One's Past is Another's Future

by Masked_Frenchman

First published 8th of July, 2013

Two humans living the life in their own world accidentally going into the world of Equestria and try to find a way back home.

Neon Rave and Random Guy are 2 close friends in high school just trying to get by. But one night while talking about their future they accidentally discovered a portal to another dimension. That once they went in, they couldn't get out. And now, trapped in the world of Equestria. Trying to settle in with their new lives, they must go out to look for answers as to get back to their homeland. But maybe this is home?

Chapter 1: The Start of Something New

"Let's drop this bass!" screamed out Neon Rave. He was DJing at a party to try to ease the tensions for the finales of next week of high school. Neon Rave was a party animal, normally at all the major gatherings and usually the life of the party. He would bring out his play list and would spin some tracks. So far, everyone who has ever been to a party with him in it has loved it. He had long dark green hair with neon green highlights and neon green eyes. By the end of the song he grabbed his mic and said "Alright everybody, even someone like me needs a little break from the booth, I'll be back soon". The crowd aww'ed in disappointment but they let him take a break as he put his play list on shuffle and let natural music take it's turn. Neon Rave walked to the very back of the room in the corner and put his arm around the guy there. "Hey Random, what are you doing back here? Get in this jam with me!"He asked assertive.

Random looked up to him, holding a diet Pepsi, and simply shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not really in a party mood right now, sorry." He pleaded. Random Guy had short brown hair, one blood red eye and one sky blue eye, which some people would freak out a little by it, but it was a birth defect. Other than his eyes he was as normal as one can be, until you got to know him. He tends to switch moods and personalities fairly often. Neon looked at him and smiled.

"Another one of those moods then, huh Random? Alrighty then. But if you get into it again you better come over and raise the roof with me. This is a party to release tension, remember?" he asked, poking him with his shoulder.

"Yea?" Random replied, trying to figure out what he was trying to get at.

"Well, then, get out there, and release some. Here, let me play your song, that always gets you dancing." Neon said chuckling. He chuged his drink and took off for his stage again. Random took a deep breath and slowly sipped at his Pepsi. Neon went back to the stage and took his playlist off shuffle. AS he did, everyone turned to him. "Alright everybody, it is time for a good dance song. He got a friend who is in the gunk. So let's turn up the heat and speed up the funk!" Neon shouted out to the crowd. Which the crowd shouted back in excitment. He put in a song he knew would get his friend moving, no matter what kind of mood he was. Once the song was playing, Random shook his head smiling.

"Oh Neon, your always trying to get me to join up with you." he said chuckling to himself. As soon as the song started playing, he started laughing, remembering the song that was playing and all the memories. Neon looked back to him smiling and then back to his booth. Random finished his drink and went out onto the dance floor. Neon was playing the best song in his arsenal for getting his best friend Random. He knew what it did to him.

"You can call me a king or a ruler, Felon on bass, getting horse on the mic. We getting 20% cooler!" Neon started to sing out. He could see his friend making his way to the dance floor. Smiling, he continued his song. "We had a great day out, calling my name like Ferris Bueller. It's time to wrap this up, we getting 20% cooler." he continued. After a few seconds after the chorus he saw Random finally dancing. 'About time slow poke' he thought jokingly. After a dozen more songs he had to finish it up and have everyone leave. Neon and Random went out front to see everyone out, all of them talking about how awesome the party was. Neon was saying good night to everyone, and by the time the last person left and was out of sight he collapsed onto the ground. "Man, what a hungry crowd." he said with a reliefing sigh.

"What is wrong, can't handle one little party?" Random joked around. Neon got back up and playfully punched his shoulder.

"Shut up you. As if you could do any better." He said jokingly. Random lookeda t the school behind them.
"So, for real. How did you get the keys for the school?" Random asked confused. Neon turned to him with a devilish smile and pulled out the keys.

"Borrowed and copied." he explained smirking to himself. "Principle Celestia never saw it coming." he added while spinning the keys on his finger tip. Random Started to chuckle to himself but then had a face of panic. "I mean, really, sometimes she is watching you like a hawk. But other times, she is clueless and clumsy as that derpy chick." Neon kept going on. Random was trying to signal him to stop. "I mean, I know I can be good at sneaking around and stuff. Like, remember that time I snuck into her office and stole her lunch. That was almost too easy, or maybe that time we cut off the peaker system and hooked it up to my phone to play awesome music, I got 3 songs before they even found out. Funny as hell" he said, slapping his knee laughing his head off. Random, freaking out, took a step back pointing at Neon. "Dude, what is it, what the hell are you freaking out about. Wait, wait, let me guess, uhhh, Principle Celestia is right behind me?" He said sarcastically, laughing as he said it.

"Why yes actually" said a voice from behind Neon. He froze in his tracks and stopped his laughing immediately. Neon slowly turned to look behind him and saw Principle Celestia looking down at him with a stern and angry look upon her face. "So you stole my lunch yesterday." she said firmly. Neon was paralyzed with fear and his knees where shaking.

The next day, Neon was at school as always. Everyone talking about the party the night before as he got his stuff from his locker when a random pair of hands covered his eyes. "Hmmm, wait, I know this one. The smell of blueberries. . . . . . soft hands. . . . . . . firm grip. . . . . . I wonder who it can be?" He said sarcastically. He was spun around to look into the violet shades of a girl. "Oh, for a second, I thought you were my girl friend. Are you free tonight? We could hang out at my place." he said smoothly. She lifted her eyebrow and giggled.

"If that's all it takes, I wonder how many girls you've been with." she questioned, about to jab him in the chest. Neon quickly caught the fist and held it into his hand and leaned her up on the lockers.

"You would be the first, as you should know, or at least you should know." Neon said softly. She was taken back at the sudden approach and slowly leaned in for a kiss.

"I. . . . hope. . . . . . so" she whispered, closing her eyes.

"Hey Neon, hey Vinyl. Am I interupting something?" asked Random. The 2 froze for a second and then Neon prompted her back up.
"Hey Random, your timing has never been so poor." Neon said annoyed. Vinyl giggled to herself.

"I don't know, I thought it was perfect." she joked. She punched Neon in the arm and started walking off to class. "Hey Neon, I need some help with my new toy tomorrow. Can I count on you?" she called out. Neon turned to her with his usual smirk.

"Of course you can count on me. I wanna use that bad boy as much as you do." he called out.

"Great, I will see ya tomorrow night then, at 7. Don't be late, or you'll regret it!" she yelled back as she stuck her tongue out at him and spun around to hurry to class. Neon watched her as she ran off. Random caught him watching and decided to tease him about it.

"What is this 'New Toy' She is talking about?" asked Random confused, hoping it isn't what he thinks it is.

Neon was alittle dazed and snapped out of it to turn to Random. "What? Oh, it is a project she has been working on. A new sounds system that concentrates all of the bass power into a narrowed sound barrier. She plans on calling it 'The Bass Cannon' or something like that. I think her designs maybe alittle too much, be she wants it her way, so all I can really do is support her." he explained, still looking back to Vinyl right before she turned the cornor to get to her class.
"Dude, you are so whipped. You know that, right?" he said jokingly with a smirk on his face. Neon turned back around.
"What?! No way dude, I totaly got her wrapped around MY finger." Neon said folding his arms to his chest with a confident smile. Random rolled his eyes.

"Yea, sure. Come on, we are gonna be late and Principle Celestia is already upset with us as is." Random reminded Neon. They both took off to their next class, racing each other done the hall. Neon Rave and Random Guy have known each other for a long time now. Their parents were all friends and used to hang out alot. So it was only natural that they became friends, but they were insepratable. But one day, while the parents were out to the movies, a drunk truck driver smashed into their care and killed them. So with Neon being older by a year, took Guy and started living by themselves. They live by an old abandom factory building that they use for parties and sleeping area. No one knows they are homeless and they have told no one. Buyt ever since then, they have formed a bond stronger than brothers.

"Man, today was such a pain in my rear. I'm just glad that it is finaly over." said Neon happily, streching out his arms and legs while walking out of the school. Random walked over to the statue in the middle of the court yard.
"Yea, 3 hours of detention will do that to you. 1 down, 7 more to go." he said annoyed looking back at him. "You just had to spill all that stuff out, huh? Why not just walk up to her and tell her about the food fight that we started last week. Or, or maybe the food we stole from the lock up 4 days ago. Oh, and who could forget the time we set up that air horn in our teachers desk and almost gave him a heart attack?" Random asked angry. Neon shrugged his shoulders.

"I know, I know. I get alittle full of my self sometimes. I'm sorry.' he said, and then turned around to give Random his best puppy dog look. "Could you ever forgive me"? Random looked into his eyes and gave a short laugh.

"Oh fine, you got me, now stop already." he said, trying to block his sight from him. Neon broke out laughing and gave him another playful punch to the shoulder.

"Did you hear about what everyone is says? Everyone today was talking about that party, they really loved your song. I might use that for my next album, who knows. That party might have been the best so far." Neon said pumped. He loved hearing about the parties he goes to. Random chuckled to himself.

"Yea, actually, some people are even calling you the god of parties. Even that crazy pink hair girl wants to party with you." Random explained.

Neon laughed about the thought. "God of parties huh? I'll take that title." He joked. He grabed his coat and wrapped it around his neck as a make shift cape. "Bow down before me. Your god has arrived." he acted out, walking around nobly. Random gave off a few laughs and joined in and kneeled before Neon.

"Oh mighty god of the parties, what do thy command?" he asked playing along with the act. Neon looked down to him and say mightly.

"Oh faithful servet, we shall throw a party of a life time. Invite all the mortals. We shall throw a party that the angels will sing about for the remainders of time." Neon continued as he walked around all high and mighty.

"As you command, my lord." Random played along. But at that last part, he fell over onto his back laughing his butt off, and Neon followed suit. Both of them rolled around on the ground laughing, trying to stop. After awhile they finally calmed down and looked up into the night sky. There wasn't a cloud in sight and every star was visible for them both to see.

"Now that's a sight, don't cha agree?" asked Random. Neon just kept looking up, without turning to his friend replied with

"Actually, yes. This is an amazing sight". They sat there for awhile till finally Random poked Neon and said
"Hey man, just wondering. What are we gonna do with our lives?" Random asked. Neon shrugged his shoulders and started smiling.

"I'll tell you what I am gonna be doing. Touring the world. I will become the number one DJ in the world. People from all over the world will be chanting my name. The greatest club owners will be on their knees, begging me to play at their hottest spots. Chicks will be all over me. But of course, I am gonna have eyes for only one girl. An' I'm with her already." Explained Neon with a big smirk on his face, looking as confident as ever. He turned to Random and asked "What about you? Have you made up your mind yet"?

Random shook his head. "Nope, not yet. I mean, their is stuff I would like to do, but, nothing that really shouts out for me. I don't really have anything I am particularly good at. I'm an ok dancer, I can cook a few things, I'm ok in my studies, not really good at any sports. Maybe I just don't have any real destiny before me." he said with dout. Neon was alittle sadden but then jabbed him in the side.

"Hey man, you have a purpose. You just haven't discovered. But for now, you being my best friend should due for now, right?" he said cheerfully, holding his fist out infront of him. Random looked at his fist and then to him. He smiled and shook his head.

"Alright, maybe your right. For now, this will do just fine." he sighed as he bumped fists with Neon. He smiled and said

"Well alright, come on, get up." Neon said as he jumped to his feet in one swift motion and lent a hand. "Come on there slow poke." he teased playfully. Random grabbed his hand and pulled himself up to his feet. Neon walked over to a can that was in front of the statue and kicked it toward Random, which he caught with his foot.

"So, planning on spending your life with Vinyl then, Neon?" Random teased, passing it back to him. He caught it and chuckled.

"Really? You had to bring that up? But. . . . yea, yea I guess you can say that. She shares my passion for music, and she is totally chill and beuatiful, and kind. She is a blast to hang around with. She is allways cheering me on and-" as he was talking Random gave him a dirty look and Neon calmed down. "I mean, I guess I could spend my life with her, if I had to I mean. She's cool I guess." he said, trying to play it off cool and he kicked the can back to Random. As he caught it, he passed it to himself a few times.

"Well, as usual, you can't hide everything. But still, she is a good match for you. I know she is your first and all, but still, try to keep her." said Random passing the can back to Neon. He caught it and and stood it up tall, aiming his foot at Random.

"How do you know, I could have had many girl friends and you wouldn't have known. I can keep a secret as you should know." Neon said smirking and kicked the can with everything he's got, beaming it right at Random. Right before it hit him, he moved his hand to catch the can at the last second without flinching. He looked at the can in his hand, then back to Neon and smiled his evil smile. Neon took a step back, knowing what the smile meant. "Oh crap, come on man, it's just a game." he tried to explain as he backed up some more. When ever Random had that stare, it always meant trouble, he was going alittle crazy.

"You're right Neon, it is just a game. So let's play." Random said with a creepy stare. He placed the can on the ground and with all his strength he winded back and kicked it. The can went flying so fast that Neon couldn't even see it. So he did the only thing he could do, jumpped the hell out of the way. After a few seconds he didn't hear the can hit the statue, or anything for that matter. He looked back at Random guy he stared at the Statue. When he turned to see what Random was staring at, he noticed that the can was gone.

"Where did it go Random?" asked Neon. Random guy pointed at the statue.

"I-it just went right through. as if it wasn't there." explained Random. Neon looked back at the statue and walked up to it. Standing in front of it he tried to tap the statue with his foot but it went right in.

"Dude, come check this out. It's like a hologram or something." Neon said, signaling him to come over. Random walked over and put his hand inside and pulled it right out.

"It's cold on the other side, not too much colder than here, but alittle bit." Random explained. Neon grabbed his hand and smiled.

"On the count of 3, we jump. Ready?" asked Neon with a friendly smile. Random smiled back and chuckled.

"Three!" He yelled out as he jumped in and pulled Neon with him, taking him by surprise. They landed on the other side of the entrance. The room they were now in was very dark. Neon and Random laid on the ground. "Ow, my head." said Random.

"My head. Where the hell are we?" Neon asked. He looked around and waited for his eyes to adjust. He could see books stacked up on the shelves, some closed curtains, and 2 hallway entrances. "Dude, this looks like a museum or something. It all looks really fancy ether way." he said, trying to get up.

"Well, ether way we are screwed if we get caught!" exclaimed Random.

Neon Looked towards Random and dropped his jaw. "Dude!!! WHAT THE HELL?! Your a freaking horse!" He yelled in shock. He jumped backwards and slams into a bookshelf, knocking over some of the books on the shelves.

"Neon, you are too!" Random guy cried out. Suddenly they heard voices coming from around the corner. Neon looked at himself and Random was right. He did turn into a horse, with wings?

"Come on man, this is getting really weird. Let's get the hell out of here." He said as he started running for the mirror that they fell through. He kept slipping a few times due to the fact that he had hooves instead of feet. As he got to the mirrior he crashed into it and fell over backwards.

Random looked at him confused. "What happened?" he asked both scared and worried.

Neon turned to Random with pure fear in his eyes. "We can't go back, it won't let us." Random came up to it and placed his hands on the mirror.

Two ponies in armor came around the corner, shining a light at them. One of them stepped forward to them. "Alright, freeze!"Neon and Random froze in place, not moving a muscle. The guards came over to look at them. "Alright, how did you guys get in the secret storage chambers of the main palace? " asked one of the guards. Neon and Random looked at each other with the most confused faces they have ever had.

"Ummm, well, you see, uhhh. We don't really know where we are. We walked into a statue and it brought us here. We tried to go back through but it won't let us now. We're stuck here." Random tried to explain. The 2 guards looked at each other confused and looked back.

"What in Luna's name are you talking about?" asked the same guard forcfully. Neon sat down and looked at the guard scincerly.

"Look, we are trapped in here, where ever here is. We have no idea where we are, nor how we got here. So can you just go to who ever is in charge here so we can try to explain this properly and like gentlemen?" asked Neon. The guards looked at him like he was crazy, back to each other, then back to them.

"You wish to speak to Princess Celestia?" asked the other guard. Random shrugged his shoulders.

"Sure, is that who is in charge?" He asked. Neon leaned over to him and whispered

"When did Principle Celestia become a princess"?

"I am not sure, let's just play along." Random replied back in a whisper. The 2 guards led the troubled and confused pair up the halls in to the thrown room. One of the guards poked his head in and asked for permission to enter. Random heard something but couldn't make it out. The guard poked his head back in and nodded. The guards escorted them into the thrown room where a light, rainbow colored pony stood with a dark haired one standing next to her, but smaller.

"Your Majesties. These 2 where caught in the secret storage chambers of the main palace. We caught them while they were yelling about something. Noisy thieves if you ask me your majesties." the guard finished as he lowered his head and slowly backed away. Neon could feel the stare of the Pony that looked alittle like Principle Celestia as if she was looking into his very soul, kinda like his principle could. She smiled and kept her gaze at them.

"My name is Princess Celestia, and this is my sister, Princess Luna. What is your names?" Celestia asked kindly. Neon was alittle embarrased but took a step forward.

"My name is Neon Rave. This is my closest friend, Random Guy." Neon explained. Celestia's eyes widen in joy and shock as did her sister Luna.

"Did you say Random Guy?" she asked surprised. Neon nodded his head. Celestia looked at Random and smiled. "Welcome back then. We have missed you".

Chapter 2: Bad news

Neon looked at Random then back at Celestia. "No, you must be mistaken, this is our first time being here. You must be confused with someone else." He tried to explain. Random just stood there looking at Celestia wearing a confused look on his face.

Celestia smiled at Random. "I would recognize him anywhere. I could never forget those eyes of his." She explained kindly. Random Guy took a step forward but was shaking, Neon was too but because he wasn't use to his new method of traveling.

"I am sorry, but I do not remember you. Nothing here makes any sense to me. I am sure you have me confused with someone else" explained Random. Celestia pondered this for a short while.

"I see, I could have sworn that you were the same pony. Oh well, maybe you are and forgot, or maybe I remembered that pony wrong." Celestia advised kindly. Luna did not speak, but she also didn't take her eyes off of Neon. Her look was not that of hostility, but of curiosity and wonder. 'What is with that colt, it is like I wish to know him, but I do not see anything interesting about him' she thought to herself. Neon met her stare and looked back on the ground. His cheeks turning beat red from embarrassment. 'Normally it would be me staring at the girls, not the other way around' he thought to himself. 'wait, how do I know that that is a girl? assumption?' he continued to question. Celestia looked down the 2 stallions and smiled.

"Very well then. Since you seem to be of no danger, I shall let you go. You are new to the area, so I will assign of one my faithful students to watch over you and to teach you our ways until you can be trusted to go by yourselves. She is visiting her friends, but I believe she will be more than happy to hear about your tales from the other side of that portal. I expect you to treat her fairly?" she both asked and demanded, but some how seemed kind about it all at the same time. Random with a sudden joyful burst of energy said

"Can will do Princess, we shall be behaving at our best 100% of the time, we promise". Neon looked over to him with a slightly disturbed face. 'Now is not the time to go all happy here, you idiot.' Neon thought to himself. Random looked over to him and smiled a playful smile. "Cheer up there buddy, everything is gonna be alright, I am sure of it." Random said cheerfully. he turned to the 2 Princess' and bowed energetically. "We shall follow thy command." and with that he jumped over, took Neon's arm, and ran out. After they were out of the castle and on the train to a near by town called 'Ponyville, Random continued humming along while looking out side of the window. He looked like he was gonna explode with joy or something.

"Alright man, this is scary, even for you. Do you slowly change moods and I just do not realize it, or is it an on and off switch, for every mood for the book?" Neon asked sarcastically. Random looked half way at him, only looking at him with his red eye. Neon shivered as he looked into that eye that now showed anger.

"Is there something wrong with me being happy?" he asked darkly, piercing Neon with his stare. Neon lowered into his seat, looking away from his stare.

"Well. . no, but. . . . It's just that. . . " Neon started.

"Well, what's wrong with me being happy." Random whispered menacingly dark, his eye growing colder and crueler. Neon was almost to the floor, he couldn't crouch down any lower.

"Nothing, never mind, I didn't say anything." Neon said, almost shaking form his stare. Random suddenly spiked back up to happy and looked back out the window. "Dude, you scare the crap out of me every time you do that." Random never turned away from the window but kept smiling.

"I know, why do you think I do it?" he asked playfully. Neon's eye twitched alittle then he calmed down abit.

"You can be so mean sometimes, you know that?" Neon asked annoyed, sitting back up in his seat. Random chuckled to himself but kept humming away. A few hours later they arrived at the town, which it was still freshly morning. They stepped off the train and walked around the station abit, waiting for a pony to greet them.

"Ok, who is supposed to greet us and bring us to their place?" Random asked annoyed. Neon laughed at the sudden mood change.

"I am not sure. I think her name is Twilight Circle, or was it Die Hard Sparkle. Uhhhh, Twiheart Dirkle. I can't remember." Neon explained, scratching his head. As he reached up to do this, he fell over, still not use to the whole walking on all fours thing, and sometimes his new wings would not obey to a word he had to say, acting like they had a mind of their own, as that moment. As he fell over he tried to reach for something, and his wings decided to take off. Right before he could reach the ground he suddenly launched off to the ceiling and got his head stuck in it. Random walked under Neon and smiled.

"Anyone got a stick?!" Random called out loud enough for Neon to hear as he struggled to free his head. The Random fell to his back, pointing and laughing at Neon. "How's the view?" he joked around again.

"Not funny, Random!" Neon shouted back, muffled by the fact that his head was trapped. A purple pony with a horn on her head and wings on her back walked up to the 2 idiots as they caused a scene.

"Uhhh, I am guessing you 2 are the ponies who need a place for a few days?" The pony asked. Random looked up at her and stopped his laughing.

"Oh, uhh, yes, are you Twilight?" he asked.

"Yes, yes I am. It is very nice to meet you." the Pony greeted respectfully. Random looked at her head and saw the horn. He backed up and stared at it with some fear.

"Oh my god, what happened to your head?!" random asked out loud without thinking.

"What, whats going on? Can someone lend me a hand here?" Neon asked, still trying to get out, pushing with his wings.

Twilight looked up at Neon, still struggling. "Hands? What are-" she stopped herself. After a moment, her eyes lit up with joy and excitement. "Wait, are you guys telling me you are from the other side?" she asked, grabbing a hold on Random.

"Well, if you mean the other side of that mirror in the 'storage chamber' or what ever you called it, then yes." Random replied nervously. Twilight's wings popped up with her excitement and twirled around.

"I have been meaning to talk to someone about the other side, but my friends don't know anything about it, and I assumed I could never return, but if you got through, then maybe I could visit them someday." She said, mostly to herself.

"Ummmm, hello. Their is someone stuck in the ceiling, alittle help here." Neon called out.

Twilight rushed back to Random. "Oh please tell me that you will tell me everything of what life is like over there, please? I was only over there for a short period of time and time was against me, so I couldn't take notes. Oh please tell me everything about your life?" She blurted out smiling widely. Random backed up alittle.

"Ummm, sure, I guess I could. So, like, everything?" Random asked nervously. 'Geez, she is alittle crazy, huh?' he thought to himself.

"Hey, can we talk at the house, and maybe. . . oh I don't know, GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" Neon screamed out. Twilight looked up to the distressed pegasus stuck in the ceiling.

"How did he get up there?" Twilight asked puzzled. Random looked up at Neon where he was still dangling.

"Oh yea, he fell and tried to catch himself. Well, umm, his wings just sorta took off to the sky, and then this happened." Random explained to twilight snickering. Twilight used her magic to pull him out of the ceiling and placed him gently onto the floor.

"Thanks for helping me, finally" Neon said sarcastically, glaring at Random and he just sat there smiling innocently back at Neon.

"No problem, and I understand. I am still not use to my wings yet ether. Anyway, are you ponies ready to come to my house? Spike should be done cleaning by now." Twilight asked as she gave the 2 a friendly smile.

"Ponies? Who are you calling a pony?" Neon asked. Random glared at Neon and then face hoofed. Neon looked back at him with a confused look on his face. "What?" he asked puzzled. Random pointed at himself and then at Neon. It clicked in his mind and then he looked at the ground feeling like an idiot for forgetting that he is now a pony. 'Oh, right, I forgot." he remembered.

"It is ok, it is something you guys will have to get use to is all. But don't worry, I am more than sure that you guys will get use to this new life style." Twilight explained kindly and with understanding. Neon looked at Twilight and shrugged his shoulders.

"Like heck I am gonna get use to this. Just tell us how to get back home and we will be on our merry ways." Neon asked assertively. Twilight's smile faded as she looked at the ground.

"Umm, well. . . . . . about that. It's hard to explain. . . . . " she started. Neon looked at her contently and Random stepped toward her with a sadden look.

"The portal to our world only opens once every 30 moons which in our standards is equivalent to 2 and a half years to our time meaning their is absolutely no way for us to return home until then, right?" Random blurted out quickly. Twilight looked at him shocked and stunned.

"How did you know?" Twilight asked, unable to understand how he even figured it all out without her saying anything. Random shrugged his shoulders.

"Just a hunch." Random answered emotionlessly as he backed away from her to go to Neon, who was frozen in terror.

"2 and a half years?!?!?!?! We have to wait 2 and a half years till we can go back home?!" Neon yelled. He stumbled backwards and fell onto his back, staring up at Twilight. She took a step forward towards

"Listen, I know this is rough, I'm so-" she started.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Neon screamed. Twilight stopped in her tracks. "We have a life, we have friend!. I found the love of my life, and I don't care what anyone says, she is! I love her with all my heart! We have a future! We can't stay here! So don't you dare tell me this when my very life is beyond that mirror!" Neon yelled in anger. He looked at Twilight with pure anger as tears started to well up in his eyes. Random stood by his side and poked his shoulder.

"Come on, let's get some rest and find a way back home tomorrow, we have been through alot today. Sleep sounds good, doesn't?" Random asked him playfully. He helped Neon up and they walked to Twilight's place. After getting to her tree house and having her explain the very basics, it was time for bed after the hard day they have been through, mostly for Neon and Random. Neon fell asleep in his bed in the basement and Random went up stairs see twilight on her balcony looking up at the stars. "Sorry about Neon. He had a good life on the other side. It's like being a king and then turn into a peasant on the same day. It is gonna take some time for him to get use to all of this." he explained.

Twilight slowly turned to him and smiled. "I see you really care about your friend. He seems like a good pony too. I guess I can understand alittle, but mine I knew was going to be short term. He knows he has to stay here. To be away from your certain special some pony, that must really hurt." she tried to sympathize.

"He was, well, in love with her. Only in high school and was planning his future with her in it. Kinda funny, but cute, you know?" Random asked.

"I think it's cute, to be honest. I just feel bad that their is nothing we can do." explained Twilight sadly. Random suddenly spun around, startling her. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing, I thought I heard something." He explained as he turned back to look up at the stars. Neon was outside, hugging the door.

"Alright, now let's get out of here." Neon whispered. He took a few steps away and he froze, he saw across the street a pony who looked lost. Normally he wouldn't think twice about it, but this pony looked familiar, very familiar. He was staring at a pony with snow white fur, ocean blue with a cyan trim, purple goggles and a music note on her butt. Besides the music note, she looked like a ponified version of. . . . . "Vinyl!" he called out. The Pony turned to him wearing a face of shock.

Chapter 3: Drinking and Changing

Neon looked across the street in disbelief as Vinyl Scratch, the love of his life, stand before him, waving and smiling at him. He took off to her and almost tackled her in a tight embrace. "I can't believe it, Vinyl, it's you!! You followed us in here didn't you?! I can't believe it!! I can not tell you how happy I am to see you!!" Neon yelled out happily. Vinyl just pushed him off of her and had a really confused look on her face.

"Wow, dude, what's up with this sort of meeting?" Vinyl asked annoyed and confused. Neon looked at her confused and hurt.

"Come on, don't play around this time. It's me! Neon!" he tried to explain. She looked at him as if he was crazy.

"Sorry man, I don't know a Neon. I don't think I've ever seen you around here before as is. I think you may have me confused with someone else" she stared at him. Neon backed away from her sadly.

"Oh, I am sorry, I could have sworn that you were. . . . . ." he started but he choked on his words.

"I'm sorry man, I really am, but I do not think I am that pony you are looking for. Good luck finding her thou, she must mean something to you." Vinyl said in a cheery way. She patted Neon on the back and continued her walk down the street. Neon looked down to the ground in despair, dragging his wings on the ground. He kept walking until he found a pound near a large forest. Neon walked up to the edge of the pond and sat down on it's edge, staring at his reflection.

"Why me? What have I done to loose my thrown? I was at the very top, now I have lost everything." he said mad. He raised his hoof and punched the water, making it ripple until he couldn't see his reflection anymore. staring away from his own reflection, he looked at his wings and his hooves. "I am an animal now, a. . . . pony! What could I have done to deserve this?" he continued complaining in anger as tears started building up. He looked back at his reflection and saw himself again, but instead of just him, he saw a dark looking pony looking at him through the pond as well. He spun around and fell to the ground to see it was Princess Luna. "Oh my god, you scared me to death. She looked at him confused.

"I'm sure that you are alive, and please, I am no god." Luna said humbly, slightly blushing thinking it was a compliment. Neon shook his head.

"No, it is an expression. Anyway, what are you doing here?" Neon asked confused and slightly annoyed. Luna looked into his eyes with a stern look.

"It would be wise to address me more politely if you wish to remain in Equestria." she demanded hinting a threat in her words. Neon raised his hooves up.

"Alright, alright. Your just the same as before. But still, why are you here?" Neon asked more respectfully. Luna nodded with a smile.

"Better, thank you. Now, I am the watcher of the night. The night is my domain. Normally, every pony is asleep at this time. So when I see a pony in distress, I will come to assist. So please, tell me what is wrong." Luna asked kindly and affectionately. Neon looked across the pond for a moment before looking up to the moon.

"I don't belong here. I had a home, up in the real world. My world. I had dozens of friends, a strong and proud reputation, a promising future, someone in my heart, and a friend better than anyone. Now, I have lost almost everything! My future, my love, my life. All I have now is Random. My life could not get any worse." Neon continued. Luna listened intently and carefully before speaking.

"But as a matter of fact it could get worse. You may have been brought here against your will, but there is one thing that you will always have no matter what is thrown at you in life, you will always have your friend." Luna explained. Neon looked back up to her and she looked back at him smiling. "Even in the darkest of times, you must remember to look for the light." she finished. Neon stared into her eyes and smiled.

"Thank you, I am not sure why but that really helped out, thank you so much." thanked Neon gratefully. He hugged Luna and ran off back home. Luna smiled as she watched him sneak back into Twilight's house. As Neon disappeared into her house, Luna looked at him with focus and something popped into her head.

"I knew they looked familiar!" Luna exclaimed as she took off for the castle. Neon woke up one morning but was on the ground outside. As he looked around he noticed that he was in a line with the sun starting to rise over the horizon.

"Where am I?" Neon asked himself. He looked behind him and saw Twilight and Random standing next to him.

"Hey Neon, about time you woke up." Random said calmly. Neon scratched his head and stared at his in a haze.

"What happened? Where are we?" Neon asked confused.

"We are in line for this really big event called 'Cider Season'. It is a whole month event that everyone here get's really psyched about and they sell special cider, it's really good I guess. They changed the day for it so not everyone heard of it and we got good placements for this. We made it just in time for it." Random explained with a wide smile across his face that reached ear to ear. Neon could tell that he wanted to jump up and down with all of the excitement that was storming up inside of him. Neon smiled back and got up, stretching his hide legs.

"Well how did I get here? I remember in my bed back at the house." Neon asked, slowly waking up.

"Well, we didn't want to wake you up, so I levitated you here so that we could get a chance to get a good spot with out waking you. I hope you don't mind, but I think you will find this worth it." explained Twilight excitedly. Neon looked at all the other ponies around, it looked like some have been camping over night, maybe even longer.

"Is this really that big of an event?" asked Neon in disbelief as he looked at all of the ponies that have been here for sometime.

"Yup, normally there are more ponies around but since the day was moved to today, not everyone heard about it at once, so we got a better spot today." Twilight explained again. As the sun was completely up, she noticed her friend's sister, Applebloom walking up to her stand to ring the bell.

"Alright ya'll, cider season has now officially started!" Applebloom cried out in excitement. All of the other ponies in line got out of their tents and cried out in joy. AS people started to get more lively, the line started moving to get a taste of this apple cider.

"Wait a second, we don't have any money. How are me and Random supposed to take part in this?" asked Neon concerned. Twilight and Random laughed to themselves.

"While we were bringing you, Princess Celestia brought over some money for us to get settled in with and to feel welcomed since we are freshly starting off here. She gave us 300 gold pieces." Explained Random happy as can be. Neon rubbed his eyes and saw a small pouch at Random's side he didn't notice before. Twilight smiled and turned to Random.

"They are called bits. This is our currency here in Equestria. I know it is different here but stick with me and I will show you how to use bits, alright?" Twilight explained and asked Random to make sure he is listening which he wasn't.

"Uhuh, sure." was all he said while humming a cheerful tune, waiting to taste the apple cider up ahead of him. As the line got close enough, Random got a look at the sign and read it. "Hey Twilight, what is hard cider?" he asked innocently and started jumping up and down for joy seeing he was up next

"I am not completely sure. "I know all the adult ponies drink it and it makes them act weird. But I avoid it just to be sure." Twilight explained as the line moved up one with a jumping and excited Random was next.

"I'll take 5 apple cider's please!" Random asked with a big ecstatic smile. Applejack was now at the booth and smiled and friendly smile right back at him.

"Well aren't you as energetic as a young filly running through a field of wild flowers. Nice to see some pony as excited as you to try our apple cider. That will be 15 bits." said Applejack cheerfully. Random pulled out 15 bits and placed it on the counter.

"I am also gonna pay for my friend alittle up ahead, is it ok for me to stand here till he passes?" random asked as she prepared for his apple cider.

"Sure there sugar cube, go right ahead. Here ya go there, 5 pints of apple cider straight from Sweet Apple Acres." she answered as she handed Random his cider. Random stepped aside and let Twilight have her turn. "Hey there Twi, how's the baby sitting going?" Applejack asked playfully, giggling to herself.

"Very good actually. They don't really cause any problems, fairly polite and mannered. I will be teaching them the ways around ponyville after this. I wanted to show them the Apple Cider Season. I'll take 2 apple ciders please. So how are things going here?" Twilight asked while requesting some apple cider. Applejack shrugged her shoulders while glancing at the line.

"Busy, like always, but we make some pretty good business during this season, so it's needed. Here ya go sugar cube." Applejack said while handing Twilight her drinks.

"Thanks Applejack." said Twilight as she walked past and waited for Neon, which he was next.

" Well howdy, another new face. What can I get ya there partner?" she asked with a friendly addittude as always. Neon was still alittle tired and still confused.

'Ummm, I would like, uhh, 3 apple ciders, and. . . hmmm, give me a hard apple cider, I want to try that, please." he asked almost forgetting the please at the end.

Applejack chuckled to herself. "You want to try our hard apple cider huh? Alrighty then." Applejack added with a slight warning tone in her voice, but Neon didn't pick it up. She poured him a cup and he took a swig of it. "So, how is it?" she asked, curios of the answer.

"Wow, this has a bite to it, not sure what this is, but I will take 10 of these and just one apple cider." Neon asked as he downed his drink. Applejack watched him and kept chuckling to herself.

"Alrighty, 10 hard ciders and one apple cider coming right up, that will be 53 bits please." Applejack said. 'Oh boy, this aughty be a hoot' she thought to herself while getting his order ready. Neon looked over to Random as he placed in the chest 53 bits. Random smiled and tried to give a thumbs up, but forgot that he didn't have any thumbs so he put his hoof down and smiled like he was trying to play it off cool. "Here ya go sugar cube, enjoy." Applejack said handing Neon the hard cider and apple cider, one in a big circular container and a smaller one so he could carry it. Neon smiled as he took the large contain and went to a near by tree. Random finished his drink and went over to Neon.

"What does it taste like?" Random asked, trying to see the contains of the container. Neon smiled to him as he knew Random wanted to try some.

"It has a kick to it. A small bite, but it taste really good, just like apple cider, but not like anything back home. It's awesome." explained Neon as he took a big old swig of it and shook his head putting it back down. "The bite is sorta like that vodka at that one party by the police station, but taste like 100 times better, to be honest." he added.

"No way, let me try some then." Random said, finally going at it. He took it from Neon and took a couple big mouth fulls before Neon grabbed it back laughing.

"Hey, this is mine. Get your own." Neon joked as he started chugging it, holding Random back.

"Well I paid for it, so let me have a taste you greedy troll." Random protested jokingly, trying to get some more.

"You already had some, the rest is mine loser, get lost!" Neon playfully shouted out as the 2 wrestled for the hard cider. After a few minutes of that, Random started to mellow down and sat next to Neon. Neon finished his drinks and just sat under the tree with Random. Twilight went over to talk to Applejack as she was cleaning up from her business.

"Well, those Stallions over there sure are a hoot." Applejack called out as Twilight approached. Twilight kinda blushed about the comment.

"Well, they sure made a scene, but I find something so odd thou." Twilight said as she stopped to look at them.

"What's that sugar cube?" Applejack asked, looking over at her and the 2 ponies resting under the apple tree.

"They argue and fight over things alot, and even say some mean things to one another at times. But even with all of that, I am not sure that I have ever seen friendship that strong. I have never seen anything like it. I want to ask Princess Celestia about it to see what she wants me to do." Twilight said thinking out loud. Applejack put her hoof around Twilight's shoulder.

"Listen there sugar cube, They are nothing to be worrying about. Although they may be spittin' out jokes ah don't see why they are funny, but seeing those 2 laughing around like that, why ah recon they are closer than 2 peas in a pod." Applejack explained while looking over to Neon and Random, who were now staring up at the clouds.

"Hey. . . hey dude, look there. . . it looks like a dog" Neon said pointing up at the passing clouds, drunk from the hard cider.

"No way man. . . . . . that's totally a, uhhhhh. . . . . . a ummmm, fish, yea! A fish." Random said cheerfully. He leaned over to poke Neon but accidentally smacked him in the face. Neon jumped by the sudden hit and tackled Random as they rolled on the ground, playfully hitting each other and wrestling around. Twilight smiled and turned to Applejack.

"Maybe your right, maybe this is just how they behave where they come from, anyway, have a good night. I have to bring those 2 idiots back home." Twilight said walking over to Neon and Random. Applejack tipped her hat and waved at Twilight before heading back in herself. Twilight stood in front of the 2 so they would stop and look up, which they did. "Alright you 2, get up and lets head back home, shall we?" she said, adding a demanding tone. Neon and Random looked at each other and then back to Twilight.

"But he started it!" said Neon, pointing his hoof at Random.
"But he started it!" said Random, pointing his hoof at Neon.

They both looked at each other and started laughing. After a few hours later they finally arrived home. (Mostly cuss they kept tripping over stuff along the way back) After a quick wrestling match, Random and Neon went downstairs to their beds in the basement. Twilight looked down to them and noticed the temperature was alittle too cold and they only had one blanket. Before she could go look for another one she saw Neon giving Random the blanket as he shook in his bed, huddling to get warm. Random looked at the blanket and placed it back on Neon while coming under with him so they could keep themselves warm.

"What the-" Twilight said watching this and felt her heart melt alittle at the sight, they huddled closely and saw safety and comfort from their faces as they fell asleep quickly. She sighed as she partially closed the door and walked over to her paper and quill. She cleared her throat and started her letter.

"Dear Princess Celestia,

I do not fully understand Neon Rave and Random Guy that you have put under my wing. Whe they look like they hate each other in one minute, they are best friends the next. They insult each other but laugh it off and wrestle around. They seem like they are brothers from the way they act sometimes, but in other times they look like they are enemies. I will have to sit down with them some time soon and try to learn from them. But why I write this letter is becuase I am not sure how to proceed. Should I let them behave like they do, or do I stop them in case it get's out of hand? I trust that you have your reasons for putting them here, and I promise I will not let you down.

Your faithful student
Twilight Sparkle

She finished her letter and went up to her room. As she looked up outside, she watched the moon on the partly clouded night sky. "I hope I can get some time in to see what they know and try to figure out what is going on in those thick skulled heads of their's. All in due time I suppose." Twilight said as she stared up at the moon. She blew out her candle by her bed side and glanced at her sleeping partner as he laid there partially on his little bed and partially off of it. "Good night Spike, and good work so far." she added before placing her head onto her pillow and falling asleep.

The next morning Twilight awoken to the sound of something slamming into the wall. As she ran down the stairs she noticed Random's hair standing straight up and his stare towards Neon was that of enraged. "What happened?" Twilight asked scared, readying her magic as her horn started glowing. Neon looked towards her and shook his head.

"He is fine, this is just one of his moods, the not so cheerful mood. Once in awhile he flips out like this. All he needs is some coffee and he will be fine." Neon explained.

"Coffee?" Twilight asked confused. Random charged at Neon and hit him square in the chest then grabbing him with his hooves and throwing him across the room.

"Yea, coffee, do you have any?" Neon asked rushed. Random turned to Neon and stared him down, his red eye almost seemed like it was glowing with hatred, or maybe just glowing. Twilight noticed his eye too as it was actually glowing.

"What is happening?" Twilight asked as she watched Random. Neon turned to her and shrugged his shoulders.

"I have no clue, he glares at me with that eye, but it never glowed in that way before." Neon explained. Random's body started to glow red as the magical energy swirled around him. He raised from the ground and his face of rage slowly turned into confusion as he started to notice what was happening around him.

"Hey Twilight. . . . are you doing this?" Neon asked nervously. Twilight watched the scene with her jaw open in shock and surprise.

"No, this isn't me Neon. I don't know what's happening here." Twilight tried to explain. Random was surrounded by the red magically energy till he was hidden by it. After a flash of light, he was finally placed gently back onto the ground.

"Are you ok there Random?" Neon asked as he rushed to his side. Random guy shook his head and smiled.

"Yea, I am ok, sorry about that Neon." Random apologized. Twilight looked at Random in amazement as she stared at the top of his head. Neon and Random caught her staring, looked at each other confused , and turned back to her. "What's wrong Twilight?" Random asked her, looking at her oddly.

"Yea, you look like your frozen or something." Neon added in. Twilight closed her mouth and managed to say

"Random. . . . you turned. . . . . into. . . . a unicorn." She managed to say. Neon looked at Random to see a new horn placed upon it.

"What the hell? How?!" Neon asked shocked and confused.

Author's Notes:

So just as things were looking good and started calming down, Random's form changes. What are they going to do about this, hmmmm? We shall find out. . . . . . in the near future. Sorry about any spelling mistakes that their maybe. I am trying to get them down to as few as I can and I am really, rereading my stories now to try to get these mistakes gone. I know what it's like to enjoy a story and then you can't read cuss of a few spelling mistakes, it really kills the mood. I promise I will get better thou, Pinkie promise. "Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye" ^_^

Chapter 4: Cutie Marks and Dreams

Random Looked up as well to see the horn sticking out of his head now. "W-w-what is happening, how did this happen?" he asked confused at first but a smile started to form on his face. "Wait, now I can cast magic, right?" he asked again but excited about it now. Twilight looked at him, lost for words, unable to answer.

"Dude, try to do something, anything!" Neon exclaimed excited. Random focused hard as his horn started to glow blue. Without warning, Neon started to have a blue aura around him as he started to float up a few inches. "Dude, it's working, it's really working!!! Now you can-" he started. Once again with out warning, Neon launched upward really fast and crashed into the ceiling, his head stuck in it. "OH COME ON!!!! NOT AGAIN!!!!" He screamed out in frustration as he started struggling to get out of his situation. Random looked up at Neon and fell to the floor laughing.

"Awesome, just what I wanted to see." Random laughed out, rolling on the floor clutching his side. Twilight finally snapped out of it and ran up to Random.

"Random, don't you understand what this means?! You some how have the ability to switch from an earth pony to a unicorn! How did you do that? Can you change into a pegasus as well? Do you have control over it? Is it a type of magical properties that you have? Are you a changling of some sort? How long did you have this ability? Is it in check? What else can you change into?" Twilight asked very quickly, almost forgetting to breath. Random stopped his laughing spree to look at her confused as she bombarded him with questions. By the end of it all he just sat there, his eye twitching. "Oh, sorry, sometimes I get alittle carried away." she explained herself.

"And forgetful, you know, like you forgot that there is someone stuck in your ceiling!" Neon yelled out, but his words fell on deaf ears. "Why does this keep happening to me"? Twilight looked Random over to see any sort of sign or clue to explain the sudden transformation. 'Everything is the same, same blond fur, same short brown mane, same red eyes, same- what the?' Twilight looked closer and noticed that instead of a sky blue eye and a crimson red eye, both of his eyes were red.

"Hmmmm, how odd. I am gonna have to do alittle research on this. The magical potential in this educational endeavor is too valuable to miss in. This could be the start of something extraordinary. The magical capabilities in this sort of potential predicament is extraordinary. You don't mind-" Twilight stopped and noticed Random stared at her with a pained look in his eyes as they twitched with confusion and misery. "Oh, sorry, uhhh, this is very big, and you might have an ability that no other pony has. Even Celestia doesn't have this sort of power that I know of." Twilight explained. Random still looked at her as he went into a corner into the fettle position and slowly rocked back and forth. "Are you ok?"

"Is he in the fettle position in a darkened corner?" Neon asked.

"Yea, how did you know? Neon?" Twilight looked around and couldn't see him.

