Strange Yet Wonderful

by Bionic Slime

Ch. 16 Secret Admirers

Chapter 16: Secret Admirers

After a night of dates and fine dining, the 6 ponies had returned to their homes. Celestia’s sun radiated beautifully over the afternoon sky of the new day. Curious to see how everyone’s night went, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Pinkie Pie headed over to Twilight’s home to share some date night gossip with each other. The 5 ponies smiled warmly at each other; idly chit chatting as they approached the Golden Oak library. Rarity seemed especially chipper. Her dove white hooves bounced with every step she made, almost as bouncy and giddy as Pinkie Pie. Everything and everyone seemed so peaceful and serene, nothing but gorgeous blue skies, golden sun rays and cheerful smiles as far as the eye could see. It seemed almost impossible to disrupt the harmony of this peaceful day.

CRASH! BAM!

Almost.

The ponies stopped dead in their tracks; flinching from the sudden violent eruptions they heard thundering from inside the library.
Fluttershy looked nervously to her friends, “Oh my, what’s going on in there? I hope everyone’s all right.” She held her hoof to her mouth; nervously chewing on it.

“I SAID I’M SORRY, I SWEAR, NOTHING HAPPENED!”

“Oh yeah, like I’m gonna believe THAT!”

CLANG!

“Spike, put that frying pan down this instant!”

The ponies continued to stare at each other in bewilderment. Part of them wanted desperately to barge in and find out what was going on, but the other part of them was too nervous and too curious to stop whatever is happening.

“That sounds like Moonstruck and Spike causin’ a ruckus” Applejack commented.

“But I thought they were on better terms,” the yellow Pegasus asked, “What would cause them to fight each other?”

“Perhaps there was some sort of misunderstanding darling,” Rarity surmised. She listened closely and tried to put her developing detective skills to good use. “Moonstruck said nothing happened, that could mean a many number of things,” she rubbed her chin with her hoof. Although whatever that “nothing” was, it must have been quite problematic to cause Spike to go into such a pan swinging rage.

“Yeah, it could also mean only one thing, if ya know what I mean” Rainbow added with a suggestive snicker.

Nearly all the girls turned bright red at the inappropriate implication Rainbow made, everyone except Pinkie Pie. Fluttershy muttered “Oh dear” over and over again, Rarity was beyond flustered and Applejack tried to hide her cherry red cheeks under her Stetson.

“Umm I actually don’t know what you mean” Pinkie shrugged, her answer made Rainbow burst into laughter while the other ponies tried to shake uncouth imagery from their heads.

“What I’m saying is I think that Spike’s mad because Twilight and Moonstruck-” Rainbow started to say.

“RAINBOW, PLEASE! You may not value your status as a lady, but some of us would like to keep our decency” Rarity replied haughtily. She “Hmped” at Rainbow’s dismissal, tossing her purple curls back.

WHAM!

“If nothing happened, then how’d you end up in Mom’s bed?”

Spike’s words silenced any remaining chatter amongst the 5 mares. Things were sounding more and more confusing the longer they listened.

“That’s it,” the cerulean Pegasus flew towards the door and rushed her body against it, “I’ve gotta see this for myself.” The other ponies tried to stop her but ended up collapsing and falling inside with her. “Would every pony just get off me already?” Rainbow screamed; stuck at the bottom of a dog pile of ponies.

The house was a complete mess, books and parchment scrolls were scattered everywhere. Rainbow grunted as she sat up from the dog pile and noticed how many books she had uncomfortably landed on when the door burst open. Twilight would be neat freaking out over this mess if she wasn’t too busy trying to stop Spike from whacking Moonstruck across the head with a frying pan…again. The three purple figures were racing after each other along the bedrooms; heading towards the staircase.

“You put that pan down right now young dragon” Twilight scolded. Spike angrily ignored her and continued swinging the iron pan at Moonstruck like a baseball bat. She tried magically lifting the pan out of his claws but Spike’s grip was too strong, she even teleported in front of him several times but he just ducked under her or went around her. “Spike, I can explain everything if you just calm down” she raised her bandaged hoof towards her cut cheek, “It’s all a big misunderstanding.”

The young dragon ferociously chased Moonstruck to the edge of the stairs, one slip of the hoof and they both could go tumbling down. “Come on, come on,” Moonstruck tried to use his magic to teleport out but the hex was preventing him. Spike charged forward, swinging the pan wildly as he was inches away from clocking Moonstruck. “I swear Spike, NOTHING happened” he pleaded, “I’m your friend, I would never hurt Twilight in a million, million years.”

RAH!

ZAP!

Spike was lost in such a blinding storm of fury and rage, he didn’t even hear Moonstruck anymore; or notice that his frying pan had been magically blasted into a cluster of bubbles. Twilight beamed the pan into bubbles just before Spike moved in for the swing. “What the-” Spike gasped. The inertia from the now empty clawed swing sent him tumbling down the stairs, whirring into a purple and green ball spiraling out of control. He couldn’t stop himself from zooming right towards his friends. The ponies scattered like mice; desperately avoiding becoming pony bowling pins. Rarity was far too concerned for Spike to budge; he could faintly hear her calling his name while he rolled. Twilight shouted for her unicorn friend to catch him. “GAAAAAAH” Spike wailed as he knew he was heading right for the mare he adored.

“OOF” Rarity grunted as Spike gut checked her like a hoof ball and slammed her to the ground. The snow white mare and purple dragon lay on the ground; both their eyes filled with spinning stars. Every pony in the room quickly rushed to their aid. Rarity’s dizzy sapphire eyes slowly came into focus on the blurry purple blob sitting so comfortably on her chest. “Spike…Spikey Wikey?” she weakly groaned, “Are you all right darling, you’re not hurt are you?” He shook his head at the sound of her sweet, angelic voice. His emerald eyes started to focus as well. “Oh thank Celestia your all right,” she sighed with relief.

“R-r-r-rarity, is that…Oh my gosh!” Spike exclaimed, “Rarity I am SO, so sorry. I wasn’t trying to hurt you, I was just so angry and I lost control and before I knew it-” The fashionista giggled and placed a hoof to Spike’s lips. The dragon’s anxiety instantly melted away, her touch was like magic to him; far more potent than any spell her horn could cast.

“It’s perfectly all right sweetie, no pony was harmed” she soothed, “Even the pony you were trying to injure.” Her curls bounced as she motioned her head towards Moonstruck. Spike turned and saw Twilight comforting the terrified convict, he was breathing heavily into a paper bag Twilight provided. Her eyes looked to her number one assistant and glared with fierce disappointment. Spike’s cheeks turned bright red; he offered an apologetic smile and weakly waved. He knew he was going to get a long winded lecture for this one. “I must say though darling,” she purred playfully; bringing Spike’s attention back to her, “Last night must have sparked something because you seem especially bold today.”

Spike had no idea what Rarity was getting at with that oddly playful tone. He looked down and suddenly realized his position: sitting on top of Rarity, claws resting on her chest and staring right into her eyes. “Ho boy” Spike gulped, his cheeks turned a million shades of red; every pony else staring at him was blushing almost as hard. The dragon leapt back and kept his claws secured behind his back. “I know that was an accident and you’re not hurt but still,” Spike immediately bowed to Rarity, “PLEASE don’t be mad at me! I swear I’ve changed; I’m not the immature dragon from before. I don’t do stuff like that, I’m still a gentlecolt; honest.” Rarity used her magic to lift Spike’s chin up; he looked at her with a perplexed glance. She leaned in and bopped him on the nose with her hoof. “OW” he grunted and clutched his nose, “What was that for?”

“That was for thinking I would ever see you in a less chivalrous light”, she smirked and planted a long, tender kiss on Spike’s cheek. The soft smack of her lips echoed loudly in the silent room. Every pony went wide eyed; especially Spike. “And that was for that absolutely lovely present you left outside my house this morning,” she nuzzled the cheek she just kissed, “Spikey poo.” The dragon felt his cheeks burning bright with blushes; he squeaked and collapsed in shock. Rarity couldn’t help but giggle at his reaction.

Applejack frowned at the little moment those two just shared. “All right, all right, enuff messin’ around”, she walked between Spike and Rarity. Despite her openness to dating Hopeful, she still remained mostly stuck in her ways. It was hard enough for her to truly accept other ponies dating outside their race; let alone a dragon and a pony. She didn’t want to be this way, she hated the fact she couldn’t just be happy and support every pony to date and be with any pony they liked. But traditions exist for a reason and she believed in that reason. Hopeful may have changed her perceptions a little, but the stubborn southern mare still had a long ways to go. “So then,” she looked around the room, “Anyone mind tellin’ us what the Heck is goin’ on here?”

“Oh, oh, oh, I know, I know!” Pinkie waved her hoof frantically in the air. The gang turned to her with curious eyes. “It’s all so simple now, I should’ve known,” Pinkie put on her detectives hat and pipe; bubbles slowly popping out of it. “Twilight, Moonstruck and Spike”, she squinted her eyes, looking intense and serious. Every pony was hanging on her every word. “Were arguing over who was the first one to play this super-amazing-incredible game I JUST invented: blind folded water balloon limbo,” everyone groaned and shook their heads. “What, what else could it be?” Pinkie shrugged.

“All I know is,” Spike pointed at Moonstruck, “When I got home this morning, I saw YOU snuggled up to my mom, sleeping in the same bed and she had cuts and marks on her that weren’t there before.” Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy gasped, Rainbow secretly muttered “I knew it” to herself. Both Twilight and Moonstruck were looking awfully red in the face. “How do you explain that, Mr. Innocent?” Spike placed his claws on his hips.

Moonstruck bit his lip and looked to Twilight; she looked just as embarrassed and nervous to explain the whole story as he was. It was obvious however an explanation was going to be needed to cool some heads. “Well…” he started to say.

*Flashback*

The dark purple Unicorn groaned groggily at the nagging rays of sunlight bleeding through the curtains. His head was pounding and his joints were aching for reasons unknown. Silver eyes weakly open to his new surroundings. Moonstruck slowly noticed that he was no longer in the basement, but in fact, upstairs in a bedroom at the golden oak library. He saw an empty bed where Spike slept and a pile of comic books neatly stacked next to it.

“Wha-what happened last night?” he rubbed his head softly; “Last thing I remember I was in the basement and then I…then I…heard someone’s voice. I thought it sounded like Twilight.” A sudden shift around his body produced a sensation of warmth that was most unexpected. Moonstruck’s eye lids half closed; overwhelmed by the surprising sensation of warm comfort flowing over his muscles. “This feels nice,” he crooned and nuzzled closer to the warmth, “My body feels like it ran the running of the leaves last night, but funny enough, that was the best night’s sleep I ever had.” He didn’t fully grasp where he was and at the moment he didn’t care. Moonstruck felt at peace, felt comforted, everything just seemed so serene and soothing that every care that crippled him seemed to melt away from this blissful state.

“Mmmm” a voice moaned from behind.

The colt’s eyes snapped wide open upon hearing that sweet yet startling sound. “What was that?” he nervously started to look around the room. Moonstruck was starting to realize exactly where he was: Twilight’s bedroom…and in bed WITH Twilight! “Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, oh crap” he sputtered frantically. He was terrified to find the source of that heavenly warmth, for he had a good idea where it was coming from, but he prayed to Celestia he was wrong. The colt saw a light purple Alicorn, snoozing peacefully right next to him; snuggling against him happily. She draped a hoof across his chest; just a few inches from his neck. “What the hell happened last night?!?” he bit his lip, trying to keep his voice down but having difficulty due to the unshakable amount of fear in it.

To make matters worse, Twilight was wrapped around him so snugly that if he were to move or push her even a little bit; she might wake up and who knows how she’ll react. Moonstruck noticed a band aid over Twilight’s cheek and white gauges wrapped around one of her hooves. Did he do that, did his crazy pervy brain take over and do something with Twilight, did he cast spells in his sleep, but more importantly: how the hell did they end up in bed together?!?

And here I thought you didn’t have the guts to stick it to the princess…literally! I take back everything I ever said about you stud. This calls for a celebration, can I get a HELL YEAH?

“Will you shut your mouth, I didn’t stick it to anyone” he whispered; his silent voice seething with irritation, “I don’t remember a damn thing that happened last night.”

No wonder I missed out, that makes it even better! Your imagination is gonna go crazy thinking of all the crazy, kinky stuff you guys did last night. Oops, already is…dude, you got a filthy mind up in here! You suck face with that mouth?

“Nobody sucked anything all right?” he gulped and just realized what he said, “Forget I just said that.”

You think princess tight ass will be able to restore your memories from last night along with your past ones? I’m kinda hoping she does because I would love to find out what nasty stuff went on here last night. I bet she likes to use props, what do you think?

Moonstruck groaned in defeat and just slumped his head to the ground. Twilight stirred slightly but went back to sleep and nuzzled closer; cuddling with the sulking stallion. It was a shame this situation was so frightfully awkward because Moonstruck was kind of loving this attention from Twilight. Sure, she was uptight and dorky and she didn’t know how to shut up sometimes, but this is the first time in 2 years he’s felt so at ease. He felt so warm and relaxed feeling her soft furry body gently caressing him from behind. It was like sleeping next to a beautiful angel that felt like warm marshmallows and smelled of lavender; it was heavenly.

