“Reset,” Celestia told me after I recovered from her last strike.

“Uhg… I hate this so much,” I moaned as I stood back up and returned to a defensive stance. I knew complaining was useless though, seeing as Celestia doesn’t care.

Before I could even blink, I was once again flung across the yard as another wooden training sword was destroyed against my side.

“He’s really bad at this,” Gilda commented as she and several others watched from beside my house. Even though the day was almost over, there was still enough sunlight to see just how much pain Celestia was inflicting on me.

“Why does she keep hitting him like that?” Cotton asked as she and Dinky stood beside Derpy with worried expressions.

“It’s alright, I’m fine,” I groaned out, standing back up once again, my vision spinning for a moment. “I need the training anyways.”

“This is training?” Gilda asked, turning to look at the group behind her, specifically Twilight.

“Oh don’t worry, Princess Celestia’s holding back,” Twilight replied with a smile.

“That’s holding back?” Rainbow Dash questioned quietly besides Fluttershy, unable to hide her flinch as Celestia took a practice swing with a new training sword, causing a small crater in the ground below where she struck.

It was all the more chilling since it didn’t come anywhere near the ground when Celestia finished her swing.

“You can do it Christopher!” Fluttershy quietly cheered with a smile.

“I’m glad we can continue the training, Celestia,” I grumbled as I took my stance in front of her once again. “But won’t someone figure out where you’re going if this becomes a regular thing? Just think of the PR nightmare.”

“You need the training,” Celestia replied before taking another swing at me. “You wont be anywhere near ready by the time the tournament starts, but I’d feel somewhat better if you could at least block a strike properly.”

I had no chance of blocking it, but I couldn’t help but think I was at least getting better at tracking it.

“At least I’m not getting knocked out after every strike anymore,” I grumbled as I decided to stay on the ground for a few extra moments after the last hit. Back at the castle, I would be knocked out from some of the impacts and I was actually starting to worry about brain damage at this point.

“You’re instinctively placing more magic into defending yourself,” Celestia stated as she forced me back to my feet. “It’s a common practice with guards.”

“Just means I’m getting stronger,” I grumbled as I returned to the stance… again.

“Why is he doing this?” Cotton asked the adults, obviously uncomfortable with what she was seeing.

“Because he shall be Equestira’s champion for this year’s Equis tournament,” Luna stated confidently.

“What’s that?” Cotton asked, looking at Derpy.

“It’s like a big game that a whole bunch of ponies participate in from all over the world,” Derpy replied.

“But why does the Princess keep hitting him?” Cotton continued.

“Because a few fights are usually always held during it,” Rainbow commented as she watched the crap get beaten out of me. “I got to go to one when I was a filly and it was AWESOME!”

“They allow foals to watch in the arena?!” Luna burst out, staring at Rainbow in shock.

“Only when the tournament is held on Equestrian soil,” Celestia replied as she blasted me away once again. “But that’s only for the preliminaries and there are special restrictions in place so they don’t see anything they shouldn’t. Also, tournaments aren’t as dangerous as they were before you left sister. Thanks to new spells and rules, the likelihood of death is almost nothing.”

“But why does he have to fight?” Cotton asked. “What if he gets hurt?”

“He’ll be fine Cotton,” Dinky replied. “Mr. Christopher is really strong. He even goes into the Everfree forest without anypony else!”

“WHAT?!” the entire field erupted when they heard Dinky’s remark.

“Oh crap…” I mumbled when everyone turned their glares towards me.

“You went back into the forest?” Celestia asked with obvious anger in her voice.

“I had something I needed to check,” I groaned as I relaxed my stance. “I had an idea and I went with it.”

“Does it have anything to do with those enchanted gems you were asking me about?” Twilight asked.

“What’s this about enchanted gems?” Luna questioned.

“It’s just an idea I have,” I replied quickly as I felt Luna’s and Celestia’s glare intensify. I was pretty sure they had a guess on where I went and I had been planning to talk to them later about it.

I still had to deliver the message to them.

“And what was this idea?” Celestia asked as her horn glowed and her magic swept over my body. I was unsure what she was looking for, but when she didn’t find it, she seemed to tense a little more.

“I kind of wanted it to be a surprise,” I offered awkwardly.

“We’re done for today,” Celestia replied with a frown. “Let’s go, Luna.”

“But we did not get the chance to strike, Christopher with a training sword,” Luna frowned as she brought one up beside her with a small pout.

“Let’s take a rain check on that…” I grumbled as I let out a defeated sigh.

“So many of these cursed “Rain-Checks”,” Luna grumbled as she followed her sister back into my house.

“…But what about my question?” Cotton asked as she turned to look at the rest of us.

After a week, I was beginning to feel like things were going good.

My new job didn’t take much to do so I had plenty of free time.

All I needed to do was go around town a few times a day and make sure things were safe, visit my new office at town hall to look over and sign some papers, talk to the mayor every now and then about upcoming projects and discuss a few things with the local police every now and then.

Valiant was more than happy to join me during those times.

Other than that, I still watched the Crusaders with the addition of Cotton, learned more magical theory with Twilight, and had training sessions with Luna and Celestia before dinner.

Twilight did surprise me a few days ago though.

“That was just sad,” Luna said as I recovered from her training swords strike.

I had to agree myself, seeing that Luna wasn’t as powerful or as fast with her sword strikes as her sister. The big difference between the two though, was that Luna kept making fake swords with her magic that she would use to confuse me.

It unfortunately worked every time.

I already knew that I could easily tell the difference between the swords if I used my soul vision, but the princess either didn’t realize it, or were doing it on purpose, but every time I switched my sight, I would end up blinded by the bright flames of the princess’s souls as one of them stayed in my field of view.

“You need to be able to tell the difference between the real one and the fake ones,” Celestia groaned from the side of my house. Her voice quickly drew the attention of Cotton, Dinky and Rachel who were sitting nearby with a few books and loose papers.

Twilight had invited me and Cotton to get some lunch with her earlier that day, feeling a little lonelier at the Library with Spike going to school.

But when we sat down at a small restaurant, Twilight gave Cotton the menu and told her to order whatever she wanted from it.

That’s when we both found out that she couldn’t read or write.

After talking with the others, Rachel was more than willing to help teach her after school hours and even Dinky asked to help as well.

“I’m trying!” I growled back at Celestia.

“It doesn’t look as if thou are,” Luna commented with a smirk.

