Eight Years Old

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The sun began to set over the beautiful landscape, the wind blew a calm gentle wind, and the animals in the surrounding area were settling into their homes.

Normally I would spend these evenings relaxing, perhaps reading a book by the lake, or feeding bread to the ducks. Moments like this was just too beautiful to be spent inside. I was always more of an outside kind of guy, I loved the beauty and serenity of nature and long landscapes that are just begging to be adventured upon.

Sadly, today wasn't one of those days.

"Come on girl, we have to catch her!" I said to my horse, as I whipped the rope that was attached to the horses leather strap, indicating that we needed to move faster.

My friends along side me did the same.

"She's getting away!" shouted Maria.

"Not if I can help it!" I shouted.

The women that was traveling with a dark black and purple cloud of smoke turned to us, and laughed.

"Say what you want! You'll never catch me Maximo!"

The name echoed in my ears, as the images in my head suddenly began to fade to black.

I was losing consciousness, or I guess, I was gaining consciousness. Either way, I was both falling asleep and awakening, I could feel it, the memories, the intellect, the wisdom, all of it was fading as the true me began to awaken from his slumber.

Please, don't forget me... don't forget who you are... please... don't... forget...

What was I trying not to forget? Oh well, probably doesn't matter anyway. What day is today? Here, I'll go check the calendar mommy gave me.

I jumped out of my bed and skipped over to the calendar I had hung next to my bookshelf. It was Tuesday, I gasped.

"First day of school! Its the first day of school!" I shouted. I immediately changed out of my pajamas and into my day clothes. I then grabbed my school bag that was near my book shelf, and as I did so, I heard a voice call out to me. I didn't quite hear what it said, but when I looked around, no pony was there.

I turned back to the book shelf and stopped suddenly, I stared at the purple vase that mommy gave me a year ago. I don't know why I wanted the vase, something just told me that I had to have it, like a voice in my head, telling me that I have to keep watch on that vase, make sure nothing happens. I don't know why I thought these things, I just assumed it was my imaginary friend talking to me (I called him Pustulio!). I took the vase and placed it in my bag, I just felt like it, I guess.

Then, I ran out of my room and into mommy's bed chambers.

I don't know why mommy calls it a bed chamber, I guess that's just what you call a really big room with a bed.

When I entered, mommy was laying in her bed, still asleep. I decided not to wake her, since that would be rude. I saw mommy tossing and turning in the sheets, and she was muttering something to herself.

"What's the matter? I thought you loved me?"

'Uh oh, sounds like mommy's having a nightmare, I better wake her up' I thought to myself, as I dropped my bag down and hopped onto her bed.

"Or was it a lie? Just like everything else you've ever told me? Isn't that right?" mommy muttered to herself.

I made my way over to mommy and began shaking her gently, "Mommy?"

She didn't respond, so I shook harder, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy". She still didn't wake up.

"MOMMY!" I shouted, that did the trick.

Mommy gasped, when she awoke I hugged her as soon as I saw her sit up.

I knew mommy had just had a nightmare, but I was just so excited, I couldn't hold it in.

"Come on mommy, its the first day of school!", I quickly jumped off mommy's bed and grabbed my bag. I then ran out of her room, down the hall, and into the dining hall.

When I arrived I saw a waiter placing a plateful of breakfast onto the table, when he saw me, he smiled.

"Good morning Glee, did you enjoy your sleep?" he asked.

"Yes Sir!", his first name really is Sir. I think this is funny, but I didn't say anything because I didn't want to hurt his feeling.

"That's great to hear. Are you ready to eat? I've had the cooks in the kitchen prepare your favorite" said Sir.

I gasped from excitement, and plopped down one seat away from Sunset Shimmer.

Sunset Shimmer was mommy's private student. She can be mean and scary sometimes, but I like to pretend she's my sister. She's mean to most ponies, but she acts a lot nicer to me, I guess I'm like a little brother to her. Or at least, I like to think of it that way.

The breakfast served to me was toast with tropical orange marmalade, fake meat strips (its fake bacon, but ponies don't know that because it doesn't exist in their world), pancakes with a smiley face, and a glass of orange juice.

"Wow! Thanks Sir!" I said, happily.

"You are most certainly welcome!", he smiled at me, then went back into the kitchen.

I munched on my fake meat strips for a few minutes, until I saw the door open, and mommy came in.

She walked to the table and sat in the seat, in between Sunset Shimmer and I.

"So, are you two exited for the new school year?" mommy asked.

"Ya I am! I cant wait to see Twilight and Green Bush again!" I said to mommy, excitedly. "What about you Sunset Shimmers? Are you excited for the school year?" I asked Sunset Shimmers as I was munching on my toast.

"Ha! As if, I'd like to attend my private lessons with having to hear the noise of ponies running up and down the halls" said Sunset Shimmers.

"Now, Sunset Shimmers, I expect you to actually make some friends this year, understand?" said mommy.

"Ugh! I just don't see the point in having to associate myself with ponies who are SO below MY standards"

"Excuse me?" said mommy, looking very cross at Sunset Shimmers.

'Uh oh, Sunset Shimmers done it now' I thought to myself.

Sunset quickly got off her seat and placed her saddle bag on her back. "Oh, but I... didn't say I wouldn't try, heh heh". She looked down at a non-existent watch on her hoof. "Oh would you look at the time! I better be off to my studies!", she quickly sped off.

Mommy sighed, as she looked at the grandfather clock that sat in the corner of the dining hall. "I guess it is time for us to depart, are you ready to go Glee?", mommy asked me.

I quickly shook my head up and down as I placed my bag over my shoulders.

Mommy and I walked out of the hall and into the front courtyard. Once there, mommy took me to one of the royal coaches. I took my seat, and waived goodbye to mommy as the two guards pegasus extended their wings and lifted us into the air.

I saw Mrs. Cherry Blossom talking to mommy, before the coach came out of range for us to see them.

"So, is this your first day of school, Glee?" the guard to the right asked.

"Yup, todays my first day, and I'm gonna see Twilight and Green Bush again!" I shouted, excitedly.

"Well that sounds like fun! I sure wish I could be a filly again" said the guard to the right.

"Why do you want to be a filly?" I asked the guard.

He chuckled, "well, when your a big strong stallion like me, you have a lot more responsibilities to attend to. You won't be able to have as much fun when your all grown up".

The guard to the left gave his partner a playful punch, "hey, don't scare the kid into not wanting to grow up. Let him learn for himself".

The guard to the right rolled his eyes, "oh come on, I'm just telling him the truth, he's got to learn some day that growing up could be hard".

"But not for me! Cause I'm gonna grow up and become an adventurer! Just like Phoenix Sprite!" I said to the gaurds.

"Phoenix Sprite? You mean that adventurer from the stories?" the guard to the right asked me.

I nodded, "yup, when I grow up, I'm gonna be just like her!"

"What about that new adventurer that just came out, what was her name? Daring Doo I think it was, don't you want to be like her. Cause I heard a rumor that she's actually real" said the guard to the right.

"I've never heard of her. Plus, Phoenix Sprite helps ponies while she's on her adventures, not just Equestria, but the whole world!", as I said this, I extended my arms out, showing how big Phoenix's achievements were.

"Well, if your gonna be an adventurer, then you got to be brave" said the guard to the right.

"Oh I'll be brave, I'm gonna be the bravest adventurer ever!" I said to the guard proudly.

"We've arrived at the destination Mr. Sunrise" said the guard to the left.

"Thank you!" I said to the guards, as I exited the coach. As I was leaving, I can hear the two guards arguing behind me, "Mr. Sunrise, really? Dude, he's like eight years old. Why do you have to be so formal?", "Well why can't you take your job more seriously?". The two guards then flew away.

As I was making my way to the classroom, I saw a familiar face in the window. I quickly snuck through the classroom door, snuck behind him, and tackled him.

"Rrrraaaahhhh!!! I'm the monster who hides under your bed!" I said playfully.

"Ah, Glee, I was wondering when you were coming", he pushed me off, and I helped him to his hoofs.

"Hi Green Bush! How was your summer!" I asked happily.

Green Bush was one of my best friends, he had light green fur and a dark green mane with green glasses. He's really smart, but he doesn't get out very much.

"It was O.K. I spent most of my time reading in my room" said Green Bush.

"Why? Don't you like playing outside?" I asked.

He shrugged, "it can be fun sometimes, but I don't really like being outside nearly as much as you do. I prefer to spend my time reading".

"That's makes two of us" said a voice from behind Green Bush.

Green Bush turned and saw a purple unicorn filly approach them.

"Twilight!" I called happily.

Twilight was my other best friend. She had light purple fur and a dark purple mane with a streak of pink in it. She's also really smart, but unlike Green Bush, she likes going outside more.

"Hi Glee! How was your summer?" asked Twilight.

"Oooh! It was super fun! My mommy took Sunset Shimmers and I to the park, and we ate ice cream, and-"

"You still call your mom mommy?" said a voice from behind me.

I turned and saw a light blue filly with a pink mane, standing next to a pink filly with a light blue mane. The pink one was Bubblegum Blast and the blue one Lucy Blue. Bubblegum and Lucy weren't very nice ponies, they would tease me a lot because I was different from the other ponies. I don't hate them, its actually because of them bullying me that Twilight and Green Bush became my friends. It was when I was six, they defended me when Bubblegum and Lucy tried to take my lunch. We became best friends shortly after. That didn't stop Bubblegum and Lucy from bullying me though.

"Ya, what's wrong with that?" I asked.

Bubblegum and Lucy looked at each other and laughed, "only babies call their moms mommy, are you a baby Glee?" said Bubblegum.

I didn't like being called a baby, I didn't really understand why she called me that. I was bigger then all of the other fillies, so for her to call me that just didn't make sense.

"No, I'm not a baby" I said to Bubblegum, as I looked down at my feet.

"Aw, are you going to cry?" said Lucy.

"No", that was a lie, I could feel my eyes tearing up.

"Aw, he is going to cry. Why don't we ask the teacher to call your mommy for you? Then she can give you your bottle and rock you to sleep" said Bubblegum.

Twilight stepped in between me and Bubblegum.

"That's enough! Glee can call his mom any way he likes!" said Twilight.

"Ya, there's nothing wrong with calling your mom mommy, and besides, you used to call your mom mommy too!" said Green Bush.

"Ya, when we were babies, but we're not anymore, unlike some pony we know. Oops, my mistake, your not a pony" said Bubblegum.

"What are you anyways? Are you some sort of monkey?" asked Lucy.

"You should be in the circus!" said Bubblegum.

"And you two should be heading to my desk right now!" said Mr. GrayBurn, who was standing behind them listening the whole time.

The fillies froze, and slowly turned around. When they saw Mr. GrayBurn standing above them, they tried to act if they were innocent.

"Oh, hello Mr. GrayBurn, we were just talking to our good friend Glee here, weren't we Glee?" asked Bubblegum.

She looked at me with an expression that said 'if you don't say yes, then we'll get later!'. I didn't want to say yes, because that would be lying, but I didn't want to say no, because Bubblegum was scary whenever she gave me that expression. So, I didn't answer, I just stood there and stared at my feet.

"Glee, have these two been mean to you again?" Mr. GrayBurn asked me.

"Uh... I..." I stuttered. Luckily I didn't have to answer, Twilight did that for me.

"Yes Mr. GrayBurn, Bubblegum and Lucy were calling Glee a baby and that he looked like a monkey, and that he should be in a circus!"

"Is that so? Well Bubblegum, Lucy, I think I'll just send a letter to you parents and have them come talk to me after school today" said Mr. GrayBurn.

"Awwww!" said both Bubblegum and Lucy.

"Now, you two go to your seats right now!" said Mr. GrayBurn.

Before they left, Bubblegum turned to me and whispered, "thanks a lot, monkey!". Mr. GrayBurn didn't hear this, he was suddenly preoccupied with the filly who likes to eat glue.

"Are you O.K. Glee?" Twilight asked.

"Ya, thanks Twilight, thanks Green Bush" I said to my friends.

"If you ever need help, we'll be here for you" said Green Bush.

"Every pony! Every pony settle down and take your seat!" said Mr. GrayBurn

All the fillies (including me) did as we were told.

Mr. GrayBurn clapped his hoofs together. "I have a big surprise for all of you! Since today is our first day returning to another school year, not only will you be having no homework, what better way to start a school year, then a field trip!".

After Mr. GrayBurn said this, the entire class cheered, except for Green Bush, he raised his hoof.

"Yes Green Bush?" asked Mr. GrayBurn.

"Don't we need parents permission before we can go on a field trip?" Green Bush asked.

"Oh, I'm sure they won't mind, besides, we are going to a forest. If your parents ask, just tell them we were learning about trees. Now, I want every pony to grab their bags and get into a line near the door. I'll send a pony one at a time to the coach that'll be taking us there" said Mr. GrayBurn.

We did as we were told and stood in a line near the door (I was with Twilight and Green Bush). Then, Mr. GrayBurn sent us to the coach. The coaches were only big enough to have ten ponies sit in it, so the class had to split between five coaches.

After ten minutes of waiting, the pegasus who would be flying the coaches finally extended their wings, and lifted us into the air.

As we flew, Twilight and Green Bush and I talked about all the amazing things we were going to do when we got there. I was going to adventure, Twilight was going to study nature, and Green Bush was going to read under the shade of a tree.

As we flew, I looked through the window of the coach and gasped.

"What is it Glee?" asked Twilight.

"Look, its Pony Ville!" I said, excitedly.

We were flying right above it, I could see all of the stores and the ponies walking through the streets. I could see the town hall, and a library that looked like a tree, and a huge farm full of apples!

"What's so exiting about Pony Ville?" Green Bush asked.

"Because, I'm going to be an adventurer when I grow up, and an adventurer has to start somewhere! So I'm going to start by traveling to Pony Ville! It looks like a really nice place, but I've never been there before, but some day I will!" I said to Green Bush, proudly.

"Why do you want to start in Pony Ville? Why not the Unicorn Range or Foal Mountain? What about the Rambling Rock Ruins, that place seems interesting" said Green Bush.

"I don't know, Pony Ville just seems like a good place to start, what do you think Twilight?" I asked.

"Well, I can't ever imagine myself going to Pony Ville, but if I was going to be an adventurer then it does seem like a great place to start" said Twilight.

"I'd still go the Foal mountains if I was going to be an adventurer" said Green Bush.

"Every pony, we've arrived at the destination!" shouted Mr. GrayBurn.

The coach landed near the edge of the forest, me, Twilight and Green Bush quickly left the coach.

It was amazing! Their were so many birds and squirrels and other forest animals. The trees were super tall, and there were lots of bushes surrounding them.

"Every pony follow me, make sure to stay with the group, I don't want any pony getting lost!" said Mr. GrayBurn.

We began fallowing Mr. GrayBurn into the forest. We followed along a path for about twenty minutes, until we made it to the top of a hill that had no trees on it.

"Alright, I want every pony back in this area within one hour, have fun but don't go too far. Make sure you can still see the picnic spot!" said Mr. GrayBurn.

Twilight, Green Bush and I immediately ran into an area full of really tall trees and berry bushes. Green Bush sat next to a tree with a big shade and began reading a book. Twilight pulled out a magnifying glass that she keeps in her saddle bag and started looking around the berry bushes. I climbed onto the nearest tree and began hopping from one branch to the other.

"You should probably be careful Glee, you don't want to fall" said Twilight.

"Don't worry, I'm a brave adventurer, and brave adventurers never get hurt!", as I said this, my footing slipped as I tried to hop to the next branch, and I fell, landing on top of Green Bush. Green Bush cushioned my fall, so I wasn't hurt, and somehow Green Bush wasn't hurt either.

Green Bush gave me an annoyed expression, I smiled at him sheepishly. "Oops, my bad" I said to Green Bush.

"If your going to jump through trees like a mad pony then could you at least not be above me while you do it?" asked Green Bush, as he got to his hoofs and dusted the dirt off of him.

"Sorry Green Bush" I apologized.

"Wow! Look at that!" exclaimed Twilight.

Green Bush and I turned to see what Twilight was looking at. She had just found a huge dragon fly!

"Oooh! Are you gonna catch it!" I asked Twilight.

"No, he belongs here, in the forest, but I sure wish I had a real dragon. Then I could keep him and name him and take care of him!" Twilight said, excitedly.

"But dragons aren't pets? How are you going to keep a dragon?" I asked.

Twilight shrugged, "I don't know, I still want one".

"It would be pretty interesting to have a dragon, even though they can't be pets, you can still have them as a brother or a sister" said Green Bush.

"Ya, that's it, I'll have a dragon for a sister!" said Twilight.

"I thought you already had a brother?" I asked.

"I do, but I want a dragon for a sister, not a brother. Having a dragon would be so cool!" Twilight exclaimed.

A thought came to me, I slowly snuck behind Twilight and lifted her off the ground.

"Rrraaahhhh!!! I'm a dragon! I'm going to eat you!" I shouted, In my best scary dragon voice.

"Aaaagh! Oh no, he's got me! Green Bush help!" said Twilight.

"I don't know guys, I'm getting to a really good part in this book!" said Green Bush.

Me and Twilight stopped, and stared at Green Bush with bored expressions.

Green Bush slapped his book shut and groaned, "Ugh, fine! I'll play". He picked up a nearby stick, and pointed it at me. "Fear not citizen, for I will save you!" said Green Bush, pretending to be a brave knight.

"You'll never catch me!" I yelled to Green Bush. I then placed Twilight on my back in a piggy back ride sort of position and began running away. From behind me, I can hear Twilight giggling, and Green Bush shouting, "come back here ferocious beast!".

We ran for a couple of seconds before running into another group of fillies. They looked at us in a very confused way.

"Uh, what are you guys doing?" asked one of the fillies.

"Were playing dragons! I'm a dragon and I just captured Twilight, and Green Bush is the knight!" I explained.

"Oooh!" Can we play!" said one of the fillies that was in the back of the group.

"Sure!" I said, happily.

For the remainder of the hour, we played dragons. Six fillies, as well as myself, were dragons (they made me the alpha dragon, because I was the tallest), Green Bush and five other fillies were knights, Twilight and two other fillies were the ones that had to be rescued. The dragons would try to prevent the knights from rescuing Twilight and the two fillies, but sometimes the hostages didn't want to be rescued. Since I had to make sure the knights didn't rescue the hostages, I gave the hostages piggy back rides to make sure they were never out of my sight. They thought that this was really fun, so some of them didn't want to be rescued. They liked it when I gave then piggy back rides.

Soon, we heard Mr. GrayBurn call us back to the picnic spot, we ate for an hour and were allowed to go back to our game again. One of the fillies who was a knight brought his ball along and pretended that it was a cannon ball. He fired it at the dragons and it flew off into the forest somewhere.

"Aw, that was my new ball" said the filly.

"Don't worry, I'll get it!", I jumped over a couple of bushes away from our group, and began searching for the ball.

It took a lot longer then I thought to find the ball, it must've gone farther then I thought. I walked further and deeper into the forest and away from our group, trying as best as possible to find the ball. Eventually, I had made it so deep that the forest didn't look the same anymore. This part of the forest looked thicker, and darker. I didn't like it, it scared me.

'I'm a brave pony, I'm a brave pony' I thought to myself. Suddenly, I saw something in the corner of my eye.

It was the ball! I ran over and picked it up, and as I did so, I noticed that it had landed in a bush that for some reason, appeared so familiar. Now that I thought about it, this whole area looked familiar. I don't know why, but I felt like I've been here before.

Suddenly, I felt my head give out a tremendous amount of pain. I fell to my knees, and images in my head began to flash. I felt like I was being sucked into a vacuum, as the world around me faded to black.

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I was laying on the ground. I was beneath a bush and couldn't move. I couldn't call out for help, all I could do was cry.

Why was I crying, how did I get here, I couldn't remember. . . why can't I remember!

I need help, please, someone help me!

"Hello! Is anyone there?" a voice had called out.

I opened my eyes and saw. . . her for the first time.

She had white fur, pink eyes, a long flowing rainbow colored mane, and a golden crown and necklace, both with a purple jewel encrusted into it.

And, she was a pony, a talking pony, but, ponies can't talk... can they?

I don't know, my head, it hurts so much! I feel like my memories been swiped, I can't remember anything! I'm scared, so scared. I continued to cry.

I felt my body lift into the air, as the pony placed me gently into her fore legs.

"Shush now child, everything will be fine", she said to me softly as she began to gently rock me in her legs.

She was so soft, so nice, she made me feel safe, like all the dangerous things in the world could no longer harm me as long as I was with this pony. Even my headache was fading away. I felt myself calm down, as I slowly drifted to sleep, resting my head against her chest.

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"Glee! Glee where are you!" shouted Twilight.

I woke up, and found myself laying on the ground, with the ball still in my hand.

'What just happened?' I thought to myself.

I quickly jumped to my feet and began running back to the group.

When I arrived, I found the entire classroom was in our play area now, including the teacher. Mr. GrayBurn ran to me and began checking me for cuts and bruises.

"Oh thank goodness your alright! What happened? Did you get lost?" Mr. GrayBurn asked me.

"What do you mean? I just went to go get the ball" I explained to Mr. GrayBurn.

Green Bush walked up to me, and looked at me with a concerned expression.

"Glee, that was two hours ago!" he exclaimed.

"What! No it wasn't! I was only gone for a few minutes!" I said to Green Bush and Mr.GrayBurn.

"Glee, what happened while you were looking for the ball?" Mr. GrayBurn asked me.

I didn't know how to answer him, cause I didn't know what happened. One minute I was grabbing the ball, and the next I fell asleep, or at least it felt like I was asleep. Why would I fall asleep in the middle of the forest anyway? I couldn't tell Mr. GrayBurn that I fell asleep in the forest, he'll get mad at me. But I couldn't lie either, I'll just tell him I don't know what happened, maybe he won't be as mad if I do.

"I don't know, I just grabbed the ball, and I came out here and you were all here and then you said "Oh thank goodness your alright! What happened? Did you get lost?" and then I said "what do you mean? I just went to go get the ball" and then-"

Mr. GrayBurn placed his hoof over my mouth and sighed, "well, what ever happened, I'm glad your alright. Its time to get going anyways. I want every pony to fallow me back to the coaches".

As we began walking back, Green Bush whispered into my ear, "what happened Glee? Did you go on an adventure?".

"No, I don't know what happened" I whispered to Green Bush.

"But you can't disappear for two hours and not know where you were" whispered Twilight.

"But I really don't know what happened, I grabbed the ball, and two hours had passed" I tried to explain.

Green Bush and Twilight gave each other concerned looks, before turning away and remaining silent for the rest of the walk.

The flight back to the school was also silent, all of the fillies wanted to know where I was during those two hours, but I really didn't know. When I told them this, they didn't believe me.

When we arrived at the school, Mr. GrayBurn told me that he was going to send a letter to my mother and that we were going to talk in a parent teacher conference. He said I wasn't in trouble, but I felt like I was. I left the school and into the royal coach that was sitting in the front of the school.

It wasn't the same guards as this morning, that disappointed me a little, I like those guys but I can only see them when they take me to school in the morning. The evening guards didn't talk very much, and the entire flight back to the castle was spent in silence.

I was still a bit scared with everything that happened, but as soon as the coach landed and I saw mommy waiting for me, all of my fears suddenly disappeared. I was super excited to tell mommy about how my day went, but I didn't want to tell her the part about me being lost for two hours, that would make her worry. She would probably get mad at Mr. GrayBurn, which I didn't want her too, he was a nice teacher.

I decided to tell her about my day, but leave that part out.

Oh yeah, I also had to tell her that we learned about trees today. But why would Mr. GrayBurn ask us to tell our mommy's and daddy's that, even though we didn't? Would I be lying if I told mommy that we learned about trees today? If Mr. GrayBurn told us to tell our mommy's and daddy's this, then it should be alright, right? Ya, it should be alright.

I jumped out of the coach and began hopping up and down from excitement.

"I assume you had a good day at school?" mommy asked me.

I nodded, "I had a super duper GREAT day at school! First, Mr. GreyBurn took us on a field trip to a forest so we can learn about all the different trees there, and while we were looking at all the trees, twilight found a dragon fly! And then, after twilight found it, we all wanted to have real dragons! So we started playing dragons, and we pretended we were flying! And then", I ran out of breath from talking to fast.

Mommy chuckled, "well you certainly sound like you had a very exciting day, why don't you tell me the rest when we get back into the castle?". I nodded.

Once back into the castle, I told mommy about everything I had done today. Learning about tree's, Playing pretend dragons with Twilight, Green Bush, and the other fillies, having a picnic in the woods, and so on and so forth.

I had been talking nonstop about my day for a good ten minutes before a thought came to my mind. "Mommy, am I a dragon?" I asked.

"What makes you think your a dragon?" mommy asked.

"Well, I'm bigger then all the other fillies at school, and I don't walk on all fours, and I don't have hoofs. I know I'm not a pony, so does that mean I'm a dragon?" I asked.

Mommy thought for a moment, then sighed, "no, you are not a dragon Glee, nor are you a pony".

"But what am I then?" I asked.

Mommy gave me a hug, "you are you, Glee Sunrise. You don't have to be a pony or a dragon, you are perfect just the way you are".

I smiled, "But is there any pony else like me?".

"Um"

Before mommy could speak, a guard suddenly appeared, "your highness, she's awake".

"Good, I'll be on my way" said mommy

The guard nodded then walked off.

"Glee, I have some business to attend to, why don't you head off to your room and start your homework" said Celestia.

"But, Mr. GrayBurn said that since todays the first day we don't have to do homework. Ooh! Can I come watch you do your work instead" I said excitedly.

"I'm sorry Glee, but this is very important business that I have to attend. If you don't have homework then why don't you go play in the garden" said mommy.

I really like to watch mommy do her work, so when she said no, I frowned, "O.K. I'll go play in the garden". I suddenly remembered about the new ball that mommy had gotten me recently. I smiled, "Ooh! I can play with my new ball!".

I quickly ran down the hall to go and retrieve my ball.

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"Ball, ball, ball, ball, ah ha! Found it!", I had been searching my toy box for a long time, trying to find my new ball. I found it at the bottom, so I picked it up and was about to turn to leave when I noticed something was missing.

I turned to my bookshelf and saw that my vase was gone.

No, I have to have that vase, I have to, where did it go, where did it go!?! .... Oh yeah, that's right, I brought it with me... why did I panic over a vase? I don't know, probably doesn't matter anyway.

I grabbed my bag from the floor and searched inside for the purple vase, it wasn't there.

I started to panic again, I checked and rechecked, but it wasn't there. Now that I thought about it, I placed it in my bag this morning, but I didn't have it through out the entire day, so I must have dropped it in mommy's bed chambers!

I quickly bolted out of my room and ran to mommy's bed chambers, bringing my bag with me.

I tried to enter, but it was locked.

"No, please, I need to find that vase, I have to find it, I have to!" I said to myself.

Suddenly, the door unlocked, but when I looked inside, no pony was there.

How did the door open by itself? Oh well, that doesn't matter, I have to find that vase! I have to! Why do I care about that vase so much? Maybe its because mommy gave it to me, and that makes me care about it more.

I searched around the room for several minutes, searching on the bed, the closet, the bathroom, it wasn't there. I got to my knees and checked to see if it had rolled under the bed, it hadn't. I turned my head and found that it didn't roll under the bed, it rolled under the desk!

"There you are!" I said happily.

I picked up the vase, and placed it in my bag.

Just as I was about to drop it, I felt the vase vibrate in my hand. When it did, I gasped, and dropped it.

"Dawn Breaker, Dawn Breaker, Dawn Breaker, Dawn Breaker", I heard a voice whisper in an echo. The voice was coming from the vase.

I slowly reached for the vase, and as I did so, I heard the vase whisper in an echo again.

"Dawn Breaker, Dawn Breaker, Dawn Breaker, Dawn Breaker".

I had no idea how the vase was speaking, and I had no idea what it was whispering about.

"What's a Dawn Breaker?" I asked the vase.

As soon as I asked, the vase stopped vibrating, and went silent, but before it did, I could have sworn I heard some pony chuckle.

I picked up the vase, and looked inside. Nothing, it was just an empty vase. Maybe it was enchanted to vibrate at random times, but I've had this vase for a year, how come it only started doing this now?

No time to ask questions now, I heard some pony walking down the hall, if they catch me in mommy's bed chambers, they might get me in trouble.

I quickly stuffed the vase back into my bag, I shut the door behind me and bolted down the hall. I eventually made it to the exit that led me into the garden.

It took me a couple minutes to catch my breath, but as soon as I had my energy back, I kicked my ball over a hedge.

It flew off somewhere into the garden, I'm not sure where, so I went to go look for it. I searched for a bit, through the flowers, the bushes, and the plants, but I eventually found it lying underneath a window, and just as I picked it up I heard some pony say my name.

"I need you to start keeping a close eye on Glee for me. Can you do that?", strange, that sounded like mommy. I peered through the window and saw mommy and Mrs. Cherry Blossom speaking to each other in an empty room. They both looked really worried, did something happen? Maybe it had something to do with what that guard said earlier, about some pony waking up?

"Well, ya I can watch Glee for you, but what does he have to do with the.... hold on, you don't think he has anything to do with the prophecy, do you?" asked Mrs. Cherry Blossom.

'Duck!' a voice shouted in my head. Instinctively, I listened to the voice, I don't know why I did, for some reason, it just felt like something that had to be done at that moment. I duck beneath the window, so that mommy and Mrs. Cherry Blossom couldn't see me.

I waited a few seconds, before I heard mommy speak, "It is merely a precaution, just to make sure nothing bad really does happen".

"But Glee's just a little boy! He hasn't done anything wrong! I've seen him play with the other fillies, I've seen him try to help the staff with their chores, I've seen him be kind and sweet and never rude to others! He hasn't done anything wrong! How could you even consider him being part of all this?" asked Mrs. Cherry Blossom.

Mommy thinks I'm part of something? What did I do wrong?

There was another pause, before I heard mommy speak, "The prophecy said to stop him while his heart is still kind, before he changes".

"You think Glee's going to change?" asked Mrs. Cherry Blossom.

"No, I believe Glee will grow up to become a young, healthy, responsible gentleman. That's what I believe, and you think so too, don't you?" mommy asked.

I didn't hear Mrs. Cherry Blossom answer, so I assumed she either shook her head or nodded.

"We both believe Glee will grow up kind and proper, but what if we're wrong?" asked mommy.

Oh, O.K. she nodded . . . wait, if their wrong? What does mommy mean if their wrong? She doesn't think I'm a gentleman?

This thought made my eyes tear a little.

I didn't hear Mrs. Cherry Blossom answer, but I knew she was probably thinking the same thing.

"I know it may not seem like the right thing to do, but you can't deny that something is different about Glee. And believe you me, I hope that this prophecy thing is just a fluke, and we can all go back to our normal lives. Until then however, we just need to keep a close watch on him. Can you do that?" mommy asked.

"Yes princess, I'll help keep an eye on him" said Mrs. Cherry Blossom.

"Good, I better go and set the sun then" said mommy.

There was a small pause, I thought they had left, before-

"Uh, princess, what do you keep looking at?" asked Lyra.

'You've been spotted!' shouted the voice in my head.

I saw mommy burst to the window at top speed, looking around, looking for me, but she wouldn't find me.

I don't know how I did it, but somehow I had made it across the garden and behind a hedge before she could catch me. I had somehow traveled across the garden faster then mommy, I WAS FASTER THEN MOMMY!!! I would have been extremely amazed if it hadn't been for what I had just heard mommy and Mrs. Cherry Blossom talking about.

After mommy closed the window and left, I curled up into a ball and started to cry.

Mommy and Mrs. Cherry Blossom said I'm not a gentleman, and they said I was different. Its probably because I'm not a pony that they don't trust me, its because I'm different, isn't it? Wait, does that mean mommy doesn't love me? No, that can't be it, mommy loves me, she's always loved me. She's always been there for me when I'm hurt or sick. She's always been there for my birthdays and other special events. She loves me, she's always loved me . . . then again, what if she's just pretending.

She wants Mrs. Cherry Blossom to start watching me, to make sure I don't change, why? What do they think I'm going to change into? Something dangerous, something scary, or worse? And, what if she wants Mrs. Cherry Blossom to watch me because she can't watch me any more. What if mommy's too busy to watch me herself, so she wants Mrs. Cherry Blossom to watch me instead!?!

Am I in trouble? Is this because I'm not a pony? I'm not a pony, and I'm not a dragon, I'm not anything . . . but I have to be something . . . right? . . . . right? . . . . WHAT AM I!?!

