//------------------------------// // Chapter 7, A happy Moon and Sun. Alex don’t screw it! // Story: Friendship is Life // by alejin //------------------------------// On the next morning, Twilight and everypony were getting ready for their trip to Canterlot. She was so excited; this was her very first assignment as a Princess, she had always heard about the Coliseum Tournament but she never ever expected it to be held in Canterlot, it was a lot of responsibility, but it made her happy, not to mention the fact that the other Princesses didn’t know Alex was alive. Once ready, they all got aboard the Train of Friendship: “So Alex, are you excited about seeing the Princesses again?” “Yes Twilight, It’s not really that long since I saw them, but when someone believes you are dead, I guess time is the last thing that matters”. “I agree with you Alex, I can’t wait and I can’t believe we will see a real Coliseum tournament!” “Yeah! What exactly is it Twilight?” Rainbow Dash was the one to answer: “Dude, it’s the most exciting event in the entire world, far more important than the Equestria Games or even the Best Flyer Competition, it’s a tournament where the best fighters are gathered to test their abilities to become the strongest warrior in the entire World. I have only seen pictures of the past events and trust me, they look AWESOME!” “So, neither of you have participated in one of those tournaments, right? – Alex Asked. Applejack was the one to answer his question: “No sugarcube, yah see, it’s been ages since one is held in Equestria and yes yah can say one pony can travel to the other countries to watch it or to participate, the problem is that the tickets and the travel fees for the event are really expensive. Trust me, Rainbow Dash and ah had always wanted to go but we can’t afford it” “I understand, so being the country that is hosting it means that it will be free for us this time, correct?” “Ah’d like to say it will, but no. The only thing Ah can tell yah is that at least equestrians will have a very good discount in tickets.” - Applejack replied with an optimistic look. “So, who won the last tournament?” – Alex asked. Rainbow Dash had read most of the information available regarding these tournaments so she was the one to answer this: “It was Bright Courage! A powerful Minotaur, he was the best hunter in the entire world. He slew at least one of every monster in all of Equestria, Ursa Minors, Hydras, Manticores, Chimeras and the list goes on, so be sure we will see a lot of Minotaurs this year, it’s a shame he is retired since the last tournament. But maybe we will see him in the audience” – Rainbow Dash was so excited by telling this, it seemed as if she was a big fan of the Minotaur. “Wow! I believe ponies have participated in these tournaments before and it’s not that I underestimate Minotaurs or any other non-magical being but how is it possible for someone to beat a unicorn without magic?” – Alex asked them. “Oh! You see Alex; there are special rules in these tournaments to make it fair for every participant and to prevent any kind of tragedy. You will hear about them, I promise.” – Twilight answered. “Ok girls; is anypony of you planning to participate in this tournament? – Alex asked, knowing that some of them were. Everypony shook their heads, excluding Raindow Dash and Spike. Twilight was the only one to notice this: “Spike! Do you know what I think about you entering the Tournament?” “…But Rainbow Dash is going to participate, and I think Alex will. Am I right Alex?” – Spike asked. Fluttershy was looking at Alex, waiting for him to say he wasn’t going to participate. Alex thought Spike was right, maybe he could compete, he had the fighting skills and according to what they told him, he wasn’t risking his life this time. “I don’t know Spike, let’s see what the Princesses have to say first and then I’ll tell you know if I want to participate or not.” Spike was a little sad after hearing this: “Ok brother, do as you wish. Twilight… C’mon! You know I can fight now and you know it’s not that dangerous anymore, I know we are talking about some bruises, but you know the lives of the competitors are not in danger and it’s obvious that because of my age, I will fight the younger competitors.” “I promise I’ll think about it after we speak with the Princesses” – Twilight said, a little reluctant. The rest of the trip was quiet and nice. They asked Alex some questions about his world and what he did while he was away. They asked him about how he got the Quetzales, which he said it was a very risky thing to do but it was worth it. Everypony laughed when he told them about the first time he used the Teleportation spell, Twilight told him he had it easy, the very first time she tried that not only she teleported to the wrong place