Fiery woke up the next afternoon, his head hurting only a little from the alcohol he had drank the night before. He went to the bathroom to do his daily routine, then went down to the dining hall to eat some ‘breakfast’. As he was eating, Celestia came into the dining hall as well, to sneak in a snack between meetings. She saw Fiery and sat down at her chair to address him. Fiery looked up and greeted her. “Morning.”

“It’s one in the afternoon. It’s a little late to say ‘good morning’, don’t you think?”

“You knew what I meant, didn’t you?” Fiery replied, eating some more of the corn flakes he had ordered, then took a sip of the black coffee he had as well.

Celestia sighed, but before she could reply to Fiery, a housekeeper had entered the dining hall and had put a plate in front of Celestia containing a small piece of carrot cake. “Ah, thank you Seabreeze” The dark blue earth pony mare bowed and walked back out of the hall. Before eating, Celestia turned her attention back to Fiery. “Luna is still upset you know.” She said as she cut off a piece of the cake and ate it, using her magic to hold the fork.

“Is she now? What about?” Fiery responded, in between bites.

“You truly have no idea?”

“Nope.” Fiery replied as he finished off his corn flakes.

“Well then, perhaps I shouldn’t tell you…” Celestia told him as she took another bite of her cake.

“Why not?”

“Because Fiery, you should figure it out on your own, don’t you think?”

Fiery sighed and began to drink his coffee. As he was drinking it, he finally came up with something that he thought would make sense. “Is she upset about what I said yesterday? About how I loved ‘Tavi more than her?” Celestia nodded. In response, Fiery groaned before he answered. “Ugh, doesn’t she understand the shit that ‘Tavi and I are going through right now?! I thought that out of all ponies, Luna would be the one who would understand!” He yelled and nearly broke the mug that he was drinking out of by slamming in into the table.

“Does it really give you a right to tell my sister that you love another mare more than her though?”

“Oh don’t you start with this shit as well!”

Celestia sighed and replied to his outburst. “Forgive me Fiery, I did not mean to offend. I’m trying to look out for my sister, that’s all.”

“Yeah, well how about you try to make all the girls in my harem fucking happy! I can’t fucking do this Celestia!” Fiery screamed as he threw his hooves up in the air. “Luna needs to fucking understand that relationships are going to either build or fall apart depending on how ponies act! If she keeps acting like a selfish, spoiled-“ Fiery stopped as he tried to calm himself before he ended up saying something he would later regret. “Look, I love Luna very much, but her going around acting like she deserves me to herself… I can understand how she’s been gone for a thousand years, fine, but mares nowadays have gotten used to sharing their lovers with other mares. She needs to grow up and learn that that’s the way the world works now.”

“I’m surprised that you would learn that so quickly considering you’ve only been here for about seven weeks.” A new voice emerged from the hall as the blue alicorn herself walked in. “Where as I’ve been back for nearly three years.”

Fiery sighed and looked at Luna, then spoke. “Look Luna, I-“ But before he could get any more out, Luna put up her hoof to stop him.

“So I haven’t learned the ways of today, huh?” She asked. “Well then, perhaps it would be good for us to spend some time apart as well so I could learn the ways of today, don’t you think?”

“O-Oh come on Luna! That’s not fair! You know I’ve already been kicked out of my house already, please don’t kick me out of here as well!”

“I actually think that’s a wonderful idea Luna.” Celestia commented, earning a glare from Fiery. “Luna, you could learn how to be more… sharing, if you will.”

“And what about me, huh?!” Fiery asked angrily. “What the hell am I suppose to do? Just spend the next four days out in the streets?!”

“Well-“ Celestia answered him. “You could always spend time with Fancy Pants’s daughter in Manehatten until your concert. I’m sure she’ll be happy to spend some quality time with you. And then after your concert, you could go back to Ponyville to spend some quality time with the mares you’ve been neglecting for the past four weeks, even get some more mares if you wanted to. How does that sound?”

Fiery sighed. “Fine, but it’s not like I can exactly show up at her place, not to mention I have no idea where it even is. Besides, how do you even expect me to get there?”

“Well, how about I go ask Mr. Fancy Pants while you get your things, hmm?” Celestia asked him.

“Fine… By the way, Patrick told me that the guitar you gave him works like the one I got from my human grandfather. Is that true?”

Celestia nodded. “Yes, it does. I thought you’d appreciate not having to use the guitar that you got from your grandfather. Is that not alright?”

Fiery shook his head. “No, it’s fine. I was just wondering, that’s all.” He got up from his seat that he was sitting on and began to walk out of the hall, right by Luna. He stopped just a second to say goodbye to her. “Well, I guess I’ll be going… again…” He said in an upset tone.

“No need to get mad at me you know.” Luna replied.

Fiery raised his eyebrow. “Oh? And why’s that? Last I checked, you were the one who couldn’t handle me being shared.”

“That’s not true at all! I just can’t handle you going behind my back and loving another mare!”

Fiery facehoofed. “Luna… Those are the exact same things…”

Luna rolled her eyes at him and was about to speak, but was cutoff as Fiery hugged her. “Trying to make me feel bad or something?” She asked bitterly.

