The Secret of Equestria

by Xinamar

All Aboard

Chapter 6

“Everypony! Everypony wake up!” I hear a voice erupt in the distance. Expecting the worst, I shoot off the ground looking for any signs of distress. Instead, I’m met with the sight of a small purple creature. As I stare at it, it continues on trying to get everyone’s attention. “I just got a letter from the Princess!” it shouts repeatedly.

“What does it say?” Twilight quickly sprouts from behind me and dashes towards it followed by a couple of other ponies. It’s nothing important, I think to myself and lay back down shutting my eyes. And if it is, it’s probably for Twilight anyway or one of the other ponies. Trying to relax I attempt to ignore the commotion caused by everyone else but I can’t help but listen in on what they’re talking about.

“It says: Dear, Residents of Ponyville. I have realized the situation all of you are in and have made the decision to relocate everypony affected to Canterlot. After this recent event I feel that it is no longer safe for you all to remain there for the time being. I plan to begin this process immediately. Until I am certain that it is safe once again I shall have Ponyville rebuilt, but until then you may make yourselves comfortable here in Canterlot. A train will arrive shortly after this letter has been received. I also request a private audience with Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and...” Suddenly there’s a silence. I lift my head to see what’s happening. “...and A-Aye Reel. Sincerely, Princess Celestia.”

“I’ll inform everypony else.” I hear a familiar voice say. I then see a pony break away from the group and trot towards me. It’s Doctor Steryll. After everything I don’t think he even fell asleep. His appearance easily shows his fatigue, his misery but there’s something in his eyes. Something I can’t quite identify or relate with. Watching him, the doctor finally trots past me and towards a group of tents. I can’t help but watch him until he vanishes. Are those the eyes of a hero? Shaking my head a little, I snap out of it and turn back around and see that Pinkie has joined the group and is standing next to Twilight and the small purple... dragon I suppose.

“What do you think the princess has to see us for Twilight?” I could hear Pinkie ask.

“I’m not entirely sure Pinkie, but it must be important.” Twilight responds. I then notice the dragon start tugging at Twilight’s tail.

“Hey, Twilight who’s...” it pauses for a second and looks down at the letter in his claw. “Air-al?”

“It’s pronounced Air-real, and he’s right over there.” Twilight says pointing her hoof directly at me. Looking straight at me, the little dragon starts to walk my direction...

“Oh it’s you! I’m sorry I said your name wrong, but wow. I saw all those cool spells you used against Trixie. Those spells were some high level stuff, but I still think Twilight can beat you. Anyway, my name’s Spike. It’s an honor to meet you.” The little dragon, now in front of me, extends his right claw. Getting up off the ground I too extend my arm towards it. But before I could do anything, Spike quickly grabs my hand and starts shaking it rapidly. Completely caught off guard I’m thrown off balance.

“I think you might have a fan Aireal.” Twilight jokes as she approaches us with Pinkie not too far behind.

“(Giggles) Hey Spike, where’s Rarity?” Pinkie asks in a teasing manner. Letting go of my hand finally Spike turns to answer her.

“She’s sitting right over there,” he points. “I was keeping her company. She wasn’t too happy about sleeping on the ground.”

“Keeping her ‘company’ huh?” Twilight smiles.

“Well... I... Uhh... I mean...” I notice Spike turn completely red. So these ponies do have a sense of humor, I chuckle to myself. The dragon then proceeds to ignore everyone and turn to me. “I uhh... gotta go. It was nice meeting you Aireal.” He then blasts off in a random direction. I think I just met someone who’s more awkward than me and it’s a dragon who’s friends with ponies...

After that thought I notice Twilight and Pinkie are giggling again. I turn to them and wait for them to explain what just happened. “Spike has this huge crush on Rarity.” Twilight says trying to collect herself.

“It’s so adorable!” Pinkie adds.

“Hey, we should take you to meet Rarity! She would love to meet you. She was always talking about you. You should’ve seen how worried she was when Celestia sent you to the dungeon. Twilight where did Spike say she was?!”

