I looked at the sword I'd used in the fight. It was lying on the desk in my new room. It had been two days since the conclusion of the battle between me and Gemini. We were still in the Lycan Empire, and I was nearly healed from all my wounds thanks in part to the Princesses, Twilight and Zecora's healing salves. I reached down and traced the contours of the blade, observing its glint in the torchlight behind me. I furled my brow and lifted it up again. The grip was firm and the blade well-balanced despite being a two handed blade. As I set it back down, I heard a gentle but firm knock on the door.

"Sir Jethro?" a familiar voice came from behind my door. "Art thou awake?"

I walked over, undid the latch and opened the door. The concerned Lunar Princess stood there, hoof up as if to knock again. "Your Highness? Is something wrong?"

"May we come in?" she asked, putting her hoof down.

I stepped aside. "Of course."

Luna walked in and as I closed the door behind her, she slowly turned to me. "We are pleased to see thee on thy feet. We know the past few days hath been unpleasant."

I gestured for her to take a seat near the fireplace. As she did so, I walked up to the other chair. "If unpleasantness is what I need to endure to be pretty much healed in that short amount of time, I'll take it." I flexed my now healed arm and rubbed the formerly injured leg. "Magic is pretty impressive here, I'll admit."

"And what of thy mental state?" Luna looked at me with plenty of concern. "Magic can only do so much."

I looked away from her, staring into the empty fireplace. "I'm just a bit conflicted, right now. I mean, I know it was the only choice available to me, but was it the right one?"

Luna looked away from me, gazing into fireplace with me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her horn glow a bit and a fire burst forth from the logs laid down there. "Trust us, this was the best decision given the circumstances. Thou helped avoid all-out war with the Empire, and foiled the plans of the Empress and her daughter."

"Avoid? I don't know…I feel like I just pushed things back. Just because I won this round doesn't mean things are over," I said, rubbing my forehead.

"The Empress will not be able to lay a claw on thee," Luna said. "As princess of Equestria, we swear this."

I felt a small sense of happiness from her words. In a way, I related to her on a level that I doubted even her sister could reach at the moment. We were both out of our element in one way or another, having appeared in a world alien to us. "Thank you, your Highness."

"Please…call us Luna. Thou art on a first name basis with our royal sister, so please call us Luna." She had a small smile on her face.

"Of course, Luna," I replied. "Although, I always thought Selena or Selene was a more fitting name for you."

"Truly? Why those names?" Luna asked.

"Back on Earth, Luna is Latin for Moon," I explained, "so I always thought that Luna was kind of a bit on the nose for you. Selena and Selene are two names for a goddess of the moon back on Earth. I think they'd be more fitting. And they better reflect your royal grace, charm and beauty."

A small blush crept onto the cheeks of the Lunar Princess before she shook her head, clearing her throat. "Thou art distracting us."

"I'm sorry. It's a force of habit," I said apologetically.

"We are concerned for thy mental health," Luna said. "These past few days have taxed thee. And thou do not allow thyself to dream at all."

"We're going home tomorrow, right?" I asked. When Luna nodded, I continued, "I think leaving this place will definitely help."

Luna nodded again. "Indeed. This kingdom is claustrophobic for us as well." She shuddered.

"So here's where you were, Lulu," a new voice said from the door. Luna and I both turned to see a smiling Celestia standing in the doorway. She entered and closed the door with her magic. I stood to let her sit in my chair, but she gently pushed me back down. "Please sit. I'll be fine." I did so, and she stood between me and Luna. The three of us remained there in silence, allowing the warmth to wash over us before she turned to look at me. "I take it you're feeling better?"

"Physically, at least," I nodded.

"Jethro," Celestia said, putting a wing around me, "Are you still worried about the Empress?"

"She's willing to stoop to using her own daughter to get her way," I sighed. "And I took her captain away from her."

"It was the right call to make," Celestia said. "And as long as you remember your promise, then I know I can trust you. You were Obsidian Star's brief student, after all." She put a hoof on my shoulder. "The others want to see you, you know."

"I know. I'm ready to see them," I replied, looking up at the alabaster Alicorn princess. "Are they all doing alright?"

