//------------------------------//
// 6 
// Story: Son of Eternity 
// by Secrets and Lies 
//------------------------------//


(Part 2)






“Forty-six... forty-seven... forty-eight... forty-nine... fifty!”
A golden light pierced his eyes as they shot open, his sight blurred a little by squinting too hard while counting. His vision gradually readjusted to his unknown surroundings. A cool, chilled air swabbed his face, and the gentle breeze dried his lips which were already showing signs of being chapped. The birch and oak trees towered over him, their rustling leafage singing sweetly above. Their yellow and brown leaves took flight and danced away in the cold wind. The trees swayed back and forth, giving way to the shuttering sunlight that peeked through the foliage of the tree tops. The ground was covered in dead leaves and the last of the green grass had been blanketed by the multitude of leaves. The wind rustled the forest, carrying their leaves off on a new adventure beyond their home they’ve grown so aquatinted to. This wind was also the only noise in the shimmering yellow and old flaxen colored forest besides the aching and moaning of the trees.
His eyes had adjusted clearly now, and he started to scan the autumn ladened forest, looking deep into the mysterious and bright woods. He was only a boy of eight, eagerly searching for his older brother. The other lay still and silent, somewhere hidden in the ancient woods the younger thought of as a magical place. He began his trek into the surreal forest, looking ever so intently behind every stump, tree trunk, ditch and nook in the ground to search for his hidden kin. The boy had journeyed deep into the woods, about two minutes away from his starting location. His eyes still sweept the yellow, forest brush, looking for his old brother, not giving up hope just yet. 
The younger brother thought, “I’ll get you, Jason. Once I spot you, you’re mine!”
Another couple of minutes had passed and the younger brother was getting tired of meandering through the woods. Even if it was a pretty sight and walk, he knew he had lost the game and his older brother would have already made it back to base. The boy could imagine walking back and seeing his older brother there, mocking him for being stupid enough to not look for him in some obvious place. The younger brother let out a deep sigh and watched his warm breath meet the cold air, watching it fade before him. His mother had dressed his body before heading out into the woods; his skin was almost fully covered with clothing except for his face. His mother was very protective, even more so when concerning the chances of her boys getting sick from playing in the cold. He raised his head, looking up into the afternoon rays that peeped out of the golden foliage in the tree tops. As the sunlight graced his face, he closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun in the brisk air of November.
He looked back in front of him and gasped, startled at the sight he had just seen. In the far edge of the woods in front of him, between two narrow birch trunks, a white, four legged creature with a golden mane and tail stood there taller than him. Its mane and tail flowed in the breeze in a very, unrealistic slow fashion. Its dark, indigo eyes pierced the boy’s startled ones. As soon as the boy blinked, the creature jetted off into the woods. The last vision he saw of it was its long, golden tail darting behind a large oak tree and vanishing with the rest of its body. He didn’t know what it was, and felt a lingering chill crawl up the back of his neck. He had a feeling these woods weren’t safe anymore and wanted to leave immediately, disregarding his brother if he didn’t have time to stop and warn him. The boy tried to move, but his body remained still, as if his entire form was thrown into a pool of concrete. He could still move his eyes, but couldn’t tell what was going on around him. He tried to scream for help, but lacked a voice and his mouth remained closed. The younger brother panicked, fretting for his life. Then, his thoughts were ceased by a sudden, slow and large movement in the fallen leaves in front of him.
Some sort of slender, snake-like monster emerged out of the mound of foliage, it was large and viscous looking. The boy couldn’t see the entire creature in his vision as it wrapped around the permitter of the child. Its elongated head was behind the boy, scanning the frail creature he was–he was sure of it. The boy noticed its hind appendages, which appeared different than the rest of its body. One leg was a goat’s leg while the other appeared to be a lizard’s. Its tail was maroon red and scaled like a dinosaurs. These strange features of this undefinable beast horrified the child.
The tail wrapped around the child and the monster’s head became clear in the boy’s vision as it loomed over him in view. It had a dragon’s head, horse ears with two different antlers; one being a deer’s antler and the other a goat’s. The beast possessed a large amount of vicious and curved teeth, similar to a dragon’s he thought; it possessed thick, white brows that sat above the creature’s sharp eyes and a white beard hung from beneath the monster's powerful jaw. Though the only thing the boy could focus now on was the dragon’s eyes, its crimson and bright yellow eyes. The beast stared deep into the boy’s eyes, he could feel the monster taking in child’s scent with its large nostrils. A serpent’s tongue whipped out as the menacing creature slowly opened his maw. 
It spoke in a deep, echoing, and sinister tone, directly into the ear of the child, “Who are you, to enter my woods? Child of my enemy, why have you come?”The boy couldn’t speak, and even if he physical could, he wouldn’t. The monster’s eyes captivated the child, sending wave after wave of fear and terror, pulsating throughout his body and limbs. The dragon’s claw, which resembled an eagle’s talon, grasped the boy’s throat. It did not choke him, but simply ensured the thought into the younger brother’s mind.
“You do not belong in my forest, my ancient home I possess,” the beast hissed. “Your destiny lies within your dying race, in the fire which will consume you. You have been warned.”
The dragon’s body faded away into the air, disappearing completely and releasing the child. The sounds of the woods began again and the boy could move, but he remained still. His thought process was still shaken by this thing that captured his very essence. He looked around him, he was alone again, or so he thought. Then a voice whispered to him through the wind, the voice of the monster.
“Your time has come.”
The boy’s footing was loosened and he fell through the leaves below which was once solid ground. He fell into a dark pool, being pulled under by something wrapped around the boy’s leg. He looked down to see only the beast’s tail coming from the shadowy abyss, grasping the boy’s left foot. The child struggled to try and free himself, but he was getting pulled deeper below the dark waters. He looked up and watched the light of the sun grow dimmer and dimmer as he sunk into the darkness. The boy was on the verge of drowning, he tried to scream out for his brother, but he just couldn’t do it. Everything was blotted in shadows and the boy’s lungs couldn’t take the pressure. He closed his eyes.
Zack shot up out of his bed gasping for breath. Sweat poured off of him and he lay motionless and in a state of shock. He had never had a more realistic dream in his life until then and it frightened him greatly. He threw the covers off of him and tossed his legs over the side of the bed. He hunched over, running his fingers through his sweat drenched hair and holding his bent head with the palms of his hands trying to catch his breath.
Zack looked up when he heard a strange noise coming from behind his bedroom door. He had an idea of who it might be, so he rocked himself up out of his bed and tottered over to the door. He opened the door to find his little pink pony friend standing outside, holding a pillow in her mouth and looking back up at Zack. Her hair was deflated and straight, the only time Zack had seen this happen before was when he first met her in the woods. Her eyes were watery and body trembling. She showed an awfully grievous, depressed expression on her face that shook Zack a little on the inside. He had grown to adore her smiles and cheerful attitude, but something must have been terribly wrong for her to look the way she did in front of Zack.
She quivered, “I... I had a su-super scary... n-nightmare and was w-wondering... if I could s-sleep in here tonight?”
Zack, still a little dazed from waking up and having his awful nightmare, stood there for a second taking in the scene and the uncanny thing she had just said. He leaned over, scooped her up in his arms and carried her to his bed. He knew that this was the last night that she would be staying in Canterlot before the Princess relocated her to Ponyville to grow up with the other ponies. He looked down at her blue, sparkling and tear filled eyes, which seemed to show bright in the night cloaked room. She gave a small smile with tears still filled in her eyes, assuring that she would be okay, and maybe subliminally telling Zack that he would be okay as well. He knew that maybe she wanted to be with Zack one last time before she departed in a few hours in the early morning. He placed the pink pony in the left hand side of the bed, the part of the bed that Zack didn’t drench with sweat from his dream. He tucked her in and sat next to her on the bed. 
She quietly asked, “Aren’t you going back to sleep?” Zack looked out the balcony window in front of the bed, lost in thought. 
He sighed, and replied, “...I had a bad dream too... I might not be going back to sleep tonight...”
“What did you dream about?”