"Oh right, you can't see me cuss I'M STILL IN THE MOTHER FU@&!*$ CEILING!!!!" Neon screamed in frustration, still trying to get out of the ceiling. Twilight looked up and saw Neon still dangling in the ceiling, his legs swinging around wildly, trying to free his head.

"Oh my Celestia, I am so sorry. Here, let me get you down." Twilight said apologetic. She grabbed him with her magic and pulled him down, placing him softly back on the ground. "There we go." she added, brushing him off. "Anyway, why is he in the corner"?

"When you say a whole bunch of big words like that at him in such of a consistency like that, his mind just freezes up in the confusion and that's how he copes with it, he will be fine in a second, but if something funny happens, then he will be right back-" Neon started. His back was to the front door when it suddenly burst open with a very loud bang that scared Neon, sending his wings out of control and bursting up, rocketing him to the ceiling again. "I HATE MY LIIIIFFFFFEEEE!!!!!!!" he screamed in anger and frustration.

"GOOOOOOD MOOORRRRRNNNING!!" a cheerful and joyous voice screamed into the home. Random snapped out of it and started laughing his plot off again, rolling around on the floor at Neon's misfortune.

"Good morning PinkiePie." Twilight greeted the energized pink mare.

"Morning Twilight, how goes the teaching thing?" she asked, looking over at Random rolling on the floor laughing. "Hey, that looks like fun!" She called out. She jumped over to him and started copying him exactly, rolling on the floor, laughing.

"Just. . . . get. . . . me. . . . . down!" Neon said annoyed. "I swear, when I get down from here, I am gonna kill you in so many ways"! As Twilight brought him down again, Random started to calm down alittle so he could actually breath. Neon jumped at Random and started wrestling around, again rolling around on the floor. "I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!!!!" Neon yelled as he started to strangle Random. Random, still smiling, reversed the hold and put Neon in a head lock, after a few minutes of wrestling as PinkiePie and Twilight watching, PinkiePie started clapping her hooves in excitement.

"Come on guys, you shouldn't be fighting, Can't we just calm down and try to work-" Twilight started as PinkiPie jumped up and down next to her.

"WEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!! This looks like so much fun!! I want to join in on the fun!" cried out PinkiePie as she jumped up and body slammed the 2 stallions and put them both in a head lock.

"Let's get her!" Neon cried out.

"I'm game." agreed Random as they both ganged up on the pink, fluffy pony. Twilight watched them as they rolled around fighting. Spike looked down from upstairs, glanced at the fight, then with out saying anything turned back around and went back to bed. Twilight looked at the trio hopelessly and faced hoof herself. After a couple hours of wrestling the three finally ended their play fight and just laid on the ground, catching their breath. "By the way, we didn't catch your name? I'm Random Guy, this is my best friend, Neon Rave." Random explained to PinkiePie. She jumped back to her hooves and helped them up.

"Hi, I'm PinkiePie. It is nice to meet you guys. Do you guys wanna be friends?" PinkiePie asked excitedly as she jumped up and down, waiting to hear their answer. Random and Neon looked at each other and they did their secret communication with just their facial expressions.

'This mare is crazy as hell, what should we say?' Neon asked using their facial code.

'Not sure, but I sorta like her, she seem s like alot of fun.' Random explained.

'So, what, you wanna do this then? She seems like a total nut job.' Neon added with some concern. PinkiePie got in between the 2 and looked at the still smiling.

'I like nuts. Can I have some?' PinkiePie said using their very own code. Neon and Random jumped back in surprise and disbelief.

"How the heck did you decipher our code?" Neon asked dumbstruck. PinkiePie shrugged her shoulders.

"Just a hunch" was the only thing that she said before bouncing around Random and Neon in a circle.

"I like her. Sure, let's be friends." Random said in a cheerful mood. PinkiePie jumped around even faster now and with more excitement.

"Hoorya!! That is really awesome to hear!" PinkiePie said jumping all over the room. Random watched her for a small amount of time before deciding to actually join in on the fun and jumped around with her. Neon and Twilight watched them jump around the room in excitement and with smiles on their faces that went from ear to ear.

"Great, you have clones my friend, and turned it into a pink girl." said Neon in annoyance. Twilight looked at him in confusion.

"Girl? What is a- oh, right. Yea, they seem to fit together, don't they?" Twilight said as she started to laugh abit. "This should be an interesting day then" she added. After awhile PinkiePie finally left, saying she is gonna prepare a welcoming party for her new friends and took off. Twilight sighed in relief as she had Neon and Random sit in front of her as she started to explain everything about Equestria, like it's name, their customs, their time, and how everything works in general. Since Twilight visited their world, she had an easier time explaining since she could make comparisons. After it all, she finally stopped and looked down to them. "So, did you guys get all of that?" Twilight asked. Random stared at Twilight with his eye twitching slightly and Neon looked like he was still collecting all of the information. "Well, I guess we can just go through it as time goes by" she added. Neon looked at her flank and noticed the star that was there.

"Hey, why did you get a tattoo like that on your a- I mean flank?" Neon asked with curiosity. Random calmed down abit and perked up with the question, wondering the same thing himself. Twilight looked at her flank and looked back.

"Oh, that is called a cutie mark. It is a symbol given to you once you found what your destiny is. Mine is magic. I discovered it when when I was accepted to Celestia's magic training studies." Twilight explained, enjoying the flash backs of her school days. She looked at their flanks and noticed that their flanks are bare. "I see you guys haven't found your destinies yet. That is ok thou, you will find it eventually." she added. Neon looked at his flank and then looked at Random's.

"Well, how does one discover what their destiny is?" asked Neon

"No one knows for sure. It is different for every pony. You just have to discover it yourself. Once you do, it is a great moment in your life. I have faith in you ponies that you will figure it out one day. All it takes is sometime." Twilight explained. Neon and Random looked at each other and smile.

"Come on, let us discover what the meaning of our lives are!" Random said as he dragged Neon out of the house. Twilight watched as they ran out of the house and sighed.

"They really are something." Twilight said cheerfully. She looked up at her ceiling to see 2 head sized holes. "Although careful is not it." she added as a piece of her ceiling fell off. Neon and Random found a pond alittle out always and started thinking.

"Hmmm, I am assuming it is something that we are good at, right?" asked Neon, brainstorming ideas out loud. Random fell over backwards and looked up into the sky.

"I think it is safe to assume that, but in this world, you just kinda have to screw logic." Explained Random, putting his thoughts out. Neon chuckled to his comment.

"Screw logic huh? We should totally turn that into a phrase or something." Neon joked around, but in a way, he kinda meant it.

"Actually, we totally should." Random insisted. They both laughed at the idea. They both laid parallel from each other as they both looked up at the sky. Random started to chuckle to himself and said "You know, I bet yours is gonna have something to do with music. I mean it would fit you very well, don't you think"? Neon thought about it for a moment.

"I mean that's what I always wanted to be a professional DJ and bring my tunes all throughout the world. But that was back home, I don't know if, my dreams would be the same. I don't even know if I would have made it." explained Neon, sounding alittle sad. Random was about to say something but then heard a loud splash at the other end of the pond. When Neon and Random looked up to see what the noise was, they saw a small boat with 2 young fillies on it, looking into the water. One of them was AppleBloom that they could recognize, the other looked like a young unicorn with a shade of pink and violet in her mane with a creamy white colored fur.

"I guess you can scratch fishing cutie marks off the list." said the young unicorn. Another pony popped out of the water with a fishing rode in her mouth. She climbed back into the boat and spit out the fishing pole.

"It was tangled up on a branch." The wet pony explained. Applebloom looked across the pond to see Random and Neon watching from across the pond. She waved over to them and paddled the boat across the pond. Once they crossed they jumped out of the boat and walked up to them.

"Howdy there fellas. How are ya'll doing today?" Applebloom asked cheerfully with a smile on her face.

"Pretty good, you name is Applebloom, right? My name is Random Guy. This is my friend Neon Rave. It is nice to properly meet you." introduced Random calmly for once.

"Like wise. These are mah friends, Scootaloo-" Applebloom pointed at the young pegasus "- and this is Sweetie Belle.-" she pointed at the young unicorn "- We are the cutie mark crusaders! It's nice to see ya ponies around again." Applebloom said as if they have been friends for some time. Neon and Random looked at the 3 young fillies and bowed respectfully. As they did Applebloom noticed that Neon and Random's flanks were bare, just like their's. She looked at her friends and glanced at their flanks, they all got the same idea now.

"So what are you young ladies. . . I mean fillies doing out here all by yourselves?" asked Neon. Applebloom looked up to them and smiled.

"We are on a long and great quest to get our cutie marks!" exclaimed Scootaloo. Random and Neon smiled to themselves.

"Really? What a coincidence, so are we." explained Random. Applebloom and her friends looked excited.

"Really? We should work together then. You know, discover our cutie marks. do you guys want to join us?" Sweetie Belle asked with her cute and adorable stare. Random looks at Neon and Neon looked back as they started their code.

'What do you think? I truly doubt they actually can help us' said Neon using their code.

'But it seems like they mean well, and it kind sounds like fun, don't you think?' Random asked.

'Fine, you win, let's give this a try, you might be right.' agreed Neon and they both turned to young trio. "Sure, it might be a good idea to try to find out what we are meant to do, you know? So let's do this." Neon said encouragingly. The trio's eye lit up in excitement as they grabbed Neon and Random and ran off. All day the went all over the place. From the Everfree forest for exploration cutie marks, high mountains for hiking cutie marks, to things like cooking cutie marks, cleaning cutie marks, and mechanic cutie marks. After a long and tiring day of running all over Ponyville. When they finally stopped to take a break, they went to the park and laid in the fields there.

"What have we not tried?" asked Neon exhausted, staring at the clouds.

"Oh gosh, hundreds of things. We got a huge list of activities to try." Scootaloo said, catching her breath.

"We still got a long way to go still." Sweetie Belle added. Neon and Random looked at each other in fright, then Neon glared at him.

'Let's go with them, huh?!' Neon asked sarcastically with the code. Random shrugged his shoulders with an apologetic and innocent smile. As they laid there in the field, Neon suddenly heard something in the distance. It sorta sounded like music, music he was into. "Hey Random, do you hear that?" Neon asked. He perked up and heard it. The cutie mark crusaders heard it as well.

"Come one every pony, let's go check it out!" Random guy called out. Neon turned to Random and glared at him.

"Really?" Neon asked annoyed, glaring at him which Random smiled shyly in return. They ran over to the source of the sound and found out the source. It was a competition for Dj's being held at the town square.

"Ah didn't know that we had a music competition." said Applebloom in slight confusion. Neon looked at the scene and gasped at the sight.

"Those are some high tech booths there, booths I could only dream to own. If I had something like that for my parties back at our world Random, I could have thrown the greatest parties in the history of the world!" Neon said excitedly. He watch in amazement as they played their best songs and tried to out play their competitors. They stood there for a good hour or so and watched this one unicorn dominating everyone that challenges him. Neon stood at the front of the line and watched him do his thing and loved every second of it. "He has some amazing moves!" Neon said in awe. After the last challenger, the unicorn looked across the crowd.

"Is there any pony who thinks that they can take me, Grand Mixer, head on? Any pony at all?" The Champ DJ challenged, trying to beckon anyone. Some pony bumped into Neon as he fell out of the line which caught the Dj's attention. "You there, you think you have what it takes? You think you can beat me in an all out DJ match?" Grand Mixer taunted. Neon looked around and saw every pony was looking right at him.

"Oh, me? No, I am just here to watch." Neon tried to explain. He could wipe the floor with him back home, but here he still wasn't completely fixed on his new body. Grand Mixer flared his nostrils in arrogance.

"So, too scared to take me on, is that what you are saying there?" The DJ asked, trying to push Neon's buttons to keep the show going.

"What, no, it's not that, it's just that-" Neon started.

"Hey, it is fine, I would be alittle scared too if I were you, but I would at least give it a try. You never know, right?" Grand Mixer finally said. That hit the finally button.

"Alright, you want a battle, I'll give you a battle!" declared Neon as he ran up to the stage. Grand Mixer smiled and helped him up.

"Alrighty, let me show you how it's done." The DJ said confidently. He played a song that Neon actually knew. It was one of his songs that he made in the other world. He listened and watched his moves. Again, they were really good, but he never touches the mic, relying all on his moves and the song. He was no artist, just so pony trying to look cool. After he was done the crowd went wild, screaming his name. He backed off the booth and allowed Neon to get up. "What's your name?" the DJ asked, leaning the mic to him.

"Neon. . . . Neon Rave." He answered. He looked over the crowd and saw Random and the three fillies cheering him on in the front lines, which made him smile.

"Neon huh? awesome name, now, are you ready, you got one song, 5 minutes max. Winner of this last match recieves 200 bits. You ready?" Grand Mixer asked giving a slight smirk. Neon nodded his head. "Then take over." he finished and tossed him the mic. Neon messed with the settings to give him as close to his best song in the other world as close as he could. When he was happy he started the song, smiling he took the mic in hoof and raised it to his mouth.

"Yea, I own this beat!" Neon started out. Everyone stopped in amazement as they heard the new beat. Random smiled, chuckling to himself. 'That song huh.' he thought to himself. As the beat picked up Neon started to sing. "You can call me a king or a ruler, fellon on bass, getting horse on the mic, we getting 20% cooler." the crowd was starting to move but needed alittle more. "We had a great day out, calling my name like Ferris Bueller, time to wrap this up, we getting 20% cooler." Neon sang out to the crowd. At that time the beat exploded and the crowd starting dancing, even Random got into the groove. Once he finished the song even the DJ was dumbstruck and dropped his jaw and everyone was screaming his name.

"Ok man, I know when I have lost, good job. Here ya go." the DJ said, tossing him a bag which Neon caught with his mouth. Neon was pumped to hear the sound of the crowd screaming for him like they were right now. Neon stood on stage and the crowd was chanting for more. As he was about to go back down he could feel something happening. He felt a light shining upon him and everyone started staring at his flank. When he looked he saw a music note with a heart behind it. Neon looked at Random he was right on him checking his new cutie mark. After a long time of hanging out with the crowd, Neon and Random finally got back to Twilight's house.

"Hey you two, how did the hunting go?" Twilight asked as they walked through the door. Neon was dazed and not fully there but Random looked to her.

"he's good, but he is sleeping walking pretty much, we are gonna go to bed, good night." said Random quickly as they went into the basement. Twilight shook her head and went back to reading. Random tucked Neon in bed and went under the covers with him. "What a day huh? You got a taste of fame, got your cutie mark thingy on the first day of looking, and showed that cocky DJ who has the real talent. What is in stored for us tomorrow, huh?" Random asked out loud. Neon answered him with soft snoring. Random chuckled to himself as he slowly fell deep into his sleep.

Random's sleep though, was not restful. He was being carried through a corridor, he could see Celestia above him, she was in a panic, explosions could be heard from behind us.

"Sister, they are closing in, we must hurry." Luna said as she ran beside Celestia. He looked next to him to see Neon, but he looked so much younger. Celestia turned to Neon and said

"You must protect your cousin no matter what, do you understand?" Celestia asked. After that Random bolted from his slumber with sweat dripping down.

"What in the world was that?" asked Random fearfully.

Chapter 5: Who was that Mare?

In the morning, Neon poured himself some cereal with a smile plastered to his face. Twilight looked up at him and smiled. "Well someone seems to be happy, good morning." Twilight greeted with a smile. Neon poured his cereal, making a small mess, and looked up to her drowsy.

"What? Oh, right, yea, good morning Twilight. I am not normally a morning person. How are you?" Neon asked tired, trying to wake up, he started to pour the milk but spilled it on the table. "Ah crud!" Neon exclaimed as he put the milk down. Twilight giggled to herself as she picked up a rag with her magic and started to clean it up.

"It is fine, you are use to hands, so I know it will take some time to get use to using hooves now." Twilight explained with a smile on her face as she cleaned up the spilt milk. She happened to look at his wings and something caught her eye on his flank. There she saw a cutie mark of a sky blue music note in front of a pitch black heart. "Oh, wow! You got your cutie mark!" Twilight exclaimed with excitement. Neon felt her stare and looked at her smile while his cheeks started to redden ever so slightly.

"Oh, yea, uhhh. I got it after I won the DJ contest yesterday. I guess I still have the skills even in this world. But it was amazing! The crowd cheering me on, shouting my name. Everyone dancing to my beats. It was so incredible! If this is my destiny, then I believe I am gonna be very happy for awhile." Neon explained excited. He grabbed his spoon with his hoof as he tried to raise the spoon with cereal to his mouth, and failed. Random slowly walked upstairs from the basement with red bloodshot eyes. Neon finally got a spoonful of cereal into his inpatient mouth. As he chewed it with a smile on his face and looked over at Random heading for the coffee pot at the other end of the room. "Morning sleeping beauty, how did you sleep?" Neon asked playfully, watching Random who turned around, only showing his red eye with pure hatred, as he said quietly

"You will shut the hell up before I cram this coffee pot straight up your flank". Both Twilight and Neon looked at him with their jaws dropped. Neon, who was about to take another bite, slowly lowered his spoon. Random looked away and started to pour himself a cup of coffee. Twilight looked at Neon with fear in her eyes as Neon's shocked expression turned more relaxed.

"It's fine, he is always cranky before his coffee. Even if their is alittle more spice in his words, He is fine. Just don't get in his way." Neon explained. Spike came down stairs, rubbing his eyes exhausted. As Neon looked over at Spike in a slight amazement, since he still can't get use to the fact of a baby dragon, he chuckled to himself and turned back to his cereal. Spike reached over for the coffee pot and noticed it wasn't there. He opened his eyes and noticed that Random had the coffee pot.

"Yea, look, I know you are new so it is no big deal, but the coffee is for me, alright? I don't like any other pony drinking it, besides Twilight. Just so you know for next time, ok?" Spike said with a slight disrespectful tone. Random stopped preparing his coffee and very slowly turned to the young purple dragon with a searing hatred burning in his red eye.

"If you try to stop me, I will make greatest fears look like a pleasant paradise in comparison to what I would do to you. I will make your greatest nightmares into reality right before your eyes. I will destroy anything and everything you hold dear to your heart." Random said coldly as he stared down the young dragon with murderous intention. Spike stared back wide eye and slowly backed away slowly, his eyes frozen into the murderously cold eyes of Random. After he took a few steps back Random turned back to his cup of coffee as he started sipping it. Twilight looked over at Neon who chuckled to himself and turned to look over at the terrified Spike who looked like he was about to go to a corner.

"Sorry Spike, I guess I should have warned you about him. He gets pretty cranky if he doesn't get his coffee. He is still trying to get use to this place so he doesn't sleep well." Neon explained while continuing to eat his cereal as he turned back to look at a worried Twilight. "When ever we would go to a new sleeping spot, I would always have to get him some coffee, he should be fine in a few more days. For now, let's just stay out of his way until he finishes his coffee." Neon finishes as he finished his cereal. Twilight looked at Neon concerned and then back to Random as he finishes his coffee. "You better there Random?" Neon asked patiently. Random put the mug down and spun around to look at Neon with a large smile.

"Never better, sorry about that." apologized Random as he bounced around again. Neon put his bowl in the sink and stretched around a bit. "Alrighty, well, if you guys don't mind, I am gonna go and take a shower if you guy's don't mind." said Neon as he headed downstairs to the bathroom. Random smiled questionably.

"You might want to hurry, remember yesterday were PinkiePie charged through the door and made you get stuck into the ceiling?" Random asked jokingly. Neon shook his head smiling confidently as he leaned on one of the windows next to the basement door.

"Look, the likely hood for someone to startle me again is very very low, and besides, I am on the other side of the room. Even if someone came through like that, I wouldn't be affected by it. So, if you excuse me, I have some-" as Neon was talking, he suddenly heard something and he stopped talking to listen carefully. It sorta sounded like faint, distant yelling. As he listened Twilight, Spike and Random watched him quietly as they started to hear the noise as well. "What is that?" Neon asked puzzled. Suddenly a cyan colored pegasus crashed into the window Neon was leaning on, startling him. Once again his wings took off with the sudden fright and launched him into the ceiling. Random looked up at him and burst out laughing again.

"Rainbow Dash?" Asked Twilight, looking at the rainbow mane of the cyan pegesus as she was stuck into the window, slowly sliding down it squeaking the window in the process. After Twilight got her down and inside, she sat her down and asked "What happened? You normally don't crash like that very often"? Rainbow Dash looked at the ground embarrassed.

"Well, I was trying this new move I made up, and. . . . I sorta screwed up the end of it and did a few too many spins. So. . . uhh. . . I might have lost control near the end of it. . . . and. . . . well. . . . . I kinda came spinning over here. . . . and boom, here I am." Rainbow Dash explained. Twilight smiled by the end of her explanation.

"Well, I am glad that that's all it was then." said Twilight calmly. She looked around in a slight daze as she pondered. "I feel like I am forgetting something." Twilight said to herself.

"Maybe it's the fact that my HEAD IS STUCK IN THE FREAKING CEILING AGAIN!!!!!" Neon screamed out, flailing his legs around in frustration. Random looked back up, laughing again, rolling onto the floor. Rainbow Dash looked up and started to hold back laughing herself, and failed miserably. Twilight looked up and felt embarrassed.

"Oh my Celestia, I am so sorry. I keep forgetting." Twilight said as she quickly pulled him from the ceiling and placed him safely onto the ground. When Neon's hooves were back onto the ground he took a deep breath and looked over at Random.

"So, funny guy, is this funny to you?" Neon asked annoyed. Random replied with more laughter. Neon's eye started to twitch as he grabbed a hold of Random. "Alright then funny guy, laugh at this!" Neon called out as he chucked him as hard as he could into the ceiling. With one quick motion, before Random could even react, he flew upwards and his face went right through the ceiling. Random struggled to free himself from his new predicament. Neon smiled to himself at what he has done. "You know, I can now understand why you find this funny." explained Neon as he started laughing. Rainbow was rolling on the floor laughing her flank off.

"Oh my sweet Celestia, where did you find these ponies? They are a freaking riot!" Rainbow Dash asked as she was trying to catch her breath. Twilight looked up at her ceiling and face hoofed herself.

"Yea, a riot seems fairly fitting for these 2 ponies. One of these days, they are gonna end up tearing this place down." Twilight explained, shaking her head with disappointment looking up at the patched holes in her ceiling. Random managed to pull himself out of the ceiling and stared at Neon with an evil smile.

"Alright bro, let's do this!" Random challenged. He focused his magic and he levitated Neon and threw him into the ceiling and started laughing. Neon struggled for alittle while but got himself unstuck.

"IT'S ON!!!!!" Neon cried out and charged right into Random's chest. They rolled around on the ground as they wrestled for domination. Random got on his hooves and threw Neon into the wall with his magic. Neon pushed off of it and crashed Random into a bookshelf, having the books fall on top of them. Random kicked him off and pushed the books aside. Looking at them, he levitated them one by one and threw them at Neon. With a sudden burst of agility he managed to dodge every book Random threw at him. "Is that all you got?!" Neon challenged with confidence in his voice.

"I am just getting started!" Random replied with an evil smile. He closed his eyes and focused as he grabbed a large group of books and chucked them all at once. Shocked, Neon tried to dodge them but failed and got pummeled by the flying literature. Neon poked his head out slightly confused but smiled back at him daringly.

"Sticks and stones my break my bones, but words will never-" Neon started. He dropped his jaw when he suddenly saw Random levitate an entire book shelf and threw it at him. "OH COME ON!!!" He yelled before it hit him. After a moment of silence Neon burst threw the books that covered the floor and hovered in the air, using his wings properly for the first time. "This ends now!" he yelled out as he flew right at Random at top speed.

"We'll see about that!" Random called back over as he charged at Neon. The 2 were about to collide in mid air but stopped as a faint purple aura covered them. Twilight held them in place with a stern look on her face. Random looked at Twilight slightly scared and then back to Neon. "Ok, well, I guess this does end. Well played Neon." Random said calmly.

"That is enough from you too! Do you ponies plan on destroying my house?" Twilight asked annoyed. She let go of Random and Neon as they fell onto the floor. When they got back up they looked around at the mess they made and looked back guilty. Rainbow Dash snickered in the background, trying to stop her laughing. "Now clean this mess up!" she demanded with a booming voice. Both of the 2 trouble makers jumped to attention and quickly got to work. A few hours later they were finally done and all the damage was fixed. Once their chore was completed, they decided to go out for a walk, promising Twilight that they would not get into any more trouble.

"So, what are we gonna do?" Random asked Neon. He thought for a minute and tried to snap his fingers, then realized he didn't have any. With a slightly embarrassed smile he relied

"Not sure, wanna try to find a club or something? They must have something good around here." Neon thought out loud. Random shook his head.

"It is only around 3. If there are any clubs, they would not be opened at this time you idiot." Random explained with annoyance in his voice. Neon shrugged his shoulders as they continued walking down the street. They stopped at a store and Random turned to Neon. "Anyway, wait here, I am gonna go and get us something to drink. Be right back." explained Random as he went into the store. Neon looked around the town. Ponies of different kinds walking around on a beautiful sunny day. A unicorn happily making a purchase at an apple booth humming alittle tune to herself. A pegasus buying some flowers, looking alittle shy while he bought them. A normal pony without wings or a horn walked around, looking like she was looking for some pony. Neon smiled to himself as he stared off into a day dream.

"It may be a whole different world, but it honestly isn't all that much different." Neon though tout loud. He turned quickly to the right and bumped into an ice blue unicorn and they both fell onto the ground. Neon rubbed his back side and looked at the pony that he bumped into. the pony in question looked like that of a female and looked back at Neon with a hurtful expression on her face, staring into his eyes. "I'm sorry ma'am, I didn't mean to do that. I wasn't paying attention." Neon said, trying to apologize. The Ice blue unicorn got up slowly and dusted herself off.

"Is that how you greet ponies here? By pushing them to the ground?" she asked. Her words seemed annoyed, but her tone was very calm.

"I honestly didn't mean to. I was kinda lost in my thoughts and I wasn't paying attention and-" Neon started, but noticed the pony was laughing. It was a really cute laugh.

"I am sorry, I have fun messing with ponies from time to time. I'm not actually hurt or anything. So relax, although-" She explained, taking a few steps towards him. "- you are really cute when you feel bad." she finished, bashing her eye lashes together. Neon backed away slowly, feeling like his face was on fire. The mare had ice blue fur with and equally ice blue mane but with dark blue highlights. Her eyes, which seemed like they were glowing, where also ice blue with such stunning beauty.

"Ummm, well, uhhh. . . . I-I-I am still s-s-sorry that I b-b-bumped into you l-l-like that." Neon said stuttering, trying to calm down. His pathetic attempt only made her giggle innocently, slowly turning his face beat red.

"You know, for a pesasus, you are just so cute, and innocent. I normally don't pay much attention to them, but you, you are quiet the hottie, aren't you?" She continued to flirt with him. Leaning up into him she looked deeply into Neon's eyes and with a coy smile. "My name is Shiva, what's your name?" she asked politely. Neon was shocked with the scene. Here, we have a mare he just met, suddenly flirting with him. Now normally Neon is used to this sort of treatment, and he never even thought about it. He always looked at it as playful conversation. But now that he was single, now he feels like this is the very first time he has ever seen a girl, or maybe to put it alittle better, a female.

"Ummm, my name i-is. . . Neon, Neon Rave" Neon said hesitantly. Shiva rubbed up on him slightly, slowly leaning in towards his lips.

"Well then, could you help me? I need to go home tonight. But I am just so lonely with no one there, and it's so cold. Could you, maybe-" Shiva leaned into him some more, only inches away from Neon's lips. "- keep me warm in my bedroom?" she finished seductively. Neon's wings suddenly shot straight up into the air. Shiva closed her eyes, now only a very thin layer of air between them. She stopped and smiled, pulling out and started laughing. "I'm sorry, you should have seen your face! I really had you going there!" Shiva suddenly burst out laughing. Neon froze in confusion with the slightest hint of lust as he looked at her.

"W-w-what?" was all Neon could manage to force past his lips. Shiva calmed down and smiled kindly to him.

"Relax, I didn't mean anything by it, I am abit flirtatious is all. I like to mess with some colts now and then, and some times a mare or 2 to mix it in, just for fun. I hope I didn't offend you or anything. I do tend to get carried away. Anywam, I got some business to do. So I will see you around big guy, oh and by the way-" she looked at Neon's wings that were standing straight up. She noticed they were much bigger than they normally were supposed to be. "-nice wings." she finished with an innocent giggle and she walked off. Neon watched her as she walked off away from him and turned a corner. Before Shiva disappeared, she looked at Neon one more time and gave him a wink and then disappeared.

"Who in the world is that mare?" Neon asked himself out loud. He suddenly heard the door behind him open as Random came out with a candy bar in his mouth and levitated 2 large bags.

"Hey 'eon, wha' yu' 'ookin' a?" asked Random with his mouth stuffed with a candy bar. Neon, with out turning around, continued to stare out with a blank stare.

"It's hard to explain." was all Neon would say as he continued to stare off.

"You bumped in a really pretty mare unicorn while you were stuck day dreaming about Ponyville and while trying to say sorry about bumping into her and trying to explain yourself, she starts to flirt with you and making your wings go poof just to find out alittle later that she was just messing with your head but you liked it in a way so you stood there embarrassed that she caught you like that and you actually wanted to get to know her but she left with out giving more than a name, leaving you in confusion and wonder?" explained a familiar voice from behind Random with one big breath. "Hoo that was a long one." the voice finished. Neon's facial expression changed from wonder to shock. He knew that voice, how could he forget it, as he slowly turned around to find PinkiePie jumping up and down like always right behind Random.

"How did you know?" Neon asked in disbelief. PinkiePie shrugged her shoulders.

"Just a hunch." PinkiePie answered innocently. Neon's eye twitched slightly trying to figure out how she does that. Everything about her confuses him so much. Random finished his candy bar and looked at the 2.

"Screw logic, right?" Random added in with a small laugh. Neon couldn't help himself but to laugh with him. "Anyway, I went in there to find a soda or something, and I found her behind the counter. She actually works her. She was finishing up when I walked in. Small world, right? So she decided to hang with us for the rest of the day. That's ok, right?" asked Random. Neon stared Blankly in Random's eyes as he slowly walked towards a light post and smashed his head in it over and over again. Random watched for a second and then turned to PinkiePie. "Aaaand that's a yes!" he said happily as they both jumped up and down around Neon in a circle.

* * * * * * * *

Shiva watched Neon from afar as he was with his friends. She giggled while watching them. "Keep your head in the game. This is why I keep telling you not to flirt on the job. Your performance drops every time you flirt with some passing colt before a job." Said a hefty griffin rudely, loading a pair of 3-shot pistols. Shiva turned to the griffin with a mean stare.

"At least I have fun now and then. Unlike you who is nothing but business. You need to learn to lighten up Bard." Shiva replied with a cold tone. The griffin chuckled to himself.

"Business and play are the same thing for me. I love my job, I am good at it, so I do nothing but my job. You need to learn to be more professional if we are gonna make a name for ourselves." explained Bard, placing an small ax bayonet on his pistol, doing the same to another pistol on his other side. Shiva looked out to a mansion on the other side of their field of view. Bard was a big, bulky griffin with a crooked beak and hateful dark blue eyes. He had fire red feathers and neon orange fur that he covered with red pants. He wore a thick dark red leather vest which had lots of pockets which contained different items such as grenades, spare bullets, different bayonets, knives, ect. Bard also wore a worn out red helmet that looked like it has seen more battles than it was supposed to, covered in dents and scratches all over it.

"Fine, I'll try, where is Shard now?" Shiva asked emotionlessly. Bard smiled.

"Much better. Now, Shard is at the retreat spot, making sure the air is clear for our get away. No violence this time, we get in, grab some stupid book, and get out. No shooting up the place, or freezing it like the last job." Bard explained, adding alittle jab of guilt to the last sentence.

"Whatever, they were asking it, no one touches my tail! Anyway, is this pony "Filthy Rich" going to give us problems?" Shiva asked.

"No, he is a coward when it comes down to a show down. Be alittle flashy and he will give us the keys to his house if we asked." Bard ended with a chuckle. Shiva giggled abit as well. "But still, we need to be quick. The guards will catch onto our presence pretty quickly. In, out, gone, got it?" Bard asked aggressively as he placed his pistols in his holsters on the sides of his hips. Shiva simply nodded her head in annoyance. Bard smiled and looked down to Filthy Rich's mansion. "Now, let's do this so we can get paid." Bard added with a menacing smile on his face, spreading open his feathered wings. Shiva looked up to him and smiled just as dark as they took off for the mansion.

Author's Notes:

Since I have been forgetting to do this, I want to say it now since I realized this neat little author's notes thingy. Anyway, this story line is thanks to my very good friend Randomguy8783, yes, I sorta added him into the story series to honor him. He throws at me the main concept of the story and what certain things he wants to happen and I connect everything together with some filler stuff to lead up to the main events. So thank you Guy for the story. I will be adding in some music to the story to amplify the emotions and scenes, I am not sure how, maybe just give a list of songs for the chapter and number them for when they should be played, I am not sure, but if you like the idea, comment it to give your opinion on ether the idea, the story, or your favorite food, jk. Anyway, tell me what you like and what you don't like so I know what to keep doing and what not to do so I know how to be better. Lastly, I may be alittle slower on posting the stories, I am reading other stories to figure out how to intensify some scenes and emotions. I always strive to be better for you guys, anyway, I talked your eyes out, hope to see you in the future chapters, enjoy ;)

Chapter 6: Iron Golems

Neon finally stopped slamming his face into the light post for starting to get dizzy and light headed. When his vision finally started to focus, he saw he dented and bent the post. Random looked at the post and back at Neon. "I knew you had a thick skull, but I didn't know literally." Random joked around, still bouncing around PinkiePie. They started to walk around, PinkiePie talking about the party she planned on throwing and asking questions about their life, likes and dislikes, music favorites, food, and so on. Finally she stopped dead in her tracks with worry on her face.

"Oh no, I just remembered that there is still more things I need to get before the party, oh no oh no! I have to hurry! Sorry, I have to go. See ya!" PinkiePie said in a hurry as she rocketed off, not leaving a trace. Neon shrugged his shoulders as Both Neon and Random kept walking on, looking around and exploring.

"Well, as always, that was random. I can see why you like her." Neon said with a sly look on his face as he poked Random in the shoulder.

"What? What are you talking about?" Random questioned with a hint of confusion. Neon narrowed his eyes as he looked at Random.

"Oh come on, you totally have the hots for her, admit it!" Neon declared out loud. Random stopped in his tracks and looked at him like he was an idiot, which he was.

"You got to be kidding me. PinkiePie is fun to hang out with. That's it. I have never been in a relationship and I plan on keeping it that way. I can understand why people would like to be in a relationship. But I do not like the idea for myself. As if anyone can handle me." Random explained, at the end he hinted off a bit of disappointment. Neon caught a hold of that subtle hint and wrapped his arm around his shoulder.

"Yea, I mean you are a pain in my rear. As if anyone can handle you." Neon said jokingly. Random couldn't help but smile at his pathetic attempt to cheer him up. But some how it did.

"Thanks bro. I just get curious is all. Never been with a girl romantically, and you always seemed happy with Vinyl, so I always wanted to see what it was like, you know?" Random asked sadly, but kept a smile on his face. Neon chuckled and jabbed him with his elbow.

"Chill man, that certain special someone will come to you, or maybe you just have to hunt her down to claim your prize." Neon explained with a cheerful tone. Random shrugged his shoulders and looked up into the sky.

"You know, maybe your right. You have some really screwed up ways to make me feel better." Random replied with a all too familiar smirk on his face. Neon smiled back and let go of his shoulder.

"Yea, well if it works on you, then I guess your pretty screwed up your self." Neon joked around, not taking his eyes off of Random to make sure he was truly all better. Random turned back and smirked again.

"At least I am not the one slamming my head into light posts today?" Random replied again but with a slight cocky tone in his voice, speeding up his walking pace to making Neon walk faster. This made Neon laugh to himself who kept looking at him.

"Hey! I did that cuss I couldn't believe that you asked PinkiePie to with us. She is just way too hyper as if she drank seven coffee pots all by herself." Neon explained. Random's smirk got bigger and his eyes narrowed.

"And what of the second time?" Random added, still smirking deviously and speeding up again, Now they were almost full running. Neon looked at him confused.

"Second? What are you talking about? When did I hit my-" Neon started. Without seeing it, Neon ran right into another light post and fell right onto his back, dazed. Random looked down at him, laughing as he offered a hoof out to help him. Neon looked at the hoof and back up at him with an angry glare before taking it. Random lifted him back up on all four hooves and continued chuckling to himself. "Shut up." Neon added as he continued to walk past Random. Neon looked around and noticed they have happened to stumble upon a neatly paved road. Neon looked around with a smug look on his face. "Must have gotten onto private property of some rich guy. Oh, sorry, some rich 'pony'." Neon corrected himself with a short laugh. Before Random could add anything onto the joke, they suddenly heard a loud bang very familiar to them.

"Wait a second. . . . . . Was that a gunshot?!" exclaimed Random As if to answer his question, another minute later, another loud bang was heard, echoing around them.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Bard and Shiva walked up into the main gate of the mansion. A lazy guard was reading a newspaper as they approached him. With out looking up he said with a very lazy tone "All ponies must have a meeting seeing mister Rich. Today he is spending time with his family. If you come back tomorrow, we can schedule you a meeting". Shiva giggled to herself.

"Oh my, give us the cold shoulder why don't you." Shiva said in a playfully hurt tone.

"Sorry Ma'am, rules are rules." The guard said coldly without looking up. Shiva laughed a bit and her horn started to glow.

"So cold. Here, let's see how you like the cold shoulder in return." Shiva said menacingly as the booth the guard was in suddenly turned into a block of ice, trapping the guard inside. Shiva giggled as she kept moving, leaving Bard looking at her with a dumb look. "Keep making that face and it will be stuck like that." Shiva called back as she kept walking. Bard shook his head and kept walking with her.

" 'So cold. Here, let's see how you like the cold shoulder in return.' That was the best you can think of?" Bard said annoyed. Shiva puffed out her chest.

"Well I didn't hear you say anything, you big meany." Shiva said stubbornly, sticking her tongue out at him. Bard face palmed himself and shook his head.

"You are so difficult to work with, you know that?" Bard said harshly. Shiva giggled to herself.

"Yet, I am still part of your little team of mischief, huh?" Shiva added as they neared the front door to the mansion. Bard leaned behind her, as if to choke her out but stopped himself.

"What ever, just blast the door down and freeze the people that are near it, alright?." Bard asked almost demandingly. Shiva smirked back at him and looked at the double doors before her. She focused her magic to her horn and with a quick blue light, the front doors where blown apart, sending them flying inward of the large mansion. The two butler ponies that were by the front door where shocked by the sudden intrusion. As the doors flew inwards, they froze with a pillar of ice holding them in place. Bard flew in quickly by the second story balcony, drawing out his pistols and pointed them at the butlers. "WHERE IS FILTHY RICH?!?!" Bard shouted out with a booming voice, almost shaking the walls while doing so. The butlers dropped to their knees, quivering in fear, unable to conjure up any words for the griffin intruder. Bard looked at them with a powerful, hateful glare. A pony with a knife snuck up behind Bard from the balcony behind him. As he lunged at him with the knife, he found himself unable to move, his hooves frozen to the ground. Shiva walked in with her horn glowing.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. He has been dying for some shooting practice." Shiva advised with a slight harsh tone in her voice and a cold smile formed across her lips. Filthy and his daughter Diamond Tiara ran up to the balcony to see what the noise was all about. Bard looked back to see him approach and he smiled.

"He fits the description, it's him!" exclaimed Bard as he aims his guns at Filthy Rich. He stopped dead in his tracks and placed his daughter behind him to protect him. Bard noticed the small filly and cursed himself under his breath. 'Oh what the buck! I specifically said no missions that involved children! I am gonna have to have a chat with the employer after this." He thought angrily to himself. The rich pony shook before him as he kept his focus and guns on him. "Alright, do exactly what I say and you get to live another day as a father, sound good?" Bard asked less harshly. Filthy Rich nodded his head in fear.

"Sure, what do you want from us? Money?" Filthy Rich asked fearfully, trying to make him leave with out throwing an attitude towards him. Bard smiled to him as he turned to Shiva.

"Tell him the book we are after." Bard called with out taking his eyes of the two quivering ponies in front of him. Although he was a coward, you ever know when some pony will make a move out of desperation to protect their family. But he wanted to do what ever it took to avoid that, hence why Shiva was here. Shiva was good at immobilizing her targets. She looked up at him confused.

"I thought you would remember the book?" Shiva questioned confused. Bard clutched his talons with anger. 'I am going to kill her one of these days' Bard thought to himself.

"Just pull out the contract and read it!" Bard shouted back angry. Shiva's horn glowed for a second and a scroll popped in and a pedestal was formed out of ice. She lowered the scroll onto the ice and started reading the contract.

"We are looking for one book called 'One's Past is Another's Future'. From the residence of one Filthy Rich living on 113 pine-" Shiva started but Bard waved his head to signal her to stop.

"We got the message." Bard explained shortly. He turned to Filthy Rich and his daughter. "Alright, we are looking for that book, do you have it, and please do not lie to me." Bart added, pointing his gun at their chest. Filthy Rich nodded his head slowly.

"Yes, I purchased that book a few weeks ago from a rare book collector. You're really doing this for a book?" Filthy Rich asked confused. Bard flew next to him, putting the gun to his face. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry! It's in the library!" He added afraid, shaking in place but still keeping his place between Bard and his daughter, who was shaking and griping her father tearfully. Bard got a sight of the poor little filly and turned back up.

"Alright, take me there. Your daughter stays, don't worry, your daughter will be safe as long as she is smart." Bard explained. Filthy Rich looked at him and nodded, leading him to the library. His daughter held onto him after awhile but he made her let him go and left her at the balcony. Feeling bad, Shiva teleported up to her. When she heard the pop from the teleportation, she tried to hide behind the railings.

"Relax little filly. We honestly do not plan on hurting you ponies, alright? Come on out, I'll show you we aren't so bad." Shiva requested politely with a kind hearted smile. Diamond Tiara looked past the rails to see her smile and walked towards Shiva. "See, we may do bad things, but that doesn't make us bad ponies thou, right?" Shiva asked innocently. Diamond Tiara was then standing in front of her by a few feet, fearing to take another step. Shiva smiled and asked with motherly words "What is your name little filly"?

"Diamond. . . . D-D-Diamond Tiara." Diamond Tiara answered, still shaking with fear and dread.

"Wow, now that is a fancy name. How long have you lived in this big giant house with your dad?" Shiva asked, trying to calm the young filly down abit.

"Since I was born I think. I think this house has been in our family for awhile." Diamond Tiara answered, starting to calm down which made Shiva smile down at her with kind eyes.

"Really? That must have been awhile then. What is it like to live in a mansion like this? I have never been in a mansion before." Shiva asked, trying to distract the calming filly.

Meanwhile, Bard followed the pony down some halls as they soon walked past another set of double doors and were then standing in the library. "Holy books!" Bard exclaimed, looking upon hundreds of books neatly placed amongst the shelves on the walls that surround them. "Well, where is it then?" Bard asked impatiently. Filthy Rich looked around the walls in a panic.

"I am sorry, I'm looking." Filthy Rich replied, looking through each shelf. Bard looked around but kept an eye on Filthy as well as a pistol.

"Nice library you got here thou. Might be the biggest one I have seen so far." Bard explained, trying to ease the tension abit between them. Filthy Rich looked back at him for a second and then back to his search.

"Yes, all these books are rare collections passed down from generation to generation. Collected by my family." answered Filthy Rich as he continued to look at each book carefully but quickly. "Why are you doing this? You blast yourselves into my home on my one day off from work, freeze my servants, aim your guns around my family, all for a book?" He asked bravely, adding a slight rude tone in his voice. Bard chuckled.

"You got some guts, I'll give ya that. But we are hired to get that book by any means, and we are being paid quiet a bit to make sure we bring it back in one piece. All though we didn't know you had a kid." Bard explained with a sigh. He went to sit down on one of the chairs and placed his pistol on the table. Filthy Rich noticed this and eased up alittle bit, no longer feeling that his life was on the line. "I don't take jobs that involve children. If I had known, I would have said no, I am sorry. I honestly just want to get out as fast as we can and leave you alone." Bard continued to explain as if he was speaking to some one who cared. bard chuckled to himself on that thought. Filthy Rich found the book in question and pulled it out with his mouth.

"I found it!" Filthy Rich called out as he brought the book over to Bard. He looked over and got up, picking up his pistol but did not turn it to him. He walked over and grabbed the book, taking a quick look to confirm the book, he tucked it away in one of his larger pouches and slightly tilted his head to him.

"Thank you for making this easy for us. We will take out leave and never return." Bard explained calmly as he started to leave. Filthy Rich actually managed to smile at his feathered intruder.

"You know, I know you have your reasons for doing this. But even though I know nothing about you, you seem like a very kind griffin, so thank you." Filthy Rich said kindly. Bard was alittle confused, he never robbed from someone and have them thank him. He turned around with a smile.

"Sorry for the damage and distress. Have a good day." Bard said before spreading his wings open and taking off. He flew to the balcony that he left the little filly. As he got there, he saw Shiva and the said filly playing patty cake. He could not help but smile at the sight. "Sorry to interrupt your play time, but it's time to go." Bard said calmly. Shiva looked at him and playfully frowned.

