Your Wings Were Made For Angels

by Still Breeze

Forgive And Forget

Chapter 16: Forgive and forget.

Thunder rumbled across the surface of a great sphere of slate coloured clouds. It was the only object in the sky, high up in the Equestrian stratosphere where no regular pony could ever survive. It was so silent, so peaceful. Not a single sound could be heard, especially inside the cloud dome, for it blocked out all of the wind, secluding it’s contents. Inside the curious cloud formation, nothing existed except a dampened shade and the sound of a heartbroken alicorn sobbing quietly on his side.

Tears refused to cease rolling down the stallion’s face as he stared blindly at nothing, devious thoughts refusing to leave him alone as he wallowed in sorrow. He gently brushed his tongue across the backs of his teeth which he had allowed himself to grow back after being shattered by a certain blue pegasus he thought was his friend…

“They were all my friends…” He muttered dully, his voice unaffected by the sorrow. “And now… they all hate me.” This being said, the alicorn winced as a wave of crippling emotional pain washed over his body.

More tears came in torrents from his eyes and he painfully rolled over again.

“I’m so sorry, Pinkie…” He mumbled, allowing himself a small sniffle. “I’m so, so sorry…” He didn’t know what to feel… Angry? Upset? Hopeless? He just had no idea. Somewhere… Somewhere down there, tens of thousands of metres away, many, many ponies were preparing for the funeral of one of their most beloved citizens. One who could make any of them smile in an instant, one who delivered laughter wherever she went, one who had been stolen by him.

The alicorn hated himself. In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that he had to save the world, he would have killed himself long ago, and as painfully as possible: it was as much as he deserved. He rolled over onto his back and began sobbing again.

“Rainbow Dash… hates me… Fluttershy… hates me…” With every name given, his heart sank deeper into the pit of despair inside his soul. “Applejack… hates me…” He began to choke with every word he uttered, yet he pressed on. He needed to make these things clear to himself. “Rarity… hates me… Pinkie Pie…” He gouged a huge chunk out of his hide with magic, the piece of meat no smaller than a pineapple falling through the cloud and blood began to gush from the wound, but compared with the anguish felt inside his emotions, the stallion felt nothing. “…If she were alive… Would hate me…” He wiped his eyes and became aware a little of the searing pain atop his backside. “Even Pinkie Pie… She hates me…”

Cantor then turned grey. His rusty orange hair, the many colours on his cutie mark, his coat, albeit white, lost all of it’s colour. Then finally his eyes, his kind, powerful, intelligent, fun loving, faithful, warm, comforting amber eyes became void of all personality as he uttered the final name.

“Twilight Sparkle…” He croaked, rolling over and burying his face into his arms.

“Sh- She h… She hates me…”

The alicorn lost all restraint, crying openly to himself, wailing in anguish as once again, his heart broke. For the last time. The pain inside ripped him apart. Nopony could bring him back from his secluded mind. Nopony could restore his heart to what it once was, and what it could have been. Not even Twilight Sparkle; she would never want to see him again. Nopony could ever hope to show him the light. Nopony, except-

“Cantor…” A soothing voice came from the other side of the ten – metre dome, the voice unmistakeable for one of the most understanding mares on the planet. The stallion stopped crying instantly when he heard the unexpected sound.

“What in Equestria happened?...” The soft voice cooed again.

Cantor ignored it as best he could, trying to focus his scrambled thoughts onto what a monster he was.

“Cantor, please speak to me…” The mare asked kindly, drawing herself ever closer to the stallion, the light emanating from her horn illuminated the cloud dome in a soft yellow glow. She suddenly caught sight of the stallion’s backside, a huge chunk carved out of it and it was sopping with blood, as was the cloud around it.

“Cantor are you okay?...” No reply. “Cantor, please tell me what happened.”

“I KILLED PINKIE PIE!” He barked back, making the regal alicorn behind him wince.

“What!?” She asked, taking a step back at the unwelcome statement.

“You know what’s great?” Cantor asked, still not turning over. “A year from now, I’ll be dead. That’s the best thing that could possibly happen; then everyone can go back to the way they were before with me out of the picture…” He sobbed again, furious with himself.

“Cantor! Pinkie Pie’s not dead!” She exclaimed.

Cantor’s suffering stopped dead in it’s tracks, yet he didn’t react any more than turning his head slightly and feebly asking “What?”

“Pinkie Pie’s not dead, Cantor!” The voice cried in gleeful exasperation. “She’s in the hospital right now! The girls told me what had happened, but that they didn't know why!”

Cantor rolled over to meet eyes with princess Luna. Cantor was faithful to Celestia, but Luna was far more of a ‘friend figure’, so the sight that met her caused her own heart to sink. Before her laid the grey apparition of her once vibrant friend – truly one of her very few friends except the elements of harmony and her sister she had as she didn’t really converse with others.

