Prologue: Equestrian's Blessing

When Noctis was a kid, he never thought that he would end up like this.

As the successor to the throne of Insomnia, he knew that his life would be a bit different from that of a normal person, but never to this extreme.

He never thought that he would be fighting giant gods for their blessings, travel around crazy places to collect ancient weapons. Seriously! Who puts a grave at the side of a crater with a sleeping giant earth god? Oh, and robots. Don't forget about the creepy robots.

But it doesn't matter anymore, because all of that ends here.

Finally... It's over.

"Ow! Oof! Don't you think this is a bit unfair!? No no no, not the face! Ahh! Why!?"

"YOU DEFILED MY CORPSE WITH CURSES AND HUMILIATED IT FURDER BY HANGING IT LIKE SOME SICK, PERVERTED CHANDELIER, YOU PSCYCHO!"

"YEAH! What she said!"

Well, sort of... The chosen king wavered as he watched the Kings of Lucius gang up on Ardyn.

Wow,
they're really kicking his ass... Noctis tried to chuckle when the Rouge King, literally kicked Ardyn in the ass, but flinched in pain instead, reminding him of his inevitable death.

Well, couldn't ask for a more awesome way to go, I guess... And what a way to go it was indeed! How many people could claim that they died by freeing the world of all it's evil and darkness?

A lot apparently, but he doesn't know that.

"Hello?"

It sure has been a crazy week. At least, in my perspective.

"Excuse me, um..."

Pushing cars, fighting monsters, sneaking around, almost dying...

"Um, Mister, can you hear me?"

Dying, huh?... I wonder if I get to see Luna again on the other side...

"If you don't stop ignoring me, I'm gonna poke you with my horn..."

... Could Death even retrieve my soul in another dimension?

"I'm warning you, it's really pointy..."

I wonder what the guys are doing right now? I hope they're okay...

"Alright, you asked for this."

Poke.

"Ow! What the heck! Can't you see I'm having... A... Moment..." Noctis faltered as he finally looked at who or what's been trying to get his attention. His eyes widened.

It's a horse like creature! Standing fifteen feet tall, with red mane and tail the reminds him of moving star dust, a white coat that reminds him of softly glowing moon and wearing a set golden horse armor, horseshoes and tiara that gives her an air of royalty. She also appears to have a long horn and a pair of wings.

"Now that I have your attention, can you tell me what's going on here?"

Noctis kept gaping at her.

"Oh! Apologies, that was rude of me. Let me me introduce myself!" The giant, magical, talking horse continued. "I am Fausticorn, the Equestrian goddess, nice to meet you!

"Um, hi..." The young king replied.

"I'm in charge of the universe, nearby, you see." Noctis nodded. "Then I sensed the neighbors causing a disturbance, so I came to see what the ruckus was all about. So, um..." Fausticorn gestured towards the chaos. "What's up with them?"

Recovering from his shock, Noctis explained everything from his mission to get his fiance, the invasion, retrieving the Royal arms, Lunafreya's sacrifice, his decade long sleep, and finally, Ardyn's defeat.

"Oh, you poor dear!" Noctis yelped as the Equestrian hugged him. "You've been through a lot!" Fausticorn loosened her grip as she heard Noctis' pained hiss. taking a good look at him, the alicorn finally noticed the burns on the King's body. By the time he finished his story, the damage had spread over half his body.

Noctis thought he was about to pass out when he felt something cool tapped to his face. He opened his eyes to see droplets of water floating all over near his head. The feeling of cold water on his burning skin was kind of comforting, then he heard the sniffling and suddenly, it's not as comforting anymore.

"Hey, don't cry, it's- cough. It's okay"

"It's just so sad! All your hard work, all that pain and for what. After everything you did, after everything you sacrificed. If anyone's worthy of ascension, it's you! It's not fair!"

Noctis let out a sad laugh. "Eh. I guess it isn't..." The king closed his eyes, accepting his fate and awaiting his eternal peace. "... But I'm the chosen king, it's my duty to 'Pay the Blood Price' to finally destroy the source of all monsters from my world. It's a suckey destiny, I know, but what can you do?"

The alicorn put a hoof on her chin, contemplating what Noctis just said. "... What can I do? That's it! I know just the perfect thing!"

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Noctis asked. The alicorn booped him on the nose and giggled. "You'll see~"

Fausticorn released the king from the hug and flew a bit in front of him. Noctis watched her curiously. The alicorn then, closed her eyes, spread her wings, cleared her voice a little bit and concentrate. She opened her eyes, now glowing white, and spoke...

"In the name of the six holy covenant, I call upon Harmony's treasure, precious light." There was a pulse of energy and judging by the amount of pressure, there was strong magic at work.

"I, Princess stellar guardian of detinies, deem Noctis, chosen king, unsung hero. With his Noble kindness and loyal spirit, pure joy and and honest heart, generous sacrifice and faithful trust, worthy of ascension, and I hereby propose, should he accept, a second chance, a second life, to meet the conditions, to complete his sacrilege, to join the rank of God's!"

A blinding light flashed. Noctis had to close his eyes, when he opened them again, he saw the alicorn approaching. A speck of light floating between her hooves. It kind of reminds him of a single star, twinkling in the night sky.

She stopped in front of him and smiled. "Harmony heard my prayer and answered with a miracle, this precious light..." She held the light closer to him. "Will you accept?"

Noctis looked at the light, bewildered. He understood what she's saying, what she's offering. If he accepted it, he will get another chance somehow. But should he accept it? On one hand, he doesn't really care that much about ascending. Sure, he gets to wear a cool armor and be taller, but what's the point? What does ascended Kings do anyway? I bet they just stand around for all eternity. On the other hand, a second life sounds interesting. Deep down, he knew that he feels unsatisfied with his previous life. Not that he doesn't cherish the time he had with his friends, he just feels like his life ended too soon. He hardly had a normal childhood, so it sure would be nice to see what that's like. Granted he doesn't know if his next one would be normal. He could be reborn as royalty again for all he knew.

Judging by the intense burning sensation in his entire body, he should decide soon...

He tried looking for inspiration elsewhere. Realizing how quiet it has gotten, he looked at where the fighting had been happening and saw the King's watching him. They probably heard everything.

He looked at Ardyn next, laying unconscious on the... Invisible floor... Somehow. Judging by the small amount of miasma, steaming out of him, they're not finished with him yet, but will be soon.

He looked at what he recognize as his dad, silently asking what to do.

King Regis, sagely nodded his head.

..... What?

His wise, all knowing, father, nodded once more.

... O-Okay?

Having the tact to not embarrass his father in front of the other kings, Noctis nodded back, hiding the fact that he's clueless to what his dad was trying to say.

Thanks dad. Very helpful...

Noctis sighed, turning towards Fausticorn once more. "I'm sorry, but I-" he froze as the alicorn started tearing up the moment he said sorry. "Uhh..."

The alicorn gestured the light closer to him, eyes pleading, trying to coax him to change his mind. When he didn't move, she let out a disappointed sigh. "I... I see. I get it. We just met after all and here I am, inviting you to my home. I don't know what I was th-thinking. Sniff. I'm, hic, I'm sorry, sniff, I'll just g-go n-now, sniff, alone,"

Gerk! My heart! What's happening?

He looked at the kings once more, hoping for actual guidance this time, but found no help as they're starting daggers at him. The Rouge, the female king, (Don't question it.) looked particularly mad at him for making the, nice, cute, pony goddess, cry.

Defeated, Noctis sighed, "fine, I accep- OOF!" He didn't get to finish his sentence as the alicorn enveloped him in a crushing hug.

"Thank you! Thank you!" She let go of him bringing the light closer for him to take. "I promise, you won't regret it! Eee! Finally, someone who could ascend to the heavens! Some of my ponies have ascended before, but non of them reached the next plane of existence! Ooh, I'm so excited! We're going to have so much fun!"

Calming herself, the alicorn cleared her voice once again. Lifting the light towards him, she spoke. "Take it! This Devine miracle of light and life, Oh, chosen king! Your new life, your new destiny!"

Well, this is it.Noctis grabbed the light. No going back now.

The moment he touched it, as if by magic, Noctis instantly knew what to say. "I, king Noctis Lucius Caelum, Chosen king of Insomnia, accepts this heavenly miracle, Harmony's precious light! And with this, I solemnly swear to my kingly promise! To abide to the laws of the six holy covenants of harmony! I promise to be all that is good! To be Truthful, compassionate, joyful, devoted, charitable and companionable! With this promise, I take within me Equestrian's blessing." The light phased inside his chest, bathing him with a new sense of peace. All of his pain and worries, washing away.

"And with that, the contract is complete." Fausticorn beamed. "See you in a few years!"

After that, the world went white.

King Regis, Second last king on the throne of the line of Lucius, sagely and wisely nodded his approval at where his son had been standing a few seconds ago. He's sure that, wherever the space unicorn had taken him, he would be fine. It's a space unicorn for crying out loud! He bet his useless right leg that her dimension was full of rainbows and sparkles and no weekly monster attack and disasters at all!

Regis nodded again, praising himself for how wise and sagely he was. He turned his attention back at the task at hand.

"Time to finish this..." The other kings nodded in affirmation. Regis was impressed by how skillfully they had done it.

One day, Noctis, wherever you are. Maybe you too, shall be wise in the ways of the Royal head bobbing...

The kings was about to unleash their ultimates. Showcasing their proficiency at the art of Overkill when they were caught off guard by the Darkness when, what's pathetically left of it, suddenly exited Ardyn's mouth and desperately shoot towards where the chosen king and alicorn had disappeared.

"No! Don't let it escape!" One of them shouted, realizing what the darkness was trying to do.

Some threw their weapons at it, others shot magic and the rest tried to cage it in a barrier. But the miasma was too fast! When it reached it's destination, it disappeared in a blink and successfully escaped. They tried to follow it but it was too late. The residual teleportation magic was already gone.

That's... Not good king Regis thought.

But all is not lost. Nodding in a self-assured way, he continued his thought. "It's weakened. Too weak to do any danger. It will take a very long time before it could spawn monsters again. And when the time comes... He will find it.

King Regis nodded again, confident in his son's ability to defeat the Darkness once and for all...

Ch 1: Happy Birthday!

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There are things in life that changes your life forever. Ponies experience it all the time; sometimes more than once.

Bright Night, a nerdy looking earth pony stallion with full moon yellow coat, metallic silver mane and tail and an open book, illuminated by a crescent moon and two stars, cutie mark. His hipster glasses constantly slipping down his muzzle, made slippery with nervous sweat as he finds his life about to change once more.

He was pacing back and forth in front of the delivery room. Waiting worriedly as his wife gave birth to their foal.

In normal circumstances, the father was usually allowed inside, but his wife, Black Rose, ever the dramatic, refused to quote unquote, 'have her eternal beloved see her in such an ugly state.'

Rose was a gothic earth pony mare that he met when they were at seventh grade. She has a light gray coat with the darkest black mane and tail he has ever seen that she inherited from her bat pony ancestry. She has a fountain pen cutie mark with a black, thorny stem of a black rose wrapped around it.

Night had never been this nervous since he asked Rose out on a date! He chuckled, reducing his anxiety a little bit as he fondly remembered the scene.

To this day, he still couldn't believe that he managed to snag the dark beauty! They were such polar opposites! He worked part-time as a motivational speaker, while she reads morbid poetry at recitals. He liked listening to Just-in Fever and she listens to Par-amour. He likes ice cream, she eats fish. He thought for sure that Rose would hate him! He was such a creep back then, always watching her as she reads at the gloomy corner of the library, of course, Rose, a bit of a weirdo herself, found it romantic.

He got really lucky there. Turns out, everypony that asked her out before always gets discouraged when they couldn't understand her always talking in quotes and metaphors. And of course, being a book nerd himself, Bright Night was the first pony to ever get her.

His reminiscing was interrupted as the doors of the delivery room finally opened.

"Congratulations, Mr. Night! It's a Colt! The delivery is successful and both the mother and foal are healthy. You can now go see them, if you wish."

At this, his wife shrieked. "W-Wait, don't! I beg of you, my love. I'm not prepared for you to see me just yet!"

Night rolled his eyes and went in anyway. Relieved to see his wife okay with his own eyes.

"Niiiight! I asked of you not to enter, did I not?" Rose whined, desperately brushing away the damp hair that clung to her face. "Oh, dear grief, I'm such a mess!"

"A beautiful mess, that's what you are!" To convince her, the stallion joined his wife on the bed and gave her a kiss.

Cheeks flushed, Rose looked away, embarrassed. "Night! The nurses are watching!" The stallion rolled his eyes.

"Ignore them, they're probably used to this."

The mare swatted at him. "That's not the point!"

Bright Night chuckled. Indeed there were two young nurses, waiting patiently nearby. Smirks of amusement on their faces as they watched the couple's antics.

They're probably here to take the baby for examination. The stallion thought to himself. But before that...

"Rose? Our colt, can I see him?" Smiling, the mare nodded and held the foal forward for Night to gently hold.

Bright Night carefully took the colt in his hooves and gently brushed the cloth a little bit so he can take a better look at the peacefully sleeping foal. The colt had a gray coat, a darker shade than his mother's, and dark silvery mane.

He's perfect.

"Behold, my love. The perfect little miracle we have created together." Rose gazed fondly at her foal. "Nocturnal Solstice, our majestic prince of the night."

A quote from 'The Mare in the Moon'. Night realized, though, decided not to call her out on it.

Suddenly like magic, a strange idea popped in Bright Night's head. "Noctis..."

"Hm?" Rose looked at him curiously.

"Nocturnal Solstice. Noctis for short. It would make a cute little nickname for him, don't you think?" The mare considered it for a moment and smiled.

"Noctis... I like it." Rose took the foal back in her hooves and kissed it on the forehead. "Happy birthday, my sweet Prince Noctis." Rose had no idea why she called him that. But, it just feels right, for some reason.

The family moment got cut short when one of the nurses cleared her throat, catching their attention. "We really hate to do this, but we have to take the baby now for his examination and let the mother have her rest."

Rose instinctively held her baby tight protectively. Noticing this, Bright Night comforted his wife. "Hey, honey. It's okay. They're professionals. They'll take good care of him." The nurses nodded in confirmation. At this, the mare hesitantly relinquished the foal the nurses' care.

With a polite nod of farewell, the nurses took their leave. One mare held the colt on one hoof and walked with the other three and the other followed vigilantly nearby. Alert, just In case her colleague tripped or slipped.

"See? Nothing to worry about." The stallion reassured his wife. "So anyway, I should probably go now and let you have your re-." Bright Night was about to get up when his wife caught his hoof like a steel trap.

"Please, don't go..." He immediately knew he wouldn't leave the moment he looked at her watery, pleading, eyes. "I feel lonely right now."

The stallion smiled. Wondering, once more, what he did to deserve such a cute wife. "Of course!" Scooting back to bed, Bright Night gave his wife a loving kiss on the forehead. "I'm so proud of you..."

At her husband's sweet words, Black Rose shed tears of joy. Hugging him tightly, feeling very happy and appreciated for her hard work.

They stayed like that for a few moments, before the nurses came back and wheeled Rose's bed to another room, for her to recover.

Crystal Empire. Approximately a thousand years ago...

There are things in life that could change your life forever...

... Sometimes, just not in a good way.

Princess Amore was just the happiest she had ever been this morning.

She was a tall unicorn princess. With a pinkish white coat and long red mane that transitioned to violet going down. She had just finished giving birth to her beautiful baby filly. A pegasus, just like her father. When suddenly, the crystal barrier started flickering and eventually died, letting the storm to close in on all directions.

And then, the screams began...

It should have been a wondrous day, full of joy and love and celebration. Instead, there was panic and explosions. Why?

Why is this happening now? Why today of all days? Her foal doesn't deserve this. Her filly deserves to come to this world happy...

"Shush love, it's okay. Mommy's here..." Princess Amore was running. It's not safe inside the castle anymore. They had to escape!

The Princess flinched as another explosion rocked the castle. Clutching her foal protectively, shielding her from falling dust and debris.

Almost there... The princess continued trotting. She winced, still haven't quite recovered from her labor.

She went down the stairs, and proceeded towards the front entrance, finally seeing what's going on outside.

In the distance, she saw her closest friends, Celestia and Luna, flying around, shooting magic at what seems to look like a black fog monster.

A loud chorus of battle cries tore her attention to the northeast where she found some of her crystal knights, engaged in a battle with a giant flaming three headed beast. The middle head was busy clawing and biting at the knights, while the other two was spitting fireballs all over.

The Princess whimpered.

As if hearing her. The three heads locked their sights at her and quickly charged.

Seeing this, Amore ran as fast as she could, but it's no use. The beast was quickly gaining on her!

Some of the knights tried to stop it, or slow it down at the least, only for them to be trampled over.

This isn't fair. Her daughter was just born and her time is about to end. Amore doesn't care if she dies right then and there. But her daughter was barely a day old! If anyone deserves more time to live, it's her!

Adrenaline and desperation, combined with her desire to protect her foal, must have triggered something inside of her as her horn started glowing on its own.

Clueless to what's about to happen, the savage beast pounced, ready to devour the mother and daughter, but was caught off guard when suddenly, with a burst of light and magic, a giant colorful vortex of distorted space and time, tore open!

Unable to change its trajectory, the beast was immediately got sucked inside.

The princess skidded to a halt. Panting, she looked back in shock as she gazed in amazement at the slowly shrinking portal.

Did... Did I do that?

Princess Amore barely managed to catch her breath, when she heard Celestia's scream. "Amore! Look out!"

Thinking fast, she quickly cast a crystal dome shield around her, just in time to deflect a beam of dark purple magic.

"Hello, Princess. Or should I say..."

Amore's eyes widen. That voice! It can't be...

"... Mother." A stallion from behind continued, full of malice.

The princess turned around, confirming her fear. Amore gasped. "Sombra..."

"What? Surprised to see me?" Sombra laughed mockingly. "You didn't expect me to come back did you? Well, here I am!" He smirked sadistically. "And I'm here to take back what's rightfully mine!"

Princess Amore looked in sadness at what his former son had become. She remembered the day when her husband introduced her to his son from his previous, deceased, wife. It was killing her inside to see what that shy colt had turned into.

His soft mane had turned into inky dark miasma. His once adorable nub of a horn curved sharp and lethal. His sweet smile turned into a fanged cruel smirk. And his beautiful, innocent, eyes turned green and red with hatred.

"Oh, my dear Sombra. What happened to you...?" The princess sadly asked. Tears fell from her eyes, unable to suppress the guilt of her failure as a mother.

"Curious, aren't you?" The shadow pony started to slowly circle the princess, never leaving his eyes off her. "After you and father kicked me out of the empire, I roamed all over the world. Researching magic, hoarding both knowledge and relics alike. Searching for the magic strong enough to make me a one pony army!" Sombra stopped at where he was originally standing and started casually inspecting his hoof. "It wasn't easy, too. I was homeless and starving. I had to lie, cheat and steal in order to survive."

His horn started glowing. Eyes widened, Amore held her guard up, but proven unnecessary as Sombra summoned a tendril of black smoke and violently smacked Luna, who had been trying to sneak behind his back, rendering her unconscious.

"Sister!" Celestia yelled, foolishly announcing her position behind a banana cart.

Capitalizing on this, Sombra focused his magic on the sun alicorn. The cart exploded, effectively knocking Celestia out.

Sombra huffed. "As I was saying. It wasn't easy. I searched and searched, but to no avail. I almost gave up, when a meteorite fell from the heavens! Of course, I came to investigate and guess what I found...!" His horn, ignited. Dark smoke started circling him, in an impressive display of control. "... Pure. Dark. Energy."

Amore gasped. "No, you didn't..."

"Yes..." Sombra, retorted. "It have a will of its own. So at first, I thought that I'll have problems controlling it, but we made a deal!" Deciding he had showed off enough, Sombra seized his magic and continued. "I bind it to myself and supply it with magic, and in return, it creates monsters for me. Granted, it's still too weak to make a lot. But, as you can see, two is more than enough."

Amore's eyes widen in realization. "Wait, two?" As if summoned, another fiery beast, the same as the first, came bursting out the castle and, just like the first one, came charging towards her. She was about to move, but Sombra held up his hoof. The beast slowed down and stood right next to him.

"Sit." Sombra commanded and the beast obediently followed. The dark stallion approached and started to stroke the middle head's snout. "Impressive, isn't it?"

The princess furiously shook her head, unable to understand. "Why are you doing this? I treated you like my own son. I gave you everything and this is how you repay me? Sombra, I loved you!-"

"LIES!" Sombra disrupted, full rage. "You're never my mother! I refuse to accept you as my mother! You banished me to die a frozen death!"

"We had no choice! Your obsession with power has gotten out of control! You have hurt a lot of ponies, Sombra!"

"Silence! I don't want to hear it!" Sombra turned to his beast. "Kill them."

The princess cast another crystal barrier, but a single swipe of the beast's claws easily broke through, sending them flying...

Shwoomv.

... Right towards the portal.

"No! You idio- GAH!" Sombra, furiously shouted at the monster, when something struck him on the side.

The shadow pony withdraw his attention from his quickly regenerating wound to his attacker.

Celestia, covered in banana goop, angrily glared back. Deciding, enough was enough. three gems levitated out of her saddle bag.

Sombra turned his head to the beast. "Go after them..." He gestured towards the, now a quarter of its size, portal and returned his gaze back at the alicorn. "... I'll handle things from here."

The elements glowed and rapidly spun, bathing Celestia with power. No more second guessing! No more hesitation! The alicorn charged her horn and fired. "HA!!!"

"DIE!!!" Sombra returned in kind...

Unknown woods, nearby an unnamed earth pony village. Noon. A few hundred years into the future.

There are moments in life that could change your life forever...

... Just, sometimes, these moments happens when you least expect them. Startling you out of the blue.

What the heck is happening!? Was the thoughts of a certain earth pony couple.

It has been a few days since their foal was born and finally, they're free to go home!

It was such a nice day, too. The sky was clear, there was a cool breeze, gently blowing on their fur, and they were walking peacefully in the woods.

Exited to finally bring their colt home, Bright Night and Black Rose decided to take a shortcut, away from the heat, when suddenly, there was a flash of light and a beast came forth.

The couple thought that it looked cool! Like a monster from a card game or a creature from a novel. And then, the beast let out a terrifying roar! Suddenly, the beast wasn't so cool anymore, the couple decided.

They ran, and judging from the loud thuds from behind, the beast took chase.

The trees helped in concealing them and slowing the beast down, but it was not enough. Being earth ponies, stamina isn't a problem for them, but holding a foal, they could only run so fast. Sooner or later, the beast will catch up.

They need a plan...

"Rose, listen to me!" The mare turned her attention to her husband, without slowing down. "We need to split up! I'll try to distract it, while you escape with our son!"

The mare's eyes widen, unable to believe what her husband was suggesting. "What!? No! I refuse!"

"We have no other choice!" Night insisted. "There's no time to argue! The monster could catch up any-"

With a giant leap, the beast crashed in front of the couple, blocking their path.

"-second... Now." The stallion, gulped.

The beast roared in triumph and slowly approached it's preys, sadistically savoring each step.

The couple just stood in place, locked in fear. They could run, but what's the use? The beast was too close, there's no way they could quickly get out of its pouncing range.

Bright Night felt a hoof on his own. He turned to his wife, looking at him with tears on her cheeks and a sad smile.

This is it... There's nowhere to run...

The stallion gave his own sad smile in return.

The beast is now upon them, ready to claim it's price. The couple closed their eyes, hugging their foal protectively between their bodies. Waiting for their inevitable demise.

They waited... And waited... But none came.

They opened their eyes, in awe at what they saw.

Crystals! Crystals floating everywhere! Twinkling prettily like little stars!

They switched their attention back at the beast and was shocked. Half of the monster's body was trapped in ice! One of the heads was tugging furiously, trying to free it's other two heads.

"Are you alright?"

Rose jumped startled, while her husband let out a totally masculine shriek.

Turning towards the source of the voice. They saw a tall, haggard looking mare approaching them on three hooves while holding a bundle of cloth with her right front one. Judging by the long glowing horn, she's a unicorn.

When Princess Amore got shot out the portal, she didn't even had the time to question where she was when she got immediately welcomed by the sound of falling trees and angry roars. The princess would have quickly ran for safety, but the sight of two ponies being chased made her hesitate.

Squinting, the princess looked closely, observing that the stallion too was holding a foal.

Determined, relating to their situation, the princess ran after them. It only took a couple of seconds for her to catch up to see couple, about to be killed.

Panicked, the princess activated her crystal magic and amplified the strongest ice spell she could muster. She usually avoid using crystal magic. Though powerful, it consumes too much energy. That spell alone took close to a half of her power.

Approaching the couple, the princess spoke. "Quickly, we need to flee before the ice melts and-" she stopped, when another loud roar boomed from a distance.

Tracing the roar back to where she had originally was, Amore saw the portal gone and another beast took its place.

The trapped beast roared back, calling to its brother. As they looked back, the ponies finally noticed the hissing sounds of melting ice.

With the new beast fast approaching, the princess had to do something quickly. She looked around, assessing their surroundings. Desperately trying to come up with something.

Running was no good. They're out matched in speed and in no condition to run. Fighting was out too. She can't take them both head on and the couple looked like they were just normal civilians.

A third option, then.

Distraction would only buy time... But sacrifice... While the others run away...

Princess Amore turned her attention towards the scared couple and their crying foal and looked down at her own crying filly, then back to the couple.

With a shaking breath, the princess made her decision.

Levitating her daughter to her nose, Amore took a deep breath, trying to cement the foal's scent in her memory.

She stinks, but a mother never cares.

Giving one final kiss to her filly's forehead, Princess Amore turned towards the others, a bit surprised when the couple was already watching her. Probably curious about her action.

The princess locked eyes with the other mare and Rose gazed deeply back. A second felt like eternity as a silent dialogue commenced. A deep unspoken exchange between mothers.

Black Rose only met this mare, laterally, a minute ago, but somehow, in that moment, she knew what was about to happen... What the mare was about to ask of them.

Amore gave Rose a melancholic smile and floated the infant princess forward for the dark mare to take. "Her name is Mi Amore Cadenza."

"What a pretty name." Rose replied, taking a peek at the filly.

The princess smiled in appreciation. "Will you take care of her for me?... Until I get back?" Both mares know that's not true, but Rose nodded anyway. "She's with safe hooves."

"I'm glad..." With a trembling sigh, the princess turned around, hiding her tears form the strangers. "You should go as far away as you can from here. If you can still see crystals, you are not far enough..."

"Are you certain about this?" Rose knew that there's no changing the unicorn's mind, but felt it polite to ask anyways.

"I have no evidence, but I have a feeling that these monsters would just keep hunting us if they're not dealt with now." The princess spread her legs and readied her horn. "Go, I'll deal with them..."

Rose nodded and ran. Her husband, a bit confused, followed.

With the others out of the way, the unicorn princess started charging her magic and the crystals closest to her started glowing brighter and brighter. The glow served the purpose of making sure the beasts' attention was on her and away from the fleeing family. And seeing that the second fire beast was still running towards her, it worked.

That's it, come closer...

The death zone of the spell was supposed to be everything inside the crystal field, that includes the caster. With the first one still stuck in ice, there was only the second beast to worry about. Two beasts with one spell.

The princess started to fuel the spell of all her bitter sadness. She thought of all the things she'll leave behind. The empire, her subjects, her friends and husband. And she thought of all the things that could be. Spending time with her daughter, playing, bonding. She imagined her daughter excitedly hopping in circles, cheering about how she got her cutie mark. She thought of how her daughter would blush as she asks for advice on how to impress a colt and how happy she would be when her crush asks her on a date. And she thought of all the amazing things her little princess will become that she wouldn't be around to see.

Amore sensed the beast crossing the field, but waited a little longer to make sure it couldn't just jump back and escape.

Closer and closer, the beast became...

Happy birthday, my little Cadence. I just wish, I could tell you...

When the beast was right above her, she pulled the metaphorical trigger.

... I love you...

Bright Night and Black Rose just got out the woods and into the familiar streets near their home, when suddenly, the world darkened for a second. Behind them, a bright column of light flashed; blinding a few ponies for a brief moment. Like a flash from a camera, it was gone quickly.

Good bye, now...

Nopony knew what really happened that fateful afternoon. Aside from the new perfectly circular open clearing in the woods, the investigators couldn't figure out what the strange light was. There was absolutely nothing in there that could have gave them a clue. No chemicals, fur, bomb fragments, no everything, not even soot.

As for the couple, they decided to return to the hospital and have the baby filly checked out.

When asked, they would answer that they 'just found her.' and never gave anymore details than that.

And, after a bit of consideration, the couple decided to keep the filly for themselves.

Frozen North. Past.

... It's gone... Everything... Just gone.

Celestia and Luna couldn't believe it.

Everything was going so well...

After Princess Amore got thrown inside a portal. Celestia and Sombra fought in a stalemate. Some tried to help with the fight, but only died, including Shining Knight, Amore's husband and Sombra's own father. Only after Luna joined in with her own elements did the battle took a turn to their favor.

They were about to win! With Sombra defeated on his knees and them unleashing the full might of the elements.

That's when everything went wrong.

The sisters barely managed to get away in time. It turns out, the bastard slowly merged his dark essence with the entire city without them noticing. So when the elements struck, the empire got purged with him.

The alicorns could have disappeared too, if they hadn't shot as fast as they could up to the sky.

And now, they walked home, heads bowed in defeat.

"Art thou sure, thou not wish to clean thyself first?" The night princess, asked. "There are still some remnants of bananas, clinging to thy coat." When Celestia remained silent. Luna continued. "Don't lose hope just yet, sister." That got the sun alicorn's attention. "Like all the other creatures that the elements sealed, we are sure the Crystal Empire shall return, one day."

"Why didn't I think of that?" Celestia berated herself. With a new sense of determination, the older princess held her head high. "Next time, for sure! We'll free the empire! Thank you, Luna." The taller alicorn hugged her sister. "You always know what to say. Please, don't ever leave." Celestia said, without a trace of irony.

"We would never leave thee, sister. Even for the love and adoration of all our subjects." Luna replied, also without any trace of irony.

The two was about to continue on their way back home when Luna shivered. Her fur rose with goosebumps, feeling a sudden chill inside her.

"What is the matter, sister?" Celestia asked with concern.

"'Tis nothing, sister. We think the cold is just getting to us. Let us continue on our home."

Content with the explanation, Celestia hummed. "If you say so, sister..."

And with that, the sisters continued their journey home. Unknown to them, a piece of the darkness broke off from Sombra, right before the ray of harmony struck and flew around aimlessly, searching for a new host...

... Right until it bumped into a certain princess of the night.

Ch 2: Little King.

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It was a stereotypical morning at the peaceful, earth pony, village...

The sun shined its first rays of light over the distant, but still quite visible Carnterlot mountains; starting another bright sunny day. Having no pegasi citizens until recently, rains were quite rare. Not that they don't receive weather from Cloudsdale, or anything. Their economy being, mostly focused on manufacturing than farming, there really aren't a lot of reasons for it. And for those that did grow crops would get water from the river irrigation that littered the town with little streams that foals like to splash around with.

Noctis woke up as he usually does in the past couple months. Inside a crib, trapped in a hug by his grabby sister. The colt sighed. The girl just couldn't sleep without clinging on to him. He tried different ways to get out of it, from dodging, sacrificing his pillow in substitute, to stuffed toys. The filly just won't have it. It's either this or a whole night of crying, extra loud and annoying. A baby could only take so much. Long story short, he caved. This is his life now... His parents appreciate this though and give him treats whenever they use him to calm the pegasus down.

Noctis stared at the wooden ceiling, falling into routine. Waiting for the filly to wake up and let her call their mother for the both of them and get breakfast.

Being a baby was weird. He doesn't remember being born, and thank goodness for that. In fact, he couldn't remember the first three months, at all. But, his memories didn't just popped out of nowhere, though. As his brain developed, his memories grew with it. At first he was scared he would be forced to play a dumb baby to avoid suspicions, but was worried for nothing as it turns out, this level of awareness were normal for foals.

