//------------------------------// // A Lost Book // Story: A Lost Book // by Silver_Wolf //------------------------------// Sterling sat in an alley, his long blonde hair seemed black thanks to the natural grease and lack of bathing. The young boy wore tattered jeans along with a torn white T-Shirt, he was only thirteen years old... His face wad dirty and covered in knife scars from fights, he hung his head down sniffing as he walked in the cold December night, being able to hear gunshots for afar. The sky was pitch black, he rubbed his arms for warmth while his teeth chattered, he wasn't worried, nor did he really feel all that cold, only because he had gotten used to living in such environments. The sun was shining bright, ponies roaming the streets as they always did full of joy and glee, just happy to be alive! But, there was one pony specific pony, a bright pink earth mare. She bounced along the dirt roads on the wonderful Summer day. The joyful pony was bouncing down to Ponyville's library to meet her friend Twilight who had instructed her to come to the library on this specific date, claiming was it extremely pressing matter. But even if it wasn't Pinkie would have been more than happy to see her unicorn friend. Sterling's stomach ached non stop, he had hardly eaten any food the past few weeks, and the small portions he did manage to get ahold of were from dumber diving, which then caused immense pain from eating the rotten, potentially disease ridden food. He was not walking down the street still hanging his head down as to not make eye contact with anyone that may cross his path. Sterling swallowed hard nervously every time somebody would walk near him, eventually, somebody actually DID stop him, he grabbed onto Sterling's shirt. "Yo kid, you got a dollar?" He asked. Sterling quickly shook his head. "I... I don't got no money." He replied nervously. Sterling had little formal education, so his vocabulary was extremely limited. "YOU SURE?" The man shouted rudely in Sterling's face. Sterling sighed, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a few coins. "T-This is... All I have." Sterling muttered. The man snatched the money from his hand and ran off... Sterling continued walking in the freezing wind, he continued to rub his arms and shake while he walked. "Not like that money woulda gotten me anything anyways..." He muttered with a following sigh. Sterling walked a few more streets until he had came up to an abandon building, the glass that was supposed to be in the windows was shattered all over the ground, the building was only a couple stories tall... Sterling listened closely for a moment, he heard nothing, now he was sure it wasn't a crack house. Sterling swiftly hopped into the building from one of the smashed windows. Pinkie Pie opened the door grinning, he curly hair scrapping hit the door frame as she walked in, her purple unicorn friend walked down the stairs to Pinkie Pie. "I'm here!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed still grinning. Twilight forced a small, week smile, normally her smiles would be sincere, but nothing about this invitation was exactly... Cheerful, for her at least. "We don't have much time, Princess Celestia has requested our help." Twilight said to the grinning Pinkie. "Great! What are we helping with? Oh! I know! Am I throwing a surprise party for her? Wait no, because she asked for it so it wouldn't be a surprise because she asked for it... Hmm..." Pinkie continued her rambling... Sterling looked at the inside of the building, blood stains covered the floor, torn cloth scattered ever were, a few rats ran away in fear of the young boy, though the spiders paid no mind to him, they continued to make their webs not batting an eye at the trespasser in their home. Though the rodents were afraid of him, the sight of them made his stomach cringe even more. He walked up the flight of stairs to the second floor, just like the first floor, it was covered in broken furniture and hidden rats, plus the spider webs. Sterling was hoping to find some change to buy some food, ANY food really, as long as it didn't come from a dumpster... Sterling kicked away some of the broken furniture and torn cloth, his eyes widened when he found at his feet, a book! Sterling picked up the ancient looking book, it had a swirl on the cover with two star connected to it. The rest of the book looked almost like outer space, covered in stars, though Sterling didn't realize it, the stars were placed exactly as they were in the sky. He flipped open the book