I woke up in the dark. Everything hurt and I was unsure how I was alive, the last thing I genuinely remembered was Discord exploding, there were distant, vague memories of... something. I wasn't sure what exactly, a life that lasted a billion billion years, in multiple timelines and sometimes in two places at once. I figured it was Discord's memories after getting stabbed by Spiritus but just the fading glimpses of his memory caused me to get a headache. I remembered something about another me as well, a younger mind, different body. From a totally different universe, but again I couldn't really pinpoint exactly what was going through my head; it felt like it was on fire so much information flooding back. I wasn't even sure if I was alive for a while when I woke up, the area around me was pitch black and I couldn't move, I didn't try to be honest; I didn't want to, as I said everything ached and hurt. I was hungry, thirsty, and incredibly tired. The only thing keeping me believing I was alive was how much I hurt, surely the afterlife wouldn't be this big of a punishment. Plus, I didn't really believe in all the spiel about life after death. My left eye wasn't in blinding pain anymore however so there was one unseen benefit. I had no idea if I was still wearing an eye patch or if the bitch would start to bleed at any moment like it had been.

After a time, my eyes started to adjust to the poor lighting somewhat; I promptly worked out it wasn't just due to the fact the blinds were closed behind me, it was just genuinely night out, I had no idea what time but I just speculated it was somewhat late. I could just make out the figure of a cyan looking mare sleeping awkwardly in a chair close to the wooden door leading out of the room, I also recognised this was the room I usually stayed at whilst at Canterlot. I had no idea how long I was out for, I couldn't distinguish who the female in the corner was, her mane and tail were rainbow coloured and a pair of beautiful wings lay drooped out on either side of her.

"Nobody was sure if you would ever wake up. We started to lose hope." A voice mumbled from my left, I knew the voice but could not immediately put a finger on to where it was from. Someone from before I died was my best guess, the same with the blue mare. I tried to utter a reply but all that came out was a dry wheeze and slight cough. I was leaning upright slightly and my head was supported by multiple pillows.

"Do not try to talk yet Aron, your voice won't be working right now, you need liquid and healing." The voice said quietly, there was little emotion behind it and even took me a few seconds to register he had been talking to me; as well as the ponies in my room with me I had forgotten my own name, or chosen name. I knew I had been hurt due to an explosion against a being known as Discord, I knew I was in Equestria, mainly the capital city of Canterlot and I knew this was my room. Thinking anymore hurt too much. Despite the warning I tried to speak again, again there was a slight wheeze and a more violent cough, my throat filled up with liquid for a second and felt less dry; i figured I coughed up some blood but I hadn't seen any come out. There was a long pause before the voice said anything else, I thought I had dreamt it for a minute and was about to try to sleep.

"It's around three in the morning. Twilight, Rainbow Dash over there, and I; Diamond, have been watching you in shifts. As well as various unicorn doctors and both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. I have been told that were you to wake you may have some memory gaps." The voice, Diamond explained. The second he said out names I began to know who was who, my mind building itself back up. "I'm not sure on the exact date but it is sometime mid-May. You've been in a coma since December." He added after a few seconds. Five months I'd been gone. So much could have changed.

"I..." I finally managed to get out, fighting the pain in my throat.

"You defeated an actual God Aron. A Spirit of Equestria." Diamond said. "There has been some news that Princess Celestia wishes to speak to you about in light of that." He added.

"Diamond." I muttered, not getting anything else out and coughing.

"Do you remember me?" He asked. I nodded. "Good. I'd turn on the light but I would not wish to disturb Miss Rainbow Dash. She's been, restless, to say the least. And I wish to talk to you first."

"One. Sided." I grunted. He giggled slightly.

"That's true. Before anything though; Aron you are a hero. A true hero. You stopped genocide on two planets and defeated the demonic force that is Discord."

"And?" I asked.

"And..." He paused. "And destroying a Spirit of Equestria like you did caused some unbalance. We've talked about this before, the Spirit War that nearly destroyed the world."