“Oh, umm... she’s right over there,” Twilight points at a crowd of ponies. She then turns to me and says, “She’s the pony with the long curly purple mane. Can you see her?” Looking carefully at the crowd I think I spot her. If I’m right she’s a pure white pony with sky blue eyeliner. Her mane’s purple like Twilight said but she has deep blue eyes and compared to every other pony she looks really out of place here. I point at her and look at Twilight waiting for a response. “That’s her. So why don’t you go and talk to her for a bit? Pinkie and I are going to check up on Applejack and Fluttershy. Okay? We’ll meet back up with you afterwards.”

“See ya!” Pinkie yells waving good-bye; while, Twilight and Pinkie walk away towards the tents. I look back at Rarity who is sitting on the ground. She really does look uncomfortable. Maybe I could accompany her and make her feel less awkward. I don’t know it’s just a thought. So I start walking towards her. After a while I’m in the same crowd of ponies she’s surrounded by and I could overhear their conversations.

“How in the world could all of Ponyville just go up in flames, like it did?”

“I have no idea. It all seemed to happen at once!”

“What do you think the Princess needs Twilight and them for? What do think she’s going to say?”

“I don’t know. But it might be bad news for the rest of us.”

“If you ask me, I think that “Aireal” guy has something to do with it.”

“How can you say that? He doesn’t seem like a bad guy.”

“Think about it. Ever since he showed up all of this happens. Coincidence?”

“I think he has point.”

“Whatever, I don’t agree with any of that.”

“Yeah, I mean I saw him save a pony from a burning building!”

“Maybe he’s just trying to “look” like a good guy. So that we won’t think it was him.”

“YOU’RE INSANE!”

“Am I?! Hey FREAK!” the voice shouts. I stop in my tracks and turn towards the direction the voice was coming from. Within moments a stallion is in my face. I don’t know what to do. My heart’s pounding as my thoughts are all over the place. This all feels familiar. Fear, that is what I'm feeling. I’m... I’m afraid, but why? It’s just one stallion. It feels as though fear is something new to me. That would explain how I was able to do everything I did. But, no, in the house with Fluttershy when I couldn’t move wasn’t that fear? No no, that was something different but what? Why can’t I figure this out? Why would I remember what fear is now, and not in an actual event of significant danger? This isn’t making sense. Why not trigger fear in any other event. I risked my well being on several occasions and this is what I’m afraid of, a single stallion within this sea of ponies. No it has to be something else. If I could remember something I might possibly be able rationalize this. If I could just remember who I am.

“You’re the reason Ponyville burned down aren’t you? Aren’t you?!” He shouts. Quickly the crowd around us goes silent and turns toward us. Even though I have to look down to see him it feels like he is way above me. This must be what fear does to you because none of this is making sense. I feel completely at a loss. I don’t know what to say to him or what to do. I’m usually speechless but I feel that I need to defend myself, but I can’t. “Why don’t you say something?! You won’t because I’m right! You’re just a monster in disguise!” That one word, monster, somehow ignites my fear, burning it, making it something new, something... wrong. Monster? I think to myself as I feel something suddenly enter my hand. Well, if he thinks I’m a monster, why don't I give him one...?

“Hey you! Why don’t you leave him alone!” A feminine voice explodes from the crowd.

“Oh yeah?! And why should I?!”

“Well, I’m sure I’m not the only pony thinking that you’re wrong. That you’re just going out of your way to blame this poor... fellow. How desperate can a pony be for a way out, just to point a hoof at somepony.” I notice whose talking, it’s Rarity. She walks out of the crowd and is now face to face with the stallion. “So! Why don’t you pick on a pony your own size?” Sweat starts to form on the stallion’s forehead. “Well go on then! Show us how much of a stallion you are?!” And just as quickly as he approached me he backed off and vanished into the crowd. Turning to me I can see she’s about to say something. “Well, that rapstallion shouldn’t bother you anymore. My name is Rarity. It’s a pleasure.” She extends her hoof towards me but I’m still at a loss. What was I just thinking about doing? Did I really consider harming him? This isn’t me, this just can’t be. I may not remember who I am, but this isn’t me. Looking down I see that my hand is in my pocket. It’s the wand that’s in my hand, I realize. No matter how hard I try to let go I can’t bring myself to do it. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, never better.” I say. Wait I said something. I usually don’t speak. It’s actually really hard for me to do so and I just did it without any hesitation. I NEED to let go of this thing. With all my will power I force my hand open and get my hand out of my pocket. Using a second to collect myself I shake Rarity’s hoof. “Thank you.” After a second or two I let go of Rarity’s hoof and she then places it back onto the floor.

