Angel woke up with a jolt and a fear he hadn’t felt in ages.

“Princess!” he yelled into the dark room. His eyes quickly scanned around. The room was darkened, the only lights coming from a few small windows at the top of the wall opposite him, and a thin sliver of light coming from a door near the windows.

Angel sighed. This was the room he had designed in his mind to always be his backup room in case he needed to Transport out of Equestria back into Las Rosas. It was in a basement that was hidden away in a backstreet alley. No one ever came through here.

Equestria!

Angel quickly worked out a plan in his mind. He would grab Sujer and Transport with him back to Equestria. He knew both of them were good fighters on their own, they should be able to beat…whatever it was that attacked the castle.

He quickly ran towards the door, but stopped before he reached the handle. The Princess’s words echoed in his mind.

“I have a plan for this… Do not worry about me or Equestria…Transport and come back tomorrow evening…”

Mierda, I can’t just leave her there!... Angel sighed as he opened the door to step outside. I’m sorry princess, but I will not wait. I’m going to bring everyone…

After about an hour of walking down decrepit brick streets that were not paved for the cars that drove through them, he found himself entering the open market area of the town.

Sujer is probably at his house, I can find him and tell him about what’s happened…

He took a couple steps before he looked up at the bright blue sky for the first time since he Transported.

What? Morning? But it was only early evening when the castle was attacked! Time is the same here and there, this is not possible…

Engaged in his own thoughts, Angel did not see the incoming car until mere seconds before it would hit him. Diving out of the way, the driver yelled obscenities at Angel as he scooped himself up from the dusty ground, and walked quickly back onto the sidewalk.

Bah! I’m getting distracted… I need to find Sujer, and quickly.

It was easier said than done.

Angel looked around to find he wandered right into the heart of the market district, where vendors, through the not quite chilling cold, were yelling and screaming to get their wares sold.

“Naranjas! Naranjas aqui!”

“Carne, carne, asada y lomitos…”

“Zapatos! Zapatos de Francia! Zapatos de Italia!”

“Perfume aquí! Vendo perfume aquí!”

“Th’patos de Milan! Th’patos de Paris!”

“Gafas! Relojes! Gafas y relojes!”

“Tarjetas. Tarjetas para el partido…”

A block away from Angel, the vendors were selling different wares.

“Japon! Nihon! Fudo!”

“Kovriki! Kovriki!”

“Diamante! Diamante hier!”

“Lahm! Lahm!”

“Ah, Angel!” a voice cried out from the cacophony. “Can you help me to bring drinks out of truck in back?”

Angel turned to the Russian that was calling out from before. “Alexei? What drinks?” He entered the shop where he heard his name.

Alexei was a Russian that fit most of the bill of what most Las Rosas inhabitants would think Russians would be: happy but stout, bald and scarred, and always looking for a reason to get drunk. Preferably on Russian made alcohol.

Scattered around inside the shop were rugs, blown glass, and painted vases. Blue paint tape was stuck on each individual item with a price on top of the tape. The cashier’s counter was simple and wooden, but the light scratches and dents on the sides of the table suggested that the owner of the shop had met some less than pleasant company before.

Most of the dents were on the customer’s side.

“Just some of the imports my brother has finally been able to get me. Is a new drink that has my country tripping over itself just to have a sip. You want some later?” Alexei asked.

“Thank you, but I do not drink anymore, Alexei. Eh, do you know of where Sujer has gone?” Angel came back and forth with the aforementioned imports, already feeling a mite queasy from just the stench of one bottle that was shattered during its shipping.

“Sujer? Well if he isn’t selling his movies, than he is probably at that bank down the street. It is the start of sum- er, winter here, yes?”

Angel mentally facepalmed. Of course it’s the start of winter. He told me he would go and take everything out of the bank when the cold weather starts coming in.

Angel noted that the Summer Sun Celebration back in Equestria was an invert of seasons to the town while he ran out of the shop, leaving a bewildered Alexei behind.