"Awwww. But we just started to be friends." Shiva whined. With a deep sigh she got up and looked down to the young filly. "I had alot of fun with you. If we ever rob you guys again, maybe we can play again?" Shiva offered playfully, adding a gentle and equally playful smile and helping the Diamond Tiara back up to her hooves.

"Ok, make sure to break in again, I had alot of fun too." Diamond Tiara said with a cheerful smile. Shiva patted the young filly's head with a smile and started walking off with Bard. With a wave the criminal pair left the area.

"Wow, best. . . . contract. . . . EVER!" Shiva shouted out with joy. Bard smiled to her excitement and nodded.

"Most definitely, I wouldn't mind robbing them again sometime. Maybe even with time off. Or maybe just a friendly visit." Bard added. Thinking to himself the look on the little filly's face when he came in. he shuddered at the thought as they sped off into the Everfree Forest. An armored pegasus flew right into him and placed a spear right at his throat.

"Hold it right there you scum! I finally caught you two. Now come peacefully and you may live to see another day!" said the armored pegasus. Bard looked up the spear tip to see it was one of the guards. Bard smiled tauntingly.

"That was fast, even for you guys." Bard said with a cocky tone. Shiva blasted him with a simple ice spell just to knock the guard off of Bard, not wanting to catch him in the blast as well. He got up and prepared to charge at him again but Bard was already back on his paws, holding a pistol to him and pulled back on of the hammer. "Now, don't be an idiot." Bard said calmly. The guard stared him down with hate filled eyes. After a moment of the stare down, the pegasus lifted off the ground and charged straight at Bard. His eyes opened with fear. "You idiot!" Bard yelled out. The guard raised his spear as he drove it forward with everything he had.

BOOM!!!!

The pegasus guard stood there with his spear in Bard's shoulder, blooding running down his shoulder and through coated his feathers with blood. The guard smiled down at the griffin victoriously as Bard's eyes widen with fear and rage. "It wasn't supposed to be this way." Bard thought out loud. The guard smirked at him and tried to move but suddenly felt a great pain in his chest. He looked down and noticed bleeding. The guard pulled his spear out and stumbled backwards. Smoke still raised from Bard's gun as he pulled back another hammer and walked towards the soon to be dead guard.

"You. . .Y-you are gonna pay for this!" The guard exclaimed, trying to catch his breath. He fell to his knees and the light was slowly fading from his vision. Bard walked up to the pegasus and aimed the pistol right to his head. Without a look of mercy, he pulled the trigger, firing off another round into the air, this time right into his head, ending his pain. Shiva looked at Bard concerned but he turned away form the guard and started to spread his wings.

"Let's move, someone must have heard that and they will be coming. Double time it!" Bard ordered coldly as if he didn't just take the guard's life. Shiva hesitated for a moment but she understood, and they took off with Bard flying and Shiva teleporting below him.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Random and Neon looked around them to see where the gunshots came from. Neon took the lead, following the sound that he heard it form. After a few minutes they could see in the distance a pair running. They look like they were being chased by something by the looks of their speeds. "Look, Random, that way!" Neon called out. "Let's follow them and see if we can help them." he added. Random looked carefully to see the pair.

"Now way we could ever catch up to them. They are way too far and going extremely fast for us to ever catch up." Random explained, discarding the very idea of catching up to them. Neon thought for a second and then an imaginary light bulb flashed in his mind as an idea came to him. He grabbed Random and tossed him onto his back and extended his wings. "What are you doing?!" Random called down, watching him trying to take off.

"I have absolutely no idea." Neon answered honestly. Sadly, not easing Random's concern.

"Do you even know how to fly?" Random called back down, starting to get alittle scared.

"Not a clue, so hang on!" Neon replied quickly. With out another moments hesitation he started to flap his wings and started to raise off from the ground. Surprisingly, he actually wasn't using much of his strength form his wings, as if they have been doing this all his life, it just felt natural to him. "Here we go!" Neon called out, warning Random.

"What do you-" Random started. Before he could finish, Neon suddenly took off with blinding speed, causing an explosion. Random held on for dear life as they rocketed to the retreating pair, which they were catching up to really quickly. "I. . . . .Can't. . . . . . See. . . . . Anything!!!" Random yelled out.

"Me. . . . . . Neither!!!" Neon yelled back, scaring Random who widen his eyes in fear.

"WHAATTT?!?!?!" Random screamed as they headed straight into a forest. They swerved to the left and right quickly as they dodged the trees around them. Neon had no idea how he was doing it, but he was actually able to see the trees as he dodged every single one of them. a smile forming on his face as the wind then invaded his mouth, making his cheeks flapping in the air. After awhile, Neon noticed they passed the pair they were chasing by accident. "We missed-" Random started, this time being cut off by the sudden crash of hitting trees and a large rock, they both fell to the ground and darkness greeted them as they fell unconscious. As Random slowly woke up, he opened his eyes but it looked as if it was night time and his vision blurred. when he tried to get up he felt a paw push him into the ground and felt a cold barrel pressed onto his forehead.

"Move, and you die." threatened a rugged voice from the darkness. Random focused his eyes and finally saw the scene before him. A griffin with a rifle aimed at him through cautious eyes. Random looked past him to see another griffin (Bard) standing next to Neon with an ice blue unicorn (Shiva) holding his head on her lap. The griffin near Neon had a pistol drawn out with what looked like a small ax attached to the bottom of his barrel. "Now, who sent you to follow us?" The griffin over Random asked. He focused back to that griffin and got a good look at him. He wore a red bandana over on top of his head. His eyes were orange and emotionless. Cold, calm, and calculating. He had red feathers on his chest and neon orange fur on his legs. The griffin had dark green goggles on his forehead, they looked thick and could not be seen through. He wore a red vest that had many pockets that looked as if they held alot of different things, but Random could not see what from the darkness. He had a small blade attached to his tail that was placed closely to Random's throat.

"No one, we thought you guys were in trouble so we came to help." Random explained. The griffin stared him down alittle longer with his unchanging eyes until he released his paw form his chest and withdrew his gun and tail and offered a helping hand. Random smiled and took it, being lifted back up on all four hooves. When he got up he noticed the griffin by Neon was ALOT bigger than the griffin with the rifle.

"Sorry about that, we were being chased, and we thought when you zoomed past us that you were trying to cut us off. Glad to know you are not one of them." Explained the griffin without changing his tone nor facial expression. Random looked back at him confused.

"Who is they?" Random asked innocently.

"It doesn't matter, we lost them, now we need to figure out what to do next." the other griffin added in before the smaller one could answer sheathing his pistol.

"So, where are we, and why did you guys stop to us then instead of running away?" Random asked confused.

"We are in the infamous Everfree Forest. For some reason, we are unable to teleport out like we originally planned, so we stuck with you to make sure you wouldn't chase us as we made our escape." Explained the ice blue unicorn. "By the way, I'm Shiva. The big meany next to me is Bard. The one who looked after you is Shard, his big brother." she explained. Random looked at the group and smiled.

"My name is Random, it is nice to meet you all. The one who crashed us here is Neon, my closest friend, hell, I might as well call him my brother." Random explained, looking at him. He noticed that Neon's breathing was very small, his chest barely moving. "Is he ok?" Random asked with concern. Shiva looked up to him.

"By the looks of the sight, he tried to protect you as you both crashed. So he got the worse end of the event. But he will live, I promise. He just needs alittle rest is all. I am surprised that his skull didn't crack open on impact." Shiva said slightly teasing as she watched him sleep. Random chuckled to himself.

"Yea, he has a thick skull. I doubt it could ever break." Random explained, joking around, which made Shiva giggled, lightening up the mood. Bard flew up a bit into the trees, trying to get a sight of something.

"Do you see anything?" asked Shard, keeping his rifle on his shoulder.

"No, nothing. The trees are too thick to see past 40 meters in any direction. The branches and leaves are swarmed at the top so I can't get past them without blasting a hole through them." Bard explained while looking around. "Flying is dangerous at this point, lots of hard to see sticks and branches poking out everywhere." he finished and he came back down. Random suddenly felt a chill down his spine as if something was staring at him, watching his every move.

"Well, looks like we are gonna have to walk. The guards won't dare to walk in here, so we are home free from here." explained Shard with a hint of confidence in his voice but remained emotionless. Neon slowly woke up from his sleep and placed his hoof on his head, groaning in pain. Shiva froze a hole in the ground and unfroze it, creating some water. Neon looked around and noticed everyone looking at him.

"What, where am I?" Neon asked confused. Random brought him up to date and explained the situation. He took in the information well and looked around. "Is it night time?" Neon asked.

"Nope, it is actually around four or five by now. The trees are so thick that they block out almost all light." Explained Bard quietly and alittle uneasy. Neon backed up abit and bumped into something hard and cold. When he spun around he saw a giant, grey metal humaniod staring him down, easily 7 ft tall in height, wielding a sword in each hand. He jumped back in slight fear as he looked at it.

"Relax, it isn't alive." explained Shiva with alittle hint of humor. Neon looked to her for a second and then back to the giant confused.

"What in the world is it?" asked Neon openly.

"It's an iron golem. Back in the old days where the population was smaller at the time, so armies were smaller. To fill in the numbers, they would have unicorns make 2 or 3 of these each for them to control. When about 400 or 500 unicorns control 2 or 3 of these bad boys and send them at you, your just kinda screwed. and casualties were decreased, saving lives." explained Shard, as emotionless as ever.

"Why did they stop using them then if they were so useful?" Neon asked. Shiva giggled.

"Full of questions huh? A rescue turning into a history lesson. Well, no one quiet knows why they stopped using them, some say the raw magic to control them was so much and took a toll on the unicorns who used them. Some say that the golems some how broke free of their master's control and revolted. No one really knows for sure." explained Shiva with a smile on her face. Neon saw a eerie blue ball of light behind a few trees, almost as if it was beckoning him.

"What's that?" asked Neon, pointing at the ghostly blue orb of light. Everyone turned to see what he was pointing at and saw nothing.

"What? I don't see anything." said Bard confused as he stared towards the woods. The blue orb went over to Random and brushed up on him, making him tense up. As the orb passed over to him, Random suddenly had a blank and lifeless stare.

"Random?" Neon called, but He did not answer. "Random?!" Neon called again, running over to him. As he approached the blue orb entered random and disappeared from sight. "RANDOM?!?!" Neon yelled out as he reached him, Random's eyes were lifeless and frozen, but he was still breathing and his heart was still beating.

Random opened his eyes and saw the sky. Only this sky was not clear and blue, but filled with darkened smoke and grey clouds. The screams of hundreds could be heard from every direction. The sounds of battle roared in the distance. Random rose to his hooves but noticed he was hovering. Below him he saw the iron giants, but their was thousands of them all lined up, marching through a city that was engulfed in flames. Bodies of ponies piled the streets, blood ran down the streets from both civilians and soldiers. A dark, illuminating shadow rose from the horizon as it laughed menacingly at the scene of chaos. Up ahead Random could see what was left of an army, maybe about two or three dozen unicorn soldiers left trying to make a last stand. "What is all of this?!" Random questioned, quivering in fear.

As Random looked about the scene of horror he could hear crying from what sound like a young child. As he followed the sound he could see a young pegasus and her mother cornered by the iron golems. The mother seemed like she broke her wing but was still trying to fly away with her young daughter. Random looked closely at the iron golems now and noticed that they had a purple glowing aura around them and their swords. One of the golems aimed their sword at them as the glowing purple aura gathered at the tip. Within a moment of gathering the magic, they fired out a blast that obliterated them and the building behind the retreating pair. The golems left, leaving the burnt and mangled corpses of the remaining life in the city. Random felt tears swelling up in his eyes. "Make it stop, please." pleaded Random. The city burnt under the light of the moon. The screams slowly dying away with every explosion, the sounds of battle finally ended. "Please, Make it stop, PLEASE!" Random started to cry out.

The shadow formed into an alicorn and stared directly at Random. A sick and twisted grin formed by the evil creatures lips as he looked into his eyes. He was much larger than Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. He was completely black with a black mane and white highlights through it, and a cutie mark of that of a a blood red mist and a silver white skull in front of it. His horn was jagged and longer than usual, and his wings were as big as Neon's. His teeth were sharp as knives that formed into an evil smile. The alicorn stared right into Random's eyes as if staring right into his soul. "Soon child. Very soon." He said before fading away. His vision was darkening and everything was blurring. Before he knew it he saw Neon shaking him, a few tears dripping down his face.

"What happened?" Random asked confused. Neon smiled and wiped his tears away.

"About time you idiot. You froze up and got cold like you were dead, thou you were still breathing. It just got freaky is all." Neon briefly explained. Random looked past him and saw a pair of iron golems and twitched at the vision he had. Neon noticed that and showed concern. "You ok Random?" Neon asked slightly confused and worried. Random looked up and smiled, jumping back up onto his hooves.

"Yup, I'm fine. I just had alittle night mare is all." Random explained with a convincing smile. Neon smiled and got back up to his hooves as well.

"Well, let's go home then. I could really use a shower." Neon complained with a smile.

"Well, I guess this is where we part then?" Shard asked calmly. Random shrugged his shoulders.

"I guess so. Well, maybe we will see you guys in the future." Random claimed confidently.

"I doubt it, but maybe in the-" Bard was cut off by a sword that crashed down apon him, cutting him clean in half. Everyone froze in fear as two of the three iron golems came to life with their swords drawn out. Another swipe from the other golem decapitated Shard before he could fully pull out his rifle. Shiva stood her ground and started to cast a ice barrier around herself but one of the golems slammed both his swords into it and broke clean through it, crushing her with it and bringing up a cloud of dust. Neon stared in fear as he watched this. He closed his eyes for a minute and then opened them again.

"Yup, I'm fine. I just had alittle night mare is all." Random explained with a convincing smile. Neon smiled and got back up to his hooves as well. Neon looked at Random confused, shocked that everything was fine. 'What the hell? Was that just a day dream or something?' Neon thought to himself.

"Well, I guess this is where we part then?" Shard asked calmly. Random shrugged his shoulders. 'What a second, this is similar to what happened in my day dream.' thought Neon.

"I guess so. Well, maybe we will see you guys in the future." Random claimed confidently. 'What a second, this is too familiar. Does that mean-' Neon thought to himself. He looked over to Bard and saw one of the iron golem's swing it's giant sword downward toward Bard.

"I doubt it, but maybe-" Bard started. Neon flew right to him and pushed him out of the way. The sword fell and missed him by a hair as they got back to their hooves/paws. "How the hell did you see that coming?!" Bard asked alarmed. Neon looked up and watched the pair of iron golems come out of the woods, glowing with purple energy. "What the hell is going on?!" Bard yelled out in anger.

"I do not know, I will explain later. Right now, we got these guys to deal with." yelled out Neon. Shard pulled out his rifle and flew up into the trees. Bard jumped back, pulling out his pistols and pulled back the first hammers on each of them. Shiva charged up her horn, ready to release a burst of magic at any moment. Random was shaking alittle bit, but charged up his magic as well, but mostly grabbing rocks and branches to throw at the incoming attackers. Neon looked at them all as the iron golems came out and felt a slight wave of confidence.

"Hey Neon, We will take the one on the left, you and Random hold off the one on the right till we can assist, got it?" ordered Bard. Neon didn't like taking orders by anyone, he normally did the leading, but this was different.

"Got it!" Neon replied back. Shard placed a scope on his rifle and a magazine in the gun and took aim at the threat at hand, or hoof in the matter. Bard aimed his pistols right at the head of their golem.

"Taste iron!" Bard shouted as he unloaded his pistols. The iron golem didn't even flinch as the bullets bounced off of him and charged at him with surprising speeds. "Oh, right, iron golem, not stone." he said to himself as he dodged to the side.Shard fired some shots at what appeared to be random spots on it's body. Bard took to the sky as he exchanged the empty shells with new rounds. "Alright, let's see how you like steel armor piercing rounds!" Bard said with confidence. The iron golem took a swing at him but it's feet were frozen in place.

"Go, I got him covered!" Shiva called out. She sent out ice bolts at the golems face to get it's attention. "Come on, let's see if brute force can defeat a powerful mind such as me!" Shiva taunted. The golem turned to her and thrust downwards. She created an ice barrier to stop the attack but it only managed to slow the sword down and redirected. She tried to teleport away but forgot about that she couldn't as the golem swiped at her with the other blade. A sudden explosion appeared on it's face as it's attack missed, giving her time to move.

"Ha! Take that you hunk of metal!" Bard cried out as he grabbed for another grenade. The golem looked at him and noticed it was out of range. "Yea, can't touch me now, can you!" Bard called out cocky, pulling the pins off two more grenades. The iron golem aimed it's sword at Bard and a purple aura started to form around the tip. "What the hell is that?" Bard asked confused. After a moment, a purple beam came out of the sword and struck Bard straight at the chest and he fell straight for the ground.

"Bard!!" Shiva called out as she ran to him. Shard reloaded and continued to fire at the charging golem, using different rounds this time.

"Take cover!" Shard shouted out as the iron golem got closer to them. Shiva quickly put up a strong barrier of ice surrounding the two. The golem prepared a double magical beam with the two swords and fired at the pair taking cover. Shiva's ice barrier broke on impact and the shards come right at her and penetrated her back. She sat there over her friend as the blood ran down her back as the frozen shards slowly melted inside of her. As her last breath left her body she fell limp onto her friend.

Neon opened his eyes again to see the battle still going. "Hey Neon, We will take the one on the left, you and Random hold off the one on the right till we can assist, got it?" ordered Bard. Neon didn't like taking orders by anyone, he normally did the leading, but this was different. 'It's happening again, what the hell is going on here?' Neon asked himself. He turned to Bard and nodded his head. 'Is that the future I keep seeing?' he asked himself, confused as ever. Random threw the rocks and branches right at the incoming iron golem, but they just broke into his body without the slightest sign of slowing him down.

"Crap, I don't really know any magic besides levitating!" Random exclaimed fearfully. Neon looked around for something, anything to fight back with. He jumped up into the air and flew straight at the iron golem. With a loud, echoing bang, the ground shook on impact as the giant fell onto the ground, along with Neon. Random ran over to him. "Are you ok?" hew asked worried. Neon's eyes rolled around in their sockets.

"Yes, the root of pie equals to a soda if you divide the cookies while adding corn." Neon said randomly while he was dazed. The iron golem got back up, towering over the two. Random turned around and looked up to it as it prepared to stab them. Random grabbed Neon and jumped out of the way.

"Come on, snap out of it!" Random yelled at Neon, who was still dazed and could not look straight.

"Why yes mommy, I did the dishes, can't you tell by my purple socks?" Neon continued to talk nonsense. Random felt desperate.

"Come on, your supposed to lead, what do I do?!"Random cried out in frustration. The iron golem was standing over them as he raised his swords. Random turned around and stood his ground. His quivering stopped and his stare turned that of anger. "Touch him, and I will destroy you!" Random threatened. The golem raised it's swords and forced them down at him and he closed his eyes. Random focused as he suddenly felt everything around him as if time slowed down. The trees, the animals, their partners, Neon, himself. He could feel everything around him, including the power that rushed into his body as if the forest it'self wants him to win this fight. 'I will protect you with my life Neon. No matter what, you are my brother.' Random said inside his mind. As he opened his eyes, his red eye disappeared and both eyes were light blue glowing in a brilliant light. Vines with thorns popped out of the ground and grabbed a hold of the iron golem's swords.

"I warned you what would happen." Random said with confidence in his voice. More and more vines popped out of the ground and grabbed the golem, pulling him to the ground. Neon started to snap out of his moment of stupidity and watched as Random started to immobilize the iron golem by himself. The golem put up a fight for freedom but it was inevitable. Once the golem was restrained, Randoms horn glowed from blue to green as more vines started to grab it's head and started pulling on it. "Off with your head!" Random yelled out as the vines pulled off it's head and fell lifelessly onto the ground. Neon stared jaw open with shock.

"When the hell did you become such a tough guy?" Neon asked mesmerized. Random shrugged his shoulders as they looked over to see how the others were doing. Bard was in the air about to throw a pair of grenades but the iron golem shot him down in the air. "Oh now, it's about to happen." Neon said to himself. Random looked at him confused as Neon rushed over to him.

"Bard!!" Shiva called out as she ran to him. Shard reloaded and continued to fire at the charging golem, using different rounds this time.

"Take cover!" Shard shouted out as the iron golem got closer to them. Shiva quickly put up a strong barrier of ice surrounding the two. The golem prepared a double magical beam with the two swords and fired at the pair taking cover.

"NOOO!!!!" Neon yelled as he got in between the barrier and Shiva, holding up his wings for cover. The ice shattered into thick sharp pieces as they shot into Neon's wings. With a groan notifying the pain, he turned to Shiva who looked at him dumbfounded. "You guys alright?" Neon asked weakly. Random came over and grabbed the golem with his vines. Bard smiled and threw the grenades at the now immobilized iron golem.

"Fire in the hole." Bard whispered. Shiva watched the grenades go to the golem as she showed fear in her face.

"Not those, take cover!" Shiva yelled out. She remade her barrier and made it thicker. The two grenades exploded, shaking the very earth around them. The explosion wiped out the barrier and sent them flying out. Once everyone woke up, they looked around and noticed a crater the size of a small mansion laid before them. Shiva looked at Bard with an evil stare, who was laughing. "Really, You brought those to a robbery? Did you plan on blowing up the building or something?" Shiva asked enraged. "You almost killed us in the process"!

"Ah, but I did not." Bard replied sarcastically and kept on laughing. Shard came down and dusted himself off.

"Well, that was quiet the show." Shard said in a joking manner but remained emotionless. He looked up into the trees and noticed their was now an opening, and it was night. "Bard, Shiva, we are late!" He added in a panic. He turned to Bard with a stern look. "Do you still have it"?

"Yup, the book is right-" Bard started, feeling his pockets but felt nothing. He looked around scared. "Crud, I can't find the book!" Bard exclaimed nervously.

"Oooooo, interesting." Random said away from the group. Shard and Bard turned to him and noticed he was reading the book.

"How did you grab that?" asked Bard confused. Random shrugged his shoulders.

"Screw logic." was all Random replied with before chuckling about the story. Shard took the book out of his hooves and started to walk away before grabbing his leg. "Please, it was getting good." Random begged with innocent eyes.

"No, we are late. Shiva, patch Bard up and let's fly out." ordered Shard.

"Already done." Shiva quickly replied as she finished bandaging Bard up. She got on his back and they took off into the sky.

"You owe us an explanation, remember that!" Shard shouted down. Shiva winked at Neon once again as they disappeared into the night. Random pouted at the ground as he looked over at Neon.

"I wanted to read that book, it was getting exciting." Random whined. Neon bopped him on the head as he started walking back.

"Come on, we got along way to go to get back home." Neon stated.

"What about your wings?" Random asked. Neon shrugged it off and kept walking. Random tackled him and grabbed some left over bandage that the other group left by. "Hold still, I know how to do this." exclaimed Random.

"Hey, no you don't you failed first aid 7 times already!" Neon yelled out in a panic as Random started.

"Well, 8th times a charm." Random explained as he did his work. After awhile, thanks to Neon's struggling, Random managed to wrap up the wound properly. "There, all better." he said happily. Neon looked at the handy work before him and smiled.

"For failing seven times before, not bad." Neon said jokingly as he nudged Random's shoulder. "Let's go home". As they walked the long journey, Neon couldn't help but think to himself. 'What did I see back there, was it the near future, was I hallucinating? What is going on?' Neon thought to himself. So many questions he needed answering.

Random looked at Neon and then to the sky. "What was that that I saw? Was it the past, the future, was I just seeing things? How did I do that spell? I don't remember Twilight teaching me that or anything. I wonder' Random thought to himself. He too had so many questions that he need answering. They both had something they need to know. What ever happens, they both know that they will face it together, no matter what. Random looked at Neon with a smile as he leaned into him. Neon, understanding Random, picked him up and placed him on his back and carried him the rest of the way home. 'No matter what anyone says, your my brother, but it looks like the days I protect you, are about to come to an end here.' Neon thought to himself, both happy and sad. Happy to see that his little brother is finally growing up, but sad that soon, he will no longer be able to watch over him.

Author's Notes:

Sorry if this ends up being really long, I got alittle carried away. Anyway, so I hope you enjoy, if you have questions about the chapter, as long as it does not give away information about the future chapters, I will be more than happy to answer any questions you have, my fingers hurt after typing this today, so it might be alittle bit before I send out the next chapter. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed making it for you guys ^_^

Chapter 7: A Surprise

Neon continued to carry Random on his back while going back home. As he entered the now quiet town of Ponyville, it was night time. It seemed that the streets were cleared of everything, ponies and stands that use to be out. Neon shook his head as they neared Twilight's house. He found it odd to see the lights were out. "How odd, I thought she would have kept them on for us. Must have fell asleep." Neon thought to himself out loud. This must have woken Random up cuss he started to stir on his back. "Hey, you awake?" Neon asked quietly so that if he was still asleep he wouldn't wake him up.

"Yea, I am awake now, can you let me down?" Random asked politely. Neon nodded to him and knelt down to allow him an easy way back on his hooves. As Random slipped off, he rubbed his eyes, trying to get the sleeping grains out of his tired eyes. "Where are we?" He asked confused.

"Home, once we get back inside, we can get a good night sleep and end another chapter of our days here." Neon explained optimistically. Random looked around and looked upon the tree house that they were living in.

"I would love to get some sleep." Random said with a lazy tone, slowly making his way to the door. Neon smiled gently towards him as he walked next to him. "Sleep sounds. . . so good right now." Random whispered, his eyes slowly closing as he approached the door.

"Don't worry, now we are home to our nice, peaceful, quiet little home." Neon assured as he slowly opened the door. As the door opened, it greeted them with a loud creeking sound. "Geez, I never knew these floors were so loud. It's like they are trying to alert an ambush or something." Neon whispered annoyed. Suddenly, the lights came on all of a sudden and a whole bunch of ponies they have never seen were standing before them, surrounding them.

"SURPRIIIIISSSE!!!!" they all shouted out. Neon fell to his flank being taken back by the sudden shouting. As his mind cleared and relaxed a bit, he took a quick look around to observe the scene properly. There were streamers all over the ceiling and balloons hanging on the railings and tables. Punch bowls and platters of a large selection of food displayed all around the room. Everyone was smiling at him and Random.

"W-w-what is going on?" Neon questioned confused. "What is all of this for"? PinkiePie appeared out of the crowd and jumped up and down in front of him.

"I am so glad you ponies finally made it! I was starting to worry that you guys were lost or something. But this is your 'Welcome to Ponyville' party. So welcome!" PinkiePie explained in a hyper manner and bounced off into the crowd. Neon shook his head as the party started to pick up and music started playing.

"Hey man, I am sorry, I know you wanted to sleep and now we got this party right-" Neon started. He turned to Random who stood there frozen with his jaw dropped. "Random, are you alright?" Neon asked. A smile slowly spread on Random's face and his eyes gleamed with joy and energy. "Uhhhhhh, Random?" Neon asked slightly scared. Suddenly, Random just vanished, leaving a perfect outline of smoke in his place. "Did I just get bugs bunnied?" Neon asked himself. Suddenly, a hoof grabbed a hold of his shoulder and was pulled into the crowd.

"Opps, sorry Neon, I meant to pull you alittle more gently. Anyway, let's dance!" PinkiePie shouted out and started to dance with Neon. Confused, Neon started to dance casually with her. After a few moments Neon started to get in the groove of things and couldn't help but smile as he pulled off his Dub-Step dance moves, which was alittle harder due to the fact of being a pony now. Pinkie looked at Neon's wings and gave a concerned look towards him. "Are you ok? Did you get hurt?" She asked kindly. Neon shrugged his shoulders as he kept on dancing.

"I'm fine, just a scratch. I'll explain later" Neon replied carelessly. PinkiePie nodded and continued dancing the night away. After alittle while PinkiePie's eyes lite up and she turned to the back of the room.

"Oh no, I forgot to bring out your present. Stay here, I'll be right back!" PinkiePie advised with excitement as she took off once again, leaving Neon standing there in confusment.

"How in the nine circles of hell does she have that much energy?!" Neon asked himself as he stared off puzzled. He continued his dancing, getting use to the new form as another hoof touched him on the shoulder, this time just a tap. Neon spun around and saw Vinyl, A smile forming his lips. "Hey, what are you doing here?" Neon asked pleasantly surprised.

"Well, this is a PinkiePie party, of course I am gonna be here. I was going to get some punch when I noticed over here." Vinyl explained. Neon smiled at her as he stared into her purple goggles. "So, do want to get a drink?" Vinyl asked, blushing alittle. Neon was surprised but nodded happily. As he walked over to the punch bowl with her, a thought popped into his head. 'You idiot. This is not the Vinyl you know and love. She is different. It is time to move on. Don't be confused by this one.' Neon thought to himself. But the thought was right. She wasn't the same Vinyl he loves and wants to spend his life with. Once they got to the punch bowl, Neon's anxious smiled faded away, replaced with a face of disappointment.

"So, why did you decide to hang out with me?" Neon asked plainly. Vinyl shrugged her shoulders and looked away in a shy manner.

"Well, uhh, I saw you at the DJ competition, and I loved your song. It was really cool. Well, ever since I saw you, I sorta wanted to get to know you. You know?" Vinyl explained. Neon politely smiled as she explained. 'She sounds like Vinyl, but she would never be shy about anything.' Neon thought to himself. 'Still. . . . . . '

Random partied with the crowd. Dancing alittle over here, alittle over there. Jumping around as if this was gonna be the last party ever. Random drank alittle of the punch, snacked on some of the food, he wanted to be every where at once. While he was out dancing around, he saw Neon talking to Vinyl at the punch bowl. But he seemed like he wanted to get away from her, or something. Ether way he seemed distressed. "Are you worried about Neon?" asked a familiar voice from behind Random. Confused, he turned around saw Princess Luna standing right behind him.

"Oh, Princess Luna, I am sorry, I didn't know you were here." Random explained shockingly and he was about to kneel before her but was stopped by her hoof. He looked up to her and she held a kind smile upon her face.

"No need for formalities tonight. I came down here to celebrate you and Neon's arrival here in Ponyville. So please do not feel the need to treat me any different than you would with any pony here. I come here as a friend tonight, not that of a princess." Luna explained, looking kindly down upon Random.

"So, why did you come down. I am sure that you don't attend every party PinkiePie throws. What makes this one special?" Random asked politely. Luna gave a playful frown.

"Why? Am I not welcome here?" Luna asked with alittle whimper in her voice. Random took a step back, waving his hooves back and forth in protest.

"No! That's not it, I mean, It's just that-" Random started, but Luna's gentle hoof was placed on his shoulder to get him to stop.

"I was just playing around with you. I think that is the term. But I do have a reason for wanting to attend this party." Luna stated, looking up at Neon. "I do not know why, but I can not help but to watch Neon from afar. I feel strongly attached to him, like I wish to be close to him. It is hard to explain, and hard to understand." Luna explained. Random looked at her shocked and his jaw dropped. She looked at Neon with love and care, wearing a loving smile to match her emotions. Random connected the signs and came across the conclusion.

"You love him, don't you?" Random asked bluntly. Luna's face suddenly turned from dark night blue to flushed red.

"W-w-what do you speak of? I am not experiencing any s-s-such emotion of any s-sorts towards h-him. I am simply. . . interested in him. As I am w-with any other p-p-pony." Luna explained, trying not to stutter but failed. Random smiled and looked up to her.

"It's ok, I will not tell him." Random said reassuringly. Luna looked at him and then back up to Neon.

"I do not think it is love, but maybe it is. I will ponder about these thoughts for the time being. Until then, do not think I love him, understand?" Luna asked with a hint of authority. Random smiled and nodded his head. Luna took a deep breath and looked back at Random. "Now, keep an eye on him. I have looked into his dreams. He misses home, a lot. I can not get in the way of his life, for it is against the rules to do such things. But just make sure he does not do anything. . . reckless. The last thing I want is for him to is to do something stupid." Luna explained.

"You can count on me!" Random said encouragingly. Luna smiled down on him and continued to enjoy the party. Random looked back at Neon and frowned. "Poor Neon, I'm sorry." PinkiePie appeared out of nowhere and grabbed Neon.

"Come on silly, I have a present for you!" PinkiePie exclaimed with excitement. As neon was dragged around by his shoulder, he was shocked and confused as all the ponies turned to him and PinkiePie. She stopped right in front of a huge object covered with a large cloth cover. It was easily bigger than him by at least 12 times. "Well, open her up!" PinkiePie encouraged with a gleeful smile. Neon looked at the covered object before him. 'I am gonna regret this, but let's just get this over with and go back to dancing.' Neon thought to himself. He turned to look over the crowd and they all smiled back in return, waiting in anticipation. He saw a glimps of Vinyl, and she was watching him as if to see his reaction, like she already knew what it was.

"Alright, I'll do it." Neon thought out loud as he grabbed the cloth with both hooves and pulled off the sheet in one quick pull. As the cloth fell to the floor, Neon stared at his gift with awe and wonder. For what stood before him, was the most beastiest DJ booth he have ever seen. The speakers were bigger than him by at least three times, hold four of them. The booth itself was something that that the professionals had while touring. designed even with neon lights and laser projectors.

"Do you like it?" PinkiePie asked excitedly. Neon couldn't speak, couldn't move. This is what he had always dreamed of, times five. This was the greatest booth he had ever seen. Better than anything the clubs he ever went to in the city. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes. Once a single tear left his eyes and quickly traveled down his cheek, PinkiePie's smile disappeared. "Do you not like it?" PinkiePie asked depressed and confused. Neon's face lite up with the biggest smile he has ever worn his whole life as he looked up upon the most amazing gift he has ever received his entire life.

"This- this is the most state of the art DJ booth! I have never even seen anything like this back where I am from! How did you afford something like this?!" Neon asked with confusion and surprise, looking over at PinkiePie who just smiled over to him.

"Well, I didn't buy it. Vinyl was making it for you since that day of the DJ competition. She spent a few days trying to make this, and was still finishing up a few things while waiting for you to get here." PinkiePie explained with some excitement in her voice. "So. . . . do you like it?" she added. Neon looked over at Vinyl who looked at him with flushed cheeks and looked away. Neon smiled to himself and looked over at PinkiePie who waited for his opinion.

"I love it so much, thank you PinkiePie! I thought that you were really weird for awhile, but now I can see your heart is in the right place. Thank you!" Neon exclaimed excitedly. He reached over and gave PinkiePie a hug which she gladly returned the favor. Neon turned to Vinyl Scratch and walked up to her. Her face got more and more red with every step as every pony was watching them to see what Neon would do. He reached over and gave her a caring hug, which she hesitated but returned the favor. After a quick moment he released his embrace and looked at her. "Thank you Vinyl, it means a lot to me." Neon added with a gentle smile and walked away. Vinyl smiled and watched him as he jumped up onto the DJ booth and turned it on.

"Go ahead Neon, try it out." PinkiePie called out from the crowd. Neon smiled as he ran up to the new booth set up before him. He stared at all of the mixers, leavers, and buttons that decorated the stand. He spent a few minutes testing everything and fixing the settings for a new song he was working on when he was in the other world, it wasn't quiet complete yet, but he was gonna give it a try anyway.

"This is a song that I was making for a darker kind of song, but I think that you guys, I mean ponies, will enjoy this song none the less. It isn't finished yet but I am gonna give it a shot." Neon called out into the crowd. He turned on the beat which was a fairly simple with average beat. He knew this song mostly required lyrics. so he grabbed the mic with his hooves and put it up to his mouth. "This song is called Bad Apple. I was making this song before I came here, so it is not complete. But I think you will enjoy it!" Neon called out as he took a deep breath and looked out over the waiting crowd and started to sing. The crowd listened deeply and started to continue to party to his music. Random listened and smiled to himself.

"Well, this is a new one here. Nice beat thou," Random said to himself. He saw some one familiar in the corner of his eye, but when he turned to the figure, they disappeared in the crowd. "Hmm, I wonder who-" Random started, but then felt a hoof on his shoulders. He turned to see Twilight smiling at him. "Oh, hi Twilight. How are you?" Random asked politely.

"I am good, thank you for asking. What took you guys so long? And why is Neon wrapped up in bandages?" Twilight asked curiously. Random chuckled to himself and shrugged his shoulders.

"We sorta had a long day, hard to explain," Random explained shortly. Twilight looked at him with a puzzled look but then smiled.

"Well, alright. Hope you are enjoying the party. PinkiePie put alot of work into it. She has been planing it all day." Twilight explained.

"It really does seem like it. But yes, I am loving the party. She did an amazing job with it!" Random exclaimed with excitement. A hoof suddenly wrapped around his neck and shoulder. Random looked over to see PinkiePie's face an inch away from his own.

"I am so glad to hear that! It wasn't easy, but thankfully you guys were late. So I had extra time to make the last minute changes. So anyway, I am glad you guys finally made it. I mean some ponies where saying they should go home that you guys weren't gonna make it, and I told them 'of course they will make it. They won't ditch there own party now, sillies.' so I managed to keep them here. But I am SOOOOO glad you like the party! I have a present for you too!" PinkiePie exclaimed excitedly as she started jumping up and down. she reached behind her and pulled out a box. Random looked behind her with a puzzled look on his face.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Random whispered to himself quietly. PinkiePie looked at him, and to where he was staring and then back to him.

"What are you looking at?" PinkiePie asked innocently. Random looked back up to her and backed off.

"Oh sorry, it's nothing. So what do you have there?" Random asked quickly to try to change the subject. It worked.

"Oh right, I forgot. Here ya go, open it!" PinkiePie said, handing the box over to him. Random looked at the box and looked at his hooves.

"How do I open this?" Random asked slightly embarrassed. Twilight giggled to herself as PinkiePie looked at Random confused.

"Sorry PinkiePie, he is not use to hooves where he is from. Here, let me get that for you." Twilight said kindly as she opened the present with her magic. The tape was gently peeled off and the wrapping paper ripped open, revealing a pink box. Random opened the box to reveal a dozen neon pink cupcakes with red frosting and blue sprinkles.

"Wow, this is really colorful! They look so good!" exclaimed Random with hunger building up in his eyes and a joyouse smile formed on his face. PinkiePie smiled at him while jumping around him in a circle.

"Oh yes. They are very special. I call them my 'Super Duper Energizer Cupcakes of Fun'. I love eating these!" PinkiePie exclaimed as she continued to circle Random. Neon finished up a second song and put the booth on auto play as he came over to see what was going on with Random and the two mares. He looked past Random's shoulder as he saw the cupcakes.

"Oh no you don't. You do not do well with sugar, remember?" Neon reminded Random as he took the box away from him. Random turned back to him with big puppy dog eyes.

"But. . . but. . . . but they look so good. . . please. . . . Just a few?" Random begged with a look of pure innocence. Neon looked directly into his eyes but looked away quickly.

"Oh no. I am not falling for that again. You may have fooled me a couple times, but I am not falling for it this time!" Neon said sternly and looked back to him with one eye. Random kept his puppy dog eyes going and added some soft whimpering sounds. "I said no, Random. No means no, not keep going," Neon said with abit more authority in his voice.

"Please. . . . . I'll be your greatest friend in the whole wide world," Random continued to beg. His eyes getting bigger and bigger. Neon looked back over to him, big mistake. After a deep breath, he gave the box back to Random. "YAAAA!!!!" He cheered and took one of the cupcakes out of the box and stuffed it right into his mouth.

"Why do I have a feeling that I am gonna regret this," Neon asked himself as he watched Random shove another cupcake into his mouth. Neon cringed to the sight of Random shoving a third cupcake into his mouth and chewed happily when suddenly he stopped. Random dropped the box and let it fall to the floor without disturbing the other cupcakes. Twilight looked at him as his face froze.

"Are you ok Random?" Twilight asked concerned. Random did not make a move, did not make a sound. Neon sighed and looked at Twilight with a straight face.

"Just run. Trust me on this one." Neon advised. Twilight looked at him with a puzzled expression on her face and Random's pupils enlarged by at least triple it's usual size. Random disappeared without even moving, leaving an outline of dust in his image. Random was running everywhere and was everywhere at one time. With out warning, he started teleporting rapidly all around the room in rapid sessions. as soon as he reappeared in one spot, he teleported to another. Twilight stared at amazement as she watched him use so much magic at once.

"How in Celestia is he able to do this?!" Twilight questioned in shock. Random teleported to Neon wearing a huge smile on his face.

"Hey, do you think the ceiling looks amazing from your angle?" Random asked with large, beaming eyes. Neon raised an eye brow in confusion and then his eyes opened wide with fear.

"Oh no. No! NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!" Neon shouted out. Before he could run away, Random launched him into the ceiling, again. "GOD DAME IT RANDOM!!!!!! I SWEAR TO ALL THE GODS I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!!!!!!!" Neon screamed out in anger. Random laughed at him as he teleported all around the room. Twilight faced hoof herself as she pulled Neon down from the ceiling.

"Please tell him to stop doing that. I am not sure how many holes my ceiling can take," Twilight said with concern. Neon watched Random for a moment as he continued to teleport around the party and then glared over to PinkiePie as she looked at him in return.

"YOU!!! What did you put in those cupcakes? Cocaine?!" Neon asked assertively. PinkiePie looked at Neon confused.

"What is cocaine? It sounds tasty!" PinkiePie exclaimed, hyper as usual and unaffected by Random's new behavior. Neon face hoofed himself as he glared at PinkiePie.

"It's a powder that you would use- actually, never mind. Just help me calm him down and knock him out," instructed Neon. PinkiePie looked at him with a slight frown on her face.

"Why would you want to do that? He looks so happy," PinkiePie asked confused. Neon grabbed a hold of her shoulders. Random teleported to the ceiling, standing on it as if it was normal and a flash of light came out of his horn and fixed the ceiling.

"There, all better!" Random exclaimed as he continued to teleport around the room. Neon looked up surprised but then looked back down to PinkiePie.

"Listen to me very carefully. He is a ticking time bomb when he gets ice cream, and he was a hurricane. Now he has magic he can't fully control! What ever you put in those cupcakes. . . . he is now a freaking mobile doomsday device." Neon explained. A vine grabbed hold of him and pulled him up. As he was dangling from the ceiling, he saw an upside-down Random snickering at him.

"Hey there Neon, whatcha doing? Oh wait, let me guess. . . . . . Just, hanging around?" Random said sarcastically. He slapped his knee laughing at his own joke. Neon crossed his fore arms across his chest in disapproval as he looked at the vines.

"I've seen enough hentia to know where this is going." Neon said with disapproval. PinkiePie looked up at Neon and smiled up at him.

"What is hentia?" PinkiePie asked innocently. Neon glared down at PinkiePie.

"Shut up!" Neon yelled down from the ceiling. Random looked down to PinkiePie as well and smiled with a big cheerful smile.

"The hentia he is talking about is when a girl get's caught by a monster with tentacles and the monsters normally will ra-" Random started.

"Whoa whoa whoa there buddy! Do not be talking about that kind of crap. They do not need to know about that, alright?" Neon demanded. Random laughed as he turned back to Neon.

"Your so funny Neon. Hey, I got an idea, how about we play a game of hide and-" Random started. He opened his eye's wide apart and his pupils returned to normal as his eye lids closed slowly and he fell to the floor, releasing Neon in the process. When he fell down, Shiva was standing over him.

"Sorry I am late, how are you guys doing?" Shiva asked innocently. Twilight looked at Shiva and at Random and then back up at Shiva.

"What did you do to him?" Twilight asked with concern. Shiva looked at her confused.

"Nothing, I simply came over here, why?" Shiva asked confused. Neon got up and dusted himself off while looking at Twilight.

"No, it wasn't her. He crashed on his own. He burnt up so much energy that he knocked himself out. He does this all the time, just normally not as fast," Neon explained to Twilight and PinkiePie.

"Ohhhh," both Twilight and PinkiePie said as they looked down at Random. He laid down face planted on the floor, lightly snoring away.

"He will be fine, on the other hoof." Neon turns to Shiva with a confused look. "What are you doing here?" Neon asked. Shiva looked at him with bedroom eyes as she leaned up to him until they were only an inch away from kissing.

"Oh, I am sorry, am I not allowed to come to your welcoming party?" Shiva asked innocently as her cheeks flushed alittle bit, batting her eye lashes at him. Neon smiled nervously as he tried to back up but bumped into another pony.

"Oh, I am sorry." Neon apologized. As he turned to see who he bumped, he saw that it was Vinyl Scratch.

"Oh, hey Neon. What are you doing?" asked Vinyl. Neon looked at her embarrassed and his face started getting red. Shiva looked over Neon's shoulder as she wrapped one of her fore legs around his neck.

"Oh, who is this? Do you already have a certain special some pony?" Shiva asked while pouting. Neon looked back to her, his face getting more and more red.

"Shiva, stop doing that! Vinyl is just a friend," Neon tried to explain. When he looked back at Vinyl, she was lightly blushing but her eyes narrowed towards Shiva and walked off. "Vinyl?" Neon asked confused. Shiva smiled and backed off of Neon.

"Sorry, sometimes I have alittle too much fun. Anyway, I have a present for you and Random, sort of a thank you for the help. We couldn't have gotten away with out your help." Shiva explained. She handed Neon a nicely wrapped box. Neon blushed again and accepted the gift happily. He unwrapped it with his mouth and opened the box. inside was a helmet, it looked brand new. It was midnight black with leaf green streaks on it.

"What is this for?" Neon asked with a puzzled look on his face. Shiva giggled to herself as she looked into Neon's eyes, making him blush even more.

"This is a helmet of our style. We wear these as sort of a war thing. Of course we haven't done that in ages. So this is a decoration. Unless you want to be my big, strong, brave warrior." Shiva whispered softly, sending a shiver down his spine.

