"I'm glad to see you all here for our final meeting," Celestia said at the beginning of the council meeting later that morning. The fog had lifted half an hour earlier, and with it, the mood of the start of the day seemed to lift. Even Amethyst, who had always openly worn a scowl during the proceedings, seemed more neutral than before. She'd even nodded her head in my direction when I arrived with Ember ten minutes prior. Not wanting to seem rude, I had responded in kind.

Celestia continued, "Today, we'll be discussing a few other final matters, which I trust should be very much agreeable to everycreature here." She raised her horn, and it glowed. Strands of glowing lines appeared on the map of known Equestria, each of which represented trade routes which had been hammered out during the previous meetings. Green lines represented universal agreements, while a few yellow lines represented majority agreements and red lines represented those which were contested. Not surprisingly, the red lines all fell near or in the Lycan Empire's territory. "But first, I hope we can discuss these trade routes one more time."

"We have all agreed to put forth twenty five percent of our own individual governmental budgets towards these roads," Luna spoke up then, "and those who cannot provide such a percentage due to their own budgets have all agreed to provide at least ten percent of their annual spending to be put towards the roads and trade routes. At least, almost all of us have."

Ignoring the not so subtle jab at the Lycans, Celestia continued. "Is there nothing else to be said about these paths? Can't we agree on something?"

Jasper leaned forward. "Your Highness, the Lycan Empire would like to change only one minor thing on the roads near our territory, and then we will agree."

Celestia looked at Jasper with a well practiced face of neutrality. "What kind of change?" she asked.

Jasper pointed at the road that led to their capital city. "This one. Canisia City has many different entrances in the mountain. We'd much prefer it if the road lead to the most eastern door here." With that, she pointed to a part of the mountain range which was about halfway up the eastern slopes of the mountain.

"Why that pathway in particular?" Celestia asked.

"It's closest to where our biggest marketplace is located," Jasper explained. "The goods we'd be receiving would have to travel through miles of housing blocks before reaching the businesses to where they'd be heading."

I'm calling bullshit on that one, I thought, but didn't let it show. I was sure Celestia guessed the same thing, but nodded sagely. "If that is the only change you want, should we put it up to a vote?" The red lines on the map were altered, moving up the side of the mountain until they stopped halfway up. "Is this acceptable for everycreature here?"

Going around the room, each delegation nodded in affirmation. I nodded as well, mostly because I didn't know enough about Canisia City to call them out on the lie. Then again, a lot of politics did involve rulers saying one thing, but with plenty of hidden meanings behind said words.

Finally, the red lines shifted to green. The only part of the map that had no green lines was a line of trade routes that went between the Lycan Empire, all the way up to Canterlot. The only ones who had not wanted this were the Deerfolk, and their reasoning had been that they were still somewhat upset at the Princesses for their actions during the war that happened over a thousand years prior. And they would not budge.

Which is where I started by making a proposal. I raised my hand and was recognized. Turning to the two Deerfolk, I said, "What if, instead of heading directly to Canterlot, this proposed trade route instead goes directly to Ponyville?"

Lady Arathyra raised an eyebrow and looked at me curiously. "And why, pray tell, would that be better?"

I pointed at the small magical hologram of Ponyville on the map below. "There's a large river that runs through the town and splits right as it comes through the Everfree Forest, here." I pointed at the split. "The eastern outlet runs directly to Horseshoe Bay. Baltimare is a large trading city, and from there, whatever goods you want to send down will make their way across the Celestial Sea to my Empire, Griffonstone, Saddle Arabia, Great Britmane, and other nations. The righthand outlet runs directly to Los Pegasus and the South Luna Ocean. From there, it can be sent by ship down south to Abyssinia, and even secretly to Hippogriff territory if they so choose."

The Hippogriffs, since they were still under the watchful gaze of Kör Elzarin, had only allowed for one trade route from their hidden land of Seaquestria to any mainland, which just so happened to be the southernmost tip of my current kingdom's island near a rather verdant pool which provided the surrounding land with vegetation, a virtual oasis in the desert.

