I woke with a strange soreness in my body. I wasn't sure where the ache came from, or where I was either as I was in was different place from last night when I fell asleep next to Luna.

Getting up, I discovered that it was still dark out, and that most of the guard was sleeping save for the two that were barely awake for the night shift. Shifting from my idle position, I felt small bits of stone fall off my armor with small clanking sounds as it hit the floor.

Walking over to the hole I had recently found, I climbed through and unfolded my helmet, feeling the early morning air hit my frazzled face.

Looking over the prisoners, they were all asleep in their bindings. Luna cast spells that allow them free movement but restrained them from doing rapid movements. Like throwing a punch.

Looking over the two barely awake guards, I smiled. Their Bio-scanners show me that their in the process of going through another REM sleep cycle.

Field Note was leaning into Rose, who in turn leaned back.

Looking around, I decided to explore the castle a bit more. maybe I'll find something else of value that these Raiders haven't picked at already.

Going down a random hallway, I began my small exploration.

Passing through where I thought the basement could be, I was on the lookout for things that could lead me towards an underground space. I wondered where my old room would have been, since this was technically my old home as well.

Passing another door, which was broken down by one of the Raiders, I checked my Motion Tracker. The sun was going to rise in an hour or two, I presume. Celestia is fairly predictable with that star of hers.

Passing yet another door, I stopped and walked backwards, a door that was closed and for some odd reason, had a magically protected lock on it.

"That's weird." I said, rubbing a hoof over the surface.

Giving a light push, it was in the process of rotting, but either magic or another factor kept it from being completely consumed.

Looking at the door, I used my magic to pick at the lock, with some success.

After a few minutes of cursing and nearly bashing the door down, I managed to get it open. Inside was a room furnished with some moldy couches and tables. There was a bookshelf too, which I walked up to.

Picking up a book, I passed my headlight over the cover.

Culture Of The Griffon: A Reference Guide, by Study Guide.

Flipping through the book quickly, I skimmed it and read parts that I should be aware of. Though this might be outdated, I figured that I should never ask them to duel, as they seem to take that as a challenge for possible procreation. While they are prone to violence, I should end the fight as it might lead to accidental arousal for them if prolonged. Apparently it turns them on. Not too much, but just enough to make them flustered.

Then again, this is a very outdated book, and should be taken with several grains of salt.

Putting the book back, I got another and checked it out.

War Tactics and Strategies, By Joe M.

"Joe M.?" I said aloud.

Opening the book, I closed it and threw it across the room with the might of God and sent it through the wall.

"Fucking Hell!" I yelled, realizing that I got myself from over a thousand years ago. The book contained some hand with the thumb and index connecting, forming a circle, while the rest of the fingers were fanned outwards, forming the vague shape of a 'W' under the words Joe Mama.

'I honestly hate myself sometimes.' I thought, looking at the bookshelf.

There were more books here, so I flipped through them fairly quickly. Mostly anatomy and stuff about magic. I didn't think that they were very important, but one couldn't be too sure. Maybe Twilight might like them, she seems like a nerd like that.

After doing that, I looked back over the room. There was a table here, which actually served more like a place to shelf things, as there were small boxes here. Wooden boxes, that contained something that I was intent on finding out.

Upon reaching the table, I noticed that the boxes had two drawers each, and that I couldn't open it no matter how much I pulled. While the box creaked, it did not give way.

Thinking of something I remembered, I attached a disk to it, and switched it on.

The energy immediately dissipated whatever spell it had keeping the mysterious insides of the drawer hidden. Actually, now that I actually paid more attention, there were more wooden boxes scattered around with the same spell. The Raiders probably tried to open one, and then threw them off to the side when they couldn't.

Opening the top of the two sliding handles, I found a key. It looked like a modern key from Earth, but slightly rusted and worn.

Putting that in my pockets, I opened the other sliding door.

It was a letter.

Although the text was mostly faded, I could just barely make out what it was trying to say.

I hate you.

I hate you so, to the point of breaking into thy room and destroying everything that which you've worked tirelessly to create.

Why has't thou fallen for younger sister rather than I? We merely wanted to be a part of thou's herd, yet, the ideology of a different worlds culture is too far out of mine own concept.

But we care not, for with our plan, we will carry out the most efficient way to rule a nation, to be perfect in the most sense.

Thou has made a mistake for not choosing us first, but we are ill intent on being with thee.

