The Adventure of the Apex Legion

by DeffBwade

Chapter 21: The Legion's Final Challenge (Spoiler Alert: It's the Hardest)

"Maybe darkness will always come when there's no light...and maybe you can't truly snuff out darkness...but here's the thing Cozy," I said before I made my grip on my blade firmer, "No matter what happens, the light will always fight back!"

”Get down!” I projected towards Ocellus…before my powered hoof struck Cozy in the gut, making sure to aim in Ocellus’s direction…or in this case, Professor Rarity.

I saw Professor Rarity stumbling a bit in a daze...before she collapsed into unconsciousness. What made me smile and sigh in relief, however, was that her eyes were back to normal. No glow. No red.

"Professor Rarity," Ocellus walked up beside me, "She's—"

"Back to normal," I said before I glanced at the sword in my hooves, "Use the light to strike back against the darkness."

As my blade came into contact with the headmare, it didn’t make any physical contact. Instead, it phased through her like a ghost.

”Now Yona!” I projected as I zoomed towards the yak, who then backed off and moved out of the way in time for me to swing my blade downward onto Professor Applejack.

"When did that cannon even get down he—You know what? Never mind," I shrugged as I walked up to the last three and slashed at each of them one by one. As expected, they're glowing red eyes dimmed down to their normal colored, non-glowing eyes then closed as they fell into unconsciousness.

"How? HOW?" she yelled, "It took me almost a month to master the mind control spell. A month I tell you! And you just break it, just like that. What. Are. You?"

My only response was to smirk.

"You mad bro?" I taunted.

"Now guys now! Do it now!" I yelled at them, despite the risk of blowing up the school. It's like I said earlier. Sometimes you gotta take a leap of faith.

"Did...did we do it?" I asked aloud, "Has magic returned?"

Counselor Starlight answered my question by lighting up horn. Ocellus answering as well by changing into various creatures.

"Everything I did during this night, as well as for the past few months, it was all for Equestria," I said before I shook my head, "No, scratch that, it was for everyone here that I care about. The professors, the princesses, Discord...and my friends. Sandbar, Gallus, Smolder, Silverstream, Yona, and Ocellus. They were some of the greatest friends I've ever made. And I'd be damned if I just let you do any bad to them!"

"Golly, so sweet of you to say that. It almost makes me not want to kill you. Oh well," she shrugged, "Now, say goodbye Legion!"

"Heh. It's just like I told you Cozy," I said, still smiling, "The light will always fight back against the darkness."

“Why?!” she seethed as she gave me the stink eye, “Because if this school has taught me anything, it’s that friendship is power. And by gaining power, I gain more friends, which gives me more power, and so on and so forth!” she proclaimed, “You should know what it’s like Legion. You made friends, and now look at what you can do.”

“Well, I suppose it’s over now,” Cozy admitted as guards started to surround her, “I lost, you won. Congrats.”

I then realized that there was still one more thing that I had to deal with. And let me tell you something.

I felt much more confident with fighting Cozy Glow than with what’s gonna happening tomorrow.

Morning has finally come to Equestria. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping happily to all the ponies throughout Ponyville, and I was too fucking tired to get up. Despite the fact that I wake up early in the morning, last night’s incident really had me sapped of energy. Unfortunately, however, it was a school day, so I had to suck it up, to get off my fat ass, and go to class. Hurray.

And what did I find out my friends were planning to do when I stepped outside my room?

Well…they figured that since we managed to save Equestria using the power of friendship, there was no need to continue with our studies at the school. So they decided to plan a little practice for graduation.

I kept trying to tell them over and over again that that’s not how it works, but they were stubborn. Hell, they even had graduation gowns, caps, and even managed to convince Spike to help them practice receiving their diplomas. Well…they were more like certificates, but whatever. And no offense to my friends, but the caps and gowns looked like they were stitched together in under two hours. The gowns even had safety pins on them. They still looked nice though.

Eventually, however, I decided to just go along with it and join them. Because why not? Even though I’m destined to be a leader, I’m still usually a follower.