but somehow she got her mane on fire, everypony laughed so hard it made the rest of the passengers laugh too. Twilight said she was going to teach him some magic with some help from Sweetie Bell and the rest of the crusaders, Alex was very happy to hear this; he didn’t want to fall on top of things or breaking any stuff again. It was the best thing that some of the greatest magic user were going to teach him. They finally arrived at Canterlot, Alex could not hide his excitement for this city; all of its colorful places, the streets and houses, everything was so perfectly crafted, it was still the most beautiful city he had ever seen. When they got off the train they were welcomed by Celestia’s Royal Guards who carried their luggage. They bowed in front of the princess and then started to put all of their things in a wagon. At first, the Royal Guards were suspicious of the unknown pony that came with the heroines and the little dragon hero of Canterlot and the Cristal Empire, Twilight told them he was with them and was a good friend so he had to be treated as such. All of them nodded and took his luggage too, they offered to take them in a chariot but they declined seeing how Alex was excited about being in the city once again, as soon as the guards were gone, everypony started walking through the city’s beautiful streets. Alex was so impressed to see all of the houses looking as good as new, he also remembered how damaged the city was after the fight that took place there. They visited Donut’s Joe and Pixel Berry Bar, none of them recognized Alex but that was fine since he didn’t want to get a lot of attention. Alex wasn’t paying much attention on the road because he was thinking about how the princesses would react after knowing he was still alive, all of a sudden he crashed against his favorite noble Fancy Pants. He used his magic to help him stand up and then he heard these words: “How dare you do that to Mr. Fancy Pants you commoner” - Jet Set said. (Déjà vu) “Sigh . . . would it help if I say it was an accident?” “Of course n. . . . .” – Jet Set was interrupted by Fancy Pants: “Yes of course young boy. . .” “My name is Alex, thank you Mr. Fancy Pants” Jet set seemed to shudder when he heard that name. “Alex? How curious, anyway I’m sorry for bumping into you” “No need to Apologize Mr. Fancy Pants” – Alex replied. “Well thank you boy, and Miss Rarity I see you are here with your friends and this fine Stallion. May I ask why?” “Yes you may, you see we are here to help Princess Celestia with an up-coming event” – Rarity answered. She didn’t want to spoil it so she didn’t reveal the name. “Oh I see, well I hope we can have a little talk later including your friends of course. See you later!” Everypony started to walk, but Jet Set got near Alex and whispered. “You are lucky peasant, I don’t know why but I feel I’ve seen you before. I’ll tell you this, commoners like you are not welcomed here…” “Whatever you say old man; now let me give you an advice of my own, stay out of my way or I will break your nose like I heard somepony did at Gala 2.” – Alex replied with an evil grin on his face. Jet Set stood there, shocked. Everypony else in his group was trying to make him move, Alex kept on walking towards the rest of his gang with a huge smile on his snout. After walking for a little longer, Alex and the rest arrived at the Palace, Thanks to Twilight’s influence Alex got a room just for him; Princess Celestia was a little busy at the Throne room, so all of them waited inside their rooms for her to be available. After approximately an hour, they were summoned to the throne room, the mane 6 and Spike were the first ones to enter, once they were inside, they were surprised to find not only the Princesses but Cadence and Shining Armor as well. After a brief welcome, Princess Celestia said: “Welcome my little ponies I hope your travel here was nice!” “You have no idea Princess Celestia. I speak for everypony by saying that this was the best train ride since months.” Rarity answered, everypony else nodded. “Really?! May I ask why?” – Princess Celestia asked. “Well, we have the company of a very good friend of ours. One we missed so much” – Rarity answered. “I see. May I know the name of this particular pony?” “Well, why don’t we let him come in and ask him yourself, I’m pretty sure you will find him quite interesting, he is outside the room now.” “Why didn’t you say so before? Guards! Please let Princess Sparkle’s friend come in” The royal guards escorted the mysterious pony into the room until Alex was in front of the four princesses. “Hello my little pony, nice to meet you” – Princess Celestia said. “Hey Princess Celestia, it’s an honor to see you again…” “Again? That’s curious. Forgive me if I don’t remember meeting you before.” “Don’t worry