> The Season's Sound > by Autumn breeze24 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > The Fallen > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scootaloo was walking home from a normal day at school with her adoptive mom, Fluttershy. Her grades were sinking again and Fluttershy was talking about having her take Princess Twilight Sparkle's class again. Fluttershy was so busy talking about options for studying partners that she didn't even notice when Scootaloo turned and walked into the Everfree Forest. Scootaloo shivered a little from the tingling sensation she always got when she walked into the forest. Scootaloo heard Fluttershy calling for her behind her and she hesitated, she didn't want Fluttershy to worry about her, but she really needed a distraction and the forest usually provided a decent one for her. Turning her back on the road she walked deeper into the forest. As Scootaloo walked she noted that a storm was brewing overhead and it had already started to pour down further ahead of her. She started to get concerned, her mother would be looking for her and Everfree storms tended to be very dangerous. As she turned to head home she looked at the storm one more time when something caught her attention. There was a dark shape flying through the storm. As she strained her eyes to see what it was she realized with awe that it was a pony. Three lightning bolts arced toward the pony in quick succession and to Scootaloo's amazement he dodged all three and continued to fly almost in defiance of the raging storm above. Then ten bolts arced all at once hitting the pony from all directions. Scootaloo watched in horror as the pony fell. Scootaloo's wings buzzed to life as she frantically tried to catch the falling pony. As Scootaloo flew to rescue the falling pony flashes of memory from the day of her dad's death flew through her mind. The launch off the ramp, the short flight through the air, and the explosion after he crashed into the gorge. Her wings burned and ached, but all she could think was "Don't die. Please don't die.". She and the falling pony collided in midair. She tried to grab hold of young colt, but the impact caused her grip to slip and he plummeted to the ground 20 feet below. Scootaloo flew down to the ground and luckily the collision with Scootaloo and a few large branches on the way down had slowed his fall so he didn't hit the ground that hard. However as she landed next to the colt she noticed a huge gash on his flank where a branch had cut him. The young colt was her age. His coat was a dark grey color akin to that of pencil lead. His mane and tail were short and choppy as if he cut it himself, and were the color of charcoal save for streaks of purple and blood red through out it. The young colt was a pegasus pony like herself, but his wings were larger than her own. Scootaloo gasped when she realized that the pony was not only was her age, but he also went to her school. He was one of the few ponies who were nice to her. He had even stood up for her once or twice when Diamond Tiara had been bullying her about her wings. Once he had even (in reply to DT calling her a "Blank Flank") had said " At least we're not stuck being as stuck up and stupid as you are.". Smiling at the fond memory she noticed that the gash in his flank was starting to bleed profusely, and picked him up on her back and started carrying him in the direction she thought the entrance was. Scootaloo started yelling for her mom hoping that she was still looking for her and by some crazy chance she would hear her through the rain. "MOM! MAMA! MOM! HELP!" yelled Scootaloo at the top of her lungs. She listened as best as she could through the rain for any sound. "SCOOOOOTAALLOOO. WHERE ARE YOU?" yelled Fluttershy. Scootaloo struggled to get to her mother under the weight of the unconscious colt. Then as she struggled through the last few feet of forest and onto the road she saw her mother run toward her and then stopped short a few feet of her when she saw the colt and the blood pouring from it's flank. Then Scootaloo spoke haltingly, still out of breath, " He was fl-flying and got st-struck by lightning. H-he fell, I tried to catch him, but he slipped and hit some branches on the way down and got cut up pretty badly.". Then with tears in her eyes she said "Mama I think he is going to die.". Fluttershy examined the wound and then putting Scootaloo and the injured colt on her back she flew as fast as she could toward Ponyville's only hospital, Heartton Care Hospital. > The Whispered Promise > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It had been two whole hours since Fluttershy had brought the young injured colt to the hospital and they still weren't letting her or Scootaloo in to see him. Fluttershy started to nod off just as a doctor approached them with a worried look on his face. " Ms. Shy you and your daughter can come and see him now.". Fluttershy and Scootaloo started at this and stood up and followed the doctor into the room. Fluttershy gasped when she saw the young colt laying in the hospital bed still as a statue. She would have thought that he was dead save for the heart rate monitor and the slight rise and fall of his chest that she could see. " He has several broken bones in his wing, a concussion, and 50 or so stitches in his flank." said the doctor as Fluttershy's eyes grew in horror and amazement that a colt Scootaloo's age could survive ten lightning strikes and a fall that far and that much blood lose and still breathe on his own."He seems to be healing at a rate five times that of a normal pony and I think we will be able to release him within a week's time. That said he is in a coma and might never wake up at all." said the doctor with a sad expression. The doctor kneeled in front of Scootaloo and said " If you hadn't slowed his fall he would probably be dead and, if he wasn't he would have definitely have broken his spine and been in extreme agony right now. You are a true hero for what you did.". Fluttershy looked at her adopted daughter and noticed that she seemed like she was disappointed about something and made a mental note to ask her about it later. Standing up the doctor said " There is one thing I need to ask you. What is his name?". Fluttershy said " I don't know." and then turns to Scootaloo and asks her if she knew his name. Scootaloo started and with a look akin to shame she shook her head no. The doctor left saying that he would give her a few minutes with him. As he walked out of the room Fluttershy heard a small sniffle behind her coming from Scootaloo. What's wrong sweety?" asked Fluttershy dropping down to hug her crying daughter. " It's just the doctor said he is going to be in a coma and might not wake up and i-if I had just flew a little faster or tried harder then he might be awake right now and-and..." stammered Scootaloo. " Oh sweety you did amazingly, I mean especially with your wings and all." said Fluttershy hugging her daughter close. Scootaloo crying, said "but it's all my fault he may never wake up and I could have saved him.". Then Scootaloo slumped into her mother's arms and sobbed into her soft fur. Suddenly a slightly deeper and reassuring voice said "You need not cry on my behalf, I am fine and I am very grateful for you saving my life. Thank you. Both of you for helping me in my time of need.". Scootaloo and Fluttershy started and turned to look at the young colt and saw to their utter disbelief the colt was very much awake and had been attentively listening for the past ten minutes. Then Scootaloo , with a cry of joy she ran and buried him in a hug. She tried to release him when he grunted in pain but, he then returned the hug tenfold and whispered in her ear " I am okay, thanks to you. I owe you my life and no matter the cost I will always be there to help you no matter what happens. If I had to spend a thousand years on the moon to help you, I wouldn't hesitate for a second.". > The Secret > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It had been two days since the young