An Alternative Beginning

by ultrapoknee

Chapter 11 - The Departure

Sweetie Belle stepped out of the coach car she and her family had been sitting in for the past few hours. She yawned and stretched, tired from having to get up so early to catch the train from New Hepsire to Ponyville. They’d made a few stops along the way, but she hadn’t really been paying too much attention, spending most of the trip dozing in between her parents. She was more or less wide awake now with excitement because she could finally see her friend Applebloom and reunite with Rarity.

Her parents were hoisting their luggage out of the baggage car nearby, including Sweetie’s own, when suddenly a voice from nearby called out, “Sweetie Belle? Is that you?”

Sweetie turned towards the voice. To her great astonishment and joy, she saw her old friend Scootaloo. She reared up and galloped over, tackling her fellow Crusader in the tightest hug she could give. “Scootaloo!” she shouted happily.

Scootaloo gave a slight chuckle, but her hug wasn’t any less tight. “Yeah, yeah, hug it up,” she said with a slight hitch in her voice.

After what felt like a blissful eternity, Sweetie Belle reluctantly released Scootaloo. “Were you on the train this whole time?” she asked once they were facing each other.

“I was in that car there,” Scootaloo said, pointing to the coach car which had been behind the one Sweetie and her family had been in.

“No way, I was in front of you!” Sweetie said, pointing to the car she’d just come from.

“Wow, talk about coincidence,” Scootaloo said with a small chuckle.

Sweetie looked for her parents and saw that they were talking to Scootaloo’s own. She turned back to her longtime friend. “So…how’s life on the road?”

“Mom and Dad actually bought a house in Rainbow Falls last fall,” Scootaloo said, “so we’ve actually been living there.”

“No road adventures?” Sweetie asked.

“We had some,” Scootaloo said, “but not since last November when we moved. What about you? Where did you move to?”

“Mom and Dad sold their house and moved to New Hepsire,” Sweetie said.

“Is it nice there?” Scootaloo asked.

“Yeah…but it’s not the same as Ponyville…” Sweetie replied sadly, her ears and tail drooping.

Scootaloo nodded, her own ears and tail following suit. “Yeah…I miss Ponyville too…”

“Kids, come over here for a bit,” Scootaloo’s father said. When Sweetie and Scootaloo came over, he continued, “We’ve been talking it over, and if my sister and her wife are still living in our old house, we can see if all of us can stay there for our visit.”

Scootaloo’s eyes brightened a bit. “We’re gonna go see Auntie Holiday and Auntie Lofty?” she asked eagerly.

Scootaloo’s mom nodded. “When your father last wrote them about a month ago, they were still living here. Let’s go see if they’re home still.”

“If they’re not home, we’ll find an inn to stay in,” Sweetie Belle’s mom said, “all of us together.”

“Yay!” Scootaloo’s shout of joy made her spread her wings and hover for a good ten seconds, flying around before she landed.

Sweetie saw this and was amazed. “Scootaloo, you can fly now?!” she asked in shock.

Scootaloo turned and buzzed her wings before hovering a bit. “Pretty awesome, right?” she said before landing, panting a bit. “Ah…I can’t fly for very long yet, but mom says I’m getting better! She says I’ll be able to fly like a normal pegasus someday if I keep practicing! I can’t wait to show Rainbow-!” she cut herself off, a look of sadness coming over her. She landed and her ears and tail drooped again. “Rainbow…”

“Scoots? You okay?” her mother asked, walking over and putting a wing around her daughter.

“...Y-Yeah, sorry, just got lost in thought,” Scootaloo said, perking up a bit, although Sweetie Belle could somewhat tell that the young pegasus was partially faking it. She moved and grabbed her suitcase, which had a few stickers of the Wonderbolts and some faded and half removed stickers of Rainbow Dash on it. “So…let’s go see if Auntie Holiday and Auntie Lofty are home!”

“We’re not quite done getting the baggage out, so wait a few more minutes, kids,” Sweetie’s dad said. The four adults turned and continued gathering their belongings.

As they did so, the two fillies heard the approaching whistle of a train coming in. Curious, the two looked down the other empty track and saw the Canterlot Express pulling in. They’d traveled on it a couple of times when they’d gone to Canterlot for school or for fun. Curiously, they watched as it pulled into the station. As they watched a small group of ponies coming out, Sweetie recognized one of them and gasped. It was Starlight Glimmer! She walked out and looked back in. “Did you really have to ask Princess Luna to have a glimpse at Twilight’s old Canterlot apartment?” she asked. “We almost missed the train.”

“I wasn’t about to pass up that opportunity to see that,” a male voice said from inside.

“Well, come on, let’s get moving,” Starlight said, gesturing to the baggage car.

Sweetie wondered who Starlight was talking to, but when she saw who the voice belonged to she froze. There, standing next to Starlight, was a human. It wasn’t Jason Wright, but the features were still similar. He had brown hair, bright blue eyes, and was about the same height as Jason. Unlike the first human she’d seen, this one looked much better. He did have a scar on his eye, but other than that, she couldn’t see anything else wrong with him. “That was a pleasant little trip back, though,” he said down to Starlight with a smile before turning back to the car and giving a small glare to somepony else. “Unlike before.”

The third creature came out behind them, looking fairly frustrated. Sweetie recognized her as the same dragon who had been at The Trial. Dragon Lord Ember, if she was remembering correctly. She had nothing except a strange purple staff in her claw with a red gem on the top. The dragon spoke. “I could have flown us back much faster,” she growled.

“Last time, I didn’t get to see the countryside,” the human replied. “I was too busy being terrified that I’d fall.”

“Don’t mock me,” Ember replied, “I wouldn’t have let you fall!”

Two other ponies, these in Royal Guard armor, came out behind and stood on either side of the human. One was a pegasus and the other a unicorn. The unicorn spoke first. “Dragon Lord, please remember that Sir Gregory is more fragile than most.”

