//------------------------------//
// Re-envisioned 
// Story: The Capacity of Forgiveness 
// by Frenac 
//------------------------------//


“Isn’t this the natural order of things, Celestia?  Order?  Get it?  Oh, come on, laugh a little, won’t you?  Who are you to say I’m right or wrong?  This is my world as much as yours, Celestia.” -Discord


A cobblestone path opened before Tom, highlighted in the moonlight.
“Follow me, this way,” said a female voice behind him.  It belonged to a hooded human figure in dark leather and a cloak, leaning against a signpost.  Her eyes appeared to glow bright green.
“Who are you?”
“You don’t remember me?” the woman said with a giggle.  She threw back her hood, revealing long silvery hair and elfin ears. “It’s no problem.  You wouldn’t recognize me anyway.  Now come along with me.”
The woman ran ahead toward a tall hill, Tom struggling to keep pace.  The hill almost seemed to grow in height as they approached it.
They scaled the hill and eventually reached the top.  The woman motioned Tom closer.
“Look to the sky.  Do you see any familiar stars?”
“I think I see the Big Dipper over there.”
“Now see the river down there?  If you follow anything long enough, like this river, you’re bound to get somewhere.”
“So what does this have to do with anything?”
“I have to go, so you must find your own way.”  The cloaked woman turned and began to walk away.
“Wait, what’s your name?  Maybe I’d remember your name if I’d met you before.”
Still facing away from Tom, she said softly, almost a whisper, “Chrystal.  Call me Chrystal.”
“No, you still don’t seem familiar.  Sorry if I don’t remember you.”
“That’s no problem at all.  Go along now.”
A yelp echoed in the distance.  Tom looked and saw a few birds flutter out of a tree.  He spun back around.  Chrystal had disappeared completely.  That’s just great.  Fucking great.  I hope I’m not crazy and this is just a goddamned dream.
Tom watched as the sky brightened and the sun rose over the horizon at an alarming rate, and squinted his eyes shut.
“Tom, do you feel any better today?” a voice asked from the darkness. “Tom?  Please respond.  Are you awake?”
Tom slowly and cautiously opened his eyes as bright rays of sunlight began to filter in.  On his right was a…man, no, a grey-brown creature with a large, almost round head, a large squarish muzzle, and huge eyes that took up about half its face.  It appeared to have combed brown hair, a set of glasses, a white doctor’s shirt, and…stood on four legs?  One of those ‘pony’ things.  Wait, ponies?
Tom rolled off his covers and sprung out of his bed.  “Oh, fuck!  Get the fuck away from me!”  He ran to the nearest wall and began beating his head against it. “Wake up, wake up, damn it!”
“It’s just a nightmare, just a nightmare!” Tom yelped shakily as he collapsed on the floor, head pulsing and vision dimmed.
“Tom!”
“Aliya?  Am I awake?” he gasped.
“Of course you are.  And I thought maybe you should meet Princess Celestia.”
“Wait, wait, Princess who?” Tom said, aghast.  He sighed. “You shitting me?”  Really?  So I’m trapped in this fucking nightmare then?”
“Tom!  Watch your language!”
Tom let out a dry laugh. “What, am I going to be struck down and sent to pony hell?  Try me.”
“Okay, Tom, you asked for it.”
Tom craned his head back.  A white horse-creature stood before him.  As he squinted his eyes, he noticed it had a strangely translucent and iridescent mane and tail that fluttered back and forth.  Its head was round like the ‘pony’, but longer and its muzzle was rounder.  It had large amethyst eyes with long black eyelashes, a long horn just above its eyes, a golden tiara, and…a set of tucked wings…with feathers.
“What a pleasure to meet you, ‘Princess’,” Tom said sardonically.
Celestia laughed. “And a pleasure to meet you too, Tom.”
“Ugh…” Tom groaned, struggling to his feet.  He twitched an ear.  Wait, my ears aren’t supposed to do that, are they?  Ah, fuck.