to the first page, then read aloud. "Star Swirled the Bearded?" He said puzzled. "Princess Celestia said that Star Swirled The Bearded's personal journal has been stolen!" Twilight explained cutting her friend off in the middle of her rambling. "Who stole it?" Pinkie Pie asked. "Discord..." Twilight replied with a sigh. "Didn't we imprision him in stone?" Pinkie asked confused. "Well apperntly we didn't imprision him tight enough." Twilight said with a following sigh. "Well were is it?" Pinkie asked. "Another dimension..." Twilight said grudgingly. "Sweet! How do we get there?" Pinkie asked excitedly. "Princess Celestia gave me a spell to find the journal." Twilight explained. "Pack your things Pinkie, I don't know how long we're going to be gone." Twilight said with a sigh. Pinkie ran out of the library, coming back only a minute later with her saddle bag. Twilight's eyes widened and she shook her head in disbelief. "I'll never understand how you do that..." Twilight muttered. Sterling flipped to the next page, he wasn't exactly the fastest reader, but he could understand the majority of the words. "Turn creatures to stone?" He muttered. "What a load of shit." Twilight shut her eyes tight, the two were both ready to leave Equestria having no idea how long they may be gone, Twilight's horn began glowing, an electrical shock hit Pinkie Pie, and she was gone! The horn ignited another bolt, shooting straight up then falling back down hitting Twilight, and just like Pinkie Pie, she was gone. Pinkie Pie rubbed her eyes, the young girl looked at her hands. Wait? HANDS? Yes, no longer hooves, she had HANDS! The young girl looked around, she was sitting on a cement sidewalk, sitting next to her friend Twilight. Both of the two kept their tails and manes, but Twilight no longer had her horn! Sterling had dug through the rest of the building, not finding a single penny while his stomach continued to growl and ache. But, he still held onto the book, he started walking down the street, planning on going back to the alley that he so often slept in. He walked only a few street, and on one of the sidewalks he vomited... The boy took a turn down the street, he noticed two girls about his age, standing and talking to one another. One of them had long, curly pink hair, the other having long, dark purple hair with a bright pink stripe in it. Both of them had a painful looking bulge in the back of their jeans, both of the two wore boring white T-Shirts, though the pink haired one had taken a marker and drawn a blue balloon on hers. Both of the girls were carrying saddle bags in their hands, Sterling held his head down as to avoid eye contact and the chance of the book getting stolen. Right as he walked next to them, the pink haired girl began speaking to him. "Hi!" She said cheerfully. "H-Hey..." He muttered stopping in his tracks. The purple haired girl caught sight of his book, she gasped as the sight and grinned. "Excuse me, can I see that book you have there?" She asked sweetly. His pupils shrunk and he swallowed hard. "S-sure.." He said softly and nervously, he flipped the book to the cover for the two of them to see. "That's our book!" The purple haired girl exclaimed. Sterling glanced down at the book and thought for a moment. "Is it valuable?" He asked. "Priceless." The purple haired girl said bluntly. Sterling was starving, there's no if and's or buts about it. He knew that he wasn't going to live even a few more days at this rate, he looked back up the girl and frowned, as justified as what he did was, it was still wrong. "I'm sorry." Sterling said as he ran off, running as fast as he could. The two both gasped, Sterling was an extremely fast runner, running was really the only thing he had learned how to do! Run from thieves, run from gangs, and run from his own past... The two tried running after him, but neither of them had ever walked on two legs, let alone ran. Sterling sprinted only about two blocks before he finally stopped and jogged into an alley. He swallowed hard, his mouth was dry, so now he had managed to make himself dehydrated AND hungry! He sat trying to regain his strength and energy on the concrete ground for about twenty minutes, he just couldn't run anymore, he was to exhausted. But then, he heard the voices from before... "We're never going to find him!" Twilight cried out. "Princess Celestia is going to send me to the moon!" Sterling listened in closely and frowned and he heard the concern in her voice. "Doesn't she need the Elements of Harmony for that?" Pinkie asked. "Have you