Silverstorm spoke up. "We once had a great amount of trade with the Deerfolk, but, as we've said before, when Kör Elzarin took over the abandoned Tempest Fortress, we've had to remain hidden."

"Yeah…that Körry is just plain bad," Skystar said sadly.

I kept my smile hidden. She made Kör Elzarin sound like some Saturday morning cartoon villain. "I can only imagine," I said, keeping the translation to myself. A part of me had a feeling this version of the laughable movie villain was more sinister than he had appeared in the movie. "However, your secret will be safe with us." Turning back to the Deerfolk. "But back to the matter at hand. Would this change be acceptable for you?"

The married couple looked at each other, then began whispering to each other in their own language. I could speak the Deerish language, but I only picked up bits and pieces of their fluidic and melodic speech. Finally, Lady Arathyra turned. "This is an acceptable compromise. We can agree to that change."

With that, Celestia made the change, and I smiled, relieved that the trade routes had been agreed upon. "Now then, since we've all agreed on funding for these neutral routes, I would like to open the floor for any final worries or concerns you all might have."

Immediately, Princess Amani raised her hoof. When she was acknowledged, she turned to me. "Your Grace, there's a matter that has been worrying me ever since I heard about it."

"Oh? And what would that be?" I asked, curious.

"You told us on the first day of the council how you attempted to kill Eris," she said. "You have access to a weapon far more deadly than anything in the world currently. How can we be sure you won't begin developing these weapons either in Equestria or Aelyssia?"

I frowned. I had been afraid of this coming up, but now that it had, I knew I had to address it. I reached down into the bag slung around my chair, finally bringing out the Glock 22, setting it on the table with a loud bang. "You mean this weapon, right?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes, Your Grace."

I picked it up, turning it around in my hands for a bit, then set it back down. "Right now, this weapon is useless. There is no ammunition I can load into it, and at present, I don't have any way to get more. I unloaded everything I had into Eris. But…as for whether or not I will bring advanced human weaponry to the world…well first off, let me say that technologically, humanity is a few hundred years more advanced in many ways than this world. We are capable of creating large flying machines called airplanes that can fly without magic. We have a horseless carriage that can go many times faster than even the fastest gallop. We have developed machines and medicines far beyond those of your world. And, as you said, humans have developed weapons far more deadly than anything in this world. If I bring anything from my old world into my new one, it would be technology and medicine that can help bring peace to this world. Weapons? I don't like the idea of arming even one race with a better means of killing. Our weapons are so deadly, that there is even one that can vaporize an entire city, or even hundreds of miles of land! I would either have to arm the entire world, or keep my secrets to myself. I'd much rather do the latter."

Amethyst seemed to scowl slightly at this, but it was Jasper who said, "Nowolf wants total war, but how can we be sure you will keep your word on this? Your loyalties lie to two countries."

"And besides, what if we face a threat we are unable to counter with magic or the weapons we have?" Prince Haakim asked. "What if we encounter an enemy with weapons similar to that or even more advanced?"

"And what if our magic is taken away from us?" Amira added, looking at me. "I don't think I need to remind some of you here about Tirek's ability to take away magic, do I?"

"The Centaur race is near extinct, as far as I've heard," Ebiner replied. "They once ruled in the northern lands east of the Celestial Sea where Bug Bears now rule. Nothing has been heard of them in many hundreds of years."

"That doesn't mean they aren't still around," Redclaw pointed out. "The Minotaurs are a distant relation of the Centaurs, and there are a few of them still around. Most live in Klugetown on the edge of our kingdom."

I nodded. "Yes, you're right. However, I can't just go and print up plans for weapons from my world. For one, they were designed for beings with hands like mine." I held up the gun and pointed it at the ceiling in demonstration. "This pistol can hold up to twenty-two bullets depending on the gun magazine you use with it. And this is just the beginning." I set it down. "I can't really justify bringing weapons that only certain races can use."