I was about to reply once again when the sound of hurried hoof beats came from behind.

Turning, I was surprised to find Twilight rushing up towards me with a smile that could almost rival Pinkie Pie’s.

“Okay, which of your favorite authors released early this time?” I couldn’t help but chuckle as the mare stopped in front of me, panting from obvious exertion.

“I… I did it!” Twilight panted as she looked up at me, her excitement causing her to miss the curious looks of the princesses.

“Uh… did what?” I asked with some trepidation. As everyone in Ponyville had come to know, Twilight did love her experiments, especially ones that seemed to make big booms.

“I figured out how to do your “Soul Vision”,” Twilight chirped with a smile as she closed her eyes and her horn began to glow a slightly off color from its usual glow. “Watch!”

“Wait, Twilight!” I tried to say as I remembered who was behind me.

“See-EEEEEEEEE MY EYES!?” Twilight shrieked as she opened her eyes for a moment before covering them with her hooves and falling to the ground with a whimper.

“What happened to Twilight?!” Luna asked as she and her sister quickly made their way towards the mare from right behind me.

“She saw the light,” I sighed with a shake of the head.

Celestia really let Twilight have it after that, seeing as she was diving into forbidden magic for ponies.

The rest of my free time was dedicated to my Enchanting project and after hours of missed sleep and confusing books, I had a working prototype of something that would revolutionize this world and was the first step to making a childhood dream of mine come true.

“What is it?” Scootaloo asked as she stared at the large object in front of her and the other fillies. All five of them stared at the object that was at least five time their own size and could easily flatten them if it physically weighed anything.

“It’s called a motorcycle,” I replied as I looked over my creation. With the help of Twilights books and a few tips from Luna, I was able to imprint a copy of a four wheeled motorcycle strait into the gem with my magic.

It had a gun metal gray with a dark gold trim casing and had simple stock handlebars. A slim pair of lights sat in the front with a red and white set in the back. Two tires sat side by side in the front with a matching pair in the back.

It could easily fit me and another person on it while stile having space for future improvements.

It was big, bulky and with some luck, would do exactly what I hoped it would.

“What does it do?” Sweetie Belle asked as the group looked it over from a short distance away.

“Well, if things go right,” I began, brushing my hand over the gem inlaid just in between the handlebars, putting some more magic into it so it could hold the form. “It should let me travel really far, really fast.”

“Like the train?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Faster,” I replied, giving the fillies a smile. I hadn’t actually planned on showing this to anyone yet, but then Cotton asked me what I had been doing and then the others began to ask with those big eyes of theirs and I caved.

“It can’t be as fast as Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo challenged.

“It just might,” I replied while taking a seat. I released a sigh I was holding as I found that the seat could support me and didn’t let me fall through like it was an illusion.

“What if it goes wrong?” Dinky asked as she and the others took another step back.

“The worst that will happen is that it doesn’t move,” I replied while looking over the few switches and buttons it had.

The trick to it all was giving the enchanted gem basic commands to follow. Such as when a switch is in one direction and I spin the handle, it spins the wheels a certain direction. The same for turning on the front and back lights, braking and reverse and a few other small things.

The biggest issue though, was that not only did I not know if it would work, I also didn’t know how fast it would actually go. This thing was literally a magical construct and there was nothing to base it off of due to its size and complexity.

It also didn’t help that the closest thing I ever owned to a motorcycle was one of those little electric ones when I was a kid.

“As a wise man somewhere once said,” I began, flipping the switches to turn on the front light and prepare to go forward, the bike staying silent since there wasn’t actually an engine. “Time to go for broke!”

With that, I gripped the handle and twisted it.

“HHHHHHOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLYYYYYYYY SSSSSSSHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIITTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!” I shouted as the bike launched forward, rearing up on its back wheels for a few moments before settling down.

“I SHOULD HAVE WORN GOOGLES!!!!” I shouted over the powerful wind. I was going so fast that everything passed by in a blur. After a few moments, I remembered that I was supplying the power and finally cut off the magical feed and hit the brakes carefully.

Once the bike finally stopped, it quickly dissipated as its form was sucked back into the gem and both it and I fell to the ground in a puff of loose dirt.

“That was awesome,” I chuckled from my place in the dirt. The bike had worked almost perfectly and I could just feel that I hadn’t gone full speed on that thing yet.

Looking up, I realized something else.

“Holy shit, I’m in Ghastly Gorge,” I said as I picked up the gem and stood up. This place was several miles from Ponyville and I had made it here in only a few moments.

The only issue I could really say was that I could feel that it took a lot of magic to get this far. Providing enough energy to keep the bike’s form was miniscule, but when it started moving, the cost skyrocketed.

“I’m gonna have to work on that,” I sighed while pocketing the gem. I also planned on having Rarity make me a belt that could hold my gems instead of my pockets.

“Now then…” I mumbled to myself while looking around the area with a smile. “Should I walk back or do that again?”

“Sugarcube,” a soft voice whispered into my ear, drawing me from another dreamless sleep. “Come on now, ah got somthin’ fer you.”

“Meh…pancakes…” I mumbled out as I lazily opened my eyes to find Applejack’s bright green ones, inches away.

“Now you know ah could whip you up a stack right quick, but that aint why am wakin you up,” Applejack giggled as she stole a kiss.

“Well then,” I smirked as she pulled away and I looked out towards the dark sky outside my room window. “Why are you waking me before sunrise?”

“Well, today is the first day of Cider Season,” Applejack began as a small blush began to cover her face as she picked up a small thermos at her side and offered it to me. “Granny told me about this tradition in the Apple family, fer when a mare of the family gets into a relationship with somepony.”

“And it involves cider?” I asked as I woke up more and took the thermos the mare offered.

“J-just tell me how it tastes, alright?” Applejack mumbled as her face began to match Big Mac’s in color.

“Alright then,” I chuckled as I opened the thermos and took a drink. I could immediately taste the life-giving nectar that was cider, but I could also taste something else. It was a familiar taste that I quickly pinpointed and caused me to chuckle a bit more.

“A family tradition?” I chuckled as I continued to drink, Applejack’s eyes locked on the thermos.

“T-that’s what G-Granny said,” Applejack stuttered.

“I’m sure she did,” I laughed as I finished the drink. “Come here you.”

Before she could move, I scooped the mare up and pulled her into my bed with me.

“Now then, how long until you need to be back at the farm for opening?” I smirked down at the mare.