“Eh? What’s gotten into the kid? And why is he looking for that dumb Sujer?”

“Look. I don’t care if you need to raise the price, I saw it as 15 pesos and I want it as 15 pesos!”

Right outside the bank, Angel stopped to see a spectacle happen between one woman street vendor and a casually dressed white man arguing over an item that Angel couldn’t see.

“But, señor, it never have that price! Always it, eh, have 30-“

“I know that it’s worth only 5 pesos, so I’m being reasonable with 15. I have contacts, you know…”

Huh. An American tourist? But then where is?...

“Hey, Americano. What do ya think you’re doing?” Seemingly out of nowhere, a man appeared right behind the tourist. He was only slightly taller than Angel, with hair that was longer than most women and greasier than a fast food sandwich.

“Eh, who the hell are you?” the tourist asked as he turned around to meet the new man out of nowhere.

Some of the onlookers started to chuckle in anticipation of what was about to happen.

“Me? Oh, I’m just the guy that’s behind you. Nothing more, nothing less,” Sujer said.

The tourist snorted. “Look bud, I don’t know who you are, but you better step away. I have contacts, and I don’t wanna…”

“Everyone has contacts, American. I have a friend who can call upon another government’s leaders on a whim, that security guard in front of the bank has a friend who’s in the Capitol, and the woman you’re technically robbing has a son who is a sergeant in the Capitol’s army,” the man leaned in, “Here in Las Rosas, everyone knows everyone. All of us are here because we never liked the people in our countries trying to act like they own the world. So watch your mouth, tourist. What is it your people say? ‘We don’t take kindly to your kind around here.’”

The tourist glared at him for a full minute, the air growing relatively silent as the crowd that had gathered watched in anticipation of what either person was going to do.

They gasped as the tourist suddenly lurched forward and sent a fist into Sujer’s stomach, making him yelp in pain as his body crumpled over.

“Listen here, you filthy South American trash. When I say I have contacts, I mean I have contacts that go far beyond your measly friends in semi-high places, especially in the Capitol,” the tourist leaned in close to the man’s ear, “So why don’t you do yourself a little favor, and stay out of my way. Oh, and I’ll be taking this as compensation for the troubles you caused me today.” He lifted a wrapped object that was seemingly a vase, but Angel and the tourist knew better.

The tourist turned to the vendor. “I’ll make sure to tell my friends about the wonderful prices this stall has, then. Wonderful, aren’t they?” Lifting his fist out from under the man, the tourist walked away to a corner right nearby the bank that led to a back alley. A few minutes later, screeching tires pierced the air as a car more built for speed than for regular driving sped out and away from the corner.

The vendor rushed over to the man, who was now on one knee trying to support his injury to the chest. “Estás bien, Sujer?”

“Ah, it was just the diaphragm he hit. I could survive a bruise to that, I think. By the way…”

Sujer outstretched his right hand, holding a plain brown wallet, American dollars poking out the top.

“I believe this is yours now.”

Dark chuckling resonated as the crowd dispersed, with some saying “crazy bastard” in various dialects and languages. The vendor grabbed the wallet and gave her thanks to Sujer, before putting a sign in front of her stall and walked towards the bank. She nodded in recognition to the guard, who smiled when he saw the wallet, being witness to the entire scene only minutes before.

“Hijo de puta! One of these days, they’re going to carry a gun and then what will you do!?” Angel ran up to Sujer, who was rubbing his chest as he rose up from his injured position.

“Bah! I’ll just take the gun from them…” Sujer wobbled in sync to Angel’s steps as they walked away from the bank corner, moving farther away from the market district. “Oh, and I was almost caught last night by the Capitol soldiers near that warehouse. I did find out though that they’re holding some human prisoners inside.”

“What? You stupid little… Ugh, now’s not the time. We have problems,” Angel stepped in front of Sujer, stopping them both.

“As usual,” Sujer replied.

“Something attacked the castle last night. I Transported out as the princess asked me to, and now it’s suddenly morning!”

