Mise and shard made it back to Canterlot safely, but there was one thing that took everyone by surprise, something that they shockingly failed to notice.

“Mise, how and why do you have a beard?” fang asked as the two stepped off the plane

“Yeah, you look like a mountain man!” eclipse said

“I’ll answer that in a minute, but there’s something I need to do first” Mise said as he walked over to Octavia

Everyone stayed silent and let the two have their moment.

“Octavia, I-I'm sorry, I never should have run off like that. This isn’t how a man, or gentlemen, treats the woman he loves. And for that I'm truly sorry, can you ever forgive me?” Mise asked as he took Octavia’s hands in his

“Yes, yes I forgive you. But I have one question…why?” Octavia asked

“I already told you why. Why do you want me to explain it a second time?” Mise asked

“I know, you told us why you left, but you still haven’t told us why you think we would think less of you. You’re always preaching and to quote you ‘the key is to not doubt your friends and realize if what they say is true that they’ll still be your friend regardless of what you tell them, past or present’ so what made you think this was any different?” Octavia asked

Mise said nothing as he pulled out a picture from his pocket and stared intently at it before speaking

“It’s not that I didn’t trust you or opinion...” Mise said

“Then what?” Octavia asked intently

“I didn’t want to be remembered/known as the ‘trigger-happy mass murderer’ who did unspeakable things. I wanted you guys to remember/know me as what you already knew me as. There’s a reason I’ve kept all of this a secret for so long.” Mise said as he kept staring at the picture in his hand

“Mise, you said it yourself, your past doesn’t define who you are today, we never thought of you like that and we never will, also what is that a picture of?” Octavia replied

“I know but some things are easier said than done and it’s the last picture ever taken of my siblings alive. I keep it with me to remind me to not lose sight of my goals and to stay strong, same as my tattoos.” Mise said showing her the photo

“Well just remember you’re never going to be alone in anything you do, not anymore, and that’s good of you to do that, your siblings would be proud of you.”

“I know, and they’d be happy that have such great friends like you guys. And fang, eclipse, to answer you guys’ question, the reason I have a beard is because my facial hair grows like crazy, every morning I wake up looking like Warhawk over here, that’s one reason I just use a straight razor. It’s more dangerous but it gives it a nice smooth finish and I don’t have to replace the blade.” Mise said stroking his beard

“Well I think it looks sexy, so much better than your simple goatee you had before.” Octavia said running her fingers through Mise’s beard

“Thanks, now let’s go, I have some things I need to get done.” Mise said grabbing his bag

Everyone made their way to their cars a took off, everyone except Treble who stopped Mise before he could leave

“Really Celtic, you’re really going to make ME do this?”

Yes, now stop breaking the damn 4th wall, I don’t even know what this shit is made of but I sure as know it doesn’t grow on trees

“Fine, but you owe me more Pepsi!” Treble said

Ok, fine, I’ll have Mise get you a Pepsi from every country for a certain day celebrating your exit from your mother’s womb

At hearing this Treble’s mind began break a little but he quickly composed himself

“Treble, is there something you need, because I really need to get somewhere.” Mise said impatiently

“Yes, I respect your decision to cleanse yourself of evilness but nonetheless you must be punished.” Treble said putting a giant hammer shaped hat

“Uhh Treble…what is that?” Mise asked warily

“The Hat of Discipline, DO YOU LIVE IN A CAVE?!” Treble replied frustrated

“Well for the past few days, yes…” Mise said

“Ok, now for that, I’m going to hit you twice as hard.” Treble said as he hit slammed the ‘head’ end of the hat down on Mise

“All is forgiven…” Treble said walking away

“Thank you Treble…” Mise said lying on the ground squished into a pancake

Mise quickly scrapped himself off the ground and drove home.

He spent the rest of the day with Octavia, cooking her favorite meal, and cuddling her on the couch.

Timeskip: the next day

Mise, Artemis, Fang, Eclipse, and Shard were sitting around in the whiskey cellar, chewing the fat, and sharing a few drinks.

“So Mise, we never asked you, where did you go?” Artemis asked

“Well, I went into the Griffonstone mountains, when I first moved her I scoped out the region to see where the best place would be to hide out if something like this were to happen.” Mise said sipping his drink

“Yeah, I found him living out of a cave on the mountain’s peak. He had a fire going and everything.” Shard said taking a sip from his drink as well

“Well Mise, I’m glad you’re back, and I know I probably sound like a broken record, but we really missed you.” Fang said

“Glad to be back, oh Artemis, I’ve been meaning to ask you, can I have Octavia’s parent’s address, there’s something I need to talk to them about.” Mise said

“Yeah sure, but why don’t just ask Octy?” Artemis asked

“ Because if were to do that she’d want to know why, and I can’t tell her that.” Mise said

“Why? What do you need to talk to them about, but you can tell Octy?” eclipse asked

“I'm going ask octave for Octavia’s hand in marriage and for him to give me his blessing.” Mise said as he took another sip of his drink

“Well Mise, I know it’s usually the father’s position but for what it’s worth you have my blessing.” Artemis said

“As do I, I believe that the first person to ever know of the proposal should be the one you are going to propose to. It isn't mine or anyone else's decision, if you love each other you can be together, regardless of what I or her father thinks. But that's just me. My blessing is given and I will assist any way I can.” Shard said.

Author's Notes:

Note: the timeline for my story is not exact, and the specials don't necessarily affect the main timeline. they're kind of just there, not really affecting much in terms of when certain this have or will happen.