Zack looked back over at her and assured, “It’s nothing... Just something silly that shocked me a little.”
She blinked and replied, “Like a big, enormously huge cupcake?”
Zack chortled, “Yea... like a big, super, enormously huge cupcake..." His tone lightened as he added, "with sprinkles!” Zack reached over and rubbed her head, frizzing up her straightened hair into a curly fluff again.  “Now, go to sleep, missy! I’m going to get some water, but I’ll be right back, I promise.” Zack got up and was about to leave before he had a silly idea. He turned back toward his bed to see Pinkie looking back at him with a cute grin and her eyes aglow.
Zack saluted, “Cross my heart, hope to–” (he quickly changed the words up to not make what he was quoting grim,) “–fly, stick a... cupcake in my eye.”
She giggled and responded, “Don’t mind if I steal that funny saying, do you?”
“I don’t mind at all, it was made for you," he pointed and smiled. "Now, I’ll be right back!”
Zack left the bedroom and made his way to the kitchen to get him something to drink. When he had returned to the bedroom only minutes after he left, he discovered Pinkie Pie already fast asleep in the oversized bed. Zack walked over to the glass, balcony doors in front of the bed and silently opened them to walk out onto the high porch. He gazed out over the strangely quiet town center of Canterlot. He felt a strange breeze blowing, similar to the one in his dream.
Zack never went back to sleep that night. He stayed up and watched the sun rise to a new day in Equestria. Even though his heart was still weak from the nightmare, his body restless and his mind still captivated by those demonic, fiery eyes. He had no idea what was going on or going to happen to him, if anything at all. He planned to keep these dreams mere secrets from everyone, even if he had to lie.






(6)








“An assumption develops that you cannot understand life and live life simultaneously... I would say that life understood is life lived.”
- Timothy "Speed" Levitch







