//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 // Story: The Vanishing Star // by NocturneD85 //------------------------------// The Vanishing Star by NocturneD note: If anyone has suggestions for plot advancement, I would like to hear them as you can put them in the reviews or PM me. Two years ago... I was attending another benefit party for charity to raise money for the art museum back home. A bit ravish in why a public museum feels it needs to hold a party for the upper class ponies. Of course, to soak in our donations. Lovely and how quaint. The upper class life is the most envied by all, even the rich ponies themselves. If they are not the richest, they want to be richer than the one pony making the most. Greed has no limits. I know what you are thinking right now. Where is the middle class? Simple, like I said its a charity and middle class is struggling to hold onto what they have. I browsed the fine art while sampling the wine selections. I had my followers, mostly females dressed in tight or shining gowns hanging onto my every word. Had some gentle colts among the crowd as well who just wanted to hear me speak about my success and giving out advice. For example, Mr. Plant and his wife run an organic food farm that uses the vegetables and fruit to make juice. They never had their merchandise in big stores like Food King and only small family stores stocked them, the stores that they own by the way. See the problem? I told them to take a chance to let me serve their juice in my cafeteria back at head quarters. And boy, weeks later those drinks flew off the shelf and sold out of the drink machine dispenser. Swan herself must of bought herself a couple of cases to keep in her office in her mini fridge, frankly no pony told Ghendi when she caught him stealing one and heaved him out of her office and landed face first into the floor. Now the Plants get more demand and demand each week. The night was still young as the charity finally closed and making its mark of over twenty million bits. Even if the goal was just for three hundred thousand bits to stay open. Other investors and I were a little generous, maybe a little too generous as rich ponies tend to compete on who can donate more. Not one to brag but I was one of the big spenders. Hated seeing a place like this close down because it does not rake in enough. Just hard time seeing this place close down when there is so much more that it could offer. Betsy would take me here from time to time to see the art as well as the sculptures. She said I had the heard of an artist when it came to my trinkets. So the night was still lingering on, the wine and cheese mostly consumed and I still wanted a bit of excitement. I was not surprised that the son of the great Lorenzo would be attending the same party, his father is a very social and very cut kind of guy. Well the apple does not fall too far from the tree as he was suave like the old stallion. Still wearing all white along with his own harem behind him, he approached me and greeted me in a friendly manner. Like we were buddies or something. It was good publicity for business owners and entrepreneurs to be best friends in front of the camera, pretty much gives the investors and share holders a sigh of relief to know that their money is in good hooves. Really that's a bunch of bull. For all they know, the ponies in the picture could hate each other. How could I describe Illusive Von Lorenzo? Suave? Drop dead sexy from what I heard from the mares. He's very intelligent and a good speaker on the behalf of his father's cause and politics but from what the references he gives me, they say he is also a prodigy as well as a scientist. More and more I hear about him and his father's work and how much he helped the security of Equestria during the recent fall of a few Kirin clans on the borders of our nation. I kept thinking this to myself. How does a black ops special forces supposed to keep us safe from dragons and other creatures living in caves in nearby towns? They live there naturally so why even bother? No, don't get me wrong. If towns need help then get help. From what I seen the Black Suns can do, they are truly a powerhouse. Something you are truly are not going to want to be on the opposition if you ever cross them. Well... That's what you get when you let the military have power in the political game, Lucrecia even warned me about today you would be seen as a hero but tomorrow you might be a villain. That I keep close to my thoughts, one day imagining myself ever becoming a tyrant that some pony is going to rise up and defeat me one day. That alone could mean anything. So here I bring you this interesting Adonis; Illusive Von Lorenzo. A true piece of work that make mares wet themselves in pleasure and