“Can’t a guy just hug one of the girls he loves because he’s going to miss her?”

Luna rolled her eyes again. “You’re just upset because we didn’t sleep together this time around.” She said shamelessly.

“True, but I’m also hugging you because I really will miss you. When’s the next time we’ll see each other?” Suddenly, Fiery got an idea, and turned his attention to Celestia. “Aunt Celestia, do you mind if you give me some time to get ready?”

“Of course, how much time do you think you need?”

“Mmm, maybe an hour and a half. No two hours at least.”

“Two hours? Whatever for?” Celestia asked him.

Fiery turned his face back to Luna and smiled devilishly. Luna picked up on what he wanted to do right away and spoke. “Oh no! I’m upset enough at you, there is no way I’m doing that! Besides, I have very important things to do and-“

“I can always cover for you little sister. After all, you’re only doing the exact same things as me today.” Celestia said with a grin.

“T-Tia! How could you!” Luna spoke out in protest, trying to get away from Fiery as she did, but couldn’t as he held her tight in the hug.

“Oh come now Luna. Who knows, maybe you’ll enjoy it.” Fiery said to his lover. He leaned in to whisper in her ear, causing her to blush as he spoke in it. “I promise I’ll make it feel good for you.”

“The answer is no Fifi! I don’t care how much you want it, there is no way I’m sleeping with you right now!”

Fiery sighed. “Fine… I’ll still miss you though.” He stayed silent for a little while, still hanging onto Luna, before he spoke again. “Can I at least kiss you goodbye?”

Luna sighed before answering him. “Fine, I suppose a kiss will suffice.” She finally got a little distance between them in the hug and kissed him passionately on the lips. After a minute of kissing, she finally let go of him, leaving a strand of saliva behind. “Is that fine?”

Fiery chuckled a bit and nodded. “Yeah, I suppose that’ll have to do… I really will miss you babe…”

“Oh, I’m a ‘babe’ now, am I?” Luna asked. Fiery rolled his eyes.

“Sorry, force of habit.”

“Do you call Octavia ‘babe’ as well?” Luna asked him.

Fiery sighed and answered. “Yes I do… As well as ‘baby’ sometimes.”

“Then I demand you to call me those nicknames as well as Lulu.” Luna told him.

Fiery smiled, then chuckled. “Very well Princess Lulu.” He answered as he pushed his own snout against hers, causing her to blush some.

The two sat there on the floor, hugging one another, snouts touching and eyes closed with smiles on their faces for a few minutes, until a cough got their attention and snapped them back into reality. Luna and Fiery quickly let go of each other and sat up straight, trying to act as though nothing went on. Celestia giggled at their cuteness, but stopped as she spoke to them. “I suppose you’ll only need about half an hour to get ready then Fiery?”

“Uh, yeah.” He answered. “Maybe an hour.”

“Very well Fiery, I’ll do that… Luna?”

Luna sat up as straight as possible as she addressed her sister. “Yes Tia?”

“Do you mind if you go attend to the nobles who are currently waiting while I’ll go and find Mr. Pants to tell him the details, as well as send a letter to his daughter about what will be happening?”

“Very well Tia, but if he’s in the meeting hall, do you wish for me to tell you that you are expecting him?”

“Actually, that sounds much better. I’ll go to my study to send the letter, while you go and tell him that I need to speak with him real quick in private. He is most likely there anyways so I wouldn’t need to worry about trying to find him.”

“Very well Tia, will do.” Luna answered her sister, then walked out of the hall, with Fiery following her.

As the two walked out, they had bumped into Starry. “Oh, hello you two. Having a good day?”

“O-Oh, hey mom. Eh…”

“Fiery and I thought it’d be good for him to spend some quality time with the other mares while I spend that time apart to study up on today’s culture.” Luna answered quickly. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting with the nobles I must attend.” Luna bowed to Starry and began to walk away from the Fiery and his mother.

“Spend some quality time with the other mares eh?” Starry teased her son. “Hope you have a wonderful time then son!” She said as she hugged her son and then immediately went into the dining hall, not letting Fiery get a word in.

Fiery shrugged, not knowing what to make of the weird situation he was just in, but ignored it and continued to go back to Luna’s room to retrieve his guitar, then to go back across the palace, across the courtyard, to get to the chariot landing area, where he would be getting a ride to Manehatten by the time he walked there.

As Fiery walked away, Starry walked into the dining hall where Celestia was still sitting. As she walked in, she immediately spoke to Celestia. “So Celly, I see you’re enjoying yourself.” Starry said with a smile.

Celestia rolled her eyes before she responded. “You know I need breaks like this Starry. It’s extremely stressful working with those nobles.”

Starry chuckled a bit before answering back. “Well don’t eat too much, otherwise you’ll get a stomach ache.”

Celestia rolled her eyes once more. “Thanks mom.”

“Well it is part of my job to look after the princesses until the king and queen return.” Starry said brightly.

Celestia put the fork she was using down gently onto the plate and looked at Starry sadly. “Until they return, huh?”