Ember scoffed, reached out, and pinched the human’s exposed skin on his hand, making the latter wince. “He needs armor, is what he needs. I could have some of our best blacksmiths whip something up for him in no time out of the best metal our lands have to offer.”

“And how much will that cost me?” the human, apparently named Gregory, said as he walked to the baggage car. “You cost me a bunch of bits already. Who knew dragons could eat so much and still keep their figure?”

“I told you I’d pay you back!” Ember retorted, putting her claws on her hips. However, Sweetie could see the dragon’s cheeks turn slightly red.

The two fillies were watching from behind a nearby garbage can now as they watched Starlight and Gregory retrieving some baggage from the car. Gregory replied, “Yeah, I know you did.”

“Dragons keep their promises!” Ember replied before Sweetie saw her do something she didn’t expect. The dragon wavered a bit.

“Whoa, there!” Gregory reached out and grabbed the dragon to stabilize her. “Take deep breaths, alright?”

Ember frowned, but did as he said. Soon, she stood tall and proud again, holding her staff less like a walking stick and more like some sort of scepter. “Trains are no proper way to travel.”

“Well, excuse me for being born without wings or magic,” Gregory replied with a smirk, “but some of us shorter lived creatures value our lives.”

“Mister Gregory! You came back!” a childish voice called from nearby.

The two fillies looked towards the source and saw, to their amazement, Cozy Glow. Standing next to him was Spike the Dragon. The two were surprised at how much healthier the young dragon looked. He’d lost some of his pudge and actually looked somewhat taller. The young pegasus filly flew over and landed in front of Gregory, looking up at him with wide eyes. “How was the trial? Did those mean ponies who attacked you get their just desserts?”

That startled the young ponies, and Sweetie felt her heart sink a bit. Had ponies not learned their lesson with Jason? Had her sister been part of the attacking ponies? Her worries weren’t assuaged when the human shook his head somberly. “No, not in the way intended,” he replied. “Someone used magic to wipe their minds.”

Sweetie gaped and felt sick to her stomach. She’d been studying magic a bit back in Hepsire, and had read about many forbidden techniques, and mindwiping magic was one of them. 

Cozy and Spike both looked alarmed at that. The young dragon frowned. “Will ponies ever learn…?” he asked in a somewhat bitter tone.

“Come on, now, Spike,” Cozy said reassuringly,  “not all ponies are like the ones from Ponyville. Remember the ones from Manehattan? They donated a lot and came to our rallies!”

Spike perked up a little bit and shrugged. “Yeah…still, that’s just one city.”

“It’s a good start, Spike!” Cozy said.

Sweetie had to admit, she found Cozy’s enthusiasm somewhat infectious. So much so, in fact, that she came out from behind her hiding spot. Scootaloo, however, didn’t and instead whispered, “Sweetie Belle? Where are you going?”

Sweetie Belle approached the group of assorted creatures on the platform. The first to notice them was Spike, who’s eyes widened a bit when he saw the young unicorn. “Sweetie Belle? Is that really you?”

Everyone else turned to face the young filly, who walked up to Spike and put her front hooves around him in a surprise hug. Spike stood there for a bit before Sweetie felt him return the favor. “Good to see you too, Spike,” she said with a sincere tone.

“Same to you,” he said as he slowly broke the hug, “but what are you doing here? And-wait, is that Scootaloo?”

The young pegasus, having been spotted, came out and walked over to the group, but with a bit more reluctance than before. From behind, Sweetie heard the hoofsteps of hers and Scootaloo’s parents walking up. She heard her mother saying, “Well, this is a nice surprise. Good to see you again, Spike.”

“Hi, Mrs. Crumbles, Mr. Flanks,” he said.

“Good to see you, Spike,” Sweetie’s dad said, “you definitely look healthier than the last time I saw you.”

Spike smiled. “I feel a lot better than I have in a while,” he admitted. “I’ve been slowly eating fish more and more often.”

Sweetie saw the Dragon Lord nod in approval at this. “Fish are best when they’re roasted over lava pits,” she said.

Spike turned towards her and nodded. “No argument here.” He then turned to Sweetie and Scootaloo. “So what brings you two back to Ponyville?”

“We wanted to see Applebloom,” Sweetie replied. “I just hope she’s doing alright.”

“I don’t know how she’s doing, but I saw Sweet Apple Acres from a distance,” Spike said, “and it looks alright.” He turned and saw that the new human Gregory was moving away from the conversation along with Starlight, Ember and the two guards. Cozy Glow was following close behind them, eventually hovering next to Gregory and seeming to pester him with questions. “Hey, looks like I’ve gotta go now. It was good seeing you again,” he said to Sweetie.

“You too, Spike,” Sweetie said with a kind smile before the dragon turned and rushed after the departing group. As they left, Sweetie looked at Gregory. She wondered just how this human got to Ponyville and what had happened. However, one thing she did notice was the look that Scootaloo was giving said human. A deep frown. “Scootaloo? What is it?”

Scootaloo didn’t take her eyes off the new human. “He really should leave Ponyville,” she said in a low voice.

Sweetie turned back and looked at the human briefly before she turned back to the baggage car. She wondered if Scootaloo was right.

“Aah…home sweet home…ish,” Gregory chuckled as the group approached the shelter. “I swear, this castle is bigger on the inside than the outside.”

“Don’t I know it,” Starlight chuckled, “I spent months figuring out how this place was laid out, and even when I left I still hadn’t figured everything out.”

“Well, the place is probably a lot fuller than when you were last here,” Gregory said.

As if to prove his point, the doors burst open and a number of young foals rushed out, running straight to Gregory. In front, Diamond Tiara waved at the human. “Gregory, you’re back!” she shouted happily.

“Yeah, sorry for leaving so suddenly,” he said, “but I had some urgent business up in Canterlot.”

“We heard the news,” Diamond said. “It was all over the papers this morning.”

“Heh, I don’t doubt it,” Gregory replied.

Diamond was about to reply, when a voice from inside the shelter called out, “Rumble! Step away from that creature at once!”

Gregory looked past the foals only to see Thunderlane coming out of the doors, followed by a number of other pony adults.