"Umm, thank you then, and I think I will keep this as a decoration if you do not mind." Neon explained. Shiva pouted at him playfully but backed away.

"Oh fine, you no fun." Shiva said playfully. She smiled at him as she flipped her hair to the side. "Thanks to you, we were able to turn in that book. We actually got a huge pay load from that silly thing. So thanks to you and-" Shiva started. Random stood next to her with a creepy smile.

"You said something about the book? Where is it?" Random asked in a creepy manner, looming over Shiva. She slowly turned to him slowly.

"H-h-how? W-when did you g-g-get there?" Shiva stuttered in fright. Random rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"I took a nap, sorry. Anyway, where did you bring that book?" Random asked, this time more natural. SHiva chuckled to herself and turned to him.

"We brought it took Detrot, at the black market. Why?" Shiva asked puzzled. Random smiled with glee.

"Got it, thank you for telling me. I am very tired, I am going to bed. See you in the morning," Random said quickly as he went to bed. 'How odd. Oh well, nothing new to be honest' Neon thought to himself. Shiva nudged his shoulder playfully.

"Hey, I have to go. I was only allowed to be here for alittle while. So I will see you later there, sweet heart," Shiva said with a slight seductive voice. She leaned up and kissed his cheek, making him burn up with a blood red face. "So innocent, it's so cute. Well, good night." Shiva said as she went out. An hour or so later the party started dying down as ponies started leaving one by one. After awhile it was just Neon and Twilight left.

"We are gonna have to clean this up in the morning," explained Twilight. Neon nodded in agreement.

"Indeed. But if you do not mind, I am exhausted, I need to sleep." explained Neon as he headed to the basement. He waved a hoof to Twilight and headed downstairs. He curled up next to Random and with a smile he slowly fell into sleep. The next day Neon stretched to wake himself up cheerfully. "Alright, let's get up." Neon whispered to himself. As he opened his eyes he saw Random staring down at him with a sinister smile. "R-R-Random!! What are you doing?!" Neon asked startled. Random put his hoof to his mouth as he snickered.

"Hey Neon, get your stuff together. We're going to Detrot!" Random stated with excitement.

Author's Notes:

I am so sorry it took so long to send this out to you all. Now I know their is spelling mistakes, my usual mistake reader thingy is malfunctioning at the moment, so I can not correct the chapter properly. I hope it does not give you guys too much trouble. I will be seeing some family for a week or so. So I hope you all do not mind the wait. I will jump right back to the rhythm of things when I return. Until then, I will try to make another chapter in another story before I leave so you guys have some reading material. I hope you enjoy the chapter and I hope to see you in the future chapters. See ya later then ^_^

Chapter 8: The City of Broken Dreams

Chapter 8: A Trip to The City of Broken Dreams

Neon looked up at Random who looked like he was a psychopathic murderer and he was about to be the very first victim. "Ummm, what?" was all Neon could manage to say. Random looked down at him with his blue and red eyes with concern.

"Are you ok there Neon, you look like you are staring down the barrel of a gun?" Random asked innocently. Neon calmed his nervous down a little bit and took a deep breath, smiling up at Random.

"Well, for a second, I thought you were about to skin me alive and use my flesh as a coat," Neon joked around. Random looked back at him with a smile.

"That's what I was gonna do their silly," Random replied, revealing his demented smile once more. Neon looked back up at him with fear burning in his eyes as he tried to run away but froze in place. "Where do you think your going?" Random said menacingly, holding Neon with his magic. Neon tried harder to escape and after applying more effort, he managed to break free of the telekinetic grip and ran up the stairs screaming. "YOU CAN RAN, BUT YOU CAN'T HIDE!!!" Random screamed up to him as he chased Neon up the stairs. Twilight was upstairs sipping some coffee as Spike sat down in the chair across from her, taking a big swig of coffee himself.

"Is it just me, or is it actually peaceful this morning?" Spike asked pleasantly confused. Twilight smiled down at him and giggled to herself.

"Your right, it is peaceful this morning, isn't? But Neon and Random aren't that bad. They have their days, sure, but they have their peaceful days too. Just watch, I bet today, they are gonna walk in nice and calmly and sit down with us and we can start the day with a-" Twilight started. The door to the basement fell down from Neon tackling it and he kept running. "Neon, whats wrong?" Twilight asked concerned and worried.

"It's Random, he finally snapped!" exclaimed Neon. Random jumped up the steps with a crazed look on his face.

"I found you Neon! Come here!" Random called out as he ran at Neon.

"OH GOD NO!!!" Neon cried out as he and Random ran around in circles around the table that Twilight and Spike were sitting in. Twilight looked over at Spike who calmly sipped at his coffee.

"I gave up the idea of a peaceful morning, you should too Twilight," Spike explained as he continued to sip his coffee away. Twilight watched the two run around in circles. Before she could defend what she was trying to say before the intrusion, she could do nothing but face hoof herself. Random stopped in place and Neon ran into him, falling onto the floor. Random stood over him, chuckling to himself.

"I got you now!" Random said with a sinister smile. Neon jumped back onto his hooves and ran out the door, Random closely following him. Once outside, Random caught Neon and grabbed him. "Gotcha, now come on, we will miss the train!" Random exclaimed as he held onto Neon as he ran to the train station. Neon froze his whole body in confusion as Random carried him to the train station. 'Is this another trick? I'm so confused,' Neon thought to himself. Random boarded the train and took his seat, placing Neon across from him. Neon sat there in his seat, confused out of his mind, and stared blankly at Random for a good 45 minutes before managing to say anything to him.

"W-what just happened?" Neon finally asked. Random turned to him, only his red eye being able to be seen, but this time, hatred was not being shown like last time they were in a train, but sympathy.

"Yea, if I told you the plan, you wouldn't have pulled off the act as well. So I made you think I was trying to kill you, other wise Twilight would have never let us leave without cleaning up after the party. But we are heading to Detrot," explained Random calmly. Neon looked out the window and noticed a few rain drops hitting the window, letting him know that it was starting to rain.

"So why are we going there? we aren't even prepared, we don't know anything about the city or it's residents," Neon said with concern in his voice. Random nodded back at him as he looked back outside, following Neon's stare.

"There is something odd about that book Shiva and her friends were returning. I only managed to read the first chapter, but it looked and sounded familiar. I want to see if we can buy the book off the person they returned it to." explained Random. Neon looked back over at him. 'Wow, he is pretty calm. He is NEVER calm. I wonder what he is thinking about, it must be some really deep and meaningful thoughts to make him act like this,' Neon thought to himself while looking at Random worried.

"I truly wonder about you sometimes Random" Neon whispered to himself, staring at Random and his thinking expression that he very rarely wore. 'I wonder if Pinkiepie likes cookies as much as cup cakes. I can make some really insane cookies. The gas prices were insane too. That one girl who asked me out was pretty crazy too. I forgot her name, all I remember was her pink, fluffy hair. She was pretty cute thou. Puppies are cute too. I love puppies, I wonder if Neon will let me get a puppy. Pickleberry cumquat, pickleberry cumquat, pickleberry cumquat, pickleberry cumquat, cherry chunga! I wanna try one of those sometime. Maybe I will get Neon to try it too. I love cookies, I could really use one right now. A chocolate chip cookie with sprinkles. Hmmmmm, that sounds so good,' Random thought to himself, staring blankly out the window without changing his expression. Random looked back at Neon with a confused look but didn't turn to face him directly, only looking at him through his red eye.

"What? Why are you staring at me like that Neon?" Random asked concerned and confused. Neon shook his head and stared back out the window.

"It's nothing. But what do you plan on doing in Detrot? I heard of a few rumors about the place. They call it the city of broken dreams," explained Neon. Random chuckled at this.

"What an odd name for a city. I doubt it is that bad. It is just like Detroit back home. They say it is a horrible place. But it is only a bad spot here and there. I bet we can find some good in the city. You just wait!" exclaimed Random with a smile on his face. Neon looked at Random with a worried looked.

"Random, sometimes you are too naive for your own good. I hope that one day, you can see the world that it really is, but for now, I am a little jealous of your optimism," Neon replied with a faint smile. Random fully turned to Neon with a puzzled expression.

"What do you mean?" Random asked confused. Neon chuckled to himself as he looked back at Random.

"When we were in the real world. You were always so positive. When we were strugling to survive, you would be by my side to make things better. You always kept saying that we were gonna get through it, and we always did. Even if we were certain to fail, we always pulled through. I honestly think we wouldn't have made it without you. I always looked at things as they are, but it's like you can see things in a whole other perspective. It's like we don't see the same world. So I envy you for seeing color in a grey world," explained Neon scincerly. A smile formed on Neon's face as he looked away from Random and back out the window. "Where I see rain and darkness, you see the sun and the light," he added. Random looked at Neon deeply as a smile formed on his face.

"Thank you Neon. To be honest, I think we couldn't have made it without you," Random added kindly. Neon turned back at him with a confused look. "You know how to be strong and how to stand up for yourself. All I know how to do is laugh with them and just let people walk over me," Random continued to explain. Neon grabbed ahold of Randoms shoulders and made him look him in the eyes.

"As long as I am here with you, I will always protect you! I will never let anyone use you or hurt you in anyway, shape, and form, got it! That is what I am here for," Neon explained sternly. Random looked into Neon's eyes and say his kindness even if he was trying to look tough. Random smiled and a small tear escaped his eyes.

"Thanks brother, that means a lot to me," Random added and come in to hug Neon, which he returned the gester happily.

"You haven't called me that in sometime now, but anytime ether way, I will always be there for you," Neon added. After a few moments have passed, they released from their embrace as they laughed for no real reason. After a few hours, they finally reached their desitination. As they left the train for the Detrot train station, they were greeted by the smell of industry. A horrid smell of garbage, burning coal and sulfur.

"I guess this is it?" Random asked with slight disgust. Neon looked over at the other side of a station. He noticed a pony walking around by himself as a griffin landed in front of him and started beating the crap out of him, yelling about money. After awhile the griffin pulled out a one shot pistol and shot the pony right there in broad day light and flew off with a small sack of bits.

'Yup, we are in Detrot alright. Not 30 seconds and we already saw someone get beaten up, shot, and mugged. Not so bad huh?" Neon asked sarcastically. Random was already gone and started to head into town. "Oh come on. Wait up!" Neon called out, catching up to him. They walked around, asking about the book, but everyone ether gave them dirty looks or told them to go buck off. After a few hours of this with no luck at all, they were starting to get thirsty.

"Hey Neon, I think I found somewhere to get a drink!" Random exclaimed as he ran into a bar. Neon face hoofed himself as he followed Random.

"Random! Wrong kind of drink!" he tried to explain but Random kept running over to the bar. Once they were inside everyone was laughing and drinking with some weird rock music playing in the background. They walked over to the bar and sat down. All around them they saw Ponies of different kinds, griffins, and minotaurs shouting at each other and punching each other in a joking manner.

"Whoa!! Minotaurs actually exist!" Random exclaimed excitedly.

"Well yea, what, you've never seen a minotaur before?" asked a voice harshly from the other side of the bar. When Random and Neon turned to see the source of the voice, they saw a large minotaur looking down at them with quiet a few scars on his chest and face.

"Nope, this is our first time seeing one before," replied Random calmly. Neon stared up at the bartender froze in fear and slightly shaking. The bartender looked down at the two ponies with a stern gaze about him and then burst out laughing.

"I like you! You ponies look new here. My new is Esteban Quartsy, but every pony just calls my Big Quarts, or Quarts for short. Call me what ever you like, I don't care. What can I get you two?" the bartender said with a now happier expression on his face. Neon wiped some sweat from his brow.

"I'll just have a water, big cup please," Random replied. Neon nodded his head.

"Same," Neon added. Quarts looked at the two confused but went in the back to get them water anyway. A moment later he returned with a large pitcher and pulled out two large cups and poured them the water.

"Here you guys are, two waters," he said, handing them the cups. Neon and Random guzzled them down quickly and put their cups down with a quiet thud.

"Thanks, that really hit the spot!" Random exclaimed.

"How much?" added Neon. Quarts chuckled deeply to himself.

"Please, this is a bar, don't worry about water," he explained as he walked back to return the pitcher. Random heard a commotion behind him. He turned around to see what it was about and saw a pony and a minotaur arm wrestling at a near by table. A crowd was forming around them as the minotaur's arm started lowering to pin the pony's arm to the table. Quarts came back around and saw the crowd. "Gosh dang it! They're at it again!" exclaimed Quarts.

"What's going on?" Neon asked boldly.

"It's Black Hide and Skullz. They are always competing against each other. I'd get out of here if I were you. If they are arm wrestling, then that means a fight will be breaking out soon enough," explained Quarts with a warning tone.

"Thanks for the warning. Let's go Random," Neon said as he tried to lead Random out of the bar.As they were leaving, some more ponies came over and pushed them into the crowd and immobilizing them, making them unable to leave now. "Crud," was all Neon could saw as they were pretty much forced to watch the show now. The minotaur was close to pinning the pony's arm down but all of a sudden, the pony launched forward and slammed his hoof to the table, winning the arm wrestle match.

"In your face Skullz! Now pay up!" the victor shouted up.

"No fair Black Hide, you cheated somehow! You always do! Every time I get so close to winning you always beat me. You are a cheater and a liar!" Skullz shouted back at him.

"You accuse me of cheating?! I let you get ahead just cause you are too easy to beat so I have to do something to make it more challenging, your just weak!" Black Hide called back at him. Skullz stood up from his seat and threw the table to the other side of the room.

"You wanna take this inside?!" Skullz yelled out.

"We are inside you giant baffoon!" Black Hide repied back, standing up from his seat as well.

"Oh, well, your a. . . ummm. . . . . a uh. . . . . . . . uhh. . . your a baffoon!" Skullz finally shouted back, throwing the first punch and sending Black Hide through a table. Getting up and smiling, he charged back at the large minotaur and tackled him to the ground, knocking over a table with drinks on it onto the minotaurs sitting at the table. They got up and went to punch the two rolling around on the ground. As they did they fell onto a few of ponies in the crowd which swung at them, connecting their hooves to their face, sending them back and stumbling onto a minotaur. Within around 20 seconds, everyone was fighting everyone.

"Ummm, Random, now is the time to leave," Neon said with concern in his tone of voice.

"Agreed," replied Random as they headed for the exit. As they ran towards the exit, they ran right into a pair of ponies who were fighting but turned their attention to them.

"Oh crud!" Neon exclaimed as one of them went to swing at Random. Neon grabbed his hoof and threw him over his shoulder and using his rear legs to kick the other one, sending him flying to the ground and dazed. "Go Random, I got your back!" Neon shouted out as they made their way for the exit. Once again they bumped into another bar fighter, this time a minotaur. He looked down on them and smiled.

"Take a seat, I got this!" Random said as he stepped up to the minotaur, his horn glowing. The minotaur took a step back but was then launched to the ceiling, a move that Neon knew all too well. After Neon chuckled to himself for a moment, they continued they ran across Skullz and Black Hide.

"I saw that move you did there. Sweet move, let's see how it goes to a world class fighter like myself then. 5th degree black belt in Karate, Judo, Ju-jitsu, Muay Twai, and a 2nd degree black belt in Aikijitsu. Are you up to the challenge?" asked Black Hide cocky. He finally got a good look of the two before him. Black Hide was average sized but was extremely toned. His mane was short and spike of dark slime green. His body was a dark smokey grey and covered in scars. He wore 5 black belts on himself and a crimson red bandana with a moon on it, similar appearance as Luna's cutie mark and had mythical purple eyes. It looked like that Black Hide had a black belt for a cutie mark. Neon smiled and took a step forward.

"BRING IT ON!!!" cried out Neon with confidence as he charged right at him. Skullz smiled at Random as he took a step towards him and cracked his knuckles.

"I guess it's just you and me then little unicorn," Skullz said in a threatening tone. Random smiled and shook his head.

"Nope," he simply said as his horn glowed and he launched him into the ceiling. Black Hide easily threw Neon out the door of the bar and followed him.

"Come on, show me something!" he taunted, standing on his hind legs and started bouncing from his left and his right leg in a repeated motion. Neon got back up and followed suit, only he stood completely still and placed his hoof to his chin.

"Ok, come at me then," challenged Neon with a slight smile on his face. Black Hide nodded and lunged at Neon with much speed. Neon side stepped to the left and everything slowed down before him.

'This pony is a martial artist in many styles, combating with him will be very difficult. I will have to use tactics and styles that the normal martial artist would not think of. First, connect right punch to the indent in his hoof while he tries to punch me, sending a paralyzing shock wave of pain temporarily making him unable to think. Next, hay-maker to the upper part of the left hind leg, first step to immobility. Right after, twin dragon fist to the chest, then a quick, upper hook to the chin. Jump off from injured left leg followed by a kick. While in the air, double kick to recently striked chest, sending him off his feet. Damage: bruised femur, multiple cracked ribs and concussion, fight should be much easier after this' Neon calculated in his head, and he did exactly that (I do not believe you wish to see that same thing twice, so let's move on, shall we?). By the end of the scenario, Black Hide laid on the ground catching his breath. Neon leaned over to him and smiled.

"How the hell did you do that? What martial art have you learned?" asked Black Hide in confusion. Neon smiled in return.

"Purple belt in ninjitsu, I was taught to fight against martial artists like you," Neon explained calmly. Black Hide chuckled to himself as he jumped up and round house kicked Neon in the face, spinning him and launching him to the ground. Neon looked up to see Black Hide standing over him, holding a hoof out to him. Neon took it and got himself back up on all fours. "Thanks," Neon said wiping the dirt off of himself.

"Anytime, your the only pony I have ever met that could send me on my back. I got alot of respect for you. It was a great fight!" exclaimed Black Hide happily. Skullz joined them outside as he was rubbing his head.

"My head hurts, how did your fight go Black?" Skullz asked confused. Neon got a good look at him as well. Skullz was bigger than the other minotaurs. He had smokey grey body just like Black Hide but had patches of coal black fur mixed with it. His eyes were mud brown and had midnight black hair on top of his head.

"I won, but not by much. Let's go Skullz," ordered Black Hide and they started to walk down the street.

"Wait, have you ever heard of a book called One's Past is Another's Future?" Random quickly asked. Black Hide stopped in his tracks and turned back to them.

"Yea, I heard of that book. One of my friends is about to turn it in for a pay out. Why, were you guys the ones they stole it from?" Black Hide asked in a joking manner.

"No, I just wanted to read it. It's a good book," Random explained.

"Yea, I don't know where they are staying, but I do know some pony who might. Try checking my good friend Edmen Foureyes. He's alright, although a bit obsessive. You can find him on the other side of town, next to the bell tower. He's a scientist and loves to test out his toys, so be careful. Other than that and actually getting there, I think you will have no trouble finding him. Once there head down the ally next to a pub called "Beer Cleaver", he should be around there, normally is. Good luck on finding that book," Black called out to Random and Neon as he ran off down the street.

"Alright, we finally got a clue, let's go!" Random exclaimed with excitement as he ran off to the direction that Black Hide pointed out to them. Neon stood there, staring off in his direction for a moment before turning to Random and running on after him. After a little while of running around, slipping in and out of dark alley ways and street corners, Random caught a whiff of something in the air.

"Hey Neon, do you smell that?" Random asked, sticking his nose in the air, trying to find the direction of the scent that traveled through the air. Neon stopped by Random and took a whiff of the air around him as well, picking up the scent too.

"Your right, I smell something. What is it?" Neon asked confused. Random took a few steps towards it's direction and smiled.

"I recognize this heavenly sent smell. The smell of the meaning of life. The smell I would go to war for. The smell I would kill for. The smell I heaven't smelt since we have gotten here. The smell that drives me mad. The smell I must find the source. . . . . . . . cookies!" Random exclaimed and took off like a bat out of hell. Neon had to take flight in order to catch up to him. Once Neon caught up to Random he flew next to him to try to get him to stop.

"Random, we are here for your book, alright, we need to try to not get too distracted, alright? If we loose sight of the bell tower, we will get lost. So STOP!!" Neon yelled. As he did Random stopped right at a door. "Oh, well that-" Neon started. When Random stopped, Neon kept going for a split second longer and went straight into a wall head first, impaling his head through it with the rest of his body sticking out. When Neon opened his eyes, he saw two ponies in a bed, the male on top of the female under the covers of blankets. "Uhh, hi. Nice place you got here," Neon playfully said, trying to get out.

"HELP, A PERVERT!" The female cried out. The male got up and pulled out a knife from the dresser next to the bed.

"Not good," Neon whispered as he tried harder to get out of the wall as the angry stallion approached him with the knife in his mouth. "Random, I could use some help here!" Neon called out in fear. He didn't hear anything except the hoof steps of the angry stallion with the knife.

"You picked the wrong time to break in punk!" the angry stallion said as he got closer, almost reaching Neon.

"RANDOM, HELP ME ALREADY FOR GODS SAKES!!!!" Neon screamed out, at that moment, he felt a hard tug from the other side behind him and with another, he came out of the wall, right before the stallion reached him. Neon looked up to see Random standing over him smiling.

"Sorry about that, you ok?" Random asked politely. Neon chuckled to himself.

"Cut it a little close, don't ya think?" Neon asked sarcastically. He looked down and saw Vines going back into the ground. "Oh," he added.

"Yea, sorry, I couldn't remember how to make these things appear. Although at first I was pointing and laughing. But once you said something I tried to bring the vines back out. Anyway, this store has cookies, come on!" exclaimed Random again as he grabbed Neon's hoof and dragged him into the. Once they entered, they saw all sorts of different things decorating the walls. Vials, labeled jars, clear containers containing different liquids. The place almost looked like a Voodoo store of some kind.

"Sorta reminds ya of Cosmic Charlies back at home, doesn't?" Neon asked as he looked around. "Just a lot creepier," he added with a disturbed sigh. Random ran up to the counter and saw a plate of fresh cookies, steam still visibly leaving the plate. Random licked his lips as he lowered his muzzle to the cookies, about to take one. A cleaver came down right in front of Random, almost hitting him, and stuck in the counter. Random froze in fear as he stared at his petrified expression in the reflection of the blade. He looked up to see an earth pony glaring down at him holding the blade. He had smooth, slick back rusty orange hair with yellow highlights formed into a pony tail. His body was golden and his eyes were golden as well.

"Hello there sir. Can I help you?" he asked. He had a strong french accent in his voice.

"Be careful there. You almost hit him!" Neon shouted out. The pony pulled the cleaver out and placed it next to him, somehow he was able to use his hooves like hands, which confused him so because he never saw that before in this world.

"What are you talking about sir? I missed," the pony explained coldly. His words froze Neon in place and made Random shudder in fear. "Now, what can I get you two Ponies?" he asked, his face forming a kind hearted smile.

"Ummm, well, what is this place?" Neon asked.

"Oh, pardon my manners. My name is Misour Latte, and this is my store, Rarities of The Food Chain. I sell rare food and ingredients from all over the world. Even the. . shall we say. . . "hard to get" items as well. So what are you looking for?" the pony asked them with his smile still in place.

"Hello there Misour, my name is Neon, and this is Random. He caught a whiff of your cookies and had to come over. He loves cookies," explained Neon. Misour chuckled at this.

"They are some really good cookies. I am not a fan of cookies my self. But I do enjoy these ones very well. the flour used to make these is from the Africa area. Not sure why, but the soil does something to the wheat grown there, and it makes it a lot more filling and just tasty in general," he explained.

"So Misour Latte, like the coffee?" Random asked. Misour's ears twitched at the sound of the word coffee.

"Yes, my family line is that of coffee brewers. Almost every single one of them ether grows, grinds, or brews coffee to sell all around Equestria. I left there because I did not share their passion for coffee. So I moved here and started my very own business," explained Misour with a sigh as he looked around at his merchandise. "Just gathering these ingredients is an adventure itself. I love my new life style, even if my family is disgusted by it," he added. with a long and depressed sigh, frowning for just a moment, he went back to being happy again. "But enough about me, what do you need"?

"What is this?" Random asked with curiosity. Misour rushed over to see what he was looking at. Where Random was pointing was a small vial of a see through icy blue liquid.

"Ah yes, you have fine taste there sir. This vial contains water from the fountain of youth. I had a total of 11 vials when I found the mysteries relic in the jungles of a deserted island near the cost of France. even thou it was not very far, their was no sign of any pony else ever being there. It was quiet for the most part, a few critters here and there, but once I found the fountain, I grabbed some samples and brought them back. They have been selling like hot cakes I believe the saying goes. This happens to be the last one," explained Misour with a merchant tone of voice like a car salesmen would have.

"How much is it?" Random asked in amazement. Misour smiled from ear to ear.

"I'll tell you what, I like you, you two seem like good ponies here, I will sell it to you for a discounted price. the price for a vial is 200 bits, but I will sell it to ya for 150. A 25% discount just for you. What do ya say?" Misour asked, trying to lure Random in. Random looked away for a moment with a slightly disappointed look on his face.

"Oh, that is a lot of money, I don't know. . . " Random trailed off.

"The water from the fountain of youth carries magical properties. If you were to drink it at your time of dying, the water will rewrite your destiny, it will change your fate as your death will be postponed before you. You will live longer till your next destined death," explained Misour with anticipation.

"I don't know. It sounds awesome, but that price. I don't think I will get it," stated Random as he started to walk off.

"If you buy this, I will throw in three of those cookies for free with your purchase," Misour replied back with a friendly smile. Random ran over, grabbed the vial and placed it on the counter, waiting. "Thought so," he whispered to himself as he went behind the counter to ring up the items. Random pulled out the bits and counted them on the table.

"There, 150 bits exact, so I get the cookies with it?" asked Random, almost jumping around in place. Neon face hoofed himself as he watched. He also happened to notice that Misour had a bear trap for a cutie mark. 'I wonder what that means?' Neon thought to himself

"Yes you do good sir. I hope to see you two again. Come back anytime you wish, I will be here," called out Misour as the two left the store, a cookie in Random's happy mouth.

"Well, can we move along now?" Neon asked annoyed. Random looked over to him.

"Wha w`ong `Eo'? You wook u`se'," Random asked with a cookie still in his mouth.

"I don't like those kinda guys, they are con artists. I know we use to do it, but it still doesn't make it right, but you got suckered right into it!" exclaimed Neon in annoyance.

"Oh, sorry `Eo'. Ah `in' `ean `o," Random said with another mouth full of cookie.

"Finish chewing before you talk," reminded Neon. Random chewed his food down and looked back over to Neon.

"Sorry," he said.

"It's fine, now, we need to stay on track, luckly for you, we can still see the bell tower from here, so we are good to go still," explained Neon optimistically. Random nodded smiling while he put the last cookie in his mouth. They walked around for a while, heading towards the bell tower when something caught his eye. For once, Neon got distracted by a pony with a sign that said "Clay Clockwork, Open". Not sure why, but Neon wanted to check it out.

"Ok Random, you got to go in that one shop, I wanna check this out now since we are here," politely demanded Neon, but he didn't need to. Random was already inside. With an annoyed grunt, he followed suit. Once inside, he saw a blond pony with a blond mane covering their left side of their face, wearing a hat covering their whole face, with the sound of light snoring coming from it.

"Umm, hello?" Neon called out. The pony grumbled a bit before looking up at Neon with his right eye.

"Huh, what? Are you a customer or my bill collector?" the pony asked, sounding like a male, sorta looking like it now too.

"Well, I am not a bill collector, I can promise you that," Neon assured. The blond pony smiled and took his hat off, revealing a horn signifying that he was a unicorn.

"Then you are plenty welcome here. Please, look around. My name is Diedra, it is a pleasure to meet you in my work shop," greeted the pony. 'Wow, we are meeting a lot of ponies lately' Neon thought to himself.

"Hi, I'm Random, and this is Neon, it is nice to meet you!" Random exclaimed excitedly.

"Hmph, your friend has a lot of energy, huh? I like it. Not alot of people have an appreciation for true art now a days. It's good to see that their is still some ponies still admiring art. So, did you have anything in particular you and/or your friend are looking for?" asked Diedra politely. Neon was about to say he was just looking till he saw something shine near the back of the room. As if mesmerized by it, he slowly walked to it, never looking away. It looked as if it was made from glass, but felt like smooth clay, a vase from the back of the room, as if to be hidden from the rest.

"What is this?" Neon asked dazed. Diedra smiled to himself.

"You have quiet the fine taste of art. That is some of my best work. The clay is fairly rare and I put a lot of work into it," he explained.

"How does it look clear like that?" Neon asked with curiosity. Diedra started to laugh.

"I like you too. You ask some really interesting and good question, hmph. Well, I blew up the clay, gathered the remains, and made the vase under extra hot conditions. That is why it is so clear and smooth, almost like glass, but more durable," Diedra explained joyfully. Neon turned back to him.

"Wait a second, you made this vase by blowing up clay?" Neon asked confused.

"Yup, the residue it leaves can be used for quiet a few things really. You just need to be brave enough to work with it is all. So, normally that vase would be sold for 300 bits, but for you my friend, I'll cut you a deal. I'll give this to you, for a price of 55 bits, in return, you tell every pony out their that looks upon this vase that you got it from me, here in Detrot. Guide them my way. Sound good, hmph?" Diedra asked with anticipation. Neon looked at him and smiled while nodding his head.

"Sounds like a great deal to me!" exclaimed Neon.

"Great, it will take some time to prepare it for you. Cleaning process, packing and what not. So give me your address and I will make sure that it is delivered to you with in a few days, alright?" Diedra asked with a kind hearted smile. Neon smiled and gave him his address. Diedra wrote everything down. "Alright, I have to get that ready for you, I'll ship it tonight for ya. Have a good day," Diedra called out as he took the vase and brought it out back. Random and Neon walked out and with Neon having a slight smile to his face.

"Well, that wasn't so bad. That vase looks amazing thou. Come on thou, let's keep going," Neon instructed. Random shrugged his shoulders and they continued walking towards the bell tower.

"Okie dokie lokie," Random replied with. Neon sighed.

"You got that from Pinkie Pie, didn't you?" Neon asked, even thou he knew the answer.

"Yea, how did you know?" Random asked puzzled.

"Just a huntch," Neon said blankly. After a few minutes of following the site of the tower, they bumped into two unicorns while taking a turn, Neon fell to the ground and looked up. He bumped into a light red unicorn with fiery red and orange mane. He turned around and looked down to him with a fiery gaze of orange eyes. The other unicorn turned to match his stare, she had an eletric blue mane and a pair of equally eletric blue eyes with a light grey body.

"Why did you run into me?" the male unicorn asked.

"Customers maybe? They don't look like they are in pain thou. What do you two want of us?" the female asked. Neon got up and dusted himself off.

"i'm sorry, forgive me, I was not looking were I was going," explained Neon. The male unicorn looked at him in the eyes closely.

"Hmmm, he looks fine to me, I do not think they would be interested with our services. Let us leave Shinova," instructed the male, the female nodded and started to follow, but she saw Random and stopped, her horn started glowing. The male turned back around to see why she was not following and followed her gaze. "What is it?" he asked.

'Inferno, this one, he has a certain. . . . . . Aura about him. An aura of death. He is about to die," Shinova stated. Random looked confused as he took a step back.

"Are you sure about this?" The male unicorn asked slightly puzzled and stern.

"Yes, with out a dout, he needs our services all right. It is a grim death indeed," explained Shinova. Neon took a step in front of Random and spread his wings to block the way between them.

"What are you two talking about?What services are you speaking of?!" asked Neon in a demanding tone. Inferno took a step towards him.

"Why, we kill ponies of course. Ponies, griffins, even minotaurs come to us seeking a way to end their life. we assist them of course and kill them in anyway they wish. What way would you ponies like to die?" asked Shinova asked kindly. Neon flared his nostrils as he took a defensive stance.

"Take one step near him and I will kill you!" threatened Neon. Inferno laughed.

"We are the bringers of death. We are all destined to die some day. We simply take away the fear of dying by taking their lives. Sometimes by force, but it is all for good reason. Those with no purpose do not need life. So we remove their suffering by taking that which is holding them back to travel to the great beyond. Why do you resist?" asked Inferno with a psychopathic smile on his face and took another step forward. Neon lunged at Inferno, rounding up a round house kick but he froze in mid air, inches away from direct contact from his hind leg to the unicorn's face.

"Like he said, we are the bringers of death, death will not be coming to us anytime soon," explained Shinova as she held Neon in the air. Her horn started to glow and static started forming around the horn, still holding him in place.

"Random, RUN!!" Neon screamed out as he prepared himself for what ever she was preparing. Random held his ground as he used his magic to bring out vines.

"I see he will have to be forced. Very well then sir, a heroic death it is," Inferno said calmly. Random shot his vines to grab Neon but a sudden wave of fire shot at Random, burning up all of the vines in one quick shot.

"What the?" Random asked confused. Inferno smiled back over to him.

"My magic is elemental based of that of fire. By loved Shinova is based on the elemental power of lightning. My attacks are instant to use, but weaker and slower then my lover. While her attacks taken much longer to charge but very few can dodge and are very devastating. I defend her while she charges her attacks up. Together, we are the perfect agents of death!" exclaimed Inferno. Shinova charged up her attack and released it, sending a powerful wave of lightning that obliterated everything in it's path. When the smoke cleared, the building behind them was nothing but smoldering ruble. Neon was on the very left of the blast, missing him by a few inches.

"Neon! How did you survive that?" Random asked happily.

"Right before she fired that thing at me, she released her magic thingy on me and dropped me, I used that half a second to fly out of the way," explained Neon, catching his breath. Shinova looked at Neon with a displeased look.

"Why resist so much, just let us do our work and you will no longer need to suffer. Just hold still," explained Inferno with an annoyed tone.

"Come on, let's make a run for it!" Random exclaimed as he took Neon's hoof and pulled him away.

"Oh no you don't!" Inferno called out as he fired a few flaming fire balls at them as they try to escape. They just narrowly dodged the spheres of fire and ducked around an alley away. After a few minutes of them running like hell they ran into another pair of unicorns.

"Oh god, please no." Neon begged. The two Unicorns looked at them confused. They appeared to be twins and were dressed in what looked like to be some very thick armor.

"I think they went this way! Come on!" cried out Inferno from near by. Neon and Random turned to the source of the sound and then to the confused twins who smiled down at them.

"Quick, behind us," one of the twins said, making a way for them to get through. Neon and Random smiled and ran past them. Once they passed, the twins got back in front of them, blocking them completely. They heard Inferno and Shinova stop in front of the twins who started talking about something about flying upside down.

"You two, we are looking for two ponies that may have ran over here?" asked Inferno. The twins stopped their fake conversation to turn to them.

"Two ponies? No, I do-"

"-Not believe we have-"

"-Seen any ponies around here since-"

"-You two have arrived Mr.-"

"-and Ms. Nova," said the twins completely synchronized with each other. Inferno sighed in annoyance.

"You know we get strongly annoyed when you two talk like that, please talk normally. Now, We are looking for a unicorn and a pegasus. We are looking for them and we need to save them from their fate. So please tell us or we will use force!" threatened Inferno. The twins giggled to themselves.

"We are the defense twins. Have you forgotten that?" asked the twin on the left.

"No one has ever been able to hurt us while we remain together," explained the twin on the right.

"Threatening us is pointless, since you can't hurt us. You might as well try to destroy the moon, your chances would be better that way," taunted the twin on the left again. Inferno glared in rage at the twins, fire rising from his mane until Shinova placed a hoof on his shoulder and gave him a gentle smile.

"Please my love, do not get angry over such a matter so small, we will simply look in a different place. Calm your fires till we find them," pleaded Shinova soothingly. Her voice almost sounding like as if the angels themselves blessed her voice for just that moment. Inferno calmed down a bit and his fire went down, looking into her blue eyes.

"Alright my love, if that is what you wish," Inferno said soothing, sounding like a whole different pony. He turns back to the twins. "So have you seen them or not?" he asked.

"Well, since you put it so kindly, they went that way, running like hell was at their heels," explained the twin to the right. Inferno and Shinova nodded and booked it down the ally in the direction the twin pointed. after a few minutes, the twins sighed in relief and took a step to the side in different directions, creating an opening for them to get through. Random and Neon got up and walked past them and turned to them.

"Thank you so much. We owe you one!" exclaimed Neon happily, bowing his head to them. The twins smiled at his manners and returned the bow.

"Of course, we love helping-"

"-Any pony that is in need. I guess-"

"-You could call it a code of honor in some-"

"-Sorts. We just like to be helpful in any-"

"-way we can. That is our duty!" explained the twins together completely synchronized. Neon raised an eye brow to them while Random stared in amazement.

"Wow, do you guys always do that?" asked Random in amazement. The twins looked at him and chuckled to themselves.

"Why yes, a lot of ponies find it odd but-"

"-It comes to yes like second nature, we-"

"-Have been doing this most of our life," explained the twins.

"Well, my name is Neon, this is Random," explained Neon, pointing to himself and Random.

"My name is Aegis," introduced the twin to the right.

"And my name is Shield," introduced the twin to the left. They got together and with Shield crouched down flexing his muscles downward and Aegis flexing his muscles upward trying looking tough.

"And we are the Defense Brothers!" they said synchronized. Neon face hoofed himself while Random was clapping.

"That was awesome! You guys have your very own intro. I've never seen that in front of me before. That is really cool! How long did it take to make that?" Random asked excitingly.

"Hmmm, that is a good question. I believe-"

"-It took us about a week or so. That sounds-"

"-About right," explained the twins together. Neon looked around and noticed he lost track of the Bell tower.

"Oh crud, I lost sight of it!" exclaimed Neon in frustration. The twins and Random turned to him.

"Lost sight of what?" asked Random confused.

"The bell tower thing. I don't see it anymore," explained Neon, trying to calm down.

"Oh, you are looking for the bell-"

"-Tower? It is that way of course," explained the twins as they pointed in one direction. "Keep going that way and you will se it again. You guys are pretty close," one of them added. Neon let out a sigh of relief as he grabbed Random and they started heading out.

"But I wanna keep talking!" Random protested, trying to resist.

"I have already gotten thrown around and almost killed just so you can try to get that book. I want this day to be over!" shouted Neon as he tugged on Random a little while further.After a few more minutes of running around, this time more carefully, they finally got to the bell tower on the other side of town. Neon and Random scanned the area around them to find the pub. Right there across the street was the pub "Beer Cleaver". So they went down the ally way next to it when they heard crying. Random and Neon stopped to listen carefully.

"Do you hear that?" Random asked. Neon nodded his head as he listened.

"I think it's down this way, come on!" Neon called out as they ran over to the source of the sound. As they got closer it was starting to sound like the crying of a young mare, easily a filly. They turned the corner and saw a young filly with mud brown hair and a smokey grey body in a corner, crying away, her face buried in her hooves.

"Hey there little missy, whats wrong?" Random asked politely.The little pony stopped crying for a second and looked up to see them. As they got closer she ran over to a dumpster and hid behind it. Neon took a few steps closer and got on his belly, crawling over to her. She looked over from behind the dumpster and saw him.

"See? Nothing to be afraid of. I am gonna help you, ok? now come here, tell me what's wrong," Neon said soothing. The little filly hesitated for a moment but took off after him and hugged him tightly while Neon returned the gester. "There there, what's wrong?" Neon asked kindly.

"Mommy, she's gone. I can't find her!" The pony said, still crying a little.

"Hey, it's alright, when was the last time you saw her?" Neon asked.

"Mommy, she's gone. I can't find her!" the little pony repeated perfectly.

"I know, just tell me where you think she is, let me help you. When did you two get separated?" Neon asked, trying to calm the frightened pony who started shaking in his arms.

"Mommy, she's gone. I can't find her!" she repeated yet again, exactly as before.

"What the-" Neon whispered. Pulling away to look at her and saw her eyes started glowing red. "Random, run!" Neon yelled. He wrapped his wing around the young filly and suddenly the young filly exploded with out a warning. After the explosion, Random pulled himself together and slowly got up. After collecting some of his memory, he turned to Neon and rushed over to him.

"Neon, are you ok?!" Random asked in a panic. Neon's fur was burnt and he had pieces of metal in his chest, but it didn't look like it got too deep. Neon slowly opened his eyes and looked up at Random.

"Are you ok?" Neon asked faintly. Random nodded. "Good, cuss this day kinda sucks already," Neon added. He got up slowly and looked at what used to be a filly, only it was a robot. He looked at the metal shards in his chest and started pulling them out one by one. Four mechanical ponies fell down and pointed big cannons of some sorts and aimed them at Random and Neon.

"Who are you two?" asked a voice from above. Neon and Random looked up to see a unicorn with metal wings on the roof of the building with a control panel, looking straight down to them.

"My name is Random, this is Neon. We are looking for an Edman Foureyes. Black Hide sent us," Random explained. The unicorn did something to the control box and all of the bots lowered their weapons.

"My name is Edman Foureyes. Black Hide is a favored customer of mine," the unicorn explained. He jumped off of the building and spread out his metallic wings, landing surprisingly softly inf ront of them. "Welcome to my warehouse of science. Please, tell me what you need, and sorry for my little experiment," appologized Edman.

"What do you mean experiment. You almost killed Neon!" exclaimed Random. Edman scratched the back of his neck nervously as he looked over at Neon, who was still pulling little metal shards out of his chest.

"Well, normally it is punks who fall for my traps so I don't feel bad for that sort of sacrifice. So I didn't think about it, but at least I see that the bomb trap looked just like a filly. Although I need to work on the respond system and the actual detonation was a bit delayed, and the blast radius was way too small. But anyway, I won't do that again to you guys. Now, what do you need?" Edman asked. Random was frustrated but shook it off.

"We are looking for a book called One's Past is Another's Future. Have you heard of it?" Neon asked quickly. Random looked at him concerned but then looked back at Edman.

"Why yes, one of my closest customers are turning it in today. They should be in "The Lions Den" by now. You should check that out. If Black sent you, then you must be fine, so go ahead. Tell Bard I said hi," Edman instructed before heading back inside.

"Wait, did you say Bard?" Neon asked surprised.

"Why yes, Bard comes here all the time after pay loads and gets new equipment and materials for his crazy inventions. He is a pretty cool griffin. You know him?" Edman asked.

"Yea, we had a run in and we ended up fighting together. We owe him a thank you," explained Random. Edman nodded to them and headed inside.

"You'll find him there then, good luck," he called back at them and closed the door to his warehouse.

"Well, let's get going before we are too late!" exclaimed Neon as he pulls out the last shard of metal out of his chest with a grunt. They looked around for the Inn for sometime until they found a minotaur nice enough to point them to the right direction. When they finally found the place, it was night time and the moon was starting to rise. Once they entered The Lions Den, in the very back of the room they could see Shiva, Bard, and Shard sharing drinks and talking with each other. Neon and Random hurried over to them. Shiva was the first to look up and see Random and Neon. Once she saw Neon, she rushed over and helped him to their table and sat him down next to her.

"Oh my Celestia, what in the nine circles of hell happened to you?" Shiva asked startled. Bard looked over at his wounds with a puzzled look while Shard looked just as emotionless as always.

"We have had a long day looking for you guys," Neon said as he grunted a little sitting down next to Shiva.

"Here, even if it is for a little while, lay down," Shiva instructed, guiding his head to her lap. "There you go. Now just relax and tell me if you need anything, ok?" she asked kindly. Neon's face was blushing very brightly to the point were it felt like is face was gonna melt off, but he nodded.

"So what is it that you guys needed? I doubt it was to say hello," asked Bard, looking around the Inn entrance.

"I wanted to see if you guys still had that book. Do you?" Random asked with hope in his voice. Sharp shook his head.

"We already turned it in. We got our pay and we were discussing the price division when you walked on over, sorry," Shard explained. Neon bolted up.

"WHAT?!?! Do you have any idea on what we have been through to get this stupid thing!" Neon shouted. He felt a sharp pain in his chest and grunted slightly to the sudden pain.

"Hey now, come back down, relax. Rest a bit before getting all riled up," pleaded Shiva as she guided Neon back down. 'Oh god this is embarrassing. I need to get out of here. But this is kinda comforting, to be honest,' Neon thought to himself.

"None the less, he is right. We have been through a lot to just turn around and give up. Where is the man you turned the book into? Maybe we can reason with him," pondered Random out loud. Bard chuckled to himself.

"Good luck. That Pony was the freakiest pony I have ever met my whole life. Just looking at the colt gave me freaking shivers down my spine. He is bad news, even for us. I am glad to be done with the job, even thou he paid well. If you really want to find him, he lives close by. Turn left when leaving here and head down that street. Turn right on Hawkford Lane and head down there. His house is the really creepy falling down house at the end of that street, you can't miss it. Anyway, good luck getting the book back," said Bard. Random nodded his head and got up.

"Thanks Bard, and thank you for the information. We will let you guys be. Come on Neon," Neon called out to Neon. He bolted up and ran over towards Random.

"Umm, thanks Shiva, see ya later," Neon said quickly before taking off with Random. They ran down that road but once they turned into Hawkford Lane, no one was there, not a soul.

"Well, this isn't creepy at all. Not a bit," Random said sarcastically. Neon gulped loudly.

"Well, let's just do this quickly and get the hell out of here!" Neon exclaimed inpatiently.

"Sounds good to me, let's go," Random agreed. They walked down the street with some old, run down houses but still intact. It was dead quiet, as if the entire city died all at once. Not even the sound of the wind could be heard. They continued to walk down the street when some pony hooded and cloaked bumped into them.

"Please good sir's, I am so sorry," the cloaked pony yelped in a raspy voice.

