Beep. Beep. Beep.

Nathan's eyes remained shut, but he could vaguely hear the sound of a heart monitor echoing through the room. His head felt like a melon that had been split open, and he could feel dried blood stuck to his temple. A wet sponge moved over his face, wicking up the sweat and crusted blood. He could feel cathodes attached to his chest, the adhesive tugging at his chest-hairs as he shifted his body. What had happened? Had he finally woken up?

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Slowly, he allowed his eyes to part, flooding his retinas with the light beaming in through the window. After a few moments his eyes had adjusted enough he could hold them open without squinting and began to evaluate the scene around him. The white coated nurse-pony that had been sponging off his forehead stepped back, wide-eyed and fearful. Nathan sighed. Either he was still dreaming or he was still in the land of technicolour horses. Across the room on another cot Fluttershy lay asleep, a fresh layer of bandages coating her injuries. It was obvious that whoever had tended to her wounds was a skilled physician.

The heart-monitor apparatus had a familiar glow surrounding it, betraying the magical nature of its operation. The room was clean, with modest trimmings. A couple of pictures, some cupboards he assumed held an assortment of medical tools. As he lifted himself up the pressure on his head intensified and he had to stifle a groan. Oh that’s right. He’d been assaulted by a rainbow after dragging a pony through the woods for three days. Wait, a rainbow? How did he get attacked by a rainbow? Damn. Couldn’t be a dream… this hurt way too much. Finally he managed to turn his attention to the still cowering nurse.

"I'm not here to hurt you. Thanks for caring for me." It was the best Nathan could manage at the time to settle the nervous mare. The nurse took a breath and managed to nod curtly. While most of the ponies he had seen so far didn’t wear much in the way of clothes, she did have a little white hat with a red cross on it, signifying her position. It matched the branding on her posterior. He would have to ask one of them about those tattoos later.

"I'll uh... I'll just go do my other rounds. Now. If you’re feeling ok?” Nathan just smiled and inclined his head slightly, allowing the nervous pony an easy escape. He watched her saunter out the door, and resumed his surveillance of the hospital room he was in, his head still pounding like a drum. In reality he could have used more attention. The blood was still dried to his temples, and whatever medication they had given him to ward off the pain didn’t seem to be doing much. Constant dizziness threatened to knock him unconscious. However, he reasoned the nurse would have been too overwrought with fear to be much more use.

The sun was still hanging low over the horizon, and while no clock could be seen in the room Nathan surmised it couldn't be any later than eight in the morning. Fluttershy's breathing was deep and regular, interrupted occasionally by mild whimpering, her good hind leg twitching. He was surprised they were keeping them in the same room. Perhaps the hospital was full and the staff had decided that Fluttershy was the most logical pairing. After several moments Fluttershy began to stir awake. Slowly her lids opened and she turned, allowing her eyes to meet the ones that had been watching her.

"Eeep!" she squeaked, pulling back her head and shrinking under her good wing, before realizing it was Nathan looking at her. Regaining her composure she managed to relax. He looked over at the meek Pegasus and smiled at her.

“Sorry Fluttershy, I was just looking around the room and you were so peaceful I couldn’t pull my eyes away. I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

"H-h-hey. G-g-good morning. How are you feeling this morning? I h-hope that your head is ok. It still has some blood on it I see. W-well we‘ll just have to clean that up. So, how did you sleep?" Smooth as ever Fluttershy, she muttered under her breath. Seeing her human roommate had noticed her muttering, she blushed and quickly added "I was just panting sorry! I sure am thirsty!" Fluttershy laughed awkwardly, Nathan cocked one eyebrow at her, but let the obvious dodge slip.

"Ah-yeah I'm thirsty too. We should see about getting a drink. I’m fine for the most part, thanks for asking. Head still hurts quite a bit. I think I have a concussion. I’ll live though. How are you feeling though? Where are we anyways? How long have we been here?"

"Ponyville Hospital, better part of two days. The doctor was beginning to get concerned that you were going to need surgery or that his knowledge didn't properly cover your... unique physiology." Nathan was concerned for a moment. Surgery. Magic surgery? Some things just shouldn't be. He shuddered. The anxiety quickly passed though. Fluttershy continued speaking. “I’m d-d-doing much better now. The doctor has made sure my bones are in the right place and he says they will mend properly. I’m off them for a couple more weeks, so no flying, but I’ll be right as rain soon.”