“Take a look at yourself in the mirror,” Aliya said with a slight chuckle.
Tom stumbled across the floor until he found a large standing mirror.  He peeked in it with glazed eyes.  Before him appeared to be the image of a ‘pony’, with an olive green fur coat and dark blue tail.  The pony’s head was round and large-muzzled like the other one Tom had seen, although its mane was a series of webbed blue spines.  Its orange eyes were also large like the other ponies, but the pupils were elliptical like a cat’s.  No, this can’t be me.
“You sure this isn’t some sick joke?”
“Try flexing your wings and tell me what you think,” Celestia instructed.
Tom looked down at himself to find he had two flat round feet.  Really?  This your idea of hell for me, Aliya?  At least I get wings.  He turned and watched as a set of wide, batlike wings unfolded from his back, and flapped them a few times.
“A-leeya…” he growled, “where are you?  This was your idea, wasn’t it?  Not very funny.”
Aliya waved from behind Tom, as he saw in the mirror.  He turned to face her.
“The fu—!  I mean, the frick is this?!” Tom shouted in disgust.  He looked Aliya up and down.  She appeared to be a brown pony with a bright orange tail and a long saffron mane partly obscuring her blue-brown eyes.  Her head was rounder than the other ponies he had seen, but her muzzle was smaller and smoother, tapering like a dog’s.
“Let me wipe that smile off your face for you, Aliya,” Tom said as he sprung for Aliya, who ran for the door.
With a sudden ‘clunk!’, Tom tripped over a velvet-cushioned chair and fell on his face.  A peal of laughter erupted through the room.
“Grrr…”
“Oh, don’t be angry, Tom.  Princess Luna is here to see you too!”
“Ah, hell.  Ponies, ponies, ponies.  Okay, fine, I’ll stop.”
Another pony, somewhat smaller than Celestia, stepped forth.  This one was a greyish blue and had a transparent blue mane and tail that also fluttered on their own accord and sparkled like a clear night sky.  The pony also had a horn, though smaller than Celestia’s, and a dark, nearly black tiara.  Its head was also round, and its muzzle was a bit shorter than Celestia’s.  It also had a set of feathered wings tucked on its back.  The hell?  I don’t know if I can call any of these things ponies or even horses.  Unless I was totally stoned.
“The other princess?  It’s an honor.  Do I get a lollipop now?” Tom said dryly.
“Lollipop, Celestia?” the pony asked, turning to Celestia for an explanation.
“It’s a hard candy on a stick, like what you’ve seen many little foals sucking on.”
“I see.  Your friend thought you would enjoy the company.  I am Luna, princess of the night.”
Tom cackled. “And I’m Shadowdancer, the seeker of souls.”
In the back, Aliya shook her head.  Tom smiled wryly.
“Pleased to meet you, Shadowdancer,” Luna said with a smile.  She took up Tom’s hoof and shook it. “Would you like any help getting up?”
“Not really.”
Luna backed away a few steps as Tom pushed himself to his feet.  His eyes centered on Aliya. “I guess this is what I get for that review, isn’t it?  I have as much a right to a happy life as you, Aliya.  Why did you have to drag me into this nightmare?”
“I didn’t.  It just happened this way.”
“Right.  But you didn’t even consider me in this, did you?  Dragged off to your little heaven, so you can do whatever you want and it’s fine, right?”
Tears began forming in Aliya’s eyes. “No, that’s not—”
“Forget it!  I’m outta here!” Tom rejoined, flaring his wings and bursting out the door.  He beat his wings furiously, every beat more strained than the next, heading away from the castle and toward the meadow below.  Goddamn…haven’t felt this tired since…bah, I can’t remember.
Tom continued onward, not once looking back.  Forget them, I just want to be gone.  Out of here, damn it.  Maybe if I die, I’ll wake up and it will all be a dream.  Just a…dream.
Only then when a rooftop appeared before him did Tom notice he was rapidly falling and unable to right himself.  He hit the roof with a thump and began to slide down, clutching at straw ever hopelessly before hitting the cold, hard dirt.