stallions jealous and wish to be. Except for myself, really I don't care much for the guy. He was into politics like his pops and figures he can ride off his success as him being entitled to the sweet life. Don't get me wrong, any pony has a right to enjoy the high life but when you spread your beliefs in a suave fashion like Lorenzo does, it kind of irks some ponies but some just brush it off. Plus he had a way in working business deals with almost every company just so he could ensure his position. My company has had our crossings with Lorenzo. Matter of fact, I would not have had a military contract if it were not for him. Guess that was the one good thing he passed around. "Ah Mr. Fade Away. A pleasure seeing you again." The Adonis greeted me with a charming welcome. "Well." I smirked, to play it awesome. "I have a little history with this place so I want to help out in anyway I can." Lorenzo raised his wine glass with his magic, letting it hover in front of his own face. "Oh yes. A place like this needs to stay open." The glass touched his lips as he let it slowly poured into his mouth. He pulled the glass away and let out a satisfying breath of refreshment, "If not, then were will the children learn? Where would the elders take pride in the past?" "There are other places." I reminded him, "Just this place is special when I was growing up." As much as I would love to chat, I put a lot of emphasis on my next words, "I would hate it if were to ever close." And as a good pony Lorenzo wants every pony to know him as, he just nodded. "So how is the Lucrecia faring these days?" I kept my own charm up and nodded, "Oh fine. Just fine, more ponies wanting to learn the basics of magic without the need of wasting their time in special magic schools." I knew his game. He always had a counter point to make, "Well if they're learning basics are you not trying to encourage them to go beyond what you bring them?" I shifted my shoulders and levitated my own drink to my lips. I enjoyed the sweet champaign, "That is up to the pony." I then let my lip curve into another smirk, "You do know that over half of the applicants for the gifted school of unicorns don't even know how to use certain basic magic skills?" His lips puckered, his eyes narrow to me. "Hmm... Point made." With a simple slant of his posture and head, I could tell he really was not impressed. "But... Don't get me wrong every pony wants to know magic even non-unicorns." I gave out a slightly chuckle after taking another sip. "And what's wrong with that?" Lorenzo just laughed as if I made a joke, "Oh come now. Ponies are referring you to the ancient story of Prometheus. The titan pony who brought fire down to the earth ponies for their benefit to use." I raised an eyebrow, "Funny. Never heard of that name before being used for me." "Oh, no no Mr. Fade Away. It's more of a compliment." He chuckled. Sure it was. Sure it was. I nodded and just chuckled, "Well I don't want to be visualized as that important." "You're pretty well under your way to becoming the next Da Vinchi." He turned to his harem along with the guests on his side of the room, "Every pony I want to make a toast to a good pony who is helping to shape up pony kind and take the time to reach out to the other races." Every pony raised their glass with their magic or hooves. "To Mr. Fade Away. May you help open the eyes of every pony and race in this world." "To Fade Away!" The ponies smiled. I just took the honor in accepting. I raised my glass and let it clang with Lorenzo's in appreciation. I know what you're thinking. So far it seems like Illusive seems like a pretty generous pony and that's what he wants to be. Party after party we would get together and have drinks and talk about things. He would share stories of his youth about wanting to be a scientist like his mother but he never really mentioned a lot about her except she did some experiments involving rare creatures, plants and items. Called her practically a pioneer of her time and was part of an important family. Maybe why he has respect for me because I'm trying to benefit pony kind. So why not ride on the train to success? So for about a year, Lorenzo and I became buddy buddy to the public. I had my own agenda to keep up with the life time deal he gave me up helping the military and surgeon general along with Big Tex's good word. Lorenzo would invite me and Swan or the family out to dine to enjoy the finer points of life. Swan really wanted to get to know every pony of this stature, she just loved being around doctors, lawyers, inventors. You know her game. One evening... I figured I just give Lorenzo a chance and talk about our childhood. He already told me the story about his parents and their fallout, sort of makes you feel bad for the guy but