KingTobi (Ch 21) - That's awesome to hear! I was actually pretty worried that I would get somepony's personality wrong. I'm all for creativity and originality and such, but the way I see it, if you're going to portray a preexisting character, the least you could do is try to do so accurately.

KingTobi (Ch 23) - Lol yeah, I'll admit that was a pretty feel-heavy chapter. Unfortunately, I don't really have any suggestions for music that'd go well with those moments, though if you come up with anything, feel free to share. ;)

khdudeable - I've been reading Diaries of a Madman for some time now, and I'm actually working on reading the current chapter on my breaks at work. I haven't heard of The God Particle, but I'll be sure to take a look. XD-385's Musings of a Fallen Princess is a real tear-jerker if you haven't read it.

ChrisKilla8 - Lol yeah yeah, I know, I 'borrowed' it from The Lion King. You have to admit though, it's an apt description.

marco2o - Thank you, I plan on doing so for a long time to come.

link1able - The past week was fairly busy for me, so I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I'm going to try starting it today. I'd be more than happy to offer whatever advice I can, though It'll be easier if i know more about why you're on hiatus; feel free to PM me the details, and I'll see what advice I can give.

KillerWow - I can as well, though I think I had help from over a decade of D&D.

Rider MLP - Lol I thought it was a nice touch.

Guest - Here's your update, right on schedule.

HYBRID BATTLESHIP INFINITY210 - Wow, you must live in a pretty nice area then, if I'd tried that on one of my bullies, I would've gotten a knife in the back. (I wish I was exaggerating) Anyway, thanks for the compliment, here's the next chapter for your reading pleasure.

Zelfra1234 - Thank you, it felt like a good change of pace after some of the things that have happened in the stories recent past. He will be able to use his magic eventually, but I'm trying to break away from the whole 'human gets magic, human can instantly use said magic, human becomes god' thing that seems so prevalent in MLP fics lately. Plus it seems to me that suddenly having magic would be like suddenly having a third arm; you'd know it was there and that you can use it, but you have no idea how.

GhostChris - Oh don't worry, this is just the beginning my friend!

A/N - Hiya everypony! I hope everyone had a good week, I know mine was, if a little busy. For anyone who remembers a post I made a long time ago about the Fanfiction Reader Pro app, I recently found out that that app has been taken off the Android Market and replaced with an identical app called ReadUp. For anyone who likes to read stories from this site, I highly recommend it; it's simple to use, highly customizable, and you can download entire stories to your library with a single button press and read them offline, saving battery power and data usage. If you have the old Fanfiction Reader app and want to upgrade your device, there's no worries there either, just contact their Customer Support and tell them what's going on and they'll refund your two bucks for you. (And no, I'm not receiving any kind of payment for this, they actually aren't even aware that I'm putting this up unless one of their employees reads my story; I just really like the app and wanted to share it with all my readers.) As Always, don't forget to follow/favorite, review, and most importantly, enjoy!

When I woke up the next morning, I couldn't help but notice a strange weight on my chest. I looked down to see an oddly-shaped bulge in the sheets above the affected area, and pulling them back allowed the dim light to reveal the sleeping form of Scootaloo. She lay draped across my chest in what looked to be an uncomfortable position, yet she was still sleeping soundly. I gently placed a hand at the base of her neck and began lightly stroking her small back as she slept.

Given the joy I still felt from her last words to me the previous night, I was content to lay like that until the fiery little filly woke up on her own. Fortunately, I got my wish, as the early morning wore on uninterrupted until I felt a slight stirring from her, telling me she was waking up.

Moments later, she stretched and yawned, smacking her lips tiredly and looking around at her surroundings. "Morning kiddo, sleep well?"

She smiled at me. "Sure did!" She exclaimed with all the enthusiasm her groggy mind would allow. Her smile quickly faded though. "Hey um… about last night… would you mind if I only called you that when we're alone, at least for awhile?"

"Not quite used to it yet, huh?" I asked on a hopeful guess. She nodded. "Sure thing kiddo, if that's what you want, that's what we'll do."

After breakfast, Scootaloo held true to her word and we stopped by the daycare. I watched as Scootaloo made fast friends with several of the other foals her own age while I rested against a wall, a small smile on my face.

