//------------------------------//
// Chapter 25 
// Story: When Friends are Said and Dun 
// by xenos29 
//------------------------------//

	Alpenglow left the room right after.  Taking Princess Celestia’s advice, nopony followed him.  Instead, they all retired to the study, the same one where they had done their research for the ‘Remembering Our Roots’ festival.  The princesses left to examine the spell, and after an hour, returned with Alpenglow.  The three of them entered the study and sat down on the u-shaped couch with everypony.  The princesses looked at Twilight and her friends; Alpenglow looked somewhere far away.
"Good news, everypony," said the Princess.  "It seems we may be able to recreate the effects of the Elements of Heroism using the spell from Alpenglow’s memory."
"Allowing us to recapture Blight," Luna finished.  "However, we must also devise a way to enter Ponyville without risking the shield, or providing him an opportunity to escape.  To that end, we shall remain in Canterlot until we have both."
"How can we help?" asked Twilight anxiously.
Princess Celestia placed a wing over her.  "Thank you, Twilight, but you’ve all done far more than we could have asked for.  You can help by being well rested and ready for when we return to Ponyville.   I believe Alpenglow would like to help with that over the next few days."
Twilight looked at him.  He nodded slowly, but still wouldn’t raise his head to look at anypony.  The princesses gave him once last worried glance as they left, but could do little to stem the silence that replaced them in the study.
It took a moment, but Twilight finally reached out to him with her hoof, not knowing exactly what to say.  More silent seconds passed as they sat.  To Twilight's relief- and silent gratitude- Applejack took the initiative, leaning over at him.
"Alpenglow, are ya here?"  He looked at her, but said nothing.  His mouth hung open a little, as if he wanted to say something.
"Would something sweet help?"  Pinkie gingerly suggested, holding up a cupcake.
"Hey, Equestria to Alpenglow!" Rainbow shouted, shaking him.  "C’mon, you gotta snap out of it!"
"Easy, Rainbow," said Applejack.
"It’s alright," he said finally, slowly.
"No, no it's not," wept Rarity.  "Even after everything you told us, we had no idea just how horrible it was.  Making you relive…that."  She dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief.  "You must despise us!"  Fluttershy put her hooves around her.
Alpenglow looked up.  He frowned at Rarity, contemplating her ashamed sobs.  Perhaps he realized that a pony who cried over harm they did to a stranger was nothing less than a rarity in his world.  Taking care to favor his good leg, he stood up slowly and walked until he was crouching square front of her.
"Miss Rarity," he said, "when I first met you, I thought all of you were naive and helpless.  I couldn’t' have cared less about you, your friends and family, or your town."  He looked away.  "But I was wrong.  You didn’t hate me for it, so I will never, ever hate any of you.  I like you, and I don't want what happened to me to happen to you."
"We're still sorry we had to do it," said Twilight.
"Me too, Twilight.  But I've had some time now, and I'm slowly getting used to the memories again, especially when for when for the longest time, all I could remember was fighting Blight."
"So that’s what being attached to that box was like?" asked Applejack.
He nodded.  "It was like he said.  We fought each other nonstop, but the way he made it, if one of us got the upper hand, we’d start over before he could finish off the other, and we didn’t have a choice whether we fought or not.  After a while, I got so weak, I couldn’t even remember Tawny or anypony else.  I began to wonder things like 'did I have friends,' or 'did I have a home?'"
"That’s horrible," said Fluttershy.  "I can’t imagine such a thing."
"I wouldn’t try too hard," he said grimly.  "Looking back, I guess it was kind of like a bad dream.  Wouldn’t want to go through it again- couldn’t go through it again."
Applejack took off her hat and wiped her brow.  "You’ve got more brass than a marching band, partner."
"Same to you, Applejack..." he said, nodding.  "Not many ponies could’ve gone through this and still be themselves.  It says a lot about all of you."
Twilight put Spike on her back and walked to the knight’s side.  "Alpenglow, we can never replace your friends or the life you had, but we’d be honored if you learned...to call us your friends."  Everypony nodded in unison.
Twilight felt Alpenglow’s eyes sweep over everypony, a look of tired wariness hanging from his face as he considered them.  Slowly, that face melted away in a small smile, and it wasn’t until she exhaled that Twilight realized she had been holding her breath.  Strangely, it was just then that she noticed the stallion's cutie mark: a three-peaked mountain range, backed by the colorful bands of a sunrise.
"I always liked to think of myself as a quick learner," Alpenglow muttered.  Taking Rarity’s hooves in his, he stood her up.
"On your hooves, ladies.  We have work to do."