Friendship is Life

by alejin


Chapter 8, We are On!

After a good night of sleep (in his pony form), Alex woke up with a smile on his face, it was a really nice feeling to have a marefriend, even though getting used to say this word would take it’s time. After removing his Metapendant, Alex took a shower and got dressed so he could join everypony else in the Dining Hall. Before leaving his room, he heard someone knocking on his door; he went to see who it was and found Fluttershy looking for him:

“Hello beautiful!” - Alex said, giving a little kiss on her lips. She looked happy but her face was a little blushed.

“Hello Alex, I wanted to know if you would like us to go to the Dining Hall together; if that is ok with you, of course.”

“That would be great Shy! Just give me a second.”

Alex was about to put his Metapendant on, but he was stopped by Fluttershy. She asked him:

“What are you doing?”

“I’m just putting my Metapendant on. You know, to become a pony, your special somepony.” – Alex answered.

Fluttershy seemed a little upset after hearing this.

“Alex, you know I like you for who you are. I liked you even before you could turn into a pony. What I want to say is that you don’t need to be a pony all the time. Not that I mind, but please don’t think that I will feel ashamed of being watched next to the human I like, because you are my special somepony.”

“Ok, thanks for that Fluttershy, I am sorry.” – Alex replied.

“No need to be sorry. Just remember, whether you are a pony or human. . . I couldn’t care less.”

“… Come here girl!” – Alex pulled Fluttershy inside his room and kissed her.

After sharing some kisses and hugs, Alex and Fluttershy started walking towards the Dining Hall. She extended one of her wing so he could grab it, it felt like they were holding hands. She looked really happy, it was impossible for her to hide it because of how blushed her face was.

The doors to the Dining Hall opened. Everypony inside was waiting for Alex and Fluttershy to join them so they turned around to greet them but went silent after seeing them “holding hands”. Alex was able to notice the way Rarity’s eyes went fully open, if was just a brief moment because she flew straight to where they were standing.

“Oh my! Oh my! Oh my! Finally! Finally! Fluttershy! You found your special somepony! Well, it was pretty obvious it would be him but OH MY! Alex, you took longer than I expected, you need to make up your mind faster darling. When are you getting married?” – Rarity was asking a lot of questions, she seemed more excited than Alex and Fluttershy themselves.

Everypony in the room was shocked after hearing the word wedding. Alex was surprised after watching how they reacted to Rarity’s questions.

“Rarity please, you are going too fast. We just started dating and want to know each other better!” – He said.

“Yes of course darling. Sorry, it’s just that I’m so happy for you guys. Please take good care of her!” – Rarity said.

“Of course I will!”

Rarity was so happy after hearing Alex’s words.

Applejack got next to them and said:

“Ah must say, Ah am happy for you guys! To be honest, this is a relief for me; finally Big Mac and Granny Smith will stop teasing me about going out with Alex!”

“Thanks Applejack. – Alex replied - I’m really flattered, don’t get me wrong but all of you are really beautiful mares, I’m pretty sure someday all of you will find your very special somepony!”

Twilight got next to them and said:

“Congratulations Alex, she is a fine mare. Make sure you treat her right.”

“Trust me Twilight, I will.” – Alex replied.

Pinkie Pie was so happy to see them together; she was unable to hide her excitement and said:

“Wow! I’m so happy, now we are going to have a Congratulations for Finding your Very Special Somepony Party! CfFyVSSP for short! I’ll need some more stuff. I’ll be back in 10 minutes guys. Get ready!”

Pinkie Pie disappeared within a confetti explosion.

The Princesses and Spike gave their blessing to the new couple. After exactly ten minutes, Pinkie Pie was back; she brought a lot of snacks and music so they could have a great time while eating their breakfast.

After they were done, they headed to the Throne Room. Once they were all inside, Princess Celestia was the first one to speak:

“My little ponies, dragon and human; as you already know Equestria will be hosting the next Coliseum Tournament here in Canterlot. I must say Princess Luna and I are really excited for this and we want to know if you want to help us organize it. We need to prepare everything in order to make this the most epic tournament ever. In fact, we know of someone who could make this tournament truly epic!”