“So Twilight told me about how the Princess let you go free. It must have been dreadful in that dungeon. I’m very glad Celestia let you go. She had absolutely no reason to send you down there. I didn’t want to imagine you spending another night in that dank and dirty place when you did nothing wrong... Well enough about that. I’m a fashion designer here in Ponyville. Oh how I wish I could show you my boutique! But... it’s gone...” She pauses then I notice a change in her. All of a sudden that spark in her eye is gone, that majestic aura that use to surround her turns dull, and she just seemed lifeless.

“...Are you alright?” I whisper.

“Oh...yes, I’m quite alright. It’s just... watching everything I had just burn down before my eyes its saddening, no matter. I still have my friends and they’re all I need.” Confidence and reassurance return to her and her words. This is the kind of attitude everyone needs, I think to myself while I feel a smile start forming onto my face. People should try to look at the positive side of it all. Unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be the case in most of these ponies.

But then again, I think I’m just being too harsh. I’m not going to lie to myself, a positive outlook on life is hard to maintain and you must be so strong in order to always have a smile on your face. I can understand why that pony was blaming me. It’s just easier to deal with it all if you just don’t. How easy it is to just use a scapegoat. I could then feel my hand creep back into my pocket. A scapegoat, maybe that’s what you are. Maybe you really are just a way out. A way to avoid my problems, not an escape but a loop hole. I always feel better with you at my side. Feelings like fear and uncertainty don’t matter when you’re here. I don’t remember who I am, but I’m starting to feel that maybe, just maybe, this wand is who I am.

...No, no it’s not. I feel like I’m more than that, I feel that memories before this do exist, but I just can’t get to them. One of the first thoughts I had here was... I remember. It was about what I was wearing: a black jacket, shoes, and pants. If I could remember that this is what I usually wear, why can’t I remember anything important or at the very least helpful? I remember my name, but for some strange reason it felt like that name just came to me. Come on remember...

“Oh look. Here comes Twilight and Pinkie. Wait, they have Applejack and Fluttershy with them.” Rarity says interrupting my thoughts. I turn and see Twilight and Pinkie leading Applejack and Fluttershy to us. Applejack seems to be walking normally but she still has a limp in her step. While Fluttershy, on the other hand, seems to have made a full recovery only having to wear a few bandages to cover up any fresh cuts from her ordeal. “Shall we walk to them?” Rarity asks. In response I gesture that she should lead the way and she does. “Hello Applejack, Fluttershy. It’s good to see that you’re both in good health.”

“It’s nice to see you too, Rarity,” Applejack smiles. Rarity then proceeds to give her and Fluttershy a gentle hug. “And good mornin’ to you too, sugarcube.” Applejack says turning to me after Rarity’s hug. After a small while of polite hello’s and asking if everyone’s alright I could hear something in the distance. It starts to get louder and louder. It’s the hum of a train. All of us turn around, as we finally hear it at its loudest, and watch it as it sides into the remains of the Ponyville train station. Its appearance kind of looks ridiculous to me, but what should I expect from a race of colorful talking ponies? The train is not one color but a wide array of them and the trams all seem to have a different design and in some cases color scheme. It’s a sight to behold really after thinking about it. Once it comes to a screeching halt a pony, dressed as a conductor, steps out of the locomotive.

“All aboard to Canterlot!” he shouts.

“There it is! Come on everypony let’s go!” Pinkie shouts in excitement as she starts to bounce to the train. Rarity, Twilight, Applejack and several other ponies follow suit. I was about to join them as well but felt something tug at my shirt. I peer over my shoulder and don’t see anyone. So I just shrug my shoulders and press on, but it continues. It keeps happening over and over again, until I finally decide to turn around. And to my surprise, I see Fluttershy with my jacket over her back. We both just stand around for a second or two, completely speechless. Scratching my head I feel like I should say something, but what? She’s another pony who looks completely out of place in the wreckage of Ponyville. The bandages surprisingly add to this charm along with her refusal to make eye contact. Man, I’m not quite sure of what to say. What to say…

“… Thank you for lending me your jacket…” she whispers breaking the silence. She then grasps my jacket into her mouth and hands it to me. “It was very cozy…” That voice, everything about her is just so adorable. “Umm, not to impose, but shouldn’t we be getting onto the train too?” I almost forgot, the train. As fast as I possibly can I put on my jacket and start speed walking to the train with Fluttershy right next to me.