“Big bro!?!” the colt exclaimed, “What are you doing here? And this is Gregory! He isn’t dangerous!”

Thunderlane came out and stepped in front of him, giving Gregory a glare. “He’s a human, and they’re all dangerous,” she snapped angrily.

“Shoulda figured,” Gregory muttered to himself quietly enough that nobody else could hear.

“Excuse me, Mister Thunderlane, but you’re wrong,” Starlight said stepping forward “I’ve spent the evening with Gregory and I can tell you that he is anything but dangerous.”

Thunderlane scoffed at this. “Yeah, right, like any of us would trust the word of somepony that steals Cutie Marks and betrays friendships. You’re just as bad as him. The only reason we even bothered to listen to you was because of Princess Twilight!”

“Yeah!”

“That’s right!”

“We lost a good Princess because of them!”

Thunderlane nodded along with the mob. “And, I hear he’s been taking my little brother behind my back, along with the rest of the foals. He’s probably been brainwashing them!”

“No! That’s not true. He’s been reading us stories from his world. They are really good!” Rumble tries to defend but the adults weren’t listening.

“See? He is brainwashing our foals!!!”

“Have you no shame?”

“You monster!!!”

“You’re welcome to sit in with us and listen if you think I’m doing anything wrong,” Gregory said calmly.

Thunderlane snorted and pawed at the ground while the rest of the adults gathered the foals away from Gregory. “No way! You’re not taking us or our foals! I’m sick of you humans coming around and messing everything end. You and your pal ruined my career, took my house and hard earned bits. You’re not getting my brother!!!” Thunderlaner snorted as he flared his wings and took off toward Gregory at high speed.

Gregory immediately dropped his bags and held up his pole to defend himself. However, Ember stepped in front of him and cocked her fist back. Thunderlane didn’t know what had happened until he was staring up at the sky from the ground. His vision was blurred and his hearing was shot. Gregory and his group looked on in shock as Ember scored a clean right hook on the stallion’s temple, effectively knocking him out in one punch.

“Tch, that was hardly worth the effort,” Ember growled while glaring down at the mob. All of them recoiled and took several steps back.

Gregory turned towards the other now startled and frozen adults who had been recently berating him and yelling at him. Lifting his pole he thrust it into the dirt ground which made the mob move more back. He gave them a stern look. “You know,” he began slowly, “I don’t really know what to say here. It says a lot about ponies that your younger foals are willing to befriend me and be nice to me when the vast majority of adults here are so stuck in their ways that they can’t see just how hypocritical they are.” He lifted a finger and pointed at each and every one of them. “Let me ask you this: have I ever lifted a finger towards anyone here or anyone else in town with the intent to harm you since I arrived here?”

“...” The mob said nothing but maintained their glares.

“So you can’t think of anything,” Gregory said in disappointment. “What about Jason? What did he do to you before The Trial? Did he take your foals? Did he hurt anyone in town? Did he do anything to earn the abuse and hate hurled against him? Did he do anything to get lightning hurled at him multiple times? What did he do to have garbage, rocks and deadly magic hurled at him by mobs of ponies? What did he do that earned him multiple sessions of ponies beating him with their hooves. Some of the ones who beat Jason are even here in the audience right now.” He looked at a number of ponies. “Tell me what Jason did before The Trial.”

“He was a freak of nature! Just like you!”

“He didn’t belong here!”

“Yeah, leave us alone!”

More and more of the crowd found their opinions, leaving Gregory to sigh in disappointment. The human felt a small tug on his shirt and looked down to see Starlight shaking her head at him. “You’re just wasting your time,” she said sadly, “Why do you think I left?”

Gregory nodded slowly. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Alright then, Headmistress Starlight Glimmer, I accept your offer. I’ll become a teacher at your school. I’ll pack up and leave as soon as possible.” He looked down at the foals and gave them an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, kids. Looks like we won’t be finishing The Hobbit after all.”

All the foals had tears in their eyes at this news. Spike snarled at this and marched up to the adults. “I guess nothing changed in the time I was gone. All of you are still just as hateful and moronic as you were last year. I don’t understand why Twilight is wasting her time on all of you!”

Gregory turned to Starlight. “Do you still know that book duplication spell from when you duplicated the Friendship Journal?” he asked quietly.

“Let me stop you right there,” Starlight said. “I’m guessing you want me to duplicate that book of yours, but it would be a waste of magic as these ponies will never let their foals have human literature.”

“Yeah, you have a point,” Gregory conceded sadly. 

“Don’t feel too bad,” Starlight said, “you showed the foals something new and different. You showed them that the unknown isn’t something to be feared. At the very least the foals will grow to be better than the parents. Besides, I’d like your first activity to keep up that reading trend to your new students.”

He smiled at this. “That sounds like fun. Anyway, I’d better get to packing things away. By the way, where’s Twilight? I was hoping to let her know I’m moving on in person. A letter seems a bit…rude.” 

“How would I know?” Starlight asked before frowning. “I can give you a little time to wait but I have to get back to the school as soon as I can. It’s kind of my home right now anyway. You should go get everything you have ready to move instead of worrying about her. Besides, she likes notes. She won’t mind if you explain what happened here.”

He nodded. “Understood. I just hope that the trains can handle my car.” He turned to his guards. “Can you two help me pack?”

“It’s no issue sir,” Moonlight stated.

“Hang on, that’s not in our job description– Oof!” Swift winced as Moonlight gently but firmly hit the pegasus on the back of the head. “I mean, fine…” she amended, rubbing the back of her head and giving her fellow guard a glare.

Gregory smiled. “It’ll be the last time we see each other, so I’d rather be with you two until the end.”

“You’re jumping the crossbow again, sir,” Moonlight said, “we’re coming with you.”

“Yeah, guards can request overseas assignment for VIPs,” Swift explained, “but since we’re still on the continent, it will be more like relocation. After all, the untamed lands aren't that far from Equestrian soil.” 