"How did we get here anyways? I remember coming out of the trees..." Closing his eyes, he allowed the memory to flood back. He could feel the rain on his skin, bright lights all around him. Searing pain through his entire body, then nothing. Wait, no that wasn't right. It had been a sunny day when they came out of the Everfree Forest. That's when.. "The rainbow hit me. Rainbow Dash kicked me upside the head." finishing his train of thought and answering his own question. Then what was...? He shook the memory loose and mentally filed it away for examination later.

"Mmm-hmmm. I'm so sorry about that. I tried to warn her off, but you know Dash… Well actually, I guess you don't. She tends to leap before she looks, so to speak. I hope you're feeling better. Your head... bled quite a bit. I yelled at her a little when you passed out, and to be honest I think the fact she caused you to bleed so much scared her more than anything else. She was almost as white as Rarity."

"My head feels like someone was using it for a drum, but again, I think I'll be fine. Thank you Fluttershy. I appreciate what you've done for me. I didn’t expect anyone to come look for me in that forest. I also didn’t realize that it was so dangerous.”

"Oh no no! You're the one that dragged me back to town after I foolishly got myself stuck in the forest. I should be thanking you. How things are going to go with my friends though… I'm- I'm sorry but I'm scared they might make you leave again. To them you're still a predator. I’m going to do the best I can to convince them you’re not a terrible po- I mean person, but you’re going to have to help me.”

Nathan slowly nodded his head. He wouldn't blame the ponies if they did ask him to leave, of course. It was their home, and as friendly as they were, they were still innocent, and didn't need an outsider bringing undue stress. Hell, they'd taken the time to put him up in a hospital at least. Looking down, the last thought made him realize that he was wearing a hospital gown. Of course, not being a pony, it was obvious someone had sewn it together at the last minute, trying to create something that would fit his, as Fluttershy put it, “unique physiology”. That was all he was wearing though.

"Fluttershy, where are the rest of my clothes?"

"W-w-well when Rainbow kicked you, you bled a lot, and your clothing was already in tatters, and the doctor wanted to get a full physical in while you were asleep because he was worried that you might be more damaged from the hike and... Ummm.." Fluttershy started to blush. Nathan didn’t like where this was going. He knew where it was going, but he didn’t like it. "I didn't know you wore clothes because you didn't have anything to cover... down there. I-I'm sorry I looked! It was just so.."

"Big Macintosh! Don't ya go barging in on ‘im. Ah told ya the critter ain't a threat to nopony far as ah can see. Fluttershy's gonna be just fine!" Oh thank goodness. A reprieve from one of the more embarrassing conversations he had been part of. A pair of earth ponies burst through the door. Nathan instantly recognized Applejack, but the big red one was new. Big Macintosh? That’s the name that Applejack had used. It made sense- while her cutie mark was a trio of red apples; the large stallion‘s was a singular huge one, sliced open. Family maybe?

Pushing past Applejack, Mac put himself squarely between Nathan and the two mares in the room. Bringing his nose up against the human's he narrowed his eyes. Staring as intensely as possible he scanned the retinas of the human in front of him for signs of weakness.

"Now brother, don't do anything rash..." Yep, family. Older brother family. Uh-oh.

"Nnnope" the large stallion drawled. His coat bristled with sheer power. He didn’t seem angry or upset… just powerful. The muscles of Macintosh bristled from mane to tail, flexing them as he stood there. He was looking for some sort of reaction from Nathan. A flinch, a tick, maybe he would even yell at the red pony. After a few tense moments, Big Mac realized his “adversary” was just going to continue to stare back into his eyes. Relaxing slightly, Mac entered into a line of inquiry.

"Ah heard you dragged mah sister's friend back through the Everfree Forest. Bandaged her up, built a frame and dragged her for three days. That right?"

"Um.. Yes..?" Nathan wasn't sure what answer the large pony was looking for, but so far honesty seemed to be the best policy around these colourful folk. Well, for the most part. He still felt uncomfortable acting totally like himself. His dictionary of curse words would probably be a one-way ticket back to the forest, knowing the way the ponies had acted so far.

