//------------------------------// // S2E2: Celebrity Revival // Story: Blank // by Carrier of Heartbreak //------------------------------// BLANK: SEASON 2 CANTERLOT Episode 2: Celebrity Revival **** Du-dump Du-dump Du-dump The train rattled along the tracks noisily, jostling its passengers every once in awhile when it hit a bump in the track. For a lot of the ponies riding the train that day, the motion was nothing new. They were used to it at this point, with many of the riders using the train to commute to work every day. Over the years, they became acclimated to the up and down motion, the initial nausea shrinking to nothing more than an annoying tingle. For Lyra Heartstrings and her friend, Bon Bon, however, that luxury was not made available to them. "Ugggh..." Lyra moaned, her face hidden between her forelegs. She had taken to laying down on the cloud-plush train seat, not being able to enjoy how comfortable it was, thanks to the bile that kept threatening to spew from her throat. Motion sickness was a long-time enemy of hers, and she was locked in an epic battle to keep her lunch down. Bon Bon wasn't doing much better, but she was choosing to hide her sickness. Her eyes were shut tight as she meditated, forcing herself to work past the swaying motion of the train car she was trapped inside. She was just glad that she hadn't eaten before leaving, as Lyra had done. That would have surely doomed her to flooding the car with stomach acid and other assorted fluids. Prime Warner, on the seat opposite them but in the same car, stared at the two mares with concern in his eyes. He was used to traveling by train, it being his primary mode of transportation. And since his job consisted of pretty much nothing but traveling, he probably had the strongest gut out of any of the ponies riding that day. "Are you two going to be okay?" he asked softly, part of his faded red mane hanging over his right eye. Lyra groaned pitifully in response, while Bon Bon just stayed silent and nodded. He watched them for a few more moments before sighing and returning his gaze to the window. Prime loved watching the scenery fly by when traveling by train. The rapid movement and blur of colors got him to thinking about how long it would have taken to travel such a distance before the invention of such things as trains. Now, if only the scientists in Manehattan could perfect the automobile...that would be amazing. Being able to travel around freely, without having to stick to somepony else's schedule was something Prime always envied the citizens of OtherWorld for. The city they were traveling to was pretty much the OtherWorld capital of Equestria. Perhaps the fans weren't quite as nuts as the ones in Canterlot, but the inspiration that the show caused seemed to accumulate in Manehattan. Skyscrapers, human architecture, technology...if it was in the show, ponies in Manehattan wanted to recreate it. That's why the city looked so new. Most everything, from buildings, to restaurants, to transportation, was made in the last four years. "Bleeeh. How do you stomach this?" Prime heard Lyra ask. His ears flicked in her direction subconsciously, his mind already racing at the chance to tell some stories about his life prior to that moment. He gave the two mares a winning smile and took a breath. "Been using these trains for years. That's how I get all over Equestria, looking for ponies to meet and new stories to tell. I'd say I've spent...hmm, probably about a third of my life so far on a train," he explained to them, deriving some amusement from the horrified expression on Lyra's face. She went even greener at the thought of spending so much time on the rickety puke machine. Bon Bon made her first sound in awhile, which was a groan very similar to Lyra's previous one. "But...how? I'm barely holding it in..." the minty mare whined. Prime just smiled and rubbed the back of his head with his hoof, messing his mane up even further. "Years of getting used to it. Don't feel too bad, I puked my first few times...but I was pretty young back then..." he admitted. Lyra and Bon Bon looked over at him, their curiosity piqued once more. They hadn't learned all that much about his childhood, except for the parts that were relevant to the whole 'Time Warner Incident' back in Ponyville. They both wanted to ask, but privately felt like it might have brought up bad memories for him. The last thing they wanted to do was cause him any more grief, especially after the last few days. Plus, if his childhood was nothing but trauma and sad times, why bring it up? It was time for him to be happy; Lyra knew he deserved it. "You, uh...what kind of stories do you look for?" Lyra asked, trying to move away from any topic that could potentially depress the shaken stallion. As soon as she asked those magic words, Prime's eyes came alive, sparkling with a force that could only be the result of a pony utilizing his or her special talent. "All kinds! Usually, I find stories between families, like, local legends and stuff like that. Those are always the most charming and lovable, but don't usually translate well into gem shows. They're better for just telling to some friends, or maybe a group of foals. Then there are stories that ponies think of all on their own, just like OtherWorld. Those are usually wider in scope, more epic, and better for visualizing in a gem projection. Oh! I remember one story, back before I met you two, about a group of ponies that went into the Everfree Forest, doing a research project on the Mare Witch, but disappeared! That story was pretty fun to make, since I had to help with the projection. I got to make it as creepy as I wanted! It wasn't all that long though, it only took up a few episodes worth of time," he rambled, his horn glowing and projecting the mental image of a first-pony perspective, made to look like it was being shown through the eyes of one of the characters. True to his talent, Prime had started unwittingly telling a story, complete with audio and visual aid. "I remember seeing that one! The Mare Witch Project, right? That gave me nightmares for a week!" Lyra exulted, actually getting into the conversation. Prime's eyes twinkled even more, elation spreading through him at the thought of the creator of OtherWorld actually being scared