So here we were now in the hallway, all decked out with our graduation gowns and caps, practicing for our “graduation.”

“Guys, I told you. Just because we saved Equestria doesn’t mean we’re done with school,” I said to them.

“As much as I’d like that to be true.”

“He’s right, you know,” Spike agreed with me as he burped at our certificates.

“Finally someone that agrees,” I mumbled.

“Just you two wait,” Gallus shrugged.

"What's going on?" Headmare Twilight asked us as she, Princess Celestia, and Chancellor Neighsay approached us.

"Hi Headmare Twilight!" Silverstream greeted, "We were just practicing for graduation!"

"Graduation?" the headmare asked with confusion.

"Here we go," I thought.

"Now that we've saved Equestria, we figured we're done with school," Gallus explained nonchalantly.

The response we ended up getting was the headmare, chancellor, and princess giggling, leaving the others confused and have a bit of a frown. Meanwhile, Spike was smiling while I just had a neutral expression, even though I wanted to look as smug as possible to the others.

"Saving Equestria is nice..." Headmare Twilight responded, "...but I'm afraid it'll take more than a couple of semesters to learn all there is about friendship."

"Told you guys," I said with a bit of a smirk, "But holy shit, how much fucking time does it take? Sigh. Just keep er' going. Keep er' going. Keep calm and keep er' going."

Shoutout to those who know where that phrase came from. I'll give you a hint: it involves an owl.

"Your headmare is right," Chancellor Neighsay said as he walked up to us with a guilty expression, "I thought friendship was something only ponies should share with each other, but you all taught me how wrong I was. I suppose true friendship can take a lifetime to understand."

Normally, I would glare at him. I scream at him for not just locking my friends up, but also for just acting so racist to them. But...I couldn't. I sighed and walked up to the chancellor.

"Look Chancellor. Will I ever forget how you acted towards my friends? No, I'm afraid I can't. But...does that mean that I won't ever forgive you? No. Of course not. At least, not after everything I learned," I smiled, "Before I came to this school, I admit I was skeptical. I always believed that friendship was something that you just learn naturally without the need of lessons. But thanks to a certain school, I now know...that my beliefs were way off," I explained, "Okay, I'm just rambling at this point. What I'm trying to say is...every pony deserves a second chance."

"And this is why I don't give heartfelt speeches. I just say the the stupidest shit possible before I get to the point."

"Well, if friendship was easy to learn, then we wouldn't need a school for it," Headmare Twilight smiled, "And I'm proud of you, all of you, for learning so much on the magic of friendship."

"Still sounds a bit cheesy if you ask me," I mentally cringed before I remembered something.

"By the way Princess Celestia," I said to the sun alicorn, "I've been meaning to ask. What happened to Cozy Glow? Did you send her somewhere? Juvie? A military academy? You expelled her called her parents, and then told them to come pick her up and leave her at their mercy?"

"I can assure you young one, that where she's going, she won't be causing anymore trouble," she answered with a smile.

Why am I scared to know the answer?

Deep in the depths of Tarturus lied numerous creatures such as a manticore, a bugbear, a cockatrice, and even Cerberus. However, at the top of a long set of stairs stood a lone cage containing a skinny, almost sickly looking centaur.

The centaur has been infamously known as the one that stole magic from every pony across Equestria, from the earth ponies' strengths, to the flight of the pegasi, to unicorn magic, and eventually alicorn magic. However, one of the alicorns fought against the centaur and reunited with her friends to defeat him once and for all. Ever since then, the centaur has been locked in his cage in Tarturus.

"Of course it's boring in here now!" the centaur shouted angrily in response to Cerberus's whines, "But at least you're not in a cage!"

His thoughts were interrupted when a portal appeared beside his cage, attracting his attention. Out of the portal came two members of the Royal Guard, followed by one of the alicorn sisters, Princess Luna. The arrival of the princess surprised him to say the least. What surprised him more was that she wasn't here for some form of conversation with him, but rather to lock a new prisoner.

A filly to be precise.

Without even saying a word, the guards locked the filly up in a cage, one that was smaller than his, and then left through the portal.