"You're really good with foals, you know that?" I turned my head to see a pale green mare with a light blue mane sitting next to me. "I hope you don't mind, but I couldn't help but overhear what you said to that little filly yesterday outside the door." She turned to me and offered a hoof, which I took in a quick hoof-shake. "My name's Song Breeze, and I work with the little colts and fillies here. If you don't mind me asking, do you plan to adopt her?"

I nodded. "I do, but unfortunately we need to jump through some hoops before that can happen since I'm not a pony like she is."

Song Breeze closed her eyes and nodded. "I see. I've always felt that that was an ignorant policy; a being's species doesn't affect its ability to care for a foal. Unfortunately, there's not much to be done about it, so all I can do is wish you the best of luck."

I sighed. "Thanks for that. I'm sure everything will turn out fine though, she deserves some happiness."

Scootaloo ran over to where we were standing at this point. "Blake! You were right, this place is awesome! I've already made tons of friends and even started that Canterlot branch of the CMC! Is it really ok for me to stay here for the day?"

I stroked her mane affectionately. "Sure thing Scoots. Why don't you go back and play with your friends, and I'll get it set up?" She grinned hugely and ran back over to the small group she had been with.

Song Breeze looked up to me with a smile after watching Scootaloo scamper off. "Come on, I can help you get that paperwork sorted out so you can drop her off here when you need to." She said as she motioned for me to follow her.

After the paperwork was done, which fortunately didn't take very long, Scootaloo and I said our goodbyes to one another and I left to start the meeting for the day. Fortunately, Luna had decided to bring in a few ponies that would be helpful in teaching certain things to, such as a mathematician and a chemist. This made the process significantly smoother, as I could teach them what I needed to fairly quickly and they could in turn spend time relaying it to whom it was necessary.

After the meeting was over, I collected Scoots, who was all too happy to see me again, and we headed for the throne room to spend some personal time with Celestia. She seemed to be much in the same state as the last time we had seen her, and was obviously glad to see us. We spent a little over an hour with the solar diarch, and by the time we left, she seemed to be in a much better state of mind.

After we left the throne room, Scootaloo suggested we take a walk around the city since there was still plenty of daylight left. As we were walking out of the main gate, we ran into a quartet of familiar mares, namely Twilight, Applejack, Lyra, and Derpy. "Hi girls, what brings you to Canterlot?" I asked as I hugged AJ and pecked her on the cheek, causing her to blush.

"Aww shucks Sugarcube, that oughta be obvious; we're here ta see you."

I smiled at them. "Well, you have great timing! We just finished for the day, and me and Scoots were just gonna walk around the city to pass the time."

"Actually, we were wondering if you'd like to get some lunch with us?" Both mine and Scootaloo's stomachs let out a loud growl as if on cue. "Well I guess that answers that question." Twilight said with a giggle.

Scootaloo looked up to me with a sheepish smile. "They did have snacks at the daycare, but I was so busy playing with my new friends I kinda… forgot to eat."

"Well it's settled then. Is there someplace in particular you girls had in mind?" The four shook their heads. "Well that's ok; I know a nice little outdoor café that's usually not too crowded this time of day."

We walked together to the small café and were quickly seated. Once the waiter took our drink orders and left, Lyra Spoke up. "So Blake, Twilight was telling us that you know some swordplay, did you serve in the military at some point?"

I stiffened slightly at the question, not sure if or how to answer. "Well no, I haven't, I've been a construction worker my entire adult life. Even if I had though, I wouldn't have used a sword; the weapons we have are far more advanced than that."

The waiter returned with our drinks at this point and took our meal orders before leaving again. "So what kinds of weapons do humans use then?"

I looked to Twilight. "You've seen what kind of weapons humans use; do you think it's ok to tell everypony about them?" She thought about this for a moment before giving me a slight nod. "Well, humans use weapons called firearms, which use tiny, controlled explosions to propel cone-shaped pieces of copper-coated lead through a metal tube and towards a target at high speeds. Some can do this at speeds higher than one thousand meters per second, and are accurate for two thousand meters or more." Everyone, including Twilight, had their jaws hanging at this point. She and Applejack knew the basics, but I had never told them about the speeds or distances our weapons could achieve.