Starry saw this and sighed. “I’m sorry Celly, I didn’t-“

“No, it’s alright Starry. You’re doing what you were told to do, and you’re doing a wonderful job at it.” Celestia said to her friend, smiling. “I only wish-“ But she had stopped as one of the housekeepers came in to clean up the dishes that Fiery had left behind, and as they left, she sighed. “It’s been 1,000 years since I heard from either of them, telling me they would be revealing themselves soon after they had contacted me… But they never did…”

Starry walked up to Celestia and put a hoof on Celestia’s arm, rubbing it gently. “I’m sure they’ll return one day Celly, I know of it.” Starry said with a smile.

Celestia returned the smile and lifted her arm to hug her friend. “Thanks Starry, you just know what to say.”

Starry returned the hug. “No problem Celly… After all, what else are sisters for?” Celestia and Starry giggled a bit at Starry’s comment, enjoying their hug together, until Starry broke it off. “I’m sorry Celly, but I must get going. I promised the children I would play with them sometime today, and because I’m free-“

Celestia raised her hoof to stop her friend and smiled. “It’s no problem Starry, you can go.”

Starry bowed to Celestia and walked out of the hall, leaving Celestia to finish her cake in peace. While she was walking down the corridors to the part of the palace where the children were, a voice entered Starry’s mind. ‘I appreciate you not telling her anything just yet.’

Starry replied to the voice inside her head, not frighten of it. ‘Of course my queen… She is already stressed enough with the humans with what I’ve told her, as well as what will happen in the future with your other daughter and my son.’

‘Of course Starry, I understand… We’ve been gone for nearly 3,000 years, but I think it’s time for my husband and I to return to our children, and pass the crowns to them officially.’

Starry had a smile grow on her face as the voice told her the plan. ‘I think Celly and Luna will be overjoyed with the news when it is time, Queen Theodora…’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fiery had just come back from Luna’s room, guitar on back, and was heading to the chariot landing area when he came across little Bramble. Fiery raised his hoof and waved at the young colt. “Hey Bramble!” He called out.

Bramble turned his head in the direction of the pony who called out his name, and saw who it was. A large grin placed itself on Bramble’s face, and he immediately began to run over to Fiery, calling out his name. “Fiery! Fiery!” He yelled back, almost running right into Fiery as he got next to him.

Fiery was able to stop Bramble from slamming into him from joy by using his magic. He caught the little colt, and stopped his movements. Fiery then got right up next to the boy and began to nuzzle him in affection. “Hey there little guy, how you’ve been?”

“Both me and Autumn have been great Fiery! It’s been a blast being here” Bramble began to think of what he had done for the past six weeks and immediately began telling Fiery. Fiery looked on with a smile, happy that Bramble was having a good time in the castle, despite Bramble only being there with his sister and Fiery’s mom. “And there’s the time that Auntie Starry got mad at us for blowing bubbles with our milk.”

Fiery chuckled a bit, trying his best to imagine his mother looking mad. “Well kiddo, sounds like you had quite the adventure.”

“Sure did! But… Where are you going Fiery? Aren’t you here to bring us home?”

Fiery sighed and put a hoof on the colt’s shoulder. “Not quite buddy. You see… ‘Tavi and I got in an argument of sorts and-“

“Was it because of something we did?” Bramble asked, tears forming in his eyes.

“What? No! Nononono. Don’t ever think like that Bramble.” Fiery said to the colt, taking the guitar on his back off and sitting in front of Bramble. “No, you did nothing wrong Bramble. You’re probably too young to understand, but… The reason why ‘Tavi and I got in an argument…”

“Is it because of something that daddy did?”

Fiery looked at the colt curiously. “Daddy?”

“Well… You’re going to be our dad soon, right…?” Bramble asked, his face still saddened.

Fiery smiled and hugged the colt. “Yes… Yes I am… And ‘Tavi and Vinyl are going to be your mothers as well…” ‘Mama ‘Tavi and Mama Vinyl… Wait…’ “Scratch that, just ‘Tavi is going to be your mother, Vinyl will be your older sister.” Bramble looked at Fiery with confusion. Fiery rolled his eyes and answered. “Let’s just say that Vinyl is like a big child, and sometimes needs to be taken care of as well.” He said with a grin, earning a laugh from the colt.

Bramble began to nuzzle Fiery in the chest. “I can’t wait to see mommy and big sis…” Bramble said as he yawned, then fell asleep in Fiery’s arms.

Fiery smiled at the young colt as Bramble slept in his arms. “Such a cute kid…” Fiery said out loud quietly, but heard a mare respond to him from behind.

“If he’s so cute, maybe you can finally take him home; make my job a lot easier.”

Fiery chuckled a bit and used his magic to carefully lift the colt out of his arms so he could turn around. “You know I can’t do that yet mom.” He said to Starry with a smile.

Starry shrugged, and grabbed the child with her own magic, letting release his. “Eh, can’t blame me for trying.”

As Starry put Bramble on her back, Fiery watched with the same smile on his face, before finally speaking out. “Please keep them safe until we’re ready to bring them home.”

Starry turned to her son and smiled. “Of course Fiery, I would never imagine what I’d do if harm came to these children.”

Fiery picked up his guitar and placed it back on his back. “Thanks mom, I appreciate it.”

