I woke up with a desperate need to use the bathroom but found myself covered in mares. I’m not sure when, but we all evidently fell asleep on the couch. Glad that we grabbed those blankets last night. I know it doesn’t get all that cold down here, but still. I tried to wiggle my way out but found that was a lost cause. Figuring that it was my only hope, I moved some pillows to be under Pinkie and Twilight’s heads before I teleported out of the pile. They fell against each over before Pinkie wound up in Twilight lap, and Twilight was lying over her. Rainbow had made a kind of next at our feet and was sprawled out on it.

I quickly excused myself to use the restroom. After finishing that up, I decided to go up and make some breakfast. I left a note letting them know what I was doing before I went up to the main floor. I started getting the stuff together to make some breakfast. I decided that Muffins sounded good. After finding one of Spikes recipes for Apple oatmeal muffins, I began to gather the ingredients. After getting almost everything together, I noticed that we had run out of fresh apples. As I discovered this, a knock came from the front door.

Crossing the library, I was wondering who could be coming here this early. I opened the door to find AJ. It had been a while since I had last seen her, in fact now that I thought about it, I hadn’t seen her since the disaster at the running of the leaves. “Hey, sis. What brings you here this early?”

She seemed a little hesitant “Um… Hi Mag. I uh… I have Twi’s Apple order with me.”

I saw the bushel in her arms, I leaned over and took it from her. “Thanks, sis, I just realized we needed more. Come on in, I’m making Apple Oatmeal muffins.” I turned and started walking back in, not leaving her a choice. As I was about to enter the kitchen, I hollered back at her “besides we need to have a talk.”

I heard her sigh and close the door behind her. After putting down the bushel, I started to put together the dry ingredients. I slowly mixed everything together, hoping the silence would coax her to start talking. Luckily, it did “Mag, I need ta apologize. Fer what ah did during the race.”

I didn’t turn to look at her but just said: “Before you do, do you know why I was so upset about the entire situation?”

She gulped “you were mighty upset about me cheatin. And ah can’t blame ya. Granny Smith gave me an earful when ah got home.”

I sighed, now having put the muffins in the oven I turned and sat down across from her “Yes AJ I was pissed that the Mare that I just had welcome me into her family as a sibling, cheated. But what really upset me was that you and Skittles took it as far as you did. I get that you two are probably the most competitive mares in ponyville. I understand, but at the same time you were also expecting Rainbow to compete against you in unfair competition.”

AJ seemed to balk at this “What do you mean ‘unfair competition.’ I can’t fly, so why should she be able ta?!”

I shook my head, not particularly happy that I had to explain this again “AJ do you think that Earth Ponies have magic?”

She gave me a confused look “Mag, Earth Ponies can’t use magic, and how does that have anything to do with what we are talking about?”

I expected the answer, but I am still blown away by it. “AJ, Earth Ponies are every bit as magical as a Unicorn. If I had to put you in a category, I would have to say that you are the Twilight of Earth ponies. As for Skittles, she is easily the Twilight of Pegasi.” she looked genuinely confused, so I clarified “AJ, I don’t think you ever noticed this, but Earth Ponies can grow things in places that should never have been able to support life. It isn’t some kind of hard work secret. You have powerful magic in you that lets you make things grow. It makes you stronger, faster and have greater endurance. Your bones are likely two to three times denser than Twilight’s are, closer to ten times denser than Rainbows. That makes you extremely sturdy.”

AJ thought about it for a second before realizing “So what you are saying is that I was trying to handicap RD in a competition that she was already handicapped in?”

I nodded “exactly, there will never be a way that two ponies from different tribes can compete against one another with it being completely fair. The closest thing I can think of would be to bind her wings, and put heavy weights on your arms and legs. Even then it wouldn’t be fair due to you having magically enhanced stamina. There is a reason that Rainbow takes as many naps as she does. Part of it has to do with her having to work harder to maintain altitude up high where the air is thinner, and part of it is because she just doesn’t have the same kind of stamina.”

I heard a cough behind me “you didn’t complain about my stamina two days ago.” Rainbow walked up and gave me a hug from behind and kissed my cheek.

Deciding that I needed to fire back “not my fault you conked out after six rounds.” Turning back to AJ “I’ve been working on her stamina, our first time I had her begging for mercy after four.”

AJ’s face lit up, and Rainbow flicked my ear. At that point, AJ must have wanted to confirm “What does he mean six rounds?”

Rainbow sighed and kissed my cheek again “Exactly what he said AJ, I had a hard time walking the next day. So awesome.”

