The Scales of Power

by Mary Sue Lover

When a human finds himself in a strange land, how will he deal with the differences between worlds? Will he have to protect himself from the influence of the creatures around him, or guard them from his own? And what will he discover about himself as new ideas and truths are brought to light?

4. Chapter 4: Sequestered Resolutions

((Author's Note: Hello, all. I hope you find this monster of a chapter to your liking. As always, any and all feedback is welcome, whether in PMs or reviews. Typos are fine to point out, though things like flow, characterization, tone, style, and writing trends are what I'm actually interested in hearing about, as my technical writing quality is one thing I am relatively okay with, and already constantly work to improve on my own.))

((Disclaimer: I don't own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, or any affiliated properties.))

Chapter 4: Sequestered Resolutions

The group stood, resolute, as they gazed determinedly up at the imposing sight of the castle ruins. They had finally made it to the end of their journey, fraught with so many perils and so many meaningful moments, all in less than a night's time. A night that would only continue on forever if they failed in stopping their mighty foe. So, all of them being of one mind for the first time since they met, they stepped forward, ready to face whatever would be thrown at them.

Their destination seemed both more and less than they had expected, they thought. The architecture, even as worn and crumbling as it was, was awe-inspiring. There was a sense of majesty to it that not even a thousand years of neglect could completely destroy, and there was a wordless agreement that talking would be done at a minimum in this ancient, sacred place. They walked up the chiseled steps, taking note of the weeds that long ago begun to grow between the stones, and the vines that almost covered the walls. Even these signs of nature reclaiming what originally belonged to it merely managed to merge its inherent inevitability with the elegance of the remaining structure. It lent it all a feeling of strange significance. Natural and artificial. Past and future... And, at least to the human, life and death.

Not one of them faltered, however. Their determination was strong, and their personal courage had only been girded by the experiences of the past night. They came up to the large, ornate wooden doors (which had somehow withstood the test of time better than even the strong stones that framed them) and Twilight, unwilling to allow the hallowed atmosphere of the place to interfere with her task, opened them without ceremony.

The hinges didn't make a sound, and the doors pivoted without effort to the interior of the castle, which was clearly lit by the light of the moon, as the roof was mostly gone. Taking their first steps through the entranceway, they looked around in interest, noting the broken walls and deteriorated pillars. It was actually very quiet inside; strangely so, considering the gaping holes in the walls and ceiling. Dust lay thick on the ground, unbroken and seemingly undisturbed by even the wind that must rush through the structure so frequently. It looked every inch the ancient and forgotten site it was supposed to be. But none of that really caught their attention. That was occupied fully by the massive sculpture that stood in the center of the room, a ring of five spheres set around a larger central one.

And each one of those five spheres bore a symbol that had been attributed to the Elements of Harmony in the book.

Eddie frowned, somehow dissatisfied, even as Applejack spoke up to Twilight.

"Well, sugarcube," she began, still speaking quietly in accordance with their wordless agreement, "this is what you were lookin' for, right?"

Twilight hardly seemed to hear her as she walked forward, her gaze locked on the dull gray spheres of stone before her. "The Elements of Harmony..." she breathed. "We really made it..."

The girls all moved to bring the stones down to ground, Twilight directing them to be careful, but Eddie's expression remained troubled.

'Is that it?' he wondered. 'We just find them in the entrance hall of the castle, no fuss?' He crouched down, placing a hand on one of the grey rocks. It wasn't warm, but it also wasn't as cold as the night air should have made such stones feel. Even so, his frown deepened.

'They don't even feel that special. There is some of that tingly feeling coming from them that I felt from Twilight's spell and the general feel of the world, that I guess must be magic, but the feeling isn't nearly as strong as I would think such all-important artifacts would be. Even Twilight's spells felt stronger than this.' He glanced down, noting the distinct lack of a sixth sphere, even as Pinkie Pie commented on the same thing.

Speaking as much to herself as to the others, Twilight muttered her response. "Hmm... It said that once we got five of them together, a 'spark' would cause the last to manifest... But they were already together, so what spark is it talking about?... Maybe a shock spell?..."

Twilight's vocal stream of thought deteriorated into indistinguishable mumblings as her concentration was once again devoted entirely to the examination of the artifacts before her. Her horn lit up as she seemed to probe the stones with her magic, hoping to gain some insight. Applejack, once again speaking for the rest of the group, took the hint and attempted to shoo everyone else back out of the door.

"Come on, y'all." she said firmly. "Ah'm bettin' Twa'light could use some space so she can focus. Let's all be gettin' outta her mane fer a minute."

As the other ponies filed past her, she noticed that Eddie hadn't moved from where he stood and made a motion for him to follow. The human just scowled slightly in response before leaning against the dismantled sculpture and crossing his arms pointedly. As he leveled an even stare at her, Applejack didn't feel as intimidated as she would have expected, so she risked a roll of the eyes at his stubbornness before wordlessly filing outside with the others.

Twilight paid the departure of the others no mind, focused as she was. After a minute or two of consideration, she began to charge up a proper spell to try and activate the Elements, straining with the power she was pumping into it. Eddie just watched, hoping that this would be the end of their little adventure. He was content to wait and give her as much time as she needed, whether a few minutes or a few days; whatever it took. He was sure he could do a bit of foraging if he really had to.

As he began to put a vague plan of action together for if they DID have to stay in the forest for a while, he eventually saw something familiar shift in the corner of his eye. It was a star-strewn purple-black mist, the same as the '"gaudy little cloud" that Gerard had mentioned, or what the Shadowbolts had dissolved into when they fled.

The same as Nightmare Moon's mane.

Suddenly, the cloud rushed soundlessly toward Twilight, swirling around into a small tornado powerful enough to pick up the heavy stones that the purple unicorn had been trying to activate. The wind of the zephyr quickly picked up, ruffling Twilight's mane, but remained as silent as ever as it lifted the Elements higher and higher into the air. Even then, Twilight was apparently oblivious to all of this. At least until Eddie shouted. He was anything but silent.

"TWILIGHT!" he bellowed as he ran over, alerting not only her, but the five ponies outside that something was wrong.

The swirling purple vortex wasted no time as it reached a certain level of intensity. In the space of two seconds, it seemed to collapse in on itself with a bright flash of light, but not before Eddie and Twilight leapt into it in their attempt to prevent the abduction of the objects they had sought. The others had rushed into the room, but none of them were fast enough to witness more than the sight of two of their companions disappearing into thin air.

For a few tense moments, the hall was silent, everypony there struck dumb by the sudden vanishing of the human and the de facto leader of the party he protected. It didn't last long, though, as they all started talking at once, nearly panicking without any of them being able to understand each other. So worked up by what had happened, it took several seconds for them to start to look around desperately for clues as to where their friends had gone. Rarity screeched to a halt as she was rushing past one of the windows, noticing flashes of light coming from one of the towers beyond. Immediately she pointed out this obvious sign of SOMETHING happening there, and Applejack promptly stepped up once again to marshal them together.

"Come on, y'all!" she commanded. "We're not about ta leave those two ta handle this alone!"

And with that, they rushed deeper into the castle, towards the tower where the fates of Twilight, Eddie, and all of Equestria hung in the balance.

---

'Teleportation might take some getting used to...' Eddie found himself thinking incongruously as he and his lavender companion were transported away from the castle's entrance hall. The mode of travel brought a feeling of extreme heat and compression, but also the sensation of being spun around and around, without the attendant disorientation and nausea he would have expected.

After a period of time that could have been seconds or minutes, they arrived at wherever it was they were going, coughing from the dust that had been raised by the mystic tornado as it dispersed around them. It only took them a few moments to notice their enemy through the suffocating cloud, though her menacing laughter clued them into her presence well before they could actually see her. Even as the dark alicorn stared down at them from her place upon a raised dais, certain of her superiority and simply taking amusement from the length her "opponents" had gone to foil her plans, her power crackled. The Elements entwined in her celestial mane, bolts of lightning arced through the air, brought into being by sheer virtue of her presence.

Noting the casual display of power, Eddie was almost resigned to their defeat, but stood fast nonetheless, emitting a low growl of determination as he stood beside Twilight. His unicorn charge, though not as fatalistic as her companion, was equally intimidated, but also equally determined. Narrowing her eyes as she took a steadying breath, she set her course in her own mind, stamping the ground in preparation for her attack.

Seeing what this tiny... this filly of a mare was about to do, Nightmare Moon scoffed. This unicorn, barely into the adulthood of her short-lived soon-to-be subjects, was actually thinking of charging HER, Nightmare Moon. Goddess of the Moon, and Ruler of the Night. The idea was so preposterous she could only barely hold in further laughter.

"You must be joking." she said, the mixture of amusement and disbelief plain in her voice, made all the more unnerving by the malicious insanity that she exuded. "Tell me you're joking."

All Twilight did in response was light up her horn, apparently thinking that her pitiful magic would give her the power to charge down an alicorn at the height of its power. Meanwhile, the human had quickly gathered stones of various sizes and degrees of sharpness from the floor, never taking his eyes off of the corrupted goddess before them. After noting its lack of horn or any other inherent method of attack, Nightmare Moon dismissed the creature entirely, deciding to play along with this hilariously pathetic attempt to defeat her that the lavender mare was about to engage in.

It would make it all the sweeter when she was thrown to the ground, broken in body and spirit, as she claimed her rightful place as ruler of all, as well as her ultimate victory.

As one, the two equines charged. Twilight's horn glowed brighter with each passing moment, while Nightmare Moon herself barely put any effort into her already faster charge. She didn't even have to bother to summon up any magic for this sham of a confrontation. This very inattention resulted in the first mortal pain she had suffered since her initial imprisonment, as a number of heavy stones pelted into her sides. Startled, she followed their trajectory back to the unknown creature she had ignored, seeing its angry expression and outstretched forelimb. Even as she turned her head to look at it, one of the stones managed to clip her horn, sending a sharp pain through her head as she clenched her eyes shut. Blindly, she sent a wave of raw telekinetic force at this new aggressor, not seeing or otherwise noticing her first opponent disappearing in a flash just as they were about to collide.

Eddie, it seemed, had been somewhat prepared for that reaction, as he had remembered Twilight's startled reaction from before. As soon as Nightmare Moon had locked eyes with him, he had moved, jumping to the side in hopes of dodging her retaliatory strike. Unfortunately, he had underestimated just how wide the goddess's blast would be, as well as how much faster her reaction would come.

His sideways leap was enough to dodge the center of the invisible projectile, but still caught him fully on half of his body. The sheer force of the blow sent him spinning rapidly towards an impact with the wall, and it happened such that one of his arms was flung right against it, causing a loud crack to sound through the chamber as both bones of his forearm snapped, along with his wrist. A much quieter crunch, caused by the heavy rock he still clutched further contributing to the impact and crushing the bones in his hand, might have been heard if it hadn't been for his own cry of pain.

Twilight, who had just managed to replicate the teleportation spell she had been subjected to, with some effort, appeared upon the dais where Nightmare Moon had set down the Elements of Harmony just in time to see— and hear —in horror, what befell her... her...

Her friend.

She didn't have time to spare this new revelation any thought. She knew that the only hope she had of helping her... friend... and all of Equestria, was if she could get the Elements of Harmony to work. Hating herself for using Eddie's predicament along with Nightmare Moon's disorientation as a distraction, she knelt down and poured all of the magic she could into the Elements at her hooves.

"Please work!" she begged, tears of desperation leaking from her eyes. "Please! WORK!"

Sensing the beginnings of an all-too-familiar magic, Nightmare Moon whirled around to face the little unicorn that had somehow gotten past her. Noting the glow of her horn, and the steadily growing white light coming from the Elements of Harmony, she leapt into the air as she completely forgot about the little insect that dared strike her, preparing to rush over to that insolent mare before she could do anything.

Once again, her dismissal resulted in the indignity of mortal pain being inflicted upon her, as Eddie used his off hand to throw the stone that had crushed his other one at the flank of the angry goddess. Letting out a snarl the likes of which would make the guardian of Tartarus whimper in fear, she once again whirled to face the perpetrator that was slumped at the base of the wall.

Eddie's breathing was ragged, and he could barely see straight through the pain of his injuries, but he still managed to throw a smoldering glare at the goddess whose ultimate wrath he was surely about to suffer.

Just as she was about to smite the pathetic thing once and for all, Nightmare Moon felt the magic of the Elements of Harmony spike, and turned just in time to see Twilight Sparkle sent flying away from them by a bolt of violently rejected magical energy. Already laughing at this development, she teleported herself into the midst of the all-important spheres.

"No... no..." Twilight despaired, shaking her head from side to side in denial. "The sixth Element... why didn't it appear?"

She looked over at her human companion, her expression lost. She found him already looking at her, his body battered beyond compare, but his gaze was unwavering. He didn't know anything about the forces that they were dealing with, but he had absolute faith that, as long as they lived, they had a chance of coming out victorious. That SHE could come through. Choking back what was either a sob or a laugh, she took heart and shame in equal measure from his certainty.

Nightmare Moon just kept laughing, taking sadistic pleasure in seeing the little mare's hopes dashed. As a final insult, she reared back, stomping down on the ground as she used her power to shatter the stones that might have been her downfall, drinking in the horrified expression the purple unicorn gained like the sweetest ambrosia.

"You little foal... Did you really think you could defeat ME?! The Mistress of the Night?! You cannot even fathom the power I hold." Nightmare Moon berated the devastated apprentice of her sister. "Now, nothing will stop me from taking possession of this world! And you will never see your precious Princess or your precious sun ever again. AHAHAHAHAHA!"

With that final pronouncement, the mad goddess's mane and tail began to swirl and grow, and the starry expanse sifted through the windows, rapidly covering the already dark night sky with her direct, personal influence.

Twilight could feel it as she lost all hope. The Elements were destroyed, she was magically exhausted, and her friend was horribly injured. There was nothing she could do. There was nothing anypony could do. In the last few moments before Nightmare Moon would surely tire of their presence and erase them from existence, Twilight spared one last look at what would be her first— and now only —friend. As her eyes once again met his own shockingly unchanged orbs, looking so much deeper and richer than anypony else's eyes she had seen, she heard something that gave her pause.

"Twa'light!" "Twlight!" "Darling!" "Twi!" "Twilight!" she heard her name called over and over as the voices approached, along with other words she couldn't identify.

'Huh.' she thought listlessly. 'The others are coming.'

Looking at Eddie and his steady, wordless encouragement, something began to percolate in her mind. The revelation she had just moments ago came back to her. She hadn't realized it, but during the short time he had been with her she had begun to value his thoughts and opinions more and more. Why was that? Why was it that a few words, a gesture, or even a meaningful look from him were able to bring her such comfort? Such confidence?

Suddenly, it hit her.

It was because he was her friend. As long as he was there to support her, she could find the strength to carry on. So much power, all because of this feeling... And as the voices of her other five companions grew closer, she realized that she had been getting the same feeling, the same motivation, from them.

They... They were her friends, too.

And if she got as much strength as she did just from Eddie, then how much could she accomplish with the support of everypony else?

A thrill of power swept through her, burning, galvanizing. But there was no pain. She understood, now. Slowly, she got back up on her four hooves and turned toward the laughing goddess, all signs of uncertainty gone.

"Do you truly think the Elements of Harmony can be destroyed?" she asked loudly, causing the mad princess to go quiet and look at her in confusion as the five other ponies gathered behind her.

"That you, even with all of your power, could ever destroy something so great? Well you were wrong! The spirits of the Elements of Harmony will never be lost! And now, I have them right here beside me!" As Twilight continued talking, the shattered fragments of the Elements floated up into the air without anypony using any magic to make them do so. Nightmare Moon watched this happen in alarm as the pieces flew over to hover around Twilight Sparkle and her friends.

"Applejack, whose words rang true and brought me comfort even when I feared for my life, represents the Element of: Honesty!"

"Fluttershy, whose understanding and compassion were enough to tame even the fiercest of beasts, represents the Element of: Kindness!"

"Pinkie Pie, who kept our spirits high and banished our fears with the power of her light-hearted joy, represents the Element of: Laughter!"

"Rarity, who brought comfort to a devastated creature by sacrificing something precious to her, represents the Element of: Generosity!"

"And Rainbow Dash, who refused to abandon us even when tempted by her greatest dream coming true, represents the Element of: Loyalty!"

With each descriptive declaration, the fragments levitating around her moved to form an orbiting ring around the pony in question.

"The spirits of everypony who came with me are what got us through every obstacle thrown our way!"

Nightmare Moon was starting to panic, her power suddenly incapable of even approaching the six that floated before her. Desperately, she tried to disrupt what was happening with words, instead.

"But you still don't have the sixth Element!" she shrieked. "Without it, you are powerless!"

"That's where you're wrong. The sixth Element was right there under my nose the whole time..." Twilight's gaze swept across all of her friends, finally settling for a moment on Eddie's still-slumped form at the back of the room, smiling as the pain in his eyes was outshone by the satisfaction he felt at his faith being rewarded. "I realized it the moment I heard all of you... The way you all made me feel just by being near, and knowing that you were there for me... I realized just how much I care about all of you." Twilight's eyes welled as she took in all these powerful new feelings.

"...I realized that you all... are my FRIENDS!"

