Monochrome woke up in a hospital bed. He finds himself wearing a gown and bandages wrapped around his head to the point where he seemed bald. He was confused on what could have happened until he saw Twilight walk into the room with her parents and a doctor. Another tall mare with a long, flowing and colorful mane also accompanied them. She was decorated with a gold crest and a crown.
“Are you alright Monochrome?” Twilight asked.
“I don’t feel any pain actually.” Monochrome thought. “I remember it hurt earlier, but I feel fine now.”
“Interesting.” The doctor spoke. “So the analyzation was correct.”
“Analy-… Anal… What?”
“Your tests. The reason why you chose to come to Canterlot.” The doctor reminded him. “Our tests found out an extraordinary ability humans seem to possess. Something that is very special, unique maybe.”
“What do you mean?” Monochrome wondered.
The tall mare smiled at him, waving her hoof near her head. “Take your bandages off.”
A mirror levitates in front of Monochrome’s face before he did as he was told. When he unwraps the bandages, he sees his hair has completely changed colors. The black hair with the swirl of white was now of a purple and a pink swirl. He didn’t notice until now that his eyes have become purple as well. He places his hand on his hair to feel something tingly brush his fingers. He looks at them utterly bewildered, laying down on the bed tirelessly.
“This may be a lot to process, so I’ll explain it very briefly.” The doctor stated. “Humans seem to have the ability to mimic magic from others and freely learn and use those abilities.”
“… Um… I think I understand…” Monochrome spoke. “But… I never used magic… and my hair or eyes never changed color this much…”
“Twilight’s ability seemed to be enough for your body to react to the magic.” The tall mare explained. “She was very talented to bring out new abilities hidden from you.”
“That’s… Really cool.” Monochrome stated. “Twilight must be really good at this magic stuff.”
Twilight blushed while the tall mare brought up other news. “I’m happy for the discovery of your abilities, but I’m afraid it comes with a problem as well.”
“Your ability must be trained properly.” The doctor warned him. “Without the minimum of magic training, you can evoke damage to yourself and others.”
“I don’t want that…” Monochrome said softly.
“Which is why it is imperative that you get proper guidance as soon as possible.” The doctor told him. “And what better teacher is than the Princess of Equestria herself? Princess Celestia.”
Monochrome turned to the tall mare in surprise as she chuckled lightly. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing her correctly. “Your… the Princess of Equestria?”
“I suppose you’ve never seen me before?” She guessed. Monochrome nodded, making her giggle for a bit. “That’s quite rare.”
“So… If I have to learn magic, doesn’t that mean I have to stay here in Canterlot?” He questioned. “I have a family back in Cloudsdale.”
“We understand that this is a very difficult decision to make.” The doctor told him. “But we will do what we can to make it work if you decide to stay here.”
The doctor leaves followed by the Princess after she says farewell. The only ones’ left is Twilight and her family staying with the boy. Monochrome looks to the violet filly as she goes to him.
“I’m sorry about all of this.” Twilight apologized. “I didn’t expect all of this to happen.”
“It’s not all bad.” Monochrome assured her, patting her head. “You helped me learn more about myself and see something that I couldn’t have experienced back home. So, thanks for that.”
Her face reddens a bit before she remembered to tell him something. “If… you do have to stay in Canterlot, I can help you get used to everything. If you don’t have any place to stay, my parents said they’ll be happy to help!”
“Thanks Twilight.” Monochrome smiled. “I think I will end up staying here. So, I probably will rely on you.”
“I’ll do what I can!” Twilight vowed to him with a smile of sunshine.
It was a summer day when Monochrome returned to Cloudsdale. His peers were amazed by Monochromes change, asking about his days in Canterlot and what had happened. He answered as much as he could before returning to his home with the aid of the Royal Guard. There, he and his parents sat down and were informed of everything.
“We’re so proud of you Mono!” The mother exclaimed as she hugged her son with extreme might.
“That’s my boy!” The father cheered as well.
“M-Mom… D-Dad… Loosen up a bit…” Monochrome begged.
They let go of him, letting him gasp for air. He sat down on the couch and looked at the two with a sigh. “Thanks… Anyways, they asked me to stay and learn magic in Canterlot. I think I have to do it so I don’t become dangerous.”
