaking the silence that had been going on for what felt like an eternity. “Am I really supposed to be here…?” He asked to nopony in general, but got another question in return from Celestia.

“What do you mean Fiery?”

“I mean, am I really supposed to be here? Why me? Why Patrick? You keep talking about how we’re the saviors of this world and all that, and yet when the girl I love gets pregnant, she’s not even allowed to have that joy… So I’m asking you, why am I here? Do I even deserve to be in this world? Why did Patrick have to come too? Why didn’t you just enchant two other stallions and allowed me and Pat to continue to live in the human world…?”

Celestia sighed. “I was hoping you would never ask something like that…”

“And why not?” Fiery asked in anger. “How do I know that the entire fact about me being special, and the fact that I’m really a thousand years old… How do I know that that’s all real? What if you just planted those fake memories inside me and Luna to make us think that it’s true?” He pointed to his mother with his hoof. “How do I know that she’s even my real mother?”

“Those memories are real, I assure you Fiery.” Celestia answered him.

“And how do I know that? How do I know that you’re just lying to me and just acting?”

“Because like I said, you’re like a son to me!” She answered, almost screaming at him. “It tears me apart to see you sad and to see someone close to you be hurt as well. I’ll be honest Fiery, it hurts me to see you be harmed, just like…”

“Just like what?!” Fiery nearly yelled back at her.

“Just like Twilight… I have seen her grow up as well, and she too is like a daughter to me, but… I don’t know what I’m trying to say, all I know is that I only want the best for you, just like I would for Twilight…”

“That still doesn’t answer my questions.” Fiery replied to her, still bitter.

“Fiery! Enough of this!” Luna spoke out, breaking her silence.

“No Luna, I won’t stop. I want to know, why were Patrick and I the ones to be chosen to be the so called saviors? It wouldn’t even be enough! Two stallions can’t save an entire race, even with your logic!”

Luna was about to open her mouth again, but Celestia stopped her. “No Luna, it’s alright.”

“But Tia!”

“No Luna…” Celestia said to her sister as her tears still went down her cheeks, but then turned her head towards Fiery to answer him. “Very well Fiery, you wish to know about why I chose you and your friend?”

“Yes! I do!” Fiery answered, infuriated at her for dodging the question for so long.

Celestia sighed and finally decided to answer. “Very well Fiery… The reason why I chose you two, is because you two were experiments…”

“Experiments? What the hell are you talking about?” Fiery asked.

“I needed a pony that I knew, and because I knew you would be waking up in the human world a thousand years from that time, and because Patrick is your friend... I had you be the first experiment, to see if it work. But biology magic can be dangerous… I needed to see if you would even survive the spell at birth…”

“Survive? You mean you didn’t even fucking know if the spell would kill me or not?!” Fiery yelled in anger. Celestia nodded. “You bitch!” He yelled once more as he began to charge a spell up with his horn, ready to attack Celestia. Just then, he felt a coldness surround him, and suddenly he was engulfed in darkness. “W-What the fuck is happening?!”

“You must forgive me Fiery-“ Luna’s voice spoke. “But I cannot allow you to attack my sister, even if you are a stallion I love.”

“Let me out! Let me the fuck out!” Fiery screamed as he tried kicking the dark bubble he was in, trying to break through the walls of it, but to no avail.

As Fiery was struggling inside the ball of darkness that was inside the room, Luna turned to her sister. “Is that true Tia? Did you really do that?”

“Can he hear us through that?”

“No, he can’t.” Luna answered her sister.

Celestia sighed. “No, it’s not true.”

“Then why did-“ Luna started, but was stopped by Celestia.

“Luna, just believe me when I tell you that I’ll reveal the truth when it’s time. For now, we need to keep both you and Fiery in the dark if we are to save our future. All I can tell you is that the spell I cast on Fiery and Patrick is a cover up for the objective that Starry and I have. We have already solved our population problem.”

“W-What?! What in Equestria are you talking about Tia?” Luna asked angrily.

“Please Luna, just give it time… I wish I could tell you, but if I did, it might jeopardize our plan to save Equestria.”

“From what?! If the whole population thing isn’t the issue, then what is?!”

“All we can tell you Luna-“ Starry started. “Is that you don’t need to worry about our population, because the spell that Celly cast on Fiery and Patrick, she cast on multiple stallions throughout the lands. That and the fact that it never jeopardized their lives.”