And with that last word, a blinding flash of light appeared directly over Twilight, making Nightmare Moon wince in pain as it quickly resolved itself into a stone sphere similar to the others, but which none of them had seen in the entrance hall.

"When all of these Elements are brought together and ignited by the... the Spark, which everpony carries in their hearts, the sixth Element will make itself known. The Element of: MAGIC!"

All of a sudden, every single fragment that had surrounded each of the ponies let off a blinding light of their own. The power released was enough to make all six mares float up into the air as the pieces condensed around their necks, forming necklaces which reflected their respective cutie marks. As soon as the five behind Twilight received their artifacts, the final sphere landed atop Twilight's head as it changed itself into an intricate tiara, the central, huge gem of which matched Twilight's own mark.

All of the pieces were in place, and the building magic reached its crescendo as the room was filled with light. The six drifted together, and a rainbow-colored beam of energy erupted from them, twisting through the air before rushing straight toward the cowering Nightmare Moon.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The ribbon of color entrapped Nightmare Moon within a tornado of its own, and her final, wordless cry was cut short as Twilight opened her eyes to reveal the blinding whiteness of the power she was channeling, flooding the room once more with its light.

---

Eddie was glad. All of this was surreal, and he was starting to feel light-headed as the blood pooled in his mouth and trickled from his scalp, but he was glad. He didn't care about his arm, or the pain of what he thought might be a pierced lung. He just watched as Twilight spoke of what she had discovered.

She really did it. She had figured it out. In hindsight, the thing with Pinkie Pie probably should have tipped him off to this kind conclusion, but he still didn't see it coming at all.

Ha, he supposed he should feel like somewhat of a... seventh wheel in this situation, but he couldn't make himself care. He felt that he had done something. Even if his part was small— inconsequential, really —and even if those six were the ones that actually wielded the magic, he almost felt like, for the first time, he had really contributed to something significant; something worthwhile. He couldn't suppress the smile that grew on his face, even as the blood started dribbling from his lips and down his chin as it slowly soaked his shirt.

He could feel the magic of these "Elements of Harmony", and it was... nice. It was like the first feeling he got of this world: benevolent and good, but so much stronger than it was before. Just being near it, watching as its light banished the unnatural darkness with which Nightmare Moon had enveloped the sky, he could feel its beneficence. The power... it felt almost alive. Like the hearts of the mares who used it were unconsciously guiding its path. It would be fair, it would be kind. It would change where it could, and destroy where it must. It would help, it would heal, it would fix, it would preserve.

If he died here, after helping in what small ways he could to assist Twilight and the others in their quest, and getting to experience this feeling...

Well, there were definitely worse ways to die.

His smile remained, the light-headedness grew, and the blood continued to flow. He felt his consciousness slipping...

Then, suddenly, when the final flash of light came and lit up the room, his slipping was abruptly halted. His mind addled and fuzzy from shock and blood loss, he felt himself being pulled back towards normalcy. His bleeding slowed, and his head quickly cleared as he found himself filled with energy. Understanding after a few moments what seemed to be happening, his smile started to turn into a grin, but it ended up a frown.

Something was wrong. He felt something strange, and it wasn't in his body. It felt like his mind was being flooded by something. Taking a moment, he realized it was that same feeling he had been savoring, but now it seemed to be trying to get into his mind. Before, he had enjoyed the feeling from the outside, in a sense, almost like soaking in warm sunlight or enjoying a cool breeze. Now, it felt like it was trying to take up residence in his head.

And it felt like it was willing to get rid of things to make room.

Eddie grabbed his head with his one still-functional hand, groaning quietly as he tried to keep a hold on who he was.

'I've already lost something coming here.' he thought through the pain of the mounting migraine. 'I will NOT let anything else be taken from me!'

As he continued trying to fight off this dangerous, well-intentioned, intruding influence, whatever good the power of the Elements of Harmony had begun to do for his more physical injuries halted its progress. His minor injuries— the cuts on his face, various bruising and strained muscles, as well as a cold that may have been starting to develop —had all but vanished, and he retained his replenished energy and slowed bleeding, but his major injuries stopped being repaired by the Elements as Eddie fought off its mental influence. The power wasn't quite alive, but it wasn't totally inert, either. It sensed that there were things to "fix" in his mind, so it was trying to do so, but Eddie fought it. And since Eddie didn't seem to have a majority of the powerful evil or chaotic forces it was designed to combat within him, it didn't know how it was supposed to respond to his opposition.

So it didn't alter its course at all. It didn't push any harder, but it didn't pull away completely, either. Since it had no "programming", so to speak, for this situation, it just stayed doing what it had been doing upon encountering the problem: trying to get into and alter his mind with the same amount of force as before.

Thankfully, Eddie only had to endure this for a few moments before the light of Twilight's final eruption of power faded, taking the magic with it. Even so, it felt like a kernel of something that wasn't there before was in his head. He couldn't be sure, since it was his mind that was in question in the first place, but it felt like it was just something extra, rather than something that replaced something else, so he uneasily set it aside for the moment as he looked around.

Glancing outside to confirm, the night sky looked normal once again, no longer covered by the strange, malevolent starry sky that mirrored Nightmare Moon's mane and tail. As for the inside of the tower, well, he almost felt a bit awkward after glancing around. The floor was littered with unconscious ponies; he seemed to be the only one who hadn't fainted, and it didn't look like they would wake up for a little while. None of them looked hurt, thankfully, but he was quite surprised to see a new mare where Nightmare Moon had been.

Stumbling painfully to his feet, he made his way over to this new mare after confirming that the others were unharmed. It was obvious that this WAS Nightmare Moon— as odd as things were in this world, it still seemed unlikely that a random new alicorn would appear, unconscious, in the same spot as the villainess just after she was vanquished —but she was much changed. Now, she had the basic proportions of a filly, but was about the size of a full-grown mare like Twilight and the others. Gone were the armor (which lay shattered around her on the ground), the sinister celestial mane and tail, and the pitch-black coat; replacing them were a simple kerchief draped over her chest, a soft, light blue mane and tail, and a coat of purple several shades lighter than Twilight's. But just like the others, she was completely unharmed, despite the power used against her.

Eddie considered. Despite his determination to keep the Elements from doing what they tried to do to him, he wouldn't allow a grudge against a quasi-sentient source of power color his estimation of its nature. Did it decide (as much as it could) to change Nightmare Moon, instead of destroying her? Maybe she was too powerful or fundamental to the mechanics of this reality to destroy, given her supposed status as a deity. In that case, did it simply strip her of her power, or did it alter her mind, like it tried to do to him? And if it DID change her mind, did it revert it back to what it was before her betrayal of her sister, or change it to something new? Even if the crisis seemed to be over, there were still so many questions.

All things considered, he decided that it was unlikely that she would still be a threat, either in terms of power or intent, so he let himself collapse (more painfully than he had hoped) next to her. The others just looked tired, but who knows what kind of state Nightmare Moon— well, she would be better called Princess Luna again, now —might be in when she awoke. A thousand years of isolation, stewing in the dark thoughts and feelings of her alter ego, only to be torn down and reduced to this by the Elements of Harmony upon her vengeful return. Not to mention the feeling of being unappreciated that the history had mentioned as the initial cause of her fall, or even the crushing guilt she would likely feel upon realizing her misdeeds. Who knew just how much of the trauma the Elements had left her to deal with, and how much they had taken away in order to keep her from immediately becoming Nightmare Moon once more?

Moving over to get a closer look at her, he further confirmed to himself that she had no injuries. A glance at her face revealed it to be troubled, though whether by nightmares of her own or the lingering effects of the benevolent attack on her, he did not know. Recalling his success with comforting Twilight when she had needed some rest, he reached out and began to stroke the altered alicorn in much the same way. As he did so, he was almost startled when he ran a hand through her mane; it felt so strange. Instead of strands of hair, it felt like his hand was gliding ethereally through butter. It carried a coolness that brought to mind the analogy he had thought of earlier in regards to the ambient feel of the world, only there was a faint tingling, as well. The only way he could describe it was that it felt like the twinkling of the stars that had been in her mane before had translated into the sense of touch, rather than sight. He marveled at the sensation for a few seconds before continuing his ministrations, shifting a "lock" of the mane away from her face, noting that it already seemed less uneasy than it had before.

Unfortunately, it became apparent that his touch had not been quite as delicate as he had hoped, as the reduced moon goddess began to stir. She shifted, feeling very disoriented as she tried to piece things together.

'Whe... Where am I...?' she thought fuzzily, still needing a few seconds to remember exactly what had just occurred; what she had almost done. Her eyes shot open as it all snapped into place, and it was only the distraction of something moving along the nape of her neck and back that kept her from immediately leaping up in fear and panic. Quickly looking to the source of the sensation, she saw a strange creature, which she recognized after a moment as the one... SHE had traded ranged blows with just minutes ago, calmly moving its odd appendage across her coat. It was surprising to see its face, with blood dripping down it as it was, with such a normal, calm expression upon it, after remembering the glowers they had been sending each other's way when they had been in conflict. Quickly, she pulled away from its touch, though she felt too weak at the moment to do much more than lean in the opposite direction.

The creature just kept looking at her passively, neither pursuing nor retreating from her proximity or her gaze, though it wasn't entirely clear whether that was because of its fortitude or its own weakness. The fallen princess blinked at its strange behavior; it had looked so savage, before.

"Wh-why?" she managed, too tired to say much more. Thankfully, the Element of Magic's companion seemed to understand, despite the brevity, showing the faintest of smiles before speaking in a voice almost as faint as its expression.

"I'm sure you know magic better than I do. I don't think the Elements would have left you here if you weren't good, and I never cared much about what people do; only intent... And sometimes stupidity, I suppose." he added to the end dryly, remembering his confrontation with Applejack. "You're not Nightmare Moon anymore, so I'll wait till I get a second first impression of you, if you don't mind."

Princess Luna stared at him, not sure how to react to his answer, but was spared having to do so as the sounds of the Elements of Harmony waking grabbed her attention. Unthinkingly, she scrambled to her hooves and managed to conceal herself behind the sat-up figure, much to his bemusement.

'A goddess of the night is hiding behind my back from six equines who used the power of friendship to release her from her evil persona. Ha, yep. There is NO way I could have ever dreamed up something this ridiculous.' Eddie thought.

"Uuggghhhh..." the six non-alicorn ponies moaned almost simultaneously, massaging their heads.

"Are y'all okay?" Applejack asked to the room at large, suppressing a cringe as another throb shot through her brain.

"OH, my," Rarity's voice rang out gleefully, "I'm much better than okay, darling! Just LOOK!" The white unicorn gestured toward her rear, causing everyone in the room to notice that her tail had been restored to its previous glory.

"How beautiful..." Fluttershy breathed, staring at Rarity's chest while she was busy hugging her ever-stylish tail. Rarity nodded with her eyes closed, making affirming noises at the praise of her rough bob being gone.

"Uhhh, Rare? I think Fluttershy was talking about your necklace." Rainbow Dash pointed out, half-heartedly snorting in amusement as she rose slowly into the air, not quite at one hundred percent, herself.

"OH, OH!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "Look! I've got one and you've got one and you've got one and you've got one and you've got one and you've got... a crown-one! They're all so PRETTY!" She bounced around to a different pony with each utterance of the word "one", pausing impossibly in the air when she hesitated upon seeing Twilight's trend-breaking tiara, until she was shaking with excitement.

All six of them took a few moments to admire each other's new accessories as they gathered their wits. After they had all calmed down, Applejack once more took it upon herself to speak for the group, her southern drawl downplayed by the hushed, warm tone.

"Ah'll say, Twa'light. Ah had mah doubts, but Ah reckon you're right; we really ARE the Elements of Harmony." she whispered in awe.

The room suddenly began to fill with light, but this time it was the warm yellow light of dawn, rather than the blinding light of the Elements.

"Indeed you are." a kind, knowing voice echoed through the room. Behind Eddie, the goddess of the moon trembled slightly at the sound of the voice, and he leaned against her slightly, placing more weight on the one good arm that propped him up. As a brilliant ball of light coalesced in front of one of the newly illuminated windows, he squinted. Even discounting his eyes' reaction to the sudden illumination, his vision was starting to blur, and he was leaning more and more back against the small alicorn behind him.

"Princess Celestia!" Twilight declared in joy and relief as the others bowed. "I'm so glad you're safe!"

"Twilight Sparkle," the sun goddess responded fondly with an affectionate nuzzle, "my faithful student... I knew you could do it."

"What? But you told me it was all an old pony's tale; that I should stop reading those old books..." Twilight questioned, confused and slightly saddened as she was reminded of her beloved mentor's dismissal.

"Oh, my precious student..." Princess Celestia crooned, hugging the lavender unicorn as best she could with a benevolent smile. "I told you that you needed to make some friends. I knew of the prophecy, just as I knew that YOU were the only one with the power, knowledge, and conviction to overcome it; the only one with the potential to allow the true magic of friendship to bloom."

Princess Celestia tapped Twilight's crown lightly with a hoof as she continued.

"But only if you could sincerely accept that magic into your heart."

Twilight looked back at her five new... friends, smiling appreciatively at them.

A nearly silent, wheezing chuckle came from the corner of the room, cutting off what Celestia was about to say as the attention of herself and the six was turned towards the source. Celestia was barely able to keep herself from gasping in shock, unlike the others, but still sucked in a breath at the sight before her.

She had never seen anything like it before in all her millennia of life, and it was obviously in a sorry state, too. She hadn't seen that much in the way of blood and pain for a long, long, long time.

The thing's breathing was ragged. Each slow, shallow breath rattled audibly, making the creature sound almost as bad as the bloody and limp, destroyed arm made it look. Again, it chuckled, seeming not to notice the attention now centered on it despite looking generally towards them with its increasingly dull, glazed eyes. It seemed like it couldn't see them at all.

"Don't think about pink elephants, huh? Ha, protection from ulterior motives... Good way to keep it in good hands... hooves, haha— cough —ha."

The cough seemed to pain him greatly, and he found it amusing that his mind noted the fact that the resultant spatter of blood was the first significant dirtying his pants had seen in the whole voyage. Funny, what you notice in these kinds of situations. Gradually, the anchoring point that was his arm slipped, and he fell to his side with a soft thump.

Even as he was falling, Twilight let out a wordless cry, rushing over to him. The other five Elements stood frozen where they were. All of them had paled, and Fluttershy held a hoof up to her mouth as her eyes welled with tears. Twilight didn't even spare a glance for the now-revealed, cringing lunar princess that had been hidden behind him, instead instantly enveloping Eddie with her magic.

"EDDIE!" she begged. "PLEASE! If it hadn't been for you, I never would have... I never would have figured it out! This... this just doesn't happen! This isn't supposed to happen!"

Tears were streaming down her face, frustration building as her magic did nothing. They were so seldom needed, Twilight didn't know any strong healing spells. All she could do was keep pumping power into the few measly spells she knew for scrapes and bruises, knowing that the extra magic was just bleeding off uselessly without the proper spell-frame to guide it, but not willing to accept that she couldn't do ANYTHING for her first real friend.

Eddie was barely conscious at this point, but his smile was still there.

"Hey, sleeping beauty." he whispered, more out of weakness than a desire to keep things unheard. It was still loud enough to pull Twilight's attention away from her desperate, ineffective work on him, though. "Hope you don't mind if I consider the debt paid... This place is crazy, but this was nice... Hope it was as interesting for you as it was for me. And hey, you're okay with friends now. Ha, you can count me as one if you like. Pretty short-lived friendship, but— bah. Even now, a pun gets me. What stupid last words, haha..." Eddie's breathing was getting shallower, and his eyes were closing. "Element or not, I hope I helped..."

Twilight, who had stood rooted in place as he spoke, shouted frantically along with her five other friends as they all suddenly joined her when his eyes shut. But all he could hear were muffled voices, as if he were listening from a great distance, and underwater at that. Once again he felt his consciousness slipping, and it was in that strange, free-floating state of incoherency that he had a realization. That foreign kernel of something wasn't all he gained when the Elements assaulted his mind. There was one more thing.

He remembered what his necklace meant.

Moments before he slipped fully into oblivion, his smile grew, and even through the blood and pain, the ponies around him saw that it was the same breath-catching, heartfelt smile he had shown once before, when they had crossed the river, even tinged with sadness as it now was.

"Nana..."

---

Princess Celestia stood back, watching this newest drama unfold. This was one thing that she had NOT predicted, and it had been so long since she had actually been surprised that it took her a minute or so to decide what to do. In that short time, listening as the... thing... her student seemed to be unexpectedly fond of spoke, she took in as many details of the situation as she could.

Her eyes widened slightly when Twilight suggested that the bleeding creature on the floor was the cause of her figuring out the key to using the Elements of Harmony. Was it true? Had that strange thing really been such a large contributor to her faithful student's triumph as to make her feel that way? But then, if it was so good as to have guided Twilight to the Magic of Friendship, then why had it not been fully recovered by the Elements, as her sister had? She could not sense any malevolent or chaotic magic from where she stood, but the presence of those things was all she could think of that might have caused the Elements' apparent negligence.

Thinking of such forces reminded her of arguably her greatest personal concern: Princess Luna. Her dear sister seemed to be at odds with herself. Confusion, apprehension, and even a hint of concern warred on her face as her eyes darted between the Element of Magic, the interrupted sun goddess, and the primate-like animal she had been hiding behind, respectively.

