A/N: Hello everyone, another new chapter after a long while.

Yeah, I haven't been writing for a while, and I apologize for not having done so. Work is really getting in the way, and I often get calls to enter work so I barely have any time to start writing. Any time that I do start, writer's block slaps me in the face easily. But from here forward, the chapters are most likely going to be much shorter than usual.

I thought I'd also post this notice here as I have done with CTO and the recent one-shot that I have released titled "Grand Again" which features Tempest Shadow and isn't related to LTL in any way. I'm sorry to say that as long as I would like to keep this story going, the book is going to be closing very soon. Yes, it's almost done. There is only 21 chapters left for this and then I can wrap it up on probably not a bang nor a whimper. Just a decent ending that will either be a hit or miss. Even so, I've had to cut back on a lot of material that I had planned so unfortunately they will not be seen through words. Still, I'd like to thank whoever is still reading this, and hope you stick around for the end.

I've seen all of Season 8, and my thoughts on it was that the season turned out okay. There are some mediocre episodes here and there, but there are episodes I really enjoy like the one with the Kirin, and when the Student Six are tested by the Tree of Harmony. Not really a fan of the finale though, it seemed not as powerful as the fourth season's finale which was much better in my honest opinion. My favorites of the Student Six I'd say are Yona, Gallus and Smolder.

From what I know now from the leaks, Season 9 is pretty much the final season for G4 this year. Next year after that is when the supposed G5 starts, and the animation engine that G4 uses called Flash is supposed to end next year, so it is kind of obvious that G5 will be under the engine Toon Boom Harmony that was used to animate the movie. I doubt I will stick around for G5 though. I'll go see the prequel movie if it hits theatres with my brony group to see if it is good. Even so, the brony population has dwindled in numbers and continues to do so, as everyone loses interest over time.

Anyhoo, I've gone on long enough, here is the new chapter.

There is the sound of birds chirping once again from an open window of the castle as I can feel myself stirring awake from the dream world where I had been once again. The focus was blurry once again in my opening eyes, but eventually had cleared once I had used to the light from outside brightening the room.

I was lying in the bed that both myself and Twilight shared together, even in marriage, though she was not present in the bed next to me. I figure she might have woken up a little early to prepare breakfast with her assistant Spike, possibly with her student Starlight if she isn't sleeping late again. Might as well get out of bed and get dressed considering that I feel it could be a rather busy day.

My feet slip out from under the covers and touch onto the crystalline tiled floor as I made my way out of the bed. I turn around, making the bed so that Spike doesn't have to work on doing that later. Once that is done, I turn towards the wardrobe and open it up to get out the choice of clothing on my mind today.

Opening up the wardrobe, I grabbed the black shorts, as well as the short-sleeved shirt in the color of orange. Changing out of the pyjamas, I placed them into the laundry basket and closed the wardrobe.

The fresh smell of a well-done breakfast was right downstairs, and I can tell that it was the smell for the usual foods that I would have: eggs with buttered toast. I move out from the bedroom and begin making my way down across the hall to go to the kitchen, letting my mind think about the past stuff that had been going on.

There were some things that had been happening since I had got out of the coma two months ago. One of the biggest things to happen was the renovations at the castle in Canterlot. Seriously they looked brand new, and it definitely matched the new design. Unfortunately when I had seen the new designs, it had been for the Friendship Festival which had come under attack from the forces of the Storm Isles along with a Equestrian named Tempest, who wanted nothing more than to have her own horn back, and took it all out on all of Equestria. We were able to stop her and the force behind the Storm Army, titled The Storm King, and both of them are being dealt with in the highest security prisons.

Well, I wouldn't say that they are serving an eternal sentence in Tartarus like Tirek would be, but Tempest is in the prisons below Canterlot, and most likely will remain there for many years. She's broken completely from what she did to betray us, and I can still remember her tearful breakdown when Twilight questioned why they should even help her after all she did to us.

The Storm King? Well... he'll be remaining on the prison island off the coast of Equestria, serving his time from all of his war crimes on all of Equus. He was forced to give back the wealth to Panthera and all the other nations he and his followers had looted from. Nothing heard from him since he was imprisoned there, so he must be learning a big lesson. His armies on the other half, all hiding back on the Storm Isles now, hopeless without a leader to give them orders or direction.

