A/N - Howdy ponies! It's been far too long, hasn't it? I feel like every time I get set to write, life decides to come up with some long-term means to keep me from doing so. This year has already been so stressful and hectic, I don't even know where to begin. One of the worst things to happen, was that my dog died of cancer at six years old... three days after we found out she had cancer. It was a hard blow to me, as she was a source of a lot of my happiness, but I'm recovering from that as well. Anyway, I plan to make efforts to get back into a regular schedule come Hell or high water. I'm going to start out with a single chapter a month, but after that, if I can get things together, I'll try for more. Thank you all for your patience, and you're more awesome than I can say for sticking with me through all of this. As always, don't forget to follow/favorite, review, and most importantly; enjoy!

Shortly after we started for home, Twilight's ears perked up. "Oh! Rarity, I think I might have a book at the library that could help you fix Blake's clothes." She started trotting off from the group, in the direction of her former home, the Golden Oaks library.

Rarity looked on as she trotted for a moment, then looked back to me. "Err… I hope you don't mind, Dear. You know How persistent Twilight can be when it comes to showing ponies something she thinks is interesting."

Her words caused most of the group to giggle, and I nodded, giving her a shooing gesture. "That's ok, Rarity; go ahead and see what she has, I'm sure it will help make things easier for you, so you don't have to bust your flank making me an entirely new wardrobe. And, I don't want you to have to do that either; not that I don't love your work, but all of my clothes are already broken in and even more comfortable, so I'd hate to part with them."

The lovely fashionista looked like she wanted to say something, but then seemed to think better of it and turned towards Twilight with a wave. "Goodbye for now, Darlings! We'll be back before you know it~" I watched the pair leave, trying my best not to stare at their flanks, though with how they were accentuated by the stylish winter coats that they wore, that was rather difficult.

Applejack chuckled softly next to me, and nudged me with her flank. "Careful where them eyes o' yers roam, Sugarcube; Ah know Rare's already hot fer ya, even if she'd never put it like that. If'n she saw ya eyein' her up like that, y'all might have another member o' yer herd ta deal with."

I smirked at her, and shook my head. "Nah, Rarity isn't interested in being part of a herd, especially not one that's this big. She wants her stallion all to herself, so at best, she might try to get me up to her bedroom… though, truth be told, I don't think she'd do that either, even with how lax dating is around here."

The lovely country mare pursed her lips, and nodded. "Yeah, Ah remember ya tellin' us about how weird and complex datin' was where yer from. Ah don't think that kind'a thing could work here; there'd be mares left and right with nopony to love, 'cept other mares."

This caused me to chuckle, and I nudged her lightly. "Heh heh… There's a sight I wouldn't mind seeing someday~" I whispered to her as our home came into view.

AJ quirked an eyebrow at me, seemingly not understanding what I meant. "What d'ya mean by that, Sugarcube? Ah… don't… Oh." Her face turned cherry red as she finally caught my meaning, and I laughed. "W-well, sorry ta disappoint ya Hun, but mah barn door don't swing that way, and Ah don't see anything that'll ever change that." I couldn't help but wonder if she knew about the strange, ambient magic that seemingly opens herd mates up to one another, and had caused Luna and Twilight to kiss awhile back.

The rest of us, minus Twilight and Rarity, all made our way up the steps to the stoop, and into the house. I was immediately smacked in the chest by a small, brown furball that clutched tightly to my chest. Recognizing who it was, I began to stroke his little back, and held him. "Hey there, Pabu. Sorry I scared ya, buddy. I'm ok though, and we can get back to normal now." The girls all cooed in cutesy ways, save for Vinyl, as I shared the tender moment with my pet.

I noticed that Aurora had walked quietly up to me as well, and I knelt down, scratching behind her leafy ears. "I know you were worried too, weren't you girl?" The wooden wolf, who seemed to be growing by the day, yipped and wagged her tail, an obvious gesture that she was glad to see me, a sentiment punctuated by her leaning into the pettings she was getting from me.

