xel101 - Don't worry, I have plans for Pinkie...

YOuR1Ord - Thank you; I pour my heart into those scenes, and I'm glad to know that my efforts pay off.

RattPitt - I like to think this story is a rollercoaster; you may not always know what's coming next, but you can be sure it's going to be good, and I do my best every week to make sure that's exactly what my readers get.

KingTobi - Nobody expects the Spanish Inqui... I mean Spike... Glad you enjoyed the chapter, here's the next one for you!

HeadBangingBrony - I like to think I would be the same if I ever have my own child, but that remains to be seen... Thank you, I do try my best to make sure everypony acts the way we all know and love them to

UnknownHero55 - Yup, though like everything magical, it'll take some time for him to adjust.

KillerWoW - Lol well said...

centaurus2 - Lol flustered Twilight is best Twilight

DragonLovingBrony - It hit me in the feels too... and I'm the one who wrote the thing! Oh, she'll get to 'handle it' eventually...

INGENman - Lol 'poor Spike' indeed

noah2x4 - As far as I'm concerned, they already are; after all, what's an adoption form but a piece of paper?

A/N - Howdy everypony! I went to see Interstellar this weekend... twice! That movie was beyond amazing, and I highly recommend it. Not too much else happened besides having a nice Thanksgiving with family. I hope everypony else had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well! Oh! I'd also like to ask if any of my artistically-inclined readers would be interested in doing a commission for new artwork for this story? Send me a PM if you're interested, and we can discuss specifics. Don't forget to follow/favorite, review, and most importantly; enjoy!

I carried Scootaloo into the room that we now shared and gently set her down onto the cot, tucking her into the sheets that had obviously been freshly washed. She had a small smile on her face as I planted a soft kiss on her forehead, causing her to snuggle into the sheets. Once she was safely tucked away, I turned to walk back into the main bedroom where Twilight was waiting at the door, watching as I put Scoots to bed. "You really are good with foals you know."

I looked back to Scootaloo's peacefully sleeping form. "I just want her to have everything I never had… like a loving family." I turned back to Twilight. "To be honest, I would have preferred to live in an orphanage or even on the streets compared to what I did; but, that's all in the past now, I'm not going to dwell on it if I can help it. I've been trying and failing for awhile, but I truly believe I need to move on from that."

She and I walked over to the bed and sat down before I continued. "To be honest… I'd been holding onto the hope that I'd at least be able to go back and maybe… I don't know, find some closure I guess. Don't get me wrong, I love it here, and I'd never want to leave permanently, I just…"

"You're still hurting…"

I sighed heavily. "Yeah… After all the time that's passed, I thought I'd gotten over things; but that dream, if you can call it that, showed me just how wrong I really was." She wrapped a hoof around one shoulder and rested her head on the other. "I know I've said it before, but I can't thank you girls enough for just how much you support me."

Twilight squeezed me tighter. "We love you Blake, and we'll be here for you whenever you need us, you know that."

I took my shirt off and lay back on the bed and Twilight followed me, draping a hoof across my scarred chest. We didn't say anything else, but Twilight's company was surprisingly cathartic. This whole scenario felt entirely too familiar, but I didn't care at the moment; all I cared about was the beautiful mare draped across me and how her presence eased my still-troubled mind as it attempted to heal from wounds that Nightmare Moon's curse had reopened.

Twilight soon began to draw little circles and patterns on my chest, carefully tracing around the sun-shaped scar in the center of my chest. I looked down to see her looking back up to me, a reassuring smile on her beautiful face.

She reached up and planted a tender kiss on my lips, the faint scent of strawberries tickling my nostrils and getting my blood flowing. I had never told anyone this, but I had a bit of a thing for fruity scents. I placed a hand on her cheek and kissed back, her lips tasting like the sweet strawberries she smelled of. Her kiss was filled not with fiery passion, but tender love; a love that soothed my mind and soul and reassured me that no matter what trials I faced, no matter what mistakes I made, no matter how hard things got, she would indeed always be there for me.