Her face twisted, and she herself began to tear up rapidly. “Oh, Cantor…” She whispered, rushing over to the stallion’s side and laying beside him, nuzzling his neck with her soft, slender one.

“What went wrong, Cantor?” She asked, tears rolling down her cheeks as she stroked his rock hard neck with her head.

“It’s a human thing, princess…” He answered slowly. “There’s a show, back on earth, a show called My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic…” He gave out a heavily exaggerated sigh before continuing, pouring the whole truth into Luna: the first pony he had ever told about the show. Not even princess Celestia knew of this…

“A… ‘show?” Asked Luna, joining Cantor in his lessened state of sorrow as he opened his heart. “A performance?” She asked.

Usually, Cantor would have found humour in a statement like that, but right now, he was simply telling the truth.

“No.” He answered deeply, his voice more than a whisper, yet as quiet as it could possibly be. “It’s something in which your world came to be… Through the hearts and souls of the people of my world, Equestria came into existence… Now, there are followers of the show, they call themselves 'bronies'. One of them... some sick, twisted fuck wrote a short story about Pinkie Pie sedating Rainbow Dash with a cupcake, tying her down and torturing her to death."

"That's horrible!" Luna exclaimed. "Why would sompony write something like that!?"

"Now see, I had a dream in which I was basically Rainbow Dash... I... It was awful... That's why I attacked Pinkie, I thought... I thought that the dream was like... a warning..."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Cantor..." Luna muttered, realising how trapped he must have felt, whatever had happened that morning.

"...Princess..." Cantor began. "This world isn't perfect, but compared to mine, it's a paradise." He simply stated, remembering all the petty wars and fights on Earth. "But..." He started again after a hefty sigh. "If it weren't for my world, yours wouldn't have come into existance..."

“How is that possible?” Asked Luna, not entirely lost, yet still a long way from understanding. “How long ago was this?”

Cantor briefly thought about the time difference between the two universes: whether both of the time in the universes flowed at different speeds relative to each other, or whether they were similar. Nevertheless, Cantor decided to think of the time that of the latter.

“About two and a half years ago…” He answered.

Luna pulled herself away. “But…” She started, “But Equestria started tens of thousands of years ago… It- it was created by elementals, you know that! How… how…” Her royal mind tried and failed to come to a conclusion and she promptly gave up.

“Princess…” Cantor began, gazing intently at the teal eyes of the princess of the night with his own cold, stony ones. “The best explanation I have is simply the power of love; you can’t fight it so why try?” As he spoke, the tip of his tail began to glow orange again, and a ripple of light slowly travelled up his body, refilling him with glorious colour. “It’s something throughout the entire world that both of our planets share. It is the most powerful force never to be reckoned with, and it still burns brightly long after death.”

The ring of light had reached his mid-section and was now making it’s way up his neck. Cantor closed his eyes before continuing with a far more empowered voice. “This world is perfect: well worth saving. And as I've said before, no matter what happens a year from now, one thing will never change, one thing will never leave my heart!”

The wave of light passed his face and sparked out at the tip of his horn. He opened his eyes, revealing two orbs of deepest amber, burning intently with spicy passion, the very epiphany of the fire of love.

“I love Twilight Sparkle!” He declared forcefully, the gloomy cloud around him dissipating immediately into the otherwise blank sky. The princess fell unexpectedly, yet found her bearings after only a second of freefall. She had forgotten, in the short time she had been inside the dome with Cantor that the pair were pushing the boundaries of space. She was hit with the unrelenting cold she had not missed once inside the slightly warmer dome as the curvature of Equestria came into view.

This was the first time she had been up here to be able to marvel at the sheer beauty. When she had noticed the small blot in the sky she somehow knew was Cantor, that was all she had focused on, and now she couldn’t take her eyes off of the alien world below, nor could she divide her attention to the blackness above, the stars usually visible only in her night time regime were now bright and large. Princess Luna had recalled Celestia teaching her about space once, a long time ago, though her mind had shut off once her mentor had said the words ‘quantum astral de-calibration’ and she simply blanked any more information which was conversed there on after.

The strange shape of the patch of land she lived on was easily visible below. She had in the past seen it on maps, but nothing could have prepared her for seeing the real thing, now, with her own two eyes. She stared down in wonderment, and it stole her breath away. As did the ridiculously high altitude. She became aware towards her shortness of breath and dove quickly to the world miles below. With every second, the air seemed to get thicker and thicker as the wind pelted her face more and more. She was breathing relatively normally by now, but the lunar mare found her lungs unresponsive once again as she saw the unmistakeable sight of the backside of a large mach cone.