“An hour,” She replied before thrusting her lips against mine for a deep kiss.

“We might just make that,” I replied as I pulled away, one of my hands trailing down her side and resting on her flank.

“Alright everyone, let’s keep this simple and stay in line,” I called out to the mass group of ponies lined up outside Sweet Apple Acers. “I know you all want a cup, but we’re doing things a bit differently this year!”

“What do you mean differently?!” One pony yelled.

“Yeah, I want my Cider!” Another shouted.

“And you’ll get it!” I called back. “I’m here to tell you that because of issues that have occurred during prior years, everyone can only purchase one cup of cider today!”

“WHAT?!” an explosion sounded followed by complains, mostly from an irritated pink pony that found her way to my chest.

“What do you mean we can only have one?! I can’t have just ONE! I need at least five of their deliciously goodness!” Pinkie shouted into my face, a cute scowl on her own.

“Will everyone here who has missed out on a cup of cider because they sell out to fast please raise a hoof,” I called out past Pinkie, shouting over the commotion.

In response, a good half of the line raised a hoof and a good amount of complaining stopped.

“Now will those who tend to get more than one cup at once raise their hoof!” I called again.

Once again, half the line raised their hoof and all the complaints stopped, excluding Pinkie.

“It’s just for today, and it’s so everyone can get a chance to have a glass today instead of missing out,” I called out, receiving reluctant nods before the line properly reformed and the sales began.

“But they can just make more!” Pinkie complained as she headbutted me with her puffy hair. “What am I supposed to do now?!”

“How about getting back in line?” I chuckled as I pointed to the growing line.

“Oh phooey!” Pinkie chirped as she jumped off my chest and rushed to the back of the line. “Hey, no cutting in line!”

“You’re the one that got out of line, Pinkie,” I mumbled before moving up beside the booth the Apples had set up. Since I was in a herd with Applejack, I counted as close enough to the family to help them in their cider work, but the most I could do at this time was just providing some security and order.

Although, they did accept my idea for only one cup per customer on the first day, even if the fact that they had to do it so everyone could get a cup made Granny Smith sad.

“Thank you very much, Miss Smith,” Cotton said as she sat behind the booth with Apple Bloom, a small mug of cider in her hooves. While the rest of the fillies had decided to wait in line, Cotton had kept her usual spot of at my side whenever possible.

Word had spread quickly about the filly in the town and while it was public record that Derpy was her legal guardian, I was the one to go to when it involved Cotton.

Gilda liked to joke that I acted more like her dad than anything else. But that was probably because she was jealous that I didn’t tuck her in at night and sneak her extra cookies in her meals.

“Now, there aint no need to be callin’ me, Miss Smith,” Granny Smith chuckled as she gave Cotton a smile. “Y’all can call me, Granny like everypony else.”

“Okay!” Cotton smiled as Apple Bloom took her empty mug and quickly cleaned it.

“Are you all sure you don’t want more help?” I asked while looking at the tower of cider barrels they had set up for the day’s sales. “You know there are plenty of others who would be willing to help make more.”

“Now don’t you go talking about that again, sonny,” Granny Smith scolded with a glare. “This is how we’ve done it fer years.”

“I know Granny,” I replied as Applejack continued to sell mugs of cider. Even though it wasn’t until season two, the Flim Flam brothers were supposed to show up and I could just feel that a curve ball was coming my way. “Just know that you got plenty of helpers should you need it.”

“Oh, course I know that,” Granny chuckled as she directed a stare her eldest granddaughter. “Not all of us are as stubborn as a brick wall.”

“Ah aint stubborn,” Applejack grumbled with a blush as a few customers chuckled at the remark.

“Actually, Christopher,” Granny chimed a few minutes later as if she remembered something. “Do you think you could run an errand fer an old mare?”

“You know you don’t need to ask Granny,” I chuckled while moving over to the older mare. “What do you need?”

“Ah was hopin you could bring that Zecora mare some cider,” Granny Smith said as she pulled out a small barrel. “The sweet thing went and gave me an ointment the other day fer mah hip and its worked wonders ah tell ya.”

“Oh, yeah, I can do that,” I said, taking the small barrel and putting it under my arm before turning to Cotton.

“Hey, Cotton,” I called, gaining the filly’s attention. “I need to head off for a little while.”

“Where are you going?” she asked as she stopped helping Apple Bloom clean cups for a moment.

“I need to head into the Everfree for a bit and talk to Zecora, the zebra you met the other day,” I informed as I reached into a pocket and pulled out a whistle I had gotten from Rainbow Dash recently.

“But what about me?” she obviously asked as she stared at the whistle in confusion.

“I’m gonna need you to stay here with Granny Smith and Applejack,” I replied as I noticed her face slip into a frown.

“Derpy is currently at work and it’s too dangerous for you to go into the Everfree with me,” I began as I slipped a string neckless over the filly’s head so that the whistle hung against her chest. It was cute because of how small she was, the whistle almost scrapped the ground.

During her first night her in Ponyville, I had given her my head lamp after she had woken up from a nightmare. Aside from its sad purpose, it made her look cute with the bulky thing wrapped around her head and under her horn and the whistle reminded me of that.

“What’s this for?” Cotton asked looking at the whistle instead of worrying about me leaving. Up to this point, she had only ever been with Derpy if I had to do something without her around.

“It’s a whistle,” I chuckled slightly before continuing. “If you feel afraid or need help, you take that whistle and blow as hard as you can.”

“Then what?” Cotton asked as she took the whistle in her hoof.

“Then help will come,” I replied, giving her an ear scratch. “For the times I can’t be around, okay?”

“O-okay…” Cotton muttered as she gave me a small hug, several “awww’s” echoing from behind me.

“I’ll be back in a little while,” I told her while standing up. “Stay here with Granny Smith, okay?”

“Okay,” Cotton replied with a little more confidence.

“I’ll be back in a bit,” I told everyone as I made my way towards Zecora’s home.

I couldn’t help but chuckle when I passed a pouting Pinkie Pie, who had ended up behind Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

Once I was clear of the line, I pulled out the gem that held my new motorcycle templet.

“I dub the’, the Moto-Gem,” I chuckled as I fed some magic to the gem and threw it a few feet in front of me. A few moments later, the bike was fully formed.

“Overkill, they name is Reaper,” I couldn’t help but cackle like a mad man as I shifted the bike to face in the direction of Zecora’s before placing the barrel in a small box container I had included in its design.