Twilight and I kissed until Luna's moon rose into the evening sky and began casting its pale light into the library. The entire time, all I could feel was love from the mulberry mare, not once making me feel that she wanted anything more at this moment than to make me feel safe and loved. She eventually stopped and rested her head against my chest. "I've missed being able to lie next to you like this…" She mumbled; sleep working its way into her voice.

Not five minutes later, she had fallen fast asleep, and I followed shortly after.

It's now been nearly a week since I returned to Ponyville, and today is the day that construction on the Apple family's new barn will finally be started. Applejack was originally very reluctant to accept my help, but Twilight and our other friends convinced her that it was a good idea, mentioning something about 'the last time she wouldn't accept help'. I asked Twilight what they meant, but she wouldn't say a word, claiming that it was Applejack's business. As I walked to Sweet Apple Acres, I couldn't help but reflect back on the events of the past week.

Twilight had talked to Spike the following morning after his little 'incident', but he claimed he didn't even remember seeing me at all. I had no idea how true that was, but I hoped that at the very least he'd repressed the memory; the last thing I either needed or wanted was him asking me all kinds of questions I had absolutely no desire to answer… ever.

I had yet to find out what the new building I had seen was; every time I brought it up, whoever I was talking to would deny it, Rainbow Dash even tried to deny that the clearing existed at all at one point. I had a feeling something strange was going on, but I decided not to press it as I knew these mares well enough to know that I wouldn't get anything out o them… Even Pinkie, who I had assumed would be the easiest to get information from.

My apparent incredible amount wealth was diminished by a whole one hundred and fifty bits after I bought fairly expensive beds for myself and Scootaloo. Scootaloo herself did her best not to seem too clingy, but I could tell she wanted to spend as much time around me as possible. With minimal convincing on my end, we officially inducted Dinky as the fifth member of the Ponyville branch of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and neither she nor Derpy could have been happier.

Twilight, Applejack and Derpy would often take turns spending time with me, offering to help me manage how we all spent our time together so that nopony got left out. I slept over at both Derpy and Applejack's houses, getting to play with Applebloom and Dinky each night. Applejack and Derpy even slept over at the library with me and Twilight; that night I got the best blanket ever. We even found time for me to visit Luna in Canterlot one night.

I took a part time job with Hammer Hoof; as much as I loved spending time with the girls, my mind craved something productive to do with my day. She offered me fifty bits an hour, which she could now afford thanks to the boom in business her association with me had somehow caused, but I declined. I didn't want her to feel like she was taking advantage of me though, so we settled on twenty five bits an hour; we also agreed on twenty hours a week so I would still have time to help Applejack in the morning.

Pinkie Pie even threw me an 'I'm sorry there was drama at your homecoming party' party. That mare could make a party out of anything.

I crested the small hill that obscured Sweet Apple Acres from view when you took the dirt path between it and Ponyville proper. When the farm came into sight, I noticed that the groundwork for the new barn Applejack and I had designed was already being laid. The new barn was larger than the old one, with several small side rooms for tool storage, as well as a hoof-cranked crane in the loft for hauling hay bales and other heavy and/or bulky objects up onto the second floor. The blueprints also included a cider cellar so they could start making their apple cider a little early and store it without worrying about it fermenting before they could sell it. I smirked as I walked, thinking about how happy that would make Rainbow Dash.

I walked up to the site where the new barn would be to see that the cellar had already been carved out and the supports and joists for the barn itself were in the process of being laid out. I noted that I was the only one there, meaning that the construction crew must have gotten started a day early. "Howdy pardner! How's mah granddaughter's coltfriend doin' taday?"

I turned to see Granny Smith slowly… very slowly… walking up to the site. "Don't y'all worry young 'un, Ah ain't here ta make ya disappear 'r nuthin'; Ah just wanted ta say thank ya fer helpin' us with this." She finally reached me and shakily sat down next to me. "This here new-fangled design y'all came up with should let us bring in more bits than ever come cider season. Ah'd offer ta pay ya back fer it, but Ah already know yew well enough ta know ya'd never accept it. Ah think Applejack's lucky ta find a stallion like yew."