We will be with thee.

It matters not about how the so called system will not accept it. I will do all in mine own power to make it just.

We art doing this for us, to be together, to have heirs to the throne.

I hate you, Dearest Franz, and so, I shall destroy your world in the most beautiful way possible and give you mine.

Signed, Princess Celestia.

It looks like they tried to erase their name in ink, though I might know who it was. I'll be sure to ask Luna who's writing style this was, just to be sure. Or I can have my armor scan and cross reference it, but that's just too much effort to find the creator of this odd hate letter.

Looking over the room, I eyed the boxes. While there were many with the same spell, I presumed they were mostly empty to keep those less persistent away. And that I got lucky with this one.

But then again, I couldn't be entirely sure, and there might be some valuable things in here that these guys were after.

Moving onto the next box, I zapped it and opened it. There were only a few coins here. And they looked very old as well by the way it looked slightly rusted.

Stuffing them into my soft case pocket, I continued doing this until I finished them. A couple were empty, but the rest had either coins, trinkets, or similar hate notes directed at my past self.

In total, I found 36 coins, 14 rings, 9 hate notes, and 12 small pieces of jewelry. I'm not entirely sure who's they were, but I figured that I'd take them regardless. Just in case any of them held sentimental value.

Checking the time, the sun was going to rise soon. Roughly ten minutes.

Going back to the group, I gave the room one last look before taking my leave. Going the same way I came; I made it before any of them woke up. Except Luna, of course.

I noticed that her horn was giving a light glow. Not knowing what she was doing, I walked up to her. Her ear followed me, and I had to keep myself from grabbing it. I figured that this was some sort of survival thing from evolution and left it at that.

I gave the moon an off-chance glance, and saw that it was lowering, much to my surprise. I knew that they could move the sun and moon, now since I knew that the sun was smaller than Earth's sun, but still. Seeing it gave me a new sense of amazement. While I could also do it, I'd rather not throw them out of orbit.

Moving towards Luna, I sat next to her. I took in how flawless her features were, almost like a portrait. Beautiful, and not overdone.

The way her eyes glowed, the silky smoothness fur looked, the wavy hair that flowed in the windless air. It was breathtaking.

Not to mention her baby blue eyes. How they bore into your own with intensity. Wait, she see's me!

"Enjoying the view?" She said, smiling sweetly at me.

Feeling my cheeks heat, I turned away and cleared my throat, nodding.

"Yes, I was actually.

She leaned onto me, wanting to share her body heat with me. I leaned in, my armor folding into their capsules for more skin-on-skin contact. Or was it fur on fur contact?

We enjoyed each other's company until a sudden question came to mind.

"Hey, why did I wake up in a different room? I remember being with near you last night?" I asked.

She looked up at me, an eyebrow raised.

"What doth thou mean?"

Looking back at the hole in the wall, I thought back to last night.

"I went to sleep next to you, then I woke up in the next room over. Not entirely sure what happened." I repeated, the dots starting to connect.

She followed my gaze to the hole, and back to me a few times as something in her head must've clicked. She buried her head into my chest, somehow, as what sounded like worry was in her tone.

"Worry not, Dear Franz. I, er, believe that we art the cause of this. Apologies." She said, peeking up at me from my chest.

Remembering our dream, I put two and two together, and also made the connection.

"Oh! Right. You threw me through a wall." I said, giving a light chuckle.

Looking back to the group, they were all starting to wake up for the day. Either their internal alarms went off, or the armor did.

"We should get ready for today. A transport wagon should be called in to make sure that we can take them all." I said.

Getting up from my idle position, I felt Luna follow me. I noted that I was slightly taller than her now, which made hum in slight perplexation. How did I get taller? Do I grow depending on the amount of affection I get? Or is it that weird power I have evening the playing field?

Sliding those thoughts back to oblivion, I focused on the task at hand.

"Luna, you sent Celestia a letter saying we needed transport for the trip, right?" I asked her.

"We believe so. Why?"

"I need to take care of something." I said, thinking back to the room I found.

"We are fairly certain that whatever thou art referring to can involve the both of us this time." She said, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

"While on normal occasions, yes, it most definitely would, but considering that the radio jammer has been removed, I can give you a full video on what I found. Live feed and all." I said.

She didn't seem very convinced.

"Dear Franz, we are most definitely going with thou. The other chariots will be arriving withing the hour, and so will Shining Armor. Whatever it is that thou art going to deal with, can wait for the both of us until they arrive." She said, giving me a calm look.