happy that he grew to be successful. Like myself... If I have not known any better, I could swear its almost like a bizarre mirror image if my original family did things differently. He had a little brother himself but never really speaks to him, his brother also was born with high expectations but the poor kid is timid from what I heard but still has a fascination with robotics and gears. Sounds like my kind of kid brother. Though... When it was my turn to tell him my childhood story. He just sat there and listened quietly. Not saying a single word as I went into every detail, of course I had to lie through some parts like how my adoption came to be and how I ran away, pretty much some of my past had to be altered. Why? Because a child of a politician can use it as leverage against you if you ever cross them. So that was my story and stuck with it. He just looked at me, probably knew I was making some up. No, he just sat there and finally said with a whisper, "Sad story..." Our somewhat friendship continued for awhile. I learned a lot about him and his family or from what they let on, as expected a family from high expectations. Sheen Lorenzo was a political soldier who married into a rich and powerful family. I seen the ins and outs, I saw the Black Suns train and boy did they put the royal guard to shame with their fighting and magic. Sheen went on and on how he wants to help Canterlot be the face of Equestria, when really it always has been. So what's the point? My answer, over the years Canterlot was losing credibility somehow even how I could not understand. Sheen's politics seemed more towards unicorns and Canterlot than anything else, wants to spread its influence all over. Don't get me wrong, Sheen has a good personality its just where you don't know where he stands is the problem. Illusive's mother, or from what who I thought was his mother was a very private pony and was pretty much of an over thinker. I just got the creeps just being around her. A grey unicorn with red, very old fashioned glasses and must like to wear lab coats twenty four seven. She was willing to share her research, some of it. Might I remind you she's very private and not wanting my prying eyes to see certain things because most of her work is for the princess and her subordinates to see over. What she shared... Was something she wanted to work on for the longest time as she lead me into her basement laboratory and as you expected. Lots of beakers, books and tables. Yes a yawn fest huh? So get ready to pick your mouths from off the ground after I tell you this next part. Lorenzo's mother; Lucia... She approached one of her cold, metal tables and pulled back a white sheet. My eyes widened, what was I exactly looking at? It looked more like a pony who starved to death but bore fangs and insect wings. It was very dead she assured me, died from a lack of love she told me. I did not think much of that last thing she said to me but explained that it was an ancient hybrid pony between a what seemed to be an insect. I was instantly disgusted looking over that crusty mummified thing. Lucia explained that it could be a lost link between the Changeling race. At that point, a possibility of Changelings ever popping up was pretty just a myth I would tell myself and just old folk tales to scare children. Somehow, it did happen between news of the royal wedding going under siege of a queen infiltrating Canterlot's defense, then Ghendi's story how he fought with a different queen from what what Twilight and my brother described to me. Does any pony think of Changelings like an ant colony? There could be more queens out there but alas the idea of these things disgusted me. It was very dead, I poked at it with a stick and accidently broke the arm off when Lucia was not looking. I put the sheet back on and thanked Lucia for showing me her work of studying the weird corpse of what she claimed was an ancient Changeling. Blegh get me out of here already. Though something... caught my attention as I was leaving the lab while Lucia was closing up shop. On her messy desk, she's quite a busy and unorganized pony if I might add. Was an invitation with a symbol on it, sort of like a star. Strange... It looked awfully familiar but I did not dawdle around for too long. The place was giving me the creeps by just thinking of the corpse looking up at me. From then on out, I never really got to talk to Lucia again or to learn anything more about her. Except... That she was obsessed with it like her own father who was a scientist before her as well that found something involving black goo. Whole family was odd. From then on, I never really saw Lucia ever again. Then I met the outcast brother; Lucian. And boy does timid not even begin to describe this teen. Shy like I