The timer on the oven went off, so I got up to pull the muffins out. AJ whispered to Rainbow not quite quiet enough for me not to hear “Ah really didn’t need to know that about him RD, Mag is kinda like my brother now.”

Rainbow snrked “Too bad for you AJ, he said it was a human thing, but I think it might have something to do with him being a demigod. I know that Twi and Pinkie haven’t done anything yet, but they need to get a move on. I don’t think I can handle him by myself for much longer.”

I laughed as I put the muffins on a cooling rack and walked it over to the table “Skittles, stop embarrassing my sister and go wake Pinkie and Twi up. Breakfast is ready.” I walked into the library and shouted up to Spike “Hey Spike, get your scaly butt down here, I made muffins.”

I went back to the kitchen and found some orange juice in the fridge, pulling out a couple of glasses and some small plates I set the table everyone, including AJ. I sat down right next to her “so now that we have that out in the open and dealt with, we good sis.”

She smiled at me “In the wise words of our brother, Eyup” she pulled me into a hug that I quickly returned.

Twi and Pinkie came into the room, closely followed by Spike “Hey sleepy heads. I made some muffins, and it looks like we still had some OJ in the fridge. Let’s have a family meal and then we can start the day.” I said with a smile on my face.

They all smiled and sat down. Spike took a seat next to me. I reached over to grab him a muffin, this one was special. I had found a few gemstones with Rarity a while back, and I had decided to put a little something extra in his muffin this morning. I put it on his plate “that one is for you little dude.” I leaned down “Don’t tell Twilight, but I snuck some gems into it for you. I found them when I was helping Rarity the other day.”

He smiled still half asleep “Thanks, dad.”

As soon as the words left his mouth the table went silent. Every set of eyes locked onto him then shifted to me. I decided to brush it off “No problem son. How are things going with you the CMC’s and Pip?”

The mares in the room were still entirely silent, but Spike spoke in an unsure voice “um… well. I…”

He seemed like he was at a loss for words, so I tried to bail him out “It’s okay Spike, I’m kinda dating your mom right? If things keep heading the direction that things are going, who knows, that might just be an accurate name for me in the future. But if you feel comfortable calling me that now, I can’t say it doesn't feel kinda cool to be called dad. So how are things going?”

He still seemed a little unsure of himself but I had managed to break the tension enough for him to continue. “Um, things are going well I guess. Sweetie Belle and I went to Sugar cube corner three days ago. And I guess you kinda know how things have been going with Pip.”

I raised an eyebrow “What about Applebloom and Scootaloo?”

His eyes kinda shrunk when I said Applebloom “um… D-dad, AJ is right here.”

I looked at AJ “are you going to go super sister on him if he talks about his dating attempts with Apple Bloom?”

AJ just shrugged “I don’t really mind. I know Spike is a good colt and wouldn’t try to move things to fast.”

Spike muttered, “I’m not the one trying to move fast.”

That made AJ look at him “Now what does that mean Spike?” her eyes narrowed as she looked at him.

He seemed to shrink in his seat, so I bailed him out again “AJ, it sounds like to me that Apple Bloom is trying to progress the relationship along a little faster than Spike had anticipated. Now I haven’t spent as much time around Bloom as much as I have around Spike, but I know that Spike wouldn’t want to move things to fast. He is still getting over the whole Rarity thing. As long as she isn’t trying to get into his pants yet, I’m cool with it.”

She didn’t look happy about that comment “Now listen here Mag, Just cause you are family, doesn’t mean you can get away with talking like that. Bloom is too young for that kind of thing.”

Spike spoke up “That is what I told her.”

AJ shut up real fast, so I turned to her “So tell me AJ, did he just lie?”

She shook her head “I need to go have a conversation with mah little sister.” She got up and made to leave, I quickly got up and went over to her

Putting my hand on her shoulder “AJ, I’m not telling you that you shouldn’t have that conversation with Bloom, but I want you to do it with a cool head. They are in the beginning throes of hormones and she likely just trying to figure things out. I’m proud of Spike for telling her that he wants to wait. As Skittles so bluntly put it, Pinks, Sparkles and I haven't been like that yet. I am waiting until they are ready before we do anything. I think that is what Spike told Bloom. He isn’t ready for anything like that and doesn’t think they should rush it. As long as you explain it to her in a calm manner, she should be able to understand. Okay?”

She took a deep breath before answering “I know Mag, I know. But darn it if I don’t see her growing up, and it scares me to death. I know that she is mah little sister, but Mac, Granny and I had to raise her. I just want what’s best for her.”