Though his mind was developed, his body was a different story. It's been six months now and he still struggled to walk. His knees bending forward took some getting used to. The colt tried talking too, but everything he says turns into nonsense garbles. His mouth, like his legs, just does its own thing and refuses to do anything he tells it to.

...... Also he's a pony now! It freaked the hell out of him at the beginning when he was conscious enough to realize the fact. He was a bit miffed at Fausticorn for not warning him in advanced, but, after he had calmed down and actually thought about it. It, kind of, makes sense. God created man in his image, after all. It's only logical for a pony goddess to make ponies.

Makes you wonder. If Shiva had a realm of her own, would it be full of sexy, naked, fairies?

Feeling a familiar shift from his side, Noctis braced himself for the incoming noise.

The former king sighed. Another day, another morning sucking horse tits...

It's been a year now, and things had only gotten weirder.

Normally, their mother was the one taking care of them. Writing her book as the foal's play or nap, but today, their father took a day off from his job (He's the mayor's secretary.) as Rose attends a convention. Though, not a particularly famous writer, her gothic novels still got her a couple hundred fans. Fans that needed their books signed.

"Oh dear, oh dear. Come on Cadence, please come down from there. You might get hurt!" Their father pleaded to no avail. The stallion had been chasing after the filly for a while now as she flew around their living room, net at the ready for when the pegasus inevitably runs out of juice. They were usually corralled inside their baby proofed room where Cadence could fly around to her heart's content without worry. But today, somehow, she got out. Bright Night, not wanting to leave his son alone, took Noctis with him. Placing the colt on the floor, completely trusting the foal to behave, as he always does, their father took chase and just like the other times, the filly suddenly started falling for no reason what so ever.

Noctis learned that foals had this thing called surges where their magic manifests at random bursts. At the looks of it, pegasi flies around doing feats of acrobatics that seems to ignore the laws of physics. And as for earth ponies...

Noctis narrowed his eyes, trying to gage where the pink pony was going to land. Gently and softly, the colt tapped the sofa next to him - PAK! - and it shot rapidly to the other side of the room, halting perfectly under the falling filly.

... They have super strength and super durability. Noctis discovered this when their crib suddenly broke just by leaning on it and accidentally knocking off a potted plant right to his head and hardly feeling anything. Noctis usually deals with this by just staying still, far away from any supports, and waiting for the feeling of hype to disappear.

Wanting to fly some more, the filly flapped her wings but failed to take off. Determined to get off the sofa and continue her fun, she flapped harder but to no effect. Disheartened, the filly started to tear up and sniff.

"Hey, hey don't cry..." Night's eyes widen at the impending tantrum. Without hesitation, the stallion picked up Cadence's favorite toy. "Here, why don't you play with Noctis instead!" Figures.

The filly clapped her hooves, immediately changing moods as she gave the colt a tight squeeze as if he were a plushy. Noctis sent his new father a glare. Night at least had the decency to look apologetic. The former king could only sigh.

They better give me an extra sesame biscuit for this...

Three years, and they're still sharing a room. Still sharing a BED! Why?

Noctis closed his eyes and sighed. He knows exactly why.

KRACK-BOOM!

Cadence squeaked, whimpering as she squeezed her brother tighter. Noctis swear he heard something cracked.

What you are seeing was the filly's first experience with a thunder storm. The river's water level was dropping down. So, to fix the drought, the council ordered a storm to fill it back up, or something. Noctis doesn't really know how that works. It could be that, the adults we're just messing with him. Maybe they're actually storing water on water towers?

Where was he? Right, Cadence. "I really don't see what you're so scared about. It's just thunder." The filly only whimpered in reply. "Look, you’re a pegasus! Shouldn't weather be your thing or something?"

The filly looked up, giving her insensitive brother an annoyed stare. "You’re an earth pony and you hate vegetables!"

Well, she got him there... "Can you at least let go?" Cadence only buried her face on his chest and held tighter. Guess, that's a no...

After three years, she's as clingy as ever. Following him around like a puppy, constantly needing attention and easy to upset. And you want to know what the worst part was? The worst part was, it's his fault!

He spoiled her too much and now she won't leave him alone! He let her cuddle him to sleep, let her have some of his snacks, brush her, clean her mess, take blame to some of her mess, fix her dolls, attend her tea parties and a whole lot of other things.

Don't look at him like that! The fact of the matter was, Cadence was ADORABLE! Her cuteness levels were astronomical! A lovable black hole in which no heart could escape! No brothers were safe. She didn't even have to beg too hard, heck, she didn't need to beg at all most of the time! Noctis did all those things on his own free will.

It's scary to think about. But he'll learn eventually... right?

Another flash and Cadence was holding on for dear life. Her eyes shut, unable to bare the loud booms. So cute! Noctis gave the trembling filly a comforting nuzzle.

It doesn't matter. He got all the time in the world learn. But, right now, his sister needs him. So he'll just put up with it for now.

Perhaps he over did it... He was half asleep! He wasn't thinking straight! He'd take it back if he could but it was too late. Noctis did one of the worst mistakes he had ever made in his pony life...

"Brother, time to wake up~" Said the sing-song voice of his sister. Noctis only grunted and covered his head with his blanket. With a frown, Cadence started tugging at the fabric. "Come on, Noctis. I want to play!"

"But, I don't want to play." The colt whined while clutching his blanket. "I want to sleep..."

"You always say that! Why don't you just get up already?"

"No, I refuse to get up before breakfast."

"But, Noctis!"

"No."

"You promised!"

"No, I didn't."

"Get up already!"

"No, I won't."

"I'm going to tell on you!"

"Stop being annoying for once in your life and leave me alone!"

".....sniff."

Noctis realized what he just said and immediately shot up, about to apologize, but froze when he saw just how hurt the filly looked.

They have been together for almost four years now and this isn't the first time he had denied his sister. Heck, this isn't the first time he, accidentally, said something mean to her in frustration. So he was shocked. He had never seen Cadence this hurt before. What's so different this time?... With his sleepy mind, he didn't question it. But, why was she so insistent on spending time with him that particular morning? It doesn't make sense...

... Something's wrong.

Taking his silence as a bad sign, Cadence shakily spoke. "... Why? Why won't you play with me? Sniff. D-Don't you l-like me anymore?" Her tears started flowing at full now. Noctis winced. Tremendous amount of guilt suddenly crashed on the colt. He stood, about to beg for forgiveness, but didn't get the chance as his sister ran out of their shared room.

"You idiot, I hate you!" THUD!!!

What have I gotten myself into now? Dear Gods, Mom's going to kill me...

Whatever was wrong with her, Noctis didn't have the time to ponder as he jumped off the bed and took chase.

I have to fix this!

As he predicted, The colt found Rose looking right back at him through the kitchen entrance. And she looked absolutely pissed. Noctis gulped.

The colt almost cowered when the mare shot him a deadly frown. "What have you done...?"

Noctis- Slayer of daemons, hero of Eos- sweat bullets and fled. "I-I'll explain later! Got to go find Cadence!"

The mare could only sigh and returned to making breakfast, a small smile on her face.

Good boy...

"Stupid Noctis -sniff- stupid brothers. Who, hic, who needs them..."

I do... I need him...

Another wave of tears started flowing. After Cadence ran away, she found herself curled up under a tree nearby Bright flash woods. Though, not forbidden, Ponies seems to avoid entering it for some reason; perfect for crying fillies.

It just hurt so much...

What's that on your back? It's freaky...

No, it's not...

She have wing and she can't even fly! What a loser!

Please stop...

You’re just a freak! Don't talk to us freak!

N-No, I'm not...

How many times do I have to tell you! We don't play with freaks like you! Gosh! You're so annoying! Just leave us alone, already!

... I just want to be friends...

"Stop being annoying for once in your life and leave me alone already!"

Pain shot through the filly's chest at the last one. Even for her brother to say that...

Is it true? Am I... Am I just a freak? Cadence curled tighter to herself. Why does everypony hate me? I never did anything to them, so why? And most painful of all. Oh, Noctis. Big brother, why you too...?

"Well, look who we have here, girls!" Cadence flinched. She knew that voice, very well. It's the source of all her suffering in the past few days. "It's the winged freak!" A series of laughter followed.

With her brother never leaving the house, Cadence thought it would be a good idea to find playmates outside. She found the group of fillies playing together one day and asked if she could join but only got teased for having wings. Again and again, she tried to befriend the fillies, thinking if she was persistent enough, they would realize that she's actually nice and change their minds.

It was a mistake.

Cadence turned to her left. She saw three fillies approaching, but her focused was on only one of them; the ring leader of the group, a baby blue earth pony filly with milky pink mane and pretty blue eyes. "Prism Show, what do you want...?"

With a smirk, Prism looked down on the pink filly. "We don't normally talk to freaks, but, I'm feeling charitable today and it would be nice to Grace you with our presence!"

Cadence almost rolled her eyes at the smug filly. "Just leave me alone. Sniff. I'm not even bothering you today..."

Prism let out a cruel laugh. "Aww. Is the winged freak crying? What? Are you a crybaby too?" At this, the whole group started laughing. Gaining more confidence, Prism continued to mock. "Waaa! I'm an annoying, winged freak, crybaby, who won't leave her superiors alone! Waaa!"

"So that's what's going on..."

Cadence's eyes widen at hearing the familiar voice and looked behind the tree. A light feeling suddenly washed over the pink filly as her hopes were confirmed. "Noctis..." She whispered. He's here! He ran after me! He looked for me! Cadence couldn't believe how happy she was at the fact. He cares! He actually cares about me! And then, another thought came to her. But... What if he's only here because Mom told him to...?

The group grew silent and turned to the new arrival. Prism eyed the colt with a huff. "And who are you supposed to be?" The filly asked only to feel something scary shot through her bones.

Noctis returned her gaze with the most bored and uninterested look the bully had ever seen in her entire life! "None of your business,"

For the first time in her life, the blue filly knew true fear. Being so used to being adored, being always the center of attention, and always receiving praise from colt, fillies and adults alike, for how pretty she was. The idea of somepony being so uncaring and aloof in her presence was just absurd! Yet here he was, looking at her with such boredom, such disinterest! Prism Show felt something unpleasant stirred inside her.

"H-How rude!" The bully stuttered, resisting the urge to step back as the mysterious colt approached towards Cadence. "Do you have any idea who you are talking t-"

"Let me stop you right there." Noctis raised a hoof and to her shame, Prism actually shut her mouth. "Because, filly, I couldn't care less." The colt continued. The bully almost tiered up. Those words were like a slap to her. A blow to the gut, even! But she managed to hold it in.

Finally reaching his destination, Noctis stood protectively in front of his sister.

"H-How dare you-" Prism tried to argue.

"Ugh." But the colt won't let her.

"Don't you interrupt m-"

"UGH!"

"I'll have you kn-"

"UUUGH!"

Prism's eye twitched; finally having enough. "Will you stop that!? I'm trying to tell you something here!"

"OH, SHUT YOUR MOUTH, ALREADY!" Unfortunately for Prism, the colt just doesn't have any patience for her. "Get a hint! I. Don't. CARE! Seriously! Don't you have anything better to do? Other than parading around, acting like some prissy princess, when actually, your just some village nobody, trying to make herself feel better! Seriously, grow some class, will you."

"T-Take that back, I'm not a nopony! I'm the prettiest filly in town!" Prism's lips started trembling, uncontrollably.

"Pffft! Girl, please! I've seen waaay prettier fillies than any of you! In fact..." Noctis turned. "...Cadence is, like, a hundred times prettier than you!" The colt, coldly, returned his gaze to the bully. "Way prettier than you'll ever be."

Cadence felt heat spread throughout her face. Feeling oddly happy and all sorts of other unusual emotions the filly never felt before. She felt weird. Her heart's beating loudly and everything seems so wonderful and bright! Hearing Noctis say she's prettier than the most popular filly in the neighborhood just makes her feel all flip pity inside and couldn't help but let out a shy, blushing, smile.

Prism desperately tried to hold it in. But, despite her effort, a hic and a few tears managed to escape, which didn't go unnoticed.

"Oh? Did I hit a nerve? It's true isn't it? You’re jealous!" Noctis was full on mocking now. A king protects his own. If your foolish enough to hurt my charge, you better prepare for painful retaliation.

Prism shook her head in denial. "No! Th-That's not true!" But the colt wasn't finished. "Is it? Have you looked at yourself recently? Your make-up is running and all I see is ugly. Geez, talk about embarrassing..." Eyes wide, the filly touched her cheek and to her horror, he was right! The dam came dangerously close to breaking when she heard giggles behind her. She trembled, her knees felt weak.

"Just pathetic; you think so highly of yourself when really..." Noctis paused, building tension for dramatic effect, making sure that his next words would crash to her head like a hammer. "... You're just a crybaby..."

She couldn't take any longer. The flood gates opened all at once! Utterly crushed, Prism fell on her knees bawling her eyes out, further ruining her make-up.

Noctis knew he shouldn't feel proud about making little girls cry. But, he couldn't help but be satisfied.

His work done, Noctis turned to his sister, once more. "Let's go, I think Mom is-"

"HOLD IT, TWERP!"

Oh for the love of- What now!?

Everypony turned to the source of the voice. From the distance, Noctis found a group of older colts approaching.

There were five of them. At the center of the group was an athletic looking colt with blue coat; dark blue mane, swept to the back.

Noctis produced an exasperated sigh. Where are all these ponies coming from? This is Bright flash Woods for crying out loud! Nopony goes here!

Of course, 'near Bright flash Woods' isn't the same as 'inside Bright flash Woods'. The lack of ponies made the woods' edge the perfect place for delinquents to hang out.

The older colts stopped at the younger group. "What cha' kids doin' on our turf?"

Noctis almost laughed."... Are you for real? Seriously; calling us kids? Aren't you like, seven or something?"

Prism's eyes widen in horror. Asking herself if the colt was insane. What are you doing!? Don't make the scary looking colts, mad! Unable to find her voice in fear of attracting attention to herself, she turned to her friends only to find that they're already gone... They ran away... And left her... Alone... It hurts.

"And a half!" The leader proudly added, halting Prism's thoughts.

The young king couldn't help but facehoof. "Just. Who the heck are you guys?"

The leader grinned. With a nod, the group arranged themselves in various poses. "The Hard Wood Gang, the strongest colts in town!" The group exploded in cheers and continued to high-hoof each other.

".........Pffft!" Noctis tried to hold it in. Really he did! But with the ridiculous poses and the name, he just couldn't.

The leader's face and twisted. "Woa, woa; guys hold up! I think the runt's laughing at us!" The rest sneered at this. Sending threatening glares at little colt. "You think this is funny, huh? Ya' dissin' us?"

Noctis composed himself and made eye contact. "Look, we don't want any trouble. So just let us leave and you do whatever, okay?" Noctis sent the most charismatic smile he got. But it seems to have no effect as the delinquents sent cruel grins of their own and stated surrounding him.

"I don't think so. You need to be thought a lesson. No one laughs at us and gets away with it! Now, eat this, brat!" The leader launched, sending a hoof to the colt.

Adrenaline rushed and old instincts awaken. Noctis' heart was beating fast but his expression calm. He saw the attack coming miles away and only took a step, a little to the left. The hoof passed by harmlessly. The leader looked so surprised. Acting as if he completely expected the colt to just stand still and take the hit. The other foals sure did so why wasn't this colt on the ground crying for his mommy? Gritting his teeth, the leader tried once more; again and again, over and over with the same result. Seeing their boss struggling, the others decided to jump in and catch the colt and hold him for the leader to beat up, but the colt was just too agile; constantly evading their grabs and punches.

Noctis didn't know what he was expecting. He continued dodging as the feeling of hype rapidly faded away. His once loudly beating heart has now returned to normal and his excitement turned to boredom. At first he was worried that with a new body, his muscle memory would be useless but he was on the zone, ducking swings and dodging swipes. He was also worried that his shut in lifestyle would have affected his performance, but, he seems to be doing fine. And even if his neet body was weaker than it's supposed to be, the same couldn't be said about his reflex and reaction time.

For normal ponies, the older colts' speed was above average for healthy foals. But with all the battles he has been through, the colts move like turtles in his perspective. He was used to dodging bullets and monsters with super insane speeds. So imagine just how unbelievably slow the older colts must be to Noctis.

Utterly bored now, Noctis internally groaned. It was like fighting children. A realization dawned on the young king. He WAS fighting children! No wonder the fight was so pathetic! And here he was getting all serious. How embarrassing.

Noctis was planning to let the colts tiered themselves out but, after a few minutes, realized he forgot to factor in their earth pony stamina. If you think that children have endless energy, try taking care of magically charged ones. Feeling himself getting hungry. Noctis decided, it's about time he did something.

One colt stood on his hind legs, delivering a punch with all his weight on it. Noctis was silently impressed; the colt seems in good form, but still too slow. There was a cry from behind; another colt trying to grab the young king from behind. "Ha! I got you now!" Again too slow; Noctis ducked under the hold and let the incoming hoof to connect on the second Colt's snout.

CRACK!

The second colt fell on his rump, clutching his now bleeding muzzle and proceeded to, loudly, bawl his eyes out. Eyes widened at the accident, the one who threw the punch glared at Noctis and charged. "This is your fault!" But the younger colt simply sidestepped and held out a hoof, tripping the older one. With a scrapped knee, he too started crying.

With two of their comrades down, the other two unimportant grunts hesitated.

Realizing that coming after the little colt was hopeless, the leader looked around. Checking his surroundings for an answer, he locked eyes with a blue coated filly. Having found another target, the leader grinned and galloped towards his new prey.

Frozen scared, Prism couldn't move! She was trembling uncontrollably as she watched the scary colt came closer and closer. When the gang leader finally reached her, the filly could only shut her eyes and wait. With a vicious grin, the older colt was about to give the filly a hard slap when something hard crashed painfully on his side. When no pain came to her, Prism took a peek and was surprised.

Cadence clutched her poor head. It all happened so fast. Cadence saw Prism was about to be hurt and then, suddenly, without thinking, her wings buzzed and she shot like a rocket! Hitting her target head first.

"C-Cadence...? But, w-why?" Prism just couldn't understand. She saved her! After she has been so mean to the pegasus.

"Mmm?" Cadence questioned. The pink filly turned her slightly teary eyes towards the blue one, still clutching her bump. Prism was about to elaborate when a furious scream echoed loudly throughout the wood edge.

The leader stood over the fillies, shaking with rage. His sights focused on the pink one. "How dare you hit me! This is your fault, freak!" He rose on two legs, hoof poised to hit. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

Cadence screamed. Instinctively closing her eyes shut, anticipating pain. There was a loud clack! But the there was no pain. Curious, the little filly slowly opened her eyes. She couldn't help but let out a happy sigh of relief at what she saw.

Noctis stood protectively in front of them. Left hoof raised, to the older one's right, his grip, tight like a steel trap. Eyes obscured with hair, the young king coldly, spoke. "What did you just say?... You want to kill her?" The leader shrieked in pain as the little colt squeezed and his hoof let out a few pop. "You don't really mean that, do you?" Noctis finally looked up. Revealing red eyes, filled with cold, silent rage. "Listen to me and listen well." The little colt pulled, forcing the bigger colt down to eye level. "I don't want to see your faces here again. Ever. This is my turf now, understood?" The older colt tearfully nodded. The young king huffed. "Good. Because if you try to hurt my sister again..." Noctis pulled his left hoof back. "...This is what I'll do to you." And his right hoof shot forward, impacting the gang leader's right cheek, sending him flying a few meters before landing unconscious.

Noctis knew he should feel bad about punching a child. He searched everywhere within himself, but, he just couldn't muster any sympathy for the poor donkey butt. Something about his threat just doesn't sit well with the young king.

Noctis turned to the rest of the colts. "Get out of here. And take your friend with you." He gestured towards the unconscious leader. With fearful nods, the group dragged their leader as fast as they could.

The colt didn't even have the time to breathe a sigh before a crying mess of a filly crashed into him. "H-Hey, shush, Cadence. It's okay. You’re safe now."

The pink filly shook her head, burying her face at her brother's chest. "No! It's not okay! What was that!? I'm so scared!" She had never seen Noctis that angry before. When he hurt that colt... Cadence shivered. She never thought her brother would be capable of such cruelty. Those hateful eyes, she never want to see them again! "Please, come back to normal. I don't want to see you angry anymore..." she stiffened when a hoof lifted her chin up.

Noctis gave the filly a kind and reassuring smile. "Hey, look. I'm not mad anymore. See?" Cadence couldn't help but cry in relief. Her brother was, indeed, back to normal. His earlier cold expression has reverted to his usual calm but indulgent face. "Hey, don't cry. You're not a crybaby are you?"

The pink filly sniffed and half-heartedly smacked Noctis on the chest. "I am a crybaby! And it's your job to make me feel better. Daddy said so! So just shut up and hug me already!"

The colt couldn't help but chuckle at his sister's adorable pout. "As you wish, Princess," He enveloped the filly and gave her gentle pats. Feeling her brother's hoof on her head fills her with glee with each stroke.

Waiting for his sister to calm down, Noctis turned to the other filly. "You okay? You're not hurt, are you?"

Prism was shocked. Not expecting the question. "You... You're asking me...?"

The colt tilted his head, confused. "Um yeah, why wouldn't, I? They tried to hurt you too, right?"

The blue filly couldn't help but gape at the unexpected kindness. What a strange colt... Prism felt something strange inside her; a weird, but pleasant feeling in her heart that her young brain couldn't decipher. Asking in concern for her wellbeing, It was so sweet of him! And now that she looked, closely. Without the cold tension on his face aimed at her, Prism found the colt actually kind of cute... She blushed. "I... I'm fine..."

Satisfied, Noctis nodded and hefted both Cadence and himself up. "Well, we should get going now. Mom's probably looking for us and I'm starving." Wiping her tears, Cadence agreed and together, they started walking back to their home.

As they walked, the pink filly scooted closer to her brother and spoke. "I'm sorry..."

Noctis looked at her confused. "Hmm? what for?"

The filly looked away ashamed. "For saying, I hate you. I don't really mean it."

The colt smiled at her. "It's okay. Just forget about it."

Cadence shook her head. "No, it's not okay! I'm annoying you, right? I always ask you to play, even if you don't want to. And when I cry, you’re always there for me. I'm a crybaby but you're always there to make me feel better..." the filly looked down, depressed. "I'm the worst sister, ever."

"No, you're not." Surprised, the filly looked up as the colt continued. "If anything, I should be the one saying sorry. If I didn't ignore you, you wouldn't have ran and we wouldn't be in this situation in the first place. I should have just played with you like I was supposed to. I promise, I'll spend more time with you from now on..."

With a shy blush and appreciative smile, Cadence held the colt's hoof. "I love you, Noctis..." Noctis looked down and cringed internally when met with his sister's expectant eyes.

Cadence doesn't know why, but, she really wanted him to say it. He looked away, embarrassed.

"I, uh..." The colt gulped and blushed. "I- I love you, too..." It came out as a mumble, but, she heard it all the same. The pink filly let out a happy squeal and proceeded to peck the colt sweetly on the cheek. Her mood has only gotten brighter when his blush went deeper.

Prism sighed as she watch as the pair disappeared to a corner. She walk slowly towards the tree where Cadence has been and sat on the exact same spot, deciding to stay a little longer and contemplate what just happened. She learned a lot about herself from this experience. The way she acted, her 'friends', all the things the colt said. She thought about it all. Considering to herself that maybe she did became a total brat. But the one in her mind the most was the colt himself. He was like a knight in shining armor! Though, he was a bit scary. And he said the winged fre-filly was his sister. No wonder he was so mad.

I wonder what's his name...

Prism closed her eyes and sighed once more. Letting herself slip down the soft grass. Tiered of it all, she decided to take a nap. What she should do next? She had no idea. But one thing was for sure...

... She wanted to see him again.

Just my luck! Noctis thought sarcastically to himself as he ate his breakfast.

After he explained what happened, his parents thought it was only fair that he do some chores around the house for a week as punishment. Though, that's not really what's bothered the colt.

No, the real problem was that. Oak Wood, the colt he punched yesterday, turns out to be the mayor's son!

How ironic.

Being the mayor's secretary, his dad apologized furiously, fearing for his job. But the mayor only laughed and reassured the nerdy stallion that he was not in trouble. The truth was that the mayor was a little grateful that his son was finally taught a lesson. But, even justified, Noctis still knocked a colt unconscious and such actions just couldn't be ignored.

So he was sentenced with Community Service, clearing sticks, leaves and other junk that's clogging the village streams.

He had to wake up early AND go outside! As he said, just his luck am I right? Of all the foals in the village, the one he punched just happened to be the mayor's child...

And as for Oak Wood; the mayor thought that going to school with a swollen face was humiliating enough a punishment for him. Though, a bit unfair, the image of the donkey butt being a laughing stock almost made the punishment worth it.

Noctis thoughts were interrupted by the sound of knocking on their front door. "That must be them." Bright Night stood up. "Come on, Noctis, time to go." The stallion led the colt outside to meet the other volunteers. What? You don't expect a four-year- old or so colt to clean little rivers by himself now, did you?

Cadence waved as she watched her brother take his leave. "Noctis sure is amazing..."

"Oh?" Night inquired, returning to the table after seeing his son off, just in time to catch the filly mumble. "I hope you're not thinking of punching ponies too."

Eyes wide, the filly began stammering at the accusation. "N-No! I don't want to do anything like that, honest! I-It's... I mean... Just-" Cadence looked back at the door where Noctis was, trying to draw a bit of confidence. The filly took a deep breath and let out a comforting sigh. "It's just, he's so brave. When those fillies we're mean to me, and when the scary colts showed up. He wasn't scared at all! All I did was cry." She turned her gaze to her parents. "And when the mayor came to our house, I was so worried but, Noctis, he's not. He just sat and listened while I thought I'm going to pee." Cadence looked down. "How does he do it? I can't be alone by myself. I'll get too lonely. But we leave him all the time and he just takes care of himself. How is he so good at that? How does he never leave the house and never get lonely. I always need somepony to take care of me, but, he's just fine on his own; how?"

"The fault lies with my blood, I'm afraid to tell you, my dear." Cadence turned to her mother. It's her turn to talk now, it seems. "Unlike your father, my clan has been known to be quite the introverted bunch."

The filly was confused. "Antay... Antee-what?"

Rose giggled amusedly and explained. "Introverts is what you refer to ponies that enjoys being alone."

"WHAT!?" Cadence just couldn't process this! It doesn't make sense! She shivered at the thought of being alone. But, ponies do it on purpose!? "B-But, how about friends!? Noctis he doesn't want friends? But why?"

"I said 'Introvert'; not 'Antisocial'." The mare clarified. "There's a difference." When the filly gave questioning look, she continued. "What you are describing was an antisocial; ponies that avoids interaction with other ponies. Though, my family was known to be that, as well."

Cadence gulped. "But if that's true; does that mean, I have to start learning how to be alone all the time? Did I make a mistake trying to make friends with those fillies? I already blew it, didn't I?" The filly was scared now. Did Noctis lie? Does he secretly hate her for acting different than him? She doesn't think she could last long as a Goth

Cadence's freak out was interrupted as Rose gave her a reassuring hoof. "Do not worry, my dearest. As young Nocturnal Solstice took after my dark and gloomy ancestry, you got your sunshine bright personality from your father's overwhelming light."

The filly wiped the built up tears on her eyes. "Really?"

Both parents smiled and nodded. It was a convenient excuse, one that held truth with it. With her personality and color scheme, Cadence fits just perfectly with Bright Night's family! Aside from the wings; put her with the rest of them and you really wouldn't know the difference.

"See? Nothing to worry about; just be yourself! Now be a good filly and eat your anchovies. They're good for your wings." Checking the time on a nearby clock, Bright Night stood from his seat. "Well! I guess it's time for me to go as well."

Rose followed and gave her husband a kiss. "Safe travels, my love."

The stallion returned with a bright smile. "And have fun writing, to you!" The stallion turned to his daughter. "You'll be okay, right?"

Cadence gave her dad a confused look. "Uh huh, why wouldn't I be?"

The stallion scratched the back of his head and replied. "Noctis will be out for a while so you won't have a playmate until he gets back. And since you hated being alone so much I figured, I... Should... Ask..." Bright Night froze, realizing his mistake.

Cadence sat, unmoving; eyes blank and devoid of light, looking at the distance, but at the same time, not really. She stayed like that for five seconds before the reality of those words came crashing back. Trembling on her seat, the filly spoke. "Th... That's right. Big brother won't be back until sunset. Oh no, what should I do...?"

Oh, horse apples. There goes her mood... Night turned to his wife for help only to find her doing the same. The couple were freaking out! They didn't plan for when Noctis actually leaves the house. They thought it would be years before that happens!

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK!/

The whole family jumped when a sudden knock came from the front door. The couple was confused as to who could be at the door, but, Cadence eyes grew brighter, full of hope. Hoping that Noctis came back, the filly jumped off of her seat and rushed towards the entrance. Throwing open the door, the pegasus was about to beg her brother to take her with him but I recoiled back instead. Who greeted her on the other side was unexpected.

A baby blue hoof hesitantly waved. "Um... Hi?"

Cadence awkwardly waved back. "H-Hello, Prism..." They stood there awkwardly for a few seconds before Cadence broke the silence. "So, um, what are you doing here?"

The blue filly started rubbing her hooves together. Awkwardly, she spoke. "I, um, I came here to apologize...for everything." Prism bowed her head. "And, if you want to, we could maybe play togeth-GAH!" The filly yelped in surprised as she was, suddenly, yanked inside the house and proceeded to be crushed in a hug.

"Oh, gosh, YES!" Cadence, excitedly, jumped up and down, still holding on to the other filly. "Thank goodness your here! I'm so lonely! Thank you! Oh, we're going to have so much fun! We could braid our mane, play dress up and -GASP!- play OUTDOORS! I never played outside with Noctis before! This is so exciting!"

From the dining room, the couple felt relieved. Maybe Cadence had a point; maybe she should to learn how to entertain herself a little. Though, watching the scene, maybe they don't have to...

Prism was starting to get dizzy.

What have I gotten myself into...?

What have I gotten myself into?

Noctis grunted, scooping another load of wet leaves and sticks with his shovel on to the pile. The colt wiped his forehead and casually looked to his right but immediately looked away when met with crystal pink eyes.

She's still watching me. What's up with this girl?

From the moment he got out the door, the first thing he immediately noticed what her, mainly because of her color scheme. Milky white coat with long, bright red, mane tied to the side and clear pink eyes. Very eye catching. He doesn't know why but there's just something off about the filly, he just couldn't tell what. She seems normal enough. About the same age as him by the looks of it, and aside from the staring, she was just cleaning like everypony else. So why does his guts telling him to not let his guard down?

"Noctis, Is that you?"

"AHH!!!" I let my guard down, crap!

The filly smiled brightly. "It's really you! Finally! After all this years, I thought I would never see you again."

Recovering quickly, Noctis looked at her, confused. "Um, do I...know you?"

The filly frowned at this. "Only a few years and you already forgot me? Noctis, I'm hurt!"

The colt narrowed his eyes. "A few years? I'm pretty sure we've never met before- wait a minute..." Now that he looked closely, she does look familiar. Those teary eyes, that pout! He had seen them before! With wide eye, Recognition struck. "Fausticorn!?'

The filly sniffed. "I don't like how I need to cry first for you to remember me."

"By gods, It's really you!" Noctis gasped.

"I also don't like that you've been crying out to other gods." The filly goddess pouted, lecturing the ungrateful colt. "Remember, you’re in Equestria now! So, I should be your one and only! Don't you know it's wrong to be unfaithful to ladies?"

Noctis shook his head and ignored what she said. "What are you doing here!?"

The filly gave an exasperated sigh. "Aren't you listening? I said, I'd see you in a few years, remember?"

The colt shook his head again. "No, I mean, what are you doing HERE. As in, why are you a mortal? Seriously, I can't sense anything from you. Are you okay? Did something happened"

"Don't be so dramatic. I do this all the time!"