The waiter returned again with our food, but everyone was too busy paying attention to me to eat. "But that's just the beginning. We have devices called rocket launchers that fire highly explosive devices, handheld explosive devices called grenades, and machine guns, which are firearms that shoot several hundred projectiles per minute. And that's just for our infantry."

"Wh-what's the most powerful weapon you have?" Lyra asked tentatively.

I sighed heavily. "That would be a nuclear bomb. It's an explosive device that works on a massive scale."

"How massive?" Twilight asked.

I looked over to Scootaloo, who was also listening in on the conversation, quickly deciding to edit the full effect down for her sake. "Well, the biggest one we've ever tested, called the Tsar Bomba, or Emperor Bomb..." I hesitated to tell them.

"Yes? Don't worry Blake, nopony's going to be upset with you for telling us." Twilight said reassuringly.

"It was massive. The only one ever tested was only one quarter as powerful as we're capable of making it, and it had a blast radius of several hundred kilometers." Everyone gasped. "Any structure up to seventy five kilometers away from the blast would be completely destroyed, and any living thing at one hundred kilometers would receive third-degree burns, if they were lucky enough not to be killed outright. The shockwave would shatter windows at up to nine hundred kilometers."

Everyone was silent for a long time, save for Scootaloo, who began eating shortly after I finished. "What? It's not like Blake's gonna make one of those, right?" She asked when she noticed that she was being stared at.

This seemed to sink in with everyone and they gradually began eating as well. "So Blake, how's your commission going?" Twilight asked in an obvious attempt to lighten the mood.

"Oh you know, I get to deal with a bunch of snooty ponies who don't believe that what I'm trying to show them will make things better, and tell me as much at every opportunity. So yeah, fun times."

"Ah'm sorry they're givin' ya such a hassle Blake. Hopefully tha princesses pay ya well fer yer troubles at least." My country marefriend said.

Everyone soon cheered up again and we all resumed eating and engaging in friendly small-talk. Soon enough the meal was done and we all chipped in on the bill before agreeing to take a walk around Canterlot to work off the meal. Scootaloo wanted a bird's eye view of the city, so I picked her up and carried her around on my shoulders like I had in the castle.

After awhile, Derpy looked around at the others. "Would you mind if I talked to Blake for a second?" The klutzy mare asked the group, who promptly shook their heads. As she led us over to the wall of a building for a bit of privacy, I glanced up to Scootaloo to see that she had fallen asleep on my shoulders. She turned to me once she deemed us to be out of earshot. "Umm, Blake? I wanted to thank you… for everything; being my friend, saving me from those two bad stallions, even talking to Vinyl, I have a bunch of friends now thanks to you." She said with a warm smile.

I hugged her as best I could with Scoots still on my shoulders. "You're very welcome Derpy, I'm glad things have gotten better for you. But I have to ask; why did we need to be alone for you to tell me that?"

She looked up to me, and her eyes locked onto mine. "We didn't, that… that's not why I asked to talk to you in private." She said as she nervously rubbed a foreleg with the opposite hoof.

I caught on to what she was trying to say. "Of course you can Derpy, I'd be delighted to have you as my marefriend."

"Oh, ok I under-" She started dejectedly before stopping as the realization of what I'd said dawned on her. "W-wait… really?!" I nodded with a warm smile, causing her to grin hugely. "Thanks Blake, you don't know how much that means to me!" The klutzy mare exclaimed as she hugged me. As she let go, she started giggling. "Heehee, it'll be interesting to be in a herd with Princess Luna. Come on, let's go back to the others." She said before trotting merrily off.

We resumed our walk without any of the others asking what we talked about, though Applejack gave me a look that said she not only knew what we talked about, but that she approved. After around an hour, we headed back to the palace so that Twilight could spend some time with Celestia.

"Hey, I know! Why don't we check out the museum?" Lyra suggested once Twilight had bid us farewell and trotted off to the throne room. It sounded interesting enough to me, and the others seemed to agree, except for Scootaloo, who was still sleeping soundly on my shoulders.

Two hours later found us leaving the museum and walking into the early evening air, all of us knowing more about Starswirl the Bearded than any of us had ever expected, though to say it wasn't fun would be a lie.

"Well, looks like it's time fer us ta catch tha train back ta Ponyville." Applejack announced.

