It had not been an easy day for John.

He looked at the ceiling, sighing constantly with groans of frustration, sometimes kicking the air and punching his pillow in a fit of anger.

“She is going to make me leave, dammit,” he whispered to himself.

He’d spend the week since their return locked in the room, to his fortune, he’d been allowed to stay in on the excuse of ‘being traumatized over the Everfree incident’, which was something he welcomed. Unfortunately, his luck did not last.

“John!” Twilight had called, knocking forcibly at the door. “I know you had a rough time at the Everfree, but enough is enough, you need to get come out!”

As always, she’d received no response.

“And that silence of yours isn’t helping either! Look! I know you’re going through something, I have done so too, but wallowing isn’t going to help, I know this very well, so come on, John… Please?”

“Grr…” John roared silently. “She doesn’t understand…” he thought frustrated

“John, if something is bothering you, you know you can talk to me, right?” she waited a few seconds for a reply, but she received none. “John!” she roared, punching the door and surprising John. “I’m sorry ‘bro‘, but I’ve waited more than enough. Tomorrow morning, I’m having Recon force the door open whether you like it or not!” and with her small rant finished, she stomped away, grunting as she returned downstairs.

John simply stared at the door, his eyes wide. “… Crap.”

John grunted in disgust, remembering the earlier event.

“So, any ideas, voice in my head?” he said out loud, awaiting for a response that never came. “Well then,” he spoke soon afterwards, not receiving a single reply in return. “You know, for a voice in my head, you are certainly selective on when you want to talk… Not like the two times it happened was very selective.”

He sighed and rolled to the side with disinterest, coming to view with the clock on the table. “Oh, crap! It’s almost time!” he yelped. He jumped off the bed, and grabbing a pair of binoculars from the floor, headed for the window, opening the curtain slightly to have a view of the outside. “Come on… where are you, Fruit Butt,” he asked, aiming the binoculars to the house right across it.

For the past week, he’d spend his time doing nothing but watching Ponyville from the room, simply observing the Ponyville-ians go about their daily lives.

However, one of them had picked his interest.

Living right across his room was a mare, but unlike the others, she always left her house at the same time. To his surprise, she always left when most of the town had finished their work in the early evening

He had a few theories about it… One of them he was about to attempt to prove.

“Come on…” John pleaded, watching the door intently. He didn’t have to wait long, as the lights inside came to life. “Alright!”

With a quick step, he reached for his blankets, tying them in a now familiar knot motion he’d practiced during the day, and after a few minutes, he had a makeshift rope on his hands, which he soon tied up to a branch that substituted as a coat hanger in the room.

“Never been so glad that Twilight lives in a tree,” he commented, and after making sure the rope was tied tightly enough, he dug into his backpack where he retrieved a small bag and a notebook which he quickly put into his pocket, followed by him tying the small bag to his pants. “Okay, good,” having made sure everything was ready, he returned to the window, where he donned the binoculars once more, searching for a certain different target.

“Come on, please let it be him… Yes!” John sighed happily, noticing as the Unicorn guarding the outside slept soundly on the leg of the treehouse, snoring softly by the way his muzzle moved. “And now…” he turned towards the house, keeping his sight on the door. “I wait.”.

“John?”

“Woah!” John yelped, the binoculars nearly falling off his hands, he placed a hand over his mouth, and waited.

“It’s me, Spike,” said the voice from the other side. “I came to bring you some dinner. I’m sure you are hungry by now!” he heard the sound of a plate being put down, and then, silence. “Hope you feel better! Night” and just like that, he heard the sound of his footsteps running downstairs.

“That dragon,” John sighed with a smile. “Never thought I’d befriend one, I must admit,” with the thought out, he donned the binoculars once more and looked out into the street, noticing just in time as the door opened. “Yes…”

A mare left the house; unlike the previous times, her pinkish mane was curled, she wore a serving outfit that John recognized easily, having seen it before. She retrieved a key from her pocket and locked the door to her place before leaving in a brisk trot.

“Shit!” John cursed. Reaching for the blanket rope, he opened the window, and quickly tossed it down. He sighed relieved as he noticed the rope reaching all the way to the ground. Satisfied, he jumped out, grabbing the blanket on his way down.

However, he had not taken all into account.

