The Phantom in the moonlight

by Fanreader26

There was more to the tale "Mare in the moon", something that Celestia had kept to herself all this time. But as the time of Nightmare Moon's release quickly approached, the secret she held is soon to reveal itself, and a pony no one knew about will come to Equestria's aid. He just came from the last place anypony could think of.

7. Celebrate

"Normal Speech"

'Normal thoughts'

"Power"

"Multiple peoples peaking at the same time."

Singing

special/flashback

~locations and transitions~

No Beta Reader

Disclaimer: I don't own my little pony or Danny Phantom

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Reviews corner

Okami2312: you're welcome

KorevainsoLightshire: well, the thing is that Danny is just going with info that he knows and winging it as he went. As for separating Nightmare Moon from Luna, it was more of him just trying to make her feel better. Jazz would have most likely labeled it as another part of her and something she needed to accept and work through it but Danny isn't Jazz. I might build more on Nightmare moon since I found out that she kinda shows up later on so I can tweak it to have a different go and they face it. I fixed the white void thing. When you brought it up, I realized that what you said is true, the white void doesn't work for Luna. I changed it to be more space themed and work more for Luna. you can go back and read it and hope you like the update. I'm thinking about the element thing and I feel like he shouldn't be related to an element of harmony (maybe have some of its power but he isn't a new element. I do think he should be a representative of an aspect or an outside element. Not of harmony but of some other thing. Not sure what at the moment but I have time

Darkangelsouls123456: glad you liked it and sorry for the wair.

ArashiNokitsune: he will have his moments of realizing royalty thing

TheWhiteTitan: no, she will regain her adult form, I just put in the younger look thing since the pilot and first episode had her look different from the rest of the series. I put that she will regain her form once her powers fully return. As for the poison joke episode, I don't know. I will have to think about what would make sense…. Or nonsense

Jebest4781: glad you liked it and the way I set this up from the summary

Shadowtalker70: glad you liked it and I will be doing a backstory to Derpy later on. Give her a fanon lore

Ryu wolf: you're welcome

Simm36: there will be moments of Danny and the other's reverence. He will answer questions when the time is right since there is something else they have to take care of

A6spike: I thought the Derpy Dinky mother-daughter relationship was cute and gives her more of a backstory, which I will be adding to. Dany will have the moment to tell everyone about it. Twilight will have her knowledge binge as she will ask him a bunch of questions when she can

Valle95: glad you liked the song I chose. I only recently found it when I was working on the chapter and I couldn't help but use it

Darkkrt: glad you liked the chapter. As for the ship, I will have to build something believable

Nathair1: glad you loved it. I couldn't help but put in Danny's question about how and why he sang since from what I remember, he had never sung before in the show. As for being an alicorn in his normal form, I don't know. We will have to wait and see where this story goes.

Adrianfilex622: there will be a bit of discomfort for the bowing in this chapter. As for the comic thing, I think I will add some more about the comic thing as it sounds like it would be fun.

Zon Yokai Blade of the Spirits: I think that Luna actually called Celestia that nickname somewhere in the series but I don't remember if it was from the series or another fic. As for Danny, I have an idea about the GK thing but for now, I will keep it a secret and you will find out later on. I think I will have Danny be something like that. Governing the afterlife as it will give me material to use for an original arc for this fic.

Dan the bluewolf: I think I am going with Derpy since it sounds better than Ditzy. It is too confusing trying to find out which one it is since there is so much back and forth with it

3DJoker: oh, I know Pinkie has the best intentions she is just so over-peppy.

Chanderx93: I don't think I will have him changing forms every time he transforms. It would be too much trouble to keep changing and Danny would most likely say that he is now doing what Clockwork does. I made him a unicorn as it has more potential for building. He will get magic lessons. Hope you are having a good 2023

Some Random Guy: glad you are interested and hope I keep your interest

Purpurawolf76: he will get lessons, especially since he has used no magic at all in his fights, and Danny would love to learn magic. Reactions will be shown soon

Kirinmistico: interesting idea, especially the evolved powers. I think I have a few ideas I can use for that. Not sure about Tirek

Djinn: thank you

SoundVenom: thanks

Felisfernus18: I think I will have Danny take over their roles for a bit in order for them to have some time for themselves. Give them a break from time to time. I have a plan for Rainbow Dash so we will see the result of that

Zzz3: yeah, so the ponies would think it shocking to be in the middle of the battle

ZyteWCDb: he might

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Chapter 7: Celebrate

Danny, who was still in his Alicorn form, was tapping the edge of the carriage he was leaning on as it was taking him, Luna, and Celestia back to Ponyville with another one behind them carrying the new bearers of the Elements of Harmony.

The carriages were being pulled by pegasus guards that had come in order to help out in the fight. They had made sure everypony was safe before coming, but by the time they were able to get to the site of the battle, it was all over.

Celestia had informed them that the battle had concluded and that her sister, who had been kept captive for all this time, had been returned to her. Not necessarily a lie, but the ponies would need to be softly given the truth over time so that they don't panic when she comes into town.

The guards were surprised about this news but they accepted it and sent a few of them back in order to spread the word that the battle was over and that a new princess would be arriving along with their sun princess and the new "Prince".

Though Danny had no idea about that last part.

Celestia and Luna watched him with the former feeling guilty and the latter feeling concerned. They would have been curious about what was going through his mind but with him mumbling out his frustrations, they weren't that curious. Though it was quiet enough that they were only able to pick up some of what he said

"...thousand years… known… time to tell…. Clockwork… Infina… should have at least told me about this."

Celestia sighed despondently as she could not stop her heart from feeling the guilt build from her actions.

Luna turned to look at her and gently nudged her. "Tis not thy fault. Tis ours for allowing such evil to gain form."

Celestia smiled as it had been a long time since she and Luna consulted on their troubles

*Thunk*

The sound startled the other alicorns and they turned back to see Danny with his forehead on the edge and still mumbling. Clearly, he had dropped his head down.

Danny lifted his head and took in a deep breath to calm himself, glad that he didn't get his horn stuck.

"Are you alright, Danny?" came Celestia's question as she could now see he was a bit calmer and was hoping that he wasn't as angry at her as he was before.

Danny looked back at the female alicorns and sagged a bit as he let out another deep sigh. "Yeah, I just had to go through my thoughts about the fact that I spent a thousand years on the moon."

