I woke up with a cold sweat. What even was that dream last night? Could one even call that a dream?

Looking around, I saw that I was in a plain white bed, a small tray next to me on a table, and the room was a plain white. A bit spooky, but manageable.

My armor was absent as well, which gave me the feeling of being naked despite not needing clothing. I thought about getting up, but I felt a pain in my neck.

Rubbing it, I thought about how I woke up from there.

Or, I was probably set here in the wrong position, and I now have a neck cramp.

Looking around again, the door was closed, meaning that I had some privacy for a bit.

Getting up, I hopped off of the bed and looked around. There wasn't anything even in the room, so it looked fairly similar to the room I was in from the dream.

There was, however, a window I could look out of. There was a rather thick fog that was starting to roll off the mountainside, where was I?

Stowing that thought away for the moment, I went to the door and opened it. The place had a hospital feel to it, so I assumed that I was in one.

"Hello?" I called out as I peeked outside.

There was staff down the hall attending to a seemingly hurt patient. It looked like his leg was in a cast, but I wasn't going to approach them so they could focus on him.

Going down the opposite way, I saw a staircase doing down. moving along the wall, I almost crashed into a staff member, who looked surprised, but recovered.

"Oh, good morning your Highness! Why aren't you in bed?" He asked.

"I woke up in my room a few minutes ago. Thought I should get something to eat. Say, where is this place?" I asked.

"This is a medical facility for Royal Castle members with larger pools of magic. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had you admitted here for an abnormality that occurred last night." He said, explaining it.

"Ah. Okay. Where are they?" I asked.

"Princess Luna is in the lobby, and Princess Celestia is in the Canterlot Castle attending to her Royal Duties." He explained.

"Okay. Mind showing me where the main lobby is?" I asked, wanting to leave and get back to my armor and to see the damage.

"Of course. I'll give you the release papers when we get there." He said, turning and walking.

Following him, I admired the whole place. While it needed some decorations, it was normal.

I didn't even need to go very far, probably another fifty yards before I reached the Lobby.

"I will get you your papers soon. Have you filled any of them out before?" He asked.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Okay, you can go right in now."

"Neat." I said, and opened the doors that would potentially lead to my doom.

I didn't see her at first, since this place wasn't very spacious, but I eventually found her reading something, with a piece of jam slathered toast in her magical grasp. A mischievous thought popped in, and I came up behind her silently.

She seemed oblivious, for the most part, and kept reading her magazine. I was almost there, just right behind her. She wouldn't even notice.

She was open for the taking.

As I crept up behind her, I thought about what I should do to scare her.

A sudden scream, and grab of the shoulders?

Or a more affectionate prank that involved hugging and kissing?

Going for the second one, I lowered myself and jumped.

Wrapping my arms around her neck, I planted a small kiss on her cheek.

This was immediately regretted as she threw the toast in my face, with the jam hitting my left eye and reducing half of my vision.

Luckily, I closed my eye before any of the jam got in there.

Then, she grabbed my head, pulled me up, and slammed me into the table in front of her, followed by a quick shot to the balls.

I was winded and slowly reached towards my nether regions, hoping to ease any of the pain she induced into our unborn children and myself.

She realized what she had done once she saw my face.

"Franz! Oh, We are so sorry! We did not mean to hurt thee that badly! A-art thee alright?" She asked, panic and fear evident in her voice.

"Yeah. but I'm not sure about our foals." I whispered, tears forming around my eyes.

"We apologize! What lead thou to believe this wouldn't happen?!" She asked, waving her hooves over me, not knowing what to do.

"I think you popped one." I gasped, finding it hard to breathe as the pain began to trail up my crotch and into my stomach.

"Prince Franz, here are your papers. Send them to..." The staff member stopped talking once he saw the situation that was presented to him.

"-...uh, I'll come back." He finished and left.

"Please! My balls!"

"Franz! We apologize!"

"Oh god, why!" I wailed before fainting.

An hour and a heavy dose of painkillers later, I was headed back to Canterlot in a wagon that had the Royal markings on it. It was almost covering us entirely, with her sitting next to me. I wanted to do nothing more than to lie down and do nothing for the day. And it was still morning!

"Dear Franz, we know that it ails thee, but does it honestly last that long, even after several doses of these 'painkillers'?"