"What?"

"Gods do this all the time!" When Noctis kept staring at her confused, the filly continued. "Just think about it for a second. Why do gods create realms?" The filly turned and started raking leaves.

Noctis followed, not wanting to get in trouble. "Um, so they could rule over them?"

"Close, but not quite; some gods does create only to do that. But there's one collective reason for why we do it." The goddess looked at him meaningfully. "Loneliness... We're lonely, Noctis."

Returning to her raking, The filly continued. "We just pop one day with all this empty space that we don't know what to do with. We just float around scared for a while, not knowing what to do. Then, we discover that we can make things; little things to put in the void so it won't be empty anymore. We create and create until the empty space turns into bright space that we don't know what to do with. And that's when the loneliness hits you the hardest; all this beautiful creations and no one to share it with. Through that loneliness, another power awakens; the power to create life!" The filly did a happy twirl, splashing water in every direction. "Of course, it's not easy as before. Life is very delicate and if you’re not careful, it will destroy itself. It takes a lot of trial and error before you realize what's wrong. Life kept dying because it's supposed to do that. It's not supposed to last forever, it's a cycle! And that cycle is what you call a universe!"

Pausing on her work, Fausticorn turned at the awed colt. "Now picture this. We created light; we created life; we have a working cycle going on. What's next? Just play with it a bit? Give miracles left and right and just disappear? Abandoning your creations for a really long time, promising salvation if they're still worshipping you when you return at world's end? Doesn't make sense, right?"

Coming closer, the filly gave Noctis a boop, giggling at his expression, "Still with me? Don't worry; I'll make my point soon." The young king could only nod. "So! I'm lonely and my little ponies just looks so happy playing together. What's a goddess to do?"

"Join in the fun?" Noctis guessed.

"Exactly!" The filly beamed at his answer. "Though, I just can't jump in as I am." The pony goddess continued. "I'll crush them if I did. So, I have to make an avatar and have it born naturally in to the world; an empty vessel that I possess and interact with." The filly skipped away and doing another twirl, presenting herself. "Who you are talking to, right now, is my latest incarnation, Stellar Bell." The filly did a playful curtsy, "Nice to meet you!"

Noctis rolled he's eyes. "Nocturnal Solstice," Playing along, the colt came closer and gave Stellar's hoof a light kiss, "Pleased to meet your acquaintance, my lady."

The filly giggled, "Oh you!" She gave him a joking swipe before turning serious. "Now that I found you, I have bad news."

At this, Noctis gave his full attention. "So something did happen?"

Stellar nodded, grimly. "Yes. The darkness that plague your world had escaped and followed us here."

Noctis almost dropped then and there. No, it can't be... "How? I thought the kings destroyed it."

"I thought so too." The filly replied. "It was so weak that I didn't notice it until it was too late. It came around a thousand years ago in a place called-"

"Wait, a thousand years ago!?" Noctis cried. "But I'm only three years old, about to be four! How did it come here before me?"

The filly goddess gave the colt an annoyed glare. "I can't just plop your soul here can I? You have to wait your turn to be born, just like me and everypony else! Especially you! Do you think it was easy converting your human spirit into a pony soul? Reincarnating you with all your memories intact was hard work, too! You should be more grateful!" With a harrumph, the filly turned away and crossed her hooves.

"Okay, I'm sorry." The colt, bowed his head apologetically. "Can we please continue on? Like where is it now? If it's weakened like you said, maybe we could destroy it?"

"That's kind of the problem." Stellar replied, facing the colt once again. "The darkness grew smart. It fragmented itself into many pieces and each one possessing anything that have the potential to feed it lots of magic and negativity. Most of them are dormant; sealed by my best ponies. But they'll awaken soon in about a few decades."

Noctis rubbed chin in contemplation. "So, you're saying that, it split itself, increasing its chances of survival. But, every time it split itself, each fragment gets weaker and weaker. Destroying those one by one is our best strategy." As he was thinking, a thought came to him and gave Stellar a curious look. "Hey, why didn't you just destroy them yourself? You’re the supreme goddess right? Did you already try anything?"

"Yes, I did. But, it's not as simple as you might wish. The most that my ponies and I can do was seal them and destroy its creations. Those that weren't sealed were lying dormant and conserving energy, waiting for ponies to stumble to it. And before you ask; my avatars can't do much either. These bodies can't handle more than a droplet of my power. Any more than that and it burns to ashes."

Noctis nodded. It doesn't matter. They have him now. He's the chosen king! This is his star now; and just like before, he will be its shining light. He has beaten it before in its full power. Crushing its puny fragments should be a synch!

Noctis decided to roam for a while after the cleanup. He and Stellar talked for a bit as they worked, chatting about each other's lives.

The filly was living a normal life, just as he was. Her Dad runs a blacksmithing shop, while her mother takes care of them. Dinner Bell, Stellar's mom, volunteers for community service, once in a while and takes her daughter with.

Nice lady. Noctis thought it was adorable how she couldn't stop gushing about how cute Stellar and him looked together.

Noctis walked aimlessly. Digesting the news he got from the pony goddess. Almost a thousand years had passed since he 'died'.

He thought about Insomnia. Did it get rebuilt after all this years? Did the people come back now that Ardyn's gone?

He wondered who the new king was. He guessed it would probably be Ignis.

What about the magic? The crystal's still there, but, without the ring, he doesn't know what good it'll be.

And he thought about his friends. They're, probably, all dead by now. He hoped that they had a long life and a peaceful death...

The young king found his legs had led him to Brightflash's edge once again. Without losing momentum, he kept waking forward, going in.

Noctis always thought it strange how the ponies avoided the woods like the plague. He asked around if there's anything dangerous in it before he went home. The answers were all the same. It used to be a regular patch of trees, nothing but birds and various rodents. But a few years ago, a blinding light flashed from it. Not an explosion, just a bright flash, hence the name. The colt learned that ponies could be very superstitious. Saying it was cursed and telling their children stories about ponies that went in and never returned. Oh, please! Noctis constantly goes to places where people couldn't survive and returned completely fine!

The young king came to a halt as he encountered a certain circular, clearing in the woods and silently gasped at the gorgeous sight. On the ground; flowers painted the ground, majestically, with splotches of reds, whites, blues and violets. Noctis took a deep breath, taking everything in and wishing he had brought a camera.

Well, if he's going to hunt down darkness fragments, he would need someplace to train, right? And here's a completely secluded clearing surrounded by thick trees so nopony would see and far enough that nopony could hear. No pegasi to see him from above, either. This was perfect!

Noctis close his eyes and focused. "My training starts now!"

... ... ...

"I said. My training starts NOW!" Noctis open his eyes. No weapons, no crystals, no nothing!

"... Right, the Crystal's still at home... In the castle...in Lucius...in Eos...which is in another dimension..."

FFFFUUUUUU-

Ch 3: A New Crystal.

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How strange... Black Rose thought to herself as she sat in her office, staring blankly at the empty sheet of paper in front of her. She has been like this for almost an hour now.

She felt strange, this have never happened before. Normally, the ideas flow automatically even in her sleep. But, that was not the case at the moment. For the love of her, the words just won't come! She's not even writing a full novel, just a short story for a magazine. There's no actual time limit for submission. It's just something she does between aside from her books. She sends stories to publishers that ask for it and, if they decided to use it, they give you money. It was a good source of pocket money when she was just a filly.

The mare sighed, putting down her unused pen and rubbed between her eyes. Her mind has been quiet these past few days and the cause eludes her, still.

Everything's as they normally were. She cooked breakfast, her husband went to work and the children were playing while... She writes...

Ah, I see now...

Ever since Cadance made a friend, everything just weren't the same.

Sighing, Rose gave up writing for today and decided to make lunch early. She stood and stretched. It's not like she's the only one writing for that magazine anyways. Maybe she'll take a break for a while and let the amateurs get a chance for once. Just until her muse came back. It would probably return once she's used to the silence.

She was at the living room; on her way to the kitchen when she stumbled on a peculiar, but, quite adorable, sight.

There, on the sofa, lying on his back was her son. Staring at the ceiling with the same blank look she might have given her desk earlier.

Oh, dear Noctis... The mare felt a surge of sympathy inside her. It looks like she wasn't the only one bothered by the sudden change in their family dynamic.

Her poor baby... Noctis had always been a quiet colt; only talking when spoken to, but ever since he returned from his community service, he started behaving differently. He acted more quiet than usual with a distracted look on his face. He even bumped on a door frame, zoning out as he walked.

The parents suspected that the colt was just coping from the fact that his sister won't be spending as much time with him anymore.

Rose felt a dull ache in her chest when she heard the Colt let out a depressed breath and decided, she had to do something.

The mare approached and joined Noctis on the sofa. Noticing the shift, the colt adjusted his position to better occupy them both. Rose curled around her son and sighed. Snuggling with her foal like this felt nice. "I see now, why sweet Cadance loves this so much. Hugging you feels simply divine." Rose couldn't help her chuckle as the colt grumbled and pouted. Nuzzling the colt, encouragingly, the mare spoke. "What is it that bothers you so, my prince?"

"It's nothing..." The colt automatically answered. His mother only raised a brow and he immediately gave. "I'm that obvious, huh?" His mother nodded.

"Yes, you are quite overt." With a peck on his head, Rose continued. "Now; will you tell Mommy your troubles? It pains me to see you like this."

Noctis sighed. Losing his weapons was hard to take in. Don't be mistaken. His powers were still there. He could feel it coursing inside him. But, it's useless without the crystal. All his weapons we're stored in there! With no connection to it, he's like a gun missing its cartridge.

Not wanting to sound like a loon, he chose his words carefully. "Mom... Have you ever lost something important to you?... Something you had your entire life, only to disappear when you least expect it?" Vague but still on point. Perfect.

Hearing this, Rose gave her foal a sad smile. Poor Noctis; he's taking Cadance's sudden loss of interest pretty hard. "I don't think I have. But, I believe I understand pretty well what you are going through."

Noctis scootched and turned towards his mother. "What should I do, mom? I don't think I could ever get it back..."

Especially with it, being in another realm, entirely. And after hundreds of years, who knows what could have happened to it. Now that he thought about it. He kind of remembered exploding after taking the kings inside him. Maybe he wasn't the one that exploded. Maybe it's the crystal that did? Crap, he hoped not. Just in case there was a way to bring it to Equestria.

Rose gave her foal a reassuring nuzzle. Noctis was correct. As unfortunate as this was for them; Cadence finding a friend had to happen. It's not healthy for the filly to depend on her brother too much for companionship.

The mare thought for a solution. She figured that that the colt's problem stemmed from being so used to taking care of his sister. And now that she had left the nest, so to speak, he doesn't know what to do with all the free time that he suddenly have. So the answer was to fill in that gap! Maybe find a friend of his own or a hobby if he still insists on being an introvert.

Satisfied, Rose finally answered. "I believe, it is for the best that we accept the cruel reality and make peace with it. We cope by making the best off of what we have. Or, we find something new; something better, even!"

Noctis considered her words. Something new... Something better... That's it! Maybe he could build a new crystal! Make the best of what he has! This world has all sorts of magic and wonders, and Noctis have a feeling that he hadn't even touched the surface. Unlike Eos, Magic was literally everywhere in Equestria. There has to be a way to convert some of that energy and turn it into a specific type of magic that corresponds with the King's magic that he brought with him. Preferably in crystal form.

Excited, the colt jumped off. With a turn, Noctis gave his mom a bright and grateful smile. "Thanks Mom! I know what to do now!" After a quick hug, the young king rushed excitedly towards the back entrance. "I'll be out for a while to... Uh... Find... My cutie mark!" Yes! The perfect excuse! He had a feeling that he would be involved into a lot of crazy things from now on. Mostly the explosive kind, probably...

Rose smiled, happy for her little colt. "Finding your Cutie Mark? What an excellent idea!" She felt proud! Her baby was growing up! So young, yet, already on his way to find his destiny! "Just don't cause too much trouble, understood?" The mare added as an afterthought.

"I'll try!" Noctis replied, not wanting to lie entirely, as he galloped on the dirt path.

Rose's gazed lingered at where the colt was when they were snuggling, feeling the familiar sensation of her cutie mark talking to her.

Hmm... The struggle of a little colt, to find himself, as the most important filly in his life went on to a better place. A tragic love story...

A bit cliché... But if she trusts her talent, and she does, she could definitely pull some heart strings with this.

She stood up. Her day of writing wasn't over yet, she returned to her office. Words and ideas flowing without lag.

My apologies amateur writers, but not today...

Noctis was back in his secret clearing in the woods, thinking.

Ideas are one thing, but, turning them to reality was a different story.

Where do I even start?... The colt paced back and forth, urging his brain to run at 150%. Ugh! I wish Ignis is here...

Frustrated, the colt plopped himself to the flower covered ground. Taking a deep breath, Noctis started concentrating. Raising a hoof, he searched within himself. The power was in him, waiting to manifest. He thought of protective thoughts. He pictured a dome. A barrier made of crystals. A wall of protection...

Noctis opened his eyes... only to find bright open sky.

Nope, still nothing...

Noctis sighed in disappointment. He turned to his side, only to feel something poke his cheek. With a frown, the colt grabbed the offending object and taken a look. It was some kind of crystal pebble, the non-magical kind, he's afraid. Stones like those were everywhere like common rocks. He held the crystal against the light. It looked kind of pretty, actually. Being oddly shaped like a heart.

It reminded him of his dad. Pretty little crystals floating around as he tried to instruct him on levitation.

Noctis sighed once more. There are things that he thought he could do without a crystal.

Spells.

Not the crafted kind. But, actual spells you cast.

Noctis hated to admit it. But, Ardyn was right about one thing. Prince Noctis, chosen king and savior of Eos, sucks at magic.

The most advanced spell he could do was levitate objects and flying, by proxy. He can't even remember how. It just, kinda, sorta, happened. They we're just fighting and the next thing he knew, Ardyn and him were in the air! Locked in an intense weapons shoot out!

Warping! He's really good at that! He could warp infinite times without getting sick or burning alive. It's kind of his specialty. He threw a butter knife once and successfully warped.

And phasing. He wasn't really sure, but he thought it was something unique only to him. His dad couldn't do it and he doesn't know if the other kings could, so he'll just assume that they couldn't either.

Summoning wasn't really a spell... Just call the God's and hope they weren't busy.

Man! The Klaves made it look so easy! Conjuring barriers, shooting lighting left and right! Invisibility! Fire tornadoes! When it comes to spells, those guys were pros!

And here we have Noctis. To compensate for his lack of magical skills, he trained himself to master fighting with different weapons and instead of learning to cast, he mastered crafting spells.

The colt fiddled with the stone some more then suddenly froze.

Crafting... That's it! Noctis stood, an idea coming to him. The first problem was the crystal. Without it he's useless. So he established that he should try and make some sort of replacement crystal but doesn't know where to begin...

Noctis lifted his hoof, admiring the heart shaped gem.

... And what better way to start than with actual crystals.

I may not have a Crystal yet. But, for now, you'll have to do.

As he walked home, the young king didn't notice the brief, little, sparkle that came from the tiny rock.

Cadance returned home that afternoon to the weirdest thing she had ever seen. "Noctis, what's going on?" The filly asked as she stared at the piles of books and assortment rocks that littered their room.

Looking up from his reading, the colt smiled. "Oh, hey Cadance."

The filly turned her gaze towards her brother. "What are you doing?" She asked once more.

"You mean these?" Noctis gestured towards the ominous looking circle of symbols drawn on the floor with gems arranged in a pattern inside. "I'm just trying to see if which type of gem contains thaumaturgical properties..."

Cadance just started. What?...

"I'm also trying to see if they happened to have crystal dimensional space pockets inside, through this simple manasurgical circuit!"

"......"

The filly kept staring for a few more seconds before, slowly, backing away and closing the door.

"Mom, can I go in?" A filly's voice asked through the door.

Rose looked up from her desk. "Yes. You may enter." She permitted and Cadance went inside.

"What is the matter, my sweetest?" The mare asked, turning towards her daughter.

"Noctis is acting weird." The filly said. Looking uncertain, she continued. "I think, he's trying to summon a demon..."

"Already?" She thought it would be months before her son even tried. Foals usually resorts to it when they ran out of ideas.

Rose chuckled, remembering her own attempt, fondly. "Did he use charcoal ash for the circle?"

Cadence gaped at her mother. "Whaaaa...?"

"Just answer, sweetheart."

"Um..." The filly thought back. "I think he draw it with chalk..."

The mare's eyes widen. "Oh dear, that won't end well..."

Cadance furrowed her brows. "What do you mea-"

HISS-BANG!!!

"Are you sure, you're okay?"

Noctis rolled his eyes at his worried sister. "For the hundredth time, I'm fine." The colt assured as he prepared for bed.

It was just an energy pulse, not a fiery explosion. He should have known that chalk wasn't strong enough to contain the charge. Maybe if he melted a mana conductive metal and pour it in a mold...

"Are you sure?" Cadance asked once again. "You're not possessed, are you?"

"For the last time, I'm not trying to summon a demon!" Noctis shook his head in outrage. "Where did you get that ridiculous idea, anyway?"

Cadance became lost in thought.

"Remember, my dearest daughter.

It is important that you do not forget to mix table salt with iron filings for the soul purifier. I also recommend that you bring a modified vacuum cleaner to trap the spirit in a sealed jar to serve as a trophy..."

"Uhhhh..."

"Never mind," Noctis sighed and hopped to their bed. "Where were you, anyway?" The colt asked, desperate to change the subject. "I haven't seen you all day."

"I'm with Prism. We played at her house today." Cadance joined her brother, taking her usual position on the bed spooning with Noctis. "Why?" The filly asked, slyly. "Did you miss me?"

"Not really..." The colt answered, bluntly. Oblivious to his sister's saddened expression. "I was busy studying those books." He wasn't a complete novice when it comes to magic researching. As a prince, he was expected to learn about the crystal and how it works. Or at least, what the scientists had managed to figure out.

The two were silent for a few moments before Cadence spoke, "Noctis?"

"Yeah?"

The filly hesitated for a bit before continuing. "Will you... Help me learn how to fly, sometime...?"

Noctis raised an eyebrow. "You do know I'm an earth pony right?"

Cadance pouted at her brother. "Not teach me how to fly. Just catch me when I fall, or something." The filly explained. "It's just..." She gave Noctis a squeeze before continuing. "I kind of missed you..." The filly then proceeded to bury her face in the colt's chest, hiding her blush.

Noctis giggled at the adorable sight. "You’re so cute!" He laughed when his sister blushed deeper.

After calming himself he continued. "Yeah, I guess I'll help you out!"

"Promise....?" The filly looked up, hopefully.

Now, it's his turn to give the filly a squeeze. "I promise." The colt swear, giving his sister a meaningful look.

Satisfied, Cadance closed her eyes, deciding to give her trust to him.

Noctis followed her example and together, they fell asleep.

What am I doing wrong? Noctis thought. Face buried on a picnic table. What am I missing?...

He was just hanging out, by himself, at a nearby park. The park wasn't particularly impressive. No playground, just some benches and tables. The one he was sitting on, was one that ponies, almost, never use due to its proximity to the woods.

He looked up, resting his chin on the wooden surface as he started at the pile of colorful rocks. The colt sighed. He tried everything he could think of...

"Noctis, thank goodness I finally found you!"

... He tried to read lots of books about gems and enchantments...

"I've been looking for you everywhere! It's silly of us to forget to tell each other where our houses were, huh?... Noctis?"

... But being an earth pony, he was very limited to what he can do, magic wise...

"... Are we seriously doing this again?"

... He kept trying to push magic into the gems. But, the stupid rocks just won't have it-

POKE!

"Eeek!" Noctis jumped with a start. Caressing his sore side, the colt glared at his attacker. "Hey! What was that for! That really hurts- Fausticorn?" The colt calmed down, finally noticing the new arrival.

The pony goddess in filly form spit the pointy looking stick in her mouth. "Serves you right for ignoring me again; also its Stellar now, remember?" She reprimanded. The colt clearly hasn’t learned his lesson! "Why do you always do this? It's impolite to ignore cute fillies, you know?"

Noctis rolled his eyes at this. "Alright, I'm sorry. Won't happen again..." the colt apologized.

With a huff, the filly joined him, sitting on the other side of the table, "It better not, or else!" She gave the Colt a threatening look. "I swear I'll find sharper things to poke you with..."

Noctis gulped. He had the feeling she'd do it too. Just to spite him.

"Honestly! I spent weeks finding you and this is what I get? You should feel sorry!"

"Yeah, yeah..." The colt replied, suppressing the urge to groan as the filly nagged his ears off.

"Did you even try to find me? You're not hiding from me, are you?..." Stellar pressed on.

"Eeyup," Noctis answered lamely.

The filly raised an eyebrow. "Eeyup? For finding me or for hiding?"

"One of those..."

"Hmph! Here I am, a very nice and really cute filly, giving you all my attention and this is how you treat me? You should be nicer to me!"

"Uh huh..."

"And marry me, while you’re at it!"

"Sure, whatever you say... No, wait!" Noctis shot up. Eyes wide in realization on what he just agreed to.

Stellar almost fell off her seat, laughing at the colt's panicked expression. "Relax! I'm just teasing..." Or was she?

"That's not funny." Noctis hissed while he calmed his beating heart. For a second, he really thought that she'll make him marry her.

He doesn’t think he's ready for that yet... He's still hasn't moved on from his previous engagement...

"I'm sorry." The filly said. Not looking at all apologetic as she wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. "You just looked so bummed when I found you and thought, I should lighten the mood."

Noctis sighed. He guessed he couldn't be mad at her for that. "It's fine. I forgive you, I guess."

"So, what's the problem?" Stellar asked, fully recovered.

"It's just... I kind of... Lost my powers." The colt bowed his head at the reminder.

"That can't be right..." Stellar scrunched her face in confusion. "The power of your inheritance is forever merged within your celestial force." She continued, unconsciously reverting to her wise goddess mode for a moment. "It can't just disappear after reincarnation. It just doesn't happen. Even I can't remove it. Not even if I wanted to."

"You're right. That's not the problem." The young king reassured. "The power of the Lucui bloodline is still inside me. It's just useless without the crystal. Like a fancy straw without an equally fancy drink. I can't draw power from nothing..."

"Ugh! Stupid! I should've known the crystal was important!" The goddess scolded herself before sending Noctis an apologetic frown. "I'm so sorry. I should have realized it sooner..."

Noctis shook his head at the apology. "No it's alright. It's not your fault. I didn't exactly explained to you that the two were connected. You couldn't have known." The colt sent the sad filly a bright smile. "All I need is a crystal and I'll be fine."

"Is that what all the gems are for" the filly asked, gesturing to the rock pile.

"Yeah, I've been trying to see if I could make my own crystal." He gave Stellar an inquisitive look. "Can you, maybe, get the crystal here? Or, if not, make a new one?"

"No on the first one, I'm afraid. The stars have shifted and won't be aligned for very a long time." The goddess explained.

"And the second one?" The young king asked with hope in his eyes.

The filly paused for a moment, deep in thought. Noctis felt like bursting on his seat, anticipation intensifying with every passing second.

"Yes and no..." Stellar finally spoke. "Yes, I could probably make something similar, if not exactly like your crystal, with my powers. But, I can't conjure that kind of divine object and just drop it from the heavens. Doing that would cause a ripple that would end all life in the planet." The filly sighed, "Poor dinosaurs. They didn't know what hit them..." the goddess shed a tear at the tragedy. "My poor bitey babies; bless their souls."

"They’re in a better place now..." The colt sweat dropped, not really knowing what else to say, "So um, about the crystal?"

The filly snapped back. "Oh yeah, the crystal; I can make it with my full power, but can't send it down here and even if we managed to do it, there's no guarantee it would work." The goddess continued. "Your power was given to you by other gods, so my crystal won't probably sync to their power. No, the crystal has to be made here, on the inside, preferably by you." The goddess stared Noctis right in the eyes, hammering the seriousness of her words. "Just believe in your power, Noctis. It knows it's incomplete and it knows what to do." She plucked a random crystal in the pile-the heart shaped pebble- and slid it in front of the colts. "Trust in it and it shall help you."

Noctis scratched the back of his head and sighed. "That's what I've been trying to do, anyways." The colt let out another breath and continued. "I've been trying for weeks. But, nothing's working."

"Have you tried using your magic?"

"It's useless without the crystal, remember?"

The filly shook her head. "That's not what I'm talking about." Stellar suddenly stood and pointed a hoof at the young king. "Don't forget! You are a pony now!" She returned to her seat and continued. "You’re an earth pony, to be precise. So rocks shouldn't be a problem for you." She pushed the crystal a little closer, encouragingly. "Go, try it. See if you can get this one to open up with your earth pony magic and once it does, try to convince it to accept your power inside of it."

Noctis stared at the little gem. Can’t hurt to try, I guess... The young king held out his hoof above the crystal and focused his power to it. The crystal started shaking on the table.

"Whoa, whoa; stop! It's going to crack!" The filly snatched the gem and gave the Colt a glare as she clutched the stone as if it were a hurt puppy. "You're doing it backwards!" She returned the stone on its position before continuing. "You can't just force your way in her like a brute! You need to be a gentleman. Talk to her; get to know her better; be friends with her. WAIT for her to open up to you and she'll accept the power inside her, on her own..."

"......"

"It's a girl?"

"I'm using metaphors. But, yes. It's seems to be a feminine rock."

"Huh..." Noctis looked down to the crystal. Yeah, it kinda does sends of a girly vibe.

Noctis shook his head. No. Focus! With a determined nod. He held his hoof out, once more and closed his eyes. He focused on the stone, trying to extend his influence to feel it. He almost recoiled his hoof when he felt some kind of 'ping'. He opened his eyes with a start and look at Stellar for guidance.

"Keep going." She nodded and gestured for him to continue. "You’re doing great."

Without saying a word, Noctis closed his eyes again. He tried to 'talk' to it and sent his powers once more. Not to force it but 'tickle' it a little. It happens in a second and this time, his hoof did pulled back when he felt a spark. Nothing painful, it just caught him off guard. His eyes widen just in time for him to see the stone start glowing and pop out of existence.

For a moment, they thought the worst, until something passed through his vision. Looking around, he found it circling him in an orbit. It was the tiny crystal! It's corporeal form now sparkle with glints of symbols and images.

He couldn't believe it. I did it...

"You did it!" Stellar said, excitedly. "Quick. Do the rest!" The filly continued, pushing the pile towards Noctis.

The young king repeated the process, only this time, with both hooves and extended his magic to as many stones as he could at the same time.

They noticed that certain ones immediately vanished while the others never responded. Out of the pile, fifteen stones joined his crystal; enough to levitate something light.

Noctis looked at his surroundings for anything to grab found Stellar's poking stick. He willed the crystals towards it and they obediently followed. Fetching the stick, it now floated between the foals. The crystals danced mesmerizingly around it.

The colt's smile grew wider and wider. "Yes! I did it!" Noctis celebrated too soon as he lost focus, the crystals suddenly imploded, condensing themselves, and the stick, into a teenee tiny black bead that landed on the table.

Panicked, the colt activated his powers again. The bead glowed and the stick re-materialized on his hoof. Or, at least, the charred, smoking, remains of it, did.

Not to cause any accidents. The colt threw it at a stream with the help of his new crystals. With their job done, they merged into a bead once more and landed on his waiting hoof.

It's small. Too small. Pathetically so. Even a pea was bigger than this.

"I need to find more crystals..." He's going to need waaay more than this if he wanted to stand a chance against the dark fragments.

"Yeah," Stellar agreed. "But first..." The filly jumped off and approached the colt. Hopping on Noctis' bench the filly proceeded to grab the colt on the shoulders and shook him, furiously. "Tell. Me. Where. You. Bucking. LIVE!"

Cadance doesn't know what to think. It was so sudden! It just happened, harshly, without a warning, like a train crash and now, she felt like her world was falling apart. The pink filly just couldn't believe it. The reality was too cruel.

Noctis brought a cute filly home!

She cursed to herself. There was nopony else to blame but herself! She was too careless! She should have known this would happen. She was enjoying herself too much and took her brother for granted and now, he's replacing her...

"Thanks for your hospitality, ma'am." Stellar said as Black Rose brought a plate of assorted cookies and biscuits.

"It was no trouble at all." Rose placed the snacks on the coffee table. "It is not often that Noctis brings a friend with him." Noctis doesn't bring friends over, period! The mare took a seat on the couch, on the opposite side, beaming, BEAMING! At the white filly. Rose was struggling to keep her composure, when really, she was squealing on the inside, "Specially not fillies as pretty as you." She wasn't just trying to flatter her at all! The filly was gorgeous! With her pristine white coat, shiny and vibrant, red mane and crystalline pink eyes; she's an absolute cutie! It's seems that her son inherited her taste in brightly colored ponies...

Cadance huffed. She's not that pretty...

"Thank you, for your compliment!" Stellar replied with a blush. "Your very beautiful yourself, ma'am."

Rose couldn't help her toothy grin. And polite, too! Whatever it is you did to get her to like you. Good job, son! "Oh, there is no need for formalities. You may just call me as Black Rose, or simply, just Rose." The mare sent the filly a smile, with all her charisma in it. "Or, if you want. Mother, works as well..." The mare continued. Eyes sparkling with hope.

Cadance almost choked.

"I think, I'll just call you Mrs. Rose." Stellar giggled at the exited mare. Is this why Noctis liked my mother so much? This is fun! No wonder, he couldn't stop smiling, at the time... "My mom might get jealous if I call other mares 'mom'."

"I see. That's acceptable." The mare replied, a little disappointed, but straightened herself and picked a cracker from the plate.

Taking that as cue, the foals reached at the plate as well. Noctis was about to get a sesame biscuit when his hoof bumped with a white one, reaching for the same treat.

Cadance almost grinned as she anticipated the incoming argument between the two. She doesn't really get the appeal, but, it was Noctis' favorite snack. Not even she dared to ask him, for them.

Noctis snatched the snack. Cadance grinned internally...

"Here, you can have it." The colt offered to the white filly and went for the vanilla wafer, instead.

The pink filly's grin disappeared. What?...

The truth was that was that, Noctis only liked it because it's the only biscuit that sticks to his hoof before he learned how to grip stuff, properly.

Rose was beaming once more at the adorable exchange. Excellent move, son! A+!...

Cadance couldn't take it, anymore. She stood from her couch and plopped herself between her brother and the white hussy! She got strange looks but nopony said anything, assuming that the pegasus just wanted better access to the food.

She doesn't really know why. Deep inside, she knew it doesn't make sense. Stellar seems to be a genuinely nice and friendly girl, but her heart, for some reason, have decided...

Her eyes moved to the left, without moving her head and observed the white filly as she regaled how she and Noctis met, to their mother.

... She doesn't like this filly, very much...

It's been a few days since and Noctis continued his quest for crystals.

He roamed everywhere and picked up, every gem he could find. As he did this, the colt discovered that only the clear crystals could react to his magic; the clearer the better. He can't really name what type of gems they were, but colorless crystals works the best alongside blues and pinks.

Noctis felt like he had hoarded all the gems in the village, but the crystal only grew the size of a pearl. A wrinkly black pearl.

He was losing hope of expanding his crystal collection, when the solution presented itself inside the village's biggest convenience store.

One day, while shopping, the colt discovered that they're selling them for ponies that use them for decoration, jewelry and... Holistic medicine and rituals? He stopped reading the box after that.

Unfortunately, the King's treasury was a bit low on funds at the moment. Even with his 'Special Talent, Expedition Funds' of five bits per week, it wasn't nearly enough.

So now, he regrouped at his 'secret lab' in the basement, where he conducted his crystal based experiments. The place was surprisingly empty. He thought, for sure, his dad would have turned it to a game room, or something.

No, just like Rose's 'Special, Writing Office'; his game room was an actual room, INSIDE the house.