Everypony (except Alex) was wondering who that someone could be.

Princess Celestia continued: “You see, almost every kind of creature has competed in this tournament, except for dragons, changelings and… humans.”

Everypony was shocked after hearing this, the idea Princess Celestia had in mind was pretty obvious and some of them didn’t like it. Fluttershy didn’t like it.

“So, you want Alex to compete in the tournament?” - Twilight asked. She seemed to dislike the idea.

“Yes I do” – Princess Celestia answered.

“Even knowing he almost died the last time he was involved in a fight?” – Twilight asked this wanting to make a statement.

“Yes, I can see my idea not being well received amongst some of you, but please don’t forget this tournament is not a threat to any creature’s life, Alex can decline my offer to enter if he wants to, but having Alex compete would bring a high amount of audience to this tournament and that would help Equestria’s economy a lot, for I’m sure many kind of creatures would like to have the opportunity to meet the one and only human in Equestria. Not to mention how great would it be to introduce you to the rest of the world.”

Nopony said a word; in their hearts they knew she was right. Equestria wasn’t a poor country in any way but having this tournament and making it a success would obviously raise funds to help Equestria grow even more. Alex competing seemed like a good idea and it would be awesome if he could make it to the finals.

Everypony wanted to hear what Alex was thinking.

Alex was silent. He was thinking about all of the possibilities entering this tournament could bring. He knew he could help Equestria and he seemed to like the idea of participating. He knew his life wouldn’t be in danger this time according to what the princess said. After making up his mind, he started to speak:

“I like the idea princess. I’d really love to help Equestria in any way I can. Please count me in!”

“Excellent!” - Luna said - “Thank you my friend, you really don’t know how much you are helping us. Thanks to you, no one will ever forget this tournament, we will make history!”

“Thanks Luna. To be honest, I would love not to be eliminated on the first rounds. That would be a real shame.” – Alex said.

“Don’t worry about that Alex; there may be many skilled and incredible warriors but there are also a lot of amateurs. Judging your abilities, I would not be surprised if you and Spike get a good place.” – Princess Luna replied.

“What? Why did you mention Spike?” – Princess Twilight asked. She was a little surprised.

“Twilight, Spike had told us about his desire to compete.” – Princess Luna answered.

Twilight seemed not to like this idea at all. Spike knew it was his moment to speak. He gathered all of his strength and said:

“Please Twilight, let me do it. I promise everything will be alright.”

The Princesses knew Spike would be safe. Twilight had to agree after seeing how determined Spike was about participating in this tournament. However, she let everypony in the room know that she would personally stop the event if she felt Spike was in danger.

Princess Luna turned to Rainbow Dash and asked:

“I hear you want to participate in the tournament too, am I right Rainbow Dash?”

“Of course I will compete! It will be a good warm up for the next Equestrian games!” – Rainbow Dash replied, she was so excited about this tournament.

Princess Luna was so happy after hearing her; she knew it was the right thing for all of them to show how good they were.

“Excellent! Don’t forget to be ready for the pre-event matches.”

Alex, Spike and Rainbow Dash nodded. Celestia and Luna explained to the mane 6 what their jobs would be. Once they were done, everypony left the room. Alex was the last one to leave, but was suddenly stopped by Luna’s magic.

“And where do you think you are going my human friend?”

“Well, you said we’ll start preparing everything in two weeks so I’d like to return to Ponyville in the meantime.”

“I see. Please tell me Alex, how many ponies have seen you in your human form by now?” – Princess Luna asked.

“Well, someponies did during my Welcome Back Party, Mayor Mare and her assistant, the CMC, Zecora and Proud Hammer.” – Alex answered.

“Good! Then I believe no Canterlot citizens have seen your human form yet, right?” – She asked.

“I guess so…” – Alex replied.