“I’m just grateful no pony else is here to see this”, he chuckled and closed his eyes; “I don’t even want to think of what would happen if Spike saw me like this.”

“Better start thinking pal,” Moonstruck’s eyes widened at that painfully familiar voice. It belonged to another purple figure in the room. This one had shades of green, emerald colored eyes, dark scales and a glare so hate filled; it could drill through diamonds. Moonstruck gulped loudly. He looked up and saw Spike, standing there; clutching his claws in indescribable anger, a piece of grass stuck out of his teeth like a toothpick. “What. Did. You. Do. To. My. Mom?” Spike snarled. The grass melted like kindling from the brimstone sizzling inside the dragon’s scowling lips.

Moonstruck lifted up his hooves as best he could, his movements still partially restricted from Twilight laying on top of him; a fact that wasn’t helping the situation. “Okay Spike,” he tried to calm the dragon down, “I know this looks really, really bad but believe it or not, I have an explanation.” Spike crossed his claws over his chest and waited impatiently; tapping a claw against his chest. Moonstruck laughed nervously, always forgetting how deathly scary this little dragon could be sometimes. “Heh…well…I sort of have an explanation,” he laughed nervously, “It’s actually a funny story when you think about it, you see, I can’t really remember what happened last night and-”
Spike reared back his favorite frying pan and lunged at Moonstruck with a fury unlike any he’s ever unleashed before.

*End Flashback*

The ponies looked at each other and nodded; finally understanding why Spike was attacking Moonstruck when they came in. Twilight avoided everyone’s eye contact. Her cheeks were beat red, she felt like she was going to keel over and die from embarrassment. She wanted to tell them how they ended up in bed but she’s worried her friends might freak out if they knew Moonstruck had such destructive night terrors. Sure, he dinged her up a bit but she knew it was purely accidental and didn’t blame the poor colt for anything he did last night.

“Wait a second, there’s one very important detail you left out mister,” Pinkie said accusingly. Everyone looked to Moonstruck and then back to Pinkie. “Why did Spike have a piece of grass stuck in his teeth?” everyone but Pinkie groaned and slapped their faces, “What? That’s the only part I was confused about.”

Rainbow shook her head shamefully, “Seriously, that’s what you took out of that story?” Pinkie nodded. Rainbow rolled her eyes and groaned. The speedy mare pointed at Twilight’s cheek and arm; she then grabbed Pinkie and forced her muzzle right up against the Alicorn’s body to examine the wounds. “Aren’t you even a little suspicious or upset with this guy? He hurt our friend, Twilight didn’t get these wounds from flipping pages in a book,” Rainbow said. She flew up above everyone and motioned with her hooves towards Pinkie, “How can you be so sure he didn’t intentionally hurt her?”

“Because he makes Twilight happy,” Rainbow’s eyes widened at Pinkie’s casual reply, “Twilight and Moonstruck spend a lot of time together and they both seem a lot happier whenever they’re doing things together. So when Moonstruck says he doesn’t remember doing anything, I know he’s telling the truth because he would never want to hurt Twilight on purpose.” Both Twilight and Moonstruck smiled sheepishly and looked at each other with blushing cheeks.

“T-t-thank you Pinkie Pie” Moonstruck said sincerely. He smiled softly at Pinkie’s kind words, they were simple but they conveyed so much to the unicorn. She smiled back and winked. The colt originally thought Pinkie was a scatter brained sugar junkie who had nothing in her head but party balloons and confetti, but now he sees she’s actually one of Twilight’s sharpest friends.

“You’re welcome Moonstruck,” she popped a pipe into her mouth and put her detective’s hat back on, “Now then, about the matter of the mysterious blade of grass in Spike’s teeth.” Rainbow groaned in frustration but Pinkie ignored it and maintained her detective persona.
“Um a-a-a-actually,” Fluttershy nervously raised her hoof, “I was more c-c-curious how Spike didn’t notice them-” She had to pause before continuing, her cheeks turned bright pink with embarrassment at the thought of discussing this subject. “Y-y-y-you know, t-t-t-together when he first woke up” she asked, “What were you’re doing Spike, how come you didn’t notice this? Of course if you don’t want to answer, I completely understand and I’m sorry I asked.”

The young purple dragon raised his claw to speak but was interrupted by a sweet and polite voice. “Um actually darling, I think I can explain that” Rarity said. Spike was surprised Rarity wanted to personally explain what he was doing that morning. He figured since their…relationship was still figuring out what it was; she wouldn’t want to openly discuss the specifics of the very personal gift he left her. “If you don’t mind me telling them that is,” she turned her head towards Spike’s direction.

“Um n-n-no, that’s all right” he half smiled and shrugged, “Go right ahead Rarity.”

“Thank you Spikey Wikey” she sweetly replied. The dragon muttered something that sounded like “awe shucks”; smiling bashfully at her sweetness. The unicorn looked to her friends and cleared her throat; she wanted to make sure she spoke elegantly and clearly. Applejack looked especially interested in hearing all the details. “You see, in a way, I’m the reason Spike missed them this morning,” she started to explain.

*Flashback*

The snow white unicorn snored loudly, her nostrils flaring as she shifted in her magenta colored sheets. She slowly sat up with her yellow eye mask still covering her sapphire blues. “Is it morning already?” she mused to herself; smacking her lips in a most un-lady like fashion. Her hoof lifted the mask off her face and saw the golden rays of the sun shimmering under her closed blinds; she yawned and hopped out of bed while magically placing her mask on her nightstand. “I wonder how the rest of the girls spent their nights”, she trotted downstairs to prepare her breakfast. “I could use some fresh gossip to perk me up this morning,” she levitated plates, ingredients and silverware out and started preparing her meal.

As she worked her magic to create a beautiful and delicious looking breakfast, her mind wandered about her date last night with Spike. Part of her wondered if she should even really call it a date. While she did eat dinner alone with Spike, chat about their likes/dislikes; as she does on every other date she’s had with a stallion, it didn’t exactly feel a date to her.

Is it because I know Spike, because we’ve been friends for so long that it feels strange, or is it because…it’s Spike… my “Spikey Wikey” Spike.

Her sparkling eyes were briefly lost in a daze; her stirring spoon whirred away inside the pancake mixing bowl as she spaced out. Rarity shook her purple curls and tried to focus her fragmented thoughts. She tried thinking about her upcoming line, the next order she had to tackle. Her frosty eyebrows crinkled as she tried focusing harder and harder on something else. But try as she might, her thoughts kept going back to last night and that sweet little dragon with the stunning emerald green eyes.

Did I really just call him MY Spike? Goodness gracious girl, get a hold of yourself! Whether it was a date or not, I can’t just go around thinking of him as my property. I already feel disgusted enough for using him for daily tasks so selfishly. I knew how my looks and batting my eyes would make him do anything for me, which is all the more reason I should treat him respectfully.

Rarity sighed heavily; she looked down at the neatly prepared breakfast lying across her plate. She was quite famished but found it rather difficult to take a bite just yet; it was like her guilt and confusion were restraining her from eating until she sorted everything out. “And one of the ways good friends respect each other is telling them the truth,” she shook her head and magically scooped a slice of her pancake into her mouth, “Even if it breaks his fragile little heart.”

What am I supposed to do? If I never accepted his invitation in the first place, this wouldn’t have become so complicated. He would have been hurt, but he would have gotten over it. Now everything will hurt a thousand times more, he’ll be crushed and confused, and who can blame the poor dear? I’m the one who said I had a wonderful time and wanted to do this again sometime. Ugh I shouldn’t have said that!

“But I did, I did say that” she silently pouted, “And now I don’t know what to do or what reasons to do them for.” Rarity stared at her salt and pepper shakers; she felt like they perfectly represented her: the salt was pristine and white like her outside, but her inside felt more black and rough like the pepper. “Am I the only pony who has ever gone through something like this? I have so many questions, and yet,” she paused and bit her lip, “I’m terrified of the looks or answers I would get if I asked.”

Is it the age issue? I know dragons age much slower than ponies and while Spike is viewed as a baby in the dragon’s culture, how does he measure up in the pony culture? Would me dating him truly be as offensive as others make it out to be? Maybe the age isn’t the issue at all, maybe it’s just the fact he is a dragon. Dragons eat ponies and are greedy, vicious beasts after all. But I know Spike, I’ve had many talks and gem hunts with him, we’ve gone on adventures and done fashion shows together. He’s not a dragon to me; he’s my dear, sweet, little Spikey Wikey. But even if he is different than other dragons…he’s still a dragon. This is a fact that is impossible to deny.

“I can’t possibly be so shallow I would reject someone’s feelings just because of how they were born,” Rarity asked out loud. She looked around as if expecting someone to answer. The Fashionista knew no one was in the house except for her cat Opal; lazily bathing herself in the sun by the kitchen window. “Am I?” she squeaked, her face scrunched up with stress wrinkles.

The mare threw her head back and groaned loudly in frustration. Opal screeched in surprise and frantically dashed out of the room. She wished she could follow her pet’s example: just scream and run away from the problem. “But running away from problems never solves anything,” Rarity stood up and briskly headed towards her front door. Rarity couldn’t take this anymore; she had to end this confusing heartache and move on with her life. She refused to let these mind games consume her every thought and waking moment. Rarity magically opened the door; preparing to end things with Spike before it became any harder.

This is ridiculous! I am Rarity, best fashion designer in all of Ponyville and soon to be a household name across Equestria. I can’t let something like this drag me down. I could have any stallion I want if I tried hard enough, there’s no need to stick myself neck deep into all this…this…controversy. Yes, Spike has matured and grown up…a bit, but any relationship beyond being just friends would be far more harmful than helpful. Spike will get over it, things will go back to the way they were and I won’t have to worry about any judgement from-

Rarity’s thoughts suddenly froze in place, her eyes widened at the surprisingly beautiful display that had been secretly placed in front of her doorstep. All the negative, confusing thoughts that had been consuming her mind seemed distant and far away now. Her luminous ocean blue eyes shimmered upon seeing the most touching and heartwarming of sights.

There was a large assortment of flowers formed in the shape of a heart in front of Rarity’s doorstep. Cut, trimmed and arranged in a variety of colors: white, purple, blue; the same colors that made up her beautiful form. Each flower had its own individual pot; that in and of itself must have taken a long time. She examined them closely, biting back tears at the grand gesture. Upon further analysis, she saw flowers stems had been cut by a pair of teeth. The unicorn took a step back to once more take in the full scope of the touching gift.

That sneaky little dragon, he must have woken up early and spent all morning putting this together. He even used his teeth as pruning shears.

“Oh you sweet, sweet little drake” she murmured; tears slowly creeping out from under her eyes. Not one stallion had done anything as thoughtful and kind for her as this, not one. Suddenly the thought of having any stallion in town sounded boring and droll. “Spike is devoted,” she stated, “Spike may be different but he is kind and caring, he cares more about me then himself and always puts me first. He may not handle everything properly and with the grace a lady of my stature seeks, but still,” she sniffs the flowers and sighs contently, “He’s always there for me…always.”

Maybe I shouldn’t close the door on him just yet.

*End Flashback*

Rarity smiled eagerly at her friends, they could tell she took great pride and pleasure telling them of how their favorite dragon “thanked” her for such a wonderful evening. Fluttershy and Twilight were visibly moved by the story; Pinkie cheered and popped some streamers over Spike and Rarity’s heads. Rainbow Dash and Applejack however had mixed feelings about the whole thing.

“Nice job Spike,” Twilight patted his back with one of her wings, “Looks like someone’s putting all those romance books to good use.” Spike looked down; trying to hide the overwhelming rush of redness to his cheeks. Moonstruck smiled proudly at Spike and gave him a heartfelt congratulations and hoof shake as well.

“So that’s yer little romantic story then huh?” Applejack interrupted. Every pony looked towards the blond mare, partially confused by the scrunched up look of indifference on her face. Spike knew what the issue was but no pony else seemed to understand the blond mare’s reaction. “Does this mean you two are courtin’ then?” she bluntly asked the two.

Spike and Rarity looked at each other then back to Applejack. They’ve been around AJ long enough to know what most of her southern slang meant, including this one. Unfortunately, the unicorn and the dragon didn’t have an easy answer to that question. They didn’t know where they were, where they’re going or even if they were on the same page with each other. Twilight could see the uncertainty in her friend’s eyes. She worried for them, about what they are going through together; though not necessarily for the same reasons Applejack is concerned. “Well…” the mare and drake started to say in unison.