The more I thought about this, the more I cried. I laid in the garden behind the hedge and cried for what felt like hours, when I stopped, the sun was down. I could hear the bell tower in the distance chime eight times, it was eight o clock, I had to be in bed soon.

I wiped my tears and slowly stood up. I then began to make the trip through castle, up the stairs, and into my room. I was so upset, I had forgotten I still had my bag, I left my ball behind however.

After I had gotten dressed, I placed the purple vase back into its proper position on my bookshelf. I probably would have thought about what happened in mommy's bed chambers if I wasn't so upset. I slowly left my room and made my way to the bathroom, to brush my teeth. On my way there, I ran into mommy.

"Oh, hello Glee, off to brush your teeth?" she asked.

I merely nodded.

"Would you like to brush your teeth in my bathroom tonight?"

I merely nodded again.

I followed her into her bed chambers and into her bathroom, mommy then levitated me a new toothbrush and placed minty orange toothpaste on the bristles (minty orange was my favorite).

I brushed my teeth silently as mommy combed her hair.

"You've been awfully quiet tonight Glee, are you feeling alright" mommy asked me.

I didn't answer, I didn't know how to answer. I was feeling several mixed feeling at once, confusion, sadness, fear. I was confused about what mommy and Mrs. Cherry Blossom were talking about, I was sad because mommy didn't trust me, and I was scared because I felt that I was in trouble. What made it worse, is that I thought I was in trouble because I wasn't a pony. Mommy said I was different, and the only thing different about me was the fact that I'm not a pony, so that had to be the reason . . . but . . . why would mommy get me in trouble for that?

Mommy looked at me concerned, "Glee, is there anything you need to tell me?" she asked.

Should I ask her? About what happened earlier, no, then she'll know that I was eavesdropping, and she'll get me in even more trouble then I all ready am! I could feel my eyes starting to tear up again. I don't want to talk anymore, I just want to go to bed and cry.

I tried to rinse my toothbrush fast and leave the bathroom, but mommy stopped me.

"Glee, why aren't you answering me? You know you can tell me anything, you know that don't you?" said mommy.

I hung my head my head low, and faced away from mommy. Mommy didn't trust me because I'm different, and she's going to get me in trouble now. I feel so scared, sad, and confused all at once. I can't hold in my tears anymore . . . I . . . I . . . I need a hug . . . .

I slowly turned to mommy, revealing that I was crying.

"Glee! What's wrong?" mommy asked me.

I ran and hugged mommy, crying into her chest.

"I don't want to be different! I want to be a pony like you!" I cried.

I cried into mommy's chest for a few minutes before speaking again.

"Why am I not a pony mommy? Why am I different?"

Mommy thought about this for a moment, then said "I don't know why your not a pony Glee, but I do know this. You can be a dragon, a pony, a dog, a cat, you can be born in any way, shape or form. But it doesn't matter how your born. What matters Is what you make of yourself. A dragon may seem big and scary, but if he show's a bit of friendship, then anyone will love him for who he is".

I sniffed and looked at mommy. "Am I in trouble?" I asked.

"Now why would you be in trouble?" mommy asked me.

I shrugged, and mommy placed me on her back. "I think you just need a bit of sleep, that will make you feel better" said mommy.

I yawned, and mommy took me back to my room and placed me on my bed.

"Good night Glee, I love you" said mommy.

"I love you too mommy".

Mommy then shut the door and returned to her own room.

I laid in my bed, and stared at the vase. So much had happened today, so much I was still confused about. I wanted to know more, but my body was well beyond its limit, physically and emotionally.

So as I drift into my slumber, I continue to ponder over the possibilities of what might be occurring with the vase. Why does that vase matter so much? Has it perhaps been enchanted with a powerful obsession spell. No, if that was the case then the spell would be strong enough to affect every pony else, unless the caster of such spell had managed to possess the skills needed in order to conjure such a spell that could lock onto an individual subject thus causing only him to be affected by the spell! But that isn't a normal casting spell, you'd need to brew an obsessive trait potion, and you have to have a lock of the subjects hair to which you want to cast the spell upon, then..... wait... how do I know all this?

Ah, I see, the real me is losing consciousness, I'm falling asleep, and by falling asleep, I am also awakening. The memories, the intellect, the wisdom, all of it was returning to me.

Well, there isn't much time to waste, I have to unlock the rest of my memories in order to get the real me to remember who he really is. Starting from when we were chasing the women in purple smoke, I reached for my bow and-

{Oh I don't think so}

GAAAH! What! Who are you!

{You don't remember me? Looks like my plan truly has worked}

You! No, your trapped in the vase! I TRAPPED YOU IN THE VASE!

{Well, lucky for me, the child version of you made a crucial mistake, or, perhaps it was you who made that mistake? I can never tell, either way, your cautious behavior will be your downfall}

What do you mean!?!

{Well, because you always want to keep me in check, you decided that it was a good idea to bring me along in your bag. How silly of you to accidently drop me when you were in your "mummy's" room. You gave me the perfect chance to place that false prophecy on the fake soothsayer pony}

You!?! You did that!?! But how, Your trapped, you shouldn't be able to interact outside your prison!

{Oh, my dear husband of mine, you truly have gotten old, haven't you, you placed spell locks over all of my abilities, except for one}

Ah, I see, spell leeching, the ability to absorb magical energy from one magical creature to another, I should have known. You leeched magical energy off of Celestia, she has so much magical energy that she never noticed. You used that magical energy to become strong enough to place that prophecy, I assume that's what the princess and the cherry gardener were discussing about. Now, you have plenty of energy left to take over my body and break yourself free from your prison. Oh well, I'm not perfect, after all we were falling through a portal to this dimension when I casted those spell locks, its understandable if I left a few things out.

{Enough talk! I have possession over your childish body now! Once I'm free, I'll take over this pathetic pony infested world, and soon, I'll have the power to return to our own dimension, and I will be the ruler of two worlds!}

Heh, heh, heh...

{What's so funny?}

Oh, my dear wife of mine, it seems that you have grown old as well. I may not be able to spell leech like you can, not that I want to any way because that's dark magic, but I also have a trick up my sleeve.

{Oh really? And what would that be?}

Well, as you may know that after our retiring ritual had taken place, we both had lost all of our magic. However, because you were so keen as to getting your magic back through dark magic, you never noticed the little bit of magic that I had left.

{You possess no magic! I would be able sense it!}

So you think you can, but I've been preparing for this for a long time.... RRRAAAAAHHHH!!!!

{WHAT! YOU HAVE MAGIC! HOW!}

Because I had so little magic left, it was easy for me to hide it from you! I kept my magic stored and ready for this very day to come, that why I always kept an eye on you! In case I had to make this sacrifice!

{If you use your last bit of magic, then all of your memory's will truly will be gone! You won't be you anymore!}

I'm willing to make that sacrifice, if it helps to keep this world and our world safe.

{Even if you sacrifice yourself, you've already lost! The princess knows of the prophecy, now I've convinced her that you are a threat! You've lost your memories and your suspected of being evil! Face it, you've lost!}

I have not lost yet, no matter what happens, whether it be good or bad, I believe that things will be right in the end.

{But that princess suspects of you being evil, what then!?! She'll imprison you, banish you, or worse!}

She won't, she loves me too much to do something like that.

{And what about you! What if YOU turn sour, who's to say you won't try to attack that pathetic pony princess for revenge!?!}

HA! Please, even you should know this, dear wife of mine! You can have your memory wiped away, but your true self will always remain, that is why no matter what happens, I will never harm the princess. She is me after all, and I'd never hurt myself.

{YOU AND THIS WORLD WILL PERISH UNDER MY HAND!!!}

Sorry dear wife of mine, I can't allow that, after I cast the last bit of my magic, you will be trapped in that vase for all eternity. And there will be no loop holes to help you this time! The only one who can truly free you is me! And me alone!

{If you do this then you will lose yourself!}

I don't care, I can't let you harm any body or any pony any more.

{Don't do this, we can rule this world together!}

Good Bye, Sarah!

BBBBZZZZZZZTTTTTT!!!!!

{MAXIMOOOOOOOO!!!}

BBBBZZZZzzzzzzttttt . . . . . .

Huff, huff, that's it . . . that's the last bit of my magic . . . I'm fading . . . I've done all I could to gain as many memories as I could . . . I hope that it was enough . . . . looks like this is the end of Maximo for a while . . . I hope the real me can get his memories back some day . . . until then . . . . good . . . luck . . . Glee Sunrise . . . . .

Glee shifted a bit, as he smiled in his sleep.

Nine Years Old

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It was a weekend afternoon and I had decided to spend my day inside, something I usually never do. Sadly, there just wasn't anything fun or exciting to do this weekend. Twilight was with her parents to some sort of theme park, and Green bush was away at a museum. I tried to spend some time with Sunset Shimmers, but she's been getting herself into trouble recently. I'm not sure what she's been doing to get mom mad at her, all I know is that it has something to do with a mirror that mom keeps in her room.

So, with no friends to play with, Sunset Shimmer getting mom upset, and it being extremely hot outside, I decided to lay on my bed and read my "Phoenix Sprite and the Mirror Pool Clones" book. As I read, I would look over to the purple vase that sat on my bookshelf every now and again. I still didn't know why I cared about it so much, all I know is that I had to keep a close eye on it.

I also realized that it wasn't until the day the vase had vibrated and said "dawn breaker" that I stopped having these weird dreams. The dreams where I felt like I was in another world.

That was a year ago.

I can't say I'm thankful that the dreams stopped, I liked those dreams, I felt like a brave hero every time I had them. Oh well, you can't really control your dreams so there's nothing I can do about it. Still, I have this strange feeling that my dreams and the vase were somehow related.

I'm getting distracted, I'm going back to reading my book.

And so, Phoenix Sprite and her trusted companion galloped at full speed, as the army of clones were right on their tails. They continued to run through the Everfree forest, until they saw Ponyville up ahead. "Turn right, we can't have the clones get into Ponyville, they'll destroy everything!" shouted Phoenix. Her companion followed, as they made their way to a clearing in the forest. Up ahead was a large pit of quicksand, and behind them were the clones. They couldn't turn right because of Ponyville, the only option was to turn left and keep running, Phoenix however had a separate option.

"Phoenix, their getting closer!" shouted the companion.

"Trust me, I have a plan!" shouted Phoenix.

Phoenix took hold of her companion, and leaped over a patch of leaves and into the quicksand.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!" shouted the companion.

"Just trust me!" shouted Phoenix.

Phoenix and her companion sank into the quicksand, as the horde of clones came ever so closer to them. The companion struggled to break free of the quicksand, this only made him sink faster.

"Were gonna die!!!" shouted the companion.

"Not yet were not!" shouted Phoenix.

As the clones approached them they suddenly-

"AND I MEAN IT SUNSET SHIMMER! STAY AWAY FROM THAT MIRROR!!!"

"FINE!!!"

Sounds like Sunset Shimmers is fighting with mom again. I should probably stay in my room until they finish. . . . on second thought, maybe it wouldn't hurt just to take a peak.

I jumped off my bed and ran to my door. I cracked it open just enough to see mom walking in the opposite direction. Sunset Shimmers slammed and locked her door shut (her room was across from mine)

Oh, guess their already finished, I hope Sunset Shimmers isn't upset about anything, I should go check on her.

I walked over to Sunset Shimmers door and gently knocked.

"What do you want!" Sunset Shimmers shouted.

"Sunset Shimmers, its me, Glee. Are you O.K.?" I asked.

"Fine! Now leave me alone!"

"Can I come in?" I asked.

"NO! Now get lost!"

"Please can I come in, if you want, we can talk about why your so mad?" I asked, trying to help.

"I said GET LOST!" she shouted.

I guess she must be really mad, "Oh. . . O.K. . . . love you" I said calmly.

I was about to turn and go back to my room, when I heard Sunset Shimmers suddenly unlock and open her door. Her hair was messy and she seemed very frustrated.

She sighed, "fine, get in here".

I smiled, and walked into Sunset Shimmers room as she closed the door behind me.

Her room was a lot messier then mine, there were scrolls and books scattered everywhere, as well as feather pens, ink bottles, rulers, planning sheets, and other various office supplies. She had a drawing board in the corner of her room that said "The Mirror", and underneath it was a lot of theories and plans to figure out what this mirrors powers truly possess. As soon as she saw me looking at it, she covered it with a sheet and sat on her bed.

"What do you want kid?" she asked.

"Well, I saw you and mom fighting again, so I thought that if I talked to you, I could help you feel better"

She gave a weak chuckle "ya, sure, as if any pony could make me feel better".

"Well, what's wrong?" I asked.

She laid on her bed and stared at the ceiling for a few moments, as if she was thinking about something. Then she asked me, "Glee, what am I to you?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean, what am I to you, as in, am I a friend or family, or just some pony you happened to be living with?"

"Oh, well, I think of you as my sister"

"And why's that? I'm not your sister, we're not even remotely related in the slightest! So why do you consider me as your sister?" she asked.

I hadn't really thought about this before, in a way I guess its because we both grew up with the same pony, we both grew up with the princess. Although Sunset Shimmers doesn't consider her a mom like I do, we've still been together for a very long time.

"I don't know, maybe its because of mom. Your her student and I'm her son, so I guess that makes us close, right?" I asked.

"Ha, please, sure I'm her student, and I guess you do qualify as her son, but that doesn't make us close at all"

It hurt when she said that, she's always been mean so I'm kind of used to it, but that doesn't stop it from still hurting my feelings.

My eyes began to tear a bit, "oh. . . ya. . . I guess so. . ."

She saw my eyes fill with tears and sighed, "jeez your not gonna start crying are you?"

I shook my head and began walking to the door. Before I could reach the door, Sunset Shimmers hopped of her bed and placed a hoof on my shoulder.

She sighed, "look kid, I'm not going to be here forever. The truth is, I found out about this . . . place, that I could go to if I travel through a . . . lets just say, a particular item that Celestia doesn't want me snooping around. Fact is, I intend to go to this place, and when I come back, I might be a bit different".

She paused for a moment, before saying, "but If you still consider me a sister when I do come back, then I'll consider you as my brother, deal?"

I knew Sunset Shimmer never considered me as her brother even though I considered her as my sister, so for her to say that made me really happy! I smiled and nodded excitedly.

"And who knows, I might just let you in on my little plan as well, only if you listen to me when you get older, understand?" said Sunset Shimmer.

"Only you? So I don't listen to mom?" I asked.

"Celestia, er I mean, your mom might not like the things that I'll be doing when I get back. But don't worry, I'm sure I can "persuade her" into going along with my plan. So how about it, do you want to be in my plan?"

I had no idea what this plan was, but if it would make Sunset Shimmers consider me as her brother, then I'll do anything!

"Ya!" I said excitedly.

"Good, now, I'm going to leave to the library, there's something I need to research on that Celestia doesn't want me knowing about, so, if I get caught then I'm going to have to make a quick get away to that other place. If this happens, then I might be gone for a while. So, I want you to never forget that you said that you would help me with my plan, understand?" she asked.

I quickly nodded again.

"And to make sure you never forget, I want you to have this", Sunset Shimmers then gave me a gold necklace, with Sunset Shimmers cutie mark encrusted into the front.

I gasped, and gave her a hug, "thanks Sunset Shimmers!"

"Ya . . . sure . . . . now get off me".

I let her go and smiled. She returned a smile and ruffled my hair, "guess this is goodbye, see you around kid".

And with that, Sunset Shimmers left her room.

She never came back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was late at night, mom and I were eating dinner at the table in the dining hall. That's when I noticed that Sunset Shimmers hasn't been around ever since we talked in her room, did she really leave like she said she would?

"Hey mom, what happened to Sunset Shimmers?" I asked.

Mom placed down her fork, and gave me a sad expression. "Sunset has . . . gone away for a while. I'm not sure when she'll come back either".

"Where did she go?"

"Lets just say, very far away. Your to young to know about it now, but someday you will" said mom.

"Why's that?" I asked.

Mom paused for a few seconds, as if to think of what to say. "Because . . . it would seem that this place is . . . rather . . . special".

"How special, like, super special?" I asked.

Mom chuckled, "yes, in a way you can say that its SUPER special".

A guard suddenly entered the dining hall, "your highness, our men have just returned from the other world, and have some, well, rather, strange news to inform you of".

"Is that so, well in that case. I must be off for now Glee, I have some work to attend to" said mom.

"Are you going to have to work all night again?" I asked, sadly. Mom had been very busy with her work lately, so busy that I haven't been able to watch her rise or set the sun. I loved to watch her rise and set the sun, especially rising the sun, mourning's were my favorite time of the day.

Mom gave me a smile, and said, "no, I won't be busy all night, I promise you you'll be able to watch me set the sun this time, just be there for when its time, O.K.?"

I nodded, "O.K. I promise! I love you!"

"I love you too, I'll see you at seven thirty!"

Mom left, leaving me to wonder where Sunset Simmers went. Why was that place so special, and why would mom need to tell me about it when I'm older?

Hopefully it has nothing to do with me, I still feel like I'm in trouble since mom still had Mrs. Cherry Blossom watching me. So if that special place does have something to do with me, then I get the feeling I might be in more trouble.

But that'll never happen, that place has nothing to do with me.

Ten Years Old

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"Ouch!" I said, as nurse Blue Heart gave me a shot.

"There, your all set, I'm going to give the results to your mom now, O.k." said Nurse Blue Heart.

I quickly leapt off the stool I was sitting on and gave Nurse Blue Heart a hug, "O.K., thanks Nurse Blue heart!"

"Your welcome Glee, just make sure you eat your fruits and vegetables, that way you can grow up big and strong!" said Nurse Blue Heart.

"I will, bye Nurse Blue Heart! I'm gonna go play with Twilight and her dragon in my room now!" I said excitedly. I quickly sped off and began making my way to my room.

When I got there, everything was dark, and quiet . . . too quiet.

I picked up a nearby pillow that was on the floor and slowly tip toed my way through my messy room.

I heard something crack behind me, and when I turned around, a small blur of something purple tackled me to the floor.

I struggled to get what ever it was off me, when I eventually did I saw that it was Twilight!

I swung my pillow as hard as I could, Twilight jumped backwards, dodging my attack. I rushed forward to attack, but as I did so, Twilight slipped in between my legs, and bucked me in the back of the knee, causing me to fall to my knees. She then reached for a nearby pillow, and slammed it against my head. I dropped my pillow and fell to the ground. I tried to reach for my pillow, but Twilight jumped on top of me, she aimed her pillow at me in a threatening way and said, "touch it, I dare you!"

I laughed, "O.K., O.K., you win!". I rose to my feet and gave Twilight a hug.

School had ended early today because of a holiday, and Twilights parents couldn't pick her up on time. So, Twilights parents asked my mom if she could stay here for a couple of hours while they were at work.

"So, did you bring Phoenix?" I asked her.

"Phoenix? Oh, you mean Spike!" said Twilight.

I groaned, "I wanted his name to be Phoenix! Why would you call him Spike? Spike is a dogs name".

"No! Spike can be a dragon name too, and besides, he's not even a phoenix, he's a dragon!" said Twilight.

"So! I still think Phoenix is a better name, but did you bring him any way?".

Twilight nodded, she walked over to my bed and picked up a purple and green baby dragon.

Twilight had gotten the dragon a few months ago. She was taken to one of the castle classrooms and was tested by some ponies to see if she would be accepted into the castle private school. When Twilight had passed, she didn't get into the private school, she got something much better!

Not only did she get to keep the dragon (the test was to see if she can make the dragon hatch from its egg), but mom had asked her if she wanted to be her private student! To top it all off, Twilight got her cutie mark! It looked like a purple star with sparkles all around it (I guess its because her last name is Sparkle).

I asked mom once if I could get my cutie mark someday, but she didn't know. Some creatures don't get a cutie mark, so she didn't know whether I could get one or not. After all, no pony really knows too much about humans.

Humans, that's what I was, a human. Mom told me this a couple months ago, one month before Twilight took her test to be exact. Mom told me that I was a creature known as a human. I don't know how she figured that out, seeing I'm the only human in Equestria. She told me that she'll tell me someday, I just had to wait awhile.

"Ooh, I can't wait to see how big he'll get when he's all grown up! I'll bet he'll be bigger then the castle!"

"Dragons can get pretty big, but I don't think they get THAT big" said Twilight.

"Do you think he'll be scary when he grows up?" I asked.

"No, Princess Celestia said that if I take really good care of him and show him lots of love and friendship, then he'll grow up and become a nice dragon" Twilight explained.

We sat there, watching the baby dragon for a couple minutes, before I got bored and decided to look for something fun to do. I looked around my toy box and found a werewolf mask! I slipped it on and slowly crept behind Twilight.

'Time for my revenge' I thought to myself, as I raised my arms into the air, ready to strike.

Twilight saw my shadow, and dodged before I could get her.

"RRRRAAAAAAHHHHH!!! I'M A WEREWOLF, I'M GONNA EAT YOU!" I shouted.

"Oh no, I can't let you eat Spike! So I guess I'll have to stop you!" Twilight shouted.

She went to grab Spike, but I caught her leg before she could grab him.

"Ha ha ha! I've got you now!"

"No fair, we just started. Can get ready before we play?" Twilight asked.

"Sure!" I said happily.

It took a while for Twilight to prepare. Twilight wanted me in the corner with my back turned so I couldn't see what she was doing.

"O.K., ready!" Twilight shouted.

I turned and saw that she had built a blanket fort, and had tied string all around my room.

"Try to get through my defenses! You'll never get us!" Twilight shouted.

I laughed in the most evil and sinister laugh I could muster, "MWAHAHA!!! You think you can stop me! I shall break through your defenses, and I will eat you!".

I began to make my way through the string as best as possible. It wasn't easy, she tied a lot of string, I ended up knocking over a lot of things trying to maneuver my way though. Eventually, I made it to the blanket fort.

"MWAHAHA!!! Your silly trap has failed! Give up now while you still can!" I shouted.

"I'll never surrender! Take this werewolf!" Twilight shouted.

She used her magic and began launching pillow after pillow at me.

Luckily, I managed to find my toy shield on the ground. I quickly picked it up and blocked all of the pillows that Twilight shot at me. When she ran out of pillows, I charged at her, accidently knocking over half of the fort.

"He's getting closer, don't let the monster escape!" Twilight shouted, as she tried to throw sheets over me, hoping that it would slow me down.

Her plan didn't work, I threw the sheets off me and charged, ""Rrrrraaaaaaawwww!!!".

I tried to grab her, but she was too fast. She quickly place Spike on her back and ran out of the fort, I quickly followed.

"He's going to get us!" Twilight shouted.

"Rrrrraaaaaaawwww!!!"

"I hope you'll be able to find your way out of this mess".

I looked over to the door and saw mom standing there, smiling at us. I gasped from excitement, "mom!".

I ran to mom, giving her a hug.

"Are you done with your work? Can I watch you set the sun?" I asked.

"Of course you can, but your going to have to clean your room as soon as I finished" said mom.

"But mom, that'll take forever!" I complained.

"Well, if you don't want to clean then why did you make such a mess?" said mom, playfully.

"Me and Twilight were playing, I was pretending to be a hungry monster! And Twilight was the brave hero, trying to stop me with her pet dragon!" I explained.

"And the string is because?" mom asked.

"Monster traps!"

"Well it seems that you two have had quite a lot of fun, but I do hope you two are making sure that the baby dragons safe, he has only just recently been hatched" said mom.

"Don't worry princess, I'll make sure nothing happens to Spike!" said Twilight, proudly.

"Spike? Is that the name you chose for your dragon?" mom asked.

Twilight nodded, "I thought it was a good name, but Glee wants him to be called Phoenix".

"Phoenix? Why's that Glee?" mom asked.

I started hopping up and down, excitedly. "Because, remember that book you gave me about the adventurer that saved Equestria from the Hydra? Well the adventurers name is Phoenix Sprite, so I thought it would be cool to call him Phoenix!".

"But Spike's not even a Phoenix, he's a dragon! And that stories just a legend anyways" said Twilight.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that" said mom.

"What do you mean princess?" Twilight asked.

"Well, would you believe me if I told you that I met her?" mom asked.

I gasped, "you met Phoenix Sprite!?!"

"Indeed I did, I met her quite a few times while she was on her travels, but she never stayed long. She was always running around, running with her companions", as mom said this, she suddenly stopped and stared into the ceiling, as if she was thinking.

I looked at mom confused, "but, this story is a thousand years old, Phoenix isn't around any more, right?"

Mom awoke from her thoughts, "well, Phoenix was a unique sort of pony. She was able to live for a VERY long time, and even though she was in danger most of her life, she always seem to make it in the end. So, if Phoenix is gone, then I'll bet she lived a full life".

"What do you mean "if" she's gone?" Twilight asked.

"Well, I'm not sure if Phoenix is truly gone. You see, long ago there was a proud and powerful race of ponies known as the phoenix ponies. They lived on an island made of fire called Alburnia, and just like how I control the rising and setting of the sun and moon, these ponies could control the planets core and help keep it alive. The phoenix ponies also had a unique ability that could allow them to live longer! You see, just like phoenix's, phoenix ponies could burn themselves to ash and come back from the ashes as a foal! So even though its been more then a thousand years since I've seen Phoenix, there could be the chance that Phoenix is still alive" mom explained.

"But princess, I've read about phoenix ponies and the books say that they don't exist" said Twilight.

"Well, most historians will deny that the phoenix ponies ever did exist. When something's been gone for so long, some will believe that it was never there to begin with. Did you know that there's an empire entirely made of crystal?" mom asked.

Twilight and I shook our heads.

"Well, chances are, if you ask a teacher or an historian about it, they'll tell you there's no such thing. Because there IS an empire made from crystal, its just been gone for too long" mom explained.

"But how come people remember Phoenix Sprite?" I asked.

"Some ponies actions are powerful enough to be remembered for centuries. Even though most believe that Phoenix Sprite is just a legend, she still placed her mark throughout history for the things that she did when she was still around" mom explained.

"But princess, if Phoenix Sprite is real, and the phoenix ponies were real, then what happened to all of them? Where did they go?" Twilight asked.

Mom paused, she thought for a second before answering, "I think you should wait until your older before I can tell you something like that".

"Why? Did something bad happen?" I asked.

"I'll tell you when your older. For now, you and I have a sun to set. Twilight, your parents will be arriving shortly, you should get ready" said mom.

"O.K., bye princess, bye Glee!" said Twilight. She grabbed her saddle bag and departed with Spike on her back.

"Bye Twilight" I said, as I waved good bye to my friend.

"Now, what do you say we go set the sun now, shall we?" asked mom.

"Ya!" I said, excitedly.

Together, mom and I walked down the hall, into moms bedchambers and out the balcony.

Mom lit up her horn and began to slowly set the sun. I watched in amazement as the sun dropped behind the mountains in the distance. As the sun dropped, Canterlot shined bright, sparkling as the suns rays hit the city perfectly. I thought the city looked so beautiful when this happens.

"Glee, what do you think of your friends? Do you like them? And do they treat you well?" mom asked suddenly.

"Like them? I love being with my friends! We always have lots of fun together!" I said, excitedly.

"And what about the city, and the ponies that live within the city? What do you think of them?" mom asked.

"Some of them still feel uncomfortable when I'm around, but most of them are really nice!"

"What about this world, what do you think about the world we live in?" mom asked.

Why was mom asking me this? I don't know what the world is like, I've never even left Canterlot! Ooh! Maybe she's going to talk to me about my adventuring! I should mention that I want to go to Pony Ville! That way she might let me start adventuring sooner!

I shrugged, "Well, I've never left Canterlot before, so I don't really know, but I really like the city, and I really like how we can see Pony Ville from here! When I get older, I want to visit there!".

"Why do you want to visit Pony Ville?" mom asked.

"Well, an adventurer has to start some where, right? So I figured that Pony Ville would be the perfect place to start!"

"You still want to be an adventurer?" mom asked.

"Ya! I want to see the rest of the world, and make all sorts of friends!" I said, excitedly.

Mom paused for a few seconds, then asked, "Glee, if I told you that there was a place with other humans, would you want to go there?"

I gasped, "you found them! You found other humans just like me!?!"

"Its a bit complicated, yes we have found other humans, however, their not exactly from around here. They exist within another world, far far away from our own. Do you remember the day Sunset Shimmers ran away?" mom asked.

I nodded.

"Well, Sunset Shimmers ran away into a mirror that I keep locked in the bottom of the castle. This mirror was a portal to the human world, the world that you most likely came from" mom explained.

Oh! This must be the place that mom was going to tell me about when I got older! That's why this place is so special, it has humans! Just like me!

"Are you going to take me there?" I asked.

"Do you want to go?" mom asked.

I shrugged, "I don't know, I mean, I want to see other humans like me, but I've never been with any before. What if their mean?"

"Humans and ponies alike deserve the chance to be known, they may seem scary because you don't know them, but they still deserve a chance to get to show you who they really are" mom explained.

"I know, I just, feel scared. I've never met another human before", I frowned.

"What if you could find your parents in this world?" mom asked.

"But you are my mom".

Mom smiled at me, "yes, I have raised you as my son. But your real mother and father are probably worried sick about you. Wouldn't you want to meet them as well?"

"I never thought about that. Do you think they miss me?" I asked.

"I've raised you since you were a baby, and if I was to lose you, then I would search the ends of the Equestria trying to find you. So, yes, your parents miss you dearly" mom explained.

I never thought about that before, my real mom and dad could be in that world! And no matter how scared I get, I have to see them! Ooh, and maybe Twilight and Green Bush came come and visit us!

"O.K., I'll go to the other world, then I could come back and tell Twilight and Green Bush all about it!" I said, excitedly.

Mom frowned, and turned back to the sun, she remained silent for a long time. As the sun was close to setting, she turned to me and said, "Glee, starting tomorrow your going to be home schooled, and I don't want you to see any of your friends any more. Your also not allowed to leave the castle into Canterlot".

I looked at mom, shocked. "Why mom? Did I do something wrong?"

Mom slowly shook her head, "no, you didn't. Something's just come up, that's all. You'll be able to leave into the world eventually, but for now I need you to stay in the castle at all times, do I make myself clear"

I looked into moms eye's, this made scared me. She was so serious, and mom only expresses her seriousness when something bad is happening.

She says I didn't do anything wrong, but if that was true then how come I can't leave the castle anymore? I wanted to ask why I was in trouble, but her serious expression scared me too much.

Reluctantly, I nodded.

"Good, then why don't you go clean your room now, the sun is just about finished. Also, could you get Lyra Cherry Blossom for me as well?" Celestia asked.

I nodded, and left.

It didn't take long to find Mrs. Cherry Blossom, we accidently bumped into each other in the hall way.

"Oops, sorry about that Glee!" said Mrs. Cherry Blossom.

"That's O.K., oh, my mom wants to speak to you".

"Thank you Glee!" said Mrs. Cherry Blossom.

"Your welcome", as I said this, I hung my head low and started walking back to my room.

"What's the matter Glee?" Mrs. Cherry Blossom asked.

"Don't worry about it, its nothing" I said sadly.

Mrs. Cherry Blossom gave me a concerned look, before shrugging her shoulders and making her way to moms bed chambers.

I entered my room and locked the door. I maneuvered my way through the messy bedroom and placed myself on my bed.

I placed my face into my pillow and started to cry, I was scared. Scared because of what mom said. Somehow I had managed to get in trouble for nothing again! First she wants Mrs. Cherry Blossom to spy on me, then she says that I can't be with my friends any more AND she says that I can't leave the castle! Why! What did I do wrong!

Is this because I'm not a pony? She did mention the human world right before getting me in trouble. That's probably what it is, I'm getting in trouble because I'm human. But I never even asked to be human, I want to a pony! I want to have hoofs, and a cutie mark, and be like every pony else! I don't want to be human if moms going to get me in trouble for it.

If I get in trouble, I can just fix it and do better. But I can't fix this, I can't change being human. I'm stuck like this, and now, moms going to get me in trouble because of It . . . because of something that I can't fix . . . .

What's going to happen to me?

Eleven Years Old

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"Mom! Mrs. Cherry Blossom! anypony!" I shouted.

I wasn't feeling very good, I think I'm catching a cold. I went to the kitchen to try and find somepony that could help me feel better, but no pony was there. In fact, it seemed like every time I entered a room, no pony would be there. If somepony was there, they would leave the moment I entered. Every ponies been doing this ever since mom got me in trouble last year. Ever since mom said I wasn't allowed to see my friends or leave the castle, every ponies been ignoring me. Sir, Nurse Blue Heart, Mrs. Cherry Blossom, even mom.