“No problem son, just promise me that you’ll actually treat these children like they were your own.”

Fiery continued to smile and nodded. “Of course mom, I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He then turned around and began to walk back in the direction he was originally headed. Starry watched her son walk away, a smile on her face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fiery reached the landing area with no more interruptions. He got in a chariot that was waiting for him, not surprised that Celestia had given the chariot drivers their orders in the hour it took him to get to Luna’s room and to the landing area.

As he walked up to the captain who would be in charge of the flight, he was surprised to see it was a mare, looking exactly like all the other solar soldiers. “A mare? In the military?” He said out loud stupidly.

She turned around, hearing him obviously, and scowled. “Something wrong with that Mr. Embers?” She asked in a bitter tone.

‘Shit.’ “O-Oh, no, forgive me. What I meant is that it’s just surprising to see a mare in the military considering almost all, well really, ALL of the guards I’ve encountered so far have been… well, stallions.” He said with a shrug.

The captain rolled her eyes and sighed. “Very well Mr. Embers, I’ll let it slide this time, since you’re not the first pony to make that mistake. But enough about that, Captain Rainbow Flourish at your service.” She responded as she saluted Fiery.

“I-I see, um, nice to meet you Captain.” Fiery said as he stuck out his hoof for a shake, but got none back. “Um… Oh! Uh, Captain?”

“Yes Mr. Embers?”

“Does this flight go anywhere near Ponyville?”

“Indeed it does Mr. Embers. However, my orders are to take you directly to Ms. Fleur’s apartment in Manehatten as soon as possible.”

“I understand that Captain Flourish, but I was just wondering if you could just make an exception just this once. You see, I have a friend who lives out on the edge of town, and-“

The captain groaned and answered. “Ugh, Mr. Embers, I’m sorry to say, but I’ve never defied an order. Besides, we’re running late as is.”

“O-Oh, um, alright then…”

“I’m very sorry Mr. Embers, but rules are rules.”

Fiery nodded and got on board the chariot. “That’s alright Captain, you’re only doing your job.”

“Thank you for understanding Mr. Embers.” She saluted once more and walked in front of the chariot, where three of her comrades were waiting for her. “Alright you three, we all ready?” She asked them. They all nodded in response. “Alright then! Let’s go!” She began to flap her wings and got the chariot up in the air along with the other three pegasi.

‘Well, off we go.’ Fiery thought to himself, not really excited about having to spend the next four days with a mare he had no idea about. ‘I just wish I could’ve made up with ‘Tavi before the concert… God damnit…’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shortly later in Ponyville, Fluttershy had just arrived at the musician’s house with three backstage passes to Fiery’s concert in Manehatten. She knocked on the door, and waited patiently for somepony to answer the door as she set the passes on the ground. It was only a few moments later that she heard somepony walking to the door, and as the door opened, revealed Vinyl. “Oh hey Fluttershy, what’s up?”

“O-Oh, um, hello Vinyl. I-I just got three backstage passes to F-Fiery’s concert, two of them being y-yours and ‘Tavi’s. Derpy accidentally gave me yours when she was giving me my tickets… I just thought you’d like to have it, as well as mine, since I-I can’t really go, taking care of the animals and all.”

“Oh, thanks Fluttershy!” Vinyl said with her usual grin. “Unfortunately… I don’t neither ‘Tavi or I will be able to go.”

“A-Alright, I’ll, um, go and see if somepony else wants them. D-Do you want me to do the same with yours and ‘Tavi’s?”

“If it wouldn’t be too much trouble Flutters. ‘Tavi is having a really tough time right now, and needs somepony with her.” Vinyl answered, this time with a saddened face.

“Oh! What’s wrong with her? I-I mean, if that’s alright…”

Vinyl smiled once more, trying to make Fluttershy more comfortable. “Not to be mean Fluttershy, but I think it would be best if you didn’t know… The pain that ‘Tavi is going through-“

“Oh, is she hurt?”

Vinyl nodded. “Emotionally she is. She just needs somepony by her to help her out.”

“Um, D-Do you mind if I come back to check on her after I give these away?”

Vinyl smiled and thought about it quickly. “You know what? Sure Flutters, that sounds good. I’m sure ‘Tavi will appreciate your company.”

“A-Alright then. U-Um, would you happen to know w-who would be interested in these?”

Vinyl began to tap her hoof on her chin trying to think of suitable ponies for it. She then remembered of the mares who tried to get with Fiery when Octavia was still expecting the pregnancy symptoms. “Maybe you can try out the Flower Trio? I know they wanted to get with Fiery some time ago. I’m sure they would be excited if they had those.”

Fluttershy picked up the passes with her mouth, getting ready to give it them away. “Fanks Finyl.” She said through the passes.

“No problem Flutters, see you soon?” Vinyl asked, getting a nod in response. “Alright then, see you soon.” Vinyl finished, then closed the door after she had said goodbye to Fluttershy.

Octavia came down the steps from upstairs. “Who was that Vinyl?”

Vinyl quickly turned around and spoke. “’Tavi! What are you doing out of bed?!”

Octavia rolled her eyes and answered. “I’m not sick Vinyl. I think I deserve some time out of bed.”

