A few hours had passed since we returned from our travel to the mountains. The crew and I sat inside of Tolsa’s in our usual booth.

“Ok, so let’s get this straight. You all were attacked by a group of renegade changlings lead by a stallion covered in steel or something and Darkmoon blasted his leg clear off with his gun?” Asked a new friend.

The pony in mention went by the name of Firedancer. He was a regular earth pony, raised by a colony of dragons from a young age. He, much like Pyromancer, had an undying passion for the fires that plagued their minds. The stallion in mention held a light grey coat with a mane of a dark red with a bright yellow strip from end to end.

“Yep, just point and click, the red mist that shot through the air went everywhere! You’d have to have been there to truly see how awesome it was!” stated Pyro a little too enthusiastically. “Then fight was amazing, changlings running every which way, swords and spells, Everything man! The only thing that I found disappointing...” He slowly turned his head towards my general direction and made eye contact with me for no more than a second and rolled his eyes. Pyro turned back to Firedancer and gave him a toothy smile,”Our fearless leader here let the armored stallion get away, even though our very lives were in danger.”

Firedancer gave me an unamused look and shook his head in disappointment,“Do you read at all?” asked the grey stallion.

“Ok, I get it. I let him get away, and he has the potential to return, bigger and badder than ever. When that time comes, I’ll end him. Though I am pretty sure my warning was enough.” I downed the rest of my drink and stood from the table. The group looked to me and raised an eyebrow in unison.

Terra was the first to speak,“Where are you going Dark? Their idiotic words haven’t put you off, have they?” the large dragon asked.

I shook my head and grabbed my pack and strapped it to my waist, I turned to the group and tossed a pouch of bits to the middle of the table. “Nah, they think what they do. I’m just gonna get this armor checked out and spend the rest of the night with Moon Shadow. Since tomorrow’s my last day of freedom, I’m going to be taking her over to the Hive to meet with Chrysalis.”

“Chrysalis? Of the changlings? Are you..” Firedancer was quickly interrupted by Axton.

“Yes, it sounds strange but Darkmoon is in a relationship with Lady Chrysalis. Is this a problem?” Axton gave Firedancer an unsure look and Firedancer simply shook his head in decline.

“No, its just... well, I thought that.. never mind, I guess.” voiced Firedancer.

“Thought what exactly?” I asked.

I could see the group signalling the stallion not to answer but he didn’t seem to pay any mind to their warnings.

“Well... changlings are a powerful race that feed off the raw emotions of others to live, and they command a fairly large army so I thought that this was the reason that you signed the treaty.”

I looked to the stallion dead in the eye and focused on nothing but him, Terra and the rest of the group slowly peeled themselves away from the table and took comfort from across the tavern. I stood there, eyes locked on the stallion and a single beam of sweat dripped down his face.

“Look, I signed the treaty because of the role I was given. I didn’t sign it because I had too. I’m in a loving relationship with the queen of the changlings, and I feel honored to be able to say that she’s my special somepony.” I slammed my hands down on the table, turning the attention of everyone to focus on me. “I don’t fear their armies, for they are my allies and the allies of the rest of Equestria. I don’t let their leader feed off of me, off my emotions, to protect this land. I let her feed off of me so I can show her that I... I love her.” I turned to the exit and began to exit, but stopped just before I reached the doorway. “I’m not angry with you, just speak more cautiously about my Queen.”

///////////////////

“To be brutally honest with you Dark, I’m not entirely sure what this note reads. It has been many years since the tongue of the Old Equine.” Celestia continued to look over the note, squinting and trying to decipher the impossible inscription. “You must speak with my dearest sister Luna about such matters, but firstly, you must find her.”

“Where would you have me begin my search?” I asked the ivory alicorn.

“She has been spending much time with your counterpart, Shadow Kin. Lost together in their new found ‘appreciation’ for each other.”

“Shadow, you sly fox.. ha.. fox.” I shook out of my slight ramble and turned my attention to Celest once more,“So what I have to do to contact her is to be asleep?” I asked.

With a simple nod of the head, I bowed to the sun goddess and set my sights on the exit.

I just left the castle front gates and quickly took to the air and set off for Ponyville to retrieve Moon Shadow. I planned to introduce her to Chrysalis and maybe...

If I’m lucky, start a somewhat patched together family.

The very thought was warming my heart with an ever growing sensation of joy like no other.

“Family, it’s a nice thought.”

Condemned: So... you do have feels...
Dark: Feels? You mean feelings, don't you?
Condemned: To put it simply, yes.
Dark: Of course I do! Do you think I'm just an emotionless robot?
Condemned: Well, to be brutally honest...
Dark: Shut it, I don't want to hear it.
Chrysalis: No male bonding then? I was kinda hoping that you two would have worked this out by now.
Dark: He's just.. Just.. Too difficult to work with. Everything I say is a joke to him.
Condemned: I can be serious! Just you wait...