“Ffffffuck!” he grunted, biting his lip as he slid down, his hands rubbing rapidly against the blanket, which soon began burning his palms. He reached the ground in mere seconds, but the pain had been enough to drive the human to a silent cursing session. “Son of a grrr!” he attempted his best to keep quiet, as the guard Recon snored right besides him without much a care in the world.

“Okay… I’m okay now…” he gasped with gritted teeth, looking towards the direction of the mare as she turned a corner. “Better hurry up.”

It didn‘t take him long for him to catch up to ‘Fruit Butt‘. She remained unaware of the human following, and continued her walk uninterrupted, the mass of buildings on Ponyville quickly thinning as they reached the outskirts of town. “Just as I thought…” John said happily, soon noticing a building coming up in the distance, a far-off sign with a glass painted on it hanging by the door.

“About time you got here, Punch!” came a shout from a pony by the door of the place. “You were supposed to be here ages ago!”

“Oh, shut your trap, you are gonna get drunk, time is irrelevant once you do,” she sneered to the stallion, reaching the building, opening the door, and entering the place with the other ponies eagerly following suit.

“So she doesn‘t only work in a tavern—she OWNS one!” John said knowingly, hiding behind a tree a fair ways from the place. After a few minutes, more ponies began swamping the place, some coming in carriages which parked right outside.

“So… do I go in? Or not?” he wondered out loud. “I mean, I don’t drink, but I think I really need one right about now… But what if I get too drunk! I’ll spill all of my secrets!” he continued his dilemma for ten more minutes, until finally deciding.

“Fuck this, I’m going in.”

With a new found resolve to get drunk, he made a beeline to the door, the sound of a piano quickly catching his ear as he approached it. Choosing to not stop to avoid getting cold feet, he pushed the wooden door open. Unfortunately, he pushed it much harder than he had expected.

*Slam!*

The looks of dozens of ponies suddenly fell on him, the piano playing stopping abruptly, glasses freezing in midair whether by magic or hoof as they all gave John the blankest of stares.

“Um…” he began awkwardly. “Hi?”

Silence was their response.

“Well, about time you came in!” came the voice from the counter across him. He looked up, and found none other than the mare he followed herself. “Come on, take a seat!”

Hesitantly, John moved slowly towards the bar, the eyes staying on him, never leaving him. With a gulp, he took seat on the stool, trying to keep his attention on the mare instead of the attention upon him.

“What are you morons looking at? Get back to your drinks! Or do you want to be kicked out for attempting to scare my new customer?” the mare threatened, and the pony eyes quickly returned to their own business, the piano resuming its playing as it nothing had happened.

“Um, thank you…” John thanked her embarrassed.

“No need, all you gotta do is follow the rules of behaving, and we will be friends! I was actually worried you wouldn‘t show,” she explained.

“Wait… you knew I was coming?”

“Well, it’s not hard to guess when you are staring at me from your window every day,” she replied amused.

“Oh, you saw… Wait, how do you know I’m here to drink?” John asked surprised.

“Buddy, from my experience, the look you were giving me was from either you wanting to let some steam off with booze, or, well, you were after my flank, and let me tell you, I’m reasonably sure you are not after some pony booty… are you?” she asked intrigued.

“What? No! I’m not into ponies like that. I‘m not that far gone yet.” he admitted embarrassed, managing to hear the chuckles of some of the ponies behind him.

“I’m just pulling your leg, buddy, I’m just glad that the famous human finally showed up at my tavern! But where are my manners! Name is Berry, Berry Punch. Pleasure to meet ya,” she greeted, reaching up with her hoof.

“Oh, name is John Pennick,” he picked up his hand and bumped his fist into her hoof, bringing the mare to smile.

“Now that we are buddies, what do you say to a drink? The first one is on the house!” she invited him, taking out a glass from under the counter. “So, what will it be?”

“You know? I’m not even sure...” John admitted. “I mean, I don’t’ really drink, and like, is this what I’ve come down to? No offense!” he quickly apologized, turning to the ponies in the tavern who were already on the task of staring at him.

“Oh, come on, some of you know that’s true,“ Berry shouted at the ponies drinking. “Don‘t be like that, we all drink to forget sometimes!” she turned back to John, pointing at herself as an example.

