The Champion of Harmony: What If?

by Voxum

What If: He Never Went to The Facility?

"B-but Mama, wh-why do I have to go?"

Her heart wrenched at the pleading gaze of her youngest son.

"I'm sorry, my littlest gem," she said, gently wrapping her wings around him, "But this is the only way to make sure you get better." He sniffed, burying his face into her neck.

"You don't need to worry, hun," her sister, Sunlit Skies, assured her, her bright blue eyes twinkling at her, "Little Em will be in good hooves with me."

Moonlit Skies did not like this, not one bit. She understood the reasoning, of course. Why wouldn't she?

Her son was chronically sick, rarely feeling anything but under the weather. Tamer Wind had theorized that Emerald's awful condition could be due to the environment, and, loathe as she was to admit it, Moonlit believed him.

Again, it only made sense. He was sick because of the endless blizzard that marked their home. Sick because it was too cold for his body to withstand. Thus he was constantly plagued by illness since the cold constantly weakened his body.

Ergo, the solution was to place him somewhere warm, where he could heal.

The problem with that, of course, was that as a Clan Heir, he couldn't exactly just leave. That gave him a level of importance that most other foals didn't have. Of course, this was the Skies Clan she was talking about. As far as they were concerned, every foal was important. That he was a Clan Heir meant little in that regard.

As a true-blooded Skies herself-having been born a Skies rather than entered from another Clan, that is-she agreed wholeheartedly with this fact. The only way she'd ever lose one of her precious little gems was death or foalnapping, and neither was happening any time soon. If he was being forced to leave, then she and his siblings would have to come along as well at minimum.

Unfortunately for her, her husband, Ashen Skies, loved their foals almost more than she did, and had asked her to let him go.

The asshole-through snot, tears, and several tissues-all but begged her to let him go. His reasoning-or what she managed to get through aforementioned snot and tears-was that he wanted Emerald to grow up healthy, but he didn't want to leave the rest of the family behind.

As much as it pained him, he felt that if it meant having him grow up healthy and happy, then he'd happily send Emerald away-with promises to write him every week if possible!-so long as he also got placed into a happy home or had a different family member watching over him.

She'd offered to go with him, of course, but Sapphire and Ruby were still young as well. One child losing contact with their mother would be bad, but two?

Plus, she was Ashen's wife. While being the wife of a Clan Head wasn't really that big of a deal, she still had responsibilities to deal with, and enough of a voice in the Gathering House that her disappearance could be bad.

Luckily, there were a number of Skies who lived around the world away from the Clan that finding him a home pretty much anywhere would be easy. It was figuring out where that home would be that was much harder.

Except her husband's brother, Dusty Skies. That stallionwhore would never get his influence anywhere near her children, especially not while out of her sight.

Thus they turned to her side of the family.

Sunlit Skies, her younger sister, was a somewhat immature, but well-meaning, mare with no foals of her own. She managed to make her home over in Canterlot, the capital city of Equestria, and worked as a member of the Elite Night Guard of Canterlot.

The reason she chose to live in Canterlot, of all places, was lost on her elder sister, but Moonlit didn't bother questioning it. Canterlot was home of the princess and the entire Canterlot Guard. Her littlest gem would be safe there, if nothing else.

Who knows, he might even make friends there! His sickness made making friends here much harder for him, so the opportunity that Canterlot would present would be good.

"B-but Mama...." he whined once more, his little voice causing her heart to quake. She dutifully ignored the sniffling coming from her husband behind her, who was probably on his second box of tissues by now.

"I'm sorry, my littlest gem, I really, truly am," she whispered, gently letting go, "But you have to stay strong, okay?" she asked, tilting her head, staring into his little blue eyes, "Stay strong, for Mama and Papa, alright?" she asked once again.

He sniffed, and wiped at his eyes,

"O-okay Mama," he said, before timidly turning to face his Aunt.

He took a few steps forward, but paused and looked back at her and Ashen-who had turned away, blowing his nose into another tissue-his eyes watering. He stared for a moment, and, when it was clear they weren't about to change their minds, he turned back and finished walking over to Sunlit.