“Ok, we will announce your return to Equestria today along with the news about Canterlot hosting the Coliseum Tournament. For this reason, we will need you to please stay a little longer.”

“Ok Luna, I knew coming here in my pony form was a good idea.” – Alex answered.

Princess Celestia was glad to know Alex was happy to cooperate with them. She called her Royal Guards and five of them appeared out of nowhere.

“Tell our Royal Carpenters to build the Conference Stage right away; the Princesses and I have some great new to say to our little ponies today.”

The Guards nodded and left the Throne Room along with Alex. He asked everypony to come to his room, once everypony was there; he gave the Princesses and Shining Armor, their respective cutie mark necklaces and a good amount of earthling sweets. Then, he reached a box and brought it to Luna.

“Luna, since you have the spirit of a gamer and knowing how you enjoyed my Iphone I wanted to give you and your sister this…”

Alex opened the box for Luna and took out what was inside. It was a strange kind of device that looked similar to his phone.

“Alex, what is this?” – Luna asked.

“This is an Ipad. Think of it as a bigger version of the Iphone with the only difference that it can’t be used to communicate; I took the liberty to add lots of games and movies for you to enjoy, I hope you…”

Alex hadn’t finished when he was given a hug by Princess Luna.

“Thank you Alex! It means a lot to me, to be honest I was starting to get worried, even though we took good care of your Iphone, we knew it wasn’t going to last forever and I really don’t have the patience to wait around thirty or forty years for us to start crafting similar devices. Thank you again.”

“No problem Luna. After giving me that Metapendant, it was the least I could do!”

Alex showed Luna how it worked. Having some experience with the Iphone, it didn’t take long before she and Celestia could understand how it worked.

“Mr. Ipad, I think you and I will get along just fine…– Luna was so happy to play with this new gadget –

Celestia, looking how happy Luna was while playing said: Now my scientists will be able to study Alex’s Iphone. Oh dear! I am sorry Alex, maybe you would like to have your Iphone back!”

“Don’t worry Princess, you can keep it too!” – Alex answered.

“Thank you very much Alex, I will ask our scientists to take good care of it, I promise you it will not be damaged!” – Princess Celestia said.

“You don’t have to worry Celestia, I got another one when I went back to Earth, this one I gave you it’s all yours!”

Alex turned to Shining Armor and Cadence:

“Being honest, I didn’t expect you to know anything about human technology so I didn’t bring any gadgets for you. Please, I’d like you to have this…”

Alex gave them his new Iphone. They hesitated a little but Alex insisted by telling them it was a gift. Shining Armor took it and started to study it. He knew this device was ages ahead to anything equestrian scientists could possibly create. He felt as if he was holding a piece of the future.

“Well, thanks Alex. I really appreciate this gift!” – Shining Armor said.

“Don’t say anything, just enjoy it. Luna can teach you how to use it and how to charge it. You can play games like the ones she has in her device and listen to music. I saved plenty of it in this phone as well.” – Alex said.

Alex gave them his headphones so they could listen to some music. After a few instructions, Cadence learned how to play music and started to enjoy it. It was obvious she liked the Iphone and loved the music she was listening to. After that, everypony started their way back to their rooms so they could have some rest before the conference.

Alex was a little nervous, since ponies in Canterlot didn’t know he was alive but he knew he had his friends help. Suddenly, someone knocked on his door, “Come in!” he said.

Princess Celestia entered his room and started to speak to him:

“Hello again my friend, I hope you are excited about us letting everypony know you are still alive”

“I am, and I am excited about the Coliseum Tournament too!”

“Glad to hear that!” – The princess replied.

A weird silence filled the room; Alex knew that wasn’t the only question he was going to answer. Princess Celestia continued:

“Alex, you do know where the portal to your world is right?”

“Yeah, I told you there is a park in my…” – He answered.

“Alex please, I’m asking you this as a friend. Don’t lie to me”

“…” – Alex didn’t want to answer that question.

“So…” – Princess Celestia insisted.