The centaur looked down at the filly in confusion. Who was she and why was she here? Only the evilest of creatures get locked up in Tartarus. What could this filly possibly done that would warrant her being locked up in Tartarus?!

Suddenly, the filly looked up at him...and he nearly gagged. He could practically taste the magic that was oozing off of her, and it was foul. Rank. Bitter.

There was only one type of magic that could taste this bad.

"Hey neighbor," the filly greeted with a cute smile before her expression turned more...evil, "Wanna be friends?"

"...Meh. I'm sure she's fine," I shrugged as we took off our caps and gowns. I looked at the others and saw that Gallus and Smolder still had frowns on their faces, "Now if only those two would stop being upset about the fact that we still have to continue our studies."

"Man, I can't believe it," Gallus complained, "I thought for sure that we were done with school after what we did."

"Well, look on the bright side Gallus. That means we have more time of hanging out with each other. Even though we already do and can do that outside of school. And that that extra time we have together is gonna be spent doing work," I said, causing him to give me a deadpan look, "...I just like to see the positives in everything, okay?"

And it's not like I want to continue going to school. I mean, name one teen that willingly wants to go to school in order to study pony history.

"Oh, I'm actually kind of excited," Ocellus proclaimed, "I always wanted to learn about the history of Gusty the Great."

Okay then. Apparently Ocellus wants to study pony history. Not that I think that it's a bad thing or anything. She's always been smart little cookie. And I'd say that her excitement for knowledge only adds to...her...cuteness.

Oh right. I forgot about that. Ocellus having a crush on me.

More like you having a crush on her.

What?

What?

...Anyway...how should I go about this? Never in my life has a girl ever liked me in that way, so I'm not exactly sure what I should do? Do I wait for her say something? Should I say something? If I went down that path, then what should I say? Do I...share my feelings?

That depends. What are your feelings regarding Ocellus? What do you think about her?

Well...she's sweet...smart...cool...always there for her friends...changelings overall are just badass...she has such a cute voice...her chitin is smooth and warm against my fur...her eyes shine like the stars, making them just pretty to look at...and the thought of cuddling with her just makes my heart flutter.

O-oh.

"Face blushing...h-heart p-pounding! Got to bail! Got to bail!"

"Hey I'll be back guys. I got to use the bathroom," I said before I flew away quickly yet discreetly. I entered the bathroom and, after making sure that nobody else was in here, released a breathe that I was holding. My face was red as shit as I continued to take deep breathes in order to calm down my nervousness, "Oh my god! Oh my god!"

Many things were running through my mind right now. The main one obviously being that I apparently like Ocellus! As in...like her, like her! I mean why would I not?! We're both shy people, we're nice and always there for each other (a-and our friends), and she's just so darn cute! Argh! Curse you brain for making me feel these emotions!

But here's the question that boggles me. Why am I only feeling these emotions just now? Is it because I never just thought about it? Is it the fact that I know she likes me as well? Was the whole Cozy incident just occupying my train of thought?

I didn't know the answer, and honestly...I don't think it really matters right now. Let's just assume that I've had these feelings the entire time and only now am I realizing it, and leave it at that.

Now here's the main question. How do I go about this? I mean, the answer's pretty obvious.

"I just have to go up to her, tell her I like her too, and then I'll be cured of my depression. It's easy as A-B-C, 1-2-3, do re mi, baby you and me," I thought to myself, "You got this Legion. You got this. No pressure."

"I don't got this!" I mentally shouted to myself as I laid on my bed just staring at the ceiling, "I definitely don't got this! It's too much pressure!"

Get a hold of yourself man!

You don't understand! I'm about to ask a girl, a cute girl mind you, that I like her! It's not something that I've done before in my life.

But she like you t—

I know she likes me too! But what if I fuck it up somehow?! What if I...say or do the wrong thing and I end up hurting her feelings? Then what if afterwards that she'll no longer have any feelings for me?! Then what if after that she thinks it'll be too awkward to hang out with me?! Or talk to me?! Or even be around me?! If that ever happens, then our friendship will be ruined afterwards for all of eternity and I would have to live with that pain and regret for the rest of my life!