After a few awkward situations of trying to maneuver through the crowds we meet up with Pinkie and everyone else. Judging by their conversation they didn’t notice we were gone. Convenient, I don’t have to explain anything, I think to myself.

“Hey does anypony know where Rainbow Dash is?” Twilight asks. All of us look at one another waiting for someone to answer, but no one does.

“Well wherever she is, she had better hurry. Does she even know about the Princess’s letter?” Rarity asks.

“Hey guys!” A voice explodes from above. There she is, I think as I look up. Her timing's always got to be perfect. She’s in the sky right above us and in a show of prowess and athleticism blasts downwards in our direction at an amazing speed. Finally she hits the ground on all four hooves with such force it sends a shock through me. “What’s up?”

“Where have you been?” Twilight asks.

“No where, I was just getting some early morning flying in is all,” Rainbow Dash replies stretching her wings out a bit. “…umm, where’s everypony going?”

“Princess Celestia sent word that a train would come to take us all to Canterlot. She also wants to see us as soon as we get there. If you didn’t just show up right now you would have missed it.” Twilight answers somewhat agitated.

“Eheh…sorry about that,” Rainbow smiles.

“(Breathes out) It’s okay. I was just worried you weren’t going to be here when the train left.”

“Twi, you know you don’t have to worry about me. If I would’ve missed the train I could of just flown to Canterlot.”

“Yeah, but if you missed the train, you wouldn’t know we were going to Canterlot. That’s what worried me.”

“Oh, right.”

“Ladies! And… uh, you!” the conductor shouts before Twilight or Rainbow Dash could say anything else. “Could you all please come aboard? I have a schedule to keep.” I assume he’s referring to me when he said “uh, you.”

“Sorry!” Twilight shouts back. The girls and I then start making our way onto the train. Suddenly I can hear a voice shouting at us. I think I’m the only one who heard it because no one turns around but me.

“Hey wait up!” it shouts. Standing there a little longer I can see its Spike. After I see it’s him I move forward a bit and hold onto the doorway into the train car. I then gesture at the conductor to wait. He does but in turn I’m met with a sour expression. Go figure... I think shrugging to myself.

After a quick second, Spike is finally next to me. “Thanks...” he says trying to catch his breath. I simply smile and gesture for him to get inside the train. After he does, I follow close behind and shut the door behind me. Inside the train there are only two long benches one on the left of me and one on the right. After following Spike a little longer I take a seat next to Twilight with Spike and Rarity right across from us. After some time had passed and everyone got comfortable small talk started filling the train car. Not very interested I look out the window. The conversation goes on for a while but after Twilight says something everything goes quiet. She then starts speaking again, with everything dead silent and with everyone listening, including me.

“It just doesn’t make sense how that could happen; neither water nor magic could stop or even weaken the flames. I have a bad feeling about this. Something or somepony is behind it all, I just know it. And Celestia most likely needs our help to stop it.” Twilight finishes and everything goes quiet again. The thought of Trixie then shoots through my mind. I try to push them back, but there still all that fill my mind. I don’t want to believe it, but it’s all possible. After seeing what kind of magic she could do there’s no doubt that Trixie could have casted something like this. She might have even been responsible for the possessed guard and that wolf in the Princess’s castle. This all would make sense, but if I’m sure of one thing and one thing only she isn’t responsible for any of this. I can’t explain it or make sense of it, but I feel this connection with her. Something in my mind is telling me that she is, for some reason, important. I reach into my pocket and pull out the wand. I place it on my lap and stare at it. Watching it shine as the sunlight from the window bounces off of it I get this odd feeling again. All my thoughts start to align and make sense. Trixie, the wand, Ponyville, everything that’s happening, it’s all starting to piece itself together. I could almost see the answer I’ve been seeking but a couple of pieces are missing. Like an incomplete puzzle set. I can’t see the complete picture without every piece. The book Trixie was talking about that’s it. That’s one of the pieces I’m missing. However I feel that there’s something else, but what?