And now, Noctis has claimed the basement for him to do as he pleased. It's not as impressive at the moment, with funds low and all. The lab and now also, planning room, only composed of an old, stained, coffee table; a stool to sit on; Rose's old and slightly moldy, black board and an empty tube of em n' em, where he keeps the crystal safe.

Noctis was staring blankly at the crystal 'vault', deep in thought on how to solve his dilemma.

He... Had an idea; something the he had done a couple of time on his previous life. But, decided against it. He's not that desperate. So he thought up something else.

Something, that these candy sweet ponies, would throw their money at him...

/-/

"Thick Lolies! Get all your loli needs, right here! Give your Thick loli a delicious lick, today!"

"FBI! PUT YOUR HOOVES IN THE AIR!"

"What the-AHHHH-"

/-/

Well, that's a bust.... Noctis thought as he slumped on the table. it's just a candy stand! They didn't have to close it down...

The colt blew an exasperated sigh as he crossed the picture of a lollipop on the board. It doesn't matter. No one's buying, anyway... For some reason, whenever a foal approaches, their parents would pop up and drag them away.

Whelp! There goes my savings... Maybe, I should... No! Let's not turn to that yet!...

But what to do now? He needs to do something that will get him some cash, fast. But what?...

/-/

"-eaaase! Uuuu BABYYY! Don't GUH! Simple hend clen is DA hu-WAY that your-OW! Hey, stop it!"

"BOO!!! Get off the stage!"

/-/

Competitive singing is out, I guess... The young king thought as he crossed out a picture of a microphone.

Well, I'm getting desperate, so maybe... NO! Don't think about it! Noctis slammed his hoof on the table. I may have lost my dignity today. But, I still have my pride as King! I shan't lower myself to... That!

But, what else could he do, to get money...

/-/

"-and that's why I believe that I would make an excellent employee in the fast food industry..."

"Hmm. I see, I see." The stallion looked at the resume and then back at the colt. "It says here that you have experience in customer service?" The stallion asked.

"Yes, sir."

"And, how old are you again?"

"Um... Four... Ish?"

"......"

"Are you messing with me?"

/-/

Noctis sighed, crossing another one on the list. A service crew cap.

While, hiring foals was not exactly illegal; the general rule was that the filly or colt should have a cutie mark on the specific line of work.

Back to the drawing board...

Noctis was scared. He might actually end up doing something drastic! There has to be another way! Anything.

/-/

"Why didn't I think of this sooner?" The colt asked to himself, happily walking to the convenience store, with a bag full of bits wrapped around his neck.

It turns out that some of the gems he collected were valuable and managed to get a pretty good deal out of them. And now, he's free to buy some crys-Gasp! What is that!?

Noctis stopped as he stared at the most interesting thing he had ever seen in Equestria.

It's... Beautiful...

"Sir! How much for this!"

"Probably, as much as, how many is, in that bag."

"Sold!"

He just arrived at his house when he realized his mistake.

... No, not a mistake. Noctis shook his head. I don't regret buying, her. It's just... A setback! Yeah, 'setback' is the right word.

Unfortunately, he can't take any more of this. He had to do something, he knew, he's actually good at. Something he knew, in his heart, would work without causing him more headaches.

It's time to do... IT.

The young king put a hoof on his face. It's for the crystal, Noctis. Sometimes, a King must do sacrifice for the people!

Full of determination, the chosen king went to work...

/-/

"These greens look great!" A stallion, enthusiastically, exclaimed. "My chefs and customers are gonna eat. These. Up!" The stallion turned towards the colt. "Mind if I take them off your hooves?"

A chill suddenly ran through Noctis' bones. It's just a coincidence, right? It has to be...

Calm yourself, dammit! Just remember why you're doing this...

The colt wore a charming, little, smile. It's important to look friendly in business, "Not at all!" The colt said, feeling very dirty as he took the hefty sum of bits from the stallion.

He felt like crying, inside...

Bright Night stared curiously at the kitchen table. He's not usually one to doubt his wife about how she handles their shopping budget. But what he's currently looking at can't possibly be cheap! "Honey, could you come here for a sec?" Authorative, but still not accusing; good. The last thing he needs was for his wife to be grumpy the rest of the night.

"Yes dear?" Rose inquired curiously at her husband. "Is something the matter?"

Night gestured towards the fancy looking vegetables that covered the entire table. "Did you buy these?" The stallion paused for a second, trying carefully to not sound accusing. "It's a bit much, don't you think?"

The mare looked at him confused. "What do you mean? I thought this was you’re doing."

The pair looked at each other, thinking the same thing; if not one of them, then who?

And then, they heard it. It was faint, but they could hear humming from the backyard. Nodding to each other, they came to investigate.

What they saw, took them by surprise.

To their left, was what they could only describe as the most sophisticated vegetable garden they have ever seen. It looked like it came out of a cover of a gardening magazine. The rows and crop spacing were freakishly precise; the crop bed was very pristine with no weeds in sight and the plants were practically glowing with a vibrant and healthy look that you might only see in, heavily edited, photos of botanical books.

When Noctis asked them, if he could plant some things in the backyard a month ago, they didn't expect him to turn a third of it into this! How did he even get them to grow so fast!

"Shining makeup, dururu duru. Mumble, mumble. La la pretty..."

The couple turned their attention to their right, at the other side of the yard. It was their son, humming an unknown song as he polished the smooth surface of a black wagon. Not the small ones that you see foals drag around and play with, but an actual single pony wagon. It seems to be in the smallest size, but, still quite impressive. They didn't know if it was that way from the beginning or if Noctis had a hoof in it. But, the wagon seems to be a bit tricked out; with glossy black paint and stylized "Neo Regalia" written on the side in golden paint.

"Is that why he's been doing all those crazy things lately?" Bright Night asked. He was impressed with his son, but, a bit hurt at the same time. "I could have easily bought him that."

While, not exactly super rich, they're not exactly poor, either. He could have bought him that, if he just asked. Of course he wouldn't outright give it to him, he would play hard to get a little have the colt try to prove his worthy with some chores. Or, give it to him as a birthday present.

All first time parents dream of spoiling their foal, at least a little. But, Noctis never asked them for anything. Toys, books, clothes; the colt just doesn't seem to be interested with anything! It looks like he's just into different things than normal foals if his odd choice for a 'toy' was any indication.

"I for one thought that he just still hasn't given up on discovering his cutie mark..." Rose said, brushing against her husband.

The stallion's brows furrowed. "Wait, he's serious about that?" Night looked back, with a new sense of respect for his son's diligence.

The mare could only chuckle at this, "Quite actually. More than you would believe."

The stallion looked around and figured he should, definitely, believe it.

"Um hey, Mom, Dad." Noctis greeted his parents. Finally noticing the two as he was about to return, inside.

The couple turned their attention towards their son. "Hey, sport!" Night greeted back. "I heard you've been busy." The stallion gestured to the backyard in general.

Noctis turned. Inspecting is work. "Yeah, I guess you could say that." He looked at his creations with a sense of pride.

He's particularly excited about the wagon. Maybe if he installed a seat here, drill a few holes there, add a pair of side mirrors... With crystal tech, maybe he could turn it into a descent Regalia, someday. But, for now, it'll just be his trusty delivery wagon.

And as for the garden... Yeah.

He doesn't really know how it ended up like that. Maybe he just has very strong earth pony magic? He'll have to ask Stellar, later.

Carrots maturing the next day after you plant them probably wasn’t normal, even for pony standards.

Maybe, it's for the best that I didn't get him the wagon... Night thought to himself. Judging by the tired, but satisfied look on his face, it probably wouldn't be the same if he did.

"Mom, Dad, Noctis? I'm home!" A high pitched voice called out from inside the house.

"We should probably go back inside, before Cadance think we're missing." Night said and his wife nodded back.

"Yes, let's," The couple turned only to be tackled by a pink filly. Cadance started laughing as the parents started tickling her.

Noctis watched the scene with fondness. It was strange having a mother, sister and a new father.

It sure has been crazy, these past few years. Being reborn, being a pony, being a normal civilian. It's quite bizarre to think about.

But also... Very, very nice.

This has been a great experience for him, so far. This world has given him a lot of joy....

"Noctis, aren't you coming?" His sister asked as his parents held the door. They were already inside, looking at him, expectantly.

The colt nodded and charged. How did he get so lucky?

He ran towards the entrance. On the other side, waiting for him, is pure happiness.

He tackled the three, causing them to fall. "Why, you little..." they all ganged up on him.

For the life of him, he truly couldn't remember the last time he had laughed like this... It doesn't matter if he did in the past. What matters was, he's laughing right NOW.

The family finally settled down after a while and decided to have their dinner. Thanks to Noctis, vegetables were in the menu tonight! And the colt just couldn't get himself to care any less.

He really needs to give Stellar proper thanks the next time they meet. Maybe, even give her a thank you gift. That'll surely make her happy...

"Do you really have to go?"

"I... I have to... My family, they..."

"... So, is this goodbye, then?"

"I... I'm afraid, it is..."

"......"

"... I don't want to go, sniff..."

"Hey, don't cry."

"It's not fair. I just found you... Sniff. And now, we're being torn apart."

"I know."

"All I wanted... Was to be with you..."

"......"

"Noctis?"

"Yeah?"

"Sniff. If we meet each other again... Remember to keep your promise to me, okay?"

"I will... Don't worry."

"I'll miss you..."

"I'll miss you, too."

"And don't flirt with other fillies while I'm gone, okay?"

"Just go already, damn it!"

And just like that, the magic is gone.

Noctis stumped a hoof angrily to the ground. Feeling a headache coming to him soon. "It's just kindergarten! You'll be back for first grade!"

"Noctis!" Stellar pouted, whining like a little girl, that she was. "We're supposed to be having an emotional farewell! You're ruining the mood!"

"We were! And you started it!" The colt gave an exasperated sighed. Noctis learned that ponies are more lax in their education than humans does. With cutie mark magic, you don't technically need high school and college anymore.

For unicorns, attending kindergarten was mandatory mostly for learning basic magic and safety, than for academic prepping. Same goes for pegasi, but with wing training. There are exceptions, though.

For special cases like Cadance; they're allowed to be home schooled with special courses and exercises provided by the Ministry of Education. If failed, they're forced to attend class. In Cadance's case, she'd be sent to Cloudsdale if she didn't learn how to fly by age five.

Earth ponies don’t usually bothers with kindergarten. Their strength and control doesn't really need any training, but there were parents that wants to have their foal get a head start and enrolls them to specialized pre-schools.

Unfortunately for Stellar, there isn't one in the village and now, she's being sent to her grandparents in Canterlot.

The filly frowned. "I still can't believe there's no earth pony kindergarten here. It's an earth pony village! There should be one! How come nopony complained about this to the mayor?"

"We've been over this," Noctis started with a tired sigh. "The petition for it didn't get enough votes. There's no point in wasting money on something nopony's going to use. Even if we have one, you'll be the only one attending this semester."

"I know, I know." Stellar grudgingly agreed, crossing her hooves before dropping her ears a second later. "I still wish you'd come with me, though. Your mom said its okay..."

"You know I can't." Noctis whispered. "I need to do something about the crystal and maybe start working on weapons if I can." The crystal was growing steadily day by day, but still too slow for his liking. It's been a few months and it doesn't seem to be getting any bigger than a marble. He needs to figure out a way to get larger amount of clear crystals. Once it's big enough, maybe it'll stop burning everything he puts in it. "Plus, Cadance would cry if I left her alone." He continued, louder this time.

"I heard that!" The aforementioned filly shouted from a few meters away. In the train station, with her, were two teary eyed mares, watching the 'touching' scene of two precious hearts saying goodbye.

"Yeah, you were meant to!" Noctis shouted back before turning back to Stellar with an annoyed expression on his face. "Why am I here, seeing you off, again?"

"Because you love me?" The filly answered quickly, fluttering her eyelashes.

"Because you want more drama in your life; i remember now." Yep,

There's the headache... She's lucky that Noctis was so grateful to her or else, he never would have bothered.

The colt scratched his head and continued. "I really will miss you, though." He looked away embarrassed, cursing at his blush.

Eee! So cute! "I knew it!" Stellar trapped the adorable cold in a tight hug. "You do care!" She proceeded to place an appreciative smooch on the cheek.

Ponies around them awwed at the display; Cadance though, was pissed. She hasn’t figured it out yet, but, every time the white filly interacts with her brother, she suddenly feels... She doesn't really know what to call the feeling. All she knew was that, her chest hurts and she gets angry whenever the two were together.

Why was he blushing for her!? She hates this! She wished the filly would just disappear already! She hates feeling... Whatever it was she's feeling! And most of all, she hates the fact that, even when she's teeth grindingly mad; her brother never notices she's upset!

/-/

"I really wish you don't rile her up like that..." Noctis whispered, noticing his sister, upset. "You know how possessive she could get."

Possessive? Riiiight... The filly let go and sent the naive boy a wry look. "I can't help it! She just has the cutest pout!"

That, she does... Noctis couldn't deny, sighing at her antics.

Both foals turned their attention when the conductor called for the passengers. Ten minutes before departure.

"Time to go now, I guess..." Stellar said with a sad smile. "Don't forget to reply to my letters, okay?" Her smile suddenly turned to a threatening glare. "If you ignore me for the third time, I'll make it hell for you when I cash in on that promise..."

Noctis shuddered at the reminder. "Are you sure you want... That... For your thank you favor?" The colt sent her one of his charming smiles. "I'm sure there's something else you'd rather want..."

"Don't even think about getting out of this! You already promised." Stellar gave him a warning look. The colt could only laugh nervously.

With that, the filly's smile returned and swung her saddle bags on her back.

"You better be here to greet me when I return." Stellar spoke, oblivious to the longing tone in her voice.

Noctis rolled his eyes and patted her head. "Yeah, yeah." Sheesh, what a demanding goddess we have...

The filly sent him a mock glare, probably sensing his thoughts. With a final hug, she left.

Noctis turned towards the others, ready to go home, only to be greeted with a pair of shamelessly crying mothers.

"Oh, cruel fate; for such a tragic parting to befall our children..." Rose cried, tears blackened with her mascara.

"At such a young age, too!" Dinner Bell agreed, blowing on a handkerchief. "It's so sad! Why does she have to leave?"

Noctis gave the mare a flat look. And who's fault was that exactly?...

Rose gave her fellow mother a side hug. "Be strong, my friend. Their love may be young, but, I know they'll make it through in the end. We'll make sure of it... Together."

The colt's flat stare, didn't falter. Seriously, what does these two think our relationship were?...

The mares gazed at each other, camaraderie in their eyes. Their faces so close, that for a second, Noctis thought the two would start kissing, but felt relieved when they went for a hug instead.

"Oh, Rosey!"

"Bell, my friend!"

The floodgates opened once more. And just like that, the two became best friends.

Noctis was about to scold the two for causing a scene when Cadance stood next to him, practically gluing herself to his side.

The colt's expression softened at the contact and petted the filly's head and internally chuckled when she practically purred at the attention.

Girls are weird...

"Just...Go to your daughter already, Mrs. Bell."

Eyes wide, just realizing that her daughter just left her, Dinner Bell broke off the hug. "I'm sorry, but, I have to go now." The mare said before running off to her filly. "No,

Baby! Wait for mommy! I have both our tickets!"

Ch 4: Royal Pen Pal and New Armaments.

View Online

"Crystal Inventory test number five... failure." Noctis said to himself, looking disappointingly at the half melted spoon, glowing hot on the concrete floor of his basement.

He had been doing these tests every month to see if the Crystal was big enough to hold something in it. He would place a spoon inside, count to ten and summon it back. But, it always ends with the same result.

Noctis was starting to think that the size wasn't the problem. Maybe, it's the items themselves. He always wondered what those mechanism things on his weapons were. Maybe that's the thing he's missing, or maybe not. It's hard to tell.

In over a year that he's been experimenting, he discovered that his Crystal and the Lucian one worked very differently from each other. He's not talking about the amount of power they produce. The bigger one obviously generates more energy than his puny Crystal.

No. He was talking about their MAGIC.

For example, the Lucian Crystal was very picky on what you could inventory. Believe him, he tried, but his phone just remained on his hand. His crystal thought, was more accommodating. He could put in pretty much anything. The problem was, the things put in it wouldn't come back the same.

The feel of it wasn't the same either. His previous magic felt rough and frenzied. Like a raging waterfall, pouring heavily above him. While the new one was calm and still. Like a pond.

Noctis shook his head. No point in thinking about it too much. He's obviously on way over his head right now.

He needed help...

Moving to his table, he grabbed a pen and parchment and wrote.

Dear Stellar:

How have you been? It's pretty much the same old, same old, right here. You know, take care of the garden, buy crystals; the usual.

Anyway, I think I may have an idea and I need your advice. Here are the details...

Your friend,

Noctis.

So bored! Noctis slumped on top of the kitchen table. It's been a few days since he sent the letter and he doesn't know what else to do.

He had already done all his usual chores for the day. Water the plants, clean his room and the store won't have any gems until the next week after. The colt sighed. I miss my phone...

He miss his TV, he miss his computer, he miss the internet and he miss his games.

Noctis groaned. He just remembered Prompto gushing about the Empire Hearts 3 trailer. The game was supposed to launch next year.

And then the robot nation attacked.

Video games were also a thing in Equestria. Just, not the type he likes. Retro pixel arcade games, wasn't really his cup of tea.

The young king felt like crying. It has been hundreds of years. Just imagine how many games he had missed out on! How many Last Fantasy titles have been made since then? He believe there was a fifteenth, but, he never actually bothered to check it out.

He could just imagine Prompto, rubbing it on his face how he had played all freaking seventy of them. Noctis wouldn't be surprised if the Health Junkie managed to live long enough to play them all and DECIDED to die after finishing the final title...

Noctis' ears flicked at the sound of somepony entering the kitchen.

"Greetings my son," Rose walked in. "What ails you this time?" The mare asked her depressed colt.

"It's nothing," Noctis replied, "Just bored."

His mother suddenly wore a mischievous smirk. "You know, you could always join Cadance and her friend..."

"Ugh. No thanks." He had always been awkward with children, mainly because of his childhood upbringing as a prince. He was always told that his title makes him a danger to other kids. Everyone he gets close to immediately become targets. The closest thing he got to a playmate growing up was Lunafreya. And their interaction was more like a fifteen years old baby-sitter, taking care of a ten years old boy...

Prompto wasn't a kid anymore when they actually started hanging out. The plebe voluntarily trained to the bones just to get a spot on his guards and to realize his lifelong dream of meeting his idol. Even if he didn't get trained, Noctis was skilled enough to repel any would be kidnappers.

Black Rose chuckled at his agonized look. "Alright then; maybe this will brighten up your day." The mare slid an envelope to the table before taking her leave to give her son some privacy.

Noctis immediately tore the letter open and read.

Dear Noctis:

Thank you for asking. But, I'm afraid I can't say I'm fine. I miss you terribly! There isn't a day where I don't long for you touch. Every moment I'm away from you is agony! I've just grown too addicted to your warmth against my-

Noctis rolled his eyes, skipping ahead.

I've read the details and I think it wouldn't hurt to try. I never really bothered learning how my ponies does advanced magic in any of my previous lives so I have to research a method that you could try first and included it to this letter. I'll send you the rest later. But, school occupies most of my schedule, so it might be a while. Unlike you, some of us actually tries to act like a foal. I'm kinda surprised that your parents weren't suspicious of you yet. Seriously, what kind of four year old knows how to read and write? I pestered mine to teach me do I can have an alibi.

Your beautiful bestie,

Stellar Bell

PS: I know you're gonna skip my letter, so I wrote the details between the lines. Have fun! ..(>•<)..

Damn it! At least he has something to do now.

Dear Stellar:

They think, being a genius will be my special talent. Also, I hate you.

Thank you. But, I hate you.

Annoyed,

Noctis.

It was a sunny day, as usual, and Noctis finds himself roaming without reason.

It's been a week and Noctis was bored out of his mind once more. He was just at the store, but they informed him that the gem delivery was delayed for unknown reasons and now he had nothing else to do.

He had managed to decipher Stellar's letter, somehow, and proceeded to burn it, as they agreed to do to letters that said too much.

The method wasn't really something he could do at the moment. Magic Forging: infusing a metal with magic as you forge. If done right, he could make it so it won't heat up at all.

Right now, he doesn't have the equipment or the knowledge with metal working nor the money for materials. No matter how successful, his garden could only earn him so much.

Noctis paused when something caught his eyes in a storefront display.

Well, I got nothing better to do and I have all this extra money. Might as well go shopping.

/-/

Noctis was in his room, admiring himself in front of a mirror. It's been ages since he wore clothes and it kind of felt strange with his fur. But, the nostalgia gave him a calming effect that overpowered any discomfort he might have.

He was currently wearing something similar to his outfit when he went to that fateful road trip with his friends; a black jacket with lots of pockets and a dark shirt underneath. He also bought pants, but, decided against wearing it for now.

He needs to continue training as soon as he figured something out with his weapons; might as well have something practical and protective to wear.

He turned to his left, then to the right and tried a couple stances. Snug, but not restrictive, good. He turned to another angle when a silly idea came to him.

Noctis dropped down and wrapped a hoof around his barrel, clutching his imaginary wound. "I pity you. You just don't get it at all..." He looked up. "There's not a thing I don't cherish!"

The colt moved, donning another persona. "On your knees; I want you to beg for forgiveness." Noctis replied to an invisible opponent, with the smuggest smirk he could muster.

Returning to his previous position, he continued. "Take this! Omni Slice!" The colt shouted then started jumping on random points. "Shing, shing, shing, shing!"

"Argh! I've been defeated..." Noctis fell to the ground, switching roles.

He stood again in a saged and heroic pose. "Stay where you belong... in my memories."

CLAP, CLAP CLAP!

Noctis froze. Heart turning to stone as he slowly turned around. His heart sank. At the door were the last ponies he wanted to see that. There were four of them.

"Bravo, Noctis! Bravo!" Bright Night applaud.

"Majestic performance my son." Black Rose complimented.

"Ooh! What happened next?" Cadance asked curiously.

Prism just stood silently and seems to be breathing heavily.

Probably trying to hold in her laughter. Noctis thought. "How... How long have you been standing there?" He asked with a slight tremble in his voice. "What are you doing here?..."

"I sensed, role playing and came as fast as I could!" His father smiled with moisture in his eyes. "It’s finally happening. I'm so happy."

"I followed him the moment he burst through the door." Rose gestured to her husband and then developed a sinister smile. "I'm glad that I did..." The mare continued in a tone that suggested that she just got a new conversation starter with other moms.

"Same." Cadance simply answered.

Noctis turned to Prism. She was staring at him with... awe? And blushing with a kind of dazed look in her eyes. That can't be right. She's probably tuning out to something else to prevent herself from rudely laughing at his face.

The colt covered his face with both hooves, turning red. So embarrassing! "Could you guys just leave me alone for a while, I'd appreciate that."

His dad awed in protest as Rose led her husband away, eager to regale the story to whoever's willing to listen and Cadance followed, but, not before demanding- "I still want to know what happened next." -First.

Prism remained, but, beeped and ran as soon as she realized the fact, only to come back, dropping off a package, before retreating once more.

Curious, Noctis took the wrapped object. The mailmare probably sent it on the wrong house. Well, that answers why she's here... There's a letter attached.

Dear Noctis:

If you're reading this, that means you got my package. These are books that are going to help you with your problems. Their expensive, so you're gonna have to pay me back.

I accept hugs, kisses and dinner as payment. But, if you want to be a prude about it, the receipt's in there, as well.

With love,

Stellar Bell

PS: If you don't have anywhere to practice, fell free to go to my dad's shop. I just received a reply from him, saying yes. Tell me if he's being mean to you, okay? I have to go now. Muwa, muwa. Kissu, kissu.

Noctis resisted the urge to burn the paper in favor of opening the package. Inside we're three books. The first one was called "Mana Circuitry", the second was titled "Analogue Enchantments" and the last one was "Taumathurgical Programming".

Ugh! Just the tittles alone was making his head hurt, but, he could see how these could be useful in the long run.

With a sigh, Noctis resigned himself to his fate. At least, he won't be bored out of nothing, anymore...

He stood up, about to leave when he caught himself on the mirror again. He bit his lip, trying to resist the urge, but gave in, doing one last pose before going. He just looked so cool! "Be engulfed with flames of darkness. Be banished from this world!"

CLICK, FLASH!

"Dad!"

"Sorry, son; got to go now, bye!"

"No wait! Get back with that camera!"

"So, what are your intentions with my daughter?" A large, muscular, stallion asked.

Huh, so this is what she meant... Noctis looked up at the intimidating stallion. He had a charcoal mane and off white coat with a hammer cutie mark.

Stellar's dad was huge! Those muscles, just, wow! He's actually worried about what might happen to him if he didn't answer correctly.

"Um, we're just friends?"

"WHAT!" Stellar's dad, shouted at the colt. "Is my daughter not good enough for you!?"

Noctis flinched. "N-No! I... What I meant was... I just-" The colt's stammering was interrupted as the large stallion started laughing.

"Ha! Gotcha! You should see your face!" The stallion sighed and wiped his eye. "Sorry if I scared you too much. The moment I learned that I'm going to have a daughter, I immediately dreamed of doing this." He sent the colt a friendly smile. "My name's Iron Forger, Stellar's dad and owner of this shop." Extending a hoof towards the colt, he continued, "Nice to finally meet you."

Noctis shook the hoof. "Um, likewise."

"So! My daughter told me that you want to learn how to work with metal." The blacksmith started, leading the colt deeper inside the workshop. "Are you trying to get a metalworking cutie mark? 'Cause, I'm telling you right now it's not easy."

"I... Guess you could say that." Noctis answered. "I'm not really after a smithing mark."

"Oh? Do tell." Curious, Iron Forger motioned for the colt to continue.

"There's just this... project that I've been working on. It needs pieces that that I'm gonna have to make up as I go." The colt explained. "Basically, I want to learn how to make the parts for it, myself."

"Cheaper than hiring a metal worker to custom made it." The stallion hummed at the logic. "I can respect that; easier for you in the long run as well."

"Yeah, that's totally what I meant." Noctis laughed awkwardly. He honestly hadn't thought of that. The truth was that, he just wanted to avoid everyone from asking too much questions. It would be very suspicious if a child suddenly ordered a bunch of custom weapons. They're certainly going to get curious and ask what they are for, maybe even ask his parents why their son had them made a chainsaw-cleaver for him, and he just doesn't have a good enough excuse for that!.

"Alright then," The blacksmith started. "Before we get to forging, let's have a lesson on the basics first."

Noctis nodded. Listening with rapt attention as the stallion started listing various tools and explained what they're used for...

Today, Noctis was in the corner of the public library, studying.

It has become a daily routine for him of sorts for the past couple months. Bringing the books that Stellar sent him to try and reference them.

The first few weeks we're the hardest. The information would just slide past his brain unceremoniously like a wet floor and he never appreciated how convenient Goolgool was until he got lost trying to find three different types of dictionary. What even is a Mechanical Terms Dictionary! Thesaurus, what? How many volumes does Weebster's have!?

He had gotten used to it, thankfully, and even started to like it, over time. There's just something relaxing about simply sitting in a quiet place.

"Noctis, I'm bored."

The colt looked up from his book to the filly across him.

"Let's do something else already." Cadance whined some more.

Noctis rolled his eyes. "You didn't have to come with me, you know."

"But, today's our Sibling Bonding Day." Cadance pouted. "We're supposed to spend time TOGETHER."

"Sibling Bonding Day? Since when do we have that?" Noctis asked.

The pegasus gasped appalled. "You forgot?" She clutched her chest. "Noctis, I'm hurt. I've been planning this for weeks and you don't even remember."

Noctis raised an eyebrow. "And Prism's family going on vacation had nothing to do with it?"

Cadance hummed innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just a little sister who misses her smart, handsome and cool brother very much and wanted to spend time with him."

Noctis sighed and closed his book. He expected that he wouldn't be able to read much, the moment she followed him to the library, anyway. "What do you suggest we do then?"

Cadance grinned ominously...

/-/

He shouldn't have asked.

"Don't you think this is a bit dangerous?" Noctis shouted at the roof of their house where Cadance stood.

"Its fine, it's not that high!" The filly shouted back. "Just be ready to catch me, okay?"

Noctis didn't even have the time to reply when his sister jumped. Her wings spread as she glided to his general direction. The colt sighed.

I should've just reenacted Last Fantasy VII's final battle-OOF!

"Oops. Sorry about that!" Cadance stood up and dusted herself. "Let's try that again. I'll get it right this time, for sure!"

Noctis could only groan in pain.

/-/

"That was fun!" Cadance said, happily skipping as she and her brother went for a walk. "We should totally do it again later!"

"Please don't." Noctis groaned. "I don't think my body could handle much more of this."

"Oh, don't be so dramatic!" The filly rolled her eyes at him. "I'm the one crashing here, remember? I have more injuries than you do, so don't complain."

"Well, you are improving..." Noctis sent his sister a proud grin. "You landed safely six times out of ten. That's a new record."

Cadance blushed at the praise and gave Notice a coy look. "I deserve a reward, don't you think?" The filly asked, sending hinting looks at the nearby ice cream stand.

"Yeah, yeah; I'll buy you an ice cream." Noctis indulged his sister.

Cadance squealed with joy. "Can I get anything I want?"

"Fine, but only one, I don't want to get in trouble if you get a tummy ache."

"Yes! Thank you so much!" She gave Noctis a grateful hug before running off. The colt smiled at the behavior and chased after her.

Noticing the foals, the old stallion at the stand smiled invitingly. "What can I get you two?"

Cadance immediately knew what she wanted. "One large strawberry sundae, please!"

"Alrighty! One creamy strawberry of the filly!"

Noctis sighed. Of course she'd go for a large sundae. He wasn't really planning on getting anything for himself, until he saw their limited, featured, menu. "Sea salt ice cream for me, please."

"And one sweet and salty for the colt!" The vendor happily handed the two their treats. "Here you go, enjoy!"

Noctis paid and the two sat on a nearby bench, savoring their frozen desserts in silence.

They remained like this until Cadance saw something curious. A few meters away were two giggling ponies sharing an ice cream cone between the both of them. The filly watched the two blushed and laughed nervously when their tongues touched briefly for a second, before continued on licking when the other didn't get offended.

"Noctis?" Cadance tapped her brother on the shoulder.

Noctis turned. "Yeah?"

The pegasus innocently pointed at the couple. "Can we try doing that?"

"Hm?" Noctis turned once more and started coughing. A tiny piece of ice cream went through the wrong pipe when he gasped at what his sister was pointing at. Recovering, the colt spoke. "I, cough! I don't think that's an appropriate thing for us to do..."

"Why?" The pink filly asked. "They're doing it. Why can't we do it too?"

"Because they're in love."

Cadance have his full attention now. "In... love?" That felt weird in her mouth. For some reason, she had the urge to repeat the words over and over. She was about to do it too when Noctis spoke again.

"They're dating." The colt clarified.

There's that urge again. Dating. Another word that tickled the filly's mind.

Taking the filly's silence as confusion, Noctis elaborated. "Love! You know? When your heart hurts when the one you like was with someone else?"

Cadance heart skipped a beat as the colt continued.

"The happy feeling you get in your stomach when they're with you? Your heart beats loudly when they're close and you get really shy for no reason? You can't help blushing and smiling so much when you imagine yourself being married to them and having babies with them?"

Love, dating, marriage, babies; these words kept repeating in her head. Teasing her, like a difficult riddle. Trying to tell her something, but, for the life of her, she just couldn't figure out what!

Cadance looked down, deep in thought. "Love... Love..." She placed a hoof on her heart, dazed. "Being... in love?"

"What's that?" Noctis asked, concerned with his suddenly quiet sister. "I didn't hear you."

The filly stared at him for a few seconds before looking away, hiding her blush. "I-It's nothing, don't worry about it..."

"O...kay?" Noctis started, confused. "You should hurry and eat your sundae, it's starting to melt."

The filly complied and started scooping some in her mouth and they returned to sitting silently.

