> Twilight's Human Boyfriend
>  by Songbrony
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> Chapter 1
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	I walked through Ponyville as the sun began to set low beneath the clouds. The sky was a beautiful orange with only a few clouds in sky. The Pegasi really do a great job here. They make so much easier to plan events. In America, or as they call it here Amare, we always had to listen to some pony predict the weather using complicated machinery that never delivered anything close to what the weather actually was going to be, but here, with Pegasi being able to make it rain or stay sunny, life was fairly easy. 

I've lived here for six months, and they've been killing me financially. They don't have any rules on changing currency here yet, so all of my dollar bills are worthless. Luckily, I've been able to find work at the local library that's also my home. The owner, Twilight Sparkle, is letting me live there too until I earn enough money for my own place. She's the closest friend I have here, and while I am friends with many other ponies and humans who live here, she's the only one who's helped me learn how to navigate the place and helped me adapt.

I walk into the library and set my bag on the floor. I don't really have anything in it other than my computer, an internet adapter, and a picture of my family. The computer is useless though. It died my first day here and they don't have electricity anywhere in Ponyville. It's too expensive right now so only big cities and the capital have them. Twilight said she would try to find a way to charge it so that way I could email my family and stay in touch. There aren't any mail services to my old home so letters aren't an option. 

I arrived here before she did, so I figured I'd make us some dinner. I'm a terrible cook, but I'm learning. I make a salad for her and a sandwich for me, something easy that's not going to burn the entire library down if it catches fire. I'm still getting used to the no meat diet. I've tried vegetarian food before and it just tastes bland. At least to me. Many other's who've tried it here love it, but I'll stick to the real thing. 

I heard some ponies talking outside the door and couldn't help but listen in. It's a bad trait of mine, and old habits die hard.

"I had a really nice time tonight." Twilight said.

"I did too. We really should do this more often." I heard a man's voice say. I assume it was her boyfriend Phil. He's a human like me and has his own respectable business. He's organized, responsible for what he has, but is also very pushy in what he believes in. 

"I wish we could, but the Princess has me doing all sorts of reading projects for her that I rarely have time." she replies. 

"You know you don't have to always do what she asks. I mean, you have your own life too." he told her. 

"I know, but I can't fail her. She's the ruler here, and it's my duty to do as she asks as her student." she reminded him. He doesn't fully understand the culture here. He's very firm in his beliefs and has a hard time understanding different cultures. 

"But you're no longer a kid. You're a grown adult who should be able to run her own life." he said.

"Just because one is an adult doesn't mean that they don't have responsibilities that need to be taken care of." she reminds him. "You better get going. You need to meet your assistant for that business meeting." she said. 

"I guess so. Those responsibilities you were talking about suck." he said with a light chuckle. There was a brief pause before they said their good byes. 

"Hey, Twi!" I said as she opened the door to the library. 

"Hey, Brendan." she says with a sigh. 

"You have a rough day?" I asked. I didn't care for Phil. There was something about him that rubbed me the wrong way. I didn't say anything because I didn't know him personally like Twilight did.

"No, just tired. Phil and I went to the local fair. He seemed distant today, but I also think it's because of his business meeting he has later tonight." she explained. 

"What kind of business meeting?" I asked. I didn't trust this idea of a business meeting. He always was looking at other mares while he was with Twilight. I mean, looking is one thing, but staring is another. I don't say anything though since she's always happy when he's with her.

"Well, some pony got upset that the only human hospital Phil is in charge of messed up a pony's broken leg. They clearly stated they would help them, but only if they agreed not to sue if a complication arose from the procedure." she explained. Most of the hospitals here don't like the idea of having ponies and humans in the same hospital. Something about disease transmission between species they wanted to avoid. It didn't stop some hospitals helping those of the other race, but sometimes complications arose and they would be sued for it. 

"Did something go wrong?" I asked. 

"One of the surgeons forgot to do the routine cleaning procedures that they have to for ponies and a slight infection has arisen. It's not serious, in fact they've already gotten rid of it. But the patient is threatening to sue them for endangerment. And you know how sensitive some ponies still are about this whole thing." she said, referring to the human population increase in Equestria. 

I shivered at the thought of the hospital. I've never been a big fan of them. The smell of the place always made me nauseous and brought on anxiety. It didn't help that I always heard these stories about procedures gone wrong that they built up on the phobia. "Well, one day they'll get over it." I said, bringing her the salad I made.

"You didn't have to make me something you know?" she said with a smile.

"True. But I know how much you hate the fair food, so I figured I'd make you something you do eat. Your favorite, tomatoes with lettuce, mushrooms and croutons." I said.

"How'd you remember that?" she asked.

"I've lived with you for almost five months now. It's hard not to remember." I said. Truth was I really didn't know how I remembered it. She's only eaten it four times since I've been here, at least that I know of, and it's only because it takes time to make. Time that she would rather have to study.

"Well...thank you Brendan. That was really nice of you." she said smiling to me. 

"You're welcome." I said, smiling back. I took a bite out of my sandwich. "So, how's Celestia's assignments going?" I asked. I know I really shouldn't call her Celestia, but it's an old habit from my original home. We always called the President by his name, so I forget that I need to say it with formality here.

She doesn't correct me on it though. "The Princess hasn't given me anything yet since I learned the ten different spells of the ancient Garudde. It's strange some of the spells they had. Some of them brought on food that could be easily altered, others gave the perfect hairstyles, and some even kept the weather perfectly calm for weeks, sometimes months!" she explained.

"They sound rather sophisticated for being so primitive." I say.

"Well they were the largest and strongest civilization at the time. They were the most intelligent and they were the first to invent a form of written communication for our species." 

"But didn't they die of starvation?" I pointed out, remembering back to the time that she was telling me all the 'interesting' facts about them.

"Well the spell they had that made food so easily alterable backfired when another civilization found a way to alter it into a hidden poison that damaged their genetic code, making all of their children unable to hold anything they ate. Not all of them starved, and some of them were able to get the correct genes that allowed them to eat, but they were like fodder to the others." 

We talked for another hour about the Garudde and how we would've done things differently if we were them. We both agreed that having a spell to make food easily altered was stupid, but in hindsight everything makes sense. 

Twilight looked at her clock and sighed. "I really wish Phil would talk like this with me. He always seems to be absorbed in either his work or something else in his mind. And when he isn't, he's always too feely and touchy. But I still care about him..." she trailed off.

"What is it?" I asked her, getting an uncomfortable feeling.

"Well..." she sighed. "You're human..."

"No I'm not, I'm an elephant!" I said, sticking my arm out like a trunk. She gave a light laugh as I made a fool of myself. "I'm sorry. that was stupid of me." I said smiling. "Continue."

"Well, I was wondering...how do you tell someone...that you may love them?" she asked, quietly. 

My eyes widened. "Really? You love him?" I asked, trying not to show my disbelief. 

"I don't know... maybe...." she stammers. 

"Well....first let's see what makes you feel like that." I suggested. "Do you still get butterflies when you think about him?" I asked.

"Every now and then." 

There really wasn't much to deduce there. "Would you protect him from something if you had to, even if it meant you would be hurt in the process?" I asked.

"Of course." she said calmly with a slight shrug. 

Okay. Well that's a sign of love, but it's also Twilight. She would do that for anybody... I thought. "Okay. Now, I know this is a weird area to go to, because I know how you feel on this, but do you think you could possibly raise a family with him, pony or human?" 

She hesitated before answering. "Y...yes." she said. Something about the way she said it made me question her answer, but I didn't push on it further. It was already awkward enough of me asking her if she would feel comfortable having kids with the guy. 

I hated knowing that she loved him, because I didn't feel like he deserved her. But I hate seeing her upset or sad and I didn't want to tell her that I thought she was kidding herself. And to stop myself from saying something I'd regret, and also because I was way too uncomfortable, I stopped asking the questions here. "Okay. Then, from my own questions and what I believe to be love...I think you are in love with him." I said.

"So...what should I do?" she asked.

I thought about it. Knowing him he'd probably want to go someplace with smart and pretty people. He's vain and loves anything that looks pretty. It's why he's with Twilight. She's a mixture of both the things he loves most. Smart and pretty. "Well, you know him best. Take him someplace that he would be fascinated with. Someplace that shows you know him." I suggested.

"Do you think it will work? By doing this do you think it would be easier to tell him I loved him?" 

"Well..." I stammered. I didn't know if this would work. I blew most of it out of my ass, just going off what I knew of him. "it's hard to say. One may find it easy to just say it over dinner while another may find it easier to say in a love letter. You should tell him in a way that's comfortable to you but also at a place he likes." I finished.

Twilight sighed. "Okay. I'll think about it over night." she said standing up from the table. "Thanks Brendan." she said smiling. "I'm going to get a little bit of studying done before I go to bed. For some reason whenever I start talking to you I can't stop."

I smiled as she walked up the stairs to her bed. I cleaned up the kitchen and walked to my room. I shared it with Spike, but since he's still so small, it wasn't hard for me to find a spot. I laid in bed and looked at the ceiling. I couldn't get the thought of Phil and Twilight in love out of my head. It bugged me for some reason and I wasn't sure as to why it did. I know I hated Phil, but he made Twilight happy and that's really all I cared about. 

But he was so ignorant of her. He took her for granted and came to her when a problem needed to be solved. He didn't try to learn it on his own, and unless it was something with the medical field, he didn't care to help Twilight fix her problems. Sure he was nice when it was convenient for him, but he also blinded Twilight by how he twisted his words. Idiot should have become a lawyer instead of a doctor. I thought. 

I shook my head. Stop thinking about it. You'll go mad trying to find something wrong with their relationship. If Twilight's happy, isn't that all that matters? I thought. I reluctantly put the thought to bed, and myself along with it.
> Chapter 2
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	I woke up as the sun shone through the window and onto my closed eyes. I shielded them but it didn't do much to protect my sensitive eyes. "Damnit Celestia. It's 8 in the morning." I said as I rubbed my eyes. "It's too early to be awake." I mumbled.

I got dressed in a ratty old shirt and some random shorts that I didn't even know or care if they were dirty or not, and walked out into the kitchen and found Twilight had already made breakfast. "Good morning!" she said cheerfully. "Did you sleep well?" she asked.

"Sort of. The sun blinded me permanently this morning." I said rubbing my eyes again as they refused to fully open.

"It's only 8 A.M." she said.

"And? It's too early to be awake." I replied, taking a seat at the table.

"Well here you go. Pancakes and muffins to make your day better." she said, rubbing my head. 

I smiled as she moved the plate towards me. I picked up my fork and took a bite into the fluffy pancake. Twilight was right. It did make my day better. Or at least my morning. "So, what are your plans for the day?" I asked.

"Well, nothing right now. Spike has a bunch of chores to do, you're off today since the library is closed, and I have only a few things to look over for the Princess. And Phil is working all day with corporate so he can't do anything." she said.

"Well, then it's settled." I said, finishing off my pancake a little faster than I meant to. "We're going to go to the Starswirl the Bearded gallery." I said. He was her favorite historical pony due to his advances in magic and, I'm not going to lie, intrigued me.

"But that's all the way in Canterlot. It would take two hours by train." she said.

"Yeah and? It's 8 A.M, we're both completely free today, and we haven't really hung out outside of the library for awhile." I said.

"Are you sure?" she said. "It's a long ways away and, well, not cheap." she said.

"Most of my money is used for recreation anyway since I work with you and you're letting me live here free of charge. So I have enough for it." I said. I already knew it was going to cost me an arm and a leg, but it gave me a chance to hang out with Twilight, which is something that we haven't done in a long time.

"Well...okay." she said smiling. "I'll have Spike clean up the kitchen and we can get going." 

I notice her walk away with an extra bounce in her step. I smiled as I moved my plate to the sink and began to clean it myself. I didn't like that she always had Spike clean things for her, but he didn't seem to mind. So I didn't voice it. He's very helpful, especially when the library is busy. He knows where every book is and is able to help me more than anyone other than Twilight could.

I put on more appropriate clothes than a ratty t-shirt and some shorts. I grabbed my bag with all my bits and walked out my door. Twilight was talking to Spike as he handed her a camera. "Where'd you get that Spike?" I asked.

"Pinkie Pie gave it to me so I could take pictures to remember whenever she throws a party." he said.

"Well, that's Pinkie Pie. She hasn't held a party in awhile. What does that usually mean?" I asked. It was strange that she hadn't held one. When I first arrived here, there were about 4 different parties in just two days, all that were planned and complex with Pinkie Pie as head of them. And three of them were on the spot! 

"Normally it's because she has a really big huge party planned and needs to gather materials." Spike said.

"Oh great. And it's probably going to be a night when I have to work the next day." I said rolling my eyes. I never was a fan of parties. There were too many people, or ponies now, for me to feel comfortable. But the few that I went to were a lot of fun. But, again, old habits die hard. 

"You ready, Brendan?" she asked as she placed the camera in her own bag.

"Yep. I've got everything we need." I said, shrugging my bag. 

"Well let's go then. We don't want to miss the train." she said walking to the door.

We walked to the train station and saw most of the ponies having a picnic or other outdoor activities. It was a really nice day, so the gallery was probably going to be jam packed with ponies. But I wanted to spend some time with her. 

"So, since when did you have an interest in Starswirl?" she asked as we boarded the train at the station. She was able to get free train fare since she was Celestia's student, which saved me from paying the high train fare to Canterlot. 

"You know I've always found how Unicorns used magic interesting. I just never got around to reading any books about him. I got bored one day and it just happened to be the book I chose. It was really interesting. Especially about his mysterious disappearance." I said, taking a seat next to the window. I liked the window seats. It gave me a great view of all the mountains and other sights Equestria had to offer. And since I didn't ride the train too often, I always liked seeing them. 

"I've found that interesting as well. Some say that it was during his transfiguration test, others say it was when a mysterious being from another land came and befriended him. Others say aliens and some say he died of natural causes. Personally, I think he just died but it was never properly documented. Back then, things weren't very organized and they could have easily been lost." she said. 

I didn't really look at the scenary on this train ride though. I was too preoccupied talking with Twilight. She was such a huge fan of Starswirl that she could talk about him for I don't know how long. The time past by quickly as we discussed theories about Starswirl and we were in Canterlot before we even realized it. 

"Let's go! I don't want to miss a thing!" she said, tugging at my shirt with her magic. 

"H-hey!" I exclaimed with a smile as she pulled me along with her through the large capitol. "No need to pull! I'm coming." We ran to the building that had his entire exhibit. It took about 30 minutes to get the tickets, due to so many trying to get in. 

"Oh my gosh! This is so exciting! Phil would never have done this! He hates these kinds of things. He doesn't understand the whole concept behind this pony's brilliance." she said as we walked past the rows of ponies who were admiring his work and to the main gallery at the center of the building.

"Why are you with him again?" I asked.

"Originally we were just talking about the differences in pony and and human biology. We started talking about stuff over dinners and then we just, well you know, hit it off." she said.

"Right. So nothing you have in common?" I asked as I looked at one of his documents that described his findings on Pegasus magic. According to his early theories, each pony had some form of magic that helped them with their roles in their lives and how they earned their cutie marks. Pegasi had magic to control the weather, Earth Ponies had magic to know when natural disasters occurred, and Unicorns had the maximum ability to use magic as they could mend it into many different forms. I found it interesting how he was able to figure that out just by observation. I would've just called it intuition. 

"We do. We're both firm in our beliefs. You know, how I'm very firm in my science and medical beliefs, much like he is." she said. "And we both have no problem with Human/Pony interspecies dating." she said.

"That's still not a lot of things to go on when you date somebody." I said. "Then again, usually dating is simply based on looks and not what the other views of life. At least not until later." I said. "Does he even talk to you about magic?"

"All the time. Usually it's about what we can do to help in the medical field such as mend bones and increase metabolisms in patients." she said.

"But nothing like Starswirl?" 

"No. He doesn't care about his findings. Which is okay, I mean I don't care about some of the big medical doctor's findings." she said.

"Does he listen to you about your own interests in magic?"

"Yes, Brendan. Why are you trying so hard to find something bad about him?" she asked me. 

"No reason. Just making sure you have someone you can talk to about it. Even if it is just about medicine." I said with a chuckle.

"Well at least I have someone to talk to about it. Not many ponies in Ponyville have the same knowledge as I do in magic. You're the only who I can really debate about the history of it. While I'm okay with others not being as interested in it as me, it feels nice to be able to talk about it with someone." she said, looking to me.

I looked to her as well and we made eye contact. My heart jumped a little, and I saw her smile grow larger before she quickly took her glance away from me and starting looking the other way. "So, umm, let's take a look at his experiments from his early years." she said and walked towards the East Wing. 

I followed her behind closely. I shook my head as to what happened earlier. She was my friend, and that's all there was. "So, what do you and Phil normally do?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Usually we go to a restaurant or visit some medical museums. The museums are pretty interesting, but I do get tired of the restaurant dates." she explained.

"Why not tell him?" I asked.

"I don't want to seem like I'm not appreciative of him." she replied.

"Well he doesn't seem to appreciate you. He doesn't seem to care about what you want to do, only what he wants to do." I pointed out, annoyed. "I'm not saying it's intentional, but it's possible."

"Maybe. Hey! Let's get a picture with his portrait!" she said as we came across a younger him. We poised ourselves in front of him and took a normal picture. She takes quite a few pictures so she can remember her adventures with her friends.

"Whats the next area? I asked as she put the camera back in her bag. 

"Well, there's a timeline over here about what he did throughout his life. Let's check it out and see if there's something here we don't know about." she said pointing to her left. 

We walked over and squeezed our way in between a group of ponies who were staring at the same thing. "You know there are times I wish that he wasn't so popular in Canterlot." I said, trying not to suffocate from the amount of ponies around us.

"If he wasn't we wouldn't have these kinds of exhibits." Twilight said, studying the timeline. "Oh look here! It says after his completion of mastering Pegasi magic, the hardest of all, Starswirl attempted transfiguration, a test that ultimately led to his disappearance." she said as she read the plaque. 

"Well I guess that solves that mystery." I said. We continued along the East Wing before we moved on the North Wing. This one had paintings of him throughout the years. "Oh man!" I exclaimed as I came across a portrait of him in his 40s. "He looks like a grumpy old, 'I don't care what you say' type of pony. That look on his face!" I said with a laugh. 

"I bet I can make one better than you." Twilight challenged me.

"Ha! Id like to see you try." I said. She pulled out the camera and pointed it at us.  

"Ok then. Loser has to buy dinner." she said.

"But I'm already paying for it!" I exclaimed.

"Then you have nothing to lose." she said with a grin.

"Fine!" I exclaimed. We set the camera up and we both made the best face we could. She took the picture and nudged me as she turned it. My mouth was formed in an extended frown as I narrowed my eyes. Twilight just looked angry more than anything else.

"I think I won Twi." I said with a smile.

"No biased opinions!" she exclaimed. "Excuse me?" she asked another pony and human combo. The girl was pretty cute, brown hair, tan skin, and a little shorter than me. The mare next to her had a light purple coat with a matching darker purple mane.

"Yes?" the mare asked.

"Can you tell us which one of us made the better face in comparison to Starswirl's over here?" she asked.

"Sure thing." the girl replied, taking the camera. "Let's see..." Both her and the pony took turns looking back and forth at the pictures. 

"Well?" I asked, nervous for some reason. "Who do you think?"

"I'd have to say you." the mare said pointing to me.

"I agree. You just look...angry." the girl said to Twilight.

"Ha! That means you get to pay for dinner!" I exclaimed. 

"Fine." she said frowning.

"You know it isn't polite making your date paying for dinner." the mare said.

"What? Oh! We're not together." I said quickly.

"Yeah, we-we're just friends." Twilight said, stammering.

"Really? You know it's okay if you guys are. Neither of us care. And those who do care don't have a clear brain cell in their body." the women said. 

"No, it's not that." Twilight said.

"Yeah. Besides, she has another boyfriend anyway." I said, a little quieter than before.

"Oh. Well then, I'm sorry for insinuating that. It's just that you two stand really close together and, well, she always has her head slightly tilted toward you." she explained as she pointed to Twilight. 

Twilight quickly changed the way she was tilting her head and cleared her throat. We took a few steps away from each other, not realizing that we were almost touching. "I'm sorry. We didn't mean to be nosy. Here you two go." the woman said handing me the camera.

"Thanks. And don't worry, it's okay." I said taking the camera and placing it in my own bag. "You two enjoy the museum."

"You both as well." the mare said smiling at us. 

We walked back to the center of the exhibit. "Well...that was...awkward..." I said.

"Yeah. I mean...us...together? I mean...you're not my type anyways..." she said. 

"I know what you mean...Neither are you."

"I mean, it's not bad! I just...couldn't see myself with you. You snore....loudly...umm...you-you always daydream, and are very uh clumsy. Uh... you like meat, which is weird. I know it's a species different thing but I still don't care for it..." she rambled on.

"Uh, yeah! You refuse to eat meat or even the vegetarian meat and it's always the same green food that tastes the same every day. You always read, you always study, and you're obsessed with those Daring Doo books it's uncanny..." I replied back. I don't know why, but I was slightly hurt by her saying she couldn't see herself with me. What's wrong with me? I thought. I shook it out of my head. It didn't matter, we weren't together and never would be. She's with Phil, and we're just friends. It would be awkward.

"So! Where to next?" Twilight said as an awkward silence spread between us. 

"Well...I think they have an interactive game in the North Wing. Maybe we should try that." I suggested.

"That's a great idea!" she said, excitedly. We walked to the North Wing where we found a simulation. There wasn't a very long line, but it had just opened, so we took our spot in line. It didn't take long, maybe 10 minutes, and when it was our time, we stepped into a large cube on opposite sides of each other that had a screen.

"Something from your country, huh?" Twilight said.

"Yep. Looks like it's a touch screen." I said as I placed my finger along the screen. 

"Please hold still while calibrating." a computerized voice said. 

"Whoa." Twilight said surprised. "What's it doing?" 

"I believe it's setting up the visuals for us." I said. Our screens lit up and I saw a page that had spells written down. 

"Please select a spell." the voice said.

"Hmm... Which one are you doing Twi?" I asked.

"I guess the third one? It says it launches vines at it's target." she said.

"Wait target?" I asked as she pressed the button. Vines shot from her screen to mine and there was a flinch on my screen. 

"What happened?" she asked.

"Ohhh!" I said a smile spreading on my face. "I think it's a Starswirl battle simulator." I said.

"What? But why?" she asked.

"Well he was around before Celestia and Luna rose to power and there was peace, so maybe it was so dangerous he had to make some spells to protect himself and others." I said. I looked through my spells and found one that sent a flame at the target. I hit the button and flames blew towards Twi's screen.

"AH!" she screeched. 

"You gotta be quick on the counter Twi." I said, launching another flame towards her. It hit her again and she spammed random buttons.

I saw a single blue jet coming my way and hit my vine spell and saw a wall jump up and block the water jet. I retaliated by sending the vines at her, but she quickly disintegrated them with her flame spell. "I think they go by weakness and strengths." I said.

"So what? Fire beats vines and vines beats water and water beats fire?" she asked.

"Yep. But what's the fourth spell?" I asked. I pressed it and a shockwave of air exploded and sent her screen shaking. 

"Air. Ah! So it's an elemental spell game! Makes sense." she said.

"Yeah. Elemental magic is fairly easy to use." I said, remembering when she was talking about Starswirl when I first arrived in Equestria.

"Then what beats air?" she asked. 

"Hmmm...." I was trying to think of maybe a quick combo of moves I could use. I remember back home that they used to have these fighting games where certain combos blocked attacks that seemed unblock-able. There was a quick shot of air being thrown at me and I randomly hit the fire button. The air flew over my screen and I wasn't hurt in the simulation.

"But how!?" she asked.

"Twilight, it's simple." I said laughing at my accidental discovery. "Hot air rises. I heated the air with the fire and it flew over me." I said.

"But that's not scientifically possible." she said. 

"Oh well, it's part of the game." I replied slamming her with a barrage of vines again. She was too slow to block them and her screen started flashing red.

"What's happening now?" she asked me, sending a wave of water towards me. I pressed the vine spell, but I was a little slow on the defense and still got hit by it. 

"I think it means you're close to losing." I said. I hit the air and fire spells together and saw a huge fireball fly towards her. She blocked it with two water spells, but only barely.

"You won't beat me! I know all of his tricks." she said.

"But you've never played a video game before." I pointed out.

"Mind over experience will win." she said as she cast a water vine combo that I easily blocked with my fire and air spell. 

"Yeah, but I know how these games work." I replied, sending a double fire and water combo before I launched a vine combo she couldn't block fast enough.

"Hey!" she exclaimed.

"Spamming always wins!" I said as I kept launching a mixture of the water/vine combos with the fire/air combos. She couldn't block fast enough and she lost in a torrent of spells. 

"Player defeated. Congratulations victor." the voice said. We both walked out smiling and laughing

"So that's a video game?" she asked. 

"Yep. They aren't as brain killing as a lot people think of them to be." I said. She looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Okay well some of them aren't as brain killing." I said.

"Well I'm glad we played that. It was a lot of fun." she said. 

We walked around the exhibit until it closed, and when it was time to leave, we stopped by the local coffee shop. I did end up paying for the meal, but only because I was the one who offered to take us to the place, and I wanted to treat Twilight to it. We took it to go since it was late and Twilight was exhausted. When we got to the train station, we ate while we waited for the train to arrive. When it arrived we stepped on the train and took our seats, with me by the window again. 

"You have fun today?" I asked her. 

"Yeah. It was so nice to be able to hang out again." she said letting out a yawn. "I don't think I've ever had that much fun." she said smiling at me. I could see it in her eyes that she was barely keeping her eyes opened. 