colt had woke from a coma that was supposed to last years if not his whole life in just two hours. The doctor (whose name they later found out was Strong Heart) came back to see the young colt awake and talking to the young filly named Scootaloo and the mare Fluttershy still standing in shock at what had just happened mere minutes before. He then proceeded to evaluate the colt and update his file. At the end of this he asked the colt his name and age and the colt replied with "I am 13 and my name is Autumn Song.". He then told Fluttershy that if things progress normally then he will be released at the end of the week and the visiting hours and left them with the colt. Scootaloo stayed the night at the hospital with her new friend Autumn Song. She was sound asleep when she was suddenly awoken by a sound of her teeth chattering from the cold. She opened her eyes and looked around to find the source of the cold. She soon realized that it wasn't just cold, it was snowing inside the hospital in the middle of July! She looked at Autumn to see if he was okay and was shocked to see that the mini snow storm was swirling around him and radiated out from there. She got up and ran to his bed side to see if he was okay. But when she reached her hoof into the storm's center her hoof almost instantly felt as if a warm and cheery fire was burning next to it. She pulled her hoof out in surprise and her hoof was cold again instantly. She shivered realizing that if she slept out here she would surly freeze. She then thought of the warmth of the center of the storm and crawled into the bed and cuddled up next to the young colt and noticed with great surprise noticed that the closer she got to him the warmer she became. She crawled as close as she could to the colt and realized that HE was the source of the heat and that when she was closest to him it seemed to feel like she was next to a soft and cozy fur covered fire. As soon as she crawled up next to him he wrapped his hooves around her and sighed contentedly and the storm started to slow down and until all movement stopped and faded away. She stayed sleeping like this the whole night and she seemed to sleep better than she had slept since her parents died. The next morning Autumn Song woke up to find a sleeping Scootaloo cuddling up next to him with her hooves wrapped around him. He gently attempted to escape her grasp, but as soon as he moved she wrapped herself more snugly around her prey. So he resigned himself to his fate as an impromptu teddy bear and relaxed. He was just about to nod off again when a doctor walked in and seeing a young filly wrapped around his patient he proceeded to wake her up and start to kick her out and telling her that only friends and family can visit. Scootaloo struggle futilely, but was to groggy to fight back. She yelled for Autumn to help her. When suddenly from behind her she heard a voice yell "STOP!" at the top of its lungs. The doctor was halted by the shock of seeing his patient standing up and yelling at him. The surprise loosened his grip and gave Scootaloo the opportunity to wiggle free and run to stand behind Autumn. Then Autumn started yelling at the doctor (with a look of hatred so fierce that the doctor shrank from the glare despite the colt's stature) "HOW DARE YOU TRY AND KICK HER OUT OF MY ROOM!". The doctor now cowering in fear started to stutter an excuse " B-but sh-she was d-di-disturbing y-your sleep and I just though-" The doctor hadn't even finished his sentence when Autumn (whose voice was reaching the volume of the royal canterlot voice) screamed at the doctor " Not only is she an invited guest, but SHE wasn't disturbing my sleep, she was actually comforting me as I slept.". Then his voice reaching a crescendo ever Celestia would be hard pressed to match, he yelled "NOW LEAVE!" and to the doctors surprise he realized that he was being slowly pushed in the direction of the door by a fierce snow storm. Not only that but the snow storm was originating from the small colt's open and screaming mouth. Even the young filly seemed surprised at this when the doctor overpowered by the extraordinarily powerful snow storm; lost his grip and was blown full force out the door and into the wall opposite it. By this time every doctor in the hospital had heard the ruckus and had came running, even Fluttershy who had come to pick up her daughter came running to see what was going on. Every pony in Ponyville knew something was up for (though they did not know it at the time) the snow storm that Autumn had created had not only been inside the building, but outside it too. The was even seen from Canterlot castle by not just one, but both the princesses. As Autumn's temper calmed so did the storm. That is when the doctors and Fluttershy arrived to find a dazed doctor laying stunned in the hallway, a crater in the wall opposite the door, and a still raging snow storm coming from room 124. With a gasp Fluttershy remembered that room 124 was the room Autumn song was staying in and that Scootaloo had spent the night in that room. Praying that nothing had happened to her daughter she ran at top speed into the room narrowly missing Autumn and Scootaloo, who where standing (one of whom was panting loudly) just a few meters in front of the door. She looked at Scootaloo to see if she was alright and saw to her relief that she was safe save for a slight shiver which Fluttershy could not tell whether if it was from the cold or from excitement. After she made sure her daughter was alright she looked at Autumn to see if he was alright as well when she realized that the layer of snow started at him and spread out in a cone. He also seemed to radiate a cold aura. Then suddenly, realizing what he had done his head fell and tears started to stream from his eyes. As they fell a warm breeze seemed to blast outward from them, and the snow was obliterated in the sudden onslaught of warmth. A rather short explanation of the events occurred ending in the decision that the young filly could stay at the hospital with him whenever she liked. After two or three hours (during which the two young ponies sat and ate breakfast), a cleaning crew arrived to clean up the large puddles of water on the ground. This took about one or two hours during which the two attempted to drown out the noise with the TV in the room. A few minutes after everypony left Autumn looked over at Scootaloo to ask her what she wanted to do now that everypony was gone, but stopped short when he noticed the strange expression on her face. "What's wrong?" asked Autumn with a tone of concern. "Why did you get so angry? I mean I understand and am grateful that you came to my defense and all, but why did you get SO angry? I mean you just seemed to explode with rage." Scootaloo asked Autumn. Autumn sighed and his head sank. "I never told anypony this and you have to promise not to tell anypony else." said Autumn sadly. Scootaloo promised and Autumn continued on. "I was three years old when my dad left my mom and me to fend for ourselves. Then when I was five my mom was killed. I remember the day like it was yesterday. We lived in the Everfree forest at the time so we thought we were safe from the criminal ponies. I was at home with mom having recently picked a fresh bouquet from my mom's secret grove when the door was suddenly busted inward by a masked pony who yelled for my mom to give her all her money. We didn't have much, but she gave him all we had. He-he started to count the money when he suddenly started yelling at my mom asking where the rest of the money was. My mom tried to convince him that that was all we had, but he just told her to give him the rest. H-he had a gun (by this point Autumn was crying and sobbing while Scootaloo tried her best to comfort him) he-he pointed it at the floor near my front hoof and fired off a shot. Then he told her that the next shot would kill me unless she gave him the rest of the money. He, he started to count down from ten as my mother tried to explain that she had given him all we had. As his count