This time I was laying on a white sandy beach with the wind blowing gently against my face. I was human again, so I stood up and started walking down shore. After a few paces, I found that my mom and dad, Sharon and David, were right behind me with their hands on my shoulders.

Sharon was a medium height woman, perfect for a mom, and had blonde hair and green eyes like mine. David, taller than his wife, had brown hair (like mine) and dark brown eyes.

Sharon spoke softly but clearly in a soothing voice "Dean, we've seen how far you've come. We just wanted to say how much we love you and how proud we are of our son."

David added "We also wanted to remind you that none of us were ever given this chance, a redo if you may. Please, for our sake, don't let it fade away. You must protect it. Protect it as you protected us and how we tried to protect you. Your mom and I love you Dean, and we always will. We'll see you…" He sighed "... one day."

I was in tears. "Mom, Dad, please. Why are you saying this? I know it's important but why?".

Sharon spoke eerily in a calm voice "Because your nightmare, OUR nightmare, is on it's way into your sanctuary. We don't know how or why, but when it emerges, you must make sacrifices."

I was bamboozled and sobbing simultaneously "I don't understand." I made out between heaves. They started to fade slowly, and I screamed "NO! DON'T GO! PLEASE!"

They vanished completely and I was left alone on the beach. Nothing for my tears to fall on but warm white sand.

I awoke slowly, the sun shining on my face through the window. I got up from my makeshift bed and folded the sheets.

I walked into the kitchen where I found Derpy shoving a muffin in her mouth. She saw me because she turned around and said "You didn't see that right?"

I put a hoof against my chest and to her amusement replied "Your secret's safe with me Ms. Hooves."

She turned a bright red and joked "Well good, cuz' I didn't see anything either."

We chuckled and I walked over to the present I had wrapped the night before. I took a small piece of paper and scribbled on it a riddle that came to mind.

I folded up the paper and taped it to the box. I signed -Anonymous- to the letter and gently took it under my wing. I glided back into the kitchen and saw Derpy still there, emptying a muffin tray the size of New Oklahoma into a giant parcel.

I entered the small hallway and not knowing which room was which, yelled "Hey Dinky?".

The magenta unicorn stepped out of a room, the door swinging open hitting me in the nose.

Dinky ran over to me, where I had both hooves clutching my snout. "Sorry about that!" Dinky apologized, "Are you okay?"

'My my my, Dean, you HAVE gotten soft haven't you? And only your third day here…'

I let go of my nose and ignored the now annoying pain. "Thank you Dinky, but I really am fine. Oh and your mom wants you in the kitchen." I said a little more softly.

She turned to me and said "Sorry. Thanks for not being too mad though." She pranced into the kitchen, then right out of it levitating the bulging box of freshly baked muffins.

She turned light red again and tried to hide it. Without saying anything we walked out into the sunshine.

We arrived just as the banner was being put up. The banner read 'Happy Birthday Celest', and Twilight was yelling at the two ponies.

"That's the third year in a row!" Twilight yelled, making the two ponies feel smaller and smaller. She turned away.

Ignoring what I said, she exclaimed "Thank CELESTIA you're here! PLEASE tell me you brought everything! My plan is falling apart fast and I... can't… HANDLE IT!"

Her screaming turned inaudible as she hit a point. Then I heard my ears ring softly, and her scream some more.

Derpy tried to calm the raging unicorn "Twilight, calm down. We brought everything and this whole thing is going to turn out fine." the words seemed to sink in and Twilight stood up straighter.

"You know, maybe you're right. I've been a little uptight since the surprise party… no offense Flash."

The rest of the mane 6 was already here. Applejack said gave us a short hello before setting up a punch stand.

The punch was orange, and had a small amount of froth. Applejack happily handed me one, but hesitated before Derpy. Giving her a long, almost deadly stare.

I did what any normal human would; raised it to my face and turned it bottoms up.

"This is some real good stuff!" I exclaimed, setting back down the mug for another.

Derpy nodded, chugged, then said "If it wasn't there would be something wrong with you!"

She turned her attention to Dinky and had her drop the large package on a tablecloth. Derpy then opened the parcel and muffins flooded out.

Instead of going absolutely everywhere, we were in luck. Twilight was close by, and all the muffins laid themselves out on the table magically.

Derpy looked to Twilight to say thanks but she was already gone, barking at somepony else.

I looked up to see the last cloud had just been kicked into nothing by the local weather-pony, and Fluttershy was desperately trying to change a large plume of fog's direction.