"Ahyup. Also heard ya managed to take down th' bear that injured Fluttershy. You seem pretty strong. Ah don’t approve of you killin’ it, but you were defending that poor filly, so I’ll let it slide.”

"Ahyup" he intoned back. Strong? No, lucky more like it, but he wasn't about to correct the agitated pony. Another pony with an aversion to death and the circle of life. Likely all of them felt similarly. Nathan would have to remember to keep his thoughts and habits in check.

"You fixin' ta stick around these parts for long?" Nathan hesitated to answer this question. He needed to be somewhere, he just didn’t know where. If he knew where his home was he would try to get back there, but at this point he had concluded that getting home wasn’t going to be easy, even if he knew where it was.

"Not sure... for now, if I don't get kicked out of town again, I'd like to stay and make sure Fluttershy returns to health. It's the least I could do. She did come find me in the woods after all." Stay here? Sure why not. Where else could he have to go right now?

"You're gonna need a job then. Ya start Monday, seven am sharp. Figure ya can help bring in the bushels. Those fancy digits on the end of your arms look mighty useful.”

"S-sorry?" Nathan was stunned. Did this boisterous stallion just offer him a job? Did they even have money around here? Well obviously they had some form of commerce based on the shops and restaurants he had seen. “S-sure. Big Macintosh right? Thanks for the job offer. I’ll be there.”

Not letting the human see the change on his face, Big Macintosh turned to face his sister who had a knowing smile on her face. Mac was smirking, a playful expression gliding across his eyes. Quietly, before leaving the room, he whispered to his sister.

"Lil’ sis, I don’t understand where somepony like him came from, and I don’t understand why he would stand in between a bear and a pony, but he seems like an ok apple. T’ain’t no reason for all this pussy footin’ around. Don't tell him ah said that though. He don't talk so much, does he?" Briskly walking out, he spared one more hostile look for the human, departing for good. The energy was suddenly let out of the room and the environment returned to a casual calm.

"He don't talk so much? HE don't talk so much? That honkin' galoot. Most words Ah heard come outta his mouth in months!" Applejack finally turned her attention to the two patients. Looking over Fluttershy, she could see her wounds were looking much better, and mentally reminded herself to thank the doctor later for his good work. The human on the other hand… two days later and still a bit of blood loss. Critter jes seems to bleed from the head forever she thought to herself.

"Ah'm sorry guys, you know how Big Red c'n be. Fluttershy Ah'm so glad you're recovering... and uh... you too critter." She immediately corrected herself. "sorry, Ah mean Nathan. If you’re going to be staying in Ponyville, it’ll be better to get to know your name.” Probably so we know who to name the first time a filly or colt goes missing. She walked over and threw her hoofs around him. "Ah don't know if Ah want t' strangle you for making Fluttershy follow you into the Everfree, or kiss you for bringing her back. Ah think a hug is a good compromise."

Fluttershy smiled as her friend started to warm up to Nathan. It was good to see he might just fit in yet. Nathan caught something flash in her eyes. Was that... no. It was already gone, some emotion instantly buried by the reclusive mare. She had relaxed back on her bed, allowing her lame wing to droop off the side. It was good to be in a proper bed again.

"I'm glad you're happy Applejack. It was the least I could do for her. Looks like You'll have plenty of time to strangle me later, seeing as I'll be working on your brother's farm." Suddenly reminded of the recent conversation, a grimace crossed Applejack's face.

"Actually, it's mah farm. Sweet Apple Acres. Ah've no idea what got into that colt, but for whatever reason he fancies you workin' my orchards. Ah did need more help this year, so… I guess we'll give ya a try.” Applejack seemed a bit unsure of herself at this point.

Nathan nodded politely. If he was going to be there for any length of time he would need work. There was food, shelter, and clothing to take care of, not to mention something to keep his time occupied. Hopefully he could figure out the economics of the town soon enough.

"I'm glad to accept the offer Applejack. I haven't worked at a farm in a long time, but I'm sure I'll figure it out." In truth he had never worked at an orchard or farm, but he wasn't going to let on if it meant he might lose a job opportunity. How hard could it be moving some bushels of apples?