said before but really loves to work on robotic toys but from what I seen around his room. Drawings... Drawings of various robots and completed models of Gundams and other giant robots. Takes mostly after his mother he is pretty much private as well. Locking himself in his room and doing what he did best. Not much of a very talkative pony, poor kid only twelve or thirteen at the time stutters when he talks. Strange as I might want to say it, but I saw a little bit of myself in him. I sat down next to him at his little hobby table and helped him build his model, then we got to talking once he felt more comfortable. He then would go on and on saying his family was not great because of their affairs but wished they could stop and just be a family. Poor kid, from a high society family that expects the best from you I can relate. I also learned that he was pretty much those out cast kids that hung out with other outcasts and nerds because of his likes. I went to his school a few times to check it out and boy he was not lying. Made a few speeches at his assemblies on career days. Because of the Lucrecia program, I was really a big celebrity to the kids. But I mostly just let Lucian take me around his school and sit on his classes. Found out he was part of the robot club where they build robots and compete against other schools, won a few awards here and there. He had his success but yet none of his family to congratulate him. His sadness, was my sadness. We practically almost had similar lives growing up, not sure about the beatings but I'm sure the emotional loneliness can warp his young mind. One day, Lucian called me up to tell me he appreciated me helping him. I said it was fine and enjoyed sharing his day. He also would tell me that his father finally started taking notice to his designs and praising them for their look and possibilities. Wait... Pause that for a second. Possibilities for what? Lucian just said it was a good way for him to get into a good college, well that soothed my mind. Had me going for a second that Sheen could probably help build a giant tank on legs one day. So the family was meh. From what I told you, why am I not being more friendly towards Illusive Lorenzo? He proposed something to me and other ponies that he might have found a secret of the alicorns. Cue every pony to stop talking and eating at this point. He explained that his grandfather had done work on studying the Alicorn nature that he might have found a missing link. The idea was so far fetched many ponies called him out on it saying that Celestia was one of a kind, sorry forgot about Cadence. An alicorn is considered God-status to every pony. His idea was laughed at, ridiculed even if he brought his grandfather's research notes to the table. They were quickly excused as his grandfather being crazy to ever even work on an idea, basically was playing god or trying to force evolution. Even with his charisma, he was called a lunatic for even considering on trying or even thinking it. That's when I went one on one with him the last time we met. After the proposal made at one of the parties, he sat alone drinking down his sorrows at the bar area. I sat down next to him, hoping he was not too disappointed in himself. He could not be, I mean this was the same Lorenzo who praised me for being the modern Prometheus. Though when I looked at him, it looked like he had been dragged through the mud and had his soul ripped out. "Hey..." I tried to get his attention. He shifted his glass from side to side, hearing the ice inside clink hitting each side as he did it. His face was in a permanent scowl. "Why did they hate my thesis?" "A scotch please." I ordered from the bar tender. I turned my head back to Lorenzo, "All I can say is... You're probably playing with something you don't understand." *Clink* He shifted his glass again. "It's not that I don't understand..." *Clink* "The ponies are scared of the possibility of another god running around." He took a swig of his drink and slammed it onto the hardwood counter. "Tender another please." My cockiness came in, while sill trying to play it cool. "Princess Celestia is not a god... Never proven, just a powerful unicorn with wings." Without Lorenzo turning his head back to me, the corner of his eye was looking at me, "A mutation probably to today's standards but back then that little mishap would be worshiped. Her power is high tier and yet... how would you feel if you were as strong as her?" My drink was placed in front of me. "Honestly?" I lifted my drink and levitated in front of my face and sipped some of it. I pulled it away to give my opinion, "I think if Celestia is what you claim her to be... If I was her, the world might be like cardboard. Trying to be careful, not trying to break something... or