“Whoa, whoa, back up guys,” Rainbow hovered in the air; clamoring for everyone’s attention. Spike and Rarity sighed and wiped their brows clean, both were pleased Rainbow took the attention off of them. “You call THAT romantic? Puh-please! Let me tell you what a real romantic gesture sounds like” she smugly boasted, rubbing her hoof on her chest. Applejack rolled her green eyes at her speedy friend’s remark. Considering how embarrassed Rainbow gets whenever things get too “mushy” around her, the southern mare was more than curious how her Pegasus friend claimed she’d top Rarity’s story. AJ called Dash’s bluff and insisted she explain how things went with Arrowhead. Rainbow smirked and landed on the floor, resting comfortably on a large red throw pillow. “Well…” she started to say.

*Flashback*

“So let me get this straight, THAT GUY is one of your friends?” Arrowhead asked incredulously. The grey stallion was walking side by side with his Pegasus date, exiting the restaurant after the Discord incident. He still found it hard believe Rainbow was friends with someone like Discord, especially considering he battled against them not too long ago. “And he’s the one who convinced you to dance in front of the town to get my attention?”

“Ugh, could we please stop talking about my dance thing? I feel stupid enough as it is letting Discord talk me into such a humiliating stunt,” Rainbow groaned. She was happy Arrowhead agreed to go out with her and she really did have a good time, but she just wished every pony just forgot about her dancing number and just give it a rest. The cyan mare knew why she did it and was grateful for its results but that doesn’t mean she wanted to be reminded of it every day.

“You know, it’s okay to look silly sometimes,” he explained, “You don’t have to be afraid about who you are and what you do.”
She looked at him with a confused look on her face. Rainbow brushed it off and stood up on her hind legs; spreading her wings out proudly. “I’m not,” she boasted, “I’m Rainbow Dash: Wonderbolt in training and awesome pony extraordinaire. I’m faster than lightning, cooler than ice and way too awesome to be affected by girly stuff like spa days and flowers.” Arrowhead just rolled his eyes and smiled. There she goes again, putting on the big, tough girl act. She lowered her wings and eyed Arrowhead closely; she had a mischievous, smug smirk on her cute little face. “Dinner was good, but I personally feel no date with me is complete without a little race around Ponyville,” the grey colt laughed at her invitation; should have figured she’d want to race rather than talk a moonlit walk. “Come on, how’s about a rematch?” she eagerly insisted.

Rainbow bent her hind legs in preparation for the race, but suddenly felt a twinge of pain in her leg; the same one Arrowhead popped back into place. She grunted loudly in pain and started to fumble and fall backwards. Her lips opened up to cry out; Arrowhead quickly kicked his legs into action and instantly flashed over her to catch her.

ZOOM!

The mare’s brief moment of pain had vanished. Instead of lying on the ground, cringing and grunting in pain and clutching a wounded leg, she found herself warmly nestled against the well-chiseled chest of her date. Rainbow was cradled like a baby in Arrowhead’s arms. Her cheeks burned brightly with pink hues, she couldn’t believe how comfortable his rippling, bulging Earth pony muscles were. It was the strangest feeling she’s ever experienced; feeling something so strong feel so inviting and calming at the same time. The Pegasus tried to say something but she found no words, her voice came out as mousy little squeaks.

“Hey, you all right Rainbow babe?” he asked, the colt had a slightly embarrassed look on his face. “Guess I didn’t fix it as good as I thought I did,” he chuckled, “Sorry about that.” He played it off as a joke but the speedy mare could see there was a brief moment of panic in those stunning crystal colored eyes of his. Even though he wasn’t far from her position, Arrowhead felt better knowing he was fast enough to get to her.

“Y-y-y-yeah I’m cool; I’m fine,” she faintly protested, “Really it’s no big deal at all. I’m a big girl; I can take care of myself.” She put up a slight resistance to his bear like embrace. He let her go and she carefully straightened her leg out so she could stand on her own. Rainbow flapped her wings twitchingly, as if trying to shake off that entire incident. “I totally had it covered but, thanks for the catch big guy” she smiled broadly.

Arrowhead saw right through that smile though. Her pink eyes shined with bits of shame and fear, fear of looking weak in front of some pony she secretly wants to impress. Rainbow always wanted ponies to see how tough and amazing she is, so much so that she felt the need to hide her true feelings or emotions from almost every pony; even her closest friends sometimes. The stallion knew that if this relationship would ever go anywhere, she’d have to know she doesn’t have to do that with him.

“Hey, you know it’s okay to drop the tough girl act every once in a while,” Rainbow turned to him with a surprised look on her face. She tried to protest but he quickly cut her off. “No pony is going to think your weak or less cool just because you fall down or say you like cute things,” he calmly explained, “There’s nothing to be shamed about; no pony you have to worry about disappointing.”

“You don’t understand, I have an image to live up to, ponies expect and love to see me in a certain way,” Rainbow explained. It was hard for the colt to understand her viewpoint. She sounded like she needed the adoration of other ponies rather than actually needing to be this way for her own needs. Arrowhead truly believed there was more to her than the macho image she broadcasts to everyone, but maybe she can’t tell the difference between her own image and her own true self. “I am the definition of coolness and I can’t let any pony think of me as mushy or weak or-” she started to say.

“Well, did our date make you feel mushy or weak?” he quickly asked.

Rainbow paused; seriously contemplating the question. Whenever Rarity or Fluttershy drones on about these dreamy romances in their fantasies or their stories, it always sounded so sappy and she figured that all dates were supposed to make ponies feel warm and fuzzy inside. She associated love with something to be embarrassed or nervous about displaying in public; it’s one of the reasons she tried to hide her public displays of affection for Tank for so long. Now the speedy mare had just finished going on a date and she legitimately enjoyed it.
“No” she slowly answered, “No I guess it didn’t, if anything it felt kind of…cool.” The more she thought about it, the larger the smile on her face started to grow. Arrowhead couldn’t resist staring longingly at such a beautiful sight. Her smile was so stunning; it was almost criminal. The cyan mare noticed her date’s entranced stare and tried to ignore it, the heat coming off her cheeks only made hiding it more difficult. “I mean, yeah it was a’ight” she looked to the side dismissively; trying to play it cool, “You’re pretty sweet company but don’t let it go to your head big guy.” Arrowhead couldn’t believe she was the one telling him not to let it go to his head. “No pony sweeps this girl off her hooves,” she smugly stated, “No pony.”

“Oh really?” he raised an eyebrow and grinned, sounding as if he was accepting a challenge. Rainbow, as usual, seemed very confident and positive she could withstand any charms the sturdy stallion could throw at her. She may think she’s tough as nails, but he could see right through her armor. His turquoise eyes saw more of Rainbow’s true self then she realized or cared to admit.

“Don’t take it personally though, I mean this is me were talking about,” she stretched her wings and posed; showing off her sleek figure and rainbow locks. “I’m made of 100% pure awesome sauce; I can take anything and dish out anything. I’m too cool and too fast to let any gooey romance gunk penetrate my defenses,” she proudly boasted.

“So I take it then a second date isn’t something you’re geared up for?” he said; continuing to lead her on and see how far she’d keep this going.

“Now I didn’t say anything like that, but you’d have to be offering something pretty bad ass other than candle light dinners to get this gal to-” she started to say.

Before Rainbow could finish, her pink eyes widened at the sudden cosmic sensation tingling on her lips. Arrowhead used his super speed to zip right up to her and plant the most intimate of kisses right on her lips. All the tension, the bravado and the energy Rainbow put into her “tough girl” shell cracked like glass under the devastating impact of the grey colt’s kiss. Her wings dropped down along with her eyes; melting from the kiss and feeling every muscle in her tight cyan colored body relax into a heavenly state of bliss. Rainbow had never been kissed before, at least not like this. She never saw it as anything more than a sloppy, sappy way kids, parents and annoyingly mushy couples displayed their love for one another. But as she felt her lips dance wondrously upon the serene taste of Arrowhead’s lips and tongue, she finally seemed to understand. Her heart and body burned for more, craving for more, as if it had been secretly desiring it all this time.

When the kiss broke, time and space slowly seemed to creep back into Rainbow’s mindset. She blinked hazily; as if coming out of a dream. “Wow,” that was all she could mutter. The mare could still feel a tingly numbness across her lips, Arrowhead’s distinct taste causing goosebumps all along her cerulean colored fur. The speedy mare raised a hoof to her lips; still trying to speak, “That was just…um I mean that…just…wow.” Her blue cheeks were burning the brightest shade of red.

“So, is that a wing boner you’re sporting or you just got a kink in your wings?” he asked with a sly chuckle.

Rainbow had no idea what he was talking about until she looked at her back. The speedy mare squeaked; her wings were stiff as a board. They’ve never done that before! She desperately tried to push them back down and play it off like nothing happened, but it was all in vain. “That was just-er I mean to say that they sometimes” she groaned and slapped her face, “Oh just forget it.”

“Not on your life true blue,” he winked and chuckled at her adorable flustering, “Not on your life.”

She felt like she should protest, try to deny these powerful feelings he was infecting her with…but she couldn’t. Arrowhead saw right through every wall she put up. “S-s-s-s-so then,” she slowly tried to calm herself down; reduce the overflowing amount of blushes flooding her face, “Where do we go from here?” The Pegasus felt anxious and uncertain, two emotions she avoided like the plague, but now she felt like they were consuming her to the point that all she could think about was how to intensify these feelings Arrowhead stirred in her.

“Well, that all depends really,” he cryptically replied.

“On what?” she asked.

Arrowhead looked at her with a serious look on his face. “This is all very new to you, I get that” he sighed softly, “But I’ve wanted to kiss you like that since you did that dance for me. Relationships take time and I know that this is a lot to take in on the first date, so you tell me how we play this.” Rainbow leaned closer; listening intensely as her heart pounded like a jackhammer, thumping louder and faster with every word he dropped. “Do we take this slow or fast?” his voice slightly wavered. The gray colt was perfectly willing to respect whatever decision Rainbow made, even if that meant not wanting a second date, but he’d be lying if he said hearing Rainbow wanting to take the slow approach didn’t slightly disappoint him.

“Go slow…or go fast” she repeated, slowly and carefully; like a foal learning the words for the first time. Rainbow stared blankly at Arrowhead, softly licking her lips. Their eyes locked but neither one would move or speak an inch more until a decision was made.

Arrowhead and Rainbow zoomed right into each other and locked their lips with a feverous passion. The pony’s lips smacking hotly against one another. Tongues dancing and mingling together as if they were merging on a cellular level, their eyes were closed tightly. Eventually they had to part for air, a necessary but unfortunate reason to pause. Rainbow and Arrowhead stared at each other as if the world was barren wasteland and they were the last two souls destined to repopulate the planet. No one could be seen in their worlds; just each other. The ponies panted softly, their lips salvaging the tastes in their mouths; growing hungrily impatient for more.

“My place or yours?”

“Mine’s closer, it’s on the ground.”

“Good point!”

The speedy mare and bold colt continued to envelope one another in their consuming make out session. Their furry bodies became a series of speedy blurs of cyan and grey colored hooves, both locked in a dominating game of control. Arrowhead and Rainbow stumbled in the shadows; unable to care who saw them or what was in their way. They somehow managed to make it back to Arrowhead’s house without separating their bonding time, he kicked the door open and the two vanished inside. Any prying onlookers could see the story their bodies were telling by the dancing shadows from the pale light echoing in the windows of the colt’s home.

*End Flashback*

“And THAT my friends is what an awesome date/romantic gesture looks like,” the Pegasus proudly flaunted. Her boastful smile quickly faded once she saw that everyone in the room was blushing furiously at Rainbow’s intense details, everyone except Pinkie that is. Fluttershy was practically turning into a tomato she was so red; shielding her red cheeks behind her pink hair. “What,” she looked around curiously, “What I’d say?”

“Fascinating,” Twilight jotted down several details from Rainbow’s story into a journal. The princess had zero experience with dating, let alone making out or being as expressive with her physicality as Rainbow is; so she figured it would be a good idea to take notes.

Moonstruck looked to Twilight with disturbing confusion. “You can’t possibly be writing-,” he shook his head at the purple mare and groaned in frustration. “What the hell am I saying? Of course YOU would,” he finds it harder and harder to believe Celestia chose this dork to be a princess every time she does stuff like this.

“Does this look like an accurate sketch of what Rainbow Dash described?” Twilight showed her sketch to Moonstruck.

The unicorn’s silver eyes nearly jumped out of their sockets. His purple face was on fire with blushes. Moonstruck quickly shoved the book down so he didn’t have to look at it a second longer, Twilight was instantly shocked and irritated by the colt’s gesture.

“Why would you do something like that?” she looked at him and angrily snorted. Twilight magically lifted her book back up and placed it onto a shelf. “What’s wrong with you Moonstruck?”

“What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with YOU?!?” Moonstruck couldn’t believe how clueless she was about all this.

“Ooooh, that sounds like a great date there Dashie,” Pinkie cheerfully chimed in, “I love playing twister with other ponies too. It’s always so much fun to see how twisted ponies bodies can get when they try to move.” Rainbow, Applejack and Moonstruck rolled their eyes at Pinkie’s innocence, Fluttershy, Spike and Rarity remained awkwardly silent.

“Whatever you say Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow rolled her eyes; sitting down Indian style.