"I’m real glad to hear it. So, uhh, you two ready to get up and come out for a walk? The others would like to talk with Nathan, and Ah think you could probably use the air." At Applejack's inquiry, Fluttershy gently lowered herself from her bed. Her wing and leg were still coated in bandages, but she was able to move around fine on her other three legs as long as she didn't over do it.

“We still need to speak with the doctor, but I’m fairly certain we’ll both be cleared to leave the hospital today. Especially now that Nathan is awake. Nathan?" Fluttershy cocked her head towards him. "Feel like a walk? That is, if you wouldn't mind...” In fact, Nathan couldn’t wait to get out of there. His head still felt awful, but he needed to get moving. So many things to do.

"Sure thing ladies, give me a moment and I'll be up." Nathan proceeded to get up, concentrating on not passing out from his concussion. He was so busy focusing on his head he had forgotten what he was wearing. As he swung his legs out into the air and lowered himself to the floor, Fluttershy blushed and lifted her good wing in front of her face, peaking out between a pair of feathers. Applejack's eyes went wide as saucers. Nathan looked down, realizing too late what they had seen. Blushing himself, he quickly grabbed the sheet off of his bed, covering himself. The sudden movement caused a wave of nausea to pass over him and he collapsed in a pile, the sheet barely covering him.

"Is that why you insisted you two share a room? Fluttershy, between him and Red, Ah think Nathan's is..." The two mares began to leave the room, to look for the doctor, giggling as they went.

"Ah-la-la-la-la. I can't hear you!" Nathan had shoved his fingers in his ears and started raising his voice, thoroughly done with the "dog and pony" show. "And somebody find me some goddamned pants!"

During the time the doctor was performing his final examination on Nathan, Applejack and Fluttershy had gone out to their friend’s house to find some suitable clothing. While the wardrobe they put together, a simple shirt and pants Rarity had kept from her time with the diamond dogs, was disappointing, Nathan was grateful for the gift. They were the wrong size, were terribly itchy, and the smell was just this side of ass, but at least he was covered. While he was getting dressed the two mares rejoined their friends outside, having a laugh about something. Probably me Nathan thought to himself.

“Now Nathan,” the doctor had started. “I think you’re going to be just fine, but I still don’t like that injury to your head. You are not to do any strenuous activities for the next couple days, until you are fully recovered. You might not be a pony but you should still look after yourself.”

“Ok doc, I’ll lay off the magic for a couple days.” Nathan joked. The doctor didn’t think it was so funny, but he accepted that his patient was going to be careful, and discharged him. He proceeded downstairs into the lobby of the small hospital. Everypony in the room held their breath.

The predator was awake. He was hungry. What would he eat? Who would he eat? As he walked past the stunned group of ponies, he suddenly stopped at one of them. He turned to face a strawberry-blonde coloured mare, an intense glare in his eyes. His hand reached out for her head, her eyes transfixed in horror. He slowly closed his grip and… grabbed an apple from the bowl of complementary fruit beside the frightened pony. He took a big bite, waved at the room and walked out. He chuckled. Oh come on, they were just asking for it! he reasoned to himself. Lost in thought he nearly ran into Fluttershy and her scowl.

"That was just awful! You did that on purpose!" she fumed. She was upset before about the bear, but right now she was just angry. Nathan knew he was responsible for her newfound rage and let the smile drop from his face. His head dropped to the ground and he stared at a rock just off to the side, afraid to look Fluttershy in the eyes.

"Maybe just a little..." he managed to stammer out. Alright, it was a bad choice of first impressions and he knew it.

“We just got finished talking about how it was going to be difficult to convince the others to let you stay and you do that? What were you thinking?”

“You’re right Fluttershy, I’m sorry. I’ll be more conscious of my decisions in the future.” Fluttershy fumed off as quickly as her limp would allow her. Rejoining her friends she regained her composure. She was upset with him, but she was willing to chalk it up to being uncomfortable in the confusing situation the human had found himself in. However, every one of her other friends were glaring, except for Pinkie Pie, who wore a beaming smile on her face.

"What?" she responded to the questioning looks of her friends. "I thought it was a great prank! The look on that mare’s face was priceless! Could you imagine Nathan trying to eat a pony? You guys are so silly.”