I don't know why anypony was doing this either, maybe I did something wrong again? Maybe this also as to do with me being human. I didn't like it, I wanted to have somepony to talk to, but I've tried to get ponies to talk to me and nothing works.

I tried asking nicely, telling jokes, telling stories, yet nothing seem to work. Every pony was either not there or they pretended that I wasn't there.

Even when I wasn't feeling well I'm still alone. So now, I'm in the empty castle kitchen, such a big kitchen with not a single pony in it.

Eventually I found some cough syrup inside one of the drawers. I poured a little into a medicine cup and drank it down quickly, covering my nose shut to help with the flavor. I tossed the cup into the sink and left the kitchen in search for ponies.

It was easy to find the guard ponies, their always at their guard posts. I try not to speak with them though, they get mad at me when I do. So whenever I came by a guard pony I would walk past them and pretend I didn't see them.

"Of course, tell him I'll send a letter to the council as soon as I set the sun".

That sounds like mom! I quickly ran to the end of the hall and peeked around the corner. There I saw mom speaking to a pony who worked for the council. He nodded to mom and left in the opposite direction as mom began walking in my direction.

Since were all alone maybe mom will finally start talking to me!

"Hi mom!" I said to her as she came around the corner.

Mom jumped slightly, before giving me a stern look. "Glee! What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at your studies?" mom asked.

"I finish my studies at three o clock. So that was four hours ago" I explained.

"Oh, well, I seem to have lost track of the time ('but didn't you just tell the pony back there that you were going to set the sun? Doesn't that mean you know exactly what time it is?' I thought to myself). However I am still very busy so I will need you to run along now" said mom, as she walked past me and continued her way to her bed chambers.

"But mom! Can't I watch you set the sun tonight? Like we used to?" I asked.

"Not tonight Glee" said mom. She didn't face me when she said this, she continued to walk away.

"But mom, can we at least . . . talk to . . . each other . . . please?", too late, she ignored me and walked away until she was out of view.

Why does she keep ignoring me, what did I do wrong!

I was on the verge of tears, so I ran back to my room as fast as possible. When I got there, I leapt onto my bed and wept into my pillow.

It wasn't fair!!! Why was everypony treating me like this all of a sudden!?! Why didn't they care about me anymore!?! What did I do to make them not care!?! . . . . Oh yeah, that's right, its because I'm human.

I could never figure out why anypony hated me, so I assumed it had to be because I was human. There was no other reason explaining why everypony hated me. I never did anything wrong, I never hurt anypony, or steal, or curse, or bully, or . . . or . . . ANYTHING!!! So if they hated me because I was human then why!?! What's wrong with being human anyway!?! At least humans don't have to hold food with their hoofs! And humans can climb on trees better! And hold swords, and had fingers, and were taller!

There's nothing wrong with being human, I am human, this is who I am!!! . . . Then . . . why do I hate it so much . . . why do they hate it so much?

I don't know, I just don't know . . . I just want ponies to love me again, like they used to, that is, if they even used to.

I lifted my face off my pillow and looked at the clock that was on my bedside table. 9:45, I've been crying for almost three hours. Strange how time fly's when your crying into a pillow, then again, I've been doing it a lot lately so I'm starting to get used to it.

All this crying is starting to give me a headache though, I should probably get some sleep and see if I can get anypony to talk to me tomorrow.

I wiped away some off my tears and blew my nose into one of my shirts that I had lying around. I then rested my head onto my pillow and closed my eyes. As I did so, I started thinking of the times when Sunset Shimmers was still around, and mom would still talk to me. Like when we ate meals together, and when we went to the theaters together, and when we would watch the rising and setting of the sun together . . . yeah, I liked those times . . .

Suddenly, I heard something that sounded like a drill coming from underneath me. I quickly jumped off and got to my knees, looking under my bed. As I did so, a drill popped out of the ground and was thrown out from underneath the bed. Then, a gray filly with red eyes and black hair poked his head out of the hole, and looked around.

"Hey Red, you sure this is the place? Cause this doesn't look like any restaurant I've ever seen" asked the filly, suddenly he saw me and gasped. "Sweet Celestia! What the hay are you?"

Should I talk to him? I mean he did just break into the castle. Then again, he did say that he was looking for a restaurant so . . . wait, does that mean he was trying to break into a restaurant? Is this pony a thief? But, he's just a filly, he wouldn't break into a restaurant, would he? You know what, I don't even care. I haven't been able to talk to anypony in about a year! This is finally my chance to make a new friend!

"My names Glee Sunrise, who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Gray, is this your bedroom? Do you live in the restaurant?" Gray asked.

"Restaurant? This isn't a restaurant, your in Canterlot castle" I explained.

"CANTERLOT CASTLE! Are you serious? How did we get here? RED! Check the map and tell me what we did wrong" said Gray

"Sure, hold on, let me just . . . . well, according to the map we should be right underneath the pizzeria. Maybe we didn't turn left like we were supposed to?" said Red, who I assumed was underneath Gray.

"Give me that!" said Gray, as he reached down and snatched the map from Red. He checked the map for a few seconds before throwing it angrily at Red. "You idiot! You had the map upside down the whole time!" Gray whisper shouted.

"Well how was I supposed to know that? I've never read a map before" said Red.

"Ugh! Remind me to never work with a nine year old again!" said Gray angrily. He grabbed his drill and was about to return down the hole when I stopped him.

"Wait! Who are you guys?"

"Sorry, weird monkey boy, but if I wanted you to know then I already would have told you" said Gray, mockingly. He tried to leave again, but I took hold of his shoulder, stopping him.

"Please! Let me come with you!" I begged.

He gave me a confused look, then looked passed me and observed my room (he couldn't see anything from above two feet since he was still underneath my bed). "You got a pretty nice place here, why come with us?" Gray asked.

"Well, I'm in a little bit of trouble right now so no ponies talking to me. So I thought that if I came with you then you could talk to me!" I explained.

Gray chuckled, "look, kid, you are a kid right?"

I nodded.

"Well, you see, you can't just come with us and expect us to be your friend, were not a social group. Were the Diamond Backs", as Gray said Diamond Backs, he puffed his chest out proudly.

He frowned when he saw that I didn't show any expression. "You know, Diamond Backs. Filly and teenager recruits for the Rattle Snakes" he explained.

I shook my head.

"Wow! Really? Where have you been, under a rock?" Gray asked sarcastically.

"No, I've been stuck in the castle for a year, I'm not allowed to leave" I explained.

Gray looked shocked, "really? Are you a delinquent or something?"

I shook my head, "my mom just say's that I'm not allowed to leave anymore, its probably because I'm hu- er, not a pony". I almost told him about humans, no pony knows what humans are except for mom and some of the staff. So if I told anypony about humans then it'll make them confused.

"Please! I can explain later, just, let me come with you!" I begged.

Gray thought about this for a moment, then said, "fine, you can come with us, but don't think this makes us friends".

I nodded, and followed Gray down the hole.

The tunnel was very small, so an adult pony could never fit in here. I was taller then an adult pony, but I was also scrawny enough to where I can fit through as long as I crawl on my stomach.

We crawled through the tunnel for what felt like an hour, when we made it to the other end, we were on the castles front yard.

"Why did you dig in the castle yard?" I asked.

Gray shrugged, "it felt like a good idea at the time. Dig into the castle yard and make a tunnel to the pizzeria restaurant, they'll never expect that, or at least thats how it was supposed to be until we ended up in your room", as Gray said this, he glared at his partner.

"I said I was sorry!" said Red.

This was the first time I had seen Red. He was a red earth pony with black hair and green eyes.

"What ever, just hurry up and follow me! We don't want to get caught out here!" Gray shout whispered.

Red and I nodded and followed.

We quickly made our way to the city, hiding in bushes, behind trees, behind dumpsters, and through alleyways so that we wouldn't get caught.

Eventually, we arrived near the edge of the city, next to an old run down shack. The shack was rusty and looked as if no ponies used it in years. The doors and window were boarded except for one small window that was placed in the back of the shack.

"Red, you go tell the others were back, and tell them we brought a . . . well, just tell them some creatures here with us" said Gray.

Red nodded, and entered through the window.

"Hey Gray, why are you and Red named after colors?" I asked.

"Its just a code name we give to all the Diamond Backs, we'll get much cooler code names when we get into the Rattlesnakes. Sadly I'm gonna be stuck with these kids for a long time before that happens" said Gray.

"Whats wrong with being around friends your own age?" I asked.

Gray looked at me as if I had just hit him, "own age! What do ya mean "own age?", I'm the second to oldest one here!"

I gave Gray an apologetic look, "oh! I'm sorry, its just, you look like your-"

"I know! I look like a filly! I've been told plenty of times! I'm just short for my age, got that!" Gray interrupted.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"Fifteen" said Gray.

"And, how old is everypony else here?" I asked.

"Most of them are about eight to ten. The youngest one is seven, but the oldest is sixteen, he's our leader, we call him Gold. Since I'm second to oldest, that makes me co-leader, so whenever our leader is sick or not around to lead the group, that's where I step in" Gray explained.

"But, why were you and red trying to break into a pizzeria?" I asked.

"Well, a lot of us are orphans, so we gotta fend for ourselves. Me and Red were going to break into the pizzeria and steal a couple of pizzas so that everypony could have a full meal tonight. We haven't had a full meal in a while you see, guess that's what you get when you have to live the tough life but . . . . HEY! Why am I telling all this to you for, I don't even know you!?!" Gray shouted.

I shrugged, and Gray face hoofed. "Whatever, just keep this to yourself, got that?"

I nodded.

Red poked his head out of the window, "Gray, Gold wants to speak to you, and he wants to see the creature".

Gray looked at Red angrily, "what, seriously? Why does Gold want to see him?" he asked.

"I don't know, maybe its because you brought him to our hide out" said Red.

"I wasn't going to bring him IN the hideout, I was just going to check into the hideout real quick and send him right back to the castle!" Gray explained.

"Well you can't do that now, Gold wants to see him, and he sounds pretty eager to see him too" said Red.

"Wait, Gold sounded eager? Oh Celestia, that only happens when Gold has something big planned. Alright, tell him were commin" said Gray.

Red nodded, and rushed back inside.

Gray looked at me and gave me a devious smile, "well, you said you wanted friends, now you might just get what you wished for. But I gotta warn you, when Gold's in an eager sort of mood, you might just end up doing something your not gonna like. So, good luck".

He chuckled, and entered into the window.

I was scared to follow him into the shack, but this was my chance to finally make some friends, so I followed.

It was really dark, so dark that I couldn't see anything, until Gray stopped me suddenly and lit a lamp.

The lamps light was dim, so I still couldn't see most of the shack. But the moment he lit the lamp, I saw that I was surrounded by a LOT of fillies (couldn't count how many, I was too scared). I gasped, and started shaking.

All of the fillies had dark spots around their eyes, and were extremely thin, as if they hadn't eaten in a long time. They were all staring at me funny too, as if they had never seen anything like me in their whole life . . . oh yeah, they haven't.

All of the fillies were whispering things about me as well.

"What is that thing?".

"Is that a monkey?".

"Did he come from the circus".

"Is he a pet? Can we keep him?

"Geez kid, you have ants in your pants?" said a voice that was hidden in the shadows.

"I-I-I, don't, really, um" I stuttered.

The voice laughed, and slowly came into the light.

He was a bright yellow Pegasus with brown hair and blue eyes. He also had dark spots, but he wasn't nearly as thin as the others. He actually looked well fed.

"So, your the strange creature the Gray decided to bring along, I'm Gold, and you must be Glee" said Gold, as he stuck his hoof out to shake.

"H-How did you know my name?" I asked, and slowly shook his hoof.

"Red told me, now, lets have a look at what we got here" said Gold.

Gold then began to inspect every inch of my body. He measured my height, and ask me what my weight was (75 pounds, I was underweight), he asked me how fast I was, and how tough I was, and several other things.

I was getting more and more scared as the questions progressed on. Eventually he stopped, I sighed with relief when he did.

"So, mind explaining what you have planned" said Gray.

Gold gave Gray a devious look, "oh, I have a plan for the future, for now however, I'm going to give you and Glee here a little "practice run" said Gold.

"Uh, practice run?" Gray asked.

"I have a plan that your friend might be perfect for, but I want to see how good he is before we do anything too extreme" explained Gold.

Gray looked scared, "too extreme? What exactly do you have planned?"

Gold chuckled, "don't worry about it, for now I want to see how good Glee is. So, for your practice run I want you and Glee to steal as many pizzas from the pizzeria as fast as you can, and yes, I will be timing you".

Gray's jaw dropped, "wait, WHAT!?! Why am I taking monkey boy with me to steal pizzas? Why can't I just take him back to where I found him and Red and I can steal the pizzas?" Gray asked.

"Because SOMEPONY appears to still not know how to read a map even after our little tutoring sessions" said Gold, angrily, as he glared at Red.

Red hung his head low and sheepishly walked of somewhere into the dark.

Gold turned back to us, "plus, YOU brought him here so he's YOUR responsibility".

"But-but-but" Gray stuttered.

"And besides, from what Red told me, Glee is looking for some friends because he's been locked in a castle for a year, isn't that right Glee?" Gold asked.

I nodded.

Gray turned to the darkness, "HOW MUCH DID YOU TELL HIM!?!" he shouted.

"Sorry" said Red, weakly.

Gray turned back to us and sighed.

"So, if Glee wants us to be his friend then all he has to do is get us some pizzas. That's not to hard, isn't it Glee? Don't you want to be our friend?" Gold asked, softly.

"Y-Ya, I'd like that" I said quietly.

"Then get us some pizzas, that's all you need to do. If you do that, then all of us will be your friend, and we'll except you as an official member of the Diamond Backs!" said Gold.

Gray leaned over to Gold and whispered something.

("You can't make Glee a member of the Diamond Backs, it doesn't work that way" Gray whispered.

"Yes, but he doesn't know that" Gold whispered.)

I couldn't hear them though.

"So how about it Glee? You want to be a Diamond Back, and have all of us be your friend?" Gold asked.

I nodded.

"Good, in that case, Gray, you better hurry up and take him to the pizzeria before it gets too late. The night will be ending soon if you don't get a move on" said Gold.

Gray groaned, "fine! I'll take him, but you owe me!"

Gold chuckled, "If my plan works, then I'm sure we can work something out".

Gray grabbed me and began shoving me over to the corner of the shack. He lifted up a large pile of wood to reveal a trap door.

"Through this trap door is a tunnel that'll take us to the sewers. Once we get to the other side of the sewers there will be a ladder taking us to the middle of Hoofers Street, which is in the lower part of Canterlot. After we exit the sewer, you and I will need to take cover before anypony sees us. Then I can lead you to the pizzeria from there, got it?" Gray asked.

I nodded.

"Good, follow me", Gray then opened the trap door and hopped in, I followed.

"So, is this how you guys travel through the city? By digging tunnels?" I asked.

"Most of the time, its easier to stay hidden that way" Gray explained.

"But, why do you guys need to hide? If your all orphans then why don't you just go into an orphanage?" Glee asked.

"The Rattlesnakes told us that the orphanage is a horrible awful place. If you think were thin, I heard the orphanage practically makes you starve, and the ponies who work there steal the money for themselves, leaving only the bare minimum to take care of us" Gray explained.

"How do you know that if you've never been there?" I asked.

Gray shrugged, "who knows, who cares, I'm not taking any chances. I'm just gonna take the Rattlesnakes word for it".

Soon, we exited the dirt tunnel, Gray and I found ourselves in a large stone pipe. There was a sidewalk on our end, a large river of greenish yellow water in the center, and another sidewalk on the other side. We had made it to the sewers.

The sewers weren't as bad as I thought it was going to be. It smelled bad, but after your eyes get adjusted to the dark its not that scary. I was expecting there to be poop, rats, and snakes everywhere! But the entire walk to the ladder was calm and quiet.

"Hey, I was wondering. If this sewer will take us to the pizzeria, then how come you and Red didn't just take this path instead of trying to make a new one in front of the castle?" I asked.

"This path takes us IN FRONT of the pizzeria, not UNDERNEATH. Red and I wanted to make a new path so that we could get underneath the pizzeria, and so we could keep ponies off our trail. If you use the same path over and over again, then there's bound to ponies who will find out how to find you" Gray explained.

I followed behind Gray up the ladder. He lifted the metal sewer opening and threw it to the side. Once he was out, he stuck out his hoof and helped me out of the hole. He put the metal opening back onto the hole and motioned for me to follow him into a nearby patch of bushes. Once there, he pointed to a building marked "Freddy Fazbears Pizza", and underneath it was another sign saying "closing down".

"Alright, that's the place. I don't want to stay out here all night baby sitting you, so were gonna sneak in there, grab the pizzas, and get out as fast as possible. And lucky for us, the place is going out of business so there'll be no pony there" Gray explained.

"What if there are night guards in there?" I asked.

Gray chuckled, "yeah, like anypony will wanna work at a dump like that. Look kid, I know your concern but I've done my research. Because the place is closing down, there is currently no night guard working there. The place is practically packed away, the only thing that's there is leftover pizzas, a few chairs and tables, and the animatronics that they use for the fillies entertainment. Trust me, there's absolutely nothing to worry about".

"Well, if you say so" I said.

Gray and I quickly ran to the side of the pizzeria to a slightly cracked window.

Gray took a pin from his flank pocket and began picking the windows lock. I heard a click, and the window burst open.

When Gray and I hoped in, we found ourselves inside a bathroom.

"Come on, the kitchens are outside the bathroom halls to the left" said Gray.

Gray and I ran out of the bathroom, down the hall, and into a large party room. In the corner was a small section that said "pirates cove", and inside the curtains was an animatronic fox with an eye patch and a hook for a hand. In the front of the pizzeria was a stage, and on stage was a single bear animatronic ('I guess they packed away the others already' I thought to myself). The room itself had a few tables and chairs left, most of them were packed away.

Gray and I rushed over to the kitchen. It was dark, but luckily Gray brought a flashlight. He shined the light around, looking for the pizza's. As we looked, I saw something gold flash in the corner of my eye. I looked, and nothing was there.

"Uh, Gray, did you see that?" I asked.

"See what? Don't tell me your afraid of the dark!" said Gray.

He shined the light at me and saw that I was shaking, he turned back to looking for the pizzas and groaned.

"Geez, and Gold is seriously considering to let you hang with us! This is worse then that Celestia jam time he made Silver and I go dumpster diving!"

I gasped when I heard Gray swear, he turned back to me and gave me a confused expression.

"What? You see the pizzas?" he asked.

I shook my head, "no, but you said a BAD word".

"Uh . . . bad word?" he asked.

"Mmmhmm! You said "Celestia" then a bad word" I explained.

He continued to stare at me with a confused expression, then he face hoofed.

"How old are you exactly?" he asked.

"Eleven" I responded.

"Listen kid, your parents may have taught you that using certain words can be, eh, what's the word . . . vulgar! They tell you not to say words in that manner, but if you really think about it then its just STUPID! I said jam it because I'm frustrated, but I didn't hurt anypony when I said it. Plus, ponies say jam all the time, like when they need to put jam on their toast, or your hoofs get sticky from jam. Are you basically telling me that I can't say the words "jam" and "it" next to each other anymore?" Gray asked the rhetorical question.

"Well, my mom says that its O.K. to say those words, but if you use it in the wrong context then its considered a bad word" I explained.

Gray looked at me in disbelief, "you really have been stuck in that castle for a while, haven't you? Look, you're not going to be a kid forever, and someday when you get older you'll see that those so called "bad words" are nothing more then just "words". Catch my drift, there just words. Words that can't harm anypony, the sooner you see that, the better".

Gray turned back to searching for the pizzas, he flashed the light around until he stopped at a big metal door.

"Ah ha! Here's the fridge! Here, aim the light at the fridge while I try and get it open" said Gray.

He handed me the light and I aimed it at the fridge as he tried to get it open. The door handle was rusty and slightly frozen, so Gray ended up having to us a nearby mallet to bust it open. Once after he opened it, I shined the light inside the fridge to reveil a large pile of frozen pizzas.

Gray gasped, "I though they sold most of their leftovers by now, looks like I was wrong! Heh, heh! This is one of those rare moments where I actually like being wrong! Glee, grab as many as you can and lets get out of here!"

I nodded, and began helping him with the pizzas.

As I started piling pizzas into my arms, I began to feel really funny. Not in a way that I was sick, but in a way that I was feeling fear, and light headed. I had this strange feeling that we weren't alone. Every time I turned around, no pony was there, but the strange feeling continued to linger. As I turned back to the pizzas, for a split second I could have sworn I saw the words on the pizza change from "Freddy Fazbear's Pizza" to "Its me". I shook my head and saw that the words hadn't changed.

Maybe my cold was turning into a fever, and I was seeing things? Who knows, I didn't really have time to think about it, I just wanted to grab the pizzas and leave.

Gray and I, carrying as many pizzas as we could carry, began making our way back to the bathroom.

As we made our way there, I noticed that something had change.

The fox in pirates cove wasn't in the same spot anymore, half of his body was sticking out of the curtains. And the bear that used to be on stage was now missing.

"Uh, Gray?"

"What?" Gray asked.

"I think the robots are moving" I said, terrified.

"Pfft! As if, those animatronics never leave the stage. Even if they could move off the stage they wouldn't be allowed too. They have strict rules about the animatronics staying on the stage and NEVER getting off. I'm not sure why though, never cared enough to find out anyways" said Gray, bluntly.

"Well, didn't there used to be a bear on the stage?" I asked.

Gray shrugged, "don't know, don't care, lets just get out of here".

We entered the bathroom and headed to the still open window. We slipped the pizzas through, and I helped lift Gray through the window.

However, as I was helping him, I heard something laugh behind me. Its laugh was slow, and deep.

Gray and I both turned our heads to the bathroom exit. There, at the exit was a pair of glowing eyes, staring at us from around the corner. As the eyes flash, music had begun playing from out of no where. The music sounded like something you'd hear from a jack in the box, or one of those spinny things that plays music and hangs above babies as they sleep In their cribs. Either way, I didn't like it, It nearly scared the pee out of me! And I could tell Gray was feeling the same way, I could feel him shaking as I held him.

"Glee . . . run" Gray said slowly.

I didn't run, I was to scared to run. I stood there and continued to stare at the flashing eyes.

"GLEE, RUN!" Gray shouted.

I woke up from my trance and practically threw Gray out the window. As I began making my way through the window, Gray lifted himself off the ground and bit onto my hair, helping to pull me through the window.

Once we were out, we grabbed the pizzas and ran to the sewer opening.

We quickly dropped the pizzas through, rushed inside (closing the sewer hole, of course) ran down the sewer, through the tunnel, and back into the shack.

All of the fillies were giving Gray and I very confused expressions when they saw Gray and I collapse onto the ground, panting.

"Sweet Celestia, I had no idea getting pizzas was going to be such a chore! I think your starting to lose you touch Gray" said Gold, sarcastically.

Gray got to his hoofs and slammed the pizzas onto a nearby table. He glared at Gold angrily, "SHUT UP! You have no idea what we saw while trying to get these pizzas! And knowing you, you probably wouldn't care anyways!"

Gold snickered, "ya, I wouldn't. You got the pizzas and that's all that matters. And as for you! Glee!" said Gold, as he pointed to me.

"You have officially earned your place as a member of the Diamond Back! So from this day forward we will call you by your nickname! You will be known as, Obsidian!" Gold shouted.

As the Diamond Backs clapped for me, Gray whispered something into Gold's ear.

("that's not a color you idiot!" Gray whispered.

Gold whispered back, "off course its not! I'm not going to give him a REAL nickname, he's not actually an official member! I just gave him a cool nickname to make him feel special, and I figure if he feels SPECIAL then he'll do more assignments for us".

"What assignments do you have in mind?" Gray asked.

"Oh, you'll see, I'm leaving it for a surprise! For now, just make Glee feel like he's welcome. And besides, obsidian can technically be considered a color, its black and purple after all" Gold whispered.)

I didn't hear what they said again.

It took us about an hour to get all of the pizzas cooked (they had to use a fire and some pans to cook the pizzas), once they were finished, everypony ate and chatted happily together, except me. I was staring at the ground, lost in thought.

Gray saw this and asked, "hey, what's wrong kid, you don't like pizza?"

I slowly shook my head, "no, its not that. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I'm friends with everypony, but I feel like what we did was wrong. I mean, when we broke into the pizzeria and took the pizzas, isn't that stealing?"

Gray placed a hoof on my shoulder, "listen kid, when your living a life like we do, you gotta make a lot of tough decisions in order to get by in life. Sure, what we did was wrong, but think about it. If we hadn't stolen these pizzas, what would these fillies be eating tonight, food from the bottom of a dumpster? No, no, no, that just wont do, especially since we already tried doing that once, and believe you me you do NOT want to know the results from that!"

"Why? How bad did it go?" I asked.

Gray's eyes bulged, as images of the horrific event flashed before his eyes.

("I told you not to eat from the dumpster!!! AAAGH!!! Its everywhere!!! Oh my Celestia its everywhere!!!"

"I can't hold it in! Its coming up!"

"No! Not in here! There's already too much! No, no, NOOOOO!!!"

"BBBLLLEEEEEGGGHHH!!!")

Gray awoke from his trance and gave me a weak smile, "lets just say it took five days to clean the shack, but, I digress. Point is, sometimes you'll have to make a choice that may seem like the wrong thing, but if your doing it for the right cause, then your doing nothing wrong!"

That made sense, sure we stole these pizzas, but at least all these hungry fillies got to eat tonight. This thought made me feel better, and I started munching into my own pizza.

"So, Gl- I mean, Obsidian, what's life like living in the castle? Cause, even though you say you've been locked up in the castle, I honestly can't see that as being a bad thing. I mean, if I lived in a castle like that, trapped or not, I'd be lounging around eating fancy foods all day instead of having to savage for my meals. So what's up? Why did you want to leave the nice warm comfort of your castle bedroom and hang around with a couple of Diamond Backs?" Gray asked.

"Well, living in a castle may seem nice, but its not, at least, not anymore. When I was ten, my mom didn't want me going outside of the castle anymore. She had me homeschooled, and I was no longer able to see any of my friends or make any new friends anymore. And for some reason, after mom gave me this punishment the castle staff no longer talks to me, or interacts with me in any sort of way. They ignore me, and act as if I don't exist, even my own mom does this. So, for the past year I've had to take care of myself, making food, getting an education, taking care of myself when I'm sick, those sort of things. So, when you came along I found that as my chance to finally make some friends" I explained.

Gray frowned, and patted me on the back, "well, that sucks. But hey, look on the bright side! When your an adult you can leave, and make your life better! Not really anything you can do about it while your still a kid though, so, good luck on the next seven years".

"Gee, thanks" I said, sarcastically.

Gray chuckled, seeing my obvious sarcasm. "Don't mention it, but do you have any idea why your mom would make you do that? Forcing you to be trapped in a castle for a year and not let anypony talk to you? Cause by the sounds of it, you must have done something really bad to tick her of".

"Actually, I didn't do anything, and she's never given me a proper explanation on why she's doing this. So I always assumed that it was because I'm not a pony" I explained.

"But that makes no sense, why would anypony punish you for not being the same species as us?" Gray asked.

I shrugged, "beats me, but I sure wish I knew".

I frowned, and stared back at the ground again.

Gray noticed my sadness and shoved a pizza at me, as if he wanted to do a toast.

"Well, whatever problems your going through at home, just know that your always welcome here!" said Gray.

I stared at Gray for a moment, then asked slowly, "y- you don't mind that I'm not a pony? You'll let me stay with you guys?"

Gray smiled, "of course! After all, we could use an extra hoof around here, and your a lot more reliable then most of the fillies around here. So what do ya say? You wanna hang with the Diamond Backs more often? We might teach you a thing or two!"

I was shocked, not only had I made a lot of new friends tonight, but Gray was openly saying that he had accepted me! He didn't care that I wasn't a pony, he's okay with me being human!

Slowly, my expression changed from shocked, to happy, then to a devious smile. "You know what, I think I will!"

Gray returned a devious smile back to me, and together, our pizzas met in a toast.

"In that case, welcome to the club, Obsidian!" said Gray.

I had new friends, friends who excepted me for who I am! And I got to be in a club, AND I got a cool nickname!

This was going to be fun!

Twelve Years Old Pt.1

View Online

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~OCTOBER~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Happy birthday to Glee! Happy birthday to Glee! Happy birthday dear Gleeeee! Happy Birthday to Glee!" I sung to myself. I blew out the twelve candles that I had stuck into a pile of Twinkies. I clapped and looked at the smiling faces that I had drawn onto the random inanimate objects I found lying around.

It was October twenty seventh, the day that Mom had found me in the forest. No pony knew when my real birthday was so we just considered it to be today.

I was in my room. I had a table set in the middle of the room, around the table was a pile of rocks, a bag of flour, a bundle of dust bunnies, and a bucket full of turnips, all sitting in stools and wearing pink and white striped party hats.

"Thanks everypony! Thank you SO much for coming to my birthday! And might I add how lovely you all are this afternoon!" I said, as I smiled and looked around at the inanimate objects, waiting for them to respond.

"Now, even though todays my birthday, I don't want you getting the idea that today should be all about me! This party was made for everypony! So everypony! Eat, drink, and enjoy yourselves!" I said, happily.

I looked around at the objects again, waiting for an answer. The pile of rocks tilted slightly.

"What was that Brock? Your thirsty? Well here! Have some punch!" I said to the pile of rocks, as I poured some punch into a glass.

"Did you say something Mrs. Flour?" I said as I turned to the bag of flour.

The bag of flour sat there, doing absolutely nothing.

"Oh why thank you Mrs. Flour! I have been working out lately!"

I then turned to the dust bunnies, "What do you mean I'm weak? I'll have you know that I've recently been bench pressing and it is REALLY starting to show . . . O.K. yes I did technically only use the bar, but what do you expect? I got to start somewhere . . . I didn't mean to hurt myself! How was I supposed to know how heavy it was going to be? . . . Well yeah it hurt! It did land on my crotch after all!"

I then turned to the turnips, "Did anypony come help me you say? Well, there wasn't anypony in there TO help me. As soon as I walked into the weight room, all of the ponies that were in there left . . . gee, why do you THINK they left? . . . of course they left because of me you ding dong! What do you expect! No pony so much as even stays in the same room as me anymore! Well, Mrs. Cherry Blossom came in at one point and saw the bar fall on my . . . well . . . anyway! She came in and saw me get hurt but of course she didn't come and help!"

A rock fell onto the table, "Calm down Brock, there's no need to get mad. . . Yes I know Brock, she should've helped me. But what do you expect, no pony interacts with me anymore. Even when I'm hurt".

I turned to the bucket of turnips, "well of course it isn't fair! For all of these ponies to not even acknowledge my existence! Its stupid! Why do they do this to me!"

I turned to the bag of flour. "Yeah I kind of just said that Mrs. Flour! . . . Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to get mad at you. Its just, I've been so alone for the past two years! TWO YEARS! And still NOTHING! NADA! ZIP! NOTHING! Nothing, at, ALL! No matter what day it is, no matter how much pain I feel, none of them will be there! Not even my own Mom . . ."

I turned to the pile of rocks, "You think I should walk up to somepony and make them talk to me? I don't know, they always seem to get mad whenever I do . . . you want me to get mad back? Well, I'm not the kind of guy that would get mad at another pony. I like being happy, fun, and full of glee! . . . So, how come I don't feel that way anymore?"

I turned to the bag of Flour, "well yeah they deserve for me to be mad at them, but I don't think I-"

I turned to the bucket of turnips (they interrupted me). "Well, I guess I could try".

Suddenly, my illusion grew stronger, and I felt as if I could actually hear them.

"Whadda ya mean "you could try?" You should march right up to the next pony you see and make them talk to you! And if they get mad, you should get mad back!" said Brock angrily.

"I agree darling, you'll never get anypony to talk to you if you don't stand up for yourself!" said Mrs. Flour.

"Its time that you stop acting like a young innocent wimp! Stand up for yourself! And show them that they have no right to ignore you any more!" said Trucy Turnip.

"Its either you show them who's boss, or they will continue to ignore you for years to come!" said Daniel Dust.

"You know what, your right! Its time for me to stand up for myself! They will acknowledge me! If they don't, then I'll MAKE them acknowledge me!" I said.