“So then, anyone else care to share how their night went?” Twilight asked; half sarcastically half sincere. She was still peeved at Moonstruck’s rudeness so she figured another story might help distract her. However, the Alicorn was secretly getting frustrated by these stories because it kept hammering in the fact that all of her friends had a better night out with their dates then her! She was “lucky” enough to get attacked and chewed on by her date.

“OOOOH, ME, ME, MEEEEE, PLEASE PICK ME” Pinkie shouted; flailing her hoof in the air like a school filly. An exasperated sigh escaped Twilight as she pointed to Pinkie and called on her. “Well, first I had a craving for breakfast food late at night so I decided to try out a brand new cake recipe,” she pulled a piece of cake that was covered in syrup, marshmallows, powdered sugar and chunks of pancakes, “I call it: Pan-pie-cake, or maybe Cake-pan-pie, I haven’t decided yet.” The dragon and 6 ponies cringed in revulsion at the mangled pastry concoction, Twilight groaned as drops of syrup oozed all over her floor. “But I had no pony to try it on, so I asked the Cakes if they wanted to try some,” she stuffed the cake into her maw and loudly munched on it, “Mmmmm! I figured if they liked it, maybe they could add it to their menu options.”

Fluttershy curiously asked what their answer was.

“Oh they were super excited about it! They asked me all kinds of questions,” the pink mare raised her hoof and started counting, “Like Pinkie, do you know what time it is? Why is their chocolate and syrup on the floor? How did you even get into our room?” Everyone but Pinkie looked at each other with awkward and confused glances. “But they were busy apparently so I just made as many as I could just in case they wanted sell them today,” her smile turned a bit sheepish; “No pony was interested though, so instead of letting them go to waste I ended up trying to see how many slices of Pan-pie-cake I could fit into my mouth at once.” Pinkie rushed up to Rarity’s side and whispered into her ear, “Just in case you were wondering; it’s 47,” the party mare belched and bits of chocolate and powdered sugar flapped out of her lips. She squeaked “excuse me” and bounced off.

Rarity almost gagged, the assaulting smells of Pinkie’s absurdly unhealthy diet caused the white unicorn to turn a few shades of green. “I actually wasn’t but,” she cringed in disgust, “Congratulations anyway.”

“Gee, thanks,” Pinkie blissfully beamed. “Sooooooooooooooooooo,” Pinkie started popping up by her friend’s sides randomly, she was bouncing around like a pink supersonic blur. “Who’s next? Who’s next? Who’s next?!?” she repeated.

Knowing she was one of the ponies who hadn’t spoken up yet, Applejack carefully tried to hide herself from the prancing pink pony’s attention. She slyly tilted her Stetson over her face and tried to inch away. Ahm not ashamed of talkin’ bout Hopeful, he was nothin’ but kind to me the whole time, she thought to herself; trying to slip behind Twilight and Moonstruck, But there are certain parts of that date Ah would rather not go into if Ah can help it.

Pinkie Pie suddenly popped out of AJ’s hat. The blond mare screamed in shock and collapsed to the ground, her chest rapidly rising and falling as she tried to catch her breath. “Hey Applejack, your hat is way roomer than I thought,” she bounced out of the hat and helped her friend back onto her hooves. “Glad I stopped you, I was worried you were gonna leave without telling us how your super-duper-awesome-fun date went,” Pinkie beamed. The pink mare was so innocent, so clueless to any feelings of hesitance or reluctance on Applejack’s part.

“Yeah, wouldn’t want that to happen now would we?” she replied sarcastically. Pinkie continued to blindly smile at her fellow Earth pony; still oblivious to the attitude in her voice. The rest of her friends started to look towards her; eager to hear her story as well. It’s just like that time Ah tried to hide mah rodeo awards from ‘em, Applejack sighed at that memory. Her friends would find out sooner or later so why try and avoid it now? “Look, nothin’ really special or fancy happened; Ah don’t wanna bore ya’ll with uneventful news,” she stated. Pinkie leaned in close, baby blues eyes shimmering with a pleading look into AJ’s jade green ones. The orange mare sighed in defeat; crossing her forelegs over each other. “Well…” she started to say.

*Flashback*

Hopeful and Applejack walked side by side as they exited the restaurant, their minds and feelings collectively racing from what just transpired in the restaurant. The southern mare was tremendously impressed with her date’s bravery and courage. Standing up to Discord like that wasn’t something she expected from such an overly sweet colt. The more she thought about it, the more she realized how lucky she was that she found such a dedicated colt.

AJ looked to Hopeful and tenderly smiled. Ah don’t believe it, he just went right up to Discord and told him exactly what he thought of him; regardless of what could’ve happened. Of course, Ah would never actually let Discord hurt him, nor would Twi’ or the others, and Ah don’t think Discord had any real intentions of hurtin’ Hopeful either. Thinking about how honorable and noble Hopeful was, it made her fur and muscles tingle all over. She eyed his gorgeous black hair and handsome features intensely. But still, she gently bit the bottom of her lip, he speaks with his heart AND his mind and holds nothin’ back. Ah thought for sure he’d leave after hearin’ what Discord had to say about me. But he stayed and defended me, without thinkin’ twice or showin’ any hesitance, now THAT is what Ah call a real man.

“So Ah was thinkin’, Ah know our dinner got interrupted but Ah really-”

“Is everything he said true?”

Hopeful’s blunt question stopped Applejack dead in her tracks; her mind went blank for a moment. The two ponies both stopped and stood firmly with their hooves planted in the ground. Everything got so quiet so fast; the warm evening felt so cold and uncertain all of the sudden. The red Pegasus turned around and drilled AJ with his glaring eyes. The mare had never seen him look so serious before, such intensity and seriousness brimming off his features.

“I’m talking about what Discord said,” Hopeful stepped an inch closer, “Please; tell me, is everything Discord said about you true or did he make it all up?”

Applejack raised her hoof to try and calm Hopeful down but he backed away from her touch, she felt even colder seeing him back away like that. “The thing is Hopeful Ah,” she paused before thinking carefully on her response, she sighed and removed her Stetson, “Yes, it’s all true.”
“You told me you didn’t have time for a guy right now, that you had too many responsibilities to take care of,” Applejack flinched guiltily at her own words being used against her, “Now you’re telling me you didn’t want to date me because I’m a Pegasus?!?” She remembered all too well the excuses she used on him. Hopeful’s wings became rigid, feathers twitching along with the hairs standing up on his tail.

“Ah swear it wasn’t personal sugar cube, honest,” she pleaded. “Ah come from a family of Earth pony traditionalists. Everyone in our family is an Earth pony, every pony dated, married and birthed Earth ponies, so it’s hard for me to think outside the box,” she explained. Hopeful turned his head to the side and harrumphed; clearly unimpressed with her answer. “Hey now, Ah need you to look at me and listen to this” she trotted up to Hopeful but he refused to look at her, she became frustrated and pulled his face towards hers. Hopeful’s eyes flared open at her forcefulness. “Please,” her voice and face softened tenderly, “Just try and understand this from mah point of view.”

“Well I can’t,” he gently brushed her hoof off his face, “You make prejudice sound like it’s a tradition worth upholding. You talk about how important your family traditions and morals are, but did you ever stop to think or ask what mine may be?”

“Ah-ahm not sure Ah follow ya partner.”

“Not one member of my family is of the same pony race,” AJ eyes bulged in surprise, “Not one, my family is mixed with every kind of pony race and no two married ponies are of the same race. My mother is a Pegasus, my father is a unicorn, and my uncle on my father’s side is an Earth Pony who married a unicorn. Heck, one of my mom’s 3 siblings is actually married to a Griffin.”

“Ah had no idea any pony family was that diverse,” the southern mare exclaimed.

“Family is important to me too and my family always taught me that you should follow your heart no matter where it takes you,” Hopeful said proudly, “That’s why were such a diverse bunch, we fall in love with who we want no matter what anyone else says.” The red colt took a moment to take a breath. Defending his family’s odd tradition was something Hopeful was always passionate talking about. AJ’s freckled cheeks were contorted in a tangled mix of confusion, shock and bewilderment; this was the same look most ponies gave Hopeful when he told them about his family’s choice in mates. “So in a way, you could say that my family’s tradition is breaking other family’s traditions,” he nodded firmly at his point.

“Ah see,” the orange mare took a minute to process all of this, she had no idea what she was potentially getting herself into when she accepted Hopeful’s date request. Should this revelation bother her? She’s been known to stick to certain traditions longer than actually needed; perhaps this is a change that could help her grow. But is this too radical of a change for her? She was so new to all of this, she didn’t know strongly she felt about Hopeful or if she’s supposed to make a big deal out of this or not. She felt so confused! “So then, where do we go from here?” she asked, her voice trembled slightly.

“That’s hard to say,” Hopeful scratched his head softly, “I can’t deny that I’m drawn to you and I genuinely do want to spend more time with you.” Applejack sported a half smile at that statement. “But more separates us then just a pair of wings. Your family is stuck in its ways and so is mine,” the smile quickly faded, “How can we hope to even begin to go forward with such conflicting perspectives?”

“Look, Ahm sorry Ah keep lettin’ mah stubbornness muck things up,” she looked at him with jade eyes; shimmering with concern, “But Ah was wrong and Ah don’t want to miss out on gettin’ to know ya because Ahm bein’ an old mule.”

“But you’ve said it yourself: you’re stuck in your ways. What makes you think you’re going to change this time?” he asked.

“Because Ah…Ah,” she bit her lip; trying to find the right words. The mare took a deep breath, dug in deep and mustered all the courage she had to be honest with the one pony she rarely was: herself. “Because Ah think you’re good for me, Ah think you can help me um,” she tapped her chin with her hoof, “Unwind? Maybe try and see if Ah can see things yer way fur a change.”

“That depends,” he looked away from the freckled cheeks of the orange mare. He didn’t want to, he loved looking at her beautiful face; it was the face that had haunted his dreams ever since he first laid eyes on her. But if her words were hollow and this was just a temporary means of keeping him around, he could not be fooled by the beauty of someone so closed off and resistant to change. “The dragon and unicorn Discord spoke of; those are your friends Spike and Rarity, right?” Applejack slowly nodded, “Are you really against them being a-”

“I don’t want to talk about that right now,” she quickly answered.

Hopeful sighed; he figured as much.

“Not to change the subject or anythin’ but,” she hated to interrupt this discussion but her curiosity had been picking at her since Discord cut them off, “You never did tell me who Wild Heart-”

“I don’t want to talk about that right now,” Hopeful repeated her previous answer.

The southern mare sealed her lips and quickly dropped the subject. “Fair enuff” she softly stated. She didn’t want to answer his question, so it would only be fair that she respect his decision not to answer hers. “So,” she poked the ground with her hoof idly, “Where does that leave us?”

“Nowhere, at the moment” he shrugged, “I think this is a sign that there’s still a lot we need to learn from each other.” The two ponies waded through their misery flavored silence. They both wanted to say something, anything to change the tone on what was supposed to be a lovely night out together. But neither pony knew how to proceed from here. “Maybe we can start on some smaller changes first,” he said optimistically, “Like maybe…teaching me how to cook?”

“S-s-s-sure Hopeful, Ah think Ah would like that,” she said with a sweet smile. “And maybe you could tell me more about yer family. You speak so much about your pop, how much ya learned from him and all about yer special traditions.” She approached the red colt, her apple scented musk filling up his nostrils. He almost crooned out loud at the charming affect her presence had on him. “Ah’d like to learn more about yer traditions,” she added.

“Sounds like a fair trade fair maiden,” he extended his hoof to hers; jokingly making it seem like they were sealing a deal. Applejack spat into her hoof and shook it vigorously. He laughed at the gesture, wiggling his hoof dry after they separated; “Well, this night certainly didn’t go the way I thought it would but that doesn’t mean that’s a bad thing.” Applejack chuckled happily; he sure was right about that. “So then, cooking lessons next time?” he asked.

The Earth pony was about to give him a simple confirmation, but something halted the words from forming on her lips. A thought creeped into her head and it caused her to feel something, deep down inside. He’s been awfully patient with me. Ah’ve put him through a lot of heartache just for a date, Ah think Ah owe him a little bit of somethin’ to say thanks. Applejack leaned in and sweetly pecked Hopeful right on the cheek. The red Pegasus’s face turned even redder, he rubbed the cheek where she kissed him and shuddered in speechless delight. “It’s a date…sugar” she purred seductively. The orange mare started walking home, leaving Hopeful still awe struck from her kiss; she flirtingly whipped her blond tail by her raised rump cheeks and disappeared from sight.

Hopeful finally snapped out of his daze; gasping aloud, his cheeks were still blushing brightly.

I don’t believe it, she just k-k-k-k-kissed me!?! I’ve been kissed plenty of times by other girls before, but they’ve never felt like this. He lifted up his fore hooves and stared at them; watching them tremble all over. I feel like someone just sent a jolt of electricity into my heart. Not only did she say the word date, as in SECOND date, she called me sugar. She always calls every pony sugar cube, never just sugar. Does that mean it’s just for me, does that mean I-

“I…have…a…NICKNAME,” he screamed into the air; flapping his wings and soaring into the clouds above.