"Believe me, I've never been nut-tapped that hard in my life. It felt like someone took a sledgehammer and went all out with it." I said, leaning forward and in a half fighting stance from the lingering pain in my stomach.

"Yes, we are aware that the pain is immense, but does it truely still hurt?"

"Not as bad as before, but it's bearable now." I said, grimacing.

"We, have a personal question to ask of thee." She said.

I simply gave her a sideways glance.

"We apologized, did we not?" She asked, gaining a concerned look.

"Yes. Many times if I remember." I said, turning my attention back to the cobblestone path.

We were just entering the gates that led into the city, and we still had to go through all of Canterlot to get to the Castle.

"Is there anything we can do to relieve thee of ailment?" She asked, draping a wing around my back.

"I don't think there's a spell for this type of injury, is there?" I asked.

"I don't believe so."

"Then no."

She kept her wing draped over my back the whole way there. I noticed that the Nobles weren't paying attention to us at all, and that the one's without clothing were the ones with curious looks.

'I swear, it's like they don't have any shame not wearing something to cover their crotch.' I thought.

'Then again, I'm not wearing much either.' I added, glancing down at my body that was without anything.

"We have arrived. Doth thee need any assistance getting down?" She asked.

"Maybe. Let me see." I said, and tried to get up.

Hopping off the carriage/wagon thing, I landed and looked around. I was at the entrance, and looked up.

It also dawned me as to how big the Castle actually was. Almost like a giant, shiny fortress.

Looking back down, I saw that Celestia was here as well. Along with Shining Armor. I've yet to see his marefriend, but I think it's better if she stayed away for now. Who know's what'll happen if I see her again.

But, I think it wasn't a trigger word as well. Maybe it was just me being reminded of her is what made me go buck wild.

I also didn't get anything to eat as well this morning, and I was kinda hungry.

My lips turned up a bit when I remembered how good pizza tasted. Oh how I wished that they had pizza here. Maybe they do. I'l ask someone about it.

"Franz. It is good to see you again. How are you feeling?" Celestia asked as she approached me, and no doubt noticing my pained form.

"I could be better." I said, slightly strained.

"Why is that?" Shining asked.

Slowly turning my head back to Luna, I gave her a raised eyebrow. She saw this, and looked a bit offended.

"We said we art sorry!" She cried.

"Huh." I said, still looking at her with the same look.

Turing back, I looked over to Celestia, who was clearly confused, then over to Shining, who had a knowing look that turned to pity when I made eye contact.

"Am I missing something here?" Celestia asked.

"I think I'll tell you later. What're we doing today?" I asked, giving Shining another glance.

"Well, I believe from what I heard, the two of you mention is that you'll be heading into the Everfree Forest in a few days, correct?"

"Perhaps." I said, keeping a blank face.

"We are. We have put much thought into this, and today, we art going to select our most capable guards into the Everfree." Luna said, her face getting stern.

"And do you have the necessary equipment for this mission?"

"We do." I answered pridefully.

"Do you?" Shining asked.

"Correct." I said.

"And what about supplies?"

"Like food and tools and stuff?" I asked.

"Yes. It's a necessity to maintain the survival of the group. How many were you planning on taking?" Celestia questioned.

"About four."

Shining looked appalled, even offended. Luna seemed a bit confused.

"Just four troops?" He asked.

"Yep."

"And thou ist certain about this?" Luna asked for confirmation.

"Yes! What's so bad about a group that small?" I asked.

"Well, for starters, if anything large like a Manticore, or even a group of Timberwolves manages to find you, you'll be overpowered! And that's not to mention anything bigger like a Hydra, Dragon, or even a Ursa Major!"

"It's not like we're going to look for those ones. We're just going to go to the Old Castle, and retrieve some artifacts of importance, then come back." I said, making this smaller than is should be.

"Still, these are my guards you're risking. I'm not sure that I want to approve of any of this."

Letting out a sigh, I went around them and into the Castle.

"Follow me!" I said, clearly annoyed.

"Where art thee taking us?" Luna questioned.

"To my room. I want to show the three of you something that'll change your minds." I said as the gate guards opened it for me.

I heard them following me as I made it to my room. Once there, I called over my armor, and heard it rumbling in the cabinets.

"What the?" I said as I opened the drawer and saw that my armor was beyond destroyed. Well, the one I was wearing last night anyways.