Celestia drooped a bit at the reminder. "I'm sorry for not telling you about it when-"

"It's fine." Seeing her look at him in shock, he elaborated. "I get that the circumstances were dire and you were more focused on the task than the small details." He stood up from his seat and moved closer to them. "Whatever my problems, I'm glad I was able to help you with yours. Besides, I have a friend that might be able to help me with this but contacting him is something I will deal with later." He said that last part in annoyance as he knew for a fact that, finding Clockwork wasn't really something you do. 'That old Grandfather clock is the pinnacle of, "you won't find him, he'll find you".' He chuckled at the thought before looking back at the sisters. "Anyway, for now, let's just get back to Ponyville. Pretty sure everyone is still worried about us."

Celestia nodded. "Yes. Though I can imagine that they are excited to see us return after all this."

Luna had a question that she felt like asking and asked her sister. "Ponyville, tis a town that was built during our slumber was it not?"

Celestia nodded. "Yes, discussion about the town happened just before the banishment. After that event, a location was finally decided some distance from Old Canterlot as we also decided to have New Canterlot move to the high mountains."

This caught Danny's attention. "'Old Canterlot'? Do you mean that…?"

Celestia looked at Dany and could see where his mind was going. It made sense he wouldn't know since as far as she knew, he had not left Ponyville since his arrival. "Yes, the ruins you were fighting in were the old town and castle that my sister and I used to live in."

Danny bopped his right hoof on his left in realization. "That's why it looked familiar when I crashed there." It was as he thought about what he just learned that something didn't seem to click with him. "Ok, so if Ponyville was built while we were in the moon, why does the name sound so familiar?"

Celestia looked a bit shocked at the question as she slowly elaborated as she was unsure why he would ask that. "Do you not remember?" Seeing him tilt his head in confusion, she could not help but smile. "You were the one to name it. During one of our meet-ups, we discussed about the town and you gave that name as a joke while I said that name was perfect."

The gears in Danny's head began to click into place and he remembered that meeting. His eyes widened before he threw his hooves in the air and his head back as he shouted. "That'swhy the name sounded so familiar! AAARRRRGGGHHH!" He missed his fingers as he wanted to tug at his hair for not realizing it sooner.

The two sisters couldn't help but laugh at his little outburst.

In the other cart, the mares looked at Danny as he had his outburst. They all couldn't help but wonder about Danny's transformation.

"So, did any yall know about Danny being a prince?" was Applejack's question as she looked at the other mares.

The others shook their heads with Rainbow Dash being vocal about her confusion.

"He didn't say anything about being an Alicorn. All the time I'd seen him in town, he was just a unicorn." She tapped her hoof on her chin as she thought about her time with him and now understood how he might, might, be able to beat her in a race. 'Nah.'

Pinkie Pie clapped her hooves as she pointed toward Danny. "Ooh, but don't you think it was cool that he stood all tall and brave, like a super-pony that comes out of nowhere to save the day-" She reached behind her and pulled ….somthing out in front of her and she was suddenly in the same color pallet as Danny "-and hides his identity to protect those he cares about." She then spun around and was back to her normal colors.

Fluttershy looked over her shoulder toward Danny and had a new concern. "I hope I didn't offend him when he came over."

This question caused all the mares to pause as they thought about their interactions with him and they couldn't help but find some of their actions inappropriate around royalty.

Applejack thought about the first time they spoke and how she grabbed his head and shook it all the while shouting at him. Despite how she still wanted to know why he destroyed her family trees, she now knew that he could very well banish her from Ponyville, or somthing worse. She brought her hat down and began to nervously bite on the edge. Though she also mentally noted how he didn't seem to show any signs of negative feelings toward her, that didn't stop her nervous action.

Rarity thought back to the time she first met him and did her best not to faint at her actions. 'How could I have done such a thing! He could very well punish me to the harshest degree for such a horrid thing.' She took a few deep breaths to calm her nerves. 'How could I have dressed him in such vulgar rags! He deserves the finest materials and designs the world has to offer!' she placed the back of her hoof on her forehead at the slight she did towards him and she knew she had to rectify it as soon as she can.

Fluttershy thought about the times he had come over during the week and how her animal friends enjoyed his company and at times piled on him. Despite how he seemed to enjoy having the animals surround him, she still felt the need to apologize to him.

Even if she had apologized to him every time it happened.

Twilight thought about how she acted around him and couldn't help but wince a bit. She knew she had something important on her mind but to act in such a manner when another Alicorn was around is nothing but insulting. She is Princess Celestia's student, which means that she is a representative of the sun Princess. If this causes relations between Celestia and Danny to falter, it would be her fault!

Pinkie didn't think she did anything overly wrong. She threw him a party and he seemed to enjoy it. So she didn't worry that much.

Danny, for some reason, felt like there were a few sets of eyes on him. Years of ghost fights had given him this extra sense, especially with Skulker always waiting to shoot him. He was about to look around to see who was staring at him but the sudden sound of cheering brought his attention forward to see that they had arrived back in Ponyville. He looked over the edge to see all the ponies in town gathered around and cheering for them as they flew overhead. "Huh, this is the first time I was cheered for when I arrived somewhere."

Celestia moved to stand next to him as she spoke. "With what you did for all of them, is it any wonder they would be happy to see you return?"

Danny looked at her and nodded. "When you put it that way." He noticed Luna seemed nervous but he just gently tapped her with his hoof and smiled down at her. "Relax, none of it was your fault and they won't link the two of you together since they didn't see you change form. Not to mention that with what Celestia told the guards, you are just a long-lost Alicorn."

"We hope that is the case."

Once the carriages landed, they all disembarked and were surrounded by all of the happy ponies.

Spike came out of the crowd and was ecstatic at seeing Twilight was alright. He ran up and gave her a hug, which she returned in kind.

The three alicorns walked forward and smiled at everypony, who all bowed to them.

Danny felt a bit sheepish at this as he was just not used to being treated like this. But he smirked when he saw a pair of pegasus fillies fly up to Luna and placed a flower necklace around her neck. He tapped his hoof on her shoulder and gave her a "I told you so" smirk. He was stunned though when another pair of fillies flew up and placed a flower crown on his head. He looked up at it before sheepishly smiling at them.

Twilight watched all this happen till her mod dropped at the realization of the mission being over and what that meant.

