Guest - Essentially, it's because polygamy a part of their culture; since mares outnumber stallions so greatly, the vast majority of the former would be left out if they stuck to monogamous relationships (Not counting same-sex relationships.)

SquirtlePWN - But would it be good weird, or bad weird? ;)

welcometodalolz - Nah, they may not be getting quite as much screen-time, but they're still very much a part of his life.

DemonAssassin240 - hehe... that she is~

RainbowYuriDash - I'm glad that you love my story so much! I do try my best to make it the best possible, and I always love hearing that those efforts are paying off with my readers. And consider yourself followed!

xel101 - I do have one in mind, but he was someting of a special case, and it probably won't be for awhile yet.

Syren345 (106) - Hehe... that would be a nice change of pace, wouldn't it?

shadow 74 - Tell me about it... it never seems to end anymore. And thanks for your condolences, but I'd rather not get into details about that, if that's ok. Also, I didn't come up with any of the names or characters for Sunny Town and its inhabitants; all of that was borrowed from an MLP flash game called Story of the Blanks. Sorry that you didn't like that anyway though :(

Syren345 (92) - Aren't we all prone to fits of anger from time to time? And, given what the man's been through in his life, can you really blame him for being on edge?

PyraohXBlaze - Hmm... seems to me like his luck seems to fluctuate a lot...

Syren345 (85) - Don't give up now! Perhaps things will get better for your vision of things~

Syren345 - Hmm... I think there was some sort of error somewhere... The closest I've ever been to Washington state is Washington, Iowa.

PBJFanFiction - Wow... I think I'd go crazy if I had to cut all those things out. What's your diet for?

Centaurus2 - Thank you, on both counts. Also, how is your own story going? I haven't had the time to read anything lately, not even my usual fare.

Harmonia000 - It may be a little (or a lot) delayed, but here you go~

Mikalzilla - You'll just have to wait and see~

Arkraiththeepicbrony - This is true... but then again, when was the last time one of them got knocked out?

Kyguy - Perhaps... and I just may ;)

DragonLord RyuKizoku - We'll just have to wait and see what happens, won't we? :D

ponyguy2003 - Aww, thanks for that. And here's your update

Dragon King Chaos - Oh, I plan to :D

coldshadow 92 - Hehe... that's my job ~

MrDerpface - Hmm... will we be seeing that sexy bug Queen anytime soon though... I just don't know ;)

shadows being - Lol that depends; are you referring to its conception, or the little goolet itself?

KyuubiMakai009 - Perhaps... but whether or not he'll be able to tap into her power is yet to be seen ;)

A/N - Howdy everypony! Sorry this update is over a week late! (I seem to be saying that a lot lately...) I had to spend pretty much all of last week in Kentucky, staying with a relative who didn't even own a cordless phone, so no writing got down during that time period. On the plus side, I think things are finally gonna start calming down and let me write here soon (Fingers crossed). As always, don't forget to follow/favorite, review, and most importantly; enjoy!

It hadn't taken long for the others, sans Isabel, who had duties to tend to, to return to my room, with Celestia carrying a covered platter of food in her magic. I was glad for their swift return as well; the only answers that came to mind regarding the question I had posed to myself involved more conflict, something that I didn't want to see or think about again for a long time.

The thing I hadn't been expecting when they had returned, was for seemingly everypony else I knew to file into my room after them. By the time all my friends and loved ones had filled the room around me, it felt like all of Ponyville had gathered in this one, small area. After they all greeted me, and told me how glad they were that I was awake and relatively well, Celestia finally set the platter down on the special tray that was in front of me.

I lifted the lid to the platter slowly, eager to see what was waiting for me beneath it; whatever it was, it smelled wonderful. As I lifted the platter's metal lid, I took note of how light it seemed to be; compared to the last time I had been in the hospital and eaten a meal from such a platter, this lid weighed nothing at all, which was strange given that I had been unconscious for three days, and my muscles should all have been weakened from my lack of mobility.

My mouth began to water as I laid eyes on the dish before me; instead of some bland, lifeless meal of a salad and a jello cup, there was a plate piled with some sort of alfredo filled with spinach, bean sprouts, and daisies. I licked my lips, and took up my fork, ready to devour the scrumptious meal as my stomach voiced my anticipation for me. I knew who I had to thank for this feast, and I intended to do just that the next time I saw Miss Redheart.