"You were saying?" Celestia said as she took a seat on one of the chairs in the room.

"Hold on." I said, unlatching the helmet and putting it on.

It hummed a bit before powering down. tapping the side of it, I tried to get it back online.

It didn't want to.

Letting out a breath from my nose, I took it off.

"Just wait." I said, going over to the side of the bed where the dresser was.

Opening the top drawer, I saw that my Laptop was still there. Pulling it out, I opened it up and logged on, and searched for the armors I made.

I went into maps, and I was surprised to see that there was several suits in where the Everfree Forest was. Bookmarking it, I searched where my current location was and saw that they were still tied to the ceiling. Strangely enough, I also saw some other tags underneath the Castle. there was quite a few, and I was going to have a talk with Celestia about this later on, maybe when Shining armor leaves, but for now, I'll leave it be.

Pulling up the menu, I looked for Active Camouflage, and turned it off.

I heard everyone settle in, and focused on my task.

A low hum could be heard as soon as I pressed the Enter button, and I turned to the ceiling. And there, being tied poorly, were four suits of armor that could power a city for several centuries.

"That's what our guards will wear." I said, a smirk on my face.

They all looked up and saw the armor dangling from the ceiling. I was also impressed that they would look as good as they did, even from the ceiling.

"When did you make this?" Shining asked.

"About a week ago when I was bored." I answered.

"You planned this far ahead of time?" Celestia asked, looking at me with surprised eyes.

"Well, I had thought about giving them to the R&D department, but I wasn't about to let a couple of scientist hurt themselves should they find the weapons system." I answered.

"And to think that thou was playing Minecraft the whole time." Luna said.

"What's Minecraft?" Shining asked.

"Don't worry about it." I replied.

"Oh, okay."

"Why didn't you tell us you had this armor earlier?" Celestia asked.

"You would have wanted me to donate it to the R&D department to play with. I'm not doing that." I answered.

"Dear Franz, why didn't thou tell us? We thought that we weren't going to keep things from each other."

"Well, in my defense, that was when we were coming back from Ponyville. I'm telling you now so this doesn't count." I said, shrugging my shoulders.

"Is there anything else, you should tell us?" Celestia asked, looking at me with suspicion.

"I don't think so. At least anything that I'm aware of." I said.

"That settles it then. Luna, Franz, you two will be going over to the barracks to find the ponies best suited for this mission. Understand?" Celestia asked, looking at me specifically.

"Right now?" I asked, giving her a look of surprise.

"Yes, is there something you were going to do today instead?" She questioned.

"Well, yeah, I have to eat something before I go. Is the dinning hall open by any chance?" I asked.

"Tis always open." Luna answered.

"Really?"

"Yes, we art certain about it." Luna confirmed.

"You didn't eat anything at the Hospital?" Celestia asked.

"I wasn't feeling it after Luna hit me."

"We said we art sorry!"

"I know, I just like teasing you." I joked.

"And we cannot?" Luna asked, getting a sour look.

"It's barely the same thing."

"I do believe that before the two of you start arguing, we should test the armor first on a brave individual. Shining Armor, would you like to be the first to test it?" Celestia asked, making him tense up when his name was mentioned.

"Or course, Your Highness." He said, standing up next to her.

"Are you sure? If so, then don't go into the Weapons system. Actually, I'll turn that off right now." I said, getting back onto the Laptop.

Going into armor settings, I disables all of their weapons and locked it with a pass-code. One that only I know of.

"Alright. It's ready." I said, pressing enter.

Going back into the settings, I typed in the Shining's name and assigned him Armor Number 3-Dash-6. Since there will only be six of us in total, I'll change the name later to whoever's name when we go.

"What do you want your call-code to be? It can be a phrase, word, number, anything."

"Can it be my marefriend's name?"

"No."

"Can it be something random?"

"Sure, Auto-Picking it." I said, clicking the Auto-Pick option. It made his random yet fitting call-code.

"It's going to be Cobalt-54."

"Okay."

"Cool, try it on." I said, motioning to the one on the bed.

He approached it slowly, not sure if it was going to latch onto him like mine does, or if it was going to open up and let him inside, giving him control of the suit.

"Shining, you have to put it on. Don't be a pu-, I mean, baby." I corrected, noticing the side glance Celestia gave me.

"What do I do? I don't see any opening."