Gregory took a deep breath and sighed with relief. “I’m glad to hear it. I’d hate to lose some good friends right after making some. Well, let’s not waste anymore time and get to packing, shall we?”

“This ought to be interesting,” Ember said as she followed them while heading into the shelter.

“I’ve always wondered what humans own!” Cozy said.

“Anything is better than staying here.” Spike said coldly, sending one last glare to the mob.

“Sad, but true,” Gregory said as he looked down at the drake. “Come on! I have a barrel of Sweet Apple Acre cider I need to pack into my car.” With that, the group headed into the Shelter to help Gregory pack.

Pinkie sat patiently in front of Fluttershy as the timid mare fidgeted from the scrutiny. The pink mare was acting far different than what Fluttershy is used to or even seen from her before. Discord still was sitting in his high chair with a bemused and curious expression. If he still had his chaos magic, he might’ve summoned some popcorn for the impending show. Pinkie tapped her hoof impatiently as Fluttershy began, “You see, while taking care of Discord I realized something: he’s made up of different animals, so that would mean he needs a variety of nourishment to help sustain him. And I’d never inadvertently harm an animal by giving them the wrong foods.”

“Uh uh, but why the bib and high chair for foals?” Pinkie asked.

“Well, Discord was being fussy about me feeding him,” Fluttershy explained, “so I thought the high chair would make things easier. The bib is so that he would make a mess on himself when I was feeding him.”

Pinkie blinked once then twice and finally three times before turning to the spirit of chaos. Discord was struggling against the chair while blinking his eyes frantically. Noticing a pattern, Pinkie looked back at her friend.  “Fluttershy, Discord’s blinking in mares code. He says you're taking things too far.”

“Oh, don’t worry about him. You know Discord can be a silly prankster.” Fluttershy flew up to Discord and rubbed his cheeks.

“I’ll be right back,” Pinkie said, leaving the room. She came back a moment later with a glass of water. “Fluttershy, you’re my dear friend and I love you very much, so, don’t take any offense to this, but…”Walking up to Fluttershy, she proceeded to douse her with its contents. While Fluttershy sputters, Pinkie dried her off by grabbing her withers and shaking her violently. “WAKE UP! YOU’RE ACTING LIKE A NUT!!!!”

“P-P-Pinkie! Please s-stop,” Fluttershy said through garbled speech.

“I’ll stop when you start acting like you have a brain again,” Pinkie replied. “Don’t you see what you’re doing? You’re not treating Discord like a friend or even like an intelligent creature. You’re trying to replace all the animal friends you lost! You did the same thing with Gregory when he visited earlier! It’s time to stop running!”

Surprisingly, Fluttershy held firm. “I’m sorry Pinkie, but you weren’t here for the part year. You’ve no idea how hard it’s been for Discord to cope with the loss of his powers and the punishment set on him. I know because I’m the best when it comes to treating other creatures. Don’t forget that it was me that helped reform him. It was me that was actually his friend.”

“Then, as his friend, you should consider what he wants instead of assuming it,” Pinkie replied without missing a beat. “Humans have a saying, you know. Assumptions make an ass out of you and me. I don’t really know what a donkey has to do with that saying, but you’ve haven’t been hearing your friend out.”

Fluttershy bristled at the comment and a rare moment of rage began to surface. “Discord is perfectly fine with my care!”

Pinkie, getting angry as well, walked up and poked Fluttershy against her barrel. “Then let him talk for himself. I want him to say it. If it is true that there is no problem here then I’ll leave it alone!”

“Fine!” Fluttershy walked up to Discord and removed the pacifier. “Tell her Discord.”

Discord looked between both of the mares. He looked torn, Pinkie could tell. Pinkie waited patiently as the draconequus tried to think. However, one look at Pinkie’s serious gaze made him relent. With a dejected sigh, Discord spoke. “...Pinkie’s right, Fluttershy…”

“Ha, see– wait, what?” Caught off guard, Fluttershy turned back to Discord with a confused look on her face.

“Fluttershy, you know I would never want to hurt your feelings,” Discord said, facing the pegasus,  “but all of this constant care isn’t helping me. It was fine for the first few months, but you’re being so overbearing to the point of treating me like a prisoner and not as your friend.”

Fluttershy stumbled back as if she’d been struck. “N-no. I– you don’t know what you’re saying,” she said with a nervous chuckle.

“Yes I do,” Discord said as he began to remove the bib, folding it and setting it aside. He removed the tray in front of him and slowly pushed himself off of the chair, standing up straight and facing the pegasus. “Flutters, I know I’m no expert in friendship, but Pinkie’s right. You can’t keep using me as a replacement for what you lost. I should have said something sooner, but I just don’t like seeing you upset. However, this is going too far. Please, Flutters…it’s time that you faced the real world. Same with me.” He turned to the window. “It’s long past time. We really should face what we did instead of hiding from the rest of the world.”

“But I-I, you…” Fluttershy started to hyperventilate as she crawls into a fetal position. Tears fell down her face as she shuddered. “I-Im sorry. I-I didn’t mean to run away from that day. I knew somewhere in my heart that what was happening to Jason was wrong, but I just fled. Then, the guilt never went away. You’re right. I’m such a terrible friend and pony. I’m sorry!!!”

Pinkie exchanged a glance with Discord until both of them went to comfort their friend. “It’s okay, Fluttershy,” Pinkie said softly, hugging her on one side while Discord hugged her from the other side,  “it’s never too late to fix things, and that starts with all of us talking through our problems and guilt. For that, I need your help in getting through to Rainbow. You’ve known her longer than all of us combined, besides her parents, but they can’t help her like you can. Can you do that? Can you help save our friendship?”

Fluttershy sniffled some more before nodding. “I-I’ll try.”

Twilight stood with her friends at the front door of Rainbow’s house. She had some mixed feelings about seeing the girls again. On the one hoof, it was great to see them all looking relatively well. On the other hoof, she knew that their scars ran deep and that it would take a lot more time than just one talk for them to fully heal. Although, she wasn’t expecting Discord’s arrival with Pinkie and Fluttershy. When she asked him why he was here, Discord only said, “I’m the biggest reason she’s in this mess, and it’s long past time I help put things right.”