... Under better circumstances, Celestia would have found the idea of her sister concealing herself in such a way highly amusing, but now was not the time for humor. Though it was interesting, that glimmer of concern her sister was displaying, given her recent circumstances... She wondered...

Shaking her head slightly to rid herself of ideas not yet relevant, Princess Celestia stepped in among the group of distraught ponies who had surrounded the now-unconscious mystery-creature.

"My little ponies." she called their attention. "Please, stand aside."

The Elements of Harmony did as asked, though they seemed slightly hesitant to do so, but Twilight only moved off a few steps, compared to her new friends' full body lengths of space. Her worried expression became hopeful, however, when she saw her mentor's horn begin to glow. The yellow aura of the sun goddess's magic surrounded the broken and bleeding thing and lifted it up into the air, frozen in position. It was unclear whether the lack of movement of his chest was caused by the stasis magic being used on him, or because he was...

Twilight ruthlessly cut off the thought before it could form. Her teacher would know what to do. Princess Celestia would be able to help him, right?

Said princess, while not as slavishly confident in her own abilities as her student, was still, in fact, fairly certain that she would be able to save the object of Twilight Sparkle's concern. However, even with all her power, she would need help in this case. The grievous nature of... "Eddie's" wounds, combined with the nature of her own power made her position a precarious thing. As goddess of the sun and mistress of the day, she had much in the way of raw power and growth-based magics, but when it came to more delicate things, such as rejuvenation...

She turned to her still-nervous sister, keeping "Eddie" firmly in the hold of her magic, but out of the way as she addressed her.

"Luna," she began, hiding the hurt she felt when her sister cringed in response, "I so wish that we could talk about all that has happened, but now I must ask for your help. Whether you yet hate me, or simply wish to be left alone, I beg that you assist me in helping this creature if you are even slightly glad for being restored to your previous self. Please grant me this boon, if nothing else."

Luna could hardly grasp what was going on, truly. She was still reeling from the whole experience, and now it almost sounded like her sister thought SHE was the one who deserved to be scorned. It was such a ridiculous notion that she almost thought she was having another one of the countless dreams she had had over the centuries on her moon. But she quickly shook herself of that before standing up shakily, gaining strength with each passing moment.

"O-of course, sister..." she agreed in a voice so drowned in apprehension and self-loathing that Celestia had to force herself not to weep in response. The lunar princess focused once more on the creature in Celestia's magical grasp, and having a new target for her attention seemed to lend her some strength. "We shall help you heal this creature. It wouldst be even less than the least We could do to atone for Our sins..."

Celestia was given no time to protest the way Luna had put that as the silvery blue glow of her sister's magic joined her own around the frozen human, creating a light that both sparkled and shone. They wasted no time, wordlessly pooling their magic together to also envelop the six Elements and their bearers, along with themselves. Secretly reveling in the feeling of supporting each other's magic as they had done so often before... everything went wrong, their energy surged until all nine of them vanished in a flash of light.

---

It was without a moment's delay that the group arrived in the throne room of Canterlot castle, surprisingly unruffled by the trip which should have been quite tumultuous— even dangerous —given the sheer distance and number of "passengers". But few could fathom just how powerful each of the sisters was on her own, let alone when they worked together.

It was a testament to the training of the Royal Guard that they only blinked in surprise for moment before immediately surging forward to surround the bloody creature their princess appeared to be holding captive. Horns glowed, wings lifted, and ready stances were taken by all, fully prepared to take custody of the thing, now that their beloved ruler had returned after her sudden disappearance in the depths of the night. They did NOT expect, however, the imperious look Princess Celestia gave them as she spoke more sternly than had been heard in a long while.

"Stand down, all of you. This creature is not a threat to Us." she commanded. They did not let this affect their stoic expressions, simply moving to return to their posts around the room to await any further orders. They were stopped, however, as their princess continued.

"Now. Leave Us. We require the utmost concentration for what We are about to do." The guards obeyed without question, not even thinking to protest the presence of the other seven ponies that remained with her, so much trust did they have in her judgment.

Turning away from her retreating guards and back to the creature she hoped to help, she summoned the pillows from her throne with barely a thought, setting him gently down upon them. Twilight had not taken her eyes off of Eddie, and was impatient to see him taken care of, so when her teacher turned back to Luna and started speaking about spells that even SHE had not yet been taught, she was relieved at being able to glean at least enough from their conversation to know that they were getting ready to actually heal him.

Once they had firmly decided on how they would go about saving Eddie, the still-hesitant Luna and the determined Celestia once again pooled their magic together around him. The six bearers of the Elements of Harmony waited with bated breaths, hoping that whatever the princesses were trying to do would be enough...

And for a few moments, it seemed like it might not be. The frowns of simple concentration that had adorned the faces of the two goddesses before them quickly turned into frowns of consternation, and eventually of effort, and the six helpless mares became more and more worried.

'What is this?' Celestia thought. 'The spell is being cast correctly, and his body isn't rejecting it, so why is it taking so much power?'

Luna was having similar thoughts, but as maintaining the spell took more and more effort, she was forced to devote more and more of her attention to it, forgetting for the moment all of her worries over the past and future. Once she had done that, she was able to match her sister's power, bringing the spell up to its optimum effectiveness as the only things in her mind were the magic and the creature before her.

Suddenly, with a feeling similar to the one somepony gets when taking the next step up a flight of stairs only to find that they were already on the landing, the spell became MUCH easier for both of them. At long last, the spell not only felt like it was doing something, it also looked like it was.

His destroyed arm and pulverized hand spasmed, shooting out straight as the bone fragments were set into their rightful places with a slightly nauseating grinding noise, merging back together until it was a perfect example of how the limb should be. The makeshift bandages that were wrapped around his hands flew off with the force of the magic that was flowing through him, revealing the twitching digits as the flesh, muscle, and nails visibly grew back into pristine fingers at an astonishing rate. The various cuts and bruises, both seen and unseen, quickly vanished without a trace as even the dried blood that covered both body and clothing seemed to moisten before being reabsorbed into his increasingly healthy form.

The last changes brought about by the spell were mostly cosmetic, as even his skin seemed to gain a glow of vitality, his hair a sheen of good health, and his "sleeping" face was cleared of all traces of pain, leaving only that happy, sad expression he had adopted with his last breath. Even once those things were finished, and no more signs of healing were visible to any of the senses of anypony in the room, the princesses held the spell for a good hour longer. Not one of the six other mares dared to interrupt them, unaware that their rulers were only taking this time to be absolutely sure of his health, given his strange initial reaction to the magic. With synchronized exhalations of fatigue, the two inexplicably tired goddesses released the magic on him, allowing Eddie's chest to rise and fall, proving to the others that he did indeed live.

Like a coiled spring, Twilight leapt over to him. Careful not to do anything that might harm even the weakest of creatures, but unable to hold herself back from hugging his large, strange form, she took comfort from his warmth, the movement of his chest, and the strong, steady beating of his heart.

Sending a tired, unseen smile her student's way, Princess Celestia rose fully to her hooves, having fallen on her flank upon completion of the spell. She watched the other five Elements move to join Twilight. While they were much more reserved, they seemed almost as glad of the creature's safety as her student was. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she even saw her sister shift as if to move toward him, before her equally half-collapsed position and her now-remembered circumstances prevented her from doing so for long enough to allow her to change her mind.

Regaining enough of her bearing to once again look the part of the indefatigable ruler amongst her subjects, Princess Celestia cleared her throat to gain the attention of everypony present. Once they had all turned her way, she motioned for all of them to follow her as she moved toward the large doors that the guards had passed through earlier. All of them followed wordlessly, somehow knowing that talking was neither needed or desired by their princess, and Twilight hesitated for only a moment before picking Eddie up in her magic and doing the same, only Luna being farther behind than the floating human.

The lunar princess walked along with the group, resigned to her fate as she stared at her hooves while she walked. Occasionally she would glance up, but her sister never looked back to give any indication of her intentions, so Luna mostly ended up staring at the creature she had just helped heal. The creature that had attacked her; that had kept her distracted long enough for the Elements to save her— and the world —from herself. So caught up in her contemplation, it was not until the group had actually stopped that she looked up ahead, only to see that her sister's chosen destination was actually her old bedroom.

As the doors were opened by guards bearing the lunar crest stationed to either side of them— "Why are there guards outside my room?" Luna wondered —the group shuffled inside, magically empowered lamps coming on and casting a bright, silvery light across the room. And when that light revealed the state of what was once her place of repose, the dark princess's confusion only grew.

Her room. It was... perfect. There was not a speck of dust or dirt anywhere, and her large canopy bed was neatly made, none of the sheets or curtains showing any sign of age or neglect. Princess Luna would have expected her room to have been cleaned out, or even re-purposed, but as she continued looking around, she could have sworn that everything was exactly the same as it had been one thousand years ago. Her memory was not the best after all that time away, under the influence of an all-consuming persona of malevolence, but just seeing the touches of her old slight messiness, such as a brush hanging halfway off the vanity, or her slippers thrown casually to the side of the bed, made her imagine for a moment that everything that had happened was simply a bad dream...

But only for a moment.

As soon as everypony had entered the room, and Eddie was placed gently on the large, circular bed, Princess Celestia turned around. Her face was carefully composed as she quietly closed the doors and looked at her quivering sister. Princess Luna braced herself for what was to come, and the Elements of Harmony watched awkwardly from the sidelines, feeling like they were intruding on something incredibly personal to their beloved ruler and her recently defeated sibling.

"Princess Luna," Celestia began, "I must thank you on behalf of both myself and my apprentice for being willing to help this creature. If it weren't for you, I'm not sure I would have been able to help him in time."

She paused. "However, now we must move on to other matters. Matters I have waited a thousand years to address." The current ruler of Equestria moved forward until she stood directly in front of Luna, who immediately shut her eyes in preparation for what was to come.

But her eyes shot open when she felt the warmth of an embrace she had only dreamed of in the deepest recesses of her mind during her banishment.

Celestia held her sister for a full minute, heedless of Luna's stiff surprise and silence, as she took these few brief moments to be selfish by just setting aside all her worries and plans to relish in finally being together again. Slowly, reluctantly, she pulled away until her front hooves were only resting on her sister's shoulders, but she kept her eyes locked on her sister's, preventing her from looking away.

"My precious little moon..." she said in a tone so soft and vulnerable that everypony else in the room was shocked into an even deeper silence than before. "I am so very sorry for all that has happened. I failed in my duties as a ruler, but even worse, I failed in my responsibilities as a sister, when I was unable to support and help you all those centuries ago. It is no wonder the Elements abandoned me after our clash. Even so, even if I don't deserve it, please... Will you forgive me?"

Princess Celestia's eyes were wet, though she refused to let any tears fall. With what her sister had had to endure, it would be an insult for HER to be the one weeping. She took a moment before continuing, knowing that her voice would catch if she tried to speak through her suppressed tears.

"We were meant to rule together, little sister, and I know that if we can set aside our differences and move forward, we will be able guide Equestria to happiness and prosperity greater than ever before. So please... will you accept my friendship?"

Luna seemed to be at a loss for words. All she could do was continue to stare into her big sister's eyes, scarcely believing that she was willing to forgive what she had done. Centuries of an imposed grudge and hatred had made her forget that anypony could show such kindness and forgiveness, let alone the one pony who would have suffered the most due to her actions. Her turbulent emotions quickly overcame her shock, however, as she almost barreled into her sister's chest, hugging her with all her might as she apologized over and over again.

The two goddesses showed just how relatable they really were, crying into each other's manes while they continued to reassure and reaffirm the love they had for each other. It was honestly the most heart-warming scene the six Elements of Harmony had ever seen, and they couldn't help but lean against one another with watery eyes and sympathetic smiles on their faces. None of them even noticed that Eddie had managed to wake up just in time to witness the reunion. With a tired smile and a happy sigh, he decided to give them a few minutes before calling any attention to himself.

'I can't believe that rulers, let alone goddesses, could be so human— so to speak —in anything other than complete privacy. It's a lot to hope for, though maybe not as much in this world, but maybe all the stress and responsibility hasn't completely hardened them, even after all their millennia of life.' he thought to himself.

Eventually, the two sisters seemed to tire themselves out, and their sobs quieted until they started coming out as mere hiccups.

"I'm sorry, sister." Princess Luna said one last time. "I promise to never lose sight of what's important ever again. I love you... Celly."

"And I love you, my precious little moon." Celestia wrapped her sister in one last, quick hug. Not a hug of desperation this time, but one filled with calm feelings of warmth and relief— feelings which Luna shared.

Suddenly, the somber mood in the room was broken by the sound of excessively loud sobbing, and everyone in the room turned to look at the pink pony that had literal fountains of tears springing from her eyes.

"WAAAAHHH! It's s-so b-b-beautiful! WAAAHAAHAAHAAA!"

Her declaration was met only with stares, until they all heard a soft snort off to the side of the room, followed by slowly building laughter. Once again, everypony in the room turned to the source of noise, only to see the recently unconscious human wide awake and sitting up. He was clutching his stomach with tears running down his face, and every time it seemed like his laughter was getting back under control, he would glance back up at the comical sight of Pinkie Pie's tears barely missing soaking Rainbow Dash through, and it would start back up.

It took a few moments, but eventually the seven other ponies began to chuckle, glancing back and forth between the bubbly Pinkie Pie crying on one side of the room, and the previously rather serious Eddie laughing himself to tears in the other. It built up until everypony in the room was laughing almost as hard as Eddie was, and even the pink mare's sobs changed seamlessly into guffaws as she unconsciously sympathized with the dominant sound in the laughter-filled room.

"Aha... Hoo. Man, I needed that." the human admitted to himself once all of them had managed to calm down and catch their breath.

"Hmhmhm. As did I." Princess Celestia concurred, bringing her own expression of amusement back to the level of grace befitting a princess.

"And I." added Princess Luna so quietly and shyly that Eddie thought for a moment that it was Fluttershy that had spoken.

"Mhm!" the others agreed.

Feeling rejuvenated in more ways than one, Eddie proceeded to stretch his arms high above his head before bringing them back down with a groaning sigh of satisfaction. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, testing them briefly to make sure they would support him, and stood up to his full height. After a quick glance around the room, he took a few steps toward the two alicorns and nodded to each of them briefly with a smile before turning to Celestia, who happened to be perfectly at eye-level for him, due to her greater size in comparison to the other ponies.

"I suppose that proper introductions are in order." he began. "My name is Eddie. It's a pleasure to meet you, with all the good things Twilight had to say about you." He brought his hand forward thinking initially of a hand/hoofshake, but he began to wonder what he should actually do when confronted with royalty. As she placed her hoof in his hand with a slightly bemused expression, he decided to just be a little old-fashioned. From what he could read of her, she didn't seem like the type to care too much, so he wasn't worried about bumbling along as long as he was pleasant, sincere, and courteous.

He lifted the hoof up partway, bending his back a little until he could brush his lips lightly across what he supposed would be her ankle (the closest thing to knuckles that he could think of). The amused glint in Celestia's eyes from being greeted fairly normally for once changed partially to one of intrigue, as she did her own reading of him. Despite the quite formal, friendly, and arguably over-familiar nature of the gesture, usually only used by those of high station who were trying to seek her favor, his eyes— 'Rather lovely.' she noted upon seeing the intricate variation and detail of them —told a story. And a story of greater complexity than most, at that. There was respect in them, yes, but it was mostly distant, and less than she was used to. There was no awe, but there was a shadow of wariness, even if honest pleasure and positive regard outshone it. She found the hodgepodge of impressions fascinating. So much so that she almost failed to respond before it would have become awkward.

"I am Princess Celestia, and the pleasure is mine. It is my understanding that you were of great help to my student in discerning the workings of the Elements of Harmony, thus I have you to thank, as much as the Elements themselves, for the safety of my little ponies and the return of my sister." Celestia replied. Meanwhile, Twilight was freaking out. She had been embarrassed when Eddie mentioned her comments about the princess, but more than that, she was horrified at the casual way in which he had addressed her, only to actually KISS HER HOOF a moment later. And her teacher didn't even seem to MIND!

Oblivious to his first equine acquaintance's mounting stress, Eddie responded to the princess's praise with a shake of his head as he released her hoof and stood back up.

"No, I'm afraid it might be inappropriate for me to be given much credit in that regard. When Twilight spoke about not wanting to worry about friendship until the crisis was over, I actually encouraged her in that decision, curse me for a pragmatic fool. In my world, there is no magic, and the idea of things like friendship, laughter, and love having inherent power would be patently ridiculous, so I thought I was merely keeping her focused. But if I had inadvertently made her hold on to her aversion more strongly, then..." he trailed off, not wanting to put into words what he could have caused.

"That's not true!" Twilight exclaimed, surprising even herself once she realized that she had just cut into a conversation her ruler was engaged in. Regardless, she bulled ahead with what she had to say.

"You might have agreed that my choice was the practical one, but all you really did was assure me that it was MY choice! Every time that I was worried, or started to doubt myself, you supported me until I was back on my hooves. And then in the castle, to give me time to figure things out, you used yourself as a distraction until you were almost..." she choked up as a few tears escaped her eyes, too distraught to keep talking. Rarity sidled up next to her and patted her on the shoulder as Pinkie Pie nuzzled her in the crook of her neck, offering silent comfort as Twilight forced herself to continue after sniffling a few times.

