Learning To Live

by Nekron Smauzog

A sensitive man was always trying his best to deal with life, whether his struggles with friendships or maintaining the best motives. Everything changes when he is supposedly killed in a deadly chase dealing with a dangerous criminal gang, and he appears in Equestria. What is his purpose there? But most to notice, why is he even there?

63. Earth - The Glory and the Scum

A/N: Sorry for the lateness, but here is the next chapter.

I have officially met Andrea Libman at FanExpo this year in Toronto after waiting two whole years to meet her. If you don't remember, I was supposed to meet her in 2014, but I ended up meeting Tabitha instead because she left. Nevertheless I was happy to see her. Plus, I managed to get her to sing Happy Birthday to me in Fluttershy's voice. I didn't forget the 'Yay' either! I felt so happy when she signed my Fluttershy drawing from 2014.

Plus I got to meet Charles Martinet; who to some of the readers is the voice of Mario and most of the characters. I got him to do stuff from Skyrim though, as I remember it a lot. I greet him with "Drem Yol Lok" and he responds in Paarthurnax' voice saying "What brings you to the throat of the world?" He signed my Skyrim copy and before I left, I got him to say one of my favorite lines. "What is better - to be born good, or to overcome your evil nature through great effort?"

Well, here I am now taking medicine for my sore throat after having gone to two concerts this September as I was seeing Slayer, Anthrax, BTBAM and Devin Townsend in Toronto. Got to meet Devin Townsend on the street, and I was nearly shaking my ass off when I met him which is something I do not usually do.

I have seen the new episodes recently, and just watched "Every Little Thing She Does" last night. I thought they were really good and well done. I found out that the season 6 finale is called "To Where And Back Again" and it will involve Starlight Glimmer for the majority of it. Pretty excited to see that she's going to be a main character in this one. (For those wondering, I might be considering to do that finale in this story at a later point.)

And now... Review Response Time, kiddies!

Guest (1): I can imagine that they would.

Guest (2): Well, as you can see by the foreshadowing... :)

WarHusky2000: It's no problem. I deal with the fans easily by just ignoring them and not acknowledging the existence of them. My favorite Sabaton song would most likely be either "Carolus Rex" or "The Last Stand". Heard the new album and ended up hearing "Blood of Bannockburn" in a dream sometime after.

AntiVillain1: Thank you for the birthday wish. :)

jvs12: Well, you're in for a treat after this chapter.

billykilly: Glad you enjoyed the chapter. :) Next two chapters after this should be action packed.

4theworldman: You are about to find out.

Guest (3): Thank you.

Ghostbusters fan: That's what I plan on doing for a later point in a chapter after something 'tragic' happens.

Guest (4): A sequel to this story has been something that has raised a lot of questions for me. It's still too early for me to think if there should be a sequel to it, but it's still thoughts. I have an ending to this story planned, but it won't be there for a long bit of a time from now.

Guest (5): My apologies for the lateness as I said above. It's not easy when I am feeling down in the dumps with this sore throat, plus I've met with someone who can help me find a job now that I'm not in college anymore. I mean, during the break between my two years in college I had a lot more time to write, but I did realize months back that I've been writing more slowly. I am doing all that I can to work as fast as I can as I am always eager and desperate to get a chapter out. Even then, I make the best decision when to have a small hiatus in the story which I have planned after the wedding chapter is written out.

Cookie lover: When he marries Twilight, he'll be living with both Twilight and Spike.

Dino fan: Lol yep. I love it when she does that every time.

---

"And welcome to the Morning News on Radio C109!"

That voice alone was there to stir me awake from my slumber, which has me open my eyes... only to close them again for a few moments before opening them up again to clear the bright sunlight shining in through the window at my face. The voice on the radio keeps on going, but I haven't groaned yet as my hand reaches and slams onto that alarm to turn it off.

Lying right next to me is Twilight, who has fallen asleep in my arms when both of us went off to bed. My ears can hear her nostrils breathing closely to me, and they sound rather relaxed as she is probably still dreaming right now. A smile is on her face as her eyes are closed, most likely feeling comfortable with my right arm around her back, gently stroking her back in motion as my brown eyes gaze at her.

I shift my right arm and allow my hand to gently stroke at her soft, silky mane. Kind of figured that the morning has come in from the east, and now I think it's time to stir my fiance awake. Her gentle and warm coat can be felt as the hand moves downward on her mane and to the end. It's the usual way that I caress her mane that way: start from the top of the mane on her head and smoothly move to where the mane ends.

Her head begins moving for a moment, shifting around and being comfortable. "Twilight..." I whisper to her quietly and gently. I don't want to abruptly awaken her, cause she's happy when she sleeps as it is right now.

Those eyes of hers begin to slowly open up, but with the sun in her eyes has to close them and squint. Opening her mouth, she lets out an almost inaudible yawn but closes her mouth and begins to squint her eyes again.

I allow my left arm to reach back and pull down on the curtain to get the light from blocking her eyes. When it has gone, the violet iris' in her eyes come into view when the eyelids have risen, unveiling a refreshed look and no bags under her eyes to show that she was tired. Turns out she had some good beauty sleep.

"Good morning..." She says in a low volume in a tone that sounds gentle.

My eyes close as I can feel her lips gently touch my own, sharing a passionate kiss with me as my hand has gone back to her cheek. Her right wing is wrapped gently around me to keep me warm and safe with her, showing that she would go by any bounds to protect me, just as much as I would go for the same thing of protecting her from harm.

I softly chuckle after me and her have released from the morning kiss. "A good morning to you too."

"First night together with our friends on Earth." She states to me, giggles a bit afterwards.

With a slow movement, I begin to take sheets off from my body and chest, allowing my legs to slip out from under them to give them a stretch once they are out. My mouth moans, but it is closed when I do that as my legs have been resting for so long under there.

She also begins moving out of bed, using her magic to move the sheets off from her. Once back on all four of her hooves, she steps off from my bed and stretches as well as that good night's sleep.

I was in pyjamas, but I did have the need to change into my regular clothing of the day. Don't really feel like changing in front of Twilight though, as I don't feel that she'd be really comfortable with me doing that, plus that would give me the risk of embarrassing myself. So I just make sure of myself to go to the washroom down the hall to change there and put my pyjamas in the laundry.

Besides waking up and having breakfast, I already have the day planned out for me and everypony else. For the beginning of the day, I plan on having both myself and Twilight go to the high school that I was learning at before. She will be able to see the students there, and I will have to make sure that she is disguised so that she isn't seen by the public. I don't want my fiance being taken away from me by scientists for their own gain.

Gathering clothes from the drawer near my laptop, I take the new fresh ones and head out of my bedroom and into the bathroom down the hall past the other bedroom where my friends were sleeping. Door was open and nopony was in there, so I can presume that they were already awake and downstairs judging by the distant sound of their hooves trotting.

Usual business with clothing comes first on my mind though. I enter the washroom, change out of my pyjamas and put on a short-sleeved t-shirt in the tone color of pink and yellow that represent both of the coat colors of my two closest friends, after that were shorts in a plain black color with thin lines of white on them. I don't expect the best today, so I'm just going to be myself for once.

My brown hair is still really long since then, but I do not plan on cutting it. It actually does feel pretty good this way. Though I know my close friend Rarity will insist that I should get a haircut at the Boutique to take care of that when we get back to Equestria.

I come out of the bathroom carrying my pyjamas to the laundry basket at the other end of the hall and place them inside for them to be washed later. Twilight leaves my bedroom, giving herself another stretch as we are getting ready for another good day on our Earth visit. When I have turned to glance at my fiance, both of us exchange loving smiles at one another to tell that I would always be there for her no matter what.

We both head downstairs and see a few of our friends sitting at the couch, staring probably at the television. By the sound of the people talking on the television, it's pretty clear that Rarity, Fluttershy and Moondancer are watching the news of what is going on in the world like the events that I have read on the internet about what is happening in Europe with the most past recent attacks from the Global Persecution; a terrorist group from the Middle-East that was known for wanting to bring order through cruelty and violent messages.

"My... these news are quite sad," Rarity comments before her eyes turn to the staircase to see both myself and Twilight arriving from our beauty sleep upstairs. "Oh! Good morning!"

Fluttershy and Moondancer also turn their heads to see us, looking rather enlightened to be in their presence as always. "Good morning to you too, Rari. Did you get good sleep last night?"