With the Hippogriffs, the relationship between Equestria and Mount Aris has bloomed greatly, and my mother has allowed them into the enchanted lands, despite the protests of the rich elite, especially the snobby Prince Blueblood who probably still has that hatred towards me just because I am a human and not a unicorn like him. As for Queen Novo, she really enjoyed my company being there in the agreement and grand welcome back to Equestria territory after having been in hiding for so long. Unfortunately, her daughter Princess Skystar was not there due to her still being grounded. Pity... though I know she'll be happy to see me again soon when the grounding is over.

Our new friends Capper and the Pirates are doing alright after the invasion, and their lives had changed since the invasion. Capper is currently working back in Klugetown still to get the funds he needs to move into Equestria, and from what I know he doesn't owe anymore debt to that mole rat Verko who tried to cage up all of us. Celaeno and the pirates got back their 'arrrrrggghh' and are soaring the skies once again as treasure hunters, though they aren't robbing any skyships anymore, but looking down at unknown territory throughout Abyssinia for that gold.

I continue down the hall until I stop by the dining room door where the smell of food was. I cannot tell if Twi is in there with either Spike or Starlight, so it would just be a bit of luck if it was any of them. I place my hand onto the doorknob, turning it and pushing the door open.

It was just Starlight, having prepared the table with breakfast ready for me and her. When I had opened the door and saw her in my sight, her ears had perked up and were listening for who was coming in. Knowing that I didn't have hooves since I was human, I had the feeling that she knew it was me coming in.

She turns around with a smile on her face. "Good morning Brayden!" She greets me, happy to see me. "Twilight woke up a little early to go and have discussions with your mother, she asked me to make breakfast for you. She'll be back a little later, unless you have other plans!"

"I can stick around for breakfast," I said to her, with a smile on my face. "Good morning to you too Starly. What's on the table?"

Magic is channelled from her horn as she uses it to pull up a chair for me. "It's your favorite, eggs with a bit of an experiment from reading one of your cookbooks from Earth... hash brown patties I believe they are called."

"That is what they're called," I said to her as I walk up and take a seat at the table, seeing my food sitting there as well as the hash browns she made. A smile is on my face when I turn and look at her. "Thank you very much, I'm guessing you had breakfast already?"

"Not yet, I practically was about to start, but it's good to have some company to talk to."

Using the knife on my plate, I cut up both of the eggs while I was listening to her talk with me. "So these discussions that Twilight is talking about with my mother, do you know anything about what they might be?"

"I did overhear some of it..." Starlight says, pausing to take a quite bite of the hash browns that she made, swallowing them down before continuing. "Something about keeping an eye out on Mortem, and ensuring they don't try another attack on our soil like they did with Appleloosa."

"No clue what else Rebecca is up to, but whatever it is, it doesn't sound good," I said, trying not to think about the Dragon Queen and her intentions with all of the enchanted lands. "I've been having visions that have been occurring more lately... all I see... tragic."

"Tragic?" Starlight asked, after having taken a few bites of her eggs. "What did you see?"

"In my visions, I saw a blood red moon in the sky... seeing Nightmare Moon lying down in a bed, while I am crying my eyes out in front of her." I explain to her, sometimes stopping to take a few bites of my breakfast or take a breath. "I... I've had these kinds of visions before when she was returning... when Tirek returned... I don't know for certain what the recent ones mean, but I can tell it's about to happen soon."

Starlight has a look on her face as she is studying the visions that I have told her about. "Strange," She commented for a moment. "A blood red moon... sounds like something has happened to somepony, possibly Nightmare, but I am not sure."

"I already fear that something bad will happen to her."

"Maybe you should send her a letter to come down to Ponyville to see you?" She suggested to me, having taken another bite from her food and swallowing it down, continuing. "It has been a while since you and her have actually met up face-to-face. What I usually hear about in regard to you and Nightmare is when you talk with her in your dreams."

I paused, thinking for that moment as I took another bite of the eggs they were left by three or less pieces on my plate. It is true that I haven't seen her outside from the dream realm, so it'll be good to get her out from being so lonely at the Canterlot castle with my mom and aunt there. I turn to look back at Starlight as she stares right back at me, waiting for my answer.

"I would really much like a visit from her."

Starlight's magic channels and begins to create a signal. "With this spell, I can call her down from Canterlot to come see you, nothing serious at all because if I did, I would be spamming this spell over and over." She tells me.

I finish up with the last of the egg pieces while she signals for Nightmare, placing the silver fork and knife onto the top of the plate. I know that Spike will be back a little later to clean up, so both me and her don't have to worry about doing that.