She smiled down at him, brushing a lock of her brilliant blonde mane out of her face,

"C'mon, Little Em. Le'ts get you to your new home, okay?"

"... Okay..."

-

---

-

Em stared out the second floor's window again, staring down at all the funny looking ponies walking around.

He's been in Canterlot for the past few months now, and he still couldn't believe just how many different looking ponies there were! Each one of them looked different from each other, it was so weird!

Back home, you could pretty much tell who belonged to what family by looking at them! Even Traded Names had similar features to their new Clans!

He felt a pang of homesickness strike him, hanging over him like a sheet that threatened to drag him down.

He shook his head.

But these ponies... they were all so different! At least it would make telling them apart super easy.

Something-or rather, someone-new entered his vision suddenly.

A small form suddenly started making its way through the crowd of ponies. He narrowed his eyes, and pressed further into the glass in order to get a better look.

It was a little, purple pony, with a short, purple horn sticking out of its mane. It was glowing a very pretty looking purple, and a book was floating in front of it, covered in that same purple glow.

He blinked at the sight.

Right. That was also something. These ponies came in a couple different shapes too!

His tongue stuck itself out as he began to think, going over his Auntie Sunlit's lessons.

Pegasi. Earth ponies. Unicorns.

Those were the three tribes that called Equestria home.

The pegasi had wings just like thestrals, but they also had this funny little power that let them control the weather.

Earth ponies didn't have anything special, but they were super strong and had really good stamina when compared to the other two.

The unicorns had little horns on their head that let them do magic. And magic was something that could do a lot of things, like cooking, sewing, teleporting, and even fighting!

But that little purple unicorn was using it to make that book float in front of it.

Em frowned.

Didn't the unicorn know that was kinda dangerous? Especially when walking through crowds like that!

Just as he thought that the little pony finally made its way through the crowd, but now it was walking right towards him. Well, towards the street light in front of his window.

He gave the window a few hits, hoping to warn the little pony, but his hooves were too quiet, and the little pony ended up running right into the light.

His ears twitched, hearing the slight, high-pitched yelp that came from the pony as it fell onto its flanks from the impact. The pony shook its head, causing its dark blue, pink-striped mane to shake about. Its head tilted up, its purple eyes narrowing behind its glasses as it glared at the light.

Em blinked, however, tilting his head.

His motion must've caught the filly's-because the unicorn was definitely a filly-eye, since she ended up turning and looking at him.

Blue eyes met purple eyes for the first time, and their fates were now intertwined.

-

---

-

"Hi, I'm Em! What you name?"

Twily jumped slightly, startled by the sudden voice.

There hadn't been anypony else in the library when she'd gotten here with her and BBBFF and Mommy-who wandered off to keep said BBBFF from sneaking out another one of those boring comics of his-aside from the librarian, so who was bothering her reading time?

She looked up from her book-a historical account of the Days of the Founders-and found a colt about her age staring at her curiously. He was a bit taller than her, and his fuzzy green coat made him look a little bigger than he probably was too.

He looked a bit odd, though. His eyes looked kind of like a cat's, and a pair of sharp teeth poked out from his lips.

Twily frowned at the sight of him. What was he doing, interrupting her reading time?

She turned back to her book, completely ignoring him.

"What you read?"

He talked kind of funny too. Like he could barely speak Equish!

Twily huffed, and glared at him over her book, pushing up her glasses with her magic,

"Can't you see I'm reading?" she asked, somewhat rudely, but she was sure her Mommy would understand. He nodded,

"Yeah. But you look... word for not with others, so I come by to talk!" he chirped, smiling in a way that emphasized his sharp teeth.

Twily huffed,

"Well... go 'way! I'm reading!" she snapped with a pout. The colt only tilted his head, and blinked,

"Uh... okay?" he said with a frown. He turned around and walked off not long after that, leaving Twily alone to read.

Twily nodded with a 'Hmph!', and returned to her book, eyes scanning over the pages quickly. Several minutes passed in silence, and Twily's mood quickly improved now that some annoying colt wasn't pestering her.

-

---

-

Em shuffled a little in nervousness, stealing a glance up at Auntie Sunlit, who smiled at him.