“Oof…”
Without warning, a high, cheery female voice pierced Tom’s ears. “You must be new in town because I’ve never seen you before!  What are you doing on the ground, silly?”
Oh, god, why me? “Because I fell, stupid.”
“Hey, that’s not a nice thing to say!”
“I know,” Tom said indifferently.  He pulled himself off the ground, brushed himself off, and faced the assailant.  From its features, it appeared to be a female ‘pony’, having the same large, round head and small muzzle.  Her fur was pale pink, while her poofy, curled mane was a darker pink.  Her large and round eyes, a light shade of blue, stared expectantly at Tom.
“You must be the infamous Pinkie Pie,” Tom concluded, laughing.
“Infamous?  Oh no!  Did Ditzy find out about that muffin I ate?  Or two?  Or four?  Or was it that colt’s clothes I borrowed for a day?  I didn’t mean to upset anyone, really!”
“No, Pinkie, it’s because you’re annoying as heck.”
“Annoying?  Oh, one time I met this filly who kept telling me my—”
“Did I see a party over there?”
“Where?” Pinkie asked eagerly, romping down another street.  Tom dashed for the nearest alleyway and paused to catch his breath.
“Hoowee.  That always does the trick.”
“Hey!  There’s no party going on!” Pinkie cried, standing before Tom asudden. “And I didn’t get to finish!  Anyway, she was like ‘They have too much frosting!’ and I was like ‘No, that’s because you ate it all at once, silly!’ and—” 
“Shut it, now!  I’ve had enough!”
“Hey, stop picking on Pinkie, punk!” shouted a winged pony from above Tom.  She was cyan with an unkempt rainbow mane and tail.  Her magenta eyes bored into Tom.
“And who the hell are you?”
“The one and only Rainbow Dash, of course!  Now get away from Pinkie!”
“Ha!  Make me, twerp!”
“Twerp?  Oh, wait until I beat it out of you!” Rainbow Dash said with aplomb, narrowing her eyes.  She dove at Tom, spun around, and kicked him square in the side of the head before he had even moved.  He slapped hard onto the ground.
“Who’s the twerp now, twerp!” Rainbow Dash shouted with a little triumphant laugh.
“Dashie!  He wasn’t that bad!  I was going to throw him a party!” Pinkie rebuked.
“Forget the party.  Go back to the kitchen where you belong,” Tom muttered.
“Oh, I love baking!  And baking means cake and cupcakes and muffins!  But too much will make your stomach hurt!  Silly me!”
“Ugh…That all you got, ‘Dashie’?” Tom taunted from the ground.
“What’s that?  I can’t hear you with your face pounded in!” Rainbow Dash called over Tom’s groans and yelps as she unleashed a flurry of punches on his face.
“Had enough yet?”
“Ye-yeah.  No more—please.”
“Now leave my friends alone, got it?”
Tom gave a weak nod as acknowledgement.  Rainbow Dash and Pinkie loped down another street, leaving Tom face-down in the dirt.
“Oh, Rainbow, you aren’t supposed to go around beating ponies up!”
“Hey, he asked for it.”
“Oh, that reminds me!  I need to start on that party!  Catch you later, Dash!” Pinkie called as she hopped away.
“FML,” Tom muttered under his breath.
A black male pony, fur faintly glowing blue, with dark red mane and tail walked by Tom. “Hello sir.  Do you need any help?”
“No.  Go away.”
“I would, but you look beaten and tired.  Common courtesy says I should help.”
Tom backed against a wall. “No.”
“Here, let me get that dirt off you,” said the pony as he revealed a small horn that engulfed Tom in a shimmering cyan aura, lifting him from the ground and shaking the dirt from him.  He then placed Tom back on the ground and the aura dissipated.
“What was that?” Tom said, slightly irritated.
“Just my magic,” the black pony said nonchalantly. “I’m a unicorn.  All unicorns and winged unicorns, or alicorns, have varying degrees of magic.”