The sound of knocking is heard downstairs in the main hall, with Starlight's own ears raising and listening to the sound of what appears to be a hoof. She turns and looks at me. "Well, she certainly came quicker than I thought." She tells me, trotting forward towards the steps outside the dining hall. I follow right behind her, ready to see one of my loves again.

We made our way down the steps and to the front door, where Starlight gives me a look that tells me to open it up, smiling as she did so. No questions were asked when I pull open the double doors of the castle, seeing the tall black mare standing there before me with her mane flowing by itself, her cyan cat eyes greeting me as well as the smile on her lips.

"Nightmare..." I said to her, a softened tone in my voice when I greeted her.

She brings her hoof forward, placing it onto the top of my right hand. Her right wing had also opened up and wrapped itself behind my back and diamond blue wings. I allow her to pull me close to her, letting my arms wrap around her neck in a gentle, loving embrace that me and the tall alicorn shared. The embrace was a few seconds, and I took the time during that to take her hoof that she had on my hand, and held onto it.

"Brayden..." She said my name in almost the same soft tone as my own.

"Hello there!" Starlight interrupted, which I didn't mind, since I can feel Nightmare's head move from the nuzzle to look at the unicorn behind me.

"Greetings to you Starlight Glimmer," Nightmare says, letting both myself and her release from the embrace. "How is the life of being Twilight's student treating you?"

I turn to look at Starlight as she responds. "Well, there is a small mishap here or there, but other than that, it is faring well!"

Chuckling for a bit, I can tell that she did give off a bit of nervousness in the tone of her voice. "You're still getting used to being around the castle, but don't worry, me, Twi or Spike are there to talk to you if you need anything," I said to her. "Hopefully you remember that."

"I do Brayden," She giggles. "Spike is almost the one who usually comes to my door and knocks."

"It's been a while since we've visited each other outside from the dream realm," Nightmare turns to her head to look at me when I glance at her. "What made you decide to invite me down to Ponyville?"

Scratching the back of my head, I responded to her. "Exactly what you had just said there. You've always wanted to go out sometime with me around Ponyville, because it feels like you belong whenever you are in town, away from all the elite in Canterlot."

"The elite are always moaning and being snobbish around the poor and lower classes there. Believe me... it really is thankful to be able to get away from it today, especially after all of the fiasco that went on in the council today."

Now I've heard plenty about the council enough times from seeing their updates in the newspapers and how it would end up affecting all of Equestria by their decisions, though my mother does have a voice that she can use to oppose a decision, hence blocking it from effect. Seeing all of the poor in Canterlot is something I will have to bring up to her, but I am certain that from parts of the council are responsible for that, especially when I think of Prince Blueblood. But a fiasco? "What happened?"

"Usual politics..." She mutters a bit before explaining what happened. "I was right there, watching everything as the council was moving forward with bills. When Celestia was speaking to them about our new friends the Hippogriffs, and wanting to bring in the other races into the enchanted lands with open arms, a few of the council members were not really happy about that. Prince Blueblood opposed the idea of bringing them in and allowing them to choose if they want to purchase a home here." She groans before continuing. "Typical brat goes on about himself and his rich pals, but not me, the poor, nor the others outside. Especially disappointing that Councillor Neighsay would oppose your mother's ideas."

"Councillor Neighsay?" I asked, having heard this name for the first time, but never actually having seen him.

"He's the newest councillor joined. He was the head of the Equestria Education Association for a while, or you can just call it the EEA, but Celestia thought it would be a good idea to give him a seat and a voice in the council," Nightmare Moon continued. "I knew my suspicions about him were correct the moment I saw him speak out in opposition against our allies. He doesn't even like our Changeling friend Thorax, living among the Crystal ponies. If the council force him back to the Changeling hive, who knows what Chrysalis will do to him. It's not right that he wants to make Equestria for ponies only."

"He sounds a bit racist, don't you think?" I asked her.

"He pretty much is," She responded. "That's why I am thankful that I'm here from that signal Starlight sent out, to take a huge break from all of the politics in the castle."

"There's plenty of things we could do together here in Ponyville," I said to her, smiling again. "Since you're really interested. What would you like to do?"

She paused for a moment, trapped in her own thoughts. "I don't know..." She ponders with question in the tone of her voice. "There are so many things out there, other than parties and public events with the princesses, I have never really done anything outside of Canterlot or the dream realm."