of something he had helped create. Bon Bon remained silent, watching in fascination as the ponies in the projection scrambled around inside of a tent while something from the outside tried getting in. The tent shook violently, scaring the ponies into running out into the darkness of the night without most of their equipment. Bon Bon could almost hear the cackling noises the entity was making as it followed behind the unlucky trio of researchers. This was the show that gave Lyra those nightmares? No wonder she didn't sleep for that whole week! "Yep! That's the one! That was the first show I've produced that was shown from first-pony, instead of third. Geez, I remember the riots...so many ponies thought it was real. They had never seen something like that before, so they thought we had taken the memories from a dead pony and showed them in the projection...somehow. I don't even think that's possible! They didn't leave us alone until I could get the storytellers to take a train to Manehattan to show everypony that they were, in fact, still alive and well. Ugh, that was one Tartarus of a week..." Prime moaned, the projection from his horn fizzling out and cutting Bon Bon from her trance. It was only when she looked around inside the cabin did her stomach catch up with the fact that she had been watching something while the scenery behind the projection kept moving past. As a result, her face did its best to mimic the color of Lyra’s coat. As Lyra tried her best to escape the splash zone, Prime turned back to the window, losing himself in his thoughts. His horn lit up again as the memories flashed before him, forcing him to relive the scene. The green mare, and to a lesser extent, her trainsick roommate, watched the scenes play out. This time, the first-pony perspective was from Prime's view, and not the view of a storyteller. **** OPENING THEME **** The scene was in a city, what the two mares assumed was Manehattan. It looked a lot less...developed, to put it nicely. The memory must have been from years ago, before OtherWorld came in and gave the city an architectural overhaul. The buildings were boring, small, and gray. It could still technically be considered a city, but only because of the population. Back then, the city was full of ponies just going through the daily motions, without any desire to break themselves from the routines they had found themselves comfortable in. In the memory, however, the ponies standing outside the window Prime was looking out of looked anything but content. "Where are they?!" he could hear many of the protesters yell at him, waving their hooves in the air angrily. When the ponies had first shown up, he had had no idea what they were so bucking angry and scared about. "Destroy the Everfree! It's too dangerous!" he heard another pony shout, as if they thought Prime Warner had any say over the removal of such a large plot of land. Despite his confusion, at least that pony had clued him in on what they were protesting. The Mare Witch Project His first movie using First-Pony Perspective, which he had worked so hard on with the other storytellers. It had been such a cool new process, with the other ponies acting as body performers, moving around and acting out the scene around him so that he could better portray the emotion and desperation of the situation. They were going for realism...which is why they had ventured out deep into the Everfree Forest, enlisting the help of a local Zebra to aid them in keeping the creatures away. Though she had expressed some concern over the sensationalization of the unusual happenings in the woodland area, Prime Warner had promised that it would be made very clear to the audience that the events taking place in the show were fictional. In the projected memory, Prime cut back to the day of the riot. His past self resumed staring out of the window, a few strands of red handing down over his left eye. His gaze moved down, letting the two observing mares see how badly the younger stallion was shaking; he had never been protested before. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. "Prime, it will be fine," a familiar voice came from behind him. Lyra and Bon Bon froze, the owner of the voice making himself visible from Prime's peripheral vision. The bright blue form of Time Warner stood there in a much more casual suit than he had been wearing during his episode in Ponyville. His eyes were looking straight into the projection's point of view, containing something that made Lyra choke: life. Time's eyes twinkled with brotherly concern, though his posture was tense; he looked ready to trade blows with the next thing to look at him wrong. His horn was glowing with that familiar golden hue that had threatened to end Prime's life only days earlier. The past-Prime looked up at his older brother for a moment before looking back down. "But...they're so angry! Over my show! Did...did I do something wrong...?" the young stallion asked, the innocence in his voice pulling at Lyra's heartstrings. He sounded so scared; he had probably never been exposed to all that anger at that point in his life. Except for his brother's. "Brother, they're just stupid ponies. They think the actors from your show actually died. We just have to make them listen to the truth," Time Warner spat as he gave the crowd a hostile glance through the window. "And...what if they don't listen?" Prime muttered fearfully. "Like I said, we'll make them listen." As he said this, Time's horn glowed gold, forming into a ball of pure electricity. Prime backed up, shivering a bit harder as his brother, once again, regressed into his violent state. "He just kept getting worse..." mumbled Prime through his trance. Lyra and Bon Bon looked at each other, their feelings of concern towards the stallion growing. They knew that the problem was bad...but how long had it been that bad for? The memory in the projection shifted. Instead of being inside the office, the two brothers were standing directly in front of the irate crowd. The verbal accusations being thrown at the two were much more audible and threatening. The two mares watching actually flinched back, the sudden appearance of danger startling them. Time Warner was the first to speak. "It seems something we have done has upset all of you. I assume