“You share the blame for most of our predicaments right now.” Rarity huffed.

“Rarity,” Pinkie said in a warning tone.

“I know, darling. I am not excluding my portion or shifting blame. I am merely reminding him of his involvement affecting all of us as a whole rather than Fluttershy alone.”

“But he didn’t affect our minds,” Fluttershy replied in defense of her friend, “he just did something that he hoped would help Twilight.”

“No, Miss Rarity’s right,” Discord said, “I should have kept a closer eye on Jason. I made an assumption about how things would turn out for him and I was wrong.”

“Look, we can have this debate when we are all together, not outside where we have to repeat ourselves,” Twilight stated firmly. “Now, let’s head inside.”

Twilight opened the door and Pinkie noted that not much of anything has changed from her last visit. Bottles of cider still cluttered the ground along with the torn and damaged remains of Rainbow’s Wonderbolt memorabilia. “Oh, dear, and I thought I was having a difficult time,” Rarity commented as she kicked away an empty bottle.

“Poor filly probably lost the most out of all of us,” Applejack said. “At least, I still have my farm and family.

“Well, Rainbow has her family too, but not in a good way,” Pinkie said softly.

“What do you mean?” Rarity asked, “I’ve only ever seen Rainbow’s parents support her. Maybe they've helped her out more than we thought.”

Pinkie shook her head. “You saw how they were at The Trial. They defended her abuse of Jason. They can’t picture her doing anything wrong…”

“Rainbow? It’s me, Twilight. We’ve come to see you.” Twilight said aloud.

“...Twilight? How’d you get here?” Rainbow called out from upstairs. There was some shuffling and a door opening before Rainbow came downstairs. Her eyes went wide as she beheld everyone present. “What are all of you doing here?!”

“We’re here for you and to help you feel better,” Twilight said.

Rainbow scowled a bit as her eyes fell on Pinkie. The memory of their last encounter replayed in her mind. “Tsk. Pinkie, who told you to go and get everypony?” Her eyes landed on Discord as her frown deepens. “And, you brought Discord of all creatures? He’s just as responsible for what happened to me!!!”

“And it’s high time I did something about it,” Discord said.

“Discord isn’t solely responsible, Rainbow, and that’s your problem in all of this,” Twilight said. Since The Trial, you ‘ve consistently put the blame on everypony else but yourself. In order for you to overcome your pain, you need to accept–”

“Accept what!?!?” Rainbow shouted angrily, cutting Twilight off. “Was I the one that brought that human here? No. Did I rip him away for whatever stupid lesson that doesn’t help anything? No! Now, I’m a grounded pegasus! My career in the Wonderbolts is gone forever! I worked my whole life for that dream! You know that!!!”

Discord sighed and looked out of the window. “Yes, I’m the one who brought him here. I’m the one who thought that showing Twilight that humans aren’t all bad was a good idea. I’m the one who failed to keep an eye on things. To quote Jason, I fucked up.” This caused the ponies to wince at his foul language. He then looked up at Rainbow, “but was it me who struck a completely magicless and innocent human multiple times? Was it me who betrayed their element?”

“Betrayed my element?!” Rainbow snapped, giving Discord a hateful glare, “A strange monster comes along that nopony but Twilight has seen before, and using those clouds to chase him away was betraying my element? I wasn’t loyal to any human! I was loyal to Equestria and its citizens! But you can’t sit here and deny that you didn’t operate in your element, which was causing chaos!!!”

“Loyalty does not excuse cruelty and violence,” Twilight replied calmly. “Just like my wariness of humans didn’t excuse slamming the door on his face and creating a snowball effect of misery for him.”

“She’s right, sugarcube,” Applejack added, stepping forward, “maybe you can talk yer way into believing you were doing good. But, you know that is a big fat fib. and ah know a lie when ah see it. Ah used to be a pretty big one when ah was a filly. Ah suppose that much hasn’t changed. Ah went and suckered Jason in with a cheap shot then sicced Wynnona on ‘im. That was an awful thing to do, and ah see that clearly now. Ya got to see that what you did was wrong too.”

Rainbow said nothing but turned away. However, Rarity spoke up next. “It’s very easy to blame somepony else, but we don’t get that luxury, darling. We were supposed to represent the tenants of harmony, and like Princess Celestia said, we clearly weren’t ready for that responsibility. I know Jason said that harmony isn’t good, but I must refute that. Harmony is as good as we make it to be. And whether we admit it or not, we all failed quite miserably in that regard.”

“That’s why we have to take accountability for it now,” Fluttershy stated, “but we can’t be overbearing when it comes to accepting it. I tried to do that with Discord and that was wrong,”

“...So, what, am I supposed to smile and wave happily with my useless wings and busted eye?” Rainbow asked bitterly.

“Rainbow, I hate to say it, but those scars are from what you tried to do to Jason when he exposed us,” Pinkie said, causing fresh rage to flare up in the prismatic mare. “It’s the truth, Rainbow! Everything he said at The Trial was the truth. He had a right to face us for our wrongdoings, but you couldn’t handle it. Then, you go and try to hurt him for speaking up against his bullies!”

“I-I–he was taking everything from us!” Rainbow argued.

“No! He! Wasn’t! All he did was break down this stupid little bubble of perception we wore on our heads like an accessory!” Pinkie sighed as she continued. “Do you think I wanted to leave Ponyville? No, I didn’t. The first few months away were the hardest because I desperately wanted to make things right with Jason and to make him smile and to be his friend. Maud and Lime had to tie me down multiple times to stop from heading back. My idea of fixing things wasn’t healthy or right…”

“Ah guess you really were punished in a way,” Applejack said softly, giving her friend an empathetic look. “Ah’m sorry fer sayin’ or implyin’ otherwise.”

“Me too, darling. I‘m quite proud of the turn around you’ve made for yourself. We can all learn a lot from you.” Rarity gave Pinkie  a soft smile.