some pony. Fearing that some pony could die easily with just an accidental discharge from the horn. That's probably why she lives in near isolation up in her castle at times." "But her abilities... immune to disease, long lasting life, near infinite magic." Lorenzo mumbled. "How do you know she has those anyway?" I asked after putting down my drink. "You familiar with the Nightmare Moon scare?" He asked, the bar tender started to fill up his glass again. "Two regal sisters lived together and ruled Equestria. One controlled the day, the other night cycle. Until the younger one grew jealous and transformed into a horrible creature and challenged the other sister. Used a weapon called the elements to seal her away on the moon a thousand years." "Yeah I read that story too when I was a kid. Read it to my sister when she was little." I took another sip. "Though what the hell do you do on the moon for a thousand years?" "Not my point..." He interrupted me, "Somehow Nightmare Moon escaped and terrorized a small town. The princess was no where in sight and it was up to six ponies to gain the elements to stop princess of the night. Somehow, Celestia showed up after the work was done, Nightmare Moon was purified into Luna..." I let him continued. "Suspicious on where did this extra sister come from? So, pretty much the stories of the two regal sisters were true if you really wanted to look into it." "So what does this have to do with your research?" I asked. His eyes narrowed, "I went to the exact site where that second battle took place and found some pretty interesting things. Where Nightmare Moon was defeated a second time, she left behind some strange shells or flakes. And collected them and kept them for awhile in storage. And I theorized if those were the remains of Nightmare Moon, then somewhere inside there contains information on alicorn DNA meaning I could somehow duplicate it with modern science." My eyes widened, "Are you sure?" "I'm certain." He chuckled. Almost... As a villain would. "Why waste such a gift?" "Who are you trying to impress?" I scoffed. "Let's just say... Family..." He smirked. "Family? Not the princess?" I stood up from my seat. "Oh believe me. She'll be impressed." He took another swig, "She'll have to notice me but first... I have to prove to a bunch of family members that we're no pushovers. The sky is no longer the limit." It was no secret. Lorenzo always wanted the princess to notice him, that's why he got into politics in hoping he would get to meet her. He done so a couple of times but they were never enough. He loved her grace, everything about her. Despite, even was told there would be no chance for him to get what he wanted from her. She was the one thing, no pony could ever have. And we all at one point wanted her. I'll admit it, I thought of her a couple times. *Cough* "Illusive... you are already the pony's champion, they follow you and listen to your every word." I looked at him dead in the eye, "Why go off and waste that just for a stupid thesis?" Big mistake... He got up from his seat in a fit of rage. "IT'S NOT STUPID!" He growled. The tension, his warm breath hitting my face as he breathed in and out heavily. "Calm down Lorenzo!" I stood up to him. "If you want to go out do it then fine, the world is not all sunshine and rainbows. Do whatever you want and you have to be willing to take the hits! Not sitting here at a bar feeling sorry for yourself!" "Who said I was feeling sorry for myself!" He shouted. "It's that damn hard to please family that gets to you! Hell they even told me not to pursue it in favor of protecting royalty!" he steamed, "But let me tell you something, buck royalty! After I'm done with this I'm going to prove that the alicorn status is possible for any pony! Then where will the royalty be then!?" "What does Lucia think about this!" I shouted back. "MY MOTHER WAS TOO OBSESSED WITH HER OWN WORK! SHE EVEN BECAME HER WORK!" He hollered. "I want to prove that I don't want to repeat my mother and grandfather's mistakes! I want to bring everything to the Lorenzo family full circle! A world as visualized as a modern day Canterlot, a way to understand and no longer worry about Changelings and other threats!" "Well..." I stopped, the next words that came out of my mouth were not the best for this situation but what could you say to any of this? "Well... I don't think the princess or whoever these family members are going to appreciate you toying with nature. If history taught us anything... Ponies who want and seek out power, just end up dead..." He remained still, fiddling with his glass. I turned and left. Left a scoffed at brilliant pony to wallow in his embarrassment and regret. I never saw or heard from Lorenzo since that night, believe me I tried to talk to