this anger you are feeling is towards 'The Mare Witch Project'?" Time spoke, the only emotion evident in his voice being annoyance. Prime stood there, frozen in front of the mass of ponies, fearing what they thought of him. "No buck! What kind of company are you running, showing ponies getting killed for real?!" one mare in the crowd yelled out. A bunch of the other protesters yelled their agreement. Time Warner just shook his head and sighed. The ponies saw his look of annoyance and narrowed their eyes, ready to shout back at whatever excuse Time happened to use. "You're all a bunch of idiots," was Time's retort. The world lurched back a few inches, showing that Prime had flinched. The crowd was too stunned to respond at first. That wasn't an excuse that they could just deny. That was just a simple insult! Half of the jaws in the audience started flapping like beached fish, trying to come up with a proper response to Time's show of disrespect. "What is your problem?! Who the buck even are you?!" the original mare shouted again. It seemed she was the only one willing to speak out without the rest joining in. The queen of the hive. Time rolled his eyes. "I'm the owner of Olivia Warner Productions, along with my brother. And you are?" he said, calmly but condescendingly. The mare let out a growl, but went to answer. "I'm Fruit Pu-" "Never mind, I don’t actually care," Time interrupted, stunning the mare into silence. "Now, as for your unfounded concerns, the ponies shown in 'The Mare Witch Project' are absolutely fine. No ponies or other creatures were harmed in the making of the show." The crowd bustled angrily, still reeling from the shock of being so blatantly told off. "Liar! The ponies shown could not be found in the Royal Equestrian Citizen Records! Did you erase them to cover up their deaths?!" another pony shouted, this time a stallion. The Queen Bee from before was still staring at the ground, doing everything in her power not to rush Time Warner and tear his head off. Again, the businesspony responded with arrogance. "They were actors. The ponies depicted in the show used false names specifically for this purpose. The characters don't exist, nor have they ever existed. There, problem solved. Can you all stop littering the front of my building with your bodies, now?" he spat. His horn had been glowing more brightly and more as he spoke, matching his emotional state. Prime flinched again when he noticed this, knowing exactly what Time was willing to do to ponies that got in his way. A surge of protective bravery flashed through the younger unicorn and he stepped forward, placing himself between Time and the seething crowd. "I-I can explain it, Time. Can...you go back to work? I'll handle this," Prime stuttered, looking up at his brother. The protesters blinked and went silent, staring up at the scene taking place in front of them. Time Warner just shrugged and rolled his eyes. Without a verbal response, the older brother turned tail and flashed the crowd before walking back inside. Once Time's bright blue tail had completely vanished behind the doors, a collective breath was released. Even Prime found himself trembling, flashes of memories from the other times his brother had gotten violent coursing through his mind. He didn't move at first; he was still too terrified to do anything. After a few silent moments, the vision from the projection shook. Lyra and Bon Bon thought it was ending at first, but the scene swung around, Prime coming face to face the the Queen Bee. The two mares assumed from the previous context that her name was Fruit Punch. She was a light orange earth pony, with a dark pink mane to match. She gave off the feeling of tropical fruit, which fit her mango cutie mark perfectly. Fruit's hoof was rested softly on Prime's trembling shoulder, her eyes conveying some concern. "Are you okay, sir?" she asked, the warmth in her voice causing the projection to steady out. She was calming Prime down, halting the poor unicorn's shaken nerves. For some reason, the scene grew slightly pinker as Prime stared into her eyes for longer than was probably necessary. "Yeah...yeah, I'm okay. Thank you for your concern, ma'am," he responded politely, drawing a smile from the orange mare. "It's Fruit Punch, sir. What's your name?" she asked softly. "Prime Warner. That was my brother," the stallion answered, his composure building back up. The scene was now completely steady, allowing the two observing mares in the train car to see the surrounding details that they hadn't been able to see earlier. The ponies, some of them holding signs, were no longer shouting. They didn't even look angry. They looked concerned. "Your...you have to live with that pony?" Fruit Punch asked, acting as if she had just smelled the nastiest thing to have ever been conceived. The projection coming from Prime's horn shook a little, indicating that he was giggling under his breath, the relief having flowed through him like a cool trickle of water through an overheating component of machinery. "He's...well, he's not usually like that. Just when he feels threatened," past-Prime tried to reason. Fruit rolled her magenta eyes and smirked playfully. "I'm pretty sure he's just a plothole," she joked. The crowd behind her let out their own wave of chuckles. Prime was calmed down even more at the sound of content mirth coming from them. It was so much better than the hostility he had been feeling before. Being around angry ponies...he felt so useless. He never knew what to do in those situations. But if there was one thing he could do well, it was get ponies to side with him. Already, after seeing him stand up to his violent older brother for the sake of their safety, the crowd was ready and willing to listen to whatever he had to say. A nostalgic smile reached the present-Prime's face, betraying the tears that were streaming down his face. Lyra and Bon Bon only just then noticed that he had been crying. The fact that he had remained silent and motionless had helped hide his overflowing emotions. It was obvious that he would be crying, though. He was reliving scenes with his brother, back when the problem was there, but not quite as bad. Back then, he still had some faith in Time. Things could have still worked out, back then. Things change