"Rari?" She says to me with quite a surprise.

"It's a nickname for you. All based on how close my friendships and relationships are. You're one of my closest friends that I can trust, so I have given it to you out of the respect between both of us in our friendship. You've done a lot to help me, and I give you honor."

She looks flattered by my comment when she has smiled, and I know that it's not in a romantic way. "Thank you dear. No matter what happens, I'll always be there to help you out and I share the same honor with you for being a close friend to me as well; just as you have become much closer to our other friends."

"I appreciate that. Thank you Rari." I said to her with a trustful smile.

"Not a problem at all," She says to me. "Also, I believe that breakfast is waiting for the both of you in the kitchen. Pinkie, Rainbow, Applejack and Starlight have made for you two, and we've already ate, so we're okay."

I nod my head in understanding, knowing that Rarity didn't look or seem hungry. My left hand can feel Twilight's hoof being placed there and I allow her to hold my hand as we turn towards the kitchen and head there together.

For a few moments, I can feel the side of Twilight's head gently nuzzle against my left arm that was holding her hoof. I feel comfortable with it, even if it did last for those few moments. Even some of her soft mane I could feel when she was nuzzling, so I was quite happy and content with her at my side for the day.

"Morning you two!" Pinkie practically zips up close to our faces with a bright smile on her face. "Sleep well last night?"

"Of course Pinkie," Twilight says to her. "I hope you all had a good night's sleep as well."

"We all did!" Pinkie exclaims to us, before looking quite informative with the tip of her right front hoof to her chin. "Though I will admit that my stomach was feeling a bit rumbly, so I snuck downstairs to have a bit of a midnight snack before heading back to bed. Can't control when I get hungry anyway."

No doubt there that I was chuckling for a moment there before responding to her. "You don't have to worry. No trouble about it at all. Done that sometimes as well."

Rainbow's wings are aflap in the air as she picks up two plates for both myself and Twilight to eat at the table. "Me and the rest of the girls in here made these for you two? I know Brayden is a little different from us on eating this, but we'll just head and wait in the living room until they are done."

My eyes are taking a look at both mine and my fiance's plates. For Twilight, she was having salad leaves mixed together with fruits and nuts, along with sliced chops of banana in there. Pretty much the variety of vegetables were also in there. There wasn't really a lot in there, but it seems to be the right fit. For my plate, I am bit surprised. It's buttered toast with three overeasy eggs which was my favorite kind of breakfast. On the side, I didn't suspect it myself that it would be something meat related. Bacon strips itself.

"Ummm... thanks?" I said, feeling a little nervous that I was even having them for breakfast as I knew eating this part in the food pyramid was strictly forbidden to everypony in Equestria as consuming it would make them feel seriously ill afterwards, plus I am too sure that not even Twilight would like seeing me eat that. Probably will think I am disgusting and that it's also a bit disturbing to see me eating something that came from an animal that is normally eaten on Earth practically every day.

Rainbow looks like she's very concerned for me. "I know that since you've been living in Equestria, you're not exactly comfortable eating like this."

I take my plate and take it with me to the table, setting it down as Twilight uses her magic to take hers. "I-I'm not so sure that I can eat this in front of Twilight," I commented as Twi's plate lands on the opposite side of the table. "I mean, I know Princess Luna has informed you all about my species being all omnivores, but I'm just afraid..."

"There isn't anything to be afraid of though. Why would you say that?"

"But there is something to be afraid of. Me eating meat, you all being disgusted with my food choices."

Rainbow places her cyan hoof on top of my right hand and I turn to see those rose colored eyes looking back at me, still concerned about how I was feeling about this. "You shouldn't have to fear. Twilight might be able to tolerate it, but it's with the rest of us... we may be a bit slight uncomfortable with you eating it because it's meat. By now, since you've been living with us; we all notice how much weight you have lost since you have taken up to eating Equestria's greens. However, judging by the books that spilled over in the basement during the set-up of our beds... I noticed that humans need meat to stay alive."

"Yes, it is true. The human body is still capable to survive without them. But the body will potentially get weaker without the support of meats in the next couple of years. Some here on Earth, don't eat meat because it's all about consuming animals and refer to themselves as vegetarians, or 'vegans' in short terms."

"Well, if you think about it... I suppose we all do live in an environment in which all of us are vegans as you suggest." Pinkie says to me.

"No offense to any of you."

The pink earth pony begins to giggle. "Oh silly! I'm not offended, and neither would your fiance or other best friends. We can't even eat them any way as it would make us sick; plus even the animal consuming is quite true about us."

"I hope you can handle the thought of it Princess Twilight," Starlight commented. "I don't think I'd be comfortable with him eating meat either."

"No worries about it Starlight. I'm just curious if this kind of 'dining' on meat is common with humans here on Earth." My fiance responds to her student, a friendly smile on her soft lips.

"It is quite common actually, as there are various kinds of meat like bacon, pork chops, beef, chicken, and even I think fish are-"

Pinkie zips right up closer to me and covers my mouth to silence me from telling anything else in relation to meat. "Okay Brayden," She tells me sounding a little nervous and on-edge even with the bacon on my plate still fresh off from the stove top. "I think all of us get it by now. Why don't you have your breakfast now and we'll be in the living room watching the television with Rarity, Fluttershy and Moondancer?"

She uncovers my mouth after having told me these things. "Uhhh, sure then Pinkie!" I exclaim; a bit shocked with a bit of a sheepish tone when I spoke.

A gleeful smile appears on her face with those cyan eyes giving off that she was delighted that I would understand why they'd seem a bit on edge about me being a human that is known as both a herb and meat eater. She, Rainbow and Starlight turn and make their way out of the kitchen, leaving both me and Twilight there at the table to allow us to get to breakfast.

Twilight has already taken a seat at the table, opposite side of the table across from me. I shift a bit to the side and begin sitting down in the chair across from her where my breakfast awaits. She uses her magic to take the food on her plate; starting with the chopped banana slices.

I look down at my plate, using my right hand's index finger and thumb to take ahold of the first bacon strip that I have laid eyes on the white circled ceramic. Feels a little bit stretchy which is something that is normally the outcome when taken off from the frying pan. The taste buds kick into effect as soon as I have chewed a piece of it off into my mouth.

The taste itself feels quite salty and savory, while I can taste the crunchy bits at the end of that strip. God damn... I really did miss these foods here, and now it's finally back there for me to have, even if it is only one time.

Yeah, I can tell that the most important meal of the day is going to take a bit of time.

---

Well, I can pretty much tell by now that I had savour the most I could from the bacon strips by the time I was already finished with them, because all of them over the course of breakfast were already wrapped up and done all by me. All of the other food on my plate were also done so I'm good now and my stomach feels quite satisfied.

Twilight takes the last bite of the salad leaf remaining on her plate, pretty much leaving her plate empty but with a few little messes that were nothing to worry about for me. She doesn't look hungry anymore after having swallowed it, and has a smile on her face.

"It was a very good breakfast our friends made for us." She says to me.

I nod at her with a smile that agrees with her. "No doubt about that, though I wasn't really expecting bacon to be on my plate..." And to be honest, as much as I enjoyed eating them again; I felt also a bit slight uncomfortable eating meat in front of my fiance. But thank goodness that neither Flutters or Rari saw me eating that... I mean, they would be disgusted and wouldn't like that.

"You shouldn't have to worry about me being disgusted with you," Twilight says to me, getting up and out of the chair and trotting over towards me. "You know me. I'm always wanting to know and research on practically everything as a hobby, just like studying was when I was Celestia's student."

"And now you're a princess." I manage to pull off a small smile after the mention of bacon dropped it downward.

Her soft, gentle left front hoof gently takes and holds my right hand as her violet eyes gaze at mine. "And I promise you that I will be fine with you if you are consuming meat. I mean, our friends might not like it; but this kind of allows me to continue my research on how the human body works when I am studying these kinds on Earth in our visit."

"What information have you got so far on mankind?"

She gets out her scrolls that she had brought along for the trip. "Practically since our trip into your town to monitor the activities and culture of humanity. Quite interesting history as well since your laptop has information of the world's past and present with politics, religions and all kinds of science that are advanced beyond my knowledge. Since I, and we both have a love for science and technology; I feel that this could benefit for Equestria and make us stronger."