The overjoyed colt had no idea Applejack heard and spotted him from a mile away. She laughed, shook her head and then continued on home. She was grateful no one was around to see how hard she was blushing.

*End Flashback*

“Whoa, way to go AJ” Rainbow whistled and hollered; pumping her hooves in the air, “I didn’t know you had it in you.”
Applejack blushed as red as her cutie mark. All of her friends seemed to be crowding around her, celebrating her story; like she just placed first in Apploosa’s rodeo. Spike and Rarity patted her on her back and congratulated her as well. Of course, they had no idea Applejack intentionally left the part about her having an issue with Spike and Rarity potentially forming a relationship that went beyond friendship; out of her story.

“Ya’ll are makin’ too big a deal bout all this,” she mused bashfully, “But thank ya kindly for the support.” She hid her emotions well from her friends. Truth be told, she was secretly overjoyed when she heard Hopeful cheer like that. It felt so nice to be seen like that. He acted like me kissin’ him was the greatest thing in Equestria, like it was somethin’ he’ll treasure for the rest of his life, her thoughts made her smile more and more, No pony’s ever made me feel like that before.

“So then, if you guys both went home afterwards,” Twilight curiously asked, “What happened with Discord?”

“Yeah Fluttershy,” Rainbow’s remark took the butter colored Pegasus off guard, “You never told us what you and Discord talked about.”

She bashfully hid behind her pink hair; shuffling her hooves anxiously. “I’m sorry but it was n-n-n-nothing important,” her friends at her with unconvinced eyes, “N-n-no seriously, you guys don’t want to hear about that stuff. I’d just bore you; really, there was nothing special about our talk.”

“No way,” Rainbow shook her head and crossed her hooves; her eyes barreled down at Fluttershy. The yellow mare shivered sheepishly; feeling here friend’s eyes glaring with irritation. “He crashed both our dates and caused a lot of problems for every pony at that restaurant, I think were owed some kind of an explanation,” she demanded.

The sweet Pegasus always hated being the center of attention, whether it was doing something she loved or being forced into something; she still hated it. All of her friends seemed just as curious as Rainbow Dash was. She curled into a cowering little ball of yellow fur, silently muttering “Oh dear” to herself. Twilight gently encouraged Fluttershy to only tell her story if she felt comfortable, though truth be told, her curious scientific mind was just as eager to know the whole story as everyone else was. “Well…” she started to say.

*Flashback*

“All right mister, you’ve caused enough trouble for one night,” the Pegasus angrily scolded, she jabbed her hoof right into his snout. Discord clutched his nose; whimpering like a naughty foal being punished. “Now, what’s the idea of crashing our friends dates?” Discord started to speak but the mousy mare cut in, “And if you don’t give me a 100% honest answer, you can forget about attending the tea party picnic with my animal friends on Friday.”

“You w-w-WHAT, oh come on Fluttershy,” he nervously gasped, “You can’t possibly mean that. You know I’ve been looking forward to that picnic since you told me about it.”

She turned her head defiantly; harrumphing with a pouting scowl.

“Oooooooooh all right,” he loudly grumbled. Discord raised both his paws in a scout like manner and swore on Celestia’s sun and Luna’s moon he would tell the truth and nothing but the truth. Fluttershy smiled and nodded in approval. “You really are a good influence on me. No matter how hard I try, I just can’t resist that stern-yet-adorable face of yours,” he chuckled softly. Tirek was wrong about him. For all the wicked joy Discord got from creating chaos in Equestria, he found Fluttershy’s enchanting heart and personality just a tad more delightful by comparison. “The truth is I’ve been struggling with something for some time now and let’s just say it…well…kind of”, he paused and stroked his beard absent mindedly, “Sort of relates to the problems Rainbow Dash and Applejack were experiencing with Hopeful and Arrowhead.” Fluttershy blinked curiously at his answer.

“Um I’m not quite sure I understand what you mean,” she added hesitantly.

“What I mean is: here I am, struggling with all these new feelings and emotions, overwhelmed by things I NEVER thought I’d feel,” Discord snapped his fingers and materialized mock dummies of Rainbow, Applejack, Hopeful and Arrowhead. Hopeful and Arrowhead’s dummies were on catapults. Fluttershy squeaked in surprise as the catapults flung the colts respective dummies onto their respective mare friend dummies. “And then these two,” he angrily pointed at the squashed Rainbow and AJ dummies, “Have such wonderful fellows literally throwing themselves at their hooves, and they just Brush. Them. Off?!? They have no idea how lucky they are to have colts so eager to confess their feelings for them. Meanwhile, SOME OF US are struggling just trying to be able to TALK to our crushes face to face and after all I did to get them together; they just-”

“D-d-d-discord, I’m really, really, really sorry to interrupt you but,” Discord paused mid rant and turned to his female friend; gotten lost in his own annoyance and frustration. “I’m starting to get the feeling that this isn’t really about Rainbow and Applejack, is it?”

Her soothing voice almost instantly eased his frazzled nerves. Discord sighed sadly and shook his head, “No, no it’s not. I just became so frightfully jealous that things were happening so naturally and easy for them, while I’ve been struggling to accept an impossible truth.” The soft, warm feeling of Fluttershy’s hoof gently brushed against her friend’s lion arm. She greeted him with the sweetest of smiles; full of comfort and kindness. Fluttershy could tell this wasn’t an easy thing for him to admit, so the fact he was working up the courage to tell him this all-consuming secret made her feel much honored.

“Hey, it’s okay,” she nuzzled his arm with her cheek, “You can tell me anything.”

Discord took a deep breath; mentally preparing himself. Bending the fabric of reality and time and space was easy, but confessing his most embarrassing and well kept secrets; now THAT took strength. “I’m…I’m in…l-l-l-love with a pony,” he felt so ashamed and crippled by that statement. “I didn’t think it was possible, of course, I didn’t think I could possibly understand why you ponies treasured the magic of friendship either,” he added with a sigh, “But perhaps it’s because I understand friendship that I now understand what love feels like. I tried to deny it, convinced myself I was just being chaotic and toying with myself in some warped way, but no, this has lasted too long and feels too powerful to be some sort of passing moment of amusement. It’s real.”

He blinked suddenly as he felt the tender, caressing embrace of a pair of yellow hooves wrapped around his waist. “Oh Discord, you don’t know how happy I am to hear you say that,” the Pegasus cheerfully beamed. Discord was speechless. He had no idea his nature loving friend was so supportive of him experiencing love, like she’d been secretly hoping it would happen all this time. Fluttershy stepped back and smiled proudly at her chaotic companion. “This wasn’t an easy thing for you to admit,” she explained, “But deep down, I’ve always hoped you’d one way understand and enjoy what it feels like to be in love and be loved in return.”

“Y-y-you don’t think it’s silly, the idea of someone like…me…being in love with a pony?” he timidly asked.

“Not at all,” she warmly replied. “Just because you’re the spirit of chaos; doesn’t mean you’re not entitled to fall in love and be happy. You have every right to be with whoever you want to be with, no matter what the species. That’s assuming if they love you back of course.”

“Well that’s part of the problem you see, we have sort of a,” Discord’s body changed color; he was now covered with red and black squares, “Checkered past.”

“That doesn’t mean you two can’t patch things up and start fresh,” the Pegasus replied.

“I just hope she doesn’t hold any grudges for my past indiscretions,” Discord bit his lip, “I caused a lot of problems for a lot of ponies back in my evil days, but she always got the best of my worst side.” The trickster started to pace back and forth anxiously. His top half separated and paced left, while his separated lower half paced right.

“If you speak from the heart and truly convey to her how sorry you are, I’m sure she’ll forgive you,” she said. Discord still wasn’t sure however. He snapped his fingers and merged his two halves back together, mumbling something under his breath. “Maybe it would help if you tell me who your secret crush is; it might help give me an idea on how understanding she is,” her curious smile widened ever so slightly, “Is it any pony I know?”

Discord chuckled to himself. “Oh you know her all right, her name is” he started to say.

*End Flashback*

“OH COME ON” Rainbow shouted, “What do you mean you won’t tell us who it is?” she angrily crossed her hooves and hovered above Fluttershy. “You can’t just tell us Discord, THE Discord is love with a pony and not tell us who it is” she snapped.

“I’m sorry Dashie but I Pinkie promised him I wouldn’t say who it is,” Fluttershy replied with a shrug.

“I’m with Rainbow on this one darling,” Rarity forcefully snuggled against the yellow Pegasus’s side, “Hearing Discord is in love with a pony is by far the juiciest gossip I’ve heard in ages! I mean who in Equestria would have ever dreamed such a thing was possible.” Rarity batted her sparkling sapphire blue eyes at Fluttershy, giving her the best puppy dog look she could muster. The white unicorn was greedy for gossip and wanted to know just as badly as Rainbow did.

“I can’t do it girls,” everyone in the room groaned at her answer; Rainbow and Rarity being the loudest offenders. Fluttershy closed her eyes and nodded firmly; sticking to her guns, “I promised him I wouldn’t tell any pony and a promise is a promise.”

“FOREVER” Pinkie pie shouted from the top of her lungs. Everyone in the room froze and turned to look at the shrieking pink mare. She made an “I got my eye on you” motion with her hooves to Rainbow and Rarity, but then spotted a jar of cookies on Twilight’s shelf and happily hopped towards it.

“Ya’ll are makin’ too much of a fuss out of this,” Applejack casually replied, “Ah bet it isn’t even any pony we know; just some random mare that we never met or heard of before.”

*Flashback*

“YOU HAVE A CRUSH ON PRINCESS CELESTIA?!?” Fluttershy squealed.

Discord immediately shushed her, frantically looking around to see if anyone heard that.

“Oh, I’m sorry, was that too loud?” she nervously asked.

“Well…yes, surprisingly it was,” he replied incredulously, the trickster never knew Fluttershy could actually raise her voice like that. He was momentarily stunned by her high pitched shriek. “But back to the heart of the matter, that’s why I’m so hesitant to actually discuss these feelings with Celestia. We were enemies for thousands of years! She turned me to stone, I broke out and stole the elements of harmony, and I trapped her and Princess Luna with my Plunder seeds and nearly caused all of Equestria to fall completely out of balance.”
Fluttershy hummed to herself, she was starting to see his point. “And of course, who could forget that time I betrayed all of you and sold your magic out to Tirek,” he added.

“But you haven’t done anything evil since then,” she hovered up and smiled to him at his eye level. “Every pony deserves a second chance, sometimes even third or fourth chances, and besides, this is Princess Celestia were talking about; the most forgiving and understanding pony in all of Equestria,” she said. The sweet mare saw Discord was still uncertain, the look of concern was written all over his face. “She was the one who asked us to set you free in the first place,” she gently guided his eyes towards hers with her hoof, “Remember?”

“That-that’s true, but what if she sees this as me just playing another trick on her? What if she does forgive me but then she doesn’t return my feelings?” he nervously asked.

“That’s a fear every pony experiences Discord,” she explained, “You’ll never know for certain until you actually ask her. Hopeful and Arrowhead took the same risks when they asked Applejack and Rainbow out.” Her teal eyes looked to the night sky; they had a twinge of sadness to them. I only wish I had some pony to experience this kind of problem with, she shook her head from her lonesome thoughts and returned her attention to Discord, “If you don’t mind me asking, what is it about Princess Celestia that makes you like her so much?”

The trickster’s grey cheeks burned bright with cherry red blushes. Discord was new to experiencing this whole “love thing”, so talking about it was even more awkward and difficult. “Well I’ve always thought she was fun to play with. Ever since we were enemies, I thought she was so stuck up and high and mighty, nothing gave me more pleasure than seeing that ruffled look on her beautiful face,” he said fondly. “She was the only pony who I wanted to keep around because I always loved getting a rise out of her,” he leaned in and elbowed Fluttershy; sporting a devious smirk on his face, “And besides being drop dead gorgeous AND sporting the finest set of flanks I’ve seen in over a dozen different dimensions,” Fluttershy sheepishly turned as red as a tomato, “She’s the only other being I know who’s gone through similar life experiences.”

Fluttershy nodded in agreement. Since both Discord and Celestia have been around for thousands of years, and probably will continue to do so, it would be best to find a date that he wasn’t going to outlive. They definitely can relate better to each other that way.

“Thank you so much for letting me share this with you Fluttershy, I think I know where to go from here,” he happily replied. The chaos spirit embraced Fluttershy in a tight hug; they smiled contently and looked at each other before separating. “Being able to talk about this with you has made me feel so much better and I know I can trust you to keep my crush on old Sun Butt a secret from your friends, yes?” Fluttershy performed the Pinkie promise mantra in reply.

Discord commented how eager he was to see Fluttershy for their picnic on Friday before vanishing with a snap of his claws. The Pegasus sighed happily; feeling undeniable warmth knowing her friend has grown so much since giving up his evil ways. She was glad her friend’s dates didn’t end poorly and was expecting nothing but a nice, peaceful, quiet walk back to her cottage, alone.