ran down to zero and he started to pull the trigger my mom jumped in front of me. The bullet went straight through her heart and lodged in her spine. She bled out and died in my arms and the killer was frozen stiff from shock. A short moment of silence followed. Then with a scream like he had never heard I shattered the silence and the killer's jaw and the force snapped his neck killing him. I hit him again and again and again, over and over. I didn't even care that he was dead. I just wanted my mom back." said Autumn in between sobs. " She died trying to protect me. I-I ran out the door and just kept running. I didn't know where I was running to I... I just had to get out of that house. I eventually ran into my mom's grove. I sat in that grove and cried for hours or days I don't know which. I went home and dragged my mom's body to the grove, and taking a shovel we had back at the house I buried her. I carved a small headstone out of a smooth rock from a stream that ran through the grove. I burned the body of the murderer. Then 7 and a half years later I stumbled upon ponyville. I had been living in my mom's house in the Everfree Forest that whole time, learning how to survive. I started going to the school there and that is where I first met you. You were getting bullied by Diamond Tiara and I couldn't stand by and watch a two ponies hurt one another. So I jumped in and tried my best to help stop the fight." Autumn said. " I soon realized that the only way to stop it was to help you fight back. So I started to help you. After Diamond stopped bullying you and left you ran into the forest and I followed you. I found you in my mothers grove. You were sitting on top of her headstone and you were crying. I didn't know what to do to help you. Then I suddenly remembered something my mom used to do when I was younger and had started crying about something. She used to hold me and she would start singing softly to me. I didn't remember what the words to the song were but I did remember the tune. So I walked up to you and just held you singing that same soft tune. Eventually you seemed to calm down. The next day at school I waved to you and you waved back and for the first time since my mom died I was happy. I had a friend! I had something solid that I could depend on." said Autumn smiling at the happy memories. "The reason I got so angry at the doctor was that when he tried to take you it felt like my mom dieing all over again. He reminded me of the colt who killed her. I just couldn't let that happen again." Said Autumn sadly. "So you're an orphan just like I was and you're living in the Everfree Forest?" asked Scootaloo breath taken at just how much he must care about her to have done that. "Yes I am...." Said Autumn sadly. "And Scootaloo please don't tell anypony I really don't want anypony else's pity." Said Autumn with pleading eyes. Scootaloo nodded in agreement and the two spent the rest of their day snuggled up together on the bed watching TV and laughing at the humorous shows on. Little did they know that Fluttershy (who had been coming to check on Scootaloo) heard voices from the room had stopped at the door and had heard the whole story. > The Truth > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It had been two days since Autumn Song had told Scootaloo his most guarded secret. He had told her about how his mom had died and he had become an orphan. Since then the two had been inseparable Scootaloo spent every night she could with him, but unknown to either of them Fluttershy had heard the story too and at this very moment she was trying to figure out what to do about it. Today Autumn was getting discharged from the hospital. Fluttershy had told the most intelligent of her friends, Twilight Sparkle who had in reply told her not to worry and that she would handle it. She came by that day and told Fluttershy that she was going to discharge Autumn Song. She then left for the hospital told the receptionist she was here to discharge Autumn Song. The nurse told her the room number and said that the doctor would be there. She soon arrived at the fore mentioned room. She entered to find the two young ponies snuggled up together on the bed. She found that she couldn't hold back a chuckle at the sight. The noise alerted the two to her presence. Autumn did what anypony would probably do in reaction to a stranger walking into their room and asked her who she was and why she was here to which Scootaloo responded that she was Twilight Sparkle and that she was here to check him out. The doctor then entered the room and said " I have the paperwork right her Miss Sparkle." She and the doctor left the room together after saying that she had to fill out some paperwork, but that they could leave soon. After they had walked a few feet from the room she stopped and turned to the doctor. " I would like to adopt Autumn Song. May I have the paperwork?" Twilight asked while thinking to herself about all the good times she had with her family and how she would feel if they died. I can't let him go through life without a family thought Twilight. The doctor nodded in response and quickly grabbed the necessary documents. As the doctor returned she asked him " After I fill out this paperwork, will I be allowed to take him home immediately after?" The doctor nodded again and handed her the paperwork. It took 1 and a half hours to fill out the paperwork. She then gave it to the doctor who looked it over and nodding walked back to Autumn's room. He returned pushing Autumn who was (due to his leg wound) confined to a wheelchair into the room. She stood up and took hold of the wheelchair with her magic and walked out of the hospital. She started on the way to the library which served as her home. Autumn stopped the wheelchair with his hoof and got out saying that he could get home on his own from here. Twilight realized that she hadn't yet told him the news. "We are heading home and we are going home together. I mean what kind of mother lets her son walk home with a barely healed injury?!" Said Twilight using her magic to force him back in the wheelchair. " Mother? Scootaloo didn't tell me that you were a mom." Said Autumn in surprise looking closer at her see if he could find any signs of having a child at home. "How old is. Wait! You-you didn't-" said Autumn stammering as it dawned on him that she had said "her son". "You-you adopted me?" asked Autumn who seemed on the verge of tears. " Yes I did. Now come on lets go home." said Twilight taking hold of the wheelchair with her magic again, but before she could resume walking she found herself buried in a crushingly powerful hug. Autumn who had tears in his eyes was hugging her as tightly as possible. After a few seconds he let go and sat back in the wheelchair and they continued on home. > The Family > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It had been two days since Twilight had adopted Autumn Song. She had written a letter to the princesses telling them the situation and they had written back that they would like to meet the young colt who had survived such an ordeal and that they wished to meet him next time she was in Canterlot. She also sent a letter to her parents telling them about Autumn Song. They at first replied with shock, but after she had more fully explained they asked to meet them this Saturday. Twilight had said yes and now it was Saturday. She hadn't told Autumn yet other than they were going to Canterlot. They packed their bags and boarded the train to Canterlot. It took three hours to get to Canterlot. The ride was really boring on the way there so, Autumn and his Mom read the whole way there. Surprisingly Autumn could read extremely well for having lived most of his life in the Everfree forest so the both of them were rather happy to sit and read. However Autumn prefered for her to read to him they read separately instead. No matter what he read Autumn couldn't seem to get something out of his head. " Why are we going to Canterlot Mom?" asked Autumn. Twilight put down her book and said " Well... How do I say this? Hmm.... Well we're going to meet my parent's who also happen to be your grandparents." " Wait I have grandparents?!" asked Autumn Looking at Twilight with sudden interest. Twilight giggled at his reaction to the news and watched him bounce up and down a few times before answering. " Yes you have grandparents and not only that, but an aunt and an uncle too!" said Twilight smiling at the evident joy on his face. Autumn seemed to be in awe at how fast he had gone from no family at all to having such a large family. Twilight watched him a little longer and then returned to her book to give him some space to think. At first Autumn was joyful at the thought of having so many family members that he didn't know at all yet. Then it hit him. He didn't know them at all and they didn't know him at all. Then he started to worry to himself. What if they don't like me? No! What if they don't just not like me, but they HATE me!. He went on and on like this the whole ride there. As the train came to a stop and they started to leave Twilight noticed that Autumn was not only being suspiciously quiet, but when she turned and looked at him he was mumbling to himself with a very worried look on his face. When she asked him what was wrong he would reply with " Nothing!" in a startled tone. As they left they noticed that he seemed to be searching for somepony or something in the crowd. It can't be thought Twilight realizing what was making him so worried. "Hey it's okay I just know that they will love you." said Twilight to the complete surprise of Autumn. "Oh! Here they come now!" said Twilight pointing at a group of four ponies causing Autumn (in his distraught state that he was in) to hide behind her. "Hi Twilight!" said Twilight's mother Red Velvet as they approached her. "And where might my grandson be?" she said looking around for the young colt. At this Autumn peeked out from behind his mother. "They certainly look and sound nice." thought Autumn to himself. Then Autumn summoned up the courage to step out and walked up to the four ponies. " Um... Hi." said Autumn cautiously waiting with his eyes closed for them to yell that they hate him or something similar. But to his complete surprise he suddenly heard Red Velvet say "Oh you poor thing I didn't even think about how scary it must be to meet new family members." Then just as surprisingly and swiftly Autumn was enveloped in a warm and soft hug. That was when he realized that he had started to cry and he returned the embrace. "Lets head home we have lots planned for this week." said Red Velvet walking in the direction of the city. As they followed her to her house she and his mother caught up with each other and he thought to himself "Thank you for being kind." As he followed the red mare that was his grandmother he shed a few tears, but of a different kind. Tears of joy. > The Two Sisters > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twilight woke up to the smell of pancakes again. It had been three days since Autumn had met his new family. She got up and stretched out her legs and checked her morning schedule. Twilight and Autumn had agreed on a morning routine and schedule. She had been expecting that during this trip the schedule would be thrown out the window (so to speak), but to her great surprise he stuck with it every day and ever one time got up early and made everypony breakfast in bed. Twilight had as with most days during this week, woke up to the smell of pancakes, but something was different this time in how they smelled. Cinnamon? thought Twilight. She couldn't be sure unless she tasted them, but she swore that she could smell cinnamon. As Twilight clambered down the stairs the smell got stronger and stronger. She entered the kitchen to see a scene that was truly heart warming. Her mom Red Velvet and Autumn were in the kitchen singing and cooking breakfast together. Her mom was helping Autumn (who was standing on a stool to reach) pour the batter on the griddle when she noticed Twilight watching from the door. "Go ahead and sit down dear the pancakes will be done in a minute." said Velvet pointing with a free hoof at a chair at the kitchen table. " Autumn go and wake up your aunt and uncle for breakfast. I'll finish up the cooking." said Velvet as Twilight sat down in the chair. Autumn ran up stairs with a rather cheery "Okay!" and a few moments later the sound of two rather grumpy ponies being woken up could be heard. Then they heard Autumn say "Come on get up or you'll miss the pancakes!" A few moments later they heard a rather loud exclamation at of "PANCAKES!?!?!" and a duo of very groggy ponies coming trumping down the stairs followed by Autumn who much like Pinkie Pie was bouncing down the stairs after them. Everypony wolfed down the rather small breakfast (some choking from eating to fast) and then they left for the castle. They arrived at the castle's main gate in a few minutes and proceeded inside. They got turned around once or twice, but in the end they made it to the great hall which was where the two sisters had said to meet them. As they entered the room they were greeted by the sight of a large banquet table filled with enough breakfast confections to feed a small army and the two princesses standing in front of it waiting to greet them. Twilight walked right up to the two alicorns and gave the taller white one a hug which to the interest of Autumn she returned. After the brief exchange Princess Celestia looked around for the young colt that Twilight had adopted and said "Now where is this young colt I have heard so much spoken about in your letters Twilight?" Autumn swallowed his fears and his doubts and walked forward to stand just a few feet away from the two alicorns and looked up at them almost with an air of defiance. Celestia saw this, but also noticed something in his eyes that would have been hidden from any normal pony. He was scared of her. Celestia kneeled down and whispered "Hey it's okay I'm not going to hurt you." At this Autumn gasped in shock at how easily this mare had saw through his facade. Then Celestia said aloud to the rest of the group "I hope you all are hungry because there is plenty to go around." A few moments later they were all seated and eating. Twilight had worried that Autumn's manners wouldn't be up to the standards in Cantorlot, but to her great surprise he did extremely well. After they had all eaten they conversed among themselves. Autumn told Luna all about himself. Autumn yawned mid-sentence at which Celestia asked her sister to take him to her chambers where he could rest until the party started. Twilight tried in vain to not accept the hospitality and kindness, but to no avail. So Luna and Autumn went upstairs and they stopped right outside Celestia's bedroom. "If you need anything, anything at all my room is just at the end of the hall." said Luna pointing at a dark blue door and then she left. Autumn entered the room and laid down on the bed, which was sooo soft that he fell asleep almost instantly. > BlueBlood and the Midnight Pool > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN AUNTIE'S BED! GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!" Autumn woke with a jolt as he heard somepony screaming at him. The furious pony attempted to grab him with their hooves, but his life in the Everfree Forest saved him from getting caught in their grasp. Autumn grabbed the sheets and twisted them around their hooves tangling them in the sheets. Then he ran for the door, but tripped on some of the sheets and fell off the bed hitting his head on the floor, hard. Having no time to waste on worrying about the pain he ran full tilt through the door his head spinning. Running down the hall he heard the sound of the now untangled pony cursing and running after him. The pony was just five short yards away and gaining on him. Then Autumn remembered that Princess Luna's room was just around the corner and he thought that if he could make it into that room before the pony went around the corner then he would be