Before anything else could be said, a scroll appeared in a flash before Celestia, and without even reading it, she let out a small sigh. "As much as I wish I could stay, and share in the celebration, I'm afraid I must return to Canterlot; Equestria needs its ruler, and I cannot stay away from the throne forever."

Luna's ears perked up, and she looked to her sister. "Must we truly leave now, sister? Dearest Blake has only just set foot inside his home." I could tell that the beautiful Princess of the Night, my beloved fiancé, was trying to hide the disappointment in her voice, but she only partially succeeded in doing so.

Her older sister shook her head with a small smile. "No, my dear sister; only I will be returning this night. You are free to remain here, and enjoy your time with the stallion that has so thoroughly stolen your heart." Her smile was genuine, but I could see the longing behind those soft, magenta eyes.

Knowing how much she wanted to stay with me, I walked slowly up to her, and wrapped my arms around her strong, yet graceful neck. "I wish you could stay, Celestia… but I know you need to leave. I'll be sure to come and visit you tomorrow though, first thing."

I could feel her shift in my grip, her heart beating just a little faster as she returned my embrace. "I would like that, my dear. Perhaps you and your loved ones would like to spend Hearthswarming at the Palace this year, and celebrate it with my sister and myself."

Her offer was tempting, but I shook my head. "I have a better idea, Tia; why don't you arrange to come to Ponyville again then, and celebrate it here, with us… not as a Princess of Equestria, but as a member of our family."

Celestia shivered in my embrace, and I could tell that it was really a subtle shudder, her attempt to fight off tears at the warm invitation. "Nothing would make me happier…" She whispered quietly into my ear. "But I am afraid I must go now… I will see all of you soon." As she spoke, Tia released me, and turned towards the door to leave.

Once the regal mare had departed, the rest of us retired to the living room, where we all sat down to chat. Not unexpectedly, Vinyl was the first one to speak up. "So buddy, what's it like, beating Nightmare Moon twice in a row like that?"

Octavia, who was sitting next to the DJ, nodded her agreement. "Yes Blake, please tell us what it was like to fight that… evil mare a second time." I could tell she had wanted to call Nightmare Moon something else, but had restrained herself, an act that I was personally glad for, as I'd likely never hear the end of it from the currently reforming Alicorn if Octavia hadn't watched what she said.

All I could do was shrug lightly. "To be honest, I never really liked fighting to begin with, except for sparring and my Mixed Martial Arts matches, but this time around, it was Falathiel that dealt the final blow. I just punched her in the face."

From my left, Applejack chuckled. "Ah heard about that from Twi. She said y'all sent ol' Moonbutt flyin' across tha room with that punch!" I grunted lightly as she slugged me in the arm, not really feeling the impact so much as just her touching me, but it was a reflexive grunt, as I had forgotten about my new state of being, and had expected more. "Good thing too, she needed that wallop ta knock some sense into 'er." I could tell that AJ was speaking a little more directly to the mare currently inhabiting my head, but none of the others seemed to notice, save for Nightmare Moon herself.

The words of my country marefriend caused Rainbow Dash to giggle. "And that was before Blake got his new strength! Imagine how hard he'd have whupped her flank if he'd gotten that first!" It seemed that the feisty Pegasus was getting worked up over the thought, and that caused me to chuckle softly.

"Now Rainbow Dash, let's not go picking fights. I'm sure Blake just wants to sit down and relax for a while. He's been pretty stressed from his stay in the hospital." We all turned at the sound of a familiar, bookish voice to see Twilight and Rarity step through the door to our home, and shake a light dusting of snow from their coats before removing them. It seemed it had started to snow in the short time since we had all arrived. "Haven't you noticed how fidgety he's been, or the way he looks off into nothing? It's obvious he's all wound up right now, and we should help him relax." It didn't surprise me that the perceptive mare had picked up on my little tells, and knew that I had been getting restless in that hospital.