But though her story for her friends had come to an end, this was not the last thing that happened to her on that night.

“It makes sense that you would be the only one capable of reforming the spirit of chaos.”

Fluttershy nearly jumped out of her fur. She squeaked and sky rocketed 10 feet into the air, clutching her pink tail like a shield. The skittish mare hovered anxiously in the air. She hadn’t recognized that voice, and since everything was so dark and shadowy, she had no idea where or what it was coming from.

“Calm yourself child, I am merely an observer,” a shadowy figure stepped out of the bushes by a long, lanky, twisted oak tree, “Not an attacker.” The pony was male, had orange eyes and was covered in utter blackness. Fluttershy thought she spotted a unicorn horn but on his head but it was too dark to tell for sure.

“S-s-s-sorry for jumping like that but you scared the feathers out of me,” she slowly flew back down and calmed herself, “I scare easily so please don’t take it personally.”

The figure chuckled darkly. Though his appearance and tone suggested he carried an aura of darkness around him, oddly enough, Fluttershy sensed no evil intention behind this figure’s current presence. “It is I who should be apologizing to you. My intention was not to frighten you, but merely to warn you of an oncoming tragedy,” he grimly stated.

“A tragedy?” she squeaked, “Oh my goodness, what sort of tragedy?”

“A storm is coming; one that will wreak unfathomable levels of destruction and devastation across your peaceful little town and to all who live here. If I were you, I would leave Ponyville before it is too late,” he said ominously.

“Oh gee, that bad of a storm? Rainbow Dash never said anything like that was going to happen,” the shadow blinked at her response, “She said the Pegasai had lots of thunder and rain coming, but nothing close to what you’re talking about. Are you sure you have the same weather report as the Pegasai do?”

The shadow paused for a moment before chuckling again; his chuckling turned into full blown laughter. Fluttershy tucked her head down and felt her cheeks turn a most humiliating shade of pinkish red. She muttered something to the effect of “didn’t think it was that funny” and nervously played with her hair. The shadow gradually stopped and smiled at the mare’s embarrassment, “Forgive me child; I meant no disrespect. It is just that I find your innocence rather…comforting. I have not experienced genuine comfort or laughter in a long, long time.”

“That’s so sad. You know, you sound awfully sad yourself,” she approached him but the shadow stepped back. She put on her kindest, most gentle of smiles and tried to reach out for his hoof. “You have nothing to fear from me, I’m Fluttershy,” her tail twitched as some fire flies buzzed above her mane, “What’s your name? I don’t believe I’ve seen you in-”

“If you wish to ease my sadness, then promise me you will leave this town as quickly as possible and never return.”

“What? Leave my friends and all my critters? But this is my home. Everything I know and love is here.”

“You don’t understand. I know what’s coming; the storm that’s approaching is unyielding and unstoppable. There will be nothing left, nothing at all and I do not want you here when that happens.”

“W-w-why are you telling me this? If what you say is true then every pony needs to be warned, but for some reason you’re only telling me this. Why is that? We’ve never even met before.”

“Although you are just becoming aware of my existence now, I have in fact been aware of all your friends’ existences for quite some time now. Your friend’s house noble ideas but follow blind leaders; fools who wear false crowns of decency and kindness, when in fact they are just as guilty as the villains they vanquish.”

“I’m afraid I d-d-don’t understand what your t-t-talking about.”

“Your capacity for kindness is immeasurable; your friendship with the trickster is proof of that. There is not a trace of darkness in your soul, nor do I believe there ever will be. That is why I am giving you and you alone this warning. You are pure, free of hatred, malice or vengeance; that is more valuable and precious to me than all the magic in all of Equestria, and it needs to be preserved. That is why you MUST leave Ponyville; please I implore you, before-”

“I’m s-s-sorry sir but I think I have to go. I know in some funny way you’re saying nice things about me and warning me, and I a-a-appreciate that; really I do, but you’re also asking me to leave everything and everyone I know behind and that’s just not something I can do.”

The shadowy being lowered his orange eyes. Fluttershy assumed his whole head was drooping down, but since his eyes were the only things she could see, she couldn’t tell for sure. The dark pony wished she would reconsider, but there were firm foundations in those teal colored eyes of hers. Fluttershy was not going to budge despite the intensity of his warning.

“Very well, but just remember that you have been warned,” he stared intensely at the butter colored Pegasus.

“Y-y-yes, I remember, t-t-thank you for saying all those weird-but-kind-of-nice things about me mister,” she smiled weakly to him. Her yellow wings slowly flapped and flew her into the night sky. Fluttershy looked back at the shrinking dark, speck of a pony as he eventually went out of sight. “I didn’t even get his name” she softly muttered to herself.

Chimera Khan stepped out of the shadows and watched as the gentle hearted mare vanished into the night sky. Khan’s blood and silver colored armor shimmered in Luna’s glittering moonlight; his hoof cuffs clanking with every step. “I pray you never have to know my name dear…sweet…lovely Fluttershy” he whispered longingly.

*End Flashback*

Spike, Moonstruck and the other girls continued to curiously discuss this new development with Discord and his “mystery crush.” Fluttershy was just glad they stopped grilling her for information, if they pressed any harder; she might have told them about that shadowy pony who spoke to her. She hated keeping secrets from her friends and she didn’t mean to this time, but nothing about that mysterious pony made sense to her so she didn’t want to worry her friends about some random pony appearing out of the blue and talking about ominous storms and tragedies when she had nothing to go on but his word.

“BLAH” a blast of green fire suddenly launched a scroll out of Spike’s mouth. Twilight used her magic to catch it and read it over. Her eyes bulged in horror once she finished reading the last line, her magenta eyes twitching. “What’s the matter Twilight, what’s it say?” Spike asked.

“It’s a direct order from Princess Celestia; she says she needs to see all of us in Canterlot immediately,” she replied.

“Well that doesn’t sound that bad,” Pinkie shrugged.

“P.S: Please make sure you bring,” Twilight gulped hard, “Moonstruck with you.”

The green haired unicorn’s jaw dropped like an avalanche of boulders, all the color had drained from his face. How in the world did Princess Celestia know he was hiding in Ponyville? He was so certain he covered his tracks! Moonstruck dropped to the ground and clutched his head, he proceeded to shake and sweat like he did last night during his freakish nightmare. Twilight ran to his side and tried to comfort him. The last thing the Alicorn princess wanted to see was him freak out like that again.

“All right, all right, who blabbed to the princess?” Rainbow flew towards Spike; jabbing her hoof at his nose accusingly. “Was it you, slip any secret scrolls to Celestia when Twilight wasn’t looking?” she pressed harder.

Rarity quickly got between the two and stretched her arms out defensively. “Rainbow Dash, you will leave Spikey Wikey alone! Don’t you know how rude it is tossing wild accusations around, ganging up on someone so small and young?” she firmly stated.

“Hey! I appreciate the help Rarity but I am not that small or that young”, he clutched his claws in annoyance, “I’m not some dippy kid. Why can’t I ever get a little respect around here?”

“That’s enough everyone,” Twilight’s raised voice quickly dispersed the conflict. All eyes and ears turned to the princess as she helped Moonstruck back onto his hooves. “It doesn’t matter how Princess Celestia found out, the important thing is she knows and we have to meet this head on. Lying to her or ignoring the summons isn’t going to help. The royal guard or the princess herself will come checking on us if we don’t go, so we’ve got no choice but to go to Canterlot,” she turned to the dark purple colt, “All of us.”

The whole idea was causing Moonstruck to drip buckets worth of sweat. He spent many moons fleeing from Celestia, trying to avoid being detected and sent back to Tartarus, but it looks like all his running was for naught. “All right, I’ll do it,” he regretfully stated, “I don’t like this situation; not one little bit, but Twilight is right. Running and hiding hasn’t done me any good, it’s time we try something different,” he looked to Twilight and slipped out a timid laugh, “Even if it is totally crazy.”

“Well sometimes, crazy can be a good thing” she placed her hoof tenderly on Moonstruck’s shoulder; trying to calm him. “At least, I think so” she added sweetly.

Moonstruck’s anxiety vanished almost instantly after Twilight touched him. It was just like before in the morning, there was something about her touch that was so soothing, so heavenly; it was almost therapeutic. “Then that’s good enough for me” he replied, smiling a bit more hopefully this time. He knew this was a dangerous idea; it was a colossal gamble that could land his ass right back in chains, but when he looked into Twilight’s luminous eyes and felt the warmth emanating from that angelic smile of hers, how could he possibly say no?

---

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into doing this,” Moonstruck grumbled.

Twilight and her friends headed towards the train station with Moonstruck hidden in the center of their little group. The colt was wearing a thick trench coat, black shades with circular lenses and a dark brown fedora with a black band around the center. Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie Pie had serious looks on their faces; acting like bodyguards, trying to block Moonstruck’s form from everyone’s vision.

“I don’t know why you’re complaining, this makes perfect sense,” the princess explained, “Were avoiding suspicion by hiding you from plain sight and putting you in this outfit so no one will see what you look like. We’re being completely discrete. No one should suspect a thing, exactly like my disguise book said.” Moonstruck groaned out loud, the princess ignored his complaining.

“A plus student my ass,” he muttered under his breath.

“I’m with Moonstruck on this one, your actually drawing more attention to him because of this lame disguise,” Rainbow commented. She lazily followed her friends in the air; the Pegasus had no faith in this stupid plan and her slouching posterior and the blank look on her face confirmed it.

“Well! I’ll have you know I spent quite a bit of time and work on this so-called lame disguise” Rarity scoffed, snootily turning her nose up at Rainbow’s remarks. She got the idea from her favorite spy and detective novels that she mentioned to Spike, their conversation stirred some spy creativity in the fashionista and thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try something new out. “I’m actually thinking of creating a new line of spy related fashion, I’m thinking of calling it: Spy Wear,” she scratched her chin curiously, “I could even re-tool the classic tuxedo look and make a separate line exclusively for colts. Something similar to what Double Oats 7 wore in the classic novel, Colt Royale.”

The disguised stallion suddenly stopped once he heard that last part. The whole group stopped along with him. “Wait a minute, you’re telling me I’m wearing clothing designed for mares?” Moonstruck asked. There was a distinct sound of irritation in his voice. Rarity looked at him like she didn’t understand the question; she thought the answer was an obvious yes. “Ugh just shoot me” he dryly remarked. The colt continued on his way, trying to ignore Spike’s snickering.

“What’s the big deal? He’s been hiding this long, I doubt any pony even knows about the whole escaped convict thing,” Rainbow loudly exclaimed. Every pony in the group instantly shushed her. “Look, no pony knows enough to care,” she zoomed down and plucked off Moonstruck’s glasses and hat; exposing his face.

“Rainbow Dash; put his disguise back on right now!” Twilight demanded.

The ponies loudly argued in front of the train station, unknowingly attracting all the attention they were trying to avoid in the first place. The cyan Pegasus still didn’t think she did anything wrong removing Moonstruck’s disguise. She was certain no one would have noticed or recognized him; disguise or not. Unfortunately, one pony noticed the public feud and personally recognized the dark purple unicorn.

“HEY” a thunderous voice boomed. The seven ponies and one dragon stopped and turned to the source of that bellowing tone: Big Mac. Applejack silently cursed under her breath. Big Mac had no idea she and her friends had long since known where Moonstruck ran off to after the attack on the farm, or the fact she had already forgiven him for what happened that day. “Get the buck away from mah sister you spooky little creep,” he angrily charged towards Moonstruck; stomping and snorting like a rampaging bull.

Applejack quickly intercepted her brother and halted him before he stomped any closer. She started to explain everything that happened with Moonstruck since the farm; hoping he would trust her judgment on the matter. Twilight proceeded to scold Rainbow who continued to deny the disguise was a good idea, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity and Spike just watched as the 4 quarreling ponies tried to sort things out.
“I knew this was a stupid idea, I said it a thousand times,” Moonstruck griped. He magically threw off the coat in anger, everything about this situation frustrated him to no end. The colt approached the train station; trying to hurry the others to pick up the pace. “Just forget the disguise, forget explaining things and let’s get going, once the train gets moving we won’t have to-” he started to say.

“Big Mac, fair maiden, is that you?” a familiar voice said. Hopeful Romantic flew in from the clouds and landed near the ponies gathering spot. “I thought I recognized you two from up there,” he curiously looked to Twilight and Rainbow, “AND the princess of friendship is here too?!? You guys having some sort of royal-element-wielders-gathering-thing going on?” The red Pegasus looked around until his pink eyes locked on a very familiar looking purple pony with green hair at the ticket booth.

“Awe pony feathers,” Applejack groaned.

Seeing Moonstruck set off a fiery explosion of anger in the red colt’s mind. He felt all of his muscles tense up simultaneously, veins bulging from his forehead as his hooves tightly clenched the ground beneath him. He could never forget that pony, that face; not after what he almost did to Applejack. “YOU,” Hopeful lunged at the unicorn with an unyielding and unrelenting fury; screaming with swinging hooves.