Celestia noticed her student's mood and walked up to her. "What is it, Twilight? Are you not happy that your task is complete, and you can return to your studies in Canterlot?"

Danny turned to watch the interaction and narrowed his eyes at Celestia. 'Wait…is she?'

Twilight lowered her head as she sadly responded. "Well….. I know I should be but….." she looked over her shoulder at the group of ponies she had become close to in the short time she had been in Ponyville. "I learned how wonderful it is to have friends and I find myself not wanting to leave them after having just met them."

Celestia's smile grew ever so slightly. "Spike, take a note please."

Spike pulled out a piece of parchment and pen and he began to write down what Celestia began to say.

"I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree, that the Unicorn Twilight sparkle shall take on a new mission for Equestria. She is to study the magic of friendship, to see how far this magic can take her, and report to me her findings. She is also to enjoy her time with the friends she has made as they will be by her side as she continues these studies. All, while living in her new home, in Ponyville."

Twilight's smile grew as she heard this decree but before she could vocalize her joy, she was hugged by the mares that had become her friends. They all laughed and cheered as they were happy to hear that Twilight would be staying with them.

Danny walked up to Celestia's side and gave her a sideways smirk. "You knew that she would want to stay here, didn't you?"

Celestia gave an innocent smile at Danny. "Now why would you think that?"

Danny rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Even after all this time, you still have the same look you had before." Gestured his head to Celestia's other side. "Luna can vouch for me."

Celestia looked to her right to see Luna smiling up at her.

"Tis true. You have the same smile you have when you already know the answer to something others may say or want."

Danny nodded. "Which is why I could always beat you in the game we played during your free time. We gotta get Luna to join us now that all of the problems are behind us."

Celestia felt her smile grow ever more. The two she had wronged a thousand years ago are back at her side and they do not hate her for her actions. She then looked at Danny with curiosity in her eyes. "Danny, I hope you will indulge my curiosity when you are able." she brought up a hoof and gestured to him.

Danny looked down at himself and figured that she would be curious about it. In fact, he was sure that everypony would be curious about how he changed in front of all of them. "I'll give you my story later, but that reminds me." He moved to stand a few feet away from everyone. "Now that the fight is over."

Everypony there had to cover their eyes at the sudden appearance of a bright light but when they looked back, they saw the rings of light around him split into two and transformed him back into his unicorn form.

Danny let out a deep sigh as he dropped his flank to the ground and sat there as he felt all his energy leave him. He threw his head back and closed his eyes as he felt an odd mixture of relief and exhaustion. There was also the shift in perception as he was now smaller than he was in his Alicorn form. It was only after he took a few more breaths that he felt his muscles start to hurt. He did his best to hold in his grunts of pain as the others were in a celebratory mood. He looked at everypony and smiled. "How about we get the celebration that we were all looking forward to started?"

This caused the other ponies to start cheering once more as they began to move some things around so that they could celebrate.

The Celestial sisters and element bearers walked up to him as they could tell that he was hiding something.

Applejack was the one to ask. "Ya'll alright there, Sugar cube? If Ah didn't know any better, ah'd say ya look like ya wrangled with a bull with a blindfold and hooves tied together."

Danny raised an eyebrow at how she compared his current state and couldn't help but find it amazingly accurate. Looking around, he was glad to see that the other ponies were too busy to hear what he had to say. That's not so far off. My whole body is a bit sore from the fight so it hurts a bit if I move but it's not so bad. It's almost like I pulled a muscle."

Luna's ears pinned to her head. "I am sorry."

Danny shook his head. "Don't be. I don't think it's because of the fight." seeing the disbelieving look on everypony's face, he elaborated. "Ok, the fight is a factor but I know how tough fights feel. I think this is more because of the …changes I went through. I mean, before, I only changed my colors and gained wings and a horn. But in the second round, I got…..bigger. That's never happened before and I think my body is just trying to deal with it." 'Though, I am only guessing since I have no clue. Nightmare moon did pack a punch but nothing I couldn't handle.' Seeing the worried look on their faces, he gave them as best a reassuring smile he could. "Relax, I'm fine. After a night's sleep, I'll be back in tip-top shape."

"And you base that off what?"

Danny's body jerked stiff as he heard that voice behind him. He slowly looked over his shoulder to see the stern look of Nurse Redheart, who was tapping her hoof on the ground. He sheepishly smiled at her. "Hey~... how much of that did you hear?"

"All of it." She saw him shrink in on himself before she let out a sigh. "Honestly, I said no roughhousing, and the thing you do when you are almost fully healed is go into battle that shook the very land."

Danny's ears could not be pinned any further into his head as he was being reprimanded. 'I know that teachers, counselors, and nurses have the power to make others feel small but I never thought it was like this.' He was about to give an excuse to try and lower the possibility of a lecture, till his expression became shocked when he saw her bow to him.

Nurse Redheart had her eyes closed as she bowed to Danny. After a minute, she looked up and spoke once more. "Despite how I wish you would not have done so, I am grateful that you were able to protect us when we needed you, your majesty."

Danny looked at the others for advice with Celestia smiling at him and nodding at him, telling him to just accept this. He let out a quiet sigh as he looked back at the nurse. "You're welcome. I just did what I knew was right, and you don't have to bow to me or call me that."

Nurse Redheart stood back up before she took a step forward. "Thank you, your majesty."

Danny deadpanned at being called that, which got a chuckle from the others.

Nurse Redheart walked forward and placed a hoof on his shoulder to feel if there was something wrong with him. "I am starting to think that I should switch to be your personal nurse so I will be available to aid you when you get into these situations again."

Danny couldn't help himself as he was still nervous about what was happening, and quipping was his coping. "Any benefits with the job change?"

She nodded as she looked at the others before looking over her shoulder. "Yes, the reassuring thought for those who know you to not worry so much."

Danny looked up to see that Derpy was making her way to them as well, with a little filly on her back. He smiled at them before looking at the others and saw that they were giving him a look that said it would be best to go with it. "I guess that would be good for their mental health."

They all laughed at that before they decided to join the celebration. They all went in their own direction till it was just the three royals.

Celestia moved to stand by Danny and lowered her head to whisper to him. "Danny, when you have the time, after today, please come to the castle as there are a few things that we need to discuss."