Cantor’s eyes were watering and his lips were being pulled backwards to the side of his head as he pumped his wings as hard as he could, reaching ridiculous speeds as he plummeted towards the Equestrian soil. He was frowning furiously, his only intention was gaining speed. As he accelerated even more, through his intense frown, he noticed the air in front of his outstretched hooves begin to condense. Harder and harder he strained his wings, now feeling heat from the giant mach cone forming around his body. An electrical discharge sent the pressurised air into a fine point over his body.

“Come on… Come on!” He growled as the funnel of water vapour began to compress all around him. Cantor screwed his eyes shut and gave one last, hard thrust of his immense wings as he tore through the sound barrier.

BOOM!!!!!!!

Came a cataclysmic explosion generated by the enormous sonic flame-boom as the speed of sound was obliterated, sending the alicorn rocketing forward at mind-bending speeds, leaving a large trail of blazing air behind him as he darted downwards at thousands of miles per hour.

Still miles above, princess Luna became awestruck at the enormous ring of flame generated by another of the alicorn’s surprises. The circular shockwave of fire made itself many miles in diameter before dissipating and fading into the sky.

Cantor opened his eyes and panicked as he noticed the huge expanse of Canterlot castle grow in size as he fell from the sky, his mane and tail a conduit of the mighty blaze which left a great trail of fire behind him as he began to slowly pull up, now becoming horizontal to the ground, which was a hell of a lot closer now, yet still a few hundred feet down.

Celestia’s royal guards noticed the huge ring expanding in the sky and alerted the sun goddess immediately. She stepped out onto her large balcony just in time to see a white blur whip past silently, a blazing trail of fire in tow. She instantly knew what, or rather who it was. She gave a humbled smile until the sound caught up with him and the deafening ‘boom’ shook Celestia to her flank. She landed heavily on her rump and it took her a moment to raise herself, holding a golden shoe up to stop the many guards from aiding her in her climb upwards. She blushed gently as she rose to her hooves, gently massaging her bruised flank as she peacefully strode back to her tall throne, seating herself with the image of the grinning stallion stained in her mind.

From when the sonic flame-boom first occurred four seconds ago in the sky, Cantor had already crested the valley and could see Ponyville hurtling towards him. He opened out his great wings, which instantly tore open like a parachute, slowing Cantor’s decent from mach five to barely over one hundred miles per hour in six seconds. The stallion screwed his eyes shut as they felt like they were going to shoot out of his skull with the resulting g-force. He kept his wings flared out to the sides and strained his muscles to not allow the wings to snap behind him.

When his eyes reopened, Cantor found himself on the outskirts of town. Rainbow Dash’s house was about a five second flight from where he hovered now. Underneath him was Ponyville hospital. He gracefully flew downwards to the main entrance where he folded his great aching wings behind him and lit up his horn. He was able to see the damaged pink mare lying peacefully in bed through the walls and ceilings. He nodded his head once: she was on the first floor, surrounded by her five other friends.

Smiling contently to himself, Cantor pushed the doors open with his head and stepped inside the hospital, where inside, The mare behind the desk known as Mane Goodall gasped in fright. The front of Cantor’s body was still covered in blood and he looked a mess. He was smiling, but it wasn’t an evil smile as one would expect, given his current appearance. Instead, this particular grin radiated nothing but kindness and peacefulness. Everypony in the waiting room and other patients gawped at him as he went on by, but Cantor didn’t care. His only goal was the bright pink mare, the best friend somepony could ask for, the element of laughter who lay sleeping in hospital bed on the next floor up.

“You’re saying Cantor did this?” Asked Dr. Stable, who stood at the foot of Pinkie’s bed shaking his head.

Rainbow Dash said nothing except nod in confirmation. Stable sighed heavily and closed his eyes, dropping his head to the floor.

“And when I see him next… I’ll make sure he never gets up.” The rainbow maned pegasus threatened, much to the astonishment to everypony else in the room except Twilight, who had become disgusted with the comments which had been emitting from Rainbow Dash ever since they arrived.

“Firstly, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight began, trotting across the room to where the pegasus slouched in the seat next to Pinkie’s bed. “You don’t stand a chance against Cantor if he wanted to fight you: he’s far too powerful.” She continued, pressing her face into Rainbow’s a she spoke, defending her stallion until he was proven guilty.

“Secondly,” Said Twilight, “If it weren’t for Cantor’s blood donation, Pinkie would have been dead.”
By even saying this, Rainbow Dash appeared pained.

“Thirdly, you know Cantor… We all do…” She pulled herself away from her blue friend and scanned the other diminishing faces of the ponies. Dr Stable looked back up to meet Twilight’s eyes. “It is not only I who knows Cantor wouldn’t do something like this intentionally. All of you know him better than that…” At this notion, everypony cast their eyes to the floor in agreement.

