//------------------------------//
// The Choice 
// Story: Finding Happiness 
// by Wildcard25 
//------------------------------//

Inside the throne room, as Spike gave Anton a tour of the castle, Luna was ready to tell the Mane Six about why Anton was brought to Equestria by her.

Luna powered her magic up and spoke, "Watch and understand, my little ponies."

The group watched as Luna projected a dome of magic around them, as they saw memories appear all around them. The thing the memories had in common was they were all Anton's memories.

"This is Anton." Twilight stated.

"We should start at the beginning." Luna began, as she directed them to one of the memories of Anton being born.

"Anton's a baby." Pinkie smiled at how adorable he looked.

Rarity noticed the two adults, "And those must be..."

"His parents, yes," Luna confirmed, "After I brought him here I continued to look deeper into his memories. Anton was born the son of Devon and Stacey MacLeod. The two loved their son like any parents should. They were happy together through good times and bad. But one day when Anton was ten years old, his father became terminally ill and passed away."

The girls saw the memory of Anton standing by his father's side, as the man laid in a hospital bed looking at his son. Anton looked at his father in sadness, as the man comforted his son with the last few moments of his life, before he passed on. They watched as Stacey comforted her sobbing son, while also feeling sad as well.

"Poor little fella." Applejack said in sorrow.

Pinkie was bawling while holding onto Rarity who was just as sad. Rainbow tried to fight it but even she couldn't help but shed some tears. Twilight and Fluttershy didn't even try to fight it, as they cried at watching the boy witness something so horrible.

Celestia motioned for Luna to continue on, and the Princess did so, "After Devon passed on, Anton went to live with his mother's sister Katrina and his cousin Rodney. Before that he also had his father's best friend Ronald who became his uncle upon marrying his Aunt Katrina. But years before Devon passed on, Ronald divorced Katrina and left."

"I don't like the look on that lady's face." Pinkie squinted at Katrina in the memory.

"Anton and his mother tried to live peacefully with the two, but Katrina had always been jealous of her sister and did all she could to make her think she was the bad parent while she knew what was best." Luna explained.

"What a jerk," Rainbow frowned, "No wonder his uncle left her."

"It gets worse," Luna replied, "Rodney, Anton's cousin would constantly infuriate and annoy Anton forcing the boy to stand up for himself, but in the process framed Anton by making him look like the bad one while he played innocent. Because of this Katrina would accuse Anton of being a juvenile delinquent, and that Stacey wasn't raising him the right way."

"His cousin's an even bigger jerk than his aunt!" Rainbow said in disbelief.

"One day, it became too much for Anton trying to protect his mother who was too intimidated to stand up for herself. He went out to get away from his troubles, only to come back to find out his mother was killed."

The girls gasped, as they saw the memory play out from Anton coming home, to the funeral, and the aftermath.

"With his mother gone, his Aunt Katrina was planning to turn Anton into a servant and raise him with an iron hoof."

The girls were shocked, as Fluttershy spoke, "This must be what Anton didn't want to talk about with us." The girls nodded.

"Anton acted quickly and managed to escape. With no idea where to go he went back to his favorite spot by the river close to home," Luna continued, "I watched him sleep while feeling the sadness and loneliness in his heart. He wouldn't have lasted too long out there alone. So I did what I felt was best."

"You brought him here to Equestria." Twilight answered, and the Princess nodded, as the dome of memories were lowered.

"But why did you have to send him to the Everfree Forest of all places?" Applejack wondered.

"It was not my intention to send him to that exact location," Luna answered, "Teleportation magic as powerful as that required a lot of magic. I had hoped to teleport him to Ponyville, but ended up sending him to the Everfree Forest. I am relieved he was able to get out of there and find his way to all of you."

"Well, now we know why ya brought him here, but what do we do with him now?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well, we can't just send him to an orphanage now. It would be rude of us." Rarity said.

Celestia spoke up, "It's clear to us Anton needs love and a family given the events he has just went through."

"I was hoping perhaps one of you girls would be willing to look after Anton?" Luna hoped.

Before any of the girls could ever think about it, Fluttershy spoke up, "I'll do it."

All eyes fell upon the animal loving pegasus, "You, Fluttershy?" Rainbow asked in confusion.

"Well, if nopony else minds that is." she said being timid.

"And what led you to volunteering so willingly, if I may ask?" Celestia inquired.

"Well, I have been feeling lonely at home for quite awhile. Not that I mind having Angel or the rest of my animal friends. But sometimes I wish I had somepony else living with me. Like Twilight has Spike, Applejack has her family, Rarity has Sweetie Belle, and even Pinkie has the Cakes."

"It's true." Pinkie confirmed.

"I just wish I had another around my cottage who can actually speak to me."

"Plus he did seem to take a liking to you the most, Fluttershy." Rainbow pointed out.

"He did?" Fluttershy asked with hope.

"He had been looking at you the most as he had his soup." Applejack noted.

"I hadn't even noticed." Fluttershy replied.

Celestia and Luna approached, as the Princess of the Sun spoke, "Would you be truly willing to look after Anton, no matter what other ponies may think of him?"