"Jeez. And I thought Twilight could get crazy at times," a voice said, startling me. I jumped and immediately looked up, and saw—

"D-Discord?" I said as I stared at the draconequus currently hanging on the ceiling, "When did...how did...how long have you've been up there?"

"Long enough to hear your internal struggles regarding you little changeling friend," he said as he floated down to the ground.

"Oh," I said...before I sat up, realizing what he just said, "Wait what? How did you hear what was going on inside my he—"

"And!" he paused for dramatic effect, "I believe I can help!"

"Please don't do anything chaotic," I pleaded, "I'm not really in the mood for some laughs right now."

"Why dear sir, what do you take me for?" Discord said as he poised a talon over his heart, pretending to be offended, "First of all, I was gonna do nothing of the sort. And second of all, there's always time for chaos."

"Uh-huh," I deadpanned, "So what are you gonna do to help me?"

Suddenly, Discord appeared right beside me on the bed, his arm wrapped around me in a side hug.

"Give you a little motivational speech," he answered, "Have a little man-to-man talk. Teach you about the birds and the bees."

"I really hope you're not serious about that last one," I said before I thought, "And trust me. I know all about the birds and the bees already, and I never had to have the talk. Just the Internet."

"Oh I'm not. Or am I?" he asked with a smirk, making me roll my eyes, "But in all seriousness, I know that it can be terrifying to talk to somepony that just makes your heart flutter," he continued as he jokingly summoned a heart that started to flutter, "But wasn't you who said that sometimes you got to take a leap of faith? You don't know what's going to happen. You just got to get out there and find out."

"If that's the case then why haven't you talked to Professor Fluttershy yet," I said, causing to Discord to go into a panicky state.

"W-what?! I-I don't know what you're talking about!"

"'Oh how I wish I could be together with my dear sweet Fluttershy, then I would be happy,'" I said, imitating Discord's voice.

"That doesn't sound like me," he mumbled, "And how did you hear that? That was supposed to be a private conversation!"

"Um, do you not remember that I have heightened hearing?" I asked with a raised eyebrow as I pointed at my eye, "And a private conversation with who? Yourself? As in a literal duplication of yourself?"

"...No?" he answered as he slowly rolled his eyes.

I sighed and looked back at the draconequus.

"Look Discord, I appreciate the help. I really do. But telling a girl that you like her is just easier said than done," I said before I turned away, "And who am I kidding anyway? I probably wouldn't even be a good boyfriend in the first pla—"

"Welp! I tried!" Discord suddenly spoke up. I looked back and saw that he looked...relieved, "Now it's time to do things my way!"

"Wait what?" I asked in confusion before my eyes widened as he raised his talon up, "Wait! Don—"

He snapped his fingers and everything suddenly turned white.

I yelped then fell to the ground with a grunt and thankfully landed on something soft. I groaned and stood back up and started to rub my head as it ached a little bit due to the unexpected fall, my eyes still shut due to the sudden flash of light that accompanied Discord snapping his fingers.

"Ah...Discord, when I see you again, I promise that I'm gonna punch you in your stupid, chaos little..." I thought before something else occurred to me, "Hold on...What exactly did I land on?"

I stopped rubbing my head and suddenly opened my eyes at the thought. I slowly craned my neck to see what was below me, a bit scared to find out. Let's just I wish I just craned my head and not my neck. I found out what I landed on when my muzzle bumped into something, and my eyes then started to widen and slowly dilate as I just continued to stare.

Ocellus was looking back up at me with wide eyes, her fore hooves curled up and clutching the blanket that was currently hugging her body, a bright crimson blush formed on her face, likely due to the fact that our muzzles were now pressed against each other.

It took me a second to comprehend what was going on and where I was.

I was in Ocellus's room...on her bed...standing over the changeling herself in a bit of a suggestive matter.

Once it finally clicked into my brain, I...well...the reaction is exactly as you'd expect in a situation like this.

I screamed...and so did she.

