Three days. Three days of constant company by at least one of the Mane Six. Three days of Pony physicians checking up on me, making sure that whatever had caused my multiple near-death experiences wouldn't reoccur. Three days of Zecora constantly being by my side, barring her leg being checked on and calls of nature. Three days of multiple daily visits from Celestia and Luna, keeping me up to date on events in and outside of the Kingdom of Equestria.

Despite what Luna had mentioned in my dream before about there being no problems with me magic-wise, I was still poked and prodded a bit by the palace mages, as well as Twilight and the Princesses, and even those visits had apparently shown nothing abnormal about me.

During the meeting three days prior, Celestia had agreed that my return to Ponyville would be something that needed to happen, but she also hoped that I'd stay in Canterlot for, in her words, "…a few more days so my doctors and mages can make sure everything is alright." I'd begrudgingly agreed, especially when they said that Zecora's broken leg would be healed in said few days.

As had been suggested to me, I picked up the journal and wrote to the Humane Five. Jackie had been the first to respond, expressing her relief that I was okay. Apparently, the book had been placed in her care after careful consideration among the five friends. When I asked how her family had reacted to her absence, she explained that they'd all given the excuse that they'd had an impromptu sleepover for a few nights at Rarity's apartment.

When the rest of the Smith family had asked about me, Jackie said that she'd taken me home. I wished them well, and when I mentioned that the portal was now permanently open, she asked if there was anything she or the others could get for me. I jokingly asked for some fast food like a Big Mac or Triple Whopper with Cheese or something like that. To my surprise, she actually agreed and said she'd see me soon.

Celestia had come by on the second day, informing me that she'd sent off the letters to each kingdom, informing them of this council. She set the date for December 7th, and had agreed that the Palace of the Two Sisters was as appropriate a spot as any to have the council. She'd already begun preparations despite having not received an answer.

On the third day, I was sitting up in the bed, watching some Fairy Tail with Zecora, Scarlet and Spike, the latter of whom was absolutely enthralled by the show about friendship conquering all. That, and he absolutely had begun to imitate his new favorite character, Natsu Dragneel. He even had begun to imitate the Dragon Slayer whenever he sent a letter to Celestia and was even trying to imitate Natsu's other magic, like Fire Dragon Iron Fist or Fire Dragon Wing Attack.

We were halfway through Episode 18: Reach It! To That Sky! when there was a knock at the door. I paused the video. "Who is it?"

"You have visitors, sir," one of the guards said as he opened the door. "The humans from Earth."

My eyes widened, and my smile widened. "Let them in!" I waved my hands.

The door opened, and I gaped at the five individuals who came in waved at me. They weren't humans in this form, but neither were they Ponies. Nope, these five were Anthro versions of their Pony counterparts wearing human clothes. Not only that, but when I looked down, I noticed that they all had human feet instead of hooves. "Whoa…" was all I could say when they walked in. "What's all this?"

"Weird, right?" Dash chuckled, spinning around to reveal her large Pegasus wings. In this form, Dash still had that slender athletic appearance. "That Twilight pone wasn't sure why. Not that I'm complaining! I get to have hands and wings!" She flapped her wings experimentally. "Whoa!"

"Relax there, sugarcube," Jackie chuckled, then turned to me. She held up a large brown paper bag with a pair of golden arches on it, along with a white soda cup. "We come bearin' gifts."

"I knew I smelled something greasy!" I grinned. Then, before Scarlet could jump on it, I turned to her and, in sync with the meme spouting mare, said, "Too easy."

Jackie handed me the bag and I opened it, inhaling the delicious smell of a Big Mac, fries, and a couple of double cheeseburgers. "Mmm…thank God…I've needed this! You rock! I'll pay you back sometime." I quickly unwrapped one of the double cheeseburgers and took a big bite. "Mmmm…"

"Darling, you've had quite an adventure already," Trisha said with a wave of her hand. "There's no need to repay anything."

"Eeee!" Diane squealed happily as she came up and looked at Spike. "I get to see the real Spike! So cuuuute!" She picked him up and hugged him close, bouncing up and down. I blushed when I saw her large boobs bouncing and had to make myself look away.