"These ponies, I swear." I mumbled to myself.

"Use you call-code." I said, earning a sheepish look from him.

"Oh, sorry."

"JUST DO IT!" I screamed.

"Cobalt-54!" He yelped, activating the armor and making it stand upright. They watched in fascination as it opened up from the back and they were able to see the gel padded layers inside of the suit.

"Now, before I forget, this is a power armor. You can't go running around in this all willy nilly or I'll use my suit's Admin Control and activate your Armor Lock Down until you chill. Take it easy and run the Tutorial." I said, giving him a small warning.

"Understood, Your Majesty." He said, smirking.

Rolling my eyes from his title jab, went into his armor's settings and changed his tag name to Shining-The-Kiss-Ass 3-dash-6.

Glancing over to him, I saw him approach the armor as if it were going to hurt him. It was kinda strange seeing him act like this, so I pushed him in with my magic.

"Gah!" He yelped, as the armor began wrapping around his body and adjusting to his size. It seemed as though it was morphing, almost becoming one with his skin, but really, it was just wrapping the enclosed gel layer. Glancing over to the Laptop's monitor, I saw that he was beginning to show signs of stress, and panic.

Thinking quickly, I created a headset while he was distracted, and linked it up with his armor.

"Shining, don't panic. The armor is just trying to adjust to your body's specifications. It does this to every user that wears the suit. If you do, then you might make some pockets of space that'll implode when popped." I said, grinning slightly.

Almost as soon as I said that, I heard him stop struggling and quiet down. I checked his readings and it showed that he was now in a state of fear, and obedience.

'Worked like a charm.' I thought.

"Nice, now, I want you to activate the Tutorial like I told you." I said, looking back to him and the monitor.

"How do I do that?" I heard him say through the mic.

"Franz, are you sure that he's alright? He looked as though he was being strangled." Celestia said, concern in her voice.

"Don't worry, he'll be fine. The suit was just doing it's first protocol. After that, then he should walk around like normal." I said, waving a dismissive hoof.

"Art thee sure? It did look somewhat painful." Luna asked.

"Remember when you first tried on the suit? It did the same thing to you as it did to him. I think I have it installed in every one of the suits, maybe." I said, trying to remember what I installed into them. It was a lot of stuff, I tell you what.

"I'm sure that every suit has this. I don't think it would be very safe if they didn't." Celestia said.

"Oh, Celestia, I need to talk to you about something after this." I said, earning a tilted look from her.

"Why's that?" She asked.

"I just have some questions."

"Dear Franz, would thou like me to stay for this?" Luna questioned.

"If you want." I shrugged.

"Hey, I think I'm getting the hang of this!" Shining said through the mic, as we watched him start to move around somewhat normally now.

"Cool, now, I need you to take off the armor. I think that we're done now." I said.

"And how do I do that?" He asked.

"Say your call-code..." I repeated, ever so slightly annoyed.

"Oh, Cobalt-54!" He yelled, which wasn't really necessary.

The armor opened up, almost like a zipper from the back, and gently pushed him out.

"How do you feel, Shining Armor?" Celestia asked.

"I feel okay. Though, wearing the suit was pretty exhilarating." He said, a smile starting to show on his face.

"We believe that is all, Captain Shining Armor. Do return to thou's duties." Luna said, earning a bow from him.

"Of course, You Majesty." He said, and promptly left.

Once I was alone with them, I put the suits back hanging on the ceiling and turned the invisibility back on.

Shutting the laptop, I put it back in the drawer and looked over to both of them.

"So, what did you wish to speak with me about?" She asked kindly.

"I wanted to know how many suits you have in the R&D department, and if there is anything else that you've been hiding down there from the general public."

"Oh, I'll be glad to tell you. We have currently five and a half suits that are currently being repaired, with little success, and several energy-based weapons that I believe we can convert over to a brand new energy source. Though, even my top scientists are having quite some difficulty being able to replicate the power from these 'Cells' as you call them. I've been wanting for you to come back down with me and help discuss what kind of energy is needed to power the suits you've created." She explained.

"Yes, but who gave you permission to just do that?" I asked.

"You did, several days before I forced myself upon you." She said, slightly lowering her head in what looked like shame.

"Oh, well, consider that redacted. How many ponies have you lost from these experiments with the suits?"

"I've had several incidents involving your technology, and I was prepared each time. For the most part."