"Hey, go ahead and go to sleep. I'll wake you when we get to Ponyville." I said.

"But you won't have anyone to talk to." she said, her eyes slowly falling.

"I'll be fine. I just want you to be well rested." I said. "And with Luna doing such a good job with her nights, I'm sure I'll be able to enjoy the night sky." 

"Hmm...okay, Mr. Astronomy." she said, leaning her head next to me. She was asleep almost as soon as leaned against me. I looked at her and saw how adorable she looked. I carefully moved my arm out from under her head and wrapped it around her. She shuffled, but fixed herself with her head and hoof on my chest. 

I smiled as I looked down at her. She was undeniably beautiful and Phil was a lucky SOB. Any guy would be lucky to have her. I thought. I shook it from my head again and looked out to the night sky. The sky was clear and the stars twinkled brightly. I looked to the glowing moon and smiled. 

"Always loved a full moon." I said. There was a twinkle from the moon and my smile grew. I continued to stare at the stars before I slowly fell asleep.

I woke up as the train came to a stop. I looked out the window and the moon was well up in the night sky. It had to be around one in the morning and I let out a loud yawn. I felt something shift along my body and looked down. Twilight had wrapped her hooves all the way around my body in some sort of tight, night hug. I felt a smile spread across my face again. My heart skipped a beat or two and I felt my face flush. "Hey...Twilight?" I asked, quietly. 

She shifted and tightened her grip. Okay Brendan...breathe. It's not like your best friend in Equestria who just happens to also be the most beautiful mare here is also hanging onto you like a child gripping its teddy bear. I thought to myself. I slowly slid her hooves away from me and picked her up, laying her head against my shoulder. She gave a tired moan and wrapped her hooves around my neck. "Come on, Twilight." I said as I carried her back to the library. "Let's go home." 

I walked through the quiet roads of Ponyville carrying her in my arms. She breathed softly on my neck, her warm breath leaving tingles along my back. "You know...I had a lot of fun today Twilight." I told her as she slept. "I don't think I've ever had that much fun. Even back home." 

I looked down to her. "Not sure if you can hear me...hell, I don't think I want you to hear me...but..." I stammered. "I don't think you should be with Phil. He only looks for stuff that interests him and he doesn't want to do things you want to do, or at least that's what it seems like to me. You deserve someone who is willing to do stuff you want to do as well. Plus you two have barely anything in common other than his love to learn about medicine and your fascination with reading and learning everything."

I admit, I've only hung out with him a few times and it was usually when Twilight left us alone at the library for awhile. He's not a complete jerk...at least to me. But there was just something about him and how he acted around Twilight that set me off. 

"You rarely seem to have fun with him when I'm around, and when you do it's always just for a few moments and then it's back to just a normal attitude for you. Almost as if there was no real impression made." I said. I knew I was nitpicking at things to complain about, but she couldn't hear me, and it felt great to just rant about him. 

"But...I'm not going to stop you if you say you love him. Even if..." I trailed off as I let the thought pass. "But hey! You're my best friend here and as long as you're happy, what say do I have in the matter of who you date?" I said. We arrived at the library and I carefully and quietly opened the door. 

I walked up the stairs as quietly as I could despite them squeaking like a unoiled door hinge. As I began to place her in bed, she quickly tightened her grip on my neck. "Noooo..." she said quietly. "Don't go...." 

I assumed she was talking in her sleep because she quickly went limp and fell back onto the bed. I tucked her in and walked back down the stairs and into my room. I crawled into bed and stared at the ceiling as I thought about the day. What is going on with you Brendan? I thought to myself. I rubbed my face and turned towards the window. "I feel like somethings trying to tell me something." I whispered to myself. 

I looked to the moon and stars. The full moon was still high in the sky, brighter than ever. I sighed. "What would you do with Phil?" I asked myself. The moon stared at me with it's ominous white glow. "Maybe I should try and stop it? Sabotage?" The moon twinkled a little bit, almost as if answering me. "You're right. Stupid idea. It would destroy our friendship." I said to the moon. "But you have to admit, it would be hilarious to watch." I quickly shook my head. "You're losing it Brendan. You're talking to a giant rock in the sky. Go to sleep." I told myself and quickly forced myself to go to sleep.
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I woke up in the library. The sun had just risen over the horizon and the birds were chirping loudly as they awoke. I yawned and stepped out of the library. I hadn't changed when I went to bed and was too lazy to change right now. Spike was already up and doing some last minute book shelving before the library opened in the next hour. "You know you don't have to do this by yourself." I said as I took the book from his claw and placed on the shelf he was trying to reach. 

"No, but I don't like waking you and it gives me time to myself." he said.

"Why don't you like waking me?" I asked.

"Last time you threw your bag at me. It still had your computer in it and hit my head." he reminded me.

"Oh. Right."

"Well since you're up..." he said as he looked around, "what happened with you and Twilight last night?" he asked. 

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"When she left this morning to see Phil, she looked towards our room and asked if you were asleep. I told her you were and she seemed to smile a little." he explained. "It was kind of weird."

Oh crap... I thought. Did she see hear me last night? I thought worried. "N-nothing happened. We just hadn't hung out in awhile. And what's weird with her smiling?"

"Nothing, but it was just weird. Almost as if she was kind if glowing." 

"Did she say why she was going to see Phil?" I asked.

"Something about a big thing she needed to tell him." he said.

"Ah..." I said my heart dropping. "So she's going to tell him huh?"

"Tell him what?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing. It's adult stuff..." I told him.

"Well whatever it is, I hope she gets back before the library closes. She promised me a gem if I didn't tell you where she was heading." he said.

"But you just did..." I pointed out.

"Oh...well...you won't tell her I told you, right?" he asked. 

I sighed. "Sure, Spike." 

"Great! I'm going to get some breakfast." he said and ran off to the kitchen.

I walked back to the room and got dressed in clean clothes. I would have showered, but since I only had about 15 minutes before the library opened, I wouldn't have time.

"Well, let's start the day off well." I said to myself as I walked out of the room. In five minutes the library had been filled with kids on a field trip. "Oh boy..."

"Mister!!" a little filly with a light blue coat said to me. "Where can I find the Great Goatsby?" she asked.

"The Great Goatsby? That's quiet a more complicated book for you." I said. She had to be only five years old. I was thinking she needed more of a Green Eggs and Ham book by Dr. Seuss.

"Brendan, you know that fillies read at a higher level at this age than kids at your home do." Spike said. 

"Oh...right." I said. I always forgot about that. Twilight said it had to do with how magic worked in Equestria. Kids here were able to read at a higher level than the kids back home. "It's right over here." I said as I led the filly to the book, trying to hide my embarrassment. 

"It's okay, Mister. You'll get the hang of living with us soon." she said with a smile as I passed her the book.

"I hope so." I said, returning her smile.

"I still can't believe they let them live here." I heard a chaperone say in the back.

"I know right? Animals. Not a single thing good about them." another replied.

I sighed to myself as I heard the discrimination start. Might as well see how deep it runs... I thought as I walked over to them. "Hello." I said with a smile. "Anything I can do to help you two?" 

"Uh, no. I don't need help from you, Frula." the one I first heard speaking said.

"The only reason we are here anyways is because it's the only library in Ponyville. You're kind just stink the place up." her friend said.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. If you need anything, let me know." I said and turned to go back to the kids.

"Can you believe that Twilight let him stay here?" I heard them say again.

"I know. It's so shocking. There's no excuse for her letting him. She's a Frula sympathizer, the wretch." 

I stopped walking. My fists clenched. Deep breaths. Don't fight them in front of the kids.

"I mean, she's smart enough to know that they're just animals." 

"Maybe she's experimenting on him? Or observing him to see how they act." 

My palms started to sweat as I felt the blood flush to my face. 

"And that she's dating one? The schutta." 

I turned and made a beeline towards them. "Listen you two." I said sternly. "I'm a human being. I talk, feel, and analyze just like you two. Call me a Frula all you want, but if you so much as call Twilight something she isn't, I swear to God you will regret it." 

"Oh, the Frula is feisty. Didn't we tell you we didn't want to talk to you? Go back to that schutta you call a friend." the one to the left of me said.

I smiled a little. "The fact you're using a made up word from a fandom just makes you look less like an adult. You know, that word wasn't created by you." I said, willing to let my geeky side show a little bit. "It was created by humans of the Star Wars fandom that was created by a human called George Lucas who created the human movie Star Wars. It was brought over here and by popular demand turned into a movie with ponies. And even after the equine remake, the human original was still more popular."

"Equine?" they asked.

"Oh, you don't even know the name of your species? Well, let me educate you." I said. I grabbed a Biology book that they just happened to be standing by. I flipped to the pony section and showed the page to them. "See that skeletal pattern? What does it look like to you? A pony right? Well Equines are horses and ponies much like yourself. If you don't even know about yourself, why are you calling some people you don't even know a thing about something you don't even understand?" 

They stayed quiet. "And the next time I hear you call a beautiful mare like Twilight a Schutta, I will personally find you." I said threateningly.

"Let's go kids. Field trip is over." they said as they moved away from me.

"But we just got here." the one who I handed the book The Great Goatsby to said.

"Yes, but it's dangerous here. That Frula over there is threatening to harm everyone here. So it's my job as your responsible adult to keep you safe." the one who I shoved the book at said. 

"But my mom is dating a human. They're nice." the filly said. She ran over to me. "He isn't the meanie here. You two are calling him a Frula." 

"And that's why they will not be allowed at the library for a long time." Twilight said at the door.

"Twilight?" I asked. "When did you get here?" 

"A few minutes ago when those two called you a Frula. I saw how you handled it, and I think you did a great job. See kids? Reading and learning about everything you can and using it against bullies instead of using violence is always the better option." she said.

Well...I did threaten them though... I thought. 

"As for you two, I want you out of my library. You can wait outside, but you can't stay inside. The field trip isn't over until the library closes." she said.

"But he threatened us!" one of them said. "He tried to bully us!" 

"And yet you called him degrading names, along with myself. Call me what you wish, whether it be a Schutta or some other term, but you never degrade my friends." she said, staring them down. 

They huffed and left the library. "Okay kids, so who wants to learn more about where humans came from?" she asked. There was a roar of acceptance and they all gathered around me. "Well Brendan? Go ahead and tell them about your home."

I hated being the center of attention in a group like this, with each of their eyes strictly focused on me. It was one thing for me to be riled up and being the center of attention when I was just speaking my mind like I had just done earlier, but this reminded me too much of speech class in school. I swallowed loudly and began with something easy. The Appalachian Mountains, mountains without points that had been eroded over many years. And then the Rocky Mountains, beautiful mountaintops covered with snow at the top that stood miles into the sky. 

They looked at me with amazement. Ponyville only had one mountain and it wasn't someplace they usually went. They saw Canterlot on the side of a mountain, but other than that, none of them had seen or heard of a mountain range that spread as far as the Rockies. Granted they were nowhere close to the biggest mountains, but I had seen them, and they were beautiful. 

We spent the rest of their field trip talking about my home, the different landmarks, such as the Eiffel Tower, The Great Wall of China, The Statue of Liberty, Big Ben, anything I could think of that might show them what we had back home. They left a few minutes after the library closed and I took an exasperated breath as I fell on my back on the floor. "I'm exhausted." I said.

Twilight laid down next to me. "I know. I'm sorry about the two ponies who called you a...Frula." she said. 

"It's fine. Nothing you could do about it. Some just aren't used to the whole thing yet. They'll come around."

She was quiet for a little bit. "I heard what you said. About me." 

My eyes went wide. Shitshitshit. She couldn't have. She was asleep! I thought. "O-oh...really?" I asked, trying to not show any reason to be nervous.

"Do...do you really think I'm beautiful?" she asked.

"We-well ye-yeah." I said. "You're smart, beautiful, kind, loving, and you don't let anyone pick on your friends." I said. 

She blushed. "Thanks."

"So...where were you at?" I asked. I wanted to ask her about how things went with Phil, but Spike told me not to tell her I knew. Which is weird...usually she never has had a problem with me knowing she was with Phil.

"Well...I did what you said to do. Except I kind of wanted to surprise Phil. I took him to the Canterlot museum of Medicine." she said.

How many museums do they have??? I thought. "How'd that go?"

"Well...I told him what I thought about us."

"....and...." I asked waiting for her to continue.

"Well...he didn't say much. I mean, he did say some things about me always studying and not necessarily spending time with him." she said. "I told him I would try not to study so much because I loved him...and he just started talking to some other human at the museum..." 

"Oh...." I said. That's going to sting....a lot... I thought. "I'm sorry..." 

"He was probably just shocked about the statement and didn't know how to handle it. That's a defense mechanism. And he is kind of right. I do spend a lot of time studying instead of spending time with him." she said.

"Yeah." I said. I really didn't know what to say. What could I say?

"So...tomorrow we are going to dinner with Rarity and the others. Want to come?" she asked.

"Why? If you're going with Phil, shouldn't you two be alone?" I asked.

"Well, it's a group date. Rarity had something she wanted to share with us. And I want you to hang out with my other friends too. Socialize! Get out of the library. Do something." she said.

"You know I'm a hermit. The sun burns me whenever I'm out in the daylight." I said. 

"Then I'll put sunscreen on you." she said with a smile. 

I smiled back. "Okay. I'll go. What time tomorrow?" 

"Around 6 in the evening." she said.

"Okay. So that gives me approximately...15 hours to injure myself so I can't go out." I said.

She lumped me on the head with her hoof and smiled. "Lazy." 

I laughed at that and just laid there staring at the ceiling. "Hey...where's Spike?" I asked as I started to look around. 

"Huh?" Twilight said as she looked around as well.

"Did he go to bed in the middle of the field trip??" I said.

"Probably." she said. I began to sit up and look for him, but Twilight put a hoof on my chest and pushed me back down. "Let him sleep." she said. "I actually have something I want to show you." 

She used her magic to make the entire upper part of the library turn into a clear glass dome that had a clear view of the night sky. "Whoa! How'd you do that?" I asked, amazed.

"Well it was incredibly difficult since you NEVER LEAVE." she said with emphasis on the never leave.

"Ok I get it! I need to get out more!" I said. 

"That's not all!" she said. She pressed a hidden button on the statue in the middle of the library and the top showed the constellations that were up this season. She hit again and the planets were highlighted instead of the constellations. She hit a third time and the entire dome exploded in a science show. It showed the Universe from creation to now in a bright array of colors and sounds. 

I was mesmerized. Astronomy was my biggest love and she brought it closer to me than ever before. "Twilight..."

"I know how much you love Astronomy. And I've studied a little more about it. It's actually really fascinating. I was thinking we could use this to help learn more about it." she said. She pressed the button again and it zoomed onto the moon where we could see the surface as if it were actually there. She pressed it again and it zoomed over to Mars. The red dirt looked almost as if it would fall on top of us.

"How did you..." I asked, baffled. 

"A little help from the Princess. She knows how much you like it and when I told her I wanted to learn more she installed this for me. With some help from a few human Astronomers over in Canterlot." she explained.

I continued to stare at the dome above me. "Do you like it?" she asked me. 

"Like it? Twilight...I love it!" I exclaimed giving her a big hug. "Thank you so much!" 

She laughed. "You're welcome. I had a feeling you would love it." she said, returning the hug.

"Will you two keep it down?" Spike said as he walked out of the room. "I'm trying to catch my beauty sleep."

"Ah! Spike! There you are." I said, releasing Twilight from the hug. "Did you ditch during the field trip?" I asked.

"No! I just took a breather in the room because of all the kids." he said.

"You fell asleep and left Brendan to do the work didn't you?" Twilight said.

"Uh..." he said. Twilight stared him down and he sighed. "Yeah I did." 

"Well, I guess you don't deserve the gem I got you." she said as she walked up the stairs to her bed.

"What?! But I told Brendan not to tell you where you went!" he exclaimed.

"And that's why you won't be getting a gem from me in a long time." she said.

"But...but..."

"You shouldn't have ditched, Spike." I said with a smile. 

"You didn't tell her did you?" he asked me angry.

"No Spike. I didn't. I stayed quiet, you were the one who brought it on yourself for saying you told me not to tell her." I pointed out.

"Oh...right." he said.

"Anyways, let's go to bed." I said yawning. "I'm beat. Kids are exhausting." I took another look at the dome and hit the button on the statue. The dome closed and the library returned to normal. 

"Well, as long as you stop talking about Twilight in your sleep, we'll be good." he said as he walked to the room. 

"Wait...what?!" I said. I didn't realize I talked about her in my sleep...what do I say?! I ran in the room, but he was already passed out on the bed. 

Great. Looks like I'm not sleeping tonight... I thought. I got in my pajamas and went to bed. And I was right. I didn't sleep all night. 
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Since I couldn't sleep, I decided to re-read a favorite manga of mine, Death Note. Twilight didn't read them. She thought that they were just picture books. While I admit they kind of are, they are very interesting. At least the one's I've read. I walked out of the room and into the kitchen where Spike was making a cake. 

"Isn't it a little early to be making a cake?" I said as I sat down at the table.

"It's never early for cake! Especially gem cake!" he said.

"How'd you get the gems to make it? Twilight didn't give you any yesterday and I don't think you have the self restraint to keep them hidden for very long." I pointed out.

"Yeah, well you don't know me very well then." he said as he ate a gem.

"How many gems have you eaten since you started?" I asked.

"Only a few." he replied, putting another one in his mouth. 

"Really? And how many are left?" 

"Enough for-" he started but stopped as he looked in his bowl. "What?! Where'd they go?" He looked to me and I raised an eyebrow. "Awww not again." he said, his expression dropping.

I smirked as I opened my manga again. It was already getting interesting as the "protagonist", if you could really call him that, met the antagonist in person. They both knew who the other was, but they couldn't do anything to each other without either being caught or not having enough evidence to present against him. 

"Are you still reading that stuff?" Twilight asked behind me.

"Yep." I replied, not looking back at her.

"Brendan, I'm never going to understand why you like those picture stories."

"Because they aren't solely picture stories! Yes, they have drawings, but they help tell the story along with the words by using visuals." I explained.

"Right. But they can't be interesting if you don't have any imagination on what the story is or the places are if they are drawn out for you." 

"True, but what if the story brought along a moral code?" 

"What do you mean?" she asked me.

"Let's say you had the power to kill whoever you wanted, but you only killed criminals. Would you do it if by doing so you could end all criminal activity and make the world a better place?" I asked her.

"Well in theory it makes sense that you would be doing it for the right thing, so some may view it as perfectly okay. But legally and morally, it's wrong. It's still murder and would make one no better than the murderers he was trying to rid the world of." she said. "But there's no way a morally bound story like that could be in a picture book." 

I held the book up in front of her. "Really?" 

She walked over and looked at it. "Is this the one you are always talking about?" 

"Yep." I replied as she took it away from my hands with her magic. 

"Hmm..." she said as she flipped through it. "Why's everything backwards?" she asked.

"It's just how they're made in Japan." I said.

"Really?" she asked. "That's a little...weird." she said.

"Eh, you get used to it. Just read right to left and you'll be fine." I said. 

"Wait! I never said I'd read it!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah you will." I said as I got up. "You'll read it out of sheer curiosity because of what I told you about it." She didn't say anything. I knew that she was going to read it. She read anything I gave to her as long as it sounded interesting. She'd get the hang of the manga fairly easily. She was smart and never turned down a challenge of interest. 

"Fine. I'll read the book. Don't forget that we are going to dinner with Rarity and Phil later." she said. 

"I know. I'll be ready by 5." I said.

"Good. We'll be meeting them there since he works close to the restaurant." she said. She sat at the table with the book open. "You said read it right to left correct?" 

"Yep. You're lucky I have the whole series in one book." I said.

"I guess. We'll see how it goes." she said as she began to read the book. 

I walked back to my room and fell back on my bed. I guess I should get ready for the library to open. It's a weekend, so it does open and close a little earlier than usual. I thought.

"Well, you got ten hours before you have to leave for the dinner. Let's just get this afternoon over with and move on to the more fun moments of the day." I said to myself. 


***


"Are you coming to the dinner tonight?" I asked with a smile. 

"Probably not. I just got the new book!" she said.

"Well you have fun reading it then." I said.

"I will. Be sure to let me know when the next Daring Do book comes out!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Only after I finish reading it first Rainbow!" I shouted back at her. She burst out of the library and into the sky, not willing to stay there longer than she had too. Even though it was well known that Twilight and her were close friends and Rainbow liked to visit every now and then, but she still didn't want too many people to think of her as an egg head. 

"Well, that's the last one for the day. Time to close shop and get ready for the dinner." I said to myself.

I went to my room and looked in the mirror. Should I put my hair up? I thought as I ran my hand through my long, brown, scruffy hair. "Why not. Make it look better than just a mop on my head. I brushed and combed it moving it off to the side. I really needed a haircut, but I didn't trust the barbers here. You know, ponies doing my hair is different from them doing it on the mane's of other ponies here. Ponyville doesn't have a human barber yet, but that's just due to the small human population here.

I put on a nice shirt and pants and walked out of the room. "Twilight! You ready?" I called up to her.

"Just a minute!" she said. I leaned against the wall of the library and looked at my watch. It was 5:15.

"Always waiting on the woman." I said to myself. She walked down the stairs a few minutes later and she was stunning. Her tail was brushed, her mane was in a nice ponytail, no pun intended, and she just seemed to radiate beauty.

"Okay. Ready to go?" she asked.

"Yep." I said.

"I like what you did with your hair. It's not so scraggly anymore." she said.

"Yeah, well it's not going to be like this for long. And I like your ponytail." I said. "You know, the one on your head. Not your actual tail." I said stumbling. 

"Thanks. I wanted to try something new." she said. We walked out of the library and headed towards the restaurant. We had plenty of time to get there, but Twilight likes being early and on time. 

"So I was reading the manga you gave me." she said.

"Oh really? Enjoying it?" I said with a smile.

"Shut up. And yeah I am." she said. "The way Light goes about it is very interesting and smart." 

"Do you agree with him?" 

"Well...kind of. Yes the world would be better without criminals, and he has good intentions, however, killing is still murder unless done in self defense or in wartime. He hasn't done any of it in self defense." she explained.

"True, but what about L? Couldn't he also be considered a murderer? He did send that one guy on tv to die in his place at the start." I pointed out.

"Yes, but he was going to be executed that day anyway. It was just a form of execution." 

We spent most of the time before the dinner discussing the morality of what Light was doing and how we would act in his shoes. My conscious would kill me and Twilight was just too nice and good of a pony to do that. Rainbow might, Applejack would only do it if she had to protect her friends and family, Rarity might, and Pinkie Pie....well she would just play with it. That thought is actually quite scary...

At around 5:55, Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy all walked into the restaurant. "Hey you two!" Applejack said as they came to the table.

"Hey!" Twilight said.

"How ya' been moppy?" Applejack said to me as she sat across from us.

"Fine. Yourself?" 

"Doin' great. Harvest has been doing pretty well despite the increase in the population here." she said.

"It's just been marvelous for my boutique's business. So many people are getting their clothes that it's become better to make human clothes than pony clothes." Rarity said. "And with there being just so little barber shops for humans right now I might even open up an extension to the shop specifically for human hair cuts." 

"Have you ever held a pair of scissors before Rarity?" I asked. 

"Why yes I have actually. I used to cut Sweetie Bell's mane when she was younger. She always looked so wonderful when I was finished with her." she said.

"But you've never given a human a haircut before. Sorry Rarity, but there's no way I'm letting you near my hair." I said with a smile. 

"Oh, come now Brendan. It can't be too difficult." 

"Are ya kidding me Rarity? I've seen how some of them human women are with their hair. It's worse than you when you try to impress one of them fancy schmancy stallions in Canterlot." Applejack pointed out.

"Well one must look presentable! And, no offense, but you could use a haircut to further...enhance your look." she said.

"I think he looks alright. I mean, maybe a little trim to clean his hair up a little." Fluttershy said.

"We'll see. I don't want to cut my hair. I think I look better with it long." I said. 

"None of us have seen you with short hair though. Right now, as Phil would say, you look homeless." she said with a small smile.

"Yeah well I look like a 12 year old when I have short hair. So chances are I will stay with the long hair."

"Maybe I'll tie you down, give Rarity a pair of nice sharp scissors, and then she'll cut you're hair like it's fabric for one of her new outfit designs." Applejack said teasingly. 

"I'd like to see you try and wrangle me." I said.

"You'd be easy." she said with a laugh.

"Where's Phil, Twilight? I really hoped he'd be here too." Rarity said. 

"I'm not sure. He may be caught up in the hospital." she said.

"Is he usually so busy?" Fluttershy asked. 

"Recently he has been." Twilight admitted. 

"Well it is an awful shame. I was really hoping to ask his opinion on somethings." she said.

"Like what?" I asked, taking a drink from my cup.

"Well, simply when he was going to propose of course!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Rarity!" Twilight exclaimed. 

"What? You've been together for awhile now, why not?" she asked. 

"Because it hasn't even been a year yet. It's a little early isn't it?" she pointed out.

"Well, maybe for us, but who knows, maybe for humans it's common!" Rarity said. She looked to me. "Well? Is it?"

"Uhh..." I stammered. I was caught off guard by Rarity just spurting out Phil should propose to Twilight all of a sudden and didn't know how to react.

"Brendan? Is it?" Twilight asked me. 

"Uh...we-well it depends. Some get married after a year, some after four, others wait close to 10. Then there are some who marry after one night together at a casino and live happily for the rest of their lives. It's all a toss up and it depends on the people." I said, quickly taking a drink from my cup. 

"Oh. Well, what do you think he would do?" Twilight asked.

"Well, from what I know...a year? Maybe two?" I said. I honestly had no clue. I didn't know too much about him other than he liked to look at other mares, treated Twilight fairly poorly, and only did things with her when it suited him.