"Sorry, our fault, are you ok?" Random asked, offering a hoof to help out the poor pony but then he saw it. The pony in question's cloak fell off when he fell to the ground and revealed himself, he was black as night with green eyes, no pupils, insect wings, sharp pointed teeth and a crocked horn with holes in it. His legs also had holes as if someone was trying to turn him into swiss cheese.

"Oh my god sir, are you alright?" Neon asked, going down to him to help him up.

"Ummm, why yes, I am quiet alright, thank you. Why do you ask?" The creature asked politely. He looked down and noticed that his cloak was off. "Oh my, I am so sorry you had to see this, please, don't hit me, have mercy!" begged the frightened creature, covering his head with hos arms. Random and Neon looked at him confused.

"We aren't gonna hit you. We are just trying to make sure you are ok, your filled with holes. Are you hurt?" asked Neon concerned. The deformed pony looked up at them confused.

"Y-you aren't gonna hit me?" he asked confused.

"No, now come up, let me help you," replied Neon as he offered him a hoof and a kind hearted smile. The pony looked at the hoof and back at Neon and a shy smile formed from his face as he accepted the hoof. "My name is Neon Rave, this is Random Guy, what's your name?" Neon asked kindly. The pony got up and dusted himself off before putting his cloak back on.

"My name. . . . my name is Cypher Metemorph. It is very nice to meet you two," the deformed pony said softly, bowing lowly before them out of respect.

"So, if you do not mind me asking, what happened to you?" Random asked with much curiosity. Neon jabbed him in the side.

"Random, don't ask that kind of question, we just met him!" exclaimed Neon. Cypher shook his head with a smile.

"It is fine, I don't mind. I am born this way. I am a changling after all. This is what changlings look like. Haven't you ever seen a changling before?" Cypher asked slightly confused. Neon shook his head.

"No, we have never even heard of such a thing before, we are kinda new to all of this," explained Random. Cypher sighed in relief but his face became worried once again.

"Well, we have a history that I didn't want to be a part of. Changlings and ponies have been at war for quiet some time now, for hundreds of years as far as I know. When I was part of the hive, I was the top ranked in my class and even higher classes as well. But when they asked of me to go to war, I refused. They labeled me as a traitor and a disgrace to all changlings. They told me if I were to ever come across another changling that they had every right to kill me," Cypher explained, looking down at the ground with a sad look upon his face.

"Oh my god, that is cruel! Just because you don't want to go to war? How can they do such a thing?!" Neon asked with rage building up.

"It is fine. It is our customs. We are bred and raised for war. My kind wants to take Equestria since the very beginning. I knew it would happen, but even thou I am not part of the hive anymore, other ponies treat me like I am and some even try to kill me. I had to defend my self countless of times to the point were I know have a bounty on my head in most parts of the world. I am simply looking for a new home. I must admit, it is hard to find food thou, especially in this city," Cypher explained.

"Why, do you not like the food here?" Random asked innocently. Cypher chuckled to himself.

"Changlings do not eat food. Little does every pony know thou, we can. We can eat certain foods and it will hold off some of our hunger, but it can never be satisfied. We absorb love from other ponies and sometimes other creatures like minotaurs and griffins, but it would be complicated to explain how that works. We can change our form so that ponies don't know that we are changlings, so we make great infiltrators. I use it to hide and gather love," Cypher explained once again.

"So, how does that work? Do you have to make a pony fall in love with you or something then?" Neon asked in wonder.

"Well, their are other ways. Like as old legend goes, lust is another form of love. So, well. . . ummm-" Cypher started.

"So if you sleep with another pony, you can gather her lust as a form of love and get your fill, right?" Random finished for him.

"Yes, thank you. Maybe sometime I can show you how my shape shifting works, but I have to go for now, I am sorry to cut this short," Cypher apologized. Neon shook his head and smiled.

"Please, it is fine, we understand. I'll tell you what, come by Ponyville and we will find you a place to stay so you may live peacefully, how does that sound?" Neon offered. Cypher smiled a huge smile on his face like it was the very first time he ever did.

"Oh my god, you will help me? Thank you so so much! That means so much to me. I have to gather my things, but I can meet you guys down there in about a week or so, would that be ok?" he asked.

"Of course, we will see you down there then," Neon said cheerfully.

"Yes, most definitely, thank you. I will see you later then! Bye bye for now!" Cypher called out as he ran off into the night.

"I liked him, he may be the nicest pony we have ever met," said Random cheerfully.

"Indeed, I can't wait to see him again, but for now, we have a mission I want to finish, you ready?" Neon asked. Random nodded his head and they took off for the house at the end of the street. Once they did, there stood before them was a house that was falling apart. It looked like a strong wind could rip it apart.

"You ready for this?" Random asked in a cheerful tone. Neon looked back at him and smiled.

"No matter what happens, I'll be there for you," Neon insured. With a quick nodded, they opened the double doors to the old house. Inside was a grand entrance with a stair case leading upstairs to the second floor and a balcony. On the balcony they saw a dark cloaked figure with it's back turned to them.

"Umm, hello?" Random called out. The figure turned to them and stared them down, not revealing it's face.

"What do you want?" it asked in a cold and almost dead voice. It sounded like a male's voice.

"Hi, we heard you have a book called One's Past is Another's Future? We are wondering if there was a chance for us to read that book?" Neon asked, summoning up all the courage he could. The figure showed no reaction.

"How do you know about the book?" he asked, sounding more cruel this time.

"We are friends of the group that brought the book here. I got a glipse of it and wanted to read it, but they told me I would have to talk to you about it," Random explained.

"Go away. You must forget about the book and return to your normal lives while you still can. If you look any further for the book, only death awaits you," threatened the figure. Neon looked carefully and noticed the figure looks like another pony, like them.

"Please, I will pay money for it. I can even trade-" Random started.

"I SAID LEAVE THIS PLACE!!!!" the figure shouted at them, making Neon and Random flinched.

"Sorry to have waisted your time, we will leave, let's go Random," Neon instructed as he started to turn for the door.

"HOLD IT!!!" The figure yelled again, making them freeze in their tracks. "What are your names?" the figure asked.

"My name is Neon Rave, and this is my friend Random Guy," Neon explained, trying to control his shaking.

"I see, it is a shame you came here. Now you have to die," the figure announced suddenly with no emotion.

"W-w-what?!" was all Neon could manage to say. The figure dropped his cloak and let it fall slowly to the floor. He was a pony alright, but not like anything they have ever seen, not even like a changling. He was a dark purple colored body with no mane. His eyes were black and his teeth jagged and pointed like Cypher's teeth. His body had a purple thick mist swirling around him and his horn glowed dark purple.

"I- Dark Admiral Cluster Decapitator- will now sentence you to death!" the revealed figure declared. Random and Neon turned to run for the door but the door slammed shut and a purple aura was placed in front of it, blocking the path. They turned right and ran for a hallway only to be stopped by a sudden burst of purple flame. They did a 180 and ran for the other hallway to find the same results, purple fire spurting before them. They turned back to the figure known as Cluster with fear in their eyes.

"What is the meaning of this?! What did we do?!" Neon asked demandingly. Cluster Laughed a murderous laughter.

"Fools, it is not what you did, but what you will do. If Neon Rave, that is truly your name, that means you are the protector. That would make you, Random Guy, the direct descendant of my master. So their for, you need to die!" Cluster declared.

"What are you talking about, we do not even belong in this world, you have us confused with some one else!" Random shouted back.

"Silence, you will die here and now, and when my master returns, he will be very pleased with me. So now you die!" Cluster said as he shot out a stream of purple flame from his horn. Random's horn glowed green as vines popped out of the ground to block the fire. "So you have embraced the power of Life already. Let me test that power then," he added. Vines shot out behind Cluster and they wrapped around him, holding him in place and tightening their grip.

"Nice one Random!" Neon boasted. Cluster smirked down to them.

"Fools, I may be merly a shadow of my former self, but this pathetic attempt of capture is quiet saddening to see coming from the descendant of my master," Cluster said with a grin. He suddenly turned into mist and slipped away, the vines rapidly decaying where the mist touched it. The mist reformed at the bottom of the stairs.

"You got to be kidding me!" Neon exclaimed in annoyance as he lunged at Cluster. He smirked and turned to mist a split second before Neon touched him and flew into the wall behind him.

"Too slow," Cluster said in a cocky manner. Random made more vines reach over to whip him from behind but the vines decayed before they made impact. "And you are too weak, and you Neon, I thought the protector was supposed to be an alicorn. Instead, a weak pegasus with large wings? Don't make me laugh, you two are completely Pathe-" he started to say. Neon came flying out of the wall and tackled Cluster straight through the floor. Random looked down and jumped in, landing on stone flooring. Cluster turned to mist and reformed in front of them.

"So close, but this time, I hit him!" Neon boasted once again.

"And it will never happen again," Cluster replied back at Neon. He made a box appear before him and opened it, revealing a set of 12 daggers. He pulled one out using his dark magic and shot it at Random, missing him by an inch. When it hit the wooden wall behind them, the wall started decaying. "My mist may not decay the flesh, but these can!" Cluster explained with an expression of hatred upon his face. Random felt fear go through his body as he tried to make himself move. Neon turned to Random.

"Random, are you ok?" he asked with concern. Random's eyes started to glow blue as his horn disappeared and his back began to glow. "Random?" he asked worried. Random screamed as a pair of brown wings popped out of his back and spread out. After a moment of catching his breath, Random looked up and saw his new wings.

"Oh my god! I changed again!" Random declared, worried. Cluster took a step back in disbelief and fear.

"I knew it, it really is you, thou your name is different. I guess you didn't keep your birth name. Ether way, you seem to have no control over your power, this will make things easy for me!" Cluster shouted out. He pulled out the rest of his daggers and aimed them at Random and Neon. With a burst of magic he launched the daggers at them. Random grabbed Neon and pulled him to the ground, just missing the daggers. They got back up.

"Ha, you missed us, I guess your aim-" Random started. Both Random and Neon were impaled by the daggers all over through their chests. Cluster smiled.

"If I can throw them using my magic, I can pull them back too. Weak, pathetic, and stupid. You were really easy!" exclaimed Cluster. Darkness was flooding Neon's eyes as he felt his body wither away. Random dropped first and died before he fully decayed, but his body continued to decay ether way. Neon fell to his knees as he felt his life slowly fading away and he closed his eyes one last time.

"Oh my god! I changed again!" Random declared, worried. Cluster took a step back in disbelief and fear. Neon opened his eyes and saw Random looking at his new wings. 'What the hell? It's happening again, like last time,' Neon thought to himself.

"I knew it, it really is you, thou your name is different. I guess you didn't keep your birth name. Ether way, you seem to have no control over your power, this will make things easy for me!" Cluster shouted out. He pulled out the rest of his daggers and aimed them at Random and Neon. With a burst of magic he launched the daggers at them. Random grabbed Neon and pulled him to the ground, just missing the daggers. They got back up. 'Exactly like before!' Neon thought to himself.

Ha, you missed us. I guess your-" Random started.

"GET DOWN!!" Neon screamed as he tackled Random to the ground, narrowly missing the daggers return. Cluster's smirk quickly disappeared as the daggers impaled him into the wall behind him and his body started to decay.

"This is impossible. How is it that the protector receive the gift of sight?" Cluster asked in disbelief. Neon approached him and saw Cluster's body slowly decay before him.

"what are you talking about? The gift of sight? This whole protector thing? The book, what is the meaning of all of this?!" Neon asked in a demanding tone of voice. Cluster smiled.

"All in due time. Just know that my master is coming. Before I go, hear this. An army of metal shall raise from the ground before the home of the gods. Ponies will turn against one another in times of darkness. The elements of harmony shall meet their match. Death will not be your end. Finally, the mind is the greatest weapon against those who not think for themselves. All will be clear over time. I now rejoin my master in the after life. Were I have failed, many more will come to pick up where I left off. Good bye, Balance Cycle," Cluster finished as he slowly died away and decayed away into dust. Neon stood there confused but noticed something in the dust. When Neon kicked it out of the dust it was a book. He swiped it with his hoof a few times and saw the title.

"One's Past is Another's Future. Here is your book my friend, finally after everything we have been through, we finally did it!" exclaimed Neon as he handed the book to Random.

"Thank you Neon, for going through with this with me," replied Random with a smile, which Neon returned.

"Of course, anytime. Nice wings by the way," Neon said sarcastically. Random looked behind him and saw the wings.

"Wow, I have wings, just like you!" Random exclaimed excitedly. Neon chuckled to himself.

"When you learn how to use them, we should go flying sometime. I almost got it myself," offered Neon joyfully.

"I'd like that actually," replied Random with a cheerful smile. They left the house since the barrier was no longer there. Once outside, they watched a unicorn approach them. His body was midnight black and his eyes were grey and emotionless. His hair was midnight black like his body but he had three white lines circling his hair but only half way, not connecting. His mane was almost bowl cut, but his sides were longer and a bit messier, but perfectly equal on each side with a cutie mark of a skull shrouded in mist .

"Excuss me, but I felt a strong magical presence at this location. Do you two know anything about it?" the mystery unicorn asked politely. Neon and Random looked at each other confused and then looked back at him.

"No, I mean we were just in a fight with a tough unicorn, but that is about it, why?" Random asked. The pony looked over to Random, not changing his facial expression.

"I have been tracking a mysteries magical aura around town, and as I was approaching this place, it disappeared. So I am checking to see what has happened. What happened to the unicorn you spoke of?" he asked calmly.

"He ended up impaling himself with some knives or something like that. Are you a detective or something?" Neon asked curiously.

"Something, but I work for no one. I don't do well with others. Anyway, I see that there is nothing left here, I feel no magical presence around the area," the pony said to himself. He walked past Neon and Random and stood in front of the house. Neon took a good look and saw that this unicorn also had wings. 'Wait a second, he has a horn and wings? What are they called again? Acorns? Alythorns? Alicorns? Yea, I think alicorn is the right word," Neon thought to himself.

"So, who are you looking for?" Random asked.

"Who I am," the pony whispered to himself. Suddenly feeling his anger rising as he looks at the house.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quiet catch that," Random replied. The pony turned back to look at Random.

"It is nothing, thinking out loud. I am chasing a myth, a legend sort of speak. Signs and clues have been poking out all around the world, stirring things up. I am looking to see what the commotion is about and too see if a certain legend is real, which signs are pointing to yes so far," explained the pony calmly.

"What legend?" Neon asked with curiosity, now raising.

"It is a very old tale. Most have forgotten about it and very few have access to the tale. Only three books remain in this world that tell that tale. It is the legend of the great alicorn wars," the pony replied. "Oh, were are my manners, My name is Kid, Death the Kid. It is a pleasure to meet you," he added.

"Hello, my name is Neon Rave," said Neon

"And I am Random Guy," Random added. Kid looked at both of them and chuckled to himself.

"Well aren't you two interesting. It is nice to make your acquaintance," Kid said politely. Kid looked at the house again and felt his anger rise again. "Gosh do I hate this house," he added. Neon and Random looked at him confused and concerned.

"Is something wrong? Did something happen here?" Random asked.

"Yes, something did happen to this house. It was built. Look at it, the roof is uneven!" Kid exclaimed in annoyance.

"Huh?" was all Neon could say.

"Just look at this filth. Three windows on the left side, but two on the left. The doors are exactly 1.86 centimeters away from the center of the house. the roofing is uneven with absolutely no style or pattern of any sort. this house is asymmetrical garbage!" Kid exclaimed with rage.

"Your getting angry over an old house cuss it wasn't built perfectly?" Random asked confused. Kid looked back at Random for a moment and then looked back at the house.

"It is a monstrosity! It is filth, garbage!" Kid's horn started glowing purple just like Cluster's horn did. "Asymmetrical filth such as this needs to be erased from this world. Garbage, filth, disgusting filth!" Kid kept chanting to himself as purple aura started gathering to his horn. "Begone you asymmetrical filth of this world, and never be seen again!" Kid yelled out as a giant beam of purple energy left Kid's horn and launched directly into the building, blowing it up in a loud explosion, sending an earth shattering shock wave, knocking Random and Neon onto their backs. Once the beam faded away, Kid turned back to them and smiled to himself. as pieces of flaming debris fell from the sky. "I feel much better now removing that from this world. Now, what were we talking about?" Kid asked calmly. Neon and Random sat there frozen, staring up at Kid with fear into their eyes. "You ok guys?' Kid asked innocently.

"Umm, do you do that alot?" Neon asked intimidated with his hair blown back and darkened.

"Well, only when I find something that is asymmetrical filth that needs to be ride from this world. That's all. Why do you ask?" Kid asked. Random got up first and lightly dusted himself off.

"Why do you care so much about symmetry when you are asymmetrical yourself?" random asked with out thinking.

"What are you talking about?" Kid asked confused and slightly offended.

"Well, your hair is black ans has three white strips but they only go half way across your hair," Random explained. Kid patted his hair and fell to the ground crying.

"You're right, my hair is asymmetrical! I am asymmetrical garbage! Why do I even exist?!" Kid started yelling out. Random looked at Kid shocked and slowly backed away from him. Neon stepped forward and put a hoof around his shoulders.

"Hey there, cheer up, alright. Perfection is impossible to get to, cuss everyone's out look on perfection is different. So chill out, take a deep breath, and relax. Your not asymmetrical garbage, alright?" Neon explained, trying to comfort him. He looked up, wiping his tears away.

"You don't think that I'm asymmetrical garbage?" Kid asked with hope in his voice.

"Nah, your good," Neon assured. Kid got back up and dusted himself off.

"Thank you then, your a real pal. I owe you one. But for now I must take my leave. I have to find out what all of these events mean. Did he say anything to you guys before he died?" Kid asked. Random looked at Neon and then back to Kid.

"Yea, he said 'An army of metal shall raise from the ground before the home of the gods. Ponies will turn against one another in times of darkness. The elements of harmony shall meet their match. Death will not be your end. Finally, the mind is the greatest weapon against those who not think for themselves.' I think that's it," Random explained. Kid looked at him with a puzzled yet concerned look on his face.

"I see, it's happened again. I will have to find you guys later. I must head out now. Good luck and get back home safely," Kid replied and hurried off.

"Well, he is a strange and scary fellow, huh?" Neon asked. Random looked at him and made a derpy face.

"You don't say?!" Random replied sarcastically. Neon playfully jabbed him in the shoulder.

"Shut up, let's just go home," Neon advised. with the book in Random's hoof still, he started to put the book in his saddle when out of no where a figure jumped out of a shadow and grabbed Random's book right out of his hoof and ran off.

"Oh crap, after all that work we just did, why the heck-" Neon started.

"GET THE FU$^ BACK HERE YOU PIECE OF $#@^!!!! I AM GONNA TEAR OFF YOUR F^%#ING HEAD AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR @$$ MOTHER F&$^!!! GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE B%&$#!!!" Random yelled out, chasing after him. Neon sat there stunned.

"I didn't even know he knew swears," Neon said to himself, surprised. Random chased after the shadowed figure all the way through the twist and turns of the dark alleyways.

"I almost got you know you little b%$#@!!" Random called after him. The figure jumped into a shadow and disappeared. 'Oh no you don't!" Random said, picking up speed. The figure sat on the other side of the wall, catching his breath.

"What the heck did I grab?" he whispered to himself. He grabbed his saddle and saw it had a book in it. "A stupid, dity book? Oh crud I am in trouble," the figure said to himself. "But at least I got away from that crazy-" he started. Random charged right through the wall the mystery pony went through, except breaking down the wall. "WHAT THE HELL, THAT WAS BRICK!!!!!" he cried out in a panic.

"GIVE ME THAT BOOK BACK!!!" Random yelled out as he continued to charge at the pony. The pony ran for another wall and jumped into the shadow again. Random charged right through it. The pony kept jumping through shadows while Random kept running right through them, leaving a path of hole in his place, nether slowing down. 'Crap crap crap crap crap crap crap!' the mystery pony thought to himself.

"I'm catching up to you!" Random called out in rage.

"Yea right, I am the fastest runner in all of-" the fleeing pony started but turned around and noticed Random was only a few inches away. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?!?!" he shouted out in fear and tried to speed up.

"The pony that is going to kill you!" Random responded. after a final push Random grabbed his tail and pulled him to the ground, pulverizing him. After about 15 minutes, the thief leaned up against the wall, hos face bruised and battered to a pulp while Random brushed off the dust of his book. "Your lucky my book didn't get damaged," Random said, eyeing the thief.

"Why the hell did you do all of that for a stupid book?" The thief asked annoyed.

"Because I went through quiet a bit to read this. I was not gonna let you let everything I been through go in vain or something like that. Right now, I am just happy that I finally have my book," Random said happily while holding the book. Neon caught up to him eventually and looked at the thief. The thief wore black cloth all over his body, only revealing his neon green eyes and his horn.

"I see you got your book, but what about him?" Neon asked sternly.

"He can go. I gave him a good enough beating for the book," explained Random.

"But why did you steal our book?" Neon asked the thief who turned away.

"Look, I got mouths to feed and I was aiming for your bits, but they were in a different place than what I am use to. so I grabbed the wrong thing when I darted past you," the thief explained.

'What's your name?" Random asked.

"They call me Shade, you can too," replied the thief calmly. Neon nodded and got up.

"Alright, we don't need to call the guard or anything, we can go," declared Neon as he started to walk off with Random.

"Your not gonna turn me in?" Shade called over. Neon turned back and smiled.

"I already think getting chased by this psychopath is bad enough, I don't think you will be bothering us again," Neon explained. Shade smiled and looked up at him.

"I'll remember this, thank you friend," Shade replied back as he jumped into a shadow and disappeared with out a trace.

"Well, today was quiet the day now wasn't it?" Neon asked as they walked to the train station. Random yawned as they walked.

"Let's just go home so we can go to bed and sleep," Random replied tired. Neon laughed.

"Understandable. Let's go home," Neon agreed. They walked to the train station and rode the train all the way back to Ponyville. Random fell asleep but Neon could not sleep, not even for a second.

"What was Cluster talking about, what does it all mean, and Kid knows something he thinks is stupid but he might have the answer we're looking for. I feel like something big is about to happen. I feel like Random is gonna need me, I need to make sure I can be there for him. I need to make sure I can protect him, no matter what!" Neon declared as he looked out the window. "A storm is coming," he added silently. After a few hours of traveling, they finally made it back to Ponyville in one piece some how. Neon picked up Random and placed him onto his back and led him back into town. Neon noticed that the lights were still on in Twilight's house. "Oh crud, this is gonna suck," Neon whispered to himself. He slowly opened the door and closed his eyes to get ready for a hard slap to his face.

"Where have you been!" Twilight shouted, running towards him. 'Here we go,' Neon thought. He braced for a slap but instead got a tight hug. When he opened his eyes he saw Twilight hugging him. "I was so worried about you two. I waited for you guys to come back after your little chase this morning but you guys never came back. I searched for you but you were no where in sight. I am just so glad you guys are alright," Twilight said with relief. After a short while, Twilight let go and let Neon pass.

"I promise a full explanation tomorrow morning, but until then, we need sleep, good night Twilight," Neon called out as he went downstairs. Neon placed Random to bed and put the blanket over him. "I am surprised she didn't noticed your little change. Oh well, all for tomorrow," Neon said as he tucked Random to bed and laid himself to bed. "although I believe this isn't even the start of things," said Neon to himself as he slowly drifted to sleep.

Author's Notes:

Alrighty, I have spent 36 hours straight to finish this. Sorry everyone that this took so long. I have been hanging with family from out of state and power went out and blah blah blah. I hope I didn't do too bad on the editing, but I so wanted to finish this since I haven't been able to post a story for so long. I hope you like this, I haven't sen the number yet but I am more than sure that this is my longest chapter I have ever written easily! I hope you guys forgive me for making you wait and I hope you enjoy the chapter while I finally get some sleep still, I hope to see you in the future chapters, bye bye for now

Chapter 9: Explanations

Chapter 9: Explanations

In the morning, Neon woke up from the sounds of birds chirping right outside his window. He stretched out and looked towards Random, who slept soundly, his chest slowly rising and falling with a small smile on his face. Neon smiled down at him as he quietly got up and walked up the stairs to get some coffee. When he got upstairs, Twilight and Spike were already at the table, sipping on coffee. “Well good morning, I believe you have some explaining to do,” Twilight stated, watching Neon approach the coffee pot. He smiled and looked back over towards Twilight. Before he could say anything, Twilight saw all the marks and wounds from his adventure last night. “Oh my Celestia, what happened to you?!” Twilight asked worried as she rushed over to him. Neon was confused for a second and looked down at his chest.

“Oh this, yea, this was from last night, I guess I have a lot to explain to you, huh?” Neon asked playfully, slightly chuckling to himself.

“I’ll get Fluttershy over here to help you out, stay here!” Twilight instructed in a panic as she teleported away. Neon stood there shocked as he held the coffee pot over his cup.

“Did. . . . . did she just. . . . teleport?” Neon asked baffled. Spike chuckled to himself from Neon’s reaction.

“Yea, she can do that. She is really good with magic,” Spike explained with a proud smile on his face.

“So, what is your role here? Like are you her boy friend or something?” Neon asked curiously. Spike turned to him with a disturbed look on his face.

“No, of course not. I am her faithful assistant. I help her with whatever she may need help. Although most of the time that just means I keep the place clean and do errands now and then,” Spike explained with a smile.

“What’s the pay then?” Neon asked quickly. Spike looked at him confused for a moment.

“Well, I get to live here and I get fed. Twilight has raised me since I was a baby, so I kind of owe her,” Spike explained calmly. Neon looked at him confused now.

“Wait, so she slaves you around and you get food and shelter in return? That just sounds like slavery to me,” Neon stated, fixing his coffee and sitting down at the table slowly, wincing at the soreness from yesterday.

“What, no, I am not Twilight’s slave. I serve her willingly!” Spike exclaimed, trying to defend his master.

“Look, I am not saying Twilight’s a bad person, oh sorry, pony, but I remember that in my history class, and what you described is slavery. When you do work and not get paid fairly. Slaves would do all the chores of a household, run errands, and do anything and everything he or she says without question in return get everything they need to survive. Isn’t that what she is doing to you? I mean I do not know if dragons have rights in the social world of ponies here, but that sounds kinda wrong to me,” Neon explained. Spike thought about that for a minute till he realized that he was right.

“Yea, I guess that is right, but she isn’t mean or anything, she is really nice to me!” Spike spoke up. Neon smiled as he sipped his coffee.

“Look, I am not saying she is a bad per- pony. Just talk to her about. You should be getting some sort of payment. Yea, food, water, shelter, thats good and all but you deserve more than just the basic of survival,” Neon continued to explain.

“Yea, you’re right! Maybe I should talk to her about it, later when she isn’t so busy,” Spike said with some confidence in his voice. Twilight Came through the door with a blond pegasus with a pink mane following close behind her with a first aid kit on her back.

“Over here Fluttershy, he looks like a bomb set off right in front of him,” Twilight explained as she walked over to Neon.

“What kind of bomb? Like a party bomb or like a BOOOOM bomb?” asked a all too familiar hyperactive voice from outside. Pinkie Pie came bouncing in full of energy, as always.

“Please tell me Pinkie Pie isn’t gonna operate on me!” Neon exclaimed nervously.

“Pinkie Pie? No, Fluttershy will be caring for you,” Twilight explained. Fluttershy slowly walked up to Neon slowly and pulled down the first aid kit on the table and looked over Neon quickly.

“Umm, hi. My name. . . is, uhh, Fluttershy. Do you mind if I help you? I mean, if it’s not too much trouble, but I need you to lie down, if it’s ok with you,” said Fluttershy quietly. Neon almost didn’t hear her.

“Sure, no problem,” Neon replied, he finished his coffee and laid down on the floor onto his back. Fluttershy looked him over, examining his chest.

“It looks like metal shards were in his chest, and burns marks in some spots. By the looks of it I would have to say that a small bomb exploded in front of him. Any stronger and he might not have made it,” Fluttershy explained as she pulled out a sowing kit and got a needle ready.

“What happened?” Twilight asked concerned and slightly confused. Neon took a deep breath and looked over towards her.

“You might want to sit down, it’s a long story,” Neon explained. Twilight looked at him with a puzzled look but sat down in a chair next to him and Pinkie Pie followed suit. Neon explained about the crazy adventure that him and Random had chasing down the book and all the unique ponies that they met. Once finished, Twilight was shocked and Pinkie Pie stared in amazement as she ate some popcorn.

“Wow, it seems that you guys had quite the adventure yesterday then. I am surprised that you even managed to get back here alive, but I am so glad you guys were able to get back here safely. What that pony said that you fought thou, what did he meant?” Twilight asked curiously. Fluttershy was finishing up at this point, almost done with the stitching.

“We are not sure, all we know is that this Kid pony was searching for answers about it and it seemed that he heard it before. I have no idea what it means thou,” Neon replied.

“I will have to look it up at some point. A lot of this doesn’t make much sense. Also, what do you mean that Random has changed again?” Twilight asked puzzled. As if on cue, Random walked out from downstairs and looked around tired, stretching out and spreading his wings out. Twilight looked at him with her jaw to the floor.

“Oh my Celestia, how did you do it?!” Twilight asked as she teleported over to him. Random wiped the sleeping seeds out of his eyes as he looked at Twilight.

“Oh, morning Twi,” Random said lazy.

“Morning Random!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, waving her hoof at him happily.

“Morning Pinkie- Pinkie Pie!” Random exclaimed as he rushed over to her with a sudden burst of energy.

“I will never understand that guy,” Neon whispered to himself. Fluttershy finished up and put everything away.

“Umm, I’m done, you can get up if you want,” Fluttershy said as she backed away a bit from him. Neon jumped up and moved around a bit.

“Thanks Fluttershy,” he thanked as he walked back over to the kitchen table. Neon picked up the newspaper and started reading it when Random bounced over to him.

“Hey Neon, I noticed something confusing,” he said. Neon looked up from the newspaper with a raised eyebrow.

“And what might that be?” Neon asked back. Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie started talking about what everything they heard might mean and about all the interesting ponies that Neon and Random have met during their journey.

“You know in the main page of the website, about the categories?” Random asked. Neon put the paper down, now confused.

“What? What are you talking about?” he asked puzzled.

“You know, when you go and edit a story, you can give it categories of what the story is and all of that,” Random explained. Neon looked around and back to Random.

“Are you talking about the story that we are in?” Neon asked quietly.

“Yes, exactly!” Random exclaimed.

“Dude, we are not supposed to know about that, you know that right? The writer might be catch wind on it, you know?” Neon asked cautiously. Random laughed.

“Who cares? Anyway, you know the categories for the stories? Well I noticed the categories for our story, but then I noticed that I have my very own category!” Random explained with excitement.

“No way, really?!” Neon exclaimed back, now getting excited himself. Random nodded back in return.

“Yea, come on, look!” Random exclaimed. He leaned out of the screen a little and grabbed my mouse, moving it over to the editing screen and scrolled down. Aiming the cursor towards the word ‘Random’. “See?!” he almost shouted. Neon looked over and saw the word himself.

“Well holy crap, you’re right for once! Wait a second, what are these?” Neon asked in confusion as he read the categories. “Romance? That’s not very fitting, I haven’t even gotten laid yet,” Neon said, chuckling to himself.

“Just like always,” Random added, snickering. Neon glared at him.

“I will throw you down this web page, I swear!” Neon threatened, looking back at the categories. “Comedy, yup, that fits alright. Adventure, hell yea! Alternate universe? What do you think that means?” Neon asked.

“Not sure,” Random quickly replied.

“Human? We are the only humans here. This one is such a lie!” Neon exclaimed. Random glared at Neon this time.

“Exactly! WE are the humans,” Random replied.

“Oh,” was all Neon could say for his stupidity. Random rolled his eyes as he took the mouse again.

“Let’s get rid of ‘ alternate universe’ and put random, cuss I am so in this story!” Random exclaimed as he removed that category and added ‘random’ into it.

“Hey, can I have my mouse back?” I asked. Random blushed slightly and let go of it.

“Yea, sorry about that,” Random said as he back up back into the screen with Neon.

“Any way, besides the 4th wall breaking, how are you doing this morning?” Neon asked.

“I am doing pretty good. Good sleep for once,” Random explained. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Twilight walked up to it and opened it up with her magic. Standing there was Celestia and Luna side by side.

“Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna! I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were coming over!” Twilight exclaimed as she rushed around to clean up the place, which Spike joined in. After a quick moment, Twilight teleported back towards the door and let the two princesses’ in. They bowed respectfully and walked in. Celestia looked towards Neon with concern and Luna looked horrified.

“Neon, what has happened to you?” Luna asked worried. Neon shrugged.

“Rough night,” he said quickly. Celestia looked over towards Random confused and puzzled.

“I could have sworn that you were an earth pony Random?” she asked him. Random looked up from his coffee cup towards Celestia.

“Morning Princess. I was yes, but then I was a unicorn and now I am a pegasus, that’s the term, right Twilight?” Neon asked as he leaned towards Twilight, she nodded in return.

“I see, Twilight, I see I have much to hear,” Celestia said calmly as she tried to contain her interest. They sat at the table and Twilight talked about everything that happened with Spike bringing every pony tea, and made sure to to miss a single little detail. She told her about the first time Random changed, the apple cider, Neon getting his cutie mark, Neon and Random’s trip to Detrot and everything that happened there. Once done,Celestia and Luna looked at the two slightly shocked.

“Oh my, it appears you two have been having quite the adventure lately,” Celestia said in a sympathetic tone.

“I am glad to hear that you made it back safely from Detrot. Not every pony were as fortunate,” Luna explained. Celestia sipped some more of her tea and looked at Random.

“I see there is much to learn about you. Never has there been a pony who could change his race like you could. Are you aware on how you are doing it yet, Random?” she asked. Random stared down at his cup of tea and shook his head.

“I can’t really control it, it just happens,” Random explained. Celestia and Luna looked at each other for a moment and looked back.

“When you changed into a unicorn, what was going through your head?” Luna asked curiously. Random put his hoof to his chin and thought about that.

“Well, I was in my ‘I’m gonna kill everybody who looks at me’ sort of phase and Neon said something, I can’t remember. I remember being really angry with him. Then I felt this change as a horn grew from my head and I felt kinda powerful,” Random explained. Celestia thought to herself for a moment after hearing that.

“Alright, what was going through your head when you changed into a pegasus then?” Luna asked, leaning forward a little bit towards him.

“Well, we were fighting that strange pony. While fighting him it just seemed like we didn’t have a chance to beat him, I was scared, I mean like really scared. I wanted to take Neon and get out of there as fast as I could,” Random explained. Luna nodded her head to this and smiled.

“I see, it seems that it is controlled by your emotions. That is how a lot of magic is done, but I see that you change depending on your situation, fueled by your emotions,” Luna explained. Celestia nodded to her and looked at Random.

“It appears that we have learned a lot today about you two, we will return to Canterlot and we shall look into these measures. Twilight, try to see if you can have him do that again, and maybe try to see if he has a possibility to control it. Me and Luna will try to find answer about this ‘Admiral Cluster’ and his master,” Celestia announced.

“And as a warning, we have had reports that a changeling has infiltrated Ponyville. As far as we can tell, it is only one. So keep an eye out for anything suspicious,” Luna added. Neon and Random looked at each other for a moment, trying to think why that sounded familiar and then they remembered.

“Oh yea, that is our-” Random started. Neon placed his hoof into Random’s mouth to get him to stop.

“Yes, of course Princess”. We will keep on the lookout for anything out of place and will report anything that happens!” Neon exclaimed as he gave a crisp salute. Luna giggled as she looked at Neon.

“Very well then, we shall count on you to protect Ponyville,” Luna said playfully as she gave a salute back. They both let their hooves down and started laughing, Neon keeping his other hoof in Random’s mouth as he continued to try to speak.

“Well, we shall be off. For now on, send me a report whenever you learn of anything. I will be looking forward to your letters as always,” Celestia explained with a kind smile on her face. Luna kept her eyes on Neon as she bowed to him and Celestia bowed to Twilight as they left. When they left, Celestia turned to Luna. “Now tell me sister, why do you look at Neon like that?” she asked curiously as they started making their way towards their chariot. Luna looked at Celestia confused.

“Whatever do you mean, sister?” Luna asked innocently. Celestia smiled towards her.

“Luna, you look at him with much love and care, and I know you have been trying to watch over him at night while he sleeps. You have been acting like this since the very first day they came here. Are you building up feelings for him?” Celestia asked. Luna looked at her shocked, but did not say anything for a moment.

“Well, I must say, he is very kind, and they have been through so much that has made them strong. I admire their bond, but Neon himself. I can fathom it sister, but I feel so strongly attached to him. I just do not know what exactly the feeling is,” Luna tried to explain. Celestia stopped and placed a hoof on her confused sister’s shoulder.

“It is fine, dear sister. Love is never easy to understand. You will understand soon enough. I promise,” Celestia insured. Luna looked at to her and smiled.

“Very well. I shall see what time will tell me,” she said confidently. They exchanged smiles as they got into their chariot and flew back to Canterlot.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Neon watched as the two princess’ closed the door behind them as they left. Neon sighed and suddenly felt a sharp pain in his hoof. He pulled his hoof out of Random’s mouth. “What did you do that for?” Neon asked annoyed, shaking his hoof around to get the saliva off.

“That’s what you get for putting your hand in my mouth, I mean your hoof in my mouth,” Random corrected.

“Well I had to, you were about to rat out one of our friends and then get us into some HUGE trouble!” Neon exclaimed, but lowered his voice so that Twilight or the others wouldn’t be able to hear.

“Wait, do you mean Cypher?” Random asked in disbelief.

“Who else could it be?” Neon asked.

“Well, he said it would be weeks before he could come over,” Random pointed out. Neon thought about that for a moment.

“Good point. Let’s take a look around then. If he can change his form, then we won’t be able to see him, but he will see us,” he thought out loud. Random started getting excited. Neon turned to Twilight with a smile. “Hey Twilight, we are gonna go for a walk, be back in a little bit,” Neon called out as they started going towards the door.

“Ok, just please be careful, changlings are dangerous. Keep an eye out, alright?” Twilight advised.

“Can and will do,” Neon replied as they left the door and closed it behind them. Neon and Random started looking around as soon as they left the tree house. “Ok, where should we start?” he asked puzzled.

“Hmmm, maybe we should split up?” Random offered.

“Yea, when has that ever worked,” Neon said sarcastically.

“Scooby Doo?” Random asked. Neon thought for a moment and realised he was right.

“Gosh dang it, fine, you go that way and I’ll go this way,” Neon instructed. With a nod, they went their separate ways. Neon rushed down towards Sweet Apple Acres while Random started to run for the center of town. Random reached his destination as he looked around with a serious look on his face.

“Alright, we will not stop till we find him. We will search day and night to find him and bring him to safety. I will not stop *sniff* until *sniff* oh my god that smells good,” Random started as he followed the faint scent. he found a stand where he found the cutie mark crusaders were selling cookies. “Hey, whatcha doing here?” Random asked, looking at the cookies.

“We are selling cookies to save up for a class field trip. This year we are going to Canterlot so we are trying to raise money,” Sweetie Belle explained with a chirpy smile.

“Well that is a good cause, how many have you sold so far?” Random asked curiously.

“We sold 13 cookies so far, but we still got plenty of time till the field trip,” Scootaloo answered with a confident smile. Random reached over to his saddle for some bits but noticed he didn’t bring his saddle.

“Oh crud, I forgot it. Do you girls mind waiting a moment while I go back and get my saddle?” Random asked.

“No problem we will be here all day. See ya later,” Applebloom replied, giving him an adorable smile that made Random’s heart explode. He burst into a full fledge sprint as he dashed back home, leaving a figure of dust of where he was standing. The three cutie marks crusaders stared in amazement at where he was standing.

“Wow, he can run pretty fast,” Scootaloo finally said.

“Uhuh,” Applebloom added. To Neon, he was walking around aimlessly as he got himself lost.

“Oh crud, I could have sworn that that alley way was a short cut,” Neon said to himself as he walked around.

“Halt! Who are you?” called out a strong voice from behind Neon. He turned around to see a pegasus guard standing before him, looking down at him with a stern look on his face.

“Oh, hi, my name is Neon Rave,” Neon explained to the guard.

“What do you think you are doing here?” the guard asked harshly, taking a step towards him.

“Well, I sorta got lost while looking for a friend,” Neon explained again. The guard continued to stare him down, taking another step towards him.

“And who might that be, this friend of yours?” the guard asked, his tone less harsh. “Is he a changeling?” he added. Neon’s eyes opened wide in fear, taking a step back. “Oh, it seems I am right. Now, why don’t you come with me and we shall discuss this ‘friend’ of yours,” the guard instructed. At the point the guard chuckled to himself and his voice changed completely. “I am sorry my friend, I couldn’t help myself,” the guard said in a raspy but familiar voice. Neon stopped and stared at him with a confused and puzzled look on his face.

“What, is that you Cypher?” Neon asked. The guard smiled and raised his front hooves in a shrug.

“Got me,” he said. Neon smiled and came in for a hug, which Cypher returned the favor. After a quick embrace, they parted to look at each other, Neon looking over his new form.

“Wow, so what happened to this fellow? You didn’t like kill him or anything, right?” Neon asked. Cypher chuckled.

“No, that’s not how it works. I just need to see the pony and I can transform to look exactly like them,” he explained.

“So, no one is questioning why there are two ponies that look exactly alike?” Neon asked.

“Nope, this pony, Sargent Gold Spoon, is in the Crystal Empire for a few weeks vacation. I just say I decided to postpone the vacation and he gets a bigger paycheck. Every pony wins!” Cypher explained cheerfully. It was weird to see a guard happy and stuff, even if he knew the guard was actually his new friend, Cypher.

‘So why are you here? I thought you were gonna come down in a few weeks?” Neon asked slightly puzzled.

“Well, you see. My hiding place was found out, and some changelings chased me out. So I came down early, I hope you don’t mind,” Cypher said slightly sad, looking down at the ground. Another never before seen sight, a guard looking at the ground sad.

“it’s no problem man. I think I have an idea, do you know the area?” Neon asked. Cypher looked back up at Neon nodded his head. “Good, then bring me back to the center of town, I can find my way back to Twilight’s from there,” Neon explained. With a happy nod, Cypher led the way. At a certain point, Neon was able to remember his surroundings and took lead as he told Cypher about his friend, Twilight. On their way there, they saw Random with four large bags and a cookie poking out of his mouth. “Random?” Neon called out, he turned to them and smiled, trotting over to him happily.

“Hey `eon,” Random greeted, letting the cookie go completely into his mouth and started chewing.

“Random, This is Cypher, our friend from Detrot who we were gonna help out, remember?” Neon asked. Random finished his cookie and smiled at the guard.

“Hey Cypher, long time no see, how are you doing?” he asked cheerfully with a comforting smile.

“Good, thank you,” Cypher replied.

“Now Random, I have a plan for him to live with us for a while, but I am gonna need your help here cuss it is a bit of a risk,” Neon explained.

“Do you think Twilight is gonna be ok with a changeling living with us? It looks like they aren’t really friends here,” Random asked, making a good point.

“This is true, but I think I know how to convince her,” Neon assured. He whispered something in random’s ear out of Cyphers ear shot and Random smiled and nodded.

“I think that might work actually!” he exclaimed.

“Good, then let’s go!” Neon exclaimed back. They all headed back to Twilight’s house. Once there, they walked in to see it being just Twilight, Spike, and Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy seemed to have left. Twilight looked up at the door with a smile but it faded when she saw the guard.

“Oh my Celestia, what did you guys do now!” she called out, looking towards them with a stern look on her face. Neon looked at her confused and turned to Cypher as he closed the door behind him.

“Oh, right, haha. Anyway, we have a favor to ask of you Twilight,” Neon started. Twilight stopped half way and looked back confused.

“What is it Neon? What’s going on?” she asked worried. Neon took a deep breath.

“It’s kinda hard to explain,” Neon stated as he took a deep breath.

“You guys met a changeling by the name of Cypher and promised to help him out cuss you wanted him to have a safe place to live. So you told him to meet you guys up here in Ponyville and he took the form of a guard in the Crystal Empire so that none of the other guards would question it and without causing any pony any trouble with is the guard that is standing right behind you guys, who is actually Cypher and you planned on falling toy our hooves and knees to beg Twilight not to rat him out and to let him live with you guys till he can find a job and find a new place to live,” Pinkie Pie explained in one breath. Once done she took a deep breath to get back all the air she used up to do that whole explanation. Everyone stared at her in disbelief.

“Who in the nine circles of hell do you keep doing that?” Neon asked stunned. Pinkie Pie shrugged her shoulders but Random stepped up first.

“Just a huntch,” he said before she could.

“Exactly!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed cheerfully. After Twilight gathered her sense, her eyes glared down at the guard.

“Show me your true form then!” Twilight ordered. Cypher took a step forward and bowed his head, allowing the glamour to fade away, showing his changeling form. Twilight stared in amazement and fear as she looked at him. He was easily the biggest changeling she has ever seen, even bigger than queen Chrysalis, taller and more bulk.

“Here I am,” Cypher said simply, his voice betraying his attempt to be brave as he started to shake in fear.

“Well then, why are you here?!” Twilight said harshly. Cypher shuddered by her threatening tone, a single tear running down his cheek from fear.

“I just want a place to call home,” Cypher said weakly. Twilight’s glare eased off as she saw the changeling quivering.

“Twilight, I don’t think he is all the bad,” Pinkie Pie stated as she approached Cypher.