“…Well, The two times I got here I appeared in the same place inside the Everfree Forest.”

“I see… - The princess said - may I ask why you didn’t tell us this before?”

“To be honest, I was scared. That portal is my only way to get here, to get to this beautiful world, as I told you I don’t hate my world, but I love this one as if it was my own. Right now, I believe I’m the only human with such a gift and I believe you have the power to seal the portal if you know its exact location. You told me you trust humans more than you did before. But you are a princess who wants only the best for her country. You wouldn’t hesitate to close it if you find it necessary. Am I right?” – Alex seemed a little sad while telling this.

Princess Celestia thought of the correct way to answer Alex’s question.

“Yes my human friend. To be honest, some months ago I wouldn’t have hesitated to send you back by force and close the portal to the human world, your human world. But now, I’m not sure, as I said I believe your kind is worth a change to be trusted. Alex, I believe you know the exact time when the portal will open and close again. I can’t believe how easy was for the rest to believe that you got here by mere coincidence.”

Alex, scratched his head, he knew he had lied to them in some way.

“Well, I didn’t think they would believe me at first but fortunately they did. You see princess, it’s not like the portal opens by itself; it opens because of you and Luna”

Alex noticed how confused the princess seemed after hearing his words so he explained the way their Meteor Shower somehow interacted with the portal, allowing him to travel to Equestria. He also explained that he was able to know when the portal would open again thanks to Luna’s’ schedule. Princess Celestia realized there were still a lot of things she ignored.

“That is very interesting. So according to your theory, the portal needs a little magic push to open?” – She asked.

“Yes. That’s what I believe. Princess, could you please tell me what will happen with the portal now that you know this? Are you angry with me for hiding this information?”

“No Alex, I’m not mad at you. Believe it or not, I understand your feelings and somehow I agree with you, some information is better kept secret. I won’t force you to tell me where it is, I’ll be waiting for you to feel ready to tell me its location. I also want you to know now that I trust you more than ever, you could have told others and bring many humans with you to take Equestria but you didn’t. Once again you have proven to me that there are good humans not willing to take things by force.”

Princess Celestia hugged Alex, to let him know she was happy to have him here. She continued:

“Alex, please be careful with this information, there are ponies and other creatures that would want to know about other worlds. About new opportunities to expand their territories and a world without magic would be an easy prey for them. I’m not saying this because I think your world is weak and can be easily conquered, after watching some of those movies you showed us, I truly believe your world would fight back, so I’m only saying this in order to avoid any damage to our worlds” – Her words made Alex feel his secret was safe with her.

“Thanks Celestia, I’m truly sorry for keeping this secret from you. I will let you know the location to the portal when I’m ready.”

Celestia nodded and headed for the door. Before leaving the room, she turned to Alex and said:

“I just need to know one more thing, when Luna and I start the next meteor shower, what are you going to do? Will you go back to earth or will you stay here?”

“I don’t have an answer to that question yet… I’m sorry princess.”

“Please think about it, I know it’s your world but you have to admit Equestria is a very good place to live in, isn’t it?” – The princess asked with a smile.

“Yes it is. I’ll wait until the next meteor shower to answer that question.” – Alex answered.

“Fair enough! Ok, see you later my dear human. By the way, Luna and I were thinking about it and we came to this great idea on how to introduce you to the equestrians again.”

“Please tell me what it is!” – Alex was curious about this idea.

Celestia told Alex how they would handle the news about his return to Equestria, Alex listened carefully to all of her words. When she was finished, they both agreed it was an excellent idea. Princess Celestia left his room so he could have some rest before the conference.

---

After a few hours, it was time for everypony to gather in the conference room; Alex put his Metapendant on an immediately transformed into a pony. He and the rest got together and started their way towards Canterlot Hall. When they arrived, they saw every citizen on Canterlot in that place, the amount of ponies was immense. They were able to make their way to the stage.

After a few moments, the trumpets announced Princess Celestia was coming to the stage, everypony in the place stood quiet so they could listen to her.