"If I can make a suggestion?" Starlight asked us, turning around to see that she was still here, listening in on our conversation. "I think I know an activity that the both of you could do for a warm-up. How about a good ol' nice game of bowling?"

Oh Celestia, has Starlight figured out about that damn 'let's go bowling' meme now? Geez, no wonder Alex is such a geek at pop culture references. Still, she's given me and Nightmare a bit of an idea on what we could do first. Any other activities we can figure out during our fun times.

"That's a good idea there," I said to the unicorn at the door. "Thanks Starlight. I'll see you when we get back?"

"Take all the time you and Nightmare need together. I know Twilight will be happy to see you when you return." Starlight says. "See you later."

I nod to her with a smile as she closes the castle doors behind me and Nightmare as we depart down the steps and onto the small trail towards the town. It shouldn't take too long to get to the bowling alley since it is around the corner past Carrot Top's home. I walk beside Nightmare, who turns to share a glance at me with her cyan cat eyes.

"Have you ever tried bowling?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "No, this is a first time for me, I do hope there won't be very hard competition."

"There is a bit of competition, but I'm willing to play fair for you, just to show you how bowling is done."

A smile appears on her lips. "Thank you," She tells me, sharing a bit of relief and appreciation in her voice. "I really do like that you are open to letting me win."

"I'm not really an expert or a pro at bowling, but I don't get competitive like as 'in your face' when ponies lose, cause that's just mean. I always enjoy playing fair, and congratulating others for the game whether I lose or win. Unlike Rainbow Dash..."

A giggle comes from the black alicorn. "Of course, she really loves her competition proudly."

We continued down through Ponyville until we had reached the bowling alley. The front of the alley looked to be in what I figured was its theme itself for what it stood for: fun and competition. It doesn't look too busy as we proceed forward towards the doors, letting myself open up the left side door for Nightmare.

She nods with a smile, trotting past me. "Thank you Brayden." She says to me, the tone of her voice sounding happy that I was showing the right amount of respect of holding the door open for somepony - even one that I loved.

I follow right behind her into the interior of the building, seeing a few ponies active with counting the scores and tossing the ball to see how many pins they get down in hopes for a strike or a spare.

Bowling was something that I don't normally play, but when invited to do something like that I do accept and come along since it's only been years that I've played it. I think the last time I bowled was when I was in Grade 11... yeah, my memory is a bit hazy there, but I remember that was when I do something like that last time.

The owner of the bowling alley by the name of Bowling Strike was there at the front desk, a rare occasion to see him outside of his office in the building as he is usually doing work on his desk. His green eyes are looking at both myself and Nightmare Moon as we approached the front counter to sign up for bowling.

"Hello both of you," He says to us, leaning forward on the counter with an impressed smile on his face. "I'm guessing you're here to bowl?"

"We are, my good sir," I smile and say to him, nodding at the same time. "How many bits does it cost to do so?"

"Ten bits, each which equates to twenty bits total." Bowling Strike tells us as I dig into my pockets to get the pouch of bits that my mother has supplied for me even since my first day in Equestria.

I give him the twenty golden bits as his eyes light up from the shine of the currency in Equestria, watching him place them in the cash register as well as giving us a small slip of which alley to go to... lane number two, which was unoccupied by anypony. Well, they have those Big Lebowski lookalike ponies sitting there in lane number four having a good time. I thanked him as he smiles and waits for the next customer to come in.

But hey, again it's a school day for all of the fillies and foals. I shouldn't expect to see them coming here until later.

"Would you like to go first Brayden?" I can hear Nightmare asking me as she is trotting beside me.

My eyes turn from the slip to look at the black alicorn who's eyes are looking at me. "I have to be fair, I'm thinking you should go first." I responded to her, the smile that I shared before with the owner of the place remaining.

"Are you sure?" Nightmare places her hoof on top of my hand as she asked again.

"I'm sure that I am," I said to her, taking her hoof and holding it. "Maybe next time we do something like this, I can go first."

A small smile appears on her face when I had given her my assurance that I was alright with it. I'm guessing that she was just a little worried that I wouldn't feel as much of a leader as I should, but I knew that I wouldn't want to be first all the time. Another to back up would be still the fear she has in her that it would bring out her darkness again that she had conquered over time.

I knew though, that her darkness that haunted her for what she was, was gone and she was the mare that I know and love. Her powers were back, but I knew from deep down that she was using them for good.