"And if we are invaded by somegriffon who is stronger than any magic or weapons we here possess, what do you suggest we do?" Gillan asked.

I sighed. I had thought about this, and I had to admit, the world was definitely a bigger place than depicted in the show. For all I knew, there could be continents far beyond even the map of the known world on the table. "Equestria isn't ready for these more advanced weapons," I said.

"And who are you to judge that?" Thormod asked sharply.

"I agree!" Prince Rutherford added with a stomp of his hoof on the table. "Yakyakistan is a small country! We live far north and have to forage for our food nearly constantly! We need better means to defend ourselves! Especially if the Parlayan Arazi returns!"

I raised an eyebrow. That roughly translated to 'Shining Land' in the Yak language. "You mean the Crystal Empire, don't you?" I asked.

Rutherford nodded. "We have many songs about that great land. We traded with the Parlayanlar and were on good terms with them. They even once gave us two crystals, one with which we could communicate with their ruler and the other which we could use to hold back the vast snows and winter cold. But both were lost to us during the reign of Sombra the Savage."

The Shining Ones…good comparison, I thought. "What would you have me do? Share my world's weapons with every race represented here? What good would that do? This potential enemy could easily just develop better weapons against us!"

"Everyone, please calm down!" Celestia said, raising her voice among the din. "I'm sure we can settle this like reasonable creatures!" To my surprise, the other representatives did indeed calm down. Celestia breathed in and exhaled deeply. "Listen, I can see your points. Having these weapons might very well be the turning point in a war that may very well come from nowhere. But after that, what then? I have to admit, even I'm sorely tempted to ask Emperor Jethro for access to those weapons as well, but we need to ask ourselves if having these weapons will benefit us in the long run, or drive us apart in the end?"

"Can I say something?" Sunset Shimmer asked.

Celestia turned, surprised by Sunset's sudden words. "Please do," she said.

Sunset sat upright in her chair. "There's a philosophy I've heard about in my travels: Mutually Assured Destruction. You heard what Emperor Jethro said about a weapon that can wipe out entire cities and swathes of land? What if we were all armed with this, and someone decided to use it against another country? Let's say that there are two warring countries, each with this type of weapon. They decide to end the war once and for all by using these devastating weapons. If that happened, the other country would use their own versions of that weapon against the nation that used them first. In the end, all you'd be left with is a desiccated wasteland. Entire cities, households, families, all wiped out. I don't think anyone here wants a war even with our most advanced weapons to date, but wars with weapons like that gun? I think it'd be better not to be tempted."

"Right now, I don't plan on sharing these weapons with the world, not even my subjects," I said. "I'm not speaking as either the Emperor or as a Knight of Equestria, now. I'm speaking as the only human in Equestria. I don't have any problem sharing advanced medicine or other technologies with the world, but weapons are off the table. For the time being, anyway." When I received a few narrowed glances, I raised my hands. "I get what you're saying, I really do! You've brought up very good points, but I just don't think I can justify it…unless you all have better options."

Silence filled the council chambers for a while. Everyone looked around at the other delegates, or at the table or ceiling, each of them deep in thought. Nobody spoke for a while. Even I went through some scenarios in my head. A part of me definitely would feel better if we had firearms in place, but another part of me was worried about creating a weapon's race in this world.

Finally, it was Ember who spoke up. "I'm with my Emperor on this." When everyone turned to her, I saw her flinch imperceptibly, but she spoke further, saying, "Right now, having these kinds of weapons in our claws could be very dangerous." She picked up my gun and held it in her claw. "If he says that these are too dangerous for us, I agree."

Murmurs spread through the council room. Celestia then raised her voice. "Might I suggest that we table this discussion for the time being and speak of it at a later date? I myself had several ideas about what could be done. But for the present, we should hold off. Keep the matter of human weaponry a secret from the general populations of your nations, for the present."

There were begrudging sounds of acceptance from everyone at this, and slowly the matter dropped. I caught a glimpse of Celestia's eyes locking with mine. They had a reassuring gaze in them before she looked around the room once more. "Are we in agreement?" When each delegation nodded or spoke in affirmation, Celestia nodded. "Good. Now, is there anything else we can discuss before ending the first Council of Equestria?"

