The next week and a half went by slowly, and a bit hectic for some ponies and a certain prince. Each day he was swarmed by dozens of reporters that each had questions to ask him. Ponies from all over Equestria came to see the alien prince, even some griffins came to see the newest royal figure in the lands. Tony did his best to answer as many of their questions as possible and keep calm in doing so. Many of them asked about rumors and of his home planet, some rumors offending him but of course he acted professionaly. The attention was unwanted by him, and some of the town agreed as well. Some were upset with the large amount of visitors while others welcomed the business increase.
With the time that had gone by, Tony tried everything and anything to keep himself occupied. Three days after the funeral, he went over to Fluttershy's cottage to keep true to his promise of teaching her another Kital song. Of course she was worried about how he was holding up, but he assured her he was doing fine. She had perfected the first song he taught her, which made the second song that much easier. Well, sort of. The second song had a bit more sudden changes in tempo and more sophisticated notes. He was impressed though, since she 'pbbt' on the fifth note. It was good progress to him because when he first tried it he messed up on the second note. Even so, he was very proud to be passing on one of Eishla's teachings.
The following days went by at a snails' pace. He helped Twilight rearrange the shelves along with Spike who dusted the place. Without his job from Applejack, Tony still had a lot of time to himself, and laying around was no option. He went job hunting to see what he could do, and as it turns out there were quite a few jobs available in the fall. Since many ponies were leaving to other cities for the holidays, Tony had several options for a job. There was Roseluck's garden, some restuarants needed waiters, a new house was being built, mail ponies, and weather teams would be needed.
There was one other job, which was a new position at Club Remix. Tony decided it would be best to not go there, since Vinyl was probably just as bothered about having somepony fill that job. And besides, he wasn't one to have music blasting into his ears from all angles. So there were some jobs for him to get himself working.
After the job hunting was dealt with, Tony visited Applejack to see how she was doing. They mainly talked about what they would be doing come next spring, but they did hang out. Well, eat dinner with the Apple Family and the Crusaders. Just like the reporters, the three fillies bombarded him with questions after they breathed in their food. Unlike the nosey media, they asked questions about the children and the desserts and if they had cutie marks. Tony chuckled at some of the questions, especially Sweetie Belle asking if they had any castles or dragons. He explained that dragons were from his planet, and that they came here a long time ago. While he didn't explain it in detail, because of the dark reasons around it, they were amazed by it.
When the weekend came around, Tony and the girls had a little get together in the fields away from the Everfree. Tony went hunting an hour before, so as to get his nutrients and still have room to eat with them. It was strange not hearing the bad puns or small jokes beside him, but Tony voiced those for his lost friend. The little get together also gave them a chance to tell him what the Grand Galloping Gala was. Twilight and Rarity, who were the most interested in the event, said it was supposed to celebrate Luna's return from her banishment. Before that, it was meant to celebrate the end of Discord's reign when he brought mass chaos to Equestria.
To him, it meant being able to see Luna with his friends again. Though it was only two weeks since he last saw her, it felt like years because of the sluggish passing of the days. The girls told him all about what last year's Gala was like, and frankly it sounded like it wasn't a party at all. He laughed at each of their own freak out incidents, especially Fluttershy's and Rarity's. The yellow pegasus surprised him with her shouting 'LOVE ME!' at the animals. The reason he liked Rarity's was because it showed Blueblood a thing or two. A smirk came across his face when he remembered the self absorbed prince spent another week in the cellars after he told Luna he wasn't at fault either.
Out of sheer generosity, and on account of him being a prince, Rarity insisted on making him a new suit for the Gala. She wouldn't take no for an answer, and he was forced to agree to it. However, after she told him that a prince should only have the best, it brought up a point he told Dan a long time ago.
"Don't think any differently of me just because I'm a prince. I'm not any more important than the next pony, so don't treat me like I am"
The days' events led up to now, two days before the Gala, where Tony sat on Twilight's couch reading one of the Daring Do novels. It was the third of the six novel series, which he had only begun to catch up on. Twilight was filling out a form for a new shipment of books she would receive some time in the week, and her number one assistant was doing his usual job of keeping the place nice and clean. Tony sighed as placed a bookmark on his current page and stood up to stretch. He placed the book back on its shelf and made his way to the door.
"Where are you going?" Twilight asked.
"Just um, gonna go for a walk," Tony shrugged. "I'll be back in a little."
Twilight nodded as he stepped outside. He had taken up the habit of going on walks ever since Dan passed away, but other than that he was doing pretty well. She noticed he would say something she expected from Dan, and that he was acting more friendly to ponies he didn't know well. Dan dying changed him, in a good way.
Tony made his way to the outskirts of Ponyville to start his usual stroll. He could see Whitetail Woods without its leaves, signaling the beginning of fall. The annual Running of the Leaves had passed while he was in recovery, but Twilight explained what it was about. It slipped his mind sometimes that the ponies controlled the weather and the seasons in Equestria.
As Tony walked through the tall grass he dropped his head and stared at the ground in front of him. Eventually he closed his eyes to get a feel of the life around him. When he was young, Jaqeluu had taught him about Himifil, and as of now he applied it. As children, Signa are very sensitive to living energy but cannot detect hidden amounts of it, like in the rock Jaqeluu crushed. Now that he was matured, Tony could feel the energies of the populance of ponies, the animals around Whitetail Woods, the dirt, the trees, the rocks, and all living and non-living things. The sounds also made him aware of the living creatures, both small and large. Peace massaged his strained mind and calmed him like a cool blanket, and since Luna had his iPod, he decided to sing a song.
The secret side of me
I never let you see
I keep it caged
But I can't control it
So stay away from me
The beast is ugly
I feel the rage
And I just can't hold it
It's scratchin' on the walls
In the closet
In the halls
It comes awake and I can't control it
Behind him, the dirt and rocks began to mold into the head of a pony with an antler. The rocks formed the eyes and the smirk as it listened to Tony.