“Oh come on!” Moonstruck grunted as he was tackled to the ground; his body vanished into an all-consuming fight cloud. Random red and purple hooves could be seen smashing into each other’s faces.

Twilight rushed to Moonstruck’s aid while Applejack halted her conversation with her brother to help pry Hopeful off of Moonstruck. Now even more ponies were noticing the skirmish taking place. The train conductor, the booth pony, as well as other ponies waiting for the next train were even taking notice.

Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity, Spike slowly turned their angry eyes towards the hovering Rainbow Dash. The cyan mare laughed nervously; feeling her cheeks burn with embarrassment. “Um…I think I see what you guys mean now…heh” she meekly stated.

---

A yellow colt worked diligently in the dimly lit workshop, hidden from all prying eyes and nosy ponies. It was dark except for the flickering candle shimmering faintly on the drawing board where the pony worked. The wooden door entrance to the workshop was bolted shut; infested with locks and latches.

His name was Crowe.

He adjusted his green cap while wiping sweat from his brow as he focused intensely on the project before him. He picked up a bottle of adhesive with his mouth and squirted it onto a metallic surface; his hooves grabbed some oddly shaped metal pieces and quickly arranged them on the surface before the adhesive dried. “If I put that there, and shift this part a little to the right over here,” he mumbled to himself. His eyes darted back and forth between the metal crafts project and the blueprint next to it. The hench-pony cautiously reached for a small red gem and placed it at the center of the metal project. “Finally,” he collapsed down onto the drawing board in exhaustion, “It’s taken me weeks to get this exactly right but I finally finished this hunk of junk.”

The project was an exact duplicate of the legendary Alicorn amulet. Crowe had painstakingly gathered as many similar looking materials as possible to authentically recreate the Alicorn amulet for his master; Chimera Khan.

“I can’t believe I wasted all that time trying to find the real Alicorn amulet. I should’ve known it was a lost cause,” he rolled his eyes. “I searched everywhere, talked to everyone and all I got was one greedy old pony who claimed he had it and sold it to some hooded stranger,” Crowe griped, “Like that gives me anything to work off of.” He knew his master wanted the amulet for his collection and graft it to his armor, but without the actual amulet in hoof, he had no choice but to dig up some old blueprint drawings of the amulet and re-create a replica from scratch. He picked the item up and examined it carefully. “Hopefully he’ll be so jacked up from the power he receives from Colton’s third eye and the Phoenix gauntlet of Cloudsdale; he won’t even notice this amulet is a fake” he commented.

Crowe had been patiently biding his time; hiding and hoping Khan would continue waiting for him to return with the mystical items he was sent after. Khan was supremely impatient when it came to the yellow Earth pony but he knew he needed all the pieces on the list to complete his arsenal armor. His deep blue eyes searched down that very same list he had been given. The colt scratched off Colton’s third eye and the Alicorn amulet with a swipe of a pen.

“Speaking of which,” he rummaged around the room for something. Crowe flipped over boxes, tossed papers to the floor and scanned every inch of the room for the item he sought. He found it on a table by the fireplace; it was a long, cone shaped beaker bottle containing a neon green glowing liquid. The potion bubbling inside reflected like green fire in his deep blue eyes. “I think it’s about time my special contact met with Wind Glider,” he shook the bottle and watched its contents swirling with disturbing fascination. Crowe smirked in the bottle’s reflection. “Looks like everything’s going according to plan,” he laughed.

---

Celestia sighed as she tiredly looked through her royal schedule. Nothing but the same old boring royal routine, she couldn’t have looked more disinterested if she tried. She finishing combing through it and magically dropped it off to the side of her throne. “Maybe some letters from my subjects will cheer me up” she mused to herself. Twilight wasn’t the only pony who wrote to her and she found great joy in reading what her subjects would send her. Her horn magic levitated several letters from a nearby stack but paused once she came across a strange looking package. “Hm, I don’t recall the guards mentioning this when they brought the mail in” she said curiously.

The package was a square shaped box, average sized, marked with no name or address and covered in wrapping paper that had white fish with plaid colored polka dots all over it. A dark purple ribbon was securely tied around the box.

The ivory Alicorn examined the package. She couldn’t contain a childish smile forming on her lips, her curiosity was enticing her to open this immediately and see what was inside; like a foal on Hearth’s Warming day. “What unusual wrapping paper, could it be from Pinkie Pie?” she asked. “No, she would have put her name on it if it was from her.” Celestia tugged at her ribbon with her magic, pulling at it more and more until it finally opened and she saw-

SPLAT!

A spring loaded pie splattered into the royal mare’s face. She blinked in surprise, her cheeks and flowing mane covered in chunks of gooey, dripping chocolate banana cream pie. Celestia took a long lick and slurped up as much pie as she could off of her face, she gulped it down and smiled in delight. “Oh my, that was tasty AND funny” she giggled loudly. “There’s only one person I know who would love nothing more than to see egg on my face,” she paused and licked her lips again, “Or in this case chocolate banana cream pie on my face: Discord.” It all made sense now: the weird wrapping paper, the missing name and address, of course it was from him.

The package vanished in a puff of smoke, Celestia coughed softly. Much to her surprise however; there was still more to this “prank” than she first assumed. The smoke cleared to reveal a heart shaped cake with bright pink frosting on it…and a note.

“Is this some kind of peace offering or another joke?” she poked the cake with her hoof, half expecting it to blow up or squirt water at her or something. After her observations were complete, Celestia cautiously took a bite out of it. Her frosted lips beamed at the pastry’s wondrous flavors. “This tastes heavenly” she cheered to herself; mumbling mostly due to the chunks of cake dripping off her lips. She levitated the letter to her eyes. “Okay then, color me intrigued Discord, what surprises are you hiding in this letter?” she munched on another piece of cake as she read the letter.

The princess carefully read each word, each sentence, and the more she read the more the words caused her eyes to slowly expand. She was discovering a side to the chaos spirit that she never knew existed. His words were touching, moving, but most importantly…they were heartfelt.

“I d-d-don’t believe it,” her magic hold wavered; shaking the letter slightly. Her voice was weak from the shock. “He’s revealing feelings, deep feelings…for me. This has got to be another one of his jokes, it has to be,” Celestia raised a hoof to her gasping lips, feeling soft specks of frosting falling from those awe struck jaws. “But…what if it’s not…what if he’s felt this way all this time or maybe, this is something that’s happened recently? I know he sent the cake in the shape of a heart but I just assumed it was another one of his pranks,” she mused to herself. Thousands of questions were racing across her frazzled mind. “I don’t know how to respond to this” she admitted truthfully, “There’s so much sincerity and heart in this letter; it can’t possibly be a lie. But if he actually means what he’s saying,” her magic faded and the letter slowly floated to the ground, “Then how am I supposed to respond to this, how am I supposed to feel about this, do I even know how I…feel about him?”

“Feel about who Tia?” a familiar voice asked.

Celestia flinched and turned her startled eyes towards her beloved sister, Princess Luna, approaching. Without thinking, Princess Celestia leapt off her throne and landed on the fallen letter; desperately hiding it with her hooves. Luna stared blankly at her sister’s bewildering behavior. She looked like she was trying to hide her diary from her, just like she did when they were fillies.

“Ummm sister?” Luna hesitantly asked, “Is everything all right? Thou seem very…eager to hug the floor for some reason.” Celestia rested her chin on one hoof, casually whistling and trying to play her dive off casually. “So who he is sister?” Luna’s question abruptly silenced Celestia’s whistling. The dark blue mare smirked and raised her eyebrow. “There is a he isn’t there Tia, one thou thought thou could hide from me?” Luna said in an all-knowing; mocking tone.

“I’m afraid I don’t have the slightest clue what you’re talking about Lulu,” Celestia replied defensively. The dark blue Alicorn motioned to the cake in the shape of a heart right next to her. Celestia blasted the cake with her horn and teleported out of sight. I’ll just finish that later in peace.

“Then why not come off the floor and discuss this eye to eye?” Luna raised a suspicious eyebrow, calling her sister’s bluff. Perhaps the letter was not for her and is in fact, for me, and she’s hiding it out of jealousy. No…Tia is above such petty feelings, this is something different. Celestia shook her head, acting like an obstinate child rather than one would expect of the ruler of Equestria. Luna reached for her sister’s stomach; trying to sneak out whatever she was hiding. Celestia teleported herself onto her throne and away from Luna’s reach. The letter appeared to be missing, but in fact, Luna’s midnight blue eyes spotted a piece of parchment poking from under her sister’s seated rump. “Thou are only making thou look even more guilty,” Luna extended her hoof in a demanding manner, “Just let me see it Tia, all I want to know is who sent it.” Her statement was partially true. She did want to know the sender’s identity, but more importantly, she wanted to know what could possibly be on that letter that her sister would want to hide.

“His name is Di…Dizzy, y-y-y-yes his name is Dizzy” Celestia said after a brief pause. Luna looked unconvinced, her ink blue cheeks sulking into a mildly irritated frown. She had a flat look upon her face that Celestia recognized all too well of her younger sister. “What? I told you who it was, isn’t that enough?” she looked to the side, trying to avoid her sister’s grilling gaze.

“Really…his name is Dizzy? Strange that I visit countless dreams of countless ponies and not once have I heard of a pony named Dizzy,” she crossed her fore legs across her chest. “Is he royalty, some foreign diplomat I am not aware of?” she said with a dry tone.

“Why yes, as a matter of fact he is royalty,” she confidently raised her chin, “He’s a descendent from the great and noble None-of-your-beeswax-sister family.” Celestia spat a saliva heavy raspberry at her sister. The dark Alicorn remained flat and unimpressed with her sister’s answers. She felt like she was the only mature pony in the family at this point.

Perhaps I was wrong about Tia’s ability to be petty. Luna could not understand why her sister had to act like such a child sometimes. All these years and she hasn’t changed, not even a little bit. Not that I want my sister to change, but still, she could at least TRY and be civil about this. The midnight blue mare floated alongside her sister’s throne. The two stared at each other intensely, their sibling squabbling increasing with every remark. “Thou should know, for being the older sister in the family, thou can be such a child sometimes,” she turned her head to the side with a haughty huff.

“I am not!”

“Are too!”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

Redness flared on Luna and Celestia’s puffy cheeks. They both turned their heads away from each other, after spitting additional raspberries at the other of course. Some of the guards could be heard snickering at the royal sister’s immaturity. Luna coughed loudly and the guards quickly regained their composure. “Fine then, forget it, it’s just a letter,” she slowly trotted off; her shimmering sky tail twitching, “Nothing worth getting worked up over.” Celestia couldn’t help but silently giggle at her sister’s impatience. “I only came to check if there was any mail for me. I was expecting something but if it’s not here then I’ll just-”

“Oooooh you mean this letter, sister dear?” Celestia coyly lifted a dark blue envelope covered with hoof drawn stars and swirls. The sealed flap had silver and white glitter rays under it; as if moonlight was emanating from under the flap. Celestia came across this letter earlier this morning but didn’t tell her sister because she wanted to see her reaction once she found out it was here. Luna gasped and teleported right back to her sister’s side; quickly grasping the letter in her hooves. The white Alicorn smiled warmly. She could see unbridled joy and excitement on her sister’s dark blue cheeks; eyeing that letter so happily. I wouldn’t miss that look on my sister’s face for anything in the world.

“It’s h-h-h-here, he f-f-finally sent another?!?” Luna beamed with rampant giddiness. She quickly opened the letter, it popped open to reveal a 3D pop-up card; hoof crafted like a miniature work of art. It was a chalk pastel drawing of Luna, soaring in outer space and leaving a cosmic trail of stardust and moon rocks; colored with spray paint and glitter. The paper featuring the space layout was littered with all sorts of colorful pieces: art supplies, such as paint and Styrofoam, to everyday items like flower petals and crystals. The princess felt like she was watching some sort of majestic recreation of her night sky, remastered in the most beautiful and artistic of fashions. “It’s even more glorious than the last one,” she sighed contently as she ran a hoof along the artwork. Luna felt so enchanted, so lost in the warm glow of her admiration of this pony’s inspiring work.

“Another lovely piece of art from your secret admirer, Lulu?” Celestia teasingly asked. Luna’s cheeks flushed bright red with blushes. Her hooves nervously tried to fold the art letter back up and hide it, but her sister’s caring eyes had already stolen a peak at the insignia on the letter’s lower left corner. Sure enough, embroidered in a variety of neon colors were the initials R and S; the same that had been on every art piece that had been sent to Luna. “Is this the 3rd or 4th piece this mysterious RS has sent you?” Celestia playfully mused. Luna coughed nervously and tried to avoid answering her sister’s prying question. Still, Celestia heard her sister mutter something to the affect of “It’s the 4th piece” under her breath. The sun princess giggled, her sister’s embarrassment was too amusing not to enjoy. “And here I thought you said letters were nothing getting worked up over,” Luna’s eyes widened at her sister’s words.