Shye giggled. "I never thought I'd ever meet a real-life Dragon before," she admitted. "You're very cute."

"Ah…ehehe, thanks," Spike said, looking embarrassed.

"Diane, don't bounce the poor boy up and down too much," Trisha chuckled as she intervened and took Spike away, reaching up to stroke his spikes. "You're not feeling sick, are you darling?"

Spike blushed hard at that, but shook his head. "N-No, I feel fine," he said.

"What about you, Jethro?" Shye asked. "How are you doing?"

I took a deep breath, swallowing a few of the fries I'd also stuffed my face with, then washing them down with the Coke. "Well, let's just say that Eris' little stunt made me Equestria's infamous new celebrity. And that's putting it mildly. And you know the worst part? I missed Thanksgiving!" I looked at all of them, then smirked. "That was yesterday, wasn't it? How was it for you all?"

"We spent it at the Smith farm," Trisha said. "We've done that for a couple of years now."

"Aaaand," Diane grinned, holding up a large Tupperware container, "we brought leftovers too! There's turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce and bread rolls!"

"Thank God!" I smiled happily. "The future me thanks you for this bountiful meal."

"Don't mention it," Jackie chuckled.

"What's Thanksgiving?" Spike asked.

"Well," I began, "in my home country, it's a special holiday that takes place on the last Thursday of every November. Basically, it's like an autumn festival where you stuff your face, spend time with family, and go around the table telling everyone what you're thankful for. Then comes the food coma!" I laughed and patted the Tupperware. "I haven't had a real good homecooked Thanksgiving meal in years. Thank you."

"Yer welcome," Jackie chuckled.

Shye took a seat next to me. "How are you doing? Twilight told us a bit about what's been happening. You're a knight now?"

I chuckled, then reached down and touched the small badge pinned onto my shirt. It was shaped like a shield with a sword in the center. Behind it, an emblazoned sun and crescent moon took up the same spot. "Apparently the first knight in ages," I said. "It's some high honor only given to the heroes of the realm."

"'The realm'? What is this, Game of Thrones?" Dash asked with a smirk.

"Nah," I laughed, "if this was Game of Thrones, I'd be kicking you out and having some private time with my marefriend," I grinned.

"Dashelle, you read those books?" Rarity asked in shock.

"Just wait until the show comes out," I grinned.

Dash's eyes widened. "There's gonna be a show?! Oh, hell yes!"

"I have every season on my computer," I chuckled. "But back to your question, Shye, I'm…so-so." I waved my hand a bit. "Then again, having this sexy mare by my side constantly really helps," I added, putting an arm around Zecora and pulling her closer. She responded by nuzzling into my chest and sighing contentedly.

Shye noticed her broken leg just then and her eyes widened. "Oh my, I almost forgot about your leg, Miss Zecora! How's it doing?"

Zecora smiled and reached down to rub it gently. "I have been told I should be up and walking by tomorrow."

Shye looked relieved at that news. "That's good."

"Still can't believe you're dating a Zebra," Dash said.

"She was my very first friend when I got here," I replied. "She's been my confidant, has gone out of her way multiple times to protect me, and I love her deeply because of those things and so much more." I moved closer and gave her an Eskimo kiss.

"Still a bit…you know," Dash said.

"Dashelle! Have some decorum!" Trisha said. "Miss Zecora is as intelligent as we are! She's no different than a human woman!"

I smiled. "In a lot of ways, she's superior."

Zecora blushed and buried her face in my chest again. Jackie smiled. "Ah can see she does somethin' fer ya. Ah'm glad ya found someone."

"I am too," I said, reaching up and stroking Zecora's mane.

"What have things been like for you other than the knighthood?" Trisha asked.

I leaned back and sighed. Zecora wrapped her forelegs around me tightly. "Could be better," I admitted. "The entire world of Equestria knows about My Little Pony as well as some of the darker fanfictions. I'm just glad Eris didn't show them Rule 34."

Dash winced. "Ooof, that's a thing?"

"Very much so," I sighed. "Twilight found some yesterday. That was…not a fun thing to talk about with her."

"Shit…" Dash said. "I don't envy you."

"Gee, thanks," I snarked, but then smirked. "It's still good to see you. All of you."