"And that means?" I asked.

"It does not matter. What has happened, happened. I shall inform my head scientists that the armor will be destroyed within the next week."

"You don't have to destroy them. I'll take over and see what I can salvage from the memory units that're still in there. And I'll also salvage whatever armor that is still operational later today, maybe tomorrow." I said.

"But first, we shall feast in the Dining Hall, for we have candidates to tend to!" Luna interjected.

"Yes, let's go eat something. I feel kind of hungry." I said, making my way over to the doors.

"Do go ahead, sister, I have something to ask of my partner." She said, draping a wing over my shoulder.

'Ah shit.' I thought.

"Very well. Just do not take too long. I enjoy his presence as well you know." She said before leaving through the door.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll meet you there." I said, hoping that I could just go and eat something. The pain in my sack was gone now, and hopefully it'll stay that way.

She simply gave a hearty laugh, and fully disappeared through the doorway, which was shut by a golden magical aura.

Glancing over to Luna, I saw her horn light up, and the entire room was also covered in the same glow from her horn.

"We placed a soundproof spell onto the room, for I need to tell thee something of great importance." She said, her expression becoming more serious and firm.

"Okay." I said, not sure where this is going.

She walked over to the bed and sat down, patting the spot next to her.

Walking over, I sat down and watched her carefully. I wasn't sure why she was acting like this, but it couldn't be anything good.

"Who contacted thee last night?" She asked.

"What?"

"Was it one of the other beings like thee? The one that goes by the name of Spar?"

My gut sank. How does she know this?

"We know what thou art thinking. How do I know of this being. Well, thou fought her before, and barely won. If she has contacted thee again, then that means that she is returning to the land of Equestria, along with possibly Discord." She said, her muzzle hardening into a frown.

"Wait, I fought them before?" I asked.

"Yes, they are Elements of Existence. Thou fought two of them, both Discord and Spar, but it is the others that I fear of. We have not seen such beings of power like those, and thou art the only one that isn't a threat."

"Did they attack this world?" I asked.

"Yes, and we have seen what they leave in their wake."

"Are they anything like the Elements of Harmony? If so, then they might have a weakness or something." I said, trying to remember how I managed to beat one of them before.

"I believe that they are similar, but we have yet to see the others. I know for a fact that Discord was one among their ranks, but I am relieved that thou are with us." She said, a wing wrapping over my shoulder.

"We shall discuss this at a later date, perhaps when we return from the COTTRPS, as thou calls it." She said, her features softening.

"Yeah, lets go eat something. I'm sure that Celestia is waiting in the Dining Room already." I said, hopping off the bed.

"And Dear Franz?"

"Yes?" I asked, turning back to her.

"Before we leave to eat, can we do as thou called, making out?" She asked, a hopeful look in her eyes.

I thought about it for a second, and just thought fuck it.

"Sure, but we should hurry to the Dining room before Celestia gets suspicious and comes back." I said, going back to the bed where she was waiting.

I saw her gain a giddy look, but figured that she was waiting for this for a while.

I sprung up and tackled her, taking her by surprise and earning a gasp.

Pressing my lips onto hers, she pressed back and tried to slip her tongue in, which I thought about denying, but I was feeling pretty hungry, and I wanted to eat as soon as possible, so I opened my mouth and let her explore my mouth for a bit before retaliating.

I could feel her hooves wrap around my back, and pull me closer. I was on top of her, which I was sure wouldn't hurt her with her being bigger, or were we about the same size now?

Being pulled back to reality, I noticed that I was being pretty aggressive with my mouth, and eased up a bit.

She seemed to be pretty desperate with keeping up, and when I calmed down, she must've seen this as a chance to go harder with more vigor.

Noticing the change in pace, I thought that I was going too easy on her, and came back with full force.

All while this was happening, I felt her hooves grab and prod at my body, and in a lapse of better judgement, I unconsciously began groping her flank.

She let out a suppressed moan, and looked like she was embarrassed.

I think she needed to breathe, so I pulled away from her for a bit. Rolling to the side, we looked at the ceiling.

"That was nice." I said, a small smile on my face.

For a slit second, I thought I could smell the spiciest, near nose wrenching smell I've ever experienced, but it was gone the second I noticed it.

Looking over to Luna, I saw that she saw staring at me lovingly, and that was something I always wanted.