“Well, you DO work at a place, so I can see you getting drunk often,” the place was suddenly filled with laughter, the piano stopping its tune as the pony playing began laughing as well.

“Shut up!” Punch shouted instantly, getting the laughter back to its muffled whispers. She let out a frustrated sigh and turned to John. “Kid, do you want me to hate you from the get-go?” she groaned.

“What did I say?” he asked confused.

“I suppose you don’t know, but I once overdid it with the drinking: let’s just say that I’m no longer welcome in Manehatten! My Mum wasn’t too happy about it, that's for sure,” she explained.

“Oh, sorry…” John apologized. “I didn’t know.”

“Eh, water under the bridge, or, in this case, booze under the bridge! But in any case, it’s all in the past, although it doesn’t help that it keeps being brought up—it was ONE time!”

“Uh huh…” John grinned amusedly. “I see.”

“Wait, why am I talking about MY problems! You are the one who needs to drown his problems!” she reached under the counter once again and brought out a bottle which she quickly popped open, letting a small stream of orange colored liquid fall into the glass. “So, what brings you here?” she asked, pushing the glass to him.

“Well…”

“Rhetorical question, we both know why you are here,” she said with a smile

“Right…” he looked at the glass for a couple of seconds before finally sighing. “Fuck it, you only live once, right?” he reached for it, and chugged down the drink in one fell swoop. “I... whoa... this is delicious! And it does NOT taste like piss!” he said excitedly, savoring the flavor of apples in his mouth, a very light bitter taste combined in the mix.

“Thanks?“ Punch laughed awkwardly. “I figured I should start you with something on the light side since you don‘t drink, glad you liked it, so here you go,” she refilled the glass and passed it to him. “Now, care to tell me why you sneaked out of the library?”

John froze as he picked up the glass, sighing as he put it back down. “Geez, am I that open of a book?”

“No. I’ve simply seen things. I‘m sure that I‘ve said this enough times,” she explained.

“Well, I don’t really want to talk about it, but you did give me free drinks,” he said smiling, drinking from the glass rapidly. “I guess I owe you something at least, but don’t expect much.”

“Eh, I never get the full thing anyway,” she reached under the counter and brought out the bottle again, pushing it towards John. “Besides, I should get quite a few costumers if they learn that I had the human drinking here; the business totally makes up for this,” she explained with a grin.

“Smart,” John said, grabbing the bottle and chugging down some of it. “Ah… god that’s good,” he set the bottle down, and looked at Berry directly in her eyes.

“Yes?” she asked interested.

“Bottom line is that I’m useless. Weak. I have no point in my life, and there is nothing that I can do to protect those I care… Basically, my life is in shambles,” he summarized, taking another gulp of the drink, feeling suddenly off-balance.

“I may not know much about those other things, but you are certainly terrible at holding your cider at least,” Berry laughed. “Seems you are going through some terrible stuff, so… I take it some pony insult helped lower that self-esteem, huh?”

John looked up, shaking his head. “Nothing gets past you, huh?” he grabbed the bottle again and took another drink before talking again. “Yes, a pony destroyed my self-esteem, big deal!”

“Now, now, don’t be angry, I’ve just been around the block,” she explained, looking amused. “It’s alright, just drink up, forget your problems; the night is young, so we can talk all you want, bud,” she patted John’s back once more before moving away from him to deal with other customers.

“Thanks…” he groaned, planting his face on the counter. “Uuugh…”

...

For the next few hours, John spend his time with the occasional drinking and talking about his experiences with Berry, with the other ponies joining in as they listened to more and more of his experiences in Equestria.

“And then, the gryphon tried to punch me, but I dodged! Because I am awesome like that!” he said, drinking more of the delicious cider.

“And then? What happened?” asked a mare, looking at him expectantly.

“Well, the coward used the filly in the room to try to protect himself, so I had to give up,” booing commenced at his words, showing the disapproval over the dirty tactic. “But, that’s when the Royal Guard came in and kicked her-I mean, HIS ass!” he continued, cheering filling the room loudly as the drunken ponies celebrated with him.

“Humph!” John managed to hear from within the crowd.

Disturbed by the sound, he made his way through the ponies to find what physically looked like a mare, wrapped in a body cloak and drinking a strange looking yellow drink.

“What? Not enjoying my stories?” John asked, but the mare remained silent, not bothering to reply. “Pfft, suit yourself, bitch,” he grunted annoyed, returning to the ponies.