Princess; I know I look a lot different from the last time we met.” Twilight and her friends tried not to laugh. It seemed nopony recognized him yet. Alex turned to Luna: “Princess Luna, I must say it’s nice to meet you again. And by the way, it’s a beautiful night out there; you’ve really outdone yourself as always.” Princess Luna blushed. She was still confused, who was this Pony? She was pretty sure she never met many ponies outside the elements and the royalty circle, but still this pony seemed familiar. His face, his hair, even his eyes; those clothes and shoes and his pendant, HIS PENDANT! Where did she see that pendant before? She started to walk near him to inspect him it a little closer. Alex noticed this and said: “Do you like my pendant? It’s nice isn’t it? A very good friend of mine gave it to me as a parting gift!” Princess Luna stopped at some inches from where he was, she looked at it for a little longer, until she finally recognized it. It was impossible! “. . . not possible! It’s just, this is not possible!” – She said. Celestia, Cadence and Shining Armor kept staring at Luna and the nameless pony; they got even more confused after seeing the Elements sharing some tears. Luna ignored them; Alex let out a tear and said: “It’s possible, trust me. You wanted me to see the world as you do and I really want to thank you for that Luna!” Luna’s eyes widened as she started to cry. “May I please …?” “Of course Luna, you may.” Alex said while lowering his head. Luna used her magic to slowly remove Alex’s Metapendant. Everypony was immediately surrounded by the brightest light they had ever seen. When the light was gone there he was: Alex the human, hugging a shocked Luna. Princess Celestia, her guards and the rest stood there in silence. “I missed you my moon-friend.” Alex said. Luna was so full of questions: “How is this possible? He was dead, and maybe this is a changeling. But Twilight must have used a scanning Spell before bringing him here. Maybe some sort of necromancy? No! He didn’t smell rotten and he looks like he has a soul, maybe a joke…” The elements and her sister were looking at him, Luna could have tried to find many explanations but in the end none of them mattered. Alex was here, in front of her. Following her instincts, she hugged him. “I MISSED YOU TOO!” Luna said using her Canterlot Royal voice. Alex was about to say something but was interrupted by a hug from Princess Celestia who was also crying. “Alex?! Are you really him? But how…?” “I promise I will explain everything, but for now, please let me give you a hug.” Alex answered. He was unable to stop crying. Princess Cadence and Shining Armor said: “Alex, we thought you were dead!” “Everypony was thinking the same thing Shining, everypony including myself. I thought those were my last moments. I will explain all of this later, but please let me enjoy this moment first!” Shining nodded and then hugged Alex along with the princesses. --- DINNING HALL After sharing his story on how he was able to survive, Alex and the rest; including the princesses, were sitting at a large table. Luna was sitting next to Alex asking him some random questions. Celestia said: “So Alex, you are saying that thanks to that Oak tree in your world, you managed to return here to Equestria, right?” “Yes, I remembered that place where I fell asleep when I was sent here for the first time so I tried again and fortunately, I was right.” – Alex answered. “Are you telling me you went to that tree many times until it finally worked?” Luna asked. Alex didn’t want to answer that question, but if he lied Luna and Applejack would immediately find out: “Well, the day I chose to try to return was the last day of your meteor shower. I would have given up if it didn’t work, but for some unknown reason it did…” “I see, lucky as always!” Luna said this while putting her hoof on Alex’s shoulder. “Yes, well I think that tree or that park is somehow connected to Equestria. Am I right Princess?” “Well my little human, I do believe in coincidences, but working for a second time, I’d be willing to believe that too. We will talk about that in the future, for now I think we can celebrate the return a hero!” – Luna answered. “Really? What kind of hero? I didn’t know there was a hero here!” “Silly Alex, we are talking about you!” – Princess Luna said. “What? No! I’m no hero” – Alex replied looking very surprised. Princess Cadence said: “Yes, you are Alex. You saved us from my bro…, from Blueblood and Chrysalis’ wrath, if that doesn’t make you a hero, I don’t know what else would!” “I didn’t do it all by myself, in fact you and the rest made most of the work!” – Alex said. He was still refusing the idea of being called a hero. “Darling please, you are doing it again. Don’t sell yourself short, you helped a