"Does it really matter?" Applejack interjected. "I mean, if he does, he does. If he doesn't, he doesn't. It's that simple." 

"Hey everyone!" I heard a voice say towards the entrance. "Sorry I'm late. We had an emergency at the hospital. One of the patients had a stroke in the ER." Phil said as he walked up to the table. 

"Are they okay?" I asked. 

"Yeah, he'll be alright. Just have to keep a close eye on him to make sure complications don't set in." he said. "So, what have you guys been doing?"

"Just talking." Rarity said with a smile.

"Well I'm glad my absence didn't stop the conversation. What you been up to Brendan? Don't see you around too much." he said to me.

"Oh, you know, working, trying to save up money for a place, being a hermit like I always do." I said. 

"Well you should get out more. Go to the park, theatre, maybe visit the hospital and I can show you some stuff." he offered.

"You know I hate hospitals Phil." I said with an easy smile. 

"Ah right, your little phobia about the men in white coats." he joked.

"It's kept me healthy though. Not one visit to the ER due to that phobia." 

"Well as long as you're healthy." he said with a smile.

I smiled back. I couldn't help it. He was likable in person and no matter how much I didn't want to believe I could be friends with the guy, it was always hard when I was with him face to face. 

"Anyways, I know I just got here, but I was wondering if I could steal Twilight for a little bit. I just want to talk to her about some things." he said.

"What things?" Fluttershy asked. 

He blushed a little. "Just...some things." he said.

"Oh it's no problem at all. I'll talk to Brendan about it and he can tell you two about it later." Rarity said. 

"Are you sure Rarity? You invited us here so we all could talk." Twilight said.

"Twilight, deary, it's perfectly okay. Go talk with him about whatever it is you need to talk about." she said. 

"Well...okay then." she said. "I'll see you all later then." she said with a smile and left with Phil.  

"So, Brendan." Applejack said, turning to me. "What's with you and Twilight?" 

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Oh come on. We all know that there is something up with you two." Rarity said. 

"It's obvious." Fluttershy said.

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said.

`	"Alright, I'll explain it then." Rarity said. "You are Twilight closest human friend. I've seen her do more for you than she's done for anyone else in Ponyville. I mean I'm not jealous or anything, but for some reason she pays extra attention to you." 

"That's because I live with her." I pointed out.

"But even then, it still seems a little...more than normal." Fluttershy said.

"I didn't want to say anything in front of Twilight since she is with Phil, but you're not with anyone, and you seem to always go a little further for her. I don't think I've ever seen you do anything with your hair, even though that is a very rare in itself, unless you're with her. 

"And besides, you're entire attitude changes when you're with her. Almost as if you're happier than Winona during rabbit season." Applejack said.

"Look, I don't know what you guys are insinuating, but Twilight and I are just friends. That's all." I said. 

"Right now." Rarity said with a smile.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Oh how do I get it through your dense skull?" Applejack said aloud. "Let's see, you obviously like her, and she obviously likes you. She glows when she's around you and you seem to bring the best out of her. Anyone with half a brain could figure that out."

"She's even told me that she wishes you would take better care of your hair and appearance. She thinks your handsome, but that stays just between us." Rarity said.

I sighed. I couldn't keep lying to myself about it. I did like Twilight. More than a friend. "But she's with Phil, who's smart, handsome, and a doctor. I can't compete with that." I said. 

"Is that why you tend to resent him?" Fluttershy asked.

I gave her a complexed look. "How'd you know that?"

"The way your face looked when he walked in. Your forehead wrinkled and your smile fell a little bit, but it didn't completely disappear, like you didn't want anybody to know you didn't like him." she said. We all looked at her with a bit of wonder. "What? Neither of you two noticed?" she asked quietly. 

"I didn't notice nothing." Applejack said. 

"You read that just by his face?" Rarity asked.

"Well, yeah. You can tell a lot about someone's attitude just by the facial expressions they make. Like whatever it was Phil wanted to talk to Twilight about was important. Like, very very important. He licked his lips a few times and his right hand was shaking very slightly."

"I didn't know you could read people Fluttershy." I said. I guess it made sense though. She was quiet and usually just sat there watching and observing everyone else. 

"It's just a little thing I can do I guess." she said blushing.

"Well...What do you all think I should do then?" I asked.

"Tell her the truth." Applejack said. 

"Yes because him going to her and confessing his undying love for her is going to go over so well." Rarity said rolling her eyes. 

That's a little dramatic don't you think Rarity? I thought.

"What he should do is present himself in a manner that is appealing to Twilight. All he'd have to do is cut the hair a little bit, change is wardrobe, maybe lose a few pounds, and he'll be all set."

"Hey!" I exclaimed. "What do you mean lose a few pounds?" I asked.

"Oh, how do I put this delicately. You have a bit of a belly." Rarity said.

"I don't need to lose weight! All I need is to outdo Phil." I said, slightly annoyed by her comment.

"Well then stop by my boutique tomorrow and I'll have everything set up for you." she said, eagerly.

"I still think you need to tell her the truth." Applejack said.

"I will, but that will come later when I talk to her about it." I said. 

"Alright, then it's settled. Tomorrow, I will give you a full makeover and you will tell Twilight just how you feel." Rarity said smiling. 

I returned the smile. It felt good to be able to get that off my chest. I was actually glad Rainbow Dash wasn't here. I wasn't sure how long she could keep her mouth shut about it. But I knew Applejack wouldn't say anything, Rarity wouldn't just because she was a hopeless romantic, and Fluttershy was too shy to say something that may jeopardize two friendships.

"Was this what you wanted to talk to me and Twilight about?" I asked.

"Oh Celestia no. I'm not going to embarrass you two like that. Maybe one on one, but never together." she said. "Besides, Twilight already swore me to secrecy, with Pinkie Pie nearby to boot. Cross my heart hope to fly-"

"Stick a cupcake in my eye." I finished for her. Pinkie was very adamant about keeping promises, and hated it when her friends broke them, even if it was for the better good. 

"And it's not important. What's important is we get you looking perfect for her." Rarity said as she stood up from the table. 

"Leaving already?" I asked.

"Well I have to make sure I have everything prepped for tomorrow. Makeovers can be such a long process. Especially with someone who I've never worked with before." she said. "I'll see you tomorrow Brendan." she said and walked out of the restaurant.

"I'm surprised you haven't told her yet Brendan. You see her everyday and you don't say a word about it. What's with ya'?" Applejack asked.

"Exactly that. I live with her. What if she doesn't feel the same? I still don't have enough to buy a place of my own, and it would be weird and awkward." I said. Just like every other time I ask someone I like out. I thought to myself.

"You gotta take a risk though. If you don't, you'll pass on many opportunities." she said.

"Yeah, well I'm not much of a risk taker." I said.

"Then grow a pair and do something risky now."

I chuckled. "I'm going to Rarity's so she can fix my hair. I'm the only human she's given a hair cut to. I think that's risk enough." 

"You'll be fine. Rarity's a natural!" Applejack said. 

"She's good at what she does Brendan. You'll be okay. Along with your hair." Fluttershy concurred.

"We'll see. But if I end up looking like an Oompa Loompa I'm never going to her for a haircut again." 

We stayed for about an hour just talking. When I left the restaurant I found myself thinking about what Phil wanted to talk to Twilight about. If it was important like Fluttershy was saying it was, then I had an idea of what it could be. I gritted my teeth. I didn't like thinking about it. I knew I was jealous of him. I knew he was lucky. I just couldn't stand that he was with her. 

I walked into the library and noticed Twilight still hadn't returned.  I knew she was with Phil, but I was used to her being here after 5. Usually she was studying, but not tonight. I decided to clock in early and headed of to my room. When I entered I also noticed that Spike wasn't here.

"So it's just me huh?" I said to myself. I placed my stuff on the bed and walked back to the library. I pushed the button on the statue and laid on the ground, staring up at the beautiful night sky. I saw the stars twinkling in the night sky as the full moon stared at me. 

"Well, it was bound to happen at some point wasn't it? I'm going to be getting that haircut everyone's been telling me to get. Of course it's only to impress a girl who may not want to be with me anyways, but, like Applejack said, might as well take a risk." 

I gazed at the moon, looking for a sign of encouragement or something from it. "What would you do?" I asked. "I mean, I know you're just a rock orbiting another rock...but would you just tell her? Or what?" I said.

It just stared blankly at me. I nodded my head. "Good talk. Always can count on you for reinforcement." I said with a sigh. "I don't know. Maybe I'm being an idiot. Maybe I hsouldn't even try. Maybe I should've tried sooner before she loved him. Maybe I'm too late."

I sighed and stared into the blackness between the stars. I don't know how long I laid there, as I always lose track of time when I star gaze, before I decided to go to bed. I wanted to go to bed early so I could try and keep my mind clear tonight. I turned the dome off, headed for my room. Before I opened the door, Twilight walked into the library.

"Oh, hey." I said with a smile.

"Hey." she said dryly, not making eye contact.

"What did Phil want to talk to you about?"

"Nothing much. Just some things." she said as she walked past me and up to her room. 

"Are you okay?" I asked worried. She wasn't acting like herself. Usually she at least made eye contact. 

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just tired." she replied.

"Are you sure? You don't sound okay."

"I'm fine. I'm just going to go to bed. Good night." she said and walked up the stairs and closed the door. 

What's going on with her? I thought. I wasn't sure what Phil had told her, but it didn't look like it was good. Did he end things with her? I thought. I didn't want to just be a rebound if he did dump her. 

I walked into my room and fell on the bed. "I'll talk to her tomorrow before I go to Rarity's. I know she won't talk to me tonight, but hopefully whatever is bothering her is gone tomorrow." I said as I brooded on what could have her so bothered. 
> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	"Where's Twilight?" I asked Spike as he entered the kitchen. I had gotten up early since I had to visit Rarity's boutique and had hoped to talk to Twilight about what was bothering her last night.

"I think she's still asleep. Which is odd. She's usually up by now." he said.

"Well she had an exciting night last night. She's probably just completely exhausted from it." I said, worriedly. Unless she had been out all night with Celestia or at one of Pinkie's parties, she usually woke up as soon as the sun was up.

"So, what are your plans for the day?" Spike asked me, completely out of character.

"Why do you suddenly have an interest in what I'm doing?" I asked.

"Well I was helping Rarity with some things last night, and she said you were going over today for some help. Are you planning on making a move?" he asked.

"Making a move? What do you mean?" I asked him nervously. 

"You rarely talk to her, and you don't hang out with her much, which is probably your way of hiding that you like her. Well back off! She's mine." Spike said.

I chuckled a little bit. "Don't worry Spike. I don't like Rarity like that. She's not even my type." 

"Good. Because I am going to be earning her love later this week!" he said with a proud smile.

"Well good luck with that." I said. He had no clue that Rarity wasn't interested. He was a baby dragon, while much more mature for his age, he still didn't know how relationships worked. Or how to present himself. Granted I wasn't sure either, which is why I'm going to Rarity for help with that. 

I sat in the kitchen for about an hour, waiting for Twilight to come down. She never did, and I started to worry. I walked up the stairs and knocked on her door. "Hey. Twilight? You awake?" I asked.

There wasn't an answer and I knocked again. She opened the door this time and looked like she hadn't slept. "Hey Brendan. What's up?" she asked.

"Well, I was just wondering if you were awake. You're usually up by now." I said.

"Oh yeah I'm awake." she said. 

I waited for her to say more. "So what happened at Phil's last night?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing. We just...talked." she said.

"Okay. Well what did you two talk about?"

"Nothing much. Just how he felt."

"...and?" I asked.

"He said he loved me too." She said with little excitement in her voice. I felt like she was hiding something.

"Well that's good." I said. I noticed that she was avoiding eye contact with me and looked like her coat was a little void of its usual purple color. "Twilight? Are you okay?" 

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. What did you and the others talk about?" 

"Mainly when I was going to get my own place." I said chuckling, trying to lighten the mood.

She smiled. "Hey, umm, I've got to write some things for the Princess. I'll talk to you later okay?"

"Oh, okay. Sure. I had some things I wanted to do today anyway. Catch ya later."

She closed the door and I returned to the kitchen. Something was bothering me and I wasn't sure what. Twilight was with Phil for awhile last night. Longer than I would have thought. Did they... I shook my head. No, Twilight wouldn't have done that. She's made that clear. So what was it? Did they just talk? Did they go out? 

I shook the thoughts away. I've got somewhere to be. Something's up with her. I'll just give her her space and then see if she'll be ready to talk about it when I get back. I thought. I looked out the window and saw that the sun had fully risen from the horizon. It wouldn't take long for it to be at it's peak in the sky.

I walked out the door and headed down to Rarity's. It wasn't too far from the library so I took my time walking. It was still fairly early, and I wasn't sure as to when Rarity woke up. With how she presented herself, I assumed she would be up early to do her mane and coat, but that was just an assumption.

I felt the usual stares as I walked down the streets. I was wearing just a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, but they weren't bad looking. Then again, the one who has no sense in fashion shouldn't really be saying what looks bad or not. I figured it wasn't what I was wearing though. It was because I was human. 

"That's the one that threatened them at the library." I overheard one of the stallions say. 

"Seriously? Please he looks like a twig. How could he be a threat to anyone?" his buddy asked.

At least I'm not being called chubby. I thought as I remembered Rarity's comment about my belly. I ignored them though and quickened my pace. 

I knocked on her door when I walked up. I could tell that she had been prepping stuff by the amount of trashcans she had out front. trash day for her was anyday she had to prep something. Which was almost every three days.

The door opened and I didn't see Rarity standing there. I figured she had opened it up with her magic, so I started to walk in. "Hello?" 

"Ow!" I heard someone say as my foot kicked something. I looked down and saw a little filly standing there. 

"Oh! I'm sorry!" I apologized. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"You kicked me!" she exclaimed. 

"I know and I'm really sorry. I didn't realize Rarity had a sister." I said.

"Well she does. I'm Sweetie Belle." she said.

"I'm Brendan. Your sister said that she was going to help me today." I said.

"Yep. And I'm going to help!" she said with a cute smile. 

I think my heart just stopped from pure cuteness. I thought. She ran away shouting for Rarity. I walked in, making sure I didn't accidentally kick any other surprise siblings of hers. The boutique was much larger on the inside than it looked like on the outside. I made my way to her own little stage walk and found her messing with wigs and little white head statues. 

"Ah! Brendan, you're finally here." she said.

"It's early in the morning." I pointed out. I noticed she had a few hairs out of place. "Have you been awake all night?" I asked.

"Why of course! I needed all the time I could get on such short notice." she said.

Remember that you were the one who offered. I thought to myself."So, what's the plan for today?"

"Well, step one is to fix your hair." she said. She pulled out a chair and had me sit down, rather forcefully, and placed a cover over my shirt.

"You said you hadn't ever done this before for a human right?" 

"Correct darling." she said, as she started snipping my hair without warning.

Too late to back out now. I thought nervously. I let her work in silence, mainly because I didn't want to destroy whatever concentration she had and completely screw up whatever hair I had left on my head. I felt my hair fall on my shoulders and it sent a weird feeling down my spine. I hadn't gotten a haircut in a few years and the last time I had the guy had cut my hair I wasn't satisfied with it. 

"So, tell me, how long have you liked Twilight?" Rarity asked.

"Oh, um..." I said trying to think. "Well I'm not sure. I've lived with her for so long so I guess it just slowly came about." I said.

"Come now, Brendan. You have to know the first time you looked at her like that. When was the first time you looked at her and thought, 'Wow, she is really gorgeous and pretty. I like her." she said.

"I don't know. Maybe...a few months ago?" I said, spitting out a time frame that sounded like it would work.

"And you've been sitting on that for that long? I don't know how you did it. If it were me, I would be trying my best to show whoever I like that I truly cared for them and wanted to be with them." she said.

"Yeah, well she was with Phil, so I couldn't really just do that." I said.

"Yes you could have. You need to compete. Show yourself off to the world that you are a man and deserve the attention of the girl of your dreams!" Rarity exclaimed.

Again, a little over dramatic Rarity. I thought. "Are you almost done?" I asked.

"Just a few more touches and we'll be all set." she said. She cut a few more strands of hair and looked at it from all sides for about five minutes before finally putting the scissors down. "All right, we're all done with that." she said.

I took the cover off and started to get up, but she quickly pushed me back down in the chair. "I thought we were done with my hair?" I asked.

"Oh no, deary. We were just done cutting it. Now we have to style it and make it look more than hair. We have to give it a personality." she said. "Sweeite, can you fetch me the gels from the table?" 

"I'm on it!" Sweetie said and ran over and grabbed the mixtures of bottles and tubes. 

Oh boy. I thought. I never cared for gel. Whenever I used it my hair felt sticky and like glue. It was uncomfortable because it didn't flow. "No, no, I'm good on the gel." I said quickly.

"Don't be silly. You'll need it. Your hair is just too flat without it. This'll make it jump and spring and shout. It'll explain who you are as a person." she said.

"No, really, I'm sure I look fine." 

"Let the designer do her work." Rarity said and took some of the gel and placed it in my hair. 

I closed my eyes as she meshed my hair together with the goop. Why did I agree to this? I thought.

After about ten minutes of her putting the gel in my hair, I felt like I was going to look like Phoenix Wright. I'm going to look like a porcupine! I thought nervously. She pulled a mirror in front of me and I actually didn't look too bad. "Whoa." I said, seeing the spiked hair in the front with it leaning ever so slightly to the left. 

"You like it?" Rarity asked.

"Surprisingly yes. How much gel did you use?" I asked.

"Not much. I used a little here and there. You had a painful patch of hair that refused to stay down on the back of your head, but I got it to work with me." she said as she placed the mirror down. "Now, it's time to work on your wardrobe." 

I hated trying on clothes. I usually found one I liked, bought it, and wore it. Never did the whole fashion line that I knew my sister back home did before going out. "Let's see, try this." Rarity said throwing a pair of clothes at me. 

I looked at it and already knew that I wasn't going to like it. Light blue with white pants. "I hate white pants." I said quickly. 

"Then try the regular jeans." she said, tossing another pair at me.

I sighed and walked behind the changing tables. I feel stupid. I thought. I looked in the mirror, and I had to admit I looked good. But the shirt was too tight for me. I liked loose fitting shirts. "Do you have something a little more loose?" I asked.

"Not in your color." she said. 

"Of course." I said quietly. 

"Well come out. Let me see." she said.

I gingerly walked out so she could evaluate me. "Not bad. Not bad at all, if I do say so myself. Hmm...maybe..." she trailed off as she went back to her long closet of clothes. I was shocked she had so many human clothes, but I guess with her trying to appeal to the new residents of Ponyville I shouldn't be surprised.

I spent a good hour trying on more clothes than I had owned in my lifetime. I finally just gave up and chose the first one we did as it was the only one I liked the most. "You couldn't have just picked that one at the beginning could you?" Rarity said.

"I told you that 15 minutes in!" I exclaimed. 

She huffed. "Well, no matter. You look dashing and ready to impress Twilight!!" 

"How are you going to do it?" Sweetie Belle asked. 

"Oh. Well...I don't know. I haven't really thought about it..." I admitted. 

"Oh, I'm sure you'll think of something. You live with her already. Phil doesn't. I think that says something about you." Rarity said.

"I only live with her because she was willing to give me a place to stay while I saved up money for my own house." I said.

"And she hasn't kicked you out yet after, what, six months? I mean you've been working for a long time and houses in Ponyville aren't that expensive. So you should have enough to buy one now, right?" 

"Well....in theory. But I may have spent it on...entertainment." I said. "Like taking her to the Starswirl the Bearded museum in Canterlot and on some other things as gifts to her..." 

We walked to the door and before I left I turned to Rarity. "What should I do?" I asked.

"Just be yourself. She already likes you, darling. All you have to do is show her how much you like her." she said. 

"And...if she doesn't? If she doesn't feel like I do?" I asked, suddenly nervous.

"Then you move on. You stay friends with her and still show her you care for her, even if you aren't together, but you don't linger on her." she said.

I lowered my head and sighed. "I guess we'll see how it goes then." I said.

"I guess so." she replied.

"Well, thanks for the help. I'll let you know how it goes afterwards." I said and walked back to the library. I had only been there for an hour, but I needed to see if Twilight was going to tell me more about what happened last night. There was something off about it. Almost as if she was hiding something. "I'm sure it'll be fine." I said to myself as I walked up to the library door.
> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	As I opened the door Twilight slammed into me. "Whoa! What's the rush?!" I asked.

"Brendan! I'm so sorry! But Phil's at the hospital!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, doesn't he work there?" I asked.

"Not like that! He's been admitted to the hospital!" she said running off.

"Hey, wait!" I shouted chasing after her. "What happened?"

"I don't know. I was just told that something happened and he had to be put there." she said as we ran. It didn't take us long to get there, running full sprint and out breath. She ran up to the front desk. "I need to see Phil." 

The brown haired lady at the front desk rolled her eyes, set the magazine she had been looking through down, and looked through some files. "What room number is he in?"

"I don't know, I was just told he was here."

"Okay. And your relation to him?" the secretary asked.

"I'm his...uh...girlfriend." she said, stumbling.

"Oh, that's right, he's the one who's all for that beastiality fetish." she said.

"Oh shut up. Just where is he?" I asked. 

"Second floor in room 209." the lady said, returning to her magazine.

We headed towards the stairs and something she said at the desk bugged me. "Hey Twilight? Why did you hesitate to tell her about you being his girlfriend?" 

"That's the secretary Phil's told me about. She holds her parent's views very very close." she said.

"Oh." I said. We didn't say anything more as we walked up the stairs to his room. I was trying to figure out what could have caused him to be in the hospital. He's fairly fit. I mean, other than my own personal vendetta against him, there really wasn't anyone I knew of who would want to send him to the hospital over something. 

We reached his room and Twilight rushed in, almost knocking over one of the nurses. "Phil! What happened? Are you okay?" Twilight asked.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I had a heart attack. Apparently, I've been working too hard. It's why I've been a little short tempered with you." he said.

"Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're all right." 

"But you're in great shape. How did you have a heart attack from over working?" I asked.

"Well heart disease runs in my family. It's not surprising that I had one. I'm just wishing it would have come at a later time." he said. "But I'll be okay. I won't over work myself again so I can avoid another one." 

"Just keep taking care of yourself and you'll be fine." I said.

"Hey Twilight, could you do me a favor?" Phil asked.

"Sure. What is it?"

"Could you run by my house and bring me some change of clothes for when I'm checked out? I don't want to be stuck in a gown when I leave." he said chuckling.

She smiled. "Of course. I'll be right back." she said giving him a kiss on the forehead and leaving the room.

I stayed in the room, unsure of what to do. "She's something you know?" Phil said.

"I know what you mean." I said leaning against the wall.

He sighed. "Can I ask you something?" 

"Like what?" I replied nervously.

He sat up in his bed. "Has something been bothering her? You're one of her closest friends, and I really don't see too much of the others. Has she said anything to you?"

I thought about it, and there wasn't anything specific that I could think of that would be bothering her. I mean, I had my own assumptions, but nothing that she had told me that Twilight didn't already tell him. "Nothing that I can think of. Why?"

"She just seems distant. Almost like something is troubling her. Usually she tells me what's going on, but it's like an issue that is messing with her head. Sometimes she's completely zoned out when I say something and then snaps out of her thoughts without telling me what it was."

"Maybe she's been given a lot of studying materials from the Princess?" I suggested. 

"No, it's not that. She's never been one to hide what she's been studying about. You should know that." he said.

I chuckled. "Yeah, I guess your right. Maybe it's something she's just too embarrassed to say what it is." I said, speaking my mind aloud, realizing it too late.

"What do you mean?" 

"Uh...well...you know her curious nature. And you two have been together for awhile...I mean...maybe she's...looking into some of our more...personal moments." I said, without blatantly saying it.

"Really?? You really think so?" he said. "I don't know. That's a little...weird." he said.

What? I thought. "What do you mean by weird?" 

"Well...she's a pony. I'm a human. That...that wouldn't really work out. Biologically speaking, we're two complete different species." he said.

That's...not something I thought he would say... I thought, surprised. "I guess. But you're both intelligent and speak a sentient language that we all understand. They have their morals of right and wrong, and even here, interspecies relations aren't uncommon. I mean, have you seen how Spike is around Rarity?"

He laughed. "I guess so. But it's way out of left field for us. You know, back home, being with an animal is wrong."

I held back my tongue. "But she's not an animal. She's a sentient species." I reminded him. 

"Yes yes, I know, but that's not what I meant. I meant, that back home, ponies aren't like how they are here. And it's looked down on heavily and is illegal in some areas." he said. "It's just way different to what I'm used to."

"Well, if it was way different, why did you decide to date her?" 

"I don't know. I guess the human part of her is what got me. You know, her talking, her willingness to stand up for herself, hell, even the fact that she seemed more human than some of the people back home." he said.

He's got a point. I thought. "Well, there you go. She's already so different from what we know normally from our home. It just takes a little push." I said.

"Maybe. I'll think about it." he said. "Hey, thanks for chatting. We never really did just talk." he said. "You're not as bad as I thought." he said.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, a little irritated.

"Just that I thought you were a moocher who would take whatever he could get and not try to live by himself. You seemed like the type of person who stalked your own roommate." he said.

"Why in the hell would you think that?"

"You've been living with Twilight for a long time now. Normally, if this place were normal, I would have put a stop to it. However, seeing as things do work differently here and the currency exchange hasn't been determined yet, I let it all slide because you did need a place to stay. And the fact that you had that stalker like look about you. Which reminds me, when did you get a haircut?" he asked.

"Oh. Today. I got it done earlier this morning. I guess the stalker look was getting to me." I said, understanding what he meant. If she were a human back home, all of this would look really bad. He probably would've threatened me by now if we were back home. "You're not so bad yourself I guess." I said.