They all cheered for me.

"Exactly!" shouted Trucy.

"Splendid!" shouted Mrs. Flour.

"Show em who's boss!" shouted Daniel.

"What are you waiting for? Come on!" shouted Brock.

"Alright! I'm gonna do it! I'll show them that they can't ignore me anymore!"

And with that, I bolted out of my room and down the hall.

I ran to the end of the hall and didn't stop until I saw a cleaning pony, with a cart full of her cleaning supplies.

She hadn't noticed me, she was too busy cleaning a window.

'Now's my chance!' I thought to myself.

I slowly crept behind her, and was about to say something, until I froze.

I didn't know what to say! I was so pumped up and ready for somepony to talk to me, that I hadn't even thought of what I was going to say! If she's going to be the first pony to talk to me in a long time, then I have to make a good impression! She'll never want to talk to me if I mess up! Then again, she might not want to talk to me any ways, no pony does. No, I can't have come this far just to quit now! No, literally, I'm standing right behind her, so if I wanted to quit then I would have to turn around and she might hear me. I have to go through with this! Maybe something simple, something kind, yet not too kind or she'll think that I'm trying to be a flank kisser. I need to be kind, be calm, be brave, and most importantly, be- OH SON OF A DITCH SHE SAW ME!!!

The cleaning pony had been cleaning the window the whole time I had been thinking this. As soon as she finished, she saw me standing behind her in the reflection. She dropped her rag and window cleaner, turned around and gasped.

I stood there, awkwardly. I was frozen, my mouth gaping and my eyes bulging, rushing through all my thoughts to think of what to say.

Slowly, I gave her a smile, "hello there, I don't think we've met before, I'm Glee Sunrise, and you are?"

She continued to gape at me for a moment, then she hastily picked up the rag and window cleaner, tossed it into the cleaning cart, and rolled it away as fast as possible.

No! Not this time!

I quickly caught up, "I'm sorry if your in a rush, I simply want to know your name, that's all".

I said this in the most kind way that I could muster, but she still ignored me and continued to roll her cart away.

I was starting to get annoyed, "please miss, there's no need to ignore me, I'm just trying to be friendly"

She continued to ignore me.

Now I was getting mad, "miss, please, I just want to talk to you!"

She continued to ignore me. She had arrived outside a supply closet, and had began to pack her things into it.

Now, I was getting angry!

"Miss! I just want to talk to you! I don't want you to say much, just your name! That's all I'm asking is your name! Is that so much to ask for! Why won't you or anypony else just talk to me!?!"

"Shut up! Monkey boy!" the cleaning lady suddenly snapped at me.

I stood there, frozen. All I had wanted was for somepony to talk to me, somepony, anypony. Yet no pony would talk to me, and if I tried to get them to talk to me, then they get angry. I was hoping that this time would be different, and that somepony could actually talk to me for once. Now however, I saw that that was never going to happen. They were never going to talk to me!

I got angry, more angry then I had ever been in my life! All the happiness, joy, and glee, all of it had suddenly disappeared, and was filled with hatred and anger!

Without thinking, I grabbed the cleaning pony, and shoved her against the wall. It wasn't too difficult, she was significantly smaller then I was.

I placed my face close to hers, my eyes were glaring with pure rage, and I was breathing heavily. I could see the fear in the cleaning ponies eyes, and I could feel her shaking.

"WHY WON'T YOU TALK TO ME!!! WHY WON'T ANYPONY TALK TO ME!!!" I shouted.

"GUARDS!" the cleaning pony shouted.

"ALL I WANT IS FRIENDSHIP!!! IS THAT SO MUCH TO ASK FOR!!! FRIENDSHIP!?!"

"GUARDS, PLEASE HALP!!!" the cleaning lady shouted.

"IF FRIENDSHIP IS SUPPOSED TO BE MAGIC THEN HOW COME I CAN'T HAVE FRIENDS!?!" I shouted.

Suddenly, a spear pushed in between me and the cleaning pony, and pushed me to the opposite wall. I hit the wall hard and it disorientated me, so it took me a moment to figure out what just happened. When I looked up, I saw three guards, all of them with their spears pointed at me.

"Come with us, now!" said the guard.

I slowly got to my feet, and followed the guards down the hall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You attacked one of the cleaning ponies! Glee, do you have any idea how angered I am right now?" said mom.

The guards had taken me to moms throne room, the three guards that had taken me here were still behind me, making sure I didn't try to run for it. I stood in front of her throne, glaring up at her, as she glared down at me.

If this had been any other day, any other day but today, then I would have been shaking in my place, but not today.

Today, I wasn't afraid. I didn't care how mad Mom was at me, I didn't care how powerful she was or how much authority she had, I DIDN'T CARE!

I was angry at the way she's treated me. And for her to sit on her throne and tell me that she doesn't like MY behavior, it just wasn't fair!

"I assume your very upset" I said bluntly.

"Is that so, because it sounds to me as if you don't fully understand the situation your in" said Mom.

"I am fully aware of my situation, and I don't like it".

"You don't like how much trouble your in?" Mom asked.

"Oh I've been in trouble for the past two years, so for you to get me in MORE trouble just makes no difference. I don't like the situation of me having to live in seclusion! Day after day you rule over Equestria, telling everypony to be kind and make friends with each other, while I'm stuck in a castle being forced to be alone every day!" I said angrily.

"I don't think I like your tone young man" said Mom.

"I don't care! I don't care about what you think! Cause obviously YOU don't care about what I think! So why should I care!"

"Glee, you have attacked a cleaning pony and as angry as you are with me, you cannot allow yourself to fall so low as to attacking another pony, do I make myself clear!" said Mom.

"And why should I listen to you!" I shouted.

After I shouted, the room went silent. All of the guards stared in disbelief, shocked that I would shout at the princess. If Mrs. Cherry Blossom was here, I'd bet she would be just as shocked.

Mom rose to her hoofs, "excuse me? What did you just say?"

"I said, "why should I listen to YOU!"

"Because I am princess of Equestria, and I am also your mother!" Mom said, angrily.

"Well you certainly don't act like it!" I shouted.

Mom was taken aback when I said this, "excuse me! How dare you speak to me in such a way! I have raised you and taken care of you as my son for all these years! I have given you a home, food, and shelter! And for you to tell me that I don't act like a mother, then you are sorely mistaken! You should be ashamed for the way you are behaving Glee!"

I can't believe it, the past two years she's ignored me, she and everypony here. But the one time she talks to me just because I'm in trouble, she thinks that SHE hasn't done anything wrong!?!

"You will apologize to the cleaning lady you have attacked, then you will go straight to your room. We will discuss your punishment on a further notice" said Mom.

I stood there in disbelief for a moment, then I clenched my fists and shouted, "no, I won't!"

"Excuse me?" asked Mom

"I said I won't apologize! Not until YOU apologize for the way you've treated me the past two years, AND you'll give me my privileges back!" I shouted.

"You'll apologize to cleaning lady right now! That's on order!" Mom shouted.

"Sorry mom, but I'm not one of your "subjects" that do what you want me to, just because your royalty! I'm not apologizing! So if your going to punish me then go ahead! Do it! Not like there's anything left for you to take away!" I shouted.

I turned and tried to leave, but the guards used their spears to block my way.

"You will let me pass! Swine!" I shouted.

I grabbed two of the spears and forced the spears out of their hoofs, and threw the spears across the room. I then left the throne room, slamming the door behind me. Before I did, I could hear Mom shout, "Glee! Get back here!"

I then made my way back to my room. Once I did, I started shouting at the inanimate objects.

"Go make a pony talk to you, you said! Show them who's boss you said!" Well a fat lot that did for me!!!"

I flipped the table full of Twinkies and drinks, and began smashing all of the inanimate objects with a baseball bat. As soon as I finished, I sat on my bed, panting.

I was alone . . . all alone . . . or was I?

I suddenly remembered about the hole that was under my bed.

I was still a Diamond Back, I DID have friends!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NOVEMBER~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The only light within my room was a lamp on my desk, providing me with the vision needed to work on my project on this dark and cloudy night. The castle was calm, as far as I knew. No visitors from other countries, no mad dashes to and fro from the staff, and no ones attacking the city (thank Celestia, I thought those parasprites were never going to give us a break! And those robots . . . not sure how or who caused that attack to happen. Still wish I could have been outside to see it, I heard they were stopped by a dragon! Now that's something I want to see! Robots vs. dragons! Too bad I'm still locked inside) for once.

I picked up a soldering iron and carefully placed the iron on the brim of the metal canister I'm tinkering with. After I had attached a small metal hinge, I was proceeding to fit a wire inside the canister before somepony came barging into my room. Jam I hate that!

"Hey, what are you doing making all this noise? Don't you know what-"

I turned in my seat and saw a white guard with blue hair glaring at the work on my desk. Oh boy, this knucklehead again. He's one of my least favorite guards, and I don't hate him because he ignores me, I actually hate him because of the opposite. You see, most guards will ignore me and pretend that I'm not even there. However, this jerk face is always watching me, like Mrs. Cherry Blossom, only worse. He's always glaring at me, and huffing angrily at me every time I walk near. He acts as if I wronged him somehow, even though I don't even know the guy! That and when I do talk to him, he always insulting me. He likes to call me that name, that name that I hate so much! Monkey Boy. Yes, I do give him a tough time, but that's only because HE started it! I only intend to finish it. But now here he is! Stumbling upon my work! Great, now I've gotta come up with some lie so that he doesn't figure out what I'm actually doing.

"Hey Shiny, I see you forgot how to knock on doors. Does the uniform make you forget these things?" I asked, sarcastically.

"Save it Monkey Boy! And stop calling me Shiny! Its Shinning Armor!"

"Oh yeah, cause THAT names a WHOLE lot better! Named after something you wear, what's you sisters name? Twinkling Dress?" I asked with a smug.

"Don't you talk about my sister!" Shinning yelled.

"Don't get all protective Shiny. If I insult your sister then you only have yourself to blame. I mean if resemblance runs through the family then based off looking at you, I'd say she's a three" I said, mentally high fiving myself for the comeback.

Shinning quickly became red in the face as his anger rose. "A hairless Monkey Boy like you has nothing to say about looks! I'll bet if there were more of you then you'd all look at each other in disgust!"

I dramatically clasped a hand over my mouth and sarcastically gasped. "Shiny! That's racist!

"It's not racist if there is no race. And last time I checked, there's only ONE of YOU!" said Shinning.

"Aw, Shiny! Now that's just below the belt! It hurts! Then again I guess you wouldn't know what it's like to feel pain down there, being a mare and all".

"I'm not a mare!" Shinning shouted.

"Oh really, well your mane begs to differ".

"I just have a long mane! That doesn't mean I'm a mare! And you do realize that mares can feel pain down there too!" said Shinning, angrily.

"Oh and you would know?" I said sarcastically.

"As a matter a fact I do. The royal guards are having training drills this week, and just like the males, the females also tend to get hurt sometimes" said Shinning.

I looked at shinning confused and raised a brow. "Wait, the royal guards have training drills? How do they get hurt there?"

"Well the training often requires us to move around a lot. So often times we have to jump over fences, climb walls, and in the more painful of times, shooting practice".

"And your saying that mares can get hurt down there just like stallions?" I asked, honestly confused.

"Well I'm not a mare so I couldn't tell you. But I do know that they still get hurt" said Shinning.

"But don't you wear protection so you don't get hurt?" I asked.

"Well sometimes we do. But a lot of the training requires us to become more resistant to pain, in case we ever do get hurt in the field" said Shinning.

I actually didn't know this, but I thought it sounded cool! Training your body to become resistant to pain, that sounds like something a ninja or a warrior would do! Can't imagine myself ever doing something like that though. As ironic as it sounds, it seems like it would hurt to make yourself resistant to pain.

"Really! How do you guys do that?" I asked.

"Well we-", Shinning stopped. He suddenly looked as if he made a mistake. Clearing his throat, Shinning return his angry glare to me and my project. "Never you mind what we do for training, what the tarterus are you doing there!? Are you building some sort of weapon!?"

I sighed, "jeez, you can't have a normal conversation without busting your flank over something now can you Shiny? To answer your question, no I am not building a weapon. Haven't you ever seen a fire work before?"

Shinning walked up to my desk and closely observed my work. "This doesn't look like a fire work. Why does it have a pin?"

"To activate the darn thing Dumb Nuts! You honestly think I have access to a flint" I asked. In truth, I really didn't, Mom didn't want me using fire.

"And these wires? What's with all the wires?" Shinning asked.

"You do realize a fire work requires more then just shoving explosive powder into a piece of cardboard right? It needs certain materials placed in just the right way to make it work".

"So if this is a fire work, then where's the explosive powder?" asked Shinning.

"Uh". Shoot! I couldn't think of a lie for this one. I'm not really building a fire work so I don't need explosive powder. And I'm pretty sure it's illegal for me to have that in my possession anyway!

"Are you even allowed to be building a fire work?" asked Shinning.

"Look! Do you want me to demonstrate it! Will that get you off my flank?" I asked, hoping to drop the conversation.

"No I don't want a demonstration. What I want is to make sure your not building anything dangerous that could harm anypony!" said Shinning.

"Well I'm not taking this out of my room if that's what you were thinking, so I guess if this is a danger then the only one in danger is me!" I said, beginning to feel agitated.

Shinning glared at me for a second, then sighed. "Alright, you may proceed with building your firework. Just don't take it out of your room, and don't use it at all! You can build it but you can't use it. Knowing you you'd probably get somepony hurt. As long your the one in danger then I don't mind, if you get somepony else in danger then that's where I have to step in. Got it!"

I sighed, "ya, sure, whatever Shiny".

Shinning walked to my door and turned to me. "Don't let me catch you stepping out of line, if you do, you'll wish you were never born!"

"So I guess its okay to chill "on the line" as long as I don't go "over", right" I asked, sarcastically.

"You know what I mean Monkey Boy! Stay out of trouble! Or else!" said Shinning, before he slammed my door shut and walked down the hall.

I turned to my work and sighed. "And to think I thought this day would turn out peaceful. Then comes Shiny to ruin my night. What did he mean "knowing you you'd probably hurt somepony?" He say's that like I'm gonna hurt someone. Like I'm some sort of monster".

I scooted my chair closer to my desk and returned to my work. I suddenly stopped due to sudden realization. "He thinks I'm a monster who harms other ponies. But . . . why would he think that. I haven't done anything to show that I'm a monster . . . Oh! . . . oh. That's right, I attacked that mare last month. He probably thinks I'm a monster now. Heck, they probably all think I'm a monster. I'm not a monster . . . am I?"

I honestly didn't know. I sure felt like a monster. I attacked that cleaning mare, everypony hates me, I'm locked in a castle, and I'm the only one of my kind, different from all of the other ponies around me, like a freak. That's what I am aren't I? A freak, I'm like a cockroach placed in a pile of ladybugs. A human, dropped in a world full of magical technicolor talking ponies. Is that what I am?

I shook the thought out of my head as I returned to my work. "Screw them! Screw all of them! I don't care what they think! They'll see I'm not monster! They'll see that I'm much more then that! They'll see! they'll all see!"

I laughed deviously as I finished my work and wiped the sweat from my brow.

"There, my first gadget is finished. Can't have Shiny finding out I was building a smoke bomb! That wouldn't have ended well at all! Then I'd have to explain why I'm building a smoke bomb, and that would have been worse! Now that its finished, time to work on the next project. Hmmm, perhaps next I could build a way to blind ponies. But to somehow do it so that the affects are temporary and nothing permanent happens to their eyes. Hmmm . . . I'm just gonna call it a night. I have a lot of work cut out for me in the mourning".

I put away all of my work in a chest inside my closet then returned to my desk.

"They'll see, I'm not a monster. I'm much more!" I said, as I turned the lights off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~DECEMBER~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was in my room, staring out a window. I was watching the snow fall onto the front yard of the castle. The snow had gotten pretty deep, and I would love to go play in it, but sadly I'm still in trouble with the whole "attacking another pony incident".

I wasn't allowed to leave my room until March, as punishment. I couldn't go to the Diamond Backs either, it was to cold for any of the fillies and colts to receive any assignments, so I couldn't see them until it got at least a little bit warmer.

I sighed as I laid onto my bed, thinking about the previous things I had done with the Diamond Backs.

Ever since I had first joined, the Diamond Backs had slowly been toughening me up, turning me from a shy innocent mommas boy into a brave strong thief. Although most of the things we did didn't feel right, I knew we were doing it for the right cause. Every time we stole something from somepony, it would be used as money for the Diamond Backs. So although we were stealing, I knew deep down that I was still helping somepony. But, most importantly, I really enjoyed seeing Gray.

He didn't like having me as his partner, he would get really annoyed every time I screwed something up. But eventually, he became friendlier as I toughened up. He trusted me more, allowing me to watch his back in certain situations, and helping him with thieving missions. And we made a pretty good team too. No pony has been able to catch us, and Gray and I had become the best thieves at the Diamond Back shack.

It was so much fun being with Gray, I wish I could see him again.

Suddenly I felt something thump underneath my bed.

"Ow! Jam it! Stupid piece of- Obsidian! Obsidian are you awake?"

I know that voice, "Gray? Is that you?"

Gray jumped out from underneath my bed. He smiled at me, "what's up?"

If it hadn't been so dark, Gray would have seen my face light up with complete and utter joy.

"Gray! What are you doing here?" I asked, struggling to keep my voice down.

"Well, it was cold at the shack so I thought I'd come and pay you a visit. Seeing that you live in a castle I can assume your pretty warm. And boy was I right! It feels amazing in here!" said Gray, as he sighed with comfort.

"I could go get some of the castle's blankets and give'em to you" I said.

"Yeah, that be nice, but warmth isn't the only reason I came" said Gray.

"Really? Why else are you here then? You want some food?" I asked.

"No I . . . actually, food does sound nice. But that's not why I came. The Diamond Backs may mostly be full of orphans, but we still got each other. You on the other hand, your all alone, and I can't let a friend be alone, especially on Hearth's Warming Eve" said Gray.

I could barely see Gray's cheeks blush in the dark. Hearing Gray say this made me so happy, happier then I had ever been since Mom had made me stuck in the castle.

"Gray. I-I" I stuttered.

"Don't get all sentimental on me, I just felt bad that your alone that's all. So, watcha say we go and have ourselves a snow ball fight? You in?" Gray asked.

"Ya! I whisper shouted. I jumped out of my bed and immediately began searching for my winter clothes.

Once I had my clothes on, I followed Gray through the tunnel and out into the castle front yard.

I took a deep breath, inhaling the cold winter air. I looked up into the sky and closed my eyes, allowing the snow flakes to fall onto my face (which was the only part of my body that was exposed).

"Hey, Obsidian!" Gray shouted, as he threw a snowball at my face. "I didn't wake you up just so you can fall into a day dream!" He shouted.

I immediately bent over and scooped up a large armful of snow. I ran and hid behind a bush, forming all of the snow I had collected into snowballs. I leapt from my cover and began throwing snowballs at Gray. Gray, however, was prepared. He had already formed a snow fort, and was tossing snowballs at me through small windows he had carved.

Gray and I had to shout to each other, we were too far away to talk at a normal volume.

"No fair! When did you have the time to do that?" I asked.

"I might have built this before coming to wake you up!" Gray shouted.

"That's cheating!" I shouted.

Gray laughed, "hey, its your fault for not getting prepared like I did!"

"I was asleep!" I shouted.

"Hey, you know the saying. "You snooze you lose!" Gray shouted.

'Oh I'll show you who's going to lose' I thought to myself.

I formed a very large snowball, one that was bigger then a cannon ball, and threw in into the air. While Gray was distracted by that, I ran from my cover to the side of Gray's snow fort. He spotted me, and immediately ran from his fort and began pelting me with snowballs. I did the same, as I used his fort for cover. While he was firing, I formed another oversized snowball. Once Gray had ran out of ammo, I jumped from my cover and threw the oversized snowball at Gray. It hit Gray full in the face, throwing him to the ground.

"Ha! Who's the loser now!" I shouted, pointing at Gray.

Suddenly, I heard a sniffle. Gray hadn't lifted himself from the ground, he laid there, crying.

"Gray?" I asked, as I took a step closer to him.

Out of nowhere, a huge ball of snow hit me directly in the face, causing me to fall to the ground. As I fell, Gray got to his hoofs, laughing. "Oh man! I can't believe you fell for the oldest trick in the book!" Gray said, as he pointed at me.

An idea came to my mind, and I pretended to start crying as well.

Gray stopped laughing, and gave a concerned look to me. "Whoa, Obsidian, it was just a trick. I didn't mean to-"

Before he could finished, I threw a large pile of snow at Grays face. He spat as a large amount of snow fell into his mouth.

"Ha! You fell for your own trick!" I shouted, pointing.

"Why you little!" Gray shouted, as he tackled me into the snow.

We rolled around for a while, covering each other in as much snow as possible.

Once we stopped, we were out of breath, and laughing.

Gray patted my shoulder, and pointed down the castle road. At the end of the castle road was a stallion and a mare walking, I assume there couples. "Hey, you wanna go prank the love birds?" Gray asked.

I gave him a devious smile, "lets do it!"

Gray and I hid behind some bushes as we made our way down the road over to the couple. Once there, we hid and waited until the couple had stopped walking. I climbed up the tree that the couple was standing underneath, while Gray went up and down the tree, handing me bits of snow.

"Its a beautiful night tonight, isn't it Sandy? Just as beautiful as you are" said the stallion.

"Oh Edward!" said Sandy.

"My dear Sandy, from the very first day we met I have always loved you. And I knew, deep down in my heart that you were the one" said Edward.

Gray pointed into his mouth and pretended to throw up, I had to cover my mouth to stop myself from laughing to loud.

"Oh Edward, do you really mean it?" asked Sandy.

"Every word of it my love, you are a star that shines brighter then the night sky itself!" said Edward, as he pointed to the stars.

"Oh Edward!" Sandy exclaimed.

'Sweet Celestia, you can literally taste the cheese coming off them!' I thought to myself.

"Ready when you are" Gray whispered in my ear, I nodded.

I held the snowman sized snow ball above their heads, ready to release.

"Sandy, I cannot hold back my true feelings anymore!" said Edward, as he dropped to his knees.

Sandy gasped, and placed a hoof to her mouth. "Edward . . . a-are you?"

"Indeed my love, I am" said Edward.

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled a small blue case, "Sandy Jane Copperbottom, will you-"

SLAM!!!

I dropped the snowball on the couple, and immediately jumped off the branch, with Gray following.

"Happy Hearth's Warming Eve.!" I shouted.

"Enjoy your honeymoon!" Gray shouted, sarcastically.

"YOU ROTTEN KIDS!!!" Edward shouted.

Gray and I ran back to the castle, laughing the entire way there.

Once we made it back, Gray and I stripped ourselves of the wet snow clothes. I put some warm clothes on and gave Gray a blanket. We sat on my bed together and laughed.

"That was awesome!" said Gray, as he wiped a tear from his eye.

"I know! Jeez I have never seen anypony so cheesy before!" I said, grinning.

"Oh my dear Sandy! Your eyes remind me of the stars, since that's the best I can think of at the moment!" said Gray, pretending to be Edward.

"Oh my dear Edward! I don't even care, for I will gasp and act like an over dramatic actor in a play! Swooning at every word you say!" I said to Gray, pretending to be Sandy. As I said this, I placed a hand over my forehead in a dramatic pose.

"Come my dear Sandy, let us sail off in a river of cheese! One that I will have created, simply just by talking to you!" said Gray, as he placed his hoof over my shoulder.

"Oh but my dear Edward, how shall we survive such journey?" I asked, as I placed my hands to my chest, covering my heart.

He placed his hoof to my chin, and lifted my head, so that our eyes could meet. "We will survive, on love".

I gave Gray a devious smile, "and this is the part where we kiss, right?" I said, jokingly.

He pushed my head away, and chuckled. "Shut up dude!"

I laughed, "you know, I still feel kind of bad though, he was about to propose".

"Yeah, I guess you right . . . eh, not our problem. Hey, does the castle kitchen have any hot chocolate?" Gray asked.

"Yeah sure, want some?" I asked

"Yeah, that be awesome!" said Gray.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I returned from the castle kitchen ten minutes later. Gray and I were sitting in my bed, silently sipping our hot chocolate.

"Sweet Celestia, this is amazing! When did you learn how to make hot chocolate this good?" Gray asked.

"Well, the kitchen cooks taught me, back when I was ten. They used to teach me how to cook all kinds of things, nothing too advance since I was a kid and all. But they still taught me whatever they could. I used to really like learning back then, so whenever I went into the kitchens I would ask if I could watch them, and they would let me. But, then all the staff stopped talking to me and I wasn't allowed to go into the kitchen during the day. I still remember most of the things they taught me though, I just wish they would stop ignoring me, and start teaching me again like they used to" I said, sadly.

I stared down into my half drunken cup, and frowned.

Gray also frowned, and looked away for a moment. He drank the rest of his hot chocolate and placed a hoof on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry that your trapped in the castle, if you don't mind me saying, your mom doesn't sound like very nice mare" said Gray.

"Oh, well, she's actually really nice, to everypony but me of course. She would help spread kindness and friendship to everypony she meets, and she would help fix a lot of problems. Yet, for some reason she doesn't do the same for me. She used too, back when I was younger, but then about two years ago she just . . . stopped. I don't know why she stopped loving me, I don't know why anypony stopped loving me, but for some reason they just did! Completely random and out of the blue they just went and stopped loving me! But worst of all, not only do they not love me, but they also hate me! They ignore me and treat me like dirt everyday! But what did I do to them! What could I have possibly done to have made everypony hate me SO MUCH! WHY ARE THEY DOING THIS TO ME! WHY ARE THEY-"

"Obsidian!" interrupted Gray.

I stopped and looked at Gray. His gave me an expression of both worry, and sadness. I slowly lifted my hand to my cheek, and felt that I had been crying.

Then Gray did something completely unexpected, he hugged me.

I froze, processing what Gray was doing, then slowly, I hugged him back.

"I never had a family, so I'll never know how your feeling. But just know this, your never alone Obsidian, never! Not when you have friends" said Gray.

I struggled to keep myself crying, as my hug tighten on to Gray. "Thanks Gray" I said softly.

"Don't mention it kid" said Gray.

I wiped my tears and let go of Gray. "You know your a kid too right? Since your only sixteen" I said.

Gray shrugged, "I don't like to consider myself a kid. I hate being a kid".

"Why's that?" I asked.

Gray yawned, "its pretty late, why don't I explain later. Hey, you mind if I crash here tonight? I don't feel like having to travel ALL the way back to the shack" Gray asked.

"Uh, you might get caught by the guards" I said.

"Its cool, I'll just leave before they notice I'm here" said Gray.

"Also, I only have one bed" I said.

Gray shrugged, "fine with me, I'm used to having to share a bed anyway, if its alright with you?"

"Yeah, sure, I don't mind" I said.

"Cool, well, g'night kid, happy Hearths Warming Eve." said Gray, as he laid into my bed.

"Yeah . . . you too Gray . . . happy Hearths Warming Eve." I said, as I laid next to Gray.

Gray was out within seconds, but I was wide awake.

I couldn't sleep, I was feeling . . . weird. I didn't know how to explain it, its like . . . a warm and cozy feeling in my chest, and when I thought about Gray, that warm cozy feeling felt better. When I thought about Gray hugging me, I blushed, and I could feel my heart beat faster. I don't know what these feeling were . . . but I kind of liked it.

Gray turned in his sleep and pulled me close to him, cuddling me. I could feel my blush deepened, and my heart beat faster. Normally this would make me uncomfortable . . . so, why did I like it so much?

I decided to place the confusion to the back of my mind for now. I smiled, and placed my arms around his torso, cuddling him back. I rested my head over his head, and slowly drifted to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I awoke the next morning, Gray was still with me. I lifted my head and saw that we were still cuddling. I decided not to wake him and began falling back to sleep.

As I rested my head back down, I felt Gray's head began to shift. He looked up and into my eyes.

"Morning" said Gray, sleepily.

"Morning" I said, just as sleepily.

He rested his head back down, before coming to sudden realization. He jerked his head up and stared at me, his eyes bulging. I did the same.

Simultaneously, we started screaming. We immediately let go of each other, I threw myself to the wall while Gray fell of the bed.

He got to his hoofs and shouted, "what the hay were you doing!"

I blushed, he probably thinks I'm weird for cuddling with him. Then again, technically he cuddled me, I just cuddled back. But he doesn't have to know that.

"What the hay am I doing! What the hay are YOU doing! Cuddling with me like that!" I shouted.

Gray blushed, and looked at me angrily, "what! No! I would never! Your the one who! I was just!" Gray stuttered.

"I let you sleep in my bed and you start cuddling me!?!" I asked, making Gray think he's the one to blame.

"What!!! I, that's, you see . . . you know what . . . lets just pretend this never happened, agreed?" Gray asked.

"Agreed" I responded.

"Good . . . now if you'll excuse me, I need to take a shower. Later Obsidian" said Gray, as he put on his winter clothes and left as fast as he could.

When he was gone, I sat on my bed, panting. My face was still blushed, my heart was pounding, and I was sweating.

"What just happened!?!" I shouted, throwing my arms into the air.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~JANUARY~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I laid in my bed, listening to the birds outside speak their last chirps before they retired for the night. It was 7:30, Mom was just beginning to set the sun.

I was three months into my punishment, and quite frankly, I was bored out of my mind. I was like a prisoner; everyday I was locked in my room, not having permission to leave unless I had to use the restroom. I've read all of my books, played with (and destroyed) most of my toys, and sang bottles of milk on the wall starting from one million all the way to zero. By this point I was so bored I was willing to get a couple guards angry at me and start chasing me just for entertainment. Then again they might stab me with their spears . . . again.

I took a deep sigh as I closed my eyes. I day dreamed about Sunset Shimmers and I talking, just talking. We talk about the weather, we talked about magic, we even talked about grass. I didn't care what we talked about, I was just glad to be with my sister.

"Obsidian"

I opened my eyes and looked around. The sun was down, and the moon was in a crescent so it was dark tonight.

"Obsidian"

I searched around my room for the source of that voice. "Who are you? Where are you?" I asked.

"Obsidian"

The voice didn't whisper, it spoke in a loud, yet calm voice. The voices tone was very soothing, despite the fact I had no idea where it was coming from.

"Show yourself!" I shouted.

"I'm over here".

Suddenly, a bright white light shone from beneath my bed. I moved my bed aside and discovered it was coming from the tunnel.

"Come here" said the voice.

"Oh yeah? And why should I trust you?" I asked.

"Just come here, pretty please?"

I didn't want to listen to the voice, but something about it made it so . . . nice. It was so calm, so soothing, I just had to listen to the voice. I laid flat onto my stomach and crawled into the tunnel. As I crawled through, I could see a bright white light shinning from the other end of the tunnel. I had to squint my eyes as I approached this light.

I gripped the edge of the hole and lifted myself out of the tunnel. As I did I realized what that bright light was.

It was no longer night time, in fact, it didn't even look like it was winter.

The sun shinned its rays beautifully across Canterlot. Everything was clean and shinny. All the snow was gone, and there were flowers and fresh plants everywhere. I stood to my feet and began walking down the castle road. I soon noticed that there was a lot of ponies out and about today, and all of them seemed very happy. Every single pony was smiling to each other and giving each other pleasant greetings. Not wanting to be discovered I tried to hide in a nearby bush, but was too late. One of the ponies spotted me.

"Hello Glee!" the mare said happily.

I slowly turned around and saw that all of the ponies around him were looking at me, yet none of them gave the expression that I was expecting. I was expecting them to be afraid, or at least, confused. Yet these ponies were happy to see me . . . happy to see a human . . . and he knows my name . . . wait, what?

"How do you know my name?" I asked.

The mare laughed, "well everypony knows who you are Glee. You are the princess's daughter after all".

"You know that Celestia adopted me?" I asked.

"Of course! Are you feeling alright Glee? You seem a bit off today" said the mare.

"No . . . I'm fine . . . so, does everypony know me?" I asked.

"Of course, your everyponies friend, remember?"

I looked around and saw that everypony was waving to me, and saying hello. I saw that she was right, I was friends with everypony!

"Ya, I do remember. Sorry, I'm just a bit . . . tired today".

"You should get more sleep, a girl your age needs their sleep if you don't want to walk around with bags under your eyes" said the mare.