The morning came faster than Zack had expected. A pegasus drawn chariot was stationed in front of the castle doorways, ready to escort Miss Pie to the small village of Ponyville. Princess Celestia, along with some royal guards that accompanied her, waited outside next to the chariot for the two to arrive. Zack opened the white, palace doorways for Pinkie as she slowly walked out with her head lowered and eyes affixed on her hooves. They walked down the winding steps and towards the chariot–Zack had to be careful not to slip in fall in his new, long hemmed attire. Zack had been given some new clothes that Celestia weaved magically from some old curtains. They were all robes of some sort which didn’t fit Zack as well as they should, but did the job nonetheless. The two friends stopped once they reached the bottom of the stairs–Zack knelt down and lifted Pinkie’s chin, their eyes meeting once more.
“Now look, Pinkie. It’s going to be alright, we’ll still see each other plenty. It’s just that I need to stay here for a while, and you need to make some new friends in Ponyville. Let’s just put it this way: if you could make friends with a weirdo like me, then you can make friends with anybo–, err, anypony.”
She let out a sigh and replied, “I know... but I’m still going to miss you bunches.”
“I’m going to miss you more,” Zack smiled.
“I’m going to miss you more-er.” She returned the smile with a slight grin of confidence. 
Zack leaned over and hugged her tightly, she threw her hooves around his neck and dug her face into his shoulder. Zack could feel the warmth over her skin, and most importantly, her heart beat. Zack took her up in his arms and carried her to the chariot. He placed her inside the vehicle; letting her go was hard on him, he was going to miss the sound of her heart beat whenever they hugged closely. He’ll miss seeing her bobbing mane and tail as she bounced around him. He’ll miss those beautiful cerulean eyes, which shimmered like the sun’s reflection on a crystal, blue lake. He’ll miss her little jokes, her funny and cute ways of saying words, her voice. He couldn’t bare the sight, he felt as if he had to look away, to do no more harm to the crumbling fortress that held his feelings; he couldn’t though, he just couldn’t look away, she was the one that lead him this far, and now she was going away. He had only known this little pony for a little more than a week, but he felt so much closer to her than anyone else he’s let into his life. He knew that it was for the best, she was a run away after all, her past was mysterious to Zack as his past was to her. He knew that if she grew up among her kind, it would better suit her in the long run than being social stunted from living with Zack in the castle. He knew it was for the best, and broke free from her forlorn gaze. He stepped back away from the chariot, trying to keep his eyes on the frightened filly, who tried to hold her emotions back with a quaint, tender smile like her buddy watching. 
Celestia stepped in and announced, “We have a housing set up in Ponyville, the Cake family is awaiting her arrival in her room will be in the attic of Sugar Cube Corner, the same house you said you and her hid in while in town. As of now, she’ll be living off a monitored budget set up by the Canterlot Treasury until she is old enough to live on her own.”
Celestia looked over at Zack, he seemed to not be caring about the little details she was saying and that he had already knew beforehand. His focus was on the filly, and had zoned out everything around him. Celestia walked over and placed her wing around him to break his attention. 
She consoled, “You’ll see each other again. This is no goodbye, Zack. Just the start of another adventure.”
“Yea,” Pinkie interrupted, “...don’t worry about me... I’m a big pony... remember?...” Zack looked back up at her and smirked, her eyes were again filled with new tears, the tears she tried so hard to hold back.
The pegasus ponies opened their wings and took off, totting Pinkie Pie behind in the ivory chariot. Zack broke free from Celestia’s wing and ran ahead, trying to grab the chariot he was so far behind. It was no use, he had no idea what he was thinking when he tried to run and catch it, his emotions clouded his judgment. He dropped his arm lifelessly and watched the chariot fly off into the morning sky, the sunrise painted the over hanging cirrocumulus clouds with a light shade of pink, almost the same tone as Pinkie’s coat.
Zack turned back around and walked along side the Princess back into the castle. Things were going to be different.