him and nothing came of it. I heard rumors that he became obsessed with his work and stopped coming to benefits like he used to as probably in fear that he would be laughed at. He never spoke at anymore benefits or support rallies, just sat in his lab working on his own goals. More and more the rumors piled up, go figure a former politician under attack as usual. Then pretty much he went underground, a huge absence for Equestia's white knight. His words were strong, stronger than any sword or magic spell to deal with a situation. His own father kept his attention on his work and started focusing his attention on the designs I gave him awhile ago. Lucia as well never came out of her lab, seems to have went underground as well. As for Lucian, poor kid is trying to hold up well and the only thing that really gets his father's approval were his outrageous robot sketches. Typical of a high standards family, they're a family, they got riches and fame, but its missing love... "Congratulations on receiving the medal Fade Away." Illusive Lorenzo let his lips curl into a smile, but instead of a happy warm feeling. It felt more of a twisted happy feeling as the energy filled the room. The ponies around me, all they see is a former politician that decided to come out. I formed an appreciative smile, "Thanks, always great to see a familiar face." My curiosity got the best of me, "So what have you been doing the past year or so?" Lorenzo let out a small hum, then answered, "Oh I figured after my research was not going the way I want it, neither was my mothers so we pulled out efforts together. So far, we got a lot done and have a good presentation to show." "You still doing the research on Alicorns?" I raised an eyebrow. For some odd reason I let my eyes wander to my sister-in-law for her reaction, she looked quizzical and maybe a little skeptic. In a way I would feel a bit awkward if some pony wanted to do extensive research on my research. "In a matter of speaking, no longer. I learned what I wanted and then some." Lorenzo went back to his usual smile I used to know he would put on. Maybe he straightened out since the last time I saw him? "Well, that's good I suppose." I shifted my shoulders after I planted my flank onto the marble floor. Still my mind lingered, why was he here anyway? There was no way he could be... But my mind quickly snapped back, "Oh sorry my manners... Every pony this is an old friend during my development years of my inventions Illusive Von Lorenzo." Lorenzo bowed his head graciously, "Pleasure meeting you all..." He walked up to my fiance and kissed her hoof, "Swan Song, it's been awhile. I hear you and Fade Away are going to be tying the knot soon." "Oh you heard right." She smiled and lowered her foreleg, "It's always an honor." Lorenzo smiled, "So my eyes were not playing tricks once I read the invitation. Well I'll definitely be there." Swan and I nodded for our approval, well her approval. He turned his attention to Ghendi and Synn. "Hello, pleasure to meet you two." Ghendi I noticed was not in the best of moods, almost... to my suspicion like he knew Lorenzo somehow other than for the whole prosthetic project. Which is strange because between the times I saw Lorenzo last and met Ghendi for the first time were months apart. Synn, really did not seem to share the same expression as his brother. Ghendi narrowed his eyes, there no was no denying it. These two must have met sometime and it must have not been under good circumstances. Ghendi just bowed his head, "An honor meeting you." Synn as a cute little unicorn that he is, hid behind his brother. Lorenzo just chuckled and wandered over to my brother and his wife. And no surprise, Lorenzo gave them a warm hello and kissed Cadence's hoof. Yeah play it up Lorenzo, let's see how far you get with this without my brother giving you the stink ey... OH COME ON! Shining why did you shake his hoof? Oh well... "Say Lorenzo." I wanted to ask, "How'd you get invited this anyway?" "Oh..." Lorenzo chuckled, "My mother's side is from the Sparkle family." ... I'll let that sink in for a moment... ... My brain can't comprehend this. I was related to this pony the entire time?! If anything he has to be a distant cousin or something... There might be a good chance he might already know about the whole... You know. The whole Vanishing Star story from a long time ago. Even worse he might already know I'm really Vanishing Star this entire time... Oh boy... "Well it's been wonderful meeting you all, but I want to get back to my family as well." Lorenzo pardoned himself but not before giving me a... peculiar gleam. My heart was racing, I could not speak, I was too nervous as my thoughts raced. I'm worried he might tell some pony outside the family or even worse, the authorities