"YAAAAAAAH!" we screamed at the same time as I scrambled to get off the bed, which led to me falling down to the ground. I looked back up as my face was now brightly blushing and saw Ocellus still clutching her blanket with with widened eyes.

"W-w-w-what are you doing here in my room? R-r-right on top of me?" she asked in a very nervous tone as she started to quiver a bit, before she let out an 'eep' and started using her blanket to hide her face after that last question.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry Ocellus!" I panicked as I stood back up, "I swear I didn't mean to do that! I-it's just Discord was talking to me about something, he snapped his fingers, and next thing I know, I was here and muzzle to muzzle to you."

I tried to laugh it off a bit in an attempt to play it off as a joke, but obviously it didn't work as I only started to feel my hooves tremble. And mentioning the fact that our muzzles pressed against each other only made my blush deepen, which led to me using my wing to cover my face.

"Okay Ocellus! I'm going back to my room! Have a good night! Bye!" I said rapidly as I quickly walked over to the door and opened it. Or at least...tried to. When I pressed my hoof to where the door knob would be, it felt as if there wasn't one. I peeked out between my wings, and not only was there no door knob, there was no door at all. Just a solid wall, "Um, Ocellus? Where's your door?"

"W-what?" Ocellus asked.

I tried to push against where the door would be...because I'm an idiot. I eventually stopped and saw some kind of post it note stuck to the wall.

"'You're welcome,'" I read. The note also had a cartoonish drawing of Discord giving a thumbs up. I sighed, "Discord, you're cool and all, but I fucking hate you sometimes."

My eyes then widened as it hit me. I was trapped in a room...with Ocellus. Have I mentioned that she was cute?

I turned around and laid my back against the wall. Ocellus was looking at me with a confused expression, her blush still a bit apparent on her face.

"So...your door has disappeared. It seems that...I'm stuck here. We both are," I sheepishly smiled. I looked towards the window...to see that there was no window. I'm not even gonna bother asking how there's still light in this room...or ventilation, "I guess your windows are also gone."

"O-oh..." Ocellus said as she noticed the absent entrances, "Y-you said that Discord is responsible for this?"

"Yeah," I sighed, "I'm really sorry."

"No no. It's okay," she reassured, "So...what do we do?"

"Wait it out, I guess. Discord is bound to let us free sooner or later," I responded before I yawned, "We should probably get some sleep."

Without really thinking, I moved to the center of the room and laid down on it like a cat, my tail curling around my body. I sighed as I slowly closed my eyes, prepared to let sleep come to—

"U-um...Legion?" I heard Ocellus call. I looked up and saw Ocellus looking at me, blush deepened once again as she held her blanket, but her eyes were filled with...worry, "I-if you'd like, y-you can um..." she stammered before she gulped, "...s-s-share the bed with me."

That widened my eyes once again as my blush returned with full force. My heart started to rapidly beat as I could feel sweat start to fall down my head.

"O-oh! N-no, no it's fine! I-I'm good," I said rapidly, "I mean, it's not that I don't want to! I very much want to! NO! WAIT! I mean...It's that...it's that um...well...I...I wouldn't want to make you feel uncomfortable, you know?"

"Please accept my excuse. Please accept my excuse. Please accept my—"

"I-it's fine," Ocellus reassured, "Plus, I...I wouldn't be a very good if I just let you sleep on the ground."

"God damnit! Curse you and your kind soul!"

"But...I..." I stammered before I looked back at Ocellus, her eyes pleading for me to not sit on the cold, hard ground, "O-okay."

I got up from the floor and proceeded to slowly walk towards the bed, Ocellus scooting over to make some room.

"You can do this. You can do this. You literally faced a user of dark magic and won. If you can do that, then sharing a bed with a girl shouldn't be too hard," I encouraged myself as I hopped onto the bed.

Here's the thing, though. Each bed in the dorm rooms only had one pillow, so I as soon as I laid down, I was once again almost muzzle to muzzle with Ocellus, causing both us to blush brightly once again.

"So...um...g-good night, I guess," I said as I rolled over to face the other direction.

"Y-yeah...g-good night," Ocellus said as I heard her roll over as well.

...

...

Cheese.