"Are we safe?" I asked.

"The gap between here and your world has been closed, Earth disappeared and we can only presume it survived. But Discord was a very powerful being with powerful magic, I don't know much but what I do is not good. Princess Celestia will fill you in more, but whatever magic was inside you may be unstable."

"Meaning?"

"We... We do not know. It will either fade away or it won't. If it does not vanish then there will be a problem, but a problem for another time."

"Perfect." I grunted. "Five months?" I asked.

"Yes. It's been hard on many of us, ponies were worried. Rumours spread, especially after the Taint incident." Diamond replied. "Demons, The Void, Discord. It's all too much for some." Another pause. "We've yet to recover Spiritus, we believe it was thrown off the mountain in the blast. Could be anywhere."

"Jus' a sword..." I muttered, a sword that had killed a God. But that had sent me into a six-month coma so the balance was there.

"Do you remember the fight?"

"Wasn't a fight. Stabbed him in the." I coughed. "In the back. You got... Got any water?" I added once I'd calmed. I saw a wing move slightly and a glass of water came back with it, I grabbed it carefully and just downed the thing in one go. It was cool and was the liquid version of bliss.

"Did you... See anything? Like with the Enfield?" I wasn't entirely sure what he was talking about for a second.

"Yes, I think so... It's such a blur." I paused to stop myself from coughing. I was pushing my luck and knew it. "I don't understand much of it. Other dimensions, other Discords, other mes." I added finally.

"He lived a long life, and who knows what kind of information you received from that. Honestly losing Spiritus was probably for the best if you blacked out and went into a trance after every fight."

"Heh." I mumbled. Then started laughing quietly, sadly. "I suppose I really am a warrior now."

"You don't have to be, you can back out." Diamond grumbled.

"Go... Go get Celestia." I muttered after a time. I felt so weak, so tired. I supposed I would need a lot of help and support getting up out of bed and walking. I would need to get back into shape, the recovery would be difficult to say the least. In any other medium all that would be needed is a crap montage with upbeat music to sort myself out. Probably a chapter or so in a kind of book. Not that it would ever happen.

I didn't exactly see Diamond nod, but it felt like he had. The stallion stood up out of his seat and trotted quietly to the door, he opened it slowly and crept out, Dash didn't even stir, she was totally knocked out. I wandered whether that was magical or not for a second but figured nobody would have knocked Dash out against her will. Some light poured into the room but not too much, I didn't hear any noise out in the corridor nor see anyone. He didn't bother closing the door behind him and I welcomed the light pouring in.

A few minutes passed and the door opened fully, followed by a majestic white Alicorn, her horn was glowing holding a tray of what I could only guess was food and drink. Celestia looked sad, and incredibly tired, her hair was a mess and not as active as usual. Her horn glow expanded and flashed a light, the sleeping form of Rainbow Dash vanished and the door shut. After another spell a small orb of yellow light appeared and began to float aimlessly around the room, mostly following Celestia.

"You won't be accustomed to bright light yet, I do hope this isn't too bad." She said once she was closer, I had been watching the orb fly aimlessly fly around above my bed. "Drink, please." She added. She floated over a glass of water which I drank happily, downing as much as possible. It was clear I'd lost a lot of weight during my coma, I wasn't sure how they had managed to keep me alive but presumed it had something to do with magic.

"Thank you." I said, I drank more of the water then lay quietly waiting for the princess to speak.

"I am truly glad to see you finally awake Aron." She said, smiling slightly; a smile that dropped almost immediately. "But we have some issues to discuss."

"Yeah Diamond told me, bits." I replied.

"He doesn't know the full story yet."

"Oh."

"Discord is; was, a Spirit of Equestria. He was created along with others to keep the balance of the world in check. The last time a Spirit was killed the world was thrown into literal chaos, the world went through a dark age for thousands of years."

"The Wasteland?"

"A cause of the Spirit war, the world used to be lush Aron, green and beautiful. Now most of the world is dead and barren, the ground cracked and nothing living survives. This happened around eight thousand years and Equus has yet to recover."