seen how strong she is!? SHE'LL JUST BUCK ME THERE! I can't believe it! I had the book right in front of me!" Twilight cried out in horror. Sterling glanced down at the book, he frowned and then let out a sigh, he knew he had to do what was right... He stood up and walked out from behind the trash can in front of the two girls. Both of them gasped at the sight. "HURRY GET HIM!" Twilight cried out. Sterling held the book out to him, their eyes widened at the sight, the boy hung his head down shamefully. "I'm... I'm sorry..." He muttered. Twilight quickly snatched the book from his hands assuring he couldn't run off from them again. Nobody said anything for a moment or so until Twilight broke the silence. "Thank you." Twilight said softly. Sterling turned around with his hands in his pockets and his head still down. "Hey, where are you going?" Pinkie asked quickly right as he took a few steps. "Doesn't really matter to you now does it? You have your book back don't you?" He said annoyed by what he thought to be in a sense, greed. First they wanted their book back, now they wanted his time! Twilight slipped the book into her bag, then pulled out a small, blue frosted cupcake. "Here you go!" She said smiling. Sterling turned back around, he looked at the cupcake then back to her. "For me?" He asked astonished. "Of course!" She exclaimed. In all his 13 years on this planet, had the boy received a single gift. He hesitated, but then slowly reached out for the cake. The moment his hands touched the small desert he shoved it into his mouth, and accidentally ate the paper along with it, but the sweet icing made the paper unnoticeable. The pink haired girl hugged tightly onto him, and without hesitation he hugged her back. "Thank you so much..." Sterling said softly fighting back tears. "Alright Pinkie Pie, lets get going." Twilight said. "Okay!" Pinkie Pie said cheerfully stepping away from Sterling. "Wait, how are you supposed to do the spell thingy without your horn?" Pinkie asked. "Well it's obvious isn't it?" Twilight asked. "Uh, not really." Pinkie Pie said blatantly. "Well, this is bad, if you can't think of a way to get home, then I'd say we're STRANDED!" Twilight cried out. Sterling listened, but he was beyond confused, what was she talking about a horn? "It's okay Twilight, I'm sure our new buddy here can let us stay with him until Princess Celestia sends for help!" Pinkie suggested and wrapped her arm around Sterling. "Is that okay with you?" Twilight asked. Sterling bit his lip nervously and shook his head. "S-Sure... You can stay with me..." He said with a shaken voice. Sterling was extremely nervous. I don’t have anywhere for them to stay But then, something occurred to him, he remembered that abandon building! Better than nothing I suppose... They walked about four blocks away until they came up to the building. Sterling jumped in through the the window, without hesitation, Pinkie and Twilight both followed his lead.. Twilight gasped at the horrific sight. “This is where you live!?” She exclaimed. Sterling nodded. “Yeah... I guess...” He replied softly. Pinkie grinned. “This place is WONDERFUL!” She exclaimed. Twilight thought for a moment. I can probably fix this place up if I have enough time... "So what's you're name?" She asked. “Sterling...” He replied softly. “Great, I’m Twilight. Sterling, how about you show Pinkie Pie around this place.” She suggested. Sterling shrugged. “Sure I guess...” The two climbed back out through the window again. Twilight went to work, she had brought a needle and thread with her encase she tore her clothes on the potentially long trip, and was now repairing the curtains, there had luckily been a hammer on the ground along with nails scattered practically all over to the place, Twilight used the hammer and nails to start repairing the furniture, even though the hammer did have a blood stain on it's head, she tossed away a large portion of the trash. Sterling and Pinkie Pie both walked down the street together. "So what's your name anyways?" Sterling asked. "My name's Pinkamena Diana Pie, but my friends just call me Pinkie Pie." She said cheerfully. "Pinkamina? That's a weird name." He replied. "Whee I come from, a lot of ponies have two names." She pointed out. "Yeah well I'm a pony so..." Sterling replied rolling his eyes. Pinkie bit her lip, she had forgotten not to mention anything that could blow their cover by Twilight's command. "Why are you so thin?" Pinkie asked trying to change the subject. Sterling's eyes lit up, he looked down at his stomach, he really was thin, hardly being anything more than skin and bones. "I don't eat much." He replied softly. "Really?" She asked. Sterling nodded. "I usually eat A LOT!