"Very true, but we also have to be careful. Most in Equestria are still not ready to move forward as of yet. I do agree, but it comes to putting this forward, it should be slow timing and introduce the essentials one at a time."

She lets go of my hand and places the tip of that same hoof onto her chin. "Hmmmm... you do make a bit of a good point there. Introducing the personal computer to Equestria is a tad too early. Much more wiser to introduce the early tech, since a lot of ours are similar. With the knowledge I've gained, it should be able to boost the economy of Equestria at the same time."

"I'm sure my mother would love those ideas you gathered." I said to her, gently moving my right hand forward and placing it onto her left cheek to caress it slowly.

She has another adorable blush on her face when my hand touched her cheek. Her eyes close and she shifts her head to gently nuzzle my hand. The fuzziness is only a tiny bit ticklish, but it reminds me very much of the soft blanket on a winter's night that felt warm.

I remove my hand off from her cheek and I can hear her exhale a happy-sounding sigh from her mouth before she asked me a question. "I really appreciate how well our visit is going, but I just have a bit of a question since both I and yourself are going to visit Alex at your old high school. How will I not be seen in the public eye?"

"That's quite easy," I responded to her question. "You could be wearing a cloak that can be any color. No one in this world should be able to recognize the shape or form of a pony under the hood, nor would they seem to care about what is being worn."

Pinkie pops up between both myself and her. "Somepony say cloaks?!" She asked excitedly. "Well, lucky for you and Twilight, I have an extra cloak in case of cloak emergencies." With her random appearance, she also held onto a cloak colored in light brown.

"Well... thank you Pinkie." Twilight responds her sounding a little bit awkward, yet predictable that something like that would happen. I will agree, that is one of the biggest helping hooves since it's possible that Pinkie Pie knows just about everything especially when she has Pinkie Sense that was born with her.

"No problem Twilight! It's you and Brayden's special day out on Earth, so I want to make sure that you are safe, just like Brayden and every single of your friends as well!"

I turn to my friend. "Since our engagement, I've vowed to always protect her from harm no matter the cost. But speaking of you and our other friends, I am aware of them watching television but do you know what kind it is?"

"It's the news that we're watching," Pinkie tells me before starting a explain about what she must have seen according to the Earth and it's current events. "People going on about what is happening around the world like the economy over in this country and how the current government is doing an okay job running the place. Kind of boring to listen to if you ask me. I might go on ahead and flip to another channel or begin watching another movie."

"Sounds good, I plan on taking a ride on the cycle to the school anyway to visit Alex."

"He sounds really nice by the looks of it," Pinkie says to me before getting excited herself when it comes to Welcome to Equestria or Ponyville parties. "But I can't wait to see the look on his face when we invite him to come with us to Equestria and stay there with us so I can throw him so many parties!"

I chuckle for a few moments as Pinkie knows how to make me smile. "Well, Celestia has also given me the task to find a few humans to bring back to Equestria out of the curiosity for it since-"

"Since she heard all about the bronies." Pinkie interrupted me to finish the same statement that I was going to make. "Of course all of us know about the bronies Brayden! You come from Earth after all, so I pretty much gave it away when I ended up telling the truth about you since the days long ago when you arrived in Equestria."

Well, I am thankful she is unaware of my bloodline and how I am by far the son of Celestia. Quite a relief that she doesn't know... yet... but I will wait on telling her for now unless my mother spoke the truth to her subjects.

"Of course," I said to her. "Me and Twilight should get going though. We don't want to keep Alex waiting for us, as like me... he expects me to be on time."

She nods her head in understanding. "Of course, I mean... by the looks of others when late, they can turn into grumpsters when they see their guests arrive late. But me, I would never get angry at you or my friends if you turn up late. If busy, I completely understand and will remember to throw you a surprise party to make up for it."

"You always know how to put on a great party after all." I said to her, offering my close friend a friendly hug.

Pinkie giggles and accepts, trotting forward a few steps and wrapping the both of her front hooves around my back as my hands move gently around her neck to share the hug with her. The hug lasts for a few moments, but I can tell that my best friend was delighted to have given me one by the time we have let go of our hug after the few moments have passed.

"Watch the cottage for us Pinkie, and do not let anypony inside unless it's me." I inform her, turning around as Twilight begins to trot alongside me, putting the cloak on her and allowing her to stay hidden from the eyes of other humans that wouldn't be as kind to let her wander the Earth but with wanting to know how an alicorn actually exists in theirs when she doesn't.

"Okie-dokie!" Pinkie says with a bit of a salute with her right front hoof to her head before trotting off back towards the couch to continue watching television.

Both Twilight and myself begin moving out of the kitchen and across the living room towards the front door. I do recall Rarity looking a little annoyed when both me and her crossed through her view of the television that was covering a news report over in Paris, France about a fashion event that had been covered over the long past weekend.

While I do admit that I thought of bringing my friends with me to visit the countries of Europe, the people there might get a little panicked to see talking ponies before them, as society had become quite fearful there since the threats that the Global Persecution had been making towards them. I'm so sure that Rarity would love to visit Paris as would Coco Pommel if she was with us for the trip. I do feel bad that Coco couldn't come, as she was really busy working on both costume designing and for the suburb community of Manehattan.

"Where are you two going?" Moondancer looks a bit curious as she takes her eyes off of her notes and turns her head to see us at the front door.

I glance back at her. "I want Twilight to see my old high school. Sorry you guys didn't have the chance for this one, but Pinkie will be keeping an eye out for you all. We'll be back soon."

"Alright. Make sure you two are both back safe and sound." She asked of us with a friendly smile, getting back to her notes that could very well contribute with Twilight's to be a big help for giving the word of humanity to Equestria with the information used to expand their minds.

"Will do, Moondancer." I said to her with a returning smile to her and turning to the door, placing my hand and giving it a twist to open up.

The smell of the Earth's end-of-summer air fills into my lungs by the time that I have stepped out into the outdoors on this cloudy day. Judging by the forecast I saw on the television for locally here; it is supposed to be raining for the afternoon and then the expectation of thunderstorms for a few days is very high so this will be a wet few days here. Wouldn't have to worry though as we should be gone in the next two days.

Such a pity it had to rain. Rarity really wanted to spend some time on the beach, basking in the sun's light.

I can hear Twilight's hooves trotting on the wooden deck and stepping down off of the steps beside me. I can see my motorcycle still sitting there by the side of the garage, still waiting and not having been used for a very long time. Still, here's to hoping that it still worked by any means necessary.

We make it halfway across to the garage when Twilight stops trotting and stands there on all four hooves with a patient smile under the cloak Pinkie gave to her, watching as I continue forward towards my cycle. I take the left handle, pulling it forward to give it a bit of a lift. The weight feels heavy as it usually was; but nevertheless it's not too rustic but at least should get us somewhere if the engine doesn't sputter out.

The motorcycle's wheels slowly turn as the push forward to the trail. I remember it being a little more lighter to push when I still was living here... but having not used them for a long time has pretty much taken a toll on the heavy lifting part of it. Nevertheless, it wasn't too bad when carrying it over onto the dirt.

Asserting it into place, I hop up onto the seat, leaning forward a bit as I can see the cycle keys dangling from the ignition lock. My right hand reaches forward and grips onto the silver key, giving it a twist and begin kickstarting it back to life.

There are a few sputters in the engine at first, but eventually with a hiccup or two the engine starts up and the motorcycle is started. Good... if this engine didn't start immediately I feel like this for transportation would have been quite useless. But still, I think the engine could last a few months by estimate of the engine's noise until it dies out completely.

Twilight trots forward towards me, and I offer to help her up onto the motorcycle with my left hand reaching out to her. I don't think she would ever refuse as she took my hand with her wings sticking out of the cloak to help her up behind me, lying forward and putting her hooves around me so she doesn't fall off the bike.

My head turns with my brown eyes taking a moment to glace at her adorkable face under the cloak she wore. A smile is worn by her on those lips of hers as she moves forward, settling herself in as I know this cycle does goes pretty fast, but not as fast as the old one I had before it had fallen into the lake. Even she knows that safety comes first after all.

I grip onto the handles while the engine is sputtering more. As usual, checking the gas level... tank's half. Should be enough to last only a few trips into town and back to the cottage. With Twilight holding onto me and hiding from the public eye should we enter that territory under the cloak; my hands pulls back on the handle which bring the cycle forward and away from the cottage towards the driveway.