"And what do you mean by that?" he asked.

"Well, you always seemed to not care about what Twilight wanted to do. It seemed like you always wanted to do things your way and not compromise. It just irritated me." I said.

"Oh, you mean the museum thing? Honestly, I'm just not a fan of them. I get bored and have been known to fall asleep while standing in a museum. I can handle a museum about medicine and the history of hospitals, but that's only because it's in my field. I tried to compromise with that, seeing how she loves museums and I hate them, but I guess I can see how that would look on the outside." he said.

I chuckled. Oh god I'm starting to like him. I thought. "Hey, I've got to go back to the library and fix some things up. Spike was helping Rarity out last night and he's sleeping. So I've got to re-shelve everything." I lied. I didn't really have to do all that, but I wanted an excuse to leave. I was having a mixed arrange of feelings going through my head and I was getting a little worried with them.

"No problem. You go make a living and get out of her house before I force you." he said sarcastically and smiling.

"But that requires having responsibilities." 

"And they suck." he said. "I'll see you later." 

"See ya'." I said and left the room. 

As I left the hospital and walked back to the library, I couldn't help but feel like I had misjudged him. I mean, yeah I never hung out with him or got to know him, but he always seemed so rude and obnoxious. It was like he was a completely different person than who I thought he was. "Maybe he's not such a bad guy after all." I sighed.

I walked into the library and began to fiddle around with the books. While they weren't out of place, it gave me something to do. No wonder Twilight was still with him. He seemed like a naturally cool guy. "So much for my chances." I said. I kept organizing as my thoughts spiraled out of control. He was basically just like every other guy. Caring, hard working, a little weirded out by the thought of inter species relations, but not too weirded out to accept them, and just a nice guy. I thought. 

"You know, if you're going to mull over your emotions, you might want to do them in your head." I heard Spike say to me.

I jumped, completely forgetting he was even around. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"I heard every word of what you said." he said walking over to me. "You know, if he's really such a great guy, than why does Twilight like you?" 

"Spike, please, we're just friends." I said, turning my head and looking down at the books in my hands. I quickly placed them back on the shelf and moved on to the next row.

"Dude, are you blind? She's into you. She just doesn't know how to feel about liking both you and Phil." he said. 

"And how would you know?" I asked.

"I've been chasing after Rarity for years. I know a thing or two. Plus, I've been with Twilight for a long time. I may just be a baby dragon, but I'm not completely blind."

I sighed. "Look, even if I liked Twilight that way, it wouldn't matter. She's with Phil. And Phil is okay I guess." 

He gave me a look that said, 'Seriously?' "Okay, I may not be the best when it comes to getting the girl, but you've done so much for her! She thinks highly of you and everyone can see it. Why do you think Rarity was so quick to help you?" 

"She said Twilight liked me, but I just saw her with Phil. I think she's more interested in him than me." I said.

"Oh, come on Brendan. She's dating him, yes, but that doesn't mean she doesn't like you too." 

"Spike, I know you're trying to help, but can you please drop it. She's with Phil, not me, and that's all that matters." I said.

"She talks about you in her sleep too you know." he said. "And I'm not going to say most of it. It gives me chills thinking about it. And you may not see it, but you are the only one who is able to turn her day around. No matter how down she is, she always seems to perk up around you. Her face lifts, her ears perk up, and she smiles more around you. I've only seen Phil do that a few times." he explained.

"Then why hasn't she left him?" I asked.

"Because she doesn't know what she's missing! It's why Rarity still hasn't taken a liking towards me." he said.

Actually I believe that's because you're a baby dragon. Emphasis on baby. I thought to myself. "You know, I try to show her what she's missing, and it goes right over her head." I said.

He sighed as he walked upstairs. "Give me a minute." 

I rolled my eyes. I knew Twilight wasn't going to want to go out with me. Hell, she had had Phil, a Doctor making lots of money who was trying his best to make her happy. He was a decent guy who, no matter how jealous of him I was or what I tried to do, was going to be with Twilight. He walked back down the stairs with a book in his claws. 

"Okay. So remember when you went to the Starswirl the Bearded museum in Canterlot?" he asked.

"Yeah. What about it?" 

"Well she took pictures and put them all in her scrapbook, just like she does with every one of her friends. However, you're different. She has a special place in it just for you." he said, turning it towards the back. I saw pictures of us where we made the funny faces, where we tried to see who was able to pull the Starswirl the Bearded look the best, and even just a few of me looking around.

"Well that could be because of anything. You know, I am her first human friend after all." I said.

"Than why isn't Phil in here with his own little spot? He's her boyfriend after all." Spike said. 

"Why does it matter?" I asked, not wanting to talk about it anymore. "Even if she liked me like that, and even if I were to ask her out, she'd probably say no since she's with Phil. Things would be awkward and I doubt we'd be able to stay as close as friends as we are now based on what I felt." 

"It's a risk, but you'll have to take it. Trust me. Have I been wrong before?" he asked.

"Where do I start?" I said.

"Okay, okay, don't answer that. But believe me. She likes you. A lot. If Rarity already told you that, then it has to be true." he said.

"I doubt it. But if it makes you feel better, I'll take her out and see how it goes." I said.

"Don't do it for me, just do it because you like her and she likes you." he said. He left the scrap book for me and walked to the kitchen. I picked it up and looked through the pictures we took together. There were so many good memories and other times that I couldn't help but smile. I walked over to the center of the room and pressed the button to show the gift she made for me. I looked up and saw all the stars and planets. All the effort it must have taken to just get this done, and to keep it hidden while I was stuck at the library like a hermit. 

I looked back to the book and rubbed my hand over a picture of us. Damn it. Okay. I'll ask her out... I thought. I really wasn't sure how I was going to do that, but it had to be done with just the right amount of tact. 

The door opened and I quickly looked up. Twilight was walking in, a little pale again, but definitely looking better than she did this morning. "You alright?" I asked, turning the projection off.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" she asked.

"Well, earlier today you looked a really lighter shade of purple than usual. It's not so bad now, but it's still noticeable. Something wrong?" I asked.

"No, I'm okay. I was just tired from last night." she said.

"Okay. Well how's Phil doing?"

"He's fine. He's a little tired from the experience, so I let him get some sleep. There's nothing good I can bring to them there since he's sleeping and the Doctor's are more experienced than I am, so I figured it'd be better if I left." she explained.

"I'm sure he'll be in good hands." I said. 

She walked over to me, curious about what I had in my hands. "What's that?" 

"Oh this?" I said, closing it quickly. "Just your scrapbook. You have a lot of pictures of your friends in there. You all seem to have a great time at Pinkie's parties." I said.

"But how'd you get it?" she asked.

"Spike gave it to me." I said, throwing him under the bus. 

"Of course. I tell him not to go through my things and he ignores me." she said, rolling her eyes.

"Don't be too hard on him. Remember, he's a baby and still has a lot to learn." I said.

"That still doesn't mean after the tenth time I tell him he can get away with it." she said, annoyed.

"Okay, maybe then he should be grounded from comic books for awhile." I said with a smile. We stayed quiet for a little bit. "Hey, are you doing anything tonight?" I asked.

"No. Why?"

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the Hay Burger? You seem to be a little down, so I figure it might be a way to cheer you up." I said.

"Do I really look that way?" she said.

"Just a little. But your still beautiful. Just need to add a smile to your face and it'll be perfect." I said, trying to flirt a little.

She chuckled. "Okay. I'll go with you. Just give me a little bit to get my purple coat back to normal." she said, walking up to her room. She took the scrapbook from me when she passed me by. After she closed the door, Spike came out of the kitchen with a sandwich.

"See? I knew you could do it." he said giving me a thumbs up.

"Yeah. But it's nothing fancy. It's just a place I know she enjoys." I said.

"Eh, it's still a date." he said, taking a bite.

Yeah...It's still a date. And I'm going to try and make the most of it.
> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I sat in the kitchen as I waited for Twilight to finish getting ready. I was nervous. Very nervous. It's not a real date. A real date would be someplace romantic. Someplace fancy. Probably in Canterlot. It was just us going to a restaurant to talk and make Twilight feel better. I felt my hands become clammy as my legs jumped up and down. Calm down, idiot. It's not a big deal. You've gone to restaurants with her in the past. What makes this so much different? I thought.

I sighed to myself. It's different in the fact I want this to be a date. A time with just us both. A time where, as Rarity put it, I could put myself out there. I could compete. I shook my head. She wasn't a prize to be won by me. She was someone who could make decisions for herself. That doesn't mean I can't show her what I have to offer... I thought. 

"Calm down, man. It'll be cool. You've finally gotten that date you've always wanted." Spike said.

"More like a date that just happened to come by. If it was the way I really wanted, and if I could afford it, I'd go to Canterlot. Spend an evening in Canterlot Gardens, have a nice, romantic meal, maybe even get Luna to make it a clear night. But I guess I should be happy with this. And I am. Just...I'm not sure how it'll go." I said.

"Well don't be blatantly obvious about it. You have to woo her. It's the best way to do it." he said.

"Yes because it's worked so well for you hasn't it." I said, getting annoyed that a baby dragon was trying to give me advice on girls. 

"How many kisses have you gotten from Twilight for all that you've done?" he asked me.

"What does that have to do with you?"

"Well, I've earned a few from Rarity for my assistance." he said, proudly. 

I sighed again. "Look, Spike, I appreciate what you've done. You actually helped me gain some form of courage to ask her to the smallest inkling of a date. But, let me handle this how I see best." I said. 

He shrugged. "Have it your way. Just when you tell her you love her, make sure you do it right." he said, going back to his comic book. 

"I...Hey! I never..." I said fumbling. I felt my face turn a deep red. Damn it Spike.

"You ready?" I heard Twilight say behind me. 

I turned to look at her, and she looked stunning. Her coat seemed brighter, her mane brushed and glowing, she looked completely different from earlier. Almost like she did when I first met her. "Uh...yeah! Yeah, let's go." I said smiling. 

"Something wrong?" she asked, probably due to my face being red as a tomato. 

"Oh, nothing's wrong. Just...you look great...really great." I said smiling. She smiled back and lowered her head. We headed out the door and to the restaurant. I felt Twilight walk closer to me than normal, but I wasn't going to say anything about it. I liked her being close. We talked a little bit, mainly about her studies and what we would do should an alien race decide to invade. Apparently she had been reading up on some of Stephen Hawking's beliefs about life outside our world as she tried to understand human culture a little more. 

When we arrived at the restaurant, there wasn't a long wait, and we were seated within minutes. It was only about 4 o'clock, so we must have been early for the dinner rush. We ordered our food and continued our conversation from before. I couldn't really concentrate on what she was saying. I kept being distracted by her looks. I became lost in her eyes, which may sound cliche, but it's true. 

"Are you even listening to me?" she asked, probably catching on. 

"Huh? Oh right, yeah. Totally." I said.

"You're a bad liar." she replied.

I gave a light smile. "Sorry. I just can't get over how you look tonight." I said. Yes Brendan, smart. Just keep complimenting her on her looks. Don't even mention anything about her personality and her ability for deep thought talking. I thought to myself. 

She chuckled. "Are you always this corny when you flirt?" she asked.

"That obvious huh?" I asked, rubbing the back of my head.

"Just a little. But...I have to admit that I've been fascinated with how you changed your look. It's completely different. Like, you actually put an effort into looking nice." she said. "You're very handsome." she said with a smile. 

'Well thanks. I'm sorry I let the royal bum stay in your house for these past number of months. He's been keeping me hostage." I said, jokingly.

"With your feelings?" she asked me.

"Huh?" 

She chuckled. "Brendan, I'm not blind. Or, not anymore." she said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well...I overheard you and Spike. And...well...I never thought you liked me that way." she said.

"What...what are you talking about?" I said, trying to back track. I wasn't ready to talk about all of this just yet. I thought it would be maybe at the end of the date or a few more down the road.

She took a deep breath. "When you first came here, I had just started dating Phil. At first it was pure curiosity that brought me to him. While I was attracted to him, I didn't think anything would come of it. But...as you found out...I fell in love with him." she said.

I felt my heart sink. And this is where she says she only wants to be friends. Maybe even say I should find a place of my own. I thought. 

"I thought about forcing you to move out so he could move in with me and make things easier. I never did because I felt it was unfair to you." she said.

Yep. Here it comes.

"But...there was something else...something I didn't want to admit to myself until the Starswirl Museum. I had started to really like you. Like...really really like you..." she said turning a dark red. "I never said anything because, again, I thought you were just being a friend for me whenever I needed someone. I didn't think that you might have wanted to be with me. And it didn't help that I still loved Phil. I don't know how to explain it. I just...I love it when you talk to me. Just saying hi or how are you make me feel tingly inside...When I asked you about how I knew if I was in love with Phil...I was really seeing if it was how I felt with you...I told Phil I loved him awhile ago, and I do, I really, really do...but I don't know why, or how, I'm able to love both of you..." she said.

Is...is she serious? I thought. I didn't know what to say. 

"When you first told me your obsession with  Astronomy, I wanted to see how your culture and mine related on the subject. Surprisingly, we both share our basic understanding, minus a few contradictions. I found it fascinating. I found you fascinating. I could talk to you about things that I had always had questions about but never could ask Phil. You accepted both our cultures almost instantly, understanding how different they were. You didn't try to force what you thought was right with what I thought was right. You just...understood. I could talk to you about my studies. I could talk to you about my ups and downs with Phil. With him... I couldn't talk to him about most of that. But the thing with him is...well...He has his life together. He knows his field. He knew how to care for me long before you did. And...he's just an amazing guy." she said.

"Well...."

"And it's not that you aren't an amazing guy too. It's just...well, you're living with me. I haven't made you pay rent, you eat our food, and I pay you for working at the library."

So basically you just called me a moocher. I thought. 

"But...I couldn't bring myself to tell you. I just couldn't. Much like I couldn't tell you how I felt. I never saw the signs, and I think my friends didn't tell me simply because I was with Phil. And after hearing you and Spike talk...I thought about it. About us. Everything we've done for each other. You always being there and dropping everything you were doing to make sure I was alright, making me feel so much better about everything, or at least trying." she said. "And then the amount of time I spent building that projection in the library for you was more than I spent doing anything for Phil. But he's not into that extravagant stuff. He likes people being independent of their actions, but dependent on him." 

"When you asked me this morning what was wrong with me, I lied. Phil and I didn't talk about whether we loved each other or not. We talked about me moving in with him. I told him I couldn't because someone had to watch over the library. He told me you could take over for me. That it could help you get your own life started. I would move in with him and you would have your own place. But I couldn't bring myself to leave you like that. At least, not at first... Phil became annoyed, saying that I couldn't baby sit you anymore and that you had to, 'become a man.' A part of me wanted to tell him that you had your life together, you just had to save up money, but when he brought up how long you've been here and how long you've been staying with me...I guess I just agreed with him. I told him that he was right and that you had to live on your own."

"I felt awful. I had been trying to figure out a way to tell you, without hurting your feelings. I hated seeing you sad or hurt. It broke my heart to see you like that. But I hated seeing Phil upset, especially when it came to his views. He left some behind, obviously, when he started dating me, but it's hard for him to leave everything he learned growing up behind him when it comes to people. Unlike you. You seemed accepting of our place. While I could tell there were some things that you were still awkward about, or clearly disagreed with, you didn't try to push me with them. You looked at my views, and then shared your own."

"Going back to when I asked you how I knew if I was in love with Phil, you asked me if I could see myself having a family with him...and the truth is...I can't see it with him. I feel he would try to push his ideals on our kids, human or pony, without giving them the proper materials to learn and decide for themselves. But with you, I feel like you could do that. But I don't know if you could support us like Phil could. Phil is the one who could help support all of us, while you are the one who could get help teach them the morals of life and let them make their own decisions." she said. 

I stared at her, silently. "Well...say something! I just spilled my guts on the table, the least you could do is act like you heard me...or care about any of it." she said, frantically. 

I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do. So...I did what I felt I had to do right then and there. Something I had been wanting to do for awhile, but, just like Twilight, had kept hidden and tried to hide. I kissed her. I dropped the ball and kissed her. When I pulled away, I knew i surprised her. I knew that she was shocked that I did that. But she wasn't upset that I did. I could tell it in her eyes. She was glad that I did. 

"Twilight...I love you. But I don't want to 'win' you. I don't want to have to compete with Phil to be with you. I want you to choose based on your own beliefs. I want you to choose based on your own thoughts and what you think is best." I said.

"But I don't know what's best." she said.

"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you what you should do. I can tell you what I would like you to do, but that would be unfair. I can't force you. And neither can Phil. Remember that it's your choice. And while either Phil or I will be upset with your choice, we will still care about you. And if either of us stops caring, then we weren't the one for you."

She lowered her head. "Can we leave? I don't want to talk about this anymore in public." she said quietly. 

"Sure." I said. We stood up to go right as our food was finished. I gave them a few extra bits for their troubles, and they put the food in a bag for us to take home.

We didn't say much on the way home. The sun was still up, but it was going to be dark before we returned to the library. The way the magic worked here, it would be darker earlier than back home, even if the sun and moon rose at the same times as they did back home. I still couldn't believe that she liked me. I know everyone else was saying it was blatantly obvious, but how could I have been so distant from my emotions that I couldn't tell that she liked me. Maybe it is better I waited. Gave her time to think it over and to open up to me about it, even if it was because she over heard Spike and I. I thought. 

We walked up to the library and opened the door as the moon rose above the horizon. She opened the door and I could tell Spike was too engrossed in his comics to even notice we were back so early. "I want to continue talking, but not with Spike right there." she whispered to me. I followed her up to her room and we carefully closed the door. She sat on her bed and I sat at the foot.

We didn't say anything, we just stared at each other for a little bit. I smiled at her, hoping she would smile back, which she quickly returned. "So...you love me." I said. She nodded. "But you also love Phil." 

"Yeah. And I don't know what to do." she said. "I've never been in this position before. I can't love you both...but I do." 

I sighed and looked away from her and at my feet. "Just follow your heart." I said.

"And if it tells me to hurt one of you in a way I could never fix?" she said.

"Than that's what you have to do." I told her. I noticed the bed shake a little and found she had put her head on my shoulder and started to nuzzle my neck. I placed my hand on the side of her neck. 

"Brendan..." she started to say but stopped. She was probably out of things to say that she hadn't already said before, or rehashed a different way. 

"I know." I said. 

She gave me a light thump. "Stop quoting Star Wars." she said.

I chuckled. "You didn't even say the line right." 

She lifted her head off my shoulder and I looked at her. She leaned in and kissed me. It was a long kiss, one that I wished wouldn't end. "Do I have to say it?" she said after she pulled away.

I smiled at her. "No." I said, and kissed her again. I knew this was wrong, on many levels, but I just didn't care. I was happy. She was happy. And that's all that mattered. We stopped kissing and we laid on the bed together. We cuddled before we finally fell asleep. 
> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I woke up to find myself alone in the bed. I looked outside to see the sun was just barely showing above the horizon. "Twilight?" I said as I rubbed my eyes. I crawled out of bed and yawned. I walked out of her room, wandering where she had went. I wandered into the kitchen and found her sitting there with a cup of coffee. "Good morning Twilight." I said, kissing her on top of her head.

"Morning." she said. I sat across from her at the table. She looked like she was sad. Or mad. Or both. 

"Everything okay?" I asked her.

"Brendan...We shouldn't have kissed yesterday." she said.

I looked at her quizzically. "What do you mean?" 

"We shouldn't have kissed." she said, taking a sip from her coffee. "It wasn't right." 

I thought about it and it felt right to me. But I think I knew what she was going for. "Is it because of Phil?" She nodded her head. I leaned forward and took deep breath. "Twilight....You know how I feel about you, and I know how you feel about me." I said. "I've felt like that for quite some time now. And nothing would make me happier than if I could be with you."

"But I can't leave-" she started but I interrupted her.

"I know, I know. You can't leave Phil because you love him too." I said. "Twilight, in all honesty, I don't think Phil deserves you. I don't. He doesn't share your interests like I do. He doesn't talk to you about things that interest you and he doesn't want to do what you want to do." I said.

"Brendan, you know that's not the case. He told me that you two talked at the hospital. Saying how he thought he was compromising by doing the medical museum thing. He's already promised to start doing more of my things and being more open to what I think about. It's just, he had to deal with three different patients who were undergoing some sort of surgery due to a food item they ate here. Something gave them a severe allergic reaction and caused something in their abdomen to expand. We don't know what it was, but he was having sleepless nights and constantly trying to get those patients back to health before other complications arose." she explained. 

"And on top of all that, if he found out we kissed...well I don't know what he would do. He doesn't look too kindly onto cheating." she said.

I sat there silent for a little bit. Phil didn't seem like a violent person face to face, but I didn't know him like Twilight did, so maybe certain things made him blow up like with me. "Do you regret it?" I asked.

"I...I don't know. I've been wanting to kiss you for awhile, but I never did because I was afraid. And now...I don't know. I want to kiss you again now...but I can't keep betraying Phil like that." she said. "Ever since I woke up, I've been going over it in my head. I feel guilty about it, but I want to do it again." she said looking at me. 

I stood up and kneeled next to her. "So do I." 

She leaned in and kissed me hard. When she pulled away she smiled. "If it makes up for anything, you're the better kisser." she said.

"One point for me." I said, smiling.

She looked down smiling. "I really don't know what to do. I have to tell him about this." she said.

"That might not be a good idea. Remember what you said about him finding out? We don't know how he'll react." I said. I was a little worried he would come after me. I mean, I'm not necessarily a violent person, but if someone did what I just did, then yeah, I might get a little aggressive.

"Well then what should I do?" she asked.

"Just...go talk to him and see who you want to be with more." I suggested. It was the only thing I could say. I wanted her to be with me but I also wanted her to be happy. 

"What if I choose him?" she asked looking back to me.

I took a deep breath. "Then that's okay." I said.

She leaned in and kissed me again. We heard footsteps coming from the library and quickly pulled away from each other. I went to the fridge and Twilight returned to her drink acting like nothing happened.

"Morning Spike." Twilight said as he walked in. 

He yawned. "Good morning." he said, taking a seat at the table. I took an orange juice out of the fridge and set it in front of him. I'm not sure why I did. "So how was last night?" he asked

"Fine." she said, looking at me. "I'm going to go to the hospital and see how Phil is doing." she said, getting up to leave.

"Alright." I said. I heard the door close behind her and I swore I felt Spike staring at me. I turned to look at him.

"Sooo?" he asked.

"What?" 

"How did the date go?" 

"Oh. It was, uh," I hesitated. I really couldn't tell him what Twilight told me. He was just a baby, and Spike was...well, Spike was Spike. I'll leave it at that. "It was good. I didn't tell her about how I felt, I chickened out at the end, but I think it'll be okay. I'm taking her out someplace else next week." I lied.

"Aw rats. Okay, well at least  you got another date out of her." he said. "I'm going to go finish reading my comics." he said, taking his juice with him.

I sat down in a chair and sighed. Knowing Twilight, and how bad of a liar she is when put under pressure, she'll probably end up telling Phil what happened. And then, he'll either go after me, or break up with Twilight. She'll feel guilty, hate me, and then it'll all spiral down from there. She may even try to get me kicked out of Ponyville. I thought. "She's going to hate me." I said to myself as I let my mind wander on what could possibly happen. 

There was a knock on the door that broke my thoughts. And thank God whoever it was did. I had started thinking about end of the world stuff. I walked back and opened the door to see Applejack was standing there. "Oh, hey AJ. What's up?" I asked.

"Hey Brendan. Nothin' really. I need some help taking apples over to the shops and was wonderin' if Twilight or you wanted to help?" she asked.

"Well, Twilight's at the hospital with Phil. He had a heart attack yesterday from overwork." I told her.

"Is he alright?" she asked.

"He'll be fine. He doesn't have any other medical conditions yet, so I'm sure he'll be out soon." I said. "I can still help you though." I said.

"Okay. It'll take a few hours since I have so many and, well, you're not necessarily the strongest person to take a whole cart of apples down to the store." she said.

"I'll be fine. I need to get out anyway. My mind has been racing all day." I said, closing the door behind me. 

"What's makin' your mind go all out of whack?" 

"Just stuff. I've been stressed out lately." I said as we walked towards Sweet Apple Acres. 

"Is it about your little crush with Twilight?" she asked teasingly.

I stayed quiet for a little bit. "Well...yeah. Actually it's about a lot of things dealing with Twilight." I said.

"Well what's up?" she asked.

"I...may have...messed up something with her and Phil." I said beating around the bush.

"You kissed her?" 

"Uh...yeah." 

"She loves you?"

"Yep."

"Loves Phil, too?" 

"Yep." 

"But she doesn't know who to pick and is afraid of hurting either you or Phil and you told her to pick whoever made her happy but now you're not so sure because you feel like she might pick Phil because his life is together?" 

"Um...yeah pretty much." I said.

"Well for pony's sake, Brendan, you're twice the man Phil is!" she exclaimed.

"Thanks, Applejack, but I honestly don't feel like it. He's got the job, the ability to support her, the ability to take care of her. While I don't." I said, suddenly feeling very down.

"Look, I don't know what it's like back at your home, but here, it's not all about money and who can support who. It's about who makes you happy." she said.

"She was perfectly happy with Phil before hand." I pointed out. 

"And has she been happy recently with Phil?" she asked.

"No, but that's because she didn't know how to feel about liking both me and Phil at the same time." I said.

"Are you sure? I know Twilight and she don't seem like the kind of pony to have that sort of issues with relationships." she said.

"Have you ever seen her in a relationship before? I thought she was very reclusive before she came to Ponyville and even then never had a real date with someone." I pointed out remembering my first few days hanging out with Twilight and her friends.