Back by the banner I looked over and saw Pinkie shoving tons of ribbon and other stuff in a cannon. Curious, I walked over.

The cannon went off with a massive BOOM and party supplies shot everywhere, covering the tables and just making everything more cheery. The force of the explosion knocked me onto the ground and sent me skidding.

Pinkie turned from her cannon "Oh hi Flash! Just setting upsy wupsy! And this is my party cannon!" her face became slightly more serious "What's going on?"

Pinkie looked at me for a solid 10 seconds before saying "Flash, I know you're new, but don't be so down! That's what the party was for, remember?"

Before I could deny or at least respond she continued "They don't all know you like how I see Derpy does, but they will! I see that you're a great pony- and know that you're one of my good friends!"

The last part surprised me. Friends? I barely knew her. But as I thought, I realized 'What the hell. Having friends sounds pretty good for a change.'

I sprinted to a table with a single gift on it, threw mine next to it, and ran back to Derpy, who was full of anticipation.

A huge white chariot rose through the sky and dove, stopping on the ground with a millimeter of room between the door and the

Celestia was a very tall white pony with both wings as well as a horn. She wore a simple crown and her hair was a vibrant mixture between blue, green, and pink.

Twilight was the first to greet her. Twilight ran up to her with wide eyes and said "Happy Birthday!"

Celestia, with a calm voice that showed obvious authority, replied "Thank you Twilight. It seems you did a fabulous job once again."

She proceeded to glance over at the gifts. She levitated Rarity's present over and opened it carefully. Inside was a large shining sapphire.

Rarity blushed "You're very welcome, your Highness." Rarity said, giving a small bow. "It wasn't too hard to find with Spike here" she rustled the dragon's scalp.

To the one who rules the world by day:

You may not understand, that is perfectly fine,

your answer lies inside this rhyme.

Contained in this vessel is an object of power,

yet to crack it may cause you to turn sour.

To open it properly there is not a key nor a lock,

it's simple yet difficult, but don't wait on the clock.

Ask around town, for somepony must know,

why this mysterious box won't open easily so.

I'll give you some help; here is a clue-

the one in question is somepony new.

During her reading I silently backed away, then made a break for the woods. When a safe distance away, I cursed myself.

'I can't just have everyone knowing yet, they seem to be having enough trouble dealing with a new PONY, never-mind a human. I bet they've never seen one before...'

But I reasoned further "Well, what's done is done. At least I made it somewhat difficult."

Trying to keep low-profile, I went into my survival mode. To sum it up it's where I go when I don't want to be tracked by anything. I go completely silent and don't leave a single trace. You'd hear your own heartbeat before you heard me.

To sum it up, the zombie apocalypse teaches you to be resourceful, stealthy, and most importantly: quick. Not just that, zombies aren't your only enemy.

I shimmied up a tree and poked my eyes out of it's branches. With no-one in the sky or on the ground, I made my way back to the party.

I hid behind a tree, just outside the party's clearing to observe. To my surprise, the princess appeared to have opened it and put it right back down. I don't know whether to be relieved that she was stumped or scared because she figured it out.

I disputed the fact and came to the conclusion that she had not solved it, but was simply putting it of till later.

After more time went on, maybe about 10 minutes total, I walked out casually. As I figured would happen, Pinkie took notice my disappearance.

"Ahh, got it! So you missed it! Princess C opened up the other present and was totally confused! She kept asking who sent it and nopony said anything. I was SURE that Whooves guy did it, but I guess not huh?"

Trying to process the constant stream of words, I spat "Huh? Wonder who sent it…"

"I know right? Well, I have MUCH more party to shoot, so I'll see you later Flash!"

The cannon blast from earlier popped into memory as I saw Pinkie once again shoving ribbon and other items in her cannon. Ducking for cover, it shot everywhere and enveloped the majority of ponies in confetti.

Derpy walked over, still drinking her cider, and said "Wow, you were gone for a while. Bathroom?"

She jumped back. "Really?!" I shushed her and whispered "DERPY! Come on! If they all knew it wouldn't be fun now would it?"

Her cross eyes lit up. "Ohhh, NOW I remember. It was what you dropped in the lake last night wasn't it. I guess that's really important."

I cut to the chase "Derpy, as cool as this is, remember, I gave them all a hint so it's fun. Make sense?"

I gave her a look "You wouldn't want to take the fun away from her now would you?"