safe.Autumn put on an extra burst of speed and ran as fast as he could to the corner. He whipped around the corner and quickly opened the door and ran in closing the door as quietly as possible just as the pony stormed past. Autumn waited for a few seconds until the hoofsteps receded and then breathed a sigh of relief. "Autumn what art thou doing in my room, and why art you out of breath? Have you been running from somepony?" said a voice from behind him. Autumn turned to look at who had spoken closed his eyes and waited for them to adjust to the darkness. A few moments later he opened them to see a Princess Luna laying on a bed in the middle of the room. Autumn nodded and said Luna patting the bed next to her "Come here and tell me what happened." Autumn obediently walked over to the bed and started to climb up, but as he climbed one of his hooves slipped and he fell backwards and hit his head. Pain burst through his mind causing him to be unable to do any more than curl into a tiny ball. He tried to hold back the tears that came to his eyes, but his resolve failed and he started to cry as Luna flew to his side and held him tight. He buried his face in her soft fur covered shoulder and wept into it. Luna brought her hoof to the back of his head, but feeling something wet she stopped and held her hoof in the light. Blood, Autumn's head was bleeding. She gently swayed back and forth until he stopped crying and then she wiped the tears away from his eyes. Then she swiftly laid him down on her bed and told him not to move a muscle and flew to her bathroom cabinet to grab some medical gauze to wrap his head in. Then at that moment the pony who had chased him out of Celestia's room walked in and started to say something to Luna, but he stopped short as he noticed the young colt that he had found sleeping in Celestia's room earlier. "FIRST I FIND YOU SLEEPING IN AUNTIE CELESTIA'S ROOM AND NOW I FIND YOU SLEEPING IN AUNTIE LUNA'S ROOM!" yelled the pony and before Autumn could get up and run the pony was on top of him and beating him with his hooves and magic. It was at that moment that Luna who had heard the commotion ran into the room to see her nephew (Prince Blueblood) screaming at Autumn and beating him. "CEASE THIS AT ONCE NEPH- " Luna began in the royal cantorlot voice only to be cut short by an even louder voice. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" screamed the small colt from under Blueblood. The force of the shout alone would have made a dragon cower, but it was not the yell that hit Blueblood the hardest. As Autumn continued to scream a blizzard whirled into existence between them and slammed into Blueblood, not only slamming him into the opposite wall, but also pinning him there. The storm grew in strength and ferocity as Autumn continued to scream. Autumn screamed out of his pain, his anger, and his fear. The storm seemed to be spiraling out of control. Then suddenly Autumn felt a warm hoof on his shoulder. He turned and saw Luna who to his shock was smiling at him. The smile seemed to say It's okay let it go. Then just as suddenly as it started it stopped. The snow fell swirling to the ground. As the snow slowly settled Luna was suddenly engulfed in a hug from Autumn and she thought to herself It looks like I was right. During the storm she had had the presence of mind to look at Autumn's face. When she looked in his face she saw an expression she recognized, fear. Autumn was afraid so she tried to be as comforting as possible. "Prince Blueblood!" Luna said to Blueblood (he had been trying to slink quietly out of the room as her thoughts distracted her) "My sister and I will deal with your behavior here later." said Luna. "But-but he-he was asleep on her bed and-and " stammered Blueblood trying to escape punishment. "HE is an honored guest of Celestia and she herself offered him her room to rest in before the party tonight and I myself escorted him there. Now as I said before my sister and I will decide on your punishment later. Now leave us." commanded Luna. "But-but- but-" stammered Blueblood not moving an inch. "I SAID LEAVE US!" Luna shouted at Blueblood who ran out of the room as fast as he could. "Now then let us bandage that head of yours." said Luna with a smile. Luna sat down on a pillow on the floor and pat her forehooves on the ground in front of her. Autumn obediently walked over and sat down between her hooves and held still. Luna proceeded to wrap the bandages around his head. Autumn relaxed and let the soothing feeling take over. As he did so all the snow in the room melted away as if by a warm summer breeze. Luna finished wrapping the bandages on his head at which time Autumn opened his eyes. He stood up and stretched his legs and wings. Then he turned around and gave Luna a hug and thanked her for her help. "Your welcome Autumn, but there was one thing I wanted to ask you..." Autumn looked at Luna questioningly. "The snow storm." said Luna pointing at the remains of the snow. "Oh." said Autumn realizing what she meant. "Um... well I... Okay, it all started on my 6th birthday. I had been exploring a cave near my house when I ran into a hydra nest. The hydras chased me through the cave. I was twelve feet from the cave entrance when the cave floor collapsed under me. I don't remember how long I fell, but when I landed I found a pool. When I looked into it I saw that the pool contained the entire night sky and all the stars except. It was exactly like the normal sky, but a few seconds after I looked into it the stars started shifting and twisting. Suddenly one of the hydras fell into the room. It got up and seemed dazed for a moment, but when it saw me it roared and charged at me. I couldn't see any way out. My only option was to jump in the pool and hope for the best. I jumped in the pool just before the hydra would have hit me. I sunk into the pool and when I looked around me I saw that the stars I had seen from above were not just a hallucination, but pure energy. The stars started surrounding me. In a few moments they were covering me and then it seemed like I absorbed them. I started to rise out of the pool and the hydra attacked me and bit down on me. Instinctively I lashed out at the hydra and I hit it straight in the nose, but it wasn't my punch that knocked it into the wall. My hoof had seem covered in fire, but the fire wasn't like any fire I had ever seen. The fire looked like the water had when the stars were shifting in it. I was just as dazed as the hydra was, but the hydra attacked me again. I lashed out at the hydra and thought about how bitter winter had been and how bad the storms had been. Then to my surprise a storm just as bad as the one I had just been thinking of came from the flames on my hoof and slammed into the hydra." Autumn shifted from side to side as he finished the story. "Wow." said Luna who seemed a little awestruck. Autumn looked around for something to change the subject with. He spotted a new game console and said "Hey is that a new console." "Oh... Uh... Yeah it is do you want to play a game?" asked Luna shaking herself out of her thoughts. Autumn nodded his head and then said "But I haven't ever played a video game before so you may need to show me how." "Okay sure." said Luna smiling. > The Power Party > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Princess Celestia had been sitting for three whole minutes watching the two ponies playing video games together. She watched as Autumn put forth a combo of moves that baffled Luna (who was mashing the buttons on her controller trying every combo she knew) and won him the game. "YES!! Ha! I win again!" cheered Autumn as he stood up and cantered around Luna. "H-how in the name of all of Equestria did you... How?!?!" said Luna who seemed stunned at the fact she lost. The two had been playing only two hours and yet Autumn who had never played a single video game before had beaten her three out of five games. Luna got tired of his banter and tackled him in a crippling tickle attack. "Haha-hahaha! N-no s-s-top it! Hahaha-hahaha!" Shrieked