over Time. **** "What happened in the end?" Lyra piped up, drawing Prime from his deteriorating state and back into the train cabin with them. Bon Bon gave her best friend a thankful nod. The cream mare was more familiar with physical confrontation; emotional moments like this were still not within her usual comfort zone. She had the knowledge, but didn't usually go about delivering it in the best way. Prime sniffed and wiped his nose quickly before lifting his red eyes to meet Lyra's. A small smile reached his lips. "Well...after the thing with Time, they all listened to me. I explained the situation to them, and they believed me without question. I even managed to get all of their contact information down, and promised to bring them in to meet the ponies who acted the film out for me," Prime explained. His mood lifted somewhat as the memories he was experiencing went away from the realm of depression. "How did that go?" Bon Bon piped up from up on her seat. "Great! They didn't understand that the actors weren't as they appeared in the show, but their voices were the same. I might have, eh...used their voices so that I didn't have to come up with my own. Just easier that way, you know? It was...a lot of fun, hanging out with the actors again. The other ponies had a blast, too. Fruit Punch and I even-" Prime started to say, but cut himself off as a dark blush formed in his cheeks. The interests of both mares in the car peaked. "You even what?" Lyra prodded, moving uncomfortably close to the blushing stallion. He, in turn, averted his gaze and scrunched his muzzle, trying to do anything but give into the power of the mare stare. Bon Bon wasn't having it. Wherever he looked, she was there, giving him the cutest look of begging that she could. The only direction Prime could look was forward; straight into the pleading eyes of the cute minty unicorn before him. He decided to close his eyes, instead. "You even what?" Bon Bon echoed, moving against him and poking him in the side with her hoof. Prime, as ticklish as he was, immediately lost his will to stay still and started squirming violently, letting out pained guffaws. The two devious mares circled their prey, looking for open spots for them to poke. The stallion was not going to be escaping their interrogation. "You even whaaaat?" Lyra repeated, shoving her face in his. Prime's face was beginning to blend in with his red mane. He didn't have a way out, and he knew it. With a flustered sigh, he relented and spoke. "W-we...we kissed..." he admitted, as if it was his life's darkest secret. Lyra and Bon Bon immediately stopped their attack. Lyra's face lit up as she mashed her cheeks together, making an adorable 'D'awww!' face. Bon Bon just looked disappointed. "That's it? You just kissed?" the cream-colored mare asked, rolling her eyes and letting out a huff. All of that work, poking and prodding for juicy information...and it was wasted on a kiss. Lyra gasped dramatically and grabbed her friend by the shoulders. "What do you mean, 'that's it'?! That's so cute!" she shouted into Bon Bon's face, her face squishing together once again. Prime just sat there, blushing up a storm as the two mares in the car with him fought over whether or not his relationship with another pony was juicy enough. "It was just a kiss, Lyra. They don't mean all that much. I'm sure Prime's done much more than kissing in his travels, he's just being shy with his love life. Isn't that right, Oh Great Owner of OW?" Bonnie mocked. Prime flinched for a moment, her words having struck a sour note with him inside. He lowered his gaze to the ground and slowly shook his head, his frazzled red mane swishing from side to side. "BONNIE!" Lyra scolded, scooting over to Prime to comfort him. Bon Bon sat in silence, her face flushing as she went over her own words and realized how hurtful they were. Prime gave Lyra a weak smile before clearing his throat. "I haven't. I'm never in one place for too long, so I haven't really had the chance to...you know. Not that I haven't wanted to, but...it just seems like something that would hurt. Why get emotionally invested if they wouldn't be around me for much longer?" he reasoned. Lyra and Bon Bon both choked on the breaths they were holding. The conversation had steered into some dangerous waters with those last words. Was that what happened? When their mother died, had both brothers...had they just shut down? "Prime..." Lyra started, "I'm not saying that you're wrong. I know what it feels like, not wanting to get close to something out of fear of losing it...it's why I didn't want to move to Ponyville at first. Back in Canterlot, I had friends, and acquaintances, and a job, and...well, I was comfortable. Too comfortable...I didn't see the living prices rising until I was already out on the streets. I had to move to Ponyville because it was the only place I could barely afford at the time. That's when I met Bonnie. She took me in, gave me breakfast, asked me if I came from a land down under, which I had to remind her I didn't. Canterlot was pretty high up, being on the side of a mountain and all-" Lyra was interrupted by a jab to the side, courtesy of Bon Bon. The mint-colored storyteller gave a sheepish smile and continued. "Heh, sorry, got off track. Anyway, I stayed with Bon Bon for awhile, but refused to get to know her more than in a professional, 'You're paying to stay with me' kind of way. I was so sure that I would have to move again, and the pain I felt during my move out of Canterlot would start all over again. So, one day, Bon Bon asked me about why I was acting so cold to her, and you know what I said? What did I say, Bonnie?" "You said 'I can't do it again'," Bon Bon replied. "Couldn't do it again," Lyra echoed. The entire time Lyra was speaking, Prime watched and listened, silently taking in her every word. It seemed that not only was the stallion good at telling stories, but he was also very talented at listening. "That started this whole conversation about what I had gone through during the move, how depressed I had become, and how afraid I was of trying to find new friends. I didn't want to feel like I was just trying to replace my old friends, and...it just didn't seem worth it to try again. Why bother?" Lyra eyes began to mist as she recalled