“If you could have seen his face before he attacked Pinkie…” Twilight started, even just remembering the look of absolute fear on his face stirred up her emotions. “He was crying…” Fluttershy looked back up. Other than Rainbow Dash, Cantor was the bravest pony she knew; to make him cry would take something morbidly horrendous or heartbreaking. The yellow pegasus gave a little sob as a response.

“I have never seen anypony so scared in my life. Whatever Pinkie Pie was doing, she definitely didn’t mean it, the same way Cantor never meant to hurt her, she was scaring him to death. And by the way things were going, if he didn’t react, I think he could have actually died of fright. That’s possible you know.” Twilight felt a twang of pain, even at the thought of loosing Cantor. “He’ll come back, he’ll explain himself… he… he promised he’d never leave…”

Rainbow Dash gave a very heavy sigh, rubbing her hoof across her eyes. “I know what you’re saying, Twilight…” The blue pegasus motioned, locking the unicorn in a spiritual embrace. “I…” She exhaled loudly once again, “I believe you… And… I’m sorry, for being so… harsh towards him. I just never thought one of my best friends would do something like that…” Her rosy eyes dropped. She felt empty, in need of answers. No longer was she angry or upset, yet she felt as if she needed to accept the fact that no matter how much she wanted, there were some things in life she just couldn’t control. And as she slouched there on the spongy hospital chair, she searched back through her brief life; she realised that if it weren’t for life being the unpredictable force that it is, she wouldn’t be even half the mare she was today.

After Rainbow’s statement, Twilight cast Rarity, who stood to Pinkie’s right, a knowing glance. If the two unicorns could put their conflict behind them, then anypony could, especially the lightning quick pegasus, who, despite what she would usually protest, had the tendency to forgive and forget. This fiasco would be no different, Twilight was sure of it, and the thought put her mind at ease.

As if he were as silent as the night itself, the bloodstained alicorn ambled into the room. It was only Twilight Sparkle who turned to face him when she ‘felt' the new presence arrive.

“Oh, Cantor!” She cried, rushing over to fling her arms around him, yet the stallion simply closed his eyes and frowned, holding out a hoof to stop the mare from coming into contact with him.

Twilight took a step back, and before she could protest, Cantor began to speak, his voice godlike, accentuating his flowing golden mane. “Not now, Twilight… There’s something I need to do first…” As he spoke, his words echoed ever so slightly after he said them, as if the ponies were in some sort of cathedral.

All Twilight could do was nod in agreement, stepping to the side to allow Cantor access to Pinkie’s bedside.

“Thank you.” Cantor spoke, still with his eyes closed. He strode across the room until he was at the foot of Pinkie Pie’s bed. His eyes opened and once they had, were already staring intently at Rarity, who promptly backed away to stand next to the idle Applejack. For once, the farm pony found herself lost for words, struggling to piece together thoughts, let lone sentences. Cantor’s intense orange eyes stayed upon the fair white unicorn until she had stopped. He blinked once more, moving his eyes in the fraction of time they were closed so he could burn himself into the wary blue pegasus’ mind when they reopened.

After a moment of the searing eye contact, Cantor spoke up. “You want to stay by her side?” He asked Rainbow, who promptly nodded and clutched Pinkie Pie’s hoof.

The alicorn nodded ant turned back towards Twilight Sparkle. She met his eyes, but this time, his face was unreadable, he showed no emotion and whenever he spoke, it was something somehow even more dry than monotone. “I see…” He answered, turning his head back to the pink mare, his mane refused to move any more than an inch when he turned his head around, only adjusting itself slightly whenever he moved.

Once again, the alicorn closed his eyes, and like the morning sun, Pinkie Pie began to glow a gorgeous shade of gold, her body rising slightly from the bed as waves of sunshine washed across her body, restoring the broken flesh and chipped bone as the stallion worked his trademark miracle.

Her snapped rib reattached to it’s source and her punctured lung closed back up, the breathing of the mare returning to normal after the long session of quiet wheezing. Fresh flesh was restored to her foreleg where it had been torn clean and pulled taught as the soft pink fur instantly sprouted. The procedure lasted a few minutes, and for what seemed like hours passed before the glow faded and Pinkie slowly descended back into the soft folds of her blanket.

The warm glow of Cantor’s healing power faded, much like the anguish inside his heart as his mane and tail deflated to a manner in which everypony was used to. He opened his eyes slowly, observing the young mare’s chest rise and fall. The silence was tormenting, the only sound was the shrill bleeping of the heart monitor, the green line skipping regularly, leaving a thin flashing mountain before it would bleep again and form yet another valley. Cantor’s sight drifted from Pinkie’s steady chest to the blood-sodden bandages wrapped around Pinkie Pie’s shoulder, the taste and texture of the pony’s meat still vivid within his mouth and his mind. The mask which was strapped around her muzzle produced a nearly opaque plastic bag which inflated and deflated in rhythm with her respiration.