__________



A couple of weeks had passed since Pinkie Pie left and Zack was trying to make full use of his time in the Canterlot castle. Two ground rules were made by Celestia for Zack to follow for assurance purposes only. She told him that he couldn’t leave the castle grounds and had to be cloaked whenever he went into the garden or taking an outdoor bridge to another tower. Zack understood the whole meaning of these rules and followed them without question. Though whenever he would stay out in the garden, he couldn’t be out for too long; combined with the Summer heat of the sun and staying cloaked, it became too hot and uncomfortable to relax in during the day. He would walk around in the gardens only during the cool of the day, either in the early morning or late afternoon. 
The first few days alone in the castle were times of discovering the entirety of the place. He had visited every room by the end of the third day. Some rooms were tightly locked and the sanctuary next to the citadel was off limits to anybody. Most of the rooms and chambers were the same, such as guest rooms, dining halls, conservatories, dressing rooms, nothing new or different. He did come across some interesting rooms while venturing through the mysterious corridors, like in one of the towers, he had ran into an observatory where he spent some nights looking through the massive telescope situated in the center of the room. He discovered that the constellations of the stars possessed both Earthly constellations such as Ursa Major and Minor, Scorpio, The Phoenix, and The Pegasus as well some new ones such as the Chimera, Orion’s Saddle, the Manitcore, and the Minotaur. During those nights of star gazing, Zack read the myths and legends of certain constellations from books he had taken from the library; he had always enjoyed mythology in school and found the myths in these books very entertaining on those lonely nights.
He didn’t know what Celestia did during the day, and in fact, didn’t really care at all. He knew she rose the sun and the moon since her sister was not present, but for the rest of the day, he hardly ever saw Celestia. He would sometimes see her on rare occasions walking in the gardens or staring out the castle windows into the plains below. She always wore a quaint smile on her face, but if you looked more closely, it appeared as if she was almost sleepwalking in a sense. That her mind was just overwhelming her constantly and her thoughts always captivated her. She would talk and act like a normal pony when you approached her, but if came up on her by accident or saw her in the distance, she looked so out of touch with the world around her. He thought that maybe this was the prolonged effect of immortality, condensed insanity.
When walking around the colossal castle interior, he would have to be careful entering rooms he heard noise coming from. Celestia warned him not to go into the Magic Kindergarten which was on the lower east section of the castle, so he stayed far from there. She also warned that other events were taking place inside the castle, such as music lessons, meetings, and the occasional garden parties held every couple of weeks by the elite members of the Canterlot community. 
He didn’t see Twilight Sparkle much, she was either busy studying or playing with Spike, always hard at work and always had something to do. Though when they did see each other, they would stop and have a quick chat, she would then realize how much time had passed and scurry off to do something that she had to do. Zack did meet a couple of times with Spike, the small purple and green dragon. He was a very interesting sight to see for Zack and he was very intrigued by the creature. He acted like a regular baby would, except for when he burped; Zack had to be extra careful to stay out of the way or be scorched by a green flame which Spike emitted. 
He spent most of his first week in a unbalanced routine. In the mornings, he would try to get up, take a bath, (Celestia had to increase in size for Zack to fit in), sometimes shave and head towards the library, disregarding breakfast entirely. Food was already prepared by the chefs in the kitchen, who had grown accustom to Zack’s bizarre looks, like every other pony that would enter the castle. Not many strange ponies entered the castle though, and when they did, Zack was hardly ever around unless they went straight to the library where he usually was, which never happened. During the morning hours, Zack would browse the immense library; it was one of the largest rooms in the entire citadel. The archives were narrowed into different wings from the central chamber where a large, decorative hourglass was placed. Celestia gave Zack the keys to all the wings of the library for his enjoyment, but most wings he discovered held only magical tomes for unicorns and guidelines for flying for pegasus ponies. Not many wings suited his desires except the fiction and nonfiction sections where he ran into some interesting novels and books that peaked his interests. By the end of the week, he had read all of the “Daring Do” Series and the “The Collective History of Equestria” Volumes, though with the volumes, he had skimmed over the boring stuff and read only about the wars and the forming of Equestria. 
In the beginning of a new week, he was bored out of his mind and couldn’t find a good book to read in the entire part of the library he hung out in, so he ventured into the parts of the archives where he had originally thought it would be boring. Zack came across an interesting series of books entitled, “Equine Combat and Warfare: A Complete Guide to Self Defense and Tactical Advantages Against Any Foe”. Zack read below, “Book 1: Taking Advantage of Your Opponents”. The book seemed to be a light read and would grab Zack’s attention, so he took all the books in the series and began to read through the interesting narratives and tutorials from war heros, martial artists, and medical ponies which gave detailed blue prints of where to attack a pony or pony related creature to break its bones effectively. 
While reading through this, Zack had taken notice that he had been doing nothing physical since his days of traveling with Pinkie Pie. In his previous life, he never had to work out. His body wasn’t in perfect shape, but he wasn’t fat either. He had walked everywhere he went before which kept him in decent shape; he lived close to his college campus and walked to all of his classes. He lived close to both the city and his job and never had to take a bus or taxi anywhere. He thought that now since he had nothing better to do than read, eat and sleep, he might as well work out and get in shape. 
The guides he was reading also taught the reader how to work out properly and pace yourself. Even though the instructions were meant for the equine physique, he could interpret it enough to apply it to his own body. He began doing these routines in his room, but figured he needed more space. He asked Celestia where he could possibly work out and she directed him to one of her many locked rooms in Canterlot Castle. When she opened the dark and dusty room, it revealed some sort of matted gym, almost like a dojo. The room was aged and needed repair–it hadn't seen use in quite some time. Celestia commented on how this room was once used to train an elite group of Ponies when the Royal Guard was established, but this area was deserted when the unicorns who built Canterlot Palace created a fort for housing the guards a few years after the construction of the castle. The Princess soon brought some of the maids into the room and cleaned up the place before Zack could truly begin his new work out routine. Celestia thought it was a great idea that Zack was trying to teach himself combat and getting himself in shape; she had the idea that he was preparing himself for whatever mission she was eventually going to give him. 