“That isn’t what I asked! What I asked is if the population thing isn’t the problem, then what is?!” She yelled at the two, but got no answer. “Fine, if that’s the way it is then…” Luna said softly as she began to walk out of the room, but before she opened the door and left, she stopped to say one last thing. “By the way, that spell on Fiery is only going to last for another thirty seconds, and I don’t think he’ll be happy when he gets out.” With that she opened the door and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind her as she stepped into the hallway.

When Luna left, Starry spoke out. “Do you think it’s really wise to not tell them the truth? I mean, I know we only brought Patrick here to keep Fiery company until our true plan goes along, but do you really think this is the right thing to do? To force them to-“

“That’s enough Starry. I know it’s painful to not tell him the truth. As I said, he’s also like a son to me, and it also hurts me to keep it a secret from my sister as well… But enough about that, what about you-know-what?”

Starry sighed. “I’ll try to see if I can see anything later today and tell you. In the meantime, I’d advise you against changing their form into anything other than a pony, just keep them the way they are now.”

“Very well Starry, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Just as she finished, the bubble surrounding Fiery dissipated, revealing an extremely angry Fiery. “I am going to fucking kill her.”

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t talk that way about my sister Fiery.” Celestia said sternly.

“You have no fucking right to tell me anything! You cast a spell on me when you didn’t even know if I would survive! Not only that, got me thrown out of my own house and you cost me the life of my only child! No, you don’t have the right to tell me what the fuck to say or do!”

“I know you’re upset Fiery, but that doesn’t mean you should take it out on me or Luna. She was only trying to protect me, and to do that, she had to encase you inside a bubble for a little while, so your mother, Luna, and I talked in private.”

Fiery only grumbled. He knew he wasn’t strong enough to take on Celestia, and as much as he could defy her, he knew he wouldn’t be able to lay a hoof on Luna without Celestia hearing about it and possibly killing him for it. He began to walk out of the room when Starry called out to him. “Where do you think you’re going? It’s almost time for dinner.”

“I’m heading out.”

“What? You mean out of the castle?” Celestia asked.

“Yeah, you got a fucking problem with that?” Fiery asked back.

“I’ll send some guards to make sure you’ll be alright then.”

“Fuck off.” Fiery snapped back. “I’m not a fucking kid, I don’t need a fucking escort for every single place I go to.”

Celestia was about to protest when Starry spoke. “Let him be Celly. He’s right, he’s not a child anymore, and shouldn’t be treated as such.”

Fiery walked out into the hallway and slammed the door behind him hard, causing both Celestia and Starry to jump a little. Celestia turned to Starry and asked. “Why did you let him go? You know that even with a guard escort, it’s dangerous to be out at night in the city.”

“He’ll be able to take care of himself, and in the process, I think he’ll be happy that he defied us for once.” Starry said with a small smile on her face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For most of the day, Octavia had been telling Vinyl and Pinkie, who had come by later, about the situation and why what happened in the morning happened. “Really you two, I’m fine.”

“No ‘Tavi, you’re not fine. Please ‘Tavi, just tell us what we need to do in order to make you feel better.” Vinyl asked with care.

Octavia sighed and rolled her eyes. “Well you can start by not asking me what you need to do to make me feel better… Really Vinyl, Pinkie, this is a harsh reality of life… What happened could have probably been prevented, but I truly doubt that Princess Celestia or Starry would have brought me to Earth knowing what was going to happen…”

“Octi…” Pinkie said quietly, as tears streamed down her face for her sister, and her mane and tail had gone completely straight hours before.

The three had eaten dinner, and Octavia was getting ready for bed while Vinyl and Pinkie stayed downstairs. As Octavia went upstairs, Vinyl spoke to Pinkie. “She’s still really upset, I just know she is.”

“I know Vivi, but perhaps it’s better not to push her into talking about it, but also not treating her like some type of royal. She always hated it when ponies tried to do things for her that she could do herself.”

Vinyl sighed. “I know Pinkie, I just… I care about her, and I just want her to stop suffering…”

Pinkie came up next Vinyl and brought her in for a hug. “I know Vivi, I know…” The two sat there hugging in silence until Pinkie had to go.

Once Pinkie left, Vinyl decided that she too needed to go to bed, in case Octavia needed anything the next day, she would be awake and not tired to do it. As she went up the stairs, she heard crying from Octavia’s room. Vinyl sighed as she approached the door to Octavia’s room and knocked. As she knocked, the crying stopped, or at least became quiet enough for Vinyl to not hear anymore. “’Tavi, I know you’re awake… Please let me in ‘Tavi, I want to help you.”