"You did so much for me," she started back up in a much more quiet, measured tone, staring hard at him, "even though I did so little to earn it. And your circumstances are hardly what anypony should be expected to deal with, all on their own, let alone on top of helping somepony else with their problems. Even after such a short time, I came to care about you so much, and if it weren't for that, I don't think I would have recognized that feeling when I started to care similarly for the others. YOU'RE the reason I was able recognize the magic of friendship, not through what you made me think, but through how you made me FEEL." Having said her piece, she seemed to deflate, exhausted, as she shuffled back into the throng of her friends. They congratulated her quietly on what she said, having a newfound respect for her, as well as for the target of her speech, Eddie.

Princess Celestia smiled benignly at her student before turning back to the surprised-looking human. "I think it fair to say that my pupil settled that little dispute, don't you?" she asked with a glint of humor in her eyes that Eddie was starting to think was habitual. He nodded anyway, however, not interested in arguing over something as silly as whether or not he deserved some praise. Though he really was quite taken aback by Twilight's vehement defending of him from... well, himself.

He cleared his throat.

"Ahem. Yes. Well... think nothing of it." he disseminated, clearly a bit thrown off.

"Hmhm." Celestia chuckled. "We'll see. Back to what you said, though, I believe you mentioned 'your world', yes? I can see that we will have much to talk about in the future. Though, and I apologize if this offends, wherever it is you come from sounds rather... dreary." She was getting more and more curious about the creature in front of her, and the "circumstances" that her student mentioned before, but didn't want to get too deep into things just yet. She could already see signs of just how tired the Elements were, and knew they would need to get some sleep soon. Eddie, on the other hoof, had just had an excessive amount of healing magic applied to him, and it seemed like he was as awake as if he had just had a full night's sleep, by her reckoning.

Eddie looked up thoughtfully before answering. "I... suppose you could say that. There was plenty of good, and plenty of bad, but seeing as entropy was the natural state of the universe— and thus destruction came more easily than creation —and destruction superficially brings more suffering than joy, I don't think it would be too pessimistic of me to say that yes, my world was a bit 'dreary', on a fundamental level. Though I think 'cold' might be a closer fit." A silence followed, and he looked back down and around the room only to see various mixed looks of bafflement, surprise, and slight sympathy on everypony's faces.

"I... see." the sun goddess replied, slightly impressed with his well-thought-out and well-spoken responses thus far, even if both were slightly disheartening in nature. "Well, I would very much like to continue our discussion, but I feel that it is high time you six," she said, looking to the non-alicorn equines in the room, "got some sleep. You are clearly exhausted, and I want you all to be at your best for the official celebration we shall be having to thank you for your service to the kingdom. And I won't take "no" for an answer." she finished when she saw the beginnings of protests forming on their lips.

The six reluctantly agreed, Twilight shooting one last glance Eddie's way before several guards escorted them to the appropriate quarters, at the direction of Princess Celestia.

Eddie took those few moments of Celestia's distraction to continue with the second of his royal introductions, turning to the standing-awkwardly-to-the-side moon goddess.

"Well," he began in an almost teasing tone, "is now a good time for that second first impression?" He smiled, putting his hand forth once more. "Again, my name is Eddie, and it's a pleasure to meet you— this you... or should I say the real you? ...Whatever; it's nice to meet you."

Luna seemed a little surprised at being addressed, looking up at him with slightly widened eyes, but unconsciously placed her hoof in his hand nonetheless. As he repeated the greeting he gave to Celestia (having to bend down much farther to do so), her cheeks burned, and she snatched her hoof back rather more abruptly than was strictly polite. She stuttered a bit before being able to respond.

"W-we art glad to make thine acquaintance, as well. As Our sister stated, thou art partially responsible for Our restoration, and thus thou hast Our eternal gratitude." she finally got out, and Eddie could almost see her wrap herself in ceremony in order to feel more secure. He raised an eyebrow as he sat in seiza position to more comfortably address the diminutive soon-to-be ruler.

"'We'? Any particular reason you're speaking in Old English? You seemed fine before, with Celestia." he pointed out, glancing at the obviously-eavesdropping sun goddess, who was trying to look busy by giving unnecessarily specific directions concerning the care of her guests to the guards.

"I-it is customary to speak in the Old Way when addressing Our subjects! Forsooth, We shouldst be speaking in the Royal Canterlot Voice as well, but We have deemed it discourteous to do so in confined areas such as this." she replied, flustered.

"Hmmm... Well, am I really your subject right now?" he asked slyly, tilting his head and knocking on it a few times in response to the brief dose of the "Royal Canterlot Voice" he had gotten. "Technically, until things are sorted out, I'm like a visitor from an unaffiliated nation at the moment, not a true citizen and subject. And to be honest, I've only read a few books that contained that type of speech, so I'm liable to get confused by it at times. Do you think I can use some of that 'eternal gratitude' to buy rights to casual modes of address in all current and future conversations?"

Luna shuffled her front hooves nervously. "...Very well. If it wouldst make Us— me —easier to understand, then it is only fitting that I accommodate you."

"Thank you." he replied, not wanting to mess with her too much. He had to grasp at straws for something casual to talk about, but managed to come up with what he thought would be a relatively harmless subject after a moment. "If you'll excuse me for talking about your nature, instead of your person, I have to say I am particularly glad to meet a moon deity, of all things. I feel like I should thank you, in a way."

The lunar princess was very surprised to hear that, not only because it came up so abruptly, but because it had been so long since she had heard the like; the absence of such sentiments was the very reason she fell into darkness, after all. "What do you m-"

"Ah." Eddie interrupted, noticing that Celestia had finally decided her charade would break down if she stayed at the door any longer, and was making her way back over. "A story for another time."

Princess Luna's brow furrowed for a moment. She would have VERY much preferred to hear this "story" now. But, still feeling uncertain of most everything, she relented in the face of her sister's return.

"Right, then." Celestia began, not giving any indication that she had overheard the entire exchange. "Why don't we move to a sitting room before we continue our conversation? Though I'm sure that my sister would love to get resettled in her room, I think we would all appreciate a more appropriate place to talk."

Nodding amiably, Eddie gestured at her to lead the way, quite interested in seeing the rest of whatever building he had woken up in. As she turned to head out of the room, however, Eddie couldn't help but stare at the sun goddess's fascinating mane and tail as it undulated in a non-existent breeze, recalling how strange the ones belonging to her smaller sister had felt. After fighting down a fleeting urge to reach forward and find out, he followed her into the hallway, taking note of the small contingent of guards that formed up behind their little procession. Luna followed behind, a slightly petulant expression on her face, but she had to admit to herself that she wanted to know more about the creature just as much as her sister did.

Walking through the halls, Luna idly noted the surprisingly minor changes that had been made to the castle since her time, while Eddie glanced all around in interest. The carpets, the architecture, and even some stained-glass windows they passed at one point all told stories of the nation he found himself in. It was quite apparent that he was in a massive structure; a true castle, really, from what he could see of the spires and battlements through the normal windows. Remembering Celestia's mention of the previous room belonging to Luna, he figured that he was actually in the heart of their country, from which Celestia had ruled alone for the last one thousand years.

Rather impressive, as far as he was concerned.

It actually took a decent amount of time to get to wherever they were going, though Eddie supposed he shouldn't be surprised at getting around taking a while in a castle of this size. The sitting room was simple and cozy, a large fireplace already lit (and despite it being around mid-morning, the fire somehow didn't seem excessive or out of place), illuminating two long, comfortable-looking couches that sat low to the ground nearby. The human was just glad to see some furniture that came close to fitting his size. If he were honest with himself, as small a matter as it might seem, he was kind of worried about just how inconvenient things would be for him, with the proportions of everything presumably being designed for creatures much vertically shorter and horizontally longer than himself. He was just lucky that the majority of the castle's rooms had been made to accommodate Celestia's size, as her height made things much easier on him.

The three disparate figures made their way over to the couches, while half of the contingent of guards took up posts outside the room, and the other half did the same inside, keeping careful watch over no-longer-Nightmare-Moon and the mysterious creature. Celestia took her place on one of the couches, her length covering it entirely, and Eddie and Luna took the other, each with different degrees and types of nervousness and curiosity swirling in their heads.

"So," Princess Celestia began, "if you don't mind, I would like to know a little more about you, Eddie, and I'm sure there is much that you wish to know as well. I have arranged for us to be left alone for as long as necessary, so there is no need to rush. Why don't you start at the beginning?" She and her sister stared intently at him, waiting for whatever it was he was going to say. He was actually beginning to look a little uncomfortable.

"Um... Well... Ugh, I don't know what to say to that. The context is too wide. If you want my history, then how far back: birth, significant events, or just what I can remember before my memory goes blank immediately before I arrived here? If you want my personality... ha, I wouldn't even know where to begin, there." Eddie sighed, before latching on to one thing that was simple enough to mention. If nothing else, it might get things going.

The princesses were looking at him half in bemusement, and half in exasperation.

"Alright," the solar princess conceded, "a fair enough point. Why don't you just tell us whatever comes to mind that you would like to tell us?"

He nodded, already trying to piece together some kind of framework of things to say. "Well... I suppose I could start by saying that my real name, if it matters, is actually 'Edward', not 'Eddie'. But I very much prefer 'Eddie'; it's the name I actually identify with." Princess Luna opened her mouth to comment, but Eddie beat her to the punch, remembering Twilight's reaction to his name. "Yes, I know my name is odd, not having a meaning and all that." The dark mare's mouth clicked shut at that, as the human suddenly gained a contemplative look.

"Although... I DO recall looking up the meaning of my name once... If I am remembering correctly, the 'Ed' part of it translates into 'wealth' or 'happiness', though it could be in either noun- or adjective-form. And 'ward' is pretty obvious: something along the lines of 'defender' or 'guardian'. Though I guess that's not too helpful in making my name less odd, since it has no real set-in-stone meaning to be translated into..." He looked over at Celestia, but only saw that same amused, almost mischievous glint in her eyes. "What?"

"It seems that one aspect of that personality you wouldn't know where to begin explaining is that you think deeply about the strangest things." she responded with a chuckle. Even Luna let out a slight giggle, which she immediately coughed to cover up when Eddie glanced sideways at her.

"Yeah, well... sometimes the most mundane things that we take for granted can become immensely interesting when you take the time to over-analyze them. It helps to keep life fresh; when you don't feel like learning something brand new, just sit down and puzzle out new levels of meaning and significance in things you already know. And yes, I know I just did it again, by over-thinking the act of over-thinking." he finished with a wry expression, the glint in his eyes rivaling Celestia's. She actually laughed out loud at that. Not the throaty little chuckles and giggles she had limited herself to thus far, but an honest laugh. She hadn't had the pleasure of enjoying a conversation like this for a long, long time.

"I see. I shall try to keep that in mind. I can certainly always use more ways to 'keep life fresh'." Celestia responded after getting past her brief laughter. Luna just glanced back and forth between the two, unsure whether her sister had changed over the past thousand years, or if Eddie just managed to bring out this side of her. Eddie rolled his eyes.

"Sure, make fun of the puny mortal. You've only got a head start of several thousand years." he said, his pouting expression dispelling any sharpness that might have been construed from his words alone. "Anyway, I guess I can just tell you what I told Twilight. Basically, my world has no magic or deities that I am aware of, only one sapient species (my own), considerably less intelligent non-sapient species, all of nature operating autonomously in a way similar to the Everfree Forest, and comparatively much greater technological advancement (from what I've witnessed). Oh, and I feel I should say that I was very much lucky enough to end up in a world like this, that WOULDN'T immediately threaten me due to introduction to foreign languages, materials, energies, diseases, and/or laws of physics; or maybe whatever method of my being transported here changed me to be compatible in those ways as well, seeing as this world seems to be two-point-five-dimensional, if there is such a thing, while my world and I were three-dimensional... Or was it four-dimensional? I can never remember whether the dimension of time is counted in that hyphenated phrase, or if something can only be called "four-dimensional" if it has a fourth spatial dimension...?" he trailed off, once again looking contemplative, and thus missing the first few seconds of the owlish looks of befuddlement on the faces of the two goddesses he was talking to. Eventually, however, he looked up and saw them looking at him in their odd ways. "What?"

"...Art thou serious?" Luna asked, thrown so off-kilter by the barrage of significant information that she fell back into the Old Speech, rather than follow the agreement she had just recently made.

Celestia closed her slightly open mouth with an audible click before clearing her throat. "Ahem. Yes, well, it seems that we WILL have to break up our talks, rather than hash it all out now. There are certainly a lot of implications to consider in the little you just said, and I would personally prefer to take my time with that, wouldn't you, sister?"

Luna snapped out of her bewildered state upon being addressed by Celestia, responding with a quick and slightly meek-sounding, "Yes, of course, sister."

A frown flickered across Celestia's face for the briefest moment, before it was replaced once more with the friendly, inquisitive look which reflected how she felt about the surprising creature before her.

"Hm. Well then. There is one thing that I wanted to ask you, if you don't mind. It may be pointless for me to ask this, given what you said about the lack of magic in your world, and the resultant lack of experience and knowledge you might have had with it, but do you have any idea why the Elements of Harmony failed to restore you as they should have?"

Eddie's face darkened, his interested look devolving into a slight scowl, taking the two alicorns aback (and making the guards stiffen).

"Oh. Them." he said in a clipped voice. He paused for a few seconds before continuing, a hint of anger seeping into his words. "I might have an idea. Those... Elements of Harmony... did try to heal me. The problem was that that wasn't all they tried to do. I could feel them, you know? Order, peace, healing. Good intentions incarnate. Well, there is a saying in my world, and even though I don't usually put much stock in it, I find it to be VERY apt in this one case: 'The road to hell is paved with good intentions'."

His jaw tightened, unmindful of the concerned expressions on the faces of the two benevolent equines he was addressing.

"They tried to get in my head. Change me. I guess whatever makes them work saw something in me that needed to be 'fixed'. As soon as I felt that, I resisted. And when I rejected the 'help' they were offering to my mind, I stopped feeling them working on my body." the anger on his face was mixed with a small amount of confusion as he thought back. "Now that I think about it, it almost felt like the magic was confused. It didn't try to force itself on me after that; it just sort of lingered there, not really pushing hard or backing off..."

The scowl suddenly returned at full force. "But I can tell that it managed to do something. I don't know what, but it left something in my head. And that scares me more than Nightmare Moon ever could."

The sisters stared at the one and only human in their land, feeling the weight of conviction in his words. Suddenly, he addressed them formally and seriously, all traces of anger wiped from his face.

"Your majesties," he began, almost startling them, as this was the first moment where he had referred to them in the way that everypony else always had, "if there is one thing that I would ask in return for my assistance, it would be that I never be present when that power is used, ever again. I bear no ill will towards its wielders, believe me. But no matter how good that magic is... in my eyes, what it tried, and might have even succeeded in doing to me was beyond the the concept of mere evil; more despicable, more vile, more depraved, than any crime one could ever commit."

Having stated his plea, the human knelt down before prostrating himself fully before the two rulers, fully intending this as exactly what it was: a lowly prole asking a boon of those he had served.

The princesses were truly shocked. That he could have felt the influence of the Elements of Harmony, knowing and admitting their benevolence, but at the same time saying that they had inflicted what he saw as the most grievous of wrongs imaginable upon him. That he could feel that way without being evil, himself, and thus escape from their power. That he, whom they for some reason would never have expected to see treat them as, well, rulers, would prostrate himself like this, begging simply not to be in the presence of the magic of the Elements, were they ever to be used again. Even if they couldn't quite see things the way he seemed to, their hearts nearly broke at his words, at the effort and desperation it must have taken to lower himself to this.

And it broke Celestia's heart thrice over to have to deny him his heartfelt request.

"I... am sorry, Eddie," she finally said into the heavy silence that had fallen on the whole room, making Luna turn to her, wide-eyed, and Eddie stiffen on the ground, "but I cannot grant you this." Eddie trembled lightly where he lay, before forcing himself to stop. "I am, and will always be, eternally grateful to you for your contribution to the salvation of my sister, and this world... but I cannot endanger my subjects by limiting the use of our greatest weapon in any way. No matter how much it might pain me not to."

And it did. It hurt her more than she could ever say that the one thing he asked, and that she could tell he had all the reason and justification in the world to ask, was the one thing she could not grant. Never before had she so wanted to grant a boon, to set aside her duties, her responsibilities, for just one moment, and offer somepony the comfort they needed. But she couldn't.

Nightmare Moon may have been punished for abandoning her duties, but Celestia knew better than anypony that duty was its own punishment.

Eddie was silent for several seconds before he slowly brought himself back up, gingerly taking a seat on the couch with shoulders slumped and head bowed. He took a deep breath, and finally lifted his head back up to look at Celestia. Her heart lurched at the fear that was in his slightly glistening eyes, even as it quickly receded until it was like it had never been there at all. Even so, he smiled at her. It was a smile that she was intimately familiar with; one she had often pasted on her face for the sake of her subjects during the first few decades after her sister's banishment. It spoke of sadness, fear, and bone-deep weariness, but worst of all, acceptance.