the strong emotions that she had experienced during those few months. "I told her that it was always worth it," Bon Bon added, breaking most of the buildup that Lyra had been trying to form. The mint mare sighed and dug her face into her hoof. "Yeah, that. Ugh, there goes the climax to my story..." she lamented. Prime waited until she had finished speaking before asking the question that had started to burn at his insides. "How is it always worth it, though?" he asked quietly. "Prime, how many friends do you have?" Bon Bon responded, using her own question. Prime's face contorted at the sudden mental exercise. He then looked up, his lips moving as she tried to recall every friend that he had made. "And I don't just mean in Manehattan. How many friends do you have in Equestria? Hay, how many in the world?" The stallion's face had shrunk more and more at her line of questioning. He knew that he couldn't answer that question correctly. There were just too many. "Uh...a lot..." he answered, his response being the most truthful he could have possibly given. "Too many to count." "How many of those friends do you keep in contact with, even if you're no longer working with them?" Bon Bon asked, pressing more and more. Prime knew that she was leading up to something, but his mind was still too jumbled up with recent emotions to try figuring out what it was. "Still a lot. Not all the time, but whenever I'm back in Manehattan, doing business. That's when I pick up all the letters I've gotten. I answer them while I'm on the move, dropping off my return letters as I go. Why?" he inquired. Bon Bon just grinned, while Lyra watched the conversation with interest. "And how many of those friendships are 'worth it?'" she finally asked. Prime didn't hesitate. "Every single one," he answered, more confident than he had been that entire day. His forwardness surprised Bon Bon at first, but she then responded with a warm smile. "There you go," she laughed. Prime tilted his head, still confused. "Wait...wasn't this supposed to be about relationships? Those are different than friendships, aren't they?" he asked, sitting back on his rump to think. Bon Bon hesitated, but nodded anyway. "They're different, but still very similar. I'm not saying that you should jump into a relationship just because you can, but...if the desire comes along, don't push it away. It's definitely something you would have to talk to her...or him...about before deciding on, but still. There will always be things that will make it all worth it in the end," she said. Prime just stared at the ground, shivering a little. "I heard long-distance relationships don't usually work out..." he sighed. "That's pretty true, a lot of the time. Maybe look for somepony to travel with you?" she offered. "Like you two are?" Prime spoke without thinking. After a moment of awkward silence, he realized what he had accidentally implied and grew bright red once again. "N-not that I would-! Ugh...words, how I hate you sometimes..." he groaned. Lyra giggled happily and snuggled up to his side, making him purr unintentionally from the warmth. "So what happened to Fruit Punch after you two kissed?" Lyra asked, diving back into Prime's life story. Instead of blushing, now Prime looked troubled over something. "She wanted to see me again, to talk about what I did...she loved the stories I told her. But...I had to leave the day after that, for business reasons...and, well, I haven't seen or heard from her since," Prime said softly, his posture slackening as if he was hearing those words for the first time. It was probably the first time since it happened that he acknowledged it verbally. "You haven't even sent her a letter? But...don't you do that with the rest of your friends?" Lyra asked, her face twisting in confusion. She couldn't wrap her head around why Prime would send letters to everypony but the one he could have possibly had a deeper connection with. Prime sighed and leaned back against the interior of the train, bumping his head intentionally. "I...I probably should have. But that was years ago, you know? She probably has a family now...it would most likely just creep her out if I just started talking to her again out of nowhere..." he said sadly. "Who says you have to be in a relationship with her to be her friend?" Bon Bon piped up, causing the forlorn stallion to flinch once again. "Hrm...nopony, I guess. I would like to hear from her again..." Prime answered, his left hoof rubbing up and down on his other leg. He didn't know why he was having such a hard time. He knew so many ponies, befriended so many ponies...why was this one pony causing him to stutter? It might have had something to do with his gut churning and telling him not to get invested in that way. Ever since the kiss, he had felt the need to break the connection; to stay away from that kind of emotional commitment. Now that he thought about it, he had just seemingly put the friendly mare into a part of his brain that he considered his 'read later' folder. Why was she so different from the others? She should have been on his list of close friends, but...that kiss just ruined it for him, in some way. He didn't want it to ruin it any longer. Once he could pick his brain and remember where she lived, he would send her a letter. Maybe he would go and see her for the first time in...however many years it had been since that whole incident. It seemed like a lifetime. Perhaps looking forward to seeing her again would distract him from the situation he was about to go through back at headquarters. Speaking of which- "There it is!" Lyra shouted excitedly, jumping up onto the window and peering out at the shimmering city on the horizon. Bon Bon got up and walked over, her reaction much more subdued than her friend's. That didn't stop her from gasping once the city got close enough for her to make out more specific details. What had happened to this city? "Lyra, Bon Bon...welcome back to Manehattan, OtherWorld capital of Equestria," Prime said proudly. **** Princess Luna could do nothing but stare at the thrashing pile of Canterlot ponies that had converged on her Ryan. Everything had happened way too fast for her to have been able to stop it. One moment, she was biting her lip, trying to keep the pink menace from rubbing her