I pulled AJ into a hug. “That is all I can ask, or expect. Just don’t make it worse than it already is. And not to let it slide that Spike said anything, okay? That is a fast way to get him into trouble.”

She chuckled then turned to Spike “Looks like yer pa is covering your backside there Spike.” she turned back to me “I’ll try my best. But I really do need to get going. The stall is supposed to open in ten minutes.” I gave her one last hug before she left the building.

Walking back to the table, I patted Spike on the head before I sat down “So before that got awkward, how are things going with Scootaloo?”

Spike shrugged and started to much on his muffin “She is fun and all, but we kinda see each other as just friends. Don’t get me wrong, she is awesome. But I just don’t like her like that.”

I nodded “that’s okay Spike, sometimes you just end up as friends.” I turned to Twi, who had been silent this entire time “and as for you Sparkles, I think we are ready for your next level of training.”

That seemed to snap her out of her stupor “What kind of training?” she lifted her glass to her lips when she noticed that it no longer looked or smelt like orange juice. Instead, it now appeared to be an even smelt like Grape Juice. She was apparently confused by this.

I smirked “Illusions. As I said yesterday, the mind is a powerful tool. For the foreseeable future, I am going to be casting multiple illusions around you. It won’t be anything dangerous of course. But little things. Like making you think your orange juice is grape juice.” I nodded to her “Go ahead taste it.”

She hesitantly took a sip. At first, she would be tasting grape juice as well, then I let the illusion fall, the sudden switch from grape to orange was jarring enough that she stopped and did a minor spit take “what was that! It tasted like grape juice then it suddenly switched!” Her eyes locked on my face “Illusions shouldn’t be able to change the taste! They shouldn’t even be able to change scent!”

I smirked “that is the point Sparkles, a perfect illusion can do even that. This is a minor one. All it does is cause the juice to behave like a different kind, but as you saw yesterday, it can also go to extremes as well.” Twilight nodded

I leaned over to Pinkie and kissed her cheek to catch her off guard “So Pinks, what is on the docket for you today?”

She smirked “in preparation for the best night of the whole year. NightMare night is next week. The Cakes need my help to get everything put together.”

I cocked my head to the side “What’s NightMare night?”

That spurned Pinkie to go on a twenty-minute tirade on what the Holiday was. At the end I was mildly concerned, “so this entire event is scaring little children, using NightMare moon?”

Pinkie smiled “Yeperonnies.”

I shook my head “who has been purified back into Princess Luna. The mare that fell to the NightMare because she felt like no one cared about her?”

Pinkie’s face fell a little “um… I guess.”

I groaned “I don’t think she is going to be very thrilled by that.” I turned to Twilight “has she been around for a NightMare night yet since her return?”

Twilight thought about it for a second before answering “No, I don’t think she has. This will be her first one, now that she is back.”

All I could think was ‘of course it is.’ I thought about it for a bit. Then coming to a decision, I looked at Spike “Hey can you send a letter for me, Spike?”

Spike blushed “um… sure Da... I mean Mag.”

I smiled at him “thanks, little man” I drafted a quick letter to Celestia, inviting both her and her sister to come to ponyville for a holiday. Spike sent it out.

Not ten minutes later, as I was cleaning up the dishes did Celestia replied. Spike burped up a letter before handing it to me “Thanks, Spike. I have the rest of this. Got finish up your chores, then go out and see what you can find to do buddy.”

He smiled and ran into the main library. I opened the letter and began to read.

Dear Magos,

I would like to thank you for the invitation to spend NightMare night with you. I am unfortunately unable to join you, due to prior engagements. However, dear Luna doesn't have any plans for the night. I will make sure that she goes. I have tried to explain to her that the holiday is meant to be a bit of light-hearted fun. She isn’t as happy about it, and I can’t blame her. I am leaving it up to you to make sure she has an enjoyable night. Please try to get her to have some fun.

Your friend

Celestia.

With that settled, the day began as usual. Twilight an I spent some time with our regular morning run. She has moved up to the next weight class on her clothes. She is picking this up surprisingly quickly, and I couldn’t be more proud of her. At this point, she usually wakes up with the sun and tends to go to bed early than before as well. Overall, even if she doesn’t take to using my kind of magic, she will still be a stronger and healthier mare overall.

_______________________________________
One week later
_______________________________________

I smiled at the end of the letter, but then I had to figure out something to make sure the night went off without a hitch. I realized that I was going to need some help. I finished putting away the dishes and went out to the central library area. Finding Twilight standing on a stool hanging up plastic bats, I snuck up behind her and cast an illusion on the bat she was holding to make it seem like it came alive.

