We walked through the corridors, getting closer to the entrance I knew the way to the cars, so I sped up and caught up with Shining Armor, as did Thomas.

"What are these cars like?" Shining asked. We hadn't really explained what the cars actually looked like themselves, so it was fair enough that he was asking this question.

"Well, our cars are all sporty saloon cars," I explained. "Nathan owns a 2015 BMW M3, Thomas has a 2014 Audi S4 and I have a 2016 Mercedes-Benz C 63 AMG."

"Who makes them?" Shining asked.

"All of the companies are from a country called Germany," I answered. "It has roughly the same population as Equestria. These companies are rivals to each other. The M3 is the sports version of the BMW 3-series, and it's made by BMW. They're based in the city of Munich, in Bavaria, a district of Germany. The S4 is the sporty version of the A4, made by Audi, a member of the VW-Audi group. They're also based somewhere in Bavaria, but I cannae remember the name."

"Canny?" Shining raised his eyebrow at me.

"Huh?" I then realised he wasn't from Scotland, let alone this world, so he won't know what it means. "Aye, it's just a slang term in Scotland that means, cannot or can't."

"I take it 'Aye' means yes?" he smiled at this.

"It does," I laughed. I then got an absolutely genius idea. "It would be hilarious if we went and talked in slang to the guards, it would take a while to wrap their heads around the way we talked in Glasgow!"

Shining burst out laughing, which proceeded for a couple of seconds. "I can imagine Sergeant Sentry trying to get his head around that, and then when he's had enough..." and then does what I can say is a surprisingly accurate impersonation of Flash. "'Sir, with all due respect and all... WHAT are you SAYING!?'"

We laughed again for a while again, passing Flash on the way, which was when we stopped. I was still a bit giggly right enough, but I calmed down after a few seconds. After a few seconds I continued to explain while we walked down the stairs.

"The Merc C 63 is one of the sporty versions of the C-Class, sitting between the C 43 and the C 63 S. Mercedes is based in Stuttgart, Germany."

"Ah, so they're rivals?"

"Yes," I responded. "They're all quite fast. The Audi goes from 0-100kph/62mph in 4.7 seconds-"

"WHAT!?" Shining exclaimed. "But no pony can run that fast! The fastest pony could run at 45 miles an hour at a push!"

I ignored him and continued. "Top speed is limited to 155 miles an hour, but some reckon it can do at least 180 with it turned off, and it still has enough space top put your shopping!"

Shining had stopped, jaw wide open, astounded at such a number. Cadence was surprised as well, but she didn't look anything like Shining did.

"Honey, you'll catch flies with that open mouth," Cadence playfully commented.

Shining finally closed his mouth and gulped back. "That's... quite a high number..."

"The M3 does 0-62 in 4.1 seconds," Nathan chimed in. "and has a top speed again limited to 155 mph, but taken off, the car has been said to do 190 miles an hour."

"And the Merc also does 0-62 in 4.1 seconds as well, but can do somewhere between 180 and 200 mph with the limiter off," I boasted. "And it's more practical than the Alfa 4C sports car."

We opened the doors and sure enough, our cars were there. We each walked over to our respective cars and opened the door. Shining and Cadence walked over to my car first and peered into the car. And then they could see why the anatomy problem I had mentioned earlier was relevant.

"Ah."

"Yep, that's a bit of a problem," I said sheepishly. "Unless you have an immediate solution, I don't know how you could work around that."

Cadence thought over this, then to my surprise, jumped on to the seat and sat herself down, but more in a way that humans would sit. She seemed a bit uncomfortable at doing this, but she still couldn't reach the pedals. She got there, right enough, when I moved the seat towards the pedals forward enough. She could reach the pedals and press them down, but she was one of the taller ponies!

"You might be able to reach them," I started. "But other ponies will struggle, so you'll have to have somepony to try and work this out properly."