“I know, but that’s what they do best is deceive ponies. how do we not know that isn’t what’s gonna happen here? If I do that, and he starts acting up, not only will I get in trouble, but the whole town could be in trouble. Remember the royal wedding? Every pony thought that Cadence was just stressed and that’s why she was acting different when she was actually Queen Chrysalis. I don’t want anything like that happening again,” Twilight explained. Neon knew this wasn’t looking good.

“Well, just keep an eye on him, never have him leave your sights,” Neon tried to plead. Twilight looked to the side and rubbed her arm nervously.

“I don’t know, I don’t really like the idea, I mean I don’t have a good history with changelings,” Twilight explained. Neon tried to think of something else to convince her then Random stepped up to her.

“Twilight. You know of changelings as ruthless killers, right? all about war and taking over Equestria. Here you have a changeling, bigger and tougher than most, standing there shaking and quivering in fear hoping that you will accept him unlike everypony else who simply tried to kill him. His own kind his hunting him down and everyone is too scared of him to give him a chance. Make the first step,” Random pleaded. Twilight looked as if she wanted to say yes, but as if something was stopping her. ‘Alright, last push!’ Random thought to himself. “And besides, you have the opportunity of a lifetime. You have the chance to study changelings up close safely and be able to give out that information to Celestia. Think about how impressed and proud she will be to hear that from you,” Random explained. Twilight took a moment to think about that and finally a smile formed on her face.

‘Ok you guys, we can keep him,” she finally said. Random, Neon, and Pinkie Pie jumped around in circles around Cypher who started crying with a huge smile on his face. He teleported to Twilight and hugged her, taking her by full surprise and shock since he had to lean down a bit.

“Thank you so much Twilight, thank you so much for doing this for me, you have no idea what this means to me!” he exclaimed as he hugged her firmly but gently. Once he let go, he ran up and danced with the others.

“By the way, I’m Pinkie Pie, and I would love to be your friend!” Pinkie exclaimed excitedly as she bounced around.

“My name is Cypher, and I would love to be your friend!” Cypher exclaimed back. Neon jumped up in the air and spread out his wings to keep himself in the air and started to fly around the room.

“Are you sure about this Twilight?” Spike asked slightly worried.

“Yes, even though I have my doubts, I feel like I can trust Neon’s and Random’s judgment. Besides, Random’s right, I can now study changelings in case of another changeling attack, we can be ready for them. I think we can learn a lot from him being here, not just his background and his culture, but maybe something else, who knows,”Twilight explained while looking down at the young purple dragon. He looked back up to her and then smiled.

“Well, if you’re ok with it, then I am too!” Spike exclaimed. Twilight looked at Cypher who was getting bombarded by questions from Pinkie Pie about favorite foods and activities. “I just hope I am not making a huge mistake,” Twilight whispered to herself. She could hear a voice coming from outside of her house and a small commotion going on from her window. As she approached her window, the others stopped and quieted down to hear what the noise was when Neon and Random heard a somewhat familiar voice from the noise that was talking.

“Art is, an explosion!” the voice cried out.

Author's Notes:

So here ya go everyone. I am gonna be taking a little break from this story, just so you guys know, I need to gather more followers for my friend who is directing this, so if you know anyone who might enjoy this, bring them over, I feel like I am whoring myself now. Anyway, So the music I was listening to when I wrote this was 'Good girls go bad' by Cobraship, "20% cooler" by Alex. S, 'Discord' by Eurobrony (I think that is his name, not all my music is labeled correctly) and finally '500 miles' by Alexander Rybak I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to see you in the future chapters ahead. as always, have a good morning/day/evening

Chapter 10: Neon's Homesick

(Music that I listened to while writing this was "Pretty Fly (for a white guy)" by Offspring, "Bad Apple" by Discord Whooves, "Trance-Kiss" by TranceHarmo [youtube searching] and "My First Kiss" by 3OH!3. If you choose to listen to the music then I hope it helps. Take this time while reading this and being distracted to find the music or choose to. . . . . . . take your time. . . . . . you got all day buddy. . . . . . . . are you good now? Alright, let's get to the story! )

Chapter 10: Neon’s Homesick

Neon looked out the window and saw that it was Diedra with a crowd of ponies surrounding him and it looked like he was standing in front of a wooden stand. “hey, let’s go check this out,” Neon called down from the window. “It looks like Diedra,” he added. Random looked at him confused.

“Who is that?” he asked confused. Neon face hoofed himself.

“Really? That one pony that I checked out. He had clay art work and all that?” Neon explained annoyed.

“Oh yea, I remember him now, I liked him!” Random exclaimed. “Come on, let’s go see him!” Random called out as he rushed out the door, Neon following him. Cypher changed his form into the guard and followed them. Random, Neon, and Cypher got outside and stood in the crowd as they listened to him talking.

“Art is an explosion. . . of beauty and wonder. Come one and come all and look among my merchandise of true art. I promise you will not find anything like this anywhere else in the world!” Diedra declared as the crowd started to get a little antsy, wanting to look. Diedra had a large cloth covering his stand, driving their curiosity as far as he could. “Now, let me show you, true art!” he called out as he lifted the cloth. His stand held amazing vases and flower pots of all shapes and sizes, dozens of them. The crowd got together and stared in amazement. Diedra happened to look up and saw Neon from the crowd. “It’s you!” he shouted out.

“Oh crap,” Neon whispered. Diedra teleported over to him with a large smile on his face.

“This young pegasus showed me that there is still ponies out there in the world that still care for art. Thanks to him, I have decided to set up a stand here in Ponyville all the way from Detrot!” Diedra stated out loud as he wrapped an arm around Neon, looking out towards the crowd. They all looked over to him and listened. “Behold, this is what I made just for this customer!” Deidra shouted out as he raised the vase that Neon bought and raised it to the crowd.

“Umm, hey Diedra, can you let me go?” Neon asked shyly, feeling his face burning up. After a few minutes more of Diedra showing off, he finally let the poor pegasus go as he finished his speech, finally looking at Neon.

“Sorry about that. I had to please the crowd, you know, so how is my favorite customer doing?” Diedra asked cheerfully. Random walked up to Diedra.

“You mean your only customer?” Random asked in an annoyed manner. Diedra turned to him with a glare but quickly changed it to a smile.

“Well as you can see I have many customers now, thanks to Neon’s inspiration, I set up shop down here now were I will save up money to reopen my shop down here!” he explained cheerfully and teleported back to his stand as ponies started buying up his clay work.

“I don’t think I did anything. He is an odd one,” Neon explained as he watched the mob of ponies looking through his merchandise. “This world is so different,” he added.

“I don’t think so. I mean think about it, there was plenty of crazy kids in our classes, like that one girl with the derpy eyes, remember her?” Random asked. Neon thought for a second and chuckled to himself.

“Yea, I remember her. I was her first friend in middle school, 4th grade. She was so clumsy and so. . well, we’ll just say slow, but I’ll tell you what, she had such a big heart. Even if she screwed up everything she did, she always means well and strived to be better, even if she could never get closer to her goal. I should have been nicer to her when we got into highschool,” Neon said mostly to himself as he looked down at the ground with a hurt face. Random smiled and placed a friendly hoof on his shoulder.

“Hey man, it’s ok. She still carried that goofy smile with her everytime she saw you. I think she knows you meant well,” Random explained. Neon smiled faintly as he looked up into Random’s eyes. “And besides, she managed to make some friends. I am sure she is happy now, and you helped her,” he added.

“Thanks Random, that means a lot. Let’s go grab a bite to eat,” Neon offered.

“Oh, oh, can we go to Sugar Cube Corner?” Random asked in an innocent manner with pleading eyes.

“Yea, we can go to-” Neon stopped himself and then remembered who worked there, his face then turning stern. “No,” he then answered. Random made a frown face as he looked into Neon’s eyes.

“Pretty please,” he begged, making his best puppy dog eyes. Neon shrugged it off and looked away.

“I said no, we are not going there. I know who works there,” Neon explained annoyed.

“Who works where?” questioned a familiar voice from behind Neon. Neon shivered, knowing who it was, as he turned to see the pink party pony.

“Uh, nothing. What are you doing here?” Neon asked slightly frightened. Random looked at Neon’s eyes as he used their secret code of facial expressions.

‘Now can we go?’ he asked using the code.

‘No, we will go to a cafe. I will not be seen going there!’ Neon declared annoyed through facial expressions. Pinkie Pie went in between them.

‘Go where?’ she asked, using their code. Neon looked away, shaking his head and face hoofing himself.

“Honestly, why the hell do we even have a code now?! Anyway, we were going to go grab a bite to eat,” Neon said, not looking at Pinkie Pie.

“Oh, that sounds like fun! Come on, I’ll give you guys something to eat. I was heading over to Sugar Cube Corner anyway, let’s go!” Pinkie Pie offered excited, bouncing around.

“Can we please?” Random pleaded again. Neon looked at Random and then at Pinkie Pie who copied his puppy dog stare.

“We, uhh, don’t have any money,” Neon said quickly, trying to sound convincing.

“It’s ok, it’ll be my treat, I can’t let my friends be hungry now!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed quickly.

“God dame it! Fine, let’s go,” Neon said annoyed, finally giving in. Pinkie Pie jumped up high in excitement as she bounced around Neon. The clouds started to get darker as they were outside, blocking out the sun.

“Yaa!! This is going to be so much fun! We better hurry before we get rained on,” Pinkie Pie explained as she bounced around in a circle around Neon, Random following suit. Neon calmly walked up to a light post and slammed his head into another light post. “Wow, he really likes to do that,” Pinkie Pie pointed out, continuing her circle around Neon.

“Yea, he does that sometimes,” Random explained, bouncing around Neon as well. After a few minutes of that, they all went to the candy cafe and sat at a table as Pinkie Pie bounced around with anticipation.

“So, what do you guys want?” Pinkie Pie asked excited.

“I’ll have one of those cupcakes that you gave me at the party,” Random asked. Neon perked up quickly.

“NO! Anything but that,” Neon demanded.

“Did you eat the other 11 already?” Pinkie Pie asked confused, tilting her head to the side.

“What do you mean, what other 11?” random asked puzzled and confused.

“The other 11 I made you. Neon said he was going to keep it safe for you,” Pinkie Pie explained. Random turned to Neon who looked around the room, avoiding eye contact.

“Neon, where are my cupcakes?” Random asked in a threatening tone. His hair blocked off his blue eye, so he glared him down with his red eye.

“Umm, well, I had to make sure you wouldn’t destroy Twilight’s house, so I locked them up for a once in awhile treat,” Neon explained, avoiding eye contact with random, knowing what would happen if he did look.

“Make sense, ok then,” Random said, calming down almost instantly. He looked back over with a smile back at Pinkie Pie. “I’ll have some fudge then please,” Random asked politely.

“Ok, then what about you Neon?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“A gun,” Neon whispered.

“What was that?” Pinkie Pie asked confused.

“I mean, I’ll have some chocolate, surprise me,” Neon replied quietly. Pinkie Pie smiled and rushed over to behind the counter. Random smiled at her and turned to Neon.

“Why do you not like her?” Random asked quietly and confused. Neon shrugged his shoulders.

“One of you is a pain as is, dealing with her just takes too much out of me,” Neon replied as he leaned back and looked around. “I miss home,” he whispered. Random looked at him confused.

“What do you mean? We just left,” Random pointed out, slightly confused. Neon sighed and looked back down to Random.

“No, I mean home home. OUR home. I miss school, I miss our friends, I miss my fame, I miss Vinyl, MY Vinyl, I mean, what the hell is up with this place. I just want to go home,” Neon said quietly as he laid his face on the table. Random rubbed his hoof on Neon’s back, trying to comfort him.

“Hey man, it’s fine. Look, we are gonna get through all of this confusion and we are gonna go home. We’ll find a way, just you wait!” Random said optimistically. Neon looked back up at him with a sadden look on his face.

“You don’t get it, do you? We are stuck here. The portal thingy is sealed up as soon as we jumped through it. We are stuck. This is the one time that you are wrong Random,” Neon replied.

“Even if that is true, we can make this world our new home. You saw how the crowd loved your performance, just do it here!” Random said with optimism like always. Neon’s ears perked up at that thought but then lowered back down.

“Come on, even if it would work out, I still do not have my Vinyl Scratch, ok. I will admit a thousand times that I am whipped just to see her again. I would do anything to see her again,” Neon whispered, a single tear started to fall. “I love her with all my heart. I wanted her to be my wife one day,” he added sullon.

“Look, this world is just like ours, just with ponies instead of humans. I bet the Vinyl here is just like the other one in the real world,” Random tried to assure him.

“Just like her? Just like her!” Neon started to raise his voice. Random brought his hoof back as he got back up. “You have no idea! I don’t want a copy, I want my Vinyl! I don’t need a replica, I want the real thing. How could you say she is the same as her?! No one can be the same as her! A pony could never replace my love! She is on the other side, waiting for me, looking for me, and I am sitting here eating chocolate!” Neon declared, getting angry. Pinkie Pie choose the wrong time to come on by with the food.

“Here you go guys,” she said cheerfully. Neon slapped the food off the table and stormed out. Pinkie Pie’s normal smile disappeared instantly as Neon pushed the door and ran out. Random stared at the ground, hurt and sad as he realized he just upset the closest friend to him in the world, in any world. “DId he not want his food?” Pinkie Pie asked hurt. Random took a deep breath and looked at the pink pony.

“It’s not you, he is just not accepting this world very well. He misses her very much,” Random explained, feeling his eyes watering up.

“So I guess that he really doesn’t like me, huh?” said a voice from behind Random. He turned around and looked at the voice.

“Vinyl?!” he said surprised. Vinyl was sitting at her table right behind theirs with a hurt and sad expression on her face.

“I thought he just wasn’t into me or something, but I guess he really hates me,” she continued, taking off her goggles, revealing her red eyes that looked as if she was about to cry. Random stood up and approached her.

“Oh Vinyl, ah crap,” he said to himself.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Neon stormed out of the shop, spread his wings, and flew right off as fast as he could. The town was a blur for a moment till he found a familiar pond. The same pond that he found the cutie mark crusaders. He touched down by some boulders and folded his wings up to his side, staring off on to the pond. The clouds above got darker as the sound of thunder could be heard. Neon didn’t care. It has only been a few days in this world and he already wanted to get out of here. Neon’s rage started building as he looked up at the clouds. “Why? Why do I have to be here? I was on the top of the world. My life was perfect. I had a career going for me, hundreds of friends, a promising future, the greatest friend any man could ever ask for, and the love of my life all wrapped up in a present for me in a pretty ribbon. Now I have lost everything but my friend. It’s as if the reset button has been pressed all over again!”Neon said to himself. He looked at his hooves and felt his rage built up even more. “She probably thinks I ditched her, that I left her without warning, and sensi Zecora probably thinks I ran away. She always knew that I was homeless, is she gonna think I died or something? What the hell do I do now?!” Neon continued angry. He screamed and started punching one of the boulders. “Why? Why? Why?! Why?! WHY?! WHY?!?!” He screamed out as he kept punching. Each punch cracked the boulder under his hooves. With one finally punch, he shattered it into pieces, a small streams of blood running down his arms. Rain started to down pour directly onto him and washed over his body.

“DAME YOU GODS, WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS?!?!” Neon screamed at the top of his lungs. He swung around and kicked a different boulder, exploding it upon impact. Neon was satisfied for a moment until he felt the pain wash over his leg and carried out throughout his whole body. He fell down and clutched his leg in pain and felt blood running down his body. When he looked down he noticed he reopened his stitches.

“If you keep this up you’re gonna get hurt even more,” said a comforting voice from behind Neon. He spun around and saw Shiva standing there with a sadden look on her face, staring directly at him.

“What the hell do you want?!” Neon barked in a threatening tone. The blood and the rain was mixing together in his fur on his body. Shiva could easily see this as her usual well groomed mane was messy with the rain.

“May I approach, Neon?” she asked politely. Neon hesitated for a moment before glaring at her, nodding. She smiled and walked over to him, slowly. She sat closely next to him as she stared off at the pond. They sat in silence for what seemed like years until one of them broke the silence.

“What are you doing here?” Neon asked, a little more calm.

“Well, I could ask you the same thing, but I saw you wizz past me in a blur so I thought I should follow you. Which by the way, that wasn’t easy. Now why are you here is the question,” Shiva asked. Neon looked at her and then back to the pond, watching the rain disturb the surface, the sound of the rain hitting the ground and the water all around them.

“I came here to be alone, but I guess this isn’t a very good spot since someone is always here,” Neon explained, his voice cracking. Shiva turned to him as he fought hard to fight back his tears. “I just want to go home,” he added in a whisper. Shiva grabbed him and pulled him onto her into a tight but caring embrace. “What are you doing? You’ll get blood on-” Neon started in a panic.

“Shhh. It is fine. I don’t care, a little stain is perfectly fine with me if it means I can help you,” Shiva stated a she held Neon in her arms. Neon felt his heart racing, he never felt like this before in his life. He couldn’t describe his emotions at that moment, all he knew is that he didn’t want it to end. Once he thoughts caught up with his emotions, he felt his tears roll down his cheeks and into her fur on her chest. Shiva held him closely and rubbed his back. “There, there, cry it away, it’s ok to cry, I’m here for you,” Shiva said softly, comforting him as he cried away, at first a few silent tears and then just breaking down right then and there. Shiva used her magic to freeze the water around them and created an umbrella of ice over them, protecting them both from the rain.

“I. . . -j-just don’t know w-w-what to do, I’m scared, a-a-nd angry. I mean I’m g-g-glad that I have R-Random with me, but h-he is all I have. I use t-t-to b-be a king, and n-n-now I am n-n-othing” Neon explained through his tears. He didn’t know why he was spilling his heart out in front of her, all he knew was that it felt right and it felt good. After a long while of crying, he finally started to slow down his crying. Looking up at her as her eyes showed nothing but care and love, it was somehow able to squeeze out a few more tears from his burning eyes.

“It is alright, calm down, I’m here for you,” Shiva assured. She placed her hooves on his cheeks and pulled him to her. Before Neon could realize what was happening, her lips were pressed upon his as their lips were locked in place. Neon was taken back and was in shock by the sudden intrusion upon his lips. He resisted for a split second and felt his muscles melt away, feeling her soft lips on hers and her hooves firm but gentle on her face. ‘I am kissing a horse, you know that right? This is wrong in so many levels’ he thought to himself panicking. ‘But yet, I can’t push her away,’ he added to his thoughts. His hooves found her back as he pulled her closer to him, pressing their bodies together in a tight embrace. Neon finally kissed her back, not sure what to do but to let instinct take over. His hooves ran down her back on instinct and slowly lowered.

Shiva let her hooves drop as she felt his tongue dance for domination in her mouth, taken back by the moment. Without thinking, she grabbed a hold of his back and gripped tightly as if she was going to fall. Neon’s wings started to extend and stiffen straight out as he leaned into her, his kissing becoming more aggressive. Shiva tried to keep up with him but failed to as she felt herself melt away inside his mouth, trails of saliva escaping their locked lips. Finally, Shiva used all the strength she could possibly muster and pushed him off, gasping for air and a bridge of saliva connecting their mouths broke. Neon let go and backed off, gasping for air as well. After a few moments, they looked at each other, their faces completely blood red. “Oh. . . . my. . . . . Celestia. That. . . was. . . amazing!” Shiva said between gasps for air. Neon fell onto his butt as he tried to catch his breath.

“I’m sorry, i don’t. . . know what got. . . . over me,” Neon explained, trying to catch his breath as well. Shiva smiled and tried to walk over to him but found that her legs were not cooperating with her at the moment.

“Don’t be sorry. That was. . . wonderful. You are an amazing. . . . kisser. How did you learn to kiss like that?” She asked puzzled and still in a bit of shock.

“Actually, that was my first kiss,” Neon explained, feeling his face redden to the max, looking away completely embarrassed. Shiva looked at him dumbfounded as she felt the saliva on her lips. She hesitated but she cleaned it off with her hoof, feeling embarrassed herself, but mostly aroused.

“Oh, I see. I know this is hard to believe, but this was my first time too, to be honest.” Shiva explained. Neon looked at her shocked. ‘Such a big flirt like her, and that was her first kiss too?’ he thought to himself.“Yea, I am sorry about that, I got lost in the moment and, well, yea. I’m sorry for doing that. I took advantage of you,” she apologized. Neon looked her in the eyes and smiled.

“Don’t be, you made me feel alot better, so thank you,” Neon explained, a kind smile forming on his face. Shiva giggled as she looked at his wings.

“I can tell, a little bit of a poof there,” she said teasingly. Neon looked behind him to see his wings fully extended out.

“God dame it!” he called out, trying to hide them with a pathetic attempt. Shiva giggled even more at this. She then shuffled her hooves around and tapped her front hooves together nervously.

“Well, umm, I wanted to ask you something, since, you know, you seem to be feeling better,” Shiva started shyly. Neon looked into her eyes in curiosity, finally calming his heart rate.

“What is it?” he asked. Shiva shifted around shyly as she reached into her saddle bag and pulled out two golden tickets.

“I managed to get three tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala. I was going to bring my friends Bard and Shard, but since we are wanted, they said we shouldn’t go,” Shiva explained. Neon shied away for a moment as the last words sunk into his head.

“Wait a second. . . you are a criminal?!” Neon asked surprised. Shiva giggled as she took a step closer to him, lowering her eyelids as she looked into his.

“What’s wrong? You don’t like bad girls?” she asked with a smooth and seductive voice. Neon backed away, not sure if of fear or shyness.

“Umm, well, I didn’t know you were a criminal. I mean I don’t have a problem with it, I just wish I would have known,” Neon explained as he found himself pressed up onto a boulder.

“Well If I told you, would you have befriended me and my friends?” Shiva asked, lowering her voice as she got closer to him. Neon felt the blood rush towards his head as he had no place to go and felt his hooves glued in place.

“Well, I will admit if I knew at the very beginning I would have avoided you, but now that I have gotten to know you more, I guess it is fine now,” Neon explained, feeling his face burn up. Shiva giggled, lowering the floating tickets to the side as she pressed herself onto him.

“I appreciate your honesty. I am glad that I didn’t tell you right off the bat then. I want you to know something,” she started. Neon gulped down as she slowly got closer to his face, her lips approaching his lips once again.

“W-w-what is it?” Neon stumbled upon his words, feeling his heart racing. Shiva went up to his ear, close enough to where he could feel her breath on his ear.

“I’m a virgin,” she stated. Neon’s eyes widen as he couldn’t take it anymore. His head started rapidly spinning and he fell to the ground, finally fainting. When he woke up, his head was on Shiva’s lap as she looked down at him.

“Hey, sorry, I think I went too far on that one. I didn’t think you were that innocent,” she explained with a giggle. Neon shook himself awake as he got up, noticing his stitches were back together. “Oh, right, I am not good at stitching, but I did my best,” she added. Neon looked back up at her and smiled.

“Well, thank you for helping me then.. So what was that about this Grand Galloping Gala thing?” Neon asked confused, trying to change the subject.

“Oh, right,” Shiva said, looking at her saddlebag as she pulled out the two golden tickets. “You can give one to Random and we can all go together. The Gala is tomorrow night at eight pm. So you have time to buy a tuxedo and get ready,” Shiva explained. Neon stared at her confused.

“So, what is the Grand Galloping Gala?” he asked puzzled as he got back up on his own. Shiva stared at him surprised but simply smiled back.

“I guess you really aren’t from here. The Grand Galloping Gala is a huge ball that only the most important ponies are able to get in. I have connections in the castle so I managed to get these ones. So, do you want to go with me?” Shiva asked innocently, giving him an adorable puppy dog stare. Neon looked into her eyes and chuckled.

“I am not too fond of tuxedos, but sure, you can count on us being there!” Neon stated. Shiva jumped up, clapping her hooves together in excitement.

“That’s great! I can’t wait, ok, I will meet you at your house at 6:30 then, I’ll see you then!” Shiva said excited as she teleported out, leaving Neon standing there. He looked up and saw the clouds were going away, revealing the sun. He smiled as he took the tickets into his mouth.

“Well, maybe this world isn’t all that bad I guess,” he said to himself as he started back home.

Author's Notes:

All right, it has been a while. I have been gone from writing. I have been having writers block lately and boy does it suck. It makes me so angry that I am gonna use the angry emocon . Oh yea, it's gotten real! I'm just playing around. I'm sorry for taking so long. Randomguy8783, sorry it's taken so long. Originally this was a lot longer, but it was getting too big so I split it in half roughly. This story is Randomguy8783's creation. He is the director and I am the writer, a few ideas of mine are in here but this is his work, and just a little hint of things. Everything you read in this series has a purpose Also just so you know, this is the first time I have ever written a scene like that (Shiva and Neon's kissing scene) so I hope I didn't do too bad. I hope you enjoyed this series as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to see you in the future chapters ahead. As always, have a good morning/day/evening

Chapter 11: The Grand Galloping Gala

(Music listened to while writing this, 'Complictated' by Your Favorite Martian, 'Stacy's Mom' by Fountains of Wayne, '20% Cooler' by Alex S., 'Scream and Shout' by will.i.am, 'Sexy and I know it' by LMFAO, 'Ready to Die' by Andrew wk, 'Smile HD' by Foozogz. Hope you enjoy the music, enjoy the chapter )

Chapter 11: The Grand Galloping Gala

Random walked over next to Vinyl as she tried to hold in her tears. “Listen, it’s not what you think,” he tried to explain. Vinyl looked up at him with pleading eyes.

“What do you mean?” she asked, a single tear making it’s way down the side of her cheek. Pinkie Pie walked up to her as well, curious about what Random meant as well.

“You see, me and Neon are from another world. In our world, he was Mr. Popular. He had everything. Fame, a promising career, lots of friends, and a girl named Vinyl Scratch. You look just like her, just ponified I guess the term would be,” Random started explaining, taking a seat next to Vinyl. She wiped her tear away and listened. Pinkie Pie walked over and flipped the open sign to closed and sat down with Random and Vinyl, knowing that this was gonna be a long story. “Me and Neon were homeless most of our lives. Our parents died in a car crash when we were really young. Neon took the place as the big brother and took care of us. We lived in an old abandon factory and hide there all our lives. We were happy though, in our eyes, we had everything we needed. People would pick on us and fight with us, so Neon went to learn how to fight from a nin-jitsu teacher. He did odd jobs for his master to keep up with the payments and always protected me, even if it ended up hurting himself in the process. He even failed a grade on purpose just to be in the same grade as me and hacked the school computers so we were always in the same classes,” Random explained, lowering his head.

“He sounds like such an amazing stallion,” Vinyl said with a smile. Random looked up at her and returned the smile, and then continued his story.

“Once we hit high school, he went to parties and became the life of the party, making lots of friends, and that’s when he met Vinyl, from our world. She fell in love with him and he fell in love with her. She was his very first girlfriend, his very first love. So everytime he sees you he sees her, missing her even more. He misses home and wants to go back. He is too stubborn to see that this world isn’t so different. If you give him time, he will see,” Random explained, finishing his story.

“Do you really think so?” Vinyl asked.

“Yes, once he realizes that this world isn’t so bad, he will warm up to you. You really like him, don’t you?” asked Random, smiling. Vinyl looked as if to deny but looked away, her face turning red.

“Well, I guess so. I mean, I thought he was really cute when I first saw him about a week ago, but then I saw him at the DJ competition. He was so alive and moved like he has been doing this for years. I could feel his emotions as he took over the crowd. I guess you could say that I fell in love with him the moment he won. I felt like I knew him already,” Vinyl explained. Random smiled and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

“I’ll tell you what, give me some time and I will try to get him warmed up to yea. I’ll be your personal cupid for ya!” Random exclaimed, smiling at her. She returned the smile to him and flung her arms around him, surprising him.

“Thank you so much, you don’t know how much this means to me!” Vinyl exclaimed happily. Random was shocked for a second but ended up returning the gester. After a brief moment, they let go and sat back down. “Thanks for helping me out, your name is Random, right?” she asked curiously.

“Yup, that’s my name. I’ll see you later Vinyl, I have to go look for Neon,” Random called over as he got up and made his way to the door. Pinkie Pie bounced back behind the counter, backwards.

“Well see you later, Random. Come by again sometime!” Pinkie Pie called back, back to her cheerful self. Random waved everyone goodbye and walked out.

“Alright, where would he be?” Random asked himself when he suddenly saw Neon walking around, he had a red tint in his fur and a smile on his face. “Da fa?” he whispered to himself, watching Neon walk down the street holding something golden in his mouth. Random watched him for a moment more till he looked at his fur carefully, looking at the red spots. “Oh god, he didn’t kill some one, did he?” Random asked himself, letting his imagination carry him away. He walked over to him. “Hey Neon!” he called over. Neon stopped and looked around to see where the voice came from. Once he saw his friend Random, Neon trotted on over to him, smiling the whole way.

“Hey Random, what are you doing?” Neon asked cheerfully. Random raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“Looking for you! First, where did you go? Second, why are you so happy all of a sudden. Lastly, what is that red stuff on your chest?” Random asked, firing off question after question. Neon stared at him for a moment a little confused, looking down and laughing nervously.

“Yea, ok. In order, I went to the pond, the one where we first met the cutie mark crusaders, I just had my first kiss, and this is blood,” Neon explained calmly, smiling a goofy smile to himself.

“Whoa, you got your first. . . wait a second, did you say blood?!” Random asked nervously. Neon looked back at him, still smiling.

“Yea, I said blood,” he repeated. Random’s mind started racing crazy ideas. ‘Oh my god, did he actually kill somebody? I mean I know he can get pretty mad, but this is a little extreme! What have you done Neon?’ Random started in his thoughts. “Yea, I was punching some boulders and I guess I opened up my stitches, so I ended up bleeding a little bit, so don’t worry, I am alright,” Neon explained. Random wiped some sweat off his forehead in relief.

“Oh thank god, I thought you killed someone,” Random said to himself. Neon looked at him confused and was about to say something, but Random stopped him. “Just never mind, so, what is this about kissing?” he asked quickly, trying to change the subject. Neon started smiling again like an idiot.

“Well Shiva found me and. . well. . she sorta. . kissed me,” Neon explained shyly. Random’s jaw dropped and then to a concerned look on his face. ‘Crap, and I just promised Vinyl that I would try to hook him up with her, crap!’ Random thought to himself.

“So, are you two, like, going out now?” Random asked nervously, scared to hear the answer. Neon snapped into focus as he shook his head.

“What? Oh no, we aren’t going out, at least I don’t think we are. Anyway, I have some good news, we get to go to the Grand Galloping Gala!” Neon exclaimed excitedly. Random jumped up in the air.

“This is so cool! I can’t wait! What is it?” Random asked, still cheerful. Neon’s happy faced turned into his very famous face in which he called the ‘Really’ face where he stared him down emotionlessly.

“Really? Actually, I don’t really know for sure, all I know is that it’s a big event and we have to wear tuxedos and fancy stuff like that,” Neon explained shortly. Random jumped up and down excited.

“I can’t wait, cool! So I guess that’s what those things are in your mouth?” Random asked curiously.

“Yup, come on, let’s get ready,” Neon instructed. Neon and Random ran back home and gathered up the bits to rent a pair of tuxedos, when Neon grabbed his large bag of bits he won at the competition and dumped it out, finding only a small hoof full left of around twenty to thirty bits left. “What the hell happened to all of our money?!” Neon exclaimed worried, he looked up and noticed Random looking away from him, whistling. “Random. . .” he added.

“I don’t know,” he said, trying to sound innocent. Neon looked past him at a closet and found it locked. Neon pushed past him and forced it open. “No, don’t-” Random started. Once Neon opened it, a mountain of cookies rained down and completely buried Neon. He stuck his head out and looked around the room.

“Where in the nine circles of hell did you get this many cookies?!” Neon yelled out at Random.

“Well, those three girls, or fillies I can’t remember, where having a bake sale for a class field trip, they were selling cookies and they smelt so good!” Random exclaimed, taking some of the cookies form the floor and eating them.

“Don’t tell me. . .” Neon started.

“Well, they are in the hall of fame now and made a world record,” Random explained with a nervous smile. Neon faced hoof himself and looked away.

“Now how are we going to get to the Grand Galloping Gala, we can’t get a tux now let alone a pair of them!” Neon exclaimed annoyed. Twilight opened the door to the basement and looked down.

“What is all that noise? What are you guys doing down there?” Twilight asked, calling down to them.

“Nothing, just nothing,” Neon called back up, walking up the stairs defeated.

“What’s with the long face?” Twilight asked as Neon got at the top of the stairs. Random chuckled behind Neon at Twilight’s question.

“We got tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala and Random spent all of our money on cookies,” Neon explained, glaring at Random who then gave a pleading smile.

“How in the world did you get tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala?” Twilight asked confused. Neon turned back to her and sighed.

“Shiva met up with me and we. . . umm. . . talked, and she invited me and Random to the Grand Galloping Gala,” he explained.

“You mean made out?” Random added teasingly. Neon quickly turned back to him.

“Shut up!” he barked, turning back to Twilight.

“Wow, I am surprised she could get those tickets. Normally, only noble ponies would ever have a chance to get invited to the Grand Galloping Gala. I wonder how she got a hold of them?” Twilight started questioning. Random shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, not sure but we don’t have money to buy tuxedos and Neon already promised her we would meet up with her tomorrow night at 6:30. So we are kinda screwed,” Random explained cheerfully. Neon turned to something to Random but Twilight interrupted.

“Well you guys should have said that you needed something to wear. I know just the mare for the job, and she is one of my closest friends, come on, I’ll introduce you guys to her,” Twilight said, leading them out the door. Twilight walked them over to Rarities house as she explained how her dresses are amazing and that she has been making fashion designs for years. Once they got to her house, Twilight knocked on the door. After a brief moment, a unicorn opened the door with a measuring tape around her neck with glasses on. She held a stern face for a brief moment and saw Twilight.

“Twilight dear, it is good to see you!” she exclaimed, she looked past her and saw Random and Neon standing at the door. “And who are your friends?” she asked curiously.

“Rarity, this is Random Guy,” she pointed a hoof at Random.” and this is Neon,” she pointed at Neon. “ and guy, this is one of my closest friends, Rarity,” she pointed at Rarity, facing Random and Neon and then turning her gaze back at Rarity.”They are going to the Grand Galloping Gala and they need tuxedos,” Twilight explained. Rarity looked at her and then at the two colts and back at her.

“Well alright, come on in you two. Let’s see what we can do about your attire,” Rarity instructed. Random and Neon walked in as they looked around. They saw exactly what you would see in any professional fashion designer’s work area. “Now, who first?” she asked as she turned to them. Random smiled and stepped forward.

“Me, me, me, me. Do me first!” Random exclaimed excited. Rarity smiled at his enthusiasm.

“Well then, alright, come on over here and we can get started to see what looks best for you,” Rarity instructed. Random smiled back at Neon who leaned against a wall on his hind legs with his forearms crossed.

“Hehehe, I am gonna look fancy, see ya!” Random exclaimed excited as he marched on following Rarity. When they were in the other room Twilight walk on over towards Neon.

“Well, it seems that Random is excited to get into a tux, why aren’t you?” Twilight asked, looking over at him. Neon looked at the ceiling as he sighed.

“I wore a tux at me and Random’s parent’s funeral. I didn’t like getting sized and everytime I see one of these things, I remember that freaking funeral,” Neon explained calmly with a slight hint of pain in his voice. Twilight looked him over and her smile faded away.

“Oh my, I’m sorry, I didn’t know that-” she started. Neon shook his head with a light smile.

“Relax, that was many years ago. I think 11 years ago. I’m over it now. Random was a little too young to remember or even know what was going on. It’s hard to explain to a six year old what’s happening to his parents and why they were putting them into the ground. Sure we cried, but I noticed what a funeral was all about. It wasn’t about paying some respects or something like that. It’s about seeing that loved one off into the next life, whatever that may be. For me, it was just about making sure that Random didn’t try to stop them. We ran away from the funeral and never turned back. I am glad that Random ended up forgetting, because I do not want him to remember the pain and hardship of getting over something like that,” Neon explained, again calmly. Twilight stared in amazement.

“Wow, you know Neon, you have your moments,” she said briefly as she looked away. Neon turned to her with a curious look on his face.

“What do you mean by that?” he asked calmly. Twilight turned back to him, looking him in the eyes.

“Well, you two sometimes like you want to kill each other. You guys pull some really mean pranks on each other sometimes. So much fighting, so much arguing and chasing each other almost every morning, but yet you still look out for each other. It seems like you are always watching over him, protecting him,” Twilight explained, smiling a heart warming smile at him. Neon turned away blushing, keeping an eye towards her.

“Well, thanks I guess. I mean it’s always been us. We never leave each other’s side. I have been protecting him for years, it’s like my job. No matter what, I will always look after him, it’s just seems like my job is at an end soon,” Neon explained with a sadden expression on his face. Twilight tried to read him, trying to see what was going through his mind.

“What do you mean?” she asked slightly concerned. Neon turned back to her.

“He get’s stronger almost everyday. He can change forms and fight off monsters that I thought were only in myths and legends. I can’t protect him much longer, soon he will be able to defend himself, but for now, he is still my little brother no matter what anyone says,” Neon said proudly and with a smug grin on his face. Twilight giggles to herself.

“You know Neon, you really are a great pony. I kinda wish there were more colt’s like you. I hope I can find somepony like you someday,” she replied as she leaned over and kissed Neon on the cheek, making his cheeks flare up. Twilight blushed slightly and went out back to check on Random. Neon placed his hoof on his cheek and chuckled to himself.

“Did I just get friendzoned?” he asked himself, smiling and laughing a little bit. He looked around and chuckled. “Wow, a lot of girls really like me. Wait, not girls. . . ummm, filles I think they are called here, or was it colts. . . mares?” he added, questioning himself for the right answer. After a few sad attempts he gave up and went back on daydreaming. As he thought about his first kiss, he imagined it to be with his Vinyl. Imagining what her lips would feel like pressed upon his. He smiled like an idiot as he felt his face turning a slight shade of red when suddenly he imagined the pony Vinyl at his welcoming party. The large gift that he got from her, the giant DJ booth. He felt bad for ignoring her this whole time when she built him that all by herself.

“I should thank her some day. Once I build up some bucks in my wallet, I’ll take her to a club or something, or maybe I should take her out to eat somewhere nice? Another thought another time. For now, I gotta wait to-” he started. Neon watched as Random came out through the back with his tuxedo. He wore a tuxedo that literally looked exactly like James Bond’s tuxedo. “Let me guess. . . Guy. . . Random Guy?” Neon said playfully as he fell onto his side and rolled on the floor laughing. Random looked at him with rage as he slowly walked up to him. Neon stopped for a second to look up at him, lying on his back. “What?” he asked innocently, trying not to laugh. Random raised his hoof up and slammed it directly between Neon’s back legs where his pride manhood would be. Neon’s laughing was cut off short as he felt the blow between his legs. Random smiled cruelly and walked off. Both Twilight and Rarity watched in horror as Neon gently clutched his family jewels.

“Random, why did you do that?” Twilight asked shocked. Random turned to her and smiled.

“It’s a joke, he’ll be fine,” Random reassured as he turned back to Neon. “Right Neon?” he asked, calling back out to him. He didn’t say anything as faint moans and groans came from him. Random turned back to Twilight and Rarity with a nervous smile.

“Uhhh yea, see? He’s fine,” Random explained as he slowly walked away. Twilight grabbed him with her magic and pulled him back.

“Oh no you don’t,” she said as Random tried to slow her down by trying to dig his hooves into the floor, failing miserably. Rarity walked up to Neon and placed a hoof on his shoulder gently.

“Are you ok, dear?” she asked kindly. Neon Looked up and smiled faintly, trying to hide the pain as tears ran down his face.

“Oh what. . . this? This is. . nothing. I have delt. . . with worse. Nothing at all,” Neon explained, trying to sound tough. Rarity felt bad for him as she helped him up and brought him to the back room. She had him lay down on his back as she went through a door, leaving him there. She came back with an ice pack wrapped in a bag and gave it to Neon, turning away.

“Go ahead and place that in on. . . . your sensitive area, it should help numb the pain,” Rarity explained. Neon smiled and placed the ice pack between his legs, wincing at the sudden chill.

“Thanks,” Neon replied, hiding the ice bag and his happy place. Rarity glance to see if he was covered and then turned to him.

“Of course, I couldn’t just let you lie there injured like that. Why did he do that?” Rarity asked concerned. Neon shrugged his shoulders with a smile.

“He has never aimed for the nuts before, but we rough house all the time. We’re good, don’t worry. I am just surprised how much this hurts,” he explained, flinching as he tried to sit up. Rarity stared at him and shook her head.

“Honestly, you guys are worse than Applejack wrestling around with Big Macaintosh. Why do you two do that?” she asked slightly annoyed. Neon was about to answer here quickly but stopped himself. ‘Why do we do that? I mean, we have been attacking each other like that for years. When did it start?’ he thought to himself.

“Well, I guess it is because we know that we don’t mean it. It is a manly thing I guess,” Neon explained. Rarity looked at him confused.

“Manly? What is that?” she asked confused. Neon looked at her like an idiot but then realized where he was.

“Oh right, I mean it’s a, uhhhhh, colt thing,” he attempted to cover himself.

“Oh, I guess that makes sense, just try to be civilized for the Grand Galloping Gala if you don’t mind. I do not want other ponies to get the wrong idea,” Rarity stated, flipping her hair majestically. It was at that moment that Neon figured out what kind of girl, or pony, she was as he sighed in annoyance. Rarity was. . . . a girly girl. “Now, shall we get you fitted for you attire?” she asked calmly. Neon slowly shook his head as he took a deep breath and let it out.

“I guess so, let’s get this over with,” he replied as Rarity pulled out a measuring tape.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Twilight brought Random outside of the shop and glared down at him. “Why did you do that? That was uncalled for!” Twilight exclaimed angrily, raising her voice. Random looked into her eyes as he looked back down at the ground.

“I’m sorry, I am just a little upset about something,” he tried to say quickly, trying not to have her ask about it any further.

“About what?” Twilight asked, starting to calm down. Random looked into her eyes and then back at the ground, taking a deep breath before releasing it.

“Vinyl has a huge crash for Neon and I promised her that I would try to hook her and Neon up, but Neon just had his first kiss with Shiva so now don’t think I can hook them up because now he has a crush on her!” Random said with a single breath. Twilight looked at him confused and surprised.

“Oh, wow. That is a bit of situation there. Do you know if he actually likes her?” Twilight asked innocently.

“Well he kissed her, didn’t he? I am pretty sure that means he likes her,” Random commented, frowning at her.

“Well, I have read that sometimes when somepony is upset and in an emotion of depression and stress, they tend to seek out affection subconsciously, without realizing it. So what seems like love is actually just a way to relieve tension from the stress,” Twilight explained intelligently. Random stared at her blankly as the new information slowly seeps into his brain.

“So, what you are saying is, he is was just kinda. . . lost in the moment?” he asked, trying to grasp what she said.

“Exactly, he was simply confused with his emotions. Almost like when you’re not hungry but you like to snack on something because it fits the moment,” Twilight continued her explanation. Random nodded his head in agreement as it all clicked into place in his head.

“Ok, I think I got it now. Thanks for the explanation Twilight,” Random said politely. Neon walked back out from the other room in his new suit. It was similar to Random’s except with was a dark gray with neon green tie and vest underneath the over coat. Twilight stared in amazement.

“Wow, you look amazing Neon!” she exclaimed. Neon chuckled at her gawking as he turned to Random.

“So, what do you think man? I may not be a James Bond, but I think it doesn’t look too bad,” Neon asked confidently as he did a slow spin, showing off the whole suit. Random looked at him with a slightly impressed expression on his face.

“Not too bad, I guess it could be worse, right?” he asked playfully. Neon chuckled and walked up to Random, wrapping his hoof around his neck.

“Just you wait, we are gonna have all the ladies staring at us from afar, watching us with bedroom eyes, wishing they could get with us,” Neon explained, waving his hoof in front of their vision. Random looked at him with a ‘really’ expression.

“Yea, you keep telling yourself that. One kiss and now you’re cocky, huh?” Random asked coldly. Neon let him go and held onto his chest with both hooves as he stepped backwards.

“Oh, right in the friendship!” he exclaimed, falling over onto his back, playing dead. Twilight and Rarity looked at the two dumbfounded.

“Were they not fighting each other not ten minutes ago?” Rarity asked in confusion. Twilight looked at her with a blank expression.

“Welcome to my world,” she said sarcastically. After they got their suits in protective wrapping, Neon and Random put them away in Twilight’s very well organized closet. After Neon beat Random around, he finally got him to clean up all the cookies that was spilt onto the floor, but Random still refused to throw them out. The next night, Neon and Random where getting the finally preparations settled as 6:30 was getting closer to it’s time.

“You ready for the night of our lives?!” Neon asked, calling over from the bathroom. Random was all ready as is, leaving his short brown mane exactly as it is. He sighed as he turned to the direction of the bathroom.

“Well if you would hurry it up, then maybe we could actually get there!” Random called back annoyed. Random could hear him laughing.

“Sorry man, you know how I got to look for a crowd like this. I need to look my best for a party!” Neon exclaimed, chuckling to himself.

“Did somepony say ‘party’?!” asked a familiar hyper active voice from the bathroom. A scream was heard with a loud crash following close behind it. Random ran over to see what happened. Neon was sprawled onto the floor, his eyes wide up and in shock as he stared at the bath tub. Random followed his gaze and saw Pinkie Pie looking down at him with a big happy smile on her face.