Silence was all that there was for the next few minutes. For some odd reason, I couldn't bring myself to sleep, or even close my eyes in an attempt to sleep. I just laid there, staring at nothing in particular. And based on the fact that I wasn't hearing the sound of Ocellus snoring, I could only assume that it was the same for her.

"Can't sleep either, huh?" Ocellus asked, confirming my assumption.

"No," I answered.

"Hey um...Legion?" Ocellus asked a couple of minutes of silence later.

"Yeah?" I responded.

"Why did Discord do...well, all of this?" Ocellus asked, "The door, the window, you suddenly in here. I-I'm not mad at him. Okay, I'm a little bit mad, but...I'm just curious is all."

"He did this to get me to admit for feelings for you," I admitted in my head, but obviously I couldn't do it out loud. So I did the next best thing.

"You know how Discord is. He likes to play jokes from time to time. Why he decided to play one at this time of the night is beyond me," I lied, shrugging it off as some practical joke.

"Come on Legion. I've known you for almost a year. You know you can tell me the truth. I promise I won't be mad," Ocellus said, seeing through my lie.

"You must know me so well Ocellus to know when I'm lying. I'm usually a great liar," I thought. If that's the case, then there's no point in lying anymore. I sighed as I realized I had no choice at the moment.

"Ocellus, I...I was hoping that you would tell me yourself, but...I...I know how you feel about me. Like really feel," I admitted.

"...W-what do you mean?" Ocellus asked nervously after a few seconds of silence.

"I mean I...I know that you...like me. As in...like like me," I continued, prompting Ocellus to gasp.

"Y-y-y-y-you do?" she stammered even more nervously, to which I responded with 'mhm,' "B-b-b-b-but...h-h-how?"

"When you and the others were locked up by Chancellor Neighsay, I had to...use my heightened hearing to find you guys, and...well...I...I think you can guess what I heard," I answered.

"O-oh," she sighed, probably disappointed with herself for letting such a big secret get revealed, "I-I'm really sorry Legion. I...I didn't want you to find out that way."

"No need to apologize," I reassured, "But...if I may ask...why? I-I mean why do you like in...that way. I'm not even from this world to begin with—"

"I don't care about that! You're just...you're always perseverant when it comes to school, a-and you're always so nice to others. To me," she answered, "You're funny, you're passionate, you bring a smile to my face whenever I'm around you, and...I think you're really cute."

That gave me pause. Knowing that a girl actually likes me in that way despite my nerdy, cringy, and sometimes inappropriate personality is...quite nice. Is...is this what it feels like when someone...likes you? Because if that's the case then...then...

"...So um...Legion? Um...well you don't have to answer this but...How do you feel...about...me?" she asked, sounding as if she was scared to know the answer.

"T-then...then I want to like you too!" I thought as I decided to stop being such a pussy.

"W-well...I admit when I found out that you like me, there was the whole magic disappearing going on, but now that that's over, I had some time to think and...well...I think you're smart...cool...as sweet as a cupcake...and...a-and..." I stammered before I gulped, "...I think you're pretty cute as well."

Ocellus gasped at this.

"Y-you...really mean that?" she asked as I heard her roll over to face me.

"Y-yeah. Your enthusiasm for knowledge, your shy personality, your giggle. I think they're all adorable...," I admitted with a smile, only for it to drop.

"I can do this. I can do this."

"...Ocellus...I...I-I..." I then took a deep breathe and rolled over as well to face her, my eyes shut tight as I prepared myself, "I think I like you too!"

I kept my eyes shut as the seconds of silence felt more like minutes, but eventually them back up to see Ocellus's reaction. Her eyes were widened, her face blushing madly, her mouth agape as I could hear her hitched breathing.

I continued to press on though.

"Even though it was only for a day, whenever I'm around you, whenever I so much as think about you, I can't help but feel my heart flutter in my chest, a-and...and..." I trailed off, however, as I noticed that Ocellus was slowly scooting closer to me I proceeded to scoot closer as well until we were only about a couple of inches apart from each other. My face was now bright red as well as I could feel her breathe on my face.