Cadence sighed. "I suppose you're right. This type of technology would save ponies a lot of hassle, especially in rural areas, but somepony will have to work this out.

"Word will go about your cars pretty quickly, so no doubt some of the richer ponies will try to cash in on the idea. You could discuss the issues with them," Cadence suggested. It was a good idea, so I nodded, and gestured for her to get out of the car so I could drive to this old chariot depot that she had spoken of earlier. She understood, and hopped out of the car with a smile on her face.

I then sat down in the seat again, and started the engine, which gave Cadence and Shining Armor a fright. Shining comically jumped behind his wife so he would have at least some form of protection. I would have expected it to be the other way around, but there you go. I laughed at the sight. "Relax, that's just the sound of the engine starting up."

Cadence relaxed, but Shining was still wary, so I got out and opened the back right door. "You can get in if you want," I offered. Cadence looked to his husband and raised an eyebrow. Knowing he was defeated, Shining sighed and hopped in to the back seats, along with his wife. She shut the door behind her with her magic as she sat behind me.

I turned back. "Alright, where's this chariot bay you spoke of earlier?" I asked.

"It's just down the road, take the second right and it's the large warehouse," Cadence explained. "I should go and tell the others wh-"

"No need," I pointed out, then rolled down the windscreen. Peering out the window, I shouted to Tom and Nathan. "Just follow me down the road!"

"Got it," Nathan replied, walking over to his car as was Thomas.

I then turned back to Cadence. "Should I go slowly or should I floor it?"

To my surprise, she said with a smirk: "Floor it."

I ignored Shining's shocked expression and turned forward. I put the gear stick into Drive mode and turned back. "You might want to fasten your seatbelts," I warned. Both complied, with Shining being rather hasty with it. With that done, I floored the accelerator pedal. I smirked as I heard the squeals of the tyres propelling the car along past the Crystal Heart.

I kept my eyes on the road but glanced at the rear view mirror to view the wide-eyed expression of Cadence and the panic-stricken expression of Shining Armor as the 476bhp engine kept the car accelerating. As the car approached 60mph, the second turn came into sight and I braked down to thirty, then quickly, but calmly turned the steering wheel to get around the corner quickly. A yelp could be heard escaping Shining Armor's lips as the rear end of the car slipped out, which was then corrected with some counter steer to the right.

I heard the other two at that point race down the road as well, with the M3 in front, while the S4 lagged by about a metre or so behind. I couldn't see this as the building that I passed entering the street was blocking the view, but the sound of the BMW's straight-six sounded closer than the Audi's V6.

I went more gentle going down the street, as the depot was coming up on the left. When the time came, I pressed on the brakes and brought the car to a stand still. As I turned round, I saw Shining looking like he had just seen his own ghost, and Cadence, who looked like a mixture of frightened and thrilled at the same time. I looked and saw Nathan spinning out his M3 in what I can only guess is him trying (and failing) to pull off a slide similar to mine.

"Spinning out at 60, that's excellent," I said in a sarcastic tone as I got out the car and walked over to the large door to open it. I found the door was unlocked, so I pulled the handle for one door across the way. I don't know what the door was made of even to this day, but I know that it was extremely heavy, so it was a pain in the arse to try and pull to the side. Once I had that one done I moved over to the other side and slid the other one over. Took a good fifteen seconds to do so. I do go to the gym every Tuesday and Thursday after work, but I'm not the strongest man in the world.

No sooner than I had finished, Thomas' car drove past me, followed by Nathan's.

Aye, cheers for your help, ya bampots, I thought.

I turned back to the car to see Shining and Cadence getting out, with a grin on Cadence's lips and an angry glare being shot at Cadence by Shining Armor.

"Come on, Shining," Cadence said in a teasing tone. "You did enjoy it, really."

"I DID NOT!" Shining retorted, clearly "angry" at my driving. "That driving was really dangerous. I don't know how you could have enjoyed it. YOU," pointing at me, "could have killed somepony."