Before I could take my first bite however, I became aware that all eyes in the room were on me. I looked around, not quite comfortable with so many ponies watching me as I ate. Oddly enough, it was Derpy who caught onto my unease first. "Hey everypony!" She said loudly enough for them all to hear. "I know we're all really happy that Blake's awake, but why don't we go get some ice cream so he can have lunch without us all staring at him?"

I had to suppress a chuckle as every face in the room, including Big Mac's, turned beet red as they realized what they had all been doing. The ponies all filed out of the room once more, promising to come and visit me again soon as they left. All save Pinkie Pie, however, who had bolted out of the room at the mention of 'ice cream', though I heard her call out a promise to bring me some back, which I appreciated and looked forward to.

After everyone else cleared the room, Twilight and Celestia remained behind, standing a comfortable distance from the bed; close enough that I could touch them if I stretched, but not so close as to be smothering. I was glad that these two had remained here with me; I still wanted answers as to what had happened.

I took the first bite into my mouth, and moaned in pleasure as the flavors hit my tongue, chewing slowly so that I could enjoy the flavor for longer. Once I had swallowed that first bite, my attention turned towards the two mares in the room. "So… what exactly is happening to me?" I asked somewhat bluntly; I had been unconscious for three days, and I wasn't in much of a mood to beat around the bush.

The two looked to one another, and Celestia subtly nodded to her student and herd-mate, who gulped, and cleared her throat. "Well, to put it simply… the magic of the artifact is… rebuilding your body."

I quirked an eyebrow at the purple unicorn, not satisfied with the vague nature of her answer. "What exactly does that mean? How and why is it doing that? And what do you even mean that it's 'rebuilding' my body?" I realized that I'd reiterated the same question, but it was the one that was at the forefront of my mind.

Twilight gulped at my barrage of questions, and shook her head slowly, seemingly trying to focus. "Well, I don't really know the 'why' of it, but I do know that it seems to be an altered form of transformation magic; it doesn't seem to be able to make drastic changes, but they're permanent ones rather than the temporary changes normally associated with a spell like this."

There was a moment of silence as I took in the information. "I see. But, you still haven't told me what these changes are yet."

Twilight cleared her throat. "Well… that's the interesting part; all the changes it's making to your body are beneficial ones. You may have noticed some already; your vision and hearing should be more acute, you should feel stronger, and I bet you don't feel weak, like you normally would after lying still for so long."

I looked down at my open palm as she spoke; all of the things she had said were true, at least so far. "So then… it's making me into a super-human or something?"

It seemed that it was Celestia's turn to speak this time. "More like a super-soldier. All of these changes seem to be mainly beneficial to a warrior of some fashion. If I had to hazard a guess, the artifact's original purpose was to create human fighters that could fend off threats that a normal member of their race never would have stood a chance against. And given this world's history of powerful beings, especially evildoers, it would only make sense to have some sort of task force of enhanced humans to help deal with the threat."

As she spoke, I started to think about what she was saying, and the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to me. With beings like Sombra, Chrysalis, Nightmare Moon and Tirek, it was no wonder that my race's ancestors crafted a method to help them fight back. First and foremost, this brought two questions to mind; where had the artifact been when Nightmare Moon had found it, and how did she tap into its magic to revive herself. I would have to ask her these questions when I saw her next. For now though, I had more to say to the two in front of me now.

I looked between the two mares, a heavy sigh escaping my lips. "Listen… there's something I need to tell the two of you." I could feel some sort of resistance in my mind, and could practically hear Nightmare Moon yelling in protest. "When I was unconscious, I made a discovery. I don't know an easy way to say it, so I'll just spit it out; Nightmare Moon survived, and she's inside my mind, even as we speak."

Twilight gasped and covered her mouth with her hooves, and Celestia rose up, scowling angrily. "If that harlot is indeed still tormenting you, then there is only one recourse; I must fetch my sister, so that we may vanquish her once and for all."

As the solar diarch turned to leave, I grabbed her shoulder with my magic. "That won't be necessary, Tia. I've already spoken to her, and she's agreed not to do anything hostile. In fact, she wants me to teach her how to be a good pony. Even Falathiel believes her this time."