“So, did you say you were living with Twilight?” one of the ponies asked curiously. “Lucky you, that one is a cute mare, a little bitchy lately, admittedly,” he said with a crooked grin.

“Cute? Well, I guess she is. I mean, she looks adorable when she sleeps and all, and she is not THAT bad,” John said awkwardly in reply.

“Adorable?” another pony asked. “She is hot! I mean, have you seen her flank?”

“Um, yeah, okay, I get it buddy, no need to explain, ha, ha…” John continued annoyed, taking another drink from his bottle, trying to keep his thoughts.

“Yep! I go to the library once in a while and I make her look for a book, lately she reaches for the books without magic, and let me tell you! You get a nice view of her b-”

“Okay! No! Please, don’t do that, that’s very disrespectful,” John groaned angrily, putting the bottle down roughly.

“Huh? What’s with you? She your mare friend or something?” the pony asked. “You just live with her, don’t you?”

“Yes, but, I mean…” John started awkwardly.

“See? No excuse, I can say all I want! She has a nice b-”

“Now, now, calm down everypony, no need to get into fighting, you know my policy,” Berry called from behind.

“Just stop, I don’t take kindly to that stuff!” John continued, now scowling at the pony.

“Or what?” the pony asked, flaring his wings out and looking at John from top to bottom. “What are you gonna do about it?” he scoffed at John, and turned to leave, with a few parting words. “That’s what I thought.”

“Hey, buddy,” John called.

“What?” as soon as he had turned, a fist hit him straight on the face, sending him flying to the nearest table, breaking it as he landed on top with a nasty crunch

“Okay, no!” came Berry’s voice from behind, she began pushing John, and in a flash, he was out the front door on the ground.

“Ouch…” John complained, having landed on his face.

“Sorry kid, I know you were angry, but these are the rules here, and I'll have no favoritism. buuuuut I like you, so come back in a week” she waved goodbye, and returned inside.

“Ugh…” John complained. “Yeah, terrible night,” he whined, his face remaining flat on the ground.

“That was very dumb,” came a voice from behind him.

“Great! Came to beat me up or something?“ he asked, turning over to meet the voice, and a bag suddenly fell on his stomach. “Ouch! Hey, is this my bag of bits?” he asked, opening the bag and checking. “Wait, where did you find this?” he asked, recognizing the mare from the bar.

“An old pony in the bar gave it to me, you dropped it in your 'violent fit of rage',” she said with a stifled laugh.

“Geez, thank you,” he thanked her with sarcasm, tossing a coin. “Here, have a tip for the help.”

The coin stopped in midair, surrounded by a blue aura of magic, the coin spun in the air for a few seconds, and with a quick toss, the coin returned to John, smacking straight into his forehead.

“Ouch!” he cried out, holding the newly grown bump on his forehead.

“I don’t take kindly to sarcasm, or being called a ’bitch’ for that matter, especially from you,” she said, her voice suddenly changing to one John recognized.

“Geez, sorry, I mean, I didn’t… wait, that voice…” as he said that, the mare removed her hood, revealing the familiar face of Rarity. “O-oh…”

“Greetings, John,” she stood there for a couple of seconds and sighed. “Follow me,” she said, walking away from him and putting the hood on once again.

“Wait, what were you doing here?” John asked confused. “You were following me!?”

“I was not. I will explain, but you have to follow me first, John. Come,” she said simply, and continued marching away from the tavern.

“Well, no anger this time, so why not?” John figured, deciding to do as she had said and following right behind her.

…

It had been half an hour of walking, thankfully, it was still dark enough that John had been able to avoid being spotted. Unlike Rarity herself who simply strolled by without a care, more than likely thanks to the cloak she wore.

“Are we there yet?” John whispered loud enough for her to hear.

“Yes, actually,” she said, stopping in front of a door. “We are.”

With her magic, she unlocked the door, and with a gentle push, she opened it, moving aside for John to go in first.

“Well, come on in,” she greeted.

John gave her an incredulous look and smiled. “Ladies first.”

Rarity said nothing and turned her head to the door. “Well done,” she giggled, walking inside without another word, soon followed by John who closed it on his way in. “Follow me,” she called, taking off the cloak.