I rolled my eyes and turned to him. "Shining, it's almost 9 o'clock. This isn't rush hour."

His retort died on the spot. He was trying to get something out, but he eventually just gave up. With that all settled, I got back in the car and drove into the garage. The first thing I noticed was that someone had turned the lights on, which was unusual in a place that Cadence had earlier explained was unused since the Crystal Empire's return. I assume one of the others had already parked and had found the light switch.

The next thing I noticed was the chariots. There was about twenty of them and despite not being used for quite some time, they were all beautiful despite not being cleaned. They weren't made from gold, but there was a slight sapphire colour that was radiating from them. It looked like they had just been washed and polished, despite me knowing that they hadn't. I knew there was only one way of explaining this.

Magic. It has to be.

I kept driving and found a spot between two chariots. I ended up having to do a three point turn and fit in the spot, with a metre of space on either side to spare. I then decided to not waste any time, and grabbed my rucksack from the passenger seat, which contained (as I checked) a spare pair of clothes should it ever be needed (I did NOT need another Ayr incident), my laptop, the charger for said laptop, my travel DVD case which contained some of my favourite films, the Top Gear series ten DVD box, Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Identity because I had seen all the films and thought "why not read the books?", a bottle of Lagavulin Scotch and a solar powered charger for my phone.

Oh, shite, I completely forgot that I even had this.

I closed the rucksack again and put it onto my back. I then turned off the engine and got out again, closing the door shut not as hard as a slam, but still pretty hard. I found the other two talking to each other. Thomas was laughing, while Nathan had a sheepish smile on his face. Probably taking about the next D1 drift star over there.

I walked over to them and they turned to me. "Finally," Nathan said, doing a look to his watch. "What took you so long?"

I knew he was trying to get back at me for earlier, so I decided to turn the gun on him. "I was getting stuff out of the car," I began, then smirked. "...and I also opened the doors for you as well, while you were too busy trying to be Ken Block."

That shut him up. His expression turned neutral, which I know means I have pissed him off. He didn't get the reaction he wanted from me. I turned and headed back for the exit, with Thomas following close behind with whatever stuff he'd taken with him, as did Nathan, who had absolutely bugger all with him.

Walking back outside, we saw Cadence and Shining talking to members of the guard, who had either come to rescue the Prince and Princess from my oh so erratic driving or they were informing the Princess of something that needed her attention. They then saluted and flew back to their posts, as both were Pegasi.

Cadence turned around and saw us walking over to her. "Ah, there you all are," she sighed. "I've just received a letter from my sister-in-law. She says that she has finished with her and her friend's task with a partial success. She saw the letters and she says that she would be delighted to meet you all and that her friends would come with her. Though, if I'm going to be honest, I think she secretly wants knowledge on a culture other than ours."

I sighed at this, reminding me of a nerd back in high school who knew everything, but also stood up for himself a lot when he got a lot of shit from people in the school. Teachers included. "She's a bit of a bookworm, isn't she?" I asked, already suspecting the answer to be similar to "yes".

"Unfortunately, her desire for knowledge often gives others the impression to that of a nerd," Cadence exhaled sadly. "She was a bit asocial when she was Celestia's personal protégé, and even after studying friendship, she can be a bit crazy when she wants information."

I nodded in understanding. "There was a kid in my year called Maximillian Vanderpool, who was a bit of a nerd himself. He got bullied at school a lot because of it. It didn't help that he was born in the UK to a Dutch father and a German mother. He not only got bullied for his knowledge, but he got the 'F off ya mad junkie Dutchie,' and the 'go and start another war Fritz' from people in the school. Even some teachers got in the act."

Cadence stood there in shock, absolutely appalled by hearing this. "That's disgraceful! Were they punished eventually?"

"Not quite. He tried telling the head teacher, but the ringleader's parents knew him personally, so he was blackmailed by them into doing nothing. One day he was walking down the corridor and said ringleader makes a comment so sadistic I can't even repeat it myself."