“W-w-w-well I cannot s-s-s-simply ignore such b-b-b-beautiful and generous gifts from such a talented artist now can I?” Luna calmed herself down; trying to play it cool and composed. Of course, her sister could see right through the night Alicorn’s façade. “When one takes the time to extend such kindness and warmth,” Luna said affectionately. Her eyes once again wandered to that precious piece of paper, feeling such love from such a small but wondrous gift. “It would be most disrespectful not to respond in kind.”

Celestia briefly pondered over her sister’s insightful words. Pushing shame and fear to the side, she levitated her letter out and back into her hooves. She read it over a number of times. A tender smile slowly spread across her snow white lips, gently running her golden hoof across her favorite lines. Your right Lulu, it would be most disrespectful not to reply, she almost laughed at the realization that Discord, the master of chaos himself, was stirring such powerful feelings of attraction inside of her. I owe Dizzy that much after he put so much into this letter, she smacked her lips and crooned at tasting the lingering flavors of that pie, And the pastries too of course.

CREAK!

The front doors to the Princess’s throne room swung open with a deafening creak. Celestia and Luna, on instinct, teleported both their precious private letters out of sight before any pony could see them. The sisters looked at each other with nervous smiles; trying to maintain their proper image and ignore their previous fawning over their respective letters from earlier. Twilight and her friends entered with solemn looks on their faces. Celestia watched the ponies approach, their hooves moving slowly; drudging in at a sluggish, defeated pace. The sun princess’s eyes slowly widened once she spotted the dark purple colt in the back of the group. She couldn’t believe Twilight had actually brought in Moonstruck so quickly.

“Your highnesses” Twilight announced, she bowed to Celestia and Luna as her friends did the same. Celestia smiled and bowed as well, Luna followed shortly. Though Twilight has been told many times she is a princess and an equal to Celestia and Luna, she always felt she never was quite up to her mentors commendable level. Celestia and Luna looked to each other curiously. They were surprised not only by Moonstruck’s appearance, but also by the pony’s rather grim expressions. “As requested, we’ve come to speak with you about Moonstruck,” Twilight’s ears wilted.

“I must say I’m quite surprised to see our missing pony brought here so quickly Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia admitted. Twilight looked at her friends in mutual confusion. The purple mare thought for sure Celestia knew she was hiding Moonstruck and that was why she called them to Canterlot. “To be honest, I didn’t know for certain if you actually had Moonstruck with you,” Twilight’s eyes practically jumped out of their sockets, her jaw dropped to the ground like a 10 ton anvil. “I suspected you might; based on our last conversation, but when I asked you to bring him, it was mainly just to test my hunch that you, surprisingly enough, managed to prove accurate,” Celestia added.

“Y-y-y-you mean I could have stayed in Ponyville and nothing would have happened?!?” Moonstruck loudly exclaimed. Rainbow and Spike tried to keep the colt from raising his voice to the princess, but the unicorn was overwhelmed with panic. “NO, I will NOT stay quiet,” he looked around the room nervously for exits, the number of the guards in the room made him freak out even more, “I can’t go back to that horrible place; I’d rather DIE than be sent back to-”

“EVERY PONY WILL BE SILENT” Luna boomed, silencing all with her traditional Canterlot voice. The dark Alicorn’s authority quickly quelled the squabbling amongst the ponies and one dragon. Twilight tried to protest, but one quick glare of Luna’s threatening eyes made the purple mare feel like a mouse staring down the gullet of a hungry cat. Moonstruck was terrified enough of Celestia’s wrath, so pissing off Luna; famous for her tyranny as Nightmare Moon, was the last thing he wanted to do. “Please, calmness every pony,” she spoke in a softer tone this time, “Let my sister speak her words before you expect the worst.”

“Thank you Lulu,” she nodded kindly to her sister, “Now then, there’s a very serious matter that needs to be addressed,” her gaze focused squarely on the convict colt. Moonstruck gulped loudly. Twilight stood by his side; placing an arm around his waist. She knew she was in enough hot water with the princess as it is, but she also knew Moonstruck was afraid and she refused to let him face this sentencing alone. “Twilight, you intentionally harbored a known fugitive from the law; one that is wanted for murder and theft of the highest order,” Celestia’s wings stretched out; casting a shadow over the ponies. “On top of that, you intentionally kept his whereabouts a secret from me when we spoke last. While it is true you are a princess; that does not mean you are exempt from following the same laws and penalties common ponies obey,” Twilight started chewing on her hooves. Spike and the other ponies started holding one another; looking at each other nervously. They all feared what punishment would befall Moonstruck and Twilight.

“Princess Celestia, please, before you punish me I just want to say-” Twilight prepared herself for the worst, but was suddenly interrupted by Moonstruck.

“I cast a spell on her, she wasn’t fully aware I was hiding in her house,” the bookworm princess desperately tried to speak but Moonstruck cut her off once again. He refused to see her suffer because of him. “It was my fault, ALL of it, I used what little magic I had to brainwash her and sneak into her life for food and shelter” Moonstruck pleaded. He got on his knees and pressed his forelegs together in a begging fashion. Moonstruck feared going back to Tartarus more than death, but if going back could spare such a wonderful, kind and caring pony from being punished because of his actions…he would do it in a heartbeat. “I’m a convicted murderer and a thief, just like you said,” he motioned to himself and to Twilight, “Clearly I’m the only one who deserves to be punished.”

Twilight tried to speak once more. Rainbow Dash and the others started to chime in as well; soon the entire room was filling with voices begging for Celestia to forgive Moonstruck. Celestia raised a single hoof and silenced the horde of voices in an instant. “I believe I have heard everything that I need to hear, there is still one more thing I require before we conclude this matter,” she motioned for Moonstruck to stand up and approach the princess.

The convict looked nervously to Twilight for guidance; she sighed sorrowfully and nodded in reply. I’ve trusted her instincts for this long. Moonstruck approached the princess and stood silently before her hooves. He closed his eyes and prepared for whatever sentence was about to be carried out. Whatever happens Crackers, I’m glad I met you…

“Please look at me Moonstruck,” confused by the order; the colt nodded and obeyed it none the less. Celestia leaned in close and stared deeply into his chrome colored eyes. The unicorn felt most uncomfortable having the princess stare so intensely at him; like she was punishing his inner soul just by glaring at him. He didn’t understand why she was doing this, but if it prolonged his incarceration a bit longer, he wasn’t going to object. After what seemed like an eternity, the sun princess pulled back from the colt. “Just as I suspected,” Celestia motioned for her guards, Twilight and her friends to gather closer. “I have reached a decision: from this day forward, Moonstruck is acquitted of all charges and all wanted posters and tracking parties will be removed,” she proclaimed.

“YOU WHAT?!?” that outcry echoed like thunder from the collective voices of Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Spike, Rainbow Dash and Moonstruck. Even the guards were shocked by their ruler’s pardoning. Luna and Pinkie Pie were the only ones unphased by this revelation.
Celestia could see her decree would require some additional explaining. Moonstruck’s face froze in numbing shock, as if having seen a ghost materializing right before his eyes.

The Alicorn princess couldn’t help but smile at the colt’s perplexed face. Though seemingly out of the blue, the sun princess had been thinking about pardoning Moonstruck for some time now. “Ever since we spoke Princess Twilight, no, even before that happened, I have been seriously reconsidering this situation with Moonstruck,” she explained. “You have proven time and time again that you are wise and have put your trust in the finest of friends and allies. It was clear to me that something more was brewing beneath the surface when I told you about Moonstruck’s past. I was actually going to publically pardon him once I had a gathered some more information about his origins,” she paused momentarily; wanting to emphasize the graveness of her news.

“Totally knew she’d pardon him,” Pinkie proudly boasted to a guard; brushing a cupcake messily upon her chest, as if polishing an apple. The guard widened his eyes at Pinkie’s miraculous prediction. He silently whispered “You’re good” to Pinkie as she munched into her creamy treat.

“However, there is a mysterious danger lurking somewhere in Equestria that has forced me to accelerate my decision earlier than expected,” Celestia said.

“What kind of danger Princess, and more importantly, what does it have to do with Moonstruck?” Twilight inquired. She didn’t mean to dampen this happy discovery for her convict friend, but anything that worried Princess Celestia is not something to take lightly.

“Um a-a-actually,” Moonstruck stepped between the two Alicorn mares, “I wanted to know what was with the whole staring-me-down thing? I take it that has something to do with your decision to generously, and let me emphasize that once more, generously pardon me?”

Celestia giggled at the two ponies impulsive curiosities. She could see now why Twilight had grown so fond of him; they had much in common; even if they didn’t know it. “I will happily answer both of your questions,” she turned to Moonstruck first, “Though I was dealing with the tragic loss of my good friends, Trail Blazer and Cage Chamber, I remember quite clearly the look in the murderer’s eyes before he stole Starswirl’s plate and left. Unfortunately, it was that same rage that prevented me from listening to your side when I sentenced you to Tartarus.” The princess bowed before Moonstruck, her voice and eyes filled with deep sorrow. “I am eternally sorry for taking away two years of your life Moonstruck, I was wrong to punish you for those terrible crimes,” she raised her head back up and placed a hoof on the purple colt’s shoulder, “I hope one day you can forgive me for causing you such pain.”

Moonstruck found his words failing miserably, he stuttered as the shock of her apology continued to paralyze his brain and body. She apologized…to me? The ruler of Equestria, the one who locked me away for 2 years in that nightmarish Hell hole…is sorry…I j-j-just can’t believe it. He looked at her with small bits of tears dripping from his eyes. “I d-d-d-don’t know what to say” he answered truthfully.

“By all means, take your time to process this. I have put you through a great deal of suffering and even if you refuse to forgive me, I will understand and respect whatever response you wish to deliver,” she sweetly replied. The snow white pony gently brushed away one of Moonstruck’s tears with her hooves, she pulled it back as she spoke once more. “As I was saying, I got a clear look at the killer and while he looked exactly like you in almost every way, he did not possess the same eyes as you. I see no murderous intent in your eyes. The pony I saw had a soul as black as night and while your magic indeed carries the distinct mark of darkness; that darkness has not touched your heart. That is how I knew for certain that imposter was the real killer and you were just the unfortunate victim that suffered from my misplaced anger.”

“But that still doesn’t explain what this new danger has to do with Moonstruck,” Twilight insisted. Her wings and tail twitched anxiously with impatience. The mare’s insistence only made her mentor giggle some more.

“Ever the persistent student Twilight,” the princess of friendship blushed bashfully; idly rubbing the back of her head. Celestia turned her attention and eyes towards her former pupil. “There have been numerous reports of powerful pony artifacts being stolen from all over Equestria. No pony has been able to identify who the culprit is, and for some reason, Luna’s magic as well as my own has proved mysteriously ineffective in locating this elusive new foe,” Celestia said. “I briefly thought it was Moonstruck since the imposter that copied his appearance stole Starswirl’s plate in the first place. However, once I sensed your connection to him Twilight, I knew he was not the guilty party, which means there is a new enemy out there working within the shadows.”

“That is why my sister ordered me to call off all pony parties tracking Moonstruck,” Luna added. “Once Tia knew that thou were not the villain we sought,” she motioned to Moonstruck with one of her wings, “We quickly ceased wasting our resources and reorganized them into finding this artifact thief. I have been leading the investigation, but thus far I have been unsuccessful in my pursuit. The slippery devil, or devils, has even managed to elude me in their dreams.” She spoke with a speck of venom with that last statement, she felt quite vexed knowing she was failing to find the pony in her controlled realm of dreams.

“I’ll be publically announcing Moonstruck’s pardoning very soon, that way, all of Equestria can keep their eyes and ears focused on finding this new threat and not waste their time chasing an innocent pony,” Celestia explained.

Rainbow Dash looked to Applejack; silently muttering something about doing whatever they could to help. Rarity, Fluttershy, Spike and Pinkie quickly nodded. Twilight looked to her friends and concurred with their feelings on the matter. “If there’s anythin’ you need from us, just say the word Princess and we’ll be happy to help” Applejack proudly announced.

“Yeah, just point us in the right direction and we’ll kick that new evil’s butt right into next week” Rainbow Dash added. She hopped on her hind legs, punching her forelegs at the air in a boxing manner. Twilight nodded and stood by her friends, “So then princess, where do we begin?”

Celestia smiled warmly at the courage from Twilight and her friends. “As always, I knew I could count on you my little ponies,” she politely bowed in thanks to the princess of friendship, “Your journey starts in a strange town; rumor has it every pony in this town has the same cutie mark.”

---

To be continued…

Comments

[Vesper Skies]

That Was one of the best Chapters that i have read of this story So Far

[Sidetrack]

Bolded format is fucked up.

[SolitariLupus]

Celestia fucked Moonstrucks life up and all he gets is a damn apology? Wtf, all the trauma and shit he went through was because of her, I think he deserves more than a damned "I'm sorry". The princesses in this story are completely inconsiderate and idiotic assholes that dont deserve their titles.