“I would, but, I can’t really see much…” John said barely able to see in the dark room.

“Oh, my mistake,” Rarity's horn lighted up, and the room became instantly enveloped by light, momentarily blinding John.

“Jesus!” John groaned, lowering his raised hands to take a good look of the place; he found himself staring at an enormous open space, mannequins stood to the side, racks upon racks of clothes remained in the middle of the room, with a spilled cup of tea laying on the floor. “Nice place.”

“Thank you, but this is simply the boutique; the main part of my home begins in the next room,” she opened a door near her and went inside, John following right in and now finding himself in a more homely looking area. Rarity took seat in a luxurious looking red couch, while she pointed John to a seat right across her.

“Thanks,” he got himself comfortably, and looked around the room, noticing all the subtle things placed in practically every corner. “Your place is… rather gaudy,” he commented.

“It is NOT gaudy—it’s simply classy. I do my best to keep it that way, thank you very much,” she finished indignantly, getting on her hooves “Excuse me a second, I’ll be right back, I’ll make some tea for us,” she explained leaving John on his own.

His eyes wondered all over the place for the following minutes, he soon noticed a certain wall which hosted an arrangement of framed pictures. Recognizing Twilight on one of them, he walked towards it and grabbed it, noticing the rest of the girls in it as they all laid on a grassy field.

“No Spike? Ouch,” John thought.

“That picture was taken almost two years ago,” Rarity’s sudden voice surprised John, nearly causing him to drop the frame.

“O-oh! Sorry!” he apologized, hanging the frame back on the wall.

“It’s quite alright. Anyway, that picture was taken right after we defeated Nightmare Moon. I suppose Twilight told you about that, right?”

“Right,” John replied, returning to his seat and turning to Rarity. Without much to talk about, he asked the question that had been bugging him. “Look, I don’t mean to be rude, but what am I doing here?”

Rarity turned her face to the side, and releasing a wistful sigh, she closed her eyes, then turned to John again with a scowl. “Why do you think you are here?”

“Um, well, all I can think of is that you want to apologize to me for what happened a week ago, maybe that?” he replied, spitting the words out with controlled anger.

“Then you might be severely disappointed, because that’s certainly not the idea,” Rarity replied, the scowl still on her face.

“Then we have nothing to talk about,” John replied bitterly, getting on his feet, as he did the sound of hissing suddenly whistled loudly “Woah, what the…”

“That’s the water I heated for us. You wouldn’t ‘t want to leave when I made you tea, would you?” Rarity asked, giving John an innocent look.

“... I suppose not,” he replied hesitantly sitting down as Rarity once again left for the kitchen. “What is she planning?” he thought, attempting to search for the answer in his own mind. He searched the room again, hoping that something in the walls, the floors, or even the ceiling would yield some answers on the Unicorn’s behavior.

“Here we gooo~” Rarity sing-sang, arriving from the kitchen with two cups floating next to her, she set one on the table next to John, and she quickly began sipping from her own, releasing a sigh of relief at the taste. “Aaah, nothing makes you feel better than a nice, good, cup of t-”

*Thud! Crash!* “Rarity!” John growled, his fist remaining on the table, shaking slightly.

“Well then,” Rarity said simply, setting down her cup and a dustpan and broom appearing to sweep the mess. “Don’t we have an attitude problem?”

John simply continued glaring at her.

“Ahem, well, just wanted to feel comfortable before we, well, talked,” she explained, grabbing her cup again.

With a quick step, John got on his feet, and grabbed the cup from Rarity’s grasp, the blue magic dissipating into thin air, to Rarity’s surprise.

“Did... you just interrupt my flow of magic?” she asked confused.

“You first,” he replied, putting the cup on his lips and drinking from it. “Huh… Delicious.”

“Thank you,” Rarity deadpanned. “Fine. Remember your earlier question?”

“Yes, as well as your answer,” John quickly reminded her.

“Yes, well, I said I wasn’t going to apologize to you… at least not yet,” she finished with effort.

“But you didn‘t… Whatever, what is that supposed to mean?” he questioned.

“What you did at the tavern, for Twilight… That just showed me how I misjudged you. What I'm about to say may sound odd, but bear with me; you see, I want to know more about you, that way, I can understand your plight and so I can apologize to you,” she explained with some effort.