lot. You even kil… you defeated Blueblood!” – Rarity said. Alex remembered the one thing that made him afraid of being back in Equestria – “How could I forget about that?” – He said to himself. He turned to Princess Luna, Celestia and Cadence and got on his knees, his face on the floor. “Alex? What are you doing?” – Princess Luna asked. “I’m sorry. I know he was a tyrant but he was also a pony, your nephew as well as Cadence’s brother. I took a pony’s life; I will accept any punishment you want to give me. But please know that I’m truly sorry!” – Alex said. His heart was full of guiltiness. How was he able to forget what he did? He wasn’t able to forgive himself. The Princesses looked at each other. Suddenly, a smile appeared on their snouts. Luna approached Alex, using her magic to lift him from the floor. She told him: “Alex, you have nothing to be sorry about, he was indeed a living creature, but the pony you killed wasn’t our nephew, he was just a creature whose heart was filled with hatred and thirst for power.” Princess Cadence got near Alex as well - “Alex, even though it was a hard for me, my brother brought that upon himself. In fact, I’m kind of grateful because by ending his life, you released him from his greed. I’d like to believe he is in a better place now.” “But still…” – Alex replied. His eyes were full of tears. Could he finally forgive himself? “Alex, my little human, you did what was necessary. You saved us, please don’t let that incident cloud your judgment. We are not angry, just a little sad, but you are still a good friend of ours (everypony nodded) and I hope you will continue to help us protecting Equestria” – Princes Luna said. “I would give my life if necessary!” – Alex’s voice was full of determination, his words made them tremble. “Please, don’t say that! We don’t want you to go through that again! – Princess Cadence said – I think we’ve had enough of these sad memories. To be honest, I think it’s time for a… Pinkie Pie would you please…?” Pinkie Pie used all of the air in her lungs: “A WELCOME BACK PARTY!” The doors to the Throne Room opened a few minutes later, the kingdom cooks entered the hall. They brought the most delicious snacks one could ever think of. Music, food and happiness were all over the place, everypony inside the palace had a really great time. Alex answered all of the questions the princesses could think of. They all danced until exhaustion, at the end all of them agreed on one thing: It was the best party they ever had (in the last months at least). Later that night, while everypony was sleeping, Alex woke up all of a sudden. He was feeling a little thirsty and had a pain in his back – “Wow! I forgot to remove my Metapendant after princess Luna asked me to show her some magic stuff I learned while I was practicing on earth. I haven’t got used to sleep in my pony form yet.” – He got of his bed and trotted towards the door – “Being a pony has some advantages, I can use magic and have a lot of strength and stamina, but I feel way better being a human. There is no way I can practice parkour while on my pony form.” – He said to himself. Once he reached the door, he opened it up and found Fluttershy on the other side. She was just standing there, outside of his room; it seemed as if she wanted to knock on the door. She was frozen - “Is there anything you want to tell me?” – Alex asked her, while looking right into her eyes. “I wanted to…” – Fluttershy said. “Yes?” – Alex asked. “Please, just forget it! Forget you saw me here!” – Fluttershy started to run away as fast as she could. Alex didn’t know what to do; he was so surprised to find her standing there. “Wait!” - That was the only thing he could say before he started to run after her. He had many questions in his mind. He didn’t even stop to think for a reason to run behind her, all he wanted to do was to catch her up. She was fast, but Alex wasn’t any slow, he had trained very hard in his pony form. He hadn’t noticed they both were running through the royal gardens until he was close enough to grab her hoof. “Fluttershy, STOP! What’s going on? Please tell me…” – Alex wanted to ask so many things. Fluttershy didn’t say a word, she was covering her face with her mane, she was trying to let go of Alex’s hoof but her efforts weren’t enough. She calmed down after some seconds and then she looked at Alex, right into his eyes. It was obvious she had something to say, her cute face gave her away, he knew she wanted to hell him something since the moment he came back, but he also knew that for some reason he was trying to avoid her. Now, there they were, standing in front of each other, the moon was brighter than ever. It was the right time to settle things up. Alex was the first one to talk. “Fluttershy, there is something…” He was interrupted