“Oh, I love magic,” I smiled as I took a seat, flipped a switch and rocketed towards the Everfree.

“Okay, I got this,” I mumbled as I kept the speed lower than I had the previous day. Once Fluttershy’s cottage came into view, I veered off onto another path that led into the forest.

I was slowly getting the hang of controlling this thing and it easily put a smile on my face.

“I fucking love magic,” I panted as I reached Zecora’s clearing and stopped the bike, dispelling it and pocketing the Moto-Gem, taking a moment to recover some spent magic.

“It took you long enough,” a familiar voice called as Zecora stepped out of her home, brow raised as she stared at where my bike had once been. “And what in the name of the spirits was that thing?”

“Did… did you just talk without rhyming?” I questioned as I looked at the mare in shock. I had thought that what I heard the other day was a fluke, but apparently, that wasn’t the case.

“I don’t always rhyme,” Zecora sighed as she shook her head. “Sometimes, I simply don’t have the time.”

“There we go,” I chuckled while leaning down and picking up the barrel that had fallen to the ground when the bike disappeared.

“Anyways Zecora, Granny Smith sent me with a small barrel of cider as thanks for some ointment you gave her the other day.”

“It was a simple thing,” Zecora replied with a slight blush as she took the barrel I offered her. “But I appreciate the gesture all the same.”

“Its good stuff, that I can promise you,” I said as I followed the zebra to her front door.

Once she made it inside, she turned to look at me with a small scowl.

“I hope you’re not just going to leave,” Zecora grumbled at me. “I expected you a few days ago and you have yet to answer my question from before.”

“Only if you tell me why you suddenly stopped rhyming,” I replied as I followed her in and took a seat on a small stool, she had made just for me. It was a little larger than most regular stools and was made from wood in the Everfree.

“The rhyming was simply something my mother taught me to help with learning the local language,” Zecora began as she placed the barrel on a small table and grabbed two small bowls to drink from. “It also helps me to focus my mind and calms me when I feel stressed. After a while, I just began to do it more often until that’s what I was known for.”

“And the reason you stopped doing it for me?” I asked as she opened the barrel and filled the two bowls.

“I-I simply feel that we are at a point in our friendship where I don’t need to worry,” Zecora replied while handing me a bowl, a blush on her face.

“Well, nothing against your rhyming, but it’s a lot easier to understand you when you talk like this,” I nodded while drinking from the bowl.

“Now then, to answer your questions, the thing you saw me with was a magical construct I made to resemble a motorized vehicle from my home world called a motorcycle.”

“But how did you make it and where did it go?” Zecora questioned as she sat in front of me. “Did you learn a spell to shrink it?”

“Oh, no, nothing like that,” I said as I pulled out the Moto-Gem. “This is a gem I enchanted myself that holds the construct so that all I have to do is add the magic.”

“That’s amazing!” Zecora nearly bellowed as she looked at the small red gem I held. “How do you keep the construct and gem from degrading? How did you craft such a construct and get it set into the gem? How-“

“Woah, calm down, Zecora,” I couldn’t help but chuckle as the ecstatic zebra reminded me of a certain librarian. “With some tips from Princess Luna and books from Twilight, I was able to form the actual construct in my dreamscape and from there, use a small connection to transfer it into the gem. After I supply the magic, it just follows basic commands.”

“But what about the degradation?” Zecora asked as she watched me return the gem to my pocket. “Ponies have been trying for years to create larger constructs but haven’t been able to do it without suffering horrible degradation in quality and construct life.”

“Well, Twilight told me about this theory that natural magic gems might be able to handle larger constructs without degradation and I decided to give it a try,” I shrugged while finishing off my drink.

“But where did you get… a natural magic gemstone?” Zecora questioned while placing her half full bowl down and glaring slightly at me. “I highly doubt anypony would give one of the very few that still exist in the world.”

“I… I, uh… I have my ways,” I replied, her stare burrowing in slightly. If Zecora knew about the tree, she would figure it out on her own.

If she didn’t, it wasn’t my place to reveal such a place.

“Well, I’m sure everypony else has already talked to you about it, so I won’t press for more,” Zecora said as she reached for her bowl again, stopping when she saw the sheepish smile I had grown. “You have shown this to others, am I correct?”

“Well… some fillies saw it before I sped away at speeds that would make Rainbow Dash blush,” I sheepishly replied as I also remembered the fact that I had yet to give Celestia and Luna the letter from Slend- The Tree of Harmony. “I kind of wanted to keep them a secret until the tournament.”

“THEM?!” Zecora blurted as she stared at me in shock. “Not only have you not told your herd about something as amazing as your motor-cycle, but you have more than one?!”

“There’s actually only one,” I mumbled to myself. “The rest are blank right now.”

Zecora simply mumbled something under her breath before recomposing herself.

“And what about ignoring my request to visit me sooner?” Zecora asked after a moment. “There was something I wanted to discuss with you.”

“I’m sorry Zecora,” I apologized honestly. “With my new job and all the other things, I was working on, I forgot about your request.”

“Well, don’t forget next time,” Zecora huffed, a small blush appearing on her face. “I simply wished to talk to you about the tournament.”

“What about?” I asked, intrigued by what she wanted to talk about.

“Well, now that its known that you can use Soul Magic, I felt it would be best to talk to you about facing Shamans,” Zecora began, giving me a serious look. “While I can’t account for the abilities of non-zebra shamans, I can tell you that you might find them very difficult without a proper warning.”

“What do you mean?”

“A shaman works best when they commune with the spirits,” Zecora began as she moved to circle the large cauldron she kept in the center of the room. “With the proper materials and training, even the spirits of the living can be interacted with.”

“So, shamans can use soul magic?” I questioned.

“Not exactly,” Zecora grimaced. “I guess you could say that the Spirit is a type of energy that comes from the Soul. Ponies don’t normally use the energy, but it is still there and can be very powerful itself.”

“Okay, that I understood,” I nodded.

“Well, my concern is if you face the Zebrica representative,” Zecora commented with a frown. “He is known as the Delver in many villages.”

“Delver?” I asked.

“That is how it is best translated,” Zecora nodded. “He is one of the best shamans from my lands who is known to have so much skill with the spirits that he can control the living.”

“So, this guy can basically worm his way into my spirit and control me?” I asked, opening my mind to whatever advice Zecora was offering.

“It would be easier to show you,” Zecora replied as she began to fill her cauldron with a mix of ingredients and a large amount of water that she got from a pipe on the ceiling.