She screamed and fell back into my arms. She looked up at me and realized what I had done. I was quickly paid back for the prank with her hitting me on the arm “you are such a butt! Why does my boyfriend have to be such a jerk!”

Hearing her call me her boyfriend and not her coltfriend made me smile and lean down to kiss her. That quickly stopped her hitting me. After pulling back, I smirked down at her “I do it because I want to prepare you… that and your little reaction was kinda funny.”

She smiled and hit me again “Don’t do that again.” she turned away before adding “unless you are going to catch me.”

I smiled “guess someone likes being held in my arms then.” I nuzzled her. I had found over the last few weeks that ponies liked to nuzzle each other. I had picked up the practice as I spent more time with the girls. They seemed to enjoy it when I did so, and Twi nuzzled me back. “So do you have plans to what you are going to dress up as Sparkles?”

After getting back up on her hooves, Twilight slapped my chest again before getting back up on the stool before answering me “It’s a surprise! I’ve been putting a lot of work into my costume. I now everypony is going to love it.” she beamed at me.

I chuckled “Well then, I can’t wait to see it” I kissed her on the cheek and took my leave. It was a chilly fall day, so I figured that until the evening festivities, I would just pick up a book and start reading. I made my way back down to the basement and decided to pick up the book that Star Swirl left me. I spent the next couple of hours just reading. I hadn’t realized how late it was until Spike yelled down to me

“Da… I mean Mag! Come on up, it’s time to go out for NightMare night!!!!”

Chuckling I replied, “Alright, I just need to mark my page, and I’ll be right up.” I put a blue feather in the book before dragging myself up the ladder. After getting to the top, I noticed that Spike was dressed as a dragon.

I cocked my left eye up while looking at him. he looked confused and asked “What?”

I just shook my head and shrugged “Nothing, but I guess I’m not going to be the other one that dresses up as what I am for NightMare night.” He gave me a curious look, but I ignored it, not wanting to spoil the surprise. “Come on Bud, let’s go get your mom, then we can go out and have some fun tonight. I know that Luna is supposed to be stopping by.”

I must be rubbing off on the kid because Spike just shrugged and followed along. After getting to the top of the stairs, I found Twilight. She was dressed in dark blue robes, the constellations of the sky has been embroidered into them, then on her head stood a large blue hat. Around the rim hung many bells. When she turned to look at me, a noticed that she had a rather impressive beard on her face. Chuckling asked, “So, Who are you supposed to be?”

I heard Spike groan next to me before Twilight responded “I’m Star Swirl the Bearded. He was the greatest wizard to ever live. Normally I would have been upset that you don’t know that, but, It’s not like you would know something like that is such a short period of time.”

Spike tugged my arm, so I leaned down to listen to him “She is a massive Star Swirl freak. If you get her started, she won’t stop until you know everything there is to know about him.”

A mischievous spark hit my eye at hearing this, I decided to ask Spike something “What do you think she would do if she met a decedent? Or was able to look at some things that used to be his?”

Spike paled “I don’t want to think about it. Celestia help, whoever the poor guy is.”

I smirked before saying “Well it’s a nice costume Sparkles.” I walked up to her and pulled her into a kiss, not really minding the beard. After all, it wasn’t all that different from kissing a mare, the false beard was just as soft as her fur. It did make me think about what she would look like as a guy. I smirked at the mental image and decided she would still look good as a guy.

Pulling back I added, “So shall we go out then?”

Twilight gave me a questioning look “where is your costume? You can’t go out on NightMare night without a costume. It’s a tradition.”

I smirked before a bright flash caused her to look away for a moment. A moment before, I was standing before her in my lazy clothes, now I stood decked out in my full armor. My new blade hung from my hip. I had added an illusion of a thick auburn beard that fell to about the top of my chest. Not quite the length of Twilight’s, but still respectable.

She gave me a curious look before adding “That looks really familiar, I can’t place my finger on it though.”

I laughed “tell you what, if you can figure it out without any help tonight, I’ll give you a present, if you can’t then you owe me one. How does that sound Sparkles?”

She thought about it for a moment, then nodded “Fine, I hope you're prepared. I will find out.”

I smirked, “then let’s hope someone else doesn’t say something first.”

We stepped out and started to enjoy the early evening. The moon had just begun to set as a Trio of fillies screamed by. Two of them in a wagon, the third on a scooter pulling them behind us. As the passed the two in the wagon grabbed Spike and hauled him into it in a fell swoop, claiming him for the night. Scootaloo shouted back “WE’RE TAKING SPIKE FOR THE NIGHT BRO! HAVE FUN!”