"That meeting went much shorter than I anticipated," Twilight was saying as we all stood on the deck of the Phoenix Resplendent later that afternoon. The sun was shining, but that did little to hold back the cold air of oncoming winter. Then again, the air around the shield I'd raised was warming up considerably.

It was just after one in the afternoon. Most stuff that was brought up after the subject of guns was dropped was superficial stuff for the most part. When the last question or complaint had been answered or addressed, the last council meeting was ended, and Celestia invited everyone for a midday meal. Afterwards, I declared my intention to go back home to recover from everything that had happened. Despite their protests, I sent my four Dragon guards back to Aelyssia with orders to tell them that I would be back on the first of the year to deal with the relocation as well as the naming of a new Dragon Lord to help rule if I was ever away from the Empire itself. I hoped that, within that time, I could talk further with Ember about her taking over as the Dragon Lord and ruling there in my name and addressing any issues she had with the appointment.

"Although that treaty signing looked like a pain," Pinkie said. She was wearing a spare tricorn hat that she'd found below decks and had a wooden sword strapped to her side.

I nodded. "Well, it's necessary, Pinkie. Having all the words of this new treaty in writing and signed by everyone is a big step forward in interspecies and intercountry relations."

Ember wrapped the reefer jacket I'd given to her for warmth around her tightly. "I get why we needed to do it, but the pink one's right. It's a pain in the ass."

"Darling! Not in front of Spike!" Rarity said.

"It's alright, Rarity," Spike said. He was wearing the tricorn hat he'd found for himself earlier, only now it fit him. I'd lent him one of my hoodies just in case, and he'd wrapped himself up in it, making him look ridiculous. "I've heard so much worse."

"And said much worse," Applejack said, giving me a glare.

I raised my hands. "Hey, he's, what, twelve years old?"

"Yeah! Only twelve!" Twilight said, sounding frustrated.

"Okay, fine. One more year, and he'll technically be a teenager by human standards," I said.

"Hey Jethro, can I try flying this thing?" Rainbow Dash asked, holding up the cutlass in her wing, a gleeful expression on her face.

Chrysalis, who was standing near the deck, groaned as she held her stomach. "Why am I here…?" she asked before her eyes widened and she upchucked over the side.

"Can we just go home now?" an equally seasick Applejack said, her face greener than a granny smith apple.

"We're waiting for Fluttershy and Sunset, remember? They both said they had to get a couple more things," I said, "and no, Rainbow, you can't fly this thing. Not yet. And you're here, Chryssi, because I don't trust you not to do anything stupid out of my sight."

"Don't call me Chryssi…" the transformed High Fae said.

Just then, I heard the sound of someone approaching the docks. I looked over and saw Fluttershy flying towards us, leading four familiar felines towards the ship. "Sorry for the wait, everypony," she said as the ship began crawling with any non-flying animals, "I had to really convince Duke that the ship was safe."

"How can you be sure that it's safe?" a gruff older male voice called out from the approaching Mane Coons, "I mean, it just looks old!"

"And how would you know what an old ship looks like, old timer?" I called out automatically.

I saw a very familiar Mane Coon jump up onto the railing. When he turned to me, his eyes widened. "Wait, you can understand me now?!"

"I can indeed," I said with a grin. "Nice to see you too, Duke."

The cat smiled and he and his family rushed towards me, jumping over the railing and running up to me. Daisy and Valkyrie began climbing up my pants leg. "Nice creature can talk to us now!" Valkyrie said in the most adorable voice I'd ever heard.

"I must say, when the yellow Pony told us you could talk to animals now, I didn't really believe her," a deep friendly female voice said. Firefly beamed up at me. "I'm glad I was wrong."

"Well, it's taken some getting used to," I replied, "but I can understand and talk to you."

