Chapter 1: A New World...for Some

Author's Notes:

Well, I promised this story would continue, and I meant it. Here is the first chapter of the "vacation" everyone had planned to take, and needless to say, it's going to be fun for all involved. Read and enjoy.

“Ow, fuck!” shouted my brother’s voice, along with a loud thud.

“Watch yer language, Dark!” chastised who could only be Applejack.

I opened my eyes to the bright sun and squinted in pain from it. I groaned and stood, nearly stumbling as I remembered that I only had two feet now instead of four, but after a few seconds I righted myself and took a look around. I gaped in surprise though, when I noticed the other fifteen gathered around me. With it being only the second time I’d cast this specific spell (and the first time I’d seen what the others looked like in human forms), it went without saying I was a little surprised.

Spike was as tall as I was with olive-colored skin and bright green eyes. One of the things I’d made sure to change was everyone’s hair, as the hair colors of most of us was unnatural, so I’d given the young dragon straight black hair. Spike was built like a powerlifter though, and so was probably the most intimidating out of all of us. His fangs had been replaced with the dull canines of a human, and his tail was of course removed as well.

My brother was just what he had been when we lived on Earth, a tall 6’10” light-skinned black guy with buzzed hair and a powerful build. His eyes were now dark-brown again, and like Spike, all his draconic attributes had been removed.

Venn and Moonfang were the biggest surprise thus far, as this would be the first time either of them had been in a form other than that of a wolf. Both were equal in height at around 6’2”, and both were well-defined powerhouses. Venn’s eyes were a piercing blue-gray, while Moonfang’s were normal eyes of pale gold instead of the burning fire they once were. Both of their hairstyles were long and shaggy (Venn’s black and Moonfang’s bown), with Venn’s being more spiky, and both were currently wobbling a bit, getting used to their new legs.

Twilight was short, probably only about 5’4”, with a fairly slim build and dark brown skin. Her hair was the same style it usually was, but jet black without the pink and violet stripe, and she had dark brown eyes.

Lyra was just a tad taller than Twilight, with strawberry blonde hair, pale skin, and amber eyes. Like Twi, she was also very slim, but with longer legs and a more shapely behind.

I could already tell that Pinkie was going to cause trouble. I had changed her hair to blonde to go with both her personality and eyes, but this had in fact worked a little too well. Being naturally more curvy than the others, this had turned her into a blonde bombshell, with a tall stature of about 5’10” with softly-tanned skin.

AJ looked like a farm girl through and through. Luckily I was able to keep her the same for the most part. Her skin was well-tanned (as it would be from working hard in the fields all day) and she was maybe an inch shorter than Pinkie. She was extremely muscular for her size, but without looking like a bodybuilder -- more like someone that actually works manually for a living (which she does). She still had those cute freckles of hers, and her feminine curves were accentuated by the ropy muscles that covered her body.

Much like her pony body, Rarity was tall, lean, and gorgeous. Her eyes were the same deep pools of blue they normally were, but with black hair and pale, flawless skin. She was just a little shorter than me at 5’11”, and she had a build that would make supermodels jealous.

Fluttershy was the beautiful shy girl of the group. Her body was proportionate to Pinkie’s, but with a much shorter stature at Twilight’s height, and her pink hair had been changed to a soft blonde. Her skin was lightly tanned, and her eyes were still a vivid teal.

Rainbow Dash was no surprise whatsoever. She was the same height I was, and had an intensely athletic build. Like a sports car, she was lean, sleek, and built for speed with well-defined muscles in her arms and legs. Her hair was a short and spiky blonde, and her rose eyes were changed to a dark blue.

Ditzy was the very embodiment of a soldier. Like Dash, she was tall and muscular, but also with a little more femininity to her body. Her hair was still the golden blonde it usually was, but her eyes were now a soft hazel and her skin lightly tanned.

Vinyl was maybe 5’6” or 5’7” with pale skin and a dancer’s body -- fit, slightly curvy, and built to party all night long. Her crimson eyes had been changed to hazel, and her wild blue hair was now red.

Lastly were Celestia and Luna. Both were tall, with Celly being slightly taller than me, and both were feminine perfection. Both goddesses looked like they had been hand-carved by the high gods themselves (which may not be too far off). Even with the ample feminine attributes, there was also a dense underlay of muscular definition in the two of them, tempered from thousands of years of life and even war. Luna’s skin was a flawless canvas as fair and pure as snow, while the elder sibling’s skin was exactly what could be expected of a sun-goddess: dark, like that of a Pacific islander. Luna had hair of charcoal, while Celly had hair of a luxuriant brunette, but the sun princess’s magenta eyes were changed to brown.

Simple clothing had been tied into the spell I cast for each of us (so as to preserve modesty), along with the belongings we had brought -- a void-bag (subspace compression included), and a large sack of single-bit coins, the latter of which would be more than enough to fund our little vacation.

I gathered my bearings and shook off the momentary disorientation caused by the massive spell I’d spent almost six hours casting, and then walked over to the group that was talking with and inspecting each other.

Dash noticed me first and smiled. “Hey Frost! Lookin’ pretty good there.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “You know I never thought I’d miss having my mane and tail as it was.” I ran my hand through my ash-brown hair. “Brown hair is so boring.”

“So why don’t you just change your hair color?” Twilight asked curiously.

I shrugged. “Just in case someone recognizes me, I don’t want to have to try and explain why my hair and eyebrows are dyed, because I never dye my hair.”

“Good point.” she replied.

I nodded and then looked in the direction of the pseudo-wolves. “Venn, Moonfang, how are you guys doing over there?”

“I feel...naked.” Venn commented as he brushed his hands over his smooth skin.

Moonfang frowned as well. “Yes. Not having fur is going to take some getting used to.”

“So bouncy!” I heard Pinkie’s voice exclaim from behind me, and I turned to see her bouncing up and down causing her feminine assets to also bounce noticeably.

I sighed and shook my head. “Try and not do that in public, Pinks. You are going to get stared at or at worst, arrested. While it’s something I could handle if I really need to, I’d rather keep the fuzz away from us.”

“Fuzz? Who’s fuzzy?” the bubbly girl asked in confusion.

“I meant police.” I responded simply. I then looked over the group. “Also there’s something you should know as far as speech. Here, there aren’t any talking ponies, so everypony is going to become everyone, anypony becomes anyone, and so on and so forth.” I chorus of agreements answered me and I smiled before looking around. “Well it seems we arrived just where I wanted to, and at the perfect time. So first, we’re all going to head downtown to change these bits in before we get a hotel for us all. And I know just the place.”

I’d thought ahead as far as clothing, so I’d given all of us common summertime wear of jeans, tee-shirts, and the like so as to blend in with the crowd in Atlanta. To the people there, we just looked like a group of tourists (of which we were) that were seeing the sights and enjoying the day in one of the coolest cities in the United States.

Through some asking around, we found a gold exchange shop after some looking, and went about converting some of the bits into cash. Needless to say the people working the shop were more than a little surprised that the coins were made of two very precious metals, and that each one weighed nearly an ounce by itself...and we had an entire large bag full. This caused nearly everyone in the building to gather around us as we did our exchange, and the manager even brought out his expert, who confirmed that the coins were indeed solid gold and platinum, and easily worth a fortune. We exchanged only a very small amount for now, as even twenty coins gave us more than enough money to do what we had to do, so we took our newfound currency, waved happily to the shopkeepers, and headed out into the city again.

After boarding the MARTA buses for a bit, we arrived at one of the tallest buildings in the city, and one of the nicest hotels to stay at.

For a few seconds our group of sixteen simply stood outside, looking at the utter splendor of the building before walking inside.

As I expected, how we were dressed earned us little more than a nod from the different employees gathered, which meant my choice in clothing for us had worked and we blended in just fine. How we were dressed also worked against us though, as people dressed in “common” clothes as we were usually didn’t come to there.

But money fixes all things in this world.

I strode up to the front desk with my company and stopped once I stood in front of the man there. He gazed at us for a second before asking, “May I help you, sir?”

I nodded. “You may. We’d like four rooms, please.”

The man stared at me for a moment before handing a brochure to me. “These are the rooms we have available.”

I took the paper and looked it over for a few minutes before nodding. “All right then, I’d like one presidential suite and four deluxe suites with full options. I want a king-size bed in all rooms, please.”

The man raised his eyebrow and asked, “Are you sure, sir?”

I nodded. “I am.”

“Very well,” the clerk responded, “for how many days?”

“Three.” I replied curtly.

The front counter clerk typed on his computer for a few moments before nodding. “All right, the total comes to $4896.48. Will you be paying with debit, credit, or-”

“Cash.” I answered with a grin. The man stared at me in surprise for a moment, until I started pulling out $1000 stacks of one-hundred dollar bills. With each stack, his eyes got progressively wider until the count was five stacks.

My display caused an uproar in the thankfully sparsely-populated lobby, and suddenly five employees were hooking up a cash machine that would verify whether the money was genuine or not. I’d expected this, so I couldn’t help but chuckle softly as the men and women scurried about and set out verifying forty-nine marks of currency to be sure they were real.

After it was all over, the front clerk smiled in relief. “Apologies sir, but I had to be sure you were not attempting to scam our establishment.”

I chuckled and shook my head. “Don’t worry about it. If I were in your position, I’d probably have thought the same thing.”

With the business taken care of, he nodded. “Very well. I’ll need to see all your ID’s, please.”

Thankfully I had taken care of this with the multi-tiered spell I’d cast to get us here, change our forms, and so on. So, at this request, all of us fished out our respective ID cards (most with altered names) and presented them to the man. He took a few minutes in taking down all the information into the system before handing them back with a smile and motioning for an escort to join us.

“Maria,” he started, smiling at the young woman, “could you show our guests to their rooms?”

The woman nodded and grabbed four small envelopes, then looked to us with a smile. “Follow me, please.”

During our ascension up the seventy-one floors in the dual glass elevators, I couldn’t help but smile at how excited Twilight was. She had been quietly asking questions nonstop about the way elevators worked, how big the city was...everything. It made me smile at just how much wonder she had in her eyes at seeing something so beautiful, though I couldn’t help but remind her of just how amazing it was going to look in the night of midsummer.

As all of us piled out of the two elevators, we continued following the hotel staff member to our rooms. It was a long hallway with the softest carpet, and while it didn’t even compare to the Celestial Palace, it was still a sight to behold.

After a few moments of walking, the woman stopped at a large door that read “Suite 5” and turned to us with a smile. “This is the presidential suite. The other four are on the floor below.” She then handed us all the keycards. “Will there be anything else?”

I casually slipped her a $100 bill and smiled. “Nope, we should be good for now. I appreciate it.”

The woman beamed at the tip and nodded thankfully. “Very well, I’ll leave you to get settled in. The fireworks display will begin promptly at seven and can be seen from the rooftop restaurant, which will be open to all guests beginning at 5:30.”

I nodded in return and shook her hand. “Thank you ma’am. We’ll be there.” With that the woman departed, and I slipped the keycard into the lock as I looked to the group. “Mason already knows this, but this is how you open the doors with your respective keys. That means that Venn, Moonfang, and Spike all need to do it the same way, okay?” They all nodded, so I pushed the door open and walked into the room.

All of us entered the massive presidential suite and each person went off to inspect the large suite in all its glory. My brother and I had been there when we were younger, but only the guest room and only for a day. Needless to say, I found that this would be more than enjoyable for all involved.

“Dude, there’s a little fridge in here! With ALCOHOL!” shouted the deep voice of my brother.

I sighed and shook my head. “Put it back, dude. It’s not even midday.”

Mason came striding back into the room with a frown. “Ah, you’re no fun.”

“I’ll buy you a keg when we visit Germany if you quit bitching.” I retorted.

My brother mulled it over for a minute before nodding. “Sounds good to me. Just to let you know, I’m gonna get fucked up when we go to Oktoberfest.”

I shrugged. “I’d consider you a whiny little bitch if you didn’t.”

He chuckled and slapped my shoulder. “Good man.” The tall man then stood and smiled. “Anyway, I’m feeling like a dip in the pool. I haven’t been swimming in a long time, as Obsidians aren’t really built for swimming. You wanna come with?”

I nodded. “Sounds good. We can all go to chill out there until tonight when the fireworks start. Lemme just dig out our suits and we can go.” I then reached into the void bag and focused on what I was looking for, and sure enough my hands caught on a nylon handle. I pulled it out of the magic bag to reveal a large duffel bag filled with all our swimsuits. I set it on the sofa beside me and unzipped it, throwing a pair of white trunks to my brother, and grabbing the black ones for me. I then called, “Girls and guys, come and get your swimsuits on! We’re going to the pool!”

When we all arrived downstairs to the indoor pool in our robes, it was to find that we were definitely not the only ones there.

Oh...this was going to be fun.

Nothing could be seen of the girls as of yet, but already they were getting leered at by the men gathered in the place. With it being summer, a weekend and Independance Day, it went without saying that the place was packed with all manner of people, but even the gazes that we were receiving was nothing compared to what happened when Celestia dropped her robe on a chair, revealing her attire to everyone assembled.

Bear in mind that everyone had chosen their own attire for our vacation, so any and all reactions are not my fault.

Celestia had chosen very specifically to cause a specific reaction. She’d never outright admit it, but even as a pony, she took great pride in the form she kept her body in, and loved to show it off. True that only I got to see all of it, but there’s no harm in teasing the dear subjects, now is there?

She was clad in a white bikini of the finest enchanted silkworm silk, made to both repel water and provide comfort for those oh-so-sensitive areas of hers. It revealed just enough to be a ridiculous tease without coming off as a trashy, which was a feat that only Celestia could easily accomplish.

Maybe it was the way she carried herself or something...I don’t know.

As the solar princess made her way to the pool, all eyes were on her as she nearly glowed with radiance, which in all actuality she might have been. The dark-skinned woman sighed as she lowered herself into the refreshingly cool water before looking to me with a smile.

“Coming Drew?” she asked curiously. I chuckled and ran before cannonballing into the pool, covering her with a wave of water. When I resurfaced I was rewarded with a splash of water to the face and a wry grin. “You and your entrances.”

I leaned forward and kissed her gently, and I could have swore I heard someone in the pool area groan in disappointment. “You know I like to make a great impression, my dear.”

“Dark!” screeched Applejack’s voice from behind me, and a second later the water was broken by her body and then my brother’s. The farmgirl surfaced and rolled her eyes, splashing him in the face. “Tha’ wasn’t very nice.”

“Maybe I just wanted to get you wet.” he said in a low voice, causing his fiancée to blush. The two of them kissed gently before smiling at each other and going off to mess around in the pool.

I turned around to see the rest of the group entering the water, although Dash, Ditzy, and Fluttershy looked a little hesitant. From what I understood, pegasi weren’t really keen on swimming because of their wings, but Dash and Ditzy were willing to try anything once, and Fluttershy was reassured by the humanized wolf at her side. With the plethora of scantily clad women entering the water, the eyes of the males in the room now held a hungry expression, and I just chuckled at their misguided belief that these women weren’t accounted for.

But they’ll know soon enough.

A half-hour later, all of my friends had relaxed more and were having fun now, and even the two wolves had loosened up and were splashing around with everyone. Dash was doing laps with some guy on the other side of the pool (she was happy to have a challenge; he was pretty fast), and Vinyl was chatting and playing around with Pinkie Pie. Lyra, Twilight, and Luna were all sitting on the steps in the pool talking about who-knows-what, and Spike and Rarity were conversing idly as they leaned together against the edge of the pool. The others were messing around with the other people there (Venn had taken to playing catch with a football with a guy in the deep end), which left Celestia and I to watch everything that transpired.

“Things seem to be going well so far, Drew.” she whispered in my ear.

I nodded as I looked into her beautiful eyes. “They do. I’m glad everyone’s enjoying themselves; we really needed this.”

Celly nodded solemnly. “We did. We worked hard for this and everything else. We needed a bit of a vacation to raise our spirits.” She then looked to me with a grin. “Do you know it has in fact been over four centuries since I’ve taken a real vacation?”

“No kidding?” I responded with a raised eyebrow.

The solar princess nodded with a sigh. “Don’t misunderstand. I love what I do, but it can be trying at times.”

I shrugged. “It wouldn’t be work if it was easy.”

“True.” she responded with a grin.

It was then that I felt a nudging at my shoulder, and looked to see Spike pointing to the other end of the pool. “Looks like we’ve got trouble, Frost.”

I glanced to where he was pointing, and saw Ditzy standing with her arms crossed while some guy was talking to her. I didn’t think anything of it until I saw her posture: defensive. She was agitated, and it was clear that the guy was the cause of it. I knew for a fact that normally this wouldn’t pose a problem, but Ditzy had a rather short fuse when it came to things like this.

Let’s just say I didn’t want to explain to a police officer why my girlfriend kicked a guy’s ass.

I looked to Celestia and said, “I’ll be right back, love.” I then quickly made my way over to Ditzy and found her being harassed by some guy that was obviously drunk (at 10:00...what a loser).

“C’mon babe, what’s the problem?” the man slurred. He was some lanky, ratty-looking guy with a 70’s porn stache.

I stepped up to the guy and pushed him back. “Back off dude, she’s spoken for.”

“By who?” the jerkoff asked with a snarl.

“Me.” said Vinyl’s voice from beside me, and I looked to see the DJ sling her arm around the soldier’s shoulder. Ditzy played along without missing a beat, and kissed Vinyl’s cheek softly, causing the DJ to blush a bit with a smile.

Suddenly the guy was joined by two others, and with the situation soon heading in a bad direction, I couldn’t help but wonder what assholes like this were doing at such a nice hotel.

“Oh really?” the same man asked.

I nodded with a stern expression. “Really. Don’t make this into something ugly, dude.”

“What’s the problem, Drew?” asked Dash’s voice from beside me.

I turned to her and explained, “These guys were just bothering Danielle is all, but they’re done now.”

The daredevil bared her teeth and stood beside Ditzy (Danielle). “I think it’s about time all of you left before you get hurt.”

“What the hell’s your problem, bitch?” the drunken asshole grumbled.

Okay...I’d tried to be cordial.

“Guys, I need you!” I called, and within a few seconds, the other men of our group were flanking me and glaring at the problems in front of me. Without taking my eyes off of the man I was dealing with, I explained, “You just insulted my wife, dickhead, so you officially have ten seconds to get out of here before we forcefully swap your face with your ass.”

Even in his drunken stupor, the guy knew he was outmatched and apparently hadn’t had enough to drink to where he didn’t care about getting his face smashed in. He grunted and exited the pool with his two cronies, muttering under his breath.

“Wow...sore loser much?” Rainbow Dash thought out loud.

I chuckled and nodded. “You girls are gonna get a lot of that, so I’ll try and keep us away from drunken idiots if at all possible.”

“Let’s not go downtown then.” Mason quipped with a grin.

“What was that guy’s problem?” Ditzy questioned as she watched the group leave.

I shrugged. “It could have something to do with the fact that all of you are good-looking women in skimpy outfits; just a thought.”

Luna appeared beside me and shrugged her shoulders with a smile. “I cannot say it is something we are not accustomed to. Tia and I have lived for upwards of three-thousand years, so we are rather used to the attention. It is very common for such high-visibility beings such as us.”

“Besides,” Dash started jovially, “we still have magic on our side if things get too hot to handle.”

I nodded with a grim expression. “True, but I’d like to try and keep things low-profile here so we can have fun. After all, this is a vacation for us.”

“Anything’s a vacation compared to the war against Death.” Twilight said from behind me.

I nodded. “That’s very true. All right girls, new rule: come to Mason or I if you have any problems like what Ditzy just had to deal with. We know ways to handle it without things getting too out of hand.”

“Dude,” my brother growled from beside me, and I turned to see him pointing at a man with a camera, “I could be wrong, but I’m pretty sure that guy was just snapping pictures of us.”

I smirked and chuckled. “Well let’s give him a show, shall we?” I then pulled Twilight in close and unleashed a strong kiss on her, and I felt as her entire body went limp in my arms. After a few seconds, her arms went up and around my neck, and she returned the liplock with passion, moaning slightly. I then looked up to see pretty much everyone staring at us, and I just winked at all of them and swam away with my herd.

We spent some hours in the pool and enjoyed the good swim and fun time, luckily with no others causing problems, and Venn made friends with a guy that had watched everything transpire.

As we prepared to leave though, something peculiar happened.

A young girl approached us as we were all drying and redressing in our robes, and she walked right up to Celestia and Luna, who were coincidentally right next to each other. The young girl then smiled up at the two princesses and squealed, “I know who you are!”

Celestia closed her robe and tied it before stooping low and asking, “And who am I, little one?”

“You’re Princess Celestia!” the young girl exclaimed happily.

I tried to keep from flinching in fear, but failed miserably. Celestia however, ever the iconic leader, kept her cool and simply smiled at the little girl. “I am. It is a pleasure to meet you, Tracie.”

“H-how did you know my name?” the little girl asked in shock.

Celestia gently placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder and continued smiling warmly. “I know everything about my subjects, my dear.”

I realized what Celly was doing, so I focused for a moment and materialized a vintage “flash ‘n’ spit” type of old Polaroid camera behind me, and then stood behind Celly with a smile. “Why don’t we take a picture of all of you, so you you can have a photo to show all your friends?”

The little girl jumped happily and nodded. “Yes please!”

I chuckled and gestured for all fifteen of them to stand around and behind the girl, with Celestia, Luna, and Rainbow Dash up front, and with Twilight in the middle, holding the girl on her knee. I then snapped a picture and held it within my forefingers before grinning and casting a simple spell and then snapping another picture. I shook the two pictures to cause them to develop and looked at the photos that were created.

In the first one, the girl was surrounded by beautiful women and four very strong-looking men; in the second photo, she was surrounded with those same beings in their true forms.

I leaned down to the little girl as I showed all of them the pictures, and her eyes were immediately drawn to the second one. She gasped and said, “I knew it was you!” She then frowned as she looked at the others in the picture and said, “I don’t recognize the two doggies and dragons though...”

I chuckled as Venn growled softly, then responded while pointing. “That’s my good friends Venn and Moonfang, this is my brother, and this is Spike.”

The little girl smiled softly before gasping and looking at the daredevil pegasus. “You’re a princess?”

“I am now,” Dash began before pointing to me, “he and I got married; he’s a prince.”

The girl smiled happily and took the pictures in her hands, but then she frowned again. “I don’t think my friends will believe this...”

Luna kneeled beside her sister and said, “Perhaps, or perhaps not...but you will know the truth, and with these, you can always remember it.”

“Tracie? Tracie, where are you?” pleaded a voice from the other side of the pool. The sound of footsteps got closer and a tall blonde-haired woman rolled her eyes at the little girl when she saw what she was doing. “Tracie, I told you not to bother people.”

Luna stood tall with a gentle smile. “It was no bother at all, miss. Young Tracie simply wanted to meet us.”

The woman nodded with a smile before picking the young girl up and carrying her away, but upon seeing the photos, she stopped and looked back at us with a raised eyebrow. Celly just smiled with a wink, and the women smiled back before walking away.

“That might have been a really stupid thing to do. You know that, right?” Mason said from behind me.

I shrugged. “She’s a six-year old girl and photos can be altered. It’s not like anyone’s going to believe the truth, so we’ve got nothing to worry about. Besides, the innocence that she displayed...I couldn’t help myself. It’s something this world could use a lot more of for children her age.”

I turned and watched as my brother sighed and responded, “All right, I guess you have a point there. Anyway, the fireworks are set to start in about another three hours, so lets go upstairs, get dressed, and make our way to the rooftop.”

As we all headed back upstairs, I couldn’t ask but think about that little encounter, and I mused out loud, “I wonder how she knew who we really were.”

“Who?” my brother asked in confusion as he leaned against the railing of the elevator.

“The little girl.” I answered.

Luna leaned against me slightly as she responded, “The innocence of a pure young child is in many ways the epitome of Harmony. They are honest, generous, kind, loyal, and bring laughter to the world. This magical combination of traits is what allows them to utilize the power of the Elements of Harmony, even though they do not exist in this world. Because of this, she had the innate ability to sense our aura, even if our visage is different from normal.”

“Is that something we should worry about?” I asked worriedly.

The night princess shook her head softly. “No. Unfortunately that period of true innocence is a very short time in our lives, and so once she loses that innocence, she will lose that ability.”

I nodded. “Well that makes sense.” I then chuckled. “Bronycon is going to be fun.”

“Y’know I never thought I’d be going to Bronycon, let alone looking forward to it.” my brother quipped with a grin.

I shrugged as we left the elevator, meeting up with the others as they exited theirs as well. “Well you’ve got Applejack, and you know what Equestria is really like.”

“True. Dude, everyone that’ll be there would scream if they knew what we had seen and been through.” he responded with a chuckle.

I slid the card into my door before opening it, leading all of us inside the suite. “Yeah. Still, it’s gonna be fun to see just how much of an uproar the girls are going to cause.” I then turned to the assembled group. “All right, Rarity made and packed us plenty of clothes for this trip,” I then picked up and handed the void bag to the mentioned woman, “so pick out something nice for tonight. Also, for the love of God, don’t forget underwear and socks unless you’re wearing high heels or something -- then you don’t need socks.” I threw a glance to the fashionista. “Rarity, please make sure their outfits match.”

“Of course, darling.” the black-haired designer responded. “Come now girls, let us not waste time!” And with that, all the other girls followed her into the closed bedroom.

My brother looked at me and said, “I’m gonna rock some tripp pants, a tee shirt, and a beanie. What are you thinkin’?”

I shrugged. “I think I’m gonna pull a Robert Downey Jr. and go with a suit and sneakers.”

“He rocks sunglasses though.” my brother corrected.

I sighed and shook my head. “I’m not going to wear shades at night. It would be like wearing camo if I don’t hunt -- I’ll just look like a big fucking tool.”

The tall dark-skinned man thought for a moment before nodding. “Yeah, I guess that’s true. All right then. I’m gonna get dressed then I’ll take AJ up to the roof and start us with some drinks and food.”

“Start a tab under my name, because I’m going to be drinking a lot tonight.” I suggested as my brother left the room, which left me to get myself dressed.

An hour or so later, all of us were gathered at the rooftop restaurant, and just like at the pool, all the girls were getting stared at.

Celestia and Luna couldn’t help themselves, and went with very fashionable evening gowns, constructed by Rarity herself. They were lavish by design, and since they were custom-made, they fit the two princess’ curves perfectly, showing their physical beauty to the world. The slit in the sun-princess’ dress was borderline scandalous, stopping high up her thigh, and while Luna’s gown was more conservative, it was no less stare-inducing. Celly’s gown was a sparkling white, fitted with real diamonds, while Luna’s was solid black, accented by black diamonds, and both had high-heels to match.

Rainbow Dash opted for something simple and functional, and so went with a track suit that was an exact match for the flight suit she had back in Equestria, complete with the goggles that Rarity had gotten her for her birthday.

Rarity herself was wearing a gorgeous frosty-white gown with violet accents, and she had four-inch heels. I knew for a fact now that beauty was painful...poor woman.

Applejack, Lyra, and Ditzy were no surprise at all, as each girl had opted for a simple jeans-and-tee outfit, only with differences to the colors -- each matching their natural colors from Equestria, though AJ wore her favorite hat.

Pinkie was wearing a mid-length pink skirt with a pink tee to match, along with flat-bottomed shoes. What I found funny was what was on the shirt: it was a certain chocolate-shaved cake with eight globs of whipped cream along the top, each topped with a single cherry, and it lastly had a single candle in the middle. Underneath the picture was simply the word “LIE”.

I couldn’t help but chuckle at it.

Twilight and Fluttershy were dressed rather similarly, in that they both wore a long skirt that went to their ankles, along with mundane strapped sandals and a simple, collarless, v-neck tee (showing the timid pegasus’ ample cleavage). The colors however were very different, with Twilight’s skirt and shirt being lavender and white (respectively), and Fluttershy’s brown and yellow.

Vinyl was also no surprise, though she still made sure to amaze with her style. She wore tight-fitting black leggings and a silver silk button-up shirt with nothing but a black bra underneath, having only one button actually used to preserve modesty but still be a hell of a tease. She was wearing a variation of her trademark glasses, and for fun, we had changed her hair to what it normally was. Her electric style and eccentric personality had already garnered quite a few looks from the patrons.

Venn and Moonfang had opted long ago to be considered brothers on this planet, since they looked so much alike and had similar style. So, with that in mind, they dressed in similar attire as well, and with their personalities the way they were, Rarity had the perfect idea. Both of them were wearing MCCUU urban MARPAT flak jackets, though sleeveless, along with the matching trousers and combat boots. Along with this, I had added a magical tattoo of sorts of their true selves on their biceps, along with a pin of the Equestrian Silver Shield that they had received after the war. This completed the look, identifying them as warriors and veterans of war, even to people that weren’t in the military.

Lastly was Spike.

The young dragon was outfitted in a full tux that was specifically made to compliment Rarity’s evening gown, complete with a bundle of two nightshades tucked into his pocket in front of a violet pocket square, and black bowtie. Even with his muscular build, the suit fit perfectly thanks to Rarity, and I could see a few jealous single woman eyeing Rarity with envy as he stepped next to her and pulled the woman into a kiss.

”Drew, over here!” shouted Mason from a table near the window of the rotating restaurant. I turned to see him standing in his “rave gear” next to two long tables, complete with chemically glowing bracelets.

I made my way to the two tables and sat down, glad to see that a rum and cola was already waiting for me. I took a large gulp of the drink with a smack of my lips before saying, “Thanks for the drink, Mace.”

The tall man slapped my arm and grinned. “No prob, man. Anyway, I’m feelin’ kinda hungry already, so I ordered us some hot wings, along with some bruschetta for whoever doesn’t feel like trying meat.”

At the mention of the spicy chicken wings, my mouth started watering in anticipation. “Dude...I love you. I’ve been craving hot wings for the longest time.”

“You and me both, man.” the Obsidian-in-disguise shot back with a grumble. “You have no idea how hard it is not to eat meat as a dragon. Ponies got it easy-peasy, man.”