"Good point." she admitted. "But what I'm trying to get at is that she'll make the right choice. If it were up to me, I'd have to choose you." she said.

"Well thanks." I said. I still didn't feel any better, but at least she was trying. We walked up to the fence of Sweet Apple Acres and began piling the apples into the carts. Big Mac kept bringing more and more from the orchard and I began to wonder if the orchard was just an endless void of simply apple trees.

"Alright, these two are full. Ya' ready?" she asked.

"Yeah." I said grabbing the two rods that stuck out of the cart that were usually meant to be attached to a saddle or something. "So how far is the store?" I asked. 

"All the way on the other side of town." she said as she began walking.

I tried to follow her but only moved a few inches. I pulled harder and moved another few inches. Oh boy...this is going to be a long day... I thought.

I pulled the cart behind her, and once we got onto some gravel roads, the wheels actually started working and didn't get stuck in the mud or other dips in the grassy roads. I pulled for what seemed like hours and when we finally got to the store, I thought my arms were going to fall off. "Ya' doin' alright, SugarCube?" she asked me.

"Yeah." I huffed. "Just...peachy...." I said trying to catch my breath. 

"You really are out of shape." she said chuckling. "It's only a 15 minute walk." 

I gave her the bird and she couldn't help but laugh. "C'mon. They've got some drinks inside for us." she said. I followed her into the store and was relieved that this was one of the few stores to have put in an A/C unit since humans started living here.

"Hey guys!" I heard Rainbow Dash call on the other side of the store. I looked over to see her and Fluttershy walking towards us. "What's up?" 

"We just brought over the apples for the store. Brendan helped out, which is why he's huffing like a sick dragon." Applejack said. I glared at her. I wasn't that out of shape, but I was more of a sprinter and running athlete, not an upper body athlete.

"Really? Brendan out of breath? I've only seen that after a hard game of soccer." Rainbow Dash said.

"He had to pull and hold an apple cart from falling down a hill on the way here." she said. Halfway through our journey we had to go downhill, and while a pony may be able to hold the cart back with their stiff back, my flimsy arms didn't want to do that and wanted to give way. It nearly killed me.

"Maybe we can help bring the carts back." Rainbow Dash offered. 

"That would be great." I said, finally catching my breath. 

"Let me get some of my animal feed first." Fluttershy said.

"Okay that's fine. We were about to get something to drink since sweaty mcthirsty over here can't hold a cart to save his life." she said, with a smile.

"Last time I help you with a chore." I said.

"No it ain't." she said.

I chuckled. It was true. I probably would end up helping her again. But not with apple transportation. We got our drinks, which were disappointedly bland, and made our way back to the orchard.

"So, what happened with you and Twilight?" Fluttershy asked. 

"Yeah, what's up with you two? Twilight's been very dodgy about it when I ask her." Rainbow chimed in.

I told them what happened and how she had been feeling.

"Ah, don't worry about it." Rainbow Dash said.

"Why shouldn't he?" Fluttershy asked.

"Because she's obviously going to pick Brendan!" 

"Umm...but why? I mean, no offense, but he doesn't really have anything to offer other than making her happy. And while that is good for now, what about down the road and they run into financial issues?" Fluttershy mentioned. 

"That's a load of hooey. Do ya' really think the Princess will let that happen?" Applejack said. 

"Just because she's her student, doesn't mean she can disobey the law. Yeah, the Princess may be able to pardon it once or twice, but after awhile, it just shows favoritism and I don't think that would work well. It would lead to resentment towards Twilight if it came off like she could do whatever she wanted without fear of being punished." she said.

"But that's not the case here!" Rainbow said. "He does have a job and he is trying to get a few extra bits for a house." 

"Rainbow, if I didn't constantly spend it on recreation and hanging out with Twilight, I'd probably have enough for one now." I admitted.

"And what's wrong with having fun?" she asked.

"When it's supposed to be for a place to live, it's really not smart to spend money on fun." Applejack said.

"Look, can we not talk about this? I'm already stressing enough about it, and the talk about not having a house isn't helping." I said.

"Hehe, sorry." Rainbow Dash said. "But seriously! Don't worry about it!" 

We walked back to the orchard, this time with Rainbow Dash carrying the cart. I didn't feel like killing my arms again, this time going uphill. "So, Rainbow Dash, when do the Wonderbolts return to Ponyville?" I asked.

"Not for awhile. They're looking for ways to incorporate humans into their flying routine. They'd be flying side by side with the Wonderbolts. Lucky jerks if you ask me." she said, obviously miffed about the whole thing.

"I'm sure it's just a way for us to merge our cultures together." Applejack said.

"Doesn't mean ponies will like it." I said.

"Who cares what those kind of ponies think? They're all stuck up anyways." 

"Couldn't agree more." I said with a smile. 

After we returned to the orchard, we all helped her finish a few of the chores. With all of us working on it, we finished at around mid afternoon. Rainbow Dash had to prepare for a weather job tomorrow and Applejack was beat. I walked FLuttershy back to her cottage since she had to take care of her animals. "I hope Angel doesn't get too overworked about me being slightly late to feed him." she said.

"He'll be fine. He can go an hour without eating." I said.

"Maybe. But I hate him being uncomfortable." she said.

"You spoil him too much."

She chuckled. "Maybe. So, about you and Twilight? Um, I know you said you didn't want to talk about it, but...why did you?" 

"Why did I what?" 

"Kiss her? I mean, you knew she was with Phil, so I guess I'm just confused as to why you kissed her." she said.

"Well...I really didn't know what else to do. She had told me how she felt, and I was at a loss for words. I just did what I thought I had to do." I said. "I mean if I didn't, I don't think I'd have a chance with her." 

"Maybe. But I don't know. It just seems low." she said quietly. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Um...like...forcing her to choose between you two...it just seems unfair to her." she said.

"How's it unfair?" I asked. "I don't think it's fair to either of us if she likes us both but won't choose one of us." I said.

"Perhaps. But you wouldn't have known about it unless you tried to get a date with her." she pointed out. 

"Or I'd find out later."

"Brendan, I think you're a great guy, but I'm not sure if Twilight will be able to choose between you two. I do think you're better for her, but Twilight might feel guilty about it and then regret choosing whoever she chooses. And if she chooses you, she may resent the fact that you forced her to choose. Same with Phil, if she chooses him."  she explained.

We walked in silence for a little bit. She made some good points. I didn't mean to force her to choose, but maybe if she did she would hate me. Then I would lose a good friend. And even if I didn't lose a friend, things would be different between us. I sent the thought out of my head. I didn't want to think about that. Just in case it did happen.

We arrived at her cottage and Angel was laying on the front porch. "Looks like your drama queen is alright." I said.

She picked him up and cradled him. "He'll be fine after I give him some food." she said. "You're not mad at me, are you?" she said. The rabbit shook his head and hugged her. "I wasn't talking to you Angel." she said looking to me.

"What me?" I asked. "Why would I be mad at you?" 

"For everything I said earlier about Phil and you. And about what could happen if she chooses one of you." 

I shook my head. "No, Fluttershy. I'm not mad." I said. Fluttershy was one of the few ponies here that I could never get mad at. 

"That's good. I hope everything works out for you." she said. "I'll see you later." 

I left and began my walk home. It was a good 10 minute walk, but that was fine. I liked being alone after a time like that. Too much socializing made me enjoy my alone time even more. As I walked through town I saw numerous ponies out with their families. It reminded me of home. We didn't really go out much, and when we did it was usually for dinner. We didn't talk too much about what we did, we didn't hold conversations, but they were still family and I enjoyed their company. Even if my sister got on my nerves more than anything else.

I arrived at the library sooner than I thought as I remembered my home. I opened the door and walked in. As I closed the door behind me, I was met with a fist in my face.
> Chapter 9
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I placed my hand on my face and I felt blood running down my nose. "Phil!" I heard Twilight say before I felt another punch hit my ear, leaving it ringing. "Stop it!"

I rolled away from him and stood up. I wasn't a fighter, but I was fast enough to avoid his hits. Or so I hoped. My vision was blurry, but I could still make out Phil. I dodged a hit from him and moved to the right. He quickly turned towards me and tried to hit me again. I was able to move away from it and land a small hit on his shoulder, but in all honesty it was pathetic.

"Both of you stop it!" I heard Twilight shout as he tried to punch me again. I ducked and kicked his legs out from under him. He fell hard on his face and I got a little confident. Until he pulled on my leg and sent me flat on my back. The impact knocked the wind out of my lungs and I saw him stand up shaking his head. 

"Why!?" he shouted at me.

"Why what?" I gasped.

"You know what the hell I'm talking about!!" he shouted. "And you!" he said pointing to Twilight. "You betrayed my trust! I cared about you and you threw it out the window!" 

"Phil, that's not what-" she started but was cut off. 

"No I know what happened!" he shouted. "You met someone new, thought I was old news, wanted some excitement, and cheated on me!"

"Phil, we didn't-" I started.

"Please I know what you two did. Kissing and sleeping together, hell what else have you all done, huh? What else!?" he exclaimed.

"We didn't sleep together Phil!!" Twilight exclaimed. "I would never do that to anyone. You know that." she said.

"Yeah, well I don't know what to believe. I used to believe that you were someone who wouldn't cheat or lie to me. Someone who I could trust. Yet that got thrown out the window when you decided to kiss him and have him sleep in your bed. What, you thought I'd be okay with him kissing you? Things were perfectly fine with us until he showed up! I'm done. Hope you two have a great life together." Phil said and he left the library.

Twilight stood there, silent and unmoving. I slowly stood up, the air returning to my lungs. "What the hell did you tell him?" I asked.

"I...I..." she stammered, shocked by what had happened. "I just...told him that you told me something...I was honest with him and told him everything. I couldn't lie to him Brendan. He...he said he wanted to talk to you. He was very upset...but I didn't think he would go as far as to hit you..." she said, still trying to register what had happened.

"I'm sorry...I didn't think it would go this far. I didn't mean for you two to..." I hesitated. 

"Brendan..." she said turning to me. I could see that she was mad, and I'm not sure if she was mad at me, Phil, or both of us. "You knew I was with Phil...why did you have to kiss me? Why did you have to ruin this!?" she said, tears forming in her eyes. 

"I didn't mean-" 

"For this to happen? To ruin a good relationship?" 

"Hey, remember you said you loved me too." I pointed out.

"Yeah? Well you can go buck yourself and get the hell out!" she said, using her magic to open the door. 

The hell is wrong with her?? I thought. This was not like her. I had never seen her like this and it was completely out of character. "Twilight, wait."

"I said, Get. The. Hell. Out."  This time she used her magic to grab my shirt and basically threw me out. She slammed the door closed and I just stood there, shocked. 

"Twilight..." I said quietly. The door opened and my heart jumped a little, hoping she wasn't really kicking me out. And then my bags hit my head. The computer bag, the backpack, another one I don't remember having full of the books I had given her to read, all of it. They fell on the ground and my heart sank. "Please..." 

It was quiet. I slowly grabbed my belongings and left, unsure of what to do. I couldn't tell if I was mad, sad, or what. Everything happened so fast that I couldn't register it. I walked to the fountain in the park just outside Ponyville and sat on one of the benches. I didn't normally come out here because while there are many who are okay with humans, there are just as many who hate us. But I didn't care. I needed a place to think. 

It was a bad idea though. Without warming I started sobbing. I knew I screwed up. Nothing good could have come from kissing her. Or telling her how I felt. Or telling her to choose one of us. And now, because of me, she lost both. I felt terrible, as if my whole world was crashing down. i lost her... I thought. There was no way I could get her back, nothing I could do to get her to even talk to me again.

I don't know how long I stayed there, but it had to have been a few hours. The sun had gone down, the crickets and fireflies had all woken up, I looked up, my eyes feeling heavy. 

"Brendan?" I heard a voice say behind me.

I quickly turned around and saw Rainbow Dash standing there, looking at me confused. "What are you doing out here?" 

"Oh. No reason. Just thought I would have a look at the stars tonight." I said, wiping my eyes. I was hoping she would buy it and not question further.

"Are you okay?" 

"Yeah." I said, barely holding it together.

"You sure?" she asked again. I lost it again. "Hey hey hey, sorry didn't mean to make you cry!" she said, walking over to me. "C'mon. Wipe away the water works." she said, taking a seat next to me.

"Sorry." I said, stifling the tears. Look at yourself, Brendan. Man up. Stop the crying.

"Don't be. Whatever's got you like this has to be important. I've never seen you lose your emotions like that." she said. I normally had a really good handle on my emotions. I could throw on a happy face and just hold the sad moments in without any trouble. Eventually the went and it was okay. But not this, and I really didn't want to talk about it, so I stayed quiet.

"Hello? You still there? Don't faze out on me." she said. I still didn't say anything. "Ok. I get it. You don't want to talk about whatever's bothering you. But hey. I got an idea to help you feel a little better."

"Like what?" I asked.

"C'mon. Follow me." she said. I sighed and stood up, grabbing my bags and followed her. 

I wasn't sure where we were going. There were still places here I hadn't been since I stayed in a lot. "Where are we going?" I asked. 

"A place where you can loosen up." she said. We kept walking and after a few minutes we came upon what looked like the local bar.

"Seriously?" I asked her.

"Why not?" she asked.

"I'm shy about a year from drinking." I told her.

"Maybe where you're from, but here once you're 18, you're free to drink whatever you want." she said. "I don't come here too often because I don't like how it can mess with my senses, but you look like you need a drink." she said. I followed her inside. I'd only had maybe one drink in my life? Maybe? But I didn't have anything else to do.

"Hey Berry! Can I get two ciders?" Rainbow asked the bartender behind the counter. The mare threw across two mugs of cider and Rainbow passed me one. "Here. Just something to take the edge off." 

"Thanks." I said. I hesitated before taking a sip. It wasn't bad, but it left a weird taste in my mouth. 

"So, what happened between you and Twilight?"  she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"She told us. You think she wouldn't tell us when she lost the two most important guys in her life?" 

I took a bigger swig of the bubbly cider. "Yeah, well it doesn't matter. She doesn't want to see me. She needs to fix her relationship with Phil." I said.

"Why not with you?"

"Because I messed up. I made all this happen. If I hadn't kissed her everything would be okay." I said.

"Look, Brendan, you couldn't have stopped it. Yeah you sped up the process, but she was going to have to tell Phil how she felt about you eventually. You know she's a terrible liar." Rainbow said, 

"I think she would have hid it from him. She did a good job of doing it before." I pointed out.

"Maybe."

"What would you have done?" I asked her.

"If we had swapped places? I'd deck you on the floor when you kissed her the first time." she said.

I don't know why I asked the athletic tomboy what she would do in Twilight's place. They weren't very similar, except for loving the Daring Do books. "Right." I said, chuckling.

"But I don't think Twilight will just leave you. She cares too much for you." she said. 

"How do you know?" I asked her.

"I just do." she said. I didn't believe her.

She sighed. "Okay, but if you tell anyone, I swear I'll kill you." she said. "The way she acts and the stuff she's done for you are things I would love to have someone do for me. I can see in how she acts that she wants to be with you. How Fluttershy reads faces is like how I read small, tiny actions. It's the little things she does for you. She's stopped her studying to talk to you, she's let you sleep in and taken over some of your shifts at the library. Hell, even when she was pissed with you, she still looked out for your best interests. Well, you know, minus today." she said.

"Yeah, because kicking me out and leaving me homeless is exactly how to show you care." I said. My eyes grew as I made a realization. "I'm homeless..." I slammed my head on the table and groaned. "Great." I said, muffled by the table.

"You know I'd offer you to stay at my house, but-" 

"No please, let me up to your cloud mansion. I think the fall back down to Earth would be a great gift." I said, finishing off the cider.

"Don't be like that. Everything will work itself out." she said.

"Did she really do all that?" I heard a voice say behind me.

I turned around and saw a face I was in no mood to see. "What do you want?" I told Phil as he sat down next to Rainbow Dash.

"Well...at first I came here to get flat out wasted. But...I heard a little about what she was saying. Is it true?" he asked me.

"I mean I guess so. I just assumed she was being a nice friend. I didn't realize she liked me until yesterday." I said.

"I'll let you two talk this out. If you need me I'll be playing pool with the boys." Rainbow Dash said walking over to the pool table. Most of the players were humans, but the occasional pony would join in. And Rainbow was more than an occasional player.

"I got $20 on the boys." Phil said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Double that for Rainbow Dash." I told him.

He chuckled. "You okay?" he asked.

"Nose isn't broken or crooked and I don't think anything is permanently damaged. Well besides my spirit." I said.

"That's good." he said. The mare brought us both another cider. I hadn't asked for one, but if I was going to be talking with Phil, the drink would be welcome.

"So, how'd she tell you?" I asked.

"She tried lying about it. Called her out on it and, well you saw how I reacted." he said.

"So you only knew for a few minutes before I got back?"

"Yep." he said, taking a drink.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to get in between you two." I said.

"My biggest question is why. Why did you kiss her when you knew we were together?" he asked me.

I looked at him. "The same reason you would have. I love her. Much like you do. And I'm sorry, but she had to choose one of us to be happy." I said.

"And now she has neither of us." he said finishing my thought.

"Yeah."

"So what are we going to do about it?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well we both love her. And I get the feeling you just want her to be happy." he said. "So, what are we going to do?"

"I guess we could both walk up to her, tell her we talked and that we're okay with whoever she chooses." I said.

"But can we put her in that situation?" he asked. "I don't want her resenting whoever she chooses."

"Well what else is there to do. She's not happy now, she wasn't happy loving us both, and she deserves to have one of us." I said.

"Does she?"

"What?"

"Sorry, I guess that's the wrong question. The better question is...do we deserve her?" he asked.

I thought about it, and we didn't. We didn't deserve someone like her, least of all me. She was always nice to me, giving me a place to stay, a job, and a fantastic star display system. And I repaid her by ruining her relationship. "I guess not. Well, at least I don't. Why wouldn't you?" I asked him.

"I never treated her like she treated me. Some of it was because of work, but most of it was the fact that I was shy." he said.

"Shy? You're not shy. You're one of the most out going people I've seen. Well, minus Pinkie Pie." I said.

"It's a facade. I don't do well when it comes to talking to girls. I get clammy, nervous, and say the stupidest things." he said, reminding me of myself. "I do it to try and look stronger. I feel that if I look the part, maybe I'll become that. Hasn't helped though." he said sighing.

"She's miserable right now. Phil, what you need to do is go back to her and tell her you're sorry and that you want to fix things. You were just mad and upset that you weren't thinking properly." I said.

He smiled. "And that's why I don't deserve her." he said.

"Between the two of us you deserve her more."

"No I don't. Brendan, you have only looked out for her happiness. You're doing it now, putting her happiness before yours. You don't care what happens to you, only that the one you love is happy. If I were you, I wouldn't have done that. In fact, I would've blown me off. But you haven't. You know you deserve her more, but you don't care. It's admirable." Phil said.

"It's nothing special." I said.

"But it is. Most people aren't going to do what you just did. They'd go out and take the opportunity to win her back. You don't care who she's with as long as she's happy." he told me.

"Then why aren't you fighting to get her back?" I asked. "If you were in my shoes, why haven't you gone back to her?" I asked.

"Because...I can't face her. Not after what I did." he said. I scoffed. It didn't make sense . He was just  angry. Twilight would understand. "You know she loves you more than she does me." he said.

"How do you know that?"

"Because it's how she looks at you, acts around you. Hell, she even brightens up when you're around." 

"Funny. Rarity said the same thing." I said taking another swig.

"Even more proof that she does." Phil said.

I didnt say anything. I messed it all up and I couldn't go back and expect her to just welcome me back with open arms. 

"Besides...I'm probably leaving this place." Phil said.

"Why?" I asked confused. He had a nice business here. Life was pretty nice for him.

"Been missing home like crazy. Twilight was the only one who made me stay, but now that I lost her, well, nothing here for me really. The hospital will be fine without me."

"Why not just visit?" I asked. "Then come back after the trip."

"Because it'll be hard to leave them again. My sister is battling cancer and my older brother is leaving for the military. Parents are going to need someone back home."

I looked down at my feet. Him talking about his siblings made me miss my sister. I understood his reasoning for leaving now. "You should be there then. Your sister will need to see her brother." I said.

"Yeah. Last I heard she went in for her second chemo treatment, brother ships out in a few weeks, and my parents would be alone." he said.

"Trying to convince yourself?" I asked. 

He smiled. "I guess."

"Well family is important. Do what you need to do." I said. "I hope your sister kicks cancer's ass. And I hope your brother stays safe." I said, placing a hand on his shoulder. 

"Thanks." he said smiling. "Well, I gotta go. Tomorrow I have to be in early at the hospital, and the next day, will probably buy my ticket home." he said. 

"Well good luck to you." I said, holding my hand out for a handshake. He shook it and left the bar.

"Treat her well." he told me. "She deserves you. Just make sure you deserve her." he said and walked out of the building.

I looked over at Rainbow who was completely destroying the others at pool. I finished my drink and paid the bartender for both of our drinks. I only had a few bits on hand, so I had to find a place for the night. I couldn't go to a motel with the few bits I had left. I walked out, knowing Rainbow would be too wrapped up in her game to know I was gone. 

I grabbed my bags as I left, thinking about what Phil and I had talked about. I normally was happy when those I cared about were happy. But I guess I did put my happiness behind other's. I couldn't help but feel somewhat sorry for him. He just lost Twilight, his brother leaving for the military, and his sister was battling cancer. It's a lot for one guy to go through. I kept walking and found myself at the park. I found an empty patch of grass and laid on my back, staring at the stars. I placed my backpack under my head and used it as a pillow. As the stars twinkled, I thought about Twilight, Phil, family, friends, everyone who I left behind for this new place. Phil had a good reason for leaving, and with Twilight and him no longer a thing and him too afraid to go back and talk to Twilight, he really didn't have anything left here. 

I sighed. Was it really okay for me to do this? To just go straight to Twilight, get her back, and be in a relationship with her right after things ended with Phil? Was that right? I don't want to just be a rebound... I thought.

I shook it from my head. "No. I wouldn't be a rebound. She said she loved me. If she did, she wouldn't date me after Phil and then ditch me. That's not her." I whispered to myself. I yawned. I didn't want to go to sleep here in the middle of the park, but I didn't have anywhere else to go. The few clouds that were in the sky blocked some of the moonlight. I slowly closed my eyes as the cool air covered me like a blanket. I'll think about it more tomorrow. Twilight needs time to think about it too. I thought, and fell asleep. 
> Chapter 10
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I woke up as the sun light shone on my face. I covered my eyes as I opened them, trying to protect them. "Morning already?" I said to myself. I sighed. The sun had just risen over the horizon. I thought. I stood up and stretched my aching limbs from the hard ground. I picked up my bag and walked towards town. I really didn't know what I was going to do since Twilight kicked me out, but I really wanted to talk to her about it. I really just wanted her to hear me out. But I wasn't sure if she would even want to listen to me. 

I walked through town thinking things over. I figured I should go eat something first and then head over to Twilight's. I wouldn't be able to think straight if I was hungry. I made my way into SugarCube Corner to get myself a morning muffin. Mr. Cake was at the counter as he handled the morning shifts at the counter while the others were in the back baking. 

"Hey Brendan!" he said with a smile. "The usual morning breakfast?" 

"Hey Mr. Cake. And yeah that sounds good. How ya' been?" I asked him.

"Not bad. Had to work double shifts since Pinkie's been busy with whatever Pinkie does." he said, taking one of the muffins out of the back.

"Doesn't she have to show up to work though?" I asked.

"She does, but she's in for an hour, finishes up everything she has to do, and then leaves. No idea why she does it. It's unlike her." he said. 

"Unlike her to finish her job quickly?" I asked.

"No, that she leaves the bakery so suddenly afterwards." he clarified. "Here you go, on the house." 

"Are you sure?" I said as I reached for my bag that had my sad collection of bits.

"Of course." he said. 

"Well thank you." I replied with a smile. "I hope you have a great day." 

"You too, Brendan." he replied. 

I walked out of the bakery taking a bite out of my muffin. Chocolate. God I forgot how much I loved chocolate. I took another bite before taking a soccer ball in the head. I fell on my back. Hard. I opened my eyes in a daze and it seemed like the buildings around me decided to start doing a little dance.

"Son of a..." I started to say before I felt my head send out a pain that felt like a baby was being born out of my ear. I saw a figure standing over me. It looked blue. Or red. I don't really know what it looked like. There was just an array of colors flying over me.

"You okay dude?" I heard a voice say.

"I think you need to have better aim." I said as I pushed my hands to my temples. 

"Look, Brendan, get up. You've taken worse hits to the head than that." she said.

"Yeah...usually I'm able to prepare myself for the blow before I receive it." I said, trying to stand up.

"Woah, woah, easy there buddy. I admit you've taken harder hits, but you're acting strange. How's the head?" she asked.

"Sunshines and rainbows." I told her.

"No, that's just my mane you're seeing." Rainbow Dash said. 

"You know, maybe next time you could play soccer where there's a field..." I said, able to sit up just a tiny bit.

"Dang, it got you good. The field is really over to the left just a bit." she said, motioning over. I turned my head, which made the pain worse and saw the goals that were put up just a few months ago. "Oh. Well damn." I said.

"C'mon. Let's get you up. Maybe Twilight can help." she said.

"Oh yeah...about that..." I said. 

"I know, I know, the whole falling out thing. Everyone knows." she said.

"Oh fantastic." I said, slamming my head into the floor. I let out a slight groan as I realized my mistake too late. 

"Feel better?" she asked sarcastically.

I tried to raise my hand and just show what I wanted to say, but the searing pain in my head was killing me.