"D-do I have to do this?" he asked her. Auntie Sunlit sighed, but her smile didn't fall,

"Yes, Little Em. Little foals like you have to go to school here in Equestria," she said, then gently bopped him on the nose, "And speak in Equish, sweetie. You need to practice."

"Oka-" Auntie Sunlit glared at him a bit, and he quickly tried again, "O-okay, Auntie Sunlit." She smiled, and ruffled his mane.

"It's okay, Little Em. School is a lot like the lessons back home. Just... they're not Skies like us, okay?"

He nodded, almost timidly, as he stared at the door that would lead to his new classroom.

Hoofsteps and voices flowed out the closed door, loud enough for even his not-quite-developing hearing to detect. The hoofsteps grew louder for a moment, just before the door opened, revealing a pony around Auntie Sunlit's age.

She had a bright pink coat and a near blinding light green mane. She had a pair of black glasses sitting in front of her equally green eyes. She stared at them, a smile seemingly permanently stuck her face,

"Can I help you?" she asked politely,

"Hello, are you Mrs. Melon, the-" she frowned,"'kindergarten' teacher?" Auntie Sunlit asked. The pony nodded,

"That's right!" she said, glancing down at him, "... Oh! You must be Emerald, our newest student, is that right?" she asked. Em glanced up at Auntie Sunlit, who gently nudged him forward,

"Uh, y-yes," he stammered, almost forgetting to speak in Equish. He added a nod after a moment, in case she still hadn't understood him.

Mrs. Melon smiled at him, and went to speak-

"You'll have to forgive him," Auntie Sunlit said, cutting her off with a slight grimace, "He's been learning quick over the months, but his Equish isn't quite up to the appropriate level. He also tends to slip back into our language. Just remind him if it happens and everything should be fine," she said. Mrs. Melon nodded, and, after a moment of looking thoughtful, spoke,

"I see, is there anything I should be aware of, regarding..." she asked, waving slightly in their direction, "... your... culture?" she finished, sounding unsure.

"You mean our species?" Auntie Sunlit deadpanned, earning a wince and nod from Mrs. Melon. Auntie Sunlit frowned, "Nothing much, really. But Little Em is a bit fragile right now. He's only recently recovered from a sickness. I wouldn't worry about it too much, though," she pat him on the head, causing him to fold down his ears, "He's a resilient little pipsqueak," she glanced away, thinking, "Oh... our hearing and eyesight are very good, so try not to flash bright lights in his face, or shout right beside him in the future. We're also omnivores-" Mrs. Melon froze for a bit, "-but the lunches we pack for him are strictly pony-friendly, so don't worry," she added, causing Mrs. Melon to relax, "That's... pretty much it," she finished, then turned to him, "Good luck, Little Em. I'll pick you up once school ends, alright?"

He nodded,

"'K-kay," he stammered.

Auntie Sunlit smiled at him, then nodded at Mrs. Melon, before she turned and left.

"Well," Mrs. Melon said, splitting the silence, "come on then, Emerald. Let's introduce you to the class, alright?"

---

That purple filly was in his class, and she was just as prickly as she was when he tried talking to her at the library.

He frowned, glancing over at the distant corner of the room where she sat, alone. There weren't any other ponies who chose to sit around her while she read, choosing instead to mess around with all the blocks and toys during their 'recess' as Mrs. Melon called it.

He didn't really understand this 'recess'. Weren't they supposed to be learning stuff?

There was nothing like this in Nocturne. His Mama and Papa had him and Ruby and Sapphire learning, training, learning, then training some more!

Well, Ruby and Sapphire had more training than he did. But he was prolly gonna start training more with Auntie Sunlit now that he was feeling better.

The thought of training caused him to smile, his tiny fangs glinting, which in turn caused several of the foals around him to scoot away, creeped out by the weird new pony, not that he noticed.

He shook his head. Auntie Sunlit told him that 'School' was a lot like the lessons back home. The lessons, not the training he realized.

Unless... oh! Was 'recess' their training?

He blinked and started looking around a bit more.