I rolled my eyes as I leaned back and took another sip of my drink. “Well imagine how conflicted I am to be a fucking pony and still crave meat from time to time. I feel like a cannibal.”

“Cannibals eat those of their own kind, man.” he corrected.

I downed the last of my glass before motioning to the bartender for another, then glared at my brother. “You know what I mean.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, I’m just messin’ with ya.”

I rolled my eyes and smiled as a young female server set my drink on the table, so I quickly took a swig of it...only to notice from my view that Luna was apparently being hit on by some pretty-boy that looks like he’s the physical embodiment of all things Hollywood. I growled, “Fuck me, not again.”

I went to stand up, but my brother stopped me and said, “C’mon man, you know her better than that. She can handle this; just watch.”

I nodded slowly and sat back down, watching as Luna kept her cool as the guy seemed to flirt with her, and even bought her a drink, which she took without hesitation. Luna then looked directly at me and curled her finger in a beckoning motion, so I stood and approached.

Once I arrived at the man’s side and joined Luna, she looped her arm in mine and said, “Cal, this is Drew. Drew, this is Cal.”

The man smiled brightly and grasped my hand in an excited shake as he said in a very campy tone, “Ah! Lenore has told me so much about you.”

Okay, a gay guy...definitely was not expecting that.

“Uh, hi.” I responded, dumbfounded.

“Let me guess, you thought he was courting me, yes?” I heard Luna ask in my mind. I just nodded, causing her to giggle reservedly.

Cal then smiled as he released my hand and said, “I was just marveling at Lenore’s amazing dress and couldn’t help but compliment her on it...and when she told me of you, I just had to meet you!”

I chuckled before releasing myself from Luna’s grip and saying, “Wait here Cal, I got someone I want you to meet.” I then made my way to the table and stood in front of Spike and Rarity. “Hey Rare, there’s a guy that would love to meet you. He thinks Lulu’s dress is to die for.”

“Truly?” the fashionista asked in excitement.

I nodded. “Yep.” I then turned to the young dragon beside her and said, “And don’t worry Spike, he ‘plays the other field’ if you know what I mean.”

It took Spike a second before his eyes widened and he chuckled. “Oh, all right then. Go ahead Rare, he’d just bore the hay out of me. I’ll keep an eye on you from here and drink with the guys.”

The elegant woman leaned over and kissed her fiancée gently before standing and bounding over to the man I’d mentioned.

Wait a minute...the song playing...is that?

Once I listened intently, I hopped up, letting out an, “Aw shit!” I looked to my brother with a smirk, and we stood next to each other and began singing the song (with him as the “woman”, of course). We went about belting out our own rendition of Electric Six’s “Danger! High Voltage!”, much to the enjoyment of the entire crowd. Yes, we are stupid and random, but who cares.

After finishing, I arrived back at the table with Mason in tow to find everyone staring in confusion at the large plate of hot wings.

Venn pointed at the plate and asked, “Frost, what are those? They smell amazing.”

I pushed the plate closer to the gray wolf and coaxed, “Eat one. Don’t eat the really hard parts though.”

Venn nodded and picked up one of the wings and bit into it, and by the way his eyes widened, I could tell he already knew what it was...as did the rest of the table once they saw the “hard part” was a bone.

Before anyone could say anything I explained, “It’s chicken. Like I said, humans are omnivores, and while we’re here, I’m going to eat meat.”

To my surprise, the table didn’t erupt into a cascade of gasps of shock or disgust. Instead, everyone was either glancing at the plate curiously, or ignoring it completely...

Except for Fluttershy.

She kept inching closer as she saw Moonfang tear into the spicy chicken and I asked, “You all right there ‘Shy?”

She was silent for a long moment before softly ordering, “Give me one.”

“Come again?” I questioned, unsure I’d heard what I thought I did.

The usually timid girl looked directly in my eyes and repeated, “Give me one.”

I shrugged and grabbed a nearby napkin before picking up one of the wings and handing it to the timid girl. She took it in her hands and studied it for a moment, sniffing it. Then, after taking one last look at Moonfang, she bit into it.

The amount of shock I felt was unfathomable.

First off, I had actually expected to catch some flak from Fluttershy about this. So not only did she not yell at me, she was also the first one of the girls to try meat.

She chewed and swallowed before slumping in her chair with a very audible moan. “Oh my, that’s the best thing I’ve ever eaten. It’s a little spicy, it’s savory and...something else I can’t place.”

“That would be your human body craving meat.” I explained. “Just like ponies, humans need a certain blend of different nutrients to survive; unlike ponies, meat happens to carry a lot of those required nutrients. So whenever you’re craving meat of some sort, you’re body’s telling you that you’re deficient in something. The difference between ponies and humans of course is that humans were made to consume meat.”

“I wonder what this is...” I heard Fluttershy say, and I looked at her in time to see her take a big bite out of a certain orange pepper.

I gulped and leaned back to the bartender and said, “We need a glass of milk over here, pronto.” I then turned back to the table. “Oh boy...this is gonna be bad.” I turned to Moonfang and said, “You might want to keep a tight grip on her so she doesn’t start flailing around like an idiot.”

“I don’t see what the big deal is.” Dash responded with a curiously raised eyebrow.

All of the sudden, everyone’s eyes widened as they looked at the timid girl. She broke out in a sweat, her face began to turn from a healthy tan to red, and her eyes squeezed shut as her hands balled into fists.

Instinctually, she reached for the water, but I snatched it away. “No, that’ll make it worse.” The glass of milk was set down on the table by a server and I handed it to the squirming girl. “Here, drink milk. It’ll get rid of it a lot faster.”

The blonde-haired girl snatched the glass from my hand and upended it, causing some of the milk to stream out of the corners of her mouth.

I chuckled and grabbed the other two peppers that were on the plate, handing them to Pinkie. “Spicy stuff is more of Pinkie’s thing I think. Normal hot wings are pleasantly spicy, but habanero peppers want to burn your mouth off of your face. Ask about something before you eat it.”

Fluttershy slammed the glass on the table and sat back. “I-I’m sorry, the food was just so good I-I got a little excited.”

I chuckled as I looked to the rest of the group and gestured to the plate of steaming wings. “As I said, don’t judge until you try it.”

With the most timid and animal-friendly girl in the group having audibly enjoyed the treat, most of the others quickly joined, except for Lyra and Twilight.

Twi looked at me and said, “I guess I don’t really have a problem with you all eating animals, but I just can’t do it.”

“Me neither.” Lyra added.

I reached over and pushed the plate of bruschetta to the two girls and smiled. “That’s why I got this. No meat in that at all, just some feta cheese.”

The two girls happily picked up the pieces of toasted bread, tomatoes, spices, and cheese before taking a big bite...each letting out a hum of happiness a the taste.

“Mmm...the royal kitchen needs to make these.” Twilight commented.

“They’re pretty easy to make.” I responded as I grabbed my drink and took a few sips. “So long as you have the right ingredients or can get them, I can show everyone how to make this.”

“Simple, filling, and yet elegant.” I heard Celestia speak from behind me. I turned around and she was holding one of the chicken wings as she chewed slowly. “In all my years of life I never believed I would consume another living creature, let alone enjoy it.”

I smiled as I nudged the sun goddess. “Even an eternal princess can learn new things, hm?” I leaned back against the soft seat and sighed. “Animals kill and eat each other every day to survive because they have to. Well, humans need certain nutrients, and of those nutrients some of them are the easiest to get from meat.” I took another drink and added, “Vegetarian humans don’t eat meat, but they also have to be very strict about how they supplement their diet to keep from being malnourished. Just like a bear,” I gazed at the two happy wolves, “or a wolf, humans were designed to eat meat as food, but they also consume plants.”

“Curious.” the solar princess responded with a grin. “For a heterosexual man, you know quite a bit about meat.”

“Haha, nice!” I heard my brother interject.

I sighed and closed my eyes. “Celly, you’ve been hanging around my brother way too much.”

It was then that I felt a soft rump plant itself directly on my lap, and two arms snake around my neck. I opened my eyes to see Luna looking at me intently before leaning in and kissing me softly. I accepted the gesture wholeheartedly and held her close against me.

After a few seconds the lunar princess pulled away and said, “This night has been wonderful already. I can only imagine how much better it will get.”

I took a look at the wall clock and grinned. “Well you’re about to find out, love.”

“What do you me-” the woman tried to say, but was cut off as a boom sounded in the distance.

This caused all of us to turn and look out the window of the rotating restaurant, which was perfectly facing the spectacle of exploding fireworks in the clear night sky. I glanced at the obsidian-haired woman in my lap to see the reflection of the fiery lights in her eyes, and her mouth was slightly agape in wonder.

“Beautiful.” Luna whispered in awe.

I nodded with a smile of my own. No matter how many times I saw them, the sheer beauty of fireworks always fascinated me. True, they were nowhere near as powerful or versatile as Twilight’s displays, but that’s what made it special. To know that even without magic such a beautiful thing existed...it was inspiring. Humans had to build things, and be proficient with chemistry, physics, and have all the math right in order to pull something like this off, whereas Twilight and I could just cast a spell. That’s not to say I didn’t love magic and Equestria, but I guess in a lot of ways magic was the “easy way”.

Easy, but better.

For all humans’ ingenuity and industry, it had caused the world as a whole to become polluted. Even in the very air, I could taste and smell the difference. Equestria smelled fresh and clean no matter where you were (well, except the royal forge, but that was an exception). Outside, the air was always crisp and clean, and you could breathe in lungfuls of air without ever worrying about what’s in it. Here, there was pollution everywhere we looked. The girls were still too much in awe to notice it of course, but having been here before, I noticed all of it.

Still, I was going to make sure the girls and guys had a great time on this trip.

As I left my thoughts behind and reentered the world around me, I couldn’t help but smile at the awestruck faces of everyone there. I then smirked and whispered to Twilight, “And Twilight: humans don’t use any magic to do that.”

“Wow...” she woman mouthed as she nearly pressed her face against the window.

I smiled and lovingly ran my fingers along Twilight’s back and neck, smiling even wider when I felt the chain of the necklace we’d made for her. Ever since the day I’d proposed to her, I don’t think there has been a single day she’s taken it off.

My physical representation for Rainbow Dash was less elegant, but then again she wasn’t really into jewelry. So instead of something flashy, we instead settled for a single horn ring, which until her human transformation had always been upon the base of her horn. Now, it was upon the ring finger of her left hand -- a simple, flat gold band with magic woven into it that caused it to shimmer with the colors of the rainbow whenever she used magic (which considering her recent fascination with the energy, was quite a lot).

As I watched all the group’s eyes widen in awe, I allowed myself a smile.

“All right, enough playing around.” my brother announced from behind us. I and all the others turned to see him standing beside the table, which had seemingly magically been graced with seven large bottles of assorted liquors, along with chasers of various kinds. “We are going to drink, dance, and laugh tonight. Even you, Fluttershy.”

The mentioned girl shrank a bit at being put on the spot. “Oh. Um, I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

I chuckled as I rubbed the girl’s shoulder comfortingly. “It’s all right, Shy. Just a few drinks for a celebratory night. We’re not going to get you black-out drunk, I promise.”

“For example,” my brother began as he dropped a shot of a certain german dark liquor into a glass of what could only be Red Bull before handing it to the shy girl, “try this.”

Fluttershy looked a little intimidated by the drink, but did as she was told and took a sip of it. The girl’s eyes lit up as soon as the drink flowed down her throat, and she smiled. “Oooh, that’s good! It tastes like fizzy licorice with bubblegum! And it’s so warm...”

I smirked and nodded. “Jägerbomb. It’s a mixture of two drinks that’s meant to give you a little buzz without making you sleepy. I wouldn’t recommend too many more of those though unless you want to wake up with a hangover in the morning, so limit it to two.” I then grabbed a bottle of JD along with a provided bottle of dark apple cider. I quickly mixed them in a 2:4 ratio before handing the glass to AJ, who took it gratefully. “This is what humans call hard cider. It’s not as sweet as yours, but it’s got more of a bite to it, along with a little of a sour kick.”

The farmgirl nodded before taking a swig of the drink, rolling it around in her mouth a bit before swallowing and looking skeptically at the glass. “Well, it ain’t as good as mine, but it’ll do. Ah like tha sour bite to it; gives it a little somethin’.”

I nodded. “Yep. It’s a favorite of mine, actually.” I then stood and motioned to the table. “Fix them some drinks, Mace. I have to go do something really quick, and I’ll be right back.”

I didn’t even have to say anything in regards to the matter, but I had a feeling he knew what I was going to do. It would be the same spell I cast long ago, putting our marks themselves in the sky for all to see. It would be an unexplained phenomenon for the humans of Earth, but it would be something that would open their minds and hearts to magic, and the truth that the unknown did not need to be scary.

Besides, the children of this world needed to be given a bit of magic for their generation.

As I reentered my room, I quickly made my way to the balcony, all the while charging the spell into my hands as I continued to add intricacies to the spell, and spatial commands for it to do what I wanted until it was ready and at its apex. I then poured more magic into it, causing it to swell within me until I began to feel a little dizzy. I then placed my hands in front of me with the palms facing each other, and allowed the multicolored spell to flow into the space between my fingers, beginning to condense into a sphere of swirling color and crackling energy. I then gently used my aura to cloak the ball and push it into the sky, shielding it from prying eyes until it cleared the rooftops of the city. I released my hold on it, causing it to phase into visible existence as it continued to ascend of its own accord, and I could already spot a few curious observers from the ground and other tall buildings pointing and even taking video of what was happening. I simply smiled before leaving my room and heading towards the elevators again.

As I walked to the table in the restaurant, I caught sight of everyone in the place crowded against the windows, watching the glowing sphere in the air with curiousness and awe.

“Just couldn’t help yourself, hm?” my brother quipped as I walked over.

I just kept silent for a moment as I also looked out the window. After a few silent moments, I looked to the group and explained, “This world could use a little wonder and beauty. Too many are beaten down by it, and too many lose hope...well this is my gift to those people. This little bit of beauty and magic is for them, so that they can keep the flame within them burning strong.”

I felt as Luna laced her fingers in my right hand, and also felt as Twilight clutched my arm with her own.

The girls all gathered around me as Celestia commented, “I’ve always wondered how you did that.”

I shrugged. “I could explain it, but for whatever reason, it’s one of the few spells I can’t teach.” I then held my arm out to the sun goddess with a smile. “Place your hand on my arm.” I looked to the rest of them. “All of you, put a hand somewhere on me. Discreetly, please...I don’t want to cause a scene. Just make it look like you’re looking out the window.”

Everyone gathered around me and did as I asked, and soon I felt their own latent magic mix with my own ever so slightly.

I then smiled and let my aura reach out to the sphere in the sky, as if cradling it within my hands again. The warmth of the orb flowed through me, and I heard a few sighs of happiness as it happened. Figuring that it had been put off long enough, I then flexed my hand and brought my fingers gently into a fist before squeezing tightly. I felt a bit of resistance before something gave, so I turned my eyes to the sky.

The orb in the sky burst into ribbons of color, as it had the times I had cast this spell before, but I had put quite a bit more complexity into it than normal, opting to give the audience across the city (and likely the entire nation) a show to remember. For a few minutes the ribbons of color flowed around the sky, as if alive. I then felt as the magic began to gather and construct itself into something specific, and watched as the outline of a large shield formed in the sky, with fifteen multicolored orbs fluttering around it like a swarm of bees. As we all watched, each orb imprinted itself on the shield into the shape of the cutie marks of those with me...except for four of them. Near the bottom formed the Drakkhenmyst Isle tribal insignias for my brother and Spike. The last two orbs burst into color around the shield, into the shapes of two certain wolves’ heads, roaring with ferocity.

I looked out the window and down to the streets below to see nearly everyone out of their vehicles, either staring in awe or taking pictures and video of the event.

“Is that what you feel like whenever you cast a spell?” Venn questioned with surprise and awe.

I shrugged. “Depends on the spell. Some require only mental acuity to cast, while others hinge off of a certain emotion.” I inclined my head to the sky and added, “That spell in particular was born of love and happiness for my friends and family...and so what you all just felt is what I feel whenever I cast it.”

“It was so warm...and happy.” Pinkie commented in a soft and thoughtful tone.

I nodded as I closed my eyes and sighed with a smile. “It’s a little taste of what I feel for all of you.” I then turned to my brother with a smirk and said, “Go ahead and call me gay; get it out of your system.”

“Fag. Bet you love the ‘D’.” my brother commented with a smirk of his own.

I chuckled and grinned at the tall man. “Better?”

“Much.” he replied with a smile. Mason then stepped back and pulled AJ to the open floor. “All right, enough waiting; I’m going to dance, and you all are ordered to join me.”

I shrugged. “Sounds good. Get the barman to put on a good tune and I’ll join you after I get a few more drinks in me.”

An hour or two later was marked by a rather exhausted me dancing quite animatedly with Vinyl, who luckily took charge of the dancing and made sure I didn’t look too bad. Still, I knew for a fact that my brother was snickering the whole time, but at that point I was just drunk enough not to care. I was also thankful that Luna was dancing with Twilight, as I would end up dry-humping the night princess in public had she been my dance partner.

Damn, she looked good tonight.

“I know that look, Frost.” Vinyl commented as she turned my face to look at her. The DJ grinned and kissed the corner of my mouth before motioning to Luna. “Dance with her this next song, and for the love of Celestia, please control yourself. Save the action for after we get to the room...” she then leaned in close and breathed a hot breath on my neck, causing me to shiver, “and if you’re a good boy, I’ll be a bad girl for you.”

Damn her and her...her-ness.

I composed myself and looked to Vinyl just as a slower song came on, and smiled. “All right Vi. I’ll be good.” I then leaned in and kissed her softly before breaking away and making my way to the princess of the night.

Luna noticed me approaching, and instantly her face lit up with a smile. I saw her whisper to Twilight before the shorter woman walked away, leaving the tall goddess waiting for me. Her black dress clung to her supple, yet firm curves, and I had to consciously remind myself not to drool as I walked over.

The night princess smirked as I stepped next to her, and she gently took my hand in her own. “You know, everyone has been talking about the display in the sky.”

I looked up to see the the glowing emblem still burning brightly, along with a few news helicopters flying around it at a cautious distance. I chuckled and nodded at the sight. “Yeah, that was a given. Honestly I’d be a little suspicious if it didn’t cause a stir.”

Lulu stepped forward and draped her arms on my shoulders as I snaked my own arms around her body, resting my hands on her lower back. I pulled her close against me and kissed her on the cheek gently before smiling, causing her to return the gesture.

“Why did you do it?” she asked as her eyes twinkled with love and happiness.

I again turned my eyes heavenward, taking in the rippling plasma in the sky. “It was for Tracie...as well as other children like her.” I then turned my eyes back to Luna before adding, “This world has a way of making children cynical and cold too early in life, robbing them or their innocence and childhood. There’s no magic left to childhood in most places; it’s just a time after infancy and before adolescence.”

“That’s...rather disheartening.” she replied solemnly.

I nodded in agreement. “It is, but it’s what this world has become.” I sighed as I yet again flicked my eyes to the billowing gift of colors I had given to the world. “There’s a lot of people out there in the world that needed to see this ‒ something beautiful that they can’t explain. It will allow them to see that maybe there’s something bigger than just this world, bigger than them, and bigger than this life. Humans don’t live as long as us, love, and that’s supposed to be what makes life so precious here. However, every day thousands are murdered, or imprisoned wrongfully, or abused...and no one bats an eye. This world needs magic just as much as I need all of you.”

“From what I understand,” Luna began, smiling gently at me, “that is quite a bit.”

“More than I could explain in words.” I confirmed firmly. I then looked off to the side to see Celestia and Twilight talking at the table as they sipped their drinks. “I think I’ve proven by now that I literally love you all more than anything in existence -- in this world or home -- and nothing will ever change that. Each of you are unique and special to me in your own rights, and while some of you may not always be around, my heart will forever belong to you all.”

“And how can you be sure of all that?” she asked curiously.

I shrugged. “My heart speaks to me, and I just project the words. The mind allows for too many errors when dealing with affairs of the heart, so I cut it out completely. In war or governing our people, my mind is at the forefront of the process, but when it comes to any of you girls, it takes a nap.”

Luna giggled and nodded. “I see. Perhaps the younger ponies could learn a thing or two from you.”

I shrugged again, dipping Luna gently before kissing her on those dark maroon lips. I pulled away after a few seconds before pulling the two of us to a standing posture again. “It’s something that can’t be taught, my dear; the young ones will have to learn it for themselves. My only guiding hand will be in teaching them to be open to such things, and allowing themselves to see the world for what it is as well as what it can be. It is a view of reality that could very well end or diminish much of the hostility and negativity in our home, as well as here.”

The moon goddess smiled and nodded. “You have noble yet great ambitions.”

I smiled and stroked her back through the silky fabric of her dress while we slowly danced. “It is an ambition that will never truly be realized, but that doesn’t bother me. If only ten percent of the population has come to understand things in such a way, then my job is done. Those ten percent will be compelled to share that vision with others, and it will grow and spread to those who wish to hear it. It sounds a bit like a virus or a cult if I think about it, but no great changes in history have been met without its opposition. Just as many will embrace it, many will also resist it and fight to stomp it out...but an idea is not like people. An idea cannot be crushed, burned, or imprisoned. An idea cannot be swayed by honeyed words and it doesn’t have fear or malicious intent. An idea, in its most basic form, is invincible; it is everlasting, and for those that hear and understand it, it can be either salvation or damnation.”

“So how do you know that your idea will not damn this world?” Luna asked knowingly.

I let my hand slide a little lower, just to the top of her rump before teasingly slowly tracing my fingers up her spine again. “Because I have faith, my dear Luna. I have faith in those that will be keepers of such a thing, and I have faith that they will preserve it for what it is, no matter the form.”

As the song ended finally, Luna and I left the dance floor towards the open door that led to the walkway that rounded the outside of the restaurant, giving us an open view of the entire city.

I felt as the night goddess’ hand held my own, and she asked, “And how do you plan to spread such an idea?”

I sighed as I stood with my goddess, looking over the bustling city. “I’m still working that part out, my dear.”

I felt as Luna kissed my cheek softly, and when I turned my eyes to her, she was smiling. “Take your time, Frost...do not rush it.”

I smiled and nodded. “Of course, love.”

After my brother and I decided to hold a little improv jam session for the people of the rooftop cafe, we all decided to call it a night and head back to the rooms. The late night hours found all of us spending time in the large suite that was my quarters, and while the others watched Dreamcatcher and Up, Pinkie and Vinyl had me more than occupied in the large bedroom.

On one side of me was the sensual Pinkie, taking her time as she slowly undressed me from my confining jacket and shirt, laying warm, wet kisses along my neck and jawline as she did so. On the other side of me was Vinyl, who was voraciously engaging my tongue in a battle of supremacy with her own -- a battle I was sorely losing.

But then again, in this situation losing was winning as well.

I felt as Pinkie finished unbuttoning my shirt before pulling it off of my arms and tossing it aside, and then felt her hands and Vinyl’s grab the bottom of my tank top to bring it up and over my head, breaking my oral embrace with the DJ. A moment of blindness took me as the clothing was taken off, just before I was pushed down and mounted by the bubbly blonde-haired Pinkie Pie. She resumed the liplock I had previously shared with the DJ hungrily, moaning softly and whispering my name as I ran my hands along the soft skin of her curves.

I felt as another body descended on my thighs, and watched as Vinyl’s strong hands slowly pulled the party girl up before beginning to run her lips along the girl’s throat, her hands slowly and gently bringing Pinkie’s shirt up more and more. Pinkie closed her eyes and bit her lip as she stifled a moan, and simply let the DJ work as I ran my own hands over the supple flesh of her long legs. Finally, Vinyl slowly and gently pulled the graphic shirt up and over the girl’s head, revealing the ample bosom to the two of us.

“Nice...” Vinyl commented before wrapping her hands over the soft orbs of flesh.

Pinkie moaned loudly again, and brought her arm back to run her hand through the vivid blue hair of the DJ. “Mmm...Vivi, don’t stop.”

I quickly cast a spell around the room to soundproof it before turning my gaze back to the pair, who were fervently making out, and in the process actually making me a little jealous. My envy was short-lived, however, as the two girls quickly took places on either side of me, once again making me the center of attention. My hands roamed over the bodies, eliciting a few sighs and giggles of happiness before I pulled the one button from Vinyl’s shirt free...and found she had somehow already removed her bra without me knowing. With the button undone, I watched from the corner of my eye as Vinyl whipped the shirt off in fluid motion, leaving her pale and lightly freckled skin basking in the moonlight.

“Damn...” I couldn’t help but mutter.

Vi responded by leaning down and kissing me deeply, with her wild hair tickling my forehead as she did so. It took everything within me not to reach my hands up and fondle the beauty, but I wanted to see how long I could control myself.

Besides...something told me it would be more fun with a build up.

“So,” Vinyl began, smirking quite obviously, “I take it you like the new body?”

I licked my lips sensually as I eyed the blue-haired girl with lust building within me. “Almost as much as your true self.”

She laughed and shook her head, causing her amazing hair to shimmer in the dim light. “You’re already getting laid, Frost. You don’t need to butter me up.”

I frowned and stopped my hands from caressing Pinkie as I propped myself up on my elbows. “You think I’m just spitting game? Why do you think I’d lie about something like that?”

Vinyl’s playful attitude diminished almost to nothing, and she frowned as well. “Well you used to be a human, Frost. The kinds of things that you’re used to, and the kinds of things that you find sexy or attractive...well, that doesn’t just disappear; it’s still a part of who you are.”

I turned my eyes to Pinkie, and though she said nothing, I could tell she agreed with Vinyl. It was an odd situation with the atmosphere suddenly becoming so tense with the three of us being half-naked, but righting such an incorrect assumption was more important to me than sexual gratification.

For the moment.

I eyed the two women for a moment before asking, “When you think about me, what do you see in your mind? Physically, I mean.”

“Umm…” Pinkie hummed for a few moments, “well, your really pretty gold eyes.”

Vinyl nodded. “Yeah, and your mane. I wish I had hair like that.”

“The way your coat color shifts in the light, like I’m looking at an ocean.” Pinkie added as her frown softened a bit.

I nodded as I looked them over. “And that makes sense, because that’s who I am.” I then motioned to myself and said, “All of this is a temporary disguise. This isn’t who I am, and I don’t think it ever was...not really. Just like what you two look like now isn’t who you are.” I sat up fully, causing Pinkie to scoot back off of my legs and next to Vinyl, who was also looking at me with growing realization. “When I take any of you to bed, it’s not because I’m solely attracted to the body you possess, it’s because I’m attracted to you.” I motioned to the two of them and added, “That’s why these bodies aren’t any more attractive to me than your true selves. Not because you don’t still look good -- because you do -- but rather because this is the disguise; it isn’t your true self.” I locked eyes with Vinyl and said, “Your pristine white fur, and those amazing ruby-red eyes -- those are what you are, and when I find the need to show you how much I desire you, that is what I’m thinking of.” I leaned forward and kissed Pinkie gently on the lips, before pulling away and smiling. “When I kiss you, I am enjoying it because I know that though the body is different, I’m kissing the lovable pink pony that loves it when I tickle her tummy. I like it because it’s you. You’re more beautiful to me as ponies because it is your true self, not just a disguise.”

Vinyl’s face slowly changed from blank to a smile, until it looked like she was trying to grow more teeth to fit into her grin. “Buckle up, Frost. You’re in for a wild ride.”

So much wonder in under a day, and Frost had assured me there was much more to come. Such things as television, movies, elevators, and the skyscrapers of such a large city had already exceeded my expectations; it was all so amazing.

Frost had told me once that humans were a very industrious people, forced to use their minds and ingenuity to create ways to do things, seeing as how they lacked wings or magic. Something considered commonplace in this world -- such as the automobile -- was a wonder to me and the others. Telephones too were an exciting thing to study, and at Darkflight’s approval, I took the room’s model apart and jotted down notes on its inner workings. Such a thing could revolutionize the way Equestrians communicated, as it was much faster than sending letters, and was more personal than words on a page. I just needed to find a way to convert its power source from electricity to magic and it could work.

“Having fun, Twilight?” questioned Night’s strong voice from behind me.

I smiled without turning around and nodded. “Just learning something new.”

I didn’t so much as flinch as I felt her lay down on the bed beside me, her soft obsidian hair brushing against my shoulder. More often than not, Night could be seen walking around as a separate person from Luna, as Luna had perfected the spell used to give Night her own body. Luna’s magic refractory period was that of only a day, so out of a week it was possible for her to passively channel the spell for six out of seven days. And seeing as how Luna’s magic was not used for much other than to raise and lower the moon and basic levitation, it meant that Night was a near-permanent fixture in our lives. Her and I had grown rather close as a result, and I felt more comfortable with her around than without. After all, she had saved us all during the final rush against Death, and had proven her loyalty to Equestria and its ponies.

Which was why I merely smiled as she rested her chin on my shoulder, looking over my work.

“What are you doing exactly?” she asked curiously.

I took a look over the parts again as I continued sketching them, as well as writing down the order in which I had taken them apart and where they went. “Well, this device is used to speak to someone over long distances. It uses no spells though, so someone without magic could use it.”

I felt her nod against me as she observed, “So an earth pony or pegasus could speak to another instantaneously over long distances.”

“That’s the idea.” I replied with a smile. “It could make passing messages along so much quicker for ponies that aren’t unicorns, or aren’t powerful or practiced enough to cast a long-range telepathy spell. I just need to study its inner workings and I should be able to figure out how it works.”

She giggled softly through her nose at my response in that strong, multi-toned voice I had come to appreciate. “Only you would consider such a thing recreation.”

I shrugged my unoccupied shoulder. “It’s part of what makes me who I am.” I finished writing down the specifications of the telephone device before using my magic and memory to repair it, and placing it back on the end table. I then closed my notebook and finally looked over to meet eyes with Night. “Besides, a chance to further our own technology and the chance to learn something new is always fun to me.”

“Dude, the news is on!” we both heard Darkflight exclaim from the other room.

Night caught my gaze and motioned to the living area. “Perhaps we should go and see what he is so excited about.”