After the room was prepared, Zack began his work out schedule. He wasn’t a professional at what he was trying to do, but he thought if he did everything he knew from previous experiences from working out, wrestling from high school and everything taught in the guides that things would work out to his advantage. He spent three hours a day working out and building muscle mass, while taking thirty minute intervals of reading and back to exercising some more. Afterwards, he would take a power nap, and in the afternoon he would converse with Celestia whenever he could find her. 
The late afternoons were great times to discuss whatever was on his mind with Celestia or whatever was on hers. The two sat together in the Royal Garden and discussed a multitude of things. Zack usually asked things such as what ponies have accomplished over the years, what political or war matters have occurred over the course of the centuries, what jobs ponies have, and other odd things; but everyday Zack would ask in different ways about the places beyond the country of Equestria, Celestia would never give him a straight response to any of these inquiries, which only fueled his drive for learning more. 
The nightly dinners were a bit awkward. The main dining hall was a large rectangular chamber with high ceilings and large stain glass windows much like the throne room. In the center was large willow table that could seat around thirty guests. The tableware was some sort of pony inspired ‘meissen’ porcelain designs. Stallion heads were engraved in the legs of the table and in the center was the same design, but only as a statue, making a very obscuring center piece. The chairs were comfy, oak furnished seats, which of course Celestia had to make one bigger than the rest to fit Zack’s size. Only Celestia and Zack sat at the table, the awkward silence of both of them eating was enough to make anyone uncomfortable. Royal guards were stationed at each exit of the room, one on each side of every double doorway.
The food wasn’t that grand, but healthy nonetheless. It consisted of mostly a salad, fruit, vegetables, sometimes noodles, and of course a pastry of some sort along with milk or water. Zack now considered himself a vegetarian after being away from meat so long, but after sometime, he had missed the taste of bacon and ham.
He felt like he was being watched constantly, not only at dinner, but during his active hours by the guards who would pass by him in the halls. They showed no emotion at all, even when Zack would give them a friendly wave. He had no idea what they thought of him, but he assumed it wasn't nice thoughts. He wondered that maybe after the incident during Maredi Gra, they looked at him as some sort of nuisance or trouble just waiting to happen.
While eating a delectable salad prepared by the pony chefs, Zack was about to stab a leaf with his salad fork in hand when somehow the utensil slipped out and clashed on the floor, breaking the awkward silence with a ringing metallic noise that echoed throughout the refectory.
Zack swallowed and excused, “... Uh, sorry.” Zack pulled his chair out a little and was about to bend down to grab his fork when it was lifted by a unicorn guard’s magic. The silverware shot upward and narrowly missed Zack’s face.
The unicorn guard trotted over and replied with a dark tone, “Here you go... sir...”
Zack took the fork from midair and replied harshly, “Thanks, buddy.”
Zack’s surmising, grim intentions about the guards flooded his mind as he finished his meal. He knew they didn’t like him and were talking about him behind his back. He guessed it was obvious that they would do it, he is the only human in Equestria after all and only a handful of ponies know about him. Another looming idea surpassed his original one, what if these ponies talked about his presence outside of the castle walls. What if the whole city knew that Celestia was housing some sort of monster in the castle. These ideas and presumptions spun in Zack’s head for the next couple of days. He tried to conceal himself more and stay inside the newly refurbished dojo, away from the guards. 
After another week of performing his diligent work out pattern, Zack could start to feel he was getting stronger and faster. This encouraged him to keep at what he was doing, but felt as if he wasn’t learning enough about combat. That learning combat meant he had to train with another person, with and without weapons. In fact, the only weapons he had seen in the place were the iron spears the guards carried and, if you count it as being a weapon, the white sword that was on the stain glass window he had seen during his first visit with Celestia. He had quickly thought up an idea on how to work around this issue. 
He peeked out of the dojo one day to see a single royal guard standing at the end of the hallway. He appeared to be stuck in a trance of boredom, his eyes half open and his posture slumped over a little. Zack walked up to him with caution, he then waved his hand in front of the guard at a distance to try and get back the guard’s focus.
“Excuse me, sir, could–”
The guard snapped out of his daze and was immediately alert again, “Huh! Wha–... Oh, it’s just you.”
Zack, with a loss of words for a moment, continued with reluctance, “Hi, yes, uhmm, I was wondering... you know...” Zack’s conversation was interrupted by a sudden chuckle he gave, realizing how stupid he must sound right now. “Well of course you know, ha, well, I’ve noticed that some of you guards have something against me, I presume? If this grudge was from the silly ol' Maredi Gra incident, then I want to personally say I’m sorry about that... I’m not even sure if you were one of the ponies in the garden that night, you all really look the same–”
“Oh, I was in the garden. I was the one that knocked your light’s out.”
“Ahh, okay, so we have met in some way...”
There was a brief moment of awkward silence, both of them were looking else where in the hall, trying to avert the unpleasant situation Zack had caused. Zack thought that now that he knew who he was, he shouldn’t be the one apologizing for anything since he was the one that knocked him out, but that would deter his plan if he didn’t make the guard feel comfortable around him again.
Zack looked back at the guard and insisted, “I’m sorry for... ruining your night. I just want me and the guards to get along, ya know?”
The pony gave a concerned look, “Sure...”
Zack tapped the pony’s shoulder with a friendly jab and lilted, “Well I know someone like you needs to blow off some steam every now and then, guard work must be tough!”
“Actually, uhh, it’s quite uneventful to be honest.” The guard smiled at that and Zack let out a laugh in response. 
Zack leaned back and said, “You wanna do some sparring with me in the dojo sometime? They just fixed it up.” The stallion stood there for a second, thinking about the proposal.
He looked around and asked, “Sure, I don't see why not. I don't believe anyone will notice that I'm gone from my post for too long.” Zack looked around the chamber and hallway, they were the only two in this entire section of the castle he believed. 
He retorted, “I really don’t think you’ll be caught, and I won’t tell a soul, promise.”
The two walked down the hall and into the dojo where they both worked out and sparred together. Whenever the guard would find some free time to where he could sneak away, he would make his way to the dojo where Zack would be and they would teach each other tactics both had learned from Zack’s wrestling to the stallion’s combat the Royal Guards were taught. He even brought in weapons from time to time. Such weapons were staffs, swords, daggers, spears, bows and arrows. Over the weeks, both had given themselves great work outs and a better understanding of mixed weapons and self-defense. Zack had gotten to know the pony, his name was Valiant Steed; and from what he had told him over time, that he was childhood friend’s with Shining Armor, the current Captain of the Royal Guard.