"So, what have I caused?" I asked.

"You have caused nothing but our survival Aron, please believe th-."

"Celestia."

"Discord was a being of chaos, of Taint. Some of his magic has leeched into your own wild magic. We don't believe it will ever be an issue. If it was an issue you wouldn't be here for this conversation." I wasn't sure if she meant I would have been killed, in a permanent come or she would have been the one to kill me. "Most of his magic spread across the world, into the atmosphere. Tartarus is more active than usual, Equestria has received a threat of invasion from an old enemy, we've already detected some mega-spells that could become active at any point. And there is no telling what else is coming." I didn't say anything, just shut my eyes, and held back the want to cry. "This. Is. Not. Your. Fault." Celestia added. "Had Discord lived we would all be dead, you couldn't have contained him alone, and I think he knew it."

"And yet worse is coming. I've spread chaos rather than stop it."

"Whatever comes Aron we will find a way to prevail." She said, her usual motherly charm was suddenly gone and a military leader stood before me. Celestia had subtle changes all over her person, eyes darker, coat duller. The image only lasted a second before she returned to her usual form. I lay in silence for a while thinking on that. Wanting to know what to say to that, eventually; after too long. I had an answer.

"Whatever is thrown at us, whatever comes. I'll be here to face it with you." I said. Six months ago, I didn't dream of saying that, I hated the idea of war and fighting, I knew what it looked like. But something Discord had said, about multiple versions of me. How some other version had managed to fight and survive, so why couldn't I? I wasn't sure if he had been lying or what half the things he had said even meant. Either way I was dedicated to stop other monsters like him.

Just another pawn in the endless cycle of violence.

"T-Thank you Aron." Celestia replied, sniffing, and smiling slightly. She paused for a second. "You may struggle to walk for a time, you lost weight and strength. A lot of the reason you survived was magic, we weren't entirely sure how your body would react but a choice had to be made. You should be up and about in around a week."

"Such a short time." I muttered, she shrugged.

"Again, magic is a big reason, you can't sustain it but by the time it fades you will have healed enough regardless." She looked me up and down, which wasn't hard considering I was in bed. "But this wasn't exactly a normal coma." She added.

"Either way, hopefully I'll recover quickly?" I asked.

"Your voice seems to be back already." She replied, I weakly nodded.

"True. What exactly did I miss?" She blinked a few times and moved back in what I presumed was surprise.

"Well Spiritus has been lost, I sent multiple search parties out once we had recovered y- your body, but found nothing."

"Diamond told me. It's just a sword."

"An incredibly powerful sword." Again, I paused. Eventually I gave up on that sour topic.

"What about my, corruption?" I asked, my eye didn't hurt as much in truth, but I was still fearful of what had happened to it.

"The Taint did return after Discord, we had to remove it again-" I shuddered. "-you will have a few scars where skin broke and the purple will always be there, but as far as we know the Taint won't grow or spread anymore. The throbbing will always be an issue but never too much."

"Too much?"

"All... infected react differently to Taint and post-Taint. Some have pain forever, some have the corruption spread no matter what is done for them. Some completely heal, no scars, no evidence at all. This is all speculation Aron, there is no telling what will happen." She paused. "However, it has been months since the event, if it were to spread it would have already." Being called infected hit home hard, felt like I had already fallen to this corruption, or been oust as an outcast.

"Who sent this threat to Equestria?" I asked.

"What do you know of Equestria's enemies?" She asked back.

"Not much, nobody tells me shit." I answered, then added: "I know the dogs are an issue and vermin, rather than any viable threat. I know Changelings are a thing but that's about it. I know Griffons are north of us, but we aren't at war with them, the dragons are also an issue but aren't evil."

"Indeed. There are two groups of Changelings, the Southern Tribe, and the Eastern Tribe. The Eastern Tribe, are considered close allies; but we haven't heard from them for a while. The Southern Tribe are disgusting, vile creatures. Kidnap, assault, raids, and numerous other crimes against Equestria. But war would be devastating."