I nodded and followed her as she pushed herself off of the plush bed.

When we arrived in the living area of the suite, it was to see the television on. Everypony was gathered around it, watching with rapt attention as a reporter spoke on the screen.

“Yes indeed, the night crowd at one of Atlanta’s most popular hotels was treated to quite the show tonight as two seemingly common customers performed two songs for the patrons of its rooftop restaurant. The two men produced their own guitars and performed for those present, free of charge, stating simply that they were ‘bored’.”

The camera then cut to a blurry video of Dark and Frost playing their music.

“Ryan, a patron of the establishment, describes the encounter:

‘I was just enjoying a bit of a wind-down with my family, when all of the sudden, these two guys start singing a song that was already playing. I thought, ‘All right, I guess that’s nothing I haven’t seen before,’ but then they got out two beautiful guitars and started playing a song on their own! I mean wow, I didn’t know the place employed performers to just randomly play a show for residents of their hotel. I’m definitely going to make sure we come here again.’

“Following that, all of the state of Georgia was awed by a strange phenomenon in the sky.”

The camera didn’t cut away this time, but merely panned to the sky, where Frost’s spell still burned brightly.

“Shortly after the firework display at Six Flags began, this glowing shape appeared in the sky. No one seems to know how it came to be or how it remains there. Onlookers describe it as having a texture like the Northern Lights and its shape looking like a coat of arms, but no one seems to be able to do much but stare in awe of the shape as it lights up our sky. An eyewitness who chooses to remain anonymous recounts what she saw:

‘I was street-level when it first happened. I saw this weird glowing ball float up into the sky, and it kept going higher and higher. Finally, it just exploded into ribbons of color. The way it was moving makes it obvious that it was being controlled by someone, that’s for sure. At first I could only look up at it, wondering what it was, but as the shapes started to become sharper, I recognized them. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity...those are all cutie marks from My Little Pony. Save for the two strange marks near the bottom and the two wolves, that’s what that thing is. Any fan of the series knows that.’

“While opinion on just how the strange happening has come about, the consensus seems to be that it is harmless, and is simply something to be awed at. Have an opinion of your own? Go onto our website at‒”

Darkflight switched the television off as he chuckled. “Man, what a night. One day here and we’re already causing trouble.”

“Could you really call that trouble though?” asked Frost’s voice as he rounded the curtained glass door that led to the bedroom, shutting it behind him. He was wearing a simple pair of blue silk pajama pants as he walked over to the window, looking up at the sky. “I mean, I think we could have done things so much more subtly, but that just wouldn’t be fun. Humans as a whole are pretty arrogant, thinking that they can understand anything they put their minds to. Let them try to figure this one out.”

Darkflight looked over to the digital clock/calendar on the table and said, “Just under an hour. Nice.”

I blushed a bit at the implication of what they were talking about, somehow still embarrassed from time to time from the subject of sex, but oddly only when I wasn’t involved in it. Hmm…

Frost shrugged as he turned around to face us all. “Would have been shorter, but Vinyl zapped me with some spell that ‘rejuvenated’ me. She said she wasn’t done with me yet.”

“I bet.” Darkflight commented with a grin. “Well, it’s getting late, so I guess we should all get to our rooms. We’ve got things to do tomorrow, so we’ll need a good sleep.” He then dug around in his pocket and fished out four small sleeves with cards, and reading the numbers as he handed them out. “Okay, Venn, Moonfang, and Spike, come get your door keys.” As the four men grabbed their cards, he then turned to the rest of us and smiled again. “Well, we’re off. You all have a good night.”

I watched as my friends left the room, leaving me and my other herdmates to ourselves. For the moment I wasn’t feeling very tired, but I knew Frost well enough to know that I should expect a full day tomorrow, so I walked with the rest of the girls to the bedroom.

It was when we arrived, however, that we came upon a bit of a problem.

“There’s no way we’re all going to fit on that thing.” Dash commented in annoyance.

In Equestria herds were fairly common, but generally speaking it was rare for them to have sleeping quarters large enough for all of them to sleep on a bed together. More often than not, sleeping cushions would be used in lieu of a bed, or they would simply use separate beds. Frost’s herd, however...well, we were all very close. We didn’t like to sleep separately, and I actually had trouble sleeping if at least two of my herdmates weren’t close by.

I looked at Frost to see his face scrunched up in thought. “Matter manipulation spell?”

I shook my head. “The matter has to come from somewhere, so we’d end up with a very thin mattress, which would be very uncomfortable.” I brought my finger to my lips (hehe...fingers) and thought for a moment. “Hmm...this is a conundrum.”

“What if we just place the mattress and the futon cushion on the ground in the main room?” Ditzy suggested.

I shrugged. “Sounds like a good plan, but what about-”

Frost’s silvery blue aura wrapped around the mattress, hoisting it into the air with the two naked sleeping women still on it. He looked at the rest of us and smirked. “Trust me, they’re not waking up anytime soon.” I was rather pleased to notice that Frost’s skill with cleansing spells had improved, since the bed and air around it looked and smelled as clean as the day it was made. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t have lain in the bed if the opposite had been the case, but let’s just say that it was difficult to focus on sleep when I smelled such strong concentrations of pheromones.

The large-sized mattress was levitated out of the double bedroom doors and gently placed on the ground, while I used my own spell to grab the futon cushion off of the support frame, placing it on the ground next to the mattress. There was now more than enough room for us all, but one issue still remained that I needed to make known.

“Do we have to wear these clothes to bed?” I asked, hoping the answer was “no”.

Frost looked at us and chuckled. “I mean, pajamas would normally be what a human would wear to bed, but…” he quickly made his way over to the door that led to the hallway outside the room and grabbed a small piece of plastic before opening the door and putting it on the door handle outside the room, then closing the door again, “there, now you all can get rid of those clothes.”

I sighed in relief. Frost had told me about most humans having a taboo about nudity, but while I could follow the rules well enough in public, I didn’t want to wear clothing if I didn’t have to. Especially these undergarments; they were very constricting.

So, one by one the seven of us disrobed and laid down on the bed with Frost as we prepared to sleep, each taking our places with one another. Luna of course did what Frost called “playing the big spoon” as she pressed herself against my back as I lay on my side next to Pinkie. Human breasts were new for us all, and it was quite a sensation to feel Luna’s pressed against my skin. In fact, the human body in general was much more sensitive than a pony’s, since there was no fur to act as a buffer to sensations. It made wearing those undergarments take some getting used to for multiple reasons, and it made the sensation of touch so much more...special. A soft kiss, a caress...it was going to be such a new experience for me -- for us all, really. Everything about this world was just so different and amazing to me, and Frost had told me that there was still so much to see.

Suddenly I began to feel very tired, and before I knew it, my eyes seemed to be closing of their own accord. Whatever...sleepy…

As I finished casting the spell, Twilight began to snore cutely as she slept, and I lowered my hand and wrapped it around her waist.

“Had I not done that, she would have stayed awake another four hours from the anticipation.” I whispered gently.

“She always was one to let her mind override her exhaustion.” Night quipped with a smile from the other side of the bed.

I nodded, returning the smile. “Yes, but that wonderful mind is one of the things I love the most about her. It helped to reintroduce me to our subjects, and helped to win the war.” I looked down to Twilight and gently brushed my fingers through her hair, causing her to mumble incoherently and press firmer against me. “She means the world to me.” I looked back to Night and offered another smile. “You all do, really.”

Night’s smile softened as she replied, “It’s amazing how much can change, isn’t it?”

I nodded, locking eyes with her. “It truly is.” I then untangled my hand from Twilight’s hair and reached across to grasp Night’s hand, which she gave a firm squeeze before pulling away. I then closed my eyes and settled in to sleep, as we no doubt had quite the day ahead of us tomorrow.

Chapter 2: "What's a water park?"

I will admit that it’s strange to wake up with hands and feet after so long, as well as a distinct lack of stiff wing muscles, but it was all a small price to pay for my friends and I. That being said, I didn’t miss having to brush my entire body every other day, and nor did I particularly miss the crick in my neck that I got from laying on my back as a pony. Still, not having to brush my mane and tail was always a plus, which wasn’t something I could enjoy with a shaggy head of human hair.

Groaning softly, I pried my eyes open and smacked my lips a few times, feeling the desert in my mouth that told me I’d slept with my mouth open. Slowly and carefully, I untangled myself from the mess of arms and legs I found myself practically buried in, and stood with a long stretch. With a quick glance around at the naked beauties I had been surrounded with, I stepped away from the improvised bed and made my way to the bathroom, ready to prepare for the day ahead of us. I already had a few ideas of what we’d do today, but first things first: I had to wash up and get myself ready, first.

Much to my surprise, I was not the first one to wake, and it appeared the washroom was already occupied by Dash, who was looking at herself in the mirror when I walked in. She offered me a glance and smile as I entered before her eyes went back to her reflection, the quick gesture enough to convey a “good morning” to me. Because she hadn’t asked anything, I simply went on my way and turned on the shower, whipping off my pajama pants and underwear as I waited for the water to warm up in case anyone decided to join me.

“Frost...am I pretty?”

For a moment I was struck still by the words, only for me to slowly turn around to see Dash staring at me pleadingly before she clarified, “Not a joke, and not metaphorical.”

Dash didn’t show her vulnerable side often, even to those she cared about, so I knew this had to be something that was truly bothering her if she thought it important enough to bring it to me. So, instead of going with my first instinct and laughing about the silliness of the question itself, I made my way over to her and brought my hands around her waist as I held her close.

“What brought this up?” I couldn’t help but wonder aloud.

Dash was silent for a moment, her eyes flitting around in the mirror before she answered, “I don’t really know, and that bugs me. Since a few weeks ago, suddenly I found myself thinking, ‘Does Frost think I’m pretty?’” She shook her head with a grunt, but moved her hands down to rest upon mine, on her stomach. “It’s stupid, and I don’t really have a reason to be thinking that, but...well, there it is. I mean…” she trailed off before motioning to the door with a hand. “Well, look at Celestia: she’s got the flanks of a goddess. Hay, I would bed her if I got the chance. I don’t think there’s any pony who wouldn’t.”

I raised my eyebrow in confusion at her statement, feeling the need to clarify, “You know Celestia’s, like, completely bent towards guys, right? Mares don’t really turn her on at all.”

“I don’t care. I would do everything to her.” Dash answered immediately, with no trace of dishonesty in her words. “Hay, maybe Twi knows a spell that could give me a-”

“W-wait,” I broke in, shocked, “you can do that?”

Dash nodded with a grin. “Well yeah; how do you think we keep the population steady in Equestria? Even with herds, we’re not exactly swimming in stallions.” She then knocked her head against mine playfully, “And I still want an answer, Frost.”

I froze for a moment before chuckling awkwardly. “A-heh, sorry. You know how my mind tends to just wander when I’m talking.” I held her a bit tighter to convey that I didn’t mean anything by it, and she gave an affectionate squeeze of my hands to let me know she didn’t take offense. With a clearing of my throat, I answered, “Well, of course I think you’re pretty. You’ve got great coloration, and you’re the only pony alive that has the entire rainbow in your hair...and your name.” I brought one of my hands back around her body, caressing her modest curves before giving her ass a firm squeeze, eliciting a cute squeak out of her. “I love every inch of you, and each one of you, for who you are. Besides,” I snorted, shaking my head and offering a loving smile to Dash’s reflection, “it’s not fair for you to compare yourself to Celestia. She’s been the ruler of Equestria for over a thousand years, and because of that, she’s become what’s seen as the pinnacle of beauty in the eyes of the population. She’s the standard other ponies use to judge themselves -- perfect, immutable.” I then poked her in the side, causing Dash to flinch away with a restrained giggle. “You know her as a pony though, and you know darn well she wouldn’t want you feeling this way about yourself because of her.”

Dash frowned softly, and ran her fingers along the long scar that ran up her ribs. “B-but...even with this?”

I shrugged and looked down at the mark. “I dunno...I think it’s kinda sexy. Adds character to you, and lets people know you’re not to be messed with. Besides, I fell in love with you because of your personality, not your looks. Granted, the fact you’ve got a tight body helps, but it wasn’t the main reason.”

“You do realize none of us have ever just...fallen like that, right?” Dash said, pulling open the shower door and leading me inside with her. “It just kinda flowed: we had fun, had some drinks, and the next thing I knew, I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

I shrugged. “I’m an easy guy to get along with. True that I don’t have the charisma my brother does, but I’m the guy anyone can feel comfortable with, no matter their race or creed.” Warm water splashing on my face momentarily silenced me, but after wiping my face and blowing the water away from my lips, I continued with, “Besides that, I’ve never been the type of guy to ‘formally’ ask a girl to be my girlfriend. Most times, it just kinda happens, like how it did with all of you. If it works out, it works out, but the way I see it, I’d have never known if I hadn’t just given it a shot between us.” I motioned to the faintly glowing gold band on her ring finger. “And now look at us: married, and we’ve only known each other for a year or so. Do you regret it?”

“O-of course not,” she answered hurriedly, in a tone that sounded almost worried, “but I just...I wonder, sometimes; I wonder if things would have been different between us if I’d realized what was happening sooner, and pulled away like all my instincts screamed at me to do.” Dash turned around and pressed a button on the shower caddy on the wall, gathering some shampoo before beginning to wash her short hair. “Before you came along and this whole war happened, getting close to ponies scared the hay out of me.”

I was very familiar with the fear of letting others inside my own heart, so I had a decent idea what it was like for Dash. True that she made five close friends in the other Element-bearers, but that -- and I truly believe this -- was destiny. At heart, if what she was saying was accurate, she was very introverted, which I believed was the reason she used to be so focused on showing off to others. Contrary to her natural social skills, Dash desired affection and approval from her friends, which led me to believe that her early life with her family had caused her to be the way she was. A part of me felt bad for not getting to know the families of my girls, but then again, they also hadn’t brought it up themselves.

Something to address when we got back home, I suppose.

“Well,” I began, getting my mind back on track with Dash, “you know as well as I do that we all love you, Dash. Whatever drew you to me and whatever let what happened, happen, I thank every day.”

She chuckled before turning around and bringing her hands to my head, beginning to rub them throughout my hair to work up a lather as she needled me. “Sappy McSapperson. You’re lucky you’re cute.”

I rolled my eyes before closing them as suds began to run over my eyelids. “You love it. As I recall, you never seem to complain.”

Dash said nothing more as we continued our shower, now content to simply prepare for the day ahead of us.

It didn’t take long for us to wake the rest, with Celestia and Luna already having been awake to perform their daily duties across the veil that separated Earth from Terra, so we soon found ourselves all dressed and exiting the room once again. Lyra and Vinyl were both grumbling at being awakened before 10:00, but I knew they’d be fine once we got some coffee.

With my girls all prepared, we made our way to the elevators and set the floor to the one below to get the rest of our group.

Twilight, same as the day before, was staring out the window at the massive city spread all around us, so she barely noticed as I came up behind her and handed her a roll of twenty-dollar bills with a smile.

Her confused expression made it clear an explanation was needed, so I clarified, “Down in the lobby is a coffee shop that sells some crazy-good coffee drinks. Go down and get everyone something to drink while I get the rest of them to meet us downstairs.” Before Twilight could retort, no doubt about how she didn’t know how the currency in this world worked, I cut her off. “And don’t worry, you don’t need to know how to barter or anything. Just order what you all want, and give the person the amount of money they ask for.” I pointed to one of the bills. “See? It has a twenty on it -- that’s twenty dollars. You can figure it out from there, I’m sure.”

Twilight looked down curiously at the roll of bills before nodding to me with a smile. “All right then, Frost. Don’t take too long.” She then shoved the roll into the pocket of her skirt (a skirt with pockets? Genius!).

I stepped out onto the floor my brother and the others were on once the doors opened, and waved a temporary goodbye to my girls as I made my way to my brother’s room. I knocked on the door loudly, calling his name before doing the same to Spike’s, Moonfang’s, and Venn’s.

My brother, having little to no shame even before coming to Equestria, walked out into the hallway wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and a very confused look on his face. “Wha-? What’s going on?”

“We’re going to Six Flags. Get Applejack ready and meet us downstairs.” I replied, shooing him away. “I wanna get there early enough to have time for the water park as well.”

My brother’s expression immediately brightened, and he grinned like a fool. “Sweet! Meet you downstairs, man!” He shot off to his room again, now noticeably more energetic. With that done, I waited patiently for the others to come out.

A few moments later, Fluttershy poked her head out of the door in confusion, so I explained the situation briefly. While she didn’t know what Six Flags was, she was able to figure out what an amusement park was just by the context, and retreated into her room again, presumably to get herself and her mate ready.

Venn, curiously, was completely absent from all this.

I walked over to the door and knocked a little louder this time, calling his name as I waited for him to answer. A few more moments passed, but just as I was about to knock again, the door opened...only for the occupant to be someone clearly not Venn.

“Oh,” I awkwardly began, greeted by a young woman wrapped in a white sheet, “sorry; I must have the wrong room.” Another hand pressed on the door from behind the woman, only to push it open further to reveal Venn...completely butt-ass naked, I should add. My expression faded to amused exasperation as I grumbled out, “For chrissakes, put some fucking clothes on, man.”

Venn looked down at his completely nude self and, seemingly realizing that he was not, in fact, in Equestria, cleared his throat and nodded just before the woman pushed past me to walk to the door right beside Venn’s...followed by another, smaller woman. Venn simply waited awkwardly as they left, and I couldn’t help it as a grin grew on my face.

After the door was closed, I began the teasing. “Well well well, sowing those wild oats, hm?”

Venn simply shrugged and looked away. “I couldn’t sleep last night, so I took a walk around the building. I met the two of them down in the lobby, and we talked a bit. They invited me up to their room, pulled out something called ‘Absente’ and-”

I barked a laugh and waved my hand at him dismissively. “Say no more, Venn. I’ve partaken of the ‘green monster’ a few times, and it’s a hell of a drink. Do you even remember what happened the night previous?”

He scratched his head absently as he scrunched his face in thought. “Bits and pieces. All I know is that my head hurts, I’m ravenous with hunger, and I’m sore in ways I’ve never been before.”

I softly chuckled, unable to stop the grin on my face as I clapped him on the shoulder. “Well, if there’s a way to lose your virginity, that’s a good one.” I then stepped back and jerked my head toward the hallway. “Anyway, get some comfortable street clothes on; we’re going to an amusement park for the day.” Before he could ask what an amusement park was, I headed him off with, “And I’ll explain on our way there, so just get ready and meet me out here.”

Venn nodded obediently before retreating to the room and closing the door, so I leaned against the wall and waited patiently for him to emerge. Luckily it didn’t take him too long to exit the room again, and after being sure that his clothing was all in order and he had his door keys, we closed the door and made our way to the elevator to meet the others downstairs.

Coffee was as popular in Equestria as it was on Earth, but unlike many of my ponies, I had never developed much of a taste for it. True that there were times I needed an extra burst of caffeine to get me started some days, but the taste and bitterness of the drink alone had me grimacing as I choked it down. Tea was my drink of choice otherwise, even in the mornings, and that was all I needed most days.

Humans, it seemed, had perfected flavoring the beverage.

By adding different ingredients to the coffee itself and including plenty of cream to smooth out the taste, I will admit that it made the whole experience quite palatable. I might never willingly drink a cup of coffee like Luna or even Twilight could, but if ponies could learn to make a chocolate-chip mocha frappuccino...well, I might just join the “coffee club”.

Luckily, our entourage caused much less of a disturbance than we had the previous day at the pool, but it was clear we were going to receive leers no matter where we went. Whether it be the spell itself or simply who we were as ponies, the spell cast on us all to give us human forms had made us, for lack of a better term, beautiful. Even Rainbow Dash, who tended to be much slimmer than the others -- even after filling out a bit more as an alicorn -- was perfectly proportioned and had beautiful features. No doubt that before the week was out, all of us were going to be propositioned by a man at least once, but I knew that there was safety in numbers, which was why no one sat or stood alone as we milled about the coffee shop.

All that having been said, I will admit that even in such a short time, Earth had its own unique charms. The buildings, for one, were a far cry from the type of architecture popular on Terra, and were often built of concrete and steel instead of stone or marble. Frost had told me that Terra appeared to be far more rich in resources than Earth was, but that did not mean that humans were not capable of marvels of their own. After all, even the hotel we were staying in dwarfed most, if not all, of the buildings of Canterlot proper. Humans called these towering structures “skyscrapers” for good reason, and from what I could remember from Frost’s stories of Earth, these were not even the tallest by far.

Luckily for us all, we were not waiting long before Frost arrived with Venn, and after grabbing his own drink from his brother, Frost led us out of the front of the building to the street, where we began walking toward a place called “Five Points Station”. From there, we would be taking a train toward our destination.

Along the way, Frost explained that we would be spending the day out at one of his favorite places as a child and young adult, in hopes that these many journeys we would be taking within the next six months would give us all an insight into his and Darkflight’s lives before coming to Terra. I held strongly to the belief that one’s past did not have to define who they had become as a pony, and had fallen in love with who Frost was now, not who he had been. Nonetheless, I will admit that I was curious to learn about his history, and the things he grew up with.

Much like Canterlot Station, Five Points Station was positively writhing with activity. Hundreds of humans were boarding or departing the trains as they came and went, oddly paying little to no mind to the large group of us moving to the train platform Frost had indicated. It was a struggle to stay together through the mass of people, but we made our way to the platform with little trouble.

The trains themselves were a marvel, as well. They were powered not by steam, but by electricity, and were much quieter than the trains on Terra, as well as being capable of higher speeds. Twilight, of course, was asking rapid-fire questions of Frost about how they operated (very few of which he could answer accurately), while the rest of us simply enjoyed the technological marvels of humans.

For my part, I sat quietly while holding Luna’s hand for comfort. I will shamefully admit that the whole journey thus far was a bit overwhelming, so I sought support from my younger sibling. Most would never suspect it of me, but I actually felt very uncomfortable around large groups of ponies -- or people, as the case was at the time. However, even with that being true about who I was, I would put on the mantle of “Equestria’s Princess” every day when I made my way to court, or to meet with delegates, and that had been enough to get me through the centuries; after all, when being a diarch of Equestria, I often separated myself mentally and emotionally from the ponies I dealt with, meaning that the faultless and radiant Princess Celestia dealt with them instead of the flawed and imperfect pony that I truly was. It was a necessary evil, but doing so made me lose touch with who I truly was as the centuries bled together. I felt, at least, it was for that reason that I fell so quickly for Frost, because around him I could simply be “Celly”. While I don’t regret what happened or who it happened with, I have no doubt that had Frost not come to Equestria, things would have been very different. Still, I believe that, all things considered, Luna and I made the right choice in bringing him home, to where he truly belonged.

The sound of Frost’s strong baritone voice brought me back to reality as he advised us that we would be disembarking in four more stops, so I sat patiently as the contraption made its journey. True to his word, on the fourth stop, he stood and gestured to all of us to follow, so we gathered what few things we had brought with us and followed him out of the train to the platform.

After that, we boarded what was called a “bus” that took us the remainder of the way to our destination, and when we stepped off, it was to see the park’s namesake: six, tall poles with flags flapping merrily in the wind. The “parking lot” alone was massive -- nearly the size of my palace home -- and though the tall trees obscured the sheer size and scope of the park, I knew it had to be massive. The faint sound of screaming and a strange *click-clack* noise I couldn’t identify greeted us as we made our way toward the main gate, where many other people were gathering.

Frost brought us to a small structure next to the main gate, where he purchased tickets for all of us -- much like one would for a faire, really -- before leading us into the park proper. It was upon entering that I realized just what we had gotten ourselves into.

Every human in sight was wearing bathing suits of some sort, and most were barefoot as they played and romped in the massive “water park”. Tubes and slides of all kinds could be seen from every direction, and titanic pools of water were spread throughout the entire area. With all this, one thing was constant with what I saw: smiles. The humans were all smiling in joy because of this place, and their joy allowed me to relax just a bit as Frost led us to the changing rooms.

After once again garbing ourselves in our respective swimwear, we made our collective way out to the park once more, and already I could feel the eyes upon me. Frost had warned me ahead of time that on Earth I was a “strong 9 or a 10” (whatever that meant), and advised me I could expect to be the subject of quite a few stares and leers because of it. I didn’t mind that much -- I had become used to being in the public eye for over a thousand years, now -- but I will admit that the way said stares made Twilight and Lyra uncomfortable began to awaken a strong protective instinct in me. Because of this, I employed one of warfare’s oldest tactics in drawing attention away from a certain area of pony: misdirection and distraction; to put it simply, I drew the attention away from them by placing it all upon myself. It was nothing overt, of course -- a subtle caress of my own skin here or there did quite well, I think -- but it was enough to take the attention off of my more modest herdsisters.

“Enjoying yourself there, Celly?”

I turned my eyes to Frost, a smirk creasing my lips to match his own. “Why yes, I am.” I then motioned to the two smaller women that I was serving as a distraction for, and upon Frost catching their eyes, he nodded to me with a smile. Still, I couldn’t help but add, “I will admit that this is much easier with humans than it is with ponies. If I were in court, my ponies would be prostrated before me or respectfully averting their eyes.”

Frost simply shrugged as he looked to the great crowd. “Humans don’t know you’re royalty, and a sun goddess. To them, you’re just a woman in minimal clothing with a rockin’ body, so they’re going to drink that in.”

One thing that I took notice of, however, was that my body as a whole was not what some of them was staring at...and it wasn’t the obvious places, either. Instead, it was the small stylized sun mark on my right hip. The change from pony to human had fundamentally changed the way we looked, but it seemed that some things carried over, regardless: our cutie marks, for example, could still be found on each pony’s body, though the location seemed to be random for each of us. From what Frost told us, though, tattoos in the realm of “fan worship” were going to be quite the common sight, so he was confident that we could all get away with having our marks visible, if they were.

Nonetheless, I found my fingers idly tracing my mark as I followed Frost to the main area of the park, where it was promised that much fun would be had.

Being the kind of pony I was, I had been to all kinds of fairs before, but a water park was something new to all of us. As we all wandered around the fun park and rode the slides and stuff, I couldn’t help but think, “Why didn’t I think of this?” Pegasi might not really like a water park all that much, but I think any pony that could swim would love it! There was water to play in, so many people to laugh with, and the cool water made sure we enjoyed ourselves, even though it was really hot out.

One thing did bother me a little bit, though. About halfway through the day, just as the sun was highest in the sky, Frost was playing with Vinyl and me in what he called the “wave pool”, where it was like being at a beach because of all the waves that a big machine made. We were having fun, bobbing up and down in the water as we swam around and played with one another, and the touching and playing soon turned into a much more lovey-dovey thing, with kissing and playful squeezes or pinches between the three of us. It was nothing bad; it was simply three po- well, people that were showing they cared about each other.

A big man made his way over to us though, and broke us all up, saying that what we were doing was “inappropriate in public”.

As the man swam away, I had to get an answer from Frost. “Why did he do that?”

Frost looked to me and shrugged. “It’s been what feels like a lifetime since I’ve been back here, and I forgot about some things that are different between us and humans.” He motioned to the people all around us, most of which were sneaking looks at us when they thought they could get away with it. “Humans are generally pretty uncomfortable with public displays of affection. Also I think said PDA’s are still taboo between more than two people. Herds are not a thing in this country, so people don’t feel comfortable around it.”

Vinyl seemed just as confused as me, since she asked, “What’s wrong with it? You love who you love; it’s not their right to tell us it’s wrong.”

“But they will anyway.” Frost growled in a low tone. “They’ll use any argument they can to justify that judgement to: religion, biology, and even psychology, if they can. Not everyone thinks that way, but for those that do, they’re going to see it as downright evil, sometimes.” He shrugged, sighing heavily as he bobbed up and down with the waves. “It’s just one of the things we’re going to have to put up with while we’re here, because I’m not hiding how I feel about you all simply because they,” he jerked a thumb out of the water towards a random group of people, “don’t like it.”

As Frost’s glare hardened into empty space, the water around us started to get really cold, and I could see a thin sheen of ice forming over his shoulders as he continued to stare blankly with his thoughts.

Vinyl tapped him on the forehead and shook her head when he looked in her direction. “Chill out, Frost. Don’t let people like that ruin our day. We’re here to have fun, so let’s have fun.”

After taking a few deep breaths, he nodded and smiled to me. “Right...let’s go find the others then, and we’ll head to the main play-pool.”

We made our way with Frost to the shore, and then followed him toward a huge pool with a ring of water running around it. When we got in, I found out that there was a current being made by thingys in the floor, which made the whole thing more like a river. Twilight, Lyra and Celestia were already at the pool, so Frost used his brain-talk spell to let everyone else know where we were, in case they wanted to join us.

Happy, excited screams drew my attention to a really tall slide though, and and I could only stare with longing at it.

Frost nudged me and pointed to where I was looking. “That little clear tube at the top is where you stand, and whenever the lifeguard sees it’s clear down below, he drops you onto the slide, which brings you down six stories, moving really fast. If you like stuff like that, go ahead; we’ll be here if and when you want to come back. Don’t feel obligated to stay with us if you want to go on all the crazy slides and rides.”

With an excited whoop, I gave Frost a kiss on the cheek before wading as fast as I could to the stairs, trying my hardest not to run as I made my way towards the tall slide.

As a pegasus -- or, more recently, alicorn -- heights had never been a fear of mine. After all, I had wings; what was there to be afraid of? My wings would save me, and even if they couldn’t, it would take a fall from a really high altitude to seriously injure me, or even a regular pegasus, for that matter. Humans, though, didn’t have wings. In a lot of ways, they were like earth ponies in that they were stuck on the ground unless someone or something carried them into the air.

I hadn’t really understood humans’ natural fear of heights until now, though.

I wasn’t really scared, though -- excited was closer to how I felt. My heart was racing, my hands were trembling with anticipation, and I was almost panting as nervous thrills coursed through my body.

“Are you ready?”