Her eyes suddenly shot open in a wild state of panic, causing everypony except Cantor to jump. The first thing Pinkie Pie knew around the bag at the bottom of her periphery as those two intense orange eyes; the last things she saw before they vanished behind a veil of darkness, hate and pain. She tried to speak, however she discovered her voice was muffled: contained within the plastic bag in front of her. The heart monitor began to race, the numbers in the bottom corner soared past the treble-figure mark as the pink mare struggled to take in all of her surroundings at once.

Tubes and needles were stuck in her arm. Something was tightly clamped to her mouth and her right foreleg tingled with an unsettling sensation. She was tired, she was in somewhere unfamiliar. She had no idea how she had arrived, how long she had been there, or what had happened in the time she was asleep. The last thing she could remember was the searing pain with which she could not control. She had fallen unconscious in unending agony, screaming until she could no longer breathe. And now she had awoken in a state of panic.

Pinkie’s wild eyes darted around the room until her mouthpiece was torn away and she felt a pair of hot lips press down on her own, as well as a mass of rainbow hued hair falling across her eyes. It was plain to everypony in the room that Pinkie’s heart quite literally ‘skipped a beat’ as Rainbow Dash melted into her mouth. Gradually, Pinkie’s eyes closed in bliss and she slowly brought her forelegs up and around her best friend’s neck as she kissed her.

Something concerned Pinkie Pie. It was not as if she hadn’t kissed Rainbow Dash before; that would be an understatement! But right here, right now, without the haze of alcohol to make memory misty and the heart filled with lust, Pinkie and Rainbow were connected in more ways than one. That one time, a few months ago, when the pair were simply having fun, like young couples do, neither Pinkie, nor Rainbow felt compelled to take their relationship any further than what had happened that night. They had been with other ponies, been in relationships where they had felt as if their world was complete, yet every time they saw each other, they seemed to want to try and make things work. For both of their young minds, ‘loving somepony’ meant sharing moments of intimacy with them, yet it was clear to both of them right now, that that was only the surface; the affairs of the heart dove deep into the soul, forging a connection not to be unbound even by death.

Sex is just a physicality, simply a way of displaying how much you care about someone, and up until now, the two mares couldn’t fully comprehend the mechanics of desire; to love someone enough to share something that is so much more than a good feeling… to come together in the wonderful act is to not only show your love for somebody, but to offer them everything you have, and to accept everything they give to you. Not only would one need to feel this way at the time, but to feel the same way in a year, ten years, a thousand years! A time when death has long consumed your mortal body and your soul has returned to the sky, to be with, or to wait for that one special somepony you spent your whole life dreaming about ensuing the art of making love.

Rainbow Dash kissed Pinkie, and Pinkie kissed Dash right back, their gentle jaw movements drawing silent, awesome smiles and a few small tears from the audience. Once the moment had passed, the two ponies separated, their eyes opening. In that moment, it became clear that the colour-transfer was similar for non-magical couples as well as a unicorn’s aura: Rainbow Dash saw her shimmering reflection in Pinkie’s eyes, which happened to be the same colour as the pegasus’ body, and the Pink mare beneath her could see her smiling self reflected in rainbow’s rosy eyes, nearly enough the colour of her own coat.

“Dashie?” Asked Pinkie Pie, gazing up at herself in the pegasus’ glistening eyes as she herself began to tear up.

“Shhhh…” Said Rainbow, gently touching Pinkie’s moist lips with her hoof. The blue pegasus then pulled Pinkie into a tight embrace, letting her hidden tears of relief and joy soak the pink one’s shoulder. “I love you, Pinkie Pie.” Dash sobbed. “I always have.”

Pinkie sniffled, her floodgates opening onto Rainbow Dash’s own shoulder. “Me too…” She sucked in a shivering breath. “I love you too, Dashie.”

The two mares gave their emotions to each other in the form of sobs and mumbles of appreciation. Everypony allowed the two their moment as they told each other they loved one another over, and over again. The four other mares, two stallions, and one dragon just observed, awestruck by the public act of intimacy being displayed. Though there was only one other patient in the long room, he happened to be very elderly, and also asleep.

Once Pinkie and Dash had given each other another passionate kiss, they rapidly turned to their blushing audience, but Pinkie’s eyes fell directly to Cantor. She was lost for words, but happily, the alicorn spoke for her.

“Pinkie…” He sighed, “Firstly, I’m so sorry about what happened, it just wasn’t me… Secondly, I um… I understand if you… hate me… Third-“

“Hate you!?” Exclaimed the pink mare, propping herself up in the hospital bed, the thin bice sheets pooling in her lap. “I don’t hate you, Cantor!”

“You… you don’t? Cantor asked, standing completely still – not even his eyes were moving in the slightest; they were fixated upon Pinkie’s sky blue orbs.