"That, and it is most certainly not a very wise idea to leave for what thou wants to do without proper care. Look what happened to thou's armor, for instance. T'was very worn from whatever spell thou faced!" She said, sounding like she really wanted to go with me.

I didn't want her to go. Hell, I was just going to set some detonators and blow the place apart, but I figured that I could give her a flamethrower and have some bonding time with her. For old times' sake.

"Alright, sure. But keep in mind, I'm in charge of this side Operation. Got it?" I said, giving her a firm stare.

"Of course, Dear Franz." She said, giving me a smile and a light bow.

'Wait, did she just agree to what I said?' I pondered, not sure if I heard her right.

"Okay, we'll leave when the chariots get here." I said, turning back to look at the sky for the crew.

"Very well." She said, earning a smile from me.

A few minutes later and the chariots were starting to arrive. I was actually impressed that they were here right at sunrise. I figured that they would get here a bit later, but it looks like they were ready beforehand. Spotting Shining Armor, both I and Luna went up to him as his chariot landed.

"Shining Armor, we request an audience with thou." Luna said, wearing her trademark scowl. I thought that she was being a bit rude, but it might be an old habit from back in the day. Shining bowed as he addressed us.

"Rise, we have much to discuss." She said, taking lead and ignoring everything I just said about me being in charge. Shining looked at me for approval and I just nodded and went after Luna, him behind me.

Taking a glance at the incoming chariots, they were loading up the prisoners already. Probably shouldn't call them that, but they did get captured.

Once we were away from the main group, Luna stopped and turned to face us.

"Captain Shining Armor, what does thou know about our presence here?" Luna asked.

He looked down for a moment to think.

"Princess Celestia said that Prince Franz and you were sent here to retrieve several items that were of importance. She also mentioned that there might be trouble, so that's why I brought extra guards should the Raiders be difficult."

"And what of our status?" She added.

He looked a bit confused, but remembered.

"To be sworn into secrecy. Nopony is to know of this Operation or the participants. I left my guards in the dark about the true nature of the mission."

"Good. Now for the second thing." I said, stepping up. Luna stepped back to let me speak.

"We will be leaving via teleportation to somewhere that needs our attention. Surely you understand, right?" I said, looking at him.

"STS?" He asked.

"Sworn To Secrecy." Luna repeated.

"Okay, just take the prisoners to Canterlot and put them in the dungeon for now. We'll deal with them as soon as possible." I said, turning around and motioning for Luna to follow.

"Of course, Your Highness." He said, going back to the main group.

"Dear Franz, show us how big this problem is." She said, her voice taking on a less than princess like tone.

"Don't say it like that, it sounds like the intro to a bad porn intro." I said, not thinking.

"A what?"

"Never mind."

We made it to the room where I found the dogs. I created a pair of canisters that fit snugly to the sides of Luna, and my own sides. There was a slight problem with how it worked, mostly how awkward it would be for her to use it, but after some adjusting, it worked for the most part.

The canisters were about the same size of a football, with near infinite about of fuel and two hosed that led to a trigger in her forearms. I made sure to have her activate her armor beforehand, so she wouldn't get singed by the possible back blast, and placed the exit nozzle where the flames would shoot out.

There was the small problem that it would probably break after her stepping on it, so I made it collapsible to fit her hooves comfortably.

After some quick testing, and a face full of accidental burning of myself, we got it to work.

And for her protection from the dogs biting onto the canisters, I placed Vibranium puncture resistant plating that redirects kinetic energy into fuel, or a charged attack.

And for me, I just turned back into my human form and put on a lot of precautions that would activate without me needing to activate them. It was a bit harder to do without my laptop, but I managed.

"Ready?" I asked her.

"That we are." She said, her features hidden behind her retractable mask, though I could tell that she was smiling.

"Good." I said, looking back at the door and giving it a powerful kick. The door burst apart, and I quickly scanned the area for any of the dogs.

"Hello?"

"Adios!" I said and sprayed my flamethrower into the massive room.

Hissing and screeching could be heard from the dogs, and I saw them rushing towards us even through the fire.

I formed an energy sword and heard the crack of plasma in my hands. It jumped at me, and I swung it at the creature slicing and burning through faster than a plasma cutter through butter, and I holstered the energy sword at my hip.

Something in my Motion Tracker went off, and a red blip appeared behind me.