"Yay!" Daisy giggled as she climbed up to my left shoulder, her sister reaching my right. "Whoa! You're as tall as a tree!"

I laughed. "No, trees are much taller," I said as I turned back to Fluttershy. "What happened to the others? I thought the other Everfree refugees were coming?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "I actually managed to negotiate with the animals of the other forest where these cuties were living," she said. "Apparently, there's plenty of room in the forest, and no Timberwolves. They're going to stay there for the winter, and maybe longer too."

I smiled. "Well, that's good."

At that moment, something landed directly on my head. A familiar bird bent down to look at me. "And where do you think you're going?" Hestia asked.

"You're not leaving without us!" Eve said, hovering nearby. I held out my arm and she landed on it.

"You're friends with the Old Ones?" Duke asked in awe.

"Hah! Old Ones!" I couldn't help myself. I laughed hard, and so did Spike.

That is, until Hestia poked my cheek with her beak. "Didn't anyone teach you manners, young one?" she said with a frown.

"They did," I said, chuckling as I rubbed the sore spot on my cheek. "Sorry. It was just hilarious, is all. I think I needed a good laugh."

"Nice creature upset?" Daisy asked, rubbing on my face affectionately before licking at me.

"Heh, no, I'm not upset," I said, "just tired and glad that I can finally head home. At least for the time being."

"Speaking of going home, when are we going?" Twilight asked. "I do miss my books."

"Nerd," Scarlet, who was hovering near me, said. Much like her teacher, she had taken to fly more often than walking.

"I'm not a nerd!" Twilight said defensively, "I'm-"

"-well-read," I finished for her.

"Exactly," Twilight said, smiling at me.

"Aren't you the one I saw walking around with a wizard hat, spouting off some weird nonsense about casting the One Ring into Orodruin?" Scarlet asked with a grin.

"And just how do you know it was called Orodruin?" Twilight asked with a grin of her own.

Rainbow Dash turned to Scarlet and gasped. "You…read a book!? You're becoming an egghead?!"

"I can read and not be an egghead!" Scarlet said defensively.

"Are we interrupting anything?" a deep female voice said from nearby.

We all turned and saw Celestia, Luna, Cadance and Shining Armor walking over towards us. On either side of them, four guards walked, two Pegasi and two Unicorns. "Nothing big, really," I said, looking back at Celestia, who had already walked onto the deck with the other three close behind, "just waiting for Sunset."

"She's coming along," Cadance said in an assuring tone, "she just had to finish getting her…what did you call it? Laptop? She had to get that packed."

"Makes sense," I said.

"And speaking of her," Celestia said, "I've come to a decision regarding her." She stood taller. "I'm going to make her an offer, one that will not only benefit Equestria as a whole, but I believe make her very happy and benefit you as well, Emperor Jethro," she finished.

"Oh? What is it?" I asked.

"I think she would make a great asset in helping organize the Dormog Ruins and any secrets they may contain," Celestia said.

"She gets all the fun assignments," Twilight grumbled, causing a few others to laugh around her.

"I don't know if she'd find it as fun as you," I said.

"On the contrary," Celestia said, "she was as determined in her studies, if not more so, than Twilight here. She also had quite a fascination with Dragons, so I think she could very much help."

Just then, Sunset came out of the wooden doors leading into the castle, carrying her bags as she carefully but quickly walked towards us. "Sorry I'm late, everyone!" she called out as she gently stepped onto the gangplank, walking onto the ship. "Carrying this bad boy is hard, especially when the straps are designed for human height and not Pony height."

"I can only imagine," I chuckled as I headed up the stairs to the helm. Looking down, I made sure we weren't leaving anyone behind. Standing on the deck, I saw the Mane Six, Spike, Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor, Ember, Chrysalis, Gemini, Mica and the family of Mane Coons coming home to stay temporarily with Fluttershy. Looking down beside me, I saw both Scarlet and Zecora, both of whom were looking up at me with love and happiness. I smiled back, turned away from them, then put my hand on the dial and activated the ship. The large sails came to life, glowing slightly in the breeze. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking, and welcome aboard the Phoenix Resplendent on our one-way trip to Ponyville. Flight time is estimated at no more than thirty minutes max. Weather is clear with visibility at around twenty miles. Please make sure all seatbacks and tray tables are in their locked and upright positions before takeoff," I chuckled. Sunset, Scarlet and Zecora all smirked as well, while the others had more confused expressions on their faces. "But in all seriousness, if you haven't been on this ship before, I suggest you find something to hold onto. First time riders can get a little disoriented."