Without turning around, I gave a thumbs-up sign (Frost had told me it was a gesture of approval, for the most part). I bit my lip as a pleasurable little high from the adrenaline in my system rushed through me, and just when I felt like I couldn’t take it anymore, the floor dropped out from under my feet, and I admit I screamed in surprise and brief terror before I hit the slide. I held my arms crossed against my chest and ankles locked together, as I was instructed to do, and felt my stomach momentarily turn at the odd feeling of weightlessness before I contacted the slide itself. The ride down was...well, invigorating is the only way to describe it. Water was splashed all over me, and when I came to the bottom and stopped, I couldn’t help as I let out a yell of approval for the slide. Sure the line was long, but that was a hay of a rush for only three or four seconds. Admittedly, the whole rush of endorphins and adrenalin gave me a body-wide flush that was normally reserved for the bedroom, but it was much easier to hide it as a human, so I made due.

The only unpleasant thing about the whole experience was how the bottom of the bathing suit got lodged up into...places.

Discreetly adjusting the suit before I stood, I made my way out of the way so that the next person could go on the slide, and walked toward the next ride I saw earlier. Luna, Night and Ditzy had promised to go on the next one with me, since it required four people, so I walked until I saw them chatting patiently at the gate to the tall, wooden tower. Just from looking at the people walking by them, I could tell the only thing keeping them from getting hit on by pretty much every single guy in the park was the fact that they completely ignored any and all looks sent their way. Frost had been right, and I had experienced it firsthand: males here were far more assertive when it came to making their interest known, and a ring on the “ring finger” wasn’t always enough to keep them away. I could readily admit that most of Frost’s herd wasn’t considered drop-dead gorgeous -- most of us were pretty average, for ponies -- but apparently, what was attractive for Equestria and Earth were on two completely different levels. I had never been considered “pretty” by anyone before Frost came to Equestria -- at least, not as far as I knew -- so receiving so much attention was...well, it was a little overwhelming for me.

Still, the Dash does not turn away just because she’s a little nervous.

Ditzy noticed me first, waving excitedly and getting the attention of the other two at her sides. I walked up to them, pointedly ignoring everyone else the best I could, so that I wouldn’t get roped into another conversation with some guy that wanted to flex his masculinity (wow, egghead words galore! Darn you, Twilight…). Thankfully, since the novelty of us all seemed to have worn off a bit, it was rather easy to complete my walk to my herdsisters without being bothered.

Luna, ever the empathetic one, could apparently see my discomfort, so she took my hand in hers as I reached them, and led me up the tower as Ditzy gushed about how awesome these rides were. I had to agree with Ditzy on that, at least, but she seemed a lot less bothered by people looking at her. I guess it had something to do with being a guard for years before I’d known her, or maybe that was just how she was. I’d found that since I had fully opened up and stopped putting up a front to the world around me -- and, in doing so, reacquainted myself with myself -- I was quite a bit more shy than most would expect of me. I didn’t show it much, because it was easy to boast and talk about myself, but when it came time to actually talk to someone seriously as a friend about stuff that mattered, I always felt awkward. The presence of my friends and herdsisters nearby made it much easier though, so I tended to feel safer around them. I knew what I was good at, after all, and being the one to go to for serious talks was not one of those things.

So, as we continued to make our way to the top of the wooden tower, I held Luna’s hand tightly as Night covered my flank, and Ditzy took point. The supportive comfort of three strong mares -- or women, as the case was -- gave me the confidence to be at ease surrounded with all these people, and I once again began to enjoy the simple, warm atmosphere of fun in the sun. With their support, it was easy to drown myself in the joyful screams of everyone around, and the excited tingles that ran across my skin from the anticipation of another awesome ride.

“You seem rather flushed, Rainbow.” Luna observed quietly, whispering into my ear. Her warm breath sent a shiver through me, and I’ll admit, it was thankful for the fact that humans couldn’t flag or “pop” like pegasus mares could.

Rubbing my ear with an embarrassed huff for a moment, my mouth morphed into a grin as I answered, “It was awesome! A six-story drop, heart-pumping and adrenalin running through me...it was just great. I guess this is some of the things humans do for a thrill since they can’t fly like a pegasus.” I had to keep my voice down so that we wouldn’t get any odd looks, but I couldn’t stop from anxiously bouncing on the balls of my feet. “I wonder what else humans do, now!”

We had been moving the whole time, so before I knew it, we were at the top. There was a large, circular raft for four people to sit in, so me, Luna, Night, and Ditzy all got in and grabbed hold of the straps provided so that we wouldn’t fall out. A couple seconds of waiting, and we were shoved down the slide by the lifeguard, entering a tube as we picked up speed. The tube of the slide twisted and turned, and there were a few times where I was afraid we would flip out of the raft, but we made it out into the open, finally. We skidded out into what looked like a huge funnel, going so fast up the wall that we were completely sideways at one point, only for gravity to overtake our speed and drag us back down the wall, where we weaved back and forth until we exited the funnel into the main pool.

Again, my heart was racing and my hands were shaking a bit from the adrenalin rush, so I could only laugh like a fool as we all flopped over the edge of the raft and exited the pool. All three of my companions were smiling in the same foolish way that I was, so I quickly pointed to another giant slide, herding my group towards the next thrill for us.

For the visitors to Earth, they weren’t really as conspicuous as they felt, but it was a new experience, for most of them, to be so casually looked at by so many. The truth was that other than a few thoughts of, “What is someone like her doing here,” they were ignored, for the most part. Casual flaunting of one’s physical attributes was far more common (and easy) on Earth than it was on Terra, so women dressed in tantalizing bathing suits were more easily accepted than most of them thought.

Even with that being the case, there had been a few hiccups, here and there. As a rule of instinct, dragons and wolves were very protective of their chosen mates, meaning that the casual admiring of said mates was...stressful. Even Darkflight, who had been born a human, found he didn’t like the way the eyes of others were locked onto Applejack’s body, even if only for a moment or so.

Thankfully, their time at the amusement park went far better once they left the water park portion, as clothes could be used to conceal the body, which worked to help them blend in far better. The day continued as planned, and before they all knew it, the sun was setting. In Frostbreaker’s mind, it had been another successful day that went off without a hitch...but things were not as they seemed.

For, unknown to him, there had been a report filed when the hotel had been paid for in cash, and it had come to the attention of a certain entity that fifteen people had checked into that hotel, all but two of which did not exist in any database.

Eyes were upon them, whether they suspected it or not.

Chapter 3: Night on the Town

Contrary to what many Americans thought, the average “secret” government office was not twenty stories below ground, in a bunker. Instead, most were in plain sight, with only a few strategically-placed security measures to keep out any that were not allowed inside; most of their security came from their mundanity, as the average person would not think twice about an unremarkable office building in a city with fifty others.

It was in one of these office buildings that four people were meeting, combing over the reports brought to them from the past few days.

“So what do we know so far?” asked the oldest of the four, dressed in a military uniform with medals and other pins on his upper chest.

Another, a man in his late forties, shook his head as he looked over the files presented to them. “Science Team says it was some sort of stable plasma, but they weren’t able to get any samples. Interestingly enough, the turbulence caused by the aircraft in the area didn’t cause it to lose form; observations report that over time it simply dissipated on its own.”

“Because of this,” a youthful young woman broke in, dropping a manilla folder in front of them, “we combed over the entire city’s traffic to see what we could find. Besides the norm of a few persons of interest and those we’ve kept tabs on, we came across this.” She opened the folder, which held fifteen sheets of paper with a single photo attached to each one. “These people all checked into the same hotel together, and all but two of them do not exist, according to public records; the two that do have been missing for nearly two years, now.”

True to her word, thirteen of the files had no information on them other than an address, a DOB, and a name. The other two featured two younger men, one of which was presumed dead, and the other only confirmed to be missing, because of unconfirmed sightings nearly a year ago.

“The same day of their ‘arrival’,” the 2nd man used air quotes, here, “the entire city’s grid went down for about a minute. The only sort of thing that could cause that would be a massive discharge of energy of some kind, but there were no storms in the area and no solar flare confirmed by NASA.”

The first man rubbed his chin with a troubled expression. “I’ve lived too long to believe in coincidence.”

The room was completely quiet for a few moments before the final person -- a young man dressed in a suit in tie -- voiced his thoughts. “Do you want to bring them in, sir?”

The eldest man shook his head without hesitation. “No. We don’t know who or what we’re dealing with, so for now, I simply want us to observe. Set up a network to keep tabs on them: I want to know what they’re doing, the names of anyone they talk to, and anything they buy. Try and get some sort of listening device on them if we can. Do not -- I repeat: DO NOT -- move in to apprehend unless you get word from me personally. Is that clear?”

“Yes sir.” the youngest man answered, saluting crisply.

The older man sighed and rubbed his temples tiredly. “I don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but we may be dealing with first contact with an alien species. From what we’ve seen so far, it is quite possible they are highly advanced, and likely extremely dangerous if provoked. Do not underestimate them.”

“Dude, I can make my nuts clap!”

My brother proceeded to hold his shorts out, freeing everything up within, and gyrated his hips back and forth quickly. Sure enough, a clapping sound issued forth, and I lost all control, nearly falling to the ground in laughter. It was nice to know that, despite everything we had experienced over the years, my brother was still a big dork when it came right down to it. What made it even worse -- or better, depending on how you looked at it -- was the fact that we were standing in line for a roller coaster, with at least two hundred onlookers around us. The fact that he didn’t give a damn just made me laugh harder. Lastly, because it was a completely random event (we had been waiting quietly with Applejack and Pinkie beforehand), I laughed until my gooch hurt...and if you don’t know what that is, look it up.

After composing myself and standing again, Applejack was shaking her head with a dumb grin. “Ah’m gonna be married ta this guy; what am Ah thinkin’?”

My brother sauntered back over to us, shrugging his shoulders at Applejack’s comment. “I don’t know anymore than you do. I’m just hoping age takes you before you realize what a horrible mistake you’ve made.”

Applejack responded by stepping forward and pressing her body flush against his, her voice low and husky as she answered, “Ah guess you’ll have ta keep me distracted, then.”

“I can think of a few ways to do that.” he countered, leaning in and pecking her quickly on the lips, showing an enormous amount of restraint, considering how he usually was. “I’ll have to remind you of those ways tonight, I guess.”

As chilled-out as she usually was, Applejack still had a shy side to her when it came PDA. Her facade finally cracked, and she cleared her throat and looked away as a flush began to form on her face and neck. She whispered something to him that I couldn’t hear before pulling away, opting to lace her fingers in his as we continued to wait for the line to move.

“You were right: cute as hell.” I whispered to Pinkie as I mirrored my brother’s actions with her own hand.

Pinkie smiled at me and nodded, leaning in to whisper back, “Jackie is still so adorably shy and blush-y around him; it’s so much fun to tease her about it.”

I looked at the two in front of me and couldn’t help but smile at them, though. “That’s true love between them, though. They tease and mess with each other, but you can tell there’s a powerful bond between them, too. That’s all anyone could hope for in a relationship.”

Pinkie’s hand reached for mine, and I grasped it firmly as she looked up toward the towering ride. “So what’s this one called?”

“Superman: Ultimate Flight.” I answered, turning my own eyes to the huge coaster we were about to go on. “It’s named after a fictional superhero, and it’s supposed to simulate what it feels like to fly -- minus the actual free-air aspect, of course.” I shrugged as I turned my eyes back to Pinkie, who was still looking excitedly at the ride. “I can tell you right away that it’s not the same as real flying, but it’s still a hell of a ride, and worth the wait.”

I glanced around at the other people in line with us, and shrugged. Save for a few very obvious subjects that I purposefully kept away from, I hadn’t done much to keep our conversations private. For the most part, people tended to assume I was talking about moments of “you had to be there to get it,” which might as well have made us invisible. Unless I was talking about Earth’s current events -- which I hadn’t kept up with, for obvious reasons -- most people tended to tune us out, which worked just fine for me. Granted that things would be different in a small town, but the majority of the suburbs and urban areas could be traversed without anyone looking twice at us...well, at me anyway -- the girls were going to draw attention no matter where we went.

All that being said, I was still careful what we talked about in public. A spell that muffled our speech to everyone but the four of us helped.

So far, our little vacation has been a smashing success. Everyone had enjoyed the waterpark, and most of them were pretty keen on the thrills the rides of the main park brought, as well. Some -- such as Fluttershy and Rarity, for example -- were more interested in enjoying the atmosphere and calmer events within the park itself, but it wasn’t called an “amusement park” for no reason: no matter what someone liked, there was something for them to do.

“Come with me; don’t ask questions,” my brother suddenly whispered in my ear, pulling me by my wrist to follow him. I bid the girls a quick farewell as I followed him away from the line, disturbed by the sudden seriousness in my brother’s tone. We walked around a few of the stands and small buildings in the park -- basically walking a large circle -- before coming around the back side of the roller coaster we were set to get on. My brother in turn pulled me into the bathroom off to the side, and went into a urinal stall, motioning for me to do the same. Truth be told, I did have to drain it a bit, so I did my business and waited for whatever had my brother so paranoid all of the sudden.

After a few moments, he leaned close and whispered, “I think we’re being followed.” He finished fake-peeing and whispered, “When we walk out, look for a red cap and blue shirt, with jeans. He’s been showing up everywhere we go for the past hour now.”

I nodded in response, zipping myself up before washing my hands and heading outside. As we both headed back to the girls, I kept my eyes open for our unwanted company. Sure enough, after only a few moments, I spotted him out of the corner of my eyes: a guy, likely in his mid thirties, with a red ball-cap and a blue baseball jersey. When we finally arrived back at the line -- which had moved us nearly to the front, by that point -- I kept a close watch on the area, and kept seeing the same man appear. He would walk around a bit, sometimes leaving my sight, but sure enough, he would reappear again. Now, I’m not a paranoid guy most of the time, but neither is my brother; if he noticed something amiss, it was likely this one guy wasn’t the only one following us.

We greeted Applejack and Pinkie, of course, but then I turned to my brother and asked, “What do you think we should do?” Truth be told, I wasn’t sure how to handle the situation without causing a ruckus.

“Well,” he began, scratching his chin and looking the other direction, “we can either leave, ignore him, or…”

After a few moments of silence I urged him on. “Or…?”

My brother turned and grinned at me, his smile decidedly mischievous. “Or, we could send a message.”

I returned the smile, liking the plan more and more. “I’ll go with option C. Ideas?”

He motioned to the line, and we were part of the next group that would be going up. “Well, there’s no sense leaving now that we’ve waited all this time. Let’s go on this ride first, and then let’s ditch the girls; something tells me they wouldn’t like what we’re going to do.”

I glanced to Pinkie and Applejack, frowning at the thought of lying to them, even for a good cause. “I think you’re right. Okay then, we’ll hand them off to ‘Sun and Moon’ before we do it. I don’t want them involved in this, if I can help it.”

My brother was silent, but nodded in agreement. With that out of the way, we patiently waited until the coaster rolled into the dock and the previous occupants left, freeing it up for the next group. The gates opened and allowed us in, so the four of us -- as well as the other twenty-eight people of our group -- hurried to get into our spots. The ride operators went about making sure everyone was restrained correctly before pressing a button on their console, which caused hydraulics to pull the seats so that we were tilted forward, until we were parallel with the ground. After that, the ride began with an initial jolt before it smoothly moved along the track.

Despite the flips, twists, and turns, the ride was not as much fun as I remembered it to be. Luckily for me, Pinkie and Applejack loved it, but then again, they didn’t naturally fly. For me though, it just seemed slow, and overly safe. As a young child, I had actually been terrified of roller coasters; now, after a good stint as an alicorn -- and let’s not forget war -- I fought with myself to keep from yawning in boredom. As crazy as it seemed, I almost wanted to get my wings back, break out of the harness, and just fly into the sky for real. Thankfully, due to a modicum of forethought that was trained into me by Luna and Night, I didn’t. I really, really wanted to, though. Instead, I focused on the girl next to me -- Pinkie, who was on the end, and out of sight of my brother and Applejack -- and played to her mild exhibitionism: I teased and toyed with her to see how hot and bothered I could get her before the ride was over.

Just under a minute later, we were pulling back into the dock, and I found myself glad that Pinkie was able to walk without stumbling. Let it simply be said that her skin tone on her face matched her name again, and those that knew to look would notice her breathing harder than the thrill of a roller coaster accounted for. Much as I wanted to find a secluded place and finish what I’d started, I quietly promised Pinkie I’d make it up to her, before finding Celestia and Luna in the park. As we had planned, my brother and I dropped Pinkie and Applejack with the two princesses -- we made up a story about having to go and set up the next part of our day out, which allowed us plenty of time to take care of things.

So, with my brother and I now alone, we set off into the park again, and I was pleased to see our little follower was still stuck to us instead of the others. It didn’t take long for us to make our way to the exit toward the parking lot, and we were quite obvious in where we were headed: toward the area of the carpark that held the buses and shuttles.

We rounded one of the unoccupied buses, and I trained my sharp hearing on listening for the sound of footsteps following us. My brother and I stayed quiet as we waited, until sure enough, another pair of feet stopped just around the front of the bus -- they were out of sight, but certainly close enough to hear anything that was said. I nodded to my brother, and he wasted no time in reaching around and grabbing our company, yanking him to the broad side of the bus and slamming him against it.

Whether by acting or an honest reaction, the expression on the man’s face was that of shock and slight fear at facing down a two-on-one situation. Even if he were trained by a government agency or something -- which the jury was still out on, as far as I was concerned -- he would stand no chance against the two of us without backup. Because of this, I simply kept my mouth shut for a few seconds as I waited for the reality of the situation to completely descend on him: that he was alone, likely in over his head, and could very well die from this (the latter wasn’t true, but he didn’t know that).

He struggled feebly against my brother’s iron grip, but it was no use. For our safety, I had only changed our appearances upon coming to Earth, which meant that my brother was every bit as strong and agile as a human as he was a dragon; while no gem dragon, an Obsidian was not to be trifled with in terms of battle prowess.

Once it became clear to the man that he wasn’t going anywhere, I pulled the sunglasses off of his face and the hat off his head, inspecting the two before asking, “Why are you following us?”

Honestly, I couldn’t tell whether he was acting or was honestly baffled at my question. “Um...what?”

I glanced to my brother with a raised eyebrow before repeating to the man, “Why are you following us?”

His brow furrowed as he shook his head and pulled at my brother’s hand to try and free himself. “I-I wasn’t following you.”

I inspected the man a little more closely, and it was when I noticed something running from his collar up into his long, shaggy brown hair. I reached over and pulled on it, revealing an earpiece connected to a wire that ran down into his shirt. This immediately set off alarm bells in my head, so I threw aside all subtlety and nodded to my brother. He took the hint and quickly and easily tore the buttoned shirt open, along with the white tee underneath. The man only had a second to suck in a shocked breath of air before he was completely naked up top, allowing us to follow the earpiece to a small receiver device in his back pocket. My brother then went over the shirt with his eyes before pointing to the front collar of the outer shirt, where a small button-like object could be seen affixed to the inside -- it didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on, here.

I picked the small microphone off of the shirt and held it on the tip of my finger, my eyes slowly swiveling to the restrained man. “Okay, I’m going to ask just one more time: why were you following us? Lie again and things might get ugly.” My eyes snapped to the man’s right hand, which had been inching toward his rear waistband, and I grabbed him by the wrist before he could pull out whatever he was reaching for. Again, I nodded silently to my brother, and he continued to restrain the man by the neck with one hand while he reached around the back to reveal a small, subcompact pistol.

“Now,” I began, taking the firearm from my brother and inspecting it disinterestedly, “we have your gun, too. Last chance.” I assured the safety was on before pointing the gun at the man’s face, holding it there -- and, I’ll admit, taking a sick pleasure in watching him sweat -- before lowering it and letting out a loud laugh. After composing myself, I focused on the man -- who was now equal parts afraid and confused -- and explained, “We’re not going to hurt you. Instead,” I raised my hand, which still held the tiny microphone, “we’re going to lay down some ground rules for your bosses.” I raised the microphone until it was a little over six inches away, and began speaking into it. “Testing: one, two...one two…” I then shook my head and chuckled. “Actually, I don’t care if you all have anything to say, because right now, all you need to do is listen: I know you’re watching us, and I have a good idea why, as well. All you need to know is that we mean you and your men no ill will, and frankly, I don’t care if you watch us -- observe to your heart’s content.”

“But,” my brother broke in, moving closer so the microphone would pick up his voice clearly, “should any of us suddenly ‘go missing’, you’ll find yourself at war with an enemy the likes of which you've only dreamt about in nightmares. It would be unwise to test this little warning.”

I smirked to my brother and nodded silently before picking up where he left off. “That being said, as long as you don’t harm us or intentionally try to make our lives needlessly difficult, you have nothing to worry about; we’re not going to be breaking any laws, and we’re not intent on causing damage to anyone, or anything, of any kind. I hope we’ve come to an understanding...thank you for your time.”

With that, I placed the microphone into the man’s palm, then turned my attention to the pistol. I ejected the magazine and chucked it into the woods, then popped out the chambered round as well, making the pistol completely safe before handing it back to him. I then patted him on the shoulder and jerked my head away, giving him silent permission to leave, which he took without hesitation, and hastily.

My brother and I stood silently in place, waiting until we were alone again before he offered, “You could have given a display of force, like freezing his legs in a block of ice and leaving him here.”

I thought for a moment -- and, I’ll admit, pondered the feasibility of my brother’s idea -- before shaking my head with a smirk. “Nah, it’s better this way. You see, right now, ‘big brother’ has no idea what we’re capable of; for all they know, we’re completely harmless...or we could be more dangerous than anything they’ve ever faced before.” I began walking, twirling my finger aimlessly in the air. “You think I just happened to overlook the fact that we would be tracked by creating a group of people out of nothing? The girls don’t exist here, and we’ve been away for a long-ass time, so I knew that would cause us to pop up on the grid.”

“So why do it?” He asked, confusion clear in his tone. I didn’t have to look at him to envision a raised eyebrow, and half-smile that came with the question.

I shrugged nonchalantly. “Drawing out potential enemies is the best way to keep track of them. Now, we know we’re being watched, and they know that we know. One of two things is going to happen: either they’re going to assume we’re harmless, and do something stupid, or they’ll keep their distance because they’re cautious of what we can do if provoked. Either way we’ll be able to handle it, but that’s also why we’re going to stick together. I’ll send out a message to everyone that we’re being watched, just so they don’t get super paranoid about thinking they’re being followed.”

“Speaking of sticking together,” he began, picking up his pace and pulling ahead of me, “we should probably get back to the rest of them. AJ’s probably worried about us just disappearing like that, and if we’re gone any longer, I’m not going to be able to use taking a piss as a reasonable excuse.”

I nodded in agreement, breaking into a jog as I followed him back to the park.

Only one thing to say about amusement parks: Equestria needs them!

The rides, the food, the atmosphere...it was all so great! To think that humans had come up with the idea to put a bunch of awesome rides all together, enough that it would take all day to ride them all -- they know what’s up. Every ride was bigger, and faster, and took crazier turns than the last. Granted, as a pony, I could fly, but being stuck on the ground offered a whole new world of thrills that I never knew about before.

The adrenaline and feel-good things that flooded my brain every time a roller coaster took a hairpin turn, or a sudden drop, had me shaking and laughing like an idiot. The little bit of fear that came from the knowledge that I couldn’t stop myself in the air if I suddenly fell out of the ride only added to the excitement, and I knew for a fact that we were going to have to go to more of these things.

That being said, it wasn’t all perfect.

I was used to being in the sky for hours at a time -- hay, sometimes I spent all day drifting on the currents -- so it was a big letdown to have the ride finish just as my heart was starting to race. When it was over, and me and Ditzy had to get off to make room for the next group, I couldn’t help but think, ‘Buck, now I have to wait in line again?’ Still, I couldn’t really get that upset over riding on machines that ponies might not even have for decades.

The one thing that did bother me was that there was this guy who had been following us for about half an hour now. He’d never gotten close or anything, but I kept seeing the same outfit pop up no matter where I went, and it was starting to bug me. Granted, I wasn’t really worried about him trying anything, but let’s just say I wasn’t wanting to cause a scene by driving this guy into the ground.

“We’re being watched. Stay calm and meet me at the picnic area next to the go-karts.”

Frost’s voice ran through my head, and by Ditzy’s subtle flinch, I knew she’d heard the same thing. We locked eyes for a second before silently agreeing, heading towards the picnic place.

Even from far away, it was easy to see Dark’s tall figure towering over everyone else, which made it easier to be sure we were in the right place. Ditzy and I walked up just as Spike and Rarity arrived as well, which meant we were all present now. With a silent hand motion, Frost asked us to block sight of him from anyone else, so we gathered around as he cast a spell around us. Once he nodded, we all sat down and waited for him to explain just what the hay was going on.

He let out a long, slow breath before he began. “We’ve got people watching us now -- probably some government agency, though I’m unsure which one. My brother and I found one of their agents already, which means there’s probably dozens more out there. The reason I’m telling you all this is because I want you to understand the situation instead of being ignorant of it: you’re all mature enough to know how to handle this, so I thought it better to let you all know instead of keeping it from you.”

“That being said,” Dark began, continuing where Frost left off, “we’re going to be staying in groups of two or four -- whichever you choose -- to ensure there’s always someone there to watch our back whenever we’re out and about. We don’t expect anything bad to happen, but preparation is important as a fallback measure, just in case we’re wrong.”

“However,” Frost spoke up again, “we would like to keep any and all special abilities a secret as a trump card, so no obvious magic use in public -- even telekinesis projects a colored aura of energy. If the worst happens, and we end up needing to defend ourselves, I want our adversaries to have no clue of what we’re capable of. That will ensure a lack of adequate defenses brought against us, and it will increase our odds of coming through this unscathed.”

Dark held up his hand, drawing attention to him as he added, “However, our greatest safety net will be simply playing it safe, not breaking any laws, and then going home at the end of it all. If we’re not a threat, it’s likely they’ll leave us alone.”

“You act like you can’t trust the government here, or something.” Ditzy spoke up, voicing my own thoughts as she did so.

Frost looked to her and sighed heavily, his posture drooping a bit as he took a seat on a bench nearby. “Let me briefly paint you a picture of what is the United States government: right now the year is 2016. Well, around 1770, the country that this country’s forefathers came from to escape persecution decided they didn’t like the fact that this country’s people were finding ways to live on their own without the father-country’s imports. Well, as you can guess, that father-country didn’t like that, so they decided to go to war with this country to beat them into submission. Long story short, this country fought off the invaders, and eventually -- after a bloody civil war -- became the United States of America, one of only a few world superpowers in terms of economy and military might. Now, the ironic part is that this country, that is a land formed from people running from persecution, persecutes its own people if they expose the government’s wrongdoings, such as: wrongful arrest or execution, torture, police brutality, and stealing from its own people. Those people that expose the wrongs committed tend to ‘disappear’ pretty quickly, and they are painted to be conspiracy theorists and all-around crazy people.”

“The fact of the matter is,” Dark broke in, picking up the explanation, “the larger a nation gets, the more difficult it becomes to control, and the United States doesn’t have love and toleration to fall back on like Equestria does. Generally, humans as a species suspect first, and aren’t the most welcoming of differences of opinion: most of our wars came about simply because two or more groups of people believed different things, and hundreds of thousands died for it each time…sometimes even millions.”

Terra was no stranger to differences of opinion -- and, I’ll admit, war -- but to think that millions of people could be killed simply because two or more groups didn’t agree on something...well, it was kinda scary. Of course, Earth had a population 4-5 times that of Terra, but that still didn’t weaken the blow. I didn’t like it, and even then, I was sure I wasn’t the only one.

“So,” Frost began again, “we’re going to stay in groups from now on. I don’t care if it’s just to walk around a corner: always have at least one other person with you, and I’d prefer if there was at least one magic-user in the group at all times. As far as I know, humans have no defense against magic, so that will likely be our greatest asset.” He then stopped and rubbed his chin idly. “Although, I don’t want to reveal our true abilities unless absolutely necessary, so try and keep it on the down-low.”

“The what?” I blurted out, confused.

Vinyl tapped me on the arm and explained, “He means be discreet. If this should ever turn dangerous for us, we want to catch them completely by surprise in terms of our capabilities.”

“Vinyl’s right.” Dark agreed, nodding to Vinyl. “Only our physical forms are changed, so we’re still as strong as ever, we can still use magic, and Spike and I can still breathe fire. The point is, we don’t want anyone to know that, because they could use that against us. This is still a vacation for us, and we’re going to spend it like one, but this is just one of those possible dangers that my brother and I warned all of you about.”

“Now,” Frost broke in with a grin, “who’s up for dinner and a movie?”

We took the train and buses back to the city as the afternoon began to fade into evening, and after changing, we walked for a half-hour to a “movie theater” that was nearby. Now, Equestria didn’t have the technology for television or movies yet, but Frost’s explanation of “a hyped-up play with more special effects” caught our attention, and we would be breaking up into three groups: one would see a comedy, one would see an action film, and the last would see a romance.

I was no stranger to plays -- Canterlot was where my orchestra met, after all -- but it would be interesting to see a human take on genres we already had in Equestria. The main difference, in Frost’s words, was this: in Equestria, you were awed by the skill of an actor playing a part, but on Earth, the movies seemed so real and drew you in so much, it was easy to forget it was fiction. Needless to say, I was very interested.

One thing was for sure: I was very pleased with Rarity’s work on our clothing.

A few months before we left, Frost had told us all about how Earth worked, what was considered the norm as far as customs, and what we had to be careful of as well. Now, for a pony, having to wear clothing all the time in public was rare even in Canterlot, but Frost and Dark had been quite clear that clothing on Earth was required and non-negotiable. Because of this, Rarity had asked him all about the styles of clothing on Earth, and had done her very best to make clothes that were both functional and fashionable, while still being as comfortable as possible for beings that normally only wore clothing for reasons pertaining to fashion. Because of that, I was quite pleased with the knee-length teal dress that looked nice, while still being comfortable.

It was also incredible to watch the city transform as night fell, the beautiful sunlight being replaced with thousands of lights and glowing signs, giving the city a completely new atmosphere.