I watched as she mixed the unfamiliar ingredients, muttering under her voice as she added small pinches of other items over time. It was a little interesting, reminding me of the times I had to mix resins or epoxies with precise measurements back on my home world.

It made me miss the shot glass sized lump of epoxy I had that had kept from a bad mix.

“I cant believe just a few grams off almost resulted in an explosion,” I thought to myself, remembering how I had acquired said lump. The mix had started to smoke and then got really hot within seconds of mixing and everyone around started freaking out, thinking it was gonna blow.

“That should be right,” Zecora said, snapping me out of my memories and drawing my gaze.

The cauldron now had a dull green glow coming from inside and a sweet smell filled the room.

“I am going to perform a special rite that is used to connect to the spirit of the living,” Zecora began to explain. “It’s not as advanced as what a master shaman like the Delver can do, but you will get a feel for it.

“Now, please look into my eyes,” Zecora finished as I looked into her teal eyes.

As she began to speak in a language I had never heard, I began to feel something.

A part of it shared the feeling I got when I actively drained magic, only different since I wasn’t actually doing it.

“What in the?” I questioned as my vision became fuzzy. I tried to bring my hand to my eyes, but found it almost impossible to move either of them as Zecora continued to look into my own eyes and speak in an odd language.

I didn’t like this at all as the feeling of being confined began to cause me to panic and I tried harder to move.

I tried to open my mouth to speak again, but found that I had no voice to use.

Once again, my panic rose and I did the only thing I could think of and grabbed the strange feeling and actively drew it in with as much force as possible.

In the next moment, I found myself in my dreamscape rather than Zecora’s home.

The shock of the change muted as I found myself comply covered by a strange green ooze, keeping my mental body still and silent.

For a few moments, I fought against the ooze before remembering that I could do more than that now that I was in the dreamscape

With some simple thoughts, two metal nozzles rose from the ground, attached to black tubs that lead back into the ground. A moment later, red flames burst from the nozzles and quickly washed over me and the ooze.

Within seconds, the ooze was gone and I stood there unharmed as the nozzles and flames faded away.

But what surprised me the most was when I noticed Zecora standing a few feet away. Her eyes were wide as she stared at me and the spots where the nozzles had erupted from. Either she had not expected me to be able to do that or she was surprised to see the real me and not the cartoon me.

“Let’s not do that again,” I grumbled as I formed a .45 in my hand and placed the barrel under my chin.

Having done this several times before to wake myself up from this place, I pulled the trigger and quickly found myself back in Zecora’s home as if nothing had happened.

I may or may not have shouted “Persona!” as I took the shot.

The once glowing cauldron no longer glowed and the sweet smell was no longer in the air.

Zecora stared at me with her eyes as wide as they had been back in my dreamscape.

“I can see why you wanted to warn me about that,” I spoke when I felt my heart settle from the experience. “I was completely helpless before I stumbled upon the trick against it. In a fight, I would have lost if that happened in the middle of defending myself or attacking.”

“You drew me in…” Zecora mumbled just loud enough for me to hear, a look of disbelief coating her face.

“What?” I asked.

“To preform that ritual, you need to connect a small part of your own spirit into it, so that you may direct its intent,” Zecora began to explain. “YOU were able to draw my consciousness into yourself and I saw… I saw the flames sprout and destroy my connection, yet I was still trapped there.”

“Probably a good thing I didn’t shoot you then,” I replied with a bit of worry. “No idea what that would have done.”

“It… it would have just woken me up first, most likely,” Zecora mumbled as she calmed down slightly. “But without this accursed headache.”

“You learn to deal with it,” I shrugged.

“I had planned to teach you a few tricks to counter such things,” Zecora seemed to chuckle in disbelief. “But it seems like I could learn a few things from you instead.”

“I’m just full of surprises,” I chuckled. “My next shows already sold out.”

“And where is my ticket?” Zecora asked as she moved closer, smiling as she played along with the last bit.

“In the mail?” I laughed while standing up. “But I need to get going; I left Cotton with Applejack’s family and I’m getting a little worried.”

“Oh, yes,” Zecora nodded as she began to frown. “I heard the stories around town and I wish her the best of health.”

“Thanks,” I said as I leaned over and gave the Zebra a hug, the mare surprising me with a kiss to the cheek as I pulled away.

“Perhaps I will come visit you next time,” Zecora said as she walked me to the door and outside.

“Door’s always open for you Zecora,” I said as I moved away from her home and pulled out the Moto-Gem.

One again, I supplied it with magic and threw it into the open space in front of me. Once the bike was formed, I took a seat, gave Zecora one final farewell and zoomed away.

“I really need to get some goggles and a helmet,” I mumbled as the wind stung my eyes and a nagging part of me worried about motorcycle safety.

Once I made it out of the forest and partway back to town, I dispelled the bike and walked the rest of the way. I didn’t need everyone knowing about it yet and planned to keep it that way until I was sure it was finished.

The rumors could sate their curiosity for now.

“I see the line hasn’t changed yet,” I commented as I passed the line, waving to the few that gave one towards me.

“No thanks to you!” Pinkie pie shouted as she rushed up to me with an empty mug. “You see this mug! Its supposed to be filled with appellee goodness and yet its empty! I only got one mug this time when I usually get eight and-”

“Pinkie Pie,” I interrupted sternly, stopping the mare’s tirade as she looked up to me with a cute scowl. “Don’t you think its fare for everyone to get a cup before they run out first?”

“Well, yeah,” Pinkie mumbled as she looked at her cup for a moment before looking up at me with puppy dog eyes. “But I want more.”

“Erk?!” I stumbled back while trying to hold out against the ponies most dangerous weapon.

“Just… Just get in line again or something,” I forced out while rushing past Pinkie and heading back to the stand.

Once I made it there, I was immediately tackled by Cotton as I caught the filly against my chest.

“You’re back!” the filly chirped as she tried her best to hug my chest.

“I said I wouldn’t be long,” I chuckled while returning the hug before setting back down.

“Now aint that the sweetest,” Granny chuckled.

“Pony pile!” a squeaky voice shouted before I found myself under a small pile of giggling fillies.

“Should have seen this coming,” I chuckled as the fillies proclaimed their victory.

The next day started a little later then it had the other day. Mostly because Applejack didn’t come to wake me up and because I was still recovering from my training season with Luna and Celestia the night before.