I smiled at that. Over the last few weeks of spending time with my Mares, I had noticed that Scootaloo was a frequent companion of not only the other two fillies, but she loved spending time with Rainbow, and due to me spending time with her, she spent time with me.

Rainbow had told me that she had kind of adopted the young filly as a little sister. At some point, Scootaloo had started to call me bro. Twilight and I continued to go around the various stalls, looking to see the various wares that were being offered. As we were looking at AJ’s booth of caramel apples, we all jumped at a loud crack of lighting. Twilight screamed and jumped into my arms.

I looked back to see Rainbow sitting on a cloud, laughing up a storm, apparently amused by her own antics. I rolled my eyes “Really Skittles? You know that Sparkles doesn’t like being scared.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes “Oh please, get into the spirit of the holiday Mag. This is the best night of the year for pranks.” I sighed before taking a look at Rainbows outfit. She was wearing a skin-tight full-body flight suit. The fabric left very little to the imagination, although I could tell that she must have been wearing one of her special bras because there was no way in Tartarus that she wouldn’t burst out of the thing without it.

Twilight had calmed down but hadn’t let herself out of my arms. Rainbow smirked “Besides, the old guy seems to like being where he is.” she teased. also poking fun at Twilight's costume.

She gave Rainbow a deadpan stare “Well sorry that I’m not some kind of sexy shadowbolt, I’m dressed as Star Swirl the Bearded, the greatest wiz...”

Rainbow cut her off “yea yea yea, magic mumbo-jumbo. So who are you supposed to be Mag?”

I chuckled “Well, funny you should ask me. I’m here as...”

Twilight shut me up “No! You can’t tell her yet. I have to figure it out first.”

I smiled at her before turning back to Rainbow “Sorry, I guess, we have a deal going that if she can figure out who I am by the end of the night, I have to give her a present. Conversely, if she doesn’t figure it out, or if someone spills the beans first, she has to give me one.” I leaned forward up to Rainbows year “I am betting that I’m going to win” before I pulled back I snuck a quick kiss.

I must have not noticed that the CMC had made their way back before I hear Scoot shout “EEEWWWWW!”

I looked back at her “what you jealous of your big sis? I have a kiss for you too.”

She shouted before running away. I laughed giving chase. She tried to outrun me as I chased her around Rainbow. After running around her a few times, I managed to catch Scoot, and with doing so, I gave her a wet kiss on the cheek and blew a raspberry.

She started laughing and shouting eww again. I dropped her, and she glared at me “You’re weird Mag.” She stuck her tongue out and ran off with her friends. As she ran after them, I thought I had noticed a little bit of a limp on her right side, but as I saw it, we were interrupted by a clash of lightning and the boom of thunder from above. From above, a carriage descended on Ponyville. Pulling it was two dark thestral ponies, their silver armor reflecting the moonlight. A mare stood in the back, a long black cloak hid her features. As they landed, the dark cloak fell away into a cloud of bats, revealing Princess Luna in all her glory.

Luna descended on the group. “CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE! WE HAVE GRACED YOUR TINY VILLAGE WITH OUR PRESENCE, SO THAT YOU MIGHT BEHOLD THE REAL PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT! A CREATURE OF NIGHTMARES NO LONGER, BUT INSTEAD A PONY WHO DESIRES YOUR LOVE AND ADMIRATION! TOGETHER WE SHALL CHANGE THIS DREADFUL CELEBRATION INTO A BRIGHT AND GLORIOUS FEAST!”

A young pink filly standing next to a grey filly shouted out “Did you hear that, everypony?! Nightmare Moon says she’s gonna feast on us all!” the large group of foals that had been surrounding her all broke into a run away from the night princess.

Luna looked confused and hurt “What? No, children, no! You no longer have reason to fear us! Screams of delight is what your princess desires, not screams of terror!” She turned to Mayor Mare. “Madame Mayor, they Princess of the Night hath arrived.”

The poor Mare looked like she was about to have a heart attack, and honestly, I couldn’t blame her. I had thought that Luna had been working on her tone over the last few weeks. When the Mayor didn’t respond Luna huffed “What is the matter with you? Very well, then. Be that way. We won’t even bother with the traditional royal farewell.” She stomped off away from the town.

Twilight tugged on my arm “We should go talk to her. After all, you were the one that invited her to this thing right?”