“Oh, god.  Why?”
“Not from around here, are you?  Well, come on, let’s walk.”
Tom put a hoof to his head.  Damn it.  Ponies everywhere.  And not the sensible kind either.  He grudgingly began to drag along behind the black pony.
“Fine.  And obviously, I’m not from here.  I’m from Earth, trapped in this damned place.”
“Earth?  You happen to be from somewhere on this planet?” the black pony said, apparently expecting a further explanation.
Tom chuckled to himself. “Well, no.  Heard of humans?  I used to be one before my idiot of a friend had me turned into a pony after we suddenly found ourselves here.”
“Appeared here under mysterious circumstances, I suppose?” the black pony said sarcastically.
“Yes.”
“Really?  Well, I have heard of humans.  Before Equestria, where you are now, was founded, there was a place to the southeast where humans and ponies lived.  But that’s about all I know.  I don’t suppose you’re an alien?  A human from another planet?”
“Well, not this planet.  Unless people have genetically engineered talking ponies with ‘magic’.”
The black pony’s eyes brightened. “Genetically engineered?  Some sort of advanced technology?  Are you able to travel through space, then?”
“Not very far.”  Tom paused to look around.  He was near the edge of a forest and standing outside a quaint two-story house with several windows and a grass-covered roof. “Nature lover?”
“Ah, this is Fluttershy’s cottage.  I was going to stop by for something, but I forgot now.  Maybe she can remind me.  Care to come along?”
“Not really. See, I hate ponies, and it wasn’t my choice to be here.”
“Well, you’re talking to one.  And you happen to be one at this moment.  Besides, that would be like if I said I hated humans.  That’s unfair not to give every human a chance first before deciding I hate them all.  Likewise, I hope you’ll give every pony a chance.”
“What else can I do?  I’m surrounded by ponies,” Tom said aversively.
“So, yes?  Or no?”
“Augh…sure.”
The black pony knocked on the door.
“Hello?  Who is it?” a soft voice inquired from just behind the door.
“It’s just me, Umbra.  I brought a friend along too.”  Tom grimaced.  Friend?  Damn it, who is this wacko?
“A—a friend?”
“Yeah, this is…forgive me, what’s your name, sir?”
“I never told you.  It’s—”
“Shadowdancer!  There you are!  That’s you, right?” a female unicorn called to Tom.  She was lilac, her mane and tail a dark violet with stripes of pink and purple, and gazed at Tom with purple eyes.
“Sure…I mean, no, it’s not.”
The unicorn locked eyes with Tom. “Well, is it you or not?  I didn’t run all around Ponyville for nothing.”
“Ponyville?  That’s the name of this town?  Oh, you ponies crack me up!” Tom cried, bawling with laughter.
“As we were saying…”
“Sure.  If that’s what they call me now, yes.”
“Um…hi everypony.  I hope I’m not interrupting anything,” a soft voice, presumably Fluttershy’s, whispered behind Umbra and Tom.
“Well, your friend’s been looking all over for you.  Oh, hi, Fluttershy!  Hi Umbra!”
“I…uh…didn’t think there was such a crowd here.  It’s making me so uncomfortable…I think I’ll just…go back inside now,” Fluttershy said timidly, retreating behind her door.
“No, Fluttershy, today’s a special day and we want everyone to welcome a special guest.  That means you too, Fluttershy!”
“…Okay, if it's really...that important.”  Fluttershy reemerged and closed the door behind her.
“And here’s my friend Shadowdancer,” Umbra said, pointing to Tom.
“P—pleased to m—meet you.”
“Yeah, same to you.  Now, do I really look that scary?”
Umbra whispered in Fluttershy’s ear. “Shadowdancer doesn’t seem very friendly at first, but I think there’s good in him.  He doesn’t really like other ponies, but I think you can bring out the good in him.”
“Are you s—sure?”
“Yes, just be yourself and he’ll warm up to ponies.  Every pony counts.”
“Oh, okay.”