Following Frost’s request, I had found my “buddy” for the night, and currently had my arm looped in Ditzy’s as we made our way to the movie theater. I’ll admit that Frost and Dark’s warning that we were being watched had made me a bit paranoid, but more than anything I was nervous around the 1-3 ton hunks of metal that were rushing around the streets by the dozens. These “cars” could move quite a bit faster on the ground than anything I knew of in Equestria, and the fact that some of the drivers may be half-asleep wasn’t helping my anxiety.

Luckily for all of us, after buying tickets for the shows, Frost led us all to an Italian restaurant nearby (he advised us it was a mirror for “Istallion”) that allowed us to get off the street and away from the cars. Because we hadn’t eaten much during the day, I was rather hungry, so the scents of the establishment immediately caught my attention. I could smell fresh herbs in the air, with a hit of lemon here and there, along with what I imagined to be olive oil. The place seemed to be half-full by the looks of it, so I only hoped we could find a place to sit together.

The host looked up from his small podium as we approached, and asked, “How many?”

Frost smiled at the host and answered, “Fifteen.”

The host looked down at his book, which I could only imagine was the seating chart for the restaurant. “Hmm...I’m not sure we have the space for all of you to sit within the same area. Perhaps-”

Frost interrupted the man by pulling out the wad of money he had in his pocket, and counted out two of them -- the hundred-dollar notes, I think -- before putting the “bills” on the podium. “I believe I have a reservation.” He smiled at the man as he waited patiently for him to respond.

The host cleared his throat and discreetly pocketed the money before grabbing menus and gesturing to us to follow. “Right this way, then.”

Frost then leaned conspiratorially to Night and muttered, “I’ve always wanted to be able to do that.”

I rolled my eyes at the comment -- and something tells me I wasn’t the only one -- but followed the group toward our destination. After weaving in and out of tables, we finally arrived at a large, semi-circular booth, where another long table was being pulled up to rest against the end of the first. Chairs were then brought over by a few of the workers, which gave us ample space for our party. We took our places and gave our drink choices to the server before settling in and enjoying the chance to sit down after being up and about all day.

“So, what have you all thought so far?” Frost suddenly asked, breaking the momentary silence between us all. With a minor hand gesture, the air around us shimmered, and I recognized the feel of the muting spell put around us.

Everyone went into their own thoughts as we all tried to come up with words that accurately described what we thought of the trip so far, only for Dash to sum up her feelings in one word: “Awesome!”

I nodded in agreement. “Yes, it’s been really fun so far. There’s so much here that Equestria just doesn’t have, and even though I’m not exactly the most active pony, I enjoyed the amusement park and waterpark quite a bit.”

“I must agree.” Rarity piped in. “Though I’m not usually one for such active outings, I can admit it’s been quite a joy to experience so far.”

Frost nodded to Rarity. “And I thank you for hanging in there with us all, because I know what we’ve done so far today isn’t your normal choice for something to do. So, to make up for that -- and for anyone else that prefers an alternative -- we’re going to be heading to Underground Atlanta tomorrow, which is a huge underground mall full of all kinds of stores, and even a few pubs and clubs. There’s something for everyone there, and we’ll have two guides: my brother, and me. I’ll take all of you to the things like shopping, seeing the sights and such, and the rest of you will go with my brother to the pubs and clubs. That should ensure everyone gets to do what they want,” the then shot a look directly to the fashionista, “and I’m sure you’ll enjoy being able to take a good look at modern Western fashions on Earth. If nothing else, it’ll be some good inspiration for you.”

“We’ll be staying in Atlanta for another day before we head off to Virginia. We’re going to quickly show you around the place we used to live -- just to show you where we came from -- before we head off to California to enjoy the beach and some of the crazy things that state has to offer.” Dark explained, grinning all the while.

“What about this ‘England’ place you told us about?” I asked, curious as to one of our apparent destinations.

Frost chuckled at my question, just shaking his head. “Beautiful countryside and quaint little towns, but it rains about eighty percent of the time. There’s a lot of history there, though, so I’m sure you all will enjoy it.”

We all silently opened our menus as the conversation tapered off, and proceeded to pick out something that sounded good. Luckily for all of the Equestrians, most of the vegetables on Earth existed on Terra, which made the descriptions of each dish in the menu that much easier to envision. I personally thought the linguine al pesto sounded very tasty, and the fresh squash and tomatoes added in promised to make it a very nice meal. I’ll admit I was a little curious as to how a dish with meat would taste, but I wasn’t curious enough to actually try one, as the thought of ingesting meat still made my stomach do a little flip.

The server returned a few minutes later with all our drinks, and we all spent time passing around said drinks so that each could taste the different flavors to find one we really liked. In addition to water and a few juices was a huge selection of carbonated drinks, the latter of which was something Equestria had just recently discovered. Humans, on the other hand, had been experimenting with the drinks for almost two hundred years, and it showed in the quality and taste of the different drinks they had. My favorite ended up being a lemon-lime “soft-drink” (as they were called), which I couldn’t help but imagine would make Equestria a better place simply by its presence there.

Another few minutes later, the server took our orders, which left us to pick up our conversations or, in my case, relax against the reassuring strength of a friend. Dash wrapped her arm around me reflexively and offered a smile before leaning her head atop mine, relaxing a bit as we waited patiently for our food. Much as I tried to fight it, the bustle of the day caught up with me, and I quickly found myself dozing as I rested against Dash’s reassuring strength.

A repetitive poking at my side roused me from my short nap, and as I opened my eyes, I noticed several servers setting down our meals at the table. Stemmed glasses were set out next, and what I could only assume was wine was poured for all of us. Frost had a short conversation with the servers after they finished, after which we were left to enjoy our meals. To be honest, I had worked up quite the appetite over the long day, and I was more than happy to tuck into some good food.

Roam was a popular place back in Equestria, and I had the privilege of having played in one of their more famous concert halls on one occasion, so I was quite familiar with Istallion cuisine. That being said, I had expected slight differences in the taste and quality of Italian vs Istallion food, but I was very surprised at just how similar it all tasted. The noodles were different of course -- being made of wheat instead of hay -- but other than that, it was nearly an exact match for the same dish I’d had while touring with the symphony. To say I enjoyed it would be an understatement, and I wasted no time in devouring the quality dish before me. We didn’t spend any more time than necessary at the restaurant, and after finishing our meals, we promptly left to make our way back to the movie theater.

Luckily for me, I had broken up the groups pretty evenly so that there was one “leader” in each movie being seen, a couple magic users, and at least one alicorn so that everyone would be safe. It was a bit odd for me to take over the leading role in something that didn’t involve fighting, but as Moonfang explained it, “An alpha guides his pack through wisdom and strength, not because they want to, but because the alpha knows it is for the good of his pack.” I didn’t necessarily agree with the choice of the two wolves (my brother, for example, was far more confident in himself than I was), but being the only two of their kind with us, I had a feeling they had a good handle on what did and didn’t make a good leader.

Even with what happened halfway through the day, things were turning out pretty nicely, and the group was pretty excited to see exactly what humans were capable of as far as the arts; it’s true that movies weren’t what most people think of when one hears “the arts”, but taking a mere idea and turning it into something worthy of a theater screen takes skill, so I include it. That being said, I had to have a brief talk with everyone present to be sure they understood that any wounds, deaths, or other morbid things happening were simply a part of the story, and were not real. More than anything though, I hoped that Luna could control the volume of her laughter in the theater, so that she didn’t give us away to anyone that could be watching.

On my side of things, I ended up sandwiched between Celestia and Night while watching a romantic comedy. The only others from our group seeing the same movie were Fluttershy and Moonfang, the latter of whom seemed to be struggling to stay awake for the sake of his mate -- it was true that they were quite the match, but that didn’t mean they had all the same interests. Regardless of the minor setbacks here and there, the night at the movies was a grand success, and all the Equestrians were very adamant that Terra could use a movie theater or fifty. Dash, Venn, and Ditzy in particular were pretty jazzed-up from the action film they had seen, and it was quite entertaining to see them reciting lines from the movie, complete with gestures and sounds.

Hours later, my brother and I were down in the hotel lobby, going over recent major news articles to be sure we stayed on top of things, so that we could be more prepared for any possible issues that may crop up. There were quite a few things to catch up on -- the federal legalization of gay marriage and the cropping-up of new terrorist groups, to name a couple -- so it took us time to sift through the media propaganda to find the truth of the issues -- or, at least, as close to the truth as one could get from mainstream media. What we found was worrying: the world as a whole was a very different place than what we left behind only two years ago, so much so that the things happening were in the realm of what a sane person would expect of a silly satire than anything else. Now, it seemed some of the movies we saw making fun of these possibilities had actually been accurate, which was scary.

“Dude, check this out.”

The newspaper my brother had been reading was pushed into my vision, and I immediately noticed the story he had circled in magic marker, which clearly read, “Donald Trump to run for presidency in 2016”. I did a double-take at what was being shown to me, and if I’d been drinking something, I probably would have spit it out. Donald Trump, the big-business mogul and owner of the world’s most visible toupee, was going to be running for president of the United States in a year.

“What. The. Fuck.” I slowly muttered, honestly unable to believe that what I was seeing was a serious thing. Just to be sure, I checked the date of the paper, only to find that it was not, in fact, a paper from April 1st, so I was unfortunately looking at a fact rather than a prank.

“On the other hand,” my brother continued, “this Putin guy is a badass.” He thrust another paper my way, and tapped the article on the page. “Guy’s basically taken a sinking boat and not only kept it afloat, but made it bigger and better. Not exactly a guy known for political correctness -- which Americans hate, of course -- but he tells things like it is, and seems to be doing the best he can to bring his people and country into the 21st century in terms of their economy, military, and sciences.”

I nodded absently. “Sounds like he could be a pretty dangerous guy if the wrong person pissed him off.” As I went back to skimming the newspapers from the past month -- which the hotel staff was kind enough to provide -- I finally picked up the most recent “world news” paper and frowned when I noticed just how big of a “splash” my little performance in the air had made. It seemed that countries around the world were very interested in the event, and while some were obviously trying to write it off as a hoax, an overwhelming number of different countries were reacting with vast interest. A few countries in the eastern hemisphere, for example, were claiming it to be a sign from a deity (which was ludicrous, but they didn’t know that). Anyone who knew me would never confuse me with a god, that’s for sure.

There didn’t seem to be that much in the news that would be useful to us, but I had no doubt I’d be able to learn more the next time I came across another person from whatever agency was watching us -- assuming it was only one. After all, I knew that they were going to be testing their boundaries with us, trying to find some sort of leverage to use over us should the need arise. I had already advised at least one of them that I had no plans to cause any trouble, but if the people of Earth could safely assume the truth of someone’s words, things would be a lot better off. So, that being said, I understood that we were still going to be watched, and tested, and watched some more, so I had come to terms with the fact that we would have no real privacy; in fact, if my hunch was right, we were being watched right now in the lobby, and it was likely we would find more bugs in our rooms by tomorrow.

Yeah, we’d found at least twenty listening devices spread across all the rooms, and I took great pleasure in finding, deactivating, and leaving them in a sealed envelope for whoever had planted them to find. I hadn’t been lying when I told everyone we needed to stay under the radar as far as our true abilities, but those watching us needed to know we weren’t going to just allow our privacy to be invaded, even if we understood why we were being observed.

“So what’s up for tomorrow?”

I glanced to my brother again, and silently agreed that we’d researched enough for one night. Standing and stretching, I jerked my head toward the elevators and led us back to the rooms. “Well,” I began, scratching the hair that had already grown on my face, “I was thinking we’d still hit Underground Atlanta, but I also want to take Twi somewhere special. After all, most of the stuff down there is pretty cool, but it’s not really her cup of tea.”

“So, nerdy stuff then.” my brother surmised with a smirk.

I nodded with a grin of my own. “Yeah. I was thinking maybe we’d hit up some of the tecchie stores around the around the area, just so she can get a good feel for human technology. Besides being something fun for her to see, I think a lot of this technology can be adapted to work in Equestria, but cleaner without the use of fossil fuels or nonrenewable resources.”

My brother scratched his own beard as he thought, which had grown phenomenally fast in just two days. “Yeah, that’d be cool. Gotta admit, I miss me some GTA sometimes. Doesn’t compare to flying, or real sword-fighting, but it’d be nice to be able to do some crazy stuff without the possibility of hurting myself or other people.” We had arrived at my brother’s floor by this point, so he exited the elevator and turned to me with a simple thumb’s-up before heading off to his room.

In only another few moments, I had arrived at my room, and I entered as stealthily as I could to keep from waking anyone up that may be sleeping. Of course, unfortunately for me, my departure was noticed, and I entered to find a pair of worried ladies waiting for me.

Lyra’s head snapped to me when she heard the door click shut, and she stood with Vinyl by her side and waited for me to approach. It was probably my fault that she was so worried -- my notification that we were being watched had put a few of them on edge, unfortunately -- so I did my best to soothe her as I encompassed both girls in a loving embrace.

“Where were you?” Vinyl asked, likely voicing Lyra’s concern as well as they pulled away.

I shrugged helplessly, finding it pointless to lie to them. “Checking over as much news as I could easily get my hands on. I figure the more I know about what’s going on in the world, the better prepared I’ll be if something goes wrong. Better safe than sorry, after all.”

“Do you really think we’re in danger?” Lyra questioned, her poorly-hidden worry clear in her tone and posture.

I brought her in close with an arm and kissed her on the forehead, doing my best to silently reassure her. Regardless, I answered truthfully, as she deserved to know. “I don’t know the people we’re dealing with, so I don’t know for sure. However, if the war has taught me anything, it’s that preparation and prevention can save time and lives, so that’s what I’ll be doing. I promise,” I punctuated the words with another kiss, passing one to Vinyl as well, on my other side, “I will do everything in my power to assure everyone is safe, so we can enjoy ourselves here. Just trust me -- I’m handling it.” I released a long breath before pulling away and ruffling Vinyl’s shaggy hair, which she countered by playfully swatting my hand away. “That being said, Terra is actually far more dangerous than Earth is, by leaps and bounds. The only difference is that the dangers presented here are things you all aren’t familiar with, but that’s what my brother and I are here for. We’ll be fine, I promise.”

Luckily, the girls trusted my judgement in matters pertaining to Earth, so my words worked well to put their minds at ease as we all headed to the makeshift sleeping-pallet in the main room. The three of us wasted no time in finding places to snuggle into the pile -- Dash practically yanked me down on top of her, once she sensed me -- leaving us to simply sleep the rest of the night away. Tomorrow would be interesting, that’s for sure, but I’d be ready for it, and the girls would enjoy themselves.

Once again, four people of unknown loyalties were meeting to discuss what they’d observed from the “anomalies”, but the tune was quite a bit different now. The consensus of what they were dealing with was already divided, with one of them believing the anomalies were in no way a threat, and should be ignored.

“So, the agent has been completely debriefed, then?”

“Yes sir,” the only woman of the group answered, throwing a glare to the elder in the military uniform, “but I’m not convinced we’re dealing with some sort of alien super-soldiers. From what I gather from this, they’re just a bunch of people that were in the wrong place at the right time, and the unknowns could simply be using fake ID’s to move around unnoticed.” She crossed her arms and blew a strand of hair out of her face, which had begun to rebel from the hairstyle after a long day of work. “Frankly, I think we’re wasting resources on this. I offered my support because I thought we had something concrete, but the two young men that fell off the grid for awhile are idiots at best, and they don’t appear to possess anything useful to us. Sure, they exposed and disarmed one of your agents, but that may simply speak of a lack of adequate training for-”

“Watch yourself, missy.” the older man warned, glaring coldly at her. “Don’t forget who’s signing your paycheck, and who’s offering their support to your team out east.” That caused the woman’s mouth to snap shut, though she defiantly glared back. The man simply ignored the look, and addressed the other two in the room. “For now, we will continue to observe and gather intel until we have something we can use. I have a hunch we won’t have to wait long, and all we may need to do is offer a slight nudge in the right direction.”

“What are you thinking, sir?” the younger military man questioned, having been silent during the whole meeting until that moment.

The older man shrugged, pointing at the pictures of the two men that appeared to be the leaders of the group. “These two are brothers, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they miraculously reappeared together, at the same place and the same time. They are our main focus, so we will need to gather intel on these two before anyone else. Try and force a response of some kind if we can -- even a minor one -- so we can gauge what we’re dealing with.” Reluctantly, the other three left the room, ready to put forth their next plan of action. The man twirled a game piece in his hand -- a chess rook -- before sighing loudly to himself. No matter how this all ended, it was sure to leave him in the pages of history. It was his job, however, to be sure it was a positive note instead of a negative one, and he was very good at finding solutions.

No matter the outcome, one thing was clear: sooner or later, they would need a live subject to study in order to confirm or refute their suspicions.

Chapter 4: Deeper Underground

Author's Notes:

Strictly for disclaimer purposes: I do not own any part of Underground Atlanta, Hot Topic, the Fernbank Science Center, or the Atlanta Museum of Natural History. Any references to either is strictly non-profit.

For obvious reasons, this chapter will ring stronger with anyone that's lived or visited in the metro Atlanta area, but i think all of you will enjoy. Please enjoy and let me know what you think.

While I’d like to say that sleeping all together was perfect, it wasn’t. Without fur to act as a buffer, human bodies were much more sensitive to touch, which meant a lot of fun to be had. The only problem was that without fur, there also wasn’t anything to catch the skin’s natural oils and sweat that would come out overnight. This all meant that, while the security and comfort of being with my herd felt the same, we all woke up sticky, sweaty, and in need of a shower. There were just too many hot bodies in one place, and even with air conditioning, it got hot quick. That’s not to say any of us were going to split up and sleep away from the others, but maybe we’d ask Frost to use some magic to make it more comfortable for us.

As it was, after waking everyone and getting cleaned up, we were feeling much better and ready to tackle the day.

Due to the fact we were going to be cruising this “Underground Atlanta” place, I opted to remove the disguise on my hair, letting its true color come through -- luckily, from what Frost told us, vibrant-colored hair wasn’t exactly rare among the younger population, and with most of us being in our twenties, we certainly qualified. I was the only one allowed at the moment however, due to the fact that too many “flamboyant” colors would draw too much attention, and with us already being watched by some sort of organization, we didn’t need to willingly turn all eyes our way. Nonetheless, I was going to have a little fun with my outfit, and opted to squeeze into some snug white tights under a vivid blue skirt, along with some comfortable sneakers, a short white tee that showed my abs, and of course, a modified set of shades made to fit a human head. All in all, I looked pretty darn hot, if I do say so myself.

“The idea is not to draw attention, Vinyl.”

I turned toward the grinning face of Night and stuck out my tongue. “Hey, every group is allowed to have a few weird people in it. Right now, that’s me, so I’m gonna enjoy this.” I then ran my fingers over my forearm and fluttered the skirt with a swish of my hips. “Besides...I kinda miss my fur and tail. This is about as close as I can get without going full-pony, so I’m gonna go with it.”

Having just gotten out of the shower, Night was still showing her natural, starry sky hair. She ran her hand through the twinkling violet locks and sighed toward me. “At least you can get away with showing your true color. Mine will draw unfavorable attention nearly anywhere, until we get to the event for ponies.”

“Bronycon.” I corrected automatically. I nodded sympathetically, patting her upper arm. “And yeah, I feel you. Still, we're meant to be in disguise here, so I made peace with the fact that I'm not gonna recognize myself for awhile. Frost and you girls still love me though, so I can deal.” I levitated a brush to my hand and began running it through my hair. “So, are you gonna hang with Twi and the others for some quiet time, or are you down for drinks and dancing with the rest of us?”

Night bobbed her head from side to side, her slitted, teal eyes focusing on nothing specific. “Well, Luna has always been the quiet reader type, but I must admit, I don't share that with her.” Her intense gaze focused on me as she clarified. “I admit that knowing you are a musician that thrives on the nightlife is a wonderful thing indeed, and while modern music has taken some getting used to, evening revelry is definitely something I wish to participate in.”

Wait… “R-really?”

Night simply smirked at my dumbfounded expression, poking my cheek teasingly. “Luna and I may be bound, but we are very different creatures. I know we haven’t been able to spend much time together due to the cleanup following the war, but I think you’ll find we have entirely different interests, save for the night and its wonders. I have no doubt that Luna would not mind a night out at a place of music and dance, but she is far more comfortable in a cozy nook with a mug of fragrant tea and a book.” She moved closer, and I was again struck with just how tall and statuesque her and the other alicorns were -- even Rainbow Dash. Night leaned her face in, a mere foot from mine, and purred, “For all intents and purposes, I am the living embodiment of the night and all it is. Parties and revelries take place in the night, great moments of inspiration and muses found under the cover of darkness.” She licked her lips almost predatorily. “Lovers share themselves with each other under the moon and stars. These are all a part of who I am, and I have no problem,” she moved closer, “personifying those characteristics.” Closer, again; we were inches away now, her breath splashing over my face in gentle puffs of warm air. The penetrating gaze of Night held my attention as she whispered, “It is my nature. I am all that and more.”

I was definitely blushing, and I hated it.

To my simultaneous relief and disappointment, she pulled away and stood up straight again, still smiling softly at me. “So, in conclusion, I would love to experience an activity that has become connected to the night. Although,” she frowned, looking over my outfit, “I may need some help selecting an ensemble that would fit the atmosphere. Modern fashion escapes me, nevermind the fact that humans must wear clothing at all times in public.”

It was totally not cool how easily she was able to make me flustered, but I forced myself to calm down as I went and fetched the clothing bag packed for her by Rarity herself. I started digging through it as I explained, “Well, I don’t have a problem helping. Only thing is, you need to decide what kind of look you want to go for. If you want to be classy eye candy -- which I don’t recommend for a club -- a simple black dress will do fine, along with a set of high heels or something similar. If you’re going for that look, the idea is to make your body look as good as possible, while still looking modest...or, at least that’s what Rarity would say. Now,” I turned around, having found what I was looking for, “if you are going to be dancing, you’re going to need more comfortable clothes, and something a little more suited to the environment we’ll be in.” I held up a dark violet thigh-length skirt, black fishnet stockings, and a black tee. “These will work much better, I think, and it’s gonna be hot in there, so they’ll be a lot more practical. These,” I wiggled the teal-accented trainers in my right hand, “will keep your feet from hurting too much. With this stuff, you can be both functional and fashionable.”

Night took the articles and looked them over, frowning slightly. “Fashion has surely changed since the last time I wore clothing as a pony.”

“To be fair,” I interjected, “this is human clothing. Equestrian fashion is a lot different, including the fact pony shoes are almost exclusively for fashion. We have hooves, so we don’t really need protection from the ground.”

She shrugged and dropped her towel, and began to get dressed...and for some reason, I found myself staring. Ponies were naked nearly all the time, but due to the shape of our bodies, it wasn’t really indecent. With humans though, everything was just...there.

“If you keep staring, your eyes will dry out.” Night’s voice commented, a grin in her tone.

I shook my head wildly, willing the flush away from my cheeks as I answered, “N-no, it’s just...I get why humans need to wear clothes. It would be like a mare walking around with her tail flagged all day long if we were built like them.”

Night looked down at herself, still lacking a shirt or brassiere. “Hmm...I suppose. It doesn’t make it any more comfortable to wear clothing.”

“Agreed.” I added, glad she wasn’t keen on teasing me again.

“...I never said you had to stop looking, Vinyl.”

Darn it…

I wasn’t entirely convinced there wasn’t some sort of magic involved when it came to human technology, but since I couldn’t detect any magical energy, I could only assume it was indeed the case. My lack of complete belief was more due to the fact that I knew very little about how physics behaved without magic, and even Equestrian chemistry was rooted in magic. It was truly awe-inspiring to think that so many wonders and marvels were built with nothing more than raw materials and ingenuity.

“If you keep making that face, it’ll get stuck that way.”

I rolled my eyes and glanced to Frost, who was grinning at me. “You sound like my mother.”

“Great minds think alike.” he quipped, still grinning like a cat. “What’s on your mind, Twi?”

I let a slow breath out of my nose before turning back to the window overlooking the city. “I’m just still unable to completely believe that all of this -- from the towering skyscrapers to telephones -- was invented and produced without magic. It seems impossible.”

I felt his hand settle on my shoulder as he stood beside me. “That’s only because you don’t know how any of it works. To those unfamiliar with the technology, I’m sure it seems like magic. I’ll make sure we take plenty of books back home so we can advance Equestria’s technology accordingly. We’ll have to figure out an alternate power source, since fossil fuels cause significant pollution, but I have a feeling ponies can figure it out. I believe it’ll be a lot easier to understand than you think, though: the math is all the same, but the people back home just lack the equations and formulas needed to properly produce all this. Books will help with that, and you can be the one to show it to the world.”

I’ll readily admit I grinned like a fool and hopped excitedly at the thought.

“You guys ready?”

We both turned around to see Darkflight standing in the doorway to the room, along with Venn, Moonfang, and Fluttershy. I looked up at Frost, and he nodded to his brother. “Yeah, I think we’re set. I was just waiting for the others to get ready.” Seemingly waiting for the words, all our other friends entered the room, dressed for the day. It was still odd to be wearing clothes every day, but I’ll admit, the variety was starting to grow on me.

“Yeah, we’re ready.” Rainbow answered, stepping into view. She shifted a bit and adjusted her jean shorts, nodding to us. “So, where are we headed?”

Frost shrugged to her. “Well, it’s up to you all: we’re reasonably close by -- just a dozen blocks or so -- so we can walk, or we can take the bus. It’s near Five Points, so you’ll be familiar with the area.”

We watched as each person looked to another, and after a few seconds, Celestia answered for the group. “I think a walk through the city would be nice. Besides,” she bounced a bit from side to side as she looked down at her feet, “I still don’t feel entirely confident moving as a human, so more practice would be welcome.”

“Well,” Frost began, glancing at all our footwear, “you all appear to have opted for practicality, so I think that’ll be fine.” He shot a look at Rarity briefly, and the woman had the good sense to look embarrassed.

“I can’t help if these ‘high heels’ make my legs and rump look nice.” she pouted, shaking her head. “I do hope we’ll have more chances to dress up.”

Darkflight nodded this time. “We will, I promise. It’s just, that type of clothing and footwear isn’t made for doing things, so it gets uncomfortable, and you could end up with sore feet and blisters.”

Frost gave a grin at the words. “Agreed. Now, if no one else has anything, I think we should get going. There’s plenty to do, so the sooner we get moving, the more time we’ll have to explore.”

A collective agreement filtered throughout the group, so we all began filing out of the room toward the elevators (which, once again, were a wonder to see). With new things to learn about and more wonders to see and experience, we took to the streets, eager to enjoy the day.”

It took some walking to get there, but Underground Atlanta was still a bustling marketplace of many different shops, restaurants, and even a club or two. It was exactly how I remembered it, complete with the historic landmarks, like the Gas Lamp. The nostalgia was strong, and I couldn’t help but smile like an idiot at the good feelings it brought. Due to becoming the new Winter, I had at least a millennium of memories that the human, Drew, never experienced; because of this, it was nice to have a strong set of memories that were completely mine alone, short as they were in comparison.

Having already chosen a landmark to meet at (and placing a magical beacon on it for those who might get lost), we split into two groups and went about exploring the sprawling tunnels. My brother and his group immediately headed toward the area that had the arcade and other more action-oriented options, while I led mine toward the shops. Luckily for all involved, there was plenty to see and do, so I knew this would provide plenty of entertainment for hours.

“So, what is our first destination, darling?” Rarity intoned, unable to keep from darting her eyes to the many shops all around us.

I smiled in her direction, jerking my head to the first choice. “Well, this shop sells casual contemporary clothes for the average, middle-class person. I think this would be the perfect place to start for someone that wants to learn about modern fashion.” Rarity squealed excitedly before all but dashing inside the store, leaving the rest of us to catch up.

Twilight was staring up at the sign with confusion, as if trying to decipher its secrets. “What does the name mean?”

I shrugged. “I’m not really sure. Navy is self explanatory, but as for what it means, I don’t know; I never really took the time to look into it. Regardless, this store is pretty straightforward: it sells clothes and minor accessories. They’re nowhere near the quality Rarity makes, but I think it’ll be fun to look at some common human fashions. She’ll get inspiration, and the rest of you can get an idea for what the average human wears and looks like.” I gestured to the many people milling about inside the shop. “As you can see, humans come in a variety of colors, have many different accents and clothing styles, but they all share the same basic body type. There is only one species of ‘human’ currently living, as far as we know.” As we stepped forward to follow Rarity into the store, hot on the heels of Spike, I glanced to Twilight. “Anyhow, I know fashion isn’t as interesting for you as it is for Rarity, so later on, I’m thinking we could hit up the Fernbank Science Center or Museum of Natural History; I think those would be more your speed.”

The twinkle in Twilight’s eyes at the mention of the Science Center reinforced my belief that I’d made a wise choice, as was the adorable bouncing she did. Still, I knew that we were going to have to keep on our toes to keep pace with Rarity, so I settled myself in for a day of following around the excited clothing designer until she had gotten her fill.

I glanced back at Lyra, who had been rather silent so far. It didn’t take much thought to figure out why, though. “Not much to add, I take it?”

She glanced up at me, a subtle gleam of golden magic flitting across her amber irises. “Eh, not really. I was never all that into clothes, even though I can appreciate a good ‘Rarity original’, so this is interesting in the sense that it’s new, but not so much in the sense that clothing is cool.”

I raised my brow at her as we walked through the store, keeping near the others as they looked through the many different clothes available. “Why didn’t you head out with Vinyl and the others, then? They were going to some of the more action-oriented places.”

Lyra shrugged almost helplessly. “I love Vinyl and her music, but partying and doing crazy stuff still isn’t really my thing. I’d be more into a-”

“Concert hall, or something similar.” I answered for her with a smile. Her nod of approval at the idea prompted me to explain further. “There are many prestigious concert halls in the United States, but they’re either further north or on the west coast. We’ll get there though, so just be patient. I promise, I’ll make sure we do something that you’ll really enjoy.”