I nodded “You’re right Sparkles, let’s go talk to her. I want to find out why she was using the royal Canterlot voice. I had thought she was working on that, at least she was the last time I’d spoken to her she was.” We chased after the night goddess, hoping to intercept her before she left entirely.

We finally caught up with her in a small clearing on the outskirts of White Tail Woods. She sat with her back to us, leaning against a statue of NightMare Moon. We approached her slowly, so as not to startle her when Twilight spoke “Um… Princess Luna? Are you Okay?”

Luna looked back at us, now noticing us for the first time this night “Twilight Sparkle, Sir Magos. Commendable costumes, did you plan to dress as the same pony?” She looked at me closer before adding “Magos? Art thou truly wearing your inheritance as a costume?”

I shrugged “Why not? I’m hoping that I only ever have to for things like this or official functions. But that isn’t why we are here. Are you okay? You seemed a tad bit...Well, upset about your greeting.”

Her eyes narrowed “Of course we are upset, we simply wanted to be welcomed here!” I had hoped that she would help deflect the questions that were undoubtedly brewing in Twilights mind. Luna had commented that we were dressed as the same pony, then clearly stated that I was wearing my inheritance. It wouldn’t take much to be able to draw conclusions.

I scratched the back of my head “About that…. yea sorry I completely forgot to let the town know that I had invited you to join us tonight, I will take full responsibility for the, well less than warm greeting. Sorry about that. I guess that I expected the first town that you were brought to after getting back would have remembered you.”

She seemed to brush it off “it is no matter, we guess. It’s not like we should have expected any better. It has always been like this for us.”

The way that she said that made it feel like a knife was twisted in my gut. I had invited her here to get her some recognition, some adoration. Now she felt like nothing had changed from the past. I decided to bring up the royal voice “Um… Luna not to nitpick, but why did you use the Royal Voice when you arrived? I had thought that you and Celestia had been working on that?”

She looked confused “It has always been traditional to speak to the citizenry ‘WITH THIS MUCH VOLUME!’”

Twilight and I winced at the loud shout. After a moment Twilight spoke “well um… I don’t think that it is required to be quite that… loud to talk to the ponies here. The volume that you are using now is just fine for normal conversation.”

I nodded in agreement “Twi is right Luna. I can understand the necessity of talking like that when you are shouting down at them from a balcony, but when you are face to face, a lower volume is much better. I do have to say that I liked the cloak trick with the bats. Just the right level of crepey for a good prank.”

I saw a glimmer in her eyes at the mention of pranks. “Dost thou mean to say that pranks are common on this night?”

I nodded “Yep, NightMare night is very similar to a holiday that we have back on my world. We call it Halloween, or all hallows eve. It’s basically a night where children go out and get candy from a bunch of houses and play jokes on each other. I guess here it ends with the kids giving a candy tribute to NightMare Moon. It seems like they have made it into a tame holiday that is meant to be enjoyed, rather than something to be scared of. Although lots of the pranks and decorations are meant to frighten people. It’s all in good fun.”

Luna thought about it for a moment before answering me “So what you think you are telling us is that, the foals thought that I was playing a prank?”

I shrugged “that is my best guess. Although I have heard a little bit about that pink filly that started it is a bit of a bully, but we can always use her fear against her and play a bunch of pranks, I know a prismatic mare that has one coming to her.”

Twilight knew who I was talking about and she grew and evil smirk “I agree with Mag, we NEED to prank Rainbow, maybe Pinkie too, if we can manage it.”

I laughed in response before turning back to Luna “so what do you think? You willing to help us pull some pranks? I know Celestia told me that you used to love to pull pranks on her.”

I noticed her smile at that memory for a moment before she decided to answer “Well then if you can assist us Sir Magos, we would love to try some pranks out.”

I smiled “Good to hear Luna, also, could you leave my title out? As you know, I didn’t ask for it, besides don’t use yours, feel free to just call me Mag.”

The fur on her cheeks darkened “O-of course, M-Mag. It has been many years since somepony ask asked that I be informal with them.” She turned away with a snap of her head.

Turning to Twilight, I noticed that Pinkie had appeared like she tends to. “Hey Maggie, Hey Twilight.” She leaned forward and kissed me than Twilight. Before continuing “Did somepony say something about some pranks?!”

Twilight.exe seems to have stopped running, so I booped her nose to reset her. “Yea Pinks, we want to reintroduce Luna as a fun loving prankster. Give her a bit of a lighter tone. Think you can manage?”

Pinkie’s grin was almost manic “You know it, Maggie!” She pecked us both again before disappearing with Luna.