Not having enough time to react, I was only able to turn and see the dog leap at me.

In an instant, a sword rammed it's way into the dog's head, and pinned it to the wall, where I followed with a generous spray of flame.

Luna and I shared a nod, and continued to make our way through the den, burning and slicing through the enemy with extreme prejudice.

I heard Luna yelp and I instantly turned to her.

There was one that landed on her from above, and was clawing at her armor. It was holding up, glowing a bright purple color.

Raising my hand, I shot the thing with a beam of energy and knocked it off of her and into the wall. It splattered and left a stain on the wall it hit.

Turning out of instinct, I kicked the head off of a dog and sent it flying into a group, knocking some down in the process.

"You alright?" I asked, going over to her.

"We need to rid ourselves of these canisters. They interrupt our flight greatly!" She said, shooting a ball of fire to the group that I toppled over.

One nearly got the jump on me, only to be stabbed into and ripped apart by four spider-like appendages.

Placing my hand where the canister was at, I removed one and placed it on the ground, and worked on the second one. All while I worked, Luna used her magic to stab them from afar. Just how many of these fuckers were there?!

Once I removed the second, an idea came to mind.

"Luna, teleport out out of here, wait a minute, and then teleport me to you." I said, grinning.

"What? No!" She said, looking at me.

I caught a dog by its throat and cut it in half with a chop of my hand, watching it try to still claw at us, despite being not intact.

"Look, it's a crazy idea, but it'll get them all. Trust me." I said, depolarizing my visor for her to see my face.

She looked at me for a second, and sighed.

"Fine, but do not jest with us." She said, swinging her swords around rapidly like a barrier.

"Cool, ready?" I said.

"One."

Creating a sticky, I lobbed the plasma grenade at one that was on the ceiling,

"Two."

The dog seemed confused and began whimpering and clawing at its face to try and remove the explosive as it melted and burrowed itself into its face.

"Three!" I shouted, hearing her teleport away, followed by the loud bang from the plasma. My armor pinged that there was a slight spike of radiation, but I ignored it.

The swords disappeared, and I set a detonator on the ground. It seemed like the dogs knew what I was doing, as their demeanor went from aggressive, to straight berserk.

Slowing time down, I set the timer for one minute, and walked around the room punching each dog with power infused chain punching to the head. Basically Za Wardo, but everywhere.

I found one particular one that was larger than the rest, and this fucker was on the ceiling. Picking up a rock, I chucked it at him and watched the stone slow mid-air and nearly stop.

Resuming time, all of their heads simultaneously imploded and I checked the time.

Only about twenty seconds left. Looking up I saw that the big one was locked up and clinging onto the ceiling as it's body gave small spasms. Damn, that rocked his world.

Ba dum ching

Feeling a pulling sensation on my body, I felt the same warping sensation from the teleportation and in a flash of light, appeared next to Luna, who's horn was glowing.

"Oh, hey, quick question, how far are we from where we teleported?" I asked, looking down at her slightly.

"We teleported directly to the ground above. Why?"

Panic set in, and we felt a rumbling. Grabbing her, I created a bubble shield and pulled her close.

Making sure we were safe, I was going to up the power for the shield, when we were engulfed in a mixture of dirt and fire.

I held onto her as tight as I could, not wanting to lose her to the explosion, but my grip failed me, and she was lost in the fire.

I heard her screaming, and something inside me snapped.

"NOOOOO!"

I felt my power flare, but it felt different, almost flowing. Then blacked out.

Franz, his eyes glowing bright white with a glare, stopped his descent and extended his arm to the ground.

Green runes and lines formed at his wrist, and he turned his wrist inwards, watching the scene reform before it could happen. Luna wasn't hurt, the explosion was yet to happen, and Luna was still safe, unharmed.

Franz moved Luna over to the opposite side where she would be safe, and the glow in his eyes faded, and time resumed, with him being teleported back to the underground, where he would resume like nothing happened.

It would never happen.

Only about twenty seconds left. Looking up I saw that the big one was locked up and clinging onto the ceiling as it's body gave small spasms. Damn, that rocked his world.

Ba dum.... ching?

Feeling a pulling sensation on my body, I felt the same warping sensation from the teleportation and in a flash of light, appeared next to Luna, who's horn was glowing.

"Oh, hey, quick question, how far are we from where we teleported?" I asked, looking down at her slightly.