The boisterous, blue mare sighed and deflated. "Yeah, you're right. I remember how cooped up I got when I had to stay in the hospital after I hurt my wing. Heh… if Twilight hadn't given me those Daring Doo books to read, I think I might have gone bonkers!" She rolled her eyes oddly around in her head to emphasize her point, and if I hadn't been adjusted to that sort of thing already, it would have been unsettling. "That's why I lent them to Blake when he got hurt; I knew what it was like, and I wanted to give him a hoof in keeping it together." Dash gave me a small, half-smile as she finished her thought, a gesture that, given our recent history together, I was glad for.

Twilight and Rarity removed their snow boots, and trotted into the living room, with my purple marefriend taking a seat close to me while Rarity opted to sit next to Fluttershy, smiling softly as she looked around the room. "Now that all that's out of the way, I believe that Blake was promised a meal. After all, the poor dear must be simply starving after three days of eating that terrible hospital food."

The beautiful fashionista's words got a good chuckle out of me, and I nodded. "Yeah, I'll admit that it wasn't that great. Redheart didn't get time to really sneak me in any meals this time around, so I was stuck with just hospital food this time." My stomach growled as I spoke, and I blushed lightly as everyone giggled around me. I quickly joined in though, knowing that none of them meant anything by their laughter. "So um… about that meal? I don't know who's going to cook, but it's going to be me if someone else doesn't get to it soon… I really am hungry."

This caused the gathered mares to laugh even harder, and Twilight stood up, along with Lyra, surprisingly enough, and they trotted towards the kitchen. "Don't you worry, we'll have something yummy cooked up for you in no time~" The minty green mare's words caused my stomach to growl louder, and everyone giggled again.

The conversation quieted into idle chit-chat as we all waited for what Twilight and Lyra were planning for us. The pair didn't spend an incredible amount of time together, so it would be interesting to see how well the two would be able to work together to make a meal for all of us.

Finally, after what felt like hours, and much banging and grumbling in the kitchen, Twilight poked her head out of the entryway with a broad grin on her face. "Alright everypony; lunch is just about ready. If you'll all make your way to the dining table, we'll bring it out to you." The lot of us looked to one another, and we all shrugged, then did as asked.

After just a few more minutes, Twilight levitated out a large serving bowl, too high up for me to see the contents, though I could smell whatever it was, and it made all of our collective stomachs grumble. "Mmm… smells like tortellini with red sauce~" I couldn't smell what was inside of the tortellinis, for obvious reasons, but I could definitely smell that that was what was in the bowl.

Twilight giggled. "You have a good nose on you, Blake. We made cheese tortellini with a zesty red sauce." She set the bowl down, and the steaming contents were revealed.

It was nothing fancy, but it still looked and smelled delicious, and I couldn't wait to dig in. Just as I was about to compliment the pair, Lyra trotted out with a few pitchers of various drinks, as well as enough glasses for all of us. "We used up a lot of your cheese and your pastry flour."

I thought on her words as the pair began dishing out the meal for everypony. "But… you don't use pastry flour for pasta shells…" I heard a familiar giggle in my mind as I ended my apprehensive thought.

"Heeheehee~ Then this should be an interesting meal, shouldn't it, Bearer?" Falathiel's tone was light and giddy; it seemed that she too was happy to see me home again. "Though I have to wonder… how did you recognize what they had made if they used the wrong dough?" I blinked at her question, and realized that she had a point, and that I didn't have an answer.

"Blake, is something wrong?" I was snapped back to the dining room by Twilight's voice. I noticed that she had placed a portion of the tortellini in front of me. "You looked like you were in another place. Is everything ok?"

I looked at her dumbly for a brief moment, and chuckled. "Yeah, everything's fine. Just having a little chat with Falathiel, that's all." I heard the sentient sword giggle inside of my mind as Twilight gave me a small smile.