“How did you get in here?!” Neon asked in a panic. Before Pinkie Pie could answer, Random chipped in first.

“Screw logic,” he replied. Neon looked over at him and then back at the pink party pony. After a moment he was able to calm himself down and finally smile.

“God you two are screwy sometimes,” Neon replied playfully. Pinkie Pie lent out a hoof, smiling down at him. Neon hesitated but accepted the hoof, allowing himself able to pull himself back up on all fours. “Thanks,” he added towards the smiling pink pony standing in the bathtub.

“Of course, what are friends for?” Pinkie Pie asked playfully and friendly as always. Twilight rushed in with a concerned look on her face.

“I heard a crash, what happened?” Twilight asked, scanning the room. Her eyes darted from around till she saw her pink pony friend standing in Twilight’s bathtub, wearing her Grand Galloping Gala dress. “Ummm, Pinkie, what are you doing in my bathroom and how did you get in here?” she asked now mostly confused. Pinkie Pie opened the blinds to reveal an opened window.

“The window was opened and I heard Neon talking, so I wanted to come in and say hi, but then I heard him say something about a party, so I came in. I think I accidentally made him break his hoof mirror though,” she exclaimed hyperly, jumping out of the tub and out of the bathroom. “Oh, and Rainbow Dash tore her dress at the end, So Rarity and the others are gonna be a little late patching it up. I came here to tell you that,” she added, bouncing around in the living room. Neon watched confused as he looked at his mirror. It was a small mirror that he was using to look at his backside of his hair. With a defeated sigh, it put the mirror in the trash.

“So how are you guys getting there?” Twilight asked interested and curious.

“I think Shiva is supposed to be picking us up,” Random answered quickly, looking at the mirror in the bathroom before leaving. Neon sighed as he dusted himself off.

“Well, at least I-” he started as there was a knock at the door. -”finished,” he finished saying. He walked up and opened the door. When he did his jaw almost fell off. There stood before him was Shiva, but far different than ever. She had it straightened as her icy blue mane curled at the ends and partially covered her face. A small sparkle could be seen from her it. She wore a sparkling, ice blue dress with swirling designs that curled around every curve on her body. Her hooves wore matching shoes that matched her dress, ice blue with swirling patterns through it. Shiva looked at him with slightly flustered look on her face, giggling.

“I’m sorry, so I have something on my face?” she asked innocently.

“Beauty,” Neon whispered. Shiva’s face turned red as he looked away for a moment, looking at him through her mane, smiling. It took a moment to realize that he just said that. “Oh, I didn’t mean to say that out loud!” he exclaimed in a panic.

“it is fine, thank you. You look incredibly handsome yourself,” Shiva commented kindly. Random looked past Neon and turned back.

“Yup, Neon’s date is here, we’re heading out now!” Random called out. Neon flinched at the sudden shout and glanced over his shoulder annoyed.

“Every time, one of these days, I swear. . .” he started to whisper to himself with threatening expressions on his face. Random came out and went past Shiva.

“Wow, if Pimp my Ride was in this world, this is straight out of the show!” Random exclaimed. Neon looked past Shiva and saw it himself. There was a carriage being pulled by two large pegasi. They looked like they belong to the royal army. They pulled a greyish blue carriage with ice blue swirls around it. The wheels are almost as tall as Random as he stood next to them. They were icy blue and appeared to be sparkling and the windows were completely tinted. It looked as if it could easily fit six ponies comfortably. “Hey Shiva, I see you got a theme going on here,” Random called back, going around to the front with the pegasi who were standing around, looking straight forward with a blank expression frozen on their faces. “Hey, are you guys like paid to not react to anything no matter what?” he asked them. One of them turned to look down at him, easily a foot taller than him.

“Let me tell you this, we are NOT paid to NOT rip out your heart and shove it down your throat through your nose. Any other questions, sir?” the large pegasus asked in a threatening tone. Random started backing up slowly away from the pegasus.

“Nope, I am good, thank you,” he said shortly as he got away from the two thuggish looking pegasi. Random turned to Shiva with a startled look on his face. “Where the hell did you find these guys?” he asked in a faint whisper.

“Detrot. These ponies made a bet with me while I was there saying they could beat me in a game of darts. I won’t say what they wanted but my side of the bet was they have to pull my carriage. Well, I won,” Shiva explained with a cheerful smile on her face. Random and Neon stared at her with the same expression of fear, their right eyes twitching. “It’s fine, they are safe. Now come on, let’s go!” Shiva exclaimed. She grabbed Neon and Random’s hooves and pulled them to the carriage. Neon opened the door for her, which she giggled and entered. Random walked in and copied her giggle as he entered. Neon glared at him.

“When I get the chance, I am gonna kill you,” he whispered faintly. He entered and closed the door behind him and the carriage took off into the sky. After what seemed like only a few minutes, they touched ground at the entrance, making there leave. They all looked up at the castle, unable to look at it completely.

“Whoa, this looks bigger with all the lights on than last time we were here, right Neon?” Random asked playfully. Neon looked up at the castle and narrowed his eyes.

“Last time, huh?” he whispered. A few quick flash backs rushed through his mind as he looked up at the top of the towering fortress.

“Neon?” Shiva asked concerned. Neon snapped out of it and looked back at them.

“Sorry, I’m fine, don’t worry about it, let’s go,” Neon said assuring, starting to walk up to the entrance. They followed closely behind him. The front guard stopped him.

“Ticket please,” he asked. Neon smiled, nodding back at him as he pulled out his golden ticket. The guard looked at the ticket and pack at him. “I’m sorry sir, this is a guest pass. You are going to need the owner to arrive first to show you are part of their group,” the guard explained.

“What?” Neon whined. Shiva smiled, giggling quietly to herself as she walked past him.

“I would be the party leader,” she stated as she pulled out her ticket to show to the guard.

“Name please,” he asked blankly.

“Shilianvarna Cosmos,” Shiva replied plainly. The guard looked at a list of names to his right and looked back at the ticket.

“Alright, sorry for the hold up. Please enter and have a pleasant night,” the guard replied with a short smile, nodding his head at them. Shiva led Neon and Random in and glanced at their surprised faces.

“So that’s your real name?” Neon asked puzzled.

“Good thing you shortened it, I wonder never be able to remember that,” Random added. He looked around as they entered the main halls. He looked at the back and saw a food stand. “Catch ya later!” he called out as he rushed over to the table of food. Neon looked back at Random and chuckled to himself.

“Figures,” he whispered.

“You should go to, now that you are in you don’t have to be around me, go enjoy yourself,” Shiva advised kindly. Neon turned back to her, slightly confused.

“Are you sure?” he asked cautiously.

“Go ahead, I honestly don’t mind. I expected you to,” she assured. Neon smiled at her and took off for Random. “He is such a sweetheart, he would be such an amazing husband some day. For now, I just loving messing with him,” she said to herself, smiling and giggling to herself. “Now, where is that vault,’ she added as she slowly made her way to the other side of the room. Random enjoyed himself of the food.

“This is the greatest food I have ever tasted in my whole life!” Random exclaimed as he chowed down on the food happily. He Looked around, sampling everything there when a certain scent traveled up his nostrils. “I know this scent. I know it very well. There is only one scent in the world that can smell anything like this!” Random looked around and saw at the end of the table, there was two cookies laying on a table. Random licked his lips in ecstasy as he rushed forward towards them, trying not to knock the other ponies aside. Once he got there and was about to take one of them. Both cookies lifted up in the air with a light blue aura. As he watched the cookies he saw the a pure white unicorn wearing a blue bow tie who grabbed them. “Hey, can I have one, please?” Random pleaded.

“No, I like these cookies, you filthy peasant. The next patch should come in within a few hours or so,” the royal unicorn explained rudely. Random’s jaw dropped in disbelief.

“A FEW HOURS?!” he yelled.

“Keep your voice down, no one should be unfortunate as to hear it,” the unicorn insulted as he continued to walk away. Random’s eye started to rapidly twitch as he stared at the stallion with murderous intention in his eyes.

“Mark my words, I am going to make you regret that!” Random whispered to himself menacingly as his hair fell down a little, covering his blue eye and only showing his red eye.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

“Where the hell did he go. I thought I was right behind him,” Neon said to himself. He kept walking, for what seemed like hours, around until he bumped into a pure white unicorn wearing a blue bow tie. “Oh, sorry about that,” he said quickly.

“Watch where you are going, you nave!” the unicorn in question barked back.

“Ok, ok, I’m sorry, I’ll be careful next time,” Neon replied with a better apology. ‘God I hate rich folks’ he thought angrily to himself. The unicorn looked at him carefully.

“Hey, what a second, I think I know you from somewhere. Have we met before?” he asked.

“No, I do not think so. I am sure I would remember some one as. . . elegant as you,” Neon tried his hardest to be polite. The unicorn still looked over him carefully as a mental light bulb flashed in his head.

“Wait, I remember you. Your that DJ that won in that Dj competition, right?” he asked curiously. Neon formed a small smile on his face.

“Yea, that was me. Why do you ask?” he asked in returned, starting to get a little excited.

“I have always wanted to meet face to face you of course. There is something I have wanted to say for a while now,” the unicorn started. Neon’s smile spread even more in anticipation.

“Oh, what is it?” he asked, starting to get excited. ‘Wow, some rich unicorn has actually seen me and is a fan of mine. This is so exciting!’ he thought to himself.

“That was quite the performance. I must say, you were a great lip singer,” the unicorn said with a smirk.

“Why thank you, you know that- wait, what?!” Neon stopped himself, now annoyed.

“I said you were just lip singing. I must say that for an amatuer, you are almost good enough to sing at a children’s birthday party,” the unicorn said harshly. Neon stared at him with his jaw open, unable to move. “That look is fitting for you, as a male escort,” he added as he walked off. Neon’s eyes glared down at him with murderous intention.

“I. . . am going. . . . to kill you!” he whispered with blood rage as he stormed off. A couple of hours later, Neon and Random found each other and talked about the stallion they ran into and managed to calm down. After joking around and checking out the scenery, they saw a white unicorn with purple hair standing at the other side of the room. When they got closer they realized that it was Rarity. She looked like she was trying not to cry.

“Rarity what’s wrong, are you ok?” Random asked concerned and worried. Rarity looked over at them with tears building up in her eyes.

“Prince Blueblood, the stallion of my dreams, I tried to approach him. I guess he still remembers the last time I attended this grand event, because he called me a worthless peasant that needs to go back to the farm. He called me a farm mare!” Rarity explained. As she spoke, tears started to roll down her face as she could no longer hold them back. Neon and Random looked at each other with hurt expressions on their faces.

“Where is he, we’ll try to talk some sense into him for you,” Neon offered. Rarity looked up with a hopeful smile on her face as she pointed across the room. They followed her gaze to see a servant pony serving drinks.

“Him? He looks like a servant,” Random pointed out. Rarity shook her head.

“Oh Celestia not him. Behind him,” she explained. They looked past him and saw the pony in question as both. Their eyes widen in shock and their jaws dropped in disbelief as they saw him. It was a pure white unicorn with a blue bow tie and a blond mane perfectly groomed. Random and Neon looked back at each other and smiled cruelly.

“Hey Random, we should go over to him and ‘talk’ to him, shouldn’t we?” Neon asked with cruelty and murderous intention hidden in his voice. Random shared his gaze with just as a cruel smile as Neon.

“Yes Neon, we should go over and talk to him, let’s go,” Random hinted. He turned back towards Rarity, changing his smile to a kind heart one. “We will be right back after we talk to him,” he added as they walked over to him. They walked through the crowd towards Prince Blueblood. Once they got to him, they approached him with friendly and kind smiles on their faces.

“Umm, excuse me, what do you peasants want?” Blueblood asked with an annoyed tone in his voice. Neon smiled and spoke using their unique code.

‘Alright, follow my lead,’ he hinted off.

‘I’m on it!’ Random replied. Neon turned back to Blueblood, continuing their smiling act.

“Well, we were told to come get you for a special meeting,” he explained. Blueblood raised his eyebrow at them.

“Yea, uhh, Princess. . . Scarlet wishes to speak with you,” Random added, making up a name. Blueblood’s eyes widen with excitement.

“Wait, she is here, and wants to speak with me?!” he asked with a sudden spike of interest.

“Yes, she wishes to speak with you immediately in fact,” Neon answered.

“We are here to bring you to here since she is too shy to approach you directly, we can lead you to her now if you can,” Random offered. Blueblood looked down at them with anticipation and excitement.

“Well of course. Bring me to her now!” he demanded. They led him away from the party and into the bathrooms. Once in there, Random turned back and locked the door. Once Blueblood realized that something was wrong, he started to panic. “What is the meaning of this, where is Princess Scarlet?!” Blueblood asked, starting to get worried.

“Hang on, I need to use the bathroom!” Random called over as he ran into a stale.

“Don’t flush,” Neon called over as he grabbed Blueblood and slammed him into a wall. “Now, let’s try this kindly, you are gonna walk out with us and apologize to Rarity and mean it!” he threatened with rage burning in his eyes.

“You want me to apologize to the low life of a peasant?! How absurd, I meant what I said and this pathetic attempt of intimidation will not have me change my mind,” Blueblood said stubbornly. Neon’s mouth twisted and formed into a crooked smile.

“I was really hoping you would say something like that,” he replied. Random came out of the stale and waved his hoof in the air.

“Be careful in there, it smells like something died in there three months ago,” he said in a playful manner. Neon looked at the stale and then back at Blueblood and his smile got even larger.

“Random, grab his back legs, hold him tight!” Neon instructed. Random did just that as they walked on over to the stale, guiding Blueblood in head first. He started to panic as soon as he realized what they planned to do and struggled and tried his hardest to worm his way out.

“Wait, no, no! Let me go! What do you think we are doing?! I demand you to release me right this instant!” he ordered as he struggled to break their grip. They started to bring him into the stale and put him around ten to eleven inches away from the toilet seat. Blueblood started panicing in complete horror, yelling out loud.

“No, anything but that! That is completely revolting! I beg of you to release me, I’ll do anything!” he pleaded. Neon and Random pulled him out and dropped him.

“Anything?” Random asked harshly. Blueblood looked into the cruel stare coming from his eyes.

“Ok, I get it. I will apologize to her right now. You can follow me just to make sure, I swear it’s the truth!” Blueblood explained, shaking in fear from them. Neon smiled as he looked up at Random and then back to him.

“Ok, but first we are gonna make sure you won’t be such a jerk to anyone else,” he stated.

“How?” Blueblood asked, a sign of regret in his voice. Random and Neon smiled and snickered to each other as they looked down at the quivering Prince Blueblood and grabbed a hold of his legs again.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Rarity sat at a bench on the balcony outside of the main hall, looking up at the full moon. SHe heard the doors open and close behind her as a small group of hoof steps approaching her from behind. She looked back to see Prince Blueblood, Random, and Neon standing there. Random and Neon were smiling kindly towards her, but Blueblood’s mane and coat were dripping wet and he was shivering, though it was hard to tell whether it was from fear or being cold and strangly his blue bow tie was missing from his neck. “We had a nice long talk with Prince Blueblood here, and I think he has something to say to you now,” Random explained cheerfully. They stood there for a few moments in silence until Blueblood looked back at them.

“Go on, tell her about what we talked about,” Neon instructed him, flashing a cruel grin for just a moment for him to see. Blueblood looked back at Rarity, trying to stop his shaking.

“Umm, miss Rarity. My previous actions were uncalled for, and I highly regret ever muttering those words past my lips,” he said, actually sounding like he meant it. Random jabbed him in the side.

“Continue,” Random said softly. Blueblood gulped in reply as he took a deep breath.

“And I wish that you would forgive me for hurting your feelings, even if. . . I don’t deserve such an honor,” he finished, looking like he was about to cry.

“Ok, you’re good now,” Neon added. Blueblood bowed and quickly walked out back into the main hall. Rarity smiled at the two colts standing before her.

“I don’t know what you did to convince him, but thank you for doing that for me!” she exclaimed and hugged them both, kissing their cheeks. Random and Neon blushed at this as she walked back into the main hall.

“So, this was a fun night, what about you?” Random asked playfully. Neon leaned over the edge of the balcony, staring off into the night.

“Hell yea. Not as good as nights back home, but it will do,” he replied, smirking to himself.

“You’re getting good at grabbing things with your hooves,” Random added.

“Yea, it’s all how you flex your hoof, that’s all. Once you get that down, it is kinda easy,” Neon explained. They sat there for a moment when Random started laughing to himself. “What” Neon asked confused.

“He was a unicorn, why didn’t he use his magic to stop us or teleport or something?” Random asked. Neon was about to say something till he couldn’t think of anything to reply to that question. He thought for a moment and started laughing himself.

“That is a good question. Maybe he isn’t all that smart,” he teased as they both laughed away at the task they just completed.

* * * * * * * * * * *
Shining Armour walks into the bathroom to wash up. He glanced down and saw a few strands of blond hair. “What do we have here?” he asks himself as he walked over to the stale. When he walked in he saw that it looked like someone tossed a bucket of water all over and around the stale. “What happened in here? Did somepony have a pool party in here?!” he asked himself alarmed. He looked closer and saw a clump of blond hair and a blue bow tie in the toilet bowl. “Now where have I seen this bow tie before?” Shining Armour pondered out loud to himself.

* * * * * * * * * * *

“Found it!” Shiva exclaimed quietly. She was in the forbidden section of the Canterlot Castle Library. Powerful spell books and gruesome battles were recorded here. Shiva pulled out an old book covered in dust. She wiped it off and looked at the cover. It read ‘The Rise of Death’. Shiva smiled to herself as she cast a spell on the book, making it disappear out of sight. “Now that I have the book, I no longer need to be here. I feel bad about using Neon for this, but I am more than sure that he is enjoying himself either way. Now time to leave,” She started to make her way out when she happen to glance over at another book. When she rushed over to take a closer look, it read ‘The Neon Protector’.

“What in the world?!” Shiva asked herself in confusion. She grabbed that book and teleported it as well. “Ok, enough sightseeing. I need to back it before they realize that one of their guests have vanished,” she stated. She ran out quietly and rushed out, joining the party once again.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Neon and Random made it back home in one piece, laughing and playfully pushing each other around as they walked through the door. Twilight was already there, reading a book. She glanced up and then gave them a cheerful smile. “So, did you two have fun?” she asked curiously. They stumbled around, undoing their attire as they headed for their door.

“Oh yea, we had a blast!” Neon replied, laughing as he stumbled around as he approached the basement door.

“Yea, we found the bar, and found out it was an open bar. So we took the liberty to accept the free drinks off their hands,” Random explained, falling onto his back laughing. Twilight watched this as she face hoofed herself.

“Dude, it’s ‘off their hooves’. We have hooves here silly,” Neon played around, opening the door. “You can be so stupid sometimes. Like as if you never notice anythiiiiiiiinnnnnnngggggggggggg-” he started to add on as he fell down the stairs. Twilight ran over and looked down concerned. “I’m ok,” Neon called out. Random walked past her and grabbed a hold of the railing.

“It’s fine, he’s tougher than that. See ya tomorrow,” Random assured kindly. Twilight shook her head as she walked back over to her studying. Random closed the door and walked down slowly. Random threw a blanket over Neon as he got under, having their backs pressed up against each other to keep warm.

“I love you man, you know that, right?” Neon asked raising his hoof out towards Random.

“You’re drunk Neon, but yea, I love you too man,” Random replied as he connected their hooves together, making a silent ‘clap’ by the sound. Random fell asleep first, but comfort did not meet him in his dreams.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Canterlot was set aflame as fires spread out over the gardens. Every pony was running around, screaming in terror as giant metal golems rose from the ground, decimating everyone in their paths. Changelings swooped down from the skies as they came down upon them, slashing down any pony that happened to be in their way. Random searched around as he witnessed all of them dying around him. He turned to watch the ground explode in a circular formation. A giant block of stone rose from the ground, covered in markings and chains glowing a faint blue. The chains broke and the boulder cracked in half before imploding, reassembling a pony surrounded by a dark mist. A pair of glowing red eyes met Random’s as they formed into cat eyes, staring him down from the mist. “What are you?” Random asked in a quiet, timid voice. The figure started chuckling.

“Look around you. I have taken over most of the world once before, I shall do it again, and not even your protector shall save you this time!” answered a booming voice echoing from the mist, The mist rushed over to Random, engulfing him with in the mist.

Random shot out from bed, panting heavily and sweating badly. He glanced around to find himself still in bed, at Twilight’s house, in her basement. “What the hell are with these dreams,” he whispered to himself, trying to control his shaking.

Author's Notes:

I have been working on this chapter for over a week now, finally done! I hope you enjoy this chapter, not sure how long it is, but it must be a little longer than the rest of the chapters. Still, I think you guys should enjoy it, especially if you dislike Prince Blueblood (I enjoyed that) Now next chapter is gonna be a time lapse, just so everyone is warned of it. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope to see you in the future chapters ahead. As always, have a good morning/day/evening.

Chapter 12: A Way Home

(The music that I listened to here was 'Memories' by Within Temptation, 'More than Useless' by Relient K, 'Coming Home' by Diddy [or by Dirty Money, two names here for some reason or maybe it's the same person, I don't know] and lastly, 'Feel Like a Monster' by Skillet. I hope you enjoy this chapter :twilightsmile)

Chapter 12: A Way Home

A couple of years later, Neon and Random have started to get use to life in Equestria. For Neon it was harder but even though he misses his own world, he has learned to adapt to the new living style. Each got a job to get a little extra bits in their pockets. Random ended up working at Sugar Cube Corner while Neon started working at Sweet Apple Acres. Random finished a delivery for a pony across town, he landed in front of the door of his work. He stretched his wings with a smile on his face as he entered the building. Pinkie Pie looked up from the counter and waved over to him with a bright smile on her face. “Random, welcome back! How was the delivery?” she asked cheerfully. Random looked at his watch and then glanced over at his wings.

“With these bad boys, I made it here and back within 27 minutes!” he said with a proud smile on his face. Pinkie Pie jumped up, clapping her front hooves together excitedly.

“That is a Sugar Cube Corner record! Whoa wee, that is super fantabulas! We really have been improving since you showed up!” she announced as she bounced on over to him. Random turned to her with a cheerful but bashful smile.

“Oh, I don’t know about that. I mean you guys were doing pretty good before I got here,” he tried to explain humbly.

“Are you crazy?! We were doing good, sure, but now we have tripled in profit since you showed up. Now Mr. and Miss. Cakes Have been able to keep up with the bills and take care of the fillies easily with no worries, and it’s all thanks to you!” Pinkie Pie explained proudly. Random rubbed the back of his head with his hoof as he looked away, trying to hide his pride.

“Well, I guess they have been less worried since I got here, but thank you either way,” he replied bashfully.

“Can you work the counter? I have to pick up some baking supplies from the store, and the cookies should be done by now, can you take them and and put in the next batch?” Pinkie Pie asked politely. Random smiled at her in return.

“Of course, just give me a minute to change,” he explained politely back. He closed his eyes and focused. Magic swirled around him slowly while picking up speed. Light shined over his body as his wings slowly shrinked and entered his body. A horn grew from his forehead and the magic stopped swirling around him and the light faded. Random opened his eyes and was no longer a pegasus, but a unicorn.Pinkie Pie watched in amazement after his transformation.

“Wow, that is always so neat to watch!” she exclaimed happily. Random chuckled as he made his way to the back.

“Yea, I always thought it was useful,” he replied back, smiling with pride.

“By the way, how is Neon doing working at Sweet Apple Acres?” Pinkie Pie asked curiously. Random looked at her and chuckled to himself.

“Well, I guess he is doing better. He is no longer sore all the time, but I am not sure that he truly enjoys it over there,” he explained, hiding his laughter. Pinkie Pie looked at him confused.

“What do you mean?” the pink party pony asked plainly, tilting her head to the side.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“I said DOWN!” Neon shouted out as he kicked at an apple tree. With a third kick he brought all the apples down into the baskets he lined around it. With an annoyed smile, he wiped off his fore head of sweat and put the baskets in a cart and started pulling them over to the barn. Once he emptied the cart, he pulled it back out for another load. Once he got out, Applejack was standing outside of the barn, a smug smile on her face.

“How many does that make?” she asked. Neon looked at her with sweat running down the side of his face and over his body.

“Five. Five carts today so far,” Neon answered exhausted as he started to pull the cart past Applejack.

“Whoa there partner, you look like yer about to fall over quicker than a broken tree in a hail storm. Come inside, ah’m gonna get me some lemonade, come in with me,” she instructed. Neon didn’t stop as he headed out back to the fields.

“I’m just fine. I can keep going,” he replied, trying to sound tough. Applejack chuckled to herself as she snuck up behind the cart and grabbed it. The sudden stop of the cart made Neon tip over the strap and fell over, hitting his head onto the ground and dangling there upside down. Applejack let go of the cart and walked up to the front, tilting her head so that her and Neon were on the same eye level.

“Ah reckon ya should take a break,” she insisted. Neon looked away embarrassed , trying to get himself down. After a minute or so of failing at this action, he sighed in defeat and looked up at her.

“Fine, you win, can you help me down?” he asked embarrassingly, starting to blush. Applejack chuckled to herself as she undid the straps to Neon’s harness and he fell onto the ground. He slowly got up and dusted himself off, glaring back at her. “Thanks,” he replied as he looked away.

“Yer pretty funny. Makes workin a little more enjoyable with ya around. Come on sugar cube, let me treat ya,” Applejack offered, giving a playful jab to Neon’s shoulder. He looked back at her and couldn’t help but crack a smile.

“Alright,” Neon replied back as he followed her back to the house. Once inside, Neon took a seat at the table, sighing in relief once he was off his hooves. “Oh my! That feels so much better!” he exclaimed happily as he leaned back into the chair. Applejack pulled out a pitcher of lemonade and placed it on the table and grabbed two glasses, pouring some of the cold lemonade into the glasses. Neon eagerly grabbed the cups closest to him and started to chug it down.

“Slow down there partner. If you drink it too fast, you’ll cramp up,” Applejack warned. Neon licked his lips to get the little bit that touched his lips and looked up at her with a playful smile.

“I have never gotten a cramp in my life, and I am fairly sure that I never will. So don’t worry about me, partner,” he explained, throwing in a fake accent to the word ‘partner’ to tease Applejack. She looked at him with a smug look on her face and shook her head.

“Alrighty then. Just make sure you’re not crying to me when you can’t move,” she answered back coy. She poured him another cup and drank some of her refreshment for her self. Neon downed the cold liquid again but this time poured some more himself. Applejack stared at him for a moment before chuckling to herself. Neon caught onto this and raised an eyebrow at her in question.

“What?” he asked as he drank his lemonade, this time slower. Applejack finished her glass and started pouring another.

“Ah was just thinkin’. Ever since ya started workin’ on this farm, Ah’ve seen a little more life in yer step. Ah remember the first month you were working here. Dragged yer hooves here at the start of the day and crawled back by the end of it. We are able to get more done now and workin’ is actually kinda fun with you around,” Applejack explained cheerfully. She finished her cup and walked over to grabbed another cup from the cupboard, filling it up with lemonade. Neon looked at her, slightly blushing with a silly smile on his face.

“Wow, do you really think so?” he asked bashfully.

“Eeyup,” answered a voice behind Neon. He turned to see Big Macintosh walking in and taking the glass now filled with lemonade, leaning on the counter and drinking it slowly, enjoying the flavor while quenching his thirst.

“How’s the next field Big Mac? Ready for plantin’?” Applejack asked curiously.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac replied, sipping his drink. Applejack looked over at Neon with a smile on her face. Neon’s ears laid back and his eyes narrowed.

“Why is it something tells me that I am not going to enjoy my next task?” he asked annoyed.

By the end of the day, Neon walked back home slowly, with a sack of bits equipped to his saddle. Neon groaned as he made his way to the front gate out of Sweet Apple Acres. His whole body ached from his hard days work. “Next time, I am NOT going to plant the seeds for three acres of plowed fields!” Neon declared to himself as he made his way to the gate. He looked up and saw Random and Twilight there waiting for him. He couldn’t help but smile. Normally Random was the only one waiting for him. “I wonder why Twilight is here as well?” Neon asked himself quietly. As he approached Twilight and Random, they turned to him smiling, waving over to him. Neon opened the gate and closed it behind him.

“So, how was work?” Random asked cheerfully. Neon chuckled as he slowly shook his head.

“Don’t ask, work was work. Over here, it’s pretty hard to enjoy work, but I guess it could have been worse. I see you decided to be a unicorn today,” he comment calmly.

“Yea, I needed to be for work today,” Random explained, smiling at himself.

“Well I know I’ve said the a few times already, but I am glad that you are helping Applejack out. She really appreciates,” Twilight commented.

“Well, that’s true. It’s still hard work. Even after over a year of working, I’m still not use to this crap,” Neon replied back. Random chuckled to himself.

“But at least you are getting stronger. I mean now a days you can do a lot of heavy lifting with those heavy guns you’re packing,” random pointed out playfully. Neon chuckled as he spread out his wings and lifting slightly off the ground, flexing his muscles.

“Yea, I guess with these bad boys I can- ow ow ow,” Neon started. His muscles started to cramp up and he had to land, grabbing a hold of his shoulders. “Crap, she was right!” Neon stated annoyed.

“Cramped muscles again?” Twilight asked concerned.

“Yea, I might have pushed myself again,” Neon explained, rubbing his sore muscles. Twilight giggled as she pointed towards town with her head.

“Come on, when we get home you can take a hot bath and I will see what I can do for your aches,” Twilight offered. Neon looked up at her and nodded with a kind smile. She has been helping him with his worn out muscles lately since he now goes to work every day. She uses her magic to give him massages so then he was fit to work the next day. He had no complaints, more money and he get’s some relief out of it by the end of the day. They started to make their way back home, which fortunately was close by from the gate, which Neon’s sore muscles were thankful for.

“So how much did you make this month?” Random asked curiously as they walked home.

“I made a hundred and eighty bits. I should have made two hundred but I screwed up a couple times, so it was taken out of my pay,” Neon explained Random looked back and smiled.

“Still, that’s pretty good. I made sixty this week. So we have saved up quite a bit of money, how much do we have now?” Random asked curiously. Neon thought for a moment as they continued walking.

“I am not sure. At least around a thousand or so by now,” Neon thought out loud. Random nodded in agreement.

“Yup, that sounds about right,” he agreed. When they got home, Neon went straight for the bathroom, preparing the bath. Random and Twilight sat down, just simply chatting away. Neon soaked in the bath, letting the clean water soak into his sore body.

“You know, sometimes, you just have to enjoy the little things in life,” Neon whispered to himself. He listened to Random and Twilight talking. He chuckled as he focused in on them.

“Are you sure? I mean, even if it really is there, could we really go back?” Random asked in a low voice. ‘Go back? What are they talking about?’ Neon thought to himself. He swished water around, making sure they thought he was absorbed in his bath time.

“Yes, you could. I have been in your world before and was able to return, so I know you guys could do the same,” Twilight explained. Neon stopped his breath, trying hard not to yell and scream. ‘Wait a second, they’re talking about going back home, through the portal thingy! Could we really go back?’ Neon thought to himself, starting to get excited. Neon slowed his breath and stopped any and all movement to listen carefully.

“So, we could really go home then?” random asked, unsure about it.

“Yes, you guys could go back. The portal opens every two and a half years for three. Thursday is the night it will be open. So that would be your chance to return,” Twilight explained. Neon tried to remember what day it was.

“Let’s see, I get paid on the last day of the month. Today is. . . . . Tuesday! Oh crap,” Neon whispered to himself. He jumped out of the bath and busted down the bathroom door, unable to contain his excitement. “ARE YOU SAYING WE CAN GO HOME?!” Neon yelled out loud in front of them. He was dripping wet from the bath and the bathroom door in pieces. Twilight and Random stared at him shocked and surprised from the sudden intrusion.

“Ummm, why did you break the door down?” Twilight asked confused.

“Never mind that, what was that about the portal opening?” Neon asked assertively.

“Well, the portal opens again in two days. The portal is in a city in Crystal Empire. Twilight was gonna tell you about that after your bath to give you time to relax but I guess you heard us,” Random explained, starting to calm down. Spike came down stairs, looking over at everyone annoyed.

“What’s going on? What was that noise?” he asked annoyed. Neon ignored him.

“So how long does it take to get there?” he asked with high interest.

“We will be leaving on a train tomorrow morning and we should get there by tomorrow night,” Twilight explained. SHe turned her attention to her faithful assistant. “Don’t worry Spike, Neon was just getting about the plans about tomorrow, go back to sleep,” she advised.

“Gladly,” Spike replied as he made his way back upstairs.

“We can really go home?” Neon asked in disbelief, a smile spreading on his face. Twilight looked back at him, smiling as she did.

“Yes Neon, it’s true. I should have told you earlier but I was making sure that we would be able to go,” Twilight explained. Neon smile grew twice as long, stretching from ear to ear. He leaped into the air and swooped down, picking Twilight up and hugging her as tightly as he could.

“THANK YOU!!” he screamed as he tightened his grip while holding her in the air. Twilight was shocked and surprised by the sudden sign of affection as he hugged her tightly, cutting off circulation.

“Neon. . . I can’t-” she tried to say. Neon put her down before she could finish as he leaned down and kissed her right on the lips, only lasting a second.

“Right now I love you!” he exclaimed as he swooped over and grabbed Random, sharing the same bone crushing embrace as with Twilight, who stood there where she was placed, shocked and taken back by the sudden kiss. “We get to go home buddy! We are finally going home!” Neon exclaimed excitedly as he twirled around the room, holding onto him tightly. Random soon found himself unable to breath like Twilight.

“Dude. . .air. . . I need it!” Random tried to explain. Neon could not hear him over his own excitement, dancing and flying around the room.

“We’re going home! After all these years, we are finally going home!” Neon continued to sing as he flew around the room.

“That’s great. . . really. . . But I need. . . to breath!” Random continued to plead with Neon, who was completely oblivious to Random’s lack of breathing. After a moment longer, he charged up his horn and shot Neon straight into the ceiling, breaking the grip at the last second and falling onto the floor. Once he landed, he took a deep breath. “There, now I can breath!” Random exclaimed as he stretched himself out, feeling his back crack as he did. Neon burst through the ceiling and tackled Random to the ground, smiling and laughing as he did.

“You know, normally I would be pissed about that, but I don’t care, I still love you brother!” he exclaimed. He danced around till he heard a loud snap from his back. With a small cry of pain, he fell back onto the floor. Twilight snapped out of the dazement and rushed to Neon’s side.

“Oh my Celestia, what happened?!” she cried out.

“He was hurt from the start. All of the flying around strained his back too much, and with me sending him through the ceiling, his body now has had enough,” Random explained calmly. “Idiot,” he added with a whisper.

“Still the best day of my life!” Neon exclaimed cheerfully as he tried to get up, just to feel a wave of pain wash over his body, sending him back to the ground. Twilight shook her head as she smiled at him, levitating him downstairs into the basement and to bed with Random following her. She laid him down and turned her gaze to Random.

“I need you to bring me some ice and wrap it up in a towel. I put some ice in recently so it might not be ready yet,” Twilight explained. Random nodded and went back upstairs. Twilight sighed and turned her attention back to Neon. “And you, I am going to need you to relax. You pulled your muscles and I have to try to ease the pain before it gets any worse,” she instructed. Neon did as he was told and relaxed every muscle in his body as Twilight went to work. Using her magic, she focused on all of his pressure points. Within moments, Neon was moaning quietly as Twilight went to work on him.

“I am so going to miss this,” Neon exclaimed as he slowly melted away in pleasure. Twilight giggled at his comment as she rubbed his back with her magic.

“I am sorry that I didn’t give you enough time to say goodbye to all of your friends. I should have told you much sooner,” said Twilight as she rubbed Neon down.

“It’s fine. I get to see my real friends now. Geez, I have a lot of school work to complete now, and I haven’t cleaned my room in two and a half years, that’s gonna be fun. I hope it’s still there,” Neon thought out loud, smiling as he did. “Vinyl, I’m coming home,” he added in a whisper. Twilight smiled down at him.

“You really love her. She never left your thought since you have been here,” she commented.

“Not for a single day. I put up with all of this just so I can see her again. She most likely found someone else, but as long as I can see her again, just once, I will be content with that,” Neon explained with a blissful look stuck on his face.

“Are you gonna miss it here?” Twilight asked curiously. Neon thought for a moment as Twilight continued her rub down.

“To be honest, a little bit. I mean I am so ready to get out of here, but I guess there is some fun things about this world, I have to admit. It wasn’t all that bad, but I do not belong here, I want to be back in my own bed,” Neon continued to think out loud. With the sudden burst of energy gone and the relaxing massage from Twilight, he ended up drifting to sleep. Twilight noticed this and stopped as Random brought down the ice.

“Sorry Random, but I guess I didn’t need it, he just fell asleep,” Twilight whispered. Random rolled his eyes and brought it back up, Twilight following close behind him.

“So, we leave tomorrow morning?” Random asked.

“Yup, I have to admit, you guys gave me so much chaos around here, but I am gonna miss you guys,” Twilight explained with a happy smile on her face. Random nodded his head as he yawned.

“I guess I should head to bed as well. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Random called back as he headed back downstairs. He went into bed and tossed the blanket over himself and Neon and huddled closer to him. “Tomorrow buddy, we are heading home,” Random whispered as he slowly drifted off into a deep slumber. Once morning arrived, they all got up and got on the train heading for the Crystal Empire. During the way there, they talked about what they were going to do, which was spend the night in the castle and then they would be able to leave at night the next day. Neon watched out the window in excitement as he waited to get to their destination and Spike happened to glance over at him from time to time. After a few more hours they arrived, but while they were leaving the train, they saw Death the Kid entering.

“Whoa, Kid? What are you doing here?” Random asked quickly. Kid looked at the group just as surprised but glanced over at Twilight and smiled.

“Hello friends, long time no see. I came here for a visit. This place is so beautiful,” Kid started, looking back out at the city. “Even though technology was not good at the time, every building here is built perfectly symmetrical. The city itself is perfectly symmetrical, it is such a beauty to see. Although my visit wasn’t fully out of pure enjoyment,” Kid explained, looking around cautiously. Neon and Random looked at him oddly.

“What is this other business that you had here?” Neon asked curiously.

“I felt something here. A strong sense of death magic, but once I arrived it disappeared. So I guess it is gone now. Either way, be careful for your stay here,” Kid advised.

“Oh, we are going home from here, so we won’t be long,” Random explained. Kid bowed his head and went on the train, right as the horn blew.

“If fate is kind, we shall meet again, my friends,” Kid called out as he headed inside. Neon chuckled with a confident smile.

“You mean if fate is cruel, come on Random, let’s go!” Neon called out excited. Random, Twilight, and Spike all followed him into the city. After a while, they walked around and enjoyed the scenery, grabbed some dinner, and finally got to the castle. While getting there, they heard an all too familiar voice.

“I must say, from my calculations, the symmetry is actually that from old forgotten magic. From my understanding from these readings, the stone was actually cut by a magical blade of some sorts,” the voice ranted on. When they turned the corner, they saw Edman Foureyes looking around a hallway that was part of a tour, looking at old paintings and pillars with some kind of techno glasses on his face, his metal wings tucked aside.

“Edman?” Neon called out surprised.The scientific pony turned to Neon with a friendly smile and walked up to them.

“Well hello there you two, it has been a couple years since we last met. It is nice to see you again,” he stated as he looked at Twilight. His glasses slowly disassembled and retracted to the back of his head.

“So what are you doing here?” Random asked with curiosity.

“I am here for a short break and to learn about the architecture and maybe learn a thing or two about this city’s history. This ‘King Sombra’ pony sounds fascinating, I wish he was around so I could study him,” Edman explained, thinking out loud.

“Trust me, you do not want to meet him,” Twilight assured. Edman chuckled as he smiled at her.

“Yes, you would know him, wouldn’t you? Still, my curiosity tends to cloud my better judgement from time to time. Still, I hope to see you ponies around. Sadly I must take my leave, so much of the city I must explore, so little time,” Edman explained as his horn started glowing and he teleported out. Random and NEon looked at each other and shook their heads, silently chuckling to themselves.

“Another friend of yours?” Twilight asked?

“Yea, I guess you could say that, anyway, let’s go to bed. Sleeping in this world for the last time,” Neon said cheerfully. Twilight led them up a flight of stairs to a set of bedrooms, each taking their own room. Neon laid in bed, smiling as he closed his eyes. “All smooth sailing from here,” Neon said excited, covering himself with the covers as he started to drift off into sleep.

“I’m gonna miss this world, but it was fun while it lasted,” Random said in his bed as he closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep.

“Things have been quite a mess for me since these two came into my lives, but it was still fun to have them while it lasted. Now they get to go home to where they belong,” Twilight whispered to herself as she looked over to her faithful servant, who was sleeping soundly. “Figures,” she added as she laid back down, trying to fall asleep herself.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

A black mist rushed through the halls of the underground dungeons of the castle. It stopped by a turn around a corner and formed into a hooded and cloaked pony. He glanced over to a pair of crystal ponies guarding an iron door. He chuckled as he walked around the corner and approached them. The two guards raised their spears at him. “Halt, you are not supposed to be down here!” The cloaked pony stopped in his tracks, smiling. He raised his hooves up in front of them.

“Please, I mean no harm, I am simply lost in this maze,” the cloaked pony stated, taking off his hood. His fur was dark purple and with no mane, his eyes were black and his teeth were sharp and had a faint purple mist swirling around him. The guards took a step closer, spears raised at him.

“What are you?” The other guard asked roughly. The dark pony laughed his he stared into their eyes, his own eyes flashed red for a moment.

“I am your master, now lower your weapons this instant!” He commanded. Their eyes formed a thin black circle around their eyes and snapped back, raising their spears back up.

“Sir, sorry sir!” They exclaimed synchronized.

“Good, now open this door!” the dark pony ordered. They quickly grabbed a hold of the double doors and opened them for him just as they were ordered to. The dark pony smiled as they pulled back and gave him a crisp salute as he entered. Once inside, he saw the object he was after. A horn was in a glass case, wrapped around in chains. The dark pony chuckled and with a quick flash from his horn, the chains disintegrated into nothing and melted a hole in the glass case.

“So, this is Sombra’s horn? For such a deadly former foe, he sure was lightly guarded and protected. This was a bit too easy, even for my skills,” the dark pony said to himself, chuckling. He placed the horn on the cold, stone floor and formed a circle of glowing runes around it. “I am Dark Admiral Haze Slash, former admiral for the great and powerful Death’s army, summon the great power of my former master’s energy to recreate the image of King Sombra. I willingly give away half my life force as payment for his image to be created before me,” the dark pony chanted. his mist swirled around the room and started leaving his body, entering the horn. After a moment, the dark mist formed into the red horn and swirled around it, the horn rising and a face started to mend together. A smile spread across Haze’s face as he watched the form of Sombra standing before him.

“Where am I?” Sombra asked, slightly confused and annoyed.

“We are in your old castle, King Sombra. We have work to do,” Haze instructed. Sombra looked at his hooves and around the room before returning his gaze back at Haze.

“So, why did you bring me back?” Sombra asked, narrowing his eyes at Haze, which he smiled back.

“I wish to try to retake the castle for you,” he explained.

“Why would you do that for me? What’s in it for you?” Sombra fired back quickly, starting to get defensive.

“There is a pony in the castle that needs to not be in this world, either he be in another world, or dead, I do not particularly care with one. I also need another captured, alive. Help me make this so, and I will do everything in my power to help you take your once proud kingdom back,” Haze offered. Sombra smiled down at him with cruelty sparking in his eyes.

“That’s it? Done! Tell me their names,” Sombra said with high confidence.

“Neon Rave is the one that needs to be gone, and Random Guy needs to be captured alive. Now I must warn you, I am not strong enough to fully resurrect you, so you have most of your power, but not all of it,” Haze explained. Sombra nodded as he looked past him to see the guards at stand by.

“We will need to destroy the tower. Twice I have been defeated by that blasted thing, I will not go down a third time because of it!” he declared. Haze chuckled to himself, giving Sombra a sinister smile.

“Be at ease, King Sombra, I have a plan that will surely take the castle by force!” Haze exclaimed as he laughed menacingly with Sombra.

“Tomorrow, we strike!” Sombra declared.

Author's Notes:

Neon and Random have a ticket to go back to their home world, but it looks like other forces have different plans for them. With this unknown Dark Admiral out and Sombra back to power, what is to happen to the poor Crystal Empire, and worse, what is to happen to Neon and Random? Find out everything in the next chapter, Chapter 13: Change of Plans!

Chapter 13: Change of Plans

(Not too much for music this time, I kept listening to the same song [More than usual] so here is what I did end up listening to while writing this, 'Brony Kid Raps Fast' [I don't know why] not sure youtuber name sorry, 'One Last Letter' and 'Spirit of Chaos' by Aviators, 'Ignition' by Silva Hound and The Living Tombstone, 'September' by The Living Tombstone. I hope you enjoy this story and if you choose to, I hope you enjoy the music )

Chapter 13: Change of Plans

The next morning Twilight, Random, and Neon decided to take it easy for the rest of the day. This was the last day that Random and Neon would spend in this world, so they might as well enjoy it. Twilight showed them all of the sights and took them to nice places to eat. At the top of a watch tower where most of the Crystal Empire could be seen. “Wow, this is quite a sight, huh Neon?” Random asked as he stared towards the outskirts of the land.

“Hell yea! You can see pretty far,” Neon agreed.

“You gonna miss it?” Random asked curiously, stretching out his legs and wings. Neon thought for a moment and smiled out at the sights that stood before them.