"You really are a good ruler, Celestia." he whispered (not knowing the wince she had to suppress upon hearing the sincere compliment that hurt her so), his voice soft and slightly hollow. Even if he hadn't gotten the assurance he had hoped for, he couldn't help but respect her a bit more. She took the path of the greater good, a hard path indeed, and he could respect that.

Celestia couldn't bring herself to respond, and was forced to hide her face behind a wing, rubbing at her own moistening eyes.

Luna looked back and forth between the two, unsure of what she could possibly do here, or even who she should reassure. It was ultimately decided by her own sisterly instincts, and the half-courteous, half-listless shrug Eddie directed from her to Celestia when she caught his tired eye. Slowly, hesitantly, she stood up and made her way quietly over to her sister. Fluttering up into the air, she settled lightly on the arm of the couch, firmly wrapping her sister's head and neck in the embrace of her own dark wings. Celestia's eyes opened in surprise, but quickly closed again as she savored the closeness she had missed for so long. Meanwhile, Eddie took his own steadying breaths, girding himself to continue this landmine of a conversation.

When the two princesses separated from one another, they were interested to see Eddie seemingly restored, sitting up straight with the same thoughtful, casual, vaguely friendly look he had worn for most of the time they had seen him.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

Celestia just looked at him in wonder before shaking her head to focus herself.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you. And thank you, little moon." Luna blushed. "Eddie... while I may not be able to promise you anything concerning the Elements of Harmony, I would still like to help you. I know it may be... insensitive of me to ask, considering, but would you like me to check your mind to see if I can identify whatever it is the Elements did manage to do to you, and possibly reverse it?"

Eddie looked taken aback for a moment before his gaze turned serious, searching. She was surprised to find that she actually felt like squirming under that gaze, but she held it steadily, nonetheless. After half a minute of searching for something, and seemingly finding it, he disengaged from her in their little staring contest, smiling slightly.

"Alright. I'll trust you on this. But, I should warn you—" he began, before he was distracted by the sound if shifting fabric and metal when the guards in the room readjusted their positions slightly. An annoyed look crossed Eddie's face. "Oh, calm down. It's not a threat-warning, it's an I'm-worried-for-your-princess's-well-being-warning." The guards grimaced, but didn't relax into their previous positions, prompting an irritated sigh from the human.

Celestia chuckled at the interplay, despite her curiosity at what he was referring to.

"Please continue, Eddie. What do you think I have to be careful of?" she asked with an elegant tilt of her head. He turned away from the stubborn guards to face her again before answering.

"I just wanted to warn you that something bad might happen to you if you try to view a memory, assuming you can do that. Like I said, my world might be on a slightly higher dimensional plane, and I'm worried your mind might not be able to grasp it."

Seeing her burgeoning frown, he was quick to elaborate.

"When I woke up here, I started getting a horrible migraine just from looking around. I instinctively kept trying to focus my eyes to see detail that doesn't seem to exist, here. Even now, after your healing took away the pain, the migraine is starting to come back. If that is what happened to me, from taking a step down in terms of dimensional complexity, then who knows what will happen to you, if you try to take a step up." he finished in a slightly worried tone.

Celestia was actually touched at the concern and forethought he had so readily put into this, but was nonetheless determined to do at least this much for him. The rest could come later, but this— this was important.

"I see." she said at length, ignoring the slightly worried looks her sister and guards were sending her way. "Thank you for warning me of this. I would still like to do this for you, however."

Eddie bowed his head in respect, the small smile returning to his face as he waited for whatever was about to come. Before Celestia could move to begin her examination, however, Luna stepped forward.

"Sister, I may not possess much of my power at the moment, but at least allow me to lend you my support. The mind has always been more my domain than yours, so even in my reduced state, I should be able to at least partially protect you from whatever dangers may lurk within his mind." she asserted, determined to help both her sister and one of her saviors. She didn't notice the slightly chagrined expression that crossed his face as she essentially made his mind sound like some dark, treacherous thing. Celestia just smiled in response, moving to sit on the ground in front of Eddie as her sister's magical aura surrounded her, mixing with her own aura solely around her horn. Closing her eyes in concentration, she remained still for several seconds.

Finally, she leaned forward, touching her glowing horn to Eddie's forehead.

---

Celestia was immediately sent tumbling through Eddie's mind, the rush of activity like the strong current of a river overpowering her. It took a few moments to right herself and halt her movement, even with Luna's magic to help stabilize her, but even then, she was overwhelmed in other ways.

His mind... she didn't know how to describe it. Her sister was right, the mind was not her domain, but she did have a decent amount of experience with the mental plane from before her sister's banishment, when they would commune with each other in much the same way as now, only more mutually. As it was, Celestia was alone in this mind-scape, while Eddie was left in the waking world, probably without even a sensation to indicate what was happening.

All around her, she could see them: thoughts, emotions, beliefs, memories, knowledge, all having different colors, qualities, and intensities to represent them. All twisting and rushing and mixing and separating, constantly in motion. Even the components that should have been in direct opposition to each other seemed to do battle one moment, and somehow meld harmoniously the next. The sea of his mind was extraordinarily full of activity, and yet there was an overwhelming sense of calm and control, behind it all.

She didn't know what to make of it. She had seen many minds in the past, when she and her sister had used the ability to more readily pass judgements on disputes, but none were ever like this. Only her sister's mind had ever come close to being this... involved? Interconnected? She didn't think there was a proper word for it, though that was not an uncommon problem when it came to matters so purely of the mind.

With effort, Celestia decided to get back to the matter at hoof. Anchoring herself firmly, reestablishing control over where she went in the strange internal world, she began her search. Not only was she looking for any signs of foreign influences, she was also taking the opportunity to more deeply probe for any sense of elemental evil or chaos within him. She had not been lying when she said she was grateful, and she was even forced to admit to herself that she found him rather likeable; or at the very least, interesting. But he was an alien creature from another world, who had been willing and able to at least partially reject the power of the Elements of Harmony. And with the complexity she had now discovered...

Well, as any system increases in complexity, so too does the inherent potential for failure grow.

As much as she searched, though, she couldn't seem to find any of the things she was looking for. Sure, she was able sense the natural pieces of darkness, chaos, and evil within him, and they might have even been marginally more plentiful than in the average pony, in some ways, but he was still quite firmly good, majority-wise, with no forces that even vaguely reminded her of Discord or the like. As for foreign influences, she was starting to have doubts as to his judgement on the matter. He had admitted that there was no magic in his realm, after all, so it seemed likely to her that he would likewise not have had much (if any) experience with sensing mental meddling. Maybe he was just paranoid after he first noticed the general mental and emotional effects the Elements had on those around them, and had imagined the whole thing purely out of his apparently enormous fear for the sanctity of his mind.

Just as Celestia was getting ready to pull out of the mind-scape, already thinking of ways to more tactfully suggest that he had been totally wrong, she DID manage to sense something. Or at least, she sensed a faint shadow of something. It took her longer than she would have liked, but eventually she was able to trace the feeling back to its source. Yet again, she had found something she couldn't seem to put words to.

It was... a void, maybe. Or maybe it was the opposite. Thoughtlessly dipping a forehoof into the space out of insurmountable curiosity, there was the strangest sensation... Almost like the oxymoronic, tingling numbness one feels in a limb that has fallen asleep. Like for the few moments that it passed through the space, it did not belong to her, despite it being part of her. She immediately pulled her leg back, glad to note that it was perfectly fine once it left the space.

Whatever this thing was, it wasn't magic. But it also wasn't any kind of mental or emotional construct that she knew of. In fact, she couldn't even sense the thing directly, at all! The only reason she had managed to find the thing was that there was a residue of the magic of the Elements of Harmony around it, which somehow did not come from it.

'Ugh!' she thought to herself in frustration. 'I'm almost starting to understand what he meant when he talked about that migraine. Sensing something your mind is apparently unable to understand is very stressful.'

Nevertheless, she forced herself to continue examining it, both intellectually and magically. But no matter what she did, nothing seemed to affect it. Her magic either passed through it, or disappeared into it entirely, with no consistent pattern as to which one would happen at any given attempt, type, or amount of power applied. And her mind, loathe as she was to admit it, was even more useless. She couldn't figure out anything further than what she had already noted: not magical, mental, or emotional.

It was with a frustrated sigh, after almost an hour of careful study, that Celestia finally gave up. She had completely run out of ideas, totally incapable of even comprehending the anomaly, let alone affecting it in any way. It seemed that, despite the sincerity of her promise to him, she would not be able to do anything more than confirm that there was something inside of him that the Elements of Harmony had put there, just as he feared.

Bearer of bad news, indeed; and bad news he was already certain of, at that.

Head hung low, she turned away from the thing, ready to make her way back to the shallower parts of Eddie's mind, where it would be easier for her to make her exit. She took her time moving through the busy expanse of his internal world, not at all looking forward to disappointing the human she had so wanted to help in this small way, at the very least.

After quite a while, by her reckoning, she sensed that she had arrived back in the general area of where she had first entered. Sighing again, she halfheartedly glanced around, hoping that something would provide a distraction to give her more time, even if such a delay would be only that: a delay.

As she idly watched one of the grey, iridescent streaks that represented a memory pass her by, Eddie's words echoed back to her.

'"I just wanted to warn you that something bad might happen to you if you try to view a memory, assuming you can do that. Like I said, my world might be on a slightly higher dimensional plane, and I'm worried your mind might not be able to grasp it."'

The explanation that followed the almost-insult to her mental capacity had certainly been reasonable enough, she knew. And yet... with her recent failure to grasp the nature of the unknown thing in his mind, and how easily she had been subdued upon Nightmare Moon's return (until the Elements had broken her power and set her free), she felt her oft-controlled competitive spirit coming to the foreground. So with a stubborn, determined, almost challenging expression on her face, she felt around for a memory, determined to prove her worth, if only to reassure herself that she was no useless foal.

She was Princess Celestia. Ruler of the Day. Goddess of the Sun. She had reigned alone for a thousand years, bearing the burden of not only her own power and responsibilities, but those of her sister, whose magic was virtually anathema to hers. She refused to believe that she, with all of her knowledge and arcane ability, could do NOTHING for this creature.

And some unreasonable part of her mind insisted that this was the way to show that she could.

In no time at all, she found a memory with which to prove herself. Even in her emotional state, she was sure to find one that had very little in the way of emotional significance to it, not wanting to violate his privacy any more than she had to. It was likely just a random scene which had stuck in his mind for no particular reason. A pretty view; an odd sight; who knows?

Grasping the silvery strand of light in her hooves, she lit her horn and took the plunge...

...

...

Sand. Trees. Rock. Water...

Light. Light on the water. Ocean? A beach? What cast the light?

Look up.

The Sun. No, not the Sun. That wasn't her Sun. This Sun wasn't her. This Sun was dead. It's light was dead. Cold. Lifeless.

Look sideways.

The Moon. Luna? No, not Luna. Dead, too. All dead. No life. No essence. No magic.

Look around.

Angles. Angles everywhere. Angles in angles in angles in curves. Light and shadow, sound and silence, mixing weaving fading growing moving.

Head hurts.

Look closer.

Detail. Detail detail detail. Beach is sand. Sand is grains. Grains are rock. Colors, lines, pits, cracks; every grain, endless detail. Smaller, smaller. Little balls. Moving, spinning. Solid? Energy? Smaller. Smaller sparks in little balls. Moving. So many angles. More than before. Smallersmallersmaller. Strings. Rings? Moving shaking dancing singing.

Head hurts. Cold light. Stop.

Smaller. Fabric? Deeper, deeper.

Look back.

Empty. So empty. Sun. Moon. Earth. Rock. Plant. Animal. All empty. So much space between balls, between sparks, between strings. So empty.

Stop.

Stop.

Hurts.

Stop.

...

Help.

---

Luna was starting to worry.

Celestia had been in Eddie's mind for almost an hour, now. She knew better than anypony just how much time could pass in the world of the mind, during a measly sixty minutes in the waking world. Nonetheless, she kept up her support-magic, having faith in her sister's ability to handle anything that could be thrown at her...

Still... she worried.

And it seems she wasn't the only one affected by the length of time that had passed. Eddie didn't know what Luna knew about the mechanics of what Celestia was doing to him, so he wasn't as concerned as he was, well... bored.

He had been sitting in the same position, perfectly still, for the last hour. Celestia had kept her horn on his forehead since the start of the 'procedure', so he assumed that that contact was important, and thus had done his best not to move. But anyone could tell you that staying perfectly still for any significant amount of time can get uncomfortable, no matter the starting position. And he had started in a straight-backed, tense seated position, so he didn't even start out comfortable.

Eventually, he couldn't help but try to readjust his position, doing his best to maintain the necessary contact. However, when his shifting made his upper body move just a little more that he planned, he noticed that Celestia's head followed his, maintaining their connection without any indication of consciousness on her part.

He glanced over in Luna's direction, considering breaking the silence that had fallen in order to ask a bit more about the specifics of what they were doing. Before he could open his mouth, however, he saw the slightly concerned look that had just developed on her face in the last few minutes.

He looked back to Celestia, her muzzle mere inches from him, feeling her incredibly shallow breath on his face. Was it just him, or was there a hint of... pain, on her face?

"Celestia?" he asked, doubting she could hear him, but calling out to her nonetheless. Luna and the guards turned to the first noise that had graced the chamber, aside from the crackling of the fire, in what felt like an eternity.

"Celestia?" he called again, slightly louder this time. He tried to pull away from her, now, but her head followed his own, just like before. When he had leaned back so far that her barrel bumped into his chest, he decided to give up that tactic.

He didn't want someone almost as big as a horse falling right on top of him, after all.

That... would probably not end well for him.

Eddie growled a bit in frustration, actually starting to get a little worried, himself, knowledge or no knowledge. What was wrong? Was his mind really so difficult to traverse? Was she alright?

...Had he he been right to worry about her, memory or no?

Abruptly, Eddie reached up and grasped her horn in his hand, intending to pull it away from him by force, if necessary.

As soon as he touched it, however, there was a discharge of energy as the magical glows of the two alicorns sparked wildly. The aura around Luna's horn exploded, sending her back several feet, tumbling over the back of the couch.

Eddie received a mild shock for his trouble, his hand glued to the sun goddess's horn.

Celestia's own reaction was... surprising, to say the least.

As the light disappeared from her horn, her whole body spasmed, and she ended up falling forward onto the human that had interrupted the magic. Thankfully, the cushioning of the couch and Celestia's starting position on the floor made sure that the fall wasn't nearly as painful as he thought it would be. But he wasn't able to even think about that, because as soon as the magic around her horn had completely faded, and it broke contact with his forehead, the princess took in a massive gulp of air, unconsciously curling up into the pony-equivalent of the fetal position.

However, given that she had fallen right on top of Eddie just before that, he found himself being crushed in her involuntary embrace as she continued to gasp for air. He wasn't sure what to do, here, but since she seemed to basically be having a panic attack, and he couldn't really move, anyway, he awkwardly put his free arm around her, doing his best to calm her down by stroking her in much the same way he had Twilight and Luna.

"Shhhh, shhhh," he cooed, feeling a little ridiculous with the way he was trying to soothe the confident, millenia-old goddess with the body of a winged, horned horse (and who was about as big as he was), as if she were a child in the throes of a nightmare.

Meanwhile, the guards were frozen in indecision. It was obvious that the creature was in some way responsible for their leader's distress, intentional or not. But what could they do? He was holding her tightly, and the princess was holding him even tighter. Was he holding her hostage, or helping her? What were they to do in this situation? In the end, they surrounded the two, shuffling about in half-battle-ready stances, waiting for something to change. Or for Princess Celestia to give them their orders.

It took a few minutes of sliding his hand along her neck and back, rubbing the tension out of her clenched muscles, and murmured comforts, but in time Celestia was able to calm down. Her breathing evened out, her pupils expanded from their pin-pricked state of panic, and she was finally able to relax with one last, shuddering breath.

Slowly, painfully, she uncurled her aching joints from her previous position, too exhausted to sit up straight quite yet, continuing to lean forward with her eyes closed. The position was comfortable, somehow, so she couldn't complain. Especially not when she was being stroked so soothingly by—

Her eyes shot open in surprise. Right there in front of her face, less than two inches away, was Eddie, with a slightly uncomfortable, but concerned expression on his face. Even as she stared at him silently, his hand continued to move along her neck and back. It felt nice...

"Are you okay, now?" he asked.

She snapped back to attention, her face burning like... well, the Sun.

She tried to yank her head away from him, but only made it a foot and a half or so before she encountered resistance, pulling Eddie's arm in her direction. It was only then that she noticed, somehow, that his other hand was still wrapped around her horn.

'So that's why I'm still feeling a little loopy.' she thought, her face burning even hotter, if that were possible.

"Y-yes." she stuttered, making the guards' jaws drop. Celestia? Stuttering? "C-could you p-please let go of m-my horn, now?"

Eddie looked at her with a deadpan expression, secure in the knowledge that nothing too terrible was wrong with her, and replied.

"Not really. Your magic kind of glued it there when I grabbed it." He quirked an eyebrow at her. "So, could you please let go of my hand, now?"