"-- and finally this is my library. I work and live here. I have a copy of most of the more important volumes about Equestrian history and magic, including some on astronomy and stargazing." Twilight sparkle finished off her impromptu tour of Ponyville. The town wasn't huge, but had most needed amenities. It had taken the better part of an hour to do the full rounds, but Nathan was thankful that he had come along to better understand the way the town was set up. They hadn’t gone out to Sweet Apple Acres, but Applejack had pointed out the road that led to it.

Nathan noticed that the six mares he had been following had managed to integrate themselves into most of the important services of the town. Weather control, food supply and preparation, veterinary medicine, and Twilight was the closest thing to a scientist they had. He had guessed, based on her diamond cutie mark that Rarity was a banker or maybe treasurer for the town, and was shocked to discover she was a dress-maker. A society of ponies that normally don't wear clothes and one of them is a dress-maker. He had noticed a few articles of clothing, but they tended to be indicative of station, rather than any sort of protection or fashion.

He had inquired in getting a new set of clothes made, but Rarity had returned and icy glare, stating she would "consider it, if she had time, he had money, and she was hard pressed for the cash". Based on her affluent appearance, Nathan figured that was the most polite way the white pony could say "never". At least she didn't spit on him. While the others thinly-veiled their distrust of the human, Rarity was outwardly hostile, barely tolerating his presence among the six of them. Where Twilight had shown a timid but surmountable fear, Rarity displayed only anger.

"A library? The architecture is amazing. Is that all that's in there, is books and living space?" Nathan inquired as the tour came to a close. Access to books would go a far way in helping to educate himself on the pony lands. Their culture, history, traditions, beliefs. He could already see himself spending hours here in his free time.

"Well there is a lab in the basement, but I never use it for the most part. It's cluttered with magic equipment since the time I tried to figure out Pinkie's 'Pinkie sense'" Seeing the human raise an eyebrow, Twilight quickly added "Don't even bother trying to understand it. I'm sure you'll see it in action soon enough. Let‘s just say that when something big is about to happen, Pinkie Pie… just knows." Nathan was still confused, but he nodded anyways. Some sort of prescience from that pink nut? His mind was already spinning off in another direction though, as Twilight had brought another important idea to the forefront of his mind.

A lab! Even if it was cluttered, it didn't sound like Twilight was using it, and it even had equipment he could take a look at just to see how their technology worked. The tech level here was confusing to Nathan. While they didn't seem to have electricity, so many objects he had come across during the tour couldn’t possibly work without some sort of power source. As they passed the home of two mares, he had seen a set of speakers in their living room. How did that work?

"Now, Nathan," Twilight broke his train of thought. "We've been more than generous showing you around town, and we have no plans to ask you to leave again. Applejack has informed me they had already hired you out at Sweet Apple Acres. However, I would like to make one thing very clear. We. Don't. Trust. You. At. All. You're a strange predator that keeps showing up in town. Then there was that display in the hospital..." Nathan blushed sheepishly. Alright, maybe he had gone a bit far.

"What I'm saying is you can stay until princess Celestia can figure out what to do with you. I'll be sending her a letter later today. In the meantime you need to behave. Fluttershy for whatever reason has vouched for you, and even AJ seems ok with you being here, so we'll take their word on it. For now." The look on Twilight's face was a mixture of stress and mild discomfort. Nathan had no intention of interrupting her. Rainbow Dash had no such reservations.

"Yeah! You heard what Twilight said. You do anything to anypony and you're going to get a hoof upside the head in ten seconds flat. Fluttershy told me what you did with the bear out in the Everfree forest. We don‘t eat meat here, and we don‘t kill anything. Ever." the blue Pegasus was fuming. Suddenly, she felt a tug at her leg, and turned to see a concerned Fluttershy staring her down.

"N-now Dash, we talked about this. I believe you have something to say to Nathan." Rainbow Dash looked back to the human sheepishly, and allowed her wings to carry her a little lower through the air. Scrunching her face into a knot, she glanced back to Fluttershy. Sighing, she nodded and spoke.

"Um... and I guess I owe you a bit of an apology. For, you know, kicking you in the head, when you were just trying to get Fluttershy safely home. So uh... sorry?" As Dash flitted to the back of the group, Rarity felt the need to put her two-bits in.