The stormclouds were still afar and moving rather moderately, but we should be fine for now as the sun at the end of its summer equinox here is beaming down on all of us. The back of Twilight's cloak is riding in the wind, and all seems fair and well as my cycle begins to take the way down the trail and transition onto the road.

[Play My Chemical Romance - Summertime]

I had studied the roads so I knew that instead of the direction that I had gone last time to get to the old cinema alleyway, I had to keep going straight ahead to get to the connecting road off from this one that I travel on.

Twilight is still holding onto me as I can feel her hooves around me, and I'm pretty sure that she is also trying to keep a good grip on the cloak as the back of it is flapping in the breeze. Hmm... now that I think about it, I could be acting a bit cautious about that since I thought it would reveal her to all of the eyes of humanity. There aren't too many cars on the road, so the chance of that happening is a possible bare minimum.

The way that I am seeing this kind of day, on the beaches of the town there isn't any beachgoers or tanners to warm up under the sun before there is only joggers running across the sands. The teenagers and kids are in school so I figure that is the case. Summer's over and being that school has started possibly a couple of days ago they probably are a bit grumbly about having to have homework again and be in classes on time with a wake-up and sleep schedule. Shouldn't be too bad though as they have friends there to talk with, so it shouldn't be boring for them.

A truck comes driving by, as I can turn my head quickly to see the driver in there who looks quite relaxed knowing that he's either making a delivery here to this town or just passing along into the next one over. Have to keep my eyes on the road as I don't want to lose focus on what I was doing in road travels.

The turn towards the passage of streets could be seen breaking away in two that would bring the other vehicles straight towards the highway, but this direction I was going in was onto the separation that brought me back onto the named streets until I am stopped at a red light behind another van.

The wait is mostly for a few moments but I am quite patient when it comes to these lights. The light shines green and I begin moving once again, making to a hard turn to the right as the high school was just a couple of blocks down from here. I want to check and see if Twilight is doing okay holding onto me, but I have to keep my eyes on the road because the last thing I want is for the both of us to end up getting killed in an accident. Plus with that, it could risk exposure for the girls and have them taken away for science without me there to protect them.

A few of the elderly are taking a slow walk down the streets, enjoying the final days of summer and getting ready to embrace for the autumn to come on Earth. A few cars pass in the streets, but only a few have taken a turn to head past us down the road on the opposite side of the street behind us.

The drive felt rather quick considering that I had been riding at such a high speed. Surprised that no one had told the coppers about that... oh yeah, I forgot about the majority of people in this town. Most of them don't really give a shit anymore while the authorities are possibly looking into the crimes around town caused by Khaln and his men who I am surprised do not know that I am still alive under their noses.

Brick walls were what I had expected with moderate sized windows and those double doors at the front of the high school when my vision of the pine trees went past me, revealing the building to both Twilight and myself. I don't think I could hear her over the sound of my motorcycle's engine, but when I park the motorcycle then she can tell me what she needs to say unless she was silent the entire time.

I turn left onto the parking lot and can see Alex standing there at the other motorcycles, leaning back against the iron that most riders to school would use to tie their cycles to it when they were going to attend class and school. From the distant, I can tell that it's him based on the short sleeved shirt that he is wearing that represented himself as a gamer since I remember that he was obsessed with Minecraft.

"Took you a good amount of time to get here." He states to both me and Twi as soon as I have stopped the cycle and turned off the sputtering engine.

My hands grip onto the cycle, giving it a push to the iron and tying it up. "Sorry about that Alex, me and Twilight had to have breakfast before we got here. After all, they always say breakfast is the most important meal of the day."

"That's okay, besides you've arrived during the second period for all of the students here in. Andrea is in the cafeteria right about now for lunch this period, and Ann from what I know is in her Chemistry class. We should be able to catch up with her in the transition to lunch break and be able to talk with her." He informs me, putting a smirk on his face as he was aware of me dating Ann when I was in high school with her.

"Is she busy usually on lunch break?" Twilight asked.

"Well, she goes to the cafeteria to get her lunch, eats there for half an hour with her friends and then goes off for the last half hour to attend the club she is in."

"Club?" I wonder to myself out loud.

"I could say that it is a book club myself that she attends."

Twilight must look really excited herself as soon as the word 'book' was mentioned by Alex. My head turns and my brown eyes could see her gleeful and delighted face with the iris' in her eyes grown a bit. "Books?! Your friend Ann likes books?!" She asked me, sound rather both entrigued and desperate with that happy tone in her voice to get an answer out of him.

Alex looks a little awkward, especially when she moves up closer to him determined on knowing practically everything about this book club that Alex mentioned that Ann goes to every lunch time. "Uhh... that's what I said." He says with a tone of how he looked when Twilight was like that now that the mention of her favorite things triggered her excitement. "I don't really see what is so special about-"

Twilight places her left front hoof onto her cheek and cannot remove that smile off her face. "A book club in school?! This is... WONDERFUL!" She exclaims a bit until a few humans begin to come into the area. She turns for a moment to see their awkward looks on her, though she is hidden underneath the cloak. She giggles for a moment, looking back at Alex. "Sorry. Books have always been a favorite hobby for me."

"I can clearly see that." Alex says, giving a look that pretty much said 'you don't say' to her.

"Me and her back in Equestria would often read together on some of our dates," I speak to him. "She's introduced me to some very good book series back in Equestria, like the Daring Do series that Dash insisted I get into as well. When we have to leave to go back to Equestria, I'll be bringing my books back with me to share with her."

"Come, let us walk and talk. I'm sure Andrea will be happy to see that you are still here among us." He says to me, turning around to the direction the doors were at the front of the school. "I know it's been a while but in case you forgot the cafeteria doors are right when you set foot into the high school. First thing you-"

"Alex, I believe I know where it is. I haven't forgotten." I said to him with a slight interruption and placing a trustful smirk on my face.

He nods his head and raises the both of his open hands. "Alright then. Just making sure."

I open up a bit of space between me and Alex as Twilight, hidden in the black cloak slips in and trots alongside with Alex on her left and myself on her right. A few students from the school are on their cell phones as per usual, texting away to their friends that were in class and sharing certain topics of homework and stuff that went on with their daily lives back outside and at their homes or with their friendships.

We continue towards the closed double windowed doors, as I can hear the sound of Twilight's magic igniting again, the aura of her magic covering the two doors to give us entrance. My feet walk out from the outdoors and into the building where that recognizable smell was there for my nostrils to sniff... nostalgia.

I remember coming here to this school on the early mornings with Alex or Ann after having spent some time with them overnight at their places for sleepovers or walking with them from their homes in the neighborhood they lived in. Both Alex' parents and Ann's were really nice to me when I was first introduced to them. Ann's parents were always so generous to me whenever I was over with Ann to hang out with her or before stepping out with her on dates; as they'd always be offering to have me stay over for dinner.

Sadly, I still wish I still took consideration to their offers... but I was nervous at that time in my life, so I admit I do feel a little bit of regret for not doing that.

Those doors to the cafeteria were right in front of us, and even I knew that it wasn't just that but also the auditorium as well where plays and special announcements would be done by the principal, vice principal or any of the staff working there that arranged the event for the students. And even then, Twilight's magic works it's way into making them open up to allow entry inside.

There are a few students in there, as they have lunch for the second period here. At the tables they are sitting where they are eating their lunch on their tray, having a conversation with others on how their project is doing and what they can do to improve it further before the due date, or being on their gaming laptops and playing video games like Mass Effect or any of the Elder Scrolls games.

Hey, that kid's playing Fallout 4! Love the improved graphics on that!

No... shouldn't be too distracted by the new stuff that was going on in the school. I recognize that distant face sitting alone and eating from a styrofoam bowl of french fries. Her hair is the color of a natural brown and she is wearing a short-sleeved shirt in the color of green that promotes world peace for the text on the front which was something that I always wanted when I still lived here. She also has a ring of silver with tiny bits of diamond reflecting from them, and also has shorts with a mixture of pink and yellow and a natural brown tone to the sandals on her feet.

It's Andrea, and she was busy with her lunch. But at the same time, she was on her phone as it was twisted sideways as if watching something. Most likely the show, because when I was still in high school with her me and her would sit out in the hall during lunch period and watch the show together. Just like Alex, I know that Andrea picked Rainbow Dash as her favorite character as she thought she was really cool.