"Alright, alright. Look, you've probably got a concussion. So hitting your head back on the floor was the stupidest thing you could've done." she said. "C'mon. Up ya' go." she said, giving me a few pulls to get me back on my feet. 

"Careful!" I exclaimed, pinching my eyes shut and putting more pressure on my temples.

"Look, I know I'm doing a lot of things I probably shouldn't be doing, but we gotta get to Twilight's. She's probably got a spell that can relieve the pain." she said.

"I'd rather go to a hospital." I said.

"Alright, I guess that does it. You've gone crazy saying you want to go to a hospital. How hard did it hit you?" she asked.

"Remember when you crashed after attempting one of your new tricks last month?" I reminded her. "Imagine that. But about ten times worse." I said.

"So yeah, you've gone crazy. Twilight's going to have to do more than just fix a concussion." she said. We slowly made our way through town towards the library. Each step just made my head hurt more than anything else. 

When we reached the library, Rainbow knocked on the door. "You know she's not going to be happy to see me." I said.

"Yeah, well, you're having a medical emergency. She can suck up whatever misplaced hatred she has for you and help you out." she said. We heard footsteps and I felt my stomach drop. Twilight came to the door and smiled when she Rainbow Dash. Then she saw me and her face went from a happy smile, to a glare of hatred.

Yeah, she's still mad. I thought. "Twilight-" I started saying before Rainbow Dash cut me off. 

"Dummy here decided to take a soccer ball to the head. He has a concussion and he needs some help." Rainbow said.

"Did the ball put some brain matter back into place?" she asked.

"No, but it did make him heavier." she said.

She rolled her eyes. "Come in." she said and moved out of the way.

We walked in and they sat me down at the kitchen table. Twilight grabbed a glass of water and set it in front of me. "So..." Rainbow Dash said, trying to break the awkward tension between us.

"Rainbow can you watch him? I need to grab some things." she said walking out of the kitchen.

"Uh, sure." she said. 

After Twilight left I let out a sigh. "She's more pissed off at me than I thought possible."

"Really? I thought she handled it better than expected."

"Are you nuts? Did you see how she looked at me? That was just pure unadulterated hatred." I said.

"Ah, she'll be fine. Don't sweat it." she said.  

"You do realize that I destroyed her relationship with Phil right?"

"No, you didn't ruin it. You just told her how you felt. Phil's the one who over reacted." she said.

"You're her friend. Shouldn't you be mad at me for ruining something she had? And why did you all even want me to get with her anyways since she was with Phil? Aren't you all supposed to be for her happiness?" I asked.

"Why do you think we wanted you two together? You made her happier than Phil ever could." she said. 

"And now she isn't happy at all. She doesn't have me, she doesn't have Phil-" 

"Okay, so I just need you to be still so I can cast this spell. Since I'm dealing with a head injury, I need you to concentrate as much as you can." she said.

"Right because I'm able to concentrate with this pain." I said.

"You'll be fine." she said.

I sighed. "Okay. So what do you need me to do." 

"Just be still, look at me, and concentrate." she said.

"Will do, Doctor." I said looking at her.

Her horn let out a soft purple glow and I felt a tingle in my head. "So...mind reading?" I asked.

"I don't want to know what's going on in your mind. And even if I wanted to, a spell that does that requires both participants to want the spell to happen." she explained.

"Then what's the point in the spell if the other person knows?" I asked.

"Focus." she said, slightly annoyed.

I stayed quiet while she worked. The pain wasn't in my head anymore, but I still felt fuzzy. She stopped the spell and walked away. "That it?" I asked.

"Yep." 

"My head still feels a little...foggy." I said.

"That's because I only removed the pain. I left the fuzziness there for you." she replied.

"Why?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Because I felt like it." 

"Are you still that mad at me?" I asked.

"Oh of course not." she said, taking a drink of her water. "So, Rainbow, how hard did you kick the ball into his dense skull?" 

"Well I was on the other side of the field and I was trying to get a goal." she said.

"Usually you're supposed to pass the ball to someone who's closer to the goal before you take a shot at the net." I pointed out.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe she could have kicked it a tad bit harder and knocked you out." she said. "Might have saved you the trouble of coming here."

I stayed quiet. I know she was royally ticked off at me, but I didn't know what to do about it. "Well, I'll let you two catch up. You know, gotta get back to my game." Rainbow Dash said. 

"Wait, where are you-" I started saying but she ran out of the kitchen. I heard the door close and my heart sank. I looked to Twilight who was still glaring at me. "Uh...so...how ya' been?" She didn't say anything. I had to look away from her stone cold glare. "Look...Twilight you can't blame me-"

"Why not? You did it. You...made me try and choose. You made me doubt my relationship with Phil." she said.

"I didn't do it on purpose...I...I couldn't just...keep lying to myself and you." I said.

"Why not? You were doing it so well before hand." 

"Well yeah but I just couldn't..." I tried to say. "I just couldn't keep it up."

She stopped looking at me and looked down at the floor. "Brendan...Phil's leaving..." she said shakily.

"Yeah...he told me." I said.

"When did you two talk?" she asked me. 

"Yesterday. At the bar." 

"Brendan you shouldn't drink."

"I didn't go there willingly. Rainbow Dash brought me there." I said.

"Of course she did." Twilight said.

"He overheard me and her talking and he decided to talk to me about if what you felt was true. He told me his sister was battling cancer and his brother was joining the military. His family is going to want someone to be there." I said.

"I know I know...I just wish that things could have ended better." she admitted. 

"Yeah...me too." I said. We didn't say anything for a few minutes. I knew she was thinking of something, but I didn't want to press her on it unless she wanted to. "So, how's Spike?" I asked.

"He's fine. Misses you a little bit, but I've been keeping him occupied with some books." she said. 

"Books? He hates reading. Unless it's a comic book." I pointed out.

"Well...I gave him Death Note..." she said.

"Really? Why?" I asked.

"Because of the moral implications it brings up. It's a lesson he needs to understand. Even those with good intentions can cause horrible consequences." she said.

I swallowed. I had a pretty good feeling she meant what I had done. "I, uh, don't think that's the main thing it's supposed to try and teach." I said.

"I know. But... It's something he can learn from. I mean, he's more mature than he let's on." she said. "And also because it's a really interesting read." 

I smiled. I knew she'd love it. "So, who would you side with?" I asked.

"L and Near. I don't agree with their methods, but they were fighting a criminal who needed to be beaten. And, well, they did." she said.

"Oh I don't know. Being the god of a new world seems like a pretty cool idea." I said jokingly.

"Right, because you could do what he did." she said.

"Yeah you're right. My upbeat moral standing wouldn't allow me to kill anyone. Well, maybe a genocidal maniac, but nobody else." I said. 

She chuckled. "I'm sure you would." she said. 

"Well this is a start." I said.

"Shut up I'm still mad you." she said.

"I know. But even if we can't be together and even if we can't be as good of friends as we used to, at least we won't be resenting each other right?" I said.

She looked at me with a light smile. "Brendan..." 

"Look, no matter how much I want to be with you, it won't matter if you hate me." I said. "I'm going to go. Let you think about it and whenever you feel ready, talk to me." I said, standing up and turning to leave. 

"Brendan wait." she said, walking over to me. I turned to look back to her. "I have been thinking about it. Ever since yesterday it's been all I think about. I don't know how to feel." she said. "I mean...I know how I feel...but I don't know if I should feel like it. You and Phil...you two were the most important people in my life. And I lost you both in one day. I can't...I just can't help but feel guilty. I pushed you both away, you more than Phil."

"It's alright. Just..." I stammered. I just want you to forgive me. To be friends again. To let me win you back. I thought.

"Brendan...I love you. And not like I did Phil. Phil was...he was a nice guy. He was great. But there was just something that I felt like would keep us from being completely happy. There was always something that bothered him. But with you...you joked, you were easy going. You never seemed to be too upset with anything that happened. I know we did some things that you weren't interested in, but you didn't complain. You found something to enjoy out of it. I could be myself. I know Phil tried so hard to make things work...but I just don't think they would have down the road..." she explained.

"Then why were you angry at me when Rainbow and I got here?" I asked.

"Oh, I'm still ticked...and I don't know if I want to be with you anymore...but...I just wanted you to know all that." she said.

I nodded my head and smiled. "Well...I'll let you keep thinking. And when you're ready, come and talk to me." 

"Will do." she said and gave me a small smile. I walked out of the library and headed towards the soccer field. I knew that it probably wasn't the best idea, but you know what, I wanted to play a game of soccer, and possibly get Rainbow back for the head injury. 

She'll be fine. She'll probably decide what she wants in the next few days. I thought. I walked to the field and when I arrived, I took another soccer ball to the head.
> Chapter 11
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I groaned as the ball rolled away from me. "You just don't have any luck do you?" Rainbow asked. 

"Not today. I'm glad it wasn't you who kicked it though." I said.

"How'd you know that?" 

"My head isn't killing me." I said, rubbing my head. It didn't hurt like the last one, but it was still a little sore. 

"Well, these people don't know how to kick a ball properly." she said, motioning to the only human team. 

"How far down are they?"

"Well...10 goals." she said.

"Of course they are."

"Mind giving them a hand?"

"Sorry. I'd like to keep whatever dignity I have left." I said giving a light chuckle. 

"I can't blame you there." she said. "Anyways, I'll see you later. I've got some butt to kick." 

She ran back to the field and passed the ball to a team mate. I walked through town, just to walk. I didn't really know what to do today. I wanted to give Twilight some time to herself, Rainbow was playing soccer, and I didn't feel like working to death with Applejack. Rarity was too much of 

"I guess I could help Fluttershy with her animals." I said to myself. I hadn't really hung out with her since the dinner a few days ago. 

I walked over to the her cottage and knocked on the door. I looked around and saw some of the squirrels running around the trees. The door opened and a carrot hit me in the face. I swear if one more thing gets thrown in my face... I thought. 

"Angel! Be nice." Fluttershy said as her pet bunny hopped away. "I'm sorry about that Brendan. How are you doing?" she asked.

"Well, considering that's the third thing to hit me in the head today, I guess I'm doing okay." I said.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'll be fine. Nothing to worry about." I said.

"Okay, that's good. Come in." she said.

I walked in and she closed the door. "You know you should really train him to be a bit nicer." I said. He stuck his tongue out at me. I had to stop myself as I started to do the same to him. 'Don't copy a rabbit...' I thought. 

"Oh, he's not so bad. He's usually only really bad when he's hungry." she said. 

"Oh, I can understand that." I said. "Never get me upset on an empty stomach." 

"So...um I know I shouldn't be asking about this, but how are you handling the situation with Twilight?" she asked. 

"Oh, well you know...dealing. I mean I think I'm doing okay, but I'm not sure what Twilight is going to do." I said admittedly. 

"Well why not ask her? We're having a movie night tonight." she said.

"Already have. She needs time to think. So that's what I'm going to give her." I said.

"Well, I'm sure she'll do what's best for her." she said as she picked up a squirrel that was gnawing on a table leg.

"I hope so." I said quietly. "Do you need any help with your animals? I figured I could stop by and help out a little bit." 

"Oh, not right now. Thank you though. Phil actually came by a little while ago and helped me with most of my animals." she said.

"Oh. Okay then." I said, disgruntled. Once again Phil is one step ahead of me. I thought to myself. "Well, do you need any other kind of help? Don't have much to do at the moment."

"No, but thank you. Actually, Phil wanted to talk to you. He said it was important, but he wouldn't say what it was about."

"Probably about Twilight." I said.

"I don't think so. He said he'd be at the bowling alley for most of the day and if I saw you to let you know."  she said.

I sighed. "I guess I'll go chat with him. Hopefully it's nothing too bad." 

"I don't think so. He actually seemed excited."

"Did he say what about?" I asked nervously.

"No. But whatever it was it's important to him." she said.

"Alright. Well then I'll go see what it was and hopefully be on the park bench tonight not drunk." I said as I walked to the door.

"You could always stay here tonight." she offered. "You're always welcome here." 

"Thanks. I'll see how I feel tonight. Might be a tad tipsy." I told her. Or a lot. I walked out the door and made my way to town. 

The bowling ally was on the whole other side of town and it took me almost 30 minutes from Fluttershy's house. I had no clue what to expect. The only exciting thing I could think of would be him being able to stay in Equestria, and even though I don't want to fight over Twilight, I had a feeling that we eventually would.

'It's alright. You have to let her decide. Arguing about it will only make it harder on her. I thought. I didn't know what to think anymore. The selfish part of me wanted her to pick me and dump Phil regardless of how she felt, but at the same time, I didn't want her to be unhappy being with me. But I also didn't know what I was going to do if she didn't choose me. I wouldn't be able to live in the library anymore, even if she would let me. It would be too awkward. And if she let me keep working with her at the library it would be just as awkward. 

"If worst comes to worst, I could always go back home..." I said sadly. I did miss my family and friends, but Equestria was so peaceful and everyone got along really well. Well for the most part. They had their issues on different subjects, some of which I was scrutinized for, but overall it was a happy cheery place.

I sighed as a arrived at the bowling alley. "Well, let's see what 'exciting' news Phil has." I said to myself as I walked in. I looked around and noticed that it was unusually empty. Most of the time this place would be packed with leagues and birthday parties. 

"Hey!" I heard Phil shout from across the room. I saw him sitting at a table with a pony in a fancy suit.

"Hey Phil." I said taking a seat at the table. "Fluttershy said you had some exciting news."

"I do." he said with a wide smile. "You remember how I was telling you about heading home?" he said.

I knew it. I thought. "Yeah? What about it?" I said, trying to hide the fact I knew what he was going to say.

"Well I actually won't have to. Mr. Rich here was able to get them a ticket over here. This way I can keep running things at the hospital and still be near them." 

"After what you did for me, it's the least I could do." he said in an accent I recognized immediately. 

"I was just doing my job, but I do appreciate you doing this for me." Phil said. "And tell Brendan the other thing."

"Ah, yes. Phil told me that you're an avid gamer, or that you used to be." he said.

I raised an eyebrow at Phil. "How'd you know that?"

"What you think I didn't ask Twilight about you with how much time you spent around her?" 

"Oh." I said. 'That should've been obvious.' I thought.

"Well, ever since humans started to travel to Equestria, I've been looking at new investments to bring over from your land to ours. I looked over some of the top requested items to be approved for trade, and video games were among the top 10. I don't know all the technical aspects or even what kind of games humans enjoy. In Ponyville most of the games are racing or fighting games, such as Pony Kombat. However humans seem to be less interested in those than ponies." he said. 

"Well most of the high selling and profitable games are action shooters and sports games. But you have games here that run on magically powered cells. Why would you need to import human based games?" I asked.

"Supply and demand my friend. If I could garnish up enough resources and provide a solid basis on what humans are looking for in a game, I could write a Trade Agreement Outline for the Princess and Trade Bureau to review. Now I understand that your species is fond of violence, and even though we have some games here that are violent, I would think, for now, we should try and keep the games we want to bring in with as little violence as possible." he explained.

"Okay, but why are you telling me all this? Shouldn't you be discussing this with a business expert?" 

"Bah, most 'business' ponies here are too afraid to try to widen the audience on human goods. They think it would be too costly, that there aren't enough humans here for it to be profitable, without thinking about the aspects for a new demographic." he said.

"But what does this have to do with me? All I can do is say what's a good game or a bad game, and even then that's completely based on opinion. There are games I love that are considered awful by most and games I hate that are loved by most."

"Brendan!" Phil shouted at me. "He wants you to be a partner in his business here. He needs someone who knows gaming to help him expand it here in Equestria. No pony here can do that, and it would be a great to improve relations. You know how our species acts when people try to come over here? They get angry, outraged. They find it offensive and 'blasphemous' because they're talking ponies who use magic!" Phil explained. 

"It would certainly help the Princess regulate other problems with the influx of humans here. Ponyville is lucky, seeing as it's a small human population, but other cities, such as Manehattan, just can't handle the amount of migrants flooding the streets. This market I want to open up here could form a more peaceful bridge between our two races." Mr. Rich said. "So what do you say? Want to help us out here?" 

I had no business being in a business partnership. I had no knowledge in business to begin with and if it flopped I could be out money that I didn't have in the first place.

"Brendan, take the job." I heard Phil whisper to me.

I sighed. "Well if you want to avoid violence, stay away from DOOM." I said with a small smile.

"Excellent!! It's good to have you on board. I'll be in touch with you in a few days once I have the outline ready to be prepped. There are a few more ponies I need to write to before we can get this thing started, but I assure you we'll be ready before the month is over." he said with a smile. 

"Sounds good. I can't wait to hear from you." I told him as he stood and walked out of the door. I turned to Phil with a questioning look.

"What?" he asked.

"Why did you mention my name to him?" I asked.

"Because you're perfect for what he was looking for. Not really someone who knows how to run a business but someone who knows what the people want." he said. "Are you unhappy about it?" he said, confused.

"No, no, I'm excited and glad to be a part of it. I just don't know what caused you to mention my name of all people."

"Well, to be honest I didn't mention your name first. But after awhile and thinking about things, I figured that despite who Twilight picks, you, me, or neither, you would still need a job that pays well. And I doubt you'd still work for Twilight if she didn't choose you." he said.

"So you were looking out for me?" 

He chuckled. "Well when you put it like that you make it sound like we're friends." he said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Well, I appreciate it." I said.

"Look...I know we aren't exactly close, but I was thinking we could go see the new performance at the gazebo and just hang out for a bit. Maybe we can find something in common and that way things aren't as awkward between us." he said.

"That's fair. I mean you did just get me a new job." I said with a light laugh. 

"Great. Let's head on over and see when they start." he said, standing up. I followed him out and we walked towards the gazebo. We talked a little bit and it turns out we have a lot more in common than I had initially thought. We both liked sports, though I was more of a soccer fan and he was more of a baseball guy. We both enjoy Star Wars and agreed on the abomination that ruined the prequels, and we both agreed on why we liked Twilight. Yes I realize how creepy and weird it sounds, but it was just something to talk about. I was very careful not to mention that Twilight thought I was the better kisser. Still thought about it though.

"You ever find it weird?" Phil asked.

"Find what weird?" 

"Just this place. They're technology is so far behind ours, yet they have magic that makes out technology obsolete. For example, phones. We use phones for everything, texting, calling, social media, even games. Yet they just write a letter and cast a spell and it's there instantly." he explained.

"It's just magic email. And only Unicorns can make them go poof." I said.

"True but the point still remains. Everything is organized and most ponies get along really well. Hardly any fights happen and nobody really gets mad." he explained.

"I guess. But with more humans coming over I'm not sure how long it'll stay like that. Some don't like us already." I said, remembering the two mares from Twilight's library that called me a Frula.

"They're just scared of new things. Give them time. As long as we show that we're not dangerous or that we're overall very nice, I'm sure they'll turn around." he said. 

We walked over to the Gazebo which was already starting to fill up with ponies and found the schedule. "Oh they moved it to 5. Well that's good. That's in about half an hour." he said, checking his watch. "Hey find a good seat and I'm going to grab some snacks." he said. I grabbed a bench that was in the front row and to the right of the stage. I had no clue what the play was going to be, but I had hopes it was going to be good. Equestria didn't have many awful plays, probably because of all the magic effects they used. 

I felt something vibrate in my backpack, which I had completely forgot I still had with me. I opened it up and pulled out my phone and found that someone was able to get a call through. I didn't know the number but I answered it out of curiosity. "Hello?" I said. I could hear a voice but couldn't make out what they were saying. There was a lot of static breaking up the words. 

"I'm sorry, you're breaking up. I can't hear you. Hello?" I said again. "Hello?" 

I heard a loud bang behind me. I dropped my phone as another bang rang out and I felt the left side of my chest explode in pain. I shouted as I keeled over and heard more loud bangs from behind me. Ponies were screaming and running all over the place, trampling me and slamming into my chest. I tried to roll out of the way but I kept getting kicked. My ears were ringing and I rolled onto my back before a hoof landed on my head and everything went dark.
> Chapter 12
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I groaned. My head felt like it was split open as I opened my eyes. There were bright lights and a loud ringing in my ears. My throat felt like it was closed off. I moved my head and looked around. I was hooked up to a machine that was monitoring something. Probably my heart rate and blood pressure. I looked to my left and saw Twilight sitting in a chair, writing a letter to someone.

"Twilight?" I groaned.

She turned to me, relieved and smiling. "Brendan! You're awake!" she said, giving me a tight hug. I winced as a sharp pain shot through the left side of my chest. "Oh, I'm sorry!" she said letting go of me. "How are you feeling?" 

"Like my head is split open and my chest is on fire." I said. "What happened?" I asked. 

"You were shot. By some asshole. The bullet hit your heart and you were trampled by a few ponies, but you're okay. You're safe." she said relieved. 

"I was shot? How? By who?" I asked. Guns were illegal in Equestria and they were scanned for once someone arrived. All luggage was scanned before and after arriving. 

"I don't know. The Princess is looking into it." she said. "I'm just so glad you're okay." she said, tears forming in her eyes. She gave me a kiss and a lighter hug.

I heard the door open as a nurse walked in. "Mr. Rogers?" I heard her say. "I'm Nurse Redheart. How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts and my chest is in pain." I said.

"Do you remember what happened?" she asked.

I blinked a few times as I tried to remember. "I was at the Gazebo...and I heard a loud bang." I said. I tried to move my back up but I felt a sharp pain in my left side of my chest. 

"Take it easy." she said calmly. "You were shot. You're currently at Ponyville's Hospital for Humans." she said. "You're alright, we removed the bullet and your stable." she said.

"Wait...this is Phil's hospital right?" I asked. He was the only one with a human hospital in the area. "He was there as well, is he okay? What happened?" I said a little too frantically, hurting my wound.

"I don't know. A lot people and ponies were hurt. I'll go check and see what I can find out, okay?" she said. I nodded my head. "Is there anyone you want us to contact?"

"Um...no...no I'm good." I said, looking over at Twilight.

"Okay. I'll send another nurse in to get some vitals and painkillers for your wound." she said, patting my leg and walking out of the room. 

I sighed. "How did someone get a gun here in Equestria? The screenings for coming over here are insane!" I exclaimed.

"I don't know. But I swear the Princess and I are going to find out how this happened." she said. 

I laid my head back and stared at the ceiling. "I'm sorry." I said.

"For what?" she asked.

"For everything. Just what I did and how it spiraled from there." I said. "I didn't want to make things complicated." I said.

She put her hoof on my hand. "It's okay. You don't have to be sorry." 

"Do you know what happened to Phil?" I asked.

"No. They took him in for surgery and wouldn't let me in. I looked for you and waited for you to wake up." she said. "You were out for almost 12 hours." 

"Feels like a lot longer." I said. "Was anyone seriously hurt?" I asked. 

"Not that I'm aware. A few ponies and people were shot as well, but I don't think anything too serious happened. A few went into surgery but they've all come out okay." she said. "Both hospitals have been working hard to help everyone. They've sent some human doctors over to the other hospital and some ponies over here."

"Did they catch the guy?" 

"No. He made ran out of town once some authorities arrived. But they're looking for him." she said.

I heard a knock at the door and saw Nurse Redheart walk in. "Hey." she said.

"Did you find Phil?" I asked.

"I did." she said. "He had a few wounds on his chest and legs. He was helping others escape the area and ended up saving a filly." 

"Is he okay?" Twilight asked, nervous.

She walked over and sat down at the edge of the bed. "I'm sorry. He lost too much blood before he went in for surgery. By the time they started operating, it was too late." she said. "I'm so sorry."

I just stared at her. "No. That can't be right." 

"I'm so sorry. He was a hero. He saved a lot of lives." she said. 

I looked over at Twilight who was staring blankly at her, mouth agape. "I'll give you two some time. I'm so sorry." she said and walked out of the room. 

"Twi....I..." I stammered. What could I say? Nothing I said would make this better. 

I saw tears form in her eyes. "No..." she said quietly. "No...he's not..." I sat up, despite the pain in my chest, and pulled her into a tight hug. She started to cry into my chest, whimpering. "I'm sorry." I whispered. She started to cry harder and huffed in between sobs. I teared up myself. He wasn't that bad of a guy. He didn't deserve what happened. 

We sat there and I let Twilight cry. I didn't say anything. I couldn't say anything. There was nothing I could do that would make this situation better, so I just gave her a shoulder to cry on. I heard the door open and saw Pinkie Pie and Spike walk in, followed by the others. "Hey Twilight." Spike said.

She looked up and sniffled, rubbing her eyes. "Hey." she said weakly. 

"We heard what happened." Pinkie said as they walked over. 

"We're here for ya' sugarcube." They stood around Twilight and they all just held her, not saying a word. 

She cried harder now that everyone was around her. "Thank you." she said quietly. 

I don't know how long we were there just holding each other. I ignored the pain and held Twilight not knowing what to do. She lost Phil completely now. Nothing could bring him back. But all I could do, all any of us could do, was to just be there for her, knowing that she was going to need time.
> Chapter 13
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	After a few days of being left in the hospital, I was glad to finally get out. Twilight stayed with me the entire time, regardless of how many times I told her to go home and get some sleep on an actual bed. She refused, saying that she wanted to be close to me. I couldn't really debate against that. I still couldn't believe what had happened at the Gazebo. It was a shame that someone had to ruin a perfectly nice day and turn it into something awful. 

"How are you feeling?" Twilight asked me.

"Better now that I'm out of that place." I said.

"I know you don't like hospitals but it's going to be okay." she said. "You're going home."

We walked towards the library, unfortunately having to pass by the Gazebo to get there. I looked around the area and was amazed by how many human authorities there were here. "I'm glad they found the bastard." I said. 

"Me too. I really hope he gets the strictest sentence there is." Twilight said. 

"The Equestrian Council going to deal with this? Or are they sending him back to his homeland to face trial?" I asked.