There was silence for a little while, but Vinyl stayed put. After about a minute of silence, the door to Octavia’s room opened to reveal the grey mare with bloodshot eyes, and wet streams down her cheeks. “Vinyl…”

Vinyl gave Octavia a smile and brought her in for a hug. “Hey, it’s alright. You know I care for you ‘Tavi, and I want to do everything possible to help you…”

Octavia sniffled a little bit before responding. “Do… Do you think you can sleep with me tonight Vinyl? Like the old times?” Octavia asked.

“Need somepony to keep you company huh?” Vinyl asked with the same smile. Octavia nodded. “Sure, I’ll sleep with you tonight, just let me brush my teeth and then I’ll be right over, okay?” Octavia nodded again. “Okay ‘Tavi.” Vinyl let Octavia go and began to walk to her own room as Octavia went back onto her bed.

After brushing her teeth, Vinyl had entered Octavia’s room and gotten onto the bed with her. She saw that Octavia was facing away from the door, the sheets and blankets covering her body. Vinyl got underneath the sheets and blankets as well and began to hug Octavia close, just like Fiery would do with Octavia before. “Thank you Vinyl…”

“No problem ‘Tavi… Just remember, I’ll always be here for when you need a shoulder to cry on ‘Tavi…” Vinyl whispered to Octavia, and began to fall to sleep, still keeping close to Octavia.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fiery lied about eating anything, and left immediately after the argument he had with Starry and Celestia. The moon had just been raised for the night, and he guessed that Luna was going to go for her nightly rounds, searching Equestria for any problems that might be happening. That or holding night court, which he knew Luna hated.

Fiery began to walk down what he thought he saw was called ‘Californeigha Street’, and began to search for anything that might have looked like a bar. After searching for a while, he found a place with a name he thought he recognized. “Jazzy Grounds…” He said to himself softly.

He went inside to find it to be a normal looking bar. Actual bar with barstools, tables with chairs around them, jukebox in the corner playing some music that sounded like it was from the forties or fifties, and a stage with a microphone on it… Wait, stage with a microphone on it? Fiery then realized why he recognized the name as a blue stallion came walking up to him, music notes as his Cutie Mark. “Mr. Embers, is that you?” The stallion called out to Fiery.

Fiery turned to the stallion and recognized him after thinking for a few seconds of where he had seen the stallion. “Hey… Blues, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right! I can’t believe you remembered my name sir!”

“Please, enough with the ‘sir’ crap. Just call me Fiery… Anyways, I just happened to stop by while I was out walking because I remembered I recognized the name from somewhere and thought I’d pay a visit.”

“Oh, well, I’m glad that you could come by then.” Blues responded.

Fiery looked around and saw for the first time that not many ponies were in the bar at all. He then turned to Blues and thought he’d start some minor conversation. “I’m not too early am I? I mean, this place is kinda empty.”

“Oh, well, it’s a Monday night, and not many ponies visit here anyways. It’s a miracle that the owners of this place are able to pay their employees and make enough to keep this place running…”

“I see… Something to do with the atmosphere of this place or something?” Fiery asked.

Blues shook his head. “No… Um, I really don’t know if I should be saying anything…”

Fiery smiled a little and spoke up. “You working right now?” He asked Blues, who shook his head in response.

“Um, no si-, err, Fiery. I was on break for another 10 minutes or so until I had to get back up on stage.”

“Well how about we take a seat and talk some until you have to go back to work, huh?” Fiery asked, and then pointed to an empty booth.

As the two took their seats, a grassy-green pegasus mare with a magenta mane and tail, her Cutie Mark covered by the waitress skirt she was wearing, came up to them and took their order. “Hey Blues, this your friend?” She asked the stallion.

“Oh, hey Merry. This is actually the stallion I was telling you about who I worked for at that concert about a month ago.”

The mare looked at Fiery and smiled. “Oh, so you’re Mr. Embers huh?”

“Y-Yes?”

“Well Mr. Embers, it’s a pleasure meeting you. Blues here told me that you were a real big hit at that concert. Sadly I couldn’t go because daddy needed me for work, but I hope I can see you play some tonight!” She said excitedly.

“O-Oh, um, if you don’t mind, I only came here to drink some. I-I’m really not able to play without my guitar, which I forgot back home.” Fiery replied in an apologetic tone. “If I remember to bring my guitar next time, I’ll be sure to play.” He finished with a smile.

“Well if a guitar is all you need, you can borrow Blues! I’m sure he’ll be happy to lend it to you.” She said to him, smiling at the end.