“It’s the afternoon, Angel. And what do you mean by castle? What princess asked you to…” Sujer stopped talking and blinked, “Celestia! She’s in trouble!?”

“Yes! No! I don’t know!” Angel paced in front of Sujer. “She told me before I Transported to just come back tonight, and that she had some sort of plan. I’m just…really worried about her…”

By then, Sujer had stopped holding his chest, and he held a hand to his chin in contemplative thought. “What was your plan when you got to me?” he asked.

“Uh, I was going to grab you, and maybe Alicia. We’d go back and try to stop whatever is attacking the castle…”

“And save the day, just like in the fantasy books and movies. Angel, do you think we’d be able to take on something that Celestia had to plan for however long to defeat it?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I don’t think us three will be able to beat whatever it was that attacked the castle. I’m not sure how Alicia can hold herself up, and besides, you know we all are just Earth ponies when we go through, right?” Sujer leaned on a nearby wall on the sidewalk. “If Celestia says she has a plan, then we can trust that her plan will succeed. I mean, you saw how she managed to wrangle that peace treaty in the summit with the Northern Griffons a week ago, right?”

Angel deadpanned at Sujer. “Yeah, and also at that summit you showed the griffons what guns were and how they worked, and now their war machine is trying to produce those sorts of guns. With success.”

“With limited success, remember, but that’s not the point. I think we can trust that Celestia has a good plan for whatever happened. Tell you what,” Sujer laid a hand on Angel’s left shoulder and smiled, “Why don’t we go right now and visit? Maybe whatever it was that attacked was already dealt with during the night.”

“But…she said to come in the next night…”

“Oh what’s a couple hours difference going to make? C’mon, it’s been some time since I’ve been in Equestria, and I’m real hungry for those snack cakes that Celestia’s kitchen has.”

“With good reason it’s been some time,” Angel shook off Sujer’s hand. “You know she still doesn’t forgive you for this.”

Angel flicked the dog chain collar on his neck, feeling the nail that was stuck in his neck.

“Ugh, doesn’t she get how that was an accident?! It was that mare’s fault!”

Angel crossed his arms. “That’s two reasons that conflict with each other, Sujer.”

“Ahhh, let’s just go. If she incinerates me on the spot at least I did something good today.”

“You pickpocketed someone when he clearly has access to people and resources that can wipe you out and wipe out everyone you know and love.”

“But I don’t love anyone though….”

“I mean like friends you idiot! We could be in danger as well if that tourist finds out what you did to him!”

“Sooooooo… That means we should be gone before he comes back, then?”

Angel gaped at Sujer, and tried to form words, but any argument he could come up with died before he could say it.

“Fine. But at your funeral, I’m not tossing a coin into your grave!” Angel grabbed Sujer’s arm and dragged him around to another corner and into a back alley.

“Hey hey, watch it! Injured guy here!…”

Angel stopped and glared at Sujer.

“Uh, I’m all healed up and ready to go when you are?...”

With a nod, Angel held Sujer’s arm. As quick as light, the two young men simply blinked out of existence.

“Ah, this is more like it,” Sujer said as he breathed in heavily. Sujer, in a pony form, looked almost the same as he did a human, his same long and greasy hair glossing down over quite a bit of his back. It was a wonder how it didn’t simply fall to the floor. His fur color was the same as his tan skin color. Angel and Sujer were almost complete carbon copies of each other, if it wasn’t for Angel’s collar and Sujer’s hair.

“Well, there’s no fires, and I don’t hear screaming. Whatever attacked the castle is now either defeated or simply moved someplace else,” Angel reasoned out loud.

The room that the duo were in was an area that Angel had imprinted into his mind whenever he transported casually into Equestria. It was a spacious and round room, with a dome ceiling; perfect in case he needed to Transport while in midair from being thrown across the room.

Angel learned the hard way that whenever he transported, Newton’s laws still applied to his motion when he blinked into existence in the castle.