She turned, and started to give Applejack her portion, and giggled. "I always forget that your sword has a literal mind of her own. Though I suppose I should be more used to it… after all, I've got a voice in my own head now too."

I was going to ask how Aerith was doing, but my lovely, country marefriend beat me to the bunch. "So Twi, how is Aerith, anyway? Ah haven't heard y'all talk about 'er much lately."

Twilight portioned out some of the tortellini for Applejack, and gave her a smile. "She's mostly recovered now. Poor thing had to use up quite a bit of magic to protect me from Nightmare Moon." That moment was burned into my mind forever, and it still made my blood boil to think about, even though the mare responsible seemed to be repentant of her actions, and truly willing to change herself around for the better.

Rarity was the next to speak, as Lyra dished her out some of the meal she had made with Twilight. "We're all certainly glad that she was there, Darling. Just thinking about what she shielded you from makes me shiver." As though to emphasize her point, the lovely fashionista actually shivered, squeezing her eyes shut as though to ward off the thought.

"Oh, I see how it's gonna be; Bossman comes home, and Nopony even thinks to invite us to his welcome home meal." The voice sounded familiar to me, but as far as I knew, it was impossible for the pony in question to be outside the Everfree forest.

I turned to see for myself, and my eyes widened at the sight before me. "Spring Leaf?! But how? I thought you were trapped… in the…. Wait a minute… why can't I see through you anymore?" Spring Leaf giggled as the two mares accompanying her tackled me out of my chair and hugged me tightly. "Oof! H-hey Mitta, hey Shimmer. It's good to see you both again." I wrapped my arms around them as I spoke, and noticed that Mitta was crying softly. It made sense though, as she hadn't seen me since she passed out at the edge of the Everfree nearly a week ago.

Spring Leaf approached as well, at a leisurely pace. "It's actually pretty simple, Boss; I'm not a ghost anymore, I've got a body of my very own again. Turns out Isabel and her kind have this weird technique where they pull some of their own goo off, and make it so when a ghost goes in it, like they're trying to possess it, they bond with the little orb, and it grows into a new body for them. Hehe… you'll have to ask her how it works though, I've got no clue on that."

As Mitta cried into my shoulder, I petted her mane softly, trying to comfort her until she could regain her composure. "I see… I might just do that then. I'm glad she was able to help you though, you didn't deserve to be stuck in the Everfree like that." After Spring Leaf gave me a brief nod, and took her spot at the table, I looked down to the other two. "Hey now, it's alright Mitta; We're both ok now, you don't have to worry anymore."

Surprisingly enough, it was Shimmer who spoke up. "It isn't that, Sir. I can feel her emotions, and she is overwhelmed with joy that the one who saved her from that horrible life in Sunny Town is here, wrapped in her hooves. She didn't feel safe without you around."

There was silence for a short time after she spoke, enough to make the disguised changeling look around nervously, her expression making it clear that she thought she had done something wrong. "Wow… I didn't know you could tell all that from just reading a pony's emotions." It seemed the first to break the silence was Twilight, and her tone was an impressed one. "Is that a skill you learn, or can all changelings do it?"

The sudden questioning caused Shimmer to stutter briefly, obviously caught off guard. "I-I um… well, I'm not really sure. I wasn't exactly a social mare at the hive… I didn't really know any other changelings there." She let out a deep sigh. "It wouldn't have mattered though. When Chrysalis abandoned me, none of them would have helped… that would have been opposing her will."

The room grew silent once more, though it was more somber this time. "You do not need to worry about that anymore, young one. You have convinced both my sister and I of your sincerity, and I know that dear Blake will take good care of you."

Everypony in the room listened to Luna's words, and we all nodded as I stood with the two held in my embrace. "That's right. You two are in good hands, not just with me, but with all of us." Mitta took a few, deep breaths, and smiled up at me. It was clear that she was still getting over her long imprisonment in Sunny Town, but it was also clear that my marefriends had done quite a good job in helping her get over all of that. "Now, how about we set a place for Mitta, Shimmer and Spring Leaf, and have our lunch, hmm?"