Vinyl sighed and apologized. “Sorry ‘Tavi, I’m just worried, that’s all.”

Octavia smiled at her friend. “I know you are Vinyl, and I really appreciate it… Now, who was at the door?”

“It was Fluttershy. Apparently she had gotten some backstage passes to Fifi’s concert on Monday, two of them that were ours. I thought it’d be best if she gave ours away since she was giving hers away as well.”

“Why did you do that Vinyl?!” Octavia yelled.

“W-What?! I-I just-“

“Just what? Think you knew what I wanted and did something without my consent?!”

“I-I’m sorry ‘Tavi! I-I just thought you’d appreciate not having to see him, that’s all!”

Octavia sighed and looked at the ground. “I guess I appreciate it Vinyl… I know you’re trying to look out for me, and you just did something you’d thought I’d appreciate… I don’t know, am I really grateful? I mean, part of me wants to forgive him already-“

“But you can’t! He needs to come back, crawling on his hooves! What he did was inexcusable ‘Tavi, and you shouldn’t blame yourself for it!”

“But I should Vinyl! He only did it because I practically pushed him to do it…! He wanted that child just as much as I did, and making him feel like he needed to take all the blame… I don’t even know how he can put up with me.” She said as she went back to the stairs and sat on them. “Every time something terrible happens to me, he’s the first one I blame Vinyl… No, He doesn’t deserve to have to come back on his hooves crawling, I should be the one doing the crawling, after all this time I’ve tried to make him feel bad for things he wasn’t responsible for…”

Vinyl walked over to Octavia and placed a hoof on Octavia’s leg, then smiled. “Is that the way you really feel ‘Tavi? Either way, I don’t blame you for the actions you’ve taken.”

“How can you say that Vinyl?! I’ve probably made him feel like crud because of my selfishness! All while he was trying his best to make me feel better in his own way! If anypony is to be slapped, hit, hurt in any way… It definitely deserves to be me…”

Vinyl quickly wrapped her hooves around Octavia’s neck and hugged her. “No, don’t think like that ‘Tavi, you’re not at fault.”

“But I am… I always am…”

Vinyl sighed and answered Octavia. “Do you really want me to tell you that you were wrong the entire time? That he deserved to hit you? Would that really make you feel better?”

“Would it make me feel better? No, but is it the truth? Yes… Yes it is… Just… Just try to help me from blaming Fiery for anything more. He doesn’t deserve to be blamed for things that he has no control over…”

Vinyl smiled and let out a sigh of relief. “Alright ‘Tavi, I’ll help you.” She told her friend as she kept hugging her.

Octavia smiled back and nodded, then returned the hug. “Thank you Vinyl, that sounds great.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After several hours of just playing a few strings of his guitar, bored out of his mind, the chariot had finally reached Manehatten, earning a sigh of relief from Fiery. “Finally…” He said to himself quietly.

As they flew through the city, flying between the large skyscrapers and avoiding any pegasi that were avoiding the large crowds that were running into each other down on the ground, trying to make their way to their destination. Finally, after flying through the city for about 15 minutes, they had finally reached one of the larger skyscrapers, touching down softly as they got to its entrance. “We’re here.” Captain Flourish called out to her client. Fiery put the Les Paul back on his back and then got off the chariot. As he got off, he saw that the Captain was unhooking herself from the harness, while the other pegasi stayed together. He looked at the Captain with a strange look, but as she saw him, she knew what he was wondering and answered. “Princess Celestia wanted me to come with you to the penthouse to make sure you arrive safely.”

“O-Oh, alright… I suppose that makes sense…” The two got on the elevator, and without even asking, the Captain punched in the numbers for the code to take them to the penthouse at the top. ‘The hell? Did she know about that beforehand as well?’

“One of the reasons why I was asked to escort you Mr. Embers-“ The Captain said out loud, startling Fiery out of his thought. “It’s because I’m actually close friends with Ms. Fleur. She and I grew up together.”

“Ah, I see… I suppose that would make sense as to why you would know the code for the penthouse elevator…”

“Indeed.” The Captain responded. As the two reached the top and the elevator doors opened, Fiery saw the penthouse and immediately became impressed with it. It was two floors, swimming pool outside, looking down at the downtown of the city. Everything inside looked like it was very modern and ‘edgy’ in a way, reminding Fiery a bit of his own home, except this place really had no walls, as the entire place had nothing but windows covering it. “Impressive, no?” The Captain asked Fiery, who nodded in silence.

Right as Captain Flourish had stopped talking, Fleur had come down the stairs from her bedroom and saw the Captain standing in the elevator. “Rainbow!” Fleur yelled out, galloping up to her friend and then hugged her. “It’s so good to see you!”

Captain Flourish returned the hug and answered her friend. “It’s good to see you too Fleur. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“I’d say, but what are you doing here? I thought you were in Canterlot doing guard duties?” Fleur asked her friend, completely oblivious that Fiery was standing there, having only seen her friend. “Oh! Mr. Embers! I-I’m so sorry, I wasn’t aware that Rainbow was going to be the one escorting you.”

“Yes, well, the princess wanted somepony who knew you well to do so.” Captain Flourish explained. “Alas, because I’ve gotten Mr. Embers to his destination safely, I must get the chariot back to Canterlot before it becomes dark.”