We step into the lane where there are bowling balls already set up for both me and her to use. The pins are across, waiting to be striked at with the small pieces of paper to write down our scores present on the table near the bowling balls.

Her magic is able to pick up the first bowling ball available as she went forward, placing her eyes directly ahead at the pins, studying what to do at this point. Being that she was a part in Luna and her jealousy, she nor the Night Princess had the time to do something like this because of the royal duties for a princess. Nightmare was no princess, even if she had the wings and horn, but I loved her just for who she was now than she was in the past.

"This toss is all about getting the right pins, and not getting the ball into the gutter. If you are lucky, you might get a strike, knocking down all of the pins," I carefully instructed her. "Don't pressure or stress. No toss is perfect."

Nightmare stood there for a few moments, observing where the pins had stood for a moment. The bowling ball her magic has still afloat above the ground. Finally comes the few hoofsteps forward as she leans down a bit, pushing the bowling ball forward with her magic and releasing it onto the slippery ground where the bowling ball begins to roll towards the pins.

She stood there, not moving from the spot she tossed from as she watched the black toned ball moving quickly down and close to hitting from observation; maybe three or four pins at best? I would hate to see her look sad if none were hit.

The ball hits down two pins at best which had caught the alicorn's attention. Having made her first score ever in this activity, she had a smile on her face, seeing that bringing down two pins were better than nothing at all.

"I believe it might be your turn Brayden?" She turns her head to me.

I shake my head with a smile. "Not yet, you have at least one more bowling ball to toss before it is my turn." I tell her, watching as I take a seat at the table in our lane.

She nodded in response, turning and getting another bowling ball and aiming at what was left of the pins standing there. She carefully focuses on the pins with her magic, releasing it once again towards the pins once she was ready to toss.

The bowling ball knocked down a few pins, giving her a good, yet decent score of five. Being that it is ten-pin bowling, getting half of them down isn't too bad. She turns to look at me, smiling and using her magic to offer me a bowling ball from the rack - seeing that it was now my first turn at bowling in a while.

My hands take ahold of the bowling ball that Nightmare was offering, standing up from the seat and moving past her to look at the pins which had just reset themselves. My eyes carefully observe which action to take when placing my right hand on it, my fingers in the three holes of the ball.

Breathing in... and out... getting the glimpse of where I want the ball to roll. Nightmare takes a few steps back, watching and waiting for me to motion forward.

I step forward, raising the bowling ball with my arm behind me, like a pendulum ready to swing. Another step and I have brought my arm forward, releasing the bowling ball from my hand and watching it roll forward down the lane towards the pins.

The ball strikes in a couple of the pins, knocking down eight of them and only two left standing. I can hear Nightmare clapping her hooves behind me, turning around to see a satisfactory smile on her face when picking up another bowling ball to use before my turn is over.

I focus on the last two pins, determining where on the lane to make my move. My breathing is heard again, taking a step forward, swinging back and then forth on the following step, releasing the ball down the lane.

My eyes were kept on the ball as it rolled down towards, edging away from where I had intended for it to strike, seeing it heading right straight into the gutter. Damn... I was really close to getting a spare.

"Not too bad Brayden," She tells me, writing down the score of eight on the sheet that counted our scores. "I guess it is my turn again."

I turn around to look at her. "It is, hoping you will get a spare. I wasn't so lucky that time." I responded to her, getting a bowling ball for her and offering it to her.

Her magic surrounds the ball as she seemed quite curious about what I meant by the score system. "Spare?"

"To explain spare from what you saw, I knocked down eight of those pins, leaving only two. Had I knocked out the last two pins, I would have received a score of ten, plus bonus points of how many pins I knock down in first time throwing on my next turn," I explained to her with her listening as she goes forward with the ball. "For a strike, if you knock down all ten pins, you will get ten points and a bonus of what is scored on the next turn. So if you got a strike, you would get more points on how many pins you knocked down in the next turn. Three strikes in a row, and you get a turkey."

"An actual turkey?" She paused for a moment, wondering if I meant the animal.

I chuckled for a moment. "No no, not an actual Turkey. A turkey is if you got three strikes in a row. If you got a double strike in two turns, on the next turn depending on how many pins, you get double points, triple if a turkey." I said to her, putting a smile on my face.

She giggled for a moment, starting to understand a little bit about the score system when it came to bowling. Looked to me that she was just trying to have her eyes on the prize, as I position myself back to the score sheet, ready to jot down whatever she scores.