A funny thought came in that when I found out Andrea was a pegasister, she thought that Rainbow Dash was a male. Practically still remember telling her that if Rainbow was a stallion, her snout would be completely different. She realized it after a few moments, and thus began when we were watching episodes of the show.

Now that I think of it, no one has noticed the wings on my back yet. Probably they think I'm just a cosplayer in action everywhere. God forbid I actually fly, as the high schoolers here could make anything trend and that could put me in big trouble here. Better to keep them closed for now.

Only a good distance towards Andrea is made, only to find myself halting to a stop at the cafeteria table next to the table where she was sitting. Twilight also stops moving as well, and is standing there with me. I can feel her soft hoof touch my left hand, giving it gentle rubs. I glance back at Twilight, seeing the happy smile on her face to let me know that everything was going to be okay which is something I hope now that I am seeing a friend I haven't talked to in a long time.

I watch as Alex approaches her, turning her head around to say hello to him. I can't really hear what they are saying to him, but I am assuming that it's about the day and their classes and how they went until Alex leans in a little closer towards her as if whispering something to her.

The emotions on her face I could see was her listening at first to what Alex was saying, thne turning to look at bit curious. She turns her head my way to see me standing there next to Twilight and I am waiting for that surprised response on her face as I recall that she is really friendly to get along with others.

Can't say that I am... she looks both surprised with a large smile on her face with part of her lips separated to reveal a bit of an open mouth in that shock.

"Brayden?!" She calls out to me, unable to sound different from being shocked by my appearance.

I nod my head to her with a greetful smile on my face. It is good to see the same her after all these two years that have passed. Though she has changed a bit by hair color, she's still the same person I knew when I first met Rebecca in the tenth grade. I always remembered her hair being a pale blonde color, but much shorter last time I talked with her. I'm pretty sure that Ann still has her brown shoulder length hair last time I remember... but that'll have to wait for now.

She literally got up from her seat at the table, racing towards me with a look of joy on her face that even I admit did catch me off-guard. I can feel her arms move around me as she seems excited, as I know she is giving me a hug for the first time in two years.

Even when that was the case, she is squeezing me a little too hard. "Too- Too much- squeeze, Andrea!" I am struggling to get out, nearly yelping in pain when both of her hands are gripping onto my wings with good strength. I can tell she's exercised quite well.

"Sorry! It's just good to see you again!" She says to me, finally letting go of me and her natural green eyes just staring back at me. "How have you been?"

"I've been doing really good Andrea, keeping up with your classes to date?"

She nods in agreement with what I had said. "Absolutely. For my last year in high school, my grades for both English and Math have made a big increase, so I'm not being fearful about failing my courses." She tells me. "But... seeing you alive and well, it's unexpected."

"Unexpected? I thought I was going to die, but when Alex told me about the television incidents I was thinking that you might have caught them on television."

"Yes, that is true that I know about it. It's the wings on your back though! How did you even get them?" She asked me, looking at my wings behind me as I keep them close, and the mention of them sounded hushed as she didn't want to look crazy in front of the students in here.

I turn for a moment to show my feather diamond blue wings to her. "They're neat. I got them in Equestria, and it was for taking care of that corruption that had seeped into my anger on the inside thanks to the help of Luna, Nightmare and Starlight."

"To be honest though, I'm not really sure how in Equestria he managed to get them by the magic he has within." Twilight comments which caught her off guard.

Andrea is speechless when she turns to look at Twilight who is still cloaked. "Is... Is that who I think it is?!" She says, almost speechless to say.

To do the honors for my fiance, I step to the side and slowly move the hood on her cloak to reveal a bit of Twilight's face to her in the flesh. Needless to say, Andrea still holds that silent, speechless look on her face when she recognizes the mulberry tone to her coat and the violet eyes of hers. "Andrea, I'd like you to meet Twilight. I'm sure you know her too well from the show." I said to her, my left hand pointing her out in introduction.

My fiance blinks for a moment, smiling at her with a nod. "You- You're real!" Andrea nearly exclaims loudly.

I shush at her in a calm way as she sounds like she was already trying to give everyone's attention about the situation. "Please keep it down, last thing I'd want is to cause a huge scene that put both her and our friends in great danger."

"Oh... sorry." She lets down a bit, the volume of her voice sounding much normal. A nervous chuckle came from her lips with an awkward look. "Guess I don't really know when to keep quiet on certain things. But with all due seriousness, how is she real as I am seeing now?!"

"You pretty much know that the bronies went on about it for a while." I said to her, just in case she did forget.

She pauses for a moment, and then the moment of realization shows on her face. Practically almost the same reaction I had when I found out that I actually was being shown on the television when the episode first aired, except the difference is she is more surprised. Twilight nods her head to confirm this to her.

"I... I remember that now. It has been a while since that happened." She tells me.

"It was a long story as to how I managed to get into Equestria... you wouldn't believe me though if I told you." I commented, showing only a small bit of doubt.

"Why don't you tell me?" She says to me, sounding a bit curious. "Both me and Alex are your friends, we'll understand what happened."

Alex steps to the side by her. "Actually he did tell me a bit of it." He nearly whispers into her ear, but at a volume for me to hear.

"It all started the night that you heard of my supposed death. I was being chased down by the criminal gangster Khaln and his men over a debt that I owed to them, and a resistance I made towards Khaln had them become hostile and attack me... I almost escaped, but was unable to. The sounds of the underwater, he and his men above the cliff as I was getting impaled by the rocks... those are a few of the memories I recall before blacking out. Death's embrace nearly fell upon me, but there's a recognizable voice I heard."

"A voice?" Twilight asked me.

"Yes," I said to her, turning for a moment to look at her; continuing to explain to Andrea about what happened after telling my fiance my answer. "Next thing I know, I wake up in what would be my bedroom at Flutters' cottage. I thought that I was already dead before I set realization onto myself that I actually was there. Even thought that I was in the hospital getting my lungs pumped out and being brought back to life. Since then, I've made many best and close friends in Equestria and I am soon set to be married to my fiance who is standing right next to me."

"I kind of figured from the footage the bronies put on, including the recent Trixie episode you were in. Episode went longer than usual."

"So I've heard. What matters most is that I am truely alive and well." I said to her.

"Ann is going to be so happy to see you when she's all finished in her class!" She says, rather happy for me as I recall that she was aware that me and Ann were dating in high school.

"I'm counting on that," I said to her with a smile. "The look on her face... I would expect anything perfect, but I know she'll be thrilled."

My ears pick up the sound of a vibration coming from someone's pocket, and I know it's not from my own but from Andrea's. She reaches into her pocket and takes out her phone to check to see if someone was texting her or trying to call her. It doesn't continue to vibrate as the sound of it was rather quick than holding there for a second, so I am pretty sure she got a text.

"Just a text from one of my friends," She tells me, looking down at her phone and letting her index finger tap onto the singular words on the screen to type out her response to them. "She wants me to go and meet her by the gymnasium. Girlish stuff, I know."

"That's understandable." I said to her, knowing she probably had to go on her way.

She only looks a bit disappointed, but most likely with herself that she couldn't have enough time to talk with me. "Sorry I can't really talk with you as longer as I thought I wanted to. It was unexpected." She tells me.

"Andrea, you don't have to apologize. If you have to go, by all means you can do so. If you want to see me, I'll be at my cottage." I smile at her as I said that.

"Well, I guess I'll see you around there then." She says to me with a smirk, putting her phone back into her pocket.

I nod to her, offering another friendly hug to her. "It's quite a pleasure to see you. Thank god that I am alive to see one of my best friends in the flesh."

She moves forward, putting the both of her arms around me. My arms are also motioning, with my hands gently placed onto her back where she put hers to share that hug with me. The hug lasts for a few moments, but we eventually let go and smile at one another in the way of a friendly trust in one another, as I have shown with everyone and everypony else who is by all means a friend to me.

Alex approaches as Twilight places her hoof onto my left hand again, giving it gentle rubs. Guess that's two out of three for the close friends to see me again. Third I'm pretty sure is coming up for Ann, though me and her were both closer in our relationship. Being that the time schedules here most likely different, she won't be in the same rooms that I'd usually see her coming out from or when I was in class with her. Hmmmm... will have to ask Alex. I'm sure he knows where she could be.

"Alex, we've got to see where Ann is before the lunch break begins for her. I know you told me that she is taking Chemistry at this school period, but where would it be?" I sound rather patient and calm in the tone of my voice when I asked him that question.