Celestia's flushed face was completely red at this point. Her white coloration was not the best for hiding that sort of thing.

"A-Ah! Y-yes, of c-course!" she exclaimed. Immediately, she sent a brief pulse of magic through her horn, releasing Eddie's hand from its hold. Eddie shook out his still-tingling appendage while she gathered her wits, getting her blush under control. It was at this point that she noticed the guards standing around them, frozen in vaguely combative positions, with incongruous expressions of disbelief on their faces.

It was a testament to her self-control that she managed to keep the flush from returning to her face upon realizing that they had just witnessed several rather... embarrassing sights, involving her. Instead, she sent her ever-present, benevolent smile their way, motioning for them to return to their posts. It was such a familiar gesture to them that they started to wonder if they had really seen and heard what they thought they had, but they didn't allow their confusion to keep them from immediately following their princess's unspoken order, instantly returning to their previous positions in the room.

Once Celestia felt steady enough to get back to her hooves, she made as if to rise and return to her own couch. Before she could, though, a thump sounded from behind the couch Eddie was yet seated on. Slowly, Luna came up from behind its back, hooking one forehoof, and then the other over the edge. When her face came into sight, Celestia couldn't help but stare at her with slightly widened eyes. From the bottom of her chin to the tip of her horn, her entire head was covered in soot, only her eyes shining through the black. There were a few beats of silence wherein the moon goddess just blinked in an unfocused manner, before she opened her mouth and coughed, releasing a comical, perfectly spherical cloud of smoke into the air.

A few more beats later, Eddie failed to suppress a snort of amusement.

'Cartoon-ish, indeed.' he thought to himself.

Celestia, as much as she would have loved to rib her sister about her current appearance, was leery of any sort of harm or major discomfort befalling her, so soon after her return. As such, she quickly levitated her into a comfortable position beside Eddie (maybe just a mite too close, but she couldn't resist) and spared a bit of magic to clean her face off. It only took a moment after being settled for Luna to regain her wits and lurch to the other side of the couch, halfway wishing that the soot remained on her face to hide her embarrassment. Eddie shook his head in bemusement at Luna's reactive nature and Celestia's subtle mischief, before turning serious.

"Celestia," he asked, his tone breaking the two alicorns from their respective distracting thoughts, "what happened to you? Did grabbing your horn like that screw up the spell, or was my mind more... treacherous, than we thought?" The last part was asked with a slightly sour look on his face.

Both Celestia's and Luna's eyes shifted uncomfortably, but Celestia quickly gave an answer.

"No, no, Eddie. You didn't cause my... reaction. Well, your mind did, but that's not the point." She actually looked embarrassed, now. "Honestly, it was my own fault. I became... frustrated, at my inability to do much more than confirm your suspicions, and allowed my pride to get the best of me. I... wanted to have something to count as a success, so I, well... looked at a memory." She trailed off sheepishly.

Eddie gave an exasperated sigh, and Celestia was quick to try to explain herself.

"I didn't look at any important or personal memory, I assure you! And I certainly made no changes, either. I know that you warned me, but—"

"Oh, hush." he interrupted with a roll of his eyes. The guards were starting to look a little irked at how Eddie was treating the princesses, not that the three cared enough to notice. "I trusted you not to meddle, remember? I was just worried, is all. It would be pretty bad if I (arguably) helped save the kingdom, only to accidentally drive its hitherto monarch insane or comatose."

Celestia relaxed, glad that he was not angry or distrustful of her after her moment of weakness.

"And anyway," he continued, regaining the soon-to-be diarch's full attention, "I'd be surprised if you didn't have some kind of superiority complex or overconfidence issues. You're a god, after all, and even if they were all simply stories in my world, that was a very common problem for them. Makes sense. Powerful force of nature, older and likely wiser than any creature on the planet, trying to figure out a simple mortal? Child's play, you would think. But I guess mortals and goddesses alike would have difficulty wrapping their heads around the concept, and dangers, of dimensional dissonance, as we can both now attest."

With Eddie's sympathetic smile, elaborate answer, and combined, unwitting accolades and insults, the white alicorn wasn't sure whether she should feel touched, contemplative, flattered, or affronted. She had a feeling this would be a common occurrence in future meetings.

Luna, meanwhile, found herself slightly bothered by the complimentary and disparaging comments alike being directed at her sister, and decided to interject.

"Sister," she began, her voice firmer than it had been previously, "please tell us; what did you find?" Belatedly, the two turned to Eddie to confirm his comfort in talking about things out loud, in front of the guards. Eddie shrugged, honestly quite curious as to what Celestia would have to say, himself, even aside from news of the foreign influence. He had something akin to pride in his degree of introspection, but this direct, outside perspective of his mind could provide insight on a whole new level.

"It was..." Celestia struggled to think of what to say. She sighed. "You know better than I just how difficult it can be to describe such things, little sister. But it was... dense."

Eddie jerked his head back, eyebrows furrowing at the perceived insult. Seeing this, Celestia smiled, raising a hoof and giggling behind it.

"Not like that, Eddie. I meant that your mind was... thick." The human's eyebrow twitched, and Celestia was quick to try again, only barely preventing a deeper laugh from escaping her. "Ah, that's not what I mean, either! It was... busy, and involved, and complicated, and calm, and impossible. Everything was mixed together in ways that shouldn't have worked, but did! I've never seen a mind like it before, and I admit to being very interested as to whether that is the norm for your species, or unique to you."

Noting Eddie's appeased, contemplative look, she continued.

"I honestly can't think of what else to say about it. Except that—" A spike a pain seemed to lance through her skull, causing the two listening to her to begin getting up and moving toward her in concern, before she waved them back. They each returned to their seats reluctantly.

Celestia wore a self-deprecating smile as she resumed her sentence.

"You were right about your dimension and memories. So many angles... so much detail..." She shuddered. "I thought I would go mad. And if you hadn't inadvertently pulled me out, I might have. Thank you..." She sighed.

"Anyway," she continued, looking normal again, "I found what you sensed. There IS something there, but it was even less comprehensible than the rest of your mind. It DID appear as a result of the Elements, that much I could tell, but I could also tell that it was neither a magic nor a mental construct. But those are the only things that could possibly exist in the mindscape! And nothing I did could give me any more detail, or affect it in any way. Neither my mind nor my magic could even touch it. I'm sorry Eddie, but I don't think anything can be done. I hope you can at least take solace in the fact that I did not sense any unnatural influences in your mind, other than a stray original memory or two being unlocked. Even that... thing, was just sitting there, not doing anything."

Eddie's slightly troubled expression changed to a wry one at the mention of 'one or two stray memories' being unlocked. 'Stray', indeed.

Luna, between concerned glances she sent her sister's way, was staring at Eddie calculatingly. Any mind which could so affect her sister, 'dimensional dissonance' or no, must be extraordinary. She wondered if his dreams would pose the same dangers as his memories...

"Now," Celestia said, "I apologize, but I would dearly like to get some rest. I must admit that today's... exertions, are starting to get to me, and sleep sounds lovely at the moment. I ask that we leave further discussions of this nature for another day." Luna was forced to nod at that, despite being slightly miffed at how little she had actually ended up contributing to their conversations. She was more than exhausted, herself. Eddie just nodded.

"Alright, that's fine with me. You two get some rest." he said. Seeing their curious looks, he continued. "I think you might have overdone it with the healing. I'm not really tired at all, and I think that magic might have even given me some nutrition, because I'm not hungry, either. If I can just have a room to relax in and close my eyes, I'd appreciate it. Honestly, just keeping my eyes open in this world makes my headache worse and worse, so I want to try to keep them closed for a while, while I take some time to sort out everything that's happened."

The alicorns nodded in understanding, wishing that they could do something to ease that constant pain he had told them of before. But they were just too tired. If their overpowered, extended healing spell hadn't fixed whatever issue was causing the headache, then it was sure to be more complicated than they would be able to deal with at their current levels of energy.

So, with a round of "Goodnight"'s, despite it being just barely into the afternoon, they went their separate ways. Celestia was sure to give out instructions to her aides and officials in regards to the day's necessary administrative decisions (i.e. everyday issues, delegations, sending out messages to reassure the populace that the crisis was over, etc.), as well as instructing a passing maid to escort Eddie to his room. She would have had a guard do it, but decided it would make those few ponies who saw him less likely to think of him as something to fear if he were accompanied by a simple servant, rather than a highly trained, intimidating, and slightly unhappy guardspony.

---

Thanking the maid for showing him the way (after which she left rather more quickly than was polite), Eddie turned to look at his room.

It was more than he would have hoped, but about what he expected. The bed was enormous, he was glad to note. It was actually big enough to fit him comfortably, once he actually felt like sleeping. A pitcher of ice water waited on the bedside table. There was a simple desk to one side, with a few papers and quills provided for his convenience.

'Can I even use a quill?' he wondered. Walking over to the desk, he took a seat in the too-small chair and tried his hand with the new writing implement. He met with... limited success. Whether he tried writing or simple drawing, he kept ending up using either too much or too little ink, pressing too hard or too soft with the somewhat fragile quill. By the time he finished writing a paragraph of nonsense sentences, the page was full of smudges, scratches, holes, tears, and drips. Even the desk below the thick parchment was slightly damaged, he noted guiltily.

Sighing, he stood up from his seat, stretching to rid himself of the soreness from hunching over in the tiny chair, and moved toward what he hoped would be the bathroom. Passing the large glass doors which led to a small balcony, he drew the heavy curtains, veiling the room in comfortable darkness.

Reaching the door, he sent a silent prayer to nothing in particular and opened it. An explosive sigh of relief left him when he looked inside:

They had indoor plumbing.

Granted, everything was smaller than was convenient, but it was still all there. Toilet, sink, shower, bathtub. The shower head was much too low for him to use easily, but the over-sized (for the average pony) tub he would have expected of a castle was big enough to suit his needs. Turning on the tap, he returned to the main room and divested himself of his clothing, throwing it haphazardly on a nearby vanity/dresser before quickly going back into the bathroom, closing the door behind him, and submerging himself in the hot water. He had left the light off, and after he had washed himself thoroughly of all the dirt and blood that yet remained on him, he just lay in the newly-drawn bath with his eyes closed, the ringing silence his only companion.

Finally, some relief.

Despite what he had told the princesses, there wasn't much he could do in terms of sorting out everything that had happened to him. His circumstances were just as ridiculous as before, and the few puzzles he could actually see enough of to recognize as puzzles required more information to solve than he currently had.

'At least everyone I've met so far has been kind.' he thought, before remembering his first meetings with Rainbow Dash and (technically) Luna.

'Well, eventually, anyways.' he thought ruefully.

Without opening his eyes, not that it would have mattered in the darkness, his hand moved up to his chest, fingering the only apparel he had not removed. The metal was smooth and cool, and it soothed his nerves just to touch it, running his fingers over the words engraved on the inner and outer band.

He brought the ring up to his lips, kissing it as one would the cheek of a long-lost friend. As he set it back down on his chest a soft smile grew on his face, even as tears flowed silently from his eyes.

He sat there in the tub for hours, long after the water went cold, cherishing those most precious of memories which he had regained, despite the pain the most recent of them brought him.

"Nana..." he whispered into the darkness. "I'm sorry."

---

It was many hours later, when true night had fallen, that he pulled himself out of the tub. He felt both refreshed and burdened, but at least he was at peace. After drying himself off with a surprisingly large towel ('Maybe their coats hold more water, despite the hairs not being visible?'), he moved into the room, planning on putting on some of his hopefully-not-too-grubby clothing and going to sleep, when he stopped.

His clothes were gone.

'Reeeaaaally wishing I could swear right about now.' he thought, gritting his teeth internally.

Almost stomping, he grabbed a dry towel from the bathroom and wrapped it around his waist, before going to the door that led into the hall. Once outside, he started walking, hoping to run into a maid or guard as soon as possible. The carpets lining the halls did little to help with the discomfort of walking on the cold, hard floors.

"Stupid hooves..." he grumbled under his breath.

He hadn't gotten far at all, however, before he tripped over a fold in the carpet which he had failed to notice in the dim light. The palms of his hands slapped into the stone loudly, in addition to the loud "Oof!" he released upon hitting the floor. Growling slightly as he got back up, it seemed that he had been loud indeed, because the doors around him all opened with the grumbling, yawning sounds of people whose sleep had just been disturbed. He was only half-surprised to note that the six ponies who had gotten up to investigate the racket were the very ones he had traveled with.

"Eddie...?" Twilight asked in bleary-eyed confusion, rubbing the crust out her eyes with her hoof in an oddly cute gesture. "What are you doing up? And why are you wearing a towel?"

Eddie sighed. He had so wished that he would be able to just find a servant of some kind and get his clothes back. He looked around at the rest of them.

Applejack was looking at him with nothing more than a little curiosity, her hat gone and her mane and tail let loose from their ties; she looked strange, like that. She didn't seem too bothered, but DID glance back toward her room every now and then.

Rainbow Dash looked downright irritated, and sent a weak glare his way before leaning against the wall silently.

Rarity was...

'Huh. Curlers I can understand, I guess, but how does a mud-mask work? Isn't that for the complexion of the skin? And how did she even make it through the door with those cucumber slices over her eyes?' Eddie wondered, baffled, as she stood there in the hall, rocking from side to side as if still half-asleep.

As for Pinkie Pie, well, the only sign of her being tired that he could see was that she wasn't constantly bouncing in place. Same smile and cheerful warmth in her eyes as ever. He was just glad she hadn't taken this opportunity to make a nuisance of herself.

He turned to the last pony, Fluttershy, just in time to see the most adorable little yawn. He was instantly reminded of similar images in the form of newborn puppies making the same face and quiet noises as the kind little pegasus just had. It almost made him want to just cuddle her, until she got a hold of herself and sent a concerned look his way.

"Are you alright?" she asked in her quiet way.

Shaking off the effects of the two endearing moves on their part, he replied, letting only a hint of irritation into his voice.

"I'm fine. But I think a maid or someone took away my clothes." he said.

Rainbow Dash snorted, apparently displeased with his answer.

"Is that all?" the cyan mare demanded. "They're just clothes. They probably just took 'em to be washed. What's the big deal anyway?"

"Ugh." Eddie grunted. He really didn't feel like relying only on words for explaining what was apparently a taboo that didn't exist, here, so he moved toward the annoyed pegasus. He wasn't in any sort of threatening posture, so she didn't think anything of it until he stood right up on her, crouched down with his face only an inch or two away from hers. When she tried to move away, he followed, keeping his face as close as before. After a few more seconds of this, Rainbow Dash finally had enough, flying up into the air and out of his reach, face burning.

"Hey! Personal space!"

He nodded to himself, gesturing toward her as he spoke.

"Ah, good. So at least that taboo exists in your culture." Rainbow Dash adopted a confused expression. "My culture has nudity taboos that yours apparently lacks. Basically, it is as uncomfortable for me to not wear proper clothes in front of others as it is for you to have your personal space invaded like I just did."

"Well why didn't ya just say so?!" she once again demanded. Eddie shrugged.

"Partly because illustrative examples always make things sink in better, and partly as an opportunity to test how much of that particular taboo I should expect your race to have." he responded blandly.

"You could've just asked!" she almost shrieked, her naturally scratchy sound giving the illusion that her voice was cracking in agitation. Eddie just shrugged again.

"Illustrative example." he repeated. Rainbow Dash growled.

The rest of the ponies, minus Pinkie Pie, all had visible blushes on their faces from seeing Eddie move his face in so close to Rainbow Dash's. Even Rarity, who had straightened up and levitated the cucumber slices off of her eyes at the mention of clothing, sported a blush that somehow managed to show through her mud-mask.

"Ahem." the dignified unicorn cleared her throat, getting Eddie's attention. "If you are in need of clothing, I would be happy to design something for you. I would have to take special measurements, of course, given your... unusual form, and if what you said is true I would have to make quite a few pieces for everyday use, but I would be happy to help." Rarity was actually somewhat eager for the challenge. Not to mention that she found it interesting that he had a habit in common with some of the higher class nobles she tended to emulate... Even though they only really frowned upon changing clothes in front of ponies of the opposite gender, rather than nudity in its entirety.

...Semantics.

Eddie smiled at her, and it was only then that she remembered the mud-mask that was still on her face; she hastily scraped it all off with her magic, making it disappear into thin air as her blush increased out of personal embarrassment, rather than out of sympathy for her friend.

"Thank you for offering, but I wouldn't be able to pay for anything like that. I don't have citizenship, a home, a job, or a single whatever-you-use-as-currency to my name, after all. And besides," he continued, unknowingly cutting her off from objecting to his assertion, "it wouldn't solve the current problem. I was just trying to find a guard or maid or something, so I could ask for my old clothes back."

They were all slightly saddened and uncomfortable at being reminded of the nitty-gritty reality of his situation, but Twilight cut anypony off from saying anything (notably Rarity, once again) when she suddenly cast a spell, sending a peculiar ball of light whizzing down the hall. The rest of group looked at her in askance.

"A signalling spell Princess Celestia taught me, for summoning a castle servant if I ever needed anything." she explained awkwardly.