Love.

"That was more than thou has given me the last few weeks, Dear Franz." She said, getting up and laying right next to my side.

"Love you." I said with confidence as I stared into her eyes.

She seemed taken back, almost shocked, and smiled warmly.

"I love thee as well, Dear Franz." She whispered, resting her head on my chest.

'I don't know if my pheromones are still a problem or not. I thought, glancing at her resting head on my fluffy chest.

'Maybe it's that thing I did last night where I always have myself clean no matter what. Even the pheromones.'

'Maybe.'

Once we were ready, we went over to the dining room, where we met up with Celestia and what looked like Prince Shitsack.

I didn't know what he wanted, but I was sure that he would be annoying for the whole time.

"Franz, I was starting to wonder if you were sidetracked by somepony." Celestia said, a smile on her face.

Luna giggled and I rolled my eyes.

"We could have gotten here sooner, but we were talking about some stuff." I said, glancing over to Blueblood with light confusion, who had a neutral expression.

"Yes, and I have some surprising news to share." Celestia said, earning my attention.

"And that is?" I asked.

She looked over to Blueblood, who now had a look of slight regret. Something I don't think I've ever seen him display.

He cleared his throat, and lifted his head high. His posture also changed, and I was;t sure what he was planning.

"I would like to formerly apologize for my rude interactions with you. I now realize that I haven't been the most respectable pony here, and would like to change that. Perhaps a re-introduction is at hoof." He said, genuinely taking me by surprise.

"Really?" I asked, not sure if he was serious.

"Of course. You clearly have more authority than I knew of, and would like to apologize. And so, I'm sorry."

This was a somewhat pleasant surprise. On one hand, I could call this bullshit and keep him labeled a bitch in my mind, or, I could accept his apology, and maybe shape him to be a better role model. And to curb his horny ass.

The decision was honestly not that hard.

"Yeah, I accept. And sorry for scaring you last time. I think I went a little overboard with the Nomu." I said, gaining a slanted smile.

"Friends?" I asked, going over to him and raising my hoof.

He contemplated this for a second, and shook my hoof.

"Family." He said, gaining a smile.

'I think I might regret this.' I thought.

"Now that this has been settled, I do believe that lunch is to be served." Celestia said. And as soon as she said it, several servants came out with platters and drinks.

Quickly taking my seat between Celestia and Luna, I wondered what over-complicated dish they would bring me this time.

"Oh, and Franz, I heard that you preferred pasta and sandwiches best. And so, I thought the cooks should try something and combine the two." Celestia said, earning a shocked look from my face.

"Oh my god, does that mean..." I trailed off as a servant dropped off my plate with a smile.

"See for yourself." She pushed.

Lifting the lid to the platter, I saw that there was a sandwich on the side and an elegant pile of spaghetti next to it.

My excited, lit up face turned to one of confusion, then blank.

'W-what?'

"Dear Franz, what is wrong?"

An Idea hit me, and I regained my smile.

"Nothing. I'm just surprised is all." I said, grabbing a fork and lifting up some of the wonderful pasta.

"I am glad to hear- uh." Celestia trailed off as I lifted the top bread and took out the hay bits, leaving the rest and plopping the sauced noodles right in the sandwich.

"..." Was Luna reaction.

"..." Was Blueblood's.

Placing the top bun back on top, I lifted the sandwich and took a hearty bite, earning looks of confusion, and concern from everyone in the room.

Yet they didn't say anything.

"What? Something on my face?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at them and holding my sandwich protectively.

Blueblood, for the most part, was the most confused out of the whole bunch. With having little to no experience seeing me eat except on one occasion.

"May I?" Luna asked, earning looks of alarm from everyone.

I thought long and hard about her question, roughly thirty seconds of me just staring at her until I decided that they could always make more, and of not, I could.

"Okay. But one bite only." I said.

"This is the strangest thing I've seen you do, Prince Franz." Blueblood said.

"You gonna eat that?" I asked, staring intensely at his plate of fruits.

"Y-yes?"

"Mmm." I mumbled, and sank into my chair with my spaghetti sandwich.

I noticed that Luna and Celestia gave each other looks, and I think it was one of worry.

Soon after, when everyone had finished eating, they thought it would be a good idea to go for a walk.

Blueblood declined, saying he would rather attend to his royal duties, but I was pretty sure he was just going to try and find another mare again.