"I do, Princess. Anton needs a family after all he went through. I couldn't call myself the element of Kindness if I weren't able to show it to a non-pony like I do with everypony else."

Luna smiled, "You've spoken true sincere words, dear Fluttershy. I have a feeling Anton would be more than happy to stay with you."

Pinkie jumped in, "We should throw him a party in Ponyville and introduce him to all our friends!"

"While I do think it sounds like a good plan, Pinkie Pie," Twilight began, "But we must also play it carefully. After all you know how some of our neighbors can be when it comes to new things."

"Like with Zecora." Rainbow reminded her.

"But we accepted Zecora for who she was, and they'll accept Anton for who he is." Pinkie beamed.

Twilight wanted to continued, only for Rarity to stop her, "Forget it, Twilight. You know there's just no arguing with Pinkie Pie."

Twilight sighed at her logic, "I suppose you're right."

"But now that we know the truth about Anton, what're we going to tell him?" Rainbow asked.

Luna spoke up, "Anton will tell you the truth himself when he's ready." The girls nodded knowing it was best to let him tell them himself when he feels willing to.

"Why don't we go see how his tour is going with Spike?" Celestia suggested, as they all agree and follow the sisters lead.



As they walked through the halls they asked several servants and guards where they last saw Spike and Anton. They followed the trail before reaching the royal kitchen. They looked and saw Spike and Anton sitting at a table with two big bowls. One contained little red and blue gems, while another contained little marshmallows.

Anton picked up a red gem, while keeping his mouth opened. Spike tossed a marshmallow at Anton who was hoping to catch it in his mouth. The little treat however landed on his shirt, "Oh, you missed. Go wide!" he tossed the gem he was holding and Spike caught it in his mouth.

"Score!" Spike called.

The two cheered, before seeing the group of ponies approach, "Uh, this is..." Anton began sheepishly.

"I see you boys have helped yourselves to a little snack." Celestia said amusingly.

"Hey, giving a tour works up an appetite." Spike replied.

"What he said." Anton agreed, as he tossed a marshmallow up and caught it in his mouth.

"And how did you enjoy the tour, Anton?" Luna inquired.

"I liked it," Anton admitted, "This place has so many rooms and sights I don't think I'd ever be able to find my way out if I didn't have one of you or a map."

"You'd get used to the layout after a few visits." Spike said, as he popped a gem in his mouth.

Celestia spoke, "Anton, our friend Fluttershy wishes to ask you something."

Anton looked at the shy pegasus, as the others nudged her forward. Fluttershy nervously approached and spoke, "Um, Anton. I was wondering if..."

"What?" he asked.

"If you'd like to..." she whispered the last part.

"What? I didn't catch that."

"If you'd..." she continued to mutter the last part in a hushed tone.

"You're going to have to speak up." Anton said getting annoyed.

"I was wondering if you'd like to stay with me!" she blurt out, and felt sheepish from her announcement.

Anton raised a brow, "Stay with you?"

"Well, if you want to that is. If you don't I completely understand." the pegasus started dismissing the idea.

"I didn't say no," Anton replied, "But I wanna know... Why?"

The ponies were taken aback by his question, thinking most children would jump at the chance to be with someone.

"Well, it's just that you don't have parents anymore, and nowhere to go back too," she realized she was rubbing salt in the wounds, "Sorry that came out wrong! What I mean is I can't turn my back on somepony no matter what they are who has no place to go or anypony to be there for them. So would you like to come live with me?"

Anton spoke up to the others, "Do I have a choice?"

"Well, it's either her or an orphanage." Twilight replied.

Hearing that Anton got nervous and turned to Fluttershy, "I won't do well in an orphanage. Well, I guess I could give it a try. Don't have anywhere else to go to."

Fluttershy smiled, "Thank you, Anton. I promise to be the best caregiver I can be." she flew over to him.

"And we're gonna introduce you to all our friends in Ponyville when we get back." Pinkie added.

"All of them?" Anton asked nervously.

"Is that a problem?" Applejack asked.

"It's just I've seen a lot of situations like this. New species lands on some other world and tries to befriend the worlds inhabitants, but their reactions are scream and panic. I'd hate to think of myself ending up in a situation like that."

Twilight trotted over, "I promise you, Anton. Everyone in Ponyville will love and accept you, just as we have."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because we've faced a situation like this before." she answered bluntly.

"You have?" Twilight nodded.

"So how about it, sugarcube?" Applejack asked, "Will ya join us?"

"It would mean the world to us, darling." Rarity added.

Anton seeing the shorter ponies giving him hopeful looks couldn't help but feel moved by their request. He looked up at the two royal sisters who beckoned him to accept. He looked back at the six and smiled.

"Count me in."

The girls smiled, as Pinkie cheered and jumped around all excited, much to his shock, "How much sugar did she have?"

"A lot, but that ain't because of sugar rush." Applejack assured.

"That's just Pinkie Pie being herself." Twilight added, as the group laughed.

Anton smiled, before thinking, 'Maybe this new world won't be so bad. Will it, mom?'