"For the most part," Celestia said. "The Empress hasn't really let them leave their room, so they're getting jumpy. I think they'd like to see you now."

"Of course," I said, slowly standing up. "Lead the way."

"And here we were wonderin' if you fergot 'bout us," Applejack was the first to speak after a few moments of silence when I entered the room alongside Luna and Celestia.

I grinned, grabbed the Earth Pony's Stetson with my magic and flipped it onto my head. Tipping it politely, I did my best Southern drawl. "Ah'd never forget mah new friends," I replied before tossing the hat back to her.

"Are you feeling better?" Fluttershy had come up to me and was looking up at me with concern in her beautiful light blue eyes.

Reaching down, I stroked her mane, causing the Pegasus to shudder a bit. "All my injuries are pretty much healed," I said.

"And what about the issue with Gemini?" Twilight asked a bit hesitantly.

Ah yes. The elephant in the room. Everyone went silent as all eyes focused on me. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath and remembering the latter half of events before I was summoned to the arena…

"Alright, it's worth a shot," I said. "Now, what's option two?"

Twilight sighed. "This isn't one I like, but here it is…" She turned the pages again. "I found an ancient law that gives the winner of any Trial by Combat the option to instead of killing their opponent making them…a slave."

The room went silent. Celestia was the first to move and read over the law after a few seconds of quiet had passed. Her brow furled. "The defeated slave has to serve the victor for a minimum of five years before any release is possible. And that is if the victor so chooses to free them."

"S-S-Slavery?!" Fluttershy exclaimed in shock.

"That's barbaric!" Rarity shouted angrily. "To be a slave? How in Tartarus did this empire even come into being?" She turned to me. "Please tell me you're not considering this vile act!"

In fact, I was. I didn't like the law as much as the next guy, but it was either that or killing. "Rarity…would you rather I kill her?"

That shut her up for a bit. Pinkie Pie came up to me next. "You wouldn't…treat her badly, would you?"

"Of course not," I said. "My country has a tainted history with slavery and I won't repeat their past's horrific example."

That seemed to satisfy most of them. However, Celestia shook her head. "That's…a tricky situation. Slavery is illegal in Equestria."

"Then I wouldn't call her my slave. Maybe instead she could be my maid. Or servant. Or something like that." I looked at Celestia. "I don't like the idea any more than you do. But I'd rather do that than killing."

Celestia looked down uncertainly. Luna approached her sister and put a hoof on her withers. "Sister…"

Celestia stood after a bit and looked at me sternly. "If it comes to this, I demand your word that you will treat whoever you defeat not as a slave, but as a member of the household. You will not mistreat whoever it is."

I shuddered at her tone, but after a few moments nodded and bowed. "Princess Celestia, you have my solemn vow that I will not abuse or mistreat them in any way."

Celestia nodded. "That's all I would ask of you."

"She has two weeks to get her affairs in order, and then she will be moving to Ponyville to live in the main house," I said resolutely.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Back up! She's coming to live in Ponyville?!" Rainbow Dash was absolutely livid as she flew back and forth. "After what she did to you!?"

The three of us watched impassively as the other Ponies had their own reactions. Fluttershy looked terrified, trembling down next to me. Rarity had a disgusted frown on her face, as did Applejack. Pinkie Pie wasn't smiling at all, but wasn't really looking angry as much as distressed. Twilight, on the other hand, looked fairly thoughtful, but frowning. Zecora had her eyes focused on me, looking for all the world like she wanted to rush up and hug the stuffing out of me, but looking too tired to do so.

Celestia looked at Rainbow Dash. "Miss Dash, believe me, I know how you're feeling. This is a better solution to all-out war."

"It just seems like she's gettin' off easy," Applejack said.

"Not really," I said with a shake of my head. "She'll be exposed to Pony culture; one she finds weak. It'll be torture for someone like her. Besides, the Empress has permanently banished her for failing to end my life."

That caused the others to go silent, most of their angry glares turned thoughtful. All except a smug Rainbow Dash. "Good."

"RD," I said warningly, "I know how loyal you are to your friends and how protective you are, but I want you to play nice with her. You don't have to like her, but I don't want you aggravating her. Are we clear?" Rainbow Dash landed, still looking miffed but wisely shutting up and nodding.