__________


The morning came and Zack heard a knock on his bedroom door. It was around the time he usually got up, so he was feeling awake already. He went over to his wardrobe to put on a new robe when there was a second knock on his door.
“I’m coming, I’m coming! Gezz...” he groaned. He never had anyone meet him this early in the morning for anything, not even Celestia who raised the sun. He sauntered over to the door and opened it, only to be blasted by an array of confetti. Zack jumped back in fright while shielding himself from whatever it was. 
“Holy sh–” A filly bounded into the room, jumped around Zack and onto his shoulders singing,


“Happy monthiversary to Zacky-poo today!
I-can't-believe-you've-been-here-for-a-month! Time-sure-flies doesn't-it? Well-it-seems-like-only-yesterday-you-came-here!
But now we’ve been friends for a month, yay!”


Zack had tumbled to the floor in the process of her song. Pinkie Pie stared deeply into Zack’s dumbfound expression–he didn’t know what to say. 
He stammered for the correct words before asking, “How d–, how did you get here?”
She tilted her head and replied, “I was expecting a ‘thank you’ or ‘how do you do, too?’ but noooo!” She emphasized, “I spent all week preparing for this moment and my best-est, best friend doesn’t thank me for this awesome surprise!” She turned away from Zack, head lowered. 
He got up quickly and entreated, “No no, this was awesome, Pinkie Pie, don’t get me wrong! I just woke up, I wasn’t expecting you to be here, that’s all!” She pivoted on one hoof and spun her body around in an instant, facing Zack again with a glee filled face. 
“Well, do you like it then?”
“Of course!”
“Yay! So worth it!”
Zack smiled and again asked, “So, how did you get here exactly?”
She flopped on the bed and took in a deep breath, “Well first I ran all the way from Ponyville to Canterlot, then I stopped and smelled some flowers, then I ate a cupcake. No! I lied! I ate two cupcakes!” While explaining how she got here, she hopped along the furniture in the room while articulating flawlessly the rest of her story in one drawn out breath. “... then I threw the guards a party. Then I snuck into the kitchen. Then I ate some birthday cake. And then finally I ran upstairs to sing a song to you!” She gasped and tried to catch her breath.
“Oh wow, you sure did a lot of work to come see me, even if you might get in trouble for doing it.”
“Get in trouble,” she barked. “How now, brown cow?”
“Greetings, you two.” Celestia stood in the doorway facing the duo. Pinkie’s eyes widen and she squeaked in shock. 
The filly slid on her knees toward Celestia and begged, “Oh please, please, please don’t send me back to Ponyville just yet. I want to spend this super-awesome day with my favorite Zack! Please, I’ll be a good pony, I swear!”
“Of course,” she stated, “ sounds like a great idea to me. You two have fun now!” She turned and walked down the stairs as quietly as she came up them. Pinkie spun back around towards Zack with enraptured bliss plastered across her face, her eyes glimmering with excitement and ecstasy. 
“Well, ” Zack scratched his head, “what are we waiting for? What do you want to do?”
“Be with you!” Pinkie was captured in the joy of being with her friend she hadn’t seen or heard from in a month. 
Zack offered an idea he had almost forgotten about, “Well, remember when you said you wanted to learn how to play an instrument?”
“Yes,” She interjected in a high pitched squeal of joy. “I mean,” she toned her voice down, “yes!” 
“Well how about I teach you to play the violin? Celestia owns a bunch of musical instruments we can goof around on!”
“Wahoo,” She jumped back on Zack’s shoulders and pointed onward, “Let’s get going then, we’re burning precious daylight!”