He turns for a moment to the side, still speaking with me. "Well, I've found time to walk with Ann to her Chemistry class while I am on lunch break this period. Been skipping classes though for the past few days, teachers have become assholes this year."

Twilight made an audible gasp when she heard Alex swearing, and even I had a bit of a stern, yet harsh look on my face that was trying to tell him to tone it down; especially in front of her as she comes from another world where this kind of language is absolutely forbidden from being spoken at all times, no matter how mild or strong it is.

"Oh... sorry." He quickly apologizes, not realizing that it's pretty strict in Equestria.

A smile appears on Twilight's face again. "That's okay, I don't like swearing myself. Brayden's only swore a few times, but I will forgive him with no trouble as I know he has respected the laws of Equestria. None of Equestria even likes it either. If one of us there are to starting saying cuss words like that; it could mean trouble for that individual or those involved." She tells him.

"What kind of trouble?" Alex sounds curious by what she meant by that.

"Probably means time out in the ball pit." I joked, laughing a bit.

Twilight exhales an annoyed sigh in a good way. "Brayden..." She groans, knowing that I love to crack a good one every once in a while. Clearly, she has noted my sarcasm.

"No worries Twi, it's all fun and jokes as it was when I was back here with Alex." I said to her, taking her hoof that was rubbing my hand, holding it.

She giggles this time, and I turn back to look at Alex as I still want to know exactly where Ann could be in regards to her classes. He still is surprised himself as no one has noticed who I really was yet, nor Twilight being seen from under the cloak.

"Well, the punishments that they usually give them is like time out. If a young filly was to swear though, time out in their room to think about what they did; and from what I've witnessed it's not easy for them once they're in trouble. For grownups... me for example, I don't use those words at all. I find them to be over-the-top and very... rude. That's all." She explains to him as even I am trying my best to ask him my question. I did open my mouth to speak, but I guess sometimes I will let my fiance speak first.

"I... see." Alex responds to her, after having listened to her.

"Well anyways Alex," I manage to snatch that good opportunity to ask him the question I was meant to ask him. "Would you know where her current class is?"

"Sure I do," He says, signalling both me and Twilight with a swift movement of his head to notify us to follow him. "Just follow me. I'll get you to a good distance so you can surprise her."

Twilight and I make no hesitation, and we begin following right behind him as he guides us to the cafeteria's eastern doors. To make good cause, I walk faster past Twilight and Alex to open the doors for them to go through. They seem rather happy with my offer, nodding their heads in a friendly approval when they walk past me into the hallway. I close the doors behind me, and I make my way to the left, where the both of them were going.

We were heading to the school's stairwell, as I suspect that the class she is in would be on one of the three different floors for that section of the building. Twilight's magic covers the doors, but was quick as she didn't want any one in the area to catch a glimpse of it. She had to make sure no one was looking, so I guess she took heed of my advice as I don't want her taken away or getting hurt.

My brown eyes turn to look at her as we were about to climb those stairs. "Would you like me to carry you up there Twilight? It should give your hooves a bit of a rest until we get to the floor that Ann's having classes on." I offer to her.

"I'm feeling fine Brayden," She says to me, declining my offer but putting her hoof onto my hand in case she accidentally hurt my feelings which she hasn't. "But you can do that when we are taking a walk by the beach at sunset."

I nod my head in understanding, as her hooves set up the first two steps and then looking back at me when I talk with her again. "Understandable. I'm sure that Rarity will want to join us. She's been wanting to do that as well. Going on about how she wants her mane and coat to embrace the winds of Earth and to have it immortalized."

She giggles again. "I'm open to that. She's a very good and respectful friend to the both of us."

"Come on you two, her class is on the second floor right up here!" Alex calls out to us.

We continue to make our way to the top of the stairs, following him right to the second floor where there is another set of stairs up to the third and final floor, but we're not really planning to go up that far. I didn't really have as much friends here in high school, so pretty much I've had to rely on Alex, Andrea, Ann and Rebecca to talk with.

"Second floor baby!" He remarks with a bit of a chuckle as we proceed forward.

I can hear Twilight whisper in my ear. "Does your friend Alex always act like that?"

"Sometimes for the humor he has, but he is very loyal and understanding." I whisper back to her.

We continue straight forward out of the stairwell and into the second floor hallway. Seems pretty quiet out here with all the classroom doors closed, as I can assume by checking from one classroom door afar that classes are going on here. No sign of students out here either, so for now I believe the coast is clear in case any of them can report anything suspicious.

Alex continues to walk forward, but then slides and hides behind a wall of lockers with his head turned to the left which would be through my sight to the right he was looking. I was rather questioned on why it would look like he would be hiding or if there was a teacher or hall monitor coming. If that was the case, we had to watch out.

No steps were heard though, except our own... but it's better for pre-cautions.

"What in the world are you-" I tried to get out to him.

He shushes me. "Quiet down. There is classes going on, and we don't need to interrupt them. Plus Ann's class is up ahead, you'll want to surprise her. So it'll be a good chance."

"What? Are we going to scare her or something?" I said to him. "You know she gets scared easily."

"No, I'm not meaning like that! I mean, try to say her name when she doesn't notice you yet. I mean, look at your hair! It's practically long enough for you to look different." He whispers back to me.

"Rarity's been pestering me to cut it short, but I really like it like this."

I can hear the sound of a door opening up, and Alex is motioning me to get up against the wall with Twilight already moving to do so. "Back up along with me, it could be Ann or a teacher!"

No haste is made, but I do what he tells me to. I hear the door close by the time my body has gone up against the wall, but I'm not really taking it as seriously as Alex usually does even if it is meant to be a bit of a joke.

My ears are listening to the sound of footsteps making its way down the hallway to the left of us, and they sound like they are getting closer. I keep my wings closed, as I don't want this to look rather suspicious if it is a teacher as she could report it as evidence for the authorities and could risk me being thrown into a science lab for experiments. Twilight behind me is staying under the cloak, but still keeping an eye out for what Ann looks like, and even myself as well if there was anything different. I'll know that when the figure coming through appears in a moment.

Ah... I think I recognize her.

This girl doesn't see us as she was looking down at the screen on her phone, possibly texting with someone. I see the facial features on her face, and can see the angel blue colored tint to her eyes and the light brown hair she has the first time from when I met her. Her attire seems to have changed the last time I met her, as she was wearing completely different clothing. She wore a shirt of a lime-green tone print to it with tour dates on the back of an artist she must have seen in concert. She also wears slim denim jeans and black high-cut converses with white shoelaces. But I knew who this was by the look on her face and how busy she looked.

It's her... Ann...

She doesn't notice me yet, as she walks by us, heading down past us towards the end of the hall, still looking at the screen. I knew I had to act fast, or I would end up missing out on having her know that I was back, alive and happy to see her again. So I take a few steps away from the wall, facing her as she is walking away.

It is where I finally spoke her name with my own tone. "Ann..."

[Play 'Jennifer' by Goblin]

She stops walking for a moment, turning around to look at me. My wings seem have opened up a little bit, but I nevertheless allow them to do that. Her blue eyes stare at my brown eyes, sharing a gaze at one another that none of us have done is quite a long time as I can recall. My god... they were more beautiful than I have ever thought.

Those hands of hers... I remember they were soft to hold onto, and I know that probably still haven't worn out from it. Her right hand that held her phone turns it off and then slips it into her back pocket.

"Brayden? You're... you're here..." She says, unable to contain words even when I have opened up my diamond blue feathered wings for her to see.

All of us were silent, none of us making any moves yet. I don't think that Twilight has even moved at all as she is watching the reunion of my heart and hers meeting once again to what she thought was me being dead. Alex however, has moved behind me by only a few steps by what my ears could pick up behind me. I didn't know how to make the first move...

Well, clearly I didn't expect Ann to make the first move as her facial expression looks too joyed beyond words on that beautiful face of hers. She moves forward slowly at first, but picks up speed as if running to me. I chuckle to myself as her speed picked up to run at me, her arms raised on approach.

I opened my arms as well, letting her jump at me to wrap her arms around me. I do the same for her as I use both my arms and wings to hold her close, spinning a bit as she was a bit strong when pouncing on me to hug. She sounds like she is happily laughing as I twirl her around happily in this moment. It was just like high school here, when I was dating her all over again. Two souls brought back together... in harmony.