Danny nodded as he figured it would be about his transformation. He wondered if he should tell her a lie, the whole truth, or a half-truth that would mix with him being a pony. He might have to sleep on it but for now…. "We can talk about other things later, but maybe in a couple of days so we can put this all behind us. For now, there is a party that we should be part of."

Pinkie pie popped up from behind him with a wide smile on her face before she wrapped a hoof around his neck. "Then let's PARTY!"

Everypony cheered as confetti was thrown and fireworks were shot.

Danny looked behind him to see that Pinkie was now gone. He wondered how she was able to do that but didn't put too much thought into it as he wanted to see what it was like to party with these ponies. "Hope they don't mind partying with a pony over a thousand years old."

Celestia looked at him indignant. "And what is that supposed to mean? Are you saying that we are too old to enjoy ourselves?"

Danny realized that his quip about himself was also an insult to Celestia and Luna who have been around most likely longer than he has. "No, I mean…. I didn't mean it that….. Well, I was actually talking…"

Celestia's stern look turned into a smile before she let out a soft laugh. "It's alright, Danny, I know what you meant."

Luna let out a chuckling sigh. "Honestly, sister, dost thou feel the need to do such trivial jests."

Celestia smiled at her sister. "Indeed, I do, sister."

Danny chuckled before looking at Luna. "You know, you should try to talk more like the others, Luna. I noticed that Celestia is talking more….normally than she did before."

Celestia waved her hoof nonchalantly. "Oh, I'm sure my speech isn't that different."

Danny raised an eyebrow. "Celly, you used to talk like Luna did a lot back then. sure, you would talk like a normal pony when I was around but when your subjects were in the room, you would start talking just like that. You even had a thicker accent than Luna did."

"I did not!"

Danny chuckled. "Oh, yes you did. It was almost like medieval times. I think it was during the war of dragons that they talked like that."

The "war of dragons" was something Danny read in one of the history books. It was a civil war between the dragon kind that spilled out into the lands and got others involved. Celestia was pivotal in stopping the war but Danny wondered why it didn't mention Luna since it was before the Nightmare moon incident. Not to mention that there were some other events that happened before and after the war that did mention Luna, though they didn't mention her by name, they did mention Celestia's name. He would have to ask about that some other time.

Celestia did her best not to show her embarrassment since they were in public. She had thought that she got rid of that way of speaking a long time before Danny showed up. She did remember when she spoke like that and it was indeed around the time of the Dragon war. She had to end that issue as quickly as possible and was able to call a cease-fire between them all since there was something else on her mind at that time.

Luna was sick with a cold and Celestia had to take care of her.

She had no idea that she was even in the history books for that.

Danny looked around at the celebrating ponies and figured that he should join in. "well, I'm going to check out what this party has to offer." he began to walk toward the other ponies before looking over his shoulder at the sisters. "You coming?"

Celestia smiled before she shook her head. "No, most of the time in these I tend to just observe." She saw him give her a dead look before chuckling softly. "Perhaps I will join in a bit. Don't worry about us." She brought her sister closer with her wing in a hug.

Danny nodded as he figured that Celestia and Luna would need to talk some things out. And he also figured that it was a sort of excuse to keep the "royalty keeping up appearances" thing. He always thought that was weird but his friend Dora was one to throw away that idea. He moved into the party and almost immediately wished he stayed with the sisters. The ponies all bowed to him as he walked by. He was pretty sure that his face was going to permanently turn red as he was just not used to this kind of treatment. It didn't help that he had to keep telling them all that they should just enjoy the party. He felt some relief when he saw AppleJack, Rainbow dash, and Derpy standing with the drinks. Looking around at all the bowing ponies, he dashed his way over to them.

Derpy saw Danny making his way toward them and she waved at him as he got there.

Rainbow and Applejack saw Danny make his way as well and they couldn't help but smirk at the sight of him nervously looking over his shoulder.

Applejack chuckled as she spoke to him. "Somthing wrong there, Sugercube?"

Danny looked at them and cleared his throat. "I just didn't expect everypony to start treating me so differently."

Rainbow Dash lowered herself to point at him. "What'd you expect? Everypony saw you turn into an alicorn and Alicorns are royalty."

Danny heard this and facehoofed. "Is this how everyone is going to act when I show up then?"

Applejack nodded. "Well, with how yall are an alicorn and saved our hides, they are gonna show ya yer respect."

Danny groaned. "Great."

AppleJack shoulder-bumped him. "Aw, cheer up. Why not have a drink to calm yerself?"

Derpy moved over to the table and grabbed a mug before filling it with what was in the barrel. She handed it over to Danny with an encouraging smile.

Danny took the mug and looked at it as he wondered what it was.

Seeing him look at the liquid in suspicion, Applejack gestured to him. "Aw, just drink it. It's apple cider, just what anypony would need when feeling off."

Danny smiled as he took a drink. During his time here, all he ever drank was water since the hospital wasn't going to give him anything else and he didn't know what other kinds of drinks there were. He took a swig before his eyes widened and he chugged the rest of it down.

"Woah, easy there, Sugarcube. Don't wanna drink too much too fast."

Danny finished the drink with a satisfied look on his face. He smacked his lips in delight. "Hahh." he looked at the others with a tilt of his head. "Why what's wrong with it?"

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes as she poked his head. "Man, you have really been on the moon for a thousand years."

Derpy tilted her head at that. "What do you mean?"

Danny chuckled. "There is more to the story than just that. I'll tell all of you the full details someday." He was about to say something else till he felt a bit of a tingling feeling in his head. "Woah, what?"

"Hey, mama!"

The group looked to see a little filly run up to Derpy.

Derpy looked down at her with a smile and asked. "What is it, Dinky?"

Dinky looked at the table at a row of boxed juice. "Can I have a drink?"

Derpy nodded as she moved to the table and grabbed one of the juice boxes. She used her teeth to grab the straw and poke a hole through the top before handing it to Dinky. "Here you go."

Dinky took it with both hooves and began to drink from it.

Danny looked at the little filly and asked. "Well, who's this?"

Derpy smiled at Danny as she answered. "This is my daughter, Dinky." she looked at her daughter and gestured to Danny. "Dinky, this is Danny. A friend of mine."

Dinky paused in her drinking as she shuffled behind her mother's leg, using her tail to hide her even more. She poked her head out and looked up at Danny. She nervously spoke to him. "You're the pony that changed color and made all that green magic."