My alabaster lover looked me over. "Blake… please do not tell me she's gotten to you…" She said sadly, as though she'd just found out that I'd been diagnosed with some disease, which given her feelings towards Luna's severed half, probably wasn't far off from how she felt.

Twilight took a step towards me as I shook my head. "No Tia, she hasn't. If anything, it's me that's gotten to her. She approached me in my dreams, and tried to attack me in the hopes of subduing my psyche and controlling my body. Thanks to… to my past, I was able to beat her, and she submitted to me. It seems that the third time really is the charm."

My purple marefriend shook her head. "I… I don't believe it. After all she's done, after all the times she's tried to hurt you, I don't believe her; not one bit!" She turned towards the door, and stormed out before I could even form a response.

After staring at the door for a moment, as though it might suddenly open with a cowed Twilight trotting back through, I turned my gaze back to Celestia, not liking the look on her face one bit. "Blake, my love…" Her tone didn't fill me with confidence that this was going to end well. "You know that we are only looking you for your wellbeing. If you will not allow us to remove her by choice, then we will have to do so with force."

I shook my head, my eyes filled with steel as I looked into those of my lover. "No, Celestia. The only part of her residing in me right now is her soul. Remove her from me now, and you'll be damning her to Tartarus." My gaze softened slightly, and I felt a slight smile form on my lips. "I believe she can change this time… and I'm willing to help her to do that. Sure, she's done terrible things in the past… but so have I, and you and Luna were willing to expend who knows how much of your magic to bring me back to life and bring me here, among your precious subjects to live and love, learn and grow. Doesn't she deserve that same chance?"

Celestia was quiet for an unnerving length of time, simply sitting there, staring out the window as her gorgeous pastel rainbow of a mane and tail flowed in an invisible breeze. Finally, she looked to me and spoke. "Before I make any sort of decision on this matter, I wish to speak with my sister… and with Nightmare Moon herself. I do not yet trust her, but I do trust you. I will however, say that I truly hope that you are right about this; it would pain me to be forced to banish her to Tartarus for eternity." My regal marefriend stood then, and turned towards the door.

"Going to talk to Lulu now?" I asked curiously as she made her way to the door.

The lovely mare nodded briefly. "Yes. As much as I'd rather stay here, I believe that this is something I should speak to her about equinally." She turned again, and left the room before I could protest, not that I would have anyway.

The room fell into silence after she left, save for the rhythmic beeping of my heart monitor. Strangely enough, there seemed to be some cotton candy wrapped around one of the wires that led to the sensors on my chest. I looked up at the cotton candy and nearly tumbled out of my bed as I realized that it was actually a tail; a tail that just so happened to be attached to a Pinkie Pie… who seemed to have her butt pointed towards me as she sat on top of the monitor.

The strange, physics-breaking mare turned around out of nowhere, a huge grin on her ice cream stained lips. 'Hiya Blakey! I brought you your ice cream, just like I said I would!"

I blinked, and took the waffle cone from her hoof, noting that it seemed to be filled to the brim with quickly melting mint chocolate chip. "Uhh… thanks…" I muttered out, still recovering from the surprise of her suddenly appearing in my room, when I had thought myself to be alone.

"No problem!" She exclaimed excitedly. "You need anything, you just tell ol' Pinkie Pie, and she'll be sure to get it for you in a jiffy!" She moved in close to my face, stretching her neck impossibly long. "By the way… I'm Pinkie Pie…" She whispered to my face.

I couldn't help but chuckle at the pink mare's silly antics. "Thanks, I never would have guessed." I replied dryly before licking my ice cream.

The crazy party pony giggled. "Silly Billy! That's why I told you!" She noisily started munching on her own ice cream the instant she finished speaking.

Her response made me roll my eyes so hard that, given the crazy physics of this world, as well as my proximity to Pinkie Pie, I was actually worried for a moment that they might just fall out of my head, or something else equally zany.

As I took another lick of my ice cream, I realized that I had only taken the one bite of my pasta, and my stomach was quick to remind me that ice cream wouldn't be enough to satisfy it. I looked up to the top of the heart monitor, where Pinkie was still happily perched. "Hey, Pinks? I don't mean to be rude, but I need something a little more filling than ice cream right now."