Before we had begun, I had finally given the princesses the scroll from the tree and when they got it, they immediately read and destroyed the scroll before I could say anything.

They told me nothing of what they read and the only reaction to it I got was a few extra scowls from the two of them and an extra half an hour of tolerating their strikes.

After that, I spent some time going through a few law books I snagged from the library. I didn’t read them word for word, just enough to prepare for the next incident.

“Cider tastes really good,” Cotton commented as we made our way to the farm.

“Yes, it does,” I chuckled as we walked.

The little filly was looking a bit healthier now and after a few counseling sessions with one of the councilors at the Ponyville Hospital, she wasn’t as reserved around groups.

“Oh, no, not this time!” Pinkie snapped as she rushed up in front of me and tried to block the path. The action causing Cotton to hid behind me. “You’re just gonna make it so I can only have one mug again!”

“No, you not being in line will make that happen,” I replied with a smirk, the line easily visible even though we were still a few minutes away from the farm entrance.

“Oh, phooey!” Pinkie blurted as she realized what she was forgetting and quickly rushed off.

“And here I thought, Rainbow Dash loved the stuff,” I mumbled to myself.

“Pinkie Pie is weird,” Cotton mumbled as she came out from behind me.

“Yeah,” I confirmed as we made are way forward.

Once we made it to the stand, both me and Cotton did the same thing we did the other day. This time though, I just made sure no one got overly rowdy or pushy.

There was no limit to how much cider could be got today, but there were a few that obviously held back.

Then Pinkie Pie made it to the front.

When she tried to buy two barrels, I decided to step in.

Or I tried too.

“Hey, does somepony hear something?” Apple Bloom pointed out as I heard a small chugging and puffing sound coming from down the path.

I watched as a large object was driven down the path towards the stand and when I prepared myself for the song the Flim Flam brothers were supposed to begin as they arrive, I was thrown for a loop when two mares began singing instead.

I remembered that the super squeezer episode was in season two, so it was actually a bit of a surprise to see them in the first place, but this Equestria seemed to find a way to throw me for a loop and add a bit of zest to it.

The two sisters had the same color scheme as the brothers as well as the outfits, the only real issue was that they looked exactly alike, since they didn’t have a mustache to help differentiate the two.

The song and motions were basically the same as well as they were in the show, with a few small changes which was mostly the way their movements were more flirtatious and that their names were apparently Kerry and Ferry.

A weird nagging in the back of my head drew me away from their song and actions as my eyes looked to the side where Fluttershy and the others sat.

My panic quickly went into overdrive when I noticed a slightly contemplative look appear on Fluttershy’s face and I found myself moving without thinking.

“No!” I quickly told the more, blinking in front of her before she could take a step forward.

“But, I just want to…” Fluttershy began, only for me to interrupt her.

“No,” I reiterated before looking towards Twilight and Rainbow Dash, the two standing just behind the mare. “Do you two think you could-“

“Yeah, yeah, we’ll watch her,” Rainbow Dash interrupted with a frown as Twilight seemed more interested in looking at the vehicle the br-sisters were driving.

“Thanks,” I sighed before turning around and heading towards the growing commotion.

As I was walking up, I immediately used my magic to grab one of the mare’s horns with a gray tendril of smoke, preventing her from using magic for a moment as she tried to grab an entire tree’s worth of apples.

“W-what the hay?!” one sister, I think her name was Kerry, almost shouted in fear as her eyes locked onto the gray mist that enveloped her horn, their song cut short. Both followed the trail that led back to my outstretched hand.

“What the hay are you supposed to be?” Ferry snapped as she glared at me.

“Don’t you know it's rude to touch a mare’s horn without taking her on a date first!” Kerry added with a smirk.

“It’s also against the law to take produce from farmland before you pay for the product, even if it’s for demonstration purposes,” I replied as I released my magic hold. “You need express permission from the land owners and the ability to pay for what you take.”

“But Chris, they were gonna give us more cider!” Pinkie blurted out. “And they said that they can make a whole bunch more that will taste even better!”

“Pinkie,” I sighed, looking down at the mare and drawing her attention. A part of me was disappointed that it wasn’t Rainbow Dash complaining instead. “Line.”

“Oh, not again!” Pinkie shouted as she moved to rejoin the line.

“Wait sister, I think I know who that is now,” Kerry said, redrawing my attention as she spoke to her sister. “That must be the “Reaper”!”

“I’m also the Ponyville Warden and this year’s representative for the princesses in the Equis tournament,” I added, giving them a flat stare. “Now, who do I have the pleasure of talking to?”

“I’m Ferry!”

“And I’m Kerry!”

“And we’re the world-famous Ferry Kerry sister sales ponies!” the two nearly sung, not bothering to get off their machine.

“We got that from the song,” Applejack interjected as she moved besides me. “Now y’all mind tellin us why you’re on my family’s property with that strange thing.”

“This here, is the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000!” the Sisters cheered with a flourish of their hooves.

“This is the next step in cider production,” Kerry said as she caressed the seat she was in with a purr.

“No more empty mugs for thirsty ponies!” Ferry added as looked at the growing crowd.

“If you’ll give us the chance, we’ll show you!” Kerry called as she made a show of what she was doing to the crowd. Ferry quickly pulled a small bag from under her seat and tossed it to Applejack.

Catching the bag, Applejack opened the bag and revealed a small collection of bits. After a few moments, she looked up at me and gave a slightly hesitant nod.

“Okay…” I sighed, holding my hands up in a playacting manner. In response, both sisters lit their horns and a collection of apples from a nearby tree made their way into a large tube at the top of their machine.

The group of ponies watched the process as the machine quickly turned those apples into a small barrel of cider, which the sisters quickly poured into a mug and gave to Pinkie Pie.

“Yay!” the mare cheered as she downed the drink in a second before holding the mug out. “That was sooooo good, can I have some more?”

“See, a satisfied customer in only moments, with production at a quicker rate,” Kerry said as she absentmindedly poured more for Pinkie, missing when the mare switched the mug for her mouth.

“Not so fast!” Granny Smith shouted as she moved up to the pair. “No way no how that machine matches up with the care we put in our cider!”

“But if it really does work, we could make everypony in town happy!” Apple Bloom said as she made her way to Granny Smith, Cotton quickly making her way over to me.

“Ah just don’t know, y’all. We’ve always made cider the same way,” Applejack groaned as she placed the bag of bits under her hat.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac added as he stood by the stand. But a quick movement at his side drew his attention as Kerry and Ferry pressed themselves against his sides. “Huh?”