Diane giggled. "Same to you! Hey, where's Pinkie Pie? I wanna talk with her!"

"Somepony mention my name?" Pinkie popped out from behind the large chair in the room, then gaped at Diane. "Whoa…is that what I'd look like in an Anthro form?"

Diane whirled around, looking a bit shocked. "Whoa! Hi Pinkie!"

"Hi, Di-Di!" Pinkie replied. It made me glad to see her beginning to return to her normal happy state. She'd been a bit down lately, and seeing her like this made me feel more comfortable. Almost like old times. "When'd you get here?"

"Maybe ten minutes ago," Diane said. "We brought Jethro some Earth food to cheer him up!"

"Oooh! Can I see?" Pinkie asked, bouncing over to me.

"A lot of it is meat, Pinkster," I chuckled.

"Then why do I smell pie?" Pinkie asked.

Dash held up another container, a complete pumpkin pie. "Here," she chuckled. "This is…about the only pie I can actually stomach. That, and the Marie Callender's chocolate pie. I'm not much of a pie fan."

"I prefer cake myself, but pies are cool too." I chuckled as I reached out and took the pie with my magic.

"Darling…you can perform magic?" Trisha asked in awe as the humans-turned-Anthros all watched as the full pumpkin pie floated over to me.

"Yeah, I can," I smiled. "And so can you in that form. Especially since you have a Unicorn's horn."

Trisha's hand went to her forehead. "Whoa!"

"Can the rest of us use magic?" Jackie asked curiously.

"If you're anything like your counterparts, sort of," I replied. Turning to Shye and Dash, I said, "Since you two have wings, you can not only fly, but you can stand on clouds and push them. When things settle down, I'm sure Rainbow Dash would love to show you how to use those wings. And Shye, you may have the abilities to actually talk to animals, or at least understand them."

"So awesome!" Dash said, looking eagerly back at her wings.

"Oh my," Shye looked similarly eager now.

I chuckled, then turned to Jackie and Diane. "Jackie, you and Diane have Earth Pony abilities. That means you're incredibly strong, stronger than your human forms. And Diane, if you're anything like Pinkie Pie, you can do some pretty unusual things that just defy even magical laws, like pulling stuff out of your mane."

"Oooh! Like this?" Diane reached into her new pink mane and pulled out a large pack of M&M's. "Whoa!"

"Should have known you'd take to that part of your new abilities like a fish to water," I sighed.

"What's that?" Pinkie asked, her mouth drooling.

"It's a dessert from Earth," I said. "They're a chocolate candy called M&M's."

"Yep!" Diane giggled, opening the bag up and putting some in her hand, then handing them to Pinkie.

We all watched the Party Pony take them in her hooves, sniff them, then take a bite. "Ooooh! Tasty chocolatey goodness!"

"You should have brought some Skittles for Rainbow Dash," I smirked. "That way, she can taste the rainbow!"

"That's not the only way you can taste the rainbow, big boy," Scarlet smirked.

"Scarlet…" I said warningly.

"What?" She gave me an innocent look, then began to whistle and looked away from me.

I shook my head. "Sheesh…I made a monster," I said with a small smile as I reached over to stroke Scarlet's mane.

Shye moved closer. "You're getting off topic," she said softly.

I chuckled and nodded. "I'm good at that. But I'm mostly just nervous about my return to Ponyville."

"How come?" Shye asked gently.

"They saw me use the gun on Eris," I said, and with that the somewhat jovial mood in the room shifted. Pinkie's and Diane's manes both deflated somewhat, and the others in the room also looked a bit upset now. I sighed. "I'm worried about being accepted back into town, and that they might not want me there after what they saw."

"Jethy…" Pinkie said, climbing onto my chest gently and moving close. "That's not gonna happen."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Because during the week, I called Mr. and Mrs. Cake, and they asked about you. They sounded worried." Pinkie nuzzled my face a bit, and I felt a small kiss on my cheek. On my other cheek, another kiss was planted. Looking over, I saw a concerned Zecora pulling away from me. Pinkie continued. "They were afraid you wouldn't wake up. And they told me that there were other Ponies in town who were worried too."