Celestia turned to face everyone. "Listen up, everypony. I fully expect you to be on your best behavior around her." Her smile returned. "Now, it's late. Why don't you all get some rest? We're leaving at nine o'clock tomorrow morning back to Equestria."

I lay in the new private bedchamber that the Empress had provided for me after our fight. Now that the trouble with the Lycans was out of the way for the most part, my mind wandered back to what Zecora had told me. The poor Zebra had hardly slept during my recovery, constantly checking on me despite my reassurances and pleas. After a while, I just gave in.

I'd spent a lot of the healing time thinking long and hard about my thoughts and feelings towards her. She was only a few years older than me, I learned. That didn't bother me too much. What did make me uneasy was the fact that I wasn't sure if we shared many interests. Trixie and I had, and it made for fun dates and hang-outs. But I was nervous about what I had in common with Zecora.

"Fuck it," I said as I sat up and grabbed my phone. Opening my notes app, I started making a list. I actually did enjoy potion making with her. It was fun making concoctions and somewhat reminded me of making potions in Skyrim. She also seemed to really like Earth media minus My Little Pony, and we'd bonded over a lot of the shows and movies and documentaries I'd shown her. We shared a sense of loss, since we'd both lost our families, but I couldn't think of anything else.

And that hurt. Just the thought of Zecora's heart breaking because of that made my chest ache considerably. I didn't want to hurt her, but I also knew better than to lead her on.

"God, I wish Cadance was here," I said forlornly as I pushed myself up out of bed and sat on its edge, looked out at the darkening room. I was so lost in thought that I failed to hear the gentle knocking at the door the first few times. When I did hear it, I shook aside my thoughts and went to the door. "Sorry for the wait-Celestia?"

The ancient monarch stood in front of my door, her lightly colored rainbow mane still flowing in whatever wind it blew through. "Hello, Jethro. May I come in?" She had a smile on her face as she asked.

"Um, of course!" I stood aside and she walked in. Shutting the door, I turned back to her. "Isn't it a bit late? To what do I owe this call?"

"What? A friend can't check on another friend? Especially after all you've been through?" She put her hoof on her golden necklace and looked saddened. "You wound me, Jethro."

That caused me to smile a bit. "Ahaha, sorry. Of course I'm glad to see you."

She chuckled and sat down on the chair in front of the fireplace. She gestured for me to join her and I did so, but not before restoking the fire. It flared back to life and its flames illuminated the princess and myself. After a few moments of silence, she looked over at me. "Zecora told me that she confessed to you before the fight."

I stiffened a bit, and avoided eye contact with her, staring instead into the fire. "Yeah…she did."

"You're worried about something, aren't you? Worried about potentially breaking her heart."

Celestia's tone had a hidden message saying 'Look back at me', which I did. "I'm so lost here. I don't know what I'm feeling for Zecora right now. Don't get me wrong, I love her as a best friend at the very least. She means the world to me. She was my first friend in this world and she helped me so many times when I was transitioning to living here."

"But…?" she gestured for me to continue.

"But…I've only felt love once before, and what I feel for Zecora is different than what I felt for my Trixie. I don't…I just don't want to lead her on. Plus, what do we have in common? We've got a few things, but I don't…it's just…" I trailed off. I felt like some stupid teenager griping about this stuff, but I couldn't help it. I was so confused and lost. "Goddamn it! Whoever said adults have all the answers was full of shit! I should know better!"

Celestia smiled warmly at me. "I've lived for ages, but even I don't have all the answers, my friend. I'm not Cadance, but I do know a bit more about romantic love. The way a Pony feels in romantic relationships vary in each relationship. Any kind of relationship between you and Zecora would invariably be different than the one you shared with your Trixie. I can tell you really care for her enough that you don't want to hurt her. You probably should, however, talk with her about this soon. To quote your more colorful language, she worked her ass off looking for solutions to the Trial by Combat, maybe even more so than Twilight."

"I know, and I promise to talk with her about it," I replied.