__________



Zack and Pinkie made their way down the spiraling stairs in the tower which his bedroom was in.
On their way down, Pinkie hollered, “So guess what!” Zack looked up at her, her head hanging over his and her eyes brightly fastened to his own. 
“What?”
“No, guess!” 
“You... ate a cupcake?”
“Of course! And, I drew a picture of you at school!” She hung a scribbled piece of paper in front of his view. 
Zack stopped, grabbed the paper which was turned around, and restated, “School? You go to school now?”
“Yes sir-ie! Princess Celestia said I had to go to school if I wanted to live in Ponyville, and I have to say I thought it was going to be as boring as watching paint dry! But nope! It’s pretty neat-o!”
Zack flipped the paper around to see a colored, pink pony with big blue dots for eyes and a stick man version of Zack with a big smile on his face. Zack was holding Pinkie Pie’s hoof in his hand, and in the background she drew a blue sky, puffy little clouds, a yellow ball representing the sun and some green mountains. She wrote above the duo she drew, ‘Bestest Friends Forever’. 
“It’s beautiful, Pinkie Pie!”
She gasped in excitement, “You think so?”
“I know so! Your drawing talent might get you another cutie mark!”
The pink filly giggled as they continued down the steps. “No, don’t be a silly-filly, Zacky! Nopony can get two cutie marks, that’s re-donk-ulous!”
They finally made it downstairs and into an empty, music room filled with an assortment of different instruments. Zack took two violins out of their cases and tuned them for himself and Pinkie Pie. He sat down in front of the filly on a piano stool he had pulled over; she was waiting intently, bearing a wide smile across her face, with her ears up in alert and as quiet as possible, she listened for Zack’s words of wisdom. Zack held both stringed instruments in his hands and began his lecture.
“The violin is the most rewarding and beautiful instruments to play when mastered. There are probably many great musical pieces you have heard somewhere that involve a violin of some sort. It’s an old relic with a deep history. Though let me warn you, it will be a long road ahead! Patience is key to learning to play music correctly on this delicate vehicle of classical perfection. Now, let me give a demonstration.”
He sat the other violin down and picked up the bow next to his seat. He positioned the instrument underneath his chin and waited a second to remember the exact chords in his head, and began to play. The violin’s lush sound filled the empty room with harmonic melodies. Zack began the chorus to his favorite classical piece of music, ‘Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring’. It was a classic that was burned into his mind by his instructor long ago, and now he couldn't possibly forget the chords like how he couldn't forget to breath.
Pinkie was stunned at the musical elaboration Zack was producing, even if it wasn’t entirely perfect. Zack had played this song many different times over the course of his years, but he loved to put a Celtic vibe into the strings, which he did so for Pinkie, performing only his best for her. He let the last note ring out as he slowed the pace of the falling bow, inching out the noise until the D Major fell into the G Major. It silenced the chamber once again.
The filly was speechless, she had never heard the violin played so beautifully, in fact, she had never heard it at all until then. Zack complimented her expression with a smile and decided to treat her with an encore. He began playing again, only this time, singing the first chorus the best he could. He wasn’t the best singer compared to playing his music, but he closed his eyes and tried his hardest.


“Jesu, joy of man's desiring,
Holy wisdom, love most bright;

Drawn by Thee, our souls aspiring,
Soar to uncreated light.”


Zack took the violin out from underneath his chin and opened his eyes, the filly was still struck by awe. He realized that in the doorway of the room, Princess Celestia was standing there admiring his musical talents. She had also brought another young filly who he had never seen before.
His focus was drawn back to Pinkie Pie and he concluded, quoting his instructor's words to him, “Music is a powerful tool. Its universal voice can be understood by all. Now, let’s try and set you up.”
Pinkie’s expression changed to a giddy smile and her animated mood fueled her drive to play. Zack taught her how to hold the violin and bow, how to press down into the strings just right, to keep parallel with the bridge and the bow, and the names of the strings, (E, A, D, and G). He didn’t know how he would teach her to hold the strings being that she had a hoof, but from what he’s seen the ponies grab before, he just showed her on his violin rather than him trying to put her hoof in the right place.
He began again saying,  “Now, for your first song, we’ll learn the tune, ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’. Now, repeat after me. ‘D’ twice,” Zack played the chords while Pinkie watched. “‘A’ twice...” he continued teaching and went over what he did as slow as he could, then he let Pinkie try. She lifted her head up, blew some of her pink, fluffy mane out of her line of sight and lifted the bow. She pressed down much too hard on the strings which let out an ear piercing screech. Celestia stepped into the room, along with her small, filly companion who seemed to be wearing a pink bow tie and white collar. 
Pinkie Pie stopped and asked Zack with an unsure look, “That didn’t turn out too well, did it?”
Zack rubbed his finger in his ear and laughed, “Better than my first time!”
Celestia turned towards the two and said, “I heard what was going on and I thought that maybe it would be best if my music student, who happens to be a pony, teach Pinkie Pie a thing or two on the violin. It would an easier learning experience for one pony to teach another.”
“Well, I guess so...” slowly replied Zack.
The gray filly presented herself to Zack and bowed her head, “My name is Octavia, good sir. The Princess has told me all about you.” Her grin towards Zack changed to a dreary look when she turned and raised her eyebrow at Pinkie Pie, who nervously smiled back, showing a little intimidation from the filly. Her purple eyes glared at the pink one, she squinted and said, “So, you want to play a musical instrument as sophisticated as the violin?"
“Uh... yes ma’am...” Pinkie became a little scared of the dark maned filly that eyeballed her.
“Well, we have a lot of work to do then, might as well start somewhere.”
Celestia and Zack we’re pushed out of the room by Octavia. She assured them that she would be able to teach Pinkie Pie how to play the violin in no time whatsoever. The doors were slammed shut and the two looked at each other, expressing their confusion. 
Celestia shrugged and commented, “I guess we’ll see.”
A couple of hours had past and it appeared to be about midday. Zack trained in the dojo a while before going back to check on Pinkie Pie’s progression. As soon as Zack was about to enter, the doors slammed open and Octavia stormed out of the room. The precocious filly’s mane and tail were frizzed, bow tie loosened and the fire of anger consumed her eyes. She spotted Zack halted in the hallway before her, she stopped and vigorously shook her hoof at him.
Octavia bellowed, “Unlike you, your friend has no talent of any kind! I tried my hardest to teach her, but even I, Octavia, cannot indoctrinate this imbecile in the fine arts of music!”
Before Zack could reply to her cruel words, she quickly stomped off and out the castle front doors. Zack entered the room and noticed that the pink filly was playing ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ over and over again, out of tune and off pace. Her wide eyes were shaking with the rest of her body and her mane and tail showed many curls out of place. She looked like she had gotten into a brawl and was dramatized from the event. Zack stepped in quickly, placed his hand on her shoulder and shook her.
“Pinkie. Pinkie! You can stop now!”
She dropped the bow and violin with a clash, but her arms kept moving like she was still playing the invisible instrument. Zack shook her again and she snapped out of whatever trance she was in. 
She turned her head towards him, giving a concerned expression and drawled, “That wasn’t fun at all. She yelled at me... a lot.”
“Let me assure you, most music teachers aren’t like that, you just need to find a new one, maybe in Ponyville. I just don’t want you to think that not every teacher is like this.”
She turned her head to the ground and sighed, staring at the fallen violin. “Okie... dokie... lokie..."
Zack took her hoof and uplifted, “Come on, let’s go get something to eat and do something else.”