"For real?" I asked, a bit of hope growing in my heart.

Pinkie smiled. "Have a little faith in us Ponyvillians, Jethy. I know somepony tried to hurt you here, but nopony would dream of killing you down there."

"Someone tried to kill you?!" Shye asked in alarm.

"Relax, Shye," I replied, "she didn't harm me and she's locked up until Celestia can do something about it. Right now, she's incredibly busy trying to get this council of Equestria going. And dealing with the fallout of Eris' actions. From what Twilight's told me, she's taken a lot of the fall for it."

"Didn't she do anything to prevent her return?" Scarlet asked.

"She thought she had by putting her in a secure location away from prying eyes," I replied. "The statue was under heavy guard, too. It was working, too, until Sunset came back. Now I'm afraid for Celestia."

"Why, darling?" Trisha asked.

I leaned back and took a deep breath. "When I first woke up from my weeklong coma, she told me she should have taken more drastic measures. A more…permanent solution, was what she told me."

The room went silent at the implication for a few seconds before Spike said, "But…she wouldn't do that…right?"

"If this had been a month ago, I'd say no," I replied, "but right now? I don't know, Spike. I really don't know."

A few hours later, I stood in front of Celestia's bedchamber doors. After the talk with the Humane Five, we decided to watch some more of the Fairy Tail anime to bring the mood up. Spike had no problem with us starting over, and we watched up to Natsu, Eat The Village before the others said they had to go. I thanked them for their visit and gifts before they left and promised to keep in touch.

Spike had fallen asleep next to me, as had Scarlet and Pinkie. Zecora was fighting sleep too, and when I said I wanted to try and see Celestia, she tried to come with me. I instead insisted on her resting, saying that I needed to see Celestia alone.

When I told the guards about my desire to see Celestia, they replied that they'd been assigned to escort me anywhere I wanted to go. After she made me promise to come back to her, I let myself be escorted down the hallway. And that was how I found myself standing in front of Celestia's personal quarters.

One of the Unicorn guards standing at Celestia's door, who had a body type similar to Big Mac's own and had completely different colors than the seemingly cloned Unicorn guards I'd seen around, knocked at the door after I told him what I had come to do. From behind the door, a tired and somewhat annoyed Celestia replied, "Yes? What is it?"

"Pardon the interruption, your Highness," the guard said in a deep rumbling voice, "but you have a visitor."

"Who is it?"

"Sir Jethro Bethridge."

There was a pause, then the sound of magic from behind the door along with a lock being undone. "Tell him to come in," she said in a softer voice.

"You may enter, sir," the guard said, opening the door with his magic.

Nodding, I stepped through the door and entered into a darkened room. There was a small fire in a fireplace across from the door, but even that was enough to illuminate the extravagant looking room. There was a large circular futon sitting directly in the center of the room with a golden pillow to one side of said futon. To my left there was a massive wardrobe, and to my right a desk where I saw discarded golden regalia. On the ceiling hung an unlit chandelier with golden curved candle holders attached to a large gold chain. Near a large window I saw a small blue and red reclining couch with a small table in front of it. Directly next to the fireplace I saw a large golden cage with a sleeping Philomena and Eve inside, the smaller Phoenix leaning against her adopted mother. I inwardly smiled as Eve was still making that same eeev…eeev… sound whenever she breathed. On said table were two empty teacups and a half-eaten slice of cake on a plate, which caught me off guard. If she's having a hard time eating her comfort food, she's having a difficult time in general, I thought.

Sitting in a Ponyloaf form on the futon was Celestia. Not Princess Celestia, but just Celestia. She looked utterly exhausted, but despite that she still smiled warmly at me as I closed the door, removing my slippers and walking over to her. "Jesus Christ," I said as I moved to kneel beside her, "you look like shit. Maybe I should come back-"

She hushed me with a hoof to my mouth and a shake of her head. "I'll always have time for a visit from you, my knight," she said with a hint of amusement in her voice. "Please, join me."

I rolled my eyes and sat down beside her, crossing my legs. "You are such a troll," I smirked as I reached up automatically to stroke her flowing mane gently. "And I mean that in the nicest possible way."

She closed her eyes at my touch and sighed contentedly. "That feels nice," she said softly.