"I only tolerate your presence because of Fluttershy. She's my best friend, and if you lay a hoof... er paw… er whatever those things on the ends of your arms are... on her, I will show you some unicorn magic, and break you." Nathan nodded solemnly. He fully believed that the white unicorn intended every word she had spoken. Open hostility indeed. Finally, he spoke up.

"Hands, Rarity, they are called hands. Anyone else want to rip me a new one while we're all standing here?" Bristling at the fact the human had called her by name; Rarity’s eyes shot daggers of ice at the brute. If looks could kill…

"A new one what?!" Pinkie asked, excited to learn just what "one" was. Nathan face-palmed and proceeded to pinch the bridge of his nose, shaking his head. If I don’t go crazy by the end of the month it will be a small miracle. How naive are these pony folk anyways?

"Never mind, Pinkie Pie. Just... never mind."

"Speaking of Pinkie," Rarity spoke, a flash of realization crossing her face. "Dear, you are not in any way, shape, or form to throw a party for this… this human."

"But..." Pinkie began to protest.

"No buts Pinkie Pie. We do not need the whole town exposed to this... creature while he is here.” A dark shadow crossed Pinkie Pie's face. It was obvious from her pained expression that she had already started to plan one. Nathan felt a bit better. At least one other pony didn't seem to mind the thought of him being around. That was two of them turned around, and after a few weeks of working with Applejack he hoped he could count on her to tolerate him. He didn’t need them to be his friends, he just needed someone he could turn to if the rest of the town decided to get the pitchforks and torches one night. That being said, if anyone was going to lead the lynch mob, it was probably Rarity.

"Speaking of being here," Nathan turned his attention to Twilight. "While I'm here I'll need a place to sleep. If you're not really using your lab I thought maybe that I could stay there? I could clean it up myself and I'll start paying you rent once I get paid by AJ." He caught the mixed feelings on Applejack's face and quickly turned to her. Already he was overstepping his boundaries, and he knew it. Shit. "Sorry, can I call you AJ?"

"Let's just keep it at Applejack." She had already mulled it over. She didn’t need any additonal complications, being a simple orchard pony. "Only mah friends call me AJ." Ouch. Well at least she wasn't being as corrosive as her friends, even if she still viewed him as an outsider. Realizing the implication in her words she blushed and added "Ah mean... Ah'm sorry that was a lot ruder than ah intended"

"No it's alright Applejack. I understand. So, Twilight, can you spare me the room?" Twilight seemed to mull over something for a few moments before responding.

"Yes... for now you can live here. But! You are not to touch anything in the library without permission, and the door to the basement will be locked during sleeping hours. It's not a prison... I just don't trust you enough." The last condition seemed to internally conflict in Twilight Sparkle. Intending to not look a gift horse (pony?) in the mouth, Nathan nodded his head and agreed.

"Thank you Ms. Sparkle. I can live with that." Twilight blushed at the formality.

"Please, just call me Twilight. I'm not one for such pleasantries. Ok, well I have work to do and I assume you will want to get settled. Come on girls." The group of six mares broke up, slowly moving off to their own homes, Rainbow Dash performing a high-speed loop as she headed for her cloud home, obviously trying to show off. Fluttershy lingered a bit longer, still curious about the human, and needing to have a conversation with him about the hospital incident still, until she was called out by Rarity.

"Dear I'm sure Angel needs help taking care of the rest of the animals. Spending so much time with this human can't be healthy. You should go home now." She didn't bother to veil her obvious disgust. Fluttershy took a few more conflicted glances towards Nathan, but finally took her friend's suggestion and began to limp away towards her cottage. Rarity was right; the animals had been without her for nearly six days. Angel would be overwhelmed and angry. She did however put herself in front of Rarity with a stern look in her eyes.

"Oh Rarity, that was cruel. You can't say that about him. You might not understand or like him, but I do. Understand him I mean. Eventually I hope you can too. Until then, you are not to treat him like such." Rarity harrumphed, stuck her nose in the air and trotted off.

“Fluttershy, when you finally realize what that human can do if given the time and space, I hope you have the good sense to remember that I have tried to protect you." Nathan took stock of the departing ponies and blew out a stream of air at the sky.