“Wait, so you want to know more about me, so you can apologize to m— that’s dumb! You are bein— I mean, seriously!?” he shrieked exasperated, jumping off the couch and moving to the nearby window, staring at the now rising sun outside.

“I am not!” Rarity sighed. She jumped off her own couch and walked towards John. “Because my words were still valid! Is that not the reason you were attempting to get drunk in the first place? I’m very sure that me simply criticizing you did that to you,” she retorted.

“I, well,” John tried to discuss, but was unable to. “Wait, what do you mean ‘attempting’? I DID get drunk!”

“You can’t get drunk from cider that hasn’t been fermented, John,” she replied with an eye roll.

“Wait… That wasn’t alcoholic?” John said in a low voice. “I was duped!”

“Don’t change the subject!” Rarity continued. “All I want is to apologize, to know why you are here, maybe learn why things happened, and… so we can actually be friends,” she finished, looking exhausted. She began falling back, the couch suddenly moving to catch her as she fell back.

“… Seriously?” John asked incredulously, despite the serious moment, letting out a chuckle.

“Leave me alone, this was exhausting to do,” she moaned without restraint.

“Fine! You want to know? Here!” he reached for the notebook on his back pocket and tossed it to Rarity, who easily caught with her magic.

“What is this?” she asked curious, flipping the notebook over and reading the title on the front. “Memories? I… don’t understand,” she looked at John, shaking her head slowly, her mind trying her best to process it.

“Just read the first page,” John demanded, sitting back down as Rarity opened the notebook. “Out loud, please,” she looked up to him for a second, then turned her head to the side where a pair of red reading glasses appeared.

“I was going to,” she said simply, clearing her throat as she began:

“Wait, Spike? Does this mean Twilight didn’t help in the slightest?” she asked, stopping suddenly.

“There is a reason for that that you don’t have to know, and I would appreciate it if you didn’t bother her with it, alright?” he explained dryly.

“Very well… I shall continue then.”

Rarity stared from the page, to John over and over, trying her best to understand what she had just read. “W-what? Memory loss? I—I’m confused. Is this what’s been happening to you? Is this… I need more tea,” a pitcher and a new cup floated from the kitchen, serving tea for Rarity to drink.

“You are freaking out? How do you think I feel then?” John asked.

“Yes, you are right. I’m sorry John," she sighed. "In all my life, I never thought that such a thing would be real… I would have called you a liar if you hadn’t shown me this notebook, but nopony does something like this without a purpose,” she continued, pointing at the notebook. “Wait, can I check the yellow sections?” she asked, looking at John pleadingly.

“Um, sure,” he accepted reluctantly, as Rarity eagerly dove into a random part.

“Wait, this says that Princess Celestia knows a way back to your world?” she looked up at John who shook his head.

“That was supposed to be in red, fuck!” he cursed. “Please, just keep it a secret, not even Spike knows of that section,” he pleaded.

“And I will cross my heart and hope to fly, and will stick a cupcake in my eye,” she replied, doing the motions."But we will have to discuss this at some point."

“Thanks, and fine,” John sighed

“Anyway, this other part says that you have lost memory of your family too… Is that why you don’t want to go back?” Rarity said out loud, putting a hoof over her mouth as she noticed John looking dejectedly to the side. “Oh my goodness, I’m so sorry,” she floated the notebook towards John, which he quickly caught without a second thought and returned to his pockets.

“It’s alright,” he sighed. “I hope you understand more now.”

“Why, of course!” she jumped from her couch and approached John, placing a hoof over his leg. “John… I am very sorry over all the things I’ve said; can you forgive me?” she pleaded, looking at him with a frown.

“Of course,” he replied, putting his hand over her hoof, the months lasting awkwardness suddenly melting away as if it never happened. Yet, the feelings of distraught continued. “Yeah…”

“What’s the matter?” she asked, noticing a final sigh leaving him. “Is there a problem?”

“Problem?” he took a moment of think about it. It wasn’t long before he had figure it out. “I guess that, even if you forgave me, it doesn’t change the fact that I’m still a freeloader, and I couldn‘t protect a door if I tried,” he began, increasingly louder as he continued. “You yourself said that earlier, remember?”

Rarity, turned her head to the side, raising a brow at John.

“What?” he asked defensively.