“We’ll sweeten the deal,” Kerry began to say into Big Mac’s ear, drawing an almost imperceptible blush from the stallion. “You supply the apples…”

“…We supply the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 6000,” Ferry added, mirroring her sister’s actions on the other side.

“Then we split those sweet sweet profits…” the two said together, as they pulled away from Big Mac and made their way towards the rest of us.

“…Seventy-five…” Kerry said as if she was giving it some thought.

“…Twenty-five.” Ferry added as if it were obvious.

“De-“ Apple Bloom began to shout, interrupted by me tapping her on the head.

“Hold on,” Applejack suddenly said. “Who gets the seventy-five?”

“Why, us, naturally,” Kerry replied with a smile.

“And, we’ll throw in the magic to power the machine for free,” Ferry added as she lit her horn for example.

“Cider sales keep our business afloat through the winter,” Applejack replied with a glare. “We’d lose Sweet Apple Acres if we agree to this.”

“So?” the two asked in unison, ignoring what Applejack said. “What’ll it be?”

“N-no deal,” Big Mac replied with a slight stutter as he made his way past the mares.

“Hmph. Well then,” Kerry huffed as she and her sister shared a look before looking towards me. “What do you have to say about this Mr. Reaper?”

“Don’t you think something like this would be a good addition to this towns economic development,” Ferry said as she looked at me with an almost predatory gaze. “More cider means more business, which means more profit in the long run.”

“One, I feel that matters like this shouldn’t be discussed in such an open space with so many people around,” I began, indicating the large group of ponies watching us. This was probably their shtick, get the group to agree to it and pressure the individual.

“And two,” I continued, pointing back to the machine. “Can someone get her off that thing?”

Everyone turned back to the Squeezy 6000 to see Pinkie pie trying to suck more cider from the nozzle in the back.

“Pinkie Pie!” Twlight, Rainbow Dash and Rarity shouted as they rushed to pull the mare away from the pipe.

“Who’s watching Fluttershy?!” I blurted out as I saw the three pass me.

“Hi there, I’m Fluttershy, do you want to join my herd?” I heard said mare say, drawing my attention towards her as she stood just to the side of the sisters.

“Are you sure that this is the way you want to do this Granny?” I asked as we all sat in the Apple family home’s kitchen. Even the sisters were here as we discussed what the family wanted.

Unlike the brothers in the show that admitted to wanting to put the Apples out of business, the sisters were willing to at least talk.

Although, I think they mostly did it for the chance to press themselves against Big Mac again.

“At least I don’t have to worry about them…” I thought while looking over to a pouting Fluttershy.

The sisters had outright denied her request, said something about wanting a real stallion and then proceeded to rub up against Big Mac again.

I was willing to take that hit to the pride.

Plus, it seemed that Big Mac didn’t really mind all that much if his own subtle movements against the mares said anything.

“This little cider makin’ competition will be enough to show everypony just how much better we Apples are then some machine,” Granny said.

After talking about it, the current offer was now down to sixty, forty and the competition would be to see who it was in favor of.

I was against the whole thing to begin with, but the Apples quickly began to ignore my advice when their competitive nature was drawn out.

The worst thing was, that they had asked me to be the judge of the competition, meaning I had to become impartial.

Which normally would have been contested since I was in a relationship with Applejack, but the sisters said they didn’t care and Applejack was quick to point out that she could tell if I was lying about any results or not.

“At least you’re talking this out beforehand,” I sighed as they worked.

“I can’t believe they said no…” Fluttershy grumbled as she looked at the table with a pout.

“Not everyone wants to join a herd where the stallion is basically an interdimensional traveler who is also a different species,” I replied as I noticed Big Mac lock up for a second as one of the sister’s did something to his side that no one could see.

“So, what time we starting this thing?” I asked as I pulled out my phone to check the time. I would have to leave soon to do a check around town before heading home for my training session with another set of sisters.

“If the Apple’s wouldn’t mind, we were hoping sometime after lunch?” Kerry offered as she looked towards Granny Smith and Applejack.

“We had hopes of perhaps sleeping in tomorrow,” Ferry purred as she pressed further against Big Mac.

At this, Applejack gave slight glare and Granny Smith seemed to chuckle.

“And just where will you two be staying tonight?” I asked, as I cackled internally as I knew that Big Mac was defiantly getting lucky tonight.

“The barn!” Big Mac blurted out before realizing what he said.

“Well, that’s all I got time for folks!” I called out as a silence filled to room. “I gotta do my job and Big Mac has to set up the barn.”

With that, I rushed out of the room before the glaring mares and single stallion could round on me.

“Come on Cotton, time to go,” I called, using my magic to grabby the filly as I escaped the house, cackling the whole way.

“Cider, cider, cider!” Pinkie Pie continuously repeated as our group traveled to the farm. A good portion of the town was going to be there seeing as there was obviously going to be an overabundance of cider today and it quickly became the talk of the town.

We had all decided to head to the farm together after having a small lunch at my house.

“Calm down, Pinkie, your scaring ponies,” Rainbow Dash chastised as she flew over the group. “We all know that there’s going to be more cider today.”

“Chris,” Twilight called softly, gaining my attention and not the others.

“Wha’cha need Twi?” I asked while pulling back to talk to her alone for a moment.

“Did this happen like you thought it would?” She asked as she kept her voice low.

“Nope,” I replied with a bit of worry. “Things are a lot different from what I thought they would be, but it seems to be going okay. They did make a contract before doing this.”

“How bad would it be if they lose though?” Twilight asked. “Didn’t Applejack say that the farm needs the profits from Cider season for the winter?”

“The sisters lowered the price of the machine,” I explained. “Once they realized that there would be almost no profits between winter and mid spring, they seemed to realize just how dependent the Apples are on their profits. I’m sure they probably worked out a few other things once I left though, so who knows.”

“Well, I hope things work out for them,” Twilight said more openly.

“So, do I, darling,” Rarity added as we all reached the farm’s entrance. “They almost didn’t have enough profits from last year’s sales to make it to this year’s harvest.”

“Well then, let’s all get up there and make sure this goes well then,” I commented as we walked onto the farm.

A part of me was worried about how this was all going to end, but when I got to the farm, we were all surprised at what we found.