“CITIZENS OF CANTERLOT, MY SISTER AND I HAVE WONDERFUL NEWS FOR ALL OF YOU. IT’S MY PLEASURE TO INFORM YOU THAT CANTERLOT HAS BEEN CHOSEN TO BE THE HOST FOR THE NEXT COLISSEUM TOURNAMENT”

Everypony started to cheer after hearing the news. They were all happy to know that this prestigious tournament was taking place in their hometown.

“AFTER SO MANY DECADES, EQUESTRIA WILL ONCE AGAIN HAVE THE HONOR TO HOST THIS EVENT. FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NEVER GOT THE CHANCE TO SEE IT OR EVEN HEAR ABOUT IT, BE READY FOR A GREAT SHOW. WE WILL BE VISITED BY MANY GUESTS AND FANS. I HOPE, AS THE GREAT PONIES YOU ARE, YOU WILL WELCOME THEM AS IF THEY WERE CITIZENS OF CANTERLOT. YES! WE WILL BE VISITED BY MANY SPECIES AROUND THE WORLD: HORSES, MINOTAURS, ZEBRAS, GRIFFINS, ETC. FOR THOSE WHO WILL ASSIST TO THE FIGHTS, THE TICKETS WILL BE ON SALE IN TWO WEEKS AND FOR THOSE WHO WANT TO PARTICIPATE, THE RULES AND SUBSCRIPTION FEE WILL BE AVAILABLE IN ONE WEEK. PLEASE DON’T WORRY, IS A TOUGH TOURNAMENT BUT I PROMISE YOU THAT THE COMPETITORS WILL NOT BE IN DANGER, WHEN YOU READ THE RULES YOU WILL KNOW WHY.

MY SISTER HAS OTHER GREAT NEWS TO TELL YOU!”

Luna started to walk towards the stage. Among the audience, two creatures started talking to each other:

“Lyra, consider yourself lucky. We got back earlier and in time to hear those amazing news, I still can’t believe you dragged me in your quest to find more humans!”

“Hey! You said you wanted to come. Besides, consider this as the vacations we promised to take years ago!”

“…Whatever, I’m just happy we are returning to Ponyville. I mean it, no more quests in search of humans. It’s obvious that Mr. Alex’s case was just a coincidence.”

“Yes I know, I just hope someday another human will come here.”

Bombom felt sad for Lyra, she hugged her friend and said:

“I’m sorry Lyra. I know talking about Mr. Alex still makes you sad. I’m sorry…”

“It’s ok Bombom; he is in a better place now ok! Now let’s just hear what Princess Luna has to say, and then we can have some Lunch and go back to Ponyville!”

Princess Luna started to speak:

“HELLO CITIZENS, I HAVE SOME GREAT NEWS TO TELL YOU. WE WILL HAVE MANY KIND OF RACES FIGHTING IN THIS TOURNAMENT, BUT FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME WE WILL HAVE PARTICIPANTS OF TWO SPECIES THAT HAVE NEVER ENTERED THE COLISEUM TOURNAMENT BEFORE!”

Everypony looked to each other; they seemed confused after hearing these words from the princess.

Princess Luna continued:

“THE FIRST PARTICIPANT WILL BE A DRAGON! OUR DRAGON SPIKE!”

Everypony cheered and started chanting Spike’s name. It was true; no dragon had ever participated in this event before.

“AND THE OTHER ONE WILL BE…A HUMAN!”

The whole place went silent. Most of them knew what a human was, but the only human that had ever visited Equestria had died months ago. Were there more humans in Equestria? Everypony was so confused.

“IT WILL NOT BE AN UNKNOWN HUMAN. IT WILL BE THE ONE WE ALL THOUGHT HAD LEFT US, YES! HE WILL RETURN FOR THIS TOURNAMENT, A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE AND AS WELL AS A CLOSE FRIEND OF THE ELEMENTS OF HARMONY. LADIES AND GENTLECOLTS, THE HUMAN I’M TALKING ABOUT IS THE HERO OF CANTERLOT…ALEX!”