We walked back over to where the commotion was starting to break up. Celestia told everypony she had important business to attend to and thanked everyone for coming. Then she climbed into her chariot and just before it took off, we made eye contact. Just for a brief second. But in that time I saw her eyes widen and I knew that she now knew my face. And in that instant she could tell i was new.

Derpy had her daughter shove what was left of the muffins back into the parcel, and I did what I could to help pack up everywhere else. I looked over and saw that the mane six were gathering and talking, so me and my awesome social skills went over to listen.

Myself, wanting to learn just who these ponies were, butted in. "Hi, me again. Sorry for interrupting, but I was wondering if I could join you girls. Just i'm new and was hoping to get to know peop- er, ponies a little better.

Pinkie was instantly excited. "Sure!" "Why not?" She added when everyone stared at her in disapproval. Seeing this, I said "It's alright, I was just hoping to get to know some of yo-"

Rarity cut me off. "Nonsense my dear! You can join us! It's usually interesting to learn about new ponies and where they came from."

They all liked the idea, and it made me feel kinda glad that I was being somewhat accepted.

"Noon." I said. "Definitely noon. Just thinking that way we still have most of the afternoon left after."

The group exchanged glances and Applejack looked appalled. "Not even Granny Smith 'erself could manage 're time like that. Yer good Flash, yer good."

"Don't be silly! We barely know him, so of course we don't know everything!" Pinkie replied cheerfully.

"I mean, he does seem nice. Oh, but that's just what I think, you girls don't have to listen..." Fluttershy said barely over a whisper

I could see Dash still had doubts, but I was already out of the picture. I found Derpy and Dinky and we headed home.

Flash walked over from the 6, and I shoved a muffin in my mouth. Smiling at him through a full mouth. He smirked and rolled his eyes. I called Dinky over and we headed for home.

On the way back my mind raced. Pointless things such as puppies went through my mind as well as important questions.

Who is he? He seems nice, is actually kind of cute, but I feel he isn't telling me something, something important. What I don't know, but do know it is really important. Like what was that cube really? How'd he get it?

So many questions, but I decided to ask one a day, so I didn't seem too awkward. As I said, he is kinda cute. I wonder what he thinks of me?

With that we reached the doorstep, it was mid-afternoon, and Flash, like I had started to notice, wasn't hungry. But when I pulled out a fresh batch of four from the oven.

I chuckled and handed him a chocolate chip one. He bit into it and moaned with delight.

Dinky walked out of the door. I figured to school, as the saddlebags near the door were gone.

After a few minutes of just talking about the birthday party, Derpy's face lit up.

"Safe distance!" She threw a green plastic tube at me. Going partially into survival mode, I had to keep myself from catching it and embedding it in the wall.

"BUBBLE FIGHT!" she squealed. She pulled out the wand and blew a constant stream toward me. I jumped and ducked for cover, simultaneously sending a bubble barrage her way.

It was a constant battle of wits and bravery, or just who could find the best cover. In the end, we were both covered in the bubble syrup and laughing on the floor. Derpy and I cleaned up the excess bubble mess and threw the wands away.

Her facial expression kept the wall eyes, but got slightly serious. "Flash, there's been something i've been wanting to ask you. But first-" She held a hoof up to my would be questioning mouth, "-I need to say this. Really, I hardly knew you when Dinky brought you home the other day. Heck, I still don't know you as well as I'd like to, but that doesn't mean that I don't trust you. Just saying."

Derpy took a deep breath, then exhaled. "All right, here goes nothing." she muttered "Alright, where exactly did you come from?"

"I was afraid you'd say that. I'm sorry Derpy, I really am, but I can't tell you yet. It's for the best. Please, you said you trust me and I need you to on this."

Derpy looked a little let down. "No, I half expected that. Thanks for saying that instead of just making something up though. A lot of ponies would, sadly enough."

Dinky bust in through the door then, dropping her bags and running up to her mother.

"Diamond Tiara..." She replied, her voice barely audible. "I don't know why though, I'm not mean to her but she won't stop being mean back!"

I was about to say how I had an idea that could help, but pulled it back, remembering the picnic.

I spoke up "Dinky, anything I can do? I am particularly good at, you could say, giving lessons.' I cracked my hoofs and neck.

I chuckled "Dinky, this isn't getting even, it's..." I searched for a word. "-standing up for yourself, and I'm pretty sure I can help."

I wandered over to my bed and fell on it. Too tired to even pull the sheets over, I drifted off to sleep.

Truly Alive

by To Define Life

Le Birthday Royal