__________


The human and filly sat in the Royal garden and had themselves a nice lunch of lettuce sandwiches, similar to the ones Zack ate during Maredi Gra in Ponyville. They dined at a small, stone table in the far corner of the garden. They had a great view of the fountain in the center and sat upon the grass around the circular table.
“So," Zack said with a mouth full of lettuce and bread. He swallowed and continued, “Have you made any new friends at school?”
Pinkie flipped a part of her curly hair out of her line of sight and replied, “Yea! Applejack and Rarity!”
“What are they like?”
“Well, Applejack likes my funny jokes, but she doesn’t like it when I talk too much... and Rarity likes my hair, though she said my coat color gives her a migraine sometimes.”
Zack, a tad puzzled, asked, “They don’t sound like good friends to me.”
“Oh, but they are! Rarity shares her crayons with me when we draw and Applejack asked if I wanted to come over for a sleepover one night in her tree house!” 
“Hmm, I take that back.” Zack took a sip of water and proceeded, “How about after this we play a board game or something, I know Princess Celestia has a ton of games in one of her conservatories.”
The two finished up their lunch and headed into the palace. They both picked out few a board games such as ‘Stables and Barns’ and took them up to the observatory. They spent a couple of hours up in the chamber playing games and goofing around. Later they played hide and go seek, which lasted a lot longer than Zack thought because Pinkie Pie had accidentally locked herself in the dungeon and it took a very long time to find her. He eventually had to ask some guards to help out in finding her and they spotted her in the dungeon next to cell where the previous Captain of the Guard was located. It was a little awkward meeting him again, but he didn’t say anything, he just gave a detesting look towards Zack and Pinkie Pie as they left. Pinkie responded with her tongue stuck out and her eyes crossed, mocking him as they left the dungeon.
After that little incident, there wasn’t much left to do. Zack and Pinkie went out on the front porch of the Western Tower and watched the sun go down over the tall mountains in the horizon. The ball of light lit up the sky and tinted the cumulus clouds in a bright salmon color overhead. Pinkie pointed out that the large, stationary cloud north of Canterlot was called Cloudsdale. She told him that that’s where the weather was made and only Pegasus ponies can live there since they are the only ones that can walk on clouds. This information, along with some other odd bits of random knowledge she told Zack was from what she had learned in school so far. Pinkie had also told him that she had started learning how to bake at the Cake’s residence, and that Carrot had told her that she was really good for being a first time baker and might let her work in the shop. Zack thought that it was great, and that Princess Celestia was right, that her living in Ponyville was the right choice all along.
Later that night, Zack and the pink filly stayed up and baked cakes, cupcakes, muffins, cookies, and all sorts of pastries; they even messed around and tried combining new things all together. Zack wasn’t as good or fast at making anything involving baking, so Pinkie Pie had to intervene a lot. They spent most the night using up nearly every bit of the cooking supplies, Zack knew that he would have a lot of the same thing to eat for a while with all these desserts they were producing. While Zack was taking another set of muffins out of the oven, he had noticed his filly friend face first in the cake batter bowl she was stirring; her fatigue had finally caught up with her hyper activity. He took her to the bathroom to wash her face of the batter and pat it dry. Zack finally carried her up the stairs to his bedroom and placed her under the covers. He was starting to feel the effects of the late night as well and shortly crashed after he had tucked in Pinkie Pie. He didn’t even get under the covers, but merely collapsed on the bed.
Morning came too soon and both rolled out of bed in a tired shamble. Zack opened the curtains and peered out the window to guess what time it was, he looked down into the front lawn of the palace to spot the pegasus ponies already attached to a white chariot, ready to escort Pinkie Pie back to Ponyville. Zack groaned and closed the curtains.The two half asleep friends carefully made their way down the dangerous, winding steps to the castle ground floor. They met Celestia in the hallway walking towards them.
She was already on her way to wake them up; when they passed by her, Celestia was about to say something, but the duo interjected simultaneously, “We know.”
They opened the front doors and ambled to the chariot, Zack picked the pony up and sat her gently in the vehicle. 
“I had fun last night, Pinkie.” Zack squinted in the morning sunlight, his eyes still adjusting to the brightness. The filly half smiled, her bed head blowing in the light breeze and the sunlight refracting off her own squinting eyes. 
She responded lightly, “Yea... I had a blast. I hope my birthday is as fun as today. We’ll just have to see tomorrow.”
Before Zack could even respond, the chariot lifted off the ground and she was totted back to Ponyville. Zack watched her fly away again and thought, “Damn, what do I get a pony for her birthday?”