“We understand the situation Monochrome.” His mom told him. “And we’ll respect your decision.”
The father was tearing up as he tried to talk. “Y-Yeah, we understand. I-If you want, we can drop by everyday as much as you want.”
“That means a lot and would be nice, but please don’t. You have jobs.” Monochrome warned him.
“I… Just don’t want to let you go so soon.” His mom stated. “I want to see you grow up and become a fine young man.”
“I really would like if you came to see me when you can.” Monochrome stated. “I really love the family I have.”
The parents smiled widely with a gasp before hugging their son with the same force as before. He struggled to breathe before his parent finally released him from their grasp.
“Anyways, is Rainbow still at the Summer Flight Camp?”
“Yes, she is. Are you going to go tell her?”
“I need to.” Monochrome stated. “She’s been through a lot for me, and I need to tell her what’s going on.”
“Well, before you go, have this.” His mother gave him a pendant. It was a black circle with a white swirl in the middle. “I was going to give it to you when you still had black and white hair.”
“Thanks Mom.” Monochrome thanked her with his own hug to give. “I’ll miss you both.”
Monochrome arrived at the Summer Flight Camp. There, he found Fluttershy and Gilda looking to the distance in thought. Fluttershy was nervously tugging her mane before she noticed Monochrome entering the Camp. She and Gilda turned to the boy and rushed to him.
“You’re back!” Gilda shouted in astonishment.
“We haven’t seen you for a while.” Fluttershy stated. She looked at Monochrome’s hair and eyes to realize they have changed. “You… look different…”
Monochrome scratched his head with a weak grin. “Sorry. Things happened at Canterlot.”
“It’s good that you came.” Gilda told him. “Fluttershy here told Rainbow some news.”
“What is it?” He wondered, tilting his head. Fluttershy turned and showed Monochrome her flank. He then notices the butterflies decorated on her, and realized what this means. “You got your cutie mark!”
“Yes, that’s right.” Fluttershy nodded. “I learned that I like to take care of animals when I went to the surface.”
“Whoa, that’s impressive.” Monochrome responded. “I’m proud of you.”
“Yes, so when I came back to Cloudsdale, I decided on something.”
“And that is…?”
“Well, I’m planning to move to a town somewhere down there.”
“Oh… I see…” Monochrome responded slowly. “I… Didn’t think you’d be leaving.”
“Rainbow wasn’t expecting it either.” Gilda added. “She got frustrated and stormed off.”
“But now that you’re here, we were wondering if you could cheer her up?” Fluttershy suggested.
Monochrome kicked the cloud he stood on while turning his gaze away from them. “I think I’ll just make it worse…”
“What do you mean?” Gilda questioned.
“At Canterlot, I found out about the ability of humans is copying magic.” He explained. “And I got a new one, the magic of the unicorn. They told me it would be dangerous if I don’t train to use it properly, so I have to leave to Canterlot.”
The two were shocked and silent. They didn’t expect news like this to pop up. Monochrome was looking down solemnly. He knew it would hurt Rainbow if he told her now, but he didn’t want to leave her without telling what happened.
“Are you serious?” Gilda questioned. “I thought you were just going to leave for a while, not like, forever!”
“I… I don’t know what to say…” Fluttershy muttered, tearing up.
“I do want to stay here.” Monochrome said honestly. “But I’m afraid what will happen. I don’t want to end up being trouble. I can hurt not only myself, but every pony who lives here.”
Gilda and Fluttershy were still saddened, but understood where he was coming from. They wanted to say something to him that will have him stay in Cloudsdale a bit longer, but they knew that would be problematic.
“Well, I guess at one point, we’re all going to leave Cloudsdale.” Gilda sighed.
“You’re… leaving too?” Fluttershy said in surprise.
“Well, not now.” Gilda replied. “But I don’t plan to stay here forever either.”
“It’s going to be sad not to see either of you again.” Monochrome told her.
The three were in agreement to that. As time passed, Gilda knew what he had to do. “Monochrome, you have to go see Rainbow right now. She went off in the middle of camp. You can’t miss it.”
“Alright. See you later then.” Monochrome said back before setting off.
As the human left, the two watched as their friend walked away before Gilda had an idea.