“So?”

“So… What?”

“What if you are those things I said?” she asked with a serious face.

“Are you serious?” he asked with disbelief.

“Yes. Because you may be those things NOW, but what exactly is keeping you from changing them? Unlike your memory problem, this seems to be something that can be easily fixed with both time and dedication!” she exclaimed, raising her hoof dramatically.

“Um, yeah, okay!” John began, raising his arms in the air. “Sure, I’ll just GO get a job! I mean, who knows if I might get one after that incident when I was taking care of Diamond Tiara! Leaving her alone after I promised to take care of her. Her father is rich! He might make it so I can‘t get a job anywhere, or something!” John explained irritated.

“Well, while Mr. Rich isn’t necessarily that kind of pony, you might be right in that it is a thing that can happen,” she agreed, nodding to John.

“Thank you!”

“How would you like a job here at Carousel Boutique, then?” Rarity asked with a serious face.

“I, what?” John did a double-take, rubbing his eyes and looking at Rarity multiple times before understanding. “Are you serious?”

“Why not? I’ve always wanted a sort of butler figure to clean up for me, not to mention I could use you to practice for outfits for two legged creatures. It would be certainly interesting,” she explained grinning. “Unless, well, the job isn’t to your liking.”

“I… No! I’ll take it, yes!” he agreed instantly, copying her smile. “Thank you, Rarity.”

“That’s MISS Rarity to you!” she said in a commanding voice.

“Don’t push it,” John replied dryly.

"Very well," she laughed silently.

“Well, you certainly got rid of ONE of those problems, and I don’t mean to be ungrateful and all, but that one is still up there," John said, remembering.

Rarity closed her eyes, humming to herself as she attempted to come up with ideas. “Well… I might just have a solution to your conundrum,” she said with a devilish grin.

“W-what? Really?” John asked hopeful

“Indeed… I‘ll explain on the way, for now, we must return you to Golden Oaks; Twilight must be worried sick for y- I mean…” she suddenly stopped, passing a hoof over her mane once again.

“Wait, so you WERE following me!” John exclaimed in triumph. “You lied!”

“I did no such thing!” Rarity replied indignantly. “You see, Twilight found out you were gone, and she, well, didn‘t take it well, and she came here first to pick me up rather forcibly. You probably saw that cup on the floor when we came in,” she explained.

“That explains that little mess, but I'm still not getting the full picture,” he growled to Rarity who raised her hoof to stop him.

“And I decided to NOT look for you, instead opting to go drink before returning for Twilight with the fruitless results of my search,” she finished without much a hint of shame on her face.

“O-oh,” John mumbled. “So you finding me there was…”

“Purely coincidental, yes. I stayed to observe you once I recognized you; as they say, killing two birds with one stone,” she quoted, nodding in agreement with it.

“Wow… Such friend you are,” John groaned.

“Well, a certain rope made of blankets hanging from your window certainly helped ease the need to help her look for you,” she relayed rather easily.

“Oh,” John simply exclaimed, not needing to delve into the fact further. “Speaking of, you never told me. You went out drinking? You of all ponies?” John asked.

“John, even I enjoy a drink every now and then,” Rarity turned to him grinning before heading towards the front door. “Now come, you wouldn’t want a lady to go out on her own at this time, would you?”

"I suppose not," John grinned.

“Very good! We must leave post-haste, we already wasted enough time as it is!” she hurried, magicking away the tea items. “You need to apologize to Twilight after all!”

“Apologize? Come on, it’s Twilight! She shouldn’t be THAT angry,” John said confidently as they strolled out the door. “She’ll receive me with open arms… Legs… Whatever.”

…

“Y-you… Dumb!” Twilight shouted as John sat on a chair, his head hanging low as she paced around him with an angry scowl.

“Twilight, I went out for a drink, you didn’t have to worry, you know?” John attempted to explain, holding his hands to the edge of his seat.

“You left through the window!” Twilight deadpanned. “And you don’t drink!”

“Er, well…”

“Twilight, Ah’ don’t mean to be all defensive, but don’t you think he did this because he didn’t want to talk to you?” came Applejack’s voice from behind where the rest of the girls stood next to each other—other than Rainbow Dash who had at that point fallen asleep on the floor— all with puffy red eyes, showing signs of tiredness. Even Pinkie Pie’s usual stride didn’t show as her mane remained deflated through the whole thing.