“But it’s almost dark now! Won’t you at least consider the offer of staying?” Fleur asked, using her puppy dog eyes on Flourish, but Flourish did not budge.

“I’m sorry Fleur. Really, I am, but rules are rules. Besides, I don’t think you have enough room here for four extra guests, plus one more with Mr. Embers.”

Fleur huffed and pouted. “You always were a goody good hoof after high school.” Fleur said with a frustrated tone, but ended up smiling and hugged her friend. “It was good to see you again Rainbow.”

Flourish returned the hug. “I know Fleur, I know.” Fiery had stepped off the elevator, which made Flourish break off the hug with Fleur. “Well then, now that Mr. Embers is inside, and since I guess we’ve said our goodbyes, I guess I’ll see you later then Fleur.”

Fleur nodded at her friend and answered. “Alright Rainbow, will do.”

Captain Flourish pushed the elevator button, shutting the elevator doors, making her disappear. Fiery and Fleur turned to each other and smiled. “Nice place you have here.” Fiery commented, trying to be as nice as possible.

“Yes, well, daddy always wants best for her little girl.” Fleur said with a bit of a giggle. She smiled once more at Fiery and spoke. “Do you wish for me to show you around?”

“That’d be great.” Fiery answered with another smile.

For the next ten minutes, Fleur had shown him the penthouse, both of the floors, and finally ended it with the bedroom he would be staying in. “And this is where you’ll be sleeping I guess. Princess Celestia told me you were going through some troubled times and thought it’d be best if we slept apart, at least, for the first night.” Fleur said shyly.

Fiery sighed. “She said that huh?” Fleur nodded.

Fleur began to swing her front hoof back and forth, becoming nervous. “D-Do you mind if I ask what you’re troubled about?” She asked him shyly once more. Fiery nodded and motioned for her to come into the bedroom. He took off his guitar with his magic and laid it up against the wall, then sat on the bed like a human. “Oh, doesn’t that hurt your back?”

Fiery shook his head. “No, it’s alright. I’ve been sitting like for a long time, doesn’t bother me at all.”

“I see…” Fleur replied as she got up onto the bed as well, then sat next to him.

Fiery leaned back on the bed, then sighed. “So… What to say…”

“I-It’s alright if you don’t want to…” Fleur told him nervously.

“Excuse me for saying this Fleur, but it’s probably best that you know everything if we’re to get along for the next few days.” Fiery answered her. She nodded in response. “I guess the first thing that is troubling me was the whole ‘Tavi getting pregnant…”

“Oh! Congratulations!”

Fiery gave a little smirk and laughed a little. “Yeah… It would be congratulations alright… If it didn’t happen…”

“Excuse me?”

Fiery sighed again and answered her. “It was just yesterday morning that we found out that the baby inside of her was dead.”

Fleur gasped and covered her mouth with her hooves in horror. “O-Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry! I didn’t know!”

Fiery gave another smirk and replied. “It’s alright Fleur, you had no way of knowing… Anyways, as I said, that was only one of the things that was troubling me… Another one of them is what happened after we got home from the hospital and got me thrown out of the house for at least a week or so.”

“What happened?” Fleur asked, completely concerned.

“’Tavi and I-“

“’Tavi?” Fleur asked, curious.

Fiery nodded. “She was one of the mares who played at your graduation party. She was in the classical band, grey earth pony, black mane and tail, purple treble clef for a cutiemark, real name’s Octavia.”

“Ah, I see, I remember now.” Fleur answered him, nodding her head and understanding. “’Tavi a cute nickname you gave her?”

“Was her idea actually.” Fiery said with yet another smirk. He then began to frown a bit as he remembered the day before. “Yeah… It was her idea…”

“Fiery?”

“Hmm? Oh, sorry, just remembering yesterday, that’s all.”

“What happened?” Fleur asked with real concern once more.

Fiery sighed once more and answered again. “She and I got into an argument when we got home, our roommate Vinyl being the one who accidently triggered it. We said some things that I’m sure both of us regret… and then I did something which I’ll never be able to forgive myself for doing, even if ‘Tavi and Vinyl can…”

“W-What did you do?” Fleur asked, fearing the worse.

“I hit her…” Fiery answered softly, getting a gasp of shock from Fleur. “I hit her and I instantly regretted doing it… ‘Tavi is a mare who is going through something horrible right now and I slapped her out of frustration from the situation…”

“B-But you said you regretted it, right?”

“I did… But the action never should’ve been done in the first place. If you think differently about me now because of what I told you, I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want to be with me.” Fiery said with a hint of sadness in his tone.

“Why would I think that?” Fleur answered him, getting a confused look in response. “From what I understand, yes, you did something horrible, but you regretted it instantly. I’m sure emotions were high because of the situation, and you ended up doing something that you wish you could take back. Because of all this, it only proves that you’re a normal stallion, somepony who gets upset when he needs to get upset, and regrets doing something awful when he does it. I’ve dated a lot of stallions Mr. Embers-“

“Fiery. Just call me Fiery.” Fiery told her with a smile.