The ponies here were moving around a lot. They stacked and moved blocks, and seemed to be messing around with some weird square things with a bunch of pieces on them. He tilted his head though, not sure how any of this was training.

Oh, maybe it was a new kind of training that only the ponies knew about?

He smiled-causing more foals to move away from him-and nodded. Yeah! That made lots of sense!

He stood up from the seat that Mrs. Melon had asked him to sit in and moved to join the other foals in their 'recess' only to be stumped when they started moving away from him when he got close.

He blinked, and tried again, only to meet the same result.

Did they... want him to chase them?

It would be good training, he supposed, but it didn't really look like what they were doing, not with those weird expressions on their faces.

He thought for a moment, then gasped. Of course, it was so obvious!

He forgot to ask them if he could join!

Wow, his Papa would be sad if he ever learned that Em forgot about his manners. Good thing he remembered!

"Uh, hel-lo?" he asked, not sure if he got it right, "C-can I..."-oh, what was the word?-"j-join?" Right! Those should be the right words.

"No!"

"Go 'way!"

He blinked, freezing in place.

"O-oh...? U-um... All corr-alright...?" he stammered, backing away, ears folding over his head.

He sat back onto his flank, beginning to pay more attention to the others. He was... saddened to find that it wasn't only the two he'd approached that had moved away from him.

In a class of nearly fifty foals, Em sat alone, a wide, empty circle surrounding him.

-----

Twily frowned slightly, peering just over her book to look at the annoying new colt-he wasn't really that annoying, since he didn't bother her at all, but she couldn't remember his name-as he jogged around the playground.

She wasn't the only one staring at him, of course. Plenty of the other, just as annoying, foals stared at him as he ran. She supposed they didn't understand what he was doing any better than she did. It was really weird, after all!

He'd been in their class for almost a month now, and very little had changed since.

She read during every break, finished all their work early so she could keep reading, was gently pushed into playing with the other foals during recess by Mrs. Melon, got told to go away, read for all of recess, finished all her work, read until the bell rang, then went home and told her parents about all the reading she got done that day, before practicing her magic. Then she'd have dinner, go to bed, and redo it all over again.

The new colt hadn't changed that, much. Their classmates avoided him just as much as they avoided her, though she wasn't really sure why. Sure, he looked a little different, but her Mommy, Daddy, and her foalsitter, Cadence, taught her not to judge somepony just cause they looked a bit different.

She might be wrong, though. They could just be avoiding him cause he did all these weird things during recess.

Like running around the playground, jumping over the play area, and doing what looked like these weird exercises.

Nopony wanted to do any of that, so he was always alone.

Just like her.

Twily pouted a little, and returned to her reading.

Whatever, it's not like she cared.

-

---

-

He stared down at the large building that loomed before him, a long-come-familiar sense of dread pooling in his stomach.

Kindergarten had been... annoying. He'd learned that most ponies he met didn't really like him just cause he looked different. Some were okay with him, but avoided him like everyone else just because.

He wasn't expecting 'elementary school' to be any better.

-----

Twilight smiled, excitedly waving her BBBFF goodbye as he went off. The smile plastered over her face was positively gigantic! And why wouldn't it be? Today was going to be for first day of first grade! If it was anything like kindergarten was, then she'd get so much reading done!

Ahh, it was so exciting!

She wasn't really looking forward to being around ponies all that much, but, for the sake of her reading, she'd put up with it.

---

Ponies could be cruel.

Not even a week, and he'd already had some of his things stolen.

How... fitting.

-----

Those jerks poured juice all over her saddlebags!

They ruined her books!

How could they?!

---

"Give it back!"

The shout startled him out of his exercises. A group of ponies had formed near the entrance back into the class, three surrounding one it seemed.

"It's just some boring old book," one of the foals said, holding a blue book in her hoof. The shortest of the four, a familiar purple filly, stamped her hoof,

"It's mine! My big brother gave it to me, so-so g-give it back!"

The foal holding the book laughed,

"Aw, what's the matter, Twilame, you gonna start cryin'?"

"N-no I'm not!"

"Crylight, Twicry!"

"S-stop it!"