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Must be nice..." Sterling muttered under his breath. The two only walked two streets or so, not saying much until they came back to the building, the windows were all hidden by closed curtains, so they couldn't exactly jump through them anymore, the two walked around the building until they found the fully intact door, Sterling was puzzled, but walked inside. His jaw dropped open by the astonishing sight, the entire building looked brand new! There were two couches in the corner of the first floor with a wooden coffee table, the floor no longer had blood stains, now perfectly clear white tiles! On every window there was red curtains, the original multicolored, splitting paint was now repainted and purple! Twilight came from upstairs covered in her own sweat, she was exhausted from the immense amount of work. Sterling was excited to see that she had done the same thing to the upstairs! A small bed now in the room, with a multi colored blanket, the rest of the room empty, repainted, and a cleansed floor! Sterling rushed downstairs with a grin on his face. "How'd you do all of this!?" He asked astonished. "I've always had a knack for cleaning, I hope you don't mind." Twilight replied. "Why would I mind? This place looks AMAZING!" Sterling shouted with joy. "Glad you like it." Twilight replied with a smile. "I think I'm gonna go to sleep..." Pinkie said with a yawn. Sterling nodded in agreement, the running, along with dimensional travel caused the two to become totally exhausted. The two both walked up stairs were the comfortable, plush bed sat. "Good night!" Pinkie called out to Twilight. Sterling laid down in the soft bed, it felt extremely alienated on his back, he hadn't slept on such a comfortable material since he was a newborn! The best he slept on now a' days was well, stone. Pinkie Pie laid down as well, snuggling up to him, she wrapped her pale arms around him, leaning her head on his shoulder. His eyes lit up and his cheeks became a bright, crimson red. But then, he smiled softly. Sterling wrapped his arms around her as well and shut his eyes softly. Twilight was downstairs sitting on the new, plush couch with the journal in her hands. She was flipping through it page by page. "Let's see... Dimensional travel..." She muttered flipping the pages. When she found found the spell for dimensional travel, she dropped the book to the floor. "This can't be right!" She cried out quickly snatching the book back into her hands, only to drop it again. "I'm SURE Princess Celestia will realize I lost my horn on the way here..." She muttered to herself and smiled softly. Sterling slept in the bed for a few hours, but was awoken by gunshots and police sirens, he scooted out of the bed from Pinkie Pie's drooling face and her oddly powerful grasp around his waist. Sterling waked down the stairs thinking Twilight would be asleep on the couch, but he was wrong. Twilight was sitting on the couch reading the book, Sterling walked over to her and she glanced up from her book. "Oh hey." She said cheerfully. Sterling rubbed his arm nervously. "Hey..." He muttered sitting down next to her. "C-Can you explain something to me?" He stammered. "Sure." She replied still smiling. "Who is this Princess Celestia? And what is dimensional travel?" He asked. She bit her lip with wide eyes. "Well... Princess Celestia is my teacher..." She explained. "And dimensional travel is uh... A uhm... Game!" Sterling nodded, he wanted to know a bit more though if he was going to be staying with them for a while. "So... Where do you two come from?" He asked trying to make small talk. "Uh... Er... This place." She said bluntly. "How about you?" "I... I don't know..." He muttered. "Didn't your parents ever tell you where you lived?" She asked puzzled. Sterling sighed and shook his head. "My parents d-" He quickly stopped himself. "D... D... Didn't ever tell me." He hated telling anybody about his problems... "Are you lying to me?" She asked suspiciously. "What? No!" He exclaimed. "Are you sure..?" She asked. "I'm sure." Sterling replied. "Then how come every time you lie you blink really fast?" Twilight asked. Sterling forced his eyes to stay opened wide even though he was unaware of the blinking that didn't actually happen. "I promise I'm not lying." He said. "I lied to you, your eyes don't actually blink fast when