“So that’s the wand?” Twilight asks. I suddenly snap out of my thoughts and turn my attention to Twilight. “I have never seen anything like it. May I see it?” I feel reluctant at first, like I would lose some part of myself if I am to part with it right now, but I hold it out to her anyway. She uses her magic to lift it up and bring it to her face. After a second or two of looking at it a sense of intrigue comes upon her face. “Wow, it looks like somepony worked really hard on this. I wonder who it was...hmm... these inscriptions around the bottom end look ancient. Wait, I’ve read about this language before. It dates back thousands of years. If I do recall correctly, it was referred to as Equovocé or ‘voice of the pony’. It was abandoned such a long time ago that not many records are still present in this language making translation really difficult. However, I’ve been around the library too long not to have seen this before.” Stopping for a moment Twilight then concentrates on the lower half of the wand. “Tolle peniculus in dubitare, is what it states, and if I’m correct the translation would be... take brush in doubt. What does it mean? Very strange.” I start to think about it myself. Take brush in doubt. I can’t quite understand it either. Everything I thought I had doesn’t seem to fit together with this new piece of information. Take brush in doubt... no that translation must be wrong. Why would it say that, unless... maybe it’s some sort of warning, but a warning to what? I just don’t understand.

“Aireal, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to study this object further to learn more about it and possibly the history behind it.” Twilight asks. I shake my head no that I wouldn’t mind, but I think I just confused Twilight because she just looked at me. “Does that mean no you do mind or no you wouldn’t?”

“... I wouldn’t mind.” I whisper.

“Great! I really think we can learn so much from this object.” Twilight responds. That’s my hope. If she could figure something out I might be able to piece all this together finally. The more I know the closer I am to figuring out who I am. “… By the way. How did you cast those spells? Spells that level could only have been cast by unicorns that had already mastered the art of magic or at least specialize in that field of magic.” I personally don’t know myself so I kind of just shrug my shoulders. “… You don’t like to talk do you?” Twilight asks, but I’d rather not respond. If I were to tell her why I don’t like to speak this could get all complicated. “Come on now there must be something you’d like to talk about? Where you’re from? How about what you like?” I pause and turn to her to try to come up with an answer, but I end up turning away and staring at the floor lost in my own thoughts unable to recover any memory about myself. I wish I had an answer. I want to know who I am. “…Do you enjoy reading? Because I love reading.”

She then looks at me waiting for some kind of response but nothing is coming to mind. Everything is all so scrabbled in my head. None of my thoughts make sense. Wait, I think I know what to do. I need to tell someone anyone about what’s happening to me and I can’t do that on my own. I feel as though I need the wand in my hands. Like it holds some part of me I can’t get to unless I have it. She needs to pass me back the wand if I am to have any chance of explaining anything to her. Without it I feel so closed off from everyone.

If I can explain it to her she might be able to help. She’s still sitting there waiting for a response. I turn to her but instead of speaking I extend my arm towards her hoping she'd pass me back the wand. She looks at me confused, but then awkwardly hands it back to me. As soon as that silver rod made contact with my hand again I could feel all my thoughts come together again. All the confusion just whisked away and to take its place this kind of comfort and newly formed confidence. This is exactly what I needed. Taking a breath out I prepare myself for the speech about to leave my lips. “I. . . I don’t know anything.” I say.

“You don’t know anything? What do you mean by that?” Twilight asks.

“I don’t know anything about who I am. . . But, whenever I hold this, I feel so different. This thing has been the reason I’ve been able to survive this long. I can’t feel comfort, confident, or brave when I’m not holding it.” Twilight continues to stare confused, yet intrigued at the same time. “Without this wand I’m. . . I’m nothing.”

“What? Don’t be ridiculous. I’m aware the wand possesses magical properties, but that doesn’t mean you should tell yourself you’re nothing.”

“Listen, everything that’s happened couldn’t have been done without this. For all I know you could be broken apart laying in a hospital bed if it wasn’t for this thing.”