“I might, but we don’t belong here. I mean this world was fun in some ways but we really should be going home,” Neon explained cheerfully. Random leaned onto the railing with his head on his arms, staring blankly up at the sky. Neon saw his look and patted him on the back. “Come on, man. I know you liked this world a little more than me, but maybe we can visit sometime,” Neon offered. Random continued to stare off until his ears perked up, hearing hoof steps behind them. They both turned to see Twilight looking over at them, smiling.

“Hey you two, come check this out!” she exclaimed as she turned around to the other railing, leaning over it. As she did, her flank raised a little bit. Random and Neon stared at her, unable to look away. “You guys should check out this view!” she advised excitedly. Random and Neon stared mesmerized as Twilight shook her plot around, trying to get a steady position, which was enough for the two troubled stallions. With that, their wings shot out from behind them, extending out and stiff as their faces got red. Twilight looked over and stared at them questioningly and at their wings. “What are you guys staring at?” she asked innocently and puzzled. Random and Neon looked at each other quickly and then back to her.

“The view,” Random replied. Twilight smiled and then looked back. Once Twilight turned her back on them, Neon raised his hoof in front of Random for a brohoof, which Random returned the gester. They walked over to the edge to see what Twilight was looking at. The sight was breathtaking as they could see all of the Crystal Empire.

“Wow, now that’s a sight!” NEon exclaimed in amazement.

“We don’t have views like,” Random commented. Neon chuckled to himself as he took in the sight.

“Well, that’s true, I will admit, But there are sights in our world that could never match up to those in this world,” he commented back, smiling to himself cheerfully. He looked down and saw Edman Foureyes looking around the city with his weird techno glasses on. “Although we met some people that we would have never have met in our world. It feels so good that we go back tonight,” he added, mostly to himself. Random and Twilight smiled at him and returned their gaze out at the city. An explosion sounded near the center as the center of the city. A flash of fire showed from one of the streets. They all turned their gaze at the direction of the explosion.

“I am guessing that that doesn’t happen often here?” Random asked nervously. Twilight rushed over to the door, looking back at them.

“Come on, we have to warn Princess Cadence!” Twilight exclaimed in a panic. Random and Neon nodded to each other and followed her. She led them to the Castle as they heard another explosion in the distance. The ran in until they ran up to the main chamber of the throne room where they were stopped by a small group of guards.

“Halt, no one is to enter the throne room of Princess Cadence!” one of the guards explained.

“We need to see her immediately! There is an attack on the Crystal Empire!” Twilight explained in a panic. The guard did not move from his spot.

“We were not told of such an event, now please leave, we have been given direct orders that no pony is to enter the throne chambers no matter what,” the guard explained without changing his expression. Twilight stomped a hoof in annoyance.

“Could you not hear those explosions?! We have to see her now!” Twilight declared as she made her way to the large double doors. The guards dropped their spears to block her way, giving her a stern look.

“Ma’am, I will only tell you this one, leave now!” the guard ordered. The other three took a step closer towards her. Twilight looked at them and her horn began to glow. With a spark from her horn she shot out a shock wave and knocked them back and out of the way. She turned to Random and Neon with a stern look on her face.

“Come on, hurry, we have to see her no matter what!” she instructed as she pushed the doors open. The two stunned stallions shook their heads and followed her in.

“Princess Cadence, there is an att-” she started. In the room was a dark purple pony with no mane and midnight black eyes looking back at her, smiling a cruel smile while he sits on the throne, a gathering of dark mist swirling around him as he stared at her.

“Hello, welcome, the pony you are looking for is not available at the moment, so please leave a message after the explosion,” he explained. As if on cue, an explosion sounded off outside the castle, this time closer than the one before it. Twilight’s horn started glowing as she aimed it at him.

“What have you done to Cadence?!” she asked in a demanding tone in her voice. The pony who sat at the throne put a hoof under his chin and looked up at the ceiling.

“Cadence. . . Cadence. Now that name definitely rings a few bells. Where have I heard that name,” he stated as he pondered to himself. After a moment he slapped his knee with his hoof. “Oh yes, Princess Cadence. She has taken a. . . strongly advised break from her duties. If you have any problems, you may address your issues and concerns to me,” he explained, smiling menacingly towards her. A pair of spear tips aimed at her throat and at the two confused stallions behind her.

“Who are you?!” Twilight demanded as she released the glow from her horn. The intruder smiled down at her and jumped off the throne, slowly making his way towards her.

“My name, dear Princess, is Dark Admiral Haze Slash. One of the great leaders of the Dark army, maybe you’ve heard of me, huh?” he asked, leaning up to her. She thought for a second but then shook her head.

“Sorry, I’ve never heard of you,” she replied. Haze’s smile disappeared instantly as he looked at her hurt.

“Wait, really? You have never heard of me? Never?” he asked defensively. Twilight shook her head, getting annoyed. He turned his back to her and thought to himself for a moment till he spun back around, getting closer to her. “The destroyer of civilizations? Reaper of minds? Lord of illusions?” Master of thoughts? King of riots? Admiral Haze? Nothing?” he asked rapidly firing question after question, trying to get a reaction from Twilight. She looked up at the ceiling for a moment then returned her gaze back at him and shook her head.

“I have never heard of any of those names before, sorry,” she responded blankly. Haze took a step back in disbelief and sat back on the throne with a pained expression on his face.

“This doesn’t make any sense! I made sure I made a mark in history as the most cruelest admiral in my time. I mean I know it has been a few thousand years since the great cycle wars, but I mean, what the hay!” he said tom himself with annoyance. He slammed his hoof on the arm rest as he looked back up at Twilight.

“What the hell are they teaching you in school! I mean, really, never heard of me?” he asked again, trying to get a different reaction desperately. When he got nothing he looked at Random and Neon behind her. “You two!” he called out. He rushed over in a burst of mist and reformed right in front of them.

“You two colts have heard of me, right? Those names you’ve heard somewhere, right?” Haze asked desperately. Neon and Random looked at each other and then back at him, shaking their heads.

“Sorry, I’ve never heard of Haze Slash before,” Random explained. Haze turned to Neon with pleading eyes.

“Yea, I have never heard of Haze Slash, sorry,” Neon added. Haze took a few steps back, hurt filled his eyes.

“Wow, completely unknown when I did everything I could to build my reputation, all for nothing. Really makes you think what you’re doing with your life all this time. It feels like it was all wasted, like it makes you want to change,” he said with a hint of regret in his words. Neon smiled at him hopeful.

“Really?” he asked. Haze rushed at him in mist form and reformed in front of him, punching him in the face, sending him across the room.

“Of course not you fool! I have always been a bad guy, and I love it! Why would I ever stop just because the world has forgotten my power? I’ll just remind them!” he declared as he let out a menacing laugh, his voice cracking at the end. “*cough* I need to work on that evil laugh of mine, mental note taken,” he whispered to himself. He teleported back to the throne and sat back down in it. One of the guards grabbed a hold of Neon and made him get back up on all four.

“Why are the royal guards working for you?!” Twilight demanded. Haze chuckled to himself at her attempt to sound intimidating.

“They ALL don’t work for me, but whenever I met up with a group I. . . persuade them to realize that my team is on the winning side,” he explained, his black eyes glowed red for a brief moment before turning back to black, smiling over at Twilight.

“Wait a minute, you are a dark admiral! We have fought a dark admiral before!” Random stated.

“Yes, Dark Admiral Cluster Decapitator. We used to work together back in the cycle wars. We were paired together because our methods were, similar. I hated him so much. The day he died in the war, I was so happy to be honest,” Haze explained.

“Wait a minute, we killed him in Detrot over two years ago,” Random stated. Haze started laughing to himself.

“Oh please, that was his shade! Out of the dark admirals, two died that could not finish what orders were given to them. So they stayed in this world to complete their assignments. One of those two were Admiral Cluster. He died while protecting the second hideout of our secret meeting circle. Canterlot troops stormed in and took him by surprise. Once he died, his soul could not rest, so he became a shade for a second chance to complete the orders that were given to him,” he explained with a smile on his face, trying not to laugh.

“So, are you a shade or are you real?” Neon asked bravely.

“Yes, I am real and alive. One of the last dark admirals that are still around in this world still kicking,” Haze explained, starting to calm down from his laughter.

“What do you plan to do, kill me?” Random asked defensively. Haze teleported to him, wrapping a hoof around him.

“Oh please, I wouldn’t kill you. I have strict orders to capture you alive. The reason why Dark Admiral Cluster tried to kill you is because before he died, he had orders to kill you on sight. Those orders have been updated of course, we are to now capture you on sight, alive,” he explained cheerfully.

“What about me?” Neon asked fearfully. Haze turned to him slowly, smiling down at him. He teleported over and grabbed his chin, forcing him to look at him in his eyes.

“I have orders to have you be gone from this world, but the method was not confirmed. So I could make you leave through the portal, or I can kill you. You do not need to die, so killing you has no purpose. So I would like to let you leave this world alive and just never return, but the choice is yours. You can leave this world alive, or dead, either way you must leave your friend behind,” he explained. Neon head butt him in the face, making Haze stumble back.

“Go to hell, I would never leave Random behind!” Neon shouted out. Haze steadied himself as he stared back at him calmly.

“ You are brave and noble, I can respect that. I tried to show mercy for you, giving you the chance for life. You are indeed his protector. So be it then. Guards, take him outside and execute him. I do not wish to make too much of a mess in here for when King Sombra returns from his stroll around town,” he ordered. the guard hit him in the stomach with the dull side of his spear and started dragging him out the double doors.

“NO!” Random cried out as he tried to get to Neon. The guard watching him slammed him to the floor, keeping the spear to him throat. Twilight started charging up for a spell but the two guards hit her with the dull sides of their spears and knocked her to the ground, keeping their spears on her.

“You monster!” Twilight yelled out, trying to get back up.

“LET US GO!!” Random yelled out. Haze laughed out loud, this time deeper and more sinister.

“Yes, that’s right. I’m totally gonna let you go so you can clobber me. Do you think I am stupid? Now guards, take them down below with the other royal pain. I will deal with them shortly. Make sure they can’t get out even with magic,” he ordered. The remaining guards started dragging them off. Random looked over to Neon one last time as he struggled to resist the guard. They got close to the door when they heard something from the other side.

“HALT. No pony is allowed to enter here!” a guard called out. They heard something that sounded like static electricity. “TAKE HIM DOWN!” The same guard shouted from the other side of the door. Haze turned his gaze at the door and the guard holding onto Neon stopped, glaring at the door. Some explosions and gunfire could be heard as with the screams of the guards and then silence. Everyone stared at the large double doors in silence till Haze sighed in annoyance.

“Well, aren’t you cowards gonna check that out?” he asked annoyed, glaring at his personal guards. They nodded and rushed for the door. Once they got to it, the double doors exploded. They were blown off it’s hinges and flew inward. One of the doors snapped in two while the other rushed towards Haze. His eyes opened wide as he teleported away, the door crushing the throne into pieces. The other door narrowly missed the guards and Twilight teleported just in time before it hit her. Two red lasers pierced the cloud of smoke and dust, stopping once it traced over Twilight, moving onto to Random, and then lastly onto Neon. The lasers retreated to their source and heavy metallic hoof steps could be heard approaching them. Haze reformed back where the throne was as he watched the blown apart entrance as two fully metal ponies walked in.

“What the hell?!” Neon called out out of confusion.

“Why do they look familiar?” Random asked himself. One of the two metal ponies looked over at Random and Neon, it’s red glowing eyes flashed green for a second before looking back at the now recovering trator guards.

“Achieved objective three: the location of one Random Guy and one Neon Rave. Proceeding to objective four. Rescue said ponies by any means necessary,” the metallic pony said in a robotic voice, staring at the guards and Haze. One of the guards turned to Haze.

“What should we do, my lord?” he asked. Haze glared at him with a cold stare.

“Kill them of course, they are just ponies with some armour. So just kill them!” he ordered. The guards nodded as they picked up their spears and launched themselves at the two calm metal ponies. The two ponies pointed lasers at them and their backs opened up. One had a large metal barrel come out that unfolded and expanded into a gatling gun, aimed at the closest guard and started revving up, starting to spin. The other had a large metal piece come out of it’s back and opened up and expanded into a laser cannon, which warmed up and aimed at the next closest guard. They stared at them with some regret as they opened fire. The first guard came crashing down after a wave of bullets launched right through him and his armour. The next was launched into the wall from a wide laser beam, covering the ponies entire chest, leaving his armour melted and a large scorch mark on his chest and on the wall behind him. He slowly fell to the ground and hit it with a loud thud.

“Whoa,” random whispered as he watched the last two guards charge hopelessly at the new powerful opponents before them. They aimed their spears and launched them at the robotic ponies. The spears struck them and pierced them, penetrating right through them and sticking out the other side. They did not flinch as they aimed their weapons and shot down the remaining guards. Haze looked at the two in question as he took a few steps closer to them.

“Impressive, sentry bots. Long forgotten technology. These were used right before the great cycle war. I am thoroughly impressed. Now where is the controler of these fine ancient relics?” he asked with a calm smile on his face.

“I built these myself after finding the blueprints. They were flawed so I modified them. So do not dare call them relics, for they are of my own design!” answered back a voice from the smoke and dust. As it started to clear A unicorn with metal wings folded up to his side and computerized goggles on his face walked on out. He had a short, black, messy mane with light orange eyes and a very light golden body.

“Edman!” Random called out in joy. Edman looked over and smiled kindly towards him.

“Well hello to you too. Funny how we have been running into each other lately,” he commented cheerfully. He returned his gaze back to the dark admiral and narrowed his eyes. His goggles started scanning Haze’s body. “Now, about you,” Edman started. Twilight got up and approached Haze.

“What was that part about Sombra?!” she demanded to know.

“I have brought King Sombra back from his grave. It was a tricky thing to do, but with such a low form of security, you ponies were just begging for his return. So I made a small deal with him. I help him take back his kingdom and he helps with the capture of Random and Neon,” Haze explains calmly, giving Twilight a coy smile.

“Why would you do that, he will take this city over as he did before, he will spread-” Twilight started. Haze raised a hoof to get her to stop, smiling as he did.

“Alas, I must go for now, we shall meet again. You win this round everypony, but you are far from winning this war. As for you ‘Random’, this is not over. We shall be seeing each other again, very soon. Good bye, for now,” he announced as he turned into mist and slowly faded away from their sight. Edman smiled down at his friends and helped them up. As he got to Twilight, his eyes widen in excitement.

“Oh my, I living alicorn. Well this is a great day. Your magic level is very nice as well, as is your figure,” he complimented. Twilight looked at him confused, raising an eyebrow.

“What?!” she asked confused and concerned.

“Your DNA figure, it is very good, nicely constructed, solid foundation. I would love to get a sample of your DNA,” Edman answered, excitement was glowing from his eyes as he circled around Twilight, his goggles scanning her entire body. Twilight glared at him, slightly blushing.

“What do you mean by that?!” she asked, getting offended.

“A blood sample, or a few strands of hair, maybe a vial of saliva, or we could aim for reproductive sexual liquids instead, that would-” he started. Twilight smacked him across his face, knocking the goggles off. He took a step back, smiling as a large red hoof mark was left on the side of his cheek. “I might have gone a little too far with that last one,” he added, calming down. Twilight glared at him with an agitated look on her face blended with her flushed cheeks.

“You think?!” she asked annoyed as she walked away from him. Random walked up to Edman with a confused look on his face.

“What do you mean by reproductive sexual liquids?” he asked innocently. Neon, Twilight and Edman turned to him quickly.

“Shut up!” the all yelled at the same time. Random backed away from them. Twilight looked around the room, seeing the destruction before her.

“Look at all of this. This place is destroyed,” she said to herself. She turned to Edman and glared at him. “Couldn’t you have been a bit more strategic with your approach?” she added, questioning him.

“Hey, I at least was able to save you guys. With the room would be totaled, or you. So I made the best choice. The room can be rebuilt, you guys can’t,” Edman explained, getting a little annoyed. “Thank you would be nice,” he added in a whisper. He extended his metal wings and flew upwards towards the windows. “It’s getting really bad out there. It looks like the whole city is under attack,” he pointed out. They all flew up and looked outside with him.

“Wow, this is going to hell in a hay basket,” Neon commented.

“This has to be Sombra’s doing, he really is back,” Twilight whispered to herself in dread. Edman looked over at Random and just stared at him and his wings.

“Hey wait a minute, I thought you were a unicorn?” he asked puzzled. Random looked over and smiled nervously.

“Yea, I’m able to change which race I am now,” he explained briefly. Edman looked at him through his goggles and a nostalgic smile formed on his face.

“A pegasus with a high density of magical power, plus the ability to change races at will. Please give me a sample!” he demanded with a crazied look on his face. Neon came up behind him and smacked him behind the head.

“Calm yourself down you crazied scientist!” Neon yelled out. Edman rubbed the back of his head, smiling nervously.

“Sorry, sometimes my science instincts kick in,” he tried to explain innocently. Twilight took a step towards him with a stern curious look on her face.

“Wait a second, did you say your name was Edman Foureyes? As in Doctor Edman Foureyes?” she asked. He looked towards her and smiled brightly at her.

“I didn’t say that, but that is my name, I am a scientist. I work on many different fields of work,” he explained with pride.

“So the same Doctor Edman Foureyes that use to work in the underground science division under Canterlot under the direct control of Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked as soon as he was done. Edman was surprised at her quickness and raised an eyebrow at her, but continued to answer her question.

“Yes, I use to work for her in her private science division long ago,” he answered blankly, slowly starting to feel a little nervous. She took a step towards him, glaring him down with a stern look on her face.

“The same Doctor Edman Foureyes that killed the entire science division and all of his fellow colleagues?” she asked firmly. Edman smiled to himself, chuckling a little as Random and Neon looked over at him shocked.

“You did what?!” Random asked surprised.

“It was an accident, alright. I mixed the wrong kind of chemicals together and sorta discovered a new element,” Edman explained.

“Yea, a new poisonous element! A poison that decays the flesh slowly from the inside out. How did you even survive that? I read that you died in that accident as well?” Twilight asked a little puzzled but held her harsh glare at him.

“My death was. . . greatly exaggerated. I was sick and injured from the incident, but I was still functional and able to treat myself. I tried to apologize but then a pony hunt was sent for my head, so I ran and hide. Now, this is in the past alright, so can we please forget about that and leave it in the past?” Edman pleaded with Twilight.

“Really? What about the thirty-eight counts of bizarre murders from you?” Twilight asked sharply.

“Experiments that unfortunately went wrong. They were all bad news kinda ponies anyway, so I was doing a public service, but judge me later, alright? Right now, we have a threat looming over our heads that we have to deal with,” Edman explained sharply. Twilight held her glare for a moment longer until she relaxed it, but only a little bit.

“It seems we have no choice but to work with you. When we are done with this, you will answer for your crimes, do you understand me?” Twilight said with authority. Edman smiled and nodded his head with a low bow.

“I understand exactly what you’re saying, and I agree completely. Now what are we gonna do?” Edman asked cautiously.

“We have to reach the tower at the top of if we have any hope at defeating Sombra,” explained Twilight.

“So where is this tower?” Random asked.

“It’s at the top of the castle, come on, follow me!” Twilight instructed as she led them out of the room. She led them all the way to them top of the tower up the large flight of stairs. “This is it, with this, we can destroy him again, just like last time,” she explained. She looked behind her and saw Neon reaching the top, panting and sweat running down his forehead.

“That, was cruel. Ow my sides,” he complained as he reached the top and fell over onto his back. Edman flew up to the top and landed softly next to him, not a single drop of sweat on him.

“Why didn’t you use your wings?” he asked curiously. Neon looked up at him with a stupid look on his face and then over at his wings, and then back up at him.

“What?! Why didn’t you tell me about that earlier?!” he yelled out in frustration.

“Well, I just assumed that you wanted the exercise. I am now guessing that I was wrong?” Edman asked innocently. Neon looked behind him to see Random crawling up the steps, panting and having sweat running down his face in streams, looking as if he was about to die at any moment. Random looked up with grim eyes as a few tears ran down his face.

“Please, kill me,” he pleaded.

“You know you could have used your wings, right?” Neon asked, looking over to him. Random Looked up at him as more tears started forming in his eyes.

“What?” he faintly asked as he fell down on the stairway and fainted. Neon shook his head and picked him up, carrying Random on his back.

“What now?” Neon asked. Twilight stood at the center and started to activate the tower. A circle of symbols and runes appeared around her and started to glow an icy blue, slowly turning around her. “Why, this is cool!” Neon stated. Edman looked at the circle of symbols through his glasses.

“What a minute-” he started.

“This didn’t happen last time,” she said. The symbols quickly turned red and start to spin quickly, accelerating even faster. Edman’s eyes widen in fear as he flew straight at Twilight.

“GUYS, RUN!” he screamed as he grabbed Twilight and teleported away. Neon took the hint and jumped off the edge of the tower, letting himself gather speed before spreading his wings and taking off. An explosion came from the top of the tower. Creating a powerful shock wave of magical energy in it’s wake. Neon got caught in the shock wave and lost control of his flight pattern sending him towards the ground.

“Come on wings, work!” he shouted in frustration, flapping his wings as fast as he could to regain control. Once the shock wave passed, Neon got back control and flew off again before he could hit the ground. “Way too close for comfort,” he whispered to himself, wiping off sweat from his forehead. He looked back and saw Random still on his back, still sleeping. “I gotcha buddy, now let’s go kick some serious plot, or is it flank, I still don’t know the lingo here. Still, we are gonna kick some butt!” Neon stated as he sped up. He searched around and found Edman and Twilight a could of blocks away from the explosion, waving up at them. He rushed down to them, touching down a little roughly, but still good.

“You guys make it out alright?” Edman asked worried. Neon nodded and looked over at Twilight at him.

“I’m assuming you guys are good?” he asked.

“Yea, we are unharmed. I guess thanks to Doctor Edman here,” she said embarrassed. The all looked out up at the tower as the tower was set aflame, burning in the night sky. The Crystal Empire was in flames as the sounds of the crystal ponies ran around, trying to find protection and safety within the chaos.

“So, what now?” Neon asked, looking outward at the city’s destruction.

“I don’t know. I mean the tower is what was able to vanquish him. I don’t think there is another way to face him. Without the elements of harmony, I can’t think of a way for us to defeat him,” Twilight said softly, feeling tears forming in her eyes as she watched the destruction of the city, the flames illuminating colors of red, yellow, and orange into the night sky.

“So, we kinda screwed then?” Neon asked bluntly. Edman stared off at the castle and then onto the fires, his glasses picked up the smoke as it drifted off into the sky when a thought came to his head.

“Fight fire with fire,” he whispered faintly. Twilight and Neon turned to him.

“What did you say?” Neon asked confused. Random started shifting on Neon’s back, alerting him that he was waking up.

“There is another way, though this method is a lot harder, but I got an idea,” he stated in excitement. Random woke up and looked around.

“Were are we?” he asked confused and tired, yawning as he stretched his limbs. Neon let him down as he shook his head. Random looked past him and saw the city. “Oh my god, what happened?!” he asked startled.

“Don’t worry, just listen alright?” Edman asked, getting their attention. When they all turned to him, listening intently, he smiled as he moved his eyes from one pony to the next. “Alright, change of places, instead of beating him by his weakness, we are taking him on by his strength!” Edman stated with confidence. Twilight looked at him like he was a complete idiot.

“What the hay are you talking about?” she asked confused. Edman smiled as he leaned in closer.

“We attack him head on!” he explained with a victorious smile.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Sombra swirled in from a cloud of mist in a chamber that had little to no light. He looked into it as a small group of guards approached him. "King Sombra, lord Haze Slash is in the next room awaiting your arrival," the guard announced. Sombra smiled contently as he followed the guard. He was led into a room with only a few candles lit, only showing a small portion of the room. A pair of dark glowing eyes could be seen from across the table.

"Please King Sombra, sit," the pony offered. Sombra looked at the seat hesitantly but then sat down in it.

"You destroyed the tower I see. Excellent work, now they have nothing they can use to destroy me," he said confidently.

"Not true, that is just the easiest way. If they go full on war against you, they may be able to out power you due to your weakened state, Leave it all to me, I have an idea for you," the mysteries pony explained, smiling and snickering to himself in the shadows.

"Enough of your games, Haze Slash, what are you planing?" Sombra demanded to know, slamming his hoof onto the table. The mysteries pony looked at Sombra's hoof and then back to his face.

"No more illusions, no more blindly exploding buildings, no more behind the scenes. Change of plans, you are going at them with full force!" Haze explained, revealing a sinister smile, laughing to himself.

Author's Notes:

Alrighty, so some chaos is spreading around in this mess. Looks like Neon isn't willing to give up his friend to go back home. What do both sides have planned? What are they going to do? Will Neon ever be able to get back home? (This feels kinda odd here, asking myself these questions when I already know the answers ) We shall find out more when the next chapter comes out in a few days. Chapter 14: Put to Rest. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing. As always, have a good morning/day/evening

Chapter 14: Put to Rest

Chapter 14: Put to Rest

The next morning, Edman, Twilight, Random, and Neon flew down the halls of the castle, turning around corners sharply, looking around for the prison. “Are you sure about this? I mean what if it doesn’t work out exactly as planned?” Random called out from behind Edman. He turned back smiling, flying backwards.

“Then we will die and the whole city will be forever enslaved by our foe and soon the world will follow,” he explained bluntly and turned back around, wearing a smile on his face the whole time. Random glared back at him.

“Thanks for being so optimistic about it. I feel so much better about all of this,” he replied sarcastically. Edman chuckled to himself.

“How is it you are so happy about all of this?” Twilight asked questioning his motives.

“I have always wanted to fight Sombra since the day I learned about him. His very being fascinates me. I wish to do a very complexe autopsy on him” Edman explained with a crazied smile forming on his face. Random looked at him from the back.

“What is an autopsy?” he asked with a confused look on his face. Edman turned to face him with his crazied smile on his face.

“I want to tear his insides out and find out what makes him tick,” he explained, looking like a mad man. Random stared at him with fear as he gulped. Edman turned back to face the front, seeing a group of guards. They landed near by as they raised their spears. Once they saw Twilight they lowered their weapons.

“Princess Twilight? What is going on here?!” one of the guards asked confused and concerned.

“Where are the rest of-” Twilight started. Edman took a step past her, looking at the guards with a cold stare. “Edman, what are you-” she started. Edman kept his stare as he lifted one of his wings and beheaded one of the guards, his body falling lifelessly to the floor. The other four stepped back at the sudden attack. Twilight’s jaw dropped in horror as Edman stood there, a splash of blood on his wing. “Edman, why would-” once again, she started.

“They found out, kill them!” another guard announced as they charged at them. Neon shook off the shock and flew straight at one of them, slamming him right into the wall, making a small crack in it. Random took flight and had one of them chase after him. Edman smiled sinisterly as he and a guard raised their weapons and clashed together. Twilight was frozen in shock as the remaining guard charged after her, spear raised aiming at her neck. Neon saw this and flew over to her.

“Snap out of it!” he shouted in a panic. Right as Twilight did and looked over, the spear tip as inches away from penetrating her throat. Neon tackled him just in time and sent him flying towards the other side of the room, quickly recovering and standing firm and ready while the other guard did the same. Twilight recovered and aimed her horn towards the guard Neon left. As he was getting up she had the stone around him clamp over him, immobilizing him and keeping him in place. Random was trying to find a way to fight off his attacker.

“Surrender now and you will be captured unharmed!” The guard offered. Random ignored his demands as he looked around his environment for something he could use to his advantage. ‘This guy is not letting up. Maybe I can use the curtains or something? Maybe if I were to-” he started thinking. The guard caught up with him and grabbed his back hooves, throwing him down to the floor. After a hard landing, the guard got on top of Random, pinning him to the ground.

“Get. . . . off. . . of. . . . . me!” Random grunted, trying to break free from the guards grip on him. He simply held him there, expressionless as he held him in place.

“We could have done things differently. If only you stopped resisting so much, your friends-” he started. A beam of magic hit him from the side and launched him into the wall, knocking him out. Random turned to see Twilight’s horn faintly glowing and Neon rushing over to him.

“Are you ok there buddy?” he asked concerned. Random chuckled, smiling up at him.

“I’m good, thanks,” he replied.

“Now why did you attack the guard?! There is no way you can tell the difference between the traitors and the real guards!” Twilight declared enraged, glaring down at Edman. He looked to her, his goggles scanning around in the lenses.

“Their eletrical outputs were off. My Scouter indicated that their brain wave activities were producing negatory neutrons and electrons once we approached,” he explained calmly with a smirk on his face. Twilight raised a confused eyebrow at him while Neon stared at him with a highly confused look while Random went to a corner, huddled up in a fetal position rocking back and forth slowly.

“Translations?” Neon asked confused. Edman gave out an annoyed sigh as he rolled his eyes.

“My Scouter told me they were thinking aggressive towards us,” he explained slowly. Neon nodded as he understood and Random came back from the corner.

“Wait a second, your goggles can read minds?” he asked excited.

“Well, to an extent. I can not tell you exactly what they are thinking, just the type of thought,” Edman further explained.

“Cool, ok, do me next then. What am I thinking?” Random asked confidently as he squeezed his eyes shut. Edman rolled his eyes again as he looked at him carefully. The Scouter scanning his body. After a moment, it flashed purple.

“You pervert!” Edman whispered as he walked away annoyed. Random stood there with his eyes wide up, unable to move.

“IF you guys are done, we still have to look for Princess Cadence and stop this invasion!” Twilight exclaimed annoyed.

“Haze said something about a royal pain in the dungeon, right? We should check there to see if he might have been talking about her,” Edman explained. Neon, Random, and Twilight nodded their head as they rushed over, following Twilight to the dungeons. Haze sat in a corner of a pillar in the room, smiling to himself as he looked at a dark gold pocket watch and over at Neon and the others flying away.

“Tell me, good sir. What would you do if you miss the portal? You have two nights left, do you think you can wait another thirty moons for the next one? What does this world even mean to you? I think I should take care of this situation at hoof before it get’s a little too annoying,” he explained sinisterly. He closed the pocket watch and placed it in a pocket in his cloak. He stood up and disappeared into the shadows, snickering to himself.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“Do you think this is it?” Random asked curiously, staring down a dark flight of stairs. Neon stared at a sign above the stairway entrance.

“Well, this sign that ‘ever so happens’ to be above it ‘happens’ to say that this ‘happens’ to be the entrance to the dungeon, that we ‘happen’ to be looking for,” Neon explained sarcastically. Random turned around and walked next to him to look at the sign and the turned to Neon.

“Do you think so?” he asked innocently. Neon stared at him blankly as he walked up to the wall and slammed his face into it repetitively. Edman looked at him confused.

“Does he do that often?” he asked concerned. Twilight face hoofed herself.

“He does sometimes, but hasn’t done it in over a week now. A new record!” Random explained in a cheer. Edman face hoofed himself as well.

“I can see that one day you will be the death of him,” he whispered to himself mostly. He looked down the stairs and took the first step. “Come on, we have to go check to see if she is down here. My Scouter reads a strong magic level from-” Edman started. His Scouter turned red and made a quiet beeping sound which made him freeze in his tracks.

“Edman, what is that?” Twilight asked. Edman slowly turned to her and ran back up.

“Everyone, get out of here, look for Princess Cadence and get out of here!” he ordered as he looked down the hallway.

“What’s wrong?” Random asked worried. Edman turned to him sharply, rage building in his eyes.

“JUST RUN!!” He screamed as he bolted down the hallway, taking flight. Random and Twilight did as he ordered and started running down the stairs. Neon stood there for a brief moment, questioning it but then followed suit.

“What do you think is wrong?” Twilight asked, running carefully down the flight of stairs into the dungeon.

“I have seen that kind of look before, and it is not a good sign,” Random explained, frowning at a distant memory from the human world.

“Do you think he is gonna be ok?” Twilight asked concerned. Neon chuckled at the question.

“He will be fine, men like him, don’t go down very easily,” he answered cheerfully.

“Men?” Twilight asked back confused. Neon gave an annoyed grunt.

“You know what I mean!” he yelled back, Random laughing at them.

“You guys are a riot sometimes, you know that?” he replied hysterically.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Edman flew down the hallway and stopped after a sharp turn, scanning the room. “I detected it here, now if I can just pinpoint the exact-” he started. He felt a sudden magical force slam into him from behind and launched him into the floor.

“So, you decided to come alone? Such a foolish choice to make,” A dark, sinister voice spoke out from behind him. Edman slowly got up, brushing himself off and turned to his attacker who stood in front of him in mist, Sombra.

“King Sombra, we finally meet at least, I have been a small fan of your work. I have always wanted to meet you in person,” Edman explained cheerfully. Sombra chuckled darkly at that.

“Is that so? Now tell me, why is that?” he asked curiously. Edman smiled cheerfully.

“I have always wanted, ever since I first heard about your legend, to tear your insides out!” he explained as he jumped up, slashing at him with his metal wings. Sombra easily dodged this and retaliated with a swift kick to the chest, knocking him onto his back. Edman slowly got back up as Sombra picked him right off the ground, chucking him across the room like a rag doll.

“Such foolish attempts of resistance. I was starting to believe that you were smart, but I guess I was wrong,” said Sombra as he laughed at Edman.

“No, you were right,” he whispered, getting back on all four hooves. Sombra watched him with a confident smirk on his face as Edman got back up and steadied himself. “I am always three moves ahead,” he continued. He looked up at Sombra with a big smile on his face, beaming at him from across the room. His Scouter scanned the room within seconds and snickered to himself. Sombra’s smile faded away and was replaced with annoyance.

“What are you snickering about?” he asked irritated. Edman’s horn started to glow orange.

“Set seven, engage!” he cried out as four circles appeared around Sombra around forty feet away from him, boxing him in. In each circle, a sentry pony appeared. Their eyes lighting up in crimson red and stared Sombra down with their emotionless stare. He looked at them all and started laughing.

“You are such a pathetic fool! Do you honestly think they can do anything to me? I can not be harmed by magic nor physical attacks. Such a sad attempt at intimidating,” Sombra commented, snickering at Edman’s sentry bots. Edman smiled at him, chuckling to himself.

“You are right, oh so very right, that is why-” the sentry bots opened up their backs and raised up a pair of laser cannons, smaller than the ones before. “- I won’t use either of them!” The lasers warmed up, taking aim at Sombra, who stood there, laughing loudly at the sentry bots. Edman stood by, staring Sombra down with a stern look and a smile burned onto his face as his horn continued to glow orange, his smile turned more sinister and crazied as he kept his eyes on Sombra. “I just can’t wait to get a sample from your remains! All the new testings and experimentations that I could do with just one sample!” he stated excitedly. with a gleam from his eyes the sentry bots fired off their lasers, firing in rapid fire motions, the lasers passed right through Sombra, doing no damage to his form as it rebuilt right after impact.

“You are indeed quite an idiot. I actually thought that-” he stopped as he looked at the crazied smile of Edman’s as he grew wider and darker, sending a shiver down his spine. Edman’s scouter observed him, little circles moving rapidly in his vision, all different colors as numbers filled the screen faster than he could see. The sentries weapons made a more eletronic firing sound as the red lasers became slower and changed color to light blue. At the instant the shots went through his vapour form, this time to mist not rebuilding as the new attacks sliced through him. “What is the meaning of this?!” he asked in panic. Edman chuckled at this new sense of fear.

“Magical attacks will do nothing due to your high resistance to it. Physical attacks do nothing due to the fact that you have a mist form, but what happens when I were to use an attack that vaporizes mist? The answer, plasma! There for, your regeneration means nothing, when there is nothing to regenerate!” The barrage of plasma continued to cover him, making his form smaller as he tried to block the incoming attacks, failing miserably. After a moment longer he retreated away, trying to find cover. Edman raised his wings and took flight, his sentry bots firing off jet packs in their hooves and following the target.

“Impossible, I must get out of here!” Sombra declared as he fled down the hallways of the castle, the sentry bots right on his tail, along with Edman. He searched for a means of escape, but with every move he makes, they were right on him, continuing their constant fire of hot plasma. Edman laughed menacingly at his attempts of retreat.

“Do not bother, Sombra! Make this easier for me, let me gather a small sample of your blood, let me dissect you and remove your internal organs! I want to see how you function!” He shouted out at him, a small bit of drool left his mouth as he stared at Sombra with a look of insanity, laughing as he gave chase. Sombra turned to a wrong corner and found a dead end. Edman and the sentry bots touched down, surrounding him. Sombra took a defensive position as the sentry bots cooled down their weapons, keeping their aim on him.

“Now don’t do anything stupid, if I vaporize your entire body, I have nothing to rip apart and learn from! I promise it will only hurt the first hour or so“ he stated, he laughed again, a high pitched, crazied laugh as his eyes were lost of humanity, he heard some hoof steps coming up behind him, heavy.

“We are here to assist in his capture, do you require assistance?” Said a professional and husky voice. Edman could tell it was the guards coming to help him.

“No, that is not needed. I have him, he is mine!” Edman declared, keeping his psychopathic stare locked on Sombra, who snarled back at him. He took a step forward towards Sombra and felt a heavy thud on the back of his head, knocking him out. His vision faded away as he fell unconscious. Sombra looked at the guards confused who then bowed in return.

“King Sombra, Lord Haze ordered us to assist you if needed, we spotted you and-” the guards started.

“Enough! I understand, now get up, NOW!” Sombra barked back. The small group jumped to their hooves and stood at attention. Sombra shook off the fear and walked on over to Edman, his sentry bots now unpowered for the lack of control from their controler. “Such useful toys of his, lock him up in the dungeons, I will deal with him personally later” Sombra ordered sternly. The guards nodded and rushed over to grab Edman, dragging him off. SOmbra looked at the sentry bots and with a rush of magic, he sent a powerful shock wave at one of them. It launched backwards and slammed onto the wall, breaking into pieces. Sombra frowned at this.

“I was chased off by these weak pieces of machinery? I can’t believe it!” Glances back at Edman with anger building in his eyes. “I hope you awaken soon, for I wish to repay you for your little chase, in full force!” he declared. He watched as Edman was dragged off and went back into the corridors of the castle, disappearing into the darkness.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Neon, Twilight, and Random rushed down into the dungeons, following the twisting corridors and found a pair of crystal guards, they seemed to be in a panic. Twilight stepped forward as they turned to here.

“Princess Twilight, what in Celestia’s name is going on?! Two of our fellow guards attacked us, almost killing us!” the guards explained in a panic. Twilight thought carefully before speaking, wanting to explain what is happening but to not startle the already scared guards.

“Sombra has come back, this time he has help. A unicorn that appears to be a pony of dark magic is causing panic alongside of him, turning some of our fellow guardsmen against one another. Is Princess Cadence down here?” she asked, looking over at them sternly. They looked at each other confused and then back at her.

“Why no, she is in her bed chambers last we knew. We never heard of her attending to her royal duties” they explained, trying to calm down, they heard heavy hoofsteps coming from behind them, Neon, Random, and Twilight all hide to see the incomers. A group of five unicorn guards came in, levitating two of their fellow guardsmen when the two previous guards held spears at them.

“WHO DO YOU SERVE?!?!” Shouted the other guard. One of the guards grabbed his spear with his magic and tossed it aside in anger.

“Now is not the time for that, grunt! We have injured who need medical attention, where is the jailer?! He should have some medical experience!“ Ordered the unicorn, the trio came out of their hiding spots and went up to them, Twilight’s horn glowing.

“Their injuries are not grave, they will make it, but we need to patch them up soon” Twilight instructed, she ripped up some cloth from a banner on the wall, wrapping them up carefully, after she was done she looked up at the unicorn group. “What happened”?

“We were ambushed by our fellow soldiers. We were heading to Princess Cadence’s private chambers to insure her safety, that’s when they met up with us. At the time we had twelve and they attacked us from behind. We thought they were with us, but they were against us. After we fought them off, we rushed here to regroup with someone and to patch up” The guard explained. Twilight listened carefully and turned to the previous two guards.

“OK, you two, we need to scout around here, see if we can-” she started. The flat end of a battle ax hit her in the back of the head, knocking her to the side of the room. The unicorn lifted the ax with a sinister smile. The previous two guards tried to draw out their weapons but were killed by the others, spears launched into their chests. Random and Neon tried to make a run for it but were stopped before they could take a step.

“What about these two?” one of the unicorn guards asked.

“Lord Haze said he wants them captured, alive. knock them out and throw them into one of the cells, and cover Princess Twilight’s horn, no need for her to use magic” The bigger unicorn ordered. They nodded and slammed their weapons against the back sides of their heads. They were thrown into separate prison cells. After locking them in, they left the room, leaving the dead guards bleeding all over the floors.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Out in the hallways near Princess Cadence’s bed chambers, Haze was looking out the windows, crystal ponies trying to tame the fires that he made for them, chuckling to himself. “I may have gone a tad bit too far for them, oh well. It was still fun” he said to himself. As he watched the outside a spear landed close to his head, impaling the wall. Without flinching he slowly turned his head away from the window to see a group of nine unicorns heading for him, they looked enraged.

“Haze! We know you captured Princess Cadence, we will kill you for your actions!” He declared, arming up another spear with his magic. Haze chuckled at this.

“Oh my, why would you think that I would ever do such-”

“Can it! You can’t talk yourself out of this one, we will kill you, and you can’t do a thing about it!” The guard interrupted. Haze stared at him annoyed and then sighed, he waved his horn and bit out the candles around them, dimming the room but was still able to be seen.

“Very well, you wish to combat against me, then come at me with everything you got!” he demanded with a smirk on his face. He turned into mist and charged at them, coming up and punching one in the face and kicking the one behind him. They ganged up on him with weapons drawn, slashing out for him. Haze toyed with them as he playfully dodged them and made a few punches now and then. A sword came down and slashed across his chest, making it bleed.

“Ow, what the?! This isn’t possible!” Haze declared in a panic. Seeing the weakness they continued the assault. Haze was panicked as he grabbed a hold of one of their spears and impaling the guard behind him. He lifted off from the now dead guard and kicked one in the face, swing across at another’s throat, spilling out his blood onto the floor. Another guard stabbed him in the side and another in his chest, he held onto them and fell onto the floor, bleeding out. The head guard smiled down and stuck down at his chest with his sword, smiling with satisfaction.

“Good work gentlecolts. We got him. Now we need to find a way to fight Sombra off and then the Crystal Empire will be safe at last!” With a motivated cry of hope, they started moving out, leaving Haze’s dead body on the ground bleeding out. As they walked away his body shimmered and turned into one of their guards. As the head unicorn lead his troops they all faded away from his vision, he panicked as the room was filled with darkness and no sound could be heard. He drew his sword back out and a spear as he scanned the darkness.

“Where are you? Who’s there? SHOW YOURSELF! “He demanded in fear and anger. Snickering could be heard from the darkness as he felt someone grab his shoulder. Upon reflex he reached around and made a slash for the source, seeing nothing there. He suddenly saw six copies of Haze staring at him, all wielding a sword and darting at him. He panicked and charged at them, swinging his sword and spear wildly, trying to cut them all down in a panic. They all put up a brutal fight but after a few minutes, he slayed the last one. Blood all over his armour, mane and face, he stared at the dead bodies of all the Haze copies, he observed around as the darkness receded and he could now see the room.

“You tricky bastard! I got you this time, all of you!” He looked up in a sigh of relief, closing his eyes as he felt the blood of his foe run down his body. When he looked back down and opened his eyes he no longer saw the bodies of Haze, but his comrades. Their bodies showed betrayal as their blood flowed across the room, he dropped his weapons and took a step back in fear and shock.

“Good job, I couldn’t have done it without you! “called over a voice from above. The last guard looked up and saw Haze staring down at him with a deviant smile. “I mean really, butchering your very own troops like that, your friends even, that was priceless sight to see” He explained as he gave a polite nod down at him. The guard looked back down at himself, the blood slowly trailing down his armour and dripping off his face, still warm.

“This. . . . this blood. . . . . is not yours. . . . . but that of my comrades?!” he thought outloud. His eyes in shock and trauma he fell to his knees and screamed in fury into the skies. Haze chuckled and jumped down in front of the window.

“Come on, you can still avenge them, here. Give me your best shot, and I will stand right here for you. Free shot” he offered playfully. The guard picked up his sword and spear and charged with everything he had, he launched himself at Haze and swung with everything he had. As he reached him he swung down at him, passing right through him and fell out of the window, falling twelve stories and landing on the ground. Haze looked down at him and laughed.

“Have a nice trip, see you next fall. Oh I crack myself up sometimes!” he said to himself, slapping his knee as he laughed. He walked down the hallways as his cheerful smile turned serious. “These games are fun, but it is time I tied up some loose ends, Sombra is weaker than I thought he is, getting chased off by a crazy scientist like that. I don’t need him anymore. Time to step it up a notch and get into the real game!” his eyes turned from black to purple as he smirked to himself, placing a hoof on the wall which lit up in a column of runes towards the ceiling. A circle of runes surrounded himself, matching the same color and style as the wall as he snickered. “Activate spell trap, End Game!”

Author's Notes:

So so so sorry that I made you guys wait so long for this. I have been having so many issues from my little vacation come at me left and right, but I am officially back! Consider this my Christmas present to all of you! My return. I will be a little slow to get back in the hang of things but now I am back in action. Here is the next chapter as promised! So what is this dark admiral cooking up now? Seems like nothing good. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as I've enjoyed writing it for all of you. I hope you have a good morning/day/evening, bye bye for now and Merry Christmas every pony!