The three foals surrounding the purple filly started laughing, which only caused the purple filly to turn red, tears welling in her eyes.

Emerald watched for a little longer, before the filly eventually ran off, tears sparkling as they fell from her eyes.

"Ha, look! She's running away!"

"What a loser!"

"Crylight! Twicry!"

He frowned.

-----

Twilight sniffed, curling up further into a ball, unbothered by the darkness of the closet she'd shut herself into.

H-how could they?! That book had been a gift from her BBBFF for her birthday, and they just took it! Why? Why did they take it from her?! She hadn't done anything to them!

She hiccuped, dragging a hoof across her eyes, leaving it coming away wet.

Why did they have to be so mean to her? They hadn't left her alone for even a day ever since school started last month! Always teasing her, tripping her during P.E., and now taking her things!

She froze at the sound of the door opening, the crack letting in a single stream of light into the otherwise pitch black closet.

H-had they found her? Had they come to laugh at 'Crylight' or 'Twicry' some more?

She scowled, and furiously rubbed at her eyes. She wasn't gonna let them see her crying, not this time!

When the door fully opened, a small, but vaguely familiar, green head peeked into the room, a pair of intense blue eyes scanning the dark room, before locking onto her.

"There you are," he said, slipping further into the room.

She tensed when the door shut behind him. Wh-why was he here? She-she knew this colt, if only barely. H-he was that weird colt in her kindergarten class who only ever worked out. He was top of their P.E. class, actually.

"Here, this's yours."

His voice pierced through the pitch blackness suddenly, startling her.

"Wh-what?" she asked in the general direction of his voice. She heard some shuffling, before a click and the lights turned on, blinding her for an instant.

"Sorry," he muttered, frowning, "I tend to forget I have better vision than ponies," he said, "Anyways, this is yours," he repeated, holding out-her book!

Twilight gasped at the sight of the familiar fairy tale, her magic lighting up to snatch it away, which caused the colt to flinch when the book flew away from him.

"Wha-?!"

Not really paying much attention to his reaction, she cradled the book close to her, almost afraid he'd take it back. It wouldn't be the first time one of her bullies returned something, only to steal it back.

"Wh-why?" she stammered, looking up at the taller colt. He stared at her for a moment-well, he stared at her horn, but it was close enough-before shaking his head,

"Uhh... well, taking things from someone isn't very nice. Plus you asked for it back and they still didn't return it," he said simply, like it explained everything.

Twilight blinked, not really understanding.

"Wh... b-but if they find out you gave it to me, th-then they'll be mean to you too!" she protested.

Twilight wasn't really sure why she was worried about him. He was the weird colt, after all. Nopony wanted to be anywhere near him, like.... well, like they didn't wanna be near her.

She felt her face go warm and she looked away. Her Mommy and Daddy and her BBBFF (and even her foalsitter!) told her to try making friends this time, but it was always so hard! Ponies were just very mean, and they never wanted to read with her.

But... well, this colt was pretty nice so far. He'd never made fun of her as far as she knew.

Maybe.... maybe he could be her friend?

He shrugged,

"It's fine. They already are," he said, causing Twilight to blink. He looked away for a moment, then shrugged, "Well... enjoy your book," he muttered, turning around. Twilight stiffened,

"W-wait!" she almost shouted, causing him to flinch, "Oh, sorry!" she added, grimacing. He frowned, and turned back to her, rubbing his ear,

"What?" he asked, sounding kinda irritated,

"Umm..." she fidgeted, "Th-thank you..." she muttered shyly after a moment. He blinked,

"Oh, uh... you're welcome?" he muttered, sounding confused. He stared at her for a moment, as if thinking, before shaking his head and turning back to the door.

"D-do you..." she began, her newfound confidence fleeing when he turned back with a frown on his face.

"What?" he asked.

Twilight squirmed in place when his eyes landed on her again.

"D-do you... umm, do you... doyouwannabemyfriend?!" she squeaked, before curling up into an embarrassed ball.

He blinked, tilting his head,

"What?"

"U-u-umm, d-d-do you... wanna be my friend?!" she repeated hastily, face going warm as she peered over her returned book.