"You sound somewhat offended by their mere existence."

"My thoughts on them go back a very long time Aron. Both tribes can change form at will and feed on emotions, both do it differently but I am unaware of the science. The Eastern Changelings have orange eyes and wings, whilst the Southern Tribe have blue parts." She paused. "Chrysalis has never been so bold as to actually threaten my life though. Never by message anyway."

"Do you think this is to do with m- Discord's magic?" I asked.

"Possibly." She replied after a minute. "Not every event will be to do with Discord Aron, and this has been a long time coming."

"A'right." I mumbled. "Anything else? Light-hearted maybe?"

"You've been invited to a wedding." That stumped me, and obviously not like the others. I didn't know anyone who could possibly be getting married. Unless the HMS 'Lymond' had finally sailed and the guard and unicorn were getting together permanently.

"Who you marrying?" I asked, smiling. She immediately blushed and stepped back.

"No not me!" She declared, I giggled a bit and she rolled her eyes and walked over again. The magic orb she had conjured had changed to a weird shade of red. "Princess Cadence and Captain Shining Armor are getting married here in Canterlot."

"Not met Cadence, met Shining though. Once." And God what an asshole he was.

"Princess Cadence recently returned from the far east meeting with the leaders of Zafrica, and thought a wedding would be nice for her and Shining Armor. After she was informed of your escapades she believed it proper to invite you to it."

"Escapades like killing some dogs, a weird mutant fox thing, pissing off a dragon, killing an actual god and causing untold misery and sadness across the world?"

"Cadence also used to foal sit Twilight, which is how her and Twilight's brother met." I couldn't remember if Twilight had ever mentioned a brother or if I had ever been told she had a sibling. "Rainbow Dash and the other elements are also invited to the wedding." I smirked.

"Meaning I would've gone regardless of my wishes." Celestia just nodded.

"The wedding will be huge, a royal one with myself being the registrar, along will all the other positions for legal bindings." She replied. "Which is why I believe that will be the time the Changelings attempt their invasion, public event, plenty of ponies and plenty of love; which they feed off. Would be a perfect time." I should have questioned the feeding off love thing and literally everything else she just said to me but didn't.

"Alright, when is it and what will be my job?" I asked.

"Not for another month. I hadn't planned on you being there, which you can understand, but if you are healed enough I would like you to guard Twilight and her friends. They have all been asked with a specific job at the wedding and I'd like it to go smoothly, invasion or not." I nodded.

"Bitchin'. What about Earth, that trip still possible?" She didn't say anything for a second, but nodded to herself eventually.

"The breach has been closed, nothing will merge anymore. You could go to earth, even with a unicorn and nothing would go wrong. However, I would need you to go with a pony, and you still can't return to earth permanently." I was about to ask why before she answered for me. "When I came for you, Equus and Earth were following the same timeline, a day here was a day there. However, with the breach closed Earth travels much faster through time than us simply by being so far away. The way I would send you to Earth is through time travel, put you back just after you left and allow you to stay for a while. However, that spell doesn't last forever so I need a length of stay. I could repeat the spell but the more I send you back the more complicated the spell becomes since there is a larger time difference."

"Understandable." I somewhat understood it too. Somewhat. "I'd probably need two weeks to gather information, I might be able to get a prop as well, just to give some visual information. Still deciding on bringing Dash or Diamond. I'd likely do more work with Diamond."

"I shall keep that in mind, but we can discuss research before your trip. But you need your rest so I shall leave you. It has been a long five months. Goodnight Aron." She said, she walked away before I could reply, the small orb following her. She left through the door and shut the door on the orb, it floated towards the wall following her movements and smashed into pieces of glowing glass once it hit a wall. Most of the shards slowly vanished before they hit the ground and the rest did once they hit the carpet. Without any kind of entertainment and no other reason to stay up I very quickly felt the want to sleep. Drifting off was easy enough and I slept through the rest of the night.