"So, is this a date?"

Noctis choked again.

Another day, another morning and Noctis found himself bored once again. You would think that with all the work he's been doing that he would never run out of things to do. But, no! Somehow, he did!

Stellar's parents went to Canterlot to visit her, so no lessons for him and the library was closed because the librarian was sick and he never bothered to check out books, mainly because he doesn't know which ones he needed in the first place. Also, Cadance was acting weird lately. She seems to be avoiding him during the day and meek at night. He didn't know what he did this time, but, she doesn't seem to be upset, so he's leaving it alone for now.

After a lot of thinking, his kingly intellect deduced that the crux of the problem was that, Equestria just wasn't technologically advanced enough to satisfy his human taste for entertainment.

Luckily, he can fix that!

He had the knowledge and he had the skills. Materials are limited, but, that's not a problem. He compiled a list of LITTLE things he could do to occupy himself with whenever he encounters a particularly uneventful day.

And first on the list was... baking.

Yes, he knows that he's terrible at cooking... But, he's also terribly bored, so YOLO.

Yeah... what could go wrong?

/-/

Nothing went wrong, surprisingly enough.

On the kitchen table we're a tray of freshly baked tarts. Nothing as complex as Ignis' recipes, just simple desserts that he read off a cook book.

Noctis stared at the steaming treats, waiting for it to explode. When it didn't, he looked back at the oven. Maybe he forgot to turn it off... Nope, it's switched off.

He was honestly kind of scared now. With every second that passed in silence, the foreboding feeling inside him grew. He looked to the left and then right.

Silence.

He looked up and under the table too, just in case.

Nothing.

He emerged back up and stared once more, eyes growing wider and wider.

Could it be? Did he actually cook something without any incident? No way... Did Stellar decided to take pity on him for once?

"Did you make these?"

"Eeek!" Noctis jumped at the sudden sound. Nope! There's the goddess he knew.

Panting and clutching his pounding chest, the colt addressed the intruder. "Mom! Don't sneak up on me like that!"

Rose chuckled. "I didn't, but, I apologies regardless." She gestured towards the desserts. "Again, did you make these? They look quite delicious."

Noctis nodded. "Yeah, I was bored so I figured I should do something to pass the time."

The mare smiled, happy for her son. "I am glad that you found another hobby to enjoy. Though, I wish you could have told me." She pouted. "We rarely spend time together anymore and baking is an excellent bonding activity between mother and child."

"I'm sorry." Noctis apologized. "I didn't even realize. It must be pretty lonely for you, being alone in the house too much." He should add, Spending Time with Mom, on the list.

"It is alright. Do not worry about me." She gave her sweet colt a loving kiss on the head. "Leaving the nest is part of growing up. Just do not forget to invite me in your next kitchen adventure and I'll consider it even between us." The mare turned to face the table. "Now, do you mind if I take a bite? They really do look quite impressive for your first try..." Rose was about to reach a hoof when the colt stopped her.

"Wait!" Noctis cried and grabbed the one that his mother was about to take. He had seen this scenario a couple of times when Prompto and him were watching anime. The food looked tasty and inviting at first glance. But, the moment you took a bite, you’re dead! He had to make sure it's edible first. The colt had followed the instructions to the letter, but in this magical world? You never know what tempting fate could do...

Noctis nervously gulped, but, opened his mouth regardless and took a bite. He chewed... And chewed... and swallowed. Huh, not bad. Not even close to Ignis' level, but not bad.

Deeming it safe, Noctis handed his mom a baked treat.

Dear Stellar:

I'm freaking out! I just baked something today and didn't almost caused a fire or poisoning anybody! This is freaky man! This never happened before! Is this an omen? You'll tell me if it is, right? Please tell me the world isn't ending.

Still freaked out,

Noctis.

/-/

Another boring day; another thing crossed on the list.

On the backyard, the chosen king was hiding behind a wall of sand bags as if he we're testing a bomb.... And, sadly, it might not be far from the truth...

Today, he is working on re-inventing the digital alarm clock.

He had gotten lucky last time and he wasn't so foolish to let his guard down just yet.

He turned his attention when he heard the squeaking sound of the backyard door opening.

"Noctis, there is a letter for you..." His mother called out from the house.

Black Rose raised an eyebrow when her son did a combat roll and ran as fast as he could towards her as if under heavy fire; snatched the letter without a word and repeating the same maneuver back to his bomb shelter.

The mare could only shrug and returned inside.

Dear Noctis:

First of all, don't call me Man! I am a lady and you should address me as such.

And secondly, stop freaking out! It's normal! It's just your earth pony magic at work.

Unicorn magic, casts spells; Pegasi magic, allows them to control weather and Earth Pony magic enhances your practical skills.

Don't be so surprised if you're suddenly good at doing things.

With love,

Stellar Bell.

Noctis sighed with relief, putting the paper down. So, he's just worried over nothing. Nothing bad was going to happen.

And then a thought occurred to him.

Wait... What about warning me about omens?

TULELELET! TULELELET! BANG!

He spoke too soon...

"Crystal Inventory test number fifteen commencing now..." Noctis calmly stated. Floating in front of him was the culmination of his hard work. A year of lessons and studying leads to this very moment.

Levitating in his crystal psychic field was the first ever Engine Trowel...

Hey, don't laugh! It was innocent enough that no one would get suspicious and it was the only thing he could forge with the single ingot that he could afford. Ironically, metal ingots were more expensive than gems.

Once he got his own forge, he'll start making weapons. But, as long as he's borrowing Iron Forger's workshop, he'll have to make do with trowels for now.

Even though he called it an Engine Trowel, it doesn't actually have any fancy features, the engine was only for running the loop enchantment for heat resistance. It doesn't even look like an engine at all, just a two by two inch cylinder with wires and gem circuits inside between the blade and the funnel connection.

Figuring it out was very frustrating, but also kind of fun. Like a giant puzzle.

First he had to make something similar to an Elemancy Circle to input commands in gems. He hired an sculptor to carve the pattern in a meters square, stone tablet and had another blacksmith pour molten copper into the mold. It was very expressive and had to hold off on buying crystals for a while. Luckily, nobody questioned what it actually was and now, the tablet rests on a corner in the basement to enchant gems and metals to his heart's content.

The second problem was that enchantments don’t last very long, so he had to make an automatic loop casting system that recasts the enchantment every few hours. For it to work though, it needs to have a continuous and steady flow of energy.

And there lies the final problem. For the system to keep running; he needed an unlimited power source and there wasn't any generator designed small enough to fit his needs.

Or was there...

The Crystal was a type of magic generator. And, it was once small enough to fit his nostril! If he could just make it so that, some of the stones converge into another Crystal, it might work as a generator.

And it did work! Another thing his Crystal does that the other doesn't. It was very easy to manipulate! He doesn't know if it was because he made it, but it worked out in the end for him. All he had to do was to will some of the crystals to gather together and he got another black bead, just like that!

Of course, it wasn't as simple as just wrapping a wire around the bead. No, he had to make a Mana Converter and Adapter, first. The end result looked like a D battery with the crystal bead inside, that he had to insert at the butt of the handle like a flashlight.

And it worked! Well, sort of...

The first time he tried it, the trowel didn't glow and melt, but, it was still hot as a pan.

He tried increasing the energy output and modifying the enchantment into a greater tier, heat resistance. But, not much was different.

Then, he got a break through! He discovered it completely by accident when he messed up the wiring last time and the metal glowed hot once more, but the Crystal Battery was completely fine.

With that discovery, Noctis had a new theory and redid the entire thing. Instead of a cooling system, he magically forged the entire thing to be Mana Conductive, and rerouted the enchantment to have the Crystal Energy flow throughout the object instead of just the gem codes.

And now, the moment of truth...

The trowel glowed and then disappeared with a flash and Noctis started counting down.

Ten...

Nine...

Eight...

The colt gulped as nervous sweat ran down his cheek, heart beating loudly but steadily in his chest, hoping against all hope that his theory was correct.

Three...

Two...

One!

He summoned the trowel back and it remained unchanged. A good sign.

No smoke, no soot. Good. Now for the final test.

Noctis slowly reached to it, ready to jerk back the moment he felt the tiniest bit of heat. When they finally connect, his eyes widen and his smile slowly grew wider.

It's cold... Just like before it dematerialized!

"SUCCESS!"

Yes! He knew it! The others kept burning because the Crystal was rejecting them. He had to imbue it with power first, just like the crystals!

Excited, Noctis launched the trowel and imbed it on a wall for a celebratory warp, but frowned when nothing happened.

The young king sighed. Looks like he had more work to do...

Noctis focused his will on the trowel and it disappeared once more.

... But, at least, it's a start.

It has been months and he still doesn't have an answer.

With figuring out how to recreate his arsenal, frustration was nothing new to him. But, this one was extra annoying. It's like whenever he overcome an obstacle, another one followed.

At first he thought that the Crystal doesn't have enough magic to power a warp. But, just like before, that was not the case.

The spell, the trowel and the crystal, just wouldn't connect with each other. It's like the gears don't match and just won't mesh together.

It was getting too frustrating. So, he decided to take a break.

He was planning on going to the clearing and just rest. It has been a while since he just lied down and closed his eyes all day long, when he saw Cadance lying under a familiar tree... asleep?

He should have something to say about safety and not leaving yourself vulnerable like that, but then he remembered that, despite slowly being infected by the Darkness, Equestria was a very peaceful place. He had seen the newspapers and the worst crime he had read so far was some kids doing graffiti.

Even so, he couldn't possibly just leave her alone unguarded like that, so he decided, he should join her. He was already planning on doing nothing that day, anyway; might as well laze around with company.

/-/

Cadance opened her eyes to the adorable sight of her brother peacefully slumbering beside her.

Every day, she wakes up to this, but she just couldn't get tired of it. He looks so cute!

The pink pegasus looked around. This wasn't their room... She must have fallen asleep. She has to say, being by herself once in a while wasn't really as bad as she had thought when she was younger.

Ever since their 'date', she just couldn't stop thinking about... Stuff... And she figured, she needed some alone time... to figure it out.

She had been wandering around, observing ponies; trying to make sense of things. You could say that she's researching. Just like Noctis! And her research topic?

Love!

Just what is it, really? Noctis explained a little, but she had the feeling there's more to it than that. He made it sound so simple, though, there's has to be more to it! And she wants to find out. It's weird. It's so silly, but to her? It was the most interesting thing in the world.

Was this how Noctis felt all the time?

She moved closer to her brother with a content sigh. In some way, she guessed that she actually missed the days when it was just the two of them. When was the last time they've napped together like this? It's been too long to remember.

Noctis had been so busy lately doing all sorts of amazing things. She wanted to spend time with her brother, but she could tell that what he's doing was important to him and she didn't have the heart to get in between that.

She tried to join him on his little projects a couple of times. Thinking, if Noctis could do it, how hard could it be? In the end, all she did was watch. She remembered how amazed she was when she watched Noctis put together that chest flashlight, piece by piece. The astonishment she felt when he pressed the button and the thing lit up.

She tried reading his books, hoping that it would help her understand a little, but had only gotten even more confused. She was depressed for a while over the fact that, no matter how hard she tried; she just couldn't keep up with him. Not because of jealousy at how much better he was at everything than her. No, she just wanted to be part of that segment of his life. But, she's afraid that she'll forever be just a spectator.

Noctis was like an adult. That's why she was doing this on her own. She wanted to be a little grown up too.

If she understood what love was, maybe... maybe she'll finally figure out what her feelings were. But, she's kind of scared...

Cadance gave her brother a kiss on the cheek and closed her eyes.

... She was scared that, what she's feeling wasn't normal.

Two years later...

"Noctis, time to wake up~" Cadance nudged her brother. "Today's the big day! Get up!"

The young king groaned, but, stood up regardless. He doesn't really want to, but, he had no choice. Cadance was right. Today was a big deal for both of them.

It's the first day of school...

With a grunt, Noctis jumped off their bed. Yes, still THEIR bed. Six years had passed and the colt gave up hope of his parents giving Cadance or him, their own room. They could've at least, gave us separate beds... The colt sighed to himself.

He could probably afford to buy another bed, but, it just doesn't feel right for him to spend too much money for other things other than the Crystal, the Regalia, or making more money.

"Noctis! Move, move, move! I don't want to be late!" The filly commanded, pushing her lazy brother to the bathroom. "I'm already finished preparing, so move quickly!"

Noctis sleepily eyed he's sister and, indeed, she looked as neat and adorable as ever. The colt doesn't think he had ever seen her with a bed hair since they were babies.

"Alright, alright, geez, I'm going..." Noctis grumbled and started walking halfway to the bathroom. Satisfied, Cadance left; probably to get breakfast.

Turning the faucet, the colt started brushing his teeth.

Three years had passed since he started working on building a Crystal and not much has happened. He continued on selling vegetables and buying crystals; help Cadance with flying and started working on Regalia. He hasn't made a lot of progress with the last one. Being mechanically inept, there wasn't much he could do other than draw up vague schematics of a crystal motor engine. He wasn't worried about it though. He have an entire childhood to figure it out.

Gargling and spitting, the colt went to the shower next.

The Crystal was kind of a pain. Mainly because of Noctis, not being a very patient person. The progress was just too slow! For three years, he's been feeding it, but, doesn't seem to grow past the size of a baseball. Though, he still can't warp, he could finally store and summon stuff in it. Nothing big like a sword, just small pocket sized objects. The only thing inside at the moment was a trowel. Pathetic, he knows, but it's a start. Again, he has an entire childhood to work on it.

Toweling himself, the young king went to the dining room and joined everyone for breakfast.

"Hey there, Noctis," Night greeted his son from the table. "Excited for school?" The stallion chuckle when he got a groan from the colt as his reply. "I take it, that's a no?"

Noctis groaned again. "How can you guys be so energetic this early in the morning?" The colt let out an exaggerated sigh. "Just let me have coffee already. I can take it!" Noctis gave the most pleading look he could produce. Judging by the eye roll from his dad and the amused smirk from his mom, no dice, and as if to add salt to injury, they both took a sip from their mugs.

"This is discrimination!" The colt whined at the two. "You're being age-ists you know!" Noctis pointed accusingly at the two.

"No son, this is called, being responsible parents." Rose retorted amused, enjoying her son acting like a foal for once. These occurrences we're rare and so very adorable to watch. What's a mother to do but to stir the pot? She took a long, delicious, sip. Never breaking eye contact and smirked victoriously at her son's suffering groan.

"Ugh! Your killing me!" Noctis whined. He knows exactly what she's doing and he couldn't help but fall for it. He just wanted coffee, was that too much to ask? He turned to his sister conspiringly, "Hey Cadance. If you help me convince them, I'll let you in my lab once."

Cadance didn't need to hear another word. Finally seeing what's inside the mystery basement was too hard to pass up! Another opportunity to get closer to her brother! She aimed her puppy eyes to their parents. "Pwease let big bwother have some. If his too tired, he won't do well in school..." She started quivering her lips for extra effect.

"Nice try, but, not happening." Bright Night quickly objected in a final tone.

"I tried..." Cadance gave Noctis an apologetic look before letting out a happy smile… suspiciously too happy. "I'm still expecting a tour to your lab, later." Ah, that's the reason.

Noctis cursed to himself. He was saving that bribe for a rainy day and now it's lost for nothing. His crystal experiments were hardly a secret; kind of hard to keep them covert with his obvious purchases of crystals. At first, he wouldn't even entertain the idea of letting his precious little sister to the basement, mainly because it was too dangerous. But, he had gotten better over the years, no explosions for over a year now, and the only dangerous thing in it at the moment was the Crystal and maybe the experimental crystal engine as well. He's sure that Cadance was mature enough to not touch anything if he told her not to...

The colt's mopping was cut short when a bell sound came from the wall clock.

"Come on now, children. It is time to go." The whole family stood up. Bright Night for his work and Black Rose to accompany her foals to their new school.

Just stay calm, Prism, you can do this! Prism Show encouraged herself, standing in front of a certain gray colored colt's door. Today's the day you’re going to finally talk to him. No more stalling, no more stalking around and don't let what other ponies say, get to you. You know the truth!

She blushed at her behavior these past couple of years. Ever since the colt utterly shattered her ego, every time she tried to approach him, she just felt like she's wasn't good enough. She has to learn how to be a nicer filly first or he's just going to yell at her again. Cadance assured her that he wouldn't, but, she was young and paranoid. She still was, to this day and she's trying to fix that. She just really wants this colt to like her, but the terrible first impression was kind of hard to overcome. So, she kept her distance and watched him do... weird things.

The colt developed a sort of... mixed reputation over the years, and seems to be oblivious to it all. It depends on who you ask.

To his neighbors, he's a crazy inventor; always testing gizmos that do amazing things, but mostly just explodes. She was amazed when a tiny, rectangular, device he called a digital music player actually started playing music! Well, it caught fire a few seconds later, but still!

To some, they believe him to be secretly a sorcerer, hanging around the cursed woods, buying gems weekly. Some even claimed he conjured a trowel out of thin air. Well, he is pretty magical... The filly blushed a little.

The restaurant owners were too busy fighting over who gets the colt's latest harvest to answer any questions.

He's just a lazy big brother to Cadance, but, kind of contradicts herself whenever she goes ranting on and on about how amazing he is.

And some fillies think he's cute.

Prism frowned at that. She couldn't blame them, honestly. The colt was just too unique not to notice. Most colts were icky and gross and uncouth! Always playing with dirt, bugs and just, eew! But, Nocturnal Solstice was different. So polite, so mature! He's also brave, strong and very protective. Kind and smart too, if Cadance's claims we're to be believed.

The blue filly sighed dreamily. Most of the fillies didn't make a move towards the colt because of the rumors. But, not her! Unlike those fillies, she's not so easily swayed. She smiled proudly to herself.

She admit that she too had started having doubts about him as the stories kept pulling up. But, she had seen him cuddling with his sister under a tree for a nap and that certainly doesn't look like a violent gang leader to her.

Her grin returned to a frown. Most fillies backed off, but not all of them did. She was talking of course, about Stellar Bell, the girl that, somehow, got passed through the intimidating wall of dreaminess that surrounds the colt and became his best friend.

She came out of nowhere, shocking every filly that might have feelings for the colt, even Cadance.

The blue filly shuddered. Stellar was quite the scary adversary. She was very pretty. Practically glowing with beauty! Confident too! Shamelessly flirting with the colt; openly giving him her affection. Hugs, kisses, seductive looks, she doesn't hesitate. And the worst part was that, Nocturnal doesn't seem to mind.

Their only comfort was that the colt doesn't seem to treat the white filly any differently from his sister, indulgently taking everything in stride as if the blatant flirtations were just some inside joke between them. Cadance certainly doesn't appreciate being replaced, so at least she's on their side.

The blue filly raised a hoof, ready to knock when the door suddenly opened and her hoof landed on grey nose… a nose that's attached to a certain handsome colt.

"Um, Hello to you too?"

Prism eep'ed and jerked away. Dear Celestia, that felt amazing! Just imagine what it must feel like to hug that every night! Cadance is one lucky duck!

Alright, this is it! This is what you've trained for. Just be cool! The filly stammered, shaking like a leaf. "H-H-Hi! G-Good morning t-to you too!" Yes! Nailed it!

Cadance slapped a hoof to her face, feeling embarrassed for her friend. This is her brother's fault. If only he wasn't so scary, the first time they meet, then, maybe Prism wouldn't be so scared of him. She tried to tell her he's actually nice, but the damage was already done.

"Good morning, Prism. Ready for school?" The pink filly greeted, trying to break the awkward tension.

Prism only nodded her head, shyly looking away.

Cadance giggled, taking her friend's hoof and started pulling her to the streets. "Come on, let's go!"

The pink filly was about to run off when Noctis raised a hoof blocking her path. "Do you even know where we're going?"

Cadance scratched her cheek, sheepishly. "Sorry, I'm just so exited!" The pegasus exclaimed cheerfully. Dreaming of what could be.

A new place, new ponies, more friends! This going to be the best day ever!

/-/

This is the worst day EVER! Cadance heart sank at what's written on the bulletin board.

"Huh, looks like we're in different classes." Noctis said lamely stating the obvious. "Hey, you alright there?" The colt asked, noticing his sister being quiet all of a sudden.

Prism placed a comforting hoof on the pink filly's shoulder. Not being in the same class as her brother must be scary for the pegasus. Sadly, the blue filly, too, wasn't on Cadance's class.

Not in Nocturnal's class either... Prism sighed disappointed, finally reading where her name was listed. Under the Regular Class.

Noctis was placed in the Advanced Class. It makes sense. The colt was unbelievably smart. Seriously, it's like he's born able to write, read and count.

Cadance, though...

Prism winced. The pink pegasus was in the Especial Needs Class. As a pegasus, Cadance needs to follow a different curriculum than the rest of the foals. Some of them, she has to do by herself.

And just when the fillies thought it couldn't get worst...

"Nocty!" A familiar voice sounded through the crowd.

Both Cadance and Prism gasped,

full of dred. No... No! Not her! She's supposed to be gone forever!

Noctis' eyes hardened, reflex kicking in and braced himself for impact. Soon enough, a red and white blur locked him in a tight embrace. "Hello, Stellar. Nice to see you too..."

The filly goddess pouted. "Could you at least make it sound like you're happy to see me?" Stellar shook her head in disapproval. "Honestly! It's like you didn't miss me at all!"

"That's because I don't. I just saw you yesterday."

"Hmph! Fine, be that way! One would think that you would be nicer to the filly who would cook your lunch someday." Stellar sent Noctis a mock glare before switching her sights towards an adorably growling filly. "Cadie!" The white filly let go of the colts in favor of latching herself to the pegasus. "You're even cuter than I remember! Did you miss me, baby sister?"

"Hiss!"

"Aww. I missed you too!" Stellar laughed as the pink one struggled harder.

Prism tried to free her friend, only to get snatched into the hug as well. "Hey, aren't you that filly that keeps staring at Noctis's-Mrmph!" The blue filly suddenly turned red as she frantically shoved a hoof to the redhead's mouth.

Noctis could only sigh. Classic Stellar...

"You've been quiet through all of this." Noctis observed, talking to his mother. "Aren't you going to do something about this?"

Black Rose only smiled gleefully at her son, wishing she had brought popcorn. Beside her, now stood the familiar short, red-orange, mane and peach fur of Dinner Bell, sporting a similar grin. As if they were demons feeding off of fear and negativity. Or, in their case, a pair of mom's feeding off of adorable puppy drama.

Whatever; he should be more positive. Today marks the beginning of another milestone in his pony life. He has moved on from being a baby to a full grown... child. But, still! He shouldn't let the craziness get to him.

This is the first day of school. What could go wrong?...

"Oh hey! It says here that we're in the same class! Isn't that great, Nocty?"

Prism's eye twitched and Cadance felt like strangling something.

Ch 5: A Night at Stellar's.

View Online

A week had passed since the first day of school... And it's not going well for Noctis.

First grade was obviously a breeze for him. It would be quite embarrassing if wasn't. Classes weren’t really the problem.

It was a bit silly of him to think about now, with all the things he had been doing for the past three years, but he was kind of hoping for a somewhat normal childhood this time. Or, at least, a normal school life. He's not a prince anymore, so he wanted to go and try to do the things that he wasn't able to before. Running around, playing, and being crazy. You know, typical kid stuff. There was just one problem.

He hasn't made any friends...

His usual friendship strategy didn't work. He didn't know why it failed! All he had to do was sit still and wait for someone to approach him and turn on the ol' Lucian charm. It was the perfect plan!

A day turned into five, and the former prince found himself alone while everyone else paired up. It was weird, almost like they were avoiding him, or something. But, that can't be right.

Noctis sighed. It seems that without his title as prince, people just wasn't interested with him and in the end, he was just an awkward boy who doesn't know how to make friends.

It doesn't matter. He'll just have to try something else next week. He just wished that Stellar hadn't up and abandoned him to surround herself with filly friends. Speaking of Stellar...

Noctis placed a toothbrush inside his saddle bag and exited the room.

... Time to fulfill that promise.

"You ready to go for your slumber party?" Bright Night greeted from the living room.

The colt couldn't help his grimace. "I prefer the term... Sleep Over." Noctis informed, approaching his dad. "One's more masculine than the other."

The nerdy stallion chuckled at the colt's embarrassment. "If you say so." Bright Night pointed his muzzle at his son's bag. "Is that everything you need?"

"Yeah." Noctis nodded. "Even if I forget something, I could always just go home and get it. It's not that far."

"I guess you have a point..." The stallion agreed before his face turned into a serious expression. "Now, listen, son..." Bright Night started. "I know you and Stellar are close, but, no funny business, okay?"

Noctis gave his old man an arch look. "You... Do know we're both six, right?"

Bright Night returned with his own look. "With the two of you? I can't tell sometimes." The stallion pushed his glasses back up before continuing. "Honestly, I feel like I'm talking to teenagers, or something."

He wasn't far from the truth. Noctis nervously laughed. "Well, we're obviously not, so... Are you going to give me the Talk right now?" The colt asked, trying to distract the stallion. "Because, if you think I'm old enough to know about that stuff, I should also be old enough for coffee."

Bright Night sighed. "Look, just behave yourself there, okay?"

The colt rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. I won't do anything that will get me slapped in the face." Stellar might. Noctis thought. Though, probably not to me...

/-/

Stellar's ears perked up as she heard a knock on the door. "Yes! He's finally here!" She turned to her parents. "You guys will be cool, right?"

"Of course, sweetie. We'll be cool." Iron Forger answered in a condescending tone, while Dinner Bell smiled innocently, kicking a barely hidden photo album deeper under the sofa.

The young one narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "I mean it!" Stellar warned. "Please, don't embarrass me. I don't want to scare him away."

"Relax, we'll behave." The mother reassured, not sounding at all convincing. "Now, go answer the door." The mare shooed her daughter before continuing with a teasing smirk. "You don't want to keep your coltfriend waiting too long now, do we?"

"Should you really call him that?" Stellar raised an eyebrow, challengingly. "You do realize that he's going to be sleeping in the same room as me, right?"

"Hah! Do you honestly think that we're not going check on you, the entire night?" Iron asked rhetorically.

"Whatever." The filly relented. "It doesn't matter. He's not my target tonight, anyway."

This peaked the parents' attention. "What do you mean?" Stellar's mother asked. "I thought Noctis was the only one you invited."

The filly smiled saccharinely. "Oh, you'll see~" Stellar said cryptically as another set of knocks emanated from the door. "Coming!" Stellar called out and she marched to the entrance, leaving her parents curious.

/-/

"Took you long enough." Noctis sighed with relief as the door finally opened. "It's really uncomfortable, balancing these on my back." The colt gestured his head towards the large, rectangular, container with a smaller box above it. "They're for you."

"Aww, you shouldn't have." Stellar batted her eyes at the colt. "Are you buttering me up? You're not planning something, are you?."

Noctis only gave the redhead a flat stare. "They're my payment for the books." The colt then proceeded to give the white filly a quick hug and placed the box of chocolate kisses and the container of freshly baked lasagna, in front of her. And just so the filly wouldn't complain, he also added a pouch with the exact amount of bits that he owed the goddess, inside. That didn't stop her though.

Stellar pouted, giving the colt a disappointed look. "When I said hugs, kisses and dinner, this wasn't what I meant." She signed. "I know that we're not official yet, but, to pull this one on me? Shameful, truly shameful..."

"I'm only six years old," Noctis defended. "What do you want me to do? Reserve us a table at a restaurant and take you on an actual date?"

"I won't allow it!" Cadance objected as she slowly descended from above; finally deciding to make herself known to the two before things could turn onto a more romantic direction. "Noctis is not allowed to date anyone yet, so back off."

"Y-Yeah!" The duo turned their attention to the street and found Prism Show standing nearby. "You tell them, Cadance!" The blue filly cheered on as the pink pegasus landed beside her.

Cadance grinned smugly at Stellar. The moment she learned about the sleep over, she knew that she's gonna have to crash it. If the thieving minx thought that she trusted her at all to be alone with her brother, then she was sorely mistaken! With Prism's help, they would ruin every sinister plan that the white filly has to get closer to Noctis.

The pair of fillies we're so convinced that their surprise attack would work that their shock were doubled when Stellar beamed widely and tackled them into a crushing hug.

"Cadance, you came!" Stellar exclaimed excitedly. "And you brought Prism with you! I have the cutest blue and pink pillows waiting for you in my room! Ooh, This is going to be the best slumber party, EVER!" the filly squealed, ignoring Noctis' protest of 'Sleep Over!'.

What!? Cadance thought in shock. It doesn't make sense! Why was Stellar acting like she was expecting them? How!? She told Noctis and her parents that Prism and her were having a sleepover of their own, so why does her big brother looked like he wasn't surprised at all by their unannounced appearance, either?

Unless... He was in on it too!

Cadance's heart sank as cold realization dawned on her. The sleep over was a setup! Noctis was bait and they fell for it, and now they're trapped! Fear and regret filled pink one's heart as she asked herself; what was Stellar planning? What was she after? If she wanted Noctis to herself, then why was she so happy to see them?

Cadance was scared. She doesn't like this; she doesn't like this at all...

/-/

"Are you sure you're not interested with my daughter?" Iron Forger asked, eyeing the items that the young colt had brought for his little girl. "Because colts don't usually give this kind of gifts to fillies that are 'just their friend'." The stallion continued. They we're currently in the kitchen, dividing the lasagna and placing them on plates for everyone to share.

"I'm just paying her back for the books she sent me." Noctis simply answered, unfazed. "She really helped me out, and wanted to let her know how I appreciate that."

"That thing you're working on," The stallion started, inquisitively. "How is it going?"

"Oh, still haven't made much progress. I'll just deal with it some more, later." The colt answered dismissively, still not delving anything specific.

"Still not going to tell me anything about that project of yours, huh?" The stallion smiled knowingly. "Will I ever know what the genius inventor, Nocturnal Solstice, was working on for years?"

Noctis rolled his eyes. Genius inventor? Ha! If only you knew the explosions I caused... "I'll show you someday, I promise." The colt answered. "It's just too early for now. I only had one breakthrough and kept struggling with the rest. Until an answer miraculously appears, I'm just going to enjoy being a kid for a while."

"Geez," Iron started. "When you say it like that, it sounds like it's going to be a huge deal." The stallion chuckled amusedly. What could a six year old possibly do? He had seen the parts that the colt made and he's pretty sure that the young tinker was only building a small clock.

"Trust me, Mr. Forger. My project will save the world one day!" Noctis proudly proclaimed in a 'joking' manner, and both of them laughed.

Iron Forger gave the Colt a playful nudge. "Just don't forget about me when you become a big shot, okay?"

"I'll send everypony, who's interested, to your shop." Noctis promised and gave the stallion a hoof bump.

"So, what's up with those two?" The blacksmith gestured to the living room towards the group of fillies who were dragged by Dinner Bell into viewing Stellar's baby pictures.

"Sorry about them," Noctis scratched the back of his head. "They kind of just invited themselves."

"All according to Stellar's plan?" The stallion asked with an arched brow.

Noctis opened his mouth to deny the claim, but only bowed and sighed. "Yeah," the colt admitted. "How did you figure it out?"

"She said something about you, not being her target tonight."

Oh dear... Noctis sighed. May God have mercy on them... Wait, never mind.

/-/

Prism felt her hope slowly leaking out with each page turned from the album. At first she was excited to finally have some dirt on the enemy, but became disappointed as time went by. She was wondering why Stellar seemed so calm when her mother revealed the book of pictures to them, now she knew why.

There was no embarrassing photos of the white filly anywhere!

How!? It doesn't make sense! The blue filly gave the white one a sideways glance. After two years, she only grew prettier. How is this fair? Seriously! Is she a goddess or something!? Prism mentally shook her head. No, not a goddess; a witch! She's a witch! That's the only explanation!

There's no way a mere filly could get that radiant!

It wasn't fair! Her mother told her that mares worked hard and endured numerous discomfort to be beautiful; she knew that very well, especially now that she has a colt she was trying to impress, but in the end, all she was, was average. She sighed. Some fillies just had all the luck...