flank all over poor Ryan's face, only to have him shoot up the next moment and bring about the chain of events that led to him launching Cadenza across the room and himself into the middle of the dancing ponies. And then he was gone. Lost, the writhing bodies cutting him off from the world. He hadn't even tried to escape it...he just stood there, accepting his fate. He might have accepted it, but Luna surely did not. "GET OFF OF HIM!" the large blue alicorn roared, her wings propelling her across the floor to the massive pony pile. Behind her, she left a table full of stunned friends, all of whom were too shocked to move. They couldn't believe what they had just seen. All of that careful waiting, with him even going invisible... "R...Ryan..." Fluttershy mumbled, her eyes locked on where he had been standing before the ponies had attacked. The velocity at which they had thrown themselves at him, mixed with the heavy pony bodies coming at him from all directions...he was probably hurt! At that thought, the caretaker's mind set into motion and broke her from her frozen state. Fluttershy leapt up from the table, leaving her bag behind. Her plushie was still secured safely in her mane. That was something she refused to let go of. The others only saw a yellow and pink blur soaring towards where Luna was trying to pry ponies off of the poor human. It wasn't working too well. As soon as the Lunar Princess managed to pull one pony from the pile, another would squirm deeper, trying to fill the gap and get closer to the center. Luna didn't like the idea of hurting her citizens, but they were pushing her closer and closer to that point. "GET OFF!" she shouted again, this time in her Royal Canterlot Voice. The pile shook from the force, but it seemed that the ponies were using the bodies of other ponies to muffled her overpowering voice. The pile was very nearly soundproof. Luna was getting desperate, but a yellow body took position next to her. "Excuse me," the new helper said. The voice was so familiar, but Princess Luna had never heard it sound so...forceful. It was the kind of voice that was usually very soft and reserved, but now, it was ringing with a sense of finality. The ponies in the pile before them turned to look at the new pony, only for their gazes to be captured in the twin teal pools of Fluttershy's stare. "Get off of him. Please," she spoke slowly, so that every pony caught in her vision trap could hear her clearly. A collective gulp went through the ponies she was addressing, before they all got the hint and scrambled to get clear of the yellow mare's piercing gaze. Once they were out of the way, Fluttershy addressed the ponies that had been under them in the pile. "Excuse me," she repeated. She did this, over and over, sending more and more Canterlot ponies running for their mothers. Princess Luna could only sit and stare as Fluttershy worked, her mouth agape. Not even her Royal Canterlot Voice could penetrate the crowd of hungry OtherWorld fans...but somehow, this quiet little pegasus was sending them packing like she was spitting out the Moobonic Plague or something similarly deadly. While that had been going on, the rest of Fluttershy's friends had gotten themselves unfrozen enough to walk over to where Luna was sitting. They all sat down next to her, save for Rainbow Dash. The prismatic mare left her cloud at the table and rushed over to the pile, helping out Fluttershy by scooping up one pony at a time from the pile. It wasn't as efficient, since the ponies she lifted tried getting away from her and back into the pile, but it still helped somewhat. Fluttershy was the only pony who could clear the pile quickly. The rest of the methods, save for blasting the pile into bits, would take ages to actually complete. More and more fancily dressed ponies ran away from the pile, their tales between their legs. Whatever the yellow mare was doing with her eyes, it was scaring the ever-living daylights out of those ponies. How was she doing that? Princess Luna would have to find out on a later date and see if maybe Fluttershy could teach her the ways of The Stare. Finally, the last few ponies had retreated from the pile, joining the others against the wall of the Recreational Center. The ponies were trembling in apparent fear, still reeling from the fright of gazing into the dead lights of the Stare Master. Fluttershy might have felt bad about scaring them so, but her attention was drawn to a lone figure left on the floor, curled up and motionless. It was Ryan. He wasn't breathing. "Ryan..." Luna whimpered, lowered a trembling hoof to her love. She prodded his body, but Ryan did not respond. Luna's shimmering teal eyes drifted over to where his face was, concealed under his hair and hood. Her eyes widened in horror as she spotted a glowing puddle of purple residue, presumably leaking from his nose or mouth. "RYAN!" the rest of the ponies screamed. They all surrounded the poor man, tears starting to form in all their eyes as their hopes sank. He wasn't moving. He wasn't breathing. He was leaking magic again. Fluttershy, in a desperate attempt to see if he was okay, nudged him with her muzzle hard enough to roll him over onto his back. Instead of drawing the much-desired response from him, she instead revealed Ryan’s blank, dead-eyed stare to all and sundry. The warm brown eyes that normally gleamed with mirth were now cold and dim, with purple being their new color. "N-no..." the yellow mare squeaked, her hoof covering her mouth in horror. It couldn't be. It just couldn't! They couldn't have come all this way, gone through everything they had, just for him to get killed again...by pony hugs. Hugs were supposed to be good! They were supposed to share warmth and love between beings, to show compassion for those you care about! In excess, it seemed hugs could be deadly. Just like water. In short amounts, water was necessary. In large amounts, it was fatal. Twilight stepped towards the limp form on the floor, her knees threatening to give out from underneath her. She couldn't believe it. Still, she waited for the bad dream to stop, for reality to come flooding back into her life. She needed things to make sense again. It didn't come back. This was reality. The cold lump on the floor, leaking her magic, was reality. She