“O-Oh, um-“

“Merry, that’s enough. If he doesn’t want to play, he doesn’t have to.” Blues told her. “We can’t just ask random ponies if they can play for us, it’s the other way around here.”

Merry ‘aww’ed and sighed, then put on another smile and took Fiery’s order. “So what can I get you Mr. Embers?”

“You got any alcohol here?” Fiery asked.

“Sure do! We got hard liquor, beer, wine-“

“Got any type of hard cider?”

“Yep! One hard cider then!” Merry announced with a smile and went to the bar to get the drink.

As Fiery turned back to Blues, he spoke. “So why is this place so empty?”

Blues sighed. “It’s because this one jerk that Merry knows regularly treats everypony like crap, so nopony wants to come here anymore.”

“Well that sounds like complete bullshit.” Fiery told Blues.

“You’re telling me.” Shortly after explaining, Merry had come back with two bottles, one a bottle of Apple Family Hard Cider, and the other a bottle of sarsaparilla.

“Here you go boys, drink up!” Merry said with a smile and then walked away to check on the other customers in the bar.

Fiery watched Blues look at Merry walk away as he grabbed his bottle, then took a sip. After he took the sip, he put the bottle down and spoke. “Quite the gal huh?”

Blues snapped out of his daydream and replied. “Huh? What?”

“Merry. You were ogling her like she was some guitar you really wanted or something.”

“O-Oh… W-Was it that obvious?”

“You’re joking, right? You were practically drooling looking at her ass. I know what it’s like to find a girl attractive, but you might want to try to get off the creepy chart.” Fiery replied with a smile as he took another sip of his cider.

“S-Sorry, it’s just… She’s been a close friend of mine ever since we were kids in school.”

“Childhood crush, huh?” Fiery asked and Blues nodded. “Well, you’re both consenting adults, what’s keeping you from admitting you have feelings and tapping it?” Fiery asked, already getting a little tipsy from only two sips of the cider. “Damn this stuff is strong.” He said as he took another sip.

“Y-You promise to not tell her that I told you?”

“Sure, so what’s up?”

“You remember about how I told you that this place could barely pay the bank off each month to pay rent?” Fiery nodded. “Well… The pony who owns that bank is Prince Blueblood…”

“Prince?” Fiery asked. “I didn’t know Celestia had a kid.”

“She didn’t. He’s just some rich, snobbish noble who changed his name legally maybe five years before he took over his father’s business. Technically he’s related to Princess Celestia by about 52 generations of an adoption that happened shortly after Princess Luna turned into Nightmare Moon, but that’s not the point. He thinks he’s the most important pony in all of Equestria, but nopony could care less about him.”

“Alright, so what does this asshole got to do with Merry?”

Blues sighed. “Well, the truth is… The pony who owns this place is Merry’s dad, and is the same guy who comes by and insults everypony…”

“And…?” Fiery asked, becoming impatient.

“Mr. May’s made a deal with Prince Blueblood about a year ago when he took over the bank. Prince Blueblood wouldn’t shut down this place and foreclose Mr. May’s house as well, which he also owns, if he could… make Merry a part of his harem…”

Fiery groaned. “Ugh, this day just keeps getting fucking better and better by the minute…” He said as he began to scan the bar, trying his best not to look Blues in the face. Finally he gave up and looked back at the stallion. “So what you’re telling me is this fuckwad is basically using his bank as a way to get to Merry’s dad just so he can get Merry in bed with him? And then comes by and insults everypony so nopony wants to even come here?” Blues nodded. “And yet Merry comes in here every day with a smile on her face?” Blues nodded again. “Fan-fucking-tastic.” Fiery said to himself as he took another sip of the cider.

“U-Um, Mr. Embers? D-Do you mind if I ask you why you curse so much?” Blues asked nervously.

“It’s called growing up and having a shit-tastic life.” Fiery quickly answered. The two kept talking a little bit longer as Blues finished his drink, then went onto stage and began to play some music that only a child would enjoy. “Jesus fucking Christ…” Fiery said to himself as he listened to it.

Shortly after Blues had been playing some, another blue unicorn with two icicles making an X as his Cutie Mark came into the bar, carrying a guitar. He spotted Fiery and began to walk over to him, then sat down in the booth, laying the guitar next to Fiery. “Quite the performance, huh?” He asked Fiery.

“Pat? The fuck you doing here?”

“What? A friend can’t come and hang out with his friend?” Frostbite answered with a smile.