"You're letting your thoughts and fears stall you again," Celestia said. "I know you've had a lot on your mind lately, but don't put this off for long."

I nodded. "I won't. I'll definitely talk with her about it."

I was exhausted as I stood on the train platform the next morning. I held the sword I'd used in the duel in one hand and my bag in the other. I'd been allowed to take the sword home as a symbol of my victory. Behind, I could almost feel the looming mountain looking down at us as the train was prepped. An equally sleepy looking Zecora stood beside me, a heavy looking saddlebag on her back. She was leaning against me, yawning every so often. I reached down and stroked her mane. "We can both sleep on the train," I said in a reassuring voice.

She nodded slowly. "I suppose…a nap wouldn't hurt."

"All aboard!" the Pony conductor called out as the doors to the Royal Carriage opened. Celestia and Luna entered first, followed by the other tired looking Ponies, then the lone Zebra and lastly myself. The interior had been redecorated and a few other beds added for every passenger. I took a bed at the back of the car and sat against the wall, stretching my legs over the bed and closing my eyes.

A few moments later, a familiar presence came up next to me. Opening one eye, I saw my favorite Zebra as she jumped onto the bed next to me. She gave me a warm smile that made my heart swell once again. I pointed at my lap. "It's open if you wanna be warm," I said quietly.

She smiled wider and placed herself on my lap. Carefully spreading my wings, I covered her with them protectively and wrapped her up in them. Her eyes fluttered shut and soon the poor tired Zebra was fast asleep.

"Aww, that's adorable," Pinkie said as she came over to me. Her normal floof was back in her mane and tail and the smile on her face was genuine.

"She's still exhausted," I said quietly. "Let's be quiet so she can rest." Reaching down, I stroked her mane. Strangely enough, she'd stopped spiking it the moment I mentioned something about it. I could even see some other parts of her mane that she normally shaved coming back. I thought back to the Luna Eclipsed episode where Nightmare Night was first introduced and how gorgeous her cartoon form looked when she had her mane down. Either that, or it was a wig.

"She looked for solutions about as long as Twilight did, the poor dear," Rarity said from her bed.

"She wouldn't give up even after she collapsed," Twilight added, looking up from the book she was reading.

"She what?" I looked down at Zecora in alarm, my wings wrapping a bit more tightly around her. "Oh, Zecora…what did I do to deserve a friend like you?" I looked up at the rest. "Or friends like all of you."

"Aw, shucks," Applejack said, grinning at me, "ain't no need tah think like that, sugarcube."

"We'd never leave a good friend hanging!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed loudly, but went silent when a few of the others gestured at her to shush.

"Well, I owe you all my life," I said. "I can't thank you all enough." The others all smiled at me, and the same warmth I felt that first time when they used the Elements of Harmony against Nightmare Moon spread throughout my entire being once again. I smiled back.

"How are you planning on replying to her?" Rarity asked. At my surprised look, Rarity grinned. "She told us, darling. The poor mare was so scared."

"No kidding," Spike said, looking at Zecora. "She almost jumped into the arena when…"

I held up a hand to stop him. "I understand. But like I told Celestia, I'll be talking to her about this very soon. I won't put it off like some indecisive jerk."

A smattering of chuckles passed through the car. Grinning, I reached down and pulled out my laptop. "If you want something to pass the time, I've got some movies and audiobooks on this thing we can entertain ourselves with. Let me just find something I think you'll all enjoy. Frankly, I'm surprised I haven't shown you all this movie series yet." As I set up my laptop, I looked at the now expectant looking Ponies. "Now, fair warning, there are depictions of violence in this movie, but it's all special effects. It's all fake. No people, or animals," (I directed the latter at Fluttershy) "were intentionally harmed when the movie series was being made."

As I finished the setup, Fluttershy made her way over to me and softly asked, "Can I sit next to you?"

"Of course," I said, gently moving over to give her space to sit. I had to say, seeing the Element of Kindness in a Ponyloaf was completely adorable. As the first movie in the Lord of the Rings series started, I absently began stroking her mane. I was, of course, worried about her reaction to a lot of the simulated violence in the movie, so I didn't mind her being next to me just in case.