Rainbow was sitting on the cloud looking at the moon. The mare within watches back while she sighs from what she had heard earlier. She couldn’t believe that Fluttershy is planning to leave Cloudsdale. She couldn’t think of her friend leaving off like that. The change was as sudden as her cutie mark she had just recently received. She doesn’t know what to think anymore.
“Rainbow?” a voice called to her.
She turns to see her brother, Monochrome, approach her. She smiled widely and raced over to him with a tackle to the ground.
“Hey! You’re back!” Rainbow said excitedly. She looked at Monochrome’s face and hair to notice the change of colors. “Did you dye your hair or something? And… did you dye your eyes too?”
“It has something to do with what happened in Canterlot.” Monochrome explained. “I’ve changed I guess.”
“Changed, huh?” Rainbow repeated with a bit of sourness. “Me too I guess.”
“Oh?” Monochrome thought. Rainbow got off of him to show her flank. A cloud with a rainbow thunderbolt was there. The human was astounded. “You got your cutie mark!”
“Yeah, being fast and awesome.” Rainbow chuckled and some pride. “Things have changed here too. Fluttershy said she was planning to move out of here.”
“Yeah, I heard.”
“And it’s crazy, right!?” Rainbow laughed. “We gotta tell her that she can’t do it! She won’t survive down there! I mean, it’s Fluttershy!”
“Calm down Rainbow.” Monochrome told her. “I… understand where she’s coming from.”
“But won’t you miss her!?” She remarked. “She’s our friend! So, she can’t just up and leave us!”
“Rainbow, I will miss her.” Monochrome answered. “But I’ll miss you too.”
Rainbow paused and fell silent to that line of words. She stared at her brother for a little longer before finally letting the words escape her mouth. “What?”
“I found out the ability of humans.” Monochrome told her. “Humans can mimic magic, like cloud handling with pegasus and just recently magic from unicorns. This power is special, but can be dangerous if untrained. The ponies at Canterlot said I should stay with them and learn so I can handle my powers better so I can use them properly.”
“So, wait a minute!” Rainbow shouted, trying to process all of this. “You? Have these powers and now because you got more stuff to it, you have to move!? What about your family!”
“I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.” Monochrome explained. “If I stay, my powers could go out of control.”
“Why do you have to leave too!?” Rainbow screamed. “First Fluttershy, now you! What if Gilda leaves too!?”
“Rainbow… We’re not going to stay in Cloudsdale forever…”
“Why not!? I hate how everything is just, changing!” She cried. “If I knew this was going to happen, I would have never done that stupid rainboom and got this cutie mark…!”
“Wait… Rainboom?” Monochrome repeated.
“Yeah, it’s this big explosion I make with lots of colors.” Rainbow told him. “I made one while I was racing and that’s how I got this dumb mark.”
“Rainbow… I saw it.” He told her. Rainbow’s ears perked up as she turned back to him. “It’s… What changed my life, I guess. I learned who I was because of you.”
“… I did?”
“Rainbow, you’ve helped me so much ever since I came here.” Monochrome told her. “And I don’t care whether or not I stay in Cloudsdale. I just want to be with you. But things change, and they changed in a way even I didn’t want.”
“So, you really have to go…?”
“I have to Rainbow…”
“I wish I could come with you…” Rainbow sighed. “This is so unfair…”
“Rainbow…”
“But I guess it’s hard for every pony else too, huh? It’s not just me. You have to deal with it, Gilda has to deal with it, even Fluttershy has to deal with it. I have to buck up too, I guess.”
“I’m afraid so.”
“Heh…” Rainbow chuckled a bit. “Well, I guess this is it then… But I can still visit, right? Or write to you and stuff?”
“That would be great.” He smiled.
As the two accepted their fate with a smile, a flash went off. They turned to see Gilda holding a camera and Fluttershy next to her.
“Since it’ll be a while for Monochrome to come back, let’s take a picture for all of us.” Gilda suggested.
“That way, we can all look back to this day.” Fluttershy added.
With the four together, they took a picture. The two pegasus, the griffon, and the human, all spending tonight together before the human boy must depart. It was a bittersweet moment where they all grew up a little inside. A memory they will never forget.