//------------------------------// // Honesty and Loyalty // Story: A Pony from Nowhere // by NikolasTheWriter //------------------------------// Morn was reading Equestria's Book of History in his room. He closed the curtains, leaving the room in almost complete darkness. Yet, he was able to see and read. For an unknown reason, the darkness made him much more relaxed than a bright sun outside the castle. The stallion lied on his comfortable bed reading the book. It was very interesting for him to discover new things about Equestria Twilight hasn't told him yet. According to the inscription on the cover, this book was self-written. Whenever something important happens, it would be written in the book just moments after. It was really interesting book Twilight borrowed from Canterlot Library when she lived in Canterlot. There are known five exemplars of self-written Equestria's Book of History. Two of them are still in the Canterlot Library, another one with Twilight, yet another one with Cadence at the Crystal Empire's Royal Library. The last one was secretly kept elsewhere. All of those books were made by the famous magician - Starswirl the Bearded. But it is unknown, or rather, forgotten, how many books did he make. Morn was reading the book when something caught his eye. The last page was glowing with green. The stallion stared at it and slowly opened that page. He gasped in surprise - something was being written there. Morn has already known that the book will only write something when something important is happening or will happen in the future. The page itself was a little greenish and contained red letters and a picture of a shadowy figure. The inscription said: On the longest night, the red moon will rise and the long-forgotten foe will resurrect again to take over Equestria. He will not be alone then - he will be assisted by a powerful pony. The pony of a pure soul and heart shall be possessed by the dark magic and aid in foe's arrival. He shall spread terror and nightmares along with the foe. Yet that pony is not an ally. Everything can be changed if the right pony will do the right things. 'Better tell Twilight,' Morn thought and quickly got up from his bed and walked out of his room, holding the book in his magical grasp. He walked to her bedroom's door and knocked three times. The door cracked open, revealing a certain sleepy baby dragon. "Morn? What are you doing here?" "I have some important news to tell Twilight Sparkle. Is she there? It is urgent," Morn asked with wide eyes. "*yawn* Nah, she went to Zecora five minutes ago. She'll return in an hour, I think," Spike answered. "Need anything else?" "No, thank you, just inform me when she comes back. It is really something serious happening. And do you know when the longest night will occur?" "In two weeks or so, why?" "I-It's nothing. *Gulp* Well, I'll wait for Twilight then," the stallion replied with a worried expression. Morn spent an hour walking circles in his room. Suddenly somepony knocked on the door. The stallion walked to the door and opened it to see Twilight Sparkle with a worried look on her face. "Hi Morn, Spike said you wanted to see me at once. What is it?" she asked. "Just look here!" the stallion answered, opening the book on the last page. It was blank. "Um... It's nothing in there." "This cannot be... I saw an inscription there just an hour ago! It couldn't vanish into thin air!" Morn said, staring at the blank page with disbelief. "I... I... It was definitely something written there! I swear it was!" "Calm down Morn," Twilight said. "Maybe you're just a little exhausted? I think you haven't fully healed yet." "But I..." Morn coughed. "I think I need some fresh air," the stallion muttered and went to his balcony. He opened the door and took a step out of his room, feeling the wind blowing through his mane. It felt very good and relaxing. He just stood there, facing the wind as it blowed. Finally, Morn got back inside and closed the door to find himself in complete darkness. "Um... Morn? What's with the light?" "I feel myself comfortable in the dark, I think. It helps me relax," he answered, making his way to his bed. "It doesn't matter to me much as I can see clearly in the darkness." "Well, that's interesting. But can you please turn the lights on or open the curtains? It's really dark I can't see my hooves." Second later a click could be heard as the room filled with soft white light. Twilight blinked few times, adjusting to the brightness. "Your ability to see in the dark can be useful, Morn. You are an entirely different pony..." she said, turning to the stallion with a smile. "Now, are you ready to take your first friendship lessons?" "I am." Twilight and Morn were walking their way to the Sweet Apple Acres, where orange earth pony Applejack lived. To hide Morn's mechanical legs, he had to put on a large black cape. Sure it was suspicious, but no one dared to stare at the pony hidden beneath the cape. The two've got some strange looks, but not as much as it was expected. "Now, I must tell you what is friendship. The definition of this word is 'connection between thinking creatures, cemented with loyalty, honesty, kindness, generosity and laughter, and is not always happens to blood related