Autumn as Luna blow on his belly. "Do you yield?" asked Luna in a pause in her attack. Autumn nodded and she stopped and got off him. Autumn looked at Luna with a strange expression on his face. Then suddenly he pounced on her and started tickling her without mercy. His hooves and his tail found the most ticklish spots in seconds and wiggled in just the right way. Luna started laughing without control as the two rolled over and over Celestia couldn't help laughing at this. The two stopped and looked into the darkness like a deer that just heard a hunter in the forest. "S-sister?! H-how long have you been standing there?" stammered Luna once she had discerned what had made the sound. "Haha... Long enough little sister." laughed Celestia at she sister's sudden formality. "I just came to tell you that the party is about to start." said Celestia. Celestia walked out of the room and Luna and Autumn followed her. On the way down to the party Luna told Celestia everything that happened with Blueblood and they decided that they would discuss his punishment later. In a few moments they had arrived at the party. as they entered Autumn was greeted by at least a hundred or so formally dressed ponies. As he walked through the crowd he started to feel more and more under dressed and self conscious. Then he saw his mother walking up to him and he relaxed. She wasn't nearly as formally dressed as the other ponies in the room. The suddenly some classical music started playing which was suddenly interrupted by somepony playing really loud dubstep. Autumn looked to see where the commotion was coming from and he spotted two ponies (one with a cello and one with a turntable) battling for control of the crowd's approval. The two played louder and louder until Autumn couldn't stand it any more. He had to stop the two from fighting he just couldn't stand it. Autumn walked over to the two pony's speakers and hooked up his MPP3 player to them and turned the sound up on his ports and hit play on a music mix he had made himself. Suddenly the two ponies were drowned out by his song which had both the feel of a dubstep and the instruments of classical music, classical dubstep as he called it. The two ponies stopped playing and looked around for the source of the extremely loud and good music only to find that it was coming from their own speakers. Looking at the speakers they saw the young pony who had made a mix of their separate music genres. The two looked at each other and stood up and walked over and hugged each other. They said something to each other that nopony could have heard over the music. Autumn turned the volume back down to a tolerable level and walked off the stage. Twilight watched him walk off stage and then she saw the two ponies walk up next to him. They asked him something that she couldn't make out, but Autumn nodded and the two ponies hugged him. A few moments later the embrace ended and Autumn walked back to his mom. "What did they ask you?" Twilight asked Autumn as he stopped in front of her. "Oh they just wanted to ask me if they could keep the song." said Autumn who started dancing slightly to the music. Twilight gestured for further details at which Autumn said " Oh I told them that they could keep it." Twilight seemed taken aback by her son's generosity. "Th-that was very generous of you Autumn." said Twilight. "It was nothing really I can always make new songs and it looked like they needed it more than me anyways." said Autumn looking over at the two ponies. "Well I'm proud of you." said Twilight. At that moment Autumn looked over and saw Blueblood and a group of his friends walk in. Suddenly a small filly a little older than himself who was working as a serving girl trip and accidentally spill a whole tray of champagne on him at which he struck her with his hoof. He laughed as he raised his hoof to hit her again and she shrank with fear. Laughing Blueblood started to hit her again. Then suddenly his hoof was stopped dead. Blueblood stopped laughing and looked to see who had dared to stand in his way. He was shocked to see that the young colt who had humiliated him before was the pony who had stopped him from dishing out punishment to the serving filly who had spilled champagne on his coat. How could one colt be that strong. Autumn shoved Blueblood's hoof to the side like it was nothing all the while the giving him a cold stare. Blueblood started to get nervous as his friends whispered behind him Why isn't he hitting the insolent colt? among other things much to the same affect. He couldn't not punish the colt without seeming weak in front of his friends. Blueblood started to walk away in the direction of the party and Autumn started to relax. Then suddenly Blueblood turned and fired ten bolts of magic at Autumn. Autumn turned back toward Blueblood and stopped the bolts dead in their traces with a wave of magical night fire. Blueblood was stunned the young colt had waved off his attack like it was nothing and had used such powerful magic, and he didn't even have a horn! Blueblood desperate not to be made a fool of in front of his friends started use the most powerful magic attack he could think of, but he was snapped out of his concentration by the temperature dropping drastically. He opened his eyes and he froze stiff with fear (which caused his magic to dissipate) as he looked to see Autumn enveloped in a towering inferno made of the same night fire which had stopped his attack before. The flame swirled and spun and its shape was as ever changing as what it was composed of. The entire flame was made up of the night sky, but the stars seemed to dance and spin around one another in an elegant and yet chaotic dance. "PRINCE BLUEBLOOD! I will NOT stand idly by while you harm those who are innocent! Those who YOU deem lower than you, those who only made a small mistake! You think you are HIGHER than them, BETTER than them?! Well I hink it was time someone told you the truth! That you are no better than them and the fact that you treat them like they are makes you even lower than the worst criminals! You take pleasure in THEIR pain? You laugh as you cause an innocent PAIN and TERROR? Then I shall show you how it feels to be in their position!" as Autumn yells this in the royal canterlot voice Blueblood makes the strongest magical barrier he can between Autumn and himself. Autumn flies at Blueblood at top speed covered in flame. Autumn flies through the barrier shattering it as if it was nothing. Autumn slams into Blueblood pushing him at top speed through 1, 2, 3 marble columns and slamming him into the fourth creating a spiderweb of cracks spread outward from the point of impact. Blueblood stared in fear at the young colt who had him pinned to the column as Autumn continued "How do you like being the one who is terrified, the one who is in PAIN!" Autumn pulled Blueblood back and slammed him into the pillar. By this point the entire room had turned to watch the display as Autumn continued "If you ever EVER even TRY to harm ANYPONY! Know that I WILL defend all those who are innocent and you or ANYPONY who tries to hurt them will feel the fear and pain that they caused those innocents tenfold!" At this Luna and Celestia interrupted Autumn and asked him to stand down. Autumn complied and the two alicorn princesses stood around Blueblood who looked at them with a hopeful gleam of revenge in his eyes and he started to speak. "Auntie Luna Auntie Celestia lock this child in the dungeon he is clearly insane and tried to kill me!" Blueblood tried to continue however a dismissive wave of their hooves stopped him dead in his tracks. " Prince Blueblood as punishment for your crimes against this colt and the filly whom he protected from your cruelty you are no stripped of your title of prince." said Luna with a cold stare. "B-but Auntie Luna he was the one who attacked me!"Started Blueblood with fear in his eyes. "And all of your accounts will be cleared of money and your estates sold off to other ponies more worthy of them. Be glad that I left you with