"Hey girls! Having fun?" Iron Forger placed the tray of plates on the coffee table and started distributing food to everyone before taking a sit next to Noctis.

"Yes!" Was Mrs. Bell's enthusiastic reply. "I was just about to show them that picture when Stellar played with the sprinklers!"

In the picture, Stellar had her eyes closed and her mane was wet. One would think that, that would make and awful photo of a messy filly covered in mud, but somehow, the white filly managed to make it look good. Flicking her mane at just the right angle towards the sun that the resulting spray of droplets created a sparkling effect.

Prism felt another chunk of her confidence dying. The photo looked like it belongs to a mane care ad! Prism's looks relies heavily on her mane and coat; no matter how hard she tries, there was just no way that she could look that good drenched with water!

Another point to Stellar...

Prism decided to drown her sorrow with food and took a bite at her lasagna, she couldn't help the noise she made as the cheesy morsel melted in her mouth. "Mmmm~"

"I have to say, this tastes good!" Dinner Bell praised, taking another bite. "I came from a family of famous Canterlot chefs, so that should tell you something! Did your mother made this?"

"She didn't, Mrs. Bell." Noctis blushed and bashfully scratched his head at the compliment. "I did."

The moment that the words came out of the colt's lips, the Bell-Forger family suddenly froze and became deathly quiet. Iron looked worried while Stellar stared at her plate with a horrified look on her face as if she found out that lasagnas were made with meat in it.

"Oh Noctis, you're such a kidder!" Dinner Bell nervously laughed in denial. "So, your father made it?"

"No," Noctis tilted his head, puzzled by their strange reaction. "I baked this myself."

That seems to be the last straw for Stellar as she clumsily placed her plate at the table before abruptly falling on her knees, her eyes wide with disbelief and her head hung in defeat. "No, it can't be..." The redhead shakily spoke. "The colt I liked made me food before I did!"

"Shush honey, it's alright," Dinner Bell consoled her daughter, hugging her tightly. "Everything is going to be alright."

"Mom, what should I do?" Stellar asked her mother, teary eyed. "Nana Bell is going to be so disappointed with me."

"It's okay," The mare's expression became deadly serious. "No one has to know." Dinner Bell turned her gaze towards Noctis, full of malice.

"Oh geez," Iron Forger face hoofed. "Now you've done it..."

Noctis turned to the stallion curiously. "Huh?"

"You!" The mother pointed an angry hoof at the colt. "How dare you, a man, set hoof at the mare's holy temple that is the kitchen and besmirch my daughter's honor!"

"What!?" Noctis exclaimed in alarm, utterly confused. "What did I do!?"

"It's a Bell thing, don't worry too much about it." The stallion sighed exasperated. "It's an old tradition where the Bell fillies would cook a meal to the special pony they liked as a rite of passage. Doing the reverse would 'bring shame to the family name'." Iron Forger rolled his eyes. "Not a big deal..."

Dinner Bell looked at her husband with disbelief. "Not a big- Iron! How could you say that!?" The mare narrowed her eyes angrily. "Did you already forget what you did to me when we're just in elementary school?"

"It was just a stupid sandwich!" Iron defended. "You forgot your lunch and I was being nice!"

"It's not stupid!" The mare sniffed. "It was the greatest sandwich I've ever had in my entire life!"

"Thank you! I really wanted to impress you!" Iron shouted, still. "I just still don't see what the problem is!"

"The problem was, I felt like a failure for months, you jerk!"

That was when Prism tuned them out. She couldn't believe how lucky she was! She was losing hope of ever finding some fault from the usually perfect filly when suddenly, like a miracle, Nocturnal brought her salvation in the form of baked spaghetti goodness. She decided, from now on, lasagna was her favorite food. She internally cackled. Stellar would never live this down! Maybe be she'll even bring the colt lunch come Monday just to add salt.

She knew that was probably too mean to do to a depressed filly, but love is war, dammit! Prism was nopony special; she wasn't that pretty without her makeup and she doesn't have any impressive skills. She has to do everything she could just to have the slightest bit of chance at winning.

"-I married you in the end didn't I?" Iron Forger argued on.

"Not before you almost married that Sesame Biscuit chick!" Dinner Bell turned away from her husband and crossed her hooves with a harrumph. "I had to go on a grand quest all over Equestria to find ingredients just to recreate our childhood sandwich for you to realize that I'm your true love!"

Prism sweat dropped. Geez, what did I miss? She turned to Cadance for answers only to find the filly with twinkle in her eyes, listening with rapt attention to the couple's bizarre love story.

Noctis sent Stellar an inquisitive look. The filly goddess only shrugged as if to say she was as confused as he was and had nothing to do with that madness.

"Um, can I say something?" Noctis raised a hoof. "I'm kind of curious about this Sesame Biscuit chick, mainly if she's still single and if she would be willing to bake biscuits for a colt forever. Haha..." The colt joked awkwardly, trying to lighten the mood... He went ignored.

The stallion sighed an exhausted breath. He had to end this soon or he might be sent to sleep on the couch tonight. "Look honey, we're getting off topic here." Iron Forger reasoned submissively. "This is about our daughter, not us. All she have to do is make Noctis something on Hearts and Hooves day, just like you did, and her honor will be restored just like that."

Prism and Cadance sent each other a conspiring glance and nodded meaningfully... Time to learn how to bake cookies.

"Fine..." Dinner Bell relented. "You’re sleeping on the couch tonight, though."

Darn it! Iron sighed and sent Noctis an irked glare, making it clear it was his fault. The colt at least had the decency to look apologetic.

This is going to be a long night...

An hour and a half after the lasagna fiasco, the foals found themselves inside Stellar's room, sitting in awkward silence.

The room kind of reminded Noctis of a simpler and smaller version of Lunafreya's chamber. Almost everything was in color white. The sheets, the curtains, the floor tiles and even the walls were painted white. The bed was less fancy and more of what you'd expect a normal bed looked like. The only things with other colors were the study table and chair; the flat surface was also white but the metal legs and support we're black, and the lacey blue and pink pillows with the words 'Cutie Prism' and 'Kisses for Cadie' in stylized embroidery, written on the surface. It was kind of scary to think how long the white filly was planning for this. Enough time to embroider two pillows.

A few more seconds had past and Noctis finally decided break the silence. "Stellar?" He was only met with more silence.

"Are you still mad at me?"

"......"

Noctis turned his head towards the other fillies in the room.

Cadance was reading something on an old magazine by a pony named Blake Charms. For a story about a colt and a dead filly, it was actually quite wholesome. It was written in the perspective of a colt named Sleepless Night as he wrote to, what she assumed was, his dead filly friend, Serenade, about his cutie mark adventure on a journal. She was really into it! Their relationship was very intriguing and she's learning new things about love! She wanted to know more.

Prism noticed the colt's plea for help and she only smiled apologetically, expressing her desire to not get involved.

With a sigh, Noctis returned to appeasing the pouting filly. "Look, I'll bake you some sesame biscuits tomorrow as an apology," he offered. "Does that sound good to you?"

That earned him a plain white pillow to the face.

"Yep, I deserve that." What was he thinking? Him baking things for her was the problem in the first place.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. He might need the goddess' help later with his Spell-Crystal-weapon misalignment problem. And if Dinner Bell was any indication, the silent treatment could go on for months. That just won't do.

"Please Bestie?" Noctis started, Stellar's ear flickered. He internally smirked. His father, the king, taught him that, the trick to manipulating people into giving you what you want was to speak their language. He put on the most exaggerated, shameless flirt, persona he could muster. "I'm sorry snow angel, you know I didn't mean to hurt ya. My life would be meaningless without you. Please come back to me, baby girl. Come on, doll face, you know I need ya."

Stellar was about to crack! Noctis could see the filly shaking with mirth as she tried her hardest to hold in her laughter at his ridiculous Playboy accent. Just a little more. "Your pretty smile is only pretty when you're smiling..."

"Pffft!" Air escaped the filly at the corny pickup line. Noctis' face lit up, hoping it was enough to finally get her back to normal. Sadly, Stellar managed to immediately compose herself. "Flattery won't get you anywhere with me." The redhead huffed and crossed her hooves not unlike her mother.

Noctis sagged. Unfortunately, he doesn't have any more lines to throw at her. He signed, he knew that he would regret what he's about to do. "Look, is there anything I can do for you to forgive me?"

Stellar remained still for a few seconds before finally turning, the proposition was too good to pass up. "Anything?"

Yep! So much regret. "Just, don't make me do anything too ridiculous, okay?"

"Alright then..." Stellar stood up and sauntered towards him with half lidded eyes and an eerie smile. "All you have to do," she slowly and seductively ran a hoof on his arm. "Is cuddle me tonight."

Cadance's reaction was immediate. "What!?" She dropped the magazine. This was more important. She wrapped her hooves on Noctis' other arm possessively. "No! He's only allowed to hug me!"

"But you get to do this every night!" Stellar whined and wrapped her hooves on the other side as well. "Let me just borrow him for tonight, please?"

"No!" Cadance stubbornly refused. "I won't let you have him! Never!"

"But he owes me!"

"He just made you lasagna! He didn't do anything wrong!"

That was when Noctis decided to intervene. "Girls! please don't fight." He started, trying to diffuse the situation. "Can't you two just get along?"

The arguing fillies looked at each other, nodded, and turned their attention back to him.

"Alright then," Stellar began. "Why don't you pick between us?"

"Yeah!" Cadance agreed. "Her or me?"

Crap! He was hoping they would just share or something. That was the only outcome he could think of that wouldn't end with one of them hating him. Fortunately, he remembered another life lesson imparted to him by his father.

King's always gets asked difficult questions regularly. The trick to answering them was to think outside the box but don't ignore what's inside it either. Sometimes, the answers were sitting right in front of you but your too busy outside the box to notice.

If he chose his sister, then Stellar would be grumpy with him for a long time; if he chose the redhead, on the other hand, Cadance might cry and that would not end well for him either. Both were unwilling to compromise and share. But there was a fourth option. He almost missed it too!

The answer was sitting right in front of him...

Oh, the heck with it, I don't care anymore. "I choose..."

/-/

Prism was frustrated. Watching the two filly cling to the colt's forelegs and brushing against his silky soft fur was torture for her! She wanted nothing more than to throw herself at him, wrap her hooves around his barrel and bury her face in his chest.

But she had to hold herself back. No matter how much her heart aches with jealousy, she had to. It really hurts to admit, but there was just no place for her with him, physically and emotionally. To him, she was just his sister's friend. A stranger he occasionally sees and barely talked to with. So imagine her surprise when her name suddenly came up at the bickering.

What?

"What!?" Was the twin reaction of the once arguing fillies.

"I said," Noctis repeated. "That I choose Prism." The colt dislodged himself from their hold and approached the blue filly.

Prism could feel her heart about to burst out of her chest. He's coming this way! She was completely paralyzed with nervous panic as the colt she's been crushing on came closer and closer.

Prism was about to hyperventilate, she realized. She felt her body starting to shake and her vision getting foggy. She's afraid that she's going to faint.

When she finally felt the gentle embrace, however, all her worries suddenly washed away. Everything seemed right in the world as she came face to neck with the object of her affection.

It felt as amazing as she dreamt it would be and more! So soft, so warm, and he smells so nice! It was heaven.

She was about to reciprocate the hug, her hooves twitched, ready to snake around the colt, only to hesitate.

Could she really? She felt like she was crossing a forbidden line. Was it really okay for her to do it? She could feel her old anxiety coming back. Was she good enough? Does she really deserve it? Prism internally shook her head. Perhaps not, but this was a once in a lifetime opportunity!

Like she said before, she wasn't anything special. All she was good for was being a pretty face, and when somepony came by that's more beautiful than her, she became nothing. With the competition, the possibility of her, never touching him ever again, was very real. She had to seize the moment while she still got the chance!

And that's exactly what she did. She threw all her inhibitions in the air and latched herself to him like her life depended on it. She did it! She actually managed to do it! She felt so happy that she was about to cry.

So why was everything slowly fading to black?

Prism laughed bitterly inside. In the end, all the shock and excitement still got to her. In the end, she still wasn't strong enough.

But the fight wasn't over for her yet. Now that she got a taste of his affection, there's no way she's going to give up! They're going to hug again, her and him. She's going to make sure it happens.

One day, she'll discover the one thing she's really good at. When the time comes, she's going to do her hardest to be the best at it! Nocturnal was going to be so impressed with her that he just has to give her a hug! Maybe then, she'll be strong enough to hug back without psyching herself too much into fainting...

And with that, she let her eyes fall and the world turned black.

/-/

Huh, she must be tired. Noctis observed, oblivious to the filly's internal struggle. Deciding to take her lead, he closed his eyes and let their bodies fall on the futon mattress.

"Hey! Wait a minute!" Cadance said, finally snapping back from the shock. "You can't do that!"

Noctis huffed, eyes still closed. "I can and I did."

"That's not fair!" Cadance puffed up her cheeks. "You're supposed to choose between Stellar and me!"

"Yeah, and I choose neither of you." The best outcome for him required both the white and pink filly to be treated fairly. Sharing him in a hug doesn't seem to be an option for them, so he opted for the opposite instead and left them both equally hug less. Sure, they would still be upset, but not as much if he had chosen one over the other.

"B-But, what about me?" Cadance whined, trying to get her brother to see reason. "I need cuddles! A-And what about making up with Stellar?" That tasted bitter in her mouth, but if he chose Stellar, then she would be left with Prism as her cuddle buddy, and the alternative would be...

"You two can just go and hug yourselves," Noctis temporarily raised a hoof to wave at them in a shoo-ing motion. "I don't care anymore."

That's the answer she was afraid to hear. She turned to Stellar, desperately hoping that the white filly would protest.

"I'm okay with this!" Stellar beamed and pounced on the pink pegasus.

Cadance cursed inside as she felt herself immediately relax, her body's automatic response to being wrapped in a hug, and to make matters worse, she liked the feel of Stellar's coat against her. It felt like being hugged by a cloud. She's a pegasus so she knew what she was talking about.

Giving up, Cadance sighed and begrudgingly hugged back. "I hate you..." She whispered as she received a goodnight kiss on her temple.

"I'm sad to hear that." Stellar whispered back with a soft smile, not at all sounding sad at the harsh confession.

Cadance's irritation only worsened at that. "Why are you doing this?" She continued whispering. "What is this sleepover actually for? Why are you after my brother?"

"Who said that I'm after him?"

Stellar gave Cadance a look she couldn't recognize and it was making her nervous. "I-If you're not interested in him, then who are you after?" She gulped, she had a feeling she wouldn't like the answer.

"You." The white filly smirked. "I want to be closer to you."

Cadance's eyes widen and her heart sank as nervousness replaced her rage. "Y-You have feelings for me!? Is that why you want to cuddle with me!?" She could feel her face heating up. "I'm not emotionally ready for this yet! Ask me again in ten years!"

"Not like that, silly!" Stellar chuckled at the adorable reaction. "I just meant that, I wanted to be your friend."

"Really?" Cadance was confused. That was her ulterior motive with all of this? That couldn't be right. Was it really that simple?

"Hey, don't act so surprised." Stellar rolled her eyes at the pink filly's disbelieved face. "I just wanted more friends, is that so hard to believe?"

Cadance felt conflicted. Wanting friends was something she could relate to. There was a reason why after three years, Prism was still her only friend. Being a pegasus, it was difficult for her to make friends with other foals; she was different... And that distresses them.

Stellar was not a bad pony, she knew that. The white filly was nice, smart and energetic. She was an all-around friendly filly with a long mane that Cadance would just love to braid and style. Plus, unlike most foals, the redhead absolutely adores her brother. That alone should have given Stellar Sisters 4 Life status with her... So why does her heart kept insisting that she's an enemy?

If she was any other filly, Cadance would have immediately jumped at the chance of being friends... But her heart had already decided.

Cadance broke off from the hug and turned away. Stellar doesn't deserve to see the pink filly scowling at her.

"I'm sorry," Cadance whispered softly. "But I don't think I could ever be friends with you..." she doesn't like Stellar, she hates her, so why does it hurt saying that? What else could she do, though? She has to be true to herself! Stellar and her... They just couldn't work out, not as long as she's after Noctis, because... Because... Cadance wanted him for herself.

Cadance's body started trembling. Gosh, I'm such a weirdo... she thought dejectedly, suppressing her tears. I'm just his sister, I have no right to feel this way about them. I shouldn't feel this way at all!

"It's okay."

Cadance's eyes opened with surprise as Stellar, the filly she unfairly hates, hugged her comfortingly from behind.

"It's okay," The white filly repeated. "I don't mind if you don't like me, I'll keep trying to befriend you regardless."

That, for some reason, struck a chord within the pegasus. Those words sounded familiar...

"Why are you so mean to me?... I just want to be friends."

Cadance's eyes widen slightly with a faint gasp as she recalled where she heard those exact same words. That's right... Three years ago... she remembered a little filly crying under a tree because her idiot big brother wouldn't get out of bed.

It has been a long time since, but the awful feeling was something she hasn't forgotten. The frustrated confusion of trying to figure out why the ponies she were befriending wouldn't like her back. She's being as nice as she could to them, but they just keep being mean to her for reasons she couldn't understand!

Cadance would never go as far as bullying, but, in some way, wasn't that what she's doing to Stellar right now? The white filly hasn't done anything mean to her, in fact, she's actually quite nice, always greeting her with a hug and a huge smile as if she was actually happy that Cadance was alive, which couldn't be said with other foals.

It wasn't as bad as before, nopony went out of their way to make fun of her yet, she suspected that they're scared of what her brother might do to them if they did, but she's not stupid, she knew that they're avoiding her, even her classmates in the Special Needs Class was wary of her.

She kind of understand where they're coming from; as the name implies, the class was filled with ponies with special circumstances, mostly foals who has medical conditions and/or disabilities, it's only normal for them to be apprehensive with anything that has the potential to hurt them.

The same excuse couldn't be applied to everypony else though. Cadance pouted. What's so scary about her anyway? She's pink for crying out loud! PINK!

She sighed, realizing she's getting off topic. Again, Stellar's nice, she treats Cadance like a normal filly and expressed an actual desire to be friends with her. Wouldn't it be wrong of her to deny the redhead the chance? Doesn't she owe it to the nice filly, to give a friendship with her, a try?

Cadance bit her lip. She can't believe she's actually considering it... But she has to face reality at some point. It was unreasonable of her to get in between Stellar and Noctis. Her big brother could be with whoever he wants, regardless of her feelings.

Could she really do it though? Rise above her hate and... Love Stellar? Become her friend and bottle all her jealousy inside? It would be difficult, especially if the white filly keeps acting like a shameless slug! But, if she stopped flirting with Noctis, at least, not in front of her, then... Maybe?

She needs more information...

"Why?" Cadance asked, finally speaking after a few minutes of silence. "Why are you so nice to me?... Even though you know I don't like you."

"Because you're Noctis' sister."

"You want to use me to get closer to him, is that it?"

Stellar snorted. "More like I'm using him to get closer to you; surely you've realized by now, and no offense, but I don't really need you to be close to him. Noctis and I are already close and I didn't use anypony to do that, I did it all just by naturally being me."

Cadance resisted the urge to smack the white filly. She couldn't really see Stellar's face, but she was sure that she's wearing a stupidly smug grin.

"Noctis is important to me," Stellar continued. "And you're important to him; that makes you precious to me as well, makes sense?"

Cadance finally turned to face Stellar with an uncertain look. "Is... That it?"

"I don't know what else you want me to say, Cadance. I like you and I want you to like me back." The white filly smiled softly. "Maybe I consciously wanted a sister close to my age and I'm projecting that to you? I don't really know, but if there's one thing I do know it's this," Stellar held the pegasus closer and rested her chin on top of the pink one's head. "I'll always like you no matter how much you push me away."

Cadance mulled over what the redhead said. The white filly seems to be sincere. What should she do? What could she do? There's only one option isn't there?

Doing the right thing...

"... Alright then." Cadance relented, finally reciprocating the hug. "I guess I could try and put up with you for a while. Yawn. See where that takes us..." Her eyes suddenly felt tired for some reason, her eyes grew heavier until she eventually succumbed to sleep.

After casting her sleep spell, the white one smiled and gave the sleeping filly another goodnight kiss. "Sweet dreams, my little pony."

Stellar Bell closed her eyes...

/-/

... And, in the heavenly plane, Fausticorn's eyes opened.

Floating in a starry space, she observed the projection of the entire universe in front of her. A bunch of spheres made up of different colored lights (parallel worlds) orbiting around a bigger sphere (Equestria, the original world).

It seems that another alternate reality has popped up while she was gone.

Humans huh? Interesting... Noctis might enjoy visiting it one day, though, she decided to ignore it for now, that's not really why she's there. No, she came for something a lot more important.

She tapped the biggest sphere twice and the projection zoomed in to what's inside. More spheres, but with words underneath as labels and arranged neatly to fit a rectangular screen. She tapped the one labeled 'Strings of Fate' and her surrounding suddenly got filled with projections of differently colored threads.

It looked like utter chaos at first glance, but that wasn't a problem for her. With her will, the strings moved until the one she wanted stopped in front of her. It was a pink one, thicker than most, but worryingly short.

With a small swipe of her hoof, a small window slid into existence with label 'Commands' at the upper left corner. Inside we're little squares with familiar symbols, she tapped the one labeled 'Refresh' and the strings disappeared, replaced by dots moving lazily in a circle as the universal gesture of 'Loading...'.

The Goddess smiled with relief when the strings returned. The pink thread, only a few inches before, was now in an almost infinite length! Crisis averted!

But she knew she shouldn't celebrate too soon. She had a feeling that it wasn't over yet...

... And she was right.

Another window popped up shortly after the reload, angrily blinking blue and red, indicating the urgency of it. She tapped the Alert Notification and her heart sank as the window closed and a string appeared in its place.

She laughed bitterly. It was the Cause and Effect alert. With every action comes with an equal and opposite reaction. She meddled with and changed Cadance's destiny and now...

The Goddess sighed, staring sadly the string. It was exactly the same size as the pink one's previous length.

It's probably for the best... It could have been Noctis or Prism's thread that was cut off. It was pretty much the best outcome they could get.

I just hope that Noctis won't be mad at me when he finds out...

Deciding to return, her mortal eyes opened once more. "Noctis, you still up? We need to... Talk?" The white filly tilted her head, confusedly looking at the sight. In front of her was Prism, blushing and giggling in her sleep... Clutching a pillow.

Stellar looked around her room, no sign of the colt. "Where did he go?"

/-/

Noctis sighed as he gazed up at the starry sky. He found himself on a lounge chair at the backyard, mentally exhausted, yet, unable to find rest.

He let out another tired breath. The night went pretty much as he expected, but at the same time, caught him completely off guard. That's Stellar for you. You see her coming, yet, still unpredictable...

A cool night breeze blew and Noctis felt himself relax as he felt it gently on his skin. He couldn't help but be reminded of another goddess in disguise from his previous life. A certain black haired woman that's always been in his fiancé’s side. I wonder if Lunafreya ever had these problems. Gentiana and her seem to be friends. Did the princess ever got teased by her goddess? It's hard to imagine the two ribbing at each other like giggling teenagers. Gentiana carries herself with sophistication. A perfect example of a refined lady.

And here, I got a shamelessly narcissistic flirt for a bestie... Noctis chuckled to himself. Stellar wasn't so bad once you learn to stop reacting to her advances in ways she finds amusing. Being flustered was the worst thing you could do if you want to be taken seriously with her. Ignoring her teasing is the way to go, but he sometimes let her have her fun. Playing along with her games was the least he could do after everything she had done for him. He wouldn't have made it this far with his Crystal stuff without her help. He's honestly considering taking her on little outings when they're a bit older; not dates, though. They'll be going as friends of course.

He may not have lived long enough to vow 'till death do us part' but, it turns out, there are just things that even death can't erase, like a lifetime of feelings and memories.

Besides, she'd probably want to invite Cadance along with them, maybe Prism too. Stellar seems to have decided that the pink one was a more fun target than him. Was it unfortunate? Yes. Will he do something about it?.... Pffft, Nah! Just a little revenge for when Cadance practically made him her personal dolly.

Noctis closed his eyes and let his head rest backwards. The sleepover went well, at least, at the end of it. Stellar seems to have gotten what she wanted out of the night...

...so where was his uneasy feeling coming from?

The colt sighed once more as his mind went back to the reason why he sneaked out of the room in the first place. He doesn't know what the problem was. There was just this feeling in his gut that's telling him something's off.

He kept having these annoying sensation grating at the back of his mind that he couldn't place. Like something familiar that he should have recognized sooner, but didn't. And the weirdest part was that the cause of it seems to be coming from Prism!

Ah, Prism Show. In hindsight, hugging her out of the blue like he did, probably wasn't the brightest idea. It makes him cringe at how it could have gone badly for him. The filly could have kicked him in the balls for touching her without permission! Luckily, she didn't. Though, he still should apologize to her in the morning, just to be safe. The last thing he needed was Prism thinking he was some kind of grabby pervert.

Moving on...

He just couldn't think of anything that might be wrong with the blue filly. She doesn't seem have body odor, (He probably shouldn't mention anything about him sniffing her sleeping body, like, ever! He'll be branded a creep for sure if he did! Or worse... Stellar might act jealous and insist that he should sniff her too!) She's comfortable enough to hug and she doesn't have wings that swat at him every few minutes, so what the heck's the problem?

Noctis was so focused with his thoughts that he didn't notice when the backyard door slid open

"THERE YOU ARE!"

"Aah!" Noctis jumped on his seat. Clutching his loudly beating chest, he turned at the source of the voice. "Stellar? What the hell!"

The filly huffed. Finding Noctis took longer than she wanted. The stupid colt wasn't in the bathroom, the living room or the kitchen. Stellar checked the shop too, but he wasn't there. She also went to her parents' room, just in case he decided to make move on her mom or something, but he was nowhere to be seen. The Goddess was beginning to think that he went home when she heard something outside. She sighed in relief when she finally saw his familiar ash gray mane poking from the back of lounge chair at her backyard. "You naughty colt! I was looking for you everywhere!"

Noctis imagined, if ponies we're capable of it, her hooves would be on her hips right now.

"For a second there, I honestly thought you ran away!" Stellar chastised some more.

Noctis scratched his head. "Sorry." He apologized. "I just couldn't sleep and thought a bit of fresh air might help."

"Fine, I'll forgive you..." Stellar replied, her frown turned into a mischievous smirk. "But only if you scootched over. I want to lay down too."

"Why?" Noctis questioned. "There's, like, two other empty chairs here." He continued, gesturing a hoof towards the aforementioned chairs beside him.

"Yes, I can see them too." Stellar deadpanned, ignoring his logic. "Now scoochie your toochie before I send you to the couch with my Daddy."

Noctis moved, sighing in defeat. It wasn't worth risking it.

Stellar sighed as she made herself comfortable. Completely relaxed with her body shamelessly pressed against his. Go figure.

"You said you couldn't sleep." Stellar started. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"Maybe. I don't know." Not seeing any reason to keep anything secret, the young king confessed. "There's just something... Off about Prism. It felt weird. I can't describe it."

Stellar looked thoughtful for a moment before realization struck. She returned her gaze at the colt. "Did it felt like this?"

Noctis didn't know what she was talking about at first. He was about to ask what, when he finally felt it. A constant pressure at the back of his head that's driving him nuts. "Yeah! You know what it is? And do you know how to get rid of it? It's so annoying!"

"Yeah." Stellar replied, sounding a bit annoyed. "It's the sleep spell I've casted on her. I'm surprised you didn't figure it out yourself. Didn't you think it was a bit weird that she just dropped so suddenly?"

Magic. Of course! It's so obvious now, in hindsight. Noctis felt a bit embarrassed for forgetting. It's been so long since the last time he sensed divine magic that he honestly forgot how it felt like. Now a question presents itself.

"Why?" Noctis asked out loud. Why would Stellar randomly use her divine magic on the blue filly for no reason? Sure, at first, it actually sounds like something she would do, but, the serious shift in the goddess' expression confirms there's more to it than just a random whim.

"Before I tell you anything," Stellar started. "I should probably mention that I've put everyone else to sleep as well."

Noctis blinked at that. Now he's really curious.

When the colt didn't say anything, Stellar continued. "Noctis, do you know why I asked you to get Cadance to have a slumber party with me?"

Noctis resisted the urge to correct her in favor of answering. He shrugged. "I just assumed that you're just being your usual self and wanted to squeeze as much entertainment as you could out of the favor I promised you."

The filly rolled her eyes. "Geez, I am glad that you have such a high opinion of me." She drawled. "Then again, it worked out for me. You played your part perfectly for this night." Her expression fell once again. "I can't think of a better way to do this, so I'm just going to go and say it." Stellar inhaled deeply. Here goes nothing! "Something is coming right to this town, and Cadence is going to die when it happens!" She exclaimed.

Noctis' eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. That certainly took a turn. They were just talking about slumber parties a second ago and now she's telling him his sister is going to die soon? What the heck!?

"Don't worry! I did something about it, so she'll be okay!" The goddess added frantically before the colt could freak out. Noctis relaxed, then she continued. "At least, for now..." She flinched as Noctis immediately un-relaxed. "It's more of a quick fix than an actual solution, to be honest. I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but, Cadance's fate could change course a lot easier towards death than I could nudge her towards the path of life."

Noctis struggled to keep his breathing calm, but his mind kept swirling with grim thoughts. "Is it the darkness... Is it because of me? Is it because I'm here?" Why else would a catastrophe hit their town specifically.

Stellar tighten her hold on the distraught colt, trying to give comfort. "No, none of it is your fault. Something's going to happen regardless of whether you're here or not." The filly sighed, knowing her next words wouldn't help alleviate the colt's mood. "It just... Became deadlier with the introduction of daemon genes."

"So, it's a yes and no, then." Noctis laughed a bitter laugh. It's like his previous life all over again. The pressure of knowing something is coming, pushing in all directions.

"Hey, none of that now." Stellar said sternly at him. "If you're going to blame someone, it should be me. I'm the one who brought that accursed scourge in Equestria."

"It's not your fault." Noctis breathe in and exhaled, letting all his negativity out with it. Blaming himself isn't going to help them fight whatever is coming. He should just concentrate on saving everyone. "Let's just agree it's the Darkness' fault and not ours."

Stellar grinned. "Yeah! Buck the Darkness!"

Noctis smiled, full of determination. "So, um, can tell me more about it?"

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't really know much. All a can tell you is that Cadance seems to be, or was, the only, casualty; she would die either at the age of ten or fifteen years old, always; and lastly, I managed to change her destiny, but now, somepony else has to die in her place."

Noctis was shocked by that. "Who?" He asked.

The filly didn't answer for a few seconds speaking. "... I don't know." She lied. She knew exactly who's going to die. She knew them very well. And by the slight narrow of his eyes, Noctis might have suspected that she knew.

Maybe she'll tell him in the future, but right now? She can't... She just... Can't. She's trying to justify it in her head that Noctis might do something reckless, like sacrificing himself, if she told him, but really, she's just a coward. He'll probably never going to learn who until it's too late. Stellar silently crossed her metaphorical fingers. Please don't ask, please don't ask, please don't ask...

"That's... Bad." Noctis said. "I can't speak for Cadance, but, I'm sure she wouldn't like the idea of someone trading their life for her." The colt paused for a bit, thinking carefully his next words. "Cadance isn't that special, is she? D-Don't get me wrong! I'm not saying that it's okay for her to die, or anything, but isn't it a bit unfair for a goddess to play favorites like that?" Again, don't be mistaken. Noctis love his sister very much and he would like nothing more than to keep her safe, but, he was a prince. A politician. He was trained to be logical and the importance of sacrifice was something that was hammered to his skull at a very young age. The random stranger that's going to die... They could be someone's father or someone's fiancé! The thought of leaving them to die because of his selfishness just doesn't seem right to him.