I smiled and looked back at Twilight “So, I didn’t know that you and Pinkie were together like that. Neat.” I gave her a shit-eating grin. Call me a perv all you want, but having three girlfriends that are cool with it, and that are with each other is way hot.

Twilight seemed to take a moment to respond “W-we aren’t, at least I don’t think we are? I mean it’s not like I didn’t enjoy it, and Pinkie is really cute. I just didn’t even think about that. Are you okay with that?”

I smiled and gave her a hug “Love grows when you share it Sparkles. As long as we are honest with each other in how we express ourselves, I’m cool with it. Besides, I think I’m personally set with what I have right now. I still have no idea why you guys want to be with a weirdo like me anyway.” I smirked again.

Twilight just gripped me and leaned her head against my pauldron. She quickly lifted her head off of it when she realized it was made of metal. “Mag? This is made of real metal.” she paused for a moment “Wait a minute, didn’t Princess Luna say that this was an inheritance?”

I shrugged “Yea, looks like it was something that has been kept for me for a long time. I guess you would call it an ancestral inheritance.”

She looked closer at the pauldron before speaking again “If it’s ancestral inheritance, why does it have Magical Equestrian script all over it?”

Trying to hide a grin I answered “Because my ancestor put them there. Duhhh.”

I could see the supercomputer that is Twilight’s mind boot up as she recalled one last piece of information that Luna had let slip “M-Magos, can I please look at the back of your left gauntlet?”
I lifted my left hand and placed it on her’s. Her hands traced over the surface, locked on the coat of arms carved into only the left gauntlet “M-M-Magos?! Why is Starswirl the Bearded’s house sigil on your gauntlet?!”

Her voice was shaking, and her knees were beginning to wobble. I swept her up into my arms bridal style and kept walking “Because he was apparently my ancestor, although when he came to my world, he went by the name of Merlin.” That was evidently too much for the poor mare. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she passed du fuck out. I smiled and dismissed the armor. “That should make this a bit more comfortable for you.” I walked her back to the Library. After depositing her in her room, I descended the stairs to find Spike in the main room with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Bell. It looked like Apple Bloom had him in a corner and Sweetie was just standing back trying to keep things calm.

“What in tarnation did yah tell mah sister about what we was doin Spike! AJ threatened to tan mah hide if she heard about me doing somethin like that so soon again!” Apple Bloom was upset, and she was taking it out on Spike.

I was about to intervene when Spike spoke up “I’m not apologizing for being honest with AJ, Bloom. I told you that you were trying to go too fast! Neither of us is ready to do anything like that yet, I’m not saying that I wouldn’t want to at some point. You and Sweetie are both gorgeous, but you are also my best friends. If we do something like that, there is no going back to the way things were. I want us to be 100% sure that we want to before we just haphazardly jump into something like that. I care about both of you too much to risk our relationship by moving too fast and possibly ruin not only our relationship but our friendship as well.”

That got Apple Bloom to shut up and think, after a few moments her eyes widened, and she must have come to the realization that Spike was right. She rushed forward and pulled him into a tight hug with Sweetie Bell coming in close behind. She started crying and saying she was sorry about yelling at him. The entire thing was overly cute and heartwarming, but the good kind. I have to say that I have yet to be as proud of Spike as I am at this moment.

They finally managed to calm down and pulled back, Sweetie spoke “So now that that is taken care of, do you want to go back to the fair?” she sounded hopeful.

Spike nodded and replied “That sounds great, we shouldn’t leave Scootaloo alone with Rainbow Dash for too long. She’ll build bad habits. Let me go toss my haul upstairs first, I’ll meet you at AJ’s stall” the both nodded and ran out the door.

Spike started up the stairs, I retreated back to the top, around the corner and waited. As he turned, he caught sight of me, once spotted, he stopped dead in his tracks. “U-um. Hey Ma..uh. Dad?”

My arms were folded, and my face held a neutral look for just a few moments before I split into a broad grin “You make me very proud Spike. You handled that situation wonderfully and managed to get your point across without yelling. Come here and give your dad a hug.”

Spike looked unsure before he walked over. Once he got close enough, I pulled him in and hugged him, patting him on the back a couple of times “I’m not joking about that Spike. This is the proudest I have ever been of you, and I can’t wait for you to top yourself.” I pulled back and dropped down so I could look him in the eyes “I know you will accomplish great things Spike, Just ask, and I will do what I can to help you.”

Spike blushed and rubbed the back of his head “Jeez dad, you're embarrassing” was trying to play it off, but I saw his grin. It lasted for a few moments before he realized something “Hey, wait a minute, why are you home? Where’s Twilight?”