"I'm not sure. The Princess said they were in discussion about what to do with him and how to handle incoming humans so that this doesn't happen again."

"I hope he gets capital punishment. For Phil's sake." I said.

"We'll see." she replied quietly. 

We walked for a few more minutes before arriving at the library. We walked in and I took a seat next to the horse statue in the center of the room. "Is there anything I can get you?" Twilight asked. "I know your chest still hurts. Do you need anything to eat or drink?"

"No, thank you. I think I just need a nap. I said, yawning. The medicine I was given to help heal my wound made me drowsy, and I swear it could knock a manticore on its ass with one pill.

"Okay. Let's go to bed." she said, walking over to me.

"Actually I'll be fine here." I said, pushing the button on the statue. The roof turned into a clear dome and I hit it a few times so I could watch the universe from start to finish. I laid down on the floor and just stared at the ceiling. It was calming and relaxing. Twilight laid down next to me, putting her head on my good shoulder. 

"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked.

"Yeah. I'm more concerned about you." I said, running my fingers through her mane.

"I'll be okay. I'm just glad you're safe...and here with me." she said.

"I know but...after Phil...." I couldn't finish the sentence. 'This isn't right.' I thought. 

"Brendan...can we not talk about that..." she said, fighting back tears.

"Yeah...I'm sorry..." I said. We watched the light show above us in silence. 

There's one thing that doesn't make sense though. I got a call on my phone. I haven't had a charge or even signal since I started living here. So how was someone able to get ahold of me from a phone? I thought. And who was it? I could hardly hear them and couldn't make out a word they were saying. 

"What are you thinking about?" Twilight asked me, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Just about something that happened at the Gazebo." I said. "I received a phone call from someone. I don't know how or from who, but I did. I wasn't able to make out what they were saying, but it's been bugging me." I said. I looked down to her and there were some more tears in her eyes. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"I've been trying to fix your phone so you could make calls back to your home. I figured you'd want to talk to your parents again and get to hear their voices. Were they able to hear you?" she asked.

"I don't know. I hope not. Otherwise...they'd just hear screaming and gunshots. I hope they didn't hear that." I said.

"Do you still have your phone?" she asked.

"No I lost it in the commotion at the Gazebo. I dropped it and I'm pretty sure someone crushed it as they were running from the commotion." I said

"Oh...I'm sorry." she said.

"We've been saying that a lot to each other recently." I said with a light chuckle. "I'll write to them and see how they're doing and if they heard anything. If it really was them." I said.

She scooted up and placed her head in the crook of my neck. I felt her breathe against my neck and I pulled her close. "I love you." she said.

"I love you too." I replied. We stayed silent before falling asleep under the stars of the Universe.


***


I woke up a few hours later with Twilight still sleeping on my chest. I gave her a kiss on her head before I slid her off of me very carefully. I picked her up and carried her to her room and tucked her into her bed. She hadn't been sleeping well the past few days and I wasn't going to let her get another bad nights sleep. 

I carefully closed the door and walked back to the library. I sat down and just stared at the floor. I was still trying to process certain things that happened. A part of was thankful to be alive, but another part of me wishes that I could have done something for Phil. Protected him. For Twilight.

There was a knock at the door. I ignored it at first, but after the third or fourth time I stood up and answered it. I was shocked to see the Princesses standing there. "Hello Brendan." Celestia said to me. "Are you feeling well?" she asked.

"Uh, yeah. Better now." I said. "What, uh, what can I help you with?" I asked, stepping to the side so they could both enter.

"We have some news regarding the Gazebo attacks." Luna said. "Some good, and some bad."

"Well, let's start with the good and sugar coat our way to the bad." I said.

"Firstly, we have the suspect in custody and are prepping him for trial." Celestia said. "Secondly, we figured out how he obtained the weapon. It was slipped in from the Griffon Kingdom's black market. We are working with their government so it doesn't happen again.

"Okay. Good. What kind of punishment is he going to get?" I asked. 

"That's not up to us. He's being tried by your government with witnesses and testimonies from the victims here." Luna said. 

"is that a good idea? I mean I know you need witnesses to provide a guilty verdict, but humans over there...they aren't like the ones who come here. They're very judgmental and many don't think you guys...well sentient. They view you as animals with weird powers that can't be explained. I can guarantee you that you're going to see a lot of aggression. If they don't understand it they get scared." I said.

"You don't seem to think highly of your people." Luna said.

"It's not that...I just know what they're capable of and how they can overreact." I said.

"Well we hope that this will take care of some of our differences and help open trade and improve relations." Celestia said.

"Well, any more good news? Or is it time for the bad?" I asked.

The two sisters looked at each other and Luna gave a light sigh. "Unfortunately, due to the public outcry and fall out from this attack...the Grand Council has decided to place a temporary ban on humans entering Equestria and deport those that are living here." she said quietly.

"What?!" I exclaimed before remembering Twilight was still sleeping. "What do you mean?" I asked, lowering my voice. "They can't just do that, can they?" I asked. 

"They've labeled the attack as a terrorist attack, and gave it a class 5 priority. The voices of those who don't like humans are not the majority of Equestria, but they are loudest and most determined. However, once the trial is over and if everything goes well, humans should be allowed back into Equestria." Celestia explained.

"And if it goes bad?" 

"Then it may take a long time for us to reach an outcome that would allow your species to return." Luna said.

I looked down to the floor. "And there's absolutely nothing you can do?" I asked.

"The only thing we can do is grant immunity to a few humans. We would like to keep the human scientists and doctors here to help with our society, however," Celestia said, "I know how Twilight feels about you. And I'm offering to grant you immunity from the deportation."

"Why are you asking me instead of Twilight? I mean, after Phil...I don't know if she'll want to keep me around with all those memories of him." I said.

"While Twilight may be my sister's pupil, we understand she's experiencing a great loss. While my sister wanted to ask Twilight directly, I made the suggestion to speak with you and make the decision be up to you. You're a rational human and we believe you will make the right choice." Luna said.

"There are both positives and negatives to both choices. Neither are ideal, but we are only able to grant a few immunities." Celestia stated.

"But why me? I'm just a normal human living in a library. That's not really something to be proud of and it would be a waste of an immunity." I said. "You could use it to keep a highly experienced doctor or scientist and have them help you guys prevent another event."

"While that is true, they would be stationed in Canterlot, out of the general public eye. You would be here in Ponyville, living with the ponies around you peacefully, showing that it is possible for us to live together in harmony. And your relationship with Twilight, while slightly unorthodox, would be a great boost in the public eye. It would show that not all of you are brutes who are out to harm others." she said.

"But also remember that the medical staff and scientists would be of great significance to both your species and ours. Your doctors could help us battle diseases we can't combat, and your scientists could boost our technology and help us find ways to improve our national security." Luna stated.

"So I either stay and try to improve the views of humans by being with Twilight, or I can leave and keep an extra doctor or scientist to help your country." I said, clarifying.

"In layman's terms, yes." Luna said.

I sighed. "I'll think about it. I'll see how Twilight feels in a few days and I'll have Spike send you a letter when I've made a decision." 

"Make sure you don't tell Twilight about this conversation. This is your decision, and as much as I trust Twilight's judgment, love can blind one. Especially when experiencing a loss." Luna explained.

"Don't worry...I won't say a word to her." I said. I didn't want to hide this from her. This would affect her too. She would have lost both the people she loved back to back. Can I do that to her? I thought.

"Good luck Brendan. I'm certain that you will make the right choice." Celestia said. They turned and walked out of the library and I closed the door behind them.

I looked to the stairs that led to Twilight's room. Why am I having to make this decision? I thought. If it's that important, why leave it to me? I walked up to the room and saw Twilight had shifted a little bit. She was still sleeping peacefully, and I knew that I couldn't leave her. Not after Phil. But I couldn't let a doctor or scientist get sent away because I was selfish and wanted to stay.

I pulled the chair out from the desk by the window and sat down. I noticed the scrapbook was on the table. I opened it up and looked through the memories and past. There was one with Pinkie Pie throwing a welcome to Ponyville party, back when my hair was long. I chuckled a little. That party was the most I had partied since my going away party from my first workplace. 

I turned the page and saw the picture of me imitating Spike as he played with some dolls from her brothers wedding. The picture next to it showed him surprised and trying to hide the dolls. The next page was of me trying to beat Applejack in a race. I lost by a mile and a half, but she has four legs while I only have two. I was out of breath and she was running circles around me. 

The next few pages were shots of me and the others hanging with Twilight. But towards the end of the scrapbook, all the pictures were just of me and Twilight. There was one of me sleeping with my mouth agape and Twilight making faces as she lowered a bowl of water onto my face. The next picture was of me gasping for air and making the ugliest face as Twilight laughed. I smiled as I replayed the memory in my head. 

I saw a picture of us talking over breakfast about something and another where I was helping Spike after a tower of books fell on him awkwardly. He wasn't crying in the picture, but I remember a few tears when the camera was away. It was a massive pile of books that I'm surprised didn't hurt him worse, but dragons are hard to injure I guess.

The next page was of us. Just sitting together, her face bright as could be. Her eyes gleaming with happiness. Even one where I was sleeping and she kissed my cheek. There was another one of us just cuddling and a few more of just us hanging out. I flipped the page and saw the day we went to the Starswirl the bearded exhibit. There was a note below the picture. "The day I realized what he meant to me." I said to myself quietly.

I smiled. It was a good memory. One of my favorites. The next page was empty, except for a little post it note. "For when it's asked." I said to myself. What does that mean? I thought. I looked over to her and saw how cute she was. I smiled and closed the scrapbook before walking over to the bed. I crawled in next to her and held her as she slept. She shifted and turned to me in her sleep, placing her head in the nook of my shoulder again. I swear I could see a small smile on her face. 

I kissed the top of her head. I don't know what to do. I thought as I felt myself slowly drift off to sleep.
> Chapter 14
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I opened my eyes slowly as I woke up. Twilight was still cuddled next to me and I smiled as she looked at me. "Morning." I said.

"Morning." she replied with a smile. She gave me a kiss and laid her head back where it was. "I wish we could just stay here like this." she said.

"Who says we can't?" I asked. 

"I just have a feeling that something's going to happen. After what happened at the Gazebo...I'm just afraid someone's going to overreact and force a change." she said.

They did... I thought. I didn't say it though. I couldn't let her know what Celestia and Luna had told me. "I doubt they will. Equestria has been very fair and kind to us. I don't see them just throwing humans under the bus for the action of one individual." I said.

"I hope so." she said, turning to me. "I can't lose you too."

"Hey, you're not going to lose me." I said reassuringly. It wasn't a lie. At least, not yet. I still didn't know what I was going to do, and this wasn't making my decision any easier.

"But what if something happens that's out of our control?" she asked, lifting her head off of me. "I know the Grand Council is looking into the attack and whether to classify it as just a random event or a planned and thought out incident. If they do decide it was planned, then it could lead to major repercussions for your people." 

Yeah. You're right. It is having repercussions. "Don't worry. I'm sure they'll see that this is just an isolated incident with nothing to worry about from the rest of us." I said. 

"I hope so." she said.

"Hey, if it would make you feel better, go to Canterlot and talk with the Princess. Maybe she can help your worries." I suggested.

"Maybe. But she has no control over the Grand Council. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna only handle the sun and moon and handle the political aspects, while the Grand Council handles the inner workings of Equestria that help make the laws. I mean Celestia can put forward a bill, but the Grand Council has to approve it." she explained. 

"True, but she still is respected in the Council, right? They'll probably take what she says into account." I said. And they didn't take it into account, according to what she said to me yesterday. 

"I guess so. Maybe I can be granted an audience with them and can help convince them that not all humans are like that." she said. 

"Go on ahead. I'll stay back here and work on a few things in the library. We open up again today right?" I asked.

"Yeah. Are you sure you'll be okay? I don't want you making your wound worse." she said.

"I'll be fine. I'll have Spike to help me as well, so I shouldn't be too overwhelmed." I said.

"Okay. I'll go ahead and talk to her." she said, getting out of bed. "If you need me for anything, have Spike send a letter okay?" 

"Sure thing." I said with a smile. "I'll see you when you get back." I said. I followed her downstairs and saw Pinkie and Applejack walking in.

"Howdy ya'll." Applejcak said. "Where ya' headin' Twilight?" 

"I'm on my way to talk with the Princess. I need to see if there's anything I can do to help the investigation and make sure things don't take a turn for the worst." she said.

"You want us to come?" Pinkie asked in her usual energy.

"No thanks. I appreciate it, but I need to go talk to the Council. Hopefully the Princess will be able to get me an audience with them and I can talk to them." she said.

"Whoa. it really goin' that far up?" Applejack asked.

"There hasn't been an incident like this in a long time. I just want to make sure they don't do anything rash." 

"Well hopefully you talk some sense into 'em." Applejack said. 

"Good luck! Tell us how it goes!" Pinkie exclaimed as Twilight walked out of the library.

"So how you feelin'? That hole in your chest still givin' ya' issues?" Applejack asked.

"Oh no it's perfectly healed. Shot through the heart, and that jerk at the Gazebo is to blame. He kinda gives love a bad name." I said.

Pinkie laughed. "Good play on words!" she exclaimed. It didn't take much to make Pinkie laugh. 

Applejack rolled her eyes. "We just wanted to check in on you both." she said. "How's she doin'?" 

"Okay I guess. She's better now that we're here and not in the hospital, but I'm sure she's still grieving." I said.

"It'll take some time, but I'm sure she'll be able to move forward." Applejack said.

I nodded. I thought back to what the Princesses told me last night. I still had a decision to make, and I'm sure Twilight is going to try her hardest to keep humans here. Or at least me.

"Cupcake for your thoughts?" Pinkie asked as she held a cupcake out to me.

"Just something I've been thinking about." I said. 

"Well what is it? If ya' don't mind me asking?" Applejack asked as Pinkie devoured the cupcake in one bite.

I looked to both of them. I guess I could tell them. As long as they don't tell Twilight, maybe they can help me make a decision. I thought.	"I'll tell you as long as you don't tell Twilight." I said. "Can you promise me that?" I asked. I knew Applejack could keep it a secret, but I wasn't so sure about Pinkie.

"Cross my heart and hope to fly! Stick a cupcake in my eye!" Pinkie said, shoving a cupcake right in her face.

I still don't understand where she keeps everything. I thought to myself. I told them what the Princesses told me last night and that I had no clue what to do.

"Well what do you want to do?" Pinkie asked.

"I want to stay, of course, but I can't do it in good conscience knowing that a doctor could have saved someone's life here or a scientist could have researched some new technology that helps out here. I'm just an average guy who really doesn't do much." I said.

"Aw, come on! Your sooooo much better than average." Pinkie said.

"I agree but they do have a point. The doctor could definitely help in some surgeries with them fingers or whatever ya'll call them. I mean, the human doctors and pony doctors were able to save you. I don't think you would've made it without them both. And a scientist could help improve travel and other aspects that could be helpful." Applejack explained. 

"But what about Twilight? She'd be devastated if he left! Especially if it was his decision to leave and not someone else's!" Pinkie exclaimed.

"But it wouldn't really be my choice. I could either get the immunity or not. And then the Council would kick me out, along with every other human in Equestria." I said.

"But you denied your chance to stay! If you leave, Twilight could go into a deep depression, leave all of her friends and then find someone else, who's just an abusive jerk and not anything like you!" she said  over dramatically.

"I don't think that's what he was wanting to hear, Pinkie." Applejack said as my face fell. 

"What? It's true." 

"Oh what am I going to do?" I said.

"Think over your options. Think about what would be best, not just for you, but for Twilight. And, to be honest, I like you Brendan, I do. I think you're much better than Phil was. But Twilight needs to be able to grieve without you here. I'm not saying that you're a bad person for trying to be there for her, but I don't want you to get hurt because she couldn't move past Phil." she explained.

"But if she's with Brendan, shouldn't that help?" Pinkie asked.

"Not necessarily." I said. "I really don't know what to do guys." I said. "I want to stay because I love Twilight but I don't want to take the immunity for a selfish reason."

"It doesn't have to be selfish." Pinkie said. "The Princess said that you could help repair the image of humans if you stayed with Twilight. You could show that not everyone is a meanie mean pants." 

"I guess...but what if things don't work out? Like what if she never does get past Phil and it hurts our relationship? That would send the whole plan into a downhill spiral. It could even damage human's image more." I said.

"Or you could leave and Twilight would never be the same. Losing both you and Phil in a weeks time might be too much for her." Pinkie said.

I sighed. There was no way I could make either decision. "Well, there is one thing that might work." Applejack said.

"What? Cause I'm all out of ideas." I said.

"Well the guy they caught is going to trial back at your home. So, maybe you could be a witness. I mean you were there and you have the wound to show them. You could show that he was just a violent individual, that he wasn't targeting anyone specific. And the doctor and scientists could still be here when they send ya'll away, but you could come back after the trial and everything goes back to normal." she said.

"Yeah, but there's a problem with that...back home talking ponies aren't the norm. And most people view them as evil and demonic. Especially with the magic. It goes to a jury, and the jury sees a few talking ponies up there saying how they were attacked, and I can guarantee you that it won't go well." I said.

"Well that's why you'd have to go and prove that it's not the case." Applejack said. "You can use Twilight as an example. You two have a relationship, so did Phil."

"Yeah but ponies are just animals where I'm from. They aren't sentient and they don't talk. While it may not be illegal in some areas, it's heavily looked down on and could be attributed to demonic powers trying to get me away from God or whatever shit they want to pull." I said. "I don't believe that's the case, not at all, but it's how others will see it." I said. 

"Then prove them wrong." Pinkie said. 

"And if I don't?" I asked. 

"Then you're not going to be here for awhile. But I know that if that were to happen, both Twilight and the Princess would do their best to get you back here." Applejack said.

I sighed. "Thanks for talking. I didn't think about being a witness against him. I'll talk with Celestia and see what can be done. I still don't know what to do, but I'll figure it out." 'I hope.'

"Okay. Well we'll let you go then. Library opens in a few minutes, so you might want to get everything ready." she said,

"See ya' later Brendan!" Pinkie said. 

They walked out and I sighed. I was just more confused now. I walked to Spike's room so I could wake him up before we opened. I knocked on the door before I walked in. "Spike?" I called. "We open soon, it's time to wake up." I said. I walked over to the bed and saw a note on it.

"Rarity needed some help. I'll be at the Carousal Boutique for the day." I read aloud. "You've gotta be kidding me..." I said. "Well, might as well start getting ready." I said. I can't believe he just ditched me. I thought. Oh well, I get the place to myself. Hopefully it's not too busy.

And it really wasn't. It was a slow day and the only ponies who came in were returning books. Most were late, but since we were closed unexpectantly due the Gazebo attack, I wasn't going to collect any late fees. It wasn't fair for them. The day went by slow, and I continued to think about just what I was going to do. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do the witness thing. It would keep the doctors and scientist here but I'd be able to get humans back to Equestria quicker.

I heard the door open and saw Spike walk through the door. "There you are!" I said. "You know I don't mind if you go to Rarity's to help out, but could you have at least told me before you left so I could prepare for the day?"

"Sorry. You were sleeping and you get cranky when you're woken up." he said.

"Well it was slow, so no harm done." I said. "How was Rarity's?"

"It was fine. We just reorganized some of her dresses and other materials." he said.

"Still no luck?" I teased him.

"No. But I'm getting there!" he said proudly. 

I rolled my eyes. "Well go ahead and put these books back. I can't climb the ladder without my chest exploding." I said.

"Alright. I guess I can do that." he said. We spent the next hour tidying up a bit. 

After we finished, I sat down and wrote a letter to Celestia. I needed to talk to her before I made a decision. 'Hopefully Twilight isn't with her.' I thought to myself. "Spike, can you send this to the Princess?" I asked.

"Uh, sure I guess. But why do you need to write to the Princess?" he asked.

"Twilight's with her but she's in a meeting that she can't be interrupted from. This way it will still get to her." I said.

"Oh, I gotcha." he said. He inhaled and with a puff of fire the scroll was sent. "What was it about?"

"Just that we finished up and I wanted to hear how her meeting went." I said. I really did want to know how the meeting went with the Council, if she even got it approved. I knew that I'd have to explain some things to her, but I hoped to speak to the Princess before Twilight came home.

There was a knock at the door and I walked over to answer it. When I opened the door I saw Princess Celestia standing there. "Hello Brendan. I received your letter." she said.

"Yeah. I didn't think you'd come all the way out here right away." I said. "Come in." 

As we walked in I had Spike make some tea for her. I knew that she and Twilight usually had a cup of tea with their visits. I hated tea, but I didn't want to be rude, especially when I needed to ask her something really important. "So...you said in your letter you came to a decision?" 

"I think so. But I wanted to clarify some things...If I were to leave, and the Council decides to let humans back in Equestria, how long would it take for them to open the borders for us again?" I asked.

"If everything went well, I would say a few months as they enhanced security to prevent more attacks from happening." she replied.

"And if things don't go well...is there any chance of them letting us back in?"

"Not in the near future, no. I've tried to explain the repercussions this could have with your government. They won't listen though. Not yet at least." 

I sighed. "Okay. Well...I've decided that I want to be a witness against the guy you caught." I said.

"Really? Why's that?" she asked.

"Because if I leave then you can have the scientist or doctor that you all need. And I can go to trial and do my best to bring people back here." I explained.

"What about-"

"I've already thought about it, and it will give her time to process Phil. And it'll only be for a few months. I'll be back as soon as I can." I said.

"Hmm." she murmured. "And if things don't go as planned?"

"I'd rather think that it'll go well. No matter what."  I said.

She gave a small smile. "Okay. I'll let the Council know and they'll have you prepped for the trial." 

"Alright." I said with a sigh. I was nervous. This was more than just me trying to give Twilight the time and space she needed, but it was also going to allow me to actually do something that could help both of our species.

"Twilight did get a meeting with the Council. I'm sure she's going to come back here with some questions and concerns. I'll let you tell her your decision." she said as she turned and headed for the door.

"Princess Celestia?" I called before she left.

"Yes?" 

"What did you want me to pick?" I asked.

"The ruler in me wanted you to choose to leave and let a doctor or scientist have the immunity. But as Twilight's teacher...I wanted you to stay. You seemed to have found a way to do both." she said with a smile. "Good luck." she said.

I nodded my head as she walked out the door. I walked to the kitchen where Spike had just finished the tea. "She left. She had some important duties to deal with that came up suddenly." I told him. 

"So I made this for nothing?" he asked, slightly annoyed.'

"No. Twilight will be back soon, and I'll have a cup with her." I said.

"Whatever suits you. I'm going back to my room for a nap. I'm beat." he said yawning.

I waited for a few minutes, leaving the tea on the heater so it would stay warm. I heard the door open and hoofbeats heading towards the kitchen. 

"Hey Twilight." I said as she walked in. I could see she had been crying. She knew what the Council had decided. And I was about to break her heart again. "I have something to tell you."
> Chapter 15
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I sat next to Twilight, waiting for her to say something as she stared at the table. I knew she was going to be upset but I was hoping that she would understand why I had to do it. 

"Twi, I know it's going to be difficult. But I need to be there. I want to make sure that they get everything they can so they can reopen the borders." I said.

"It's not that..." she said, hardly audible. "It's just....what if something happens...and you can't come back?" 

"What do you mean?"

"I did some research on your home. The Princess was nice enough to let me view a few of her things that describe your home...and they weren't all good. There are some terrible, awful people there...and I'm just scared of what may happen..." she said, shakily. 

"I'll be okay Twilight. I've lived there for all of my life until I moved to Equestria. And I was fine then. Those people aren't going to worry about me. I'm a nobody to them." I said, trying to reassure her. 

"But think about it. You're a witness to what happened at the Gazebo. Whether or not they try to charge him with murder or some lesser crime could depend on whoever is testifying. And from what you told me, not everyone is as accepting of a place they don't understand. I don't want you getting hurt." she said, leaning next to me.

"Don't worry about me. I'm doing this so we can live here without anything to bother us. Sure I could've gotten the immunity, but I wouldn't have felt comfortable with that." I said.

"I understand that. I'm not saying it was the wrong choice." she said. "It's just not what I was wanting to happen. I had hoped by talking to the Council I could change their minds. But too many ponies made petitions and demands in a frenzy that hasn't been seen in a century...It shook them, so they obliged." 

"You can't be upset with them. They're only trying to protect their home." I said.

"I know, I know. But not all humans are like that. YOU'RE not like that." she said.

I grabbed her hoof and held it. "I don't want to leave. But I have to. If I don't something could go wrong." She didn't say anything. "Besides...it gives us a both a chance to recover from Phil." I said. It was more for her than me, but I still thought it would help me. 

"I'm fine." she said.

"Okay." I said. "But I still think it would be a good thing. The Princess said that she would help me send letters to you if you wanted to write back and forth." I said.

"Will they let you write anything while you're doing the trial? I thought they kept the trials secret, at least what was happening in them until after it was over." she said.

"That pertains more towards the jury. I'm sure there are some stipulations for witnesses, like not talking to the media or news outlet, but I'll find out more when I get there." 

She sighed. "Okay. When do you leave?" 

"Tomorrow. I take a ship back in the morning. Princess Celestia will be there too. She thinks it would be a good idea to arrive on a boat instead of teleporting there. Better to make a good impression than to scare them." I told her. 

We stayed quiet, without saying much else. I don't know how long we just sat there before we heard a knock at the door. Twilight stood up and walked to the door to answer it. I sat at the table, just wondering about what to do when I got back home. I'd be in the capital, where I knew absolutely nobody. I was going to be given a free hotel room since I was a witness to the trial, but I had no idea what to do in my spare time. Hopefully they wouldn't keep me locked in my room like some sort of caged animal. 