Stellar sighed and she looked... Relieved, for some reason. "Yes, you're right, it isn't fair." She rested her head on his shoulder and continued. "But, it's very important that Cadance survive this. She's a lot more important to this than you and I combined, because if she dies, we all die. The village would be wiped out without her."

Noctis was surprised once again. He sighed. Of course there's more...

The goddess spoke once more. "I wasn't originally planning on telling you this, but I guess it wouldn't hurt. Cadance is a lot like you than you realize." Stellar shifted for a bit before continuing. "I guess you could say, it's her destiny to save the village. She have in her the potential to be one of the most powerful being in the world. Later, in a few years, Cadance is going to ascend."

Noctis sighed. "Geez, when I thought my eyes couldn't get any wider, more surprises came."

"And there's more." Stellar sent him an apologetic smile. "In the original timeline, where the Darkness doesn't exist in this realm, Cadance would have been just fine. Unfortunately for us, that is not the case. I'm afraid just ascension alone wouldn't be enough to save her. For her to be able to survive the incoming calamity, she needs to go further, to go beyond. She needs to tap into another power nopony has ever been able to before. Something called, the Daydream State..."

"Daydream State?" Noctis asked.

"Yes. Other than actual ascension, it's the closest a mortal could get to being a god. It gives you infinite amount of magic to do pretty much anything you could think of. It's a system I created so I could use my full power down here in the mortal realm, which works, well, kind of." Stellar coughed, looking anywhere but his eyes. "It have unfortunate side effect of... Causing your body to deconstruct itself atom by atom due to Mana overload. Or, to simply put, burning your body to ash."

Noctis raised an eyebrow. He remembered her saying something like that when they first met. "And you want Cadance to do it... Why?"

"Look, I don't know how, but the strings of fate said she could pull it off somehow. And the strings never lie. I can personally attest to that."

"Well... Okay then. If you say so." Noctis nodded. If God herself said it's possible, then who was he to doubt? "What do you want me to do?"

"For helping Cadance achieve cosmic epiphany, I'm going to do most of the work with that, but, I'm gonna need you for some of my schemes, I mean, 'Practical Training'. Her domain seems to be Love, so her continued survival relies on how much she understands Love and how little hatred she have in her heart. That's the reason for this night actually. To get her to stop hating my guts."

"Did it work?"

"Yes, a little. I got her to at least try to put up with me."

Noctis snorted. "You know, she probably wouldn't hate as much if you hadn't rile her up every chance you get."

"Oh please, she hated me the moment she saw us next to each other. No amount of playing nice could change that." Stellar returned with an eye roll. "She just LOVE her brother sooo much that she couldn't help but be JEALOUS." She continued with a sly hint in her voice, like she knows a joke that only she finds amusing. The filly rolled her eyes again as, even with the emphasis, the obvious hint just went over the colt's head. Ugh, boys...

They became quite for a while before Noctis spoke. "Will I be ready?" He asked, though, more to himself than Stellar. "At the minimum of four years, will I have enough weapons? All I have right now is a tiny shovel and I still couldn't figure out what happened with my warp spell and-" Noctis jumped when something soft and wet landed on his cheek.

Stellar giggled at his reaction to the kiss. "You worry too much." She said. "Just relax, I already have several ideas to fix that. I just waited to tell because I wanted to do them with you." Her smile fell a little when she saw the colt's disbelieving look, as if he honestly believed that she would just leave him to struggle on his own. "Noctis, I didn't save you so you could be my soldier. I saved you so you could be my friend. You're not alone in this. You and me, we're gonna kick some butt!" She finished with a dazzling grin. "So what do you say? I'm planning on going to Canterlot the weekend after next week, wanna come with me?"

Now it's Noctis' turn to smirk teasingly. "What, like a date?"

Stellar smacked him half-heartedly. "Weren't you listening! Cadance would deck me if she heard!"

The two of them laughed and exchanged jabs for a few minutes and for a moment, it felt like he was with his friends again.

After they calmed themselves a few minutes later, Noctis spoke. "I have to ask my parents first, but if it's okay, I guess I'll come with. They do say that Canterlot is the capital of magic. If I'm going to find a book on teleportation mechanics, it's certainly be there."

"That's the spirit!" Stellar beamed. "I already have a couple of shops in mind."

Noctis yawned. "Well, I guess it's bed time." The colt made a move to stand, but was stopped by the filly clinging to his arm. "Stellar?"

She looked away, a faint blush visible on her face. "Can... Can we stay here, just a little longer? I want to hug you some more..." She said blush going deeper. "I guess I just missed you more than I realize."

Noctis looked at her for a few seconds before smiling and letting out a mock sigh. "Yeah, I guess it's fine. Just don't blame me if I fall asleep."

Stellar sighed contently as they made themselves comfortable once more. If only we could play like this forever... But I guess it just isn't meant to be. She thought melancholically, but then, a soft smile pulled at her lips. But there's still hope. Maybe Cadence and Noctis would be strong enough to save everyone. The future isn't set after all.

She could only dream...

Omake trailer...

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its a Fantasy based on Reality... Sort of.

"I'm off to school now, mom!" An orange maned filly called out as she made her way towards the front door.

"Remember to be careful when you cross the street!" The mare shouted in turn, hurriedly making her way towards their kitchen for a quick breakfast as she gotten ready for a busy day of cooking at the family restaurant.

When she reached her destination; the mare blinked owlishly at an odd sight. There, in the kitchen table, sat a lone paper bag.

The mother let out an exasperated sigh, putting a hoof on her face. "Oh dear..."

A Tale based on Fantasy... Kinda.

The peach colored filly was skipping happily on the street when a familiar colt caught up to her.

"Good morning, DB!" Iron Forger greeted. A colt an entire grade above her, the son of a family friend and, last but not least, the love of her life.

"Have you eaten breakfast yet?" The colt asked with concern in his voice. "You're kind of drooling a little bit..."

Dinner Bell blushed, averting her gaze from his yummy, yummy ~~muscles~~ sandwiches... Gosh, she can't wait for lunch... Ahem. Sheesh! the filly thought to herself. Embarrass yourself some more, why don't cha'.

"G-GOOD morning, sempai!" She internally screamed. Somepony,

please kill me!

The colt turned as distant clangs sounded from their school. "That's the warning bell. Come on, let's hurry before we're late" Iron said.

The filly nodded and ran behind the older colt because ~~she likes the view of his~~ she's not really a very fast runner.

A Tragic story, full of... Tragedy...

Dinner Bell sat on one of the playground benches with shock in her eyes. A single tear fell down her cheek as she peered in her, tragically, lunch less bag.

From the creators of Noctis Ascending...

Iron Forger's chest tightened when he noticed the filly's devastated look. She already missed breakfast and now she's going to miss lunch too? That will not do. Iron won't let it.

"Here, you can have one of my sandwiches." He offered innocently, unaware of the adventure starting, destiny beginning, HORROR he just unleashed.

... Comes the story of an ordinary filly, whose life was about to change in three... Two...

"Mmm, Thish sandwich tastes sho good!" Bell said through mouthful of food. After swallowing another bite, she continued. "Both my parents are chefs, so I should know!"

Iron felt his pride swell. "I'm glad you liked it." He couldn't help but smile as he admired the eating filly. He doesn't know why, but, he finds it very adorable, the way she's stuffing her face like she does. He also felt relieved. He's been making his lunch fancier lately, hoping it would impress the filly, whose lunches always looked amazing. Looks like his efforts finally paid off. "Good thing I made two of them today, huh. You would have been so hungry for sure!"

Dinner Bell froze, color slowly draining from her face as she gave the sandwich in her hooves a horrified look, as if she learned that sandwiches we're made with meat in them.

A Journey like no other, except,

not really...

"You're still in love with him? After what he did to you?"

"Yes Mom, I do."

/-/

"Wait!" A voice called out, making Dinner Bell and her friends halt on their tracks. Turning around, she found out it was her mother who shouted, her dad was there too.

"I just wanted to say," the mare addressed the three younger mare with her daughter. There were three of them, one wearing glasses, another with a little muscly and the last one always seems to have a casual smile on her face. "Please look after my Dinner Bell."

"We shall do our utmost to keep her unharmed." The first one assured with a push of her glasses.

"You don't even have to ask! Um ma'am." The second one nodded respectfully.

The third one smiled. "You can count on us, boss!"

They're just going to accompany DB to her coltfriend's house, right? How hard can it be...

/-/

"One, two, three, push!" Grunts of exertion sounded throughout the dirt path as Dinner Bell and two of her friends tried, and failed, to push their carriage out of a muddy pothole.

"You know," Dinner Bell started, sounding a bit annoyed. "It would probably be a lot easier if all bucking four of us push this stupid thing!"

"You know somepony has to be at the front to navigate it." The one with the glasses replied.

"Yeah, but that would only be helpful if you're strapped on the yoke pulling instead of sitting on the bucking front seat!"

A Journey with challenging philosophical and mental obstacles that will make you question your morals...

"Howdy there!" A handsome stallion greeted. "What brings you ladies in this here farm of ours?"

Dinner Bell coughed and looked away, a little flustered. "Our carriage was damaged and my parents told me to find somepony named Granny Smith. They said she knew them..."

Recognition dawned on the young stallion. "Oh, you must be Dinner Bell! Yeah, Ma' told me you might stop by. Though, her back's been hurtin' fierce lately, so I'll be the helping you today, if you don't mind." The stallion then held a hoof towards them. "Mah name's Bright Macintosh, or just Bright Mac, for short." He winked, dazzling them with his charming smile. "Nice to meet y'all."

"L-Like wise." Bell frigidly took his hoof with her own, trying her hardest to look ONLY at his face and not anything below it.

Don't look at his muscles; you already have someone. Don't look at his muscles; you already have someone. Don't look at his muscles;

you already have someone!....... Okay, maybe just a little peek.

A story of loss...

"DB, you need to see this!"

Dinner Bell didn't even get the chance to question what as a newspaper was practically shoved at her face. Upon seeing the headlines, she now understood the need for urgency.

Breaking news! In Sonia, one of the top restaurants in Canterlot, has fallen... Due to lack of customers. It was believed that the cause of it was an attack from a popular culinary magazine, giving the establishment bad reviews, right before they're about to sign an endorsement deal.

/-/

"Aah! My eyes, my eyes!"

"Her glasses went missing again?"

"Sigh, yep..."

/-/

"Would that I could, I would've loved to be with you..." Iron Forger said, his voice full of sadness. "But this moment will have to be enough." He turned around, not letting her see his tears. "Good bye... Dear Dinner belle." And with that, he left. Off to his wedding.

SANDWICH FANTASY XV!

"I object!" Dinner Bell proclaimed as she dramatically kicked the chapel doors in.

"Move away, harlot..." She commanded, various magical cooking tools circling threateningly around her. "The bride stands there."

Coming soon...

Ch. 6: To The Lab!

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I really should have seen this coming...

Noctis thought with a slouch as he walked back to his house. Beside him was Stellar, humming happily with a cheer of someone who just got what she wanted and was very pleased about it.

He gave his sister an irate glare from behind, which made Cadance laugh nervously and hide behind Prism, who felt very awkward just for being there.

Noctis sighed. He couldn't blame his sister really.

Stellar wasn't satisfied with how the sleep over turned out, so, she proposed they play some slumber party games before they leave. Cadance indulged her, surprisingly enough. Guess the redhead really did get through to her.

When the white filly suggested Truth or Dare, however, the pegasus immediately changed tune and started blurting out excuses as to why they suddenly need to go home. One of them being him having to show her around his Lab. He tried to shush her as fast as he could, but it was too late, Stellar already heard.

Noctis tisked. He was hoping she forgot about that. Guess he wasn't so lucky.

And of course by then, they have to take Prism along. It would just be cruel if they left her out.

With his house now in sight, Noctis resigned himself to his fate. There's no escape now, better just get it over with.

/-/

"Mom? We're home!" The colt announced. Their dad should be at work by now, leaving Rose to guard the house.

"Welcome back!" The mare greeted with an uncharacteristically chipper tone. "And a lovely morning to you two, as well." She waved at the two visitors, smiling all the way.

Okay, that's weird. "Mom, you're looking happy today." Noctis observed. "Did something good happen?"

"Oh, it's nothing. It's just that, with you and your sister gone, your father and I got a little lonely so we decided to have a little... Fun together." Black Rose rested a hoof on her cheek, reminiscing. "And I suppose, it left me in a joyful mood."

That's all he needs to know. Time to change the subject.

"Oookay!" Noctis clapped his hooves, bringing all the attention to himself. "I'm just gonna go and show the girls inside the lab now."

Black Rose's eyes flashed upon hearing that. Right then, Noctis knew he bucked up. He had seen that look before. He could recognize that look anywhere. That was the look of a mother who just found an opportunity to tease her child.

"Oh dear, oh my!" The mare exclaimed in feigned shock. "Experimenting with fillies now, are we? Three of them at that!" She sighed, as if she were disappointed with him. "I do not think that is such a good idea, son. How do you plan to keep them all happy?"

Noctis groaned through his hooves. "Arg! Mom, stop!"

"No, son. This is serious business." She went on with a lecturing tone. "If you want to do experiments with them, you will need to take responsibility."

"Ugh! I'm just showing them the lab! It's not even a real laboratory, it's just a basement, so can we just go now?"

"So you intend to bring these three cute, innocent and defenseless fillies to your creepy basement, hmm? I think not!" Black Rose then chose that moment to spring her trap. "I suppose I will have to accompany you to ensure nothing funny befalls them."

Ah, so that's what she's really after. Noctis massaged his forehead. "If you wanted to see the lab too, you should've just asked."

"I do not know what you are speaking of." The mare denied with a flick of her hair. "I am merely concerned for the safety of your marefriends."

Stellar giggled at that while the other two glowed with shy blushes.

"They're not my marefriends, none of them are." Noctis said bluntly. "And one of them is my sister."

Black Rose took the opportunity to observe the fillies' reactions towards the oblivious colt's comment, trying to see where their feelings truly lie.

Stellar rolled her eyes, clearly used to the treatment. That was a bit of a surprise. Rose expected the white filly to be the most vocal of the bunch at expressing her displeasure, but the amused tilt in her lips suggests that the redhead might not be as in love with the colt as they initially thought. That, or, she simply fell out of love with him over the years. Rose wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. Colts could be very dense at times.

Second was Prism Show, Cadance's friend. The blue filly looked a bit sullen, though, quickly recovered with just a sigh. A sigh of someone who fully expected the bit to end that way, and thus, managed to brace herself. She likes him, but mostly believes she doesn't have a chance. Poor girl. Rose hoped the filly finds happiness whether or not she wins this contest of hearts.

And lastly, Cadance. Oh, their dear, sweet, little love song. She's perhaps, the most heart breaking of them all. Rose could tell you in order how her expression change from hurt, sadness and grudging acceptance. It's easy to assume that the pink filly's behavior as simply being an affectionate little sister, but, If there was any doubt on whether the pegasus had developed feelings for her brother or not, this certainly confirms it.

Rose and her husband has actually been discussing if they should tell their daughter the truth soon. They never intended on keeping it secret forever, they just... didn't know how to explain it to her yet. How does one tell a filly that she actually came from a unicorn amazoness who sacrificed herself to save them from two flaming Cerberuses with her sparkle crystal powers and have her believe it?

But things have changed, they have to tell her soon. It would definitely be a shock and most certainly a lot to take in, but, if her love is true, then it might just save her a lot of heartache in the future.

"How cute." Rose smirked in that condescending way that all mothers seems to have. "I find it quite adorable that you believe that."

That enticed some giggles from the girls, bringing back some of their cheer while the colt grumbled, cheeks flushed.

The mare smiled and started moving towards the basement entrance, her work done for now. "Come now children; this way."

/-/

"Well, here we are." Noctis gestured forward, presenting his life's work to the world. "Welcome to the lab." His audience ooo'ed, amazed by the sight. He paused, tapping his chin with a hoof thoughtfully. "Though, in hindsight, it's more like a workshop than a lab. You test experiments in labs and I mostly do those outside where they won't destroy the house."

"A fact which I am thankful for." His mother commented with a nod.

"Before we continue, here are the ground rules." he addressed them, or more especially, the three fillies. "Don't touch anything glowing, made of glass or both and, for the love of God," Stellar sneezed. "Just try not to break anything. Most of the stuff here took me months, even years, worth of hard work and money, so please be careful." Noctis let go of his warning look when everyone nodded in compliance. "Alright, feel free to look around, I guess. Just ask if you have any questions." And with that, the fillies and mare dispersed, looking around as suggested.

As he watched them eyeing various items and trinkets that he created over the years with awe and wonder, he couldn't help but feel a little proud of the progress he had made.

He filled the once dreary basement little by little until it turned into a place that people could admire. At the beginning, it was just a dimly lighted room with old, water damaged, furniture’s. But look at it now! It's only natural to upgrade from crappy stuff to something better.

A white board was installed at the back wall with reminders and calculations written all over; a larger, sturdier, table at the center where various works in progress lie; a proper workbench equipped with a tool rack and lamp; better ventilation and lighting; a fire extinguisher; and finally, a display case where the finished successfully working devices rested.

His old stuff was still there actually. They had served their king well and thus were rewarded with an early, but luxurious, retirement at the corner where they could hang out with broken appliances that he collected from willing donors around the neighborhood. (At least, until he dismantle them for parts.) He just couldn't get rid of them, they have too much sentimental value, a reminder of where he came from and how he started. Plus, they weren't technically his stuff. They we're already there when he first came, so he doesn't have to authority to get rid of them, even if he wanted to, which he doesn't, so it all worked out in the end.

His was interrupted when he heard Prism spoke. "Hey! I remember this." The blue filly announced, at the table. "It's that cute music playing thingy!" She was just considering pushing the play button to see if it works when a grey hoof snatched it with almost panicked speed.

"It's... Not finished yet." Noctis said, looking a little shifty. "We don't want it catching fire again now do we?" He laughed awkwardly. There are things in life that Noctis regret doing. One of them was recording a song cover on the music player. The delete option on the stupid thing just doesn't work! "Why don't you join Cadance over there?" He gestured towards the display case. "Everything in there are tested safe, just be careful with handling them and it should be fine."

He exhaled relieved when Prism left with a shy nod. He looked around, making sure that no one would witness what he's about to do. With his will, he sent the device inside the Crystal, where it would burn until nothing's left but dust. Just like everyone's respect for him if they ever heard him singing. He just couldn't risk it, not with Stellar there. Just imagine what would happen if the redhead got her hooves on it! Noctis shuddered, he doesn't even want to think about it.

Schooling his face, he turned around and moved to entertain his guests. I'm sorry my child, he thought gravely. But it has to be done.

"If I may, I would like to make a request." Rose said, addressing her son. "Could you please explain to us, in detail, how you create. I wish to learn the process and how all of these connect together."

Noctis hummed in thought. "Well, I guess I did promise a tour and not just an exhibit." But, what to show them first, though? Well, the beginning would be a good place to start as any, he guess. "Alright, follow me." He only motioned for the mare to follow, but the fillies must have heard them and decided to tag along.

Stopping at the white board, Noctis started to speak. "It all starts with the list," the colt then pulled said item inside the compartment behind the board where he also kept the markers and refill bottles of ink. He chuckled when the four of them eyed the rolled up paper as if it were some holy prophetic scroll that foretells a heroic destiny. "Whenever I get an idea, I write it in here so I won't forget them later." Unfurling the parchment, the girls began reading with hungry interest.

Most of the things written inside we're surprisingly mundane like learning how to make noodles and starting a flower garden. The latter got Black Rose delightfully interested.

Some we're just silly and bizarre like the one Cadance was currently reading out loud. "Peaches help you poop; peaches are shaped like butts. Coincidence? Needs further research..." Prism blushed embarrassed as she let out an unladylike snort. The pegasus stared at her brother with questioning gaze which Noctis only nonchalantly shrugged in reply.

And few we're things they never even heard of. Smart Phone, X Station, and Jetpack/Glider with a side note written 'flying with sister', just to name a couple.

Before they could read any further, Noctis stole their attention once more by speaking. "If everyone could come with me this way please, so we could move on to the next step of the creative process." The four followed the colt as he went on in a tangent. "What I end up picking from the list really just depends on what in the mood I feel like doing at the moment, but for the sake of the tour, I'm going to show you guys where I go whenever I choose something that needs building." Halting after reaching the far left corner of the room, Noctis continued. "This right here is where I put together my, um, inventions." He presented with a hoof. "As you can see, it's a pretty standard workbench. There's a rack where my put my tools, and a lamp so I could see better. The parts themselves I either have to make at Mr. Forger's shop or I have to recycle from broken appliances." He pointed at the junk pile. "And depending on what I wanted it to do, I have to map out how I want to arrange the Mana circuits and-." Noctis paused on his explanation when noticed his mother raise a hoof. "Mom? do you have a question?"

"Yes, quite." Rose cleared her throat. "Correct me if I am wrong, but did you just say Mana circuits?" She asked. "Do you mean electrical circuits?"

"No, I meant what I said." The colt replied. "I use Mana circuits for my work."

Rose was skeptical. She doesn't want to doubt her son nor she wanted to accuse him of being a liar, but even as an earth pony, she knew that unicorns are the only creatures that could do that. She should know, she's a writer after all. She had researched about magic before for her novels and magic outside of unicorns' was something she did meticulous studying upon.

"Mana?" Prism couldn't help but interject. "As in, magic? Like the ones unicorns use?" Was the rumor true? Is he actually a wizard? Was he hiding a horn under those pretty bangs of his?

"Yes, I do use magic to run my devices," Noctis acknowledged as he pulled open a drawer and fetched four pieces of metal and a tiny shard of lapis. "But I don't do it the same way as unicorns do. I couldn't for obvious reasons." He brushed away some of his hair revealing his hornless forehead to accentuate his point. "To enchant an object, you first have to imbue magic into it and then input the command to tell the magic what you want it to do. Unicorns are able to do this due to their natural affinity to control magic, and since I can't manipulate the flow of magic the same way they can, I have to make something that will do the moving of energies for me, which is where this baby comes in!" He patted the stone tablet lying flat on the ground beside the workbench that everyone initially assumed was just for decoration due to the pretty, but apparently arcane, patterns on its surface. "This, right here, is where the magic happens. No pun intended." After arranging the metals and gem inside the circle, Noctis rested his hoof in a reflective pad on the side. "Watch this." He said with a grin.

The four jumped when the metals suddenly smashed to the gem like magnets, loudly with an invisible force. Their eyes then widen in amazement as the object started marching back and forth on its metal legs as if it were a pony.

Rose prides herself as a polite and well-mannered lady, but right then and there, she let her mouth hang open publicly as her son did what was supposed to be something impossible! And it should be impossible! How?

She might have asked the question out loud because her son answered.

"I call it an Elemancy Circle." A modified version of the original, at least. He thought. "The earth ponies' affinity is in controlling nature, rocks and metals are no exceptions. All I have to do is charge the tablet with magic from the Crystal and use the Mana conductive circle to adjust the frequency just as unicorns do with their horns." He doesn't really know how the circle in Eos worked, but that's he does it here.

"Crystal?" Rose perked. Now that he mentioned it, she now just realized the surprising lack of gems in the room. With the rate of which he buys them, the basement should be flooded with them by now.

Noctis cursed to himself. He wanted to avoid talking about the Crystal if he could help it. Luckily, he had prepared a pretty convincing story for that. He wasn't just going to invite his sister without a plan if she asked such an obvious question as to where all the gems he had been collecting for years went.

"If you could please return your attention towards the enchanted object." He pointed at the tablet and they noticed that the tiny metal and gem pony moved slower and slower until it eventually collapse and fell apart, reaching the end of its life. They kind of felt sorry for it.

"Magic is the most important ingredient when you enchant something. The amount of time an enchantment is going to last depends on how much magic it has to power it, but there's a limit, there's only so much magic a gem can contain. Over charging it could make it explode. As you can see here, the enchantment finally ate away all the magic inside the gem. But there's a way to make the enchantment's operational time longer, and that is to recharge the Battery, so to say, faster than the enchantment consumes it."

Noctis move once again and the four followed like the herd animals that they're supposed to be. The colt stopped in front of a hexagonal metal tube that they somehow missed while exploring. "You guys might want to cover your eyes for a few seconds. The basement is going to be very bright for a while..." Pressing his hoof on another reflective plate, the same kind as with the Elemancy Circle, The young king unlocked the newly improved vault. The tube's sides slowly folded themselves and true to his words, the room got bathed in intense white light and his words rang true once again as the light dissipated a few seconds later.

"Ladies, I present to you," he paused for dramatic effect, waiting for them to uncover their eyes before continuing. "The Crystal." He couldn't help his proud smile as he watched their eyes twinkle with amazement. "There are magic all around us, from the air we breathe to the very ground we walk on, even the songs we sing have surprising amounts of magic in it! And gems in particular have a very interesting magic of their own. I discovered that gems can generate magic on small amounts, the bigger they are the more they generate, but getting a giant hunk of crystal is very impractical, so I thought I should just get a bunch of smaller crystals and harvest their magic inside a power cell, but that proves to be an annoyance of its own, too many crystals, and I asked myself, what if I compress them all into one dense rock? I miraculously pulled it off and boy was I surprised when I found out they generate four times that they normally did! They amplify each other's generation rate! The more I add to it the more magic it produces." He took in a deep breath, replenishing his air supply. "The three years’ worth of gems I've been busy buying? You're looking at it right now. All of them. And it pretty much wirelessly powers everything I make singlehandedly." He finally ended, giving his audience time to process everything.

Rose was stunned. She knew her son was brilliant, but not to this extent! To invent a new system of magic that allows earth ponies to manipulate magic similarly to unicorns at age six, maybe even younger? She watched him prove it could be done, and she still couldn't believe it! She doesn't know if he kept it secret on purpose, but if word of this got out in public, their house would surely be swarmed with ponies from the scientific community and press alike! She doesn't know if she should be proud or scared.

But there was something more important at the forefront of her mind... She's got a new idea for a novel.

"This was an excellent tour of your laboratory, my son. Truly a great experience." Rose said, focusing all of her will power into not sounding like she urgently wanted to leave. "But I'm afraid I have to return to writing now." While everything is still fresh in her memory, she didn't add. She tried to go at a normal pace, but ended up speed walking out of there anyway and then proceeded to gallop as fast as she could up her office the moment she was out of sight.

"I... Should probably go home." Prism stated, walking animatedly towards the exit.

"I'll walk you there..." Said Cadance. Both of them looked dazed, like their brains overheated and now have trouble making coherent thought. They didn't even realize that they just left their crush alone with their number one rival.

Noctis faced the white filly. "Too much?" He asked.

Stellar chuckled. "Yeah, maybe a scooch." She turned her gaze upon the gently glowing rock. "It's really pretty."

"This is nothing." Noctis smirked. "You should see the one back home. Now that's really something."

"I should probably go home too." She thought out loud. "But before I leave, could you put some magic in here, please?" She hoofed him a shard of finely cut crystal, which she pulled out from inside her... Mane? "I want to analyze it. See if I could figure out how it works."

He would have done it without a second thought, but the familiar buzz of magic he felt from the shard made him hesitate.

Sensing his worry, Stellar explained. "Don't worry, it's just something to help studying your magic a bit easier for me."

"Well... If you're sure." He raised his hoof towards it and went to the usual motion, assuming she wanted to bring the shard back with her, he didn't let it join his Crystal. It surprised him a little bit when the shard didn't turn into a bead, must be what the spell was for. "Is that enough?"

"It's perfect." The filly smiled. "I better go now. See you on Monday!" She gave him a quick hug before she, too, left towards the door.

And now, Noctis finds himself alone in the quiet basement. "Well, what now?" He asked to no one in particular. He doesn't feel like doing anything on the list at the moment and he simply couldn't relax and do nothing, not with the knowledge of what's to come weighing on his mind.

"It's time to start training, I guess." He might not be able to train with weapons yet, but he's probably old enough to start strengthening his body.

"Honey, I'm home!" Bright Night called out from the entrance, but grew confused when no wife greeted him. That's odd... he thought. She's usually the first thing he sees when he opens the door. Maybe the kitchen?

The stallion made his way towards his destination, only to find his children in there. Looks like they're in charge of dinner tonight.

Noctis watched his casserole in the oven while Cadance stirred away.

"Can you take a look at this for me, real quick?" Cadance asked her brother. "I think I over cooked it..."

Noctis could only sigh. "I don't think that's how salads work." He looked to the side when he saw movement from his peripheral. "Oh, hey Dad. Welcome back."

"Daddy!" Cadance greeted more cheerfully, tackling him in a flying hug.

"Well hello to you too, my little cheffies." Night laughed. "Giving mommy the night off? I'm a little jealous."

"Yeah. She got really into writing today." It was Noctis' who answered. "Never seen her like that before, so I thought I'd just let her be and handle dinner tonight."

"I helped! I made food like a big girl!" Cadance added proudly, which got her a pat on the head from her father.

"Great job Cadance! Such a good girl!" He chuckled when the filly glowing at the praise. "You too Noctis."

The colt arched a brow. "I'm a good girl too?"

"You know what I mean." The stallion rolled his eyes. "Well, I better check on your mother, make sure she's not over doing it. Just yell if something's on fire."

Noctis gave him a casual salute and Cadance returned to tossing her salad.

/-/

"Rose?"

The mare jumped on her seat, too focused on her writing to even notice somepony enter. "Night?" She asked, eyes widening as checked the time at a nearby clock. "This late already!? I'm so sorry my love, I lost track of time! Just let me- oof!" She moved to stand up, only to fall flat on her face. "Oh, curses! My legs fell asleep!"

Bright Night couldn't help but snicker at his adorable wife.

"This is no laughing matter!" Rose pouted at her husband. "Dinner, the children! Ooh they must be hungry by now!"

"Don't worry, they already took care of it." Night gave his wife a reassuring kiss. "Now tell me what got you in a creative mood today. I haven't seen you this carried away with your writing since we were still dating."

Rose leaned on her husband as she tried to regain feeling back to her hind legs. "Can you still recall, when our relationship is still young, the two of us decided to write a story together."

"Oh yeah, I remember!" Night chuckled at the memory. "It was awful! We almost broke up! What was the story about again?"

"It was about an earth pony who could cast spells." Rose reminded her husband.

"Yes, I remember now." The stallion nodded. "We called it 'The Hornless Magician' didn't we? In the end we decided to trash it because we couldn't make a believable enough excuse for the MC's powers." He eyed his wife curiously. "Why'd you ask? You wanna try writing it again?"

"I already started." Rose smirked. "Want to help me?"

"After what happened last time, I'm a bit hesitant." He moved in for another kiss. "But for you my love? Anything."

Black Rose squealed with delight.

Author's Notes:

Just added the final scene in last minute, I hope you guys liked it.

When I started writing Noctis inventing stuff, I thought for sure someone would point out how OOC he's acting. The Noctis in the game is lethargic, unmotivated and would sleep every chance he gets.

My Noctis just ranted about science for more than half this chapter... Yeah, if no one thought he's OOC before, they'll probably start thinking it now.

I tried to get it to 8k words. I really tried guys. In the end, I could only write 4k. After my WIFI broke, I lost my momentum and right now, I just can't seem to remember my words.

Also didn't get to edit this one, so there might be some spelling and grammatical errors. Just let me know if you find any.

Don't forget to like and review if you can! Those really motivates me.

Adios, fam!

Ch. 7, Pt. 1: Mommy Visits and Friendship troubles.

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Sunday, a few minutes after the tour of Noctis’s lab...

Despite her initial statement of going home, Prism found herself sitting under the shade of a tree; the same one where the events that changed everything for her took place. Next to her was Cadance, the pegasus kind of just mindlessly followed her there without question.

The blue filly looked around her surroundings. Birds could be heard chirping away to the sound leaves rustling in the gentle morning breeze. It was such a lovely day, bright and cheerful... quite the opposite of what she was feeling right now.

She sighed. Her mom told her about emotional rollercoasters before; how it was just the worst! Ups and downs, zigs and zags, twists and turns. it’s an awful, awful ride to be in, and Prism was starting to believe she was on a front row sit at the beginning of one.