“That’s not true. You were the one that-“

“That it used to save you. I don’t use this wand; I feel that it uses me. Whenever danger arises and I am clueless of what to do. I find myself unknowingly reaching into my pocket for it. And once my fingers make contact everything in my mind convolutes into something new. . . When those ponies were shouting “hero” to me on that stage they weren’t cheering for me, they were cheering for it. This. . .” I hold the wand out to Twilight so that she can see, and maybe finally understand. “This is your hero. Not me.”

“Aireal. . . You can’t think that’s the truth.”

“I don’t think, I know it’s the truth. Every time danger rises I’m the one that needs saving, and heroes don’t have to be saved.”

“Well that’s not necessarily true! I read that long ago there was a great unicorn by the name of Starswirl the Bearded. He was a brilliant wizard, and he secluded himself from all others. Which led to his strength by relying only on himself. He would conquer monsters of all sizes; no danger was too great for him. Although, long ago, he found himself in a situation he could not overcome, and he needed to rely on another to be saved. I don’t quite remember the other pony’s name, but I know that she started as a nopony. After that incident she saw that there was a hero in her, and believed that there was a hero in everypony. They just needed to find it. She made it clear to all of Equestria that there is a hero in all of us.”

“Well she was wrong.”

“But Starswirl wasn’t. He learned something important that day. You can’t always believe that heroes, no matter how brave, can only rely on themselves. I only wish that you could see that.”

“I see what you’re trying to say. But here’s the difference, I never was a hero to begin with. Who you’re speaking of sounds like he already knew he was a hero. He knew what his purpose was. So what is mine? This “Starswirl” studies magic and fought off danger right? What have I done? I’ve hid, ran, and cowered from danger. This place. . . Everything it’s. . .!” I stop, and take a breath out of aggravation. . . What am I? Hm? Just what am I? I feel that there’s bits and pieces of me missing, and when I hold this wand some of it returns to me. I feel so lost and confused. . . I never even knew what fear was until now, so what else am I missing? My life it’s. . . It’s something that I’ve been trying to figure out. But I can’t find the answer.

“Aireal, please just listen. We’re your friends. We’ll help you however we can. . . You’re not alone here.”

“Friends? How can you say that? Just how can you be friends with something like me? You don’t know anything about me, yet you call us friends? You and Pinkie both tried to convince me this, and I almost fell for it.”

“Why are you getting upset? I’m telling you the truth!”

“Will you just stop?!” Twilight jolts and gives me this look of shock. “Just-Just. . . Leave me alone!” I jump out my seat and storm to the car door forcing it open and slamming it behind me in a fit of aggravation. Now in the next train car all the ponies in their seats gawk at me. I’m assuming they overheard my outburst. Feeling angry and embarrassed I place myself against the train wall and sit on the wood floor. I focus my attention to the ground, but I can feel all the ponies’ stares glued onto me. I take one glance up and as I expected they are all still blankly staring at me. “What?!” I say promptly. Alarmed they all turn their attention away from me, and now I can be at ease. I can’t believe Twilight trying to lift my spirit with nothing but lies. Giving me all this nonsense about friendship and how “There’s a hero in all of us.” I’m sure there is. Whoever said that mustn’t have a true understanding of life. Clearly I don’t, but I do know it’s full of weak and strong, greedy and generous, heroes . . . and cowards. Those who are weak are powerless. They can’t defend themselves or someone else. Any coward will sit back and watch any kind of dark deed be performed, and do nothing about it. . . Just why exactly am I here? Why? So many questions I keep asking myself over and over but I get no answers! I could just tear my hair out from the insanity this is driving me into and I feel as though I can hear the ponies’ thoughts around me in the cart. They already see me as something insane.

I sit in the corner of the cart for the rest of the ride while listening to the running of the train engine and the occasional whisper amongst the ponies. I can feel the train come to a stop as its wheels screech along the tracks. The ponies all get up from their seats and begin walking out. With my head down I’m sure that they all are glancing down at me, but I don’t care. I wait until the last one leaves before I decide to leave myself. I find myself back at this sort of palace once again. All of us are crowded before a few white and brown stallions in gold armor and blue Mohawk design at the top of their helmets. They stand straight and tall puffing out their chest to show that they have authority. “Welcome everypony to Canterlot. We have heard about the accident down at Ponyville and are happy to let you stay with us for the time being. Her majesty has made sure that there are vacant houses for you to stay. Follow us and we shall direct you.” One of them orders in his deep voice. The ocean of ponies follows the two armored stallions and out from the corner of my eye a bit of an unpleasant sight meets my eyes.