Danny smiled softly so as to not make the filly even more nervous. "Yep, though that was the first time I heard it that way." He lowered his head and smiled at the little unicorn. His smile widened when she gained a little courage and stepped out from behind her mother's legs. "Sorry for scaring you."

She was nervous about being around a stranger but she also had a bit of excitement in her for meeting the one that saved them. "It's ok." Seeing that reassuring smile and feeling curious, she asked. "Can you change into different colors? Like purple or maybe blue?"

Danny couldn't help but laugh as he thought about changing to those colors. "Sorry, but I can only change to black and white."

"Aw….. well, it's still cool."

Danny chuckled at that as he took another swig of his drink. Once that was done, he asked the filly. "so, what do you like to do, Dinky?"

She smiled up at him before pointing to her mother. "I like making muffins with mama!"

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but laugh a bit as she pointed to Derpy. "If there is one thing that you can be sure of, it's that Derpy will always have a muffin with her. In fact, she probably has a muffin hidden away somewhere."

Derpy looked sheepish at that. "Maybe."

They all laughed at that as they continued to talk by the drinks.

Dinky was finding Danny to be interesting since he wasn't acting like she thought royalty would act. She first felt nervous around him but she quickly warmed up to his playful attitude.

Danny was having fun with this party and could admit that it was better than any party he had been part of back in his world. That thought brought his mind back to the fact that a thousand years had passed. He was hoping that when his task is complete, Clockwork would send him back to his time so that he wouldn't miss out on much. He just had to wait for either him or Infina to show up and take him home.

Something else he learned was that there was a reason that AppleJack told him to take it easy on the Apple Cider. He started to feel….. Tipsy, was the best word he could use for how he felt after four more mugs of the drink. He figured that the reason that he and the other ponies were able to have this rink while Dinky had an apple juice pack was that Apple Cider was the equivalent of an alcoholic beverage. Something that didn't work well with him and he stopped drinking it after he started feeling it.

After talking with the mares, he excused himself so that he could check out the rest of the party. Funnily enough, Dinky began to follow him like a little duckling. At one point, he just picked her up and put her on his back as he walked around.

Apart from the bows he would get from the ponies, he also got a few amused looks as the little filly was hanging off the back of his head as if he was a ride and she was pointing at things she wanted to see, which he obliged and got closer to them.

The two played the games that Pinkie had set up such as ring tossing, bobbing for apples which was just a way for ponies to both get a snack and refresh themselves in water, pin the tail on the pony which got a laugh out of Danny since one of them was a silly drawing of Celestia, water balloon fights, and hoof painting.

Danny did feel uncomfortable with the ponies that were handling the game almost seeming to want to rig the games for him to win but Danny had to keep shaking his head to them when they looked like they were about to do something.

Danny had fun with the little filly for a while till she saw some of her friends from school. She told him they should play again before she ran off with her friends to try some of the other games.

Now on his own, Danny wandered around the party till he ran into Twilight.

Twilight was enjoying one of the Hay-sandwiches that were being sold, but the second she saw Danny heading her way, she choked on the food in her mouth and coughed. "*Cough*... Your *cough* … majesty!"

Danny groaned as he rolled his eyes before he made it to her. "Twilight, you don't have to call me that. Just call me Danny, the same you did before the whole reveal."

"But I can't just call you by your name! I can't show disrespect to someone of your standing. if I do that, it would look bad, and Celestia would be shamed to have a student that wouldn't show respect to somepony that has the same standing as her, and with me being the representative…"

Danny could tell that if he didn't stop Twilight now, she would go on a long tirade about this and he would never be able to get a word in. He thought about the best way to get her to stop and came up with an idea that bugged him but would be more beneficial in the long run. He stood up straighter with his head held high as he spoke in a firm voice. "Twilight."

Twilight froze at the tone and lowered her head as she thought she might have offended him in some way that she was unaware of.

Danny continued now that he had her attention. "If you really want to show me respect then you must do something for me."

"Whatever it is, I'll do it!"

Danny's stern face became a smile as he spoke normally now. "Treat me like any other pony around." He saw her shocked look before he moved to sit on the other side of the table she was at. "I may be an Alicorn when I transform but at the moment, I'm not. I am like any other unicorn here and I don't really have the status of a royal. I'm just somepony that has powers."

Twilight looked at him and did her best to speak as if not to put him on a pedestal. "But…. as an alicorn, you are royalty."

"And as a royal, I would like to be treated like a commoner."

Twilight's brain seemed to short-circuit for a second as she could not understand the request but after a minute of this, she rebooted and gave a small nod. "O….ok."

"YES!" He cheerfully raised a hoof in victory.

Twilight couldn't help but find his demeanor very different from Celestia and Cadence. Those two are the only Alicorns she knew of and both had a regal aura around them, Danny on the other hand seemed to be like any other pony. Though she thought about when he was in his Alicorn form and remembered that he had a sort of presence about him, which was slightly different from the ones the princess' had. She had a million questions she wanted to ask but she felt some of them would be a bit too personal. Choosing one in the forefront of her mind she spoke. "Danny, can I ask you something?"

Danny was looking over his shoulder at the ponies that were watching him as if he was a celebrity. He was even sure that one of them took a picture of him. He felt unnerved by all the attention but he was brought out of this by the question. He looked back at Twilight and gestured with his hoof for her to ask.

"Are you really the pony that was in all the textbooks? I've read about how you sacrificed yourself in order for Princess Celestia to use the elements of Harmony on Nightmare Moon. I wanted to ask somepony that was there in order to give me more details…. Is something wrong?"

Danny's eyes widened at what he heard. He sat there slack-jawed for a minute before he exclaimed. "I'm in textbooks?"

Twilight didn't know why but the way he seemed so genuinely shocked by that simple fact made her laugh. "Yes… you are in textbooks. It was written a long time ago using journals and notes from ponies that were there a long time ago."

Danny shook his head as he couldn't help but wonder. "I gotta read these textbooks to see what they say about me. Anyway, yeah, I am the pony from a thousand years ago and I can tell you that the fight was a bit harder back then than the one we just got out of."

"Why?"

"Well, back then I wasn't really trying to win. I was just stalling. Even if I did that with this fight, I actually had a plan that thankfully worked out." He paused for a second as he looked Twilight over. He noticed that she wasn't wearing the element of Harmony. He then remembered that AppleJack and Rainbow Dash weren't wearing theirs when he talked with them. "Speaking of, where is your crown?"