Fluttershy trailed behind Umbra as he and Tom met with the female unicorn. “I’m Twilight Sparkle,” she greeted warmly as they set off walking toward Ponyville.
“These are the most ridiculous names I’ve ever heard,” Tom muttered, head bowed.
“What’s his problem?” Twilight Sparkle said quietly to Umbra.
“He’s a human from another planet and he’s been turned into a pony, but he hates ponies.”
“Yeah, I’ll believe that in a heartbeat.  That’s what he told you?”
Tom glared at Twilight Sparkle. “Look, ask Aliya or whatever crazy name she goes by now.  She can tell you all about it, okay?”
“Okay!  We don’t need to get in a fight over nothing!”
“Nothing?  I was dragged into this world by force, when I could have been happy at home lounging on an easy chair, and it’s all her fault!” Tom bellowed, stamping his hooves into the ground for emphasis.  Fluttershy whimpered.
“Everything…everything will be fine, okay Shadowdancer?” Umbra said, his voice shaky.
“Hahaha!  Tell that to the—Tell that to the fucking bronies who flamed me and pretty much lost me my shitty job!”
Everyone lay silent, interrupted only by steady hoof clops.  Twilight Sparkle waved as they passed a few other ponies on the street.
Fluttershy suddenly flew up and landed in front of Tom. “Now look here, mister!  I have had it with you!  Stop intimidating my friends!” she reprimanded.
Tom’s eyes widened, then narrowed into a furious scowl. “Oh-ho, feisty, aren’t you!  Well, you know what, Butterpie!  Fuck this!  I don’t give a fuck if I go to pony hell!  See you all there!” he roared to Fluttershy’s face, leaping into the air and spreading his wings to fly.  A small throng of ponies turned to see what the commotion was about.
Twilight Sparkle grabbed Tom with her purple aura and suspended him in the air. “Shadowdancer!  You are not leaving on my watch!  Your friend sent me to find you, and I am not going to go off into the woods to find your sorry flank again!  She and Pinkie set up this party for you, and you are going to enjoy it, whether you like it or not!”
Fluttershy’s eyes welled up with tears. “Don’t worry,” Umbra assured with a smile, “Twilight has this covered.  Uh…right, Twilight?”
“Yep.  No need to worry.”
Tom squirmed in the aura. “Goddamnit!  You little c—”  His words appeared to be cut off, despite that his mouth continued to move.
“Squelching spell.  Works every time.”
“Uh, sorry for the bad timing, Fluttershy, but I remembered what I was going to ask.”
“That’s okay.  What—what did you want to ask?”
“Uh…let’s see.  Oh, right, you have plenty of animal friends, right?  I thought you could introduce me to them sometime.  Maybe take a stroll through the Everfree too?”
“Oh, I’d love to introduce you to all my wonderful little friends.  But I don’t know about going to the Everfree.  There are lots of bad things in there…but if you really want to…I guess I could.”
“Oh, no, I won’t force you to.  I’ll think about it.”
“Okay.”
“Look’s like we’re at the town hall.  Look alive, everypony!” Twilight announced.  They stood outside the town hall, a tower with a several levels, each with a circular balcony.
“Well, come on, let’s not keep everypony waiting!”
The group made its way into the town hall, Twilight still holding Tom in her aura.  They entered a large blue atrium with several balconies mirroring the ones present on the exterior.  Twilight finally set Tom down on the floor. “No more of that, okay?  You’ve given everypony enough trouble already.  And I heard all about you and Rainbow Dash.”
“Oh, you mean that little—I mean, no, I won’t do any more.  Promise.”
“Pinkie Promise?” someone squeaked. “Oh, silly me.”
Twilight looked up on the balcony and giggled, then turned back to Tom. “Okay, but try anything again, and we’re going to have a problem.”
“Now!” the voice from the balcony called.  Several splashes of confetti and candy rained down from the ceiling, and tables seemed to unfurl from the floor, fully stocked with drinks and pastries.  A banner unrolled from the center platform with “Welcome, Poppy Field and Shadowdancer!  Happy birthday!” scrawled over it along with a few illustrations of balloons and streamers.