you lie, but you just forced yourself to stop blinking, so you have to be lying!" She said wittingly. "Okay, fine, I lied." Sterling said giving in. "You know, sometimes it helps to tell pony- People... Your problems." Twilight suggested. "I really rather not..." Sterling muttered. "Are you sure?" Twilight asked. "I... I'm sure." Sterling lied. "You just forced yourself not to blink!" Twilight pointed out. "Okay, fine, you REALLY want me to tell you? Okay, fine, I'll tell you! Both of my parents are dead okay? They died when I was five years old, I lived with my uncle until I was seven but he abused me so I ran away and I've been living on the streets since then! Everyday I fend for my life, I'm so sick I feel like I could die any moment now because of eating raw and old food from trash cans! Plus, the little bit of money I do manage to scrape together gets stolen from me!" Sterling exclaimed. He had just poured out all his emotions at once, and he had never done that before! Sterling's eyes were watering up, tears rolled down his cheek. Twilight bit her lip nervously, she wasn't entirely sure what to say to him, little can be said to truly comfort death, but actions speak louder than words! After setting the book on the coffee table, she held onto him tightly. He just sniffled and whimpered in self pity... "You know what else?" Sterling said smiling softly. "What is it?" She asked. "You two, are the only people who ever ever actually acknowledged me for a reason other than stealing my money, or offering my drugs." Sterling said with a week smile. "Well... We did take that book from you." Twilight said honestly. "No, it's your book, if anything I stole it from you." Sterling replied. Twilight held onto him still and laid down pulling him down with him as to continue to comfort him. Both of the two drifted off to sleep. Morning came, Sterling sat up Twilight was standing up looking down at him curiously. "Good morning." She said cheerfully. "Mornin." He replied sitting up. Sterling cracked his back and stretched his arms, Pinkie Pie came down stairs with a tray of cupcakes! "Where'd you get those?" Sterling asked. "Easy silly, I brought them with me!" She explained. "In that little saddle bag?" Sterling asked confused. "Yep!" She said cheerfully. "But, they're not dented or anything... How did you-" Twilight cut him off. "Just, don't ask questions with Pinkie Pie... Trust me." She said solemnly. Pinkie sat the cupcakes on the table, Sterling hesitantly took one, as well did Twilight, even though she really didn't enjoy eating sugar packed foods in the morning. "So, what are your guy's plans?" Sterling asked. Twilight swallowed that last of her cupcake, before she could speak, Pinkie Pie did. "We're going home in a few days." She exclaimed. Sterling sighed softly, it was disappointing, but he knew he couldn't come with them, nobody wants some little homeless boy tagging along with them... "Actually Pinkie... It's seems our plans have been delayed." Twilight interupted. "Why?" Pinkie asked. "Well... None of the spells in the book are able to take us home without a horn." Twilight explained. "So until Princess Celestia comes to get us, we're stuck here." "Great!" Pinkie exclaimed. "How is this great?" Twilight asked confused. "Now we get to spend more time with our little buddy!" Pinkie said wrapping her arm around Sterling again. Back in Equestria, the large winged, horned, white mare was sitting on her throne, levitating a scroll and quill. She was writing down on the note. She read aloud as she wrote down onto the scroll. “My most faithful student Twilight Sparkle, I trust that you have recovered the book. I understand that you'll need your horn to get home, so I am prepared to come and get you once you have retrieved the book, just say the words 'Return Home." And the scroll will be sent back to me, then I will come to get you." Celestia smiled and the scroll disappeared, instead of evaporating into fire as it usually did, it was transported to Sterling's world. Sterling was sitting on the couch bored, he flt extremely uncomfortable, not because of the couch, the couch itself was relatively plush a lot like the bed, but because he wasn't hiding! He felt like he should be walking, looking for change, begging for money, but instead, he was sitting on the couch, and it felt so unusual... Sterling yawned, but then out of thin air, in his lip, a scroll! Sterling picked it up and unwrapped it, he skimmed the scroll his eyes lighting up. Sterling looked at the stairs and rolled the scroll back