After the curtains were pulled, the movie began. The entire car was spellbound as they watched. Since the laptop screen was pretty small, Celestia used some sort of spell to project the screen in the air, much like a magical hologram. The sound also became like surround sound. I made a note to ask about it later.

Fluttershy, not surprisingly, had moments when she hid her face in my side during scarier scenes. Pinkie Pie's favorite scene was, unsurprisingly, the early scene with the 'party of special magnificence'. Applejack sympathized with Farmer Maggot's crop being stolen. She was also the first one to point out that Dwarrowdelf bore a weird resemblance to the Lycan city we had just come from. Rainbow Dash was pretty enthralled, especially during the scene where Gandalf was saved by the giant eagles. The action scenes got her excited as well.

Rarity was immediately invested in the relationship between Arwen and Aragorn, and was herself taking notes on many of the clothes seen in the movie. To my surprise, Celestia showed a great interest in the Elves and found Rivendell beautiful, even remarking that making such a hidden refuge would be a great retreat for her and her sister, which gave me an idea for a later project. Luna didn't have much to say, but she was greatly intrigued by Aragorn, sympathizing with his fears of failing like Isildur. In fact, the whole idea of the ring tempting multiple characters seemed to resonate with her. Twilight, aside from the potential burning questions I would probably be inundated with later, was quite interested in the Council of Elrond and the idea of friendship between races. I could practically hear the wheels turning in her head as she constantly took notes.

When the movie ended, the curtains were drawn back and the room devolved into quiet conversations. I yawned, overcome with drowsiness as I closed my eyes. "I don't know about you, but I'm still kinda sleepy. Hope you all don't mind if I catch a few Z's."

"Of course not. Ya get some rest," Applejack said. "We'll wake ya when we get back home."

Fluttershy, to my surprise, snuggled up closer. "Can I stay here too?"

"Of course."

Smiling, she curled up close and I covered her with a nearby blanket. Closing my eyes, I drifted off to sleep…

"Ahhh…Ponyville. How I've missed thee," I said as the majority of us stepped out onto the platform. Zecora walked out beside me into the late afternoon sun as I took in a deep breath. "Smells just as good as when we left."

"Indeed it is, but I hear something loud," Zecora said, looking around. When she spotted something, she pointed ahead with her hoof. "Well, I've never seen such a large crowd."

Following her gaze, I saw a massive crowd of Ponies standing at the edge of the train platform, gazing up at us. A banner was spread across the crowd with the words WELCOME HOME emblazoned in bright rainbow letters.

"Hey! They're here!" someone said. Looking for the source of the voice, I saw it was Scootaloo, her tiny wings outstretched happily.

A roar of happiness and joy made its way through the crowd as the others left the train. Mayor Mare walked up to the platform to greet us, but a zooming form flashed passed her and tackled me to the ground. I found myself staring into Scarlet's own terrified, but clearly furious eyes. "You'd better be okay," she said, "because I'm gonna fucking kill you!"

I wrapped my arms around her, making her freeze. "I'm glad to see you too, Scarlet."

That did it for her. Throwing her front hooves around me, she sobbed into my neck, speaking mostly incoherently. What I did pick up was how scared she was, how could I have left her behind etc. I ran my hand through her crimson mane, trying my best to comfort her. I sat up and found myself looking up into the Mayor's eyes. She warmly smiled at me as she said, "Jethro Bethridge, I'm pleased to see you're alright. When we heard from Twilight about what was happening, we feared the worst."

"So did I," I replied.

The mayor extended her hoof. "Welcome home."

I wrapped my hand around her hoof and squeezed. "There's seriously no place like home."

Phew, Lycan Arc over. It'll probably be a lot longer than just one or two days before a new chapter appears, mostly because I like to be ten chapters ahead in my Word Doc just in case I write myself into a corner and need to rewrite.

Example: Originally, I had Pinkie Pie be the one seriously affected by Jethro's petting in that early chapter, but I changed it to Fluttershy.

I'm currently only a few chapters ahead, so I want to continue writing and expanding. I also want to try and focus on another long-term project I've been neglecting. I'll try and update this more regularly, but it might not be as often unless I get crazy ahead.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you for the next chapter!