“Of course not!” Cried Pinkie. “You’re one of my best friends: how could I even think about hating anypony? Much less you!” She was beaming broadly, much to Cantor’s delight in that he would be able to give a smile of his own.

“Really?” He asked through teary eyes.

“Really.” Pinkie echoed, her smile faltering as she tried hard not to burst back into tears. Though the effort was futile. No sooner had Pinkie answered, her tears cascaded from her eyes. “Come here.” She shook, holding her arms open for an embrace.

Cantor couldn’t hold back his own joyous tears anymore either, and began to bawl as he trotted to Pinkie’s bedside and flung his arms around the sitting mare’s neck.

“I love you.” She uttered into his ear before burying her face in his mane, the spicy scent of cinnamon swept over her, causing her great beaming smile to widen even more.

“I love you too, Pinkie… All of you…” The alicorn returned, taking in Pinkie’s own smell of cotton candy wafting up from her luscious pink hair.

The rest of the ponies in the room had become moist eyed at the moving scene too, even Dr. Stable took out a handkerchief and dabbed his eyes under his glasses. The other five other mares closed in on the two ponies, their eyes streaming with tears throughout the touching moment, whatever the future may hold, no matter what the past would hurt them with, nothing else mattered other than the present. True harmony was blindingly evident then. Once again, they were reminded what true friendship was, they could only think of the good, spent or to come. No words needed be uttered as none of the hundreds of thousands of words in existence could possibly begin to describe the joy in all of their hearts at this precious moment in time.

The elements of harmony simply cried their felicity into each other, as between the seven friends, that negative event was erased from the past…

Around seven o’ clock, night had fallen across Ponyville. Many of the town’s inhabitants were settled inside their homes with their families, eating their diners and conversing their previous day. Twilight Sparkle and her friends were no exception, each pony either taking comfort on the purple unicorn’s sofa, or seating themselves on the floor. They all had a steaming mug of hot chocolate which Cantor had conjured from thin air, much to everypony’s great astonishment. And once Pinkie Pie had asked for marshmallows, all the ponies insisted that the gooey white pillows were a necessity in their sweet drinks.

A certain white unicorn in the room tried and failed to hide a prestigious blush as Pinkie went into great detail outlining how marshmallows “went all creamy and sticky and slimy when they got hot”, confirming several rumours he had heard about the purple maned unicorn which he had been pondering for some time.

Pinkie Pie and Dash occupied the cushy white sofa, yet the pink mare eagerly made room for Twilight Sparkle by hopping onto the blue pegasus’ lap and drawing her forelegs around her waist like a safety belt. Rarity and Fluttershy were sitting on their haunches beside each other, quietly blowing the steam from their mugs of cocoa before every sip they took. The tan coated farm pony was laid several inches away from the base of the sofa, which had been pulled across the room to come to rest a small distance away from the fireplace which harboured a most delightful warmth. Cantor had ensured all of his friends were as comfortable as possible, and the evidence suggested that task was accomplished. Even though the night was still fairly young, the heat of the fire making made their cheeks rosy and the creaminess of their hot drinks made them all rather drowsy.

Each pony’s eyelids were half closed and they failed to support their bodies where they sat. Spike was curled up next to Applejack and she had begrudgingly allowed him to use her blonde tail as a makeshift blanket, though she had forgotten about it already and was happily basking in the heat of the fire. Fluttershy was in her element; this was her idea of a perfect evening. Even though her day had been rather ‘eventful’, this evening had made up for it by far. She ruffled her feathers for the third time that night, blushing ever so slightly at the little nips of pleasure pricking her wings where every single feather connected, trapping more warmth in-between each yellow quill.

“As you all have probably guessed… I’m no regular pony…” Cantor began, drawing the nearly full mug to his lips, staring just over the top of the rim, a truly spellbinding look, aimed directly at Twilight. The unicorn had only ever seen the alicorn look at her this way three times before, and each of those times, it had thrown whatever thoughts she had at that present moment completely out the window. Twilight Sparkle could not tell the difference between his eyes and the very fire he stood in front of. Ironically enough, the blazing glare chilled her to the bone, she didn’t know what to do or say: Cantor was staring right into her soul, and to say she wasn’t a little frightened by this side if him would be a lie.

Mercifully, Cantor took a sip from his mug, the muscles in his neck pulsing every time he swallowed. “Ahhh…” He sighed as he dropped the steaming cup from his mouth, feeling the boiling liquid travel through his body until the sensation quickly vanished. Once he looked back up, Twilight was relieved to find that his eyes had returned to ‘normal’ despite still being as spicy as the fire behind him.