"I thought you died!" She cried to me.

I was completely unaware that the tone of her voice sounded like she was on the verge of tears and being happy at the same time. But nevertheless, I stopped twirling around with her and I look straight at her eyes, seeing both Twilight and Alex in the background.

My hands give her back gentle rubs as I am gently shushing her calmly. "It's okay Ann... I'm here. I came back for you. For all of my friends here." I told her.

I wasn't really paying attention while my forehead gently connects with hers, but I believe Twilight had a look on her face underneath the cloak that looks rather suspicious as what I was doing and what this was all about with the twirling and me being this close to Ann and by my thoughts, I don't think that Ann is aware of my proposal to Twilight and that I am yet to marry her soon. But none of that is on my mind as seeing my girlfriend from here is all that matters as of right now.

My eyes closed and all was black once they were closed, and I can feel Ann place her lips onto my own to give me a loving kiss. I am unable to release from it, but instead I give in and begin to kiss Ann on the lips. How I've missed the touch of them on my own lips...

After we have shared it together, our lips separate and my eyes open again to see hers opening up too. "I have missed you too..." I said to her, gently nuzzling her cheek when she brushes her cheek past me.

There I was able to catch a glimpse of Twilight's reaction to that kiss that I was sharing with Ann... she looks rather devastated to see me kissing her, and she doesn't look like she was going to be angry with me about it after she leaves. She looks like she was really upset with this decision I made, that she didn't like.

Nevertheless, my focus was on Ann when she has finished with nuzzling cheeks with me. "Wha- What are you doing here? How are you alive?" She is questioning me.

"It's a long story Ann. Do you think you could skip book club to hear my story on how it happened?" I asked her.

She smiles at me. "Of course, I would never miss a moment with you now that you're here to see me. I'd like to know where you've gone for the last two years." I am delighted to hear her say those words.

"So, are you still in class or did they let you out early?"

A frown forms on her face when I asked her which pretty much gave me an answer there. "No, not yet. I got out of class to go to the washroom, but seeing you again has made my day better and you being back... I feel much happier in my life again."

"You need to use the washroom?" I asked, removing my arms and wings from around her. "By all means, you can go at any time. I can wait for you."

"Thank you Brayden, I'll see you when class is finished." She tells me, quickly planting another kiss on my lips when I have blinked as this one was a peck. Her soft hand gently touched the side of my face and then moves as she is going off down the hall she was going to head there.

At this point, I turn around to look at Twilight who head was hung down and looking straight at the ground while Alex looks concerned about her, even if he is a friend to her by any means. What? No... I hurt her...

"Twilight?" I said to her as I approach her. "Are... are you okay?"

I can hear her sniff for a moment, taking the hood off of her cloak she wore, those tearful eyes staring up at me. She's crying... and I'm pretty sure it had something to do with me placing my lips on my girlfriend from the past.

"You know her and love her... is this true?" She asked me, determined to get an answer out of me.

I knew that I had already hurt her emotionally when I kissed Ann, but I knew I had to be there to comfort my fiance as it pains me on the inside to see her cry. I wasn't going to lie to her either, as it would hurt her and our relationship together much worser. Should be better to be honest since it's something Applejack stuck with. "Yes... I know her. She's my old girlfriend from before I came to Equestria..." I managed to get out, sounding disappointed in myself.

She sniffs again, her eyes starting to already leak tears when I told her the honest truth. "I thought you loved and cared about me..." She says, struggling to try and not sob.

"But Twi, I really do love you, it's why I-"

I was interrupted when she drops out from the cloak that she was wearing, galloping out of there with sobs heard accompanied. Oh no... what have I done?

"Twilight!" I called out to her, my hand reaching for her as she gallops out of there through the stairwell.

All Alex can do is stand there and put a hand on my shoulder, looking at me. "Let her go for now... she'll feel better. Perhaps she's going back to the cottage."

Somehow, I don't know if this relationship will ever be fixed... and this wasn't based on the mares that I'd be dating in Equestria...

---

Twilight's POV

I kept galloping out and away from the high school, unable to turn around and look back at the situation that I have just seen. My eyes are stained with tears as my hooves are brushing through a slab of dry mud along the way towards a forest, trying to get a bit of a distance from the building as possible.

He... he loves someone from here... I thought he truely loved me... I am truely disappointed in him. I don't really know what else to think other than my heart being broken and I don't know what to exactly do with my relationship with him. With other ponies, I eventually reasoned with it... but for him to have a girlfriend back here... and I was unaware... why?

My eyes open up a bit as I can feel drops on the top of my soft mane, to dampen it a bit. The clouds have started to cover up the skies, and by the drops that I am feeling I know that at the ends of this forest I'd have to take cover until the rain settles down. The tears still sting and roll down my cheeks as I am making my way out from the grassy field and past a couple of pine trees.

Rain begins to pick up in falling from the sky and I manage to find a good place to sit down at, in order to let loose a bit of my tears. I turn around to face the open view of the forest in case anypony is looking for me, or if anything dangerous should see me as food, sitting down on my flank and continue crying to myself.

The sound of birds chirping in their nests with their young fill in the sound of the wind blowing in the distance along with the rushing of the stream picking up in water volume the more the drops fell to increase on how much was there. It seems completely normal by the looks of whenever there was this kind of weather for those here in this part of the world to deal with.

I... I don't know what to do between me and Brayden. I don't want to break up with him and tell him it's over, as I remember what the outcome was afterwards when he became indoctrinated by the Changeling queen. Plus I would end up hurting him just like he had hurt me, and I don't want to put him into a depression... I care too much about him...

I can hear footsteps coming on approach that I thought I heard from the distance, but I am unable to react to them yet as I figure that it must be Brayden trying to come and apologize to me. If that is so, he'll have to wait until I've calmed down... I just want to have my space from him for now.

Never expected this voice that I heard to be male and to have an accent that sounds close to what Applejack and her family sound like. "Well well now, what have we here? A lost little pony." The voice tells me.

I look to the sound of the voice that was to my right. There was a man standing right there, possibly in his 30s or 40s staring right down at me with one of those objects he holds in the both of his hands. What exactly is that? Is that a stick that the man is using? If so, what would it even be of use for?

"What do you want?" I said to him, sounding a little scared being that I've now been exposed to the public eye, putting myself in danger without Brayden here to protect me.

The man chuckles, and I can hear the stick he has in his hand cockle as he is motioning his right hand to do that work on it with the iron on top of it to slide it back and letting it go forward again. "I've got some need for you to help me out. You're practically the bait that I need to get revenge on someone who damaged my property years ago by the name of Brayden."

"Revenge? I don't know what you mean."

He aims the stick at me. "Why you and your friends are the one thing I need for him to be brought forward to me so I can put an end to this misery once and for all." He tells me.

"You mean you want to kill Brayden?!" I sound rather shocked before I turned angry about it. "No! I'm not going to let you bring harm to anyone or anypony! I thought humanity was much nicer than this to be this cruel!"

He pulls the trigger and I'm expecting myself to be killed, but instead I find myself getting shot in one of the front hooves by a dart. I had yelped quickly in pain when the dart had made contact with me and I don't know if this was hurting or not as I can feel my arm going numb, and my eyes growing a bit tired.

"No offense, but no species in this world is ever perfect." The young man can only say to me as I am unable to stand on my four hooves anymore, landing on the side to the wet ground and feeling like I am going to slip unconscious. He finally pulls out something from his pocket that looks almost like the phone that Brayden brought to Equestria, putting it away from his face. "Men, did you get the others secured?"

Through the phone, I can hear another voice speaking with him. "Yes Khaln, the other ponies are secured by us as you said. Powerful tranquility darts only to knock them out. Your note to Brayden has also been planted, so he should be coming to us as soon as he finds out that they're gone to. We were unable to get the sword, as there was some sort of barrier over it when one of us tried to take it."

"Good. I just got his prized possession here," He says to the phone again as I start to close my eyes. "I'll bring this one back to the base and put her with her other friends. Once he arrives, we'll give him a proper execution and then send all of these ponies off to the laboratories owned by the big guys."

No... this man... can't do... this...

---

Brayden's POV

The Cottage

Hours Later...

My motorcycle is riding up the wet path of mud back towards the cottage, only repelling a bit of water in the mud off into the dead grass on the sides before the fence. Judging by the look of the rain, it doesn't look like it's going to be good for the next few days here on this part of the county.