Twilight looked up when he pointed at her head. "Oh, Princess Celestia took them for safekeeping. She teleported them somewhere she can store them away."

Danny nodded as it made sense to keep such artifacts away from public hands….. Or hoofs in this manner. "Makes sense."

The two continued their talks about some other trivial things as Twilight continued her meal. Danny himself went to get one sandwich himself since watching someone eat can make a person and pony hungry. The conversation moved to Danny's time a thousand years ago like how Old Canterlot was when he was there.

Danny did his best to tell her what he knew since he didn't really live in Old Canterlot, he lived in the forest outside of it and only came when he met up with Luna or wanted to at least be in an area that had others that were able to talk.

The two spent a bit more time around the party with Danny having to pull Twilight around to something as she seemed to be out of place. It was almost like she had never been in a crowd before yet doing her best to seem normal. They did the same things he did with Dinky but Danny couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Twilight almost having a panic attack because of the Pin the tail on Celestia game.

While they had fun at the party, Twilight couldn't help but wonder to herself. 'Why doesn't he use his magic?' She had seen that Danny had done everything as if he was an earth pony. Sure there was nothing wrong with it but Unicorns would normally use their magic for things like the water balloon fight, which she adamantly chose not to participate in. Though after some thought, she figured that he might be too tired to use his magic since he had yet to rest from the fight. She was tired too since using the elements of Harmony took a lot of her energy. Speaking of.

After a few more hours, Twilight did her best to hide her yawn but she blushed as Danny looked at her cheekily.

"I guess you're finally out of energy. I gotta give ya props since I'm sure that the others are tired as well from the battle."

Twilight tried her best to hide her embarrassment and shook her head. "No, I'm sure the others are still having fun."

Danny gave another cheeky smirk as he pointed into the air.

Twilight followed his hoof and saw that laying on a cloud was Rainbow Dash sleeping with her hoof dangling the edge. She felt him tap her shoulder and saw that he was looking in another direction with his smirk still on. She followed his gaze and saw that Fluttershy was sitting under a tree but it was obvious that she was doing her best to stay awake as her head kept dipping before it jolted up with a shake of her head. It was only seconds later that it dipped again. Though she had to guess that watching a few animals jumping back in forth in front of the pink-maned pegasus didn't help her stay awake.

Danny then suddenly laughed at the sight he saw.

Twilight looked at him before she saw him point in another direction and once again, she saw another of the girls. This time Pinkie Pie and AppleJack.

Pinkie Pie was dangling in the air as she floated thanks to the balloons wrapped around her waist. As she snored, a party horn that was in her mouth made a soft buzzing noise.

AppleJack had her back leaning on the table leg of the drinks with her hat tilted over her face. The thing was she was covered in confetti. The reason she was covered in it was that Applebloom, Sweetie Bell, Scootaloo, and Spike were putting them on her.

Twilight smiled before shaking her head, heading toward them, with Danny following her. Once she made it to them, she spoke. "Spike, what are you doing?"

The four children jumped at the sound and piled together as if they were caught, which they were.

Spike smiled sheepishly at Twilight as he tried his best not to look guilty. "Hey, Twi, how's it going?"

Twilight shook her head before speaking. "Spike, you shouldn't have done that while somepony is sleeping."

The three fillies felt bad for spike being scolded by Twilight but their eyes went to her companion and they froze at the sight of Danny. Though, they weren't sure how to react since they each had gotten used to him when they talked to him but he was royalty. They separated from Spike and bowed to him.

Danny held in a groan as they were children and he was not going to say anything that would make them feel bad. He decided to just speak to them normally and let them do what they want. "Easy, you three." Seeing the three stand up straight, he looked around as he noticed that a couple of the ponies he knew weren't around. Choosing to ask the one related to one of them, he looked to Sweetie bell. "Where's your sister? Haven't seen her around."

Sweetie Bell pointed in the direction of the boutique as she answered. "She went home a bit ago. She said that her beauty sleep needed to come early."

"What about Derpy and Dinky?"

Scootaloo was the one to answer that one. "I saw Dinky's mom taking her home. She was asleep on her mom's back."

Danny looked to Twilight who met his eyes and smirked at her. "So it seems that all the users and then some are dead tired."

Twilight sighed as she nodded. "Yeah."

Spike tilted his head as he asked. "What do you mean?"

Danny pointed his hoof to Twilight. "Her and the others that were with me in the fight are super drained of energy. As you can see, these two are already asleep." He pointed to AppleJack and Pinkie as an example.

Spike scratched his head as he looked at the sky. "Well, it is getting late. The day may be the longest but it is coming to an end soon."

Danny looked up and saw that the sun was lower than it was before. He figured that Celestia was doing her job to make the day last. He figured that it was something like Daylight savings time done in one day. "Well, with how these girls are already asleep, I think it's safe to say that they are done having fun."

Scootaloo jumped up onto Danny's back as she cheered. "No way! The day isn't over yet and we gotta make the most of it!"

Danny chuckled as he looked up at her. "Well, even the toughest of us get tired."

Scootaloo pointed at Danny as she asked. "Even you?"

"Even me." He then looked at the sleeping mares and figured that he should help them out. "Alright. Scoots can you get off me for a bit?"

Scootaloo jumped off and they all watched as he moved over to Applejack.

Danny looked her over for a second before he moved his head to Applejack's stomach. "Ok….how do I…" He shoved his head into her stomach a bit forcing her to fall forward and onto his neck. He stood up and was now carrying her on his back. He saw that her hat fell off and he was unable to get it, he looked at Applebloom. "You mind getting that?"

The little apple filly grabbed the hat and threw it into the air before it landed on her head. She smiled as it was far too big for her.

Danny chuckled as he looked at the others. "I'm going to take the sleeping mares home." Looking at Twilight he suggested. "You should head home and get some sleep yourself. You're about to fall asleep on your hooves."

Twilight had her eyes drooping but shook it off when she was caught. Figuring that she needed some sleep, she nodded. "I think that is a good idea. Come on, Spike."

Spike groaned as he didn't want to go home just yet but if Twilight was going home, he figured he had to go as well. He began to follow her as she began to head to the library and he waved to the fillies. "Bye, girls, bye, Danny!"

"Bye, Spike!"