"What happened next?"

I sighed. "He snapped. He turned to this bully and knocks him out cold in the nose with a single punch."

Cadence gasped at hearing this. Soon she recomposed herself. "While I cannot condone violence against others, I can understand why he would lash out."

"He even fought one of the bully's friends when they confronted him," I continued. "He got knocked out as well. Immediately after, the head teacher arrived and he was raging. Poor Max got expelled, though I get the feeling his parents were more proud of him than disappointed for not taking shite from a loud mouth."

"Language, Jack," Cadence commanded sternly.

"Sorry, you just tend to do it when you're Scottish. When did Twilight say she was coming?"

"She aimed to be at the castle for two o'clock sharp tomorrow."

"That alright, lads?" I asked, turning to face Thomas and Nathan. A 'yep' was heard from Nathan, and Thomas responded with an 'aye'.

"Excellent," Shining said, happy that everything looked like it was going to work out. "Now, let's get back to the castle. I'd say it's getting pretty late." With that, we walked back to the castle. I then explained to Cadence and Shining what was in my backpack - the laptop, the charger, the solar charger for my phone, which they were relieved to hear about, and the DVDs.

Eventually, we headed back up the stairs again, while talking more about things that had happened to us recently, especially Cadence talking about her experience with this centaur called Tirek, who was this mad, crazy guy who wanted to steal all the magic in Equestria. Personally, I think he's a bit thick. I mean, why steal all of it, when not all of it can be used at the one time, and does he really need it?

But I'm new to Equestria, so what the fuck could I know.

Cadence then talked about her brief time in a place called Tartarus, and from her description of the place, it sounded a lot like what some would call hell. Boy, I thought going to Park Head was bad...

Anyway, Shining left to go and sort something else that had been brought to their attention while we had been in the depot, leaving Cadence to show us our rooms for the time being. She led us up a few stairs and then along the corridors to show us the three empty rooms: one was at the end of the corridor, and the other two faced directly opposite each other and were a bit closer to the end of the corridor that we were standing.

"Now I'm allowing you to pick your ro-" Cadence began, but never got to finish as Thomas and Nathan already beat me to the two nearest rooms. I wasn't particularly bothered either way, to be perfectly honest. Cadence giggled and turned to me. "Looks like you landed yourself one of the best rooms in the castle," she commented as she walked down the corridor to said room. I followed her to the room, as Cadence opened the door with her magic and gestured me to go in. Being a gentleman, however, I shook my head.

"Ladies first," I said, while I gestured for her to go first.

"Oh, thank you, Jack," she said while walking inside. "You act like a gentlecolt even only being here for less than a day."

I chuckled. I knew what she meant, obviously, but I'd never been called a gentleman before, even with being with Emily for three years. "Thanks, Cadence. The term we use is gentleman, but I will admit that I've never been called a gentleman before either, even with being in a relationship for nearly three years."

Cadence cocked an eyebrow at this. "Never?"

"No, I don't think so."

Cadence then stared into my eyes for what seemed like an eternity. I wasn't quite sure what she was doing at the time, though I guessed that she was looking to see if I was being deceitful.

"Heh, that ended four years ago. Not in a fashion I would have liked..." I said, looking around the room while trying to avoid eye contact with Cadence. I just now kicked myself in the head for pointing out my previous relationship with Emily. I detest her for what she did, it was despicable.

"What did she do to you, Jack?" Cadence asked me, making me turn back to her.

"I- uh- she-"

"Emily hurt you, didn't she?"

I stood there, open-mouthed and wide-eyed in shock. There is no fucking way she knows about her, or what she did. The only one who knows about what she did was Thomas, and he was there when it happened.

"I- b-b-but- HOW?" I asked, still shocked by her knowing of my relationship.