"Oh... uhh... sure?" he said, sounding confused.

Twilight blinked at his answer, before smiling.

-

---

-

He hadn't thought returning a simple book would lead to the formation of his first friendship, but-

"C'mon Emerald, the library's gonna close early today!"

-well, here he was.

He stumbled slightly over a rock in the path, but managed to keep from falling. A task much harder than one would assume at first, mainly due to the fact that Twilight was dragging him by his front hoof.

"Calm down, Twilight," he said, catching his hooves against the ground to slow them down, "It's not closing that early."

Twilight stamped her hoof and turned to him, a pout on her lips,

"But they got the the newest edition of Daring Do in stock!" she whined. Emerald blinked at her, then sighed,

"I swear, you've got that catalog memorized so well, you might as well be the librarian. Besides, it's not like we have a curfew anymore. You're eighteen, there's no point in rushing." Twilight continued pouting at him, but it fell as she glanced away,

"Being a librarian does sound like fun..." she muttered. He rolled his eyes,

"Only you, Twilight, only you."

"Wha-well what's wrong with liking books?!" she asked hotly, her eyes narrowed at him. He smirked, quickly leaning forward to tap his nose against hers,

"Nothing, of course. It's how we became friends, remember?" Twilight rolled her eyes, gently swatting him away,

"Yeah, I remember," she said, smirking lightly, "Honestly, I'm not sure whether I regret it or not."

"Oh?" Emerald said, stepping closer once more, until their coats rubbed against each other, "What could I have possibly done to warrant that?" Twilight leveled a flat glare at him,

"What did you do? Oh, nothing much. You just forced me to exercise with you, every day, spent all your free time with me, every day, kept pushing me out of my comfort zone, every day, and, oh, keep invading my personal space. Guess what? Every day."

Emerald gave her a fake pout, and bumped her away from him,

"Aw, come on. I'm not that bad, right?" he asked. Twilight scoffed, and closed the gap between them,

"You're right. You're much worse. You actually get me to enjoy all of that," she sighed, feigning exasperation. Emerald chuckled, but went quiet not long after,

"... Hey, Twilight?"

"What?"

"Have you ever wondered what life would be like, if I didn't have you?"

"I should be so lucky." He smirked, and lightly bumped her,

"I'm serious, you know? Oh, if the two of us hadn't met... well, I'm sure I'd be the half the whole world forgot."

"Yeah, and I'd be the star of Canterlot," Twilight snarked, "Even if everyone did forget you, I'm sure you'd find your way into my nightmares, somehow." Emerald smiled,

"Well, you're not that far off, oh Faithful Student." Twilight blushed at that, and glared at him,

"Very funny, Mr. Number One Assistant," she snapped in return. He smirked, his fangs glinting wickedly,

"And just whose Number One Assistant am I?" she frowned,

"Unfortunately... mine."

"Aw, I think I do pretty good work helping you with your studies," he said. Twilight rolled her eyes, but smiled,

"Yeah, I guess you do."

"You 'guess'?"

Twilight giggled, and bumped him. They lapsed into a comfortable silence, idly watching the ponies as they continued towards the library, their coats still brushing against each other all the while.

---

Twilight didn't like the look on Emerald's face right now. It was the same look he held whenever he thought of a way to embarrass her. She couldn't hope to remember the exact number of times she'd seen that expression since they became friends, but she was sure it was some ungodly number, likely one with five to six digits at this point.

She'd grown all but immune to his attempts over the years. Not even in public could he embarrass her so easily. But she knew that he knew of which buttons he could press that would most likely get a reaction out of her.

Nowadays, there were only three things that could get a reaction out of her.

Something to do with her teacher, Princess Celestia.

Something to do with her parents.

Or an over-the-top display of affection from him. How he never got embarrassed by those, she didn't know.

Of course, that didn't stop him from trying out other things, but those three were the most likely to get a reaction.

He was currently helping her with a project involving her magic and his immunity to magic. Specifically, they were trying to figure out why her magic could be used against him. Between the two of them, she took it more seriously, as one might be able to tell from the way he smirked down at her from his position in midair, held they by Twilight's magical grasp.

"Does this count as foreplay?"

Immediately her magic flickered and died, causing him to drop to the floor with a faint yelp, not that she saw it from behind her hooves, which she'd immediately covered her beet red face with.

Okay, make that four things.

---

Twilight smiled, eyes flickering over the texts in front of her. Numerous volumes of ancient magical theory that long fell out of use in favour of newer, improved understanding of the arcane. An almost giddy giggle escaped her, despite her-barely there-composure.

Her personal teacher, Princess Celestia, had given her an assignment. Her task was to read through these books and identify the origins of each magical theory and compare them to their newer, more updated versions, and determine what changes were made or found and how it affected the whole of magical understanding.

It was a hefty assignment, much larger than her typical projects, but that only made her more excited.

"Emerald!" she called for her Number One Assistant, looking around for him in the same breath, "Could you get me the..." she trailed off after a moment, however, finding him absent, "Oh... right..."

Immediately, she had deflated, her excitement for her assignment reduced.

It had been nearly three months since he left. Like her brother a few years ago, Emerald had, on a whim, decided to join the Royal Guard, and all rookies were now attending the survival trip, the same one that had nearly starved her brother so long ago. Emerald hadn't appeared worried at all, and, in truth, she wasn't worried either. She had total confidence in him, in his ability to survive anything the Guard could throw at him. He was simply that kind of stallion.

What worried her-and him-was the separation.

As... embarrassing as it was to admit, the two of them had never been apart for more than a few hours ever since the day they became friends. It had started off as fear of being attacked by their bullies that kept them together-strength in numbers, as they say-and even when Twilight had taken the test for an acceptance into Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns he'd been there, right by her side.

In hindsight, it was good that he'd been there, otherwise she'd never have been accepted. She'd... well, she'd had a bit of a magical breakdown thanks to all the stress. They tasked her with hatching some egg, but... she failed. She failed, not only in front of her parents and only friend, but she'd also failed in front of Princess Celestia, who'd taken time off to oversee the applicants.

So yes, she'd had a magical breakdown. It started up quite suddenly, but luckily, or unluckily depending on how one looked at it, Emerald was the only one it managed to affect, as he'd run up to comfort her when she'd begun to panic. She'd nearly thrown him through the ceiling before the Princess managed to help her get under control.

Her magic hadn't completely cut out, leaving Emerald floating aimlessly in the air, looking horribly confused, and more than a tad frightened.

As a thestral, Emerald was completely immune to most forms of magic. The fact that her magic ignored that fact meant that there was something special about her. Something special enough that Princess Celestia decided to take her on as her personal student.

It was because of him that she was where she was in life. And even after all that, they hardly ever left each other's side. If anything, that event only made them closer, due, in part, to some guilt Twilight had felt for frightening him at the time. Their closeness lasted throughout the years, and now... well, they could hardly stand being a part, despite being in their twenties.

Twilight sighed, staring at the books in front of her. Well, even if he wasn't here, this should take a while. Maybe he'd be back by the time she finished?

She frowned. She could only hope.

For a moment, she wondered if this was a problem, before dismissing it.

---

Twilight's twenty-first birthday was in a few months now. This was important information for the likes of Emerald, but, then again, every bit of information about Twilight was important to him.

He was a Skies after all. They mated for life. One Partner for life. Even in death, there would be only one for them. So it made sense for him to be a tad obsessed with her. Aunt Sunlit often told him how similarly he and his Father acted in this regard. Even if they weren't actually together, they might as well be.

He supposed he should be happy to be compared to his Father, but since he hadn't seen the stallion, or his Mother, for quite some time now, he didn't really feel anything.

Unlike most teenagers-well, he wasn't a teen anymore, but twenty years old isn't that far off-he never really had a 'rebellious phase', though neither did Twilight...

Regardless, he didn't dislike his parents. Or even his siblings. Though, he could faintly recall Ruby being a dick, even at ten.

Well, pushing aside whatever similarities he may or may not have with his family, that didn't change the fact that he had no idea what to plan for her birthday. He managed to convince her parents through letters to let him plan her birthday this year-a task that was harder than he'd expected. He hadn't realized Twilight's mother loved planning them so much-so it was all on him to make sure she enjoyed it.

He already knew what he was going to gift her-a signed set of Daring Do books-but he wasn't sure what sort of party to throw for her. On one hoof, he could just not throw a party, and instead treat her to a night around Canterlot. This was her twenty-first, and birthday parties were a tad juvenile. On the other hoof, what was stopping him from throwing a party and taking her out for a night around the city? She liked the parties, after all.

Maybe... a Daring Do themed pa-no, no, that would be juvenile.

Hmm... a trip around the city, then the party? Or the other way around...? What would be best? There wouldn't be anyone other than himself and her family attending, unless he managed to coerce Princess Celestia into attending-hmm... now there was an idea-so he didn't need to worry about getting a lot of anything to support a large number of guests. It also meant she wouldn't be overwhelmed by a large group, which was good.

He fought a sudden pain in his chest that overcame him.

He scowled, and rubbed his chest. Damn, he'd been away from Twilight for too long. He resolved to quit the Guard at the first opportunity. Being in the Royal Guard wasn't worth it if it meant being away from her for this long.

He sighed, glaring faintly at the commanding officer's tent.

This survival trip better end soon. Twilight was waiting for him.

Idly, he wondered if this was a problem, before shrugging it off.

-

---

-

It was dark out. Rain splattered against the windows, filling the room with a rhythmic patter, accompanied by the crackling of flame.

Twilight sighed, content. Emerald shifted next to her, his head gently resting atop her own.

The library was silent, as expected. The only light came from the fire-stuffed to the brim with safety spells just in case-which continued to burn merrily. She idly turned the page of the book in her hooves, eyes scanning the words but not quite taking them in, too focused on the relaxing feeling of Emerald by her side.

She'd probably have to re-read it later.

Emerald had come back from the survival trip a few months ago, and had officially quit the Guard last week. Twilight had felt guilty, being the reason he'd quit, but the amount of affection he showered her with quickly eroded it. She shouldn't have felt guilty in the first place. He'd missed her just as much as she'd missed him, after all.

A soft grin found its way onto her face, illuminated faintly by the fire. Her horn lit up, gently plucking the book off the ground and placing it onto the shelf, where she could find it later. She tilted her head slightly, just enough to look at Emerald without disturbing his slumber.

It had been a long time since they'd done this. She could hardly recall the last time they simply cuddled before the fire, reading quietly. She had missed this. Missed him.

Several months of extended separation had really shown the two of them how utterly attached they were to the other. Neither had been able to do much over the course of their separation and the way they had clung to each other upon his return would've been downright shameful if either of them actually cared.

It was times like that, and like this, that made Twilight realized just how much she adored this stallion.

He was her first friend.

Her first crush.

The one she could trust with anything.

The one she'd do anything for.

The one she'd live for.

The one she'd die for.

The one she loved with everything she had, and more.

She smiled at him, mouth moving in a quite whisper.

"I love you."

Emerald's eyes opened, sapphires staring into amethysts,

"I love you too."

Author's Note:

Hey all, sorry about not posting anything for TCoH for so long. I... probably won't be able to post it for awhile. There's... a lot going on, as I'm sure everyone already knows. With the big bad going around, stuff with my college has been getting rammed, and I'm pretty sure all the stress has gotten to me.

That being said, I've managed to get some stuff out, so it's not all bad. I had fun with this chapter, and I even got to reference one of my old favourite movies too. Props to anyone who catches it, since it's not a big reference or a very well known movie.

That being said, hope you enjoyed. Constructive criticism appreciated. See you next time!

Comments

[Sunny_and_Auri_23]

I'm so glad that no matter what happens, EmLight will always be.

SHIP SHIP SHIP SHIP SHIP SHIP

[afellownerd]

This was a really sweet, uplifting story... until I realized that Wisp, Spitfire, wisp, Trixie, Starlight, wisp, gustave, iron will, thorax,wisp and sapphire shores are all still suffering in the facility. Also, WISP IS STILL IN THE FACILITY! DO SOMETHING!