up, Twilight and Pinkie both came down the stairs, Pinkie was wearing the same clothing, but she had drawn MUCH more on the shirt, coloring in all of the white with a pink marker and highlighting the balloons to make them stand out more, while Twilight was wearing the same style of clothng. "What's that?" Twilight asked looking at the scroll. "Nothing." Sterling said quickly crushing the paper in his hand and tossing it behind the couch. Sterling grabbed the last cupcake from the tray and popped it in his mouth, he loved the fact that he wasn't having to scavenge for food and instead could just eat sweets! "Well, sense we might be staying here for a while, I suppose I should pay you." Twilight said dropping a small sack in front of Sterling, he looked inside to see a ton of golden coins! "Quarters?" Sterling asked. "What's a quarter?" Pinkie asked unfamiliar with American currency. "They're bits." Twilight explained. Sterling pulled one out of the bag and examined it, it was twice the size of a quarter. "What are they made of?" Sterling asked. "Why, gold of course! Silly!" Pinkie replied. Sterling could hardly believe it, all the bits in total was worth a couple hundred dollars, while Sterling on the other hand, well, he had a sack of coins worth roughly over a million dollars. He wasn't sure sure what to do with them... So he did the only thing he could think of, Sterling put the single coin into his pocket and pushed the rest back over to Twilight. "Consider that payment for fixing up the place." Sterling said smiling. Twilight smiled back and picked up the sack of coins. "I'm gonna go get some more cupcakes!" Pinkie said. "Actually, Pinkie Pie, I was thinking we could go ahead and get something that isn't well... Sugar." Sterling suggested. "Well... Alright." Pinkie said with a sigh. Sterling stood up from the couch. He hesitated walking to the door, it made him nervous really, going back to the streets. But, the two had already walked outside. He sighed walking outside with them. "What do they sell at this place?" Pinkie asked him. "Hamburgers, and chicken nuggets, and some other things I've never eaten." He replied. "What's a hamburger?" Pinkie asked curiously. "It's the meat of a cows-" Pinkie quickly cut him off. "YOU EAT COWS!?" She cried out horrified. "Yeah?" He replied confused. "Why are you a vegetarian or something?" "I would NEVER eat meat!" Pinkie said sternly. "I think they sell salad..." Sterling said nervously. "Well are you going to eat any animals?" Pinkie asked suspiciously. "I was planning on it..." He relied with a sigh. “Lets just go back to Sterlings house, I packed some sunflower sandwiches so no one has to eat meat.” Twilight said. Sterling wasn’t the kind of person who ate sunflowers, but compared to some of the things hes eaten through his time, it was like a five star meal to him. They all turned around walking back to the house. But right before they could turn a corner, a large African American man was standing there with a gun in front of them... Sterlings eyes lit up. He pointed the gun to Pinkies head. "Boy, I know ya got some money on ya." The man stated sternly. "What's that thing?" Twilight whispered. "It-It's a a... G-Gun... It'll kill Pinkie." Sterling whispered back. "We don't have any money." Sterling said softly. "Now I know you holdin back on me boy." The man said sternly and put his finger on the trigger. Sterling really didn't have any money aside from the gold coin, and he was NOT giving that up! Pinkie was shaking to death, she had heard was Sterling said. The boy had one idea, that could likely get them all killed. He reached into his pocket pulling the coin out. The man smirked, Sterling clenched his fist where the end of the coin was poking out between his index and middle finger. The man held out his hand, Sterling put his hand a foot above it as if he was about to drop the coin, and punched the man in the fact. He dropped the gun... The man stumbled back, Sterling quickly grabbing the gun off the ground. The man had a large dent in his forehead now from the coin. Sterling put the coin back in his pocket. "LETS GO!" He shouted taking off. The two quickly ran behind them, they had gotten used to walking on two legs so their running skills became a lot more effective. They ran into the building slamming the door shut and locking it. Twilight was breathing hard freaking out, while Sterling on the other hand was already sitting on the couch flipping his coin and catching it, while Pinkie Pie sat next to him watching the coin inventively. "Aren't you