“What do you mean by ‘no regular pony’?” Fluttershy put forward, in her relaxed state, it was impossible to guess that she was the shyest pony anyone could know, she didn’t feel the need to be careful about what she said: she was so peaceful and content sitting by this fire that there wasn’t much that could distract her from her own snugly warmth.

“Well, Fluttershy…” Cantor started, peering down at the pegasus from where he stood, only now becoming aware of how her aquatic eyes sparkled in the light of the fire. She met his stare with tender eyes and a serene face, one of the sweetest things Cantor had ever seen in his life. So cute, in fact, that his train of thought juddered slightly before continuing to it’s inevitable destination.

“What I mean is…” He sighed heavily, the sound waking the drowsy ponies up slightly. “I don’t know how to tie a ribbon around this, so I’ll just come all out and say it…” He took a long inhale through his nose and shut his eyes. And then told the truth…

“I’m not a pony… At least, I wasn't until a short while ago… The fact that I can control the elements – all of them – is no coincidence… You see… I’m from a legend, a legend long ago, something only princess Celestia knows about - well… I’m not sure whether Luna knows about it or not, but Celestia knows a lot more than me… Anyway, I’m The Rife – a ‘god’ in pony form." He paused, briefly taking a reassuring drink from his mug of hot chocolate. "In… In a little over a year from now, there is going to be someone – or something – that is going to try and destroy not only Equestria, but the entire universe surrounding it as well…”

Cantor slowly opened his eyes. The serene faces of the ponies were askew, they didn’t know whether to believe the alicorn or not, nevertheless, Cantor continued his story. “I’m a human from a different universe, I’ve come to Equestria to save the world, no… to save this universe from total annihilation. I know it’s hard to believe, but you have to trust that this is all real. And it may seem sinister, and I don’t really like to ‘big myself up’, but, when I’m around, nothing’s going to happen to Equestria. Nothing’s going to hurt my friends. And if anything even tries to, it’s in for a world of pain…”

He cast a glance to the slightly sunken spot on his rump where he had gouged his flesh out as some sort of futile punishment for when he thought he had hurt Pinkie Pie. He could have healed himself, but he didn’t deserve such mercy, he still hadn’t fully forgiven himself for doing that, even though they had all agreed it was an accident.

“What?” Asked Applejack, utterly bewildered, speaking what was on the minds of all of the others present.

Cantor snorted a little and shook his head. “It’s true, Applejack, I’m going to save the world from a monster, his name is Kerous and if what Celestia has told me is right, he means serious business…”

The farm pony frowned at the crackling orange fire for a moment before looking back up. “So you’re sayin’ that… a year from now, the world is gonna end and you’re the only one who can stop it?” She asked, her face completely in shadow from her Stetson pulled right across her brow. “And that you’re not a pony?” She added.

“Technically speaking, I am a pony, but my mind is human.” The alicorn answered, glancing nervously towards Twilight every now and then to see if she was reacting.

“What’s a human?” The butter toned animal lover asked, fascinated by this new creature she was only just hearing about.

“…Never mind, Fluttershy.” Said Cantor, a touch of forbidding heard in his voice. “Besides, I don’t really know how to describe them…”

“Can’t um… can you… try?” Fluttershy asked, the meekness visible in her voice as she spoke out for herself.

“No.” Cantor replied deeply, slicing off the conversation there, causing the shy pegasus to recede back into herself a little.

Cantor sighed sadly, seeing how he had frightened the adorable Fluttershy with his harsh tone. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy, but I…” He sought out an ingenious tweak of the truth… “I just feel really uncomfortable discussing this matter, even with the princess, but she needed to know…” He felt proud of himself for thinking of a way to steer the conversation away from the grim topic without having to full – out lie to his best friends. The real reason for his unwillingness to explain himself any further was that of the rapid mental speculation that humans in Equestria was all to possible. And knowing human nature, the outcome of that was most likely a negative one.

“I understand.” Fluttershy returned, taking a long sip of her chocolate drink and finding confidence in the fire once again.

Cantor opened his mouth to speak again, but promptly closed it. “Do they need to know?” He asked himself. “Will telling them that everything they knew was a fabrication, a dream, a mere 'T.V show' do any good? In fact, will it do me any good?” Everything he thought here on out passed in an instant. “A year from now, when I die… Twilight is going to be heartbroken. She will be heartbroken then, if I told her now, she would be heartbroken. It’s a loose – loose…” He thought. “She doesn’t need to know now… none of them do. Who am I to make them hurt? Would it dampen the blow? Would they not care as much when I die? Is that what I want?” His thoughts quickly became hurtful. “I… I don’t want them to forget me. I don’t want to upset them. But, at the same time, I don’t want to come to expect something like that from them. What do I do!?” He yelled, thankfully, he kept the outburst inside his head and managed to find the words to say.

“I… Your reaction… I must say isn’t what I would’ve expected…” Cantor mentioned, addressing the group as a whole.