"We teleported directly to the ground above. Why?"

Panic set in, and we felt a rumbling. Grabbing her, I created a bubble shield and pulled her close.

Making sure she was safe; I upped the amperage when an explosion erupted twenty meters away from us. The sheer force of it sent a shockwave out that cracked my shield, but it held firm.

Looking at the size of the fire, I used my power to create a bubble shaped cloud that would create instant rain and biodegradable flame retardant.

Soon, there were guards in the distance rushing over, and I quickly changed back into my disguise.

"Your Highness! What happened?!" One of the guards asked, hovering in the air.

"Simple weapon's test. I wanted to see what would happen." I said, lying about the whole ordeal. Something seemed off, but it wasn't a bad thing. I can't remember what happened though, but that's alright.

"A weapons test?" Another asked.

"Yep. Just strapped some explosives to a chair I found and upped the power a bit too much. Should be fine now." I said.

"Art our prisoners ready for transportation?" Luna asked, distracting them from the big boom.

"Yes Your Highness. They are ready for your command." He said, landing and folding his wings.

"Then send them on their way. We have matters to attend to." I said, giving him a nod.

He bowed and left, flying over the fire and back to the group.

The fire had died by now, so we could see of there were any survivors in that den. I still didn't know who they were able to reproduce from there. But hey, they didn't need to eat, so it wasn't as hard to accept.

"Dear Franz, what matters do we have to attend?" Luna asked, coming up next to me.

"I wanted to visit Ditzy and bring them to the Castle for a bit. I'm sure that we can stop by, but if you have other things to do, don;t let me stop you."

"Nay, the prisoners have departed back to Canterlot, and will be awaiting trial. As for us, we need not any royal matters to complete. So we shall accompany thou to our new herd member and bring her with us."

"Okay. I think she'll be ready by tomorrow. I told her to be ready by Friday, so I think we should help her get ready." I said.

"Doth thee not think that we should order the guards to help?" She asked, her head tilting slightly.

"Yeah, if they want. I'm pretty sure we'll need some help. Or we could just go and magic everything to the train station." I chuckled, realizing we could do exactly that.

"If thou insist, then we shall."

"Correct."

I looked back to the smoking fire as it was dead now. Just a lot of smoke that would need to be thrown out of orbit to not raise suspicion. Should I do that?

Lighting my magic up, I grabbed the bubble and strained as I lifted it out to space. This was actually harder than it looked, and Luna helped me yeet this thing outta here by giving me a clear path to the void.

"Why did thou not simply erase the smoke and bubble?" She asked.

"Uhh, I dunno. Guess I didn't think of that." I said, looking over the large dome shaped hole in the ground.

"Seems legit."

"What?" I asked, looking at her.

She simply looked at me.

"Seems legit. Is this not something that thou would say?"

"Yeah, but it sounds... weird coming from you. Not that it isn't bad, just, different. Hungry?" I inquired, not wanting to make it too weird.

"We art feeling peckish. Are there any areas in Ponyville worth dining at?" She asked.

I grinned.

"There's a spot."

After the whole situation was taken care of, I recovered what little armor I had that was destroyed. The armor I was wearing mostly 'ate' what was left that I didn't pick up initially. The Storage Unit I recovered was already finished with decryption, and all I had to do was open it.

But right now, I was heading over to Ponyville with Luna and a few guards. Just Blossomforth and Crescent Rose. I asked Thunderlane if he could take the set Field Note had and put it in my room.

He said yes, of course, and left with the armor in tow. I activated its tracker just in case something happened.

Field Note was pretty happy she was able to wear the armor, and asked when she would be able to wear it again. I told her that I would let her know if I needed her. Then she ran off to find a notepad and scribble down some notes for something. Reminds me of Twilight, and I wouldn't be surprised if she was a distant relative.

Speaking of Twilight, we were going over to check up on her supplies for her and the others mission to the dragon, as the smoke was becoming more and more visible with each hour that passes. Reminds me of India, of all places, and I can't remember why.

Reaching the edge of town, we passed the spot where I woke up. I eyed the downed trees, and Luna happened noticed.

"Is something wrong, Dear Franz?" She inquired, curiosity laced in her tone.

"No, just remembering when I woke up."

"The first time, or the second?"

"Second."

"Ah, very well. Doth thee remember anything specific?"

"Sorta. I was just confused and scared since I had no idea where I was. Made a friend with a purple or violet bird, but that's it."