I laughed, "ya your right, I wouldn't want to . . . wait, did you just call me a-"

"Oh yeah! I just remembered. Their was this stallion who was looking for you, said his name was Gray" the mare interrupted.

Gray? Why would Gray be looking for me? More importantly, why would he need me during the day? He only comes out of the shack during the night.

"Gray said he was looking for me? Did he say where?" I asked.

The mare nodded. "He said he was going to wait for you at a cliff, the one next to the castle".

"Really? I just walked by that, how did I not see him?" Then again I am used to seeing him at night so I probably didn't recognize him during the day. "Anyways, thanks for telling me where he is, bye!" I said to the mare happily. I waved as I turned around and started walking back up the castle road.

"Bye sweetie, you too have fun! But not too much fun!" said the mare, as she waved back.

What did she mean by that? And why did she call me a girl? I shrugged, pushing the thought to the back of my mind.

The cliff next to the castle was also next to a stream of water that fell from the mountain. When I made it to the cliff, I was close enough to the stream to see my reflection. In the reflection I saw that there was another human standing next to me. I gasped and turned around.

"Oh! Sweet Celestia you startled me! I had no . . . hello?" I looked around, but nopony was there. "Strange, I could have sworn I saw another human". I turned back to the stream and saw the human in the reflection again. "Ah ha! I knew you were-", as I turned around, I saw that the human wasn't there. "Okay, seriously, what's going on?" I turned back to the reflection and gazed deeply into it. Sure enough that same human was there, but it wasn't until now that I realized that I didn't see my own reflection. I saw the new human, but I couldn't see me. This new human had long brown hair, a pink princess dress, and white tight gloves that reached to the elbows. This human also wore pink lipstick, blue diamond earrings, a pearl necklace and a crown. I tried to touch the stream to see if the water was playing a trick on me, upon doing so I saw the human in the reflection move its arm. I froze and slowly moved my arm up and down. The human in the reflection did the same. It wasn't until now that I looked down to myself and realized that I was wearing a dress.

"What the tarterus!" I shouted. I grabbed the fabrics of the dress with my gloved hands to see if it was real. Sure enough, I wasn't hallucinating. So that's why she called me a girl. "What's going on!" I shouted. I clasped my hands to my mouth as I suddenly realized something awful. I reached into my dress and felt around my privates. I shook with fear as I slowly drew my hand out. "I . . . I'm not a boy anymore . . ." I was scared, the only thing that hadn't changed was my voice.

"Hey Glee! You made it!"

I turned to the cliff and saw Gray waving to me. Gray! He might be able to help me! I had to lift the end of my dress so I could run to him.

"Hey Glee, how's it going?" asked Gray.

I looked to Gray with pleading eyes. "Its going awful Gray! I have no idea what's happening!"

Gray's expression changed from happy to concerned. "Oh, that doesn't sound good, here, sit down and tell me what's wrong".

I sat next to Gray and saw that he had laid out a blanket and a picnic basket. "You called me here for a picnic?" I asked.

"Yup, thought it be nice. Two friends, having a picnic", Gray shifted closer to me. "Alone".

I blushed and brushed away strands of hair in front of my eyes.

"So tell me, what's bothering you?" asked Gray.

"Oh right! Well, where to even start. First off I thought it was supposed to be winter, not spring. Second off, the ponies don't seem to mind me being in public. And third off, which I feel is the most obvious, but, for some reason I seem to be wearing a dress".

"Well ya, you like wearing dress's, you said so yourself" said Gray.

I looked at Gray, confused. "What? When did I say that?"

"You say it all the time! Every time we go into the city your always looking at new dress's" said Gray.

"Why would I . . . you know what, that doesn't matter, I have something more important to ask you".

"What is it?" asked Gray.

"I . . . I um . . . I j-just checked my . . . my, um" I stuttered. I was blushing furiously, and was looking to the ground.

Gray noticed this and placed his hoof to my hand. He gave me a reassuring smile and said, "I don't know what your upset about, but you don't have to be embarrassed. I'm here for you".

I smiled and hugged Gray. "Thanks Gray".

"Don't mention it" said Gray.

As I released him I noticed something shinning from the picnic basket. "Hey, what's that?" I asked.

"What?" Gray saw the shine and gasped. He quickly grabbed a cloth and placed it over the basked. "What necklace? I don't see any necklace?"

I placed my hands to my hips and raised a brow. "I don't believe I said anything about a necklace".

Gray sighed, realizing he was caught. He reached into the basket and pulled out a large gold necklace with a red heart shaped diamond incrusted into it. "I was going to save this as a surprise until after our picnic. But I guess the cats out of the bag now".

He handed me the necklace and I immediately put it on. It was a nice necklace, but, I don't wear jewelry. Why was he giving me a necklace? "Oh, its beautiful Gray!" I said happily as I gave Gray another hug.

Something was wrong, I didn't speak those words. Yes I thought the necklace was nice but I would never act this . . . girly. Suddenly I felt as if I no longer had control over my body.

"But, it must have cost you so much. Why would you ever buy me such a thing?" I asked, that is, my body asked without my own permission.

"Why wouldn't I buy such a pretty girl nice things?" asked Gray.

I giggled, "you can be a real gentlestallion, you know that?"

Did I just giggle? And why is Gray calling me a girl? I'm not a girl! Got to tell him I'm not a girl! But, why can't I speak anymore? What's happening!

"Yeah, I know. I'm awesome!" said Gray.

"An there's the real you again, showing off" I said as I rolled my eyes.

Gray and I laughed and stared at the city beneath us. We stayed silent for a coupled minutes before Gray shifted closer to me. He laid down and rested his head on my legs, and I began petting his mane.

"Glee, do you have . . . anypony that your interested to?" he asked.

"Well that's a bit of a personal question, don't you think?" I said.

"I was just curious, that's all" said Gray, blushing.

I smiled and looked to him, "I have somepony in mind".

He smiled. "Do I know who this pony is?"

"Oh I think you two are very close" I said sarcastically.

Gray sat up and stared into my eyes. "I like you, you know that don't you?"

"If the picnic wasn't obvious then I don't know what is".

Gray blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "I was just trying to get the right atmosphere before asking you-" Gray stopped suddenly.

"Before you ask me what?" I asked.

Gray sighed, "I was going to ask you . . . if you wanted to be my . . . marefriend".

I cupped my hands to my mouth and blushed. "Oh, well I'm flattered but-".

"But what?" asked Gray.

"Well its just that, I like you too, but were so much different. Your a pony, and I'm a human. I don't think it could work".

"Do you like me?" Gray asked suddenly.

"I- what?"

"Do you like me?" Gray repeated.

"Well, ya I like you Gray but-"

Gray rushed forward and kissed me on the lips, silencing me. After a few seconds, Gray released me. "Then it doesn't matter that were two different species. What matters is that we both like each other. Who cares what anypony else say's. If you like me, and I like you, then we can make this work, together".

"Gray, you really mean it?" I asked.

Gray nodded. "With all my heart".

Gray slowly brought his face to mine.

"I love you Glee" said Gray.

"I love you too Gray" I said. I closed my eyes and allowed Gray to place his lips upon mine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I sat up as I awoke in a cold sweat. I was panting and I could feel my heart beating fast. I looked around and saw that I was back in my room. I felt around my body to check if everything was back to normal. I was wearing my normally dirty rags, my hair was short, and I was a boy, oh thank Celestia I was a boy! I sighed with relief as I rested my head back to my pillow.

"Just a dream . . . it was just a dream" I said to myself.

What was with that dream? And why did I like it so much? I had never had a dream like that before. I mostly have nightmares most of the time so a pleasant dream such as this one came out as a surprise to me. What's more surprising is that this didn't feel like any ordinary dream. This dream made me feel . . . funny. I don't know how to describe it, I've never had these feelings before. And when I thought about being with Gray, on that cliff, staring down to the beautiful city of Canterlot, this made the feelings grow stronger.

Gray . . . why couldn't I stop thinking of Gray? Is this normal? For a stallion to think of another stallion? Then again I'm human so in technicality I'm a boy not a stallion. But even then that just makes it worse! A human, having dreams about kissing a pony! That's gross! Two separate species aren't supposed to think of each other this way . . . right?

I don't know, I'm so confused. Why can't I stop thinking about Gray! Is it because he was the first pony in years to befriend me? Is it because of how nice he is? Is it because of how smart he is? Is it because of how cute he is? Is it because . . . wait, cute? NO! Stop it! Stop thinking that way! Stallions are not cute . . . unless their foals then in which case I guess they can be kind of cute. But not Gray! He's sixteen, he is not cute! Sure he looks like a ten year old because of his size but that doesn't make him cute! He is a wonderful stallion and a great friend! A friend who I just kissed in a dream . . . JAM IT! Why am I having these feelings! And why am I having these feelings for a stallion! If only Mom had let me learn about sex ed like she said she would then maybe I would understand. But nope! She just had to cancel all my lessons with the home school teacher! Well two can play at this game! I don't need your stupid lessons, I'll figure this out on my own! I'll just go ask Gray and see if he knows why I'm kissing him in dreams- NOPE DON'T DO THAT!!! Most certainly NOT doing THAT!!! Maybe there's a book I could read on this. Then again I don't want the librarian to know what I'm reading so- wait a minute. She ignores me when I walk into the castle library, I can waltz in there and grab whatever the buck I want! Alright! That's what I'll do then! I'll go to the library tomorrow and see if I can get that book. Yeah! . . . JAM IT!!! I'm still locked in my room for the next couple of months! I can't get the book until March! Jam! Oh well, I guess I can deal with my confusion for just a few more months. But I still can't stop thinking about Gray! Why can't I stop thinking about him! I swear every time I close my eyes I see him. Gray talking to me with his calm soothing voice. Gray hugging me in his soft comforting legs. Gray kissing me with his . . . his . . . his . . .

"Jam it! Why do I like it so much!" I shouted.

"What do you like so much?"

"AAAAAAGH!" I screamed with a high pitch girly tone. The voice coming out of no where surprised me enough to make me fall out of my bed and slammed my head against my dresser. I rubbed my head to see who my intruder was.

"Gray? What the tarterus are you doing here?" I asked this with a whining girly voice. Realizing my tone, I quickly stood to my feet, straightened my shirt, and cleared my throat. "Gray! What the tarterus are you doing here?" I asked with a deeper, obviously fake masculine tone.

"Well I came to see if you wanted to tag some of Canterlot, but you seemed like you were in an argument with yourself so I chose not to intervene" said Gray. "Oh and that's some girly voice you got there "princess" Gray said sarcastically.

I however didn't sense the sarcasm and blushed furiously. "What! Princess!? I'm not a princess! Why would I dress like a princess!? Who ever told you I like dresses is a liar!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, chill. I was just joking! And what do you mean somepony told me you like dresses?" Gray asked.

I stuttered for a moment, then placed my hand awkwardly behind my head. "Well I . . . just heard a rumor recently that somepony said that I like wearing dresses . . . and being a princess".

"Do you?" asked Gray, taking an uncomfortable step back.

"NO! No I do not!" I shouted.

Gray sighed, "what a relief, cause you know how weird that would have been right? You, cross dressing as a princess?"

What's wrong with cross dressing? I think I could make a beautiful princess! . . . Wait, Aaagh! Jam it! I'm having these weird thoughts again!

"Yeah, weird" I said weakly, giving an equally weak chuckle.

Gray looked at me confused for a moment, raising his brow. "Okay . . . anyways. You wanna go tag Canterlot or what?"

"Uh, ya! Sure! Lets go do that!" I said quickly. I rushed over to my closet and ripped my pajamas off. I placed on some black day clothing and began tying my shoes.

"Hey, what's this?" asked Gray.

I turned to Gray and saw that he was holding my prized amulet and observing the jewels embedded into it (currently there were two).

"Oh that, its just a necklace my sister gave me, well it use to be a necklace. I've embedded the necklaces symbol into a thick gold neck wear, so now its an amulet." I said to Gray.

"I didn't know you worked with metal?" said Gray.

"Well I need something to do with my free time, I'm trapped in a castle all the time" I responded.

"I guess so. So, you have a sister?".

"Well I did at one point, she's gone now" I said, sadly.

"Oh, that sucks", Gray observed the amulet for a few more seconds before placing it next to my purple vase where it originally was. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened to her?"

I sighed, "she uh . . . ran away. She tried to do something that was probably illegal. Although I never figured out what it was I could tell it was bad enough for her to run away and never come back".

"Do you know where she is?" asked Gray.

"Yes, and no. I know where she went to, and I know what that place is. But where she went isn't exactly, what's the word? Local" I explained.

"Local? As in she's not in Equestria?" asked Gray.

I can't tell him about the portal, it'll just make him confused, heck, I'm still confused about it!

"Yeah, something like that. All in all she ran away and I never got to see her again. Her room was locked permanently so that no pony could enter. So since I can't go into her room, that necklace is all I have left to remind me of her" I explained.

"Why'd they lock her room?" asked Gray.

"I don't know, probably to preserve it for when she comes back. IF she comes back".

There was a small pause before Gray spoke. "Do you miss her?"

"Miss her? Heck if I know. I mean, one part of me misses her, the others just . . . angry. When I was younger I always treated her like she was my sister. Running up to her, giving her hugs. Showing her all of my childish drawings and such. But she never treated me the same way, yet at the same time she seemed closer to me then most ponies. Its a little complicated. You see; my sister was never a "ponies pony". She always acted as if she was better then everypony, saying that she didn't need friends because the other ponies were "below her standards". However, she was always willing to talk to me, she wasn't nice when she did, but at least she talked to me instead of ignore with a smug attitude like she did with everypony else" I explained.

"Do you want her to come back?" Gray asked.

I looked away from Gray, as I thought about this question. Do I really want Sunset Shimmers to come back? I miss her, I really do, but she abandoned me. I always treated her as nice as I could, and I never so much as received a thank you from that mare. Yet even now, I still feel like a little brother who desperately wants his big sister to come home. I felt embarrassed by the thought, but I couldn't lie to myself. A part of me wanted her to come home, the other didn't care whether I saw her ever again or not. I chose to ignore the question Gray asked me.

"You know, that's my most prized possession so I really hope your being careful with it" I said to Gray. I closed my closet and turned to look for a scarf.

"I already put it back where I found it! Hey, what's this symbol on the amulet?" asked Gray, pointing to Sunset Shimmers cutie mark.

"Oh, that's the jewel that was on the original necklace my sister gave me. That's what her cutie mark looks like".

"What about this one?" Gray asked, pointing to a small jewel in the shape of a shield with a clover in the middle.

"That one, I'm not really sure. I got a necklace with that jewel on it when I was ten, as a Hearth's Warming gift. Thing is, I don't really know who gave it to me. There wasn't a name on the box it came in. But whoever gave it to me left a note saying "Stay strong, never give in, you only need you". I never did figure out what that meant. But the letter did say that that jewel is supposed to be some bravery charm. It supposed to help you feel brave if your scared" I explained.

"Pfft! Bravery charm!? You think that stupid charm junk actually works?" asked Gray.

I shrugged, "don't know, but I kept it anyway. For memorial reasons. Hey are we gonna talk all night about jewelry or are we gonna tag the city already?"

"Oh yeah! Let's go! I know a nice spot that deserves a bit of color!" said Gray, chuckling deviously.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Five Hours Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hurry up! I hear the guards coming!" I shout whispered to Gray.

Gray was doing the finishing touches to a large painting we had painted on the walls of the Canterlot bell tower. We chose this building so that everypony can see it. However, that also meant it was easy for us to get caught. In this case for instance, someone had seen the painting, alerted the guards, and now a squad of guards were on their way here right now.

"Chill, I'm almost finished" said Gray. He dipped his paint brush into a yellow can and proceeded to finish the last section of the painting.

"If we don't bail, were gonna get our flanks kicked by at least six or seven guards!"

"I said chill! I'm almost finished!" said Gray.

"Halt juveniles!" I heard someone shout behind me. I turned and saw five pegasus ponies flying towards us.

"And . . . finished- WHOH!", before Gray could finish speaking, I grabbed him around the torso and ran to the edge of the roof where we kept our rope ladder. With Gray on my back I help both of us climb down from the three story tall part of the tower, and onto the streets of Canterlot.

"Halt!" one of the guards shouted.

I started running down one of the alleyways. It was still night time, combined with my dark clothing and Gray's gray fur, it was easy for us to blend with the dark

I found a dumpster as I ran through the alleyway and quickly through Gray into it. I jump inside behind him and shut the lid. We then waited awhile until the sound of voices died down.

Once they did, Gray leapt out of the dumpster and spat to the ground. "Do you think you can give me a heads up before you go and throw me into a pile of trash next time! I swear, I think I landed face first into old spaghetti. WITH MY MOUTH OPEN!!!"

"Sorry, I was just doing quick thinking back there, that's all. And if you hadn't taken so long with the painting then maybe we wouldn't have had to hide in a dumpster!" I said, irritated.

"Hey! It was worth the time, wouldn't you agree?" asked Gray.

"Once I see the painting then maybe I'll consider it worth our time" I said.

"Alright then, follow me!" said Gray.

I followed Gray back down the same way we came. Eventually, we made it to an open street, a spot where we can see our five hours worth of work.

The bell tower was tall enough for ponies all over this area to see. Therefore, they can see our painting too. The painting was of Mom, or too be more specific, Mom's flank. It had her cutie mark exposed, and underneath it in big bold words said; "All hail Princess Sunbutt!"

I laughed as I saw our master piece. "Okay your right, completely worth our time!" I looked over to Gray and froze.

A street lamp had turned on above us, and it had started to snow. I'm not sure why I froze, Its just . . . the way I saw Gray now felt . . . nice. I saw Gray looking up to our painting, smiling. I don't know how to describe it. The way the light shined on him as the snowflakes fell, I felt like I was looking at a painting, not the one we painted, but a true masterpiece. The way his red eyes glistened, and his dark black hair blew in the cold Winter wind. I couldn't stop staring at him, in my eyes he looked . . . absolutely amazing.

He noticed I was staring and looked to me. "Uh, what's up?" he asked.

I quickly looked back to the painting, "nothing! I-I was just thinking that the, uh- painting could've used a bit more red, that's all!"

He looked at me confused. "But the painting doesn't have red".

I suddenly felt myself sweating, despite the fact it was Winter. "Did I say red? I meant yellow! Ya that's it, yellow!" I said as I gave a weak chuckle.

He rubbed his hoof to his chin for a moment as if he was thinking of something, then turned back to the painting. "Ya, I guess it could have used more yellow. Then again we did run out of time so there's that".

There was a long awkward pause before Gray spoke up. "Hey, did I ever tell you why I hate being a kid?"

"No, I remember you mentioning it before, but you never actually said why".

"Well, its because of the way I'm living right now. And I'm pretty sure you can relate to this as well. You see, I've already told you that I never had a family. Who ever originally had me dumped me at some old ponies home when I was only a year old. I ran away from the place when I was five. Not because they were mistreating me or anything, I just didn't like being there. They always acted like they were better then me. Soon after I was out in the streets, starving and cold. Until I was saved by a couple of Rattlesnakes. They brought me in, fed me, kept me sheltered. Then when I was old enough to steal they made me a Diamond Back. I've been there ever since. But to answer your question "why don't I like being a kid", simple, its because kids have no power. I mean look at us! I'm a thief force to steal for my meals, and your trapped in a castle against your will! If we were adults, we could make a difference! I'll bet if I was an adult I could march right out of that cult and make an honest living for myself! And you! You could leave the castle and finally make your own decisions! If we were adults, then our lives wouldn't suck the way it does now! I mean have you seen all of the happy fillies and colts that play in Canterlot? Haven't you ever wondered why their so happy? How their lives became so good while yours and mine is bucking awful? I mean what's the difference between them and us? How did their lives become so good!? Why do you and I have to dig and claw for what we want, while their moms and dads are handing to them what they want on a silver platter!? What's the difference between them and us! Haven't you ever wondered that Obsidian? Haven't you ever wondered why your life is so bad? Well is certainly isn't our faults! Its theirs! The adults! They have the power to control whatever they want, including the lives of the children around them! And who ever the adults were that were supposed to take care of us used their power to make our lives miserable! That's why our lives are so bad! Its not our faults, its theirs! The adults! That's why we see kids having the time of their lives while were stuck with scraps! The adults taking care of them used their power to give them great lives, while whoever taking care of us didn't. And because of it, here we are now. A thieving pony and a locked up human, both trying to get the best with what little we have" Gray explained.

It wasn't until Gray explained this that I realized how right he was. If I was an adult I could leave the castle. I would be my own man, and I could make my own decisions. But here I was, a twelve year old boy, forced to be locked in a castle because there's nothing I can do about. I had never suddenly wanted to be an adult until now. I didn't want to be a kid anymore. I wanted to be a man.

"We should probably get going, the guards might be coming back soon" Gray said suddenly.

I nodded and followed Gray back to the castle.

As I followed, I asked Gray, "hey Gray, do you ever think things will get better? For me and you? Do you think our lives will ever get, I don't know, happier?"

Gray shrugged, "who knows. All we can do now is make the best of it. But I'm sure as long as we never give up hope, then things will surly turn out better in the end". Gray turned to me and saw that I was frowning. He sighed, "look kid. I know things have been rough for you. Things haven't exactly been easy on me as well. But we gotta try and keep a positive attitude. Why do you think I go out into the city and do stupid ship like this with you every other night? I could just stay in the shack and mope around like most of the fillies and colts there, but I don't. I spend my time having fun and getting into trouble. I do this so I can try to stay happy. Sure our lives suck, but you'll see, things will get better. We just can't give up. That's why I try to stay happy, so that I don't give up. Cause I know things will get better".

I looked to Gray and smiled, "you really think things will get better?"

Gray laughed, "of course! We just gotta keep a positive attitude until that day comes, alright? I know things are hard, but you'll see. Things will get better".

I laughed, "ya, things will get better!" I looked up to the night sky and saw a falling a star. I knew it was a childish thing to do, wishing upon a falling star. I also knew it didn't really work, but that didn't stop me from doing it right then and there. Me, wishing upon a star for a better and happier life. A life filled with friends, family, and Gray.

I looked back to Gray and immediately felt that warm feeling return to me again. I smiled as I thought to myself, 'all I have to do is never give up. Things will turn better in the end'.

I just hope Gray was right.

Twelve Years Old Pt.2

View Online

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~MARCH~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was sleeping in my bed when I felt somepony shaking me awake.

"Obsidian, hey, Obsidian, wake up!"

"Give me five more minutes mom!" I said, grumpily.

The pony then gave me a cup check, I yelped in pain as I curled into a ball. I looked up and saw my attacker.

"GRAY! What the tarterus bro!"

Gray chuckled, "sorry about that, you didn't wake up, so I figured this be the quickest way".

"The pain, its lingering!" I said weakly.

"Don't be such a baby, hurry up and get ready! Gold has an assignment for us".

I slowly lifted myself off the bed, and went into a chest that I kept hidden in my closet.

The chest was full of stolen goods, and a set of full black and gray thieving clothes.

Although Gray had just cup checked me, I wasn't angry. I was SO happy to see him, I hadn't stopped thinking about the nights we spent together. Pick pocketing ponies, breaking into homes, it was such great fun! We had been doing this every other night for the past three months. Lately however, I've been starting to feel . . . weird around Gray.

He was one of the first friends I had made ever since I had been trapped in the castle, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be able to leave into the night and just BE myself. I could finally breath in the fresh outside air of the night, and be out in the open! All thanks to Gray. It was my favorite thing to do nowadays, just escaping into the night with Gray and cause trouble in Canterlot. The more we did this, the more I couldn't stop thinking about it! I just couldn't wait until the next time we would escape into the city! . . . But . . . that wasn't exactly true. I was excited to go out into the city, but what I was more excite about was seeing Gray again.

Sure it was because I was excited to see a friend, but . . . I don't know. It doesn't feel the same as just waiting for a friend, it feels . . . different. I just don't know, I'm so confused! Every time I see Gray I can feel my heart beat faster, and it becomes difficult to breath! I didn't have these feeling before when I first met Gray, so why do I have these feeling now? And why does it only happen when Gray's around? Why not when anypony else is around? I'm so confuse, I wish I had somepony to talk to about this, sadly, no pony within the castle will talk to me (not even mom), and I ESPECIALLY can't ask Gray why I felt these feelings. I didn't feel comfortable asking any of the fillies at the Diamond Back shack about these feelings. So, all and all I decided to just keep this a secret for now. Maybe I'll find out when I'm older what these feelings are.

For now, Gold had an assignment, and I had to get ready.

"What kind of assignment?" I asked, as I slipped on the black and gray pants.

Gray shrugged, "who knows, but he say's its something that he's had planned for a LONG time".

As I was strapping the pouches to my belt, I asked, "is it the one he's had planned since I first arrived?"

"Could be, I've never seen him this excited" said Gray.

Once I had all of my gear set, I turned to Gray and said, "all right, lets go!"

Gray entered into the tunnel, and just as I was about to enter, I flinched, and grabbed my crotch. "Agh! Jam it! You know I'm going to get you back!" I said, angrily.

Gray chuckled, "yeah, yeah, whatever, just hurry up!"

It took us five minutes to go through the tunnel and out into the castle front yard. Gray and I quickly made our way to the shack that had members of the Diamond Backs inside.

"Took you long enough! I thought you were never going to get here!" said Gold, as Gray and I entered the shack.

"It took me twenty minutes!" said Gray.

"That's twenty minutes too long, now, Obsidian, its been a year since you've became a Diamond Back. Tell me, have you grown at all since that time?" Gold asked.

I shrugged, "I don't know, probably. I don't measure myself".

Gold whipped out his measuring tape and quickly checked my height, once he finished, he gave a sinister chuckle.

"Yes indeed you have! Your the perfect height to put my plan into motion! Now, Gray, Obsidian, remember a year ago when I said that I had a plan, one that Obsidian would be perfect for?" Gold asked.

Oh so it WAS the plan he talked about when I first arrived.

"Yeah, I remember" I said.

"Sure, of course" said Gray.

Gold had a very devious look, as he reached into his flank pocket and pulled out a map, handing it to us.

Gray unfolded the map, and handed it to me. It was a map of a two story building called "Daisy's Flower shop", it had a color key explaining what all of the dots on the building meant. Some dots would show where guard posts where, other dots would show which guards would walk around, and one dot in particular was the objective.

"This is your big plan? Brake into a building full of guards and steal . . . flowers?" Gray asked.

Gray laughed, sinisterly, "oh my dear friend Gray, its much more complex then that! You see, I did a bit of research and found out that that flower shop is keeping a priceless flower inside the safe on the second floor. If you two can get in there and steal that flower, we'll have enough cash to finally get out of this crummy shack! And the Diamond Backs can officially have a place they can truly call home!"

"What I don't get is why you needed Obsidians help?" Gray asked.

"Well isn't it obvious? Look at the map" said Gold.

Gray and I did so and saw what Gold had meant.

There were more guards on the first floor then there were on the second floor. It was virtually impossible to break in and get to the second floor, unless you climbed through the window. However, the building was made with spikes sticking out along the railings that were underneath the second floor window. It was impossible to climb to the second floor, unless you were tall enough and had fingers!

"A two story building may be high for us fillies and colts, but for Obsidian, who's now five feet tall. A two story building is a simple jump away! All he has to do is grab onto the sides of the spikes, climb his way up and through the window, break into the safe, and get out of there!" explained Gold.

"Sounds like you just need Obsidian for this job, what do you need me for?" Gray asked.

"Ah, you see, aside from me, your one of the best lock pickers the Diamond Backs have to offer. So, once Obsidian makes his way onto the window sill, he'll drop some rope down for you, then you'll climb up and help Obsidian break into the safe, grab that priceless flower, and get out of there before anypony notices!" explained Gold.

Gray thought this over for a moment, then asked, "I don't know, this plan seems legit, but what if we get caught? This isn't the same as pickpocketing or doing graffiti. If we get caught doing this, we'll surly go to jail".

"Oh, I have a simple solution to that, you see, if you don't want to get caught, then here's all you have to do . . . DON'T GET CAUGHT!!! Simple, right!?!" Gold shouted.

"Yeah, sure" I said.

"Whatever" said Gray.

"Enough talk, you only have a certain amount of time to break into that store before they do an inspection, which will be in about two hours! So both of you get out there and BRING ME THAT FLOWER!!!" Gold shouted.

"Alright we'll get the flower! Sheesh! Come on Obsidian, lets go!" said Gray.

"Right behind you!" I said.

We both rushed over to the corner of the shack the held the trap door. Inside the trap door was a tunnel that led us to a sewer which took us underneath Hoofers Street, which was in the lower part of Canterlot.

After we made our journey through this, we traveled through the streets of Canterlot, hiding in bushes and through alleyways as to not get detected. It took Gray and I thirty minutes to make it to the flower shop. It was in the middle part of Canterlot, which was a bit far from the lower part.

Once there, we hid behind a dumpster that was behind the shop. Gray dropped and opened his saddle bag. He reached in and took out a pair of metal gauntlets.

"These should protect you incase you get a bad grip on the spikes" said Gray.

He handed the gauntlets to me, and I strapped it in quickly. I flexed my figures and moved my hand around, feeling how comfortable the gauntlets were. Something about wearing armor always made me feel so comfortable! I don't know why, I guess I just feel safer, knowing that I'm wearing protection.

"Nice! How did you manage to get a gauntlet with fingers?" I asked.

"A couple of Diamond Backs stole it from some ponies house. It was originally made for dragons, but we had the ends cut down and smoothed. That way, it would fit fingers instead of claws! Oh, and sorry about there not being metal for your smallest finger, what did you call it again?" Gray asked.

"Its called a pinkie" I said.

"Yeah, that, most creatures only have four so it was a bit difficult to make this, seeing that you have five. But seriously though, are you the only creature who has hands?" Gray asked.

"Yup, everypony else usually has hoofs, claws, or paws, not me though, I'm unique!" I bragged.

Gray rolled his eyes, "well when your done strapping in the gauntlets then why don't you take that "uniqueness" of yours and make it usefull already!"

"All right, just give me a sec . . . and, there!" I said.

With both gauntlets fit comfortably on my hands, and a bundle of rope rapped around my back, I was ready to begin.

I looked around to see if the coast was clear. When I saw it was, I rushed over directly underneath the window we were supposed to break into. I jumped as high as I could and reached my hands in between two of the spikes, I gripped on to the sides tightly, making sure I didn't lose my grip and fall. I used every ounce of upper body strength I could muster to pull myself up while making sure I didn't accidently stab my torso into the front of the spikes.

It took thirty minutes, three attempts, four breaks, an argument, and a possible trip to the infirmary when I returned the castle, but in the end I had somehow managed my way up and around the spikes, and onto the window sill. I pick the lock to the window, and silently opened it. I placed the lower half of my body in, and with the upper half sticking out, I took the bundle of rope from my back, and dropped one end to Gray. He took hold of the rope, and I tied the other end to the spike so that he could climb up. Once he was up and in, I close the window gently and surveyed my surroundings.

We were in a dark office, and just as the map said, there was no guards, at least, not until inspection. The map said that the objective is somewhere in this room. So where would a safe be hidden? Oh, behind a painting, that was easy!

"Over here" I said to Gray.

I led him to a large painting of a white stallion wearing a military uniform. I silently took the painting off the nail and placed it on the ground, reviling a large silver safe.

"Nice work, I got it from here, you keep watch" said Gray.

I nodded and walked over to the door. I leaned my ear against it to make sure no pony was going to enter.

I could hear two guards talking to each other outside the door.

"So, I heard a rumor that you and Martziah had a bit of fun at the party last night!" said one guard.

"That's an understatement, we had MORE then just fun at the party last night" said the second guard.

"Oh really? How'd that happened?" the first guard asked.

"Well, you know, one minute we were by the pool, hanging out, talking, and all that. But two bottles of Apple Jack Daniels later and she was GONE man! I mean she had completely just LOST IT!" said the second stallion.

"Dang! Two bottles each!" exclaimed the first guard.

"Nope, she drank those bottles all by herself, and she did it with three shots of Everfree Dandelion" said the second guard.

"Dang! That's insane! So, what happened next?" asked the first guard.

"Do you really want to know?" asked the second guard, in a sarcastic sort of tone.

"Come on man, tell me? Did you and the mare do a little . . . you know" ask the first guard.

"Well, if you really want to, me and her found a nice spot near the party that didn't have anyponies around. We laid down behind some bushes and-"

"Jam it! This lock is tougher then I thought! Obsidian, do you hear anypony coming? . . . Uh . . . Obsidian? Are you alright?" asked Gray. He had just turned around to talk to me. When he did, he saw my face drawn with an expression of a pony who had just seen the dead come back to life.