The shock on everypony’s face was evident, Fancy Pants’ monocle fell from his eye, PixelBerry was about to faint, Jet Set felt shivers all the way up to his nose. But the one who was surprised the most was Lyra, she didn’t believe it, she was shocked and angry, how could they say such a lie, there was no way in hell she would let them continue with this game, she jumped on the stage and screamed:

“LIES! HOW DARE YOU TELL US THAT! YOU KNOW ALEXIS IS DEAD AND HIS BODY WAS RETURNED TO HIS HOME! THERE IS NO WAY HE WOULD BE HERE, I DON’T KNOW IF THE STORY ABOUT A HUMAN COMPETING IN THE TOURNAMENT IS TRUE BUT IF IT IS, PLEASE DON’T CALL HIM ALEX!” – Lyra was unable to stop crying.


Everypony was speechless. The princesses, the mane 6, none of them expected Lyra to be in the audience, otherwise, they would have given her this news before the conference. With a warm smile, Princess Luna and Celestia stopped the guards that were going to arrest her. Princess Luna said:

“My little pony, I swear there is no lie, Alex is alive. I have seen him with my own eyes”

“Really?!” – Lyra couldn’t believe it.

“Yes! - Twilight said - and guess what? He was asking for you!”

“Really?! But where is he? Please tell me, if that’s true, then I want to see him, I need to see him!”

Princess Luna continued giving her news:

“AS I WAS SAYING, ALEX THE HUMAN WILL BE IN THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE TOURNAMENT. MAKE SURE EVERYPONY KNOWS IT; NOW GO TO YOUR HOMES. THIS CONFERERENCE IS OVER.”

Everypony started to leave. Princess Luna turned to the guards.

“Guards, please take Miss Lyra and Miss Bombom to the Palace and get them a room.”

“Yes your majesty!” The Royal Guards said. Lyra was confused, why the princesses would take her to the Palace after what she did. She lowered her head and followed the Royal Guards without asking any questions. Once they were in the palace, both Lyra and Bombom were summoned to the Throne Room. When they entered the room, they found the princesses, the elements, Spike and a Pony they had never seen before. The unknown pony walked towards Lyra, he stopped right in front of her and said:

“Hello Lyra and Bombom!”

“Hello?” – They answered.

Lyra didn’t want to speak to this pony; she had only one thing in her mind:

“Please move aside, I need to speak to Princess Luna.”

Alex knew the reason she was brought to the Palace and said:

“She doesn’t have anything to say to you because I know you are here to see me!”

“Why do you think I came to see you? I don’t even know you, just move aside!” – Lyra was desperate to hear more news about Alex.

“Are you sure you don’t want to see me? I heard you came to the Palace because of me…” – Alex said.

The look on Lyra’s eyes turned from anger to surprise. She started to carefully look at the strange pony. She noticed he was dressed but his clothes were odd; his eyes, they were somehow different to a pony’s eyes, his hair style it was so similar to her friend’s.

“A. . . A. . . Alexis?” – Lyra couldn’t believe her heart.

Alex removed his Metapendant and as the light faded, tears started to come out of Lyra’s eyes. She touched his face, his chest, his hands and then she hugged him. She wanted to make sure he was there; she wanted to make sure he was real.

“Volví, mi querida amiga!”

“Alexis, it is really you! You know how much I love to hear you speak your native language even though I can’t understand that much.”

“We will need to retake your Spanish lessons! Now, I know you want to know how it is possible for me to be here again, and I bet you have lots of questions but first let me hug you one more time!” – Alex was so happy to see his friend.

She hugged him tight, Alex asked Bombom to hug him too, nothing could ruin that moment. The princesses asked them to come to the Dining Hall so they could eat something and celebrate their reunion, Alex asked Lyra to get on his back so he could carry her. Lyra couldn’t believe this was real. She was so happy to hear Alex’s heart beating when she put her face on his back.

“What an incredible way to end a failed human quest!” – She said.