“Hey everypony, y’all up fer some cider?” Applejack smiled from behind a new booth. It was still the same one from before, but it had a fancy little dispenser attached to it that led to the Squeezy 6000.

“What’s going on here?” I asked as we all walked up to the stand. Back towards the Squeezy, I could see Ferry and Kerry explaining something to Big Mac as they continued to press up against him.

“We came to an agreement,” Applejack answered as she gave all of us a mug of ice-cold cider.

“What about the competition and the contract?” I asked, as I noticed the sisters limping slightly.

“We ripped it up,” Kerry said as the three made it to the booth.

“Not much need for it when were as good as family now,” Ferry said as she smirked back at Big Mac as she and her sister bumped their flanks into the stallion.

“What?” Everyone openly questioned as we looked towards a defeated looking Applejack.

“They decided to form a herd,” Applejack grumbled as she continued selling.

“Aint it great!” Apple Bloom cheered as she hopped out from behind the booth. “I got even more sisters now.”

“We actually got the idea from Miss Fluttershy,” Kerry giggled. “We’ve been going from town to town trying to market the Squeezy 6000.”

“We’re just so tired of all this moving around and when we saw Big Mac…” Ferry continued.

“We began to think of trying our luck,” Kerry said. “Fluttershy’s mention of a herd, sparked a little in us and after last night…”

“We’re happy we tried,” they both said as they nuzzled Big Mac.

Big Mac just stood in between them and blushed for his part.

“And here I thought my herd developed quickly,” I mumbled as everyone stared at the new herd. “I mean, me and Fluttershy at least went on a date first…”

“Well, I guess… congratulations are in order?” Rarity said the mares around me seemed to be more shocked than confused.

“I’m just surprised Big Mac agreed to it,” Rainbow Dash commented as she stared at the stallion. “I thought you weren’t interested in finding any mares yet.”

“We convinced him otherwise,” Kerry giggled with her sister.

“How’s Granny taking this?” I found myself asking, looking at Applejack.

“She’s back in the house,” Applejack sighed, with a shrug. “She actually seems pretty happy about the whole thing.”

“I guess,” I replied while looking down at Cotton. “You mind waiting here with Applejack and the others? I want to talk to Granny about a few things.”

“O-okay,” Cotton hesitantly nodded as she gripped the whistle I had given her the other day. She seemed to take a liking to it and didn’t even bother to remove it when she bathed or slept, adding it to the hand lamp.

“I’ll be right back,” I told her while heading towards the house.

A few minutes later, I walked into the Apple family living room to find Granny Smith sitting on her rocking chair, looking at an old photo.

“Ah always thought this farm would get livelier,” Granny Smith sighed as she stroked the photo, a small smile on her face. “Mah daughter in law wanted a whole heap oh foals, she and mah colt had a big old list of names.”

I just took a seat on the couch as I let the mare speak. Without even having to ask, I knew that she just wanted someone to listen.

“But then the accident happened and ah lost them both and mah grandfoals lost their parents,” Granny sniffled as she offered me the photo. In the photo, I could see a young Big Mac, Applejack, an infant Apple Bloom, Granny Smith and a pair of ponies that must have been Applejack’s parents.

The Stallion had a similar color scheme to Apple Bloom’s, but his eyes matched Applejacks. The mare didn’t share much of a color scheme with her foals, but still had that southern belle beauty her daughter had.

“Ah had to start raising the little ones and work the farm mostly on mah own,” Granny began with a small sniffle. “We were so close to losing the farm, so many times.”

I just stayed silent as the mare sniffled a few times before looking towards me.

“When Applejack came and told me she was interested in joining your herd, ah was happy cause it seemed like the family was finally gonna start growin again,” Granny said with a smirk. “But even though he was older, Big Mac showed no signs of settlin down, but somehow…”

“Those two convinced him?” I helpfully asked.

“Ah got a chance to talk to them last night, before they did anything,” Granny replied. “Ah was afraid they were trying something with Big Mac, but they were actually pretty nice. They actually asked me if they could try herdin’ Big Mac before tryin’ and I just laughed and said they could try.

“Next thing ah know, Big Mac is walkin in this mornin’ sayin’ how he was thinkin’ of startin a herd with these strange mares,” Granny laughed.

“Are you okay with this?” I asked, trying to figure out what she was getting at.

“Ah’ guess I am,” Granny said with a smile. “Ah mean, I accepted the strange monkey into the family, didn’t ah?”

“Hey, I aint no monkey,” I replied as the two of us shared a laugh. “But I do like bananas.”

“Oh, quiet you,” Granny chuckled as we both settled down. “Thanks for listening to an old mare ramble.”

“Hey, it’s not rambling,” I said with a smile. “You care for your family and you’re just showing it.”

“Ah guess ah am,” Granny smiled as she slowly rocked. “Now ah just gotta wait to see which ah my grandfoals gets foals of their own first.”

“Well, I don’t know about Kerry and Ferry, but Applejack defiantly wants one as soon as possible,” I replied while sitting back. I had come to accept that it was because of instincts, but it still confused me on how fast some of these mares wanted foals.

“What are your thoughts on those two?” Granny asked, snapping me out of my temporary thoughts.

“Hard to say, really,” I replied. “I barely know them and by what I’ve seen, they are a bit flirty and manipulative.”

“So’s Rarity,” Granny bluntly said.

“That is also true,” I nodded before we fell into silence.

We both sat there for a few minutes without saying a word before the front door opened and Kerry and Ferry made their way into the house.

“Your herd mares are looking for you,” Kerry told me before the two of them faced Granny.

“And we were wondering if you were ready to head back outside yet?” Ferry said to the older mare. “You promised to tell my sister and me about how you helped with the founding of Ponyville.”

“Oh, now that there’s a story,” Granny chuckled as I stood up and led the way for us to leave.

Once back outside, I helped Granny Smith to a chair set by the booth and went looking for the others.

I quickly found them sitting at a small table, laughing about something as I made my way over to them.

“Hey girls, I miss anything?”

Author's Notes:

Hello everyone, here's the next chapter and like always, Quote the chapter!
Sorry it took so long for this chapter, got sidetracked with video games and ideas for future chapters I haven't reached yet.
Next chapter is the nightmare night chapter and I'm having fun with it!
I'm going off script baby!

Also, can you guess what the childhood dream is?

P.S
I kind of got the the idea for Ferry and Kerry's name from the name Kari Ferrell when looking for a female con artist name to go with. I don't plan on having them do what she did though. Just wanted to let you all know.