The next time I woke up Rainbow Dash was still missing and Diamond was sitting in a chair next to me. Sunlight was finally bleeding through my curtains into the room, I blinked a few times to get used to the lighting and groaned. My whole body ached and I was sitting in the same position I had fallen asleep in, meaning my back ached like a real bitch.

"Afternoon." Diamond muttered. I coughed and smiled.

"Is it?"

"How are you feeling?" He asked. I didn't reply for a second, just thinking and staring into space.

"I'm alive. Aching though." I replied, Diamond smiled slightly.

"Understandable."

"There a mirror about?" I asked. He stood up and walked over to a table at the other side of the room, then grabbed what I very much presumed was a mirror, he came back and dropped it on my bed, I got an arm out and held it up to my face. My hair was messy and much longer than it was before the coma. I had a mess of hair resembling facial hair. My face had a few spots on them and the usual grease of not cleaning properly after an extended length of time.
My eye was where my focus was though. Celestia had been right about my eye. Most of the skin around it was practically white, dots of normal skin were scattered about in dots as well as multiple craters and cuts where skin had been peeled away. The colour of my eye was pure purple, and the usual white of my eye was either blood red or pinkish rather than pure white. Small purple veins were going across my eye and showing up on bits of my skin. My eye lashes and eyebrow hadn't regrown at all and only skin remained, the white skin just looked like a white burn on my face, with normal skin getting more obvious around the circle on my face. I blinked a few times and saw that my eyelids were incredibly thin, it was enough to keep light out like usual but was obvious a lot more worse off than the right, likewise with purple veins on it. I dropped the mirror in disgust and looked back to Diamond.

"Fuck." I grunted.

"It is not so bad." He replied, I rolled my eyes, then closed them and leaned back.

"Whatever. What have you been up to since Discord?" I asked. He blinked in surprise. "Anything going down with Lyra? Shit besides making me feel horrible I mean." I added.

"Ah. Well Twilight Sparkle has been in Canterlot a lot recently, so the library has been practically empty. When I go down to Ponyville we normally stay together either there or her place." He answered.

"So, what? Moving into together?"

"Maybe, getting there I suppose. I met her mother recently."

"Nice. You here about the wedding?"

"Heh. Besides-." He paused, looking me up and down. "-Never mind. That's all ponies are really talking about. Cadance got back three months ago and Shining Armor asked her then. Been either together or planning the wedding since."

"Real royal wedding then. Apparently, I'm invited."

"That and we think the Changelings are planning something, there is a shield over Canterlot now that only Shining Armor can control stopping anything that isn't pony from getting in. I wouldn't say the city is in lock-down, but the turrets are active."

"Shit. I better not leave the city then, not even sure if I can."

"You should be safe from them. Princess Celestia made sure of that."

"Fair enough. I am apparently invited to that wedding. Although Celestia wants me on guard duty."

"Not for another month, but it feels like every day is a wedding out there. There is a reason I stay in here a lot. I am on duty that day as well, however Lyra is going so-"

"You'd be going regardless." I interrupted, saying it at the same time as Diamond.

"Ah so Rainbow Dash is going."

"Yeah... Her, Twi, Pinks. All of The Elements of Harmony bearers are going. I guess they are considered Equestria's main weapons if they were used against an apocalyptic level event that was Luna's ego and now an invasion."

"The Elements of Harmony are the main weapons. They are the last line of defence against magical beings that threaten Equestria. They stopped Discord, they stopped Nightmare Moon twice."

"Where do they come from?"

"Nobody really knows. Some say it is from the Princess Mother, others say the Spirits of Equestria made them in case any of them turn insane." So, Discord.

"Does anyone else know that I'm awake?" I finally asked. Diamond then smiled for the first time since I had woken up and winked. "Everyone knew last night, didn't they?" I asked. He just nodded and stood up, then walked towards the door.

"Princess Celestia cast a spell on you last night so the moment you awoke proper ponies would be informed." He stopped at the door and put a hoof on the handle.

"I just woke up from a coma." I grunted, staring at him.