She felt so high last night at the sleepover. Wanting to feel her crush’s touch again gave her a motivational boost that inspired her to fight harder, but being in that basement reminded her that who she was dealing with wasn’t just a normal colt, pulling her harshly back down to reality.

Colts her age was still running around snot nosed with reckless abandon, but she remembered now that Nocturnal Solstice was different. He was a six year old that’s already making his own money, a genius who scored a hundred in the school placement test, have a real life lab with real life inventions and an earth pony who somehow figured out a way to use magic.

Prism groaned inside. Her mom warned her about colts before, telling her that they are nothing but trouble, this was what she gets for not listening; liking a colt was exhausting! Crushes are so complicated! No wonder her mom doesn’t go on dates with stallions anymore.

What to do now?

Should she just give up? Should she keep trying? How could she impress somepony like him? She never felt so... standard, so ordinary, than she did when she emerged from that house. That tour made her realize how out of league she truly was. What could she do though? It’s pretty obvious at this point that the colt doesn’t care about looks. Stellar was probably the prettiest filly in the village, and even she could only hardly make him blush. Aside from Cadance, she couldn’t think of any filly else who could compete. She had been on the lookout for competition in their school and no one could pose a threat to her reign yet.

It seems that her only hope was getting her cutie mark, which is going to be difficult since she doesn’t really know what else she’s good at. She’s good at using makeup and looking pretty, but since she didn’t get a beauty cutie mark on that, her destiny probably lies somewhere else.

Ugh, I’m gonna have to search for my talent, aren’t I?

She wasn’t looking forward to that. She heard those could get messy, and she doesn’t like getting messy. She shuddered to think how much dirt she’s going to have to clean from her mane. Though, it seems that she doesn’t have to think about it any further as Cadance chose that moment to finally break the silence.

/-/

“So, the lab sure was something huh?” Cadance opened up carefully, a bit nervous. Her friend has been quiet ever since they walked out of her house. The blue filly said she was going home and hasn’t spoken a word since. It’s honestly kind of unnerving, the last time the blue filly acted like this was when she asked her about her dad. With every second that passed in silence, the more her worry built up, and it only gotten worse when the pink haired filly just walked passed her home.

It took Prism a few seconds before answering. “Yeah... I guess.” She said in a sullen tone.

Silence fell between them once more and once again, Cadance had to break it. “Noctis can use magic. That’s... cool, i guess. Sure didn’t see it coming...”

Prism only nodded mutely, the blue filly’s mood seems to be getting worse.

She probably doesn’t want to talk about it yet. Cadance mused. Understandable, she could feel her head hurt too just thinking about it. She should change the subject, then. Maybe that would get the blue filly talking again.

“So, um, what do you wanna’ do today?” She prodded, hoping the filly would reply. When she didn’t, the pegasus went on. “Do you want to play tag, or hide and seek? Maybe go someplace else? I think the ice cream stallion is in the park today and-“

“Cadance...” Prism suddenly spoke, causing the pegasus to stiffen.

Cadance gulped. “Uh, yes?”

“I think, I’ll just go home for today.” Prism continued, her voice quiet and distant.

“Oh! Hanging out at your house,” Cadance perked up. “That’s okay too, I guess-“

“Alone.” Prism added as the pink one moved to stand, interrupting the pegasus once again.

Cadance froze. “W-What?” She stuttered in shock, feeling a bit hurt. “Prism?”

The blue one looked away, heaving a sigh, she spoke. “I just... want to be alone right now.”

Prism Show stood up. With a weak good bye, she started walking to the direction of her house.

Leaving behind a stunned and heartbroken pegasus.

/-/

Prism swiftly moved, wanting to get away as quickly as she could. Another moment under that tree, and she could have snapped. Every word that comes out of the pegasus’ mouth just seems to grate at her nerves.

She took a deep breath, calming her irate self.

It’s not her fault...

Yes, Cadance did nothing wrong, she was just trying to make conversation. Probably to end the awkward tension that fell between them. It was very sweet of her, really, she gets it, but the pink filly just kept picking the wrong things to say. She just had to bring up her brother, doesn’t she.

Prism sighed. It was just bad luck, really. She didn’t want to think about the colt at the time, and Cadance doesn’t know that. She continued pressing the wrong buttons and her temper started to flare up. It was the last comment that finally did it in. Bringing up the lab and the magic, and then asking her if she wants to do ironically mundane things, it was like some runabout way of pointing out how amazing her brother was and then reminding her uninteresting she was in comparison. at that point she just had to leave or else, she might have shouted at the poor innocent filly.

Though, by the tragic look on Cadance’s face, she might as well have. By Celestia, she looked so hurt! She probably thought she hates her now.

Prism breathed, she’ll just have to make it up to her later, but right now, she desperately needed to cool off.

Relief washed over her as she finally made it to her house. With a twist of the handle, she entered, ready to take the longest bubble bath her nanny would allow, only to be greeted with a very excited mare.

”Yay! My baby’s back!” the jovial mare exclaimed, arms spread. “Now, give mama a hug!” Prism remained in place, hoof still at the door.

“Mom! You’re... here.” Prism stated, genuinely surprised.

The mare furrowed her brow. “you don’t sound happy to see me.” She pouted. “didn’t you miss mommy?” her lips trembled and her eyes started to tear up.

She’s trying to guilt trip her into taking the hug, Prism realized and sadly, it worked. It always does. She approached her mother, deflated. Resigned, she braced herself for what’s coming next. She wasn’t even a meter away when she lost the ability to breathe air.

“Mom, You’re crushing me!” Prism choked, tapping her mother’s back repeatedly like a wrestler signaling a yield.

Let me explain. The mare currently bear hugging the blue filly was named Dainty Sips. She has chocolate brown mane tied in simple pigtails with straight bangs, turquoise coat and sporting a pair of thick rimmed glasses. Her cutie mark was hidden as she was wearing a pink shirt with denim overalls. She’s also actually a unicorn mare disguised as an earth pony and was referred to at work by a completely different name, but that’s a story for another time.

A few seconds later, the mother finally let up and Prism greedily breathed in as much air as she could, like a diver breaching water.

“Do you really have to squeeze me like that every single time?” Prism questioned irritably, giving her mother an accusatory look. She always does this. ALWAYS! She gets that the mare missed her dearly, but there has to be a better, less suffocating, way of releasing all her pent up love and affection. The longer she’s away, the stronger she becomes. It was like she store all of her love inside a bottle to unleash later in one big burst!

Taking deeply one final breath, the filly’s expression soften. Now that the hard part was out of the way, it was now her turn to give her affection. She enveloped her mom in a gentler hug.

“I missed you mom. Welcome back.” She greeted with a sigh, showing her mother how it’s done. The mare didn’t learn, for not even a second later, she reciprocated the hug. “Hngh!” it seems that the mare still some juice left in her.

“Me too, baby.” the mare sniffed. “I missed you too, it’s been too long!”

A month, that’s how long she’s been gone for work and sadly, that wasn’t even the longest time she had been away, but she had missed her darling filly’s first day of school and she just couldn’t forgive herself for that! Prism, smart filly, understood the necessity of it, that it was an unfortunate reality of being a single mother. The irony wasn’t lost on her, she chuckled bitterly inside. To keep your child, you must leave her behind. Her job was the only thing that’s preventing that bastard of a stallion from getting custody over their child.

He was dead to her, and hopefully, Prism never has to meet that pathetic excuse for a pony.

The filly must have sensed her turmoil as she looked up to her with concerned eyes.

“Mom? Are you alright?” Prism inquired at her mother.

Dainty wiped at her eyes. “It’s okay, honey. I’m fine.” She assured. “It’s just getting harder and harder to leave you behind. First grade! Can you believe it? My baby’s in elementary now! It feels like only yesterday I’m trying to convince you to eat your mushed carrots!” fresh wave of tears started pouring out, both hooves covering her mouth. “ooh, you’re growing up so fast! Next thing you know, you’re already having your first crush and battling your first romantic rival!”

Prism stiffened, not expecting her mother to go there. “L-Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” She chuckled nervously. “I don’t even have my cutie mark yet.”

The mare’s eyes narrowed with concern. The last statement seems to have made the filly visibly deflate, as if she was just reminded of something she didn’t want to and made herself sad.

“Prism, is something wrong?” the mother asked, running a hoof comfortingly on the filly’s head.

“I’m fine mom, really.” The pink haired filly assured, but the strained smile on her face wasn’t very convincing. “I’m just... tired, I guess. I was kind of in a sleep over last night.” She finished weakly, hoping the mare would buy her fib.

The mare hummed. “Oh, right. Nanny did say something about that. If my own experience with slumber parties were any indication, there probably wasn’t a lot of sleeping involved, huh?” she smirked at her daughter, knowingly.

Prism exhaled, finally relaxed, though looking around, she now just realized the absence of the other mare of the house. “Speaking of nanny. Where is she, anyway?”

“I gave her the day off.” The mare explained casually.

“YOU WHAT!” Prism shrieked in horror. “Please tell me you’re not making lunch.”

The mare huffed indignantly. “Hey, I’m not that bad, I know how to cook!”

“Yes, you are and no, you don’t.” Prism didn’t even bother lying to spare her mother’s feelings. It’s all in the sake of self-preservation! She still needs to bring her crush lunch tomorrow, and she can’t do that if she’s in a hospital recovering from food poisoning. “Last time you tried, Nanny was in pain for an entire week after eating your salad!”

A pout formed on the mother’s face. “I just overcooked it a little...” She looked away, pink colored her cheeks.

“You weren't supposed to cook the salad!” Prism scolded the culinarily inept mare she calls her mother.

An exasperated sigh escaped the Prism’s lungs. Honestly, if the mare and the filly ever compete with each other in a cooking contest, the six year old would probably end up winning.

Dainty Sips groaned. ”Fine, we’ll just eat out.” the mare relented. “Unless you want to rest first that is, then I’ll just head out on my own and bring back some take out.” She proposed.

Prism thought about it for a moment. “No, it’s fine. We can eat out together.” She finally decided. She wanted a distraction anyway, maybe a day with mom was all she needed. “Maybe we could even do something fun together afterwards!” she suggested.

The mare beamed at the idea. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

Cadance remained under the tree minutes after the other filly had left, her gaze lingered at the spot where her friend had disappeared to. Her mind was hard at work trying to process just what the heck happened.

How did this happen? Was it something she did? Something she said? Was it a recent thing or was it something that’s been developing for years that she’s just too dumb to notice?

A chorus of chirps sounded somewhere and the pegasus was snapped out of her thoughts. A cold feeling crept up from the depths of her heart as it finally dawned on her just how alone she was sitting there. She quickly moved with an almost desperate speed towards the populated street and sighed with relief as the feeling began to slowly dissipate.

It seems that her monophobia hasn’t fully disappeared yet, the incident at the tree probably triggered a relapse. Then a thought occurred to her. Did her phobia even gotten better in the first place? She’s always on her own when studying couples because she technically wasn’t allowed to learn about that kind of stuff yet, but she wasn’t truly alone those times, was she? Other ponies were there, of course duh, she was observing them. Come to think of it, she hasn’t been alone by herself until today. Sigh, just another thing to add in her growing list of problems.

She can’t make other friends because she’s a pegasus and her brother was apparently a scary weirdo inventor wizard gangster scientist in the eyes of the public; she have strange and inappropriate feelings for said brother; her only friend probably doesn’t want to see her anymore; and now, she finds out her crippling fear of being alone wasn’t cured at all!

What next? Scientists discovering that sugar is bad for you!?

Great! Just great! Everything’s fine! Just freaking, flipping PEACHY!

“Cadance?” A voice asked from behind. The pegasus turned and was met with Stellar Bell’s concerned eyes. “Are you okay? You look sad.”

Cadance just stared at the redhead for a few seconds before her eyes blurred, a few hicks escaped her throat and her body started trembling.

“Oh no, You’re crying!” Stellar’s eyes widened. “tell me, are you hurt? What happened? What’s wrong?”

I felt happy, that’s what’s wrong! Cadance thought. She couldn’t believe she could feel this happy to see the white filly. After losing Prism, she thought that she’s going to be friendless again, but after seeing the redhead, she was reminded that she does have at least one friend still. Even though that friend was Stellar, the thought of still being able to call somepony a friend was immensely comforting.

“Prism, she... she.” Cadance began in between hiccups. “She... SHE BROKE UP WITH ME!” She managed to finish. Letting out a pathetic wail, she began sobbing in full on the white filly’s shoulder.

“Huh, I didn’t even know you were together.” Stellar said in an insinuating tone, trying to fluster the pegasus out of being miserable.

“NOT ANYMORE! UWAAAA!” The pink filly only cried harder right there in the middle of the street.

Whelp, that terribly backfired... Stellar deadpanned to herself. She looked around for anything that might help only to realize they were receiving odd looks from a lot of ponies. Right, they were probably making a spectacle of themselves.

“It’s alright everypony, i got this. Just go back to whatever you were doing. Go now, shoo! Nothing to see here.” She wave her hoof dismissively at their audience and thankfully, the crowd dispersed quickly and without much difficulty.

Stellar returned her attention towards the crying filly. “We should probably go somewhere little more private, does that sound okay to you?”

Cadance only nodded and allowed the red maned filly to escort her someplace else.

Stellar sighed, thankful that the pink pegasus wasn’t being difficult, though, she couldn’t help but feel a little annoyed.

When the ‘Cadance Alarm’ suddenly started blaring off, she thought the worst has happened. She was glad that it was just a silly little friendship problem, but still! She just started peeking at Noctis’ magic when the alarm was triggered.

It doesn’t matter anymore, she’s here now and Cadance needs her help. Better to just get it over with; the faster they solve this, the faster she could go back to playing around with potentially volatile magic.

Now, wouldn’t that be fun...

Author's Notes:

Hey, guys! Here I am again, updating a chapter in parts. I considered waiting a longer until I got it to at least at 8k words, but I wanted to post something before the month is over, so here I am.

I want to thank everyone who clicked (or tapped, for those who use mobile like me.) The like button on my story. I know 225 likes isn't really that much, but as I was just starting out, I expected this story wouldn't get past a hundred likes. I'm not sure, but this is probably the highest rated Final Fantasy fic in the site.

And for the people down there at the the comments, thanks to you all as well! You're the reason why I'm still writing. Love you all!

Anyways, gotta go now. Midterm notes wouldn't just study themselves.

They never do.

Hit the like button if you still haven't and leave a comment if you can, I would love to read what you all think!

Sayonara for now and see you all at the next part! 😉

Ch. 7 Pt. 2: Mommy Lunch and Friendly Date.

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It didn’t take very long for Stellar to figure out where she would take the still sniffling pegasus, the journey there was done in silence, but they made it to their destination without any fuss.

They were currently sitting at a picnic bench at the park, specifically the virtually unused one near the woods where Noctis and the redhead usually used when they wanted a private place to chat.

“There, there, just let it all out...” Stellar consoled the pink filly, stroking her head as she cried. The redhead closed her eyes for a bit, checking if the alarm finally stopped; it didn’t, but the data charts showed that Cadance’s mood levels has improved a little when she spoke. It seems that the pink filly doesn’t like the quiet very much, better keep that in mind the next time the pegasus becomes upset.

“So Cadance, what exactly happened between you and Prism? Did you two fight or something?” She inquired conversationally. The pegasus tensed up and a loud siren suddenly sounded inside her head, the alarm just got louder and the graphs on the pink filly’s mood charts started plummeting at an alarming rate.

Whoops, that was wrong thing to say... the goddess realized with a growing sense of panic. Change subject quick! Abort! Abort!

“Y-You don’t have to tell me;” Stellar frantically waved her hoof at the pegasus. “Please forget I said anything!” She internally sighed, this is proving harder than she originally thought. Ugh! Where’s Noctis when you need him? She thought. Where ever he is, I hope he’s suffering.

Somewhere in the village, a certain colt panted heavily as he ran some laps, his face twisted in agony as his lungs burned and his body ached. No one could deny that the colt made a pretty accurate representation of the word suffering.

“We didn’t get into a fight.” Cadance finally said weakly, eyes downcast. “She was acting very distant and quiet, she won’t even look at me. I think... I think she finally got tired of being friends with me.”

Stellar checked her charts, the other filly’s mood seems to be stabilizing. It appears that talking about it was the right move after all.

“Oh? What makes you think that?” The redhead asked, urging the pegasus to continue speaking.

“Well, she hasn’t said anything yet, but I know that being friends with me hasn’t been easy for her.” Cadance sighed, resting her head on the table. “Her old friends stopped hanging out with her when they found out that we started playing together, Prism tried to convince them to include me in their group.” The pegasus slumped further Dow her seat. “They ended up having an argument over it, they said to her that if she kept playing with me, they won’t be her friends anymore and Prism, she... she chose me. She said that I was a better friend than they ever were.” That brought a tiny smile on her face, but only briefly. “The three of them never talked to each other again after that, and if what I’m feeling right now is anything to go by, losing her friends probably wasn’t easy for Prism either.”

“And... What happened next?” Stellar asked after a long pause.

“Things... things had only gotten worse for her from there.” The pegasus exhaled. “You first met my brother when the previous mayor made him clean the streams for punching a colt, right?”

Stellar Bell nodded. “I didn’t know he was being punished, but yes, that’s correct.”

“Have you known Prism before that?” Cadance inquired.

“No, I haven’t.” The white filly shook her head.

Satisfied, Cadance began to explain. “Back when we were little, well, littler I guess, Prism used to be very popular around here.”

“Really? I didn’t know that.” The White filly commented, feigning intrigue.

“Yes,” The pegasus continued. “She used to get praised a lot and receive complements all the time.” Cadance sighed again and slumped further in her seat. “But shortly after we started hanging out full time... the other foals began to avoid her too. Prism said she didn’t mind it; that her old friends probably just spread rumors about her, but I know it was ME the other foals were avoiding, not her, and I know it hurt her a lot too, she used to have these depressed look on her face whenever she thought I wasn’t looking. I didn’t understand it at the time, why being popular was so important to her until I asked her what kind of job her dad have and she became all sad and quiet. I don’t know the complete detail since i never asked again, But I think... I think her dad isn’t around anymore. It also doesn’t help that her mom’s not around very often.”

“She’s not? Why?” The redhead asked, appearing to be very engrossed in the story.

Cadance opened her mouth and reply, but suddenly, she froze, probably realizing what they were discussing was private and personal.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell Prism about this.” The white filly assured. “I won’t tell anypony either, I promise. If ponies learned about this from me, I swear to never talk to Noctis ever again.” Stellar pledged, crossing her heart.

The pegasus’ eyes went wide, that’s actually a pretty heavy promise for redhead to make. Everyone who knows them knew that her brother was basically Stellar’s most favorite pony in the whole world, so for her to swear that if she ever broke her promise, was quite a big deal.

“It’s because of her job.” Cadance started, trusting the white filly for once. “I don’t know what she does, Prism said it was a secret only her mom was allowed to tell, but I know it involves going to big cities like Canterlot, Manehattan and Las Pegasus, and staying there for months.”

`”Maybe she’s a secret agent or a detective.” Stellar jested.

That got the pegasus to chuckle. “Yeah maybe...” As quickly as it has come, her mirth was replaced with a depressed sigh. “So yeah, that’s probably why Prism wanted to be the most popular filly here, to make herself feel better, to feel that she’s wanted, to feel that she’s loved. She needed everypony to love her to prove to herself that there’s nothing wrong with her, that she’s not the reason her parents wasn’t around... And I took that away from her, she put up with me for a long time, but I think she finally snapped.”

Silence descended between the two of them for a few seconds, Stellar watched the other filly pensively on her seat, she didn’t know how it was possible, but the pegasus had somehow managed to sag further on her chair.

The goddess was honestly kind of surprised that Cadance’s destiny hadn’t changed again yet, she thought that the pink one losing her best friend would have done it, she’ll have to carefully choose her next move though if she doesn’t want to push the pegasus tittering further down the edge.

But then again, it’s not like they had a fight or anything, if they did then maybe Cadance would’ve had anger and hatred in her heart. She doesn’t have to do anything at all, really. She could just stay here, continue comforting the pegasus, let the issue sort itself out and nothing would change in the grand scheme of things, heck, she could probably just walk her home, unload her to Noctis, go back to poking her new magic crystal with a stick, and everything would be fine... So why is it that the longer she looked at Cadance, the stronger the urge to make her smile again becomes?

Resigned, Stellar wordlessly grabbed the pink ones hoof and began dragging her somewhere. The things I do for love... She thought exasperatedly.

“Hey! Stellar, wait!” Cadance stumbled along. “What are you- where are we going?”

The redhead simply kept walking, with her hoof refusing to let go...

/-/

The mother and daughter duo spent their time together in their living room chatting for hours, catching each other up on what’s going on in their lives; Prism Show telling her mom about school and a little about the sleepover, minus Noctis of course, and Dainty told her daughter about the things she saw and the places she has been while working. The two of them simply kept talking until they had to leave for lunch.

That may have been a bad move on their part as they now sat in a booth of a local diner, they had found that they simply ran out of thing to talk about. Occasionally, one of them would open their mouth to speak, only to close back instantly, resulting in a painfully awkward silence.

With nothing to distract her, Prism’s thoughts naturally came flowing back to her problems. What things to try first for her cutie mark, how she should apologize to Cadance later, and what to do about her Monday lunch plan. She was going to ask Nanny for help, but now that she’s gone for the day, she probably won’t have time for a simple and quick tutorial, and asking her mom was absolutely not an option, that path would only end in pain and suffering.

Not that it changes anything. Noctis was already in pain and suffering, body shaking pathetically as he stubbornly struggled to push what he felt like his thousandth push-up... it was only his sixteenth. His earth pony strength decided to abandon him that day for some mysterious reason.

Maybe if I borrow a cook book from the library... Prism pondered in her head. Is the library even open on Sundays?

So immersed was the filly in her thoughts, that she didn’t even noticed her mother studying her from across the table with deep perceptive eyes. The mare has been watching her daughter pick at her food for a couple of minutes now. She had a feeling something’s going on the moment the filly walked in the door, she just couldn’t shake the feeling that her daughter was hiding something from her, and observing her now, she’s starting to have a sinking suspicion as to what.

When Prism let out her fifth sigh since they sat, the mare finally decided to do something. Putting on her ‘All-knowing Mom’ face, she spoke. “Alright, who’s the colt?”

Prism did a pretty impressive spit-take at the sudden question, even though she wasn’t drinking anything at the time. She began sputtering. “Colt? W-What colt? I don’t have a crush on a colt! Why would you even think that? Don’t be ridiculous!”

Based on the filly’s massive reaction, her intuition was spot on. GATCHA! “I never said anything about a crush.” Dainty said, with a smirk of a mare who knew she had won.

The filly froze, mouth agape knowing that she’s been caught. Prism opened her mouth to try and deny everything, but ended up deciding it was no use, her mother had already figured her out. With a relenting sigh, she asked: “How did you know it was a colt? It could have been a filly, for all you know.”

The mare chuckled. “Trust me, sweetie, fillies wouldn’t make you all sad and mopey like you are now.” Smiling kindly at the filly, she began to elaborate. “Colts are dense, you can drop all kinds of hints at them and it would take them years before they even START noticing you; fillies though, will catch on quick and they’ll tell you nicely if they like you back or not, and most of the time, you still get to be friends.” Dainty paused for a few seconds before continuing. “So... tell me his name.” She inquired with an eager grin.

“You... You’re not mad?” Prism asked surprised.

“I was a filly once too, you know. You wouldn’t believe how many crushes I’ve had when I was around your age.” The mare sent her daughter a playful wink. “Now come on! Don’t keep me in suspense, who is it? Tell me, tell me!” She urged the filly excitedly, jumping a little in her seat.

She couldn’t believe her daughter would think she’d be angry over some silly crush, she’s sure whoever it was, wouldn’t change anything-

“It’s Nocturnal Solstice.”

That changes everything.

/-/

“Stellar, is this... is this a date?” Cadance asked uncertainly at the redhead walking lazily next to her.

“Noooo~” Stellar responded in that mischievously teasing way she often does. “What makes you think that?”

The pegasus looked up at the sky in a thoughtful manner and began listing out all the activities the two of them did after they left the bench. “Well, first you dragged me to watch a play..."

“No, we watched the high school kids rehearse a play.” The white filly corrected. “Totally doesn’t count.”

“And then, you treated me to lunch at that sandwich place.” The pink filly continued.

“Don’t be silly, I was planning on raiding our fridge and microwave some leftover lasagna, but I don’t really feel like walking all the way back to my house, so i decided to just eat out and it was only polite to buy you a sandwich too. I just hope my mom hasn’t started experimenting with it to try and figure out why it tasted so good. So no, still not a date.” Stellar shook her head.

“After that, we looked around the shops and you bought me these hair ribbons.” Cadance listed on, fiddling self-consciously with her mane now tied in a ponytail with a blue ribbon that matches the one on her tail.

“I’m not trying to woo you with gifts if that’s what you thinking.” Stellar rolled her eyes. “It’s hot out and I don’t want our necks to get all sweaty because of the heat.” The redhead flicked her identically styled mane with more poise and confidence than she does. It was also tied with similar ribbons, albeit hers was suspiciously colored the same shade of ash gray as her brother’s mane.

“And now, were taking a stroll together in the central park!” The pink filly finished, wildly gesturing between the two of them with a hoof.

“So? That doesn’t make this a date.” Stellar’s face then morphed into a more sly expression. “Unless you want it to...”

”N-No.” Cadance stammered, somehow managing to turn even pinker from embarrassment.

“Then it isn’t, it’s as simple as that. I’m just helping a friend feel better again.” The white filly assured as a matter fact. “So, stop over thinking it and just enjoy yourself.”

The pegasus was astonished, she just couldn’t believe how nice the redhead was to her. If the other filly doesn’t derive amusement from flustering the heck out of other ponies, she would have thought her an angel or a saint.

Accepting the white filly wasn’t trying to take advantage of her emotional state to trick her into going on a date, Cadance continued walking with the other filly in silence, albeit, a more comfortable one this time. The white one started humming as they strolled and the pegasus was left with her thoughts. It’s funny, Cadance seems to be having a hard time remembering why she hated the other filly in the first place.

Because I want to be all lovie dovey with Noctis, I remember now... Cadance bitterly mused. Ugh! Why do I like him so much!?

Huh... that’s actually a pretty good question.

She first started to realize her feelings when Noctis brought Stellar to their house and she found out that the thought of her brother being with another filly makes her sick to her stomach. She was so focused on figuring out her feelings that she never really questioned WHY and HOW she ended up having those feelings in the first place. She searched her brain for an answer, but nothing seems to come up.

Well, it seems that she has to use her usual strategy with these kind of thing. If you can’t find the answers in your head, find it somewhere else.

Cadance turned her head towards her companion. “Stellar, can I ask you something personal?”

“Sure, go ahead.” The redhead permitted.

“Why do you like my brother?”

Stellar scratched her chin, contemplating how to best answer the question. “Remember when you asked me if I knew Prism, earlier?”

“Yes.” The pegasus hummed. “You said you didn’t.”

“That’s because I’m still fairly new to town back then. I used to live in Canterlot.” The white filly illuminated. “My parents decided that the wanted a more simple and quieter life than succeeding their family businesses, so they bought a house here.” After a couple of hints and ‘signs from the universe’ from her, she didn’t add. “My dad began to set up shop while me and my mom joined the volunteer group to get acquainted with the town’s ponies, that’s when I met cute and sleepy Nocturnal Solstice, the very first friend I had ever made.”

“Wait, first friend?” Cadance tilted her head confusedly. “You didn’t have any friends before him?”

“You’re smart, so I’m sure you already figured it out.” Stellar said. “Most ponies actually find me quite annoying.” She let out an overly dramatic sigh. “Alas! Even with my strong wit and overwhelming beauty, my constant flirting and playful teasing is enough to drive ponies away.”

The pink filly couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Couldn’t you just, oh i don’t know, stop?”

“I can’t, that’s the problem.” Stellar scratched her head bashfully. “It’s kind of an automatic defense mechanism, of mine.”

The pegasus quirked her brow confusedly. “A what now?”

“It’s a thing you do, without even thinking about it, to protect yourself.” The redhead informed.

Cadance was even more confused now. “That doesn’t make sense, how do you protect yourself with teasing and flirting?”

“Let me let you in on a secret of mine.” Stellar looked around for anyone eavesdropping before whispering. “I’m actually very shy...”

Cadance almost laughed. “You? Shy?”

“It’s true though, believe it or not.” Stellar simply stated. “I get nervous whenever I talk to other foals and I just get these urges to make them as uncomfortable, if not more than, I feel and I guess that made me come out as some sort of shameless pony.”

The pegasus thought about it for a moment. “That... actually makes a surprising amount of sense.” She finally agreed before furrowing her brows. “But wait, what does that have to do with you, liking Noctis.”

“Oh, that’s easy.” Stellar proclaimed cheerfully. “He stayed!”

“Is... that it?” The pink one asked, a bit disappointed.

Stellar shook her head. “No, you don’t get it! If you were there when we were cleaning, you would understand.” Seeing Cadance’s expectant look, she elaborated. “The adults put us together because they thought it would be cute, I guess, and of course me being me, talked AT him for hours! Hours, Cadance! And... he stayed.” Her expression softened. “I can tell he was a bit irritated at me as well, but he never got mad and shouted at me. He wasn’t just zoning me out either, he was actually listening to every word I say. It was amazing! It was like he was used to putting up with chatty annoying fillies!”

“What are you implying?” Cadance narrowed her eyes.

The white filly ignored the accusation. “My point was, Noctis was nice to me and i liked that, and it wasn’t long before I started falling for him.”

Cadance hummed to herself, pondering about the things the redhead said. It didn’t really help with figuring out her own conundrum, but it was nice to learn more about the other filly.

“Now, then.” Stellar started conversationally. “Will you tell me why you asked?”

“It’s, um, for my hobby?” The pegasus admitted uncertainly.

Stellar frowned. “You ask fillies why they like your brother? That’s... an interesting hobby to have.”

“No, you dummy!” Cadance protested. “I was trying to figure out what love is!”

“Oh! That makes much more sense.” Stellar smiled. “So, have you figured it out yet?”

“No, I haven’t.” The pink one sighed before giving the redhead a curious look. “How about you, Stellar? What do you think love is?”

The other filly rubbed her chin once more, it seems to be her default thinking pose. After a few seconds of thinking, Stellar replied. “Love is love. Pure and simple.”

Cadance shook her head disappointedly, she should have expected this. “Stellar, that’s not an answer at all.”

“What? It was totally a good answer.” The white one indignantly huffed.

“No, It really wasn’t...” The pegasus insisted. “It was like saying a crayon is a crayon or a rock is a rock. It doesn’t really explain what the thing actually was.”

“I still think it was a good answer.” Stellar pouted for a second before cheering back up upon spotting the park’s famous ice cream cart. She poked the pink filly to catch her attention. “Hey, Cadance. Wanna share an ice cream?”

The pegasus froze in her tracks, gaping in shock at the other filly, her expression mortified. “You want us to what!?”

“Oh, come on! What now? I just wanted to try one of those twin popsicles.” The white filly cried exasperatedly before the situation fully clicked in her head and her lips formed a roguish grin. “Wait, did you think we were going to do the thing with an ice cream cone?” Her smile widen as the pegasus' blush deepen. “You did! Oh my gosh, that’s so cute!”

“Sh-Shut up!” Cadance shove at the white filly, embarrassed. “Just go already!”

Stellar laughed. “Alright, alright, be right back!” Sending a playful wink at the pink one, she went to join the line of customers.

Cadance huffed grumpily. Just when she was starting to like the redhead.

With a sigh, she began to look around for somewhere to sit down when she saw something odd in the distance. It was a colt, one of her classmates in fact, looking at something behind a bush. She turned her head back towards the line, it would be a while before the other filly comes back.

Nodding to herself, she decided to say hello and also maybe find out what the colt was up to.