In a surprisingly short amount of time, a nondescript male maid ('What were they called?' Eddie wondered idly. '"Manservants'?) appeared, bowing respectfully before asking how he could be of service. Twilight got right to the point, apparently the only one other than the human in question taking what he said seriously, figuring that he was uncomfortable even now.

"Sir, if you would, could you fetch my friend Eddie's clothes? I believe that one of the staff must have taken them to be washed, but due to previously unknown circumstances he has need of them now." Twilight asked easily and politely, showing just how common this had been during her time as Celestia's star pupil.

"Of course, madam." He replied. "I shall wake Clean Fabric at once to make them suitable for your guest, and will return with them shortly." He bowed, turning and departing so as to attend to his task.

"Wait!" Eddie said, looking a little guilty. "There's no need to wake anyone else up. I can just wear them as they are, really."

The unidentified pony just looked at him with half-closed eyes, arching a dignified eyebrow in that cliché butler way that said he knew what was best for those he served. "Of course, sir." he responded, tone making it quite clear that he would go ahead with his original plan, seeing as the guest had only made statements, rather than actual requests or demands.

The stately pony rounded the corner before Eddie could say anything more, and the six mares giggled at him as he released an exasperated sigh.

An awkward silence fell on the group at that point, nobody knowing quite what to say. They were all still tired, planning to go back to bed as soon as Eddie's clothes arrived, so they didn't really want to get into any sort of significant discussion, but the silence was undeniably awkward. Especially given Eddie's constant discomfort at his current mode of dress. Not seeing anything else to do (and not yet uncomfortable enough to break the silence), they looked at Eddie's form, this being the second time he had been exposed in front of them.

It was slightly odd that the largest joint of his legs bent forward, but they had seen the same on Spike, so it wasn't particularly grotesque or anything. His feet DID look rather odd to them, however. Slightly paler than the rest of him, the oblong, pinkish things had ineffectually small digits on them, similar to his fingers. The nails on them looked even more useless.

'What a strange species...' Twilight mused to herself.

It was once again Rarity who took note of the necklace he yet wore, despite being otherwise wholly naked. Remembering his odd reaction the last time attention had been called to it, she quickly averted her gaze, but not before he noticed the direction of the glance.

"It was a present from my grandmother." he suddenly said, startling all of them. When they looked at his face, it was to see that same breath-catching smile he had only shown twice before. Only this time, it wasn't marred by sudden terror or the looming threat of death. There was sadness, yes, but it only served to make their hearts clench that much harder. He lifted it up off of his chest, showing those who had not been looking at it before what he was talking about.

All of them looked at it in wonder. His grandmother must have been somepony special to make him act this way. Pinkie Pie seemed to regain some of her energy as she bounced over to him, ecstatic that her new friend had shared this with them.

"Why didn't you say so, before?!" she asked in her manic way. "I love my Granny Pie! And Applejack's Granny Smith is the bestest little old mare you'll ever meet! We can all be GRANNY-BUDDIES!"

He turned to look at her directly, and her bouncing slowed to a stop. Gratitude entered his eyes as he looked at them one by one.

"It's because of all of you that I remember her." he said, shocking them. "The reason I didn't say anything before was that... I didn't know. For some reason, I KNEW that this ring was special to me, but I had no idea why. I didn't even remember that I had a grandmother. But the Elements you used restored those memories to me. So, truly, thank you." His smile widened, his heartfelt thanks shining in his eyes as he looked at all of them, each of them forced to look away under the weight of his gratitude.

"Then... then why do you seem so sad?" Pinkie Pie asked, looking up at him with her big, sky-blue eyes. He knelt down in front of her, placing a hand on her head. He knew that they were about his age, both culturally and chronologically, but he couldn't help but see them almost as children. So small, and almost innocent. Even the alicorn princesses had this feeling to them, though it was much reduced.

Despite her voluminous mane, she leaned into the touch, as much to comfort herself as to try to comfort him.

"She... passed away, recently."

All was silent. Not even the whistling of the wind sounded in the quiet corridor.

"She was... the most wonderful woman I've ever known. A best friend, a second mother, and a doting grandparent all in one. She was, and always will be, my most precious person."

Despite the sadness in his eyes, his smile was incredibly warm.

"No matter how painful her absence may be, I cherish the memories I have of my time with her more than anything. That's why I'm thankful to all of you. So don't worry about me being sad. Sometimes, even sadness can be precious."

The look the little pink mare gave him... he knew what he should do, but he hesitated. He didn't want to act rashly; he didn't want to cross any lines. Not with them. But he allowed her look to guide him, circling his arms around her in a hug, resting his head on her curly mane as he stroked her back. He was beyond needing comfort at this point, but he knew from experience that just hearing the hardships of a friend can sadden the listener greatly. And that seemed especially true with these ponies.

For whatever reason, despite knowing him for such a short time and his being even less approachable than Twilight had initially been, they considered him a friend. And hearing this made them hurt for him. He didn't want that. He didn't need that. He really was a mess. He never would have spoken this honestly, this emotionally, with anyone he had known before. But their simple, mature, innocent sincerity, something he had never seen in any human in his life, was something he couldn't have prepared himself for.

After a minute, he broke off the hug and Pinkie Pie stepped back, sniffling. He was just about to stand up when he noticed that Fluttershy was closer than before. She looked scared, but she had the same look in her eyes that told him that she needed something. The same look Pinkie Pie had.

He opened his arms, and she slowly made her way over to him until he finally closed them around her, running his fingers through her long, silky mane. She relaxed after only a moment, sighing in the embrace. Once she, too, broke off, each of the others approached him in their own way. Even Rainbow Dash and Applejack, held back by pride and past fears as they were, only hesitated briefly before taking their turns.

Once all was said and done, Eddie stood back up, and the group of six just stared at the lone human.

He knew how this worked. He would gladly let them feel that they had helped him. He may not have a mystically ordained "special talent" like they did, but this was his role. It had always been his role, and even in this new world, he was sure it always would be.

He had failed in this, his self-appointed duty, once, and lost the most important person in the world to him because of it. He wouldn't fail again.

It was into this pregnant silence that the pony from before arrived. Wisely choosing not to speak, he hoofed the newly cleaned clothes to the creature that the six mares hadn't even glanced away from, before leaving without a word.

Eddie tucked his clothes under his arm, thanking the pony quietly. Turning, he made his way down the hall, back towards his room. When he got to his door and opened it, before entering and enclosing himself inside, he turned back to the quiet group of six, still just staring at him silently, well within earshot. His soft smile had never left his face.

"Goodnight, girls."

---

Morning came.

Eddie and the girls made their way to the royal dining hall for breakfast, led unnecessarily (seeing as Twilight was leading the pack) by a pair of guards. When they reached the double doors, the two armored unicorns took up their posts to the sides, ceremonially using their magic to open them. The seven saviors made their way inside and were greeted by the sight of Celestia seated at the head of a long table, filled with what looked like a breakfast feast.

Greetings and waved-off obeisances were made, and all of them took their seats, loading up their plates as they pleased.

Celestia saw Eddie look around the table for a moment before he seemed to realize something, shaking his head. He loaded his plate up with eggs, fruit, cheese, and bread, along with a glass of orange juice. The rest of the ponies at the table filled their plates similarly, though interspersed with various grasses, flowers, and vegetables. And in the case of a certain sun goddess, a dainty slice of cake.

The six mortal mares chatted happily with each other, and Eddie had once again adopted the same quiet, reserved-but-friendly demeanor as before, but there was something odd about the atmosphere, and Celestia couldn't put her hoof on it. After several minutes of studying them all she was forced to give up. Not even thousands of years of life could make her a complete master of reading ponies.

...Or humans.

"Well, my little ponies, it is almost time for the ceremony. The staff will be here shortly to ready all of you for it. Don't worry, you will all be fine. And then you will be able to return home. I'm sure you all have much to do." Celestia proclaimed, a retinue of servants entering and practically dragging the Element-bearers away. She found it interesting to note how their eyes strayed over to the still-eating human just before they were escorted completely out of the room.

After a few moments of silent chewing, Eddie swallowed and asked a question she had been half-expecting all morning.

"So, where is Luna? Not hungry?" he asked idly. Celestia smiled.

"She is currently... indisposed. She has not yet recovered completely from her ordeal, and even before her... fall, it was natural for her to sleep during the day and rule the night, just as I did the opposite."

"Ah. That's a shame. I was hoping to say goodbye before leaving." he admitted, slightly disappointed.

"Goodbye, hm? Yes, I see what you mean. Well, we'll talk more after the ceremony. First things first." The princess's horn glowed before the aura of her magic surrounded Eddie, making him yelp in surprise.

A grin blossomed on her face before the light flashed, dropping Eddie to the floor. He looked down at himself.

Rather than using magic on him, she had instead used it to alter his clothes. The fabric was the same, but it had all become better fitted to him. No longer the baggy sweatshirt and sweatpants they were before, his clothes were shaped to, not quite flatter his physique, since Celestia would hardly know how to do so for a human, but at least be contoured to it. Not only that, but there was now a filigree of woven-in threads of precious metals, in elaborate but unobtrusive designs. The hood of his sweatshirt had a luxurious satin lining, while the almost luminescent accents around its lip framed his head in a virtual halo of gold and silver light when it was up. Even his shoes had changed, adopting the unique, but not unpleasant, look of low-cut, fancy boots. And he was actually quite pleased to note that his ring and chain had been cleaned and polished to perfection, but otherwise left alone.

He laughed. He didn't know if the humor would translate well, but Celestia had just managed to do what he had always been told was impossible; practically sacrilege.

She had made sweatpants, sneakers, and a hooded sweatshirt look distinguished.

Looking over at her still-grinning face, he laughed again.

"A little warning, next time?" he complained good-naturedly.

"No promises." she replied lightly, ushering him out the doors. Without a word, she guided him through several side passages, until he found himself in a dark alcove with a large curtain covering one side of the room. After telling him to just go through it when he heard his name, she left abruptly.

The whole time, that mischievous glint had never left her eyes. He wasn't sure how he felt about that...

After what seemed like hours, he heard what sounded like a large gathering of people on the other side of the curtain, the indistinguishable chatter sounding happy and excited. On and on the sound of shuffling hooves went, until it all seemed to settle down, the buzzing conversations reduced to mere whispers. A few minutes later, at the sound of a fanfare of trumpets, even those were silenced.

Eddie was forced to listen awkwardly, blindly, as Princess Celestia's presence was announced, the rustling of fur and bodies as hundreds of ponies bowed down to their beloved leader. She had apparently stopped not far away from the curtain he was hidden behind, because he heard her clearly as she made a grand speech about defeating evil, redeeming family, and the power of friendship. It was hardly the kind of subtlety, manipulation, and rhetoric he had gotten used to hearing from political figures in his own world, but he supposed it was somewhat moving, in a sort of epilogue-of-a-dramatic-movie kind of way.

After she was was satisfied with the more general part of her speech, she moved on to introducing and lauding the Elements of Harmony, one by one. Naming each of them in turn, she announced their respective Elements in the most flowery way possible, just barely below the line separating emphasis and cheesiness, and going on to say a little bit about them, personally. Mostly just brief, seemingly innocuous mentions of their businesses, really.

'Is she trying to subtly send more business their way?' Eddie wondered with a sly grin. 'HA! I'm REALLY starting to like her. Rewarding them indirectly, but potentially significantly, thereby sparing them the resentment that others might feel at their being shown favor by those in power? If she did that on purpose, she is better at this than the first part of her speech might have made me think.'

After she finished putting subconscious advertisement in the heads of those who were probably the most politically, financially, and socially important ponies in the kingdom, she said something which wiped the grin right off his face. And did he hear a bit of humor hidden behind her regal proclamation?

"There is one other whom I feel deserves as much praise as the Element-bearers, themselves, though he did not directly wield any fraction of their power." she declared in her strangely loud, but somehow not overwhelming, voice. "Without his assistance, the very key to using the Elements may never have come to light, forcing us to live without the light of the sun even now. One who was able to teach my dear student the most crucial of lessons which even I was unable to impart upon her. He carries a power all his own, despite having no magic, himself..."

'I have a baaaaad feeling about this...' Eddie thought, a feeling of foreboding building in his chest.

"And so, I present to you: Eddie! Guardian of Happiness!"

Eddie just stood there behind curtain. Forced to acknowledge defeat, he sighed and made his way over to the curtain, managing to at least take a certain amount of amusement in his doubly ironic title.

'I kind of expected to be called out, but still.' he thought grumpily. 'I was kind of hoping that she was just leaving me in here until it was all over, and she would call me once everyone else was gone. More the fool, I.'

Shifting the curtain to the side, he made his way over to the expertly-hiding-her-mirth princess, not surprised at the muttering of the crowd which had changed from intrigued to troubled upon his appearance.

The six other ponies he knew were all standing to one side of Celestia, on the side opposite his own, and they looked pretty surprised at his appearance. They had mostly only ever really seen him in the dark; dirty, injured, and grim. Now, though, his once torn and bloody clothes were resplendent in the classical designs of ancient Equestrian nobility, making Rarity look like she wanted to pounce and steal them away for study. The floppy folds of the originally baggy garments were gone, making every step, every movement look smooth and certain, the ease with which he glided forward seeming all the more graceful and impressive with his bipedal stature. When he glanced their way with an exasperated smile, looking every inch the reluctant, roguish alien prince from a far-off land, they couldn't help but blush a bit as they smiled back, remembering what happened the night before.

Celestia noted the interplay, her courtly smile widening imperceptibly, proud that she had not lost her touch. Eddie stopped next to her.

"I take back all the nice things I was just thinking about you." he whispered so that only she could hear, the twinkle in his eyes belying the harsh words. "And I swear, if you try to get me to make a speech, I WILL just stand here and make things really awkward until you let me go."

Celestia had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep herself from laughing out loud. She would let him win this one small battle; she had already claimed the larger victory by getting him out here and forcing his title on him, after all.

Giving the smallest of nods to show that she had agreed to his terms, she spoke up once again.

"This creature came here stranded, without knowledge of where he was, or how he had arrived. He was alone and in pain, separated from everypony and everything he knew and cared for. And yet, rather than seek out answers or giving into despair, he happened upon my pupil, Twilight Sparkle." she recounted, having gotten a few of the more specific details out of Twilight and the rest while they were getting ready.

'Ugh. I really don't like being played up like this... And Twilight "happened upon" me, not the other way around!' he mentally complained.

"When she offered to help him, instead of demanding the answers to his problems, he proceeded to guide her and the others through all obstacles, material and otherwise, in their quest to recover the Elements of Harmony and defeat Nightmare Moon."

'Hmph. When it comes right down to it, I didn't do all that much in the "physical protection" department.' Eddie groused.

"Putting the needs of the kingdom and his comrades before his own, almost sacrificing his life to give the Elements the time they needed to safeguard the freedom we all enjoy," Many in the crowd gasped at the mention of his "sacrifice".

"He is a shining example of what friendship is supposed to be, and how much power it has even without the aid of magic."

'Oh, come on! I don't care much about the world as a whole, I was working to repay a debt to someone I thought was nice, and I only just barely started to think of them as friends last night. Jeez.' he listed off.

"Eddie." she said loudly, suddenly turning to face him, apparently done with the little spiel she had been weaving for the crowd. "Please allow me to gift you with that which you will need to forge your path in this, your new home."

'Eddie.' he suddenly heard her voice in his mind. It was only because of his naturally steady posture that the crowd didn't notice him stiffen, though the Elements looked at him in slight concern. 'Please, do not be alarmed. I merely wish to allow you to experience this world without constant pain, without your incompatible origins interfering with whatever path you choose to take. Will you allow me to help you, as I have failed to do twice before?'

He took a few moments to answer, and the crowd was starting to look at them oddly as the human and goddess just stared at each other without moving or speaking.

'Alright.' he thought to her. He felt the warmth of her smile in his mind.

'Thank you.' Celestia said. 'Don't worry; it's nothing more than a little charm and a customized Adaptation spell. I didn't have enough power left to cast it yesterday, but now that I've rested, and spent time fine-tuning the spell to only enact a few slight physical changes, I will be able to help you.'

The two figures broke out of their unmoving positions without saying anything else to each other. Eddie knelt, looking up at Celestia in curiosity. He obviously knew about the constant headache he suffered from being forced to see this world, but he wondered what other "physical changes" she was talking about. By now, he figured that her judgement was good enough, and he was sure she would tell him if what she was about to do was irreversible, so he wasn't worried. Simply interested. He still knew next to nothing about magic, after all.

With an air of seriousness, the princess lit her horn brilliantly before slowly, ever-so-slowly, lowering it to each of his shoulders, a surge of magic illuminating the room like the celestial body she had dominion over at each point of contact.

At the first touch, his headache vanished, and he was amazed at just how much better he felt. He must have started getting used to the constant throb.

The second touch, however, was much less obvious in its effect. In fact, he hardly felt anything. There were a few moments of disorientation before his entire body felt vaguely like it rearranged itself. It sort of reminded him of that almost unnoticeable feeling of something suddenly (but starting at no specific time) being different, that one would experience in their dreams whenever the scene or body they were in would change to a new one. He would have to ask her about that, later.

Before he could even think about getting back up, Celestia's horn nearly tripled in its brilliance as she once again spoke.