Rainbow sat on her haunches while refusing to turn around. She felt several hooves on her back as Twilight spoke again. “Rainbow, think of it this way; you inspire foals everywhere to be the best version of themselves. Not just physically, but also morally. Can you honestly look at your actions toward Jason and say that they were something a good pony does?”

Rainbow shuddered as she spoke in a soft tone. “...No…”

“Think about poor Scootaloo,” Pinkie added, “she looked up to you for so many years. She might still. At least, if my Pinkie Sense is still accurate. Do you want Scootaloo to be a bully like she was bullied by Diamond Tiara for so many years? Is that the kind of example you want to set for foals everywhere?”

Rainbow shook her head as tears started to fall. “...No, Scoots knows better than that. Even with a cruddy role model like me.”

“Well…you might be able to tell her that,” Pinkie said reassuringly, “but you really need to admit what you did instead of blaming everypony but yourself.”

“What good would admitting it do?” Rainbow asked, drawing up any defiance she could, “Everypony already knows I’m awful! I don’t need to re-enforce it.” 

“It doesn’t matter what everypony else knows; it’s what you know that matters.” Fluttershy said firmly. “I knew a filly that once stood up to three other bullies to defend me> And, I believe that same filly is still right here in front of me.”

“And that same filly abandoned a griffon who needed her just as much…” Rainbow said bitterly, looking down at the ground.

“We’re not perfect, Rainbow,” Twilight said, “and as fast as you are, you can’t be in two places at once.”

“But I should have been there for her too!” Rainbow shouted angrily, stomping the floor. “I lost a good friend…”

“That’s just it, Rainbow,” Twilight replied, “I think Gilda still wants to be friends. You just have to reach out to her. But, you got to accept your role in all of this before that. Otherwise, all meeting her would do is challenge your bullheaded attitude. Sometimes, it pays to humble ourselves.” 

Rainbow finally turned around and faced her friends. She showed off her tears and dipped her as her body trembled. “...Will things go back to the way they were before?” she asked with at tremble in her tone.

“Sadly, no. But, that doesn’t have to be a horrible thing. All that means is a fresh start to make things better.” Discord stated.

“Look at me,” Pinkie said with a small smile, standing and turning around for Rainbow to see. “I’m not the same pudgy pony you remember. I feel more fit and happier than I have in a while. I like this change. Sure, deep down, I love to party and make ponies smile, but I know when it’s time to be serious and I know other ways to do it than a Pinkie Promise.”

Another shuffling sound could be heard  as everyone looked towards Rainbow’s room. Tank came flying down the room and into Rainbow’s arm. He looked healthy and his shell had a slight sheen to it. The tortoise looked up at his master with a slow smile as Rainbow hugged him deeply. “Hey, Tank.”

Fluttershy looked at the tortoise and smiled. “Tank looks really healthy, Rainbow,” she said.

“Yeah, I guess I was stubborn at the time,” Rainbow replied, “but when Jason brought how I nearly could’ve hurt Tank, I made sure to only feed him what he needs.” Rainbow let out a chuckle, surprising everyone. “If anything, I think you're starting to put on some weight, little buddy.”

Fluttershy looked like she wanted to approach Tank, but paused and just sat there with a happy smile. “You’ve taken great care of him, Rainbow,” she said. 

Rainbow looked up and sighed deeply. “You’re all right.” The words looked like they hurt for her to say, like she was giving up or accepting defeat. She pushed those thoughts down and continued, “I was the one that struck lightning at Jason when I could’ve heard his side of the story. I was the one that gave ponies the wrong idea about loyalty. I was the one that was too stubborn to accept her punishment and put these scars on myself. I was careless, stupid and reckless. I want to do better. I want to be better. I– Can you girls help me?”

The others all moved closer. “That’s why we came here, sugarcube,” Applejack said, “yer our friend through thick and thin.”

“Anything we can do to help, we will,” Rarity said.

“We’re all in this together, Rainbow,” Fluttershy added.

“It might take a while, but if I’m any example, we can all become better,” Pinkie said.

“We can do it, and I know this is gonna sound like me lecturing, but with the magic of friendship we can get through this,” Twilight concluded.

As the six wrapped Rainbow in a group hug, the dam finally broke and she began bawling. Discord watched this with a sad but hopeful smile. He held hope that perhaps things would become better. Different, but better.

“Ah’ve never seen anypony cry as much as you have,” Applejack was saying as the six approached the Helping Hooves shelter. It was almost sunset and the shadows were lengthening. The air was cool and there was a nice breeze in the air. “Yah never cried that much before.”

Rainbow gave Applejack a glare, but unlike before there was no bite to it. “Shut up, Applesmack,” she retorted.

Applejack only chuckled. “Alright, alright…” 

As the group headed back towards the former Castle of Friendship, Rainbow’s superior pegasus eyesight spotted two ponies sitting in front of the Shelter’s front doors. She might have lost one eye, but her good eye still could see much better than other ponies. “Hey, who are those two ponies sitting in front of the doors?” she asked, pointing at the figures with her hoof. “One of them looks familiar…”

Twilight squinted her eyes before they widened in disbelief. “That’s Sunset Shimmer, Celestia’s first protege!!!”

“Which would mean that the other pony has to be Cellie in disguise,” Discord observed. “Not very homely I would say.” 

“What in tarnation are they doing back here?” Applejack whispered.

“That would be me,” Twilight said. “I asked Spike to send a letter to them after the first attack on Gregory’s car a few days ago.”

Discord frowned while Fluttershy and Pinkie gasped. “Gregory was attacked again?” Pinkie asked.

“Is he okay?” Fkuttershy added.

“No, there wasn’t another attack. Truth be told, I haven’t spoken to him for a while,” Twilight admitted. “It was around that time that you came to me about helping the girls. Let’s go see what they want. I’m sure Gregory’s inside the castle anyway.”

As they walked forward, Sunset spotted them. She stood up and looked at the six. “Hello, girls,” she said with a slight bitter edge to her voice.