Watching her release the ball with her magic, she stood there and watched it slide down the lane towards the bowling pins. By her own luck, and to my own surprise... the bowling ball she had used managed to knock down a majority of the pins, leaving two standing. Pretty much the same score as of the moment from what I had before.

She gets another ball and I watch again as she releases the bowling ball towards the pins. She doesn't look like she's having a hard time with it at the moment as she has her eyes focused on the ball. If she was frustrated, she knew I was there to comfort her, though she has never expressed it on times like this.

The bowling ball striked both of the remaining pins down, which gave her quite a surprised expression. "Oh my Celestia... I got a spare." She says to herself shockingly before a bright smile drew on her mouth.

"Not bad Nightmare," I said to her, writing down her score. "You have very good aim."

"And now it's your turn." She says to me, offering me a ball which I accept and take in the both of my hands.

I got up towards the lane, and with not a single thought in my head, swung my arm back and then forth to release the ball and watch it roll down. The ball rolls into the pins, knocking down six of them and leaving only four left.

"This will be quite a long game." I thought to myself, as I turn and grab another bowling ball, ready to toss it again at the pins remaining.

Both myself and Nightmare step out from the bowling alley back onto the streets of Ponyville, laughing together as we both had a fun time there. Me? My hands look quite a little tired from gripping the heavy balls that was used for the recreational sport.

"You were so close to getting more points than me, and I got you by one point!" Nightmare giggled playfully.

I chuckle along with her, a smile on my face as I turn to look at her. "It's all about the fun Nightmare," I said to her. "I decided to let you win, as a way of showing that I can play fair. I would never cheat in games because only losers do that."

"Kind of harsh to be using that word Brayden." She kept her smile, giggling a little bit.

"But with seriousness, anyone who does cheat at games recreational or not, really is a loser."

"I would imagine Prince Blueblood doing such a thing with his 'royal' status of being the nephew of your mother." Nightmare tells me, changing her voice for that moment to mock a bit of the high class elite in Canterlot.

I laughed at that thought of Blueblood attempting to cheat in a game of bowling between me and him and responded to her. "I wouldn't be surprised if he tried that with me! Even so, his thoughts on the entire premise of bowling!" I began to mimic his voice in a mocking way. "Why would I play such a game played by scum? This bowling is not for one of royal status except scum who are below me!"

Nightmare couldn't hold in her laughter at the sound of my voice mocking the arrogant prince. I found it so funny because it was mostly true about how superior Blueblood thought about himself just because he was a unicorn, though he seems to turn cowardly when it comes to the littlest things like getting his hooves dirty or eating common folk food.

Again, with the mention of Councillor Neighsay from before and his addition to Equestria's council, Blueblood isn't the only one that I should be concerned about.

Once Nightmare calmed down from laughing, she turns to look at me. "So, want to grab something to eat?"

"Sure, I believe there is the nearby Hayburger station that we could go to." I suggested to her. "I am definitely craving a good Hayburger with Hayfries after all of the exercise from bowling."

"I'm down for that." She smiles at the idea. "I've never had those before. Some of the elite up in Canterlot won't go for that just because they view that as more 'common' than their same old cardboard cut-out tasting high class food. Getting tired of eating those all the time up there, but at least the Tasty Treat run by Saffron Masala and her father Coriander Cumin provides escape from all of that."

I recall Rarity and Pinkie telling me how they went to Canterlot some time ago to help them out with their restaurant when they weren't making customers and having to deal with a well-known food critic residing there in the city. I'll have to make sure to stop there sometime to sit down and have something to eat there next time I am in Canterlot.

I proceed on my way down that street away from the bowling alley next to Nightmare, my stomach rumbling a bit and most likely hers as well. Even so, something in the distance seemed to have caught my eye which was like a shadow of what looks to be a human like me.

From the shadow, at first I thought it was either Alex, Andrea or just Ann heading in the opposite direction of where me and Nightmare were headed. The shape of what was human seemed to be brief for a moment because I blinked and it was gone. But me? I swear that there was a shadow of a human with wings... though... Takeo?

No, it couldn't have been him. He flew off to the unknown when the Storm King was captured and was in the high court of Canterlot for his crimes against all of Equus. Even I wanted him to stay and join us, but he refused and set off to the west. Last known location was when a pony from Vanhoover reported to my mother of his whereabouts that he went over the sea. Still no sign of him since then.

But that shadow... might be completely different. Someone that I recogized and know even as an enemy... that something was coming rather sooner than expected.