“Well what were you expecting, Cantor?” Everypony turned to who had spoken. It was Twilight. “Why should you?” She repeated. “Remember what you said this morning: ‘nothing will change’?” She asked, leaning forward slightly, keeping her hind legs folded underneath her atop the sofa. “Has anything changed, Cantor?”

“Well… Ummm…” Cantor began, but Twilight answered for him.

“Nothing’s changed, Cantor.” She spoke definitively. “I see you in exactly the same light as when I first fell in love with you, that was a while ago. The only thing that is going to change is we will grow older… I love you no more, and definitely no less than last night. And believe me, Cantor: nothing is going to change that.” She finished, reflecting the passion Cantor spoke with in her eyes.

Cantor’s dim expression twisted into a scowl of sheer determination. “You’re right, Twilight.” He proclaimed. “Nothing's going to change: nothing needs to. I love you. And always will. I believe every word you say and let me tell you something: whatever the future throws at us, what – EVER hurdles we have to face, we’ll do it together. And NOTHING is going to stop us.”

He finished his ‘mini-speech’ by rearing up on his hind legs, shuffling backwards as he rose as tall as two ponies stood on each other’s shoulders. He landed with a thud, exciting the other ponies a little, enough to cause their sleepy eyes to open wide and modest smiles to form across their faces. “No matter what comes our way, I’ll always be here to defend you. Kerous…” He threatened to the ceiling, “…You don’t stand a fucking chance.” His own will empowered him, generating a great stir amongst his audience.

“For Equestria!” He declared, taking his mug of chocolate from his violet aura in his hoof and hovering it over Applejack.
“FOR EQUESTRIA!” The group shouted, chinking their mugs together before taking a long swig of the liquid contents.

Between the eight inhabitants of the library, the fire in their souls burning brighter than the fire inside the fireplace, they all knew that from that day forth, their lives would grow increasingly better. Especially for Cantor, his heart and soul staring death in the face and laughing, challenging it to try it’s best. He would never leave his friends: He loved them all far to much and right about now, the extra-ordinary stallion knew, without any shadow of a doubt that he would save this world.

And not even death would stop him.

(!NOTE!) I have nothing personally against Sergant Sprinkles (The author of 'Cupcakes'), It's just like "Seriously man... Why?..."

"Yay! Cantor's back and everypony is happy!"

Comments

[Deathpony]

yay everypony is happy, meh its not as long as the other chapters still good though

[bronys unite]

And now I jizz in my pants

[Nightmare]

And Now You WIll Have To Wait While We Enjoy The Editing MWHAHAHAAHAHAHAdl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Lyra.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Lyra.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/discord.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Twilight_Sparkle_lolface.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Pinkie_Pie_lolface.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Rarity_lolface.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Rainbow_Dash_lolface.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Applejack_lolface.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Fluttershy_lolface.png

[Still Breeze]

591499 WHATISTHIS!? How did you get those emoticons!?!?!?

[Nightmare]

591618 puu.sh/nXlr

[Deathpony]

591781 What is this magic you speak of? Its blasphemy also I re read the whole story cause I was bored cant wait for the next one

[Nightmare]

594734 puu.sh/s5Qj Also I Can Have The Chapters Whenever I Want , HA Prereadingdl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Twilight_Sparkle_lolface.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Luna_lolface.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Sweetie_Belle_lolface.png dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/shrug_Twilight_Sparkle.png

[denir]

well more of a question is why the hell did you read it if you didn't like where it was going. and actually writing about it in your story put you on exactly same spot as Sergant Sprinkles

not that I mind, that is...
p.s. really liked that part in stratosphere

[Blazing_Mane01]

Gods are immortal. Immortals can't die. Cantor is safe.

Wait a minute... Kerous is a god, too, which means...

He's Wizard and I'm Boomstick, and we're here to analyze their weapons, armour, and skills to see which one would win a Death Battle!

[Seizure Specialist]

Every time I read a Fanfiction/Fimfiction with Pinkie in it for the next three months after reading 'Cupcakes', all I could think about was Pinkie cutting off Rainbow's wings with a hatchet and skinning her alive. While I also have nothing against Sgt. Sprinkles, it is an absolutely disgusting story that will leave almost all who read it severely disturbed.

[Deadinlight]

Should Read The Cupcake Chronicles by Milesprower06

It Takes The Ending Of Cupcakes And Adds To Make A Story Filled With Emotion And A Ending That I Feel Is Amazing. Quite The Story To Give A Try.

[Science-Mare]

2049327 I...FUCKING...DIED

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

2049327 Nice one!

[jack the reaper]

Piiiiinnnnkkkkiiiiieeee piiiiieee Stahl breaking the fourth wall

Yay! Cantor's back and everypony is happy!"

[unknowncape7377]

5868776
Same dude