two worried?!" Twilight cried out. "Na, I'm used to it." Sterling said tossing the gun on the ground. "Nope, because-" Twilight cut Pinkie Pie off. "Please don't try to explain anything to me with your logic right now Pinkie Pie, you'll give me a headache." Twilight begged while Pinkie Pie let out a slight giggle. Pinkie snatched the coin from mid air air and started flipping it herself, Sterling stared at it while she continued to flip it, a moment later he snatched it, Twilight sighed walking up stairs. "Those two's history have made them some of the craziest creatures alive..." Twilight muttered under her breath. Twilight came back down stairs a moment later with a few sandwiches in her hand, stuffed with plans... Sunflowers, grass, and fruit. She had to hold on of them in her mouth so she could hold the other two, Pinkie and Sterling both took one, Twilight sat down next to Pinkie Pie. "Not as bad as I thought'd it be..." Sterling said after taking a bite. He was done in less then a minute, as well were the other two. "This is gonna be an AWESOME month!" Sterling announced Sterling laid on the couch snoring away while Pinkie was holding onto him from behind, both dead asleep. The moon was high, and Twilight was walking down the stairs coming to say goodnight, she smiled at the sight of the two snuggling together for warmth, though they were still shivering. She brought her blanket down stairs and laid it on the two. A few days passed, Sterling walked up the stairs, Twilight was completely undressed... His eyes widened and his cheeks instantly turned bright red. "Oh hey." She said looking over to him. She hadn't been wearing a SINGLE piece of clothing, every second his cheeks got bright and brighter. "I... Uh... Hi." He said nervously. Sterling tried to keep eye contact and not look down, but his male instincts forced him to take a quick glance. "You have a tattoo?" Sterling asked surprised, Twilight was the last person he'd think to have a tattoo. On both of her flanks, was a bright purple star with small white stars surrounding it. "No, that's my cutie mark." She explained. Sterling backed away from and walked down the stairs, she was completely oblivious to the fact that it wasn't exactly... Normal, for humans to not wear clothes. Another week passed, Sterling Twilight and Pinkie where all at a baseball field, it took them three hours to walk there. Sterling had a bat in his hand that they had bought at a thrift shop, along with a ball and mitts, Sterling had the bat on his shoulder, Pinkie holding the ball. She windmilled the ball, it came soaring at him. He swung the bat, the two clashed into each other, the ball soared high into the air. Twilight somehow was able to jumped up, catching it! "AWW WHAT! NO FAIR!" Sterling cried out. About a week passed, Pinkie and Sterling were preparing to race. “Okay, first one upstairs then back wins.” He said. Pinkie nodded. They darted off from the couch to the upstairs, Pinkie was ahead of him by a few feet, but then she crashed into the bad, it flipped over her landing on her stomach. Sterling grinned, he ran back downstairs. “I WIN!” He exclaimed, but hadn't stopped his legs yet, he ran directly into the coffee table. It flipped over, smashing into one of the curtains pulling it outside... Twilight walked in. Her eyes lighting up. She sighed. “I’ll fix it...” She replied softly and irritated. Sterling grinned nervously and Pinkie Pie came down stairs laughing just as nervously as Sterling. Princess Celestia sat on her throne puzzled. She had been waiting for the letter to return for quite a while from Twilight. “I guess I’ll have to go there myself and find them...” She said with a sigh. Her horn started glowing, she didn't have to use very much of her magic to dimensional travel, plus she knew how to actually keep her wings and horn during dimensional travel. Sterling sat on the couch yawning. He shut his eyes for an entire hour, not being able to sleep the least bit. He sat back up. “I don’t think this is gonna work...” He muttered. A scroll dropped in his lap, his eyes widening causing him to be fully awake. "Dear Twilight Sparkle, I'm coming to Earth to get you and Pinkie, I hope that you two have the book and you just lost the previous letter." Sterling read under his breath. Sterling's heart sunk, he swallowed hard and his mouth got dry. "T-They're... Leave?" He muttered. Sterling reread the scroll over and over assuring he had read it correctly, until finally he set it down on the table. Twilight walked downstairs looking curiously at