The changeling mare paused and looked at me. "Why would you set a place for me, Sir? I don't eat pony food." Her tone was confused, but there was also a touch of another emotion in there as well, one that I thought could have been gratitude, but couldn't be sure about.

This time, it was dear Derpy who spoke up, trotting over and hugging the disguised changeling, who I noticed bore her curved horn, as I had asked her to, so that I could tell that it was her. "You're family, Shimmer. That means you're welcome at the table, just as much as anypony else. Even if you can't eat our food, you can still talk with us."

I watched as Shimmer's face crinkled up, and she hugged Derpy back, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. "Thank you… I've never had a family before… Back at the… where I was before, we didn't get that close to each other; Chrysalis thought that we could become a threat if we started forming strong bonds with anyone but her."

"That sounds simply dreadful, Darling. Such a lonely life you must have led up until now." The lovely fashionista stamped her hoof lightly on the floor, making it 'clack' quietly on the Cherrywood plank beneath her. "Well no more. From now on, you're going to have plenty of friends to look after you, and make you feel welcome in our little town."

Even as Rarity spoke, Twilight set three more places at the table, and smiled as our friend finished, patting one of the chairs lightly. "That's right. Now, why don't you hop on up here, and join the rest of us?"

Mitta and Shimmer took their places at the table, next to Spring Leaf, the three mares looking happy with their new lives. As I took my own seat once more, Shimmer giggled. "I may not be able to eat pony food, but I still could grow fat from all the love everypony is putting into the air~" All my marefriends blushed, and gave each other a look, then looked to me.

Applejack was the first to speak this time. "Well, with a swell stallion like Blake here ta love, can ya really blame us fer it?" Everypony at the table nodded their agreement, and Luna nuzzled my cheek lightly.

After all of that, things finally settled down, and we were able to eat our meal in relative peace, once Twilight had used her magic to reheat the cold dishes, of course.

After the meal was over, I took Mitta, Shimmer and Spring leaf out into town, to show them all around, and introduce them to some of the ponies they might need to know, like Mayor Mare, the Cakes, and Hammer Hoof. Mitta seemed not to want to leave Sugarcube Corner, and given her long imprisonment, I couldn't blame her.

After that, we simply wandered around the wintry wonderland that was the town, and introduced them to a few of Ponyville's inhabitants, like Colgate and Miss Cheerilee. Shimmer seemed particularly fascinated with the fact that there was a pony dedicated to teaching others, and I managed to convince her to give Shimmer some private tutoring to help catch her up on some of the things she would need to know in pony society.

Here and there, we would catch glimpses of Pinkie Pie as she set up the party she promised for us all tonight, celebrating both my defeat of Nightmare Moon, as well as my recovery from what that strange artifact had done to me. All three of my companions seemed to be drawn to watching the hyperactive, pink blur do her thing, setting things up at what should have been impossible speeds.

After corralling them all together for what must have been the tenth time, I chuckled, and turned towards the library. "I know a place that all three of you will want to visit. Come on, I'll take you there." The three curiously followed behind me, and we reached the large tree that served as the town's library in short order.

I opened the door, and ushered them all in ahead of me. "Oh, hello you four~ I didn't expect to see you again so soon." Twilight smiled as she trotted up to us. "Bring them here for anything specific, or just showing them all around?" Her warm smile betrayed the love in her heart, and I noticed Shimmer shiver lightly as she felt the same.

It was still strange to me how quickly the bookish mare could get around, but then, I often forgot that she knew a spell that let her teleport, a spell which I would need another decade at least of magical study in order to learn. "Actually, I just wanted to show them around, so they knew where to come when they-"

BOOM!

I was cut off by what sounded and felt like an explosion coming from somewhere in town, causing all five of us to rush out into the streets to see what had happened.