Danny nodded as he moved over to Pinkie Pie and wondered how to bring her along. He felt his tail swish a bit and figured that would be the best bet. Turning around, he swung his flank back and forth to get his tail to swing.

Something that caught the attention of several mares that saw him.

Danny wrapped his tail around the string of the balloons and smirked. Looking at the fillies, he spoke. "Sweetie Bell, I think you should head home and make sure your sister is actually in bed. And little fillies shouldn't be up for too long. You too, Scoots. You should head home and get some sleep.

The two Fillies drooped at that as they didn't want to party to end for them. However, this was something royalty was telling them and they figured they can have another party some other time. And Scootaloo wanted to hang out with Danny the next time they meet.

Danny left to pick up Fluttershy as the other two fillies began to make their way home. He noticed that the party was coming to an end as the sun was low and tinted the land orange. Once he got to the pegasus, he saw she was surrounded by her animals, including the bear that grew fond of him. He saw them all turn to him and he waved a hoof to them. "I was going to carry her home since I saw she was close to falling asleep but it looks like I have some help." he looked to the bear and asked. "Do you mind carrying her as I take these two with me?"

The bear nodded as he picked up the sleeping Fluttershy and placed her on his back.

Danny began to walk as the animals followed him. "We are going to drop these two off first and Fluttershy last. She already has a comfy bed right now so that should be ok, right?"

The animals nodded in understanding as they followed him, with Angel standing on the bear's head as if he was the leader.

---

~Sugar cube corner~

Their first stop was Pinkie Pie since her home was the closest.

Danny walked to the side of the door and lowered himself and slid AppleJack onto a patch of grass. He was happy to see that the Apple Mare was still soundly asleep but couldn't help but chuckle as she was laying on her back with her hooves in the air. He moved to the door with Pinkie still floating behind him with his tail. He tried the knob and was happy to see that it was open. He walked in and made sure that Pinkie didn't hit anything.

"Oh, hello, Deary."

Danny looked back ahead to see Miss Cake coming from the back. He smiled as he whispered. "Oh, good. You mind telling me where to put her?"

He pointed to Pinkie who was still asleep.

Mis Cake smiled as she nodded. She led him upstairs to Pinkie's room. Once he was in front of the room, she left the two to head downstairs as she had some things she needed to do.

Danny entered Pinkie's room and looked around to see that her room almost seemed to be made for a party itself. He moved over to the bed and had her float over it. 'I know that Pinkie is a very energetic pony but I don't think that her falling onto her bed would be a good way to put her. He lifted his front hooves onto the bed and used his teeth to bite on the strings. He lower Pinkie till she was on the bed before he bit down hard and cut the strings. He was about to leave till he felt a pair of hoofs wrap around his neck and bring him down. The next thing he knew, he was being nibbled on by Pinkie. He felt his face go red at the action she was doing.

Pinkie was dreaming of the biggest cupcake ever and had it all to herself. She was hugging it as tight as she could as it rained sprinkles all around her. Feeling her hunger get the better of her, she opened her mouth and licked the frosting on top of it. She loved the taste of it as it tasted like vanilla.

Danny shivered at her action as he looked in her direction and saw she was still sleeping. 'What the hell is she dreaming?' Feeling her squeeze him tighter, and growing even redder when her wet muscle ran up the side of his face, he chose to escape and used his intangibility to phase out of her hold. Once free he used his intangibility to get the slobber off him and felt relief that he was out of that. Hearing a whimper, he looked back to Pinkie to see that she was close to crying with her hooves waving in the air. He looked around and grabbed a pillow before giving it to Pinkie who hugged it and began to bite down on it as if she was eating something. He felt relief that he wasn't bitten by her. He then decided to leave Pinkie to her dreams as he still had two more to drop off. He waved Miss Cake goodbye as he left the shop and picked AppleJack up so they could drop off the next one. This time instead of having AppleJack laying sideways on his back, she was parallel to him with her head drooping next to his.

---

~AppleFarm~

Danny walked toward the Farmhouse and looked around in case there was somepony that can tell him where to go. It was to his fortune that Big Mac was still up and was able to open the door. "Hey, Big Mac, dropping off AppleJack since she passed out at the party. I'm sure that Applebloom told you about me coming over."

Big Mac nodded as he looked at his sleeping sister. "Yep." He moved to the side and pointed inside toward AppleJack's room. He watched as Danny brought his sister to her room before looking back outside to see the horde of animals waiting for Danny. "Hmm."

Danny walked into AppleJak's room and noticed that her room was painted as if the walls were forests with a few lassos hung on the wall that had a branch painted on them. He shimmied AppleJack to lay on her bed and took a few tentative steps back in case she did something as Pinkie Pie did. Fortunately, the mare didn't do anything to him and he smiled as he was about to leave the room.

"Hey, Sugarcube, ah still expect ya to come over to help out on mah farm…ah like talking to ya and ….mmmm."

Danny looked back to see that AppleJack was still sleeping. 'Must be sleep talking.' Thinking about his promise to her, he knew he would have to come back to help out in order to pay her back for destroying a good amount of the trees. He saw the trench he made and knew that he would need to work it off for a while. He then noticed that AppleJack's hat was on a chair next to the door. "Good to know Applebloom left this here." looking around, he gained a mischievous look as he grabbed the hat and threw it into the air before it landed on his head. "Always wanted to be a cowboy." He let out a silent chuckle before he threw it off his head and onto the chair. "Might get one myself." as He left, he waved bye to Big Mac before he joined the animals. "Alright, time to get Fluttershy to bed."

The animals nodded as they left the Apple farm and headed to Fluttershy's cottage

---

~Fluttershy's cottage~

They finally made it to Fluttershy's home and most of the animals began to head to their own place of sleep with the bear and bunny being the only ones to stay with Danny.

Danny opened the door and looked at the bear. He turned his head back and forth between the door and the bear before he spoke. "I don't think you can fit in there."

The bear deadpanned at him before he lowered himself to allow Danny access to the pegasus.

Danny nodded and moved to pick her up. He wiggled his nose to be under her before sliding her onto his back. The odd thing was that once she was on his back, she nuzzled into his mane and wrapped her hooves around his neck. He couldn't help but think to himself. 'Don't eat me, don't eat me, don't eat me. I am not food.' He paused as he saw the bunny glaring at him as if he did something that was unforgivable. 'What'd I do?' He knew he wouldn't get an answer and was thankful that Angel led him to her room. Once he got to her room, he tilted himself to let her slide onto the bed.