“Not if he lives an hour away he can’t.” Fiery answered. “How the fuck did you even find me? And what’s with the Les Paul?”

“Well, if you must know, apparently after your little performance at the castle, Princess Celestia sent Twilight a note saying she needed me to find you. She told me where you would be and then gave me this guitar saying it’s just like your grandfather’s, whatever that means.”

“So she just teleported you to the castle and gave you the guitar and told you to come here?”

“Pretty much.” Frostbite answered. “So what’s got your panties in a bunch?”

“Fuck off, that’s what.” Fiery said as he took another sip.

“Aww, come on. Tell you what, you tell me what’s wrong, and I’ll tell you something personal, okay?”

“Fuck off Patrick, it’s not up for discussion.”

“Alright, alright…” Frostbite began to look around the bar, and then saw the performance on stage. “Jesus, what the hell are they playing?”

“Equestrian rock, that’s what.” Fiery answered.

“It sounds more like Christian rock to me.”

“No, I would say that Equestrian is at least a bit more dignified than that.” Fiery told his friend, before downing the rest of the bottle of cider. “So now that you found me, what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know, thought I’d hang out a bit with my friend who I haven’t seen for almost two weeks.”

“Well he’s doing fucking great-“ Fiery started as he waved his bottle outside of the booth, trying to get Merry’s attention to get him another. “Fucking go to the hospital this morning with ‘Tavi just to find out that the fetus inside of her is dead and needed to get a fucking abortion. Then on the way home she doesn’t say a word to me, and then after that, when we do get home we began to argue. I said some things, she said that this is what I wanted and that she blamed me for the miscarriage. I slap her in response. Just fan-fucking-tastic.”

“J-Jesus man, I didn’t know.”

Merry brought another bottle over and handed it to Fiery before he began to continue. “Yeah, well, now because of that, I got kicked out of my house. Now I’m staying at the castle for a while until ‘Tavi sends me a letter or something saying I can come back, which might be never…” Fiery replied as he took a sip of the new bottle. “God damn this stuff is strong, but man is it good.”

“Oh yeah? Mind if I get a taste?”

“Get your own damn bottle.” Fiery snapped back as he drank some more.

“You know, you can’t just drink your problems away Jojo.” Frostbite said to his friend.

Fiery was about to snap back again, but Merry had come over to take Frostbite’s order. “Can I get anything for you darling?” She asked cheerfully.

“Yeah, mind if I get a bottle of the same thing he’s having? He’s paying.” Frostbite said to her, earning a glare from Fiery. As Merry nodded and walked away, Frostbite looked at his friend and smiled. “What? It’s not like I have any money. All I’ve been doing the past two weeks has been learning how to be a unicorn, that’s all.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll pay this time, but next time you better have your own fucking money.”

“Will do…” Frostbite answered. Merry had come back with two more bottles of Apple Cider and placed them on the table, then winked at Frostbite. As she walked away, Frostbite whispered to Fiery. “Hey man, I think the waitress likes me.”

“Doubt it.”

“Oh yeah? What makes ya say that?”

“Because if what Blues told me is correct, then she’s already taken, whether she likes it or not.”

“What’s that suppose to mean?”

“Not up to me to say.” Fiery answered, finishing the second bottle off and starting on the third.

“I think you’re going through those a little bit too fast buddy.”

“Piss off. I’ve had the worst fucking day in my entire life, you can’t even fucking comprehend the shit I’ve gone through today.” Fiery responded as he took a sip of the third bottle. As he set it down, he continued to rant. “You know, this world is suppose to be fucking rainbows and gumdrops, and you know what happens to me? A fucking miscarriage from the girl I banged…”

“Jojo, look, I know you’re probably torn up about what happened-“

“No, really?” Fiery responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Whatever gave you that fucking idea?”

Frostbite sighed. “Look, Joseph, I’m trying to be sentimental, alright? I-“

“You think they would let me play?”

Frostbite became confused. “What?”

“I said, do you think they would let me play? You said this guitar is suppose to be like my grandfather’s right?” Frostbite nodded. “Well, I’m wondering if they would allow me to-“ But before he could continue any more, he heard the music stop as everypony in the bar seemed to be looking at the doorway.

Standing there in the doorway was a pompous looking white unicorn stallion with a blonde mane and tail and what seemed to be a part of a tuxedo stitched to his skin or something that Fiery couldn’t make out, as well as what seemed to be two stars overlapping each other, one blue and the other yellow, as his Cutie Mark. There also seemed to be two of Celestia’s guards following him. “Well, it seems this place is as lowly as ever.” The stallion said as he waltzed in.