My eyes were bulging, and my jaw had dropped. All color on my skin had faded completely to white, and my cheeks had blushed to a very dark crimson. I gently shook my head when Gray had asked me if I was alright.

"What's the matter? Is something happening?" Gray asked.

"I . . . I . . . I think . . . I think I'm . . . losing my innocence . . . I don't like it!" I said, slowly and weakly.

"Uh . . . what?" asked Gray.

"My ears . . . my poor virgin ears . . ." I said, once again slowly and weakly.

Gray stared at me for a few seconds, before shaking his head and returning back to his work.

"So, sounds like you had a lot of fun, but what about your wife? Aren't you married" asked the first guard.

After hearing this, my shock disappeared, and had immediately been replaced with curiosity. I placed my ear against the door harder, listening closely.

"Yeah I am, but she doesn't know I'm cheating with her" said the second guard.

"So what are you gonna do? Break up with the first mare and go out with the second mare?" asked the first guard.

The second guard chuckled, "Na! I think I'm just gonna keep both!"

"Why do that?" asked the first guard.

"In case I get bored with one mare, I can just go have fun with the other, if you know what I mean!" said the second guard.

After hearing this, I . . . I didn't even know what I was feeling. Such emotions, it felt like a combination of pure rage, and a lust for vengeance. I don't know why I was getting these thoughts, I had never had them before. But right here right now, I was getting these thoughts. Thoughts that told me of what I should do to ponies like this. Thoughts that told me what my course of action should be. Thoughts that told me what must be done! I wasn't going to let this stallion do as he pleases! I'll make him wish he had never betrayed the trust of his wife! I'll make him feel pain! I'LL MAKE HIM SUFFER!!!

HE WILL PAY FOR HIS ADULTERY!!!

"Hey Gray, what time do the guards have dinner?" I asked.

Gray checked the map, "It says here the guards will have dinner at around eleven o clock, that's in fifteen minutes".

I deviously chuckled, "good, that'll be plenty of time. I'll be right back".

Gray turned to me, "whoa! Where are you going?" he asked.

"Lets just say I'm off to do a little "errand", you keep picking the lock to the safe, I'll be back" I replied.

Normally Gray would question me, and make me stay. But my over serious tone caused him to simply give me a nod, as he returned to his work.

"Oh, and I'm gonna need the map" I said.

Gray tossed me the folded map. I unfolded it and searched for the Guards break room. It was right across the hall.

I listened closely to the door again, and waited, luckily, I didn't have to wait very long.

"Sweet Celestia man, I can't believe you managed to win that bet! You must be on a roll Bronze Wight!" said the first guard, excitedly.

I deviously smiled. 'Prepare yourself Bronze Wight, for you will be punished, and I will be your warden!' I thought to myself.

I checked the ceiling to see if there were any air vents. When I found one above the desk, I climbed on top of the desk, opened the air vent, and climbed through. Following the map, I made my way over to the guards break room. I opened the vent, and dropped down.

The guard break room was dark and empty. Along one side of the wall was lockers all placed next to each other, and on the other side was a counter with a microwave, coffee maker, and other assorted kitchen appliances. That's not what I'm looking for though, I need to get to the fridge. The fridge was right next to the counter. I opened it and searched inside.

All of the foods inside had labels indicating which food belonged to which guard, I'm looking for the one with Bronze Weights name on it.

It took a couple minutes to find it, it was placed in the back of the fridge behind some left over pizza.

Bronze Weight was originally going to have enchiladas for his dinner, now, he's getting a little something extra!

I reached into my back pocket and pulled out a small container full of Sanatonian Apple Spice.

Sanatonia was a city inside the Changling Empire. Sanatonian Apple Spice is very difficult to obtain, because it is made only in the Changling Empire. Changlings don't eat normal food like we do, they feed off of love and other positive emotions. So why would they create Apple Spice? Well, its not actually Apple Spice. This so called "Apple Spice" was given its name because of its similarity to actual Apple Spice. It looks, tastes, and smells like Apple Spice, but it is actually an ingredient used in certain potions. In a potion, it can be used as an antidote for certain poisons. By itself however, it is a poison! Although Sanatonian Apple Spice cannot physically kill ponies, it can caused the pony who had eaten it to be in sever pain for days on end. They'll have extreme nausea, bad head aches, cramps, vomiting, and diarrhea for a minimum of at least a week! And the best part, there is no antidote for this! Once its been digested, and you haven't taken an antidote within the first five hours, then the Sanatotian Apple Spice will have settled into your digestive system, and will remain there until the end of the week (give or take).

Gray had given this to me as a gift, I was planning on practicing my potion making skills with this, but I wouldn't mind sacrificing a small amount for a "greater cause".

I did a sinister chuckle, as I sprinkled the spice into Bronze Weights dinner.

"Revenge is best served POSIONED!" I said to myself, happily.

I place the dinner back into the fridge, and silently closed it. I then went back to the air vent and jumped, reaching for the vent. I pulled myself inside and closed the vent. I then returned back to Gray.

Once I dropped from the air vent, I looked over to the where Gray was picking the lock to the safe, expecting him to ask me what I had just done. But he wasn't there, the safe was open and it was empty, but no pony was here.

Suddenly, I heard something click, and felt something pressed against my back.

"Put your claws in the air, and turn around slowly" I heard a familiar voice say.

I pulled the bandana I had tied around my neck above my nose, as to keep my identity safe (I have one tied around my neck incase of these exact situation) and raised my hands into the air. I then slowly turned around to see two guards. One had Gray in his fore hoofs, and the other was pointing a crossbow at me. It was Bronze Weight and the other guard.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? A filly and a dragon trying to steal the priceless flower! Well, unlucky for you, the flower ain't here! It was never here to begin with! So you'll come with me quietly, or I'll be forced to shoot you" said Bronze Weight.

He thinks I'm a dragon? Guess that makes sense, I do look like one when I'm fully clothed and my face is covered.

Its funny, this stallion thinks he has the upper hoof.

"Oh you won't be shooting me, and I won't be coming with you either. You see, my friend and I were just leaving, so if you can just let him go then we'll be on our way!" I said to the guard.

As I said this, I dropped my hands behind me for only a second, then lifted them back into the air again. That second was all I needed. I also made my voice sound dark and grunge, as to not be recognized.

"Ha! As if! You and the filly are coming with us now!" said Bronze Weight, angrily.

I chuckled, "So tell me, Bronze Weight, how does cheating on another mare feel? Do you feel pain, or any emotional suffering? Knowing that your poor wife out there hasn't the slightest idea that her husbands with another mare? Do you have even the slightest bit of conscience left to feel such pain? Or are you truly and empty, heartless, pig who will do what you want to any mare you fancy?" I asked.

Bronze chuckled, "so, you were eavesdropping huh? Well I'll have you know that I do know that cheating is wrong. But let me tell you a secret, If I could do it again, I would!"

At this, I stared at him, angrily. "Tell me Bronze Weight, what happens when you look into a bright light after your eyes have adjusted to the dark?" I asked.

"I assume you'd be blinded" Bronze responded.

I chuckled, "exactly!"

That second that I had dropped my hands behind me, I had reached into a pouch on my belt and took out a small device that detonates into a bright light when thrown against a hard surface. I dropped it, and turned around, shielding my eyes.

The device exploded, and as it did, the two guards were blinded. Not Gray, Gray kept a pair of sunglasses to keep his identity safe, just like how I had my bandana. Except for Gray, he can use his disguise to shield his eyes from the blinding device.

While the two guards were blinded, Gray bit into the guards leg, releasing him.

"COME ON!" I shouted, changing my voice back to normal.

Gray leapt into my arms, and I sprinted towards the window.

Bronze Weight (having recovered his vision) fired the crossbow at me.

I used my arms to shield both me and Gray from the impact, as I jumped through the window.

The bolt of the crossbow had missed my ear by just an inch, and I dodged the spikes outside the window by the same amount.

I landed and somersaulted onto the ground.

I grabbed the saddle bag that Gray had left near the dumpster and began sprinting back to the lower part of Canterlot.

"Stop them!" I heard the guards shout behind us.

I sprinted as fast as I could, carrying all of the equipment and Gray in my arms. I sprinted through alleyways, behind dumpsters, through bushes and backyards, all to make sure they weren't on our trail.

Behind a couple building away from us, I could hear dogs barking, and flashing lights, searching for us!

"Gray! How much further until we get to the sewer entrance!?!" I asked.

"Its still another ten minutes away!" he shouted.

"Jam it!" I shouted.

I continued to sprint, Gray was looking over my shoulder, giving me feed back on how close they were.

I had never ran so fast in my life! My lungs felt as if they were collapsing on me! But I couldn't stop now, if I did, then they would surly catch us!

"Obsidian, they got pegasus!" shouted Gray.

"WHAT!?!" I shouted.

And sure enough, when I looked up, I saw three pegasus, flying in a "V" formation, searching for us.

"Son of a ditch! All of this over a flower!" I shouted.

"Gold did say it was priceless!" Gray shouted.

"Well if Gold wanted it so bad then how come HE DIDN'T JUST GET IT FOR HIMSELF!!!" I shouted.

There was no where left to hide. With ponies both on hoof and in the skies, there was no where left at ALL to hide. The only option left was to sprint as fast as I can, sadly, the pegasus were faster.

As soon as they spotted us, they dived straight toward us.

"Use this!" I shouted.

I had reached into one of my pouches and had taken out a can of pepper spray, handing it to Gray.

As the pegasus dived close to us, Gray pushed the button on the can, covering the pegasus in pepper spray.

Two out of three of the pegasus were hit, they shouted, covered their faces, and crashed.

The third had dodged the spray, he rose back into the air and shouted to the guards on the ground (who were still a fair amount of distance away from us), "two guards down! Permission to use lethal force!"

"Permission granted!" I heard the ground guards shout.

"Aw ship!" I heard Gray shout.

"Don't worry, he's most likely going to use a spear on us!" I shouted.

"Oh, he's going to use a spear? Well THAT makes me feel SO much BETTER!!!" Gray shouted, sarcastically.

"Hey! Being attacked with a melee weapon is a lot better then being attacked with a ranged weapon if you ask me!" I shouted.

"How do you know there going to use a spear? Why don't they just use a crossbow like those other guards?" Gray asked.

"The guard with the crossbow wasn't a Canterlot guard! He was a private guard working at the flower shop, therefore he's allowed to use a crossbow. Canterlot guards are different, there specially trained to use standard guard weaponry!" I explained.

"So the pegasus that's chasing us isn't a guard from the shop, he's a city guard?" Gray asked.

"Yup!" I shouted.

"Whelp . . . were bucked!" Gray shouted.

"Not yet were not! I've got one more trick! Here, drop these when I tell you to!" I shouted, handing Gray a two white canisters.

"What are these?" Gray asked.

"Smoke bombs! Built them myself, when activated, it releases a large amount of smoke in the surrounding area!" I explained.

"When did you suddenly become so good at using gadgets!?!" Gray asked.

I chuckled, "I spend WAY too much time by myself in the castle. And not by choice either!"

"Well . . . fair enough" said Gray, bluntly.

The pegasus had reached behind his back, retrieving his spear. He then dived back towards us again.

As soon as he was close enough, I shouted, "now!"

Gray released the canister.

The moment the canisters hit the ground, the entire area was filled with pure white smoke. Hiding us from the pegasus view.

I took this chance to hide behind the closest building.

I decided to hide here until the guards were completely gone, giving Gray and I the chance to make our way to the sewer entrance. Even so, I needed to rest. My legs felt like they were made of lead, and my lungs felt as if somepony had just bucked me.

"Can you keep your panting down! They might hear you!" Gray whispered.

I glared at Gray angrily, "oh I'm SO sorry if my panting is too loud! Why don't you try running three miles straight none stop with me on your back!" I whispered.

"Do you see them?" asked a guard.

I peered around the corner of the building, and saw a group of five guards and the pegasus that had tried to attack us with the spear.

"Negative, I lost sight of them when that smoke appeared" replied the pegasus.

"Well, they can't have gone too far! Keep searching the skies! The five of us will continue to search on hoof!"

The pegasus nodded, and flew back into the sky, as the five guards left with their search dogs.

"How did the guard dogs not sniff us out?" Gray asked.

"Beats me, but who cares, their gone. Now, we just need to make it back to the sewer entrance without getting detected!" I said.

"Oh I don't think that'll take too long" said Gray happily.

"Why's that?" I asked.

He pointed to the building we were hiding behind.

It was the old Freddy Fazbears Pizza that had shut down over a year ago!

I sighed with relief, "well, if that isn't good luck then I don't know what is!"

I looked around to see if the coast was clear, when I saw it was, I rushed into the middle of the street, opened the sewer entrance, and hopped inside.

Once Gray and I had made it to the tunnel, we stopped, and panted for the longest time. Slowly, realization began to dawn upon us. We were just chased through Canterlot by a huge group of guards, AND WE GOT AWAY!!!

Slowly, Gray and I started laughing.

"Oh man! That was insane! I thought those guards were gonna get us!" said Gray.

"I know right! They were right on our tails! If you hadn't taken down two of those guards at once, then who knows what could've happened!" I said.

"Oh, and the way you jumped out that window! Son of a ditch man! You were like a boss!" said Gray.

"Well I couldn't have done it if you hadn't cushioned my fall!" I said, jokingly.

"Ha, ha, what ever. But seriously, all those things you did! The smoke bomb, jumping out a two story window, the pepper spray, AND not to mention you just ran through the entire city none stop while carrying me and an arm full of equipment WHILE being chased by guards and STILL got away! Like, my mind is blown right now! When did you learn to do all those thing!?!" Gray asked.

"I already told you, I spend a lot of time by myself in the castle" I said. I was telling the truth too.

Ever since I joined the Diamond Backs, I had been spending a lot of my time teaching myself what to do in these very situations. Using gadgets, making strategies, and improving my lock picking and pickpocketing skills . . . well what am I supposed to do with my free time!?! Play Jenga! The game gets boring after two thousand, three hundred, and seventy two time (and yes, I've counted!).

"And besides, if you hadn't sprayed those guards and use the smoke bomb, we would have never gotten away" I said.

"Only because you handed them to me" said Gray.

"Oh come on, you helped out too! We would've never had the safe opened if it wasn't for you! Speaking of which, sorry about not being there, I guess its my fault we almost got caught" I said.

"Don't worry about it, it wasn't your fault" said Gray.

"It wasn't?" I asked.

"Na! A couple minutes after you left I finally managed to bust the safe open! But it was a trap from the very start! You see, after I got the safe open, there was a string attached to the door. I guess when the string was pulled it triggered an alarm. Cause as soon as I opened the safe those guards came busting through the door! Pointing crossbows at me!" Gray explained.

"So, this whole assignment was all for nothing?" I asked.

"Well, it sure seems that way. But hey! Look on the bright side! At least we'll have a good story to tell when were older, am I right!" said Gray.

I laughed, "ya, I guess your right!"

"Hey that reminds me, what exactly did you do while you were gone?" Gray asked.

"Oh! Well, lets just say I was teaching somepony a lesson" I said, deviously.

Gray looked at me confused for a moment, then shrugged. "Ah well, lets just get back to the shack, I'm pretty tired from everything that's happened tonight".

"Yeah, me too. Don't want to stay out too late or else a guard might find out that I left the castle" I said.

"Yeah, and that wouldn't end well" said Gray.

"No it would not!" I agreed.

We walked on for a few minutes before Gray said, "Uh . . . Obsidian".

"Yeah?" I said.

"Um . . . your still holding me" said Gray.

"Oh!"

I placed Gray back onto the ground, and handed him his saddle bag. "Sorry about that" I said, embarrassed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"YOU DIDN'T GET THE FLOWER!!!" Gold shouted.

Gray and I had just gotten back to the shack, and sure enough, after we explained to him what had happened, Gold wasn't exactly "happy" to hear the bad news.

"The flower was never there to begin with, it was all a trap from the start" Gray explained.

"Do you have any idea what I had to go through to get that type of information? To even have the basic knowledge that a priceless flower was inside that building? Do you have any idea what I had to do!?!" Gold shouted.

"We assume it wasn't nearly as bad as what we had to do" I said.

"Don't you dare speak back to me Monkey Boy! I am still your leader, and you wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me! So shut up or else!" Gold shouted.

Monkey Boy, their always calling me that! I hated that insult so much!

I bent over Gold and pressed my face into his, menacingly, as I glared at him. I was done being treated with disrespect!

"Or what? Your gonna kick me out of your little club? Ha! As if! I know how you do things Gold! You use your status as leader to take advantage of those your supposed to be leading. So while your safe inside this shack, all of the fillies your supposed to be leading is out there doing all the dirty work for you! You'll never kick me out Gold! You need me!" I growled.

"I gave you friends, and you dare to speak to me this way!?!" Gold shouted.

"You gave me nothing!!! These fillies became my friends on their OWN behalf! You on the other hand! You've just been taking advantage of me from the very start! I'm not even an official member of the Diamond Backs! Obsidian isn't even a legit nickname!" I shouted

Gold took a step back, "but, but, h- how did you-"

"I overheard you and Gray talking to each other two months ago. He was trying to convince you to let me become an official member, but you wouldn't let him" I interrupted.

"If you knew, then how come you continued to stay?" Gold asked.

"I stayed because I still have friends here" I said.

Gold looked over at Gray and chuckled, "oh sure, you say you stay because you have friends, but I know why you actually stay".

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Gold walked over to Gray, and patted him on the shoulder, smiling. Gray gave an awkward smile back to Gold.

Gold turned Back to me, smiling for a moment. Suddenly he swung around, socking Gray in the face. Gray fell to the ground, placing a hoof on the cheek that had just been hit.

I glared at Gold, my teeth were clenched and I was shaking from rage. "What the hay are you doing!" I shouted.

"How does it feel, Glee, seeing me hit Gray? Does it make you angry, watching me hit the pony you like?" Gold asked. He walked over to Gray and hit him in the gut with his fore hoof.

"Stop it!" I shouted.

"Oh I've seen the way you look at him, Glee. You like him, more then just a friend. That's why you stay, you stay because of Gray!" said Gold, as he hit Gray in the face.

"I'M WARNING YOU!!!" I shouted.

"I'll stop, once you admit it. You like Gray, don't you?" Gold asked.

Gray looked up to me, his nose was bleeding, and he had a black eye. A small trail of blood was dripping from his mouth. "Obsidian, don't listen to him, he's just trying to make you angr- AAGH!". Before Gray could finish, Gold bucked him, causing Gray to drag back a couple feet.

Why didn't Gray fight back? Why was he just taking it?

"Gray! Fight back!" I shouted.

"Oh Gray wouldn't dare hit his leader, he'll get kicked out of the Diamond Backs! Won't you Gray?" said Gold. Gold turned and walked over to where they keep the kitchen appliances, he opened a cupboard and extracted a knife.

"What are you-"

"Those who make me angry, must be punished!" said Gold, as he walked over to Gray.

"TOUCH HIM AND I'LL MAKE YOU PAY!!!" I shouted.

He walked over to Gray, he place one hoof on his back as he pointed the knife towards his ear with the other hoof.

"If you touch me, then I'll kick you and Gray out of the Diamond Backs. Then you'll lose your friends and Gray won't have anywhere to live anymore" said Gold.

"Obsidian . . . he has a knife . . . don't try to stop him . . . he'll hurt you" said Gray. He was having difficulty breathing, having just been bucked, kicked, and Gold was standing on top of him.

"He's going to cut off your ear!!!" I shouted.

"I don't care! If you get hurt then I can never forgive myself!!!" Gray shouted.

I froze, as tears began to form in my eyes. Gray was whiling to sacrifice himself for me . . . But I won't let him!

"Enough talk! Now you'll see what happens when you make the leader of the Diamond Backs angry!" Gold shouted, he placed the knife to Gray's ear and-

"GAAAGH!" Gold shouted, as I pushed him against the wall. All of the fillies who had been watching had to jump out of the way. One moment Gold was about to take Gray's ear off, then the next, I had Gold pinned against the wall before he could cause any further harm to Gray.

Gold had made me so mad you could practically see the veins on my head throbbing. I was shaking uncontrollably, I was breathing heavily, and I had the knife that Gold was about to use on Gray place against his throat.

"You, will, SUFFER!!!" I shouted.

Now Gold looked afraid, he glanced back and forth from me to the knife. His eye's pleaded for mercy, something I was not willing to give.

"Please" Gold begged.

I chuckled sinisterly, "you expect me to let you go after what you did to Gray?". I kneed him in the gut, then, with my free hand I lifted Gold into the air, holding him by his throat.

"YOU DARE EXPECT ME TO LET YOU GO AFTER WHAT YOU DID!!!" I shouted.

Gold had his hoofs to my hand, trying to pry it off his throat as best as he can. Yet he couldn't do it, my grip was to strong. His face turned Blue, as he started losing consciousness.

"Obsidian! Let him go!" Gray shouted.

I turned to Gray, "he tried to hurt you! HE WAS GOING TO CUT OFF YOUR EAR!!!" I shouted.

"Let him go! Your killing him!" Gray shouted.

I turned back to Gold and froze. Gold was a deep shade of blue and purple, my grip was so strong. I was strangling him. I WAS killing him.

I threw him by the neck across the room, and he slammed into a table, breaking it into pieces. I walked over to Gold as Gold held onto his neck, panting. I kicked him in the face, then placed my foot over his chest. I then pointed the knife at his throat.

"If you ever hurt my friends again, I will end you. Understand?" I asked calmly.

Gold nodded.

I tossed the knife over to Red and stood on top of a chair.

"Listen to me, all of you! You pathetic, worthless, scum! All of you stood around Gray and watched as he was beaten to a pulp! You watch Gold hurt Gray all because you were scared of your leader! We'll I'm telling you right here right now! Just because someone is the leader doesn't mean you have to follow their orders! If they command you to commit an unjustified action, then will you do as you are commanded? No! You show them that just because they have the authority, just because their rank is higher then yours, just because their your boss doesn't mean they can do as they please!"

The fillies and colts that had been cowering in the corner had now come closer, listening to what I had to say.

"You are a living breathing being! You have your own mind to commit your own actions! You make the choices for your self! And just because somepony comes along and claims to be your leader, doesn't mean you should drop what your doing and begin following the actions of somepony else! You decide who you are! You decide what your actions will be! YOU DECIDE WHAT YOU DECIDE!!!" I shouted.

The fillies and colts cheered, and raised their hoofs into the air (Red raised the knife into the air).

"And if you decide to follow a leader, then at least make sure that leader is worthy of such status! A leader thinks of the ones he is leading before himself! A leader helps to show the path to victory, guiding his followers to achieve their goals and pursue their dreams! A leader doesn't stand in the safety of his base while his followers go and do the dirty work themselves! No! He gets out there and helps the followers accomplish their quests! A LEADER LEADS!!! A BOSS COMMANDS!!!" I shouted.

The fillies and colts cheered.

"WHAT IS GOLD!?!?" I shouted.

"A BOSS!" the fillies and colts shouted.

"AND WHAT DO WE WANT!!!" I shouted.

"A LEADER!!!" the fillies and colts shouted.

"Then from this day forward you will no longer follow the commands of a boss! But the requests of a leader! A true leader!!!" I shouted.

The fillies and colts shouted, and as they did so, I turned to gold, glaring at him.

"You will leave this place and NEVER return! We will find a pony who is fit to lead, and the fillies will never have to follow your commands ever again!" I growled.

"You think I'll just allow you to kick me out of my place! Once I tell the Rattlesnake, you'll be sorry!" Gold shouted.

"Tell them! I dare you! Run off and tell the Rattlesnakes! Tell them Glee Sunrise kick you out of the Diamond Backs! Tell them where I live, who I am, how to find me! Tell them everything! I DARE YOU!!!" I shouted.

I jumped off the chair and took a step towards Gold.

"Tell them you were defeated, by a human!" I growled.

Gold took one last angry glance at me, before galloping towards the window, and leaving the Diamond Backs for good.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gray and I had just arrived in front of Canterlot castle. We sat down in a tree, above the very spot where we pranked the couple (Edward and Sandy I think it was). We stared into the horizon, looking down upon the city.

"So . . . your going to be the new leader for the Diamond Backs?" I asked.

Gray sighed, "looks like it, you did scare off our original leader".

I chuckled, "ya, I guess I did".

There was a long and awkward pause, before I said, "about what Gold had said, I-"

"Don't worry about it, I already know" said Gray.

"Y-you do?" I stuttered.

"Of course, we were always going off into the city most nights so I tend to notice these things. You, always giving me that look. The look that a pony only gives when they like another pony"

I blushed when Gray said this.

"And I also assume your feeling confused right now too? Huh?" asked Gray.

I nodded.

Gray sighed again, "well, it figures. Your always alone so there's no pony to explain to you what it means to have a crush".

My blush grew darker, "i-is that what it is?" I asked.

He nodded.

There was another long pause, before I spoke. "Your not . . . mad . . . are you?" I asked.

"Mad? Why would I be mad?" Gray asked.

"Well . . . you know . . . were both boys so . . . I kind of assumed that-"

"Look, I'm flattered that you like me, who can blame you, I'm a sexy stallion!" Gray interrupted.

I chuckled.

"But the thing is is that, well . . . have you ever heard the farmers metaphor "my barn door doesn't 'swing' that way?" asked Gray.

I tilted my head to one side, and stared at Gray with a confused expression.

"No? O.K. lets try this, I don't plow my fields that way".

I continued to stare with a confused expression.

"I'm not curved, I'm straight?"

I continued to stare.

"I'M NOT INTO STALLIONS!" Gray shouted.

"Oooohhhhh!" I exclaimed.

Gray face hoofed. "Look, I know you have these feelings for me, but it just wouldn't work out. I'm not into stallions, plus, were not exactly . . . the same species".

"Oh . . . yeah . . . I-I guess your . . . right" I said, as I hung my head low. Now I understood what these feelings were, this is what it feels like to "like" a pony for the first time. And this is what it feels like to be rejected for the first time . . . I don't like it . . .

Gray shifted closer to me, and lifted a hoof to me, "we can still be friends, you know that don't you?" he asked.

I slowly lifted my head, and when I saw his hoof, I smiled and formed my hand into a fist, "yeah, still friends".

His hoof and my knuckles pounded, then we jumped of the tree onto the ground.

"I guess I'll see you later?" I asked.

"Yeah, see ya later" said Gray, he smiled, then turned and walked in the opposite direction.

Just as I was about to make my way back to the castle, I heard Gray shout, "oh, and would you stop staring at my flank! You perv!"

I turned around, blushing, "What! I- I wasn't!-"

Gray started laughing, "I'm just messing with you! Calm down! See ya!" he shouted.

I gave a weak chuckle before shouting, "ya! See ya!" 'I'm going to get him back for that!' I thought to myself.

I turned, and made my way back to the castle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I was making my way through the tunnel underneath my bed, I was thinking about the next time Gray and I would meet up. Maybe he'll make an exception if it was hearts and hoofs day? Then again, I might end up making him uncomfortable if I hung out with him on THAT particular day. Who knows, maybe I'll find somepony else who feels the same way as I do.

As I popped out the tunnel, the bed was suddenly removed from above me. Standing there was mom, and three guards.

I stood there, frozen as an ice sculpture, with my eyes bulging and my jaw dropped.

"Hey mom . . . lovely night were having" I said, weakly.

"Its morning" said mom.

I looked over to my clock and saw that it was 7:50. "Oh . . . so it is" I said weakly.

"The guards just found the entrance to a tunnel in the front yard! Care to explain?" mom asked.

I thought for a moment before replying, "uh . . . you should really call somepony to fix the gofer problem . . . heh . . . heh".

Whelp . . . I'm bucked . . .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~MAY~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ever since she found out about the tunnels and the stolen goods mom had all of my possessions taken away, including my bed. It was night time, and I was sleeping in a sleeping bag in the middle of the hard stone floor. They even ripped the carpets out, bucking flank holes!

The only thing mom allowed me to keep was a stuff teddy bear that she had given to me when I was a baby. I still have not idea why I had this old thing, I felt like I was to old to have a teddy bear, then again it hurt to much to even think about throwing it away. It was the first toy that mom had ever given to me, so it had sentimental value.

She had given it to me during the time she used to love me, or pretended to love me, I honestly don't know.

"Well Kevin, its just you and me. They sealed the tunnels, so I can't see Gray anymore" I said, sadly.

I rolled over to my side, and had attempted to fall asleep, until I heard something tap against my window.

I opened my window (which had bars on it so I couldn't escape) and saw Gray.

"What are you doing here!" I shout whispered.

"You didn't . . . you dyed you hair black?" Gray asked.

"What? Ya! So?"

"When did you dye your hair black?" Gray asked.

"Never you mind! What are you doing here!?" I shout whispered.

"You didn't show up for the longest time, and when I came to check on you, the tunnel was gone. What happened?" Gray shout whispered.

"My mom found out about the tunnel, so she has me on lock down for a while" I explained.

"Is she treating you right? She's not starving you or anything like that?" Gray asked.

"No she's not, I just had all my things taken away, and I'm not allowed to leave my room" I explained.

"Good, cause if I hear she's mistreating you, I'll bust in there and show her a thing or two!" Gray shout whispered, as he punched the air angrily.

"That's really cool and all, but I don't think you'll want to break into a castle" I whispered.

Gray rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed. "Heh, yeah, good point. So what now, you want me to dig another tunnel?" Gray asked.

"No! Don't do that, my rooms empty so you'll get caught. Just wait until I have all of my possessions back, then build a tunnel" I whispered.

"O.K. and how long will that take?" Gray asked.

"I don't know, mom was really mad so I assume a couple months, most likely more" I explained.

"A couple months! Shoot, that sucks. Well, alright, I guess I'll see you in a couple months then, right?" Gray asked.

"Actually, there's something I need you to do" I whispered.

"Yeah sure, what Is it?" Gray asked.

"Well, something's come up recently, and I might not be staying for long".

"What do ya mean?" Gray asked.

"Well . . . my mom's just told me recently that she's sending me somewhere, somewhere far away" I explained.

"Like, out of Equestria?" Gray asked.

"Yeah . . . something like that. All and all, once she sends me to this place I'm never going to return. So we'll never see each other again" I explained.

Gray looked shocked, "what! But, she can't do that! She can't just send you away! Do you have any choice in this?" Gray asked.

I shook my head, "no, I don't. I wish I could leave but I can't. I'm going to be sent to that place forever, and there's nothing I can do about it. Unless you help me".

"You know, I just realized, all this time you've been stuck in a castle, forced to be alone and be punished. I was wondering, where's Princess Celestia been this whole time? Why isn't she helping you? She lives in the castle doesn't she? Shouldn't she have helped you out a long time ago?" Gray asked.

I paused, before answering, "Celestia is my mom".

Gray's jaw dropped, then slowly, he chuckled, "y-your joking, right? All this time you've been trapped, it couldn't have possibly been because of the princess, right?"

I didn't answer, but Gray understood that I was serious.

"Oh, my, Celestia. I can't believe it, the princess has had you trapped this whole time! Is that why you haven't been able to go to anypony for help? Gray asked.

I nodded, "no pony would dare question the princess's authority. So there's no pony I can go to to help me, except you. Are you willing to help me, knowing that the princess won't like what were going to do?" I asked.

Gray thought about this for a moment, then said, "of course! Anything for a friend! Even if it means going up against a princess!"

I smiled, "good, alright here's what I need you to do. I need you to dig a tunnel starting on the outskirts of Canterlot. Then I need you to have that tunnel stretch through Canterlot and underneath my room. The start of the tunnel that connects to my room needs to be small enough so that only I can fit through. At the midway point I need you to make the tunnel large enough to sprint through, that way I can escape the city faster".

"What! You want me to make a tunnel that huge!?" Gray whisper shouted.

"Yes, but don't worry, you'll have six months to get it finished. By then I should have my possessions back so we'll be able to hide the tunnel" I explained.

"Oh, six months huh, well then, I guess I better get a move on. But, what happens next, you gonna run away and live your life as an out cast?" Gray asked.

I shook my head, "no, I have to go to the place that mom is sending me to. If I try to run away they'll came after me, and they'll never stop searching until they find me. I'll have to be on the run for the rest of my life, and that's not the kind of life I want to live. I have to go to that place, but if I'm force to leave my home, then I'm not leaving without a BANG!"