"Well, that could have gone better." He was speaking out loud to the sky, not sure who or what might be listening. With that he turned around and headed in to the library. "Might as well start cleaning. Probably get another earful from Twilight too, she seemed to have more to say. I have a feeling she always has something more to say. This is going to be a rough few weeks. God, that Rarity is such a b-"

Enveloped in a cloud of smoke, the shadowy figure flitted in and amongst the various thoughts and dreams of Celestia's mind. A rainbow here, a cloud there, sunshine, cake. For the most part it was so overwhelmingly sweet he had to hold his sickly claw in front of his mouth, and close his eyes, forcing the vomit in his throat to recede. It amused him to think of what would happen if he lost his dinner inside Celestia’s dreams, but decided for the time being to avoid it. He wasn't here for the lollipops and joy anyways. He was looking for something deeper and darker. Something that Celestia didn’t want anypony to see.

As he moved about, a decrepit grin crossed his concealed face. He might be here for that, but why not have some fun. He so did love having fun. He took one of the clouds and gently formed a concept. He closed his eyes, and using his magic he reached out across his sphere of influence for the perfect idea. Moulding the thought like a ball clay, he produced an image of a steak and lobster dinner. Garlic mashed potatoes, vegetables and melted butter lined the plate. A glass of wine finished off the set-piece. Setting it free he softly snickered as it floated up and lodged itself amongst Celestia‘s more prevalent thoughts.

"Now you're going to wake up craving food you can't even describe! Even if you did know what it was, my dear pathetic Celestia, you would be ever so upset. Oh this is too easy! I should have done this years ago" His fun over, he continued down through the images and dreams that surrounded him. The further he went the more remote and buried the thoughts were. Memories from centuries ago, nearly forgotten with the crawl of time, both the good and the bad.

Finally, the shrouded figured found what he was looking for. A dark, haunting emotion, pushed as far down as Celestia could. Seizing the emotion in his claws, he peered in, drinking in the sight. Black tendrils of dread evaporated off the globe he held in his hands, drifting off and disappearing into the relatively dim surroundings. There were three statues, made of the blackest possible obsidian. One each for Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Queen Chrysalis

Each wore a threatening glare, peering down at the broken, crying form of the princess, as she wept upon the floor. Each of these statues represented a failing of the princess, each one time her powers had failed to protect her kingdom and the little ponies who lived there. She remembered clearly each of the events. Those memories were towards the top of her thoughts and could have easily been pushed up for her to remember more vividly. No, these statues represented the feeling of utter helplessness she had gone through. She had buried these emotions, hoping she would never feel such despair again.

The clawed figure began to nudge the memories closer to the surface of Celestia's consciousness, the same way he had done every other night for the last few months. The power of Princess Celestia’s consciousness was overwhelming, and the dark robed figure expended a considerable amount of his magical energy just getting it to move. As time had progressed though, his power had grown, and Celestia’s hold over the emotion had weakened. Each night the exercise was just that little bit easier. He continued to move it up. Not too far though. He needed the emotions to come slower, over time. More "naturally".

Satisfied his night's work was finished, the cloaked being slowly made his way back to the entrance to his portal. The first night he had performed this task, he nearly ran out of energy, nearly trapped himself within the mind of Celestia forever. Now, he felt relatively comfortable. Plenty of time and strength left. On his way he pushed past another thought he had planted a couple weeks before. He was still shocked how quickly that one had worked. Celestia was such a willing guinea pig. He toyed with the idea of removing the thought, or changing it, but decided ultimately to leave it alone. With some many disparate plans continuing concurrently, it was in his best interest to keep things as simple as possible.

Gliding back through the opening of his cauldron, he waved a claw over the pot, sealing the portal once again. Assuring himself he had the materials on hand for a few more similar incantations, he allowed himself to relax and wander down to the throne room where he kept his collection of statues. He sat upon the throne and gazed out an open window, the stained glass motif long ago having been smashed out, and waited for the first rays of sunlight to come flooding over the mountains. Waited for Celestia to awake from another troubled sleep.