“Who the fuck is this prick?” Fiery asked Frostbite.

“You think I would know?” Frostbite answered. Fiery only raised his eyebrow, which caused Frostbite to sigh. “Alright, alright, I give. Yes, I know him from the show. He’s suppose to be Prince Blueblood, a real prick shown in the show.”

“So he’s Blueblood huh?” Fiery asked back as he looked towards to the new unicorn. He then turned back to Frostbite and spoke. “Excuse me one minute buddy, but I think I just found a new source of entertainment.” Fiery told his friend as he began to get out of his seat and walk over to the new unicorn. Frostbite tried calling out for his friend, but the cries on fell on deaf ears.

As Fiery approached the unicorn, he could hear the stallion hitting on Merry. “Come Merry, this place is as wretched as ever and I would like to get out as soon as possible.”

“Then why don’t you leave Blueblood?” Merry responded in an annoyed tone. “I’m working right now so I can’t go with you.”

“Nonsense! You’ll come when I ask you to.”

“I think the lady said she was busy.” Fiery announced to Blueblood as he walked over.

“And who are you to think you can give orders to me? Prince Blueblood of the royal family?”

“Royal family huh?” Fiery began to say mockingly. “Last I heard you were just a spoiled little brat who got everything he demanded when he was a kid and thinks the world revolves around him, or am I wrong ‘Prince’ Dipshit?”

Blueblood huffed and became red in the face. “Well I never! How dare you!”

“Aww, did I make the wittle princey wincey upset?” Fiery continued to mock. “You know, I’ve heard about how you’re taking advantage of this little lady just because you got the bank that owns this establishment from your spoiled little daddy. So I’m going to say this once and only once. Get the fuck out, never mess with these ponies again, and from now on, if you’re looking for someone to blow your tiny dick, go look in the mirror.”

“H-How did?” Merry began, but immediately turned to Blues who was still on the stage, and as she did, Blues looked away in shame. “I see…”

“Enough! I will not tolerate such atrocities to go unpunished! Guards!” Blueblood called out, and with that, the guards who was standing behind him completely silent had stepped up in front, ready to fight.

“Oh what, don’t even have the balls to fight yourself pussy? Come and face me like a stallion you fucking coward!” Fiery yelled, but was cut off as one of the guards took a swipe at his face, causing Fiery to lean back to avoid the punch.

Fiery took a few steps back to get some distance between him and the guards, and began to remember the training he had from a thousand years ago. ‘Alright Fiery, just remember what you did a thousand years ago, and then you’ll be able to kick this douchebag’s ass.’

One of the two guards got close to him and turned around, getting ready to buck. As the kick came, Fiery stepped out of the way, and then started to cast a spell. Within a few seconds, a giant fireball went hurdling towards to the guard, his backside unprotected, and hit him square in the ass. The guard went flying across the other side of the room, and as the other guard just looked on, Fiery spoke up. “You gonna try something as well mother fucker?” He taunted the guard.

The guard came charging at Fiery, trying to headbutt him. Fiery quickly cast another spell, but it was too late as the guard came charging right through him, sending him flying backwards. ‘God damnit, what is it with me and flying backwards today?’ Just then, Fiery heard Frostbite’s voice taunt the guard that was still conscious.

“Hey buddy! Over here!” He shouted out, causing the guard to turn his head. As he did, a club of ice that was hovering in midair smacked him across the face, knocking him out instantly.

As Fiery got up, he saw that Frostbite was hovering the newly broken ice club and became confused. “Pat… How the hell did you do that?”

“I-I don’t know, I just thought I needed to protect you, so I started to think of a weapon or something, and then I created this baseball bat.”

“That’s a baseball bat?” Fiery asked, still panting some.

“Oh shut up, now’s not the time.” Fiery only grinned.

“Alright, alright… So you said that all you did was think of a weapon?” Frostbite nodded. “Alright…” Fiery looked around to see if there was anything he could grab hold of, when he saw one of the bar chairs tipped over. Using his magic, he broke the chair’s leg off, then, began to think of how he wanted it to be on fire. A few seconds later, the chair leg began to smoke at the top, then a small fire began to eat it. “Well I’ll be damned.” He then looked over to where Blueblood was and saw him trying to get out of the bar. “Oh no you don’t.” Fiery called out to the stallion and began to run after him

As Blueblood ran out of the bar, he ended up tripping on one of the bricks of the street and fell. Shortly after, Fiery came running out of the bar, chair leg still hovering, and yelled after him. “Don’t think you’re going anywhere mother fucker.”