“Mister Angel! Mister Sujer! Welcome back!” A guard stationed in front of the only door in the room greeted the two human-turned-ponies with a smile that put both of them on guard.

“Uh, hello, sir…”

“Spear Head! Private Spear Head sir! I was stationed here so as to wait for your return, Mister Angel! We have some very important news for you, but the Princess wishes you to first visit her in her apartments. Please follow me, sir, and Mister Sujer may come along as well!” The happy and smiling guard turned around and marched out the door, leaving no room for questions inside the dome room.

Outside, in the hallway, a section of the wall slid open to reveal a guard and two similarly colored earth ponies, who only trotted a few steps before the wall slid back into place, as if it had never moved at all. Meanwhile, the guard was trotting at a brisk pace, perhaps too fast of a pace, as the two humans had trouble keeping up.

“What’s up with this guard going so, huff, fast? And why is he smiling all the time? And how does he know us?” Sujer asked.

“It must be super important for Celestia to see me, I guess. As for his smiling, I am not sure, but I have a guess.”

“What do you guess?”

“I recognize him as the pony that guarded the chamber Celestia and I were in last night. He might be thinking that I have something against him, and is trying to be all cheery about it.”

“Cheery? Is that even a word?”

“Blah, Equiis is a lot like English. I think sometimes I confuse between the two, and end up saying the wrong things. But you know what I mean, yes?”

“Uh…yeah, but how does he know me? I’m pretty sure I never seen ‘im in my life.”

“Celestia must have known I would try to panic and get everyone else with me.”

“Oh yes, she expected Alisa-”

“Alicia.”

“-to be with you two as well. No matter anyway though, all we need is, heh heh, getting you two to meet the princesses!” the guard interrupted the two humans in their now mid-run conversation.

“Wait, princesses? And why are we going so fa-ahhhhh-AST!”

Before they knew it, the guard dived out of the way, letting the two humans fail to stop themselves and bust through the wooden ivory door that led into Celestia’s bedroom. Tumbling over each other, the duo landed with Angel on top of Sujer as stars revolved around their heads.

Angel was the first to start recovering his senses, and faintly saw a dark shape loom over him.

“Sister? Is he the Angel you were speaking about? And his friend as well, whom you refer to as the ‘Annoying one’?”

When Angel’s sight finally focused, he saw a creature that mostly resembled the creature that attacked last night. Thinking it was the same creature but now weaker, he gritted his teeth and thought of the closest thing that was hard and sturdy.

Unfortunately, this was Sujer’s head.

With a mighty yell, he grabbed the ears of his friend and pulled them up, using the top of Sujer’s head and ramming it into the lower jaw of the creature, making it yelp and stumble back in pain.

“ENOUGH!” a loud and booming voice echoed throughout the room, leaving ringing in the ears of any who were in the vicinity of the voice. Both the creature and Angel covered their ears in pain while Sujer simply passed out from all the trauma he suffered in under a minute.

“Angel. Welcome back…” Angel looked up to see his friend, Princess Celestia, walk up to him with a disappointed frown, before turning back to the creature and nuzzle it in affection, to his horror and surprise.

“Are you okay, Luna? I should have known the guard would have been scared of anything about you, and try to get away from his duties as soon as possible. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

Angel laid on top of an unconscious Sujer, who was starting to bruise on the top of his head. He was shocked that his princess was talking in a loving manner with the same creature that had attacked them last night.

“Angel…This is Princess Luna. I have taught you the tale of Nightmare Moon, yes?” Celestia asked.

“Uhm, uh… yes, but… Princess, get away from that thing!” Angel gestured away from the two. He was legitimately more scared of the Sun Princess’s well-being than of the Princess of the night herself.

This is good. He might be able to forgive her and accept her faster than the others, the Princess thought.

“Yo tengo una vaca lecheeeeeeera…” Sujer mumbled as he slowly woke up. Feeling a slight edge of pain on his head, he moved his arms quickly to cover his head. “Ow. What happened…”

Unfortunately, he moved his hooves too quickly, and his left hoof missed the top of his head. He hit his jaw instead, and with the hoof of an earth pony and accuracy of a half-awake being, Sujer fell back down.