"That you did. You ready?"

"Of course not. Open the door." And thus, Diamond opened the flood gates, the door swung open and in poured my hell for the next few hours. Twilight and her friends, Dash, Sunflower, Grumble, both Princesses and another Alicorn I didn't recognise that I presumed was Cadance and a few others walked in and took positions around the room. I was immediately crushed by the forces of my girlfriend and the pink menace of Pinkie Pie hugging me on either side of my bed. Pinkie Pie cried out a flurry of words I barely understood, about people missing me and the expected stuff. But Dash just pushed her head into my chest and held me tight, not making a sound. I managed to awkwardly pull an arm out from under the sheets, seeing how weak it had gotten, muscle mass practically gone.
Ignoring that I started to stroke Dash's hair, still she said nothing, Pinkie kept going.

"It's good to see you all again, but I'm back now." I declared, with that most walked over and started chatting to either me or each other. It was so unorganised. Twilight, Cadance and Luna were probably the highlights that came up over the next three actual hours. Twilight was first.

"How do you feel?" She asked, it had been agreed after far too long people would just come in one at a time and either go do whatever or hang out in the next room if they wanted to talk to me. I was somewhat saddened to find out Rarity, Applejack and Spike just decided to bail. Rainbow Dash refused to leave my side but didn't say a word, nor did I say anything to her, it just felt good holding her again.

"I'm considerably weaker than when I fought Discord, my eye is totally fucked and this bed has become the most uncomfortable thing in the known universe. But, I'm alive and surrounded by friends so pretty god damn good." I replied. She nodded.

"I've been doing a lot of research whilst you were... Away."

"On?"

"Discord, Spiritus, The Spirits... And after you were brought back in and were talking in your sleep some more on other topics. Mainly a pony named Bright Haze, the Multiverse and The Void."

"What did you learn?" I wasn't sure about the last three, I'd never heard of a pony under that name but I didn't recall talking in my coma so I presumed it was an after effect thanks to Discord.

"Not much. All research on Discord leads to the fact you should not have won that fight alone." She replied.

"Well gee thanks." She rolled her eyes. "I knew that at least. The way I offed the fucker was stabbing him in the back. He seemed really... Distracted." I shrugged slightly, making Dash shift slightly. Pretty sure she had fallen asleep as her grip had loosened a while back.

"Spiritus is likewise a bust, there are no books in Canterlot or any knowledge here on enchanted weapons that are even close to Spiritus. I was tempted to go down to the old castle and try and look there but with you, my brother's wedding and the Princess warning me the Everfree was dangerous I left it."

"It's not that important Twi, the swords gone. Discord's gone and I'm here standing. Let's just move on." I wanted to tell her the Everfree was probably more dangerous now because of Discord's magic I'd unleashed but I wasn't sure if that was a lie or not.

"And besides the fact ponies sort of know the Spirits are real, thanks to Discord ruling over Equestria for so long... There is nothing on them."

"Fair enough. Knowledge we could have used but I think we'll survive without it."

"Now as for the next three. The Void is an incredibly dangerous place and after a chat with Princess Celestia I was told you already knew that."

"I did. It's how I got the eye."

"I know." She paused. "The Multiverse I found nothing on..." She paused again.

"Until?"

"Until I spoke to Princess Celestia." She took a breath. "Aron, I don't think we are the only 'universe' out there. I think that the reason Discord was defeated so easily was because he let you. Because in the grand scheme of things it doesn't actually matter what happens."

"Twi." She stopped. "When I fought Discord, he told me some things, he took me to The Void and showed me an event I don't remember, supposedly that was when I received the Taint and he didn't let me remember it. But during, and then after. He explained he was inter-dimensional. That he can see other versions of himself. I vaguely remember him saying how I had defeated him before, in a younger body." I added, unsure of myself, the memories hazy at best.

"That's what I'm implying. Aron what if you did, as this Bright Haze character, defeat Discord in another universe, in another timeline? That means time travel is a viable option, as is inter-dimensional travel!" Twilight declared. "Aron, we could learn everything there is to know if we can find other dimensions!"