Blueblood turned around on his back and began to scoot back, begging for his life. “P-Please! I-I promise I’ll get rid of their mortgages! I promise!”

“And no more coming close to Merry or her dad?” Fiery threatened. Blueblood nodded furiously. Fiery smiled and walked up to Blueblood, then called out for Frostbite who had just walked out of the bar after Fiery, along with a few others who had come out to watch. “Hey Pat, who’s my favorite sports announcer?”

“Oh come on Jojo, you wouldn’t!”

“Come on Pat, I’m waiting!” Fiery yelled back, a crazy look in his eyes as he stared down at Blueblood.

Frostbite sighed and answered. “Hawk Harrelson.”

“That’s right, Hawk motherfucking Harrelson. And what’s his catchphrase?”

“Come on Joseph, he’s so scared he’s pissing himself now!” Frostbite yelled back, and as he said, a stream of piss was coming out of Blueblood.

“What is it Pat?”

Frostbite sighed again and answered. “’You can put it on the board.’”

“That’s right. ‘You can put it on the mother fucking booooooard!’” With that, Fiery slammed the chair leg into the side of Blueblood’s face, breaking it into two as it came down. “’YES!’” Fiery screamed out as Blueblood became unconscious in the street, a giant burn mark now on the side of his face, and thin stream of blood coming off of a cut on the point of his eyebrow.

As Blueblood laid there unconscious, Frostbite walked up to Fiery and sighed. “Did you really need to do that?”

“I needed to get my rage out somehow, and he was unfortunate enough to come by and show his face.”

“You say that, but wha-“ Frostbite was starting, when a scream came back from the bar.

“BLUES!” Merry yelled out from the bar, causing Frostbite and Fiery to look at each other, then run back into the bar. They saw that all the patrons were scared and hiding themselves, the guards being picked up and moved outside by some patrons that were brave enough, and Blues, scared stiff as Merry walked up to him. “What in the world were you thinking?!”

“W-What? I-I didn’t do anything!” Blues said in his defense.

“I can’t believe you Blues! After everything I had to suffer, you still went and told somepony about our problems?!”

Before Blues could answer, Fiery answered for him from the doorway. “He did it because he cares about you.”

Merry turned around at Fiery and growled. “And you! What do you think you’re doing, trashing my father’s bar like this?!”

“Hey, I wasn’t the one who said to fight in here. Besides, if I hadn’t done that, he never would’ve left you alone.”

“Yeah, well, maybe so. But at least we wouldn’t have been shut down!” Merry complained.

This time Frostbite stepped in. “You honestly believe that?”

“What’s it to you?” Merry asked bitterly.

“Well I’m just saying. From the sounds of it, he was just using his power to get what he wanted. Tell me, what was stopping him from shutting this place down and still taking you as his prize?”

“I-I don’t know…”

“It’s called money.” Fiery answered. “He was using you as an excuse to keep getting money from your father while at the same time basically treating you like a cheap whore he could do whenever he felt like.”

“S-Stop! J-Just stop!” Merry said, as she began to tear up.

“Look, I know it’s hard to hear, but at least now he won’t do any more of that shit.”

“And why not? What’s stopping him from doing it?” Merry yelled at him through her tears.

“Me, that’s what.” Fiery answered. “He can take this up to Celestia if he wants, and he still won’t get anywhere.” Fiery sighed. “Look, there’s a stallion in here who cares lots for you, and wouldn’t treat you or your father like trash.” Fiery said with a smile, then looked at Blues. “Isn’t that right Blues?”

Blues caught the hint and knelt down next to Merry, then put his arm around her. “M-Merry, I know I screwed up but… He’s right, I’ve cared about you ever since I laid eyes on you back in elementary school…” He wrapped his other arm around Merry and began to hug her. “I promise you, I won’t let him shut your father’s place down.”

“Not if I have anything to say at least.” Fiery spoke up. They both looked at him with a confused look. “Oh, I’m just saying. That guy was spouting about how he was a part of the royal family and all that, but what I’m guessing is he doesn’t know that I’m literally considered to be Celestia’s nephew by Celestia herself, and for perks, doing her sister, so I’m good.” Frostbite then turned his head at Fiery and shook it. “What?”

“That’s not something to spout out at whim.”

“What? I’m just saying they’re protected, that’s all.”