He was unconscious again.

“Sister, hath that pony harmed himself enough to render hisself asleep?” the creature known as Luna asked.

“Yes, Luna, he did. And it is not the first time either…” Celestia sighed before turning to Angel, who had leapt away from Sujer before he flailed his arms to hit himself. He kept a distance from the creature, the Princess’s behavior being the only thing stopping him from fully unleashing himself on the creature.

He didn’t know how powerful Luna was, nor her past. He didn’t care at the moment.

Deciding to focus on one migraine before going on to the headache, Celestia stepped forward. “Angel, that legend of Nightmare Moon was, as you saw last night, true. And the history of the legend is also true. I had a sister 1000 years ago, before my failures as a sibling turned her to darkness. But, she has returned, and I assure you, she is now reformed.”

“Reformed? I doubt that princess…” Angel snarled. He bent down low, ready to pounce at a moment’s notice.

“Angel,” Luna suddenly spoke, freezing the collared pony-human in place. Angel glared at her, but flicked his ears forward, eager to hear what vile insults and lies the creature would spew.

For most, the words would hurt, but Angel would only call it another tough but regular day.

“We art sorry for our actions,” Luna said. This made Angel completely freeze, his expression locked in a confused stare. He expected horrible words, not words of sorrow.

Most never asked for his forgiveness.

“We know our actions have caused harm to thee, and we know the night before had left thee in a fitful state for my sister’s health, as we understand you and her share a special friendship,” Luna went on. “But, we…I am not the creature that hath attacked last night. Darkness controlled my being, telling mine own mind lies of acceptance from the citizens of my night. I…we, mine sister and I, wish to ask for your forgiveness for those events.”

Angel looked back and forth. He couldn’t see any change in Celestia’s eyes, as he was trained to look for in hypnosis magic, so he knew that the Princess was sincere along with the creature…

No. She was Luna. She was the Princess’s sister, and, if the legend was any evidence, the Princess of the Night as well, compared to Celestia as the Princess of the Sun.

One thing still remained on Angel’s mind. “How did you…reform? What took out the darkness inside of you?”

And could it ever help me?

Celestia chuckled. “It would seem my personal student managed to finally find a few other ponies to call her true friends for the first time.”

Angel couldn’t help but drop his jaw in shock. “Twilight finally got out of that stupid observatory?”

“Indeed,” Celestia answered with a smile. “It seems her destiny was meant for so much more than we had imagined. I would be glad to explain to you last night’s tale over some tea, if you have the time. You may even become friends with Luna.”

“I would love to, Celestia,” Angel calmed his stance and, for the first time that day, smiled.

Walking over to the table where Celestia and Luna were before the two humans entered, Angel served himself some of the tea before listening to the Sun Princess’s tale of Twilight and her new friends’ heroic bravery, using the mythical Elements of Harmony to banish the evil from Luna. The Moon Princess recanted the tale of the two sister’s teary reunion, both at when Celestia was finally freed from Nightmare Moon’s cage to meet her in the courtyard of the old Sisters’ castle, and when the sisters met again after the awards ceremony where Twilight was honored for her heroism. With familiarities out of the way, the Collared Stranger of Las Rosas and the Princess of the Night talked with one another, hearing one another’s stories of their lives, and quickly becoming friends as Celestia had hoped.

And of course, Sujer was still unconscious, courtesy of a secret spell Celestia had casted while the two weren’t looking. The spell was meant to keep him asleep until Angel had to Transport back to Earth.

Might as well avoid the inevitable headaches.

Author's Notes:

Ahhh, I already know that Luna's dialog will be hard to write...

Welp, gonna have to deal with it.

Next chapter will bring in a new character that's the most interesting personality I've made in a while.

Comment, like, and give me feedback on what you think is cool or could be fixed up!