“Hello, Sunset.” Twilight turned to the mystery mare and bowed her head. “Princess.”

“You know you don’t have to call me that anymore,” the mare said in a very familiar voice. “However, it was very astute of you to glean my identity so quickly.”

“Pfft, please, I gave it away,” Sunset said dismissively. “She knew we left together.” 

Ignoring her first pupil for the moment, Celestia could not help but smile a bit at the sight before her. “Quite the reunion from you girls. I sense a positive aura coming from you all.”

“Well, we’re not there yet, but I think this is a good first step.” Twilight beamed as her friends nodded.

“If you six are getting your act together, then maybe you can do something about the crazy ponies in this town!” Sunset exclaimed. “How is it that another attack happened inside your castle?” 

“I wish I had a definitive answer that doesn’t admit to the inherent xenophobic tendencies of ponykind, but that would be a lie,” Twilight said, “but rest assured that the girls and I will have words about this. For now, I think Gregory would like to see some friendly faces.”

As the girls and Discord head inside the castle, some of them became uneasy. “Are you sure this is a good idea, sugarcube?” Applejack asked. “Ah don’t doubt that the fella wants to meet us, but it feels too soon.”

“We can’t put it off forever,” Twilight replied, “Besides, I think this is also good for us. It might not be the reconciliation we hoped for with Jason, but it would help with whatever gripes you may have about humans. Gregory has proven himself to be very friendly and levelheaded. You’ll love him.”

Thunderlane came up to them just then. “Welcome home, Princess Twilight,” he said with a smile that seemed off to all eight mares. “You’ll be glad to know we’ve taken care of an issue for you.”

“What issue?” Twilight said in confusion.

“That freak human won’t be causing any more problems anymore,” he said with a proud grin.

Twilight’s heart skipped a beat while the rest of her group looked pale. “W-What?”

“They kicked him out,” an older female voice said. Spoiled Rich came up and glared at the pegasus. “That human packed everything he had and left.”

“You did what!?!” Pinkie roared in anger, making eveypony flinch.

Celestia dropped her disguise in a flash of light as the ponies all gasp and bow to her. However, the stormy visage in her eyes showed she wasn’t her to be revered. “Explain yourselves at once!” She stamped her hoof on the ground, causing spiderweb cracks to spread out.

“I-I’m sorry, Princess,” Spoiled said fearfully, “a few of us tried to stop them, but they ignored us. I’ve been trying to comfort my daughter, but she doesn’t want to see me right now. All he was doing was reading books to our foals.”

“Human propaganda, you mean!” Thunderland shouted back at the earth pony.

“Enough!!!” Celstia shouted in her Royal Canterlot Voice, which sent Thunderland flying back. “Count your lucky stars that I’m no longer an acting princess, otherwise, I would have you all tried for unlawful assembly and harassment!” Celestia’s glare shut down any rebuttals Thunderlane had while the rest of his mob looked down in fear.

“H-He did leave behind a few things,” Spoiled said, “at least, that’s what he told me before he left. He said they were in his room and that they were gifts.”

Twilight wasted no more time as she bolted to Gregory’s room. The girls weren’t far behind along with Celestia and Sunset. The door was unlocked and Twilight burst through. She saw that the room was completely neat and empty save for a number of objects stacked on the bed. “Gregory?” Twilight called out, checking the bathroom in a fruitless effort to find her new friend. On the bed was a sheet of paper with her name on it. She took it in her wings and opened it. 

With trembling hooves, she read the following:

Dear Twilight,

I’m sorry for leaving so suddenly, but I think that my presence in this town will only bring more problems. I think that my place is at Starlight Glimmer’s Seeds of Yggdrasil school. At least there I can do some good. Thank you very much for letting me stay here. It was an honor to meet you. I have one more gift for you. Maybe someday the foals can hear you read it to them. I hope things become better for you and your town.

Your Friend,

Gregory Graystone

Twilight looked on the bed. Sitting there, wrapped in plastic, were a number of books, including one that she recognized. It was the same one that Gregory had been reading to the foals. There were other gifts laid out on the bed, each with a hastily scribbled name on a piece of paper on top of them to indicate who they were meant for. 

All except for Pinkie’s which had a short note on it as well. The former party pony hastily opened it and felt tears coming to her eyes as she read:

Dear Pinkie Pie,

I’m sorry for leaving without saying goodbye in person, but it’s probably for the best that I leave Ponyville. Still, I’ll always consider you a good friend. I’m sorry I never got the chance to give you your gifts in person, but I hope you enjoy them.

Your friend,

Gregory Graystone

Garble hovered quietly over one of one of the large creeks near his and his sister’s cave, staring down at the water intently. He kept his eyes firmly on the water, looking for any sort of movement aside from the normal rushing water. Finally, he spotted motion a few feet below. He dove down and swiped with his claws at the shape. He was satisfied to feel that he had indeed skewered something. He pulled his claws out and saw that he’d gotten one of the bigger fish in the creak. He grinned as he quickly flew back to shore and placed it in the bucket. 

Nearby, he saw Smolder sitting on the creek’s bank, holding a large wooden rod with a string and hook attached to it. She looked over at him and smirked. “Not bad,” she said when she saw his haul, “but I’m still ahead of you.” She put her claw on her own bucket, which was more than halfway full as opposed to Garble’s which was only about a fourth of the way full.

Garble growled. “Hey, I’m doing it the way dad taught us before we got kicked out,” he said, “so tonight’s meal is gonna be so satisfying.”

“But I’ll be full,” Smolder said teasingly.

This made Garble angry and more determined to show up his sister. He was the older brother, dammit! He wouldn’t be outdone by his tea party loving sister! He spread his wings and flew over to one of the deeper portions of the creek where more fish would congregate. He looked down and waited. 