Celestia woke with a start. Her bed was covered in sweat and her royal mane was dishevelled and unkempt. The sheets and blankets had been kicked off and lay at a lump at the foot of the bed, and her pillows littered the floor of her bedroom, tossed asunder during her fitful slumbering. Luna was just putting the moon to rest, and had knocked gently on her sister's door, waking her from the uncomfortable sleep. She had been dreaming, but she couldn’t remember what the dream had been about. She remembered… smoke… or something… a cloud maybe? Her sister? Regaining some of her composure she called out softly, answering the knock at the door.

"Yes? Luna is that you?" Celestia called out mild distress. Hearing her sister's panicked voice, Luna strode in the door and took in the room. The normally neat living quarters of her sister was thrown about like a tornado had entered the room, and the smell of sweat hung heavy in the air. Allowing the momentary confusion pass, Luna put on a neutral and caring face and approached Celestia.

"What is wrong my sister? You seem agitated."

"I had a terrible dream. I don't remember most of it. I’m glad you’re here, as you can see I didn’t sleep very well at all. I keep having these recurring thoughts too lately… I'm sorry Luna, but I have to ask you something. Please don‘t be offended or concerned, I just need to know something." Celestia held her breath, worried to offend her sister. Luna cocked her head in confusion and replied.

"You can ask me anything dear sister. What could be troubling you so?" Celestia considered how best to ask her question without hurting Luna. Luna couldn’t imagine what her sister could possibly ask that would upset or hurt her. She loved her, and wanted the best for both of them.

"When... when you were Nightmare moon..." Celestia could see Luna bristle a bit. It had been an unspoken rule between the two of them that they shouldn’t talk about the time Luna was banished to the moon. When Luna turned against Celestia and the rest of the kingdom. Luna gently nodded her head, permitting Celestia to continue her inquiry. "... Did you want to be saved? Did you want to be Luna again?" Luna could feel the emotional minefield she had walked into, and didn't know where her sister was going.

"I don't know. Honestly, when I was Nightmare Moon, I didn't think about what I really wanted, or who I wanted to be. I spent one-thousand years trapped in the moon. One thousand years to watch you rule alone, controlling everything. One thousand years of spending every day thinking to myself ’Celestia, my sister Celestia, used the very weapons that we used together against Discord to me of my powers and banish me'. I hated you. So very, very much. I wanted to come down there and overthrow your rule. I wanted to banish you someplace for all eternity. I wanted… Celestia when I was Nightmare moon I fully wanted, and intended, to destroy you.

"Some small part of me, I’m sure, wanted to just be Luna again, but that fraction of my being was consumed by Nightmare Moon wanting to end your reign. That’s all I could think about. For one thousand years. Now that I am myself again, I am eternally grateful to you and your students. I love you, and looking back I acknowledge that what I did, the things I thought, they were all wrong. Honestly though? No. I would have remained Nightmare for the rest of eternity if given the choice at the time. I'm sorry if that doesn't ease your mind. What did you ask me for though, sister?"

Celestia had asked the question, and was prepared for the answer. Some small part of her knew the whole time what the answer was. The words hurt her though. She wanted to believe Nightmare Moon had been a curse, brought on by some still unknown to them magic, not a choice. She had staked her continued co-rule with Luna based on that. Knowing that she might have stayed Nightmare Moon forever? Celestia was shaken. Allowing Luna to return home may have been the single most disastrous action of her millennia of rule. May have been. She forced herself to acknowledge that so far Luna had returned to rule amicably. She put a smile on her face and managed to reply to her sister.

"Oh I was just curious." A lie, of course. Luna knew it, but let it go. "Let me freshen up and then I'll go raise the sun." Luna politely smiled back and nodded. Something was troubling her sister greatly, but she knew better than to push it. Celestia usually had her reasons. Luna did regret her answer however. Celestia wanted an honest answer, but the pain in her eyes told her she had cut her sister deeply.

"Of course dear sister. I'll leave you in private." Luna turned her back and headed for the door. Celestia allowed one solitary tear to trickle down her cheek, before quickly wiping it away so Luna didn’t see it. Suddenly remembering another part of her dream, Celestia’s face wrinkled.

"Wait, Luna.” Luna turned around again, catching the confused look on her sister’s face. “Do you happen to know what a ‘steak’ is? I have a horrible craving to eat one for some reason, and I don't even know what it is!"