creatures.'" lavender alicorn said. "So, Morn, today I'm going to introduce you to my friend Applejack. Sure you two met before, but it was a meeting of all six of us and you. Now you'll get to know her better and closer," Twilight said to Morn. "Well, she is the Element of Honesty. Have you read about the Elements of Harmony yet?" "Sure I have," the stallion replied. "So, is Applejack going to teach me... Honesty?" "Yes, she is. And I think I can see her bucking some trees over there," Twilight answered, pointing her hoof to the right, where many apple trees could be seen. A certain orange blond-maned mare was there, bucking apple trees. Twilight and Morn entered the Sweet Apple Acres and went directly to Applejack. Noticing them, she waved her foreleg at them. She approached the two with a smile. "Howdy, you two," she greeted. "Morn, did ya come here to learn honesty?" "I did, and I am ready to learn," the stallion replied with a warm smile. "Well, then there's the first question. What do ya know 'bout honesty?" "It's talking only truth to others, I think," Morn said, rubbing his chin with his right iron hoof. "Well, yer right, but it is more than that. First of all ya should not lie to yerself. If you lie to yerself, ya can nerev be honest towards others. Oh, and ya should not trust anypony suspicious. Being honest means speaking truth, but talking truth to everypony can't be good at times. Somepony may get angry, or scared, or confused. Ya must know where ya tell truth and where ya tell part of the truth. Got it?" "Yes. Well, I think I understood," the stallion answered. "Oh, and would you mind if I'll test my legs with applebucking?" "Sure ya can, sugarcube," Applejack said with a smile. Morn took off his cape and went to a nearby apple tree, full of big, certainly delicious, apples. He bucked it, almost breaking the tree into two parts with a sound of a large crack. "I think I must learn to controll my legs better, " the stallion said, looking at the tree he nearly broke. "Sure I can walk pretty fast, but adjusting force can be essential at times. Sorry for a tree, Applejack." "Nah, that's fine. Yer welcome here if you want to test yer legs more," orange earth pony replied with a smile. "Just don't ya forget the lesson." Morn nodded, putting on his cape and went with Twilight back to the Castle of Friendship. Twilight and Morn were back in the Castle of Friendship. They were sitting in the guest room, enjoying their tea they were drinking. "Well, how did you like Applejack?" Twilight asked, sipping her tea. "Well, I like her. It's hard to be honest all the time, and she is great for being the most honest pony," the stallion smiled and took a sip as well. "And I like her hardworking nature. Helping her family with the farm is great deal. All those apple trees look wonderful and have healthy, big apples! So, what's next I'm going to learn?" "Well, most of us six are busy, but I think you should learn loyalty from Rainbow Dash," Twilight replied. "That would be great. And isn't the cyan pegasus with spectra mane Rainbow Dash? She has a quite memorable appearance." "Yes, you're right. And she'll be here any time now," Twilight answered when suddenly someone got in the room through the window with a loud crash. It was a certain cyan, spectra maned pegasus. "Oh, I've made quite a mess here. Was practicing my last stunt and it was AMAZING!" she said, lifting herself from the floor. The two stared at her, both covered in tea. "Whoops, sorry." "That's nothing," Twilight said while drying herself with a towel she teleported from her bathroom. "So, are you ready to teach our stallion what is like being loyal?" "Oh yeah I am! So, Morn, are YOU ready?" "Just give me a second," he said while cleaning the mess with his magic. "Done! Well, I'm ready." "So, the first question is if you know what is loyalty, Morn." "Never leave your friends in trouble?" "Never ever leave your friends," Rainbow Dash corrected. "No matter what, you should be with your friends. It doesn't mean you must annoy them or be with them all the time, it means you must never leave a friend. No matter how little the problem seems to be, your friends will always need your support. Don't you think that answer "It's your problem" is a bad answer? You should always be there for your friends, no matter what." "Yeah, I got it. I shall never leave my friends if I will have any." "Wait, aren't we your friends?" Twilight asked. "Until I get to know all aspects of friendship, I don't know if you are or you're not." "Well, that sounds reasonable enough for me," Rainbow Dash said, looking at the stallion. "Anyway, I must continue to train, so excuse me!" Rainbow Dash flew out of the room through a broken window. "Twilight?" "Yes?" "What should we do with the window?" "It's not a big deal, it will grow back by dusk," she replied, standing up. "Anyway, I have some royal busyness to deal with, so the rest of the day is yours. If you'll decide to go outside, tell Spike or leave a note. Don't forget to mention the place where you'll be going, okay?" "I will, Princess." Morn replied with a smile and sat at the table, opening Equestria's Book of History to continue reading where he stopped. Still, the last page couldn't get off his mind.