I waited until everyone had found a spot near the rails, grabbing onto something. I used my magic to pull Chrysalis over towards me. "You're standing here," I said.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine fine…master," she said in a bitter and derisive tone.

"No master shit, either," I said, glaring at her. "Take a hold of the railing." After she'd done so, I drew the cutlass. "Ready, everyone? Then here goes!" And with that, I thrust the cutlass forward towards the sails. They billowed outward as a sudden breeze caught them. At the same time, I pulled back the wheel and we began rising out of the water.

"Or for the love of the Helper," Chrysalis said, leaning over the side and dry heaving once more.

Not exactly knowing why I did it, I reached out with my wing and rubbed her back. "I'd give you some Dramamine for the motion sickness, but I don't have any."

"You could at least let me fly," she moaned.

"Again, no," I said. I sheathed the cutlass and turned westward. "Next stop, either Ponyville or Valinor! Whichever comes first!"

"None of us are Elves, except maybe Chrysalis up there!" Scarlet called out.

"Egghead!"

"Shut up!"

In fact, it took us about forty minutes to reach Ponyville. When I saw the familiar sight of the town square ahead of us, I couldn't help but smile broadly. I'd only been gone for a little over a week, but it felt like an eternity had passed since leaving it. Not only had I left a simple knight hoping to fix a mistake that wasn't my own fault to begin with, but now I returned with a ship, a second lover, another slave (in name only, of course), and an entire empire along with a whole new set of treasure.

All during our trip back to the small town, most of the Ponies explored the ship in their own ways. Twilight was all over the place along with Sunset, the two speaking so fast I could barely follow what they were saying. I knew it had to do with ship mechanics and what have you, but it was all Greek to me anyway, so I let it be.

Pinkie could hardly contain herself. She and Spike were play pretending to be pirates, swinging around a couple of sticks as swords. I watched them do this a few times, and noticed just how more nimble Spike had become since his death induced growth spurt. It warmed my heart seeing him enjoying himself after all he'd been through.

Rarity had been busying herself studying some of the spare sails that I'd discovered during my Morphean induced repair of the ship. I heard her muttering about just how well preserved they were and other stuff that didn't compute with me.

Rainbow Dash would fly all around the ship, looking at the sails and exclaiming just how awesome this all was to her. She even begged me to let her try flying it some time, and I told her that if I did, it would have to be under supervision. "After all, this is a priceless relic, and since it belongs to me now, I'm not sure if it belongs in turn to Equestria or Aelyssia."

Fluttershy spent her time talking to the family of Mane Coons, hardly ever looking overboard. The smile on her face brought back memories of calmer times that I would spend with her in her tree cottage, watching anime, reading manga or manega, or simply talking over some of her freshly brewed tea.

Celestia, Luna, Cadance and Shining Armor did explore the ship at first, but then came back up and sat in the map room, discussing who knew what, since I wasn't about to pry. At one point, however, Celestia had popped her head out and asked for my permission for her best magic users to study the ship, which I had agreed to.

Hestia and Eve both flew around the ship, talking in the Phoenix tongue mostly about what they had planned for the future. When I asked them about what had happened to Thalia and Adranus, Hestia said that they'd returned to Aelyssia to prepare the other Phoenixes for the opening up of the old ruin. She didn't elaborate on that further, simply stating that she would tell me in time.