Sterling. "What's going on?" She asked suspiciously. "N-Nothing..." He replied grinning nervously. "Don't lie to me Sterling..." Twilight demanded. "I'm not lying! I swear!" Sterling replied. "Then why did you make yourself keep your eyes open?" She asked suspiciously. "I didn't!" He exclaimed. Twilight snatched the scroll from the table. "Wait!" Sterling cried out. She had already finish read the scroll, she set it back down on the table and shook her head slightly. "So... What'd you do with the firs scroll?" She asked. Sterling's eyes widened, he swallowed hard. "H-How'd you know?" He asked nervously. "I didn't, I was bluffing..." Twilight replied frowning. "You're not mad... Are you?" Sterling asked with a shaken voice. "PINKIE! PACK YOUR THINGS!" Twilight called out right after she read the first scroll Sterling gave to her. Sterling just stood still for a moment, he watched Twilight stomp upstairs furiously, Sterling shook his head and without saying a word, he turned around and walked out the door.. Sterling kicked a can hanging his head down while he walked through the streets, he stopped once he kicked the can into an alley, as if it was instinct, Sterling walked into the alley and sat down... "I'm such an idiot..." He muttered, and then drifted off to sleep... "Sterling, Sterling wake up!" A familiar voice demanded. His eyes creaked open, Sterling looked up to see Pinkie Pie, a smile stretched across his face, he jumped up and stood in front of her joyfully. "Sterling, Twilight told me what you did..." Pinkie Pie said sadly. His smile quickly diminished... "S-She did...?" Sterling asked fearfully. "Why didn't you show us the letter?" Pinkie asked sadly. After examining her for a moment or so, Sterling noticed something, aside from the fact that her voice was much softer and not nearly as rapid as usual, her hair seemed to be a lot less fluffy, and her already pale skin seemed even paler! "I... I just didn't want to be alone again..." Sterling muttered hanging his head down in shame. "What would make you think we'd leave you here on your own?" Pinkie asked suspiciously. "Nobody wants some dirty little homeless boy, and neither of you two would understand that, you'd just think I'm fine on my own." Sterling replied with a sigh. "Just because we're not like you, doesn't mean we're oblivious to the world around us, even though it took Twilight a little longer than me, it was pretty easy to see everything about you, we had talked about it and decided that if you wanted to, you would've came with us." Pinkie explained forcing a week smile. "So, I can come with you?" Sterling asked with glee. "I doubt Twilight will let you come now, especially after betraying her trust." Pinkie said with a frown. Sterling shook his head and then hung it down, he fought back the tears as best as he could, but they still found their way out of his eyes. "Can I at the very least come and say goodbye to Twilight?" Sterling asked lifting his head back up. "I don't think that Twilight wants to see you anymore..." Pinkie said solemnly. "I don't care, I just need to say goodbye, that's all I'm asking for." Sterling begged. "Well... I guess it couldn't hurt." Pinkie replied smiling softly. The three walked down a few streets without saying a single word to one another, until finally, the two walked in front of a young woman in her mid twenties, she was wearing a white, Roman looking robe, she looked down at Sterling curiously, he swallowed hard in total fear of the powerful looking woman standing in front of him with Twilight by her side. "What is your name?" She asked sternly. "Uh... S-Sterling." He replied nervously. "I heard about some of the things that had happened... I just want to apologize for my student and her friend, the one time she's not supposed to make friends, she does, neither of them were supposed to grow any emotional attachments with-" Sterling cut her off. "Listen lady, I'm not trying to be rude here, but I don't give a flying FUCK!" Sterling said sternly. He was becoming overwhelmed by his own emotions... "Twilight, I'm sorry for what I did, I know I screwed up big time, and I know I'm not ever going to get you to foregive me, but I'm sorry." Sterling said solemnly. Twilight smiled softly. "That's all I wanted to hear..." She said with a slight smirk. Then Sterling woke up in the alley he so often slept in, he let out a sigh and stood up, putting his hands in his pockets, he went back to his worthless, pitiful life, only to hope to have another sweet dream like the one he had just experienced.