"It seems as though thou have had some difficulty adapting, at first."

"Yeah. It would seem so, but that's what we do, right? Adapt?"

"That is what thou does best. Now that we noticed, what does thou's Cutie Mark mean?"

"My Mark?" I asked, looking at my flank. The symbol was still there, glowing ever so slightly, but I didn't know what it was.

"No idea."

"Really? How could thou not know what thou's special talent is?"

"Maybe it means that I'm skillful in many aspects? I know how to fight, play music, create things, sing, pretty much anything that I can think of, I can do to an extent."

She was silent for a bit. She then leaned in and whispered in my ear.

"What of bedroom activities?"

I cleared my throat again, my face getting a light red flush as I looked away from her smirking face.

"I'm not sure about that one."

She laughed at that one, enjoying my pain.

"Little experience?"

"No, I have a bit. Just uh, bad memories about it." I said, making her lose her smile and look at me with shock.

The guards, only paying slight interest, began listening more intently, as I noticed both of them had at least one ear focused on us.

"What doth thou mean, by ' A bit'?" She asked, looking more interested now. I feel like I fucked up and wished that I could rewind time to get out of the situation. Maybe if I tried hard enough I could.

"Well, as you know, I've gotten some experience regarding, uh, you know what, turn on your armor, we'll discuss this in the chat." I said, making my armor fold over my head and going into the chat with her.

She was still looking at me with a slight frown before she activated her armor. I saw her connect to the Chatroom, and I entered soon after.

"Okay, yes, I've had sex before, okay? And it was a long time ago and I don't even remember all of the other times I've done it. I'd call it a useless skill of you ask me. Or, something."

"Dear Franz, we are not upset that thou has taken part of intercourse with another mare, we would just like to know who and when."

I let out a sigh, and told her.

"I did it with my old girlfriend Cadence. We... we did it in the heat of the moment, and often times we would do it in risky places like a backroom or closet, so I think. The only time I actually remember doing it was in a grassy field during a picnic. But even then, we would do it on our apartment. I don't want to remember her, the idea of her just generally puts me in a less than good mood."

"YOU WHAT!" I heard through the chat. I flinched, but wondered why that didn't sound like Luna. Oh no. Oh god, oh fuck! It's general chat! Why was Twilight here!

"Twilight! What the hell are you doing here!"

"What am I doing here?! What are you doing with Cadence! I thought that you only wanted to be with Luna! That's my childhood babysitter!" She yelled angrily, or typed angrily.

"Twilight Sparkle. We know that thou must be upset, but this entire conversation was supposed to be for only me and Franz." Luna said, trying to reason with her.

"But Princess Luna, he's doing things to her! And behind your back too! Aren't you a little mad?!"

"Twilight, this was well over a thousand years ago. I'm pretty sure that the Cadence you're referring to wasn't even alive back then." I said, noticing that we were almost in town.

"Then who are you talking about!?"

"Twilight, I do believe that this is none of thou's concern. We will be seeing thee soon enough." Luna said, leaving the chat soon after.

"See you in a bit to sort this thing out." I said, also taking my leave and disconnecting from the general chat.

Unfolding my helmet, Luna was still by my side, walking with me.

"So, did that help?"

She smiled and nodded.

"Yes, t'was very informative. Thank you."

"No problem." I said, looking into town.

Everyone that was usually around was inside. Last time I was here, there was a market going. Don't they usually stay open for the majority of the week?

The town was mostly empty, with a few ponies walking around with some sort of spring in their step. Jesus, they're way too happy for their own good.

"So Luna, wanna go to the Cafe, or to the Library to sort out the problem?"

"We would like to eat wherever thou see' fit."

"Okay, to the Cafe!" I said, holding my hoof to the sky in a charging manner, before running away, confusing Luna and the guards.

I stopped and looked back at them. They were just flying after me now.

Changing my voice, I shouted at them.

"L8er fuggers lololololololololololololol U can't cetch me in my Roflcopter. Lmao, soi soi soi soi soi!" I yelled, flaring my wings and flying into the air, matching the soi with each flap.

I then began doing barrel rolls until I almost crashed into the ground several times and barely saving myself. And once into the side of a building, earning a scream from inside about the end of the world.

"Dear Franz! What art thou doing?"

"Trying to be funny!" I yelled in my normal voice.

"Oh look, we're here." I said, noticing that the building that I crashed into was, coincidentally, the Cafe.