Scarlet and Zecora hardly left my side, staying close to me and pressing themselves against me as I stayed at the helm and sailed the ship. And sat on a bench near the wheel where I'd placed Applejack on her side. I rubbed her sice most of the time, since the airsick mare had thrown up just after takeoff. I brought one of my water bottles and helped her drink it as we sailed home.

Gemini stayed close by my side, but Mica had gone exploring on his own. He'd even joined in a bit on the pirate game with Spike and Pinkie. I watched as he actually taught Spike a few sword moves of his own, which further excited the young drake.

Chrysalis, on the other hand, had taken a seat in the corner of the helm area, holding her stomach and groaning. Not wanting to seem like a monster, I had tossed her a water as well, cautioning her to take slow sips. She didn't listen, however, and downed the whole thing, leaving her even more airsick than before. However, since I'd given the last of my water to both her and Applejack, I had nothing more to give her.

As we reached the end of the Everfree Forest, Applejack looked up at me with a weary but grateful face. "Thank ya kindly, Jethro," she said, "but ah think ah can stand on mah own four hooves now."

"If you're sure, AJ," I said as I gently helped her to her feet.

She wobbled a bit, then stood up straight. However, her eyes widened when she caught a glimpse of Sweet Apple Acres from the air. "Well ah'll be…" she said, galloping over to the portside of the ship, looking down at her livelihood. "This ain't nothin' like the time ah flew on yer back!"

Scarlet nodded. "Seeing things from the air…there's nothing quite like it, I'll tell you what!"

"It's pretty awesome!" Rainbow Dash said from behind me, landing on the helm next to me. "Hey, can I try being at the wheel now?"

"Not yet," I said. "We're almost there, and I need to find a place to park this thing. I don't think landing it in my house is gonna be allowed, and the closest lake to my house is too small."

"Is the river too small?" Celestia asked from behind me as she and the other three walked out of the map room.

"I think the widest part of the river is the harbor near Town Hall," I replied, pointing down at the blue sliver of water below. "I wonder if the property next to mine is for sale at all? I could dig an artificial lake," I added to myself.

Applejack came back over towards me. "That'd probably fit us nicely," she said.

"Alright then, that's gonna be a tricky landing, so could someone go get everyone and tell them to find something to hold on to?" I asked.

"On it!" Rainbow Dash said, zooming around and gathering everyone back to the main deck as I began circling around the town.

My arrival hadn't gone unnoticed, of course. A few Pegasi had begun approaching the floating galleon with curious expressions. Some even were taking pictures with older styled cameras. On the ground, I saw other Ponies gathering near the shores of the ever-approaching harbor, gazing up with fear and awe. However, when Princess Celestia leaned over and waved her hoof at the crowd, their fear turned to joy and they cheered.

"Alright, I'm bringing us down!" I announced. "Can somebody keep an eye out for me so I don't run into anything on the way down?"

"On it!" Rainbow dash said again as she leaped into the air and zoomed to the side. "I'm ready!"

With that, I drew the cutlass and began the careful process of bringing the ship down. The Ponies below watched in astonishment as the floating galleon made its way to the harbor. Rainbow Dash kept on giving me instructions on bringing me down. She was surprisingly thorough about it, but then again, anything to do with flying was something I knew she'd take more seriously than most other things she dealt with on a daily basis.

"Slow down…I'm gonna-HRK!" Chrysalis said as she once more leaned over the starboard side and dry heaved. "Ugh…I hate this ship…" she said as she came back up, wiping her eyes.

"Bear with it a little longer, okay?" I said as I moved the ship closer into position. More Pegasi moved closer, but I called out, "Please stay back! I don't want to hurt anyone!" And with that, they did move further back, but that didn't stop them from taking more and more pictures.

Finally, with a shudder and a splash, the Resplendent landed in the harbor. Even Celestia stumbled a bit at the landing as I turned off the ship's engines and shields. I then lowered the anchor and, waiting for the ship to stop moving, sheathed the cutlass and grabbing the Bloodstone Scepter and Eclipse Blade from the map room. I then approached the port side which was nearest to the dock. Using my magic, I lowered the gangplank onto the docks. "Alright, everyone! We're home!"