Minutes passed, and he heard his sister shouting in triumph a few times as she presumably caught more fish using the method their mother had used whenever she went fishing. He grew more and more frustrated and impatient until finally he saw a huge shape moving through the water. He dove down and thrust his claws forward. Once more, his claws hit and dug into something and he was satisfied to see a large squirming shape below the water. He landed and lifted it up, revealing a fish that was almost three fourths his size. It was putting up quite the fight, but a few sharp jabs with his sharpened claws caused the large fish to slow down and eventually stop struggling. He carried it back and let it fall on the bank near his sister. “And that’s how it’s done,” he boasted, crossing his arms and grinning down at her.

Smolder looked down at the fish, then back up at Garble. “Not too bad, bro,” she said with an approving nod, “looks like we’ll be eating like kings, or dragon lords, tonight.”

“Who was it who said we eat what we catch?” Garble asked snarkily, looking at Smolder’s bucket, which was now almost full whereas his latest catch could fill both of their buckets two times over. “Besides, you’re still smaller than I am and have more of a gem hoard than I do.”

“You wouldn’t let your sister go hungry, would you?” the younger dragoness asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

“You have a feast fit for ten dragon lords!” Garble said, gesturing to her bucket, “and is that a tuna in there!? You know how rare those are here!”

“Well, I was gonna share it with you, but if you want to whine about it, I could always just keep it for myself,” Smolder said with a grin, grabbing said tuna and bringing it up to her mouth, opening it to take a bite.

Garble was about to reply when suddenly a sharp and icy cold breeze began to blow, startling him. He turned and looked in the direction of the breeze, wondering just what it was he felt. He couldn’t see anything, but something felt wrong. He heard Smolder standing nearby and grab her bucket. “You feel that too?” Garble asked.

“What was it?” the young dragoness asked.

“I have no idea, but something’s telling me we shouldn’t stick around to find out,” Garble said as he grabbed his bucket and hoisted his large fish onto his back. “Time to go home.”

As the two headed back towards their cave, Garble noticed that there were other dragons flying in the sky. This wouldn’t have been much of a shock to him except for the fact that they were all flying in the exact same direction: northwest. The same direction they were flying. As they flew, he noticed that other dragons were flying up from caves below, many carrying large bundles. He saw Maar flying up with a large sack over her shoulder. He flew over to her. “Hey, what gives?” he asked, gesturing to her sack, “where are you going?”

The look of fear on Maar’s face was one he’d never seen on the dragoness. “Haven’t you heard the news?!” she asked.

“What news?” Smolder asked, flying up beside her brother.

“The former Dragon Lord has fallen!” Maar shouted.

Garble’s blood ran cold at that. He never knew Maar to be much of a jokester, and the look on her face was anything but joking. Still, he found it hard to believe that the former Dragon Lord could have been defeated by anycreature. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“Torch fell in battle!” Maar repeated.

“We gathered that, but what exactly happened?” Smolder asked.

“I don’t have time to explain much,” Maar said, looking over her shoulder worriedly, “but from what I heard, some strange ice creatures came out of nowhere from the southwest. Torch fought them off as best as he could but they overpowered him. We’ve gotta get out of here!” With that, Maar sped off, heading towards the northwestern shores of the Dragon Lands. 

Smolder and Garble looked at each other briefly. Their cave was nearby, and being dragons they didn’t want to leave empty clawed. Nodding, they dropped their buckets and sped off towards their cave.

When they reached it, both of them grabbed a large bag and began packing what things they didn’t want to leave behind. Garble stuffed his bag full of gems and bits and even his beat poetry drums. He heard Smolder in her room grumbling about something, but there was a hint of panic in her voice. “It’s gotta be here somewhere!”

As Garble was packing, he spotted his gorgeboard. Unlike those his friends used, this one was smaller and had an artificial look to it. He knew it was some kind of ancient shield of some kind, but it was ten times better than any of the gorgeboards his friends used. He quickly grabbed the ancient shield and stuffed it into the bag. He looked at the hoard he’d collected, upset that he couldn’t take it all with him, but the way Maar looked, he didn’t want to wait around.

He burst into his sister’s room, only to see her tearing through her own hoard. “Where is it!? Come ooon!”

“Smolder, we’ve gotta go,” Garble said, “hurry up!”

“Not yet! I can’t leave without one thing!” Smolder said.

Just then, Garble and Smolder both felt their cave rumbling. A wailing noise came from outside their cave, and even that sent shivers down both their spines. Smolder redoubled her efforts to find whatever she was looking for, but Garble could tell that whatever made those sounds was too close for comfort. He wrapped an arm around his sister and hoisted her up, grabbing her own bag. “Time to go!”

“Not yet! Let me go!” Smolder shouted angrily as she squirmed in Garble’s arms. “Wait! I see it!”

Garble stopped and looked down at his sister. “See what?” Smolder pointed at a corner of Smolder’s cave. There, sitting on a small flat rock, was a small tea set, one that looked like it had been made by ponies. Garble looked at his sister with a withering look. “Really?”

“Just let me grab it, you idiot!” Smolder snapped.

The roar came back again, only louder this time. Garble growled and released his grip on his sister. “Make it quick!”

After she packed the tea set in her bag, she spread her wings and made her way with Garble towards the cave’s entrance. “Well, hurry up! Time is bits!”

Despite himself, Garble rolled his eyes. “You’re the one who was wasting time over some silly tea set.”

“Like you didn’t grab your bongos!” Smolder retorted as the two zipped into the air to join the now larger group of dragons flying northwest towards the sea.

Garble was about to reply when the sound of howling came again. He covered his ears to block the incredibly loud sound. Curiosity got the better of him, and he turned. And what he saw made him almost drop all of his belongings in horror. Because he found himself looking at a creature surrounded by white clouds, a creature that looked like a transparent pony.

He turned away and began flapping his wings as fast as he could. “Fly!” he heard somedragon nearby shout in fear, “Torch has fallen! All is lost!”

“Where in Tartarus are we going?” Garble asked someone nearby.

“Can’t you feel it?” the dragon replied.

Garble was about to reply when he felt something. He had just adjusted his flight direction slightly, but the moment he did he felt like he was going in the direction towards safety. The direction towards the Dragon Lord and her Bloodstone Scepter.