"I wouldn't mind if you stayed the night you know." I whispered into her ear.

AJ sighed. "As much as Ah'd like that, Ah promised Big Mac Ah'd be back ta help 'im in tha mornin'." She said sadly.

I gave her a tight hug. "It's ok AJ, at least we got to see each other today." I leaned in and gently pressed my lips against hers, sharing our first kiss right there on the platform. Applejack returned the kiss before breaking it and turning to board the train, neither of us wanting her to leave.

She gave me a warm smile and waved as she boarded the train with Lyra and Twilight. Derpy stayed behind for a moment and smiled up at me. "I had a lot of fun today Blake, I can't wait to see you again!" She exclaimed happily.

I leaned down and gave her a hug followed by a kiss on the cheek, causing her to blush. "I did too, hopefully I'll be back in Ponyville with you, Applejack and all our friends soon enough though." The train whistle blew to signal final boarding. "Well, looks like you'd better get going if you don't want to get left behind."

She gave me one last smile and turned to board the train, accidentally bumping into the door frame as she looked back to me.

Suppressing a chuckle, I turned back towards the castle with the still-sleeping Scootaloo on my shoulders. I wasn't surprised that she was so tired, she had gotten up fairly early for a filly her age. Once we made it back to the castle, I navigated my way back to our room and gently lay the sleeping filly on her bed. Once she was snuggled into her sheets, I took care of my nightly routine and settled in for the night myself.

I was woken up by a gentle knocking on the door to our room. I looked over to see Scootaloo grumble and turn over in her bed, thankfully not waking up. I walked to the door and opened it to find a smiling Luna on the other side. "Good morning Blake, I hope I did not wake you too early."

I shook my head. "Not at all, I was actually starting to wake up anyway. So beautiful, what are we doing today?" Luna blushed.

"I was hoping we could talk actually. There are still things I wish to discuss, and the privacy of my chambers seems like an ideal place to do so." She explained with a mischievous smile.

After quickly taking care of my morning hygiene, I walked back out of the bathroom dressed and ready to go with the midnight blue Alicorn. "Lead the way Milady." She giggled as I gestured her to do just that.

Once we were in her chambers, she turned to me. "Please, make yourself comfortable, I shall do the same." As she finished, her royal 'attire' was coated in her magic aura and levitated off of her as she slipped out of her shoes, leaving her uncovered and seemingly enhancing her already impressive beauty. This effect was amplified as she swished her head and mane back and forth as her head was relieved of the crown that perched upon it. "Ah, it always feels so good to be rid of the royal finery." She commented with a content sigh.

While this was happening, I made myself comfortable on her spacious bed, laying back and resting my head on the pillows and watching her. When she was done dressing down, she turned to join me as I patted the bed next to me indicating that she should join me.

My beautiful marefriend smiled and obliged, crawling onto the bed and resting her head on my shoulder as she draped a hoof over my chest. Once she was comfortable, she looked up to me. "It is a wonderful thing you are doing for young Scootaloo." She began with a soft smile. "It has made me think of the future, as well as my own legacy. I have come to realize something important; I would like to bear foals, your foals to be precise."

I frowned deeply. "Luna… I'm sorry, but of everything I would love to share with you, that's the one thing I would love to most, and yet it's the one thing I can't."

Instead of the expected disappointment, Luna rolled on top of me with a soft smile gracing her face. "That is where you are wrong, my love." I looked at her quizzically, hoping for an explanation. "While normally you would be correct, there is a factor that you are yet unaware of; while any other human would be incapable of this, those of your blood are capable of siring or bearing foals with ponykind." She told me with a bright smile.

I was stunned into silence for a long moment. Was such a thing even possible? I had seen many wondrous things in my short time here, but I never imagined that being able to start a family with an entirely different species would be among them. Instead of responding with words, I wrapped a hand around the back of her head and pulled the surprised mare into the most passionate kiss I had ever given anyone. "Thank you Luna…" I began before rolling us over so I was on top of her. "Thank you. There are no words to describe how much what you just said means to me."

She offered no protest, instead wrapping a hoof around my head as I had done to her moments before and returning every bit of my passion. That kiss was the single most love-filled I had ever shared, and not because she had told me that we could have children together, but that she cared for me so deeply that she wanted to.