“Surprise!” Pinkie Pie and a chorus of other ponies shouted, revealing themselves all around the hall.  Pinkie slid down a chain of hard candies and hopped onto the ground. “Objective complete!” she cried. “Oh, wait, almost forgot the balloons,” she then chuckled, tugging on the candy chain and sending a swarm of balloons into the air.
Tom rolled his eyes. “I hate surprises.  And it’s not my birthday,” he grumbled.
“Well, I thought since it was your first day as a pony, this could be your pony birthday!  Aren’t you lucky to have two birthdays!  Oh, I wish I had two birthdays!  There’d be so much candy, and cake, and…”
“Like I’m going to wish him a happy day!” Rainbow Dash yelled, landing on the ground before Tom. “You again?  Didn’t I tell you to leave my friends alone?”
Twilight grumbled. “We’ve already gone over this, Rainbow Dash.  If he does it again, he’s not getting back scot-free.”
Tom reached out a hoof. “Tom,” he said, managing a forced smile.
“No.  I’m not going to shake his hoof.”
“Just do it,” Twilight demanded.
“Fine.  Rainbow Dash, coolest pegasus in Equestria, thank you very much,” Rainbow Dash said smugly, grudgingly shaking hooves with Tom and immediately retracting her hoof afterward. “Wait, I thought your name was Shadowdancer.”
“Fine, call me that if it suits you better.”
“Come on, let’s get this party started!” Pinkie cheered. “I even brought Vinyl along!  What kind of music do you like?”
Tom grimaced. “I don’t know.  Death metal dubstep?”
“Death metal dubstep?  Is that like dance music for skeletons?  I’ll go ask.”
“Are you kidding?  You’re going to make everyone’s ears bleed!” Umbra retorted.
“Hey, don’t judge me, it’s what I like.”
“Okay, who here has an electric guitar and can play it?  Volunteers?” Pinkie called to the crowd.
Six ponies ventured from various parts of the crowd to where Pinkie stood. “All right!  Let’s go!  Vinyl will provide the beat, and you provide the rest!  On my mark, 1, 2, 3, go!”
A deep twang and thrub-thrub-thrub resounded from the six sets of speakers placed across the atrium.
“I think I’m going to go outside,” Fluttershy murmured.
“I think so, too,” Umbra answered, though barely able to hear her through the music. “I don’t mind metal at times, but I think this may be a bit overboard.  Twilight, you coming too?”
Umbra looked around in the mob, unable to find her. “Maybe not then.”  He and Fluttershy nudged their way through, and after untold numbers of ‘Excuse me’s, made it outside.  Applejack, a female pony, orangish tan in color, with blonde mane and tail each tied in a long ponytail and a wide-brimmed brown hat, stood quietly beside the town hall.
“Fluttershy!  Umbra!  How do y’all do this fine day?” she said amicably.
“Not bad.  Music’s a bit much for me, though.”
“I hear ya.  Drives me crazy listenin’ to all that noise.  How ‘bout you, Fluttershy?  Feelin’ all right?”
“Um, I guess so.”
“You guess?  Somethin’ troublin’ ya, sugacube?”
“Well, we had a little trouble with Shadowdancer, what with him cussing us out and calling Fluttershy ‘Butterpie’.  Twilight had to sort things out.”
“Now that’s terrible.  I heard.  Some ponies don’t know when to keep it to themselves,” Applejack remarked with a frown.
“Speaking of which, where is he?”
Celestia, Luna, and Aliya approached the town hall.  Applejack, Fluttershy, and Umbra bowed in their presence.  “How is everypony tonight?  We thought we’d stop by and see how everything was going,” Celestia said warmly.  The three ponies stood back up.
“Fine n’ dandy.”
“Not bad.”
Fluttershy merely nodded and smiled as a response.
“Why not join everypony else in the festivities?” Luna asked.