Applejack was the first one off, rushing down the docks and onto dry land, which she began kissing over and over again. "Ah! Nothin' like sweet and dry land!" she said.

I was the last one off, Chrysalis following close behind me. I hadn't even touched the path that led into the town when a number of Ponies surrounded me. Derpy, Bon Bon, Lyra, Vinyl, Octavia, Mayor Mare, and even the CMC were there. They started to ask me a number of different questions, until they saw a stumbling Chrysalis behind me. They backed away, fear in their eyes. I raised my hand. "Hey, don't worry about her. She's with me for the time being. She's harmless, but right now she needs time to rest. We all do. I promise I'll answer all your questions tomorrow."

Mayor Mare was the first to nod in understanding, and she turned to the gathered crowd. "You heard him, everypony! Let's give them some space to head home!"

The crowd began to disperse, but not before an overly excited Derpy flew over and wrapped her forelegs around my neck. Surprised, I took a few seconds before I hugged her back. "Welcome home," she whispered in my ear with a trembling voice.

"Thanks, Derpy," I said, "There really is no place like it."

I stared in complete and utter shock at the newest addition to the lawn of my house, then back at Zecora, who was standing smugly beside me. Scarlet, who was standing on the other side of me with a smirk. "You seriously didn't…"

"Well, with the forest around my house removed, I had the excuse I needed to move," Zecora said.

I put a hand to my forehead and began laughing in disbelief. There, standing on the opposite side of the Younger Apple tree, Zecora's tree house now stood, Farasi masks and all. I had to admit, it seemed weird seeing it in the open beneath the late afternoon sky instead of surrounded by other trees.

"Is there a reason you're staring at a stupid tree?" Chrysalis asked from behind me with a bored tone.

"A personal reason," I said as I stepped aside. "Come on in. I've got rooms available for everyone. I'm pretty sure everyone's exhausted."

"Yeah, yeah, just send me to my cell," Chrysalis muttered under her breath.

I rolled my eyes and approached the house. Finally, after way too many adventures, I was home.

"I can't believe we're all finally home," I said as I sat next to Zecora on my front porch in the swing bench I'd had installed. Everyone else was inside. Gemini, Mica, Chrysalis and Ember were all in their rooms asleep. Scarlet was in her room, too, but she'd gone immediately to her new laptop and began surfing the staticnet. Zecora and I had immediately unpacked our stuff, then joined each other on my porch. "And I can't believe you kept this a secret from me," I added, pointing to my left at her house. "How the hell did you do it?"

Zecora chuckled and leaned against me, closing her eyes. "I asked young Twilight to help me find a spell. I am quite pleased that it turned out so well."

I put my right arm and wing around her, pulling her closer. "I'm glad your house wasn't burned down," I said, "and while I wasn't quite expecting to come home to this, I'm glad you moved here." Turning, I leaned down and kissed her.

She kissed me back, pushing herself closer to me as the kiss deepened. Finally, she pulled away and gazed into my eyes with a warm gaze. "I'm glad I came here as well," she said, burying her face into my chest.

I pulled her into my lap and she snuggled up close to me, her face buried in my chest still. In that moment, I remembered the promise I made to myself when I was in Aelyssia regarding Zecora. I rested my chin on top of her head. Bracing myself, I looked up at the sky. It was still bright out, and there were a few passing clouds in the sky, but the weather forecast on my phone had said that there was a late autumn rain scheduled for the night. I took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. Here we go. "Hey, Zecora?"

"Hmm?"

"If I asked for your hoof in marriage, right now, would you say yes?"

"Mmhmm."

"…Hey, Zecora?"

"Hmm?"

"Will you marry me?"

She slowly pulled away from me, gazing up into my eyes with a warm smile, but with happy, joyous tears streaming down her face. "Yes, my beloved! Yes! I will marry you!" She threw her forelegs around me and practically assaulted my lips with hers.

I pulled her even closer, kissing back just as eagerly. Truly, there was no place quite like home…