"Don't get ahead of yourself Twilight. The Void is supposedly in-between a dimension so every time you go to one you go through there. And you don't want to go there." I said. She nodded.

"I understand that, but it's something to consider, isn't it?"

"I suppose."

"Do you know anything else about that Haze character?" She asked.

"Discord told me he died. Believe his exact words are 'somewhere north of here', 'against an enemy I'll never meet'." I replied. "But it doesn't matter if there are infinite dimensions, if I killed Discord here and now, or before and then I would have done it in countless timelines. We ain't lords over our fates." Twilight nodded.

"Well that's all I had for you Aron, I shall make a point on talking with the Princess more. It is good to see you awake again."

"It's good to be awake again. I suggest talking with Luna about all this, she might know more." Or give out more information. With that she nodded again and left. Sunflower Haze and Grumble came in next.

Sometime later I found myself looking at an incredibly pink pony, like if there were a toy line for my life this chick would have been wanted by millions of little girls and thousands of old bearded men. She had the horn and wings of an Alicorn, purple eyes, a small tiara, necklace, and golden shoes. Pink, purple, and yellow hair and looked like someone that liked hardcore BDSM in bed.

"Princess Cadance I presume?" I asked. She smiled and nodded.

"Yes, I know we haven't met but I used to be Twilight's foal-sitter. I've heard so much about you."

"Well you will forgive me when I say I haven't heard much about you. Just that you are a diplomat and are marrying Twilight's brother."

"Of course, I forgive you. Not being in Equestria for a long time I didn't hear about you until a few months ago. But what you've done for us is beyond measure."

"It wasn't much truly, I guarantee that whatever people are saying about me are very much lies. I have done minimal work besides this, last event."

"Either way Equestria, and I, are truly thankful. Which is why you have been invited to my wedding."

"You needn't have Princess. This one was invited anyway so I would've gone regardless." I said, pointing my head at Dash, both my arms were over her now and she really was asleep, bundled up on the bed. Cadance's horn flashed for a second and she smiled.

"She genuinely loves you Aron." She muttered.

"I know." I replied.

"Besides being Equestria's top diplomat I am also The Princess of Love." She explained. I just shrugged. "But you’re unsure of yourself, aren't you?" She asked. I looked away from Dash and to the Princess. "Your emotions are all over the place. You don't know if you can love again."

"I..."

"I know Aron. I can see how you feel and I understand. As much as one can understand anyway. I shall let your friends in to speak with you and stop using up your time. Welcome back to Equestria though." She said. Walking away.

"Thank you." I muttered as she left. It goes without saying whoever came in next got a very mixed bag of responses.

Princess Luna came in practically last, with only Celestia behind her. Spear Wielder had been in before her just to welcome me back. I had been surprised when both my trainer and Toyar had come to see me. Hell, Toyar brought me a new sword, it was a simple thing really. Long hilt I could get a hand and a half over, decent curved guard and a long shiny blade. The scabbard was proper leather as well and I made a point in not asking how he had made it.
Anyway, with Princess Luna came a new conversation I hadn't expected.

"Welcome back to Equestria Aron." She greeted, walking in much quieter than I expected.

"Thank you, Princess." I replied. Luna was quiet for a moment before she spoke.

"Do you remember the Gala, Aron?" She asked. I nodded.

"Yes, we spoke of each other’s past and then got drunk at some local watering hole."

"Do you also remember Celestia talking to you during Nightmare Night? Mainly what you suggested?" I paused at that, thinking back on what exactly I said.

"Not exactly. She told me off for getting you drunk."

"You suggested that the system we have in place, where I guard the night and she the day should come to an end so I could get help."

"Yes, I meant no offense-." I began.

"Good, you didn't create any. Do you know what I do, what I did during peace times at night Aron?" She asked. I shook my head. "I watch over the dreams of ponykind, making sure they are happy and safe in their slumber. Ponies work under Celestia's light during the day and rest under mine. That is what it means to be Princess of the Night." She said.