Cadence didn't answer. "I can see a rough idea of what happened. You loved her, and you believed that she loved you as much as you did. But just as you were going to pop the question to the love of your life, she stabbed you in the back."

I stood there, with tears beginning to build up in my eyes, extremely upset for what happened that night, but growing up in Glasgow, and often going to the East side, I refused to let them fall. I looked back at what had happened over the course of that weekend. I mean, catching her sleeping with another guy on the Friday is one thing, and for that, I wasn't upset, I was just pissed. It's what happened on the Sunday that made me truly upset, and made me truly hate her with all my heart for as long as I live...

"Jack!" Cadence tried to get my attention. I turned back to her, to see what she would say.

"Come here," She said, gesturing me to come over closer to her. I complied, not knowing what she would say. To my surprise, she stood up on her hind legs, and leaned against my body while wrapping her forehooves around my neck in an embrace.

Completely shocked by her gesture, I reciprocated, in a mixture of not wanting to appear rude and also, well, thanking her for calming me down... as it was doing exactly that. My breathing was slowing down to normal, and I no longer felt the need to fight back the tears, as I felt they were no longer there in the first place. Her fur may have had some contributing factor there. It was extremely smooth, almost like silk to the touch. I never expected her fur to be this smooth, or any pony's fur, for that matter.

"Thank you."

Eventually we let go of each other, and Cadence dropped back to her normal height. "Feeling better?" she asked, albeit with a smile on her face, which I happily returned.

"Better."

Just like the Snickers ad.

She then gave me a run down of everything in the room, from the kitchen-type area, to the shower room, and even showed me the place where the wine and other drinks were kept, separate from the fridge, with a couple of wine bottles already there. I went to my bag, pulled out my bottle of Lagavulin and placed it there.

"What was that?" she asked me as I closed the door.

"One of my favourite types of Scotch whiskey, a type of whiskey only made in Scotland, known for its peat-like taste," I replied. "This has been aged for 16 years. I really like this stuff, we had it for New Year's 2015, and we tried it. Don't know about the other two, though, or anyone else that came over."

"Maybe I'll try it in the future if that's okay?"

"Yeah, sure," I answered. "Don't see why not."

"Well, I better get going," Cadence said, turning towards the door. "It's getting rather late, and tomorrow's Monday. If you're up early enough, we can talk over breakfast. Court starts at 9 in the morning, and it looks like I have a lot of petitioners tomorrow, if the appointments are anything to go by."

"Ah, that sucks," I sighed. "And I thought my job was bad!"

"Is it boring?" Cadence asked.

"VERY."

Cadence chuckled at this and opened the door with her magic. "Goodbye for now, Jack. Oh, and here's the keys," she said, while levitating a key over to me.

"Yeah, see you later," I said as I caught the key from mid air.

When the door shut, I walked over to the door and locked it. I then moved to the bathroom and closed the door. I stripped down to only my boxers, and looked in the mirror at my reflection. The scar on my chest is still the thing that attracts my attention the most. Getting out of that situation alive was extremely lucky of me that day. I'm still getting flashbacks from it, now that I think back on it now.

I then took my clothes and folded them up and put them under my arm. Leaving the bathroom, I put them all onto a chair next to my bed. Maybe I can get one more use out of these clothes before they need to be washed again.

I then pulled out my phone, along with my earphones I kept in the other pocket, and lay in my bed. I then went through some of my music and when I was about to doze off, I took the earphones out and turned the music off. I then waited for myself to start sleeping, which doesn't take all that long.

Before I do, I thought hard over what has happened today. Fell into a portal with our cars, and came into a world with colourful, talking ponies, who acted much nicer than anyone I have met in Glasgow before. Being told we will not be able to return for some time... staying in a castle...

This day was certainly... different.

Author's Notes:

Merry Christmas to everyone reading this!

I won't start writing the next chapter until after Boxing Day, so you'll probably have to wait another week until a new chapter gets released.