"Seriously, are you alright?" I asked as I began to massage the monarch.

"Much better thanks to these magical hands of yours," she sighed contentedly, stretching out her legs and lying on her stomach.

I snorted. "Nothing magical about these hands, princess," I said.

"Mmmm," was all I got in reply as I managed to find a small knot in her withers which I began slowly working on. "Aaah…right there," she cooed softly. If I didn't know any better, I could have sworn her tone was almost sensuous in nature. "So…what did you come to see me about, my good sir knight?"

"In here I'm not a knight," I replied. "I'm your good friend Jethro. And you're my good and close friend Celestia," I quickly added before she could say anything.

"Hah! He can be taught," she replied, imitating Robin William's Genie for a bit before looking up at me. "What would you wish of me?"

I laughed. "Next thing you know, you'll be a Disney princess. I mean, you already have the princess part down."

The two of us laughed at that, but as the laughter died down, I faced Celestia with a serious expression. She noticed and her smile slowly vanished, becoming more worried. "Jethro? Is something on your mind?"

I nodded. "Celestia, tomorrow I intend to return to Ponyville."

Her demeanor changed. She stiffened a bit and she looked away. "I see," she said. Her tone sounded more upset than anything.

"I can't stay here forever…Cellie," I replied softly as I lay on my stomach next to her and put a wing around her. "You can't keep shielding me forever."

"I can try," she said softly. "I failed, Jethro. I…I fucked up big time. I thought I was doing the right thing by locking Eris up away from prying eyes. But even that wasn't enough. I'm the one who sent you to the other Earth to get Sunset."

"Now hold on," I interrupted her, "That's not true. I volunteered. You forget, I have access to the show's events. And while they might not have been happening the same way, there are certain events that I'm sure will happen in the future. The Crystal Empire's return, possibly Tirek's escape, and the Storm King's invasion of Equestria. A good ruler always takes precautionary measures to prevent actions that are detrimental to those under her rule. And you did just that."

"It wasn't enough," Celestia said through clenched teeth. "I should have thrown her into an active volcano!" Her mane and tail began moving faster and the room began to heat up.

I looked at her, horrified. "Celestia! What the fuck?!"

"She caused the deaths of some of my Ponies!" she shouted back, tears forming in her angry eyes. "The Discord from your show might have been reformed in the end, but Eris can't be! She's a monster! I should have ended her when I had the chance!"

I gaped at her for a bit, then closed my mouth. "So…this is what I look like when I'm talking about Eris," I said somberly. "Celestia, please…"

"You know the worst thing about being me? Having a nearly photographic memory!" she shouted bitterly. "I know the name of every Pony who died, damn it! I've seen their faces in my reports!" She covered her eyes with her hooves. "This is my fault, Jethro…"

I pulled her closer to me, wrapping my arms and wings around her. "Let it all out, Cellie."

And she did. She buried her face into my chest and, after casting some kind of spell, sobbed loudly into my chest. Her sobbing was not that of a restrained princess, but someone in the pit of despair. She wailed and cursed herself constantly in various languages. Halfway through her sobbing, someone teleported in and joined us. Looking up, I saw an equally distraught looking Luna gazing worriedly at her sister. I pulled the lunar Alicorn into the hug, and she too began crying.

It felt like hours had passed before the two finally started to settle down. Their eyes were puffy, but they looked somewhat refreshed from all the emotions released. I stroked their manes gently, then, after taking a deep breath, I began to sing. "The stars are out; the moon is up. It's time to go to bed. I'm so glad you have a place to lay your little heads. Have a deep and peaceful sleep, dream away the hours. When you wake, the sun will come to smile upon the flowers. Go to sleep my little friends beneath the evening star. You will always have a friend no matter where you are."

As I undid myself from their grasps, the two sisters found comfort in each other, clinging to the other as they began to doze off. As I slowly moved away, I whispered, "Don't look so down, you two. Someone once said that once you hit rock bottom, the only place to go is up. We all screwed the pooch on this one, but we can all make it right. And the best place to start is tomorrow. In Ponyville. Now, sleep well. You two both need it." And with that, I grabbed my slippers and headed out.