The mare grinned, and hopped off of the monitor. I knew as soon as I saw the look in her eye that something weird was going to happen. "No problem-o, mi amigo!" She exclaimed in her usual, ecstatic tone. "I have just the thing right here!"

I watched on in awe as the physics-breaking mare reached up into her mane, and pulled out a mini-fridge, easily a meter tall, and set it on the ground before zipping over to an out and plugging it in. Before I could react, she grabbed my ice cream, and tossed it into the top door of the fridge, closing it again immediately.

No words came to me as I watched the insane spectacle unfold in front of me, trying not to think too hard about it in order to preserve my sanity. Another thought popped into my head out of nowhere, and I decided to use it to distract myself from the lunacy that was Pinkie Pie. "Hey Pinks…" I started off slowly. "Where's Mitta at? 'Tia said that she was awake, but I didn't see her earlier." I had a feeling that Pinkie probably wasn't the right pony to ask, but she was currently the only one around to ask.

Pinkie's smile twitched at the mention of Mitta, and that worried me. "Oh… She's fine…" She said in an uncharacteristically exasperated tone. "She won't leave your house though. Says she doesn't feel safe around other ponies if you aren't there to keep her safe."

Her reply made me pause. "Poor thing… having to wake up in a strange place, surrounded by strange ponies, and then be told that the one soul that you trust is lying unconscious in a hospital bed on the other side of a town you didn't even know existed. And to make it worse for the poor mare, everypony has one of the marks that her former friends were convinced was some sort of curse, or plague."

Pinkie blinked at the revelation. "Wowie zowie! That doesn't sound like any fun at all!" A grin spread across her face suddenly. "I know! I'll throw her a party!"

The bubbly pink mare zipped towards the door in what should have been a blur, but for me, time seemed to slow ever so slightly. And not in the normal way, where it was merely an illusion created by my mind in a dangerous situation. No, this felt different; like I could still move freely. And I did just that, my arm shooting out at what should have been an impossible speed to grab the party-crazy mare by her fluffy pink tail. As soon as my hand wrapped around the mare's fluffy tail, time seemed to return to its normal flow. I blinked as Pinkie crashed to the ground with a rather cartoonish 'squeak'.

I dismissed the disconcerting event for the time being, and focused on Pinkie. "No, Pinkie, no parties. That poor mare has been through enough recently. What she needs right now, more than anything, is space. Space, and time, so that she can cope with everything that's happened to her."

Pinkie stared at me for a moment, her big, blue eyes giving me chills as she gazed at me. Suddenly, she grinned hugely. "Okie Dokie Loki!" She exclaimed cheerfully. "I'll make sure everything stays nice and quiet for her!"

Time slowed once more as Pinkie leapt into the air and shot towards the door, but I wasn't quick enough to catch her this time, and she left the room before I could even protest. I could only hope that she wouldn't do anything too insane around poor Mitta.

With the room once again empty, I turned my attention to my now-cold pasta. I carefully picked up the fork that had been resting in the pasta, the tines buried in the swirled noodles, and took a bite. Fortunately, I was used to eating cold food, so eating the pasta like this was fairly easy for me, and it actually still tasted good as well.

Nearly an hour had passed, and I was not only long finished with both my meal and my ice cream, I was also exceptionally bored. Nopony had come into the room since Pinkie had left, and now that I was awake, I imagined that Scootaloo would be sleeping at home. My thoughts turned to the little filly as I sat there and stared at the wall. How long could she endure this? How many times could she be forced to wait for me to wake up after my latest bout with unconsciousness? She had said that I was the best thing that had ever happened to her, but was that really right? With how much I had put her through in such a short period of time, I felt like the worst thing that could have happened to the little filly.

I was about to turn off the light and try to sleep when a quiet knock sounded at the door to my room. A moment later, the door cracked open quietly, and a pale, blue muzzle poked through. "Blake? Are you awake?" A voice that distinctly belonged to Rainbow Dash asked.

I looked towards the door, and for a moment contemplated feigning sleep, but quickly decided not to deceive my friend like that. "Yeah Dash, I'm awake." I said simply, hoping that she wouldn't be scared off by my being awake.

The brash, rainbow-maned mare slowly stepped into my room, nudging the door open with some hesitance. She didn't speak as she entered the room, and in fact stayed silent for some time. Eventually though, she decided to say something. "H-hey, Blake…" She started nervously, something that was definitely out of her character. "I uhh… I wanted to tell you… No, that's not right." She mumbled to herself, then took a deep breath, trotting slowly up to the bed.