"What do you have planned?" Gray asked.

I chuckled, "its a surprise, just know that once its all over then I'll be leaving. And once Im gone I'm never coming back. So, I just wanted you to know that you have been a really good friend Gray. If it wasn't for you, I would have been trapped in this castle with nothing to do. I would have sat in my room day after day, just rotting away. But after you showed up, I finally had something to look forward to again. I was finally able to go outside and go on all kinds of crazy adventures with you. And even though I've never been able to leave Canterlot, I just wanted you to know that if I had to spend the rest of my life trapped in this city, I'm glad I could have been trapped here with you".

Gray blushed as I said this, and he took a step closer to me. He smiled, "Kevin, my real names Kevin Melody".

"Kevin? Is that so!" I exclaimed.

"What? You don't like it?" Gray asked.

"No, its just, I have a list of names that I like. Maximo, Sarah, Pustulio, Maria, and Kevin " I explained.

Kevin smiled, as he was about to turn, before I stopped him. "Wait! Before you go, I just want to say thanks for always-"

Before I could finish, Kevin turned to me and implanted a kiss on my lips through the bars.

I blushed, as my eyes bulged from shock.

Once Kevin released, he blushed and turned away. "Don't get the wrong idea kid, I'm not into stallions. J-just consider that a gift until we meet again, got it!"

"Yeah . . . sure" I said weakly.

He turned to look at me one last time before saying, "whelp, see ya around kid!" He then galloped off into the distance.

"Yeah . . . see ya" I said weakly.

I slowly and shakily let go of the bars and walked back to my sleeping bag. My mind was racing, still processing what had just happened. My heart was pounding, and I can feel my vision beginning to blur.

" . . . Wow . . ." I said weakly, as I passed out on the cold stone floor.

I awoke the next morning with a minor concussion.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~NOVEMBER~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was thirteen years old now. I had been waiting for months, being patient and acting like a good little boy, keeping myself out of trouble. And it worked, my plan is coming together perfectly!

I had gotten all of my possessions back, and in doing so, I was able to have the perfect hiding spot for when Gray returned with finishing the tunnel (we decided to continue calling each other by our nicknames).

When Gray had returned, he and I escaped into the out skirts of Canterlot, giving the new tunnel a test run. It was perfect, after crawling for a good five minutes or so, I found that the tunnel becomes bigger, large enough for me to stand on my feet and begin sprinting. Just the way I wanted it to be.

Turns out Gray hadn't done it alone, all the fillies and colts from the Diamond Backs helped him.

After we had given the tunnel a test run we returned to Canterlot, braking into the Party store and stealing as many fire works as we could.

Everything was perfect! Every part of the plan was perfect!

To be honest I was actually expecting the plan to crash and burn within the first few weeks so for the plan to have turned out this well really surprised me!

One week after everything was set, the time had come. It was the day that mom would be sending me to the other world, but I wasn't going to leave without a BANG!

Gray and I escaped through the tunnel, and on the outskirts of Canterlot we began to make our way towards Pony Ville.

It took several hours, but eventually we had made it close to the home of one of the riches ponies in Equestria: Filthy Rich.

His mansion wasn't in Pony Ville, but it was close enough to where you can nearly see it. Jam it! I wanted to go to Pony Ville so bad! But I didn't have the time! I had to put my plan into motion immediately.

Gray and I sprinted close to the outer wall and hid behind a tree.

I reached into my bag and pulled out a couple of fireworks.

"Are you sure you want to do this with me? You know I intend to get caught, so if your caught too you'll get in trouble" I asked.

Gray took out one of the fireworks and began reading the instructions. "I told you, if your going to pull a stunt like this, then I want to be part of it! If this is going to be your last time being in Equestria, then I want to be with you until the end!"

I blushed, then smiled. "Alright, then you know what to do?" I asked, as I pulled off my shirt. I hated having to wear clothes, and if I had to leave Equestria, I wasn't leaving fully dressed.

"Of course, this isn't my first time pulling a prank" said Gray, smugly.

I chuckled, "alright! Then lets do this!"

Thirteen... is When I Die

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"Alright! Then lets do this!" I said to Gray, as Gray and I sprinted from our hiding place to the outer wall.

I picked up Gray and lifted him over the wall. As soon as he was over I jump, attempting to reach for the top and climb my way over.

It was too tall, I ended up having to wall run my way up (a parkour trick that Gray taught me) to climb to the top.

Once I was over, Gray and I sprinted over to a nearby hedge and hid. I peered through the leaves, searching for guards.

There were two guards by the front gate, besides from that, there wasn't a single guard in sight.

I motioned to Gray for him to make a move. Gray nodded, he lit one of the fire works and threw it across the yard. Once the fire work had landed, it exploded into a haze of bright colors. While the guards went to inspect what the commotion was all about, Gray and I sprinted out of the hedge and around the building.

Once we were at the back of the building, I extracted a long rope with a hook at the end from my bag. I swung the rope around and threw it over the top of the building. I pulled the rope, and the hook latched on to the edge of the roof. Gray hopped onto my back as I began climbing my way up.

Once we were at the top, Gray and I placed all of the fire works in position, I then tied all of the fireworks string together into one long string. We took a step back, as Gray handed me a match.

"Care to do the honors?" Gray asked.

I deviously smiled, "gladly!"

I lit the match and placed it onto the string. The flame followed the string up to the fireworks, releasing them all into the air.

I had stolen the fireworks that would form words when it explodes. When the first set exploded, it formed the word: Celestias a. The second set exploded, forming the words: poop eater!. The third set exploded, and formed the shape of a sun with an "X" crossed over it.

"Poop eater? Really? That's the best you could come up with?" Gray asked.

"Hey! It was the only words I could find! It was either that or hooligan. And only old ponies say that!" I said.

"Ya, and only baby ponies call somepony a "poop eater" said Gray with a mocking tone.

"Shut up!" I shouted.

Gray laughed.

Suddenly, a group of guards burst through the roof top door.

"Seize them!" shouted one of the guards.

"Time to go!" I shouted. Gray jumped into my back as I ran over to the rope. I looked down and saw three guards surrounding our rope, all armed with spears. I turned to find an alternative route. I had to find one fast, the guards on the roof were getting closer.

"Were trapped!" Gray shouted.

I looked around for an escape, and in the nick of time, found one! "This is pay back for the cup shot!" I shouted.

"What?" Gray asked.

Before he could realize what I was doing, I grabbed Gray by his back and threw him over the edge and into the backyard pool. Before the guards could grab me, I jumped over the edge, following Gray into the pool. Once inside the water I grabbed Gray and swam my way to the surface and out the pool as fast as possible.

"Stop the intruders!" shouted a guard.

Once we were out of the pool, I placed Gray on my back and sprinted towards the back wall. I climbed up and over and began sprinting through the forest, making sure to get as much distance between me and the guards (which was pretty good at the moment seeing that we got a fairly decent heads start).

"You son of a ditch! What the hay did you throw me off a two story building for!?" Gray shouted.

"At least I threw you into the pool! But hey, this makes us even for the cup check!" I shouted.

I didn't know which way I was running, I continued to sprint as fast as I could. Its a really good thing Filthy Rich lives close to a forest, that makes it easier to hide.

As I ran I noticed that the amount of trees was thinning, making it easier to spot us. That meant that we were running further away from the forest, not closer. I quickly tried to think of my next course of action, before something appeared in front of me.

My mind completely went blank, as every one of my current plans I had been forming was replaced with the sudden need to want to run to this place. In front of me, out in the distance, was Pony Ville!

I had never seen it this close before! And it was right there! Right in front of my eyes! This is my chance to finally go to the place I had always dreamed of traveling to since I was younger! I could finally go to Pony Ville!!!

"Hold on tight!" I shouted, as I leaned forward, increasing my speed.

With all the strength I could possibly muster, I sprinted on, setting my path to Pony Ville!

"Obsidian!" Gray shouted.

I didn't hear him, I was too focused on getting to Pony Ville.

"Obsidian!" Gray shouted again.

Pony Ville was getting closer! I was literally less then a quarter mile away!

"OBSIDIAN!!!" Gray shouted.

Almost there . . . and!

WHAM!

Out of nowhere, a Gray pegasus swooped down from the sky and dived straight into me. I let go of Gray and tumbled to the ground. I tossed, turned and rolled for five feet before I dragged to a stop. Dragging on the dirt road caused me to get cuts and bruises all over my torso.

When I got to my feet I froze, as I saw who my attacker was.

"B-Buck Nasty? What are you doing here?" I asked.

The guard sneered, as he approached me. He hit me in the face with the handle end of his spear and said, "Its Brave Stone! And I'm here to take you back to the castle Monkey Boy!"

I gave a weak chuckle, as I turned to Pony Ville. I was a mere ten feet away from the city before Buck Nasty had nose dived into me. I spat to the ground and wiped the blood from my mouth. I was bleeding from when Buck Nasty hit me with his spear.

"Ya, sure, whatever, hey! You mind if we take a little detour through Pony Ville before we- Gagh!". I had tried to walk towards Pony Ville, but Buck Nasty grabbed me by the arm and forced me to the ground. He then shackled my hands and feet together. While I was on the ground, I could see Gray hiding in a bush, Buck Nasty hadn't seen him. Gray had a switch blade in his mouth, and was about to rescue me (let me rephrase, he was going to ATTTEMPT to rescue me, I doubt it would end well for either of us though) before I shook my head and mouthed the words "stay hidden". He reluctantly nodded, and hid deeper into the bushes. Thank Celestia Gray was the size of a ten year old filly, seeing that he's already seventeen.

"Ow! Okay, okay, jeez! There's no need to get rough!" I said angrily.

Buck Nasty lifted me to my feet, and as he did, I saw the royal coach land next to us. The pegasus flying the coach were the same guards who used to take me to school when I was younger.

I entered the coach and growled, "so, its you two! Long time no see!"

They didn't make eye contact with me. I gave an angry sigh as I entered the coach. The pegasus extended their wings, and we were lifted off the ground.

I took one final glance at Pony Ville, the place I had always wanted to go to since I was younger. I was so close . . . so, so close . . . now I was being arrested, and taken back to that dreaded castle! I turned away from the city, and stared at the floor for the rest of the way back to Canterlot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ow! Will you lay your hoofs off! I can walk myself!" I shouted.

The guards were walking me down the hall to Moms throne room. Buck Nasty was being especially aggressive (then again I wasn't making it easy on him to calm down, but still, he deserved being shouted at), poking me with his spear and shoving me forward.

We stopped in front of the throne room door, as one of the guards entered. I could hear him say to Mom inside, "We have retrieved him, your highness".

Oh you probably feel SO proud of yourself right now! Don't you!? Your probably bowing to my Mom right now aren't you! We'll go ahead, keep bowing! Let me take one of these spears you guys keep poking me with and shove it right up your flank! See how proud you'll be then!!!

"Good, bring him in" I could hear Mom say.

They opened the door, and as they did so, Buck Nasty shoved me through.

"I told you to lay your hoofs off!" I shouted, as I swiped my arms away from Buck Nasty.

"Where is your shirt, young man?" Mom asked.

I turned to Mom, giving her a devious smile, "it was hot tonight, you can't expect me to be fully clothed when its hot".

"You know you have to be fully clothed Glee" said Mom.

"But ponies don't have to wear clothes, so why should I?"

"Because your not a pony, and you know why you have to wear clothes, now put your shirt back on" Mom demanded.

A nearby guard threw a shirt into my chest, and removed the shackles that held my hands together.

Reluctantly, I put it on, "fine, whatever!"

While I was putting on my shirt, Mom asked sarcastically, "So, did you enjoy your time with that cult again, Glee?"

When I had finished putting on my shirt, I gave Mom another devious smile and asked, "so mom, how's your night been?"

"I think you know how my nights been Glee!" said Mom angrily.

I shook my head and tsked at Mom, "nope, sorry I don't think I do know, seeing that the only time I get to talk to you is when you have your goons in shinning armor come after me, no offense to you Shinning Armor. Well, I guess technically you can take double the offense sense your both a goon, and your names Shinning Armor!". I said in a mocking tone.

Shinning Armor, who was standing at his post near the door gave me an angry look, but didn't respond.

I chuckled, "fine, be that way. None of you talk to me anyway so I'm forced to go and find those who will. Speaking of which, thanks for lowering the sun mom, you made it a lot easier for my friends (by telling her I had "friends" with me will help keep them off Gray's tracks) and I to break into that house, it being dark and all (the sun had been going down, but it really wasn't all that dark, since it was easy for Buck Nasty to catch me. I only said this to get on her nerves. I also told her that we had broken into the house when technically we broke into the yard, then on top of the roof. I merely just wanted to make it sound worse then it already was!). But do you think you could have less stars next time? Cause I'm pretty sure that's why mister Buck Nasty over here caught us" I said, giving a nod towards Buck Nasty.

"Glee! What did I say about using that type of language!" Mom shouted.

I chuckled, "oh come on, there just words, its not like they can hurt anypony", I then turned to Buck Nasty. "Isn't that right Buck Nasty? You don't mind if I call you Buck Nasty, do you Buck Nasty?" I said this to Buck Nasty as if he was a puppy.

Buck Nasty sneered at me, but said nothing.

I turned back to mom, "see? He doesn't mind".

"Glee, that's enough! You are not allowed to call anypony by those vulgar words any more! And what's this I hear about you and that cult trying to break into Filthy Riches house?" mom asked.

I hate it when she calls the Diamond Backs "that cult". They've been my friends for three years now! And it irks me so BAD when she talks disrespectfully to them.

I groaned, "you call them a cult like its a bad thing" I complained.

"I've told you to stay away from them Glee! The Rattlesnakes are a very dangerous cult who like to recruit fillies and teenagers into their groups and turn them-"

"And turn them into thieves and muggers, yadey yadey, yada! You can call them what you want, but their my friends, and making friends is important, isn't that right mom?" I interrupted, mockingly.

Ha! She thinks I've been with Rattlesnakes? As if! Yeah she knows that I've been with the Diamond Backs, but I find it hilarious when she thinks that I've been with both!

"Those so called friends of yours had just tried to get you to break into the house of one of the most richest ponies in Equestria, if Brave Stone hadn't found you-"

"You mean if he hadn't arrested me?" I interrupted.

"You could have been in worse trouble then you've ever been in in your life! Don't you understand what kind of consequences you could have faced?" mom shouted.

She's still on me about that? Didn't she hear about the fireworks! I really wanted her to hear about that! Oh, I was SO looking forward to her reaction when she found out that I had spell "Celestia is a poop eater" in the sky! Guess the guards didn't tell her, jam!

I sighed, "well, the thing is is that, I was planning on getting myself caught doing something big, something grand, something amazing! I wanted to get caught doing something awesome! Seeing that tonight's the night that I, well, move away".

"And you thought that just because of that, you could get away with your crime?"

I shrugged, "eh, pretty much".

Mom sighed, "I raised you better then this-"

I felt as if I could literally hear a record player scratch to a halt. Did she just say what I think she just said? Did she just say "I raised you better then this?" . . . Heh . . . Heh . . . DID SHE REALLY JUST BUCKING SAY THAT!!!

"Oh really? Cause last time I checked, you stopped raising me since I was ten. The last three years you and everypony else has just pretended that I don't matter! The last three birthdays, nothing! Not even you showed up! Every time I was sick, I had to take care of myself! I had to teach myself, feed myself, bathe myself, wait I'm supposed to do that anyways, but you get the point! So for you to sit there on your "all mighty princess throne" and tell me that you raised me better, all I've got to say is ha! Bull, ship!" I interrupted.

The guards around looked at me in disgust, but I didn't care, I had my gaze fixed on Mom.

Mom stared at me angrily, "if I hadn't found you when you were a baby, who knows what could have happened".

I smiled at her and said softly, "then maybe you should have just left me there".

If that wasn't below the belt, then I don't know what is.

Mom and I stared at each other for a few seconds, before mom turned her head to take another sip of tea. When she had finished, she stood up, and began walking to me.

"If you feel that way, then I guess you wouldn't mind leaving into the human world, would you?" Mom asked.

"Yeah, I guess I wouldn't" I lied.

Mom approached me, and used her magic to unlock the shackles that held my feet together.

"I want you in the basement in half an hour, understand?" Mom asked.

I nodded, "yeah, sure, I understand perfectly well, not like there's anything left here for me anyways".

I turned and began walking to the throne door. As I was about to exit, sudden realization hit me. Tonight was the night that I was leaving to the human world . . . it was actually happening . . . I was going to leave forever! And I would leave with Mom mad at me. I knew Mom didn't love me, and even though I hated the things she did, deep down, I still loved her. And she's right, if she had never found me in the forest when I was young, who knows what could have happened. I could have starve to death, or froze to death, or worse, eaten! I didn't want to leave, but Mom was so set on having me go that I couldn't disobey. I still loved her like she was my Mom, even in the situation I was in right now. I should say something, anything that could at least help calm her down.

I turned to Mom, "Hey, Mom".

"What is it?" Celestia asked.

"Well, I just, just wanted to say that I... I...", before I could finish, my eye's began to tear up, and I turned away.

I wanted to say something nice, I wanted to say that I still loved her, I wanted to say something! But she wouldn't care . . . she doesn't love me anymore . . .

"Never mind!" I said angrily, slamming the door and running down the hall to my room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"RRRAAAGH!!!" I shouted, as I picked up my desk chair and threw it to the ground, shattering it to pieces.

I sat on my bed, and began softly crying.

"I don't want to leave . . . I don't want to leave . . . I want to stay in the pony world . . ."

I curled into a ball, and hugged onto my teddy bear. "I want to see Sunset Shimmers again"

[FLASHBACK]

"And to make sure you never forget, I want you to have this", Sunset Shimmers then gave me a gold necklace, with Sunset Shimmers cutie mark encrusted into the front.

I gasped, and gave her a hug, "thanks Sunset Shimmers!"

"Ya. . . sure. . . . now get off me".

I let go of her, and smiled at her.

She gave me a smile and ruffled my hair, "guess this is goodbye, see you around kid".

And with that, Sunset Shimmers left her room.

She never came back.

[FLASHBACK ENDS]

"I want to see Green Bush again"

[FLASHBACK]

"Ya, thanks Twilight, thanks Green Bush" I said to my friends.

"If you ever need help, we'll be here for you" said Green Bush.

(SCENE CHANGE)

"Rrraaahhhh!!! I'm a dragon! I'm going to eat you!" I shouted, In my best scary dragon voice.

"Aaaagh! Oh no, he's got me! Green Bush help!" said Twilight.

"I don't know guys, I'm getting to a really good part in this book!" said Green Bush.

Me and Twilight stopped, and stared at Green Bush with bored expressions.

[FLASHBACK ENDS]

"I want to see Twilight again"

[FLASHBACK]

I dropped my pillow and fell to the ground. I tried to reach for my pillow, but Twilight jumped on top of me, she aimed her pillow at me in a threatening way and said, "touch it, I dare you!"

I laughed, "O.K., O.K., you win!". I rose to my feet and gave Twilight a hug.

(SCENE CHANGE)

I turned and saw that she had built a blanket fort, and had tied string all around my room.

"Try to get through my defenses! You'll never get us!" Twilight shouted.

I laughed in the most evil and sinister laugh I could muster, "MWAHAHA!!! You think you can stop me! I shall break through your defenses, and I will eat you!".

I then began to make my way through the string as best as possible. It wasn't easy, she tied a lot of string, I ended up knocking over a lot of things trying to maneuver my way though. Eventually, I made it to the blanket fort.

"MWAHAHA!!! Your silly trap has failed! Give up now while you still can!" I shouted.

"I'll never surrender! Take this werewolf!" Twilight shouted.

She used her magic and began launching pillow after pillow at me.

[FLASHBACK ENDS]

"I want ponies to start loving me again" I cried.

[FLASHBACK]

I slowly turned to mommy, revealing that I was crying.

"Glee! What's wrong?" mommy asked me.

I ran and hugged mommy, crying into her chest.

"I don't want to be different! I want to be a pony like you!" I cried.

I cried into mommy's chest for a few minutes before speaking again.

"Why am I not a pony mommy? Why am I different?"

A dragon may seem big and scary, but if he show's a bit of friendship, then any one will love him for who he is".

I sniffed and looked at mommy. "Am I in trouble?" I asked.

"Now why would you be in trouble?" mommy asked me.

I shrugged, and mommy place me on her back. "I think you just need a bit of sleep, that will make you feel better" said mommy.

I yawned, and mommy took me back to my room and placed me on my bed.

"Good night Glee, I love you" said mommy.

"I love you too mommy".

[FLASHBACK ENDS]

"I JUST DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE!!!" I shouted, and wept into my pillow. "WHY DOESN'T ANYPONY LOVE ME!?!" I shouted into my pillow.

That wasn't exactly true, there was a certain group of ponies who still liked me. And there was one particular pony who like me just as much (sadly he didn't like me the way I liked him). I could still remember when we first met.

[FLASHBACK]

Suddenly, I heard something that sounded like a drill coming from underneath me. I quickly jumped off and got to my knees, looking under my bed. As I did so, a drill popped out of the ground, and was thrown out from underneath the bed. Then, a gray filly with red eyes and black hair poked his head out of the hole, and looked around.

"Hey Red, you sure this is the place? Cause this doesn't look like any restaurant I've ever seen" asked the filly, suddenly he saw me and gasped. "Sweet Celestia! What the hay are you?"

Should I talk to him? I mean he did just break into the castle. Then again, he did say that he was looking for a restaurant so . . . wait, does that mean he was trying to break into a restaurant? Is this pony a thief? But, he's just a filly, he wouldn't break into a restaurant, would he? You know what, I don't even care. I haven't been able to talk to any pony in about a year! This is finally my chance to make a new friend!

"My names Glee Sunrise, who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Gray, is this your bedroom? Do you live in the restaurant?" Gray asked.

"Restaurant? This isn't a restaurant, your in Canterlot castle" I explained.

"CANTERLOT CASTLE! Are you serious?"

(Heh, I remember that. Gray and Red were trying to get into Freddy Fazbears Pizzeria. That was one of Gray and I's first adventures)

[SCENE CHANGE]

"Glee . . . run" Gray said slowly.

I didn't run, I was to scared to run. I stood there and continued to stare at the flashing eyes.

"GLEE, RUN!" Gray shouted.

(Soon after that I entered into the Diamond Backs, unofficially of course, but nonetheless I was still with them. Gray and I started going on even more adventures together!)

[SCENE CHANGE]

While the two guards were blinded, Gray bit into the guards leg, releasing him.

"COME ON!" I shouted, changing my voice back to normal.

Gray leapt into my arms, and I sprinted towards the window.

The guard fire the crossbow at me.

I used my arms to shield both me and Gray from the impact, as I jumped through the window.

The bolt of the crossbow had missed my ear by just an inch, and I dodged the spikes outside the window by the same amount.

I landed and somersaulted onto the ground.

[SCENE CHANGE]

"Obsidian, they got pegasus!" shouted Gray.

"WHAT!?!" I shouted.

And sure enough, when I looked up, I saw three pegasus, flying in a "V" formation, searching for us.

"Son of a ditch! All of this over a flower!" I shouted.

"Gold did say it was priceless!" Gray shouted.

"Well if Gold wanted it so bad then how come HE DIDN'T JUST GET IT FOR HIMSELF!!!" I shouted.

[SCENE CHANGE]

Slowly, realization began to dawn upon us. We were just chased through Canterlot by a huge group of guards, AND WE GOT AWAY!!!

Slowly, Gray and I started laughing.

"Oh man! That was insane! I thought those guards were gonna get us!" said Gray.

"I know right! They were right on our tails! If you hadn't taken down two of those guards at once, then who knows what could've happened!" I said.

"Oh, and the way you jumped out that window! Son of a ditch man! You were like a boss!" said Gray.

"Well I couldn't have done it if you hadn't cushioned my fall!" I said, jokingly.

"Ha, ha, what ever"

(And there was even the special moments that Gray and I shared together)

[SCENE CHANGE]

I decided to place the confusion to the back of my mind right now. I smiled, and placed my arms around his torso, cuddling him back. I rested my head over his head, and slowly drifted to sleep.

[SCENE CHANGE]

And simultaneously, we started screaming. We immediately let go of each other, I threw my self to the wall while Gray fell of the bed.

He got to his hoofs and shouted, "what the hay were you doing!"

I blushed, he probably thinks I'm weird for cuddling with him. Then again, technically he cuddled me, I just cuddled back. But he doesn't have to know that.

"What the hay am I doing! What the hay are YOU doing! Cuddling with me like that!" I shouted.

Gray blushed, and looked at me angrily, "what! No! I would never! Your the one who! I was just!" Gray stuttered.

"I let you sleep in my bed and you start cuddling me!?!" I asked, making Gray think he's the one to blame.

"What!!! I, that's, you see . . . you know what . . . lets just pretend this never happened, agreed?" Gray asked.

"Agreed" I responded.

[SCENE CHANGE]

Kevin smiled, as he was about to turn, before I stopped him. "Wait! Before you go, I just want to say thanks for always-"

Before I could finish, Kevin turned to me and implanted a kiss on my lips through the bars.

I blushed, as my eyes bulged from shock.

Once Kevin released, he blushed and turned away. "Don't get the wrong idea kid, I'm not into stallions. J-just consider that a gift until we meet again, got it!"

"Yeah . . . sure" I said weakly.

He turned to look at me one last time before saying, "whelp, see ya around kid!" He then galloped off into the distance.

[FLASHBACK ENDS]

All these thoughts . . . all these memories . . . it hurt so much to remember them . . . I wanted to see my friends! I wanted to see ponies who loved me! I wanted to see Gray! . . . I wanted to see Gray . . .

I continued to weep into my pillow, until I heard a knock on my door. "Hey! Your not gonna take too long are you?" the guard on the other side of the door asked.

I rose from by bed and shouted at the door, "JUST GIVE ME A MINUTE!!!"

"Okay, golly!" said the guard.

I sat down on my bed and sighed.

Well . . . looks like this is it . . . I better get to packing before there forced to drag me out. Good bye everypony, good bye Equestria, good bye Gray . . .

A tear fell from my cheek, as I bent over and started stuffing some clothes into a bag.

Suddenly, the vase on my bookshelf emitted a bright green light. I had to shield my eyes with my arm just to look at it.

It was strange, that vase hasn't done anything like this since I was eight. It was so long ago I nearly forgot about it until now. But, back then it vibrated and said something, what did it say? Something like, dusk brainer, or, something like that. I couldn't remember. But now it was glowing, and shaking.

Curiosity got the best off me, and I slowly began walking towards it. I extended my figure, slowly reaching to touch it.

I don't know why, but something deep down was telling me not to touch it. Under no circumstances should I ever touch the vase. Strange, now that I think about it, I haven't even thought about the vase ever since that little incident when I was eight, let alone even touch it. The feeling in my gut told me "do not touch it", but my curiosity told me the opposite.

I slowly reached to the bookshelf, and touched the vase.

The moment I did, a blast of green energy launched me off my feet, throwing me to the center of the room.

When I landed, the vase slowly began to levitate itself off the book shelf. It fired a blast of green fire towards me, and when I was hit, it burned a large circle into the ground, and forced everything in the room up against the wall ( except for the bookshelf). The fire felt strong and tingly, yet it didn't hurt. Nonetheless I still didn't like it.

"W-what's happening!?!" I shouted.

I suddenly heard somepony laugh, a mare by the sounds of it.

"Oh my dear Glee, you truly are in trouble? Aren't you?" said the voice.

"Who are you!?! What's happening!?!" I shouted.

"There's no need to fret dear boy, I am hear to help you" said the voice.

"Help me? How!" I shouted.

"You have been so alone, so defenseless, forced to be punished by that ruthless princess. Everypony has treated you like nothing, as they ignore your existence and walk off into the opposite direction, leaving you all alone. You've always been alone Glee, even when the princess first found you you've been alone. No pony ever loved you, no pony ever cared for you. You've been an outcast the very moment that princess took you into this castle" said the voice.

No . . . this couldn't be true . . . mom loved me when she first found me, she just doesn't love me anymore, it had to be a lie, it had to be!

"If she never loved me then how come she took me to the castle after finding me in the forest?" I asked.

The voice laughed, "you think the princess took you from the forest out of kindness? Ha! The only reason the princess took you home from the forest was merely out of caution! To see if you would become a threat! You are the first of your kind to ever exist in a world such as this one, and when the princess discovered you, she had to see if you posed a threat. That's why she pretended to love you, so she could dig deep into your inner most thoughts and feelings! All along she had never raised you because of love, she raised you out of fear!"

"No . . . your lying . . . YOUR LYING!!!" I shouted.

"Oh wake up foolish boy! Even you've suspected from your younger years that this could be the case! You've simply chosen not to believe it! Because your childish fears didn't want you to truly believe that "mummy" didn't love you any more! That's what it is, isn't it?"

She was right, it hurt to admit it to myself, but she was right. All this time I felt as if I knew the truth, that she never truly loved me. I always decided not to believe it though. It hurt too much to believe that it was true. The expression on my face confirmed to the voice that she knew she was right.

"You see? She's never loved you from the start! And she's not the only one! Every single pony you have ever met has feared you! The nurse, the guards, the cherry gardener, every single one has suspected you of being a monster from the very moment you entered into this castle! And once they discovered that you weren't a threat, they treated you as if you were nothing! They did this because they never truly loved you, they hated you. They only had to pretend to love you because it was orders from the princess, but as soon as they discovered that you were no longer a threat, the princess's orders were complete and they could return to treating you the way they had truly felt" the voice explained.

"But, what about the friends I used to have when I was younger? Twilight, Green Bush, and the other fillies? They never mistreated me" I said.

"A filly's fears are petty. They fear spiders, the dark, and other non-rational fears. They do not know what it means to feel true fear, like their elders do. Adults fear what is meant to be feared; war, violence, death, and above all else, the unknown. That is why they fear you Glee, they fear you because you are unknown. You are the only one of your kind, a human, not a pony. And since you are not a pony, the adults choose to fear you, thus they choose to hate you. Filly's who do not know such fear choose to spend their time with you, for their childish minds replace the fear of the unknown to curiosity of the unknown. But as soon as they mature, their curiosity will change to fear, and just like the adults before them, they will choose to fear you, and thus choose to hate you" explained the voice.

This couldn't be true, my friends would never change! They would never hate me . . . would they?

"But, what about Gray, he most certainly doesn't hate me, and he's seventeen! Plus we . . . well, have shared very . . . nice moments together" I blushed as I said this.

The voice's tone had changed from loud and powerful to a soft gentle tone after I had said this. "Yes indeed, Gray, also know as Kevin Melody, the young stallion who helped you escape the castle. I am sorry to say this dear boy, but your life was not meant for love. You love this stallion, yet it was a love not meant to be. Gray is a pony, you are a human. And although I must admit, there will certainly be rare occasions where I am wrong, and ponies will grow up to enjoy spending there time with you. This is one of those very rare occasions. Gray may be the only one who truly see's you as a friend, however, that is all he will see you as, a friend. You love him, but he will never love you".

My eyes filled with tears when the voice had said this, not only because it hurt, but also because I knew she was right. Humans and ponies were not meant to be together, therefore, I could never find love, not even with Gray.

"My dear boy, my poor dear boy. It seems as if your life was destined for hardship. You being the only one of your kind, locked away in a tower, forced to be around those who will never truly love you! And to top it off, you can never be with the one that you love. Its hurts me to say this dear boy, but you haven't been alone since you were ten, you have been alone since you were two. And If that is the way it must be, then you shall except it!" said the voice.

"Except it? Except what? Being alone?" I asked.

"Indeed, this world will never truly except you, and if you try to make friends or find love, you will only find more pain and suffering. My dear boy, it was not your destiny to be loved and make friends. It was your destiny to be alone, and show this world what you have to offer! So this world knows what happens when they force you to live a life of seclusion! Show them who you are! Glee Sunrise!", the voice had suddenly gotten louder.

"But I thought friendship was supposed to be magic? That you could accomplish anything when your with you friends-"

"But they will never be friends with you!!! And you don't have any magic!!! YOU are the only creature in this world who DOESN'T possess any magic of any sort!!! So what will you do, continue your feeble attempts and waste away your life with something as petty as friendship? Or will you prove this world wrong and show them your true strengths! FRIENDSHIP ISN'T MAGIC!!! YOU ONLY NEED YOU!!! AND YOU WILL PROVE THIS TO THE WORLD!!!", the voice had started shouting.