Lyra nodded to me with a smile, lacing her fingers in mine and giving my hand a reassuring squeeze. “I know, that’s why I’m not complaining. We’re going to be here for months, so I know we’ll get around to doing things that interest everyone.” She then giggled and pointed to Twilight, who was watching Rarity’s excited antics with a bemused grin. “Besides, this is fun. It might not normally be my cup of tea, but watching our friends enjoy themselves makes me smile, and that’s enough.”

I felt Luna come up beside me, and since we were in public, she offered only an affectionate rub of my back as she stood beside me. I had basically told the girls that, due to the taboo nature of the type of relationship we were in -- multiple partners and intersecting bonds -- we would have to be careful how we acted in public, and only one of them at a time could be seen as my girlfriend or wife. They didn’t like that we had to hide that from the public eye, but understood the reasoning behind it, which was why neither Twilight or Luna were getting too physically affectionate with me in public. Still, because of the magic flowing through us, a mere touch from Luna to the space between my shoulders gave a warmth that spread through my entire chest, and that was enough, for the moment.

I couldn’t help but laugh at Moonfang though; while he loved Fluttershy dearly, not all of their interests lined up, and at the moment, he looked like he’d rather be anywhere besides a clothing store. He was bored, to put it lightly, but he was willing to power through the day for his mate, who he loved more than anyone else in the world. That kind of love was something I was more than happy to see, and I knew it would carry the two of them through many trials in the future.

Even with my group being only slightly smaller than my brother’s, the veritable amazon goddess that was Celestia was going to draw eyes no matter where we went, as would the subtle allure of the mysterious night princess, Luna. It was with no surprise, then, that I noticed nearly everyone in the store glancing at the two tall women, wearing looks that said they thought the two were horribly out of place in such a common establishment. Though we were wearing casual street wear, for the most part, the two princesses carried themselves with a poise and elegance that the average person just didn’t have. Celestia’s steps were measured, unhurried, and precise, so much so that I imagine she would have no trouble balancing objects on her head if she needed to, without them falling. As for Luna, the slightly younger princess exuded an aura of non-magical power that could be felt by any and all that saw her; while sisters, because of Luna’s banishment, they had become two very different princesses, with Luna clinging to the old ways of traditional royal bearing in situations she found new or uncomfortable, while Celestia was as vibrant and warm as the sun she controlled. Both were ageless princesses who had different personalities, yet both of them drew others in by different means.

I had already made my peace with the fact that we were going to be watched no matter where we went, and no matter how casual we dressed. As much as we tried to blend in, the simple fact was that the people I spent time with were apparently simply more attractive than the average human. Hell, as a human, I was considered quite average, and yet I was walking around with two women who would fit in just fine on a pinup calendar, or in a magazine centerfold. Frankly, even with the knowledge that I knew they loved me, I still felt like I didn’t fit next to them, at least as a human; by the stares I was getting from the other store patrons, it appeared I wasn’t the only one that thought so.

“Stop that, Drew.” Celestia interjected, using my human name, since we were so close to others. I could only look at her in confusion, which prompted her to elaborate with, “I’ve lived long enough to know what it looks like when someone is being too hard on his or herself. I don’t read minds, but I know you’re beating yourself up over something.”

While I had memories that spanned several hundred lifetimes, the core of who I was -- the regular human from Earth -- was still insecure at times. I twirled my fingers in the air, an extremely faint shimmering aura covering us as I cast a spell to muffle our speech to anyone listening. Noticing that speech from the outside was muffled, I could confirm the spell was working, and turned my eyes to Celestia. “I know you all think I’m some completely confident guy that always knows what to say or do, but a lot of that is an act. Frankly, I just do or say things, and hope for the best, and so far it’s worked out for me quite well. But…” I sighed and shook my head, turning my gaze to the ground, “I don’t know, sometimes I feel like I don’t belong. Just looking around here, you girls are amazing, and beautiful, and so many other things that I am not.” I held up a hand at her attempt to interject once again, silencing her with a look as I turned my eyes to her once again. “I know you all love and care about me -- I don’t and never will doubt that -- but sometimes I wonder the ‘why’ about all of this. I know you told me that the high gods gave me to you all, but I’m not even sure what that means. I never asked because, frankly, I’m afraid of the answer.”

Celestia’s deep brown eyes seemed to be looking into my soul as she silently stared at me for a few moments. Seemingly making a decision, she leaned down ever so slightly and gave me a kiss, not caring who saw. As much as I would like to say otherwise, I needed it, and I took a few seconds to truly relish the feeling of her soft, warm lips on my own.

After the seconds passed, Celestia pulled away and looped her arm in mine as she began to speak in an almost reverent way. “The high gods are never so direct as to do or say anything overtly. Instead, Luna and I received dreams that led us to you. We were led to see you in your own world, and so we observed, trying to discern why we were shown this unassuming man from another dimension. As I’m sure you’ve noticed, dreams in Equestria are never ‘just’ dreams, so we became quite curious when mere dreams led to a real person that existed, instead of a dead end.” She walked with me through the store, keeping us within sight of the other girls. “As we watched you for a few weeks, the dreams continued, taking on a premonition-like quality, showing us what could be. With each night and each new dream, it became clear that you were important to us, though we knew not how, yet. When Luna met you that night in your room, all she knew was that you had to be brought to Equestria, by any means necessary. Luckily for all of us, you were quite willing, and your only stipulation was that your family must come too; all things considered, your condition was simple and easy to fulfill.”

Another question jumped to my mind, one that I had not asked because I hadn’t thought it was important at the time. “Did you know I would become an alicorn?”

Celestia immediately shook her head. “No, we did not. I cannot say that we weren’t pleased with that particular change, but we did not know for sure what species you would become. Because of the energy you possessed within, we had a good ‘hunch,’ I suppose you could call it, but no definitive confirmation before you were brought to Terra.”

“Would you have loved me if I were not an alicorn?” I blurted, halfway wincing at the question, but wanting to know anyway.

Again, Celestia just stared at me for a few moments. Slowly, a smile creased her full lips, and she nodded gently. “I believe so, yes. It would have been more difficult, since I could not legally make a non-alicorn a prince, but I would find a way.” Her smile dampened a bit as she elaborated. “I will admit, however, that it would have been more bittersweet, knowing that age would eventually take you from us. That is not to say Luna and I would not have given our hearts to you regardless -- I would like to believe it would still be the same, in that respect -- but we would have been pressured to make as many memories as often as we could, knowing that time would eventually take you. But,” she paused, shrugging helplessly, “that is a different path that need not be tread, for us. In the here and now, you are an alicorn prince that will one day be wedded to a number of mares that love you, including Luna and I, and I can only say what I would do in this instance, not another path. Be happy with the now and know that we love you; other possibilities don’t matter, because they aren’t paths you have to walk.” She allowed a few seconds for that to sink in before she spoke again. “I have a question of my own, if you would indulge me.”

“Shoot,” I responded, silently wondering why she would be essentially requesting permission to ask a question.

Even with my assent, Celestia seemed hesitant, which worried me. Finally, apparently deciding to just go with it, she asked, “Why did you say yes?”

I glanced to her briefly before going back to watching the other girls milling about the clothing store. “To what specifically?”

“To coming to Terra; to us; to fighting a war.” she replied, her voice gaining volume at the end. She seemed to be concerned in a way that said this wasn’t the first time she had thought about this, and I knew at that point that she had been thinking about this for quite some time. “When Luna asked to bring you to Terra, you could have said ‘no’, because we weren’t your responsibility. When more than one pony fell in love with you, you could have declined to share your heart with more than one -- coming from a monogamous culture, we would have understood. You have never been a soldier, so you could have shied away and chosen to deal with more domestic issues when the war came. So, my question is: why? Why say yes to any of that? Why accept things that are part of an unknowable future for you?”

Much as I wish I had something profound and proverb-like to say, I could only shrug somewhat helplessly. “Because why not?” At her unamused stare, I just chuckled and poked her in the ribs playfully, causing her to twitch with a giggle. I just shrugged again. “Humans have evolved to live a very chaotic life. While our mind wants patterns and habits, what makes humans powerful enough to dominate an entire planet is their ability to adapt and bend, rather than break. And, even when they break, they heal and build themselves stronger than before.” I looked to Twilight, who was currently chatting excitedly with Rarity as they held up bright tee-shirts to each other, sizing them up. “I haven’t had a bad life, Celestia -- in fact, my life has been pretty damn good by comparison to others in this world -- but I learned very early that life has a tendency to be very difficult, and soul-crushing. More than planning, we have to be able to flow through and around obstacles, like water; more than life-plans, we have to be able to adapt to the ever-changing state of the human condition. Nothing is set in stone, and change is the only constant in life.” Looking back to the rich, chocolate-brown eyes of Celestia, I smiled lovingly. “So, I would rather jump into every situation feet-first, ready to adapt, than hide myself away and hope that I stay safe. Doing that would deprive me of many of life’s wonders and great experiences, so I am ready to weather the trials, knowing that great things come to those who are willing to take risks. ‘A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.’”

Celestia looked thoughtful as she stayed silent for a long few minutes, just following me throughout the store. Finally, after a good time in silence, she spoke once again. “I am glad for how things have turned out, but sometimes I wonder if this is the best possible outcome. I would like to think it is, but I will never know for sure; I just wanted to be sure you were happy with how your life thus far has unfolded since coming to Terra.”

“In a lot of ways, I never felt like I really belonged here.” I said, gesturing generally around us. “I got on with other humans just fine, but there was always a subtle sense of unfulfillment within, like I wasn’t where I belonged. That feeling was sated when I came to Terra and befriended all of you, and I have never been happier. I have many great, loving friends, my family is happy and taken care of, and I have the love of wonderful mares. I don’t believe I could be happier.”

Celestia’s smile seemed to widen and the warmth increased as she commented, “One day, you know, you will have a love like you’ve never known before. We have taken every precaution to prevent it until we are all ready, but one day, you will be a father to a colt or filly -- or both, if we are that lucky.”

Much as I’d like to say it didn’t matter, being a father had always been a dream of mine, and the bright, almost manic smile on my face was proof enough of that. Seeing the teasing smirk on Celestia’s face, I coughed nervously into my hand and schooled my features into a more subdued smile. “Well, we had a scare when six of you went into heat at the same time over the winter. While I’m sure Pinkie wouldn’t have minded being the first, I just about fainted when I thought she had become pregnant.”

“Are you sure the fainting wouldn’t have been from the exhaustion?” Celestia commented with a sidelong teasing grin.

Remembering the rather intense events I had to field during the winter, I couldn’t help but blush a bit from the memories. “...might’ve been.”

Celestia giggled at my expression before leaning over and planting a chaste kiss on my cheek. “When both you and a mare are ready, the spells will be foregone, and the two of you will participate in the passionate act that creatures have been doing since the beginning of time: procreation. Just off of the top of my head, I know of four within the herd that would be quite happy to bear a foal. No matter who it is, I know that the new foal will be brought up in a large, loving herd with many different worldviews, lessons, and personalities.” She reached up and smoothed her hand over my cheek. “No matter who it happens with or when, I know it will be a wonderful experience, and all of us will be quite happy to welcome a new family member.”

“Are you one of those four?” I questioned, my curiosity piqued.

A gentle blush colored Celestia’s dark cheeks, and she smirked at me. “The ever-maternal princess wanting a foal of her own? Whatever would give you that idea?”

“While I'm happy I'm likely to be the one to give you a child one day,” I began with questioning tilt of my head, “what's stopped you from having a child before?”

“Dreading the loss of a mortal child.” Celestia immediately replied; it was clear she had thought of this very thing many times in her life with such a quick and firm answer. Her gaze became a bit distant as she glossed over the store. “While your loss was agony for all of us, your mother can attest to the fact that nothing hurts a mother more than the loss of her child. I saw it when I visited with her -- the resignation, helplessness, and a feeling of incomprehensible wrongness in the world. I have seen many others go through the same loss, and most never recover. With the power we wield, I cannot risk that magnitude of heartbreak.” Again, she turned her eyes back to me. “The union of two non-alicorns producing a true alicorn happens so rarely that it's only happened once in all of recorded history. However, there is a way to increase the chances to a certainty: two alicorns must breed. From the union of two alicorns, an alicorn foal will be born -- it was how Luna and I came to be.”

I nodded my head slowly, beginning to understand. “And an alicorn foal will never die from age.”

“Precisely.” she confirmed with a happy smile. “As creatures that are practically built to spread love, we ponies take loss quite hard, and none is so agonizing as the loss of a child. Besides,” she gave my arm a gentle squeeze, “I am trying to grow my family, not lose it. The less loss we have to endure, the better.”

Suddenly I locked up as a thought came to mind; all the talk of children and procreation brought up a very important difference between humans and ponies that I had neglected to take into account. “...um, Cel? Please tell me all the spells are still in effect on me.”

Quirking one of her eyebrows, she nodded to me. “Of course they are. Why?”

While the immediate worries were quieted, I sighed as I answered, “We’re going to have to go to a grocery store at some point and stock up on feminine products for all of you. Humans aren’t like ponies; they don’t have estrus, they have a menstrual cycle that happens every month, and I’d like to be prepared for all of that so-”

“Your mother already gave us ‘the run-down’, as you call it.” Celestia explained, assuaging my worry. “While yes, we need supplies, all of us are well aware of what is in store for us. I know you’ll take good care of us.”

I smiled at the taller woman, nudging her gently. “Always.”

While Darkflight had told us we weren’t going to spend the day shopping, he did tell us we were going to stop by a few shops he thought we would enjoy. The first of them was a novelties shop that sold all sorts of cool things including graphic shirts, posters, candles, body jewelry, and cool little gadgets. There was also a part of the store near the back where everything glowed under what Darkflight called a “black light”, only for us to learn very quickly to stay away from said light for an odd reason: our magical aura glowed under a black light, in a very noticeable film covering the entire body. He told us it wouldn’t matter at a rave or something similar, but in normal public areas, it would stand out in the wrong way.

That being said, it was fun to see the cool things humans came up with to wow and entertain, and I was currently joining Vinyl in trying something new and different: getting my ears pierced.

“C’mon, don’t be a pansy; just do it.” Darkflight urged with a smirk. “You’ve had a lot worse, I promise.”

I grunted, disliking the smell of the disinfectant the person doing the piercing used to keep us from getting an infection. I growled at him, just barely keeping myself from slapping him upside the head. “Hey, don’t forget that I can kick your butt now, dude. Keep pushing, and see what happens.”

Vinyl got my attention by resting her hand on mine. I looked over to my herdmate, who had already gotten her piercing done, sporting two new shiny studs on the lobes of her ears. “C’mon Dash, he’s just trying to rile you up. You got this. Just hold your breath and do it; you’ll barely even feel it.”

Doing as she said, I nodded and took a breath, glancing to the person with the piercing “gun”. He nodded in response as he brought the device to my ear, and I tensed my neck to keep from moving. However...just like Vinyl said, I barely felt it. The sound was a bit jarring, but other than a pinch and some burning, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would be. With that out of the way, I offered my other ear with more confidence, and it was done just as easily. After he was done, I was given a little pamphlet that told us how to clean them and such to keep the piercings from getting infected, but I knew that with a simple spell, the healing would be done in seconds. I didn’t tell him that, of course.

Still, as I looked at the new body adornments that I had, I couldn’t help but think that this would easily catch on in Equestria once ponies saw mine and Vinyl’s. Besides that, though, it would be a good way to draw attention away from the damage to my ear, and instead have the focus be on the shiny metals in my ears.

“You know, there are other things to pierce, after you girls get used to those.” Darkflight mentioned from off to the side. At my glance and raised eyebrow, he continued. “Well, both Drew and I used to have our tongues pierced, I had my eyebrow pierced, and besides that, there are many other things you can get pierced. Including…” he subtly waved a hand below his belt, and I immediately flinched at that.

“Oh, no! Ouch! No way, no how am I ever piercing that!” I shouted, causing him to burst into laughter.

We made our way to the food court, where Night and the others were waiting on us, while Darkflight composed himself. When his laughter finally calmed down, he commented, “I wasn't suggesting, just saying there's options. Besides,” he leaned in close as he whispered, “even though he'll never admit it, my brother has a thing for tattoos and piercings.”

Since he also explained tattoos, I actually gave it some thought. Shrugging, I replied, “I don't see it happening anytime soon, but I'll keep it in mind.”

Luckily, the others were all just sitting at a table with individual paper bowls of what turned out to be ice cream. As I walked up, Pinkie caught my eye and pushed a blue bowl over to me, which had a generous helping of what looked like vanilla ice cream with strawberry drizzle on top. I took my seat next to her and took a bite, immediately identifying the treat as strawberry shortcake ice cream.

“Y’all got yer ears pierced?”

I glanced up from my treat to see Applejack staring at me with a slack jaw. I looked around the small group to see all the rest looking at me with similar expressions of surprise, so I just nodded. “Yeah. I figured, ‘Why the hay not,' so I did it. Figured I’d try something new, since we’re here -- might get a tattoo, too.” I pointed at her with my plastic spoon. “Maybe you should get one; it’d make a nice souvenir.”

Applejack’s face scrunched up like she’d sucked on a lemon. “A cutie mark ‘s enough f’r me, thanks.”

Following that, we ate in silence for the most part, just enjoying the atmosphere and taking in the many different people around us. It was clear this place was designed with the average human in mind, seeing as how most of the people I saw were middle-class based on the way they dressed and acted. Sure, there were one or two upper-class types that I could spot here and there, but for the most part, they were just regular people enjoying time out with their families. While there were a few key differences between humans and ponies, it seemed that for the most part, we behaved pretty much the same. I let a smile cross my face when I looked at the younger humans -- only a few years older than what ponies would call a foal -- noticing their wide-eyed looks of wonder that matched those of our own group, since we both were seeing many things for the first time.

From off in the distance, I caught sight of Rarity and the rest of her group walking past the food court, but not stopping to get anything. Spike was carrying a few bags of what could only be clothes and knick knacks, and I imagined he would be practically buried in the things by the end of the day. Celestia and Luna brought up the rear, right behind Frost, and I had the perfect seat to watch every person near them stop what they were doing to watch them pass; I wasn’t a vain pony by any means, but part of me (a tiny part, mind you) was a little, tiny bit jealous of the effortless beauty that Celestia possessed, which I did not; while Celestia would be the kind of pony to walk down a model runway, I was a stunt-flyer turned soldier, and my looks matched that.

Okay, fine, maybe I was more than just a little jealous, but I was going to make peace with that. From experience, I knew it would take some talking with Twilight, Celestia herself, and Frost, but I could get over it in time; much as we had all grown in the past few years, we had plenty more growing to do, especially the alicorns.

“You all right there, Dash?” Darkflight asked, raising an eyebrow my way.

I tore my eyes away from the others and nodded to him. “Yeah, I’m cool. So, where are we headed next?”

“Well,” he started, practically inhaling another spoonful of his own ice cream, “the clubs don’t open for hours yet, so I was thinking we could hit up the arcades to kill time, unless there’s any other stores that caught your fancy on the way over here.” Suddenly, he almost seemed to get a shock as he forcefully swallowed and added, “Wait, we have to hit up Hot Topic. Remember when I told you that you all were famous? Well, that store sells all kinds of merchandise for pop culture nowadays, and I’m pretty sure they’ll have all kinds of stuff that you girls will get a laugh out of.”

I glanced at the rest of our group, and seeing that they were all showing interest as well, I gave a firm nod. “Yeah, sounds cool. Let’s do it.”

We were in no particular hurry since, as Darkflight said, we had hours to kill yet, so we ate our treats at a relaxed pace until everyone was finished. As we stood to toss away our trash, I cast a healing spell on mine and Vinyl’s ears to instantly heal up the piercings, so that we could maybe get some other earrings besides the plain studs. From there, the group followed Darkflight and Applejack through the mall again, this time heading down one of the side tunnels we had avoided before because it held most of the clothing shops. This time though, we walked right into the area, passing a bunch of shops that I’m sure if Rarity hadn’t already visited, she would soon. Near the end of the tunnel was a dark-colored shop with red font that had the name at the top, so we entered to the sound of heavy rock music. There weren’t too many people in the shop -- and those that were there were mostly of our own age group or younger -- but the employees were dressed like they belonged there, and had their own array of piercings and tattoos to show off. The two of them -- man and woman -- just waved or smiled in our direction, allowing us to look at what the store offered at our leisure.

Immediately, Vinyl and I spotted the display case that held ear studs and earrings, some of them being too thick for the holes currently there; Darkflight had mentioned a procedure called “gauging” that slowly made the holes bigger in the ear, but warned that it was permanent, and it stretched out the ear in such a way that it looked “off” without anything in it. Vinyl and I had already agreed we were going to keep it small, so we looked over the studs and earrings.

“Y’know, I think I got something to match that.” commented the male employee, catching my attention, which caused me to notice he was pointing at my neck. For me, just above the collar of my shirt on the right side of my neck, my cutie mark could be seen, which was obviously what he was pointing to.

I unconsciously brought my hand to my mark and rubbed it a bit. “What’ve you got?”

He ducked behind the counter, rummaging around for a bit before he brought up a little case that contained two earrings. They were simple in design and featured a round, slightly convex head that had a cartoonish, stylized version of my cutie mark on it, against an electrified blue background. He opened the little case and held it out to me as he explained, “We had another set that featured a picture of Dashie’s face, but they sold out really fast.”

I couldn’t help the subtle wince at a stranger using the nickname my friends used for me, but hid it behind pretending to be a little let down. “Yeah, I can’t find those anywhere, but these’ll work.”

He nodded and took the case, looking to Vinyl next, motioning to her hair. “If you two are part of a set, I imagine you would want these, then.” He again reached under the counter, producing a similar set of earrings, but instead of a cutie mark, it was of Vinyl’s face. I can’t explain how weird it was to see a friend and fellow herdmate’s face in the form of a cartoon.

Vinyl just stared at the little studs, muttering a quiet, “I need them.”

The guy smiled and set the other case on the counter. “I figured. Anyhow, are you two together, or paying separately?”

I looked around the back of the store, spotting Darkflight looking over the giant wall that had shirts on it. I pointed to him and answered, “Actually, he’s the one with the money, so we’ll wait for him. Can you hold those up here for us until we’re ready?”

Setting the two cases aside near the register, he gave a smile. “Sure thing. They’ll be waiting for you whenever you all are ready.” We nodded to the guy and made our way to the rest of the group, checking out whatever they found.

Coming up next to Applejack and Pinkie, we noticed them staring at a wall of tee shirts. Similar to them, my mouth dropped open as I whispered out, “I-is that...us?”

My eyes were not lying: an entire wall of the store was dedicated to graphic tees, watches, backpacks, shoelaces, and just about everything else you could imagine, all designed with Equestria in mind...or, at least the television show it was known from. Already I could pick out me, Pinkie, Applejack, Night, Celestia, Luna, Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Spike. I mean, I didn’t doubt Frost when he said we were popular, but seeing merchandise dedicated to us was...well, it was kind of an ego boost.

As my eyes trailed over a particular blue shirt, I pointed and triumphantly blurted, “HAH! I told you! Read it and weep, Annabelle!”

Recognizing her human name, Applejack looked to where I was pointing as she read out, “Rainbow Dash is best- oh, that don’t count!”

“Well, this isn’t fair.” Ditzy sulked from the side. She pointed up to the wall and said, “They only have Derpy here.”

Glancing up and confirming what she said, I leaned over and whispered, “Here, you and her are the same pony, just with different names. They don’t know you are actually sisters, so don’t take it personal.”

“All right,” Darkflight announced, pointing to the wall, “grab a shirt you like and one other thing, and let’s get moving. We’ve got plenty more to see today, and I don’t want to spend all our time in just one store. Yes, there’s plenty here to get lost in, but it’s not the only place to see.”

We collectively nodded to him before turning back toward the wall. I grabbed the shirt that I spotted with me on it, and since I was already getting the earrings, I left it at that, with Vinyl doing the same. It took a few minutes, but after everyone had found a shirt and thing they wanted, we all meandered over to the counter and brought up our purchases.

“Christ,” the male employee said as he shook his head, “I knew the stuff was popular, but you all are really into it, huh?”

Taking the initiative, Darkflight grinned and shrugged. “Eh, it’s an acquired taste. No harm in enjoying a little pop culture from time to time. Besides, the fans are definitely interesting, which is always worth a laugh.”

Playing it off, the man at the register just chuckled and continued ringing everything up. Once everything was paid for, Vinyl and I took the earrings out and helped each other put them in.

As she finished fitting the back on mine, she twisted it a bit in the ear before putting the plain piercing studs back into the case. “Not bad, not bad. Now all you need is rainbow hair, and you’ll be the picture of a Rainbow Dash fanatic.”

I raised my eyebrow at her. “Really now?” Reaching in the bag that had her stuff, I pulled out the shirt she had chosen. It had an overly-cutesy, sparkly-eyed Vinyl on it complete with, “Wub me?”

A fierce blush began to grow on her pale cheeks, and she snatched the shirt out of my hand, stuffing it back into the bag. “...shut up. I thought it was cute.”

“Aww, c’mon Vanessa,” I took one of her cheeks between my thumb and forefinger, pinching it theatrically, “you know we all ‘wub’ you.”

She really was adorable when she got all flustered.

“All right squad, let’s move out!” Darkflight’s stern voice rose above our chatter. Whether he meant to or not, this plucked a chord within all of us that had served, and we immediately snapped to attention to follow the order before we even had time to think about it. While Darkflight might not have been the one to unite most of the races in the war, I knew his charisma and tone alone would have done it, if given enough time, and the reactions me and the others had to the order was proof of that.

We made our way out of the store and into the main hall again, only for us to have to stop as Ditzy rushed over to a bench to sit down. I was about to ask her what was going on, only to notice she was shaking violently with a distant, detached look in her eyes, as if she were reliving…

Oh...oh no.

“Mason, we need to stop.” I stated in an uncompromising tone.

He glanced over to us just as I took a seat beside Ditzy, extending my arm over her. To his credit, his face showed clear guilt and concern at what was happening, and I saw him do that awkward shuffle he did when he knew he’d screwed up. “Ah shit, I forgot. Danielle, I’m sorry; I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Mason, it’s fine.” I replied, hugging Ditzy close as Vinyl took up the other side and Pinkie kneeled in front of our mutual herdmate. I looked up to the disguised dragon and shook my head. “Not all of us have completely recovered yet, and that’s not your fault. Just give us a minute to calm her down, and we’ll be good.”

And so we waited patiently as Ditzy slowly, but surely, calmed down. I found it somewhat ironic that it was the career soldier that was having the most problem overcoming what had happened in the war, but said nothing. Instead, I just did the best I could to let her know, somewhere inside her currently-freaking-out head, that she was not alone.

After a long few minutes, the trembles had died down to almost nothing, and finally, Ditzy croaked out, “...’m fine. I-I’ll be okay.”

Venn, who was the other one of our group that had his own mild form of what Frost called PTSD, kneeled in front of Ditzy, next to Pinkie, and placed his hand on hers. “Do not feel guilty, Danielle. What happened was not your fault, and this isn’t either.”

Her hazel eyes locked onto the steely gaze of our wolf-friend, and she gave a wobbly smile. “I-I know. It’s just...when he said it like that, all of the sudden, I was back there, and…” she shuddered in my arms, shaking her head. “I know it’s over, but it’s like a part of me doesn’t know how to live any other way, now.”

Venn noded with deep understanding. “I know the feeling, believe me. We will overcome it together, I promise.”

Taking her hand, Venn pulled her to stand, and enveloped her in a strong embrace, taking our place. She seemed to struggle briefly before accepting it and relaxing completely. While she may not have known Venn as long as she’d known Frost, or was as close to him as she was the rest of us, the two of them shared an experience that, luckily, we couldn’t identify with. Nonetheless, I knew the mutual support they would have for each other would overcome this, and I was going to do my darndest to help in whatever way I could.

Seemingly deciding at the same time, the two separated, and Ditzy looked to me with a more honest smile. “All right, I’m okay now. Let’s keep moving and have some fun so I can forget about that. This is supposed to be a fun day, so let’s see what else this place has to offer.”

Darkflight walked up to her, looking into her eyes briefly before nodding. “Cool, let’s move. We’ll head to the arcade next, then. I think it should be a fun experience for all of you, but we’ll head to the club later for some food and drinks, when it opens.”

Hoisting my bag up and stepping next to Ditzy as the group began moving again, I looked to her with a concerned glance. She caught my eyes and smiled at me, silently letting me know she appreciated the concern, but that she would be okay (don’t ask me how I knew that). So, she grabbed her own bag and kept moving, and I followed close behind as we continued our little adventure in Underground Atlanta.

Chapter 5: A New Threat

A group of intelligence officers watched their quarry from camera footage in Underground Atlanta, and they were slowly learning more and more about their targets. While they didn’t know as much as they wanted to, any new information was a good thing, and this in particular was more useful than most would think.

“That, right there, is a textbook PTSD response.” pointed out one of the younger members, a soldier under the command of a certain general. The video was focused on a young woman who was shaking violently in the grasp of her friends, staring blankly at nothing, as they sat on or around a bench in one of the corridors of Underground Atlanta. “Whatever she’s been through, it was traumatic enough that she’s exhibiting symptoms I’m sure most of us are quite familiar with.” He tapped a few times on the mouse of the computer, rewinding the video to a scene in store. “And the tall, dark male has a CO’s voice if I’ve ever heard one. I know we want to try and keep from assuming things here, but based on what we’ve seen, my gut is telling me at least these two are military-trained, and have seen action; I would even go so far as to say they were deployed together.”

The older general rubbed his chin, idly noting he needed a good shave. He glanced at the younger soldier under his command, pondering what they had just seen: it was true, they didn’t want to assume things about whoever these people were, but besides the fact that his subordinate was trusted and had a good head on his shoulders, the general himself was quite familiar with what combat-tested veterans looked like, and these two fit the description perfectly.

The biologist on hand was not so convinced. “Look at these people, though: they’re just kids. The oldest there is probably the tall guy, and he’s maybe in his mid- to late twenties.”