Fleur smiled back and nodded. “Alright, Fiery… I’ve dated a lot of stallions, and I’ll tell you right now, they could care less about the mare’s feelings. In this world with harems, all the stallions care about until they’re about 30 or 40 years old, is how many mares they can get in bed with. But you’re different Fiery, from the stories I’ve heard, and from what you’ve told me just now, I know that you’re the type of stallion who wants to take care of the mares he loves, that he wants to make all the mares feel equal.”

Fiery looked at her, obviously confused. “How did you get to that conclusion?”

Fleur giggled a bit. “As I said Fiery, I’ve heard a LOT of stories about you… Besides, am I wrong? Or do you not care about the mares you love?”

Fiery thought about what she had said for a minute. Finally he answered her. “I suppose you’re right… I really do care for all the girls, even if I don’t show them a lot of attention. I want them to feel like they’re all special, or at least try to. Granted, when ‘Tavi was originally pregnant, I only focused on her, but during that time I at least tried to spend some time with the other girls and tell them why I was spending so much time with her, that I wanted her to feel the most special in her time of need…”

“And because of that, those mares love you very much, don’t they?” Fleur asked him, getting a nod in response.

“Yeah, I guess they do…”

For the next hour and half, they talked about themselves, trying to get to know each other better, until Fiery’s stomach began to growl. Fleur let out a giggle as his stomach growled. “Hungry are we?”

Fiery blushed a little and nodded. “Y-Yeah, all I’ve had today was a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee.”

“Well then, how about we go get you something, hmm? I’d love to show off my cooking skills to you.” She told him, as she gave him a wink.

“Sure, that sounds great Fleur.” He answered, smiling.

She smiled back at him. “Very well then, what do you want?”

Fiery shrugged his shoulders. “Able to make Cavallo?.” He asked her.

Fleur continued to smile. “Alright then.” She answered and got off the bed, then started to walk out the room.

As Fleur was walking out, Fiery got up from his laying position and started to look at her behind. ‘Damn, nice ass.’ He thought to himself, remembering that he hadn’t had any sex for almost two weeks. He had spent all his time with Octavia, refusing the other girl’s offers, because he wanted to make her feel special. ‘Perhaps I should try to tap that tonight…’ He continued to think as she finally walked out of the room. He let out a sigh and talked out loud as he laid back down on the bed. “Damnit, what the hell am I thinking? I already have ‘Tavi and the others… But still, would it really hurt to have one more? Or a few more in fact?”

Fleur had heard Fiery talking, but couldn’t understand what he said, so she went back in to interrupt him. “You say something Fiery?”

He got back up and shook his head. “Oh, no, not really. Just admiring how nice your place is, that’s all.”

Fleur smiled at him. “Well I’m glad you like it.” She then went back towards the kitchen area to prepare dinner for her and Fiery.

Fiery sighed once more and laid back down on the bed. ‘Well that was close. I’m glad that she wasn’t able to hear me at all.’ Fiery then closed his eyes and began to rest, feeling tired from the long chariot ride, and wanted to get some rest before dinner.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was late in the day in Ponyville. Fluttershy had gone back to the musician house to see how Octavia was doing, and was shocked at the story that Vinyl and Octavia had told her. She of course tried apologizing for something that she hadn’t done, which both Vinyl and Octavia forgave her, but she also became worried about Fiery, and wondered if he would try to do it again. “I don’t think so Fluttershy.” Octavia commented to the yellow pegasus. “I pushed him to do it. Besides, we could tell that he regretted doing it right away.”

“I-I know, it’s just that, hearing Fiery do something like, likethat…”

“I know Fluttershy, but you don’t need to worry about it. I suggested to Fiery that we stay separated for some time, until we’re able to see each other again.” Octavia told her friend.

“B-But ‘Tavi! You said it yourself that he regretted doing it, so why-“

“Because Fluttershy, I need some time to clear my head.” Octavia answered her. “The entire time Fiery has been here, whenever something terrible happened to me, or when something terrible happened in general, I would blame him for it. I want to change Fluttershy. I want to make it so I stop blaming him for things he has no control over.” Octavia admitted. “That’s why I need some time away from him, as well as…”

Fluttershy wrapped her hoof around Octavia and hugged her tightly. “It’s alright ‘Tavi, I understand.”

The two sat there in the house, alone, while Vinyl was out getting some groceries. Moments later, the door opened to reveal the white unicorn, groceries hovering in the air. “Hey girls, look who I bumped into at the market.” She said with her usual grin.

The two looked around her to see Nurse Redheart behind Vinyl. “Oh, hello Redheart.” Octavia greeted the guest.

Redheart nodded at Octavia’s greeting and walked over to her. “Hello Octavia, I want to apologize for how I acted with Fiery yesterday…”

Octavia shook her head. “No, it’s alright Redheart. You had no idea what was going to happen… I’m sure you heard?”

Redheart nodded. “I was in the room when Doctor Stable found out about the results.”

Octavia looked down on at the ground as she sighed. “I see…”

“Octavia, if there’s anything I can do to make it up to you…” Redheart started, then thought of an idea. “Oh! I know!” She pulled out the same backstage pass that the other three had gotten, and gave it to Octavia. “I guess his agent is giving it to all the girls in his harem. Even Pinkie got one, despite her not being in it.”