didn't say anything more than letting out a choked wail. Finally, the last few ponies joined her around Ryan. Pinkie's mane had fallen mostly flat, her misty blue eyes locked on the human in front of her. It was happening again. The very same emotions she had suffered through just a few nights before, when she had seen Ryan fade away into the black abyss, were hitting her again. But they were stronger. Instead of her favorite human dying in a projection that she had assumed to be fake at the time, he was there with her. He was physically there, and she still couldn't do anything to help him. The only sound that dared break the silence, besides the strangled sobs of Ryan's friends, was the sudden flapping of wings as Rainbow darted away from the scene and back into her cloud. The others turned to look at her, but only caught sight of her rainbow-colored tail, sticking out of the cloud car she had decided to hide in. A faint muttering could be heard coming from her direction. "Lalalala it's okay it's fine he's okay nothing's wrong lalalalaaaa..." she chanted, her frantic breathing signaling to the others that she was trying to escape the situation; to try for a few moments to pretend that nothing had just happened. "You..." spoke Princess Luna softly and she lifted Ryan's body carefully from the floor, his head lolling backwards limply. It was so disturbing for the group, seeing their usually-lively friend's body...so empty. They didn't want to think it. Luna couldn't think it. Ryan couldn't be dead. Not again. Not for real. "YOU SCUM!" she screamed at the top of her lungs as her head whipped around towards the cowering ponies against the wall. Her eyes billowed with her furious blue flame. Her horn glowed a deep, malevolent blue as every way she could possibly end a pony flew through her mind. But before she could do so much as give one of them a fur wedgie, she felt a warmth across her chest. An arm. Wrapped around her. "D...don't..." she heard a soft voice plead to her, the sound might as well having been a choir of angel-ponies to the distraught princess. She let out a sharp gasp, her horn and eyes instantly dying out. The ponies against the wall trembled, but they had also somehow heard the voice and immediately started moving closer. They took their time and stayed silent, trying not to anger the Lunar Goddess once again. They weren't keen on finding out what the conditions on the moon were like. Dash's ear flicked as the sound of the voice. Before anypony could blink, she was right next to Fluttershy and her other friends, looking withered but desperately hopeful. Her cloud was left spinning in circles from the force of her take-off. The scene was so tense around them, that- "MMMPH!" Ryan suddenly sputtered, his face puffing out. He shocked the ponies who had been looming around him, some of the nameless ponies fainting. Their unconscious bodies only added to the pile of ponies that the hospital was going to have to take in. Princess Luna wanted to be relieved, but Ryan's reaction to coming back into the land of the living just pulled her straight back into her state of worry. "What's wrong, Ryan?! Why are you-" Her words trailed off as she noticed the strange purple glow that was coming from her love's puffed out cheeks. It looked almost like he was going to be sick, except instead of green, he was...purple...oh, buck. "HE'S GOING TO PUKE! OUT OF THE WAY!" the blue alicorn screamed, picking up her boyfriend in her magical aura and lifting him so that she could easily pull him behind her. Whoosh The unfortunate ones who hadn't had the foresight to move out of the alicorn's way were treated to a one-way ticket back down to the floor. Canterlot citizens of every color and shape were flung out of Luna's way, the blue princess flying faster than their minds could comprehend. She needed to get outside. From what she had seen, Ryan's strange magical bodily functions were often explosive. She hadn't been there for the ones he had done prior to today, but from what she understood, they were all quite dangerous. When he burped, he sent himself and another pony flying through opposite walls of a house. When he sneezed, he was flung backwards and cracked crystal with his body. A second sneeze had sent Luna's rather annoying niece flying across the room and into a candy table. What would happen when he threw up? The only thing Luna was sure about was that she didn't want him doing it in a room full of ponies. If his upchucking turned out to be even deadlier than the rest, she wouldn't have been able to live with herself if she knew that she had let a bunch of clueless, not-so-innocent fans die horribly. Ryan would probably also hate himself to the point of depression if he so much as hospitalized a pony. At a speed only an alicorn could reach, Luna flew through the open doors, startling the newer door guards that had been sent to replace the ones that had been standing there before. They toppled to the side, their legs flopping over their heads as the Princess of the Night took to the air. Higher and higher she flew, watching Ryan every few seconds to make sure that he was still holding on. His cheeks were still swelling, but he was barely holding the torrent of purple energy back. The pain on his face...it tore at Luna's heart. He was trying so hard to get out of range of his friends the rest of the ponies in Canterlot. He knew he was dangerous. Which pissed Princess Luna off even more, seeing how often he intentionally threw himself into bad situations. She wanted to be mad, she wanted to scold him...but the time was not right for that. It was time for him to let loose the painful stream of purple magic that had been lighting up his cheeks like two violet lamps. They were high enough in the sky now, where as long as he aimed away from the town, nobody would be hurt. In the back of Luna's mind, a fear was tingling at her that told her that it would be very possible that he would just explode and take her with him. This had been the first sign of his condition worsening that she had seen since the link had been severed, so she didn't know just what kind of state he was stuck in. Sure, he was a lot more stable, most of the time...but what happened when he suffered enough trauma to become unstable, after the link's