“Well you could’ve said it without the whole banging Luna part.”

“M-Mr. Embers?” Blues spoke up. “I-Is that right?”

Fiery nodded and answered. “Yep, sure is… Now, how about we get this place cleaned up, huh?” The other three nodded, and until about three in the morning, they cleaned the bar up while the royal guards took away the ‘trash’ outside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Fiery and Frostbite got back to the castle, Frostbite was forced to say goodbye as the spell that Celestia had cast upon him was cast again to send him back to the Ponyville library. Fiery walked into the castle alone, slightly drunk, the Les Paul he got from Frostbite on his back, and a large grin on his face.

He got to Luna’s room, nodded to the guards on either side of her door, bidding them goodnight. He walked in and put the guitar on the wall, then climbed into bed, where he saw Luna’s form. He began to kiss her neck as he wrapped one of his arms around her waist. She let out a little mumble as her sleep was disturbed, and woke up. “F-Fiery?” She asked.

“Hey Luna, sorry about earlier today.” Fiery apologized as she woke up.

“What time is it?”

“Well, it’s about 4:20 in the morning right now.”

“Great, I have to lower the moon to make way for the sun in an hour…”

“I wasn’t expecting you to be asleep.” Fiery told her. “I’m sort of surprised, considering you usually love to fly through the night.”

“Yeah, well, who do you think is to blame for that? In fact, why are you even in my bed?”

Fiery sighed and answered. He put his head on Luna’s back and apologized. “I know I screwed up today Luna, but… I just had so much crap going on today that I just sort of…”

“Snapped?”

“Yeah…”

The two stayed silent for a few more minutes before Luna questioned him again. “Fiery?”

“Hmm?” He replied back, as he started to fall asleep.

“Did you really mean it when you said you loved Octavia more than me?”

Fiery sighed and answered. “Luna… You have to understand that over the past few weeks, a lot of stuff has happened. Yes, I’ve spent more time with you in the past, but with everything that had happened between me and ‘Tavi…”

“So you do love her more than me?”

Fiery sighed again. “I don’t want to admit it, mostly because I’m afraid of you, but yes, yes I do.”

“Then I ask again, why are you in my bed?” Luna asked bitterly.

“Because… I know that feelings are always going to change Luna. One week I might love ‘Tavi more than you, the next I might love Fluttershy more than Vinyl, and the week after that I might have you at the top and all the other girls at the bottom…” Fiery let out another sigh. “What I guess what I’m trying to say is… it’s not easy being the head of a harem.” He chuckled a bit.

Luna turned around and faced him, looking at him in the eyes. “So you mean you still love me?”

Fiery became confused. “Of course I do, what gave you the silly idea that I didn’t? Just because I love one girl more than another doesn’t mean that I don’t love you at all.” He put his hoof on her face and then began to run it through her starry mane that would turn to its short light-blue version in the morning, and spoke again. “Luna, just remember that you are a very special girl to me.”

“That still doesn’t make me feel better.”

Fiery sighed once more. “Then I don’t know how to express my feelings other than saying I love you and I hope we’re able to grow old together.” He told her, continuing to smile.

Luna sniffed his breath. “Were you out drinking?”

“… Maybe…”

Luna sighed. “Go brush your teeth before I kick you out of the room.”

“B-But I didn’t bring a toothbrush!”

“There should be an extra underneath the sink.” She told him.

He sighed once more, and then agreed. He went into the bathroom and found an extra toothbrush, the toothpaste, brushed his teeth, and went back to the bed where Luna was back covered in her sheets and blankets. ‘I guess no action for me tonight.’ He thought jokingly.

‘Or a few nights, for that matter.’ Luna’s voice told him.

“Alright, alright, fair enough, I fucked up.” He spoke up as he climbed into the bed and got under the sheets. He then cuddled up next to Luna and kissed her on the cheek. “Goodnight Lulu.” He told her sweetly.

“Goodnight Fiery.” She answered back bitterly.

Fiery could only sigh once more and fall to sleep, waiting for the next day to come.
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There it is, chapter 28. Nothing really to say other than as I said last chapter, don’t think I’m going become emo and break Fiery and ‘Tavi up, that’s just silly, that and physical abuse is never a laughing manner (though as I said, and in the story you can probably guess, Fiery is never going to do it again because he instantly regretted it). See you next time.

Contrary to popular belief, consuming toxic waste will not give you superpowers, only cancer. I should know. Not one of my brighter ideas.
Contrary to popular belief, this statement is false.