"I see." I muttered, not sure where this was going.

"Aron please do not fear me." She said. "I honestly wish to change for the better, I know I am behind everypony else and we- I, cannot change for the better alone. Last month my sister allowed me to take on a student and teach them the ways of safe guarding the dreams of ponykind. In turn I shall also teach some of my royal guards, so they too may assist in dream guarding."

"Where does that leave you?" I asked. She didn't say anything for a solid minute, then took a deep breath. She smiled.

"Free. I shall remain as Princess but rule alongside my sister. We have spoken and both agree it could work." I opened my mouth to speak. "Which brings you into the equation." She muttered, then stepped forward and put her forelegs under her body, kneeling down. "Aron of Earth. During my time off during the evenings..." She began. "Will you be my friend? Teach me the ways of being nice and calm. Help me heal?" She asked. That meant it was my turn to pause. I wasn't at all sure what to say, Luna could be a valuable friend, but did I want to spend my time trying to help someone even though I ignored my own issues? But thinking on it, it could work. Both of us were very much broken, her maybe more so. But just chilling with someone like her could do us both good. Hell get Diamond in the mix and it will be three depressed people going on adventures and trying to solve our issues. I was told that having people who are all depressed together would be a terrible idea but we were all in varying degrees of self-hatred. Diamond seemed happy with Lyra, I was coming out of my shell. Only Luna needed the major help and she would be spending time with her sunshine brightness sister. Fuck it.

"Of course, Luna. We can hang out sometime in the future. Maybe sometime after the wedding."

"I was going to suggest that, I still need to officially get a student and begin dream training. It will take some time for things to adjust enough for me to be truly free." She said. Then stood and began to leave. "Thank you, Aron." She said and left.

I spent about an hour after everyone had seen me with Dash. I agreed with Celestia to allow that, as well as a conversation with Dash before anything else be done with me. She wanted to try and get me in physical therapy immediately; which frankly I was all for. Dash was still asleep when I finally got bored of staring into space and I started to poke her slightly and whisper her name. She stirred with a grumble and looked up at me. Her necklace was on, her hair was a mess and she had clearly been crying. Either awake or in her sleep. She looked at me sadly, then as the realisation kicked in she dove forward and hugged me tight again and started to properly cry. I just started to stroke her and let her cry. She started to mutter something into my chest that I couldn't hear. All but one line: I can't do this. That stopped my heart and I stopped stroking her. She stopped crying and sniffed, feeling me tense up. Dash looked up and at me.

"Aron, I thought you were dead!" She cried. I felt my skin turn cold and pale. "You could've died! What were you thinking!" She yelled.

"I didn't expect him to teleport me. Something had to be done." I replied. She punched me with a hoof, no force behind it at all.

"I know. But why did it have to be you!" She yelled again. I had nothing to say so just stared at her. She started to hit me with both hooves now, still no force behind them at all, just tapping against the bed sheet.

"I love you!" She cried. "But I can't deal with you dying like that, being so... Selfless!" She paused. "I'm sorry Aron. I can't do this, the last few months have been hell. They've been... Been... Bullshit!" She was crying and I just continued to stare, waiting for the end. "What if you do this again! Celestia has been saying you're going to help fight against the Changelings! Why?" Now I never expected Celestia to just outright declare my loyalty to Equestria and would have some very choice words with her when I spoke to her. I had wanted to let the whole coma thing die down before talking to Dash about it.

"Aron, we can't be together anymore." And that was the sentence I was dreading.

"Dash..." I muttered, barely a whisper.

"Don't. Please. Don't." She grunted. "If you died I couldn't live with myself. This is for the best." She added. "If you want to play at war then fine. But don't drag me down with you." She said, then climbed off me and onto the ground. I watched her all the way down and watched her still as she walked to the door, still crying. I watched as she opened the door and turned right. Out of my life.

Not once did she look back.

As soon as she was out of earshot I began to cry.

Celestia never did turn up after that.