Hidin' under the bed
In my body in my head
Why won't somebody come and save me from this
Make it end
I feel it deep within
It's just beneath the skin
I must confess that I feel like a monster
I hate what I've become
The nightmare's just begun
I must confess that I feel like a monster
I, I feel like a monster
I, I feel like a monster
The dirt mold shaped a paw and talon as its body resembled that of a serpent.
My secret side I keep
Hid under lock and key
I keep it caged
But I can't control it
'Cause if I let him out
He'll tear me up, break me down
Why won't somebody come and save from this
Make it end
I feel it deep within
It's just beneath the skin
I must confess that I feel like a monster
I hate what I've become
The nightmare's just begun
I must confess that I feel like a monster
The clapping behind Tony made him spin around and cock his arm back. He wasn't pleased to see the chaos god in the form of dirt standing behind him. Over the past month he learned that Discord wasn't evil, just bored and looking to make some mischief. A bit of extreme mischief.
"Bravo prince," Discord chuckled. "Go on, finish it."
"What do you want?" Tony questioned.
Discord's dirt body pulled itself out of the ground and walked over to him. "Nothing really, just thought I'd see what my little chaos causing monkey was doing," he grinned.
"Discord," Tony said sternly. "What. Do. You. Want?"
The draconequus leaned on mid air as he looked at his dirt talons. "I'm surprised you didn't listen to me when we met," Discord siad nonchalantly. "I may lie here and there, but even I wouldn't lie about the fates of Celly and Lulu."
"And why's that?" Tony asked.
"The three of us are going to live millions of years," he sighed. "It wouldn't be any fun by myself now would it?"
"Well I've learned not to trust chaos gods," Tony retorted. Discord reared his head back and laughed madly.
"Oh, I can tell," Discord chuckled as he wiped a drop of mud from his eye. "But I thought Lulu meant more to you than that?"
Tony visibly stiffened at the mention. "She means everything to me," Tony snarled.
"I know," Discord smirked. "But you Loki'irians only live, what? 200 years? You'll be gone, and Lulu will find somepony else to love."
"You had your chance Discord, it's your own fault," Tony accused him. Again, Discord snickered then went into full blown laughter.
"If only you knew," Discord grinned. "It was Celly's idea that I see Luna. Oh, it feels like only yesterday we were teens. I never did care for her, even now."
Tony didn't like how condescending Discord was speaking about his marefriend, and he tried to sideswipe him. His fist passed through Discord's face, throwing away some of the dirt but not hurting him in the slightest. Discord laughed as his face remolded.
"You're lucky Celestia even tried to get you with somepony amazing like Luna," Tony growled.
"If only you knew why," Discord sighed. "But you act like Luna is the only one you'll ever love. All this 'Loki'irians only love once' nonsense."
"She's the only one I've ever loved, and the only one I will ever love. That's how all Loki'irians find their partners," Tony sternly said.
"So you don't remember then?" Discord raised a brow. Tony did the same, confused by what he meant.
"Remember what?" Tony asked. "What are you talking about?"
Discord took on a more serious look as he morphed into his true form. "I'm surprised Minira didn't show any of you what happened."
Before Tony could ask what, his head began to ache immensely. At first he thought Discord was attacking him, since his paw was on his head. But soon the pain began to numb, and his mind flickered with images of his high school years. There was him, Dan, and some girl with brown hair. He remembered hanging out with her, seeing her a lot, and even teasing her. But then he remembered the facility where he found the first Arthanians. Him, Dan, the girl, and Nyla were in mid air, Tony hanging on to Nyla with Dan and the girl hanging beneath him.
Reku'un...I cannot carry...all three of you.
No! Nyla just fly us to the building!
I won't make it
"Tony! Help!" Dan shouted. Tony held Dan with his right hand while he held the girl with his left.
"Tony." The girl had tears falling as she shook her head. "Let go."
"I'm not letting you go! Either of you!" Tony said. He could feel his own strength diminishing, on account of his broken right arm.
They're coming Reku'un! You must let go!
I won't! I can still save them!
"Tony!" Dan's hand slipped until Tony was only holding his palm.
The girl let her grip go but Tony held on to her. She started wriggling and pulling her hand away, but Tony held her without a thought of letting go. Dan slipped even more until he was holding onto his friend by his fingers, and the girl finally had enough. She dug her nails into Tony's wrist, forcing him to flinch and release her.
"KAAAAAAAAATE!"
The throbbing went away as the memories returned completely, the last being Jerosh before he blacked out. Tony stood up and let go of his head as he looked at the hybrid god.
"I'm guessing Jerosh wiped your memory," Discord said seriously. "Whoever you love will die, Tony. It has and always will be that way. Even with Luna."
Tony stared at the ground off to the side as he felt the same feeling towards Kate that he had for Luna. His father told him that a Loki'irian only loved once, and that only a handful could love freely. He had met a Signa female who had a small lust for him, but he didn't feel anything with her wooing. The only one's he ever felt interested in was Kate, and Luna. Kate was gone, and Luna was in danger, both because...
"No," Tony said. "Nothing is going to happen to Luna. I may have lost my family, and my first love, but I found a new family, and I have a new love. What happened before will never happen again, because that was my old life. This is my new life. My second chance."
Discord began to crumble away into dirt as he faded away. "Then we'll see," he said. His body turned into dirt and fell lifelessly back into the soil.
Tony looked at the pile of dirt one last time, then made his way back to Ponyville. This was his new home, the ponies were his new friends, the Elements were his new family, Luna was his new love, and he would do everything and anything to protect them.
This was his new life.
This, was a new beginning.