"Ocellus," I whispered shyly as I moved my head forward.

"L-legion," she whispered back as she did the same.

As both of her heads slowly moved closer and closer to each, our eyes slowly began to shut...until I felt the feeling of her lips pressing against mine. They were everything I expected from Ocellus: soft, warm, gentle. There was no sense of lust or domination in the kiss, just passion.

"H-holy shit. Holy fucking shit!" I shouted excitedly in my mind as I gently placed a hoof on her cheek, causing Ocellus to lightly moan in satisfaction, "I'm actually kissing a girl! A very cute girl!"

My man.

Unfortunately, we require something called air as we eventually broke the kiss and started to catch our breathes.

"That was...beautiful," I smiled as I continued to look at her eyes.

"Y-yeah...it was," she smiled back.

We then heard a poof noise as a flash of light suddenly encompassed the room. We immediately sat up and saw that both the door and the window were back. Looking out the window, it was still pretty dark out.

"Huh. It seems uh...it seems we're able to leave now," I said, "I should...probably head back to my room to get some sleep.

"O-oh. O-okay," she said, but then took note that after a few seconds I haven't moved yet, "Something wrong?"

"No, I'm fine. I'm fine. But um...here's the thing," I stated as I decided to do something bold, "I could go back to my room and leave you be. Or...I could stay here to um...keep you company and uh...we could...could..."

For some reason, I couldn't bring myself to say it as I kept glancing away from Ocellus's sparkling eyes. It's probably because the thought of doing it makes my heart flutter like crazy.

And before you say anything, no! N-O. NO! I'm not talking about doing...that. We're not even close to reaching that level. Not to mention that we're underage you pervs.

Anyways, Ocellus must've read my mind as her breathe suddenly hitched.

"A-are you saying you want to..." Ocellus asked as she covered her face with her hooves, "...c-cuddle?"

"O-only if you want to!" I said, being mindful not to shout so loud, "I don't wanna force you to do something you're uncomfortable with."

"N-no, no. It's fine," she reassured as she continued to shy away, "I...I kind of want to."

"Really?!" I asked excitedly, "U-uh I mean...okay."

Ocellus then scooted even closer to me before she wrapped her hooves around me as she nuzzled into my neck, being mindful of my wings and to not accidently prick me with her horn. Gulping, I laid my chin on her head as I wrapped my hooves around her.

"She's so warm. I'm not sure whether it's because of her blush or it's just her chitin. Either way, I don't mind," I thought as we both slowly became calm.

"Wow. Your heart is beating really fast," she commented.

"Can you really blame me?" I chuckled, "This is the most physical contact I've ever had with a girl."

"And this is the most physical contact I've ever had with a colt," she chuckled back before she yawned, "So...does this mean we're together now?"

"Yeah," I said as I yawned as well, "It feels awesome."

"Goodnight Legion," she said as she fluttered her eyes closed.

I smiled as Ocellus drifted off to sleep. I kissed her on the head before I nuzzled into it.

I was pretty happy now. Not just for this whole romantic moment with Ocellus, but for everything that has happened this past year up until this point. It's pretty interesting now that I think about. Before I came to Equestria, I wouldn't call myself a wallflower, but rather someone that preferred playing video games over going out to hang out with their friends.

Now look at me now, I'm much more active, I hang out with friends almost everyday, I'm a badass superhero now, and now...now I actually have a girlfriend. Although all of that might be because Equestria doesn't technology such as computers, but that's besides the point.

What I'm trying to say is...the princesses, Discord, the professors...while they all made me happy, it doesn't compare to the amount of happiness my friends gave me.

Ocellus, Sandbar, Gallus, Smolder, Yona, Silverstream...thank you...for being my friends.

"Goodnight Ocellus," I said back as I slowly rested my eyes, ready for another night of sleep.

...

...

...

Wait. I'm sorry for this, but what about Cozy Glow? Are we just not gonna talk about her anymore? Are we just gonna leave her a mystery? Are we seriously not gonna delve into some kind of lengthy and highly emotional backstory that eventually led to her becoming evil?! WHAT THE FU—