I watched her, and gave her a small smile. "It's ok, Dash; I'm not mad at you for what happened… in fact, I should be apologizing for how I went off on you over Scootaloo. I mean, it's not like you meant for her to hear that."

Dash looked to the floor, and laughed nervously as she rubbed the back of her head with a hoof. "Yeah… I didn't even know the squirt was there." She admitted apologetically. "But… I've got a lot more to be sorry about too; like how I threw that weird toy of yours into the snow, or how I've been avoiding you, or even how I didn't show up before now, even though I heard you were out cold again… and when I found out that you were awake." The poor mare seemed really down over all of this, and I couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

My smile brightened, and I gestured her over. "Hey now, it's ok Dash; you're here now, aren't you? And besides, it wasn't really your fault at all… there was some weird artifact in the Everfree that affected certain ponies. Even Shining Armor was affected by it."

I watched with some amusement as Dash's ears perked up. "W-wait… he really acted like I did?" She asked skeptically.

I nodded. "That's right, Dash; he even tried to attack the new maid that I only recently hired too… the guy went straight off the deep end. But, thanks to Twilight, we know that it was the artifact influencing your actions, seemingly turning you against your own friends. Or… one friend, at least. Still not sure why I was the only one the two of you showed that kind of aggression towards." I had a feeling that it had something to do with the original function of the artifact itself, but I had no way to be sure, and so I kept it to myself.

Rainbow Dash chuckled, and inspected her hoof brazenly, her old self seemingly shining through for the first time in a long time. "Probably because we were the only two that could've kicked your butt." She said with a confident grin.

My mood brightened as I saw the old Dash returning to us. "You, maybe. But Shining? I've whupped his butt at last twice now, so I doubt that's the reason."

My comment actually got Rainbow Dash to laugh; a unique sound that I never tired of hearing, just like with all of my friends and loved ones. "Yeah, you've got a point there! Ol' Shiny Butt probably still doesn't know what hit him either!" She exclaimed before falling onto her back on the floor, holding her sides in laughter.

Her laughter was infectious, and soon enough, I was laughing right alongside her, chuckling and guffawing as the two of us continued to poke fun at poor Shining. Eventually though, the laughter died down, and Dash got up off the floor, climbing up my bed with her front hooves to manage it.

Still grinning, I made to give her a hearty pat on the back. "That was a good one, eh Dash?" I asked just before slapping her back.

Unfortunately for poor Rainbow Dash, I had temporarily forgotten about my enhanced strength, and sent the mare careening across the room, luckily landing in a chair, albeit upside down.

"Whoa there, killer!" She exclaimed as she tried to right herself. "What the hay was that about?!" She sounded more confused than angry, but the latter was definitely there.

I chuckled nervously, and rubbed the back of my head. "Heh heh… sorry Dash. Apparently the artifact also made me stronger while I was out, and I'm kinda still getting used to that."

Dash blinked and watched me, not taking her eyes off of me as she climbed of off the chair and made her way over to the bed once more. "Really?" She asked, sounding skeptical. "That. Is. So… Awesome!" She exclaimed as she shot up into the air, doing an excited backflip. "What else did it do to you?"

I shrugged, not knowing the full extent. "Well, it made my reaction time, as well as my body itself, faster. And it also made my vision and hearing better. I think Twi said something about having more stamina too, but I'm not sure." As I explained this, Dash sat there, squishing her cheeks together with glee as she listened. All in all, the look was actually rather adorable for her.

"That just made you twenty percent cooler!" She shouted excitedly, before stopping. "Wait… if you have more stamina now, does that mean…" She darted down faster than I could react, and puled the sheets back, her gaze falling on my crotch, the look in her eyes telling me exactly what she was looking for.

Before either of us could move, we heard the door open. "Good evening, my love~" Luna's pleasant voice called into the room. "I thought I would… Blake Marshall! What is the meaning of this?!"

I followed her accusatory hoof to see that there was a pony-shaped lump in the sheets between my legs, making it look even more like we were doing naughty things when Luna walked in on us. "Thanks Dash…" I grumbled as I turned my attention back to Luna, hopefully to explain what had actually happened.