I snorted. "Are you kidding? I'm the lucky one; Applejack's a wonderful mare, and any stallion would be lucky to have her grace his life." I looked up to the sky. "She and her friends really have changed my life for the better…"

"Yeah… Ah heard sum a what happened to ya." I looked back to Granny Smith. "Don't yew fret none young 'un, t'weren't Applejack's fault; Y'all oughta know by now she talks in 'er sleep sometimes."

"Yeah, I know. Im getting over all that stuff again though; I'll admit, that curse threw me for a loop for awhile." I squatted down next to the old mare. "Your granddaughter has helped a lot with that in the last week."

The frail old mare nodded. "Yeah, she's good at helpin' ponies with their problems, 'specially the ones she cares about… kinda like a certain somepony else Ah know."

"Maybe…"

"Hey y'all!" Applejack greeted as she trotted up to us with a big smile on her face. "It's finally happenin'. Ah sure am glad them construction stallions got ta work a day early too, that'll be a huge help fer us; tha barn should be done just in time fer cider season!"

We all turned as we heard a series of clunks and rattles coming up the path I had traveled not that long ago. Just cresting the hill were a few carts; two were filled with equipment, and another three were weighed down with workers. Following behind was the same crane that had held the wrecking ball for the competition the forestallion and I had had. That same stallion was eying me with a strange look as he sat in the lead cart.

"Well if it ain't the best Engineer in Equestria!" He shouted, though his voice carrying over the distance made it hard to tell if he was being sincere or not. As the cart closed in, he hopped out early and trotted over to us.

I crossed my arms over my chest at the display, in no mood for his attitude. Right as he got to us, he pulled his hard hat off and placed it against his chest. "Look, I don't do this often… I need ta apologize for the way I acted before. I shoulda recognized a keen eye when I saw it, but I didn't, and I made a foal out o' myself for it. I had ta teach my colts all the new stuff ya came up wit' and I hafta admit… I had trouble with a lot of it at first. The stuff you know is way more advanced than anything I've seen before."

I snatched his hat out of his grasp and he cringed like I was going to hit him with it, which he probably thought he deserved. Instead, I gently placed it back on his head, giving it a few pats as I did. "Hey, no harm no foul; you learned your lesson and did the right thing in the end, so who am I to say anything besides 'apology accepted'?"

He cocked his head to the side, his hard hat tilting slightly. "Really, just like that?" He sounded less than convinced.

I smirked at the dumbfounded stallion. "Yup, just like that. Let bygones be bygones and all that." I glanced over his shoulder. "I'm going to assume that you're done with whatever it was you were building before? It seemed like your entire crew was working on it."

He cocked an eyebrow quizzically. "You mean your new house? Yeah, we fin-MMPH!" Applejack had clamped a hoof over his mouth.

"Ya durn loudmouth! That was s'posed ta be a surprise!" She looked over to me. "We were gonna tell ya Blake, honest! It's just, the princesses wanted to wait till your Knighting ta tell ya. It was s'posed ta be so ya'd have yer own place once y'all got Knighted."

The forestallion pulled AJ's hoof off of his mouth. "Well, now that that cat's outta the bag, I s'pose there's no harm in tellin' ya that your new home sweet home ain't furnished yet. We were just contracted to build the place, I dunno what the princesses had planned for furnishings, but it ain't got nothin' ta do wit' us."

Applejack let out a sigh. "C'mon Blake, we might as well show ya yer new place." I gave her a reassuring pat on the back. "Ah know! Why don't we go round up tha girls?

"Let's hit up Twilight first, I'm sure the princesses will want to be here for this… well, one of them for sure."

Applejack nodded and we headed off towards the library. We increased our pace when we heard a series of crashes from within. We slowed down when we could finally make out the raised voices also coming from within. "SPIKE! Be careful with those! Half of those books are from the Pre-Classical Era! No, no, no! Those books were all hoof-written; they go over there."