“Or,” a previously silent voice spoke up, “perhaps that’s simply how they look.” At the disbelieving stare directed his way, the member scooted closer, revealing an aging woman with salt-and-pepper hair, but sharp eyes. “The general said it himself: we may be dealing with beings of extra-terrestrial origin, so we can’t focus on how they look. Behavior, however, is far more telling.” She pointed to a pale-faced woman with dark hair standing off to the side. “My bet is on that subject being the oldest. Look at the confidence in her movements, and the calm, calculating expression; she doesn’t immediately act, but instead keeps an eye on things from ‘the backseat’ if you will, observing everything at all times. She looks nonchalant and uninvolved, but her eyes are always watching, always learning. She acts with the calm ‘wait and see’ attitude you see in someone late in their life, who has seen everything life has to show, so she allows her wisdom to guide her to the correct answer. Every group of creatures, including humans, has a certain hierarchy they stick to, and generally speaking, older members are given respect for their power, or their wisdom.” She again pointed to the screen as the video played on, and while the group didn’t seem to be paying much attention to the woman, the members in the room all began to notice how each subject gravitated more to the woman than the tall man, even though the man seemed to be the guide.

“They feel comfortable around her, and they trust her to watch out for them. They don’t need to constantly acknowledge her, because her presence is wrapped around them like a safety blanket.” the general finally voiced, nodding to the screen they were crowded around. “She may not be the guide, but their respect and comfort with her presence tells me that she’s a VIP, and a cornerstone to their power structure.”

“What do we do then, sir?”

The general looked at his subordinate and sighed through his nose. “Nothing at the moment. We have to continue to observe and learn as much about them as possible. However, this,” he pointed at the monitor, “is good intel, and it tells us quite a bit about who we’re dealing with. At the very least, there are two in the group that appear to have military experience.” He folded his hands and rested his chin on them as his weathered eyes stared up at the screen. “What worries me is the tech they have on hand.”

The engineer on hand took that as his cue to explain, and he did so by tapping a few times on the keyboard until a list came up to show what they had found so far. “From what we’ve gathered at the moment, they have a way to completely neutralize any listening devices in the area, muffling their speech to be indistinguishable from noisy background chatter. What worries me is that the devices we have work just fine -- other civilians in the area can be heard with perfect clarity -- but some sort of tech they are carrying makes it impossible to hear them specifically.” He typed a few buttons on the keyboard again, this time showing a short clip from a magnetic line camera, which visually showed EM fields. What they saw was shocking: every single one of the subjects had an EM field surrounding their body. “What you’re seeing is what we think is making our tech useless against them: every one of the subjects has some sort of electromagnetic energy field surrounding them. What worries us is that there doesn’t seem to be any visible power source or battery, which means one of two things:” he counted off his fingers, “either their tech is so advanced that we simply can’t fathom how it would work this way, or, they are the power source.”

The female agent in the room crossed her arms as she narrowed her eyes skeptically. “What exactly are you suggesting?”

“Well,” the engineer began, licking his lips, “maybe we’re not dealing with advanced technology; maybe what we’re seeing is a natural ability that they possess. If that’s the case, it would explain why they are able to do all of this without bulky hardware.”

Catching on to what he was saying, the agent nodded with a dawning grin. “Which means, if you neutralize the subject, you neutralize the danger completely.”

Nodding in approval, the younger engineer gave a smile in return. “Exactly.” His smile then morphed into a frown as he stared at the screen again. “However, we don’t know the extent of what they’re capable of. Assuming my theory is correct, we still don’t know exactly how dangerous they are. Their abilities could be as simple as what we’ve seen so far, or…”

His halted words caused the whole room to suddenly feel uneasy.

“Or what?” the general prodded, raising an eyebrow.

Licking his lips again, the young engineer shook his head. “Or we could be dealing with something beyond our ability to understand or contain.” He nodded his head to another scientist in the room, this one a young female physics specialist.

The physics specialist stepped forward, brushing her brunette hair out of her eyes as she gestured generally to the air. “What you have to understand is that the EM spectrum makes up all forms of energy in the universe, from waves so weak that we can’t even detect them, all the way to gamma radiation -- the latter of which, as you all know, is quite dangerous. It includes radio and microwaves, all forms of light, and what we consider ‘dangerous’ radiation.” She shook her head with an uncomfortable sigh. “Depending on their degree of control over electromagnetic energy, they could do anything from simply what we see now, all the way to bathing entire cities in gamma rays. While I don’t want to believe it’s possible, they could even tear holes in the ozone layer, destroying our atmosphere if they want to. Through energy modulation, they could cause temperature fluctuations, storms, even earthquakes…” By this point, the young physics specialist was nearly shouting with anxiety, so she took a moment to calm herself before refocusing her attention on the general directly. “What I’m saying is that, depending upon the extent that they can manipulate energy -- if they can do so at all -- they could simply be a mild nuisance, or they could exterminate all life on Earth. The issue is, unless they ‘flex their muscles’ so to speak, we have no idea what their potential even is, but the possible dangers are far too great to risk that.”

The general nodded absently, scratching an itch on his cheek. “Right, so we cannot afford risking provocation.” He glanced to the biologist. “See if we can get a biological sample of some sort -- hair, skin, blood, or something similar. With an analysis in the lab, we’ll at least be able to answer some questions about them. Even just one would be nice, but if possible, try to get one from each subject. At the moment, that’s the only plan of action we’re putting in motion. You all are dismissed.”

With that final word, the members of the meeting all began to file out of the room, except for the young officer under the command of the general.

“So, what do you think, sir?”

Moving his gaze to the young soldier, the general sighed heavily. “I think that this is possibly far more volatile than Desert Storm ever was, and I was on the ground for that one. For all we know, just one of them is enough to take out an entire city, and we still don’t know their intentions.”

The soldier shifted uncomfortably for a moment. “...what if he was telling the truth, sir? What if they really are just vacationing, and have no intention of harming anyone?”

“We can’t take that risk, Captain.” the general answered, shaking his head. “I would love to believe their presence here is completely innocuous, but I can’t put the nation or possibly the world at risk, simply because we would like to assume the best-case scenario.” Pointing to one of the side monitors, which held still images of the subjects. “Eventually, we’re going to have to find a way to bring them in.”

The two of them felt equal levels of discomfort at that fact.

Even through repeated exercises we all participated in so that we would “look the part” of a human, I still found myself slipping sometimes, though only within my own mind. Even now, seemingly focused on my herd and friends as we perused the many goods available in the different stores, I had to correct myself to keep from correcting the movement of the sun. Soon after our arrival, I had found that I could feel this sun the same as I did my own, and this led to a very important self-control issue: after so many years raising and lowering the sun in Equestria, it had become so routine that it was embedded in who I was as a pony -- most times, I didn’t even have to think about it, since I was so familiar with every nuance regarding my destined charge.

The reason all this was an issue was because of the differences between Terra’s sun and Earth’s, and we simply did not know what would happen if I attempted to control this one at the same time I did the other. I still raised and lowered the sun every day for Terra, even from a different dimension, since my connection to it was forged with over a thousand years of experience. However, when I looked into the sky on Earth, I nearly found myself reaching with my magic out to it as well. The differences were many, but most important were the top two: this sun was a massive, energetic ball of gas that gave off energy in the form of light and radiation through nuclear fusion (a skill ponies mastered ages ago through magical alchemy), while mine was a magical construct that, while more efficient, was not inherently dangerous; this planet’s sun dwarfed the planet itself, and was nearly 100 million miles away from it, while mine was tiny by comparison, and only a thousand miles away. Because of these reasons, we had come up with a few different possible results of my meddling with this sun: 1) nothing would happen. The sun was too large and too far away, and if I attempted to move it, I would only tire myself out. 2) I could die. The magical feedback from attempting to move such a massive celestial body could kill me by the stress alone, or 3) I could be successful and end up throwing the entire solar system into disarray, killing all life on the planet and eventually destroying the solar system as a whole. For obvious reasons, the risks were too great to allow any mistakes on my part.

Through a cooperative effort with Luna and Twilight, we had placed a charm on both Luna and I that would not allow us to affect the celestial bodies in this realm, even accidentally, but the possibility of the charm failing was still a minor worry for me.

Still, distractions from my concerns were plentiful, which made the whole burden far easier to bear. Among them, for example, was observing just how much fun my herdmates and friends were enjoying shopping and exploring the new world. I am ashamed to say that shopping for clothing felt rather pointless to me when we had an experienced, gifted seamstress at our beck and call, so I found myself becoming bored. Frost had promised there would be things in this trip for all of us to enjoy, but it had quickly become clear that shopping was not one of them, for me.

Considering what Frost had explained to me about human societal norms, I’m sure there was a mildly sexist joke in there, somewhere.

Regardless of my apathy toward shopping, I still took great joy in the happiness and excitement it brought to the others. Rarity, of course, was practically floating along from store to store, but even Twilight and Luna were interested in the wonders of this world.

Fortunately, I did have something to keep me occupied while I followed the others around: reconnaissance. Simply put, it was my job to keep tabs on those that were observing us, ensuring I was just as aware of them as they were of us. They were fairly easy to keep track of once we knew what to look for, and that was in no small part thanks to Rainbow Dash and Frost himself; we had come up with a simple way to tell the common person from these “field agents,” and it was rather inelegant when it came down to it: due to the listening and video equipment they had on hand, they would have a stronger energy field than the common human, and all of them would also be armed with a small firearm. So far, I had mentally “tagged” twelve just following our group, and I imagined it was the same for Darkflight and the others. I had to admit, I was impressed with their patrol routes and coordination, both of which ensured we didn’t visibly see the same person following us around at any point.

“Any change?”

I repressed a startled jump at Frost’s unexpected voice, but still narrowed my eyes at him before pretending to look over the lingerie selection of a certain store that specializes in “personal” clothing. “Not that I can tell, no. I’ve noticed no worrying movements or an increase in opposition, so it seems that for the time being at least, we’re perfectly safe.” I glanced to him out of the corner of my eye. “Besides, it doesn’t take a genius to know they would never perform a ‘snatch-and-grab’ in a public area, with this many witnesses around. Too many questions would be asked, and the potential for collateral damage is too great.”

At his nod, I continued mindlessly sifting through the rather revealing underwear, mentally making a note to have Rarity create a few of these for...experimentation. Frost simply stood by my side, trying his best to look like he wasn’t imagining me wearing any of the risque clothing; it was cute.

“You know, you don’t have to be the lookout, on this.” he suggested, nudging me with his elbow. “This is supposed to be a fun time for all of us, and you should be enjoying yourself, too.”

I nodded absently, never taking my eyes off of the- ooh, they came in literally every shade of pink! Refocusing myself, I answered, “Yes, I understand that, but this is not my cup of tea. I’m fine with that, as I’m sure we’ll have plenty to do that will tickle my fancy. For now, however, since I’m rather uninterested in this specific activity, I might as well be the one that keeps an eye on things. More than anything else, the safety of my friends and family is paramount to my happiness.”

“Well what would you like to do?”

I finally turned to look at him, shrugging. “As the sole princess for a thousand years, I haven’t had much time for personal outings, so I admit I don’t really know. Yesterday was fun, however; maybe we could do more things outdoors -- nature walks, hiking, and the like. I’ve never been one to enjoy being cooped-up. I like being outdoors, with the grass under my feet and the fresh air in my lungs. I am quite partial to beaches, however.”

Frost gave me a smirk. “Could it have anything to do with beaches providing ‘fun in the sun’?”

The half-innuendo had me smirking back, but I shrugged. “It is more that I enjoy nature. There is no denying that technology is interesting and magical in its own way, but I am a simple woman with simple interests, when it comes down to it. My ideal day would be at a beach with my friends and family all around; that is all I need.”

Frost gave a firm nod with his smile. “Well, there will be plenty of nice beaches to see when we head to Florida and California. I’ll do some research to find some better beaches, but we’ll start with those and go from there; I know there’s some places in the world with water so clear, you can see straight to the bottom on a sunny day.”

It was a sad fact that, as a pony without waterproof wings, beaches weren’t really something I had spent much time around; sure, the warmth and smell of the sea air was nice, but the water itself was not something I could readily enjoy. It was a sad fact that though many pegasus lines still existed that had waterproof wing oils that their bodies naturally produced, Luna and I did not share that with the rest of our ponies. Sure, there were spells to remedy that particular issue, but the inherent magical nature of wings themselves tended to make it difficult for spells to “stick” to them for any length of time.

“I suppose I must be sure to enjoy beaches while we are here, then.” I commented off-handedly, turning to Frost and pulling him with me toward the entrance of the store to await the others when they finished. “As it is, we haven’t even been here a week yet, so I’m not bothered by it. I know we will get to do the things I enjoy, with time.”

We exited the store and sat down at a bench in the middle of the corridor, facing the store itself. I used the time to enjoy some rare solo time with Frost, as it wasn’t often that we were alone. While ponies had evolved as a species to be in herds, mild competition between herdmates still existed, and it was harder for someone like me, who had time-consuming obligations outside of my life as a part of Frost’s herd. For that reason, I had made peace with the fact that I was not going to have much time to be alone with him, which was why I relished it when it happened, even if it was only for a few minutes at a time -- such is the life of a pony with a large herd. However, the good thing about such a large herd was the strong familial structure within it, which meant support for all of us during life’s trials. We were still fairly young for a herd -- even the oldest members had been together for only a little over a year -- and I was under no delusions that all of us would be together permanently. As much as I disliked the idea, and though Frost himself avoided even talking about it, I knew that herds were a learning experience for all, and sometimes, breaking off from the herd was the best choice for an individual. Even now, there were a few I could think of that seemed less likely to be permanent members, but I would keep my silence until or unless Frost wanted to discuss it; no good ever came of pressing him to confront the loss of loved ones.

“Do you want to get married?”

…

…

‘Did he just…?’

The question was so unexpected and sudden that I could only stare straight ahead for a moment before slowly turning my head to look at Frost. He was smiling calmly, as if the question was the most normal thing in the world to say. For my part, I could only stumble over my words like a silly filly. “...um, what?”

He only continued to smile, bringing our locked hands to his lips to kiss the back of mine. “I suppose I should clarify: Celestia, will you marry me?”

I felt a deep flush rise through my chest to my face, and an all-encompassing warmth spread throughout my entire body. While I had expected the question at some point, the confidence and casual tone of the question itself told me he had been thinking about it for quite some time now. He had clearly waited until we were alone, as he had with Rainbow Dash and Twilight, because he wanted it to be a special question shared only between the two of us; I had told him that it was actually commonplace for marriage proposals to be made in front of the herd, but even though it was a bit odd from a pony’s perspective, I enjoyed the unique nature of human norms, sometimes. Somehow, it made it feel more special to have the request voiced just between two parties.

“Babe?”

The pet name brought me out of my internal musings, and I found him waiting patiently with a smirk on his lips as he nudged me with a shoulder. “I kinda need an answer, love. If you want me to do something to make it special, then I will, but I want you to marry me.”

I will readily admit, the conviction he spoke with gave me a pleasurable shiver.

“N-no, I just…” I stuttered (stuttered!), shaking my head without taking my eyes off of his. I swallowed once and attempted to compose myself into some semblance of the person who had run an entire country for over a thousand years. Unfortunately, it wasn’t working, so I shored up what dignity I had to answer, instead. “Why now? Why not any of the others?”

With that damnedable grin that I had fallen in love with, he just shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve had it on my mind for months now. I’ve been studying ‘us’ from every angle I could, searching for any reason not to ask you. And…” he shrugged once more, this time cracking a toothy smile, “I couldn’t find one. I’ve come to the conclusion that I want you in my life for however long we’re going to live, so I figured, ‘Why not ask this beautiful, strong, amazing woman to be my wife?’”

Yes, I was definitely blushing. Darn him.

As much as I wanted to convince myself that I was too old for this -- I was over a thousand years old, I had seen the rise and fall of civilizations, and I had previously been bound to another long-lived being, long ago -- I couldn’t deny that I felt like a filly falling in love for the first time, nevermind the fact I was already in love with him. Unfortunately -- or fortunately, depending on one’s perspective -- there is no dignity in love, and it truly makes fools of us all; for the better, I would like to think.

I didn’t even try to stop the rush of tears to my eyes, nor the steadily growing smile on my face. My cheeks started to hurt by the sheer intensity of the smile I had, but I didn’t care. I could only nod like a lovestruck fool as I took his face in my hands and kissed him soundly, not caring how I looked to any bystanders. He, of course, returned my affection wholeheartedly, and I positively melted at the rush of happiness I felt at that moment. We traded loving kisses back and forth, playfully and lovingly, until we heard the steps of a small group approaching us.

“So, Frost finally asked you, did he?”

I looked away from his face to see Rainbow Dash and the rest of her group standing around us; it seemed at some point, they had caught up with us, and had either heard our exchange, or guessed based on my current state. As a response, I was currently beyond words, so I offered only a teary, smiling nod to the group, which brought smiles to the faces of all.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes and glared playfully at Frost. “Randomly asking her in a mall, with no ring, and no great declaration of love? Not exactly what Rarity would call ‘romantic’, is it?”

Thinking about how positively mortified our seamstress friend would be, I giggled with a nod of agreement. “Y-yes, but I don’t need all that.” As my laughter tapered off, I looked into Frost’s eyes again, smiling brightly as he returned my smile with one of his own. “All I need is him to ask me; I already have his love, as he has mine, and I experience romance nearly every day. Romance should never be rationed to certain days, actions, or events,” I turned back to the group, “it should be in the little things we do for each other every day, even if it’s as simple as sitting next to the one we love, letting them know, in no uncertain terms, that we’re there for them.” The group seemed to be taking my words to heart, and I was surprised to even see Vinyl nodding with understanding at what I meant. I had no doubt that life was not going to be perfect for us -- managing a large herd took work, and sacrifice. However, I knew that we already had the foundation of loving support between the members, and that would be more than enough to carry us through many trials; perhaps not all of them -- not for all of us -- but most.

I shook the negative thought away, and instead chose to bask in the here and now. The future was still an unknown, after all, and while I had my own experience predicting outcomes, I had also learned to enjoy life as it came. Unfortunately, due to the incidences that had happened in my long life, my mind tended to pick out the worst-case scenarios, so it would be in my sanity’s best interest to prepare for the future, but live in the present.

And so, with wide arms, I welcomed the members of my herd into a strong embrace, and for once, I dedicated myself wholly to the moment.

Hours had passed since the minor celebration of Frost’s proposal to Celestia, and since we planned to make a bigger evening of it the following day, we all moved on with exploring the many shops arrayed all around us.

Unfortunately, it appeared I wasn’t quite up to the task.

For the second time in only half an hour, I had to stop and rest as I became winded just from the brisk walk around the underground corridors. While I wasn’t an athlete like Rainbow Dash, or a soldier like Ditzy, I was in far better shape than the average pony, due to my active lifestyle. This made my state all the more annoying, since I knew I shouldn’t be getting tired so quickly just from walking. I wasn’t exactly eating what ponies would consider “nutritional” food though -- other than the nice dinner the night before, we had mostly ate bar food, drank alcohol, and munched on junk food -- but I noticed that none of the others seemed to be having issues like I was. Frost told us that some of us were probably going to have issues adjusting, so I told myself it had to be that, to keep from needlessly worrying over nothing.

The quickest one I knew of, however, was right by my side. “You all right, girl?”

I looked to Dash with a weak smile and nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay. I need some real food though, I think. Sweets and alcohol doesn’t make for good eats to keep ya going.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t look like she totally bought my story (frankly, I had my doubts, as well), but she nodded and spoke quickly to Darkflight before she and Night broke off to escort me to get something more substantial to eat from the food court. I tried not to let their concerned glances bother me by telling myself that it was because they cared about me, but that didn’t really help much. As much as I loved being in a herd with strong, assertive members, I didn’t like being babied, especially when I didn’t feel good. I’ve played a three-day festival with the Horn Flu, so I knew being a little tired from walking wasn’t the worst I had dealt with. Still, I couldn’t deny it felt nice to have Rainbow Dash’s warm hand offering gentle support on my upper back as she led me toward a place with nice-looking salads.

I believed Frost when he said that our changed digestive systems could process meat, but for now, I think I’ll stick with a garden salad. I pointed to my choice on the menu, and the girl standing at the register nodded with a grin before giving us our total. Rainbow Dash paid and took the offered paper cup to get a drink, while Night brought me over to sit down at one of the smaller tables. Even from the short trip into the food court, I could feel an uncommon general tiredness, but did my best to keep it to myself so that Night and Rainbow Dash wouldn’t worry about me like two mother hens (which was odd, considering Rainbow Dash was a year younger than me).

Dash arrived a minute later with the filled cup, offering it to me. “Here, I just got some water. I figure water would be safe, and you look like you could use the fluids.” I raised an eyebrow at her, even as I took a long drink of the crisp, cool water. She gestured to my face as she explained, “You look pale. Well...pale-er.” My curious expression was obviously a glare at that point, so Rainbow Dash held up her hands defending, “Hey, I’m just worried about you. We took every precaution for months, but there’s always the chance that some kinda germ could’a gotten you sick.”

“That’s not supposed to be possible, by what Twi said.” I answered, taking a small sip from my cup of water. “Something about non-magical diseases being unable to affect us, because our cells don’t react the same as a non-magical creature’s.” At her uncomprehending stare, I scoffed. “You didn’t listen to her at all, did you? She talked about this for days, Dash.”

“Hey, I listened!” she defended with an affronted look, just before she glanced away and muttered, “...well, to most of it. When Twilight gets going on her lectures, I kinda zone out. That must be part of what I missed.”

Sighing, feeling a bit better after sitting and having some water, I smirked at the woman across from me. “I’m sure Twi would be willing to give you another one; you know, just to make sure it sticks.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes widened comically, and she waved her hands frantically. “Hold up, no need to get crazy, now! I’m sorry, okay? What do you want?”

“I want you to stop worrying about me, Dash.” I suggested, taking another sip of water to hopefully bring some color back to me. “I’m a big girl, and I’ve survived for almost thirty years pretty much on my own; feeling a little under the weather isn’t exactly a new thing for me.”

Finally throwing her own shoe in, Night replied, “I’m not sure we can comply with that request, Vinyl. Asking us to not care for a loved one is asking for the impossible, and you should know that by now.”

Realizing that I was trying to fight a losing battle, I released a sigh and dipped my head. “Fine...just...don’t tell the others, please.” At their continued stares of concern, I briefly explained, “I’m getting tired from moving around, for some reason, like I’m not getting enough food in me. The only time I’ve felt this tired just from walking was when I went on a cider bender for three days without any food.”

Night pursed her lips as she returned with, “But you have been eating the same as us, and we are not ill. Granted, I am not exactly prone to the same as the rest of us, but none of the others seem to be exhibiting the same symptoms as you. I must regretfully suggest that you may have caught an illness here, since you’ve only noticed a change today.”

“Or, I caught something in Equestria and brought it here with me.” I weakly added, only half believing that chance.

Rainbow Dash shook her head with a frown. “We share the same bed, Vie; if you got sick with something an Equestrian could catch, we’d all be sick. You’re the only one.”

“Which means this may not be a conventional illness, but rather something related to the transition.” Night offered, voicing my hopes.

I nodded with a slightly relieved smile. “Yeah, I was thinking the same. Maybe one of the spells didn’t quite work right with me, or maybe the booster injections we got before we left are acting up. Whatever it is, it looks like I’m the only one affected, so far.”

“Nisha!”

The call of the girl from the restaurant (if you could call it that) caused Night to stand and make her way back to the counter to retrieve my salad. On her way back, I watched as two younger men strolling around watched the dark-skinned beauty with hungry eyes as she made her way back to our table, and I felt my teeth grinding. Who did they think they were? Night was ours, not theirs; they had no right!

“Umm, Vie, what’s got you all in a twist?” Rainbow Dash prodded me with her finger. As I turned my attention to her with a raised eyebrow, she explained, “You were...growling.”

I froze at the words, confused. “...I-I was?” Rainbow Dash nodded, and I looked back to Night, who had set the tray down and was putting the salad in front of me. “These two guys walking by were watching our girl here like she was a decadent three-course meal.” I gestured to the avatar, the mentioned woman and Rainbow Dash glancing back at the two guys who had continued walking toward the exit to the food court.

Rainbow Dash nodded toward me. “She was growling. And I don’t mean like,” she growled like a pony (or human) does, “but more like a mad wolf.”

Having not heard myself make this noise, I reflexively touched my throat with my fingers. “I did? But I didn’t cast a spell or nothin’.”

Offering a reassuring (and, dare I say, triumphant) smile to me, Night gave my shoulder a pat. “I’ve no interest in any of the locals dear, so you don’t need to be defensive.” She then retreated and sat down in her chair across from me again, her smile warping into a frown. “However, what concerns me more is not so much the why as the how. Without magic, a human or pony shouldn’t be able to make a sound like that.”

Experimentally, I growled purposefully, but noticed with both relief and annoyance that it sounded just like it should. I shook my head firmly and unwrapped the disposable fork before spearing the salad, taking a large bite. It was crispy and fresh-tasting, which was surprising since we weren’t anywhere near a farm, but I could also taste the difference in the cherry tomatoes, namely the fact they had a slightly mushy consistency, and tasted off, even though I can’t really explain how. I continued eating anyway, knowing that I couldn’t expect much from a food court, and also there was the fact that Frost had repeatedly told us that even the same fruits and vegetables would taste a little different compared to what we were used to.

“Think we should ask Twi about it? She’d know more about magic than anyone else.” Rainbow Dash suggested. At my nod of agreement, she smiled at me. “Yeah, it’s probably just some weird magic thing that’s disagreeing with you. You’re not actually in any pain though, are you?”

I stopped munching to give my full attention to what I was feeling. After a few moments, I went back to my salad and answered, “Nah, not really. I’m not even all that sore, just...tired. I feel like I haven’t slept right for a few days, but I know that’s not true.”

Rainbow Dash glanced from me to Night, having a wordless conversation with the older woman before looking back to me. “Do you want to ride me? You’re small enough, and I don’t mind.”

And, because of my dirty mind, I spit bits of lettuce, croutons, carrots, and tomato all over the table in front of me, almost choking as I laughed hard. Giving me further reason to laugh was the fact that it took a few seconds for Rainbow Dash to realize what she’d said, at which point she palmed her face and just shook her head with laughter. Even Night was giving refined giggles from behind her hand. Of course, what made it all the more entertaining was the fact that Rainbow Dash and I had never had “alone time” just between the two of us.

Unable to stop my mouth, I teased, “I mean, I’m down if you are. And I’ll have you know, I prefer the term ‘petite,’ thank you very much.” Even though I was teasing in good fun, I won’t lie and say I’d never had thoughts about my alicorn herdmate; there’s no getting away from the fact that she was hot. Of course, I had forgotten one very important thing about Rainbow Dash: she knew how to use her looks for evil, when she wanted to.

This was evidenced by the fact she shut me up completely with a smoldering gaze sent my way, a coy smile, and purring tones. “Well, I think we should make sure you save your energy, then; you’ll be needing it for tonight. The Dash doesn’t stop until she gets exactly,” she punctuated the statement by running her tongue over her lips, “what she wants.”

What’s the word for half-scared, half-excited? Terrorboner?

With a frustrating blush, I turned away from the two chuckling women and focused on my salad, noticing that with some rest and real food, I actually was feeling better. I was relieved at this, glad that I apparently just needed some real food, even though the back of my mind kept worrying that something was wrong with me beyond that. I shut the little voice down, instead finishing my greens off and taking a big gulp of water. Following that, I slowly stood, hopping from each foot and experimentally bending my knees a few times as I shifted my balance. With a smile, I let out a relieved sigh at no longer feeling like I was about to fall over from exhaustion.

“Feeling better, Vie?” Rainbow Dash asked, and though her voice sounded jovial, I knew her well enough to be able to tell she was still worried.

Luckily, I was able to give a more lively, more genuine smile this time as I nodded to her. “Yeah, I am. I guess I just needed some real food in me.”

Rainbow Dash nodded as she took my tray and trash to a nearby wastebin. “Cool, then we should catch up with the others.” With her brief look of concentration, I realized she was sensing the marker she had put on Dark earlier. Her features resolved into a relaxed smile as she pointed out of the food court. “They’re that way. C’mon, let’s regroup.”

Even though Frost advised us that the situation was well in hand, I could not help but look over my shoulder from time to time, expecting to see others following us. I will admit that the current activity was not particularly engaging for me, which may have had something to do with my inability to distract my anxiety, but I was a cautious mare by nature. I found it especially difficult not to worry about the unknown, which made me wonder if perhaps it would be better for my sanity to stay in a quiet room, with the doors locked and shades drawn, wrapped up in warm blankets with only candlelight to see by. Darkness felt safe, and familiar, while this bright, open area felt uncomfortably exposed.

Further adding to my stress was the message Night sent my way through our deep connection -- dear Vinyl had apparently contracted some sort of illness, and there was no discernable reason or cause. She was feeling much better after a meal and a brief reprieve, but we still did not know why she had suddenly become less than healthy. We had taken every precaution to ensure we would not become ill due to Earth’s natural microorganisms (as well as ensuring we would not spread a pandemic among the innocent people), which only made the incident all the more worrisome. I could only hope that-

And then, I noticed dear Fluttershy.

While the young woman was not an athlete or soldier, the life of Ponyville’s resident wildlife caretaker was an active one, which made the flush upon her face and her heaving chest all the more noticeable to those who knew her. Based on what Night had reported to me, Fluttershy seemed to be exhibiting the same symptoms Vinyl had before the latter required a reprieve and a meal. Assuming this was the same ailment my herdmate had apparently contracted, this meant that either she and Vinyl shared something similar between the two of them that made them susceptible to this malady, or, far more worrying, it was contagious.

With a subtle, magical tap to Frost’s back, I drew his attention to me. I signaled him by casually tucking a lock of hair behind my ear, which was a sort of visual code we had worked out earlier for nonverbal communication.

“What’s up, Lu?” I heard his voice ask within my mind.

Glancing to Fluttershy again, I advised, “I worry that Vinyl and Fluttershy are ill.” At his questioning glance, I quickly (and obviously quietly) explained what had happened with Vinyl earlier, as well as what I was observing from our friend.