“Aireal, there you are.” Says Twilight coming up from my right. However I only give her a glance.

“What’s the matter? Why the long face? Come on turn that frown upside down!” Pinkie shouts while grasping my face trying to force me to smile.

“Pinkie.” Twilight says while giving her a look of intent to get her to calm down. “Let’s leave him alone right now okay?”

“Why?” Rainbow Dash asks confused.

“Rainbow just, I’ll tell you later.” Twilight says trying to move on.

“Hey sourpuss! What’s your deal?” Rainbow Dash demands. I can feel my hand tightly grip around the wand as my left hand digs its nails into the palm. My eyebrows crunch together as my head turns hot. I feel such. . . Anger. My fist feels the need to bash into something so that to relieve this feeling, but I resist. This feeling it’s. . . Wrong. I breathe in filling my lungs with the cool air to cool down. It soothes me enough to let go of the anger, but the guilt for even feeling it is still there.

“Now Rainbow Dash Twilight and Aireal had a bit of a tiff during the ride. I think it’s best we just allow him to calm down until he’s ready to speak to us.” Says Rarity.

“Whatever. Fine.” Says Rainbow Dash turning her body away.

“Aireal listen. I’m sorry if I got you upset, but you need to come with us to see The Princess. Okay?” I let out a sigh of annoyance, but I turn to her ready to follow. The eight of us start our way to the castle as I hang behind not wanting to even be near them. I feel a bit relaxed with them far away, but I can feel myself regrettably getting lost in my thoughts again. For some reason I can see Trixie haunting my mind. The thought of her name, voice, and face feels like a key trying to be turned in my brain. No matter how hard I try to force myself to come up with a resolution to these thoughts I get no where. In fact I feel like I’m drifting ever farther from the truth. Now I’m clouded with nothing but the same questions I’ve been asking myself for my whole time of being here, and the feeling of wanting to slam my head into a wall returns. Occasionally one of the ponies will glance back at me with look of concern and will whisper to another. Clearly their talking about me and what do with me, but I’m not going to let it get to me. However other local ponies dressed up in fancy attire constantly give me a stare of either disgust or confusion. So I focus my eyes down to the concrete path only looking up once in a while to make sure I’m still behind Twilight and the others.

After what feels like an hour of walking past shop after shop and all the ornamental buildings we finally make our way up the long staircase to the castle. Staring up at it only brings back memories of the dank dungeon The Princess had locked me in and the shadows that attempted to swallow me whole. Two guards at the top of the staircase push open the big double doors for us. We then follow the long red carpet to the Princess’s throne as she stares out through a window as the sunlight lays itself upon her while gleaming off her gold crown and necklace. “You’re majesty we have arrived.” Says Twilight as they all kneel down before the throne.

“Ah, so you have. I am feeling quite anxious at the moment.”

“Why is that?” Twilight asks.

“Because I have much to share with you. . . Please, come with me. There is something you all should see first.” They all stand and hurry their way up behind the Princess. However I stand behind without wanting to move forward. My thoughts are blank as my eyes are fixed on the red cloth beneath me. I am lost in the sounds of their hoofsteps as they begin to fade away. My grip is loose on the wand; I can feel it slipping out from my palm. My consciousness drifting away from me without warning. I feel like laying down for a short rest but my legs are locked in place. "Aireal. Won't you come with us?" The Princess's voice breaks into my ears and my body jolts away the weariness. "You will need to come as well. . . I do not trust you here alone."

Author's Note:

This The Writer, my editor xinamar has not been around lately to help me with the writing. So I am alone for the time being. I do not know when he will be able to lend me any help, so I hope that you all enjoy what I have done. I will begin work on Chapter 7 shortly.

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[Xinamar]

Reposted out of respect for the time and effort put forth on this piece.