Applejack chuckled. "Sounds like its reshelvin' day at tha Golden Oaks Library."

I opened the door and stepped inside to see nothing less than utter chaos. I let out a low whistle. "Ah think even that scoundrel Discord'd be proud a this place Twi."

Twilight scowled at her. "I know! I've been trying to get this place organized for hours!"

Applejack chuckled as she walked over and threw a foreleg around the mulberry mare's neck. "I know what ya need Twi!" Twilight looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "A break! And Ah know just tha way ta do it too." AJ leaned in and whispered into Twilight's ear.

Twilight's face shifted from shock to anger. "HE DID WHAT!?"

"Eeyup" AJ replied, doing a very good Big Mac impression. "So we were gonna round up tha girls and go take a look-see at it; seein' as he already knows 'n all."

Twilight gave a resigned sigh. "I'll go write a letter to the Princesses..."

She trotted off and did just that. Once Spike had sent it, something I still found amazing, we headed off to get the others. Pinkie Pie needed no convincing, and merrily hopped out into the waxing daylight with us. Rarity only needed time to close her shop before joining us. The hardest part about talking Rainbow Dash into going was finding her in one of her elusive napping spots. Derpy was on her mail route and couldn't leave, but promised to join us as soon as she could. I had wanted to bring Scootaloo too, but she was still in school.

All that left was timid little Fluttershy, who's cottage was fairly close to where my new home had been constructed. We walked up the path to her beautiful woodland-themed cottage, Rainbow Dash cracking jokes about the size of my house the entire way. I crossed the small bridge that spanned the even smaller stream leading to her home. There was the expected 'EEP!" from the other side when I gently knocked on the door. Said door slowly creaked open a moment later, revealing a pair of large, innocence-filled aquamarine eyes framed in pink as she timidly poked her head out. "OH! Hello Blake." I couldn't help but return the warm smile she gave me. "I was just doing some cleaning, is there something I can do for you?"

"Well Fluttershy, we were wondering if you'd like to take a look at my new house with us."

The butter-colored mare looked past me to see our other friends waiting on the path. "I-I thought that was supposed to be a secret."

Rainbow Dash flew up to us. "It was, but that lame-brained forestallion spilled the beans."

Fluttershy shrunk back slightly at Rainbow Dash's exclamation. "Oh… I'm sure he didn't mean to…."

I shrugged. "Well, weather he meant to or not, I know about it now."

That soft smile returned. "Alright, just let me tell Angel bunny where we're going and I'll be right back."

She disappeared into her cottage and returned a moment later with a saddle bag on her back. "Just some snacks, in case anypony gets hungry." She explained when she followed our questioning gazes.

I turned around and was promptly pounced upon by a blur of midnight blue. The lips that had been pressed against my lips pulled back and smirked. "What have we here? Is it not unbefitting of a Knight to be caught off his guard?"

I wrapped my arms around the mare and returned the kiss. "Hey there beautiful." She blushed. "I take it you got Twilight's letter?"

"We did, and I wish to have a word with the stallion responsible for ruining your surprise. But for now, I would like to come with you and see your new home for myself."

I smirked and planted a kiss on her nose, causing her to wiggle it about. "You're getting better at that whole 'modern Equestrian' thing. Before you know it, you'll be using contractions and everything." That last little quip earned me a punch on the shoulder.

We made our way off back down the path, with all the girls seeming to cluster around me as we went. Just before we crested another hill in the path, a cloth was levitated over my eyes. "Hey! What's the big idea?!"

I heard a chorus of giggles from all around me. "We still want it to be a surprise for you silly!" Pinkie exclaimed from somewhere off to my right.

We continued walking, with my hand on who I assumed to be Luna's back due to her height, with the others whispering excitedly to each other the entire time. After awhile, I felt the blindfold undone and pulled off of my head. I squinted into the now too-bright light from the afternoon sun.