After what could have been minutes, hours or even days for all I knew, or cared, we finally broke the kiss. "Blake, my love… there is something else I wished to discuss with you." She said as we moved back to our previous position of laying next to one another, with her head resting on my shoulder.

"It's alright Luna, you don't have to be afraid to talk to me about something." I told her, hearing the apprehension in her voice.

The beautiful princess let out a long sigh. "Do you remember when we approached you in the void, before you came here?" I nodded to indicate that I did. "We were… not entirely truthful with you."

I raised my head to look at her. "What do you mean?"

"When we asked you to choose which items to take and which to leave, we told you that anything you chose to leave would remain in the void and be destroyed. That was a falsehood, nothing could remain in that realm once it was vacated."

What she was implying slowly clicked into my mind. "Wh-what are you saying?" I asked slowly, afraid of the answer.

"What I am saying, is that the weapon, I believe you called it a 'firearm', that you thought you had left behind is actually here." I felt fear creep into me when I thought about what that kind of technology could do to this world. "Do not worry; it is locked safely in the vaults of the castle, which is all but impenetrable. We were not sure what you would do with the knowledge that the weapon was here, so my sister decided that that it would be best if we kept that information from you. However, I believe that you can be trusted with it, and would like to offer to return it to you… for a small price." She finished with another mischievous grin.

"What kind of 'price'?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

She giggled into a hoof. "Do not worry, it is nothing of that nature, I simply wish to see what it is capable of."

"And how would you propose to do that?" I asked with my eyebrow still raised.

"Oh it is quite simple, i would have an area of the royal garden set up so that there would be targets for you to demonstrate upon, and I would cast a silence spell upon the area to keep it's sound from travelling and frightening the locals… though some could use a good fright." I heard her mutter the last part under her breath.

"Ok, let's say I do agree to this; what happens to it when we're done?" I was still unsure about this whole thing.

"That would depend upon you, of course. If you wished, it could be arranged for you to keep it. After all, I can think of no safer hooves than your own for such a device."

"Alright then Luna, since you know exactly what was done to me, I suppose I could show you what I decided not to do to another. Although I have a request, if it's possible." Luna gave me a small nod. "I'd like to have a spell cast on it to make it so that only I can use it."

She tapped her chin with a hoof for a moment in thought. "Such a spell does not exist that I am aware of, though it could be woven in the Antechamber. And do not worry about its ammunition, a cloning spell can be cast upon it to create more."

"Alright, that sounds good to me. Though speaking of that time, how exactly did you bring me here? I know you and Celestia explained it once, but I honestly wasn't in a good state-of-mind to listen."

Her features darkened slightly. "That is somewhat of a long story; however, the shortened version is that you were meant to be brought here whilst alive. Your death on Earth was a random and unforeseen event, and my sister and I acted quickly, revising a spell that was given to us by none other than Starswirl the Bearded for the sole purpose of returning humanity to Mythis. We then combined it with the might of the Antechamber to enter the void and bring you here. The reason you could not move when you first arrived and that you had no scars from your time on Earth is that the body you now possess is not the original." I gave her a look of confusion. "In order to bring your soul to this world and return it to the living, we had to create a new vessel for it to inhabit; that was part of the alteration to the original spell."

"So I'm a clone then?"

Luna sighed. "Yes and no. Physically, your body is a clone of the original; however, your soul and consciousness were placed into it, like transferring water from one glass to another, identical glass. While the vessel the water inhabits may change, the water itself remains the same. Your body was created from Mythis herself, which may have aided in the awakening of your magic."

"I see." I said after a long moment of silence. "Well, as long as I'm still me, I suppose there's no point in freaking out about it. So, when did you want to do this demonstration?"

"Well, I know you will be spending time with Miss Dash this afternoon after you have finished for the day, so how about tomorrow?" Luna asked before turning her attention to the wall. "I feel that young Scootaloo will awaken soon, you should be there when she does. This is a time of great change in her young life, and until she settles into that change, it would be best if she had the comfort of your presence when she awakens; the knowledge of your presence will comfort her greatly." She told me as she moved to make room for me to get up.

I leaned over and gave her a parting kiss. "Thank you Luna, you're as wise as you are beautiful."

The Lunar Princess blushed heavily as she waved goodbye.