by her voice. “Alex, what do you think about me?” “What do you mean by that?” – Alex asked. He didn’t know how to answer that question. “Well, you do know I like you, right?” “Well, I do. I think you made it very clear that day.” – Alex said. “Oh yes, I did. Sorry about that. Well, I like you but I need to know if you said you like me too. Is that…true?” – Fluttershy eyes were brighter than the moon, it was clear that every word was coming from her heart. Alex stood there; he was so lost in her eyes. The answer to that question was more than obvious. However, he couldn’t stop thinking about having feelings for someone who wasn’t human. “Fluttershy, I like you …a lot” “Rea …Really?” – Fluttershy seemed so happy after hearing this. “I really like you Fluttershy, but…” “What is it Alex?” “There are some things that make me … I don’t know, back off …like …” “It’s because I’m a pony right?” – Fluttershy stopped looking at his eyes. “What? No! Maybe…” - Alex had a lot of things going on in his head when he said that. “Yeah … I thought so. I know that when you see me or my friends, we remind you of the ponies in your home planet, don’t we?”- She asked this while looking to the ground. “… Not exactly …” – Alex answered. “Yes, we do! - Fluttershy started to cry - ponies in your world are mindless and dirty animals, right? Besides, I know you were raised to like human girls. I know you will never be able to love an animal, right? After all … It’s a taboo on earth, when you see me you see something you can’t love, maybe a good friend but not someone you could love … trust me, I thought the same thing, how in the world would I love a creature who wasn’t a pony? But in the end, my heart was the one who chose you. I didn’t care if you were a human, a pony or even a dragon! I fell in love with your heart! I fell in love with you even knowing it was a lost cause. How to love someone that will never feel anything for a… a … farm animal?!” Alex couldn’t help it. He lifted her face until their eyes met again. “Fluttershy, please stop! I can’t deny that some of the things you said are true, and I honestly has the same thoughts, but please believe me when I say that you and our friends are not just animals to me, I know you are not physically human, but you can feel, smile, love… you are not ugly or dirty, you are beautiful. It’s true that I am afraid of a lot of things, but please believe me they all go away whenever I see your face, your eyes, you drive me crazy. Fluttershy, please don’t say those words ever again.” Fluttershy was shocked. Nopony had ever said that to her outside of her friends. Many ponies had always pushed her over or tried to take advantage of her but Alex was different, he really cared for her. She needed to say it tonight; she had to try… “Alex, I know we both have issues with ourselves about … having relationship but I think, I believe we should try, Alex please give me a chance, please …would you be my very special somepony?” Alex couldn’t believe what she just said. He knew what to answer if something like this ever happened, but hearing her made him forget everything he was supposed to say. He knew in his heart he wanted to try, he wanted to be that special somepony. Using all of his strength, he said: “Fluttershy, I am sorry, but no!” “What? - Fluttershy was about to faint, she felt as if the world was falling on her shoulders. “Let me finish. If you are going to be my girl. Please let me be the one to ask!” – Alex’s voice calmed her heart. He continued - “Fluttershy, would you …would you be my …” - Fluttershy touched Alex’s face and said: “C’mon … you can do it, please.” “Fluttershy …would you be my very special somepony?” “Yes!” Fluttershy said, her voice was full of excitement. They both hugged, as if they wanted to never let go of each other. “So, what now?” – Alex asked. “Well, maybe a little kiss would be fine. But only if you want to. Please forget it, I know I’m going too fast…” – Fluttershy was interrupted by the look in Alex’s eyes. “I think a kiss would be awesome” – He said. They slowly approached each other until their lips finally met; both of them always heard things about seeing sparklers when kissing their loved ones. They didn’t see anything like that; they felt it in their hearts. When they stopped kissing, they looked at each other and smiled then started their way back to the palace. It was sad to say goodnight, but they knew they would see each other in the morning. Alex went into his room, he was about to remove his metapendant to have a better sleep, but suddenly he stopped. “Maybe getting more used to this body will come in handy.” He jumped on his bed and got as comfortable as he could. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep not knowing that this was the first of many sleepless nights.