'I wonder how old he is.'

Focusing back to the moment, we were currently going through the garden. It was a nice place, and I was thinking they wanted to take a nap or something. But we had passed the benches about five minutes ago. And last time we went through here, or was it the maze? I don't even know anymore.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"You'll see." Celestia said, a smile ever present on her face.

I wasn't sure what we were going to do right now, but I hoped it wasn't anything too bad.

We walked for another solid ten minutes before they stopped. I saw Celestia look around cautiously, and her horn light up with magic.

The bushes parted and there were four guards waiting. Two Royal guards, and two Night guards. Three of which I recognized almost instantly.

"Rose? Thunderlane? Blossomforth? What are you three doing here?" I asked.

"We were wondering the same thing, Your Highness." Blossomforth said.

Looking over to the fourth one, I realized who it was with some thinking.

"Field Note? What're you doing in the Night guard?" I asked her.

"I was picked by Princess Luna and Princess Celestia to go with you to the COTTORPS." She said excitedly.

"I only called it that as a joke. And I thought that me and Luna were doing this." I said.

"Yes, but you were busy with her in your room, and so I took over and decided to label this mission just that. OPERATION: COTTORPS." Celestia said proudly.

"I hate you."

"I hope that's a joke."

"It is, doofus."

"Very well. And who will be the main lead pony that shall appoint in finding the lost artifacts?" Luna asked.

I chuckled, which earned a light blush from Luna. Clearing my throat to grab their already watching eyes, I spoke.

"I will be the C.O. of the group. Any and all directives are to go through me before you act. And use your common sense as well. You'd be surprised by how many soldiers don't have that ability." I said.

"Dear Franz. Did thou bring any of the armor sets?" Luna asked.

"No, they'll be equipped when we leave for the mission. Each and every one of you four will receive an armor set, but under extreme supervision. If I see any of you poking into things that you aren't supposed to, you will be put in Armor and System Lock Down until I see what you were trying to get into." I said, authority in my voice.

They all shook their heads. Some more so than others.

"And Field Note, please don't poke around any of the files you find in the armor sets. I don't want you accidentally activating the Weapons Systems." I asked her.

"No problem, Your Majesty!" She said excitedly.

"Good. Now meet me in Ponyville in... How long?" I asked, looking over to Celestia.

"Two days."

"Yes. Two days. Understand soldiers!?" I asked them.

"Sir, yes sir!" Three of them shouted, spooking Field Note from their chant.

"Good. Now rest up, eat a bunch, and have a good day." I said, watching them give me a salute, with Field Note not sure what to do.

"That means you can go now." I said, watching her mouth make an O shape before leaving.

"Thou handled that surprisingly well." Luna said.

"When you watched a lot of military movies, and video games you pick up a few things." I said, feeling my wings wanting to stretch.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Now, we wait until Wednesday." She said.

'That lines up perfectly.' I thought. Once we finished, I could pick up Ditzy and the girls. And maybe apologize for how I said I wanted to court her. It was still kind of odd how she still wanted to be with me even though what I said was scummy.

"Alright then." I said, noticing them start to leave.

Stretching my wings, I looked up to the skies. Maybe this'll be good for me.

My attention was suddenly redirected to a thick black smoke in the sky, that seemed to come from a mountain that was a ways from Ponyville. Was it a fire? I wondered of it would be anything like the California fires that were really hard to stop. I really hope not.

"Franz, I have just received word that there is a dragon in a mountain cave off of Ponyville. Do you think that they need help?" Celestia asked.

"Nah, they'll be fine. I gave Twilight her armor, so she should be good and dandy." I said.

"Plus, it'll give her a chance to test it out. And I'm sure that she'll keep me updated."

"Maybe." I said, a shadow of a frown on my face.

'Nah, they should be good. They did it last time, no?' I thought.

I stopped. Last time? Where did that come from?

'Must be my weirdness acting up again.' I thought, as I walked back to the Castle with Celestia and Luna. One of which was writing on a scroll to send out to Twilight, and maybe her friends.

Yeah, another chapter. I spoil you wonderful people too much. How was your Halloween? Tell me all about it in the comments! I really enjoy hearing from you all!

Dang, this is the biggest chapter I've released. Lets beat that.

Edit:STILL ALIVE! STILL KICKIN!