I scratched the back of my head “remember when I asked you that hypothetical question about what would happen if Twilight ever met someone that was a descendant of Starswirl the Bearded, or had some of his old stuff?” Spikes eyes widened, and he slowly nodded “Well funny story. Hehehe. Turns out I’m part pony, and kinda a direct descendant of Starswirl the Bearded. Changed his name to Merlin on my world, not that you would know who that was. Twilight kinda found out. When she did, she fainted. I just put her to bed.” I smirked and decided to see if Spike would help me play a harmless prank. “Hey wanna help me pull a little prank?”

He looked unsure when he answered “Um… I guess. As long as nopony gets hurt.”

I grinned “Cool! And first things first, stop saying anypony and stuff like that. Your not a pony and neither am I, we should say anyone or someone. It’s more inclusive to other sentient species like you and I. As for the prank, all I need you to do is act like you already knew that I was a descendant of Starswirl and that it’s no big deal. It will be hilarious, I mean for us. Rainbow and Pinkie won’t really care, but it will drive Twilight bonkers. If she gets to be too much, just let her know it was a prank and that it was my idea. What do you think Bud?”

He realized that I had meant him and bumped his fist to mine. “Sure thing dad. And just so you know, I will probably have to fold after less than a day. You don’t know how she gets with Starswirl yet.”

I chuckled “Don’t worry about it, we can get an hour or so out of the joke before we come clean. It will be…” I stopped when I heard the maniacal laughter “What the fuck was that?!!!”

Spike and I ran out of the library, Spike having dropped his bag in the hallway. We hit the edge of the trees when we saw a large group of foals run past us screaming. I ran further into the clearing to find Pinkie and Luna at the statue of NigthMare Moon. Luna spat a pair of plastic fangs out and turned to Pinkie “We are not sure that this went to plan Dear Pinkie?”

Pinkie held up her hand and counted down from five. As her last finger fell a young voice with a British accent, or a Trottingham accent here, spoke up “Um… Princess Luna, could you come back again next year and scare us again?”

Luna looked confused “You mean that you like to be scared is such a manner?”

The little colt vigorously nodded and answered “Yea!!! It’s really fun, scary but fun.”

Luna grinned “Then you had best bring tribute to NightMare moon next year as well, else she gobble you up.”

The little colt ran off with a gleeful shout “She said yes guys! Princess Luna said yes!!! I told you she was the best princesses.”

That got Luna to blush and pump her fist a little, I laughed at the site before she notices me walking up. She quickly brought her fist down to an open hand and left it at her side. “Hey Luna, Hey Pinks. Looks like you two are having fun.”

They both nodded, Pinkie ran over and gave me a hug “Hey Maggie! Where’s Twilight? I felt a doozy.”

I hugged her back and might have given her a little squeeze on the bottom, that may have earned me a light slap on the chest “She just learned something that blew her mind and had to take a nap.”

Pinkie smirked and licked my nose. I went cross-eyed for a moment, and she continued “Okidoki then. Wana help Luna and me have some fun at the fair?”

I smiled and nodded. We made our way back to the fair and enjoyed the various games and shows. Luna won a stuffed bat at a spider toss game. I got an inflatable bat for Pinkie at the ring toss. The game was rigged, but I may have cheated a little to win. Okay, I cheated a lot, but if Pinkie noticed she didn’t seem to mind. Luna got more and more into the spirit as the night went on. She was very often caught doing little pranks here and there. At one point she lept out of the Apple bobbing bucket and scared AJ as she was leaning down to give it a go. AJ ended up sitting on the ground as Luna just sat there leaning against the inside of the bucket, eating a red apple like it was the most normal thing in the world.

As the night ended Luna approached Pinkie and I “We must return home Friend Pinkie and Friend Magos. We enjoyed this night verily. We thank you for inviting us.” She gave us both a hug before teleporting away.

I smiled “I’m glad that Celestia convinced her to come. I feel like she needed this.”

Pinkie yawned “Yep, she sure did. It’s time for this party pony to go to bed.” Leaning up she kissed my cheek “Night Maggie.” I have no idea how but she closed the visor to a helmet that I wasn’t wearing just moments before and disappeared.

I shook my head and just muttered “Don’t question Pinkie Pie. It’s healthier that way.” I dismissed my helmet and walked home. The Library was empty save the Owl. Twilight must still be asleep, and I bet Spike was as well. I dragged myself down to the basement and collapsed on the bed. I knew that I was going to have an exciting day tomorrow. Have to deal with never-ending questions from Twilight. That should be fun.