or even the princess. Then where will I be? Finally he left but still I noticed Ghendi had his eyes narrowed watching Lorenzo's every move as he furthered himself away from us. Anything could help break the ice right about now. So I asked, "Where's mom and dad?" "Mom and dad are pretty much sticking close to each other tonight. It's been awhile since they been invited back to these things." Shining turned his attention away from Lorenzo leaving. "Think they're by the entrees to be more comfortable." Just then, Twilight came racing up to our group with her own friends and what seemed to be three little fillies. Each friend very colorful and full of personality. "Fade Away!" She called out for me. The group of females stopped in front of us, "I want you to meet my friends." I whistled and spoke, "What lovely friends you have too." Please ignore Swan slapping me upside the head. Was the whistle too much? I noticed the white unicorn with purple hair really took the compliment well, same with the pink and orange earth ponies. "We heard so much about you Mr. Fade Away." The one called Rarity really over did herself with the style of dress she's wearing along with her make up. Batting her eyelashes at me. "I'm Rarity, I own my own little boutique shop in Ponyville." "I'm Apple Jack." The orange pony introduced herself, "I'm one of the owners of Sweet Apple Acres." "I'm Pinkie Pie!" The pink pony threw a wad of streamers in my face. "I'm really good friends with Twilight and I like to party! I like making deserts and eating them!" "Oh yeah. You're the one that tried to eat my gold medal." I recalled. She frowned, "Hey if they don't want me biting on it then they should stop confusing me with those chocolates wrapped in gold foil I've been getting all week." Just then the pegasi with rainbow colored hair got in my face, "Name is Rainbow Dash. Weather captain and one of the fastest fliers in all of Equestria." I looked over at Swan, "I dunno. Honey how hard did you punch Ghendi to send him flying across the county?" Ghendi shivered at the bad memory of Swan having her moments. I just chuckled and went back to Rainbow Dash, "I apologize miss Dash." Rainbow Dash smirked as she crossed her arms, "Hey I'm always willing to prove it." "Oh no, I'll take your word for it." I smiled. Next up was Fluttershy, and man was she bashful and shy like her name. All she did was wave and gave a small smile. How cute. And apparently the little ones were named Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle as two of them were related to Rarity and Apple Jack. They call themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Sweet little girls. Telling us that they're looking for their cutie marks. I mentioned that Synn got his just this morning and quickly... Synn was lying on his back as the girls inspected him all over, even asking what he did to get his cutie mark. Just so adorable seeing Synn being surrounded by little girls who are interested in his talents... Or his own cuteness as he tries to hide behind his brother again. Rarity was too busy walking around Ghendi inspecting his style of clothing. "My what a... colorful jacket your wearing." "Ah come on there buddy, no need to hide behind yur big sister." Apple Bloom said. "Yah come on, I'm sure your big sis wants you to play." Scootaloo tried to coax Synn out. I heard a big crack... not in the floor but what would you say a tooth cracking under frustration. "Oh darling your mane is so... raven." Rarity gasped as she looked over it. "I'm a bit jealous." "Wow... How a girl took on Shining Armor is amazing and nearly beat him." Dash chuckled while I noticed Shining frown. "Girls..." Twilight spoke up. "Ghendi is a guy." The girls froze. Ghendi was going to have one his anime moments in three...two...one... "GAH!" He shouted in frustration. Lucky where not anywhere near any tables... OH CELESTIA GHENDI PUT DOWN THAT ICE SCULPTOR! Nah, I'm just pulling your foreleg but still... Lorenzo being part Sparkle irked me... He never mentioned this before... wait... Family... he was trying to impress family... Could he mean the main family? Note: oh man did that take awhile to do part of Lorenzo's story and family. Also want to get Twilight and her friends in on the story to give it a better flow. Sorry that it did not move any bit forward since the last chapter, but if anyone has any suggestions for story advancements please put them in the review or give me a PM. I might add that, I'm now putting this story on hiatus because of no more chapters of Fanfiction dot net to upload to here anymore. Yes disappointing, now I gotta work on them. Like I said if anyone has suggestions or might want to see something happen in future chapters please put it in the comments. Thanks for reading this far.