“Why are you giving it to me?” Octavia asked.

“Well, because I’m unable to go, and because Rose told me earlier about she got three from Fluttershy, one of them being yours… I thought you’d appreciate it if you could go, be with him when he does his first big hit.” Redheart said with a smile.

Octavia smiled back and nodded. “Thanks Redheart, that means a lot to me… I mean it.”

Redheart shook her head. “It’s no problem dear. It’s the least I can do to help you. Though I do have to admit, you’re acting a lot better than most mares act when they receive such horrible news.” Redheart said with worry.

Octavia chuckled a bit and answered her. “Well, it is devastating, and I still am very much hurt about it… But, this is life and there is nothing you can really do to change it.”

“Oh ‘Tavi.” Fluttershy said softly, then began to hug her friend again. Redheart got the same idea and hugged Octavia as well.

“Y-You girls! You don’t need to do this! Honest!”

“No Octavia, we do.” Redheart answered. “Fiery might not be here right now, because of what he did-“

“Wait, how do you know Redheart?” Octavia asked, but then immediately looked at Vinyl, taking a guess. Vinyl only grinned back at Octavia, causing Octavia to sigh. “Vinyl…”

Redheart giggled a bit and let go of Octavia. “Sorry Octavia, but if it makes you feel any better, I sort of pried the information out of her when she said Fiery wasn’t in town anymore.”

Octavia giggled a bit as well. “Well, I don’t blame you.”

“Still, it surprises me that he would do such a thing. Our sweet, innocent Fiery, laying his hoof on you in frustration! I don’t think I-“

“No, don’t say that Redheart.” Octavia cut her off. “I know what you’re going to say, but I must object to it. Fiery would be devastated if he knew that an action he regretted caused him to lose one of the mares he loves.”

Redheart sighed and smiled at Octavia. “Alright then Octavia, I believe you. If you really say that he would be devastated, then I won’t leave… Though I think it might be a good idea if we keep this info about him to ourselves, and make sure that Aloe and Lotus don’t find out. If they knew about it, I’m not sure what would happen.”

All of the mares agreed. After a while, the four of them began to talk to each other, getting to know each other better, until Redheart and Fluttershy had to go for dinner. Octavia and Vinyl ate their own dinners, then spent the rest of the time they were awake to watch a movie from Fiery’s laptop. As they were watching the movie, Octavia spoke to Vinyl. “Hey Vinyl?”

“Hmm?”

“Do you really think I should go see Fiery at his concert?”

Vinyl stayed quiet for some time, but finally spoke. “In all honesty ‘Tavi, I don’t know. I just don’t know…”

The two continued to be silent for a while until Octavia spoke up again. “Vinyl?”

“Yeah ‘Tavi?”

“Do you really think any of us would really leave Fiery?” Octavia asked seriously.

A smile grew on Vinyl’s face as she answered. “No ‘Tavi, I don’t think that. I think we all love him too much to ever leave him.”

Octavia smiled as well and cuddled up next to her friend. “Thanks Vinyl, I needed to hear something like that…”

“No problem ‘Tavi… No problem…”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Link to next chapter

Chapter 29 Everybody! Yay! Quite a few things I’d like to say. First, after re-reading some of my stuff, I noticed some continuity problems in chapter 20, where I called Fiery’s human father ‘Charles’ but then a few chapters later I call him ‘Stephen’. I’d like to ask that if anybody finds any continuity problems like this or any other through the story, to PM my accounts, or leave a comment.
Also, I’d like to say that for those who are reading these on Fanfiction . net, that you go to Fimfiction . net to read these, simply because I’m able to change the already posted stories on that website, unlike Fanfic which I have to resubmit an entire new chapter, make sure everything is set up correctly, then replace the existing chapter, just real annoying compared to the Fimfiction process and all.

Third off, I’d like to say that for those who haven’t seen already, I decided to cancel my story Downfall because I didn’t like the way it was going. See the cancellation chapter I posted to find out more. I guess I should also say that I’m thinking of creating a new story as well to take its place, but because it’s not a MLP fic, it won’t be up on Fimfic, only Fanfic.

Also, I’d like to apologize for having this chapter take so long compared to the other chapters. This is because I was being side-tracked with other things, but also because this is also actually the fourth rewrite of the chapter, because I didn’t like the first three. Now you know (and knowing is half the battle! [GI JOE] ).

Oh! And finally, before I forget. I’m thinking of changing Aloe and Lotus’s last name, simply because after doing some research (rewatching the first episode that one of them speak), Lotus has an Eastern European accent, so having a Egyptian type name wouldn’t make a lot of sense. I’ll have to go back and re-read and all that stuff, but shouldn’t take that long on Fimfiction to change it, whereas on Fanfiction, again, I’d have to do the whole resubmitting thing.

Welp, that’s about it. Until next time everypony! Poodicus out.

The Heimlich Maneuver, if done incorrectly, can shove a person’s xiphoid process up into their heart and kill them. (The More You Know)
Henry Heimlich advocates for the use of malaria as a treatment for HIV.