anything at all. Do you think that is fair sister?" said Luna as she turned to look at her older sister. "Personally I think you a kind heart for leaving him anything at all after what he has done." said Celestia in reply crushing all hope that anypony would help him. "Now leave Blueblood! Before I have the guard escort you out" ordered Celestia waving a hoof for the guards. The guards started to drag him out of the room, but he tore out of their grip and left on his own power. Just before he left the room he knocked the tray out of the filly whom Autumn had defended causing her to squeak in fright. As he turned to leave he was stopped by Autumn who was giving him a glare that put the power of dragons to shame. "Pick it up." said Autumn with a deep guttural ad threatening tone as he pointed at the fallen platter. Blueblood stood for a moment against the power of that piercing gaze and then he surrendered and picked it up and handed it to the filly. "Now apologize." said Autumn and Blueblood hesitated in disbelief. "Apologize NOW!" yelled Autumn raising a hoof in warning. Blueblood grumbled an angry apology which scared the filly more than put her at peace. Then Blueblood left the room hastily and the ponies all started to talk about the evenings' interesting turn of events. Autumn returned to his mothers' side as the music started back up again. "I am so proud of you!" said Twilight with a smile and Autumn started to relax and smile back as the princesses walked up. "Thank you for standing up for those who are to weak do do it on their own." said Luna after a few seconds "and it seems that you were always meant to standup for the innocent and the weak." said Luna with a smile as she pointed to his flank where a cutie mark had appeared. It was a fire made of the night sky and in the center was a bleeding heart. Autumn seemed stunned at this as he said "I was just doing what I thought was right." The four ponies talk amongst themselves for the duration of the party. Twilight and Autumn eventually had to depart for the station to make their train and soon they were chugging home. On the way there Autumn was woken up in the middle of the night by a strange sound similar to that of bat wings except it was a lot louder. Autumn opened his eyes to see a pony but it wasn't like any pony he had ever seen it had wings like a Pegasus, but these were more bat-like and he had fangs where his canines were supposed to be. Autumn started to get out of bed to get a better look at what it was doing and saw it was taking some food, but the bed creaked slightly at his movements and the two froze. The bat-pony turned toward sound to see what had made the noise and to his shock he saw that it was a young colt. How did he hear me? I barely made a sound!. The bat-pony turned to fly off when suddenly a small voice stopped his. "Wait, don't go. It's okay I understand. You didn't have any money to buy food so you came back when people were sleeping to get some because you were really hunger didn't you?" said the young colt looking at the bat-pony. Darkwing froze stiff the young colt was spot on. He turned to look at the colt with a curious expression on his face. "Here." said Autumn holding a rather large treat out to the stranger. "It was supposed to be a midnight snack in case I got hunger in the middle of the night, but you look like you need it more than me." said Autumn with a smile. Darkwing looked at the colt and could tell that he wanted to eat it himself, but he was offering it to him a complete stranger who he had just meet just because he looked hungry. He smiled and took the pastry. "Thank you." said the pony and he turned to leave. "If you want to you can share our car we have plenty of room." said Autumn looking at him with a smile. Darkwing shook his head and started to leave for a third time. "Wait! At least tell me your name!" said the colt looking at him with a odd expression. "Darkwing." said the pony and he flew off into the night, but he paused and looked back at the young colt who had even know him and yet had shown him so much kindness then he smiled and flew away. A few hours later the Twilight and Autumn arrived in Ponyville to find it in chaos. > The Alicorn of Change > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Autumn and Twilight arrived in the station to find Ponyville being destroyed by a giant celestial bear twice the size of the city hall. Autumn heard a scream come from the town square which was where the bear was currently at. Autumn seemed to recognize who the scream belonged to and bolted off in the direction of the square. Twilight was in far too much shock to react after a few seconds she gasped "An Ursa Major, here?" She had once defeated an Ursa Minor (a baby Ursa Major), but that had taken almost all her magic. She turned to tell Autumn to run only to see him running toward the square. Fires, debris, nothing stood in his way as he charged straight at the giant bear. When he finally entered the square the bear swung his giant clawed paw at a familiar orange and purple filly and slammed her straight into a brick wall. Time seemed to slow down as he watched the young filly fall to the ground unmoving. The bear, the town, none of it mattered in that moment. He flew to the her side and crouched and held her in his hooves. Tears streamed from his eyes as he held her. Then something came over him. In a dead calm he set her body gentle on the ground and then stood. The Ursa roared showing its might, but then was drowned out by a much louder voice. "How dare you!" said Autumn breathing heavily. "How dare you hurt her!" said Autumn as he started to shake in rage. "I'LL KILL YOU!!!!" Autumn finally screamed, hundreds of times louder than the roaring Ursa had been as a flame made of the night sky exploded into existence around him. This flame was larger than any he had ever made, but he didn't care. Nothing mattered other than the fact that Scootaloo had gotten hurt maybe even killed and this bear had caused it. The bear swung at the the colt with one of its great paws and Twilight who had arrived just minutes before Autumn had burst into flames yelled "NO!" eyes wide with shock. Then she was shocked even more as Autumn not only stopped the giant paw, but he did it with a single hoof. Autumn looked at the bear with pure hate in his eyes as it took another swing at him and this time Autumn not only blocked the attack, but launched an attack of his own. Autumn flew up at the its face full speed and slammed a powerful right hook with his hoof snapping the bear's head to the side violently. He then proceeded to hit the bear's face left and right and left again over and over at such a high speed that his hooves were a blur. Autumn flew up in a loop and slammed his back hooves straight into the stunned bear's face. The bear flew back 50 yards and slammed into a hill top and cracks spread out from the spot it hit. Autumn started charging a giant ball of purple magic right where if he had had a horn it would be and he launched it into the Ursa the point of all his hate. A giant explosion of purple light spread from the ball in a dome as it hit. The Ursa flew high into the sky propelled by the magic's force. Autumn flew up and flying higher than the Ursa he flew straight down as fast as he could. As he collided with the Ursa his flame enveloped them both. Then they crashed into the ground at speeds even Rainbow Dash would be hard pressed to beat. As the dust cleared Twilight saw in awe a very different Autumn than the one who had started the fight for one he had a horn and for another he simply exuded power much like Celestia did, but he was possibly even more powerful than she was. Autumn breathed a sigh and looked around for Scootaloo. Than spotting her he flew to her side with tears in his eyes. "Come one stay with me, please stay with me. I can't live without you. If-if you die I don't know if I could live in this world anymore. Your-your the only pony who was ever nice to me, who actually cared about me. Please don't die. I-I-I love you