I feel deep regret inside for having Twilight see that I still loved Ann even when I have missed her, and I honestly wish I could apologize to her right now and hopefully have her forgive the mistake that I made. But knowing her friends, they'll probably try to tell me that she just wants to be left alone for a while and that she'll talk with me again once she has calmed down. Even when I feel this upset about it, my closest friend Fluttershy is there for me.

Alex rides behind me in his motorcycle as he has decided to tag along to cheer me up, and see how everypony else is doing in the group for our visit. There is a few lights on in the cottage house from the distance, but I am quite close enough to the garage by the time that we were all close.

My day with both Ann and Alex were quite okay, as I did seem to be a bit upset when Ann saw that being unaware of what happened between me and Twilight. She was there to comfort me, and I really love how she was gently stroking my wings with her fingers which almost felt like they were tickling, so I was doing my darnest to not laugh my ass off from that. Nevertheless, it felt like the old days with her when we'd sit next to each other in class, holding each other's hands and spending time together. I was only able to talk with her until her fourth period class began. I walk her to her History class, and I said goodbye to her and letting her know she should come and visit me at the cottage here.

"You alright bro?" Alex says, stopping his cycle in the rain and putting it in shelter under the garage's roof.

I exhale a bit of a sigh. "Alex, I'm fine. I just feel only a little disappointed in myself for making that decision to kiss Ann in front of Twilight."

"I'm just making sure, because I know you always had a thing for Twilight." Alex says, trying to crack a joke and probably bring up the waifu joke again.

"Yeah, well you've always thought Rainbow Dash was sexy." I remark with a chuckle back at him.

An awkward look on his face comes up. "She still is. Totally not my fault that's she is good that way on what she does." I can hear him as I use my wings to lift off from my cycle and bring it over to the side of the garage.

Clearly I do not want my bare feet stepping in mud and then treading into the cottage especially when Rarity had cleaned it up. She'd lose her mind at me and possibly faint at the mess my legs are in, possibly telling me to go for a shower to wash off. Better to have me flying above, as I head over towards the front deck, letting my feet set onto the dry covered wooden planks.

Alex runs in from the rain, having almost looked nearly drenched by the rain and the mud undernath his feet. "Goddamn Brayden... I'm jealous that you even have wings to begin with." He mutters.

I chuckle to myself. "Well hey, at least I'll be getting a shower in the rain though." I said to him as the rain was pouring from my head and dripping onto the wooden floor.

I give my head and body a bit of a shake to get the droplets of rain off from me, as even the shirt and shorts I am wearing does still feel a bit damp itself. Wings also shake themselves, as there was water from the rain dripping down onto the porch as well. My wings look a bit poofy from shaking them when wet, they should lose that soon enough.

"Is it me, or is that part of the front door supposed to be cracked open?" I can hear Alex commenting, turning to look at a part of the window for the front door that has been cracked open.

Matter of fact, it does look like it has been broken into... as I remember that Rarity had that clean yesterday with Fluttershy. I approach the door slowly at first, but a thought of panic rushed through me what I thought I knew this meant to be.

Broken glass... the house has been broken into.

"Oh shit!" I was quick to say before heading straight to the door and gripping onto the handle of the door quickly, looking to see what had happened before my own eyes.

The furniture around the place looks like they have broken apart and there are scratches and dirt footsteps from boots that were treaded all over the place, leading around the living room, kitchen and upstairs. There is no sight of Fluttershy, Moondancer, Starlight... none of them are here.

My heart is racing. I am already in fear that the scientists must have found out where exactly they were hiding and had them taken away. But the worst part is the footprints being traced upstairs. I am already on the run by the time I find that they are headed straight to my room and it makes me fear that they have taken the Song of Order. My weapon of use to defend my friends and all good hearts that live in Equestria.

To my relief from the open door, the mystical claymore is still there and floating. It's humming essence still there and without no singing for danger wasn't in sight.

"What happened?" I asked the Song of Order.

The voice from the blade spoke to me when I make my approach to take my blade by the handle. "This was when you had left with Princess Twilight to go visit your school. You didn't come back for a while according to the girls downstairs, and these men with their man-made weaponry came in with sleeping darts to drive your friends to sleep."

"You mean tranquility darts right? Cause those only work on animals."

"Indeed, but they felt stronger on the darts when they dug it into their coats," The Song of Order informs me. "Your friends were taken away by these men. They tried to take me, but when you are in possession I have an auto-lock mystic power to prevent myself from being taken by any enemy as I would know by their hearts."

I look out the window for a moment, thinking of my friends for a moment. "Well, we've got to get our friends back and save them. I don't know who has them, but maybe they can be reasoned with." I said to it.

"They took off in three black vans, their license plates covered up. There's no way I could remember that." The blade tells me.

"Dammit, I thought you were this smart at Earth history." I respond to it.

"Uhhh..." My head turns and sees Alex standing there at the door looking a little confused by when I had been talking. "Are you talking to yourself Brayden?"

"He can't hear me you know." The Song of Order states again with a bland tone in case I was going to make up something stupid.

I clear my throat for a second. "Yes, I was talking to myself. I'm literally trying to figure out what the hell happened here and where everypony is." I said to him.

He came forward with a bit of paper being held in his right hand. "Well, then I believe you might want to look at this. Someone left a note... the one person responsible for nearly..." He grew silent as he brings the note forward to let me take a glance at it.

I take the note in my hands and begin to start reading it quietly to myself. Even I recognized this kind of writing when I notice the symbol at the bottom of the text, but even I knew what it read wasn't really a note, but more a bargain:

"Hello again Brayden,

Long time no see, hm? By the time you have read this, your friends and the one winged unicorn you call your prized possession supposedly are now under my hands and in my will. I know that you want them back, just like I wanted the money you owed me for damaging property of mine. By chance that is so, so I am striking up a deal that you are unable to win.

I want you to submit yourself for personal execution at my home with all the guards to watch you die when a shotgun is properly blown into your face and your brains splattered onto the ground. Do that, and your friends and prize will be sent to the labs that the government owns. I promise that they will be treated more fairly then.

If you decide not to come and be a pussy bastard like last time, I assure you that you will not see your friends again, as I will be killing them one by one. As for your possession should you not come, I will see that she is sent into the sharks in the ocean so her death will be slower than the others.

Think about it. The choice is yours, and either way it's a lose-lose for you and a win-win for me.

Khaln"

I growl to myself and begin crumbling up the paper and tossing it across the room. Khaln has them?! The look on my face could tell that I was really pissed off to learn about that it was the enemy that I made for the debt I owed to.

Alex looks downright frightened, his hands up in the air in case I was ready to burst out at him in a furious wrath that was already being triggered inside of me. I don't feel like the corruption is in again, as the magic had dissolved it but I felt the need to go and strangle the everlasting shit out of that criminal.

"Whoa there now Brayden... easy..." Alex tries to calm me.

"That shithead took my friends and fiance! Do you think that I am actually going to calm the hell down?!" I shouted at him.

Alex backs away a bit when I was shouting. "But what are we going to do? His security is tight, and you can't do this alone!"

"That's why you're here! You're going to help me bring them back to me!"

"Help you?!" He says. "I mean, I can fight well, but I'm really unsure if you can handle Khaln and his men after you were last killed by them."

I turn to the window, sliding the Song of Order behind my back to rest there. "Then get all of the weapons you can, cause we are going to strike them at their headquarters..." I ordered to him.

"Of... of course..." Alex says, knowing he must do what he can to both help me out and calm me down from my anger.

I release breaths of furious sighs as I look out the window while lightning strikes in the distance with the roar of thunder. "That bastard is going to wish on his deathbed that he never took them away from me."

---

A/N: Well, that's the chapter.

Got a dentist appointment having to do with a root canal this Friday which they will end up knocking me to sleep. I'm hoping that I get better before that operation, as I know I'll be eager to write out the chapters as fast as I can.

For when the story will end, it's in prediction mode for me but I am guessing that the story will be complete by the end of 2017 or sometime in 2018 - 2019. Possibly after the fourth generation has ended. But for now, there's two Earth chapters left, a Fluttershy chapter and a wedding chapter... then there is a hiatus but the story is not over yet.

Well, got to run now. Equestria Girls: Legend of Everfree has been released early according to Equestria Daily, and I am quite eager to sit down and watch it. Hope you enjoyed the chapter.