After assuring him that Vinyl appeared to be better after some rest and food, Frost moved aside with me as the others explored the most recent store. “What do you think it is? Does this sound like any Equestrian illness that you’re familiar with?”

Thinking for a moment, I shook my head. “Nothing comes to mind. From what I heard via Night, it was a general feeling of exhaustion along with a sickly pallor. Vinyl did not present with coughing, sneezing, or a fever, so I cannot think of what this may be.”

Glancing to our pegasus friend, who was visibly struggling to keep up her previous level of excitement, Frost sighed through his nose. “I think we should get ‘Shy something to eat too, then. If she’s suffering from the same ailment, she’s going to need food and rest.” He went silent suddenly, and I noticed the disguised wolf’s head turn toward Frost briefly, before he gave a nearly imperceptible nod. Moonfang leaned in close to his mate’s ear, whispering to her before leading the young woman away, with Twilight trailing worriedly behind them -- the latter had clearly noticed how her friend was feeling, and wanted to support her.

“I believe we should try and ‘keep this quiet,’ as you are wont to say.” I added, also motioning to my sister. “However, we should advise Tia of the situation. She is well-versed in healing magicks, and could offer her assistance, should it be needed.” I then bit my lip as a thought came to me, suddenly. “Do you believe we should quarantine the two?”

Immediately, Frost shook his head. “No need. Vinyl was sharing a bed with all of us, and Fluttershy and Moonfang sleep together; if this was something contagious, all of us would be sick. This is something unique to the two of them, though I’m not sure how.” Turning his gaze to me again, he began thinking aloud. “They’re both around the same age and live in the same town, but they’re not related, they’re different species, they live very different lives, and they don’t even have the same favorite foods. Neither of them were in the war, both of them are healthy individuals, and they weren’t the only ones here that ate meat as humans.” Frost reached up and scratched his chin, which was becoming scruffy from the lack of a shave for two days (a distinctly human issue, for him). “No, whatever this is, it’s not dangerous to the rest of us, but I also have no idea what it could be. I hate to say it, but depending on what happens in the near future, we might have to cut this trip short. While human medical technology is far more advanced than Equestria’s, I also don’t know how it would affect a magical being; I made sure to change us in such a way that we are able to nearly perfectly pass for humans, but inside, we’re still who we are.” Shaking his head with a grunt, Frost muttered, “There’s just too many variables.”

“Hey,” I prodded, using my hand to turn his face to look at me, “we will defeat this, Frost. No matter what happens, we will ensure that our friends are hale and hearty once more, whatever that takes.”

Closing his eyes and taking a breath, Frost settled himself before looking at me again, this time with a smile. “...you’re right. Sorry, I just worry about the girls, especially when I don’t know how to help them.”

With a reassuring smile, I nudged him in the ribs. “I believe you once told me that ‘every effect has a cause, and every action, a reason.’ Though we may not know the cause or reason, it does not mean they do not exist. We will discover the cause of this aliment, and remedy it however we must.” As his arm wrapped around me, I settled myself into his grasp and relaxed in his embrace. “I care for them as well, Frost; do not think for a moment that I am complacent in the discomfort of our friends.”

“I don’t, Lu,” he answered immediately, clearly assuming he had offended me. A warmth spread through me as I was reminded, once again, just how much he cared about us. “I just hate not being able to take away this suffering, minor though it may be right now. If I had my choice, none of you would hurt or cry ever again.”

Understanding the sentiment completely, I raised my hand up along his back and allowed my fingers to play across the area just below his neck. “But that is not life, Frost. Life can be wonderful, full of joy and love, but it is also fraught with pain and suffering. We must endure the suffering to truly appreciate the good things that come. This too shall pass, my love.”

I felt a shaking from his chest as he silently laughed. “I don’t know what I did to deserve you, but I’m thankful. I needed to hear that, Luna. Thanks.”

“We must all be aware of our faults, Frost.” I commented quietly, well aware of just how true the words were. “One of yours is that you seem to think everything is your responsibility to handle, and that we are helpless without you.” I could practically feel the equal amounts of indignation and shame from him as he stiffened, but I rubbed my cheek against his as I continued. “We are not fragile flowers, Frost. While we are grateful you are in our lives, we are quite able to live life on our own. Not every problem that may arise is your problem to solve, and not every burden must be shouldered by you alone; a burden shared is a burden halved -- or, in our case, fragmented quite a bit more. You have the trust and love of many, Frost, and we are all willing to support you, just as you do for us. Please, do not hesitate to lean on us so that we may give back the same support you provide to us. We trust you to do your part in ensuring this herd and your friends are loved and given the support all living creatures need, so trust us to do the same.”

Sufficiently cowed, Frost released a sigh and sagged a bit. “I-I know, and I’m sorry. It’s just, this is the only thing I’m really, truly good at.” Leading us to one of the benches in the corridor, he seated himself next to me and looked over to me with an intensity that was honestly a bit upsetting. “I’m not a genius, I’m not a career soldier, and I’m not an inventor. I can’t come up with new, more efficient ways to do things, I can’t give rousing speeches to rally thousands, and I’m not good-looking enough to be a model -- honestly, Lu, this is all I’m truly good at. While most other people shudder or crack under pressure, that’s where I truly shine. When the world is falling apart, and hope is all but lost, I’m the one that’s metaphorically grabbing the war banner, and leading a charge -- alone if I have to -- against whatever is beating us down. I thrive in strife and difficult trials, and because that’s the only true calling I’ve found, I…” he sighed again and looked away, “I do everything on my own not because I don’t trust you, but because this is what I was made for. Even before the Element got its hold on me, being the underlying foundation of emotional strength for my friends and family is what I excelled at. Unfortunately, it’s an ability that’s only useful in bad situations.” He pursed his lips as if he had just sucked on a lemon, and shook his head. “No one needs that kind of thing when things are going good, because they’re happy and healthy.”

It was...upsetting to see my stallion so morose. I cannot speak for the rest, but I had always depended upon his strength and confidence, as a mare that had little for myself. Even years after my return to normal society, I still doubted myself and felt awkward at times. In Frost, I found someone I could lean on, someone who I could confide in and rely on, so it caused me a fair measure of discomfort to see him doubting himself...like I did.

But, as usual, just as I began to worry, he perked up and turned to smile at me. “Well, I suppose I must have some other things to offer that I don’t notice, because I have the love of some fantastic people. Most people are lucky to find one person to care about them, and here I am with many.” Nudging his shoulder against mine, he added, “I just wish I could do more for all of you, even if it’s silly to expect perfection.”

The change in demeanor was so sudden that if I were not previously acquainted with it, I would worry about his mental health, but I knew this was simply how he worked through things. So, I offered him a smile in return, and gave him a slow nod. “It is a bit silly, yes, but we love you for it. I only hope you will believe me when I say that we are quite pleased with you, and there is naught more we could ask for.” I paused at that. “Well, perhaps a foal or two for some would not be out of the question, but for the moment, I believe we are all quite happy.”

Giving a sheepish smile and a scratch behind his head, Frost nodded with a weak chuckle. “Yeah, Celestia mentioned something like that. She confirmed she was one of those ‘some’, but didn’t tell me about any of the others. I’ve thought about it for a long time, and…” he trailed off briefly, as slowly, a more gentle smile grew on his face, “I think we might have to start growing the family a bit when we get back. I’ll have two marriages to plan when we return, so I don’t see why we shouldn’t start ‘planning for the future’, if you catch my drift.” Smiling fondly, he leaned against me, and I felt a warmth grow in my chest from the look he gave me. “I’ve wanted to be a father for awhile, and I don’t really have a reason to put it off any longer. I’ll speak to the girls when we get back to Equestria, and we’ll start preparing for a few little ones.”

Though I was not one of the mares that felt it was time to have a foal, I had to admit, the thought of holding a foal in my arms, helping raise it within this large, loving herd, was a vision I could definitely support. I could easily envision a little colt or filly calling me “Auntie Woona” and snuggling up under my wings on cold days.

Oh yes, that would be quite nice.

“I think that may be a good idea.” I murmured, blushing a bit at the thought of having my own foal. While I think it would be wonderful, I knew it would not be a good idea for both Tia and I to be in such a vulnerable state at the same time. I could wait. Besides, having a “practice run” with another’s foal, as an aunt, would be a good experience to have.

Following that, we sat in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying the peaceful quiet between us.

“I’m going to need you and Celestia later on tonight, so make sure you have some coffee or something.” Frost suddenly advised, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. Raising an eyebrow, I stared silently at him, eventually prompting him to explain, “As I said a long time ago, I know about all of you from a television program here on Earth, and there are a startling number of similarities between you all and those characters in the program. I’ve come to terms with the fact that the introduction of me and my family to Terra fundamentally changed what it could have been, and changed your personalities as well, but that doesn’t mean everything about our Terra is different from the show.”

I felt my head tilt to the side as confusion welled up within me. “I...I am not sure I understand. What do you hope to learn?”

Frost shrugged, his arm coming to rest around my shoulders as he stared off into empty space. “I’m not sure, but it couldn’t hurt to maybe get an idea of what we have to look forward to. Knowing about possible enemies in the future or events that could happen would be a valuable asset to us. I’m well aware that our home is not the same as what I remember watching before you brought me to Terra, but that’s why I want both you and Celly there, so that you can check your knowledge with what we watch, and we can separate the fiction from the plausible possibilities.”

Beginning to understand exactly what he wished to glean from a fictional television program, I gave a nod to him. “I think that would be wise, then. While not everything will be exactly as it is in our land, any forewarning to possible trials would be quite welcome.” Frowning slightly, I commented, “I must admit, this feels a bit like ‘cheating on the test’, as you would say.”

He shrugged at my words, looking unconcerned. “We’re not going to find anything concrete, but rather possibilities. I have no doubt that both my being in Terra and the war changed quite a bit, so my idea won’t so much give us a blueprint to the future as it will point out things we should keep an eye out for. That’s even if our world was identical to the one I knew of before meeting you.” Frowning briefly, he continued. “The program doesn’t show everything that happens, and nor does it go into what everyone is thinking, so there’s quite a bit that could have been happening that the people on Earth never see. However, going off of what I know about my Terra, enough is similar that it could be useful to get some more information.”

I nodded briefly before shaking my head. At his questioning glance, I smiled a bit and answered, “I am simply still coming to terms that you knew of us from a children’s television program created to appeal to little girls.”

He reached up with a hand and ran his fingers through my hair, and I will admit it was difficult to refrain from outright purring at the action. I was just barely able to focus on his voice as he commented, “Well, to be fair, it is quite nice to brush your manes and tails, and you are pretty little ponies.”

While a part of me felt indignant at the somewhat condescending way he said “pretty little ponies,” that emotion was vastly overruled by the bliss of the impromptu scalp massage I received. I could not stop myself from nuzzling his throat, though I will admit the gesture was more difficult without a pony’s muzzle. Still, my action received a warm chuckle, and his hand continued running through my hair, so I was happy regardless.

“You’re just an adorable pony princess, aren’t you?” he teased, though he never stopped his ministrations. “Who’s a pretty pony?”

I giggled at his antics, and decided to play along, looking up to him with soulful eyes. “I am!”

Nodding with a grin, Frost praised, “That’s right, you are.”

The old Luna, centuries younger, would have raged from the demeaning treatment, but the current me, with more life lived and more love received than ever before, knew it was just the playful actions of a stallion I adored. That aside, part of what drew me to Frost in the first place was his casual disregard of our stations; he treated me like any other mare, giving me respect and affection for who I was, instead of the crown I wore. I knew without a doubt he would ask for help and advice if and when he took up a more active position in Equestrian leadership, but I knew he did not see any of us as above him in terms of status or class.

An amused snort from my side caught my attention, and I followed Frost’s gaze to the store where my sister was still practically floating on air. It was nice to see that, even after over a millennium of experiences, something as simple as a declaration of love and devotion could still make her act like a giddy young filly. Currently, Celestia was walking with a joyful bounce in her step behind Twilight, and had a youthful vigor that suited a mare a fraction of our ages.

“It’s good to know I can still cause that kind of effect on you two.” Frost commented quietly. “There’s no doubt in my mind that I love the both of you immensely, but every now and then, I have a random shock to the system that reminds me that, compared to the two of you, I’m just some naive kid.” Turning to look at him, I caught him shaking his head slightly. “Every now and then, I’ll remember that the two of you have centuries and beyond of life and experience that I never had, and you’re experts in statecraft and diplomacy.” With a glance to me out of the corner of his eye, Frost assured, “You both still act like young, vibrant mares, and I love that about the two of you, but there’s no denying that I’m a baby compared to the two of you, and sometimes I find myself wondering what two alicorn princesses could see in a creature not even a tenth your age.”

“I believe it was you that said ‘age is not necessarily equal to maturity,’ and I myself am proof of that.” I replied firmly, hoping he would understand my meaning without having to explain it. Luckily for me, his eyes showed me that he did, and I simply continued on from there, trying my best to reassure him. “Know that most of the long-lived beings tend to reach a certain point in their life when age is no longer important to them. For most, like us, it is not until long after it should have happened, but those of us that are intelligent do come to realize one very important fact:” I took his hand in mine and looked directly into his eyes as I asserted, “due to our age, if we consider age alone as a reason for sequestering our hearts, we will forever be alone. It is a fact that there are so few of us that live so long, so eventually, it becomes impossible to only give our hearts to one within an ‘acceptable’ age range.”

Frost seemed to mull over the words for a bit before nodding shallowly. “I guess that makes sense. Must have been hard for the two of you, knowing that nearly everyone we care about will eventually…” he trailed off, unable to speak the final word, though I knew what he was going to say.

I nudged him gently, prodding, “They will pass on, Frost. As much as we dislike to dwell on the thought -- and nor should we -- it is a fact that agelessness is rare.” I ran my thumb over the back of his hand, doing my best to soothe him as I spoke. “I will not force the conversation on you, Frost -- you must come to terms with it in your own time -- but it must be accepted for the sake of sanity: most of those you love and care about will one day have to leave you. Time does not stop for all of us, Frost, and it is due to that fact that life is so precious.”

Though he didn’t respond, Frost gave a weak nod and leaned against me.

It was only a few minutes later that the rest of the group finally left the shop, so the two of us stood to greet the others. Rarity, of course, was practically floating with joy, while her mate was loaded down with more shopping bags. Celestia, however, caught my eyes, and after a silent Spellspeak conversation between us, we headed toward the food court again to rejoin Fluttershy, Twilight, and Moonfang. Like me, Celestia was deeply concerned for our friend and herdmate, but we would check the two over when we were all together. For now, it would be best to carry on as normal, and keep an eye for any changes to the two.

Movement from my peripheral vision caught my attention, and like many times before, I recognized a familiar person nearby. He was familiar not because he was one of our group, but rather because it was one of the individuals Frost had pointed out to us as a “watcher”. Though I was reasonably sure nothing would happen to any of us, it was somewhat unnerving to know we were being observed by those with unknown intentions, and I could not stop the tension in my muscles.

Thankfully, it did not take us long to reach our destination, and Fluttershy was happily devouring a large serving of greens with what I could only assume was grilled chicken meat. To think that a former pony and animal caretaker was readily consuming the cooked flesh of another being; it was surreal, to be sure, but the fact spoke well of how our lives had changed in such a short time.

“Gosh, you’re eating again?” Lyra spoke aloud, aware of the voracious manner that the young woman was consuming the food. Clearly, a certain thought came to mind, and I will admit, it was one I considered briefly. “Shy, are you sure you aren’t...well…” Lyra did not finish the sentence, though it was not difficult for the oft-timid woman to deduce what she was implying.

With a face that was quickly becoming flushed, Fluttershy shook her head rapidly with wide eyes. “N-no, oh no, that wouldn’t be possible.” She glanced to her mate, smiling sheepishly to him. “I-I mean, not that I would be opposed to the idea, but we’re not exactly, um, compatible. Twilight believes there’s a spell that could be purposed for the ability of two different people like us to conceive, but for now, there’s no chance of that. I’m just...not feeling well, but some food has made me feel better.” She continued eating without waiting for a response, though it seemed, at least in part, so that she would not have to speak on the embarrassing topic.

Concern overrode Lyra’s normal desire to tease, since she immediately sat across from her friend and looked to her with worried eyes. “You’re not sick, are you? Should we be worried that-”

“She is not ill, dear Lyra.” I interrupted, mentally sighing at the destruction of the original plan to keep this ailment a secret from the rest. “Fluttershy seems to have come down with a similar ailment to Vinyl Scratch, exhibiting exhaustion, lack of stamina, and pale skin.”

“W-wait, Vinyl-”

“Yes,” I interrupted again, cutting Twilight off, “Vinyl seems to have come down with the same ‘illness,’ if it can be called that. However,” I held my hand up to forestall the others, “none of the rest of us have shown similar symptoms -- or any at all -- so this particular ailment appears not to be contagious, or all of you would be showing the same symptoms. As with Vinyl Scratch, sustenance appears to alleviate the symptoms.” I motioned to Fluttershy, who had regained much of her color and seemed to be feeling much more lively, as well.

Twilight briefly looked over her friend before casting her worried gaze my way. “We don’t know what it is though, do we?”

Frost gave a sigh through his nose. “No, we don’t. Depending on whether they get worse or not, we may have to head home early. I won’t risk their health and safety simply because I made plans. If we need to, we can come back here another time.”

Considering how much organization, planning, delegating, and work it took to allow for this trip, I did not particularly want to leave early either, but the health of my friends was of paramount importance. A vacation was nice, but friends were better.

“I-if it helps at all, I am feeling much better, now.” Fluttershy quietly expressed.

Frost turned to her, visually examining how she looked, nodding a few times. “Good, I’m glad you’re feeling better, but we’re not sure how long that’ll last. If you start feeling tired again, or short of breath, or anything out of the ordinary, let us know right away. I’m hoping this is just something temporary, but it’s better to play this safe, than be sorry.”

Sister frowned briefly before asking, “Is there any biological means to test for ailments?”

Frost nodded absently, staring down at the food court table. “Of course there is, but the equipment needed isn’t exactly something you can buy and operate at home. It takes a good supply of electricity, a sterile environment, specific tools and testing supplies that generally isn’t available to the public, and trained personnel. In other words,” he sighed heavily, glancing to Celestia, “we would have to take the girls to a hospital. I don’t think I have to tell you why that would potentially be a bad idea.”

Though the question had not been directed to me, I nodded to myself. It had become abundantly clear we were being watched, and so giving more information to our observers may be counterproductive, to say the least. There was no way to tell for sure if it was possible for human technology to detect that we were not biologically human, but a “better safe than sorry” approach was, once again, the less-dangerous stance to take.

“Wait,” Darkflight interjected, “what about JD? He might be able to help.”

All of us jumped slightly from the sudden appearance of the others, and while I tried not to, I could not help but let out a squeak of surprise. The dragon and his group had snuck up on all of us, and we had no idea they were even listening until he spoke.

After taking a moment to glare at his brother for the fright, Frost just shook his head, now staring at the table. “He’s an MRI tech, and while I have no doubt he would be helpful, we can’t necessarily trust the lab techs, nurses, and doctors we would have to see to get that far. We would need a signed referral from a doctor saying why we needed to get MRI’s done, and I don’t know if it’s worth the risk.”

“What’s an MRI?” Rainbow Dash asked, voicing the question that I, myself, had.

Frost raised his head, turning his attention to his fellow alicorn. “Since humans don’t have magic to image organs inside the body, they had to develop machines to do it. Using radio waves and a powerful magnetic field, it’s possible to take pictures of internal organs, much like some of the medical scanning spells we have back home.” He then shot a look to Darkflight. “Unfortunately, we don’t know what’s happening, so we also need bloodwork done, maybe even other things; point is, we would need a medical professional to look over Fluttershy and Vinyl, and I don’t personally know any.” Frost stopped and stared as his brother simply raised his hand with a sheepish smile. “Seriously, is there anyone you don’t know?”

Darkflight merely shrugged. “Hey, if my man-whoring ways can be useful for one thing, it’s connecting with all kinds of people.” Applejack, who had been silent, shot a glare to her mate, and he returned another sheepish grin. “No, I wasn’t actually into prostitution, but my life before meeting you was...promiscuous, to use a nicer term.”

“You’re lucky you didn’t end up a poster-boy for STD’s.” Frost quipped, earning a glare from his brother.

“Anyway,” Darkflight continued, shooting one more scathing look at his older sibling, “for better or worse, my life let me meet a lot of people, in a lot of different professions, and it could help us now. It’s only been a few years, and I don’t think Silver would have moved out of Atlanta. Last I heard, she had just finished nursing school and was doing her clinicals, so she’s probably a RN by now. She’s also really into things like aliens, ghosts, and everything involving mythology.”

His mention of the latter caused me to frown. “I am not sure how that would help us, Darkflight. Are we not supposed to be ‘incognito’?”

“And how do you know she would be quiet about all this?” Frost threw in, crossing his arms with a raised eyebrow. “One wrong person finding out about who and what we are could make life very difficult.”

Darkflight lost his mildly-chastised expression, his smile becoming downright devious. “You let me worry about that; trust me, she’s safe.”

Frost stared at his brother for a moment before sighing and nodding. “All right fine, so we have a plan in mind. Where does she live?”

“Near the Mall of Georgia. We can hop on the buses to get closer, then get a cab or something.” Darkflight suggested, bobbing his head from side to side.

Frost went silent for a few moments, staring down at the table again, arms still crossed, before looking up and nodding. “I say let’s go for it. If this is something progressive, we can’t put this off. I hate to cut our day out short, but the health of ‘Shy and Vinyl is more important. All right, let’s move. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get on with things.” My skin began to tingle at the feeling of an extremely powerful spell being charged, and Frost only offered me a wink before suggesting, “On second thought, we should stop by the bathrooms first before we go. It’s gonna be a long ride, and we need to ‘empty out,’ if you catch my drift.”

While the suggestion seemed innocent enough, the mental word “portal” rang through all our minds. Teleportation or a portal would be far quicker and more efficient, and we would not be tracked by the eyes that were watching us. With that in mind, all of us moved off toward the restrooms off to the side of the food court itself. With the design of the lavatories, a short hall led to the male and female sides, respectively, turning once around a corner. In a seemingly practiced maneuver, Darkflight stood guard behind us as Frost opened a small portal, which we immediately filed through.

Stepping through the portal, I noticed we were now in a different locale, with smaller buildings and more space between them. Darkflight bumped into me as he arrived, offering a quick apology, and the portal closed behind us with a snap of displaced air. We had appeared in a wooded area a short way from the buildings and main road, ensuring the display of magic would not be seen. Frost was panting from the effort, but after a few breaths to steady himself, he led us out of the woods and up near an odd-smelling building where many of these “automobiles were docked at an odd overhanging portion.

Seemingly noticing my confusion, Frost explained, “It’s a fuel station for cars, commonly known as a ‘gas station’ in the United States. The combustion engines of automobiles use a petroleum derivative called gasoline to fuel the combustion reaction, which in turn serves as fuel for the vehicle. Yes, I know it doesn’t really smell nice, but we’ll be past it soon.” He pointed to a concrete walkway next to the well-manicured lawn. “Walk on the sidewalk. How far away does your friend live?”

Darkflight glanced around the area. “Gimme a sec, I’m trying to remember exactly where everything is.” He spun around once, his head turning from side to side, before looking toward the direction where the concrete walkway led. “Okay, the mall is this way, so we’re gonna be walking for about fifteen minutes to get there. She lives off of South Bogan and Hanover.”

I could nearly pinpoint the exact moment Twilight had inspiration, as she nearly tore her satchel apart for the notebook and pencil she had inside, quickly jotting down notes. Leaning over her shoulder as we walked, I discovered the words “paved roads” written in capitals, next to a question mark and “materials”.

“It’s made of tar and crushed stone,” Frost explained, glancing back at the two of us. “The tar can be found naturally in nature, but more often than not, it’s a byproduct of petroleum refining. Mixing tar and certain crushed stone allows one to create a waterproof, durable, moldable mixture so that you can form it into the exact shape of the road you want to pave. When dry, it offers superior traction and a flat surface, so that you don’t have to worry about a wheel getting stuck in the mud, or the land moving while you’re on it.”

“Not very easy on hooves, though,” Darkflight chimed in, briefly glancing back at us before turning forward once again.

Frost nodded with a sheepish smile. “Uh, yeah, it’s not. Running on a paved road can cause a horse’s hooves to crack and splinter, so they have to wear iron or steel horseshoes. Even walking for long periods on paved roads can be damaging to hooves.”

Nodding my head, I summarized, “So equines here also wear hoof protection on harsh terrain.”

Scratching the back of his neck as he dropped back to walk beside us, Frost added, “Yeah, except horseshoes here are nailed into the hooves to secure them.”

I physically recoiled at the words, and the image they brought, unable to imagine how much that must hurt. While I was incapable of forming words, Rarity was quite able to stammer, “Th-that’s barbaric! Humans torture their horses simply for convenience?”

Waving his hands wildly, Frost assured, “No, no, no! The nails go through the part of the hoof that’s just keratin, so the horse doesn’t even feel it. Horse hooves aren’t built like Equestrian pony hooves: the hoof itself is nearly dead to sensation, with only certain parts, deep inside, that can feel pain. Most ponies don’t need hoof protection because you all weigh so much less than the horses I’m talking about; even an earth pony like Big Mac will weigh in at around only 300lbs, while Earth horses average between 850 and 2200lbs. I’ll make sure we visit a farm so you can see just how different they are to Equestrians.”

Releasing a breath I had not consciously been holding, I reluctantly offered, “We must remember that Equestrians and the equines of Earth are very different in a number of ways. I am sorry to have thought humans so cruel.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong,” Frost interjected smoothly, “humans -- just like any sapient creature -- have the potential for cruelty, greed, and evil. Thankfully, most humans are just trying to live the best life they can, and are generally kind.”

“That’s not how you made them sound from the stories you’ve told us,” Twilight commented, referring to the many accounts he had provided about Earth and its only sapient race.

Frost coughed nervously and turned around again, scratching the back of his neck. “Uh, yeah. My viewpoint is kinda biased, and wasn’t the best at the time. I had just come from a dead-end job where I had to talk to angry, hostile people all day long, where it was practically part of the job description to be cursed at every single day, for eight hours a day. No matter how strong the heart, or how experienced the person, it was soul-crushing. It’s hard to imagine there’s light in the world when all you’re exposed to is darkness.”

I found myself glancing to Darkflight for confirmation. He must have sensed my gaze, since he caught my eye from the corner of his vision. “To be fair, he’s completely right about the job. Knowing Drew as you do -- as a guy that says exactly what he thinks, regardless of who happens to be the target -- how do you think it affected him to have to take abuse, day-in and day-out, while being forced to be polite to everyone he spoke to?”

I was well-acquainted with the snide, weighted comments the more brave nobles were prone to give to both my sister and I, but I could not even imagine enduring direct, blatant disrespect, all the while smiling and being forced to act as if every smile and kind word I spoke was not killing me inside.

“I understand…” I mumbled, finding myself in complete awe of my stallion’s restraint.

We walked in relative silence for a few moments as Twilight and I continued to mull over the information we had been given, before Frost continued. “I know you’re probably wondering how a guy like me could take all that every week, for years, and not just...snap.” At my curious look thrown his way, he chuckled and shook his head. “Well, I learned pretty early on that you can’t think of them as people. They’re just a voice on the phone, just a job, and that’s as far as I let them affect me. There was no way to eliminate the psychological stress the job caused, but using the method I just mentioned allowed me to ‘deaden’ my mental and emotional nerves so that the stress was well-mitigated, and when I left work for the day, I left all that stress at work; I didn’t bring my work home with me, and I think that kept me sane.”

While the others continued asking questions -- namely Twilight, who was thoroughly interested in stories of Frost’s human life -- I found myself quietly pondering how these many trials our stallion overcame turned him into who he is today. Where most would have broken, he adapted and prospered. While I earnestly believed his method of dealing with stresses in life had not always been particularly healthy, I could admit I was happy he had become who he is. I silently promised myself to support him more as our days together continued, so that he would not be forced to stand alone against the tide of life’s trials.

We continued on to our destination, and I could not keep the gentle smile off of my face.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY’RE GONE?!”

One of the younger agents found himself cringing at the angry outburst of his superior, doing his best not to tremble in the wake of the angry gaze sent his way. “I-I mean they’re gone, s-sir. They went into the public restrooms, and never came out. W-we swept the area and found no clue of where they went, or how they gave us the slip.”

The supervisor swore loudly before pulling out his phone and typing a few numbers into it, bringing it to his ear. His face burned with embarrassment as he heard the greeting, “Womac speaking.”

He sighed heavily through his nose and closed his eyes. “We lost them, sir.”

The line was silent for a long few moments before a reply came. “...what do you mean you lost them?”

Gritting his teeth, the supervisor frustratingly brushed a hand through his slicked-back hair. “They went to the public restrooms on the west side of the area, and they never left. We were watching the restrooms the entire time, so after twenty minutes, we sent a few personnel in to investigate...only to find all of the targets have apparently disappeared. There are no other exits from the restrooms, and no sign of them somehow digging out in twenty minutes, so I’m at a loss to explain what just happened, sir. What are your orders?”

A similarly frustrated grunt was heard from the other line. “Keep a small squad on site in case they spontaneously reappear. The rest, send back to base for debriefing and reassignment.”

Nodding once, the supervisor answered, “Understood sir. I’ll be remaining on-site unless you have any objections.”

“That is acceptable. Immediately report any strange activity in the area or EM spikes detected.”

Raising an eyebrow, the supervisor was unable to mask his confusion. “EM spikes, sir?”

“Just follow your orders, Watkins.”

The supervisor grunted and hung up, turning to his men. “I need five volunteers to stay with me. The rest are returning to base for debriefing and reassignment.” Five hands quickly rose and stepped to his side as the rest filed out of the area toward the awaiting transports. He sneered at the last known location of the targets, and silently seethed, “You freaks better hope I never get my hands on you.”

With that, he began monotonously patrolling the mall once again, settling himself in for another long, boring day.