Scootaloo." sobbed Autumn. "Really?" said a weak voice in his arms. Autumn looked down at Scootaloo and to his extreme relief. "Y-yes, yes of course I do why wouldn't I? I mean you are an amazingly kind filly and I think that makes you more beautiful than anyone else." said Autumn standing up with her and then burying her in a hug. A short time later Twilight, Autumn and Scootaloo sat in her tree home with Princess Luna and Princess Celestia as they discussed the damage and Autumn's strange transformation into an alicorn. During which Autumn and Scootaloo cuddled together with their parents. After a few minutes (during which the princesses whispered to each other) the two sisters walked up to Autumn and asked him " What element do you have control over?" Autumn thought deeply for a minute and stared up at the stars then suddenly a light seemed to shine from his eyes and in a tone of certainty he said "I control the element of change." The two alicorn princesses turned to the crowd that had gathered in the square and announced in the royal canterlot voice "Please say hello to the alicorn of change." and they parted to show Autumn standing tall and proud in front of Scootaloo. Little did they know their happy moment would soon be ruined by somepony who had been all, but forgotten. > First Date > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It had been two days since the most recent catastrophe occurred in Ponyville. A giant Ursa Major had ransacked the town and nopony could do anything to stop it. That was until one young colt stood up for those that he cared about and defeated it, a feat that nopony had ever achieved save for the alicorn princesses. As this young colt battled the beast he too gained that status of alicorn. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ It had been two days since Autumn had become the alicorn of change. He had been afraid that he would have to have royal duties too, but thankfully since he was still so young he didn't have to do anything like that. He tried yet again to turn the pea in front of him into a lizard for the fourth time that day. Now that he had a horn he had to learn how to do magic and Twilight had agreed to teach him partly because he was her son and partly because nopony else was qualified enough to teach him (at least in her opinion) on one condition, he could not use his alicorn magic during their lessons. Even though he had been using that magic since he was 7 years old and there really wasn't any danger of him losing control of it she still said that it was to dangerous. Sparks flew from his horn and he finally succeeded in turning the pea into a lizard like he was supposed to. Smiling happily and with pride in his eyes he trotted over to his mom the levitating the lizard floating after him through the air. "Mom look look I did it I finally did it!" he said beaming up at her his face full of pride. She inspected the lizard critically and mumbled aloud more to herself than anypony else "It's a little smaller than I would like, but...." She trailed off as she spoke and then she looked at Autumn. The excited and proud look that had been on his face only moments before was now one of disappointment and sadness. She suddenly realized that she must have spoken her internal and critical thoughts aloud. "Oh no, sweetheart I didn't mean that. You are doing extremely well for having never even gone to magic kindergarten." Twilight said as Autumn looked at her with a small smile. She could tell that he knew that she was just saying that because she didn't want him to be unhappy. Twilight had an idea and said "How about this? Earlier in the week you asked me if you could have some money to get a bite to eat with somepony. How about I give you the money so that you can go? Would that cheer you up?" Autumn nodded with a smile on his face. Twilight reached into a purse that contained a small amount of bits. She counted out what it contained. It had 36 bits. "Alright 36 bits should be enough for you and one other pony to go get a bite to eat and maybe get a few other things at the store." Twilight said as she gave Autumn the purse full of coins. "Just make sure that you're home before 10 o'clock." yelled Twilight as Autumn ran out the door excitedly. Twilight shook her head and chuckled to herself at his ability to go from extremely sad to extremely happy in seconds much like Pinkie Pie could. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Autumn arrived at Fluttershy's cottage 4 hours later and knocked loudly on the door. He stood there for a minute in silence and then he heard the lock click open and then the door opened to reveal the pony who he most wanted to see at that moment. "Scootaloo! Hey I just came-came here because I wanted to ask you a question!" said Autumn breathlessly. "Autumn what are you doing here I thought you were studying magic with Twilight." said Scootaloo as she looked at Autumn. As always his hair was a mess of purple, black, and crimson and she could tell that he had ran here as fast as he could to see her. They were about the same height though he was slightly taller than her. "I was, but I finished early and... well.... I was just wondering.... well I was just wondering if... I was just wondering if you would like to go and get a bite to eat with me!" Autumn said rapidly. Scootaloo was stunned as she stared quietly at him. " I mean... it's just... well I managed to save enough up and I thought that maybe -" Autumn stammered. Then suddenly Scootaloo shook herself out of the daze and then she said "Let me go ask my mom." Autumn fell silent and watched as she disappeared into the house. Autumn heard a few muffled words and then Scootaloo came back to the door with a smile on her face. "So what restaurant did you have in mind?" asked Scootaloo as she started to walk back towards town. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ A few minutes later Autumn and Scootaloo came to the schoolhouse. Scootaloo looked at Autumn with a confused look on her face. "I have a surprise for you." said Autumn in respond to her silent question. "Now put this blindfold on." said Autumn as he held a black cloth bandana out to a rather suspicious Scootaloo. Scootaloo shrugged her shoulders and put the blind fold on. As Autumn started guiding her to the thing he had been setting up all day, he asked her if she remembered that afternoon in she spent with him in the grove the first day he went to her school. Scootaloo blushed slightly and nodded. A few seconds Autumn came to a stop and told her that she could take the blindfold off now. As she did so she was awe struck at the beauty of the scene before her. She was standing in the grove that Autumn had mentioned earlier except it was evening and a large path west had been cut through the trees revealing that the grove was actually a hilltop. Then she noticed the dining table with candles the design of which had been so natural that she didn't even notice at first and she might not have noticed it at all if not for the wonderful meal set out on it. Autumn walked over to the table and pulled out a chair and gestured for her to sit in it. "A-Autumn h-how did you afford to buy all this?" asked Scootaloo as she sat down. "I made most of it by hoof and used my magic to do what I couldn't do myself physically. So I actually ended up not spending very much." Autumn said as he chuckled. "Now if you will excuse me for just a second..." said Autumn as he walked behind a tree. A second later a flash of purple light streaked out from behind the tree shortly followed by Autumn who to Scootaloo's great surprise was now in a black tuxedo with a clean red silk shirt underneath it. "I managed to make this at Rarity's boutique with a little help. The table and chairs are made from one of the trees that I cut down with some help from Applejack and her brother Big Macintosh and all the food was made with some help from Pinkie Pie." said Autumn as he walked over to the table and sat down in the other free chair and served Scootaloo and himself the first course.