Only to find that she wouldn't let go.

He looked at her to see that she was sleeping soundly and tried again to get her off him. All that happened was that she tightened her hooves around his neck and snuggled. He deadpanned at being in a similar situation as to Pinkie but at least Fluttershy was just a snuggler in her sleep rather than a pony that was close to eating him. Using a bit of his flight, he floated over her bed and phased through the bed while keeping her tangible. He slipped out of her hooves and popped his head out of the floor and smiled out of the ground to see that she had grabbed her pillow and snuggled into it. He smiled as he got out of the ground and began to leave. He couldn't help the smirk from appearing on his face as he saw the bunny wiping his eyes as if he didn't believe what he had just seen. 'Wonder how many others I can get that reaction out of. He left the cottage and waved bye to the animals that were still awake. He let out a sigh as he had finished his task and just wanted to get some sleep. The sun had gone down a while ago and knew that the day and party must have finished already since it was already late. He was so ready to get to the library and get to bed. Maybe actually getting to use the bed now since he was now able to get up the damn stairs without feeling like he ran a mile without powers. "Time for me to hit the hay….. Heheh, bad pun." He made his way back to Ponyville and toward the Library.

---

~Library~

Danny opened the door of the Library and trudged inside. He closed the door and yawned loudly. "Finally. Maybe I can sleep in like I did the past few days without any disruptions." He slowly made his way through the dark and towards the stairs to get to bed. He would have turned on the lights but with his eyes already shut as he zombied his way to bed would have made it pointless and irritating. As he walked up the stairs, he thought about when he would need to meet up with Celestia and Luna and figured that it would be best to do it in two days since he was sure that there would be some things he would need to do tomorrow… or today, he wasn't sure what the time was. He looked ahead of him to see the bed in front of him and smiled at the sight. He made his way to the bed and slowly layed on it in order to enjoy the upcoming sleep. Once he layed on it, he closed his eyes and felt close to sleep.

It was then that he felt something shift in front of him and he wondered what it was. He then felt another pair of hooves wrap around his own. He let out a groan as he didn't know what it was. It was then that he heard a moan of displeasure and he cracked open an eye to see what it was, only to meet the view of violet eyes and a purple mane.

Twilight didn't know what Spike wanted but she figured that it must have been a nightmare if he came into her bed. She rolled over in order to hug the baby dragon and make him feel better but her eyebrows furrowed as it didn't feel like Spike laying next to her. She slowly opened her eyes to not meet the view of the baby purple dragon, but to see the blue eyes of another pony.

The two ponies were muzzle to muzzle with only an inch separating them and their legs wrapped around each other's. It took a few more seconds till their brains seemed to register what it was they were looking at. Once that registered, both sets of eyes opened wider with one face going from violet to red and the other going from tan to red.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Spike, who was downstairs and in his bed jumped out and got tangled by his blanket.

---

Canterlot Castle

Celestia was leading Luna to her room since this was the first time her sister had been in this castle.

"Sister, dost thou need to escort me as if I am some filly?"

Celestia looked over her shoulder and smiled gently at her. "I am merely showing you to your room as you have never been here before. And with your body at the moment, you are a filly."

Luna rolled her eyes as she knew that at the moment she looked like she did when they were fillies. She just wished that her power would return faster so that she would regain her adult form. She would have liked to talk to Danny but she would not deny a celebration that can be doubled as a victory party for him. She knew she would be able to talk to him later so now, she figured that she could use the rest, which would help her restore her power.

The two made it to a large set of double doors that had a crescent moon symbol on them.

Celestia could not hide the smile on her face as she looked up at the door. For so long these doors have been unused and now, it was finally time. She looked to her sister and gestured for her to open the doors.

Luna nodded as she used her magic to open the door. She may be weakened but she had enough for this. Once the doors opened she nearly gasped at the sight of the room in front of her.

It was her room. And not just because it was lunar-themed, but because it was exactly how her old room was. From the curtains, to the dresser, to the wallpaper, and even the position of the stars on the ceiling. She walked in and almost felt like she had gone back in time to before the Nightmare incident.

"I made sure that it would be exactly as your old room was. A way to make you feel at home when you came back."

Luna looked behind her at her sister who had a sad smile on her face.

"I had waited so long to open these doors and see you standing there. I am sorry for everything Luna.

Luna moved over to Celestia and hugged her. "Thank you for waiting for me."

Celestia hugged her back as she felt like she had gone back in time to when they were close. "Thank you for coming back."

The two sisters stayed there for a moment before they separated and headed off to bed.

Luna knew she had nightly duties that she needed to get back to but she was sure she could rest for now.

They both needed a good night's sleep without worrying about something.

---

End of Chapter

Despite this chapter being 10K words, not including the reviews and author's notes, I still feel like this was rushed. Especially the party part. Might come back and add more to it

I didn't add Rarity to the end-home escort bit because I couldn't come up with something she would do to Danny during the drop-off, and Danny would not have any way to carry her. I will be building up the friendship between the two as I have ideas for them to interact.

The reason I had the bearers lose energy and fall asleep is because I thought that using the elements of Harmony would exhaust them to the point of falling asleep. Even Pinkie. Using a powerful artifact that takes up energy should make them tired since they have never used something so powerful before

I tried looking up the apple cyder thing since I don't know where it came from but I thought that for ponies, Apple Cyder would be something like an alcoholic drink for them. It might be because the Apple farm making apple cyder looks like a brewery. But I also think they make cyder that can be had by the general public without the effect. I'm not saying that there is alcohol in the cyder but it just might be like it. I'm not putting any alcoholism or such in the fic. Let's just say it makes ponies buzz

One thing I decided to do is that each of the mares will get a dedicated chapter with Danny. A way to build a bond between them and will make it easier to make a choice of pairing with them. And some of the ideas I have for each of the mares come with a song. I feel like this is going to become partly a song fic. If you have an idea for a song to use for a specific mare, let me know.

I couldn't help but put that scene with Twilight and Danny at the end as a way to introduce each other to the fact that they are now living together. :P

Next chapter will have more interactions with Celestia and Luna so I hope you look forward to it

Flames will be ignored.

Criticism is accepted

Ideas are taken into account and considered

Positive reviews are appreciated

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And your enjoyment in reading this is the goal

So please read, Favorite, follow, and review