"Prince Franz? What're you doing here?" I heard someone say.

"Oh, what is the up, Rainbow?" I said, feeling the stupid running through my head.

"You okay?"

"You are a saucy boy." I said.

"...What?" Rainbow said, not knowing what was happening.

"Your egg salad, Rainbow Dash."

I fell from my spot on the roof and landed on someone's floating utensil, presumably a fork. I yelped as I felt something trickle down my leg.

"You stabbed him!" Rainbow cried, pointing a hoof at the random citizen that was trying to eat a salad.

"Huh?! I stabbed... him." She said, trailing off as she realized exactly who she had stabbed as a fear-stricken face took hold.

"GET THIS FUCKING THING OUT OF MY LEG!" I screamed, with Luna watching the whole ordeal play out.

Once that whole thing settled, and the random mare being at a more reasonable level, we ate our lunch with Rainbow Dash.

And the conversation was about as lively as a funeral, with Luna giving Rainbow an intense look. I couldn't even tell what was going through her head, or what kind of look that was, but I knew that I'll find out later.

"While most of the time, that would be a good idea, I don't know why you need a suit of armor. I need a more viable reason other than, 'I want one to look cool'. That doesn't really leave a good impression on my part." I said, trying to eat my sandwich in peace.

"I know that, I just figured that you could give me a little speed boost and make me go faster. I'm working on something that I need to go as fast as possible!" She said, practically out of her seat and leaning into her egg salad.

"Can't you just ask Twilight to make you lighter or something? I'm pretty sure that the lighter you are, the faster and easier it is for you to gain speed. Not to mention the aerodynamics that will be added to the solution. I could be wrong, but hey, I'm not an aerodynamics wiz."

"I've already asked her. She seems more interested in her own armor to even care at this point!"

"I'm pretty sure that she's preparing for the mission you girls are going on tomorrow. Going up against a dragon is a pretty big challenge I assume. She probably has a bunch of fail-safes already in mind." I countered.

"But why did you give her a suit? I think you're picking favorites." She said, taking a bite of her food with a smile.

I simply gave a small laugh.

"No, I pick certain ponies for the suits in the first place. If you somehow manage to convince me that you need one, then I'll make one. But until then, you need to find something that a suit will help you with, or if the situation calls for it."

"How about when I'm doing stunts and I lose control? I always get hurt, and I need to have one of those things to keep me safe!" She said, practically standing on her covered hay pile.

"Having protection doesn't always give satisfactory results. Some things are bound to happen, and there's no seeing into the future. If something were to break through the suit's integrity, then not only will the suit be breached, then there's the broken pieces and object that's stuck inside of you that'll probably lead to infection. I gave Twilight a suit to store all of her findings there until she needs to change the internal storage. Luna for Protection, and the Royal Guards for superior combat effectiveness while reducing the chance of injury. There are things that can't be seen, only foreshadowed. Until you find something that- hey!" I said, noticing that she was pretending to fall asleep.

She gave a frustrated groan and looked back at me.

"Franz, I know that you're cool, and I know that you like to be protecting others, but how is not giving me something to protect me going to protect me?" She asked, taking another bite.

"It's philosophical. I learned the hard way that having protection doesn't always means being protected. Some things are entirely out of our control, and there's nothing we can do about it." I said, looking over at Luna, who was now watching me.

"And sometimes, it turns out for the better." I finished, smiling at her.

I heard a fake gag from Rainbow, which I just replied with an eye roll.

"Rainbow, you look like a child doing that. I'm pretty sure that you'll find someone someday." I said, finishing off my sandwich. Looking over at Luna's plate, she had finished half of hers when I wasn't looking.

She seemed slightly confused at me. What?

"Franz, I've noticed that you hardly fly. Why's that?" She asked, tilting her head slightly.

I swallowed what food I had in my mouth and thought about that. I had the ability to fly, yes, and apparently to walk on and manipulate clouds, but I've never actually done so.

"I don't know, I've never actually gotten around to flying that much. Sure, there are occasions, but never actually had a desire to fly. Seems fun though." I said, giving my honest answer.

She leaned in slightly.

"How about I give you some flying lessons? I'm sure that you'll be able to fly as fast as I can in no time!" She declared, right in front of Luna.

"Rainbow Dash, art thou willing to take on two students as well?" She asked, her face conveying neutrality.