When my vision cleared and I could see again, my eyes went wide at the sight before me. "I thought you said you were building me a house."

"Do you not like it?" Luna asked as she walked up to me.

It's beautiful… I just wasn't expecting a mansion."

Luna giggled. "Well, we did try to make as close to your design as we could."

My jaw went slack as it clicked in my head that this was indeed the house I had been creating in my spare time. "I never meant to actually build that! It was just a concept; something to pass the time and keep my architectural knowledge from getting rusty. How did you get ahold of the designs any…way…" I looked over to Twilight, who was grinning sheepishly. "I see. So is that why you wanted to know what an aquaponics garden was?"

Her head drooped. "I'm sorry… I would've told you sooner, but I Pinkie Promised not to say anything. I was honestly curious about what an aquaponics garden was though, that part was true."

"Well, your intentions were good at least." She let out a sigh of relief. "But; that doesn't mean I'm not upset that you took my blueprints to begin with. But we'll talk about that later; for now though, let's see what the real thing looks like."

I turned back to the mansion that was soon to be my new home. The exterior was made of a deep red brick accentuated with stark white marble pillars at every corner. There were two sections of the front of the building that popped out from the rest, each bearing a set of large, ornate windows, one large one in the front and two smaller ones on the diagonals. The double-doors serving as the main entrance were nestled smack in the center of the front wall; they were comprised of a pair of large, solid wood slabs painted red and surrounded by ornately carved grey-swirled white marble.

We all walked up to the large double doors and I turned the handle, pushing hard to open the heavy-looking door and nearly flying off my feet as it opened almost effortlessly. I was saved from falling flat on my face by a slew of magical auras, seeming to come from all three magic users of the group. "Whew, thanks girls; that would've been way more embarrassing if I'd fallen trying to open a door."

I turned and looked around and whistled as I caught a glimpse at the inside of the house. The floor of the vestibule was made of more pure white marble, with the hardwood floor beyond it having the distinct reddish brown color of lacquered cherrywood. To our left was a kitchen area, with wooden cabinets both above and below the countertops. The cabinets were made of what appeared to be mahogany, while the countertops were made of black marble. The flooring of the kitchen seemed to be made of a deep grey ebony, the color seeming to mute the glare from the magically-powered lights above.

The kitchen seemed to only be furnished with a stove and a refrigerator aside from standard plumbing. Looking to our right, there was a rather large fireplace nestled in what appeared to be a sitting area, though it wasn't furnished save the mirror mounted above the mantel. The floor ceased to be cherrywood and brightened up into more mahogany.

We took our time exploring the rest of the overly lavish house, stopping outside a fogged-glass set of double doors as our last stop. "What the heck was all that? It seemed like half of what I designed got… upgraded."

Luna smiled innocently. "My sister and I may have let the interior designer take a few liberties when he was aiding the construction crew in constructing your home."

I facepalmed with a sigh. "Well, at least it all goes well together, probably better than what I had planned out at least."

I reached out and grasped the silvery metal bar that served as the door's handle and pulled it open. We were instantly bathed in steam as hot, moist air escaped the room beyond. When the steam cleared, our collective jaws dropped at the sight of the enormous hot tub set in the center of the back wall. The hot tub itself was carved from more grey-swirled white marble with a depiction of a dragon serving as a sort of functional centerpiece, steaming water cascading from its mouth and into the tub below. The edges of the tub had been expertly rounded off, leaving not a sharp edge to be seen. "Wh-what is this?"

Luna looked at me with an almost hurt expression. "Do you not like it? It was constructed to your specifications."

Twilight levitated my blueprints over to me… though where she got them I'll never know since Fluttershy was the only one with a saddlebag. I opened them up and began flipping through to the pages containing the hot tub I had designed. I looked all over the page for signs of error before it struck me; there, on every measurement of the hot tub, there were no marks indicating metric measurements. Instead, each number either had one or two tick marks next to it.

I had written down the measurements for the hot tub in feet instead of meters…