“Too loud and noisy in there.”
Celestia smiled. “Has Shadowdancer given anypony any trouble?”
“Unfortunately, yes.  He’s had a cussing fit and apparently fought with Rainbow Dash.  But Twilight set him straight.”
“Oh.  I’m sorry if things got out of hoof.  We were just looking for him and thought you might know where he was.”
“He should be there at the party right now.  I haven’t heard anything going wrong yet, anyway.  By the way, who is the newcomer?”
“Call me Poppy Field.  Nice to meet all of you.  I’m Shadowdancer’s human friend.”
“Howdy, Poppy Field.  Pleasure meetin’ ya!”
“Good day—or is it evening—to you.”
“Hi…N—nice to meet you.”
“I guess we should be on our way now.  We’ll see everypony in a few minutes.”  With that, Celestia, Luna, and Aliya made their way into the town hall.
“She must be the one Shadowdancer was ranting about, saying it was all her fault.  I feel sorry for her, having to put up with all that.”
“M-hm.”
“She didn’t seem bad like Shadowdancer at all.  Actually, I’d say more like misguided.  He says he hates ponies.”
“You can’t say anypony’s bad, can ya Umbra?  But I cain’t say anything’, I haven’t even met him.  You’re a good fella, Umbra,” Applejack said, laughing.  She gave Umbra a friendly poke in the side.
“Thanks, Applejack.”
Umbra watched the sunset for a while, as Applejack adjusted her hat.
"So, Fluttershy, anythin' new recently?"
“I found a stray dog last week.  I think he had mange, so I took him for a checkup.  I hope I can find his original family.”
“That’s mighty naice of you, Fluttershy.  I sure hope you succeed.  Don’t know what I’d do without Winona.  Now how about you, Umbra?  Umbra?”
“Oh, sorry.  What were you saying?”
Applejack laughed. “Ah, sometimes I wonder if you’re a scarecrow, Umbra.  Jus’ standin’ there like a statue and not sayin’ a word.  Have you done anythin’ interesting recently?”
“Taken up a bit of drawing in my spare time.  It really can be quite fun.  Do you have any requests?”
“I’m not much of a visual artist, so t’speak.  Do a bit of sculpturing here and there, but I think there’s art in everythin’.  You seem mighty eager.  How ‘bout a drawing of the Apple family?”
“All right, sounds good.”
“Bet you could pick up a few fillies with yer drawin’ skills.”
“Nah, I think I’m destined to be alone.”
Celestia and Luna came back outside.  “Shadowdancer is nowhere to be found,” said Luna.
“Somepony told us he had gotten a bit sick and went out the back for a moment.  He wasn’t there, but he was definitely sick,” said Celestia.  She winced a tad, remembering the sour stench and the orangish medley of stomach contents.
“The ‘heavy metal dubstep’ and his sick stomach must have been his ruse to disappear.  I’d almost leave him, since he’s so desperate to escape, but I’d feel guilty if something bad were to happen to him, even with his bad temperament.”
“We’ll have a search party ready soon.  Take care now, everypony.”  Celestia and Luna nodded and flew into the dusk.
“Hmm…Fluttershy, would you mind showing me the Everfree right now?”
“I don’t know, Umbra, it’s a little dark right now.”
“I’ll light the way, but you can turn back after showing me the first part.  I plan on going all the way through the Everfree Forest.”
“Are you outta yer mind?  Tell ya what, sugarcube, I’m up fer an adventure tonight!  No need settin’ yerself in harm’s way alone!  I’m with ya all the way!”
“I’ll go with you too.  I’d…um…feel pretty bad if you were stranded in the Everfree Forest by yourself.”
“Then what are we waiting for?  We’ll be the three puppeteers!  No, that doesn’t sound right.  Help me out here.”
“The three rangers, maybe?”
“That sounds more like it.  The Three Rangers set off on their first adventure!” Umbra cried jubilantly.
“Now don’t get too excited, Umbra.  That’s if we make it out of this one.”