"Uh, yeah. I think I can train both of you. I'll just have to go through some exercises to know where you two are at with wing power." She said, not as enthusiastically as before, but agreeing none the less.

"Huzzah! Then it is settled! We thank thee for assisting us, Rainbow Dash! We hope to see thou in the future for our lessons." She said, draping a wing over my back.

I looked back at her. A hint of confusion in my eyes, but just went with it. Wouldn't want to jinx myself, right?

"Okay. We'll see ya later Rainbow. When does it work best for you?" I asked.

"Anytime during the weekends. I'm usually free those days." She said, nodding her head slightly as if to confirm.

"Fantastic! We shall be seeing thou in week's time." Luna said, pulling a small bag of coins from somewhere and putting them on the counter.

"Waiter!" She called, and soon came the dude.

"Yes, Your Majesty?" He asked.

"We would like to pay for our meal." She said, giving the bag to him.

He took it and looked in the bag, doing the math throughly before leaving. Our guards were stationed near the table, and were finishing up food of their own.

After we said our goodbyes, and an attempted hug from Rainbow which Luna didn't seem to enjoy, we left towards the library.

I wondered how Twilight was getting used to the armor?

"Dear Franz, we have noticed something off about Rainbow Dash's behavior. Did thou not see it as well?" Luna asked once we were away from her.

"Kind of. She seemed real adamant on getting her own armor. I think that she ran into some bad ponies that want to hurt her. That, or she really want her own suit." I said.

"Nay, in her behavior, not in her desires. Though tis possible for them to bleed into one other. Doth thou think she was a bit, forward?"

I chuckled, materializing a book, opened it, then slammed it closed.

"Like that's ever gonna happen." I said in Shrek's voice.

"Franz, we art serious. I believe that she was showing signs of interest. The language of her body was very obvious. We would wish for there to not be as many herd members in our family so soon. We wish to maintain peace and order."

"Didn't you say that you didn't care how many mare's I had in our herd?" I asked jokingly, but it felt like it came out as arrogant, the frown she gave me solidifying that feeling further.

"We were being rhetorical." She muttered.

"I was joking. Having you and Ditzy together is enough. And adding Celestia to the batch will kind of throw me off. I'm also not entirely used to the idea of polygamy. Wasn't very common at all where I'm from." I said, spotting the library close by.

"While it shall take some time adjusting, thou will eventually grow accustomed to the culture of today."

'Ironic'

We arrived on the front porch and gave it a couple of knocks. The door opened soon after and I saw Spike with some sort of maid's dress on. He saw me and Luna and froze.

"Twilight! Come here, Princess Luna and Prince Franz are here!" He yelled, running back into the building.

I looked at Luna, who was trying to hide her choked laughter with her hoof.

"That was something." I said, looking back inside.

I didn't get the chance before someone who I've never seen yet popped into view.

"Prince Franz, Princess Luna! What an honor to have you both here today!" She said, bowing her head.

She had a shade of grey for her coat, and purple and white striped hair. She was also a Unicorn and had a hairstyle similar to Twilight with a cutie mark of three purple stars.

"Good evening. Thou must be?" Luna asked.

"Velvet Sparkle! I'm Twilight's mother! And this is my husband, Night Light. He used to serve in the Royal Guard." She said, motioning to the one in question behind her.

"Good evening, Your Majesties. I've heard nothing but great things from the two of you." He offered politely.

He was a light shade of blue with a darker shade of his mane and tail. A Unicorn, by the looks of it, and he had the cutie mark of a Crescent moon with a star on it.

"Hello, all." I said awkwardly.

Little did I know that the next few hours would be quite embarrassing for both parties.

I heard a soft thumping noise and looked at the stairs. There was Twilight was fully encased in her armor, helmet on, but minus the shields since she probably knew about its magic nullifying ability.

"Princess Luna! Prince Franz! I wasn't expecting you until tomorrow!" She gasped, genuinely surprised by our arrival.

"You were going to have a meeting with both Princess Luna and Prince Franz? Why didn't you tell us!?" Night Light said, probably thinking he was intruding.

"I thought that they weren't coming until later!"

In a matter of seconds, they started arguing about this, while Luna and I watched passively.

"Does this usually occur?" Luna asked me, leaning in close.

"I have no idea. Really hope not."

Today was going to be longer than I anticipated.

Fuuuuuuck.

Edited it and fixed quite a bit of mistakes in this one.