"I hereby grant you the blessing of the sun. May its warmth bring you comfort and its light nurture you, no matter how far you may roam. No matter what troubles you may encounter, know that the sun will always watch over you." she intoned, bringing her blinding magical focus down to touch his forehead.

Eddie felt tingles go down his spine before everything seemed to somehow just... settle. He honestly couldn't describe it any other way than that. He felt comfortable in his own skin, though he hadn't been aware that he wasn't, before. Just moments ago, on some deep level, he had felt like all of this was a dream. Like he was a jigsaw piece from another box, straining to fit itself into an entirely different puzzle, but unable to because he was just a few millimeters off. Now, there was an almost audible click as his place in the world was finally solidified.

"Rise, Eddie. Rise, Guardian of Happiness." she commanded, breaking him out of his dazed state of mind. She added one more thing in a quiet, reassuring tone. "Rise, my friend."

Eddie tried to regain his faculties, but for some reason the only things that registered were the kindness in her voice and her royal bearing. Flashing back to his first proper introduction to her in his incoherency, he grasped her hoof and lifted it up to his lips, kissing it in the same manner as he had, before.

Apparently, Celestia had REALLY not been expecting that, as she was unable to prevent the widening of her eyes, or the burning of her cheeks. She didn't even notice the shocked noises coming from the crowd.

Truly, if Eddie weren't practically insensate, he would have relished in being able to get her back for her little stunt so soon, however accidental his method of doing so might have been.

After a few not-quite-tense moments, he released her and stood up, shaking his head back to a proper level of clarity. Seeing her wide-eyed look of embarrassment, he couldn't help the grin that grew on his face, making sure to hide it from the crowd as his back was turned to them. Celestia seemed to snap out her frozen state upon seeing his now playful, satisfied expression. Clearing her throat, her flush spread greatly with a different kind of embarrassment— that of being caught off guard in front of her subjects —before it vanished without a trace.

In the few moments she was taking to find her bearings, a rustle was heard from the very curtain Eddie had emerged from, before. And upon hearing the fearful noises and scattered screams, as well as the clicking hooves of fleeing ponies in the crowd, she knew without turning what the source must be.

Or rather, who.

Though she could scarcely believe that she had come.

There, walking with such precise dignity that even the Elements could see her tension, was Princess Luna. But this was neither the Luna that they had spent several hours near, before, nor was it the menacing Nightmare Moon who had terrified them so. No, this was Princess Luna as she was meant to be.

Her mane and tail once again had their starry appearance, but instead of them bringing to mind the soul-sucking cold and darkness of space, they were now reminiscent of a beautiful night sky, to be appreciated during those calm, quiet hours around midnight. Her horn had grown longer and sharper, though not as viciously pointed as what she had as her evil alter-ego. Even her coat had changed. Where before it was the palest shade of lavender, it was now a rich, dark blue-gray. But the most notable difference, by far, was her change in height. She now towered proudly over the other ponies. No longer the childlike filly of a goddess, she had gained enough height to almost match her sister's.

She was the true Princess Luna. Ruler of the Night, and Goddess of the Moon. She had only one equal, and she was already on the dais that all eyes, whether fearful, awed, or scandalized, were focused upon.

The restored princess did not spare a glance for anypony around her. Instead, she moved determinedly towards the lone human on the stage, not uttering a sound until she stood directly before him. Staring directly into his wide, surprised eyes, she girded herself for what she was about to do. She had already taken the plunge simply by entering the room; there was no point in turning back now.

Before she could do anything, however, Eddie's surprised look changed to a smile, with just a hint of the twinkle that so reminded her of better days she had had with her sister, so long ago.

"Jeez, Luna." he said so none of the crowd could hear. "Another form? How many are you going to have to go through before you run out? I might have to start making a list at this point." He grinned, despite Luna successfully (though with great effort) keeping her face expressionless. At least until the next thing he said.

"Though I have to say that I like this one best so far. Best of both worlds, and I don't think I'll ever get bored of the mane." There was the reaction he was looking for!

Her face grew hot, and she had never been more thankful for her dark complexion, as it helped hide it at least a little bit better than her sister's brilliant white one. But even if she was embarrassed at the bald, if playful, compliment, it did manage to put her more at ease, and the other seven ponies on the dais could see the stiffness slough off of her as a result.

Without a word, though with more certainty in her eyes than before, the silvery glow of her magic gathered at the tip of her horn until it was as bright as her sister's had been. Almost on instinct, Eddie knelt before her, just as he had for Celestia's bestowed gifts. Unlike her sister, though, Luna immediately touched her horn to his forehead.

"We hereby grant thee the blessing of the Moon." She intoned. Her voice did not have the stately volume and projection that her sister's had, but it somehow still managed to carry itself to every corner of the room. "May its light guide thee through the darkest of nights, and its coolness soothe thee in both body and mind. No matter what trials may obscure thine path, know that the moon will always watch over thee."

Once again, Eddie had that tingling feeling run down his spine. His place in the world was reaffirmed, giving him the strangest feeling of belonging, which he knew that he could never hope to explain. He felt safe, and protected; like no matter what may befall him, he would never be alone.

Shaking off the disorienting effects almost immediately this time, he grasped her hoof in his hand, softly brushing his lips across the joint of her ankle. Unlike the last time he had done this to her, she did not yank her leg back from his hold. Instead, her whole body froze, and every square inch was suffused with a dusting of red so intense that she momentarily shared the color of Twilight's coat, as crimson mixed with her own natural color. Except for the two brilliantly bright spots of pink that adorned her cheeks.

There were no scandalized murmurs this time. No girlish titters or offended grunts. There was only the same silence that had fallen across the hall from the moment she started speaking.

Looking up from the hoof he still held in his hand, Eddie once again whispered to her, and it was the tickling breath of his still-close mouth on her hoof that brought her out of her frozen state, more than his actual words.

"You forgot to speak casually again." he said. But even though his words were obviously ones he would use to tease, the twinkle was gone. It was now replaced with gratitude, and a soft warmth that made her heart race.

Immediately, without even bothering to take her hoof from his hand, she enveloped herself in her mane and disappeared in a twinkling flash of starlight and darkness.

Eddie chuckled as he slowly stood back up, taking his place to the side and several steps behind the still-gaping Princess Celestia, mirroring the position of the six pony heroes across from him. When several seconds had passed with nothing happening, he cleared his throat as politely as possible, trying to get her to snap out of it and end this more-eventful-than-it-should-have-been ceremony. Honestly, it had gone on for far too long, and he didn't feel like dealing with any more surprises, if he could help it.

Snapping back to attention, Celestia turned to face the crowd. After careful consideration, she decided not to acknowledge what had happened until after the ceremony. While they had not actually spoken to each other about it, there was a sort of unspoken agreement that Luna would stay out of the public eye for a while, so their subjects could get used to the idea of her return and redemption without being visually reminded of her presence in the kingdom. Or at least, Celestia had thought so. And besides, the sun goddess hadn't been lying when she said that her sister needed some rest.

"This creature," she said into the silence, no indication that she even noticed what had just happened visible on her face, "played a crucial role in recent events, and deserves to be rewarded as such. He shall be granted full citizenship, as well as certain accommodations as befitting of services rendered and the circumstances resulting from his recent stranding, here."

Suddenly, Celestia spread her wings wide.

"Behold, the Elements of Harmony! Behold, the Guardian of Happiness! Behold, the saviors of Equestria!"

---

After the princess of the day's dramatic, conclusive proclamation, the guards stationed along the wall herded those ponies (who had not galloped away in fear) out of the room. Once all of them had left, the eight figures made their way out through a set of doors behind the other curtain.

Well, seven of them did. Twilight, who had been frozen in place with a half-outraged, half-embarrassed expression ever since Eddie had kissed Celestia's hoof for the second time, needed to be carried out. Unfortunately for her, the one to do so was Pinkie Pie, who gleefully took the opportunity to draw a silly mustache, monocle, and top hat (which, impossibly, stood up in the air despite being drawn with a simple grease pencil) on her face, much to the amusement of everyone else present.

In short order, the group reached the same sitting room that Eddie and the princesses had used the afternoon before. An extra couch had already been brought in to accommodate the five extra ponies, and there was an interesting exchange as Celestia took her place on one of them, and Eddie sat in the middle of the one across from her. The five all glanced at each other, thinking of seating arrangements, before they wordlessly decided on the "everypony for themselves" approach to the issue.

Rarity and Rainbow Dash both headed for the third couch, not interested in any kind of undignified squabbling over such a small victory. Pinkie Pie just giggled before leaping high into the air, making a perfect arc (from fifteen feet away) before landing right next to Eddie, bouncing up and down on the cushion a few times as she laughed. For a moment, a hesitant Fluttershy looked like she would sit on his other side, before Applejack walked over and took the spot. The country mare looked just the slightest bit tense, but also determined. Not sure whether to deflate in disappointment or sigh in relief, the yellow pegasus took her place next to Applejack, prompting the other three to shuffle over slightly to allow her some room. Due to their needing to settle their lengths along the couch (albeit turned slightly to the side in order to face the princess), Eddie's own seated position took up comparatively little room, keeping things from being too cramped.

The last spot on the third couch was left for the still-motionless Twilight, on the off chance that she recovered some time soon and managed to move from the spot where Pinkie Pie had deposited her.

Eddie saw the gleam of amusement in her eyes again, and decided to head off any plans she might have to mess him up.

"Can we try to keep the banter to a minimum for now?" he asked. "I think that that ceremony had enough shifting emotions and attentions to last a while, don't you?"

With a slight grin, she nodded. She could hold off for now.

"What I wanted to talk with all of you about is what to do with you, Eddie." she said, getting right to business. "As I said in the ceremony, you are now an official citizen of Equestria, but you do not have any assets, at the moment. No home, no bits, and no profession. And, as much as I care for my subjects, I am well aware of the unfortunate way you may be received by many of them, at first; even with the honor I just publicly paid you." Eddie nodded glumly at that. He had been intending to ask for a few survival texts and figuring things out as best he could in the wilderness until he could think of something better, but considering what Celestia had said about "accommodations", he wondered exactly what her intentions were.

"It is for this reason that," she continued with a grin, "after speaking with the Elements, I have decided to offer you a place in Ponyville."

Eddie was rather taken aback by this, and couldn't help but look at the others for confirmation. All he saw on their faces were understanding smiles. Even Twilight had managed to recover without his noticing, and was sitting on the couch with Rarity and Rainbow Dash, a kind, slightly hopeful look on her face.

After letting him confirm her words with the others, Princess Celestia brought his attention back to her by expanding upon what she had just said.

"My student has decided to move to Ponyville so she can be with her newfound friends, taking on an assignment of vital importance. She will continue to study the magic of friendship so that we may not only stop the forces of evil and chaos with its power, but prevent them. And while her friends will no doubt be integral in her studies, I would like you to assist her. You provided the key that allowed her to understand friendship, and I feel that, with you there to guide, advise, and protect her, there will be nothing to stand in her way. And I'm sure that you will learn much as well, friendship being only one thing among many." she finished with a strange smile.

"She's right, you know." Twilight spoke up. "I think I speak for all of us when I say that you are just as much a trusted friend to us as we are to each other, Elements or no."

The others all nodded affirmation. Eddie started to look a little nervous.

"Um, okay. Thanks. You've all become important to me, too." he stated awkwardly. He just couldn't quite make himself say it. Despite the shift in how he thought about them that happened the night before, there was something holding him back. He didn't know whether it was simply time or something else, but he was having trouble truly thinking of them as his friends. Twilight, maybe; they had seen each other during their weakest moments, and that almost forced a certain sense of closeness. But the others? He liked them quite a bit; they were all nice enough people, but... he needed some time. He couldn't take back what he had already revealed of himself, and that honestly scared him.

As screwed up as it may be, he was thinking about friendship like it was war. And they currently had a huge advantage over him in terms of intelligence, all because of his moments of weakness.

Only Celestia caught the subtext of what he said, and she could only hope that he would come to care for them as much as they were starting to care for him.

"Well said, Twilight." the goddess praised her, causing her student to stutter and blush as she pushed herself into the back of the couch. "Moving on, in recognition of your assistance and circumstances, a home will be commissioned to be built in Ponyville for you. And in recognition of your role as advisor in Twilight's studies, you will receive a modest monthly stipend, just as she will."

Seeing him start to feel overwhelmed with her gifts, she cut him off.

"You will need the money to pay for lodging and other expenses, as your home will take some time to be completed. And don't worry; it won't be anything too extravagant. Just a comfortable home large enough not to be crowded when you have guests over." She couldn't help but laugh internally at the obvious relief he felt upon learning that he wouldn't get a grand mansion to himself. "In the meantime, I will leave it to you seven to figure out where he might stay until then. Assuming, of course, that you accept the offer?"

All six of the Elements leaned forward to hear his answer, though they snapped back into casual positions when he turned to look at them. He hesitated for the briefest of moments before giving his reply.

"...I do." Every pony in the room broke out in a big grin at his acceptance. "Thank you so much for all that you've done for me, and all that you are STILL doing."

"I'm glad that the matter is settled, then." Celestia responded warmly. "Now, I know it's a bit sudden, but I have carriages waiting just outside to take all of you back to Ponyville. I know that all of you must be eager to get back to your lives and responsibilities, after all. I wish you all the best."

Understanding the polite dismissal, the six normal ponies got up from their seats and headed for the door. But upon noticing that Eddie wasn't among them, they turned to look at him questioningly.

"You girls go ahead. I just need to ask Celestia one last thing; I promise that I'll be there in a minute." he assured them. With slightly reluctant nods, they did as he asked, despite their vague worry and curiosity.

Celestia stood to regard him fully, her interest piqued, knowing that this would make for another interesting discussion.

"Celestia, are you sure about this?" he asked. His tone was strange; somehow half plaintive and half serious. She was almost disappointed that he had stayed back for as mundane a reason as questioning her generosity.

"Of course. A few bits and a single building are the least I can do after—" she started to say before Eddie interrupted her.

"No, no. Not that stuff." he began to clarify with a frustrated wave of his hand. "I'm talking about making me Twilight's advisor. You know what my 'advice' almost caused. And I know that it won't change much in its dangers to your goal. The type of 'knowledge' you want to gather about friendship isn't of the intellectual sort, that much is obvious. Most of the ins and outs of friendship and relationships are just common sense and consideration. You're looking for..." he struggled to find the right words, "for epiphanies, for moments of clarity and emotional maturation. I'll admit that I can be very good at understanding how people work, both individually and interactively, but it's mostly only on an intellectual level. And just as telling Twilight the key to the Elements of Harmony might have prevented her from using them by tainting the purity of her feelings with pragmatic motivations, guiding her in my manner might actually PREVENT her from learning as you want her to."

Celestia was once again surprised at how quickly and deeply he had put such thought into things. Nonetheless, she only smiled at him, an odd sense of pride in his finding one of the supposed 'holes' in her plans suffusing her.

"Well, you've just gone and spoiled it, haven't you?" she teased. He didn't look too amused, and she sighed. "I'm surprised you thought of that, though maybe I shouldn't be. Just know that I have already considered the issue. I decided that that very well may be one of the most important and difficult lessons for her to learn: reconciling her heart and mind, allowing them to exist in harmony with one another. As you may or may not have noticed, that is one of her weaknesses. She has always been hyper-focused on the academic portions of her studies, while at the same time having great difficulty in keeping herself in check when she finds herself emotionally overwhelmed. If she manages to overcome these issues some time down the line, it may just be one of the greatest triumphs she will ever have."

Despite being glad that the sun goddess hadn't missed the possible danger, he still looked at her in worry.

"But are you sure that such a thing CAN be done?" he asked her. "And even if it can, it would take a LONG time. And IN that time, my intervention might wreak havoc with the other, smaller 'triumphs' of understanding she would eventually have."

Celestia's gaze softened. He truly was worried for her student, it seemed.

"Do not worry about such things." she replied, the weight of all her thousands of years of life behind her words. "I have faith that my student will overcome even those obstacles, should they present themselves. And I also have faith that you will do your best for her; and that you will live up to your name and title."

Sensing that there was no point in arguing further, he stood up from his couch and nodded respectfully to her before turning to leave.

"I hope you're right..." he whispered half to himself as he made his way to the door.

Without even thinking, he followed in the hoofsteps of the guard leading him to the carriages, mind roiling with everything he would have to figure out and manage in the coming days, weeks, months, years. He was not in the best of spirits when he exited out of the castle and onto a large veranda, on which the waiting flying carriages stood. But as he looked up at the smiling, waving mares, so eager to bring him to their home and show him all that their world had to offer, he couldn't help but smile back.

He could worry about all of that later. For now... he would make some friends.

---

((FREAKING FINALLY! UGH, I take WAY too long to finish these chapters, and this one is just plain STUPID-LONG. 30000 words?! I've seen decent short stories shorter than this! *sigh* Whatever. I'm actually a little concerned about this chapter, to be honest. I'm worried that it has too many "dramatic/cliché moments" grouped close together. But even so, same thing as always. Advice, comments, criticisms, insights; all are welcome, and in any format (whether review or PM)! Or just silently enjoy. That works, too. I admit to feeling a bit of a warm fuzzy when I see the reviews, but I don't really care enough to pursue them strongly or specifically. In any case, there's only one thing left to say: Happy reading!))