“I agree,” Rarity continued. “If anything, he is guilty of making you wake us up so late at night,” she pointed out with a yawn at the end.

“If anything, you should blame that guard who let him escape in the first place,” came Rainbow Dash’s voice, who had suddenly woken up by the raised voices. She extended her wings carefully, avoiding to mess with the bandages around them. “Hey guys, what I miss?” she asked, getting glares from all including Fluttershy herself. “Geez, sorry I asked.”

“That’s not the point, girls, don’t you remember? He was attacked by Gryphon. Twice!” Twilight countered, which brought the three mares to lower their ears in understanding. “And Recon? Trust me, he is being punished by Patch if his earlier cries weren’t enough proof…” she shivered slightly, remembering the Unicorn’s voice.

“Twilight,” John began calmly, putting his hands over Twilight’s withers. “I know you are worried, but I’m not a kid, foal, or whatever; I can take care of myself. I mean, it’s Ponyville, right?” he attempted to reason.

Twilight moved away from him, the scowl remaining unchanged on her face. “John, you were attacked by a Gryphon IN Ponyviile,” she began. “I know we’ve said that you can take care of yourself, but that just won’t work in our current state, not to mention you can’t defend yourself against whatever is coming for you!” she finished looking defeated.

“Defend... you are right, Twilight,” John agreed, running a hand through his hair. “Yes, even the guards might miss something.”

“Not when we are getting ten of Princess Luna’s own Lunar Guards tonight,” came Patch’s voice from a corner who had simply watched up until that point. “No more midnight runs for you, you hear?” she said with a commanding tone.

“So does that mean I can’t go out?” John asked.

“I wish you wouldn’t, at least not alone,” Twilight relayed hopeful.

“Sigh… Well, I guess that I have to do that after all, eh, Rarity?” he said, turning his head towards the mare who simply nodded.

“Do what you must,” she replied simply.

“Right,” he got on his feet, and walked towards Rainbow Dash, getting looks of confusion from all

“What? Is there something on my face?” Dash asked, watching as John kneeled in front of her.

“Slobber, yeah,” John replied playfully, causing Rainbow Dash, to quickly clean it off. “But that’s not why I’m talking to you.”

“Um... then why? Are you going to declare your love for me?” she said, chuckling loudly, making John roll his eyes.

“No, but, I have a request,” he continued.

“Um, sure?” she agreed confused.

“John, what are you doing?” Twilight asked.

“Don't worry, Twilight,” Rarity said comfortingly. “Let him do what he must.”

“Alright…” she hesitantly agreed, watching John and Rainbow.

“Rainbow, I heard that you were awesome, and well, that you are a black belt in karate,” he explains.

“I am both those things, but were are you going with this?” Rainbow asked carefully.

“I was wondering if you could take me on as your student. Please?” he asked, and at that moment, most of the ponies mouths including Rainbow’s opened wide.

Followed by the obvious question from everypony else.

“WHAT!?”

Meanwhile, in a far part of Equestria…

A mare trudged through the desert, breathing heavily as she regretted being on her current trip. But she dared not give up, as her prize awaited her at the end, and she was close. Too close to give up.

“Soon…” she said weakly, only tiring herself out more. “Soon you will pay, Twilight Sparkle,” she said, as she noticed a city coming to view. “Yes... YES,” she laughed maniacally, her resolve now completely recovered. Her journey was almost complete.

Author's Notes:

GEEZ.

Dealing with this story's details and plot-points is like trying to fine-tune a fighting game, I swear. And just like them developers, I might have missed something... Hopefully not.

Anyway, after two months of work, you get two chapters (because one of them focuses on side-characters bleh) that FINALLY get Rarity and John closer AND lets me go to the next part of the story. As you saw at the end of both, there is an extra tidbit, that will be basically what'll show what the next chapter might be like.

Either way, I hope you enjoyed the double treat, and as always, tell me what you think!

Spoiler Notes 31 - 06/09/18
Here is where the story began its divergence from my original plans. Now, this doesn't mean I totally gave up on it, but I sadly had to give up on my big, overarching tale.

In any case, BOY did it take me long to stop end that whole Rarity/John hate boner, but I feel I ended it well enough. Oh well!