"But how can I do this!?! I can't prove to the world that I can survive without friends! I'm weak!" I shouted.

The voice gave a sinister laugh, "indeed you are. But I will change that! I will provide you with the skills necessary for survival! You will be the strongest life form to have ever existed in this puny world! They will send a million foes to eliminate you! And one by one they shall fall! I shall give you this strength, on one condition. I do not care how you use the skills I am about to bestow upon you, but just know this. Whether you become good or evil, dark or light, a cruel and ruthless villain, or a brave hearted hero! Know that no matter what you become they will always hate you, and they will try to stop you. So here is my condition, I give you the strength and skills to survive in this world, and all you have to do is simply not fail. Do, not, fail. That is all you have to do, understand?" The voice asked.

I would have thought about this deeper if it wasn't for the fact that I had just realized that my room was still on fire. Reluctantly, I nodded.

"Good, then I shall give you the skills you need to survive. Just remember Glee, however you choose to wield your new abilities, no matter which path you choose to take, never forget who was the one who has given you your new skills" said the voice.

"But, who are you? And why are you doing this?" I asked.

The voice chuckled, "lets just say I'm a friend from a past life".

"What do you-"

Before I could finish speaking, the green fire around me had suddenly turned into a bright violet red. The flame swirled around me, and began levitating me into the air. Suddenly, I felt the fire attached itself onto me, and I could feel the flame piercing into my skin, as if the fire was made out of a million miniature needles. The strong tingly feeling had changed to a burning, stabbing pain. I screamed, and as I did the voice laughed an evil, sinister laugh. My eyes and mouth began to glow, as the flames dug deeper into me.

Suddenly I felt it, images in my mind had began to imprint itself into my brain at super sonic speed. Swordsmen ship, archery, magic, alchemy, enchanting, creatures, poisons, antidotes, black smith, flying, the world, the galaxy, the universe! I knew it! I knew it all! Over thousands and thousands of years worth of skill, experience, and knowledge was all being imprinted into my mind! Such knowledge, such power! And it was all mine! ALL MINE!!!

The guard that had been waiting outside my door burst in and shouted, "what's going on in here?"

A strand of violet red fire disconnected itself from me and blasted at the guard. The guard was hit in the torso, he flew out of my room and into the wall opposite of the hallway. He had smoke rising from him, as he fell unconscious.

Once the flames had successfully implanted the skills into my mind, the flames disappeared. My eyes and mouth stopped glowing, and I fell to the ground.

I cringed from the lingering pain as I tried to lift myself to my feet. "W-what just, how did you-"

"You now possess what you need Glee! Now run! They are coming, and once they discover your new abilities then they will surly try to bring you down! Do not let them Glee, run! Prepare yourself for the future, train yourself and become the strongest life form to ever live!"

I felt so strong, so powerful! I had SO much knowledge! I didn't know how I had possessed such knowledge or who had just given it to me, but at the moment I didn't care! I could stay in the pony world! And if anypony tried to stop me, I now had the skills to take them down! But, my body isn't ready, I have the skill, but I did not have the strength to wield such skill. I would hurt myself if I tried to attempt any of the things I had just learned. Who ever this voice is she's right! This world will never accept me! Therefore, I will live the rest of my days alone! I will make myself stronger! And someday I will become a warrior! No, better, much better, I will become an adventurer! I won't become just an adventure, I will be the only one of my kind who IS an adventurer! I will be: the human adventurer! And no pony will stop me! Not even Mo- I mean, not even the princess!

"How can I ever thank you?" I asked.

"Oh I'm sure we can work something out, for now, lets just say that you owe me ONE wish!" said the voice.

"A wish?" I asked.

"Indeed, a wish. That is the best way to fulfill your debts after all. Give them a wish and fulfill your debt as quickly as possible" explained the voice.

I suddenly heard voices coming from down the hall.

"Enough talk! You must go now Glee! GO! RUN! AND FULFILL YOUR DESTINY!!!" the voice shouted.

I didn't need telling twice, I immediately ran to the corner of the room and lifted my bed (it had flown on top of the tunnel I kept hidden after the flames caused everything to scatter). Underneath was the tunnel that Gray had made.

I turned one last time to the vase, which had slowly made its way back down onto the book shelf. "Thank you, thank you so much" I said weakly.

"You may thank me later when you grant my wish! Now run! Run foolish boy! RUN!!!" the voice shouted.

And with that, I grabbed my special amulet (the one with Sunset's cutie mark and the shield embedded into it), and I crawled into the tunnel, and made my way to the outskirts of the city as fast as I could.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I had made it to the section of the tunnel so that I could stand. I had sprinted for a couple of minutes before I ran into something. It was too dark to see what it was, but one things for sure, it was small, and it was ARMED!

It grabbed me by the neck and shouted, "alright tough guy! What are you doing in this tunnel! No pony should know about this tunnel except for me and my friend Obsidian!"

I know that voice! "Gray! Its me! Get off!" I half shouted, half gagged (his gripped had tighten around my neck).

"Obsidian? What are you doing here?" Gray asked, as he released my neck.

"That's what I should be asking, what are YOU doing here, and why do you have a knife?" I asked.

"Oh, this? Well, I, uh-"

"You were going to break into the castle and rescue me, weren't you?" I interrupted.

Gray gave a weak chuckle and rubbed the back of my head, "it seemed like a good idea at the time".

I sighed, "Gray, you do realize if you had stepped one hoof into that castle you would have been attacked by at least fifty guards?" I asked.

"Well you couldn't have expected me to stand around and do nothing while you were being banished to another place, could you?" Gray asked.

That's right, I was being banished, wasn't I? I was being forcibly sent to a place I didn't want to go to. Jam it! I feel like such an idiot, why did it take me this long to realize this? Celestia had tried to banish me! And I was going to let her . . . well, if she wants to banish me, she'll have to catch me first!

"So what happened? I thought you were going to let her take you to some other place? What, you decided you didn't want that so you bailed?" Gray asked.

"Uh . . . something like that, listen, we don't have much time. There's bound to be a whole army of guards searching for me right now! We need to get out of here, and I need to find a place to hide!" I said.

I can't go to Pony Ville, they'll be expecting that. Maybe Gray knows a good place to hide.

"Sure, follow me, I know the perfect place!" Gray shouted.

Gray and I began our way to the other side of the tunnel.

It didn't take to long, or maybe it did, Jam! I need a watch, who cares, whether it was a short time or a long time doesn't matter anymore! I don't have any time!

"Alright! I know this place next to the Rambling Rock Ruins you can hide in, its kind of like a cave. All you need to do is get there without getting caught, its a bit far so good luck with that" said Gray sarcastically.

"Ha, ha, ha, very funny. Which way is the ruins?" I asked.

"Straight ahead this way, just stay on course and you'll get there in a couple of hours" said Gray.

"Thanks Gray, see ya!" I said.

I was about to run, before Gray grabbed hold of my shirt. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on! What happened to you following me to the ruins? I thought I was going to help you get there?" Gray asked.

I sighed, and dropped to my knees so that I was closer to Gray. "Look, Gray, this may sound a bit confusing right now, and I hope that someday you'll understand. But I need to do this alone".

"Y-your joking, right. Your not seriously going to try and make that type of journey all by yourself, right?" Gray asked.

I gave a slight nod, and Gray said, "you can't be serious. What about me, I'm here to help you! Were friends remember? I've got your back, you've got mine! I'm willing to help you even now! Why won't you accept it?"

"Because I just can't! Look, you'll understand someday but for now I need you to run and hide before any guards find you out here. I need to be alone, it is my destiny to be alone"

Gray looked at me as if I had lost all of my senses. "Destiny? What do you mean its your destiny to be alone? No pony should ever have to be alone-"

"DO I LOOK LIKE A PONY TO YOU!?! NO, I'M NOT! I'M NOT A PONY! I'M A HUMAN!!!-" I interrupted.

"AND HUMANS DESERVE TO HAVE FRIENDS TOO!!!" Gray interrupted.

I paused and looked to the ground. Gray was my only friend, so if its my destiny to be alone, then I must let him go.

" . . . . Not this human . . . ." I said slowly.

I was about to turn, before Gray grabbed my wrist, stopping me. "What are you going to do? Where will you even go?" he asked.

"I don't know" I said slowly.

"Then let me help you, we can figure something out, something, anything, there must be something, there has to-"

Before Gray could finished, I swooped down to his length and implanted a kiss on his lips. Gray blushed, and bulged his eyes from shock. Then slowly, he accepted.

I knew there was an army of guards coming after me, and I didn't care. Heck, I didn't care if the entire country came after me. I didn't care. All that mattered was Gray's kiss. The seconds felt like an eternity. Gray had kissed me before, but this, this felt more special.

Once I release Gray I said, "you have done more then enough for me Gray. You have been my friend for all these years, and for that, I thank you. But now I must leave, and I must do it alone". I jumped to my feet and ran a couple of inches before turning to Gray. "I will explain my reason for all of this someday. But for now, I must be off. Thank you Gray, thank you so much for being my friend. I hope that some day we will see each other again. And when we do, I hope you will have not forgotten me. Gray, for everything you have done I just want you to know, when we do meet again, IF we do meet again, then don't forget, I owe you ONE wish".

"A . . . wish?" Gray asked.

"I'll explain later, for now I must be off. Goodbye my friend, and good luck to you and your future! Farewell, Kevin Melody!" And with that, I turned from Gray for the last time, and without turning back, I ran.

"Obsidian?" Gray asked.

I ignored him.

"OBSIDIAN!!!" Gray shouted.

I didn't answer, I had already ran to far to even respond back. I sprinted on as I made my course to the Rambling Rock Ruins.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I was twelve, Gray and I had tried to steal a priceless flower. When we got caught, I had to sprint full speed to escape. Originally, that had been the fastest I had ever ran in my life, now, it was the second fastest I had ever ran in my life. THIS was the fastest I had ever ran in my life!

Pure emotions were flowing through my body. Rage, sadness, fear, everything that could build my bodies adrenaline to full drive. It was because of this pure adrenaline that I was able to sprint through this terrain without feeling pain, or at least, without feeling as much pain.

I sprinted through forests, over hill tops, across grassy fields, and through rivers. My heart was aching (physically and emotionally), I had a pounding migraine, my vision was blurred from lack of sleep, and my legs felt as if somepony was stabbing me with a knife, repeatedly.

I had been running for more then a whole day! Doing nothing but sprinting, I would slow down occasionally so I could catch my breath, but I never stopped moving. No matter how many times I fell, not matter how many times I scrapes my legs or cut my arms, no matter how much pain I was feeling, I never stopped. It had gotten to the point where I was both surprised and scared for myself. I was surprised that my body could even handle being exerted to such extreme conditions non-stop, and still some how have the strength to continue moving. I was also scared because of exactly that, how the hay have I not died!?! My body should have collapsed hours ago and simply died from exhaustion, yet here I was, still moving. I was in sever pain, but I was still moving. No, seriously, I've been running for more then twenty four hours, HOW AM I STILL ALIVE!?!

Then again, these are the situations where its best not to question, but merely accept that its happening.

I assume its because off my adrenaline, every time I began to feel my brain beginning to black out, I put the thought of how many guards were looking for me back into my mind. That seem to wake me up and allow me the strength to continue on.

I was just starting to feel my mind drift off again, before I lost my footing and fell down a steep hill.

I tossed, turned, and somersaulted down the hill, banging my head, hitting my face, feeling a tree trunk cut into my side, and falling face first into a river that was down below.

I was a good swimmer, so it didn't take very long for me to get out. I was however bleeding from where the tree had cut me, I had also received a cut on my head. I ripped off a section of my shirt and tied it around the cuts. The skills that the vase had given me told me that I could do so much more to treat my wounds, I was too scared to listen to my new instincts however.

Once I had tied the strips to my head and my torso, I continued my way to the ruins.

As I was running, I began see large "V" shaped shadows on the ground. I looked up, and saw several groups of pegasus, all of them flying in "V" shaped groups of five.

I immediately sprinted underneath the thickest trees I could find, making sure I could keep myself well hidden.

I had to keep moving, if I stopped to hide then they might find me easier that way. My best option was to stay hidden, but keep moving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Several hours later and somehow none of the guards had discovered me. The new skills I had acquired, I am still in awe at how well experienced I am now. I had learned over thousands of years worth of skills, in only a matter of seconds. These new skills are actually how I was able to hide so well. I was able to detect when a guard would spot me and hide in just the right place before he even had the chance to turn his head in my direction.

But even if the guards had spotted me, I don't think I would have cared if they had killed me, it would only end my suffering.

I would be feeling emotional suffering if I wasn't distracted by my physical suffering. The sun was dropping down, so that means that I've been running for over thirty something hours. My entire body felt like it was being pounded with a spiked mallet, and that mallet is the size of a carriage! And the one pounding me is a five hundred pound muscle building earth pony, who has broken record after record of being the worlds most strongest earth pony, able to lift an entire house with a single hoof. And now he was pounding me with a spiked mallet so easily, it was like a child smashing a bug with a toy hammer!

What I'm trying to say is, if I don't successfully escape, then I want to die. I don't care if I'm stabbed, shot, crushed, or mangled, just kill me and let the pain end already. Cause even if I do escape, and I'm free to finally travel without having to worry about being discovered, then I think the first thing I'm going to do is drop down, and fall into a mini coma. Then I'll wake up from the coma, and my body will still be lingering from pain, so I'll fall into another coma. I reckon it should take about three or so mini comas before my migraine at least turns into a small head ach. Then again, being in a coma for the rest of my life actually sounds really nice right now-

AAAAAAAAGH!!! Enough of these childish thoughts!!! I'm not going to die, I'm not going to get caught, and I am most certainly NOT going to fall into any coma!!! I am going to escape, rest until my body feels better, then make a plan from there! Cause honestly, I'm surprise that I even made it this far, so I have NO idea what I'm going to do next.

I better think of my next course of action fast, cause I can see the ruins up ahead.

The Rambling Rock Ruins was a large dirt field area, with two large stones on both sides of the area. There was scattered parts and destroyed buildings everywhere. I guess that's why its called a "ruins". It looked like an over sized dump.

I entered the ruins, searching for the cave that Gray had told me about. Until I heard something crack.

I hid behind a small chunk of building and peered around the corner. I nearly crabbed myself at what I saw.

The entire area was packed with guards!!! All of them with their spears in hoof, preparing themselves for when I arrived.

How did they know I was going to be here? There's just no way they could have known where I would be heading, how come they weren't in Pony Ville? I thought that that would be the first place they would search. Of all places that the guards would search, I didn't expect them to be here!

I slowly began to sneak my way to the opposite direction. I had to find this cave before any of them noticed me.

I probably would have done a much better job at being sneaky if it wasn't for how tired my body was. I only traveled a few feet before tripping over a large pipe, and falling over. I knocked into a bicycle that was holding up a large piece of building, the moment it fell out of place, the entire building chunk came crashing down.

"He's over there! Seize him!", I heard one of the guards yell.

I got to my feet and bolted away, dodging the stunning spells that the unicorn guards were firing at me.

I hopped over a carriage, slide through a pipe, and caused a large pile of trash to fall on top of some guards as I ran.

As I ran, I felt the ground beneath me disappeared. I had ran on top of a piece of wood that was laid on top of a hole. The wood snapped in two, causing me to fall through.

I fell about twenty feet down before something caught me. I was about to scream before it clasped its claws (it wasn't a hoof) against my mouth and carried me away.

I had fallen into a dark cave, I couldn't see who my savior was, what I do know is that my savior was NOT a pony. It didn't feel like a pony, this creature had no fur, it had scales and it walked on two legs instead of four.

Then, from the darkness, I heard hoof steps approach, or in this case, foot steps.

"What is that thing?" said a squeaky voice.

"Looks like some sort of monkey" said a deep voice.

"Well whatever it is, it made all those guards up there suddenly appear. So, tell me monkey! What's the big idea? Are you a guard? Or are you wanted?" asked a voice that had a Filly Delphian accent.

"I-what-who-" I stuttered.

"I said, are you a guard or are the guards chasing you!!!" the voice roared.

I peed a little . . .

"I'm being chased! I'm not a guard! Their chasing me!" I shouted.

"Oh, in that case, BEAT IT!" the accented voice shouted, as he threw me across the cave. I rolled a bit before hitting my back against the cave wall.

"We don't need you bringing guards in on us. We have enough troubles keeping guards off our tracks without some run away monkey bringing in even more!" said the accented voice.

"That's right, if your trouble, then get out!" said the deep voice.

"Yeah! Beat it!" said the squeaky voice.

"No, wait, please" You have to help me! Please!" I begged, as I stumbled to my feet. "I know you don't know me, but please! I need you to help me get away from those guards! If they catch me then they'll take me to the princess herself! The she'll banish me to the moon!" I shouted. I didn't have time to be honest and tell them that I was being banished to another world. If I told them this, then I would have to get into detail on what this new world is like and how the princess is going to banish me there and yaddy yaddy yadda! All in all, these are details that I don't have time to explain!

There was a small pause, before the accented voice asked, "wait, you mean your wanted by the princess so bad, that she'll banish you to the moon?"

"Yes!" I replied.

"And you want us to help you? And if WE get caught, we'll be in just as much trouble" said the accented voice.

" . . . Yes . . ." I said wealky.

The accented voice chuckled, "oh . . . well then . . . come on boys! Lets get out of here! Don't worry about the monkey, he's on his own!"

I ran up and grabbed the creature by its tail, "please I'm begging you!"

The creature grabbed me by the back of whatever shirt I had left and lifted me, so that we were face to face.

"And why should we help you!" the voice growled.

"B-because . . . because . . . I'll grant you a wish!" I exclaimed.

"A wish?" the accented voice asked.

I could tell by the tone of his voice that I had caught his attention.

"Yeah! I'll grant you a wish! I'll do whatever you want me to do and I'll do it! I can't do anything magical, but I am VERY experienced, so if you need a job done, just name it and I'll do it!" I said, a tone of desperation in my voice.

"Hmmm . . . I don't know. You say you can't do anything magical, so how can you grant my wish?" the accented voice asked.

"D-do you like treasure, money, bits?" I asked.

"Yeah, I do" said the accented voice.

"Well, I'm an expert thief, and if you help me, then I guarantee that I can make you rich!" I said.

"Make us rich huh? Well . . . you do seem pretty fit to join our ranks so-"

"Your not really considering letting him joining us are you?" the deep voice interrupted.

"SHUT UP! I'm the boss and I decide if he gets to join or not. And beside, look at him! He fits our requirements perfectly! He's skinny, tall yet not too tall, and he says he's an expert thief. If he joins us, we might just be able to pull through that debt were in" said the accented voice.

"But boss, we only SAYS he's and expert thief, how do we know if he's for real?" asked the deep voice.

"Yeah, he's probably just saying that so he can get away from those guards out there" said the squeaky voice.

"I promise! I am an expert thief! I'll prove it to you! And if you don't believe me then . . . then . . ." I gulped. "Then you can eat me!" I shouted.

All three voices roared with laughter.

"Eat you! What makes you think we'd want to eat a puny wimp like you?" asked the accented voice.

"W-well, you don't seem like ponies, so I can only assume that you might be meat eaters. And if that's the case, then you can eat me. If I try to escape, or disobey your commands, then you can eat me" I said.

The voices went silent again, before the accented voice asked, "you serious? You really want to come with us, knowing that if you fail, we can eat you?"

I gulped, before replying, "yes".

He dropped me, and turned to the other two voices.

They discussed in secret for a couple of minutes, before I heard voices down the cave shouting, "I think he went this way!"

"So, are you going to help me or not!" I said, anxiously.

The accented voice picked me up and placed me onto his back, "sure we'll help you, only if you agree to help us from now on, deal?"

I shook my head vigorously, "deal! Now get me out of here! There coming!" I shouted.

What ever this creature was, it had wings.

All three of the voices extended their wings and shot straight up towards the ceiling.

They broke through the cave ceiling and out the surface of the ruins ground. As we rose into the sky, I caught a good look at my saviors for the first time.

They were dragons! Teen dragons based off their size (They were taller then a one story building). The one carrying me was tall, lean, and red.

There were two more dragons, one on each side of the red dragon. One was small, fat and green. The other was long, slender, and yellow. All of them had "X" shaped scars on their right cheeks.

"Halt!" I could hear the guards shout from below.

The dragons flapped their wings, and zoomed through the sky at amazing speed! I had to grip on tight to the dragons neck to prevent myself from flying back.

"Where are we going?" I shouted.

"The Badlands, its on the border of Equestria that's closest to the Dragonia!" the red dragon shouted.

"Why are we going to the Dragonia? Why not stay in Equestria?" I asked.

"Ha! You expect us to stay in this country with that many guards on our tail? Nope! Were heading to the dragon country, and like it or not, your stuck with us now!" the red dragon shouted.

We continued to fly for about ten or so minutes, before I caught sight of tall, redish brownish mountains. It was the badlands.

I turned and saw no guards behind us, "what happened to the guards? They were just there a moment ago?" I asked.

"We were too fast for them, but don't get cocky, they'll be here!" the red dragon shouted.

We landed onto the top of a mountain. Nearby was a cave. I jumped off the dragons back and ran to the edge of the mountain. The mountain had no slope, if you fell of the edge, you would drop straight down for over hundreds of feet.

"Come on! We need to get into the cave! We can't get to the Dragonia until we loose track of the guards!" the red dragon shouted.

"Wait" I said.

"Get in the cave now!" the red dragon shouted.

"Hold on! I need to figure something out!" I said, firmly.

I wanted to know how they were able to find me at the ruins. How could the princess have possibly figure out were I was and were to send her men? She is an alicorn, alicorn possess very powerful magic, maybe she saw into the future? No that can't be it, that's ridiculous, even she wouldn't dare to look into the future just to find me. COME ON! Thousands of years worth of experience all carved into my brain, give me something, anything that could tell me how she knew! If she knew how to find me then, then chances are she's going to know how to find me now! If I escape into the dragon country, then she'll still be able to find me! How is she able to do this! There must be some sort of spell that tells her where I am, something that helps her trace my location . . . wait, that's it! The knowledge the vase had given to me, I now know of a spell that the princess is using to find me! A spell that tells her my exact location!

Its a tracking spell that allows the wielder to search for anypony they desire, only if they have a map and an object that is most precious to them. But what object could she be using of mine? I didn't keep very well care for my possessions (my clothes were all in rags, and most of my possessions were destroyed even before the vase set everything on fire), so which possession could have been most precious to me? Something that I love so much that I would have never even thought of mistreating. I had my special amulet so it couldn't be that, then it had to be . . .

GASP! Kevin, my teddy bear!

I always kept my teddy bear because it was the first toy the princess had ever given to me. I loved and cherished that item, because it reminded me of the days where the princess would pretend to love me. I had always taken good care of it.

And now, she was using my most precious item against me! She's going to find me if I don't do something!

What could I do? She's locating me because of an item I love and care about, but I only love and care for that item because . . . I still loved the princess.

I still felt as if she was my mom. All this time . . . I still loved her . . . like she was my mom . . . but now I knew . . . its time to stop.

If I continued to love her, then she would find me. I had to stop loving her.

As soon as I thought this, memories of the past three years flashed before my eyes. I thought about all the times she had ignored me, all the times she had abandoned me . . . she was never there for me. I treated her like she was my mother, loving her like a son should, and she abandons me.

And even before that, she was never there. She had lied to me, all my life she had lied to me. Telling me that she loved and cared for me, telling me that I was her son. I was never her son . . . and she was never my mother.

Something snapped, I felt as if a part of me had just broke, a very precious part of me, the part of me that made me, me.

The more I thought about the princess, the angrier I became. I used to be so happy, so energetic and willing to make friends, so full of glee! . . . but not anymore. That part of me was gone now. Replaced by nothing but anger and solitude.

The princess . . . the one who lies and says she loves everypony . . . the one who took me in, lying and saying she was my mother . . . the one who took everything away . . . the one who was in control . . . but not anymore!

She thinks that just because she's the ruler of this land that she can control my life!?! Forcing me into a life of pain and suffering! Ha! Not anymore!

From this day forward, she is no longer in control, I am!

From now on I make my decisions, I make my choices, I decide who I am! She can no longer rule over me!

I will become the ultimate life form! Stronger then even an alicorn! And the only one of my kind!

That is who I will be!

As for you, princess! You made my life a living Tartarus! You gave me a home, then took it all away! I made friends, and you took them all away! I fell in love, and you took that away too! Well no more! I will accept this life of seclusion, and follow this new path alone! And you will never stop me!

Princess Celestia, Ha! You don't DESERVE the title of "princess". You with your lies! You lying, backstabbing, piece of garbage!

I hate you . . . I hate you . . . I hate you . . . I HATE YOU!!!

"I hate you" I muttered.

As soon as I said this, I could feel a magical energy source, miles away from here, shattering into a million pieces.

It worked, she can no longer find me.

The dragon tugged onto my arm, dragging me into the cave. As soon as we entered, I heard the guards land onto the mountain close to us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We hid in silence for several hours before the guards finally left.

When they did, the red dragon sighed, "well, there gone. The suns still out, its dangerous to travel when there's light out so we should probably rest here until its dark"

I nodded, and laid down, resting my head against a rock (after running for two days straight, it felt more comfortable then a pillow).

"So, Monkey Boy, since your gonna be with us we should get to know each other. What's your name? You got a name?" the green dragon asked (he was the one with the deep voice).

"I'm Gl-" I stopped. I didn't think it would be wise to tell them my real name. That and I didn't feel like it would be right to keep that name, the name that SHE gave me. "No, I don't have a name" I replied.

"What? You don't have a name? Then what are we supposed to call you?" the green dragon asked.

"I don't need a name" I said.

"Everydragon needs a name" said the yellow dragon.

"You mean everypony?" I asked.

All three dragons laughed, "no! Of course we don't mean "everypony", that's something ponies say! And were not puny pathetic ponies, we are dragons! But not any dragons, we are-

All dragons leapt to each other sides, green being on the left, yellow on the right, and red in the center. All of them were posing in different victory poses. Green was flexing, yellow had his claws to his waist, and red was pointing to the ceiling.

"THE LEAGUE OF CLAWS!!!" all three shouted in unison.

I stared at them, blankly. "The League of Claws?" I asked.

The red dragon leapt from his place and landed in front of me. "That's right! We are the League of Claws! A band of teenage dragon thief's!" the red dragon explained.

"Your all thief's? How come you have to be teenagers?" I asked.

The red one chuckled, "you think adult dragons can have enough stealth to break into homes and steal? Na, their all to big. That's why you have to have certain requirements before entering into our group. One! You have to be a teenager!"

"Two! You can't be to tall!" said the green dragon.

"Three! You have to be a good thief! We don't take any mediocre!" said the yellow dragon.

"Four! Once a Claw member, always a claw member!" said the green dragon.

"And five! You can't allow yourself entry, you must be initiated by our group first" said the red dragon.

"Initiated huh? So, your kind of like the Diamond Backs, right?" I asked.

"Well, sort of, but were not a cult, were just a group of thief's. Oh and not to mention that WERE DRAGONS! So that makes us better by default!" shouted the red dragon.

"Wait, if you think your better then ponies, then what were you doing in Equestria?" I asked.

"We heard that there was treasure in the Rambling Rock Ruins. Turns out this was a false source though" the red dragon explained.

"So, if I'm going to grant my wish to you, then I have to be initiated?" I asked.

The red dragon nodded, "correct. You will join the League of Claws, and you will do as you are told", the red dragon came close to my face, "or else" he said.

He turned and walked back to his friends, "but that is why you need a name. You can't be initiated without a name, and I know your lying, cause everydragon is born with a name. So tell me, what's your name?"

I didn't know, I didn't want to tell them it was Glee Sunrise. I was so infuriated with that princess, that I didn't want anything even remotely associated with her to continue being a part of MY life. If I was going to live this new life, then I had to put my past behind me, and that includes the name SHE gave me.

"I used to have a name, but that name doesn't matter any more" I said.

"What do ya mean by that?" the yellow dragon asked.

"You know, I don't think you've told me what YOUR name is yet. If you want to know MY name, then why not tell me YOUR name first!" I said.

The red dragon huffed, "all this for a name?"

"Names can be very special, and sometimes, very powerful" I replied.

The red dragon chuckled, "alright, alright. My names Dovahkiin".

"I'm Strenchallow" said the green dragon.

"And I'm Hezaelio! And were-" Hezaelio leapt close to Dovahkiin and placed his hands to his waists. "THE LEAGUE OF-"

Dovahkiin hit Hezaelio across the back of the head. "You idiot! We already did that! Its not as cool if you do it a second time!" Dovahkiin shouted.

"Heh, heh, heh, sorry boss" said Hezaelio, sheepishly.

Dovahkiin shook his head, "there, we gave you our names, so give us yours".

"I'll give you my name at the initiation. Speaking of which, how is this "initiation" going to work any ways?" I asked.

Dovahkiin sighed, "your stubborn, you know that? Heh, heh! I like it! So, the initiation! How it will work is that you will sit in circle of fire that all three of us will form with our fire breath. I'll say a few words, you will accept the terms and agreements of being in the League of Claws, and to finish it off. We will place the mark of Claws into your right cheek, that way other thieves will know who you are and they won't try to steal from you".

"Wait, you mean to tell me that any dragon that's part of your league has to have an "X" shaped scar on your cheek? Wouldn't it be easier for you to get arrested that way?" I asked.

"Uh . . . well . . . we weren't thinking at the time when we made that rule . . ." said Dovahkiin, as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Ah, I see. So all I have to do is go through this initiation and I'm in?" I asked.

"That's right. And once your in, we'll be heading off to the Dragonia. So you better prepare yourself, that country's a LOT different then Equestria" said Dovahkiin.

"Yeah . . . I guess it is . . . I'm going for a walk, I'll see you guys tonight. And no! I'm not going to leave. I can't anyways seeing that the drop from this mountain is too high" I explain, as I saw all three dragons rise, thinking that I was going to leave.

"Alright, but you better not leave, or else!" said Dovahkiin.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah" I reply.

I walked out of the cave and into the fresh afternoon air. I inhaled deeply, attempting to relax myself. I hadn't slept in two days, and my body was completely sore from the trip. Even though I'm starting to finally relax, I can't say its completely a good thing.

I had so much adrenaline from everything that had happened the past two days that it had completely distracted me from the pain. Now that I was starting to relax, the adrenaline was beginning to ware off. Two days worth of running, no sleep, and overall other aches and pains was beginning to return. The cut on my side was really starting to hurt, I was going to need to get it checked out, IF I can even get it checked out. I can't go to a doctor, they'll ship me back to Equestria, back to that dreaded princess.

Oh yeah, that reminds me, I still need to think of a name. If I was going to leave my past behind, then a good way to start is by changing my name. But it couldn't be just any ordinary name, names can be very powerful, and that's not what I wanted my name to be. I wanted my name to be more then that! I want my name to spread fear throughout those who anger me. I want my name to make those who abandon me regret their decisions, and make them shake in fear when they hear my name. But most of all, I want the princess to shudder in fear when she hears my name!

I need a name that defines who I am! I hate the princess, so I need a name that is the opposite of Princess Celestia, princess of the sun!

Something in spite of who she is! A name that insults her, every time it is spoken! I want my name to spread fear to every pony! Especially the princess!

What name shall I choose? Hmmm . . . well, one things for sure, it can't have anything to do with "Glee Sunrise".

Glee Sunrise was a happy little boy, who loved sharing joy and glee with all of his friends. Glee loved to make new friends, and would spread his friendship to anypony who was around him. Glee Sunrise . . . was not me.

Glee Sunrise, is dead.

. . . . THAT'S IT!

The name! The perfect name! Its been staring at me in the face all this time!

A name that insults the princess of the sun! A name that is the opposite of Glee Sunrise! A name that spreads fear to those who hear it! A name that defines me and who I am!

I know what my name shall be!

I shall be called-

"Hey Monkey! Get in here! Were gonna start the initiation soon!" Dovahkiin shouted.

I blinked, and looked at the sky. The sun was dropping, how long was I out here for? I must have really been lost in thought to have been out here for this long.

I turned around and headed back to the cave.

Ready for my initiation.

Only Human

by Merotik

Eight Years Old

Nine Years Old

Ten Years Old

Eleven Years Old

Twelve Years Old Pt.1

Twelve Years Old Pt.2

Thirteen... is When I Die

The Dawn, Shall Break

Only Human Remake

MY LITTLE HUMAN REMAKE: SNEAK PEAK