I heard footsteps behind me. I turned and saw both Princess Celestia and Luna standing behind Twilight. "Brendan." Luna said to me.

"Um, hi, Princess. What's going on?" I asked.

"I have some news regarding the trial and my involvement." Celestia said. "Unfortunately, I will be unable to attend. The Grand Council wishes for me to stay back in Equestria, and hold a meeting with the other leaders from the countries around here to try and find a way to handle this situation. Some governments from the surrounding countries believe your species as being excessively violent and dangerous. They want me to try and convince them otherwise." she explained.

"What?" I asked surprised. "I thought they believed we were dangerous?" 

"It's not that. They trust most humans, however the public outcry was too much for them to just ignore." she said.

Typical politicians. I thought. "So who's going to the trial? I mean I thought they wanted you there to help oversee the trial and make sure everything went well?" 

"Someone will still be there. Instead of me, my sister, Princess Luna, will be accompanying you." she said.

"We know that we don't know each other very well, but we assure you, we'll do everything we can to make sure that this trial goes as well as we can." Luna said.

"I have the utmost confidence that my sister will be able to handle this." Celestia said. "She'll also be reporting on the dealings and the hassles of the trials to me. You can send any letters for Twilight through her." 

I sighed. I liked Luna, her nights were always something I admired. But I felt like she wasn't as experienced with public relations like Celestia was. Especially if it got out that she had been Nightmare Moon. 

"Do you have any questions or concerns? We would understand if this was worrying." Luna said.

"No, no it's fine. Just unexpected." I said. 

"We have a few more issues we have to attend to before you and my sister leave tomorrow." Celestia said. 

They turned and walked back to the door. Twilight didn't walk them out and just stood there, not saying anything, like she was deep in thought. "Something bothering you Twilight?" I asked.

"Hm?" she said, snapping out of her thoughts. "Oh, no. I just don't understand why they're sending Luna instead of Celestia. Luna doesn't have much experience with Public Relations since her return. I'm not sure what Celestia can do here with the ponies that Luna couldn't do. She's become pretty well liked since Nightmare Night last year." 

"Who knows. It's politics. I'm sure there is some underlying reason for what they decided to do." I said.

"Well I don't like it." she said. "No offense to Princess Luna, but I don't know if she's the best qualified for this." 

"Hey, wasn't it Celestia who sent you to Ponyville when Nightmare Moon returned? She knew you would find a way to beat her. I'm sure if Celestia was really concerned about Luna going, she would've fought with the Council and made sure she would have been the one who went to the trial." I said.

"Maybe..." she said quietly. 

"Hey, it'll be okay. We're going to set this straight." I said, wrapping my arms around her in a hug. I had a strange feeling, like something was wrong. I pushed it out of my head and just held her.


***


The following day I woke up earlier than I needed to. I had packed most of my stuff the past night. I wanted to get there early, even though I didn't need to. The Princess was giving me a place to myself on the boat, while the other humans who were the first to be sent back home would have to find a place to sit or lay on the deck. It was going to be packed, but being a witness did have some advantages. 

I put my backpack on, and walked back to Twilight's room. I'm glad I didn't wake her up when I got out of bed. I didn't want to make this worse for her by seeing me leave. I leaned down and gave her a kiss on her forehead before walking back down to the library. 

I looked around me. This place had been my home for months and I was sad to be leaving. But it wasn't permanent. At least I hoped it wouldn't be. I would go to the trial, do my best, and pray for everything to work out. I walked out of the door, giving the library one last look before walking to the train station. 

The sun was barely up above the horizon and most of the ponies were all still in bed. I didn't see many humans out, whether they were trying to hide and not leave or just wanted to spend as much time as possible with their friends here. I couldn't. It was hard leaving, but I didn't want Twilight to see me leave. It would be hard for her and I didn't want to do that to her. She'd been through a lot.

I sat down on a bench at the station. It was empty, only a few people were there, probably for the same reason I was. Easier to just leave without having to say goodbye to the ones you'll miss. I sighed as I leaned back. I knew it was going to be hard to be back home, but I kept telling myself it was the right thing to do. 

"I hope so." I said to myself quietly. 

"Brendan?" I heard a voice say behind me. 

I turned and saw Pinkie Pie walking up to where I was sitting. "Oh. Hey Pinkie." I said.

"What are you doing here? It's super early." she said.

"Yeah but I wanted to get to the pier early."

"Are you avoiding talking to Twilight?" she asked.

"What? No, why would you think that?" I asked.

"Well, you're here, not at the library where Twilight obviously is, and you look sad." she said.

"Of course I'm sad, I'm leaving. I think anyone would be sad to leave this place." I told her.

"Well duh silly! But your sad looks like the kind of sad that not even a famous Pinkie Pie party could fix." 

"A party is the last thing I need right now." I said.

"So you are avoiding talking to Twilight! That's not very nice." I rolled my eyes. "You should at least say goodbye!" she exclaimed. "She didn't get a chance to say goodbye to Phil, how do you think it would feel if she didn't get to say it to you?" she said bluntly. "She'd be devastated! And then she'd spiral into a world of doubt and worry! 'Why didn't he say goodbye? Was it something I said or did? Does he still care about me!?'" she said getting more dramatic with each sentence.

"Pinkie!" I shouted angrily. "It's just easier this way!" 

"Easy for who?" she asked.

"For...it's just so...it makes sense, okay?" I stammered. "This is going to be difficult for Twilight. I don't want to make it worse for her by having her watch me leave." I said.

"But Brendan, she cares about you! Just give her a hug and say goodbye! It would mean a lot to her! Especially since the party I was planning had to be cancelled!" she exclaimed.

"What party?" I asked. 

"It's why I haven't talked to you much the past couple of weeks. I kind of have a big mouth when it comes to surprises, so I made a Pinkie Promise not to say anything about it. But since it's cancelled I'm able to tell you!" she said with a smile.

"What? But doesn't that go against what a Pinkie Promise is?" I asked.

"Nope! Rule number 3.14-e6 states that in the event of a cancelled party, a Pinkie Promise is no longer in effect." she explained.

"Oh...well, okay then." I said confused. She has a list of rules for a Pinkie Promise? I thought.

"Yep! It was suppose to take place at the Gazebo under the stars to since there was going to be a super amazing awesome meteor shower next week! But the Gazebo has been closed until the investigation and repairs are done." she said.

"Really? Man I would've loved to have seen that." I said.

"Twilight thought so. It's why she had me plan it! She kept it secret so it would be an even bigger surprise!" 

"Well that was very nice of her and you to do. But it still doesn't change the fact that I can't say goodbye to her. It would just make things worse." I said.

She sighed. "When will you just say it and not be a big chicken? If you're scared because you don't want to break down crying, just say it." she said.

"Wait, what?" I asked. "That's not-" 

"But it is! Come on just say it!" 

I sighed. "Pinkie that's not the reason. I just don't want to put Twilight in a situation that will hurt her or make her upset more than she already is." I explained.

"You're really dense, you know that right?" she said, tapping my head.

"Hey cut it out! It's been a hell of a week and I don't think Twilight needs to say goodbye to another person she cares about!" I said, once again.

"You keep saying that! But I think it's just so YOU don't have to say goodbye to someone you care about it!" 

I groaned. She was right, that was one of the reasons for why I left as early as I did, but I also knew Twilight was going to be a wreck if she saw me leave. I didn't want that.

"Besides, the train doesn't arrive for another hour. What were you planning on doing here for that long?" Pinkie asked.

"Sulk." I said grumpily. 

"That's no fun! Listen, we're going to go back to the library and you're going to say goodbye to Twilight!" she said, grabbing my arm and pulling me off the bench.

"Or I could just follow him to the station." I heard Twilight say.

"Oh, hey Twi!" Pinkie said. "Could you believe that he was going to just leave without saying goodbye first?!" 

"I can actually." she said. 

Pinkie's mouth dropped. "But why? He's been avoiding closure!" she exclaimed.

"That's not what I think it is." Twilight replied. "Pinkie do you mind if we could talk for a minute? Just me and him?" 

"But I just got here!" she said.

"I know, but I'd appreciate just a little privacy." Twilight said.

"Oh alrighty then. Geez it's like I'm written in just to be used as a bridge or something." Pinkie said before walking off.

We ignored her comment and waited for her to be out of earshot. And then waited a little more just in case. 

I looked to Twilight and she just looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry I left without saying goodbye." I said apologetically. "I just wanted it to be quick and over with."

"I know...but I wanted to wish you well. I hope everything goes well over there.

"I'm sure it will. I have some ideas that will help us win the trial. And with Luna's help, it shouldn't be too hard." I said.

"Nothing illegal." she said. 

"Fine I won't create a Death Note and write his name down in it." I said jokingly.

She rolled her eyes at me. "Brendan I'm serious. I want you to be able to return here as soon as possible. Don't do anything that could jeopardize that." 

"I won't. I'm not stupid enough to try and pull something shady over their eyes. I'm not a lawyer." I said.

"You're not stupid at all, and that's my concern. You're smart enough to know what not to do, but if you get angry you get stupid. Don't let anything they say about us, or any of the ponies here get to you. If you let them get into your head your going to run into more trouble than Luna and you can deal with." she explained. "And I want to see you come next year." she said with a small grin.

I smiled back and pulled her in for a hug. "I love you." I told her, meaning it more now than ever.

"I love you too." We sat there for an hour and when the train arrived we reluctantly let each other go. "I'll see you soon. Okay?" she said waving to me.

"Real soon." I replied and waved back as the doors closed. As we pulled away from the station I saw her start to cry, but she held it together. If only just long enough for me not to see her. I sighed and took my seat next to a window. It wasn't a long train ride, maybe half an hour, but it felt like ages. There weren't many others on the train except for a few humans who figured it was better to get out of dodge early than be forced out. 

We pulled up to the docks and the train ground to a halt. I stood up with my one backpack that had all my stuff, minus the books I left at Twilight's place for Spike to finish reading. I walked out as the doors opened and made my way to the boats. I saw Luna standing next to the boat I figured we were supposed to board, and walks over to her.

"Brendan. You're here rather early." Luna said.

"Yeah well I figured I should get the first boat out so I have a place to sit." I joked.

"No need to worry. We have our own compartments, away from anyone who would want to disturb us." she said. 

"Right." I said. 

"Did you get a chance to say goodbye to Twilight?" she asked cautiously for some reason.

"Yeah." I replied. "It went well. Better than I expected."

"I heard you tried to leave undetected. Didn't want to face her at first, hmm?" 

"How did you hear about that?" I asked confused.

"We went to Twilight's so we could come to the docks and discuss a course of action for the trial. But she seemed a little worried when we arrived. You were not there and she wanted some time to talk to you face to face." she explained.

"Well I'm glad she did come." I said quietly.

"Don't fret, Brendan. I will send whatever letters you wish to send to Twilight. They arrive instantaneously, so you'll always be able to write to each other."

"You won't be spitting fire out of your mouth every time right? That may put a damper on our chances of winning the case." I said.

"Unfortunatly no. It would've been a handy scare tactic in the court room." she joked back.

I chuckled a little bit. We talked a little bit about the upcoming trial and I gave her some more information on my home, what to do, what not to do, and certain customs she should be aware of. "And please for the love of god do not use the royal canterlot voice." I pleaded.

"Of course. We wouldn't want to give the impression we're scary." she said. The boat blew its horn, signaling us to board. We climbed aboard the ship and made our way to our compartment. I put my bag on the chair and walked over to the window. I felt a weird sense like this was the last time I was going to see Equestria, but I quickly shoved that thought out of my head. There was no good in thinking like that. I grabbed my bag and opened it. 

"You'll be pleased to know that I had this room outfitted with outlets to allow you to charge you electronic devices." Luna said.

"How'd you do that? I thought you all didn't have electricity here, or at least only in major cities."

"We had a human friend of ours put it together. He also wants to return, and wanted to make you comfortable on the way home." she said.

'Vague much?' I thought. I didn't say anything though. It would be nice to see the pictures of my friends and family from home. I hadn't seen any pictures of them for far too long. I flipped my laptop opened and plugged it into the outlet next to the chair. It didn't take long for it to turn on, and I waited as it loaded up. I was surprised to see my desktop had changed from its original hockey team I had it set to for years, but was quickly smiling when I saw what was in its place. A picture of me and Twilight, with a text saying, 'I'll always love you. No matter where you go.' I felt a tear run down my cheek, and knew that I was going to fight even harder to get back to her.
> Chapter 16
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I looked out the window overlooking the water. It had been awhile since had left home. Years actually. I wonder if they'll still remember me. Not like I've been keeping up with their letters. I thought to myself. I sighed as I realized it was fruitless. It had been so long and I hadn't responded to any of their letters in years. "Pretty sure they would rather not see me." I said quietly to myself. 

I hadn't really been happy since I left. I could count on one hand how many times I had felt true happiness. Stop being so depressive. I thought. It's not going to help you feel better. I turned from the window as I saw land start to show from the horizon. 

I walked out of my room and made my way up to the deck. A few others had gathered by the exit ramp, wanting to be the first off the ship to return here. "Wow it looks so different!" I heard someone say next to me. It was true. The docks looked newer and the train station looked like it recieved an upgrade. 

"Do you think they'll welcome us?" I overheard another ask. "I mean, after what happened I wouldn't think they'd let us back, especially with how some of us are." the lady said. 

"It was only a year after that happened that they wanted to open up their borders again. It was our own leaders who prevented that from happening." I chimed in. "Not like people were keen on opening borders again after the trial anyways." I said, thinking back to the disastrous trial that was held back home. 

"Yeah but it wasn't the Princess' fault. It was a culture shock that threw her for a loop. Not to mention the constant media attention. I'm surprised it wasn't worse off then what happened." the lady said defending Luna. 

"I told her to keep her magic in check since people there had never seen it. And that blast could've leveled parts of the city. We're lucky it happened in Forest Park and only shattered some windows." I said grimacing. "Could've been way worse." 

She looked at me quizitively and her eyes widened. "Oh my god. You're Brendan." she said. Being one of the people who testified during the trial made me an icon among those who tried to push legislature through for an open border with Equestria. Long after I gave up lobbying and any hope of returning. "What happened to you?" she asked.

Over the past 20 years, i had tried to move past Equestria. Thought it better to leave it all behind and forget. Started to turn grey, cut my hair short, let my beard grow, and became a teacher. But it didn't matter. All that I was known for was being the sicko who liked a pony. After the trial it was leaked by someone that I had been with Twilight. Despite the talking Princess that was on TV during the whole trial, they were still largely viewed as either animals or satanic creatures. 

"Tried to move on." I sighed before chuckling a little. "Obviously it didn't happen." I was only in my 40s and I looked like crap. "Don't even know what I'm doing here." I said quietly.

"Everyone if I can have your attention!" A crew member shouted to us. We all turned around and waited. "We'll be docking shortly. If I could have everyone step back behind the yellow line, we'll have everyone dismbark. Please grab your luggage from your rooms if you have yet done so. Thank you." he said. 

'Well, better grab my shit' I thought as I turned to head back to my room. It was a crowded mess on the dock. Everyone was so excited and in a hurry. 'I'm gonna be one of the last ones off at this rate' I thought angrily. 

I tried my best to push my way through the crowd but it didn't really matter. Took me about 15 minutes fighting upstream to get back to my room. I quickly grabbed whatever loose stuff I had and placed it in my bags. I don't know why but I had a renewed sense of excitement. I wasn't sure why. 'Don't be stupid. You know perfectly well why.' I thought, thinking of Twilight. 

It's not like I stayed hooked up on her. I tried dating people back home, but most couldn't get past the whole thing with Twi. There were a few who were understanding and were okay with it, but even those didn't last for one reason or another. 

I opened up my pack and found the scrapbook Twi had given me before I left Equestria all those years ago. Suddenly I started to doubt. Doubt that she'd still be here. Even if she was with someone else, married, with kids, she may have forgotten me. Forgotten who I was, or what we had. 'What's the point...' I thought sadly. I hadn't looked at the scrapbook for years. I don't even know why I packed it. For old times sake? 

I heard the ships horn blare, and quickly threw everything into the bag and ran out the door. It was much emptier now. 'Damnit why didn't you pack the night before so you could get out first!' I thought, frustrated that I was going to be one of the last ones off. 

When I got back to the deck I saw that the ship was already unloading some cargo. Apparently it was some luggage along with items out government thought Equestria would be interested in that didn't require an escorted transport.

The line slowly moved forward as we disembarked, and I went through about every emotion there was. I was excited to see Twilight again, scared of what might happen, nervous that I may have just made another big mistake in an ever growing list of mistakes, and so many more. I tried to slow my breathing as I edged closer to the ramp. 'Breathe. In and out.' I thought, coaching myself. 

When I reached the ramp I looked over past the docks to see if I could find Twilight, or at least one of her friends, but I saw nobody. I felt my body slump a little as I saw everyone else finding an old friend or seeing the amazement in their eyes to first viewing this place. Now that we were closer I saw just how much everything here had changed. They had light poles along the sidewalks, restaurants with neon signs, even a few taxis that were engine powered and not pulled by a pony.

"Did they have some sort of industrial revolution while we were gone?" I asked no one in particular. I kept looking around for Twilight but I still couldn't get over how different everything looked. I hopped off the ramp and began searching for anyone I knew. I saw a banner that was obviously made by Pinkie. Bright and welcoming, with the words 'Welcome Back!' in bright colors. 

As I walked, I noticed that there was a small fair going on near the boat. Whether it was a way to welcome everyone to Equestria or if it was just another random fair was beyond me. I didn't really want to stay there anyways. I didn't need to go to the unloading docks since I had all my luggage with me. Didn't bring much along. Just some clothes and various items from home. I instinctively checked my pocket to make sure I didn't forget my phone on the ship. 'Not sure why I brought you.' I thought, as I felt it in my pocket. 'Not like they have phone towers here.'

Even if they did, it's not like I could get a call home. Didn't even have anybody to call anymore. After the trial most of my family dropped me out of their lives. They weren't too fond of the relationship I had with Twilight. I didn't hold a grudge against them though. As much as it hurt, I knew their reasons. My mother being pretty religious didn't find the talking ponies as something I should be messing around with. Least of all being together with one. I hardly spoke to my dad before the trial, but even less so afterwards. Not sure why exactly. Didn't really talk about anything that bothered him.

I kept walking past everyone and headed further into town. Ponyville hadn't really changed as much as I had thought. Despite the few electrical additions, it still felt like Ponyville. I followed the signs trying to find my way to the library. I passed Sugarcube Corner, the furniture store, Town Hall, but I couldn’t find the library. ‘I know I’ve been gone for a long time, but I should have found it by now.’ I thought. I kept walking for the next hour, but I still had no idea where it was. 

“Excuse me?” I asked a pony walking down the road. “Could you help me find the library?” 

“The library?” she said confused.

“Yeah, you know, big, giant tree? Located in the center of town? I’ve been walking for an hour and can’t find it anywhere.” I said.

“Well I don’t know anything about a giant tree, but we all get our books from the castle.” she said. 

“Castle? You go to Canterlot to visit the library?” I asked, getting more and more confused.

“What? No, are you crazy? The castle in Ponyville.” she replied. “You didn’t see it?” I shook my head. "Well you know where the Gazebo used to be? Head there, and you can't miss it. The castle is along the edge of the town." she said as she left.

"Oh...well, thanks." I said as I made my way there. 'A castle? When did they put a castle up in Ponyville? And why?' I thought. It didn't make sense. Ponyville wasn't really anything special. Just a small town that close to Canterlot. And with a castle already present in Canterlot, there wasn't a reason for one to be in Ponyville. 'I wonder who the Princess is there.' I didn't really know where Twilight would be, but if there was a library, I could assume she'd be close to it. 

As I walked I saw people laughing and hugging old friends they hadn't seen in ages. Everyone seemed happy and excited. I smiled, wondering if the same would be true for me. I hadn't written any letters, despite receiving plenty before they abruptly stopped a decade ago. It was a relief at first. I didn't know what to say, or how to explain the situation that happened with Luna. I told her I would make sure that everything went smoothly and it went horribly horribly wrong.

'And then we weren't allowed back.' I thought. I shook my head. "Gotta stop thinking about the same thing over and over. It's not going to help, just...find a way to move forward." I told myself quietly. 

I turned the corner to the Gazebo and stopped. "That's new..." I said. Ahead of me was a giant crystal castle. It was beautiful, if out of place compared to the rest of Ponyville. 

"Brendan!" I heard a bubbly voice shout behind me. Before I could turn around I was tackled by a pink ball of fluff.

"Oof!" I let out a gasp as the wind was knocked out of me.

"You're back! How you been? You look really different I almost didn't recognize you, except, well, I overheard you talking to that one mare about the library and I thought, no, that's not him, it looks nothing like him, but guess what?" Pinkie said giggly.

"It was me?" 

"It was you!" she exclaimed bouncing off of me. "So much has happened since you've last been here! There was this Draconequus that turned everything wibbly wobbly, then a changeling invasion that happened in Canterlot, there was this one time when a unicorn came to town with a magic amulet that banished Twilight until she was able to get the amulet off, and then there was a giant Centaur thing with the ability to steal magic-" she went on and on before I cut her off.

"Pinkie!" I exclaimed. "As...interesting as those all sound, I actually want to see Twilight..." I said.

"Oh, okay!" she said with a smile. She walked along humming an upbeat tune as she walked to the castle doors.

"So...about that giant centaur that stole magic?" I asked.

"Oh yeah! He was stealing the magic of all the ponies, Unicorns, Pegasus, Earth Ponies, he even tried to get the Alicorns magic!" she said, still bubbly as ever.

"What happened?" 

"The Princess' gave their magic to Twilight and she and Tirek had this huge fight throughout Ponyvlle. There was a massive blast, that leveled a bunch of trees, BOOM!" she said, imitating a large explosion.

"Did anybody get hurt?" I asked, worried.

"Not really, other than feeling weird without their magic, everything was fine. And then this castle just grew from the ground!" 

"It just...grew...like a tree?" I asked. 

"Yep." she said as she entered the castle. "Twilight!" she shouted into the crystal halls. After echoing for awhile she led me through the halls and up some stairs. There were doors lining up every single wall for what felt like miles. 

"How do you know where you're going? It all looks the same to me." I said.

"It's been here for years! You'll learn soon enough." she said happily. She walked up another set of stairs and opened the door at the end of the hall. "Twilight! You have a visitor!" she exclaimed.

"I know." she said softly.

I walked in to the room slowly, not saying anything. She turned around and looked at me. She looked sad, or mad. Possibly both. "H-hey..." I said quietly. 

"...Hey..." 

We stood there in silence for a little bit. I had so much to say but didn't know how to say it. "I'll give you some time alone." Pinkie said, still somewhat cheerful. 

She closed the door and Twilight was the first to speak. "15 years. Not a single letter..." she said. "I... I thought..." she started.

"I'm sorry. After the trial...I got a little lost. I didn't know what I was going to do not being able to come back and see you." I said. "I wasn't sure if you'd even want to hear from me after the trial went south."

"Why did it? You told me you would help Luna keep her magic under control and not let her go off again." she said. 

"A few days into the trial, she was the target of an assassination attempt by a group who viewed her as the anti-christ. She wasn't hurt due to her magic, but she hurt a bunch of people in the blast. It messed her up psychologically and she started having a bunch of smaller controlled outbursts, but it wasn't helping the case. She tried to hold it in, but her mental state afterwards wasn't helping. We were in Forest Park one day because I thought that a walk in the park would be helpful for her." I explained.

"Was she doing something to help herself?" she asked.

"I don't know. After the assassination attempt she started having bad nightmares and would wake up tired and worn out. She said she was fine and was handling it, but I don't know." 

"Then what caused the explosion in Forest Park?" she asked, getting angry.

"I'm not sure. She had a massive headache and from what she was telling me afterwards it was pent magic due to her heavy restriction on herself using magic. She wouldn't even use it to hold a pencil." I said. Whatever was bothering her, it was just getting worse." I said. "There was nothing I could do to stop it."

"You could have written me and asked what to do. I could have helped." she said.

"I didn't want to worry you." I said.

"Well you did." she replied. She turned around and I saw that she had wings.

"Wait, what's that?" I said, pointing. "Are those wings?" I asked astonished.

"Yeah. I became a Princess after finishing a spell that Starswirl the Bearded couldn't complete." she said with a small smile.

"You finished a spell of the most powerful Unicorn in history?" i said shocked. 

"Wow. That's amazing Twi." I said smiling.

"Thanks." she said. She turned to face me and she gave me a look of confusion. "Also, what the heck happened to your face?" she said walking up and putting a hoof on my beard.

"I decided to let it grow a bit." I said. "You like it?" I asked.

"Honestly, no." she said bluntly. "But...I think I can get used to it." she said with a smile.

I chuckled and looked in her eyes. "I'm sorry for not writing." 

"I know. I'm still mad about that, but I also know you shut down when your mad, depressed, or not feeling happy in general. It's not healthy." she said. 

"I know. But after the trial I didn't have many friends to talk to and vent." I said.

"Well you have friends here. And I'm sure they'd like to talk and catch up with you." 

I smiled. "I'd like that too. But...I would first like to talk to you. I know we haven't spoken for a long time, and I want to make sure we're good." 

She sighed. "I don't know if we'll ever be where we used to be." she said. "I missed you and have wanted nothing more than to see you again." 

"So let's just hang out and see what happens." I said, holding her face in my hands. "I've missed you. More than anything else."

"Well how about this. We go and talk with the others and catch up. I'm still mad, even if seeing you again is amazing. And then tomorrow, we can spend the whole day together." she offered.

I nodded. "I'd like that." I said with a smile. I didn't know what was going to happen. But whether or not we're together again as a couple, or just friends, I was happy. I was home.