separation? Luna knew that she couldn't worry about her own safety at the time. Her duty was to her kingdom and her Ryan. With a gulp of repressed nervousness, she shouted out into the sky. "NOW!" she screamed, her voice reaching the struggling form wrapped in her magic. His reaction was instantaneous. He was firing his- "BLAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" he let out, aiming in a direction away from his love and away from any source of ponies. Out of his mouth, previously held back by his sealed lips, came forth a ray of pure energy, blasting out into the sky and away from civilization. Princess Luna could only watch with her mouth gaping open as he continued firing for well over a minute, his laser illuminating her features in its brilliant violet glow. Her mind couldn't even begin trying to comprehend what had happened to the poor human to make him fire off like he was. He didn't even know how to control magic, but here he was, producing a burst of magical energy that was likely several times larger than she herself could fire without charging it for hours beforehand. By the time he was finished, the beginning of his magical torrent was likely invading space. Luna was just glad that he had aimed away from her moon. As the last bit of glow from the laser faded from sight, Ryan slumped in her magic, thoroughly exhausted. Luna couldn't help the immediate interrogation that flew from her lips. "What the hell was that?!" she demanded, moving her love closer to her body. The Princess might have been confused and scared, but she still wanted him in her arms; she had just went through almost losing him again. She needed to feel his body against hers, regardless of how volatile he could possibly be. Ryan took a few minutes to catch his breath and steady himself before trying to answer. "Don't...know..." he stuttered, still pulling in as much air as he could. "Ponies...hugs...then, magic...started flowing into me...passed out...it was t-too warm...then...laser..." Luna watched his face intently as he spoke, trying to make sense out of his broken sentence structures. From what she could barely gather, the hugs from so many ponies at once had then...sent magic flowing into him? That was certainly odd to picture, but no more so than anything else that had happened in the past week. So...when his body, his construct, filled up with too much magic, he passed out and went into a sort of stasis. At least, that's what Luna assumed. Then, after something woke him up, his body immediately went about trying to expel the excess magic so that he could stabilize. Apparently, it did that by making him throw it up in ray...or beam...form. Out of all the previous reactions his body had had, that one was certainly the most destructive. Luna shuddered to imagine what could have happened had she not gotten him away from Canterlot when she had. How many ponies would have been blown away? She shelved those disturbing thoughts for later. What could she learn from this event? Well, she had noticed how his magical outbursts tended to come forth from his mouth or nose, and to a lesser extent, his hands. The mouth or nose explosions happened when he had to let off steam, but they seemed to be the most powerful release points. Were those spots his equivalent of a unicorn's horn? "Sarah..." Ryan whined, his eyes locked downwards. Luna shook herself from her studying of the situation and looked to the man trapped in her magic. He was staring down into the open sky below them, his body starting to tremble slightly. Luna tilted her head. "What? I didn't know you were afraid of heights," she said coyly. Ryan gave her a pleading look. "I wasn't...until I jumped a mile into the sky and almost atomized Pinkie Pie on the way down..." he said, shivering at the memory. Luna nodded at his explanation and moved him above her slightly. With a twitch and a fizzling of magic, Ryan was plopped down onto the blue alicorn's back, his legs clenching around her tightly enough so that he wouldn't slide off. "What...?" he questioned weakly. Luna just gave him a loving look before spreading her wings out and descending slowly back down. "I always wanted to fly with you..." Ryan blinked and looked at her, his confusion fading away as a warmer, more confident feeling spread through him. He returned her smile and nodded, though he still leaned forward and clung to her as if she was the only thing keeping him from plummeting to the sharp ground below. It didn't help his mind any that she was. Luna, still swimming in the tingly feeling of having her Ryan finally riding her like she always wanted, took the trip back down the ground slow; she didn't want to freak out her boyfriend. If he was afraid of heights, now, then she wouldn't tease him with it. With as much trauma as he had been going through as of late, the last thing he needed was the closest link he had to his world using his fears against him. That didn't mean she wasn't going to give him the business later on about his decision-making, though. Her attention was captured by Ryan as he ran his fingers through the fur on her neck. She let out a content horse noise and tried to focus on maintaining her flight path. It was just a good thing that she needed her wings in the position they were in, or it could have gotten a lot more awkward. Luna noticed that his movements were becoming more frantic, like he was looking for something lost in her neck-fur. She turned her head to see him, confused when she saw that he looked horrified about something. "Ryan?" she asked softly, not wanted to startle him. He felt her neck a bit more before his eyes shut tightly and he slumped over into a defeated position. "Goddamn it, Sarah..." he groaned, weakly hanging onto her again. He gave off the aura of a tired, disappointed man that had just gone through some life-changing traumatic event. Princess Luna didn't know what to think. Was something about her fur disturbing him? He had felt her true form before, she was sure of it. Why was it just now bothering him? Hay, Luna remembered having him feel her, the most recent time being the time when they were sleeping on the train, when she turned into- "Oh..." she muttered to herself as her face blushed bright red. Bad ancient alicorn princess. Bad. No. ENDING CREDITS: