• Published 28th Jun 2012
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A New Hero - Alex The Lone Wolf



What if there was another pony who joined the pony gang? (Look at longer description...)

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Prince Alexander and Princess Twilight Sparkle : Part Two

Episode 67 – Princess Alexander and Princess Twilight Sparkle – Part Two


My eyes suddenly threw themselves open. The sound of heavily pouring rain sounded. Thunder boomed in the skies. Lightning flashed frightfully. I breathed and gasped heavily for a moment, having no idea where I was. As I managed to keep my vision clear through the rain, I noticed familiar buildings I had seen hours before.

"Is this…Canterlot?!" I asked, continuing to scan around. However, one particular thing caught my eye. One highly familiar pony, even though I knew I'd never met him, ran across my sight in the distance. He appeared to be in a dreadful hurry, as if he had to stop something. I held out a hoof towards him, either to try to get his attention or walk forward, but then I noticed something even more questioning than my surroundings. My hoof was a transparent white color. "What the…?" I questioned to myself in a shocked tone. I brought it closer to me and noticed not only my hoof held the same appearance, but my entire body. "Why am I…?" I didn't finish my sentence, the status of my body intrigued me too much, but not exactly in a positive way.

Nevertheless, I looked out to where the stallion was last seen running. I had to get to the bottom of this and he was my only clue. I placed my hooves down and began galloping through the rain, hearing my hooves splash through the puddles underneath.

I came to a sudden skid, stopping at the sight of darkness in front of me. It appeared as if it came from the sky and it transformed into these visible evil beings. Although, they seemed to hold a ghostly sight, as if I couldn't even touch them, but they still seemed hostile. I readied myself, whether I needed to run or fight, but I suddenly heard a voice from within me.

Don't worry… You're safe.

"Huh?" I mentioned.

The beings didn't attack me. Instead, they headed off in the direction where that stallion was rushing. I quickly grunted and continued galloping after them.

They led me to this home that appeared to have many scientific artifacts. Astronomy to be precise.

"What are you doing?!" I heard an exclaim come from upstairs. I quickly ascended the flight of stairs inside. "Are you crazy?!"

I arrived just in time to see an intense scene between two stallions.

"I did this, Comet!" This other stallion returned both angrily and depressively. "This is my fault! I have to make it right! I have to fix this!"

"Not like this!" Comet pleaded. "We can find another way!"

"Look around you, Comet! It's chaos! There is no other way! I need to do this!"

"But…"

"Give it to me." He demanded. Comet was holding onto something, but I couldn't see it clearly. He didn't bother answering or obeying him. "For Celestia's sake, GIVE IT, COMET!"

Comet quickly threw whatever it was he held towards the other stallion regrettably.

He retrieved it and then looked at Comet seriously. "I'm sorry, but this has to happen… For Equestria…" Using his horn, he began casting magic on the object he held. All of a sudden, darkness revolved and swirled around him like a vortex.

"No!" Comet cried out and ran towards him, attempting to pull him out. But he only tried grabbing nothing.

Darkness not only covered the mysterious unicorn, but began affecting my vision as well. I tried to see through it, but nothing worked. My body returned to normal for some reason, but that wasn't my concern at the moment. Darkness only wrapped around me as if I was falling asleep. I heard Comet scream out something, but it was too indistinct and distant to hear.


I began opening my eyes and realized I had almost forgotten that everything that happened was all…a vision. It all felt so real… I rubbed my eyes and was immediately tackled by Twilight before I could know what was going on.

"It's you!" She cried out loud, almost sounding as if she was about to cry. "You're here! You're safe!"

"W-what?" I asked, confused on what she was talking about. "What do you mean?"

Twilight pulled back a little and wiped a tear away from her eye. "I didn't see you after we drank the potion, Alex. And I got scared…so scared…" I couldn't really answer, as I still didn't have a clue on what actually happened with her, but she ended up turning to the right to notice the girls staring at us in an odd way. "Why are you all looking at us like that?"

"Well…" Applejack began, her eyes staring from the floor. "Besides what's goin' on right now… It's just... you two were mumblin' to yourselves..."

"Twilight mostly!" Pinkie Pie included. "Ooh! And don't forget the uncontrollable sobbing!"

"We were really worried about you both." Fluttershy expressed.

"I for one found it delightful." Discord, on the other hoof, laid down on one of the spiky branches from the Everfree Forest. "Sort of a one-pony theater piece, if you will." He revealed a scroll that held a moving picture with Twilight crying inside. "You should really consider taking it on the road."

"Hey!" I pushed away his lion foreleg. "That's not funny!"

"It is to me!" He chuckled as he continued glancing over the scroll a few times.

I began sending an irritated look, but Twilight placed a hoof on me and shook her head.

"Did you find out whose rump we need to kick and where we can find them?" Rainbow Dash asked, aggressively ready for the name.

"I saw something from a long time ago." Twilight answered. "But it didn't explain what's happening now." She ended as she turned her head towards me, as if she was ready to hear me speak. All of the other girls turned my way as well.

"I don't know what I saw…" I turned my head towards the floor. "I was in Canterlot… It looked like the whole town was invaded by darkness itself. I don't know if that really happened, or if it was a false vision. Either way, it doesn't really seem to explain anything about what's going on now too."

"Perhaps farther back still are the answers you seek." Zecora approached us, pulling out the vial once more. "Another sip of the potion will give you a peek."

Twilight hesitantly retrieved the potion. She released a heavy sign and looked at me. "I don't want to go through another one without you."

I noticed how serious she was, so I nodded. I looked towards Discord in order to ask for a favor.

"Discord, toss me a glass of chocolate milk."

"Eh." He answered, stretching out his entire body. "I don't really feel like it…"

"Come on. I had your side with the accusations." I reminded.

He released a lazy sigh. "Oh fine, whatever." He popped out a cotton candy cloud, as well as an empty glass, and squeezed the candy cloud to fill the glass with chocolate milk. Then, he tossed the glass over to me and began eating the pink cloud.

I retrieved the glass and called Pinkie over.

"Ooh!" She gleefully expressed and bounced over to where I was.

Knowing what I was already going to do, she lowered her jaw wide open, allowing me to easily pour the milk in. Afterwards, she slurped loudly and bounced back where she originally was.

"Why didn't you just ask for the glass by itself?" Twilight asked curiously.

"Pinkie Pie likes chocolate milk." I answered briefly and then borrowed the potion. I carefully poured a reasonable amount in the glass and gave the potion back to Twilight. "Alright…" I began. "This should hopefully definitely work… We both drink at the same time and hold hooves, okay?"

"Mm-hm." She confidently nodded, seeming much better from my idea.

"Okay…" We looked at our containers holding the liquid and grabbed each other's hoof. "On three… One… Two… Three!" We both quickly closed our eyes and guzzled down our drinks.

As the girls released a few antsy expressions, Discord appeared in front of us with an old-fashioned filmmaker rolling. "Oh, I do hope they break into a song this time!"

After that, I could feel my eyes jerk wide open with a powerful blinding light, assuming Twilight experienced it at the same time.


As soon as my vision returned, I immediately noticed the weather was completely opposite from the last vision. I turned my head just in time to see Twilight turn her head in my direction. She immediately brightened up when she saw me and threw her forelegs around me. I grinned at her reaction, but our moment was cut short when we saw schools of fish swimming around us, even though there was no water at all.

"Does this…remind of you of anything?" Twilight asked.

Before I answered, I looked further on to notice a couple of ponies walking away from where we were standing. "Look." I pointed. "They're…the princesses." I included after being able to analyze them.

Twilight and I quickly hurried and trotted closer in order to hear what they had to say.

Whoever was on the throne chair obviously revealed himself to be Discord, especially after he spun around to see my mother and Tia. The both of them clearly looked fed up with his act. "Oh, this is so much fun. How about a game of 'Pin the Tail on the Pony'?" He surprisingly held up Tia's sparkling tail.

In reaction, she gasped as she looked back to see her tail no longer there. Being even further angered by Discord's childish antics, she led my mom closer to him. "Play time is over for you, Discord!"

"Oh, I doubt that." He swung around a bag that was filled with what looked like black popcorn kernels. He munched loudly as he offered them some from the bag. "Hungry?" They only gave him a cold glare, even when the apparent food tapped them right on the face. "Suit yourselves." He threw in another clawful into his mouth and munched. Celestia and Luna pulled out what appeared to be the Elements…but by how they looked before Twilight and the others harnessed them. "Oh! What have you got there?" Discord questioned, showing no sign of fear.

"The Elements of Harmony." Celestia briefly answered.

"With them, we shall defeat you!" Luna added.

"This must be when they turned Discord into stone!" Twilight whispered to me, continuing to view the scene.

"Yeah…but…" I responded, noticing something odd. "What about the seventh Element? My Element. I mean…does…one of them have the pure heart?"

Discord laughed, causing us to place our focus back on the scene. "You should see yourselves right now. The expressions on your face. So intense. So sure of yourselves!" He continued laughing while the two princesses connected each other's horn. "Hilarious!" He chortled, holding a claw out and his paw to his stomach just as the Elements seized him. He was immediately encased in stone in the same exact way we first found him.

Suddenly, my eyes were blinded yet again, and I soon noticed Twilight and I were taken someplace else. When we saw what was shining right in front of us, the both of us gasped.

Joining us was Luna. She was walking with Princess Celestia when they approached this highly mystical tree. "The Tree of Harmony!"

"The Tree of Harmony?" Twilight spoke out for me. We both took the time to analyze the tree until Twilight called out to me. "Alex, look!" She pointed right at the middle. "My cutie mark..."

I looked in the direction she was pointing at and noticed that she was right. Her own cutie mark was branded right in the middle of the tree…right above Celestia's and Luna's cutie mark.

Nonetheless, Tia flew up towards Twilight's cutie mark on the tree and sent out a beam of her magic at it.

"Are you sure?" My mother worriedly asked, flying above to join Tia.

"We have managed to discover the only means by which we can defeat Discord and free the citizens of Equestria." Celestia explained, and then began manually taking out each Element inside, including Twilight's. "Even without these elements, the Tree of Harmony will possess a powerful magic. As long as that magic remains, it will continue to control and contain all that grows here."

"…magic?" Luna repeated in the form of curiosity. She slowly approached the tree and placed a hoof on it. Suddenly, the tree flashed brighter for a second and Luna returned a small and quick yelp.

"Luna, are you alright?!" Celestia quickly met with my mother after that reaction.

Luna stared at her hoof for a moment and then looked downwards at her chest. She gave a few sharp breaths. "Yes… I'm fine."

Before we could see anymore, we were blinded yet again.


We were back to the original timeline, out of the visions.

"So what did you find out?" Spike instantly asked us as Twilight rattled her head.

"We still don't know what's happened to Princess Luna and Princess Celestia," Twilight answered and then looked towards me. "But we think we know why the Everfree Forest is acting this way." She looked back at the audience before us. "Something's happened to the Tree of Harmony."

Each of the girls, including Zecora, looked at one another in a very questionable manner.

"The tree of what now?" Rainbow asked.

"It's apparently where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna found the Elements." I answered.

"We think it's in danger." Twilight included importantly.

"Well, all right then!" Applejack walked towards us confidently. "Let's go save a... tree." She hesitated on the subject of the matter. "Uh... where is it exactly?"

"I think it's in... there." Twilight expressed fearfully as pointed straight towards the invading Everfree Forest.

"Ooh-hoo! I'm going to need more popcorn!" Discord reacted joyfully with his recliner chair, empty bag of popcorn, and drink, as if he was really watching a movie.

Choosing to ignore Discord this time, I looked at the others and walked a bit forward. "Well…we can do it. We always have in the past."

"Yeah, come on, girls. We need to do this for not only the princesses, but for all of Equestria." Twilight followed in my example and walked alongside me.

"You heard them, y'all." Applejack emphasized, beginning to walk after us and leading the girls in our direction. "Let's find this here tree and save everypony!"

All of us, including Spike, walked on and stopped at the entrance of the forest, leaving a highly familiar sight implemented in my mind.

"Seems like only yesterday we were heading into these woods to find the Elements of Harmony." Rarity recalled the night we all eventually grouped together to defeat Nightmare Moon.

"Seems like only yesterday I was foolish enough to think I should go after them on my own." Twilight joined in on the memories as well, beginning to step inside the forest as I made sure to stay by her. "I don't know what we're going to face in there. But whatever it is, I know we need to face it together." She ended, sharing a glance at me and earning agreeing nods from the girls behind us.

"Hmph." I began expressing my own thoughts. "Seems like only yesterday when I was too blind to see all that."

We continued walking in silent confidence until we came across this foggy swamp. The sight of the water actually looked acidic, leaving no intention to touch it whatsoever.

"We can use those to cross." Twilight pointed towards the rocky stones above the water.

"Careful!" I tried to warn, but she went ahead and leapt ahead. I began wishing that I went ahead first because it looked too risky.

However, when Twilight was having trouble balancing herself, the situation grew even worse. Some horrible creature suddenly emerged from beneath the water and glared at Twilight angrily. She was actually standing on its tail before it threw her off. Twilight yelped, and I quickly jumped up to catch her. The monster growled furiously as it headed straight towards us.

"A cragadile! Run for your lives!" Rarity shouted out, leading us to all spread out.

I kept an eye on who the cragadile was targeting. It was directly heading towards Twilight and Spike. To make things worse, they stopped due to a tree blocking their path. Twilight tried to set herself in flight, but it seemed she was panicking greatly to where her wings wouldn't take off. In an attempt to save her, I ran towards the horrendous rocky beast and climbed upon its back. Using my magic, I formed an aura around its head and pulled it back as forcefully as I could. It tried to snap its immense jaws at me, but then I suddenly received help from behind. The rest of the girls had been pulling the tail of the cragadile with a black vine they found, explaining why the beast had fell to the floor so roughly.

"Alex! Help me tie this to the tree over here!" Applejack directed.

I quickly focused my magic at the end of the vine, tying it securely and tightly around the sturdy tree. Applejack then closed its jaws with another before it could bite me. I tied that one as well. As Applejack began focusing on the other parts of the body, Twilight caught on to what we were doing and helped tie the vines too.

Finally, we managed to make it immobile, at least for the time we need.

"That was close." Twilight shared.

Applejack released a quick breath. "A little too close, if you ask me. You sure you're all right?"

"I'm fine." Twilight returned, opening her wings. "I just can't seem to get these new wings to do what I want them to do when I want them to do it."

"Aw, you'll figure it out eventually." Rainbow Dash assured. "Just like Alex here!" She presented me with her hoof.

"'Eventually' isn't soon enough." Twilight stated and began walking ahead, leading me to follow.

"You have been having an awful lot of trouble with those things." Applejack mentioned. "And, well, who knows what else is gonna to come after us?" Unexpectedly, she increased the pace of her next sentence. "You know, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea for Twilight to go back to Ponyville and let us look for the Tree of Harmony without her."

This not only brought me to turn around and stare at Applejack in surprise, but especially Twilight.

"What? Why?" Twilight inquired a little angrily.

"For starters, you just about got eaten by a cragadilly." Applejack brought up.

"We all did. He wasn't after just me." Twilight shot back, turning her head away.

"Sure, but..." Applejack brought herself closer to Twilight. "…well, the rest of us aren't princesses."

"What's that got to do with anything?" Twilight asked in more of a protective kind of stance.

"Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are gone. If something happened to you, I-I just don't think Equestria can risk losing another princess." Applejack said, leading me to become defensive and angry of such a matter and outcome.

"Hey!" I brought up, putting myself in front of Twilight. "Twilight's staying with us! I'll make sure to protect her before anything tries to touch her!"

"In that case, maybe you should leave on with her." Applejack added.

"What?" I could only return back.

"Applejack does make a valid point." Rarity sided with her. "Even if we manage to save the Tree of Harmony, it won't necessarily mean Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will return. Equestria will need somepony to lead in their absence. If we lost the both of you, there would be no one to rule Equestria."

"So, you expect us to leave the rest of you by yourselves?! What if something happens to any of you?!" I argued.

"We'll be fine, Alex…" Applejack tried to assure. "It's just that… something might happen to Twilight because she's not used to her wings yet, and something might happen to you because you'll put yourself at risk before anypony else." She sighed. "In other words, we rather not take that risk in losing either of you."

"I…I can't believe what I'm hearing…" I sent in a struggle.

"All of you feel this way?" Twilight asked, allowing me to notice the tears that already formed in her eyes. "Feel like we shouldn't be here?"

They didn't answer. They either looked away or towards the ground. This sent a clear message to Twilight. I remained standing there and staring at them until Twilight just began walking off in silence. That left me no choice but to leave with her, as I couldn't have left her all alone. I followed, catching slightly up to her. I heard another pair of steps running after us, which I assumed were Spike's. In uttermost silence, the girls went on ahead.

I looked back and noticed Fluttershy's eyes staring at mine. She was obviously sad, but she looked like she couldn't say anything. She didn't know what to do. She really cared about me…but she just seemed like she couldn't come up with a negotiation for any of us. She couldn't turn back now, as she'd slow down the group.

I turned back and stared at the floor in silence as I walked through the forest. Even with such a dangerous forest surrounding us, the fear slipped right past us when sorrow took ahold.

Yes, things were very silent on our walk. Twilight was slightly ahead of Spike and me. Spike sent me a worried look, as he didn't know what to do or say. He only kept his claws in front of him together. I turned back to Twilight as she held her head down low. I lightly increased my pace to catch up to her and try to see her in her watery eyes. Seeing this tore me up inside and practically made me weak. "Hey…" I told her softly. "They're just looking out for you…"

"…but…but we were supposed to find it together." She stumbled in her words as she desperately tried not to tear up more.

"I know… I know…" I agreed. "But…we're royalty now and apparently that drives the security sky-high."

Twilight sighed, sending me a hint that she didn't know what else to say anymore. I wanted to comfort her, so I lifted my left wing and attempted to wrap it around her. Then, she rested her head lightly on my body. She closed her eyes and seemed to allow me to direct her out of the forest.

All of sudden, a tear easily escaped from my left eye, surprising me. I raised a hoof and felt the dampness that it left. I was unhappy, but I had no intention of crying…so why did this come out?


We arrived back in Ponyville to hear loud cries of help. We noticed Discord filing his nails with Gummy's scaly back, and Gummy appeared to completely not mind. Other than that, a couple of ponies were held hostage as they were wrapped tightly by the Everfree roots. Discord obviously found pleasure from their fear.

"Discord!" Twilight quickly scolded, causing him to quickly get rid of Gummy and snap to remove the danger from the two ponies. "You're welcome!" Discord shouted out as they quickly dashed away, sounding like if they were supposed to thank him for freeing them as soon as Twilight and I showed up. "Hmph. No luck finding your tree?" He turned around, asking us the question to change the subject.

"We ran into some trouble…" Twilight turned away and sat down, being troubled of the reminder. "Our friends decided it would be best if we returned to Ponyville while they continue the search. Equestria will need us if Princess Celestia and Princess Luna don't return." She sighed and then looked towards me. "Maybe you shouldn't have stuck up for me that time… Maybe you could have still been with them…"

"Hey!" I brought out boldly. "I don't care what the matter is! I will always protect you. I'd never want to leave you alone either…"

Twilight softly smiled until Discord intruded into our conversation.

"I'm just surprised that you agreed to their plan." Discord spoke, directing more towards Twilight. "I never thought you'd be the kind of pony who would think she was better than everypony else."

"I don't think I'm better than anypony!" Twilight immediately shot back.

"Twilight would never put herself before anypony!" I included sternly. "Especially her friends!"

"Oh, well, how silly of me to assume that you would think that. All you did was choose to keep your precious princess self out of harm's way while your friends thrust themselves right into it." He pointed towards the growing Everfree Forest after creating an old monarch robe and scepter for Twilight. However, Twilight silently threw both the robe and scepter to the side, but it was clear she wasn't putting up with this. "I'm sure you'll all be the best of pals again when they return from their terrifying yet deeply bonding experience that they're having without you." Discord appeared from within Twilight's ears, chuckling about the matter.

Before I could attack Discord verbally for his ridiculous commentary, Twilight quickly turned around and began sprinting, leading me to immediately follow on after her.

"I never should have agreed to come back here!" She thought out loud.

Spike ran right by her. "Come on, Twilight. Discord may be reformed, but he's not that reformed. He's just trying to get under your skin."

"Well, it's working!" Twilight returned angrily before using her magic to place Spike on her back. "Alex, let's go!"

I strongly nodded and increased my speed to catch up with her.


To be honest, even though our hearts were in the right place, our guide-less galloping led us nowhere. We had no map or idea where the girls had gone off to. The fear from the forest slipped into us once again, causing for Twilight and I to slow down. We rather focused more on keeping our guard up than blindly running through the dangerous forest.

"Are we there yet?" Spike asked, which I wasn't able to distinguish from excitement, boredom, or fear.

"Ugh!" Twilight grunted in anger. "I don't know where we are. We're lost." She allowed herself to sit down on the floor roughly and shake her head. "This is all my fault."

"Hey, don't worry." I assured her, placing a caring hoof on her shoulder. "We'll find a way. We always do."

"Yeah, we can't just give up." Spike added and looked towards a tall tree nearby. "Maybe if I get up there, I'll be able to spot 'em."

"Let me give you a boost." I offered, later having Spike hop on my back so I could take him to the top of the tree. "You look from there. I'll fly around and search from a few other areas nearby." He nodded and crawled on the branch as I returned back to the ground. Twilight remained sitting on the ground in a very gloomy matter. I felt better about finding the others and finishing our goal, but I also wanted her to feel the same. I placed my hooves around her greatly and closed my eyes so. "Don't worry, Twilight. We'll find our friends and save Equestria. I just know it."

"And the princesses too…?" Twilight inquired.

"Yeah…" I offered a warm smile. "We both know they don't go down that easily…"

Twilight chuckled lightly and nodded. "Alright."

"Stay here." I directed. "I'm just going to look around really quick. I'll be right back."

"Okay." She acknowledged.

I turned around and launched shortly into the air. I tried to get a clear view from nearby the top of the trees, but being the Everfree Forest, it was mainly foggy and obscure. I wasn't able to search very well until I heard my name being cried out by what sounded like Spike.

"Alex! Twilight needs help!"

I gasped and quickly rushed back to where she was. Feeling the wind rush through my mane and my heart pounding, I flew as fast as I could. I landed as soon as I returned only to witness a horrifying scene. What looked like mutated Venus Flytraps seemed to be spraying some kind of mist towards Twilight. There were four of them at each direction she faced. The mist caused her to cough, having her be unable to even speak.

"Twilight!" I exclaimed. Before heading in there, I managed to form a protective shield around me, which was something I wasn't a complete master at. It was risky, but I wasn't going to leave Twilight helplessly attacked. I dove right in the mist, my shield hopefully repelling the spray, and immediately approached Twilight. "Twilight, Twilight!" I called out to her as I held her up with my hooves. Her eyes were slowly closing as if she was falling asleep. I placed a hoof on her chest, feeling that her heart was still going strong and her breathing remained normal. To the best of my knowledge, it seemed the mist had only caused her to pretty much faint or lose consciousness. I then looked out my shield to notice the wicked plants continuously spray out its mist in attempts to break the shield. I sighed, seeing no exact way out of this. "I'm sorry, Twilight…" I apologized as I looked around, uncertain if the magical barrier would break soon. "I can't carry you away from here…these things would remain right on our tail… I can't attack them…or they'll just blast me with that… Maybe I can try to fly us out of here…but would I make it off the ground in time before they hit me anyway?" I sighed again. "There's nothing I can really do Twilight… I'm not as good in magic as you are…" I told her earnestly, even though she remained asleep. "I guess we just need…a miracle…" Suddenly, something began glowing with a pulse from within my heart. I stared at it in slight awe. "Can light really help with malicious plants…?"

It can with anything.

And then, there was this sudden burst of light, and I couldn't see anything after that.


I felt the respiration in my lungs. The air circulating. I was okay…I think…

I slowly opened my eyes and was immediately greeted by a blurry light. But once my vision was restored clearly, it was the light from the sun… A sunset…

"W…" I tried to speak and stood up from where I was at. I was on solid ground. Well…not exactly. I reached out towards the railing that was in front of me and grabbed ahold. I looked downwards and almost grew dizzy to the height I was at. I was on some kind of balcony, and I couldn't exactly tell how far off I was from the actual ground. "…wha…?" I tried to question to myself, looking back at the sunset.

"Beautiful. Isn't it?" I heard a voice by me, causing me to turn my head towards the source.

It was a mare…but a mare I'd never seen before. She was smiling out gently towards the sunset as she held out her back legs under the railing. As they were hanging above the disorientating height, she remained unfazed as she calmly held her hooves on the surface she sat on.

Seeing her reminded me about Twilight and the trouble we were in.

"Twilight?!" I called out worriedly.

This caused the mare to giggle for some reason. "Relax, she's fine. You both are."

For some reason…this…soothed me. I felt like…I could trust her.

"Who are you…?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Really?" She turned towards me, revealing her entire face which both shocked and intrigued me. "You forgot already?"

The first thing I noticed were her eyes. I'd never seen a pony with eyes like hers. They were…each a different color. Her left eye was a darkened bluish color. I couldn't exactly tell…but it looked perhaps the same or identical as my eye color. However, her right eye was filled with the opposite of the same color. In other words, it was blue as well, but more of a…baby blue. Apart from that, her layered mane almost covered them from being seen.

"…huh?" I expressed in confusion, but mainly due to her appearance paralyzing me a bit.

Nonetheless, she chuckled with a soft warm smile. "I guess it's not surprising." She shrugged off. "After all, it's been a pretty long while since we've last seen each other…"

"We've…met before?" I questioned.

"Ouch…" She returned. I could deeply tell she was hurt by that, even though she left her smile on. "A little rough, don't you think?" She managed to bring in a sense of humor.

"I'm sorry…" I took seriously. "Did…I do something wrong…?"

"Don't worry about it." She assured as she looked downwards and swung her back hooves. "It's not like… I really had a chance to experience the world out there with you."

This puzzled me significantly. "…I'm sorry… I'm getting really confused here. I don't understand."

"Oopsie." She reacted, as if she had made a mistake. "Guess I probably shouldn't have mentioned that, huh?"

"Uh…" I had no idea of what to say to that. Nevertheless, she tenderly stood up and began walking around lightly as she remained staring at the endless but breath-taking sky. I shook my head and popped out another question I should have asked before. "What's your name anyway?"

She stopped in her tracks in silence. "This is going to sound really silly…but…" She turned towards me. "I don't actually have a name."

"What…?" I was filled with confusion yet again for obvious reasons. "You don't have a name…?"

"Nope." She answered as if it was actually really no big deal for her. "Unless…you have one for me?"

"No offense…" I responded. "…but why would I?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if you did."

She was leaving me with so many questions than I had before that I slipped out a drawn out sigh. I even shook my head a bit in slight frustration. "Geez… You're acting like if you're my spirit or something…"

"Hey…" She spoke out in an interested tone. "That doesn't sound too bad at all."

"Huh?" I questioned.

"Spirit. Spirit…" She stared down with a hoof placed to her mouth in thought. "Sounds fitting…no?" She looked up towards me. "At least for now." She giggled with a closed smile.

"Well…that wasn't really my intention but…if it makes you happy." I mentioned honestly.

"Mm-hm." She nodded her head and sat right down next to me, returning to gazing out at the sunset. "You know… I'm really glad I was able to spend time with you like this, Alex…"

Becoming confused yet again, I had to ask another question. "How do you know my name?"

"Oops." She quickly reacted. "There I go running off my mouth again." She giggled. "But you should probably wake up now, Alex. Return to your friends. And celebrate with them when you save everypony. It makes me happy either way."

My right eye squinted in confusion. "What are you—?"

"Sorry!" She immediately interrupted with an apology. "My mistake again! Bye bye!" She waved her hoof before another flash of light erupted before my eyes, blinding me from everything else.


I felt my hooves slowly touch the floor, as if they had been in mid-air. My eyes began opening, and I was surprised to see all the girls there in front of me. Was this another dream? Or was this real?

"Alex!" Fluttershy rushed towards me to place a hoof on me.

"Are you okay?!" Twilight approached me as well. "Are you hurt?!"

Still feeling a little light-headed, I shook my head and answered. "I don't think so… What happened?"

"Spike came running towards us when we found the Tree of Harmony." Applejack explained. "He told us you two were in trouble. When we rushed over here, we only found you two. Only… Twilight was on the ground sleeping and you were more like…levitatin'…"

"…you didn't see any of those flower things…?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Nope. I don't know what happened to 'em."

"It must have been you…" Twilight stated. "You did something to save me…"

"I don't know…" I placed a hoof to my head. "I don't even know what I did…but… I'm just glad you all are safe."

Applejack released a breath of relief. "We're all glad that you came looking for us."

"Not as glad as we are that you found us." Twilight instantly returned with a relieved smile.

"The truth of it is…" Rarity included. "…we're simply lost without you two."

"Yeah. Equestria may need its prince and princess..." Rainbow began.

"...but we need our friends." Fluttershy finished, leading to a group hug among them all. "…you being a special occasion…" Fluttershy whispered to me with a blush.

I couldn't help but warm up as well to that comment.

After everypony pulled away, I looked towards all of them. "Now, where did you find the Tree of Harmony?"

"It's right over here." Applejack directed, walking us to our objective. "C'mon!"


The result Twilight and I saw after following Applejack was not surprising to us, but still very shocking. What once appeared as a beautiful tree in our vision of the past was now no longer filled with light as the evil of the Everfree Forest was wrapped tightly around it.

Twilight walked ahead foremost, leading me to follow her. She then spread out her wings and flew towards the tree. I repeated the same action and flew by her side. She was in front of her cutie mark, so I allowed her to do what she felt she needed to do. When she tried to stretch out a hoof to touch it, one of the roots immediately wrapped itself around Twilight's hoof, causing her to gasp and lightly yelp. I quickly focused my horn to aggressively shoot out a beam at it, splitting it in half. Nonetheless, it grew even more defensive of the tree, wrapping more around Twilight's cutie mark.

"Are you okay?" I asked Twilight as she lightly rubbed her attacked hoof.

"Y…yeah…" She answered while continuing to look at the tree.

"What do you think we should do…?" I questioned, returning my attention to the tree.

Twilight analyzed all over the tree and thought for a moment. Then, she furrowed her eyebrows and sighed. "Something we thought we'd never have to do…" She turned around and landed on the ground in front of the girls as I joined her. "I know how we can save the tree." Twilight announced. "We have to give it the Elements of Harmony."

All of the girls immediately reacted with stunned and concerned faces.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, heh. How are we supposed to protect Equestria?" Rainbow Dash brought up, landing in front of Twilight.

"How are we meant to rein Discord in if we can't use the Elements to turn him back to stone?" Rarity added, stepping forward.

"Twilight... The Elements of Harmony..." Applejack mentioned, bringing herself in front. "They're what keep us connected no matter what."

"You're right about one thing, Applejack. The Elements of Harmony did bring us together. But it isn't the Elements that will keep us connected. It's our friendship. And it's more important and more powerful than any magic." Twilight returned, beginning to relieve those who were once upset. "Our new role in Equestria may mean we have to take on new responsibilities, and our friendships may be tested, but it will never, ever be broken."

"Twilight's right…" I spoke out. "But to be more specific, it's our hearts." I placed a hoof in my chest. "If you truly care about someone…" I closed my eyes and looked inside of me. "You won't forget about them, even if you lose the one thing that originally connected you in the first place. They'll always hold a place in your heart…and that'll never go away. Even if you do forget them, it doesn't erase that memory that's engraved in your heart. You'll just have to work a little harder to remember it, step by step." I opened my eyes and looked at them all with a smile. "The Elements of Harmony are just objects for our friendship. I can feel…our connection in my heart, at least. It's almost like there's an invisible and limitless cord holding you all in. I know from experience… No matter how far you all are, I'll always feel your presence somehow…"

Twilight nodded. "Exactly… The fate of Equestria needs our Elements a lot more than we do. We can go on without keeping them." Returning back to the matter, she readied herself. "There's no time to lose. Everypony ready?"

"Wait, hold on a second!" Applejack suddenly halted with her hoof. "What about Alex?!"

"Huh…?" I questioned, looking at her curiously.

Applejack walked towards me with worried eyes. "Twilight, you said we needed to give it the Elements of Harmony. But what about Alex? His Element is inside him. How is that going to work? Are we going to lose him?"

This immediately brought distress among all of the girls, causing them to talk out fearfully.

I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. "Relax, everyone…" I said, ceasing their restless comments. For some reason…I didn't think too much of it, and I didn't worry about it either. It just felt like…something I just needed to do. "Don't think the worst in this situation. Whatever happens happens. If this is supposed to be the end, then it is. But… I know I won't go out like this." I assured. "You just have to trust that things will be alright in this predicament. I don't feel like it's my time yet."

There was a moment of silence before Applejack finally sighed. "Okay. We trust you."

I nodded and then turned to Twilight. "We're all ready."

Hesitating for a moment, she managed to nod as well. She focused her magic on the girls' necklaces, taking out their Elements one by one. As they circled around her, she finally removed hers. Then, she turned towards the tree and placed them all carefully in the area they belonged. When she was finished, nothing happened, but that was expected.

"Alright…" I mentioned under my breath. "Looks like I'm up…"

As soon as I began walking towards the tree, something strange happened. Each of the Elements began glowing, and the closer I got, the brighter the glow grew. The same exact thing happened with the glow that formed from my heart. When I was right in front of the tree, the light was at its highest potential, as if something was ready to unleash significantly. I took in another deep breath and then slowly flew up towards the middle. However, I was attacked by the roots trying to kill the tree. They began wrapping themselves around my hooves and pulling, attempting to stop me from doing my job. I knew I needed to not panic, otherwise I couldn't do anything. I closed my eyes and pretended nothing was trying to stop me. I took in another deep breath and finally allowed the power from my heart to take over.

A burst of light seemed to explode from me. As I felt the power purifying everything from the Tree of Harmony towards the plague of Everfree roots, I continued feeling…fine… But that wasn't the end, I remained levitating in the air, my eyes filled with blinding light once again. I felt the tree regain it's power while I continued to be the source.

"We know how difficult it must have been for you to give up the Elements." I heard distinctly behind me. It was Princess Celestia… That's it… They were freed… "It took great courage to relinquish them."

"But… Alex…" Twilight answered, afraid that the possibility of losing me was creeping onto them.

However, I felt one more pump from within me, transferring the light onto the tree. Through the light in my eyes, I could see all of the Elements connect towards Twilight's, and then finally lower towards Celestia's and Luna's cutie marks.

I lastly found myself slowly drifting towards the floor until I just rested upon it. I still felt…normal…but very weak. I heard Twilight quickly dash over to me. She kneeled towards me and placed her hooves on my body. "Alex?! Are you okay?!"

I couldn't really bring up the strength to form a word. I only almost mumbled something.

Another pair of hooves joined us. "He's fine." My mother's voice assured. "He needs rest. His strength has been almost completely exhausted."

Twilight released a relieved sigh. However, through my slightly opened eyes, we all noticed something sprout from within the tree. Everypony gazed at it earnestly in awe. Twilight slowly pulled out a hoof and poked at it. The flower bloomed, revealing more striking light for a moment before it faded away. A box specific to a certain shape was inside. There were…keyholes on each side… Celestia, Luna, Twilight, and even I were able to gaze in curiosity at it.

"What's inside it? How am I supposed to open it?" Twilight asked between them.

"Six locks, six keys." My mother explained the situation.

"I do not know where they are." Tia shared after having both my mom and Twilight look at her for answers. "But I do know that it is a mystery you will not be solving alone."

"Come on, young one…" Luna used her magic to place my worn out body on her. "Let us return home."

It was funny and even a little bit scary that I really couldn't move any of my legs or wings, but I was just really relieved I seemed to be fine, and I was surrounded by the ones I loved. With this, I was easily able to rest my eyes, so I could at least get some energy back.


What seemed after a short time, I was suddenly jolted awake with the sound of a loud party horn. I quickly looked around to see confetti, banners, and signs pointed towards us. Normally, I would have guessed it was Pinkie, but Discord had appeared before us with a foam finger of number one. Princess Celestia seemed to have left, but my mother was still carrying me as we had just escaped the forest.

"Bravo, ladies, bravo!" Discord cheered out loud, seeming to not notice how weary I was. "How ever did you save the day this time? Blast the beastie with your magic necklaces, I presume? Where are those little trinkets of yours? You know, the ones you use to send me back to my extremely uncomfortable stone prison?" He noticed that the Elements were gone.

Applejack sighed, knowing what ideas he most likely would get if he found out what happened. "Gone." She answered.

"Gone? Gone?" He repeated in a very intrigued tone, tapping his paw and claw together while looking up with obvious bad intentions.

"But our friendship remains!" Fluttershy immediately tended to, having him remove that smug grin off his face. "And if you want to remain friends, you'll stop thinking whatever it is you're thinking and help us clean up!" Her scolding had him slowly shrink to a miniscule size before he disappeared and reappeared in a maid's outfit.

"Fine. But I don't do windows." He returned, holding up a feather duster.

I couldn't really go back to sleep, but it was still nice to rest in the comfort of Luna.

"One thing I don't get. Why did all this happen now?" Applejack inquired about to Twilight.

"I have no idea." Discord surprisingly answered. "Those seeds I planted should have sprouted up ages ago."

"What did you say?!" Twilight instantly reacted in a hostile manner.

"Oh, why should I try to explain it when you can see for yourself?" Discord summoned the same vial that held the white liquid, allowing Twilight to retrieve it with her magic. "Oh, and one for you too." He slightly mocked, having the same fluid in a glass to make it appear as if it was a glass of warm milk. He gave it to me carefully and patted my mane like a baby.

My mother returned an angry look towards him. Nevertheless, she was more concerned about my well-being. "Are you sure you're well enough in partaking of this…?"

"I'm fine…" I managed to express tiredly. "It's just a vision…" I turned towards Twilight and weakly nodded.

She understood and we both took several gulps of the liquid until our eyes filled with bright light.


"Play time is over for you, Discord!" We saw Tia and my mother confronting Discord again.

"Oh, I doubt that." He returned and offered his bag of snacks. "Hungry?"

However, instead, we were focused more towards those "snacks" that fell towards the ground. At the same time, we could hear Discord's present voice. "Well, obviously things didn't go according to my original plan. My plunder seeds should have stolen the magic from the Tree of Harmony and captured Princess Celestia and Princess Luna thousands of moons ago." He explained as we were able to see the roots spread all throughout the ground until they were directly under the Tree of Harmony. However, there was some sort of magic protecting it, preventing the roots from ever reaching the top. "Alas, it seems the tree had enough magic to keep the seeds from growing up big and strong. Until now, that is."


After, we were immediately back to the present, leaving Twilight to shake her head. "You realize this is information we could have used hours ago?!" She expressed furiously.

"And rob you of a valuable lesson about being prince and princess? What kind of friend do you think I am?" He pulled against Twilight's cheek. She only returned silence as she glared ahead in irritation.

I had no energy to give commentary on any of that. I rather allowed my head to fall on my mother and for my eyes to slowly droop downwards. Anything that was spoken after that was drained and faded out.


I didn't know how much time had gone by, but the next thing I remembered seeing was that same sunset from before. I was lying down, but I had the energy to sit back up. In fact, I felt full of energy at the current moment.

"Hi, again." Her voice lightly startled me.

I turned in an almost jerky motion and noticed her observing me. "Oh, it's you…"

"I guess you're not too happy to see me, huh?" She answered, unclear whether she was joking or not.

"What? No, no." I quickly corrected. "I didn't mean it like that."

"I know." She glanced downwards and swung her back legs again. Then, she picked up her left hoof and rubbed her right foreleg with it. It appeared as if something was bothering her.

"…are you okay?" I asked, walking towards her.

"Mmm." She responded, hesitating on her words. She sucked her lips in worriedly. She turned back to me and looked me over for a moment. She sighed and looked away.

I don't know why, but for some reason, this mare felt nowhere close to a stranger to me. Spirit…the name I had apparently given her… A lot of things confused me about her. I wonder if she knew what we were doing where we were in the first place. Nonetheless, I decided to sit next to her. "What's the matter?" I tried to talk to her.

She remained silent for a moment until she hurriedly shook her head. "Forget about it." She then seemed to forcefully pull out a smile. "So, what's up?"

"…I still have a lot of questions for you…" I answered truthfully while keeping my eyes on hers.

"Like what…?" The meaningless joy she revealed seemed to disappear despite her effort.

"I still don't know who exactly you are." I began. "I mean, first of all, where are we? Is this like a dream or something?"

"Yeah…" She looked upwards towards the sky. "I guess you could say it's like a dream. I mean…it's really more complex than that…but…" She shrugged lightly.

"What about you?" I brought up yet again. "How come I've never seen you before? And why is it I've only seen you here, just now? Do you live in Equestria too somewhere? Do you have the power to manipulate dreams as well?"

She continued to stare almost emotionlessly off into the distance. "…I'm afraid…I can't tell you that."

"You can't tell me because…you don't know or you just don't want to tell me…?" I followed up.

She stopped right there. She made another small sound, as if she couldn't talk anymore because of her emotions. Realizing that, I quickly disengaged the topic. "You know what? Forget I asked…" I told her in a caring way, rather than a rude manner.

It was silent for yet another moment until she managed to talk again. "Listen…" She spoke, catching my attention. "…can I…do you…think…" She stumbled upon words for some reason. "I mean…" She sighed, giving up for a second. "Okay…I know this is going to sound weird…and I hope I don't weird you out but…" She paused. "…can I please hug you?"

For another strange reason, there was this jolt inside me, as if this simple request actually struck me deeply inside. I definitely couldn't decline that request, she looked like she absolutely needed it. Besides, I wouldn't have anyway…

"Sure…" I returned, a little stunned.

She lightly gasped, but quickly tried to hold it back. She looked away for a moment and then softly stood up. I stood up as well in order to meet her face-to-face. We looked at each other for a while. I don't know why, but as I looked at her eyes, I could see that she saw me in a much different way. It's like…she knew me as if she's known me all my life while I only knew her for a day. Well, by what I could remember…

She slowly lifted up her hoof and touched me. As she did, her mouth was slightly agape as if she was experiencing something she's been waiting her whole life for. Water then began filling in her eyes as she felt my coat. After several seconds, she quickly and instantly threw her forelegs around me. Her embrace was tight, proving more meaningful than any other ordinary hug. The force she placed caused me to release a puff of air, but it didn't make me uncomfortable. My heart dropped, but it was in a positive reaction. For some reason, I've been wanting this certain connection…but why? It was all still so confusing to me…I didn't know what to make of it…

She closed in her forelegs more, tightening her grip and bringing her closer to me. I could feel her rub her head against mainly my neck. It almost seemed as if she didn't want to let go. Despite my mixed feelings about this, I decided to place my forelegs around her as well. I couldn't return the same effort she placed, as I…well…didn't seem to have the same feelings she had.

After a moment, she slowly pulled away, raising a hoof to place a loose strand of her mane behind her ear. "Sorry…I probably did it for too long…"

"No…no… It's fine…" I answered softly.

She stared down at the floor. "…thank you."

"Anytime…" I could only respond with.

Finally, she looked up with a warm smile once again. "You like the night, right?"

"Oh…yeah." I answered.

She looked out towards the sunset and placed her hooves on the railing. "I personally like the sunset. It's like…a balance between both day and night. It's not too sunny, but it's not too dark either…"

"I see what you mean." I returned, joining her and placing my hooves on the railing as well.

"You want to see how it looks during night?" She asked.

"Huh?" I responded with. Nevertheless, she closed her eyes, focused a bit, and suddenly the sunset vanished, and the sky was greeted with a full moon. There were many stars lit up across the sky itself. I was pretty amazed to this. It was like a dream…but there was still many questions I had. "Wow…" I shared as I was almost breathless.

She lightly giggled. "Yeah." We both looked around in silence for a moment before she spoke again. "Well, I guess you should probably wake up now. You've got something important planned to do."

"What was that again…?" I questioned, not being able to remember at the moment.

"Summer Sun Celebration silly." She briefly answered.

Those words immediately clicked in my mind. "Oh, right! Um…" I looked around in question. "…how do I wake up?"

"Just close your eyes in here." She directed. "And kind of focus on opening them in real life. If you wanted to just remain dreaming normally, then you'd just keep your eyes closed and your mind clear."

"Okay…" I understood, but for some reason hesitated waking up as soon as I heard those instructions. "I guess…I'll see you later."

Her smile slightly stretched. "Don't worry. You will."

"Goodnight." I expressed until I realized that I was technically already sleeping and was about to wake up. "I mean…" I tried thinking of what the appropriate phrase would be but failed and gave up. "…you know what I mean."

She giggled with a hoof in front of her mouth. "Bye." She waved.

I nodded and then closed my eyes. The transition from the dream world to real life felt very weird, but I suppose that how dreams always worked. Sooner or later, I found myself opening my eyes for real this time. Doing so gave me a strange feeling. Even though seeing Spirit felt so real, I somewhat still felt that she was just a part of my imagination. I couldn't officially decide as if she was totally something, or just a figment of my subconscious.

"You're awake now, my son." I heard by me.

I turned to see Luna staring at me softly as she rested her head on her front hooves. "Oh…hey, Mom…" I looked around to notice we were in her room. "…how long was I out?"

"Long enough for the Summer Sun Celebration to be beginning in a few hours." She answered.

"Oh, geez…" I rubbed my head lightly.

She placed a hoof on my head and brushed my mane carefully. "You were deeply exhausted, Alex. You nearly deprived yourself of life."

"What?" I questioned with widened eyes. "Really?"

"Well…perhaps I was stretching it a bit…" She reassured. "But you were certainly unfit for any kind of activity. The first thing you needed was slumber and rest."

"Oh…okay…"

"Do you believe you're strong enough to participate in the Summer Sun Celebration?" She asked caringly.

I stood up, mainly to emphasize how ready I was. "Yeah, of course."

Luna stood as well and nodded in agreement. "Then, let us join the others."


At the main stage in Canterlot, where the event would take place, I waited almost nervously for the arrival of the entire crowds. With me was Celestia, Luna, and Twilight.

"Hey…how are you doing?" Twilight approached me, wanting to know of my condition ever since the return of the Elements of Harmony.

"I feel okay. I don't really feel like anything's changed…" I stared down at my chest.

Twilight smiled softly and looked slightly away. "That's good… I wanted to come see you while you were resting, but Princess Luna was with you, and you know how protective she is over you."

"Hm." I only returned, feeling a little embarrassed. "Yeah…"

"Also…um…" She paused for a small while. "Do you…still have your Element?"

"I… I think so…" I thought about it pretty hard. "I mean…if the Element is my heart…and I pretty much need a heart to live…I would think I still held it." I chuckled a bit at the thought.

"Hm. That's interesting…" Twilight replied. "Maybe…all the tree needed was your light to activate all the Elements inside?"

"Maybe." The loud and interruptive sound of the trumpet fanfare ceased our conversation short, causing us to focus back on the event. "I guess that's our cue." I turned to Twilight. "Good luck, Twilight."

"You too, Alex." She returned meaningfully and trotted over to her spot.

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna began walking ahead to meet with the entire city of Canterlot, plus some others. "Citizens of Equestria," Celestia began proudly. "It is no longer with a heavy heart but with great joy that I raise the summer sun. For this celebration now represents not the defeat of Nightmare Moon, but the return of my sister, Princess Luna!"

As the ponies in the crowd cheered, my mother turned her head towards me and motioned me to join her by her side. With a positively anxious smile, I quickly did so. After being in position, we both raised ourselves in the air to represent the motion of the moon. Using our magic together, the moon slowly lowered itself behind us.

Tia then gladly joined us by raising both herself and the sun behind us.

I opened my eyes to notice Twilight just about to play her part. She spread out her wings and dashed towards the middle between us as fast as she could. Hoping to help with the appearance, I attempted to use some light from within, leading to an explosion of it just as Twilight performed her act. This led to a truly dazzling display for all the ponies watching.

Afterwards, the sun finally was lit up fantastically in the sky as every one of the ponies released their impressed awe. Tia, Luna, and I landed back on the stage to watch Twilight pull off her landing perfectly. Twilight also turned back to us.

"Now, that's what I call a Sonic Twiboom." I joked, leading her to chuckle almost loudly and grin brightly.


As the crowd dispersed over Canterlot, the girls and Spike were the ones who stayed behind. Twilight and I flew over to greet with them.

"Hey, I really appreciate all of you taking the time to make it here." Twilight glanced over to me. "We both really appreciate it."

"We wouldn't miss it for the world!" Applejack responded gleefully.

"And remember we still have our little appointment?" Rarity reminded.

Twilight delightedly nodded until I spoke up.

"About that…" I began. "Since you all are taking the train ride home back to Ponyville, do you think you could wait half an hour? There's something I need to do first…"

"Sure thing!" Applejack accepted.

"Hey!" Pinkie Pie brought up. "Why don't we go to the sweet shop here?! I really need a cake to stuff my face in right now!"

This led everypony to laugh at hyperactive Pinkie.

"Great then." I shared with a smile. "I'll see you girls really soon, okay?"

They all waved and headed out as they expressed it. After they left, I scanned among the remaining ponies scattered around to see if I could find Rosy. Going through some walking and head turning, I believe I found her sitting on a bench.

Wanting to make sure it was her, I carefully walked towards her. I took advantage, as she was staring quietly and patiently to the floor. Fortunately, there were some key things that revealed it was the right pony, especially her small and petite glasses.

"Hey, sorry to keep you waiting." I greeted her.

"Oh!" She answered, not expecting to see me at the time she must have been thinking about something else. "Sorry… I was daydreaming a bit…"

"It's fine." I assured with a soft smile. "I don't mean to rush you, but we better get going. I'd like to make with the most time we have."

"Yes, of course." She stood up.

When we were ready, we began heading towards the nearest outdoor restaurant in Canterlot.


"You looked really amazing back there…" She complimented as we sat across from each other in one of the tables. "I hope this doesn't sound rude…but I never really expected you would be where you are now…"

"Yeah…" I answered as I slightly looked away. "I guess I didn't either…"

"If I'm still in such a position to say so… I'm proud of you." She mentioned sincerely.

"…thanks for that." I took a while to return something, but I really did mean it.

"While we're here, is there anything you wanted to talk about?" She asked.

I thought about it for some time. "Well…" Since she was here…I was…kind of…wanting to know what Starlight had been up to lately. "Have you seen Starlight lately?"

"Hm…" She took a moment to think. "She's visited home every now and then. Why?"

"I've…seen her for a few times now."

"Oh…" She returned, recalling the time she saw us together. "…right. Are things still…?"

I lightly shook my head. "I don't know. Things have been really weird for us… She acts like she hates me…but I can tell there's something much more to her than she's putting out."

This caused Rosy to grin a bit for some reason. "You should have seen her when she was just a teenager. She went through this…crazy phase."

"What do you mean?" I asked, quite interested now.

"She…did a lot of crazy things. She dyed her hair these dark and bright colors. That's also when she started styling her bang right over her right eye. She was just…dressing really…punkish, I guess you could say."

"Wow." I reacted pretty surprised, but after seeing it in my head for a moment, I kind of wasn't anymore. "I wonder if that's where her aggressive attitude came from."

"Aggressive?" Rosy questioned about, not really being familiar with it.

"Yeah…" I felt a little hesitant in recalling the events. "She even…punched me one time."

She gasped lightly upon hearing this. "Really? When?"

"Eh, just…someday. It's not really a big deal."

"Do you want me to try to talk to her about it?" She offered.

"No thanks. I'd rather handle this on my own. I don't want her getting even angrier because I won't fight my own battles."

"Oh…okay."

When our meals came, we ate for a bit in silence. I don't know about her…but I was still curious about a few other things.

"Hey, Rosy…" I called out softly, staring at my plate.

"Hm?" She looked up in question.

I was hesitant to bring up…him… "…what about…him…?"

"…you mean…?" She seemed to catch on who I was talking about.

"…yeah…" I merely returned.

"I can't really say…" She fumbled a bit with her food. "Honestly…he doesn't seem to be affected by your position at all. I mean…he just seems not to care." Even though I knew I shouldn't have cared for whatever he thought, I still couldn't help but feel…affected by it. "It's like before. He just acts like you've never even existed. Maybe he's even trained himself to completely forget about you." She shrugged lightly. "I just deal with it."

"Oh…" I answered a little depressingly. I knew I couldn't expect him to be…well…better in behavior about it but…

I sighed, accidentally letting Rosy know of a potential weakness.

"Don't let it get to you." Rosy comforted me, placing a hoof on my mine. "You have much more important things to worry about instead of a little old grumpy stallion."

"Yeah…I guess…" I returned.

"…like that sweet pretty mare you're with." She added.

After hearing her say this, a smile was brought upon my face. Seeing Fluttershy's face, it could form a smile on anypony.


Afterwards, I briefly talked to her about the girls and Fluttershy. I didn't have too much time, so I couldn't go over everything. That's when she believed it was time to take off.

"I guess I should be heading home now." She stated. "I know about the many important things you need to take care of."

"Right… Sorry about that." I apologized.

"No need to be sorry." She assured. "I understand your duties are the best for us. We can see each other again another time, okay?"

With a small smile, I nodded. "Okay."

We wished each other a good night...uh...good morning...and temporarily went our own ways.


I met up with the girls at the train station, where I found Pinkie Pie munching on a bundle of cookies before we boarded the train back home. At the same time, I felt happy to be returning home with my best friends, but I also felt distracted by other things on my mind. It was one of the reasons why I didn't talk much during the train ride, but it also could have been for the reason that I felt tired, despite sleeping the entire day/night.

When we finally hopped off the train onto the grounds of Ponyville, we all headed towards Twilight's home, where Rarity was going to begin the discussion of "royal upgrades". I seemed to participate in the manner as I did on the train ride. Don't get me wrong, I loved finally being able to spend time with the girls, but…something just bothered me. I tried to make it unnoticeable towards the others, as I didn't want to ruin their plans just so they could focus on my behavior. After all, I did exert myself so much, which already brought enough concern to me.

Overall, Twilight usually tried to convince Rarity that she didn't really want to be royal with her home when Rarity talked about plans that seemed to completely change the outlook of the library. When Rarity asked for my opinion, I could only try to stick with Twilight's idea or form up my own. Either way, it didn't fuel up my energy.

"Hey, are you alright…?" Fluttershy confronted me after I tended to myself a bit.

"Yeah yeah…" I guaranteed. "I'm just…tired. I guess I'm still pretty exhausted after we fixed the Tree of Harmony."

"Maybe you should get some rest…" She suggested lightly.

"I will in a while. I just want to spend the rest of the night..." I shook my head, correcting myself. "...early morning with you girls." I shared truthfully. "I don't want any of you to worry about me either. I feel fine. Just…really tired."

Fluttershy placed the side of her head against my chest and rubbed warmly. "Okay."

Fluttershy stayed by my side as I couldn't help but slowly feel more and more weary. I even almost fell asleep a few times every now and then. On the other hoof, Twilight and the others, excluding Fluttershy as she was with me, did their own thing together.

Soon enough, the time came when the girls believed it was time to go to bed themselves. Despite feeling a little lightheaded, I really wanted to show the girls how much I appreciated them, especially for those days we were separated temporarily. Managing to make of whatever energy I had left, I hugged each of them meaningfully for a good night/morning whatever. They chuckled warmly, mentioning something about how cute it was that I did that. Nonetheless, they cherished it.

Of course, lastly, I saved a kiss for Fluttershy.

"You'll be okay, right?" Fluttershy asked when the others had already departed.

"Yeah…" I slowly nodded. "Gosh…" I rubbed my eye with my hoof. "It's been a while since I've been this real…you know…"

"Right." Fluttershy understood. "I should let you get some rest now. You need it. I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay, Fluttershy. Goodnight..." I stated but felt too lazy to correct myself yet again. "...morning..." I mumbled out.

She giggled and decided to stick with my first choice anyway. "Goodnight." She returned, sharing another kiss with me before turning around and heading out the open door.

I sighed sleepily and sat down for a moment, just to rest my eyes so I could maybe last the walk home.

"Hey…" I heard Twilight's voice. "You heading home now?"

"Y…yeah…" I answered, wanting to open my eyes to see her, but they felt comfortable enough to remain shut.

I heard Twilight softly chuckle. She stepped closer to me, and the door closed shut. "How about you sleepover?"

I was pretty surprised to hear this, but my body didn't have the energy to show it. "W…wha… Really…?" I managed to say with my eyes slightly opening.

"Look at you." Twilight presented. "You'll probably fall asleep in the middle of the road." She joked. "C'mon." She grabbed my hoof and guided me upstairs.


"Go ahead and make yourself comfortable." She offered towards her bed. "I'm going to probably be up reading anyway."

"Reading what?" I asked, sitting at the side of the bed.

"That mysterious chest with the six locks we found." She answered, setting herself near a desk with a book. "I'm curious to what may be inside."

"Okay…well, don't…" I felt my body fall against the comfort of the bed as I closed my eyes. "…stay up too late…"

I heard Twilight giggle softly.

"I think you need the sleep more than I do."

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